Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 4:31
And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
31. the place was shaken ] That they might feel at once that the God of all nature, to whom they had appealed ( Act 4:24), was among them. In their immediate need an immediate answer is vouchsafed, and a token with it that their prayer was heard. Cp. Act 16:26 of the shaking of the prison at Philippi after the prayers of Paul and Silas.
spake the word of God ] i.e. wherever they found occasion and opportunity, neglecting the threats of the council, and endowed with the boldness for which they had prayed.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And when they had prayed – The event which followed was regarded by them as an evidence that God heard their prayer.
The place was shaken – The word which is translated was shaken commonly denotes violent agitation, as the raging of the sea, the convulsion of an earthquake, or trees shaken by the wind, Mat 11:7; Act 16:26; Heb 12:26. The language here is suited to express the idea of an earthquake. Whether the motion was confined to the house where they were is not said. They probably regarded this as an answer to their prayer, or as an evidence that God would be with them:
- Because it was sudden and violent, and was not produced by any natural causes;
- Because it occurred immediately, while they were seeking divine direction;
- Because it was an exhibition of great power, and was an evidence that God could protect them; and,
- Because a convulsion so great, sudden, and mighty was suited at that time to awe them with a proof of the presence and power of God. A similar instance of an answer to prayer by an earthquake is recorded in Act 16:25-26. Compare Act 2:1-2. It may be added, that among the Jews an earthquake was very properly regarded as a striking and impressive proof of the presence of Yahweh, Isa 29:6; Psa 68:8, The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God; even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel. See also the sublime description in Hab. 3, particularly Act 4:6-11. Compare Mat 27:54. Among the pagan, an earthquake was regarded as proof of the presence and favor of the Deity. (See Virgil, Aeneid, 3:89.)
They were all filled … – See the notes on Act 2:4. Their being filled with the Holy Spirit here rather denotes their being inspired with confidence or boldness than being endowed with new powers, as in Act 2:4.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Act 4:31
And when they had prayed the place was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.
Prayer effects miracles
I. Internal.
1. Hearts are savingly affected.
2. Spirits are mightily strengthened.
II. External.
1. Houses are moved.
2. Churches awakened.
3. Enemies frightened.
4. Mountains displaced.
5. The world convulsed. (K. Gerok.)
The blessings of spiritual worship
I. The devotional supplication offered to God. They prayed. It was–
1. Earnest.
2. United.
3. Believing.
4. Sincere.
5. Specific.
II. The visible evidence of the Lords presence. The place was shaken where they were assembled together.
1. The unmistakable proof of Divine power.
2. The reliable sign of Divine nearness.
3. The full assurance of Divine protection.
III. The invisible descent of the spirit. They were all filled with the Holy Ghost.
1. The gift of the Holy Ghost was bestowed.
2. The supply of the Holy Ghost was abundant.
3. Every worshipper received the baptism of the Spirit.
IV. The Christian courage of the disciples. They spake the Word of God with boldness.
1. The subject of their speeches.
2. The fearlessness of their conduct.
3. The activity of their labours.
Lessons–
1. To plead with God should be our first thought when surrounded with difficulties.
2. God will grant to our request some token of His presence and help of the Spirit.
3. The prayers of true worshippers bring blessings if we wait patiently at the throne of grace.
4. May we seek by holy fellowship to speak Divine truths without the fear of the world. (Alfred Buckley.)
The gift of the Spirit dependent on prayer
How well I remember a sermon I preached at a great outdoor meeting in the upper part of this State! For several days in that place prayer had been offered for the success of the service, and I had myself been unusually prayerful, and we had a Pentecostal blessing while I was preaching it. That afternoon I took the train for a great outdoor meeting in Ohio. I said to myself: This sermon was blessed to-day, and it is fresh in my mind, and I will preach it to-morrow in Ohio. And I did preach it, but not in as prayerful a spirit, and I think no one else had been praying about it, and it turned into the most inane and profitless discourse that I ever delivered. It was practically the same sermon, but on Wednesday it had on it a power that comes from the secret place of thunder, and on Thursday it had on it no such power at all. Oh! pray for us! Poor sermons in the pulpit are the curse of God on a prayerless parish. We ministers and preachers want the power a man gets when he is alone, the door locked; on his knees at midnight; with such a burden of souls upon him that makes him cry out, first in lamentation and then in raptures. Let all the Sabbath-school teachers, and Bible-class instructors, and all reformers, and all evangelists, and all ministers know that diplomas, and dictionaries, and encyclopaedias, and treatises, and libraries are not the source of moral and spiritual achievement, but that the room of prayer, where no one but God is present and no one but God hears, is the secret place of thunder. Secret? Ah, yes! So secret that comparatively few ever find it. At Boscobel, England, we visited a house where a king was once hid. No one, unless it were pointed out to him, could find the door in the floor through which the king entered his hiding-place. When there hidden the armed pursuers looked in vain for him, and afterward through an underground passage, far out in the fields, he came out in the open air. So this imperial power of spiritual influence has a hiding-place, a secret place which few know, and it comes forth sometimes in strange and mysterious ways, and far off from the place where it was hidden. You can find it only by diligent searching. But you may find it, and some of you will find it, and I wish you might all find it, the secret place of thunder. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
The second Pentecost
Notice–
I. The praying.
1. The exuberance of joy, the yearnings of sympathy, the wailings of sorrow seek–very commonly–Loud vocal expression. So the disciples lifted up their voice (Act 4:24).
2. They prayed together. The soul loves sympathy in joy as well as sorrow.
II. The sharing. Praying and shaking have often been found together. The foundations of the prison at Philippi were shaken. The Lord of old promised to shake the heavens, and not the earth only. The bones were shaken when Ezekiel prophesied in the valley of vision. In mighty prayer the electric current shakes the clouds of blessing, so that heavy showers descend upon us. Hearts are shaken, knees shaken, sinners shaken.
III. The filling. Not half filled, not three parts, but completely. Not filled with doubts and fears, as too often people now are when they pray, but with the Holy Ghost. That is the sort of filling preachers or people, teachers or scholars, require nowadays. To be filled with the Holy Ghost is to be filled with faith, with power, with unction, with heaven.
IV. The speaking.
1. What did they speak? Not the praise of man: much less slander and reproach. Not the mere shibboleth of party, not idle or mischievous words, but the Word of God. How little do many professors speak of Gods Word. But as David said of Goliaths sword, there is none like it.
2. They spake it–how? Boldly. Of course, when they were full of the Holy Ghost they would little heed what men thought of them, said about them, or did at them. Many a fit of nervousness has been cured this way, (W. Antliff, D. D.)
Early Church life
Let us consider–
I. The prayer.
1. Its occasion. The persecution of the apostles.
2. Its substance. It was seasonable, suitable, short, as all the prayers recorded in the Scriptures are; and though they had been so evil entreated yet they beseech God to stretch forth His hand, not to strike and to punish, but to heal.
3. Its success. God never said to the seed of Jacob, Seek ye My face in vain. The sign of the acceptance of their prayer seemed much more likely to produce dread than to gender hope; but so God would teach us that He is greatly to be feared in the assembly of His saints; that He will be sanctified by all them that come nigh to Him; that there is something awful even in the dispensations of His grace; that He sometimes answers His people as the God of their salvation, by terrible things in righteousness.
4. Its effect. They were all filled with the Holy Ghost. They were now called to fresh duties, difficulties, dangers; and therefore they required fresh supplies of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Their strength was made equal to their day, and they obtained accessions of illumination, of confidence, of courage, of peace, and of joy, and were prepared to stand complete in all the will of God.
II. The preaching. And they spake the Word of God with boldness. The very thing for which they had been praying. The very thing Paul beseeches of the Ephesians to implore on his behalf: that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly. You see how little they were governed by the opinions of the people around them; that they did not walk in craftiness, nor handle the Word of God deceitfully, nor appeal to the fancies and wishes of the individuals before them; but by manifestation of the truth, they commended themselves to every mans conscience in the sight of God. Suppose a number of persons were to call on a minister on a Sabbath-day morning, and one of them should say, I hope, sir, you do not mean to-day to be severe against avarice, for my heart goes after my covetousness; and another, I trust you will not be severe against backbiting, for my tongue walketh with slanderers; and another, Do not represent implacability as being inconsistent with Divine forgiveness, for I never did forgive such an one, and I never will. What would this minister say to these men? Why, if he were in a proper state of mind, he would say, Oh, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness! when wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? Our people are not likely to address us in this way, but this is the wish and meaning of many. Three things equalise, says Bishop Hall, the grave, the judgment-bar, and the pulpit: the grave makes no difference, the judgment-bar makes none, and the pulpit should make none. Daniel addressed Belshazzar as if he had been a common man. John the Baptist was to Herod as rough as the garment he wore. James the First said of one of his chaplains, Why, this man always preaches before me as if death stood at his elbow. Why, dearth does always stand at the preachers elbow, and he ought to be able to say with Baxter: I preach as if I neer should preach again; and as a dying man to dying men.
