Latest / truthunedited / Fall Asleep to The 12 Apostles_ Their Final Testimonies and the Faith That Changed the World

Transcript

Fall Asleep to The 12 Apostles_ Their Final Testimonies and the Faith That Changed the World · truthunedited

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: They walked with Jesus. They broke bread with him, listened
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: to his voice under the olive trees of Galilee, and
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: watched him heal the sick with a touch. They were fishermen,
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: tax collectors, revolutionaries, ordinary men, living ordinary lives until the
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: day heaven reached down and everything changed. Then the world
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: tried to silence them. Emperors threatened them, religious leaders condemned them.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: Angry crowds demanded they deny what they had seen. But
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: they could not, because they had watched him die on
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: a Roman cross, and three days later they had seen
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: him alive. When the Holy Spirit descended like fire on
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: the day of Pentecost, fear became courage, Doubt became certainty,
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: and twelve trembling men became unstoppable witnesses who would carry
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: the message of the risen Christ to the ends of
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: the earth, even if it cost them everything. Twelve men,
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: twelve missions, twelve deaths, one unshaken truth. Jesus has risen
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: to night. We journey beside them, not as historians analyzing
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: ancient texts, but as listeners gathered around a sacred fire,
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: hearing the testimony of those who loved unto death. The
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: accounts you will hear are drawn from scripture, the writings
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: of the early Church fathers, and sacred tradition preserved across
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: two millennia. While some details vary among historical sources, the
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: central truth remains unchanged. These men saw the risen Lord
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: and gave their lives, proclaiming that truth. Close your eyes,
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: let the noise of the world fade, and rest in
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: the courage of the Apostles, men who carried the light
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: of Heaven into the darkest corners of the earth and
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: never let it go out, even when it cost them everything.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: Chapter one, The Day Everything changed Pentecost. The air in
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: Jerusalem was heavy that morning. Fifty days had passed since
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: the resurrection, and the city overflowed with pilgrims from across
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: the known world, Parthians, Meades, Elamites, travelers from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus,
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: and Asia. They had come to celebrate the feast of Weeks,
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: the harvest festival, unaware that Heaven was about to pour
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: out a different kind of harvest altogether. In a small
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: upper room, hidden from the noise of the streets below,
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: one hundred and twenty believers were Gathered Among them were
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: the eleven remaining apostles, Peter James, John Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James,
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Jude. They
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: had chosen Matthias to replace Judas, the one who had
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: betrayed the Lord. Now they were twelve again, as they
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: had been in the beginning. They were waiting. Jesus had
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: told them to wait, not leave Jerusalem, he had said,
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: but wait for the gift my father promised. They did
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: not fully understand what that meant, but they obeyed. So
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: they prayed, They sang psalms, They remembered his words, his miracles,
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: his face, and they waited. The room was dim lit
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: only by the soft glow of oil lamps. Outside, the
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: sun climbed higher, and the city grew louder. But inside
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: there was a stillness, a holy hush, as if the
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: very walls were holding their breath. Then, without warning, it began.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: First came a sound, not a whisper, not a breeze,
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: but a roar, like the rushing of a mighty wind.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: It filled the entire house. The flames of the lamps
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: flickered wildly, and the air itself seemed to tremble. Some
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: of the disciples stood alarmed. Others fell to their knees,
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: eyes wide, hearts pounding. This was not an earthly wind.
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: This was the breath of God. And then they saw it.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: Tongues of fire, not consuming, not burning, appeared above each
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: of their heads, not one flame, but many, resting gently
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: upon each person, like crowns of living light. Peter felt
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: the warmth settle upon him, not on his skin, but
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: deeper inside his chest, his mind, his very soul. It
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: was as if something that had been locked was now
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: flung open, something that had been silent was now given
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: a voice. John looked at his brother James, and James
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: looked back, and neither needed to speak. They understood. This
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: was the promise, This was the helper, This was the
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: Holy Spirit of God, the same spirit that had hovered
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: over the waters at creation, the same spirit that had
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: raised Jesus from the dead, now dwelling within them. Peter
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: tried to speak, and when he open and his mouth,
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: words poured out, but not in Aramaic, not in Hebrew,
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: in a language he had never learned, never heard, yet
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: somehow knew Around him, the others were doing the same.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: Voices rose in strange tongues, words flowing like rivers from
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: a source they could not see, but could feel, deep
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: and endless. They stumbled out into the street, still speaking,
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: still proclaiming. The crowd that had gathered for the festival
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: turned toward them in shock. A man from Parthia heard
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: his own language, a woman from Egypt heard hers, a
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: merchant from Rome, a farmer from Libya, a scholar from Crete.
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: All of them heard the apostles, speaking in their native tongues,
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: declaring the wonders of God. Some were amazed, others were confused,
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: and a few mocked, saying they are drunk with new wine.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: But Peter, Peter, who had once denied Jesus three times
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: in fear, stepped forward. The same man who had wept
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: bitterly in the courtyard, now stood tall, his voice steady,
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: his eyes burning with conviction. The spirit that rested upon
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: him gave him words, and he spoke them without hesitation.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: this be known to you, and listen carefully to my words.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: These men are not drunk as you suppose. It is
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: only nine in the morning. No, this is what was
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: spoken by the prophet Joel in the last days, God says,
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: I will pour out my spirit on all people. Your
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: sons and daughters will prophesy, Your young men will see visions,
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: your old men will dream dreams. He paused, letting the
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: words settle. Then he continued, his voice, growing stronger. Men
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: and signs. This ge Jesus, whom you crucified, God raised
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: up of that we are all witnesses, being therefore exalted
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: at the right hand of God, and having received from
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: The crowd fell silent. Some of them had been there,
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: some had shouted crucify him, some had watched him die.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: And now this fisherman stood before them, fearless, declaring that
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: the man they had killed was alive. Peter did not stop.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: He quoted King David. He spoke of the resurrection. He
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: declared that Jesus, the one they had rejected, was both
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: Lord and Messiah, seated at the right hand of God,
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: and when he finished, the people were cut to the heart. Brothers,
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: what shall we do, they cried out. Peter's answer was simple,
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: direct and filled with hope. Repent and be baptized, every
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: gift of the Holy Spirit for the promises for you
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: and for your children, and for all who are far off,
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: every one whom the Lord our God calls to himself.
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: That day, three thousand people believed, three thousand souls turned
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: from darkness to light, from death to life. They were baptized,
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: and they joined the small band of believers who had
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: once hidden in fear, now transformed into a living, breathing
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: body of faith. The apostles looked at one another, still
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: trembling from what had just happened. They had not planned this,
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: they had not rehearsed, But the spirit had come, and
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: with it everything changed. Peter, who had once sunk beneath
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: the waves when he doubted, now walked on the water
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: of faith without wavering. John, who had wanted to call
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: down fire on his enemies, now burned with a different
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: kind of fire. The fire of love. Matthew, who had
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: once counted coins for Rome, now counted souls for the kingdom,
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: and Thomas, who had demanded proof, now needed none. They
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: understood now the mission was not over when Jesus ascended.
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: It was just beginning. From that day forward, they knew
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: what it meant to follow Jesus. It meant to go
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: where he sent them, no matter the cost. It meant
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: to speak his name even when kings commanded silence. It
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: meant to love the world so deeply that they would
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: give their lives for it, just as he had given
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: his life for them. And they knew something else, too,
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: something whispered by the spirit in the quiet moments when
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: the crowds were gone and the room grew still to follow.
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: Jesus meant to walk the same path he walked, and
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: that path led through suffering, through sacrifice, and ultimately through
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: death itself. But it did not end there, because on
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: the other side of death was resurrection, victory, and the
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: arms of the one who had conquered the grave. The
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: room that had once been filled with confusion and sorrow
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: was now filled with light. The men who had scattered
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: in terror were now gathering in courage and The message
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: that had seemed to die on a Roman cross was
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: now spreading like wildfire across the earth. Pentecost was not
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: just the birth of the Church. It was the moment
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: when ordinary men became unstoppable, when fishermen became apostles, when
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: fear became faith, and from that moment there was no
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: turning back. The Apostles left the Upper Room that day
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: as different men. The Spirit had marked them, filled them
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: and set them ablaze. They would preach in the temple courts.
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: They would heal the sick, raise the dead, and cast
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: out demons. They would be arrested, beaten, and threatened. But
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: they would not stop because they had seen the risen Lord.
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: And once you have seen him, nothing, not chains, not swords,
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: not empires, can make you unsee him. The sun set
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: over Jerusalem that evening, painting the sky in shades of
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: gold and crimson, and in the flickering light of the
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: oil lamps. The twelve Apostles gathered once more. They broke
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: bread together, just as they had done with Jesus. They prayed,
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: they sang, and they prepared themselves for the journey ahead,
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: a journey that would take them to the ends of
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: the earth, a journey that would cost them everything, a
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: journey that would, in the end prove to the world
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: that the Gospel was not a story. It was the truth,
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: and the truth, no matter how many times it is buried,
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: always rises again. Chapter two, Peter the Rock Crucified upside down.
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: There was a time when Peter's name was Simon, Simon,
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: son of Jonah, a fisherman from Bethsider, a man whose
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: hands were callous from nets and whose voice was loud
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: from shouting orders across the waves of Galilee. He was married,
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: had a home, and knew the rhythm of the sea
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: as well as he knew his own heartbeat. His life
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: was simple, predictable, ordinary until the day Jesus looked at
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: him and said, follow me, and I will make you
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: a fisher of men. From that moment, Simon became Peter
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: Petros in Greek Cephus in Aramaic, which means rock. It
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: was a name that seemed almost ironic at first, because
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: Peter was anything but steady. He was impulsive, reckless, full
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: of passion, but quick to stumble. He was the one
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: who stepped out of the boat and walked on water,
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: only to sink when fear crept in. He was the
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: one who boldly declared, you are the Christ, the son
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: of the Living God, and moments later was rebuked by
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: Jesus for trying to prevent the cross. He was the
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: one who swore he would never deny his Lord, even
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: if everyone else did. And yet on the night Jesus
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: was arrested, Peter did exactly that. Three times he was
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: asked if he knew the man from Nazareth, three times
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: he said no. And when the rooster crowed at dawn,
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: Peter met the eyes of Jesus across the courtyard. There
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: was no anger in that gaze, only sorrow, only love,
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: and Peter went out into the night and wept bitterly.
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: His heart shattered. He thought it was over, He thought
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: he had lost everything. But after the resurrection, Jesus came
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: to him by the shore of Galilee, where it had
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: all begun. Jesus prepared breakfast over a charcoal fire, the
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: same kind of fire Peter had warmed himself by when
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: he denied the Lord. And three times Jesus asked him, Simon,
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: son of John, you love me. Three times Peter answered, yes, Lord,
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: you know that I love you, And three times, Jesus said,
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: feed my sheep. It was not just forgiveness, it was restoration.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: It was a new commission. Peter had fallen, but he
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: had not been cast away. Instead, he was given the
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: keys to the Kingdom. He was told that upon this
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: rock the Church would be built, and the gates of
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: Hell would not prevail against it. From that day Peter
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: was a different man, not perfect, not without struggles, but
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: unshakable in his love for Jesus. And when the Holy
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: Spirit fell upon him at Pentecost, that love became a
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: fire that could not be put out. Peter preached in
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: Jerusalem with boldness that astonished even the religious leaders. He
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: and John healed a lame man at the beautiful gate
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: of the Temple, And when the crowds gathered in amazement,
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: Peter did not hesitate. He pointed them to Jesus, Why
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: do you stare at us? He said, as if by
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: our own power or godliness we made this man walk.
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: The God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob has glorified his servant, Jesus,
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: whom you delivered over and denied. You killed the author
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: of life. But God raised him from the dead, and
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: we are witnesses the rulers were furious. They arrested Peter
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: and John, threw them into prison and commanded them to
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: stop speaking in the name of Jesus. But Peter's response
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: was calm and clear. Whether it is right in the
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: sight of God to listen to you rather than to God,
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: we have seen and heard. They were released, but the
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: persecution did not stop. Peter was arrested again, thrown into
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: prison again, and this time an angel came in the night,
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: struck off his chains, and led him past the guards
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: and through the iron gate that opened of its own accord.
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: When he came to the house where the believers were
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: praying for him, they thought he was a ghost. But
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: it was Peter, alive and free, still carrying the smell
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: of the prison on his clothes and the light of
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: Heaven in his eyes. He traveled to Antioch, where the
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: followers of Jesus were first called Christians. He preached to
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: Jews and Gentiles alike, though it took a vision from
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: God to convince him that the Gospel was for all people,
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: not just Israel. He saw a sheet descending from Heaven
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: filled with animals that were considered unclean, and he heard
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: the voice of the Lord, say, what God has made clean,
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: do not call common. And so Peter went to the
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: house of Cornelius, a Roman centurion, and preached the good news.
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: And the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as it
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: had fallen upon the Jews at Pentecost. Peter baptized them,
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: and the walls that had divided humanity for centuries began
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: to crumble. But Peter's greatest mission was still ahead. He
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: was called to Rome, Rome, the heart of the Empire,
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: the city of caesars and gladiators, of marble temples and
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: blood soaked arenas, a city that worshiped a thousand gods
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: and bowed to none. Peter went there not with an army,
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: but with a message. He went there not to conquer,
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: but to serve. He gathered the scattered believers, strengthened them,
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: taught them, and reminded them that they were strangers and
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: exiles in this world, but citizens of a kingdom that
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: would never fall. For years, Peter shepherded the church in Rome.
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: He lived humbly, quietly, meeting in homes and catacombs, breaking
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: bread with slaves and freedmen, rich and poor, jew and Gentile.
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: He wrote letters to the churches scattered across Asia Minor,
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: urging them to stand firm in the grace of God beloved.
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: He wrote, do not be surprised at the fiery trial
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: when it comes upon you to test you, but rejoice
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: in so far as you share Christ's sufferings, that you
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: may also rejoice when his glory is revealed. He knew
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: what was coming. The Spirit had shown him. Jesus himself
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: had told him years before by the shore of Galilee. Truly, truly,
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: I say to you, when you were young, you used
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted. But when
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: you are old, you will stretch out your hands and
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: another will dress you and carry you where you do
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: not want to go. And now, in the year sixty four,
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: A d that prophecy was about to be fulfilled. The
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: Emperor Nero had gone mad. A great fire had swept
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: through Rome, destroying entire districts, leaving thousands homeless and hungry.
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: Rumors spread that Nero himself had ordered the fire so
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: he could rebuild the city according to his own vision.
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: To silence the accusations, Nero needed a scapegoat, and he
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: chose the Christians, they were already hated. They refused to
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: worship the emperor. They would not offer incense to the
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: Roman gods. They spoke of another king, another kingdom, and
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: a man who had been executed but claimed to be alive.
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: To Nero, they were perfect targets. The persecution began with arrests,
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: then came the executioners. Christians were torn apart by dogs
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: in the arenas. They were covered in pitch and set
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: on fire to light Nero's gardens. At night, they were
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: crucified along the roads, their bodies left hanging as warnings,
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: And in the midst of that horror, soldiers came for Peter.
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: The believers begged him to flee, leave the city. They urged,
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: you are too important to lose, Go and live to
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: preach another day. Peter resisted at first, but their pleas
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: weighed on him. Finally, in the dead of night, he
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: left Rome, walking along the ancient road known as the
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: Via Appia. He had not gone far when he saw
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: a figure ahead of him, walking toward the city. As
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: the figure drew closer, Peter's heart stopped. It was Jesus,
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: not a vision, not a dream, Jesus himself walking calmly,
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: his face serene, his eyes full of love and sorrow.
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: Peter fell to his knees, trembling. Lord. He whispered, where
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: are you going? And Jesus answered, in a voice that
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: was both gentle and firm, I am going to Rome
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: to be crucified again. The words pierced Peter's heart like
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: a sword. He understood if he fled, Jesus would take
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: his place. If he abandoned his flock, the shepherd would
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: stand in the gap. Peter had been given the keys
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: to the kingdom, and now he was being asked to
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: unlock the final door, the door of martyrdom. He rose
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: to his feet, turned around, and walked back into the city,
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: back to the believers, back to the cross that was
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: waiting for him. When the soldiers found him, Peter did
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: not resist. He was arrested, chained, and thrown into the
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: Mammertine Prison, a dark, cold dungeon beneath the streets of Rome.
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: There in the shadows, he prayed, He sang hymns, He
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: encouraged the other prisoners, and he waited. The day of
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: his execution came. They led him out into the sunlight
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: and the brightness stung his eyes. After so many days
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: in darkness, he was taken to the circus of Nero,
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: a place of death and spectacle, where so many of
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: his brothers and sisters had already died. A wooden cross
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: lay on the ground waiting for him. Peter looked at
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: it and felt a strange mixture of fear and peace.
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: This was the moment. This was the end of the road,
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: but it was also the beginning of something greater. As
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: the soldiers prepared to nail him to the cross, Peter spoke.
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: His voice was calm, almost cheerful. I am not worthy
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: to die as my lord died. The soldiers paused, confused,
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: Peter continued, turn the cross upside down. Let me be crucified,
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: with my head toward the earth and my feet toward heaven.
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: For he is the king and I am only his servant.
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: They looked at each other, shrugged, and obeyed. What did
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: it matter to them? They turned the cross over, laid
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: Peter upon it, and drove the nails through his hands
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: and feet. Then they lifted the cross and set it
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: into the ground upside down. The blood rushed to Peter's head.
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: The pain was overwhelming, but Peter did not curse, he
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: did not scream. He prayed, Father, into your hands, I
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: commit my spirit. The crowd that had gathered fell silent.
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: Some mocked, some wept, But others, even among the Romans,
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: felt something stir within them. They had seen men die before,
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: but never like this, never with such peace, never with
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: such hope. Peter's vision began to blur. The sky above him,
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: or was it below him, seemed to grow brighter. The
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: pain faded, replaced by a warmth that spread through his
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: body like sunlight. He could hear voices, not from the earth,
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: but from somewhere beyond, singing, calling his name. And then
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: he saw him, Jesus standing before him, just as he
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: had on the road, but this time he was not alone.
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: Behind him stretched a great multitude, clothed in white, their
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: faces shining with joy. And among them Peter saw faces
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: he recognized Stephen, the first martyr, James, who had been
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: beheaded by Herod. Others he had known, others he had loved,
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: all of them. Waiting, Jesus reached out his hand. Well done,
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: good and faithful servant, Enter into the joy of your Lord.
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: Peter smiled. The nails no longer hurt, the cross no
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: longer mattered. He was home. His body hung on that
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: cross until the sun set, painting the Roman sky in
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: shades of crimson and gold. And when the soldiers finally
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: took him down, they buried him in a shallow grave
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: near the circus, unmarked and forgotten by the Empire, but
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: the Church remembered for centuries. Believers came to that place
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: and whispered prayers, and in time, over that grave they
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: built a basilica, a great cathedral that still stands to day,
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: known as Saint Peter's Basilica, one of the holiest sights
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: in all of Christendom. Peter, the fisherman, who once denied
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: his Lord, became the rock upon which the church was built.
