Objectives: To understand the importance of being ready to share our testimony; discerning when it is right to disobey those in authority; and seven marks of a praying Church.
1. The Apostles: Defending the Name of Jesus (4:1-14)
1.1 The Apostles Interrogated by the Sanhedrin (4:1-7)
1.2 The Apostle's Spirit-Filled Testimony (4:8-14).
2. The Sanhedrin: Opposing the Name of Jesus (4:15-22)
2.1 Their Problem
(4:13-14)
2.2 Their Deliberation (4:15-17)
2.3 Their Judgement (4:18)
2.4 Their Failure (4:19-22)
3. The
Church: Praying in the Name of Jesus (4:23-31)
3.1 In a Praying Church there is a recognition of the supreme
importance of prayer (4:23-24a)
3.2 In a Praying Church faith looks towards the Sovereign
Lord (4:24b-28)
3.3 In a Praying Church actions are based on the Word
of God (4:25-26)
3.4 In a Praying Church there is obedience to the
Great Commission (3:29)
3.5 In a Praying Church there is faith
to seek Divine Intervention (3:30)
3.6 In a Praying Church there is a desire to Glorify Jesus (4:30)
3.7 In a Praying Church there is much grace evident in the lives of God's people
(3:32-35)
4.
The Sovereign Lord: Vindicating the Name of Jesus (3:31)
IBS Seminar 5: Acts 4
Prayer and Testimony
The early church had none of the "advantages" that some ministries boast of and depend on today. They did not have big budgets provided by wealthy donors. Their pastors lacked credentials from the religious authorities, nor did they have the endorsement of the influential political leaders of that day. Most of their ministers had jail records and would probably have a hard time today joining our churches, let alone leading them. What really was the secret of their success? This chapter provides the answer: the Christians of the early church knew how to pray so that God's hand could work in mighty power.
When asked to explain the secret of his remarkable ministry, the noted British preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon replied, "My people pray for me." St. Augustine said, "Pray as though everything depended on God, and work as though everything depended on you." Prayer is not an escape from responsibility; it is our response to God's ability.
True prayer energizes us for service and battle. Once again, the focus of attention is on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 4:7, 10, 12, 17-18). In this chapter, we see what three groups of people do with His name.
1. The Apostles:
Defending the Name of Jesus (4:1-14)
1.1 The Apostles Interrogated by the Sanhedrin (4:1-7)
The Sanhedrin was made up of the seventy senior
Jewish religious leaders. In practice however it was essentially composed of
the high priest's family. The Jewish religious system had become so corrupt
that the offices were passed from one relative to another without regard for
the Word of God. When Annas was deposed from the priesthood, Caiaphas his son-in-law
was appointed. In fact, five of Annas' sons held the office at one time or another.
Somebody has defined a "nepotist" as "a man who, being evil, knows how to give
good gifts to his children." Annas certainly qualified. This was an official
meeting of the Sanhedrin (Acts 4:15), the same council that a few months before
had condemned Jesus to die. In fact, these officials recognized Peter and John
as the associates of Jesus (Acts 4:13). The Sanhedrin was charged with the responsibility
of protecting the Jewish faith, and this meant that they had to examine every
new teacher and teaching that appeared in the land (see Deut. 13). They certainly
had the right to investigate what the church was doing, but they did not have
the right to arrest innocent men and then refuse to honestly examine the evidence.
Their question was legal, but they did everything they could to avoid admitting that a miracle had taken place (Acts 4:14). They were evasive and merely referred to the miracle as "this." They were probably scornful as well, so that their question might be paraphrased, "Where did common people like you get the power and authority to do a thing like this?"
It was once again the question of "By whose name?" After all, the Apostles might be in league with the devil! Even Satan can perform miracles!
1.2 The Apostle's Spirit-Filled Testimony (4:8-14)
Peter spoke in the power of the Holy Spirit of God. Note
that Peter was again filled with the Spirit (see Acts 2:4) and would experience
another filling before the day ended (Acts 4:31). There is one baptism of the
Spirit, and this is at conversion (1 Cor. 12:13), but there must be many fillings
of the Spirit if the believer is to be an effective witness for Jesus Christ
(Eph. 5:18ff). Peter respectfully began with an explanation of how the miracle
occurred. Certainly the members of the Sanhedrin had seen the crippled beggar
many times, and perhaps they had even given alms to him and piously prayed for
him. How was this well-known man healed? "By the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth!"
