Acts 4:32-5:11- Great Grace & Great Fear

pray for Ian

Introduction

Growing up, I had the amazing privelege of living in close proximity to my extended family. And every Sunday we had the tradition of going to my great-grandmother’s house for Sunday dinner.

The fried chicken, and mac and cheese were also delicious, but apart from the food I never wanted to be indoors. For one, the house was always the same temperature as the SUN, and I didn’t care to watch jeopardy at the highest volume imaginable.

But outdoors was a totally different story. It was a boy’s dream. She lived in the country. Acres and Acres of farmland, with hundreds of cattle, and old barn chalk full of amazing treasures, but the best part by far were the 2 70ft twin Magnolia Trees near the driveway.

I can’t remember how old I was when I climbed one for the first time, but I remember the adrenline pumping and a definite sense of healthy fear as I took cautious step, after cautious step knowing that I was always one dead twig away from sheer terror.

I climbed those trees hundreds of times over the years, and every successful venture built confidence, while simultaneously removing any and all sense of fear. So I grew confident. A little too condient.

And the day came. I was sitting toward the top with my older brother. My dad had just returned from a business trip and my brother and I were wearing matching Texas Ragners Red t-shirts. I made an overly confident move to inch closer to the top and SNAP.

My brother said that all he saw was a red blur free falling toward the bottom.

But by God’s grace, a real miracle, I ended up catching myself abotu 8 feet from the bottom and walked away with only a few scrapes and scratches… but I carried something else away with me… a renewed sense of healthy fear.

I had grown so accustomed to the grace in my tree climbing ability that I had forgotten that healthy fear. And a great tree climber needs both. Great Grace and Great Fear.

Similarly that’s what we are going to see in our passage today. The church is thriving, booming, people added to their number everyday, the house shaking with the power of God… They were growing so accustomed to the great grace of God, that they were neglecting a great fear of God that is healthy for us all.

GREAT GRACE and GREAT FEAR, that’s what we will be looking at today.

Let’s read the first half of our passage together.

Passage

Acts 4:32–37 ESV

Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

Notice first, the Great Grace!

Great Grace

Here in ACTS 4, we see more of what we’ve already seen since the church was born in Acts 2… we see Great Grace. vs. 33, “and with great grace was upon them all.”

What is Grace?

Grace is a pretty important doctrine in the Christian faith, but I think if we were honest we’d all admit a little confusion about grace… what actually is grace?

If you’ve been around the church at all, you will probably say, “unmerited favor!” Yes. It is. Grace is the favor of God bestowed upon us, without merit. Meaning, nothing we’ve done, or can do earns it. It is favor bestowed based upon who He is, and now what you and I have done.

So when the Bible says, “we are saved by grace...” it means that your salvation was unearned. It was a gift. It was unmerited. God is simply gracious. A giver.

So grace is unmerited favor, but that’s not all.

There are 124 occurrences of the word grace in the NT. Many do not refer to “salvation” at all.

Let me give you 3 quick examples…

2 Corinthians 9:8 (ESV)

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

None of these usages have anyting to do with salvation, but instead they use GRACE to refer to the action or the power or the influence that produces real, and practical outcomes in people’s lives.

Paul is aying, that Gods grace will empower the corinthian church to abound in every work.

God’s grace will empower him, even inspite of his weaknesses.

So hear me… “Grace is both the inclination of the divine heart to treat us better than we deserve & is the extension of that inclination in practical help!”

Grace is God’s un-coerced initiative in salvation & his pervasive, on-going demonstrations of favor, care, and strength.

One more way: “Grace does not stop once we are saved, but is provided and relied upon for the rest of our lives, as God works within us, upon us, and through us.”

So the “full number of believers” here in Acts 4 are saved by grace; yet “great grace” continued to be upon them all. That word Great is the greek word “mega”.

Mega Site, Mega Church… Meaning massive! There was MASSIVE GRACE continuing to rest upon these people,

and that GREAT GRACE is observable in their unity and generosity.

