Martyrdom or divine protection?
Now. There's a question. and in your other thread you actuually composed your thoughts on the context in which you ask that question.
Here's an answer. It's not either/or. If you are granted divine protection- it's God's choice to do so. If you are given the opportunity to be a martyr- it's your choice whether you stand firm in the face of death for your testimony to Jesus, or whether you don't. If you are martyred, these verses from Revelation make it clear that it is a blessing- you won't ever face the second death:
Then I saw some thrones and people sitting on them who had been given the power to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been killed because they were faithful to the message of Jesus and the message from God. They had not worshiped the beast or his idol, and they had not received the mark of the beast on their foreheads or on their hands. They came back to life and ruled with Christ for a thousand years. (The others that were dead did not live again until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first raising of the dead. Blessed and holy are those who share in this first raising of the dead.The second death has no power over them. They will be priests for God and for Christ and will rule with him for a thousand years. - Revelation 20:4-6
Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death. - Revelation 2:10-11
But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." -Revelation 21:8
Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. - Revelation 20:14
If you do not stand the test of martyrdom, then you will be judged on that basis- the outcome of which only God knows.
And as it is written:
When they had brought them, they stood them before the Council. The high priest questioned them, saying, “We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. - Acts 5:27-29
Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. -Matthew 10:28
Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe. - Proverbs 29:25
First of all you must understand this: In the last days mockers will come and, following their own desires, will ridicule us - 2 Peter 3:3
A person who isn't spiritual doesn't accept the things of God's Spirit, for they are nonsense to him. He can't understand them because they are spiritually evaluated.- 1 Cor 2:14
So, I don't give a flip what anyone who disbelieves the Bible thinks- God will be found true, and everyman a liar. -Romans 3:4
BA- If you want an answer, ask a question. For if the bugle produces an indistinct sound, who will prepare himself for battle? -1 Cor 14:8
