23Being let go, they came to their own company and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.24When they heard it, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, “O Lord, you are God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them;
25who by the mouth of your servant, David, said, ‘Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing?
23 Being let go, they came to their own company and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.
24 When they heard it, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, “O Lord, you are God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them;
25 who by the mouth of your servant, David, said, ‘Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing?
TYNDALETyndale New Testament (1534)
23 Assone as they were let goo they came to their felowes and shewed all that the hye prestes and elders had sayde to them.
24 And when they hearde that they lyfte vp their voyces to God with one accorde and sayde: Lorde thou arte God which hast made heaven and erth the see and all that in them is
25 which by the mouth of thy servaunt David hast sayd: Why dyd the hethen rage and the people immagen vayne thinges.
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GNVGeneva Bible (1599)
23 Then assoone as they were let goe, they came to their fellowes, and shewed all that the hie Priestes and Elders had said vnto them.
24 And when they heard it, they lift vp their voyces to God with one accord, and said, O Lord, thou art the God which hast made the heaue, and the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them,
25 Which by the mouth of thy seruant Dauid hast saide, Why did the Gentiles rage, and the people imagine vaine things?
Exodus 20:11(v24)for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the…
Jeremiah 32:17(v24)“Ah Lord Yahweh! Behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm. There is nothing too…
Psalms 2:1-6(v25)Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take counsel together,…
Nehemiah 9:6(v24)You are Yahweh, even you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their army, the earth and all things that are on it,…
2 Corinthians 6:14-17(v23)Don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship do righteousness and iniquity have? Or what fellowship does light have with…
Show all 28 cross-references
2 Kings 19:15(v24)Hezekiah prayed before Yahweh, and said, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, even you alone,…
Jeremiah 10:10-12(v24)But Yahweh is the true God. He is the living God, and an everlasting King. At his wrath, the earth trembles. The nations aren’t able to…
Psalms 146:5-6(v24)Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in Yahweh, his God: who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in…
Acts 1:16(v25)“Brothers, it was necessary that this Scripture should be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning…
Psalms 42:4(v23)These things I remember, and pour out my soul within me, how I used to go with the crowd, and led them to God’s house, with the voice of…
Psalms 119:63(v23)I am a friend of all those who fear you, of those who observe your precepts.
Acts 12:11-12(v23)When Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I truly know that the Lord has sent out his angel and delivered me out of the hand of Herod,…
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18(v24)Always rejoice. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you.
Psalms 16:3(v23)As for the saints who are in the earth, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight.
Proverbs 13:20(v23)One who walks with wise men grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
Isaiah 51:12(v24)“I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you, that you are afraid of man who shall die, and of the son of man who will be made as grass?
Malachi 3:16(v23)Then those who feared Yahweh spoke one with another; and Yahweh listened, and heard, and a book of memory was written before him, for those…
2 Timothy 4:17-18(v24)But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, that through me the message might be fully proclaimed, and that all the Gentiles might hear.…
2 Kings 19:19(v24)Now therefore, Yahweh our God, save us, I beg you, out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Yahweh, are God…
Psalms 55:16-18(v24)As for me, I will call on God. Yahweh will save me. Evening, morning, and at noon, I will cry out in distress. He will hear my voice. He…
Psalms 62:5-8(v24)My soul, wait in silence for God alone, for my expectation is from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress. I will not be…
Jeremiah 20:13(v24)Sing to Yahweh! Praise Yahweh, for he has delivered the soul of the needy from the hand of evildoers.
Acts 1:13-14(v23)When they had come in, they went up into the upper room where they were staying; that is Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas,…
Acts 2:44-46(v23)All who believed were together, and had all things in common. They sold their possessions and goods, and distributed them to all, according…
Acts 16:40(v23)They went out of the prison, and entered into Lydia’s house. When they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them, then departed.
Psalms 69:29-30(v24)But I am in pain and distress. Let your salvation, God, protect me. I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with…
Acts 2:30(v25)Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he…
2 Corinthians 1:8-11(v24)For we don’t desire to have you uninformed, brothers, concerning our affliction which happened to us in Asia, that we were weighed down…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (27 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
John Calvin1540 · Public DomainOn vv23–2523. Furthermore when they were let go. It shall…
23. Furthermore when they were let go. It shall appear by and by to what end they declared to the other disciples what things had befallen them, to wit, that they might be the more emboldened and encouraged by the grace of God hereafter; secondly, that they might arm themselves with prayer against the furious threatenings of their enemies; and thus must the children of God do, one must prick forward another, and they must join hand in hand, that they may vanquish the common adversary fighting under Christ’s banner. They consider with themselves what dangers hang over their heads, to the end they may be the more ready to enter the same, although they see their enemies press sore upon them; yet lest it should grieve them to have a new combat ever now and then, they assure themselves that they shall be invincible through the same power of God whereby they got the victory before. And it is to be thought (although Luke makes no mention thereof) that the apostles being contented with their former answer, did not contend with those furies, [furious men;] and yet we must persuade ourselves that they were not so forgetful of their former constancy that they did submit themselves unto their ungodly decree like slaves.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv23–24The Apostles communicate their troubles with the Congregation.
The Apostles communicate their troubles with the Congregation.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv23–2523 And being let go, they went to their…
23 And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them.
Ver. 23. And being let go] For there was no hope of altering them. The heavens shall sooner fall than I will renounce my religion, said one martyr. And if I had as many lives to lay down as I have hairs upon my head, I would lose them every one rather than change my mind, said another. This courage in Christians the persecutors counted obstinace; but they knew not the power of the Spirit, nor the aes triplex circa pectus, the privy armour of proof that the saints have about their hearts.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv23–25They went to their own company, the rest of…
They went to their own company, the rest of the apostles and believers, who have a special propriety and delight in one another; sheep with sheep, and goats with goats: though the separation will be made at the last day, the foundation of it is laid here.
And reported all; to forewarn them of what they might expect, and encourage them to hope for the like deliverance.
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Chief priests; to what hath been said concerning them might be added, that these, it may be, were the first or chief in the courses, which David divided the priests into, which division was observed till our Saviour’s time, Luk 1:5.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry1710 · Public DomainOn v23We hear no more at present of the chief…
We hear no more at present of the chief priests, what they did when they had dismissed Peter and John, but are to attend those two witnesses. And here we have,
I. Their return to their brethren, the apostles and ministers, and perhaps some private Christians (Act 4:23): Being let go, they went to their own company, who perhaps at this time were met together in pain for them, and praying for them; as Act 12:12. As soon as ever they were at liberty, they went to their old friends, and returned to their church-fellowship. 1. Though God had highly honoured them, in calling them out to be his witnesses, and enabling them to acquit themselves so well, yet they were not puffed up with the honour done them, nor thought themselves thereby exalted above their brethren, but went to their own company. No advancement in gifts or usefulness should make us think ourselves above either the duties or the privileges of the communion of saints. 2. Though their enemies had severely threatened them, and endeavoured to break their knot, and frighten them from the work they were jointly engaged in, yet they went to their own company, and feared not the wrath of their rulers. They might have had comfort, if, being let go, they had retired to their closets, and spent some time in devotion there. But they were men in a public station, and must seek not so much their own personal satisfaction as the public good. Christ's followers do best in company, provided it be in their own company.
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II. The account they gave them of what had passed: They reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them, adding, no doubt, what they were enabled by the grace of God to reply to them, and how their trial issued. They related it to them, 1. That they might know what to expect both from men and from God in the progress of their work. From men they might expect every thing that was terrifying, but from God every thing that was encouraging; men would do their utmost to run them down, but God would take effectual care to bear them up. Thus the brethren in the Lord would wax confident through their bonds, and their experiences, as Phi 1:14. 2. That they might have it recorded in the history of the church, for the benefit of posterity, particularly for the confirmation of our faith touching the resurrection of Christ. The silence of an adversary, in some cases, is next door to the consent and testimony of an adversary. These apostles told the chief priests to their faces that God had raised up Jesus from the dead, and, though they were a body of them together, they had not the confidence to deny it, but, in the silliest and most sneaking manner imaginable, bade the apostles not to tell any body of it. 3. That they might now join with them in prayers and praises; and by such a concert as this God would be the more glorified, and the church the more edified. We should therefore communicate to our brethren the providences of God that relate to us, and our experience of his presence with us, that they may assist us in our acknowledgment of God therein.
III. Their address to God upon this occasion: When they heard of the impotent malice of the priests, and the potent courage of the sufferers, they called their company together and went to prayer: They lifted up their voice to God with one accord, Act 4:24. Not that it can be supposed that they all said the same words at the same time (though it was possible they might, being all inspired by one and the same Spirit), but one in the name of the rest lifted up his voice to God and the rest joined with him, humothumadon - with one mind (so the word signifies); their hearts went along with him, and so, though but one spoke, they all prayed; one lifted up his voice, and, in concurrence with him, they all lifted up their hearts, which was, in effect, lifting up their voice to God; for thoughts are as words to God. Moses cried unto God, when we find not a word said. Now in this solemn address to God we have,
1. Their adoration of God as the Creator of the world (Act 4:24): With one mind, and so, in effect, with one mouth, they glorified God, Rom 15:6. They said, "O Lord, thou art God, God alone; Despota, thou art our Master and sovereign Ruler" (so the word signifies), "thou art God; God, and not man; God, and not the work of men's hands; the Creator of all, and not the creature of men's fancies. Thou art the God who hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, the upper and lower world, and all the creatures that are in both." Thus we Christians distinguish ourselves from the heathen, that, while they worship gods which they have made, we are worshipping the God that made us and all the world. And it is very proper to begin our prayers, as well as our creed, with the acknowledgement of this, that God is the Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. Though the apostles were at this time full of the mystery of the world's redemption, yet they did not forget nor overlook the history of the world's creation; for the Christian religion was intended to confirm and improve, not to eclipse nor jostle out, the truths and dictates of natural religion. It is a great encouragement to God's servants, both in doing work and suffering work, that they serve the God that made all things, and therefore has the disposal of their times, and all events concerning them, and is able to strengthen them under all their difficulties. And, if we give him the glory of this, we may take the comfort of it.
2. Their reconciling themselves to the present dispensations of Providence, by reflecting upon those scriptures in the Old Testament which foretold that the kingdom of the Messiah would meet with such opposition as this at the first setting of it up in the world, Act 4:25, Act 4:26. God, who made heaven and earth, cannot meet with any [effectual] opposition to his designs, since none dare [at least, can prevailingly] dispute or contest with him. Yea, thus it was written, thus he spoke by the mouth, thus he wrote by the pen, of his servant David, who, as appears by this, was the penman of the second psalm, and therefore, most probably, of the first, and other psalms that are not ascribed to any other, though they have not his name in the title. Let it not therefore be a surprise to them, nor any discouragement to any in embracing their doctrine, for the scripture must be fulfilled. It was foretold, Psa 2:1, Psa 2:2, (1.) That the heathen would rage at Christ and his kingdom, and be angry at the attempts to set it up, because that would be the pulling down of the gods of the heathen, and giving a check to the wickedness of the heathen. (2.) That the people would imagine all the things that could be against it, to silence the teachers of it, to discountenance the subjects of it, and to crush all the interests of it. If they prove vain things in the issue, no thanks to those who imagined them. (3.) That the kings of the earth, particularly, would stand up in opposition to the kingdom of Christ, as if they were jealous (though there is no occasion for their being so) that it would interfere with their powers, and intrench upon their prerogatives. The kings of the earth that are most favoured and honoured by divine Providence, and should do most for God, are strangers and enemies to divine grace, and do most against God. (4.) That the rulers would gather together against God and Christ; not only monarchs, that have the power in their single persons, but where the power is in many rulers, councils, and senates, they gather together, to consult and decree against the Lord and against his Christ - against both natural and revealed religion. What is done against Christ, God takes as done against himself. Christianity was not only destitute of the advantage of the countenance and support of kings and rulers (it had neither their power nor their purses), but it was opposed and fought against by them, and they combined to run it down and yet it made its way.
3. Their representation of the present accomplishment of those predictions in the enmity and malice of the rulers against Christ. What was foretold we see fulfilled, Act 4:27, Act 4:28. It is of a truth - it is certainly so, it is too plain to be denied, and in it appears the truth of the prediction that Herod and Pilate, the two Roman governors, with the Gentiles (the Roman soldiers under their command), and with the people of Israel (the rulers of the Jews and the mob that is under their influence), were gathered together in a confederacy against thy holy child Jesus whom thou has anointed. Some copies add another circumstance, en tē polei sou tautē - in this thy holy city, where, above any place, he should have been welcomed. But herein they do that which thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. See here (1.) The wise and holy designs God had concerning Christ. He is here called the child Jesus, as he was called (Luk 2:27, Luk 2:43) in his infancy, to intimate that even in his exalted state he is not ashamed of his condescensions for us, and that he continues meek and lowly in heart. In the height of his glory he is the Lamb of God, and the child Jesus. But he is the holy child Jesus (so he was called, Luk 1:35, that holy thing), and thy holy child; the word signifies both a son and a servant, paida sou. He was the Son of God; and yet in the work of redemption he acted as his Father's servant (Isa 42:1), My servant whom I uphold. It was he whom God anointed, both qualified for the undertaking and called to it; and thence he was called the Lord's Christ, Act 4:26. And this comes in as a reason why they set themselves with so much rage and violence against him, because God had anointed him, and they were resolved not to resign, much less to submit to him. David was envied by Saul, because he was the Lord's anointed. And the Philistines came up to seek David when they heard he was anointed, Sa2 5:17. Now the God that anointed Christ determined what should be done to him, pursuant to that anointing. He was anointed to be a Saviour, and therefore it was determined he should be a sacrifice to make atonement for sin. He must die - therefore he must be slain; yet not by his own hands - therefore God wisely determined before by what hands it should be done. It must be by the hands of those who will treat him as a criminal and malefactor, and therefore it cannot be done by the hands either of angels or of good men; he must therefore be delivered into the hands of sinners as Job was, Job 16:11. And as David was delivered to Shimei to be made a curse (Sa2 16:11): The Lord has bidden him. God's hand and his counsel determined it - his will, and his wisdom. God's hand, which properly denotes his executive power, is here put for his purpose and decree, because with him saying and doing are not two things, as they are with us. His hand and his counsel always agree; for whatsoever the Lord pleased that did he. Dr. Hammon makes this phrase of God's hand determining it to be an allusion to the high priest's casting lots upon the two goats on the day of atonement (Lev 16:8), in which he lifted up the hand that he happened to have the lot for the Lord in, and that goat on which it fell was immediately sacrificed; and the disposal of this lot was from the Lord, Pro 16:33. Thus God's hand determined what should be done, that Christ should be the sacrifice slain. Or, if I may offer a conjecture, when God's hand is here said to determine, it may be meant, not of God's acting hand, but his writing hand, as Job 13:26, Thou writest bitter things against us; and God's decree is said to be that which is written in the scriptures of truth (Dan 10:21), and in the volume of the book it was written of Christ, Psa 40:7. It was God's hand that wrote it, his hand according to his counsel. The commission was given under his hand. (2.) The wicked and unholy instruments that were employed in the executing of this design, though they meant not so, neither did their hearts think so. Herod and Pilate, Gentiles and Jews, who had been at variance with each other, united against Christ. And God's serving his own purposes by what they did was no excuse at all for their malice and wickedness in the doing of it, any more than God's making the blood of the martyrs the seed of the church extenuated the guilt of their bloody persecutors. Sin is not the less evil for God's bringing good out of it, but he is by this the more glorified, and will appear to be so when the mystery of God shall be finished.
4. Their petition with reference to the case at this time. The enemies were gathered together against Christ, and then no wonder that they were so against his ministers: the disciple is not better than his Master, nor must expect better treatment; but, being thus insulted, they pray,
(1.) That God would take cognizance of the malice of their enemies: Now, Lord, behold their threatenings, Act 4:29. Behold them, as thou art said to behold them in the psalm before quoted (Psa 2:4), when they thought to break his bands asunder, and cast away his cords from them; he that sits in heaven laughs at them, and has them in derision; and then the virgin, the daughter of Zion, may despise the impotent menaces even of the great king, the king of Assyria, Isa 37:22. And now, Lord; ta nun there is an emphasis upon the now, to intimate that then is God's time to appear for his people, when the power of their enemies is most daring and threatening. They do not dictate to God what he shall do, but refer themselves to and him, like Hezekiah (Isa 37:17): "Open thine eyes, O Lord, and see; thou knowest what they say, thou beholdest mischief and spite (Psa 10:14); to thee we appeal, behold their threatenings, and either tie their hands or turn their hearts; make their wrath, as far as it is let loose, to praise thee, and the remainder thereof do thou restrain," Psa 76:10. It is a comfort to us that if we be unjustly threatened, and bear it patiently, we may make ourselves easy by spreading the case before the Lord, and leaving it with him.
(2.) That God, by his grace, would keep up their spirits, and animate them to go on cheerfully with their work: Grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word, though the priests and rulers have enjoined them silence. Note, In threatening times, our care should not be so much that troubles may be prevented as that we may be enabled to go on with cheerfulness and resolution in our work and duty, whatever troubles we may meet with. Their prayer is not, "Lord, behold their threatenings, and frighten them, and stop their mouths, and fill their faces with shame;" but, "Behold their threatenings, and animate us, open our mouths and fill our hearts with courage." They do not pray, "Lord, give us a fair opportunity to retire from our work, now that it is become dangerous;" but, "Lord, give us grace to go on in our work and not to be afraid of the face of man." Observe, [1.] Those that are sent on God's errands ought to deliver their message with boldness, with all boldness, with all liberty of speech, not shunning to declare the whole counsel of God, whoever is offended; not doubting of what they say, nor of being borne out in saying it. [2.] God is to be sought unto for an ability to speak his word with boldness, and those that desire divine aids and encouragements may depend upon them, and ought to go forth and go on in the strength of the Lord God. [3.] The threatenings of our enemies, that are designed to weaken our hands and drive us off from our work, should rather stir us up to so much the more courage and resolution in our work. Are they daring that fight against Christ? For shame, let not us be sneaking that are for him.
(3.) That God would still give them power to work miracles for the confirmation of the doctrine they preached, which, by the cure of the lame man, they found to contribute very much to their success, and would contribute abundantly to their further progress: Lord, grant us boldness, by stretching forth thy hand to heal. Note, Nothing emboldens faithful ministers more in their work than the tokens of God's presence with them, and a divine power going along with them. They pray, [1.] That God would stretch forth his hand to heal both the bodies and souls of men; else in vain do they stretch forth their hands, either in preaching (Isa 65:2), or in curing, Act 9:17. [2.] That signs and wonders might be done by the name of the holy child Jesus, which would be convincing to the people, and confounding to the enemies. Christ had promised them a power to work miracles, for the proof of their commission (Mar 16:17, Mar 16:18); yet they must pray for it; and, though they had it, must pray for the continuance of it. Christ himself must ask, and it shall be given him. Observe, It is the honour of Christ that they aim at in this request, that the wonders might be done by the name of Jesus, the holy child Jesus, and his name shall have all the glory.
IV. The gracious answer God gave to this address, not in word, but in power. 1. God gave them a sign of the acceptance of their prayers (Act 4:31): When they had prayed (perhaps many of them prayed successively), one by one, according to the rule (Co1 14:31), and when they had concluded the work of the day, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; there was a strong mighty wind, such as that when the Spirit was poured out upon them (Act 2:1, Act 2:2), which shook the house, which was now their house of prayer. This shaking of the place was designed to strike an awe upon them, to awaken and raise their expectations, and to give them a sensible token that God was with them of a truth: and perhaps it was to put them in mind of that prophecy (Hag 2:7), I will shake all nations, and will fill this house with glory. This was to show them what reason they had to fear God more, and then they would fear man less. He that shook this place could make the hearts of those who threatened his servants thus to tremble, for he cuts off the spirit of princes, and is terrible to the kings of the earth. The place was shaken, that their faith might be established and unshaken. 2. God gave them greater degrees of his Spirit, which was what they prayed for. Their prayer, without doubt, was accepted, for it was answered: They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, more than ever; by which they were not only encouraged, but enabled to speak the word of God with boldness, and not to be afraid of the proud and haughty looks of men. The Holy Ghost taught them not only what to speak, but how to speak. Those that were endued habitually with the powers of the Holy Ghost had yet occasion for fresh supplies of the Spirit, according as the various occurrences of their service were. They were filled with the Holy Ghost at the bar (Act 4:8), and now filled with the Holy Ghost in the pulpit, which teaches us to live in an actual dependence upon the grace of God, according as the duty of every day requires; we need to be anointed with fresh oil upon every fresh occasion. As in the providence of God, so in the grace of God, we not only in general live, and have our being, but move in every particular action, Act 17:28. We have here an instance of the performance of that promise, that God will give the Holy Spirit to those that ask him (Luk 11:13), for it was in answer to prayer that they were filled with the Holy Ghost: and we have also an example of the improvement of that gift, which is required of all on whom it is bestowed; have it and use it, use it and have more of it. When they were filled with the Holy Ghost, they spoke the word with all boldness; for the ministration of the Spirit is given to every man, to profit withal. Talents must be traded with, not buried. When they find the Lord God help them by his Spirit, they know they shall not be confounded, Isa 50:7.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv23–25And being let go,.... Or dismissed from custody, by…
And being let go,.... Or dismissed from custody, by the order of the sanhedrim:
they went to their own company; or "to their own men", as the Ethiopic version reads; or "to their own brethren", as the Syriac; either to the other ten apostles; or to the hundred and twenty, who first met together; or the whole multitude of them that believed, Act 4:32 the eight thousand that had been added to them, the whole church. Saints love to be together, and delight in the company of each other; and especially when they have anything to communicate, that may be for their mutual good, or for the honour of God:
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and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them; what commands and injunctions they had lain upon them, and what threatenings they had given them, and, no doubt likewise, what answers they had returned to them.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv24–25The sense is, Lord, thou hast all power. And…
The sense is, Lord, thou hast all power. And thy word is fulfilled. Men do rage against thee: but it is in vain.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv23–25Verse 23. They went to their own company] This…
Verse 23. They went to their own company] This was properly the first persecution that had been raised up against the Church since the resurrection of Christ; and as the rest of the disciples must have known that Peter and John had been cast into prison, and that they were to be examined before the sanhedrin, and knowing the evil disposition of the rulers toward their brethren, they doubtless made joint supplication to God for their safety. In this employment it is likely Peter and John found them on their return from the council, and repeated to them all their treatment, with the threats of the chief priests and elders.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn v23Act 4:23-28. And being let go — Being dismissed…
Act 4:23-28. And being let go — Being dismissed from their examination by the rulers; they went to their own company — Who, probably, were at this time met together, praying for them; and reported all that the chief priests had said — Adding, no doubt, what they were enabled by the grace of God to reply to them, and how their trial issued. And when they heard that — A divine inspiration coming upon all that were present in an extraordinary manner; they lifted up their voice to God with one accord — All unanimously joining in the following petition, as being all influenced by the same spirit, though, perhaps, only one speaking in the name of the rest: or, as Dr. Doddridge supposes, all their voices joining by immediate inspiration, a circumstance which he thinks was graciously adapted to encourage them to suffer the greatest extremities in this cause. And said, Lord, thou art God, &c. — The sense is, Lord, thou hast all power, and thy word is fulfilled: men rage against thee, but it is in vain. See notes on Psa 2:1-5. For of a truth, &c. — For we now see the prediction of thy servant David truly and literally accomplished; since against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed — With the Holy Ghost and with power, to accomplish the glorious work of erecting thy kingdom among men; both Herod, &c., with the Gentiles — The idolatrous heathen; and the people of Israel — Professing to worship thee, the true God; were gathered together — Combined in the impious attempt of opposing thy designs. For to do whatsoever thy hand, &c., determined before to be done — That is, says Dr. Hammond, “the Roman governors and Jewish sanhedrim have joined their malicious counsels against thy holy Son; to act in the crucifying of him, and so (though little meaning it) to be the instruments of thy gracious providence and disposal, who didst determine to give thy only Son to die for us.” The sense evidently is, But they (the enemies of God and Christ) could do no more than thou wast pleased to permit, according to thy determinate counsel, to save mankind by the sufferings of thy Son. And what was needful for this end, thou didst before determine to permit to be done. Limborch, and some others, contend for a transposition of the words thus: They have combined against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed to do what thy hand and thy counsel had determined, &c.; but it is so expressly said elsewhere, (see Mat 26:24; Luk 22:22,) that the Son of man went (to suffer and die) as it was determined; and it so plainly appears, in fact, that these circumstances were foretold, or marked out, in the prophecies of the Old Testament, that I see not, says Dr. Doddridge, “what end the admission of such a transposition would answer. It is much more rational to explain this determination in such a manner as to make it consistent with the free agency of the persons concerned. When God’s hand and his counsel are said to have determined these things, it may signify his having pointed out this great event, so wisely concerted in his eternal counsels, and marked beforehand, as it were, all the boundaries of it, (as the word προωρισε may well signify,) in the prophetic writings.” Certainly the word properly and literally signifies, to define, describe, or mark out beforehand, rather than to decree, or predestinate. “The hand of God,” says Dr. Whitby, “most frequently, in the Old Testament, relates not so much to his power, as to his wisdom, and providential dispensations; and being here joined with his counsel, and applied to what was done by Pontius Pilate and the Jews toward the crucifixion of the holy Jesus, to which actions, so highly displeasing to God, his power could not actually concur or effectively incline them, the import of these words will be no more than this, that Jews and Gentiles were assembled to accomplish those sufferings of our Saviour for mankind which God had foretold, and by foretelling had determined should come to pass: according to those words of St. Paul, Act 13:27, They who dwelt at Jerusalem, &c., not knowing the voices of the prophets, have fulfilled them by condemning him, doing all things which were written of him. As therefore St. Peter and Paul, by calling the Jews to repentance for crucifying the Lord of life, do evidence that their sin was not the less, because they did by it fulfil the counsel of God’s holy will, and kind intentions to mankind, so do they consequently evidence, that God’s foreknowledge of a thing future, does not impair the liberty of men’s wills in the accomplishment of it; as all the ancient fathers have declared in this particular.” See this further explained in the note on Act 2:23.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv23–25Their own company - They joined the other apostles…
Their own company - They joined the other apostles and Christians, Act 2:44-45.
And reported ... - It doubtless became a subject of interesting inquiry what they should do in this case. They had been threatened by the highest authority of the nation, and commanded not to preach again in the name of Jesus. Whether they should obey them and be silent, or whether they should leave Jerusalem and preach elsewhere, could not but be an interesting subject of inquiry, and they very properly sought the counsel of their brethren, and looked to God for direction, an example which all should follow who are exposed to persecution, or who are in any perplexity about the path of duty.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn vv23–24Being let go, they came to their own[3] company,…
Being let go, they came to their own[3] company, relating with simplicity all that had happened.
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
Ad suos, Greek: pros tous idious.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures1864 · Public DomainOn v2323And [But] being let go, they went to their…
D.—THE CHURCH ENCOURAGED AND STRENGTHENED IN THE FAITH IN CONSEQUENCE OF THESE EVENTS; THE ONENESS OF SPIRIT AND BROTHERLY LOVE OF THE BELIEVERS
Act_4:23-37
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23And [But] being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. 24And when they heard, that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which [Lord, thou who12] hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them Isaiah 25 Who by the mouth of thy servant13 David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? 26The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ [Anointed!]. 27For of a truth against thy holy child [Servant, (as in Act_3:13)] Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both [om. both] Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people [peoples, λαοῖς] of Israel, were gathered together [in this city],14 28For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done [before, that it should come to pass, γενέσθαι]. 29And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, 30By stretching [In that thou stretchest] forth thine hand to heal [for healing]; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child [Servant] Jesus. 31And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
32And the multitude of them that believed [of the believers] were of one [were one] heart and of one [om. of one] soul: neither said any of them [and not one said] that aught of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common [but all things were common to them]. 33And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. 34[For, γὰρ] Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, 35And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. 36And Joses [Joseph],15 who by16 the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The [A] son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus [born in Cyprus], 37Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Act_4:23.—They went to their own company.—When the apostles were dismissed from the council-chamber of the Sanhedrin, where none but watchful and threatening enemies surrounded them, they proceeded πρὸς τοὺς ἰδίους. Who were these persons? Our first impression would be, that they were the believers, the disciples of Jesus, and this is the opinion of Kuinoel and Baumgarten. The interpretation of Olshausen, according to which the respective household friends of the apostles are meant, too greatly restricts the meaning of the term, and is supported by no other passage. [Olshausen says: “the church in the house (Hausgemeine), those with whom the apostles were accustomed to unite in prayer,” and refers to Act_12:12.—Tr.] The opinion of Beza, and, more recently, of Meyer and de Wette, who restrict the meaning of the term to the group of the apostles, is not sustained either by Act_4:32 (in which the πλῆθος τῶς πιστευσάντων is contradistinguished from the ἴδιοι), or by Act_4:31, in which all that, were assembled, are said to have spoken the word of God. The latter act is not identical with that of bearing witness to Christ in a public, didactic manner (comp. Act_4:33); for λαλεῖν [Act_4:31] describes the freedom of a conversation, not the solemnity of an address, and could therefore be applied with perfect consistency to the language of all the believers. And with respect to Act_4:32, it cannot possibly have been the case that all the believers who were in Jerusalem, and whose number, according to Act_4:4, amounted to five thousand men, were assembled in that place. The apostles, accordingly, proceeded to the company of the believers, or to the Christian congregation (including, of course, their fellow-apostles, although we cannot assume that the whole number of the Christians, who already constituted a vast multitude, could, have been present). Here, at length, the two apostles knew that they were among friends; the members of the Church had, naturally, felt the deepest sympathy, and continually offered fervent prayer in their behalf; they were now entitled to receive a full report of all that had occurred.
Act_4:24. a. They lifted up their voice.—When the apostles had, accordingly, communicated, not that which they themselves had said and done, but that which the rulers and representatives of the people of God had spoken in an imperious and minatory manner, their hearers unitedly poured forth their feelings in a prayer. In what manner was this done? Bengel and others suppose that Peter pronounced the words, and that these were repeated by the company; but this view does not agree with the statement that Peter and John had made their report, and that the others, after listening to the recital, offered prayer (οἱ δὲ ἀκούσαντες—εἶπον). Baumgarten conjectures that the whole congregation sung the second Psalm [quoted in Act_4:25-26], after which Peter applied it to the present conjuncture, using the words here recorded. But the objection just made, applies to this interpretation also; besides, the words of the Psalm and those of the application are interwoven, so that the text before us does not make the distinction which Baumgarten’s interpretation presupposes. Meyer escapes this difficulty by assuming that Act_4:24-30 present an established formula of prayer, which had been previously composed, under the influence of the Holy Ghost, while the impressions made by the sufferings of Christ were still recent; this formula, he adds, was now repeated by the assembled apostles (see above, Exeg. note on Act_4:23) with one heart and one voice. But even if we do not insist on the circumstance that the recitation of a form of prayer from memory, is inconsistent with the present situation, that is, the vigorous, original, spiritual life of the church, other considerations show distinctly that the origin of this prayer must be assigned to this precise time; there are, namely, special allusions to the present case (Act_4:29 f. ἀπειλάς, παῤῥησίαν, ἴασιν etc.). If we assume that one of the other apostles pronounced the prayer, and that all who were present, united, in part audibly, (for instance, when the words of the Psalm occurred, Act_4:25) we shall, doubtless, do full justice to the words of Luke, inasmuch as he, not rarely, ascribes language to several persons, which could have been uttered only by one of their number, e. g. Act_4:19; Act_5:29, etc.
b. Lord, which [thou who] hast made.—This is the first Christian church-prayer with which we are acquainted, and claims special consideration. A close inspection shows, (a) that this prayer was dictated by a deep feeling of distress and danger; “this beautiful flower, too, grew under the cross;” (b) that this prayer, dictated by the distress of the present moment, beseeches the Almighty to regard the threatenings of enemies (that their counsel and will might not be fulfilled), and to grant grace and support to the servants of God in their words and acts (so that the kingdom of God might come). (c) The ground of the confidence of these afflicted men, and, indeed, that on which they offer prayer, is, first, the almighty power of God, the Creator of heaven and earth; secondly, the consoling word and promise of God (Psa_2:1-2, quoted strictly according to the text of the LXX.), the fulfilment of which had already been seen in the sufferings (and the resurrection) of Jesus.
Act_4:25-28. By the mouth of … David.—The second Psalm, which, as it is well known, is without a title, is, in accordance with the common view, ascribed to David. The raging of the גּוֹיִם (φρυάσσω, originally descriptive of the wild snorting of spirited or intractable horses,) which the Psalm mentions, is referred, in the prayer, to the hostile conduct of the pagan Romans; the term ἄρχοντες, Act_4:26, specially designates Pontius Pilate, Act_4:27; λαοί (לְאֻמִּים in the Psalm) is referred to Israel [the plural, in allusion to the twelve tribes, (Meyer)], and the phrase βασιλεῖς τ. γ. is applied to Herod [Antipas, mentioned, e. g. in Mat_14:1; Luk_3:1; Luk_23:7.—Tr.]
Act_4:29-30. Behold their threatenings.—The words of the prayer, ἔπιδε ἐπὶ τὰς ἀπειλὰς αὐ τῶν refer to the immediate danger in which the believers were involved. The threats of the Sanhedrin, Act_4:17; Act_4:21, were like a sword suspended over the heads of the apostles. In view of the danger, they beseech God to behold—to restrain their enemies, and to protect his people. If this petition may be said to be negative in its character, the positive blessing for which they ask, is a bold and joyful spirit in proclaiming the word of God. And when they ask, in addition, for power to perform signs and miracles of healing in the name of Jesus, they again refer to the most recent events, the healing of the lame man, and their immediate necessities. For the gifts which these men specially need in that moment, are, first, the power to proclaim the word with courage and joy, and secondly, the power to help and to heal, as evidences that the omnipotent God is with them.
Act_4:31. The place was shaken.—When the place in which the congregation was assembled, was shaken, and when they themselves were filled with the Holy Ghost, their prayer received an immediate and direct answer—these events were the Amen of their petition. The connection shows that this shaking of the place, was not a natural or merely accidental occurrence (as Heinrichs and Kuinoel suppose), but a miraculous and direct act of God. Bengel views this trembling of the place as a symbol of the commotions which were at hand, and which the Gospel would produce in every direction, while Baumgarten sees in it a sign that the will of God is able to control all visible objects. We may, in general, regard it both as a sign of the omnipotence of God, to which, indeed, the men who prayed, had appealed, and on which they relied, Act_4:24, and also as an accompanying external sign of the internal and invisible influences of the Spirit. The believers had referred to the future, when they prayed that the apostles might appear with boldness in the presence of unbelievers and enemies; but God, who does exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think [Eph_3:20], answered their prayer immediately, even while none but friends were present, as an earnest and pledge of future mercies.
Act_4:32-35. a. And the multitude of them that believed.—This first attempt of the enemies of the Church of Christ to overthrow it, which was defeated by the protection and grace of God, constitutes an epoch in its history; the believers enjoyed a temporary repose. And here Luke pauses, in order to describe the condition of the entire Church (πλῆθος τῶν πιστευσάντων). His statement presents four of the prominent features: (a) The apostles gave witness of the resurrection of Jesus, with great power—a proof that God continued to fulfil the petition recorded in Act_4:29. The apostles, far from being intimidated by the threatenings of the rulers, publicly delivered their testimony concerning Jesus and his resurrection with increased courage and power. (b) Great grace was upon them all, that is, not the apostles only, but all the believers. The word χάρις does not here [as in Act_2:47] denote favor with the people (Olsh. and others); there is nothing in the passage itself which would suggest such an interpretation; it denotes the grace and benevolence of God [Alf. Hack.] for Christ’s sake, in which every individual (ἐπὶ πάντας) shared, (c) The union of hearts of the Christians, their brotherly love and perfect harmony in sentiment and thought (ἡ καρδία καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ μία)—a circumstance which was the more remarkable, as the number of the members had already greatly increased (πλῆθος τῶν πιστ.).
b. They had all things common.—The fourth feature is (d) the community of goods; comp. Act_2:44 ff. In this Luke finds an expression of fraternal union, Act_4:32, on the one hand, and on the other, an evidence of the grace of God, Act_4:34 (γαρ) [omitted in the Engl. vers.; “Neither was there should have been—For there was not.” (J. A. Alex.) Tr.]. It is hence evident that Luke designs to represent this community of goods, not as a measure demanded by any law or authority, but as a course of action which individuals adopted voluntarily; and this view is confirmed by the illustrative case of Joseph Barnabas, to which Luke specially calls attention.—But does this description of the community of goods imply that a general custom, admitting of no exceptions, prevailed, so that every individual (not indeed, compelled by a law, but in a voluntary manner) sold all his real estate, and placed the proceeds at the disposal of the Church? The words before us do not suggest an affirmative answer to this question. If, according to Act_4:32, not one declaredthat any of the things which he possessed was his own (ἔλεγεν ἴδιον εἶναι), this language unquestionably implies that his proprietorship remained undisturbed; hoc ipso præsupponitur, proprietatem possessionis non plane fuisse deletam. (Bengel). The owner did not retain possession of his property in a selfish spirit, allowing none to derive benefit from it; on the contrary, they had πάντα κοινά—all things were so employed as to supply the wants of all. When Luke continues his description of the action of the Christians, Act_4:34-35, the main feature is evidently the provision which was made for the needy; the work was performed with so much liberality and success, that no one suffered, Act_4:34; the wants of every individual were supplied, Act_4:35. This result was due to the sale of property on the part of all the members of the church (ὅσοι) who were owners of lands or houses; the funds which were thus obtained, were laid at the feet of the apostles (who sat when they taught), that is to say, the funds were intrusted to them as the almoners of the church. We are certainly authorized by the literal import of the passage to assume that all the owners of real estate, who belonged to the church, sold property, but not that they sold all the real estate of which they were the possessors. Each one contributed a certain portion, but it is not said here that each one disposed of his whole property; we are not even distinctly told that a single individual relinquished all that he owned. This passage, accordingly, can by no means be so interpreted, as to lead legitimately to the conclusion that it was the universal custom of the members (voluntarily observed, indeed, but still not neglected in a single case) to surrender the whole amount of their real estate for the benefit of poor members. Indeed, the special case which is now adduced, leads to the opposite conclusion.
