Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: ACTS #6 - 4:5-31)
B. 4:5-12 HOLY SPIRIT THROUGH PETER EXALTS JESUS
a. 4:5-6 A TRIBUNAL: COMPOSED OF JEWISH RELIGIOUS LEADERS
E-GEne-to de ePI ten AUri-on, su-nachTHEnai auTON tous ARchon-tas [758]
And it came to pass on the morrow, thattheir :rulers
kai tous pres-buTErous [4245] kai tous gram-maTEIS [1122] en Ie-rou-saLEM;
and the elders and the scribes were gathered in Jerusalem;
kai HANnas ho ar-chi-eREUS [749, kai KaiAphas, kai IoANnes, kai A-LExan-dros,
6and Hannas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander,
kai HOsoi Esan ek GEnous [1085]ar-chi-e-ra-tiKOU [748].
and as many as were of thehigh priest's kindred.
b. 4:7 INTIMIDATION: A CHALLENGE TO NAME JESUS
kai STEsan-tes [2476]auTOUS en to MEso, e-punTHAnon-to [4441],
And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired,
En POIa duNAmei, een POIo oNOma-ti, e-poiEsa-te TOUto huMEIS?
With what power, or with what name, have YOU done this?
c. 4:8-10 JESUS' NAME: PROCLAIMED BY SPIRIT THROUGH PETER
TOte PEtros, plesTHEIS PNEUma-tos HaGIou, EIpen pros auTOUS, ARchon-tes tou laOU, kai presBUte-roi,
Then Peter, filled with theHoly Spirit, said unto them, Rulers of the people, and elders,
ei heMEIS SEme-ron a-na-kriNOme-tha [350]ePI eu-er-geSIa [2108]anTHROpou as-theNOUS [772],
9if WE today are examined concerning a good deed to an impotent man,
en TIni HOUtos SEsos-tai [4982]; gnosTON [1110]esTO PAsin huMIN, kai panTI to laOIs-raEL,
with what meansthis manis made whole; 10be it known to you all, and to all the people Israel,
HOti en tooNOma-ti IeSOU ChrisTOU tou Na-zoRAIou [3480],
that in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean,
hon huMEIS e-stauROsa-te [4717], hon ho TheOS Egei-ren [1453]ek neKRON,
whom you crucified, whom :God raised from thedead,
en TOUtoHOUtos paREste-ken eNOpi-on huMON hu-giES [5199].
evenin him stands this manhere before you whole.
d. 4:11 JESUS' REJECTION: PROPHESIED AS THE REJECTED STONE
HOU-TOS es-tin ho LIthos [3037]ho e-xou-the-neTHEIS [1848]huph' huMON ton oi-koDOmon [3618],
He is the stone :set at nought of you the builders,
ho geNOme-nos eis ke-phaLEN [2776]goNIas [1137].
which became head of thecorner.
e. 4:12 JESUS' NAME ALONE SAVES
kai ouk EStin en ALloou-deNI he so-teRIa [4991]: ouDE gar OnoMA es-tin HEte-ron huPO ton ou-raNON,
And the salvation is in none other: for neither is thereany other name under :heaven,
to de-doMEnon en anTHROpois, en ho dei soTHEnai [4982]heMAS.
that is :given among men, in which we must be saved.
C. 4:13-31 RESULT OF PERSECUTION: PRAYER AND GREATER WORKS
1. 4:13-22 OPPOSERS ARE POWERLESS IN FACE OF MIRACLE
a. 4:13 MARVELING: EFFECT OF PETER AND JOHN'S BOLDNESS
The-oROUNtes [2334]de ten tou PEtrou par-reSIan [3954]kai IoAnou,
Now when they beheld the boldness of :Peter and John,
kai ka-ta-laBOme-noi [2638] HOti ANthro-poi aGRAMmaTOI [52]ei-sin kai i-diOtai [2399], eTHAUma-zon;
and had apprehended that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled;
e-peGInoSKON [1921]te auTOUS, HOti sun toIeSOU Esan.
and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with :Jesus.
b. 4:14 And seeing the man that was healed standing with them, they had nothing to gainsay.
ton te ANthro-pon BLEpon-tes sun auTOIS heSTOta ton te-the-ra-peuMEnon, ouDEN EIchon an-teiPEIN.
c. 4:15-16 CONFUSION: NO STRATEGY LEFT TO THE ENEMIES
keLEUsan-tes [2753] de auTOUS Exo tou su-neDRIou [4892]a-pelTHEIN,
But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the Sanhedrin,
suNEbal-lon [4820] pros alLElous, LEgon-tes, Ti poiEso-men tois anTHROpois TOUtois?
they conferred among themselves, 16 saying, What shall we do to these :men?
