Acts (Part 32) – Acts 4:2-5

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Acts (Part 32) – Acts 4:2-5

Acts 4:2 – Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

1. Being grieved that they taught the people,
   1. The priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees were grieved that Peter and John taught the people.
   2. Saints are grieved because of transgressors who keep not God’s word (Psa 119:136, 158); sinners are grieved because of saints who teach men God’s word (Act 13:6-8).
   3. They that are upright in the way are abomination to the wicked (Pro 29:27).
2. and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
   1. Peter and John preached through Jesus (Act 13:38).
      1. They did this by preaching in the name of Jesus (Act 4:18).
      2. They did this by preaching through the power of the Holy Ghost, which is the Spirit of Christ (1Pe 1:11-12).
   2. They preached the resurrection of the dead when they spoke of the times of refreshing (Act 3:19) and the restitution of all things (Act 3:20-21) (see comments on Act 3:19).

Acts 4:3 – And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide.

1. Peter and John spent a night in prison for preaching the gospel.
2. This would not be Peter’s last stay in prison (Act 5:17-18; Act 12:1-5).
3. Jesus forewarned the apostles that this would happen to them (Luk 21:12).
4. This was the lot of the apostles (2Co 11:23).

Acts 4:4 – Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.

1. Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed;
   1. Many, but not all, who heard the word believed.
   2. Many are called, but few are chosen (Mat 22:14).
   3. Only those who are ordained to eternal life can believe (Act 13:48).
   4. Those who are effectually called to eternal life can believe, but to those who are not, the gospel is foolishness (1Co 1:18, 23-24).
2. and the number of the men was about five thousand.
   1. The Jerusalem Church was growing rapidly.
   2. The church started with 120 members (Act 1:15).
   3. About 3,000 were added on the day of Pentecost (Act 2:41).
   4. About 5,000 more were added shortly after at this time (Act 4:4).
   5. Multitudes were added later (Act 5:14).
   6. The church continued to multiply greatly (Act 6:1, 7).

Acts 4:5 – And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes,

1. And it came to pass on the morrow,
   1. They wasted no time trying to conduct damage control.
   2. The people had seen a great miracle, and the apostles’ message was going to spread quickly.
2. that their rulers,
   1. Their rulers were the same people who called for Christ’s crucifixion (Luk 23:13-18) and mocked Him (Luk 23:35).
   2. Jesus prophesied that the apostles would be brought before rulers for a testimony against them (Mar 13:9).
   3. Many of the chief rulers believed on Jesus but would not confess Him for fear of being put out of the synagogue by the Pharisees (Joh 12:42).
3. and elders,
   1. The elders had set up traditions in place of the word of God, for which Jesus condemned them (Mat 15:2-9).
   2. The elders were part of the conspiracy to kill Jesus Christ (Mat 26:3-4).
4. and scribes,
   1. Scribe n. – 1. Jewish Hist. A member of the class of professional interpreters of the Law after the return from Captivity; in the Gospels often coupled with the Pharisees as upholders of ceremonial tradition.
   2. In the Old Testament, the scribes were men who copied scripture (2Ch 34:13).
   3. In the New Testament, after the Babylonian Captivity, when Israel was ruled by the Pharisees and their oral traditions, the scribes became the ruling class who interpreted the scriptures (Mat 2:4).
   4. The scribes were hypocrites who bound heavy burdens on the people, but did not live by their own rules (Mat 23:1-5).
   5. They appeared to be righteous outwardly, but inwardly they were spiritually bankrupt (Mat 5:20; Mat 23:25-28).
   6. They did not teach with authority (Mat 7:29).
   7. They accused Jesus of being devil-possessed (Mar 3:22).
   8. They conspired to murder Jesus Christ (Mar 10:33).