Acts 3 & 4 Explained: Power of the Holy Spirit, Bold Faith & Persecution

In this episode of The Bible Made Real Podcast, we continue our journey through the book of Acts, diving into chapters 3 and 4. After the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, we now see the first miracle of the early Church, the bold preaching of Peter, and the beginning of persecution.

This passage reveals what it truly looks like to live in the power of the Holy Spirit—marked by transformation, courage, unity, and unwavering faith in Jesus Christ.

🔥 What You’ll Learn

• Why God often gives you more than what you ask for
• The deeper meaning behind the healing of the lame man
• How to redirect glory back to Christ in your life
• Why boldness comes from being with Jesus—not just knowledge
• What persecution reveals about your faith
• How the early Church prayed, lived, and stayed unified
• Why we should pray for boldness—not comfort

📚 Key Scripture Passages

• Acts 3:1–10 — Healing of the lame man
• Acts 3:12–26 — Peter’s sermon and call to repentance
• Acts 4:1–22 — Peter and John arrested and questioned
• Acts 4:23–31 — The believers pray for boldness
• Acts 4:32–37 — Unity and generosity in the early Church

✨ Key Teaching Points

1. God Gives More Than You Ask For

The lame man asked for money—but received healing and transformation.
God doesn’t just meet surface needs—He transforms lives.

Sometimes we ask for temporary solutions, but God offers eternal change.

2. The Power Is in the Name of Jesus

Peter makes it clear: the miracle was not by human ability.

“Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you…” 

Faith in Jesus—not human effort—is the source of true power.

3. Redirect the Glory

Peter refuses attention and immediately points people back to Christ.

Application:
If God is using you, make sure people see Him—not you.

4. Repentance Is Always Available

Even those who rejected and crucified Jesus are invited back.

“Repent therefore and be converted…” 

No one is too far gone. The invitation still stands.

5. Boldness Comes from Being with Jesus

Peter and John were untrained—but powerful.

People “realized that they had been with Jesus.” 

Authority flows from intimacy, not education.

6. Faith Will Cost You Something

Peter and John are arrested—but the Church still grows to 5,000.

Question:
Are you willing to be misunderstood or rejected for the sake of truth?

7. Jesus Is the Cornerstone

He is the foundation—remove Him, and everything collapses.

“Nor is there salvation in any other…” 

8. Pray for Boldness, Not Escape

The early Church didn’t pray for comfort—they prayed for courage.

Powerful Shift:
Instead of “God remove this,” pray
➡️ “God strengthen me through this.”

9. Pray the Word of God

They prayed Scripture (Psalms), reminding themselves of truth and God’s promises.

10. True Unity Produces Generosity

The early believers lived in radical unity and shared everything willingly.

• One heart
• One soul
• No one in need

This was not forced—it was Spirit-led.

💡 Real-Life Application

• Stop limiting your prayers to what you think you need
• When God uses you, point everything back to Him
• Build boldness through time with Jesus—not just study
• Expect resistance when you walk in truth
• Pray Scripture to strengthen your faith
• Ask God for courage, not comfort
• Live generously and strengthen the body of Christ

🧠 Reflection Questions

1. Am I asking God for small things when He wants to trans

Welcome to The Bible Made Real.

Be sure to follow or subscribe so you don’t miss upcoming episodes.

