On hearing this, the members of the Sanhedrin were enraged, and they gnashed their teeth at him.Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
4 sermons cite this verse
… Well, this didn't go over real well. We pick the story up in Acts chapter seven, verse 54. Why don't you look at that with me? The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen's accusation and they shook their fists at him in rage. You know a message is not going over well when people do that. When they shake their fists at you. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God's right hand and he told them, look, I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing at the place of honor at God's right hand. And then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting and they rushed at him and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. And his accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they stoned him, Stephen prayed, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. …
Well, this didn't go over real well. We pick the story up in Acts chapter seven, verse 54. Why don't you look at that with me? The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen's accusation and they shook their fists at him in rage. You know a message is not going over well when people do that. When they shake their fists at you. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God's right hand. And he told them, look, I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing at the place of honor at God's right hand. And then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. And they rushed at him and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. And his accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they stoned him, Stephen prayed, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. He fell to his knees shouting, Lord, don't charge him with this sin. …
… it says they looked intently, they fixed their eyes on him. Same thing in Acts chapter 7, verse 54 through 60, when Stephen is about to be stoned, it says he looked up to heaven, he saw Jesus, the glory of God, saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. So it's a fixed gaze. It's not just a glance. What I want you to see is a progression here. When we begin to get a hold of the reality of the needs around us, number one, we begin to see the hurts around us. This is the progression. Very simple in this passage. We see the hurt. then second we begin to feel the hurt it's not just glancing at it oh yeah that's there it's it's beginning to feel the weight of that that's exactly what luke is getting at in verse four when it says peter and john looked at him intently it's not just a pass a look as they passed by so they saw the hurt they felt the hurt and number three we touched the hurt that's exactly what peter does a pretty bold statement to say you know i don't have any money but i do have this get up and walk. …
… As soon as Peter finishes the sermon, verse 37 says, when the people heard this, they were cut to the heart. That's quite an interesting phrase that Luke would use here to describe what happened. They were cut to the heart. We've already talked about how way back in Exodus, we saw 3,000 people who were struck down by the sword when the law came down. They disobeyed against the law. They were cut to the heart here. We're reminded, Hebrews chapter 4, verse 12 says, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates to our hearts and our souls and our minds. Ephesians 6, 17 says, the word of God is the sword of the spirit. That's kind of the picture we've got here. This is not just man's words, not just another book. This is the sword through which God and his voice penetrates our hearts and our minds. This is not just a book. There's something supernatural that goes on when the Word of God is proclaimed. And here it's awakening conviction. I want you to see something very interesting. …