WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30
Scripture: Acts 4:33-37

In Acts 4:33-37 everyone was in one accord. They were in harmony. They had the same goals and they were moving together toward the same purpose. As a result, with great power the apostles were giving witness to the resurrection of the Lord and we are told that great grace was upon them all. The great grace was manifested in their willingness to obey the prophetic declaration of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit knew that persecution was about to break out against the church and was setting the groundwork for an exodus. So in order to cement obedience to the Spirit and to prepare the people to change geographic locations quickly, the Holy Spirit began to move believers toward selling their properties and bringing the money to the church community. As a result, a standard of righteousness was set by the Spirit based on what was coming prophetically and judicially to Jerusalem. The Lord, in His grace, was helping His people prepare. Jerusalem would be destroyed and yet all the believers in it were being prepared to be scattered abroad so the message of salvation would multiply and be extended. Their lives, through obedient sacrifice, were sown into the early harvest. The important part to note about this is that the Holy Spirit set the standard. What does that mean? It means that the Holy Spirit sets a standard of financial purity, sexual purity and heart obedience. Whatever standard the Holy Spirit sets in the midst of a group of people becomes the standard by which justice falls.