Acts | Chapter 4

Acts Ch. 4:1-31

“Boldness to speak Your Word”

Vs. 1-6 Captive for Christ

Vs. 7-22 Uneducated and untrained men

Vs. 23-31 A prayer for more of the same

Intro.

In Chapter three we saw Peter’s second preaching opportunity, which came about as John and he were involved with the Lord healing the lame man. Jesus had told them they would receive power from the Holy Spirit to be witnesses (1:8). That had produced opportunities immediately to speak of the person and work of Jesus. The Lord added to the Church based upon the practices of the early Church. It appears there was a pattern in the early church of “signs and wonders” creating an opportunity for the apostles to teach. Oftentimes these teaching times led to many receiving Jesus. As a student of the word as well as a teacher of the word, the teaching of Peter and others in the Bible fascinates me. There is a “depth” to it that as a student I marvel at how these “untrained and uneducated” men were able to accomplish without any of the study aids that I now possess. Yet as a teacher there is a “simplicity” to the content that all can comprehend. 

With those dynamics at work through the power of the Holy Spirit it was an incredible instrument in the hearts of men. Why didn’t this combination sweep over all the hearts of mankind? Well we have an enemy! The book of Acts not only records for us the continual work of Jesus in the world through those called by His name. It also records for us the work of Satan and his attempt to derail God’s work. That is what we have recorded for us today; the first of five chapters in Acts record one of Satan’s tactics, “persecution”. Now this may have slowed the work of God but in fact it never weakened it. Instead it made it stronger! In the fifth chapter of Acts we shall see what is the most effective weapon the enemy has to derail God’s work.   

Vs. 1-6 Captive for Christ

Vs. 1 With the now healed lame man clinging to them Peter is proclaiming the person and continual work of Jesus. It is to this scene as thousands have gathered that the Jewish leadership shows up. The ordained priests, who had been conducting the evening sacrifices, the chief of police for the temple as well as the Sadducees, which were like the supreme court, came rushing to Solomon’s porch. The normally quiet time of evening prayer had been severely disrupted by this man “walking, leaping and praising God” and Peter’s explanation of what had just taken place.

Vs. 2-3 The Sadducees were the theological liberals of their day. They were made up of mainly wealthy landowners who to protect their holdings opposed any opposition to Rome. Their religion was largely a social practice, they did not believe in the resurrection, angels or any miracles. They believed that man was the master of his own destiny. According to them the Messianic period had already come during the Maccabean revolt so they were not looking for a Messiah.  So we are told that they were “greatly disturbed,” and we are told two reasons for annoyance based upon their question of verse 7, “By what power or by what name have you done this?”

They taught the people: (POWER) That is they were upset at who it was that was teaching (verse 13) untrained and uneducated men. They were upset at the fact that Peter and John were teaching people, period. No one had given them permission; they had no credentials, furthermore they had not even had any experience as teachers. For all practical purposes these guys were not even lay leaders. Furthermore, not only were they teaching, they were doing so in the temple, which was reserved for the “professionals”. Now I find it interesting that the first thing that bugged the professionals was the person doing the message not the message. So?

Well that tells you that jealousy was what took them at first. Peter and John were from Galilee and they had a huge crowd of people waiting on every word. Now as Calvary Chapel’s go we are not “professionally” trained either. I don’t have a degree from a seminary in fact most Calvary Pastors don’t. Yet, I think most of the guys I know are some of the best teachers I’ve ever listened to. In fact the pastors I’ve come into contact with who have done four years at seminary are woefully lacking Bible knowledge. The reason for this is most of them don’t study the Bible, they study other things.    

Preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. (AUTHORITY) The Jewish leadership had executed Jesus as a blasphemer, and now these guys were proclaiming Him as the resurrected Messiah. They wanted to know by whose authority or name had they done and said what they did. You see they were into this authority trip they liked keeping people dependent upon them. Peter was proclaiming in Jesus His lordship over lives not man’s. The leaders saw this as a threat to them as people would no longer need them. Folks, religion is always threatened by a relationship with Jesus.  