Unity

Notice, their unity.

Acts 4:32 ESV

Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.

The full number. And this is remarkable, because these thousands of believers were from all over.

Acts 2:9–11 ESV

Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”

And yet they were UNITED.

and that’s the point: Great Grace led to Unity not Uniformity.

Unity not Uniformity

I fear we have confused the too. So many of us crave Unity like we find here in the early church, but its not unity we seek, but uniformity.

These were not Christian Clones! They didn’t carry the same Bible, read the same books, promote the same styles of worship, educate their children the same way.

We cannot assume that they saw everything eye to eye. The early church did not walk in uniformity.

You see, insistence that others be just like us is one of the most DIS-UNIFYING mindsets that a church can have, because it instills a judgemental inflexibility that hurls people away from the church with lethal force!

It is arrogrance that demands uniformity, and contradicts the essential ingredient of humility required for unity.

This is one of the many reasons I love leading this church plant.

Among us, right now, we have background pentecostals that would prefer our worship to go longer and be more spontaneous, sitting right next to long-term presbyterians who prefer a choir and hymns only.

We have blue collar, white collar, and no collar.

We have people that have metaphorically been raised in church, and others who have never stepped foot in one.

GRACE GRACE honors individuality while bringing about UNITY, not UNIFORMITY.

The church here was united, sharing one heart and one soul, because they were united as to who Christ was, and what their purpose was.

“Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to the standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshippers met together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become unity conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closwer fellowship.”— Tozer.

Their unity, was due to the fact that they were all tuned to the same Fork… God. They weren’t trying to be “uniform” just united under Him.

Great Grace was led to Unity.

But it also led to Generosity.

Generous

Acts 4:34–35 ESV

There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

Great Grace led the church to be Generous. They were a generous church!

Generous, not Communist.

Many argue from this passage that we need a socialized, commune, or “communist” state. But Communism as we know it says, “What is yours is everyone’s.”

Generous, driven by Great Grace says, “What is mine, is yours.” Look at verse 32 again!

Acts 4:32 (ESV)

and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.

They weren’t running around like my 2 year old does… screaming, “MINE”. Instead they were sharing. They claimed nothing as being “theirs.”

Now what is really interesting about Luke’s writing here, is that it almost identically mirrors writings found from Greek Philosophers that wrote about an ideal utopian state devoid of private ownership and communal sharing.

Aristotle even wrote about ideal friendships are “one soul dwelling in 2 bodies.” AKA, being of one heart and one soul.

I believe Luke is intentional here, showing us that WHAT THE GREEKS ESTEEMED AS IDEAL IS A REALITY IN CHRISTIAN CHURCH WHEN GREAT GRACE IS UPON US ALL.

But this wasn’t just a Greek or Gentile Ideal, but a Jewish one.

Deuteronomy 15:4 ESV

But there will be no poor among you; for the Lord will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess—

The early church’s reality of Generosity, was also a fulfillment of Israel’s command to be faithful to the law.

But what was once unattainable by the LAW, is now fully attainable WITH GREAT GRACE.

GREAT GRACE leads us to be a generous church.

But a couple of additional notes:

Generosity

Their generosity was voluntary.

Sharing everything, and selling lands and houses wasn’t an entry fee into the church of God, but a voluntary response to the Great Grace they had personally experienced.

You see church, God loves a cheerful giver. A voluntarily cheerful giver.

So many of us want to know what the Bible requires on tithing, so that we can fulfill the minimum of our obligatory burden for given. But you can give, and yet your heart remain far from God.

This is why we don’t pass a plate. Becuase we want you to not give under compulsion, or be tempted to give so that you may be seen by others but to give voluntarily and cheerfully in response to the GREAT GRACE OF CHRIST.

Their generosity was radical.

This is radical… I mean to be honest, if you came to me today and said, “Hey Pastor, we sold our home here in Waterways for 490,000 and want you guys to have the check; I’d proabbly PUMP THE BREAKS. a) In a cultural christianity where pastors where the latest name brands, and fly private I’d be weary of any luxury gift like this! but b) I’d probably want to explore what you were smoking to come to that conclusion! c) I’d fear any form of partiality.

