Heroes of the Faith: George Wagner

A man is tied to a stake, a bag of gunpowder hung around his neck, and the flames lit all because he won’t say water can save his soul. That’s the true story of George Wagner, killed in Munich in 1527, and we use it to ask a hard question: what do we actually believe about salvation when comfort is no longer on the table? 

We walk through the historical backdrop of persecution and the danger of church and state acting as one authority, then lay out the convictions that brought Wagner to his death. He rejects the idea that priests can forgive sins, refuses the claim that the Mass turns bread into the literal body of Christ, and insists that salvation comes by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ and His shed blood, not through baptismal regeneration. Along the way, we dig into why Jesus was baptized even though He had no sin, and why pointing to the Jordan cannot replace the cross of Calvary. 

The most haunting moments are personal: officials press him to recant, his wife and children are brought in to break his will, and he still chooses Christ. The episode closes with a direct challenge for every listener who values religious liberty: if following Jesus became illegal, would your life show enough faith to convict you? Subscribe, share this with someone who needs courage, and leave a review with your answer to that question.

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Transcript

Welcome And Purpose Of Broadcast

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Thank you so very much for that kind word of introduction. Thanks to each and every one of you for tuning in today. I am Brother James, and I greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. And I welcome you to yet another edition of the Preaching of the Cross Radio Broadcast. This program is brought to you from the home base of the Bible Baptist Church in the Land of Florida, and heard by the grace of God on many radio stations around the world. And we certainly thank the Lord that wherever you are today, whatever time of the day or night it might be, that God has directed you to tune in to this particular program. And with all my heart, I hope and pray that God will make it a blessing and a challenge to your life. We do our best to preach and teach the Word of God on these programs, but we also do our best to encourage and inspire you to live the Christian life, to surrender yourself fully and completely to the Lord Jesus Christ, and part of that challenge, part of that challenge, involves our bringing to you biographical sketches of great men and women who have lived in such a way, who have died in such a way, as to go down in church history as heroes of the Christian faith.

Why Christian Martyrs Matter

SPEAKER_00 1:21

On the program today, and God willing, next time, we're going to take a look at some of the men and women who have been martyrs for the Christian faith, those who have died for the cause of Jesus Christ, those who have sealed their testimony with their blood. You know the Bible says in Philippians 1, verse 29, for unto you it is given on the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.

George Wagner Faces Death For Doctrine

SPEAKER_00 1:50

On February 8th, 1527, in Munich, Germany, George Wagner, a Christian, was brutally killed because of his firm belief and conviction that baptism in water does not save men from their sins. I know those of you listening to my voice in the United States of America might find it shocking and amazing to think that anyone ever lost their life over their position on water baptism. But that's just because you've enjoyed the liberty and the freedom provided for you by the Constitution of the United States of America, and you've enjoyed that all the days of your life and your father's life and your father's father's life, and going back some 200 years and more, but such has not always been the case. Anytime you have had a situation where the church and the state were not separate, and where the state was run by the church, or the church was run by the state, then men have always been subject to death over points of religious doctrine and practice. Four hundred and uh well, almost five hundred years ago now, this man Wagner believed that water baptism could not save you. Now I realize that in this enlightened 20th century or 21st century now, uh day and age in which we live, I realize that uh men consider themselves very intelligent, very well educated. Our technology has advanced, our social services have advanced, our science falsely so called has advanced, our medicine has advanced, and yet by and large, most people when it comes to religion are still living in pagan darkness. Some believe that money can buy their way into heaven. Some believe that putting their name on the membership role of a particular church will earn them a place of eternal life. Some actually believe that water sprinkled, water poured, water in a tub with you placed beneath it, can wash your sins away and take you to heaven. Now, these people wouldn't say that. They'd say, Oh no, the grace of God saves you, oh no, the blood of Jesus saves you. But if you ask them, can I be saved by the grace of God and the blood of Jesus without that water, they will quickly begin to do the little uh two-step shuffle, they'll quickly begin to do the little uh uh the little dance around the around the truth, because they don't want to look you in the eye and say, No, you can't get to heaven without water, because they know that makes water the agent or the instrument of salvation, or at least a requirement for salvation. And the Bible says, For by grace are you saved through faith, and that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And you see water, if you're blind, you can feel it. Nevertheless, there are still people today who believe that water baptism saves sinners, and there are many today who believe that it certainly does not save sinners. Well, we should thank God for people like George Wagner who were willing to give their lives for the truth, such as the heritage that has been passed down from our forefathers, our Christian forefathers. George Wagner was taken prisoner on account of four charges leveled against him. These four things that he strongly believed in are four things from which he did not waver. He didn't move an inch. Even when his life was threatened, he would not compromise these principles. Now you need to keep in mind, it was it was not the Muslim religion that wanted to put Wagner to death. It was not uh atheists that wanted to put him to death. It was not uh tribal uh jungle people who worshiped idols and totem poles and things of that nature who wanted to put him to death. No, in control of the political world of George Wagner's day, in control of the religious world of George Wagner's day, was a very powerful agency that passed itself off as a church when such a disguise suited its purposes, and passed itself off as a political state power when such a disguise suited its purposes. But George Wagner lived in a day when the Roman Catholic Church was in control. It was the state church, it had a stranglehold on the people, it forced them to comply with and obey their false teachings and their pagan beliefs.

