Acts 4:1-31 Wednesday, January 31, 2018 Some history First recorded persecution of the church Acts 4:1 4 (NKJV) 1 Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand. Notice that the PRIESTS, the CAPTAIN OF THE TEMPLE and the SADDUCEES ~ actually ceased upon Peter and John. This was a CODE BLUE We ve already been introduced to the priests and the Sadducees in the Gospel of Luke - but who is the Captain of the Temple? Well, we have seen them before - in John - ch.7. During the Feast of Tabernacles Jesus was teaching and the priests and the Pharisees sent out the temple guards to arrest Jesus. They came back empty-handed though. In verse 45 we read Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, Why didn t you bring him in? (They answered ) 46 No one ever spoke the way this man does, It was the chief priests and the CAPTAINS that Judas conferred with on just how to betray Jesus in Luke 22:4 They are - as we read in 1 Chronicles 26 - Levites who are divided up by family clans and are assigned their posts at various temple gates. So it wouldn t be just a single man, the captain. When the Pharisees - the priests - and the Sadducees caught wind of Peter s preaching they dispatched the nearest temple guards. Page 1 of 7
That would be like the Capitol Police in Washington DC. They are solely assigned to protect Congress. The temple guards or temple police were there for one main purpose and that only - to protect the temple. Knowing that makes it even more strange to see Muslim police guarding the Temple Mount today - disallowing anyone who is not Muslim to enter the area. The idea is that they rushed Peter and John. They suddenly came upon them. And why? v.2 tells us that they were disturbed - - - They were more than what we might call disturbed. They were diaponéō. They were strongly provoked - they were very angry. They grabbed Peter and John, arrested them, threw them in the slammer and set guards over them - overnight. That very short evangelistic message that lasted only 14 verses in the previous chapter harvested another 2,000 souls. Now the number of. NOTE THIS - v.4 the number of men who recently came to belief in Christ is 5,000. (We ve got to add some women and children to that number) Acts 4:5 7 (NKJV) 5 And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes, 6 as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power or by what name have you done this? From v.1 till now, we ve seen mentioned 11, in either groups or individually named, who have come out against Peter and John. That s intimidating!! Yet when you realize this is the very same group that arrested and had Jesus crucified just two months earlier - it s even more intimidating. The interrogation spotlights are turned up. Tell Me! By what power or by what name have you done this? Page 2 of 7
Draw a link between power and name because they are linked in the minds of these people. They are synonymous. Acts 4:8 10 (NKJV) 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: 9 If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, 10 let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. By what name or power have we done what? Heal a lame man, who has had to be carried from one place to the next sin birth? By what power or name have we done a good deed to a helpless man? If that s all you want to know You deserve to know, you should know the answer to that, all of Israel deserves to know This formerly lame man now stands on his own two feet before you by the power of the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Does this sound like the same man that was so scared to admit to a little girl that he even knew Jesus just two months earlier? No it does not - because it isn t the same man. This is the Peter who has been filled with the Holy Spirit and commissioned by Jesus to be His witness in the world. Here s the way Paul describes it Galatians 2:20 (NKJV) 20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the Page 3 of 7
flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. That s what the Holy Spirit desires to do in every one of our lives. To transform us like He did Peter and John and Paul!! In addition to wanting them to know the Power and the Name, Peter wanted to let them know two more very important things associated with that Name. 1) You are responsible for His death (and) 2) God raised Him to life again NOW - if the priests and Sadducees could have proven that Jesus didn t rise from the grave, now was the time to prove it. Now is the time to go dig up the body of Jesus if either the Romans or the Jews took the body and placed it in another place. Some would perhaps say, Well - not if the disciples relocated His body. If the disciples removed the body of Jesus and took it elsewhere, do you really think that Peter and John would be so bold right about now? Quoting from Psalms 118, Peter says Acts 4:11 12 (NKJV) 11 This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone. 12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Listen to a bigger portion of that text - - - Psalm 118:19 24 (NKJV) 19 Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go through them, And I will praise the Lord. 20 This is the gate of the Lord, Through which the righteous shall enter. 21 I will praise You, For You have answered me, And have become my salvation. 22 The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. 23 This was the Lord s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. Page 4 of 7
Nor is there salvation in any other There is no other name There is no other power The commandments can t save you Only Jesus Acts 4:13 (NKJV) 13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. Circle uneducated and untrained That s our fear, isn t it? I don t know enough to talk to others about Jesus I haven t been adequately trained How many of you have ever heard of Charles Spurgeon? By 19th century standards Spurgeon had a mediocre education at best. No college degree, no formal ministerial training. Yet he is perhaps the most quoted minister today from pulpits all over the world. AGAIN - D L Moody. Worked in his uncle s shoe store. It s recorded that when someone heard young Moody teaching to a kid about the prodigal son, while reading the Scriptures he couldn t even pronounce some of the words and had to skip over them. You can be uneducated and untrained and become a powerful witness for Jesus. But there are two things that you cannot be without: 1. You cannot not be filled with the Holy Spirit 2. AND - you cannot not spend time with Jesus Page 5 of 7
Yes - they had been with Jesus. And we need to spend time with Jesus via the Word and prayer and praise. Acts 4:14 17 (NKJV) 14 And seeing the man who had been 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, indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 17 But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name. How do we know what was said behind closed doors as reported in vv. 15 & 16? Because Paul was there - - - Saul of Tarsus would have been in on that council meeting. Again, Acts 4:14 17 (NKJV) 14 And seeing the man who had been 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, indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 17 But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name. The miracle didn t move them, but the poll numbers did, because of the people. Here they severely threaten them - and in v.21 they further threaten them Acts 4:18 22 (NKJV) 18 So 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 to them, Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. 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 no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done. 22 For the man Page 6 of 7
was over forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed. Why was it that Peter and John - - - v.20 were so compelled to speak the things which they had seen and heard? Acts 1:8 (NKJV) 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Acts 4:23 31 (NKJV) 23 And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. 24 So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, 25 who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: Why did the nations rage, And the people plot vain things? 26 The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the Lord and against His Christ. 27 For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. 29 Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, 30 by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus. 31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. Page 7 of 7