Those words must have pierced the hearts of the members of the council! They
thought they had finished with the Prophet from Nazareth, and now His followers
were telling everybody that Jesus was alive! Since the Sadducees did not believe
in the resurrection of the dead, Peter's statement was almost a declaration
of war! But the Spirit was telling Peter what to say (see Luke 21:12-15), and
the apostle quoted Psalm 118:22, definitely a messianic reference (see Matt.
21:42; 1 Peter 2:4-8). He made it clear that the members of the council were
"the builders" and that they had rejected God's Stone, Jesus, the Son of God.
The image of "the stone" was not new to these men who were experts in the Old
Testament Scriptures. They knew that the "rock" was a symbol of God (Deut. 32:4,
15, 18, 31; 2 Sam. 22:2; Ps. 18:2; Isa. 28:16), and that the Prophet Daniel
had used the rock to picture Messiah and the coming of His kingdom on earth
(Dan. 2:31-45). The Jews stumbled over the Rock (Rom. 9:32; 1 Cor. 1:23) and
rejected Him, just as Psalm 118:22 had predicted.
However, to those who have trusted Him, Jesus Christ is the precious Cornerstone (1 Peter 2:4-8) and the chief Cornerstone (Eph. 2:20). Peter went on to explain that Jesus is not only the Stone, but He is also the Saviour (Acts 4:12). Peter saw in the healing of the beggar a picture of the spiritual healing that comes in salvation. "Made whole" in Acts 4:9 is a translation of the same Greek word that is translated "saved" in Acts 4:12, for salvation means wholeness and spiritual health. Jesus Christ is the Great Physician who alone can heal mankind's greatest malady, the sickness of sin (Mark 2:14-17). Of course, Peter also had "all the people of Israel" in mind as he spoke (see Acts 4:10) because the message was still going out exclusively to the Jews. Even Psalm 118, from which Peter quoted, speaks of a future national salvation for Israel.
2. The Sanhedrin: Opposing the Name of Jesus (4:15-22)
2.1 Their Problem (4:13-14)
They
were in a dilemma; no matter which way they turned, they were "trapped." They
could not deny the miracle, because the man was standing before them; and yet
they could not explain how "uneducated and untrained men" (nasb) could perform
such a mighty deed. Peter and John were ordinary fishermen, not professional
scribes or authorized ministers of the Jewish religion. They were disciples
of Jesus of Nazareth, but—He was dead! The council took notice of the courage
and confidence of Peter and John, as well as the power of Peter's words; and
it all added up to perplexity.
It is important to note that, of itself, the miracle was not proof of the resurrection of Christ or even of the truth of Peter's message.
Satan can perform miracles (2 Thes. 2:9-10) and false prophets can do wonders (Deut. 13:1-5). The miracle and the message, in the context of all that had been going on since Pentecost, was one more evidence that Jesus Christ was alive and at work in the church by His Holy Spirit.
In both sermons, Peter used the Old Testament to support and explain his claims, and this is one evidence of a true prophet of God (Deut. 13:1-5; Isa. 8:20). Miracles are not a substitute for the Word of God (Luke 16:27-31) but confirmed God's giving of revelation.
2.2 Their Deliberation (4:15-17)
The
council did not seek for truth, but rather sought for some way to avoid it.
Had they honestly considered the evidence and humbly listened to the message,
they might have been saved, but their pride and hardness of heart stood in the
way. Some of the chief priests and elders had experienced a similar dilemma
during Passover when they had tried to trap Jesus in the temple (Matt. 21:23-27).
Some people never learn! But their response is proof that miracles alone can
never convict or convert the lost sinner. Only the Word of God can do that (see
John 11:45-53; Acts 14:1-20).
