Authentic Witnesses | Acts 4:32-5:16

Notes

Opener

“If two angels were to receive at the same moment a commission from God, one to go down and rule earth’s grandest empire, the other to go and sweep the streets of its meanest village, it would be a matter of entire indifference to each which service fell to his lot, the post of ruler or the post of scavenger; for the joy of the angels lies only in obedience to God’s will, and with equal joy they would lift a Lazarus in his rags to Abraham’s bosom, or be a chariot of fire to carry an Elijah home.” – John Newton

Today we are looking at the story of Ananias and Sapphira and we will see the clashing of two wills. God’s will and man’s will, and we will see the real dangers of self promotion.

Main Text

Acts 4:32–5:16 (NASB95) 32And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. 33And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. 34 For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales 35 and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need. 36Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement), 37 and who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 1But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife’s full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he 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 some of the price of the land? 4“While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.” 5 And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came over all who heard of it. 6The young men got up and covered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him. 7 Now there elapsed an interval of about three hours, and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter responded to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for such and such a price?” And she said, “Yes, that was the price.” 9 Then Peter said to her, “Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.” 10 And immediately she fell at his feet and breathed her last, and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things. 12 At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s portico. 13 But none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, the people held them in high esteem. 14And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number, 15to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on any one of them. 16 Also the people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.

Point 1 | Generosity is Authentic and Spirit Empowered

Generosity Main Text

The book of Acts is a book of miracles, signs and wonders. Prophecy and tongues are happening left and right. Visions of the Messiah. Angelic jailbreaks. Demons being cast out. A King is slain by an angel. And perhaps even more amazing: voluntary generosity. Self-sacrificial giving.

Acts 4:32 “32 And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of themclaimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them.”

A simple reflection of unity in the church was taking care of one another. Jesus says they will know we are His disciples by our love for one another. This has practical implications. We take care of each other. We meet needs in each other’s lives.

Deuteronomy 15:4–11 (NASB95) 4“However, there will be no poor among you, since the Lord will surely bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, 5 if only you listen obediently to the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all this commandment which I am commanding you today. 6“For the Lord your God will bless you as He has promised you, and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you. 7“If there is a poor man with you, one of your brothers, in any of your towns in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother; 8 but you shall freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks. 9 “Beware that there is no base thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of remission, is near,’ and your eye is hostile toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing; then he may cry to the Lordagainst you, and it will be a sin in you. 10 “You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings. 11“For the poor will never cease to bein the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.’

Notice at the beginning of the section he says “their shall not be any poor…” and at the end there was “the poor will never cease to be.” But here in the book of Acts through the the cross and the out pouring out the Holy Spirit “there was not a needy person among them” the text says. This is Messianic work right here. This is evidence of that power from on high.

· The early church was selling property to meet the needs of the saints. It is important to point out they were not living communally. You have to read that into the text. They had all things in common that is they each lived as if your need was my need and if I had the means to help I would. We know this from verse 34 and 35 that give us insight into how this was being done: “34 For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales 35and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need.” Notice it is not being distributed communally to all. Just to those who had need. So the wealthy were selling their excess to help those without. This is more amazing because it was contingent on people’s constant looking out for one another and not a one time redistribution and top down control. And it was true generosity. Pure giving. In redistributive system you are saying I will stractch your back if am guaranteed my slice. But this was giving in faith. No string attached. Freely received. Freely give.

· This was deeply relational. They were opening up their homes for gathering and sharing meals. They knew needs because they did live in community with one another. They had removed the great social divide that dominanted the Roman Empire and ranked everyone on status and class. Roman Citizen or not? From birth or became one? Slave, former slave, or free from birth? What family are you from? How much land and wealth do you have? Man or Woman? With them the only thing that really mattered was that they were in Christ.

· As Craig Keener puts it “they were valuing people over property”.

Generosity: Paul and Jesus

It is important to say again this is voluntary giving. There are many people who are generous with other people money but not their own. That’s not generosity. In fact that looks more like covetousness and greed than generosity. The work of the Spirit is that man wants to be generosity not that He is made to be. It is true that those who set their heart on riches will be soarly diapointed in eternity and Paul instructs the rich in the Pastoral Epistels to be rich in good deeds always ready to give. Always ready to meet a need so that they may “take hold” of that which is “life indeed”. Jesus probably put it best: “it is better to give than to receive.” Jesus is the ultimate giver. He held back nothing. He gave us everything. So generosity is a mark of the Christian and it is a mark of the Christian community.

One Heart and One Soul

AND it is a mark of UNITY. It says here One “heart and soul” has a lot to do with having your focus on the interest of others and not yourself. There are certainly other aspects to Christian unity but simply meeting the needs of the saints is a really important one.

If you try and do this in your own strength you will be like a match that burns up bright for a second and flares out. But if you rely on the strength the Holy Spirit supplies you will be able to bear burdens beyond what you ever thought possible.

