Acts 4

Acts 4:1

In the Gospels, the Pharisees were the primary opponents of Jesus. Radical fundamentalists, they claimed Jesus and His disciples violated their rituals and traditions. Here in Acts, however, the Sadducees are the primary opponents of the church. Materialists through and through, they were upset with the church because of the stories of miracles and resurrections, angels and healings that circulated throughout Jerusalem.

Acts 4:4

Share the Word with the guys at work, the kids at home, your neighbors who are unbelievers, your mother-in-law, and your grandfather. Share the Wordit’s powerful!

Acts 4:5

Old Testament Scriptures declare he who did a miracle in the name of any other besides Jehovah was to be stoned (Deuteronomy 13). Here, Caiaphas, Annas, and the boysperhaps with rocks in handwere hoping Peter would say, “We did it in the Name of Jesus.”

Acts 4:8

Only two months previously, Peter stood by a fire and denied Jesus Christ (Luk_22:55-57). But now, this same Peter, having been touched by a tongue of fire in Acts 2, is a different person. By the enemy’s fire, Peter was burned. Touched with fire, he’s hot. Under fire, he stands.

Acts 4:9

Look at Peter’s boldness. He’s saying, “We did this in the Name of Jesus Christ, whom you crucified.” Quoting Psa_118:22, Peter referenced the construction of the temple. He would later write that we as living stones are part of a spiritual house (1Pe_2:5). Sometimes we rub each other the wrong way. That’s what living stones are supposed to do. That guy you married, the one you thought would be such a rock, turned out to be a blockhead. Why did you get stuck with him? Because that blockhead is the living stone who will knock the rough edges off you and prepare you for heaven. Tradition has it that in the days of the construction of Solomon’s temple, although the engineers at the temple mount searched and searched, they couldn’t find the cornerstone. A message was sent to the quarry: “Where is the cornerstone?” Word came back to the mount: “We sent it to you months ago.” Then someone remembered: “Oh, maybe it was that stone we didn’t know what to do with. It didn’t fit anywhere, so we rolled it down the hill into the Valley of Gehenna.” The Valley of Gehenna was the place of burning, the place of rubbish, the place where babies were sacrificed in the days of Ahaz, the place of weeping and sorrow, refuse and stench. And the rejected stone was indeed found in the Valley of Gehenna. Thus, Peter makes application, saying, “The Chief Cornerstone is Jesus Christ. This One rejected by you, this One who went to hell for you is the Rock of Deuteronomy 32 (verse Deu_32:44), the Cornerstone of Psalm 118 (verse Psa_118:22), the Smiting Stone of Daniel 2 (verse Dan_2:35), the Rock of our salvation.”

Acts 4:13

“Who are these unlearned and ignorant men?” asked the Jewish leaders. “They didn’t study with our scholars. How is it they understand the Scriptures?” How could Peter and John, uneducated men, get away with saying, “We did this in the Name of Jesus of Nazareth whom you crucified” (see Act_4:10)? Because those who heard them perceived that they had been with Jesus. After spending forty days in the presence of the Lord, Moses’ face shone (Exo_34:29). And the glow of his face prepared the people for the law he held in his hand. Mom and Dad, how do you get Junior to listen when you need to lay down the law in your house? Spend time with Jesus and replace a glowering face with a glowing face. I’m in the process of learning that before I come down with the law, I better make sure I have spent time with the Lord. I better make sure my face is glowing.

Acts 4:14

Please note that the lame man not only stood with Peter and John in the temple (Act_3:11), but he stood with them in their trouble. Peter and John were in hot water here, and this guy could have said, “Hey, this is a little heavy. Thanks for healing me, but I gotta go.” But he didn’t. He stood by Peter and John, even though he could have been executed with them. You see, it’s easy to be friends in the temple. But you can only find out who your true friends are when you’re in trouble. So, too, you will be able to evaluate the depth of your friendship with Jesus by how willing you are to stand with Him in times of testing and difficulty. Stand with the Lord, fellow lamebrains, for He stood for you and stood by you. And stand by your brothers and sisters even when they’re blowing it, even when they’re in hot water, even when they’re in difficulty, even when they’re in trouble.

Acts 4:15

The man who was lame previously had been healedand all Jerusalem knew it.

