Acts 5:40-42 NIV

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 5:42

Verse 42 42.They ceased not. Constancy did also accompany their Joy. For how is it that we are discouraged with persecution, save only because none lifteth up himself unto Christ, that he may in mind lay hold upon the fruit of victory, and so be pricked forward unto patience? But that man which thinketh with himself that he is happy when he suffereth for Christ’s sake, shall never faint, though he must suffer hard conflicts. Therefore the apostles are, after a sort, armed with stripes, so that... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 5:12-42

The advancing tide. The gospel of God's grace in Jesus Christ crucified and risen again had issued from Jerusalem at the bidding of the Lord. Would it ever stop? would it ever cease to advance? would it ever meet with obstacles sufficiently strong to turn back its current and to arrest its progress? When the flowing tide is hurrying towards the shore, some particular wave is checked by an opposing rock, and is shivered into spray before it can reach the shore. But wait a little and the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 5:17-40

A grand victory for the truth along the whole line; all the positions of the enemy taken. The few hours that were covered by this portion of the history must have been hours charged with confirmation of the faith for the apostles. It is not merely that they are again attacked and again get in the end the victory, but that every position is carried for them by some strong arm invisible. It is not altogether the force of the truth, at least of the truth as spoken and spoken by them; still... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 5:17-42

Second persecution of the Church. Notice: 1. It was the result of marvelous success. We must expect such opposition when God gives us power among the people. The proud and formal have no liking for that which can be set in contrast with their own inefficiency. 2. It proceeded from the sect of the Sadducees, i.e. the heretical school. The league between the high priest and the scoffers was a sad sign of religious degeneracy. So it is. When religion decays it becomes the food of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 5:33-42

Our attitude towards God. There are three attitudes it is possible for us to assume towards our Maker and Savior. They are those of— I. HOSTILITY . We may "be found even to fight against God." It is, indeed, as new as it is old for men to contend with God and to oppose themselves to those ends for which he is working. 1. Good men do so unwittingly; as when earnest and holy Catholics have persecuted Protestant men and women; as when devout Protestants have thrown obstacles in the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 5:33-42

The advice of the cautious. Such was Gamaliel. See expository portion for an account of him, and of the rabbinical school to which he belonged. Interest attaches to him as the teacher of Saul of Tarsus, but how great is the contrast between the calm and prudent Gamaliel and the intense and impulsive Saul! The scene in the Sanhedrim when this honored teacher rose to calm the prevailing excitement, and plead for what he would call a "masterly inactivity," may be effectively pictured. The... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 5:34-42

Power and weakness. I. INNOCENCE AN OBJECT OF HATE TO THE UNJUST . No wound is more deadly than that inflicted by words of truth upon false hearts. If the heart will not receive the truth, the truth will pierce through it. And murderous counsels show that truth has been denied in the heart. Instead of answering the witnesses with reason for reason, the Sanhedrim seek to stop their mouth with earth and put them to death. A cause is lost when it can be no longer argued in... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 5:40

Called unto them ( προσκαλεσάμενοι) for simply called, A.V.; they beat them and charged them for and beaten them, they commanded, A.V.; not to speak for that they should not speak, A.V. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 5:41

They therefore for and they, A.V.; dishonor for the Name, for shame for his Name, A.V. and T.R. (see 1 Peter 4:12-16 ; John 15:21 ). read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 5:41

Joy in the fellowship of shame. "And they departed … for his Name." The great types of Christian character begin to show themselves. The appearances which we have here before us are unusual. They mean something very unreal or else they begin to speak something true to a higher nature than that commonly found among men. It is against the grain of nature to rejoice in suffering and pain; it is yet more against the grain of a high nature to rejoice in "shame." There must have been potent... read more

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 5:42

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 5:12-42

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 5:17-40

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 5:17-42

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 5:33-42

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 5:33-42

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 5:34-42

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 5:40

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 5:41

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 5:41

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