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ACTS 4:12-35 - Corps Notes - December 17, 1975

3rdburglar by Wordburglar
Format: mp3,pdf
Publication Date: 12-17-1975

On Ephesians 4:25 where I want to begin tonight, or where we will begin tonight , the first part of what the Research Team gave me is the work that Walter Cummins published in our wonderful Way Magazine on "The Spoken Word." Also, as we cover Ephesians 4:28 tonight, I had all the information in front of me from another article that Walter Cummins has in the... has had in the Magazine. The first article on Ephesians 4:25 is entitled "The Spoken Word." The one on Ephesians 4:28 is "Workers for God." Both of these pieces of work by Walter are absolutely superb. And I believe that they should appear and will appear in our research journal GMIR whenever we begin publishing that. {GMIR Aramaic word meaning ' to perfect, accomplish , mature, complete, arithmetically to be divisible without any remainder.}

And I noticed again that some of the things that were stated are just so beautifully and logically presented, I'm truly thankful for, not only Walter, but the whole Research Department. I think our Biblical Research Department is just second to none. And it' s even going to be better by God' s mercy and grace next year and in years to come than it is at this time. And right now I do not believe that our Biblical Research Department needs to take a back seat for any academic institution or work in the world.

And I thought today, I have never... I've never thought of Walter Cummins in any other capacity than to be my assistant. I know Vince Finnegan, you know, on the books is my assistant. And that' s great. But I've never thought of Walter Cummins in any other capacity for so many years as always being my assistant. And I think he' s just the most wonderful person that any president could have as his assistant. And also to be chairmen of the Department of Greek, and then the coordinator of the Biblical research of The Way International. For any one man to have that position and that responsibility is an awesome reality and I'm real proud of Walter and real thankful for him. But I am also thankful for the rest of our wonderful men and women in the Research Department.

I would like for the Corps all over the country to go to the Magazine and find "The Spoken_Word," that's the title of it, dealing with Ephesians 4:25 and other scriptures, and before the next Corps meeting next week, you endeavor to master that great piece of work by Walter Cummins. It's just, you know, the spoken Word. Over fifty Greek words are used in the New Testament in connection with the faculties of utterance. Over fifty. And then he takes the most important ones and he lists them and it' s just. .. it' s just a piece of research work that you should really as a Corps master in your heart and in your life.

Ephesians 4:25 in the King James reads, Wherefore put away lyin g, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.

The ' putting away' was interesting to me again because of the Greek word aniko, a-n-i-k-o.

And this word is ' the putting away,' this word ' put away,' aniko, is the same root word as in 4:22, where we use the word ' rest,' meaning ' to rest.' Is that right? Yep, that is right. I taught you that,

didn't I? Did I or didn't I? Doesn't look right to me. It is the same root. What chapter am I missing? Am I missing anything? I don't know. Right now I'm screwed up, ha ha. First time today. You check the word again and I'll do that, too and see what I'm missing here.

But a-n-i-k-o is the word for ' putting away from you. ' To put away. And it' s the same root as the word ' rest.' I don't know where the word appears, but it's got to be in there.

Now, that word ' speak,' every man speak. That word ' speak ' is from the Greek word

laleo, l-a-l-e-long-o. And that' s where Walter' s article on "The Spoken Word"_c omes in because that is.. .he uses that word laleo in here, which I teach in Corinthians when I teach the Foundational Class. And he says the word is employed 24 times in I Corinthians chapter 14. I had forgotten that.

This word is truly significant. I couldn' t quite understand it Research Department, what  you said on page 26B 16, where you defined it ' to make vocal utterance,' ' to babble,' 'to talk,'  'to  exercise the faculty of speech without reference to the words spoken.' I just wondered if there might not be another word that could be substituted or utilized at this point. I know that Zachariah 8:16 is the quotation that is used here, or spoken of. And that Zachariah 8:16 adds force to what is said by using a quote, a quotation. That' s why my question to the Research Department is, How can it be without reference to what is spoken if it is truth plus the quotation of the Word of God that's given. It doesn't quite fit for me.

'With his neighbor' has to be a believing neighbor. This 'speak truth with his neighbor' is a figure of speech gnome, g-n-o-m-e, which simply is a citation. And that' s a citation from Zachariah 8:16.

There are a series of figures of speech, Corps, in chapter four which just put the 00mph, the highlight, to the particular things that are set whereby you put off the old man. This phrase here 'speak every man truth with his neighbor'  is one of them. The other one appears in verse 26, 'be  angry and sin not.' ' Steal no more' is another one. 'Corrupt communication' is the fourth one.  'Grieve not the  holy spirit' is the fifth one. ' All bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking' is  the sixth. And  then  ' be kind' and so forth, is the seventh.

You see, the last phrase in that verse, in King James, For we' re members one of what? [Another] And it' s relative to the neighbor. Now you just look at that. Wherefore put away  lying, speak  every  man truth with his what? [Neighbor] For we are members  one of  another.  That  doesn't  mean just  a neighbor who lives next door, but it has to be a believing neighbor because  we are members  one of what? [Another]. You could not be a member ' one of another' ifhe  was an  unbeliever.  That's how I know this is going to  work. This tells me that the neighbor  is  a  believer.  And  this  ' we' re members one of another' continues the imagery of the Body of Christ.