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: His death did not silence the Gospel, it amplified it,
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: and his final act of humility, choosing to die upside down,
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: became a symbol for all who would follow Jesus in
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: the centuries to come that to follow him is not
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: to seek glory, but to embrace the cross, not to
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: demand honor, but to offer sacrifice, and in doing so,
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: to find that the upside down Kingdom of God is
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: the only kingdom that will never fall. Chapter three Andrew,
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: the first called the ex Cross. Before Peter became the Rock,
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: there was Andrew. Andrew, the quieter brother, the one who
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: sought truth before fame, who followed the light before he
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: understood where it would lead. He was a fisherman like
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: his brother, but his heart had always been restless, searching
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: for something beyond the rhythm of the nets and the
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: smell of the sea. Andrew had been a disciple of
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: John the Baptist. He had stood on the banks of
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: the Jordan River and listened to the wild prophet cry
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: out repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: He had watched as John baptized sinners, calling them to
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: turn from darkness to light. And one day, as Andrew
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: stood beside John, a man walked past them, a man
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: with kind eyes and a quiet strength. John looked at him,
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: and something changed in his voice. It grew softer, reverent,
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: almost trembling. Behold, John said, the Lamb of God, who
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: takes away the sin of the world. Andrew's heart leapt.
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: He did not fully understand what John meant, but he
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: knew it was important. He left John side and followed
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: the man. Another disciple followed with him. They walked behind
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: him in silence for a while, until the man turned
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: and looked at them. What are you seeking? He asked.
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: Andrew did not know how to answer. What was he seeking? Truth,
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: meaning God, all of it, and yet none of it
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: seemed like the right words, so instead he asked, Rabbi,
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: where are you staying? And Jesus smiled, Come and see.
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: They spent the rest of the day with him. Andrew
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: did not remember everything they talked about, but he remembered
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: the feeling, the sense that he had finally found what
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: he had been searching for all his life. Not a teaching,
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: not a philosophy, a person, the person. When the sun
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: began to set, Andrew could not contain himself. He ran
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: to find his brother Simon, and when he found him,
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: Andrew's face was shining with joy. We have found the Messiah,
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: he said. It was Andrew who brought Peter to Jesus.
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: Andrew the first called who came, the first evangelist. His
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: gift was not in bold preaching or grand miracles. His
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: gift was in bringing others to the light, quietly, humbly,
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: one person at a time. After Pentecost, Andrew did not
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: stay in Jerusalem. He heard the call to go farther
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: to the places where the name of Jesus had never
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: been spoken. Early Christian tradition tells us that he traveled north,
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: beyond the borders of the Roman Empire, into the wild
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: and rugged lands of Scythia, the region around the Black Sea,
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: where tribes lived in tents and spoke languages the apostles
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: had never heard. Andrew went alone, no army, no wealth,
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: no protection, just the message of the crucified and risen Lord.
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: He walked through forests and across rivers, slept beneath the stars,
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: and trusted that the same spirit who had filled him
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: at Pentecost would sustain him in the wilderness. And God
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: was with him. In Scythia, Andrew preached to barbarians and nomads,
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: people who had never heard of Abraham or Moses, people
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: who worshiped the sun and the wind and the gods
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: of their ancestors. But when they heard Andrew speak of Jesus,
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: of a God who became man, who suffered and died
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: and rose again, something in their hearts responded. Slowly, quietly,
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: the light began to spread. Small gatherings formed in hidden places.
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: People were baptized in rivers under the cover of night,
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: and Andrew moved on, always moving, always seeking the next town,
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: the next tribe, the next soul that had not yet heard.
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: He traveled to the northern shores of the Black Sea
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: and then southward into Greece. In the city of Patras,
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: a bustling port on the coast of Achaea, Andrew found
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: a community of believers who had been scattered and struggling
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: under the weight of persecution. He stayed with them, teaching
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: in couraging and healing the sick in the name of Jesus.
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: One of those he healed was the wife of the
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: Roman proconsul, Aegiets. She had been gravely ill, near death,
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: and the doctors had given up hope. But Andrew prayed
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: over her and she was restored, not only her body
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: but her spirit. She believed in Jesus and was baptized,
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: along with many others in the household. Agiots was furious
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: his wife had turned away from the gods of Rome
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: and now followed a crucified Jewish teacher. Worse, she refused
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: to share his bed, saying that she had devoted herself
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: to a life of purity and prayer. The proconsul saw
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: this as rebellion, not just against him, but against the
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: empire itself. He summoned Andrew and demanded that he renounce
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: this Jesus and command his wife to return to her
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: former ways. Andrew refused. I serve the king of kings,
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: Andrew said, calmly, and I will not betray him to
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: please a man. Agiates grew red with rage. You speak
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: of a king. Your king was executed as a criminal.
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: He died naked and cursed on a Roman cross. Andrew smiled,
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: There was no mockery in it, only peace. That is true.
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: He died on a cross, but three days later he
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: rose from the dead, and because he lives, I do
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: not fear death. The Proconsul's patience snapped. He ordered Andrew
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: to be arrested and beaten. The soldiers dragged him through
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: the streets, striking him with rods, mocking him, spitting on him,
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: but Andrew did not cry out. He did not beg
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: for mercy. Instead, he prayed for them, Father, forgive them,
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: for they know not what they do. When the beating
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: was finished, Agiates decided that Andrew would be crucified, but
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: not in the Roman manner. According to tradition, he would
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: be bound to a cross shaped like an ex a
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: design meant to prolong the agony, to make the death
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: slower more shameful. The soldiers tied Andrew's wrists and ankles
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: to the beams with ropes rather than nails, so that
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: he would hang there for days, expose to the elements,
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: until his body finally gave out. They carried the cross
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: to a hill overlooking the sea and raised it high.
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: Andrew hung there, his body stretched and contorted, the rough
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: wood cutting into his skin. The sun beat down on him,
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: the wind tore at his clothes, and the crowd gathered
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: to watch. But Andrew did not weep. He did not
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: curse his fate. Instead, he began to preach, O precious Cross,
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: he said, his voice hoarse but strong. Long have I
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: desired you. I come to you with a willing heart.
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: Receive me and present me to my master, He who
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: redeemed me through you, may receive me by you. The
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: people stared in disbelief. How could a man speak like
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: this while dying? How could he call his torture precious?
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: Andrew continued for hours. He spoke. He told them of Jesus,
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: of the love that had sent him from heaven to earth,
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: from glory to shame, from life to death. He told
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: them that the cross was not a symbol of defeat,
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: but a victory, that death was not the end, but
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: the doorway into eternal life. Some in the crowd began
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: to weep, others fell to their knees, and as the
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: hours turned into a full day, then a second day,
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: the people of Patras began to cry out to Agiates,
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: demanding that Andrew be taken down. This man is innocent.
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: They shouted, let him go, but Andrew shook his head.
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: Do not take me down, he said, I have longed
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: to see my King. Let me go to him. On
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: the third day, as the sun rose over the sea,
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: casting golden light across the water, Andrew's breathing grew shallow,
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: his body trembled, and then grew still, and those who
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: were watching later testified that they saw it a light
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: brighter than the dawn, descending from the heavens and surrounding
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: the cross. When the light faded, Andrew was gone, not
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: his body that still hung upon the beams, but his
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: spirit had been carried away into the arms of the
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: one he had followed since the day he first heard
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: the words come and see. The believers took his body
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: down and buried him with honor, and in that place
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: the church grew. The very city that had crucified him
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: became a stronghold of faith, and the cross, shaped like
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: an ex which the Romans had meant as a symbol
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: of shame, became known as Saint Andrew's Cross, a symbol
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: of courage, devotion, and the truth that no power on
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: earth can silence the voice of one who has truly
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: seen the risen Lord. Andrew, the first called, became the
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: first to bring others to Jesus, and in his death
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: he brought countless more. His life was not marked by
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: grand miracles or dramatic sermons, but by faithfulness, by quiet obedience,
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: by the willingness to go wherever the Lord sent him,
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: and to give whatever the Lord asked. And in the end,
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: that is the truest measure of a disciple, Not how
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: loudly they speak, but how faithfully they follow, Not how
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: many people know their name, but how many souls they
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: bring to the Savior. Andrew's voice is still echoing in
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: every believer who brings a friend to Jesus, in every
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: heart that says, come and see in every soul that
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: chooses the cross, knowing that beyond it lies the glory
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: of the resurrection. And when the sun sets over the sea,
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: and the waves whisper against the shore, you can almost
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: hear him still calling out from that ex shaped cross,
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: his voice filled not with pain but with hope. Behold
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: the world. Chapter four, James the Greater, first Martyr among
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: the twelve. There were two men named James among the twelve.
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: One was James, the son of Alpheus, quiet and steady,
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: often called James the less The other was James, the
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: son of Zebedy, brother of John, and he was called
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: James the Greater, not because he was more important, but
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: because he was called first, and because his voice, his passion,
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: and his presence were impossible to ignore. James and his
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: brother John were fishermen, partners with Peter and Andrew in
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: the family business on the Sea of Galilee. They were
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: not poor men. Their father, Zebedy, had hired servants, which
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: meant the business was prosperous. James could have lived a
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: comfortable life mending nets and selling fish, building a home
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: and raising a family by the water. But the day
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: Jesus walked along the shore and called to them. Everything changed.
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: Follow me, Jesus said, and James did not hesitate. He
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: left the boat, He left his father, he left everything
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: he had known, and he followed the carpenter from Nazareth,
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: who spoke with an authority that made the wind and
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: the waves obey. James was bold, sometimes too bold. He
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: and his brother John were so fiery in temperament that
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: Jesus gave them a nickname Boernerges, which means sons of thunder. Once,
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: when a Samaritan village refused to welcome Jesus, James and
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: John turned to him and asked, Lord, do you want
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: Jesus rebuked them gently, You do not know what manner
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: of spirit you are of. The Son of Man came
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: not to destroy men's lives, but to save them. It
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: was a lesson. James never forgot the same fire that
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: had once burned with anger slowly transformed into a flame
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: of love. Love for Jesus, love for the lost, love
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: for the truth. James was one of the Inner Circle,
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: along with Peter and John. He witnessed things the other
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: apostles did not see. He was there on the mount
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: of Transfiguration. When Jesus's face shone like the sun, and
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: his clothes became white as light. He saw Moses and
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: Elijah appear speaking with Jesus about his coming death. And
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: he heard the voice of God, the Father thunder from
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: the cloud. This is my beloved son, with whom I
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: am well pleased. Listen to him. James fell on his face,
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: terrified and trembling, but Jesus touched him and said, rise
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: and have no fear. He was there in the garden
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: of gethsemone on the night Jesus was betrayed. While the
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: other disciples waited at a distance. James, Peter, and John
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: were brought closer into the deeper shadows of the olive trees.
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: Jesus said to them, my soul is very sorrowful even
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: to death. Remain here and watch with me. And then
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: Jesus went a little farther, fell on his face and prayed,
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: James tried to stay awake. He wanted to be strong
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: for his lord, but the weight of the hour pressed
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: down on him, and his eyes grew heavy. He fell asleep.
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: When Jesus returned and found them sleeping, he woke them gently.
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: Could you not watch with me? One hour? James felt
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: the sting of shame. He had failed, but Jesus did
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: not condemn him. Instead, he prepared him because what James
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: did not yet un understand was that one day he
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: too would face a cup of suffering, and when that
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: day came, he would not sleep. He would drink it willingly.
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: After the resurrection and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: at Pentecost, James became a pillar of the early Church.
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: He preached boldly in the temple courts, declaring that Jesus
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: of Nazareth, whom the rulers had crucified, was both Lord
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: and Messiah. The religious leaders hated him for it, but
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: they could not silence him. Every time they arrested him,
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: God delivered him. Every time they threatened him, he grew bolder.
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: The message spread like wildfire. Thousands were coming to faith.
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: The priests and sadducees were losing their grip on the people,
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: and so they turned to the one man who had
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: the power to stop it. Herod Agrippa the first grandson
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: of Herod the Great, the king who had tried to
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: kill Jesus as a baby. Herod Agrippa was a political creature.
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: He did not care about theology or truth. He cared
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: about power, and he knew that the Jewish leaders wanted
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: the followers of Jesus silenced. If he could do that,
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: he would win their favor, and so in the year
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: forty four a d Herod made his move. He ordered
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: the arrest of James. The soldiers came in the night,
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: breaking down the door of the house where James was staying.
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: They dragged him out into the street, bound his hands,
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: and threw him into prison. The believers gathered in secret,
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: praying desperately for his release, just as they had prayed
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: for Peter. But this time there would be no angel
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: to unlock the chains. This time the door would not
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: open because God had a different plan for James. The
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: trial was brief. Herod did not care about justice. He
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: wanted a spectacle, a warning to any one else who
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: dared to follow the way of Jesus. He sentenced Aimes
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: to death by the sword, a Roman execution swift and brutal,
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: reserved for criminals and traitors. James was led out into
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: the courtyard. The sun was rising, casting long shadows across
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: the stone floor. A crowd had gathered, some to mock,
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: some to mourn. Among them were believers who wept in silence,
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: their hearts breaking as they watched their beloved teacher and
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: friend being led to his death. James walked calmly. His
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: hands were bound, but his spirit was free. He had
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: seen the risen Lord. He had touched the scars in
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: his hands. He had eaten with him, talked with him,
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: and heard him say because I live, you also will live.
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: And now, as he stood before the executioner, James understood
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: what that meant. Death was not the end, It was
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: the beginning. The executioner was a Roman soldier, a man
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: hardened by years of killing. He had beheaded rebels, thieves
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: and traitors without a second thought. But as he looked
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: into the eyes of James, something shifted within him. This
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: man was not afraid, he was not angry. He was
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: at peace. James turned to the crowd and spoke, his
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: voice steady and clear, Do not weep for me. I
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: go to be with my Lord. And I tell you this,
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ is risen. He is the Son of God,
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: the savior of the world. And though you kill me,
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: you cannot kill the truth. The Truth will live forever.
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: The soldier raised his sword, but before he could strike,
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: something unexpected happened. The man's hand began to tremble. He
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: lowered the blade and looked at James, his face filled
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: with confusion and something else. Conviction. Tell me, the soldier said, quietly,
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: Is it true? Is he really alive? James smiled, As
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: true as the sun that rises every morning, as true
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: as the breath in your lungs. He is alive, and
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: he is waiting for you. The soldier's eyes filled with tears,
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: and there in front of the crowd, in front of
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: Herod's guards, he fell to his knees. Then I believe,
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: he said, forgive me for what I am about to do,
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: and pray for me that I may see him too.
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: James placed his bound hands on the soldier's head as
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: much as he could manage, and prayed, Father, forgive this man,
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: wash him clean in the blood of Jesus. And when
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: I see you to day, may I tell you that
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: this man will follow. The soldier stood, his face wet
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: with tears and lifted the sword once more. This time
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: his hand did not tremble. He struck swiftly, and James,
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: the son of Zebed, the son of Thunder, fell to
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: the ground. His blood spilled on to the stones of Jerusalem,
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: the same stones where Jesus had walked, where he had wept,
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: and where he had carried his cross. And in that moment,
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: James became the first of the twelve apostles to drink
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: the cup of martyrdom, the first to follow his lord
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: all the way to death. But the story did not
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: end there. The crowd stood in stunned silence. Some turned away,
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: unable to bear the sight. But the soldier who had
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: executed James did not move. He stood there, holding the
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: bloody sword, staring down at the body of the man
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: who had just prayed for him. And then slowly he
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: laid the sword on the ground, removed his helmet, and
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: walked toward the group of believers. I want to be baptized,
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: he said. Herod's guards seized him immediately. They accused him
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: of treason, of abandoning his post, of following the teachings
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: of a dead criminal, and within hours, according to ancient tradition,
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: the soldier was executed as well, But before he died,
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: he was baptized in the name of the Father, the Son,
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: and the Holy Spirit, and the early church records preserve
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: his name Josias and honor him as the second martyr
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: of that day. The believers took the body of James
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: and buried him with honor. They wept, but they did
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: not despair, because they knew what James had known, that
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: to die for Jesus was not defeat, it was victory.
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: News of James's death spread quickly. Some believers were afraid
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: if Herod could kill one of the apostles so easily,
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: what would stop him from killing them all? But others
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: were emboldened. They saw that even in death, the Gospel
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: was advancing. Even as the sword fell, souls were being saved.
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: Years later, tradition tells us that the body of James
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: was taken by his disciples and carried across the sea
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: to the land of Spain, where he had once preached. There,
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: in a place that would one day be called Santiago
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: de Compostella, they buried him, and over the centuries that
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: tomb became one of the most sacred sights in all
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: of Christendom, a place where pilgrims from every nation have
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: come to remember the man who gave his life for
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: the truth. But James's legacy is not in a tomb.
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: It is in every believer who has ever faced the sword,
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: the fire, or the cross and refused to deny the
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: name of Jesus. It is in every person who has
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: ever said, I would rather die than betray my Lord.
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: And it is in the quiet testimony of a Roman
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: soldier who heard the Gospel in his final moments and
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: chose to believe. James the Greater, the Son of Thunder,
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: was the first of the Twelve to die, but his
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: voice still echoes in the prayers of the faithful, in
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: the courage of the martyrs, and in the hearts of
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: all who know that this life is not the end,
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: but only the beginning of an eternal glory, that no
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: sword can ever take away. The sun set over Jerusalem
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: that day, painting the sky in shades of crimson and gold,
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: and somewhere in the courts of Heaven, James stood before
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: the throne of God, his Lord's arms wrapped around him,
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: and heard the words he had longed to hear, Well done, good,
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: and faithful servant, Enter into the joy of your Lord.
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: Chapter five, John, the Beloved who did not die by sword.
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: Of all the twelve, there was one whom Jesus loved
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: in a way that stood out. Not that he loved
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: the others less, But with John there was a closeness,
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: a tenderness that the gospels themselves do not try to hide.
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: John was the youngest of the apostles, likely still a
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: teenager when Jesus called him. He was the one who
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: leaned against Jesus's chest at the Last Supper, the one
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: who stayed at the foot of the cross when the
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: others fled, The one to whom Jesus intrusted his own
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: mother as he hung dying. Woman, behold your son, Jesus
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: said to Mary, and to John, behold your mother. From
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: that day John took Mary into his own home. He
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: cared for her, loved her, and listened to her stories
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: of the boy who had been born in Bethlehem, the
• 49:22
  Speaker 1: child who had never sinned, the son who was also
• 49:25
  Speaker 1: the son of God. John had been a son of thunder,
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: just like his brother James. He had wanted to call
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: down fire from heaven. He had wanted the best seat
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: in the kingdom. But over the years the fire in
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: him changed. It did not go out, it transformed. What
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: had once been anger became passion, what had once been
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: ambition became devotion, and what had once been pride became
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: the deepest, purest love. After Pentecost, John remained in Jerusalem
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: for many years, serving alongside Peter and the other apostles.
