Immerse: Messiah - Flipbook - Page 79
4:18-36
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again.” So they called the apostles back in and commanded them never
again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus.
But Peter and John replied, “Do you think God wants us to obey you
rather than him? We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen
and heard.”
The council then threatened them further, but they finally let them go
because they didn’t know how to punish them without starting a riot. For
everyone was praising God for this miraculous sign—the healing of a man
who had been lame for more than forty years.
As soon as they were freed, Peter and John returned to the other believers
and told them what the leading priests and elders had said. When they
heard the report, all the believers lifted their voices together in prayer to
God: “O Sovereign Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—you spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant, saying,
‘Why were the nations so angry?
Why did they waste their time with futile plans?
The kings of the earth prepared for battle;
the rulers gathered together
against the Lord
and against his Messiah.’
“In fact, this has happened here in this very city! For Herod Antipas,
Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all
united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed. But everything they did was determined beforehand according to your will. And
now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness
in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power; may
miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy
servant Jesus.”
After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with
the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.
All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what
they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. The
apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and
God’s great blessing was upon them all. There were no needy people
among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them
and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need.
For instance, there was Joseph, the one the apostles nicknamed Barna
bas (which means “Son of Encouragement”). He was from the tribe of