Act_4:36-37. Joseph or Joses [the latter only another form of the name Joseph (Herzog: Real-Enc. VII. 33)] received from the apostles the surname of Barnabas, בַּר נבוּאָה, that is, son of prophetic discourse, or, exhortation [“literally, υἱὸς προφητείας; he was counted among the prophets, Act_13:1; but προφ. includes παράκλησις, an edifying discourse, Act_13:15; 1Co_14:3, thus authorizing the translation in the text.” (de Wette). See below, Act_11:22. b.—Tr.]; he was born in the island of Cyprus, and belonged to the tribe of Levi. He, too, sold a piece of ground which he possessed, and laid the money which he had obtained, at the apostles’ feet. He is the well-known Barnabas, who is afterwards frequently mentioned as an associate of the apostle Paul [e. g. Act_13:2]. That he was a Levite, is a remarkable circumstance; we are soon afterwards told that even many priests believed, Act_6:7. The surname of Barnabas, which the apostles gave him (as those of Peter and Boanerges, were conferred by Jesus himself), alluded, without doubt, to an extraordinary gift of the Spirit, which was manifested in the animation and the power of his addresses and exhortations. It was by no means inconsistent with the law that he (as a Levite) should own a piece of ground (Baumgarten), since even Jeremiah [the son of a priest, Jer_1:1] secured a field as private property, in accordance with the forms of the law, Jer_32:6-12. [The right of individual ownership might exist within the forty-eight cities and the territory adjacent to them, which were assigned to the Levites, Num_35:1-8; Lev_25:32 (Hack.), and it is probable, that after the return from Babylon, the restrictions imposed on the priests and Levites by the Mosaic law, Num_18:10-24; Jos_18:7, were no longer enforced (de Wette).—Tr.]. Hence Barnabas did not sell the land in order to comply with the requisitions of any law, but was prompted to take that course by his love to the brethren.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. When the believers prayed, they were supported by their faith in the omnipotence of God, who made heaven and earth, Act_4:24. This article of faith appears to many to be exceedingly trivial; nevertheless, it is one of the original and fundamental truths of revelation, from which faith continually derives new strength and consolation. The last book of the Scriptures, the Apocalypse, gives special prominence to this truth, which is revealed and illustrated in the first book of the Bible. As truth is an undivided whole, the component parts of which are essentially connected, no one article of faith can be undervalued without affecting the integrity of the whole (as far as an individual is personally concerned).
2. The second Psalm is the Scriptural basis of the prayer, Act_4:24 ff.; the divine inspiration from which it originally proceeded, revealed its true application, Act_4:25. Its divine character is demonstrated by the fulfilment which occurred in Jesus Christ. For David is here clearly the type of Jesus; as the former was the servant of God, so Jesus is the servant of God in the full sense of the word (παῖς, Act_4:25; Act_4:27; Act_4:30 [see abov, Exeg. and Crit. notes, on Act_3:13-14 a.]); as David, the king, was the anointed of God, Act_4:26, so Jesus is the Anointed of God, Act_4:26-27; as men rebelled, and resisted David’s royal rights and authority, so they dealt with Jesus, Act_4:27. But even as God then protected his anointed, and vindicated his character by divine acts, so, too, he will interpose in the present circumstances, and defeat his foes, Act_4:29 ff. For a greater than David is here [Mat_12:42].
3. What is, accordingly, the substance of the confession which the Church here pronounces respecting Jesus Christ? He receives, indeed, the same appellation which is given to David—each, is a παῖς θεοῦ, Act_4:25; Act_4:27. But, then, an incomparably higher character is ascribed to Jesus, not only when he is termed the Servant of God, while David is merely a servant of God, but also when Jesus is specially and repeatedly [Act_4:27; Act_4:30] termed ὁ ἅγιος παῖς θεοῦ, that is, he is distinguished from all that is sinful and unclean, and is infinitely exalted above David, serving God and his kingdom alone, as the consecrated servant and executor of the divine decrees. This description involves a most intimate and a peculiar union with God, of which there is no other instance. That union is implied in the confession that God performs miracles through [διὰ—“strictly meaning through, by means of,” J. A. Alex, ad loc.—Tr.] the name of Jesus, Act_4:30, that is, through Jesus, who is confessed and invoked, when these miracles are wrought. He is, accordingly, the Mediator of salvation, and of the miraculous operations of divine grace.
4. The pure and holy spirit of Christ breathes in this prayer. It exhibits no traces of revengeful feeling, of carnal zeal, or of a desire for the destruction of any enemies: however zealous these Christians are in the cause of God, all that they presume to ask is, that he would behold the threatenings of their enemies, and graciously enable them to bear witness in word and in deed, with confidence and joy. Even as Christ did not come to condemn, but to save the world [Joh_3:17], so, too, the apostles and other believers are controlled, not by the penal, burning zeal of an Elijah, but by deep love for the souls of men, who are to be saved through the instrumentality of their words and acts, and be conducted to salvation in Christ. And when the word is not bound, when Christ is preached with power and boldness, his cause will always triumph in the end.
5. The prayer and its answer. The prayer was offered in the name of Jesus, in communion with him, in his own mind and spirit. The promise is given unconditionally that such prayers shall be heard. The prayer was, accordingly, answered—it was answered immediately, and above all that they asked or thought [Eph_3:20]. Such prayers elevate, strengthen and sanctify the soul. The believers could not have been filled with the Holy Ghost, if they had not previously offered this prayer, Act_4:31.
6. This admirable union in spirit, Act_4:32, which was not only a union in faith, but also in brotherly love, demonstrates that the Christians were truly regenerated, and in a state of grace. It was a union which, combined with self-denial and a renunciation of the world, looked not “on its own things, but also on the things of others” [Php_2:4]. Each one felt the sorrows of the other, bore his burdens, and regarded his own possessions as common property. And as faith demonstrates its truth when it actively works by love, divine grace was with all, and upon all.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Act_4:23. They went to their own company, etc.—It is an advantage when believers are made acquainted with the dangers that threaten the Church; they are thus led to address earnest supplications to God, and to wrestle in prayer. (Quesnel).—A faithful pastor is greatly assisted, when, by the goodness of God, he sees around him those whom he can regard as his own company, that is, who are partakers of his grace [Php_1:7], and are united with him in oneness of spirit. Such a company of believers offers him a place of refuge, in which he can find relief and encouragement in the midst of afflictions. (Apost. Past.).
Act_4:24. They lifted up their voice, etc.—The most effective weapons which the Church can employ in distress and persecution, are prayers and tears [Hos_12:14].—If the prayer of a righteous man availeth much [Jam_5:16], the prayer of many righteous men, when offered with one accord, availeth still more. (Starke).—The lips of faithful witnesses of Jesus are never sealed; they either preach to the world, or cry aloud to God. (Apost. Past.).—Trials teach the individual, and the Church too, how to pray.—The communion of saints on earth: a communion, I. Of faith; II. Of affection; III. Of prayer.
Act_4:25-29.—Why did the heathen rage?—When the enemies of the Church rage, we are not permitted to yield to our passions, but are commanded to be calm, and to praise God in faith, patience and prayer. (Starke).—The genuine prayer of the Church, an acceptable burnt-offering: I. The altar on which it is placed—the communion of believers, Act_4:23; II. The fire in which it burns—the ardor of brotherly love, Act_4:23-24; III. The wind which, fans the flame—the storms of trial, Act_4:23-26; IV. The wood which maintains the fire—divine promises found in the evergreen forest of the Scriptures, Act_4:25-26; V. The Deity, to whom the offering is made—the Almighty Maker and Lord of heaven and earth, Act_4:24; Act_4:29-30; VI. The Amen that responds to the prayer—renewal and strength in the Holy Ghost, Act_4:31.—In what spirit should the Christian mention his enemies in his prayers? I. Without fear or dread; for he prays to the King of all kings; “if God be for us,” etc., (Rom_8:31) Act_4:25-28; II. Without wrath and hatred; for his prayers are directed against that which is evil, not against evil men, Act_4:29; III. Without pride and defiance; for he prays not so much with respect to his personal affairs, as to the cause of God, Act_4:29-30.
Act_4:30. That signs and wonders may be done.—The prayers of the Church work great miracles; they rescued three of our number from death, that is, myself, when I lay sick unto death on many occasions; my wife Catharine, who was equally near to death, and M[agister] Philip Melanchthon, who, in the year 1540, lay in a dying state in Weimar. Although such deliverances from sickness and bodily dangers are very ordinary miracles, they should still be noticed for the sake of those who are weak in faith; for I consider those as far greater miracles which the Lord, our God, daily performs in the Church, when he baptizes, administers the Sacrament of the altar [Lord’s Supper], and delivers from sin, death, and eternal damnation. (Luther).
Act_4:31. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken, etc.—Prayer worketh miracles: I. Those that are internal: the heart is filled with happiness; the soul is wonderfully strengthened; II. Those that are external: houses shaken, congregations awakened, enemies alarmed, mountains moved, the world convulsed.
Act_4:32. a. And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul.—Believers ought to be not only of one heart (as far as the will is concerned), but also of one soul (united in opinions and views). (Ap. Past.).—Affliction binds the hearts of the devout together; it severs those of the wicked, and enkindles hatred, selfishness and strife.—“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” Psa_133:1.—Herethe bride of Christ appears, adorned with the jewels of holiness—a joyful faith, and unity of the Spirit. (Starke).—This was truly a Paradise on earth; alas! how soon it passed away! Heb_13:1; Rev_2:4. (Quesn.).
Act_4:32. b. Neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed was his own.—The noble Communism of the primitive Christians, and the spurious Communism of the modern Communists; see above, Act_2:44-45, Hom. and Pract.—The apostles and disciples did not ask that the possessions of others, as of Pilate and Herod, should be common to all, as our senseless peasants now imperiously demand. But these men claim an equal share of the private property of others, and yet insist on retaining their own. They are, truly, admirable specimens of Christians! (Luther).—The true mode of contending against this modern and ungodly Communism, and against every false, levelling process, consists in the maintenance of the godly communion of Christians; the latter will, at all times, and in all places, conform to the indwelling royal law of love. (Besser).
Act_4:33. And with great power, etc.—The more violently men attempt to suppress divine truth, the more vigorously it manifests its power. (Starke).
Act_4:34. a. Neither was there any among them that lacked.—This result was, no doubt, produced in part by the community of goods which is here mentioned, Act_4:32; but it is to be ascribed chiefly to the grace of the Lord Jesus, which moderated their desires, and gave them contented and peaceful hearts.
Act_4:34. b. For as many as were possessors of lands or houses, sold them, etc.—We cannot more unequivocally demonstrate our gratitude to Jesus, who “became poor for our sakes” [2Co_8:9], than by submitting even to poverty for the sake of his poor members. (Quesn.).—He who offers himself as a willing sacrifice to the Lord, is likewise prepared to sacrifice his goods for the benefit of the brethren.—The providence of God, in its wisdom and mercy, alleviated the trials which the subsequent flight of the Christians from Jerusalem occasioned [see Mat_24:20, and Comment. ad loc.], by inducing them to dispose in time of their real estate, and to become literally pilgrims who retain no private property. (Apost. Past.).—The community of goods of the primitive Christians: in which of its features should it be taken as a model by Christians in our day? In what respects should it not serve as a model?—When may a Christian congregation be said to flourish? Act_4:32-35 : I. Where Christ is preached with fidelity (Act_4:33), true faith will manifest its power; II. Where true faith exists, a genuine Christian love will prevail (“of one … soul,” Act_4:32); III. Where Christian love prevails, all are prosperous (“neither was there any … that lacked,” Act_4:34).—The tempests of persecution which assail the Church, produce results similar to those which follow storms and rains in nature: all things seem to revive and bloom, and to grow and flourish with increased vigor and beauty, Act_4:32-35.
Act_4:36-37. And Joses [Joseph], who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas.—That every Christian should become a Barnabas, a son of consolation: I. By seeking consolation himself, in faith, in the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, 2Co_1:3-4; II. By freely imparting consolation to others in love: (a) with the words of his lips (affectionately encouraging them, which was doubtless the special gift that grace had bestowed on Barnabas, and that gained for him this honorable appellation; comp. Isa_40:1 : “Comfort ye,” etc., and Isa_52:7 : “How beautiful upon the mountains,” etc.); (b) with the gifts of his hand (with brotherly love relieving the wants of others, like Barnabas, Act_4:37.—“Let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth.” 1Jn_3:18).—The fraternal union of the primitive Christians: I. The fraternal prayer of faith, Act_4:23-31; II. The fraternal acts of love, Act_4:31-37.—[One Lord, one faith, one baptism (Eph_4:5), the true foundation of Christian union.—The rapid growth of the primitive Church: I. The direct means; (a) the inspired word; (b) the holy Sacraments, Act_2:41; Act_2:46; (c) the special gifts of the Spirit. II. The circumstances which promoted it; (a) the faith, Act_4:12; (b) the love, Act_4:32; (c) the zeal of the newly converted, Act_4:31. III. Its effects; (a) on the Church itself; (b) on its enemies; (c) on the world.—Tr.]
Footnotes:
[12]Act_4:24.—Δέσποτα, σὺ ὁ ποιήσας. Ὁ θεος between σύ and ὁ ποιήσ. is wanting in important MSS. [A. B. Cod. Sin. Vulg. etc.], and seems to be one of the many interpolations, by which the simple prayer was supposed to gain in beauty. [Alford retains the reading of the text. rec.—Tr.]
[13]Act_4:25.—ὁ διὰ στόματος Δαυῖδ παιδός σου εἰπών; many of the variæ lectiones (of which the most important are: διὰ πνεύματος ἁγίου, and, τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν), appear to be interpolations, intended to improve the original. [Alford says: “The text of this verse is in a very confused state. I have kept to that of the oldest MSS., adopted also by Lachmann.” He reads thus: ὁ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν διὰ πνεύματος ἀγίου στόματος Δαυὶδ παιδός σου εἰπὼι; with A. B. E. and Cod. Sin.—δια is inserted by D. before τ. στόμ. Tisch. reads: ὁ διὰ στόμ. Δ. π. σου εἰπών, omitting all the rest, in the ed. of 1849.—Tr.]
[14]Act_4:27.—ἐν τῇ πόλει ταύτῃ; this reading [after ἐπʼ ἀληθ.] is undoubtedly genuine, according to external testimony, and there is not sufficient internal evidence to justify the conclusion that it is merely a gloss. [Omitted in text. rec., on authority not stated, but found in A. B. D. E. Cod. Sin. Vulg., and nearly all the versions, and inserted by Lach., Tisch., and Alf.—Tr.]
[15]Act_4:36. a.—The most important MSS. and ancient versions read: Ιωσὴφ [A. B. D. E. Cod. Sin., Syr., Vulg., etc.]; that the reading Ἰωσῆς, which is less strongly supported, is merely a correction to suit Act_1:23 [Meyer], is only an unsupported opinion. [Lach., Tisch., and Alf. read Ἰωσὴφ.—Tr.]
[16]Act_4:36. b.—ἀπὸ τῶν ἀποστ.; this reading is somewhat more strongly supported [by A. B. E.] than ὑπό, and would scarcely have been introduced, if ὑπό, which is, grammatically, the easier form, had been originally employed. [ἀπὸ in A. B. E. Cod. Sin., and adopted by Lach., Tisch., and Alf.—ὑπό, of text. rec. in D., and retained by Alf.—Tr.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv23–25PETER AND JOHN DISMISSED FROM THE SAMHEDRIM, REPORT THE…
PETER AND JOHN DISMISSED FROM THE SAMHEDRIM, REPORT THE PROCEEDINGS TO THE ASSEMBLED DISCIPLES--THEY ENGAGE IN PRAYER--THE ASTONISHING ANSWER AND RESULTS. (Act 4:23-37)
being let go, they went to their own company--Observe the two opposite classes, representing the two interests which were about to come into deadly conflict.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv23–2523. Their own company—The body of Christians at their…
23. Their own company—The body of Christians at their own large assembly room. (See note on Act_1:13.)
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv23–2523–31. The Apostles released. Their Prayer and its Answer
23–31. The Apostles released. Their Prayer and its Answer
23. to their own company] Perhaps still abiding in the upper room which they had occupied before Pentecost. Because St Peter on a later occasion (Act_12:12) made his way, after his deliverance from prison, to the house of Mary the mother of John Mark where many were gathered together praying, some have thought that this was the house where the Apostles had dwelt from the first. Such men at such a time would have neither means (see Act_3:6) nor inclination to change from house to house. And Christ’s injunction (Luk_10:7), “Go not from house to house,” was given with a purpose which the Apostles would be likely to bear in mind and act upon.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv23–25(23) They went to their own company.—Literally, their own…
(23) They went to their own company.—Literally, their own people. The statement implies a recognised place of meeting, where the members of the new society met at fixed times.
All that the chief priests.—The word is probably used in its more extended meaning, as including, not only Annas and Caiaphas, but the heads of the four-and-twenty courses (see Note on Mat_2:4), and others who were members of the Sanhedrin.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv23–25Came for went, A.V.; the elders for elders, A.V.…
Came for went, A.V.; the elders for elders, A.V. To their own company. (comp. Mal_3:16) The chief priests (oiJ ajrceireiv); evidently the same as those who were described as being "of the kindred of the high priest," in ver. 6 (where see note).
The use of freedom.
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let go, they went to their own company." We have here an apt illustration of
I AN ACT INCIDENTAL TO LIBERTY. "Being let go the hand of restraint being taken off them went to their own company;" they followed the bent of their own inclination, and went to those with whom they were in sympathy. This is the constant accompaniment of human freedom. As soon as the parental hand is relaxed, as soon as the teacher"s eye is off them, as soon as the restraints of home and the guardianship of elders are removed, the young take their own course, follow their own bent, choose their own company. We never know what men really are until we take away the bonds by which we hold them in check, and they go "whithersoever they will whither their own principles allow, and their own tastes direct them.
II THE WISDOM OF THOSE WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR OTHERS. It is of little use to hold the reins so tight that, as long as they are held by a firm hand, there can be no wandering. What is to be the event when the reins must be thrown up? What will be the course chosen when they whom we guard are "let go"? If we do nothing mere and better than carefully imprison within walls of correct behavior, we shall be bitterly disappointed with the result. It is our wisdom and our duty to provide for the hour when those for whom we are responsible will be "let go," and when they will assuredly go to their own company will seek out those persons and those things with which they sympathize. We can only do this
(1) by implanting right principles, and
(2) cultivating pure tastes.
These, and these only, will lead the young, in the days when they act for themselves, to shun that which is wrong and to pursue that which is holy, wise, useful.
III THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF FREEDOM. Young people!
1. You will soon stand at the point where you will decide on your own course.
2. If, then, you are right at heart, you will walk in the path of life; choosing the company of the good, the ways of wisdom.
3. If, then, your heart is not right with God, you will be tempted to follow an evil bent. It will be a most perilous hour with you.
(1) To give way to the lower inclinations is to enter the road of ruin.
(2) If you love life and hate death, go not whither you would, but where conviction tells you you should. Hearken to the heavenly voice which says, "This is the way; walk ye in it. C.
Vers. 23-37. The resource of the devout, etc.
Released from the restraint of law, the apostles returned to "their own company," and there they related what they had passed through. We may be sure that the whole of that community of brethren entered, with deep and strong sympathy, into the feelings of their two leaders; they all felt that a very critical hour had come to that new cause which they represented. Under these circumstances they bethought themselves of
I THE RESOURCE OF THE DEVOUT. "They lifted up their voice to God with one accord" (ver. 24). They felt, as their prayer indicated, that:
1. All power was in his mighty hand: "Thou art God, who hast made heaven," etc. Vainly would the heathen rage, and kings and rulers conspire against the holy Child Jesus," the Son of the living God.
2. A gracious purpose was in his sovereign will. However earthly potentates might imagine they were carrying everything their own way, they were but "doing what his hand and counsel determined before to be done" (ver. 28).
3. He could impart a power which would make them superior to all fear of man. They asked for boldness of speech (ver. 29), and, with this end in view, for signs of his presence (ver. 30). Prayer is the constant, unfailing resort of all holy souls. What time we are afraid we must trust in him; we must flee unto him to hide us.
II DIVINE ENCOURAGEMENT. (Vers. 31-33.) The Lord responded to his people"s prayer, and granted them:
(1) a manifest sign of his presence and favor (ver. 31);
(2) the fearlessness of spirit they so much desired (ver. 31);
(3) power to testify of Christ (ver. 33); and
(4) inward, spiritual confidence and joy: "Great grace was upon them all" (ver. 33).
God now vouchsafes to his waiting children the blessings they seek of him: the assurance of his presence, power to act as his witnesses, success in their labors, rest and joy of heart in him and in his service.
III THE COMMUNITY OF THE FAITHFUL. (Vers. 32, 34-37.) The essential part of this passage is the opening sentence, "The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul" (ver. 32). The measure which they adopted, viz. a community of goods, was peculiar, exceptional, transitory. It is not a practical method, suited to such conditions as those in which we find ourselves. It is not enjoined by apostolic word, nor is it sustained by subsequent apostolic practice. It was evidently special, local, temporary. But it is essential that those who belong to the same heavenly kingdom, and especially those who are members of the same Christian Church, should
(1) cultivate a true and deep sympathy, "oneness of heart," and
(2) take some practical measures to supply the wants of the necessitous from the treasury of those who have more than they need. C.
Vers. 23-31. The joy of faith confirmed.
The Church, on hearing of the recent events, break out into expressions of joy. As usual on such occasions, the voice of ancient sacred song becomes their voice.
I OUR HELP IS IN THE CREATOR. Man"s need and weakness lead him now to shun and now to seek almighty power. There are awful moments when the soul"s sin seems to have called the lightning and the thunder from the sky, to have awoke the threat of the earthquake, the storm, and the sea. Other exultant moments, when the solemn sounds of the deep heart of nature are like the cannon of a friendly force advancing to a beleaguered city"s aid. The most powerful conqueror, like Napoleon amidst the snows of Russia, may be in turn conquered by the physical forces of nature. The moral forces represented in the will of the Almighty and All-Holy cannot be successfully resisted. This is the deep truth in the Davidic psalm.
II PHYSICAL FEEBLENESS WITH MORAL MIGHT.
1. In the case of David and his kingdom. Study the historical circumstances reflected in the psalm. Look at the tiny kingdom of Judah, placed amidst great foes on every hand. She led a threatened life for ages; it seemed impossible she could survive. Yet the small one became a thousand, the vine grew in spite of every cropping fox or wasting boar, the little lodge in the garden was not overthrown till it had sent forth a ray of light over the lands. Moral life, derived from the immediate inspiration of God, was in her. The enmity of the world served but to elicit and mature that life.
2. In the case of Christ and his kingdom. The like relation is repeated in another form. Corrupt Israel joins with pagan Rome in the attempt to suppress the truth and resist the will of God. David, the anointed king of Jehovah"s selection, is the type, in a lower relation, of Jesus, the anointed Prince in the higher and purely spiritual relation. Upon this analogy hope is firmly built. As the great prince of olden time had risen in Jehovah"s might superior to all his foes, so might his Antitype be expected to lay prostrate faithless Israel"s and proud Rome"s might beneath his throne of moral majesty.
III PRAYER THE INSTRUMENT OF WEAKNESS AND OF STRENGTH. Of weakness, for it implies dependence; and were our wishes convertible into facts, there would be no prayer. Some form of helplessness alone brings men to their knees. Yet it is the expression of strength; for strength in weakness is the very secret and heart of moral energy and of Christian piety.
1. The aim of prayer. It is that the human spirit may be united with the Divine, whether in action or in suffering. Action lay before the suppliants now action chiefly or wholly by utterance, which is ever the special action of the Christian witness. Boldness in that utterance the very thing which had impressed the Sanhedrim in Peter and John was the thing needed. The renewal of strength must come in prayer. God grants at one time only sufficient for that time. He does not allow the accumulation of capital. He lends that we may spend and come to him again. But boldness must rest upon the knowledge of facts. So closely does courage link with knowledge that the Greek philosopher even said they were identical. Without some evidence that God is on our side, we cannot have the heart to go on. Where, then, may we look for such evidence? The apostles sought it in the manifestation of Divine energy to cure. This was the significant symbol of his presence and of the intention of the gospel in those days. They were justified on the ground of experience, clear, repeated, and definite, in expecting this kind of encouragement. We, on the ground of our experience, are entitled to expect something different, but equally in its way real. Divine energy to heal through ways and means not less Divine because natural, we are to seek and make an object of our prayer.
2. The answer to prayer. In this case it came in a manner not to be mistaken by an immediate impression on the senses and on the inward consciousness of all The house trembled; their spirits vibrated to the inner touch of God; their tongues were loosed, and the sought-for fluency and confidence were given. How can we apply this to modern times? No sober Christian teacher dares to encourage the expectation of such "signs and wonders" now. They belong to a past mode of religious consciousness, a disused mode of revelation. For "God fulfils himself in many ways." How important to know in what direction to look for God the point on our horizon where he may be expected to appear. Much, the greater part, must be left to individual experience. Let every worshipper seek for the Shechinah in his heart. And in general, let us teach that no special manifestation of God is to be expected out of the lines of clear intelligent experience. Experience is itself the ordinary and most precious revelation of God"s will. And the experience of every soul, devoutly read, contains past wonders, and prophesies their recurrence. J.
Vers. 23-31. The grateful, emboldened, and prayerful Church, and the Spirit"s witness.
With all the naturalness of simplest truth, we are told how the apostles, in their new character of discharged prisoners, run away at once to their brethren of the Church. And we are in this passage taught how
I THE CHURCH SHOULD BE A HOME OF TENDEREST, MOST FAITHFUL SYMPATHIES, AND OF HOLY SOCIAL INTERCOURSE. NOW it is too often the place of suspicion, distrust, unhappy emulations. Or it is the place of coldest indifference. None welcome the coming, speed the parting, guest. Or it is only the place of an almost selfish seeking of the proffered religious instruction, or exhortation, or enjoyment that may, under those conditions, scarcely be realized. The germ of the Church showed far otherwise. The highest type of Church life possible on earth may be confidently calculated on to show something very different. And till such difference become plain in any part of the Christian Church, it faintly indeed reflects the glorious reality above.
II THE CHURCH SHOULD BE "THE ROYAL EXCHANGE" OF CHRISTIAN NEWS, OF CHRISTIAN ENTERPRISE, AND OF CHRISTIAN BUSINESS. The world may know, and all the better that it should know, the achievements of Christ and his truth. But the Church should know them still better, and often under very different aspects. Nor has the Church anything to conceal of its purposes or its methods; yet may these oftener be hallowed, and be more abounding and richer in grace and the elements of success, when considered and matured in the Church. If only we could imagine the account in detail which Peter and John now gave "to their own company" of their experience, and what their eyes had seen and their ears had heard, and of the irresistible impressions of the characters of others which had been made upon their minds, by the events of the past, say, fifteen hours, since they had been put in ward! Now every ear was attention, gladdened thought smiled on every countenance, and emboldened purpose stirred every heart. While anon the "threatenings" (ver. 29), that had been among the things which the chief priests and elders had said to them" (ver. 23), received also their due consideration. It is quite to be supposed that no one of that "company but found himself stronger for the joy of that hour, and more watchful and forearmed for what of forewarning it had in it.
III THE CHURCH SHOULD FIND THE PLACE IN FULLEST GRANDEUR OF ADORATION, GRATEFUL PRAISE, APPEAL, AND PRAYER, MET TOGETHER IN ONE SERVICE. Everything argues that the scene now before us was one of high inspiration. A large multitude of sympathetic souls hear the simplest tidings on a certain subject of the two liberated apostles; and though doubtless some one must have led off the chorus, forthwith the whole company "lift up their voice to God with one accord." And as we listen to that most real orchestra, what is it that we hear them singing? They uplift first the outburst of adoration; it is the snatch of a song sung by their ancestors a thousand years before (vers. 2426), and it simulates the responsive too. For it quotes the confirming word and declaration of God, putting it as if in response to the human ascription made first to him: "Lord, thou art God and thou didst say, Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?" We listen still, and there follows the recitative a few bars that tell the recent history of the Messiah, the anointed Jesus. But these strains do not die off without pronouncing in majesty the foreseeing, fore determining, sovereign counsel that belongs to God. Then follow appeal (ver. 29) and prayer (ver. 30), and they both were acceptable and accepted. In this appeal and prayer, with the reverent suggestion they venture upon stretching forth thy hand to heal there is something touching and pathetic. It were as though those who prayed bespoke of their sovereign Friend that he would not overlook the "threatenings" wherewith they were threatened, but that he would divinely checkmate these by again "stretching forth the healing hand," and again and again working "signs and wonders by the Name of Jesus," so that, together with faithfulness granted to his servants to speak the word, there might be superadded to them "bold- ness" in speaking it. Nothing less belts the character of the Word of God, scarcely anything more dishonors it, than to speak it fearfully, half apologetically, or with halting accents and uncertain sound. It is worthy to be spoken with that boldness which is all its own, and its own least due. Nothing on earth can equal the grandeur of a service like this. Such a service cannot find its habitat except in the Church. But has it found it there as often as it might?
IV THE CHURCH SHOULD WORK FOR ONE THING THE EMPHATIC WITNESS OF THE HOLY GHOST. Christianity is the dispensation of the Spirit. It is very certain that the most perfect outline of Christian truth is but a skeleton, and the most complete and harmonious and scriptural body of Christian doctrine but a corpse, except as the Spirit breathes life and power into them. The skeleton may be a marvel of adaptation and symmetry laid bare to the eye of whoever will behold, and the fashioned and filled-in body may be an exquisite model for grace and proportion; but they are dead till the Spirit gives the life. This is not to be supposed to need any proof now; but if it did, the word of Jesus himself about his own truth, previous to his death and after his resurrection, and the conduct and directions of Jesus previous to his ascension and to the day of Pentecost, amply prove it. But though it needs no proof, it may very largely need enforcement. Probably nothing so stays the advent of the grandest effects of Christianity as forgetfulness on the part of its professors of the force necessary, because divinely appointed, to give it effect. The Spirit is not honored as he should be in the Church. The Church does not "look for" his coming, nor wait for him, with much longing and with trustful prayer. At this very time and for some years past there has been a wonderful activity within the borders of the Church almost preternatural but, alas! not at all relatively evidencing the supernatural. "Lo, here!"and "Lo, there!" has long been the cry; so-called "revivals" have been proclaimed, and the stir of them, at all events, has been seen in most various sections of the Church; undeniably an unwonted industry of head and hand and foot has prevailed in the region of human instrumentality. And those who have thus wrought have been far too ready to "blow the trumpet and proclaim" a self-made and only self-found triumph. But where has the real life been evidenced? Where have real abounding fruits been witnessed? This is a thing not less remarkable than it seems, but far more so, and it begs to be approached, not with offhand explanation, but with exceedingly reverent scrutiny. That many men of incorrupt life and unsuspected simplicity of aim have labored with extremest zeal to lay hold upon their fellow-men for Christ, and the fruits of their labor have been a grievous gleaning instead of an undoubted crop! Collateral explanations and mitigating considerations must yield to the one solemn account of it. The Holy Spirit has not been in the midst of that work, has not been the beginning and the end of that activity. But what is this which we have here?
It is a refreshing crisis for which truly everything had prepared the way. Yes, but without it if it had not come everything that had gone before would have been dried to the aridity of the sandy desert itself. "When they had finished praying, the very place where they were assembled together was shaken." It meant the entrance of the Spirit of all power and might. "And the assembled believers were all filled with the Holy Ghost Pentecost repeats itself they spake the word of God with boldness." What thought, what hallowed musing, what prayer of the Church, should seek both for itself and for the world another visit of this same kind! B.
Vers. 23-31. Praise for safety and prayer for power
the court-room the apostles retired to the Church. Christian confessors win their victories in the face of day; but the strength by which such victories are won is only to be got where Jesus got his, in secret. Remember Luther"s broken cries as he lay on his chamber floor at early morning on the 18th day of April, 1521 (D"Aubigne, "History of the Reformation" bk. 7: Ac 8). In every crisis of strain and peril through which our lives must pass, at every moment of supreme difficulty, Sanhedrim threatenings, Worms Diets, or whatever less thing it be before which our faith and courage quail, there is for us no place of help like the secret footstool of Almighty God, nor any weapon like the cry of faith" (Dr. Dykes). Notice that the prayer of the disciples is addressed to God, not to Christ. Also that in the worship and prayer one voice led, finding expression for the common feeling, and the rest of the company probably responded with "Amens" spoken aloud. From the exegetical portion of this Commentary the precise meaning and allusions of the prayer may be learned. We dwell on two things.
I MAN"S PRAISE AND PRAYER. Compare other recorded songs and prayers. Espe cially unfold that the praise took the form of a psalm. Compare the so-called "Psalms of David." It was a public rejoicing on account of a Divine deliverance that was of public interest. Compare Miriam"s song at the Red Sea. Impress the duty of recognizing God"s hand in our lives, and praising him for his "merciful kindnesses." The prayer took the form of a request for precisely the things needed at the moment, viz. power to witness and power to work miracles, in attestation of the truth witnessed. An example of directness in prayer.
II GOD"S RESPONSE. TO MAN"S PRAISE AND PRAYER. A renewal of the special grace and endowment with which the apostles had been started on their work. Renewals of grace are still God"s best answers to our prayers. R.T. (2Co_12:9)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn vv23, 25And being let go, they went to their own…
Act_4:23-37
And being let go, they went to their own company.
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Being let go
We do not know what we or other people are until the restraint is taken off. We call ourselves free, but there is not an absolutely free man in the universe. We have the liberty of law. We have the freedom of a theocracy. The Lord reigneth, and He would reign to no purpose if He did not restrain every creature, and restrain with singular meaning and graciousness the creature who bears His own image.
I. Good restraints.
1. Socially, in the lowest level. He is an ungallant and wholly undesirable man who is not restrained by the presence of ladies. But for that you could not tell what language he would have used. He could not be in his true self, not because there are ten great fiery commandments staring him in the face, but because of an all-pervading feeling of refinement. But if such men be let go, and join their bad set, you see their quality.
2. Or take the limits of hospitality. A man says, I cannot avenge this insult now, because I am bound to show hospitality; but being let go, I shall feel entitled to say or do things which at present I cannot.
3. Or, still keeping within the scope of the question, the occasion makes the man. Say it is a solemn occasion, a funeral, people weeping because of the dead and gone. The modest man, at all events, halts, he is silent if not complaisant. He dare not say what he would at other times; but being let go away from the grave and the cypress shadow, you will see what he is really.
4. Look at, the subject religiously. Here we have the subtlest restraints. The tender memories, the old, old long ago, somehow, to kill that ancient time would be like strangling an angel. The old home feeling, the childish sounds, the old family usages, seem to keep us back with Beware I you had better not do it! Stand still! Who can estimate the value of a religious education? First prayers, first little verses learned and sung by bird-like lips--who can tell how these things will go with the child when he becomes a man, full of care and tempted to sin? The little things which now are matters of amusement, may stand one day up and say to the man, You used to be a pure-lipped child, a loved and loving creature; a thousand prayers were offered for your salvation. When you murder yourself, you murder a whole generation of mentors and suppliants.
II. Bad restraint.
1. A man is shut up in bad society, in a corrupt atmosphere. He never hears a word that touches his best nature; he longs for the higher and purer spaces; for moral liberty; he is a better man than he can be under his circumstances. God will make a difference, because He will have compassion upon some. He knows exactly what restraints are upon us, and what we would be if we could break the chain and fly upward into the blue heaven.
2. Others are crippled for want of means. We regard them as destitute of good deeds and high feeling, and we speak about them with our erring judgment. God will discriminate. He knows what the poor soul will be. There is a way out at the other end! Great moral freedom, liberty for giving the soul spaces to fly in, and temples to sing in not made with hands. God knows what munificence you would show if you had the liberty.
3. Many a man is misunderstood for want of liberty. He is waiting. I have known often splendid talents wait a long time for a chance. I have known men misjudged, contemned, spring up into their true selves when let, go. Their time has come; then you hear the music of their voice, and you know the length of their arm, and they were waiting--great men all the while.
Conclusion:
1. We each belong to a company, and until we have found our company, we are restless. We speak of being a fish out of water, as fully expressing the condition of men who are not in their own company. Some of us are only half in our right society. We were born for the gutter and were destined for low companionship, and by a singular force of gravitation we turn to that which is unworthy. Others, again, are the contrary. They are forced to do the things they hate. They say, It is not our nature; it is not the place I was born into. These are not the surroundings God meant me to enjoy. So by this discontent of soul God calls us to our own company.
2. But we may be converted! The lowest nature may be converted! The lowest nature may be made into the highest. The man who began with low desires may come to enjoy the desire for prayer. Conversion is the state which we are called upon personally to realise and represent. Mere restraint is not conversion. We are restrained from starting up in the midst of the service and going out. We seem to rise to the great spirit of the occasion, while we are in reality buying and selling, transacting our business. So we cannot tell what we are until the restraints are taken off, when we shall be left to our own company, and being let go, will only go downward. There are grades in devildom, and there is still a lower and lower, until we reach the pit that never ends.
3. Are we under the right influence? We cannot test it by mere laws, by mechanical arrangements and impositions. Only love can keep us, and love will keep us. And though we shall always have the liberty of doing wrong, we shall have within us the love which makes the use of that liberty an impossibility. Now ][ am about to let you go. Will you go to your own company? But, remember, young man, wisely trained at home, you have no business with that bad set. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Our own company
I. We all suffer a kind of imprisonment by our circumstances. There is--
1. The chain of work. We and our children must live. And in order to maintain this life, we voluntarily give away every day a part of our personal freedom. This necessity is on the whole a beneficent one, and it is perfectly consistent with personal freedom in the truest sense. But still there is imprisonment of some of the highest faculties. Faith, hope, love, joy, can all indeed have exercise in work, but not their most perfect exercise. What a prison a great city is, and how many are in it with hard labour! A fine morning dawns. You would like to wander away, to hear the gurgle of the country stream, to see the bloom on the trees, the bird on the wing, the clouds floating so restfully across the sky. But you are a prisoner. You can look through your bars towards the large and wealthy place but it is only a look. You must soon turn to your work.
2. The chain of habit. Not so much of a mans own habits as those of the society in which he lives--the conventionalities of life, in which every man is more or less bound. These are not at all insincerities, hypocrisies. They are generally a fair product of the state of society at the time. If our conventionalities were all away, some would be better, and some worse. So that all are in prison by them. There is a great resentment sometimes felt against those who break through; and such attempts generally end in submission. Take, for instance, our social gatherings. With all their freedom and geniality, there is considerable restriction imposed by the mere forms of society. One makes an endeavour to be natural and almost succeeds; but cannot quite. Another seeks to know his neighbour a little better, but the real man escapes him, and goes home to be known far more perfectly by his little children. Another endeavours to speak out his real sentiments; but the astonishment, pain, or disapprobation, make him almost regret that he has spoken--and certainly a little less likely to speak again.
3. The great strong chain of law. That is no doubt a grand safeguard of society. But while it protects it restrains. It protects partly by restraining. It makes some men more virtuous than they would be, and others a little less. A man could do some great good, and would, but the law forbids. He would only involve himself and ethers in difficulties and loss by making the attempt. Or he could do some evil. He has impure thoughts which might become actions; unjust longings which might become fraud, if the law were not there frowning defiance and suspending penalty.
II. In these environing circumstances, there are, now and again, clear providential openings--by which the real man himself comes out, seen by others, or seen only by himself and God! A changing time is always a critical time.
1. When the young man leaves home to come up to the great city, how intense is the parental and the friendly solicitude! He was safe here; but will he be safe yonder? Will he not slide or perhaps fall? Or will the change strengthen his will for goodness, and draw him more clearly into the ranks of Christs faithful ones? These are the searching solemn questions, but why do they arise? Because it is felt that even at home that youth was not fully known, because there are sleeping possibilities which other circumstances might draw out into actualities, and they are not quite sure how the scale might turn.
2. A change of residence in later life sometimes operates in the same way. There is then a complete break up in one class of associations. Living in the new neighbourhood seems to bring out a new man. It may be a better man, or it may be a worse. The gates of that social prison where before he was held in restriction, perhaps kept from ruin, have been opened, and he will show himself more as he is.
