Acts 4:31 is built on the foundation of two men who had the courage to expect God to do something in the marketplace and use it as a door to preach the gospel and as a result were arrested and persecuted for their preaching of the gospel.
They were not arrested for the man being healed, seldom will anyone be persecuted for such a wonderful miracle. They were arrested because they went beyond the miracle and spoke specifically about who did it and why. They preached Christ!
They gave credit to Christ and then spoke forthrightly concerning the truth about Him. For this the leaders of the temple sought to silence them with threats and held them overnight in jail.
After being released and having stood their ground in the gospel they met with the believers and prayed for more of this kind of ministry to happen so that others might see, hear and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Their motive in prayer? Others might see, hear and know Christ!
They prayed Scripturally concerning the prophetic words concerning Christ and for themselves they simply asked for boldness to preach.
They were determined to see the kingdom advanced. From this heart motivation they simply lived their lives and God confirmed their living with His presence wherever they went.
There is no great concern revealed here in this portion of Scripture for how lively of a meeting they might have. They appear to me to be more concerned about the gospel going forth and people being set free by the truth of it working in their hearts. As a result their meeting together was by nature more lively!
There is a freshness in such thinking and living. There is a presence of God that is manifest to a generation when a people determine to be committed to what matters most.
About The Author
- Tim Atchley
- Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
- I currently serve as Senior Pastor of Harvest Church in Knoxville, Tn. I was sent out from Trinity Chapel of Knoxville in 1993 accompanied by my wife Sheila our four children Sarah, Hannah, Josiah & Isaac and a handful of bold, brave and committed believers determined to plant our first church. Pioneering is hard work but well worth the journey. That is why we desire to make disciples of Christ who will, like us, also embrace the call to plant churches.