You can connect with Kathy on Instagram @kathyabidinglight and learn more at kathyabraham.com. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Bible Made Real Podcast. I'm Kathy Abraham. And in this episode, we're going to be continuing our journey through the book of Acts. We have already gone over Acts chapter one, Acts chapter two. Today we're going to talk about Acts chapter three and four in this episode. So just to give you a quick overview again, remember Acts chapter one was when they were gathered together with Jesus. He ascends into heaven and he tells them to stay in Jerusalem, that they will receive power from the Holy Spirit. Sure enough, Acts chapter two, we have Pentecost beginning verses one through four, where they are ready, they receive the Holy Spirit, tongues of fire come down on each uh person there on the upper room, and the church begins to grow. And Acts chapter two ends with uh with it saying that the Lord added to this church daily and that the church grew. So now we're at Acts chapter three. This opens up with Peter and John. They are walking to the temple to go pray. Okay, and they see a lame man sitting there asking for psalms. He is begging for for money. And so Peter makes uh eye contact with him and he tells him in verse uh five, he says, verse four, actually, he says, fixing his eyes on him with John Peter, and he says, Look at us. So he wants the man to look at them and he's telling them, He listen, I do not have money for you. He says, Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have, I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And that's exactly what happened. He took him by his hand, he lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. He began to leap, he stood up, he walked, and he entered the temple with them to pray, walking, okay, leaping, praising God. And all the people saw him walking and leaping and praising God, right? And they knew that this was the man that sat at the gate of the temple, named Beautiful, begging for alms every day. And they understand that now a miracle had happened, and they were filled with wonder, awe, and amazement. So this is the first miracle that is now performed after the Holy Spirit has come down upon them. Okay, they are walking in spirit. And what's interesting is that there is a real deep meaning here. This man represents the world, us. We are asking for things that perish. We are asking for silver and gold. We may seem, it may seem like the world's riches, right? But God's saying, I have something more to give you, something that will give you eternity. Sometimes we only ask God for what we think we need. Lord, I really need this, I really need this. But God wants to give you something even bigger, something even greater. He wants to give you transformation. This man didn't ask to be healed. He didn't ask to walk, but he was given something even more than what he was asking for. And this is the transformation and work of the Holy Spirit. This is a lesson for you and I. When we ask God, sure, we can ask him for anything we want, all of our desires, but don't be surprised when God wants to give you something even greater, something even better that you didn't even think you needed. And now this man's life is transformed and he becomes a witness to the power of the Holy Spirit, as we continue to see here. So moving on in chapter um, chapter three, verse 11, the lame man was healed. So he held on to Peter and John, right? He was so happy, he did not want to let go of them. And all the people ran together to the Porsche of Solomon there, greatly amazed. And when they saw Peter, they responded to the people. And Peter's like, listen, guys, why are you hanging on to me? I'm not the celebrity here. You guys are all giving me the glory. It wasn't me or John that healed this man. Wrong attention. And Peter redirects their attention to Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. And Peter tells him in verse 12, he says, Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Why do you look so intently at us as though we were the ones with our own power or godliness that made this man walk? And he says, The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate when he was determined to let him go. He's reminding them, this same man that performed this miracle that you are clinging on to me for, you decided to crucify him. You're the ones that gave him up to Pilate, even though Pilate didn't want to crucify him. You denied the holy one and the just, and you asked for a murderer to be granted to you instead. They released um Barabbas and they crucified Jesus. And he told them, You kill the Prince of Life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. And his name, through faith in his name. This is where Peter is giving credit where credit is due. He's saying, It is faith through the name of Jesus Christ where we were able to let the lame walk. It said, This faith has made this man strong, the same faith whom you see and you know. Yes, this faith which comes through him has been given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance. See, even Peter is saying, you know what? It's because of your ignorance that you did this. You didn't understand the power that was with you, didn't understand that Jesus in the flesh was among you, and it was you were ignorant. So what does he say? And he says, also these rule asshole to the rulers, he is actually now speaking to the Pharisees and to the religious rulers who crucify Jesus. He's saying, But those things which God foretold by the mouth of his prophets that the Christ would suffer has now been fulfilled. But he's giving them another chance. In verse 19, Peter says, Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. No matter how far these religious leaders strayed from God and the truth, even persecuting the church, even persecuting Jesus himself and crucifying him. Peter's saying, Listen, you can still repent. You can still repent. The invitation to believe in Christ and to have faith still is present now and here. And that he send, and that he may send Jesus Christ, whom was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things which God has spoken by the mouth of his holy prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said to the fathers, the Lord your God will raise us up, raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in the things, whatever he says to you, and it shall be that every soul who will not hear that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people. Peter is reminding them what Moses told them, because again, Peter knows his audience. He knows these are the Jews who are so hung up on the law of Moses that they cannot accept the new prophet. This is their new king, their Messiah. They still have a hard time understanding. And you know who they thought this prophet was that would follow Moses? They thought it was Joshua. They thought Moses was referring to Joshua, but Moses was referring to