3. The continental journey is another opening of the wall. Persons then go to places the like of which they would never think of visiting at home, and altogether feel a freedom which they would in vain seek for with the ordinary circumstances of life around them. The freedom may be rightly used in putting aside the chains of opinion, prejudice, and custom; or it may be much abused. But it is freedom, and therefore develops some more of the reality of the persons than is usually seen in the walks of their home life.
4. Then again life as it goes on brings many opportunities for freer action and fuller display of the real inward man than ordinary circumstances permit. They are opportunities for good and for evil. To some they are the gates of righteousness, into which they enter and praise the Lord. To others they are but the door leading to an inner prison, where their feet are made fast in the stocks.
III. When so released we go to our own company. Every night what multitudes hasten through the door of opportunity to their own company! The day keeps them in prison, the night brings release. Let us follow some, and see what company they keep!
1. Take that young man for whom so much anxiety was felt when he left home. Enter with him--there is no company there. There is the little table for refreshment which is soon over; then he takes down the books to the study of which he will devote these evening hours--and that is the company he keeps. He is smitten with the love of knowledge, and what is far better, with the love of Christ. He is sure that he will have to serve Him in some sphere, and is resolved by study and prayer to make himself ready.
2. Or let us observe this young woman who has been busy all day with her needle. Blessings on her industry! honour to her virtue! peace to her home! To-night she is going to her own company before she reaches that home. There is to be a meeting for prayer, a great blessing is expected, and she must be there to ask among the rest.
3. Take another, a man. He has had what is called a heavy day; but, oh, what a lightsome welcome now that he is home I Little hands are soon in his, and little tongues are telling the wonderful things that have happened during the day; and smiles fall from another face, and there is a comfortable mingling of thought, and love, and sympathy, and heart with heart. The day opened to him the theatre of duty, the night thus brings him to his own company.
4. Another; where is he going? Westward, but not out of the city. On he passes along the busy streets under the gas-lights, until he comes to the flaring entrance of the place where his company will be. With perhaps just one twinge of conscience he passes in, and there among the gaudy and giddy throng he sits for hours listening to the music, or watching the display. And these he says are the happiest hours of his life. That man has reduced his soul to a pitiable condition when, having all this world to choose from, that soul being let go, finds its own selectest company in a frivolous throng like that.
5. And others go to places still worse, which we cannot describe; where the fires of Tophet are already kindled, where the guests are in the depths of hell, and there find their own company.
6. But enough! Where do we find ours? We shall say no more of places now, but speak only about persons. Who are the persons in whose presence and society our souls find their best company? What is their character? What is their aim in life? What will be their end? Suppose we had been imprisoned with the apostles, and with them set free, should we have gone with them to their own company? When we are set free, now and again in the course of our own life, do we long for and seek fellowship with faithful souls and pure hearts? There are but two companies in the universe. Even now there are but two, although in this world they are to us inseparably mingled. The division and separation is taking place by degrees. The gospel makes it. We ourselves make in those selective moments of our life to which we have referred. But it will be made infallibly and visibly at last by the Lord Himself, when the sheep shall be on His right hand, and the goats on His left. (A. Raleigh, D. D.)
Their own company
The crystallising power in nature. What we call the force of gravitation is a force most mysterious and constant. But the force of gravitation is simple compared with this many-sided ramifying force of crystallisation. The reason--ultimate particles of matter are seeking their own company; these ultimate particles of matter are possessed of attractive and repellent poles; and as these atomic poles attract or repel each other the shape of the crystal is determined. There is as well a certain crystallising power sovereign in society. Men and women have attractive and repellent poles. By means of this social crystallising power many and various social shapes are being formed--not always beautiful and noble, sometimes evil, ugly, disastrous. Concerning this crystallising fact and force in society, in the light of this narrative, consider--
1. Hindrance. See whole narrative as to how Peter and John were hindered from going to their own company. So, often, we are somehow hindered from seeking the company really most congenial to us. Work, social requirements, regard for reputation, lack of money, hinder. Apply to young men, etc.
2. Permission. And being let go--work ceases, social requirements allow, special danger to reputation passes, wages are paid. Men are free.
3. Like goes to like. Character asserts itself. These apostles went to the company of the pure because they were pure.
4. Lessons.
(1) It is a mans own company which nurtures what is predominant in him.
(2) A mans own company discloses him to others.
(3) A mans own company discloses him to himself.
(4) A mans own company is the test of the regenerate life. We know that we have passed from death unto life if we love the brethren.
(5) A mans own company settles his destiny. (Homiletic Review.)
Being let go
Being let go, they went to their own company. That means for one thing that we do not know until straits come, what a mans heart and real disposition are. You have your children with you at home, and think that your children have a love for this, and a liking for that, and a strong desire for the other, but let them go, and then you will see; as long as they are under parental restraints, you really do not know what they are. They must be tested by being let go. They go to their own resort, and to their own set. Oh, what painful things happen in family life when the children are old enough, and you must let them go, when home restraints are removed! Then you thought they loved whatsoever things were honourable and of good report, and they, perhaps, themselves thought it too. It is not so much hypocrisy as an illustration of the solemn truth that the heart is deceitful and full of evil things. Being let go, the real heart in them takes command, the real pilot takes the wheel and guides the vessel according to his liking. Being let go they went to their own company. See, for example, the restraints of religion. I think I am a religious man, you think that you are religious people, but if in some way I could be let go from the ministry, and if you could be let go from the eyes that are upon you in this place, from the associations and routine that brings you here, where would you go? What is in the heart determines the life. To-night you are set free from business, and in a sense you are let go from the office, but are you, is your heart really let go? Are you going into the holy work before us to-night, or is it not the case that even while you are sitting here, that being let go, your heart is back to the stocks and shares, the buying and the selling, that even here your heart is seeking its true home, its true happiness.? It is not in this thing, is it? There are reasons why we come, why in a sense we like it, but let us be honest with ourselves. It is what we like that is the true man or the true woman. How does the heart go when we are let go? But if I have thus spoken of the dark side, bless God there is a brighter side, and I trust that we can even, when we meet here to.night, experience the happiness and brightness of the better side. When we come to the House of God, to the prayer-meeting, from all outward life, because we like to do it, we like to come, like bairnie with her mother, a wee bird to her nest, we fly home to God, to the Bible, to God and the Book of God, and the House of God, when we are let go. We delight when the cords are snapped, and when we can come into the House of God. Only during the day there is a kind of chafing restlessness within us. Oh that the evening would come that I might get to my own company I Being let go they went to their own company. Just as at school, I suppose we looked as if we liked our school, we looked as if we were diligent, we had to be so outwardly, but when four oclock came and the doors were open, did you ever see the schoolboys that departed reluctantly, as if they could hardly cross the threshold and go away from the blessed place? We nearly tumbled over each other rushing away. Being let go, out we went home. And yet we were not hypocrites. It is that our heart was in it, and we were restrained; we were tied up, held back, but being let go, the full momentum and swing of our disposition got out. Thank God, then, for the bright side, and I would say you are encouraged to make much of the bright side. If you know God, then thank God, for that is a fruitful plant that never grew up in the dry dreary sand of our worldly heart. And if I speak to any to whom this word is sad, you say, Well, brother, I wish I was like it, I wish I could rush to the fellowship of Gods people, as those apostles rushed to their own company, and as children rush home from school, and the tired business men flying home by bus and train to the sweetness and seclusion of their own homes in the suburbs. I wish I had that desire for the House of God. There is more gladness of heart here than if I were in the theatre or music-hall, or giddy dance or banquet, with its so-called feast of reason and flow of soul. Here the best and deepest, the truest thoughts in you get out, and lay hold of the deep, true, living, satisfying God. Being let go, they went to their own company. It is that, let me just urge, that we should cultivate still more, this company and fellowship. Do not let a little keep us back. How disappointed the apostles would have been if they went to their own company, and found a small meeting when such great interests were involved. My father said, when he was a lad going to school, they had to take their own fire with them, the coals were not then provided as they are now, and every lad carried his peat under his arm. That was his contribution of heat. Bring your peat under your arm, and like one that is let go, like an arrow from the string, come gladly and brightly, and I will try and come with mine, and every little makes a mickle, and it is wonderful what a roaring, open fire we may have, even in this dull neighbourhood of Regents Square, what light and warmth before God, and to His praise. Let us come as the apostles did, when being let go they went to their own company. I like to think of the text in its final application. There is a day coming when we shall be let go. The dark side and the bright side of my text will receive its final and truest illustration then, for every man goes to his own place. And when the stroke of death cuts all our cords, and we drop this muddy vesture of clay, and are, at last, let go, we will hardly need the judgment day and verdict of God. Some will rise as glorious ones, treading the way unto the throne of God, and some will go into outer darkness, for they always loved darkness rather than light, and they will get it. Being let go, God at last will say, I will restrain you no more, I will argue with you no more, you would be free, be free. He that is filthy, let him be filthy still, he that is holy, let him be holy still. Be let go and find your own company. This is the Lords election. This is the natural law that runs through the spiritual world, even He that worketh in all our fellowships and friendships, our likes and dislikes, our drawings and repentings. It is being let go that a man finds his level, and seeks and gets his own company. At the great day when some of us go past the judgment seat on our way home, and hear the word, Come ye blessed, it will just be a re-echo of this, for you have been always coming ever since you were converted. It was the end and trend, a focus of all your way and work. Only when some of us hear the thundering curse, Depart! we shall understand then that we were, always cursed. I never knew you, what a solemn word! How bright! How black! Thank God that grace can make it for you and me all bright. The Ethiopian can change his skin, the leopard can change his spots, the vilest can be changed, and changed by the abundant grace of Christ, received through simple faith in Christ. Another few minutes and you are let go, and you go to your own house, and a rebound will take place. The heart will slip round to its true base. Watch it, for Gods sake, and your own. Being let go when the preachers voice is still, the holy words are no longer spoken, the holy place with its associations no longer present here, God grant that it may be all bright. (J. McNeill.)
Company
?:--
I. Every man has his company.
II. Sometimes men are restrained from keeping the company of their friends.
III. When these restrictions are withdrawn, men return to the company of their choice. Life itself is a restraint, separating us from the companions we have chosen, but when it ceases, its restraining power will cease too, and we shall go to our own company in heaven or in hell. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
Every man to his own place
I. The disciples went to their own company. They naturally desired the society of those who had sympathy with them.
II. Every person belongs to some company. There are two classes: saints and sinners. Affinities, proclivities, etc., are only subdivisions of these.
III. Restraints of life may prevent our openly joining our company.
1. Our work.
2. Public opinion.
3. Policy.
4. Interest.
5. Lack of courage.
IV. When these are removed each person will go to his own place. What a change would follow if this world had no social, civil, or moral law laid upon it--every one a law to himself! The devil in man would make havoc in human history. This has been proved wherever restraints have been slackened.
V. The test of character found here.
1. What is our company?
2. Are we restrained by work, circumstance, or policy from joining it?
3. Is it a company God can approve of?
4. What is our influence on it, and its influence on us?
5. We shall go to our own place at last. (G. F. Humphreys.)
Happy only in our own company
The following incident was told in my hearing in one of the villages of Canada to illustrate the truth, which so many ignore at the present day, that there must be a change of heart if we are ever permitted to enjoy the rest that remaineth for the ,people of God. Some years ago there was to be a prize-fight at a certain place in England, and a party of men chartered a steamboat to take them to the place at the time appointed. Another steamer was engaged to take a party of Christians to different kind of fight--a fight against wrong-doing, that every soldier of Christ is called to engage in under the Captain of his salvation. The place of the last-named conflict was a Methodist camp-ground. Just as the last bell rang on each steamer (both were chartered to leave at the same hour--half-past two p.m.) two men were seen running towards the steamers as they were moving out from the wharf, and both sprang into what each one thought to be his own company. But, oh! what a mistake! the Methodist saw that he was among prize-fighters, and the prize-fighter found that he was among Christians. Do you suppose those men were contented and happy in their different company? Is a fish happy out of water? No, not happy, but miserable, you say. So each of those men were miserable because they were out of their element. The Methodist came to the captain, and said, Captain, I have got into the wrong steamer, and I am not going to stay here; it is like hell to be among these men who are cursing and swearing; take the steamer back and let me get out. I intended to go to a camp-meeting; yonder is the steamer I ought to be in. But his trying to get himself righted after he saw he was wrong was fruitless. Well, what about the other man? Oh, you say, he was all right and happy among those good Methodist people. But you are mistaken, for he was in a worse dilemma than the Christian man. He went to the captain and asked him to take the steamer back, as he said he must go to the prize-fight. But the captain said, No: our orders are to keep on our course as long as there is nothing wrong with the steamer, and we must obey. Then the man offered the captain money if he would turn back, but the captain was as determined to go on his voyage. By this time the Methodists thought they would show their faith by their works, by talking to the prize-fighter about his soul; but the prize-fighter could not endure it, so he went to the captain again and begged of him to bring the steamer a little nearer to the shore and he would jump into the water and swim to land. (John Currie.)
Every creature after its kind
A mysterious, reciprocal attraction drew Peter and John together, although they were by no means alike. Perhaps their differences rendered them more suitable to each other; as a mans strength and a womans gentleness bind two into one in married life. This noble pair were of the three chosen disciples, were companions at the sepulchre, and were together through all the stages of this incident. Now being free they go to their own. Like draws to like. When evil was to be done the rulers laid their heads together. Birds of a feather flock together; and if one bird has been for a time imprisoned, when the cage is opened it will fly straight and quick to the place where it left its mates. On this principle proceeds the pigeon telegraph. The instincts of animals are perfect in their kind. When a captive lamb is set at liberty it never halts until it has rejoined the flock. With equal exactness does the washed sow return to wallow with her fellows in the mire. Thus suddenly and surely did a worldling, who had for a time been arrested by the discourses of Jesus, leap back into his element of filthy lucre. As soon as there was a pause in the sermon he went to his own: Master, speak to my brother that he divide the inheritance with me. An example of the opposite tendency in a renewed heart is seen in the possessed man whom our Lord delivered at Gadara. Being let go of Satan he went to his own--to his own Saviour and fellow disciples. How often when professing Christians go abrOad, they leave their religion behind them. It was never more than an external thing, a bondage, and therefore when removed the irreligious soul goes to its irreligion. A young man has been accustomed to the order of a Christian household. As the lines of restraint were laid on him while an infant, he is not very conscious of them. But he leaves for the great metropolis. If his religion has been only a cord round his neck, like the bit and bridle which holds the horse, he is now free; he will go to his own and seek the company of the careless or the profane. Cords of this kind were fastened on Judas, but when at last he was let go what a leap he made into his own place! Demas was brought for a time under the mighty influence of Paul, which, however, gave way one day, and to the present world, his chosen portion, gravitated Demas, as a stone sinks when you let it go. But the new creature acts after its kind as well as the old; when the chains of bondage are broken the captive returns to his Fathers house. A youth who has got a new heart becomes an apprentice in an engineering establishment where his lot is east among the profane. In the first hour they discover that a saint is among them, and do everything that devilish ingenuity can suggest to make him one of themselves. If his religion had been a conventional gilding it would have been rubbed off in the first week; but as it was all gold the more it was rubbed the brighter it grew. The first evening came, and each went to his own company--the apprentice, articled by an eternal covenant to the Saviour, went to the fields, the flowers, the birds, with which he had been wont to keep company at home; then to his food, which he enjoyed with the fresh relish of a labourer, and the fresher relish of a child of God constantly getting daily bread from a Fathers hand; then to his Bible, his own Book; then to his own Saviour, in faiths confiding prayer. A whole legion of wicked men will not overcome this youth--maybe he will subdue some of them and lead them captive to Christ. Yet another lesson. The grave has a greedy appetite, and all go to it. A strange place for Christs members to be in! But some day they must be let go, and then they will go to their own company. An atom of air may have been imprisoned in some strong vessel at the bottom of the sea for ages. At last the vessel gives way, and the atom of air, though long an exile, has not forgotten its home, and will not miss its way. It rises in a sheer straight line through the thick heavy waters, nor halts till with a joyful burst it reaches its own. Be of good cheer, disciples of Jesus. Ye are of more value than many atoms of air. (W. Arnot, D. D.)
Men will go at last where they are fit to go
It is related of the distinguished Rev. Dr. Bellamy that he had seasons of deep despondency, when he was confident he was going to hell. His brethren often laboured with him in vain. One day, after all reasoning had failed, one of the ministers said, Well, brother, you know more about yourself than we do. To us you appear very well: but, after all, you may be a whited sepulchre--beautiful outside, but inwardly full of corruption. If so, you will go to hell. I should like, however, to know what you will do when you get there? Do? cried the doctor, with great animation and emphasis; what will I do? I will vindicate the law of God, and set up prayer-meetings. All right! said the brother; but in that case the devil will not keep you there; he will soon turn you out as unfitted for his place and company. The doctor was happy. Men will go at last where they are fit to go; and those who spend their lives in the service of God would be poor company for the devil and his angels, while those who hate God and despise Christians here must have strange notions if they expect to be for ever happy with them hereafter. The disciples, being let go, went to their own company. So all will go at last. (J. L. Nye.)
Features of the apostolic Church
By so simple a term is the infant Church designated--a company. As soon as Jesus had ascended, we find that there was an assembly of His followers, who continued with one accord in prayer, resorting to an upper room (Act_1:18; Act_1:14). This small assembly was speedily increased by fresh adherents. Our Saviour never formally organised His Church: He left it to the operation of the human mind assisted by Divine influence. Men find it necessary to associate together for all important interests, and would be sure to do so for religious purposes.
I. The nature of the Church.
1. It is a voluntary company one to which men are not born, but to which they attach themselves by choice and from conviction. Such assemblies were at first formed in various places, and were each called a church. The term was not then used, as it has since been, to mark the whole body of Christians in any district; but always either for the whole Church or for some particular society. In the former sense, we read that Christ is head over all things to the Church. In the latter we hear of the Churches of Achaia and Macedonia; of the Church which is at Corinth, or at Ephesus, or even in the dwelling of a single family.
2. It is a separated company; a holy society; its members are called to come out from among the people of the world.
3. It is a spiritual society, as opposed to a merely civil association. Nothing secular properly belongs to the Church. Just as we cannot, by artificial embellishments, add anything to the real beauty of nature; so all that man has aimed to add, in the way of pomp and circumstance to the Church of Christ instead of adorning, rather disfigures it.
4. Though human instruments are employed in this society, yet it is wholly of Divine institution. All its varied offices and administrations are of Divine origin: He gave some apostles … for the edifying of the body of Christ.
5. It is an immortal company. The individual members die; but fresh generations of saints are continually rising up in succession. The sacred lamp may be removed from one place, but it is only that it may burn brighter in another.
II. The design with which the Church is formed.
1. For the benefit of every individual belonging to it. The Good Shepherd, while He feeds the whole of His flock, has a particular respect to the state and wants of every member. As in the first age all had all things in common, so real Christians will now be ready to share their joys and sorrows; to help the needy in temporal wants; and most of all to cherish a spiritual union and sympathy. Christian intercourse unites the hearts of the saints, they that feared the Lord spake often together.
2. For the salvation of others.
III. The manner of its government. As every society, to be well-ordered, requires rules; so there are rules of Church government. These indeed are very few and very simple: real Christians need very little law; the law is for the lawless and disobedient: but theirs is the law of love; love is fulfilment of the law. (R. Hall, M. A.)
The apostles at liberty
I. The whole church is interested in the proceedings of its individual members. Peter and John gave their report to the whole company. It was a report of--
1. Gracious success. A man had been healed, and therein the name of Jesus had been glorified.
2. Opposition, suffering, threatening. This is the kind of report which the Church will render until the end of its beneficent course. The two sides should be looked at together--the one will stimulate, the other will give new aspects of sin, and call for increasing devotion.
II. The right method of treating opposition to the Kingdom of Christ.
1. See what the apostles might have done.
(1) They might have fled before difficulty. If we are exposed to all this we shall give up our work: we are not equal to it; it will be a losing battle, our enemies are so many and so strong.
(2) They might have formed themselves into a secret society for their own edification and comfort. Contemplation would have taken the place of service.
2. What they did do. They lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and committed themselves to Him as unto a faithful Creator. A prayer offered under circumstances as peculiar will show the strength and purpose of the Church. It did show--
(1) The profound religiousness of the Church. Instantly the disciples flee to the Holy One. There is no paltering with second causes; no drivelling talk about difficulty. Opposition brought the Church face to face with God.
(2) The clear doctrinal intelligence of the Church. They fell back upon the great histories and prophecies upon which Christs kingdom rests. Again and again it is seen how thoroughly the early Church knew the sacred writings. This is the strength of the spiritual life. Let the Word of God dwell in you richly.
(3) A supreme desire for the glory of Christ. The apostles were referred to as servants. It was for the Holy Child Jesus that the suppliants were concerned.
(4) Preparedness for further service (verse 29).
III. The spiritual and social results which follow the right acceptance of service and suffering.
1. A vast accession of spiritual grace. The disciples were all filled with the Holy Ghost.
2. A vast accession of spiritual power. They spake the Word of God with boldness.
3. The consummation of spiritual union. They were of one heart and one soul.
4. The ideal of social beneficence. They claimed nothing as their own, but had all things common. In such a case opposition became the occasion of infinite good. There was no wordy controversy, but a renewed dedication to Christ. All opposition should be met in the same way. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Christian socialism
The narrative gives us such a view of this as throws the secular thing into contempt, and reveals the lamentable imperfection of modern spiritual fellowship. From it we learn that early Christian socialism was--
I. Attractive. No sooner were the apostles free than they returned as if drawn by magnetic force to their chosen society. There were two things that rendered it attractive.
1. Responsive listening. There is a law of mind which urges a man to communicate what he deems of great importance. It is also a law to seek the most responsive listeners. To those who will give a cordial hearing we go, rather than to the hostile or indifferent. True Christian socialism involves this. There the speaking brother will find an audience all candour and love. This is not the case in the cavilling, captious, secular socialism, and alas! not always in the Church where there is too often the prejudice that deafens the ear and closes the heart.
2. Sympathetic cooperation. For this we instinctively crave, and without it the strongest are weak. Without the breeze of social sympathy the sails of our spirits would collapse in the voyage of duty. Peter and John knew that they had this, and so were strong in prison and before, the council, and when let go they instinctively found their way to their sympathetic brethren. Thus was Christian socialism attractive. Kindred souls flowed to it as rivers to the sea. What circle is so attractive as that which has--
(1) A common object of supreme affection.
(2) A common class of dominant thoughts.
(3) A common cause engrossing the chief activities of being. This is the ideal of Christian fellowship. Would that it were everywhere realised.
II. Religious. This comes out in--
1. Ascription. Here We have a recognition of Gods--
(1) Authority. Lord, Thou art God. The word is that from which despot is taken. Deeply did the company feel the absoluteness of the Divine control.
(2) Creatorship. Which hast made, etc.
(3) Revelation. By the mouth of Thy servant David.
(4) Predestination. They regarded all the enemies of Christ as unconsciously working out the eternal plans of heaven.
2. Supplication. Note--
(1) The substance of their prayer. They invoked
(a) Personal protection. Behold their threatenmgs, i.e., those of verses 17 and 21. The meaning is, Guard us and frustrate the evil designs of our enemies.
(b) The power of spiritual usefulness. That with all boldness, etc. Protection is desired for service, not because they dreaded martyrdom.
(c) Miraculous interposition. That signs and wonders, etc.:
(d) Enable us to work miracles that we may be more successful in spreading the knowledge of Christ. This power Christ had promised; they had an authority, therefore, to seek it.
(2) The success of their prayer (verse 31). In answer there was--
(a) A miraculous sign, familiar to Old Testament saints (Exo_19:18; Psa_68:8).
(b) An impartation of Divine power--to preach the gospel.
III. Amalgamating (verse 32). Note in regard to this amalgamating force that--
1. It was most hearty and practical (verse 34). The thorough unity of soul expressed itself in the surrender of worldly goods. Aristotle defines friendship as one soul residing in two bodies. It was so here. The rising tide of brotherly affection bore away from their hearts all love of gain.
2. It consisted with a diversity of position and service (verses 35, 36). The apostles were both the spiritual and economical heads of the community. Material bodies may get so thoroughly fused as to lose all their individual peculiarities; but minds, however closely welded together by social love, will retain for ever their individuality of being, position, and mission. Social unity is not the uniformity of a regiment moving with one step and in the same garb, but rather like the variety of the landscape, each object clad in its own costume and bending to the breeze according to its own structure and style. It is not the sound of one monotonous note, but all the varying notes of being brought into sweetest harmony.
3. It was produced by the gracious favour of heaven. Great grace was upon them all.
(1) The love of God was the parent of their liberality.
(2) This liberality brought the esteem of men. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
They lifted up their voice to God with one accord.--
Resource in trouble
I. God Almighty (verse 24). It is good sometimes to think of the affluence of the Divine power. Take, e.g., the central object in the heavens which God has made: the sun--diameter, 112 times that of our own earth; surface, 12,611 times that of our earth; volume, 1,400,000 times that of our earth. Suns light--800,000 times greater than that of the full moon, 22,000 million times more than that of the most brilliant star. The sun--the source of light, heat, life. And yet, all the manifold action on this earth of ours is carried on by the two thousandth three hundred millionth part of the force radiation by the sun. For that is all the earth can grasp of the suns rays given out in all directions. It is by this pitiable fraction of the suns mighty power that all the earths work is done. Now, God is a Sun--how limitless His power, etc.
II. As All-Wise God. David, thousand years before, sang, yet prophesied: Why do the heathen rage, etc. (verses 25-27). That is to say, that which was predicted is now taking place. Thou are not, O God, taken by surprise and disappointed. Disastrous as it seems to us, it is shining clear to Thee.
III. An all-controlling God. For to do whatsoever, etc. (verse 28). Mystery here, but comfort. Here is the great helpful truth that God controls.
IV. This almighty, all-wise, all-controlling God, laid hold of by prayer (verse 24). No thought unto them that such a God could not answer.
V. This almighty, all-wise, all-controlling God, laid hold of by prayer, that in them the Divine will may be accomplished. They do not ask to be released from persecution, but that in their present circumstances they may be enabled to accomplish their Christian duty (verse 29). They ask for magnificent self-surrender. Thus they take sides with God. They are as One with the nature of things. Defeat is impossible, Theirs must he the deliverance of victory. Application. Do not let your trouble get between you and God. Let your trouble shut you up to God. (Wayland Hoyt, D. D.)
Prayer and the promises are doubly dear in extremities
When I first went to sea, as the winds arose and the waves became rough I found difficulty to keep my legs on the deck, for I tumbled and tossed about like a porpoise on the water. At last I caught hold of a rope that was rolling about, and then I could stand upright. So when troubles invade we lay hold of Gods faithfulness to His promises, and, holding fast, we can securely stand. (H. G. Salter.)
Primitive worship
No doubt there was something in it of a special character. It was held at a moment of danger. There was that, therefore, in the circumstances from which Gods mercy has spared us. Should we be here at all, were it otherwise? Those of us who even in quiet times, when it is respectable to be a Christian, cannot conquer indolence, forego inclination, brave a smile or a sneer, in behalf of Christ; what would they do if the voice of the world turned altogether against Christ? Certainly, then, our thanksgivings should arise to God for having permitted us to live in quiet times. And then we ought to set ourselves to make our worship as much like theirs as by Gods grace we can.
I. The manner of this worship. They lifted up their voice to God with one accord. Not their heart only, but their voice.
1. Some have called this the first example of a creed, one of those joint utterances of a common faith which our Church has prescribed to us, e.g., in I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. Lord, Thou art God, which hast made heaven and earth, etc.
2. Others have seen in this the proof of the existence of a Liturgy. They have said that, in order to lift up their voice to God in these words, they must first have known them. We will not enter into these arguments: they at least want certainty.
3. It will be enough for us to observe, that, while one spoke, all followed; the well-known voice of St. John or St. Peter led, and they who heard found no difficulty in adding a humble voice, as well as a pure heart, to the words of supplication, accompanying the speaker to the throne of the heavenly grace, and saying the prayer after him. In this elementary point let us be earnest to resemble them. If the heart is engaged, the voice will not be withheld.
II. Its nature. It was--
1. Reverent. How profound is the adoration of God as the alone Great and Good and Holy! How solemn is the sense of that rightful sovereignty over all things! The least that can be looked for in this House of Prayer is reverence; the feeling of the sinful approaching the Sinless, the creature the Creator.
2. Scriptural. Who by the mouth of Thy servant David hast said. It is not essential to prayer that it be in Scripture words, but it is essential that it be founded on Scripture doctrine; that our petitions be addressed to God as He is, and not to God as we fancy Him. And we can only know God as He is by becoming acquainted with Him in His Word.
3. Believing. Unbelieving men would have seen only Herod, etc., banded together against God and against His Christ, and said, What are we against the world? But their eye was not thus bounded. Above all human agency for evil, they saw the hand of God working wholly for good. The murder of Jesus, what was it? In itself, a Satanic, a diabolical act; in its consequences, the working out of Gods counsel; the redemption of a world.
4. Practical. We are too ready to let our prayers stop with themselves; to be satisfied if a ray of comfort, if a passing thought of peace is left behind them. We have our reward, even as we prescribed it. But these worshippers looked to conduct, to duty, to future trials of their faith and constancy, and asked for grace sufficient. To quicken this zeal, to strengthen this devotion, they pray that Gods hand may still be outstretched to heal; that He will never leave them without witness, but will give them daily proof that His holy Servant Jesus is indeed strong to help, mighty to save. We ought in prayer to bethink ourselves of coming trial; and while we trust God implicitly with the unforeseen, to ask His help expressly for that which we can see before us. One word of definite request is worth volumes of vague general aspirations.
(1) In itself; because it is real and means something; because it is the address of a living man to a living God on a topic which concerns life.
(2) In its effects; because one thing actually granted is a proof of being heard; is Gods own witness to His own grace; is a token for good, shown and proved, encouraging confidence in Him who is not only the Giver of single blessings, but the Fountain of all goodness, and the very source of life.
III. Its effects. An immediate sign followed it. The place was shaken. These things are of the past. Men then looked for outward signs, and wanted them, while faith was young. In this age there is no outward sign which scepticism could not account for: signs would not convince the infidel, and the believing ask not for them. But has God, then, no sign for His people? Has worship no sign of its acceptance? Is there nothing now corresponding to the altar-flame which attested Gods regard to mans offering? Yes, there is an inward peace following upon Divine communion: a glow of faith, and a comfort of love, and a joy of hope, by which the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are sons of God. He who seeks God with all his heart, on any occasion of worship, shall find Him, and know that he finds: he shall feel it good for him to be here, and he shall be sent on his way rejoicing. Filled with the Holy Ghost, by a conscious communication between his soul and God, he shall go forth, to bear a more manful and a more consistent testimony to the gospel. Conclusion:
1. Expect great things from worship. Worship will be, in great measure, what you make it in your use and expectation. If you look for much, you will also receive much: if you expect little, you will also reap little.
2. Carry your worshipping thoughts forth with you. Let them not be dissipated by idle words, by foolish levity, just outside or even within these walls. The great enemy will watch you after this service, that he may catch away the seed sown. (Dean Vaughan.)
The prayer of the Church at Jerusalem under persecution
I. The prayer.
1. It contains a distinct acknowledgment of Gods almighty power. Lord, Thou art God, etc. Our highest conceptions of the power of God are derived from the act of creation. Finite power can shape and fashion, but it can never create.
(1) God created the heaven of heavens: the place where He has erected His throne, and where He is pleased especially to manifest Himself to the heavenly powers. There the humanity of Christ is seen. That world our Saviour has described as His Fathers house. If the Queen of Sheba fainted at the sight of the splendour of Solomons court, what shall be thought of the temple of the great King? He created all the inhabitants of that world. Of these there are various orders. Thrones, dominions, etc. Their numbers are great. All derive their existence from God, their immortality, their mighty intellect, their profound and comprehensive knowledge, their burning love, their rich and elevated enjoyments.
(2) He made the visible heavens. The sun, moon, stars, and planets. Their magnitudes; the regularity and rapidity of their motions; the vast sweep of their orbits; all declare the greatness of His power.
(3) He made the earth. Its plains and valleys, its deserts, its hills, its mineral substances, its refreshing springs, its daily and annual motion, with its changing seasons, the clouds which supply it with the fruitful rain, the winds which sweep over its surface, the atmosphere in which it moves, all attest the greatness of His power. He made all that the earth contains. The varieties of the vegetable kingdom; the fowls of the air, with the endless train of sentient creatures. Man, his outward frame, so fearfully and wonderfully made, his mind, by whose sagacity the secrets of nature are penetrated, and the unruly elements and animals made subservient; and by which the knowledge of God is acquired, and a spiritual worship is presented. The lesson is that the mighty hand which fabricated all this is pledged to defend the Christian from evil. Hence this prayer. The storm of persecution was raging around. The danger is appalling; but God is near; and His people take refuge in His almightiness. What is the power of the rulers before the great Lord of earth and sky? The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe! Here, then, is an example worthy of imitation. In every perplexity and danger, let us call upon God in prayer, and cover ourselves with His omnipotence. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will we not fear.
2. A distinct acknowledgment of Gods governing wisdom (verses 25-28; cf. Psa_2:1-12.).
(1) Because the men who put our Lord to death did that which God had determined before to be done, some have concluded that they were compelled. But as to the perpetration of it, this opinion is dishonourable to God, and injurious to piety. We shall prove that it is not the doctrine of Holy Scripture.
(a) It was Gods purpose that His Son should die. This was the appointed method of human salvation. Man had sinned, and could not be justified without an atonement. That atonement was therefore determined in the counsels of the Divine Mind before time began; for He verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world. The death of Christ, therefore, was in effect declared in the first promise: was prefigured by the sacrifices of the old dispensations, and was attested by the prophets. But now note that so far as the Jews were concerned, the crucifixion involved a criminal inattention to the predictions of their own Scriptures. They wilfully shut their eyes against the light of the clearest evidence, as to His real character, arising from His miracles and teaching. To suppose that God should solemnly forbid all this wickedness, and reveal His wrath against it, and yet impel any of His creatures to commit it, is a foul aspersion upon His truth and holiness, as well as upon His justice and love.
(b) It has been rashly concluded, that if the authorities had believed in Jesus, and forborne to lay violent hands upon Him, the Divine plan of redemption must have failed; but such apprehensions arise from very imperfect views of the depth of Gods counsels. His wisdom could have devised a thousand means of securing the death of His Son independently of all sinful agency. If He does not need mans work, in order to the accomplishment of His plans, He certainly does not need mans wickedness for any such purpose. But on such a subject it is useless to speculate. The death of Christ has been accomplished, and with it the worlds redemption.
(e) Some persons have thought that the prophecies imposed upon the Jewish people a necessity to put Jesus to death; but of this there is no proof. Prophecy, in this case, was simply an expression of Gods foreknowledge. Had the conduct of the Jewish and Roman authorities towards our Lord been friendly, the Divine Mind would have seen it to be such; and prophecy would have corresponded with it. Simple foreknowledge no more influences a fact than after-knowledge; and the actions of a moral agent are no more determined by a mere prediction than they are by history.
(2) In all the circumstances attending the crucifixion we have a striking display of the wisdom of God. The Jews unquestionably intended--
(a) To cover His name with indelible odium, but God has made it an occasion of the highest glory.
(b) To subvert His spiritual kingdom. Vain men! The means which they adopted led Him to the possession of a dominion wide as the universe, and lasting as eternity.
(c) By the frightful and tormenting death to which our Lord was subjected, to terrify and scatter His disciples. Here again we see the short-sightedness of man; the Cross was the means of binding the disciples of Christ to Him for ever.
(3) Here, then, is another ground of confidence towards God. He who thus brought good out of evil is always the same. Men are often taken by surprise; but He sees the end from the beginning, and is therefore prepared for all events.
3. A direct application to God for His immediate interposition. They request that supernatural boldness may be given to the apostles in the exercise of their ministry. This is a very remarkable petition, and places in a striking light the singleness of heart of the first Christians. Ease, honour, liberty, friends, life itself, are all to be sacrificed, rather than the word of God should be bound. As one means of inspiring the apostles with the requisite boldness, the Church pray that miracles may be continued and increased It is here assumed that miracles are the peculiar work of God: for had miraculous power been inherent the prayer would have been absurd. Miracles were indeed wrought by the instrumentality of the apostles, because they were intended to authenticate the system of truth which they were appointed to teach; but the miracles themselves were effects produced by the immediate exertion of Gods power; and in every instance they depended upon His will.
4. The prayer is marked by the absence of all wrathful feeling. In preaching Christ the apostles violated no law; injured no man; they conferred the greatest possible good upon multitudes. While thus discharging their consciences, and benefiting mankind, they were censured, imprisoned, brow-beaten, and severely threatened. Yet the only allusion made to this cruel and unreasonable conduct is, And now, Lord, behold their threatenings. How like their Lord who, when He was reviled, He reviled not again!; and when He suffered unjustly, He forbore to threaten. In the same spirit Stephen suffered There was a time when the disciples proposed to punish inhospitable people with fire from heaven. But now they were actuated by holier feelings. The spirit of Christianity is a spirit of love.
5. The prayer presents a beautiful example of Christian unanimity. The assembled multitude lifted up their voices with one accord. How different from the congregations of ungodly men, brought together for some worldly object, and actuated by selfishness, anger, or curiosity (Act_19:32). Here is a complete unity of purpose and desire. Not a wandering eye, no listlessness, inattention, or formality; no silent lips; for here is no cold and unfeeling heart. The Holy Ghost has produced in them all an intense desire for the preservation and extension of the cause of Christ. Oh, when will our assemblies resemble this! When shall we cease to complain of late attendance upon our religious ordinances? of undevout worshippers?
II. The answer which God graciously vouchsafed.
1. They received a sensible token of the Divine presence. The place was shaken. The entire fabric was moved by the power of God; but not a stone seems to have been displaced. The effect must have been somewhat similar to that produced on Jacob and Elijah (Gen_28:16-17; 1Ki_19:12-13). Only in this case there was no guilt to terrify; for their sin was purged; and the weakest among them was greater in Divine knowledge and heavenly enjoyment than the most distinguished prophet. To them, therefore, the presence of God was the cause of holy joy. Miracles are no longer necessary, and are therefore discontinued; but God is as really present in the assemblies of His people at this day as He was when they met in Jerusalem; and our whole spirit and behaviour in His house should correspond with this conviction.
2. They were favoured with a rich effusion of Divine influence. They were all filled with the Holy Ghost. This being the case--
(1) They were, of course, emptied of all that was opposed to His mind and nature; and whatever was defective in the piety of any of them was now supplied. Those that were weak in faith were now inspired with strong confidence. Each of them was entirely sanctified to God, and made perfect in every Christian grace. They were not only saved from all sin, but were filled with the fulness of God. They dwelt in God, by constant acts of faith and love; and He dwelt in them in all the fulness of His Spirits power. It may be justly questioned whether the power of Christianity was ever more strikingly manifested than upon this occasion. Who were these people? The greater part of them were Jews upon whom the spotless purity of our Saviours example, and even the resurrection of Lazarus, had failed to make any salutary impression. They had actually been His betrayers and murderers. Yet they no sooner believe in Jesus, and are brought under the full power of the Holy Spirit, than they become examples to the Church in all ages till the end of time. Who, then, can despair of the conversion of any one? Why should we not in the present day witness displays of the power and grace of Christ equally striking? Even our missionaries never meet with people more deeply depraved.
