Some Sundays start out a little more hectic than others. Here I am, supposed to preach today, and I left my Bible at home. I was not off to a good start. Fortunately, my dear wife got it to me in time for the first service, but my brain has been a little mushy ever since. So, we're going to get through this as best we can. Hopefully, you've had days like that. Another interesting thing today is that Scott has a preaching calendar in his office, so those of us who are elders know when we're speaking and what we're speaking on. It gives us lots of time to prepare. Mike and I were laughing the other day. I said, 'Well, what did you end up with?' I ended up with four verses, and three of them are names. You can go into the Greek, and Peter is still Peter, and John is still John. There is a lot to bring forward today, but it's kind of fun getting this one together.
In 1980, there was a group of college hockey players put together to represent the United States at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. People whose names nobody knew, and they were going to go up against the best of the best in the world. Nobody thought they had a chance because the Russian hockey team dominated hockey, as did the Northern European hockey clubs. They began to play, they began to win match after match, and before you knew it, they were in the finals against the Soviet Union and they won. We call it the 'Miracle on Ice.' If you're old enough, you watched it live; if you're not, maybe you saw the movie. I see some heads shaking. You have to have been born after 1980 to make that happen, which means, yes, I am older than that.
Moving forward, here's what I want us to understand: this is a group of individuals nobody thought had a chance. When we look at this list of apostles, we're going to ask, 'Why these guys?' It doesn't make sense, and yet we're going to find out God had a much bigger plan in store for them. There are a couple of things that we want to take note of, though, beginning in verse 12.
It says, 'In these days He went out to the mountain to pray, and all night He continued in prayer to God.' So, the first thing we want to consider is what was happening in those days. Why did He take this retreat? If you'll remember what we've looked at in the last few weeks, the persecution was starting to pick up in Jerusalem, so Jesus moves into the region of Galilee. He begins to teach, He begins to perform miracles, and there is a multitude that is following Him. They love to go wherever Jesus goes. But their motivation is they just want to see what's the next cool thing Jesus is going to do. And secondarily, they're looking for, 'What can He do for me today? What's in it for me?' But on top of this, you also have a group of religious leaders, the Pharisees, who are beginning to oppress Jesus and His followers because of His teaching and because of the things that He's doing. We studied last week about the man who was healed on the Sabbath, and the Pharisees are like, 'No, no, no, you can't be doing that,' or the fact that Jesus' followers were eating a little kernel of wheat in the field, 'Oh, you can't be doing that.'
So, the persecution is increasing, Jesus knows His time is short, and He knows that the message that He brings has to go forth, so He retreats to the mountain to pray. One of the things that I want to put in front of you—if you don't make this a practice in your life already—is to find time to take some retreats with God. Get alone, get away, take your Bible, take your pen, take your notebook, and let Him talk. About 20-some-odd years ago, I began making this a practice. Every year, two or three times a year, I will go away somewhere and take a retreat just to listen to what God has to say to me. I've taken retreats in the middle of forests in Pennsylvania, in a cabin; this year was Fredonia, Kansas, places where I'm not going to be interrupted, where I can really listen to what God has to say to me. So many times, we settle for drive-through prayer: 'Hi, God, this morning I need some health, I'd like you to bless my family, give me a great day, please take care of my kids, my wife, my dog, amen. See you at the next window.' It's all about us, it's all surface. What God's looking for from us is that relationship: 'God, I just want to spend time with you. I want to hear what you have to say.' Jesus is getting ready to make the most critical decision about who He's going to entrust this gospel to, and what He does is He gets away and He prays. And here's the other thing: He prays all night. I don't know about you, but I'm very ADD, so sometimes when I want to go to prayer, I start off with, 'Father, I'm here today,' and the next thing you know, I've got '70s song lyrics in my head and then I'm quoting lines from movies from the '80s. Where did that come in? That's not what I was wanting to happen. Part of this is, we've got to retreat away; we've got to get to a place where we can get still, and we've got to wait long enough that we can get still. In the mornings, I do my Bible study and prayer time in my office. One thing I have to do is leave my computer shut down, the screen off, and I have to flip my phone over if I intend to have any kind of quality time with God because the temptation is to look at the distraction.
