Acts 5:11-16 And great fear came on all the church, and on as many as heard these things.… The case of Ananias served several important ends. I. IT BORE A VERY EMPHATIC TESTIMONY TO TRUTH. Falsehood in the world was a great barrier in the way of the Church. It was difficult to build even that Divine edifice without a foundation, without some. thing in humanity of which it might take hold. Unless the Church find or generate truth it will not overcome the world; it will sink as in a mire. And so at the outset a miracle was employed to set truth as on a rock for ever. The death of Ananias and Sapphira is the arm of the Lord revealed to deliver the body of the Church in her youth from a consumption which, if not so checked, might have brought her down to an early grave, although no breath of persecution had ever blown upon her. We learn here the work of God to cast out of the body the poison that would undermine life is as stupendous as His work to shield the Church from the power of her foes. II. GREAT FEAR CAME UPON THE CHURCH. It is a healthful symptom, a needed discipline. "Lord, is it I?" "Let him that thinketh he standeth," etc. It was Christ who said, "Remember Lot's wife." Many centuries after the event, He directed that it should be kept in memory. These dark monuments have obtained a place in the Word that liveth and abideth for ever, that their warning may be available in all nations and times. Fear also came on as many as heard. As a natural consequence, "of the rest durst no man join himself to them," i.e., those who were not of them dared not pretend to be of them. The stroke of judgment scared the hypocrites. III. BELIEVERS WERE THE MORE ADDED. The judgment on false professors hastened instead of hindering conversions. The terror of the Lord effectually persuaded men to take refuge in His mercy. 1. Believers were added to the Lord; not. merely to the communicants roll. "Your life is hid with Christ in God." The life of the branch depends on being in the vine; although its fairness may depend on its being interlaced in bonds of love with other branches. 2. Multitudes were added. This is the common experience still. A great number came at one time with a rush: and a period of comparative barrenness supervenes. Again there is a revival, and again a time of coldness. Ask yourself, Has the tide risen in my time and carried in many on its wave, and am I left behind? But even when the heaving of the spiritual tide in our neighbourhood has ceased, the door is not shut. We are as welcome when we come one by one as when we press in with a crowd. 3. "Both men and women." There was a reason for specifying this. The gospel enfranchises and elevates woman. She owes to Christ not only her home in heaven, but her rightful place in the world. Nor women exclusively; for when the Word comes in power it makes quick work with that lordly pride in which men wrap themselves when they select philosophy or politics as their sphere, and leave religion to women. (W. Arnot, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.WEB: Great fear came on the whole assembly, and on all who heard these things. |
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