(2) They spake the word of God with renewed boldness. They had a full assurance of the triumph of the Christian cause, whatever opposition they might encounter. Hence they preached Christ at every opportunity with dauntless ardour; for they felt that God was with them, conferring upon the world the richest blessings.
(3) The multitude of them that believed were of one heart, and of one soul. The little flock had now become a multitude; yet were they perfectly one in spirit. No angry controversies agitated them; for they had not learned to attempt the settlement of questions which no human sagacity can solve. The authority of the Son of God was sufficient to fix the assent of their understandings, as it was to sway their will, and command their obedience. There was in them such an identity of feeling, and tenderness of sympathy and affection, as the world had never previously seen. The more wealthy shared the blessings of Divine Providence with the poor; and the hearts of all were so set upon the heavenly treasure, that none of them called the earthly things which belonged to him his own. They lived not under a low degree of Divine influence; nor was that influence limited to a few individuals. Great grace was upon them; and it was upon them all. Thus was the dying request of the Saviour answered (Joh_17:20-23).
3. The cause of Christianity was greatly extended. The Church prayed that God would stretch forth His hand; and now the historian goes on to state, that by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people.
Conclusion: The subject reminds us--
1. Of our obligations to the merciful providence of God, for our exemption from those harassing persecutions by which the Church was formerly oppressed.
2. In times of trouble to seek relief in prayer. Though we are exempted from legal persecution, we are liable to various other calamities, from which we have no means of escape.
3. Of the true secret of the Churchs power. Weak as the Church is in itself, it is armed with Gods truth. This is the weapon which no form of evil can effectually resist, when it is rightly applied. The Church is also favoured with the presence and operation of the Holy Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is zeal. Let us return, then, to the first principles of our holy religion. Let us study Christianity as it is embodied in the books of the New Testament, and as it was exemplified by the Church under the Pentecostal baptism of the Holy Spirit. (Thomas Jackson.)
The prayer of the primitive Church
Prayer is not the origin of a movement, but the result of one. You stand on the margin of a lake, and hear a mysterious sound coming from the dead wall of a grey ruined castle that stands on an island near the shore. The sound, however, was not generated in that ruin. The words of a living man, wafted over the still water, struck the old silent keep, and its wall gave back the echo. Prayer, mans cry to God, is the second of a series of vibrations, an echo awakened in ruined dumb humanity, by Gods sweet promise coming down from heaven. We may discover the specific promise to which this prayer replies (Isa_40:26-27). What a sublime position these suppliants occupy! They are admitted into the Divine counsel. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him. They were able to mark in the Scriptures the precise spot they had reached in the scheme of providence, as a ship-master marks his latitude on his chart. In the quiet confidence of faith they realise that hostile combinations only accomplish the gracious purpose of God. In verse 29 comes the most important of all their requests. Parliamentary petitions are sometimes of great length. There may be a narrative of facts, long and intricate; there may be the citation of precedents; there may be arguments and plans; but it is common to pass over all these when the document is presented, and to read only what is denominated the prayer of the petition, i.e., the clause at the end which declares what the petitioners want. Verse 29 contains the prayer of this petition. And what was it? Not vengeance, not immunity from danger, but grace to be faithful under persecution. This exhibits a beautiful distrust of self and confidence in God. Their only anxiety was lest natural shrinking from suffering should tempt them to conceal the pungent parts of their testimony. Our circumstances are diverse from theirs; yet the pressure which tempts to timid unfaithfulness is only removed from one side to another. The fear of man bringeth a snare, but snares are not all of one shape or material. A force that is diffused and soft may have a greater pressure than one that is sharp and hard, as the atmosphere over a mans body lies heavier on him than any other burden he ever bore. To threaten a witness for Christ with the prison or the scaffold is one way of turning him from his faithfulness, to set before him the favour of a polished but worldly circle is another. If two ships are lost at sea by the false pointing of their compasses it will make no difference as to the loss of property or life that the compass of one ship was prevented from pointing truly by a nail that fastened it to the deck, and that the compass of the other was secretly drawn aside by a mass of iron concealed in the hold. Thus an ancient preacher who held back the truth for fear of the dungeon, and a modern minister who softens and disguises the truth, because a gay, worldly, and critical congregation listen, must stand side by side. (W. Arnot, D. D.)
The burnt offering of a true Church prayer
I. The altar on which it must be placed: the fellowship of believers.
II. The fire in which it should burn: the glow of brotherly love.
III. The wind which must blow on it: the storm of persecution.
IV. The wood with which it should be fed: the Divine promises taken from the ever-green forest of Scripture. W. The God to whom it ascends: the Almighty Creator and Lord of heaven and earth.
VI. The Amen which falls to its lot; renewal and strengthening of the Holy Ghost. (K. Gerok.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson1891 · Public DomainOn vv23–2523. Came to their own company. To the body…
23. Came to their own company. To the body of Christians assembled together, and there reported what had taken place.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary1892 · Public DomainOn v23Act_4:23. Their own company.—Not the apostles merely, but their…
CRITICAL REMARKS
Act_4:23. Their own company.—Not the apostles merely, but their friends in the faith generally.
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Act_4:24. O Lord!—Addressed not to Christ, as in Act_1:24, who, however, is also called δέσποτης (2Pe_2:1; Jud_1:4), but to God as the absolute Master of the universe which He has made (Act_14:15; Neh_9:6; Isa_42:5; Rev_4:11).
Act_4:25. By the mouth of Thy servant David should be by the Holy Ghost, by the mouth of our father, David Thy servant—the mouth of David being regarded as the mouth of the Holy Ghost. The text in this verse is confessedly difficult, and “doubtless contains a primitive error” (Westcott and Hort). The citation is from the second Psalm (LXX.); which is undoubtedly ascribed to David.
Act_4:26. For Christ read Anointed, which term, however, applied by pre-eminence to Christ.
Act_4:27. The best texts insert in this city, ἐν τῇ πόλει ταύτῃ, after of a truth (compare Act_10:34), which certifies the fulfilment of the divine oracle in the proceedings which were taken against Christ by both Herod and Pontius Pilate (Luk_23:1-12).
Act_4:28. To do whatsoever, etc.—Compare Act_2:23.
Act_4:29. Lord.—As in Act_4:24. Here distinguished from Jesus.
Act_4:31. The place was shaken.—In answer to the prayer of the disciples, not by an earthquake (Kuinocl), which, according to the notions of the time, gave intimation of the presence of the Deity (see Virgil, Æneid, 3:89, 90: Da pater augurium, atque animis illabere nostris; vix ea fatus eram, tremere omnia visa repente), but by a supernatural movement of the chamber according to the promise of “signs on the earth” in Act_2:19.
HOMILETICAL ANALYSIS.—Act_4:23-31
The Apostles with their own Company; or, the Welcome of the First Confessors
I. The report of the apostles.—
1. To whom it was delivered. To their own company—i.e., to their own colleagues in the apostleship, or, more accurately, to their friends in the faith, who doubtless had convened at their usual resort, the upper room (Act_1:13), on learning of the arrest and imprisonment of their two principal leaders. Christ’s people, as brethren, should cultivate between each other a spirit of mutual confidence and sympathy (1Pe_3:8), bearing each other’s burdens, and so fulfilling the law of Christ (Gal_6:2), and remembering that when one member suffers all the other members suffer with it (1Co_12:26).
2. Of what it was composed. “Of all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them.” Most likely of nothing they themselves had said in reply to the chief priests and elders (Chrysostom). If so, the report must have been as remarkable for its omissions as for its inclusions. For Christ’s servants there is a time to be silent as well as a time to speak (Ecc_3:7); the former, when the glory of self is concerned (Pro_27:2), the latter when the honour of Christ or the safety of His cause is endangered (1Co_16:13). If “all the words of the chief priests and elders” were faithfully reported, it may be confidently assumed that none were added to them; “if nothing was extenuated” it may equally be assumed that “naught was set down in malice.”
II. The prayer of the congregation.—
1. By what it was prompted. By the dark outlook which, according to Peter’s and John’s report, loomed before the friends of Jesus—the highest ecclesiastical tribunal of the land having pronounced against them. As yet the adherents of the New Cause were a feeble folk, poor in wealth and obscure in station, and therefore ill fitted to contend against the “powers that be” either in Church or State; and though for the present the hostility of the Sanhedrim was held in check by the popularity of the New Cause, no one could predict how speedily the favour of the crowd might change and the aspect of affairs be completely altered.
“An habitation giddy and unsure
Hath he that buildeth on the vulgar heart.”—Shakespeare.
And well the Church in Jerusalem knew, or might have known from the case of its Master (compare Mat_21:9 with Act_27:22), that the present popularity of the apostles might not long continue.
“The noisy praise
Of giddy crowds is changeable as winds.”—Dryden.
Hence, in circumstances so depressing, the Church betook itself to prayer—invoked the aid of Him who is without variableness or shadow of turning (Jas_1:17). An example deserving imitation by all (Psa_50:15; Psa_91:15; Php_4:6).
2. To whom it was directed. To God, the only hearer of prayer (Psa_65:2), addressing Him
(1) As Lord, or Master—i.e., as the possessor of absolute authority and power (Deu_3:24; 1Ch_29:11-12; Psa_62:11), this being the import of the term used by Peter—a term which he also applies to Christ (Act_1:24; 1Pe_2:3; 2Pe_2:1), as Paul likewise does (2Co_3:17; Php_4:5).
(2) As Maker of the universe in its three parts—heaven, earth, and sea, with all that in them is; and therefore as mightier than the Sanhedrim or all Christ’s foes combined.
(3) As Inspirer of sacred Scripture, who by the Holy Ghost, speaking through David, predicted beforehand the opposition of earth’s kings and rulers to Christ’s cause and the utter folly of it, and therefore as one in a manner obliged by fidelity to His own word to defend them in the crisis which had arisen.
(4) As Lord and Father of Jesus, His holy Child and Servant, for both renderings may be adopted; and consequently as one who must necessarily be constrained by love and faithfulness to champion Christ’s cause. N.B.—Petitioners at God’s throne should have a clear grasp of the greatness, majesty, and power of Him whose favour they bespeak.
3. In what manner it was presented.
(1) With one heart. “One heart,” says Delitzsch (Bib. Psych., p. 295, E. T.), “is the conscious perfect agreement of will, thought, and feeling”; and such oneness of heart existed in the present instance. All realised the danger, discerned the only quarter whence help could be procured, and bestirred themselves to act in concert in a fervent approach to the Heavenly Throne. Prayer, of course, is only then united when the hearts from which it issues are united, and to such prayer special hope of success has been given (Mat_18:19-20).
(2) With a loud voice. Whether all recited the prayer together cannot be concluded from the writer’s words. Act_4:25-26, culled from the second Psalm, would doubtless be familiar to the audience, and if the whole passage (Act_4:24-30) was an early Christian liturgy composed shortly after the crucifixion (which is only conjecture) the whole congregation may have simultaneously and vocally joined in the supplication, though it is more likely one led the devotions with his voice while the rest followed with their hearts and voices also as they felt inclined. Baumgarten’s view may approach the truth that all sang the second Psalm, while Peter, or some other, applied the contents to their situation in the terms here recorded.
4. For what it entreated.
(1) That God would look upon the threatenings of Christ’s adversaries, and consider the situation of His praying servants. The peril then impending they regarded as of a piece with, in fact as a continuation of, the machinations which in that very city had been formed against Jesus by Herod and Pontius Pilate, and along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel who had then come together out of every tribe, to do whatsoever God’s hand and counsel had foreordained to come to pass. Here again in the prayer of the congregation, as in Peter’s sermon (Act_2:23), the sovereignty of God and the freedom of man are recognised, without the feeling that these were incompatible the one with the other.
(2) That God would embolden His servants, the apostles, and the disciples generally, to speak His word—of grace and mercy, salvation and eternal life—without shrinking through fear of man. Not a whisper escapes their lips about calling down vengeance upon the heads of their persecutors. (Contrast Luk_9:54; Luk_22:49; Joh_18:10.) The spirit of their dying Master having taken possession of their hearts, they only ask for themselves courage and constancy, that they might stand fast and not grow weary and faint in their minds (Heb_12:8).
(3) That God would continue to stretch forth His hand in works of healing such as had been performed upon the lame man, doing signs and wonders through His holy Servant Jesus. This alone, the special manifestation of Almightiness, they craved. It was a prayer remarkable for its comprehensiveness and its brevity, its sublimity and its humility, its intelligence and its faith.
III. The answer of God.—Given in three ways.
1. A shaken chamber. Scarcely had their supplication subsided than the walls of the house trembled, “as if they had been touched by the wings of the descending Spirit” (Spence). This supernatural vibration of the edifice, like the sound of the mighty rushing wind on Pentecost (Act_2:2), betokened the Divine Presence. (See “Critical Remarks.”)
2. The descending Spirit. “They were all filled with the Holy Ghost.” As on Pentecost, they were again taken possession of by an inward spiritual influence, which abode not with them always, but seized them at intervals. This to be distinguished from the permanent inhabitation of believers by the Holy Ghost.
3. Courageous preaching. “They spake the word with boldness.” Not within the chamber merely, but outside, in the temple courts and on the streets (Act_4:33; Act_5:12; Act_5:21; Act_5:25). What they prayed for had been granted, instantaneously (Isa_65:24) and literally (Mat_21:22).
Learn.—
1. That the best refuge in time of danger is God.
2. The best prayer is that which directly tells God the soul’s or the Church’s need.
3. That the best way of overcoming enemies is to pray for their highest good.
4. That the best evidence of being filled with the Spirit, is to speak the word with boldness.
HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Act_4:24. A Congregation at Prayer.—A model for the times.
I. United.—“With one accord.”
II. Fervent.—“They lifted up their voice to God.”
III. Reverent.—“Lord, Thou art God,” etc.
IV. Believing.—“Who by the mouth of Thy servant David,” etc.
V. Intelligent.—They knew whom they addressed and what they wanted.
VI. Merciful.—They asked not for vengeance on their enemies.
VII. Hopeful.—They had large expectations as to the future of Christ’s cause—“that signs and wonders,” etc. (Act_4:30).
Act_4:25. Vain Imaginings.
I. That God’s purpose of salvation can be defeated by man’s opposition.
II. That Christ’s cause can be destroyed even by the fiercest persecution.
III. That the Spirit’s work upon the earth can be arrested by the most powerful combinations against it.
The World’s Treason against its King.
I. The fact.
II. The impotence of their rage.—It is very useless anger. It accomplishes nothing.
1. It won’t alter the purpose of God.
2. It won’t make Him afraid. “Are we stronger than He?” asks the apostle. “Hast thou an arm like God?” asked Job 3. It won’t shake the eternal throne.
4. It won’t change truth into error, or error into truth. It tries to do this. But in vain.
III. The reason of their rage.—
1. Because they hate God Himself.
2. They hate His government.
3. They hate His Song of Solomon 4. They hate His Bible.
IV. God’s reasons for allowing this.—Why not arrest the blasphemy?
1. To show what the evil of sin is.
2. To show the abysses of the human heart.
3. To show His power and grace.
V. God’s time for interposing.—The close of the Psalm shows that He will interfere at length. He is not slack concerning His promises and threats.—H. Bonar, D.D.
Act_4:24-31. The Christian Conception of God.
I. A triune personality.—Father (Lord), Son (Christ), and Holy Ghost.
II. The Maker of the Universe.—Of “heaven and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is.”
III. The hearer of prayer.—Implied in the Church’s supplication of His aid.
IV. The inspirer of Scripture.—“Who by the mouth of Thy servant David hath said.”
V. The providential ruler of the world.—“To do whatsoever Thy hand and counsel determined before to be done.”
VI. The omniscient observer of all men and things.—“And now, Lord, behold their threatenings.”
VII. The author of salvation.—The Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by whose name signs and wonders, moral and spiritual, as well as physical and temporal, were done.
Act_4:29. Boldness in Preaching.
I. Because the preacher’s commission is from heaven.
II. Because the preacher’s message is the Word of God. Which is
1. True;
2. Life-giving;
3. Much needed;
4. Indestructible.
III. Because the preacher’s foes are feeble.—In comparison with those who are on his side.
IV. Because the preacher’s helpers are divine.—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Act_4:18-31. Christian Courage.—“And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus,” etc. It is always an impressive moment when a jury, or an important deliberative body, is about to render a decision. This is especially true if the question at issue involves vital interests, and the determining body speaks with authority. To such a decision from such a body the text relates. The scene is in Jerusalem, soon after Pentecost. In considering the conduct of these men, thus arraigned, threatened, and commanded, we notice—
I. The test of the apostles’ courage.—It is evident that the early followers of Christ did not design or wish to separate themselves from the Jewish Church. They differed from other Jews in believing that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah; but they still supposed that the way into the Messianic kingdom was through the portal of the Jews’ religion. Hence, although those of kindred spirit met privately for worship in each other’s houses and in upper rooms, the disciples of Jesus kept up their observance of the Mosaic ritual, and were constant attendants upon the temple service. See now these men, Peter and John, confronted by a positive command from the nation’s highest tribunal to be silent. This is the first utterance of the Sanhedrim concerning the new religion since Christ’s resurrection. These men remember how determined this same court had been upon the crucifixion of Him in whose name they have been teaching. If they persist, can they expect a better fate than befell their Master? We can have little conception of the severity of the ordeal. National love, respect for law, pride of race, reverence for institutions hoary with age, strength of social tics, personal friendships, a shrinking from becoming disturbers of the peace, fear for personal safety—all these conspired to intensify the command “not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.” What enables them to oppose the Sanhedrim’s command? It is their personal love for Jesus. In their hearts a fire has been kindled, and their breasts are aglow with flame. To be silent is impossible. “We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” Instead of being silent, they proclaimed Christ with added boldness. There are currents in the sea which, despite opposing winds and storms and tides, move on their way unhindered, impelled by a mighty force hidden far in the ocean’s depths. Such a force in the hearts of these disciples was love for Christ. This caused them to listen to the Sanhedrim’s decree unmoved. Love had cast out fear. Such courage, resulting from such love, could then, and can always, bear the severest test.
II. The manifestations of the apostles’ courage.—Men are sometimes called courageous when they are only reckless. The man of real courage will be bold enough, and calm enough, to act wisely. His bravery will be something more than bravado. In the conduct of the apostles—commanded by the sanhedrim to be silent, and they resolved meanwhile to speak—every mark of true courage is manifest. They show that their course is not prompted by impulse or passion. They are moved by deep convictions. “Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.” They plant themselves on the highest conceivable ground, the sense of right. They have no ambitious ends to seek, no revenge to gratify, no popular applause to gain. There is no other courage so lofty or so enduring as this. It keeps the nerves steady and the head cool and the heart brave. Note, as an evidence of wisdom, how sagaciously the apostles appeal to this self-same principle of right in the minds of their accusers. The idea of unquestioning allegiance to God was deeply implanted in the Jews’ religion, and the Sanhedrim was set for its defence and inculcation. Who, then, better prepared than the Sanhedrim to decide whether it be right to “hearken more unto men than unto God”? “Judge ye.” This sense that it is right to hearken more unto God than unto men enters into the universal consciousness. Whether this principle is adopted in one’s practical life or rejected, it must and does commend itself to every man’s conscience. Those who adhere to it gain the confidence of all. It is the right rule for the young to select. Another manifestation of the apostles’ courage is seen in the company they keep. “Being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them.” The scene now changes from the council chamber of the Sanhedrim to the midst of the Christian brotherhood. Those to whom they are come have doubtless been praying for their imperilled brethren. How changed the aspect! In the Sanhedrim the air was dense with suspicion and malice—here is love, purity, and the peace of heaven. Courage is of the right kind when it seeks to sustain itself by breathing an atmosphere like this. It is a praying circle into which these apostles come. “They lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, Thou art God.”
III. The source of the apostles’ courage.—What has transformed the timorous Simon to the undaunted Peter? The answer is not far to find. A heavenly influence has fallen upon him. This new-born courage of the apostles, although in them, was not of them. Its source was above: it was a divine energy infused within them; the breath of God’s Spirit upon their spirits. Christ did not send the apostles into the trials and persecutions incident to their day without providing them with a power adequate to every want. What Christ did for His early disciples He does to-day. Often to-day the need of Christians is courage. Now the opposition to be encountered is not, usually, persecution or prison doors. It may, however, be something requiring as true a heroism to withstand. So long as the world remains as it is, no Christian, and especially no one just becoming such, will find himself where to stand by his principles will not often be at cost, and require an effort for which he is inadequate only as God shall help him. To this end the Holy Spirit is given.—Monday Club Sermons.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey1900 · Public DomainOn v2323-31. During the imprisonment and trial of Peter and…
SECOND PENTECOST
23-31. During the imprisonment and trial of Peter and John the one hundred and eighteen, with quite a host of the Pentecostal converts, are pushing the battle for God and souls on the great temple campus on Mt. Moriah in the east end of the city, the judgment hall, where Peter and John and Jesus were tried, being on Mt. Zion, in the west end. When constrained by popular sentiment to release Peter and John they reluctantly discharged them through fear of an insurrection. Then the apostles go immediately to the great meetings on the temple campus and report the persecutions of the preachers and official board and the intervention of the Almighty through the people for their acquittal. Now they quote the prophecy in Psalms 2, which had actually been fulfilled in the crucifixion of Jesus, and is still being verified in the rage of the clergy and official board against the apostles. They allude to the union of Pilate and Herod in the crucifixion of Christ, despite their former and long-standing animosities either to other. How signally is the same prophecy fulfilled to-day in the reconciliation and co-operation of the hitherto warring sects, forgetting all their bitter hatred either to other, and uniting against the holiness movement! Amid the implacable animosities of church and state combined against the poor Nazarenes and determined to exterminate them and even obliterate the very memory of their leader from the memory of the world, there is much fear on the unsanctified young converts. Hence they need another Pentecost to bring down the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire, consuming all their cowardice and filling them with the perfect love, casting out fear. Therefore they all fall on their knees, unite their hearts and cry to God for the sanctifying power. Behold! the place is shaken and another Pentecost comes down from heaven, gloriously filling and flooding them, sanctifying all the fear out of the young converts and weak believers, so that “they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.” This glorious second Pentecost gave a wonderful new impetus to the revival Niagara already shaking the metropolis with a spiritual earthquake. This second Pentecost gloriously sanctifies the converts of the first, raising up hundreds of new preachers to herald the living Word, thus broadening the revival into paradoxical dimensions, till it rolls its mighty inundating wave out from Jerusalem into all of the surrounding country, not only inundating all Palestine, but sweeping over Samaria like an avalanche and rolling out its irresistible tide into heathen Syria.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren1905 · Public DomainOn v25
Acts
OBEDIENT DISOBEDIENCE
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THE SERVANT AND THE SLAVES
Act 4:25, Act 4:27, Act 4:29.
I do not often take fragments of Scripture for texts; but though these are fragments, their juxtaposition results in by no means fragmentary thoughts. There is obvious intention in the recurrence of the expression so frequently in so few verses, and to the elucidation of that intention my remarks will be directed. The words are parts of the Church’s prayer on the occasion of its first collision with the civil power. The incident is recorded at full length because it is the first of a long and bloody series, in order that succeeding generations might learn their true weapon and their sure defence. Prayer is the right answer to the world’s hostility, and they who only ask for courage to stand by their confession will never ask in vain. But it is no part of my intention to deal either with the incident or with this noble prayer.
A word or two of explanation may be necessary as to the language of our texts. You will observe that, in the second of them, I have followed the Revised Version, which, instead of ‘Thy holy child,’ as in the Authorised Version, reads ‘Thy holy Servant.’ The alteration is clearly correct. The word, indeed, literally means ‘a child,’ but, like our own English ‘boy,’ or even ‘man,’ or ‘maid,’ it is used to express the relation of servant, when the desire is to cover over the harsher features of servitude, and to represent the servant as a part of the family. Thus the kindly centurion, who besought Jesus to come and heal his servant, speaks of him as his ‘boy.’ And that the word is here used in this secondary sense of ‘servant’ is unmistakable. For there is no discernible reason why, if stress were meant to be laid on Christ as being the Son of God, the recognised expression for that relationship should not have been employed. Again, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, with which the Apostles were familiar, employs the very phrase that is here used as its translation of the well-known Old Testament designation of the Messiah, ‘the Servant of the Lord’ and the words here are really a quotation from the great prophecies of the second part of the Book of Isaiah. Further, the same word is employed in reference to King David and in reference to Jesus Christ. In regard to the former, it is evident that it must have the meaning of ‘servant’; and it would be too harsh to suppose that in the compass of so few verses the same expression should be used, at one time in the one signification, and at another in the other. So, then, David and Jesus are in some sense classified here together as both servants of God. That is the first point that I desire to make.
Then, in regard to the third of my texts, the expression is not the same there as in the other two. The disciples do not venture to take the loftier designation. Rather they prefer the humble one, ‘slaves,’ bondmen, the familiar expression found all through the New Testament as almost a synonym to Christians.
So, then, we have here three figures: the Psalmist-king, the Messiah, the disciples; Christ in the midst, on the one hand a servant with whom He deigns to be classed, on the other hand the slaves who, through Him, have become sons. And I think I shall best bring out the intended lessons of these clauses in their connection if I ask you to note these two contrasts, the servants and the Servant; the Servant and the slaves. ‘David Thy servant’; ‘Thy holy Servant Jesus’; us ‘Thy servants.’
I. First, then, notice the servants and the Servant.
The reason for the application of the name to the Psalmist lies, not so much in his personal character or in his religious elevation, as in the fact that he was chosen of God for a specific purpose, to carry on the divine plans some steps towards their realisation. Kings, priests, prophets, the collective Israel, as having a specific function in the world, and being, in some sense, the instruments and embodiments of the will of God amongst men, have in an eminent degree the designation of His ‘servants.’ And we might widen out the thought and say that all men who, like the heathen Cyrus, are God’s shepherds, though they do not know it-guided by Him, though they understand not whence comes their power, and blindly do His work in the world, being ‘epoch-making’ men, as the fashionable phrase goes now-are really, though in a subordinate sense, entitled to the designation.
But then, whilst this is true, and whilst Jesus Christ comes into this category, and is one of these special men raised up and adapted for special service in connection with the carrying out of the divine purpose, mark how emphatically and broadly the line is drawn here between Him and the other members of the class to which, in a certain sense, He does belong. Peter says, ‘Thy servant David,’ but he says ‘Thy holy Servant Jesus.’ And in the Greek the emphasis is still stronger, because the definite article is employed before the word ‘servant.’ ‘The holy Servant of Thine’-that is His specific and unique designation.
There are many imperfect instruments of the divine will. Thinkers and heroes and saints and statesmen and warriors, as well as prophets and priests and kings, are so regarded in Scripture, and may profitably be so regarded by us; but amongst them all there is One who stands in their midst and yet apart from them, because He, and He alone, can say, ‘I have done all Thy pleasure, and into my doing of Thy pleasure no bitter leaven of self-regard or by-ends has ever, in the faintest degree, entered.’ ‘Thy holy Servant Jesus’ is the unique designation of the Servant of the Lord.
And what is the meaning of holy? The word does not originally and primarily refer to character so much as to relation to God. The root idea of holiness is not righteousness nor moral perfectness, but something that lies behind these-viz, separation for the service and uses of God. The first notion of the word is consecration, and, built upon that and resulting from it, moral perfection. So then these men, some of whom had lived beside Jesus Christ for all those years, and had seen everything that He did, and studied Him through and through, had summered and wintered with Him, came away from the close inspection of His character with this thought; He is utterly and entirely devoted to the service of God, and in Him there is neither spot nor wrinkle nor blemish such as is found in all other men.
I need not remind you with what strange persistence of affirmation, and yet with what humility of self-consciousness, our Lord Himself always claimed to be in possession of this entire consecration, and complete obedience, and consequent perfection. Think of human lips saying, ‘I do always the things that please Him.’ Think of human lips saying, ‘My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me.’ Think of a man whose whole life’s secret was summed up in this: ‘As the Father hath given Me commandment, so’-no more, no less, no otherwise-’so I speak.’ Think of a man whose inspiring principle was, consciously to himself, ‘not My will, but Thine be done’; and who could say that it was so, and not be met by universal ridicule. There followed in Jesus the moral perfectness that comes from such uninterrupted and complete consecration of self to God. ‘Thy servant David,’-what about Bathsheba, David? What about a great many other things in your life? The poet-king, with the poet-nature so sensitive to all the delights of sense, and so easily moved in the matter of pleasure, is but like all God’s other servants in the fact of imperfection. In every machine power is lost through friction; and in every man, the noblest and the purest, there is resistance to be overcome ere motion in conformity with the divine impulse can be secured. We pass in review before our minds saints and martyrs and lovely characters by the hundred, and amongst them all there is not a jewel without a flaw, not a mirror without some dint in it where the rays are distorted, or some dark place where the reflecting surface has been rubbed away by the attrition of sin, and where there is no reflection of the divine light. And then we turn to that meek Figure who stands there with the question that has been awaiting an answer for nineteen centuries upon His lips, and is unanswered yet: ‘Which of you convinceth Me of sin?’ ‘He is the holy Servant,’ whose consecration and character mark Him off from all the class to which He belongs as the only one of them all who, in completeness, has executed the Father’s purpose, and has never attempted anything contrary to it.
Now there is another step to be taken, and it is this. The Servant who stands out in front of all the group-though the noblest names in the world’s history are included therein-could not be the Servant unless He were the Son. This designation, as applied to Jesus Christ, is peculiar to these three or four earlier chapters of the Acts of the Apostles. It is interesting because it occurs over and over again there, and because it never occurs anywhere else in the New Testament. If we recognise what I think must be recognised, that it is a quotation from the ancient prophecies, and is an assertion of the Messianic character of Jesus, then I think we here see the Church in a period of transition in regard to their conceptions of their Lord. There is no sign that the proper Sonship and Divinity of our Lord was clear before them at this period. They had the facts, but they had not yet come to the distinct apprehension of how much was involved in these. But, if they knew that Jesus Christ had died and had risen again-and they knew that, for they had seen Him-and if they believed that He was the Messiah, and if they were certain that in His character of Messiah there had been faultlessness and absolute perfection-and they were certain of that, because they had lived beside Him-then it would not be long before they took the next step, and said, as I say, ‘He cannot be the Servant unless He is more than man.’
And we may well ask ourselves the question, if we admit, as the world does admit, the moral perfectness of Jesus Christ, how comes it that this Man alone managed to escape failures and deflections from the right, and sins, and that He only carried through life a stainless garment, and went down to the grave never having needed, and not needing then, the exercise of divine forgiveness? Brethren, I venture to say that it is hopeless to account for Jesus Christ on naturalistic principles; and that either you must give up your belief in His sinlessness, or advance, as the Christian Church as a whole advanced, to the other belief, on which alone that perfectness is explicable: ‘Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ! Thou art the Everlasting Son of the Father!’
II. And so, secondly, let us turn to the other contrast here-the Servant and the slaves.
I said that the humble group of praying, persecuted believers seemed to have wished to take a lower place than their Master’s, even whilst they ventured to assume that, in some sense, they too, like Him, were doing the Father’s will. So they chose, by a fine instinct of humility rather than from any dogmatical prepossessions, the name that expresses, in its most absolute and roughest form, the notion of bondage and servitude. He is the Servant; we standing here are slaves. And that this is not an overweighting of the word with more than is meant by it seems to be confirmed by the fact that in the first clause of this prayer, we have, for the only time in the New Testament, God addressed as ‘Lord’ by the correlative word to slave, which has been transferred into English, namely, despot.
The true position, then, for a man is to be God’s slave. The harsh, repellent features of that wicked institution assume an altogether different character when they become the features of my relation to Him. Absolute submission, unconditional obedience, on the slave’s part; and on the part of the Master complete ownership, the right of life and death, the right of disposing of all goods and chattels, the right of separating husband and wife, parents and children, the right of issuing commandments without a reason, the right to expect that those commandments shall be swiftly, unhesitatingly, punctiliously, and completely performed-these things inhere in our relation to God. Blessed the man who has learned that they do, and has accepted them as his highest glory and the security of his most blessed life! For, brethren, such submission, absolute and unconditional, the blending and the absorption of my own will in His will, is the secret of all that makes manhood glorious and great and happy.
Remember, however, that in the New Testament these names of slave and owner are transferred to Christians and Jesus Christ. ‘The Servant’ has His slaves; and He who is God’s Servant, and does not His own will but the Father’s will, has us for His servants, imposes His will upon us, and we are bound to render to Him a revenue of entire obedience like that which He hath laid at His Father’s feet.
Such slavery is the only freedom. Liberty does not mean doing as you like, it means liking as you ought, and doing that. He only is free who submits to God in Christ, and thereby overcomes himself and the world and all antagonism, and is able to do that which it is his life to do. A prison out of which we do not desire to go is no restraint, and the will which coincides with law is the only will that is truly free. You talk about the bondage of obedience. Ah! ‘the weight of too much liberty’ is a far sorer bondage. They are the slaves who say, ‘Let us break His bonds asunder, and cast away His cords from us’; and they are the free men who say, ‘Lord, put Thy blessed shackles on my arms, and impose Thy will upon my will, and fill my heart with Thy love; and then will and hands will move freely and delightedly.’ ‘If the Son make you free, ye shall be free indeed.’
Such slavery is the only nobility. In the wicked old empires, as in some of their modern survivals to-day, viziers and prime ministers were mostly drawn from the servile classes. It is so in God’s kingdom. They who make themselves God’s slaves are by Him made kings and priests, and shall reign with Him on earth. If we are slaves, then are we sons and heirs of God through Jesus Christ.
Remember the alternative. You cannot be your own masters without being your own slaves. It is a far worse bondage to live as chartered libertines than to walk in the paths of obedience. Better serve God than the devil, than the world, than the flesh. Whilst they promise men liberty, they make them ‘the most abject and downtrodden vassals of perdition.’
The Servant-Son makes us slaves and sons. It matters nothing to me that Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled the law of God; it is so much the better for Him, but of no value for me, unless He has the power of making me like Himself. And He has it, and if you will trust yourselves to Him, and give your hearts to Him, and ask Him to govern you, He will govern you; and if you will abandon your false liberty which is servitude, and take the sober freedom which is obedience, then He will bring you to share in His temper of joyful service; and even we may be able to say, ‘My meat and my drink is to do the will of Him that sent me,’ and truly saying that, we shall have the key to all delights, and our feet will be, at least, on the lower rungs of the ladder whose top reaches to Heaven.
‘What fruit had ye in the things of which ye are now ashamed? But being made free from sin, and become the slaves of God, ye have your fruit unto holiness; and the end everlasting life.’ Brethren, I beseech you, by the mercies of God, that ye yield yourselves to Him, crying, ‘O Lord, truly I am Thy servant. Thou hast loosed my bonds.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey1914 · Public DomainOn vv23–2523-30. The apostles had now humbled the pride of…
23-30. The apostles had now humbled the pride of their adversaries, and went away from the assembly in triumph. But they were uninflated by their present prosperity, as they had been undaunted by their recent danger. They had now attained that lofty degree of faith and hope which enables men to maintain a steady calmness amid all the vicissitudes of life. The course they immediately pursued is worthy of remembrance, and of all imitation. (23) " And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported what the high priests and the elders had said to them. (24) And when they heard it, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said: Sovereign Lord, thou God who hast made the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and all that is in them; (25) who through the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the Gentiles rage, and the people imagine vain things? (26) The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed. (27) For, of a truth, against thy holy son Jesus whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontus Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together, (28) to do what thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. (29) And now, Lord, behold their threatenings; and grant to thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, (30) by stretching out thy hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of thy holy son Jesus. " This prayer was uttered by one of the brethren, and the expression, "they lifted up their voice with one accord," indicates the perfect unity of sentiment with which they followed the words of the leader.
In all the prayers of the apostles, we observe strict appropriateness, in the ascription to God with which they open, and a remarkable simplicity in presenting the exact petition, and no more, which the occasion demands. On a former occasion, they had set before him two men, that he might choose one for the apostolic office, and they addressed him as the "heart-knower;" now they desire his protecting power, and they style him the "Sovereign God who made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all that is in them." They remind him that, according to his own words by David, kings and rulers, in the persons of Herod and Pilate, had risen up against his anointed while the people and the Gentiles were imagining vain things; and they pray him to "behold the threatening," and grant to his servants boldness to speak the word in defiance of all opposition.
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In these days of passion and war, in which it is common for prayers to be filled with earnest entreaties for victory over our enemies, and sometimes with terrible maledictions against those who are waging war against our supposed rights, it is quite refreshing to observe the tone of this apostolic prayer. These men were not in danger of losing some mere political power or privilege, but the dearest and most indisputable right they had on earth was denied them, and they were threatened with death if they did not relinquish it; yet, in their prayers, they manifest no vindictive nor resentful spirit; but, in reference to their enemies they simply pray, Lord, behold their threatenings. Their gentle spirits never could have conceived that unblushing impiety which now so often brings men upon their knees for the very purpose of pouring out in the ears of God those violent and destructive passions which he has forbidden us to allow a place even within our hearts. By such prayers men seek to make God a partisan in every angry contention among men, as though he were nothing more than themselves. Much needs to be said upon this unhappy theme, but it can not be said here.
In praying for boldness the apostles give an intimation of the manner in which they expected it to be imparted to them. It was not by some direct and internal spiritual impact, but by external manifestations of his continued presence and favor: " by stretching out his hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be wrought through the name of Jesus."
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield1917 · Public DomainOn v25(See Scofield "Psa 2:6").
said
(See Scofield "Psa 2:6").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann1924 · Public DomainOn v23The Prayer and the Further Establishment of the Congregation.
The Prayer and the Further Establishment of the Congregation.
The report of the apostles and the prayer:
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v. 23. And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them.
v. 24. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord and said, Lord, Thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is;
v. 25. who by the mouth of Thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?
v. 26. The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ.
v. 27. For of a truth, against Thy holy Child Jesus, whom Thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together
v. 28. for to do whatsoever Thy hand and Thy counsel determined before to be done.
By the power of the Spirit’s testimony through the mouth of the apostles the enemies had been vanquished. The two disciples were discharged for want of condemnatory matter against them. They came to their own, to their fellow-disciples, who were assembled according to their custom. To these members of the Christian community they made a report of all that the high priests and elders, the members of the Sanhedrin, had said to them. And the result was a spontaneous outburst of prayer on the part of the entire assembly, in the form of a hymn clothed in language from the Psalms. The vigorous spiritual life of the early Christians manifested itself here, and the Spirit Himself taught them the words of their powerful prayer. They addressed their prayer to the almighty Master of the universe, to Him that had made heaven and earth and the sea and all creatures that inhabit them, before whom nothing is impossible, who holds the fortunes of the entire world in the hollow of His hand, and directs them to suit His purposes. It was this God who had inspired David to pen the words of the Second Psalm, as we here learn. It was He that had asked the question through His servant David: For what reason do the nations engage in tumultuous uprisings, and the people meditate things that are vain and foolish? The haughtiness and insolence of all men by nature is equaled only by the vanity, the emptiness, of their aspirations. Here was evidence enough for the truth of the prophecy. The kings of the earth and the rulers had gathered themselves together against the Lord and against His Christ. No matter whether they were otherwise at bitter enmity toward each other, they forgot all their differences when a concerted move was planned against the Word and work of God and Christ. Assuredly, as the evidence before the eyes of all men showed plainly, in this very city they were banding together against the holy Child of God, His Son Jesus: Herod and Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,-they were all united against God’s Anointed One. They would, of course, be able to carry out and succeed in doing only that which the hand of the Lord and His counsel had seen in advance and known that it would be done. God was still controlling the destinies of nations as well as of individuals. That was the situation. The enmity was there; it was directed against the Lord and His Christ; the believers knew that nothing could happen without the foreknowledge and permission of God. Note that there is no indication of a vindictive or resentful spirit in the prayer, but only a complete trust in the Lord.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On v23General Information:
General Information:
Speaking together, the people quote a Psalm of David from the Old Testament.
