standing of the purpose of God in the spreading of
the gospel to other nations. He believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob, and was fully established in regard to the privileges of the
Jews; but his faith was broad, and he knew the time had come when the
true believers should worship not alone in temples made with hands; but,
throughout the world, men might worship God in Spirit and in truth. The
veil had dropped from the eyes of Stephen, and he discerned to the end of
that which was abolished by the death of Christ.
The priests and rulers prevailed nothing against his clear, calm
wisdom, though they were vehement in their opposition. They determined
to make an example of Stephen and, while they thus satisfied their
revengeful hatred, prevent others, through fear, from adopting his belief.
Charges were preferred against him in a most imposing manner. False
witnesses were hired to testify that they had heard him speak blasphemous
words against the temple and the law. Said they, “For we have heard him
say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change
the customs which Moses delivered us.”
As Stephen stood face to face with his judges, to answer to the crime
of blasphemy, a holy radiance shone upon his countenance. “And all that
sat in the
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council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of
an angel.” Many who beheld the lighted countenance of Stephen trembled
and veiled their faces, but stubborn unbelief and prejudice never faltered.
Stephen’s Defense
Stephen was questioned as to the truth of the charges against him,
and took up his defense in a clear, thrilling voice that rang through the
council hall. He proceeded to rehearse the history of the chosen people of
God in words that held the assembly spellbound. He showed a thorough
knowledge of the Jewish economy, and the spiritual interpretation of it
now made manifest through Christ. He began with Abraham and traced
down through history from generation to generation, going through all
the national records of Israel to Solomon, taking up the most impressive
points to vindicate his cause.
He made plain his own loyalty to God and to the Jewish faith, while
he showed that the law in which they trusted for salvation had not been
able to preserve Israel from idolatry. He connected Jesus Christ with all
the Jewish history. He referred to the building of the temple by Solomon,
and to the words of both Solomon and Isaiah: “Howbeit the Most High
dwelleth not in temples made with hands.” “Heaven is My throne, and
earth is My footstool: what house will ye build Me? saith the Lord: or
what is the place of My rest? Hath not my hand made all these things?”
The place of God’s highest worship was in heaven.
When Stephen had reached this point, there was a tumult among the
people. The prisoner read his fate in the countenances before him. He
perceived the resistance that met his words, which were spoken at the
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dictation of the Holy Ghost. He knew that he was giving his last
testimony. Few who read this address of Stephen properly appreciate it.
The occasion, the time and place, should be borne in mind to make his
words convey their full significance.
When he connected Jesus Christ with the prophecies and spoke of
the temple as he did, the priest, affecting to be horror stricken, rent
his robe. This act was to Stephen a signal that his voice would soon
be silenced forever. Although he was just in the midst of his sermon,
he abruptly concluded it by suddenly breaking away from the chain of
history, and, turning upon his infuriated judges, said, “Ye stiffnecked and
uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as
your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers
persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming
of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:
who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept
it.”
A Martyr’s Death
At this priests and rulers were beside themselves with anger. They
were more like wild beasts of prey than like human beings. They rushed
upon Stephen, gnashing their teeth. But he was not intimidated; he had
expected this. His face was calm, and shone with an angelic light. The
infuriated priests and the excited mob had no terrors for him. “But he,
being full of the Holy Ghost, 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 opened, and the Son of man standing on the
right hand of God.”
The scene about him faded from his vision; the
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gates of heaven were ajar, and Stephen, looking in, saw the glory of the
courts of God, and Christ, as if just risen from His throne, standing ready
to sustain His servant, who was about to suffer martyrdom for His name.
When Stephen proclaimed the glorious scene opened before him, it was
more than his persecutors could endure. They stopped their ears, that they
might not hear his words, and, uttering loud cries, ran furiously upon him
with one accord. “And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, 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.”
Amid the agonies of this most cruel death the faithful martyr, like his
divine Master, prayed for his murderers. The witnesses who had accused
Stephen were required to cast the first stones. These persons laid down
their clothes at the feet of Saul, who had taken an active part in the
disputation and had consented to the prisoner’s death.
The martyrdom of Stephen made a deep impression upon all who
witnessed it. It was a sore trial to the church, but resulted in the conversion
of Saul. The faith, constancy, and glorification of the martyr could not be
effaced from his memory. The signet of God upon his face, his words, that
reached to the very soul of all who heard them, except those who were
hardened by resisting the light, remained in the memory of the beholders,
and testified to the truth of that which he had proclaimed.
There had been no legal sentence passed upon Stephen, but the Roman
authorities were bribed by large sums of money to make no investigation
of the case. Saul seemed to be imbued with a frenzied zeal at the scene of
Stephen’s trial and death. He seemed
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to be angered at his own secret convictions that Stephen was honored of
God at the very period when he was