Acts 4 — No Other Name, and a Church That Prays for Boldness

Pray to Begin

Ask - for the Holy Spirit who filled Peter before the council to give you courage to confess that salvation is in no other name under heaven.

Give thanks - for a gospel that cannot be denied when a healed man stands in the room, and for a church that answers threats with prayer, not panic.

Yield - every habit of listening to human threats more carefully than to God, and every grip on possessions that will not serve the needy among the saints.

Today’s Passage: Acts 4

The sermon of Acts 3 is interrupted by arrest. Sadducees, priests, and the temple captain seize Peter and John for proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. About five thousand men now believe. Before the rulers, Peter - filled with the Spirit - names Jesus as the rejected cornerstone and the only name by which we must be saved. The council threatens; the apostles refuse silence. The church prays Psalm 2, asks for boldness, and is filled again. Believers share possessions; Barnabas lays gifts at the apostles’ feet. We will walk the chapter block by block; the full BSB text is quoted inline below.

As you read, hold this: Opposition, exclusive salvation in Jesus, and Spirit-filled courage.

Acts 4:1-4 (BSB)

¹ While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, ² greatly disturbed that they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. ³ They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in custody until the next day. ⁴ But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.

Disturbance targets teaching and resurrection. Custody overnight; faith multiplies anyway. Chains do not cancel the word.

Acts 4:5-12 (BSB)

⁵ The next day the rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, ⁶ along with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and many others from the high priest’s family. ⁷ They had Peter and John brought in and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?” ⁸ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people! ⁹ If we are being examined today about a kind service to a man who was lame, to determine how he was healed, ¹⁰ then let this be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. ¹¹ This Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ ¹² Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

The question about name is a gift. Peter answers with the Name, the cross, the resurrection, the cornerstone, and exclusive salvation. Kindness to a lame man becomes a courtroom for the gospel. Verse 12 is not optional fine print; it is the heart of apostolic faith.

Acts 4:13-22 (BSB)

¹³ When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they marveled and took note that these men had been with Jesus. ¹⁴ And seeing the man who had been healed standing there with them, they had nothing to say in response. ¹⁵ So they ordered them to leave the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. ¹⁶ “What shall we do with these men?” they asked. “It is clear to everyone living in Jerusalem that a remarkable miracle has occurred through them, and we cannot deny it. ¹⁷ But to keep this message from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in this name.” ¹⁸ Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. ¹⁹ But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than God. ²⁰ For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” ²¹ After further threats they let them go. They could not find a way to punish them, because all the people were glorifying God for what had happened. ²² For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.

Evidence silences; politics still tries to muzzle. The apostles’ ethic is clear: when human command contradicts God’s commission, God wins. They do not seek conflict for its own sake; they refuse to stop speaking what they have seen and heard.

Acts 4:23-31 (BSB)

²³ On their release, Peter and John returned to their own people and reported everything that the chief priests and elders had said to them. ²⁴ When the believers heard this, they lifted up their voices to God with one accord. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “You made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them. ²⁵ You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of Your servant, our father David: ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? ²⁶ The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against His Anointed One.’ ²⁷ In fact, this is the very city where Herod and Pontius Pilate conspired with the Gentiles and the people of Israel against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed. ²⁸ They carried out what Your hand and will had decided beforehand would happen. ²⁹ And now, Lord, consider their threats, and enable Your servants to speak Your word with complete boldness, ³⁰ as You stretch out Your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.” ³¹ After they had prayed, their meeting place was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

Report → united prayer → Creator addressed → Scripture prayed → sovereignty over the cross confessed → boldness requested → place shaken → Spirit fills → word spoken boldly. This is the church’s reflex under threat.

Acts 4:32-37 (BSB)

³² The multitude of believers was one in heart and soul. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they owned. ³³ With great power the apostles continued to give their testimony about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And abundant grace was upon them all. ³⁴ There were no needy ones among them, because those who owned lands or houses would sell their property, bring the proceeds from the sales, ³⁵ and lay them at the apostles’ feet for distribution to anyone as he had need. ³⁶ Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (meaning Son of Encouragement), ³⁷ sold a field he owned, brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

Power in testimony and grace in community. Needs met; Barnabas models encouragement with open hands. Chapter 5 will show the counterfeit of this generosity; chapter 4 shows the real thing.

Personal Application

1. No other name. Where has cultural pressure tempted you to soften the exclusivity of salvation in Jesus - as if other “names” could save?

2. Boldness requested. When threatened or merely awkward, do you first curate your image - or lift your voice with the church for parrēsia?

3. Open hands. Does “mine” rule your goods so tightly that the needy among God’s people never see grace through you?

Pray to Close

The central truth of Acts 4: Jesus is the rejected cornerstone and the only name that saves; His people answer threats with Scripture-soaked prayer and Spirit-given boldness.

Praise - the Sovereign Lord who made heaven and earth and made the crucified Servant the cornerstone.

Confess - silence when you should speak, and clenched fists where generosity is needed.

Ask - to speak the word with complete boldness, and to live one in heart and soul with His people.

Yield - reputation before councils and comforts before the cross, for the sake of the Name.