What Jesus did is He moved away from the distraction. Had He stayed with the crowd, the requests would have kept coming: 'Jesus, I need this; I need that.' But He got alone and He got with God. He prayed all night. And here's the thing we need to understand: It wasn't Him talking all night; He was listening. And when it talks about being in continual prayer, that doesn't mean we do all the talking. It means we slow down and we listen. And when God speaks, we respond, and it really becomes a dialogue. But so many times, we miss the beauty of spending time with God, what that really can look like. Just in my own life, it's been absolutely revolutionary. Ministries have started, businesses have started, relationships have been repaired. I've seen God do amazing things by taking time to be with Him. So much so, that the rule in our house is when I'm on retreat, I call Carol when I'm done and I know God has given me permission to re-engage everything. We don't talk until then, because I don't want to be distracted. I want to hear what God has to say, but it's been life-changing.
So, I just want to put that in front of you. Even if you take an hour or two once a month, just get alone with God. It'll revolutionize everything you're doing. But why was He there? Why was He praying? Well, His time is short. He's getting ready to be crucified at some point, and this gospel, this precious message, has to be entrusted to a group of people. Now, what this reminds me of, as I read through this passage, is playing kickball as a kid. You would choose teams, and of course, I want Billy because he's fast, and I want Tim because he can kick hard, and then finally, after about your third pick, you're down to the other folks and you go, 'Um, yeah, we'll take Steve, and we'll take Timmy, and tell everybody he's on the side.' And then because you know they're not going to be of great benefit to you, you say, 'Why don't you go play outfield?' That's kind of what this reminds me of. And the reason I say that is the best of the best when it comes to faith were in Jerusalem, but Jesus is in Galilee. And those that He is going to choose are not religious leaders or scholars or rabbis. They're common men, and they're a diverse group of common men.
So when day came, He called His disciples and chose from them 12, whom He named apostles. So a little word meaning here: 'disciples' is someone who follows, 'apostle' is somebody who is an ambassador, somebody who is sent on another's behalf. This is critical today. In America, studies tell us that 75% of the population claims to be Christian. Does anybody believe that? No. Why? You can respond, 'How come? They don't act like it; they don't live out the call of Christ.' That's what was happening in Jesus' day. If we were to ask this crowd, 'Are you followers of Jesus?' Of course. But when things get tough, they don't stick. When things are contrary to popular opinion, they don't stick. They're untrustworthy with the message.
And so, what Jesus was praying for is, 'Who can I count on to take this gospel forward?' I'm going to give you some history on each of these men because some of their names you'll recognize. So if I were to ask you, 'Who were Jesus' 12?' Most people go, 'Okay, Peter, James, John... oh yeah, Judas.' Well, there's more to that. Some of these men we don't know much about, but I'll tell you their stories as we go.
As he calls his twelve, these who are going to be sent as his ambassadors, it begins with Simon Peter. Of course, Peter is named first in this list of apostles, primarily as the spokesman. Here are some things we obviously know about Peter: he's the brother of Andrew, he was a fisherman, he's a bit of a hothead, and he takes action very quickly. He doesn't always think about his actions, and we see that throughout scripture. One of my favorite scriptures dealing with Peter is when Jesus tells him, 'Hey Peter, Simon wants to sift you like wheat, and when you've come back to us, strengthen your brothers.' Paraphrasing that, it means, 'Peter, you are going to mess up horribly. When you've gotten your head screwed on straight, come back and strengthen your brothers.' So Peter, although we see his flaws, had something more impressive going for him. What we learn from history is that he took the gospel to modern-day Turkey, to Italy, and into Asia. Between 64 and 67 AD, he was crucified for his faith by Emperor Nero. What history tells us is he did not feel worthy to be crucified in the same manner as Jesus, and he requested to be crucified upside down—an interesting way that he died. A man who at one point said, 'Yeah, I don't know Jesus, I don't know who you're talking about, I'm not one of His,' in the end said, 'Crucify me upside down; I'm not worthy to be crucified the same way.'
We move on then to his brother Andrew, also a fisherman. Here are some things that we know about Andrew: he took the gospel to modern-day Georgia, to Bulgaria, to Greece, and Italy. In 1860, he was crucified and hung from an olive tree. That was his demise for the sake of the gospel. We move on through this list and we come to James and John. They were called the sons of thunder; they were also fishermen. They were called the sons of thunder because they were a bit arrogant. There's an account in scripture where Jesus is not really being received as He should be, and they ask Him, 'Should we call down fire from heaven to consume those who are not walking according to your way?' 'No, boys, that's not the plan.' That was their story. Now, here's what's interesting with James and John: James went to Israel and then to Spain with the gospel, but he was the earliest of the martyred disciples because he was killed in 1844, about 11 years after Jesus had ascended. He was beheaded by Herod Agrippa for the sake of the gospel.