The literal  according  to  usage of this verse is as follows:   Wherefore  put away the  lie... and I believe in my heart, before I go on with the literal that until man is born again, it's all a lie anyways. And that' s why I believe that this translation will fit in the light of that knowledge. Because when  a man is not born again, his whole  life is just a  lie. Now you're  born again,  and that ' s  why  I think the text states it ' wherefore put away the lie,' the life you' ve been living , the screwed up life you have lived outside of God. It' s been just a life of a lie. It' s not truth. It' s just the opposite of truth and that's my reason for translating it this way... Wherefore put away the lie.

You've got to go with that translation. You have no other text to go by both from Aramaic and Greek it's 'lie.' Not 'lying.' If the Research Department has anything to share in the light of that, I'd be blessed to hear, but you' ve heard my reasons for translating it, Research Department, this way.

Now since they're born again, their whole life is changed, so the life of lying, and living a lie, and being a lie, and being false, is to be put away.

And every man... this is the translation ... and everyone, everyone. The word ' man' you could use because it's an inclusive noun, but I prefer to use the word ' one.'

Wherefore put away the lie and everyone speak the truth with his neighbor for we are members one of another. That is literal according to usage.

Now for the expanded according to understanding. It's not bad. Because of this... What we coughing for? Everybody sick?...Because of this... and the reason I went in the expanded along this line is because verse 24 last week told us that we are created by God in righteousness and in true purity, through holiness. Twenty four.

That's why 25, Wherefore ... 'wherefore' can be translated 'because of this.' Because of this what? Being created in righteousness and truly pure. See it's an inside job.

Because of this being created in righteousness and truly pure by the grace and the love of

God.. .Because of this being created in righteousness and truly pure, you put away, completely lay to rest the lie that you have been and were living and each one of you speak the truth using a quotation from the Word with his believing neighbor for we are members one of another in the Body of the Church.

Robinson {Edward} said, he translated, 'speak every man truth with his neighbor' and he said it's from Zachariah 8:16 which adds force to what is said by using a quote. That's why I translated that. I think that' s great. It adds force to what is said. If you're speaking to someone, it adds force to what you say by using a quote, a quotation from God's Word. In other words, ' you share the Word with them.' That' s why I went with that translation. I want to give it to you again in this sense.

Speak the truth using a quotation from the Word, which means 'share the Word.' Quote the Word to them. Tell them what the Word says, with his believing neighbor. Why? For we are members one of another in the Body of the Church. This verse is just mind blowing.

Here, you have a born-again believer neighbor who needs to grow up a little more. So what do you do? Each one speak the truth to that neighbor, that believer, using the Word, quoting the Word because we' re members one of another in the Body of the Church. It's a real positive thing to do.

Verse 26 in King James reads, Be angry.. .ha ha... we like that one, don't we. Be ye angry and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath.

Here is a verse of Scripture that' s very, very difficult for most people. And it' s not too easy for us either. But I think we are able to share the truth of the greatness of this and it's been burning in my heart for a long time to do this with our people.

Everybody has problems with ' how can you be angry and not sin?' You know, how can raise hell with something and not be sinful in doing it? Teed off and not be sinful. And how can you go... and what does it mean 'don't let the sun go down upon your wrath?' See.

In the context, here, verses 26 and 27 deal with your believing neighbor, specifically. Then the Greek word for ' anger' which is from the root orge, o-r-g-long-e means 'anger together with the desire of revenge .' That' s bad. That' s a heavy. The Hebrew word means ' to kill, and all the tumults of passion that terminate in killing.' So it's a real heavy word when it said ' be angry.'

And the way I believe it's used in God' s Word, ' be ye angry' means ' it's a long time anger with your believing neighbor until a change has ensued.' The desire to... of revenge is a change. And I, knowing the Word in the light of the new birth, it's where a change finally comes about. Until that time, you just, long-term, you just stay put witnessing the Word, sharing the Word. You do not dislike the believing neighbor; you simply dislike that he is not fully accepting the Word and walking on it. So it' s a long-term anger until a change has ensued. You just stay faithful.

I don't know what else to do with those words. It is a righteous anger. Yet it is a righteous anger without sin.

Among the scholars, there is a disagreement on these words. Well, I don't know about my being a scholar; that I don' t anything about being about. But it's simple to me because righteous anger is commanded by God's Word when it says ' be ye angry.' Well, the scholars can fight about it. I don' t care. It' s a command. Not just permitted to get teed once in a while when somebody' s off of God' s Word, a believer is off of God's Word. You' re always teed off righteously at any believer, born-again believer, who is off of God' s Word. And for those of us in the Way Ministry, it' s been a lifetime.

Get into it with them on... Oh what subject do you want to talk about? Baptism? Food? One God? See. All that stuff.

The Aramaic is accurate in the words ' and sin not.' It literally translates ' and you will not sin.' Again, this ' be angry and sin not' is that figure gnome. Quotation. A citation from the Old Testament. It' s from Psalm 4:4. But in King James, Psalm 4:4, it's translated 'stand in awe.' The real sense of the Hebrew is ' one of admonition;' sin not. Where we' re admonished to not sin. Sin not.

