Acts 4
COMMENTARY:
: 2 Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. (1278 “grieved” [diaponeo] means manage with pain, troubled, displeased, offended, be irked, be disturbed or greatly annoyed.)
We have to remember that the Sadducees didn’t believe in angels or resurrection. They were leaders in the Sanhedrin. So the disciples were teaching things that they didn’t believe in and the people were listening to them. It was very disturbing.
The religious leaders put them in jail overnight because they didn’t like their message and the response of the people. It is said that five thousand men believed what they were teaching. So we have many families joining the church. One of the keys to filling the church was to reach men.
Are we irking people today because we present the truth of the Word of God? We find that those who witness in Muslim communities during some of their holy days there are many who are disturbed. They have them arrested. Even when there is freedom of religion here in America, it seems that only those who preach the truth of the Word of God are arrested.
Our son went to a Mormon holiday celebration to witness to those who were coming to the occasion. They were on a public street and they still wanted them to stop. In fact, the next year when they went back the Mormon tried to buy the street around their festival to stop his group from witnessing.
Today it is getting harder and harder to get people from our Bible believing churches to even pass out flyers regarding DVBS or special meetings. They seem to be afraid to confront our culture with the truth they say they believe.
It seems that many people who call themselves Christians want everyone around them to have whatever belief they want to have as long as they don’t stop them from believing what they believe. That is not what the Bible teaches.
We have the only truth that will cause individuals to spend eternity in heaven. We have the “good news.” We are the only ones with the “good news.” It might get to the point when those who teach the exclusive truth of the Word of God will be arrested because we are not tolerant of others beliefs. That is what happened to Peter and John and it should happen to us if necessary.
CHALLENGE: Our purpose should not be to hurt people we meet but it should be to tell them the truth of the Word of God no matter what.
: 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said to them, You rulers of the people, and elders of Israel (4130 “filled” [pletho] means to be or become generous supplied with, make happen, to filled up, satiate, or to be wholly imbued.)
DEVOTION: Remember that Peter was the one who denied Christ to a servant girl. He was the one who told Jesus he couldn’t die. He was the one who Jesus told to “get you behind me Satan.”
Peter was a man who didn’t seem to have a lot of courage. He would rather change the LORD’S plans rather than have HIM complete them. He would rather fight to save Christ than to let HIM go to the cross. He would go out and cry bitterly for his denial of the LORD.
Now he is standing before the religious leaders ready to give them a message from the LORD. What made the difference? It was the filling of the Holy Spirit. The filling of the Holy Spirit gives us boldness we need to face a world that is against our message.
The filling comes many times on believers. It comes through times of confession and prayer. It seems that during the prayer time there needs to be an asking of God for the filling of the Holy Spirit for a special purpose.
The purpose for the filling of the Holy Spirit was to give boldness to present the message of God to those who don’t believe. The filling of the Holy Spirit is not for us to brag about but to allow the LORD to use us to reach others.
We have many in the church today who brag that they have been filled with the Holy Spirit and even able to speak in an unknown tongue. That is not the purpose of the filling. It is to reach the lost with the message of salvation.
CHALLENGE: If you are going to ask for the filling of the Holy Spirit make sure it is for the purpose of reaching others with the message of Christ. This includes instructing those who believe to be proper witnesses for the LORD.
: 19 But Peter and John answered and said to them Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken to more than to God, judge you. (191 “hearken” [akouo] means hear, give audience, to attend to, consider what is or has been said, to find out, to pay attention to and obey, or receive news.)
DEVOTION: Boldness is what Peter had under the direction of the filling of the Holy Spirit. He was confronted by the religious leaders. They told him not to preach or teach about Jesus. They were direct in their command. They threatened him. They were serious about what they would do to him if he continued.
His reply has to be our reply too. He told them that he had to listen to what the LORD told him to do. He said that it was more important to listen to God than to listen to them. He was not being disrespectful but he was being honest. God came first in his life.
He also stated that he was only going to speak about what he had seen and heard. That is all any of us can do. We have to take the knowledge we presently have from the LORD and share it with others. It is only our personal testimony not someone else’s testimony that we can share.
As we grow in our knowledge of the Word of God and Jesus Christ we can share new truths we have learned. Our responsibility is to never be satisfied with our present knowledge of the LORD. HE wants us to come closer each year of our life. HE doesn’t want us to be satisfied with what we have done in the past or in the present. HE wants us to do more in the future for HIM until HE takes us home or returns for us.
Growth to share with others is what it is all about in our life in Christ. We are not to be selfish or lazy in our relationship with HIM. Tell others what HE tells you.
: 31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. (3954 “boldness” [parrhesia] means frankness, bluntness, assurance, confidence or cheerful courage.)
DEVOTION: The Jewish leaders did not like Peter and John healing the lame man. They arrested them. They told them not to teach about Jesus. Peter preached a sermon to them. They both said NO to the leaders request to stop talking about Jesus.
One of the things that amazed the leaders was the confidence Peter and John had when they talked with them. They knew that they were only fisherman with no education. They knew they had been with Jesus.
The word we highlighted and underlined today appears three times in this chapter. After Peter and John returned to the other disciples they had a prayer meeting to praise the LORD. They asked that they might be courageous when facing those who opposed the message of Jesus Christ. They wanted the LORD to continue to give them power to heal.
When they were DONE praying the place was shaken. They were refilled with the Holy Spirit. (Remember that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit comes once at the point of salvation while the filling happens many times through our Christian life. Sin causes us to lose the filling not the indwelling.) Why did they need to be refilled with the Holy Spirit? It was so that they could preach the Word of God with courage and confidence.
The early church had many occasions where the people got together to pray with one accord regarding the growth of the church. They gathered each day to worship the LORD. Each day they were sharing their possessions with each other. Each day they were encouraging one another.
What changed? We need to pray for bluntness and confidence in our present day. We need to witness for the LORD with power from the Holy Spirit. The church needs to be praying for outreach to their communities for the LORD.
Many churches have no visitation program to reach the community. Many churches are not even praying for souls to be saved. Many new Christians are not being taught how to witness to others. These things need to change.
It used to be that each church or a group of churches got together and invited an evangelist in to reach their community. Has that time passed? Can we still reach our communities for the LORD? Does HE still give us the filling of the Holy Spirit to speak with confidence? We will one day stand before HIM and give an answer for our communities.
CHALLENGE: Pray for boldness in your personal life and in the life of the church you attend. If there is no desire to reach the neighborhood find a church that has that desire or cause the leadership in your present church to have a vision for reaching the lost.)
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