E9
The First Taste of Trouble
Acts 4:1-32
Forty days after the resurrection of Jesus he had appeared to His small church. We say small, but over 500 of His disciples, all at the same time, had seen the risen Lord. 120 of them waited in Jerusalem for the promised Holy Spirit who would empower them to do the impossible task of going to every nation in the world with the gospel message.
That day came and 3000 persons were added to their number. Church ministry continued on a daily basis. They were discovering a lot of things about ‘how to do church’. Part of their practice included going to the Temple everyday to mingle and look for opportunities to talk about Jesus.
The last event we read about was Peter and John going up to the Temple at about 3 pm, the hour of prayer. God used them to heal a man who had been placed at the stairs to the temple every day for years, in order for him to beg for offerings.
The man was totally and instantly healed … and a tremendous tumult resulted.
4:1 ¶ Now as they spoke to the people, …
That is, Apostle Peter was just concluding his talk to the large crowd, and … the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them,
2 being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
3 And they arrested them ...
God has just blessed the message that Peter preached to the people. As we will note in a moment, there was a tremendous response to the gospel message. News of a crowd like this, gathering around two (three) men, news of the lame man being lame no longer, spread rapidly. It came to the ears of the authorities.
The authorities, in this case, consisted of the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees
This group likely had some connection to what was called ‘The Sanhedrin council’. In the Jewish society this group is what we would call ‘the Court’. Every city had a Sanhedrin Council, consisting of 21 judges. In Jerusalem the Sanhedrin had 71 judges, and was known as the Great Sanhedrin. In our system we have courts to decide cases and if satisfaction is not reached, people appeal to the Supreme Court. The Jewish system was no different.
The Great Sanhedrin assembled in the Temple every day of the week except Saturday and holidays.
The group that came and arrested Peter and John may have represented the Great Sanhedrin, I cannot say positively, but at any rate, they had the authority to make arrests. The priests were the ones who, just a few months earlier, had given Jesus the hardest time. The Captain of the Temple was the supervisor in charge of keeping things peaceful. The Sadducees were a religious group. The Pharisees were also a religious group, but they are not mentioned here as being a part of the arresting authorities.
What is unique about the Sadducees, is that they denied the reality of a resurrection. And they are 2 ... greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
This made the Sadducees more of a secular group than a true religious one. These two disciples are affirming that Jesus rose from the dead. If that information became popular, the Sadducees' whole system was in danger.
If we were to spread the gospel in our community, and if there were a radical response, we would not expect a challenge from our authorities. Why not? Because preaching the gospel does not conflict with anything our authorities are doing. Our ‘authorities’, for the most part, are not known for preaching or teaching anything.
There might be a resistance of some kind, however, if the response to the gospel we preach were to draw most of the people out of the ‘mainline’ churches around us … the ones known to be churches that do not preach the gospel of grace.
If suddenly these churches found themselves ‘empty’, it is possible that they might try to come up with something to present to the authorities to stop us. Perhaps they could find some by-law or other that could be made to fit the situation and limit our preaching.
Much like the Jews had to ‘lobby’ the Romans in order to get Jesus put to death, in our system people lobby the government to get their ‘wishes’ put into law.
Our ‘system’ has an influential and powerful arm that we call the department of education. This group DOES have something to preach and teach, and they are doing it very effectively. At the core of the whole system is an atheistic view. There is no God. Hence there is no creation. Hence, everything evolved. Like the Sadducees fearing that evidence of the resurrection becoming popular would literally destroy their whole religion, so also, if evidence that there is a God became convincingly popular, it would destroy the entire foundation of the public education system.
So if we continue to make a big enough impact on people, convincing them that there is a God … we could expect them to lobby the government to remove our tax exemption of our donations for a start. After that they would lobby for other ways to stop our mouths from preaching that there is a God … and Jesus is alive from dead … and will be returning soon.
God’s word predicts that in the days leading up to His return, opposition will arise, even in the church. Brother will be against brother. And then a bit later, open attacks against Christianity will take place.
The church of the book of Acts is beginning to face open attacks.
3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.
Meanwhile, Luke tells us,
4 But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.
In this place Luke states that 5000 became believers. He says ‘men’. Later he will talk about a large group and include women and children. Perhaps only men are mentioned here because it was customary for only men to attend the Temple for the time of prayer.
