Introduction
“The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.” Acts 4:1-4
Peter And John Before The Sanhedrin
In the previous chapter, we saw that the apostles Peter and John entered the temple where there was a lame man by the Gate Beautiful, who they healed.
While Peter and John were still preaching, a bunch of men fully armed came into the temple area and arrested them, Acts 4:1 / 2 Timothy 3:12. Now, who were these men?
Luke tells us there were priests, the captain of the temple and the Sadducees. We know who the priests were, they were descendants of the tribe of Levi and they were assigned by God to serve God in the temple, Exodus 2:1-8 / Exodus 4:14 / Exodus 6:16-26 / Exodus 28:1-4 / Exodus 32:26-29.
The Sadducees were proud, secular materialists who denied the existence of a spiritual world, holding that neither angels nor demons existed, denying any such thing as the resurrection, Acts 23:8. They rejected the Old Testament Scriptures, except for the parts of them which had political usefulness, and also refusing the traditions of the elders.
And over a period of time, through wealth and political power, they had gained control of the religious apparatus which ran the temple, the office of the high priest being regularly filled by this group.
Who was the captain of the temple guard? He belonged to one of the chief-priestly families of the Levites and in the temple, he ranked next to the high priest. In other words, he was one of the main men with authority in and around the temple area, Luke 22:4 / Luke 22:52.
The Talmud says the folowing.
‘The captain of the temple, but it is still scanty. In the Kodashim, Middoth, ch. I, pp. 1-5, this man, ‘the officer of the temple mount,’ is said to be in charge of twenty-four watches, or guard posts, located at important spots about the Temple courtyard.’
‘In Tamid, ch. I, pp. 1-12, it is said that this officer, second to the high priest, was in charge of three groups of priests who guarded the Chamber of Abtimas, the Chamber of the Spark, and the Chamber of Fire. In addition he commanded twenty-one groups of Levites who were placed elsewhere, particularly at the five gates.’
Luke tells us the apostles were arrested because they taught the people and preached the resurrection by preaching about Jesus, Acts 4:2.
Where are the Pharisees at this time? We can’t be certain where they were at this point but perhaps they were absent because the apostles were teaching the resurrection. The Pharisees were the teachers of the law and they believed in the resurrection whereas the Sadducees didn’t, Acts 23:8.
What we will see as we go through the Book of Acts is that the Pharisees seem to be sympathetic towards the church and some of them even obeyed the Gospel, Acts 5:38-40 / Acts 15:5 / Acts 23:6-9.
Luke tells us that it was now evening and Peter and John apparently having preached for nearly three hours find themselves in jail until the next day, Acts 4:3. I want to raise an important point here, remember when Jesus was on trial, what time of day was it?
Matthew 26:47-58, tells us that it would have been around midnight when Jesus was arrested, and He was hurried to the house of Caiaphas, the high priest, wherein expectation of the capture, a company of chief priests, scribes and elders, members of the Sanhedrin were already assembled.
The trial of Jesus was illegal because they were supposed to wait until the next day for trial. But I guess if you have a hidden agenda and you don’t want to be reminded to do things right, you will always find a way around it.
The religious leaders had one rule for Jesus and another rule for the apostles, which is a practice that mustn’t be allowed to govern the Lord’s church, 1 Timothy 5:21.
The apostles healed the lame man and then preached the resurrection of Christ, and then they were arrested. Despite their arrest, God caused the preaching of the gospel to bring forth fruit, as Luke reports the number of men who believed came to about 5,000, Acts 4:4 / Acts 2:41.
“The next day the rulers, elders and teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and the other men of the high priest’s family. They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?” Acts 4:5-7
When Peter and John were brought before the Jewish Sanhedrin, the rulers, the elders, and the teachers of the law were in attendance, Acts 4:5. Annas is there and Caiaphas is there, Luke 3:2, but we know nothing about John and Alexander, Acts 4:6.
This was not a normal courtroom, this was the high court consisting of 70 members, plus the high priest, that oversaw matters concerned with the temple and its worship. It was, in fact, the chief political force among the Jews, Numbers 11:16-25.
