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Well, please turn with me in 
your Bibles to the book of Acts. We're in Acts chapter 4. Acts chapter 4, we've concluded 
a larger section that began in chapter 3 at verse 1, with the 
healing of that lame man. On the basis of that healing, 
Peter preached a sermon in Solomon's porch. Word got to the religious 
leaders. Peter and John were subsequently 
arrested. They stood before the council. The council threatened 
them not to speak or preach in the name of Jesus anymore. They 
go, they pray, and then we come to this sort of progress report 
or a description of the church given by Luke in Acts chapter 
4, verses 32 to 37. We'll see these along the way 
in the book of Acts, where the author shows us what's happening 
within the context of the church of Jesus Christ. So I do want 
to read beginning in Acts 4 at verse 32. Now, the multitude 
of those who believed were of one heart and one soul. Neither 
did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, 
but they had all things in common. And with great power, the apostles 
gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great 
grace was upon them all. Nor was there anyone among them 
who lacked. For all who were possessors of 
lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things 
that were sold, and laid them at the apostles' feet, and they 
distributed to each as anyone had need. And Joseph, who was 
also named Barnabas by the apostles, which is translated son of encouragement, 
a Levite of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold it and brought 
the money and laid it at the apostles' feet. Amen. Well, let 
us pray. Father in heaven, we thank you 
for the written word. We thank you that you have not 
left us in this world as orphans, but you've given us the spirit 
and you've given us your holy word. And we pray even now the 
spirit would help us to understand this section, help us, God, to 
internalize these things, help us as believers in Jesus Christ 
to manifest that or to evidence that by the way that we live. 
Do forgive us for our sins and all unrighteousness. Cleanse 
us afresh in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And help us 
again, we pray, by the power of your Holy Spirit. And we ask 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, as I said, that's 
one of the tactics that Luke employs along the way here in 
the book of Acts, is to take a step back and just give us 
a sort of general summary of life in the church of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. The book of Acts obviously being 
primarily about making disciples and planting local churches, 
so it makes sense that along the way the book would refer 
to us or show us, rather, what's happening in the context of the 
church. And I think Luke, in this section, in verses 32 to 
37, wants us to learn three things about the church. In the first 
place, the church was unified. Secondly, the church was instructed. And thirdly, the church was generous 
or charitable or benevolent. But let's look first at the fact 
that the church was unified. It is first declared in verse 
32, and then it is demonstrated in verse 32. Notice, it says, 
now the multitude of those who believe. The scriptures are clear 
that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus 
Christ alone. The people of God are not the 
people of God because they are charitable. The people of God 
are charitable because they are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. 
You need to see that and you need to understand that. You 
will never enter into heaven by selling your house and giving 
the proceeds to the poor. That is simply not taught in 
scripture. You will only enter into heaven 
based on the doing and the dying of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, 
those who are saved, those who do believe the gospel, those 
who have looked and lived, will know sanctification. They will 
know holiness. They will know righteousness. 
But it's not that righteousness that achieves for us status with 
God. It's the righteousness of Jesus 
Christ and Him alone. So the people of God are identified 
as those who believe the gospel. You have to get that. You're 
not saved because you're charitable. You're charitable because you're 
saved. And if you're not charitable, 
then perhaps the condition is you need to believe the gospel. 
That's what we see in this particular section. But it says the multitude 
of those who believed were of one heart and one soul. In other words, there was Christian 
unity. The people of God like each other. The people of God love each other. 
The people of God care for each other. The people of God want 
to help one another. Calvin says, and surely, where 
faith beareth the chief sway, it doth so knit the hearts of 
men together, that all of them do both will and nill one thing. Daryl Bach makes the observation. He says, as they prayed with 
one voice in verse 24, remember that? They, with one accord, 
lifted up their voice to God. He says, as they prayed with 
one voice in verse 24, so now they are committed to each other 
in terms of resources. And we ought to appreciate this 
as well. We're not saved because we give. Rather, we give because we're 
saved. But also the fact that our profession 
of faith in Jesus Christ will manifest itself. It will evidence 
itself. It is an internal reality that 
is corroborated by external conduct. In other words, we know that 
these people were believers in Christ because they held all 
things in common. They didn't insist upon their 
own prerogatives and their own privileges. When they saw a brother 
or a sister in need, the faith that they had in Jesus Christ 
produced in them this desire to share, this desire to alleviate 
the downtrodden and the poor. this desire to come along and 
aid them. And this is an expression of 
the one heartness and one soulness or the unity that the people 
of God possessed. And all throughout the New Testament, 
you see this emphasized, this unity of the people of God. in 
the sense that we're all cookie cutters, not in the sense that 
we all wear the same uniform, not in the sense that we all 
do exactly the same thing at exactly the same time, at exactly 
the same, you know, condition. No, but rather there is a unity 
of purpose among the people of God, namely the glory of God, 
the salvation of sinners, and the strengthening of the people 
of God. There ought to be a marked unity among the people of God 
in the church today. And that marked unity comes not 
from a compromise of the truth, but rather through a pursuit 
of the truth. It's very intriguing. If you 
look back at the early creeds in Christianity, they're oftentimes 
called the ecumenical creeds. You've heard that word ecumenicism, 
and we hear it today, and we think it's a bad thing. Ecumenicism 
today, in many respects, is a bad thing, because it's a pursuit 
of unity with one another at the compromise of truth. But 
those early ecumenical creeds sought ecumenicism through the 
truth. and appended at the very end 
of each of those ecumenical creeds were anathemas pronounced upon 
those who didn't believe the things that they had set forth 
in the creed. In other words, their pursuit of ecumenicism 
was not through a compromise of the truth, but rather through 
a pursuit of the truth. 1 Corinthians 13, we learn a 
lot about love. Do we often ponder the reality 
that love rejoices in truth? You see, the church had one heart 
and one soul because they believed in the one Savior provided by 
God the Father to save His people from their sins. This is what 
is enjoined upon us in the New Testament. So we see this declaration. Now the multitude of those who 
believed were of one heart and one soul. Now note the demonstration 
in terms of the unity of the church in verse 32b. Neither 
did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, 
but they had all things in common. You see how this follows. The 
one thing for us to say, we're full of unity. We have a one-heartness 
and a one-soulness amongst us, and yet there's no demonstration. We don't pony up with our goods. We don't give to the cause of 
those who stand in need. And yet these early believers 
did not say, me, me, me. Mine, mine, mine. They didn't 
have a lot in common with the horse leech of Proverbs 30, which 
only ever says, give, give. They weren't saying that in terms 
of their own possession. They may have been saying it 
in terms of providing for others. Neither did anyone say that any 
of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things 
in common. Notice back in chapter 2 at verses 
44 and 45. Chapter two, verse 44, now all who believe were 
together and had all things in common and sold their possessions 
and goods and divided them among all as anyone had need. Their love is seen in togetherness 
and their love is seen in charitableness. And I think it bears repetition 
because we said it then and we'll say it now, this was not state 
coerced. In other words, the people of 
God are not menaced by the Roman Empire and forced or coerced 
to ameliorate the downtrodden and the poor. It wasn't communism. 
