Acts 4

Acts 4:1

To whom he also shewed himself alive. He is a living Savior. Otherwise he could not more be a Savior than Socrates, Buddha, or any other sage. After his passion. Suffering on the cross. Being seen of them forty days. At various times during forty days. Eleven appearances are recorded. There were probably others. Pertaining to the kingdom of God. His church, about to be established on the earth.

Acts 4:2

Commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem. Because, right in the citadel of his enemies, where he had been slain, the Risen Lord was to be first proclaimed, his Gospel preached, the Holy Spirit shed forth, and his kingdom established. Because, too, the prophet Isaiah had declared that Jerusalem should be the place where the Gospel should be first preached (Isaiah 2:3,5). But wait for the promise of the Father. See Joe 2:28 Zechariah 2:10 John 14:16 15:26 Matthew 3:11. They must wait for the Spirit, that they might speak, on the great day of the inauguration of the kingdom, as the Holy Spirit “gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4). The conditions of citizenship in the kingdom must be spoken by the Spirit.

Acts 4:3

John truly baptized with water. They had received John’s baptism; they were now to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Not many days hence. Only ten days after these words were spoken.

Acts 4:4

Wilt thou at this time, etc.? They still held to their old ideas of a worldly restoration of the kingdom of Israel. Their only question was, “Wilt thou restore it ’now’”? After the Holy Spirit was given, this delusion was dismissed, and they understood that Christ’s kingdom is not of this world.

Acts 4:5

It is not for you to know. This was a reproof, not only to them, but to those in all ages who seek to know “the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put into his own power”.

Acts 4:6

Ye shall receive power. Not temporal power, such as they dreamed of, but spiritual and moral power. Ye shall be witnesses to me. Testify of him of their personal knowledge. They all knew personally of his life, his miracles, his death, his resurrection, and the Great Commission. There could be no mistake. Their witness is true, unless they were deceivers. In Jerusalem. First, in the headquarters of Judaism, the capital of their own country, the place where the Lord was crucified; then in an ever-widening circle from that center; in Judea, then in Samaria, then to the uttermost parts of the earth. This order was followed exactly. It should always be followed in our efforts to evangelize the world.

Acts 4:7

He was taken up. See PNT Lu 24:50.

Acts 4:9

Ye men of Galilee. The apostles were mostly, if not all, Galileans. This same Jesus . . . shall so come. The cloud received him from their sight. He shall come in the clouds of heaven (Daniel 7:13 Matthew 24:30 26:24).

Acts 4:10

Then returned they . . . from the mount called Olivet. See Lu 24:50. The place of ascent was near Bethany. A church now stands on the supposed place. A sabbath day’s journey. “The traditions of the elders” defined the distance that might be traveled on the Sabbath. It was a little less than a mile. Bethany is nearly two miles, but Luke here is stating the distance of the Mount of Olives from the city.

Acts 4:11

Went into an upper room. A guest chamber on the second floor. Where abode. All the apostles are named except Judas Iscariot, who had fallen away and was now dead.

Acts 4:12

These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication. The latter clause is omitted in the Revised Version. They were waiting for the “promise of the Father” (Acts 1:4), and the time was spent in worship. There were ten days of prayer, the best preparation for the Pentecostal blessing; an example to all churches which seek an ingathering of souls. With the women. Especially those women who had followed and ministered to the Lord, lingered at his cross, and at his tomb. Mary. This is the last time she is named in the sacred history. Tradition reports that she lived until the near the time of the overthrow of Jerusalem. His brethren. The sons of Joseph and Mary. One of them, James, was afterwards the James of Jerusalem and the author of the Epistle of James. See Acts 15:13 Matthew 13:55. They were unbelievers six months before (John 7:5), but now believed. James had seen the risen Lord (1 Corinthians 15:7).

Acts 4:13

And in those days. The interval of ten days. Were about an hundred and twenty. This was the number of disciples at Jerusalem, but not all who were then disciples. See 1 Corinthians 15:6.

Acts 4:14

This scripture must needs have been fulfilled. Psalms 69:26.

Acts 4:16

This man purchased a field. He returned the bribe money to the priests, who used it to purchase the potter’s field. Peter here intends to say that his money bought the field. The Greek verb “ktaomai”, rendered “purchased”, has the form that means “caused to be purchased”. Falling headlong. Matthew 27:5 says he hanged himself. Peter tells some additional particulars, which Matthew omitted. He probably hanged himself on a tree projecting over the precipices of the Valley of Hinnom, and afterwards, on account of the rope or limb breaking, fell headlong with such force as to burst his body open on the jagged rocks. This is the traditional account of his death.

Acts 4:17

That field is called . . . Aceldama. The field bought with the bribe money of Judas. He came to such a bloody end that this, and the origin of the purchase money, gave the field its name.

Acts 4:18

His office let another take. This is, rather, an application of the spirit of Ps 109:8. than its exact words. It sets forth the desert of persecutors.

Acts 4:19

Wherefore, etc. These verses set forth the necessary qualifications of an apostle. In order to be a witness, he must have (1) been a disciple of John, (2) left him in order to follow Jesus, (3) attended his ministry, and (4) seen him after his resurrection. He must be able to testify of all these as an eye witness.

Acts 4:21

They appointed two. Not the apostles, but the brethren, men who met these conditions, then cast lots between them in order that the Lord might make the choice. The two men named are not mentioned elsewhere.

Acts 4:22

They prayed. That the Lord might choose between them. A choice of men for any responsible church work ought to be made with earnest prayer. It is likely that one of the apostles offered the prayer, all joining in the petition.

