Authenticity & Duplicity

We're reading from Acts chapter 4 and verse 32.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

Last week, David spoke about a great threat, but that we've got an even greater God.

Peter and John were being threatened not to speak in the name of Jesus, but they said,

how can we not? How can we not speak in that name?

And they returned to their friends, and they prayed for boldness,

and they're all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they continue to speak the word of God.

So now we're going to carry on from verse 32 and through to chapter 5, verse 11.

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.

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.

But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira,

sold a piece of property,

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.

But Peter said,

Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart

to lie to the Holy Spirit

and keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?

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.

When Ananias heard these words,

he fell down and breathed his last,

and great fear came upon all who heard of it.

The young men rose and wrapped him up

and carried him out and buried him.

After an interval of about three hours,

his wife came in,

not knowing what had happened.

And Peter said to her,

Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.

And she said,

Yes, for so much.

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.

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.

And great fear came upon the whole church

and upon all who heard of these things.

Wouldn't it be great to be back

in the early days of the New Testament church?

If I had $10 for every time I've heard that

over my ministry years,

I would be well away.

It's a reasonably common expression for Christians.

And almost always,

it's a response by Christians

to the many exciting things

happening in the early church.

Oftentimes, Christians are actually reading

the Acts of the Apostles.

when they have these sort of thoughts,

as Matt suggested in his introduction.

And why wouldn't they have?

There's the spectacular arrival of the Holy Spirit,

the secret weapon that Jesus promised

to enable them to be good witnesses.

There's the Spirit's enabling of Peter and John,

men who only weeks earlier

had been cowering in the darkness.

Now we're taking on a hostile crowd,

speaking the gospel of Jesus

with new understanding,

new clarity,

and new confidence.

And then there's the radical renewal of,

we're told here,

more than 5,000 people have been converted

in what we presume

is just a short number of weeks.

Converted through hearing the name of Jesus.

And not only converted,

but a radical new community has emerged.

The community itself

is a witness

to the unstoppable Jesus,

both as it clearly shaped,

as it was clearly shaped

and defined by Jesus' word,

an example,

and also a witness

as individuals within it

spoke the gospel of Jesus

to those around them.

So much excitement,

so much positivity,

that not even opposition

and threat of violence

could stop the excitement.

As we saw last week,

with fresh enabling,

fresh confidence from the Holy Spirit,

chapter 4, verse 31,

they continued.

In the face of threat,

in the face of personal threat of violence,

they continued to speak the name of Jesus.

Now all of that is exciting,

excitement plus,

all of it combines

as indisputable evidence

of the unstoppable Jesus

building his spiritual empire

as he gathers his died-for people

from the four corners of the earth.

All of that clarifies

what we can expect

when we speak the name of Jesus,

speak the gospel of Jesus.

We can expect people

to be radically renewed

from the inside out.

We can expect to see

Christ's radical new community,

the church,

grow and be an important confirmation

of the changing power of the gospel.

And we can expect opposition and attack.

This morning,

I want to just take us into

what Luke presents us here

as a different perspective on attack.

So let's jump into the story

as Luke describes

the demonstrated reality

of the early Christian community.

And if you're a visitor,

that outline of what I'm speaking to

is on the back of the bulletin thing

you got when you came in the door this morning.

The demonstrated reality

of the early Christian community.

authenticity

and what the church could

and ought to be.

Now, the description we have

in verse 32 onwards

reinforces the description

we have already been through

in chapter 2,

verses 42 through to 47.

And what we saw there

and see here

is that the gospel changes

whole communities

radically.

and the point here

is that I think

that this new gospel community

is the most attractive

in the very points

where our culture

is most ugly.

Verse 32.

A community

that's now in excess

of 5,000,

in spite of that,

they were noted

for their single-minded

all-in commitment.

United in heart and soul.

It sounds so attractive to us

in our fractured,

disconnected world,

doesn't it?

All-in commitment to Jesus.

All-in commitment to one another.

All-in commitment to expressing

the mind of Christ

in everyday living.

All-in commitment

to speaking the gospel of Jesus

to those around them

in their community

as they had opportunity.

And there's demonstrated reality

as they're demonstrably moved

from the attitude

of self-protection

and possessiveness,

which sort of marks out

our culture, doesn't it?

When they're moved from that

to the kingdom attitude

of self-sacrificing generosity.

And it's most clearly seen

and exampleed here

in terms of

how they think

about their material possessions.