As well, it wasn't church coerced. It wasn't mandated. When we get 
to chapter five in that case with Ananias and Sapphira, Peter 
says, when you held the property, it was yours. When you sold it, 
the proceeds were yours. You didn't have to lie. You didn't 
have to be a hypocrite. There is no diminishing of free 
property or the eighth commandment under the reign of Messiah. This 
was a voluntary, willing heart on the people of God to give 
with reference to those in need. It was a voluntary compassion 
expressed as an aspect of this one-heartness and one-soulness. Our confession highlights, nevertheless, 
their communion one with another as saints doth not take away 
or infringe the title or propriety which each man hath in his goods 
and possessions. We need to maintain this, brethren. 
Communism's always bad, whether it comes from the state or whether 
it comes from the church. There is to be no sacrifice by 
sword of one's possessions. The beautiful thing about Christian 
charity is that it's done from a willing spirit. It's done from 
a happy heart. It's not done with threat of 
imprisonment. It genuinely is charity. It genuinely is the giving of 
alms. It genuinely expresses the truth 
of God's free grace received by sinners such that they believe 
the truth. And now that they have one heart 
and one soul with people that are destitute, they come alongside 
happily as those who've received grace to give grace to others. There's no sword involved via 
church or state. It is genuinely compassion and 
action. Now, notice, secondly, we move 
from the church was unified to secondly, the church was instructed. Verse 33, and with great power, 
the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord 
Jesus and great grace was upon them all. Now, I suggest that 
you could remove verse 33 and that would still make sense. 
In fact, it would have a structure that's even a little bit more 
obvious, because verse 32 tells us they didn't insist upon their 
own thing, but they held their possessions in common with others. 
And then verses 34 and following amplify or demonstrate or illustrate 
how that is the case. In other words, they held things 
in common. Well, what does that mean practically? 
Well, those who had land sold it and took the proceeds and 
dropped it at the feet of the disciple. You see, you don't 
need 33 there, on the one hand, to make sense of what's happening 
in 32 and following. But you absolutely, positively 
do need verse 33 there for this very reason. What was occurring 
wasn't some natural phenomena, but it was driven by God's grace. The statement here in verse 33 
concerning preaching is the way we ought to view the engine room 
in the ship. In other words, the ship doesn't 
go through the water unless the engine is going, right? You all 
know that. Or when you leave here today 
and you turn your key and it doesn't do anything, your car's 
not going to roll. Now, you can ask several of the 
bigger fellows to push it and, of course, make it roll that 
way. I understand that. But you need that engine, don't 
you, to make the car roll. I'm not a mechanic, but that 
much I do know. This isn't the Flintstones. We 
don't do it with our feet to sort of move the unit on its... No, no. We have an engine. And 
I think verse 33 is crucial, because what's happening again 
is not state, is not just the best idea at the particular time, 
but this is the fruit of God's gospel. This is what it's about. In other words, you're saved 
by grace through faith in Jesus. Why? So you can mock the downtrodden 
and poor? So that you can eat while the 
destitute are going hungry? So that you can feast while others 
are put into an imposed fast? No, the gospel yields this type 
of fruit. This is the emphasis. The preaching 
produced this, the preaching of the gospel essentially produced 
this, and the preaching of the gospel will sustain this. Notice 
in verse 33, and with great power the apostles gave witness to 
the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon 
them all. Now this is the primary emphasis 
in the apostolic ministry, isn't it? In fact, look at chapter 
6 at verse 2. Chapter 6 at verse 2. Then the twelve summoned the 
multitude of the disciples and said, it is not desirable that 
we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Therefore, 
brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, 
full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this 
business, but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to 
the ministry of the word. So going back to chapter four, 
at this particular time, the apostles were still conceivably 
able to administer the various gifts given. In other words, 
persons were selling their capital, or their houses and their properties, 
and bringing capital assets and laying them down at the feet 
of the apostles. And the apostles were to find 
those who were in need, and they were to help them. But when that 
got too much, and it kept the apostles from prayer and the 
ministry of the Word, that's when they call for the selection 
of deacons. And when we come to verse 33, 
this is the primary emphasis in terms of apostolic ministry. 
