The community of goods or common stock was a _voluntary thing_ and
not _required_, as is clear from the language of Peter to Ananias and
Sapphira. Alluding to the possession he sold and the proceeds of the
sale he said: “While it remained was it not thine own? and after it was
sold was it not in thine own power?” Acts v. 4. There was no compulsion
to do what he pretended he was doing—that is, _giving the whole_—no
law requiring it. This case appears to have ended the whole affair. We
find no more account of it, but clear allusions to liberality, to the
rich and poor, etc., showing that it was not continued. There is no
question but that some of the first Christians received the impression
that the coming of the Lord, the resurrection of the dead and the
end of the world were at hand; and the unbounded love of the gospel
inspired in their hearts for God and man led them to regard their
possessions as nothing. They did not believe they would need them, nor
did they see the state of things that would result from their course.
Not only so, but there may have been a providence in it, as their city
was soon to be destroyed and they “led away captive among all nations.”
The main thing we need is the fact that it is not required of us. It
ended at once and was not enjoined nor continued.