Proverbs 21:25–26 (NASB95) 25The desire of the sluggard puts him to death, For his hands refuse to work; 26All day long he is craving, While the righteous gives and does not hold back.

Proverbs 28:27 (NASB95) 27He who gives to the poor will never want, But he who shuts his eyes will have many curses.

There is real faith at work here. But there isn’t shere duty either. Duty is good. But there is genuine love. There is friendship: “those who believed were of one heart and soul[1]”

Because they loved they were really able to let go of their stuff. “layed it at the Apostles feet.” When you are generous do you lay it down and let it go or are there strings attached. That is not love. That is not Biblical generosity.

In highschool I had a friend group. A click that would always celebrate eachothers brithdays. Nothing crazy… but when my birthday came around they forgot! Now it was okay for me to be disappointed by that but the reason it bothered me so much was probably because I was only loving others who would love me in return. And when the system failed me I got overly offended. I promise you I don’t care about my own birthday today. I am grown man. My wife has never forgotten either. I am in good hands.

Time. More rare than gold.

This is important to understand. If you are inspired by this today you are going to have to sacrifice something that is rarer than gold and more precious than jewls. And that is time. We have the technology and capability to be nameless and faceless benefactors. But you can’t be one hear and one soul and not spend time with people. What was happening in the early church is people were treating each other like family. This takes effort and time friends. Start just by opening up your home and letting believers into your life. I know there are some in this body that excel at that but hospitality is a command given to every Christian in the New Testament in multiple places in fact. I am hesitant to tell you we disobey God when we neglect this command but it is true we do. And if the fear of God kicks the door of your home open to other praise God. But it will be the love of God poured out in your heart through the Holy Spirit that keeps it open and that needs to be the final motivator if you will. One heart and soul.

Point 2 | Inauthentic Worship Displeases God (To put it mildly)

So we have unity and extreme generosity. And then something happens…

Acts 5:1–2 (NASB95) 1But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife’s full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles’ feet.

“My Witnesses” vs Satan and Self

The hallmark verse of the entire book of Acts is Acts 1:8.

Acts 1:8 (NASB95) 8but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

Holy Spirit empowered witnesses. This theme runs through the entire book. The Apostles are obviously witnesses. Stephen, the first martyr, is called “Your witness” when talking to the Lord. And of course Paul would be called a witness himself.

This word “witness” was used in the Greek Septuagint, the Old Testament, to refer to legal witnesses. The witness had one job. Tell the truth. But these witness of Christ were going to be particularly powerful because the Spirit of Truth as Jesus called the Holy Spirit would be the one empowering their witness of the Risen Messiah.

Ananias and Sapphira are the counter example to what it means to be a witness. In fact they were false witnesses. They are the disengenuine fakes. They had some supernatural help as well. Look at the text:

Acts 5:3 (NASB95) 3But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land?

Satan had filled their heart. The Holy Spirit was filling and empowering witness of the Lord and the devil was filling hearts to counter this mission.

Now you may ask yourself is what they did really that bad?

1. They were being generous where they not. Even though they were being dishonest they were still doing good were they not? I mean if your car breaks down and I fix it for you and I tell you it cost me a thousand dollars and it only cost me $500 but I do it free of charge to you I am still a nice guy right? I mean come on. A good deed is a good deed is it not?

2. Second of all who are they hurting with their lie? All the people their property would have helped? Their lie was minor at best? Glory seeking sure? It was really embellishment more than falsity was it not?

Why is God so harsh with them?

1. One. God does not need our stuff. But He wants our hearts! Our stuff is a reflection of our hearts for sure. “Where your treasure is their your heart will be also.” Where is your time, energy, and money being spent. That is where your heart is. God wants our heart. Obedience will always be better currency in heaven than anything you think you could do to show God you love and value Him. King Saul made unauthorized sacrifices to God. Was God pleased? No! He wanted obedience not a religious gesture.

2. Two. The job of the disciple was to be a witness. A witness of the resurrection. You just have to understand this. The cross of Christ is the greatest act of worship that will ever take place. It is the birth place of the Christian faith entirely. Everything we do is only ever an outflowing of that act of worship. Ananias and Sapharia put themselves, their own empty glory above the mission. A disciple’s whole job is to be a witness. A truth teller. And they were jeopardizing that for their own glory.

3. Three. They were not “one heart and soul” with the other believers. They were not doing this with the best interest of the body in mind. This self seeking, self exaltation, and self serving was an afront to the integrity of the body of Christ. It threatened the unity, the “one hear and soul” and thus the collective witness of the Body of Christ. If the devil ever wanted to cause disunity in a church body is was at this time in church history. The founding local church of the Gospel movement. Remember “Satan has filled their heart to lie.” The devil loves to cause disunity. He loves to tear down the witness of Christ. And it is so easy for him to do it! You know why its so easy for him? Because all he has to sell you is you! It’s the easest sell. Do you want to promote yourself, put yourself first, make yourself look good? Do you want to love yourself, live your best life now, be all you can be… this is the language of Satan. Who has filled your heart to lie?

