Last time we followed the formation of the first church of Christ, the apostle Peter’s first sermon, and his healing of a crippled man (see What Happened When Jesus Left?).
The apostle John had accompanied Peter when the healing occurred. Word about them teaching of Christ’s resurrection and the healing of the cripple, was told to the temple priests and the Sadducees. Enraged, they had Peter and John arrested and brought before them.
Along with the apostles, they had brought the healed cripple as well. The council asked Peter and John by whose authority was it that they were healing and preaching. The Holy Spirit fills Peter, and he boldly responds:
“…are we being questioned today because we’ve done a good deed for a crippled man? Do you want to know how he was healed? Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but who God raised from the dead.” Acts 4:9, 10. NLT
Peter then quotes Old Testament Messianic prophecy (Ps. 118:22) to drive home the magnitude of who Jesus is and why He came:
“For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that you rejected has become the cornerstone.’
There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:11, 12. NLT
The Sanhedrin realize that Peter and John had actually accompanied Jesus. With the healed man present, the council hesitated on what to do next. They couldn’t deny the healing because it was witnessed by the Temple congregants.
So, instead they forbade the apostles against preaching anymore about Christ. In the face of this, both Peter and John are filled with the Holy Spirit, and they undauntedly reply:
“Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.” Acts 4:19, 20. NLT
The council threatened them and let them go. When they returned to the church and shared their experience, the entire congregation prayed as one – asking for yet more boldness of speech and for additional healings to glorify Jehovah and Jesus. The Holy Spirit filled the church, and it began to shake…
Now, all the apostles are working miracles. Many people are bringing their sick to be healed. In fact, the Holy Spirit is working so powerfully in Peter, that people just standing in his shadow are being healed!
As you might expect, that put a bee in the bonnets of the high priests and Sadducees, and they had all the apostles jailed. However, during the night, an angel came and freed them. It told them to return to the Temple and preach ‘this message of life!’ (Acts 5:20).
The following morning, the high priest asked the jailor to bring forth the prisoners. He returned to the priest and informed him that the guards were still posted outside, the prison doors were still locked, but the prisoners had vanished.
At the same time, someone came and informed the council that the prisoners were presently preaching in the Temple. The high priest had the guards gather them before him – where he accused them of disobedience and for laying the blame on him for Jesus’ death.
The apostles answered:
“We must obey God rather than any human authority. The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead after you killed him by hanging him on a cross.
Then God put him in the place of honor at his right hand as Prince and Savior. He did this so the people of Israel would repent of their sins and be forgiven. We are witness of these things and so is the Holy Spirit, who is given by God to those who obey him.” Acts 5:29 – 32. NLT
Now, the council wants to kill the apostles, but one lone Pharisee stays their hand, saying that if the apostles were not of God, nothing would come of them. But if they were, the council would be in opposition to Jehovah.
Again, the council forbids them to preach and has them scourged. Yet, this is a determined bunch:
The apostles left the high council rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus. And every day, in the Temple and from house to house, they continued to teach and preach this message: “Jesus is the Messiah.” Acts 5:41, 42.
As the church grew, the apostles began to be bogged down with administrative tasks that took them away from their ministry. So, they delegated those duties to five additional disciples. One of them was named Stephen:
…a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit…Now Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. Acts 6:5 & 8. CSB
Hellenistic (Greek-speaking) Jews approached Stephen and derided him for his faith in Christ. They brought forth false witnesses to the council, accusing him of blasphemy.
The high priest asked Stephen if the accusations were true. Stephen responded with an extended and emboldened speech. First, he recited a recap of Jewish history, from the point of God’s call to Abraham to illustrate His faithfulness. He also spoke of the Jews’ rebellion against Moses with the golden calf.
Finally, Stephen threw his accusers’ charge of blasphemy right back into their own faces:
“You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you! Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One – the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered.
You deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of angels.” Acts 7:51 – 53. NLT
The Sanhedrin were incensed; but Stephen wasn’t done! The Holy Spirit filled Stephen with a vision of Christ in heaven at His Father’s right hand. He proclaims this to the council:
“Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!” Acts 7:56 NLT
For his outburst of truth, the council had Stephen stoned to death. Yet even in his last breath, this first martyr for Christ, prayed to Jehovah that He would not hold their sin against them…
Finally, for today, let’s look at one more of the five additional disciples. This one is named Philip, who was also Holy Spirit-empowered. He journeyed to Samaria to preach the Gospel and perform healings. When the apostles heard about Philip’s works, Peter and John came to his side to bolster his ministry.
Philip water-baptized many. Afterwards, Peter and John would guide them in the Holy Spirit baptism.
Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching in many Samaritan villages along the way.
When Philip returned to Jerusalem, an angel told him to walk down a certain desert road that led to Gaza – where he came upon an official of the royal court of the Queen of Ethiopia.
The official was sitting in his chariot, reading aloud from the book of Isaiah, when the Holy Spirit told Philip to approach him. Philip asked the Ethiopian if he understood what he was reading. He responded by saying that he needed someone to guide him into further clarity about a particular Scripture (Is. 53:7, 8):
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter. And as a lamb is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.
He was humiliated and received no justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.” Acts 8:32, 33. NLT
This prophetic Messianic prophecy is a clear and poignant description of the recent death of Christ. The official asked Philip who it was that Isaiah was referring to, which opened the door for the disciple to deliver the Gospel.
In response, the Ethiopian asked what he must do to be baptized. Philip answered:
[“If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I do believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”] Acts 8:37 AMP
Philip baptized him and when they came out the water, the Holy Spirit translated Philip to a coastal town called Azolus. Wow! You know that Ethiopian went on his way a firm believer.
The Bible tells us that ‘he went on his way rejoicing.’ Acts 8:39 AMP
Goodnight and God bless.