Objection: Stephen Was Full of Faith and Power, but Died Anyway

Could Stephen have used his faith to live a long life and not be martyred?

This can touch off a lively debate even among faith teachers!

Stephen, a deacon full of faith and power, was stoned to death for preaching the gospel in Acts 7.  Unlike Paul, who was prayed back by his friends, Stephen died and was not raised up.  Why didn’t Stephen believe God’s promises about being satisfied with long life and health instead of dying?

Stephen was not missing God; he was so “in the Spirit” that he saw Jesus in the opened heavens, standing at the right hand of God!  Stephen was the first Christian martyr.  He did not die of sickness; he was murdered.  If being murdered for your faith is inconsistent with God’s long-life promises, Jesus missed it as well, since He was also murdered in the prime of life!  (We know that Jesus always did the will of God.)

Evidently God was pleased that Stephen would glorify him by dying for his faith.  When attempts were made to kill Jesus before it was time for Him to die, He was protected.  No one could kill Paul before he finished his course, either.  Then he was apparently martyred as well.  (This is according to church history, not the Bible, though Paul DID know that the time of his departure was coming soon in 2 Timothy 4:6).  This does not negate God’s general promise of long life.  God does ask people to give their lives for the gospel.

A Christian has not missed God because he dies as a martyr while preaching the gospel.  Jesus said in Revelation 2:13: “I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.”  Antipas was a faithful martyr, implying that he was in God’s will when he died.  Jesus spoke of the martyr’s death by which Peter would glorify God in John 21:18-19.  If it were not the will of God for Peter to die that way, it would not have glorified God.

Jesus said in Matthew 24:9 that men would “deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.”  Here He makes it obvious that there will be martyrs as well as those who are tortured for their faith but not killed.

While getting into such situations could mean that you missed God, you could get into these situations while in the center of God’s plan for your life.  If having faith meant that you could believe away persecution, Paul didn’t have much faith.  He was getting beaten up all the time and thrown in icky dungeon cells all the time for preaching the gospel.  Jesus had already told Paul that he would suffer for preaching (Acts 9:16), and Peter spoke at length in his letters on the subject of suffering obediently as a Christian.  But the suffering talked about was not suffering from cancer or heart disease – it was strictly persecution for righteousness’ sake.

Stephen was obviously content to go home and be with the Lord because he asked Jesus to receive his spirit.  Paul did not do this when he was stoned.

Stephen did not miss God, and the fact that God does call some to be martyrs in no way invalidates His promises and statements about healing.  Even if you die for the faith, God wants you to be healthy until you do so!