Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. (52) Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: (53) Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. (54) When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. (55) But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, (56) And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. (57) Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, (58) And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. (59) And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. (60) And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
I beg the Reader to be very particular, in observing the charge which Stephen brings, of his opponents' resisting the Person, and offices of the Holy Ghost. And I no less beg of him to observe, that he brings the same charge against their fathers. Hence, it will undeniably follow, that it was God the Holy Ghost, who presided over the Church, as well under the Old Testament, as the New. The Reader should carefully cherish those sweet testimonies, to the Almighty agency of the Holy Ghost; (and especially in an age like the present), as peculiarly blessed. And I pray the Reader to observe, how blessedly and decidedly Stephen speaks, to the character of the Lord Jesus, when calling him the Just One; a well known name among the Israelites, of the Messiah, Zephaniah 3:5; Zechariah 9:9; Acts 22:14; Acts 22:14
Let the Reader remark, for it is well worthy to be remarked, how very differently this sermon of Stephen's wrought, from that of Peter's, on the day of Pentecost, Acts 2:37. Here, the bitterness of their hearts was so great, that it could not be concealed, for they gnashed upon him with their teeth. There, the blessed contrition which followed shewed itself, in an earnest cry of the soul; Men and brethren what shall we do? And doth not the Reader immediately discover the cause? Stephen's sermon was not a Jot more pointed than Peter's; for in both, they were charged with murdering Christ, Acts 2:23, But the mighty difference, in the effect of the preaching, arose from the work of God the Holy Ghost, in the one instance; and the want of that Almighty work, in the other. Here lay all the difference. And, as Stephen told his auditory, this was the cause all along, with their fathers, as with them, resisting the Holy Ghost. I very earnestly beg the Reader to consider well the subject. If men, and especially ministers, were but truly sensible of those things, with what earnestness would they seek the influences of the Holy Spirit, from whose grace alone it is, that the word preached, can become profitable in them that hear it. Oh! thou Almighty Lord of thy Church! do thou direct my heart into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ, 2 Thessalonians 3:5
There are many very blessed and precious things, in this closing scene of the death of Stephen, highly meriting our closest attention; but I can only detain the Reader to mention them. His being full of the Holy Ghost means, fresh manifestations and renewings of the Holy Ghost, shed upon him more abundantly, to prepare him for the cruel and painful death, which he was called to. It is not without a well-founded hope, (and this example serves in proof), that special and peculiar exercises of the Lord's people are supported, with more than ordinary grace. A dying hour, is sometimes eminently sanctified with living enjoyments in the Lord, Deuteronomy 33:25; Zechariah 14:6-7. What a gracious act of the Lord Jesus, was this manifestation of himself to Stephen, in such a moment? I pray the Reader both to mark the grace of the Lord to his servant; and no less to consider the revelation thereby made to the Church, as it really is, the fullest confirmation of his eternal power and Godhead, Let the Reader notice, how Stephen speaks of him, in his Mediator-character and office, while describing him as the Shechinah, in proof of his divine nature. And I beg him not to overlook the Lord's posture of standing; as if in readiness, both to receive Stephen to his arms, and to execute judgment upon his enemies. And I request the Reader the rather to notice this posture of the Lord Jesus, because, as far as I recollect, after the ascension of Jesus he is always spoken of as sitting, to receive his people, and to behold the destruction of his foes, Mark 16:19; Psalms 110:1. For the right hand of God. See Ephesians 1:20
I have already (Chapter 6) stated the circumstances relating to the stoning of Stephen, as a full, and decided testimony, in proof that he died a martyr, for his asserting the Godhead of Christ. Hence I add nothing further on that subject in this place. But I must detain the Reader, to call his attention for a moment, to what is said of Saul, who afterwards became the great Apostle Paul. This is the first account we have of him in Scripture. And here we find him, noted by the Holy Ghost, as receiving the clothes of the witnesses, which stoned Stephen. Paul himself, when afterwards speaking of this awful transaction, saith, that he was standing by, and consenting unto his death and kept the raiment of them that slew him, Acts 22:19-20. Reader! what did the grace of God accomplish in this man ? And what cannot the same grace accomplish in every heart of his people? How sweetly the Chapter closeth, in the relation of the death of Stephen? A loud voice like his Lord! And the humble imitation of the Lord's example, praying for his murderers! And was not Christ's prayer heard, and answered on the day of Pentecost! Acts 2:36-37. And in the conversion of Paul, was Stephen's prayer forgotten Reader! Mr 1-16. And mark Stephen's last words. Calling upon God and saying Lord Jesus. So then, Jesus is God.