Acts 4

Read: Acts 4

Peter and John are confronted and arrested because of what they did in chapter 3.  This did not dampen their spirits at all! Instead, these two men amaze their captors with their boldness.  Peter and John are just ordinary men, yet they see that there is something inexplicably amazing about them. They healed a lame man and boldly proclaimed that it was by the name of Jesus that the man was healed.  They also claimed that “there is salvation in no one else.”  The Jewish leaders concluded that these men had been with Jesus, because he was the only man who had spoken like this and demonstrated these sorts of miraculous feats before them.  The Jewish leaders try to silence Peter and John, but find themselves silenced. They are afraid to punish them because the people are glorifying God for what he had done through Peter and John.  Despite their threats and insistence that they cease, Peter and John boldly tell them that they must listen to and obey God rather than men.

After this, the disciples pray for boldness.  What is amazing about this prayer is that these guys were already being extremely bold!  They were nobodies taking on the people with authority who had the power to kill and imprison them.  I think this prayer reveals their humanity. These disciples were not really bold, they were afraid. They knew that if God was not giving them boldness through the Holy Spirit, they would fail…  They would give in and rat out their brothers and sisters, or deny Christ, or simply hide away in fear. But God had given them a mission to accomplish. Here we see that God gives them what they need; they pray for boldness, and they are emboldened by the Holy Spirit.   

Not only were they emboldened, but they were united and of “one heart and mind.”  Many of those who believed in Christ had given up everything to follow him. Because of this, the early church took care of one another.  They were willing to sell what they didn’t need to provide for those who were in need. They were also willing to sacrifice their own well being so the apostles would have the funding that they needed to carry on the mission that Christ had entrusted to them.  May Acts chapter 4 remind us of at least two things: 1) Believers have no need to fear because we have a bold Spirit living inside of us. 2) Church is a family and when things get rough, family takes care of one another.