And with great power, the apostles gave witness. And that great 
power links us back to the apostolic prayer in chapter four, when 
they specifically asked the Lord in verse 29, now, Lord, look 
on their threats and grant to your servants that with all boldness, 
they may speak your word. Paul speaks of this in 1 Corinthians 
chapter 2. I didn't come to you with great 
power and with great learning and with great, you know, oratorical 
ability, but my preaching was in the demonstration of the Spirit 
and of power. You see, that's what the church 
stands in need of. Not just men who can exegete 
Scripture, but men filled with the Spirit that can preach Scripture. You see, it's the Spirit ultimately 
that we need when it comes time to the expounding of God's Word. 
It's not just an intellectual exercise. There ought to be intellectual 
exercise. Persons ought to learn the Scripture. 
The whole idea behind apostolic preaching is that great grace 
was upon them all, not only to believe the Gospel, but to look 
out for the various needs within the context of the local church 
and minister unto them. You see, this is the engine room. Without the preaching of the 
gospel, it's no better than a group of people that have gotten together 
with a particular social agenda and say, we want to throw money 
at this, perhaps to appease our conscience or perhaps to try 
and make ourselves look really good. See, without verse 33, 
and I'm not suggesting Luke will always put a verse 33 in there, 
but I think that to read this and say, wow, they were doing 
this, and wow, it's amplified there, and to miss the connection 
with reference to the preaching of God's Word is something we 
don't want to do. Because notice what he says, 
very specifically, verse 33, with great power, the apostles 
gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Isn't that 
intriguing? With great power, the apostles 
gave witness to a teaching or to a study on unity among the 
brethren. Now, that's fine. We can have 
Bible studies on unity among the brethren. We can also have 
Bible studies and lessons on generosity displayed by the brethren. But it is intriguing, and it 
may just be a piece of Luke's theological shorthand to provide 
as a compendium this resurrection of Jesus as an all-encompassing 
term for both gospel and everything that the Bible says. But it is 
intriguing. The apostles are declaring the 
resurrection of Jesus. And as a result of that declaration 
of the resurrection of Jesus, we read that great grace was 
upon them all. You've perhaps heard that from 
time to time, that preaching is a means of grace. There's 
no mistake here. There's no sort of misstep by 
Luke. I think the connection is very 
tight. The apostles preached with great 
power, and God sent great grace. Preaching is a means of grace, 
and that preaching that focuses upon the gospel of our Lord Jesus 
Christ is a conduit by which the grace of God comes to the 
people of God, and that grace then is fleshed out in the lives 
of God's people toward others. Does everybody get this? This 
isn't just a unique study in a group of people that tried 
to help their neighborhood. That's the kind of stuff we get. 
Well, there's this neighborhood in downtown LA, and they've just 
gone out there with coffee and with chocolate and donuts, and 
they're really trying to ameliorate the suffering of downtown. That's 
not this. This is Christianity in action. This is the people of God looking 
after themselves based on what the Father had done in the Son 
for their salvation. They're believers. They have 
one heart. They have one soul. They don't cleave to their possessions, 
but rather they see their possessions as serving everybody within the 
community. And why is that? Because they're 
a group of people in a neighborhood that want to fix things? No, 
because the apostles preached the cross. And through the preaching 
of the cross, great grace came upon them all. This isn't the 
favor with men that Acts 2.47 has. It's the same word, but 
in Acts 2.47, the church is growing in terms of their favor with 
men. That's not the connection here. The connection here is 
that through the preaching of the gospel, great grace is coming 
upon the people of God from God, and that's the empowering agent 
with reference to their good doing. That's what you need to 
see. It's not a group of people that 
tried to solve a local problem. It's God the Lord working in 
his people through his grace, through preaching. Now, you might 
say, well, Butler, you're a preacher and that kind of stuff makes 
you happy. Yeah, I am a preacher and that kind of stuff does make 
me happy, I have to tell you, but that really is what it says. 
That really is the connection. You could successfully move from 
32 to 34 and not miss a beat. In fact, there would be more 
structural coherence, I would suggest, if you went from 32 
to 34. This idea that they held everything in common is amplified 
in 34 and following. But Luke doesn't want us to see 
it that way. Luke wants us to know what's 
activating these people, what's motivating these people, what's 
causing these people to do the very things these people are 
doing. It's the gospel of Jesus. It's the glory of God. It's the 
truth. That truth believed, that truth 
received, that truth will then move a man, a woman, a boy or 
girl to do what God says to do. It's a beautiful thing. We're 
saved by faith alone, but that faith is never alone, but it's 
accompanied by all other saving graces. I submit to you, based 
on this passage, that preaching is the engine room that drives 
this ship. And it hasn't changed. Remember 
their prayer in verse 29. Not get rid of the Sanhedrin, 
not make all their cars, you know, falter on their way home 
and they die in horrible accidents. Not make sure, Lord, that we're 
never threatened. But in light of the fact that 
the Sanhedrin is threatening us, give us boldness to do what 
we're supposed to do even in the midst of it. We saw that 
last week. I know it was a long time ago, 
but we did see that last week. The primary emphasis of the church 
in this first century context was on preaching the word. And now Luke is giving us another 
view. It's not only the preaching of the word for the salvation 
of sinners within the empire, but it's the preaching of the 
word for the energizing of the saints of Christ within the context 
of the church to do what they're supposed to do. It's a beautiful 
thing. Beautiful, beautiful connection 
that Luke gives us here. In other words, what I'm trying 
to say is they were what they were because the preaching was 
what it was. They were what they were because 
the preaching was what it was. And God's provision of grace 
was upon them all. Now, means of grace, that has 
been misunderstood in the life of the church. We say, oh, you 
mean it's sort of like bail. We drop a quarter in, we push 
the button and we get out the pop that we want. That's how 
Baal was worshipped. You just did certain things vis-à-vis. Copulate, fornicate, and then 
Baal would redound in blessings to the worshippers. Are you saying 
God is like that when you suggest this idea of means of grace? No, the emphasis on means of 
grace has never been, as long as you do this, then God will. 
