By shaking the place where the disciples were assembled, the Lord has let His followers in Jerusalem know that He has heard their prayers.

Verses thirty-two through thirty-seven: Much has been made of this passage of Scripture, most of which is incorrect in that it does not take into consideration the context of the situation. Those who believe that the New Covenant Church was a socialistic organization point out that the early Christians, as this statement would seem to appear, did not allow parishioners to own private property. Rather, they were required to sell all individually owned items in order to contribute to the general welfare of the body. Politically, this passage has been used to push a “distribution of wealth” agenda as seen in the recent presidential election (2016). As is usually the case when counterfeit Christians and religious pundants try to speak for the Lord, they miss whatever point they should have hit. Let us not forget that Jerusalem had been inundated with people “from every nation under the sun” who had arrived in the city for the celebration of Pentecost. As stated before, the city population would often double in size during Holy Day celebrations. At this point some 8000 Jews, many of them from foreign lands, had been converted. In order to house and feed these visitors who had lingered in the city to be with their new spiritual brethren for a few days longer, a collection was necessary. Those who owned property sold it and contributed to the general welfare of the church–NOT THE COMMUNITY IN WHICH THEY LIVED. See Church Generosity. A couple of things need to be noted in order to clarify the actions of these early saints. The selling of property, etc. was both voluntary and temporary. In the Scriptures one will find neither God nor His ministers commanding such an action. Today we see similar types of responses when a catastrophe such as a tornado or fire takes place. We find people, often total strangers, providing food, clothing, etc. to the victims. Recall that following 9/11 people from all over the nation traveled to New York to help. In some cases national governments sent large quantities of money to the mayor of New York as a gesture of support. In the United States it has become routine for a GoFundMe network to form immediately following a disaster. Again, it is voluntary and temporary.

In the first eleven verses of chapter five we find a lesson that, if not learned, can have deadly consequences. Upon a careful reading one will find that, again, the act of kindness involved was voluntary. The sin that resulted in the deaths of two people involved the fact that they had lied to the apostles about how much money they had gleaned from the sale of a piece of property. The fact that they did not give Peter all of the proceeds from the sale was not the issue. It was, after all, their property. As Peter pointed out, what they did with the money they received from its sale was theirs to do with as they wished. If Ananias and Sapphira had told Peter that they were contributing only part of the sale price all would have been well. But they lied to him. Peter being God’s representative, when they lied to him THEY ALSO LIED TO GOD’S SPIRIT WHICH IS ALWAYS PRESENT WHEREVER HIS PEOPLE ARE FOUND. For this reason alone Ananias and Sapphira died on the spot. The lesson is this: honesty is the ONLY policy in the family of God. L.J.