Sermon Tone Analysis

THE GLORY OF CHRIST: GREATER FRUIT, GREATER WORKS THAN JESUS.

Acts 2:37-38; Acts 5:1-16

(Chapter 2) 37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

FOCUS PASSAGE:

Acts Chapter 5 5 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 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.

3 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? 4 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.” 5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last.

And great fear came upon all who heard of it.

6 The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.7

After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

8 And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.”

And she said, “Yes, for so much.”

9 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.” 10 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.

11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

12 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.

13 None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem.

EXAMPLES OF THE Help!

14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 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.

16 The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

What the Helper did- examples of Acts 2

filled the need of language

filled the disciples with Truth

filled the disciples with Message

filled the listeners with conviction

filled the new believers with Presence.

(their Helper)

In Romans 8:26-27, it says the Holy Spirit helps us in our weaknesses.

Empowered—Experience Living in the Power of the Spirit (Session Two: Who Is the Holy Spirit?)

Because the Holy Spirit is the active and interactive person of the Trinity and dwells within us, he is infinitely relevant to our lives.

Yet because he is not about himself but rather about glorifying the Son and the Father, he does not seek glory himself.

So when we pray, we pray to the Father, in Jesus’ name.

When we walk in the Spirit we focus on being like Jesus.

When we exercise the gifts of the Spirit we do so to honor Christ and his body.

The Holy Spirit is the delivering agent of the Father and the Son, and we are thankful to him for that.

Acts 5:3 (ESV) 3 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?

The Spirit of Truth— God cannot lie.

The Helper for the Church:

I am presenting some materials from a sermon by Michael Stark, New Beginnings Baptists Church, Dawson Creek, British Columbia.

The help for Peter

The help for the Church (truth, without falsehood)

To understand the motivation for their lie, it will be necessary to examine several previous verses.

Turn back to Acts 4:32-37 and read what was taking place in the church.

Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.

And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.

There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

The Character(istics) of Joseph (Barnabas)

Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

In fact, the text leads me to think that this was not the only act of compassion Joseph had performed, because the Apostles had given him the name Barnabas.

Barnabas is less a name than it is a title.

Barnabas, translated into English, means “Son of Encouragement.”

Notice that the generosity was not organised; it was spontaneous.

This was genuinely a movement produced by the Holy Spirit working in the hearts of His people.

He touched the hearts of men and women who had the ability to give, and they responded to His initiative.

There is no indication that either the congregation or the Apostles requested the funds.

There was a general recognition of need, but there were no resolutions, no appeals, no organisational efforts to relieve need.

This is important because it demonstrates that the most effective response to need is that prompted by God’s Spirit working in the lives of His people.

God’s Spirit is always at work among Christ’s people.

It is the role of the leaders to inform people of needs and then trust the people to respond as the Spirit directs them.

There can be no coercion if we will honour God.

The funds donated were delivered to the Apostles for distribution as they thought necessary.

Ananias and Sapphira witnessed these events as they happened in that church.

They noticed the respect Barnabas received when he donated his wealth to the work of the church.

The implication conveyed through our text is that this couple wished to receive the same respect Joseph had received.

Perhaps they were envious.

Perhaps they simply wanted to be noticed.

I suspect that they were motivated more by envy then any other motive, however, since Peter specifically states that Satan had filled Ananias’ heart.

Satan is not merely a liar, but he seeks to displace God as ruler of all creation.

According to Scripture, pride, the ever-present companion of envy, caused his downfall.

When Satan has filled the heart of an individual, that individual becomes proud, and the proud person cannot tolerate others failing to recognise their importance.

Ananias and Sapphira wanted recognition from the leadership of the congregation, just as they had given recognition to Joseph.

Perhaps they imagined that they would even be called “Father of Generosity” and “Mother of Generosity.”

It was all so simple.

All they needed to do was to sell their property and give a portion of the proceeds to the church, representing what they gave as consisting of all they had received.

They would gain the respect of their fellow worshippers, the gratitude of the Apostles, and a reputation as “real” Christians.

They only had to tell a little lie!

They would need only to deceive a few of the leaders and the rest would care for itself.

Truth & Dare: lies of “implication” and sins of Pride

Ananias and Sapphira were indeed Christians.

Certainly, they were recognised as members of the Body.

Despite the privilege of being called by the Name of the Son of God, they chose to attempt deceiving Him.

They thought, as we are prone to think, that their lie would be but a little sin.

You and I have each minimized our actions at one time or another.

“It doesn’t matter,” we consoled ourselves, “God will forgive me.”

In doing this, we commit sin that the Psalmist identified as presumptuous sin [see Psalm 19:13].

Such sin is also identified as highhanded sin in the Old Testament [see Numbers 15:30].

We seem to think that what we do is unimportant.

Ultimately, we make a choice, but we must always know that our choices have consequences.

Why Does God Judge this Sin so Harshly?

The sin of these two early church members was particularly wicked.

Perhaps you wonder how their sin can be considered so awful, and the answer lies in the knowledge that we consider their lie to be harmless.

This is, however, a sin within and against the fellowship.

There are perils from outside the congregation, but they will almost never destroy a church.

Sin from within the fellowship, however, is insidious and injurious, dangerous and destructive.

I remind you that theirs was not a sin of failure to contribute—they brought a part of their receipt.

Neither was it wrong that they brought but a portion—God has never required all that one has to be brought as an offering.