We Grow in Generosity

ME: Intro -

My wife, Stephanie and I,

Have been fans of the show, Survivor,

Very early on.

One of the things Survivor likes to promote about itself,

Is how it reflects the dynamics of our culture at large.

Which is interesting,

Because in the early seasons contestants valued integrity and keeping their word.

By the end of the season,

People refused to vote for the person who made it to the end by lying and deceiving.

Now, they emphasize building a resume by blindsiding people,

And being the most deceptive player.

This morning, we are introduced to three people;

Barnabas, Ananias, and Ananias’ wife, Sapphira.

If they were all on Survivor,

Barnabas would be one of the first one’s voted off.

But either Ananias or Sapphira would probably win it all.

Unfortunately for them, being good at Survivor is not the mission Jesus gives to the church.

Back in Acts 1:8, the church was commissioned to spread the gospel from Jerusalem, to Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Much of Acts shows the church scattering to accomplish this mission.

There is a lot of public teaching and healing and churches being planted.

These passages show the numerical growth of the church.

But Acts also includes glimpses into how things looked when the church gathered.

These passages show the spiritual growth of the church.

Spiritual growth produces fruitful maturity in a variety of ways.

This morning in Acts 4:32-5:11, we have two pictures of the early church gathering.

One of these pictures is wonderfully positive and encouraging.

The other is terrifying and sobering.

The contrast of these two pictures fit very well with the Stewardship Seminar we just had this past week,

Because these two pictures teach how We Grow in Generosity.

There is no doubt that these two stories strategically follow one another.

In fact, after the first story ends,

The second story is tied to the first by starting with the word, ‘but.’

There is an intentional contrast between these two accounts.

Slide (outline)

So, our outline this morning begins by showing,

The Spirit Fosters Unity (Acts 4:32-33)

The Spirit Grows Generosity (Acts 4:34-37)

The Spirit Condemns Hypocrisy (Acts 5:1-11)

We need to grasp onto the gospel and repent of our hypocrisy to grow in generosity.

The Bible is filled with examples of wonderful unity among Christians.

It refers to us as a body.

But the Bible is also filled with warnings against awful division.

Because unity is a blessing.

Therefore, we must value unity.

It must be of great importance to us.

And we must hate to see the unity of the church threatened by things like hypocrisy.

That is why Jesus prayed for His people to be unified in John 17.

Slide (vs. 32)

Here in Acts 4:32-33,

We see how God answers Jesus’ prayer by fostering unity through the Spirit.

WE: The Spirit Fosters Unity (4:32-33)

This section is similar to Acts 2:42-47.

After a dramatic event that grows the church,

Unity and generosity is displayed by the sharing of money and possessions.

Vs. 32 says this entire group was of one heart and mind.

Imagine, thousands of people united with one heart and one mind,

How?

Simple, they are the full number of those who believed the Gospel.

They were united by their trust in Jesus.

This entire group, thousands of people, were united around this powerful message.

They had the same soul.

They agreed on what mattered.

They were all committed to the same gospel.

And they had the same heart.

They loved God and one another.

Implicit in all of this is the important truth that we do not create unity.

We can’t!

God establishes unity with His message and His Spirit.

He calls us to maintain the unity He has created.

Slide (The gospel is our source of unity)

The unity here is astonishing when considering the backgrounds of these people.

Pentecost in ch. 2, brought Jews from every known nation together.

People from diverse lands and cultures,

United by their trust in the risen Christ.

It is beautiful, isn’t it?

This diversity reminds us that unity is not the same as uniformity.

These individuals all had their differences.

Yet they were united by their trust in Jesus.

Meaning the gospel must be our source of unity.

Not our nationality, not our political leanings, not our skin color,

Not our interests or hobbies.

It must be the gospel.

The further we drift from this being our uniting factor,

The further we get from the countercultural, supernatural, God-exalting unity highlighted here in Acts.

