“By what power, or through whom have you done this?”

Then Peter spoke boldly: 

“Ye rulers of the people and elders, if you are asking us about the good deed done to this man who was so helpless, how it was that he was made well, I will tell you that by the name of Jesus of Nazareth whom you put to death on the cross, whom God raised from the dead; even by him this man stands here before you all strong and well.  And there is no salvation except through Jesus Christ, for there is no other name under heaven given among men that can save us from our sins.”

When these rulers saw how bold and strong were the words of Peter and John, they wondered, especially as they knew that they were plain men, not learned in books, and not used to speaking.  They remembered that they had seen these men among the followers of Jesus, and they felt that in some way Jesus had given them his power.  And as the man who had been healed was standing beside them, they could say nothing to deny that a wonderful work had been done.

The rulers sent Peter and John out of the council-room, while they talked together.  They said to each other: 

“What shall we do to these men?  We cannot deny that a wonderful work has been done by them, for every one knows it.  But we must stop this from spreading any more among the people.  Let us command them not to speak to any man about the name of Jesus; and let us tell them, that if they do speak, we will punish them.”

So they called the two apostles into the room again, and said to them:  “We forbid you to speak about Jesus, and the power of his name, to any man.  If you do not stop talking about Jesus, we will lay hands on you, and put you in prison, and will have you beaten.”

But Peter and John answered the rulers:  “Whether it is right to obey you or to obey God, you can judge.  As for ourselves we cannot keep silent; we must speak of what we have seen and heard.”

The rulers were afraid to do any harm to Peter and John, because they knew that the people praised God for the good work that they had done; and they would be angry to have harm come to them.  For fear of the people, they let them go.  And being let go, they went to their own friends, the company who met in the upper room, and there they gave thanks to God for helping them to speak his word without fear.

THE STORY OF STEPHEN, THE FIRST MARTYR

In the New Testament, in the book of Acts, you will learn how the members of the church in Jerusalem gave their money freely to help the poor.  This free giving led to trouble, as the church grew so fast; for some of the widows who were poor were passed by, and their friends made complaints to the apostles.  The twelve apostles called the whole church together, and said: 

“It is not well that we should turn aside from preaching and teaching the word of God to sit at tables and give out money.  But, brethren, choose from among yourselves seven good men; men who have the Spirit of God and are wise, and we will give this work to them; so that we can spend our time in prayer and in preaching the gospel.”