III. The people (verse 32). Verily, if this be the golden age of Christianity, we may well exclaim, How is the gold become dim! Note–
1. Their number, a multitude. This accords with our Saviours represcutation of His kingdom as in the beginning–Like a little leaven in the meal, and like a mustard-seed in the ground. But then this little leaven was to leaven the whole lump, and this mustard-seed was to become a tree. Our Saviour first opened His mind to twelve, and then to seventy, and then we read of five hundred brethren in Galilee and a hundred and twenty in Jerusalem; then three thousand at Pentecost. Then as a result of daily additions to the Church, five thousand. We concede that success by itself is not proof of the divinity of a cause. If we did, what should we then do with Mohammedism and Popery? But here we contend that the case is unspeakably peculiar, and that the instrumentalities employed were so perfectly in themselves inadequate to the result, that the effect must induce us to exclaim, This is the finger of God.
2. Their character. The multitude believed. The subject reported by the apostles had been unknown, or held in contempt, before; but now the people received is, not as the word of man, but as it was in truth, the word of God; and the belief became productive of godliness in the soul, and the influence of it worked effectually in them that believed. Is this always the case with belief? You believe! so do the devils–and tremble, and remain devils still; and wicked men may hold the truth in unrighteousness. Take heed, therefore; he is a vain man, says James, who says he has faith and has not works.
3. Their unity. They were of one heart and of one soul–one object influenced them; one cause engaged them; one principle swayed them. It must be obvious that the views, and tempers, and inclinations of men are very various; and therefore they are only to be brought into a state of social connection by an object that is important and interesting to all: and you find such aa object as this in the gospel. Therefore, in the language of prophecy, it is said, All nations shall flow unto it, as so many streams flowing from different sources towards the same fulness–the sea. When the brazen serpent was erected in the midst of the camp, it became the centre of attraction and regard. Our Saviour, in allusion to this, says, I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me. If there were but one well for the inhabitants of a village or a town, why they must all repair to it or perish. Old Jacob, therefore, said when he was dying, Unto Him shall the gathering of the people be. Isaiah said, To Him shall men come. They were of one heart and of one soul; one in their need of the blessing, one in their desire after it, one in their valuation of it, one in their concern to diffuse it, and to extend it to all their fellow-creatures. They were as one family, as one body, where if one member suffer, all the members suffer with it, and if one member be honoured, all the members rejoice. You will note here, as they were now so numerous in Jerusalem, they must have worshipped in various rooms, and have been addressed by various preachers; but though they were divided into so many parts, there were no parties among them. They had not yet learned to be carnal, and to walk as men, saying, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos.
4. Their liberality. You have heard often of the communion of saints, and here you have it literally. Their property, by a conventual giving and receiving, being intermingled, became a kind of joint stock, from which every man drew according to his need. (W. Jay.)
Waiting for the Spirit
When tidal rivers meet the sea, a sight may often be witnessed very strange to the uninformed spectator. The day is fine, the breeze is steady and favourable, the rippling waters dance in the sunlight; and as the anxious watcher waits for the long-absent friend who is expected from a distant land, he rejoices in the favourable conditions which will hasten the happy hour of meeting. Eagerly he scans the horizon for the expected ship. Presently it appears, rapidly draws nearer, and the bounding heart shows its restless eagerness by a hundred sighs. But lo! the great vessel slackens speed, and presently drops anchor. Then from the horizon comes another, a stately ship, her snowy sails filled by the breeze. She, too, draws near, and turns away, or furls her sails and waits. And then another and another come, and are stopped on their course by some unseen barrier. Perplexed and impatient, the watcher appeals to a seaman, and gets for answer, Oh, its the tide; they are waiting for the tide. And behold, even while they speak there is a change in the aspect of the shore. The hurrying waters, which have been flowing so rapidly down to the sea, are stopped; they creep up again over the strand. From far away in the southern ocean a mighty wave is flowing on unseen. It rises and flows and fills the channels, and washes against the sea-wall, and reaches almost to the dock sills, and the gates are opened, and the waiting fleet wakes up to new life; anchors are raised; sails are spread; steam is once more at work; and the stately procession comes up the stream and into the harbour–the ocean steamer with its living freight of a thousand souls, the merchantman from the East with precious cargo of silks and spices, and lesser craft from their various voyages, and with their various stores of goods. (London Missionary Societys Report.)
Conditions of the baptism of the Spirit
Some of the older States in the great Republic across the Atlantic complain sadly of excessive drought. In bygone years the rain was wont to descend in copious fertilising showers; but now the clouds hover high in the air and float away to other regions. And why? Because the old-established States have been completely shorn of their ancient forests, and as a penalty they now fail to attract the clouds; or, if they attract them, they fail to draw from them the water of life. What then do the inhabitants do under these blighting circumstances? They plant cannons in the high places of the land, and when they see a cloud sailing high in mid-air they fire their artillery; the air shakes, and in the shock the cloud rends and pours its precious contents on the thirsty soil–rain often descends the day after battle. That is the modern way of obtaining rain; but the grey-haired settlers declare the old way was better, and they are now busily planting trees in the denuded regions–trees will draw water from the clouds easier than artillery. In like manner the Israel of God is lamenting the excessive drought in the present day–some of you are longing for a season of refreshing from the presence of the Lord, you are fervently praying for the day of visitation. We see the clouds of the Divine promises heavy-laden with water; but they sail high in the empyrean–no showers descend. What do the Churches do? They fetch the American revivalists, they send here and there for the big guns of the Christian ministry. The guns shoot, the air trembles, the clouds burst, the torrent falls. But it is a torrent, and like all torrents it drenches the surface and soon passes, and the earth is as parched as ever. I say nothing against your resorting to extraordinary means to force on a revival–forcing is now a complicated art, not only in horticulture, but in all departments of activity, temporal and spiritual. But I show you a more excellent way–cultivate more assiduously the trees of righteousness, grow more vigorously in grace and knowledge, fulfil more faithfully your duties to men, and discharge more promptly your obligations to God and your Redeemer, and the clouds of the Divine promises, big with mercy, shall break in showers on your heads. Get you up, gird your loins, live lives of holiness and consecration, and soon you will hear the sound of abundance of rain. (J. Cynddylan Jones, D. D.)
The secret of power
I. The outpouring of prayer. When they heard, they lifted up their voice to God. It would seem that not a word was said to one another. We know it was earnest and fervent prayer, because of the men by whom it was offered, because of the special source that gave the inspiration from which it sprang, and because of the result that followed. Prayer is the only preparation by which we can be meetened for the work, and the only power by which the work can be blessed. Not mere repetition of forms, either from printed page or stereotyped memory, but the uprising and outpouring of prayer like a living power out of a living soul, in which God the Spirit shall plead with God the Father the merits of God the Son, and then shall Gods work be sustained by His grace, and be prospered by His Divine power indeed. Prayer without work is mockery; work without prayer is vanity, and must lead to despair, vexation, and grief. If Israel is to rally her broken ranks to the conflict, bearing her glorious standard, to march in undaunted power and all-conquering might against the Amalekites and all that assail her, it must be preceded by the uplifting of the arms upon the mountain above the plain. It must be special prayer, prayer with point, with a purpose, for your ministers, for all your instrumentalities. Gather them all like a golden sheaf into your arms, and bring them all into the presence of the God of all grace, and the Spirit of all power. Prayer that shall spring from a sense of our own responsibility to God for everything, the utter inability for anything of ourselves; prayer that shall bring down the Divine power to make us say, I can do all things.
II. They were all filled with the Holy Ghost.
1. All filled with it, not merely Peter, and John, and James. And so must it be with every servant of God. It shall be sought not merely for the minister, or the church officer, or the Sundayschool teacher, but for all, that it may give the tenderness of the still small voice; that it may be heard in the thunder of every Boanerges; that it may give Divine vitality and power to the sweet, soft music of every Barnabas; that it may be as a living two-edged sword out of the mouth of every Apollos; that it may be as the Divine fire that shall glow in all the reasoning of all Pauls; that the Church may become an embodiment of Divine life and power.
2. They were all filled–not merely drops and rivulets. It came like a river that proceeded from the throne of God; or rather the broad, deep tide from the fathomless ocean of the fulness of the Divine grace and glory above. It came and filled them, and overflowed, and poured its living tide throughout the world around them. And so it must be. Prove Me now herewith, and see if I will not pour out the blessing till there shall not be room to receive it. We want more depth, and breadth, and power of religious emotion, and life, and faith, and service. Our life too often is so restricted in its dimensions, so feeble in its spirit, so low-toned in its vitality, and so circumscribed in the mode of its operation. We want as men of God to be filled with the fulness of God.
3. They were filled with the Holy Ghost–not merely with excitement, mental vigour and determination, indignation, compassion, grief, despair, but with the Holy Ghost. There is the power we must have.
III. What followed. They all sprang to the work in which the two brethren had been previously engaged. They spake the Word of God with boldness is spoken of all the brethren. There are none who have a voice that cannot speak and sing of other things; and there must be none that do not speak of Jesus. It must be spoken at all becoming times and with all becoming promptitude, for soon our voices will be hushed in the silence of the grave. (J. P. Chown.)
Power to be witnesses
1. These feeble Christians moved the Hand that moves the world. The place was shaken, but not the people. The ground trembled, but they had found a refuge in God. It is after and in answer to prayer that the Lord arises to shake the earth. Quick and strong vibrations are felt in the political sphere. Gods saints groan. God hears and answers in His own good time, and then the most firmly-rooted national, social, religious tyrannies totter and fall. The shaking was a sign that prayer was heard. They had acknowledged God as the Maker of heaven and earth. In answer He gives a token that Almightiness is at hand for their protection. The commotions of our day are encouraging to the Christian. Hollow hypocrisies are shaken in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain (Heb 12:27).
