The scriptures of old, they spoke of the days,
when Christians would suffer with hurt.
When men of the world, would take up their swords,
and for believers they’d seek and they’d hunt.
Captured and bound, with a sword at their throat,
brethren would be told their options:
“Deny Christ and live,” the Romans would say,
“Or die and trust in resurrections.”
Most brethren were hunted, many brethren were found,
and some ended up being beheaded.
But not every Christian, was captured or caught;
some slipped away undetected.
For the Romans that sought them, they knew to what to seek,
the people who Followed the Way.
And all those who lived, by the kindness of Christ,
stood out in the world clear as day.
But of the brethren who acted, much like everyone else,
they found it quite easy to blend.
The Romans ne’er guessed, they’d been crucified with Christ;
of the world they were simply a friend.
These weak brethren never, stopped to wonder or think,
why so well they always had fared.
The reason was simple, they conformed to the world;
so from death for a time they were spared.
Yet as you all know, death comes for us all;
we will all meet our fate in the end.
And those brethren who shined, bright and different with Christ,
will then hear Him tell them “enter in.”
But the brethren who lived, very much like the world,
will be told a different phrase by the King:
“Away from Me ever, enter not in;
go to a land full of sorrow and weeping.”
The condemned child will ask, why His verdict was so,
“why may others enter in and be free?”
The answer will be, “when they came for My church,
My people were found…but not thee.”
~ Matthew