HOti men gar gnoSTON seMEIon GEgo-nen di' auTON,
for that indeed a notable sign has been wrought through them,
PAsin tois ka-toiKOUsin [2730] Ie-rou-saLEM pha-neRON [5318]; kai ou duNAme-tha arNEISthai [720].
is manifest to all that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it.
d. 4:17 SOLUTION: THREATEN SILENCE
all' HIna meePI PLEIon [4119]di-a-ne-meTHE[1268]eis ton laON, a-pei-leSOme-tha [547]auTOIS,
But that it spread no further among the people, let us threaten them,
meKEti laLEIN ePI tooNOma-ti TOUtome-deNI anTHROpon.
to speak from now on to no man in this :name.
e. 4:18 CONTEST BETWEEN PREJUDICE AND RELIGION
kai kaLEsan-tes auTOUS paREGgei-lan [3853]
And they called andcharged them
kaTHOlou [2527] me PHTHEGges-thai [5350]meDE diDAskein [1321]ePI to oNOma-ti tou IeSOU.
not to speak at all nor teach in the name of :Jesus.
f. 4:19-20 PETER AND JOHN'S BOLD RESPONSE
Ho de PEtros kai IoAnes a-po-kriTHENtes EIpan pros auTOUS,
But :Peter and John answered andsaid unto them,
Ei DIkaiON es-tin eNOpi-on tou TheOU huMON aKOUein MALlon hetou TheOU, KRIna-te [2919]:
whether it is right in thesight of :God to listen to you rather than :God, youjudge:
ou duNAme-tha gar heMEIS ha EIda-men [1492]kai eKOUsa-men [191]me laLEIN.
20for WE cannot but speak what thingswe saw and heard.
g. 4:21 FORCED DISMISSAL
hoi de, pro-sa-pei-leSAme-noi [4324], aPElu-san auTOUS,
But they, on further threatening, let them go,
meDEN heuRIskon-tes to pos koLAson-tai [2849]auTOUS, diA ton laON;
finding nothing :how they might punish them, because of the people;
HOti PANtes eDOxa-zon [1392] ton TheON ePI toge-goNOti.
for all glorified :God for what was done.
h. 4:22 For the man was more than forty years old, on whom this :sign of :healing was done.
eTON gar en pleiOnon tes-seRAkon-ta ho ANthro-pos, eph' hon geGOnei to seMEIon TOUto tes iAse-os.
2. 4:23-31 EARLY CHURCH PERSECUTION AND PRAYER
a. 4:23 APOSTLES REPORT THEIR PERSECUTION TO THE CHURCH
A-po-luTHENtes [630] de, ELthon pros tous iDIous,
And being let go, they came to theirown,
kai aPEGgei-lan [518]HOsa pros auTOUS hoi ar-chi-eREIS [749]kai hoi presBUte-roi [4245]EIpan.
and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said unto them.
b. 4:24-25 SPONTANEOUS PRAYER: RESPONSE OF THE CHURCH
hoi de, aKOUsan-tes, ho-mo-thu-maDON [3661] Eran phoNEN pros ton TheON, kai EIpan,
And they, when they heard it, lifted up their voice to :God with one accord, and said,
DESpo-ta [1203], su ho poiEsas ton ou-raNON kai ten gen kai ten THAlas-san, kai PANta ta en auTOIS:
Master, you who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that in them is:
ho tou paTROS heMON, diA PNEUma-tos HaGIou, STOma-tos DauID paiDOS [3816]sou, eiPON,
25who by theHoly Spirit, through your servant our father David's mouth, did say,
HIna ti ePHRUa-xan [5433] ETHne, kai laOI e-meLEtesan [3191]keNA [2756]?
Why did nations rage, And peoples meditate vanities?
c. 4:26-28 EARLY CHURCH VIEW: PERSECUTION IS REALLY AGAINST CHRIST
paREste-san [3936]hoi ba-siLEIS [935]tes ges, kai hoi ARchon-tes [758]suNECHthe-san [4863]ePI to auTO,
The kings of the earth arrayed themselves, And the rulers were gathered together,
kaTA tou KuRIou, kai kaTA tou ChrisTOU auTOU: suNECHthe-san, gar ep' a-leTHEIas en te POlei TAUte
Against the Lord, and against his :Christ: 27for of a truth in this :city
ePI tou HAgi-on PAI-DA [3816] sou IeSOUN, hon Echri-sas [5548],
against your holy :servant Jesus, whom you did anoint,
HeROdes te kai PONti-os PeiLAtos sun ETHne-sin kai laOIS Is-raEL,
both Herod and Pontius Pilate with nations and peoples of Israel, were gathered together,
d. 4:29-30 CHURCH RESPONSE: PRAYER FOR BOLDNESS AND SIGNS
kai ta nun, KUri-e, Epi-de ePI tas a-peiLAS [547] auTON:
And :now, Lord, look upon their :threatenings:
kai dos tois DOUlois [1401] sou meTA par-reSIas [3954]PAses laLEIN ton LOgon sou,
and grant unto your :bondmen to speak your :word with all boldness,
en to ten CHEIra ekTEInein [1614]se eis Ia-sin [2392]; kai seMEIa [4592]kai TEra-ta [5059]GInes-thai
30while you stretch forth your :hand to heal; and thatsigns and wonders be done
diA tou oNOma-tos tou haGIou paiDOS [3816] sou IeSOU.
