The Day of Pentecost

On the day of the Jewish feast of Pentecost, God poured out His Spirit on the gathered disciples. The Spirit's coming was accompanied by two remarkable phenomena: a sound from heaven like the blowing of a mighty wind, followed by the appearance of a mass of flames that came to rest above the group. The mass then divided itself into individual tongues of fire, with one tongue coming to rest on each disciple.

They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to proclaim the wonders of God in various Gentile languages. These languages were recognized by Jewish pilgrims who had gathered for Pentecost from throughout the then-known world. The crowd's reaction to the disciples' speaking in tongues was mixed: some were amazed, asking, "What does this mean?" Others mocked.

2:1 When the day of Pentecost came

• Pentecost was one of three annual pilgrim feasts of the Jews which every Jewish male in the area was required to attend. The other two pilgrim feasts were Passover and Tabernacles.
• The word "Pentecost" (Greek pentecostos) means fiftieth. Pentecost took place fifty days after Passover.
• It was also called the Feast of Weeks (Exodus 34:22), the Feast of Harvest (Exodus 23:16), and the Feast of First Fruits (Exodus 23:19).
• Tens of thousands of Jewish pilgrims gathered from all over the Roman Empire to attend this important feast.

2:1 They were all together in one place

• The place where the disciples gathered is traditionally believed to be the upper room mentioned in 1:13.
• More recent scholarship has generally located the place of the Spirit's outpouring as the temple mount, probably in the Court of the Gentiles, since this was the only building in Jerusalem large enough to contain the crowd of possibly thirty to forty thousand people who gathered to hear Peter's sermon.
• About three thousand were saved at the conclusion of Peter's sermon. If that number represented ten percent of the crowd, then the size of the crowd must have been at least thirty thousand.
• Luke also says that the disciples spent considerable time in the temple before Pentecost (Luke 24:53).
• Wherever the disciples gathered, they were there in obedience to the command of Jesus to wait in Jerusalem to be "clothed with power from on high" (Luke 24:49; compare Acts 1:4-8).

2:2-3 A violent wind... tongues of fire

• The outpouring of the Spirit was accompanied by two supernatural wonders, one "in the heaven above," the other "on the earth below" (2:19).
• These wonders indicate that a theophany, a visual manifestation of the presence of God, was occurring.
• The first wonder was a sudden sound from heaven "like the blowing of a violent wind." This deafening blast was likely heard throughout Jerusalem, especially on the temple mount, where it occurred (v. 6).
• The origin of the sound being "from heaven" indicates that God had come powerfully on the scene. It reminds us of the words of Jesus: "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it" (John 3:8, NKJV).
• As Jesus had earlier breathed on the eleven disciples, God was now breathing on the 120 (compare John 20:20-22; Job 4:9; 33:4), and His breath sounded like a violent wind from heaven.

2:2 The missional purpose of the wind

• The sound of a mighty wind speaks to the missional purpose of the Spirit's outpouring, as first revealed in 1:8.
• Wind is one of the most powerful elements in all of nature, as recent hurricanes have underscored.
• Jesus said that the global missionary work of the church is to be carried out in the power of the Spirit.
• He also described the Spirit's redemptive works as like the wind, sovereign in their movement and ceaseless in their activity (compare John 3:8).
• The Spirit works tirelessly throughout the world inspiring and empowering the church, revealing Christ to the lost, and drawing people unto Him.

2:3 Tongues of fire

• A second wonder occurred at Pentecost: the appearance of "what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them" (v. 3).
• Judging from the wording of the text, the appearance of fire first came to rest over the disciples' heads as one great fiery mass. It then divided itself, and an individual tongue of fire came to rest on each of the waiting disciples.
• In the Old Testament, fire is sometimes used as a symbol of God's presence (Exodus 3:2; 19:18).
• According to Stanley Horton (1996, 31), "The fire here signified God's acceptance of the Church Body as the temple of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:21, 22; 1 Corinthians 3:16), and then, the acceptance of the individual believers as also being temples of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19)."
• No longer would people be required to come to the temple in Jerusalem to meet the living God, but now "living temples" of God would take the gospel to all nations in the power of the Spirit (Acts 1:8).

2:4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit

• The Holy Spirit, who had come upon the disciples, now entered into them and filled them with His power and presence.
• The disciples' being "filled with the Spirit" is a direct fulfillment of Jesus' command and prophecy in Acts 1:4-8, where He described their coming experience as receiving "the gift my Father promised" (v. 4), being "baptized with [in] the Holy Spirit" (v. 5), and as the moment "when the Holy Spirit comes upon [them]" (v. 8).
• In Acts, Luke often uses these and other select terms interchangeably in describing the experience of Spirit baptism.
• The purpose of their being filled with the Spirit is not for conversion but empowerment for missional witness, as Jesus predicted in 1:8: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be my witnesses."
• The metaphor of being "filled with the Spirit" suggests the pervasiveness of the experience. When one is baptized in the Spirit, the Spirit fills and pervades every area of his or her being.
• Each time in Acts that the Spirit of God was poured out on a group of people, they were all filled (2:4; 4:31; 8:17; 10:44; 19:6, implied), thus indicating that the experience is for all believers.
• Every believer must be filled with the Spirit because every believer is called to be a witness for Christ (Acts 1:8).

2:4 Began to speak in other tongues

• The 120 disciples' speaking in tongues at Pentecost was the immediate and direct effect of their being filled with, or baptized in, the Holy Spirit.
• This is the first of three explicit references to people being filled with the Spirit and speaking in tongues in Acts (compare 10:46; 19:6).
• On two other occasions in Acts where people are initially filled with the Spirit, speaking in tongues is a logical implication (8:17-19; compare 9:17-18 with 1 Corinthians 14:18).
• Luke presents speaking in tongues as the universal sign of one's being baptized in the Holy Spirit.
• The disciples' speaking in the tongues of the surrounding Gentile nations (fifteen are mentioned) testifies to the purpose of the gift. It reminds us of Jesus' ultimate focus in Luke 24:47 and Acts 1:8 on "all nations" and "the ends of the earth."
• The purpose of Spirit baptism, as presented by Luke both in his gospel and in Acts, is empowerment for missional witness.

2:5 From every nation under heaven

• Luke informs his readers that people "from every nation under heaven" were gathered on the Day of Pentecost. Luke uses hyperbole to make a point.
• According to John R. W. Stott (1990, 68), "Although all the nations of the world were not present literally, they were representatively."
• The list of nations in verses 9-11 points back to the Table of the Nations in Genesis 10 and includes descendants of all three of Noah's sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
• We are reminded of Jesus' words that "repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem" (Luke 24:47).

2:6 Each... in his own native language

• The missional purpose of Spirit baptism is again emphasized in this verse.
• Those who spoke in these fifteen languages, as well as those who speak in the thousands of other languages throughout the world, are all objects of God's loving concern.
• They must all, therefore, remain the focus of the church's mission (Matthew 24:14; Revelation 5:9; 7:9).

2:11 Declaring the wonders of God

• Having been filled with the Spirit, the 120 begin to declare the wonders of God to the gathering crowd in their own native tongues.
• While many have interpreted the disciples' speaking in tongues as Spirit-inspired praise, the text clearly indicates Spirit-empowered proclamation.
• Whether worship or proclamation, the purpose is witness, for why else would the Spirit have caused them to speak in the languages of those gathered for the Feast of Pentecost?

Is Pentecost the "birthday of the church"?

• This is a widely accepted opinion concerning the Day of Pentecost.
• Many contemporary pentecostal scholars, however, reject this view, pointing out that there is no scriptural text stating that this is the case.
• The church, rather than being born at Pentecost, emerged when Jesus first began to call His disciples to follow Him (compare Matthew 4:18-22; 9:9; 18:17).

What Pentecost is

• Pentecost is the moment in time when the church was first empowered by the Holy Spirit to carry out its God-given mandate to take the gospel to all nations (Luke 24:46-49; Acts 1:8).
• Pentecost should thus serve as a lasting model for the church of every age until Jesus comes again (Acts 1:11).
• Believers today should ask for, and expect to receive, the very same empowering experience as those first-century believers at Pentecost. And they should expect it for the same purpose: empowerment for mission.

