Acts 3-5

After these things Peter and John are going to the temple to pray, and they encounter a man begging at the gate, who had been lame for 40 years.  Peter tells him to get up and walk in the Name of Jesus, and he is made whole in that moment.  This causes an uproar among the people, and the temple rulers have Peter and John arrested, but they later let them go because of the crowd.  Many believed, and the church swelled to around 5,000.  There was great unity among the believers, and many who had property and money gave to help those who were in need.

However, there was a man and his wife, Ananias and Sapphira, who saw that Barnabas had sold a piece of property, and gave the proceeds to the church, and they wanted to be recognized for doing the same thing.  Unfortunately, they lied about the proceeds, and they kept back some of what they had received in selling the property.  They ended up dying because they lied about what they had done before God.  They were under no obligation to give anything, and they had the freedom to keep whatever they wanted from the sale of the property, but they suffered the judgement of God because they lied about what they had given.

A revival was going on, with many people being saved and healed, and the temple rulers were jealous and angry over what was going on, and again arrested the apostles, but at the night they were released from prison by an angel, and they went back and continued preaching to the people.  When they were taken again before the Jewish Council, Rabbi Gamaliel gave wise counsel to let them go, and not (essentially) go to war with God.