Because all these people were in attendance, this tells us that the incident in the temple where they healed the lame man was taken very seriously. And notice also, they never questioned whether or not the miracle took place. They were more concerned about under whose authority it was performed, Acts 4:7 / Mathew 10:17-20.
They ask, ‘by what power or what name did you do this? Acts 4:7. This is the same question they asked Jesus, ‘by what power do you do all these miracles?’ Mark 11:28.
Were they interested in truth? No. They are interested in power, they do not care about the man that was healed. Do they want to rejoice along with the others? No.
“Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.'” Acts 4:8-11
Notice Peter is filled with the Holy Spirit, Acts 4:8.
How can I be filled with the Holy Spirit? When we read of the spiritual vibrancy in the life of the early church do you wonder, why is our life not like that? How can we live under the Spirit’s influence?
Though every believer has been given the Holy Spirit, Acts 2:38 / Galatians 3:14 / Ephesians 1:13-14 / Romans 8:9, .not every believer lives a Spirit-filled life. The instruction to ‘be filled with the Spirit’, Ephesians 5:18, was written to those who already had received the Holy Spirit. Now, however, they were being instructed to display the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
Several points need to be noted
1. The instruction to be filled with the Spirit isn’t optional, it’s not something we can take or leave. It is imperative!
2. Unlike our conversion, which is unrepeatable, ‘we cannot be born again and again and again’, being filled with the Spirit is a continuous process throughout our lives. We are literally to keep on being filled with the Holy Spirit.
3. Being filled with the Spirit isn’t something that automatically happens to us, it’s something we’re responsible for appropriating as we co-operate with God, who is working in us.
We become filled with the Spirit in the same way one becomes filled with wine, by continually drinking. How this spiritual ‘drinking’ is done can be seen in two examples given by our Lord.
How do we hunger and thirst for righteousness? Matthew 5:6. We all experience hunger and thirst and, even when we are exhausted we will not rest until we have satisfied our cravings for food and drink.
The point Jesus is making is this, we are to pursue righteousness, the doing of the will of God, with the determination of a person pursuing food and drink.
Only in the holy pursuit of God’s will can we be satisfied. This is why an appetite must be acquired for spiritual things. This is achieved by exposing ourselves to the will of God through our personal reading of his Word, Bible study and prayer.
The Lord discusses the Spirit-filled life in the Gospel of John, John 7:37-39. But who are the thirsty and how do they drink? The thirsty are those who desire to live for Jesus, they want His will done in their life. They desire to do the will of God on earth as it is done in heaven.
They come to Jesus to ‘drink’ and from within them flows ‘streams of living water’. This refers to the power of the Holy Spirit at work in their lives. And though their intake is small, their output is like streams of living water flowing from them. This is the Spirit giving a super-abundant display of His presence in their lives.
We are filled with the Spirit to the extent that we allow the Spirit to influence our lives. We yield to the Spirit’s gentle movement in our hearts.
We ‘live by the Spirit’, we are ‘led by the Spirit’, we bear ‘the fruit of the Spirit’ and we ‘keep in step with the Spirit’. Galatians 5:16 / Galatians 5:18 / Galatians 5:22-23 / Galatians 5:25.
When we read what the Spirit wrote, hear what the Spirit says and do what the Spirit reveals, we are being filled with the Spirit. Revelation 1:11 / Revelation 2:7 / Colossians 3:16.
How would you know if a person is filled with the Spirit? What would there be about his or her life that would provide confirmation? The answer isn’t hard to find.
The early church needed to implement a programme to ensure that the material needs of the saints were being met. Seven men were appointed to oversee this work, they were men ‘full of the Spirit,’ Acts 6:3-4.
How did the church know which seven to pick? They looked at their manner of life and saw the undeniable evidence of the Spirit’s influence in their lives. The Spirit-filled life cannot be concealed.
When you live a Spirit-filled life, ‘Christ will dwell in your hearts,’ Ephesians 3:17. The word ‘dwell’ refers to a place of permanent abode as opposed to temporary accommodation. Jesus speaks on the same theme, John 14:23.
