The Lord's Supper's Martyrs

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther kicked off the Reformation by nailing his 95 Theses to the church door. He was exercised over Tetzel's sale of indulgences as a corruption of Christ's Gospel; but the further he looked, the more corruption he found. Soon, Luther had overturned most of the Romanist false Gospel, a legacy which we all benefit from even to this day.

The English Reformers were certain of their faith - so much so that they were willing to die for it. The Roman Catholic system was willing to torture to compel agreement with false doctrine, and many were burned alive during the reign of Bloody Mary.

The Conservative orthodox Anglican bishop J. C. Ryle wrote about the reasons they were put to death, and in every case, it was primarily because they would not assent to the blasphemous doctrine of transubstantiation.

These martyrs believed, as the Scriptures teach, that Christ's human body was ascended to sit at the right hand of the majesty in Glory, and that therefore it did not appear at the beck and call of every Romanist so-called priest upon their blasphemous altar of the mass.

Because they would not admit to this idolatrous foolishness, they were burnt alive by Rome. They would not compromise the true Gospel by admitting Christ's sacrifice at Calvary was incomplete and needed "re-presenting" by the "priests" for the forgiveness of sin.

Praise the Lord, we celebrate at the Lord's Table a completed offering for sin. Christ has already made His people perfect by the death that he finished at Calvary!

Oh that Christians today would pray for our persecuted brethren; that we would oppose torture and coercion; that we would rejoice in Christ!