Bible in one year 2/12/2022 Book of Acts 3-4 By Rev. Katherine Liu Bruce

 Bible in one year 2/12/2022 Book of Acts 3-4

By Rev. Katherine Liu Bruce Christian Arts Ministries  

Chapter 3 Peter Heals a Lame Beggar –The Miracle (Acts 3:1-10)

1One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. 2Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 3When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” 5So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get

something from them. 6Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” 7Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Peter’s message- Speaks to the Onlookers (Acts 3:11-26)

11While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. 12When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. 14You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 16By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.

17“Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. 18But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. 19Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of
refreshing may come from the Lord, 20and that he may send the Christ (Messiah), who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. 21Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. 22For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. 23Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.’ 24“Indeed, beginning with Samuel, all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days. 25And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’ 26When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

 

Verse 1 It was not only the early believers who were not clear the early believers who were not clear concerning God’s New Testament economy in relation to the Judaic temple; even the early apostles did not have a clear vision concerning God’s abandoning of the Judaic things. Hence, even after God poured out the Spirit upon them on the day of Pentecost to initiate a new dispensation, they still would not separate themselves from the Judaic temple. At the initial stage God tolerated their ignorance in this matter. But this led to a mixture of the church with Judaism, which was not condemned by the early church in Jerusalem (21:20-26). Eventually, the temple was destroyed by Titus with his Roman army in A.D.70 as prophesied by the Lord in Matt.23:38 and 24:2.That destruction cleared up the religious mixture.

 

Verse 6 Peter did not possess silver and gold, but St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome was constructed with a superabundance of gold. He did not have silver and gold, but he had the name, the person, of Jesus Christ, He was poor in silver and gold but rich in Christ. The Roman Church is filled with gold but not with the person of Christ. She is rich in gold but poor in Christ. Verse 6 “in the name of Jesus Christ, the Zazarene” His power and authority are invoked. Indicating the One despised by the Jewish leaders (John1:45-46; Acts 22:8; 24:5)

 

Verse 16 by father, through the apostles’ faith or possibly the lame man’s faith.

 

Verse 18 First, the redeeming death of Christ was determined by God in eternity(2:23) and announced beforehand through the prophets in the Old Testament time. This proves again that Christ’s death was not a historical accident but an act planned by God according the purpose of His good pleasure and announced beforehand through the prophets.

 

Turn, (v1.9) Turn from sin to God by reversing their verdict about Jesus and confessing Him as the Messiah. Times of refreshing and time…to restore everything (v.21) refer to the millennial kingdom.

 

Verse 20 Lit, cooling, reviving; hence, relieving, refreshing. The seasons of refreshing denote a time of revival of all things with joy and rest, referring to the times of restoration of all things in v.21, which will be brought in by the coming of the Messiah in His glory, as taught and prophesied by the Savior in Matt.19:28. It seems that Peter’s word skips over the church age and goes directly from the time of Pentecost to the millennium. This may indicate that Peter did not have a clear vision concerning the church age in God’s New Testament economy. The entire New Testament reveals the before the seasons of refreshing, the church occupies a considerable period of time in God’s dispensation.

 

Verse 21 The times of restoration in the millennium, as prophesied in Isa. 11:1-10 and 65:18-25, and referred to by Christ in Matt.17:11 and 19:28. It will be brought in by His coming back.

Verse 26 God sent back the ascended Christ first to the Jews by pouring out His Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Hence, the very Spirit whom God poured out is the very Christ whom God raised and exalted to the heavens. When the apostles preached and ministered this Christ, the Spirit was ministered to people.

 

 

Chapter 4 the Beginning of Persecution 4:1-37

The persecution 4:1-22

1The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. 2They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 3They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. 4But many who heard the message believed and the number of men grew to about five thousand. (vv.1-4)

 

5 The next day the rulers elders and teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and the other men of the high priest’s family. 7They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them. “By what power or what name did you do this?”8 then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people!”  9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whomGod raised from the dead, that this man stands before you  healed.

11He is “The stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.” 

