Acts 5:1-11
Notes
Transcript
Don’t Lie to God
Don’t Lie to God
Good morning everyone, I hope you had a good week!
Man, we’ve had a super busy week.
We’ve seen the Upward season 18 finish up and it was a blast, So thankful for Jarret and April and all they have done to see it completed for the year.
I am thankful for the great opportunity to serve children and their families and exemplify the person and name of Jesus.
Please be praying, passionately praying for God to raise up the new director before the coming year.
We had a great meal and memorial service for one of our dear saints. Velma was so faithful to her church and served this church well, especially during Vacation Bible School for over 30 years. Please continue to pray for her family.
Thank you to our dear families for putting together a meal to bless their family.
Today we come back to the Book of Acts, and we are starting chapter 5 with a title I want to refer to simply as this; “Don’t lie to God.”
This story is about honesty, faithfulness, truthfulness and living right in front of God and man.
This passage is truly a unique one, and it might cause us to stop and say wow… if you’ve never read this passage before it might bring to mind several questions, including “Why was the outcome so harsh?”
Well, friends we will address that and so much more as we open this passage and examine it.
I would direct your attention to verse 4 as the proof text of the passage, The passage tells us this in the second part and really proclaims the issue at hand...
“...Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” Acts chapter 5:4
Lying is something we all despise, right? Then God hates it to my friends, because it is sin.
So lets begin with this thought my friends....
1. The Gift....
So lets begin with a question today, What is a gift?
A good definition is this: A gift is something given freely to another without payment.
We give gifts out of love and admiration for others, we want to bless them. Sadly we know those who give do not always have pure motives.
They give hoping to receive something in return, to gain attention, or even to make another jealous.
And I would tell you my friends, our motives can define who we are and the attitude of our heart.
So must always make sure we do things for the right reasons… Now lets look at the first two verses of our text.
1 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.
So this man and wife, Ananias and Sapphira were part of the early church. Now if you go back to Acts 2 for a moment and look how the people lived
32 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. 33 And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34 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 35 and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. 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.
There was a great sense of corporate responsibility for each others well being,
In the passage we just read, we find the example of a man selling property and giving the money, all of it to the Apostles to make sure the needs of many were being met.
And so like we read a couple weeks ago in chapter 2, verse 45 it says....
45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.
So it was a common practice and understand, this wasn’t something that was coerced, no one asked others to give, it was a matter of each person’s convictions.
Sadly though we know that jealously and pride can get in the way of doing the right thing.
So back to our text, this couple sold a piece of land that they owned and they did two things...
They keep some of the money for themselves and laid the rest at the Apostles feet.
That doesn’t sound to bad, it was their land and their right to keep the property or sell it, to give all the money to the church or only a part. That was their right.
But what we cannot do is this… Hey look at me, I sold my property and I have given all the money to the Apostles while secretly holding some of it back for myself.
You cannot misrepresent what you do or do not do in front of God.
Why? God demands that we live honestly and morally in front of Him. Sin isn’t tolerated and to sin against God is a terrible thing...
He sent His son to forgive sin, to give eternal life to the one who calls upon the Lord and to willingly sin after receiving such grace is a terrible thing.
Wouldn’t you agree with me?
So the call is for us to do our best to live for God each and every day.
Now, this brings us to a second thought this morning.
2. The Accusation....
My friends, there are times when our actions are wrong, and its pointed out, well, we’re busted.
And at times its hard to face the music ..... but actions, they do have consequences.
Lets look at our text....
1 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.
Did you see it, the accusation? What was it?
Peter asks Ananias a simple question: Why have you pretended to give all the money from the sale of your land to us while keeping some of it?
Remember he and his wife sold a piece of land. No problem there, it was theirs to keep or sale. They had full responsibility over their property, no obligation to do anything.
But they sold it, and then told the apostles and others, we sold the land and gave every penny of it to God.
They misrepresented their actions, they keep some of the money for themselves while telling everyone else, we sold it and gave it to God, all the money went to God.
Wow… Talk about pride, they wanted to be thought well off, they wanted to receive the same accolades they witnessed others receiving..
But sadly, all they did was to steal from God!
He stole from God!
So a couple of things I want you to see right here....
A.) Listen, if you declare something is all God’s and you take part of it secretly, you have embezzled what didn’t belong to you any longer.