Acts 4:24

The lot fell upon Matthias. Some have held that the choice of Matthias was unauthorized and that he was never accepted as an apostle. The reasons for this view are that he is not named again, and Paul was finally chosen as an apostle. To this it may be replied: (1) Neither are more than half the other names in the apostolic band again mentioned, Thomas, Thaddeus and Bartholomew, for example. (2) Paul was not an apostle to the Jews, but to the Gentiles, and hence, not one of the Twelve. (3) There is no hint anywhere in Acts, or elsewhere, that the selection of Matthias was not recognized. (4) In Acts 6:2 “the twelve” are spoken of, and he must have been one of “the twelve”, for Paul was not yet converted. These facts show that such speculations as those referred to above are without foundation.

Acts 4:26

The Day of Pentecost SUMMARY OF ACTS 2: The Disciples Gathered Together. The Baptism of the Spirit. The Apostles Speak as the Spirit Gives Utterance. The Gospel Heard in Many Tongues. The Theory of the Scoffers. Peter’s Sermon. The Prophecy of Joel Fulfilled. Christ and the Resurrection Preached. The Jews Convicted of Crucifying the Lord. The Inquiry of Convicted Sinners. Peter’s Reply. Three Thousand Baptized. Continuing in the Apostles’ Doctrine. The Progress of the Church. When the day of Pentecost was fully come. The entire period between it and the passover, the waiting period of the disciples, was filled full. Pentecost, one of the three great annual festivals of the Jews, lasted only one day, was on the fiftieth day from the morrow after the passover Sabbath (Leviticus 23:15-22). The Savior, crucified on Friday, was in the tomb on the passover Sabbath, and rose on Sunday, the day from whence the count began. The Sunday following would be the eighth day, and the fiftieth day would fall on Sunday, the first day of the eighth week. Hence, the ancient church observed Pentecost on the first day of the week.

For fuller discussion, see Meyer, Howson and Milligan on this passage. All agree that Pentecost come on Sunday. Pentecost was the feast of the grain harvest, and was also held by the Jews to be the anniversary of the giving of the law (Exodus 23:16 34:22,23). They were all . . . in one place. Not only the apostles, but the hundred and twenty disciples. They probably had an intimation that the promised day had come.

Acts 4:27

There came a sound. As this day, the day of the founding of the church, was to be a day of signs and wonders, the shedding forth of the Spirit was made perceptible to all. The sound was heard, the tongues of fire were seen, the word was spoken in many languages. It filled all the house. The mighty sound. At the same time the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, their spirits baptized in the Spirit.

Acts 4:28

There appeared unto them cloven tongues. Luminous tongues sat on each of them, “parting asunder” (Revised Version), or “distributing themselves” (margin). Meyer says that the idea is that they parted and distributed themselves on those present. These tongues symbolized the fact that the kingdom now inaugurated was to conquer by the spoken word, by the sword of the Spirit.

Acts 4:29

They were all filled with the Holy Spirit. All the disciples present. To be “filled” implies that the human spirit within was overwhelmed by, or immersed in, the Holy Spirit. The baptism of the Spirit was not a sprinkling, but an outpouring that overwhelmed the human spirit. Began to speak. This was the “Beginning”. See Lu 24:47 Acts 11:15. With other tongues. “In other languages” (Revised Version). In the languages of all the different countries from which Jews had come up to Pentecost. Many would be unable to understand the Hebrew dialect of Judea in that period, and hence, they must be preached to in the tongue of their own country if they understood. That the gospel on this, the first day the Great Commission was ever preached, was preached in all tongues, symbolized the fact that it is for all nations. As the Spirit gave them utterance. They were not allowed to preach the Great Commission until now, in order that every word uttered on this day might be the word of the Spirit, not of man. The words were to be spoken to an audience, not of those in Jerusalem only, but to our whole race in all time, in order to show how sinners are to be saved under the gospel.

Acts 4:30

There were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men. Devout Jews who had come up to the great feast of Pentecost. The Jews were already scattered in many nations, but foreign Jews were wont to flock to the great national feasts. Some, too, had come to end their days at Jerusalem. Every nation under heaven. From all quarters of the world. Jews, in foreign lands, attended Pentecost in larger numbers than the other feasts, because the time of year favored travel.

Acts 4:31

When this was noised abroad. “When this sound was heard” (Revised Version). The multitude came together. Led by the sound and the marvelous events. Speak in his own language. Of the foreign country in which he had been reared.

Acts 4:32

Are not all these who speak Galileans? Most of the disciples to this time were. The Galileans were not generally learned men, yet now all hear, every man his own tongue.

Acts 4:34

The long list of nations embraces the various races embraced in the “we” of Acts 2:8: Parthians. Parthia was east of the Tigris. Medes. Media, another part of the Medo-Persian empire, east of the Tigris. Elamites. Elam was an ancient name of Persia. Mesopotamia was the seat of Babylon. These four countries just named were thickly populated with Jews descended from those carried into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar. Cappadocia. A Roman province not far from the Black Sea. Pontus. A province south and east of the Black Sea. Asia. The Roman province of which Ephesus was the capital. All the “seven churches” were in the province called “Asia” (Revelation 1:4,11).

Acts 4:35

Phrygia, and Pamphylia. Parts of what is called Asia Minor. Egypt. The great African province where many ten thousands of Jews had their home. Parts of Libya. Of Africa. About Cyrene. A great Grecian city on the coast west of Egypt. It is said that one-fourth of the population of Cyrene was Jewish. Strangers of Rome. Roman Jews sojourning at Jerusalem. Proselytes. Gentiles who had been converted to Judaism.

Acts 4:36

Cretes. From the island of Crete. Arabians. Many Jews dwelt in the desert lands south and east of Palestine, all called generally Arabia.