thing further came of it. Now to find his disciples still in the Temple, actually addressing and teaching the people (this was the priests' prerogative), and telling them about his resurrection from the dead (which seemed nonsense to the Sadducees)-this was too much! So they laid hands upon Peter and John and shut them up in prison for the night.

Nevertheless, Peter's words had not been without effect. "Many of them that heard the word believed; and the number of the believers came to be about five thousand." All men "glorified God for that which was done," for the lame man was over forty years old, and the story of his restoration had a great effect upon all who heard it.

"By what power or in what name?"-The next morning the "rulers and elders and scribes" held a meeting to consider what should be done with Peter and John. "Annas the high priest was there, and Caiphas and John and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest"-the very ones who had conducted the false "trial" at which Jesus had been condemned to death.

The first question which they asked the apostles was this: "By what power or in what name have you done this?" That is, they assumed the apostles to be workers of magic, possessed of some supernatural "power" made effective by pronouncing some particular "name" or formula over people. To this question Peter, being naturally the spokesman, answered boldly,

"Rulers of the people, and elders, if we are now to be brought into court and publicly examined for doing a good deed to a helpless man, let it be known to you and to all Israel that in the 'name' of the

Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, whom you crucified, and whom God raised from the dead-in his name this man stands here before you sound and well.”—Acts 4:9-10.

The boldness of the apostles.-This was a brave answer as well as a true one. The two Galilæan fishermen stood helpless in the presence of their bitterest and most powerful enemies, the enemies who had put their Master to death only a short time ago and were now determined to spare no pains in annihilating the faith of his followers. "When they beheld the boldness of Peter and John," Luke says, "and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus" (Acts 4: 13). Moreover, seeing that the man who had been healed was even then standing beside them, grateful for their goodness to him, they could say nothing against it.

So they ordered the prisoners taken out of the court, and conferred among themselves. It was impossible to deny that the miracle had taken place, for everyone in Jerusalem now knew about it. Nor was there any charge which could be brought against the disciples, such as magic or witchcraft or an injury done to the lame man. Their only course was to threaten the apostles and order them to cease teaching in the name of Jesus or using his name to heal the sick.

Recalling Peter and John into the council, they gave them this charge. But the apostles immediately answered: "Whether it is right in the sight of God to obey you rather than God, you must judge. For our part, we cannot but speak the things that we have seen and heard."

The prayers of the church.-Being released, the two apostles returned to the upper room and reported all that had occurred in the council chamber. When the story had been told, the whole band knelt down and prayed for strength and guidance in the persecution which seemed presently coming upon them. "And now, Lord, look upon their threatenings; and grant unto thy servants to speak thy word with all boldness, while thou stretchest forth thy hand to heal; that signs and wonders may be done through the name of thy holy Servant Jesus" (Acts 4: 29–30).

And when they had prayed, the place was shaken wherein they were gathered together, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and spoke the word of God with boldness. It was another Pentecost, with the power of the Spirit manifest among them. In the midst of danger and threatened persecution they had the assurance of God's favor and presence. If their enemies could "take knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus," they themselves were no less conscious of being in his presence still, through the Holy Spirit. This gave them courage in proclaiming "the word."

STUDY TOPICS

1. Tell how the history of the earliest days of Christianity has come down to us.

2. Turn to the diagram in The Life and Times of Jesus, facing page 193, and locate the Beautiful Gate, Solomon's Porch, and the Sanhedrin's Council Chamber.

3. Recall the reference to the Beautiful Gate in "The Vision of Sir Launfal." Can you quote it?

4. Who were the Sadducees? Recall from your study of the Life of Christ, or look up in the Bible dictionary. What distinguished them from the Pharisees?

5. Read carefully Peter's sermon at the Temple, and analyze it in the way his first sermon was treated in Chapter III.

6. Study carefully the prayer of the apostles (Acts 4: 24-30). Note that quotations from the Old Testament are found in all the apostles' utterances: their minds were steeped in scripture. Note that the current Jewish belief in predestination is taken for granted, and compare Peter's words in Acts 2:23. What did they ask for in this prayer, personal safety or the spread of God's work? Of what value were "signs and wonders" in their situation?

7. Read Acts 3 and 4 and make a list of the titles given to Jesus therein.

8. How did men explain the boldness of the apostles in testifying for their faith? Should their example inspire us to like courage? And does the explanation of their "boldness" suggest how we too may become courageous? Name some ways in which we ought to be bold witnesses for Christ.

CHAPTER V

THE GROWTH OF THE CHURCH

THE church in Jerusalem had a remarkably sudden growth at the first. From the one hundred and twenty who were gathered together between Passover and the day of Pentecost the number had grown until now it included thousands (Acts 1: 15; 2: 41; 4: 4). There was no better place than Jerusalem, with its sojourners and proselytes from every nation, in which to proclaim the message of Jesus' Messiahship; there was no better time than those weeks in spring and early summer when vast throngs of pilgrims filled the city. Moreover, in Jerusalem people had either heard Jesus himself teach in the Temple, or had at least heard about him and his message and his unjust condemnation by the authorities. It is not surprising, then, that "the multitude of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem exceedingly"-even some of the priests were converted (Acts 6:7) and Levites (Acts 4:36).

"ALL THINGS COMMON"

In a city filled with strangers, a holy city of pilgrims, without sufficient natural industries to support it and not well located for commerce, it was only natural that there should be many poor. Old persons who had saved barely enough to keep them till they died, and who had come here to live near the Temple (Luke 2: 25, 36, 38); priestly families returning from the Dispersion, or those whose land had been sold or confiscated by the government-such people were found in abundance in the city.