Pentecost and conversion

• Pentecost is an early indication in Acts that Spirit baptism is an experience distinct from conversion.
• The disciples were already converted before Pentecost.
• Their command from Jesus was not to wait for the new birth, but to wait until they were empowered by the Spirit (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-8).
• The experience, in Luke's view, is not for sinners but for God's children (Luke 11:9-13; compare John 14:7).

Responding to the cry of the gathered crowd (2:12, "What does this mean?") Peter, full of the Holy Spirit, stood and addressed them. He informed them that the disciples were not drunk, as some had asserted, but full of the Spirit, as prophesied by the Hebrew prophet Joel.

According to Peter, these disciples' filling with the Spirit, evidenced by speaking in tongues, was a fulfillment of Joel's prophecy. It was also an indication that the last days had surely arrived. Quoting the ancient prophet, Peter proclaimed that the experience was not only for these disciples, but for all people: men and women, old and young, rich and poor, until Jesus comes again. As a result of this outpouring, the door is opened for all people to call on the name of the Lord and be saved.

Having explained the meaning of the events of Pentecost, Peter launched into a proclamation of the gospel. He began by recounting the ministry of Jesus, noting that it was accredited by miracles, wonders, and signs. His crucifixion, though carried out by wicked men, was part of God's plan. And His resurrection was inevitable, since it was "impossible for death to keep hold on him."

Peter cites two Psalms of David (Psalms 16:8-11; 110:1), claiming that these prophecies could only have been speaking of Christ, who alone was resurrected and exalted to the right hand of God. There, He received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, which He had now poured out on these disciples. Peter concluded: "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ" (2:36).

• Just as Jesus' Nazareth Proclamation (Luke 4:18-19) interpreted and explained the meaning of His anointing with the Holy Spirit at the Jordan River (3:21-22), Peter's Pentecost Proclamation interpreted and explained the meaning of the Spirit's outpouring at Pentecost.
• Just as Jesus' anointing was for missional witness ("The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor..."), the disciples' empowering at Pentecost was also for missional witness (Acts 1:8).

2:14 Peter... raised his voice and addressed the crowd

• As Jesus had promised, the outpouring of the Spirit resulted in powerful Spirit-anointed witness.
• The Greek word from which "addressed" is translated (apophthengomai) is the same word translated "enabled" in 2:4.
• Peter was not merely preaching a sermon, at least not in the traditional sense. He was uttering forth, the literal meaning, a Spirit-inspired prophetic message.
• This is therefore a Lukan example of the gift of prophecy in action. Luke defines prophecy as Spirit-empowered proclamation of the gospel.
• The primary purpose of Spirit baptism is kerygmatic (the Greek word meaning proclamation), bringing inspiration and empowerment to bear effective witness to the gospel.

2:16 This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel

• In explaining the meaning of the disciples' reception of the Spirit, Peter quoted from Joel 2:28-29.
• The disciples' speaking in tongues was a fulfillment of Joel's prophecy that God would "pour out [His] Spirit on all people" (Acts 2:17-18).

2:17 The last days

• The context of Acts is eschatological, the biblical study of the last days, just as is the context of the entire New Testament.
• The events of Pentecost demonstrate conclusively that the last days had indeed dawned. They began with the first coming of Christ and will continue until He comes again.
• The last days are thus defined as the Age of the Spirit.
• The missionary ministry of the church in Acts is carried out in anticipation of Christ's soon coming (Acts 1:11).

2:17 I will pour out my Spirit on all people

• Under the old covenant, the Spirit was given to select individuals, at select times, for select purposes.
• Now the Spirit is poured out generously on all people.
• The gift of the Spirit is therefore universally available to all who will sincerely ask for it (Luke 11:9-13).

2:17 Your sons and daughters will prophesy

• The gift of the Spirit, and its empowering result, is available to women as well as men.
• Luke sees women as equal participants in the church's prophetic mission of taking the gospel to all nations (compare Luke 1:41-42; 2:36; Acts 18:26; 21:9).

2:18 And they will prophesy

• These words are not found in Joel's prophecy but were added by Peter as he spoke under the Spirit's inspiration.
• The apostle seems to be making the point that the disciples' speaking in tongues was the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy.
• Speaking in tongues is thus identified as prophetic, or Spirit-inspired, speech.
• Pentecost is the initial fulfillment of Moses' wish that "all the Lord's people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!" (Numbers 11:29).
• The age of the prophethood of all believers had dawned (Stronstad, 2003). The unique sign of this new community of prophets is speaking in tongues.

