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But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison and taking them out he said, go, stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this life.

  Good morning.. So everyone was glad to see people being healed, right? But the high priest rose up, along with all his associates that is the sect of the Sadducees, and they were filled with jealousy. That’s like a Pastor being upset because a different church is growing with God doing wonders there, and his is declining. They laid hands on the apostles and put them in a public jail. The same thing happened to Peter again later; but apparently he forgot about this situation. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison and taking them out he said, go, stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this life. Upon hearing this, they entered into the temple about daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priest and his associates came, they called the council together, even all the Senate of the sons of Israel, and sent orders to the prison house for them to be brought. Surprise! But the officers who came did not find them in the p...

At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s portico.

  Good morning. At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s portico. It does not say whether the signs and wonders were helping God’s people, or if they were helping nonbelievers, and that brought them to Jesus. My guess is that it was both. You don’t need a great health insurance, if you have God healing you. Notice that they were all with one accord. Sadly that is not the case in today’s churches. But probably as a result of the death of Ananias and his wife, none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, the people held them in high esteem. And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number, to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on any one of them. Forget about sending in money for a prayer cloth; it o...

And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came over all who heard of it

  Good morning. I pray that everything is all right with your family. And as he heard these words,  Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came over all who heard of it – ya think? Based on Peter’s words to the wife later, I don’t think Peter was expecting this to happen. If that happened today, a lot of congregations would be shrinking 😳 . The young men got up and covered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him. Notice that there was no ceremony, and no one gave a eulogy. I don’t know if that was the custom or if it was because of the way he died – probably the custom. They needed to bury people right away because there was no embalming. Now there elapsed an interval of about three hours, and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. What, no one cellphoned her 🙃 ? Notice that it took three hours. Whether that is because it was a long way off, or it took a long time to dig a grave we don’t know. Responding to her, Peter said, tell me whet...

There was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need

   Good morning. There was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need. I don’t know if these were houses that they currently lived in or if they were investment homes. Now Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), who was called that by the apostles, and who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet. He was born on the island of Cyprus, which will come into play later. He was probably mentioned because he would later be a companion of Paul, and as a contrast to what was to follow. But a man named Ananias, with his wife, sold a piece of property, and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife’s full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles’ feet. He knew that everyone would think that he had given all of the money to help t...

And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness

  Good morning. In the prayer that they just finished, they were not pleading for mercy or asking God to remove all conflict from them. They were placing their trust in God, and asking that they might speak His word with confidence. And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness. How about them apples? That must’ve been some prayer meeting for the place to be shaken! Here is another instance where after being filled with the Holy Spirit people began to say something. And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul. If only we had that today. And not one of them claimed that anything belong to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. Now that is something that won’t happen in America under the current circumstances. It probably occurs in other countries where Christians do not have anything. We are too “things“ or...

For truly in the city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.

  Good morning. So what happened when Peter and John returned to their companions? For truly in the city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur. They thought they were in control of the situation, but they were not – God was. There is a lot of controversy about the term predestination; however, predestination is a part of God’s plan. As individuals, were some predestined to be saved, and some pre-destined to not be saved? If it is totally predestination, then where is the free will? The different ones just mentioned were all free to choose whether or not to crucify Jesus; however, God predestined before the creation that Jesus would be crucified in the manner in which He was. Each person made choices prior to this instance that pre-determined that they would be a part of the story and behave the way they di...

Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; but we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.

  Good morning. And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; but we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard. These do not sound like the words of some poor fisherman. That’s because they are the words of the Holy Spirit, since Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit before he spoke. We should have the same attitude, as long as we are filled with the Spirit. When they had threatened them further (they were afraid to do anything more), they let them go (finding no basis on which to punish them) on account of the people, because they were all glorifying God for what had happened; for the man was more than 40 years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed. Have you ever thought about that? Supposed today a 40-year-old person who had never walked had some sort ...