WWUTT 2572 The Early Church Wasn't Socialist (Acts 4:32-37)

At the end of Acts chapter four, the church is made up of thousands of people, all of whom are living in one accord with one another and caring for each other, as each person has need in the grace of God.

When we understand the text.

Many of the Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we understand the text is committed to teaching sound doctrine and rebuking those who contradict it. Visit our website at www .wutt .com.

Here once again is Pastor Gabe.

The Church in Acts 4 and the Transition to Acts 5

Thank you, Becky. In our study of the book of Acts, we come to the end of chapter four. Remember that Peter and John had performed this incredible miracle in the temple. The people were astonished. And after preaching the gospel, thousands came to put their faith in Jesus Christ.

So what we have at the end of chapter four is now a description of the charity of the church. And this goes into a story that we read at the beginning of chapter five. So I'm gonna read from chapter four into chapter five, verse 16.

And you'll understand how all of this goes together as I read it. This is Acts four, beginning in verse 32. Hear the word of the Lord. And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul.

And not one was saying that any of his possessions was his own, but for them, everything was common. And with great power, the apostles were bearing witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.

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 and lay them at the apostles' feet. And they would be distributed to each as any had need.

Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles, which translated means son of encouragement, and who owned a field, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.

But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property 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.

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? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your authority?

Why is it that you laid this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God. And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last, and great fear came over all who heard. And the young men rose up and wrapped him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him.

Now there was an interval of about three hours, and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter responded to her, tell me whether you were paid this much for the land? And she said, yes, that much.

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 buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.

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. And great fear came over the whole church and over all who heard these things.

Now with the hands of the apostles, many signs and wonders were happening among the people, and they were all with one accord in Solomon's portico. But none of the rest dared to associate with them. However, the people were holding them in high esteem.

And more than ever, believers in the Lord were added to their number, multitudes of men and women, to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on any one of them.

Also, the multitude from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed. So you see how this all goes together from Acts 4, verse 32, into chapter five with the account of Ananias and Sapphira.

We end chapter four reading about Barnabas selling a field and bringing the money and laying it at the apostles' feet. Ananias and Sapphira claimed to do the same thing, but they were lying, because they had held back some of the proceeds for themselves.

Now, that account we won't get to until tomorrow, but we'll at least look at the conclusion of chapter four here, and reading about the charity of the church. And as we read this, we read about how generous the saints were with one another.

Acts 4 Is Not a Proof Text for Socialism

Do not dare think that this is some argument for socialism. Let's read here verse 32. And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and not one was saying that any of his possessions was his own, but for them, everything was common.

Now, you might be familiar with some propaganda video that was put out several years back. I want to say this was either 2019 or 2020. It could have been in the midst of COVID that this happened, but it was a video that was released by the World Economic Forum.

And of course, they were globalists. They are globalists. They want this one world order sort of a thing. So this propaganda video that they put out was like talking about what our future world looks like, the kind of place where you will live one day, and how it's going to be this utopia for everybody.

No one will be poor. Everyone will be provided for. It's things like that that would certainly stir the emotions in a person. Well, I don't want anybody to suffer. And we would all have like common healthcare and things like that.

What a great world that would be. One of the lines that was in the video was you will own nothing and you will be happy. So everything that we possess, I put that in quotation marks, would really be rented.

It would be borrowed from somebody else. Somebody owns it, but you won't. So even your phone, even the apartment or house that you might live in, the car that you drive, any of these things don't really belong to you.

You don't have anything. It's being given to you by some sort of government power or entity. They own it all and they give it as they see a person deserves it. Of course, that tugs at the heartstrings to think that, well, wouldn't it be great to live in a world where no one is needy of anything?

No one needs it because it's all being provided for by the government. Well, you're also building an environment where people would see the government as God. I mean, that happened in Rome. That was why the people eventually deify the Caesar, the emperor, because, oh, he's a God figure that can give to us whatever it is that we want.

So let's pay tribute to him and we'll have all that we need. This has happened in a number of pagan nations throughout the history of the world. So that's very likely to happen even in our present day as well.

But this, of course, was veiled communism or socialism. So they wouldn't call it that, of course. This is our socialistic society, but they were presenting that in this propaganda video, making everybody think this is the kind of world we really want to live in, but really what the World Economic Forum was wanting to push on everybody was communism or socialism.

Now, when it comes to those who believe socialism and they think that we should be in a socialistic society, they will use passages like Acts 4 to justify it. Anybody who is familiar with the charity of the church that's described in places like Acts 2 and Acts 4, and they'll use these passages to say, see, nothing belonged to them.

