Acts 7:54 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.
As they were gnashing their teeth at Stephen, he being filled with the Holy Spirit, did what you you have to do to stay filled with the Holy Spirit in this fallen world. He “gazed intently into Heaven” and saw the glory of God, and Jesus….
He looked beyond the situation, and the people who were hurting him and practiced the glory of Jesus, and Heavens reality. We always bear witness of what we see and hear, and there are always two realities we can gaze into; fallen Earths, or Heavens. By the way, Heavens always looks like “overcoming.” There are certainly times when the battle is so fierce that we have to gaze “intently” into Heaven to behold the truth that keeps us “filled.” Remember, we always pour out what we are being filled with. If we imbibe deeply the “Glory and the Lamb,” then we will pour out expectant joy and extravagant love; but if are imbibing the pain, then we will pour out regurgitated bitterness. Stephen saw Glory. He didn’t gaze at the evil; instead he gazed into glory. Glory was there as his great reality, and glory was therefore dominating this whole thing he was experiencing. Also, Jesus was standing. He wasn’t passively sitting, watching all of this; He was aggressively in control, and glory was the environment. Stephen was doing what he had learned to do to stay “filled” at all times; he was practicing the presence of Jesus, and gazing into glory. The beauty (glory) of God was the air he was breathing. You see, Jesus was there, winning, in all of His nail scarred beauty, loving Stephen, and all the “gnashing” people around him. Jesus was the Big Story here, and glory was there, and glory was going to come out of all of this. This is what St. Stephen the “lover Deacon” saw, and therefore that is what he poured out. He poured out Jesus, because that is what he saw, and therefore was being “filled” with.
