<p>7:55 <em>But he, being full of the Holy Spirit- </em>This is twice earlier stated of Stephen (Acts 6:3,5). Those passages suggest this was a permanent characteristic of Stephen (as Acts 11:24 &quot;a good man and full of the Holy Spirit&quot;). So whilst this phrase could mean that Stephen was given a special gift or revelation of the Holy Spirit in his time of final crisis and death, it could also mean that it was because of his Spirit filled life that he saw visibly what he had previously only seen by faith- his Lord Jesus standing at God's right hand in Heaven. Likewise if we live a spiritual life, hour by hour, then that same Spirit is powerfully available to us in our times of crises.</p><p><em>Looked up earnestly into heaven</em>- See on 6:15 <em>Fastening their eyes on him</em>.</p><p><em>And saw the glory of God</em>- This made Stephen equal to the revered prophets like Elijah, Moses and Ezekiel who had seen such visions of the cherubim and beheld the shekinah glory. What was so desperately and obviously absent from the Jerusalem temple was just this- the shekinah glory. It was what the Jews so earnestly wished they could see there. But God's presence and fellowship was simply not with them. But Stephen now saw it- and not in the holy space of the temple's holy place either.</p><p><em>And Jesus</em>- It is normal in the New Testament to describe the risen Jesus with some title, such as &quot;<em>the Lord</em> Jesus&quot;. The simple &quot;Jesus&quot; directs attention to His humanity; and Stephen reflects this by referring to Him as &quot;the son of man&quot; (:56). The Lord's humanity was a great encouragement for Stephen in his most desperate human need, just as it is for us. This is a powerful practical outcome of understanding that the Lord was of our human nature and not &quot;very God&quot;. I have observed that whenever the humanity of the Lord is spoken of, His highly exalted status is often juxtaposed with it. So many proof texts misused by Trinitarians are located right next to the clearest statements of the Lord's humanity. And so the reference to &quot;the son of man&quot; is not merely a statement of His humanity, but is an allusion to the Daniel 7 vision of the &quot;son of man&quot; coming in judgment in the clouds of Heaven (as Stephen saw Him in the &quot;glory of God&quot;).</p><p><em>Standing </em><i>on the right hand of God; and he said<em>- </em></i>In his time of dying, Stephen saw the Lord Jesus <em>standing </em>at the right hand of God (Acts 7:55). But about 13 times in the New Testament, the point is made that the Lord <em>sits</em> there, unlike the Mosaic priests who <em>stood</em> (Heb. 10:12). The Lord Jesus was passionately feeling for Stephen; and He just as emotionally and passionately feels for us in our struggles. This alone should lift us out of the mire of mediocrity. Prayer will have meaning and power. It won&rsquo;t just be the repetitious conscience-salver it can descend into. Many of those 13 NT references to the Lord being seated at the right hand of God are in Hebrews; and this again encourages us to see Hebrews as Paul's deeper reflections upon Stephen's speech. This would especially be the case if the Jews in the council actually saw something of what Stephen saw.</p>