Acts 5

You have Ananias and Sapphira...they sell some property and they keep back some of it and bring some of it to the apostles

...kept back is the same word used in  it is the word pilfer or rob...they robbed some of the money; same word for what Achan did in

Why would this be considered embezzlement or robbery to keep back some of the price?

They had pledged all the proceeds from the sale of the property to give to God

Ever had good intentions to giving and when it came right down to it you think I don't think I want to do that...theorhetically wouldn't you like to give a whole bunch and when Sunday comes, it is not that easy

They pledged it all and they wanted people to think they brought it all...but they did not

So they are partially motivated by greed

But they are also partially motivated by the praise of men...they look to enjoy the glory and status of having given everything without having to sacrifice everything they made off the sale

vs 3 What does Peter say to Ananias?

Peter knew...why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of this; back in  they were filled with the Holy Spirit...Ananias is filled with something..but it is not the Holy Spirit

Reminds you of Judas...Satan entered Judas' heart and his downfall was money

Judas' money bought land...Ananias and Sapphiria got money by selling land

Love of money is the root problem of so many sins

What does it mean to lie to the Holy Spirit?

How did he find him to lie to him?

We would have said he lied to Peter...but lying to Peter is lying to the Holy Spirit who is in Peter... ...Holy Spirit is in Peter

Think about why people lie

Fear of punishment or consequences...# 1 reason to lie

# 2 is a desire for human praise; a desire to look good and impress people

That will make you lie...we have to really watch those things

In all those cases we are thinking about ourselves

This is a terrible thing that Satan filled his heart...

Peter says you didn't have to give it all; you didn't have to sell the land

What happens to Ananias?

Falls over dead...just like that

And they go bury him...maybe bury him even faster than normal because he has been killed by an act of God

This is really making a strong point

Early on in the conquest in Joshua you have an example being made out of somebody....Achan

Early on in the conquest of Acts you have an example being made out of somebody...Ananias and Sapphira

God is making a point

Buried really quickly...what does this mean?

This is like the guy has the plague and he contaminates everybody

Think about keeling over by God's judgment right there on the spot...they felt like they need to bury him as quickly as possible and they didn't want to mourn his death....Aaron was not to mourn the death of his sons

This was intended to make a strong point

So, Sapphira comes in and what do they do with her?

She has a chance to renounce the conspiracy....but she was exposed as an accomplice

Her first words in the book of Acts are her last

Sure enough, she dies and  the church is very fearful

What kind of attitude do you see Peter having toward the death of Ananias?

Is he mourning and regretting it, really sad of it?

You don't see that

This is the right thing...God gave His judgment...this is not to be mourned over...this is to appreciate the justice and righteousness of God

We are so squeamish about punishment...but God has every right to do that

Notice where Sapphira fell...

His feet...which is where the people had brought the money.... where Ananias had put the money...v2

vs 11  this sobered the people up

Kind of like church discipline....people either shape up or ship out

Another one of these summary paragraphs

vs 12 you see the apostles doing signs and wonders

; ; lot of emphasis on the apostles...they are prime actors at this point and they are able to do these signs and wonders

What is the attitude of the people joining up with these people?

They honored them but not sure they are ready to make the commitment...

They probably feared what happened to Ananias and Sapphira...if you aren't serious you wouldn't want to join up after seeing this

Think about people today who unite with Christians on false pretenses...it makes my wife happy; my kids happy; it might help me financially, etc...I bet you wouldn't have done that back here after what happened to Ananias and Sapphira

But not all are like that...there are people who are converted

But the church doesn't lower its standards to win them or apologize for what happened to Ananias and Sapphira

It is better for the church....it purged and purified the group; you have better quality people...not healthy for a church to be full of half-hearted people

All it took was Peter's shadow to heal them...shows impressiveness of the miracles

God can heal anyway He chooses

vs. 16...they were all being healed

There's a backlash from the growing popularity of the apostles/disciples

 This reminds you of chapter 4, except what's the primary difference?

All of them are being put in jail...in chapter 4 it was Peter and John

What is the motive the Sadduccees have?

