Walk Through the WORD – Acts 4-6

(If you missed yesterday’s study of Acts 1-3, you can find it HERE.)

Today our walk through the WORD takes us to Acts 4-6. Join us as we walk together through the Word of God–to better know Him and make Him known, to gain strength for the journey as we grow in our faith, and to join our hearts in unity as the body of Christ.

When we left off yesterday, Peter and John had gathered a large crowd by giving a crippled man healing. But being bold for Christ often brings persecution (and more opportunities for sharing Him) as we’ll soon find out.

Walk Through the WORD – Acts 4-6
Passage:

Read: Acts 4:1-22
Key Points:

{vss. 1-4} The captain of the temple guard mentioned in verse 1 was an official second in command to the high priest. He was responsible for keeping order in the temple. Obviously, the miracle Peter performed had brought a measure of disorder. The Sadducees were a religious sect who hated the idea of resurrection ( http://www.gotquestions.org/Sadducees-Pharisees.html ), which the apostles were unashamedly preaching. Peter and John were thrown into prison for preaching the truth. Surely it must have been on their minds that Jesus, too, had been seized without just cause. But His triumph over death and the grave had emboldened them. Now Peter and John preached to a captive audience…literally! As a result, “the number of men grew to about five thousand.” This serves as further proof that our God can use even times of distress to bring glory to Himself, good to us, and the salvation of souls for His kingdom.
{vss. 5-12} The next day Peter and John are brought for questioning before the very people who condemned Jesus to death. This in no way intimidated Peter, who is filled with the Holy Spirit and boldly proclaims the Jesus they crucified as resurrected. This should remind us that we cannot adequately share our Lord without the power of His Spirit within. It should also help us notice the central importance of the resurrection in our faith. Without that miraculous event, our faith is in vain (1 Corinthians 15:14). Peter–an ordinary fisherman–deftly turns the trial around by stating that all they are guilty of is giving the ability to walk to a crippled man. Once more using Old Testament prophecy from Psalm 118:22, Peter proclaims Jesus as the rejected cornerstone and theonly means of salvation. (See also John 14:6.)
{vss. 13-22} It was the courage of these two apostles–especially in the prior crucifixion of Jesus–that amazed the religious leaders. They were also impressed by their knowledge of Scripture. After all, these were ordinary men, unschooled in the rabbinic teaching of the day. Can’t you just imagine their shock at realizing these men had been trained by the One they murdered? The evidence of the healed man could not be dismissed, so they were in a quandary. All of Jerusalem was buzzing by this time. So their final decision was to forbid Peter and John to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. Interestingly enough, the Jewish leaders did not try to disprove the resurrection of Jesus. That would have been the easiest way to discredit the apostles. Why did they not take this route? Plain and simple. Because they couldn’t disprove it. Peter and John both replied that they had to obey God rather than man, and that they could not help but speak about what they had seen and heard. There are a couple of huge lessons here for us. First of all, we are to obey those in authority over us (Romans 13:1, Hebrews 13:17), but God is and always will be our highest authority. Obedience to Him and His Word absolutely comes first!


Read: Acts 4:23-36

{vss. 23-31} Once they were released, Peter and John returned to their friends and told them all that had transpired. A prayer meeting ensued, with praise to the Sovereign Lord who had created the world.  God’s Spirit had spoken through many prophets to reveal that the powers of the earth would stand against God and Jesus. But in all actuality, all these earthly leaders–including Herod and Pilate–did was in accordance with what God had willed. This word should flood our souls with joy and peace. Our world can look pretty hopeless and scary, but God is STILL the One in charge! The disciples asked for boldness to speak God’s Word in the face of human threats and more healing ability through the power and name of Jesus. As the prayer meeting came to a close, the place where they met shook with the power of God’s Spirit as He filled these followers to boldly and fearlessly proclaim His Word. When we sincerely seek God, in alignment with who He is and what He wants, our prayers are answered in a mighty way, with more power from above. I couldn’t help but wonder as I read this prayer–have I ever asked God to use me to heal others and to perform miraculous signs and wonders? Have you? What would happen in our current world if believers today agreed in prayer in this same way?
{vss. 32-36} As previously learned in Acts 2:44, the believers were completely united as Jesus had prayed for on the night before His crucifixion (John 17:20-21). None of them saw their possessions as belonging to them alone. This is an important point for every believer. Many Christians today believe that except for the portion they designate for God’s work, that their possessions are their own. This is a total misunderstanding of Scripture and the teaching of Jesus. He taught that God is the owner of all; we are merely His stewards. How would it impact and change our world, if all believers sought to honor God with their possessions rather than stingily giving Him crumbs while claiming the rest as their own? The early church shared all they had, most likely because it was a necessity. Because of this sharing, there were no needy people among them. I’m not sure the same could be said of our churches today, though there is certainly room for discernment in deciding between true needs and mere wants. And even more amazing in this passage is that from time to time those who owned houses or lands would sell them and bring the money to the apostles to distribute to those who had unmet needs. But–as is usually the case in situations involving money and possessions–there is always the temptation to hoard and be dishonest.


