Acts 4:1 In this verse we find, in simple words, the true philosophy of all persecution. I. The authorities were offended because the Apostles taught. (1) They considered that the Apostles were not personally qualified to discharge the important duties of public teachers. Human nature is ever the s... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 4:1 Look at this passage: (1) from the side of the Jewish leaders; (2) from the side of the Apostles. I. On the side of the Jewish leaders there was (1) illiberality; (2) shortsightedness; (3) impotence. II. On the side of the Apostles there was (1) complete intelligence within the sphere of... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 4 Before the Council From this section of Apostolic history we may draw the following practical inferences: I. We may learn that if we are Christ's disciples we may expect to encounter antagonism. II. That if we are really Christ's disciples, there will be something about us that will remin... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 4:2 Apostolic Teaching I. The Apostles taught. (1) Christianity is an educator of men; it teaches them to think. That is the meaning of the word "educate" to lead out the mind, to develop its dormant faculties. And this the Gospel is eminently calculated to do. It stimulates the human mind wh... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 4:12 I. St. Peter here makes a positive assertion. He says that Jesus Christ His name that is, Himself, brings salvation. It is natural for us to ask, What kind of salvation? Salvation was already a consecrated word in the language of Israel. It meant very generally the deliverance of Israel fr... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 4:13 I. We must be with Jesus, if we would bear a good testimony for Him in the presence of the world. To have heard of Him, to have read of Him, is not enough: we must be with Him; walk with Him in a consenting will, love Him as having first loved us, be joined to him in one spirit. Thus alon... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 4:20 There are two spiritual facts here presented to us: (1) that the true Christian has heard from heaven what is worth repeating, and (2) that the Spirit of Faith prompts the Christian to repeat what he has heard. I. Notice the order in which religious belief and religious speech are here p... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 4:23 I. The whole Church is interested in the proceedings of its individual members. II. The right method of treating opposition to the Kingdom of Christ. III. The spiritual and social results which follow the right acceptance of service and suffering. Parker, _City Temple,_vol. ii., p. 122... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 4:30 The Child Christ I. The day which beheld our Lord in the Temple among the doctors was no doubt the close of a wondering and inquiring time. I conceive of that moment that it gave point and purpose to a long series of internal questions and wondering visions. Here, I conceive, He was atte... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 4:32-5 Ananias and Sapphira I. We have much need to lay to heart the lessons of this incident. Christ's Church has long since come to include so many false or unspiritual members, and to be so blent with the world, that we fail to realise its ideal sanctity as the body of Christ, animated in a... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 4:33 The Resurrection of Christ Historic The fact of the resurrection is a fact quite capable of proof. There is no difficulty in imagining it to have occurred. There are no invincible laws against it. All that can be averred is that it is not in the line of our usual experiences, but it is n... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 4:36 Barnabas is described as a "good man, full of the Holy Ghost and of faith." Goodness, the Holy Ghost, faith these are the materials out of which sons of exhortation must be made if they would have the equivalent reading, "sons of consolation" registered against their names in the margin.... [ Continue Reading ]