No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. (Acts 5:13)
There is an interesting note regarding the early church in the days following the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira. As you may recall from one of the more disturbing stories in Acts, this couple conspired to defraud the church by selling a piece of property, promising the full purchase price as an offering, but then withholding some of the funds by claiming the property brought less than in reality it did.
As uncomfortable as that story might make us, it had an interesting effect on the group’s standing in the community. The Christians were in the practice of meeting together in Solomon’s Colonnade, part of the temple complex. The 5th chapter contains a pair of almost paradoxical statements. Verse 14 reads: More and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number, while the preceding verse reads: No one else dared to join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people (v. 13).
People who were not willing to walk as Jesus did (1 John 2:6) had enough respect for the Spirit’s power in the church that they would not try and fake their way into the fellowship. In an age where people express their commitment by being baptized one Sunday and then don’t show up for the next six months, we don’t understand that kind of respect.
Do you take seriously the things of God?
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