It is like Joshua chapter 7 in the Old Testament with Achan’s sin at Ai
If you look back there God had told them that everything was His, the wealth, the animals, the entire city. It was devoted to Him.
So when they went to battle, Achan saw a piece of treasure and took it and hid it. And the children of Israel lost the battle because of Achan’s sin.
When the sin was discovered, Achan and his family where stoned and their bodies burned.
The accusation for Ananias is that he said it all belonged to God, it was for Him. Then why did he take from it? Well that’s that is the second thing I want you to see...
B.) Now go back to Peter’s accusation, “....What has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit....” that was in verse 3.
There was a spiritual battle raging in this family, and for Ananias, He fell prey and allowed Satan to lead him astray.
Satan, my friends is the “father of lies John 8” and he has infiltrated the heart of this man and led him to try and deceive God and man.
Ananias’s heart was motivated by money just like Judas who betrayed Jesus. And with this lust of money He acted like the Holy Spirit had led them to give it all to God while doing something different.
He said one thing while doing another, this is the accusation that Peter brings against Ananias.
How sad it is to be led astray my friends, how sad. This is why we must be careful about how we live and act in this world.
We will always do our best if we are a praying, if we make ourselves students of the Word of God. These two actions will help us, will bless us and led us in His pathways.
Now just one more thought my friends.
3. Judgement given....
Sin my friends always has consequences, and some consequences are deadly.
As we look at the text again, I want you to see that Peter makes sure that Ananias knows what is happening and how he missed the mark.
Look with me at verses 3-4 Acts 5:3-4
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.”
Peter asks Ananias a great question.... Wasn’t the land yours to do with as you wanted. And even after it sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal.
It was yours, you didn’t have to do anything.... But you did and then chose to lie about it.
Why did you contrive, think up or plan this action in your heart?
My friends, our heart says it all. Jeremiah 17:9
9 The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
A heart without God is a heart that is wicked, it is a separated and has no hope.
Listen without God, you cannot do as He truly desires…So what does God desire? He desires that man be saved, that no one be lost. Jesus died for all men.
Without God you cannot walk with Him and serve Him.
Without God our actions will never be of pure motive.
Ananias heart was in league with Satan and decided that He should steal from what He has promised to God. He broke the trust he promised before God.
Peter’s final words to Ananias is “ You have not lied to man, but you have lied to God.”
You see, Ananias said, we’re gonna sell this land and give this much to God and we’re gonna keep some for us, it would have been fine but He promised it all to God.
Now listen to verses 5-6 again Acts 5:5-6
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.
Wow, when he heard these words, He fell over dead.
He died for this sin, you cannot sin against God, nor His Holy Spirit. We will talk a little more about this in a minute.
And yes, great fear fell upon the people. That is like being in school and the teacher yanks up little Johnny and paddles his tail for acting up. That makes the rest of the kids think twice before acting up...
I am not saying God did this to scare them all. NO! But it is a reminder to live holy in front of a Holy God.
And the Scriptures says, the young men carried him out and buried him.
And then something else happens, His wire Sapphira comes back into the camp. Lets look at verses 7-11 Acts 5:7-11
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.
Sapphira comes in a few hours later not knowing what had happened to her husband. And Peter presents her with a question.. a chance to come clean my friends..
Did you all sell the property for this much money? And she said yes....
Now look again at verse 9, what is it to “test the Spirit of the Lord...” To test the Spirit of the Lord is to continue in your journey of sin and see how much he will tolerate.
People are saved yet even knowing the goodness of God, His love and mercy, they decide to continue to participate in sin.
Do not think your sin doesn’t bother God, it does. It grieves Him, it hurts him and he will punish if you do not return from sin.
Deut 6:16 tells us not to test the Lord our God. My friends, you cannot tell God and others one thing, and then do something totally different.
If you promised something to God, vow to serve or follow him and then do not follow through, you have offended God.
God will judge sin my friends. Never doubt that… You might see it immediately or it may be a little while off, don’t worry God will take care of those in violation of His law.
This morning, I would ask you to prayerfully consider your life and heart in front of God.
If there is something in your heart or mind that should not be, ask God to forgive you and remove it completely never to return again.
If you have another prayer need, please come...
Whatever you need come and give it to God.
Lets pray