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: He preached, healed the sick, and was arrested more than once,
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: but every time God delivered him, the authorities did not
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: know what to do with him. He was too beloved
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: by the people, and there was something about him, something
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: in his eyes, in his voice, that unsettled even the
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: hardest of hearts. Eventually, John left Jerusalem and traveled to
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: the city of Ephesus in Asia Minor. There he became
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: the shepherd of the church, teaching, writing, and caring for
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: the believers with the gentleness of a father and the
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: wisdom of one who had walked with Jesus himself. It
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: was in Ephesus that John wrote his Gospel, not because
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: the other three were insufficient, but because the Spirit led
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: him to write something different. Matthew, Mark, and Luke had
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: told the story of what Jesus did. John told the
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: story of who Jesus is. In the beginning were the Word,
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: He was in the beginning with God. All things were
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: made through him, and without him was not anything made.
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: That was made in him was life, and the life
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness,
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: and the darkness has not overcome it. John's Gospel was
• 51:23
  Speaker 1: not a chronicle. It was a meditation, a love letter,
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: a declaration that the man he had followed, the man
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: whose chest he had leaned against, was the eternal son
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: of God, the creator of the universe, clothed in human flesh.
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: He also wrote three letters to the churches, urging them
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: to walk in love, to hold fast to the truth,
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: and to beware of those who denied that Jesus had
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: come in the flesh. His words were simple, but they
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: cut to the heart. Beloved, Let us love one another,
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: for love is from God. And whoever loves has been
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: born of God God and knows God. Any One who
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: does not love does not know God, because God is Love.
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: John's life in Ephesus was not easy. The Roman Empire
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: was growing more hostile to the faith. Emperors demanded worship.
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: Christians who refused were persecuted, exiled, or killed, And in
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: the year ninety five a d the Emperor Domitian decided
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: that John had become too much of a threat. He
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: ordered John to be arrested and brought to Rome. The
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: soldiers came for him, an old man, now his hair white,
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: his hands gnarled with age. They chained him and dragged
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: him across the empire all the way to the capital. There,
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: in front of a jeering crowd, they prepared a cauldron
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: of boiling oil. According to early Church tradition, the plan
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: was simple. They would throw John into the oil, and
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: he would die in agony, a warning to any one
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: else who dared follow the crucified Nazarene. But John did
• 53:00
  Speaker 1: not resist, He did not beg for mercy. He stood quietly,
• 53:05
  Speaker 1: his eyes closed, his lips moving in silent prayer. And
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: when they threw him into the boiling oil, the crowd
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: gasped because nothing happened. The oil did not burn him,
• 53:17
  Speaker 1: his skin did not blister. He stood in the midst
• 53:20
  Speaker 1: of the flames and the heat, unharmed, as if he
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: were simply standing in a warm bath. Some traditions record
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: that he even began to preach, his voice rising above
• 53:31
  Speaker 1: the roar of the fire. The God I serve is
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: the one who created fire itself. He walked through the
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: flames in Babylon with Shadrak, Meshak, and Abdnigo. He is
• 53:43
  Speaker 1: the refining fire, and no flame can touch those whom
• 53:46
  Speaker 1: he protects. The executioners were terrified. The crowd murmured in
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: confusion and omission, furious that his plan had failed, ordered
• 53:56
  Speaker 1: John to be removed from the oil and sent into exile. Instead,
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: they banished him to the island of Patmos, a barren,
• 54:04
  Speaker 1: rocky prison in the Aegean Sea where criminals and enemies
• 54:07
  Speaker 1: of the state were sent to die slowly of hunger, thirst,
• 54:11
  Speaker 1: and despair. But God had other plans. Patmos was not
• 54:15
  Speaker 1: a grave for John. It was a throne room. One
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: lord's day, as John was praying in the spirit, he
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: heard a voice behind him, loud as a trumpet. Write
• 54:27
  Speaker 1: what you see in a book and send it to
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: the seven churches. John turned and what he saw took
• 54:33
  Speaker 1: his breath away. He saw Jesus, but not as he
• 54:36
  Speaker 1: had known him on earth. This was Jesus in his glory.
• 54:40
  Speaker 1: His eyes were like flames of fire. His face shone
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: like the sun in full strength. His voice was like
• 54:47
  Speaker 1: the sound of many waters, and in his right hand
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: he held seven stars. John fell at his feet as
• 54:54
  Speaker 1: though dead, but Jesus placed his hand on him and said,
• 54:58
  Speaker 1: fear not. I am the first and the last and
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: the living one. I died, and behold, I am alive
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: for evermore, and I have the keys of death and hades.
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: From that moment the visions began. John saw the throne
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: of God surrounded by twenty four elders and four living creatures,
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: crying out day and night. Holy, Holy, Holy, is the
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come.
• 55:27
  Speaker 1: He saw a scroll sealed with seven seals, and only
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: the lamb, looking as though it had been slain, was
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: worthy to open it. He saw the breaking of the seals,
• 55:38
  Speaker 1: the pouring out of the bowls of wrath, the fall
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: of Babylon, the binding of Satan, and the final judgment
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: of all mankind. He saw a new heaven and a
• 55:48
  Speaker 1: new Earth, where there would be no more sea, no
• 55:50
  Speaker 1: more death, no more mourning, no more crying, no more pain.
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: And he saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming
• 55:59
  Speaker 1: down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride
• 56:02
  Speaker 1: adorned for her husband. And he heard a loud voice
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: from the throne, saying, behold, the dwelling place of God
• 56:08
  Speaker 1: is with man. He will dwell with them, and they
• 56:11
  Speaker 1: will be his people, and God himself will be with
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: them as their God. He will wipe away every tear
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: from their eyes. John wept as he wrote, not from sorrow,
• 56:23
  Speaker 1: but from overwhelming joy, because he understood now all the suffering,
• 56:29
  Speaker 1: all the persecution, all the martyrdom, it was not in vain.
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: It was leading somewhere to a day when the kingdoms
• 56:37
  Speaker 1: of this world would become the kingdom of our Lord
• 56:39
  Speaker 1: and of his Christ, and he would reign forever and ever.
• 56:43
  Speaker 1: When the visions ended, John was weak, exhausted, but filled
• 56:47
  Speaker 1: with peace. He wrote down everything he had seen and
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: sent it to the seven Churches of Asia, and that
• 56:54
  Speaker 1: book became the final book of the New Testament, the
• 56:56
  Speaker 1: Book of Revelation. Eventually, the Emperor mission died and his
• 57:01
  Speaker 1: successor allowed John to return from exile. He went back
• 57:05
  Speaker 1: to Ephesus, now an even older man, his body frail,
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: but his spirit burning brighter than ever. He continued to teach,
• 57:13
  Speaker 1: to write to shepherd the flock, and when he was
• 57:17
  Speaker 1: too weak to walk, they carried him into the gatherings.
• 57:20
  Speaker 1: His message never changed. He would say only one thing,
• 57:25
  Speaker 1: over and over, little children love one another. Some of
• 57:31
  Speaker 1: the younger believers grew tired of hearing it, Teacher, They said,
• 57:35
  Speaker 1: why do you always say the same thing? John smiled,
• 57:40
  Speaker 1: because it is the Lord's command, and if you do this,
• 57:44
  Speaker 1: it is enough. In his final days, John gathered his
• 57:48
  Speaker 1: closest disciples around him. He was lying in bed, his
• 57:52
  Speaker 1: breathing shallow, his eyes dim, but there was a light
• 57:56
  Speaker 1: in his face that did not come from this world.
• 57:58
  Speaker 1: Do not weep, he said, softly. I have seen him.
• 58:02
  Speaker 1: I have touched him. I have leaned against his chest
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: and heard his heart beat, and soon I will see
• 58:10
  Speaker 1: him again, not through a vision, not in a dream,
• 58:14
  Speaker 1: but face to face. He closed his eyes and his
• 58:18
  Speaker 1: breathing grew quieter, and then, without pain, without struggle, John
• 58:24
  Speaker 1: the Beloved Disciple passed from this life into the next.
• 58:28
  Speaker 1: According to the most widely accepted tradition, he was the
• 58:32
  Speaker 1: only one of the twelve who did not die by sword,
• 58:35
  Speaker 1: fire or cross, but that does not mean his life
• 58:38
  Speaker 1: was easy. He watched his brother James beheaded, he saw
• 58:43
  Speaker 1: Peter crucified. He outlived nearly every one he had ever loved.
• 58:48
  Speaker 1: He endured exile, persecution, and the grief of watching the
• 58:52
  Speaker 1: church suffer. But through it all he held fast to
• 58:55
  Speaker 1: the one truth that had defined his life from the
• 58:58
  Speaker 1: moment he first met Jesus by the Jordan River. God
• 59:02
  Speaker 1: is love, and that love is stronger than death, stronger
• 59:07
  Speaker 1: than empires, stronger than time itself. John's body was buried
• 59:12
  Speaker 1: in Ephesus, and over his grave believers built a church
• 59:17
  Speaker 1: and later a great basilica. Pilgrims came from across the
• 59:21
  Speaker 1: world to stand where he had stood, to pray where
• 59:24
  Speaker 1: he had prayed, and to remember the disciple whom Jesus loved.
• 59:28
  Speaker 1: But John's true legacy is not in a building. It
• 59:31
  Speaker 1: is in the words he left behind, words that have comforted, strengthened,
• 59:37
  Speaker 1: and transformed billions of hearts across two thousand years. In
• 59:41
  Speaker 1: the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God,
• 59:45
  Speaker 1: and the word was God. For God so loved the
• 59:48
  Speaker 1: world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes
• 59:51
  Speaker 1: in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Beloved,
• 59:56
  Speaker 1: let us love one another for love is from God. Behold,
• 1:00:01
  Speaker 1: I Am making all things new, and perhaps most beautiful
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 1: of all the final words of the final Book of
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 1: the Bible, the last words John ever wrote, the Spirit
• 1:00:11
  Speaker 1: and the bride say come, And let the one who
• 1:00:15
  Speaker 1: hears say come, And let the one who is thirsty come.
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 1: Let the one who desires take the water of life
• 1:00:23
  Speaker 1: without price. He who testifies to these things says, surely
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 1: I Am coming soon. And John's response the prayer of
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 1: every believer who has ever longed for the return of
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 1: the Lord. Amen, Come, Lord Jesus. Chapter six, Philip the
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 1: Evangelist to the Greeks. Philip was a thinker, a questioner,
• 1:00:48
  Speaker 1: not in the way of doubt, but in the way
• 1:00:50
  Speaker 1: of some one who genuinely wanted to understand. He was
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 1: from Bethsada, the same town as Peter and Andrew, and
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 1: when Jesus found him, he did not give a long
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 1: sermon or perform a miracle. He simply said two words,
• 1:01:04
  Speaker 1: follow me, and Philip did. But even as he followed,
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 1: his mind was turning, processing trying to grasp the magnitude
• 1:01:13
  Speaker 1: of who this man really was. And the first thing
• 1:01:16
  Speaker 1: Philip did after meeting Jesus was find his friend Nathaniel,
• 1:01:20
  Speaker 1: who would later be known as Bartholomew, and tell him
• 1:01:23
  Speaker 1: we have found him of whom Moses in the Law
• 1:01:26
  Speaker 1: and also the prophets, wrote Jesus of Nazareth, the son
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 1: of Joseph. Nathaniel was skeptical can anything good come out
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 1: of Nazareth, and Philip, instead of arguing, simply repeated the
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 1: invitation that had changed his own life. Come and see.
• 1:01:44
  Speaker 1: That was Philip's gift. He did not force, He did
• 1:01:48
  Speaker 1: not preach with fire and thunder. He invited. He brought
• 1:01:53
  Speaker 1: people to Jesus and let the Lord do the rest.
• 1:01:56
  Speaker 1: And time and time again, that simple act of invitation
• 1:02:00
  Speaker 1: bore fruit. Later, during Jesus's ministry, a crowd of five
• 1:02:04
  Speaker 1: thousand gathered to hear him teach. The sun was setting
• 1:02:08
  Speaker 1: and the people were hungry. Jesus turned to Philip and asked,
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 1: where are we to buy bread so that these people
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 1: may eat. It was a test. Jesus already knew what
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 1: he was going to do, but he wanted to see
• 1:02:22
  Speaker 1: what Philip would say. Philip looked at the crowd, did
• 1:02:25
  Speaker 1: the math in his head, and answered, practically, two hundred
• 1:02:29
  Speaker 1: dinari worth of bread would not be enough for each
• 1:02:32
  Speaker 1: of them to get a little. He was right, of course,
• 1:02:36
  Speaker 1: but he had not yet learned that with Jesus, the
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 1: impossible was just the beginning. That day, Jesus took five
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: loaves and two fish from a boy in the crowd,
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 1: blessed them, and fed every single person until they were satisfied,
• 1:02:50
  Speaker 1: with twelve baskets of fragments left over. Philip watched in silence,
• 1:02:55
  Speaker 1: his mind reeling. He was beginning to understand this was
• 1:02:59
  Speaker 1: no ordinary teacher, this was the Son of God. But
• 1:03:03
  Speaker 1: even after years of walking with Jesus, Philip still had questions.
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 1: On the night before the crucifixion, as Jesus spoke to
• 1:03:12
  Speaker 1: his disciples in the upper room, he said, I am
• 1:03:16
  Speaker 1: the Way and the Truth and the life. No one
• 1:03:20
  Speaker 1: comes to the Father except through me. If you had
• 1:03:24
  Speaker 1: known me, you would have known my Father. Also from
• 1:03:27
  Speaker 1: now on, you do know him and have seen him,
• 1:03:30
  Speaker 1: and Philip earnest as ever, said, Lord, show us the Father,
• 1:03:35
  Speaker 1: and it is enough for us. Jesus looked at him
• 1:03:38
  Speaker 1: with a mixture of patience and sorrow. Have I been
• 1:03:41
  Speaker 1: with you so long and you still do not know me? Philip,
• 1:03:45
  Speaker 1: whoever has seen me, has seen the Father. How can
• 1:03:48
  Speaker 1: you say, show us the Father. It was a rebuke,
• 1:03:52
  Speaker 1: but also an invitation to see. More Clearly, Philip had
• 1:03:56
  Speaker 1: been looking for something beyond Jesus, when Jesus himself was
• 1:03:59
  Speaker 1: the answer. The Father was not hidden. He was standing
• 1:04:03
  Speaker 1: right in front of them, speaking, breathing, loving. After Pentecost,
• 1:04:09
  Speaker 1: Philip understood the Spirit opened his eyes, and he saw
• 1:04:14
  Speaker 1: what he had been searching for all along. Jesus was
• 1:04:17
  Speaker 1: not just a messenger from God. He was God made
• 1:04:21
  Speaker 1: flesh and now filled with that same spirit. Philip was
• 1:04:25
  Speaker 1: sent to be a messenger himself. Early Christian tradition tells
• 1:04:29
  Speaker 1: us that Philip traveled north and east into the regions
• 1:04:33
  Speaker 1: of Phrygia and Hierapolis in what is now modern day Turkey.
• 1:04:37
  Speaker 1: These were Greek cities, centers of culture, philosophy, and pagan worship.
• 1:04:44
  Speaker 1: The people there did not know the God of Abraham.
• 1:04:47
  Speaker 1: They worshiped Artemis, Apollo, and a host of other deities.
• 1:04:51
  Speaker 1: They believed in fate, in the gods of Olympus, in
• 1:04:55
  Speaker 1: the mysteries of the ancient world. But Philip came with
• 1:04:58
  Speaker 1: a different message, not mythology, but truth, Not legends, but
• 1:05:04
  Speaker 1: the testimony of one who had walked with the risen Lord.
• 1:05:07
  Speaker 1: He preached in the market places, in the court yards,
• 1:05:11
  Speaker 1: and in the homes of those who would listen. He
• 1:05:13
  Speaker 1: did not shout, he did not condemn. He simply told
• 1:05:18
  Speaker 1: the story, the story of a god who loved the
• 1:05:21
  Speaker 1: world so much that he became human, lived among them,
• 1:05:24
  Speaker 1: died for their sins, and rose again to give them
• 1:05:28
  Speaker 1: eternal life. And people believed. Slowly at first, then in
• 1:05:33
  Speaker 1: greater numbers. Families were baptized, idols were abandoned. The temples
• 1:05:39
  Speaker 1: began to empty as the churches began to fill. The
• 1:05:43
  Speaker 1: priests of the pagan temples were furious their power was
• 1:05:46
  Speaker 1: slipping away. Their income, built on sacrifices and offerings to
• 1:05:51
  Speaker 1: false gods, was drying up, and so they turned to
• 1:05:55
  Speaker 1: the Roman authorities and accused Philip of causing unrest, of
• 1:05:59
  Speaker 1: leading the peace a stray, of dishonoring the gods. Philip
• 1:06:03
  Speaker 1: was arrested. They brought him before the proconsul, a man
• 1:06:07
  Speaker 1: named Antonius, and demanded that he renounce his faith, offer
• 1:06:12
  Speaker 1: a sacrifice to the gods, and leave the city. If
• 1:06:15
  Speaker 1: he did, they said he would be spared. If he refused,
• 1:06:20
  Speaker 1: he would be executed. Philip stood quietly before them. His
• 1:06:24
  Speaker 1: hands were bound, but his spirit was free, and when
• 1:06:28
  Speaker 1: they asked him to speak, his voice was calm. I
• 1:06:31
  Speaker 1: will not sacrifice to gods made of wood and stone,
• 1:06:35
  Speaker 1: gods who cannot see or hear or save. I serve
• 1:06:39
  Speaker 1: the Living God, the one who made the heavens and
• 1:06:42
  Speaker 1: the earth. And I serve his son, Jesus Christ, who
• 1:06:45
  Speaker 1: gave his life so that even you might be saved.
• 1:06:48
  Speaker 1: The proconsul was unmoved. Then you will die, Philip nodded,
• 1:06:54
  Speaker 1: I am ready. I have no fear of death, because
• 1:06:58
  Speaker 1: my Lord conquered death, and he waits for me on
• 1:07:01
  Speaker 1: the other side. They led him outside the city to
• 1:07:04
  Speaker 1: a place of execution. According to tradition, a cross had
• 1:07:08
  Speaker 1: been prepared, and beside it a pile of stones. The
• 1:07:12
  Speaker 1: soldiers tied Philip to the cross, his arms stretched wide,
• 1:07:16
  Speaker 1: his body exposed to the sun and the wind. And
• 1:07:19
  Speaker 1: then the crowd began to gather. Some had come to mock,
• 1:07:24
  Speaker 1: others had come to mourn, and among them were believers,
• 1:07:28
  Speaker 1: men and women Philip had baptized, taught, and loved. As
• 1:07:33
  Speaker 1: Philip hung there, some accounts recorded that the priests began
• 1:07:37
  Speaker 1: to stone him, not all at once, but slowly, methodically,
• 1:07:43
  Speaker 1: each stone a message. This is what happens to those
• 1:07:46
  Speaker 1: who defy the gods. But Philip did not cry out
• 1:07:49
  Speaker 1: in anger. He did not curse them. Instead, he prayed, Father,
• 1:07:55
  Speaker 1: forgive them. They do not know what they are doing,
• 1:08:00
  Speaker 1: their eyes, Lord, that they may see the truth. One
• 1:08:03
  Speaker 1: of the stones struck his forehead, and blood ran down
• 1:08:06
  Speaker 1: into his eyes. Another hit his chest, and he gasped
• 1:08:10
  Speaker 1: for breath. But still he prayed, not for deliverance, not
• 1:08:15
  Speaker 1: for rescue, but for the souls of those who were
• 1:08:18
  Speaker 1: killing him. Among the crowd was a young Greek man
• 1:08:22
  Speaker 1: named Niconore. Early tradition records that he had heard Philip
• 1:08:26
  Speaker 1: preach weeks before and had been moved, but had not
• 1:08:29
  Speaker 1: yet committed his life to Jesus. He stood there now,
• 1:08:33
  Speaker 1: watching the old apostle suffer, watching him pray for his enemies,
• 1:08:36
  Speaker 1: and something broke inside him. He fell to his knees,
• 1:08:40
  Speaker 1: tears streaming down his face, and cried out, this man
• 1:08:44
  Speaker 1: speaks the truth. Jesus Christ is Lord. The priests turned
• 1:08:49
  Speaker 1: on him immediately, blasphemy seize him, but Niiconore did not run.