12 Salvation is found in no one else for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.

 

Verse 5 this was a gathering of the Jewish Sanhedrin (v.15). In the four Gospels this Sanhedrin, composed of the Jewish leaders, became the strongest opponent of the Lord Jesus and His ministry and condemned Him to death (Matt.26:59). Now, in this book, the same Sanhedrin, with the same constituents, began the persecution of the apostles and their ministry (5:21; 6:12;22:30). This indicates that Judaism had fallen into the hand of God’s enemy, Satan the devil, and was being used by him in his attempt to frustrate and even destroy God’s move in His New Testament economy for the carrying out of His eternal purpose, that is, to bring His kingdom to the earth by establishing and building up the churches through the preaching of the gospel of Christ.

 

Verse 6 John and Alexander might have been the kindred of the high priest. In any case, they must have been dignitaries among the Jews, since they are named with the leaders of the Jewish Sanhedrin (v.15)

 

Verse 11 stone. This word was spoken by the Lord in Matt.21:42, quoted from Ps.118:22. It unveiled the Jewish leaders’ rejection of Him and God’s honoring of Him for the building of His habitation among His people on the earth. By this word Peter learned to know the Lord as the precious stone held in honor by God, as he expounded concerning Him in his first Epistle (1Pet.2:4-7). Peter’s quoting of this word indicates that he preached Christ not only as the Savior for the sinners’ salvation but as the stone for God’s building. It is such a Christ who is the unique salvation to sinners, and it is in His unique name under heaven, a name despised and rejected by the Jewish leaders but honored and exalted by God (Phil.2:9-10), that sinners must be saved (v.12) not only form sin (Matt.1:21) but also to participate in God’s building (1 Pet.2:5)

 

Verse 8-12 in his answer, Peter actually puts his hearers on trial. He calls attention to the fact that the miracle was a good deed, not a crime (v.9) and that it was performed by the power of Jesus whom they had crucified(v.10). Jesus’ rejection was predicted in the O.T.(v.11; Ps.118:22) and salvation is only through Him(v.12)

           

            13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had ben with Jesus. 14 But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. 15 So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. 16 “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny it. 17 But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name.”

18 Then they called them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus, 19 But Peter
and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. 20 For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

21 After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. 22 For the man who was miraculously healed was over forth years old.

 

Verse 13 Unschooled, ordinary men. This means that Peter and John were not formally trained in the rabbinic schools, they were not professional scholars or ordained teachers (John7:15)

Verse 15-17 Though the Sanhedrin forbade further preaching, they did not try to disprove the resurrection of Jesus, which would have been the simplest way to discredit the apostles.

 

The Prayer 4:23-31

23 On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. 25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.

27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. 29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

31 after they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

 

Verse 23 Referring to the church people, who were made distinct and separate from the Jews by calling on the name of Jesus (9:14). All the brothers and sisters in the Lord are the believers’ own people.

Verse 24-30 A prayer of thanksgiving for the sovereign power of God, not a prayer for deliverance from further opposition. The only petition in the prayer is for boldness (v.29-31)

Verse 27 Responsibility for the death of Christ is laid upon both Jews and Gentiles.

 

Verse 31 the Holy Spirit. There are a number of references to the activity of the Holy Spirit in Acts: (1) He baptizes believers into the Body of Christ, thus forming the church (1:5;11:15-16).(2) His presence in the believer is evidence of the new birth (2:38;5:32;10:44;15:8). (3) He fills believers for witnessing (4:8), for leadership (6:3z) , for strength (7:55), and for special discernment (13:9). (4) He leads (13:4;16:7)

 

The Provision, 4:32-37

 

32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. 33 with great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. 34 There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. 36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet. 

 

Verse 32 they shared everything. This display of Christian charity did not abolish the right of personal property. Such community of goods was not compulsory but voluntary, as a way of eliminating need among them.

 

Verse 36 Aramaic, meaning son of prophecy, applied figuratively tone who speaks to encourage, exhort, and console people.

 

 

Bibliography,

Lee, Witness. The New Testament (R.V.) Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1985.

Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie Study Bible (NIV).Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986.