2.3 Their Judgement (4:18)
They
wanted to "let the thing die a natural death." This meant threatening the Apostles
and forbidding them to teach and preach in the name of Jesus. This official
sentence shows how much the enemy fears the witness of the church, for Satan
has been trying to silence God's people from the very beginning. Sad to say,
he has succeeded with far too many Christians, the "silent witnesses" of the
church. Even the existential philosopher Albert Camus said, "What the world
expects of Christians is that Christians should speak out, loud and clear .
. . in such a way that never a doubt, never the slightest doubt, could arise
in the heart of the simplest man." The council did not want the Gospel message
to spread, and yet that is exactly what happened!
From 120 praying men and women in Acts 1, the church increased to more than 3,000 on the Day of Pentecost; and now there were more than 5,000 disciples in the fellowship (4:4). In the days that followed, "believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women" (Acts 5:14; and see 6:1, 7). Satan's attempts to silence the church through opposition, intimidation and even persecution simply strengthened and multiplied the church.
2.4 Their Failure (4:19-22)
Peter
refused to be intimidated by their threats. All of us need to follow Peter's
example and make our decisions on the basis of "Is it right?" and not "Is it
popular?" or "Is it safe?" However, we must be sure that we have the clear teaching
of the Word of God on our side before we take a stand against the authority
of any government. Peter knew what the Lord had commanded the believers to do
(Acts 1:8), and he was going to obey Him at any cost. It is popular today to
promote various causes by defying the government, disobeying the law, and defending
these actions on the basis of conscience. Since even some Christians are involved
in this approach to social action, it is important to understand the kind of
"civil disobedience" practised by people in the Bible. Peter and John are not
the only ones who disobeyed the authorities in order to serve God.
A list of "dedicated conscientious objectors" would include, among others: the Jewish midwives (Ex. 1), Moses' parents (Heb. 11:23), Daniel (Dan. 1; 6), and the three Hebrew children (Dan. 3). When you examine the records, you discover the biblical principles by which they operated, principles that are not always followed today.
To begin with, each of these "objectors" had a message from God that could not be questioned. The midwives and Moses' parents knew that it was wrong to murder the babies. Daniel and his friends, and the three Hebrew men, knew that it was wrong to eat food offered to idols or to bow down to idols in worship. Peter and John knew that they were under orders from their Master to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth, and that it would be wrong to obey the Sanhedrin. All of these people were faithfully obeying a clear word from God and not just following some selfish personal whim of their own.
Second, their convictions touched every area of their lives.
In other words, they did everything "with conscience toward God" (1 Peter 2:19)
because they belonged to God. Note also that our examples from the Bible acted
with respect and courtesy, even when they defied the law.
It is possible for Christians to respect authority
and at the same time disobey the authorities (see Rom. 13; Titus 3:1-2; 1 Peter
2:13-25). Daniel tried to avoid getting his guard into trouble, and the Apostles
used their arrests as opportunities for witness.
Of course, the greatest example of unjust suffering
is that of Jesus Christ, and we must imitate Him (see 1 Peter 2:13-25). Jesus
teaches us that righteous protest against injustice always involves sacrifice
and suffering, and must be motivated by love. God's people must be careful not
to clothe their prejudice in the garments of "righteous indignation" and pass
themselves off as courageous soldiers of conscience.
We must examine our own hearts honestly to make certain we are not conducting a "holy war" just to satisfy inner frustrations. Because they had no real case to offer, the council could only threaten the men and let them go. After all, when you have a living miracle before you, as well as an approving public around you, you must be careful what you do!
3. The Church:
Praying in the Name of Jesus (4:23-31)
The greatest concentration of power in Jerusalem that day
was in the prayer meeting that followed the trial. This is one of the truly
great prayers recorded in the Bible, and it is a good example for us to follow.
How do you handle conflict? What do
you do when you face opposition? How
we pray in adversity says a great deal about our spiritual maturity. There
are here seven specific marks of a praying church. But
first lets note the context. The background to this prayer is the story of the
healing of the lame man (3:1ff), of Peter's sermon (3:12-26), of the imprisonment
of Peter and John and of the court case that followed (4:1-12). The people are
amazed at the healing and the preaching of the untrained laymen. On being charged
to speak and teach no more in the name of Jesus, Peter replied boldly that obedience
to such a command was impossible. "We cannot but speak the things which
we have seen and heard." (4:20). There was little the authorities could
do but warn them and discharge them. And so Peter and John returned to the brethren
and told them what had happened. Read 3:24a.
