Acts 4:23

‘And being let go, they came to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.'

On their release Peter and John returned to ‘their own company'. Note the comparison of the old with the new. They have left the company that represented old Israel, and joined up with the company that represents new Israel. This was where the future lay.

‘Their own company' may here mean the twelve, or it may mean the earlier group of Acts 1:13, both of which could meet in a house, or it may signify that they went to a larger group who were together praying in the Temple.

There they reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. There is surprisingly no reference to the Scribes and Pharisees. It would seem that they had remained in the background in the Council. In Acts they tend to be more favourable towards the infant church (Acts 5:33; Acts 23:9).

Notice in this prayer their confidence in God:

· He is Lord and Master of heaven and earth and seas and all things.

· He is the One Who has spoken through the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures in which He has already declared the opposition that they must face.

· He is the One Who foreordained all that is coming about.

· He is therefore the One Who can hear the threatenings of their adversaries and give His servants boldness to speak His word, working wonders through them in order to reveal that the Kingly Rule of God is here.