• 1:08:55
  Speaker 1: He stood, walked to the cross, and knelt at Philip's feet.
• 1:08:59
  Speaker 1: Forgive me for waiting so long, he said, baptize me.
• 1:09:03
  Speaker 1: Even now Philip's eyes, though dim with pain, filled with light.
• 1:09:09
  Speaker 1: He could barely speak, but he whispered, in the name
• 1:09:12
  Speaker 1: of the Father and of the Son and of the
• 1:09:15
  Speaker 1: Holy Spirit, I baptize you, Go and live for him.
• 1:09:21
  Speaker 1: And then Philip's head fell forward, his breathing slowed, and
• 1:09:25
  Speaker 1: with one final breath he whispered the same prayer he
• 1:09:28
  Speaker 1: had prayed for so many years. Lord, show us the Father,
• 1:09:33
  Speaker 1: and it is enough for us. And in that moment
• 1:09:36
  Speaker 1: Jesus answered, not with words, but with presence. Philip's eyes closed,
• 1:09:43
  Speaker 1: and he saw, truly saw the Father, the one he
• 1:09:46
  Speaker 1: had been seeking all his life, the one who had
• 1:09:49
  Speaker 1: been with him all along. His body hung there until
• 1:09:53
  Speaker 1: the soldiers cut him down. The believers took him and
• 1:09:56
  Speaker 1: buried him with honor, singing hymns through their tears, and Niconore.
• 1:10:01
  Speaker 1: The young man who had been baptized at the foot
• 1:10:04
  Speaker 1: of the cross became one of the boldest preachers in
• 1:10:06
  Speaker 1: all of Asia. Minor. Philip's death was not loud or famous.
• 1:10:11
  Speaker 1: It was not recorded in the Annals of Rome or
• 1:10:14
  Speaker 1: celebrated in the courts of kings, but it was written
• 1:10:17
  Speaker 1: in the Book of Life, and it planted seeds that
• 1:10:20
  Speaker 1: would grow into forests of faith, because Philip had learned
• 1:10:24
  Speaker 1: the most important lesson of all that to follow Jesus
• 1:10:27
  Speaker 1: is not to have all the answers. It is to
• 1:10:30
  Speaker 1: know the one who is the answer, and to bring
• 1:10:33
  Speaker 1: others to him, one invitation at a time. Come and see.
• 1:10:38
  Speaker 1: That was Philip's first word as a disciple, and it
• 1:10:41
  Speaker 1: was his last word as a martyr. An invitation, a doorway,
• 1:10:46
  Speaker 1: a promise that anyone who comes to Jesus will find
• 1:10:49
  Speaker 1: exactly what they have been searching for, the Father, the Son,
• 1:10:54
  Speaker 1: the Spirit, and a love that no stone, no sword,
• 1:10:58
  Speaker 1: no empire can ever take away. Chapter seven. Bartholomew Nathaniel
• 1:11:06
  Speaker 1: flayed alive in Armenia. His name was Nathaniel when Jesus
• 1:11:10
  Speaker 1: first met him, but the world would come to know
• 1:11:12
  Speaker 1: him as Bartholomew, which means son of Ptolmai. He was
• 1:11:17
  Speaker 1: a man of deep study, a lover of the scriptures,
• 1:11:20
  Speaker 1: and someone who spent his days under the shade of
• 1:11:23
  Speaker 1: a fig tree, reading the law and the prophets, waiting
• 1:11:26
  Speaker 1: for the Messiah to come. And then one day Philip
• 1:11:29
  Speaker 1: came running to him, breathless with excitement. We have found him,
• 1:11:34
  Speaker 1: the one Moses and the prophets wrote about Jesus of Nazareth,
• 1:11:37
  Speaker 1: the son of Joseph. Nathaniel was not easily impressed. He
• 1:11:42
  Speaker 1: knew the scriptures well, and nowhere did they say the
• 1:11:45
  Speaker 1: Messiah would come from Nazareth. So he responded with skepticism,
• 1:11:50
  Speaker 1: Can anything good come out of Nazareth. Philip did not argue,
• 1:11:54
  Speaker 1: He simply said, come and see. So Nathaniel went, and
• 1:11:59
  Speaker 1: as he approached, Jesus looked at him and said something
• 1:12:03
  Speaker 1: that stopped him in his tracks. Behold an Israelite, indeed
• 1:12:08
  Speaker 1: in whom there is no deceit. Nathaniel was startled, how
• 1:12:12
  Speaker 1: do you know me? And Jesus answered, before Philip called you,
• 1:12:16
  Speaker 1: when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.
• 1:12:20
  Speaker 1: Those words pierced Nathaniel's heart because he had been alone
• 1:12:24
  Speaker 1: under that tree. He had been praying, questioning, seeking, and
• 1:12:29
  Speaker 1: no one had been there, no one except God. And
• 1:12:32
  Speaker 1: now this man from Nazareth was telling him that he
• 1:12:35
  Speaker 1: had seen him, not with human eyes, but with the
• 1:12:38
  Speaker 1: eyes of the divine. Nathaniel fell to his knees. Rabbi,
• 1:12:43
  Speaker 1: you are the son of God. You are the King
• 1:12:46
  Speaker 1: of Israel. Jesus smiled because I said, I saw you
• 1:12:50
  Speaker 1: under the fig tree. You believe you will see greater
• 1:12:54
  Speaker 1: things than these. Truly, truly, I say to you, you
• 1:12:58
  Speaker 1: will see Heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending
• 1:13:01
  Speaker 1: and descending on the son of Man. From that moment,
• 1:13:05
  Speaker 1: Nathaniel Bartholomew followed Jesus without question. He was quiet, thoughtful,
• 1:13:11
  Speaker 1: not given to bold proclamations like Peter or fiery passion
• 1:13:14
  Speaker 1: like James, but his faith was deep rooted, unshakable. He
• 1:13:20
  Speaker 1: watched Jesus heal the sick, cast out demons, and raise
• 1:13:25
  Speaker 1: the dead. He listened to the parables, sat at his feet,
• 1:13:29
  Speaker 1: and soaked in every word. And when the other disciples
• 1:13:32
  Speaker 1: argued about who would be greatest in the kingdom, Bartholomew
• 1:13:36
  Speaker 1: remained silent, content simply to be near the one who
• 1:13:39
  Speaker 1: had seen him under the fig tree. After Pentecost, Bartholomew
• 1:13:43
  Speaker 1: did not stay in Judea. He felt the call to
• 1:13:47
  Speaker 1: go farther than most, to the places where the name
• 1:13:49
  Speaker 1: of Jesus had never been spoken, where darkness still reigned,
• 1:13:53
  Speaker 1: and where the people had no knowledge of the One
• 1:13:55
  Speaker 1: True God. Early Christian tradition tells us that Bartholomew traveled
• 1:14:00
  Speaker 1: to India, to Ethiopia, and finally to Armenia, a rugged,
• 1:14:04
  Speaker 1: mountainous land on the edge of the known world. The
• 1:14:08
  Speaker 1: people there were fierce, proud, and deeply devoted to their gods.
• 1:14:13
  Speaker 1: They worshiped fire, the sun, and ancient idols carved from
• 1:14:17
  Speaker 1: stone and wood. But Bartholomew was not afraid. He had
• 1:14:21
  Speaker 1: seen the Son of God. He had heard the voice
• 1:14:24
  Speaker 1: of the one who created the sun, the stars, and
• 1:14:28
  Speaker 1: every living thing, and he carried that truth with him
• 1:14:31
  Speaker 1: into the darkest corners of the earth. He preached in
• 1:14:34
  Speaker 1: villages and cities, in the courts of kings, and in
• 1:14:37
  Speaker 1: the homes of peasants. He performed miracles, healing the sick,
• 1:14:42
  Speaker 1: casting out demons, and speaking with an authority that could
• 1:14:46
  Speaker 1: only come from Heaven. And people believed, not in large
• 1:14:50
  Speaker 1: crowds at first, but one by one, heart by heart,
• 1:14:54
  Speaker 1: life by life. In Armenia, according to ancient accounts, bartholemew
• 1:15:00
  Speaker 1: You came to the city of Albanopolis, where the king's
• 1:15:03
  Speaker 1: daughter had been possessed by a demon for many years.
• 1:15:06
  Speaker 1: The royal physicians had tried everything. The priests had offered
• 1:15:10
  Speaker 1: countless sacrifices to their gods, but nothing worked. The girl
• 1:15:15
  Speaker 1: screamed day and night, tearing at her clothes, hurting herself,
• 1:15:19
  Speaker 1: and speaking in voices that were not her own. When
• 1:15:23
  Speaker 1: Bartholomew arrived, he asked to see her. The King, desperate
• 1:15:27
  Speaker 1: and willing to try anything, allowed it. Bartholomew entered the
• 1:15:31
  Speaker 1: room where the girl was kept, knelt beside her, and
• 1:15:34
  Speaker 1: began to pray in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
• 1:15:38
  Speaker 1: the son of the Living God. I command you unclean spirit,
• 1:15:43
  Speaker 1: to come out of her and leave her in peace.
• 1:15:46
  Speaker 1: The girl convulsed, screamed, and then suddenly fell silent. Her eyes,
• 1:15:51
  Speaker 1: which had been wild and unfocussed, cleared. She looked around, confused,
• 1:15:57
  Speaker 1: and then at Bartholomew. Who are you, she whispered. I
• 1:16:02
  Speaker 1: am a servant of Jesus Christ, he said gently, and
• 1:16:06
  Speaker 1: he has set you free. The king wept with joy.
• 1:16:10
  Speaker 1: He fell at Bartholmew's feet and begged to know more
• 1:16:12
  Speaker 1: about this Jesus who had power over demons. And that
• 1:16:16
  Speaker 1: day the King, his daughter, and many in the royal
• 1:16:19
  Speaker 1: household were baptized, but not every one was happy. The
• 1:16:24
  Speaker 1: pagan priests were enraged. They had lost their influence, their income,
• 1:16:29
  Speaker 1: and their power, and so they plotted against Bartholomew, accusing
• 1:16:34
  Speaker 1: him of sorcery, of leading the people away from the
• 1:16:37
  Speaker 1: ancient gods, and of dishonoring the traditions of their fathers.
• 1:16:41
  Speaker 1: They went to the king's brother, Astiagis, a man who
• 1:16:45
  Speaker 1: hated the followers of Jesus and saw them as a
• 1:16:47
  Speaker 1: threat to the empire. Astiagis ordered Bartholemew to be arrested
• 1:16:52
  Speaker 1: and brought before him. Renounce this Jesus. Asteages commanded, sacrifice
• 1:16:58
  Speaker 1: to our gods, and I will let you live. Refuse,
• 1:17:02
  Speaker 1: and you will suffer as no man has suffered before.
• 1:17:06
  Speaker 1: Bartholomew stood calmly before him. I will not sacrifice to
• 1:17:10
  Speaker 1: gods of wood and stone. I serve the living God
• 1:17:14
  Speaker 1: who created all things. And I will not deny the
• 1:17:18
  Speaker 1: name of Jesus. Even if you tear my body apart.
• 1:17:22
  Speaker 1: Astiage's face twisted with rage, then you will suffer in
• 1:17:26
  Speaker 1: ways beyond imagination. They took Bartholomew outside the city to
• 1:17:31
  Speaker 1: a place where executions were carried out. A crowd had gathered,
• 1:17:35
  Speaker 1: some curious, some horrified, some eager to see the Christian punished.
• 1:17:40
  Speaker 1: The soldiers forced Bartholomew to his knees and bound his hands,
• 1:17:45
  Speaker 1: and then they brought out the knives. According to tradition,
• 1:17:48
  Speaker 1: the method of execution was flaying, a brutal process where
• 1:17:52
  Speaker 1: the skin is removed from the body. It was one
• 1:17:55
  Speaker 1: of the most agonizing forms of death ever devised. Bartholom
• 1:18:00
  Speaker 1: did not beg for mercy, He did not curse his captors. Instead,
• 1:18:05
  Speaker 1: as the terrible work began, he began to sing a
• 1:18:09
  Speaker 1: him a psalm, a song of praise to the God
• 1:18:13
  Speaker 1: who had seen him under the fig tree. The Lord
• 1:18:16
  Speaker 1: is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me
• 1:18:19
  Speaker 1: lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
• 1:18:24
  Speaker 1: He restores my soul. The crowd fell silent, even the
• 1:18:29
  Speaker 1: executioners hesitated, unnerved by the sight of a man singing
• 1:18:33
  Speaker 1: while suffering unimaginable pain. But they continued, and Bartholemew continued
• 1:18:39
  Speaker 1: to sing. Even though I walked through the valley of
• 1:18:42
  Speaker 1: the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for
• 1:18:45
  Speaker 1: you are with me. Your rod and your staff. They
• 1:18:49
  Speaker 1: comfort me. His voice grew weaker as the suffering intensified,
• 1:18:54
  Speaker 1: but still he did not stop. He sang of the
• 1:18:58
  Speaker 1: goodness of God. He sang of the resurrection. He sang
• 1:19:02
  Speaker 1: of the day when every tear would be wiped away
• 1:19:05
  Speaker 1: and death would be no more. And then, in a
• 1:19:08
  Speaker 1: voice barely above a whisper, he prayed, Jesus, you saw
• 1:19:13
  Speaker 1: me under the fig tree when I was seeking you.
• 1:19:16
  Speaker 1: Now I see you. I see you standing before me,
• 1:19:20
  Speaker 1: your arms open, You're face full of love. Receive my spirit, Lord,
• 1:19:25
  Speaker 1: I am coming home. And with that, Bartholomew's voice fell silent.
• 1:19:30
  Speaker 1: His body slumped forward, But those who were watching later
• 1:19:34
  Speaker 1: testified that they saw something alight, faint but unmistakable, surrounding
• 1:19:39
  Speaker 1: him as he died. And in that light, some said
• 1:19:42
  Speaker 1: they saw a figure robed in white, reaching down and
• 1:19:46
  Speaker 1: lifting him up. The executioners stepped back, shaken, Even as Tagis,
• 1:19:52
  Speaker 1: who had ordered the execution, felt a cold dread settle
• 1:19:55
  Speaker 1: in his chest. He turned and walked away, unable to
• 1:20:00
  Speaker 1: to bear the sight of what he had done. The
• 1:20:02
  Speaker 1: believers came in the night and took Bartholomew's body. They
• 1:20:06
  Speaker 1: washed it, wrapped it in linen, and buried it with
• 1:20:09
  Speaker 1: songs of mourning and hope, and in the years that followed,
• 1:20:13
  Speaker 1: the church in Armenia grew stronger, not weaker, because Bartholomew's
• 1:20:18
  Speaker 1: death had planted a seed that could not be uprooted.
• 1:20:22
  Speaker 1: The image of the apostles suffering with such peace became
• 1:20:25
  Speaker 1: one of the most powerful testimonies in Christian history, not
• 1:20:29
  Speaker 1: because it glorified suffering, but because it showed the world
• 1:20:33
  Speaker 1: what true faith looks like. Faith that does not waver,
• 1:20:37
  Speaker 1: faith that sings in the darkness, faith that sees beyond
• 1:20:41
  Speaker 1: the pain to the glory that awaits. Bartholomew had been
• 1:20:45
  Speaker 1: a man without deceit. Jesus had said so himself, and
• 1:20:50
  Speaker 1: in his death that truth was proven. He did not
• 1:20:53
  Speaker 1: pretend to be brave. He did not put on a show.
• 1:20:58
  Speaker 1: He simply trusted the one who had seen him under
• 1:21:00
  Speaker 1: the fig tree, the one who knew him completely and
• 1:21:04
  Speaker 1: loved him anyway. Years later, when pilgrims visited the place
• 1:21:08
  Speaker 1: where Bartholomew had died, they would stand in silence, remembering
• 1:21:12
  Speaker 1: his final song, and they would ask themselves the same
• 1:21:16
  Speaker 1: question that every believer must ask. If everything were stripped away,
• 1:21:20
  Speaker 1: my comfort, my safety, my very life, would I still
• 1:21:24
  Speaker 1: trust in Jesus. Bartholemew's answer was yes, and that answer
• 1:21:29
  Speaker 1: echoes still across two thousand years, calling every generation to
• 1:21:34
  Speaker 1: a faith that is deeper than flesh, stronger than death,
• 1:21:38
  Speaker 1: and more beautiful than any suffering this world can inflict.
• 1:21:42
  Speaker 1: Because in the end, the one who had seen him
• 1:21:45
  Speaker 1: under the fig tree was waiting for him on the
• 1:21:47
  Speaker 1: other side. And when Bartholomew opened his eyes in heaven,
• 1:21:51
  Speaker 1: he saw, truly saw the face of the one he
• 1:21:53
  Speaker 1: had followed all his life, and it was more than enough.
• 1:21:59
  Speaker 1: Chapter eight, Thomas Doubter to believer Martyr. In India, they
• 1:22:04
  Speaker 1: called him Doubting Thomas, and for two thousand years that
• 1:22:08
  Speaker 1: label has followed him like a shadow. But the truth
• 1:22:11
  Speaker 1: is Thomas was not a man of little faith. He
• 1:22:14
  Speaker 1: was a man who loved deeply, questioned honestly, and when
• 1:22:18
  Speaker 1: he finally believed, he gave everything, including his life, for
• 1:22:22
  Speaker 1: the truth he had seen with his own eyes. Thomas
• 1:22:25
  Speaker 1: was also called Didymus, which means the twin. Scripture does
• 1:22:29
  Speaker 1: not tell us who his twin was, but it tells
• 1:22:32
  Speaker 1: us something far more important about his character. Thomas was
• 1:22:36
  Speaker 1: fiercely loyal when Jesus announced that he was going back
• 1:22:40
  Speaker 1: to Judea, a place where the religious leaders had just
• 1:22:43
  Speaker 1: tried to stone him. The other disciples were afraid. They
• 1:22:46
  Speaker 1: tried to talk him out of it, but Thomas said,
• 1:22:49
  Speaker 1: let us also go, that we may die with him.