through the name of your holy servant Jesus.
e. 4:31 GOD'S RESPONSE: HOLY SPIRIT AND BOLDNESS
kai de-eTHENton [1189]auTON, e-saLEUthe[4531]ho TOpos en ho Esan su-negMEnoi [4863];
And when they had prayed, the place was shaken in which they were gathered;
kai ePLESthe-san [4130]HApan-tes tou HaGIou PNEUma-tos
and all were filled with the Holy Spirit
kai eLAloun ton LOgon tou TheOU meTA par-reSIas [3954].
and spoke the word of :God with boldness.
NOTE: Have you noticed the progression in revelation and challenge in the various writings of the New Testament? It is only recently that this has become increasingly clear to me. In the Gospels, Jesus is as the “Alpha”, the Beginning, where His disciples could not really understand Him, because the Holy Spirit as the inward Teacher had not yet come. But in the Book of “Revelation”, Jesus is now the “Omega” - the fullness and the ultimate!
Yet to gain this final goal, the Holy Spirit through Luke leads us from the Gospels - like Elementary School”, to “Junior High” in “Acts”, where the historical background of the 21 epistles find context. The 7 General Epistles written by inspiration of the Holy Spirit by James, Peter, John and Jude - take us on to the equivalent of “Senior High”. But Paul's first 9 epistles, Romans through Thessalonians, are like University. Peter himself said that Paul wrote some things “hard to understand”, which the unstable wrestto their own destruction. Certainly these 9 are good College courses!
Hebrews is like moving from a College to a Master's degree. Some excellent commentaries have been written on this letter. God's Bible Numerics establishes Paul as the author under the Holy Spirit for this challenge to Jewish believers, paralleling, but taking us on from James through Jude. As Romans laid the basic ground for salvation and “Righteousness by Faith” to Gentiles, Hebrews does a similar work for Jews.
1 & 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon - sometimes called Pastoral epistles, but perhaps more accurately written for young apostolic pastors like Timothy and Titus for guidance in overseeing City Churches, composed of many local churches and churches in the home. They are like a graduate course leading to a “doctorate” degree.
Then these bring us to the Book of Revelation by Jesus through His angel to John. It is like a “post-graduate” course. Many like John Wesley and Dr. Daniel Juster despaired ever truly understanding this Book, until God gave them His Key.
So Jesus in the Gospels as our “Alpha”, brings us through these 7 stages to Himself as our “Omega”.
Now let's look at Acts 4:5-12, and join with Peter in giving all the glory to Jesus for whatever He is pleased by His Spirit to do through us. See how ably Peter presented his case to the Jewish rulers, because nowHe has the inward Teacher of the Holy Spirit guiding, teaching and anointing him to speak to kings and rulers, just as Jesus promised in the Gospels. His explanation and defense shockedthe rulers.
In 4:13-22 the opposers to Jesus and His Gospel find themselves powerless to adequately respond to the bold defense of Peter! Signs and wonders such as the healed lame man, left them powerless. Their threatenings had no effect on Peter and John, but rather emboldened Peter to continue his defense, having also “nailed” the Jewish rulers as some of those responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus.
4:23-31 - Corporate and united prayer was a key to the success of early church believers. See how they reasoned from Scripture in presenting their case before God. They were in good company with Moses, Joshua and David in this. Bible Meditation as the basis of prayer, both individually and corporately - leads to unusual results. Rees Howells and George Muller both tapped into this secret with similar success. Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1 and Psalm 19:14 encourage us to do likewise.
See how the church of Peter's day reasoned effectively from Psalm 2 as the basis for expecting answers to prayer from God. They were notdisappointed. Even an earthquake, like accompanied God's giving of the law to Moses on Mount Sinai - came to the early church also on this occasion - plus God's enablement for them to continue to speak the Word with boldness accompanied with “Signs Following” (Mark 16:17-20). J.A.W.
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