33 and with great power did the apostles give witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.
but ye will receive power, the Holy Spirit having come upon you, and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
beginning from the baptism of John until the day in which he was taken up from us, one of these should be a witness with us of his resurrection.
And they, going forth, preached everywhere, the Lord working with [them], and confirming the word by the signs following upon [it].
And Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men.
This Jesus has God raised up, whereof all *we* are witnesses. Having therefore been exalted by the right hand of God, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which *ye* behold and hear.
praising God, and having favour with all the people; and the Lord added [to the assembly] daily those that were to be saved.
but the originator of life ye slew, whom God raised from among [the] dead, whereof *we* are witnesses. And, by faith in his name, his name has made this [man] strong whom ye behold and know; and the faith which is by him has given him this complete soundness in the presence of you all.
in that thou stretchest out thy hand to heal, and that signs and wonders take place through the name of thy holy servant Jesus.
And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders done among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch, but of the rest durst no man join them, but the people magnified them; and believers were more than ever added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women;) so that they brought out the sick into the streets and put [them] on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter, when he came, might overshadow some one of them. And the multitude also of the cities round about came together to Jerusalem, bringing sick persons and persons beset by unclean spirits, who were all healed.
For I will not dare to speak anything of the things which Christ has not wrought by me, for [the] obedience of [the] nations, by word and deed, in [the] power of signs and wonders, in [the] power of [the] Spirit of God; so that I, from Jerusalem, and in a circuit round to Illyricum, have fully preached the glad tidings of the Christ;
For our glad tidings were not with you in word only, but also in power, and in [the] Holy Spirit, and in much assurance; even as ye know what we were among you for your sakes:
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.