They're converting

their assets into cash

and bringing them

for the work of the gospel.

Why?

Well, I think it's very simple.

Since their immediate happiness,

since their future security

is no longer tied

to their own efforts

to accumulate things,

wealth and possession,

since it's no longer that,

but God's grace,

then suddenly they've experienced

a new freedom

in respect to those things

they had accumulated.

a new desire

to cash in their assets

and use the money

to be as Christ

to others.

Now we need to just

pause on note here.

There's absolutely

no suggestion

in these verses

of some sort of mandate,

some sort of requirement.

If you're going to be a Christian,

then you have to sell

private property.

Nothing like that at all.

What's on display here,

I think,

is the changing power

of the gospel.

As Christians

increasingly express

the mind of Christ,

then they're no longer

expressing that basic

human attitude

of possessiveness,

self-interest,

my, me, mine.

And verse 33,

look at the consequence,

look at the immediate

result of that.

And with great power,

the apostles were giving

their testimony

to the resurrection

of the Lord Jesus

and great grace

was upon them all.

Now there's various ways

you can interpret that verse.

I think it's a very

practical thing just.

I think it's this,

that as the watching world,

their local community

looked into this new

emerging radical community,

they saw such a matchup

between their words

and their actions

that this community

became an even more

compelling witness

to the new freedom,

the new security

that we find in Christ.

It was powerful

and compelling.

As a unit,

as a church group,

they demonstrated

the power of Jesus,

the power of God's grace

to renew

and free

and equip

in life.

I think it's hard

to imagine

a more radical community,

isn't it?

It's hard to imagine

a more compelling witness

to the changing power

of the gospel,

isn't it?

So,

here we need to prop

and go back

to my opening sentence.

And our

time-to-time

expression

of longing

to be part

of the early church

in its unity

and its excitement

and its compelling

testimony

to the watching world.

So,

here's what

I'm going to suggest

to you,

that sometimes

I think

that idea

is more romantic

than real force.

are you really

longing

to be part

of a community

where there's

such single-minded,

all-in-commitment,

demonstrated reality

of the changing

power of the gospel?

If that's something

you say

you really

are longing

for,

then the question

becomes for us

here today,

why are we so far

removed from that

picture?

Why are we so far

away from the

attitudes

that shaped

the early church?

And then again,

the question

becomes,

well,

if we're really

craving that,

why aren't we

free to do it

today?

What's stopping

us from striving

through all-in

commitment

for an identical

community here

in GECN?

Friends,

I think we

get found out

here,

at least I

get found out

here anyway.

You might be

different from me.

I think the

truth for most

of us is

that we crave

a community

shaped by

self-sacrificing

generosity.

We crave a

community shaped

by care of

one another,

deep care.

We crave

that so much

but personally,

we want to

continue and

do insist on

continuing to

be self-protective,

possessive.

We crave this

but we find

ourselves unable

to find sufficient

security and

delight and

happiness and

hope in

Jesus that

actually allows

us to be set

free from our

possessions.

That sort of

overflows in

an attitude of

generosity and

all-in commitment

that quite

literally would

transform us

individually and

as a church

community.

Okay.

Okay.

See,

corporate change

as we look

around this

church and

wish it was

different and

we all do

that.

I hear it all

the time and

I express the

same thoughts

myself.

We wish it

was different

at so many

points.

We need to

be saying to

ourselves that

corporate change

starts

individually.

As I have

those attitudes,

as you have

those attitudes,

then we will

have those

attitudes.

Well, let's

move ahead in

the story.

We confront

Satan's clever

ambush and he

effectively destroys

their unity and

credibility.

And this part of

the story shows

that duplicity now

undermines

authenticity and

eventually trumps

authenticity in

this radical new

community.

Now, they've

already experienced

external attack

through the

threats of the

Jewish religious

leaders.

That of itself

only made them

more bold to

speak about

Jesus.

Now the story

changes and for

the first time in

the Acts of the

Apostles, Satan

is identified by

name.

I think that

tells us that

for Luke, this

is a very

significant moment

in the story of

the early church

in the way he

brings this out.

Satan's strategy,

and we can look

back through the

Gospels and see

Jesus teaching this,

Satan's strategy

very simply is to

hurt the cause of

Jesus.

It can't actually

hurt Jesus, so his

fallback position is

then to hurt the

cause of Jesus by

silencing any

credible witness to

his name by his

followers.