' Let not the sun go down on your wrath. ' Ha ha. That again is beautiful. People went to bed when the sun went down, when it got dark. That's when they went to bed. So what that simply is saying, ha ha, ' don't go to bed teed off.' Don' t let the sun go down on your wrath. In other words, go to bed; don' t go to bed mad. ' When you go to bed' is what it means. Let not the sun go down when you go to bed. And they went to bed when the sun went down. When it got dark, they went to bed, see.

' Upon your wrath.' And the word ' wrath' here is basically ' irritation.' Ha ha. Previously when I taught Ephesians, I made mention of this fact, ' don' t let righteous anger shake you, wondering if it was right on. When you go to bed, go to sleep.'

Now, this is what we have done with it in the literal, ha ha, according to usage. I got more papers up here than Carter has liver pills, or something. Then, I can' t find my... whatever it is I take off of it.

Okay, verse 26. You be righteously angry.. .this is literal according to usage.. .and you will not be sinning. Don't go to bed even with a momentary irritation, ha ha.

I don't think you get nearly as much fun out of this as I do. It's neat. It's absolutely scrumptious, see. At the opening, is that heavy word, remember? Anger. So it's a real heavy time. So what he is saying, in the heavy time, when your standing on God' s Word  and sharing that with the  believing  neighbor, you' re righteously angry... you're not sinning. And  you don't  even go to  bed with a momentary irritation. In other Words, when you go to bed, thank God the day is over. Say your last prayer and start snoring.

Boy, that would save a lot of sleeping pills, wouldn' t it? Practicing that principle. Boy, oh boy, what a tremendous Word. And hardly anybody understands verse 26. They argue about it, but they don' t get the understanding.

Now this is the expanded one according to understanding, I hope. And again, I would like to just lay some things before the Corps, and especially before the Research Department. I translated the first part of verse 26, You always stay angry with an all-out desire to have them to change which anger will not be sin on your part.

Then I have another translation of that first part of it: You be righteously angry, 'teed off' with sin... 'Teed off' I put in quotes. But don't  you sin  by acting  ' holier than thou'  vaunting  yourself  by acting so righteously like you never sin.

I do not know which one of those two the Research Department feels would be the better. The last part of the phrase that I translated which would go with both of these that I have given you here on the expanded one for understanding. This, the last part, goes with that first one and with the second ... also.. .even if it is only a momentary irritation.  When you go to  bed, go to sleep. That's what I did with it.

Now, verse 27. King James says, Neither (or neither) give place to the Devil. The word 'place' is simply a portion, a part. No believer will give full place to the Devil, but he may be giving a part, a portion. He' ll mark off a spot, ' this is Devil' s permission over here, over here, no permission, you know. And you really give the Devil a portion or a spot if you stew about it after you go to bed and you toss and you tum and can' t sleep.

This word 'the Devil,' ' the Devil' in the Aramaic is a very interesting and exciting Word to me and it blesses my heart. It' s a compound word where the first part means ' to eat' or ' to devour.' The latter

' to slander' or ' to accuse. '  So when I got to translating  this, literally according  to usage, verse 27 reads: Do not give any portion or space or an opportunity to the Devil. So I used those three words synonymously: portion, space, opportunity. Do not give any portion or space or an opportunity to the Devil.

The expanded according to understanding: And you will not give a toehold, an opportunity or an occasion for the Devil to eat you. Ha ha. I get more fun than you ever will out of working this stuff, huh.

You see, and to me, that communicates to my understanding. John 10:10. The thief cometh not but for to what? [Steal, kill, and destroy] Right. To eat you out. To beat you. And that's why that Aramaic word, on the word ' Devil' really thrilled me.

And that ' s why I put it into the expanded translation: And you will not give a ' toehold.' Now, at L.E.A.D., you know how important it is to get a what? [Toehold] Ha ha. And when you' re really climbing in, you' re blessed for a toehold. How thankful you are when you get a foothold. Now the adversary can never get a foothold in a believer' s life until he first has a toehold. That's why I translated it that way.

Do not give... and you will not give a toehold ... shave all the rocks off... an opportunity or an occasion for the Devil to eat you. And that' s exactly what he likes to do to believers.

Now we go to verse 28. King James says, Let him that stole steal not more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. And here again, is another great work that I believe should be in our research journal GMIR, Walter' s work on " Workers for God."

It' s just tremendous where he... you know... he just goes into God' s men are called many things in the Word. They' re called: fellow workers, ministers, or servants, slaves, fellow slaves, partners, messengers, soldiers, fellow soldiers, athletes, fellow athletes, stewards, ambassadors, witnesses, all of those. And he covers them so beautifully. And I love very much how he covered the word ' slave,' because it' s a much stronger word than to be a minister, or to be a servant. It is to be one who is branded, marked out, sold out. And baby, from that day on, there are no ifs, and' s, or but' s. You never budge on it. You are branded. Most believers are never branded. They may be servants, they may be ministers, but they are not branded. When you' re branded, you stay faithful. You do not budge. You do not change. You stay put. If all hell breaks loose, you still live the believing Word.

