How The Apostles of the First Century Died
Matthew
... suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia, killed by a sword wound.
Mark
... died in Alexandria , Egypt , after being dragged by horses through the streets until he was dead.
Luke
... was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous preaching to the 'lost'.
John
... faced martyrdom when he was boiled in a 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 . He wrote his prophetic Book of Revelation on Patmos . The apostle John was later freed and returned to serve as Bishop of Edessa in modern Turkey . He died as an old man, the only apostle to die peacefully.
Peter
... was crucified upside down on an X-shaped cross.
According to church tradition - he told his tormentors that he felt "unworthy to die in the same way that Jesus Christ had died".
James
... the leader of the church in Jerusalem, was thrown over 30 metres down from the pinnacle of the Temple at Jerusalem*
This was because 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.
* This was the same location, the the southeast pinnacle of the Temple at Jerusalem, where Satan reputedly sought to tempt Jesus (Matthew 4:5-7)
James the Great
... the Son of Zebedee, was 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 beheading as a Christian.
Bartholomew
... was also known as Nathaniel, a missionary to Asia. 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.
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.
Thomas
... was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church in the sub-continent
Jude
... was killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in Christ.
Matthias
... the Apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot, was stoned and then beheaded.
Paul
... was tortured and then beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero at Rome in A.D. 67, after enduring a lengthy imprisonment.
This time of imprisonment 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.
Today ... almost 2000 years on ... has the cost of the growth and development of Christianity been paid for in any more blood?
FACT! ... In the world today ... An average of 171,000 Christians worldwide are martyred for their faith per year.
These precious believers in Christ pay for their faith IN BLOOD - just as those who were empowered and entrusted to establish the early Church all those years ago.
KNOW THIS ... DEAR BELIEVERS IN CHRIST TODAY ... The days ahead carry the reality of far greater darkness:
- You will be tested for your faith
- There will be no benevolent 'whisking away' of the gutless, faithless, lukewarm, materialistic, self-centered, prosperity-gospel focussed 'Western Church' before The Great Tribulation!
- God will 'Perfect His Bride' ... the End Times Christian Church ... not with some pathetic eloping tactic by shamefully and immorally whisking Her away ... explained by the false doctrine that has seduced the gutless Western Christian Church known as "_P_R_E_T_R_I_B_U_L_A_T_I_O_N___ R_A_P_T_U_R_E_ " ... but rather exposing Her to the "_R_E_F_I_N_E_R_S___F_I_R_E_"
- In the days ahead, you will either overcome by "the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of your testimony; and by loving your lives NOT ... even unto the death" ... or you will "Sink like a Stone" ... and drown in the lukewarm decadent vomit that proudly presents and promotes itself as Contemporary Relevant Christianity (... Franchised, Formulated Fabulantastically Polished, Packaged, Presented, Published, and unashamedly Pawned as THE CHURCH - NOW - WOW- POW!)
I ENCOURAGE YOU - DEAR BELIEVERS IN CHRIST - In terms of the days ahead, to:
- Not bow the knee to Satan, Antichrist, and that which you know to be wrong in the eyes and the Word of God
- Take courage from those in Scripture such as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego - who said:
Dan 3:17-18 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
- Take courage from Daniel - who, when informed of laws passed making it illegal to pray to the true God, did so anyway - in public defiance of such evil legislation, such as that as it relates to schools and public places today:
Dan 6:10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.
- Take courage from Stephen - who fearlessly declared the truth even before his assassins and executioners, saying:
Act 7:51- 60 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
- Take courage from Peter and the Apostles - who preached the Word of Truth in public, even in the Temple, in defiance of the Law:
Act 5:25-33 Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people. Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him. When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.
- Take courage from Paul and Silas - who, when beaten and imprisoned for their stand against demonic commercialism, rejoiced, sang and praised God all the more. As it says of their persecutors :
Act s 16:23-25 And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
