Acts: The Expansion of the Church
Session 2
Estimated reading time: 23 minutes
Open-Handed Giving
We will now look at what I am calling “Open-Handed Giving.” For this study we will begin in Acts 2. We will be looking at several passages in Acts that highlight the believers’ hearts regarding giving and their abundance in generosity. We will also look at several people, particularly Barnabas, then Ananias and Sapphira. We will be looking at these records so we may begin to understand why there was such great joy in the fellowship and in the early church.
Acts 2:41 APNT
And some of them willingly received his word and believed (This is the end of what took place on the day of Pentecost.) and were baptized. And there were added in that day about three thousand people.
After Peter’s first sermon, which took place on the day of Pentecost after the outpouring of the holy spirit and they spoke in tongues, about 3,000 people believed. This section continues to describe what they were doing after they believed.
Acts 2:42-43 APNT
And they were steadfast in the teaching of the apostles and were fellowshipping in prayer and in the breaking [of the bread] of communion.
And fear was to every person and many signs and mighty works occurred by way of the apostles in Jerusalem.
They were steadfast in the teaching of the apostles, and they were fellowshipping. That word “fellowshipping,” (the King James, says ‘they were together’) is the Greek word “koinonia;” whichhas to do with communication of every type. I like to think of “koinonia,” as meaning a community and what they were doing in the community. It says they were steadfast to listen to the teaching of the apostles. They wanted to know more and more about this holy spirit they had received, what it meant and how were they to use it. They were “fellowshipping in prayer.” The Aramaic word picture for prayer is a wonderful study. It means “to seek the shepherding of the strong one or the strong authority.” Every kind of prayer was taking place together in the temple. They already had a practice of going to the temple at the hours of prayer. As a result, it was natural for them to continue to pray together. The next phrase states, “and in communion,” the Aramaic says, “in the breaking of the bread of communion.” It specifically says they not only practiced communion together, but also as we will see later, it also implies they ate together and participated in other meals together as well.
It also says in verse 43, “fear was to every person.” We are going to read about “fear” throughout this entire section. It is important to understand that fear can have two aspects. It can be terror or to really be afraid of something, especially something negative. It can also mean awe and respect. In this case it is awe. There was awe and respect that came over every person. Why did awe and respect come over every believer? It is because of all the wonderful things that were happening in Jerusalem in the community of believers from the very beginning. They saw many “mighty signs and mighty works” all around them.
Acts 2: 44 APNT
and all those who had believed were as one and everything they had was held in common.
This is an interesting idea because we could get the idea from reading this and from reading the King James as well, that it was almost communistic. One could get the idea they simply sold all their property and gave it to the apostles who held it all in common, as if nobody owned anything anymore. However, that is not what the word “common” really means in either Greek or Aramaic. In Greek it is the word “koinos.” It also has the same idea of “in the community.” I think the Aramaic explains it really well because the literal meaning of the word “common” is “inside.” What it is really saying is the believers were as one. They were together. They were as one. Everything they owned was as if it belonged to the community, for the community’s use. For example, perhaps one believer had a house sizeable enough in which to have a fellowship. That would be something that could be made available to the community for the community’s use; because not every house in Jerusalem would have been suitably large enough to accommodate a great number of people.
Acts 2:45 ANPT
And those who had wealth sold it and distributed to each one according to whatever was needed.
I read a wonderful statement while looking at some of these things. The first thing that happened with the believers is their relationships with each other turned to be more love. Their relationships grew with people because of the love and joy that was being shared in the community. In addition, their love for things lessened; their relationship to things lessened. As a result, there was a freedom and a generosity that began happening with the believers because of the joy they were sharing together and because of the community they saw. They simply did not want anyone to have any lack.
There would have been people who were still visiting from the day of Pentecost. A visitor would not necessarily have somewhere to live, so they were providing for these things. People were giving of the wealth they had and helping to support whatever the needs were at that time. If someone had a house, for example, and no longer needed it, it could then be sold and the money given to the apostles to distribute to those who had needs. If you needed your house, nobody was saying you had to sell your house.
It was not about selling something that was a need but it was selling things that you did not need. I think the heart of this whole section highlights that this kind of giving happened because the people were so responsive to the love that God had poured out by sending holy spirit to them. They were also witnessing many signs and wonders and healings and countless other amazing things as well. As a result, there was an upsurge of generosity that happened the likes of which, I do not believe we have not seen to this degree since. Maybe at specific times throughout history there has been this kind of response. However, this was very unique to this time. I think it shows that generosity and giving is a response to a move of the Spirit, and this is the main time it happens. There was such great rejoicing.
Acts 2:46 APNT
And every day they were steadfast in the temple with one soul and at home they were breaking bread and were receiving food, rejoicing
The way the Aramaic reads, verse 46 actually ends with the word “rejoicing.” The next phrase, “and in the simplicity of their hearts” goes with verse 47. “They were breaking bread and they were receiving food rejoicing.” Period!
Acts 2:47 ANPT.
And in the simplicity of their hearts they were praising God, while giving mercies before all the people. And our Lord added every day those who were being given life in the church (or being saved).
They were praising God in the simplicity of their hearts.
The translation that I did is called the Aramaic Peshitta New Testament. The word “Peshitta” means “simple or straight.” When talking about giving it also means “to be generous.” To be simple in your heart means to be generous, to be straight. I call it open-handed giving because in order to give something you first need to have it. If you have something, but when you open your hand, then it is simple. It is something that is in your hand. When you release it to someone else, you then close your hands again, because you no longer have it in your hand. Then the other person receives it. You receive first. They received from God first. Then they opened their hands and start giving. Once they released something out of their hands, it was not about what that person did with it. They were not dictating to the apostles, where the money or goods should go. They simply released it. In the simplicity, in the generosity of their hearts, they were praising God because there was so much compassion and love being poured out everywhere so that there was great rejoicing. As a result, it began a cycle of more and more and more giving.
Acts 4:47b APNT
and our Lord added every day those who were being given life in the church.
Here in Acts the word “church” appears for the first time in the Bible. It is the Greek word “ekklesia”, which means “the called out ones.” This word “church” can really be translated very simply as, “assembly”. Church is not a building or a place or even an organization. Church is the people. It is an assembly of people. The Lord was adding everyday people who were being saved to the assembly, to the community. There are two key words in this passage in Acts, that takes place immediately after the day of Pentecost. You have the fellowship, the “koinonia” community in which they were all participating. In addition, you also have the assembly, the “ekklesia,” showing how they were assembling together. They were meeting together. They went to the temple at the hours of prayer. They were listening to the apostles. They were sharing their abundance with each other. They were breaking bread from house to house, and they were praying together. That sounds like a really great fellowship, doing all of those things together!
We will now look at Acts, chapter 4, after the record which takes place with Peter’s second sermon. As a result of Peter’s second sermon, there were also other people added to the church. In Acts 4:4 it states, at this point, there were about 5,000 believers added to the church. It says 5,000 men. However, if there were women and children added to that, as well, it really would have been more than 5,000. We will begin in verse 31, right after this powerful prayer when the whole place is shaken. They were praying for more boldness!
Acts 4:31-32 APNT
And after they had prayed and made [this] request, the place in which they were gathered was shaken and all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and were boldly speaking the word of God. (Getting filled with the Spirit gives you holy boldness to go and speak the Word.)
And the assembly of men who believed had one soul and one mind and not one of them said concerning the possessions that he owned that they were his, but everything that they had was held in common.
Now again, this is not communistic: it was held inside the community. They believed God had given them everything they owned, and because of this, they made it available for use in the community if it was needed.
Acts 4:33 APNT
And with great power the apostles witnessed about the resurrection of Jesus Christ and great grace was with all of them.
This is what happened. There was great power with holy spirit being poured out, speaking in tongues, signs and wonders, people getting healed. There was great power, and because there was great generosity, there was a pouring out of the simplicity of their hearts, of giving, of open-handed giving. Then, God says, “great grace was with all of them.”
To get a greater understanding of this, we will now look at II Corinthians, because
II Corinthians, chapters 8 and 9 is the record of the Macedonians and what a great example of giving they were.
II Corinthians 9: 6-8 APNT
Now this [I say], “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and he who sows bountifully will reap bountifully,
everyone according to what is in his mind, not from sadness or from constraint, for GOD LOVES A JOYOUS GIVER (a hilarious giver, a cheerful giver).
Now all grace comes by the hands of God who causes [it] to increase in you, so that always, in everything, you will have what is sufficient for you and will increase in every good work.”
All sufficiency in all things to every good work! This is what happens when grace is poured out, and that is exactly what happened with this situation in the early church. They started practicing joyous giving, then great grace was poured out. A simple way to think about grace; it is the goodness of God that causes rejoicing. He is going to work in our lives to provide things that would otherwise not be available, through his power, through his love, and through his mercy. The root word for grace in Aramaic means ‘to be good’ and God is all good. When it says grace is poured out, or grace is given, it means God’s goodness is being provided. When we practice this kind of open-handed giving in our lives, and do the release, then God pours out His grace. Then we receive more of His grace, then we can give more.
There was no lack. With great power the apostles witnessed about the resurrection. We have seen previously that was the topic they always spoke of first; the resurrection power of Jesus Christ and what he had accomplished. “And great grace was with all of them.”
Acts 4:34-35 APNT
And there was no one among them who was lacking, for those who owned fields and houses sold [them] and brought the price of what was sold and placed [it] at the feet of the apostles and it was given to each one according to what he needed.
What is really interesting here, it does not say the apostles kept it all. It says they distributed it. Neither was it saying they did not receive anything. Rather, they were responsible to distribute it, and making sure there was no lack. When they saw there was a need, they allocated some of the goods to meet that need. The people were trusting the money to them to distribute. They took it very seriously. They were aware of the importance of this responsibility in the community. They knew this from Old Testament teachings, and from the manner in which they had been raised as Jews. They knew it was important to take care of the poor.
I wrote a book some time ago, entitled “Enriched in Everything,” One of the chapters is titled, “Who Are the Poor?” There are four categories of people that are considered poor. One category is strangers. These are people who are guests, or those who do not live in the city and do not have a house to live in. Somebody who just came to town is called a stranger. There would have been some people who were strangers who got born again on the day of Pentecost and wanted to stay because they were so excited, and they did not go back to their homes immediately, to Mede and Persia and Phrygia and the many places mentioned in
Acts 2. These were part of the strangers.
The second category is orphans. An orphan can be someone who does not have parents, but it can also, in our culture, be someone who is single and does not have a lot of family to help support them or take care of them. These people would also be in the category of orphans.
Then the third category is widows. A widow, we normally think of as a woman who does not have a husband or her husband has died. However, a widow could also be a woman who does not have children or family to help support her or take care of her. She is unable to work. We will see more about widows as we go forward in this study.
The fourth category that God called poor were the Levites. The Levites were those people who did not have their own land to grow crops and provide for themselves. Instead, they were to spend their life dedicated to ministering to the people all over Israel. In addition, then of the Levites there were priests who worked in the temple. They did all the jobs in the temple for everything from hauling the wood and keeping the door, to actually doing the sacrifices. The Levites were called poor, not because they could not earn a living or did not have any resources; but because they were not supposed to. They were to dedicate their lives to teaching the Word and ministering to people. That is why they were considered poor.
We have seen this open-handed giving and receiving develop very early in the book of Acts. Now we will look at three people who are used as an example; the first one is a positive one; that is Barnabas. We keep reading here in verse 36.
Acts 4:36-37 APNT
And Joseph, who was called Barnabas by the apostles, which is interpreted, “son of comfort,” (or son of consolation) a Levite from the region of Cyprus, had a field. And he sold it and brought its price and placed [it] before the feet of the apostles.
This is all that it really tells us about Barnabas. It tells us that he was from Cyprus, he was not from Jerusalem, but he was in Jerusalem, which seems to put him in the category of a “stranger” from the beginning. The verse also says he was a Levite. At one point or another, I have heard it taught before that Levites were not supposed to own property. That is not really true. The law actually states that the household of Aaron, the high priest’s family, were not allowed to own any property. That is found in Numbers chapter 18, verse 20. However, other Levites who lived in the cities could own property. An example is when Jeremiah was prophesying, he was of the family of the priests. God specifically told him, go buy a piece of property and keep the deed because the people are going to come back to the land eventually. It was part of a whole prophecy that Jeremiah gave. The direction was specifically to go buy this property.
The fact that Barnabas owned a piece of property was not important. However, what was really wonderful and why he is the great example of this open-handed giving, I believe his desire to serve the Lord was so great he wanted to move fast and far and light. If perchance his property was in Cyprus, it would be difficult travel back and forth to maintain it. It would be a very long process to do so. If he was going to take care of his property, that is what he would need to do. However, if he wanted to serve the Lord and really speak the Word boldly, and go where God wanted him to go, and completely dedicate his life to being a minister and a servant, he would need to be free of the burden and responsibility of the property. This is what he decided he needed to do.
He was motivated with this kind of generosity of, ‘If I give this, then I am going to go for what God wants me to do.’ That is exactly what we see about Barnabas’ life. Even his nickname, Barnabas, means “son of comfort.” Everywhere he went, he brought comfort, encouragement, consolation. He was known for that. One person I read called him a “bridge” person, meaning that he was always connecting people. He was connecting people in Jerusalem at the beginning and helping with the distribution. Later you see him going to get Paul, he then goes to Antioch, and brings Paul to Antioch. He connected the believers in Antioch with Paul. As a result, they form a community there that starts an outreach of the Word throughout Asia Minor from that point on. He is called a bridge person or a caring person, a person who dedicated his life to bringing comfort. As a result, God provided and poured out grace back onto him so that he could continue in that manner for the rest of his life. We will learn more about Barnabas later.
Now we come to the opposite: Ananias and Sapphira, in Acts, chapter 5. It is a very interesting story why this is in here.
Acts 5:1-4 APNT
And a certain man whose name was Ananias, with his wife, whose name was Sapphira, sold his field
and took [some] of its price and hid [it], his wife being aware of it. And he brought a part of the money and placed [it] before the feet of the apostles. And Simon said to him, Ananias, why is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you should lie to the Holy Spirit and hide some of the money of the sale of the field?
Was it not yours before it was sold? And after it was sold, again you were in control of its sale. Why have you decided in your heart to do this thing? You have not lied to men, but to God.
Peter really confronted him. The only way Peter would have known probably is by direct revelation from God that Ananias had done this. Ananias and Sapphira, had both agreed to sell this piece of land and give all the money to the apostles. However, once they sold it, they apparently changed their minds. Rather than give all the proceeds from the sale of the land, they decided to hold back part of the price and keep it for themselves, but to say they were giving the whole amount. That is the reason this is such a serious situation. It is similar to the time in Joshua; God had told Joshua all the spoils of Jericho belong to the Lord. (Joshua 6:18-19 KJV) They were devoted to God and the people should not take anything of the spoils. They were going to have plenty of other spoils that they could take, but what was from Jericho belonged to God. There was one man, Achan, who decided to take a garment and some bars of silver and gold and hid it inside underneath his tent. Then they lost the next battle in Ai and Joshua wondered why this happened. God tells Joshua, “…for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff” (Joshua 7:11 KJV). ‘Someone has taken of what was devoted to me.’ It was discovered it was Achan who took of the accursed thing and he and entire family were stoned to death and everything they owned was destroyed. (Joshua 7:12-26 KJV) It is a very serious situation in Joshua.
It is also serious here. Peter is not throwing a curse on them or anything like that. However, he identified the situation. He recognized that Satan wanted to infiltrate the community with this kind of deception. In the long run, it would have really undermined the great generosity that was taking place and cause a disturbance about what these people were doing. It would have eventually been discovered that they had not given the full price. If they had gotten away with it, it would have put a really big damper on the fellowship. So it is wonderful that God shows Peter this and he confronts Ananias. As a result, this is what happened in verse 5.
Acts 5:5-11 APNT
And when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died. And there was great fear among all those who heard.
And those who were young among them rose up and gathered him up and took [and] buried him.
And after three hours had passed, his wife also entered, not knowing what had happened.
Simon said to her, “Tell me if you sold the field for this sale price?” And she said, “Yes, for this sale price.”
Simon said to her, “Because you have agreed to tempt the Spirit of the Lord, behold, the feet of the grave diggers of your husband [are] at the door and they will take you out.”
And immediately she fell before their feet and died. And those young men entered and found her dead. And they gathered [her] up, took [and] buried her by the side of her husband.
And there was great fear in all the church and among all those who heard.
Amazing! When you read that “there was great fear”, you think, “Absolutely! They died!” They died immediately, right in front of the apostles. However, remember learning at the beginning, fear has two sides to it. It could be terror, but it could also mean great awe.
The key to understanding this entire passage, I believe, is in the term “Satan.” When Peter says in verse 3, ‘Why is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you should lie to the Holy Spirit?’. Satan is the term “adversary” or “opponent.” He is the one that uses lies to seduce people and to bring them into bondage. Satan simply means “to turn aside from the good way.” He causes people to turn aside. He used Ananias’ and Sapphira’s tendency to love things. They were having difficulty with this kind of open-handed giving, because as soon as they opened their hand, they had second thought about giving all of the money away. They decided they could not do that, and they took it back really fast.
Where Satan really took hold in their lives was that he seduced them into believing they could get away with it; and they could say they had devoted it to God and not really do it.
That was the serious part of it. The result was when they were exposed, it was not God who killed them. It was Satan who killed them, because at that point, they were not useful to him anymore. His next plan was to cause great fear. Perhaps the believers thought, “If I do not give, then I am going to die also.” He tried this second part of the plan, but we will see what happened.
Acts 5:11-12 APNT
There was great fear in all the church and among all those who heard.
And by way of the apostles many signs and mighty works occurred among the people. And they were all assembled together in Solomon’s porch.
The people, the believers, heard about this meaningful event. As a result, they came together more. They came together as a community even more.
Acts 5:13 APNT
And of other men, no one dared to come near to them, but the people magnified them.
One translation stated, “No one was going to meddle with them anymore.”
They allowed them to be in this part of the temple in Solomon’s porch to preach and teach.The people came there with their questions, wanting answers. The wanted the apostles to teach them about what had happened and why it happened. It became a great avenue for the apostles to really be able to communicate the truth about not only about giving, but about grace and that Ananias and Sapphira had really stolen and lied, not to them, but to God.
It even goes back to the temptations when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness. Satan tried to show him all the kingdoms of the world and said, “And he said to him, “All these [kingdoms] I will give to you if you will fall down [and] worship me.” (Matthew 4:9 KJV). That is exactly what he wanted Ananias and Sapphira to do. When they did not do it, they died! However, the plan backfired on Satan.
Acts 5:14-16 APNT
And more were added who believed in the LORD, a crowd (KJV says “a multitude of men and of women”) of men and of women,
so that they brought out the sick into the streets, lying on pallets, that when Simon should come by, at least his shadow would cover them.
And many came to them from other cities that were around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those who had unclean spirits and all of them were healed.
Now it is not only happening in Jerusalem, but also the cities surrounding Jerusalem that are starting to come. They were bringing the sick and those who had unclean spirits. All of them were healed. All of them were healed. Amazing! Just like the ministry of Jesus Christ, when they brought the sick to him, every single person was healed. That is what happened. Great grace was poured out.
Then there are verses 17 through 19: you might want to read by yourself, because the high priest becomes enraged and jealous and has them thrown in prison. However, an angel comes and breaks them out and tells them, “Go! Stand in the temple and speak to the people all these words of life.” (Acts 5:20 APNT) They go and they do it!
This entire section of Acts shows us that being a believer means we love our fellow brothers and sisters even more. The relationship of love is what motivates the giving. We then lose our love for things and become generous and open-handed in our giving, inside the community, particularly. There was great power! There was great grace! There was great generosity, and there was great fear. However, for the believers, this kind of fear was awe. It was respect. There was respect to the apostles, respect and honor to God. That is open-handed giving!
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