Slide (vs. 33)

The gospel is clearly their source of unity.

Look at vs. 33.

The apostles continue to teach about the resurrection of Jesus.

The crowning proof of salvation being accomplished through Christ is His resurrection.

This is an irrefutable foundational fact of the gospel.

If Christ has not risen,

Our faith is worthless.

The entire Bible rests on this fact.

The public testimony of Christ’s release from the grave,

Is evidence of the Father’s acceptance of His sacrifice for our sins,

And the guarantee of our victory over the grave.

So, our salvation is secured not by our obedience to God,

But by faith in Christ’s obedience to the point of death on the cross,

And His resurrection from the dead.

Now, therefore, as Christ lives,

So also shall we who trust in Him.

This means the kingdom of darkness has been overthrown,

Satan has fallen,

Good has triumphed over evil,

Joy has triumphed over misery.

The Spirit empowers us to testify to this.

What happened here in Acts,

As these early Christians spoke fearlessly,

They began to give fearlessly as well.

Because they were secure in the resurrection of Christ.

They understood that great grace was upon them from God.

They grasped onto the gospel in their heart.

Slide

They were empowered by the Spirit to loosen their grip on material possessions.

We are limited in what we can grasp onto.

Therefore, whatever we grasp onto is what we trust in.

Generally, we live in such a way where we grasp onto material things.

Then, when we hear the gospel,

It demands that we grasp onto Jesus.

So, we pick it up, and convince ourselves that sure,

We have taken hold of this message.

On the outside, we look very Christian-like.

But inevitably, when someone has a need,

And the gospel calls us to be generous.

Well, it is much easier to just slide the gospel out of our hands,

While we continue to grasp our material possessions.

What the early church is teaching us here,

Is that we need to loosen our grip on these material possessions.

And instead, grasp onto the gospel.

Then, as we carry these material possessions through our lives,

When a need arises,

It is much easier to slide those material things out of our hands,

While we continue to grasp onto the gospel.

Therefore, when we grasp onto the gospel,

We are holding onto material things loosely.

We are growing in generosity.

So, ask yourself,

What are you grasping onto?

When a need arises,

What do you have an easier time letting go of?

GOD: The Spirit Grows Generosity (4:34-37)

The early church did not grow themselves in generosity,

By grasping onto the gospel, vs. 34-37 teach how The Spirit Grows Generosity,

Slide (vs. 34)

Back in vs. 32,

It said, no one claimed that any of their possessions were their own.

Here in vs. 34-35, it says they demonstrated this by selling property and giving the proceeds to the apostles,

To distribute to each person who had needs.

They were not obligated to give this way.

Members were giving generously, while expecting nothing in return.

God wants His people to reflect His generosity.

So, He empowers His people with His Spirit,

And demonstrates His generosity through Jesus.

This is how simple it is to grow in generosity.

Slide (generosity in mind vs. heart)

But we like to complicate things.

Think about it, we teach kids to share all the time, right?

We tell them to share their toys with their brother or sister,

Or to offer some of their fruit snacks or animal crackers to a friend who doesn’t have a snack,

Or to give their classmate a turn during a game.

We strive to instill in children a pattern of thinking about how they treat others,

Even though we know trying to get kids to think this way is difficult.

Then, by the time we become adults,

We find ways to justify not being generous.

We don’t share our toys with others because we paid for these toys ourselves.

We don’t give up our own food to others because they got themselves into that situation.

And we don’t give coworkers a turn at work because it is a dog eat dog world!

So, just as parents are trying to instill generosity in their children,

We must allow our Heavenly Father to change the way we think about others.

Generosity is easy to understand in our minds,

But difficult to embrace in our hearts,

And to do with our lives.

But Jesus does not want us to just affirm generosity in our minds.

He wants to grow us in generosity.

This is why we complicate things.

Not because we do not understand what is generous,

But because in our heart, we do not want to be generous.

So, we will talk about generosity to cover up an unwillingness to be generous.

