Acts - 13

Acts - 13

Acts 5:1-11

Introduction

Beginning in the 3rd century BC, the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, began building what we now know as The Great Wall. It was built to protect China’s vulnerable northern border from the nomadic tribes like the Xiongnu and the Mongols. In the first century AD, the Han dynasty strengthened and expanded the walls. Construction continued for more than a millennium. It wasn’t until the Ming dynasty in the 14th century that the wall came to resemble what it does today.

Passing through mountains, plains, deserts, and more, the 13,171 mile long wall remains one of the greatest structures ever built. It proved almost undefeatable by the invading hordes. Almost. China’s enemies found an ingenious and simple way of breaching the un-breachable structure…they bribed the guards. In 1644 the Ming dynasty was betrayed to invading Manchu forces when a turncoat general simply let the enemy walk in through an open gate.

What cannot happen by force can sometimes happen by falsehood. In Acts 3-4 the authorities have tried to shut down the church by force. The governing authorities have initiated persecution against those early believers. But it didn’t work. The Church has responded by growing bigger and stronger. If outside forces won’t work, then maybe the best way to take out the Church is from the inside.

John Stott - “If the devil’s first tactic was to destroy the church by force from without, his second was to destroy it by falsehood from within.”

At the end of the SitRep we saw last week at the end of Acts 4, the Church is committed to the Lord and to one another in Unity, Fidelity, and in Generosity. Their counter-cultural ways are making a difference in the world. And we are given a real example of someone in the Church who is modeling this new Christian way of life.

Acts 4:36-37 - 36 Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, 37 sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.

Barnabas will become a major player in the life of the NT Church, as one who travels the world with the Apostle Paul in later chapters. Before we know of him as a church planter and missionary, we are introduced to him as a good man, a generous follower of Jesus. He sells some personal property and brings the proceeds to the Church so they can meet the needs of some of the other Christians in the Church. He does what his name communicates…he encourages.

We only know him by his nickname…Barnabas, the son of encouragement. The word for ‘encouragement’ is a famous Bible word. It is the Greek word paraclete. It is the same word Jesus uses in John 16 to refer to the Holy Spirit as our Advocate or Counselor. It literally translates as ‘one who comes alongside.’ That is what Barnabas has done with his generosity. He has come alongside others to help them in their time of need. This is what the Lord has called the Church to do for one another. This is Unity. This is Fidelity to the Church. This is Generosity. By our giving we come alongside others to help them. In so doing, the Lord is honored, people are helped, and the Church lives out its calling.

But now…now comes the other side of the story. So far, the Church just can’t lose. No matter the challenge that has risen against them, they have risen even higher. No outside force is strong enough to defeat the Church. Jesus Himself said as much in Matthew 16:18 - I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Defeat from the outside just isn’t possible. But defeat from the inside…well, that might be a different story. In direct contrast to the good example to follow with Barnabas here, we are immediately given the bad example to avoid.

Acts 5:1-11 - But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 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. 3 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? 4 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.” 5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. 6 The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.

7 After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” 9 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.” 10 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. 11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

In Romans 7, the Apostle Paul introduces us to a universal spiritual principle…whenever I want to do good, evil is right there with me. Yup. That is my experience as well as yours. When you see good, evil is right there trying to move against it. Whenever you see Jesus at work, you see Satan launching a counter-attack. Whenever you see the Church, under the surface is what we could call the anti-church. An insidious force from within seeking to take it down. That is what is happening here with Ananias and Sapphira. Let’s walk through the text.

Because this text can be pretty challenging to deal with, the easy solution presented by some is simply to explain it away. They’ll say that this is just fantasy and myth. That Ananias and Sapphira were the first natural deaths in the Church, which confronted their false belief that Jesus’ resurrection had eradicated every kind of death. So to justify their false beliefs, they fabricated this account. Others will explain this text away by blaming Peter. Peter, who is new to this whole pastoral leadership thing, was just to rough and calloused with his interrogation. He so shocked them both with his brash and bold behavior that their poor little hearts just could not stand the pressure and they both died because Peter was mean.

Again, the unwillingness of some to accept the plain, common sense reading of the text is astounding. These deaths were acts of divine judgment for their sin. Which begs the question…what did they do that justified God killing them right there in church? Let’s walk through what happened…Ananias, along with his co-conspirator Sapphira, sold a piece of property that they owned. But conspired to keep some of the proceeds back for themselves. They bring the rest of the funds from the sale and present them to Peter.

What is the problem with that? Nothing at all. They have every right to do whatever they want with their own land. They can keep it. They can sell it. They can choose whatever amount they want to give. None of this shared property and generosity initiative in the church is mandated. It is all voluntary. Peter clearly communicates this to Ananias, showing that their sin was not that they held back any amount. V. 4a - 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? They had every right to do whatever they wanted with their property. That is not the problem. The problem is that they have lied about it. V. 3 and the end of v. 4 condemn Ananias for lying. Same thing with v. 8-9 when Sapphira comes in.

So here is what they have done…they sold the land for a certain amount, brought in a smaller amount, but claimed they had brought the full amount. That is clear from Peter’s questions to them both. Their sin isn’t necessarily greed, though that is a problem for them. Their sin isn’t necessarily dishonesty, though that is a problem for them. Their sin is hypocrisy. They are pretending to be something they are not. Hi everyone! Here is the full amount from the sale. See how generous we are. Just call us Barnabas 2.0. They are trying to have the best of both worlds…keep some of the money for themselves yet still look super generous to the rest of the Church.