Silencing any

credible witness from

the church in the

local community.

And so I think

what Luke is

telling us here in

this story is at

two levels.

There's the

immediate cause, the

human cause.

We've got Ananias and

Sapphira and the way

this plays out in

front of the

apostles.

But there's a cause

behind the cause.

And that is Satan

working to discredit

and undermine the

witness of this

radical community in

a way that external

threats have not been

able to achieve thus

far.

He works, Satan

works from inside the

church.

church.

And here we have

it.

Satan uses a nice,

well-to-do husband

and wife team in

this local community

to do what external

threats fail to do.

Ultimately, to destroy

their unity and to

threaten their

credibility in the

local community.

Now, again, these are

difficult verses to

understand and some

people have gone into

really black places

with this.

But I need to just

pull us back and say

this story is not

about people who are

not truly converted

being part of the

church.

There's a reality to

that.

But that's not what

this story is about,

I believe.

Nor is it about

Christians losing

their salvation because

they have failed in

their practical

discipleship.

and because they've

committed a particular

sin.

I don't think it's

about either of these

things.

And one of the

reasons why I think

that is because Peter

actually addresses

Ananias and Sapphira

as Christians, as

people who have the

spirit.

So I think the point

of the story is this.

The point of the story

is to show the

struggle it is to

maintain demonstrated

reality in the

church against

Satan's strategy to

compromise and

discredit their

testimony.

So let's see how

the story falls out

in that context.

Peter, I think, is

really saying to

Ananias when he

confronts him here,

Ananias, why have

you given a

foothold to Satan

in your life?

That is, why have

you allowed yourself

to be manipulated

into given expression

to the mind of

Satan?

That is, the mind

of lies, deceit, and

greed, rather than

expressing the mind

of the spirit, the

mind of Christ.

The mind of Christ

through the Holy

Spirit, which is

truth, authenticity,

and generosity.

There's the divide.

At face value, the

seriousness of their

action was in going

for appearance without

reality.

And so the story

falls out.

Barnabas is

mentioned in the end

of chapter 4 as

just an example, a

worked example of

this incredible

generosity.

He sells a property,

brings all the money,

and lays it down at the

feet of the apostles.

So use it however you

want.

Ananias and

Sapphira looking on

from the side

thinking, hey, we

could do that.

We like the way

Barnabas has been

considered in the

church.

And so, like others

in the church, they

decided to sell a

piece of property.

And they go public

saying, well, look,

okay, we're selling a

piece of property, we

want everybody to know

that.

And leading the

brethren to believe

that they too would

bring all the proceeds

of that property and

make it available for

gospel work.

But unlike others,

Ananias and

Sapphira made an

agreement between

themselves that they

would go public

inferring one thing

but secretly keep

some of the money

for themselves.

And I think it was a

scheme that was

designed to make them

appear generous, to

make them appear

concerned for the

care of others

and the needs of

others without

actually being so

in reality.

Appearing one thing

while still being

self-protective,

self-possessive.

They wanted a

reputation for being

ministry-minded while

being, in fact,

self-interested.

In verse 3, Peter is

really, really strong

words for them.

When it talks there

about keeping back,

the word really is

embezzle.

Why have you

embezzled God's

money?

Why have you

misappropriated?

Why have you

stolen?

Strong language.

How does that work?

Well, I think it

works like this.

Secretly keeping

money, they had

publicly pledged or

led people to believe

they were giving to

the Lord.

It was already given

to the Lord.

Secretly keeping it

then was tantamount

to stealing it from

God.

Embezzlement.

Now, I think the

problem here is not

simply selfishness or

greed.

In fact, it's not that

really at all.

Peter is very clear

to them.

They were entitled

to keep whatever

portion of the

proceeds of the

sale they wished.

They could have

sold their property

and said, well,

look, actually,

we're actually

committing to give

50% of it to the

work of the

gospel.

And we're

keeping 50%.

Peter would have

said, well, that

would be fine.

Of course you can

do that.

The sin was much

more subtle.

And it was in the

issue of trying to

create an impression

about themselves that

had little or no

substance in reality.

In other words,

the problem here was

not about money.

the problem was

about their

relationship with

God and their

view of and

treatment of God's

church of which

they were part.

And in turn,

this initial scheme

becomes a slippery

slope of compounding

sin.

Verse 8.

We just see it.