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General Information:
Here the word "they" refers to the rest of the believers, but not to Peter and John.
came to their own people
The phrase "their own people" refers to the rest of the believers. AT: "went to the other believers" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
they raised their voices together to God
To raise the voice is an idiom for speaking. "they began speaking together to God"
You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David
This means that the Holy Spirit caused David to speak or write down what God said.
through the mouth of your servant, our father David
Here the word "mouth" refers to the words that David spoke or wrote down. AT: "by the words of your servant, our father David" (See: Metonymy)
our father David
Here "father" refers to "ancestor/"
Why did the Gentile nations rage, and the peoples imagine useless things?
This is a rhetorical question that emphasizes the futility of opposing God. AT: "The Gentile nations should not have raged, and the peoples should not have imagined useless things" (See: Rhetorical Question)
the peoples imagine useless things
These "useless things" consist of plans to oppose God. AT: "the peoples imagine useless things against God" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
Tyndale Open Study Notes2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv23, 254:23-31 The believers heard the report that their leaders…
4:23-31 The believers heard the report that their leaders had been threatened and commanded never again to speak about Jesus (4:18). The Christian movement was clearly under attack from the religious authorities, so they united in prayer. They turned to God, placing their troubles before him and asking him to make them bold in speaking the message and to divinely confirm its truth with signs and wonders. God dramatically answered their request.
GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv23–25 23. Furthermore when they were let go. It shall…
23. Furthermore when they were let go. It shall appear by and by to what end they declared to the other disciples what things had befallen them, to wit, that they might be the more emboldened and encouraged by the grace of God hereafter; secondly, that they might arm themselves with prayer against the furious threatenings of their enemies; and thus must the children of God do, one must prick forward another, and they must join hand in hand, that they may vanquish the common adversary fighting under Christ’s banner. They consider with themselves what dangers hang over their heads, to the end they may be the more ready to enter the same, although they see their enemies press sore upon them; yet lest it should grieve them to have a new combat ever now and then, they assure themselves that they shall be invincible through the same power of God whereby they got the victory before. And it is to be thought (although Luke makes no mention thereof) that the apostles being contented with their former answer, did not contend with those furies, [furious men;] and yet we must persuade ourselves that they were not so forgetful of their former constancy that they did submit themselves unto their ungodly decree like slaves.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv23–24 The Apostles communicate their troubles with the Congregation.
The Apostles communicate their troubles with the Congregation.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv23–25 23 And being let go, they went to their…
23 And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them.
Ver. 23. And being let go] For there was no hope of altering them. The heavens shall sooner fall than I will renounce my religion, said one martyr. And if I had as many lives to lay down as I have hairs upon my head, I would lose them every one rather than change my mind, said another. This courage in Christians the persecutors counted obstinace; but they knew not the power of the Spirit, nor the aes triplex circa pectus, the privy armour of proof that the saints have about their hearts.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv23–25 They went to their own company, the rest of…
They went to their own company, the rest of the apostles and believers, who have a special propriety and delight in one another; sheep with sheep, and goats with goats: though the separation will be made at the last day, the foundation of it is laid here.
And reported all; to forewarn them of what they might expect, and encourage them to hope for the like deliverance.
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Chief priests; to what hath been said concerning them might be added, that these, it may be, were the first or chief in the courses, which David divided the priests into, which division was observed till our Saviour’s time, Luk 1:5.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v23 We hear no more at present of the chief…
We hear no more at present of the chief priests, what they did when they had dismissed Peter and John, but are to attend those two witnesses. And here we have,
I. Their return to their brethren, the apostles and ministers, and perhaps some private Christians (Act 4:23): Being let go, they went to their own company, who perhaps at this time were met together in pain for them, and praying for them; as Act 12:12. As soon as ever they were at liberty, they went to their old friends, and returned to their church-fellowship. 1. Though God had highly honoured them, in calling them out to be his witnesses, and enabling them to acquit themselves so well, yet they were not puffed up with the honour done them, nor thought themselves thereby exalted above their brethren, but went to their own company. No advancement in gifts or usefulness should make us think ourselves above either the duties or the privileges of the communion of saints. 2. Though their enemies had severely threatened them, and endeavoured to break their knot, and frighten them from the work they were jointly engaged in, yet they went to their own company, and feared not the wrath of their rulers. They might have had comfort, if, being let go, they had retired to their closets, and spent some time in devotion there. But they were men in a public station, and must seek not so much their own personal satisfaction as the public good. Christ's followers do best in company, provided it be in their own company.
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II. The account they gave them of what had passed: They reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them, adding, no doubt, what they were enabled by the grace of God to reply to them, and how their trial issued. They related it to them, 1. That they might know what to expect both from men and from God in the progress of their work. From men they might expect every thing that was terrifying, but from God every thing that was encouraging; men would do their utmost to run them down, but God would take effectual care to bear them up. Thus the brethren in the Lord would wax confident through their bonds, and their experiences, as Phi 1:14. 2. That they might have it recorded in the history of the church, for the benefit of posterity, particularly for the confirmation of our faith touching the resurrection of Christ. The silence of an adversary, in some cases, is next door to the consent and testimony of an adversary. These apostles told the chief priests to their faces that God had raised up Jesus from the dead, and, though they were a body of them together, they had not the confidence to deny it, but, in the silliest and most sneaking manner imaginable, bade the apostles not to tell any body of it. 3. That they might now join with them in prayers and praises; and by such a concert as this God would be the more glorified, and the church the more edified. We should therefore communicate to our brethren the providences of God that relate to us, and our experience of his presence with us, that they may assist us in our acknowledgment of God therein.
III. Their address to God upon this occasion: When they heard of the impotent malice of the priests, and the potent courage of the sufferers, they called their company together and went to prayer: They lifted up their voice to God with one accord, Act 4:24. Not that it can be supposed that they all said the same words at the same time (though it was possible they might, being all inspired by one and the same Spirit), but one in the name of the rest lifted up his voice to God and the rest joined with him, humothumadon - with one mind (so the word signifies); their hearts went along with him, and so, though but one spoke, they all prayed; one lifted up his voice, and, in concurrence with him, they all lifted up their hearts, which was, in effect, lifting up their voice to God; for thoughts are as words to God. Moses cried unto God, when we find not a word said. Now in this solemn address to God we have,
1. Their adoration of God as the Creator of the world (Act 4:24): With one mind, and so, in effect, with one mouth, they glorified God, Rom 15:6. They said, "O Lord, thou art God, God alone; Despota, thou art our Master and sovereign Ruler" (so the word signifies), "thou art God; God, and not man; God, and not the work of men's hands; the Creator of all, and not the creature of men's fancies. Thou art the God who hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, the upper and lower world, and all the creatures that are in both." Thus we Christians distinguish ourselves from the heathen, that, while they worship gods which they have made, we are worshipping the God that made us and all the world. And it is very proper to begin our prayers, as well as our creed, with the acknowledgement of this, that God is the Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. Though the apostles were at this time full of the mystery of the world's redemption, yet they did not forget nor overlook the history of the world's creation; for the Christian religion was intended to confirm and improve, not to eclipse nor jostle out, the truths and dictates of natural religion. It is a great encouragement to God's servants, both in doing work and suffering work, that they serve the God that made all things, and therefore has the disposal of their times, and all events concerning them, and is able to strengthen them under all their difficulties. And, if we give him the glory of this, we may take the comfort of it.
2. Their reconciling themselves to the present dispensations of Providence, by reflecting upon those scriptures in the Old Testament which foretold that the kingdom of the Messiah would meet with such opposition as this at the first setting of it up in the world, Act 4:25, Act 4:26. God, who made heaven and earth, cannot meet with any [effectual] opposition to his designs, since none dare [at least, can prevailingly] dispute or contest with him. Yea, thus it was written, thus he spoke by the mouth, thus he wrote by the pen, of his servant David, who, as appears by this, was the penman of the second psalm, and therefore, most probably, of the first, and other psalms that are not ascribed to any other, though they have not his name in the title. Let it not therefore be a surprise to them, nor any discouragement to any in embracing their doctrine, for the scripture must be fulfilled. It was foretold, Psa 2:1, Psa 2:2, (1.) That the heathen would rage at Christ and his kingdom, and be angry at the attempts to set it up, because that would be the pulling down of the gods of the heathen, and giving a check to the wickedness of the heathen. (2.) That the people would imagine all the things that could be against it, to silence the teachers of it, to discountenance the subjects of it, and to crush all the interests of it. If they prove vain things in the issue, no thanks to those who imagined them. (3.) That the kings of the earth, particularly, would stand up in opposition to the kingdom of Christ, as if they were jealous (though there is no occasion for their being so) that it would interfere with their powers, and intrench upon their prerogatives. The kings of the earth that are most favoured and honoured by divine Providence, and should do most for God, are strangers and enemies to divine grace, and do most against God. (4.) That the rulers would gather together against God and Christ; not only monarchs, that have the power in their single persons, but where the power is in many rulers, councils, and senates, they gather together, to consult and decree against the Lord and against his Christ - against both natural and revealed religion. What is done against Christ, God takes as done against himself. Christianity was not only destitute of the advantage of the countenance and support of kings and rulers (it had neither their power nor their purses), but it was opposed and fought against by them, and they combined to run it down and yet it made its way.
3. Their representation of the present accomplishment of those predictions in the enmity and malice of the rulers against Christ. What was foretold we see fulfilled, Act 4:27, Act 4:28. It is of a truth - it is certainly so, it is too plain to be denied, and in it appears the truth of the prediction that Herod and Pilate, the two Roman governors, with the Gentiles (the Roman soldiers under their command), and with the people of Israel (the rulers of the Jews and the mob that is under their influence), were gathered together in a confederacy against thy holy child Jesus whom thou has anointed. Some copies add another circumstance, en tē polei sou tautē - in this thy holy city, where, above any place, he should have been welcomed. But herein they do that which thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. See here (1.) The wise and holy designs God had concerning Christ. He is here called the child Jesus, as he was called (Luk 2:27, Luk 2:43) in his infancy, to intimate that even in his exalted state he is not ashamed of his condescensions for us, and that he continues meek and lowly in heart. In the height of his glory he is the Lamb of God, and the child Jesus. But he is the holy child Jesus (so he was called, Luk 1:35, that holy thing), and thy holy child; the word signifies both a son and a servant, paida sou. He was the Son of God; and yet in the work of redemption he acted as his Father's servant (Isa 42:1), My servant whom I uphold. It was he whom God anointed, both qualified for the undertaking and called to it; and thence he was called the Lord's Christ, Act 4:26. And this comes in as a reason why they set themselves with so much rage and violence against him, because God had anointed him, and they were resolved not to resign, much less to submit to him. David was envied by Saul, because he was the Lord's anointed. And the Philistines came up to seek David when they heard he was anointed, Sa2 5:17. Now the God that anointed Christ determined what should be done to him, pursuant to that anointing. He was anointed to be a Saviour, and therefore it was determined he should be a sacrifice to make atonement for sin. He must die - therefore he must be slain; yet not by his own hands - therefore God wisely determined before by what hands it should be done. It must be by the hands of those who will treat him as a criminal and malefactor, and therefore it cannot be done by the hands either of angels or of good men; he must therefore be delivered into the hands of sinners as Job was, Job 16:11. And as David was delivered to Shimei to be made a curse (Sa2 16:11): The Lord has bidden him. God's hand and his counsel determined it - his will, and his wisdom. God's hand, which properly denotes his executive power, is here put for his purpose and decree, because with him saying and doing are not two things, as they are with us. His hand and his counsel always agree; for whatsoever the Lord pleased that did he. Dr. Hammon makes this phrase of God's hand determining it to be an allusion to the high priest's casting lots upon the two goats on the day of atonement (Lev 16:8), in which he lifted up the hand that he happened to have the lot for the Lord in, and that goat on which it fell was immediately sacrificed; and the disposal of this lot was from the Lord, Pro 16:33. Thus God's hand determined what should be done, that Christ should be the sacrifice slain. Or, if I may offer a conjecture, when God's hand is here said to determine, it may be meant, not of God's acting hand, but his writing hand, as Job 13:26, Thou writest bitter things against us; and God's decree is said to be that which is written in the scriptures of truth (Dan 10:21), and in the volume of the book it was written of Christ, Psa 40:7. It was God's hand that wrote it, his hand according to his counsel. The commission was given under his hand. (2.) The wicked and unholy instruments that were employed in the executing of this design, though they meant not so, neither did their hearts think so. Herod and Pilate, Gentiles and Jews, who had been at variance with each other, united against Christ. And God's serving his own purposes by what they did was no excuse at all for their malice and wickedness in the doing of it, any more than God's making the blood of the martyrs the seed of the church extenuated the guilt of their bloody persecutors. Sin is not the less evil for God's bringing good out of it, but he is by this the more glorified, and will appear to be so when the mystery of God shall be finished.
4. Their petition with reference to the case at this time. The enemies were gathered together against Christ, and then no wonder that they were so against his ministers: the disciple is not better than his Master, nor must expect better treatment; but, being thus insulted, they pray,
(1.) That God would take cognizance of the malice of their enemies: Now, Lord, behold their threatenings, Act 4:29. Behold them, as thou art said to behold them in the psalm before quoted (Psa 2:4), when they thought to break his bands asunder, and cast away his cords from them; he that sits in heaven laughs at them, and has them in derision; and then the virgin, the daughter of Zion, may despise the impotent menaces even of the great king, the king of Assyria, Isa 37:22. And now, Lord; ta nun there is an emphasis upon the now, to intimate that then is God's time to appear for his people, when the power of their enemies is most daring and threatening. They do not dictate to God what he shall do, but refer themselves to and him, like Hezekiah (Isa 37:17): "Open thine eyes, O Lord, and see; thou knowest what they say, thou beholdest mischief and spite (Psa 10:14); to thee we appeal, behold their threatenings, and either tie their hands or turn their hearts; make their wrath, as far as it is let loose, to praise thee, and the remainder thereof do thou restrain," Psa 76:10. It is a comfort to us that if we be unjustly threatened, and bear it patiently, we may make ourselves easy by spreading the case before the Lord, and leaving it with him.
(2.) That God, by his grace, would keep up their spirits, and animate them to go on cheerfully with their work: Grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word, though the priests and rulers have enjoined them silence. Note, In threatening times, our care should not be so much that troubles may be prevented as that we may be enabled to go on with cheerfulness and resolution in our work and duty, whatever troubles we may meet with. Their prayer is not, "Lord, behold their threatenings, and frighten them, and stop their mouths, and fill their faces with shame;" but, "Behold their threatenings, and animate us, open our mouths and fill our hearts with courage." They do not pray, "Lord, give us a fair opportunity to retire from our work, now that it is become dangerous;" but, "Lord, give us grace to go on in our work and not to be afraid of the face of man." Observe, [1.] Those that are sent on God's errands ought to deliver their message with boldness, with all boldness, with all liberty of speech, not shunning to declare the whole counsel of God, whoever is offended; not doubting of what they say, nor of being borne out in saying it. [2.] God is to be sought unto for an ability to speak his word with boldness, and those that desire divine aids and encouragements may depend upon them, and ought to go forth and go on in the strength of the Lord God. [3.] The threatenings of our enemies, that are designed to weaken our hands and drive us off from our work, should rather stir us up to so much the more courage and resolution in our work. Are they daring that fight against Christ? For shame, let not us be sneaking that are for him.
(3.) That God would still give them power to work miracles for the confirmation of the doctrine they preached, which, by the cure of the lame man, they found to contribute very much to their success, and would contribute abundantly to their further progress: Lord, grant us boldness, by stretching forth thy hand to heal. Note, Nothing emboldens faithful ministers more in their work than the tokens of God's presence with them, and a divine power going along with them. They pray, [1.] That God would stretch forth his hand to heal both the bodies and souls of men; else in vain do they stretch forth their hands, either in preaching (Isa 65:2), or in curing, Act 9:17. [2.] That signs and wonders might be done by the name of the holy child Jesus, which would be convincing to the people, and confounding to the enemies. Christ had promised them a power to work miracles, for the proof of their commission (Mar 16:17, Mar 16:18); yet they must pray for it; and, though they had it, must pray for the continuance of it. Christ himself must ask, and it shall be given him. Observe, It is the honour of Christ that they aim at in this request, that the wonders might be done by the name of Jesus, the holy child Jesus, and his name shall have all the glory.
IV. The gracious answer God gave to this address, not in word, but in power. 1. God gave them a sign of the acceptance of their prayers (Act 4:31): When they had prayed (perhaps many of them prayed successively), one by one, according to the rule (Co1 14:31), and when they had concluded the work of the day, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; there was a strong mighty wind, such as that when the Spirit was poured out upon them (Act 2:1, Act 2:2), which shook the house, which was now their house of prayer. This shaking of the place was designed to strike an awe upon them, to awaken and raise their expectations, and to give them a sensible token that God was with them of a truth: and perhaps it was to put them in mind of that prophecy (Hag 2:7), I will shake all nations, and will fill this house with glory. This was to show them what reason they had to fear God more, and then they would fear man less. He that shook this place could make the hearts of those who threatened his servants thus to tremble, for he cuts off the spirit of princes, and is terrible to the kings of the earth. The place was shaken, that their faith might be established and unshaken. 2. God gave them greater degrees of his Spirit, which was what they prayed for. Their prayer, without doubt, was accepted, for it was answered: They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, more than ever; by which they were not only encouraged, but enabled to speak the word of God with boldness, and not to be afraid of the proud and haughty looks of men. The Holy Ghost taught them not only what to speak, but how to speak. Those that were endued habitually with the powers of the Holy Ghost had yet occasion for fresh supplies of the Spirit, according as the various occurrences of their service were. They were filled with the Holy Ghost at the bar (Act 4:8), and now filled with the Holy Ghost in the pulpit, which teaches us to live in an actual dependence upon the grace of God, according as the duty of every day requires; we need to be anointed with fresh oil upon every fresh occasion. As in the providence of God, so in the grace of God, we not only in general live, and have our being, but move in every particular action, Act 17:28. We have here an instance of the performance of that promise, that God will give the Holy Spirit to those that ask him (Luk 11:13), for it was in answer to prayer that they were filled with the Holy Ghost: and we have also an example of the improvement of that gift, which is required of all on whom it is bestowed; have it and use it, use it and have more of it. When they were filled with the Holy Ghost, they spoke the word with all boldness; for the ministration of the Spirit is given to every man, to profit withal. Talents must be traded with, not buried. When they find the Lord God help them by his Spirit, they know they shall not be confounded, Isa 50:7.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv23–25 And being let go,.... Or dismissed from custody, by…
And being let go,.... Or dismissed from custody, by the order of the sanhedrim:
they went to their own company; or "to their own men", as the Ethiopic version reads; or "to their own brethren", as the Syriac; either to the other ten apostles; or to the hundred and twenty, who first met together; or the whole multitude of them that believed, Act 4:32 the eight thousand that had been added to them, the whole church. Saints love to be together, and delight in the company of each other; and especially when they have anything to communicate, that may be for their mutual good, or for the honour of God:
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and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them; what commands and injunctions they had lain upon them, and what threatenings they had given them, and, no doubt likewise, what answers they had returned to them.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv24–25 The sense is, Lord, thou hast all power. And…
The sense is, Lord, thou hast all power. And thy word is fulfilled. Men do rage against thee: but it is in vain.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv23–25 Verse 23. They went to their own company] This…
Verse 23. They went to their own company] This was properly the first persecution that had been raised up against the Church since the resurrection of Christ; and as the rest of the disciples must have known that Peter and John had been cast into prison, and that they were to be examined before the sanhedrin, and knowing the evil disposition of the rulers toward their brethren, they doubtless made joint supplication to God for their safety. In this employment it is likely Peter and John found them on their return from the council, and repeated to them all their treatment, with the threats of the chief priests and elders.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v23 Act 4:23-28. And being let go — Being dismissed…
Act 4:23-28. And being let go — Being dismissed from their examination by the rulers; they went to their own company — Who, probably, were at this time met together, praying for them; and reported all that the chief priests had said — Adding, no doubt, what they were enabled by the grace of God to reply to them, and how their trial issued. And when they heard that — A divine inspiration coming upon all that were present in an extraordinary manner; they lifted up their voice to God with one accord — All unanimously joining in the following petition, as being all influenced by the same spirit, though, perhaps, only one speaking in the name of the rest: or, as Dr. Doddridge supposes, all their voices joining by immediate inspiration, a circumstance which he thinks was graciously adapted to encourage them to suffer the greatest extremities in this cause. And said, Lord, thou art God, &c. — The sense is, Lord, thou hast all power, and thy word is fulfilled: men rage against thee, but it is in vain. See notes on Psa 2:1-5. For of a truth, &c. — For we now see the prediction of thy servant David truly and literally accomplished; since against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed — With the Holy Ghost and with power, to accomplish the glorious work of erecting thy kingdom among men; both Herod, &c., with the Gentiles — The idolatrous heathen; and the people of Israel — Professing to worship thee, the true God; were gathered together — Combined in the impious attempt of opposing thy designs. For to do whatsoever thy hand, &c., determined before to be done — That is, says Dr. Hammond, “the Roman governors and Jewish sanhedrim have joined their malicious counsels against thy holy Son; to act in the crucifying of him, and so (though little meaning it) to be the instruments of thy gracious providence and disposal, who didst determine to give thy only Son to die for us.” The sense evidently is, But they (the enemies of God and Christ) could do no more than thou wast pleased to permit, according to thy determinate counsel, to save mankind by the sufferings of thy Son. And what was needful for this end, thou didst before determine to permit to be done. Limborch, and some others, contend for a transposition of the words thus: They have combined against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed to do what thy hand and thy counsel had determined, &c.; but it is so expressly said elsewhere, (see Mat 26:24; Luk 22:22,) that the Son of man went (to suffer and die) as it was determined; and it so plainly appears, in fact, that these circumstances were foretold, or marked out, in the prophecies of the Old Testament, that I see not, says Dr. Doddridge, “what end the admission of such a transposition would answer. It is much more rational to explain this determination in such a manner as to make it consistent with the free agency of the persons concerned. When God’s hand and his counsel are said to have determined these things, it may signify his having pointed out this great event, so wisely concerted in his eternal counsels, and marked beforehand, as it were, all the boundaries of it, (as the word προωρισε may well signify,) in the prophetic writings.” Certainly the word properly and literally signifies, to define, describe, or mark out beforehand, rather than to decree, or predestinate. “The hand of God,” says Dr. Whitby, “most frequently, in the Old Testament, relates not so much to his power, as to his wisdom, and providential dispensations; and being here joined with his counsel, and applied to what was done by Pontius Pilate and the Jews toward the crucifixion of the holy Jesus, to which actions, so highly displeasing to God, his power could not actually concur or effectively incline them, the import of these words will be no more than this, that Jews and Gentiles were assembled to accomplish those sufferings of our Saviour for mankind which God had foretold, and by foretelling had determined should come to pass: according to those words of St. Paul, Act 13:27, They who dwelt at Jerusalem, &c., not knowing the voices of the prophets, have fulfilled them by condemning him, doing all things which were written of him. As therefore St. Peter and Paul, by calling the Jews to repentance for crucifying the Lord of life, do evidence that their sin was not the less, because they did by it fulfil the counsel of God’s holy will, and kind intentions to mankind, so do they consequently evidence, that God’s foreknowledge of a thing future, does not impair the liberty of men’s wills in the accomplishment of it; as all the ancient fathers have declared in this particular.” See this further explained in the note on Act 2:23.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv23–25 Their own company - They joined the other apostles…
Their own company - They joined the other apostles and Christians, Act 2:44-45.
And reported ... - It doubtless became a subject of interesting inquiry what they should do in this case. They had been threatened by the highest authority of the nation, and commanded not to preach again in the name of Jesus. Whether they should obey them and be silent, or whether they should leave Jerusalem and preach elsewhere, could not but be an interesting subject of inquiry, and they very properly sought the counsel of their brethren, and looked to God for direction, an example which all should follow who are exposed to persecution, or who are in any perplexity about the path of duty.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv23–24 Being let go, they came to their own[3] company,…
Being let go, they came to their own[3] company, relating with simplicity all that had happened.
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
Ad suos, Greek: pros tous idious.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v23 23And [But] being let go, they went to their…
D.—THE CHURCH ENCOURAGED AND STRENGTHENED IN THE FAITH IN CONSEQUENCE OF THESE EVENTS; THE ONENESS OF SPIRIT AND BROTHERLY LOVE OF THE BELIEVERS
Act_4:23-37
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23And [But] being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. 24And when they heard, that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which [Lord, thou who12] hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them Isaiah 25 Who by the mouth of thy servant13 David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? 26The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ [Anointed!]. 27For of a truth against thy holy child [Servant, (as in Act_3:13)] Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both [om. both] Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people [peoples, λαοῖς] of Israel, were gathered together [in this city],14 28For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done [before, that it should come to pass, γενέσθαι]. 29And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, 30By stretching [In that thou stretchest] forth thine hand to heal [for healing]; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child [Servant] Jesus. 31And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
32And the multitude of them that believed [of the believers] were of one [were one] heart and of one [om. of one] soul: neither said any of them [and not one said] that aught of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common [but all things were common to them]. 33And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. 34[For, γὰρ] Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, 35And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. 36And Joses [Joseph],15 who by16 the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The [A] son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus [born in Cyprus], 37Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Act_4:23.—They went to their own company.—When the apostles were dismissed from the council-chamber of the Sanhedrin, where none but watchful and threatening enemies surrounded them, they proceeded πρὸς τοὺς ἰδίους. Who were these persons? Our first impression would be, that they were the believers, the disciples of Jesus, and this is the opinion of Kuinoel and Baumgarten. The interpretation of Olshausen, according to which the respective household friends of the apostles are meant, too greatly restricts the meaning of the term, and is supported by no other passage. [Olshausen says: “the church in the house (Hausgemeine), those with whom the apostles were accustomed to unite in prayer,” and refers to Act_12:12.—Tr.] The opinion of Beza, and, more recently, of Meyer and de Wette, who restrict the meaning of the term to the group of the apostles, is not sustained either by Act_4:32 (in which the πλῆθος τῶς πιστευσάντων is contradistinguished from the ἴδιοι), or by Act_4:31, in which all that, were assembled, are said to have spoken the word of God. The latter act is not identical with that of bearing witness to Christ in a public, didactic manner (comp. Act_4:33); for λαλεῖν [Act_4:31] describes the freedom of a conversation, not the solemnity of an address, and could therefore be applied with perfect consistency to the language of all the believers. And with respect to Act_4:32, it cannot possibly have been the case that all the believers who were in Jerusalem, and whose number, according to Act_4:4, amounted to five thousand men, were assembled in that place. The apostles, accordingly, proceeded to the company of the believers, or to the Christian congregation (including, of course, their fellow-apostles, although we cannot assume that the whole number of the Christians, who already constituted a vast multitude, could, have been present). Here, at length, the two apostles knew that they were among friends; the members of the Church had, naturally, felt the deepest sympathy, and continually offered fervent prayer in their behalf; they were now entitled to receive a full report of all that had occurred.
Act_4:24. a. They lifted up their voice.—When the apostles had, accordingly, communicated, not that which they themselves had said and done, but that which the rulers and representatives of the people of God had spoken in an imperious and minatory manner, their hearers unitedly poured forth their feelings in a prayer. In what manner was this done? Bengel and others suppose that Peter pronounced the words, and that these were repeated by the company; but this view does not agree with the statement that Peter and John had made their report, and that the others, after listening to the recital, offered prayer (οἱ δὲ ἀκούσαντες—εἶπον). Baumgarten conjectures that the whole congregation sung the second Psalm [quoted in Act_4:25-26], after which Peter applied it to the present conjuncture, using the words here recorded. But the objection just made, applies to this interpretation also; besides, the words of the Psalm and those of the application are interwoven, so that the text before us does not make the distinction which Baumgarten’s interpretation presupposes. Meyer escapes this difficulty by assuming that Act_4:24-30 present an established formula of prayer, which had been previously composed, under the influence of the Holy Ghost, while the impressions made by the sufferings of Christ were still recent; this formula, he adds, was now repeated by the assembled apostles (see above, Exeg. note on Act_4:23) with one heart and one voice. But even if we do not insist on the circumstance that the recitation of a form of prayer from memory, is inconsistent with the present situation, that is, the vigorous, original, spiritual life of the church, other considerations show distinctly that the origin of this prayer must be assigned to this precise time; there are, namely, special allusions to the present case (Act_4:29 f. ἀπειλάς, παῤῥησίαν, ἴασιν etc.). If we assume that one of the other apostles pronounced the prayer, and that all who were present, united, in part audibly, (for instance, when the words of the Psalm occurred, Act_4:25) we shall, doubtless, do full justice to the words of Luke, inasmuch as he, not rarely, ascribes language to several persons, which could have been uttered only by one of their number, e. g. Act_4:19; Act_5:29, etc.
b. Lord, which [thou who] hast made.—This is the first Christian church-prayer with which we are acquainted, and claims special consideration. A close inspection shows, (a) that this prayer was dictated by a deep feeling of distress and danger; “this beautiful flower, too, grew under the cross;” (b) that this prayer, dictated by the distress of the present moment, beseeches the Almighty to regard the threatenings of enemies (that their counsel and will might not be fulfilled), and to grant grace and support to the servants of God in their words and acts (so that the kingdom of God might come). (c) The ground of the confidence of these afflicted men, and, indeed, that on which they offer prayer, is, first, the almighty power of God, the Creator of heaven and earth; secondly, the consoling word and promise of God (Psa_2:1-2, quoted strictly according to the text of the LXX.), the fulfilment of which had already been seen in the sufferings (and the resurrection) of Jesus.
Act_4:25-28. By the mouth of … David.—The second Psalm, which, as it is well known, is without a title, is, in accordance with the common view, ascribed to David. The raging of the גּוֹיִם (φρυάσσω, originally descriptive of the wild snorting of spirited or intractable horses,) which the Psalm mentions, is referred, in the prayer, to the hostile conduct of the pagan Romans; the term ἄρχοντες, Act_4:26, specially designates Pontius Pilate, Act_4:27; λαοί (לְאֻמִּים in the Psalm) is referred to Israel [the plural, in allusion to the twelve tribes, (Meyer)], and the phrase βασιλεῖς τ. γ. is applied to Herod [Antipas, mentioned, e. g. in Mat_14:1; Luk_3:1; Luk_23:7.—Tr.]
Act_4:29-30. Behold their threatenings.—The words of the prayer, ἔπιδε ἐπὶ τὰς ἀπειλὰς αὐ τῶν refer to the immediate danger in which the believers were involved. The threats of the Sanhedrin, Act_4:17; Act_4:21, were like a sword suspended over the heads of the apostles. In view of the danger, they beseech God to behold—to restrain their enemies, and to protect his people. If this petition may be said to be negative in its character, the positive blessing for which they ask, is a bold and joyful spirit in proclaiming the word of God. And when they ask, in addition, for power to perform signs and miracles of healing in the name of Jesus, they again refer to the most recent events, the healing of the lame man, and their immediate necessities. For the gifts which these men specially need in that moment, are, first, the power to proclaim the word with courage and joy, and secondly, the power to help and to heal, as evidences that the omnipotent God is with them.
Act_4:31. The place was shaken.—When the place in which the congregation was assembled, was shaken, and when they themselves were filled with the Holy Ghost, their prayer received an immediate and direct answer—these events were the Amen of their petition. The connection shows that this shaking of the place, was not a natural or merely accidental occurrence (as Heinrichs and Kuinoel suppose), but a miraculous and direct act of God. Bengel views this trembling of the place as a symbol of the commotions which were at hand, and which the Gospel would produce in every direction, while Baumgarten sees in it a sign that the will of God is able to control all visible objects. We may, in general, regard it both as a sign of the omnipotence of God, to which, indeed, the men who prayed, had appealed, and on which they relied, Act_4:24, and also as an accompanying external sign of the internal and invisible influences of the Spirit. The believers had referred to the future, when they prayed that the apostles might appear with boldness in the presence of unbelievers and enemies; but God, who does exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think [Eph_3:20], answered their prayer immediately, even while none but friends were present, as an earnest and pledge of future mercies.
Act_4:32-35. a. And the multitude of them that believed.—This first attempt of the enemies of the Church of Christ to overthrow it, which was defeated by the protection and grace of God, constitutes an epoch in its history; the believers enjoyed a temporary repose. And here Luke pauses, in order to describe the condition of the entire Church (πλῆθος τῶν πιστευσάντων). His statement presents four of the prominent features: (a) The apostles gave witness of the resurrection of Jesus, with great power—a proof that God continued to fulfil the petition recorded in Act_4:29. The apostles, far from being intimidated by the threatenings of the rulers, publicly delivered their testimony concerning Jesus and his resurrection with increased courage and power. (b) Great grace was upon them all, that is, not the apostles only, but all the believers. The word χάρις does not here [as in Act_2:47] denote favor with the people (Olsh. and others); there is nothing in the passage itself which would suggest such an interpretation; it denotes the grace and benevolence of God [Alf. Hack.] for Christ’s sake, in which every individual (ἐπὶ πάντας) shared, (c) The union of hearts of the Christians, their brotherly love and perfect harmony in sentiment and thought (ἡ καρδία καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ μία)—a circumstance which was the more remarkable, as the number of the members had already greatly increased (πλῆθος τῶν πιστ.).
b. They had all things common.—The fourth feature is (d) the community of goods; comp. Act_2:44 ff. In this Luke finds an expression of fraternal union, Act_4:32, on the one hand, and on the other, an evidence of the grace of God, Act_4:34 (γαρ) [omitted in the Engl. vers.; “Neither was there should have been—For there was not.” (J. A. Alex.) Tr.]. It is hence evident that Luke designs to represent this community of goods, not as a measure demanded by any law or authority, but as a course of action which individuals adopted voluntarily; and this view is confirmed by the illustrative case of Joseph Barnabas, to which Luke specially calls attention.—But does this description of the community of goods imply that a general custom, admitting of no exceptions, prevailed, so that every individual (not indeed, compelled by a law, but in a voluntary manner) sold all his real estate, and placed the proceeds at the disposal of the Church? The words before us do not suggest an affirmative answer to this question. If, according to Act_4:32, not one declaredthat any of the things which he possessed was his own (ἔλεγεν ἴδιον εἶναι), this language unquestionably implies that his proprietorship remained undisturbed; hoc ipso præsupponitur, proprietatem possessionis non plane fuisse deletam. (Bengel). The owner did not retain possession of his property in a selfish spirit, allowing none to derive benefit from it; on the contrary, they had πάντα κοινά—all things were so employed as to supply the wants of all. When Luke continues his description of the action of the Christians, Act_4:34-35, the main feature is evidently the provision which was made for the needy; the work was performed with so much liberality and success, that no one suffered, Act_4:34; the wants of every individual were supplied, Act_4:35. This result was due to the sale of property on the part of all the members of the church (ὅσοι) who were owners of lands or houses; the funds which were thus obtained, were laid at the feet of the apostles (who sat when they taught), that is to say, the funds were intrusted to them as the almoners of the church. We are certainly authorized by the literal import of the passage to assume that all the owners of real estate, who belonged to the church, sold property, but not that they sold all the real estate of which they were the possessors. Each one contributed a certain portion, but it is not said here that each one disposed of his whole property; we are not even distinctly told that a single individual relinquished all that he owned. This passage, accordingly, can by no means be so interpreted, as to lead legitimately to the conclusion that it was the universal custom of the members (voluntarily observed, indeed, but still not neglected in a single case) to surrender the whole amount of their real estate for the benefit of poor members. Indeed, the special case which is now adduced, leads to the opposite conclusion.
Act_4:36-37. Joseph or Joses [the latter only another form of the name Joseph (Herzog: Real-Enc. VII. 33)] received from the apostles the surname of Barnabas, בַּר נבוּאָה, that is, son of prophetic discourse, or, exhortation [“literally, υἱὸς προφητείας; he was counted among the prophets, Act_13:1; but προφ. includes παράκλησις, an edifying discourse, Act_13:15; 1Co_14:3, thus authorizing the translation in the text.” (de Wette). See below, Act_11:22. b.—Tr.]; he was born in the island of Cyprus, and belonged to the tribe of Levi. He, too, sold a piece of ground which he possessed, and laid the money which he had obtained, at the apostles’ feet. He is the well-known Barnabas, who is afterwards frequently mentioned as an associate of the apostle Paul [e. g. Act_13:2]. That he was a Levite, is a remarkable circumstance; we are soon afterwards told that even many priests believed, Act_6:7. The surname of Barnabas, which the apostles gave him (as those of Peter and Boanerges, were conferred by Jesus himself), alluded, without doubt, to an extraordinary gift of the Spirit, which was manifested in the animation and the power of his addresses and exhortations. It was by no means inconsistent with the law that he (as a Levite) should own a piece of ground (Baumgarten), since even Jeremiah [the son of a priest, Jer_1:1] secured a field as private property, in accordance with the forms of the law, Jer_32:6-12. [The right of individual ownership might exist within the forty-eight cities and the territory adjacent to them, which were assigned to the Levites, Num_35:1-8; Lev_25:32 (Hack.), and it is probable, that after the return from Babylon, the restrictions imposed on the priests and Levites by the Mosaic law, Num_18:10-24; Jos_18:7, were no longer enforced (de Wette).—Tr.]. Hence Barnabas did not sell the land in order to comply with the requisitions of any law, but was prompted to take that course by his love to the brethren.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. When the believers prayed, they were supported by their faith in the omnipotence of God, who made heaven and earth, Act_4:24. This article of faith appears to many to be exceedingly trivial; nevertheless, it is one of the original and fundamental truths of revelation, from which faith continually derives new strength and consolation. The last book of the Scriptures, the Apocalypse, gives special prominence to this truth, which is revealed and illustrated in the first book of the Bible. As truth is an undivided whole, the component parts of which are essentially connected, no one article of faith can be undervalued without affecting the integrity of the whole (as far as an individual is personally concerned).
2. The second Psalm is the Scriptural basis of the prayer, Act_4:24 ff.; the divine inspiration from which it originally proceeded, revealed its true application, Act_4:25. Its divine character is demonstrated by the fulfilment which occurred in Jesus Christ. For David is here clearly the type of Jesus; as the former was the servant of God, so Jesus is the servant of God in the full sense of the word (παῖς, Act_4:25; Act_4:27; Act_4:30 [see abov, Exeg. and Crit. notes, on Act_3:13-14 a.]); as David, the king, was the anointed of God, Act_4:26, so Jesus is the Anointed of God, Act_4:26-27; as men rebelled, and resisted David’s royal rights and authority, so they dealt with Jesus, Act_4:27. But even as God then protected his anointed, and vindicated his character by divine acts, so, too, he will interpose in the present circumstances, and defeat his foes, Act_4:29 ff. For a greater than David is here [Mat_12:42].
