Acts 7:55

“But he being full of the Holy Ghost, etc.] That is, Stephen, as Beza’s ancient copy, and some others express it; and so the Ethiopic version; the Syriac version reads, “full of faith, and of the Holy Ghost”, as in (<440605>Acts 6:5) and so some copies; being under the influences of the Spirit of God, and filled with his divine comforts, and strong in the faith of Jesus Christ, and having a holy boldness, courage, and intrepidity of mind; instead of being discouraged and dejected, of being cast down in his spirits, and looking down upon the ground, he looked up steadfastly to heaven; where he desired to be, and hoped and believed he should be; and from whence he knew his help came, and which…”

“But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God--You who can transfer to canvas such scenes as these, in which the rage of hell grins horribly from men, as they sit condemned by a frail prisoner of their own, and see heaven beaming from his countenance and opening full upon his view--I envy you, for I find no words to paint what, in the majesty of the divine text, is here so simply told. "But how could Stephen, in the council-chamber, see heaven at all? I suppose this question never occurred but to critics of narrow soul, one of whom [MEYER] conjectures that he saw it through the window! and another, of better mould, that the scene lay in one…”

“Full of the Holy Ghost - See the notes on Acts 2:4. Looked up stedfastly - Fixed his eyes intently on heaven. Foreseeing his danger, and the effect his speech had produced; seeing that there was no safety in the Great Council of the nation, and no prospect of justice at their hands, he cast his eyes to heaven and sought protection there. When dangers threaten us, our hope of safety lies in heaven. When people threaten our persons, reputation, or lives, it becomes us to fix our eyes on the heavenly world; and we shall not look in vain. And saw the glory of God - This phrase is commonly used to denote the visible symbols of God. It means some magnificent representation; a splendor, or light,…”

“But he looking steadfastly up to heaven, saw the glory of God - Doubtless he saw such a glorious representation, God miraculously operating on his imagination, as on Ezekiel's, when he sat in his house at Babylon, and saw Jerusalem, and seemed to himself transported thither, Eze 8:1-4. And probably other martyrs, when called to suffer the last extremity, have had extraordinary assistance of some similar kind. Acts 7:56”

“7:55-56 Jesus standing . . . at God’s right hand: Usually Jesus is described as seated in heaven at God’s right hand (2:33-34; 5:31; Luke 20:42; 22:69; Rom 8:34; Eph 1:20; Col 3:1; Heb 1:3, 13; 10:12). One possible explanation is that Jesus was welcoming Stephen, the first martyr, to heaven with honor. Stephen had confessed his Lord faithfully on earth, and now his Lord honored his promise to confess his faithful servant in heaven, standing as a witness to defend him (Matt 10:32; Luke 12:8). • the Son of Man standing: Cp. Dan 7:13-14. The Jewish leaders understood that Stephen was speaking of Jesus as the divine Son of Man (Acts 7:57), a title that speaks of Jesus’ power and authority (cp.…”

“full: Act 2:4, Act 4:8, Act 6:3, Act 6:5, Act 6:8, Act 6:10, Act 13:9, Act 13:10; Mic 3:8 looked: Act 1:10, Act 1:11; Co2 12:2-4; Rev 4:1-3 and saw: Isa 6:1-3; Eze 1:26-28, Eze 10:4, Eze 10:18, Eze 11:23; Joh 12:41; Co2 4:6; Pe2 1:17; Rev 21:11 standing: Psa 109:31, Psa 110:1; Joh 14:3; Heb 1:3, Heb 8:1 Acts 7:56”