So, Peter and John spend the night in jail.
5 ¶ On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem,
6 with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family.
The ‘council’ is defined a bit differently here. But these are clearly ‘the authorities’. They begin to grill Peter and John.
7 And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, "By what power or by what name did you do this?"
It is quite clear in their question that they have no doubt that the lame man was really healed. I suppose that some may have thought it was done by some kind of magic, but truthfully, I believe most of them are aware that Peter has been mentioning the name of Jesus. So why do they ask, as if they did not know? I believe this was simply an intimidation tactic. The Sadducees (scribes) don’t want any mention of a resurrection. The Pharisees (priests) don’t want any mention of Jesus (whom they had put to death) to be made public. So, “by whose authority did you do this?”, is an interesting question. Did a Jew need ‘authority’ to heal somebody? There would have been absolutely no reason to have created such a law?
“By whose authority …” is a question that is supposed to make Peter and John say … “We needed authority for this? We are sorry. Next time we will come and get a permit.” And that would be how intimidation works.
During this whole pandemic thing, the church at large, has floundered somewhat, some of the church wondering if the government is challenging our authority to preach, while others of us do not see it that way at all.
Peter answers the question this way;
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders,
9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed,
10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead — by him this man is standing before you well.
11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.
12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
Wow! There it is! They did not cut him off. He gave them the whole answer … with a boldness that only can come from a fulness of the Holy spirit.
Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. This answers it all.
13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.
14 But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition.
The intimidation tactic did not work. They expected some kind of fear to be shown. After all, these two men are standing before the greatest court of the land.
I love the statement, And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.
Let’s all aim for that! May each encounter we have with the enemy leave with no doubt. We know Jesus. We are well acquainted with Him. We are just like Him.
The time is drawing nearer daily that we may be called on to stand before authorities. Jesus predicts it. He did not say that it might happen, He said, “When”
Mr 13:11 “But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.
This is good news! Not the arrest part, but the part that says, “Don’t worry about it, I will be there and I will put the words into your mouths.”
The ‘council’ did not expect Peter to answer like he did.
So they, 15 … commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves,
16 saying, “What shall we do to these men? For, indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.
17 “But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name.”
18 And they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.
Very interesting. They ‘cannot deny’ that a miracle has been done. Why would they not rejoice that this lame man has been healed? Politics clearly is taking the forefront. They do not care one iota that the power of God has just been demonstrated before everyone's eyes. Their dislike for Jesus was so great it totally impacted their ability to think clearly.
We need to count on the fact that the public that we face, particularly the authorities, do not want any real evidence of God to surface and become widely known. As time goes on, I predict that the lines of demarcation between genuine Christianity and the world will grow sharper. Black and White are opposites. We have far too many shades of gray in the churches of today. That will change. But the change will be very painful. If the gray in your church were changed to black and white this week … you would be on one side or the other. Which of your friends would be on the other side? How would it feel? What kinds of words might be said? If ‘white’ represents committed believers and practicers of God’s word, how will the others continue worshipping? I don’t even want to think about the logistics of it all.
The Word of God, by David, is known by this name; Law.
Ps 119:97 Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.
Ps 119:113 I hate the double-minded, But I love Your law.And
Ps 119:163 ¶ I hate and abhor lying, But I love Your law.
Ps 119:165 ¶ Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to stumble.
And Jesus says this about the church in the near future:
Matthew 24:11 “Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.
Lawlessness in the church. Law here refers to the Word. This means a disregard for the Word of God is on the horizon. I see it already in many places.
So the ‘command’ from the authorities is clear.
18 And they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.
Peter and John did not leave the authorities wondering whether they would be obeyed or not. 19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.
20 “For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”
Talk about taking a committed stand! We have grown very soft and gentle in our approach with those on the outside. Particularly with the authorities. Don’t get me wrong, we need to pray for wisdom and remember that a ‘soft answer turns away wrath’. But we also need to know how to ‘draw a line in the sand’ when the situation calls for it.
21 So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done. 22 For the man was over forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed.