I think the emphasis is more on, you're more likely to know 
the nearness of God when you're reading your Bible, when you're 
praying, and when you're in church singing and worshiping and praising, 
than when you're fixing your car engine. Not that you can't 
worship God or think of God when you're fixing your car engine, 
but the means of grace are those things provided by God for the 
benefit of His people with reference to the way He gives them things. Again, it's not formulaic. Read 
your Bible for four hours this week and you'll increase in holiness 
by 18 units. That's not how it's supposed 
to be seen. But it's foolish and foolhardy 
to suppose there aren't means that God's ordained for the benefit 
of His people. You see this in the salvation 
of sinners in 1 Corinthians 1.21. For since in the wisdom of God 
the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God 
through what? Through zapping them? Through 
giving them an experience? Through causing them to ascend 
to Mount Shem and go into some meditative chant and come out 
as believer? No, through the foolishness of 
the message preached. That's the means that God's ordained. That's the means that God uses. Not always people can read their 
Bibles and get saved. The point is, God doesn't typically 
just snap his cosmic fingers and make people believers. There's 
conviction of sin, there's a recognition of the Savior, and there's belief 
in Him. And that comes through information. It comes through contact. It 
comes through understanding. It comes through hearing. In 
fact, doesn't Paul tell us that in Romans 10, 17? Faith comes 
by what? Faith comes by hearing, and hearing 
by the Word of God. It's not magic. It's not hocus-pocus. It's not mysticism. It's not 
esotericism. It is rather gospel preaching, 
blessed by God, the presence of the Holy Spirit, and great 
grace coming upon them all. It's a beautiful thing. Now notice 
thirdly and finally, the church was benevolent or charitable 
or generous, whatever we want to say. Notice in verses 34 and 
following, we have first the sufficiency highlighted. Verse 
34a, nor was there anyone among them who lacked. It's a beautiful 
thing. Nor was there anyone among them 
who lacked. I don't think that means everybody 
had a summer home. Everybody had, you know, passes 
to the theater and everybody had two cars and, you know, a 
chicken in every pot. Again, this isn't Roosevelt. 
This is gospel, okay? Doesn't mean that everybody had 
the same as everybody else. In fact, when it comes down to 
who the apostles dole out this stuff to, it's to those who had 
need. The goal wasn't driven by equality 
for everybody. Everybody has the same chicken. 
Everybody has the same chicken in the pot. Everybody has the 
same car in the driveway. Everybody wears the same uniform. 
Again, this isn't communism. This ain't Mao. This ain't Pol 
Pot. Zayn Stalin! It's this gospel 
moving the people of God to a willing charitableness to their fellows 
who are suffering. In fact, Alexander explains this 
first clause. The condition here described 
is not one of affluence or wealth, but one of freedom from distress 
and want. When it says, nor was there anyone 
among them who lacked, that doesn't mean they all ate lobster all 
the time. It just means they ate. They had. They had shelter, they had clothing, 
they had food. Again, it might not have been, 
you know, the sorts of things that others in the context of 
the church had. There's no equality here in terms 
of everybody's got to be the same. In fact, note the next 
section. The explanation of this. Why 
is it this way, Luke? How can it be the case? 34a. Nor was there anyone among them 
who lacked. Well, how could that have been, Luke? Well, I'm going 
to tell you in verses 34b and following. For all who were possessors 
of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of the 
things that were sold. Now, the generosity of these 
landowners is obvious, isn't it? Yes, it is. Everybody nod 
with me. It's obvious that these landowners 
were generous, but it also ought to be obvious that there were 
landowners. There were people of substance. There were people of wealth. 
There is this ungodly, unholy, wretched approach to money which 
says, never have any. Well, I would affirm that if 
the Bible held that. Now, the Proverbs say, give me 
neither poverty nor riches, because if I'm broke, I'll be tempted 
to go out and steal and dishonor my God. But if I'm rich, I'll 
be tempted to forget my God. There's dangers associated with 
poverty and riches. And we need to appreciate that. 
