33 And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.
34 For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales
35 and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need.
36 Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement),
37 and who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
1 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property,
2 and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife’s full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles’ feet.
3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land?
4 “While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”
5 And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came over all who heard of it.
6 The young men got up and covered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him.
7 Now there elapsed an interval of about three hours, and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.
8 And Peter responded to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for such and such a price?” And she said, “Yes, that was the price.”
9 Then Peter said to her, “Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.”
10 And immediately she fell at his feet and breathed her last, and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
11 And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things.” Acts 4:31 to Acts 5:11.
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“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Proverbs 9:10 We tend to focus primarily on the believers and the common sharing, rather than focus on the Holy Spirit and the fear of the LORD that He wrought.
We tend to let our focus be determined by chapter divisions, rather than be determined by the context of the Scripture. There is one theme in this Scripture for today, even including Acts 4:31 which we covered yesterday. That is why these “bookends” of Acts 4:31 and Acts 5:1-11 are included.
We can’t understand the importance of sharing among believers without being reminded about Who caused the sharing. Although we are inclined to start this daily devotion with Acts 4:32, that verse starts with “And” which is a conjunction which should prompt us to tie this verse to the prior verse. Although we are inclined to wait until the next daily to start Acts Chapter 5, Acts 5:1 starts with “But” which is also a conjunction which should prompt us to tie this chapter and verse to the prior chapter and verse.
We also see so much parallelism in Scripture, particularly in the Psalms and Proverbs, but we also see parallelism in this Scripture for today. In Acts Chapter 4, we noted that God is sovereign over even hostile men who intend to do evil, and God is sovereign over His servants who want to carry our God’s will. God is so powerful and sovereign that He caused His servants to share so much. God is so powerful and sovereign that He used the actions of Ananias and Sapphira to cause great fear over the whole church.
I am resistant to read about the sharing of the believers. I am selfish. I have got nothing, but I don’t even want to share the nothing that I have.
Maybe, I can resist that selfishness and teach that it is good to share everything. But even then, there is danger in doing that apparent noble mission. Thereby, we can establish a new law and trust our flesh to perform it and feel quite self-righteous when we think we succeeded.
We should be reminded of Galatians 3:5. “So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?”
In conclusion, this is exactly what happened in this Scripture. God provided His Spirit and worked the miracle of believers sharing and worked the miracle of the fear of the LORD.
Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions 