Acts 17:6
Many of Jesus’ disciples suffered horrific deaths. Peter was crucified upside down. James was beheaded. Andrew was crucified on an X-shaped cross. Philip, Jude, and Simon were also crucified. Bartholomew was skinned alive and beheaded. Matthew was stabbed to death. Thomas was speared to death. James was stoned, crucified, and beaten to death. Matthias (the replacement for Judas Iscariot) was stoned and beheaded. Jesus warned His original disciples before He was killed, “If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.“ And when their faith was finally tested when Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane, “they forsook Him and fled.” What happened to turn a group of cowards into a core of courageous carriers of the gospel who turned the world upside down and were willing to die for their beliefs? One thing: they witnessed the Resurrection. You may not be called to die for Christ, but you are called to live for Him.