And I am not sure we are even aware we are doing this.

So, if you find yourself doing this.

Stop talking about generosity for a moment,

And simply ask God to grow you in generosity.

Slide

Generosity is not just about giving away material possessions.

It is about a sensitivity toward others.

It demands a relationship that knows when needs arise.

So, being generous requires connecting with one another.

Our passage is describing both materially and relationally generous people.

By being sensitive to the needs of others,

They were able to make sure no one went to bed hungry,

No one slept on the street,

And no one went without clothes.

Slide

As vs. 34 says, there was not a needy person among them.

Vs. 35 implies how some members had the means to take care of other members.

Making wealth both a blessing and a responsibility.

The Bible says to whom much is given,

Much is expected.

If you have much,

It is not ultimately because you earned it,

But because God has gifted you with what you have.

Therefore, you are accountable for what you do with it.

The wealthy members of the early church set a great example of generosity for us.

The question is then,

Is this the norm for all Christians?

Or is this just describing a specific group of Christians?

The answer is yes to both.

Yes, Acts is describing the generosity of early Christians,

And yes it is also teaching that generosity is the norm for Christians.

But it is not prescribing a specific model for generosity.

It is describing an example of the life-changing,

Transforming power of the Holy Spirit.

Which teaches the fundamental principle that Christians live generously.

Slide

Being generous is only possible if it is rooted in the joy of God’s salvation,

The work He is doing in this world,

And His certain promises of a future.

Growing in generosity is the norm for Christians.

The description of the early church in Acts 4 embodies this.

This is a remarkable shift for God’s people.

The church is manifesting the new hearts created in them by the Spirit.

Because their sins are forgiven,

Their relationship with God has been reestablished by Christ.

Now, they are transformed by the Spirit.

Therefore, they meet the physical needs of others.

It is not the other way around.

They do not meet physical needs as a way of having their sins forgiven.

This Spirit-empowered generosity is the norm for Christians.

Slide (vs. 36)

One specific Christian who demonstrates this is introduced in vs. 36.

Joseph, who was given the name Barnabas by the apostles,

Which means son of encouragement.

What a great nickname!

He is mentioned 23 times throughout Acts.

Proving his nickname to be true through his life and ministry.

For example, Barnabas had to defend Paul in ch. 9.

When Paul tries to come back to gather with the other Christians.

Because they do not trust Paul,

Who up to that point, had been seeking to murder as many Christians as he could.

Until Barnabas tells the other Christians that Paul is a Christian now.

So, the church trusted Barnabas enough to welcome a known murderer into their gathering.

This gives us an understanding of why the leaders in the early church,

Looked at this man and said,

“You should be called son of encouragement,

It fits the way you live your life.”

Here in Acts 4,

His encouragement is felt through his generosity.

Barnabas sells a field and gives the proceeds to the apostles.

He did not have to, but he did.

He gave to meet the needs of others.

He led by example.

Slide

His generosity demonstrated how he grasped the gospel,

Therefore, he loved Jesus and people more than his stuff.

God has sustained and blessed His church through the generosity of unsung people like Barnabas all throughout history.

Still today, your generosity has an extraordinary impact.

So, be a person who looks for ways to give generously, sacrificially, and joyfully.

Grasp onto the truth of God’s generosity toward you in Christ,

To grow you in generosity.

YOU: The Spirit Condemns Hypocrisy (5:1-11)

The actions of Barnabas likely inspired some to replicate his generosity.

While others, however, just wanted to be praised for being generous,

Without actually being generous.

The generosity of Barnabas is contrasted against the selfishness of Ananias and Sapphira in ch. 5.

Slide (5:1)

The first 4 chapters of Acts shows the innocence of the early church in many ways.

Passages like the end of ch. 4 makes it feel like the church is supposed to be this perfect fairy tale community.

Until the tale is interrupted by the sad story at the start of ch. 5.

