'And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the

temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, being grieved that they

taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the

dead' (Acts 4:1,2).

After threatening them, the rulers let the apostles go, forbidding them to

speak or teach in the name of Jesus, but:

'With great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the

Lord Jesus' (Acts 4:33).

The continuance of this preaching caused the Sadducees to lay hands on

the apostles, and to put them into prison, but the angel of the Lord opened

the doors and bade them to go and stand in the temple, and to speak to the

people 'all the words of this life' (Acts 5:20).  These apostles were again

brought before the council, to whom Peter said:

'The God of our

fathers raised up Jesus, Whom ye slew

and hanged on a

tree.  Him hath

God exalted with His right hand to be

a Prince and a

Saviour ... and

we are His witnesses of these things;

And So Is Also

the Holy Ghost,

Whom God hath given to them that obey

Him' (Acts 5:30-

In his previous testimony Peter had placed the raising from the dead, whereof

he and his fellow apostles were witnesses, at the close of the record, but

here, apparently, in order that the resurrection should be spoken of, even if

all else was cut off and forbidden, he places it out of order, putting it

first.  The testimony of Peter and the eleven is followed by that of Stephen,

the first Christian martyr.  Stephen does not use either the word 'raise'

or 'resurrection', but after having called his hearers 'murderers' of 'The

Just One', he followed that accusation by saying:

'Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the

right hand of God' (Acts 7:56),

and being stoned, he called upon God saying:

'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit' (Acts 7:52,56,59).

So far as Stephen was concerned, the Christ Who had been murdered was

alive at the right hand of God, and still answered to His earthly name

'Jesus' and His title 'The Son of Man'.  Peter's witness is followed by that

of Stephen, and Stephen's witness by that of Paul.  On the road to Damascus,

the Lord upon Whom he called, replied to his enquiry, 'Who art thou, Lord?'

saying, 'I am Jesus'.  When this matter came up before the Roman Court, the

charge against Paul was of 'One Jesus, which was dead, Whom Paul affirmed to

be alive' (Acts 25:19).  At the close of chapter 9, we have the record of the

raising from the dead of Dorcas, who responded to the call of the apostle,

'arise', and was 'presented alive' to the people (Acts 9:36-41).

Peter's testimony to Cornelius includes the fact that the apostles were

witnesses that the Lord was slain, hanged on a tree, yet 'Him God raised up

the third day, and shewed Him openly; not to all the people, but unto

witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with Him

after He rose from the dead' (Acts 10:39-41).  Not only were the apostles

witnesses, but the passage reaffirms the co-operative witness of the Holy