2. But besides this symbol of power, a more specific answer was given. They were filled with the Holy Ghost and spoke the Word with boldness. They did not fear their enemies, they distrusted themselves lest danger should shake them from their steadfastness. Now they have obtained what they asked, they are at ease, as is the magnet on the surging sea, fixed to its pole because loosed from holds, The steadiest thing in a shaking world is a disciple whose life, loosed from the dust, is hid with Christ in God.
3. Thus endued with power, all that was required of them was to bear witness to a fact: The resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Christ had promised them power for this purpose, and now the promise was fulfilled.
(1) The main characteristic of their witnessing was not great eloquence or learning, but power. When you travel by night through a mining district, you see mighty volumes of flame issuing from the furnaces. This is the ordinary accompaniment of the power, but it is not the power. The heat in the heart of the furnace is melting the metal. Do not despise dazzling accompaniments of preaching, but do not trust in them, for they may be the pithless flash from blazing straw.
(2) This power seems to have been a special gift bestowed on the apostles, but a suitable portion was imparted to the whole company–great grace was upon them all–a specific example of which was liberality and brotherly love. And thus the world had two things to say about them–Behold how they defy us; behold how they love one another. Alas for the Church in our day–for we are weak where they were strong; viz., in courage to bear witness for Christ, and fervent charity among ourselves. (W. Arnot, D. D.)
Work for those who are filled with the Spirit
Is there nothing for men who are filled with the Spirit of God to do now? Are there no vile iniquities still going on buttressed up with immoral wealth and political chicaneries which may coexist very well indeed with all the pomposities of a fashionable religiousness; but to-day if there were but one stirring of the Spirit in our dead hearts would be spurned back to the hell from which they came? Look at the streets of London, shameless with prostitution; look at glaring and multiplied incentives to drunkenness which roll into the coffers of some one, a stream of wealth, tainted with the tears of women and the blood of men; look at the nefarious sweaters dens, where greedy Jews and Christians make their vile money out of human misery. Look at the universal worldliness around us, look at the passionate mammon worship, at the reckless competition, at the desecration of Sundays in the mere voluptuous wantonness of pleasure. Lock at the dangerous increase of the guilty madness of betting and gambling in every school, office, street among rich and poor. Look at the rapid degradation of our journalism by the paltry flunkeyism of gossip and the evil malice of slander; look at the bad and false spirit of our so-called religious newspapers. O God, give us saints; O God, pour out the Spirit of Thy might. Were it but in the hearts of one or two to slay these dragons and not fear their poisonous breath! O Christ, send us but two or three heroes for this new Thermopylae. O Holy Ghost, fill one or two hearts with Thy rushing mighty wind, and mitre one or two brows with Thy Pentecostal flame! Priests we have in plenty, and Churchmen, but oh, send us men filled with the Holy Ghost! (Archdeacon Farrar.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 31. The place was shaken] This earthquake was an evidence of the presence of God, and a most direct answer to their prayer, as far as that prayer concerned themselves. The earthquake proclaimed the stretched-out arm of God, and showed them that resistance against his counsels and determinations must come to nought.
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost] And, in consequence of this, they spake the word of God with boldness; a pointed answer to a second part of their request, Ac 4:29. A right prayer will always have a right and ready answer. Though these disciples had received the Holy Spirit on the day of pentecost, yet they were capable of larger communications; and what they had then received did not preclude the necessity of frequent supplies, on emergent occasions. Indeed, one communication of this Spirit always makes way and disposes for another. Neither apostle nor private Christian can subsist in the Divine life without frequent influences from on high. Had these disciples depended on their pentecostal grace, they might have sunk now under the terror and menaces of their combined and powerful foes. God gives grace for the time being, but no stock for futurity, because he will keep all his followers continually dependent on himself.
With boldness.] , To all who were willing to believe, is added by DE, two others, Augustin, Irenaeus, and Bede.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The place was shaken; miraculously moved up and down, as on the waves of the sea, to evidence Gods presence with them, and acceptance of them and their prayers in an extraordinary manner.
They were all filled with the Holy Ghost; according to their conditions, whether apostles (for whom these prayers were especially made) or private believers.
They spake the word of God with boldness: this was the grace they asked, Act 4:29. God gave it them, and with it all other graces necessary for them. In their difficulties and wants, the greatest and holiest in the church of God must go to God to be supplied, and prayer is the most successful means.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
31-37. place was shakenglorioustoken of the commotion which the Gospel was to make (Ac17:6; compare Ac 16:26),and the overthrow of all opposing powers in which this was to issue.
they were all filled with theHoly Ghost, and spake, c.The Spirit rested upon the entirecommunity, first, in the very way they had asked, so that they “spakethe word with boldness” (Act 4:29Act 4:31); next, in melting downall selfishness, and absorbing even the feeling of individuality inan intense and glowing realization of Christian unity. The communityof goods was but an outward expression of this, and natural in suchcircumstances.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And when they had prayed,…. Either while they were praying, or as soon as they had done; for sometimes, as here, prayer is immediately heard, and an answer is returned, whilst the saints are speaking, or as soon as prayer is ended:
the place was shaken where they were assembled together; which, whether it was a private house, or the temple, is not certain: the latter seems more probable, because their number was so great, that no private house could hold them; and since this was the place where they used to assemble; this was now shaken with a rushing mighty wind, as on the day of Pentecost, and was a symbol of the divine presence, and a token that their prayers were heard, and an emblem of the shaking of the world by the ministry of the apostles:
and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost; with the gifts of the Holy Ghost, even with extraordinary ones, such as speaking with divers tongues, as before on the day of Pentecost; see Ac 2:4 and this was the case not only of the apostles, but of the other ministers of the word, and it may be of the whole church:
and they spoke the word of God with all boldness; that is, the apostles, and preachers of the Gospel, spoke it with great freedom, and without fear, not only privately, in their community, but publicly, in the temple: this was what was particularly prayed for, and in which they had a remarkable answer.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The place was shaken ( ). By an earthquake most likely as in 16:26, but none the less a token of God’s presence and power (Ps 114:7; Isa 2:19; Isa 2:21; Heb 12:26).
Were gathered together ( ). Periphrastic past perfect passive of .
They spake (). Imperfect active indicative, began to speak, after being filled (, aorist passive indicative) with the Holy Spirit. Luke uses the very words of the prayer in verse 29 to describe their conduct.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “And when they had prayed,” (kai dieethenton auton) “And while they were making request, praying,” or petitioning God for His spiritual gift request, in obedience to their Lord’s teaching, Luk 18:1.
2) “The place was shaken,” (esaleuthe ho topos) “The place was shaken,” caused to vibrate or tremble, a symbol of divine acceptance, Mat 7:7; Dan 9:21-23.
3) “Where they were assembled together;- (en ho sunegmanoi) “in which they were having been closely assembled,” or gathered together for new covenant (church) purposes in a crowded place, similar to the occurrence when the special empowering came on Pentecost, under similar conditions, as they prayed together of one accord, Act 2:1-4.
4) “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost,” (kai eplethesan hapantes tou hagiou pneumatos) “And all there were filled or controlled of (by) the Holy Spirit,” not that each did not have, hold, or possess the Holy Spirit, but they were specially empowered with gifts on certain occasions so that phenomenal things occurred, Act 16:25-26.
5) “And they spake the word of God with boldness,”(kai elaloun ton logon tou theou meta parresias) “And they spoke the word of God with (Holy Spirit) boldness; Men of God need boldness of speech, 2Co 7:4; Eph 3:12; Php_1:20; This boldness comes thru prayer special empowering assurance of the Holy Spirit, Joh 4:17; 1Ti 3:13; Heb 10:19.
Spiritual, Physical, and Emotional Condition of the Church in Jerusalem
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
31. And when they had prayed. Luke declareth now that God did not only hear this prayer, but did also testify the same by a visible sign from heaven. For the shaking of the place should, of itself, have done them small good; but it tendeth to another end, that the faithful may know that God is present with them. Finally, it is nothing else but a token of the presence of God. But the fruit followeth, for they are all filled with the Holy Ghost, and endowed with greater boldness. We ought rather to stand upon this second member. For whereas God did declare his power then by shaking the place it was a rare and extraordinary thing; and whereas it appeared by the effect, that the apostles did obtain that which they desired, this is a perpetual profit of prayer, which is also set before us for an example.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE APOSTLES PERSECUTION
Act 4:1-31.
IN a previous chapter, we referred to the action and excitement characterizing the Book of Acts as one of the ground reasons for great interest in the same. Certainly it is kaleidoscopic in movement; at times inspiring and at others tragic in record.
In the third chapter we had the history of a marvelous miracle, the excitement incident to the same, and a sermon growing out of it. The report is a peaceful one, suited to give pleasure to the student. But no sooner do we enter the fourth chapter, than scenes shift and bitter opposition arises. This opposition should not be a matter of amazement; to the believer not even a matter of surprise. The work of the Spirit is always a signal for the activity of Satan. Wherever the former appears to bless, the Adversary comes to curse; and whenever progress is being recorded, the Adversary presents himself to resist the same. For illustration, study the chapter before us.
