To die is gain.

Iranian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani sits on death row today having been found guilty of apostasy and evangelising Muslims. He is a husband,father to two boys and leader of a network of house churches. He has been imprisoned for two years and has been given the three opportunities to recant his Christianity as required under Iranian law. He has refused to do so each time.


My heart truly goes out to his family, but whilst I deplore the actions of the Iranian courts, the breach of my brother's human rights and fully understand the outcry from both political and religious communities internationally, this is not the matter I wish to address. While I do remember him in my prayers every night, it is not for his release I ask- God will act in that way if it is His will- but rather, I pray that Pastor Nadarkhani will continue to stand strong in his faith and continue to be such a striking witness of the importance of Christ in his life. I do this because if I believe what the Bible says (and I do) this man has nothing whatsoever to fear. Paul says as much in Philippians 1:21, "To live is Christ and to die is gain". This is a man who sat in a very similar position to Pastor Nadarkhani, persecuted for his faith, frequently imprisoned and ultimately killed for the message he preached. He did not see death as a thing to be feared or run away from but rather as "gain". Our concern for Pastor Nadarkhani's life, whilst right and natural, reveals, I fear, a worldly view of death as the ultimate end of everything and a heart which forgets God's promise of a future where "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away" (Rev 21:4).


This point came home to me as I reflected on what a joy it was to see two people take a first tentative step into faith in Jesus last night. Those people, I realised, were the ones who had really sat on death row, rightly condemned by their own sins. And it was these people who had needed the power of the cross to release them. The joy I found last night was in seeing two souls freed from their sins and discovering in Jesus the one whose sacrifice wipes away all our sin and declares each of us not guilty despite our obvious failures.


That is the truth of the matter. Youcef stands with his body trapped but his soul freed by the author of creation, his sins paid for on the cross. So many millions around the world today stand in the reverse situation and it is for them that my heart breaks.


I merely ask the question, which is a higher priority: freeing man who is free already or releasing one who is bound? I do not wish to sound cold, I do not wish to take away from the appalling evil which is taking place but I honestly believe that there is a danger here of looking at the situation with worldy eyes rather than those God gave us.


The Church thrives under persecution. 11 of the 12 apostles were murdered for their faith as they watched the Church explode in the first century. Christianity in China is growing so fast today where it was once outlawed and where international missionaries remain illegal. At the same time there were more Christian martyrs in the 20th century than in the previous 19 before that. The tender words to those "slain for the word of God and for the witness they has borne" to "rest a little longer"(Rev 6:9,11) in anticipation of the final glory should act as a reassurance to all those facing the dangerous persecution so alien to us in the west. If it is God's will that Pastor Nadarkhani is to join these ranks then he has simply returned to his loving father sooner and his death, I pray, will stand as a testament to the power and strength of his faith.


Remember, everyone, the words of Jesus: "whoever would save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses of forfeits himself?"(Luke9:24-5).


To return to my friends from last night. When I asked Fredrick if he believed that Christ had been resurrected he paused and thought about it for a long time. He decided that yes, he did believe it. The reason that swung the evidence for him was the way in which the apostles, in a unique position in history to categorically know the truth of what they were saying, were prepared to die for what they knew. Killing the body of a man of God or even the Son of God, is easy. Killing their soul is impossible and the irresistible force of the Gospel will never be stopped.