We need to understand that. But the Bible's response to money 
is never get rid of every drop of it. That's overly simplistic. That is just not biblical. That's papists, potpourri. That is this vow of, what is 
it? Vow, not chastity, it's vow of 
poverty. You're going to be a holier priest 
if you eat gruel. I'm sorry, a steak might help 
him to preach a little better once in a while. A bit of meat 
on his bones may help him to raise up his voice and declare 
the truth better than gruel. Why is that? Why is poverty somehow 
holy? If poverty is holy, brethren, 
we're all going to be the most holy people on the face of the 
earth because we'll get rid of everything. Well, Jesus told 
that rich young ruler to go and sell everything he had and follow 
him. You know what Jesus is doing 
there? Jesus is preaching the law. That one use of the law, 
there's three of them, remember? The one is called the pedagogical, 
the child tutor. In other words, this young man 
thought he was righteous, all these things I've kept from my 
youth. What do I lack? Jesus says, well, you haven't 
kept the 10th commandment. I'm going to grind that into 
your conscience right now and let you see that. Go sell everything 
you have, give it to the poor, and follow me. That man's sin 
was covetousness. You know, some suppose that was 
Paul. I'm not sure about that. The longer I live, the more it 
actually does kind of make sense. When Paul's sort of rehearsing 
his deal in Romans 7, what was the sin that was used by God 
to show himself? It was, do not covet, do not 
lust. I would not have known unless 
the law had said. Now again, I'm not saying it 
is Paul, but it certainly functions in the same way with that rich 
young ruler. He goes away sad. Why? Because he had a lot of 
stuff. It's the tenth word that brings 
conviction for sin. Brethren, the simplistic answer 
with reference to your resources is to get rid of it all. The 
biblical answer is cough up. Give, be generous. In fact, if 
you have a lot of stuff, you ought to read 1 Timothy 6. Now, 
I don't want to say I don't trust all of you wealthy landowners 
to read this on your own, but let me just refresh your memory 
as to what 1 Timothy 6, 17 to 19 says. If ever there was a point in 
time where the Bible could clearly say that it's wicked to possess 
money, it would be 1 Timothy 6.17. Command those who are rich 
in this present age to get rid of everything, to divest their 
portfolio, whatever that means, to sell their resources, to take 
all their loot and, you know, take it wherever you would take 
all your loot. That's not what Paul says. He says, You mean, 
Paul, if I'm sitting on a pile of loot, I ought to thank God 
that I'm sitting on a pile of loot? Sure. He gave it to you. Now, again, it's communistic 
to say, well, he didn't give me a pile of loot. Maybe he knows 
you can't handle a pile of loot. Convinced? That's why I've never 
found a bag of money. God knows better than I do. We rehearsed that a bit last 
week in Psalm 103. I didn't get into those particulars. 
But one of the things we don't often muse on is how God has 
protected us, not only from car wrecks or train wrecks or some 
sort of horrible thing, but in terms of sin and temptation. 
Praise God he hasn't given me a pile of loot. Praise God Almighty 
that he has held some of that back. So you mean we're to actually 
thank God for the benefits and blessings that he gives us? It's 
unfortunate I even have to say that, isn't it? I mean, if you've 
actually got a skill, you're that Proverbs fellow that, you 
know, you see a man who excels in his work, he'll stand before 
kings. Well, a man who excels in his work and he stands before 
kings is typically compensated handsomely for that. You ever 
called to fix the plumbing in the White House or in Ottawa? You're probably going to make 
more money than you do fixing my plumbing. It's just the way 
it goes. And God's given you that ability, 
and God's given you that talent, and you've gone out, and you've 
pounded the pavement, and you've done, you've turned wrenches, 
you've used your mind, you've used your intellectual property, 
you have serviced the greater good, and God's rewarded you 
for that? You should thank God, don't you 
think? Anybody that has the gift to put two pieces of wood together 
ought to praise God that he's got that gift. A person's got 
the gift to think through a jumble of numbers and figure out how 
to properly answer Canada Revenue. More power to that guy and praise 
God for that gift that he's given him. You see, Paul says that 
things received ought to be thanked or we ought to thank God for. 
But not only that, now notice in verse 18, let them do good. that they be rich in good works, 
ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good 
foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal 
life. That's the ethic that I suggest, 
submit, no demand, is biblical. Not just get rid of everything 
you have, but also not just keep everything you have. God didn't 
give you all of that ability and give you that, you know, 
that savvy and money-making so you can have, you know, all the 
bells and whistles associated with life. Again, I'm not saying 
no bells and whistles. Butler wants us to live in sheets. 
No, Butler says do what you do, but do it for the glory of God. 
And cough up, because that's what they did in the early church. 
They coughed up. You heard the preacher say, you 
know, we've got good news and we've got bad news. We have all 
the money that we need for the present building fund. The bad 
news is it's in your wallets. Cough up is what the passage 
suggests. The goal of Christianity is not 
the goal of socialism. Remember, Churchill said, socialism 
is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel 
of envy. Its inherent virtue is the equal 
sharing of misery. That's not Christianity. Now, 
we need to be honest and say that what Churchill also said, 
one of the problems with capitalism is the unequal share of blessings. They went after socialism, to 
be sure, as an equally shared misery. But one of the intrinsic 
points or problems with capitalism, and again, I am not here to suggest 
anything other than, but one of the problems is that we don't 
cough up. We just hold on to everything. 
If we are the people of God, and we have one heart and we 
have one soul, and it's driven by faithful gospel preaching, 
we ought to come along the side of the downtrodden and poor among 
our people. That's what they're doing. They're 
caring for one another. Let us do good to all men, Paul 
says in Galatians 6.10, especially to those of the household of 
faith. It's a beautiful thing. We look 
after each other. We care for each other. What's 
Jesus saying in Matthew 25? The good that you did for them, 
you did it unto me. What you withheld from them, 
you withheld from me. See, probably behind this is 
Deuteronomy 15, 4. We get a bit of a snapshot that, 
at least for the time being, within the land, the new people 
of God, there was no poverty. But the rest of Deuteronomy 15 
indicates that the poor you will always have. And we know that 
this is a snapshot of one aspect because we get into chapter 5, 
verses 1 to 11, and we meet the case, the sad case, of Ananias 
and Sapphira. So not all the people of God 
were generous with the resources that God had entrusted to them. 
But in terms of the situation here, they sold their property, 
they brought the proceeds to the apostles, and the apostles 
distributed to each. Again, as anyone had need. Don't 
miss that modifier. They distributed so that everybody 
would be equal. So that everybody would be the 
same. So that everybody would... Brethren, that's not fair. You 
hear these communist countries where guys who are medical doctors 
make the same amount of money as somebody who sweeps the street? 