And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the Temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them,
Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide.
Howbeit many of them which heard the Word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand (Act 4:1-4).
THE PERSECUTION WAS PROMPTED BY OFFICIALS
Learn from this three lessons: Officialdom assumes power in the professing church; doctrinal teaching is often the point of official grievance, and progress of truth is seldom arrested by persecuting apostles.
Officialdom assumes power in the professing church. Mark the office of the Spirits opponents. Peter and John were speaking unto the people, but the resentment comes from the priests, the captain of the Temple and the Sadduceesecclesiastical officers. The priests of the Old Testament system are well known. They held office by inheritance and their tendency was that of priesthood ever, namely, to exercise authority above that Divinely bestowed.
The captain of the Temple was a Jewish officerprobably the head of the Levites who acted as Temple policeman. Such an officer was known to both the Maccabees and the history of Josephus. The Sadducees were the ruling faction and the real rebels against revealed religion, with a tendency to rationalism. They were not alone the social, but the ecclesiastical aristocrats of the hourthe same sort of men that now work into denominational positions, and through the backing of an organization exercise any and all authority that will be permitted. These were the men that were grieved by the preaching of Peter and John and were particularly opposed to the doctrine of the resurrection from the deada doctrine that involved the supernatural, declared the miraculous, and even suggested the dispensational. There is little of ecclesiastical history that does not show officialdom in bad light. The degradation of Israel was more often wrought by degenerating officials and their opposition to true doctrines, than by most all other causes combined. The same remark may be made of Christian church history.
The fight for the faith today is as absolutely against officialdom in the Protestant bodies as it is against infidelity. The two are indissolubly linked. It is not Methodism that has turned from the faith once delivered; it is the bishopric. It is not the laity in the Episcopal body; it is the clergy. It is not the great Baptist denomination; it is the self-appointed rulers. We use the term self-appointed advisedly, for in spite of the pretense of Congregational church government, it no longer exists in Congregational church bodies. By organization they have effected a scheme whereby the salaried servants have become lords, and are able to cast a deciding vote on every subject including even their own reelection to office. There are more individual churches also that are being wrecked by officialdom than are being retarded by any other form of sin. Almost any heady official can disrupt and even destroy a small church, and he can greatly retard and annoy a large one.
It will be remembered that in the Old Testament Israel, officials were comparatively few, and the New Testament organization is extremely simple. It is only by specious pleas and arguments built on fallacies that the official-loving have hoodwinked the church into over-organization and into human authority that has no kinship to the spiritual, and is even in opposition to the authority of the Spirit.
Doctrinal teaching is most often the point of official grievance. Here it was preaching through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. In other words, it was in opposition to the miraculous element in Christianity. At the end of twenty centuries that same opposition lives and is largely located with the same class. It is neither the plain layman nor the humble preacher of the present hour, who in advocacy of evolution, denies the doctrine of revelation.
In reading the New Testament, one might imagine that the Pharisees were the chief opponents of the Christ. Not so! They were the conservatives, given to ceremonies and forms, and they were orthodox in theology; and it was against their ceremonies and forms that Christ hurled His anathemas. They had made externalities of worship to crowd out the more essential and spiritual character of religion itself, and the Lord sought assiduously to correct and save them. But the people who truly opposed His teaching were the Sadducees, the materialists or modernists, so to speak, of the first century. You will remember that this fact is also found illustrated in Scripture. When we come to the study of the fifth chapter of this Book, it will be Gamaliel, the Pharisee, who will plead the cause of the imprisoned Apostles, and when we get over to the twenty-third chapter of this volume, again it will be the Pharisees who will stand with the imprisoned Paul against the Sadduceeshis bitter, doctrinal opponents; and from that time until now, the Sadducees have had their successors in office.
It is not many years ago when the greatest Gospel preacher in England, the Paul of the nineteenth century, Charles Spurgeon, was divorced from the Baptist Union Council. On January 18th, 1888, it took this action: The Council recognizes the gravity of the charges which Mr. Spurgeon made against it previous to and since his withdrawal. They consider that the public and general manner in which they have been made reflects on the whole body and exposes to suspicion brethren who love the truth as dearly as he does, and as Mr. Spurgeon declines to give names to those he intended them to imply, those charges, in the judgment of the Council, ought not have been made. And yet that Council knew as well as Spurgeon knew that its leaders opposed the most fundamental truths of Gods Word, and that the whole debate and eventual division in the Council itself was due to the circumstances that like the Sadducees of the first century, those Baptist office-holders in England in the nineteenth century had rejected the essential supernaturalism of Christianity, and thereby incited the opposition of its apostolic defender, Chas. Spurgeon. What such men are doing for religion in America is fully evidenced in the most convincing book of the twentieth century, The Leaven of the Sadducees, by Ernest Gordon.
But the progress of truth is seldom arrested by persecuting its apostles.
And, they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide.
Howbeit may of them which heard the Word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand (Act 4:3-4).
The fourth verse of this chapter is the proper aftermath of the third. Whenever did martyrdom fail to be the aid of the church, and whenever did the truth, faithfully preached, fail to bring forth fruit?
There is an impression with many preachers that the problem of their lives is to get by easily, to escape discussion, to avert difficulty, and above all, to avoid an open break. Apparently these apostles at least did not so reason. To them the preaching of the truth was important above the prejudice of even ecclesiastical officials, and the essential doctrines of Scripture were more to be desired than a surface harmony, and the basal doctrine of all was to be retained even though it effected an open break with honored unbelievers.
The Church of God is a family. New-born souls are the children of the Heavenly Father. Brothers and sisters should abide together in love. Domestic peace is a prime essential of either a true or a happy life. But no family is approaching an ideal life by merely keeping the peace. There are great underlying principles that must be regarded or else the outward sign of peace is a poor camouflage, and even in the family of God, truth is more important than mutual affection and the Gospel more essential than an undisturbed surface. When necessary, Paul withstood Peter and others to the face, and in writing his Epistles, he appealed again and again for the retention of the essential truths as the only safeguard of the future and the only basis of success for the Church of God. It is possible then to live in a battle and build at the same time. Nehemiah proved that proposition to the people of his day, and the great fundamental leaders of America, and for that matter, of the world, are proving it in our day.
Charles Spurgeon battled for the truth and built better than any living Englishman; Reuben Saillens is fighting for the truth and is building better than any living Frenchman, and the most outstanding fundamentalists of America among preachers are battling for the truth and yet they are building altogether the biggest and most influential churches to be found on this new continent.
They are being opposed in certain instances; they are being outrageously persecuted. That will neither turn them from the truth nor arrest their endeavors. The probability is that it will be again what such experience has ever been to Gods menthe ground and occasion of blessing. The work already great in their hands will grow yet greater, and the number of them who shall believe will be many times 5000.
But we pass from the persecution that was promised to the
REPLY PROMPTED BY THE SPIRIT
Infidelity inquires after the source of apparent power.
And it came to pass on the morrow; that their rulers, and elders, and scribes;
And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem.
And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name; have ye done this (Act 4:5-7)?
Perhaps we should be corrected when we speak of these high officials as infidels. High churchmen are extremely sensitive to descriptive terms. Their office demands honor, at least in their judgment; and they resent any insinuation against their theological opinions. The average ecclesiastical potentate believes that he has attained to his position because his opinions were correct; and if that be not true, the fact that he has attained is proof that all men in lesser office or in no station at all should answer to him.
This is quite an assembly before whom Peter and John are now compelled to standconsiderable in number, august in mien, honored in office! What will these plain fishermen, without a title to their names, without a single honorary degree from any school, without even a secondary education, dare to say, when they are called to account by a committee of such consequence? Will not their questions paralyze them? Will they not be so put as to produce confusion? Mark the method: By what power, ye men of no standing, ye unscholarly, too? In what honorable name, ye social outcasts, have ye done this? Infidelity is always insolent!
There are men in America today, heads of so-called science societies, whose education is meagre; whose intellectual attainments are of low degree; who in genuine scientific research have done nothing, and yet, because they are rationalists, as they call themselves, or infidels, as others know them to be, they assume to look with disdain upon the great scholarly, successful fellows who yet believe God and dare to preach His Word.
Infidelity is an interrogation point, and you know an interrogation point is not only an individual erect, but one bent back and then bent forward againan expression of pride in the back-bending and disdain in the stoop and snarl that makes up that important punctuation.
Faith gives its answer by the help of the Holy Ghost. Then Peter. How absurd! Then Peter How ridiculous! Then Peter. How unthinkable! An ignorant and unlearned fisherman, attempting to meet rulers and elders and scribes and high priests and royal families! But that is not the end of the sentence. It is only the beginning. Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them.
That is different! The Holy Ghost is adequate. He can meet even the high priest, for if the high priest has anything whatever, it is as a servant of the Holy Ghost. He can meet John and Alexander and all the priestly family, for they are all either subservient to His will or futile fighters against the same. He can face rulers and elders and scribes and put them all to flight, or by a sentence cover them with shame. Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, is no longer a plain fisherman, but a God-appointed and a God-empowered Apostle. His wisdom is no longer the superficial and ephemeral wisdom of the schools in which he did not study. It is the wisdom that comes down from above; that exceeds the wisdom of ancients, out-classes the intelligence of professional teachers, yea, even, that sets the school text-book aside.
