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