Now, sweeping the street is a noble task. In fact, there's a guy 
in our town. Every time I see him, I praise 
God for him. I think he's one of the best 
things Chilliwack has going for him. He's out there sweeping 
with a smile on his face. Anytime you look at him or you 
give him a nod, he just beams, he lights up. That is a noble 
calling. But in terms of the abilities 
necessary to do brain surgery and sweep a street, I'm of the 
mind that the brain surgeons should make a little more money. 
I just think that's built into God's world. Do you see a man 
who excels in his work? He will stand before kings. What's 
the contra? A man who doesn't excel in his 
work? He's not gonna stand before kings, 
and that's okay. Not everybody's gonna stand before 
kings. Not everybody's gonna fix the 
king's toilet, but somebody is. And as a result, he's going to 
get compensated for it. Do we begrudge him? No! We rejoice 
with those who rejoice. Because we're God-fearing people. The apostles saw the particular 
needs, and they took stuff to them. Not to bring everybody 
up to snuff. Not everybody's the same. It's 
not this sort of monolithic group. Again, with uniforms, and with 
the same jobs, and with the same pay, and with the same food. 
No. There's diversity. There's some 
that make a lot of money and others that don't. That's just 
the way. You're looking at me like I'm 
nuts. Do you read the book of Proverbs? Do you read the Old 
Testament? Have you heard Jesus? The poor 
you will always have with you. See, communism fails at that 
particular point. They want to do something better 
than Jesus. Jesus was content. I don't know 
how content, but he says it matter-of-factly. You're always gonna have the 
poor. You're not always gonna have me. See, communism's, oh 
no, we can't have anybody poor. And you know how that all ends 
up, right? You know how that goes. Everybody 
ends up poor except the few on the top. It's a miserable system 
because of remaining sin. There's no way a group of people 
are ever going to get together and just do everything right. 
If you believe that, boy, do I have some land for you to buy, 
because that's just foolhardy. The whole idea of checks and 
balances are there because of the innate depravity of man. 
And a system which says, hey, everybody's created equal, ultimately 
ends up with the pigs being more equal. Brethren, this is not 
communism. This is the willingness of God's 
people, empowered by grace, to give of their resources to help 
the needy among them. It really is that simple, and 
it really is that sublime. It really is that beautiful. 
So up until later on, The apostles could administer this. They could 
administrate this, because that's what it tells us. They laid them 
at the apostles' feet. That means they trusted the apostles 
with the resources that they had, and they, the apostles, 
distributed to each as anyone had need. Now when push comes 
to shove in chapter 6, And this distributing to those in need, 
specifically the Hellenistic widows and the Hebrew widows, 
when that became a problem and kept them from their study and 
prayer, that's when they said, select these men so that they 
can administrate this. You know, why seven? Probably 
because each day of the week there was a deacon to make sure 
that nobody went hungry. Beautiful thing, isn't it, the 
division of labor? Now, Luke ends with an example. Some say, 
well, Barnabas was the best at this. No, I think Barnabas is 
introduced here for a couple of reasons. In the first place, 
Barnabas, according to Daryl Bach, and I have no reason to 
suspect he's off here, Barnabas is kind of a hero to Luke. You'll 
see that later in Acts 13 and following. Luke, who's your hero? 
Paul. I mean, Luke was a fan of Paul. Luke loved Paul. I mean, the 
way that he writes concerning Paul, well, it seems like he's 
got an affinity for this Barnabas here. Intriguingly, later on, 
Paul and Barnabas have a falling out. But Barnabas is going to 
fare heavy in the rest of the narrative. Well, not the rest, 
but for several chapters. So this is a good way for Luke 
to introduce us to this guy who's going to come up again. It's 
in Acts chapter 9 that Barnabas brings Paul to the church in 
Jerusalem and says, no, he's legit. Remember the church in 
Jerusalem when they initially saw Paul? They got scared. Why? Because Saul of Tarsus used 
to arrest people like them. Imagine your worst enemy coming 
to church on Sunday morning. He might be tempted to slide 
down the pew a little bit. Wait a minute. Well, Barnabas 
comes along and says, no, no, he's legit. God saved him. He's a trophy of grace. Barnabas 
was key there. Barnabas is key in Acts chapter 
11. And there we see in Acts chapter 11, 22 and following, 
that Barnabas has a gift of preaching. When we see that he's called 
son of encouragement, I don't know that that means necessarily 
on a Sunday he would have gotten your coffee and said, isn't it 
a beautiful day? No. He probably had that disposition 
about him. But the word encouragement also 
has, in its realm of meaning, exhortation. Barnabas may have 
been a preacher. Barnabas may have been one who 
could bring it. And that's why Barnabas was known 
by the apostles as Barnabas. His name was literally Josephus 
or Joseph. You'll see that some of the manuscript 
tradition supports it was Joseph or Josephus. which is literally 
Yosef or Yoses, but he's either Joses or Joseph, but to the apostles, 
he's called the son of encouragement. Again, it may have been that 
he just spoke nice words to the apostles. You look good today, 
air's nice, happy day to be alive. It could be that, or it could 
be that he had ability to open the word and exhort and preach 
and bring it. He fares again later in Acts 
chapter 13 to 15. He's with Paul on the first missionary 
journey. He's with Paul. I mean, this 
Barnabas is a huge character in terms of biblical history. 
Then at the end, Acts chapter 15, there is a problem. They 
dispute over the role of John Mark. John Mark had left them. 
Paul didn't want to take him again. There was this breach. 
And so Paul and Barnabas had different ways. He comes up again 
in Galatians chapter 2 as one who was even led astray in Peter's, 
you know, at least outward defection in terms of not eating with Gentiles. 