A relationship with Jesus offends people does it not? I mean when we come into a relationship with Jesus we are saying that all of man’s best effort, intelligence, good looks is not enough. None of the works we humans do will get us anything. And further more what you can have in Christ is in spite of you not because of you. That offends because there is nothing that we can boast of. “Well, who do you think you are, telling me that my good works are not enough. Who died and made you the teachers of truth?”  Jesus!

Vs. 3-4 Jewish law did not permit a trial to take place at night, (a law they broke in the case of Jesus), so they placed Peter and John in jail overnight. But the silencing of the messengers could not stop the effect of the Word of God in human hearts as 2,000 men were added to the Church. Now how did Luke know that the church was now 5,000 men besides women and children? Well these were the people who identified themselves as believers. Man, people under adverse conditions were ready to go against popular opinion and follow Jesus all the while the two who brought the message were placed in prison. Seven times in the book of Acts we are told the Church grew but only twice are we told a number. I pray that we too will grow in reaching our world for Jesus but that we won’t keep track of the number.  The bottom line is that the Word of God is powerful and no matter what you do with those that proclaim it the hearers will be affected by it.

Vs. 5-6 Peter and John make no fuss at their arrest but are humble. The Rulers represented the 24 priestly orders and the Elders represented the heads of the different tribes. The Scribes were the experts in the law, most of them being Pharisees. All of them together made up what was called the Sanhedrin, which had 71 members including the High Priest, with the responsibility of ruling the nation as well as being the final authority on all legal matters.

         Luke tells us the names of some of those this court was made up of. Annas was not the current High Priest, (although he had served for nine years) but he was the real power behind the scenes. He still had the name like our ex-presidents carry the name past their tenure. The Romans had put His son in-law in his place (Caiaphas) and he would reign for 18 years. Annas managed to have five of  his sons, one son in-law and one grandson placed in this position throughout his life. All of them were Sadducees and the ruling of the people was being passed on from one generation to another without any regard to the Word of God. It is thought that the two other names here, (John, and Alexander), were further sons who Theophilus might have heard of.

         The point of listing them is to reveal that Peter and John are essentially before the same group that had not that many months earlier sentenced Jesus to die on the cross. In fact according to verse 13 they recognized Peter and John as being disciples of Jesus. So? Well let’s get the picture shall we? Peter and John have been arrested and are about to be tried by the same kangaroo court with the same leaders who illegally sentenced Jesus, whom they had just had proclaimed was alive and the Messiah, (which many of them did not believe would come). All of this is before the leaders of the nation who have the power to put you to death. So they are put into jail at night and the next day they are brought in alone before 71 folks who want nothing more than to see you dead. What do you think our two fishermen need the most? Now don’t you dare say a lawyer.  

Vs. 7-22 Uneducated and untrained men

Vs. 7 They ask Peter and John one question with two parts in it. What power and what authority did they have to heal the lame man and proclaim Jesus. Now Deut. 13:1-5 speaks about what to do with a person who says something or does something that comes to pass and they proclaim it is a different god that has done this they are to be put to death. So this question is designed to get Peter and John to incriminate themselves. It was also a put down, “Where did you ignorant folks get the power and authority to do and say anything especially in my temple?” 

Vs. 8 So what is it that Peter and John need the most? Well we are told right here, “filled with the Holy Spirit”.  Jesus had told them in Luke 12:11-12 that “when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” So Peter was again filled and you know what inverse 31 he is going to again be filled with the Holy Spirit. Is that not great? I mean there is a never ending supply of the presence and power of the Lord whenever we need Him. I mean did Peter and John ever need Him now.

Vs. 9-12 Interestingly enough Peter does not defend his action, He questions their action by saying, “This work of God healing a lame man is not a crime it’s a good deed to a helpless man!” “You have arrested us for being used to change a life from lame to whole, is that the charge because I just want to get it right!”

What’s lacking in all of Peter’s words is:

• SILENCE

• COMPROMISE

• PERSONAL DEFENSE

“Furthermore, you want to know where the power and authority came from to make this lame man whole and to proclaim Who healed him? Well, I’ll tell you Who, it’s Jesus who you rejected.” Look at these words of Peter before the ruling powers of the day, the ones who had the power over his and John’s life and ask yourself who is on trial.