I think the prophet once said, If I was in the midst of hell, God I know you' d be there. (Psalm 139:8) He' d be there. That' s the doulos. That, of course, is just a tremendous piece of work.

And the other great part that I think... and this is a second piece that I want the Corps to master before next Wednesday night, " Workers for God," the work on ' witness.' You see, it's the same word basically that's translated ' martyr,' see. And we got a lot of those canonized. That's not at all what a witness is. A witness is a living example, not a dead one. The word 'martyr' simply means that you lay down your life in witnessing. And boy, when you put the doulos together with ' witness,' then you' ve got power for abundant living. It's just a fantastic work by Walter and I' m real grateful that it was published. Because once it' s in print, people can take a look at it if they want to.

I'd like a cup of coffee, please.

Now, we are in verse 28. The Aramaic translation is ' and he who was stealing.' I understand it from the English, ' let him that stole,' past tense. The Aramaic is real simple, real strong. ' And he, the one who is born again, who was, past tense, stealing.'

Thank you.

His whole life was one of those before he was born again.

Whenever you bring a cup of coffee to a right-hand man, you put the handle to the right. When you serve a cup of coffee to a left-hand man, you put it on the left-hand side and put the handle to the left. Corps principle number seven or something, ha ha. Mrs. Wierwille would say, Well, be thankful you even get a cup of coffee. [Laughter] Ah, you're wonderful.

See, ' let him who stole, steal no more.' 'Stole and steal,' that' s a figure of speech and is polyptoton p-o-l-y-p-t-o-t-o-n. It' s a repetition of the same root word in different parts of speech or reflections. But, that's not earth shaking right now in my heart.

You see, in some Eastern culture, it was not considered a sin or a shame to steal because that's the way they lived, the only way they lived. Somebody told me... or not only told me, one of our people, but it was in a national magazine, that the basic culture of Russia today is to steal. And in some respects I can understand this. If you don't have anything and you're starving to death and there' s a loaf of bread you can get a hold of... steal the dam thing. I understand that.

So this verse is really sharp, really sharp. Let him who stole, even though that man previously considered it the way to live and there was no shame in it, no sin in it. He said, Well, let that fellow who stole, steal no more. Something has happened on the inside of that man. Something that happened, where He is able to meet all of our need according to His riches in glory. Christ in you, the hope of glory. More than conquerors.

A record in the Old Testament, I forget where it is, but it's in there, that it' s never, you never need to borrow or steal bread or... what is that in the Old Testament? Begging bread. One person stand and tell me. {Psalm 37:25, I have been young and now am old; yet have I seen the righteous forsaken, nor His seed begging bread.} Psalm 27:25 who? {Psalm 37:25} 37:25. All the years, he's never seen the righteous to have to do what? {Beg bread} Beg bread.

First of all, I wish the Christian world could hear this. Secondly, I wish our government in the United States could understand it. The Word says, If you don't work, you don' t eat. A lot of that stuff. Well, what we've been doing is stealing from the people who are willing to work to give to the people who don' t want to work. That's a bunch of crap. That's stealing. That's why this verse is so hot in my soul tonight. Let him who stole, quit stealing, dang it. See.

Many years ago I was really knocked for a loop along some of this line in India, from Dr. Williams. I think he loved India maybe like I love the United States, I don' t know. Because only a man knows how much he loves his own country, I guess.

But... as we were traveling together, he said to me, Dr. Wierwille, I hear you have whores in the United States.

You know, I never had given it a thought. I just took it for granted. [Laughter] And I said, yeah. He said, Why does a rich country like the United States have whores?

And I said, I don't know.

And he said, I can't understand it. Cannot your women make enough money to live? Yeah, but they figure that' s cheaper and more pleasurable or something, I don' t know. And he said, Well, I think it's sinful that the United States has whores.

And I said, What do you mean?

And he said to me, why, I can understand India. He said we don' t enough food, we don' t have enough of anything hardly for a lot of people. And we have whores because that' s the only way they can continue to live physically.

And I thought to myself, well boy, that' s slapping me in the face good. And I took it as a wonderful lesson. There is no excuse in the United States for any women being a whore because she doesn' t need to get screwed and paid for it in order to get money so she can live. There's plenty of work available and if there isn' t she ought to get born again, then there' s a guarantee of work. ..other work, available. I tell you, when you' re honest, some of these men in other countries have some real logic behind their thinking. How would you have liked to have handled that? I just simply admitted, Well, I think we' re wrong in the United States. But I said, I think you' re wrong in India, too, because no reason to have whores here if you get them born again.

So I don' t know. But this verse today as I worked the final working on this verse 28 is when my heart really went back and burned with that truth that Dr. Williams had stated. Because in many Eastern cultures, it was not considered as sin or as shame to steal, if it was a matter of livelihood. You sometimes wonder who will live in the greatest condemnation before God and justice and judgment when the time comes.

For in most of what are called poor countries even, there is sufficient money, food, and other things for the people to live if those in positions of authority were not so selfish and egotistical, and want it for themselves , and let the rest of the world die... or a country die.

