Acts 4:3,4

And they laid hands upon them … Howbeit many of them which heard the Word believed.

The impotence and benefit of persecution

1. Peter had boasted, “I am ready to go with Thee to prison.” He was not ready then, and hence the folly of his boast. He was ready now, and so did not boast, but doubtless reflected on his Master’s words, “Thou shalt follow Me afterwards.”

2. The time-honoured method of the opponents of truth was here practised, “No case; abuse defendant’s attorney.” You can’t refute the preacher; lock him up. The only answer that pagan Rome had for Christians was prison and death; the only answer that papal Rome has is the same.

3. But the policy does not answer. The preachers as cheerfully accept the prison as the pulpit when their Master bids them, and may take as theirs the crest--an ox with the plough on one side and the altar on the other, with the legend, “Ready for either.” Ready for work or for sacrifice, Nor does the policy answer in another sense. You may silence the teacher, but you cannot silence the truth. In the case before us “many believed.”

I. In spite of the apostles’ imprisonment. God’s work goes on whether His agents are bound or free, living or dead. It is independent of its best and worthiest supporters. Peter and John are in prison, but the fact that many believed shows that even the chief among the apostles are not indispensable. How foolish, then, the unbelieving anxiety expressed in the question about this or that distinguished minister, “Who can take his place?” Plenty, if God wills; if not the Holy Ghost will take his place.

1. The preacher is imprisoned or dead, but the Word which does the work is not. Fragments of the Bible left behind by the missionaries in Madagascar did more for Christianity than their vocal teaching.

2. The preacher is imprisoned or dead, but his teaching and example are not. They remain in the memory to influence the life. The stone sinks in the water, but the ripples on the lake extend till they reach either shore.

II. Because of the apostles’ imprisonment. Their endurance of persecution for the truth was a guarantee of their sincerity, and an exhibition of the power of the gospel on themselves. It is an easy thing to preach when Christianity is popular, but when unpopular, and when men notwithstanding are prepared to endure bonds or death rather than be silent about it--this shows that they believe in and enjoy the mighty power they preach. So in the milder forms of affliction. How many powerful sermons are silently preached from sick beds! (J. W. Burn.)

Persecution a stimulus

A certain amount of persecution rouses a man’s defiance, stirs his blood for magnificent battle, and makes him fifty times more a man than he would have been without the persecution. So it was with the great reformer when he said, “I will not be put down; I will be heard.” And so it was with Millard, the preacher, in the time of Louis XI. When Louis XI. sent word to him that unless he stopped preaching in that style he would throw him into the river, he replied, “Tell the king that I will reach heaven sooner by water than he will reach it by fast horses.” (T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.)

Persecution for well-doing

Sad, that so good news should find so bad entertainment! but happy for some, that as it was raised for so good a Word (Matthew 13:21), so occasioned by so good a deed done to an impotent man. Such may ever our sufferings be, that if a black shadow must needs follow us, it may be only because we walk in the light; and that if it prove our lot to hear and fare ill, it may be for doing well (1 Peter 3:17; 1 Peter 4:16; John 10:32). (A. Tuckney, D. D.)

Peter and John before the council

I. The arrest was brought about--

1. While the service was being held (verse 1). The devil has a keen aversion to the proclaiming of the gospel, and will stop it if he can.

2. By ecclesiastical officials. In proportion as Christ is exalted, the Jewish idea of an official priesthood must lose its hold upon the minds of men.

3. By men who felt deeply--“grieved.” The preaching of the gospel causes heaven to rejoice, and it brings joy to those who receive it, but these men were grieved because of it. How thoroughly even religious men may be out of touch with sympathies that emanate from God! What a pity there should be so much deep feeling wrongly directed! There has been quite a Niagara of human emotion, which, during the Christian ages, has spent itself in win in dashing against the impregnable rock of Christian verities.

II. The detention. Tim apostles had started out to visit the temple at the hour of the evening sacrifice, but as that evening closed they themselves offered a sacrifice with which the Lord would be well pleased. The bars and bolts of the strong door might keep them in, but they could not keep Jesus out. Even on earth suffering saints have Often found what Thomas Cooper calls “the paradise of martyrs.”

III. The trial.

1. Christ was honoured.

2. There was a word for the rulers.

3. There was a word for everybody.

IV. The result.

1. The rulers were impressed.

2. The apostles were threatened.

3. The apostles were released.

4. God was glorified. To Peter and John this would be an all-sufficient recompense. (H. Thorne.)