| Devotional Hours with the Bible |
Chapter 8 |
Page 5 |
Very beautiful is the picture of the end as given here: “When he had said this, he fell asleep.” Sleep is death’s new, sweet name. What a picture of peace the word suggests, right here in the heart and fury of the mob! In the midst of all the wild scene Stephen fell asleep. We think of a tired child creeping into the mother’s bosom and falling asleep. Sleep is not a terrible experience, is nothing to be dreaded. We sleep when we are weary, and we are refreshed. Sleep is not the cessation of life. We expect to awake after we have slept. As we part for the night, we do not say, “Farewell,” but “Goodnight,” for we expect to meet again in the morning. This beautiful Scriptural designation of death tells us, therefore, of life beyond, of resurrection, of immortality. We shall awake from this sleep of death and our life shall go on again. We shall awake refreshed, lying down weary, and rising strong; lying down sick or old or deformed, worn-out, — rising well, young and radiant in heavenly beauty.
“Say not ‘Good-night,’ but in some brighter clime
Bid me “Good-morning.’ “
The last scene in our passage shows us the burial of Stephen. It was quiet, but impressive. He was greatly beloved, and the sorrow over his death was sincere. His body was laid away in the grave, but they could not bury his influence. Martyrdom did not destroy his life. No doubt he did more by dying than he could have done if he had lived on for years, preaching Christ.
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