Jesus Christ himself. Yes, and all the prophets from Samuel, beginning Samuel, and to those who follow, as many have spoken, have also foretold these days. You are sons of that prophet, and the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. To you first, God, having raised up his servant Jesus, sent him to bless you in turning away every one of you from your iniquities. So Peter's giving them a chance to repent and saying, Listen, you you rejected him, I know that, but this is the God. This is the same God, the Messiah, who was promised by Abraham, who was promised by Moses, who was promised by your fathers. And the promise still exists for you today. So he's giving them a chance to repent. And the church is growing, and the power of the Holy Spirit is working here. And what is Peter doing? He's making sure that, hey, I am not taking any of this glory. This is not me. He points it all back to Christ. So whatever platform God has given you, if God has given you any sort of public work of the Holy Spirit, any talents or gifts that others may want to give you the glory for or give you the attention for, make sure you're turning it back to God. Make sure you're pointing everybody at the right direction, not to look at you, but to look at him, because he gives everything. To him, everything has been given. Every gift, every talent, uh, all power and all authority of the Holy Spirit comes from Jesus Christ Himself. So that concludes our study on chapter three. Now let's move on to chapter four. Here, Peter and John actually are arrested because of the miracle they had just performed, healing the lame man now that he's walking, because they're getting attention from the Sadducees and the religious leaders. So they laid hands on them and they put them in custody until the next day, as it was evening. However, many of those who heard the word believed, and the number of men uh came out to 5,000. So they still were able to convert and touch 5,000 lives, primarily because of the miracle that they had just witnessed of the lame walking. Um, but this is a testament to you and I that, you know, even though we may not put in prison for preaching the gospel or sharing the good news of the gospel or talking about miracles or bringing others to Christ, it still may cost us something, right? Are we willing to be persecuted? Are we willing to be misunderstood? Are we willing to be embarrassed? Are we willing to be rejected by others? Because we are preaching the truth of the gospel, pointing others to Jesus Christ. That is the principle here. Um, and again, it may not cost us our lives, but are we willing to risk something like Peter and John did? And so the next day it came to pass, the rulers, the elders, and the scribes, as well as Annas the high priest, Caiphus, John, and Alexander, and the family of the high priest were all gathered together in Jerusalem. And they they asked them, they asked Peter and John, by what power or what name have you done this? They want to know who's behind all this, right? Like what kind of magic sorcery is it really God? What kind of power are you doing this? And Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, rulers of the people and the elders of Israel, if if we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has made been made well, let it be known to you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man stands here before you whole. This is the stone which was rejected by the builders, which you have become the chief cornerstone, now has become the chief cornerstone. Now, nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we may be saved. How is Jesus the chief cornerstone? Because the cornerstone of a building is the one stone that has two sides leaning on against it. So it is in the corner part, and if you remove it, the entire building will fall. There will be no stability and it will not be able to stand. So he is the foundation of our faith. He is the foundation of the church, and he was rejected by the chief uh leaders, but he is the foundation of the real faith and the real church. So uh verse 13. Now, when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled and they realized that they had been with Jesus. We're gonna pause right here because this is really amazing, okay? Peter and John were fishermen. Remember, they were untrained. Yes, they didn't uneducate it, absolutely. They were not trained in the law and educated like the Pharisees were and the Sadducees were. No, but they had spoken with a boldness and with a type of authority that surpasses all knowledge. It was evident to them that they had been with Jesus. Do people say that about you? When they hang out with you and spend time with you, are they saying, Wow, it's obvious. I'm realizing that this person has been with Jesus. Because your life is a testimony of what God is trying to do, right, in your life. And so it's not authority doesn't come from just your education or how much you know. It comes with how much time are you actually spending with Jesus? That's where your power lies. Verse 14, and seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. They didn't know what to do. They had nothing worthwhile. They hadn't anything substantial to even argue and like really blame them for it. They didn't do anything wrong. When they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, saying, What should we do to these men? For indeed, it's been a notable, a notable miracle has been done. And it's evident to all who have been dwelling in Jerusalem. Everybody knows you can't deny it. We cannot deny it. But so that it spreads no further. We don't want this, right? They don't want this to spread further, they're saying. So, in order for us to avoid it from spreading any further, let us severely threaten them. That's all they can do, right? They threaten them. That from now on that they cannot speak about this man. So they called them in and commanded them not to speak, teach at or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them and said, Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than God, you judge. But we, we cannot but speak of the things which we have seen and heard. They do not care. They're like, we don't care what you think, because we are unable to sit here quiet. We have to speak and talk about what we saw, what we heard, and what we know is true. And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done. Remember, 5,000 were converted. For the man, the man was over 40 years old. It was so evident. This man from birth couldn't walk. And now he's over 40 and he's walking and leaping and jumping and running, of whom the miracle of healing had been performed. Okay, let's move on. Now they pray. So Peter and John are released from their one overnight stay in prison for not doing anything wrong, right? And what do they do? They go back to their to their crew and they said, um, being led, being let go, they went to their own companions. Okay. They went back to