• 1:22:53
  Speaker 1: It was not doubt, it was devotion. Thomas was willing
• 1:22:57
  Speaker 1: to follow Jesus into death itself. And yet when the
• 1:23:00
  Speaker 1: moment of crisis came, Thomas was not there. On the
• 1:23:05
  Speaker 1: night of the Resurrection, when Jesus appeared to the disciples
• 1:23:08
  Speaker 1: in the locked upper room, Thomas was absent. We do
• 1:23:11
  Speaker 1: not know where he was. Perhaps he had gone into hiding,
• 1:23:15
  Speaker 1: paralyzed by grief. Perhaps he could not bear to be
• 1:23:19
  Speaker 1: around the others, whose hope he no longer shared. All
• 1:23:23
  Speaker 1: we know is that when the disciples found him later
• 1:23:26
  Speaker 1: and told him the impossible news we have seen the Lord,
• 1:23:29
  Speaker 1: Thomas could not believe it. Not because he wanted to doubt,
• 1:23:33
  Speaker 1: but because the pain of losing Jesus had been so
• 1:23:36
  Speaker 1: overwhelming that he could not allow himself to hope again,
• 1:23:40
  Speaker 1: only to be crushed a second time. So he said
• 1:23:43
  Speaker 1: the words that would define him for eternity. Unless I
• 1:23:47
  Speaker 1: see in his hands the mark of the nails, and
• 1:23:49
  Speaker 1: place my finger into the mark of the nails, and
• 1:23:52
  Speaker 1: place my hand into his side. I will never believe.
• 1:23:56
  Speaker 1: It was not a declaration of unbelief. It was the
• 1:24:00
  Speaker 1: cry of a broken heart, desperately wanting to believe, but
• 1:24:04
  Speaker 1: too afraid to trust what seemed too good to be true.
• 1:24:07
  Speaker 1: Eight days later, the disciples were gathered again, and this
• 1:24:11
  Speaker 1: time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked, just
• 1:24:15
  Speaker 1: as before, and suddenly, without warning, Jesus was standing in
• 1:24:19
  Speaker 1: the middle of the room. Peace be with you, he said,
• 1:24:23
  Speaker 1: and then he turned to Thomas. He did not rebuke him,
• 1:24:27
  Speaker 1: he did not shame him. Instead, with infinite tenderness, he said,
• 1:24:32
  Speaker 1: put your finger here and see my hands. Put out
• 1:24:36
  Speaker 1: your hand and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve,
• 1:24:41
  Speaker 1: but believe. Thomas did not need to touch the moment
• 1:24:45
  Speaker 1: he saw Jesus, the moment he heard his voice, every
• 1:24:49
  Speaker 1: wall of doubt crumbled. He fell to his knees, tears
• 1:24:53
  Speaker 1: streaming down his face, and spoke the greatest confession of
• 1:24:56
  Speaker 1: faith in all of scripture. My Lord and my God,
• 1:25:00
  Speaker 1: Jesus smiled. Have you believed because you have seen me?
• 1:25:05
  Speaker 1: Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.
• 1:25:08
  Speaker 1: From that moment, Thomas was transformed. He had not just
• 1:25:12
  Speaker 1: seen a resurrected body. He had encountered the living God,
• 1:25:17
  Speaker 1: and that encounter changed him from a man paralyzed by
• 1:25:20
  Speaker 1: doubt into a man ablaze with unshakable faith. After Pentecost,
• 1:25:25
  Speaker 1: Thomas did not stay in Jerusalem. He heard the call
• 1:25:29
  Speaker 1: to go farther than any of the other apostles, across deserts,
• 1:25:32
  Speaker 1: over mountains, beyond the edges of the known world. Ancient
• 1:25:36
  Speaker 1: Christian tradition tells us that Thomas traveled to Parthia, to Persia,
• 1:25:40
  Speaker 1: and finally to India, a land so distant that most
• 1:25:44
  Speaker 1: people in the Roman Empire believed it was the end
• 1:25:46
  Speaker 1: of the earth. The journey was long and treacherous. Thomas
• 1:25:51
  Speaker 1: traveled by foot by boat across scorching deserts and stormy seas.
• 1:25:56
  Speaker 1: He carried no money, no provisions, no letters of introduction,
• 1:26:00
  Speaker 1: only the message of the risen Christ and the fire
• 1:26:03
  Speaker 1: of the Holy Spirit burning in his chest. When he
• 1:26:06
  Speaker 1: arrived in India, he landed on the southwestern coast, in
• 1:26:10
  Speaker 1: a region known as Kerala. The people there had never
• 1:26:14
  Speaker 1: heard of Jesus. They worshiped gods of the sky, the earth,
• 1:26:18
  Speaker 1: and the sea. They believed in karma, in reincarnation, in
• 1:26:23
  Speaker 1: the endless cycle of birth and death. But Thomas brought
• 1:26:26
  Speaker 1: a different message, not a cycle, but a story, a
• 1:26:31
  Speaker 1: story of a God who loved the world so much
• 1:26:34
  Speaker 1: that he broke into time, lived among humanity, died for
• 1:26:38
  Speaker 1: their sins, and rose again to give them eternal life.
• 1:26:42
  Speaker 1: At first, no one listened. Thomas was a stranger, an outsider,
• 1:26:47
  Speaker 1: a man with strange ideas, but he did not give up.
• 1:26:52
  Speaker 1: Early accounts suggest he worked with his hands. Tradition says
• 1:26:55
  Speaker 1: he was a skilled carpenter, and he earned the trust
• 1:26:58
  Speaker 1: of the people by serving them, helping them, and showing
• 1:27:01
  Speaker 1: them the love of Jesus in practical ways. And then
• 1:27:04
  Speaker 1: he began to preach in the market places, by the rivers,
• 1:27:09
  Speaker 1: in the homes of those who would listen. He told
• 1:27:12
  Speaker 1: them about the carpenter from Nazareth who had healed the sick,
• 1:27:16
  Speaker 1: raised the dead, and conquered the grave, and slowly, one
• 1:27:20
  Speaker 1: by one people began to believe. Thomas baptized them. In
• 1:27:24
  Speaker 1: the rivers of India. He established churches, small gatherings of
• 1:27:28
  Speaker 1: believers who met in secret, breaking bread and praying in
• 1:27:33
  Speaker 1: the name of Jesus. Tradition holds that Thomas founded seven
• 1:27:37
  Speaker 1: churches along the Malabar coast, communities that still exist to
• 1:27:41
  Speaker 1: this day, tracing their faith back to the apostle who
• 1:27:45
  Speaker 1: once doubted but then believed with all his heart. But
• 1:27:48
  Speaker 1: not everyone was happy. The Brahman priests, the religious leaders
• 1:27:52
  Speaker 1: of the land, saw Thomas as a threat. He was
• 1:27:55
  Speaker 1: teaching that salvation did not come through rituals, sacrifices, or
• 1:28:00
  Speaker 1: the caste system, but through faith in Jesus Christ alone.
• 1:28:05
  Speaker 1: This was dangerous. It undermined their authority, their power, and
• 1:28:09
  Speaker 1: their entire way of life. They went to the king,
• 1:28:13
  Speaker 1: a man named miss Daeus, and accused Thomas's sorcery of
• 1:28:17
  Speaker 1: leading the people astray, of dishonoring the gods. The king,
• 1:28:21
  Speaker 1: already suspicious of this foreign teacher, ordered Thomas to be arrested.
• 1:28:26
  Speaker 1: When the soldiers came for him, Thomas did not resist.
• 1:28:30
  Speaker 1: He had known this day was coming, The spirit had
• 1:28:33
  Speaker 1: shown him, and he was ready. They brought him before
• 1:28:36
  Speaker 1: the king, who demanded that Thomas renounce his faith and
• 1:28:40
  Speaker 1: offer a sacrifice to the Hindu gods. If he did,
• 1:28:44
  Speaker 1: he would be spared. If he refused, he would die.
• 1:28:48
  Speaker 1: Thomas stood calmly before the throne. His hair was gray now,
• 1:28:53
  Speaker 1: his body worn from years of travel and hardship, but
• 1:28:56
  Speaker 1: his eyes were bright and his voice was steady. I
• 1:29:00
  Speaker 1: will not sacrifice to God's made by human hands, he said.
• 1:29:04
  Speaker 1: I serve the Living God, the creator of all things,
• 1:29:08
  Speaker 1: and I will not deny the name of Jesus Christ,
• 1:29:11
  Speaker 1: the one who called me from doubt to faith, from
• 1:29:14
  Speaker 1: death to life. The King's face darkened. Then you will die,
• 1:29:19
  Speaker 1: Thomas nodded. I am ready. I have seen my Lord,
• 1:29:24
  Speaker 1: I have touched his wounds. I know that death is
• 1:29:28
  Speaker 1: not the end. They led him outside the city to
• 1:29:30
  Speaker 1: a place called Saint Thomas Mount, a hill overlooking the sea.
• 1:29:35
  Speaker 1: The sun was setting, painting the sky in shades of
• 1:29:38
  Speaker 1: gold and crimson. Thomas walked slowly, praying softly, his heart
• 1:29:44
  Speaker 1: at peace. At the top of the hill, they made
• 1:29:47
  Speaker 1: him kneel, and then, according to ancient tradition, without ceremony,
• 1:29:52
  Speaker 1: without trial, a soldier raised a spear and drove it
• 1:29:56
  Speaker 1: through Thomas's back. The pain was sharp, sudden, overwhelming. Thomas gasped,
• 1:30:02
  Speaker 1: his body trembling, but even as the blood poured from
• 1:30:06
  Speaker 1: his wound, he did not cry. Out in anger. Instead,
• 1:30:10
  Speaker 1: he whispered the words of his Lord Father, into your hands,
• 1:30:14
  Speaker 1: I commit my spirit. And then he fell forward, his
• 1:30:18
  Speaker 1: face to the ground, his mission complete. The soldiers left
• 1:30:22
  Speaker 1: his body there, expecting the wild animals to devour it.
• 1:30:26
  Speaker 1: But when the believers came in the night to retrieve him,
• 1:30:29
  Speaker 1: they found him untouched, his face serene, as if he
• 1:30:33
  Speaker 1: were only sleeping. They carried him down the hill and
• 1:30:36
  Speaker 1: buried him with songs of mourning and joy, and over
• 1:30:39
  Speaker 1: his grave they built a church, a simple structure at first,
• 1:30:43
  Speaker 1: but one that would grow over the centuries into one
• 1:30:46
  Speaker 1: of the most sacred sights in all of India. Thomas
• 1:30:50
  Speaker 1: the Doubter had become the Apostle of the East. The
• 1:30:53
  Speaker 1: man who had once demanded proof, had traveled farther than
• 1:30:56
  Speaker 1: any of the others, bringing the Gospel to a land
• 1:30:59
  Speaker 1: that had never heard the name of Jesus. And his
• 1:31:02
  Speaker 1: final act of faith, kneeling on that hill, accepting the
• 1:31:06
  Speaker 1: spear without resistance, became a testimony that echoed across the
• 1:31:09
  Speaker 1: subcontinent for generations. Because Thomas had learned the deepest truth
• 1:31:14
  Speaker 1: of all that faith is not the absence of doubt,
• 1:31:18
  Speaker 1: It is the choice to trust God, even when the
• 1:31:21
  Speaker 1: answers do not come, even when the pain is unbearable,
• 1:31:25
  Speaker 1: even when death itself is staring you in the face.
• 1:31:28
  Speaker 1: Thomas had seen the risen Lord, he had touched the wounds,
• 1:31:32
  Speaker 1: and because of that he knew, truly knew, that the
• 1:31:36
  Speaker 1: grave was not the end. When pilgrims visit Saint Thomas
• 1:31:40
  Speaker 1: Mount to day, they climb the same hill where the
• 1:31:42
  Speaker 1: apostle died. They stand at the place where his blood
• 1:31:46
  Speaker 1: soak the ground, and they pray. Some ask for healing,
• 1:31:50
  Speaker 1: some ask for faith, and some simply stand in silence,
• 1:31:55
  Speaker 1: remembering the man who once doubted, but then believed so
• 1:31:58
  Speaker 1: deeply that he gave him life for the truth. And
• 1:32:01
  Speaker 1: if you listen closely, in the stillness of that sacred place,
• 1:32:05
  Speaker 1: you can almost hear his voice echoing across the centuries.
• 1:32:10
  Speaker 1: My Lord and my God. Not a question, not a doubt,
• 1:32:15
  Speaker 1: but a declaration, a confession, a truth so powerful that
• 1:32:20
  Speaker 1: even death could not silence it. Thomas had spent his
• 1:32:23
  Speaker 1: life searching for certainty, and in the end he found
• 1:32:27
  Speaker 1: it not in answers, but in a person, not in proof,
• 1:32:32
  Speaker 1: but in presence, in the scars of the one who
• 1:32:35
  Speaker 1: had died and risen who had called him out of
• 1:32:38
  Speaker 1: doubt and into the light. And that was enough, more
• 1:32:43
  Speaker 1: than enough. Chapter nine Matthew from tax collector to gospel writer.
• 1:32:50
  Speaker 1: His name was Levi when Jesus found him, Levis son
• 1:32:54
  Speaker 1: of Alphaeus, and he was sitting in a tax booth
• 1:32:57
  Speaker 1: on the road to Capernium, counting coins and recording debts
• 1:33:02
  Speaker 1: to the people of Israel. Men like Levi were traitors.
• 1:33:06
  Speaker 1: Tax collectors worked for Rome, the occupying power, the empire
• 1:33:10
  Speaker 1: that had conquered their land and enslaved their people. They
• 1:33:14
  Speaker 1: grew rich by extorting their own brothers, charging more than
• 1:33:18
  Speaker 1: was required and pocketing the difference. They were despised, excluded
• 1:33:23
  Speaker 1: from the synagogue, considered unclean, no righteous Jew would eat
• 1:33:27
  Speaker 1: with them, speak to them, or even acknowledge their existence.
• 1:33:31
  Speaker 1: Levi knew this. He felt the stairs of hatred every
• 1:33:35
  Speaker 1: time some one passed his booth. He heard the whispers,
• 1:33:38
  Speaker 1: the curses, the contempt, and perhaps in the quiet moments
• 1:33:43
  Speaker 1: when the coins were counted and the day was done,
• 1:33:46
  Speaker 1: he wondered if there was any way back, if a
• 1:33:49
  Speaker 1: man like him could ever be clean again. And then
• 1:33:52
  Speaker 1: one day Jesus walked by Levi had heard of him.
• 1:33:56
  Speaker 1: Every one had the carpenter from Nazareth, whose spoke with authority,
• 1:34:01
  Speaker 1: who healed the sick, who claimed to forgive sins. Some
• 1:34:05
  Speaker 1: said he was a prophet, others said he was the Messiah.
• 1:34:09
  Speaker 1: But Levi never imagined that a man like Jesus would
• 1:34:12
  Speaker 1: have anything to do with a man like him. Jesus
• 1:34:15
  Speaker 1: stopped at the booth. He looked at Levi, not with contempt,
• 1:34:20
  Speaker 1: not with disgust, but with kindness, and he said two words,
• 1:34:25
  Speaker 1: follow me. Levi froze. His heart pounded. This had to
• 1:34:30
  Speaker 1: be a mistake. Jesus could not possibly be calling him,
• 1:34:35
  Speaker 1: not a tax collector, not a sinner. But Jesus did
• 1:34:39
  Speaker 1: not move, He simply stood there waiting, and in that moment,
• 1:34:44
  Speaker 1: Levi made the most important decision of his life. He
• 1:34:48
  Speaker 1: stood up. He left the coins on the table, He
• 1:34:52
  Speaker 1: walked away from the booth, from the money, from the
• 1:34:55
  Speaker 1: life he had known, and he followed Jesus. Later, Jesus
• 1:34:59
  Speaker 1: would give him a new name, Matthew, which means gift
• 1:35:03
  Speaker 1: of God, because that is what he had become, not
• 1:35:07
  Speaker 1: a traitor, not an outcast, but a gift, a living
• 1:35:12
  Speaker 1: testimony that no one is beyond the reach of God's grace.
• 1:35:16
  Speaker 1: To celebrate, Matthew threw a great feast at his house
• 1:35:19
  Speaker 1: and invited all his friends, other tax collectors, sinners, people
• 1:35:23
  Speaker 1: on the margins of society, and Jesus came. He reclined
• 1:35:28
  Speaker 1: at the table with them, ate with them, laughed with them.
• 1:35:32
  Speaker 1: The Pharisees were scandalized. They pulled the disciples aside and demanded,
• 1:35:37
  Speaker 1: why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners.
• 1:35:41
  Speaker 1: Jesus overheard them, and his response was simple, profound, and
• 1:35:46
  Speaker 1: full of mercy. Those who are well have no need
• 1:35:49
  Speaker 1: of a physician, but those who are sick, go and
• 1:35:52
  Speaker 1: learn what this means. I desire mercy, not sacrifice, for
• 1:35:57
  Speaker 1: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. Matthew
• 1:36:01
  Speaker 1: never forgot those words. They became the foundation of everything
• 1:36:05
  Speaker 1: he would write, everything, He would teach that Jesus did
• 1:36:10
  Speaker 1: not come for the perfect. He came for the broken,
• 1:36:14
  Speaker 1: for the outcasts, for the ones the world had given
• 1:36:17
  Speaker 1: up on. Matthew walked with Jesus for three years. He
• 1:36:22
  Speaker 1: listened to every parable, watched every miracle, and wrote it
• 1:36:26
  Speaker 1: all down. He had been a scribe, a keeper of records,
• 1:36:30
  Speaker 1: and now he used that gift to record the words
• 1:36:32
  Speaker 1: and works of the Messiah. After the Resurrection and Pentecost,
• 1:36:36
  Speaker 1: Matthew remained in Jerusalem for a time, teaching and strengthening
• 1:36:40
  Speaker 1: the church. But he knew that the message of Jesus
• 1:36:43
  Speaker 1: was not just for the Jews, it was for the
• 1:36:46
  Speaker 1: whole world, and so he began to write. The Gospel,
• 1:36:51
  Speaker 1: according to Matthew, was the first written account of the
• 1:36:53
  Speaker 1: life of Jesus crafted specifically for the Jewish people. It
• 1:36:58
  Speaker 1: was not just a biography, It was a declaration, a proof,
• 1:37:03
  Speaker 1: a testimony that Jesus of Nazareth was the fulfillment of
• 1:37:06
  Speaker 1: every prophecy, the answer to every promise the king that
• 1:37:10
  Speaker 1: Israel had been waiting for. Matthew quoted the Hebrew scriptures
• 1:37:14
  Speaker 1: more than any other gospel writer. He showed how Jesus
• 1:37:18
  Speaker 1: was born of a virgin, just as Isaiah had foretold,
• 1:37:22
  Speaker 1: how he was born in Bethlehem, as Micah had prophesied,
• 1:37:26
  Speaker 1: how he was called out of Egypt, rode into Jerusalem
• 1:37:29
  Speaker 1: on a donkey, was betrayed for thirty pieces of silver,
• 1:37:32
  Speaker 1: and pierced on the cross, all exactly as the prophets
• 1:37:35
  Speaker 1: had written. And then Matthieu did something even more radical.