It just falls out.

It gets a momentum.

In an attempt to

cover their tracks,

Sapphira resorts to

brazen public

lies that were

just spoken without

regard for the

impact of that on

the testimony of

the church.

Now, the first

part I opened up

was just how

exciting.

This story,

how sad.

How sad.

How sad that here

in Christ's church,

image and

reputation is put

above truth and

integrity.

How sad is it that

a Christian couple

could come to

justify and

deception and

lies for the

sake of reputation.

an image.

It's a very

powerful,

poignant moment

in the life

of the early

church.

Now, do you

see Satan's

strategy and

where it was

aimed?

He couldn't

care less about

Ananias and

Sapphira.

What he could

care about was

destroying the

credibility of

this outstanding

Christian community

before the

community.

Destroying their

oneness of

mind and

heart.

You can

imagine how

that would

have made

others feel.

Well, hey,

we really

were generous.

We really did

put our money

down there,

but now they're

enjoying that

new car,

that big

holiday.

And we could

have had that

had we kept

some money

back.

And so it

actually erodes

your initial

generosity.

Unless you're

very careful

about it.

But that's

human nature,

isn't it?

And it

undermined their

teaching about

new security,

new hope in

Jesus, and new

freedom from

worldly possessions.

And it had the

effect of

potentially, at

least, making

the Christians

just look like

others in

their community

saying one

thing, but

actually deep

down really

being committed

to the power

of money and

what money

can buy you.

And they

become, they

lose their

outstanding,

powerful,

winsome

credibility, and

they just become

like unbelievers

in their secret,

grasping,

self-centeredness.

But there's

more to come

because we've

got to consider

God's severe

response.

There's no way

to sugarcoat

this.

Each of

these two

drop dead.

And I

would suggest

that the

seriousness of

their sin

before the

Lord is shown

in the

consequences.

Now again,

we've got to

get this

right in

terms of

what the

story is

pushing us

to, otherwise

there might

be some

here this

morning who

will spiral

into terrible,

terrible

blackness.

I think

the story is

telling us

this, that

the Lord

removed these

two from

his church

not because

they were not

Christians,

but because

their actions

seriously

threatened and

tarnished his

church.

Over the

years, Christians

have found

these verses

very hard to

handle.

Some have

suggested that

it was Peter

who, with

this new

spirit power at

his disposal,

just lost his

temper and

zapped these

two unfairly

and angrily.

sin.

But I think the

story at face

value is very

clear that Peter

had nothing to

do with it,

apart from

exposing the

sin, and

that God's

spirit was

the one who

acted in

this situation.

Which means

then that we're

left saying,

some people would

say, well, God

was very severe,

too severe.

But again, I

think the point

of this

incident is to

say through

the incident

that God is

screaming, I

hate sin and

duplicity in my

church.

Don't mess with

me in my

church.

And again,

verse 3 and

verse 9 sort

of reinforce

that.

Peter's very

clear that

lying to the

apostles and

lying to the

brethren, because

of the close

connection between

what the church

is and God, is

tantamount to

lying to God.

Scheming before

God himself.

It's Christ's

church with

Christ's

standards.

And Jesus

once demonstrated

reality in our

church family, not

just image and

appearance.

And he will

deal severely

with any who

settle for

appearance only.

Now, I don't

recall in all my

ministry years

somebody dropping

dead in front of

me, and I

haven't dropped

dead, so you

might well have

expected that as

well.

So God won't

necessarily do it

like that, but

there's a myriad

ways in which God

will find us

out, and God

will discipline

his church.

And I do

believe as a

church family

over years, we've

experienced some

of that hand of

God disciplining

us.

Jesus once

demonstrated reality

in our church

family, but you

see, few of us

would think that

their sin deserves

such punishment.

And friends, that's

our problem.

We don't see sin

in the church as

God sees it.

We don't see

fractions and

divisions within

our community, this

community of died

for people, as

Christ who died

for us sees it.

chapter 3, verse 26

says, the whole

point of God

sending Jesus was

to bless us by

delivering us from

our wickedness.

And when God

sees a form of

wickedness continuing

within our church

family, it's just

so contrary to what

Jesus died for.

God gave a very

clear demonstration

of his view of

sin in a warning

to the whole church.

And in verse 5 and

verse 11, we're

told that that

warning sure worked.

A sense of fear

fell on the whole

church.

In what sense do

we talk about fear

gripping the church?

