What could the King do?
StoryIllustrationHistorical Account★★★★In the second century a Christian was brought before a king, who wanted him to recant and give up Christ and Christianity; but the man spurned the proposition. The king said—”If you don’t do it, I will banish you.” The man smiled and answered, “You can’t banish me from Christ; for He says He will never leave me nor forsake me.” The king got angry, and said, “Well, I will confiscate your property, and take it all from you.”
And the man replied, “My treasures are laid up on high; you cannot get them.” The king became still more angry, and said, “I will kill you.” “Why,” the man answered, “I have been dead forty years; I have been dead with Christ, dead to the world, and my life is hid with Christ in God, and you cannot touch it.”
“What are you going to do with such a fanatic?” said the king.
The point
A second-century Christian refuses to renounce Christ despite a king's threats of banishment, property confiscation, and death; his faith in Christ proves unshakeable.