ACTS CHAPTER FOUR

OBSERVATION STAGE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The purpose of the observation stage is to maintain focus on the text at hand within the normative rules of language, context and logic .which largely limits the observer to the content offered by the books of Luke and Acts. Other passages must have a relationship with the context at hand, such as a Scriptural quotation or reference in the passage at hand. This will serve to avoid going on unnecessary tangents elsewhere; and more importantly, it will provide the framework for a proper and objective comparison with passages located elsewhere in Scripture.

Remember that something elsewhere may be true, but in the text at hand it may not be in view.

****** EXCERPT FROM ACTS CHAPTER 3 ******

OR SKIP TO THE BEGINNING OF CHAPTER 4

(Acts 3:22-26) PETER FURTHER CORROBORATED HIS TESTIMONY OF WHO JESUS WAS BY SPEAKING OF MOSES' ADDRESS TO THE FATHERS - THE ANCESTORS OF THE JEWS PETER WAS ADDRESSING: "THE LORD YOUR GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BRETHREN," WHOM PETER CONCLUDED WAS JESUS - WHOM MOSES INDICATED WOULD BE AN EVEN GREATER PROPHET THAN MOSES WAS. FOR MOSES DECLARED THAT IN ALL THINGS, WHATEVER THIS PROPHET WILL SAY, WILL BE OF SUCH GREAT AND VITAL IMPORT THAT EVERY SOUL WHO REFUSED TO HEAR WHAT THIS PROPHET HAD TO SAY "SHALL BE UTTERLY DESTROYED FROM AMONG THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL." PETER ADDED THAT ALL THE PROPHETS FROM SAMUEL ON ANNOUNCED THE DAYS OF THIS PROPHET'S ARRIVAL. PETER CONCLUDED THAT THE JEWS OF HIS TIME WERE SONS OF THE PROPHETS AND OF THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT GOD MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS IN WHOSE SEED ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH WILL BE BLESSED, WITH THE JEWS BEING FIRST RECIPIENTS. FOR GOD HAVING RAISED UP HIS SERVANT JESUS, SENT HIM TO BLESS THE JEWS FIRST IN TURNING EACH ONE OF THEM FROM THEIR INIQUITIES THROUGH A MOMENT OF FAITH IN HIS ATONING SACRIFICE UNTO ETERNAL LIFE IN THE ETERNAL KINGDOM OF GOD

[Compare Dt 18:15-19]:

[Compare Gen 26:1-5]:

****** END OF EXCERPT FROM ACTS CHAPTER 3 ******

I) [Acts 4:1-37]:

A) (ACTS 4:1-4) AS PETER AND JOHN WERE SPEAKING TO THE PEOPLE, THE PRIESTS, CAPTAIN OF THE TEMPLE AND THE SADDUCEES CAME UPON THEM, BEING GREATLY DISTURBED THAT THEY TAUGHT THE PEOPLE AND PREACHED IN JESUS THE RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD. AND THEY LAID HANDS ON THEM, AND PUT THEM IN CUSTODY UNTIL THE NEXT DAY, FOR IT WAS ALREADY EVENING. HOWEVER, MANY OF THOSE [HAVING HEARD] THE WORD BELIEVED; AND THE NUMBER OF THE MEN CAME TO BE ABOUT FIVE THOUSAND

1) [Compare Lk 20:27]:

B) (ACTS 4:5-7) ON THE NEXT DAY, RULERS, ELDERS, SCRIBES, ANNAS THE HIGH PRIEST, CAIAPHAS, JOHN AND ALEXANDER, THE FAMILY OF THE HIGH PRIEST GATHERED TOGETHER AND SET PETER AND JOHN IN THEIR MIDST. THEY WERE INQUIRING, "IN WHAT POWER, OR IN WHAT NAME DID YOU DO THIS?"

C) (ACTS 4:8-12) PETER, HAVING BEEN FILLED (CONTROLLED) WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT, ADDRESSED THE RULERS AND ELDERS WITH CONFIDENCE, "IF WE TODAY ARE EXAMINED CONCERNING THE GOOD DEED TO THE AILING MAN, BY WHOM HE [HAS] BEEN [MADE WELL], LET IT BE KNOWN TO YOU ALL, AND TO ALL THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL, THAT BY THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH, WHOM YOU CRUCIFIED, WHOM GOD RAISED FROM THE DEAD, BY HIM THIS MAN STANDS HERE BEFORE YOU WHOLE." WHEREUPON HE REFERRED TO JESUS AS THE "STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED BY YOU BUILDERS, WHICH HAS BECOME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE," ALLUDING TO PSALMS 118:22, HENCE IMPLYING, JUST AS THE BUILDERS (THE NATIONS) REJECTED THE STONE MEANING ISRAEL WITH BESEIGING BRUTALITY, YET WITH THE LORD'S WILL SHE WILL BECOME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE OF THE WORLD IN THE ETERNAL KINGDOM OF GOD; SO THE BUILDERS - THE NATIONS, ESPECIALLY THE JEWS IRONICALLY, REJECTED THE STONE MEANING JESUS OF NAZARETH WITH CRUCIFIXION, YET WITH THE LORD'S WILL, HE WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD AND WILL BECOME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE OF THE WORLD IN THE ETERNAL KINGDOM OF GOD AS KING OF ISRAEL AND THE WORLD