Reminding us that even the most Spirit-filled communities,

Are under attack by an evil enemy.

Every gospel-minded church will face opposition,

Both from the outside,

As we saw in the beginning of ch. 4,

And from within, as we see here in ch. 5.

Vs. 1 introduces us to a devious man named Ananias,

And his complicit wife, Sapphira.

On the surface,

They seem to be members of the early church.

But unlike Barnabas,

They are not growing in generosity.

They are sinful hypocrites to the core.

They are called out in this chapter the same way Jesus would call out the religious Pharisees during His earthly ministry.

They wanted everyone to see them as righteous.

They wanted praise for all their good deeds.

But their apparent holiness was fake.

In vs. 2, after selling a piece of property like Barnabas,

They decide to give some to the church.

At first, that seems great!

No problem at all!

If this is all there was to the story,

They would be included among the ranks of generous Christians glorifying God.

Slide (vs. 3)

But the story implies there is a problem in vs. 3.

They pretended they gave it all.

They lied about what they were actually giving.

They claimed generosity when they acted selfishly.

You see, they wanted a reputation of being generous,

But they did not want to actually be generous.

They were too greedy for that.

So, they plotted to fool everyone.

But they could not fool God.

Their hypocrisy was a threat to the testimony of the church.

And Peter rightly points to the source of this hypocrisy in vs. 3, Satan.

Satan is the adversary.

And by having his heart filled by Satan,

Ananias was an enemy of God,

Trying to hinder the testimony of the Spirit in the church.

Jesus warned that Satan is an active enemy.

In the parable of the seeds,

Jesus said the enemy snatches the seed that falls on the path.

That is Satan’s work,

To snatch people away from God’s Kingdom before they take root and begin to grow.

Peter was on the receiving end of a first hand rebuke related to this from Jesus in Mark 8:33,

When Jesus said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan.”

Peter went on to repent for being deceived by Satan,

Thus, Peter later warns against the activity of Satan.

Slide (1 Peter)

In 1 Pet. 5:8, he wrote,

1 Peter 5:8 ESV

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

You must remember that Satan is an already defeated enemy.

The battle has been fought and won by Jesus.

But you must also remember that he is still an aggressive and destructive force.

Therefore you must be on guard against him.

Even after his defeat,

He is still described as a dragon, a serpent, the evil one, and a tempter.

He rules the demonic realm.

And he is actively engaged in trying to snatch people from God’s Kingdom before they take root by leading them into sin.

Slide (vs. 3)

That is what is happening here in Acts 5.

The members of the early church have repeatedly been described as Spirit-filled.

Their actions and words are empowered by the Spirit.

Contrasted to that,

Are Peter’s words that Satan has filled Ananias’ heart to lie.

Spirit-filled people pray to God, praise God, and declare the gospel.

Satan-filled people oppose God, deceive others, and declare lies.

Ananias and Sapphira are Satan-filled people.

They agree to sin by testing God.

As a result, the devil, as Peter warned in 1 Peter, devoured them,

Slide (vs. 3)

By using them to lie to the Holy Spirit.

That is what he does.

He tempts people toward godlessness.

Ananias and Sapphira succumbed to his temptation.

So, together, they lied about their generosity.

Lying is something that is a part of us because of our sin nature.

However, it is impossible for God to lie.

In fact, He hates lying.

So, you may struggle to understand why God judges lying so harshly.

But it is because you really cannot fully appreciate how serious lying truly is.

For example, Ananias and Sapphira assumed they were still giving some money to people,

They get to keep some for themselves,

And everyone thinks they are just as generous as Barnabas.

So, all they have to do is lie to a few people and everybody wins, right?

Well, in reality,

Peter says, they were lying to the Holy Spirit.

This means God takes your lies as a personal offense.

They grieve Him.

He is grieved by every sin.

Why?

Because when you do not value the holiness of God,

You minimize the offensiveness of your sin.

And when you minimize your sin, you devalue the cross where Jesus died for your sin.

If lying is not that big of a deal,

Then Jesus’s death for your lies was unnecessary.

Thus, God judges all sin accordingly.

Slide (vs. 4)

As Peter confronts Ananias,

He asks a question in vs. 4 that confirms the land belonged to Ananias,

And after he sold it,

The money was his to do whatever he wanted with it.

Meaning, he did not have to sell the land,

He did not have to give any of the money to the church.

But he did, because he was hoping to win the praise of people by being just as generous as Barnabas.

Going back to our illustration from earlier.

Ananias never stopped grasping his money,

On the surface he appeared generous.

However, when the opportunity for him to be generous arose,

He dropped the gospel and lied to continue to grasp his money.

Therefore, Peter follows his question in vs. 4 by revealing,

Ananias made a conscious decision in his heart to lie to God with this money?

Slide (vs. 5-6)

Before Ananias could even respond, vs. 5 says he dropped dead.

This is an example of divine punishment.

As a consequence of his sin, God’s judgment fell immediately,

And he died.

Peter did not somehow kill him.

No one sniped him with a blow dart,

He did not die by a sudden heart attack,

This was God’s judgment.

Slide (vs. 7-8)

Vs. 7 says three hours later, Sapphira shows up,

She doesn’t know what happened to Ananias.

So, Peter asks her in vs. 8,

If they sold the land for the price Ananias had lied about.

This was her chance for honesty,

Her chance to come clean,

Her chance to repent from the sin she predetermined in her heart to do.

Unfortunately, her answer is a clear indication that her and her husband’s sinful actions came from their hearts.

They were committed to their sin,

So, she tells Peter, “yes, that is the price we sold the land for.”

Slide (vs. 9)

You could imagine the grief as Peter asks her in vs. 9,

“Why did you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord?”

This question powerfully indicates the Spirit’s role in the church.

And how this is beyond Peter’s power or authority.

Because she was not testing Peter, the apostles, or the members of the church,

She was testing the Spirit.

She was testing God.

Slide (vs. 10)

So, Just like with Ananias,

Immediately after hearing Peter’s words,

Sapphira dropped dead in vs. 10.

For centuries people have been perplexed by, and debated over, the precise sin of Ananias and Sapphira.

The trouble of this account is understandable.

Many have claimed how on the surface this punishment is too harsh!

However, when you look at how ch. 4 ended,

It helps to get a proper understanding.

Slide (not punished for lying)

First, they were not punished for simply withholding money.

Again, vs. 4 is clear that they could have done whatever they wanted with their property and their money.

This has led many to conclude that they are being punished for lying.

Peter accuses Ananias of lying,

His question to Sapphira in vs. 8 gives her the opportunity to confess her dishonesty.

But if deception was the only issue at play here,

It would be understandable why the punishment of immediate death with no opportunity to repent seems steep.

So, it it is not just that they lied either,

Then what is the reason?

Slide (punished for misrepresenting the Spirit)

Again, take a step back to understand the context.

Think about the trajectory of the Spirit’s work in the church up to this point:

And now Ananias and Sapphira are claiming to be Spirit-filled members of the church.

But their actions show that they are denying the work of the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit grows generosity,

Not selfish hypocrisy.

So, Ananias and Sapphira are not ultimately punished for mere dishonesty.

Rather, in light of the church’s living proof of the Spirit’s indwelling presence.

They are misrepresenting the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers.

As Peter stated in vs. 3,

Satan is working in their hearts, not the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit makes the church a sacred people.

This is the context of Ananias and Sapphira’s sin.

Slide (emphasizes Holy Spirit)

Because God’s people are now the temple,

And the temple is now God’s people.

Going back to the OT,

Bringing sin into the temple had fatal consequences.

And that is what Ananias and Sapphira did.

It would be as if they marched through all the temple courts,

Right up to the sanctuary claiming to be priests.