3. What is, accordingly, the substance of the confession which the Church here pronounces respecting Jesus Christ? He receives, indeed, the same appellation which is given to David—each, is a παῖς θεοῦ, Act_4:25; Act_4:27. But, then, an incomparably higher character is ascribed to Jesus, not only when he is termed the Servant of God, while David is merely a servant of God, but also when Jesus is specially and repeatedly [Act_4:27; Act_4:30] termed ὁ ἅγιος παῖς θεοῦ, that is, he is distinguished from all that is sinful and unclean, and is infinitely exalted above David, serving God and his kingdom alone, as the consecrated servant and executor of the divine decrees. This description involves a most intimate and a peculiar union with God, of which there is no other instance. That union is implied in the confession that God performs miracles through [διὰ—“strictly meaning through, by means of,” J. A. Alex, ad loc.—Tr.] the name of Jesus, Act_4:30, that is, through Jesus, who is confessed and invoked, when these miracles are wrought. He is, accordingly, the Mediator of salvation, and of the miraculous operations of divine grace.
4. The pure and holy spirit of Christ breathes in this prayer. It exhibits no traces of revengeful feeling, of carnal zeal, or of a desire for the destruction of any enemies: however zealous these Christians are in the cause of God, all that they presume to ask is, that he would behold the threatenings of their enemies, and graciously enable them to bear witness in word and in deed, with confidence and joy. Even as Christ did not come to condemn, but to save the world [Joh_3:17], so, too, the apostles and other believers are controlled, not by the penal, burning zeal of an Elijah, but by deep love for the souls of men, who are to be saved through the instrumentality of their words and acts, and be conducted to salvation in Christ. And when the word is not bound, when Christ is preached with power and boldness, his cause will always triumph in the end.
5. The prayer and its answer. The prayer was offered in the name of Jesus, in communion with him, in his own mind and spirit. The promise is given unconditionally that such prayers shall be heard. The prayer was, accordingly, answered—it was answered immediately, and above all that they asked or thought [Eph_3:20]. Such prayers elevate, strengthen and sanctify the soul. The believers could not have been filled with the Holy Ghost, if they had not previously offered this prayer, Act_4:31.
6. This admirable union in spirit, Act_4:32, which was not only a union in faith, but also in brotherly love, demonstrates that the Christians were truly regenerated, and in a state of grace. It was a union which, combined with self-denial and a renunciation of the world, looked not “on its own things, but also on the things of others” [Php_2:4]. Each one felt the sorrows of the other, bore his burdens, and regarded his own possessions as common property. And as faith demonstrates its truth when it actively works by love, divine grace was with all, and upon all.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Act_4:23. They went to their own company, etc.—It is an advantage when believers are made acquainted with the dangers that threaten the Church; they are thus led to address earnest supplications to God, and to wrestle in prayer. (Quesnel).—A faithful pastor is greatly assisted, when, by the goodness of God, he sees around him those whom he can regard as his own company, that is, who are partakers of his grace [Php_1:7], and are united with him in oneness of spirit. Such a company of believers offers him a place of refuge, in which he can find relief and encouragement in the midst of afflictions. (Apost. Past.).
Act_4:24. They lifted up their voice, etc.—The most effective weapons which the Church can employ in distress and persecution, are prayers and tears [Hos_12:14].—If the prayer of a righteous man availeth much [Jam_5:16], the prayer of many righteous men, when offered with one accord, availeth still more. (Starke).—The lips of faithful witnesses of Jesus are never sealed; they either preach to the world, or cry aloud to God. (Apost. Past.).—Trials teach the individual, and the Church too, how to pray.—The communion of saints on earth: a communion, I. Of faith; II. Of affection; III. Of prayer.
Act_4:25-29.—Why did the heathen rage?—When the enemies of the Church rage, we are not permitted to yield to our passions, but are commanded to be calm, and to praise God in faith, patience and prayer. (Starke).—The genuine prayer of the Church, an acceptable burnt-offering: I. The altar on which it is placed—the communion of believers, Act_4:23; II. The fire in which it burns—the ardor of brotherly love, Act_4:23-24; III. The wind which, fans the flame—the storms of trial, Act_4:23-26; IV. The wood which maintains the fire—divine promises found in the evergreen forest of the Scriptures, Act_4:25-26; V. The Deity, to whom the offering is made—the Almighty Maker and Lord of heaven and earth, Act_4:24; Act_4:29-30; VI. The Amen that responds to the prayer—renewal and strength in the Holy Ghost, Act_4:31.—In what spirit should the Christian mention his enemies in his prayers? I. Without fear or dread; for he prays to the King of all kings; “if God be for us,” etc., (Rom_8:31) Act_4:25-28; II. Without wrath and hatred; for his prayers are directed against that which is evil, not against evil men, Act_4:29; III. Without pride and defiance; for he prays not so much with respect to his personal affairs, as to the cause of God, Act_4:29-30.
Act_4:30. That signs and wonders may be done.—The prayers of the Church work great miracles; they rescued three of our number from death, that is, myself, when I lay sick unto death on many occasions; my wife Catharine, who was equally near to death, and M[agister] Philip Melanchthon, who, in the year 1540, lay in a dying state in Weimar. Although such deliverances from sickness and bodily dangers are very ordinary miracles, they should still be noticed for the sake of those who are weak in faith; for I consider those as far greater miracles which the Lord, our God, daily performs in the Church, when he baptizes, administers the Sacrament of the altar [Lord’s Supper], and delivers from sin, death, and eternal damnation. (Luther).
Act_4:31. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken, etc.—Prayer worketh miracles: I. Those that are internal: the heart is filled with happiness; the soul is wonderfully strengthened; II. Those that are external: houses shaken, congregations awakened, enemies alarmed, mountains moved, the world convulsed.
Act_4:32. a. And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul.—Believers ought to be not only of one heart (as far as the will is concerned), but also of one soul (united in opinions and views). (Ap. Past.).—Affliction binds the hearts of the devout together; it severs those of the wicked, and enkindles hatred, selfishness and strife.—“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” Psa_133:1.—Herethe bride of Christ appears, adorned with the jewels of holiness—a joyful faith, and unity of the Spirit. (Starke).—This was truly a Paradise on earth; alas! how soon it passed away! Heb_13:1; Rev_2:4. (Quesn.).
Act_4:32. b. Neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed was his own.—The noble Communism of the primitive Christians, and the spurious Communism of the modern Communists; see above, Act_2:44-45, Hom. and Pract.—The apostles and disciples did not ask that the possessions of others, as of Pilate and Herod, should be common to all, as our senseless peasants now imperiously demand. But these men claim an equal share of the private property of others, and yet insist on retaining their own. They are, truly, admirable specimens of Christians! (Luther).—The true mode of contending against this modern and ungodly Communism, and against every false, levelling process, consists in the maintenance of the godly communion of Christians; the latter will, at all times, and in all places, conform to the indwelling royal law of love. (Besser).
Act_4:33. And with great power, etc.—The more violently men attempt to suppress divine truth, the more vigorously it manifests its power. (Starke).
Act_4:34. a. Neither was there any among them that lacked.—This result was, no doubt, produced in part by the community of goods which is here mentioned, Act_4:32; but it is to be ascribed chiefly to the grace of the Lord Jesus, which moderated their desires, and gave them contented and peaceful hearts.
Act_4:34. b. For as many as were possessors of lands or houses, sold them, etc.—We cannot more unequivocally demonstrate our gratitude to Jesus, who “became poor for our sakes” [2Co_8:9], than by submitting even to poverty for the sake of his poor members. (Quesn.).—He who offers himself as a willing sacrifice to the Lord, is likewise prepared to sacrifice his goods for the benefit of the brethren.—The providence of God, in its wisdom and mercy, alleviated the trials which the subsequent flight of the Christians from Jerusalem occasioned [see Mat_24:20, and Comment. ad loc.], by inducing them to dispose in time of their real estate, and to become literally pilgrims who retain no private property. (Apost. Past.).—The community of goods of the primitive Christians: in which of its features should it be taken as a model by Christians in our day? In what respects should it not serve as a model?—When may a Christian congregation be said to flourish? Act_4:32-35 : I. Where Christ is preached with fidelity (Act_4:33), true faith will manifest its power; II. Where true faith exists, a genuine Christian love will prevail (“of one … soul,” Act_4:32); III. Where Christian love prevails, all are prosperous (“neither was there any … that lacked,” Act_4:34).—The tempests of persecution which assail the Church, produce results similar to those which follow storms and rains in nature: all things seem to revive and bloom, and to grow and flourish with increased vigor and beauty, Act_4:32-35.
Act_4:36-37. And Joses [Joseph], who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas.—That every Christian should become a Barnabas, a son of consolation: I. By seeking consolation himself, in faith, in the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, 2Co_1:3-4; II. By freely imparting consolation to others in love: (a) with the words of his lips (affectionately encouraging them, which was doubtless the special gift that grace had bestowed on Barnabas, and that gained for him this honorable appellation; comp. Isa_40:1 : “Comfort ye,” etc., and Isa_52:7 : “How beautiful upon the mountains,” etc.); (b) with the gifts of his hand (with brotherly love relieving the wants of others, like Barnabas, Act_4:37.—“Let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth.” 1Jn_3:18).—The fraternal union of the primitive Christians: I. The fraternal prayer of faith, Act_4:23-31; II. The fraternal acts of love, Act_4:31-37.—[One Lord, one faith, one baptism (Eph_4:5), the true foundation of Christian union.—The rapid growth of the primitive Church: I. The direct means; (a) the inspired word; (b) the holy Sacraments, Act_2:41; Act_2:46; (c) the special gifts of the Spirit. II. The circumstances which promoted it; (a) the faith, Act_4:12; (b) the love, Act_4:32; (c) the zeal of the newly converted, Act_4:31. III. Its effects; (a) on the Church itself; (b) on its enemies; (c) on the world.—Tr.]
Footnotes:
[12]Act_4:24.—Δέσποτα, σὺ ὁ ποιήσας. Ὁ θεος between σύ and ὁ ποιήσ. is wanting in important MSS. [A. B. Cod. Sin. Vulg. etc.], and seems to be one of the many interpolations, by which the simple prayer was supposed to gain in beauty. [Alford retains the reading of the text. rec.—Tr.]
[13]Act_4:25.—ὁ διὰ στόματος Δαυῖδ παιδός σου εἰπών; many of the variæ lectiones (of which the most important are: διὰ πνεύματος ἁγίου, and, τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν), appear to be interpolations, intended to improve the original. [Alford says: “The text of this verse is in a very confused state. I have kept to that of the oldest MSS., adopted also by Lachmann.” He reads thus: ὁ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν διὰ πνεύματος ἀγίου στόματος Δαυὶδ παιδός σου εἰπὼι; with A. B. E. and Cod. Sin.—δια is inserted by D. before τ. στόμ. Tisch. reads: ὁ διὰ στόμ. Δ. π. σου εἰπών, omitting all the rest, in the ed. of 1849.—Tr.]
[14]Act_4:27.—ἐν τῇ πόλει ταύτῃ; this reading [after ἐπʼ ἀληθ.] is undoubtedly genuine, according to external testimony, and there is not sufficient internal evidence to justify the conclusion that it is merely a gloss. [Omitted in text. rec., on authority not stated, but found in A. B. D. E. Cod. Sin. Vulg., and nearly all the versions, and inserted by Lach., Tisch., and Alf.—Tr.]
[15]Act_4:36. a.—The most important MSS. and ancient versions read: Ιωσὴφ [A. B. D. E. Cod. Sin., Syr., Vulg., etc.]; that the reading Ἰωσῆς, which is less strongly supported, is merely a correction to suit Act_1:23 [Meyer], is only an unsupported opinion. [Lach., Tisch., and Alf. read Ἰωσὴφ.—Tr.]
[16]Act_4:36. b.—ἀπὸ τῶν ἀποστ.; this reading is somewhat more strongly supported [by A. B. E.] than ὑπό, and would scarcely have been introduced, if ὑπό, which is, grammatically, the easier form, had been originally employed. [ἀπὸ in A. B. E. Cod. Sin., and adopted by Lach., Tisch., and Alf.—ὑπό, of text. rec. in D., and retained by Alf.—Tr.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv23–25 PETER AND JOHN DISMISSED FROM THE SAMHEDRIM, REPORT THE…
PETER AND JOHN DISMISSED FROM THE SAMHEDRIM, REPORT THE PROCEEDINGS TO THE ASSEMBLED DISCIPLES--THEY ENGAGE IN PRAYER--THE ASTONISHING ANSWER AND RESULTS. (Act 4:23-37)
being let go, they went to their own company--Observe the two opposite classes, representing the two interests which were about to come into deadly conflict.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv23–25 23. Their own company—The body of Christians at their…
23. Their own company—The body of Christians at their own large assembly room. (See note on Act_1:13.)
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv23–25 23–31. The Apostles released. Their Prayer and its Answer
23–31. The Apostles released. Their Prayer and its Answer
23. to their own company] Perhaps still abiding in the upper room which they had occupied before Pentecost. Because St Peter on a later occasion (Act_12:12) made his way, after his deliverance from prison, to the house of Mary the mother of John Mark where many were gathered together praying, some have thought that this was the house where the Apostles had dwelt from the first. Such men at such a time would have neither means (see Act_3:6) nor inclination to change from house to house. And Christ’s injunction (Luk_10:7), “Go not from house to house,” was given with a purpose which the Apostles would be likely to bear in mind and act upon.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv23–25 (23) They went to their own company.—Literally, their own…
(23) They went to their own company.—Literally, their own people. The statement implies a recognised place of meeting, where the members of the new society met at fixed times.
All that the chief priests.—The word is probably used in its more extended meaning, as including, not only Annas and Caiaphas, but the heads of the four-and-twenty courses (see Note on Mat_2:4), and others who were members of the Sanhedrin.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv23–25 Came for went, A.V.; the elders for elders, A.V.…
Came for went, A.V.; the elders for elders, A.V. To their own company. (comp. Mal_3:16) The chief priests (oiJ ajrceireiv); evidently the same as those who were described as being "of the kindred of the high priest," in ver. 6 (where see note).
The use of freedom.
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let go, they went to their own company." We have here an apt illustration of
I AN ACT INCIDENTAL TO LIBERTY. "Being let go the hand of restraint being taken off them went to their own company;" they followed the bent of their own inclination, and went to those with whom they were in sympathy. This is the constant accompaniment of human freedom. As soon as the parental hand is relaxed, as soon as the teacher"s eye is off them, as soon as the restraints of home and the guardianship of elders are removed, the young take their own course, follow their own bent, choose their own company. We never know what men really are until we take away the bonds by which we hold them in check, and they go "whithersoever they will whither their own principles allow, and their own tastes direct them.
II THE WISDOM OF THOSE WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR OTHERS. It is of little use to hold the reins so tight that, as long as they are held by a firm hand, there can be no wandering. What is to be the event when the reins must be thrown up? What will be the course chosen when they whom we guard are "let go"? If we do nothing mere and better than carefully imprison within walls of correct behavior, we shall be bitterly disappointed with the result. It is our wisdom and our duty to provide for the hour when those for whom we are responsible will be "let go," and when they will assuredly go to their own company will seek out those persons and those things with which they sympathize. We can only do this
(1) by implanting right principles, and
(2) cultivating pure tastes.
These, and these only, will lead the young, in the days when they act for themselves, to shun that which is wrong and to pursue that which is holy, wise, useful.
III THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF FREEDOM. Young people!
1. You will soon stand at the point where you will decide on your own course.
2. If, then, you are right at heart, you will walk in the path of life; choosing the company of the good, the ways of wisdom.
3. If, then, your heart is not right with God, you will be tempted to follow an evil bent. It will be a most perilous hour with you.
(1) To give way to the lower inclinations is to enter the road of ruin.
(2) If you love life and hate death, go not whither you would, but where conviction tells you you should. Hearken to the heavenly voice which says, "This is the way; walk ye in it. C.
Vers. 23-37. The resource of the devout, etc.
Released from the restraint of law, the apostles returned to "their own company," and there they related what they had passed through. We may be sure that the whole of that community of brethren entered, with deep and strong sympathy, into the feelings of their two leaders; they all felt that a very critical hour had come to that new cause which they represented. Under these circumstances they bethought themselves of
I THE RESOURCE OF THE DEVOUT. "They lifted up their voice to God with one accord" (ver. 24). They felt, as their prayer indicated, that:
1. All power was in his mighty hand: "Thou art God, who hast made heaven," etc. Vainly would the heathen rage, and kings and rulers conspire against the holy Child Jesus," the Son of the living God.
2. A gracious purpose was in his sovereign will. However earthly potentates might imagine they were carrying everything their own way, they were but "doing what his hand and counsel determined before to be done" (ver. 28).
3. He could impart a power which would make them superior to all fear of man. They asked for boldness of speech (ver. 29), and, with this end in view, for signs of his presence (ver. 30). Prayer is the constant, unfailing resort of all holy souls. What time we are afraid we must trust in him; we must flee unto him to hide us.
II DIVINE ENCOURAGEMENT. (Vers. 31-33.) The Lord responded to his people"s prayer, and granted them:
(1) a manifest sign of his presence and favor (ver. 31);
(2) the fearlessness of spirit they so much desired (ver. 31);
(3) power to testify of Christ (ver. 33); and
(4) inward, spiritual confidence and joy: "Great grace was upon them all" (ver. 33).
God now vouchsafes to his waiting children the blessings they seek of him: the assurance of his presence, power to act as his witnesses, success in their labors, rest and joy of heart in him and in his service.
III THE COMMUNITY OF THE FAITHFUL. (Vers. 32, 34-37.) The essential part of this passage is the opening sentence, "The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul" (ver. 32). The measure which they adopted, viz. a community of goods, was peculiar, exceptional, transitory. It is not a practical method, suited to such conditions as those in which we find ourselves. It is not enjoined by apostolic word, nor is it sustained by subsequent apostolic practice. It was evidently special, local, temporary. But it is essential that those who belong to the same heavenly kingdom, and especially those who are members of the same Christian Church, should
(1) cultivate a true and deep sympathy, "oneness of heart," and
(2) take some practical measures to supply the wants of the necessitous from the treasury of those who have more than they need. C.
Vers. 23-31. The joy of faith confirmed.
The Church, on hearing of the recent events, break out into expressions of joy. As usual on such occasions, the voice of ancient sacred song becomes their voice.
I OUR HELP IS IN THE CREATOR. Man"s need and weakness lead him now to shun and now to seek almighty power. There are awful moments when the soul"s sin seems to have called the lightning and the thunder from the sky, to have awoke the threat of the earthquake, the storm, and the sea. Other exultant moments, when the solemn sounds of the deep heart of nature are like the cannon of a friendly force advancing to a beleaguered city"s aid. The most powerful conqueror, like Napoleon amidst the snows of Russia, may be in turn conquered by the physical forces of nature. The moral forces represented in the will of the Almighty and All-Holy cannot be successfully resisted. This is the deep truth in the Davidic psalm.
II PHYSICAL FEEBLENESS WITH MORAL MIGHT.
1. In the case of David and his kingdom. Study the historical circumstances reflected in the psalm. Look at the tiny kingdom of Judah, placed amidst great foes on every hand. She led a threatened life for ages; it seemed impossible she could survive. Yet the small one became a thousand, the vine grew in spite of every cropping fox or wasting boar, the little lodge in the garden was not overthrown till it had sent forth a ray of light over the lands. Moral life, derived from the immediate inspiration of God, was in her. The enmity of the world served but to elicit and mature that life.
2. In the case of Christ and his kingdom. The like relation is repeated in another form. Corrupt Israel joins with pagan Rome in the attempt to suppress the truth and resist the will of God. David, the anointed king of Jehovah"s selection, is the type, in a lower relation, of Jesus, the anointed Prince in the higher and purely spiritual relation. Upon this analogy hope is firmly built. As the great prince of olden time had risen in Jehovah"s might superior to all his foes, so might his Antitype be expected to lay prostrate faithless Israel"s and proud Rome"s might beneath his throne of moral majesty.
III PRAYER THE INSTRUMENT OF WEAKNESS AND OF STRENGTH. Of weakness, for it implies dependence; and were our wishes convertible into facts, there would be no prayer. Some form of helplessness alone brings men to their knees. Yet it is the expression of strength; for strength in weakness is the very secret and heart of moral energy and of Christian piety.
1. The aim of prayer. It is that the human spirit may be united with the Divine, whether in action or in suffering. Action lay before the suppliants now action chiefly or wholly by utterance, which is ever the special action of the Christian witness. Boldness in that utterance the very thing which had impressed the Sanhedrim in Peter and John was the thing needed. The renewal of strength must come in prayer. God grants at one time only sufficient for that time. He does not allow the accumulation of capital. He lends that we may spend and come to him again. But boldness must rest upon the knowledge of facts. So closely does courage link with knowledge that the Greek philosopher even said they were identical. Without some evidence that God is on our side, we cannot have the heart to go on. Where, then, may we look for such evidence? The apostles sought it in the manifestation of Divine energy to cure. This was the significant symbol of his presence and of the intention of the gospel in those days. They were justified on the ground of experience, clear, repeated, and definite, in expecting this kind of encouragement. We, on the ground of our experience, are entitled to expect something different, but equally in its way real. Divine energy to heal through ways and means not less Divine because natural, we are to seek and make an object of our prayer.
2. The answer to prayer. In this case it came in a manner not to be mistaken by an immediate impression on the senses and on the inward consciousness of all The house trembled; their spirits vibrated to the inner touch of God; their tongues were loosed, and the sought-for fluency and confidence were given. How can we apply this to modern times? No sober Christian teacher dares to encourage the expectation of such "signs and wonders" now. They belong to a past mode of religious consciousness, a disused mode of revelation. For "God fulfils himself in many ways." How important to know in what direction to look for God the point on our horizon where he may be expected to appear. Much, the greater part, must be left to individual experience. Let every worshipper seek for the Shechinah in his heart. And in general, let us teach that no special manifestation of God is to be expected out of the lines of clear intelligent experience. Experience is itself the ordinary and most precious revelation of God"s will. And the experience of every soul, devoutly read, contains past wonders, and prophesies their recurrence. J.
Vers. 23-31. The grateful, emboldened, and prayerful Church, and the Spirit"s witness.
With all the naturalness of simplest truth, we are told how the apostles, in their new character of discharged prisoners, run away at once to their brethren of the Church. And we are in this passage taught how
I THE CHURCH SHOULD BE A HOME OF TENDEREST, MOST FAITHFUL SYMPATHIES, AND OF HOLY SOCIAL INTERCOURSE. NOW it is too often the place of suspicion, distrust, unhappy emulations. Or it is the place of coldest indifference. None welcome the coming, speed the parting, guest. Or it is only the place of an almost selfish seeking of the proffered religious instruction, or exhortation, or enjoyment that may, under those conditions, scarcely be realized. The germ of the Church showed far otherwise. The highest type of Church life possible on earth may be confidently calculated on to show something very different. And till such difference become plain in any part of the Christian Church, it faintly indeed reflects the glorious reality above.
II THE CHURCH SHOULD BE "THE ROYAL EXCHANGE" OF CHRISTIAN NEWS, OF CHRISTIAN ENTERPRISE, AND OF CHRISTIAN BUSINESS. The world may know, and all the better that it should know, the achievements of Christ and his truth. But the Church should know them still better, and often under very different aspects. Nor has the Church anything to conceal of its purposes or its methods; yet may these oftener be hallowed, and be more abounding and richer in grace and the elements of success, when considered and matured in the Church. If only we could imagine the account in detail which Peter and John now gave "to their own company" of their experience, and what their eyes had seen and their ears had heard, and of the irresistible impressions of the characters of others which had been made upon their minds, by the events of the past, say, fifteen hours, since they had been put in ward! Now every ear was attention, gladdened thought smiled on every countenance, and emboldened purpose stirred every heart. While anon the "threatenings" (ver. 29), that had been among the things which the chief priests and elders had said to them" (ver. 23), received also their due consideration. It is quite to be supposed that no one of that "company but found himself stronger for the joy of that hour, and more watchful and forearmed for what of forewarning it had in it.
III THE CHURCH SHOULD FIND THE PLACE IN FULLEST GRANDEUR OF ADORATION, GRATEFUL PRAISE, APPEAL, AND PRAYER, MET TOGETHER IN ONE SERVICE. Everything argues that the scene now before us was one of high inspiration. A large multitude of sympathetic souls hear the simplest tidings on a certain subject of the two liberated apostles; and though doubtless some one must have led off the chorus, forthwith the whole company "lift up their voice to God with one accord." And as we listen to that most real orchestra, what is it that we hear them singing? They uplift first the outburst of adoration; it is the snatch of a song sung by their ancestors a thousand years before (vers. 2426), and it simulates the responsive too. For it quotes the confirming word and declaration of God, putting it as if in response to the human ascription made first to him: "Lord, thou art God and thou didst say, Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?" We listen still, and there follows the recitative a few bars that tell the recent history of the Messiah, the anointed Jesus. But these strains do not die off without pronouncing in majesty the foreseeing, fore determining, sovereign counsel that belongs to God. Then follow appeal (ver. 29) and prayer (ver. 30), and they both were acceptable and accepted. In this appeal and prayer, with the reverent suggestion they venture upon stretching forth thy hand to heal there is something touching and pathetic. It were as though those who prayed bespoke of their sovereign Friend that he would not overlook the "threatenings" wherewith they were threatened, but that he would divinely checkmate these by again "stretching forth the healing hand," and again and again working "signs and wonders by the Name of Jesus," so that, together with faithfulness granted to his servants to speak the word, there might be superadded to them "bold- ness" in speaking it. Nothing less belts the character of the Word of God, scarcely anything more dishonors it, than to speak it fearfully, half apologetically, or with halting accents and uncertain sound. It is worthy to be spoken with that boldness which is all its own, and its own least due. Nothing on earth can equal the grandeur of a service like this. Such a service cannot find its habitat except in the Church. But has it found it there as often as it might?
IV THE CHURCH SHOULD WORK FOR ONE THING THE EMPHATIC WITNESS OF THE HOLY GHOST. Christianity is the dispensation of the Spirit. It is very certain that the most perfect outline of Christian truth is but a skeleton, and the most complete and harmonious and scriptural body of Christian doctrine but a corpse, except as the Spirit breathes life and power into them. The skeleton may be a marvel of adaptation and symmetry laid bare to the eye of whoever will behold, and the fashioned and filled-in body may be an exquisite model for grace and proportion; but they are dead till the Spirit gives the life. This is not to be supposed to need any proof now; but if it did, the word of Jesus himself about his own truth, previous to his death and after his resurrection, and the conduct and directions of Jesus previous to his ascension and to the day of Pentecost, amply prove it. But though it needs no proof, it may very largely need enforcement. Probably nothing so stays the advent of the grandest effects of Christianity as forgetfulness on the part of its professors of the force necessary, because divinely appointed, to give it effect. The Spirit is not honored as he should be in the Church. The Church does not "look for" his coming, nor wait for him, with much longing and with trustful prayer. At this very time and for some years past there has been a wonderful activity within the borders of the Church almost preternatural but, alas! not at all relatively evidencing the supernatural. "Lo, here!"and "Lo, there!" has long been the cry; so-called "revivals" have been proclaimed, and the stir of them, at all events, has been seen in most various sections of the Church; undeniably an unwonted industry of head and hand and foot has prevailed in the region of human instrumentality. And those who have thus wrought have been far too ready to "blow the trumpet and proclaim" a self-made and only self-found triumph. But where has the real life been evidenced? Where have real abounding fruits been witnessed? This is a thing not less remarkable than it seems, but far more so, and it begs to be approached, not with offhand explanation, but with exceedingly reverent scrutiny. That many men of incorrupt life and unsuspected simplicity of aim have labored with extremest zeal to lay hold upon their fellow-men for Christ, and the fruits of their labor have been a grievous gleaning instead of an undoubted crop! Collateral explanations and mitigating considerations must yield to the one solemn account of it. The Holy Spirit has not been in the midst of that work, has not been the beginning and the end of that activity. But what is this which we have here?
It is a refreshing crisis for which truly everything had prepared the way. Yes, but without it if it had not come everything that had gone before would have been dried to the aridity of the sandy desert itself. "When they had finished praying, the very place where they were assembled together was shaken." It meant the entrance of the Spirit of all power and might. "And the assembled believers were all filled with the Holy Ghost Pentecost repeats itself they spake the word of God with boldness." What thought, what hallowed musing, what prayer of the Church, should seek both for itself and for the world another visit of this same kind! B.
Vers. 23-31. Praise for safety and prayer for power
the court-room the apostles retired to the Church. Christian confessors win their victories in the face of day; but the strength by which such victories are won is only to be got where Jesus got his, in secret. Remember Luther"s broken cries as he lay on his chamber floor at early morning on the 18th day of April, 1521 (D"Aubigne, "History of the Reformation" bk. 7: Ac 8). In every crisis of strain and peril through which our lives must pass, at every moment of supreme difficulty, Sanhedrim threatenings, Worms Diets, or whatever less thing it be before which our faith and courage quail, there is for us no place of help like the secret footstool of Almighty God, nor any weapon like the cry of faith" (Dr. Dykes). Notice that the prayer of the disciples is addressed to God, not to Christ. Also that in the worship and prayer one voice led, finding expression for the common feeling, and the rest of the company probably responded with "Amens" spoken aloud. From the exegetical portion of this Commentary the precise meaning and allusions of the prayer may be learned. We dwell on two things.
I MAN"S PRAISE AND PRAYER. Compare other recorded songs and prayers. Espe cially unfold that the praise took the form of a psalm. Compare the so-called "Psalms of David." It was a public rejoicing on account of a Divine deliverance that was of public interest. Compare Miriam"s song at the Red Sea. Impress the duty of recognizing God"s hand in our lives, and praising him for his "merciful kindnesses." The prayer took the form of a request for precisely the things needed at the moment, viz. power to witness and power to work miracles, in attestation of the truth witnessed. An example of directness in prayer.
II GOD"S RESPONSE. TO MAN"S PRAISE AND PRAYER. A renewal of the special grace and endowment with which the apostles had been started on their work. Renewals of grace are still God"s best answers to our prayers. R.T. (2Co_12:9)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv23, 25 And being let go, they went to their own…
Act_4:23-37
And being let go, they went to their own company.
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Being let go
We do not know what we or other people are until the restraint is taken off. We call ourselves free, but there is not an absolutely free man in the universe. We have the liberty of law. We have the freedom of a theocracy. The Lord reigneth, and He would reign to no purpose if He did not restrain every creature, and restrain with singular meaning and graciousness the creature who bears His own image.
I. Good restraints.
1. Socially, in the lowest level. He is an ungallant and wholly undesirable man who is not restrained by the presence of ladies. But for that you could not tell what language he would have used. He could not be in his true self, not because there are ten great fiery commandments staring him in the face, but because of an all-pervading feeling of refinement. But if such men be let go, and join their bad set, you see their quality.
2. Or take the limits of hospitality. A man says, I cannot avenge this insult now, because I am bound to show hospitality; but being let go, I shall feel entitled to say or do things which at present I cannot.
3. Or, still keeping within the scope of the question, the occasion makes the man. Say it is a solemn occasion, a funeral, people weeping because of the dead and gone. The modest man, at all events, halts, he is silent if not complaisant. He dare not say what he would at other times; but being let go away from the grave and the cypress shadow, you will see what he is really.
4. Look at, the subject religiously. Here we have the subtlest restraints. The tender memories, the old, old long ago, somehow, to kill that ancient time would be like strangling an angel. The old home feeling, the childish sounds, the old family usages, seem to keep us back with Beware I you had better not do it! Stand still! Who can estimate the value of a religious education? First prayers, first little verses learned and sung by bird-like lips--who can tell how these things will go with the child when he becomes a man, full of care and tempted to sin? The little things which now are matters of amusement, may stand one day up and say to the man, You used to be a pure-lipped child, a loved and loving creature; a thousand prayers were offered for your salvation. When you murder yourself, you murder a whole generation of mentors and suppliants.
II. Bad restraint.
1. A man is shut up in bad society, in a corrupt atmosphere. He never hears a word that touches his best nature; he longs for the higher and purer spaces; for moral liberty; he is a better man than he can be under his circumstances. God will make a difference, because He will have compassion upon some. He knows exactly what restraints are upon us, and what we would be if we could break the chain and fly upward into the blue heaven.
2. Others are crippled for want of means. We regard them as destitute of good deeds and high feeling, and we speak about them with our erring judgment. God will discriminate. He knows what the poor soul will be. There is a way out at the other end! Great moral freedom, liberty for giving the soul spaces to fly in, and temples to sing in not made with hands. God knows what munificence you would show if you had the liberty.
3. Many a man is misunderstood for want of liberty. He is waiting. I have known often splendid talents wait a long time for a chance. I have known men misjudged, contemned, spring up into their true selves when let, go. Their time has come; then you hear the music of their voice, and you know the length of their arm, and they were waiting--great men all the while.
Conclusion:
1. We each belong to a company, and until we have found our company, we are restless. We speak of being a fish out of water, as fully expressing the condition of men who are not in their own company. Some of us are only half in our right society. We were born for the gutter and were destined for low companionship, and by a singular force of gravitation we turn to that which is unworthy. Others, again, are the contrary. They are forced to do the things they hate. They say, It is not our nature; it is not the place I was born into. These are not the surroundings God meant me to enjoy. So by this discontent of soul God calls us to our own company.
2. But we may be converted! The lowest nature may be converted! The lowest nature may be made into the highest. The man who began with low desires may come to enjoy the desire for prayer. Conversion is the state which we are called upon personally to realise and represent. Mere restraint is not conversion. We are restrained from starting up in the midst of the service and going out. We seem to rise to the great spirit of the occasion, while we are in reality buying and selling, transacting our business. So we cannot tell what we are until the restraints are taken off, when we shall be left to our own company, and being let go, will only go downward. There are grades in devildom, and there is still a lower and lower, until we reach the pit that never ends.
3. Are we under the right influence? We cannot test it by mere laws, by mechanical arrangements and impositions. Only love can keep us, and love will keep us. And though we shall always have the liberty of doing wrong, we shall have within us the love which makes the use of that liberty an impossibility. Now ][ am about to let you go. Will you go to your own company? But, remember, young man, wisely trained at home, you have no business with that bad set. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Our own company
I. We all suffer a kind of imprisonment by our circumstances. There is--
1. The chain of work. We and our children must live. And in order to maintain this life, we voluntarily give away every day a part of our personal freedom. This necessity is on the whole a beneficent one, and it is perfectly consistent with personal freedom in the truest sense. But still there is imprisonment of some of the highest faculties. Faith, hope, love, joy, can all indeed have exercise in work, but not their most perfect exercise. What a prison a great city is, and how many are in it with hard labour! A fine morning dawns. You would like to wander away, to hear the gurgle of the country stream, to see the bloom on the trees, the bird on the wing, the clouds floating so restfully across the sky. But you are a prisoner. You can look through your bars towards the large and wealthy place but it is only a look. You must soon turn to your work.
2. The chain of habit. Not so much of a mans own habits as those of the society in which he lives--the conventionalities of life, in which every man is more or less bound. These are not at all insincerities, hypocrisies. They are generally a fair product of the state of society at the time. If our conventionalities were all away, some would be better, and some worse. So that all are in prison by them. There is a great resentment sometimes felt against those who break through; and such attempts generally end in submission. Take, for instance, our social gatherings. With all their freedom and geniality, there is considerable restriction imposed by the mere forms of society. One makes an endeavour to be natural and almost succeeds; but cannot quite. Another seeks to know his neighbour a little better, but the real man escapes him, and goes home to be known far more perfectly by his little children. Another endeavours to speak out his real sentiments; but the astonishment, pain, or disapprobation, make him almost regret that he has spoken--and certainly a little less likely to speak again.
3. The great strong chain of law. That is no doubt a grand safeguard of society. But while it protects it restrains. It protects partly by restraining. It makes some men more virtuous than they would be, and others a little less. A man could do some great good, and would, but the law forbids. He would only involve himself and ethers in difficulties and loss by making the attempt. Or he could do some evil. He has impure thoughts which might become actions; unjust longings which might become fraud, if the law were not there frowning defiance and suspending penalty.
II. In these environing circumstances, there are, now and again, clear providential openings--by which the real man himself comes out, seen by others, or seen only by himself and God! A changing time is always a critical time.
1. When the young man leaves home to come up to the great city, how intense is the parental and the friendly solicitude! He was safe here; but will he be safe yonder? Will he not slide or perhaps fall? Or will the change strengthen his will for goodness, and draw him more clearly into the ranks of Christs faithful ones? These are the searching solemn questions, but why do they arise? Because it is felt that even at home that youth was not fully known, because there are sleeping possibilities which other circumstances might draw out into actualities, and they are not quite sure how the scale might turn.
2. A change of residence in later life sometimes operates in the same way. There is then a complete break up in one class of associations. Living in the new neighbourhood seems to bring out a new man. It may be a better man, or it may be a worse. The gates of that social prison where before he was held in restriction, perhaps kept from ruin, have been opened, and he will show himself more as he is.
3. The continental journey is another opening of the wall. Persons then go to places the like of which they would never think of visiting at home, and altogether feel a freedom which they would in vain seek for with the ordinary circumstances of life around them. The freedom may be rightly used in putting aside the chains of opinion, prejudice, and custom; or it may be much abused. But it is freedom, and therefore develops some more of the reality of the persons than is usually seen in the walks of their home life.
4. Then again life as it goes on brings many opportunities for freer action and fuller display of the real inward man than ordinary circumstances permit. They are opportunities for good and for evil. To some they are the gates of righteousness, into which they enter and praise the Lord. To others they are but the door leading to an inner prison, where their feet are made fast in the stocks.
III. When so released we go to our own company. Every night what multitudes hasten through the door of opportunity to their own company! The day keeps them in prison, the night brings release. Let us follow some, and see what company they keep!
1. Take that young man for whom so much anxiety was felt when he left home. Enter with him--there is no company there. There is the little table for refreshment which is soon over; then he takes down the books to the study of which he will devote these evening hours--and that is the company he keeps. He is smitten with the love of knowledge, and what is far better, with the love of Christ. He is sure that he will have to serve Him in some sphere, and is resolved by study and prayer to make himself ready.
2. Or let us observe this young woman who has been busy all day with her needle. Blessings on her industry! honour to her virtue! peace to her home! To-night she is going to her own company before she reaches that home. There is to be a meeting for prayer, a great blessing is expected, and she must be there to ask among the rest.
3. Take another, a man. He has had what is called a heavy day; but, oh, what a lightsome welcome now that he is home I Little hands are soon in his, and little tongues are telling the wonderful things that have happened during the day; and smiles fall from another face, and there is a comfortable mingling of thought, and love, and sympathy, and heart with heart. The day opened to him the theatre of duty, the night thus brings him to his own company.
4. Another; where is he going? Westward, but not out of the city. On he passes along the busy streets under the gas-lights, until he comes to the flaring entrance of the place where his company will be. With perhaps just one twinge of conscience he passes in, and there among the gaudy and giddy throng he sits for hours listening to the music, or watching the display. And these he says are the happiest hours of his life. That man has reduced his soul to a pitiable condition when, having all this world to choose from, that soul being let go, finds its own selectest company in a frivolous throng like that.
