Breaking Barriers

Acts 5:1-16

Go ahead and make your way to Acts Chapter 5.

It's been a difficult couple of weeks in the life of our church.

Over the last two weeks, we've said goodbye to three faithful members of Cedar Bay. Ms. Evelyn Norman's service was last Tuesday. Ms. Evelyn Crew's service was on the 12th. And then this past Thursday, Brother Elmer Bruton went home to be with Jesus. And yesterday, I sat with Ms. Anita and Bro. Jerry in a waiting room as her grandson was in horrible car accident. Continue to pray for him.

It's been a heavy season.

Before we get into God's Word, I want to say thank you to Brother Tommy for covering Wednesday night so I could spend time with Brother Elmer and his family.

I had a lot of people reach out to me afterward and thank me for being there. And I appreciate everyone who texted me to let me know they were praying for me.

The Lord called me to pastor this church, and I'm going to pastor this church to the best of my ability. That means preaching on Sundays. That means teaching God's Word. But it also means sitting beside hospital beds, standing with families in hospice rooms, sitting waiting rooms, praying with people during some of the hardest moments of their lives, and walking with them through grief and loss.

When I say that Cedar Bay is a church family, I mean that. We're not just people who happen to sit in the same room for an hour on Sunday mornings. We rejoice together, we serve together, we pray together, and when one of us hurts, all of us hurt.

And honestly, that's one of the things I love about this church. Over the last couple of weeks, I've watched so many of you check on one another, pray for one another, visit one another, and care for these families. That's exactly what a church family ought to do.

Now, the reason I mention all of that is because when you walk through seasons like this, it has a way of reminding you what really matters. A lot of the things we spend our time worrying about suddenly don't seem all that important. Death has a way of stripping away the superficial and forcing us to deal with reality.

And in a lot of ways, that's exactly what Acts 5 is about. It's a passage that forces us to deal with reality. It forces us to ask whether we're more concerned about appearances or authenticity, reputation or reality, what people think about us or who we really are before God.

Now before we read this text, I need to warn you. This is not one of those passages that ends up on Christian coffee mugs.

Nobody's favorite life verse comes from this chapter.

Nobody is putting Acts 5:5 on a graduation card.

Because this is one of those passages that makes people uncomfortable.

In fact, if you're new to church and just decided to start reading the Bible, congratulations.

You picked a chapter where God kills two church members before we get out of the first eleven verses.

Welcome to Cedar Bay.

Now, here's the thing. When people read this story, they immediately start asking the wrong question.

The question isn't, "Why did God kill Ananias and Sapphira?"

The better question is, "What was happening in their hearts that God wanted us to see?"

Because Luke isn't writing this story so we'll obsess over how they died.

He's writing this story so we'll pay attention to how they lived.

And what we're going to discover is that there were barriers in their lives that were keeping them from genuine surrender to God.

The problem wasn't money.

The problem wasn't property.

The problem wasn't even generosity.

The problem was that they wanted to look surrendered without actually being surrendered.

They wanted the reputation without the reality.

And if we're honest, that's not just an Ananias and Sapphira problem.

That's a church problem.

That's a Baptist problem.

That's a Cedar Bay problem.

That's a me problem and a you problem.

Because if we're not careful, we can become really good at looking like we're following Jesus while keeping parts of our lives locked away from Him.

We know the songs.

We know the verses.

We know when to say "Amen."

Some of you even know when to laugh at my jokes. The rest of you are still a work in progress.

But knowing church and knowing Jesus are not always the same thing.

So here's the question I want us wrestling with today:

What barriers have we built between ourselves and complete surrender to Christ?

What are we holding back?

What are we protecting?

What are we pretending about?

Because what we're going to see in Acts 5 is that God is far more interested in what's actually happening in your heart than the image you're projecting to everybody else.

And honestly, that's good news.

Because God never asked us to impress Him.

He asked us to surrender to Him.

Let's look at Acts chapter 5.

Acts 5:1–16 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 many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

I. A Divided Heart Cannot Fool God

As we come to Acts chapter 5, Luke introduces us to a husband and wife named Ananias and Sapphira, and before we go any further, we need to make sure we understand what their sin actually was.

A lot of people read this story and walk away with the idea that God struck them dead because they didn't give enough money. That's not what happened. In fact, Peter goes out of his way to make that clear.

Look again at verse 4. Peter says, "While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal?"

