43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. 44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common; 45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. (Acts 2:43-45 KJV)
William Burkitt’s Commentary
Observe here, 1. What awful respect God obliged the people of Jerusalem to pay unto the apostles: Fear came upon every soul, at the sight of those wonders and signs which were wrought by the apostles. ‘Tis God that keeps up the authority and reverence of his ministers in the minds of their people: Did not he hold these stars in his own right hand, how soon would men trample them under their feet?
Observe, 2. An extraordinary instance of a noble charity among these primitive Christians; They had all things common; that is, they chose rather to part with their estates, than that any of their brethren should want; the rich very readily sold their possessions and goods to help and relieve the poor.
Yet note, 1. That this community was not of all their goods, but of that part only which everyone did voluntarily consecrate and devote to the relief of the church’s goods that was here practiced; but, by all things, we are to understand, such things as every one freely laid aside for the service of the poor.
Note, 2. That this practice was only used in Jerusalem, in the beginning of Christianity, without being a precedent for after times and places. Res quce erat temporaria necessitatis et liberi arbitrii, non debet in exemplum trahi, multo minus ut necessaria obtrudi.
Christ’s gospel doth not destroy the moral law; the eighth commandment is still in force, which it could not be, if there were no property. The lesson for your instruction, to be gathered from this instance, is this, That they who have ability ought to abound always in ordinary, and sometimes in extraordinary works of charity: We must always relieve the saints’ wants as we are able, and sometimes, upon an extraordinary occasion, above what we are well able.