• 1:37:39
  Speaker 1: He recorded the words of Jesus that shattered every religious boundary.
• 1:37:44
  Speaker 1: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
• 1:37:48
  Speaker 1: in the name of the Father and of the Son
• 1:37:50
  Speaker 1: and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
• 1:37:54
  Speaker 1: that I have commanded you, And behold, I am with
• 1:37:57
  Speaker 1: you always to the end of the age. The Gospel
• 1:38:00
  Speaker 1: was not just for Israel. It was for the Gentiles,
• 1:38:04
  Speaker 1: for the Romans, for the Ethiopians, for the ends of
• 1:38:08
  Speaker 1: the earth. And so Matthew took his own gospel and
• 1:38:12
  Speaker 1: carried it beyond JUDEA. Ancient Christian tradition tells us that
• 1:38:16
  Speaker 1: he traveled to Ethiopia, to Persia, and to other lands
• 1:38:20
  Speaker 1: where the name of Jesus had never been spoken. He
• 1:38:23
  Speaker 1: preached in synagogues and market places. He healed the sick
• 1:38:27
  Speaker 1: and cast out demons, and everywhere he went he told
• 1:38:31
  Speaker 1: the story of the King who came not to be served,
• 1:38:35
  Speaker 1: but to serve, and to give his life as a
• 1:38:38
  Speaker 1: ransom for many. In Ethiopia. According to early church accounts,
• 1:38:42
  Speaker 1: Matthew's ministry flourished. He established churches, trained leaders, and baptized
• 1:38:49
  Speaker 1: hundreds of believers. Among those who came to faith was
• 1:38:53
  Speaker 1: the daughter of the king, a young woman who had
• 1:38:55
  Speaker 1: been living a life of luxury and indulgence. But when
• 1:38:59
  Speaker 1: she heard Matthieu preach about the Kingdom of Heaven, her
• 1:39:02
  Speaker 1: heart was pierced. She renounced her former life, was baptized,
• 1:39:06
  Speaker 1: and devoted herself to prayer and service. The king was furious.
• 1:39:11
  Speaker 1: His daughter had been his pride, his heir, and now
• 1:39:15
  Speaker 1: she had turned away from the gods of their fathers
• 1:39:17
  Speaker 1: to follow a foreign teacher. He summoned Matthew and demanded
• 1:39:21
  Speaker 1: that he convince his daughter to return to her former ways.
• 1:39:25
  Speaker 1: Matthew refused, I will not lead her back into darkness
• 1:39:29
  Speaker 1: when she has found the light. She belongs to Jesus now,
• 1:39:33
  Speaker 1: not to this world. The King's rage boiled over. He
• 1:39:37
  Speaker 1: ordered Matthew to be arrested, and on a Sunday morning,
• 1:39:41
  Speaker 1: according to tradition, as Matthew was standing at the altar
• 1:39:45
  Speaker 1: preparing to celebrate the Lord's Supper with the congregation, soldiers
• 1:39:49
  Speaker 1: burst into the church. The believers screamed and scattered, but
• 1:39:54
  Speaker 1: Matthew did not move. He stood calmly at the altar,
• 1:39:57
  Speaker 1: his hands still holding the bread and the up and
• 1:40:00
  Speaker 1: looked at the soldiers with peace in his eyes. I
• 1:40:04
  Speaker 1: am ready, he said quietly. They seized him, dragged him
• 1:40:08
  Speaker 1: from the altar, and ran him through with a sword.
• 1:40:11
  Speaker 1: His blood spilled onto the floor of the church, mingling
• 1:40:15
  Speaker 1: with the wine he had been about to bless. Matthew
• 1:40:18
  Speaker 1: fell to his knees, his breath shallow, his vision fading.
• 1:40:22
  Speaker 1: But even as the life drained from his body, he
• 1:40:25
  Speaker 1: whispered the words he had written so many years before,
• 1:40:28
  Speaker 1: the Gospel. I wrote will live forever. Heaven and earth
• 1:40:32
  Speaker 1: will pass away, but the words of Jesus will never
• 1:40:35
  Speaker 1: pass away. And then he was gone. The believers wept
• 1:40:39
  Speaker 1: as they carried his body from the church. They buried
• 1:40:43
  Speaker 1: him with honor, singing hymns and reciting the very words
• 1:40:46
  Speaker 1: he had recorded, the Beatitudes, the Lord's Prayer, the Great Commission.
• 1:40:51
  Speaker 1: And though Matthew's voice was silenced, his gospel was not.
• 1:40:56
  Speaker 1: It spread across the world, copied by hand, read in churches,
• 1:41:00
  Speaker 1: memorized by believers. It became the bridge between the Old
• 1:41:04
  Speaker 1: and New Testaments, showing the Jewish people that Jesus was
• 1:41:07
  Speaker 1: the fulfillment of everything they had hoped for, and showing
• 1:41:10
  Speaker 1: the Gentiles that they too were invited into the family
• 1:41:14
  Speaker 1: of God. Matthew, the tax collector whom every one despised,
• 1:41:19
  Speaker 1: became the evangelist whom everyone needed. His story is a
• 1:41:22
  Speaker 1: reminder that God does not call the qualified, he qualifies
• 1:41:27
  Speaker 1: the called. He does not look for perfection, He looks
• 1:41:30
  Speaker 1: for willingness. And when a man like Levi, a sinner,
• 1:41:34
  Speaker 1: an outcast, a traitor, hears the voice of Jesus say
• 1:41:38
  Speaker 1: follow me, and chooses to stand up and leave everything behind.
• 1:41:42
  Speaker 1: That is when the impossible becomes possible. That is when
• 1:41:45
  Speaker 1: a tax collector becomes a gospel writer, When a man
• 1:41:48
  Speaker 1: who counted coins for Rome begins to count souls for
• 1:41:52
  Speaker 1: the kingdom, when someone the world rejected becomes someone the
• 1:41:56
  Speaker 1: church treasures. Matthew's gospel ends with a p and behold,
• 1:42:01
  Speaker 1: I am with you always to the end of the age.
• 1:42:05
  Speaker 1: It was the last thing Jesus said to his disciples,
• 1:42:08
  Speaker 1: and it was the last thing Matthew clung to as
• 1:42:11
  Speaker 1: he bled out on the floor of that Ethiopian church,
• 1:42:15
  Speaker 1: because he knew it was true. Jesus had been with
• 1:42:18
  Speaker 1: him in the tax booth, Jesus had been with him
• 1:42:21
  Speaker 1: at the feast, Jesus had been with him through every
• 1:42:24
  Speaker 1: step of the journey, and Jesus was with him in
• 1:42:27
  Speaker 1: that final moment, as the sword pierced his side and
• 1:42:31
  Speaker 1: his spirit was released into the arms of the one
• 1:42:34
  Speaker 1: who had called him. Matthew had followed Jesus from the
• 1:42:37
  Speaker 1: tax booth to the altar, from shame to honor, from
• 1:42:42
  Speaker 1: death to life, and now, in the presence of his Lord,
• 1:42:46
  Speaker 1: he understood the fullest meaning of the name he had
• 1:42:49
  Speaker 1: been given. Matthew gift of God, because that is what
• 1:42:53
  Speaker 1: he was, a gift to the world, a testimony that
• 1:42:58
  Speaker 1: no one, no matter how far they have fun Ahauln,
• 1:43:00
  Speaker 1: is beyond the reach of God's grace. Chapter ten, James
• 1:43:06
  Speaker 1: the Less the Just throne from the temple. There were
• 1:43:10
  Speaker 1: two men named James among the twelve. One was James
• 1:43:14
  Speaker 1: the Greater, son of Zebede, who was beheaded by Herod
• 1:43:18
  Speaker 1: and became the first of the apostles to die. The
• 1:43:21
  Speaker 1: other was James the Less, also called James the Just,
• 1:43:25
  Speaker 1: the son of Alphaeus, and according to early Christian tradition,
• 1:43:29
  Speaker 1: called the brother of the Lord. Whether by blood or
• 1:43:32
  Speaker 1: close kinship, the scriptures and traditions present him as one
• 1:43:36
  Speaker 1: intimately connected to Jesus's family, scripture tells us that Jesus
• 1:43:41
  Speaker 1: had brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas, along with sisters
• 1:43:47
  Speaker 1: whose names are not recorded, and for most of Jesus's
• 1:43:50
  Speaker 1: earthly ministry, his brothers did not believe in him. They
• 1:43:55
  Speaker 1: thought he had lost his mind. They were embarrassed by
• 1:43:58
  Speaker 1: his claims, confused by his teachings, and ashamed of the
• 1:44:02
  Speaker 1: scandal he brought upon their family. But after the Resurrection
• 1:44:06
  Speaker 1: everything changed. The apostle Paul records that Jesus appeared to
• 1:44:11
  Speaker 1: James privately in a moment not detailed in the Gospels,
• 1:44:14
  Speaker 1: but mentioned in his letter to the Corinthians. Then he
• 1:44:17
  Speaker 1: appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Whatever Jesus
• 1:44:22
  Speaker 1: said to him in that encounter, it transformed James completely.
• 1:44:26
  Speaker 1: The brother who had once mocked became the brother who believed,
• 1:44:30
  Speaker 1: and not just believed, but devoted his entire life to
• 1:44:33
  Speaker 1: serving the one he had once rejected. James did not
• 1:44:37
  Speaker 1: travel to distant lands like the other apostles. He stayed
• 1:44:40
  Speaker 1: in Jerusalem. He became the leader of the church there,
• 1:44:44
  Speaker 1: the pillar, the anchor, the one who held the community
• 1:44:47
  Speaker 1: together during the most turbulent years of its history. While
• 1:44:51
  Speaker 1: Peter went to Rome, and Paul traveled across the Empire.
• 1:44:54
  Speaker 1: James remained in the city where Jesus had been crucified, praying, teaching,
• 1:45:00
  Speaker 1: and leading with quiet strength. He was called James the
• 1:45:03
  Speaker 1: Just because of his righteousness. He lived a life of
• 1:45:07
  Speaker 1: such purity and devotion that even those who did not
• 1:45:10
  Speaker 1: believe in Jesus respected him. Ancient accounts record that he
• 1:45:15
  Speaker 1: wore simple clothes, never drank wine, never ate meat, and
• 1:45:19
  Speaker 1: spent so much time kneeling in prayer that his knees
• 1:45:22
  Speaker 1: became calloused, hard as a camel's knees worn smooth from
• 1:45:26
  Speaker 1: pressing against the stone floor of the temple courts. Every
• 1:45:30
  Speaker 1: day James would go to the temple and pray for
• 1:45:32
  Speaker 1: the people, not just for the believers, but for all Israel.
• 1:45:37
  Speaker 1: He prayed for the city, for the leaders, for the lost.
• 1:45:41
  Speaker 1: He prayed that God would have mercy, that hearts would turn,
• 1:45:45
  Speaker 1: that the nation would recognize the Messiah they had crucified.
• 1:45:49
  Speaker 1: And people listened to him. Even the Pharisees, even the scribes,
• 1:45:54
  Speaker 1: even those who despised the name of Jesus, could not
• 1:45:57
  Speaker 1: help but admire James. He was one of their own,
• 1:46:00
  Speaker 1: a devout Jew, a keeper of the law, a man
• 1:46:03
  Speaker 1: who honored the Sabbath and the traditions of their fathers.
• 1:46:07
  Speaker 1: But he also proclaimed that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ,
• 1:46:11
  Speaker 1: the son of the Living God, the fulfillment of every promise.
• 1:46:14
  Speaker 1: It was James who wrote the letter that bears his name,
• 1:46:18
  Speaker 1: a letter filled with practical wisdom about how believers should live.
• 1:46:23
  Speaker 1: He wrote about faith and works, about taming the tongue,
• 1:46:26
  Speaker 1: about caring for widows and orphans, about resisting favoritism, and
• 1:46:31
  Speaker 1: loving your neighbor as yourself. Faith by itself, he wrote,
• 1:46:36
  Speaker 1: if it does not have works, is dead. He was
• 1:46:40
  Speaker 1: not contradicting Paul's teaching about salvation by grace through faith.
• 1:46:44
  Speaker 1: He was reminding the church that true faith always produces fruit,
• 1:46:49
  Speaker 1: that if you truly believe, your life will show it
• 1:46:52
  Speaker 1: not to earn salvation, but because salvation has already changed
• 1:46:56
  Speaker 1: you from the inside out. For years, James led the
• 1:47:00
  Speaker 1: church in Jerusalem with wisdom and grace. He navigated the
• 1:47:04
  Speaker 1: tension between Jewish believers who still followed the Law of
• 1:47:08
  Speaker 1: Moses and Gentile believers who had never known the law.
• 1:47:12
  Speaker 1: He helped the apostles understand that salvation was not about
• 1:47:16
  Speaker 1: circumcision or rituals, but about faith in Jesus Christ. And
• 1:47:21
  Speaker 1: at the Council of Jerusalem recorded in the Book of Acts,
• 1:47:25
  Speaker 1: it was James who stood and gave the final word,
• 1:47:28
  Speaker 1: the decision that would shape the Church for centuries to come. Therefore,
• 1:47:33
  Speaker 1: my judgment is that we should not trouble those of
• 1:47:36
  Speaker 1: the gentiles who turned to God, but should write to
• 1:47:39
  Speaker 1: them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and
• 1:47:42
  Speaker 1: from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled and
• 1:47:46
  Speaker 1: from blood. It was a decision of grace, of inclusion,
• 1:47:51
  Speaker 1: of opening the door wide for all nations to come
• 1:47:54
  Speaker 1: into the family of God. But not every one was pleased.
• 1:47:58
  Speaker 1: The religious leaders in Jerusalem grew more and more frustrated.
• 1:48:01
  Speaker 1: The church was growing, thousands were believing, and at the
• 1:48:06
  Speaker 1: center of it all was James, the man they could
• 1:48:09
  Speaker 1: not discredit, the man whose life was so pure they
• 1:48:12
  Speaker 1: could find no fault in him. In the year sixty
• 1:48:15
  Speaker 1: two a d the high priest Ananus saw an opportunity.
• 1:48:19
  Speaker 1: The Roman procurator had died and a new one had
• 1:48:22
  Speaker 1: not yet arrived. For a brief moment, there was no
• 1:48:26
  Speaker 1: Roman oversight in Jerusalem Anonus could act without fear of
• 1:48:30
  Speaker 1: Roman interference, and he decided it was time to silence
• 1:48:34
  Speaker 1: James once and for all. According to the testimony of
• 1:48:38
  Speaker 1: the early Church historian Josephus and others, Anonus summoned James
• 1:48:42
  Speaker 1: to the temple, to the highest point overlooking the city,
• 1:48:45
  Speaker 1: and demanded that he speak to the crowd gathered below.
• 1:48:49
  Speaker 1: The plan was simple. They would ask James to publicly
• 1:48:52
  Speaker 1: deny that Jesus was the Messiah, and because James was
• 1:48:56
  Speaker 1: so respected, the people would believe him and the Christian
• 1:48:59
  Speaker 1: move would collapse. But they had underestimated James. They brought
• 1:49:04
  Speaker 1: him to the pinnacle of the temple, the corner where
• 1:49:07
  Speaker 1: the wall dropped straight down into the Kidron Valley below,
• 1:49:11
  Speaker 1: a fall of more than a hundred feet. The crowd gathered, curious, expectant,
• 1:49:17
  Speaker 1: and Ananas called out to James in a loud voice.
• 1:49:21
  Speaker 1: You the just one whom we all trust. Tell the
• 1:49:24
  Speaker 1: people the truth about Jesus of Nazareth. Was he truly
• 1:49:28
  Speaker 1: the Messiah? Or was he a deceiver? Speak and we
• 1:49:33
  Speaker 1: will believe you. James looked out over the crowd. He
• 1:49:37
  Speaker 1: saw faces. He recognized people he had prayed for, people
• 1:49:40
  Speaker 1: he had taught people he loved, and he knew this
• 1:49:44
  Speaker 1: was his final moment, his final testimony, his final chance
• 1:49:48
  Speaker 1: to proclaim the truth. He lifted his voice, and it
• 1:49:52
  Speaker 1: rang out clear and strong across the temple courts. Why
• 1:49:56
  Speaker 1: do you ask me about Jesus, the Son of Man.
• 1:49:59
  Speaker 1: He seated at the right hand of the power, and
• 1:50:02
  Speaker 1: he will come again on the clouds of heaven. The
• 1:50:05
  Speaker 1: crowd gasped. The priests froze in shock. This was not
• 1:50:10
  Speaker 1: what they had expected. They had thought James would recant,
• 1:50:14
  Speaker 1: would distance himself from the crucified teacher, But instead he
• 1:50:18
  Speaker 1: had declared before all Jerusalem that Jesus was Lord. Anonus
• 1:50:23
  Speaker 1: turned red with fury. Throw him down, he shouted, and
• 1:50:27
  Speaker 1: the priests seized James and hurled him from the pinnacle
• 1:50:31
  Speaker 1: of the temple. James fell, his body tumbling through the air,
• 1:50:35
  Speaker 1: striking the stones below with a sickening crash. The crowd screamed,
• 1:50:40
  Speaker 1: Some ran toward him, others stood frozen in horror. But
• 1:50:44
  Speaker 1: James was not dead. The fall had shattered his bones,
• 1:50:49
  Speaker 1: broken his body, but he was still breathing. And as
• 1:50:52
  Speaker 1: he lay there, bleeding and broken, he did not curse
• 1:50:56
  Speaker 1: his attackers. He did not cry out for revenge. Instead,
• 1:51:00
  Speaker 1: he prayed, just as Jesus had prayed on the cross,
• 1:51:04
  Speaker 1: just as Stephen had prayed as he was stoned. Father,
• 1:51:08
  Speaker 1: forgive them. They do not know what they are doing.
• 1:51:12
  Speaker 1: But the priests were not finished. They came down from
• 1:51:15
  Speaker 1: the temple, picked up stones, and began to hurl them
• 1:51:19
  Speaker 1: at James. One after another. The stones struck his body,
• 1:51:24
  Speaker 1: and still he prayed. Finally, according to ancient testimony, a
• 1:51:29
  Speaker 1: man stepped forward. He was a fuller, a laundry worker,
• 1:51:33
  Speaker 1: carrying the heavy wooden club he used to beat clothes clean.
• 1:51:37
  Speaker 1: He raised it high above his head and brought it
• 1:51:40
  Speaker 1: down on James's skull. And James the just, called the
• 1:51:44
  Speaker 1: brother of the Lord, the leader of the church in Jerusalem.