And then Paul speaks of him favorably in 1 Corinthians chapter 9. So 
Barnabas, you know, was like the rest of us. He had his ups 
and he had his downs. His ups were vouching for the 
Apostle Paul. His ups were preaching in Antioch. 
His ups were attending the first missionary with Paul. His downs 
were breaking with Paul. Now, again, I'm not actually 
convinced anybody was in sin there. I think it highlights, 
and we'll get there later, that good men can disagree. I know 
that's just beyond our pale today. Oh, they can't disagree. We all 
have to see it. No. We can disagree. That's OK. Can't disagree on 
the Trinity. Can't disagree on justification by faith. There's 
certain principle acts of faith. There's certain principle doctrines 
of our faith that we can't disagree on. But when it comes to John 
Mark, I mean, people get into that. Well, they commended Paul. 
So therefore, they were right. I don't know who was right. But 
to break with Paul at least shows us that Barnabas wasn't a yes 
man. If anybody's ever going to be a yes man, it's whoever's 
hanging out with Paul. Or tempted to be a yes man, it's whoever's 
with Paul. You'd always wanted to say yes, Paul. Yeah, you're 
right. Oh, yeah, whatever you say, Paul. And then he gets led 
astray in the Peter debacle, but he's not cast off. So I suggest 
that Luke amplifies this section with a particular example, not 
to show us that Barnabas was the best, but to show us Barnabas. You're going to hear more about 
this Barnabas as we move through the book of Acts, but then as 
well to contrast Barnabas with Ananias. I mean, Ananias is a 
terrible representative of life in the church at this particular 
time. It's no accident that we end on the high note of Barnabas 
and then we move into this dark, dreary time concerning Ananias 
and his wife. Ananias' problem was that he 
lied to God. It wasn't that he had money, 
it wasn't that he kept money, it's that he lied to God. So 
that's why we amplify, or Luke rather, amplifies Barnabas. Well, I just want to close with 
a few thoughts. First, the blessing of unity among God's people. We sang it at the outset of worship. 
Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together 
in unity. And then in Ephesians chapter 
four, the apostle Paul tells us It's not only a blessing, 
but it's something that the people of God ought to be pursuing. 
They ought to be holding on to. If they have a modicum of it, 
if they have a degree of it, if they possess something akin 
to it, they need to fight for it. See, we get so busy fighting 
each other that unity is the casualty. Paul says, no, you're 
supposed to fight for unity, not fight each other so there's 
no unity. 4-1 in Ephesians, I therefore, 
the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling 
with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, 
with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring 
to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. Are we 
doing that as the people of God? Are we endeavoring to keep the 
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace? How is it that we can 
do that? Well, I'm going to go out on 
a limb here and say it's the stuff of verse 2 which helps 
us. We're to do it with all lowliness and gentleness, with long-suffering, 
bearing with one another in love. In other words, those are the 
ingredients in this worthy walk, and along the way we will as 
well endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of 
peace. Why? Verse 4, there is one body 
and one spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling, 
one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who 
is above all and through all and in you all. Isn't this Paul's 
complaint in 1 Corinthians chapter 11? What are we supposed to be 
doing at the Lord's Supper? Yes, we're supposed to be worshiping 
God. Yes, we're supposed to be remembering our blessed Savior. 
And we are as well supposed to be expressing the unity of the 
saints. That loaf, that one loaf-ness, 
that one body-ness. What happens in Corinth? Some 
are getting drunk, some are eating to the point of gluttony, others 
are being neglected. Paul's point is that you are 
tattering, you are breaking, you are bringing into disrepair 
the very body of Jesus himself, which is the church. Don't do 
that. You can eat and drink at home. 
That's Paul's point. He doesn't say, don't ever eat 
and drink again. No, do that at home, so that when you come 
together as a church, it's not for judgment. Brethren, unity 
is something that the church needs to be pursuing. Secondly, 
the blessing of generosity among God's people. The blessing of 
generosity among God's people. Again, it was not state-coerced. 
It's not even church-mandated, but it is the expression of a 
voluntary willingness on the part of God's people to share. 
To give, to cough up, to be the horse leech in the proper sense, 
not give, give to me, but give, give to others. You see, that 
is external conduct consistent with an internal commitment to 
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. You all understand that. You 
all get that, I suspect. Thirdly, the blessing of instruction 
among God's people. Again, going back to, well, you're 
just a preacher. Yeah, I'm a preacher, but verse 
33 is couched in here. You can provide another reason 
why. I couldn't see any other reason than how I preached it. 
The commentators didn't really get into that. It's just, well, 
description of the church. But I think it's a description 
of the church with a particular key element there. That's the 
hinge upon which the church turns. Without that, it is a group of 
people in a neighborhood trying to do a good thing. That's not 
what this is. It's a group of God's people 
expressing their one-heartedness, their one-soulness, because they 
have believed the gospel by the grace of God. They're hearing 
preaching, great grace is coming upon them all, and when they 
see a brother or a sister in need, they give. Now brethren, 
we have to make that connection. See, there are churches that 
exist that basically say this, well, it's not so much doctrine, 
it's about how we live. And then there's other churches 
that say, well, it's not really about how much we live, it's 
about doctrine. Why can't we have both? We are 
supposed to have both. In other words, the goal of preaching 
is in the first place, the glory of God. The goal of preaching, 
I don't know if I'd say second or third, but, you know, on the 
same sort of par, we got glory of God, and then we've got salvation 
of sinners. It's intriguing to me that they 
preached the resurrection of Jesus. Now, if we read this passage 
rightly, it's in the church they did this. You'll hear that once 
in a while. We're poor believers. We need 
to move beyond the gospel. Really? You need to move beyond 
the gospel? I, for one, need the gospel each 
and every day. Now again, gospel preaching isn't 
some basic little bit of drivel. It is about the life, the death, 
and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the implications 
associated with that gospel. I get it. I would not want to 
go to some gospel preaching that was basically an emphasis on 
how great I am and I need a little bit of Jesus to complete my life. 
