Scripture: "And the King shall
answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you,
Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the
least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto
me." Mat 25:40 (KJV)
I don't think there could be a more exemplary
list of ordinary people whose lives were so completely
involved for Christ that even the threat of
death couldn't persuade them to doubt or to
shirk His call for duty. Oh, that
we would have those kind of believers today - yet on
every hand people are leaving the church and
leaving the faith all because Christianity to
them, has become "inconvenient".
Real quickly here this morning, can I just
mention how the men who followed Jesus responded
to the call?
James The
Great - James the son of Zebedee, the elder
brother of John, and a relative of our Lord; as
Salome was cousin to the Virgin Mary. Due
to the strong persecution of the Christians at the time... Herod Agrippa promised
that he would strike at the leadership of the
Christians and struck first at James who was
beheaded. Some accounts say he was run through
by a sword, however Fox's Book of Martyrs states
he was beheaded.
Phillip... often spoken of as "The Disciple"
and The Evangelist"...
worked diligently in upper Asia bringing
literally thousands to Christ; yet he suffered
martyrdom at Heliopolis, in Phrygia where he was scourged, thrown into prison, and
then afterwards,
crucified, A.D. 54
Matthew... The Passionate Preacher and
Pastor's Pastor, served faithfully in Parthia,
and Ethiopia where he suffered martyrdom, being
slain with a halberd in A.D. 60.
James the Less.... said to be the brother of the
Lord, and was elected to the oversight of the
churches of Jerusalem. He was also the author of
the Epistle ascribed to James in the sacred
canon. At the age of ninety-four he was beaten
and stoned by the Jews; and finally had his
brains dashed out with a fuller's club.
Matthias..... Elected by the disciples to take
the place of Judas. Not much is known about
Matthias accept that he suffered martyrdom for
his Lord in
Jerusalem where he was beheaded.
Andrew...... the brother of Peter. He
preached the gospel to many Asiatic nations; but
on his arrival at Edessa (ancient city in NW
Mesopotamia or IRAQ) he was taken and crucified
on a cross, the two ends of which were fixed
transversely in the ground. Hence the
derivation of the term, St. Andrew's Cross.
Mark.... employed by Peter as a scribe... wrote
his own Gospel in Greek under the close
inspection of Peter. Mark was dragged to pieces
by the people of Alexandria, at the great
solemnity of Serapis their idol, ending his life
under their merciless hands.
Peter... One of the great leaders of the church was said to
be crucified with his head being down and his
feet upward, himself so requiring, because he
was (he said) unworthy to be crucified after the
same form and manner as the Lord was.
Paul... "the love slave", who before he
met Jesus was called Saul. After his great travail and unspeakable labors
in promoting the Gospel of Christ,
Paul also suffered also in this first persecution under
Nero and was beheaded for the sake of Christ.
Jude.... The brother of James, was commonly
called Thaddeus and was crucified at Edessa,
A.D. 72.
Bartholomew.... Preached in several countries,
and having translated the Gospel of Matthew into
the language of India, he propagated it
throughout the country there. He was at length cruelly beaten and
then crucified by the impatient idolaters.
Thomas... Called Didymus, preached the Gospel in
Parthia and India, where he excited the rage of
the pagan priests and he was martyred by being
thrust through with a spear.
Luke... The Physician; the author of the
Gospel which goes under his name. He travelled
with Paul through various countries, and is
supposed to have been martyred by being hanged on an olive tree,
by the idolatrous priests of Greece.
Simon.... Surnamed Zelotes, preached the Gospel
in Africa and also in Britain, was crucified
there in Britain in A.D. 74.
John the Beloved....Called "The beloved" was
brother to James the Great. It is said that he
founded the churches in Smyrna, Pergamos, Sardis, Philadelphia,
Laodicea, and Thyatira.
From Ephesus he was ordered to be sent to Rome,
where it is affirmed he was cast into a cauldron
of boiling oil. He escaped by miracle, without
injury. Domitian afterwards banished him to the
Isle of Patmos, where he wrote the Book of
Revelation. Then Nerva, the successor of Domitian,
recalled him. He was the only apostle who
escaped a violent death.
Barnabas... a man from Cyprus, but of Jewish
descent, and often called "the encourager", was
also martyred around A.D. 73.
These were the followers of Christ, lovers of
the Lord and soldiers of the cross. Each of them
not only lived for Jesus, but they died for Him
as well.
What about you??? Surely in light of all that
these men went through for the cause and Name of
Christ... there is something you can do.
Listen... when a cup of cool water is given from
one who
has himself suffered thirst, it is given with great
intensity and compassion and understanding. When a meal is prepared for and shared with a shut-in or
someone less-fortunate, that meal is
"twice-blessed". When a kind word is spoken to
someone who is down and a prayer is offered for
their recovery, all of heaven is moved by such a
simple act of faith.
You may not die for the cause and Name of Jesus
Christ... but you can surely live for Him.
Let's pray.... Father, make me a person of
ACTION today. Don't allow me to just sit back
and do nothing when there are so many needing to
hear Your WORD today. Father, I have determined that no
matter what the cost, I will serve the LORD! In
Jesus Name I Pray, Amen.