In other words, nobody forced them to sell the property. Nobody required them to give the proceeds. The land belonged to them. The money belonged to them. The issue was never the percentage they gave. The issue was that they deliberately created the impression that they were giving everything when they were actually holding something back.

What makes this so dangerous is that they were not really interested in generosity. They were interested in the appearance of generosity.

Its important to remember that the generosity of the early church was not forced, manipulated, or guilt-driven. It was the natural overflow of hearts that had been changed by the gospel. They understood that everything they had belonged to God, so they held their possessions with open hands rather than clenched fists.

As we saw in Acts 4, they shared what they had. When a brother or sister had a need, they stepped up and met it. Their giving was sacrificial, not because anyone demanded it, but because they genuinely cared for one another. They viewed their resources through the lens of the Kingdom rather than personal comfort.

That same spirit should mark the church today.

When we fill the baby bottles for the first coast women center, we are meeting real needs in the name of Christ. When we make all of those Operation Christmas Child Boxes, we are living out the same kind of generosity. When we help families through the benevolence ministry, provide meals, pay bills, or come alongside someone in a difficult season, we are putting Acts 4 into practice.

The point is not that everyone sold everything. The point is that they cared more about people than possessions. They understood that God had not blessed them simply to increase their standard of living, but to increase their capacity to serve others.

A church that is filled with the Spirit will not just talk about loving people. It will find practical ways to meet practical needs.

But thats not what this couple was doing.

They wanted people to look at them the way people looked at Barnabas at the end of chapter 4.

They wanted the admiration. They wanted the respect.

They wanted the reputation that comes from being viewed as sacrificial and committed.

What they did not want was the actual surrender that produced Barnabas's generosity in the first place.

They wanted the sacrifice of Barnabas without the surrender of Barnabas.

They wanted the reputation of generosity without the reality of generosity.

They wanted the praise of men without the obedience of God.

That is why Peter immediately moves the conversation from money to the heart.

He doesn't ask, "Why did you keep some of the money?" Instead, he asks, "Why has Satan filled your heart?"

The focus immediately shifts from their bank account to their heart because money was only revealing what was already there.

The money didn't create the problem any more than an X-ray creates a broken bone. The X-ray simply reveals what was hidden beneath the surface.

Think about the book 1 Timothy, Paul in chapter 6 turns his attention to those who have wealth. Now before anybody checks out and says, "Well, this doesn't apply to me because I'm not rich," let me remind you that by world standards, most of us are doing pretty well.

If you drove here this morning, have food in your pantry, clothes in your closet, and you had to decide between multiple options for breakfast, you're wealthier than a large percentage of the world's population.

Paul's instruction is not, "Feel guilty because you have money."

His instruction is, "Don't trust it."

Listen to what he says in 1 Timothy 6:17

1 Timothy 6:17 ESV

As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.

That's important.

Money is not evil.

Having resources is not evil.

Success is not evil.

God is not against you enjoying the blessings He provides.

Some Christians act like if you smile while eating a steak you've somehow backslidden.

God gives good gifts to His children. He provides resources so we can enjoy life, care for our families, bless others, support ministry, and advance the Gospel.

The problem comes when money moves from being a tool to being a master.

The problem comes when our confidence shifts from God to our bank account.

The problem comes when our sense of security rises and falls with a number on a screen.

I remember several years ago when Blair and I were looking at our finances and trying to decide whether we could afford something. I had spreadsheets out. I was doing calculations. I had everything figured down to the penny. In my mind, I was basically the Chief Financial Officer of the Chambers household.

You know how this goes.

You start calculating. Then you recalculate because you don't trust the first calculation. Then you create a new spreadsheet to verify the original spreadsheet. Then you stare at the spreadsheet long enough that somehow the numbers are supposed to start encouraging you.

Meanwhile Blair looked at me and said, "You know God is still in charge, right?"

I hated how right she was.

Nothing exposes where your trust is quite like money. We tell ourselves we're trusting God until the numbers get tight. Then suddenly we're checking bank accounts every fifteen minutes like the balance is going to supernaturally change because we refreshed the app.

Paul says don't do that.

Don't put your hope in something as uncertain as wealth.

Put your hope in God.

Money is a terrible savior. It makes promises it cannot keep. It tells you that if you just get a little more you'll finally feel secure, and then you get a little more and discover the finish line moved again.

That's why Paul tells believers to be rich in good works and to be generous and ready to share. In other words, use money as a tool rather than allowing it to become your master.