• 1:51:48
  Speaker 1: The man who had prayed until his knees were like stone,
• 1:51:51
  Speaker 1: breathed his last. They left his body where it fell,
• 1:51:55
  Speaker 1: But the believers came in the night, carried him away,
• 1:51:59
  Speaker 1: and buried him near the temple in a place of honor.
• 1:52:02
  Speaker 1: And over his grave they wept and sang and remembered
• 1:52:06
  Speaker 1: the man who had lived with such righteousness that even
• 1:52:09
  Speaker 1: his enemies could not deny it. But the story does
• 1:52:12
  Speaker 1: not end there. Jewish historians, including Josephus, recorded that within
• 1:52:18
  Speaker 1: a few years of James's death, disaster fell upon Jerusalem.
• 1:52:23
  Speaker 1: The Romans returned furious at the lawlessness that had taken
• 1:52:26
  Speaker 1: hold in the city, and in the year seventy a d.
• 1:52:30
  Speaker 1: Just eight years after James was killed, the Roman army
• 1:52:34
  Speaker 1: besieged Jerusalem, destroyed the temple, and slaughtered hundreds of thousands
• 1:52:38
  Speaker 1: of people. Some of the Jewish people believed it was
• 1:52:41
  Speaker 1: judgment for the murder of James the Just, that the
• 1:52:45
  Speaker 1: city had rejected the Righteous One, and God had allowed
• 1:52:48
  Speaker 1: their enemies to bring destruction. James had warned them, he
• 1:52:52
  Speaker 1: had prayed for them, he had pleaded with them to
• 1:52:55
  Speaker 1: turn to Jesus, and when they refused, when they threw
• 1:52:59
  Speaker 1: him from the temple and crushed his skull with stones,
• 1:53:02
  Speaker 1: they sealed their own fate. But James's legacy lived on.
• 1:53:06
  Speaker 1: His letter continued to be read in churches across the world.
• 1:53:10
  Speaker 1: His example of faith and works inspired generations of believers,
• 1:53:14
  Speaker 1: and his final prayer, Father, forgive them became a testament
• 1:53:18
  Speaker 1: to the kind of love that refuses to hate even
• 1:53:22
  Speaker 1: in the face of death. James the Just had lived
• 1:53:25
  Speaker 1: as his Lord had lived, and he died as his
• 1:53:28
  Speaker 1: Lord had died, forgiving, praying, trusting that beyond the stones,
• 1:53:34
  Speaker 1: beyond the pain, beyond the grave, there was a resurrection waiting.
• 1:53:39
  Speaker 1: And when he opened his eyes in heaven, the first
• 1:53:42
  Speaker 1: face he saw was the face of Jesus, not his brother,
• 1:53:46
  Speaker 1: not the teacher, but his Lord and Savior, the one
• 1:53:50
  Speaker 1: who had appeared to him after the resurrection and changed
• 1:53:53
  Speaker 1: his heart forever. And James fell at his feet, just
• 1:53:57
  Speaker 1: as he had done so many times in prayer, and
• 1:54:00
  Speaker 1: heard the words he had longed to hear. Well done,
• 1:54:03
  Speaker 1: good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little.
• 1:54:08
  Speaker 1: I will set you over much. Enter into the joy
• 1:54:12
  Speaker 1: of your Lord. James had been faithful in life, in leadership,
• 1:54:18
  Speaker 1: in death, and now, in the presence of the one
• 1:54:21
  Speaker 1: he had once doubted, but came to serve with all
• 1:54:23
  Speaker 1: his heart. He was home. Chapter eleven Simon the Zealot
• 1:54:30
  Speaker 1: and Jude brothers in mission martyrs in Persia. Among the
• 1:54:36
  Speaker 1: twelve there were two whose stories are so closely intertwined
• 1:54:40
  Speaker 1: that history remembers them together. Simon, called the Zealot, and Jude,
• 1:54:46
  Speaker 1: also known as Thodaeus, a relative of Jesus, and brother
• 1:54:49
  Speaker 1: of James the Just. They were men of very different backgrounds,
• 1:54:54
  Speaker 1: but united by a single mission to carry the Gospel
• 1:54:57
  Speaker 1: to the ends of the earth, no matter the cost.
• 1:55:00
  Speaker 1: Simon had once been a revolutionary before he met Jesus.
• 1:55:04
  Speaker 1: He belonged to a group known as the Zealots, a
• 1:55:07
  Speaker 1: radical movement of Jewish patriots who sought to overthrow Roman
• 1:55:11
  Speaker 1: rule by force. They were willing to lie, steal, and
• 1:55:15
  Speaker 1: kill if it meant freeing their people from the oppression
• 1:55:18
  Speaker 1: of the Empire. Simon had grown up believing that violence
• 1:55:22
  Speaker 1: was the only language Rome, understood that the Messiah, when
• 1:55:26
  Speaker 1: he came, would be a warrior king who would drive
• 1:55:28
  Speaker 1: the Romans into the sea and restore Israel to glory.
• 1:55:32
  Speaker 1: But then he met Jesus, and everything he thought he
• 1:55:36
  Speaker 1: knew about power, about kingdom, and about God was turned
• 1:55:40
  Speaker 1: upside down. Jesus did not carry a sword, he carried
• 1:55:44
  Speaker 1: a cross. He did not call for revolution, he called
• 1:55:49
  Speaker 1: for repentance. He did not promise to overthrow Rome. He
• 1:55:53
  Speaker 1: promised to overcome death itself. And when Simon saw Jesus
• 1:55:57
  Speaker 1: heal the sick, forgive sinners, and love his enemies, something
• 1:56:01
  Speaker 1: inside him broke and was remade, Simon laid down his weapons.
• 1:56:07
  Speaker 1: He left the Zealots, and he followed the man who said,
• 1:56:11
  Speaker 1: blessed are the peace makers, for they shall be called
• 1:56:14
  Speaker 1: sons of God. Jude, on the other hand, was quiet, humble,
• 1:56:20
  Speaker 1: often overlooked. He is sometimes confused with Judas Iscariot because
• 1:56:25
  Speaker 1: their names are so similar. But Jude was nothing like
• 1:56:28
  Speaker 1: the traitor. He was faithful, gentle, and deeply devoted to Jesus.
• 1:56:34
  Speaker 1: He asked few questions, made few demands, and simply walked
• 1:56:38
  Speaker 1: beside his Lord with a heart full of love. At
• 1:56:41
  Speaker 1: the Last Supper, Jude asked Jesus one of the few
• 1:56:44
  Speaker 1: questions recorded in scripture, Lord, how is it that you
• 1:56:48
  Speaker 1: will manifest yourself to us and not to the world.
• 1:56:52
  Speaker 1: And Jesus answered, if any one loves me, he will
• 1:56:56
  Speaker 1: keep my word, and my father will love him, and
• 1:56:59
  Speaker 1: we will come to him and make our home with him.
• 1:57:02
  Speaker 1: It was a promised. Jude never forgot that the presence
• 1:57:06
  Speaker 1: of God was not found in temples made of stone,
• 1:57:09
  Speaker 1: but in hearts made clean by faith. After Pentecost, Simon
• 1:57:14
  Speaker 1: and Jeude did not stay in Jerusalem. They felt the
• 1:57:17
  Speaker 1: call to go farther to the places where darkness still reigned,
• 1:57:21
  Speaker 1: and the light of the Gospel had never shone. And
• 1:57:24
  Speaker 1: so they traveled together across deserts and mountains, through hostile
• 1:57:29
  Speaker 1: lands and dangerous cities, carrying nothing but the message of
• 1:57:33
  Speaker 1: the risen Christ. Ancient Christian tradition tells us that they
• 1:57:37
  Speaker 1: went to Persia, the empire east of the Roman world,
• 1:57:41
  Speaker 1: a land ruled by kings who worshiped fire and followed
• 1:57:44
  Speaker 1: the teachings of zoroast. The people there believed in dualism,
• 1:57:49
  Speaker 1: that the world was a battle ground between two equal powers,
• 1:57:53
  Speaker 1: light and darkness, good and evil, locked in eternal combat.
• 1:57:58
  Speaker 1: But Simon and Jude brought a different message, that the
• 1:58:01
  Speaker 1: battle had already been won, that darkness was not equal
• 1:58:06
  Speaker 1: to light, but subject to it, that Jesus Christ had
• 1:58:10
  Speaker 1: defeated sin, death, and Satan himself, and that his victory
• 1:58:14
  Speaker 1: was complete and eternal. They preached in the market places
• 1:58:17
  Speaker 1: of Babylon, in the streets of Tesiphon, in the courts
• 1:58:21
  Speaker 1: of the Persian kings. They performed miracles, healing the sick,
• 1:58:25
  Speaker 1: casting out demons, raising the dead, and people believed, not
• 1:58:30
  Speaker 1: in large numbers at first, but steadily faithfully, one soul
• 1:58:34
  Speaker 1: at a time. Among those who came to faith were
• 1:58:38
  Speaker 1: members of the royal court, nobles and servants alike, and
• 1:58:42
  Speaker 1: when the Zoroastrian priests saw their influence slipping away, they
• 1:58:46
  Speaker 1: turned to the king and accused Simon and Jude of sorcery,
• 1:58:50
  Speaker 1: of leading the people astray, of dishonoring the sacred fire.
• 1:58:54
  Speaker 1: The king summoned them and demanded that they renounce their
• 1:58:58
  Speaker 1: faith and offer a sacrifice to the Persian gods. If
• 1:59:02
  Speaker 1: they did, they would be honored and rewarded. If they refused,
• 1:59:06
  Speaker 1: they would die. Simon, the former zealot, who had once
• 1:59:10
  Speaker 1: been willing to kill for his beliefs now stood ready
• 1:59:14
  Speaker 1: to die for them. He spoke, calmly, without anger, without fear.
• 1:59:20
  Speaker 1: We serve the Living God, the one who created the
• 1:59:23
  Speaker 1: heavens and the earth, the fire and the wind. We
• 1:59:26
  Speaker 1: will not bow to gods made by human hands, and
• 1:59:30
  Speaker 1: we will not deny the name of Jesus Christ, even
• 1:59:33
  Speaker 1: if you take our lives. Jude, the quiet one added softly,
• 1:59:38
  Speaker 1: we have lived together for Christ, and if it is
• 1:59:42
  Speaker 1: his will, we will die together for him as well.
• 1:59:45
  Speaker 1: The king's patients snapped. He ordered them to be executed immediately.
• 1:59:50
  Speaker 1: According to early Christian tradition. The methods of execution were brutal.
• 1:59:55
  Speaker 1: Some accounts record that Simon was killed in a particularly
• 1:59:59
  Speaker 1: agonizing way, his suffering meant to serve as a warning.
• 2:00:03
  Speaker 1: Jude was beheaded, the sword falling swiftly, severing his head
• 2:00:07
  Speaker 1: from his body in a single stroke. The pain was unimaginable,
• 2:00:12
  Speaker 1: but neither man screamed, neither man cursed. Instead, they prayed.
• 2:00:18
  Speaker 1: They prayed for the king, They prayed for the executioners.
• 2:00:23
  Speaker 1: They prayed for the people of Persia that they might
• 2:00:25
  Speaker 1: come to know the truth. And as their spirits left
• 2:00:29
  Speaker 1: their bodies, those who were watching later testified that they
• 2:00:32
  Speaker 1: saw a light, a faint, shimmering glow, rising from where
• 2:00:36
  Speaker 1: they fell, ascending toward the heavens. The believers, who had
• 2:00:40
  Speaker 1: been watching from a distance came in the night and
• 2:00:42
  Speaker 1: took the bodies of Simon and Jude. They washed them,
• 2:00:46
  Speaker 1: wrapped them in linen, and buried them side by side,
• 2:00:50
  Speaker 1: and over their graves they built a small marker with
• 2:00:53
  Speaker 1: the words they lived for Christ, they died for Christ.
• 2:00:58
  Speaker 1: They are with Christ. In the centuries that followed, the
• 2:01:02
  Speaker 1: Church in Persia grew the blood of Simon and Jude
• 2:01:06
  Speaker 1: became the seed of a harvest that spread across the region,
• 2:01:09
  Speaker 1: even into the heart of the empire that had killed them,
• 2:01:12
  Speaker 1: and their names were remembered together, not just as apostles,
• 2:01:16
  Speaker 1: but as brothers in faith, united in life and in death. Simon,
• 2:01:22
  Speaker 1: the man who had once believed in revolution, learned that
• 2:01:25
  Speaker 1: the greatest victory is not one with swords, but with surrender,
• 2:01:29
  Speaker 1: That the Kingdom of God does not come through violence,
• 2:01:32
  Speaker 1: but through love, and that the only enemy worth fighting
• 2:01:36
  Speaker 1: is sin itself, which Jesus had already defeated on the cross. Jude,
• 2:01:41
  Speaker 1: the quiet one, the humble one, the one who asked
• 2:01:44
  Speaker 1: only to know Jesus and to make him known, found
• 2:01:47
  Speaker 1: that the smallest acts of faithfulness are the ones that
• 2:01:50
  Speaker 1: echo loudest in eternity, that a life lived in obscurity
• 2:01:55
  Speaker 1: can shine brighter than a thousand thrones, and that to
• 2:01:59
  Speaker 1: be forgotten by the world but remembered by God is
• 2:02:02
  Speaker 1: the highest honor of all. Their story is a reminder
• 2:02:06
  Speaker 1: that we do not walk this road alone. That God
• 2:02:09
  Speaker 1: often pairs us together, different backgrounds, different gifts, different temperaments,
• 2:02:14
  Speaker 1: but united in a single purpose to proclaim the name
• 2:02:18
  Speaker 1: of Jesus, to love the lost, and to finish the race,
• 2:02:23
  Speaker 1: no matter the cost. Simon and Jude were not the
• 2:02:26
  Speaker 1: loudest apostles. They were not the most famous. But they
• 2:02:30
  Speaker 1: were faithful, and in the end that is all that matters.
• 2:02:34
  Speaker 1: They walk together, they preached together, they suffered together, and
• 2:02:39
  Speaker 1: they entered into glory together, their voices joined in the
• 2:02:43
  Speaker 1: chorus of Heaven, singing the praise of the Lamb who
• 2:02:46
  Speaker 1: was slain and is alive forevermore. And somewhere in the
• 2:02:51
  Speaker 1: quiet corners of Persia, where ancient churches still stand and
• 2:02:56
  Speaker 1: believers still gather to break bread and remember, the names
• 2:02:59
  Speaker 1: of Simon and Jude, are spoken with reverence. Not as heroes,
• 2:03:05
  Speaker 1: not as legends, but as brothers, fellow servants, men who
• 2:03:10
  Speaker 1: loved Jesus more than they loved their own lives. And
• 2:03:13
  Speaker 1: that love, stronger than death, fiercer than fire, has never
• 2:03:18
  Speaker 1: been forgotten. Chapter twelve Matthias, The Replacement, the Hidden Apostle.
• 2:03:27
  Speaker 1: There is something quietly profound about being chosen last, about
• 2:03:31
  Speaker 1: stepping into a roll that was never meant to be vacant,
• 2:03:35
  Speaker 1: about carrying a legacy you did not build, but are
• 2:03:39
  Speaker 1: called to honor. That was the burden and the blessing
• 2:03:42
  Speaker 1: of Matthias. He was not one of the original twelve.
• 2:03:46
  Speaker 1: He had not walked with Jesus from the beginning like
• 2:03:49
  Speaker 1: Peter or John. He had not seen the transfiguration, or
• 2:03:53
  Speaker 1: sat at the Last Supper, or been present in the
• 2:03:56
  Speaker 1: garden of Gathsemone, and yet he had been there, watching,
• 2:04:02
  Speaker 1: following faithful. According to the Book of Acts, Matthias was
• 2:04:07
  Speaker 1: among the disciples who had accompanied Jesus throughout his entire ministry,
• 2:04:11
  Speaker 1: from the baptism by John to the day of the ascension.
• 2:04:15
  Speaker 1: He had heard the Sermon on the Mount, he had
• 2:04:18
  Speaker 1: witnessed the feeding of the five thousand, he had seen
• 2:04:21
  Speaker 1: Lazarus walk out of the tomb, and he had been
• 2:04:24
  Speaker 1: there when Jesus appeared after the Resurrection, alive and glorious.
• 2:04:29
  Speaker 1: But he had never been called one of the Twelve
• 2:04:32
  Speaker 1: until Judas betrayed the Lord, took his own life and
• 2:04:36
  Speaker 1: left a vacancy that could not remain unfilled. After the Ascension,
• 2:04:41
  Speaker 1: the eleven gathered in the Upper Room in Jerusalem. Peter
• 2:04:44
  Speaker 1: stood among them and said, brothers, the scripture had to
• 2:04:48
  Speaker 1: be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the
• 2:04:51
  Speaker 1: mouth of David, concerning Judas, who became a guide to
• 2:04:55
  Speaker 1: those who arrested Jesus, for he was numbered among us
• 2:04:58
  Speaker 1: and was allotted his shop in this ministry. Peter quoted
• 2:05:02
  Speaker 1: the Psalms. Let his camp become desolate, and let there
• 2:05:07
  Speaker 1: be no one to dwell in it, and let another
• 2:05:10
  Speaker 1: take his office. The apostles understood the number twelve was significant.
• 2:05:16
  Speaker 1: It represented the twelve tribes of Israel. It symbolized completeness, order,
• 2:05:22
  Speaker 1: and the fullness of God's people. To leave it at
• 2:05:25
  Speaker 1: eleven would be to leave the mission incomplete. So they
• 2:05:29
  Speaker 1: proposed two men, Joseph called Barsabas, who was also known
• 2:05:33
  Speaker 1: as Justice, and Mattias. Both had been with them from
• 2:05:38
  Speaker 1: the beginning. Both were faithful, both were worthy. And then
• 2:05:43
  Speaker 1: they prayed, you, Lord, who know the hearts of all,
• 2:05:48
  Speaker 1: show which one of these two you have chosen to
• 2:05:50
  Speaker 1: take the place in this ministry and apostleship, from which
• 2:05:53
  Speaker 1: Judas turned aside to go to his own place. They
• 2:05:56
  Speaker 1: cast lots, an ancient practice of seeking God's will, and
• 2:06:01
  Speaker 1: the lot fell on Mattias. He was now the twelfth apostle,
• 2:06:05
  Speaker 1: the one chosen to fill the place of the one
• 2:06:08
  Speaker 1: who had fallen. Scripture does not tell us much about Mattias.
• 2:06:12
  Speaker 1: After that, his name appears in the list of the
• 2:06:15
  Speaker 1: twelve in Acts Chapter one, and then Silance. No sermons
• 2:06:21
  Speaker 1: are recorded, no miracles are detailed, no letters bear his name.
• 2:06:27
  Speaker 1: He is in many ways the hidden Apostle, the forgotten one.