So Peter and John have spent the night in jail. The ‘healed’ man was not likely put in there with them, but he was right there with them when they were brought before the council. Maybe he was locked up with them as well. But one thing is for sure, he is now one of the new members of the church.
And speaking of church we read, 23 ¶ And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them.
News like this would be a first. This young church has received no opposition until now. But the news is good news. They had spent the night in jail, but now they are here, none the worse for wear. God had shown Himself to be a very present help in time of trouble.
As a side note I think you will find the words ‘their own company’ to be interesting. We have indicated that the church must have grown to be over 10,000 in number by now. Where is the church building … well, we know they did not have one. Where is the assembly? We might assume that they have free use of the Temple area. But I think we would be wrong if we think that. They have the right to attend there. But to form an assembly there? I don’t think so, not without express permission from the Captain of the temple.
So then, since the church was busy ‘daily’ in ministry, where and how did they meet?
I think it quite logical to expect that teams would circulate in the temple daily to talk to people about Jesus and resurrection. We will read later that the Apostles had their own group in which to study and pray for ministry.
But in the above verse we read the words their own company.
The term is somewhat open to speculation. Some versions say that they went to their friends and told them what had happened. Other versions use the words, ‘They went to their companions’ and reported’.
The actual term is from a very short Greek word, ἴδιος (idios, id’-ee-os) It simply means, his own, their own, your own etc. From this we deduce that if they went to ‘their own’ and reported, that it could mean friends, companions, church etc. But I think in this case that the King James versions is one of the only ones that got it right. They went to their own company.
It makes complete sense that as the thousands began to be added to the church, that they would have to do something to nurture them, include them, instruct them, and so forth. I believe they formed many sub-categories of the local church. They would be relatively small companies. But if they had 100 in each company there would be 100 companies to total 10000 people. And even 100 in a company would be kind of big to deal with on a personal level. If the companies were of the size that could squeeze into a house … imagine how many house groups there would be!
We can’t get any more information about this than what is written right here, but we know that Peter and John went to their own company and reported. It was their very own place to call home.
Churches in the future may start to look like this. Be ready to open your home to a group of believers when the time comes.
How did the ‘company of believers’ of which Peter and John were a part … respond when they heard the news?
24 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:
25 Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?
26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
27 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,
28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
29 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,
30 By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.
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.
32 ¶ And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul:
That day came and 3000 persons were added to their number. Church ministry continued on a daily basis. They were discovering a lot of things about ‘how to do church’. Part of their practice included going to the Temple everyday to mingle and look for opportunities to talk about Jesus.
The last event we read about was Peter and John going up to the Temple at about 3 pm, the hour of prayer. God used them to heal a man who had been placed at the stairs to the temple every day for years, in order for him to beg for offerings.
The man was totally and instantly healed … and a tremendous tumult resulted.
4:1 ¶ Now as they spoke to the people, …
That is, Apostle Peter was just concluding his talk to the large crowd, and … the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them,
2 being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
3 And they arrested them ...
God has just blessed the message that Peter preached to the people. As we will note in a moment, there was a tremendous response to the gospel message. News of a crowd like this, gathering around two (three) men, news of the lame man being lame no longer, spread rapidly. It came to the ears of the authorities.
The authorities, in this case, consisted of the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees
This group likely had some connection to what was called ‘The Sanhedrin council’. In the Jewish society this group is what we would call ‘the Court’. Every city had a Sanhedrin Council, consisting of 21 judges. In Jerusalem the Sanhedrin had 71 judges, and was known as the Great Sanhedrin. In our system we have courts to decide cases and if satisfaction is not reached, people appeal to the Supreme Court. The Jewish system was no different.
The Great Sanhedrin assembled in the Temple every day of the week except Saturday and holidays.
The group that came and arrested Peter and John may have represented the Great Sanhedrin, I cannot say positively, but at any rate, they had the authority to make arrests. The priests were the ones who, just a few months earlier, had given Jesus the hardest time. The Captain of the Temple was the supervisor in charge of keeping things peaceful. The Sadducees were a religious group. The Pharisees were also a religious group, but they are not mentioned here as being a part of the arresting authorities.
