COMMON THINGS

COMMON THINGS

“And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.” Acts 4:32

“One soul” connotes a common spirit of enthusiasm for the job at hand.

all things common. “Common” in the Greek means simply “ordinary.” Some believers (e.g., Barnabas—Acts 4:36-37) were well to do, but considered their possessions as just common goods which could easily be given up. This was not an early example of socialism or communism, as some teach, for it was entirely voluntary, not planned and enforced governmentally. They did not give up their possessions except as needed, but were quite willing to do so. Furthermore, this was done because of the special circumstances at the time and was not the practice among other churches.

Three times the men of Israel were to appear before the Lord in Jerusalem (Deut 16:16): Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths. They had just experienced the true and intended purposes of the first two of three Jewish Feasts. They had a right to expect the true intended meaning of the third of the Feasts which was that of Tabernacles. This meant an installation of the Kingdom of God at this time. cf Acts 4:34.

“For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales,”