This is why I don’t know who gives what. I get a monthly P&L, but I don’t want to know who gives how much because I don’t want to pastor with partiality.

It’s radical! And radical generosity can only be compelled by GREAT GRACE.

Once you and I can comprehend the GREATNESS of God’s grace, we will begin to see that nothing we have is ours either… just a gift, to be stewarded and at the disposal of the Lord!

So the church was experiencing GREAT GRACE, and that Grace was empowering Unity and Generosity… and as we conclude chapter 4 with the story of Barnabas exemplifying this grace, Luke immediately opens chapter 5 with a stark contrast signified by that conjuction “BUT”

Great Fear

Acts 5:1–11 ESV

But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him. After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

Now this is a WILD STORY is it not?

And to be blunt, this is one of those passages that tends to get skipped over. It’s difficult. Hard for us to process. Hard to conceptualize the severity of what we find. It seems so ungracious, so non-redemptive. How do we interpret this!?

In fact, of his 3,600 published sermons, we never find Charles Spurgeon preaching on Ananias and Sapphira. It’s challenging! But I truly believe, that if we want to be a part of God’s Story Continued. To reflect a people and a church, like the first-century church we need to hear it. So let’s dissect it a little bit.

First, what was their sin?

The Sin

They Lied

Much like Barnabas, Ananias and Sapphira, sold their piece of property, and pledged the full amount to the church, but instead of submitting the full amount vs. 2, “he kept back for himself some of the proceeds.”

So Peter says, “Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit...”

And then again with Sapphira Peter asks, “Did you sell the land for the full price?” And she says, “YES”. She lied.

Their sin was lying!

But what would motivate them to lie like this?

SATAN!

Satan had filled their hearts… He had finally found a way into the young church community. A way to stop God’s story from continuing. To get in on the inside and corrode it from within.

It’s the same way he got Judas! He motivated Judas to betray Jesus with MONEY!

The Love of Money motivated Ananias and Sapphira

Now these were believers… saved. Apart of the “full number”, but much like many of us today, they had one foot in the church community and the other still clinging to the worldly secuirty of earthly possessions!

But the truth is… if he wasn’t ready to fully part with the things of this earth, HE DIDN’T HAVE TO.

vs 4 Peter says, “While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal?”

AKA YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO SELL! And even when you did, you didn’t have to pledge the full amount. You could do whatever you wanted with your proceeds!

But you lied. And not to man, but to God.

What other motivations can you think of that may be at play here? I can imagine a few:

Maybe they had witnessed the “ooohs and ahhhs” that Barnabas got, I mean he even got a new nickname!” So they wanted to gain some credit for their personal sacrifice too.

So maybe their sin was motivated by a desire for man’s approval.

This wasn’t some miscalculation in their checkbook yall, it was pre-mediated deception possibly motivated by the desire for respect, applause, and acceptance of others.

Maybe they wanted people to think they were more spiritual than they really were. Motivated by hypocrisy…

Presenting themselves outwardly in a way that was inconsistent with who they knew themselves to be internally.

Whatever their motivations… they lied.

But that leads us to our next question? Why such a severe punishment!?

The Punishment

I mean he lied…, and when he was called out the Greek text tells us “He immediately gave up his ghost.” AKA he didn’t faint yall. He died! Right there in the presence of them all! DEAD!

And 3 hours later when Sapphira came in, and Peter gave her an opportunity to come clean, yet she lied he makes this crazy statement, “You hear that… that’s the footsteps of your husbands paul bearers… they are here for you. WHACK! Immediately she fell down dead!

Why so severe!? What do we make of this!?

Well, there’s a really good reason and I’m going to share it with you in a second, but first let’s not overlook the fact that

SIN IS SERIOUS

God is HOLY, and the Spirit that was leading, empowering, and filling this early church was THE HOLY SPIRIT. Satan had filled the heart of Ananias to lie to the HOLY SPIRIT.

