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Begin w/ 4:36, then read 5:1-10 [the ushers
that day had a hard job…no wonder old churches put their cemeteries so
close!]
v. 11 Great Fear? I guess so!
The early church in our text is in great
revival w/ thousands getting saved…and the devil didn’t like it!
He had tried to stop the church w/
intimidation / persecution…but when he couldn’t stop it from w/out,
he tried to stop it from w/in!…if he couldn’t conquer the
church, maybe he’d try to corrupt the church!
So ch. 5 starts w/ a great contrast… “but”.
…Means—here’s the flip side.
In chapters 2-4 thousands are saved…
but,
Ananias and Sapphira
Great generosity… but,
Ananias and Sapphira
Wonderful unity… but,
Ananias and Sapphira
I.The Problem in the Church
v. 1-4 Permit me a little liberty here,
and use your imagination to think how this may have happened.
In Acts 4:36 Barnabas had made quite
a generous donation, and many would have been impressed. He didn’t give it
for praise, but inevitably word gets out. Perhaps this married couple was
bitten by the green-eyed monster of jealousy and concocted a plan of their
own.
They sell some land and carry a big
bag of money home and dump it on the table. What a stack! Money does funny
things to people. The Bible calls it a snare/trap.
“If I had a million dollars I’d give
it to the church”
[they don’t even tithe]. That’s silly
because money doesn’t tend to make greedy people unselfish, it has a
tendency to make greedy people more greedy! The more you have the more you
want.
They look at that stack and say, it will be a
great day at church this Sunday…and they planted some leaks to spread the
word!
I picture in my mind them looking at
all that money the rest of the week saying, we haven’t saved anything for
retirement [then they took out part, and set it aside].
Kid’s college…
Vacation…
Extended cab camel…
By Sunday they had half the $ in the bag and
half under their mattress.
The husband brought it to church
Sunday and gave it to Peter. Does it look like Peter believes him? And the
story continues like this…[slides]
Was it wrong for him to only bring part of
the proceeds to church?
No! There was no record of God
telling them to do it at all. And that’s the point Peter makes in v. 4…
Nothing wrong w/ any of this. The
problem was not their giving only part of the $…the problem was that they
SAID they were giving it all. They intentionally lied / deceived to lift
themselves up! They pretended to be something that they were not.
Hypocrisy!
If they had come and said, we sold
land for 50k and we feel led to give half and keep half…that would have been
fine…but they just had to try to keep up w/ the Barnaby Jones’ [Barnabas].
We can point the finger, but 3 more are right
back at us.
How many times do we sing All to Jesus I
Surrender…but not come back to church for just the slightest excuse.
Or, Sweet Hour of Prayer,
knowing we haven’t prayed 10 minutes!?
Or, sang a special for our own glory and not
the Lord’s?
Or, prayed a spiritual prayer publicly in the
service, our only heartfelt one all week!?
Or, collected the offering as an usher, but
not participate in giving at our church?
Or, taught that lesson on sin, only to go
home intending to sin privately.
Lead kids in song, O be careful little
eyes…then surf the net or TV lustfully!
Ill.—Congressman Mark Foley was a leader in
legislation about internet child predators, until it was revealed this week
that He WAS one!
Jesus said in Matthew 15:8
This people draweth nigh unto me with
their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from
me.
Our hypocrisy will hinder the cause of
Christ!
You can fool…
Some
of the people all the time
All
the people some of the time
But you can’t fool…
All
the people all the time!
Those in your home will figure it out
Those at work / those neighbors / …those at
church
Prov.—“their wickedness shall be showed before the whole congregation”
…because we can’t fool God anytime!
In the gospels Jesus was very compassionate,
patient, and tender in dealing w/ those who fell to sins of the flesh…but
very harsh w/ those who were religious hypocrites! The meek and gentle Lamb
could also be the Lion of Judah when needed…
--woman caught in very act of adultery.
The Lamb said, I forgive you, go and
sin no more
--woman at the well, married 5 x’s, shacking
up…
Jesus said, I’ll give you living
water
--Zacchaeus the liar / thief…
Today salvation is coming to your
house!
But how did He treat the religious
hypocrites? Like a lion!
You snakes! Generation of vipers!
You’re like a whitewashed tomb, looks good outside but filled w/ dead,
stinking corruption! That’s what you remind me of…I know your wicked
thought life/motives!
He took a whip and drove them out of the
temple, shouting at them for turning His house into a den of thieves!
Religious hypocrisy is a stench in the
nostrils of God!
That was the problem in the church…
II.The Purging of the Sin
v. 7 Why did she come in 3 hours late? [she
was a woman!
J ]
v. 8-10 The Holy Spirit exposed the whole
thing dramatically in front of the church. It was the gift of knowledge /
discernment whispered in Peter’s ear!
Peter knew:
·The
Source of the Sin
v. 3 Satan is the source…he has the ability
of planting ideas in the minds of church members for the purpose of
hindering God’s work.
So, we have to protect our hearts and
minds.
“I know what they’re thinking/saying about
me!”
“He’s against me!”
Then we find out later that nothing
could be further from the truth.
Satan will mess w/ your mind if he can…try to
get you to make a mountain out of a mole hill.
The Holy Spirit revealed to the leader not
only the source of the sin, but also…
·The
Seriousness of the Sin
v. 4b Any lie is serious, we are never
more like Satan than when we lie and rebel…Satan is the Father of all lies!
But it’s more serious to lie to a judge [perjury]…but it’s most serious to
lie to God [hypocrisy].
