Acts 7:54

When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, &c.--If they could have answered him, how different would have been their temper of mind!

We have here the death of the first martyr of the Christian church, and there is in this story a lively instance of the outrage and fury of the persecutors (such as we may expect to meet with if we are called out to suffer for Christ), and of the courage and comfort of the persecuted, that are thus called out. Here is hell in its fire and darkness, and heaven in its light and brightness; and these serve as foils to set off each other. It is not here said that the votes of the council were taken upon his case, and that by the majority he was found guilty, and then condemned and ordered to be stoned to death, according to the law, as a blasphemer; but, it is likely, so it was, and that it was not by the violence of the people, without order of the council, that he was put to death; for here is the usual ceremony of regular executions - he was cast out of the city, and the hands of the witnesses were first upon him. Let us observe here the wonderful discomposure of the spirits of his enemies and persecutors, and the wonderful composure of his spirit. I. See the strength of corruption in the persecutors of Stephen - malice in perfection, hell itself broken loose, men become incarnate devils, and the serpent's seed spitting their venom. 1. When they heard these things they were cut to the heart (Act 7:54), dieprionto, the same word that is used Heb 11:37, and translated they were sawn asunder. They were put to as much torture in their minds as ever the martyrs were put to in their bodies. They were filled with indignation at the unanswerable arguments that Stephen urged for their conviction, and that they could find nothing to say against them. They were not pricked to the heart with sorrow, as those were Act 2:37, but cut to the heart with rage and fury, as they themselves…