Eye Witness I

Rev.12:¹¹ (AMPC) “And they have overcome (conquered) him by means of the blood of the Lamb and by the utterance of their testimony, for they did not love and cling to life even when faced with death [holding their lives cheap till they had to die for their witnessing].”

Yesterday, we established that not many people would argue with the fact that Jesus actually walked on earth. We also answered the question about His resurrection based on scriptural witnesses. For the next few days, we will be examining the lives of those who actually saw the resurrected Christ and why we should believe them. The greatest witness to the resurrected Christ is not in what the witnesses said alone but in how they actually died. It is important to mention that this information we will be sharing is in the public domain so I encourage you to actually search it out yourself.

The first witness we will examine is Peter and he was crucified upside down by Nero. This was the same Peter that denied Jesus before a little girl. If he did not see the resurrected Jesus, would Peter have been willing to die for the cause of Christ? The denial of Jesus was recorded to show us what Peter would do on a normal day when faced with death. The second is Andrew, Peter’s brother. Andrew was asked to deny Jesus but when he refused, he was scourged and tied to a cross and left there to die a long and painful death.

The third is James, the son of Zebedee; Herod set up someone to accuse him falsely and then killed him with a sword. Guess what? That accuser experienced the resurrection power and gave up his life too for Jesus and was martyred alongside James. The fourth is John; he was the only one that did not die a violent death. History has it that John was put in hot boiling oil and he came out alive. So, he was secluded in the isle of Patmos where he died peacefully in 100AD. Next is Phillip; he was crucified in Egypt fifty-four years after Christ died.

Bartholomew was skinned alive and then beheaded because he did not let go of the truth that Jesus is alive! Next is Matthew; he was stabbed in the back after criticizing the king of Ethiopia for his morals. I strongly believe that God will raise prophets like Matthew in Nigeria, prophets that will speak the truth to power. The next is James son of Alpheus; he was clubbed to death.

Prayer [song]: Jesus, I adore You. I lay my life before You. How I love You. Amen!