Four Charges Against His Beliefs

SPEAKER_00 6:55

Now the four charges that were leveled against George Wagner were as followed. Number one, he taught that priests could not forgive men their sins. Isn't that interesting? This man has been imprisoned and sentenced to die for preaching and teaching that the only one who could forgive your sins is the Son of God the Lord Jesus Christ, who died on the cross to pay for your sins, and that no one else, no one short of God Almighty, could forgive sins. Number two. He did not believe that a man could stand at an altar in a church and say Phi Fi Fo Fum Fred Barney Wilma Yabba Dabba do and get God to come down from heaven and enter a piece of bread and die all over again as a man chewed him up and swallowed him. You say, Well, that's kind of silly. Who who in their right mind would think that a man could call God down from heaven and make God get in a piece of bread so a man could chew him up and eat him? Well, you'd be surprised. You'd be surprised. Uh well educated, socially adjusted, good citizens, believe all kinds of things when they step through the door of a church house. You'd be surprised. Number three. George Wagner did not believe that the bread in the Roman Catholic Mass was the body of Jesus Christ. He believed it was a piece of bread. And he believed that if you if you scientifically tested that bread, you'd find out it was bread, not human flesh. He believed if you tested that bread by the scriptures, the word of God, you would find out that when Jesus said, Take eat this as my body, his body was still sitting in a chair. You would find out, if you checked the word of God, that when Jesus Christ said, Eat this bread and drink this blood, that the Bible says in the passage, the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. George Wagner believed. He believed when he gave his disciples the fruit of the vine, that's what they had in the cup. Number four. He believed it took the grace of God and the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that a man could not be saved because somebody sprinkled some water on his forehead or stuck him down in a pool of water. For those four reasons, Wagner was sentenced to die.

