A Brief History of the Twelve

Jesus spent the whole night in prayer to God before he chose his apostles.The fact that he chose twelve, was not arbitrary,in fact he paid as much attention to detail as Moses did when he was instructed to build the Tabernacle according to the pattern which was shown to him on the mountain.The earthly was made according to what was seen in heaven, it was a mere shadow of the heavenly reality and not the very form of things.
Jesus came down the mountain as did Moses, and carefully chose the twelve foundation stones for the Heavenly City which had been revealed to him on the mount.Jesus had already seen the twelve foundation stones of the Heavenly Jerusalem.This City is the same as that was revealed to John in the Revelation of Jesus Christ, chapter 21.

"The wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb"

The importance of these foundation stones cannot be underestimated as it is according to their positioning and alignment that the entire wall and edifice will be constructed.The cornerstone, of course, is Christ himself , and God is the builder of all things.Let us therefore observe the pattern of the lives of these apostles so that we may understand the alignment of the Heavenly City which is being constructed by God. Scholars have agreed that the following historical information has come from the most reliable sources and respected legends and traditions.

Andrew, the fisherman,brother of Peter,followed the Lord to Greece and was condemned to die on a cross after a number of prominent citizens were converted to the Christian faith.He felt unworthy to be crucified on a cross like that of his Master,and so begged that his might be different.So, he was crucified on an X shaped cross which is one of his apostolic symbols.

Bartholomew, the son of Talmai,who is believed to have been born of royal blood, preached the Gospel with Philip in the mountains of Asia Minor and Armenia, which is modern day Turkey and Iraq , before embarking on a mission to the ends of the earth.He died in North India, skinned alive with knives as a martyr for his Lord.

James,son of Zebedee and brother of John the apostle, was the first of the twelve to become a martyr.He was beheaded by Herod.

James, the lesser, son of Alphaeus and Mary, was the brother of the apostle Jude.James preached in Palestine and in Egypt and was crucified in Egypt and his body sawn in pieces.

John, the beloved disciple, was the only disciple to die of natural causes.It is said that he was boiled in oil but miraculously survived the ordeal in order to live to a great age. He was banished to the isle of Patmos during a time of great persecution where he wrote the book of Revelations.
Jude was an intense and violent nationalist with a dream of world power and domination by the chosen people.He chafed against the fact that Jesus was not going to disclose himself to the world, but remain a hidden saviour to his chosen ones.He succumbed to Christ's love, and led by the Holy Spirit preached the gospel in Iran where he was was shot through by arrows.

Matthew, or Levi, died as a martyr in Ethiopia.
Peter, who denied the Lord, was crucified upside down after preaching the gospel in Babylon.

Philip, a simple fisherman, died by hanging in Asia.

Simon, the Zealot, a man that would have killed others for the cause of Israel, gave his life as a martyr while preaching the gospel. He too was crucified.

Thomas, the doubter, trekked across Iran, Iraq, and Afganisthan, preaching the gospel, and reached Southern India where he was killed with a spear.

These twelve foundation stones of the Church, which is the City of God, did not love their lives unto death.They were loyal to their Lord who bid them, take up your cross and follow me.These are the ones who follow the Lamb where he goes.Thank God that we have such men as the base and support upon which the edifice of the church is built.Not all of us will be able or priviledged enough to emulate their example, but at least we have these heroes of the faith to set before us as the pattern that God has intended for his church.It is not an irrelevant detail that every one of Christs apostles were missionaries that gave their entire lives to reach those for whom Christ died.All of them, save John, were killed because they were obedient to Christ no matter what the cost.
"but you are fellow citizens with the saints,and are of God's household, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the corner stone"

There were other apostles, Apollos and Zenas the lawyer, Andronicus and Junias, who were not of the twelve but who conformed themselves to the pattern that was found in the twelve.Of these apostles, laid as stones upon the foundations of the twelve, we know little, except that their lives were in line with that of their predecessors.Pre-eminent amongst these was Paul, apostle to the Gentiles, who has left us with an intense description of both his outward manner of life and his inner struggles and attitudes.Since a large portion of the New Testament has been written by Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we are not left with much doubt that God intended his life and example to be a model of the life that we are to aspire to.In fact five times in the New Testament letters Paul exhorts his readers to imitate his manner of life.In Phillipians 3:17 he writes

"Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction,whose God is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things"

The "us" that Paul speaks of is the apostles.The characteristic of the apostolic life is one of pilgrimage.An apostle is one who is sent.Being sent implies going somewhere, which implies leaving something behind. All the New Testament apostles left all to preach the gospel in foreign lands.It is this characteristic that set them apart from the multitude.Not all are called to be apostles, but the apostles are called to be the foundation stones of the church and the very pattern to which the church is called to conform .The standard that was set by the apostles is not one that we have to attain to for the purpose of salvation,God forbid, or none of us could be saved.Salvation is a free gift of God . But the fullest _expression of that eternal life which lies within us is shown forth in the lives of Christ and his apostles.And in the lives of more recent apostles like James Hudson Taylor and C.T. Studd,or the apostles in the present day church in China.
The great mistake that is being made today, is that in stressing the Salvation of God by grace alone, we have lost sight of the fact that there is a standard to be reached after.The manner in which we reach after this standard is another matter which cannot be addressed here , suffice to say that it is not achieved through the works of the flesh.This standard is not the Law,it is the _expression of the life of Christ in those who have yielded more to Jesus.Having lost sight of this Standard , we have now become like boats without rudders adrift on the sea.Many christians have substituted the standard of the apostles with wordly ambitions and appetites, or are left with the example of those who are not apostles.

"God has appointed in the church, first apostles..."! Cor 12:28
The apostles had set their minds on their heavenly citizenship,and were content to suffer all kinds of hardships and indignities in their pursuit of the heavenly reward.Paul, in Thessalonians 2:8, writes

"We were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives"

Jesus Christ imparted his life; the apostles did the same.One of the most serious errors today is that sight has been lost of the most important reason for the power of the early church.So much stress has been laid on the power of miracles , healings, etc. that the greatest power of all has been forgotten,the power of love.When Paul speaks about laying his life down together with the preaching of the gospel, he is directing our attention to something very important.The gospel, as a message, has no power if it is not accompanied by a life that is demonstrating its efficacy. The gospel claims to not only save us by forgiving our sins, but also deliver us from sin's power itself.The kernel of sin's power is the life of the self, and one is not delivered from sin if one is still living a selfish life. As Paul and all the other apostles laid down their lives, literally, they were demonstating the saving power of the gospel and acting as a model for those who were their converts. Thus...

"our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction ; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake" 1 Thess. 1:5

Jesus said that no greater love has a man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.When we read the account of Pauls sufferings in 2 Corinthians 11, we cannot but say, what drives a man to these extremes?Beaten times without number, beaten to death almost nine times,imprisoned often,shipwrecked three times.It is hard to understand how Paul can be criticised of not having love, since his life is an embodiment of Christs love.He died every day to bring Christ's life to the world.This was his boast to his detractors and he would have no other, for it is proof of his great love for the Corinthian church.Others might boast in their riches, or in their talents, but Paul boasts of his sufferings for Christ in the defence of his apostleship.God would not have had it any other way. Paul himself confesses that three times he asked God to remove the cause of these sufferings, but God told him

"My grace is sufficient for you,for power is perfected in weakness"

You see God knew the power of suffering and death.He sent his own Son to suffer and die for mankind, and Jesus has told us to take up our crosses and follow him.Why does this message create such a fury of opposition and resistance?Simply because it is in direct opposition to the carnal desires of man.
The sufferings of Jesus Christ on his cross were not enough to save mankind.Out of Christ's death on the cross comes more suffering, that of his body. Paul writes in Colossians 1;24

"in my flesh I do my share on behalf of his body, which is the church, in filling up that which is lacking in Christ's afflictions"

Jesus has not finished his sufferings, they are lacking.When Saul was afflicting the church Jesus asked him, 'Why are you persecuting me?When the church suffers it is Jesus himself who is suffering, and the purpose of it is to release his life to those who are in Death.The Love of God , expressed to the world through Christ's suffering, and the suffering and death of his saints,which is the present earthly _expression of Christ's Love, is the power of God for the salvation of the world.That is why the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.
Consequently, and in closing,the seal of Pauls apostleship, and the apostleship of the Twelve,was that of a life which was being laid down daily in self denial and joyful acceptance of suffering and persecutions.To go to the ends of the earth at any cost they counted as their priviledge.Any suffering was embraced as a means of demonstating the power of the eternal life which they carried within them.All of them went so far as to even give their lives as martyrs.Whether they died as martyrs or not was irrelevent to them in that they were dying every day to their self life as bond slaves of Christ .Paul's literal life, and the literal way of life of the twelve exemplifies the pattern of an apostle, and is to be understood as the pattern to which all of us are to aspire. The wall of the City of God must be laid and aligned on the foundation of the apostles.We will certainly fall far short of this and in no wise will this interfere with our salvation, which is by grace alone.Paul himself admits to falling short of his goal, which is the imitation of Christ.Nevertheless, he presses on to attain to it.

Whether we are in the mission field, or running a business, housewives or leaders in the church,whether God has called us to be stewards of his wealth,or scholars of his word,the example of the apostles is the pattern to which we should all be aspiring.


"For God has appointed in the church,first apostles...."