What is unique about the Sadducees, is that they denied the reality of a resurrection. And they are 2 ... greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
This made the Sadducees more of a secular group than a true religious one. These two disciples are affirming that Jesus rose from the dead. If that information became popular, the Sadducees' whole system was in danger.
If we were to spread the gospel in our community, and if there were a radical response, we would not expect a challenge from our authorities. Why not? Because preaching the gospel does not conflict with anything our authorities are doing. Our ‘authorities’, for the most part, are not known for preaching or teaching anything.
There might be a resistance of some kind, however, if the response to the gospel we preach were to draw most of the people out of the ‘mainline’ churches around us … the ones known to be churches that do not preach the gospel of grace.
If suddenly these churches found themselves ‘empty’, it is possible that they might try to come up with something to present to the authorities to stop us. Perhaps they could find some by-law or other that could be made to fit the situation and limit our preaching.
Much like the Jews had to ‘lobby’ the Romans in order to get Jesus put to death, in our system people lobby the government to get their ‘wishes’ put into law.
Our ‘system’ has an influential and powerful arm that we call the department of education. This group DOES have something to preach and teach, and they are doing it very effectively. At the core of the whole system is an atheistic view. There is no God. Hence there is no creation. Hence, everything evolved. Like the Sadducees fearing that evidence of the resurrection becoming popular would literally destroy their whole religion, so also, if evidence that there is a God became convincingly popular, it would destroy the entire foundation of the public education system.
So if we continue to make a big enough impact on people, convincing them that there is a God … we could expect them to lobby the government to remove our tax exemption of our donations for a start. After that they would lobby for other ways to stop our mouths from preaching that there is a God … and Jesus is alive from dead … and will be returning soon.
God’s word predicts that in the days leading up to His return, opposition will arise, even in the church. Brother will be against brother. And then a bit later, open attacks against Christianity will take place.
The church of the book of Acts is beginning to face open attacks.
3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.
Meanwhile, Luke tells us,
4 But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.
In this place Luke states that 5000 became believers. He says ‘men’. Later he will talk about a large group and include women and children. Perhaps only men are mentioned here because it was customary for only men to attend the Temple for the time of prayer.
So, Peter and John spend the night in jail.
5 ¶ On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem,
6 with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family.
The ‘council’ is defined a bit differently here. But these are clearly ‘the authorities’. They begin to grill Peter and John.
7 And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, "By what power or by what name did you do this?"
It is quite clear in their question that they have no doubt that the lame man was really healed. I suppose that some may have thought it was done by some kind of magic, but truthfully, I believe most of them are aware that Peter has been mentioning the name of Jesus. So why do they ask, as if they did not know? I believe this was simply an intimidation tactic. The Sadducees (scribes) don’t want any mention of a resurrection. The Pharisees (priests) don’t want any mention of Jesus (whom they had put to death) to be made public. So, “by whose authority did you do this?”, is an interesting question. Did a Jew need ‘authority’ to heal somebody? There would have been absolutely no reason to have created such a law?
“By whose authority …” is a question that is supposed to make Peter and John say … “We needed authority for this? We are sorry. Next time we will come and get a permit.” And that would be how intimidation works.
During this whole pandemic thing, the church at large, has floundered somewhat, some of the church wondering if the government is challenging our authority to preach, while others of us do not see it that way at all.
Peter answers the question this way;
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders,
9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed,
10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead — by him this man is standing before you well.
11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.
12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
Wow! There it is! They did not cut him off. He gave them the whole answer … with a boldness that only can come from a fulness of the Holy spirit.
Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. This answers it all.
13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.
14 But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition.
The intimidation tactic did not work. They expected some kind of fear to be shown. After all, these two men are standing before the greatest court of the land.
I love the statement, And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.
Let’s all aim for that! May each encounter we have with the enemy leave with no doubt. We know Jesus. We are well acquainted with Him. We are just like Him.
The time is drawing nearer daily that we may be called on to stand before authorities. Jesus predicts it. He did not say that it might happen, He said, “When”
Mr 13:11 “But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.
This is good news! Not the arrest part, but the part that says, “Don’t worry about it, I will be there and I will put the words into your mouths.”
The ‘council’ did not expect Peter to answer like he did.
So they, 15 … commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves,
16 saying, “What shall we do to these men? For, indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.
