Ananias and Sapphira Acts 5:1-14 By Pastor Dan Turpin WestCoastChurch.com

Transcription

1 Ananias and Sapphira Acts 5:1-14 By Pastor Dan Turpin WestCoastChurch.com Objective Sentence: Everyone can avoid the behavior judgment by embracing four practices in Acts 5:1-14. Introduction; Acts of the Holy Spirit: There is a belief among many today that we must lower standards and truth to make progress. This has never been true and it not true in the 21 st Century. The Church is always stronger when we catch a vision of living right through God s power that works in us as we walk with Him. The Church s respect grew after the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira. Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events. The church did not become smaller because of purity and truth it grew. More and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to the church (Acts 5:14). Pastor Dan: The world is crying for tolerance but tolerance is the virtue of those who lack character. I. Be Generous With Yourself (Acts 5:2 kept back part of proceeds and brought a part) A. David Arnold: In Luke 9:23, Christ said, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. the word desires indicates that this is for sincere disciples only the words let and deny himself imply a willingness to renounce one s selfish will and ways. And in the statement take up his cross daily, the word daily emphasizes a continual dying to self-will (I Cor. 15:51 I die daily). 1. Give Yourself Away (Matt. 16:24-25 If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it) a. Pastor Dan: As you surrender your life to the Lord He implants in your heart the desire and the power to do what pleases Him (Phil. 2:13) b. Matt. 13:22 The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced c. Andrew Murray: God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to Him. d. 1 Kings 3:1; 11:1-9 Solomon deviated from God s plan, his problems escalated and then dominated his life. e. Robert Tuttle: The Christian walk is much like riding a bicycle; we are either moving forward or falling off.

2 2 f. Exodus 32:32 blot names out of My book Heb. 10:26 if one willfully forsakes) II. Always Tell The Truth (Acts 5:3 why has Satan filled your heart to lie) A. Pastor Rod MacArthur; A little white lie: A wealthy businessman was sitting next to an attractive woman on a plane. He turned to her and said, can I ask you a question? To which she said sure. He said would you be willing to go to bed with me for a million dollars. The woman thought about it for moment and said yes. How about 20 dollars he asked? At this she straighted up and said, What kind of a woman do you think I am? We have already established that, was his reply; now we are just bickering over the price. When you lie you are establishing what kind of person you are; no matter the magnitude of the lie. Rat poison is only 1% poison and 99% filler. Yet this small amount of poison will still kill a rat 1. Passions Mingle (John 8:31 if you continue in my word you are my disciples indeed; and you will know the truth and the truth will set your free. ) a. Brother Lawrence: Our passions mingle in spiritual things as much as they do in things of a more gross nature. b Acts of the Holy Spirit: Satan lied to and through Ananias and Sapphira. He tempted them to deceive people. When the devil fails to defeat the church from the outside, he tries from the inside. They were believers who made a little place in their lives for sin; but give sin an inch and it will become the ruler. Give sin a centimenter and it will take a kilometer! In the end Satan filled their hearts (Acts 5:3) and there was no room left for the Holy Spirit. Satan has many tools but a lies is the handle that fits them all. c. Eerdman: But a lie to men is to lie to God under all circumstances there is no genuine morality which is not founded on reverence for the living God. (John 14:6 I am the way, the truth and the life. John 16:13 the Spirit of Truth d. Revelation 21:8 all liars shall have their part in the Lake of Fire e. Jerome: Lying is indeed an accursed vice. We are men, and we have relations with one another only by speech. If we recognized the horror and gravity of an untruth, we should more justifiably punish it with fire than any other crime. I commonly find people taking the most ill-advised pains to correct their children for their harmless faults, and worrying them about heedless acts which leave no trace and have no consequences. Lying -- and in a lesser degree rebellion are, in my opinion, the only faults whose birth and progress we should consistently oppose. They grow with a child's growth, and once the tongue has got the knack of lying, it is difficult to imagine how impossible it is to correct it f. John 8:44 Satan is the father of lies. Lying destroys trust g. Pastor Dan: Lying destroys ones ability to trust God and God s ability to trust us. You cannot trust God if you live in a lie and you cannot live in a lie and trust God (John 17:17) Truth sets us apart from the power of lies. h. Pro. 22:1 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, loving favor rather than silver and gold. e. Pastor Max Alderman: Satan s lying spirit is infused into the entire human race. A lie is a contradiction of truth. Lie and truth are never compatible. A lie to be believable must rest close to the truth. Satan, the originator of the lie, would not totally remove truth. Instead, he would integrate together a truth and a lie. In his subtleness, he was able to deceive Eve by using as much truth as needed and as little lie as possible. Satan did not need a blatant lie for it to be effective; for he knew that any departure from truth would constitute a lie.