The Spirit-filled life isn’t an ordinary life, it bears all the marks of something extraordinary, something supernatural. It’s beyond natural explanation. Every believer should be actively pursuing the Spirit-filled life.
Remember Jesus promised His apostles that the Holy Spirit would give them words to say when they are before the authorities, Matthew 10:17-19.
Peter, full of the Holy Spirit, is defending Christ in front of authorities and he is saying what the rulers had done was not in accordance with the will of God, you killed Jesus but God raised him from the dead, Acts 4:8-10. Peter was an in your face preacher who just got straight to the point.
Plumptre, in his commentary, says the following.
‘A few weeks back Peter had quailed before the soldiers and servants in the palace of the high priest. But now he stands before the Sanhedrin and speaks in the language of respect, but also that of unflinching boldness.’
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Barnes truly declared that ‘it is not possible to account for this change except on the supposition that this religion is true.’
Peter filled with God’s Spirit tells them it was through Jesus, the very person they had rejected and crucified. It was through Jesus’ Name that the man was made well, and Peter wanted the council and all of Israel to know that profound truth, Acts 4:10.
In fact, to reinforce that truth upon these leaders he quotes Old Testament scripture, Acts 4:11, he quotes from Psalm 118:22. He wanted to show the Sanhedrin, that they as the religious builders, had rejected the very stone which was chosen by God to be the head of the corner.
The words of David in his Psalm certainly point to Jesus, the Messiah, the stone who was rejected by the religious leaders in His day, Isaiah 28:16 / Daniel 2:34 / Matthew 21:42-43 / Mark 12:10-11 / Luke 20:17 / 1 Peter 2:4-7.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘It is remarkable how true are the speeches of Peter recorded in Acts to the epistles credited to this apostle in the New Testament. Peter had been present when the Lord first used this figure of himself, Matthew 21:42, and he developed the idea further in 1 Peter 2:4-6.’
Note that the KJV uses the words, has become the ‘head cornerstone’. The head cornerstone was used to set the orientation of the entire building, for from the head cornerstone the building was erected. This again points to Jesus who is the head cornerstone of His church, Matthew 16:18-19 / Ephesians 2:20 / 1 Peter 2:7.
“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
Hell is not afraid of my name, hell is not afraid of your name but all of hell is terribly afraid of Jesus’ Name. Because it’s only in Jesus’ Name can a person receive spiritual healing or salvation. That’s a truth that everyone on this planet has to accept or deny, Romans 14:11 / Philippians 2:10-11.
Boice, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Oh, how the world hates such statements! If you want to be laughed at, scorned, hated, even persecuted, testify to the exclusive claims of Jesus Christ.’
“When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny it.” Acts 4:13-16
Here are a couple of apostles, not trained or well-schooled by any rabbis or scribes, except the greatest teacher of all who was Jesus, yet they dared to interpret Scripture with great boldness, Acts 4:13. And because of that boldness in their interpretation of Scripture the council noted they had been with Jesus, Acts 4:13.
Notice also that we cannot deny the facts. The council could not deny the miracle because the formerly lame man stood before them healed, Acts 4:14 / Acts 3:2. And because they spoke the truth in love, they silenced their enemies. And so, in a state of panic, they order the apostles outside while they conferred, Acts 4:15.
What are they going to do? Are they going to kill the healed man and deny the whole thing? No, they couldn’t kill him and deny the miracle because reports of the healing were widespread, Acts 4:16.
Scott, in his commentary, says the following.
‘We do not find that the council gave any reason why the doctrine of Christ must be suppressed; they could not say that it was either false or dangerous, or of any evil tendency; and they were ashamed to own the true reason, i.e., that it testified against their hypocrisy, wickedness and tyranny.’
“But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name.” Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” Acts 4:17-20
They couldn’t disprove Peter’s arguments for the resurrection of Jesus, but they needed to stop the preaching of Jesus before more of the people turned to follow Him, Acts 4:17. So Luke tells us they ended up doing the only thing they could do, threaten them, Acts 4:18.
When we speak in Jesus’ Name, we’re speaking with the authority of Christ Himself. And when people tell us to stop preaching from God’s Word because they find it offensive, the church needs to stand up and say what those apostles said, Acts 4:19-20.