Paul would say:

Philippians 2:1–3 (NASB95) 1Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;

What causes disunity in the Body of Christ? It is really simple. Selfishness does.

C.S. Lewis famously said, “Selflessness isn’t thinking less of yourself it is thinking of yourself less.”

This is true in a lot of ways. Someone can have a low view of themself and still think of themself often. When we take our eyes off the one purpose. Christ. Being His witness. And we start to make things about us, our exaltation, our glory, our self. It puts the Gospel at the back seat and can actually not only derail your own walk but the churches.

There are hills we have to die on. Who Christ is and what He has done. We are witnesses. But lets not selfish ambition and self focus… getting things my way be that hill. In fact those ambitions must die and we must do what we did in the first place. Deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow Christ.

Point 3 | The Fear of God wakes us up and The Love of God controls us

Lovers of self

Paul warned in 2 Timothy 3:2 that in the last days men would be “lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, and arrogant.” Now if I wrote a book now a days and called it “lovers of self” you would have thought I had written the latest self-help book. NY Times best seller. You would have thought it was something positive. Not so in Scripture. We were made to Love God and love others. My mom, who is now with the Lord, use to have a sign up in her class room that said JOY. Jesus Others You. And that is kind of the idea.

Image of God. Value comes form God

Mankind is made in the image of God. Our value is derived from the fact that we reflect another’s glory. Someone greater than ourself. The Scripture says God has put eternity in the heart of man. Living for yourself at best can only ever bring you finite purpose, calling, and fullfillment because you in and of yourself are a finite being. But you were not made to live for yourself. You were made to reflect God’s glory. You know it is interesting in Genesus two it mentions gold. It Genesis two it mentions gold. I think this is important for one very particular reason do you know what that is? Adam was made out of dirt. Why not gold? It is because this Adam’s worth comes from who His Creator is not what he made of. When man puts himself in the place of God. Or makes himself the object of our love, affection, purpose, and worship we fail the very reason God made us. To glorify Him.

The Cross Amplifies this

When Jesus came to earth and died for our sins ransoming us from the domain of darkness and establisjing us in His Kingdom by His blood He renewed our purpose. It started in Genesis with filling the earth with little disciples that would glorify God and now the mission was to convert fallen people back to glorifying God. And at the center of that was Christ. The Holy Spirit was here to exalt the Messiah and we as the Church are built on the foundation of Christ the Bible says. We are the Body of Christ the Bible says. We are under the headship of Chrsit the Bible says. Our existence is all about the one who redeemed us and gave us back our humanity if you will, our God given purpose to glorify Him.

Ananias and Saphira were interested in glorifying themselves and the Holy Spirit rejected not only their gift but them. He rejected their selfish heart. “Ananias fell down and breathed his last.”

Great Fear

It says “great fear came over all who heard of it” in verse 5. After Sapphira dies in verse 10 it says “great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things.”

Sometimes there is this characture that the Old Testament God is a God of wrath and judgement and the New Testament God is a God of love and mercy. This just isn’t true. It is true that Jesus is the FULNESS of GRACE AND TRUTH. It is true that the church has a mercy mandate we operate under. We don’t bear the sword we bear the cross.

But understand this my friends. The cross is the justifce and mercy of God coming together being fully satisfied. God is the just and the justifier. As the just judge of all the earth He is just in condemning sin. And He is the justifier. He is merciful and making sinners just in Christ. He accomplishes this through a great ransoming. Through a great substitution. God Himself stepped out of heaven and the very things that separated us from Him. The very thing that condemned us to outerdarkness for all eternity He bore on that cross. He bore our sins. So we could be reconciled to Him. Hearing that message should we have a lower or greater reverence and fear of God. I think it should increase not decrease.

1 Peter 1:17–19 (NASB95) 17If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

The author of Hebrews could say we haven’t come to Sanai… we have come to something greater… the heavenly Mountain. We have come to Mt Zion!

Hebrews 12:18–24 (NASB95) 18For you have not come to a mountainthat can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, 19 and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them. 20 For they could not bear the command, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned.” 21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, “I am full of fear and trembling.” 22But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of therighteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.

Sometimes we, as Christians, need the fear of God to wake us up. But the solution will always be the same the only safe place to run is toward God not away. You run away from danger, from fire, from a gun fight but you can’t run from God. You run to Him. That is the purpose of the fear of God.

And notice here in the book of Acts they respond accordingly.

Acts 5:12 (NASB95) 12At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s portico.

Closing

Friends we must not be glory stealers. We must really live for the one who died for us.

2 Corinthians 5:14–15 (NASB95) 14For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; 15 and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

Sometimes we need the fear of God to wake us up but we need the love of God to control us.

We worship a real Savior who really died for us and really rose from the grave. He has poured out upon us the Spirit of Truth to make us powerful witnesses to this day of who He is. So lets live as authentic Christians who love each other with one heart and soul remembering the Lord’s words “it is better to give than to receive”. Our Lord who held nothing back from us.

[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Ac 4:32). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.