Tuesday, September 1, 2020

Acts 4 and 5

 1. Peter and the Beginnings of the Church in the Holy Land (chs. 1-12)

    • "Throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria" (1:1 -- 9:31; see 9:31 and note)
      • Introduction (1:1-2)
      • Christ's resurrection ministry (1:3-11)
      • The period of waiting for the Holy Spirit (1:12-26)
      • The filling with the Spirit (ch. 2)
      • The healing of the lame man and the resultant arrest of Peter and John (3:1;4:31)
      • The community of goods (4:32;5:11)
      • The arrest of the 12 apostles (5:12-42)
      • The choice of the Seven (6:1-7)
      • Stephen's arrest and martyrdom (6:8;7:60)
      • The scattering of the Jerusalem believers (8:1-4)
      • Philip's ministry (8:5-40)

B.    "As far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch" (9:32;12:25;11:19;)

      • Peter's ministry on the Mediterranean coast (9:32;11:18)
      • The new Gentile church in Antioch (11:19-30)
      • Herod's persecution of the church and his subsequent death (ch. 12)

                                          I.         Paul and the Expansion of the Church from Antioch to Rome (chs. 13-28)

 .      "Throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia" (13:1 -- 15:35; see 16:6 and note)

      • Paul's first missionary journey (chs. 13-14)
      • The Jerusalem conference (15:1-35)

A.    "Over to Macedonia" (15:36;21:16;16:9;)

B.    "To Rome" (21:17;28:31;28:14;)


ACTS 4 NLT

1 While Peter and John were speaking to the people, they were confronted by the priests, the captain of the Temple guard, and some of the Sadducees.

2 These leaders were very disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people that through Jesus there is a resurrection of the dead. 

3 They arrested them and, since it was already evening, put them in jail until morning.

4 But many of the people who heard their message believed it, so the number of believers now totaled about 5,000 men, not counting women and children. 

5 The next day the council of all the rulers and elders and teachers of religious law met in Jerusalem. 

6 Annas the high priest was there, along with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and other relatives of the high priest. 

7 They brought in the two disciples and demanded, “By what power, or in whose name, have you done this?” 

8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of our people, 

9 are we being questioned today because we’ve done a good deed for a crippled man? Do you want to know how he was healed? 

10 Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead. 

11 For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’ 

12 There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” 

13 The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus. 

14 But since they could see the man who had been healed standing right there among them, there was nothing the council could say. 

15 So they ordered Peter and John out of the council chamber and conferred among themselves. 

16 “What should we do with these men?” they asked each other. “We can’t deny that they have performed a miraculous sign, and everybody in Jerusalem knows about it. 

17But to keep them from spreading their propaganda any further, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in Jesus’ name again.” 

18 So they called the apostles back in and commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. 

19 But Peter and John replied, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? 

20 We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.” 

21 The council then threatened them further, but they finally let them go because they didn’t know how to punish them without starting a riot. For everyone was praising God 

22 for this miraculous sign—the healing of a man who had been lame for more than forty years. 

23 As soon as they were freed, Peter and John returned to the other believers and told them what the leading priests and elders had said. 

24 When they heard the report, all the believers lifted their voices together in prayer to God: “O Sovereign Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— 

25 you spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant, saying, ‘Why were the nations so angry? Why did they waste their time with futile plans? 

26 The kings of the earth prepared for battle; the rulers gathered together against the LORD and against his Messiah.’ 

27 “In fact, this has happened here in this very city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed. 

28 But everything they did was determined beforehand according to your will. 

29 And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. 

30 Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

31 After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness. 

32 All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. 

33 The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all. 

34 There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them 

35 and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need. 

36 For instance, there was Joseph, the one the apostles nicknamed Barnabas (which means “Son of Encouragement”). He was from the tribe of Levi and came from the island of Cyprus. 

37 He sold a field he owned and brought the money to the apostles.


 

ACTS 5 NLT

1 But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. 

2 He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest. 

3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. 

4 The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!” 

5 As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified. 

6 Then some young men got up, wrapped him in a sheet, and took him out and buried him.

7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

8 Peter asked her, “Was this the price you and your husband received for your land?” “Yes,” she replied, “that was the price.” 

9 And Peter said, “How could the two of you even think of conspiring to test the Spirit of the Lord like this? The young men who buried your husband are just outside the door, and they will carry you out, too.” 

10 Instantly, she fell to the floor and died. When the young men came in and saw that she was dead, they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 

11 Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened. 

12 The apostles were performing many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers were meeting regularly at the Temple in the area known as Solomon’s Colonnade. 

13 But no one else dared to join them, even though all the people had high regard for them. 

14 Yet more and more people believed and were brought to the Lord—crowds of both men and women. 

15As a result of the apostles’ work, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that Peter’s shadow might fall across some of them as he went by. 

16 Crowds came from the villages around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those possessed by evil spirits, and they were all healed. 

17The high priest and his officials, who were Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. 

18 They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. 

19But an angel of the Lord came at night, opened the gates of the jail, and brought them out. Then he told them, 

20 “Go to the Temple and give the people this message of life!” 

21 So at daybreak the apostles entered the Temple, as they were told, and immediately began teaching. When the high priest and his officials arrived, they convened the high council —the full assembly of the elders of Israel. Then they sent for the apostles to be brought from the jail for trial. 

22 But when the Temple guards went to the jail, the men were gone. So they returned to the council and reported, 

23 “The jail was securely locked, with the guards standing outside, but when we opened the gates, no one was there!” 

24 When the captain of the Temple guard and the leading priests heard this, they were perplexed, wondering where it would all end. 

25 Then someone arrived with startling news: “The men you put in jail are standing in the Temple, teaching the people!” 

26 The captain went with his Temple guards and arrested the apostles, but without violence, for they were afraid the people would stone them. 

27 Then they brought the apostles before the high council, where the high priest confronted them. 

28 “We gave you strict orders never again to teach in this man’s name!” he said. “Instead, you have filled all Jerusalem with your teaching about him, and you want to make us responsible for his death!” 

29 But Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than any human authority. 

30 The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead after you killed him by hanging him on a cross. 

31 Then God put him in the place of honor at his right hand as Prince and Savior. He did this so the people of Israel would repent of their sins and be forgiven. 

32 We are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit, who is given by God to those who obey him.” 

33 When they heard this, the high council was furious and decided to kill them. 

34 But one member, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, who was an expert in religious law and respected by all the people, stood up and ordered that the men be sent outside the council chamber for a while. 

35 Then he said to his colleagues, “Men of Israel, take care what you are planning to do to these men! 

36 Some time ago there was that fellow Theudas, who pretended to be someone great. About 400 others joined him, but he was killed, and all his followers went their various ways. The whole movement came to nothing. 

37 After him, at the time of the census, there was Judas of Galilee. He got people to follow him, but he was killed, too, and all his followers were scattered. 

38 “So my advice is, leave these men alone. Let them go. If they are planning and doing these things merely on their own, it will soon be overthrown. 

39 But if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God!” 

40 The others accepted his advice. They called in the apostles and had them flogged. Then they ordered them never again to speak in the name of Jesus, and they let them go. 

41 The apostles left the high council rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus. 

42 And every day, in the Temple and from house to house, they continued to teach and preach this message: “Jesus is the Messiah.”