The word ' labor' in verse 28 is the word which literally means ' hard work resulting in fatigue.' That's how I felt coming from the woods last night. And I didn' t do anything. It was just hard work being there with the rest of you. Today I got so tired of being with some, I came home. Ah, you' re wonderful.

' Working with his hands' is an Eastern cultural type of thing. Today in our culture, you could have it, you know, the truth is working with your mind or working with your hand, whatever you' re working at. But in Eastern culture, every son was to be trained to work with his hands, even if he was the son of a king. Had to learn a trade, a profession of business.

Jesus Christ was a saddle maker. He made them to ride, I guess, what do you want? Tennessee Walkers , or? See. I think not only did he do that, Paul did it, too, you know. Someday I'm going to find a...or Walter, or some of those, are going to find me a manuscript to prove it. .. and a wonderful carpenter by trade. Many times doing carpentry work and being a saddle maker were sort of in the same household, because building carpentry and having saddles to use for their business and carrying on, were very, very closely aligned. Well, I won' t argue the point, but I wish we' d keep looking.

II Thessalonians.. .Do your hands ever get so dry you can hardly hold anything? Golly, mine are so dry tonight, I wonder why? II Thessalonians, chapter 3:10... this we commanded you that if any would not work, neither should he what? [Eat] Right. Even unemployment is no excuse for stealing. He just doesn' t eat. Goes and gets work. Boy, when I first saw the greatness of these principles many years ago, and then of course, I uniquely by God' s grace, inculcated that into our W.O.W. program and very dynamically in the Corps leadership.

