“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Matthew 5:10-12
Over the last several weeks, we have looked at the lives and deaths of some of the most well-known first century missionaries, including the apostles.
Two ways to finish
There is one apostle whose life and death we did not address during this series: Judas Iscariot. The reason is obvious, of course. He did not finish faithfully to the end.
There are really only two ways to finish well in this life. You’re either going to finish well like the martyrs, faithful to the end, no matter the cost, or you’re going to finish badly like Judas, in shame and tragedy. Like many of the apostles, we either drop our nets to follow Jesus until the day we die and meet him face-to-face, or we go away and do something else (2 Timothy 2:4).
My prayer is that through this series, you have been encouraged to be like the former—faithful to the end.
Go back and review the series:
- Faithful to the End: Series Introduction
- Faitful to the End: Stephen, the first New Testament martyr
- Faithful to the End: the sons of Zebedee (James and John)
- Faithful to the End: Philip and Matthew
- Faithful to the End: James (son of Alphaeus) and Matthias
- Faithful to the End: Andrew, embracing the cross of Jesus
- Faithful to the End: Jude, Bartholomew, Thomas
- Faithful to the End: Peter
Recommended Reading: