“The Death of a Saint”

“The Death of a Saint” THE DEATH OF A SAINT
Lecture by Glenn L. Wallace, February 19, 1950, at
Abilene Christian College (10:30 a.m.)

“Dr. Alexis Carrell, the biological wizard of the Rocke-feller Institute for Medical Research is dead. His heart failed him. But the heart of a chicken which he kept alive for 30 years still lives without body and without purpose. No human being ever peered deeper into the secrets of life than did Dr. Carrell, and for his amazing genius he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1912. It was his Carrell- Dagan antiseptic solution which saved the lives of countless wounded soldiers in the first world war. But with all his mastery of life’s knowledge he never could find the key and in his old age, baffled in seeking the answer to the riddle of existence, he turned to mysticism as did another great research genius. Sir Oliver Lodge. Well might such men as Carrell use as their epitaph the lines of the ancient Omar: ‘There was the door to which I found no key. There was the evil through which I might not see’.” (Editorial, Detroit Free Press). We are thankful to God that a Christian does not need to approach the end of his life with such a philosophy. In the first chapter of the book of Revelation, Jesus Christ made this announcement, “I am the first and the last. I was dead, but I am alive and I have the key of death and of Hades,” and it is because Jesus Christ has the key of death and of Hades that the Christian can rejoice and be glad.

Death is a forbidden subject with many people and none but the Christian who has a knowledge of what awaits him after death can look upon it without fear. Only those who believe the words of our Master who says, “I have the keys of death and of Hades: be not afraid—” only such today can look upon death without fear. In the closing part of chapter seven of the book of Acts, beginning with verse 54, is Luke’s account of the death ©f Stephen. “Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he being full of the Holy Spirit looked up stedfastly 'into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold I see the heavens open and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed upon him with one accord, and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen calling upon the Lord and saying, Lord Jesus receive my spirit; and he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, Lord lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.”

Here we see a picture of evil men who stoned Stephen; men who could not resist his wisdom and the force of his preaching. These men were of the synagogue of the Libertines of Cilicia and Asia, and were defeated by the preaching of Stephen. It is possible for evil men to be silenced by preaching, but not always those who are silenced become convinced, and it is not all who are convinced who will be persuaded. And it is altogether possible for argument to end as it did here—but for brute force to prevail as it did on this occasion. These men no doubt felt that because they had destroyed Stephen, one of the defenders of the faith, that they had destroyed all truth. But the record of the Christian religion shows that it is possible to destroy those who proclaim truth but truth cannot be destroyed. We may silence the man who preaches, but we do not silence the message that he preaches; even in death it is not silenced.

Let us look at several things that brought about the death of Stephen. First, the malignant excitement of the Jewish council that tried him and that gave permission to stone him. Luke describes it like this: “they gnashed upon him with their teeth.” One modern speech translation says they “ground their teeth.” When we read this, we are shocked at the wickedness of which the human heart is capable. In the past World War we were terrified to read the stories of the furnaces of Germany that burned those who believed in certain principles opposed to the teaching's of Hitler. But in no way is the wickedness of man’s heart demonstrated in such a vile and evil manner as in religious persecution, and this excitement that we read about here in Acts was caused by religious prejudice. We would think that in religion one would find something to give him peace of mind and a calmness that would enable him to face the enemy and think clearly. But it seems that when they were unable to answer, they were silenced for but a moment; they picked up the stones and said we will destroy that which we cannot defeat with our mouth.

There are several examples of such religious persecution as this in the Bible. The best one, of course, is the model for the action of Stephen on tins occasion, his Master, the Lord Jesus in the presence of Pilate. That was an hour in which one would have been tempted to defend himself with a stick or a gun or anything else that might have been handy. There was a howling mob that cried for the blood of Jesus. The Roman governor set up a thief and said “which of the two shall I release unto you, Jesus or Barabbas.” And when the mob was persuaded by their leaders to say release unto us Barabbas, he then said “what shall I do with Jesus who is called the Christ?” They said crucify him, and let his blood be upon us and upon our children.

It is interesting to observe that there was a young man leading the mob whose name was Saul. The Bible says they put down their cloaks “at the feet of the young man named Saul.” How one so young could be so bitter in his hatred of truth and of everything that Stephen stood for, it is difficult for us to understand. Why would anybody like Saul or this Jewish council become so bitter in their opposition to such preaching as was delivered by Stephen in the seventh chapter of Acts? Why does man hate truth? And why will man persecute those who preach truth? Thi3 enmity to truth and this hatred of those who preach it is caused by the love of man’s false security.

Along comes someone to preach that which is the truth and it upsets and disturbs. Man will fight for this peace of mind and this false security, and so the members of the Jewish council and Saul of Tarsus fought on this occasion.

We as members of the church of God today can learn a very fine lesson on how a Christian suffers and dies from this example of Stephen. Let us observe the attitude that was his in the time of opposition. He was calm arid dignified. His death is a true picture of the Christian religion—lofty and above self. Without consideration for his own safety and for his life, with a calm heart, and peace of mind, he faced those who opposed him. In a very pointed way he condemned them for their sins and then died. The Bible says that Stephen was full of faith. His was a faith first, of conviction. A man may have faith that God will take care of him, but he may not have enough faith to preach that which is the truth and that which might be his conviction. He believed what he was preaching was the truth of God, and that’s why he was so sincere, so very plain, and definite in his preaching. There is some preaching that is not likely to stir up people because it’s not the preaching of conviction. If a man does not believe what he is preaching, he is not likely to preach it with much force. And if a man himself does not be-lieve what he preaches, he is not likely to convince those who listen to him that he does proclaim the truth. Stephen’s preaching was the preaching of his heart.

There was a little story a few weeks ago in one of our magazines, that told about a lecture delivered by a modernist in the University of Oklahoma School of Religion. This modernist was amazed because those sects in America are growing today who are almost fanatical in the proclamation of that which they believe. He was wondering why it was possible for such groups to grow and other people with a dignified system of theology should not grow. He came to the conclusion that one reason why these small groups did grow is that they believe what they preach. The early church grew because they believed every word that they spoke. Stephen believed that the people needed what he had to say and with that kind of conviction, gospel preachers can convert people today. Wherever our people have gone in this age and the ages that have passed, if they have gone with the feeling that we have that which the people must have or else they will die, they have been able to persuade men to listen to

He was not only a man of conviction but he was filled with the faith of reliance upon God. He believed that God did everything well. He believed that God would take care of him. He believed that even though he faced those who stoned him, if God had made it clear to him that he should preach to these sinners that they should turn from their sins, God would take care of him, whatever might be the result. A glimpse of the. attitude of this saint in the hour of death is seen in this expression—“full of the Holy Spirit.” The resistance of Stephen on this occasion was not altogether because of any miraculous measure of the Holy Spirit which he possessed. In apostolic times it is true that certain Christians were filled with miraculous gifts of the Spirit. They were able to speak with tongues and to prophesy. That measure of the Holy Spirit no well-informed Christian believes that the church can have today. But we do not believe that when the Bible says he was “full of the H,oly Spirit” that it was because of any miraculous measure of the Holy Spirit he possessed that he was able to resist successfully the enemies' of the truth. We have the same Holy Spirit today that he had. In the hour of death, in the hour of persecution, and in the hour of opposition, the attitude of Stephen can be ours because we possess the same Holy Spirit that he had.

“He looked up stedfastly into heaven.” That is an evidence of the mind that he possessed upon this occasion. The expression was an appeal from the injustice of this earth. He was looking away from merciless men to the compassionate heart of God. He believed that there was a hand that could save and that bloody hands may throw the stones, but the hands of God would take care of him when he crossed over the valley of the shadow of death. This expression is a revelation of a devout committal of jhimself to the keeping of God. The psalmist says, Psalms 37:5, “Commit thy ways unto the Lord.” If in the hour of tragedy, if in the hour of our passing we are to die as did this New Testament saint, we too must be full of faith, full of the Holy Spirit, and look steadfastly up into heaven. In this story we see something of the reward that God gave to him and something of the reward that is in store for all of those who die as saints today. First, he had a vision, which was for the purpose of confirming his faith and giving him strength to resist those who stoned him. He looked up and saw Jesus. Now, whether Stephen had ever seen the Lord or not, we do not know. But of one thing we are absolutely certain; he had never been privileged to see the Lord as he was privileged to see Jesus on this day. There were those who walked with Jesus Christ when he was upon this earth in his body. They were privileged to hear him preach and to see him as he performed his miracles. There were those who had the glorious privilege of associating with him on such occasions as when he raised the dead. There were some who were privileged to witness the ascension of Christ and see him as the cloud received him out of their sight, and to hear the voice that said, “Why stand ye idly gazing up 'into heaven? This same Jesus that you have seen taken from you will come back in like manner as you have seen 'him go.” Though Stephen might not have seen Christ when he was upon this earth, though he might not have seen the ascension of the Christ, he saw Christ in a glorified position.

This, witness of the glorified Christ is evidence of great blessings for us as Christians. First, it is evidence of the resurrection and of life after death. Throughout the pages of the Old Testament men lived and died with the question of Job: “If a man die, shall he live again?” The answer was not clear and it was not given in fullness until the Lord Jesus Christ lived and died and gave proof that he was alive again. The enemy had told the story that the body of Christ has been stolen by the disciples and there might have been a few people who believed it. But Stephen said I see, I know, and I tell you, Jesus is standing at the right hand of God. This is assurance of his resurrection and it is evidence that man lives after he dies. This position of the Lord Jesus Christ gives evidence of interest in the sufferings of Christian people. Stephen looked up and said, I see “Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” He was raised up, the Bible says, to sit upon David’s throne. (Acts 2:29-32). When Stephen died, the Lord stood up to show the interest in heaven in the passing of a Christian. When the world is dark and the burdens become heavy, and when we have problems that we think we cannot solve, we have encouragement here that heaven is concerned—for Jesus stood up. The faith of all of us will be confirmed by that same glorious vision in the end. John says, “Beloved it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but this we > know, that when he comes we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). Stephen saw him as he is. He must have seen the Christ who exhorts suffering Christians throughout the book of Revelation saying, “Be thou faithful unto death.” The vision was not only a glorified Christ, but it was a picture of the glorified position of Christ. The Bible says: “standing at the right hand of God.” This was evidence of a place of power and of authority. When Jesus was upon this earth, he gave the great commission to his apostles. He said, “All authority in heaven and in earth hath been given into my hands.” Stephen gives testimony that he saw the Lord Jesus Christ raised up to that position of power and authority which none of this earth can possess today. This place of power is made clear in the second chapter of the book of Acts by Peter when he quoted the prophet and said: “Men and brethren let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David who is dead and buried, and whose tomb is with us unto this day. He being a prophet of God and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit’of his loins he would raise up one tcf sit upon his throne ” Stephen tells us that Jesus is at the right hand of God and he has the position with the power and authority that Peter proclaimed. We can learn from the vision of Stephen that Jesus Christ is ruling and reigning and that he lives at the right hand of God.

What are the results of Stephen’s death? Some people preach a better sermon in death than in life. Often more people are converted after a good mother has passed on than by her preaching while in life. We do not know how many people were converted by Stephen’s death, but we do know that there was one man who was impressed. They laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man by the name of Saul, and Stephen prayed for Saul saying, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” There is a good lesson on the power of prayer. We do not know how long God takes to answer prayer. We do not know exactly how God goes about giving answer to prayer. We do not knoAv every means that he uses, but we know that he does grant the request of those who are his people. It took some time to answer the prayer, but one day it was answered, on the Damascus road, when Saul saw the resurrected Christ and heard him say, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.” Here we see how Stephen’s prayer was answered. Saul went into the city and waited for the coming of a New Testament preacher who told him that he should be baptized for the remission of his sins that he might become a Christian (Acts 22:16). So there was the result of Stephen’s death, and of his prayer.

Stephen’s death was one of prayer. His was a prayer for divine support and for divine mercy. A man who thinks only of himself even in the hour of death and who has no consideration for others, is not like Stephen. He is not like the Christ, and he is not like the New Testament Christian should be. Stephen died the death of faith. Like the apostle Paul who wrote: “I know him whom I have believed and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” His passing was a death of certainty. He knew tvhere he was going, and he knew ivhy. He was certain and not afraid. Socrates looked to his judges and said: “I am going to die, but you are going to live. Which is best? Maybe God knows, but I am certain man does not.” Here is an interesting and a beautiful contrast between the feeling and the thinking of those who are pagan with the philosophy of a saint. This death was one of love. We can not help but see the strange contrast in the bloody hands of those who stoned Stephen, and the calm heart of charity as he died. Then his death was a death of peace because the New Testament Scriptures describe it as a sleep. What a beautiful picture is the Christian’s sleep of death. If we want to die as a saint and be received by the blessed Lord who stands at the right hand of God when his faithful pass away, we will have to live as saints here.

“Asleep in Jesus! 0 how sweet,
To be for such a slumber meet!
With holy confidence to sing,
That death hath lost its venomed sting.
Asleep in Jesus: 0 for me,
May such a blissful refuge be!
Securely shall my ashes lie,
And wait the summons from on high.”