3 3 f. Psalm 101:7 He who tells a lie shall not continue in my presence g. Exodus 20:16 you shall not bear false witness h. Eerdman: It is a a universal feature in the economy of the kingdom of darkness, that every great step in advance of the kingdom of light is followed by some corresponding movement intended to defeat it. III. Receive Words of Knowledge (Acts 5:3-4 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) A. Matthew Henry: The sin of Ananias and Sapphira they thought to deceive the apostles but the Holy Spirit in Peter discerned the principle of unbelief reigning in the heart of Ananias. But whatever Satan might suggest, he could not have filled the heart of Ananias with this wickedness had he not been consenting. The falsehood was an attempt to deceive the Spirit of truth, who spoke and acted by the apostles. The crime of Ananias was not his retaining part of the price of the land; he might have kept it all, had he pleased; but his endeavoring to impose upon the apostles with an awful lie, from a desire to make a vain show, joined with covetousness. But if we think to cheat God, we shall do nothing except fatally cheat ourselves. 1. Word of Knowledge (1 Corinthians 12:8 to another the word of knowledge) a. Pastor Dan: It was the second meeting I had with Presbyter Wiggins regarding our ministry at Riverview Assembly. In the course of our conversation with Pastor Wiggins Nancy said that she felt we should resign our church; I didn t feel anything. So some time later while praying at home the Lord dropped the knowledge of His plan into my heart it was Him leading us in a new direction b. Howard Carter: The word of knowledge is a supernatural revelation of God s knowledge communicated to us by the Holy Spirit; a supernatural revelation of the existence, or nature, of a person or a thing, or the knowledge of some event, given to us by the Holy Spirit for a specific purpose. The Word of Knowledge is not a God-sent amplification of human knowledge. This gift is the supernatural revelation by the Holy Spirit of certain facts in the mind of God. The knowledge that comes through this gift is not an acquisition it s a gift. c. 1 Kings 21:18 Elijah is told by God to go meet Ahab and confront him for the death of Naboth and for possessing his field d. 1 Samuel 3:13 I have warned him that judgment is coming upon his family forever, because his sons are blaspheming God [a] and he hasn t disciplined them e. Eerdman: Ananias and Sapphira overlooked the fact that the Holy Spirit was acting through his servants. This couple forgot that when they were trying to deceive inspired men they were acting falsely in the face of the Divine Inspirer, so that when they imagined they were lying unto men they were really lying to God. For this guilty oversight they paid the penalty of death. Is not their sin too easily reproducible and too often re-enacted? The human soul does so when it disregards the influences which are at work upon and within it; when it treats lightly the pleadings of the pulpit, the warnings of friendship, the sting of conscience, the convictions and impulses which call it to newness of life. f. 2 Kings 5:25-27 and 6:8-12 Elisha knows Syrian battle plans g. 2 Kings 5:25-27 Elisha confronts Gehazi h. Purpose of Word of Knowledge

