Why Death Is Not the Last Word
A daily doxa series for the UK church: What They Gave Up, What They Gained - Day 10
We’re learning a rhythm together: actively remember what God has promised and what He has already done—so we can fight the good fight and win. That remembering births courage.
Scripture says we “overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony.” In plain speech: we win because of what Jesus has already done for us, and because we keep telling the truth about it. That truth-telling holds steady even when the cost is everything.
Prophetic courage isn’t volume; it’s obedience born from love. God’s Presence steadies us. Grace first. Overflow, not effort.
Today’s trade
This series traces a simple pattern we call the trade: someone lays down what they already have (reputation, safety, position, comfort, control), and God gives something better (clarity, freedom, courage, fruit) as they obey.
Today we’re looking at Stephen, John the Baptist, James the apostle, Zechariah son of Jehoiada, and the Two Witnesses—who gave up life itself and gained a harvest and God’s vindication.
Gave up: breath, safety, tomorrow’s plans.
Gained: a witness that multiplies, and God’s public “Yes.”
There is always fire on acceptable sacrifice.
Stephen — a face like an angel, a seed in the ground (Acts 6–7)
Context & date: Jerusalem, mid-30s AD (shortly after Pentecost). Stephen, one of seven appointed to serve, preaches with power and is hauled before the Sanhedrin.
Scene: a council chamber bristling with accusation; a young Pharisee named Saul watching.
Gave up: the chance to quiet down and keep his life.
Courageous act/words: He retold Israel’s story and named their resistance to God; as stones flew he prayed, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”
How it likely felt: blazing clarity and physical terror held in the grip of heaven.
Felt cost: a volley of stones outside the city gate.
Gained: a church scattered that carried the gospel wider; Saul marked for mercy.
Fire on the sacrifice: a martyr’s prayer became the spark for missions—and for Paul.
John the Baptist — the friend of the Bridegroom (Mark 6:17–29; John 3:27–30)
Context & date: Galilee and Perea under Herod Antipas, c. AD 28–29. John confronts Herod’s unlawful union; he is imprisoned and then executed.
Scene: a dungeon beneath a palace; then a birthday banquet thick with intrigue.
Gave up: popularity and safety to tell a king the truth.
Courageous act/words: He called sin by its name and kept pointing to Jesus: “He must increase, I must decrease.”
How it likely felt: lonely faithfulness; no miracle rescue; joy anchored in who Jesus is.
Felt cost: beheading at a tyrant’s whim.
Gained: a pure, finishing witness that still prepares the way for Christ.
Fire on the sacrifice: the voice in the wilderness kept ringing after the sword fell.
James the apostle — first of the Twelve to fall (Acts 12:1–2)
Context & date: Jerusalem under Herod Agrippa I, AD 44. A new wave of persecution hits the church.
Scene: a sudden arrest; a brief trial; a sword’s edge.
Gave up: leadership security and years he might have had.
Courageous act/words: We aren’t given his final speech—only his steadfastness and the church’s grief.
How it likely felt: the weight of being first; trusting Jesus to the end.
Felt cost: death by the sword.
Gained: a line the church would not cross back over; faith strengthened under pressure.
Fire on the sacrifice: Herod’s show of power could not stop the Word; the church kept growing.
Zechariah son of Jehoiada — truth in the courtyard (2 Chronicles 24:17–22)
Context & date: Judah in the 9th century BC (reign of King Joash, c. 835–796 BC). After his mentor Jehoiada dies, Joash turns to idols. Zechariah stands up in the temple court.
Scene: sunlight in the inner court; a prophet on a step calling the people back.
Gave up: peace with the palace; personal safety in a holy place.
Courageous act/words: “Because you have forsaken the LORD, He has forsaken you.”
How it likely felt: grief and fire; pleading and steel together.
Felt cost: stoned to death by order of the king—in the temple itself.
Gained: a testimony God remembered; judgment on Joash’s injustice; a warning that still speaks.
Fire on the sacrifice: his blood on the stones cried out, and God answered in history.
The Two Witnesses — death and rising in the street (Revelation 11:3–12)
Context & date: Apocalyptic vision given to John on Patmos (late 1st century AD). Two witnesses prophesy for 1,260 days, are killed, and then raised.
Scene: a city that cheers their deaths; cameras would have rolled if they’d existed.
Gave up: their lives after a long obedience.
Courageous act/words: They spoke God’s word openly despite hostility, then lay dead in public view until God raised them.
How it likely felt: beyond our knowing—yet the pattern is familiar: speak, suffer, rise.
Felt cost: public shaming and death on display.
Gained: fear of God falling on the city; glory given to the Lord.
Fire on the sacrifice: their rising made the point plain—God writes the last line.
Conclusion
Death is loud, but it isn’t final. In Jesus, the grave is a doorway, not a wall. These witnesses show the trade at full burn: lay down even life; find a harvest only heaven can count, and a vindication only God can give. The last word belongs to the One who rose.
Tomorrow: Lose the Mask, Find Your Voice — testimony that trades reputation for authority (Mary Magdalene, the man born blind, the Samaritan woman, and more).
We are bulding the doxa app to better remember what God has promised (prophecies) and what he has done (testimonies) so we can fight the good fight (and win).