We moved through our list. John is the only one who actually died a natural death—with one exception: he was dipped in boiling oil and survived. Because they didn't know what to do with him, he was exiled to the island of Patmos, where he wrote the Gospel of John, the Book of Revelation, and First, Second, and Third John. John took the gospel to Israel and to Turkey. One of the things that I love about the Gospel of John is he has time to look back and reflect, and he writes on how do I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Pretty amazing book.
So, let's keep going here. Then you've got Philip and Bartholomew. Philip, we know from his encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch, took the gospel to Ukraine, Turkey, and North Africa. What we find is, in 80 AD, he was beheaded. Then you have Bartholomew, also known as Nathaniel in the other gospels. He took the gospel to Georgia, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, India, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Arabia. In 1868, he was—they're not sure—either beheaded or flayed alive for the sake of the gospel. What's kind of interesting when you look at someone like Bartholomew is the only reason we even know anything of him is he's mentioned in this list of apostles. Scripture doesn't tell us much more, but history tells us that he did a great work of the gospel in his journey.
Then we've got Matthew, the tax collector, Thomas, and James, the son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was called the Zealot. We studied Matthew here a few weeks ago; he's also known as Levi. He was a tax collector, he worked for the Roman government collecting taxes. Tax collectors made extra money by putting a surcharge on top of your taxes. They were not popular people. This is one of the fascinating things about this group of men that Jesus chose because Peter, Andrew, James, and John are all businessmen. Matthew's a tax collector; they probably had run-ins before, and yet, for the cause of the gospel, they are brought together. Matthew took the gospel to Israel, Iran, Syria, and Italy, and he was burned to death towards the end of the first century.
Then we take a look at Thomas. Thomas was the doubter, the one who said, 'I'm not going to believe unless I can put my fingers into the piercings of His hand and put my hand into His side.' But as soon as he had that encounter, when he got to do those things, he declared, 'My Lord and my God.' Thomas is kind of a cool deal for those of us who've been to India on our mission trips. We fly into Chennai, which is in southern India, on the eastern coast. As you fly in on the landing approach, there's a mountain off to the right with a big lit-up cross; it's called Saint Thomas Mount. It's actually where he was murdered for the gospel. He was speared down by someone while he was preaching. So when we study Thomas, the one who was full of doubt, he took the gospel to Iraq, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, India, and Syria. He was speared to death in 72 AD. What I find really fascinating about him is he was the one with doubts, but he's the one that pushed the gospel further than any of the other apostles. He took it to more places. So once he was convinced, there was no moving him from that place.
Then you have James, excuse me, James the son of Alphaeus, not to be confused with James the son of Zebedee or James the half-brother of Christ. He took the gospel to Israel, Egypt, and Syria and was stoned to death in either 62 or 69 AD. Then you have Simon, who is called the Zealot. Not to be confused with Simon Peter. Simon the Zealot was part of the Zealot movement in Israel during the Roman occupation. What they wanted to do was overthrow the Romans and return Israel to its rightful glory. Zealots were known for they would often carry a dagger with them, and if they found a Roman soldier off by himself, they would murder him. They absolutely hated Rome and hated Roman sympathizers, which makes it interesting that Jesus would put him together with Matthew the tax collector because culturally, they would have hated each other. Culturally, the Zealots would have been looking to kill Matthew for being a traitor.
So now, you see two scenarios where Jesus is bringing enemies together for the sake of the gospel. Then we have Judas, the son of James, and Judas Iscariot. So Judas the son of James is also known as Jude or Thaddeus. Let me back up for just a second for Simon the Zealot. He took the gospel to Egypt, Israel, Syria, North Africa, Libya, and Britain, and around 1865, he was sawn in pieces. So that was his demise.
Then we come to Judas the son of James, also known as Jude or Thaddeus. He took the gospel to Turkey, Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, Iran, and Lebanon, and he was either sawn or axed to death. So they know that he was dismembered; they're just not sure which instrument it was that was his ending. And then finally, we have Judas Iscariot. Iscariot being the region that he was from, Kiryat. And he became a traitor. So with Judas, we know his ending was after he betrayed Jesus, he hung himself, and then the rope snapped, and it wasn't very pleasant, as scripture records it.
