Verse By Verse Through Acts

Chapter Four

Acts 4:1-2 “And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.”

  • The phrase, “And as they spake…” shows us that the context has not changed (Acts 3:1-26).
  • The priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees have been and will continue to be involved in the opposition to our Lord (cf. Luke 22:1-4, Luke 22:52, and Acts 5:17-24).
  • The wording “being grieved” means “to toil through, that is, (passively) be worried: - be grieved” (Strong’s # 1278).
  • They didn’t want the resurrection of Christ preached. Think back to what occurred after Lazarus was raised from the dead by Jesus (John 11:45-53).
  • We will see in the next chapter a concern that the blood of Christ will be brought upon them (Acts 5:28).

Acts 4:3 “And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide.”

  • Persecution of the saints in the first century often included imprisonment (Acts 5:18, Acts 8:3, Acts 12:1-4, Acts 16:16-24, Acts 22:4, and Revelation 2:10). 

Acts 4:4 “Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.”

  • Regardless of the actions of the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees; the Gospel was at work. No matter what the enemies of truth do, the word of God will not be bound (II Timothy 2:9).
  • Many believed [πιστεύω] (cf. Acts 5:14, Acts 11:19-21, Acts 13:5-12, Acts 15:5, and Acts 17:12).
  • The Gospel is the power of salvation to everyone that believeth (Romans 1:16).
  • There had been about three thousand souls added in Acts 2:41. Now the number of the men was about five thousand.
  • As this is the second letter to the Christian Theophilus, the details of their conversion are not spelled out here. Acts was not written as an instruction manual to lost people explaining, step by step, what they must do to have their sins forgiven. Nevertheless, one can examine the various conversion accounts throughout the letter and see what people were taught and what they did (Acts 2:36-41, Acts 3:19, Acts 8:5-39, Acts 9:1-20, Acts 10:1-11:18, Acts 16:13-40, Acts 18:8, Acts 19:1-7, Acts 22:1-16, etc.).

Acts 4:5-6 “And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes, And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem.”

  • The party is growing. This is starting to spell out the way the conspiracy to kill Jesus did (Matthew 27:1-2 and Mark 15:1).
  • Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests (Luke 3:2).
  • Annas was the father in law to Caiaphas (John 18:13-14).

Acts 4:7 “And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?”

  • The approach of these men is similar to what we see with Jesus (Luke 20:1-8). The Holy Ghost will have Peter respond to this situation differently than Jesus did.
  • They erred in not knowing the Scriptures or the power of God (Mark 12:24).
  • Think about the hypocrisy of these sinful men questioning a miracle done by God’s messengers. In general, those in sin have no right to examine others until that person(s) clean up their own lives (Matthew 7:1-5).
Acts 4:8-10 “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.”

  • Peter, and the rest of the Apostles, were filled with the Holy Ghost (Acts 1:5-8 and Acts 2:1-4; cf. Acts 4:31 and Acts 9:17). “Filled with” doesn’t mean a literal indwelling. For example, the same wording is in Ephesians 3:19 regarding being “filled with” the fulness of God.
  • The reason Peter being “filled with the Holy Ghost” is mentioned in connection to Peter speaking is to source the words Peter spoke to the Spirit (Luke 12:11-12; I Corinthians 2:9-13 and II Peter 1:20-21).
  • He addresses the rulers and elders of Israel (cf. Acts 4:5-6).
  • Peter addressed what was happening as them being examined. Examined [ἀνακρίνω] meaning: “properly to scrutinize, that is, (by implication) investigate, interrogate, determine: - ask, question, discern, examine, judge, search” (Strong’s # 350). This term is used in judicial, investigative ways (Luke 23:14 and Acts 12:19). However, it is also used as in “searched” (Acts 17:11) or discerning; judging (I Corinthians 2:14-15).
  • The Holy Spirit has Peter address their examination by pointing out that they are examining a “good deed” in reference to the healing of the impotent man (Acts 3:1-10).
  • Just remember what the elders of the Jews had done in the past in seeking Jesus to heal a centurion’s servant (Luke 7:1-10). Then later on, the elders questioned Jesus by what authority Jesus worked (Luke 20:1-8).
  • Nothing is being hidden (John 18:20). Thus, “Be it known unto you…” (cf. Acts 13:38 and Acts 28:28).
  • Peter clearly states that the man was made whole by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth (Acts 3:13-16; cf. Acts 16:16-18).
  • Then the Spirit had Peter restate the death and resurrection of Christ and who was to blame (Acts 2:22-24; 2:36) as the Apostles will continue to do going forward (Acts 5:29-32).

Acts 4:11 “This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.”