• 2:06:32
  Speaker 1: But early Christian tradition tells us more. And what it
• 2:06:35
  Speaker 1: tells us is a story of quiet faithfulness, of steady obedience,
• 2:06:40
  Speaker 1: of a man who did not seek fame, but sought
• 2:06:43
  Speaker 1: only to serve. Some traditions say that Matthias remained in Judea,
• 2:06:48
  Speaker 1: preaching among the Jewish people, strengthening the church in Jerusalem
• 2:06:52
  Speaker 1: and working alongside James the Just. Others say that he
• 2:06:56
  Speaker 1: traveled far beyond, to the regions of Cappadocia and the
• 2:07:00
  Speaker 1: shores of the Caspian Sea, and eventually to Ethiopia, where
• 2:07:04
  Speaker 1: he joined the mission that Matthieu and others had begun.
• 2:07:08
  Speaker 1: Wherever he went, Mattias carried the same message that Jesus
• 2:07:13
  Speaker 1: of Nazareth, who had been crucified under pontious pilot, had
• 2:07:16
  Speaker 1: risen from the dead, that salvation was found in no
• 2:07:20
  Speaker 1: one else, and that the Kingdom of God was open
• 2:07:23
  Speaker 1: to all who would repent and believe he performed miracles,
• 2:07:28
  Speaker 1: he healed the sick, he cast out demons, and he
• 2:07:32
  Speaker 1: taught the scriptures with clarity and power, showing how every
• 2:07:35
  Speaker 1: word of the law and the prophets pointed to Jesus.
• 2:07:39
  Speaker 1: But his ministry was not easy. The regions where he
• 2:07:42
  Speaker 1: traveled were hostile to the Gospel. The people worshiped idols,
• 2:07:47
  Speaker 1: practiced sorcery, and had no tolerance for those who proclaimed
• 2:07:51
  Speaker 1: a crucified Jew as lord. According to ancient accounts in Ethiopia,
• 2:07:56
  Speaker 1: or perhaps in Colchis near the Black Sea, traditions differ,
• 2:08:00
  Speaker 1: Matthias was arrested by the authorities. They accused him of
• 2:08:04
  Speaker 1: turning people away from the gods of their fathers, of
• 2:08:07
  Speaker 1: causing division, and of dishonoring the empire. He was brought
• 2:08:12
  Speaker 1: before the rulers and commanded to renounce his faith, to
• 2:08:16
  Speaker 1: offer a sacrifice to the local deities to prove his
• 2:08:19
  Speaker 1: loyalty by denying the name of Jesus. Matthias stood before them,
• 2:08:23
  Speaker 1: an old man, now his hair white, his body bent
• 2:08:27
  Speaker 1: with years of travel and hardship, but his voice was steady.
• 2:08:31
  Speaker 1: I was called last among the apostles, he said, but
• 2:08:35
  Speaker 1: I will be faithful to the end. I will not
• 2:08:38
  Speaker 1: deny the one who chose me, who saw me when
• 2:08:41
  Speaker 1: I was unknown, and who gave me a place among
• 2:08:43
  Speaker 1: his servants. The rulers were unmoved. They ordered him to
• 2:08:47
  Speaker 1: be stoned. The crowd gathered in the city square. Matthias
• 2:08:52
  Speaker 1: was forced to kneel, and then, one by one, the
• 2:08:56
  Speaker 1: stones began to fly. The first struck his shoulder, the
• 2:09:00
  Speaker 1: second hit his back. The third caught him on the
• 2:09:03
  Speaker 1: side of the head, and blood began to flow. But
• 2:09:06
  Speaker 1: Mattias did not cry out. He did not beg for mercy. Instead,
• 2:09:12
  Speaker 1: he prayed, Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit.
• 2:09:17
  Speaker 1: Receive me not because I am worthy, but because your
• 2:09:20
  Speaker 1: son made me worthy. I was chosen last, but I
• 2:09:24
  Speaker 1: am faithful to the end. The stones kept coming, his
• 2:09:29
  Speaker 1: body crumpled, his breathing slowed, and then, according to early tradition,
• 2:09:35
  Speaker 1: to insure he was dead, they took an axe and
• 2:09:39
  Speaker 1: beheaded him, severing his head from his body. The believers
• 2:09:43
  Speaker 1: came in the night weeping and carried his body away.
• 2:09:47
  Speaker 1: They buried him with honor, singing psalms and speaking of
• 2:09:50
  Speaker 1: the man who had been chosen by God when every
• 2:09:52
  Speaker 1: one else had overlooked him. Matthias was never famous. He
• 2:09:57
  Speaker 1: never wrote a gospel, he never led a count's or
• 2:10:00
  Speaker 1: performed a miracle so great that the world remembered his name.
• 2:10:04
  Speaker 1: But he was faithful, and in the eyes of God,
• 2:10:07
  Speaker 1: that is all that matters. His story is a reminder
• 2:10:10
  Speaker 1: that not all of us are called to be Peter
• 2:10:13
  Speaker 1: or Paul. Some of us are called to be Matthias.
• 2:10:16
  Speaker 1: To step into the gap, to fill the place that
• 2:10:19
  Speaker 1: was left empty, to serve quietly, humbly, without recognition or applause,
• 2:10:26
  Speaker 1: and to trust that the God who chose us, who
• 2:10:29
  Speaker 1: sees us, who knows our name, will one day welcome
• 2:10:32
  Speaker 1: us home with the same words he speaks to every
• 2:10:35
  Speaker 1: faithful servant. Well done, good and faithful servant. You have
• 2:10:40
  Speaker 1: been faithful over a little. I will set you over much.
• 2:10:44
  Speaker 1: Enter into the joy of your Lord. Mattias was called last,
• 2:10:49
  Speaker 1: but he finished well, and in the Kingdom of Heaven,
• 2:10:52
  Speaker 1: that is what counts. Chapter thirteen, The Legacy, Why they
• 2:10:59
  Speaker 1: died and why it matters. Twelve men, twelve different lives,
• 2:11:05
  Speaker 1: twelve different deaths, but one unshakable truth. Jesus is risen. Peter,
• 2:11:13
  Speaker 1: tradition holds, was crucified upside down in Rome, his hands
• 2:11:17
  Speaker 1: stretched toward the earth, because he did not consider himself
• 2:11:20
  Speaker 1: worthy to die as his lord had died. Andrew. Early
• 2:11:24
  Speaker 1: account's record was bound to an ex shaped cross in Greece,
• 2:11:29
  Speaker 1: preaching for three days until his voice finally fell silent.
• 2:11:33
  Speaker 1: James the Greater beheaded by the sword in Jerusalem, the
• 2:11:37
  Speaker 1: first of the twelve to drink the cup of martyrdom. John,
• 2:11:41
  Speaker 1: according to the most widely accepted tradition, was the only
• 2:11:44
  Speaker 1: one who did not die by violence, but who suffered
• 2:11:47
  Speaker 1: exile and persecution, and who saw the heavens opened and
• 2:11:51
  Speaker 1: wrote the final book of the Bible. Philip tradition tells us,
• 2:11:55
  Speaker 1: was crucified and stoned in Hierapalis, praying for his executioners
• 2:12:00
  Speaker 1: until his last breath. Bartholomew, ancient accounts describe, suffered unimaginable
• 2:12:06
  Speaker 1: agony in Armenia, yet sang hymns of praise through it all. Thomas,
• 2:12:11
  Speaker 1: historical records suggest was pierced by a spear in India,
• 2:12:15
  Speaker 1: the doubter who became the believer, who carried the Gospel
• 2:12:19
  Speaker 1: farther than almost any other. Matthew, early church tradition holds,
• 2:12:23
  Speaker 1: was killed at the altar while celebrating the Lord's supper,
• 2:12:26
  Speaker 1: his blood mingling with the wine. James the Just, according
• 2:12:31
  Speaker 1: to the testimony of early historians, was thrown from the
• 2:12:34
  Speaker 1: pinnacle of the temple, then stoned and beaten to death,
• 2:12:38
  Speaker 1: praying for his murderers with his dying breath. Simon the
• 2:12:42
  Speaker 1: Zealot and jude Christian tradition records, died together in Persia,
• 2:12:47
  Speaker 1: brothers in mission, united in death, and Mattias the replacement,
• 2:12:53
  Speaker 1: early accounts suggest, was stoned and beheaded in a land
• 2:12:56
  Speaker 1: far from home, faithful to the very end. These were
• 2:13:00
  Speaker 1: not men who sought death. They were not fanatics looking
• 2:13:03
  Speaker 1: for martyrdom. They were ordinary people who had encountered the
• 2:13:07
  Speaker 1: extraordinary presence of the living God, and that encounter changed
• 2:13:11
  Speaker 1: everything because they had seen him not in a vision,
• 2:13:16
  Speaker 1: not in a dream, but with their own eyes. They
• 2:13:19
  Speaker 1: had walked with him, talked with him, eaten with him.
• 2:13:23
  Speaker 1: They had watched him heal the blind, cleanse the lepers,
• 2:13:27
  Speaker 1: and raise the dead. They had heard him teach with
• 2:13:30
  Speaker 1: authority that made the scribes and pharisees tremble. And they
• 2:13:34
  Speaker 1: had stood at the foot of the cross and watched
• 2:13:36
  Speaker 1: him die. And then three days later they had seen
• 2:13:41
  Speaker 1: him alive. That is the only explanation for what happened next,
• 2:13:46
  Speaker 1: because when Jesus was arrested, they all fled. Peter denied him,
• 2:13:52
  Speaker 1: Thomas doubted him. The others hid in fear, convinced that
• 2:13:55
  Speaker 1: it was over, that the dream had died, that the
• 2:13:58
  Speaker 1: kingdom they had hoped for nothing but ash and ruin.
• 2:14:02
  Speaker 1: But then he appeared to them in the locked upper
• 2:14:05
  Speaker 1: room by the Sea of Galilee, on the road to Immaeus,
• 2:14:10
  Speaker 1: in the presence of five hundred witnesses at once, and
• 2:14:14
  Speaker 1: everything changed. Fear became courage, doubt became certainty, and men
• 2:14:21
  Speaker 1: who had run away in terror became men who would
• 2:14:23
  Speaker 1: not be silenced even by the threat of death, because
• 2:14:27
  Speaker 1: they knew. They did not believe, they did not hope.
• 2:14:32
  Speaker 1: They knew Jesus was alive. And if he was alive,
• 2:14:37
  Speaker 1: then death was not the end. If he had conquered
• 2:14:40
  Speaker 1: the grave, then the grave had no power over them,
• 2:14:44
  Speaker 1: And if he had promised to be with them always,
• 2:14:47
  Speaker 1: even to the end of the age, then no emperor,
• 2:14:50
  Speaker 1: no sword, no fire, no cross could separate them from
• 2:14:54
  Speaker 1: his love. That is why they died, not because they
• 2:14:58
  Speaker 1: were tricked, not because because they were deceived, but because
• 2:15:02
  Speaker 1: they had seen the risen Lord, and they could not
• 2:15:05
  Speaker 1: would not deny what they had witnessed. People do not
• 2:15:09
  Speaker 1: die for a lie. They might die for a cause
• 2:15:12
  Speaker 1: they believe in, even if it turns out to be false,
• 2:15:15
  Speaker 1: but they do not willingly suffer torture and execution for
• 2:15:18
  Speaker 1: something they know is a fabrication. And every single one
• 2:15:22
  Speaker 1: of the apostles had the chance to save their lives.
• 2:15:25
  Speaker 1: All they had to do was say it was a lie.
• 2:15:29
  Speaker 1: We made it up. Jesus did not rise from the dead,
• 2:15:32
  Speaker 1: but none of them did not. One. They chose the cross,
• 2:15:37
  Speaker 1: the sword, the stones, and the fire rather than deny
• 2:15:41
  Speaker 1: the truth they had seen, and their blood became the
• 2:15:44
  Speaker 1: seed of the church. Tertullian, one of the early church fathers, wrote,
• 2:15:50
  Speaker 1: the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church,
• 2:15:55
  Speaker 1: and he was right. Every time an apostle was killed,
• 2:15:58
  Speaker 1: the gospel spread further. Every time a believer was executed,
• 2:16:03
  Speaker 1: more people came to faith because the world could not
• 2:16:06
  Speaker 1: explain it. How could a man sing while suffering beyond description?
• 2:16:11
  Speaker 1: How could a woman forgive her executioners as they stoned
• 2:16:14
  Speaker 1: her to death? How could ordinary people face the most
• 2:16:18
  Speaker 1: horrific deaths imaginable, with peace, with joy, with hope. The
• 2:16:23
  Speaker 1: only answer was Jesus. The resurrection was real, and because
• 2:16:28
  Speaker 1: it was real, everything else, the pain, the persecution, the suffering,
• 2:16:33
  Speaker 1: was temporary, a light affliction, as Paul would later write,
• 2:16:37
  Speaker 1: producing an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. From
• 2:16:41
  Speaker 1: twelve men, the faith spread to thousands, then millions, then billions.
• 2:16:47
  Speaker 1: To day, more than two billion people across the world
• 2:16:50
  Speaker 1: claim the name of Jesus Christ. The message that began
• 2:16:54
  Speaker 1: in a small upper room in Jerusalem has reached every continent,
• 2:16:58
  Speaker 1: every nation, every tribe and tongue. And it all started
• 2:17:03
  Speaker 1: with twelve ordinary men who said yes, who left their boats,
• 2:17:08
  Speaker 1: their tax booths, their families, and their futures to follow
• 2:17:11
  Speaker 1: a carpenter from Nazareth, who stumbled, who doubted, who failed,
• 2:17:17
  Speaker 1: but who were never abandoned, and who in the end
• 2:17:21
  Speaker 1: gave everything, including their lives, so that the world might
• 2:17:24
  Speaker 1: know the truth that Jesus is Lord, that he died
• 2:17:28
  Speaker 1: for our sins, that he rose from the dead, and
• 2:17:32
  Speaker 1: that every one who believes in Him will not perish,
• 2:17:35
  Speaker 1: but have eternal life. The apostles are gone. Now their
• 2:17:39
  Speaker 1: bodies lie buried in distant lands, beneath ancient churches and
• 2:17:43
  Speaker 1: forgotten graves. But their voices still echo in every sermon preached,
• 2:17:50
  Speaker 1: in every gospel read in every believer who chooses to
• 2:17:53
  Speaker 1: follow Jesus, no matter the cost. And one day, when
• 2:17:57
  Speaker 1: the Lord returns, they will rise again, not as broken, beaten,
• 2:18:03
  Speaker 1: martyred men, but as glorified saints, clothed in white, standing
• 2:18:08
  Speaker 1: before the throne of the Lamb. And they will hear
• 2:18:10
  Speaker 1: the words they longed to hear. Well done, good and
• 2:18:15
  Speaker 1: faithful servants, enter into the joy of your Lord. The
• 2:18:20
  Speaker 1: apostles walked with Jesus, and then they died like Jesus,
• 2:18:25
  Speaker 1: not in defeat but in victory, not in despair, but
• 2:18:29
  Speaker 1: in hope. And their legacy is this, that the Gospel
• 2:18:32
  Speaker 1: is true, that Jesus is alive, and that no power
• 2:18:37
  Speaker 1: in heaven or on earth can ever stop the message
• 2:18:39
  Speaker 1: of the Cross. Because the tomb is empty, the king
• 2:18:43
  Speaker 1: is risen, and his kingdom will have no end. And
• 2:18:49
  Speaker 1: so we come to the end of this journey. Twelve men,
• 2:18:53
  Speaker 1: twelve lives, twelve deaths, but one truth that cannot be silenced.
• 2:19:00
  Speaker 1: They walked with Jesus. They saw him crucified, and then
• 2:19:05
  Speaker 1: they saw him alive. And because they saw him, they
• 2:19:08
  Speaker 1: could not be silent, even when kings commanded it, even
• 2:19:13
  Speaker 1: when empires threatened it, even when death itself stood before them,
• 2:19:18
  Speaker 1: they spoke the truth. Peter, according to tradition, died upside down,
• 2:19:24
  Speaker 1: but his confession still stands. You are the Christ, the
• 2:19:29
  Speaker 1: son of the Living God. Andrew early account's record, preached
• 2:19:34
  Speaker 1: from his cross for three days, and his voice still echoes,
• 2:19:38
  Speaker 1: come and see. James was the first to fall, but
• 2:19:42
  Speaker 1: his courage opened the door for all who would follow.
• 2:19:45
  Speaker 1: John lived the longest, and his words remain. God is Love.
• 2:19:50
  Speaker 1: Philip invited souls to Jesus with his dying breath. Bartholomew
• 2:19:55
  Speaker 1: ancient testimony tells us sang hymns while suffering beyond description.
• 2:20:01
  Speaker 1: Thomas carried the gospel to the farthest shores of the earth.
• 2:20:05
  Speaker 1: Matthew laid down his life at the altar, and his
• 2:20:08
  Speaker 1: gospel still proclaims the King James the Just early historian's
• 2:20:14
  Speaker 1: record prayed for his enemies as they crushed his skull.
• 2:20:18
  Speaker 1: Simon and Jude Christian tradition holds died together brothers in
• 2:20:23
  Speaker 1: faith until the end, and Matthias chosen last, was faithful
• 2:20:28
  Speaker 1: to the finish. They were not perfect, They were not superheroes.
• 2:20:33
  Speaker 1: They were ordinary people who encountered an extraordinary savior, and
• 2:20:38
  Speaker 1: that encounter transformed them from the inside out to night.
• 2:20:42
  Speaker 1: As you rest, may their courage strengthen you, May their
• 2:20:46
  Speaker 1: faith inspire you, and may their testimony remind you that
• 2:20:50
  Speaker 1: the same Jesus who walked with them, who called them,
• 2:20:54
  Speaker 1: who empowered them, and who received them into glory, is
• 2:20:57
  Speaker 1: the same Jesus who walks with you. He has not changed.
• 2:21:02
  Speaker 1: He is still calling, still empowering, still loving, and still
• 2:21:08
  Speaker 1: waiting to welcome you home. This is the testimony of
• 2:21:11
  Speaker 1: the Apostles, drawn from scripture, the writings of the early
• 2:21:15
  Speaker 1: church fathers, and sacred tradition preserved across two thousand years.
• 2:21:21
  Speaker 1: It is a testimony written not just in words, but
• 2:21:24
  Speaker 1: in blood, not just in books, but in lives laid
• 2:21:28
  Speaker 1: down for the truth. May you sleep in the peace
• 2:21:31
  Speaker 1: of that truth tonight, and may you wake tomorrow knowing
• 2:21:35
  Speaker 1: that the same gospel they died for is the gospel
• 2:21:37
  Speaker 1: that can save, heal, and transform your life as well.
• 2:21:42
  Speaker 1: The Apostles have finished their race, but the race continues.
• 2:21:47
  Speaker 1: The mission is not over, and the call to follow
• 2:21:50
  Speaker 1: Jesus still rings out across the centuries. Come and see
• 2:21:54
  Speaker 1: follow me, and I will be with you always, even
• 2:21:58
  Speaker 1: to the end of the age. Rest well, beloved. The
• 2:22:03
  Speaker 1: Lord is with you, His angels watch over you, and
• 2:22:07
  Speaker 1: his love will never let you go. Amen.