R. Kent Hughes - “If this happened today, Ananias would probably wait until the organ was playing “I Surrender All” and then haltingly come forward, laying his check at Peter’s feet. Ananias and Sapphira’s ruse was not a mere miscalculation in their checkbook but premeditated deception. This was pious pretense—religious sham—simulated holiness—Christian fraud.”

How does Satan attack the Church from within? By making false believers. By making people focused on looking good on the outside, but are demonic on the inside. V. 3 - But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?”

In John 8:44 Jesus said that Satan is the father of lies, and that when he lies he is speaking his native language. This betrayal, this deception, this hypocrisy of Ananias and Sapphira is nothing more than the blatant work of Satan in the Church in an attempt to destroy it from within. What does this look like today?

Those who profess but don’t practice - talk a good game but don’t actually do anything with their faith Those who create the impression they are people of prayer but don’t actually pray Those who make it look like they have it all together when their lives are a mess Those who promote they are generous when in reality they are so tight they squeak when they smile Those who misrepresent their spiritual effectiveness by talking about victory over sin while still secretly indulging in it

Jesus deals with this reality in Matthew 13 in the Parable of the Weeds. He said the Kingdom of God is like a man who sows good seed into his field. But in the cover of night, an enemy comes and sows weeds among the good seed. Unknowingly, the wheat and weeds grow up together. It is only when the wheat sprout the grain that the weeds are discovered to be false wheat. Once Jesus explains the parable to the disciples, he said that it is Satan who creates false believers in and among God’s people. And you can’t always tell them apart. By outward appearance, they are indistinguishable. That is what is happening in Acts 5. By all appearances, Barnabas and Ananias have done the exact same thing. But it’s not real. It’s false.

You have heard me say that I believe the biggest problem in the America Church today is the reality of false believers. Those who genuinely believe they are followers of Jesus, but it is in name only. They look the part. They speak the part. But they don’t actually live it. They are weeds in the field. They are dangerous deceptions and counterfeit Christians. And the Lord will sort it out at the judgment when He brings judgment.

Which brings us back to Acts 5…how does God respond to their deception? How does God treat those who pretend to follow His Son but only make a show of it on the outside? He kills them. He strikes them dead in an instant. God cares when you bring dishonor on His name.

Grant Osborne - “Those people who rationalize their sin today by thinking that God majors in mercy and forgiveness need to read this episode carefully. God is a loving Father, but he is also Judge over his creation and punishes sin.”

Those who have a problem with the text, those who attempt to rewrite it or dismiss it as legendary, don’t really have a problem with the text per se. Their problem is with God. They either don’t know His character or they don’t like His character.

R.C. Sproul - “When we understand the character of God, when we grasp something of His holiness, then we begin to understand the radical character of our sin and hopelessness. Helpless sinners can survive only by grace. Our strength is futile in itself; we are spiritually impotent without the assistance of a merciful God. We may dislike giving our attention to God’s wrath and justice, but until we incline ourselves to these aspects of God’s nature, we will never appreciate what has been wrought for us by grace.”

Much is at stake in Acts 5. The Church is just taking off. It is still in its infancy stage. If this insidious sin is allowed to creep in, it will infect the entire thing and throw it off course. God clearly and definitively sets His standard for His people. They are not going to be in the Church and then live like the world. And this is driven home at the end of the text.

V. 11 - And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things. Yup. Of course it did! While I don’t imagine this is a good church growth strategy…did you hear what happened at Broadway last week? God killed two people for being hypocrites. But it is a good strategy for the purity and health of the Church. This lets everyone know that sin will not be tolerated. Weeds need to be rooted out. And to conclude this text in particular, the word church is used for the first time in Acts. It is the Greek word ekklesia. It is a combination of ek - out and kaleo - to call out. Who is the Church? We are the ‘called-out ones.’ We’ve been called out of the world and can no longer live like the world. God simply will not tolerate it.

The marvel of this text is not that God killed them. No, the marvel is that God hasn’t killed us all. Donald Grey Barnhouse, a faithful pastor from a previous generation, would not let his congregation sing the third verse of the old hymn At Calvary. You may remember it…the chorus goes:

Mercy there was great and grace was free

Pardon there was multiplied to me

There my burdened soul found liberty

At Calvary

But the third stanza goes:

Oh now I have given to Jesus everything

Now I gladly own him as my King

Barnhouse would always have his church skip that verse…just in case it wasn’t true. It is easy to sing I have given to Jesus everything, but if you actually haven’t, then you are in league with Ananias and Sapphira. Not a good place to be. Barnhouse writes, “You see, if God acted in the same way today that he did in the fifth chapter of Acts, you’d have to have a morgue in the basement of every church and a mortician on the pastoral staff.”

The marvel of this text is not that God killed them. The marvel is that God hasn’t killed us all. Because that is what sinners deserve in the presence of a holy God. Yet by his grace, shown to us in Jesus Christ, we are offered pardon. We are forgiven. We are set free from the penalty of our sin. And we are welcomed into relationship with this holy God. We are adopted into His family and call Him our Father. That is grace. And we stand before God only by His grace.