They didn't own it. And they just distributed to anybody who had need. And that's the kind of way that we all need to be. Let's build a society like that. And our government can be the one to ensure that everybody gets everything it is that they need.

That is not what's going on here in Acts 4. This is not the government forcefully taking from you or preventing you from owning anything. And then they give it as they decide that this person deserves it or whatnot.

And that's not what's going on here in Acts 4. This is not communism and it's not socialism either. Let me read verse 32 again. The congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul. So this is obviously something spiritual that's going on.

It is not something that is a government imposed law upon a particular people. No one is doing this reluctantly. Nobody is doing this under compulsion because they are forced to. And that really even comes out with the account of Ananias and Sapphira.

They voluntarily sold their land and gave the money, but they kept back some of the proceeds for themselves and made everyone think that they were giving all the money from the field, but they were only giving a part of it.

They were looking like they were pious, but they were really liars. They were hypocrites. And if they had just been honest and upfront in the beginning, if they had said, listen, we sold a field as well.

Here's half the proceeds. We're keeping half for ourselves. That would have been fine. It was their money to do with it as they wanted to, but they lied about it to make themselves look holier than thou.

And as Peter points out, you really lied to the Holy Spirit. You lied to God. You didn't lie to man. You lied to God. So everybody owned something. Everybody had something. It belonged to them, which was why it is said that, the next portion of the verse, not one was saying that any of his possessions was his own, but for them, everything was common.

Now that implies that those possessions were their own, but they were saying out of charity of heart, this doesn't belong to me. It belongs to God and therefore to the people of God. And so they would sell or they would lend, not even lend.

Yeah.

Lend is the easy word to fall on, but that's not what I mean. So like, give it to somebody. They would just give it to somebody. If they had land that somebody needed to live on, they would let them live on it.

Not lending it as in, okay, now you got to pay rent, but they were just charitably distributing everything that they had for the benefit of one another, of their brothers and sisters, as if caring for their own family.

Cause see, that's the picture here. Everybody is the family of God. They are brothers and sisters in the Lord. So just as if a family member came and lived with you, you probably wouldn't charge them rent.

So this was the case with the brotherhood right here in Jerusalem. They were sharing what they had with one another. Nobody was forcefully taking it from them. Nobody was dictating to them what to do with it.

It was theirs and they were free to do with it what they wanted. And this is a demonstration of the genuineness of their hearts and the great grace of God that was upon them all. That you see that grace being extended to one another.

That's what we have in the next verse, verse 33. And with great power, the apostles were bearing witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. I'll come back to that. And great grace was upon them all.

So this grace of God that has been given to them is the grace they were showing to one another. And if we have been shown the grace of God, then we should be showing the grace of God to one another. If you have been forgiven, then you must forgive.

If you have been loved by God who gave you his son and you know that you have the love of God, then you should be showing great love to one another. So this great grace that was upon them all was a demonstration of the grace that God had shown them through Christ.

And again, in verse 33, it was with great power that the apostles were bearing witness. Remember the prayer that we just read yesterday at the conclusion of that prayer, after they had lifted up this request to the Lord, that the apostles would continue to preach with all confidence while you extend your hand to heal and signs and wonders happen through the name of your holy servant, Jesus.

Verse 31 says, when they had prayed earnestly, the place where they had gathered together was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with confidence. You know, this was kind of like the prayer that Solomon had raised up to God.

When God comes to him and says, ask for what you want, ask me what you want and I will give it to you. You want power? You want all of your enemies to cower at your feet? Do you want great wealth? Ask and it will be given to you.

And what did Solomon ask for? He asked for nothing for himself, except that he would be given the wisdom of God to be able to lead the people of God. And God said to him, because you've asked for this, not only will you receive great wisdom, but you will also receive great treasure and a great empire that Israel was during the reign of Solomon.

Until of course, at the end of that reign, Solomon sinned and then the kingdom was divided. But with that prayer that he prays to God, desiring nothing for himself, but the wisdom to lead God's people.

That was kind of like what the apostles were praying for here. They weren't asking for wealth or treasure or to be made rich and famous. They were simply saying, give us power that we may speak your word with all confidence.

And that was what they received, the Holy Spirit, more of God upon themselves to speak the word with confidence. And so in verse 33, with great power, the apostles were bearing witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

They were not shrinking back in any way. They were not curbing their words. They were not softball pitching the gospel. They were not getting into different sermon series on topicality and all this kind of thing.