5. And others go to places still worse, which we cannot describe; where the fires of Tophet are already kindled, where the guests are in the depths of hell, and there find their own company.
6. But enough! Where do we find ours? We shall say no more of places now, but speak only about persons. Who are the persons in whose presence and society our souls find their best company? What is their character? What is their aim in life? What will be their end? Suppose we had been imprisoned with the apostles, and with them set free, should we have gone with them to their own company? When we are set free, now and again in the course of our own life, do we long for and seek fellowship with faithful souls and pure hearts? There are but two companies in the universe. Even now there are but two, although in this world they are to us inseparably mingled. The division and separation is taking place by degrees. The gospel makes it. We ourselves make in those selective moments of our life to which we have referred. But it will be made infallibly and visibly at last by the Lord Himself, when the sheep shall be on His right hand, and the goats on His left. (A. Raleigh, D. D.)
Their own company
The crystallising power in nature. What we call the force of gravitation is a force most mysterious and constant. But the force of gravitation is simple compared with this many-sided ramifying force of crystallisation. The reason--ultimate particles of matter are seeking their own company; these ultimate particles of matter are possessed of attractive and repellent poles; and as these atomic poles attract or repel each other the shape of the crystal is determined. There is as well a certain crystallising power sovereign in society. Men and women have attractive and repellent poles. By means of this social crystallising power many and various social shapes are being formed--not always beautiful and noble, sometimes evil, ugly, disastrous. Concerning this crystallising fact and force in society, in the light of this narrative, consider--
1. Hindrance. See whole narrative as to how Peter and John were hindered from going to their own company. So, often, we are somehow hindered from seeking the company really most congenial to us. Work, social requirements, regard for reputation, lack of money, hinder. Apply to young men, etc.
2. Permission. And being let go--work ceases, social requirements allow, special danger to reputation passes, wages are paid. Men are free.
3. Like goes to like. Character asserts itself. These apostles went to the company of the pure because they were pure.
4. Lessons.
(1) It is a mans own company which nurtures what is predominant in him.
(2) A mans own company discloses him to others.
(3) A mans own company discloses him to himself.
(4) A mans own company is the test of the regenerate life. We know that we have passed from death unto life if we love the brethren.
(5) A mans own company settles his destiny. (Homiletic Review.)
Being let go
Being let go, they went to their own company. That means for one thing that we do not know until straits come, what a mans heart and real disposition are. You have your children with you at home, and think that your children have a love for this, and a liking for that, and a strong desire for the other, but let them go, and then you will see; as long as they are under parental restraints, you really do not know what they are. They must be tested by being let go. They go to their own resort, and to their own set. Oh, what painful things happen in family life when the children are old enough, and you must let them go, when home restraints are removed! Then you thought they loved whatsoever things were honourable and of good report, and they, perhaps, themselves thought it too. It is not so much hypocrisy as an illustration of the solemn truth that the heart is deceitful and full of evil things. Being let go, the real heart in them takes command, the real pilot takes the wheel and guides the vessel according to his liking. Being let go they went to their own company. See, for example, the restraints of religion. I think I am a religious man, you think that you are religious people, but if in some way I could be let go from the ministry, and if you could be let go from the eyes that are upon you in this place, from the associations and routine that brings you here, where would you go? What is in the heart determines the life. To-night you are set free from business, and in a sense you are let go from the office, but are you, is your heart really let go? Are you going into the holy work before us to-night, or is it not the case that even while you are sitting here, that being let go, your heart is back to the stocks and shares, the buying and the selling, that even here your heart is seeking its true home, its true happiness.? It is not in this thing, is it? There are reasons why we come, why in a sense we like it, but let us be honest with ourselves. It is what we like that is the true man or the true woman. How does the heart go when we are let go? But if I have thus spoken of the dark side, bless God there is a brighter side, and I trust that we can even, when we meet here to.night, experience the happiness and brightness of the better side. When we come to the House of God, to the prayer-meeting, from all outward life, because we like to do it, we like to come, like bairnie with her mother, a wee bird to her nest, we fly home to God, to the Bible, to God and the Book of God, and the House of God, when we are let go. We delight when the cords are snapped, and when we can come into the House of God. Only during the day there is a kind of chafing restlessness within us. Oh that the evening would come that I might get to my own company I Being let go they went to their own company. Just as at school, I suppose we looked as if we liked our school, we looked as if we were diligent, we had to be so outwardly, but when four oclock came and the doors were open, did you ever see the schoolboys that departed reluctantly, as if they could hardly cross the threshold and go away from the blessed place? We nearly tumbled over each other rushing away. Being let go, out we went home. And yet we were not hypocrites. It is that our heart was in it, and we were restrained; we were tied up, held back, but being let go, the full momentum and swing of our disposition got out. Thank God, then, for the bright side, and I would say you are encouraged to make much of the bright side. If you know God, then thank God, for that is a fruitful plant that never grew up in the dry dreary sand of our worldly heart. And if I speak to any to whom this word is sad, you say, Well, brother, I wish I was like it, I wish I could rush to the fellowship of Gods people, as those apostles rushed to their own company, and as children rush home from school, and the tired business men flying home by bus and train to the sweetness and seclusion of their own homes in the suburbs. I wish I had that desire for the House of God. There is more gladness of heart here than if I were in the theatre or music-hall, or giddy dance or banquet, with its so-called feast of reason and flow of soul. Here the best and deepest, the truest thoughts in you get out, and lay hold of the deep, true, living, satisfying God. Being let go, they went to their own company. It is that, let me just urge, that we should cultivate still more, this company and fellowship. Do not let a little keep us back. How disappointed the apostles would have been if they went to their own company, and found a small meeting when such great interests were involved. My father said, when he was a lad going to school, they had to take their own fire with them, the coals were not then provided as they are now, and every lad carried his peat under his arm. That was his contribution of heat. Bring your peat under your arm, and like one that is let go, like an arrow from the string, come gladly and brightly, and I will try and come with mine, and every little makes a mickle, and it is wonderful what a roaring, open fire we may have, even in this dull neighbourhood of Regents Square, what light and warmth before God, and to His praise. Let us come as the apostles did, when being let go they went to their own company. I like to think of the text in its final application. There is a day coming when we shall be let go. The dark side and the bright side of my text will receive its final and truest illustration then, for every man goes to his own place. And when the stroke of death cuts all our cords, and we drop this muddy vesture of clay, and are, at last, let go, we will hardly need the judgment day and verdict of God. Some will rise as glorious ones, treading the way unto the throne of God, and some will go into outer darkness, for they always loved darkness rather than light, and they will get it. Being let go, God at last will say, I will restrain you no more, I will argue with you no more, you would be free, be free. He that is filthy, let him be filthy still, he that is holy, let him be holy still. Be let go and find your own company. This is the Lords election. This is the natural law that runs through the spiritual world, even He that worketh in all our fellowships and friendships, our likes and dislikes, our drawings and repentings. It is being let go that a man finds his level, and seeks and gets his own company. At the great day when some of us go past the judgment seat on our way home, and hear the word, Come ye blessed, it will just be a re-echo of this, for you have been always coming ever since you were converted. It was the end and trend, a focus of all your way and work. Only when some of us hear the thundering curse, Depart! we shall understand then that we were, always cursed. I never knew you, what a solemn word! How bright! How black! Thank God that grace can make it for you and me all bright. The Ethiopian can change his skin, the leopard can change his spots, the vilest can be changed, and changed by the abundant grace of Christ, received through simple faith in Christ. Another few minutes and you are let go, and you go to your own house, and a rebound will take place. The heart will slip round to its true base. Watch it, for Gods sake, and your own. Being let go when the preachers voice is still, the holy words are no longer spoken, the holy place with its associations no longer present here, God grant that it may be all bright. (J. McNeill.)
Company
?:--
I. Every man has his company.
II. Sometimes men are restrained from keeping the company of their friends.
III. When these restrictions are withdrawn, men return to the company of their choice. Life itself is a restraint, separating us from the companions we have chosen, but when it ceases, its restraining power will cease too, and we shall go to our own company in heaven or in hell. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
Every man to his own place
I. The disciples went to their own company. They naturally desired the society of those who had sympathy with them.
II. Every person belongs to some company. There are two classes: saints and sinners. Affinities, proclivities, etc., are only subdivisions of these.
III. Restraints of life may prevent our openly joining our company.
1. Our work.
2. Public opinion.
3. Policy.
4. Interest.
5. Lack of courage.
IV. When these are removed each person will go to his own place. What a change would follow if this world had no social, civil, or moral law laid upon it--every one a law to himself! The devil in man would make havoc in human history. This has been proved wherever restraints have been slackened.
V. The test of character found here.
1. What is our company?
2. Are we restrained by work, circumstance, or policy from joining it?
3. Is it a company God can approve of?
4. What is our influence on it, and its influence on us?
5. We shall go to our own place at last. (G. F. Humphreys.)
Happy only in our own company
The following incident was told in my hearing in one of the villages of Canada to illustrate the truth, which so many ignore at the present day, that there must be a change of heart if we are ever permitted to enjoy the rest that remaineth for the ,people of God. Some years ago there was to be a prize-fight at a certain place in England, and a party of men chartered a steamboat to take them to the place at the time appointed. Another steamer was engaged to take a party of Christians to different kind of fight--a fight against wrong-doing, that every soldier of Christ is called to engage in under the Captain of his salvation. The place of the last-named conflict was a Methodist camp-ground. Just as the last bell rang on each steamer (both were chartered to leave at the same hour--half-past two p.m.) two men were seen running towards the steamers as they were moving out from the wharf, and both sprang into what each one thought to be his own company. But, oh! what a mistake! the Methodist saw that he was among prize-fighters, and the prize-fighter found that he was among Christians. Do you suppose those men were contented and happy in their different company? Is a fish happy out of water? No, not happy, but miserable, you say. So each of those men were miserable because they were out of their element. The Methodist came to the captain, and said, Captain, I have got into the wrong steamer, and I am not going to stay here; it is like hell to be among these men who are cursing and swearing; take the steamer back and let me get out. I intended to go to a camp-meeting; yonder is the steamer I ought to be in. But his trying to get himself righted after he saw he was wrong was fruitless. Well, what about the other man? Oh, you say, he was all right and happy among those good Methodist people. But you are mistaken, for he was in a worse dilemma than the Christian man. He went to the captain and asked him to take the steamer back, as he said he must go to the prize-fight. But the captain said, No: our orders are to keep on our course as long as there is nothing wrong with the steamer, and we must obey. Then the man offered the captain money if he would turn back, but the captain was as determined to go on his voyage. By this time the Methodists thought they would show their faith by their works, by talking to the prize-fighter about his soul; but the prize-fighter could not endure it, so he went to the captain again and begged of him to bring the steamer a little nearer to the shore and he would jump into the water and swim to land. (John Currie.)
Every creature after its kind
A mysterious, reciprocal attraction drew Peter and John together, although they were by no means alike. Perhaps their differences rendered them more suitable to each other; as a mans strength and a womans gentleness bind two into one in married life. This noble pair were of the three chosen disciples, were companions at the sepulchre, and were together through all the stages of this incident. Now being free they go to their own. Like draws to like. When evil was to be done the rulers laid their heads together. Birds of a feather flock together; and if one bird has been for a time imprisoned, when the cage is opened it will fly straight and quick to the place where it left its mates. On this principle proceeds the pigeon telegraph. The instincts of animals are perfect in their kind. When a captive lamb is set at liberty it never halts until it has rejoined the flock. With equal exactness does the washed sow return to wallow with her fellows in the mire. Thus suddenly and surely did a worldling, who had for a time been arrested by the discourses of Jesus, leap back into his element of filthy lucre. As soon as there was a pause in the sermon he went to his own: Master, speak to my brother that he divide the inheritance with me. An example of the opposite tendency in a renewed heart is seen in the possessed man whom our Lord delivered at Gadara. Being let go of Satan he went to his own--to his own Saviour and fellow disciples. How often when professing Christians go abrOad, they leave their religion behind them. It was never more than an external thing, a bondage, and therefore when removed the irreligious soul goes to its irreligion. A young man has been accustomed to the order of a Christian household. As the lines of restraint were laid on him while an infant, he is not very conscious of them. But he leaves for the great metropolis. If his religion has been only a cord round his neck, like the bit and bridle which holds the horse, he is now free; he will go to his own and seek the company of the careless or the profane. Cords of this kind were fastened on Judas, but when at last he was let go what a leap he made into his own place! Demas was brought for a time under the mighty influence of Paul, which, however, gave way one day, and to the present world, his chosen portion, gravitated Demas, as a stone sinks when you let it go. But the new creature acts after its kind as well as the old; when the chains of bondage are broken the captive returns to his Fathers house. A youth who has got a new heart becomes an apprentice in an engineering establishment where his lot is east among the profane. In the first hour they discover that a saint is among them, and do everything that devilish ingenuity can suggest to make him one of themselves. If his religion had been a conventional gilding it would have been rubbed off in the first week; but as it was all gold the more it was rubbed the brighter it grew. The first evening came, and each went to his own company--the apprentice, articled by an eternal covenant to the Saviour, went to the fields, the flowers, the birds, with which he had been wont to keep company at home; then to his food, which he enjoyed with the fresh relish of a labourer, and the fresher relish of a child of God constantly getting daily bread from a Fathers hand; then to his Bible, his own Book; then to his own Saviour, in faiths confiding prayer. A whole legion of wicked men will not overcome this youth--maybe he will subdue some of them and lead them captive to Christ. Yet another lesson. The grave has a greedy appetite, and all go to it. A strange place for Christs members to be in! But some day they must be let go, and then they will go to their own company. An atom of air may have been imprisoned in some strong vessel at the bottom of the sea for ages. At last the vessel gives way, and the atom of air, though long an exile, has not forgotten its home, and will not miss its way. It rises in a sheer straight line through the thick heavy waters, nor halts till with a joyful burst it reaches its own. Be of good cheer, disciples of Jesus. Ye are of more value than many atoms of air. (W. Arnot, D. D.)
Men will go at last where they are fit to go
It is related of the distinguished Rev. Dr. Bellamy that he had seasons of deep despondency, when he was confident he was going to hell. His brethren often laboured with him in vain. One day, after all reasoning had failed, one of the ministers said, Well, brother, you know more about yourself than we do. To us you appear very well: but, after all, you may be a whited sepulchre--beautiful outside, but inwardly full of corruption. If so, you will go to hell. I should like, however, to know what you will do when you get there? Do? cried the doctor, with great animation and emphasis; what will I do? I will vindicate the law of God, and set up prayer-meetings. All right! said the brother; but in that case the devil will not keep you there; he will soon turn you out as unfitted for his place and company. The doctor was happy. Men will go at last where they are fit to go; and those who spend their lives in the service of God would be poor company for the devil and his angels, while those who hate God and despise Christians here must have strange notions if they expect to be for ever happy with them hereafter. The disciples, being let go, went to their own company. So all will go at last. (J. L. Nye.)
Features of the apostolic Church
By so simple a term is the infant Church designated--a company. As soon as Jesus had ascended, we find that there was an assembly of His followers, who continued with one accord in prayer, resorting to an upper room (Act_1:18; Act_1:14). This small assembly was speedily increased by fresh adherents. Our Saviour never formally organised His Church: He left it to the operation of the human mind assisted by Divine influence. Men find it necessary to associate together for all important interests, and would be sure to do so for religious purposes.
I. The nature of the Church.
1. It is a voluntary company one to which men are not born, but to which they attach themselves by choice and from conviction. Such assemblies were at first formed in various places, and were each called a church. The term was not then used, as it has since been, to mark the whole body of Christians in any district; but always either for the whole Church or for some particular society. In the former sense, we read that Christ is head over all things to the Church. In the latter we hear of the Churches of Achaia and Macedonia; of the Church which is at Corinth, or at Ephesus, or even in the dwelling of a single family.
2. It is a separated company; a holy society; its members are called to come out from among the people of the world.
3. It is a spiritual society, as opposed to a merely civil association. Nothing secular properly belongs to the Church. Just as we cannot, by artificial embellishments, add anything to the real beauty of nature; so all that man has aimed to add, in the way of pomp and circumstance to the Church of Christ instead of adorning, rather disfigures it.
4. Though human instruments are employed in this society, yet it is wholly of Divine institution. All its varied offices and administrations are of Divine origin: He gave some apostles … for the edifying of the body of Christ.
5. It is an immortal company. The individual members die; but fresh generations of saints are continually rising up in succession. The sacred lamp may be removed from one place, but it is only that it may burn brighter in another.
II. The design with which the Church is formed.
1. For the benefit of every individual belonging to it. The Good Shepherd, while He feeds the whole of His flock, has a particular respect to the state and wants of every member. As in the first age all had all things in common, so real Christians will now be ready to share their joys and sorrows; to help the needy in temporal wants; and most of all to cherish a spiritual union and sympathy. Christian intercourse unites the hearts of the saints, they that feared the Lord spake often together.
2. For the salvation of others.
III. The manner of its government. As every society, to be well-ordered, requires rules; so there are rules of Church government. These indeed are very few and very simple: real Christians need very little law; the law is for the lawless and disobedient: but theirs is the law of love; love is fulfilment of the law. (R. Hall, M. A.)
The apostles at liberty
I. The whole church is interested in the proceedings of its individual members. Peter and John gave their report to the whole company. It was a report of--
1. Gracious success. A man had been healed, and therein the name of Jesus had been glorified.
2. Opposition, suffering, threatening. This is the kind of report which the Church will render until the end of its beneficent course. The two sides should be looked at together--the one will stimulate, the other will give new aspects of sin, and call for increasing devotion.
II. The right method of treating opposition to the Kingdom of Christ.
1. See what the apostles might have done.
(1) They might have fled before difficulty. If we are exposed to all this we shall give up our work: we are not equal to it; it will be a losing battle, our enemies are so many and so strong.
(2) They might have formed themselves into a secret society for their own edification and comfort. Contemplation would have taken the place of service.
2. What they did do. They lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and committed themselves to Him as unto a faithful Creator. A prayer offered under circumstances as peculiar will show the strength and purpose of the Church. It did show--
(1) The profound religiousness of the Church. Instantly the disciples flee to the Holy One. There is no paltering with second causes; no drivelling talk about difficulty. Opposition brought the Church face to face with God.
(2) The clear doctrinal intelligence of the Church. They fell back upon the great histories and prophecies upon which Christs kingdom rests. Again and again it is seen how thoroughly the early Church knew the sacred writings. This is the strength of the spiritual life. Let the Word of God dwell in you richly.
(3) A supreme desire for the glory of Christ. The apostles were referred to as servants. It was for the Holy Child Jesus that the suppliants were concerned.
(4) Preparedness for further service (verse 29).
III. The spiritual and social results which follow the right acceptance of service and suffering.
1. A vast accession of spiritual grace. The disciples were all filled with the Holy Ghost.
2. A vast accession of spiritual power. They spake the Word of God with boldness.
3. The consummation of spiritual union. They were of one heart and one soul.
4. The ideal of social beneficence. They claimed nothing as their own, but had all things common. In such a case opposition became the occasion of infinite good. There was no wordy controversy, but a renewed dedication to Christ. All opposition should be met in the same way. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Christian socialism
The narrative gives us such a view of this as throws the secular thing into contempt, and reveals the lamentable imperfection of modern spiritual fellowship. From it we learn that early Christian socialism was--
I. Attractive. No sooner were the apostles free than they returned as if drawn by magnetic force to their chosen society. There were two things that rendered it attractive.
1. Responsive listening. There is a law of mind which urges a man to communicate what he deems of great importance. It is also a law to seek the most responsive listeners. To those who will give a cordial hearing we go, rather than to the hostile or indifferent. True Christian socialism involves this. There the speaking brother will find an audience all candour and love. This is not the case in the cavilling, captious, secular socialism, and alas! not always in the Church where there is too often the prejudice that deafens the ear and closes the heart.
2. Sympathetic cooperation. For this we instinctively crave, and without it the strongest are weak. Without the breeze of social sympathy the sails of our spirits would collapse in the voyage of duty. Peter and John knew that they had this, and so were strong in prison and before, the council, and when let go they instinctively found their way to their sympathetic brethren. Thus was Christian socialism attractive. Kindred souls flowed to it as rivers to the sea. What circle is so attractive as that which has--
(1) A common object of supreme affection.
(2) A common class of dominant thoughts.
(3) A common cause engrossing the chief activities of being. This is the ideal of Christian fellowship. Would that it were everywhere realised.
II. Religious. This comes out in--
1. Ascription. Here We have a recognition of Gods--
(1) Authority. Lord, Thou art God. The word is that from which despot is taken. Deeply did the company feel the absoluteness of the Divine control.
(2) Creatorship. Which hast made, etc.
(3) Revelation. By the mouth of Thy servant David.
(4) Predestination. They regarded all the enemies of Christ as unconsciously working out the eternal plans of heaven.
2. Supplication. Note--
(1) The substance of their prayer. They invoked
(a) Personal protection. Behold their threatenmgs, i.e., those of verses 17 and 21. The meaning is, Guard us and frustrate the evil designs of our enemies.
(b) The power of spiritual usefulness. That with all boldness, etc. Protection is desired for service, not because they dreaded martyrdom.
(c) Miraculous interposition. That signs and wonders, etc.:
(d) Enable us to work miracles that we may be more successful in spreading the knowledge of Christ. This power Christ had promised; they had an authority, therefore, to seek it.
(2) The success of their prayer (verse 31). In answer there was--
(a) A miraculous sign, familiar to Old Testament saints (Exo_19:18; Psa_68:8).
(b) An impartation of Divine power--to preach the gospel.
III. Amalgamating (verse 32). Note in regard to this amalgamating force that--
1. It was most hearty and practical (verse 34). The thorough unity of soul expressed itself in the surrender of worldly goods. Aristotle defines friendship as one soul residing in two bodies. It was so here. The rising tide of brotherly affection bore away from their hearts all love of gain.
2. It consisted with a diversity of position and service (verses 35, 36). The apostles were both the spiritual and economical heads of the community. Material bodies may get so thoroughly fused as to lose all their individual peculiarities; but minds, however closely welded together by social love, will retain for ever their individuality of being, position, and mission. Social unity is not the uniformity of a regiment moving with one step and in the same garb, but rather like the variety of the landscape, each object clad in its own costume and bending to the breeze according to its own structure and style. It is not the sound of one monotonous note, but all the varying notes of being brought into sweetest harmony.
3. It was produced by the gracious favour of heaven. Great grace was upon them all.
(1) The love of God was the parent of their liberality.
(2) This liberality brought the esteem of men. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
They lifted up their voice to God with one accord.--
Resource in trouble
I. God Almighty (verse 24). It is good sometimes to think of the affluence of the Divine power. Take, e.g., the central object in the heavens which God has made: the sun--diameter, 112 times that of our own earth; surface, 12,611 times that of our earth; volume, 1,400,000 times that of our earth. Suns light--800,000 times greater than that of the full moon, 22,000 million times more than that of the most brilliant star. The sun--the source of light, heat, life. And yet, all the manifold action on this earth of ours is carried on by the two thousandth three hundred millionth part of the force radiation by the sun. For that is all the earth can grasp of the suns rays given out in all directions. It is by this pitiable fraction of the suns mighty power that all the earths work is done. Now, God is a Sun--how limitless His power, etc.
II. As All-Wise God. David, thousand years before, sang, yet prophesied: Why do the heathen rage, etc. (verses 25-27). That is to say, that which was predicted is now taking place. Thou are not, O God, taken by surprise and disappointed. Disastrous as it seems to us, it is shining clear to Thee.
III. An all-controlling God. For to do whatsoever, etc. (verse 28). Mystery here, but comfort. Here is the great helpful truth that God controls.
IV. This almighty, all-wise, all-controlling God, laid hold of by prayer (verse 24). No thought unto them that such a God could not answer.
V. This almighty, all-wise, all-controlling God, laid hold of by prayer, that in them the Divine will may be accomplished. They do not ask to be released from persecution, but that in their present circumstances they may be enabled to accomplish their Christian duty (verse 29). They ask for magnificent self-surrender. Thus they take sides with God. They are as One with the nature of things. Defeat is impossible, Theirs must he the deliverance of victory. Application. Do not let your trouble get between you and God. Let your trouble shut you up to God. (Wayland Hoyt, D. D.)
Prayer and the promises are doubly dear in extremities
When I first went to sea, as the winds arose and the waves became rough I found difficulty to keep my legs on the deck, for I tumbled and tossed about like a porpoise on the water. At last I caught hold of a rope that was rolling about, and then I could stand upright. So when troubles invade we lay hold of Gods faithfulness to His promises, and, holding fast, we can securely stand. (H. G. Salter.)
Primitive worship
No doubt there was something in it of a special character. It was held at a moment of danger. There was that, therefore, in the circumstances from which Gods mercy has spared us. Should we be here at all, were it otherwise? Those of us who even in quiet times, when it is respectable to be a Christian, cannot conquer indolence, forego inclination, brave a smile or a sneer, in behalf of Christ; what would they do if the voice of the world turned altogether against Christ? Certainly, then, our thanksgivings should arise to God for having permitted us to live in quiet times. And then we ought to set ourselves to make our worship as much like theirs as by Gods grace we can.
I. The manner of this worship. They lifted up their voice to God with one accord. Not their heart only, but their voice.
1. Some have called this the first example of a creed, one of those joint utterances of a common faith which our Church has prescribed to us, e.g., in I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. Lord, Thou art God, which hast made heaven and earth, etc.
2. Others have seen in this the proof of the existence of a Liturgy. They have said that, in order to lift up their voice to God in these words, they must first have known them. We will not enter into these arguments: they at least want certainty.
3. It will be enough for us to observe, that, while one spoke, all followed; the well-known voice of St. John or St. Peter led, and they who heard found no difficulty in adding a humble voice, as well as a pure heart, to the words of supplication, accompanying the speaker to the throne of the heavenly grace, and saying the prayer after him. In this elementary point let us be earnest to resemble them. If the heart is engaged, the voice will not be withheld.
II. Its nature. It was--
1. Reverent. How profound is the adoration of God as the alone Great and Good and Holy! How solemn is the sense of that rightful sovereignty over all things! The least that can be looked for in this House of Prayer is reverence; the feeling of the sinful approaching the Sinless, the creature the Creator.
2. Scriptural. Who by the mouth of Thy servant David hast said. It is not essential to prayer that it be in Scripture words, but it is essential that it be founded on Scripture doctrine; that our petitions be addressed to God as He is, and not to God as we fancy Him. And we can only know God as He is by becoming acquainted with Him in His Word.
3. Believing. Unbelieving men would have seen only Herod, etc., banded together against God and against His Christ, and said, What are we against the world? But their eye was not thus bounded. Above all human agency for evil, they saw the hand of God working wholly for good. The murder of Jesus, what was it? In itself, a Satanic, a diabolical act; in its consequences, the working out of Gods counsel; the redemption of a world.
4. Practical. We are too ready to let our prayers stop with themselves; to be satisfied if a ray of comfort, if a passing thought of peace is left behind them. We have our reward, even as we prescribed it. But these worshippers looked to conduct, to duty, to future trials of their faith and constancy, and asked for grace sufficient. To quicken this zeal, to strengthen this devotion, they pray that Gods hand may still be outstretched to heal; that He will never leave them without witness, but will give them daily proof that His holy Servant Jesus is indeed strong to help, mighty to save. We ought in prayer to bethink ourselves of coming trial; and while we trust God implicitly with the unforeseen, to ask His help expressly for that which we can see before us. One word of definite request is worth volumes of vague general aspirations.
(1) In itself; because it is real and means something; because it is the address of a living man to a living God on a topic which concerns life.
(2) In its effects; because one thing actually granted is a proof of being heard; is Gods own witness to His own grace; is a token for good, shown and proved, encouraging confidence in Him who is not only the Giver of single blessings, but the Fountain of all goodness, and the very source of life.
III. Its effects. An immediate sign followed it. The place was shaken. These things are of the past. Men then looked for outward signs, and wanted them, while faith was young. In this age there is no outward sign which scepticism could not account for: signs would not convince the infidel, and the believing ask not for them. But has God, then, no sign for His people? Has worship no sign of its acceptance? Is there nothing now corresponding to the altar-flame which attested Gods regard to mans offering? Yes, there is an inward peace following upon Divine communion: a glow of faith, and a comfort of love, and a joy of hope, by which the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are sons of God. He who seeks God with all his heart, on any occasion of worship, shall find Him, and know that he finds: he shall feel it good for him to be here, and he shall be sent on his way rejoicing. Filled with the Holy Ghost, by a conscious communication between his soul and God, he shall go forth, to bear a more manful and a more consistent testimony to the gospel. Conclusion:
1. Expect great things from worship. Worship will be, in great measure, what you make it in your use and expectation. If you look for much, you will also receive much: if you expect little, you will also reap little.
2. Carry your worshipping thoughts forth with you. Let them not be dissipated by idle words, by foolish levity, just outside or even within these walls. The great enemy will watch you after this service, that he may catch away the seed sown. (Dean Vaughan.)
The prayer of the Church at Jerusalem under persecution
I. The prayer.
1. It contains a distinct acknowledgment of Gods almighty power. Lord, Thou art God, etc. Our highest conceptions of the power of God are derived from the act of creation. Finite power can shape and fashion, but it can never create.
(1) God created the heaven of heavens: the place where He has erected His throne, and where He is pleased especially to manifest Himself to the heavenly powers. There the humanity of Christ is seen. That world our Saviour has described as His Fathers house. If the Queen of Sheba fainted at the sight of the splendour of Solomons court, what shall be thought of the temple of the great King? He created all the inhabitants of that world. Of these there are various orders. Thrones, dominions, etc. Their numbers are great. All derive their existence from God, their immortality, their mighty intellect, their profound and comprehensive knowledge, their burning love, their rich and elevated enjoyments.
(2) He made the visible heavens. The sun, moon, stars, and planets. Their magnitudes; the regularity and rapidity of their motions; the vast sweep of their orbits; all declare the greatness of His power.
(3) He made the earth. Its plains and valleys, its deserts, its hills, its mineral substances, its refreshing springs, its daily and annual motion, with its changing seasons, the clouds which supply it with the fruitful rain, the winds which sweep over its surface, the atmosphere in which it moves, all attest the greatness of His power. He made all that the earth contains. The varieties of the vegetable kingdom; the fowls of the air, with the endless train of sentient creatures. Man, his outward frame, so fearfully and wonderfully made, his mind, by whose sagacity the secrets of nature are penetrated, and the unruly elements and animals made subservient; and by which the knowledge of God is acquired, and a spiritual worship is presented. The lesson is that the mighty hand which fabricated all this is pledged to defend the Christian from evil. Hence this prayer. The storm of persecution was raging around. The danger is appalling; but God is near; and His people take refuge in His almightiness. What is the power of the rulers before the great Lord of earth and sky? The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe! Here, then, is an example worthy of imitation. In every perplexity and danger, let us call upon God in prayer, and cover ourselves with His omnipotence. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will we not fear.
2. A distinct acknowledgment of Gods governing wisdom (verses 25-28; cf. Psa_2:1-12.).
(1) Because the men who put our Lord to death did that which God had determined before to be done, some have concluded that they were compelled. But as to the perpetration of it, this opinion is dishonourable to God, and injurious to piety. We shall prove that it is not the doctrine of Holy Scripture.
(a) It was Gods purpose that His Son should die. This was the appointed method of human salvation. Man had sinned, and could not be justified without an atonement. That atonement was therefore determined in the counsels of the Divine Mind before time began; for He verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world. The death of Christ, therefore, was in effect declared in the first promise: was prefigured by the sacrifices of the old dispensations, and was attested by the prophets. But now note that so far as the Jews were concerned, the crucifixion involved a criminal inattention to the predictions of their own Scriptures. They wilfully shut their eyes against the light of the clearest evidence, as to His real character, arising from His miracles and teaching. To suppose that God should solemnly forbid all this wickedness, and reveal His wrath against it, and yet impel any of His creatures to commit it, is a foul aspersion upon His truth and holiness, as well as upon His justice and love.
(b) It has been rashly concluded, that if the authorities had believed in Jesus, and forborne to lay violent hands upon Him, the Divine plan of redemption must have failed; but such apprehensions arise from very imperfect views of the depth of Gods counsels. His wisdom could have devised a thousand means of securing the death of His Son independently of all sinful agency. If He does not need mans work, in order to the accomplishment of His plans, He certainly does not need mans wickedness for any such purpose. But on such a subject it is useless to speculate. The death of Christ has been accomplished, and with it the worlds redemption.
(e) Some persons have thought that the prophecies imposed upon the Jewish people a necessity to put Jesus to death; but of this there is no proof. Prophecy, in this case, was simply an expression of Gods foreknowledge. Had the conduct of the Jewish and Roman authorities towards our Lord been friendly, the Divine Mind would have seen it to be such; and prophecy would have corresponded with it. Simple foreknowledge no more influences a fact than after-knowledge; and the actions of a moral agent are no more determined by a mere prediction than they are by history.
(2) In all the circumstances attending the crucifixion we have a striking display of the wisdom of God. The Jews unquestionably intended--
(a) To cover His name with indelible odium, but God has made it an occasion of the highest glory.
(b) To subvert His spiritual kingdom. Vain men! The means which they adopted led Him to the possession of a dominion wide as the universe, and lasting as eternity.
(c) By the frightful and tormenting death to which our Lord was subjected, to terrify and scatter His disciples. Here again we see the short-sightedness of man; the Cross was the means of binding the disciples of Christ to Him for ever.
(3) Here, then, is another ground of confidence towards God. He who thus brought good out of evil is always the same. Men are often taken by surprise; but He sees the end from the beginning, and is therefore prepared for all events.
3. A direct application to God for His immediate interposition. They request that supernatural boldness may be given to the apostles in the exercise of their ministry. This is a very remarkable petition, and places in a striking light the singleness of heart of the first Christians. Ease, honour, liberty, friends, life itself, are all to be sacrificed, rather than the word of God should be bound. As one means of inspiring the apostles with the requisite boldness, the Church pray that miracles may be continued and increased It is here assumed that miracles are the peculiar work of God: for had miraculous power been inherent the prayer would have been absurd. Miracles were indeed wrought by the instrumentality of the apostles, because they were intended to authenticate the system of truth which they were appointed to teach; but the miracles themselves were effects produced by the immediate exertion of Gods power; and in every instance they depended upon His will.
4. The prayer is marked by the absence of all wrathful feeling. In preaching Christ the apostles violated no law; injured no man; they conferred the greatest possible good upon multitudes. While thus discharging their consciences, and benefiting mankind, they were censured, imprisoned, brow-beaten, and severely threatened. Yet the only allusion made to this cruel and unreasonable conduct is, And now, Lord, behold their threatenings. How like their Lord who, when He was reviled, He reviled not again!; and when He suffered unjustly, He forbore to threaten. In the same spirit Stephen suffered There was a time when the disciples proposed to punish inhospitable people with fire from heaven. But now they were actuated by holier feelings. The spirit of Christianity is a spirit of love.
5. The prayer presents a beautiful example of Christian unanimity. The assembled multitude lifted up their voices with one accord. How different from the congregations of ungodly men, brought together for some worldly object, and actuated by selfishness, anger, or curiosity (Act_19:32). Here is a complete unity of purpose and desire. Not a wandering eye, no listlessness, inattention, or formality; no silent lips; for here is no cold and unfeeling heart. The Holy Ghost has produced in them all an intense desire for the preservation and extension of the cause of Christ. Oh, when will our assemblies resemble this! When shall we cease to complain of late attendance upon our religious ordinances? of undevout worshippers?
II. The answer which God graciously vouchsafed.
1. They received a sensible token of the Divine presence. The place was shaken. The entire fabric was moved by the power of God; but not a stone seems to have been displaced. The effect must have been somewhat similar to that produced on Jacob and Elijah (Gen_28:16-17; 1Ki_19:12-13). Only in this case there was no guilt to terrify; for their sin was purged; and the weakest among them was greater in Divine knowledge and heavenly enjoyment than the most distinguished prophet. To them, therefore, the presence of God was the cause of holy joy. Miracles are no longer necessary, and are therefore discontinued; but God is as really present in the assemblies of His people at this day as He was when they met in Jerusalem; and our whole spirit and behaviour in His house should correspond with this conviction.
2. They were favoured with a rich effusion of Divine influence. They were all filled with the Holy Ghost. This being the case--
(1) They were, of course, emptied of all that was opposed to His mind and nature; and whatever was defective in the piety of any of them was now supplied. Those that were weak in faith were now inspired with strong confidence. Each of them was entirely sanctified to God, and made perfect in every Christian grace. They were not only saved from all sin, but were filled with the fulness of God. They dwelt in God, by constant acts of faith and love; and He dwelt in them in all the fulness of His Spirits power. It may be justly questioned whether the power of Christianity was ever more strikingly manifested than upon this occasion. Who were these people? The greater part of them were Jews upon whom the spotless purity of our Saviours example, and even the resurrection of Lazarus, had failed to make any salutary impression. They had actually been His betrayers and murderers. Yet they no sooner believe in Jesus, and are brought under the full power of the Holy Spirit, than they become examples to the Church in all ages till the end of time. Who, then, can despair of the conversion of any one? Why should we not in the present day witness displays of the power and grace of Christ equally striking? Even our missionaries never meet with people more deeply depraved.
(2) They spake the word of God with renewed boldness. They had a full assurance of the triumph of the Christian cause, whatever opposition they might encounter. Hence they preached Christ at every opportunity with dauntless ardour; for they felt that God was with them, conferring upon the world the richest blessings.
(3) The multitude of them that believed were of one heart, and of one soul. The little flock had now become a multitude; yet were they perfectly one in spirit. No angry controversies agitated them; for they had not learned to attempt the settlement of questions which no human sagacity can solve. The authority of the Son of God was sufficient to fix the assent of their understandings, as it was to sway their will, and command their obedience. There was in them such an identity of feeling, and tenderness of sympathy and affection, as the world had never previously seen. The more wealthy shared the blessings of Divine Providence with the poor; and the hearts of all were so set upon the heavenly treasure, that none of them called the earthly things which belonged to him his own. They lived not under a low degree of Divine influence; nor was that influence limited to a few individuals. Great grace was upon them; and it was upon them all. Thus was the dying request of the Saviour answered (Joh_17:20-23).
3. The cause of Christianity was greatly extended. The Church prayed that God would stretch forth His hand; and now the historian goes on to state, that by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people.
Conclusion: The subject reminds us--
1. Of our obligations to the merciful providence of God, for our exemption from those harassing persecutions by which the Church was formerly oppressed.
2. In times of trouble to seek relief in prayer. Though we are exempted from legal persecution, we are liable to various other calamities, from which we have no means of escape.
3. Of the true secret of the Churchs power. Weak as the Church is in itself, it is armed with Gods truth. This is the weapon which no form of evil can effectually resist, when it is rightly applied. The Church is also favoured with the presence and operation of the Holy Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is zeal. Let us return, then, to the first principles of our holy religion. Let us study Christianity as it is embodied in the books of the New Testament, and as it was exemplified by the Church under the Pentecostal baptism of the Holy Spirit. (Thomas Jackson.)