Pressure To Recant In Prison

SPEAKER_00 10:03

It is reported that while Wagner was in prison, on several occasions he was personally visited by many high officials and governing dignitaries, and that these men tried to persuade him to recant, sought to get him to change his mind, begged him to renounce his beliefs. But Wagner continued firm and immovable. He remained steadfast and faithful in the truths of the Word of God. And finally, he was condemned to die by the flames. That is, Wagner was to be burned alive at the stake in God's name, by men who said they were doing God a service by putting a man to death who believed what the Word of God, the Holy Bible, said and did not believe, did not believe, what a company of black robed priests taught if their teaching ran contrary to the scriptures. As the date for the execution of Wagner drew near, it is said that his wife and children were brought into the prison to see him. This cruel in itself, tearing at the heart of the man, an attempt to break down his will and his resolve. The purpose of the ruling authorities was that he would be moved and tempted to recant when he thought of leaving behind his beloved wife and his precious children. But it didn't work. Someone asked him if he would like to be back home with his wife and children, and Wagner responded, Of course, of course I would. But he also said that even though his family was so dear to him that all the money in the world could not purchase them from him, yet, nevertheless, he would not forsake the Lord his God. You see, he loved his wife, but he loved the Lord more. He loved his children, but he loved the Lord more. He loved as any as any man does. He he loved his own life, the Bible says in Ephesians 5 that every man does, but he loved the Lord more, and he would not deny the word of God or the God of the Word for his family or for his life. In fact, Wagner said, My wife and children are so dear that the Duke could not pay me for them with the revenue of the state, but I part with them for my inmost love to God. End of quote. Now many people quote the Bible, many people read the Bible, many people preach and teach from the Bible. But George Wagner was a man who put the words of God into practice. Jesus said in Luke chapter 14, verse 26, I want you to listen carefully, Jesus Christ is speaking, the Son of God, the Lord of glory, the Savior of the world. Jesus Christ is speaking, and he says, Luke 14, verse 26, If any man come to me and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also he cannot be my disciple. Now, would a man with a heart full of love like George Wagner, would that would that man hate his father? Oh no. But it sure seemed to the world like he did. Would that man hate his mother? Certainly not. But everyone would swear that he did. Would that man hate his wife? Well, you see a man who could be freed from prison, live the rest of his days with his wife. Who refuses to take the way out, you'd say that man must hate his wife, and surely it looked that way. The weeping, broken hearted, confused children who left that prison house. Surely had the devil whispered in their ear, Your father hates you, they would have been inclined to believe him. But my friend, he put his own life in the same category.

Loving God More Than Family

SPEAKER_00 14:38

It looked and seemed as though he hated himself. But all of this was because the natural love, the genuine affection of the human heart toward other humans, even toward one's own self, paled in comparison when it was laid alongside George Wagner's love for his Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, yes, oftentimes it will seem as though the heart is leaning one way as the world looks on, but as God looks, as God looks into the motives, tries the reins and the balances, he realizes, he recognizes, that that love for God is so great that it appears to be hatred for man, and Jesus Christ commended this and said, This is the mark, this is the mark of a true disciple of mine.

Final Questions Before The Flames

SPEAKER_00 15:38

On the day of his execution, Wagner was asked, Do you really believe in God as confidently as you say? Wagner said, and I quote now, these are his words, it would be hard for me to face a death so terrible if I did not. He had no pretensions. He had no foolish and silly ideas about God making death easy for him. Oh no, he knew, he knew death by burning at the stake would be a horrible thing. But he could face it with God, the God who promised he would never leave him nor forsake him. A Roman Catholic priest was brought to him, and the priest promised to say a mass and to pray for him after his death, like that would do any good at all. Like a saved born-again man needed, needed someone who thought he was eating God in a cookie to pray for him. Imagine that. Anyway, Wagner spoke up and told the man, he said, if you want to pray for me while I'm alive, that'd be fine. If you want to pray for God to grant me patience and courage, you can do that. If you'll pray and ask God to let me die with a Christian's faith and to endure the punishment of death which awaited him, that that was alright. He said, Pray for me now, that God will give me patience, humility, and faith. I need no prayer after death. And he certainly did not. The promise to the Christian, given in the Word of God, which cannot be broken, spoken by the God who cannot lie, is that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. You certainly don't need anybody praying for you once you're present with the Lord. That much is certain. Well, as they came to the place of execution, a highly educated man who was a teacher in a Roman Catholic school was allowed to speak with George Wagner. He was allowed to speak to him before he was put to death in order to give him one last chance to save himself. All he had to do was deny the truth. All he had to do was embrace paganism, and he could have lived, gone home to his wife, raised his children. Mr. Wagner was asked by this priest what he believed about baptism. Upon this subject, the man said, George, what thinkest thou? Thou holdest baptism to be nothing, and yet thou knowest that Christ was baptized in Jordan. This, of course, gave Wagner, as it does any man who knows the Bible, an open door of opportunity for one last time to explain the reason and purpose of Christ's