Now what would you do if you were in this same situation with Peter and John? Think of it a moment: you’re a new Christian and you have just been arrested with Peter and John. You’re in a trial for your life and Peter says, “Hey bro don’t worry about it I’ll take care of your defense it’s going to be ok.” 

Then before you stop him he says. “You want to know what power, what authority we were used to making a lame life whole? Well it’s Jesus the one you all killed, the One that God raised from the dead, for those of you here today who don’t believe in either the Messiah, the resurrection or miracles.” Then before you can get a word out of your mouth to ask for a new lawyer Peter continues. “Hey fellows you all know the Bible, well Psalm 118 speaks about you in saying the stone that the builders, (ah that’s you guys) rejected is the most important stone for the building.”

Finally, just before you pass out as your life is passing before you, Peter says one more sentence. “Leaders of Israel, there is only one way in which a person can be saved and it’s by trusting in Jesus, in fact there is no other name.” Just before you lose consciousness you hear Peter say, “What did I tell you, it will be ok!” Now I’ve perhaps made fun of this scene a bit but I think a good amount of us would have reacted just like this. But not Peter and John. No, they think of the opportunity to speak to the highest authority in the land about Jesus and they are not concerned with their lives. Why? Because they realize that it is not their lives, for they are no longer their own but were bought at a price.

Vs. 13-18 Now it is the leadership who are on the horns of a dilemma. They saw Peter and John and the zeal, passion and power that they spoke with concerning Jesus. They heard them speak knowing they were not trained clergy, no, they were country bumpkins. Yet there was something different about these fellows. Yes, it was like Jesus who spoke as One having authority and these two had spent time with Him. Yes Jesus had rubbed off on them. We’ve got to nip this in the bud. But wait, what are we going to do with the artist formerly known as the lame man?

         Is that not amazing? I mean it is the educated folks who don’t have any defense concerning what to do about Jesus, the healed lame man is right there and all. Well why did they not just bring out the dead body of Jesus? I mean since Jesus did not really die why not just bring Him forward? Right? Do you see this? These guys unwittingly prove to us that the resurrection really happened. Hey, you can be pretty darn confident when your greatest opponents by their silence prove your point in court!” If this was a cartoon it would be right here when the villain would say, “Foiled again!”

         I know, let’s threaten them and tell them to never again use the name of Jesus. Now whatever possessed them to come up with this idea I will never know, because if it did not work when they were in trial for their lives it won’t work in the future. Further more by admitting that a miracle was done in the name of Jesus and that what Peter preached concerning Him was true, don’t they see that they are opposing God? Pride is an incredibly slippery slope isn’t it?

Vs. 19-22 After bringing Peter and John back in, threatening and commanding them not to speak about Jesus any longer I would have loved to have seen the expression of those two fishers of men. I can only say that I know what my reaction is to this. I just start to smile. Peter and John after rolling on the floor, (my opinion) answer, “You guys, I need to get your advice, is it better for us to obey God or what you say?” “Because we can not help ourselves but to talk about the things which we have seen and heard.”

         So they threatened them some more but they had to let them go as public opinion was in Peter and John’s favor. All were praising God, not Peter or John but God. Then of course there was that man formally known as the lame man. Wow, what a story!    

Vs. 23-31 A prayer for more of the same

Vs. 23-28 I love this. Where did they go after such a great victory? No, not Disneyland, but to their own companions! They could not wait to share God’s victory with God’s people. Then what do they do? Well they have a worship and prayer service. I love the unity as it is centered around the person and work of God. They declare these truths about Him:

• Vs. 24 Lord, You are God: Nothing else is worthy of being worshiped but You. Furthermore we are standing before You not because of Peter’s brilliant defense but because of Who you are.

• Vs. 24 You are the creator: You created Everything and everyone. Simply put you are in control.

• Vs.25-28 You are sovereign: How foolish for anyone to try to out-think God and even when the world succeeds at their plans all they do is fulfill God’s will.