ACTS 4:12-35
December 17, 1975
The Way College of Emporia
Sometimes I think it gets to the place with God’s Word that it’s just some-thing you just have to feel
in your heart. It’s something on the inside of you that no words can explain, but you see its greatness
and it’s simply electrifying. The records that you have gone through today have brought you down to
the 13th verse of the 4th chapter. I forget what I said about verse 12, but it’s the same tonight as it
was then.
Acts 4:12
You just have to stand for that. We believe that the Word of God is the will of God. Someone else
has the privilege to not believe it if they want to. That’s right! Boy, never back up on the Word.
Don’t sit yourself in judgment over anyone else. Let God do the judging and you just teach the Word.
So that brings you to the results of that tremendous message that Peter preached. And I’m still
convinced if Peter had had more time on these occasions and Peter would have sat down and figured
out his sermons, he would most likely have blown it. He just had to believe God and move out with
the greatness of God. He got cornered, so to speak. If people back you up into a corner, then you
either have it or you haven’t got it. You’ve either got it on the inside and are able to share it or you
haven’t. And Peter had it.
Acts 4:13
“when they saw the boldness” -- it doesn’t say they were adamant. There is a difference between
being bold and being oppressively bold. Understand? You can just turn people off by being adamant
about your boldness to the end that if you don’t believe this you are going to hell. Well, so what?
There’s no use telling them because they are going anyway if they don’t believe it. So you might as
well just teach them the greatness of God’s Word, the positive side of it, the beauty of it. They saw
the boldness of Peter and John. I think Bullinger in his Bible would list it as outspokenness. It’s more
than that. It’s heavier than that. I don’t know any better word than boldness, for boldness just
communicates to me. No reluctance, no backing up or out of it.
“perceived” - noticed to the end of the action that they had carried out - Greek word here is –
katalambanō -- made manifest
“unlearned and ignorant” - they were not unlearned and ignorant as far as their knowledge was
concerned. In other words, they hadn’t attended Harvard Divinity School, or the theological
seminaries that you know about. That’s why they said they were unlearned and ignorant, because
they had not graduated from the priestly schools of Learning, but being brought up in Judaism,
naturally they went to the synagogue and they were trained by the rabbis. They were not unlearned
and ignorant as far as the scriptures and the whole gamut of learning under the rabbis, for they had
just not attended the theological schools. One of the translations gives it as “illiterate and obscure,”
meaning “non-professional.” That word ignorant is the Greek word, idiōtēs - meaning idiot.
“they marveled” - you wouldn’t expect this kind of work unless you had gone to the proper schools.
“they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus” - But if you look at the background,
the time they spent with Jesus, Peter was copping out lots of the time, but they still took knowledge
that they had been with Jesus.
112
Acts 4:14
They carried their testimony right with them. So they couldn’t say that the fellow wasn’t healed. One
who had been lame from his mother’s womb, and he was not an unknown individual. He was not
poverty stricken. He did not need money to live. The reason he was begging was to show his poverty
to the end that he needed healing; he needed something in his life. He didn’t need money. If he had
needed money they would have put him at the gate of the city where everyone came in and not at the
temple. As I taught you, “silver and gold have I none” - they didn’t take that into the temple with
them. Yet here was a man begging alms. Boy, when this man walked into that temple, everybody in
the Sanhedrin knew him. All of those top men knew this fellow, and there he was right in the temple.
They could say nothing against it. It happened.
Acts 4:15
They commanded Peter and John to go out of the council and then they conferred among themselves,
to figure this thing out.
Acts 4:16
“a notable miracle” - a very notable miracle. He was- over 40 years old and he was brought to the
temple daily. Imagine the interest his daddy and mommy had in bringing him daily. That’s why a
notable miracle. This miracle had been done by them, Peter and John.
“manifest” - made openly known
“we cannot deny it” - they couldn’t deny it, for the guy was right there with them. They’d like to
have.
Acts 4:17
“straightly threaten” - threaten them with threats
“”in the name of Jesus” - The one thing that they objected to was their speaking in the name of Jesus.
(that humiliating name -- no good thing can come out of Nazareth)
Acts 4:18
“commanded” - this word means exactly that; - commanded. And they are talking with the top
echelon of the religious circle, the Sanhedrin, the men who had power in their hands to cause people
to be crucified. And they commanded them. Now Peter and John have a problem. They’ve run right
up into the face of great reality. Are you going to knuckle in, be full of fear? They threatened them
with threats. That’s the first principle; to cause people to have fear. Peter and John were confronted
with it, just like you are going to be, in life, if you are going to stand for God’s Word. You are going
to run right into them some time and you have to make up your mind like Peter and John had to make
up theirs. There are people there who can crucify you, who can write bad articles about you. You just
come to that point of decision where you have to make up your mind whether God is right, His Word
is right, or whether it isn’t.
Acts 4:19
“whether” – if
Acts 4:20
“we cannot” - the reason ‘they cannot’ is because they had made up their minds to be committed.
They had the freedom; they could cop out, but they had gotten to the place where they had made up
their mind to stand. That’s laying it right out there; simple, beautiful, right to the point. You know
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what Peter and those had heard and seen according to the previous record in the book of Acts. You
can command us and threaten us, but the one thing we know is that we can stand and we can speak
that which we have heard and that which we have seen, and that’s what we are committed to.
Acts 4:21
There must have been a lot of fire-flying between verse 20 and verse 21.
“finding nothing how they might punish them” – Who you kidding? - those Jews could have found
reasons to punish them. But the meaning is in the rest of the phrase.
“because of the people” – ‘the people’ is the only thing that deterred them. Had it not been for the
people they would have endeavored to do a lot of other things, but because of the people.
“for all glorified God” - reminds me of that scripture that they praised God because God had given
such power unto men. (Matthew 9:8)
There it is, Peter and John. Man over 40. Jesus had walked by him and never ministered to him. No
go sign. Here’s the day, and it’s electrifying, isn’t it.
“because of the people” –I think has to be basically because of the believers that were there.
Acts 4:4; the number of the men was about 5000. Acts 2:41; - there were about 3000 souls. That
makes 8000. And these were men. If the proportion then was like today, that means they at least had