So a couple of things I want us to come away with here in this list of names. So what does that have to do with you and me? Well, the first thing is, Jesus isn't looking for more followers; He's looking for ambassadors. This morning in our scripture reading, we read the Great Commission: 'Go therefore into all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.' Ambassadors. I'm bringing the message of Christ to the world around me. So the question is, if you've been called, if you're His ambassador, who is He sending you to see? When we baptize over here, what we're really saying is, 'I'm not just a follower of Jesus Christ; I'm an ambassador.' And as an ambassador, who am I taking that message to? Who is it that God has called me to reach? Who is it that I am supposed to present this precious gospel to?
The second thing that we need to take away from this group of individuals is that they became unstoppable, and you have to look at why. What was it that made them unstoppable? We have to go to John chapter 6 to get that answer, and we're going to be starting at verse 66. Jesus has been teaching about His flesh and His blood; it's been a hard teaching, so hard that many of His followers began to turn away. Starting at verse 66, 'After this, many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him.' So Jesus said to the twelve, 'Do you want to go away as well?' Simon Peter answered Him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and come to know that You are the Holy One of God.' Peter says, 'Where else would we go? What else would we do? You hold the words of life. There’s nothing else that I would want to commit to.' Here's the interesting thing: when you study these disciples whom He called apostles, even after Judas died, Matthias was appointed to take his place. Matthias also died for the gospel.
There aren't many things in life that I am so committed to that I'm willing to have somebody saw me in half, or flay me, or behead me, and yet these men were so committed to the gospel of Christ it was an honor. As the Apostle Paul says in his letters, 'To live is Christ, to die is gain. Either way, I win.' The point that I want us to take away from this is, what would be so meaningful that they would be willing to go to those lengths, to travel to the ends of the earth as they knew it, to face death, an unpleasant death? What could be so special? It's this message of the gospel.
What is that message? Well, that message is pretty simple. Our sin separates us from God. The wages of sin is death; that's the price that has to be paid. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve sinned, and the way that God covers their nakedness is He slaughters an animal and covers them with a skin. In the Old Testament covenant, if I sinned, I had to bring my sacrifice to the priest; blood had to be shed to forgive my sin. The problem is, as soon as I leave, if I sin again, I got to bring something else to slaughter. God had a better plan. His plan was Jesus. Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life; He fulfilled the law, and when He was crucified, He was crucified on our behalf. His blood covered your sin and it covered my sin. The terminology in Aramaic is 'tetelestai'; it means the records are reconciled, the books are reconciled. There's nothing left on the account. That's what Jesus declared in Aramaic as He died on the cross: 'It is finished.' There's nothing left to be paid for.
I can't earn God's grace. I don't deserve God's grace. It's given freely. That's the message worth dying for. That's the message that these apostles took around the world. That's the message that our world today still needs to hear. I can't tell you how many times I visit with people and I ask them spiritual, eternal questions: 'What are you going to do when you stand before God?' 'Oh, I hope I've done enough good stuff to outweigh the bad stuff.' Yeah, well, that would be great if it worked that way. But it doesn't. 'The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.' So many people trying to earn God's favor by doing good things. Jesus did the complete work; there's nothing left to be earned, there's nothing left to be worked for. It is finished. That was the message that needed to be carried forward.
And so when you look at this group of men, at first, you would go, 'Why would you entrust them with this message?' But then, when you see the end result, where they took the gospel, the fact that you and I have this message today, is because they were faithful to what God gave them. They completed their assignment faithfully, and I come back to the question: What assignment have you been given? Where are you to be His ambassador today? Who is it that needs that life-changing message? My hope is that none of us would ever have to face beheadings or crucifixions or anything of that nature for the sake of the gospel. Are you willing to face a little rejection every now and then, a little ridicule, people at work who say, 'You know, stay away from him, he's a little religious'? We don't pay a very high price to be ambassadors today. The question is, are we faithful in being ambassadors? Part of where we find the courage to do that is we learn to pull away and spend time with God.
What's so miraculous about this group of men is, you know, when Jesus was arrested and put on trial, they fled. Then, once He had risen again, they got together in the upper room and they began to pray. They pulled away, began to pray. The Holy Spirit comes upon them, and they are different men from that point on. There's a change. There's a change in us when we get alone with God because He needs to send us out. He needs to speak into our lives so we can be the ambassadors He's called us to be. So this morning, that's what I want us to think about.