Vs. 29-30 It is based upon this worship that they prayed these two verses. Now what would you have prayed for if you had just been in a jam this big? “Hey, God, that was a real close one, so next time why not just keep us out of all this legal stuff.” “I just want to live a peaceful, quiet life somewhere where I can stay within my comfort zone, amen!” Nope, now get this, they ask God for more of what they just had. Oh, to God we would be so possessed of His Spirit. That we would ask nothing for ourselves and only ask that He would fill us with His Spirit, so that we would still be used to touch the lives of a lame world and proclaim the name in whose power we had touched it with. 

What is the key to this prayer? Two things:

• They see themselves as servants. (Verse 29)

• They are just following His example. (Your Holy Servant, verses 27, 30)

Vs. 31 Look at what God did in answer to this prayer. They were not shaken but the world they were in was! And they were again filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of God with Boldness. Now as we close there is a lot of talk today about the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives but here we see what it was He did in the lives of these believers. He gave them boldness to speak the Word of God. May we have an earth shaking time as we ask the Lord to give us more of Himself! 

Acts 4:32-37

“Great Grace, Power and Fear”

Vs. 32-37 Great power and great grace

Intro.

So many people searching for a Church are looking for the “perfect church”. One pastor friend I know once told a group if they were looking for the perfect Church and happened to find it to make sure they did not attend it for the moment they went there it would cease being perfect. Luke has been showing the birth and movement of the early Church and so far it has been positive. But coming up in chapter five we see the first instance of sin and it is the one that most often gets associated with the Church and Christians today “hypocrisy”. Folks, the truth is the Church is made up of saved sinners and as Paul said to his young protégé Timothy, (1 Tim. 1:15) “that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”

“So what are you saying Pastor?” Well, I’m telling you all that I’m the worst sinner I’ve ever met and that I am not a perfect person let alone a perfect Pastor! Now it’s important that we understand what a hypocrite is and what it is not! The word comes from the Greek word meaning to be an actor or to pretend to be something you are not. Now I suppose that is ok if your purpose is to entertain folks, but it is not ok if your purpose is to deceive them for your gain.

• What it is NOT: A hypocrite is NOT a person who fails to live up to all that they know to be true. For no believer lives up to all that is true all the time.

• What it IS: A hypocrite IS a deliberate deception, trying to make people think we are more spiritual then we really are.    

A hypocrite makes a conscious choice and says, “I’m more concerned with my REPUTATION (what people think of me) then my CHARACTER (what God thinks of me.)” It is interesting to note what Jesus said in Matt. 24:51 that (hypocrites), or those more interested in reputation than character, would populate hell.

         Perhaps what we all ought to be looking for in our lives and the lives of the Church is not the “Perfect Church,” but rather a “Great Church”? We shall see in this section that which led the early Church into being a great Church. 

Vs. 32-37 Great power and great grace

Vs. 32a Satan had employed the first of three different attacks in chapter 4, “persecution”. I have found in my own life that I have far more to fear with popularity than I do with persecution. How so? Well with persecution it will only lead me to humility and complete dependence upon Jesus, but with popularity I will battle my own fleshly pride.

         Now look at the outcome of the persecution and upon this growing band of believers. First, verse 31 records that what followed the persecution was a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit, which led to boldness in speaking the word of God. Wow, persecution brought about a greater dependence upon the Holy Spirit and this then further empowered them in the Word of God. 

As a result of that Luke tells us that they:

Multiplied: That is they were ever growing in fact no longer are we given a number.

Who believed: This speaks of the fact that their growth was for real. I want you to realize that becoming a believer at this time was not an easy proposition. In fact there were far more reasons to not become a believer then there are today.

One heart: They loved the same things and as we shall see in a moment that this led them to life choices.

One soul: They shared in One life, the life of Jesus.

Yes, there was unity in the believers but it was not at the exclusion of the Word of God it was because of the Word of God. Simply put they grew more in love with Jesus we are told that their love towards Jesus was seen in two ways:

Vs. 32b Love for each other:  “Neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.” Man these early believers were into each other. Gone was the preoccupation with self and gratifying their own needs. It is never a bad thing when Christians regard people more important than things. Well how did that happen Pastor? 

