“I did not receive my office (authority) from the emperor or the pope, but from Christ. And that is the reason why I cannot put it down or stop doing it.”

That was the answer the martyr Matthew Ulicky gave to the religious people – church – of his day, when they did not agree with his teaching.

He taught that we must trust in the mercy of God, and in his mercy alone.

I am reading about Matthew Ulicky, who lived at the beginning of the 17th century in the book GEDULD UND GLAUBE DER HEILIGEN by Joerg Erb.

We are reading about the “not” and “but” also in the Bible, the word of the Living God.

At the beginning of his letter to the Galatians the apostle Paul is writing, “Paul, an apostle – sent NOT from men nor by man, BUT by Jesus Christ and God the Father …”

Also in at least five of his letters in the New Testament, the apostle starts by telling the readers that he is “…, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus and by the will of God, …” He does that in his two letters to the Corinthians, in his letter to the Ephesians, in his letter to the Colossians and in his second letter to Timothy.

“SENT NOT FROM MEN NOR BY MAN, BUT BY JESUS CHRIST AND GOD THE FATHER, …”

 I was born in Germany, I came from death to life, (from darkness into light) in Germany, and lived in Germany until I was 26 years old.

In Germany I met pastors, who were not sent by Jesus Christ and God the Father, but by man. They were pastors just as others were plumbers or electricians.

At the age of 26 I arrived just before Christmas as a missionary in Thailand and I knew that I was “sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father …”

Because Matthew Ulicky received his office (authority) from the Lord, he was willing to die on September 11, 1627 as a martyr.

He died a terrible death. His right hand was cut off first and then his head. While all this was happening, he prayed Psalm 70:

“Hasten, O God, to save me; O LORD, come quickly to help me.” 

What about me? Am I also willing to die as a martyr?