Follow him and find if it be not so!
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel.
If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole;
Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him doth this man stand here before you whole.
This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the Head of the corner.
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (Act 4:8-12).
Who will answer that?
Listen! What a silence reigns! There is not a sound coming from ruler, elder, scribe, high priest or honored relative. In the midst of the silence, note another thing.
The voice of the Spirit is always the honor of the Son. It is the Name of Jesus that goes into the ascendant here, and this Jesus is more than the Son of Mary and Joseph. He is Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the virgins babe, Spirit begotten. He is the crucified One whom God raised from the dead. He is the Stone which the Jewish builders had set at nought and now is become the Head of the corner, and there is salvation in no other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Truly, Christs prophecy concerning the Spirit, then, is being fulfilled, for when Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, spake, the things of Christ were taken and shown unto them, even as Jesus of Nazareth had said it would be.
You may be absolutely certain that in any pulpit where Christ is not exalted, the Holy Spirit is not present and in possession of the tongue of that preacher. You may be absolutely certain that any church that does not honor His Name above any name and recognize in Him God manifest in the flesh, is a Spiritless church, for wherever the Holy Ghost is, there the Son of God is honored as the worlds one and adequate and only Saviour. For such is the Gospel!
We will conclude our study of this chapter by a consideration of the
REPORT RENDERED BY THE APOSTLES
It had a silencing effect upon the enemy; upon their friends it had the effect of inspiration, and upon the Church it brought another blessingthe infilling of the Spirit.
Upon the enemy it had a silencing effect.
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.
But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves.
Saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it.
But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this Name.
And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the Name of Jesus.
But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.
For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.
So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people; for all men glorified God for that which was done.
For the man was above forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing was shewed (Act 4:13-22).
The tables were suddenly turned. In the opening of this chapter, the Sanhedrin shuts up and puts into hold the two Apostles. Now the Sanhedrin itself is shut up and practically put into hold. The text reads, They marvelled. Thats better than talking so much. There is many a Sanhedrin starting in at the present to shut up the young preachers who are preaching Christ and the resurrection. We advise all such young preachers to follow Peters course if they would come off conquerors; stay by what the Scriptures have to say, as Peter did, and Sanhedrin silencing is pretty certain.
A graduate of my own blessed Bible School writes me of a recent graduate from the same, Brother E. was ordained October 25th in the presence of a capacity crowd. The examination proved again the thoroughness of the training received at Northwestern, and the entire service was a credit to the School. Several seminary graduates said to me that they had never heard a candidate for ordination give as satisfactory and pointed answers to the questions put to him as did Brother E. He answered almost every question in the exact language of the Word. It has been interesting, to say the least, to watch the creation of ordaining councils. Many of these committees were themselves ordained for the very purpose of confusing candidates for the ministry and keeping believing men out of the same, and many of those councils come together confidently expecting to catch the candidate in his words, and later to refuse him the ecclesiastical approval of preaching. When their questions are answered in the language of Scripture, it puts them to silence. If they speak at all, it is only to threaten and let go, finding nothing how they might punish them. For people who believe in God are not disposed to stand by and see a Gospel preacher pillaried for entertaining the same faith, and particularly when that preacher is a man of maturity, as was the healed man here.
There were grave heads that doubted the wisdom of having the unschooled Spurgeon ordained, and Mr. Moody of America got by with his ministry by never asking for the same from any council, and Campbell Morgan of England was declined it by the body in which he was brought up. But how futile the endeavor of the Sanhedrins against the Spirit appointed, the Spirit-instructed and the Spirit-empoweredthe preacher of the Gospel of the Grace of God!
The supreme silencer of officialdom and scholasticism is the voice of the Spirit. They may be very eloquent, yea, almost musical in the absence of that voice; but when the Spirit speaks, even though it be through the lips of mortal man, the orator must stand aside and the officer must himself take orders.
Upon their friends it had the effect of inspiration.
And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them.
And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, Thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is:
Who by the mouth of Thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?
The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against His Christ.
For of a truth against Thy holy Child Jesus, whom Thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together.
For to do whatsoever Thy hand and Thy counsel determined before to be done.
And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto Thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak Thy Word,
By stretching forth Thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may he done by the Name of Thy holy Child Jesus (Act 4:23-30).
What a record is this! The report was glorious; the effect was electric; the praises were eloquent and the glory was given to God. The prophetic Scriptures were brought to memory. They saw in this mouthy opposition the rage of the heathen and the vain imagination of the people and the impotent opposition of the kings and rulers against the Lord and against His Christ. They were happy in the circumstance that though Christ had come into the world a helpless Child, the combined powers of a Herod and a Pontius Pilate and unregenerate Gentile and a blinded Israel, all of them could do nothing, and in view of that fact they prayed, Grant unto Thy servants that with all boldness they may speak the Word and inspire us further by stretching forth Thine hand to heal and that signs and wonders may be done by the Name of Thy holy Child Jesus.
It is always good to be with Gods people when the Gospel has had a glorious triumph. It is always true of the saints as it was in Samaria, the record of which we shall study a few chapters later, for when God wrought, there was great joy in that city. Courage, faithfulness, joy, rejoicingthese are results from faithful apostolic reports of Gods saving grace.
Upon the Church it brought further blessingthe infilling of the Spirit.
And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the Word of God with boldness.
And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.
And with great power gave the Apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.
Neither was there any among them that lacked; for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,
And laid them down at the Apostles feet; and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.
And Joses, who by the Apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus.
Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the Apostles feet (Act 4:31-37).
They had before seen places shaken. These two Apostles had been in the upper room, assembled with other believers, when the Holy Ghost came in baptism, and now, lo, He comes again in enduement for service and they speak the Word of God with boldness. It is often true that we ask of a certain man, What is the secret of your ministry? and no one seems to be able to give us an adequate answer. When Dwight L. Moody died, there were many men that essayed to tell the secret of his ministry, and most of them were wide of the mark. One of them thought he was a born general another, that he had amazing genius; still another, that it was his emotional nature, and yet another, that it was his affectionate spirit. Most of them missed the principal thingfilled with the Holy Ghost. Before such a man the multitude always melts. Under his ministry, they are made of one mind and are brought to be of one heart. By his example, they are shown the way of self-sacrifice and are led to sanctification. The power that rested in him proved itself contagious. Other apostles, touching him, catch it, and witness with him the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and the people who hear him cease from their miserliness, and, with open hand, turn church contributors and world helpers, great grace being upon them all.
But this is enough for the present. Let the reader join with the writer in praising God for the Apostles, Peter and John, and in prayer that God will contribute to the Church of the present and to the Gospel for the twentieth century ministers after their sort.
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
(31) The place was shaken. . . .The impression on the senses was so far a renewal of the wonder of the Day of Pentecost, but in this instance without the sign of the tongues of fire, which were the symbols of a gift imparted once for all, and, perhaps also, without the special marvel of the utterance of the tongues. The disciples felt the power of the Spirit, the evidence of sense confirming that of inward, spiritual consciousness, and it came in the form for which they had made a special supplication, the power to speak with boldness the word which they were commissioned to speak.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
31. Place was shaken In token of answering assurance to their prayer a measure of the Pentecostal miracle was repeated; the house was shaken, the Spirit bestowed, and a power of utterance was exercised.
Word of God with boldness Prayer-strengthened and Spirit-inspired, these men now speak words of faith and firmness which no human power can disturb.
They are soon to feel the full trial of their dauntless spirit.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And when they had prayed, the place was shaken in which they were gathered together, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.’
Then once they had finished praying the place where they were gathered was shaken, regularly seen as a sign of God’s presence (compare Exo 19:18; Isa 6:4). Here it was intended to be linked with the filling of the Holy Spirit, and with the certainty that God was with them and had heard their prayer. It was a physical assurance of His presence. It may have been a local earth tremor, but it demonstrated the presence of the Creator.
And they were all ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’ so that they could go forth and proclaim the word of God with boldness. The mighty power of God was continually with them in the fulfilling of their ministry, and was here renewed. Those who ‘spoke the word of God’ were still at this stage the Twelve, who had already received the Holy Spirit by being breathed on by Jesus (Joh 20:22) and had experienced the ‘breath’, fire and other tongues at Pentecost. This is thus a further empowering so as to give them the boldness to witness powerfully.
‘Shaking’ is regularly an evidence of God’s powerful activity. See Jdg 5:5; Hab 3:6 LXX compare Hag 2:6-7 where the shaking would be of heaven and earth and sea, as well as dry land. See above where God is Master of heaven and earth and sea. God was showing the disciples what He would yet do.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Act 4:31. And when they had prayed, &c. God of old testified his acceptance of the sacrifices or prayers of the pious by sending down fire from heaven, or by appearing after some peculiar manner in the cloud of glory: but now the token of acceptance was, that the house where they were assembled was again shaken, and there was a second effusion of the Holy Spirit, perhaps attended with the like sound, and with the like appearance of a glory, as there had been at first on the day of Pentecost. It does not appear that they had by this second effusion any further knowledge communicated;buttheywereherebycomfortedafterthediscouragements which they had met with from the Sanhedrim; and as they had prayed for fortitude, and a power ofworking more miracles, their prayer was heard, fresh courage infused, and further miraculous powers conferred, to assist them in their work, and to enable them to proceed cheerfully, and with an undaunted steadiness and resolution.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Act 4:31 . ] This is not to be conceived of as an accidental earthquake, but as an extraordinary shaking of the place directly effected by God , a [161] analogous to what happened at Pentecost of the filling with the , which immediately ensued. This filling once more with the Spirit (comp. Act 4:8 ) was the actual granting of the prayer , Act 4:29 ; for the immediate consequence was: . . . , namely in Jerusalem, before the Jews, so that the threatenings against Peter and John (Act 4:19 ; Act 4:21 ) thus came to nothing. Luke, however, has not meant nor designated the free-spoken preaching as a glossolalia (van Hengel).