3.1 In a Praying Church there
is a recognition of the supreme importance of prayer, and therefore there is
a spontaneous desire for prayer (4:23-24a)
They did not pray to have their circumstances changed or their enemies put out
of office. Rather, they asked God to empower them to make the best use of their
circumstances and to accomplish what He had already determined (Acts 4:28).
This was not "fatalism" but faith in the Lord of history who has a perfect plan
and is always victorious. They asked for divine enablement, not escape; and
God gave them the power that they needed.
"Do not pray for easy lives," wrote Phillips Brooks. "Pray to be stronger men and women. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks." That is the way the early Christians prayed, and that is the way God's people should pray today.
3.2 In a Praying Church faith
looks towards the Sovereign Lord (4:24b-28)
They addressed God as "Sovereign Lord," the God who is in control of all things.
The Greek word gives us our English word despot, a ruler who exercises
absolute power, either benevolently or abusively. Simeon used this same title
when he prayed in the temple (Luke 2:29). It is good to know the Sovereign Lord
when you are experiencing persecution.
It was an extreme step for uneducated laymen to defy the highest spiritual authority in the land. It is important to note the basis on which they felt impelled to do so. It is instructive to study the detail of the prayer with which the fledgling Christian community fortified itself when they heard the apostles report of the ban imposed by the chief priests. It reveals quite clearly their attitude to the question of where, in cases of dispute, the controlling authority lies. Notice they appealed, over the head of the chief priests and the Sanhedrin, directly to the authority of the Creator Himself: "Sovereign Lord, you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them" (4;24).
They also approached Him as the Creator, for, after all, if your Father is "Lord of heaven and earth," what have you to fear? (see Matt. 11:25-30) Nehemiah approached God on this same basis (Neh. 9:6), and so did the psalmist (see Ps. 145) and the Prophet Isaiah (Isa. 42). Years later, when he wrote his first epistle, Peter encouraged suffering saints to yield themselves to the faithful Creator (1 Peter 4:19).
The early church strongly believed in God's sovereignty and His perfect plan for His people. But note that they did not permit their faith in divine sovereignty to destroy human responsibility, for they were faithful to witness and pray. It is when God's people get out of balance and overemphasize either sovereignty or responsibility that the church loses power. Again, we are reminded of Augustine's wise words, "Pray as though everything depends on God, and work as though everything depended on you." Faith in a sovereign Lord is a tremendous encouragement for God's people to keep serving the Lord when the going is difficult.
3.3 In a Praying Church actions
are based on the Word of God (4:25-26)
They
appealed to the Holy Scripture, as being inspired by God, as the authority by
which the high priest, the chief priests, the Sanhedrin and all their actions
and attitudes must be judged. "You spoke by the Holy Spirit through
the mouth of your servant, our father David" (4:25). The Sanhedrin,
they knew, would have given a very different interpretation to this scripture;
but nevertheless, they considered they had the right and the duty to judge the
priests' decisions in the light of Scripture as Christ himself had given them
to understand it. Notice also they made their judgement on the basis not of
an odd phrase or two of Scripture wrested out of their contexts, but of a detailed
comparison of the Bible with their situation. They quoted Psalm 2:1-2 at length
(read 4:25-26) and then proceeded to review on prayer before God the detailed
way in which the concerted action of Herod and Pilate, of the Gentiles and the
people of Israel, matched exactly the situation described in the psalm (4:25-28).
In the light of this scripture, they formulated what they felt the issue at stake was. The crucifixion of Jesus, though at one level decided beforehand by God's power and will, had been a "raging against God", a concerted attack on God's holy and anointed servant Jesus (4:25, 27-28). This was not a matter on which they could possibly compromise. The honour of God and His Messiah was a stake.
Psalm 2 describes the revolt of the nations against the Lord and His Christ. The psalm originally grew out of the crowning of a new king in Israel, perhaps David; but its ultimate message points to the King of kings, Jesus Christ. Whenever a new king was enthroned, the vassal rulers around were required to come and submit to him; but some of them refused to do this. God only laughed at their revolt, for He knew that they could never stand up against His King.
