Deep in Sleep

“Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you earnestly contend for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” (Jude 3)

Yesterday I spoke of Richard Wurmbrand, the voice of the Underground Church in Romania, who was imprisoned on two separate occasions, finally being released in 1964. Why? Because he did not fall asleep, he was not Biblically ignorant, and he was not a coward when it came time to “contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). When one million Russian soldiers walked into Romania and brought Joseph Stalin’s godless communism into the country, Richard Wurmbrand chose truth over error, love over hate and conviction over cowardice. He refused to sit in silence like so many in the church have done when the evils of our world ran rampant through a society.

Richard Wurmbrand, a leader in the Underground Church of Romania both in and out of prison, declared the power of the Gospel in a godless time. He spoke out against communism when other pastors in the church were saying “communism and Christianity were fundamentally the same and could coexist” (Tortured for Christ, p. 15). He, along with many others in the Underground Church, chose to endure all things for the sake of Christ.

In his book “Tortured for Christ” he dedicated a chapter to today’s “Western Christian.” His message to us is simple:

“Don’t abandon us!”

“Don’t forget us!”

“Don’t write us off!”

“Give us the tools we need! We will pay the price for using them!”

He shares how you and I can help the Underground Church that exists around the world.

1. Pray for the persecutors that they may be saved.

2. Send Bibles and Bible portions to our brothers and sisters in the Underground Church. Thousands of Christians have not seen Bibles in Communist nations such as China or North Korea.

3. We must also join hands with the Underground Church in financial support as they continue one-on-one evangelism. One way you can do that is through the ministry “Voice of the Martyr’s.”

I want to encourage you to start praying today for the Underground Church and examine ways you and your family can support our brother and sisters who are declaring the greatness of Christ in countries hostile to the Gospel. I leave you with the words of Richard Wurmbrand:

“When I was beaten on the bottom of the feet, my tongue cried. Why did my tongue cry? It was not beaten. It cried because the tongue and the feet are both part of the same body. And you free Christians are part of the same Body of Christ that is now beaten in prisons in restricted nations, that even now gives martyrs for Christ. Can you not feel our pain?

The early Church in all of its beauty, sacrifice, and dedication has come alive again in these countries.

While our Lord Jesus Christ agonized in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter, James, and John were a mere stone’s throw away in the greatest drama of history – but they were deep in sleep. How much of your own Christian concern is directed toward the relief of the martyr church? Will you sleep while your brethren in Christ suffer and fight for the gospel?

Will you hear our message: Remember us! Help us! Don’t abandon us!”

Dr. Derek