Well, I think it's

this fear of

offending a holy

God, fear of

messing with the

idea of church,

and somehow

or other it's

just something for

us to be part of

rather than a

primary demonstration

of this changing

power of the

gospel before the

watching world.

Fear of lagging

authenticity and

truth and unity.

So what do we

need to learn from

this passage as I

wrap up?

Two things I want

to suggest.

First, as we speak

the gospel of Jesus,

we can expect

ferocious spiritual

warfare.

Now, I'm not

talking about

external threat.

I'm talking about

internal spiritual

warfare now.

Being part of the

unstoppable mission

of the unstoppable

Jesus to gather

his died for people

will always be

exciting because the

outcome is always

guaranteed, already

guaranteed.

defeated.

But my friends, it

will never be

easy.

Though ultimately

already defeated,

Satan is determined

to do as much

damage to Christ's

church as possibly

he can do.

kingdom building.

So, as witnesses

engaged in Christ's

mention of kingdom

building, we need

to be on our guard

against satanic

counterattacks.

And again, here's

where we get

ourselves into

trouble because we

so often think of

our church community

more like a social

outing.

A place where we

come, we relax, we

chill out, we chat

with friends, we

expect to be happy,

we expect it to be

nice, expect to learn

a few things along the

way, we expect to

enjoy being there.

That's what we think

of church as rather

than a place of

spiritual warfare

where we might

expect attack.

And therefore, we

don't strategically

plan to defend

ourselves by

ensuring that we

help one another

continue, when

those attacks come,

continue to express

the mind of Christ

to one another.

So common that

when churches fall

into a fight, they

so quickly default

back to just

non-Christian ways

of doing it.

And the

credibility just

evaporates.

Second point

then, remaining, we

need to remain

authentic, or

remaining authentic

and credible will

be, therefore, our

greatest challenge

as individuals and

as a church

community.

we must always

seek to live in a

way which enhances

and demonstrates

the reality of the

changing power of the

gospel.

Now, two things I

want to note very

carefully here.

I am so thankful

that that is so much

to the forefront of

what we are about as

our church, as a

church family.

I am really, really

appreciative of that,

and I thank the

Lord for it daily.

The second thing I

want to say is here,

I am not talking

about perfection.

I am not talking

about us having to

get everything right.

I am talking about us

being in the struggle

on a daily basis to

make our living

practically as close

as we can humanly to

what we are in

Christ.

Struggling to match

what is happening on

the inside with what

we are doing on the

outside.

Friends, we need to

be aware of how

Satan will try to

get at us as a

church family.

It is unlikely,

at least I am

speaking for myself

here, it is

unlikely that I

will easily give

way to external

threats.

Maybe I will be

found out about that

in due course, I

don't know.

But where I am

sitting in the

minute, it is

unlikely he will be

able to force us

as a church family

to bow to

external threats.

But while we are

priding ourselves on

that, he might

well neutralize us

in terms of our

testimony to the

local community

by internal

attack.

Perhaps it will

be an outbreak of

disunity.

And it can

easily happen.

Suddenly there is

an upsurge and

well, my

preference for my

songs, my

desire to have a

particular role in

the church, my

needs are not

being met by

others in this

church.

Look, I am

already being as

generous as is

possible to be and

the elders are

asking us to give

more money for a

new mission

venture.

Really?

Seriously?

How could they

dare to do that?

Perhaps it will be

before our

children or our

spouse in the

home through

actions and

attitudes practically

that don't line up

with what we say to

our children and our

spouse when we're

reading the Bible or

whatever.

Perhaps the attack

will happen on the

sports field or in

your workplace or

when you're chatting

with neighbors in

your street.

And any attempt at

speaking the gospel of

Jesus is neutralized

because your actions

when you're playing

your sport or at

work just don't

light up and

people will roll

their eyes and

think, oh, here he

goes again or here

she goes again.

Friends, I'll finish

on this.

It's real easy to

talk about being

authentic.

All the things that

we see in the early

church are so

appealing.

I think we genuinely

crave them.

But that's not

really the issue.

The issue is do

people around us

see the sort of

all-in commitment

to make this talk

of authenticity

demonstrated reality?

And at a very

practical level, that

means using our

assets, time, money,

energy, skill sets,

and having those

things as an

overflow.

The way we use

those things as an

overflow of joy as

Christ loved, died for,

and secure people.