Acts 7:56

And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. AND SAID. BEHOLD, I SEE THE HEAVENS OPENED, AND THE SON OF MAN STANDING ON THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD. This (to use the words of Alford) is the only time that our Lord is by human lips called THE SON OF MAN after his ascension. (; , are not instances.) And why here? Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, speaking now not of himself at all (), but entirely by the Spirit, is led to repeat the very words in which Jesus Himself, before this same council, had foretold His glorification (), assuring them that that exaltation of THE SON OF MAN, which...

56._Behold, I see the heavens. _God meant not only privately to provide for his servant, but also to wring and torment his enemies; as Stephen doth courageously triumph over them, when he affirmeth plainly that he saw a miracle. And here may a question be moved, how the heavens were opened? For mine own part, I think that there was nothing changed in the nature of the heavens; but that Stephen had new quickness of sight granted him, which pierced through all lets, even unto the invisible glory of the kingdom of heaven. For admit we grant that there was some division or parting (475) made in heaven, yet man’s eye could never reach so far. Again, Stephen alone did see the glory of God. For that spectacle was not only hid from the wicked, who stood in the same place, but they were also so blinded within themselves, that they did not see the manifest truth. (476) Therefore, he s

54-60 Nothing is so comfortable to dying saints, or so encouraging to suffering saints, as to see Jesus at the right hand of God: blessed be God, by faith we may see him there. Stephen offered up two short prayers in his dying moments. Our Lord Jesus is God, to whom we are to seek, and in whom we are to trust and comfort ourselves, living and dying. And if this has been our care while we live, it will be our comfort when we die. Here is a prayer for his persecutors. Though the sin was very great, yet if they would lay it to their hearts, God would not lay it to their charge. Stephen died as much in a hurry as ever any man did, yet, when he died, the words used are, he fell asleep; he applied himself to his dying work with as much composure as if he had been going to sleep. He shall awake again in the morning of the resurrection, to be received into the presence of the Lord, where is fuln...

I SEE THE HEAVENS OPENED - A figurative expression, denoting that he was permitted to see “into” heaven, or to see what was there, as if the firmament was divided, and the eye was permitted to penetrate the eternal world. Compare Ezekiel 1:1....

EXPOSITION ACTS 7:1 _And the high priest said _for then _said the high priest, _A.V. The high priest spoke as president of the Sanhedrim (see Acts 9:1. Acts 9:1 and Matthew 26:62). Theophilus the son of Annas or his brother Jonathan is probably meant. ACTS 7:2 _Brethren and fathers _for _men, brethren, and fathers, _A.V. _Haran _for _Charran, _A.V. BRETHREN AND FATHERS. The Greek is ἄνδρες ἀδελφοὶ (_i.e. _"men who are also my brethren") καὶ πατέρες. H

AND SAID, BEHOLD, I SEE THE HEAVENS OPENED,.... As they were at the baptism of Christ, Matthew 3:16: AND THE SON OF MAN STANDING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD; he calls Jesus "the son of man"; a name by which he often called himself in his state of humiliation; and that though he was now glorified, it being the name of the Messiah in Psalms 80:17 as was well known to the Jews; and this Stephen said to show that God was on his side, and to let them know what honour was done him, what divine supports and comforts he had, and that he was an eyewitness of Jesus, and of his being alive, and in glory....

ACTS 7:56 to.n ui`o.n tou/ avnqrw,pou Instead of tou/ avnqrw,pou a few witnesses (î74 614 copbo2 mss geo) read tou/ qeou/, which Kilpatrick thinks may possibly be original. 168 (See also the comment on the same variant readings at Jn 9.35.) ------------------------- 168 G. D. Kilpatrick, _Theologische Zeitschrift,_ XXI (1965), p. 209....

CHAPTER 7 _ 1. The Address of Stephen (Acts 7:1)._ 2. The Martyrdom of Stephen (Acts 7:54). This is the largest chapter in this book and concludes the first section. Stephen is the chosen instrument to deliver the final testimony to the nation. He was not permitted to finish it. We notice at once a marked difference between the previous preaching by the Apostle Peter and the address of Stephen. The testimony of Peter was marked on the day of Pentecost and at the other occasions by great brevity. Stephen's address is the longest discourse reported in the New Testament. The name of Jesus is prominent in all the addresses of Peter. The fact that He was rejected by the people, crucified and that He rose from the dead, and the call to repentance, were the leading features of Peter's preaching.

ACTS 7:54 TO ACTS 8:1_ A_. DEATH OF STEPHEN. The speech of Stephen cuts the hearers to the quick. It is not said that they interrupted him; the speech is complete, but their apparent and vehement anger showed him that the last had come; they were no longer masters of themselves. We have no longer a judicial investigation before us but a tumultuous attack. Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, sees a vision (Acts 7:55), as is recorded of many martyrs. He sees the glory of God (_cf._ Acts 7:2) and Jesus standing (? to receive His servant; generally sitting, Mark 14:62;...

STEPHEN'S DEFENCE (Acts 7:1-7) When Oliver Cromwell was outlining the education he thought necessary for his son Richard, he said, "I would have him know a little history." It was to the lesson of history that Stephen appealed. Clearly believing that the best form of defence was attack, he took a bird's eye view of the history of the Jewish people and cited certain truths as condemnation of his own nation. (i) He saw that the men who played a really great part in the history of Israel were the men who heard God's command, "Get thee out," and were not afraid to obey it. With that adventurous spirit Stephen implicitly contrasted the spirit of the Jews of his own day, whose one desire was to keep things as they were and who regarded Jesus and his followers as dangerous innovators. (ii) He insisted that men had worshipped God long before there ever was a Temple. To the Jews the Te