I've heard it said that money is a lot like a shovel. If somebody gave you a shovel, you wouldn't hang it over the fireplace and worship it. You'd use it for its intended purpose. The value is not in possessing the shovel. The value is in what the shovel helps you accomplish.

Money works the same way.

God places resources in our hands so they can be used for Kingdom purposes, to bless people, meet needs, support ministry, care for our families, and invest in things that will outlive us.

That's why I would say it this way:

Don't spend money on your life. Spend money for your life.

Or maybe even better:

Don't spend your life chasing money. Use money to invest in what matters eternally.

At the end of your life, nobody is going to stand around your grave talking about how impressive your checking account was. Nobody is going to brag about how many reward points you accumulated on your credit card. Nobody is going to care how many Amazon packages showed up at your house.

What will matter is whether your life was invested in things that last.

People.

The Gospel.

The Kingdom of God.

Those are investments that never lose their value.

A.W. Tozer once said, "The man who has God for his treasure has all things in One." The opposite is also true.

When God is not our treasure, we begin chasing other treasures. We begin craving approval, recognition, status, and reputation.

That's exactly what Ananias and Sapphira were doing. They were not seeking God's approval. They were seeking the applause of people while pretending it was about God.

And before we're too hard on them, let's be honest. We all have a tendency to manage appearances. We want people to think we're doing better spiritually than we really are. We want people to think our marriages are healthier than they are. We want people to think we're more committed, more faithful, and more surrendered than we actually are.

It's a little like putting fresh mulch around a dying tree. From the road everything looks great. The flower bed looks clean. The yard looks healthy.

The appearance is impressive. But the problem isn't in the mulch. The problem is in the roots. Eventually the condition of the roots will reveal itself no matter how attractive the surface appears.

That's exactly what God is exposing in this text. He is showing us that a divided heart cannot fool Him. You may fool a pastor. You may fool a church. You may fool your spouse. You may fool your children.

You may even convince yourself that everything is okay.

But God never mistakes appearance for reality. He always sees beyond the image and into the heart, and because He loves us, He refuses to leave us there.

The first barrier that must be broken if we're going to walk closely with Christ is the barrier of a divided heart.

Because God is not looking for polished appearances. God is looking for genuine surrender.

II. God's Holiness Is Not Something To Be Trifled With

Acts 5:5-11

Now this is the part of the story that makes everybody uncomfortable.

Peter confronts Ananias. Ananias hears the truth. There is no debate. There is no argument. There is no opportunity for a public relations statement. There is no attempt to explain himself.

Luke simply says, "When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last."

That's it.

One moment he's standing there pretending to be something he's not, and the next moment he's standing before God.

And if we're honest, this is where most people start asking questions.

"Why was God so severe?"

"Why would God respond this way?"

"Why didn't God just give him another chance?"

Those are fair questions, but before we ask them, we need to remember where we are in the story.

The church is brand new. I don’t think— thats in any church growth strategy.

The Gospel is spreading throughout Jerusalem.

God is establishing His church on the foundation of truth, holiness, and the power of the Spirit.

And right in the middle of that, Satan attempts to inject hypocrisy into the heart of the church.

Think about it. If Satan can't stop the church from the outside through persecution, maybe he can corrupt it from the inside through deception.

And God makes it clear that He is not going to allow hypocrisy to become part of the foundation of His church.

God is protecting the purity of His church.

God is demonstrating the seriousness of sin.

God is reminding His people that He is holy.

One theologian said, "The sin of Ananias was not that he kept back part of the money, but that he acted a lie." I think that's exactly right. This wasn't ultimately a financial issue. It was a worship issue. It was a holiness issue.

The problem is that we often read this story through twenty-first century eyes.

We live in a culture that has become very comfortable with sin.

We laugh at it.

We excuse it.

We rename it.

We compare it.

We justify it.

We tell ourselves, "It's not that big of a deal."

But God has never treated sin lightly.

How could He?

Sin is what brought death into the world.

Sin is what separates people from God.

Sin is what sent Jesus to the cross.

I think one of the reasons this passage bothers us is because it reminds us that God is not only loving. He is holy.

We love to talk about God's mercy, and we should.

We love to talk about God's grace, and we should.

We love to talk about God's forgiveness, and we should.

But we cannot talk about those things correctly unless we also understand God's holiness.

Because mercy only makes sense when you understand justice.

Grace only makes sense when you understand holiness.

Forgiveness only makes sense when you understand the seriousness of sin.

A.W. Tozer said, "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us."

