44 "Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness , just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern which he had seen . 45 "And having received it in their turn , our fathers brought it in with Joshua upon dispossessing the nations whom God drove out before e our fathers , until the time of David . 46 " David found favor in God's sight , and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob . 47 "But it was Solomon who built a house for Him. 48 "However , the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands ; as the prophet says : 49 ' HEAVEN IS MY THRONE , AND EARTH IS THE FOOTSTOOL OF MY FEET ; WHAT KIND OF HOUSE WILL YOU BUILD FOR ME?' says the Lord , 'OR WHAT PLACE IS THERE FOR MY REPOSE ? 50 ' WAS IT NOT MY HAND WHICH MADE ALL THESE THINGS ?'
51 "You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit ; you are doing just as your fathers did. 52 " Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute ? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One , whose betrayers and murderers you have now become ; 53 you who received the law as ordained by angels , and yet did not keep it."
54 Now when they heard this , they were cut to the quick , and they began gnashing their teeth at him. 55 But being full of the Holy Spirit , he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God , and Jesus standing at the right hand of God ; 56 and he said , "Behold , I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God ." 57 But they cried out with a loud voice , and covered their ears and rushed at him with one impulse . 58 When they had driven him out of the city , they began stoning him; and the witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul . 59 They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said , "Lord Jesus , receive my spirit !" 60 Then falling on his knees , he cried out with a loud voice , "Lord , do not hold this sin against them!" Having said this , he fell asleep .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Acts 7:44-60
Commentary on Acts 7:42-50
(Read Acts 7:42-50)
Stephen upbraids the Jews with the idolatry of their fathers, to which God gave them up as a punishment for their early forsaking him. It was no dishonour, but an honour to God, that the tabernacle gave way to the temple; so it is now, that the earthly temple gives way to the spiritual one; and so it will be when, at last, the spiritual shall give way to the eternal one. The whole world is God's temple, in which he is every where present, and fills it with his glory; what occasion has he then for a temple to manifest himself in? And these things show his eternal power and Godhead. But as heaven is his throne, and the earth his footstool, so none of our services can profit Him who made all things. Next to the human nature of Christ, the broken and spiritual heart is his most valued temple.
Commentary on Acts 7:51-53
(Read Acts 7:51-53)
Stephen was going on, it seems, to show that the temple and the temple service must come to an end, and it would be the glory of both to give way to the worship of the Father in spirit and in truth; but he perceived they would not bear it. Therefore he broke off, and by the Spirit of wisdom, courage, and power, sharply rebuked his persecutors. When plain arguments and truths provoke the opposers of the gospel, they should be shown their guilt and danger. They, like their fathers, were stubborn and wilful. There is that in our sinful hearts, which always resists the Holy Ghost, a flesh that lusts against the Spirit, and wars against his motions; but in the hearts of God's elect, when the fulness of time comes, this resistance is overcome. The gospel was offered now, not by angels, but from the Holy Ghost; yet they did not embrace it, for they were resolved not to comply with God, either in his law or in his gospel. Their guilt stung them to the heart, and they sought relief in murdering their reprover, instead of sorrow and supplication for mercy.
Commentary on Acts 7:54-60
(Read Acts 7:54-60)
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 fulness of joy, and to share the pleasures that are at his right hand, for evermore.