2:20 The coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord

• Luke again emphasizes the eschatological context of the book of Acts.
• Spirit-empowered witness to the nations must continue until Christ returns.

2:21 Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved

• The ultimate purpose of the Spirit's outpouring is to bring people to faith in Christ.
• The Spirit-empowered witness of the church will result in people calling on the name of the Lord and being saved.

The "apostolic kerygma"

This Spirit-anointed message of Peter, along with his message in 3:11-26, establishes a pattern for preaching the gospel in Acts. This pattern is often called the "apostolic kerygma."

• The proclamation that Jesus is Lord and Christ, who was crucified, raised from the dead, and exalted to the right hand of the Father (2:22-36; 3:13-15).
• An announcement that the Spirit has been poured out on all believers (2:16-18, 32-33; 3:19).
• An encouragement to expect the promised gift of the Holy Spirit (2:38-39).
• A declaration that Jesus will return (3:20-21).
• A call to faith and repentance (2:36-38; 3:19).
• All these elements should be found in our preaching today.

2:22 Jesus... a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs

• Jesus was the central message of all apostolic preaching.
• Peter is saying that God placed His stamp of approval on Jesus' life, ministry, and message by working through Him in miracles, wonders, and signs.
• These miraculous works, according to Luke, were done through the power of the Spirit (Acts 10:38).
• The Spirit who had worked through Jesus was now working through His Spirit-empowered servants. The Spirit would accredit their message in the same way He had accredited Jesus' message.
• A "miracle" (Greek dynamis) is a demonstration of God's power.
• A "wonder" (Greek teras) is the effect of the miracle on the hearts and minds of the observers.
• A "sign" (Greek semeion) is a miracle that attests to or confirms the message of the gospel and demonstrates the power of the kingdom of God.

2:24 Nailing him to the cross... God raised him from the dead

• The death and resurrection of Christ are two essential elements of all gospel preaching (compare 1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

2:32 We are all witnesses

• Being a witness is a central theme in Acts. The theme was first introduced in 1:8.
• In Acts, Jesus' disciples are called witnesses at least fourteen times (1:8, 22; 2:32; 3:15; 5:32; 10:39, 41, 43; 13:31; 14:17; 22:15; 23:11; 26:16).

2:33 The promised Holy Spirit

• This phrase references Jesus' command in 1:4 to wait for the "promise of the Father" (1:4, NKJV; compare Luke 11:13; 24:49; Acts 2:33, 39).
• The promise of the Father is the promise that God's people will be baptized in and empowered by the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-8; compare Luke 3:15-16; 24:49).
• The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost was Jesus' final redemptive act, alongside His death, resurrection, and ascension. This outpouring fulfilled His promises made in John 14:16 and Acts 1:4-5.

2:36 Both Lord and Christ

• The conclusion of the matter is that Jesus is both Lord (Greek Kyrios) and Christ (Greek Christos), or Messiah.

Hearing Peter's Spirit-inspired explanation of the events of Pentecost and his proclamation of the gospel, many in the crowd were deeply moved and began to cry out to the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"

Peter replied that they must repent of their sins and follow Christ in water baptism. Then they too could receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Not only could they receive, but everyone from every place and age who will meet these conditions can receive the same gift.

Because of the powerful demonstrations at Pentecost and Peter's powerful proclamation of the gospel, about three thousand people believed in Christ, repented of their sins, were baptized in water, and were added to the church.

• Pentecost is the first example in Acts of Luke's empowerment-witness motif introduced in Acts 1:8.
• The disciples' being filled with the Holy Spirit resulted in powerful prophetic proclamation of the gospel (2:14-41), which then resulted in an immediate and ongoing harvest of souls (vv. 41, 47).

2:37 Brothers, what shall we do?

• Those who listened to Peter's Spirit-anointed message were "cut to the heart," that is, they were brought under strong conviction by the Holy Spirit (compare John 16:8-11).
• As a result, they cried out, "What shall we do?" What they meant was, "What can we do to receive the Messiah and experience what we have seen?"

