Martyrdom of Paul and Peter
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This man of faith beholds the ladder presented in Jacob’s vision,—
the ladder which rested upon the earth and reached to the highest
heavens, and upon which angels of God were ascending and descend-
ing. He knows that this ladder represents Christ, who has connected
earth with Heaven, and finite man with the infinite God. He hears
angels and archangels magnifying that glorious name. His faith is
strengthened as he calls to mind that patriarchs and prophets relied
upon the same Saviour who is his support and consolation, and for
whom he is giving his life. Those holy men who from century to
century sent down their testimony for the truth, and the apostles, who
to preach the gospel of Christ went out to meet religious bigotry and
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heathen superstition, who counted not their lives dear unto themselves
if they might bear aloft the light of the cross amid the dark mazes of
infidelity,—all these he hears witnessing to Jesus as the Son of the
Most High, the Saviour of the world. The martyr’s shout of triumph,
the fearless testimony for the faith, falls upon his ear from the rack,
the stake, the dungeon, from the dens and caves of the earth, from
steadfast souls who are destitute, afflicted, tormented, yet of whom
the world is not worthy. With a continually strengthening assurance
they declare, “I know whom I have believed.” And as they yield up
their lives as witnesses for the faith, they bear a solemn, condemning
testimony to the world, declaring that He in whom they trusted has
proved himself able to save to the uttermost.
The Captain of our salvation has prepared his servant for the last
great conflict. Ransomed by the sacrifice of Christ, washed from sin
in his blood, and clothed in his righteousness, Paul has the witness
in himself that his soul is precious in the sight of his Redeemer. His
life is hid with Christ in God, and he is persuaded that He who has
conquered death is able to keep that which is committed to his trust.
His mind grasps the Saviour’s promise, “I will raise him up at the
last day.” His thoughts and hopes are centered in the second advent
of his Lord. And as the sword of the executioner descends, and the
shadows of death gather about the martyr’s soul, his latest thought
springs forward, as will his earliest thought in the great awakening, to
meet the Lifegiver who shall welcome him to the joy of the blest.
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Well-nigh a score of centuries have passed since Paul the aged
poured out his blood as a witness for the word of God and for the
testimony of Christ. No faithful hand recorded for the generations to