Read: Acts 5:1-11

{vss. 1-6} First, let me be clear about this: money in and of itself is not evil. But loving money (i.e. allowing it to enslave you) is. 1 Timothy 6:10 tells us that it is the “root of ALL evil.” It behooves us then to constantly guard our deceitful hearts (Jeremiah 17:9) against the lure of money. The story of Ananias and Sapphira is proof. Together they schemed to sell their land, keep part of it for themselves, and then try to make themselves look holy by giving the rest to Peter and declaring it as the entire proceeds from the sale. The Greek word for “kept back” in verse 2 is where we get our word for embezzlement. In other words, as those who supposedly followed Christ, they assumed the money was theirs when it actually belonged to Him. They embezzled from God and lied about it. But God’s Spirit within Peter gave him great discernment. He called Ananias out. Notice that Ananias could have kept the money. His sin came in the dishonesty. Also notice–that just like all sin (Psalm 51:4)–his lie wasn’t against men, but God. The results of Ananias’ deceit should terrify us just as it did the early believers. He immediately fell down dead{ and was buried.
{vss. 7-11} Three hours later, Mrs. Ananias (AKA Sapphira) comes in looking for her husband. Peter questions her about the sale. She also lies and dies. Once more, “great fear seized the church” and all those who heard of the account. We tend to see fear as a negative thing, and it often is used by our enemy to keep us from God’s ways and work. But in this sense, their fear was truly a good thing. Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10; Psalm 111:10 – See this link for a description of what it means to fear the Lord:  http://www.gotquestions.org/fear-Lord-beginning-wisdom.html .) On a side note, did you know that verse 11 is the first use of the word “church” (Greek – ekklesia) in the Bible? This link will give you a full definition of ekklesia:  http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/ekklesia.html .


Read: Acts 5:12-42


Photo Credit: http://www.bible-history.com/

{vss. 12-16} Here we see the Spirit-empowered Peter and the other apostles performing the same sorts of miraculous signs and wonders that Jesus had performed. Honestly, this makes me question why we don’t see these same signs and wonders performed by believers today. Could it be that we don’t pray often enough for a supernatural evidence and empowerment of God’s Spirit within us? As the believers met in Solomon’s Colonnade (part of the outer courts of the temple–see photo to the right), no others dared joined them. I found this interesting. Were they afraid? Whatever the reason, you can’t argue with the results. “More and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.” This brings even more questions to my mind. Would we see greater numbers of souls saved if we didn’t lock ourselves behind the walls of church buildings, but instead met out in the open? Would we see a greater movement of God’s Spirit among us? Would those possessed by demons or enchained by disease be completely healed?
{vss. 17-21} Just like the episode mentioned in the first verses of Acts 4, the high priest and his cronies, who were all members of the Sadducees (the sect that disapproved of resurrection), were jealous for their position of power over the people. This time they arrested all the apostles and put them in jail. But our God delivers! An angel of the Lord (NOTE: this phrase is often in the Bible to describe Christ) opened their jail cells and told them to return to the temple courts to “tell them about this new life and all it means.” (NEB) In complete obedience, the disciples were up at daybreak to teach the people. It literally makes me giggle to imagine the pompous members of the Sanhedrin assembling for the explicit purpose of putting this rag-tag gang of disciples in their proper place.