{"id":6313,"date":"2020-04-17T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-17T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mbcnewhaven.com\/wp\/?p=6313"},"modified":"2020-04-17T11:12:24","modified_gmt":"2020-04-17T16:12:24","slug":"acts-chapter-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/mbcnewhaven.com\/?p=6313","title":{"rendered":"Acts Chapter 4"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

4 <\/strong>And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 <\/sup><\/strong>greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you ever seen somebody just irritated or annoyed somebody that you are talking about Jesus? This is a true form of persecution in our culture today.  People \u201c think\u201d we talk about Jesus to much and not enough about sports, restaurants, politics, etc. We can see where our priorities are in the things we talk about.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 <\/sup><\/strong>And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 <\/sup><\/strong>But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are we seeing people coming to know Jesus because we are sharing the Gospel? Would we go to jail over the Gospel?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 <\/sup><\/strong>On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, 6 <\/sup><\/strong>with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 7 <\/sup><\/strong>And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, \u201cBy what power or by what name did you do this?\u201d 8 <\/sup><\/strong>Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, \u201cRulers of the people and elders, 9 <\/sup><\/strong>if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 <\/sup><\/strong>let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead\u2014by him this man is standing before you well. 11 <\/sup><\/strong>This Jesus[<\/sup>a<\/sup><\/a>]<\/sup>is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.[<\/sup>b<\/sup><\/a>]<\/sup>12 <\/sup><\/strong>And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men[<\/sup>c<\/sup><\/a>]<\/sup> by which we must be saved.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think about the area we live in and the culture we have in this area. How often do we see people seeking salvation in all the wrong things? Believers have a job to go tell these people about the only way to get salvation and that is through Jesus.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

13 <\/sup><\/strong>Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do people see in your life that boldness for the Gospel? Can people look at you and without a doubt say you are walking with Jesus? Do they see Jesus pouring out of your everyday life?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

14 <\/sup><\/strong>But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. 15 <\/sup><\/strong>But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, 16 <\/sup><\/strong>saying, \u201cWhat shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 17 <\/sup><\/strong>But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t let anybody stop you from talking about Jesus and what he has done for you. I think we are seeing more and more if this in today\u2019s world.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

18 <\/sup><\/strong>So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 <\/sup><\/strong>But Peter and John answered them, \u201cWhether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge,20 <\/sup><\/strong>for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.\u201d 21 <\/sup><\/strong>And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened. 22 <\/sup><\/strong>For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peter and John were told to not share their faith, but they didn\u2019t agree with this at all and would not fold. I love their answer in (verse 19). We see them being threatened and they still shared the Gospel. Question of the day. Would you still share about Jesus if you were threatened?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Believers Pray for Boldness<\/p>\n\n\n\n

23 <\/sup><\/strong>When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 <\/sup><\/strong>And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, \u201cSovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 <\/sup><\/strong>who through the mouth of our father David, your servant,[<\/sup>d<\/sup><\/a>]<\/sup> said by the Holy Spirit,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2018Why did the Gentiles rage,
    and the peoples plot in vain?
26 <\/sup><\/strong>The kings of the earth set themselves,
    and the rulers were gathered together,
    against the Lord and against his Anointed\u2019[<\/sup>e<\/sup><\/a>]<\/sup>\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

27 <\/sup><\/strong>for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 <\/sup><\/strong>to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 29 <\/sup><\/strong>And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 <\/sup><\/strong>while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.\u201d 31 <\/sup><\/strong>And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love how when things got rocky they didn\u2019t fold. They went to God and asked for boldness that He could only give. I love how they started the prayer by lifting up that he was over everything. We see in verse 24 they pray to the one and only true God that created everything.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

They Had Everything in Common<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

32 <\/sup><\/strong>Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.33 <\/sup><\/strong>And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34 <\/sup><\/strong>There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold 35 <\/sup><\/strong>and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. 36 <\/sup><\/strong>Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, 37 <\/sup><\/strong>sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pastor Nathan<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cScripture quotations are from the ESV\u00ae Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version\u00ae), copyright \u00a9 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":1168,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","filesize_raw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-reading"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/mbcnewhaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/mbcnewhaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/mbcnewhaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mbcnewhaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1168"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mbcnewhaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6313"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/mbcnewhaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6316,"href":"http:\/\/mbcnewhaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6313\/revisions\/6316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/mbcnewhaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mbcnewhaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mbcnewhaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}