JBF Acts Bible Study                                                                                Lecture 5

 SPOKE THE WORD OF GOD BOLDLY

Acts 4:1-31

Key Verse 4:31 “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”

Read verses 1-12. Why were the Sadducees so disturbed by the apostles’ preaching (2)? How did they try to stop them (3-7)? What opportunity arose from this problem? How was this event God’s grace for those who opposed the gospel message (8-11)? What can we learn from Peter and John’s response to persecution? 

Read verses 13-22. What did the rulers realize about Peter and John? What was the source of the apostles’ strength, courage and wisdom? (13) What was the dilemma of the religious leaders? (14-17) What did they do? What was the apostles’ response? Why did the religious leaders let them go? (18-22)

Read verses 23-31. How did the believers respond to the pressure from the religious leaders? What perspective did they have on these persecutions (25-28)? What was their prayer topic (29-30)? How did God respond (31)? What can we learn from the early church here? What can we learn about the importance of being “filled with the Holy Spirit”?