1) [Luke 21:12-19]:

2) [Compare Ps 118:1-29]:

a) (118:1-4) A Psalm Of Celebration And Praise To The LORD, In The Light Of The LORD's Faithful Deliverance And Restoration Of Israel: "Oh Give Thanks To The LORD For He Is Good! His Mercy Endures Forever." Let Israel, The House Of Aaron, Those Who Fear The LORD, Now Say Each In His Turn, "His Mercy Endures Forever."

b) (118:5-7) The Psalmist Recalls When He Called Upon The LORD In Distress: "The LORD Answered Me And Set Me In A Broad Place. The LORDIs On My Side; I Will Not Fear. What Can Man Do To Me? The LORD Is For Me Among Those Who Help Me; Therefore I Shall See My Desire On Those Who Hate Me."

c) (118:8-9) The Congregation, Reciting Together, Summarizes The Psalmist's Personal Account Of Being Delivered From Distress By The LORD, "It Is Better To Trust In The LORD Than To Put Confidence In Man. It Is Better To Trust In The LORD Than To Put Confidence In Princes."

d) (118:10-14) The Psalmist's Testimony Resumes: Surrounded By Nations, Yet In The Name Of The LORD, He Declared That He Would Destroy Them. Although He Was Surrounded With Enemy Nations Like Bees, Those Nations Were Quenched Like A Fire Of Thorns. Though Pushed Violently That He Might Fall, The LORD Helped Him. So The Psalmist Declared, "The LORD Is My Strength And Song, And He Has Become My Salvation."

e) (118:15-16) The Chorus / Congregation Responds To The Psalmist's Account Of His Deliverance By The LORD: The Voice Of Rejoicing and Salvation Is In The Tents Of The Righteous; The Right Hand Of The LORD Does Valiantly. The Right Hand

i) [Compare Ps 78:35, 79:9]:

f) (118:17-21) The Psalmist Continued His Testimony, "I Shall Not Die, But Live, And Declare The Works Of The LORD. The LORD Has Chastened Me Severely, But He Has Not Given Me Over To Death. Open To Me The Gates Of Righteousness; I Will Go Through Them, And I Will Praise The LORD. This Is The Gate Of The LORD, Through Which The Righteous Shall Enter. I Will Praise You, For You Have Answered Me, And Have Become My Salvation," Referring To The Gates Into The Temple Sanctuary Into Where The Righteous - Those Who Have Been Declared Righteous Through Faith In The LORD's Provision For Atonement For Ones Sins - Enter To Praise And Worship The LORD

g) (118:22-24) The Congregation Recites How The Stone - [The Nation Israel] - Which The Builders - [The Nations Of The World] - Rejected, Has Become The Chief Cornerstone - [The Chief Nation Of The World - Looking To The Future Eternal Kingdom Of God]. This Was The LORD's Doing. It Is Marvelous In Our Eyes. This Is The Day The LORD Has Made; We Will Rejoice And Be Glad In It

h) (118:25) The Psalmist Earnestly Prays To The LORD For Prosperity

i) (118:26-29) The Congregation Or Chorus Of Priests Declares, As The Procession Of People Enter Into The Sanctuary Of The Temple, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! [Referring To The Leader Of The Procession] We have blessed you from the house of the LORD. God is the LORD, And He has given us light; Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. [Referring To A Celebratory Sacrifice] You are my God, and I will praise You; You are my God, I will exalt You. Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever."

D) (ACTS 4:13-18) NOW [SEEING] THE BOLDNESS OF PETER AND JOHN, AND [HAVING] PERCEIVED THAT THEY WERE UNEDUCATED AND UNTRAINED MEN, [LIT., LAYMEN] THEY [WERE WERE MARVELING (AT SUCH PREACHING)]. AND THEY [WERE REALIZING] THAT THEY [WERE] WITH JESUS. AND SEEING THE MAN WHO HAD BEEN HEALED STANDING WITH THEM; THEY COULD SAY NOTHING AGAINST IT; AND HAVING COMMANDED THEM TO GO AWAY OUT OF THE SANHEDRIN [JEWISH RULING COUNCIL] THEY [CONFERRED] WITH ONE ANOTHER, SAYING, "WHAT SHALL WE DO TO THESE MEN? FOR, INDEED, THAT A NOTABLE MIRACLE HAS BEEN DONE THROUGH THEM IS EVIDENT TO ALL WHO DWELL IN JERUSALEM, AND WE CANNOT DENY IT. BUT SO THAT IT SPREADS NO FURTHER AMONG THE PEOPLE, LET US SEVERELY THREATEN THEM, THAT FROM NOW ON THEY SPEAK TO NO MAN IN THIS NAME." AND HAVING CALLED THEM, THEY CHARGED THEM NOT TO SPEAK AT ALL, NOR TO TEACH, IN THE NAME OF JESUS