For the apostles, preaching Christ was a matter of life or death, Philippians 1:21. Without life after death, this present life makes no sense, that makes it clear why Peter and John are so bold, they had seen the risen Christ, Luke 24:36-49 / Acts 1:3. They preached with the Gospel because Jesus commanded them to, Matthew 28:19-20 / Mark 16:15-16 / Acts 1:8.
Just imagine, if you were to see the risen Christ, what would it do to you?
“After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old. On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them.” Acts 4:21-23
Just like these religious leaders did in Jesus’ day, they continued to do with the apostles. When Jesus was around they were always looking for an excuse to take Him and find some fault with Him.
On one of these occasions Jesus was sharing with the people the parable of the vineyard owner, Mark 12:1-12, the religious leaders knew He was talking about them but they couldn’t do anything because they were afraid of the people, Mark 12:12.
Peter and John made it clear to them that the Sanhedrin had no authority to revoke a command from God. They told them that they felt compelled, by the power of the things they had witnessed, to proclaim to everyone the good news concerning Jesus the Christ.
And so because the miracle was such common knowledge and had caused so many people to glorify God, the council had no other alternative but to let the apostles go without any further punishment, Acts 4:21.
The apostles later were going to be arrested and beaten, Acts 5:17-40, and not long after that Stephen was going to be stoned tod death, Acts 6:8-7:60, all because they preached the Gospel.
They simply added a few more threats and let them go rather than risk the people taking the apostles’ side. After all, here was a man who had been lame for forty years but was now walking, Acts 4:22.
Peter and John, instead of lying low waiting for the issue to settle, they kept the momentum going.
The Believers Pray
“When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: “`Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.’ Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.” Acts 4:24-28
The entire group lifted their voices in praise to the Almighty Creator. They just praised God for His providential work in the death of Jesus, Acts 4:23-24.
Instead of going into hiding, they recognised that God was with them and no one and nothing was going to stop them from doing what God wanted them to do.
Not only did the apostles praise God for what happened, they also go on to ask God to help them do what He wants them to do, Ephesians 6:12.
Notice the apostles quote David’s words, Acts 4:25-26, from Psalm 2:1-2. In the Bible, people were generally classed as either Jew or Gentile and so, the nations who conspired were Gentiles, that is, all those nations who weren’t of Israel. Here, we see Luke recording these words where he applies them to the hostility of unbelievers against Christians.
These Gentiles nations ‘conspire’, some translations use the word ‘rage’, Acts 4:25. They appear to ‘band together’ against God’s work through His people, but all their plotting is in vain, all their efforts are absolutely useless, Acts 4:26 / Genesis 11:1-9 / Isaiah 54:17 / Romans 8:31.
Notice they go against the Lord and His Anointed, Acts 4:26. When we read these verses, we see this is a clear reference to King Jesus and the church, against which the nations futilely set themselves, Acts 13:33 / Hebrews 1:5 / Hebrews 5:5 / Matthew 3:17 / Romans 1:4 / Revelation 2:26-27 / Revelation 19:15. Jesus, Himself clearly alluded to the teaching of this very Psalm, Matthew 22:45.
Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the great, was one who beheaded John the Baptist, Acts 4:27 / Mark 6:14-29. Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor of Judea, at the time of Christ’s death, Acts 4:27 / John 19:16-42. The Gentiles were those of Pilate’s council, and the Roman soldiers, John 19:23-24.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘It is evident that what God’s hand and counsel determined before to be done was not that which Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles, (Romans,) and the people of Israel had done and were doing; for, then, their rage and vain counsel would be such as God himself had determined should take place, which is both impious and absurd; but these gathered together to hinder what God had before determined that his Christ or Anointed should perform; and thus the passage is undoubtedly to be understood.’
Notice Luke records that they did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen, Acts 4:28 / Romans 11:33.
Dummelow, in his commentary, says the following.
