In verse 51 Stephen spoke a very strong word to the opposers: “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in hearts and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, you also do!” Since Stephen was full of the Spirit (v. 55) and was one with the Lord the Spirit (1 Cor. 6:17), to resist him was to resist the Holy Spirit. Hence, the Lord indicated to Saul, one of his persecutors (Acts 7:58; 8:1), that he was persecuting Him (9:4).
In verses 52 and 53 Stephen continued, “Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand concerning the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers; you who received the law by the disposition of angels, and did not keep it.” In verse 53 “disposition” indicates to transfer to the care or possession of another.
Acts 7:54 says, “Now when they heard these things, they were cut to their hearts and gnashed their teeth at him.” Here the Greek word translated “cut” means “sawn through.”
Verse 55 continues, “But being full of the Holy Spirit, looking intently into heaven, he saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” The Greek word for “full” is pleres, an adjective form of pleroo, according to the usage here and in 6:3, 5; 11:24; and Luke 4:1. In 7:55 Stephen was filled with the Spirit inwardly and essentially, as mentioned in 13:52. This refers to life, not to work.
According to 7:55, Stephen saw the glory of God. This was a great vindication and encouragement to the persecuted one.
Verse 55 says that Stephen also saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. The Lord in ascension is usually referred to as sitting at the right hand of God (Matt. 26:64; Heb. 1:3, 13). But Stephen saw Him standing there. This indicates that the Lord was greatly concerned for His persecuted one.
Stephen did not care for the environment. Rather, being full of the Spirit, he looked intently into heaven. In 7:2 Stephen said that the God of glory appeared to Abraham. Now we are told that Stephen saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. In the entire New Testament this occurred only once.
In 7:56 Stephen said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” The earth rejected Stephen and was closed to him, but the heavens opened up to him. This indicates that the heavens were with him and for him.
Verses 57 and 58 say, “But crying out with a loud voice, they covered their ears and rushed upon him with one accord. And having thrown him outside of the city, they stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man called Saul.” Here we see that Saul, who later became an apostle (13:9), was a helper of the persecutors in slaying Stephen. Saul must have been deeply impressed with what was taking place as Stephen was stoned.
Acts 7:59 says, “And they stoned Stephen as he was calling upon the Lord and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” Here we see that while Stephen was being stoned, he called upon the name of the Lord Jesus. To be sure, Stephen did not say in a weak, mild way, “Lord Jesus, have mercy.” On the contrary, he loudly called on the Lord’s name, saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” According to verse 60, Stephen knelt down and “cried with a loud voice, Lord....” From the case of Stephen we see that calling on the name of the Lord is something audible.
Verse 60 says, “And kneeling down, he cried with a loud voice, Lord, do not hold this sin against them! And having said this, he fell asleep.” Here we see that Stephen prayed for his persecutors in the same way as his Lord, whom he loved and lived (Luke 23:34).
The first part of 8:1 says, “Saul was approving of his killing.” Whenever we approve something, as Saul did, we consider ourselves to be somebody. If we do not regard ourselves as somebody, we shall not approve anything in this way. We simply shall not care what others do. Both those who criticize the church and those who approve what the church does, regard themselves as somebody. In 8:1 the young man Saul approved the persecution and killing of Stephen, considering himself to be somebody. Actually, as 8:3 indicates, Paul did become somebody—he became the leading persecutor of the church.
Acts 8:1b says, “There occurred in that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem; and all were scattered throughout the countries of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.” This was the first church established in a locality within the jurisdiction of a city, the city of Jerusalem. It was a local church in its locality, as indicated by the Lord in Matthew 18:17. It was not the universal church, as revealed by the Lord in Matthew 16:18, but only a part of the universal church, which is the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23). The record of the New Testament concerning the establishment of the church in its locality is consistent throughout (13:1; 14:23; Rom. 16:1; 1 Cor. 1:2; 2 Cor. 8:1; Gal. 1:2; Rev. 1:4, 11).
Acts 8:1 clearly says that all the believers were scattered throughout the countries of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Since the Bible says this, we need to believe it.
The Lord’s gospel was powerful and prevailing in Jerusalem. Although only the twelve apostles remained, it did not take long before a great many others came to believe in the Lord. Before the persecution there must have been thousands of believers in Jerusalem. Then during the great persecution against the church, all these believers left, with the exception of the apostles. But because the gospel was prevailing, soon after the scattering of the saints, a good number of others rose up to believe in the Lord Jesus. It seems that the more the believers left, the more others came to believe in Christ. This seems to be the only way to understand this matter in 8:3 in the light of the book of Acts as a whole.