24, 000 women, 3 to 1 anyways. So there were a lot of believers. Now imagine all of these believers
getting together. It’s sort of interesting.
“for all men glorified God” - All of the believers glorified God, not the unbelievers, they never do.
Acts 4:22
It was a healing but it was a miracle of healing because it was instantaneous.
Acts 4:23
“let go” - released
“own company” - I don’t know what that all means. I’m sure it doesn’t mean the 8000. The apostles
plus whoever else they might have invited. There they made a detailed report of all that the chief
priests and elders had said unto them.
“chief priests” – Sanhedrin – top religious brass
Acts 4:24
“they” - their own company
“one accord” - this is the 4th usage of ‘one accord’ in Acts - means unity of purpose. This one
accord-prayer was not that they all read it from the script, the same words, but this is the one accordprayer
for everybody; they all felt like this.
“art God” – delete
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Acts 4:25
“Who” - ‘by pneuma hagion’ – is added here
“imagine” - think or dwell
Acts 4:26
“Christ” - Messiah
Acts 4:27
“For of a truth” – ‘in this city’ - must be added; ‘For of a truth in this city’
“Child” - is the word ‘servant’
“Herod” – that’s the Roman side of it
Acts 4:28
“determined before” -- predestined
I’ve often wondered that this is somewhat like a prayer, and yet it isn’t a prayer. I think I’ve even
said that this is the first prayer in the book of Acts. I’m not sure if it is. But it’s sure good whatever it
is; - if it isn’t praying, it’s right on! But it doesn’t say that it’s prayer. It says they ‘lifted up their voice
to God.’
The thing that blesses my heart here is how they reminded Him of who He was, as if God needs any
reminder of who He is. But, you see, in the process of reminding Him they reminded themselves of
what God had promised and what it was all about. They said, “Lord, thou which hast made heaven
and earth.” Well, He knows that He did that. God knew all of that. But they are simply reminding
God of what His promises said, and as they reminded God they reminded themselves.
Acts 4:29
“behold their threatenings” - Don’t you think that God had noticed it? Sure had. (When you remind
your earthly father it blesses you too.)
“servants” - bond slaves I told you they were committed; “we cannot but speak the things which we
have seen and heard.” (verse 20) They had reached that point of no cop out, no back-up, no flipping
out; - just stand.
“speak Thy word” -- The very thing that got them in trouble, they’re believing more for now. It was
the boldness of speaking forth the greatness of God’s Word that brought them in front of the
Sanhedrin. And when they come back to this occasion that we are reading about, they talk to the
Lord, and the one thing that they asked for is the same thing that got them into trouble in the first
p1ace. You’ve either got to be absolutely stupid to believe that or to act that way or you’ve got to be
convinced that your product has no equal. That’s right. Boy, they were convinced.
This always reminds me of the record in the gospels of the man who brought his son to Jesus and
then blamed the apostles for not bringing the deliverance. And then when Jesus got the man backed
up in a corner he finally said, “Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.” (Mark 9:24)
Lord, give us more boldness. We want to be more bold than we’ve ever been, holding forth the
greatness of God’s Word. What do you represent wherever you go? God and the Word, first and
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foremost; that with all boldness we may speak Thy Word. It’s the name of Jesus Christ and the
speaking forth of the Word. Whenever that Word is spoken, it is as much God’s will as it was the
first time it was ever spoken. They just wanted to lay it out; yes or no.
Acts 4:30
“heal” - It’s the Word that brings healing. It’s the only time that this word for ‘heal’ is used in the
New Testament if I’m reading this correctly. (reading from Bullinger’s Concordance.) ‘Sozo’ is also
translated ‘heal’ in the Word. This word ‘heal’ cannot be the word that Bullinger gives, or that you
have in the text. It’s too small a word. The reason I know that is verse 12 - whereby we must be
sozo-ed (healed). Here in this tremendous verse 30, ‘by stretching forth thine hand,’ has to be more
than physical healing, because a person could be healed physically and cured physically and still not
be made whole. And here was a man who had been ‘sozo’; he had been made whole. He not only had
the miracle of being healed physically, but he had the miracle of the new birth; the Christ in him, the
hope of glory. That’s why I know this word ‘heal’ in verse 30 has to be ‘to be made whole.’ You
guys look for texts; give you something to do.
They may speak Thy Word and the speaking of the Word was the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth;
that God raised him from the dead. They are not going to go out and preach healing. They are going
to go out and preach the Word. One phase of that is physical healing, but there’s a lot more to it than
that when you preach the Word. It’s like when you preach the Word; there is more than speaking in
tongues. There are eight other manifestations that have to be taught if you’re preaching the Word.
They went to speak Thy Word – verse 29. That’s how I know that it has to be more than just physical
healing.
“Child” – servant - You will have noticed on two occasions in these last few verses, 27 and here in
30, ‘thy holy servant Jesus,’ not once is God mentioned as far as Jesus is concerned. Isn’t it
something how our minds could have been so corrupted through the years, to get to Jesus as God all
the time? Knowing the laws of learning; you can’t go beyond what you have been taught. You see
how we’ve all been taken in by that stuff.
Acts 4:31
“prayed” - To pray is to believe; ‘And when they had believed together.’ In verse 24, ‘they lifted up
their voice to God’ and when ‘they had prayed or believed together.’
“the place was shaken” - This could be a metonymy of subject, figure of speech, where the container
is put for the contents. The people there were shook, the believers together. Not that they were full of
fear but that they were just so shook positively, so excited. Just like you and I are. We can hardly
wait for tomorrow to come to see what that new day can bring. It could be a figure of speech, but if it
wasn’t, the literal place shook. It had to be one or the other. But the people, I guarantee you, were
shaken. I am sure that in this wonderful family too, that if someone over 40 years old got parts put in
and walked in and danced and sang as a testimony, I think we would be shaken a little too, not
negatively but just praising God, etc.
“they were filled with pneuma hagion” - It gives you the conclusion of the whole thing. The reason
they were able to do this work and carry it out was not just because of their believing, but the
believing that was built upon the great truth that they were filled with pneuma hagion, and they spake
the Word of God with boldness. Isn’t that wonderful?
Now if you are going to have a chapter, I think you ought to start it with verse 32.
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Acts 4:32
“the multitude” - - certainly more than the 120, right?! 5000 on one instance, about 3000, so we know
there were at least 8000 or more men approximately and a lot of the women who believed.
“one heart and one soul” - That’s really beautiful. Imagine 8000 men of one heart and one soul. That
