Acts 5:11

And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things Lit. upon the whole church and upon all that heard, &c. To produce such a fear as should deter others from a like offence was God's intention in this miracle of punishment. And St Luke seems to have pointed to the reason by making here for the first time any mention of "the church" (see note on Acts 2:47). The true ecclesiamust be free from such hypocritical professors, or its work could not advance. The lesson was to be stamped into the hearts of all who were fit to be of "the church," though at the same time it would strike deep into the minds of all others who learnt how the Spirit of God had punished the lying lips of those who sought the praise of men rather than that of God.