Holiness & Fear

Mission “You will be my martyrs”

Acts 1:8 NIV

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. (μάρτυς)

μάρτυς, μάρτυρος, ὁ

① one who testifies in legal matters, witness

② one who affirms or attests, testifier, witness transf. sense of mng. 1, of anyone who can or should testify to anything.

③ one who witnesses at cost of life, martyr, in the usage of the persecuted church

Luke 9:23–24 NIV

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.

A martyr is primarily a witness. They are a faithful witness who testifies to the truth, no matter the cost. For some, that has been at the cost of their lives, meaning they have died physically because of their message.

But we all need to die daily. We all need to deny ourselves - restrain ourselves from what we desire to pursue what God wants.

We need to take up our cross - put to death the passions and desires of our flesh, and sacrificially love and forgive others.

We do need to die to ourselves and “our lives” so we can wholeheartedly pursue fulfilling the mission given to us to witness to Christ, no matter the cost to our own desires, reputations, or lives.

Methods

Prayer

Proclamation

Means: Power through Holy Spirit

Acts 4:29 NIV

Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.

Prayer: In light of circumstances, giving concerns to God, and asking for what we need for our responsibilities.

Some Tools:

Prayer Guides

Pocket New Testaments

Today we are going to be looking at a passage that many people tend to skip over. It is regarded as difficult because it is seemingly harsh. However, I believe it is important for us to look at, and God included it in His record of the early church for us to learn from it. There was a specific reaction within the church and without, that we need to have today.

Today we are going to look at Acts 4:32-5:14. Please open your Bibles and let’s study this together.

Prayer

In your Bibles, you probably see the headings so you know what we are looking at today. “The Believers Share Their Possessions” and “Ananias and Sapphira.”

The first part is the background to help us understand the second. Let’s begin the study.

Acts 4:32–37 NIV

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need. Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.

Background

The Believers were United

The Believers were Sharing

Notice the next two descriptions of the church:

With Great Power the Apostles Testified (martyrion)

God’s Grace was so powerfully at work

Example of Joseph / Barnabas

Now, the difficulty.

Acts 5:1–11 NIV

Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet. Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.” When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him. About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?” “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.” Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.” At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

Why?

Why would Ananias and Sapphira do this?

The World and the Flesh

In the context, it appears that they wanted to seem more spiritual than they were. They wanted to appear to be spiritual so that they would receive recognition like Barnabas.

The world tells us that if we do things a certain way, we will get recognition.

Our Flesh, that is, our selfish nature, tells us that is what we want!

Their enemies were at work, and they didn’t recognize it.

Maybe they wanted a position in the leadership of the church?

Maybe they just wanted people to look up to them?

The problem is, they wanted to appear to be what they were not.

It was deliberate deception.

Satan

He has already attacked the church from without, through the persecution of the Jewish religious leaders. And, that failed to stop the church.

Now, he attacks from within. The way to do that is to attack a member, and to use them.

Trojans attacking Troy

Instead of being filled with the Spirit - yielding to and being led by the Spirit - Ananias was filled - led by - Satan.

Why would God respond so seemingly harshly?

Nadab and Abihu

Achan

When starting out, you need to have a good start, or everything goes wrong from there.

Keep the corruption at bay for a time

Tares Matthew 13:24-30

Matthew 13:24–30 NIV

Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ “ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ “ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ ”

Warnings - 1 Corinthians 10:11-12

1 Corinthians 10:11–12 NIV

These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!

We have enemies! We need to be on guard against them!

The Outcome - Great Fear

This is the point. This is what God wanted.

He is Holy, and we need to remember who He is.

We love the good and gracious God...

Psalm 103:8–12 NIV

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

But we need to remember where God first revealed this about Himself:

Exodus 34:6–7 NIV

And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

The church saw what happened to Ananias and Sapphira and had the proper response...

Acts 5:5 NIV

When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.

We need to remember as Peter well learned,

1 Peter 1:13–17 NIV

Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.

What is more, the word got out, and

Acts 5:11 NIV

Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

Acts 5:12–14 NIV

The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.

No one else dared to join them… People didn’t just go to the church because it was a good group of people. They didn’t feign to be Christians. They didn’t claim the name of Christ lightly.

God kept the tares away for a time.

What about you and me?

Are we remembering that the Lord is Holy?

Acts—The Church Afire Spiritual Deception Punished (Vv. 3–10)

We must be absolutely clear as to what Ananias’ sin was. It was not casual deception. Rather, he feigned a deeper spiritual commitment than he had. We share Ananias’ sin not when others think we are more spiritual than we are, but when we try to make others think we are more spiritual than we are. Examples of Ananias’ sin today include: creating the impression we are people of prayer when we are not; making it look like we have it all together when we do not; promoting the idea that we are generous when we are so tight we squeak when we smile; misrepresenting our spiritual effectiveness (for example, saying, “When I was at the crusade in New York, I ran the whole follow-up program,” when the truth is, you were a substitute counselor). When a preacher urges his people toward deeper devotion to God, implying that his life is an example when in actuality he knows it is not, he is repeating Ananias’ sin! When an evangelist calls people to holy living but is secretly having an affair with his secretary, he is an Ananias! This gives us all a lot to think about, if we dare.

Are we aware of our enemies? Are we prepared?

Ephesians 6:10–18 NIV

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.