Page 16 - Florida Sentinel 11-20-20

Responsive Love ACTS 4:32--5:11 (KJV)
SCRIPTURES
Acts 4:32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.
33 And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrec- tion of the Lord Jesus:
and great grace was upon them all.
34 Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,
35 And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he
had need.
36 And Joses, who by
the apostles was sur- named Barnabas, (which is, being inter- preted, The son of conso- lation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus,
37 Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
5:1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,
2 And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apos- tles’ feet.
3 But Peter said, Ana- nias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
5 And Ananias hear- ing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.
6 And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him.
7 And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in.
8 And Peter an- swered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land
for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much.
9 Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.
10 Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.
11 And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.
Sharing Community (Acts 4:32-37)
Acts 4 begins with the imprisonment of Peter and John. This is typical of what the new Christians would face. Following the death of Jesus, the early Christians were persecuted and often treated as outcasts from their Jewish community and fam- ily. Despite the persecution, the church community is de- scribed as a Spirit-filled, praying, loving and united community. That unity is shown economically through the sharing of goods.
In the first few years of the church, followers of Christ voluntarily sought to meet one another’s needs be- cause they recognized that they were, in a real sense, united with one another in their faith in Christ. The giv- ing is not merely a one-on- one meeting of needs but a giving to a common pool under the authoritative wis- dom of the apostles, who would then distribute ac- cording to need. This reveals both the generosity of this community and their trust in their Christ-ordained leader- ship.
As Jesus graciously gave His life for the forgiveness of sins and as Jesus graciously
took on human flesh in order to save humanity, so also the community of faith is en- couraged to give sacrificially to one another and to those in need.
Holiness vs. Hypocrisy (5:1-11)
In the Garden of Eden, sin was met by expulsion. In the wilderness after their emancipation and exodus, when the covenant people of God grumbled against their Redeemer, they were pun- ished with wandering until the resistant generation died. At these pivotal moments in the history of God’s covenant community, the stakes are extremely high and it is a constant biblical theme that the Spirit of God holds His community to a high stan- dard.
After a beautiful example of gospel generosity, we are given a terrifying account of heinous hypocrisy. Ananias and Sapphira are not struck dead for mere stinginess. Ananias and Sapphira are struck dead because they lie to the apostles and the One from whom the apostles re- ceived their authority, the Spirit of Christ.
Peter explains this (Acts 5:3), reminding Ananias that there was no obligation to give. Ananias lied in order to appear generous. This hurt the faith community and the Holy Spirit would not let that stand. The text ends with the first reference to “the church” (Gk. ekklesia) in the book of Acts. From this point forward, this is the term used to describe the people of God, placing them in conti- nuity with God’s Old Testa- ment ekklesia, the Israelites.
God’s standards do not change throughout the Scrip- tures, but the resources that He has given His people have increased. The greatest of those gifts have been the giv- ing of His own Son and His own Spirit.
Test your own motives before you test God.
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