As extra-Biblical analogies to the extraordinary . , comp. Virg. Aen. iii. 90 ff.; Ovid. Met. xv. 672. Other examples may be found in Doughtaeus, Anal. II. p. 71, and from the Rabbins in Schoettgen, p. 421.
[161] Viewed by Zeller, no doubt, as an invention of pious legend, although nothing similar occurs in the gospel history, to afford a connecting link for such a legend.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 1751
THE BENEFIT OF UNITED PRAYER
Act 4:31-32. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.
WHETHER, as has been said by many, the blood of the Martyrs has been the seed of the Church, we will not undertake to determine: but we have no doubt but that persecution has greatly tended to benefit the Church in all ages: it has produced a greater degree of separation between the Church and the world, and has thereby contributed very essentially to keep the saints from much contamination, which from a closer union with the world they would of necessity have contracted. It has also driven them to prayer, and brought them help from above: and further, it has united them more with each other, and stirred them up to a greater measure of zeal in strengthening and encouraging one another to fight the good fight of faith. The very unreasonableness of the persecutors has in many instances confirmed the saints in their determination to hold fast the profession of their faith without wavering [Note: Php 1:14.]. Certainly if ever persecution was unreasonable, it was so in the instance before us. A most benevolent miracle had been wrought by the Apostles, who took occasion to proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name they had wrought it, as the only Saviour of the world. To prevent the extension of their influence, the rulers and elders laid hands upon them and imprisoned them, and with many threats commanded them to speak no more in the name of Jesus. But, behold the effect that was produced, both on the Apostles, and on the whole infant Church! the Apostles were no sooner liberated, than they went to their own company and reported all that had been said unto them: and the consequence was, that they all betook themselves to prayer, and obtained help from God to prosecute their work with augmented energy and effect.
The points to which we would call your attention are,
I.
The prayer they offered
The particular point of view in which I wish this to be noticed is, as illustrating the holy superiority to all personal considerations, which the first Christians manifested in the midst of their deepest trials: they disdained to think of their own ease or interests, in comparison of Gods honour, and the welfare of mankind. Yet so far were they from ostentation, that it is from what is omitted, rather than from any thing expressed, that we collect this exalted sentiment. In their prayer,
1.
They view the hand of God himself in their trials
[They address Jehovah as the Creator, and consequently the Governor, of all things both in heaven and earth. They bring to mind a prophecy of David, wherein it was foretold, that all the powers of the world would combine against the Lord and his Christ. They acknowledge that this prediction had been verified in the opposition which had been made to their Divine Master, by all, whether Jews or Gentiles. But in all this they see and confess the hand of God, ordering and directing all things in such a way that his own decrees and purposes should be all fulfilled [Note: ver 2428.].
Now all this may at first sight appear to have been irrelevant to their case: for, what reference had it at all to their sufferings? The connexion between the two must, as I have said, be found in that which is implied, rather than in that which is expressed. It is as though they had said, Thou, Lord, hast foretold that thy Church and people shall be persecuted: thou hast shewn us, in the person of thy dear Son, what we are to expect at the hands of ungodly men: but, as in his case, so in ours, nothing can be done but what thou thyself hast ordained; nor can the bitterest foe upon earth exceed the commission which thou, for wise and gracious ends, hast given him. We therefore bow not our knees to deprecate any trials, which thou mayest see fit to send, but only to ask of thee such a measure of grace, as shall enable us to sustain them, and such manifestations of thy power as shall carry conviction to the minds of our most obdurate enemies. Thus,]
2.
They desire only that God may be glorified in them
[They desire to rise to the occasion, and to have their energy increased in proportion to the difficulties which they have to contend with. Their own concerns are swallowed up, as it were, in the honour of their God. Happy attainment! How surely must those supplications prosper, which are dictated by such a principle, and proceed from such hallowed lips!]
The acceptableness of their prayer will be best seen in,
II.
The answer they received
The house was shaken wherein they were assembled, in token that God had heard them, and that he was able to effect whatever should most conduce to their welfare. The Holy Ghost also was poured out upon them in a more abundant measure, not in his miraculous powers, but in his gracious and sanctifying influences: so that the effect was immediately visible in all. Observe the effect which was instantly produced;
1.
On the Apostles
[In them we see an immediate increase of zeal and constancy: They spake the word of God with boldness; not only not intimidated by the threats of their enemies, but greatly strengthened to execute their office with energy and effect; insomuch. that with greater power than ever, they gave witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus [Note: ver. 33.]. Mark the connexion of this with their persecution; and see how influential their trials were to render their ministry more extensively beneficial. Their own souls were quickened by the opposition which they met with; they were strengthened from on high in answer to their prayers: every word they uttered was attended with unction and with power: having within themselves the fruits and evidences of Christs tender care, they could not but commend him to others, as an able and all-sufficient Saviour, and urge all to seek the blessings which they themselves so richly enjoyed.
Now it is thus that ministers are formed at the present day. If they have experienced but few trials, they possess, for the most part, but little energy. It is only when, under difficult and trying circumstances, their eyes have seen, their ears heard, and their hands handled the word of life, that they can speak of Christ with a feeling sense of his excellency. In speculative knowledge they may be complete; but in divine unction they will be very defective; and their words, from the want of that unction, will never reach the heart. Hence God generally permits his most faithful servants to be severely tried, in order that from their own experience they may be able to instruct and comfort the people committed to their charge [Note: 2Co 1:3-6.].
Next, see the effect produced,]
2.
On the Church at large
[As in the teachers there was an immediate increase of holy zeal, so was there in the hearers a visible augmentation of heavenly love. Instantly the whole multitude of believers became of one heart and one soul: neither said any of them that aught of the things that he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. They all considered themselves as one body: and exactly as the different members of a body, the eye, the ear, the hand, the foot, employ their respective powers, not with a view to any separate interest of their own, but for the collective benefit of the whole, so did these Christians, as soon as ever they were filled with the Holy Ghost; every one selling his houses or lands to form one common stock for the support and comfort of the whole.
Mark then here also the effect of persecution; how it united the Lords people in one common bond, and advanced their mutual love to a height, which under other circumstances it would never have attained. Doubtless the particular act of casting all their property into one common stock is to be imitated only under circumstances similar to theirs: but the Spirit that dictated that act should abound in us, as much as in them: and it will abound in us in proportion as we possess the grace of Christ. The trials of the saints at this day being light, they know but little of sympathy, and make but little sacrifices for the good of others: but, if they were driven more to God by the sword of persecution, they would feel greater need of sympathy themselves, and would be ready to exercise it in a far larger measure towards others.]
From whence we may learn,
1.
Where to go with our troubles
[Whither should we go, but to that God, who has ordained them all, and promised to overrule them for our eternal good? The Apostles indeed went first to their own company, and reported all that had been said to them: but this was for the purpose of comforting and encouraging them, and not with a view to obtain comfort or encouragement themselves; for that they betook themselves to prayer, having engaged all the Church to unite with them in their supplications. The benefit of this measure to all who engaged in it, you have already heard: whilst they were in the very act of pouring out their souls before God, an answer was given from on high; and every soul was filled with grace and peace. And say, brethren, has it never been so with you? Look back to seasons of affliction, when you could find no refuge but in God: have they not proved seasons of peculiar refreshment to your souls? Have you not received strength according to your day, so as not only to endure your tribulations, but to glory in them? Bear in remembrance then that direction which God himself has given you; Call upon me in the time of trouble, and I will hear thee, and thou shalt glorify me. Yes, cast your burthen on the Lord; and he will sustain you.]
2.