Have you ever lied to God? Made Him a
promise you didn’t keep? Pretending in church is lying! Don’t worry about
what others think of you. What does God know about you? That’s what’s
important!
Tonite we’ll discuss the sin unto death! The Problem, the Purging, the
Punishment.
part 2
Dead Hypocrites, pt. 2
Acts 5:1-11
1. The problem in the church
If Satan cannot conquer the church
he’ll try to corrupt it, if not from w/out, then from w/in.
Reminds us of story in Joshua where
children of Israel suffered defeat in the little village of Ai…36 men lost
their lives/Joshua got on his knees and asked God why/God said these words:
there’s sin in the camp!
This was open, flagrant,
pre-meditated sin…we all struggle and mess up and sin at times, but when we
choose to LIVE there it’s different.
Ill—phone call at 3 am—“I’m up!” J
All lying is wrong…but this was
clearly different!
Prov.—“he that being often reproved and
hardeneth…”
2.The purging of the sin
The source of the sin was Satan who planted
the thought
The seriousness of the sin was it was lying
to God!
…now:
3. The
Punishment of Ananias and Sapphira
a.Severe
They died! Saved by grace doesn’t mean you
have a license to sin. God judges believers…be sure your sin will find you
out. God will not be mocked! We ALL reap what we sow!
Every believer undergoes 3
judgments…
As a sinner, as a servant, as a son
If you’ve been saved, your judgment as a sinner is in the past/as a
servant will be in the future, but you are judged as a son right now!
In the past--As
a sinner-judged on the cross, you died
w/ Christ, God’s wrath toward your sin was poured out on Christ.
Romans 8:1
There is therefore now no condemnation to
them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit.
Sin was fully judged there.
Ill.—prairie fire, stand in burnt patch.
The foot of the cross is the place to
stand when judgment comes!
In the future—judged
as a servant, during trib. on earth,
judgment seat of Christ happens in heaven [not great white throne]…a 1 on 1
personal interview w/ Christ…you’ll be judged not as a sinner, but as a
servant, how faithful have you been, what were your motives for service,
etc. A time of rewards…if not, then why did Jesus tell us to lay up for
ourselves treasures in heaven?
Read I Cor. 3—wood, hay, stubble will burn
up/gold, silver, precious stones are rewarded!
In the present—you
are being judged as a son…right now
you are being judged.
Heb. 12:6-11 [turn]
Not positional righteousness in v. 11,
but practical.
Ananias and Sapphira were saved. And they were being judged as “sons.”
They died because they crossed a line w/ God.
This is not pleasant, and I have not looked
fwd. to this…but God sometimes takes a believer home early because of sin.
I Cor. 11—people abusing Lord’s Supper.
1 Cor. 11:29
For he that eateth and drinketh
unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation [lit. judgment] to himself, not
discerning the Lord's body.
1 Cor. 11:30-32
For this cause many are weak and sickly
among you, and many sleep. [31] For if we would judge ourselves, we should
not be judged. [32] But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord,
that we should not be condemned with the world.
That’s one example.
1 Cor. 5:1-5
It is reported commonly that there is
fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among
the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. [2] And ye are puffed
up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be
taken away from among you. [3] For I verily, as absent in body, but present
in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him
that hath so done this deed, [4] In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when
ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus
Christ, [5] To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the
flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
The word destruction does not always mean
annihilation, but I’ve sure seen it happen a few times following a nasty
church discipline!
1 John 5:16
If any man see his brother sin a sin
which is not unto death [implies what?], he shall ask, and he shall give him
life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not
say that he shall pray for it.
Written to Christians.
You say, you’re trying to scare me! [maybe,
no worse than a cancer doctor who says, stop smoking or these spots that I
see now will turn to cancer!]
Not only a severe judgment, but…
b. A Saving Judgment
1.for them
This judgment was for the purpose of saving
them from further sin. He wasn’t getting even w/ them, God does not take
“vengeance” upon His own. He was saving them from further sin.
Ill.—suppose you have a 3 year old, you look out window and they are playing
in the street…you warn Johnny to stay in yard/ 5 minutes later he’s back,
you spank him this time, and give one more chance, watch carefully…he starts
to head that way again, so you bring him on in, to save him!
‘what kind of punishment is that, going to heaven?’
I don’t wanna get benched early, I wanna
stay in the game! Johnny lost his privileges, and so may we!
It was a saving judgment for them…
2.a saving judgment for the church
acts 5:11—God did this as an example…He
didn’t continue to kill everyone who lied in church, necessarily, but He
sure showed how He felt about sin in the church!
God often sets examples for first
time offenses.
[Sodom and Gomorrah]
Jude 1:7
Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the
cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and
going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the
vengeance of eternal fire.
There’s God’s 1st
statement about homosexuality…yet San Francisco/Amsterdam seem to be ok!
Children of Israel—I Cor. 10—a whole
generation wiped out as an example.
The Bible teaches that punishment is a
deterrent.
Saved them, saved the church…
3.a judgment to save souls
v. 14 purity brings power!
4 conclusions:
1.Sin in the life of a believer is more serious than sin in the life of
an unbeliever…for you are bought w/ a price, you are His child, His
ambassador.
2.Be very careful not to lie to God.
3.Guard against hypocrisy in your own life…the same at home as at
church, in the closet as on the stage! [your walk talks, and your talk
talks, but your walk talks louder than your talk talks!]
4.Don’t let some hypocrite keep you out of church, follow God, not man!
There’s 1 person in this church that will
never disappoint you…and it’s not me! Follow Christ!
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