must have been a big Corps. You are one heart and one soul. That’s what makes this Corps so
fantastic, the one heart, the one soul, the one desire, the one goal.
“neither said any” - There is a literal translation that fits in here that I think hits it right on the head.
‘And not even one.’ A translation that I’ve read, gives it as ‘and not even anyone.’ And we know that
there had to be more than 8000, and not even one.
“they had all things common” - not communistic (that’s from the Devil). If anybody had a need in
that family, the whole family worked together to meet that need. That’s the one heart and one soul.
Not even one. Boy, oh boy! Time is involved between verse 31 and verse 32 again. I don’t know
time, how much time I don’t know, but there’s more time involved than a day or two or a week.
Perhaps a rough guess - 4-6 years. I don’t know. See in The Way ministry we are still a long way from
these goals. We are getting closer every day, but we are still a long way off of it because our people
just don’t believe God’s Word. It’s a head trip with them. They haven’t come to that place where
they say, “We cannot but speak.” We are still a long way off, but thank God that we are a lot closer
than we were last year; closer today than we were yesterday. If the Word of God is really going to
move in our day and time, we’ve got to get the people who have taken the classes to stay put and not
to cop out every two weeks. One would never think that an Advanced Class grad would cop out or a
Corps grad. That’s so far beyond my head because once you’ve seen the greatness of God’s Word,
it’s the only way to go. To whom shall we go? Who has the bread of life? Where is life? It can’t be
any other place than with God and His Word. Well, the early church had it here; one heart and one
soul. “Mine – Mine – Mine” – no! ‘They had all things common.’
Acts 4:33
“And with great power…and great grace” - That’s the only time the church has great power. Great
power and great grace go with great commitment, great dedication.
“witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus” - There it is right at the center again, the resurrection,
not the crucifixion. How do you think they gave witness of the resurrection? By utilizing, by
operating the manifestations of the spirit; the manifestations are the proof of the resurrection. You
couldn’t speak in tongues if you weren’t born again. You couldn’t be born again if God had not
raised Jesus Christ from the dead. See how it all fits together?
“great grace” - divine favor Great grace, divine favor, was upon them all. Had to be then, and has to
be now. I showed you from the Word that as far as the natural life is concerned, Samuel had no right
to be a prophet, nor did anybody else. It’s just grace, great grace. God is blessing our ministry today
not because of our worthiness but because of His. He is the worthy one and great grace is upon our
ministry and upon our people.
See, when they preached the resurrection and taught the resurrection, that’s right on with God. That’s
why there is great grace.
Acts 4:34
“Neither was there any among them that lacked” - That reminds me of the children of Israel coming
out of the land of Egypt under those adverse conditions (2 1/2 million) and not one feeble nee in all
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the tribe. This must have been electrifying at the time. Imagine just 8000 men and nobody there that
lacked having all their need met according to His riches and glory through Christ Jesus. That’s the
church, kids. That’s what we want to bring back in our day and time. That’s the ministry of the
outreach of His Word that I’m concerned about - bringing people back to the complete integrity and
accuracy of God’s Word. Here in this whole section you are back to things I have taught previously,
but it needs to be re-taught and re-taught because our people have not yet heard to the end of
believing. Some yes, but not many.
“possessors of lands or houses sold them” – plural. They sold the plurality. They did not sell what
they needed; they sold what they did not need. Need is variable. The need of one person is different
than another. No one can sit in judgment on anyone else regarding their need. The early church didn’t
do it. Neither can the church today do it. I think I illustrated this a few sessions ago when I talked
about the neighbor across the street. He may need 5 or 7 or 10 pairs of overalls. If I owned that much
it would be greed to me, because I don’t need it. But, on the other hand, I have to have a few shirts
and ties and pairs of pants, and suits. That’s my need. If he had that, for him it would be greed.
That’s why you don’t sit in judgment on people. You just teach them God’s Word. Every man and
every woman In his or her own mind has to make up his or her mind what is their need and get
committed to God’s Word. Legislation will never commit it. That’s right.
That’s why this individual member canvass for finances in the church is sickening to me. I’d rather
not have a church if I had to have an individual member canvass and ask how much people were
going to give. I’d quit; I just could never do it. You can’t Legislate anybody into anything. You just
can’t do it. The greatest thing I know to get people there is love, not legislation, where you just so
love God and you are so burning with the love of God that other people get started burning too when
they get close to you. You are just radiating so much heat of Him that they get warmed up with your
warmth. They get tender with your tenderness. They get lovely because of your lovingness. They get
back to the Word because you are speaking the Word. You’re just the beauty of Christ wherever you
go. That’s the only way I know. Legislation, that’s out! They, by their own freedom of will, sold the
things they didn’t need, their plurality.
Acts 4:35
“laid them down at the apostles feet” - They could have said that they did not trust the apostles. Well,
you’ve got to trust somebody. All of us trust somebody. You trust the stupid unbeliever at the bank
over here. Certainly I can trust my brother and sister, who are born again, as much as I trust the
unbeliever at the bank, couldn’t I? You always have to trust somebody. They trusted the apostles.
That’s the way it was set up by God. They sold their plurality and brought it to the apostles. Then the
apostles became responsible before God to handle the believer’s money. And kids, that’s a
responsibility that has a lot of weight on it; an unbelievable amount of responsibility. We are
absolutely responsible to God for what we do with every dollar that the believers make available to
the ministry. It puts you in a position where you have tremendous responsibility, not only to God’s
people but to God. These apostles had tremendous responsibility to the people. Later on you are
going to see how, as that thing grew and grew, they sort of divorced themselves from some of these
material responsibilities and gave themselves more to the teaching of the Word and put capable men
in responsible positions to handle the material side. And they did a great job, a fantastic job. ‘They
laid them down at the apostles’ feet’, is a figure of speech simply meaning that the apostles became
responsible for handling the plurality that they had sold.
“distribution was made unto every man according as he had need” - That does not mean that Henry
now quit his job and therefore, he had a need and the apostles met and decided to give him $150 a
week. The Word says that if you don’t work you don’t eat. (II Thessalonians 3:10) That’s right!