Why Was Jesus Baptized Then

SPEAKER_00 18:47

baptism, and to preach to all those who were in attendance to witness his execution that salvation stands in the blood atonement of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary and not and not in his baptism. My friend, can you not see the folly? Here is a priest who wants a man to admit that water baptism saves sinners from their sins and stakes his belief in that false doctrine on the fact that Jesus Christ was baptized in Jordan. Does it not strike you as odd? In light of the fact that Jesus Christ had no sins to wash away? In light of the fact that Jesus Christ did not need to be saved, in light of the fact that he indeed was the Savior? If water baptism washes away sins, why pray tell was Jesus baptized? If water baptism saves sinners, then why pray tell did the one who was not a sinner submit to baptism? And why pray tell if water baptism would save sinners? Did Jesus Christ not point to John the Baptist and say, There's all you need, folks, get down in the water? Why did he go to the cross? You know it's a sad thing. There's people in your town. There are people in your town that still believe water baptism saves sinners. Wagner said, Even that Christ is my savior for faith in whom I today yield up myself, and whom today with a good confession before all I will glorify. That's what I believe, that's where I stand, that's where I will die. As George Wagner was delivered over into the hands of his executioner, he was given one last statement to be made, and to be heard by all those present, and this is what he said, and I quote, This day will I confess my God to the glory of Christ Jesus, that such happiness is afforded me in the sight of all the world. He counted himself a happy man to be able to die for his faith in Jesus Christ. The Bible says in first Peter chapter four, Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you, but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye, for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you.

His Death And Our Present Challenge

SPEAKER_00 21:46

On their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. Yet if any man suffers a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf. It is said that George Vaughn Wagner went to the stake with a smile on his face. Isn't that amazing? There are saved born again people today facing no difficulty, no hardship whatsoever, and they don't have a smile on their face. The executioner took George Wagner, tied him to the stake, hung a bag of gunpowder around his neck, and then set him on fire. It is said that the last thing that was heard to come from George Wagner's lips was that he cried out repeatedly in a loud and clear voice, the name of Jesus. He died crying, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. And thus he died on February the 8th, 1527. Some people have the idea that being a Christian will mean the end of all their problems, their troubles, their battles, their trials. In reality, it may mean just the beginning. Jesus declared in John 16, verse 33, in the world ye shall have tribulation. But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. The Bible expressly tells us that all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. That's 2 Timothy 3, verse 12. Baptists and other Christians have often lighted up the darkness of history by the flames of their martyrs because they stood on the belief that salvation came through the blood of Jesus Christ, not through water. God's people have been the perpetual objects of bitter, relentless persecution for centuries of time. In fact, history shows that during the period that is commonly called the Dark Ages, covering about twelve centuries, over fifty million people died. Martyr, martyr deaths for their faith in Jesus Christ. George Wagner proved the strength and genuineness of his faith in Jesus Christ by undergoing such a horrible death. How about you? How about you, dear listener? How have you shown your faith in Christ today? Why most saved people would not be at risk of being burned at the stake for their beliefs, even if such things were still taking place in our nation today, because nobody knows what they believe. Because they won't speak up, they won't speak out, they won't declare their faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. How about you, my friend? Are you living, are you living a life that would end in death if it were not legal for you to live the Christian life? I'm asking you, if it was against the law, if it was a crime punishable by death to live for Jesus, would you still be free? Would you still be alive? Why? Why are you not speaking out? Why are you not speaking up? Why are you not openly and publicly declaring your faith in Jesus Christ? My friend, don't don't hold any any delusions of grandeur. Don't don't suppose you'd lay down your life as a martyr for the faith. If you're not standing for Jesus now, if you're not standing for the Lord when it costs you nothing, chances are very, very, very good. You you certainly wouldn't stand for him if it would cost you your life. George Wagner died for Jesus because he lived for Jesus. How about you?