‘Thus came Faithful to his end’.

…which we might mis-interpret as a tragedy, a disastrous miscarriage of justice, a denial of Faithful’s basic human rights. It might well be, but Bunyan paints a different picture. Faithful is honoured by the Church, and taken to the Celestial City, where he is welcomed with trumpet blast, and in victory procession! Faithful’s death is not a defeat, but a triumph.

Let us listen again to Josef Tson as he addresses an interrogator who is struggling to understand his unwillingness to compromise:

‘Sir, let me explain how I see this issue. Your supreme weapon is killing. My supreme weapon is dying. Here is how it works. You know that my sermons on tape have spread all over the country. If you kill me, those sermons will be sprinkled with my blood. Everyone will know I died for my preaching. And everyone who has a tape will pick it up and say, ‘I’d better listen again to what this man preached, because he really meant it: he sealed it with his life.’ So, sir, my sermons will speak 10 times louder than before. I will actually rejoice in this supreme victory if you kill me.”

Later, Tson found out another officer said, “We know that Mr. Tson would love to be a martyr, but we are not that foolish to fulfil his wish.” Reflecting on this interaction years later in a sermon, Tson explained:

“I stopped to consider the meaning of that statement. I remembered how for many years, I had been afraid of dying. I had kept a low profile. Because I wanted badly to live, I had wasted my life in inactivity. But now that I had placed my life on the altar and decided I was ready to die for the gospel, they were telling me they would not kill me! I could go wherever I wanted in the country and preach whatever I wanted, knowing I was safe. As long as I tried to save my life, I was losing it. Now that I was willing to lose it, I found it.”

This is the atmosphere surrounding Faithful’s death. He has found life! This is what lay behind his courageous witness prior to and during his trial; it is what lay behind his willing surrender to death; it is what lay behind the Lord’s honouring of him.

Bunyan reminds us at this key moment that the Lord overrules all things, and held in His own hand ‘the power of their rage’. This is the only explanation he gives for why Faithful is martyred, while Christian is' granted some respite (see Acts 12:1-7). But this is not all he would have us learn.

What else should we take away from this chapter? Comfort. Even if our suffering and death comes in ways that seem unexpected, tragic, painful, unjust or cruel, we can trust that God remains sovereign, that He will clasp us to Himself, and that He will bring us home. ‘Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints’ (Ps.116:15).

This is nothing more than the realisation of Jesus’ double promise concerning His sheep: ‘I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand’. Both the Father and the Son hold us, and not even suffering and death can cause Him to loosen His grip.

For a Christian with their eyes fixed on the New Creation, their hearts rooted in the Heavenly City, and their minds shaped by the hope of the Gospel, death is gain. As Paul famously puts it: I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain’ (Phil.1:20-21). Even when confronted with injustice and death, we are ‘more than conquerors’ (Rom.8:37). These are not simply defeated foes, but they are additionally brought to serve us in our pursuit of Christ.

After all, ‘we live by faith, not by sight’. And wouldn’t we, like Paul, actually ‘prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord’ (II Cor.5:7-8)?

Quesitons to ponder:
How have the last few days refelctions recast how you think about your relationship with others?

What difference does it make when you realise that God is sovereign voer your suffering?