2:38 Repent and be baptized

• The imperative "repent" (Greek metanoesate) occurs five times in preaching in Acts (2:38; 3:19; 8:22; 17:30; 26:20).
• Repentance and faith are the essential requirements for salvation (Acts 20:21; compare Matthew 21:32; Mark 1:15), and water baptism is the first step of obedience.
• Water baptism is "the pledge of a good conscience toward God" (1 Peter 3:21) and an outward symbol of the inner work of conversion.

2:38 The gift of the Holy Spirit

• Those who had been born again could now receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
• The gift (singular) of the Holy Spirit is not to be confused with the gifts (plural) of the Spirit. This is the gift of the Spirit himself.
• In Luke's usage the gift of the Spirit is an empowering experience separate from conversion, the purpose of which is empowerment for witness.
• In Acts 1:4-5 Jesus equates it with the promise of the Father and the baptism in the Holy Spirit, which the disciples would receive at Pentecost. He said that the reception of this gift would result in power to witness (v. 8).
• It is the same gift that the new believers will receive in Samaria (8:14-17) and the Gentiles will receive in Caesarea (10:44-45; 11:17).

2:39 For you and your children and for all who are far off

• The gift of the Spirit is for all people of every generation until Jesus comes again.
• The phrase "all who are far off" is a reference to the Gentiles (compare 22:21).

2:41 Three thousand were added

• As a result of the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost and the powerful Spirit-empowered witness that followed, three thousand people followed Peter's instructions and were added to the church.
• It is also likely that these same three thousand people were baptized in the Holy Spirit on the same day, since they followed the instructions of Peter in verse 38 (compare v. 41).

The outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost resulted in the creation of a new prophetic community. This community of Spirit-baptized prophets was characterized by devotion to God, to the truth, and to one another.

It was also characterized by the divine presence, evidenced by signs and wonders. The community's powerful inner and outer witness produced continual growth as "the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

2:42 They devoted themselves

• The inner life of the new prophetic community was one of devotion.
• This devotion was fourfold: to the apostles' teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.
• This dynamic community life was the result of the Spirit's working in them individually and in their relationships with one another.
• Their devotion was sustained through ongoing prayer and commitment to the mission of God.

2:43 Many wonders and miraculous signs

• Just as Jesus' ministry was attested to by miraculous signs, so was the ministry of His followers.
• According to Luke, both were the result of their being filled with and empowered by the Spirit.

2:44 Every day they continued to meet together

• The inner life of the new prophetic community was also marked by a strong bond of unity and togetherness.
• This togetherness included daily gatherings in homes and in the temple courts.
• In their home cells they ate and shared communion together. In their public meetings they gave witness to Christ.
• Always, their gatherings were filled with praise and joy.

2:47 Enjoying the favor of the people

• In accordance with Luke's missionary and Spirit-oriented theme in Acts, the believers' Spirit-generated community life served as a powerful witness to those outside the community of faith.
• People were attracted to the church, and "the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

At the hour of prayer, Peter and John met a beggar at the Beautiful Gate (the entrance to the Court of the Women) in the temple at Jerusalem. The beggar asked them for money. Peter, however, gave him something better. Through the power of the Spirit and in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, he took the beggar by the hand and lifted him up; immediately, the man's feet and ankles were healed. In excitement, the man began running through the temple courts praising God.

Because of the healing of the beggar, the people came running to Peter and John. Just as he had done on the Day of Pentecost, Peter seized the opportunity to preach the gospel. He told the people that it was neither his nor John's own power or holiness that had made the man walk. It was the power of the name of the resurrected Jesus.

He then declared the gospel to them, saying that Jesus' death and resurrection were foretold by all the prophets and calling on them to repent of their sins. If they would do this, their sins would be blotted out and God would send "times of refreshing" upon them. They should also look for Jesus to come again from heaven.

All of this, Peter explained, had been foretold by Moses, Samuel, and the other holy prophets. God had even promised Abraham that through his offspring (that is, Jesus) all the peoples of the earth would be blessed. They must now repent. If, however, they did not turn from their wicked ways, they would be cut off.

• Luke concluded his account of the outpouring at Pentecost with a summary statement: "Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles" (v. 43).
• Now he gives a more detailed account of one of those miraculous signs, the healing of a crippled beggar.
• This healing occurred as a result of the disciples being filled with the Spirit at Pentecost. And, as on the Day of Pentecost, it resulted in powerful witness to Christ.

