Acts, Chapter 4
© Copyright 2007 Darroll Evans, all
rights reserved
Acts 4:1-4
1 And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the
temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them,
2 Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the
resurrection from the dead.
3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it
was now eventide.
4 Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men
was about five thousand.
As Peter and John spoke to
the people in the
The
Acts 4:5-12
5 And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and
scribes,
6 And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many
as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at
7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by
what name, have ye done this?
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the
people, and elders of Israel,
9 If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what
means he is made whole;
10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name
of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead,
even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become
the head of the corner.
12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under
heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
The next day, the
Then, Peter filled with the
Holy Ghost, said to them, “You rulers of the people, and elders of
“He [Christ Jesus] is the
stone which was discarded by you. He has become the head of the corner.”
(Christ Jesus is the
cornerstone for the true Church. The
cornerstone is used as the boundary marker.
From it all measurements of the building, the
Ps 118:22
The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.
Then Peter said, “Neither is there salvation in any other! There is no other name under heaven given
among men, whereby we must (Gr.
dei-dei), absolutely
must be saved.”
That is a remarkable
statement!
John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto
the Father, but by me.
That has not changed! There is still no way to God’s loving-kindness
except through the faith of and faith in Christ Jesus.
Acts 4:13-23
13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they
were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of
them, that they had been with Jesus.
14 And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say
nothing against it.
15 But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they
conferred among themselves,
16 Saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle
hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in
17 But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten
them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name.
18 And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in
the name of Jesus.
19 But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the
sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.
20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.
21 So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing
how they might punish them, because of the people: for all men glorified God
for that which was done.
22 For the man was above forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing was
shewed.
23 And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the
chief priests and elders had said unto them.
When the
The
They knew not and knew not
that they knew not! They were
spiritually challenged, just as all orthodox Jews are today!
No non-Messianic Jew
understands anything about God, or His ways!
1 Cor 1:27
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and
God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are
mighty;
God has not called us to be
ignorant of His ways. There are many educated
people who “know” Christ. But, we should not look at the letters behind a name
to determine how much each person knows about Christ Jesus and the moving of
the Holy Spirit.
Then those in leadership
seeing that the man who had been healed was standing there could say nothing
against what Peter and John. However, they commanded them to go out side while
they discussed it privately.
As the temple leaders met
privately, their first question was, “What shall we do to these men?” They could not deny the miracle. All those in the
They determined that they
should stop the spread of the news about the miracle, “Let us threaten them, so
that they will stop speaking in this name.”
It is obvious that God had other plans!
And then, they called Peter
and John in and commanded them not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. But,
Peter and John bluntly told them, “Is it right in the sight of God to listen to
you more than unto God? You be the
judges.”
They told the group, “We
cannot help but speak the things which we have seen and heard. We can only testify to what we have seen and
heard!”
When they had threatened them some more, they let them go.
Actually, the Jewish leaders
were unable to find any legal point for which to punish John and Peter.
All the people in the area
glorified God, because of what was done.
The man who was healed was over forty years of age old, and was well
known.
Having been released, Peter
and John went back, and reported everything that the chief priests and elders
said to them.
Acts 4:24-30
24 And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord,
and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea,
and all that in them is:
25 Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage,
and the people imagine vain things?
26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together
against the Lord, and against his Christ.
27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both
Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were
gathered together,
28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
29 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that
with all boldness they may speak thy word,
30 By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be
done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.
When the Church heard all
that had happened, they lifted up their unified voices to God and said, “Lord,
You are God, which has made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that is in
them.
They quoted the Psalm of
David (Ps. 2), “Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?
The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against
the Lord, and against his Christ (anointed One).”
They said, “You desired to do
whatsoever your hand and your counsel determined should be done.”
“So now, Lord, behold their
intimidations, and grant to your servants that they may boldly speak Your word,
by stretching forth Your hand to heal, so that signs and wonders may be done by
the name of the holy Child Jesus.”
Acts 4:31-35
31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled
together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word
of God with boldness.
32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul:
neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his
own; but they had all things common.
33 And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the
Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.
34 Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors
of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were
sold,
35 And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto
every man according as he had need.
When they had thus prayed,
the place was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. Consequently, they spoke the word of God with
boldness. The multitude (of believers) was united. None of them took notice of
personal possession. Instead, they held
all things in common.
The Apostles were powerful
witnesses of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus! As a result, great (Gr.
megalee-megalh),
mega grace was upon them all.
None of them lacked anything,
because many of them were owners of lands or houses. They sold what they had and brought the
proceeds to the Apostles, who in turn distributed such to every one according
to individual need.
I have placed the last two
verses in this chapter at the beginning of Chapter 5. When you read the commentary, the reason will
become obvious.