Acts 4:17

You may not be able to grab the hand of a lame man and say to him, “In the Name of Jesus, stand up and walk,” but there are other things you can do. In Mar_9:41, Jesus said we can give a cup of cold water in His Name. Every one of us can go to someone who is thirsty, someone who needs a simple act of kindness shown to them, and say, “I’m doing this in the Name of Jesus because He’s blessed me.” He said we could receive a little child in His Name (Mat_18:5). When you go to the nursery and change a diaper or two, you can do it in the Name of Jesus. We are to baptize in His Name (Mat_28:19). We can pronounce the remission of sins in His Name (Luk_24:47). You can be a champion of the gospel, a carrier of the Good News to the person who is despairing and feeling he has failed miserably. You can say, “In the Name of Jesus, I want to tell you that your sin is truly forgiven and forgotten.”

Acts 4:19

Peter and John said, “We can’t help but speak that which we’ve seen and heard.” Do you have a hard time speaking about the Lord? Perhaps it’s because you haven’t seen or heard much from Him lately. I find that my witness is proportional to what I am presently seeing and hearing from the Lord in my own life. If I am not seeing or hearing from Him, I find I don’t speak as boldly, as quickly, or as readily as during those times when I am hearing His Word and seeing His work.

Acts 4:21

The people who saw a lame man leap for joy glorified not Peter, but God. I encourage you to keep your antennae up and your eyes open concerning ministries that are built upon men, around men, and for men. The response to the healing of the lame man is how it should always be: people glorifying God. Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they might see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Mat_5:16).

Acts 4:22

This man had been lame for forty years, but his healing came at the exact moment that would maximize glory to God and confirm the fact that although Jesus was no longer seen physically, He was still working through His church. So often we wonder, Lord, why aren’t You working? I’ve been praying. I’ve been believing. Where are You, Lord? It’s been forty minutes, forty days, or perhaps even forty years. Take hold, dear saint. Don’t give up. At the right time, the Lord will work to His glory. You watch. You wait. You’ll see.

Acts 4:23

“They went to their own company.” When pressure mounts, when things come down, you’ll always go to your own company. When you face intimidation, problems, and potential difficulty, where do you go? Do you polish your gold chain and hang out with the lounge lizards? Or do you find yourself heading toward fellowship? Where do you goto the lounge, or to the Lord?

Acts 4:24

Please note with me three elements of this prayer. Who He Is When you’re feeling pressured, when you’re being threatened, it’s always a good idea to start prayer by remembering to whom you’re talking. Sometimes my problems seem so big and insurmountable until I start to worship and remember who He isthe Creator of all things. What if I told you no one made this watch on my wrist. That’s right; an incredible, fortuitous occurrence of accidental circumstances took place in which there was some crystallization under intense heat on the beach of Malibu, where the positioning of the sand crystals was such that a glass face formed. And then, amazing as this sounds, there was an explosion in a print shop down the street from Malibu out of which came a round circular object with numbers miraculously printed on it. Then, there was a turbulent storm at sea that washed some gold out of the Mariana Trench and onto the glass face. Next, a cow, walking down the beach died, and part of his skin joined to the gold that had formed around the glass face. Finally, some gears and springs joined together, and lo and behold, the watch started ticking. You would say, “Who are you trying to fool?” Yet consider the wrist underneath the watch. With its nervous system, muscle structure, sensors, the ability to heal itself, it is a million times more complicated than the watch on the wrist. Yet people actually believe not only their wrists, but their arms, heart, brain, and eyes are all the result of an amazing, unplanned, uncreated event that “just happened.” Why has our culture been so deceived, duped into believing that the human body with all of its intricacies and capabilities “just happened”? Ask people if this watch could form by itself, and they’ll say, “No.” But ask them if the human body could form by itself and they’ll say, “Yes.” It doesn’t make sense! We need to start our prayers by remembering, “Father, You’re the Creator of all things. There is nothing too hard for You” (see Jer_32:17).

Acts 4:25

What Is Happening “In Psalms 2, Father,” the believers prayed, “You told us that the heathen would try to come against You and Your peoplejust as we’re seeing here. We acknowledge that this is all in accordance with Your will.” David wrote that the heathen seem to prosper while the godly suffer (Psalms 73). Peter would later write, “Think it not strange when fiery trials come upon you” (see 1Pe_4:12). When persecution comes, it is in accordance with the Word and the will of the Father.

Acts 4:29

Why We Come The early church didn’t pray that they might have a break from persecution, but that they might have boldness in persecution. And that kind of prayer prevails!

Acts 4:31

We often pray when we are shaken up. These guys prayed so they could be shaken up! They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spokenot in tonguesbut the Word of God. Never forget that the purpose of the empowering of the Spirit is not that we might speak in tongues. The purpose of the power of the Spirit is that we might be bold witnesses (Act_1:8).

Acts 4:32

They had great power and experienced great grace. I like that!

Acts 4:34

They shared together not out of compulsion, but out of compassion; not out of obligation, but out of love.