They were simply proclaiming the gospel of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And so anyone who believed in him would not perish, but have everlasting life. They did this with no shame, but with all courage in the Holy Spirit that was upon them.

And then continuing on after saying, great grace was upon them all. Verse 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 sale.

So you had this thing going on throughout Jerusalem and this would have been happening among thousands of people. Now it's not thousands in the sense that like thousands are selling their land and houses because some of them are receiving the proceeds of the sale.

So it would have been those who were so well-to-do and had such wealth that they possessed these things that they decided, I don't really need this and would sell what they had and benefit those who did not have as much.

And they would bring the proceeds of the sales, verse 35, and lay them at the apostles' feet and they would be distributed to each as any had need. And again, all of this is voluntary. All of this is a demonstration of the grace of God that was upon the heart of each person who did this.

The grace of God that was upon the church as all of these brothers and sisters in the Lord were caring for each other. They recognize that nothing really belongs to them. Everything belongs to God. Remember what we had heard from the apostles' prayer in Acts 4 .24.

They lifted their voices to God with one accord. Same sort of thing that we're reading here in verse 32. The congregation of everybody who believe were of one heart and soul. So you have the disciples, the apostles here, they lift up their voices to God and say, oh, sovereign Lord, it is you who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.

And so the people recognize here, none of this belongs to us. It all belongs to God. And he has blessed us with what we have. So how do we use what God has given us in service to him? And the answer is, we care for his body.

And they would sell even what they had, what God had given to them, they would sell and distribute to the people that were within his church, within the body of Christ. Anyone who had need was provided for and taken care of.

Now, this also isn't socialism in the sense that like, everybody now had exactly the same amount. Those who were previously rich weren't rich anymore, but they were like, they came down into the middle.

And those who were lower class, because they had received much, now they were brought up to the middle class. And that's not the picture that we see going on here. Those who had great wealth still probably had great wealth.

And those who were poor and not as well to do still would have been on like the lower income bracket. But the point is that they weren't needy. They weren't wondering now, when am I going to get to eat?

They weren't struggling to figure out what can I wear for clothing? They weren't wondering where am I going to live and how am I going to get a roof over my head? Because Christians were taking care of each other.

That's the point. And again, doing that voluntarily with and under the grace of God, not because anyone was imposing this upon them. And it was, again, in recognition that God owns everything. But what is this communist or socialistic system under whose authority is all of it?

It's under the authority of the government. The claim is then that the government owns everything. Folks, communism and socialism is very anti-God. It is the government playing God. And the will of the people under such a system is not to distribute everything that they have to one another.

No, it's being seized and taken by the government. And then the government is deciding who gets what. And if you have a godless government, what do you think is going to happen to those who are godly?

People who proclaim Jesus Christ is Lord under such a system, they're going to be oppressed by that government. They will have certain goods withheld from them, not being provided for. It's a very discriminatory system.

It is not at all godly. It is very anti-Christ. For the government puts itself in the position of God. It is not the picture of Acts chapters two and four in any way, shape or form. Do not be confused by that and do not let anyone fool you into thinking, well, look at what we read here in Acts four, so therefore we need to be doing the very thing in our own government.

What would be best for our government is to let us own what we own, what we have rightfully earned by our own work and wages and therefore what we have purchased. And then we get the freedom to decide what we want to do with that so that with the grace of God upon our hearts, we may distribute to anyone who has need, who we see has need, who we can care for, not letting the government come in and seize it.

I mean, we know what the government does. The government has given rights to people to murder their unborn children. The government has redefined love so that even a man and a man can get married to one another.

The government is a very, very terrible God and will lead people into more and more immorality to their destruction. So instead, let us pray as 1 Timothy 2 says, for kings and all who are in high positions that they may come to know the message of the gospel and that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life Godly and dignified in every way.

This is pleasing in the sight of God, our savior. We can follow this example that we have here in Acts chapter four, not to make our government socialist, but to care for one another as each person has need.

Prayer, Christian Charity, and Being Kept from the World

And we'll pick up there tomorrow, reading about the account of Ananias and Sapphira. Heavenly father, we thank you for what we have read and what you guide us into according to your word. Help us to be obedient to it and to be obedient with joy.

We desire to serve our God and serve your body in caring for one another, loving each other and looking after one another. As you have loved us, teach us how we may love one another and keep us from being led astray.

As said in James 1 27, keep us from being stained by the world and all the false ideas and ideologies and propaganda that's floating around us all the time. Instead, we look to Christ and desire to have the mind of Christ in the way that we look after one another.

It's in Jesus name that we pray, amen.

For more about our ministry, visit us online at www .utt .com.