How to recommend our principles
[It is to the shame of Christianity that there are so many parties amongst us, and that there is so little love exercised by them towards each other. Compare the Church at this time with the Church of Christ in that age: alas! at what a low ebb is vital godliness amongst the professors of the present day! Instead of uniting against the common enemy, they do little but dispute with each other: and, instead of every one denying himself for the good of the whole, they are all immersed in selfishness, and are intent only on their own personal ease or interest. But so did not the saints of old: they constrained their very enemies to say, Behold, how these Christians love one another! O that such seasons might speedily return, and that our eyes might witness them in this place! But it is to be feared that we shall never learn this lesson, till we are taught it in the school of affliction. Yet how much better were it to learn it from the example of the primitive saints, and especially from the example of the Lord Jesus Christ, who. though he was rich, for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich! Beloved brethren, set these examples before you, and implore grace from God, that you may be able to walk in these blessed paths. Then will you put to silence the ignorance of foolish men, and constrain your very enemies to acknowledge, that God is with you of a truth.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
Reader! let you and I attend to the blessed contents of this verse, as not simply referring to the Church then in being, but to the Church of God in all ages. Surely such a testimony was designed to tell all the praying seed of Jacob; that the Lord, who is a prayer-awakening, is also a prayer-hearing, and a prayer-answering God, See Isa 65:24 . And every child of God should learn from hence, that the Lord’s presence is always with his people, though the tokens of that presence be not shewn in the same way, of miraculously shaking the place of assembly. And as the company then present are said to have been all filled with the Holy Ghost; so such renewings of the Spirit were intended to teach the Church, that as the Holy Ghost’s baptism of the Apostles at Pentecost did not supersede the necessity of fresh effusions of grace, so neither doth the regeneration of his people now render unnecessary constant supplies from the Lord. See Tit 3:4-6 . Oh! for the daily refreshings of the Spirit upon ministers and people!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Chapter 12
Prayer
Almighty God, we have heard that power belongeth unto thee, and we are afraid: we have also heard that mercy belongeth unto thee, and we are no longer under the bondage of fear. We come to thy mercy in Christ Jesus, and we have no dread, but an inspiring and indestructible joy. We are all prodigals. We come today from a far country, and we bring back nothing with us but hunger, and shame, and nakedness, and self-reproach. God be merciful unto us, sinners. Thy Church was built for sinners. We did not know thee until we sinned. Through our guilt thou dost cause to come the brightest revelations of thyself. Thou shalt yet make sin help heaven. Out of this root of poison thou wilt gather wondrous fruits of health. We know not how this thy great miracle will be wrought; but we know thou wilt make the wrath of man to praise thee; and the remainder thou wilt hold at arm’s length. The Lord reigneth; the God of Salvation holds the universe in his grasp. Thou dost not delight in destruction, but in salvation: thy purpose is to abolish death and make the universe glad with spiritual life. In this confidence we always come near thee. Great waves of love rise in our hearts, and would find expression in fitting words; but they cannot. We are dumb before thee. Our very speech is but a mockery of our want. Our hymn, though it swell loudly and tremble with all pathos, cannot tell thee our praise. Thou hast made no speech, nor song, for the higher emotions of the soul; but, when we come to the better land, and learn inspired speech and larger music, we will bless thee fitly.
Take care of us whilst we are in the desert. There is no path here but of thine own making. Keep us close to one another, lest we lose the touch of sympathy and the voice of communion, and be lost amid the unmeasured sand. Lead us over the rocks when they are sharp and slippery. Take us up awhile into thine own heart, and carry us until we may be trusted to walk again. Leave us not, neither forsake us. We go to the graves of the past, the green hillocks, the eloquent churchyards, thine own acre, O God of the living, and by all the providence of history, by all the gentle care of individuals and families which thou hast exercised, we revive and strengthen and consolidate our faith in God. We bless thee for all the love which makes our life rich. Thou dost live for us. Thou didst so love the world as to give thy Son to die for it, and cleanse it with his own blood. Thou dost give him every day to die for us, and every day does he rise again, and all the while is his prayer heard in heaven. Therefore do we stand in thy church today redeemed by his blood, and secured by thy grace.
As families we bless thee. All the dear little children clasp their hands and look up, though they know not what to say; their look is better than their speech. And all the elder ones, to whom life is a vanishing dream, muse, and wonder, and hope, and now and again thrill with an expectation that cannot be uttered in words. And busy men thank God for the bread that is in both hands. The afflicted look to thee; and the sad in heart have no helper but thyself; and the lost turn round and look for the light. The Lord send it to shine upon them, and may they be brought home every one.
God save the Queen. Guard her person; defend her throne; prolong her reign. We bless thee for her escape from danger; for she has done us good and not evil all the days of her life. The Lord crown her with fine gold, and fill her diadem with jewels of his own finding.
Lord, regard all the little earth: to us so great: to thee but a handful of dust. We have marked it out into continents and nations, and have broken up its speech into many tongues; but all the earth is thine, and the fulness thereof; and thou art Lord of the sea. Still keep the little earth in its right place, and whilst it swings around the sun may its human multitudes revolve around the sun of righteousness and catch from him all life, and light, and joy. Amen.
Act 4:31-37
31. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken [pointing to the God of nature] where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
32. And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul [ Jer 32:29 ]: neither said any of them [the Greek is emphatic, and not one of them said ] that aught of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.
33. And with great power gave the apostles [there the Greek verb gave implies much more than the English word. It is constantly used for paying a debt, or rendering an account ] witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.
34. Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold [we never hear that a similar fund was established except at Jerusalem],
35. And laid them down at the apostles’ feet [when gifts or offerings are made to an eastern king or priest, they are not placed in his hands but at his feet]: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.
36. And Joses [Joseph], who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation) a Levite [he may have held lands from his marriage], and of the country of Cyprus [in the Eastern Mediterranean],
37. Having land [lit., a field ] sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
Ver. 31. The place was shaken ] So God testifieth to his Church that he shook them, as men do young trees, to settle them, Hag 2:7 . God shaketh all nations, not to ruin, but to refine them; as by rotting he refineth our dead bodies, Phi 3:21 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
31. ] As the first outpouring of the Spirit, so this special one in answer to prayer, was testified by an outward and visible sign: but not by the same sign, for that first baptism by the Holy Ghost, the great fulfilment of the promise, was not to be repeated. The rationalist Commentators have done good service by pointing out parallel cases, in profane writers, of supposed tokens of the divine presence. Virg. n. iii. 89. Ovid, Met. xv. 672. Schttgen, Hor. Hebr. in loc., produces similar notices from the Rabbinical writings.
It was on every ground probable that the token of the especial presence of God would be some phnomenon which would be recognized by those present as such . Besides which, the idea was not derived from profane sources, but from the Scriptures: see Psa 29:8 ; Isa 2:19 ; Isa 2:21 ; Isa 13:13 ; Eze 38:19 (especially); Joe 3:16 ; Hag 2:6-7 .
, with a fresh and renewed outpouring.
. . is personal : they were all filled with the Holy Spirit : the meaning being the same with . ., the influence of the Holy Spirit , but the form of expression varied. See ch. Act 1:8 ; Act 2:33 ; Act 2:38 ; Act 9:31 ; Act 10:45 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 4:31 . , cf. Act 16:26 , where a similar answer is given to the prayer of Paul and Silas: the verb is characteristic of St. Luke and St. Paul, and is only used by these two writers with the exception of one passage, Mat 9:38 ; in St. Luke’s Gospel it is found eight times, and in Acts seven times, and often of requests addressed to God as here, cf. Act 10:2 , Act 8:24 , Luk 10:2 ; Luk 21:36 ; Luk 22:32 , 1Th 3:10 . See on , Grimm-Thayer (Synonyms). This frequent reference to prayer is characteristic of St. Luke both in his Gospel and the Acts, cf. Act 1:14 ; Act 2:42 ; Act 4:31 ; Act 6:4 ; Act 10:2 ; Act 13:3 ; Act 14:23 ; Act 16:13 ; Act 16:25 ; Act 28:8 ; Friedrich, Das Lucasevangelium , pp. 59, 60. , Act 16:26 ; Luke (Luk 6:38 ; Luk 6:48 , Act 7:24 ) Act 21:26 ; Heb 12:26-27 ; in the O.T. we have similar manifestations of the divine Presence, cf. Psa 114:7 , Amo 9:5 , where the same word is used; cf. also Isa 6:4 , Hag 2:6 , Joe 3:16 , Eze 38:19 . For instance of an earthquake regarded as a token of the presence of a deity, see Wetstein, in loco ; Virgil, neid , iii., 90; Ovid, Met. , xv., 672, and so amongst the Rabbis, Schttgen, Hor. Heb., in loco . In the Acts it is plainly regarded as no chance occurrence, and with regard to the rationalistic hypothesis that it was merely a natural event, accidentally coinciding with the conclusion of the prayer, Zeller admits that there is every probability against the truth of any such hypothesis; rather may we see in it with St. Chrysostom a direct answer to the appeal to the God in whose hands were the heaven and the earth ( cf. Iren., Adv. Haer. , iii., 12, 5). “The place was shaken, and that made them all the more unshaken” (Chrysostom, Theophylact, Oecumenius). , “were gathered,” so in Act 4:27 ; the aorist in the former verse referring to an act, but here the perfect to a state, but impossible to distinguish in translation, Burton, N. T. Moods and Tenses , p. 45. That the shaking is regarded as miraculous is admitted by Weiss, who sees in it the reviser’s hand introducing a miraculous result of the prayer of the Church, in place of the natural result of strengthened faith and popular favour. , Act 4:8 . So here the Holy Ghost inspired them all with courage: He came comfortari , to strengthen; they had prayed that they might speak the word . and their prayer was heard and fulfilled to the letter (Act 4:31 ) as Luke describes “with simple skill”. : mark the force of the imperfect. . (aorist), the prayer was immediately answered by their being filled with the Holy Ghost, and they proceeded to speak, the imperfect also implying that they continued to speak (Rendall); there is no need to see any reference to the speaking with tongues. Feine sees in the narrative a divine answer to the Apostles’ prayer, so that filled with the Holy Ghost they spoke with boldness. And he adds, that such divine power must have been actually working in the Apostles, otherwise the growth of the Church in spite of its opposition is inexplicable a remark which might well be considered by the deniers of a miraculous Christianity. It is in reality the same argument so forcibly put by St. Chrysostom: “If you deny miracles, you make it all the more marvellous that they should obtain such moral victories these illiterate men!” Jngst refers the whole verse to a redactor, recording that there was no one present with reference to whom the could be employed. But the distinction between the aorist . and the imperfect shows that not only the immediate but the continuous action of the disciples is denoted.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
when they had = while they.
prayed. App-134.
shaken. Greek. saleuo. Compare Act 16:26.
where = in which.
the Holy Ghost. App-101.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
31.] As the first outpouring of the Spirit, so this special one in answer to prayer, was testified by an outward and visible sign: but not by the same sign,-for that first baptism by the Holy Ghost, the great fulfilment of the promise, was not to be repeated. The rationalist Commentators have done good service by pointing out parallel cases, in profane writers, of supposed tokens of the divine presence. Virg. n. iii. 89. Ovid, Met. xv. 672. Schttgen, Hor. Hebr. in loc., produces similar notices from the Rabbinical writings.
It was on every ground probable that the token of the especial presence of God would be some phnomenon which would be recognized by those present as such. Besides which, the idea was not derived from profane sources, but from the Scriptures: see Psa 29:8; Isa 2:19; Isa 2:21; Isa 13:13; Eze 38:19 (especially); Joe 3:16; Hag 2:6-7.
, with a fresh and renewed outpouring.
. . is personal: they were all filled with the Holy Spirit: the meaning being the same with . ., the influence of the Holy Spirit,-but the form of expression varied. See ch. Act 1:8; Act 2:33; Act 2:38; Act 9:31; Act 10:45.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Act 4:31. , was shaken) A proof afforded that all things are about to be shaken (put in commotion) by the Gospel: ch. Act 16:26 (the earthquake at Philippi preceding the conversion of the gaoler).-, they were filled) afresh.- , with boldness of speech) Boldness of speech was immediately conferred on them, as in Act 4:29 they had prayed; and this they put forth into exercise on the very earliest opportunity among themselves, and in addressing others.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
the place: Act 2:2, Act 16:25, Act 16:26
they were all: Act 2:4
spake: Act 4:29, Isa 65:24, Mat 18:19, Mat 18:20, Mat 21:22, Joh 14:12, Joh 15:7, Joh 15:16, Joh 16:23, Joh 16:24, Jam 1:5
Reciprocal: 2Sa 22:8 – the earth 2Ch 7:1 – when Solomon Psa 18:7 – earth Son 4:16 – Awake Son 7:9 – the best Isa 37:21 – Whereas Dan 9:20 – whiles Mal 3:16 – and the Mar 13:11 – take Luk 21:15 – I will Joh 3:8 – wind Joh 7:39 – this spake Act 2:42 – and in prayers Act 4:8 – filled Act 9:17 – and be Act 10:44 – the Holy Ghost Act 11:15 – as on Act 13:9 – filled Act 13:52 – with the Act 15:8 – giving Act 28:31 – with Eph 6:19 – that I 1Th 2:2 – bold Heb 4:12 – the word Heb 13:7 – word 1Pe 1:12 – with Rev 8:5 – an
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1
Act 4:31. In the days of miracles, God sometimes answered prayers with a physical demonstration, or by something that could be discerned by the natural sense (Joh 12:27-30), and the present case is another of such an evidence. Were all filled with the Holy Ghost. In the book of Acts there are no less than ten places where the expression to be “full” or “filled” with the Holy Ghost is used. It is said of both official and unofficial disciples; sometimes applying to the apostles and at others referring to the ordinary disciples. Since we know that the quail-cations of the apostles were greater than those of any other Christians, we should understand that the expression under consideration is one with various shades of meaning, and the connection must always be considered in each instance for determining the force of the term. It would be natural to ask how two people could be “full” of anything, and yet one of them have more of it than the other. The passage in Joh 3:34 should always be remembered when the subject of the Holy Ghost or Spirit is being studied. That statement shows that the Spirit can be measured or limited according to the will of God. But the mistake that is commonly made is to limit the word “full” or “measure” to the one quality of volume. But that is not a correct or necessary conclusion. A room could be “full” of smoke and still be capable of admitting more of it by making it more dense. A disciple could be full of the Holy Ghost, yet the density of it not be such as to enable the possessor to perform the same works as could the apostles. And so in the present verse, they were filled with the Holy Ghost in such measure or density or strength, that it encouraged them to speak the word with boldness. In the case of the apostles, the measure was such that they could testify with great power, which was what the other disciples prayed for in verse 30.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Observe here, 1. The special and speedy answer which the Lord gave to the apostles’ prayer: As a testimony thereof, the place where they prayed is miraculously shaken, and many eminent graces and special gifts of the holy Spirit were poured out upon the apostles, particularly a greater measure of boldness to preach the gospel; and, as some think, the wonderful gift of conferring the Holy Ghost was now conferred upon the twelve; so Dr. Lightfoot. The Holy Spirit, which caused them thus to pray, gave them that holy boldness which they prayed for; with signal shaking of the place which they prayed in.
O! how ready is God to hear and answer the prayers and pleading of his righteous servants, especially when suffering for righteousness sake!
Observe, 2. The great unity, and happy unanimity which was found amongst the ministers and members of this infant church, this purest and most primitive Christian church; They were of one heart and of one soul: That is, they were one in doctrine and opinion, and they were one in heart and affection; A singular pattern for succeeding Christians to the end of the world, so to carry it one towards another, as members of the same body, and influenced by the same head.
Observe, 3. At their unanimity, so their liberality, in contributing to the necessities of each other. They called nothing their own, when their brethrens’ wants required it; the rich readily sold their possesions and goods, to help and relieve the poor. Notwithstanding, this example cannot be a copy for after-times, to follow as a command, or to imitate as a perfection: Seeing that such was the state of the church at that time, as was never since, nor like to be; it was but newly born: It was all in one city; all in a possibility to be soon scattered by persecution. Res qua erat temporaria necessitatis et lieri arbitrii, non debet in exemplum trahi, multo minus ut necessaria obtrudi.
The lesson to be gathered from this instance for our instruction, is this, That those who are of ability, ought to abound always in ordinary, and sometimes in extraordinary acts of charity. We must always relieve the saints’ wants as we are able, and sometimes upon an extraordinary occasion, above what we are well able.
Observe, 4. How the apostles with great authority and assurance gave testimony to the resurrection of Christ, and their doctrine found great favour and acceptation with the people, With great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all Act 4:33. The resurrection of Christ from the dead, was the great point now in controversy, therefore with evident miracles and wonderful gifts of the holy Spirit, did the apostles perform their testimony of his resurrection. So that as Christ was declared to the apostles to be the Son of God with power, by the resurrection from the dead; in like manner, the apostles by miracles and wonderful gifts did bear witness to the certainty of our Saviour’s resurrection, and their doctrine found acceptance with the people.
Learn hence, 1. That our Lord Jesus Christ by the almighty power of his Godhead revived and rose again from the dead, to the consternation of his enemies, and the consolation of all believers.
2. That the doctrine of Christ’s resurrection being not only attested by the preaching, but confirmed by the miracles of the apostles, found deservedly belief in the world, and is a point of infallible certainty amongst all those whom willful obstinacy has not blinded.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
31. The prayer for boldness was answered at once, and in the way they had requested. (31) “And when they had prayed, the place in which they were assembled together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and spoke the word of God with boldness.” The shaking of the house, attended by a conscious renewal of the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit, gave them the boldness for which they prayed, because it assured them that God was still with them.
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
4:31 {11} And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
(11) God witnesses to his Church by a visible sign that it is he that will establish it, by shaking the powers both of heaven and of earth.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
It is not clear whether we should understand the shaking of the place where the disciples had assembled literally or metaphorically (cf. Exo 19:18; 1Ki 19:11-12; Isa 6:4; Act 16:26). In either case those assembled received assurance from this phenomenon that God was among them and would grant their petition.
"This was one of the signs which indicated a theophany in the Old Testament (Exo 19:18; Isa 6:4), and it would have been regarded as indicating a divine response to prayer." [Note: Marshall, The Acts . . ., p. 107.]
The same control by the Spirit that had characterized Peter (Act 4:8) and the disciples earlier (Act 2:4) also marked these Christians. They now spoke boldly (Gr. parresias, with confidence, forthrightly; cf. Act 4:13; Act 4:29) as witnesses, as Peter had done. Note that tongues speaking did not occur here. This was not another baptism with the Spirit but simply a fresh filling.
"In Luk 22:39-46, just before Jesus’ arrest and just after Peter’s assertion of readiness to suffer, Jesus urged the disciples to pray in order that they might not enter into temptation. Instead, the disciples fell asleep and were unprepared for the following crisis. In Act 4:23-31 Jesus’ followers are again confronted with the dangerous opposition of the Sanhedrin. Now they pray as they had previously been told to do. As a result they receive power from God to continue the mission despite the opposition. We have already noted that Peter’s boldness before the Sanhedrin in Acts contrasts with his denial of Jesus in Luke. The church in Acts, finding power for witness in prayer, also contrasts with the disciples who slept instead of praying in Luke. These contrasts contribute to the narrator’s picture of a dramatic transformation in Jesus’ followers." [Note: Tannehill, 2:71-72.]