How did early church believers respond to persecution?
Early church believers endured horrible persecutions without flinching, refusing to renounce their faith even when they could have escaped by doing so. They accepted torture rather than deliverance, and many went to their deaths singing hymns, as Paul and Silas did in Philippi.
Les teaches that Hebrews 11:34-35 describes God's choicest believers, even in the Old Testament economy, who faced persecution. Some quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, and were made strong out of weakness. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, because they could have escaped by simply renouncing their faith but refused. Les points to Fox's Book of Martyrs, noting that early church believers went through horrible persecutions but never flinched; once in a while one would, but for the most part they never flinched. They went to their death singing hymns, just like Paul and Silas in Philippi.