Early Church Life
W. Jay. Acts 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost… Let us consider — I. THE PRAYER. 1. Its occasion. The persecution of the apostles. 2. Its substance. It was seasonable, suitable, short, as all the prayers recorded in the Scriptures are; and though they had been so evil entreated yet they beseech God to stretch forth His hand, not to strike and to punish, but to heal. 3. Its success. God never said to the seed of Jacob, "Seek ye My face in vain." The sign of the acceptance of their prayer seemed much more likely to produce dread than to gender hope; but so God would teach us that He is greatly to be feared in the assembly of His saints; that He will be sanctified by all them that come nigh to Him; that there is something awful even in the dispensations of His grace; that He sometimes answers His people as the God of their salvation, by terrible things in righteousness. 4. Its effect. "They were all filled with the Holy Ghost." They were now called to fresh duties, difficulties, dangers; and therefore they required fresh supplies of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Their strength was made equal to their day, and they obtained accessions of illumination, of confidence, of courage, of peace, and of joy, and were prepared to stand complete in all the will of God. II. THE PREACHING. "And they spake the Word of God with boldness." The very thing for which they had been praying. The very thing Paul beseeches of the Ephesians to implore on his behalf: "that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly." You see how little they were governed by the opinions of the people around them; that they did not walk in craftiness, nor handle the Word of God deceitfully, nor appeal to the fancies and wishes of the individuals before them; but by manifestation of the truth, they commended themselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. Suppose a number of persons were to call on a minister on a Sabbath-day morning, and one of them should say, "I hope, sir, you do not mean to-day to be severe against avarice, for my heart goes after my covetousness"; and another, "I trust you will not be severe against backbiting, for my tongue walketh with slanderers"; and another, "Do not represent implacability as being inconsistent with Divine forgiveness, for I never did forgive such an one, and I never will." What would this minister say to these men? Why, if he were in a proper state of mind, he would say, "Oh, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness! when wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?" Our people are not likely to address us in this way, but this is the wish and meaning of many. "Three things equalise," says Bishop Hall, "the grave, the judgment-bar, and the pulpit: the grave makes no difference, the judgment-bar makes none, and the pulpit should make none." Daniel addressed Belshazzar as if he had been a common man. John the Baptist was to Herod as rough as the garment he wore. James the First said of one of his chaplains, "Why, this man always preaches before me as if death stood at his elbow." Why, dearth does always stand at the preacher's elbow, and he ought to be able to say with Baxter: "I preach as if I ne'er should preach again; and as a dying man to dying men." III. THE PEOPLE (ver. 32). Verily, if this be "the golden age of Christianity," we may well exclaim, "How is the gold become dim!" Note — 1. Their number, "a multitude." This accords with our Saviour's represcutation of His kingdom as in the beginning — Like a little leaven in the meal, and like a mustard-seed in the ground. But then this little leaven was to leaven the whole lump, and this mustard-seed was to become a tree. Our Saviour first opened His mind to twelve, and then to seventy, and then we read of five hundred brethren in Galilee and a hundred and twenty in Jerusalem; then three thousand at Pentecost. Then as a result of daily additions to the Church, five thousand. We concede that success by itself is not proof of the divinity of a cause. If we did, what should we then do with Mohammedism and Popery? But here we contend that the case is unspeakably peculiar, and that the instrumentalities employed were so perfectly in themselves inadequate to the result, that the effect must induce us to exclaim, "This is the finger of God." 2. Their character. "The multitude believed." The subject reported by the apostles had been unknown, or held in contempt, before; but now the people received is, not as the word of man, but as it was in truth, the word of God; and the belief became productive of godliness in the soul, and the influence of it worked effectually in them that believed. Is this always the case with belief? You believe! so do the devils — and tremble, and remain devils still; and wicked men may hold the truth in unrighteousness. Take heed, therefore; he is a vain man, says James, who says he has faith and has not works. 3. Their unity. They "were of one heart and of one soul" — one object influenced them; one cause engaged them; one principle swayed them. It must be obvious that the views, and tempers, and inclinations of men are very various; and therefore they are only to be brought into a state of social connection by an object that is important and interesting to all: and you find such aa object as this in the gospel. Therefore, in the language of prophecy, it is said, "All nations shall flow unto it," as so many streams flowing from different sources towards the same fulness — the sea. When the brazen serpent was erected in the midst of the camp, it became the centre of attraction and regard. Our Saviour, in allusion to this, says, "I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me." If there were but one well for the inhabitants of a village or a town, why they must all repair to it or perish. Old Jacob, therefore, said when he was dying, "Unto Him shall the gathering of the people be." Isaiah said, "To Him shall men come." They were of one heart and of one soul; one in their need of the blessing, one in their desire after it, one in their valuation of it, one in their concern to diffuse it, and to extend it to all their fellow-creatures. They were as one family, as one body, where if one member suffer, all the members suffer with it, and if one member be honoured, all the members rejoice. You will note here, as they were now so numerous in Jerusalem, they must have worshipped in various rooms, and have been addressed by various preachers; but though they were divided into so many parts, there were no parties among them. They had not yet learned to be carnal, and to walk as men, saying, "I am of Paul, and I of Apollos." 4. Their liberality. You have heard often of the communion of saints, and here you have it literally. Their property, by a conventual giving and receiving, being intermingled, became a kind of joint stock, from which every man drew according to his need. (W. Jay.) Parallel Verses KJV: And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. WEB: When they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were gathered together. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.