The early believers applied the message of this psalm to their own situation and identified their adversaries as Herod, Pilate, the Romans, and the Jews. These enemies had "ganged up" against Jesus Christ and even crucified Him, yet God raised Him from the dead and enthroned Him in heaven. All of this was a part of God's perfect plan (see Acts 2:23; 3:18), so there was no need to fear. This reassures them that the resistance they now experienced was analogous to what Jesus experienced. Like Jesus, the church can expect to be vindicated by God, who is asked to empower the apostolic servants boldly to "speak the word," (cf. Acts 8:25; 11:19; 16:6, 32; cf. Phil. 1:14).
3.4
In a Praying Church there is obedience to the Great Commission (3:29)
They did not ask for protection; they asked for
power. They did not ask for fire from heaven to destroy the enemy (see Luke
9:51-56), but for power from heaven to preach the Word and heal the sick (see
Matt. 5:10-12, 43-48). Their great desire was for boldness in the face of opposition
(see Acts 4:17). The emphasis is on the hand of God at work in the life of the
church (Acts 4:28, 30), not the hand of man at work for God. Believing prayer
releases God's power and enables God's hand to move (Isa. 50:2; 64:1-8). They
prayed that they be given more than human grace, not to crumble under the Sanhedrin's
threats and fluff the issue. They prayed that they might be empowered to speak
out boldly and without compromise.
3.5
In a Praying Church there is faith to seek Divine Intervention (3:30)
They asked for appropriate vindication for God
to intervene, not for themselves, but for the sake of the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ, for it was He whom their opponents had attacked and maligned.
They prayed that God would also intervene
by doing, not just miracles but miracles through the name of his holy servant
Jesus (4:29-30). They had told both the crowd (3:16) and the Sanhedrin (4:10-12)
that it was through the name of Jesus that the cripple had been healed. Mere
supernatural works by themselves are ambiguous. What was requested was miracles
which were consistent with those performed by Jesus, which would verify and
vindicate the claims of Jesus.
God is not like a heavenly genie... Prayer in and of itself does not change things, anymore than a telephone changes things. We do not place our faith in prayer, any more than in the telephone. It is not a magic exercise, but a medium through which we communicate. Prayer does not change things. God changes things through prayer. It is significant that with the prayer for boldness of speech went a plea for the power of God, through the person of God, not for the punishment of their enemies but in the healing of the sick. The story of the Church has been an interesting commentary on the fact that, when God's servants have been humble enough to be His agents and prayerful enough to pray in this way, the healing work of God has been demonstrated. Recently I visited Jericho in Palestine and a project run by World Vision, the YMCA and Christian Aid, training young Palestinian men, both Moslem and Christian in skills to enable them to provide for their families. Today as in the days of Acts, the Jewish authorities have forbidden Christians to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, but the Christians there serve a higher authority and God is performing miracles in that place, taking empty, broken and brutalised lives giving them back their dignity and self respect, giving them meaning and hope for the future. We saw the same in the camps of Gaza. Christians demonstrating the love of Jesus in places where there is only hatred and bitterness, bringing life and healing where there is only futility and death.
3.6 In a Praying Church there
is a desire to Glorify Jesus (4:30)
Note that they wanted to glorify God's (Servant)
Jesus Christ (Acts 4:27, 30), not themselves, nor their organisation. It was
His name that gave them power to minister the Word and to perform miracles,
and His name alone deserved the glory. The glory of God, not the needs of men,
is the highest purpose of answered prayer.
3.7 In a Praying Church there
is much grace evident in the lives of God's people (3:32-35)
The
church that depends on believing prayer will know the blessing of the Holy Spirit
in its ministry. How can we tell when a local church is really filled with the
Spirit?
How did Satan's attack affect the spiritual condition of the church? Not at all! The fact that Peter and John were arrested, tried, and threatened had absolutely no effect on the spiritual life of the church, for the church was still unified (Acts 4:32), magnified (Acts 4:33), and multiplied! (Acts 4:32) One evidence of the unity of the church was the way they sacrificed and shared with one another. When the Holy Spirit is at work, giving is a blessing and not a burden. We must keep in mind that this "Christian communism" was very unlike the political Communism of our day.
