Acts: The Kingdom Advances - Week 8 (4:23-31)
Acts 4:23-31
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Acts 4:23-31 〰️
We’re now in the eighth week of our walkthrough of Acts, and this week continues the story of Peter and John healing the lame man, being interrogated by the religious leaders, and then being released. Last week’s passage ended with Peter and John being released without discipline, as the Sadducees “found no way to punish them because the people were all giving glory to God over what had been done.” (v21). This week’s passage continues this story, as the disciples return to their people— the congregation of their church— and inform them of what has happened. After this, they come to the Lord, acknowledging His power and will, praying for wisdom and boldness.
As with the Gospels, the book of Acts is a narrative, and so most of our reading is pretty linear. As we make our way through passages like this, we can often instinctively read and think, “yep, that’s what happened. That sounds good to me!” But as we read passages like this, I hope we, as leaders, can encourage our people to see the bigger biblical picture and principles found in narratives like this. Most often, our discussion guides will walk through the passage verse by verse, expanding on it and explaining what happened. But in a straightforward passage like this, I want to encourage us to seek out what God is trying to teach. With some portions of Scripture, we may read and apply (think the Proverbs), others may be descriptive rather than prescriptive (think the History books of the Old Testament, like Joshua, Judges, Ruth, etc.). But in a book like Acts, we can see the early church's progression and learn its history, while also seeing God actively working in ways on this side of the Resurrection of Jesus. All of this is informative and profitable for teaching (2 Tim 3:16).
So in reading this passage, the key focus for us this week is how Peter, John, and their community came to God with boldness. After faithfully responding to Christ by telling everyone who would listen about the miraculous life, death, and resurrection of the Son of God, they prayed to God, praising HIm for His character, goodness, and faithfulness (v24b-28). They then asked for favor, blessing, and boldness to do signs and wonders while sharing the good news of Jesus Christ (v29-30). In their prayer, they read and/or recite Psalm 2:1-2 (I say “they” because we don’t know exactly who is leading this prayer. While it’s certainly possible that the power of the Holy Spirit comes upon them, and they all speak in unison, it’s more likely that there is an individual leading the corporate prayer, and they are all praying together in affirmation). As an aside, there’s something to this reciting of Scripture, where God’s people know His Word so deeply that it becomes part of their common language. We see this from Jesus, our greatest example, as He is tempted in the wilderness in Matthew 4. Each time the devil tried to entrap Jesus, He responded with God’s Word, the ultimate truth.
The church continues in prayer, asking the Lord for His favor and blessing over their mission to share the Gospel of Jesus, knowing the world’s hostility toward them. An important pattern we should recognize is that, before seeking anything from God (no matter how good or holy the request is), they first praise God for what He has done through Jesus and in His people.
After this, we read that “the place where they were assembled was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.” (v31a). While next week’s passage expands on what comes from this filling of the Holy Spirit, right now we know that they “began to speak the word of God boldly.” (v31b). Over and over in Acts so far, we read that the fruit of the Holy Spirit’s presence is overflowing into the world around us. We’ve continually said that faith produces obedience, and the zoomed-out truth of this is that God’s presence in our spirits and hearts produces good works. “Every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit; neither can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So you’ll recognize them by their fruit.” (Matthew 7:17-20).
Discussion Questions
Could someone read Acts 4:23-31 for us?
What stood out to you from the passage?
Does this passage remind you of another part of Scripture?
Do you have any questions?
What did Peter and John do immediately after being released?
How did the church respond to the testimony of Peter and John in v24?
What did they pray for in v29, and what do you think was the desire behind praying for this?
In this passage, the people were bold in their witness and in their prayer. Would you say you’re more bold in your prayers or in your witness to others? Why?
What could we do, either as an individual or community group, to grow in boldness of witness and/or prayer?
Is there something you’ve been praying about for a long time, or someone you’ve shared the Gospel with repeatedly, but have not seen results? Has this caused you to lose boldness in praying or sharing?
What would it look like to trust God to give you the faith to be bold in this again? In what specific ways could your community support you as you seek renewed boldness? (Accountability, praying/sharing together, etc.)