The early church was learning that God was not someone to manipulate.

He was not someone to use.

He was not someone to play games with.

He was not a lucky rabbit's foot to help them accomplish their goals.

He was the holy God of heaven and earth.

And maybe that's a lesson the modern church needs to hear again.

Because while God may not strike people dead for every act of hypocrisy today, His holiness has not changed.

His character has not changed.

His standards have not changed.

His hatred for sin has not changed.

The same God who is rich in mercy is also perfect in holiness.

The same God who welcomes sinners through grace is also the God before whom angels cry, "Holy, holy, holy."

Church, God's love and mercy are real.

Thank God they are.

But His justice and holiness are real too.

And whenever we lose sight of His holiness, we begin treating lightly the very things that required the death of His Son. That's why a healthy fear of God is not something we should avoid. It's something we desperately need. Because a right view of God's holiness always leads us to a deeper appreciation of His grace.

Now after Ananias dies, you would think the story is over. It isn't.

Luke tells us that about three hours later Sapphira walks into the gathering completely unaware of what has happened. She doesn't know her husband is dead. She doesn't know the deception has been exposed. She doesn't know the church is standing there trying to process one of the most sobering moments they have ever witnessed. As far as she knows, everything is going according to plan.

What strikes me about this part of the story is the grace that exists before the judgment.

Peter doesn't immediately pronounce judgment on her. He asks her a question. In fact, he asks a question that gives her every opportunity to tell the truth. It's almost as if God is placing an exit ramp right in front of her and saying, "You don't have to keep going down this road."

Have you ever had one of those moments as a parent when you already knew the answer, but you asked the question anyway?

I've done that with Judah before.

I'll walk into a room and see something broken. Nobody else is around. Judah is standing there looking nervous. I'll ask, "Judah, do you know anything about this?"

Now let's be honest. I'm not conducting an investigation. I'm giving him an opportunity.

I'm basically saying, "Son, this is your chance. Help me help you."

Peter is doing something similar here. He asks Sapphira about the sale price of the land. He already knows the answer. The issue isn't information. The issue is whether she is going to choose truth or continue the deception.

Unfortunately, she doubles down.

At that moment it becomes clear that this wasn't merely Ananias making a terrible decision. This was a husband and wife agreeing together to participate in a lie. Somewhere behind closed doors they had discussed it. Somewhere they had decided what story they were going to tell. Somewhere they convinced themselves that they could create a false image of spiritual devotion and somehow get away with it.

That is why Peter asks, "How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord?"

I think that question gets to the heart of the passage.

Why would anyone think they could test God?

Why would anyone think they could deceive God?

Why would anyone think they could manipulate God?

The answer is the same reason we sin today. At the root of sin is the desire to be in control. We want God to bless our plans instead of surrendering to His plans. We want God to support our agenda instead of submitting to His agenda. We want enough of God to help us, but not so much of God that He starts rearranging our lives.

Ananias and Sapphira weren't just lying about money. They were attempting to control a situation that belonged to God. They were trying to leverage God's reputation for their own benefit instead of simply surrendering themselves to Him.

The problem, of course, is that God cannot be manipulated. He cannot be managed. He cannot be deceived.

And that's something every Christian eventually has to learn.

You can manage your image.

You can manage your social media.

You can manage what other people think about you.

But you cannot manage God.

He sees every motive, every thought, every intention, and every hidden corner of the heart.

So when Sapphira repeats the lie, the judgment falls just as it did with Ananias. She dies and is buried beside her husband. Then Luke tells us once again that great fear came upon the whole church.

Of course it did.

Because in that moment the church was reminded that they were not dealing with a religious system. They were not dealing with traditions. They were not dealing with human opinions. They were dealing with the holy God of heaven and earth. And when people truly encounter the holiness of God, casual Christianity suddenly becomes impossible.

And Luke tells us the response of the church.

"Great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things."

You think?

Can you imagine being the guy whose first Sunday at church was Acts chapter 5 Sunday?

Some of you complain about long sermons. Imagine walking out saying, "Well, the music was okay, the preaching was alright, and two people died during the offering."

I guarantee nobody was asking, "Where are we going for lunch?" after that service.

The reality is we don't like this passage because it reminds us of something we would rather not think about.

We love talking about the love of God. We love talking about the grace of God. We love talking about the mercy of God. And we should. Those things are gloriously true.

But God is not only loving.

God is holy. Trice Holy. Holy, Holy, Holy.

