Study Desk

They grabbed the cowboys and threw them in jail overnight.

They brought Pete and John into the meeting and asked them, "How did you do this? What name did you call down from heaven?"

Pete and John's courage amazed the decision makers. These two cowboys were obviously uneducated and crude, but there was no doubt they had ridden with Jesus.

They told the police to escort the cowboys out of the room, and then they conferred with each other saying,

Let's just tell them they can't do it anymore and see if that works."

So they called the cowboys back in and told them not to do anything like that ever again. They commanded Pete and John not to preach about Jesus or even say anything about him.

A few more threats were made and then they cowboys were let go. The decision makers couldn't have them punished because everyone was celebrating the miracle the cowboys had done.

As soon as they were bonded out, Pete and John went back and told all the other riders what the preachers and elders had said.

When they said, "Amen," the place shook violently, and all who were there praying were filled with the Holy Spirit. They all went out and preached with courage and conviction in the face of imminent danger.

Ananias and Sapphira did sell the property, but instead of giving all the money to the cause, they kept back a sizable amount for themselves.

Pete said, "How is it that you thought you could pull a fast one on God? The footsteps you hear behind you are the feet of the men who just buried your husband, and they will bury you too."

She was dead before she hit the floor. The young men came back in and found another dead body. They went back out and buried her next to her husband.

The cowboys were healing folks right and left. They performed miracles and other great things that many people saw. Everyone who believed in what the cowboys said met on the porch at the main church. This porch was named after Solomon.

They arrested the cowboys and threw them in jail.

The cowboys rode through the gates of the main church at daylight and spoke loud and clear for all to hear.When the head preacher and his cronies arrived at work that day, they called for an emergency meeting of all the bigwig rulers of Israel. They told the guards to bring the cowboys in for a hearing.

But when the church police went to get them, they found the guards still there and all the doors locked, but no one was inside. They ran back to the meeting and said,

When they heard this, the bigwigs gnashed their teeth like rabid coyotes and wanted to kill them on the spot.

Do y'all remember when Theudas was claiming to be someone important? He had about four hundred followers, but he and all his men were killed. It turned out they were nothing.

A little while later, that guy named Judas from Galilee came riding out during the census making a big ruckus, but he and his men were also killed. Everything they claimed they rode for came to nothing.

Gamaliel's speech convinced them. They called the cowboys back into the meeting and had them flogged with a bullwhip and then released. As the cowboys left, the bigwigs once again ordered them not to preach about Jesus.