4 4 o To warn of an enemy s plan of destruction (2 Kings 6:9-12) Elisha o To enlighten and encourage the discouraged (1 Kings 19:14-18) Elijah o To expose a hypocrite (2 Kings 5:20-27) Gehazi o To convince a lost person of their need for Christ (John 4:18, 19, 29) Woman at the Well o To discover a man in hiding (1 Samuel 10:22) Samuel and Saul o To indicate a man in need (Acts 9:11) Annias prayed for Paul o To reveal corruption in the church (Acts 5:3) Ananias and Sapphira o To indicate a suitable place for meeting of God s people (Mark 14:13-15) o To know men s thoughts (John 2:24; 1 Samuel 9:19) IV. Watch Over Your Fellowship (Acts 5:5 As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified. Then some young men got up, wrapped him in a sheet, and took him out and buried him.) A. Matthew Henry: Matthew Henry: Whatever tends to the purity the reputation of the church, promotes its enlargement 1. We Reap what we Sow (Gal. 6:6-9 Don t be misled you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. The person who sows to the flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption but those who sow to Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. Let us not become weary in well doing for in due time we shall reap is we do not faint. a. Gal. 5:16 Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. b. Ro. 8:5 They who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh and they who live according the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit c. Num. 32:23 If you fail to keep your word, then you will have sinned against the LORD, and you may be sure that your sin will find you out if you do not do so. d. Ro. 6:1-6; 23 Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? 3 Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? e. Matthew Henry: Whatever tends to the purity the reputation of the church, promotes its enlargement. f. 1 Cor. 11:31 But if we would (judge) examine ourselves, we would not be judged by God in this way. Matthew 18:15-20 g. Acts of the Holy Spirit: Paul commands the church to judge for two reasons: to restore the church to purity and judging a sinner may save that person from sin (Matt.18:15; 2 Cor. 2:5-11 ) g. Titus 3:1-2, 8-10 Remind the believers to submit to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good. 2 They must not slander anyone and must avoid quarreling. Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility to everyone. I want you to insist that all who trust in God will devote themselves to doing good. These teachings are good and beneficial for everyone. Do not get involved in foolish discussions about spiritual pedigrees or in quarrels and fights about obedience to Jewish laws. These things are useless and a waste of time. 10 If people are causing divisions among you, give a first and second warning. After that, have nothing more to do with them. h. 1 Tim. 5:19-25 Do not listen to an accusation against an elder unless it is confirmed by two or three witnesses. 20 Those who sin should be reprimanded in front of the whole church; this

5 5 will serve as a strong warning to others. 21 I solemnly command you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus and the highest angels to obey these instructions without taking sides or showing favoritism to anyone. 22 Never be in a hurry about appointing a church leader. [a] Do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure. i. Acts of the Holy Spirit: God is the One who will judge all sins. At key times in history, God uses judgments (Revelation 6-19) to remind us that He is judge. He judged Nadab and Abihu just after the new tent of worship was completed (Leviticus 10:1-2). He judged Achan just after the Israelites entered the Promised Land (Joshua 7). He judged Eli s household and those who looked into the ark as Samuel began to rule (1 Samuel 6:6-7). He judged Ananias and Sapphira just after the Church had begun (Acts 5:1-10). Closing and invitation; Time to Judge by Pastor Dan: He who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition, will waste his life in fruitless efforts and multiply the grief he proposes to remove (Samuel Johnson). Judge or judge not; this is the question. Jesus tells us not to judge (Matthew 7:1), Stop judging others and you will not be judged. Paul instructed the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 5:12; 6:5), It certainly is your job to judge those inside the church who are sinning. Whose teaching should we follow? The answer both! Our focus in judgment should always first be directed inward. Paul said (1 Corinthians 11:31), If we would judge and correct ourselves, we would not be judged. Jesus said in Matthew 7:3, And why do you look at the speck in your brother s eye, and do not look at the plank in your own. We will only be able to help others deal with their problems, as we learn how to deal with our own. Paul instructs the Corinthians to judge, which seems contradictory to Christ s teaching. At first glance it seems Paul and Jesus on not on the same page in their teaching, but when you take a close look at the issues being addressed, it is easy to reconcile the difference. We should use the keen gift that all of us have to discern the faults of others on ourselves. But when the order of the church body and the blessings God seeks to give His people are being threatened by sin, we should act decisively. We must pass judgment on those in the church involved in wrongdoing in order to preserve purity. There is a time to judge (1 Corinthians 5:12). If open arrogant sin is left alone, it spreads like wildfire. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 5:6, Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Proper discipline by compassionate leaders is designed to bring a wayward and sincere follower of Christ to repentance. Galatians 6:1 says, If an individual is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Paul instructed the Corinthians to remove from the church those who are openly involved in immorality. He also commanded them not to fellowship with those who claim right standing with God, but arrogantly practice sin. Paul dealt swiftly and sternly with the problem. He wanted to protect the church. He also taught believers to forgive a repentant individual (2 Corinthians 2:6-8), The punishment inflicted by the majority is sufficient reaffirm your love to him. We should never judge others without cause. Our courts do not randomly bring people to trial. There must be charges filed and arrests made. Neither should we randomly judge others who have committed no offense. When the order of a community is threatened, it becomes the duty of law enforcement to judge. To do any thing less is a crime. Do not practice judging but do not fail to judge when it is necessary and right.