In fact, His love is holy love. His mercy is holy mercy. His grace is holy grace.

The early church was learning a lesson that many churches today have forgotten.

God is not someone to manipulate. He is not someone to use. He is not someone to bargain with. He is not someone to play games with.

Ananias and Sapphira thought they could leverage God's reputation for their own benefit. They thought they could manufacture a spiritual image while hiding a divided heart. And in this moment God makes something crystal clear to His church.

"My glory is not a toy."

"My holiness is not something to be mocked."

"My church is not going to be built on hypocrisy."

R.C. Sproul famously said, "The problem with people is not that they don't know God is holy. The problem is they do not know how holy God is."

I think he's exactly right.

One of the great dangers in the Christian life is that we become so familiar with the things of God that we lose our sense of wonder before God. We hear about grace every week. We hear about the cross every week. We hear about forgiveness every week. And if we're not careful, what should leave us amazed begins to feel ordinary.

I remember when I was coaching wrestling at Atlantic Coast, I had this one kid who thought every rule was a suggestion. You know the kid. Every coach in here knows the kid.

If practice started at 3:00, he'd show up at 3:08. If you told him to run down and back, he'd jog and cut corners.

If you told him to quit talking, he'd whisper instead. Every instruction became a negotiation.

And every coach eventually has the same conversation with that kind of kid.

Son, you seem confused. I'm not making suggestions. I'm the coach. Either do it, or don’t come back.

Now obviously God is infinitely greater than a wrestling coach, but sometimes we treat God like those type of kids.

We treat His commands like suggestions. We treat obedience like a recommendation. We act as if we can negotiate the terms of discipleship.

The problem is that God is not looking for negotiation. He is looking for surrender.

Now before anybody gets nervous, let me be clear. The point of this passage is not that every time a Christian sins God is going to strike them dead. If that were the case, none of us would have made it to church this morning.

The point is that sin is far more serious than we often treat it.

We've become so accustomed to grace that sometimes we forget what grace cost. We talk about sin casually. We excuse it. We rename it. We justify it. We compare it to somebody else's sin so ours doesn't look as bad.

But sin is the reason Jesus was nailed to a cross.

Sin is why He was mocked.

Sin is why He was beaten.

Sin is why He suffered.

Sin is why He died.

And when we lose our awe of God, we begin to play with the very things that nailed Jesus to the cross.

Church, I believe one of the things desperately needed in American Christianity is a healthy fear of God again. Not terror. Not dread. Not wondering whether God loves us.

A healthy fear of God is a deep awareness of who He is and who we are. It is recognizing that the God who saved us is also the holy God of heaven and earth. It is understanding that grace is free to us because it was infinitely costly to Christ.

And when we recover that sense of awe, obedience stops feeling like a burden and starts feeling like the natural response of a heart that has been overwhelmed by the holiness and goodness of God.

III. A Surrendered Church Experiences God's Power

Acts 5:12-16

What is fascinating about this passage is that the story doesn't end with Ananias and Sapphira lying to God. It doesn't end with judgment. It doesn't end with fear. In fact, if you stop reading at verse 11, you miss the point Luke is trying to make.

Beginning in verse 12, Luke immediately starts describing what God is doing through His church. The apostles are performing signs and wonders. More people are coming to faith in Christ. The church is growing. The sick are being healed. Crowds are gathering from the surrounding towns. Everywhere you look, God is at work.

That transition is not accidental.

Luke is intentionally placing these two scenes side by side because he wants us to see the contrast.

Ananias and Sapphira wanted to use God for their own purposes. The apostles had surrendered themselves to God's purposes.

Ananias and Sapphira were concerned with their reputation. The apostles were concerned with God's glory.

Ananias and Sapphira were trying to protect an image. The apostles were willing to risk everything for the mission Christ had given them.

One story is centered on self. The other is centered on surrender.

And the results could not be more different.

One story ends in death. The other story results in life, growth, healing, and the advancement of the Gospel.

What Luke is showing us is something we see throughout the book of Acts. God does not bless talent nearly as much as He blesses surrender.

The apostles were not the most educated men in Jerusalem. They were not the most influential men in Jerusalem. They were not the most powerful men in Jerusalem.

In fact, just a few chapters earlier the religious leaders described them as ordinary, uneducated men. The difference was not their ability. The difference was that they had fully yielded themselves to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

That's still true today.