3:6 What I have I give you

• This phrase spoken by Peter ("what I have") is a reference to the power of the Holy Spirit that he and the other disciples had received on the Day of Pentecost.
• It is only because they had been filled with the Spirit that they could say with confidence, "Look at us!" (v. 4).
• What they had received, however, was not for their own personal blessing. It was power to give away, to bless others. It was primarily to bear witness to Jesus.

3:6 In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth

• All the ministry of the early church was done in the name of Jesus (Acts 2:38; 3:16; 4:10, 18, 30; 5:40; 8:12, 16; 9:27; 10:48; 15:26; 16:18; 19:5, 13, 17; 21:13; 26:9).
• This means that the church acted under His authority and followed His directions.
• As the disciples submitted themselves to Jesus and His mission, they received authority from Him to act in His name.

3:10 Filled with wonder and amazement

• Seeing the lame beggar leaping and praising God in the temple courts, the people were filled with wonder and came running together to find out what had happened.
• At that moment a "faith shift" took place in their hearts. These people who had previously been hostile to or disinterested in the message of Christ suddenly became vitally interested.
• This illustrates the value of miraculous signs and wonders in the evangelistic and missionary work of the church.

Peter's second Spirit-inspired message (Acts 3:11-26)

• Luke presents a second example of preaching in the New Testament.
• As at Pentecost, Jesus is the central theme of the message.
• Also, as in Peter's Pentecost message, there is a promise of the Spirit for those who will repent and follow Christ.

3:15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead

• Again, Peter's message centered on the death and resurrection of Jesus. To neglect this essential theme is to miss the very heart of the gospel.
• We are witnesses of this. Spirit-empowered witness is a central theme of Acts.
• We know that Peter's witness in this instance is Spirit-empowered because it was preceded by the miracle of healing the crippled beggar (3:1-8).

3:19 Repent, then, and turn to God

• As in all apostolic proclamation, Peter called his hearers to repentance.
• The call to repentance and faith is an essential component of all true gospel preaching.
• The gospel call is "repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 20:21, NKJV; compare Matthew 21:32; Mark 1:15; Acts 19:4; Hebrews 6:1).

3:19 Times of refreshing may come from the Lord

• This metaphor refers to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
• We can expect God to continue to send times of refreshing (outpourings of the Spirit) on the church until "he may send the Christ," that is, until Jesus comes again.
• This verse echoes Acts 2:38 because it calls on people to first be saved ("Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out") and then to receive the Holy Spirit.
• This turning to God, and the resultant outpouring of the Spirit, can be both individual and corporate.

3:20 That he may send the Christ

• This phrase reminds us of the eschatological (last days) context of the book of Acts.
• Because Jesus is coming again, the church must go quickly to fulfill the mission of Christ (compare 1:11).

3:25 Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed

• The global mission of Christ, as expressed in 1:8, was not a new development in God's redemptive plan. It was rather a restatement of God's eternal mission from the beginning.
• Peter is referring to God's promise to Abraham that through his "offspring" (Christ), "all peoples on earth will be blessed" (Genesis 12:3; 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; Galatians 3:8, 16).
• From the beginning, God's concern has always been for all the nations of the earth.
• The book of Acts is the story of how the early church went about fulfilling that mission. It is a model of how the church should go about fulfilling the mission of God until Jesus comes again.

Peter and John were arrested for preaching Christ in the temple courts and placed in jail for the night. The next morning they were asked to explain their actions. Peter, again filled with the Holy Spirit, answered that it was "by the name of Jesus of Nazareth" that the crippled beggar had been healed, and it was by that same name that they were preaching the gospel to the people.

He boldly declared, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

The Jewish leaders again commanded the two apostles to stop preaching and teaching in the name of Jesus. Peter and John, however, replied that they could not help speaking about what they had seen and heard. After being threatened a final time, they were released.

• The jailing and threatening of Peter and John in these verses is the first incident in Acts of overt persecution against the church.
• The church's ability to resist and triumph over persecution is a dominant theme of the book.
• Luke's message seems to be this: as the church moves in the power of the Spirit and remains focused on the mission of God, it can triumph and progress, even in the face of persecution.