E) (ACTS 4:19-22) BUT PETER AND JOHN ANSWERED AND SAID TO THEM, "WHETHER IT IS RIGHT IN THE SIGHT OF GOD TO LISTEN TO YOU MORE THAN TO GOD, YOU JUDGE. FOR WE CANNOT BUT SPEAK WHAT WE DID SEE AND HEAR." SO WHEN THEY HAD FURTHER THREATENED THEM, THEY LET THEM GO, FINDING NO WAY OF PUNISHING THEM, BECAUSE OF THE PEOPLE, SINCE THEY ALL GLORIFIED GOD FOR WHAT HAD BEEN DONE. FOR THE MAN WAS OVER FORTY YEARS OLD ON WHOM THIS MIRACLE OF HEALING HAD BEEN PERFORMED

F) (Acts 4:23-28) AND [HAVING BEEN] LET GO, THEY WENT TO THEIR OWN COMPANIONS AND REPORTED ALL THAT THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND ELDERS HAD SAID TO THEM. SO WHEN THEY HEARD THAT, THEY RAISED THEIR VOICE TO GOD WITH ONE ACCORD AND SAID: "LORD, YOU ARE GOD, WHO MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH AND THE SEA, AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM, WHO BY THE MOUTH OF YOUR SERVANT DAVID HAVE SAID: 'WHY DID THE NATIONS RAGE, AND THE PEOPLE PLOT VAIN THINGS? THE KINGS OF THE EARTH TOOK THEIR STAND, AND THE RULERS WERE GATHERED TOGETHER AGAINST THE LORD AND AGAINST HIS CHRIST [HIS ANOINTED ONE].' FOR TRULY IN THIS CITY THERE WERE GATHERED TOGETHER AGAINST YOUR HOLY SERVANT JESUS, WHOM YOU ANOINTED, BOTH HEROD AND PONTIUS PILATE, ALONG WITH THE GENTILES AND THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL, TO DO WHATEVER YOUR HAND AND YOUR PURPOSE DETERMINED BEFORE TO BE DONE."

2) [Compare Ps 2:1-12]:

a) (Ps 2:1-3) Why Do The Nations Rage, And The People Plot A Vain Thing? The Kings Of The Earth Set Themselves, And The Rulers Take Counsel Together, Against The LORD And Against His Anointed [One] Saying, 'Let Us Break Their Bonds In Pieces And Cast Away Their Cords From Us

b) (Ps 2:4-12) He Who Sits In The Heavens Shall Laugh; The LORD Shall Hold Them In Derision. Then He Shall Speak To Them In His Wrath, And Distress Them In His Deep Displeasure: 'Yet I Have Set My King On My Holy Hill Of Zion. I Will Declare The Decree: The LORD Has Said To Me, 'You Are My Son, Today I Have Begotten You. Ask Of Me, And I Will Give You The Nations For Your Inheritance, And The Ends Of The Earth For Your Possession. You Shall Break Them With A Rod Of Iron; You Shall Dash Them To Pieces Like A Potter's Vessel.' Now Therefore, Be Wise, O Kings; Be Instructed, You Judges Of The Earth. Serve The LORD With Fear, And Rejoice With Trembling. Kiss The Son, Lest He Be Angry, And You Perish In The Way, When His Wrath Is Kindled But A Little. Blessed Are All Those Who Put Their Trust In Him

G) (ACTS 4:29-37) THE BELIEVERS' PRAYER CONTINUED WITH A REQUEST FOR A BOLD RESPONSE IN THE FACE OF THREATS FROM THE JEWISH RULERS FOR GOD'S SERVANTS - THE APOSTLES; AND FOR HEALING, SIGNTS AND WONDERS THROUGH THE NAME OF THE LORD'S HOLY SERVANT JESUS. WHEREUPON THE PLACE WHERE THEY WERE ASSEMBLED WAS SHAKEN AND THEY WERE ALL FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT, SPEAKING OUT THE WORD OF GOD WITH BOLDNESS. ALL OF THE THOUSANDS OF BELIEVERS WERE OF ONE HEART AND SOUL, WITH POSSESSIONS AND ALL THINGS IN COMMON. WITH GREAT POWER, THE APOSTLES GAVE WITNESS TO THE RESURRECTION OF THE LORD. GREAT GRACE WAS UPON THEM ALL. NO ONE LACKED, FOR THOSE WITH POSSESSIONS WERE SELLING THEM AND BRINGING THE PROCEEDS TO THE APOSTLES TO DISTRIBUTE AS THERE WAS NEED. JOSES, NAMED BARNABAS, SOLD HIS LAND AND LAID IT AT THE APOSTLES' FEET

Acts chapter 5