HOW the APOSTLES DIED
-According to both tradition and church history…
_1_ Matthew
Suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia , killed by a sword wound.
_2_ Mark
Died in Alexandria , Egypt , after being dragged by horses through the
streets until he was dead.
_3_ Luke
Was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous 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. 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.
_5_ Peter
He 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
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.
This
was the same pinnacle where Satan had taken Jesus during the Temptation.*
_7_ James the Great
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.
_8_ Bartholomew
Also known as Nathaniel, was 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.
_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 killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in Christ.
_12_ Matthias
The apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot, was stoned
and then beheaded.
_13_ Paul
Was 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.
Perhaps this is a reminder to us that our sufferings here are indeed
minor compared to the intense persecution and cold cruelty faced by the
apostles/disciples during their times for the sake of the Faith. “And ye
shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake:”
“But he that endureth to the end shall be saved.” - Matthew 10:22.
| — | Pastor Robert Morris |
| — | Pastor Robert Morris |
God is not just love. He is unconditional love. When He loves us, He doesn’t take into account who we are and what we do. He just loves because that’s who He is!
We all know this…
But compare it with the love you and I show. We claim to love others and when it comes to those whom we love more, we start calling it unconditional. We claim that we will love this particular person no matter what, that even if they hate us, we will counter with love forever. But there is more to it.
If we truly love someone unconditionally, then we’re able to love all.
Confused? Stay with me. When we love someone unconditionally, we would tolerate any hate or evil done to us from that person. Why? Because the condition that this person has to love us back does not apply. Unconditional. Now, that’s easy enough to understand. But there’s another condition we tend to forget. The condition that someone is our spouse, children, family, friends, etc. Would we love the same person if they weren’t any of these? They could be strangers. We don’t even know half of the people in the world, but if we could love someone regardless of their status to us, that’s unconditional love. Worse yet, many people of the world probably even hate us (our “enemies”). But once again, unconditional love does not apply to the condition that they have to love us back. That’s why Jesus calls us to love our enemies! It’s unconditional love he wants from us! Once these conditions are gone, then this love isn’t about who they are or what they do. When we’re truly able to love our family and friends at their worst, we could love anyone else. You could love everyone.
Now that we realized this, most of us would say we never loved unconditionally. The fact that our “beloved” loved us back or was close to us wasn’t put into consideration. With our view of love shattered, many would think that a love without conditions is impossible among humans.
But I tell you it’s not.
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” John 13:34
God does not call us to love conditionally. We are called to love UNCONDITIONALLY. Love as God loved us. There is no excuse, for God taught us love through His sacrifice. Need I say more? Don’t take upon anymore conditions when it comes to love. Make it true. Make it pure. Make it unconditional. Love others to the fullest because God loved us to the fullest!
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
