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Many Christian men and women have died early. Too soon, some would say. They were great. They were young. The examples in Scripture and Church History are endless.
Abel obeyed God but was murdered by his brother. Stephen was stoned mid-sermon. Our Lord was crucified at 33. Most of the apostles died soon after the death of their Savior.
Clement, early defender of the faith, had an anchor tied around his throat and was thrown overboard. Cyprian was beheaded. Chrysostom, in the heyday of his preaching ministry, was force-marched to death. William Tyndale, amidst translating the Bible, was burnt at the stake.
Matthew Henry died before he could finish his commentary. David Brainerd died of tuberculosis at 29 while doing missionary work among the Indians. Jerusha Edwards, daughter of Jonathan and caretaker of Brainerd, died soon after at 17.
The Lord took Robert Murray M’Cheyne to Heaven at age 29. Henry Martyn, having spent years learning Middle Eastern languages, expired at age 32. John Paton’s wife was only nineteen when she left all to reach the cannibals. She died just months later. James Gilmore was just hitting his stride in Mongolia when he died at 47. The Auca Indians speared to death Jim Elliot was he was only 28.
Saints in their Prime
Why have so many great Christians died so young? Why has God taken so many missionaries in the middle of their greatest endeavors? This question has moved some Christians to immense sorrow and others to such despair that they have turned their backs on God.
The Psalmist battled with this question too. “Why do the nations rage and the people meditate on a vain thing” (Ps. 2:1)? “Why do you stand afar off, O Yahweh? Why do You hide Yourself in times of distress” (Ps. 10:1)? “Arouse Yourself, why do You sleep, O Lord” (Ps. 44:23)?
This question is not easy to answer because it seeks to know the mind of God. It tries to pull back the curtain of God’s decrees. It tries to know what men cannot fully know. Deut. 29:29: “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
Still, Scripture comforts us around this question. The Bibles gives hints into the workings of God’s providence. Here are two answers.
Wounded Christians Make the Best Missionaries
Paul said suffering forced him to rely more on Christ (2 Cor. 1:9). While in Asia, he faced illness, imprisonment, wild beasts, antagonism, and intense opposition. Though every day for him was a “death sentence”, it forced him to look to God for aid.
Couldn’t the death of James by the sword have made Paul a better missionary? Didn’t the death of Judson’s first two wives strengthen his resolve for the people of Burma? Was it not the death of David Brainerd in his twenties that turned the eyes of Jonathan Edwards to the plight of the Indians?
The answer is yes to all three questions and that is why they became great missionaries.
The Church Grows Through Affliction
God often expands and edifies his bride through the suffering of his saints, the chains of his children and the martyrdom of his missionaries.
The gospel scattered throughout the region of Judea and Samaria only after the stoning of Stephen (Ac. 8:1-3). Death led to life.
Foxe’s accounts of Bloody Mary’s murders has inspired centuries of Christians. Foxe didn’t tell stories of preachers resting in silk beds or old Christians dying comfortably in their 80’s. He recounted the lives of heroes while still in their youth.
Who can forget the story of William Fetty, but eight years old, who decried the charges of heresy against his father. The little champion said to his captors: “My father is no heretic: for you have Balaam’s mark.” He died from the beating that followed.
Now why would God allow an eight-year old to be flogged to death? It may be for this reason—the death of one child of God may lead to the birth of dozens more. And when viewed this way, it is not hard to see why God may take his children home with so much life left in their veins.
