Believers have not been called to a life of luxury. In fact, those who have served the purposes of Christ the most in their lives have been called upon to make great sacrifices in His behalf and in the behalf of His Kingdom's purposes.
The Word says that people of faith are to "count it all joy," James 1:2, when difficulties arise in their lives. A cursory glance at the lives of the twelve Apostles conveys the reality that those who would "live godly for Christ Jesus will suffer persecution," II Timothy 3:12, but they endured it with the power of His grace upon them.
1. Matthew suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia where he was killed by the sword.
2. Mark met his demise in Alexandria, Egypt, where he was dragged through the streets by horses until he was dead.
3. Luke was hanged in Greece as a result of his powerful preaching to the lost.
4. John, the Beloved Apostle, faced martyrdom when he was boiled in huge basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution in Rome. However, he was miraculously delivered from death. John was then sentenced to the mines on the prison island of Patmos, from which he wrote his prophetic Book of Revelation. John was later freed and returned to serve as Bishop of Edessa in modern Turkey . He died an old man, the only apostle to ultimately die a natural death.
5. Peter was crucified upside down on an x-shaped cross. According to church tradition it was because he told his tormentors that he felt unworthy to die in the same way that Jesus Christ had died.
6. James the Just who had been the leader of the church in Jerusalem, was thrown down over a hundred feet from the southeast pinnacle* of the Temple in Jerusalem because he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When he miraculously survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller's club. *This was the same pinnacle where Satan had taken Jesus during the Temptation.
7. James the Great, the son of Zebedee, 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 beheading as a Christian.
8. Bartholomew, also known as Nathaniel, was a missionary to Asia. He 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 for two days until he expired.
10. Thomas was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church in the sub-continent
11. Jude was shot with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in Christ.
12. Matthias, the apostle chosen to replace the betrayer Judas Iscariot, was stoned and then beheaded.
13. Paul, was tortured and ultimately beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero at Rome in A.D. 67. Paul had endured a lengthy imprisonment prior to his execution, which allowed him to write his many epistles to the churches he had formed throughout the Roman Empire . These letters, which teach many of the foundational doctrines of Christianity, form a large portion of the New Testament.
How are we doing? How strong is our faith? Would we be willing to endure persecution, torture, and cruel death because we refuse to deny our Savior?
In our own strength, none of us could stand. In His strength, we can. May we live our lives today in the power that raised Jesus from the dead, (see Romans 8:11) so no matter how we might be called upon to die, we will be endued with the same grace that the martyrs of old experienced at the threshold where they crossed from life to LIFE.
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