their fellow believers and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had done to them. And when they heard this, what did they do? They prayed. They gathered together and prayed. When there was a problem, when there was a threat, they said, We got to pray. This is the work. Guys, this is a this is a model for us to copy. When we have a problem, the first thing we do is say, Hey, let's get together and pray right now. And um, they prayed in one accord. Their voice of God was with one accord, and they said, Lord, you are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them, who by the mouth of your servant David have said, Why do the nations rage and the people plot vain things? The king of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and is against his Christ. Before I move on, I just want to mention here, they're praying the song. Okay, they're praying the word of God. This is something so powerful, something I'm trying to teach my own children to do is pray the word of God back to him. Say, Lord, you are this. You said this, you have done this, and pray the word of God back to him because it reaffirms the truth, it reaffirms his power, it reaffirms the authority, it reaffirms the promises that he cannot revoke or take back, as it says in Isaiah 55, that his words will not return void, and that the gifts and callings of God are irrevocable. So he's not going to take back what he's been doing. You just need to speak and stir up your faith in the Holy Spirit, both for yourself and for the power of your prayers to be answered. So they are saying, Lord, you said this. Okay, the prophet David has said this through your mouth. And uh, you are God. You are God. You've made the heaven and earth. But look what they say after. For truly against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever your hand and your purpose determined before you, before to be done. Now, Lord, look at their threats and grant to your servants that with all boldness that they may speak your word. By stretching out your hands to heal, and the signs and wonders may be done through the name of the Holy Servant Jesus. What are they asking for? They're not saying, Lord, take away these threats, make our life easy, make our problems go away. No, that's not what they're saying. They're saying, Lord, help us to be bold. Give me strength and courage through this problem to face this challenge, to speak up, to do what's right. Pray for boldness, guys. Next time you find yourself in a situation that's difficult, that's hard, don't necessarily ask God to remove it, because that's not often time what he oftentimes what he wants. He wants to stretch you. He wants to strengthen you. He wants you to get stronger in your faith. And that the only way you can do that is to continue on with the pressure, with the stress, right? With the headache, with the hardships, with the turmoil, with the persecution and the oppression that's coming against you, with the spiritual warfare. He wants you to learn how to battle strong, how to battle right, and that's in your prayers. Ask for boldness in your prayers. Ask for faith in your prayers. Say, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. Ask for courage in your prayers and boldness. And God will grant you that because that's what he wants. That's the only way you're going to grow. And that's what they asked for. And then lastly, it ends with sharing in all things. They gathered together the multitude who believed. They were of one heart, one soul. Neither did anyone say of the things anyone say that any of the things that he possessed was their own. But they had all things in common, with great power. The apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. Nor was there anyone among them who lacked, for all of them possessed the lands or houses sold at them. They brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and they laid them at the apostles' feet and distributed one another to anyone who had need. So they are making sure that their needs were met. They're not here to try to one-up anyone. They're not here to try to gain material goods. They're saying, listen, we have a great work to do here, and we want this to be done in a way that honors God. We want to be fair. We don't want anyone among us suffering. We're going to help each other out. We're going to strengthen the body of Christ so that it's fair. And they willingly did this, right? This is not communism. This is not like a force sort of sharing of your possessions, but they did this on purpose to, in order to strengthen and serve the body of the Christ and church. And it's a wonderful example of unity that we are called to be united with our fellow brothers and sisters within our communities, within our church. We're called to help one another. So those of us who have more and have excess are called to give more into others and not to let our brother or sister go in need, uh, and to strengthen the body of Christ in the church. And that's how we do it by offering one another the gifts and the possessions that we have from God so that we are all strengthened and that we are all continue to become a testimony and grow in faith and knowledge in our communion and love with Jesus Christ and with each other. So this concludes our study on Acts chapter three and Acts chapter four. As you can see, the power of the Holy Spirit is so alive, so present. They are just getting started here, okay? They are still in Jerusalem. We have not moved on to the other ends of the earth yet. We have not yet gone there. But here you can learn how the spirit is growing and what they are doing to cultivate the spirit. Because you and I, we can grieve the Holy Spirit or we can nurture the Holy Spirit so that it grows. We are called to stir up the spirit inside of us. So we have to learn from the early church, they have been given this fresh dose of the Holy Spirit, this fresh um outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And so have we. But we have to learn to keep this fire alive. And that is what this early church, the apostles, are doing here. So I'm excited to continue this study with you. Uh, and I'll see you in the next episode as we continue on our journey through the study of the book of Acts. Hope you enjoy this, and I'll see you next week. Thanks for joining me on the Bible Made Real Podcast. If today's message resonated with you or encouraged you, please like it, share, and hit a follow so that you never miss a single episode. And make sure to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts as it really does help us to reach more listeners. You can also visit my website, KathyAbraham.com, to receive Bible tools, resources, all the prayer books that you saw today, um, and free devotionals in your inbox every week. You can also follow me on Instagram and TikTok at Kathy Abidy Light, I get behind the scenes content and daily encouragement. I hope you enjoyed this episode, and I'll see you in the next one.