Well we are told several things about this:

Neither did anyone say: It was universal and spontaneous. The leadership did not force this upon them; in fact Peter is going to tell Ananias this in verse 4.

That any of the things he possessed was his own: They understood that God owned everything. In other words they were not their own and neither was what they owned; it was all at His disposal.

But they had all things in common: Again based upon Peter’s words to Ananias, private ownership was not forbidden. This was a heart action that the early believers took in response to those in need among them. This was not Communism, “What’s yours is mine; I’ll take it.” It was Commonism, “What’s mine is yours, I’ll share it.” 

Vs. 34 N.I.V. “From time to time”: It was based upon need not greed. They did not wait around for someone else to meet the need they gave themselves. Now this kind of loving generosity was soon abused and Paul had to give certain guidelines to the Churches in who and how they were to give to.

2 Thess. 3:10-12 If they can work for themselves, then they are not truly needy.

1 Tim. 5:3-4 If they can be supported by their families then they are not needy.

1 Tim. 5:5,10 If they are helped by the Church then they should do something to help the Church.

1 Tim. 5:9-13 The Church has every right to examine moral conduct before giving.

1 Tim. 6:8 The support of the Church ought to be only for the basic necessities of living. 

Vs. 33 Love for a lost world: “the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.” Again the central theme of their message was the resurrection of Jesus which was what they were forbidden to speak of. Hey folks, this early Church was extraverted and not introverted. It was all about others and because of that they had little time to get all caught up in themselves. Luke tells us here two of the three things that made them a “Great Church”.

Great Power: A surrendered life that was seen in their actions of putting God first, people second and things last gave visible proof of the great power. Now the “great power” had come about because of the Holy Spirit’s presence in their lives and they made it a continual practice to “speak the Word of God” concerning the resurrection. So they were empowered by the Spirit of God, witnessing through the word of God concerning Jesus and the resurrection. I love the fact that you could tell this by the practical outward actions of, “Love towards each other and love to a lost world.” 

Great Grace: God’s grace was sustaining them! It was obvious to look at them that God’s unmerited favor was all over them. They had the persecution of the religious leaders but favor of all the people. Notice that this grace was upon them all. Hey, folks their sufficiency was in Jesus as well as their power. That’s what we all ought to desire. May I just say that you will only have great power as you have been practicing a life that is full of great grace.

Vs. 34-35 Here Luke again emphasizes the nature of the giving of the early Church. We can see by these statements that the early Church was in “deed and in truth”, not just words. 

Several things come to the forefront about this type of giving:

• It was at great risk of personal security. These folks emptied what they had as far as security to help anyone in need. The outcome was that “there was none among them that lacked”.

• It was completely voluntary. They did so all on their own without being manipulated into it. What a difference from what many experience in the Church today. I am a firm believer that those that understand grace will always out give those who give out of compulsion.

Vs. 36-37 Luke gives us an example of Barnabas’ giving. Barnabas was a name given him by the disciples and it fit his character, “son of encouragement”. He is going to be an important person later on in this book as he is mentioned 24 times in Acts and 29 times in the New Testament.

 Now I can see five principles in giving to the Church based upon Barnabas action:

SUPERIORLY: Vs. 36 “a Levite of the country of Cyprus.” Now according to Num. 18:23 a Levite was not allowed to own property. So? Well think of this what the law could not motivate grace did! Barnabas’ giving was based upon recognizing God’s favor in his life and not upon trying to obtain God’s favor. A right heart.

SUPREMELY: Vs. 37 “having land, sold it, and brought the money”. Based on his newfound love for God and his people he sold land and brought the proceeds. In times past as a Levite he may have wanted to be seen of men, but not now. A right attitude.

SIMPLICITY: Vs. 37 “and laid it”. He had a humble heart in his giving. Barnabas did not come and show how much he had just given, No, he just laid it down at the Apostles feet.

SUBMISSIVELY: Vs.37 “at the apostles’ feet.” He made no demand on how they were to spend it; he gave it over to the leaders without any comments.

SACRIFICIALLY: Vs. 37 Barnabas gave all he had to the Church. Now he too had to depend upon the Lord.