They are too popular; jealousy

Overnight there is an angel of the Lord that opens the gates of the prison

That's rather comical....the angels whose very existence is denied by the Sadduccees release the apostles

Can you imagine after being in prison like this being told, you are out now...go right back to the temple and preach again

vs 20 Go stand...take your stand; hold your ground and teach them

The next day the high priest calls the counsel together and wants them brought in

What happens?

These highest officials in Israel were gathered together to  judge prisoners they don't have...they weren't there

What is amazing is they just vanished into thin air...the whole thing is still secure...it doesn't make sense

Suddenly somebody comes in and tells them their escaped prisoners are in public and preaching again

You don't ever read about the Sadduccees asking how they got out...they probably knew they didn't want to know

The Sadduccees and priest are the ones in charge of the temple...so they are right back in their face

What must they have felt?

Infuriated 

In chapter 4 the apostles had prayed for boldness

This took guts....right back in their face preaching in the temple

They have prisoners they can't hold on to

So, this is a problem for the Sadducees and they go to bring them back without violence

How do you do that?

Imagine they go up to the apostles and say would you mind going with us...I'd really appreciate it if you would tag along here...they are trying to keep down a riot

What does the high priest accuse them of?

Disobeying their orders...breach of conditions of parole

They had been released with the orders not to preach or teach in His name and that is not what they have done

vs 28  reminds you of Pilate....they don't seem to like having his blood on them as well now

And they don't even use His name...they say "This man's blood"

Normally you obey Court orders as a respect for the government and authority...but God comes first.  That's always the way it is.  God's authority trumps man's authority in every sense

Nobody can order me to do something contrary to God's will...we obey God rather than man...so he was doing the right thing

vs. 30-32  They convict themselves and do what they were told not to do.  He restates the story to this point and they were a part of the story

And he focuses on what God had done to reverse their actions....God raised up Jesus; He exalted Him to His right hand as prince and Savior

The Lord reversed their verdict and offered Jesus as a Savior and they are witnesses

So you basically have a sermon about Jesus preached while basically they are on trial

They view every situation as an occasion to preach about Jesus...even tense traumatic situations like being on trial

This creates a problem for these leaders.  What are they going to do about this? Obviously the apostles aren't going to shut up and they are willing to defy the orders of this counsel

Their initial reaction was to kill them...this really stung them; they were enraged

vs. 33 Cut to the quick is used again in  with regard to Stephen and they did kill him

Such a contrast with the calm of the apostles and the rage of these leaders

What happens that changes their mood?

Gamaliel who was a respected Pharisee and teacher spoke...he has the defendants go out so he can just talk to these guys

He makes an appeal for them to not take any drastic actions

He is appealing for caution; a hands off/wait and see policy and saying that in time it will be obvious anyway. He cites a couple of examples of some false Messiahs who burned out quickly...contemporary examples

vs 36 there is a problem with Theudas because Josephus, the Jewish historian puts this uprising a few years after ...difficult for Gamaliel to use as evidence if it hadn't happened yet

It is possible that there was another Theudas...that was a reasonably common name

In a 40 year span; Joseph named four Simons and three Judas' that rose up

But the better response is that perhaps Josephus was wrong...he frequently makes mistakes on matters of chronology and frequently makes mistakes when citing things from the O.T.

Gamaliel's argrument was it is not going to last....he's trying to say use more moderation and caution...you know how it was with Theudas and with Judas

That really helps...they listen to him (vs. 40) and they decide not to kill them

What about what Gamaliel said? Was that a reliable index?

No...we have things today that have been around forever and they aren't from God

You can't tell if it is from God just because it has been around for a long time

The other side of it is true in that if it is from God it will last

But, this is not the way to prove something

Luke is not vouching for the accuracy of this Pharisee...he's just reporting what Gamaliel said

So, they beat them and ordered them to not preach and then let them go.

They get beaten an awfully lot...trying to beat it into them or beat it out of them one

vs. 41 When they leave the counsel how sad are they?

They were rejoicing they had been counted worthy to suffer shame for His name...that is an amazing statement....would we feel that way?