SIN is the antithesis to holiness. It is cancer to a healthy cell. A flea to a dog. A stain to a white garment. It ruins it!

All SIN deserves the punishment Ananias and Sapphira received, because all SIN… any sin, is a deep offence to the Holiness of God.

But as we all know… God satisfied the wrath of sin upon His holiness by pouring it out upon CHRIST as our Substitute… so why so severe here?

It’s consistent with Scripture…

Throughout the history of Israel, whenever there was a new setting or season for Israel, and God had established His expectations, He would deal severely with the first offense in order to set an example for His people.

It’s why Moses was forbidden to enter the Promised Land for he disobeyed the Lord, although God wanted his people to enter the Land and to be diligent in keeping all all that He had commanded.

When the people witnessed the severe punishment of Moses, it would be quiet the example.

It’s why when Joshua finally led the people of Israel into the land, but couldn’t defeat the people of Ai because Achan had hoarded some of the idols for himself.

So Israel had a severe defeat, and eventually Achan is found out to be the culprit and they kill him on the spot.

It’s why Uzzah was struck dead, for touching the Ark of the Lord in 2 Samuel 6, because the people of Israel were viewing God’s presence as a magic talisman, and not the very presence of God.

Severe punishments, in order to set an example for the people of God.

Now look: there is no comfortable solution for us in this passage, but we must take it at face value that God dealt with Ananias and Sapphira severely in order to set an example for the church.

And the response of the church to this example is exactly the POINT. What is the Point?

The Point

Acts 5:5 ESV

When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it.

Acts 5:11 ESV

And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

As the Church had grown used to GREAT GRACE, they needed to also walk with GREAT FEAR. And that’s the point for us this morning too CBC. We as a church, and you as a believer are one dead twig away from free falling. As we walk in GREAT GRACE, GRACE that saves, and grace that empowers our unity and generosity we must also walk in GREAT FEAR remembering that we too can quench the Holiness of the Spirit and corrupt the witness of the church!

This is a call to confront yourself!

We aren’t any better than Ananias or Sapphira, for if we were really honest with ourselves we would freely admit that we too share in their sin.

We share in their sin when we bow to Duplicity

A duplicitious person is someone who intentionally misleads people in acting in different ways in different situations. It’s hypocricy.

We share Ananias’ sin not when others think we are more spiritual than we really are, but when WE TRY to make others THINK we are more spiritual than we are.

When we create the impression that we are a people of prayer, when we know we aren’t.

When we make it look like we have it all together when we don’t.

When we promote the idea that we are generous people, when in fact we are so in love with money that we put SCROOGE to shame.

When we embellish our impact… “Oh yea, we have a church of 500 praise God...” When we got that number by counting joggers here at JF Gregory and not people in our fellowship.

THIS IS A CALL TO CONFRONT YOURSELF.

What happened with Ananias and Sapphira should give us a lot to think about, if we dare.

It should produce in us, collectively, a GREAT FEAR. Remind us that we serve a God that is to be revered in lips and lives, and that it only takes one sin to corrupt the witness of the church, and quench the GREAT GRACE we all long for.

Now does this mean that because we are all still alive, we obviously aren’t gulity of this hypocritical living?

If that were true, we wouldn’t need more classroom space here at City Center we’d need a morgue!

So many people outside the church are offended by church and scoff at church, saying, “It’s so full of hypocrites.” To which I sigh and say, “Yes, that’s true. But we have room for one more.”

We are all guilty, and that we are all still breathing is another indicator of his GREAT GRACE and Kindness that is intedned to lead us to repentance.

GREAT FEAR came upon the whole church. They began to honestly assess what God wanted of them, and where they were in their spiritual lives and now they had an example to guide them.

We all want the GREAT GRACE, but we must remember we are all one dead twig away, one misstep, one duplicitious moment, from forgetting the needed GREAT FEAR that will make us a witnessing church as we continue God’s story here in RH and the surrounding areas.