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The Apostles of Old- What kept on motivating them that we are missing today?

What kept on motivating them that we are missing today?

I remembered what Jesus told his disciples before his death that they were going to suffer persecution, trials, and death for his name sake. I am too sure that none of Jesus’ words has ever fallen to the ground from the prophesy of the end time- rumors of wars, nations against nations, rise of false prophets, famines, etc (Matthew 24) to the prophesy of his death. I decided to know how his disciples’ lives ended by searching through websites and e-books.
But one thing was common to all their death- they were murdered, accused unfairly and persecuted for preaching the gospel.
However, I kept wondering within myself, why did these apostles agree to die for Jesus? Even after seeing how their master Jesus was killed and how their fellow apostles were being killed one after the other; they still maintained their faith and prefer dying for it.
In comparison (this I did because we are all going to be judged on the same standard), I checked our present world to see that our so called Christians doesn’t seem to be too eager in dying for the gospel. Then I ask myself this question - What kept on motivating them that we are missing today?
Before we answer this question, let us examine how our apostles became martyrs
Matthew       Arrested in Ethiopia.  It was there that he was staked or impaled to the earth by spears and then beheaded
Mark             He died in Alexandria, Egypt, after being dragged by horses through the streets until he was dead.
Luke             He was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous preaching to the lost.
John            He 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            He was crucified upside down on an x-shaped cross, according to church tradition because he told his tormentors that he felt unworthy to die in the same way that Jesus Christ had died.
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.
James the Greater Son of Zebedee, He 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      He was also known as Nathanael was a missionary to Asia. He witnessed to our Lord in present day Turkey. Bartholomew was martyred for his preaching in Armenia when he was believed to have been flayed to death by a whip.  He may have also been crucified. 
Andrew        He 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       He was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church in the subcontinent.
Jude             The brother of Jesus, was killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in Christ.
Matthias,      He was chosen by the Apostles to replace Judas Iscariot, after the death of Judas in the Field of Blood.  Information concerning the life and death of Matthias is vague and contradictory. One tradition maintains that Matthias was stoned at Jerusalem by the Jews, and then beheaded. 
Barnabas     One of the groups of seventy disciples, wrote the Epistle of Barnabas. He preached throughout Italy and Cyprus. Barnabas was stoned to death at Salonika.
Phillip          He was crucified, according to the plaque in the church of the Holy Apostles. According to most historians, Philip’s death was exceedingly cruel. He was impaled by iron hooks in his ankles and hung upside down to die.

Paul             He was believed to have been 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.
Outlined above are the different ways the apostles died for one purpose- the gospel. But how many of us these days would like to pass through this intense punishment?
Again, I ask myself this question - What kept on motivating them that we are missing today?
We have the same gospel, same bible showing documented evidence of the truth, pastors everywhere teaching the truth. We even have free access to hear and spread the gospel. We have the Holy Spirit even more. So what kept this disciples going that we do not have now?
From my study of the scriptures, I realized that “the truth” kept them going. No one will ever die to defend lies but good people are ready to die for the truth. The truth kept the apostles going. What is this truth? Pontius Pilate asked this same question in John 18:37-38:. Jesus himself stated clearly in John 14:6 that HE is the truth. Their firm belief in Jesus, his words, doctrines, principles was so real to them and was seen as the best way to God by these apostles. They had complete and total trust in the truth. They could give their lives to defend this truth. This is what we are missing today.
But now, people are not ready to die for this truth anymore because they have failed to have a total understanding of the truth itself. They have become lovers of lies, pleasures and themselves instead of the truth. In 2Tim 3; 1 as we draw closer to the end-times, Christians begin to drift away from the truth and their first love begins to wax cold. What we are missing today is the total dependence on the truth.
Even the so called preachers have failed to preach this truth as it has been in the time of the apostles (Jude 4). They now restructure the original truth in diverse dilutions that suit their needs and followers. So tell me, how can there be that initial motivation? The Holy Spirit is still with us, the scriptures are here but the truth has been tampered with. This is where we missed it. By redefining the truth, we had lost the genuine love for God that came with Christianity.

Conclusion:
John 8:32: And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Fight to know the truth today, love the truth, fight the good fight for the truth and walk in the truth.
Look for a church that teaches the truth, only this can guarantee an everlasting life.

God bless you.

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