I get that. I would repudiate that version 
of the gospel at any step of the way. But in terms of the 
engine that is driving the church, what does Luke say their focus 
was? They preached the resurrection 
of Jesus. See, brethren, we need that. 
You and I need gospel preaching, but you and I need James 2 as 
well, James 1. Well, James 1 and 2, the whole 
conglomerate there. What's James 1 tell us? We're 
to be doers of the word, not just hearers only. You know what 
a terribly scary passage of scripture for me is, is in Ezekiel 33. You can turn there, Ezekiel 33. Some might say, well, the entire 
book of Ezekiel terrifies me just a little bit, because I'm 
not sure I know what's going on in there. But notice what 
we see in Ezekiel 33 30. As for you, son of man, the children 
of your people are talking about you beside the walls and in the 
doors of the houses, and they speak to one another, everyone 
saying to his brother, please come and hear what the word is 
that comes from the Lord. I got an email the first part 
of this week. and it was from sermonaudio.com. And when somebody comments on 
our sermonaudio.com, it, I guess, automatically, I doubt somebody's 
typing it up, but it generates an email that comes to that church. 
So I got it, and it was a comment posted to a sermon by a guy in 
Detroit. This guy in Detroit, his name 
is Greg Smith. I've met him online, and he listens 
to my preaching. He's a white guy that attends 
an all-black church. He's told his black church about 
Jim Butler. And apparently, I don't know 
if I haven't seen a report for a long time, but it used to be 
we'd get a lot of hits in Detroit. Well, that's why, Greg Smith. 
Anyways, so Greg Smith puts on there that, you know, this sermon 
was seen as a top sermon. He was blown away. That's never 
happened, and I'm not saying, oh boy, I've made it to the top 
here. I'm just saying, and I have no 
reason to doubt Greg Smith, but just getting a lot of hits on 
sermon audio isn't it. This text is terrifying if we 
continue, look it. He says, please, this is what 
they're gonna say, please come and hear what the word is that 
comes from the Lord. So they come to you as people 
do, they sit before you as my people and they hear your words, 
but they don't do them. Now, if I have a million hits 
on a sermon on sermonaudio.com, and none of those people actually 
do what the sermon said to do, What is it? You see, this is 
Ezekiel's point, or God's point through the prophet. Notice, 
so they come to you as people do. They sit before you as my 
people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them. For 
with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue 
their own gain. Indeed, you are to them as a 
very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play 
well on an instrument. For they hear your words, But 
they do not do that. And when this comes to pass, 
surely it will come, then they will know that a prophet has 
been among them. You know what's better than, 
that was a good sermon, Jim. That was a good sermon, Cam. Better is to obey the word of 
God. Better is to go home today and 
look at your financial situation and see if you're a cheapskate, 
and see if there isn't something you could be doing to express 
the one-heartedness and the one-soulness that you have with the people 
of God because of the grace of God that has bound you together 
as believers in Jesus Christ. Better than a thousand hits on 
any particular sermon is a thousand people doing what God says. Happened with Ezekiel. They're 
going to come. They're going to say, you've got to come hear 
Ezekiel. They're not going to do what you say. You're going 
to be like somebody that can play a violin. They love to hear 
it, but they don't do it. See, now, people get that, and 
then they never say, good sermon preacher. You know, they avoid 
you like the plague. It's not wicked to tell somebody, 
you know. We can go too far the other way. Now, I'm not bucking 
for praise here. Tell me I'm not doing that. But 
there is this sort of Christian excess. You know, we don't want 
to promote pride. Charm is deceitful and beauty 
is vain. But a woman who fears the Lord, 
she shall be praised. The husband says, many daughters 
have done nobly, but let you excel them all. Husbands, if 
you're of the mindset that I don't want to praise my wife because 
I don't want her to get proud, you're weird. Praise her. Tell her that she's doing a good 
thing. We are not disembodied spirits. We are the kinds of people that 
do need and require and appreciate some encouragement once in a 
while. That's okay. Again, the point is, do what 
God's Word says. And then the blessings of the 
Christian gospel. If you're not a believer here 
this morning, charity will not get you to heaven. Jesus will. Charity does not get you a place 
at the banquet feast. Grace through faith in Jesus 
Christ, the multitude of those who believed. Justification is 
by faith alone. We are saved by grace through 
faith in Jesus Christ. and that unto good works. We're not saved because of our 
good works, because of our charity, because of our generosity, but 
we are saved by grace so that we will do those things. Now 
brethren, if we enjoy those blessings, then let us in turn be a blessing 
to others. Well, let us pray. Father, thank 
you for your Word. Thank you for these glimpses 
of the early church and the instruction that they afford to us. And I 
pray that you would help us to be unified, help us to be instructed, 
and help us to be a charitable, a generous, benevolent people. And God, may you be glorified 
in the congregation. Forgive us for our sins. Forgive 
us when we sin. Cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Certainly when we see passages 
like these, we think of ourselves in the light of God's holy law. We do see where we fall short. 
Again, we are thankful for the doing and the dying and the rising 
of the Lord Jesus. God, we thank you for grace through 
faith in him. We thank you for so wonderful 
a salvation. Help us to go therefore and to 
be doers of your word. And we ask in Jesus' name, amen. Well, let's close by singing 
the doxology in praise to our triune God. We'll stand as we 
sing together.