The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 1 — Section 248

Spirit (1) in_ not o,~ning our entire dependence on him for spiritual life; (2) in not taking far higher views than we generally do of the circle of his influence and of the degree of it; n.nd (3) in not obeying, and that both sensitively a.nd trustingly, such impulses as he does graciouGly vouchsafe, l[, A POWER OF THE EYE TO BEE BEYOND TIIE USUAL HUMAN POWER OF SIGHT. Glorious is t?e contrast, and snrely it m;1~t have be~n all designed, when Stephen can turn away his saddened gaze from the v1s10n of malignant, hostile, and infuriate faces to what on opened heaven now proffers to his sight. But even a more essentiul glory than tho substituted objects of vision may be said to have been found in the new-born or all but new-born realization of the power itself that lay sleeping there so long- sleeping and confined beneath the eyelid of flesh all life's length, till the moment had come before "the last trump" to startle it into proving its unknown gift. So we live dail.Y amid the presence of most momentous realities, nor know by how fine a veil, how frail a partition, they are separated from our sight, whl.le any moment may do one or both of these same things for us-rend open the veil or give the piercing sight to see through, past, and far, far above all the hindrances of sense and matter, let them be what they may. Glory now dawns on the horizon for Stephen; while he is yet in the strangest place and with a repulsive foreground, the distance is most radiant. It is far less of a miracle than a very simple fulfilment of assertions of Scripture and assurances of spiritual natures. The pure-" blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." He "looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God." Ill. THE SIGHT OF REALITIES MOST SIGNIFICANTLY APPROPRIATE TO STEPHEN. It may be observed that, alike, the historian affirms the resplendent objects that Stephen's elevated gaze beheld, and also gives in quotation the words of his lips, uttered while yet bis eyes beheld the ecstatic sight, We cannot err in understanding that what 8tephen said he saw was keenly noticed and thought of by the historian and many a contemporary devout brother. Nor can we miss for ourselves the point-the less that this is the only occasion on which we find Jesus Christ directly styled "th~ Son of man" by any one but himself (but see Rev. i. 13), For announcing, defending, advo- cating these facts; for preaching them with a zeal and faith in them that would not be silenced and could not be gainsaid,-it was that Stephen was in his present place and position. The facts were these exactly: that (1) the Jesus, whom they were none of them unwilling to call "Son of man," and who called himself so, was, though "betrayed and murdered," not only " Son of man; " and (2) that he now stood, manifest in the opened heaven, in e. position that offered no doubtful evidence of all the rest. This had been the preaching of Peter e.nd the rest of the apostles and of Stephen-that the Jesus whom the Jews had slain was "exalted to the right hand of God." Yes; is Stephen going to seal his testimony with bis blood? before that shall be, God will seal his testimony, and give to Stephen the vision of what is close awaiting his sacrifice, The "everlasting gates" are already flung "open." 1'he "King of glory" has already gone through. Glory in all its effulgence is there, for God and Jesus, the Light and Glory, the Strength and Love of the universe, are there; and-- " an abundant entrance" is about to be given to Stephen. Oh what a sight for Stephen! What a contrast! What an in.finite reward! What supreme grace of Heaven I And what a thought for us! Jesus is there, and he is" standing" there, to take at the first possible moment the hand of Stephen, and welcome his feet to the golden floor. The correspondence between the work of Stephen and the peril into which he had been brought by it, and the gracious manifestations now made to him, tells its own tale. IV. A FAITHFUL AND EMPHATIO FULFILMENT UP TO THE LAST MOMENT OF THE RIGHT PARTS OF EARTHLY DUTY. Now literally hurried away by force by his enemies, we are not told of any strnggle whatever on his part, nor of any murmur, nor of any expression of instinctive horror and drea(\. But we are told: 1. How, when the first storm of stones gave him the clear signal of what was to be expected for earth, he" calls upon God," and, by no means forgetting the full meaning of his own" ~reaching and faith," cries, " Lord Jesus receive my spirit." The care of his own soul 1s ever the first duty of any man. 2. And how, with marvellous memory, he (1) docs not omit to pray for his murderers; nor (2) omits to" kneel down," as he prays," Lord, lay not this si[l to their charge," We have in all this, not the signs of an enthusiast merely or i. fanatio  THE AOTS OF THE APOSTLES. [ OH, VIL 1-60,