  • The Scriptural reference is Psalms 118:22-23.
  • Isaiah makes reference to Christ in similar fashion (Isaiah 28:16).
  • In the company of the chief priests and the elders Jesus addressed this (Matthew 21:23; Matthew 21:33-46 and Luke 20:1; Luke 20:9-18).
  • Peter later references this (I Peter 2:1-9).
  • Jesus is the chief cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20-22).
  • Their rejection and killing of Christ did not prevent Him from becoming the head of the corner or the church from being established as He had promised (Matthew 16:13-18; cf. Ephesians 1:20-23).

Acts 4:12 “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

  • Jesus is the only way (John 14:6 and I John 5:11-12).
  • Jesus is the only foundation (I Corinthians 3:11).
  • Salvation would not be found in the priests, elders, or any other person on earth. Jesus is the only door to eternal life (John 10:1-18).
  • Just think, they rejected the only way to be saved (I John 2:23-25).
  • They were more concerned about their place and nation than salvation (John 11:47-48). Furthermore, they converted others and made those converts worse than themselves (Matthew 23:15). The traditions they held and taught made the word of God of none effect (Mark 7:1-13).

Acts 4:13 “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.”

  • As we saw in chapter two, the preaching of the Apostles was bold. They spoke freely [boldly] (Acts 2:29) as they should have (Ephesians 6:18-20).
  • They saw the boldness of Peter and John while perceiving them to be unlearned and ignorant men. This contributed to their marveling at them (Acts 26:22-25 and I Corinthians 1:18-24).
  • Just as a side point, being ignorant [rude] in speaking (II Corinthians 11:6) didn’t matter (I Corinthians 2:1-13).
  • They marveled at what they saw in Peter and John. Similar reactions occurred when the Apostles spoke as the Spirit gave them utterance and when the lame man was healed (Acts 2:4-7; 3:11-12).
  • They knew Peter and John had been with Jesus (cf. Matthew 26:71).

Acts 4:14 “And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.”

  • The healed man was standing there in good health (Acts 4:10).
  • With the evidence clearly in front of them, they could not deny it. When this happened with Lazarus the chief priests wanted to kill him (John 12:9-11).

Acts 4:15-16 “But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, Saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it.”

  • The council was not in favor of our Lord (Mark 14:55 and John 11:47-48).
  • The miracle was known (Acts 3:9-10).
  • As we saw with Jesus, miracles did not change those who were unwilling to believe (John 12:37-43).
  • They would have loved to deny the miracle, but the evidence could not be covered up. Just think of the lengths they were willing to go to in attempting to cover up the resurrection of Christ (Matthew 28:11-15).

Acts 4:17-18 “But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.”

  • Their solution, in an attempt to keep the message from spreading any further, was to threaten Peter and John and command them not to speak or teach in the name of Christ. This is not a new tactic for the erring in Israel. The prophets of old faced similar demands (Isaiah 30:9-11, Jeremiah 18:18, and Amos 2:12).
  • Such threats against the Lord's messengers were not always empty (II Chronicles 24:19-21 and Jeremiah 38:16).
  • As we proceed through the next chapter, we will see the Apostles are not going to stop preaching in the name of the Lord and they will face consequences for it.
Acts 4:19 “But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.”

  • Peter and John had received their orders from the Lord (Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15-20, and Luke 24:47).
  • They had been taught that they would be persecuted (Matthew 5:10-12 and Matthew 10:16-23) and hated (John 15:18-20).
  • What matters is what is pleasing to the Lord (Ephesians 5:10).
  • Peter and John will make their position even clearer in the next verse (Acts 4:20).

Acts 4:20 “For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”

  • This is not because the Spirit left them unable to be silent. The Spirit working through them did not cause them to lose their free will (I Corinthians 14:32 and I Thessalonians 5:19-20).
  • Rather, the truth had such a hold upon them that remaining silent was not an acceptable option to them (Jeremiah 20:9, Acts 17:16-17, and Acts 18:5).
  • They had seen and heard too much to keep quiet. Jesus expected them to testify of what they had seen and heard (Acts 1:8, John 15:26-27, and Acts 10:42).
  • Think about how this could apply to all saints (I Peter 3:12-17).
  • We will revisit their being witnesses later in this context (Acts 4:33).

Acts 4:21 “So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people: for all men glorified God for that which was done.”

  • Their goal was to threaten them (Acts 4:17). They did that.
  • The fear of the people continues to stand in the way of the Jewish religious leaders who want to stop the Lord’s work (cf. Luke 20:19).
  • So, make sure to realize that their restraint was not produced by repentance or respect for the truth. They were restrained by their fear of the people's reaction (cf. Acts 5:26).
  • God had been glorified by the miracle which had caused them to be upset with Peter and John (Acts 3:6-9).




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