33 And with great power the Apostles gave witness of the coming back of the Lord Jesus from the dead; and grace was on them all.
But you will have power, when the Holy Spirit has come on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judaea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Starting from the baptism of John till he went up from us, one will have to be a witness with us of his coming back from death.
And they went out, preaching everywhere, the Lord working with them, and giving witness to the word by the signs which came after. So be it.
And Jesus was increasing in wisdom and in years, and in grace before God and men.
This Jesus God has given back to life, of which we all are witnesses. And so, being lifted up to the right hand of God, and having the Father's word that the Holy Spirit would come, he has sent this thing, which now you see and have knowledge of.
Giving praise to God, and having the approval of all the people; and every day the number of those who had salvation was increased by the Lord.
And put to death the Lord of life; whom God gave back from the dead; of which fact we are witnesses. And his name, through faith in his name, has made this man strong, whom you see and have knowledge of: yes, the faith which is through him has made him well, before you all.
While your hand is stretched out to do works of mercy; so that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.
Now a number of signs and wonders were done among the people by the hands of the Apostles; and they were all together in Solomon's covered way. The others, in fear, kept back from joining them: but the people made much of them; And a great number of men and women had faith, and were joined to the Lord; And they even took into the streets people who were ill, and put them on beds, so that when Peter went by, some of them might be in his shade. And numbers of people came together from the towns round about Jerusalem, with those who were ill and those who were troubled with unclean spirits: and they were all made well.
And I will keep myself from talking of anything but those things which Christ has done by me to put the Gentiles under his rule in word and in act, By signs and wonders, in the power of the Holy Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have given all the good news of Christ;
Because our good news came to you, not in word only, but in power, and in the Holy Spirit, so that you were completely certain of it; even as you saw what our behaviour to you was like from our love to you.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Acts 4
Commentary on Acts 4 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 4
In going over the last two chapters, where we met with so many good things that the apostles did, I wondered what was become of the scribes and Pharisees, and chief priests, that they did not appear to contradict and oppose them, as they had used to treat Christ himself; surely they were so confounded at first with the pouring out of the Spirit that they were for a time struck dumb! But I find we have not lost them; their forces rally again, and here we have an encounter between them and the apostles; for from the beginning the gospel met with opposition. Here,
Act 4:1-4
We have here the interests of the kingdom of heaven successfully carried on, and the powers of darkness appearing against them to put a stop to them. let Christ's servants be ever so resolute, Satan's agents will be spiteful; and therefore, let Satan's agents be ever so spiteful, Christ's servants ought to be resolute.
Act 4:5-14
We have here the trial of Peter and John before the judges of the ecclesiastical court, for preaching a sermon concerning Jesus Christ, and working a miracle in his name. This is charged upon them as a crime, which was the best service they could do to God or men.
Act 4:15-22
We have here the issue of the trial of Peter and John before the council. They came off now with flying colours, because they must be trained up to sufferings by degrees, and by less trials be prepared for greater. They now but run with the footmen; hereafter we shall have them contending with horses, Jer. 12:5.
Act 4:23-31
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,
Act 4:32-37
We have a general idea given us in these verses, and it is a very beautiful one, of the spirit and state of this truly primitive church; it is conspectus saeculi-a view of that age of infancy and innocence.