The prayer of the primitive Church
Prayer is not the origin of a movement, but the result of one. You stand on the margin of a lake, and hear a mysterious sound coming from the dead wall of a grey ruined castle that stands on an island near the shore. The sound, however, was not generated in that ruin. The words of a living man, wafted over the still water, struck the old silent keep, and its wall gave back the echo. Prayer, mans cry to God, is the second of a series of vibrations, an echo awakened in ruined dumb humanity, by Gods sweet promise coming down from heaven. We may discover the specific promise to which this prayer replies (Isa_40:26-27). What a sublime position these suppliants occupy! They are admitted into the Divine counsel. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him. They were able to mark in the Scriptures the precise spot they had reached in the scheme of providence, as a ship-master marks his latitude on his chart. In the quiet confidence of faith they realise that hostile combinations only accomplish the gracious purpose of God. In verse 29 comes the most important of all their requests. Parliamentary petitions are sometimes of great length. There may be a narrative of facts, long and intricate; there may be the citation of precedents; there may be arguments and plans; but it is common to pass over all these when the document is presented, and to read only what is denominated the prayer of the petition, i.e., the clause at the end which declares what the petitioners want. Verse 29 contains the prayer of this petition. And what was it? Not vengeance, not immunity from danger, but grace to be faithful under persecution. This exhibits a beautiful distrust of self and confidence in God. Their only anxiety was lest natural shrinking from suffering should tempt them to conceal the pungent parts of their testimony. Our circumstances are diverse from theirs; yet the pressure which tempts to timid unfaithfulness is only removed from one side to another. The fear of man bringeth a snare, but snares are not all of one shape or material. A force that is diffused and soft may have a greater pressure than one that is sharp and hard, as the atmosphere over a mans body lies heavier on him than any other burden he ever bore. To threaten a witness for Christ with the prison or the scaffold is one way of turning him from his faithfulness, to set before him the favour of a polished but worldly circle is another. If two ships are lost at sea by the false pointing of their compasses it will make no difference as to the loss of property or life that the compass of one ship was prevented from pointing truly by a nail that fastened it to the deck, and that the compass of the other was secretly drawn aside by a mass of iron concealed in the hold. Thus an ancient preacher who held back the truth for fear of the dungeon, and a modern minister who softens and disguises the truth, because a gay, worldly, and critical congregation listen, must stand side by side. (W. Arnot, D. D.)
The burnt offering of a true Church prayer
I. The altar on which it must be placed: the fellowship of believers.
II. The fire in which it should burn: the glow of brotherly love.
III. The wind which must blow on it: the storm of persecution.
IV. The wood with which it should be fed: the Divine promises taken from the ever-green forest of Scripture. W. The God to whom it ascends: the Almighty Creator and Lord of heaven and earth.
VI. The Amen which falls to its lot; renewal and strengthening of the Holy Ghost. (K. Gerok.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv23–25 23. Came to their own company. To the body…
23. Came to their own company. To the body of Christians assembled together, and there reported what had taken place.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v23 Act_4:23. Their own company.—Not the apostles merely, but their…
CRITICAL REMARKS
Act_4:23. Their own company.—Not the apostles merely, but their friends in the faith generally.
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Act_4:24. O Lord!—Addressed not to Christ, as in Act_1:24, who, however, is also called δέσποτης (2Pe_2:1; Jud_1:4), but to God as the absolute Master of the universe which He has made (Act_14:15; Neh_9:6; Isa_42:5; Rev_4:11).
Act_4:25. By the mouth of Thy servant David should be by the Holy Ghost, by the mouth of our father, David Thy servant—the mouth of David being regarded as the mouth of the Holy Ghost. The text in this verse is confessedly difficult, and “doubtless contains a primitive error” (Westcott and Hort). The citation is from the second Psalm (LXX.); which is undoubtedly ascribed to David.
Act_4:26. For Christ read Anointed, which term, however, applied by pre-eminence to Christ.
Act_4:27. The best texts insert in this city, ἐν τῇ πόλει ταύτῃ, after of a truth (compare Act_10:34), which certifies the fulfilment of the divine oracle in the proceedings which were taken against Christ by both Herod and Pontius Pilate (Luk_23:1-12).
Act_4:28. To do whatsoever, etc.—Compare Act_2:23.
Act_4:29. Lord.—As in Act_4:24. Here distinguished from Jesus.
Act_4:31. The place was shaken.—In answer to the prayer of the disciples, not by an earthquake (Kuinocl), which, according to the notions of the time, gave intimation of the presence of the Deity (see Virgil, Æneid, 3:89, 90: Da pater augurium, atque animis illabere nostris; vix ea fatus eram, tremere omnia visa repente), but by a supernatural movement of the chamber according to the promise of “signs on the earth” in Act_2:19.
HOMILETICAL ANALYSIS.—Act_4:23-31
The Apostles with their own Company; or, the Welcome of the First Confessors
I. The report of the apostles.—
1. To whom it was delivered. To their own company—i.e., to their own colleagues in the apostleship, or, more accurately, to their friends in the faith, who doubtless had convened at their usual resort, the upper room (Act_1:13), on learning of the arrest and imprisonment of their two principal leaders. Christ’s people, as brethren, should cultivate between each other a spirit of mutual confidence and sympathy (1Pe_3:8), bearing each other’s burdens, and so fulfilling the law of Christ (Gal_6:2), and remembering that when one member suffers all the other members suffer with it (1Co_12:26).
2. Of what it was composed. “Of all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them.” Most likely of nothing they themselves had said in reply to the chief priests and elders (Chrysostom). If so, the report must have been as remarkable for its omissions as for its inclusions. For Christ’s servants there is a time to be silent as well as a time to speak (Ecc_3:7); the former, when the glory of self is concerned (Pro_27:2), the latter when the honour of Christ or the safety of His cause is endangered (1Co_16:13). If “all the words of the chief priests and elders” were faithfully reported, it may be confidently assumed that none were added to them; “if nothing was extenuated” it may equally be assumed that “naught was set down in malice.”
II. The prayer of the congregation.—
1. By what it was prompted. By the dark outlook which, according to Peter’s and John’s report, loomed before the friends of Jesus—the highest ecclesiastical tribunal of the land having pronounced against them. As yet the adherents of the New Cause were a feeble folk, poor in wealth and obscure in station, and therefore ill fitted to contend against the “powers that be” either in Church or State; and though for the present the hostility of the Sanhedrim was held in check by the popularity of the New Cause, no one could predict how speedily the favour of the crowd might change and the aspect of affairs be completely altered.
“An habitation giddy and unsure
Hath he that buildeth on the vulgar heart.”—Shakespeare.
And well the Church in Jerusalem knew, or might have known from the case of its Master (compare Mat_21:9 with Act_27:22), that the present popularity of the apostles might not long continue.
“The noisy praise
Of giddy crowds is changeable as winds.”—Dryden.
Hence, in circumstances so depressing, the Church betook itself to prayer—invoked the aid of Him who is without variableness or shadow of turning (Jas_1:17). An example deserving imitation by all (Psa_50:15; Psa_91:15; Php_4:6).
2. To whom it was directed. To God, the only hearer of prayer (Psa_65:2), addressing Him
(1) As Lord, or Master—i.e., as the possessor of absolute authority and power (Deu_3:24; 1Ch_29:11-12; Psa_62:11), this being the import of the term used by Peter—a term which he also applies to Christ (Act_1:24; 1Pe_2:3; 2Pe_2:1), as Paul likewise does (2Co_3:17; Php_4:5).
(2) As Maker of the universe in its three parts—heaven, earth, and sea, with all that in them is; and therefore as mightier than the Sanhedrim or all Christ’s foes combined.
(3) As Inspirer of sacred Scripture, who by the Holy Ghost, speaking through David, predicted beforehand the opposition of earth’s kings and rulers to Christ’s cause and the utter folly of it, and therefore as one in a manner obliged by fidelity to His own word to defend them in the crisis which had arisen.
(4) As Lord and Father of Jesus, His holy Child and Servant, for both renderings may be adopted; and consequently as one who must necessarily be constrained by love and faithfulness to champion Christ’s cause. N.B.—Petitioners at God’s throne should have a clear grasp of the greatness, majesty, and power of Him whose favour they bespeak.
3. In what manner it was presented.
(1) With one heart. “One heart,” says Delitzsch (Bib. Psych., p. 295, E. T.), “is the conscious perfect agreement of will, thought, and feeling”; and such oneness of heart existed in the present instance. All realised the danger, discerned the only quarter whence help could be procured, and bestirred themselves to act in concert in a fervent approach to the Heavenly Throne. Prayer, of course, is only then united when the hearts from which it issues are united, and to such prayer special hope of success has been given (Mat_18:19-20).
(2) With a loud voice. Whether all recited the prayer together cannot be concluded from the writer’s words. Act_4:25-26, culled from the second Psalm, would doubtless be familiar to the audience, and if the whole passage (Act_4:24-30) was an early Christian liturgy composed shortly after the crucifixion (which is only conjecture) the whole congregation may have simultaneously and vocally joined in the supplication, though it is more likely one led the devotions with his voice while the rest followed with their hearts and voices also as they felt inclined. Baumgarten’s view may approach the truth that all sang the second Psalm, while Peter, or some other, applied the contents to their situation in the terms here recorded.
4. For what it entreated.
(1) That God would look upon the threatenings of Christ’s adversaries, and consider the situation of His praying servants. The peril then impending they regarded as of a piece with, in fact as a continuation of, the machinations which in that very city had been formed against Jesus by Herod and Pontius Pilate, and along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel who had then come together out of every tribe, to do whatsoever God’s hand and counsel had foreordained to come to pass. Here again in the prayer of the congregation, as in Peter’s sermon (Act_2:23), the sovereignty of God and the freedom of man are recognised, without the feeling that these were incompatible the one with the other.
(2) That God would embolden His servants, the apostles, and the disciples generally, to speak His word—of grace and mercy, salvation and eternal life—without shrinking through fear of man. Not a whisper escapes their lips about calling down vengeance upon the heads of their persecutors. (Contrast Luk_9:54; Luk_22:49; Joh_18:10.) The spirit of their dying Master having taken possession of their hearts, they only ask for themselves courage and constancy, that they might stand fast and not grow weary and faint in their minds (Heb_12:8).
(3) That God would continue to stretch forth His hand in works of healing such as had been performed upon the lame man, doing signs and wonders through His holy Servant Jesus. This alone, the special manifestation of Almightiness, they craved. It was a prayer remarkable for its comprehensiveness and its brevity, its sublimity and its humility, its intelligence and its faith.
III. The answer of God.—Given in three ways.
1. A shaken chamber. Scarcely had their supplication subsided than the walls of the house trembled, “as if they had been touched by the wings of the descending Spirit” (Spence). This supernatural vibration of the edifice, like the sound of the mighty rushing wind on Pentecost (Act_2:2), betokened the Divine Presence. (See “Critical Remarks.”)
2. The descending Spirit. “They were all filled with the Holy Ghost.” As on Pentecost, they were again taken possession of by an inward spiritual influence, which abode not with them always, but seized them at intervals. This to be distinguished from the permanent inhabitation of believers by the Holy Ghost.
3. Courageous preaching. “They spake the word with boldness.” Not within the chamber merely, but outside, in the temple courts and on the streets (Act_4:33; Act_5:12; Act_5:21; Act_5:25). What they prayed for had been granted, instantaneously (Isa_65:24) and literally (Mat_21:22).
Learn.—
1. That the best refuge in time of danger is God.
2. The best prayer is that which directly tells God the soul’s or the Church’s need.
3. That the best way of overcoming enemies is to pray for their highest good.
4. That the best evidence of being filled with the Spirit, is to speak the word with boldness.
HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Act_4:24. A Congregation at Prayer.—A model for the times.
I. United.—“With one accord.”
II. Fervent.—“They lifted up their voice to God.”
III. Reverent.—“Lord, Thou art God,” etc.
IV. Believing.—“Who by the mouth of Thy servant David,” etc.
V. Intelligent.—They knew whom they addressed and what they wanted.
VI. Merciful.—They asked not for vengeance on their enemies.
VII. Hopeful.—They had large expectations as to the future of Christ’s cause—“that signs and wonders,” etc. (Act_4:30).
Act_4:25. Vain Imaginings.
I. That God’s purpose of salvation can be defeated by man’s opposition.
II. That Christ’s cause can be destroyed even by the fiercest persecution.
III. That the Spirit’s work upon the earth can be arrested by the most powerful combinations against it.
The World’s Treason against its King.
I. The fact.
II. The impotence of their rage.—It is very useless anger. It accomplishes nothing.
1. It won’t alter the purpose of God.
2. It won’t make Him afraid. “Are we stronger than He?” asks the apostle. “Hast thou an arm like God?” asked Job 3. It won’t shake the eternal throne.
4. It won’t change truth into error, or error into truth. It tries to do this. But in vain.
III. The reason of their rage.—
1. Because they hate God Himself.
2. They hate His government.
3. They hate His Song of Solomon 4. They hate His Bible.
IV. God’s reasons for allowing this.—Why not arrest the blasphemy?
1. To show what the evil of sin is.
2. To show the abysses of the human heart.
3. To show His power and grace.
V. God’s time for interposing.—The close of the Psalm shows that He will interfere at length. He is not slack concerning His promises and threats.—H. Bonar, D.D.
Act_4:24-31. The Christian Conception of God.
I. A triune personality.—Father (Lord), Son (Christ), and Holy Ghost.
II. The Maker of the Universe.—Of “heaven and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is.”
III. The hearer of prayer.—Implied in the Church’s supplication of His aid.
IV. The inspirer of Scripture.—“Who by the mouth of Thy servant David hath said.”
V. The providential ruler of the world.—“To do whatsoever Thy hand and counsel determined before to be done.”
VI. The omniscient observer of all men and things.—“And now, Lord, behold their threatenings.”
VII. The author of salvation.—The Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by whose name signs and wonders, moral and spiritual, as well as physical and temporal, were done.
Act_4:29. Boldness in Preaching.
I. Because the preacher’s commission is from heaven.
II. Because the preacher’s message is the Word of God. Which is
1. True;
2. Life-giving;
3. Much needed;
4. Indestructible.
III. Because the preacher’s foes are feeble.—In comparison with those who are on his side.
IV. Because the preacher’s helpers are divine.—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Act_4:18-31. Christian Courage.—“And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus,” etc. It is always an impressive moment when a jury, or an important deliberative body, is about to render a decision. This is especially true if the question at issue involves vital interests, and the determining body speaks with authority. To such a decision from such a body the text relates. The scene is in Jerusalem, soon after Pentecost. In considering the conduct of these men, thus arraigned, threatened, and commanded, we notice—
I. The test of the apostles’ courage.—It is evident that the early followers of Christ did not design or wish to separate themselves from the Jewish Church. They differed from other Jews in believing that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah; but they still supposed that the way into the Messianic kingdom was through the portal of the Jews’ religion. Hence, although those of kindred spirit met privately for worship in each other’s houses and in upper rooms, the disciples of Jesus kept up their observance of the Mosaic ritual, and were constant attendants upon the temple service. See now these men, Peter and John, confronted by a positive command from the nation’s highest tribunal to be silent. This is the first utterance of the Sanhedrim concerning the new religion since Christ’s resurrection. These men remember how determined this same court had been upon the crucifixion of Him in whose name they have been teaching. If they persist, can they expect a better fate than befell their Master? We can have little conception of the severity of the ordeal. National love, respect for law, pride of race, reverence for institutions hoary with age, strength of social tics, personal friendships, a shrinking from becoming disturbers of the peace, fear for personal safety—all these conspired to intensify the command “not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.” What enables them to oppose the Sanhedrim’s command? It is their personal love for Jesus. In their hearts a fire has been kindled, and their breasts are aglow with flame. To be silent is impossible. “We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” Instead of being silent, they proclaimed Christ with added boldness. There are currents in the sea which, despite opposing winds and storms and tides, move on their way unhindered, impelled by a mighty force hidden far in the ocean’s depths. Such a force in the hearts of these disciples was love for Christ. This caused them to listen to the Sanhedrim’s decree unmoved. Love had cast out fear. Such courage, resulting from such love, could then, and can always, bear the severest test.
II. The manifestations of the apostles’ courage.—Men are sometimes called courageous when they are only reckless. The man of real courage will be bold enough, and calm enough, to act wisely. His bravery will be something more than bravado. In the conduct of the apostles—commanded by the sanhedrim to be silent, and they resolved meanwhile to speak—every mark of true courage is manifest. They show that their course is not prompted by impulse or passion. They are moved by deep convictions. “Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.” They plant themselves on the highest conceivable ground, the sense of right. They have no ambitious ends to seek, no revenge to gratify, no popular applause to gain. There is no other courage so lofty or so enduring as this. It keeps the nerves steady and the head cool and the heart brave. Note, as an evidence of wisdom, how sagaciously the apostles appeal to this self-same principle of right in the minds of their accusers. The idea of unquestioning allegiance to God was deeply implanted in the Jews’ religion, and the Sanhedrim was set for its defence and inculcation. Who, then, better prepared than the Sanhedrim to decide whether it be right to “hearken more unto men than unto God”? “Judge ye.” This sense that it is right to hearken more unto God than unto men enters into the universal consciousness. Whether this principle is adopted in one’s practical life or rejected, it must and does commend itself to every man’s conscience. Those who adhere to it gain the confidence of all. It is the right rule for the young to select. Another manifestation of the apostles’ courage is seen in the company they keep. “Being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them.” The scene now changes from the council chamber of the Sanhedrim to the midst of the Christian brotherhood. Those to whom they are come have doubtless been praying for their imperilled brethren. How changed the aspect! In the Sanhedrim the air was dense with suspicion and malice—here is love, purity, and the peace of heaven. Courage is of the right kind when it seeks to sustain itself by breathing an atmosphere like this. It is a praying circle into which these apostles come. “They lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, Thou art God.”
III. The source of the apostles’ courage.—What has transformed the timorous Simon to the undaunted Peter? The answer is not far to find. A heavenly influence has fallen upon him. This new-born courage of the apostles, although in them, was not of them. Its source was above: it was a divine energy infused within them; the breath of God’s Spirit upon their spirits. Christ did not send the apostles into the trials and persecutions incident to their day without providing them with a power adequate to every want. What Christ did for His early disciples He does to-day. Often to-day the need of Christians is courage. Now the opposition to be encountered is not, usually, persecution or prison doors. It may, however, be something requiring as true a heroism to withstand. So long as the world remains as it is, no Christian, and especially no one just becoming such, will find himself where to stand by his principles will not often be at cost, and require an effort for which he is inadequate only as God shall help him. To this end the Holy Spirit is given.—Monday Club Sermons.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On v23 23-31. During the imprisonment and trial of Peter and…
SECOND PENTECOST
23-31. During the imprisonment and trial of Peter and John the one hundred and eighteen, with quite a host of the Pentecostal converts, are pushing the battle for God and souls on the great temple campus on Mt. Moriah in the east end of the city, the judgment hall, where Peter and John and Jesus were tried, being on Mt. Zion, in the west end. When constrained by popular sentiment to release Peter and John they reluctantly discharged them through fear of an insurrection. Then the apostles go immediately to the great meetings on the temple campus and report the persecutions of the preachers and official board and the intervention of the Almighty through the people for their acquittal. Now they quote the prophecy in Psalms 2, which had actually been fulfilled in the crucifixion of Jesus, and is still being verified in the rage of the clergy and official board against the apostles. They allude to the union of Pilate and Herod in the crucifixion of Christ, despite their former and long-standing animosities either to other. How signally is the same prophecy fulfilled to-day in the reconciliation and co-operation of the hitherto warring sects, forgetting all their bitter hatred either to other, and uniting against the holiness movement! Amid the implacable animosities of church and state combined against the poor Nazarenes and determined to exterminate them and even obliterate the very memory of their leader from the memory of the world, there is much fear on the unsanctified young converts. Hence they need another Pentecost to bring down the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire, consuming all their cowardice and filling them with the perfect love, casting out fear. Therefore they all fall on their knees, unite their hearts and cry to God for the sanctifying power. Behold! the place is shaken and another Pentecost comes down from heaven, gloriously filling and flooding them, sanctifying all the fear out of the young converts and weak believers, so that “they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.” This glorious second Pentecost gave a wonderful new impetus to the revival Niagara already shaking the metropolis with a spiritual earthquake. This second Pentecost gloriously sanctifies the converts of the first, raising up hundreds of new preachers to herald the living Word, thus broadening the revival into paradoxical dimensions, till it rolls its mighty inundating wave out from Jerusalem into all of the surrounding country, not only inundating all Palestine, but sweeping over Samaria like an avalanche and rolling out its irresistible tide into heathen Syria.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v25
Acts
OBEDIENT DISOBEDIENCE
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THE SERVANT AND THE SLAVES
Act 4:25, Act 4:27, Act 4:29.
I do not often take fragments of Scripture for texts; but though these are fragments, their juxtaposition results in by no means fragmentary thoughts. There is obvious intention in the recurrence of the expression so frequently in so few verses, and to the elucidation of that intention my remarks will be directed. The words are parts of the Church’s prayer on the occasion of its first collision with the civil power. The incident is recorded at full length because it is the first of a long and bloody series, in order that succeeding generations might learn their true weapon and their sure defence. Prayer is the right answer to the world’s hostility, and they who only ask for courage to stand by their confession will never ask in vain. But it is no part of my intention to deal either with the incident or with this noble prayer.
A word or two of explanation may be necessary as to the language of our texts. You will observe that, in the second of them, I have followed the Revised Version, which, instead of ‘Thy holy child,’ as in the Authorised Version, reads ‘Thy holy Servant.’ The alteration is clearly correct. The word, indeed, literally means ‘a child,’ but, like our own English ‘boy,’ or even ‘man,’ or ‘maid,’ it is used to express the relation of servant, when the desire is to cover over the harsher features of servitude, and to represent the servant as a part of the family. Thus the kindly centurion, who besought Jesus to come and heal his servant, speaks of him as his ‘boy.’ And that the word is here used in this secondary sense of ‘servant’ is unmistakable. For there is no discernible reason why, if stress were meant to be laid on Christ as being the Son of God, the recognised expression for that relationship should not have been employed. Again, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, with which the Apostles were familiar, employs the very phrase that is here used as its translation of the well-known Old Testament designation of the Messiah, ‘the Servant of the Lord’ and the words here are really a quotation from the great prophecies of the second part of the Book of Isaiah. Further, the same word is employed in reference to King David and in reference to Jesus Christ. In regard to the former, it is evident that it must have the meaning of ‘servant’; and it would be too harsh to suppose that in the compass of so few verses the same expression should be used, at one time in the one signification, and at another in the other. So, then, David and Jesus are in some sense classified here together as both servants of God. That is the first point that I desire to make.
Then, in regard to the third of my texts, the expression is not the same there as in the other two. The disciples do not venture to take the loftier designation. Rather they prefer the humble one, ‘slaves,’ bondmen, the familiar expression found all through the New Testament as almost a synonym to Christians.
So, then, we have here three figures: the Psalmist-king, the Messiah, the disciples; Christ in the midst, on the one hand a servant with whom He deigns to be classed, on the other hand the slaves who, through Him, have become sons. And I think I shall best bring out the intended lessons of these clauses in their connection if I ask you to note these two contrasts, the servants and the Servant; the Servant and the slaves. ‘David Thy servant’; ‘Thy holy Servant Jesus’; us ‘Thy servants.’
I. First, then, notice the servants and the Servant.
The reason for the application of the name to the Psalmist lies, not so much in his personal character or in his religious elevation, as in the fact that he was chosen of God for a specific purpose, to carry on the divine plans some steps towards their realisation. Kings, priests, prophets, the collective Israel, as having a specific function in the world, and being, in some sense, the instruments and embodiments of the will of God amongst men, have in an eminent degree the designation of His ‘servants.’ And we might widen out the thought and say that all men who, like the heathen Cyrus, are God’s shepherds, though they do not know it-guided by Him, though they understand not whence comes their power, and blindly do His work in the world, being ‘epoch-making’ men, as the fashionable phrase goes now-are really, though in a subordinate sense, entitled to the designation.
But then, whilst this is true, and whilst Jesus Christ comes into this category, and is one of these special men raised up and adapted for special service in connection with the carrying out of the divine purpose, mark how emphatically and broadly the line is drawn here between Him and the other members of the class to which, in a certain sense, He does belong. Peter says, ‘Thy servant David,’ but he says ‘Thy holy Servant Jesus.’ And in the Greek the emphasis is still stronger, because the definite article is employed before the word ‘servant.’ ‘The holy Servant of Thine’-that is His specific and unique designation.
There are many imperfect instruments of the divine will. Thinkers and heroes and saints and statesmen and warriors, as well as prophets and priests and kings, are so regarded in Scripture, and may profitably be so regarded by us; but amongst them all there is One who stands in their midst and yet apart from them, because He, and He alone, can say, ‘I have done all Thy pleasure, and into my doing of Thy pleasure no bitter leaven of self-regard or by-ends has ever, in the faintest degree, entered.’ ‘Thy holy Servant Jesus’ is the unique designation of the Servant of the Lord.
And what is the meaning of holy? The word does not originally and primarily refer to character so much as to relation to God. The root idea of holiness is not righteousness nor moral perfectness, but something that lies behind these-viz, separation for the service and uses of God. The first notion of the word is consecration, and, built upon that and resulting from it, moral perfection. So then these men, some of whom had lived beside Jesus Christ for all those years, and had seen everything that He did, and studied Him through and through, had summered and wintered with Him, came away from the close inspection of His character with this thought; He is utterly and entirely devoted to the service of God, and in Him there is neither spot nor wrinkle nor blemish such as is found in all other men.
I need not remind you with what strange persistence of affirmation, and yet with what humility of self-consciousness, our Lord Himself always claimed to be in possession of this entire consecration, and complete obedience, and consequent perfection. Think of human lips saying, ‘I do always the things that please Him.’ Think of human lips saying, ‘My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me.’ Think of a man whose whole life’s secret was summed up in this: ‘As the Father hath given Me commandment, so’-no more, no less, no otherwise-’so I speak.’ Think of a man whose inspiring principle was, consciously to himself, ‘not My will, but Thine be done’; and who could say that it was so, and not be met by universal ridicule. There followed in Jesus the moral perfectness that comes from such uninterrupted and complete consecration of self to God. ‘Thy servant David,’-what about Bathsheba, David? What about a great many other things in your life? The poet-king, with the poet-nature so sensitive to all the delights of sense, and so easily moved in the matter of pleasure, is but like all God’s other servants in the fact of imperfection. In every machine power is lost through friction; and in every man, the noblest and the purest, there is resistance to be overcome ere motion in conformity with the divine impulse can be secured. We pass in review before our minds saints and martyrs and lovely characters by the hundred, and amongst them all there is not a jewel without a flaw, not a mirror without some dint in it where the rays are distorted, or some dark place where the reflecting surface has been rubbed away by the attrition of sin, and where there is no reflection of the divine light. And then we turn to that meek Figure who stands there with the question that has been awaiting an answer for nineteen centuries upon His lips, and is unanswered yet: ‘Which of you convinceth Me of sin?’ ‘He is the holy Servant,’ whose consecration and character mark Him off from all the class to which He belongs as the only one of them all who, in completeness, has executed the Father’s purpose, and has never attempted anything contrary to it.
Now there is another step to be taken, and it is this. The Servant who stands out in front of all the group-though the noblest names in the world’s history are included therein-could not be the Servant unless He were the Son. This designation, as applied to Jesus Christ, is peculiar to these three or four earlier chapters of the Acts of the Apostles. It is interesting because it occurs over and over again there, and because it never occurs anywhere else in the New Testament. If we recognise what I think must be recognised, that it is a quotation from the ancient prophecies, and is an assertion of the Messianic character of Jesus, then I think we here see the Church in a period of transition in regard to their conceptions of their Lord. There is no sign that the proper Sonship and Divinity of our Lord was clear before them at this period. They had the facts, but they had not yet come to the distinct apprehension of how much was involved in these. But, if they knew that Jesus Christ had died and had risen again-and they knew that, for they had seen Him-and if they believed that He was the Messiah, and if they were certain that in His character of Messiah there had been faultlessness and absolute perfection-and they were certain of that, because they had lived beside Him-then it would not be long before they took the next step, and said, as I say, ‘He cannot be the Servant unless He is more than man.’
And we may well ask ourselves the question, if we admit, as the world does admit, the moral perfectness of Jesus Christ, how comes it that this Man alone managed to escape failures and deflections from the right, and sins, and that He only carried through life a stainless garment, and went down to the grave never having needed, and not needing then, the exercise of divine forgiveness? Brethren, I venture to say that it is hopeless to account for Jesus Christ on naturalistic principles; and that either you must give up your belief in His sinlessness, or advance, as the Christian Church as a whole advanced, to the other belief, on which alone that perfectness is explicable: ‘Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ! Thou art the Everlasting Son of the Father!’
II. And so, secondly, let us turn to the other contrast here-the Servant and the slaves.
I said that the humble group of praying, persecuted believers seemed to have wished to take a lower place than their Master’s, even whilst they ventured to assume that, in some sense, they too, like Him, were doing the Father’s will. So they chose, by a fine instinct of humility rather than from any dogmatical prepossessions, the name that expresses, in its most absolute and roughest form, the notion of bondage and servitude. He is the Servant; we standing here are slaves. And that this is not an overweighting of the word with more than is meant by it seems to be confirmed by the fact that in the first clause of this prayer, we have, for the only time in the New Testament, God addressed as ‘Lord’ by the correlative word to slave, which has been transferred into English, namely, despot.
The true position, then, for a man is to be God’s slave. The harsh, repellent features of that wicked institution assume an altogether different character when they become the features of my relation to Him. Absolute submission, unconditional obedience, on the slave’s part; and on the part of the Master complete ownership, the right of life and death, the right of disposing of all goods and chattels, the right of separating husband and wife, parents and children, the right of issuing commandments without a reason, the right to expect that those commandments shall be swiftly, unhesitatingly, punctiliously, and completely performed-these things inhere in our relation to God. Blessed the man who has learned that they do, and has accepted them as his highest glory and the security of his most blessed life! For, brethren, such submission, absolute and unconditional, the blending and the absorption of my own will in His will, is the secret of all that makes manhood glorious and great and happy.
Remember, however, that in the New Testament these names of slave and owner are transferred to Christians and Jesus Christ. ‘The Servant’ has His slaves; and He who is God’s Servant, and does not His own will but the Father’s will, has us for His servants, imposes His will upon us, and we are bound to render to Him a revenue of entire obedience like that which He hath laid at His Father’s feet.
Such slavery is the only freedom. Liberty does not mean doing as you like, it means liking as you ought, and doing that. He only is free who submits to God in Christ, and thereby overcomes himself and the world and all antagonism, and is able to do that which it is his life to do. A prison out of which we do not desire to go is no restraint, and the will which coincides with law is the only will that is truly free. You talk about the bondage of obedience. Ah! ‘the weight of too much liberty’ is a far sorer bondage. They are the slaves who say, ‘Let us break His bonds asunder, and cast away His cords from us’; and they are the free men who say, ‘Lord, put Thy blessed shackles on my arms, and impose Thy will upon my will, and fill my heart with Thy love; and then will and hands will move freely and delightedly.’ ‘If the Son make you free, ye shall be free indeed.’
Such slavery is the only nobility. In the wicked old empires, as in some of their modern survivals to-day, viziers and prime ministers were mostly drawn from the servile classes. It is so in God’s kingdom. They who make themselves God’s slaves are by Him made kings and priests, and shall reign with Him on earth. If we are slaves, then are we sons and heirs of God through Jesus Christ.
Remember the alternative. You cannot be your own masters without being your own slaves. It is a far worse bondage to live as chartered libertines than to walk in the paths of obedience. Better serve God than the devil, than the world, than the flesh. Whilst they promise men liberty, they make them ‘the most abject and downtrodden vassals of perdition.’
The Servant-Son makes us slaves and sons. It matters nothing to me that Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled the law of God; it is so much the better for Him, but of no value for me, unless He has the power of making me like Himself. And He has it, and if you will trust yourselves to Him, and give your hearts to Him, and ask Him to govern you, He will govern you; and if you will abandon your false liberty which is servitude, and take the sober freedom which is obedience, then He will bring you to share in His temper of joyful service; and even we may be able to say, ‘My meat and my drink is to do the will of Him that sent me,’ and truly saying that, we shall have the key to all delights, and our feet will be, at least, on the lower rungs of the ladder whose top reaches to Heaven.
‘What fruit had ye in the things of which ye are now ashamed? But being made free from sin, and become the slaves of God, ye have your fruit unto holiness; and the end everlasting life.’ Brethren, I beseech you, by the mercies of God, that ye yield yourselves to Him, crying, ‘O Lord, truly I am Thy servant. Thou hast loosed my bonds.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv23–25 23-30. The apostles had now humbled the pride of…
23-30. The apostles had now humbled the pride of their adversaries, and went away from the assembly in triumph. But they were uninflated by their present prosperity, as they had been undaunted by their recent danger. They had now attained that lofty degree of faith and hope which enables men to maintain a steady calmness amid all the vicissitudes of life. The course they immediately pursued is worthy of remembrance, and of all imitation. (23) " And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported what the high priests and the elders had said to them. (24) And when they heard it, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said: Sovereign Lord, thou God who hast made the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and all that is in them; (25) who through the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the Gentiles rage, and the people imagine vain things? (26) The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed. (27) For, of a truth, against thy holy son Jesus whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontus Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together, (28) to do what thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. (29) And now, Lord, behold their threatenings; and grant to thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, (30) by stretching out thy hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of thy holy son Jesus. " This prayer was uttered by one of the brethren, and the expression, "they lifted up their voice with one accord," indicates the perfect unity of sentiment with which they followed the words of the leader.
In all the prayers of the apostles, we observe strict appropriateness, in the ascription to God with which they open, and a remarkable simplicity in presenting the exact petition, and no more, which the occasion demands. On a former occasion, they had set before him two men, that he might choose one for the apostolic office, and they addressed him as the "heart-knower;" now they desire his protecting power, and they style him the "Sovereign God who made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all that is in them." They remind him that, according to his own words by David, kings and rulers, in the persons of Herod and Pilate, had risen up against his anointed while the people and the Gentiles were imagining vain things; and they pray him to "behold the threatening," and grant to his servants boldness to speak the word in defiance of all opposition.
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In these days of passion and war, in which it is common for prayers to be filled with earnest entreaties for victory over our enemies, and sometimes with terrible maledictions against those who are waging war against our supposed rights, it is quite refreshing to observe the tone of this apostolic prayer. These men were not in danger of losing some mere political power or privilege, but the dearest and most indisputable right they had on earth was denied them, and they were threatened with death if they did not relinquish it; yet, in their prayers, they manifest no vindictive nor resentful spirit; but, in reference to their enemies they simply pray, Lord, behold their threatenings. Their gentle spirits never could have conceived that unblushing impiety which now so often brings men upon their knees for the very purpose of pouring out in the ears of God those violent and destructive passions which he has forbidden us to allow a place even within our hearts. By such prayers men seek to make God a partisan in every angry contention among men, as though he were nothing more than themselves. Much needs to be said upon this unhappy theme, but it can not be said here.
In praying for boldness the apostles give an intimation of the manner in which they expected it to be imparted to them. It was not by some direct and internal spiritual impact, but by external manifestations of his continued presence and favor: " by stretching out his hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be wrought through the name of Jesus."
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v25 (See Scofield "Psa 2:6").
said
(See Scofield "Psa 2:6").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v23 The Prayer and the Further Establishment of the Congregation.
The Prayer and the Further Establishment of the Congregation.
The report of the apostles and the prayer:
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v. 23. And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them.
v. 24. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord and said, Lord, Thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is;
v. 25. who by the mouth of Thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?
v. 26. The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ.
v. 27. For of a truth, against Thy holy Child Jesus, whom Thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together
v. 28. for to do whatsoever Thy hand and Thy counsel determined before to be done.
By the power of the Spirit’s testimony through the mouth of the apostles the enemies had been vanquished. The two disciples were discharged for want of condemnatory matter against them. They came to their own, to their fellow-disciples, who were assembled according to their custom. To these members of the Christian community they made a report of all that the high priests and elders, the members of the Sanhedrin, had said to them. And the result was a spontaneous outburst of prayer on the part of the entire assembly, in the form of a hymn clothed in language from the Psalms. The vigorous spiritual life of the early Christians manifested itself here, and the Spirit Himself taught them the words of their powerful prayer. They addressed their prayer to the almighty Master of the universe, to Him that had made heaven and earth and the sea and all creatures that inhabit them, before whom nothing is impossible, who holds the fortunes of the entire world in the hollow of His hand, and directs them to suit His purposes. It was this God who had inspired David to pen the words of the Second Psalm, as we here learn. It was He that had asked the question through His servant David: For what reason do the nations engage in tumultuous uprisings, and the people meditate things that are vain and foolish? The haughtiness and insolence of all men by nature is equaled only by the vanity, the emptiness, of their aspirations. Here was evidence enough for the truth of the prophecy. The kings of the earth and the rulers had gathered themselves together against the Lord and against His Christ. No matter whether they were otherwise at bitter enmity toward each other, they forgot all their differences when a concerted move was planned against the Word and work of God and Christ. Assuredly, as the evidence before the eyes of all men showed plainly, in this very city they were banding together against the holy Child of God, His Son Jesus: Herod and Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,-they were all united against God’s Anointed One. They would, of course, be able to carry out and succeed in doing only that which the hand of the Lord and His counsel had seen in advance and known that it would be done. God was still controlling the destinies of nations as well as of individuals. That was the situation. The enmity was there; it was directed against the Lord and His Christ; the believers knew that nothing could happen without the foreknowledge and permission of God. Note that there is no indication of a vindictive or resentful spirit in the prayer, but only a complete trust in the Lord.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v23 General Information:
General Information:
Speaking together, the people quote a Psalm of David from the Old Testament.
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General Information:
Here the word "they" refers to the rest of the believers, but not to Peter and John.
came to their own people
The phrase "their own people" refers to the rest of the believers. AT: "went to the other believers" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
they raised their voices together to God
To raise the voice is an idiom for speaking. "they began speaking together to God"
You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David
This means that the Holy Spirit caused David to speak or write down what God said.
through the mouth of your servant, our father David
Here the word "mouth" refers to the words that David spoke or wrote down. AT: "by the words of your servant, our father David" (See: Metonymy)
our father David
Here "father" refers to "ancestor/"
Why did the Gentile nations rage, and the peoples imagine useless things?
This is a rhetorical question that emphasizes the futility of opposing God. AT: "The Gentile nations should not have raged, and the peoples should not have imagined useless things" (See: Rhetorical Question)
the peoples imagine useless things
These "useless things" consist of plans to oppose God. AT: "the peoples imagine useless things against God" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
peoples
people groups
translationWords
free
chief priests
elder
God
lord
heaven
earth
Holy Spirit
ancestor
David
servant
Gentile
nation
rage
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv23, 25 4:23-31 The believers heard the report that their leaders…
4:23-31 The believers heard the report that their leaders had been threatened and commanded never again to speak about Jesus (4:18). The Christian movement was clearly under attack from the religious authorities, so they united in prayer. They turned to God, placing their troubles before him and asking him to make them bold in speaking the message and to divinely confirm its truth with signs and wonders. God dramatically answered their request.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.