"Money and Drop Dead Liars"

Faking Your Faith

“Talking the talk but not living it out”

INTRO: WORKING AT THE GTE PHONE-MART!

- I lived on the floor but we were always out of stock

My heart was about people, so my actions followed

My heart was right but my actions were all wrong

- I shouldn’t have been in the STOCKROOM!

- I WANTED TO BE ON THE FLOOR, I wanted to be with people!

- It was a better fit for my personality

- Often we have to STOP, and evaluate our hearts

Jeremiah 17:9 ESV

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

- Sometimes we have to stop and be HONEST with ourselves!

- We hate doing this, because most times we do not like the findings

- But there is time we have to stop and take moments to be honest with ourselves

F0r the next few moments I want to look at what it looks like when our heart and our actions just do not line up

Now I know the barrier this causes.

- NOBODY wants to say we our fake

- Most of us claim one of two things.

o 1. “We don’t know.”

So if we don’t know truth than we cant possibly be held to it

2. Or some of us cling to the card that prayer was prayed, our ticket to heaven was stamped and we don’t need anything else.

Acts 5 -

This story seems out of place at the beginning of Acts.

If you were to read through the first part of Acts you would see that since chapter 1 of this book, Luke has been telling us about the many things which the disciples of Jesus were enabled to do and teach after the ascension of the Lord. So far it has been a narrative which tells us about the power of the Holy Spirit in the apostle’s lives and the phenomenal growth of the Church. Acts 4:33 summarizes everything up until our text when it says, “With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.” It’s a picture of a wonderful community of God’s people. The gospel of the resurrection is proclaimed and abundant grace is upon all the people ... - except in Acts 5:1-11. The deaths of Ananias and Sapphira do not seem to fit with the narrative just before the text and after it. Why does Luke interrupt his account with this depressing story?

ACTS 5:1-11

Ananias and Sapphira

5 But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. 2 He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest.

1. Very interesting point here to me. If he is about to lie to God, why would he ever tell anyone?

a. I firmly believe Ananias is no different than any of us!

b. Ananias knew what was going down, all he needed was ONE person to give him some kind of ok.

c. So we will surround ourselves with others that will confirm the things that we know are not what God is calling us to do. I don’t know if he would have done it or not had his wife said are you crazy, but the fact is she didn’t. She gave consent so he moved forward. e. Ananias KNEW right from wrong!f. He knew truth!g. He was going to give to God!h. He was doing almost exactly what Christ had asked of him.

3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. 4 The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!”

QUESTION: IN WHAT AREA OR AREAS ARE WE LYING TO GOD?

- Kurt I would never…

- Maybe you aren’t “lying” to God, but what are holding back from him.

- You know what He has called you to, you know what he asked of you, but you choose to not do what he has asked of you.

- (Worry, stress, depression, finances, morality, honesty, giving, alcohol abuse, we all have one or 20, but WE ALL HAVE THEM)

5 As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified. 6 Then some young men got up, wrapped him in a sheet, and took him out and buried him.

7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, “Was this the price you and your husband received for your land?”

“Yes,” she replied, “that was the price.”

- Can I stop right here and speak to someone in this room….

- Some of us need to stop floundering in the sin of others and step up to what God has called us to in order to be a tool God may use to do something mighty in the lives of someone else

- We are so worried about fitting in and having others “like”us that we will go against EVERYTHING we know has truth or we will fight things God is trying to do in our lives in order to continue to stay in good standing with others

EXAMPLE: WHEN GOD CHANGED MY LIFE AND I LEFT PRETTY MUCH EVERYONE I ASSOCIATED WITH

When our relationship is wrapped in Christ and in the most authentic intimate way, we don't need others words to find value in ourselves

9 And Peter said, “How could the two of you even think of conspiring to test the Spirit of the Lord like this? The young men who buried your husband are just outside the door, and they will carry you out, too.”

10 Instantly, she fell to the floor and died. When the young men came in and saw that she was dead, they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened. (AND THEY HAD THE GREATEST OFFERING IN THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH THE NEXT SUNDAY…okok ..I ADDED THAT LAST PART!!)

We want the outside to look as good as possible, so we will put value in the cheapest things

§ “They wanted the credit and the prestige for sacrificial generosity, without the inconvenience of it. So, in order to gain a reputation to which they had no right, they told a brazen lie. Their motive in giving was not to relieve the poor, but to fatten their own ego.”

§ They gave their lives for a little money!!

§ None of us would do that…NONE OF US!!

§ But yet everyday we give ourselves for something far less valuable than an authentic passionate relationship with God

Imitations never last as long as the real deal. Cheaper material looks good for a short period but for the long haul the authentic is always better

EXAMPLE: 2 years ago in Cancun Mexico…OAKLEYS

1. It was awesome!

2. But in my heart of hearts, I knew they were fake

3. They broke, I lost them, it didn’t matter to me…THEY WERE FAKE!

The satisfaction is different when you own the real verse the fake. You never talk about the fake, but always defend the lie that it is real. When you own the real, you can't shut up about it!

WHAT DO I WANT THEM TO KNOW?

Fake faith maybe the most damaging counterfeit in the entire world. It takes away from value from the true faith. It also leaves you wanting more. Fake faith never satisfies the desire to experience truth that WE ALL WANT

- Fake anything always takes the focus off the main thing and moves it to something else.

o Purses – the number inside

o Glasses – the branding on the inside/ the lenses

o Shoes – inside the tongue

o Faith – what are all the things on the outside? How do they look? How do they talk? Do they go to church? Do they give money?

§ Never mind has Jesus Christ set them free!!§ Never mind are they walking daily trying to draw closer to him§ Never mind as there been healing of some sort in a persons life

WHAT DO I WANT THEM TO DO?

Not to settle. Do not be ok with second-rate faith. Do not settle for something that maybe nothing more than a placebo to the REAL DEAL

- For Christians today this is still a temptation: to so luxuriate in the love and grace of God that we do not take seriously the consequences of our deliberate sinning.

WHAT CAN WE DO AS NEXT STEPS?

Matthew 7:13-20

13 “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. 14 But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.

The Tree and Its Fruit

Jesus is telling them this….SO, we may want to tune in just a bit

15 “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. 16 You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? 17 A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. 19 So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. 20 Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.

Ok.ok…Kurt…I get it! I need to bear good fruit. I want to be a tree that is bearing fruit that people would look at me for no other reason than to see God! Tell me how!!

EXAMPLE: Graphting fruit trees!

Galatians 5:19-24

19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.

- Fruits of the Spirit are products of real faith

- Fruits of the spirit are tangible goals for us to measure our faith with

Look at Galatians 5:16-24. It will be pretty clear inside your own heart what fruit you are blooming from your tree. If you are blooming the right fruit or the wrong fruit!

It begs the question…WHAT KIND OF TREE ARE YOU?

WRAP UP AFTER WORSHIP SONG

Fake faith could feel like it’s already arrived, real faith knows there is still a long way to go

§ You can fake your faith for a while and it could look real

§ Eventually it won’t work.

o You respond differently to tragedies and celebrations when you have a fake faith vs real

§ In tragedy real faith trusts though the grief. Fake faith looks for blame§ In celebrations, real faith rejoices in the Kingdom being expanded, fake faith is all about yourself

1. This week get alone and ask God one area that maybe you are not being as honest as you cod be with God

2. Take two of the fruits of the Spirit, from Galatians 5:22 and begin working on those every chance you get.