What the believers did was purely voluntary (Acts 5:4) and was motivated by love. No doubt many of the new believers were visitors in Jerusalem, having come for the feasts; and they had to depend on their Christian friends to help meet their daily needs.
Nor should we think that every believer sold all his goods and brought the money to the Apostles. Acts 4:34 indicates that some of the members "from time to time" sold various pieces of property and donated to the common treasury. When the assembly had a need, the Spirit directed someone to sell something and meet the need. While the early church's spirit of sacrifice and loving generosity is worthy of our emulation, believers today are not required to imitate these practices. The principles of Christian giving are outlined in the epistles, especially in 2 Corinthians 8-9; and nowhere are we instructed to bring our money and lay it at the pastor's feet (Acts 4:35), as though he were an apostle. It is the spirit of their giving that is important to us today and not the "letter" of their system. Joseph, nicknamed "Barnabas" (son of encouragement), is introduced at this point for several reasons. First, he was a generous giver and illustrated the very thing Dr. Luke was describing. Second, his noble act apparently filled Ananias and Sapphira with envy so that they attempted to impress the church with their giving and ended up being killed. Third, Barnabas had a most important ministry in the church and is mentioned at least twenty-five times in the Book of Acts and another five times in the epistles. In fact, it is Barnabas who encouraged Paul in his early service for the Lord (Acts 9:26-27; 11:19-30; 13:1-5), and who gave his cousin John Mark the encouragement he needed after his failure (Acts 13:13; 15:36-41; Col. 4:10).
Levites were not permitted to own land, so it is difficult to understand how Barnabas acquired the property that he sold. Perhaps that particular law (Num. 18:20; Deut. 10:9) applied only in Palestine and the property was in Cyprus, or perhaps the corrupt religious leaders had become lax in enforcing the law. There is much we do not know about Joseph Barnabas, but this we do know: he was a Spirit-filled man who was an encouragement to the church because he gave his all to the Lord. Not every believer can be like Peter and John, but we can all be like Barnabas and have a ministry of encouragement.
4. The Sovereign
Lord: Vindicating the Name of Jesus (3:31)
Their prayer was answered. Read 3:31. Notice it was the place that was shaken
not the people. God's answer was to shake the place
where they were meeting and to fill the people once again with the Spirit of
God (Acts 4:31). This gave them the boldness that they needed to continue to
serve God in spite of official opposition. This was not a "second Pentecost"
because there cannot be another Pentecost any more than there can be another
Calvary. It was a new filling of the Spirit to equip the believers to serve
the Lord and minister to the people.
The early church shared their testimony boldly and prayed
fervently that the Lord Jesus Christ be glorified, and God answered in mighty
power.
This
seminar draws on material from Warren Wersbie, Be Daring - The Acts of the Apostles,
John Stott, The Message of Acts; the Holman Bible Dictionary, the Nelson Bible
Dictionary, Unger's Bible Dictionary, the IVP Bible Dictionary and the International
Standard Bible Encyclopedia.
IBS Seminar 5: Discussion Questions
Acts
4: Prayer and Testimony
Objectives: To understand the importance of being ready to share our testimony; discerning when it is right to disobey those in authority; and seven marks of a praying Church.
Open:
1. When you are misunderstood, what do you usually do to clear things up?
Dig:
2. If the religious leaders could not deny the miracle why did they want to stop the Apostles speaking in the name of Jesus? In what ways does this principle apply today?
3. Why was the Sanhedrin powerless to take action against Peter and John?
4. What are some of the risks in telling others about Christ?
5. How can we prepare ourselves for the costs we may have to pay for following Christ?
6. How can our faith in God be expressed through the prayers we pray?
7. How does this prayer compare in content with most prayers we hear today? Why?
8. What was exemplary about Barnabas?
9. What is difficult about sharing the possessions we have?
Reflect:
10. In what way could you strengthen your courage and boldness as a Christian in your place of work, neighbourhood, or family?