4:2 Teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead

• Note that the apostles' focus remained on the teaching and proclamation of the gospel.

4:4 The number of men grew to about five thousand

• The growth of the church is an important concern of Luke.
• In a short time it had grown from the original 120 (1:15), to 3,120 (2:41), and now to 5,000, excluding women and children.
• As the church moved in the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit, it continued to grow and prosper (2:47; 5:14; 6:1-7; 8:6-8; 9:35-42; 11:21-26; 12:24; 13:49; 14:1, 21; 16:5; 17:4; 19:18-26).
• It had now grown to the point that it became a threat to the religious establishment in Jerusalem.

4:8 Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit

• Luke again emphasizes the fact that the ministry of the early church was energized and empowered by the Spirit.
• This was not the first time Peter had been filled with the Spirit, since he had already been filled at Pentecost. He is now re-filled, or anointed, by the Spirit for ministry.
• Peter's being filled with the Spirit, as at Pentecost, results in bold, anointed proclamation of the gospel.

4:10 It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth

• When asked by what power or what name they had healed the lame man, Peter focused the people's attention on the real star of the show, that is, on Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
• It was through His power and His holiness that the man was healed.
• The people were not to look to Peter or to the other apostles but to Jesus, who was the real power and authority behind their ministry.

4:12 No other name... by which men must be saved

• Jesus is humankind's only means of salvation.
• He is the Savior of the world (John 4:42; 1 Timothy 4:10; 1 John 4:14) and the one Mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5).
• There is no salvation apart from Him (John 14:6).

4:20 We cannot help speaking

• The disciples could not restrain themselves. They were driven by an inner compulsion to testify concerning Jesus.
• This inner compulsion came from knowing who He was and what He had commissioned them to do, and from being filled with the Holy Spirit.

• Jesus commanded His disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel. And yet, He was insistent that they not begin the task until they had first been "clothed with power from on high" (Luke 24:49).
• We, like those first-century disciples, have also been commanded to take the gospel to all nations. And we, too, must obey the command of Jesus to wait for the Spirit's empowering.
• This empowering comes as a result of one's being baptized in the Holy Spirit.
• This powerful experience is as essential a requirement for ministry today as it was for the disciples then.

• God's will for His church is that it be a Spirit-empowered community of last-days prophets dedicated to carrying the message of Christ to the ends of the earth before He comes again. If that is the case, then we must each dedicate ourselves to that all-important task.
• The gospel, which is the message of Jesus, must remain the central message of the church today.
• At the heart of the gospel message is Christ's death for our sins, burial, and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-7).
• We must never forget that it is this message, preached in the power of the Spirit, that will open the door for people to be saved.
• We must never neglect this message. We must never be so foolish and shortsighted as to replace it with other less important messages, no matter how appealing they may seem at the time.

• As preachers of the gospel we have two great responsibilities.
• The first is to clearly proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and to point people to His salvation.
• The second responsibility is to immediately lead these new members of the Christian family into the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
• Being born of the Spirit will prepare them for heaven. Being filled with the Spirit will prepare them for Christian service.

• Our witness to the world involves more than proclamation; it also involves being the community of Christ.
• As God's Spirit-filled prophetic community, our association with one another and the world must be characterized by devotion to Christ, to one another, and to the word of God.
• Our gatherings should be filled with the presence of God and the joy of the Lord. Christ must be at the center of all we do.
• His life and presence should be demonstrated by wonders and miraculous signs.
• Such a church will be a powerful witness to those outside and will draw people into itself.

• Believers today, like Peter, should be able to say to nonbelievers in need, "What I have I give you."
• Like Peter, we must also remain full of the Holy Spirit so that when the need presents itself, we will be ready to minister in His power.
• We can do this only as we act in the name of Jesus, that is, under His authority and in obedience to His commands.
• If we will do this, we, too, can expect the Lord to do signs and wonders in confirmation of His Word.
• As we go about preaching the gospel, we should think very carefully about the content of our message. It is not enough that we simply "preach the Bible."
• Certainly, we must preach the "whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27, NKJV); however, we must center our message on Christ. We must clearly explain the meaning of His death and resurrection.
• The apostolic kerygma, that is, the preaching of the apostles, as found in Acts, must serve as a model for our evangelistic and missionary teaching and preaching today.