If they did that,

The same fatal consequences would result,

Their sinful hypocrisy in the face of God’s holiness would kill them immediately.

Therefore, the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira emphasize the reality of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence in the church,

The implications of His presence include maintaining holiness in His people.

Here, the holiness is maintained by purifying the church of Ananias and Sapphira’s hypocrisy.

Slide (allies of Satan received same punishment)

They brought hypocrisy to a place meant for holiness,

Bearing witness to the fact that they are not truly a part of the Spirit-filled community.

They were allies of Satan,

Attempting to bring his wickedness into a sacred place.

They were not Christians who lapsed in judgment.

So, they did not lose their salvation.

They never had it.

Instead, as allies of Satan,

They received the same fatal punishment as him.

And the same fatal punishment that awaits anyone who does not trust in Jesus Christ.

So, this passage is not teaching us how to deal with lying in the church.

Because Ananias and Sapphira were not a part of the church.

Rather it is showing how their sin in the overwhelming Spirit-filled context around them,

Demonstrates the tragic fate of unbelief.

And this had an effect on the church.

Slide (vs. 11)

Vs. 11 says the church rightly responds to God in fear.

This is a healthy fear of the Lord.

It comes from knowing Who God is,

And recognizing His divine judgment.

So, we see here how fear of the Lord is growing in this sacred community,

That has been set apart by faith in Jesus Christ.

In fact, it is after God purifies His sacred people here in vs. 11,

Where this assembly is given the name the church for the first time in Acts.

WE: Conc -

So, the actions of Ananias and Sapphira were a satanic attack against the church.

God takes assaults against His church seriously.

The tragedy of their story should drive us to repentance,

To compel us to cry out, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner!”

We need to grasp onto the grace of His gospel and repent of our hypocrisy and grow in generosity.

Slide (3 applications)

So, let us close with three points of application related to this.

First, like the whole church responded in vs. 11,

We need a healthy fear of the Lord.

God deserves respect.

We cannot think about the story of Ananias and Sapphira and say,

“God would never do that to me.”

Proverbs says,

Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

If you do not stand in awe of God,

You lack wisdom.

If you do not have a healthy fear of God,

Destruction will eventually come to you.

So, we need a healthy fear of the Lord.

Second, we need to grasp onto the gospel.

Clearly, Ananias and Sapphira did not grasp the gospel,

They did not trust it in their heart.

The gospel frees us from our self-imposed chains.

It frees us from materialism,

It frees us from pretending,

It frees us from needing the praise of people,

It frees us from feeling the need to lie, steal, and deceive.

The gospel gives us the Holy Spirit, who makes us holy and grows us in generosity.

Ananias and Sapphira remind us of how badly we need to grasp onto the gospel in trust.

The third and final application comes from the second,

And that is the need to live in repentance.

Let us learn from the mistake of Ananias and Sapphira.

When we are aware of our sins,

Repent.

The reality is, we are all guilty of hypocrisy.

We are all guilty of various sins.

We are all guilty of grasping onto something else besides the gospel.

So, when we become aware of this guilt,

We must repent,

We must let go of whatever we are grasping onto,

To take hold of the gospel of Jesus Christ!

And this is not a one time thing.

This is something we must continually do throughout our lives.

Ananias and Sapphira knew they were living in rebellion.

They were okay with their hypocrisy.

They got comfortable with their sin.

They were willing to let go of the gospel,

To continue grasping onto their money and the praise of people.

And the result was their destruction.

So, their story serves as a call to repent while there is still time.

God extends us grace while there is breath in our lungs.

The rest of ch. 5,

Which Lord willing, we will look at next week,

Shows how God’s grace continued, despite this tragic event,

To grow and multiply His church.

In fact, God purified His church here for the good of His people.

These two drastically different stories teach us to repent of our hypocrisy,

To grasp onto the gospel,

And by the Spirit,

Grow in generosity.

Pray.