Act 4:33 | KingComments | STEP | Here we find more characteristics of this new company. Everything breathes the presence of Him Who deigned to come to earth to dwell in the believers. Without Him, all those believers would have remained just as many individuals, but now there is unity. That unity concerns not only the new life in the spiritual sphere, but also the whole of life in the community and social sphere. Their faith connects the crowd of heart and soul. If there is such unity, it cannot but be experienced also in practice. From within there is a desire to share everything with each other. This is very different from the law, which prescribes that certain things must be shared with each other. Sharing is then an obligation. The law also states that every Israelite has a piece of land that has been given to him as a blessing from God. The fact that the believers give up this piece of land shows what a big change in the thinking of these Jews of origin has taken place anyway. Here, grace is the origin of all facets of life. Love for Christ goes hand in hand with love for His own. That love proves itself in giving. They know that their true riches are elsewhere. There is no ‘Christian communism’ here because the sale takes place entirely voluntarily. Communism is: ‘All yours is mine’; Christendom is: ‘All mine is yours’ and that on a voluntary basis. The right to private property has not been taken away. The community did not have the money until it had been voluntarily placed at the feet of the apostles. The sharing of earthly goods gives extra strength to the apostles’ testimony concerning the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. It is only possible to consider earthly possessions as meaningless if there is a great impression of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Through His resurrection a territory has opened up that is outside of this world. Whoever is connected to it, knows that all his blessings are there. This truth irresistibly breaks through all opposition in the early days of Christendom. The great resistance this truth evokes is proof of its great significance. The result is only that the apostles bear witness to this truth with great power. That the enmity against the preaching of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus is great should not surprise us. The resurrection of Christ confirms the total corruption of man. What remains for a man today is either the acknowledgment of this, which at the same time brings him the full deliverance that God has worked in Christ, or resisting and dying. That is why the resurrection is fundamental in the preaching. Whoever acknowledges the resurrection of Christ will acknowledge it as a proof of “great grace”. It is remarkable what is called “great” in the early days. There is “great power” and “great grace” ( ); there is “great fear” ( ); “great persecution” ( ); “great joy” ( ); “a great number” who believed ( ). The “great grace” refers not only to the eternal salvation of the soul, but also to the earthly life of the church. God takes care of eternity, the believers take care of each other for the time on earth. This does not mean that the church is a select group of people who do good works. What they do for each other is an effect of the great grace that is over them. It may have been the case that something was sold only when there was a need. In such a case, the Spirit could make clear to someone what he had to sell in order to be able to provide for the needs of others. No wish lists were submitted and no wishes were fulfilled, but they were distributed according to everyone’s needs. In general we are not asked to sell our possessions. The rich in the present day are not called upon to get rid of their wealth, but to deal with it in the right way and not to fix their hope on it ( ). Nor do we read anywhere that we should put our gifts at someone’s feet. However, it is important that we use our possessions for the Lord’s work and the needs of fellow believers. It is still important to see our possessions as entrusted to us by the Lord to manage for Him. The way we deal with them shows whether we are focused on the Lord and His own, or whether we live for ourselves. He who closes his heart to a brother or sister who is in need does not have the love of God in him ( ).

‏ Acts 4:33

Church Unity

Here we find more characteristics of this new company. Everything breathes the presence of Him Who deigned to come to earth to dwell in the believers. Without Him, all those believers would have remained just as many individuals, but now there is unity. That unity concerns not only the new life in the spiritual sphere, but also the whole of life in the community and social sphere. Their faith connects the crowd of heart and soul.

If there is such unity, it cannot but be experienced also in practice. From within there is a desire to share everything with each other. This is very different from the law, which prescribes that certain things must be shared with each other. Sharing is then an obligation. The law also states that every Israelite has a piece of land that has been given to him as a blessing from God. The fact that the believers give up this piece of land shows what a big change in the thinking of these Jews of origin has taken place anyway.

Here, grace is the origin of all facets of life. Love for Christ goes hand in hand with love for His own. That love proves itself in giving. They know that their true riches are elsewhere. There is no ‘Christian communism’ here because the sale takes place entirely voluntarily. Communism is: ‘All yours is mine’; Christendom is: ‘All mine is yours’ and that on a voluntary basis. The right to private property has not been taken away. The community did not have the money until it had been voluntarily placed at the feet of the apostles.

The sharing of earthly goods gives extra strength to the apostles’ testimony concerning the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. It is only possible to consider earthly possessions as meaningless if there is a great impression of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Through His resurrection a territory has opened up that is outside of this world. Whoever is connected to it, knows that all his blessings are there.

This truth irresistibly breaks through all opposition in the early days of Christendom. The great resistance this truth evokes is proof of its great significance. The result is only that the apostles bear witness to this truth with great power.

That the enmity against the preaching of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus is great should not surprise us. The resurrection of Christ confirms the total corruption of man. What remains for a man today is either the acknowledgment of this, which at the same time brings him the full deliverance that God has worked in Christ, or resisting and dying. That is why the resurrection is fundamental in the preaching. Whoever acknowledges the resurrection of Christ will acknowledge it as a proof of “great grace”.

It is remarkable what is called “great” in the early days. There is “great power” and “great grace” (Acts 4:33); there is “great fear” (Acts 5:5 ; 11); “great persecution” (Acts 8:1); “great joy” (Acts 8:8 ; Acts 15:3); “a great number” who believed (Acts 11:21).

The “great grace” refers not only to the eternal salvation of the soul, but also to the earthly life of the church. God takes care of eternity, the believers take care of each other for the time on earth. This does not mean that the church is a select group of people who do good works. What they do for each other is an effect of the great grace that is over them. It may have been the case that something was sold only when there was a need. In such a case, the Spirit could make clear to someone what he had to sell in order to be able to provide for the needs of others. No wish lists were submitted and no wishes were fulfilled, but they were distributed according to everyone’s needs.

In general we are not asked to sell our possessions. The rich in the present day are not called upon to get rid of their wealth, but to deal with it in the right way and not to fix their hope on it (1Tim 6:17-18). Nor do we read anywhere that we should put our gifts at someone’s feet. However, it is important that we use our possessions for the Lord’s work and the needs of fellow believers.

It is still important to see our possessions as entrusted to us by the Lord to manage for Him. The way we deal with them shows whether we are focused on the Lord and His own, or whether we live for ourselves. He who closes his heart to a brother or sister who is in need does not have the love of God in him (1Jn 3:17).