Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Apostles

July 30
How the Apostles and Early Church Fathers Died:

1. Matthew -
Suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia, killed by a sword wound.
2. Mark (one of the first missionaries) -
Died in Alexandria, Egypt after being dragged by Horses through the streets until he was dead.
3. Luke (Paul's doctor) -
Hanged in Greece as a result of his preaching to the lost.
4. John -
Faced martyrdom when he was boiled in huge basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution In Rome. He was miraculously delivered from death. John was then sentenced to the mines on the prison island of Patmos. He wrote his prophetic Book of Revelation on Patmos. The Apostle John was later freed and returned to serve as a Bishop in modern Turkey. History assumes that he died an old man, the only apostle to die peacefully. No one truly knows.
5. Peter -
Crucified upside down on a cross. According to church tradition he told his tormentors that he felt unworthy to die In the same way that Jesus Christ had died. Thus, the inverting of the cross.
6. James -
The leader of the church in Jerusalem was thrown over a hundred feet down from the southeast pinnacle of the Temple when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller's club. Historically this was the same pinnacle where Satan had taken Jesus during the Temptation.
7. James the Son of Zebedee -
A fisherman by trade when Jesus Called him to a lifetime of ministry. As a strong leader of the church, James was ultimately beheaded at Jerusalem. The Roman officer who guarded James watched amazed as James defended his faith at his trial. Later, the officer Walked beside James to the place of execution. Overcome by conviction, he declared his new faith to the judge and knelt beside James to accept the martyrs crown by beheading.
8. Bartholomew (also known as Nathaniel) -
A missionary to Asia and he witnessed for our Lord in present day Turkey. Bartholomew was martyred for his preaching in Armenia where he was flayed to death by a whip.
9. Andrew -
Was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Patras, Greece. After being whipped severely by seven soldiers they tied his body to the cross with cords to prolong his agony. His followers reported that when he was led toward the cross, Andrew saluted it in these words: 'I have long desired and expected this happy hour. The cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging on it.' He continued to preach to his tormentors another two days until he expired.
10. Thomas -
Stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church on the sub-continent.
11. Jude -
Killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in Christ.
12. Matthias -
Stoned and then beheaded. He was the apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot who committed suicide.
13. Paul -
Tortured and then beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero at Rome in A.D. 67. Paul endured a lengthy imprisonment, which allowed him to write his many epistles to the churches he had formed throughout the Roman Empire. These letters, which taught many of the foundational Doctrines of Christianity, form a large portion of the New Testament.
14. Simon the Zealot -
Simon was traditionally martyred by being sawn in half.
15. Philip -
Philip evangelized in Phrygia where hostile Jews had him tortured and then crucified upside down. Some sources have him being stoned to death.

May we who believe face life and face death with the assurance of eternal life that these early martyrs had.  May we be able to say with them, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." – II Timothy 4:7

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