One of the mistakes we make in the church is thinking that God is primarily looking for gifted people. We assume that if we had a little more talent, a little more education, a little more money, or a little more influence then God could really use us.

Yet over and over again throughout Scripture, God takes ordinary people who are fully surrendered to Him and accomplishes extraordinary things through them.

D. L. Moody once said, "The world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully consecrated to Him." Moody then said, "By God's help, I aim to be that man."

Now if you've never heard of D. L. Moody, he wasn't a seminary professor. He wasn't some theological giant with a bunch of letters behind his name.

He was a shoe salesman from Chicago who had very little formal education. In fact, some people criticized his grammar and his lack of training. Yet God used him to preach the Gospel to millions of people on both sides of the Atlantic and to spark one of the great evangelistic ministries of the nineteenth century.

Moody understood something that many Christians still miss. The issue was never his talent. The issue was never his education. The issue was never his platform. The issue was his surrender. He simply gave himself completely to the Lord and said, "God, whatever You want to do with my life, I'm Yours."

That's why I love that quote. Moody wasn't bragging. He wasn't saying, "Look how gifted I am." He was saying, "What would happen if somebody was completely yielded to God?" And then he spent the rest of his life trying to answer that question.

The older I get, the more convinced I become that the greatest barrier to seeing God work is not a lack of resources. It is not a lack of programs. It is not a lack of opportunities. The greatest barrier is often that we are still trying to maintain control over areas of our lives that belong to God.

We want God to bless our plans instead of surrendering to His plans.

We want God to support our agenda instead of submitting to His agenda.

We want enough of God to be comfortable but not enough of God to completely rearrange our lives.

Yet the power we see in Acts did not come from people protecting their image. It came from people surrendering themselves to Christ.

When a church becomes consumed with appearances, the power of God begins to fade into the background. But when a church becomes consumed with holiness, obedience, prayer, and the mission of God, the Lord has a way of doing things that no amount of human effort can manufacture.

That's what we see in Acts 5.

God protects the purity of His church, and on the other side of that purification comes power.

Lives are changed.

People are saved.

The Gospel advances.

And the church grows.

The lesson for us is not that we need to become more impressive. The lesson is that we need to become more surrendered. Because the power of God flows most freely through hearts that have stopped fighting Him and have finally yielded themselves completely to Him.

Church, as we come to the end of Acts chapter 5, I think we're left with a question that every one of us has to answer.

Not, "How could Ananias and Sapphira do something like that?"

But, "What am I holding back from God?"

Because the truth is, most of us are not tempted to walk into church and pretend we sold a piece of property. Most of us are not tempted to do exactly what they did. But we are tempted to do what was happening underneath what they did.

We're tempted to give God part of our lives while holding onto the rest.

We're tempted to look surrendered without actually being surrendered.

We're tempted to care more about what people think than what God knows.

And what we've seen throughout this passage is that God is not impressed by appearances. God sees beyond the image. He sees beyond the reputation. He sees beyond what everybody else sees and He looks directly into the heart.

The good news is that God doesn't expose those things because He hates us. He exposes those things because He loves us. He loves us too much to leave us trapped in hypocrisy. He loves us too much to leave us divided. He loves us too much to let us settle for a version of Christianity that looks good on the outside while something very different is happening on the inside.

And maybe this morning, as we've worked through this text, God has put His finger on something in your life.

Maybe it's a sin you've been excusing.

Maybe it's bitterness you've been carrying.

Maybe it's an area of disobedience that you've justified for so long you've almost convinced yourself it's okay.

Maybe it's fear. Maybe it's pride. Maybe it's control. Maybe it's the simple reality that you've been trying to follow Jesus while still holding onto something that belongs to Him.

Whatever it is, the answer isn't to hide it. The answer isn't to explain it away. The answer is surrender.

Because the same holy God who confronted the sin of Ananias and Sapphira is also the God who sent His Son to die for sinners. The same God who calls us to repentance is the God who offers grace. The same God who exposes sin is the God who forgives sin through Jesus Christ.

So in just a moment we're going to stand and sing one more song together. And while we sing, I want to encourage you to do business with God.

If you need to come pray, come pray.

If you need someone to pray with you, I'll be here.

If you need to trust Christ, follow Him in baptism, join this church, or simply lay something down before the Lord, don't wait for a better moment because obedience has never been a next week issue. It has always been a right now issue.

So as we sing, don't worry about who's around you. Don't worry about what anybody else is thinking. If God is speaking to your heart this morning, respond however He is leading you to respond.