‘There is a theological difficulty here. God is said to have foreordained the iniquitous proceedings of the scribes and Pharisees who condemned Jesus. The explanation is that God is said to foreordain what he foresees and permits. God permitted the death of Jesus, intending by it to redeem the world, and to destroy the works of the devil, Acts 2:23 / Acts 3:18.’
“Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus. After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” Acts 4:29-31
They asked God to give them all the strength and boldness to preach the truth despite the threats of the Sanhedrin, Acts 4:29. They wanted everyone to know that all authority belongs to Jesus Christ and no one else, Matthew 28:18.
When we recognize and submit to His authority, we will be given what we need most of all at that moment. We will be given the strength and courage to go on.
Every time in the Book of Acts when God’s people are persecuted or put on trial, we will always see them coming through those times even bolder than they first went in. We should never underestimate the power of prayer, God will not always send us what we want but what we need.
They ask God to stretch out His hand to perform healing, signs and wonders through the Name of His holy servant Jesus, Acts 4:30.
Notice also that Peter calls Jesus the Lord’s holy servant, this is the fourth time up to this point, Acts 3:13 / Acts 3:26 / Acts 4:27 / Acts 4:30.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This was a petition that God would continue to perform the great signs and wonders such as the healing of the impotent man; but the apostles accurately read the connection between such signs and the preaching of the word; for, in the previous verse, they had prayed first that they themselves should not flinch in the proclamation of the truth.’
Notice once again they prayed and we don’t have to wonder what they were praying for because Acts 4:30 tells us. When they had finished praying the whole meeting place was shaken. This appears to be God’s way of demonstrating that He would answer their prayers. They were once again filled with the Holy Spirit who enabled them to speak boldly, Acts 4:31 / Acts 4:8
Ogilvie, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The word boldness means lucid and daring statement. In the Greek the word is parresia, ‘telling it all.’
The Believers Share Their Possessions
“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had”. Acts 4:32
After a time in prison, Peter and John met up with the other believers and they just thanked God for everything He had done and was doing through His people. They pray even more to God for strength and courage to keep going and when a church prays together, things are going to happen.
Straight away Luke records that the church was united in heart and mind, Acts 4:32. This means there was a willingness to share, Acts 2:44-47. One heart means the same desires and unity has to do with how we respond to each other.
This what we would call fellowship, ‘koinonia’, which implies giving and receiving, Acts 2:42. Unity has to do with the way we treat each other. Unity has to do with the way we act together. Unity has to do with the love we have for each other.
They were beginning to enjoy a new kind of unity and this new Christian unity was very evident in the way they readily shared what they had with their fellow believers.
Notice that this time of sharing was voluntary and not forced upon them by some governmental or church order, Acts 4:32. These early Christians began to think radically different from before about their possessions.
Instead of keeping a tight hold of their own possessions, each Christian thought of his blessings as gifts from God to be used to the benefit of all the brethren, Galatians 6:10 / James 1:17. That attitude of generosity is going to have an impact on the people around them, 2 Corinthians 9:7 / 1 Timothy 5:3.
Not only will prayer give us one heart and mind of generosity but it will also have an impact to enhance the power of the preaching of those individuals we help.
“With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.” Acts 4:33-37
When they shared their possessions, the apostles received strength and courage to continue to preach about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Notice that ‘grace was upon them all’, Acts 4:33, in other words, they were aware of the grace of God and so this is why they treated each other gracefully. God’s dealing with us should be shown in the way we treat each other.
Don’t misunderstand what’s happening here, the apostles were not in control of everyone’s properties. The church gave freely because they wanted to help others, Acts 4:34.
Individual believers gave as they could, they didn’t sell everything they possessed, that would be nonsense because that would mean that they would then be in need themselves. But individual believers sold land and brought the money to the apostles to be distributed as needed among the family of God, Acts 4:35.
And apparently, a guy named Joseph, who was a Levite, was well known for such acts of kindness and encouragement, Acts 4:36-37. In fact, he was so well known for them, that he was nicknamed Barnabas, or son of Encouragement, by the apostles.
Why is he mentioned here? He is going to be a prominent character later, Acts 11:24 / Acts 13:1 / Acts 14:14 / Acts 15:12. People usually remember us by our actions.