17 “But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name.”
18 And they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.
Very interesting. They ‘cannot deny’ that a miracle has been done. Why would they not rejoice that this lame man has been healed? Politics clearly is taking the forefront. They do not care one iota that the power of God has just been demonstrated before everyone's eyes. Their dislike for Jesus was so great it totally impacted their ability to think clearly.
We need to count on the fact that the public that we face, particularly the authorities, do not want any real evidence of God to surface and become widely known. As time goes on, I predict that the lines of demarcation between genuine Christianity and the world will grow sharper. Black and White are opposites. We have far too many shades of gray in the churches of today. That will change. But the change will be very painful. If the gray in your church were changed to black and white this week … you would be on one side or the other. Which of your friends would be on the other side? How would it feel? What kinds of words might be said? If ‘white’ represents committed believers and practicers of God’s word, how will the others continue worshipping? I don’t even want to think about the logistics of it all.
The Word of God, by David, is known by this name; Law.
Ps 119:97 Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.
Ps 119:113 I hate the double-minded, But I love Your law.And
Ps 119:163 ¶ I hate and abhor lying, But I love Your law.
Ps 119:165 ¶ Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to stumble.
And Jesus says this about the church in the near future:
Matthew 24:11 “Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.
Lawlessness in the church. Law here refers to the Word. This means a disregard for the Word of God is on the horizon. I see it already in many places.
So the ‘command’ from the authorities is clear.
18 And they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.
Peter and John did not leave the authorities wondering whether they would be obeyed or not. 19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.
20 “For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”
Talk about taking a committed stand! We have grown very soft and gentle in our approach with those on the outside. Particularly with the authorities. Don’t get me wrong, we need to pray for wisdom and remember that a ‘soft answer turns away wrath’. But we also need to know how to ‘draw a line in the sand’ when the situation calls for it.
21 So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done. 22 For the man was over forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed.
So Peter and John have spent the night in jail. The ‘healed’ man was not likely put in there with them, but he was right there with them when they were brought before the council. Maybe he was locked up with them as well. But one thing is for sure, he is now one of the new members of the church.
And speaking of church we read, 23 ¶ And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them.
News like this would be a first. This young church has received no opposition until now. But the news is good news. They had spent the night in jail, but now they are here, none the worse for wear. God had shown Himself to be a very present help in time of trouble.
As a side note I think you will find the words ‘their own company’ to be interesting. We have indicated that the church must have grown to be over 10,000 in number by now. Where is the church building … well, we know they did not have one. Where is the assembly? We might assume that they have free use of the Temple area. But I think we would be wrong if we think that. They have the right to attend there. But to form an assembly there? I don’t think so, not without express permission from the Captain of the temple.
So then, since the church was busy ‘daily’ in ministry, where and how did they meet?
I think it quite logical to expect that teams would circulate in the temple daily to talk to people about Jesus and resurrection. We will read later that the Apostles had their own group in which to study and pray for ministry.
But in the above verse we read the words their own company.
The term is somewhat open to speculation. Some versions say that they went to their friends and told them what had happened. Other versions use the words, ‘They went to their companions’ and reported’.
The actual term is from a very short Greek word, ἴδιος (idios, id’-ee-os) It simply means, his own, their own, your own etc. From this we deduce that if they went to ‘their own’ and reported, that it could mean friends, companions, church etc. But I think in this case that the King James versions is one of the only ones that got it right. They went to their own company.
It makes complete sense that as the thousands began to be added to the church, that they would have to do something to nurture them, include them, instruct them, and so forth. I believe they formed many sub-categories of the local church. They would be relatively small companies. But if they had 100 in each company there would be 100 companies to total 10000 people. And even 100 in a company would be kind of big to deal with on a personal level. If the companies were of the size that could squeeze into a house … imagine how many house groups there would be!
We can’t get any more information about this than what is written right here, but we know that Peter and John went to their own company and reported. It was their very own place to call home.
Churches in the future may start to look like this. Be ready to open your home to a group of believers when the time comes.
How did the ‘company of believers’ of which Peter and John were a part … respond when they heard the news?
24 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:
25 Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?
26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
27 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,
28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
29 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,
30 By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.
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.
32 ¶ And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: