Acts: Deadly Deception

If your Bible was turning with me, and we'll be back in the Book

of Acts this morning, Acts chapter five together, if you'll turn with me.

There heard a story of a man. He he was a meteorologist.

His name was Bob Harris. He was a weatherman for a famous news station

in New York. Before Bob was the weatherman and w pick w p i

X TV in New York. He was studied in school and he went to

several different schools. He studied math, physics, and geology at all three

colleges, but in nineteen seventy nine he left school without getting a degree.

He always had dreams and aspirations of being a meteorologist, and so one day

on a whilm, he decided he would fallam a TV station w CBS,

and he introduced himself as having a PhD in geoff physics for Columbia International of

Columbia University. The phony degree got him in the door. Bob actually started

out as an off camera forecaster for the news station, but over a few

decades he actually became very famous as a meteorologist. He actually was known as

doctor Bob. He was hired by the New York Times. He would actually

be hired by the Long Island Railroad and also a Major League Baseball would hire

him of the Baseball commissioner for forty years. He was forty years old.

He was living his childhood dream and then suddenly he found himself in a public

disgrace. Anonymous letter went to the TV station that asked them to investigate his

academic credentials, both stations in New York Times after reviewing and finding out there

was a phony degree. He actually never got a degree. He wasn't a

doctor at all. He was fired the newest in the world, and the

media, it was kind of kind of came across. It was like a

firestorm of media that brought out what happened. He says. At the very

end of that episode, Bob says, you know, he made a dreadful

mistake. He said these these words. I took a short cut that turned

out to be the long way around, and one day the bill came due.

And I'll be sorry as long as I live. Tell you the story

about Bob, because as you look at this, you think about someone who

for so long got away with something. For so long, I thought,

well, it's in the past. I made it. I was deceptive at

many years ago. But look at of all the access that I've generated as

a result of just being a little deceptive. Here, he made a career

out of it. It was famous for it, for what he deceived.

But in the end there was a penalty for his deception. Today, as

we come to Acts, chapter five, the title of my sermon is daily

Deception. Today. As we come to chapter five and Acts, we see

a couple who also is deceptive, and we see their deception. Just as

Bob used deception to get praise from people, to get recognition or get notoriotomy

as being known as doctor Bob, we see this early couple who use some

of the same deception to receive praise from him. Now, as we come

to chapter five, we had last Sunday with Christian School Sunday where Deuteronomy.

So there's been a Sunday gap in between these two messages. So I do

want to remind you what's happened here and Acts chapter four. We kind of

come to the end of Acts chapter four, and it's the early Church on

the rise. It's the emphasy of the early Church. And as we looked

at the end of chapter four, Luke gives us a summary of what the

church life was like. And if you remember that message and basically what we

saw in that passage of scripture, if you got back and just look with

me and act shirt and four of ours thirty two and a full number of

those who were believed were one heart and one soul, and no one said

that if any of the things that belonged to him was his own. It

was kind of a summary of that church. Whether some would estimate it was

up to ten thousand at the time. Here's this church in Jerusalem. It's

the first church. And what did the first church look like? What was

church life like? Well, it was a church, and Luke would tell

us in chapter four, a church that was unified. Scripture says there were

one heart and one soul. We looked at that, but it also was

a church that was unified in giving. They were united in their giving,

Scripture says, and no one said of any of the things that belonged to

him was his own. So it was there a church that was a church

that was unified, and one heart of one soul was a church. It

was unified and giving. It was a church that had biblical examples, and

we looked at that last week, as I mean a few weeks ago,

we saw Versus thirty six and thirty seventh. Barn of Us, who was

one of the apostles, he led the people in this unity. He was

united, and he was united and giving. He too's had a piece of

land and sold it and brought it to the apostle's feet. As we come

to this pastor's scripture, won't you remember this was a church as you look

at the church at this point, this was a church that was unified.

This is church that was committed to giving. This is church had godly leaders.

And as we come to this this morning, Luke wants you to see

a compare and contrasts. He wants you to see what the church was like.

And then as we come to chapter five, he wants you and I

to see this. It's very important. He wants you and I to see

the very first attack that Satan had on a God's church, the very first

Do you know do you believe? Do you understand today Satan is actively in

pursuing attacking his God's church, just as he did in Acts. Satan today

is actively trying to destroy God's Church. He saw that in the early church.

Should we see that today and this morning? I want to explore together

what was God's response to this deception and this disunity that we see in this

passage scripture. So Tital, my servant is deadly deception. And together we're

gonna look at God's response to deception and disunity. So let's stand and let's

read God's word together, and let's look at this first attack that Satan brought

against God's church. The Bible says in Acts chapter five, but a man

named Annanias and his wife's the fires sold a piece of property, and with

his wife knowledge, he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought

only a part of it and laid it at the apostle's feet. But Peter

said Annanias, why is 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 as your own after it was sold? Was

it not at your disposal? Why have you contrived this deed in your heart?

You have not lied to men, but to God. And when Anne

and I has heard these words, he fell down and breathe his lass,

and fear came upon all who heard it, and the young men rose and

wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him bout an interval. About

three hours. His wife came in, not knowing what had happened, and

Peter said, here, tell me whether you sold the lamb for so much?

She said, yes, for so much. That Peter said to her,

how is it 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. And immediately she fell down at

his feet and breathed her lass. And when young men came and found her

dead, they carried her out and buried her beside her husband, and great

fear came upon the whole church, and upon all who heard these things.

Let's pray together, Lord, we love you, We thank you for this

morning. We thank you for the opportunity to bring us together and one accord,

in one mind and one spirit. And that's to worship you father today.

And Lord, I pray for there to be a spirit of unity in

this place. Lord, I pray that you would protect us from Satan's assault

in our church and your church. Lord, And so Lord, we come

together, we ask Father, may you speak. May your Holy Spirit lead

us today. Lord, May we as a body be sensitive. May we

as the body listen to the work of your Holy Spirit within us. And

Lord, we need you today to open up our minds and our hearts to

your word. So, Lord, may your spirit work in us, work

in this place. And Lord, may your spirit lead us to obedience,

to obey your word. Today. Lord, I pray Lord, that you

just guide us today. And your name we pray. Maymen you may be

seated as you come to this pastor scripture. Again, we're starting. As

we start, we start as a church that's really united and right and united

in one spirit, one soul church, really united in giving, a church

which has leaders who are setting the example for the church. But Satan,

right, there's a There was a lady then our church was a friend of

Brandie and eyes and her name was I forgot her name right now. But

she used to say, when when the Lord's blessing, Satan's messing. All

right, Well, the Lord was blessing in the early church, but Satan

Shirley was messing. You know. The early church was united and strong,

but Satan really desired to destroy that unity. They just really desires to deceive,

really desires to divide. And I think it's important as you understand it

we come and look at this Pastegor scripture that he starts it with what one

family. He doesn't take a whole group of the people in the church.

It starts with one family. Satan seeks to bring an attack starting just with

one, just one family. As you come to Act hurt or five,

I think it's very important that you understand that Luke is wanting you and I

to see that this is a compare and contrast. He's comparing Ananias and Safire

compared to Barnabas giving. So go back with me. Look at versus.

In verse thirty six, it says in Joseph, who was also called the

apostle Barnabas, which meant son of a encouragement, a levite, the native

Cyprus sold a field that belonged to him, and he brought the money and

laid it at the Apostle's feet. Now again, we talked about this a

few weeks too, because so I'm not going to go through all of it.

This is Barnabas, He's one of the ones who started the first missionary

journey with Paul. He was an apostle, He was one of the early

leaders in the church. There and here's this leader, and what does he

do. He has some land, and again he didn't consider his own so

he sold that piece of land, and he brought the proceeds of that land

and laid it at the apostle's feet. So Luke wants you to see that

godly example, that biblical example. Then you come to chapter five and he

gives a church member. Right, there's a person involved in the church,

and a man named Annonias, and he had a wife named Sapphira. What

they do They also liked Barnabas. They sold a piece of property and with

this wife's knowledge, look at the imagery. He kept back for himself some

of the proceeds and brought only part of it and laid it at the apostles

feet. So he's seeing this compare and contrast. You're seeing the imagery of

here's Paul, who I mean, not Paul, Barnabas who comes and lays

it, and Annanias and Saphira, who with this wife's knowledge hold back,

do not give at all. But they too go through the formality like Barnabas

did, to look as if they have given it all. So what you

see in this as we look at God's response to deception and unity? What't

you understand? Like we Lukes wants you and I to see this. But

one of the things that Lukes want you and I see is that God sees.

Look at the very first thing that God sees when he sees this story.

Number one, God sees Satan as a source of deception and unity.

Satan as a source of deception and unity. Look at the passage of Scripture.

You see the imagery in verse two. They come and they lay it

at the apostle's feet. And then Peter comes, he's the leader of the

church. He comes to and Anias and listen what he says. And then

Ice comes and lays it at the apostle's feet. And Peter responds, and

an Ice, listen to the imagery. Why has Satan filled your heart?

To lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back for yourself part of the proceeds

of the land. God sees Satan as a source of deception and unity.

Hear me this morning, as I begin our message, understand that here's this

early church that was unified, that was unified in giving, had gallic examples,

and Satan doesn't like it. Satan wants to destroy it, and Satan

wants to listen deceive, and Satan wants to create disunity. And so he

starts it in one couple as Luke and I. Luke wants you and I

to see that Satan is at the bottom of this. Satan is the source

of this. You know, as you look at this passage of scripture,

you see that they kept back fro himself all some of the proceeds. But

in verse four, look at what it says, why remain unsold? Did

it not remain your own? After all it was sold? Was it not

at your disposal? What Peter is saying there, This was at your disposal

to do. You didn't have to give it all. You had you give

a portion, give a tenth, but you didn't have to give it all.

It was at your disposal to do what you wanted to do with it.

The problem is here what they lied, right, they came, and

when they came and laid to the apostle's feet, they declared to the entire

church that they had given at all, just as Barnabas did, and so

they were deceptive. They lied to the Lord. Scripture tells us, it

says, why did you deceit? Create this in your heart? You see

compare and contrasts. Who's to say what was in the mind of anonisis the

fire? But you can imagine Barnabas when he sold that piece of land,

he brought up the apostle's feet the church service. People saw the giving that

he did, and you probably thought, the praise of people, Man,

that was incredible what Barnabas did, that he sold that, what he's given

to the church, and what sacrifice he has given. Look, what a

what amazing leader, what an amazing man. And maybe anonisis the fire.

Heard that praise, and they heard the adoration of people, and they said,

you know what, we've got a piece of land and maybe, you

know, maybe we should sell it. And then maybe they said, you

know what, maybe maybe we won't give it all and we'll just give a

portion. But they said, but you know, but but Barnabas give it

all, you know, and if we if we don't give like he did,

or we don't do it all like he did, maybe we won't get

the praise and adoration of the people. So they decided to what lie why

because they wanted the praise of men. Daryl Brock, who's a writer or

scholar, writes in this a desire for human praise is more important than them

than being faithful to God. USA today talked about an old article. Gerald

Jealous and wrote an article about lying. He says each of us at FIBs

at least fifty times a day. He say that people lie by their age,

their income, their accomplishments. We lie to escape it embarrassment. He

says in his article. The common reason for what is called the little White

lie is to protect someone's feelings. Yet in the reality is we're just really

trying to protect ourselves. He said. Some of the most common FIBs are

I wasn't feeling well, I didn't want to hurt your feelings. The check

is in the mail, which that's not a thing anymore. You can tell

this articles old and I was only trying to help, all right. The

idea is for them what we say, we're only trying to help do different

things, and we're trying to protect others. Morality is behind the lies really

for ourselves. That was at the heart of Antonias and Safius. Lie.

There's deception. But I want you to hear who's behind it all. Well,

Peter says, Satan has filled your heart to lie. Satan desires for

his people to be deceptive in order to receive praise. That's what he did

in Ananiasis the fire. That's what he's still doing today. You know,

this week we read a passage of scripture that I think illustrates the danger of

deception. It's a very popular passage, Scriptures David and Basheba. It was

it was you by reading it was we read Second Samuel, chapter eleven.

If you read that this week, you saw where David here sees Basheba.

Right, he looks upon her when she's bathing, He brings her in,

and then he lies with her. He has an affair with her, and

then she becomes pregnant, and then you just see like the unfolding of lives.

Right. You could say he's trying to protect the nation. You could

say he's trying to protect others, but really, who's David trying to protect.

He's trying to protect himself. He brings you right at home, right,

he tries to get you're right to go and be with his wife,

right, and he won't do it. And when that doesn't work, he

sends him to war and tells the commander to put him in the front lines,

and he basically has him what killed. Then David does what? Then

David then marries Bathsheba, right, so he could say that they she conceived

while they were married. And so he does all these different lies, all

this different deception to protect himself. And here's what one of the most subtle

things about deception that Satan wants you and I to believe is that you're only

hurting yourself. Nobody knows you're only hurting yourself. But the Bible says,

listen in Second Samuel eleven twenty seven, and when the morning was over,

David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and

bore him a son. You know what, we think, we're only hurting

ourselves, and nobody really knows. But Scripture says in this passage, but

the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. You see, God sees

our deception. God sees the deception of an anisis a fire, and he

sees that Satan desires for deception and disunity in this church, and God doesn't

miss that. God doesn't overlook when we're not completely honest, or we're deceptive,

or we cause disunity. God sees that, and God sees Satan as

the source of that. Even though there may not be punishment or consequences for

that deception at this time, doesn't mean that God approves it or that it

pleases God once he sees. Secondly, here first that God sees Satan as

a source of deception and disunity. The secondly, God sees individuals as accountable

for this disunity deception in disunity. Again, First, God sees Satan as

a source. He's what put it in the heart of Antoniasis a firah.

God saw theirs, even though many people didn't know it at that time.

God saw it. Se God sees individuals as accountable for deception and disunity.

Look at verse three. It says that Peter said to Ananias, why Satan

filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and you kept back for

yourself part of the proceeds of the land. Why it remained unsold? Did

it not remain in your own after it was sold? Was it not at

your disposal? Why is that you contrived this deed, contrived this deed in

your heart. You have not lied to men but to God. Satan is

at in the source of disunity and deception in the church and individuals in the

church. But God sees individuals as accountable for deception and disunity. What does

God say, or what does Peter say to Ananias, you have not lied?

What to men? He had? Had he not? He'd been to

the church. He declared that he gave it all right, he had lied

to men, But God saw it as him what lying to God? I

think it's important for us to understand that here this is a huge issue.

Why. Why is a huge issue? It's one person? Right? You

wouldn't think one person out of I mean, out of ten thousand, is

it really that big of a deal. It is a church really gonna miss

it if you will, if you will think about the economical impact, financial

impact. There's a church really gonna miss one person's giving out of ten thousand.

It's one person. But for God, what it was a big deal?

Why? Because of Chapter four thirty two. And no one in the

church saw what they aren't as there are as their own right, but they

all freely Scripture says, now the full number one heart on one's soul,

and no one says that of anything that belonged to him was his own.

Everybody in the church was unified, right, everybody was the church was unified

in their giving. Everything that God has given us is not mine. It's

the Lord's. One person says, you know what, I don't know about

that. I don't know about that. And I know everybody in the church

is doing this, and I know everybody's trying to follow what the Lord's doing.

But I think I want a little bit of this for myself. And

Satan put that in his heart and led them to I want you to hear

this led them to withhold from God. That's the issue here, right is

what is the deception? What is the disunity that Satan planted in annonisis fire?

Is withholding from God? Listen. I think it's important as we look

at this passive scripture to understand this is not the very This is not the

first time Satan has used this attack on God's people. Do you know,

as we there's so many similarities between the Book of Acts and the Book of

Joshua. The Book of Joshua is the book describing the beginning of God's people

Israel. The Book of Acts is the first book in the New Testament describing

the beginnings of God's people, his Church, and there's very similar there's a

lot of similarities between the two. But you know what, the one of

the similarities is the very first attack that Satan brought against people the people of

Visual was a very same attack that Satan brought against God's people, the Church

in chapter seven of Joshua. I know, we just study this a few

months ago. In chapter seven of Joshua, there's a man named acin a

can send against the Lord. In Joshua. Chapter six, they're about to

go to battle, and the Lord commands the people of Visual when they go

into battle, he says these words, but you keep for yourself from the

things devoted to destruction. Lisa, you have devoted them. You take any

of the devoted things, and make the camp of Visual a thing before destruction,

and bring trouble upon it. But all the silver and gold, every

vessel of bronze and iron, are holy to the Lord, and they shall

go into the treasury of the Lord. So God gave very clear instructions for

his people Israel. When you go into battle. There are some things,

there's some idols, some some different things, and those are devoted to destruction.

You are not to take those, you're to destroy them. But any

silver or gold, they're what their mind, and Scripture says, they're holy

unto the Lord. You're not to keep those, but you're to put those

into treasure of the Lord. Scripture tells us. Then chapter seven, there's

a man named Aken, And what did they can do? He went into

battle, and he took some of the devoted things. But guess what else

he took. He took some silver, and he took some gold. And

what did he do? He withheld from God what was rightly his. And

judgment came against Achin judgment came against Israel. And here judgment is coming against

and the nisis a fire. Why because God sees individuals as accountable for their

deception and their disunity. It's a very simple. It's a very important thing

for us to understand that Satan wants to deceive a family to believe it's okay

to withhold from God what is rightly his. I think you, if you

remember in scripture, we looked at in the past right Leviticus twenty seven twenty

nine through thirty one, every tithe verse thirty says, every tithe of the

land, whether seed of the land or the through the tree, it is

the Lord's. It is holy to the Lord. So just think about that

for just a moment. Do you understand, just simply this morning, that

Satan desires to bring disunity through people not faithfully giving what's is God's. You

know, God commands all of us to tithe, and that tithe is not

ours, it's the Lord's. Can I say to you today, according to

scripture, everything you own, even though your name may be owned the name

of the bank account, like your name may be on the title of the

car or on the title of the house. But according to the word of

God, God's given you everything that you have, it is his. And

the only thing that God requires for us is to give a tenth back.

And that tenth is the Lord's, it is not ours. And when we

do not give the tenth that God requires of us, he asked of us,

listen, we'rewithholding from God what is rightfully his, and listen to me.

With all love and sincerity, I can say to you, if you

come here to Bethesda, or you watch online, whatever church you go to

and you declare that you tithe, and you don't listen, you're lying to

God. And listen, God is not going to hold me accountable for your

deception and your disunity. But not giving is deceptive, and not giving is

listen. It destroys the unity of God's church because listen, there's not one

person I everget one time. I think I've told you this story before.

They said, I had one teenage boy one time a little church and he

said, preacher, you know it must be good to be a preacher.

And I said, yeah, really, I said, why do you think

that? He said, well, you don't really have to tithe. I

was sorry, I don't have to tie. He says, will you preach?

That's what you do. You don't tithe, you just preach. And

I said, no, no, nobody, it does not work that way.

Right, there's no exemption clause for the preacher. Right, all of

us are called to give. There's not one is exempt. There's not one

of God's people who says, oh, you get a pass, you can

keep everything that you want. No. God has called all of us to

give faithfully to him. But I want you to hear this. We minimize

giving because we don't want to talk about it. We don't want to do

it with this and my little my money, Pastor, don't be talking about

my money. Well, that's a problem that very here beginning, it's not

yours. And number two, we don't want to talk about it because we

don't really want to deal with it. But we had to see the very

heart of scripture. This is not Pastor Jonathan's speaking. This is the word

of God speaking. It's happened in Joshua's time and the people of Israel,

it happened in the early Church, and it's still happening today. Satan is

trying to deceive you to believe it's okay for you with hope from God.

Satan has put that in your heart, just as he put it in the

heart of Annonisis and Virah. And listen. He doesn't say I'm going to

judge Satan. Here, he says to Anonisis, why have you lied to

God? Listen today, with all heart and love, I can say to

you, don't allow Satan's to deceive you. Don't allow you to be a

source of disunity. You say, Pastor, how would me being I'm not

giving causing disunity because in this passage there were one heart and one soul,

and no one saw what their possession has their owns, but they were giving.

I want you see. Thirdly, today see Satan as a source of

deception and disunity. Secondly, see God's individual is accountable for a deception disunity.

But lastly, God will judge those that destroy unity through deception. It's

no doubt here as we read through the passage. Verse three tells Us and

a nice wise Satan filled in your heart. It's no doubt that Peter the

Lord saw that, and Anius and the Fire were accountable for their actions.

Why have you lied to God? Why have you contrigud this deed in your

heart and not lied to men but to God. It's very clear from this

passage scripture that God judge and Anius, and God judge the fire. Scripture

tells Us and Anius he asked him that, and in verse five says,

then and then I has heard these words, and he fell down and breathes

last, and great fear came upon all who heard it. Won't you understand?

Go with me again? This is the first attack Satan has brought against

his church, God's church. God takes sin serious. Sometimes we want God

to take sin serious when it comes to adultery or homosexuality and lying or cheating

or stealing or murder. Yeah, God take those things serious. But we're

not ask concerned about God holding people accountable for being deceptive and create disunity.

But this passage clearly tells us that lying in deception and withholding from God is

just an important in God's eyes as the other sense. Here God brings judgment

upon an Anais, and the Bible says, and when I has heard these

words, he fell down here to breathe. His last. Great fear came

upon all who heard it. Young men rose and wrapped him up and cured

him out. Scripture says, about three hours came and here kimp Safia,

I want you to see God and Peter gracious they give her a chance to

write, to make this right, to not lie, not to be deceptive,

not create disunity. She says in verse eight, Peter said to her,

tell me whether you sold the field for so much? And she said,

yes, for so much. She repeats what her husband did shows that

she was compliant, and she knew what was going on. And Peter said

to her, how is it you've agreed together to test the spirit of the

Lord. Not here it doesn't say why have you agreed to test the church

or me, the apostles, or the elder of the deacons. No,

why have you tested the Lord? And scripture says, but hold the feet

of those who bared your husband or at the door and email, and they

will carry you out immediately. She fell down, is at his feet and

breathe her last. We see the same thing with Joshua. And Joshua and

Joshua, we see they bring acin before and says Achin, what have you

done against God? And he says, what, I've took the silver,

and I've took him the goal of withhold from God. And there he's stone

to death, he and his whole family. Listen. God sees satan as

a source of deceptions unity Satan, I mean God sees individuals as accountable for

deception and disunity. Third, God will judge those that destroyed disunity and deception.

Are you saying me, pastor today, Am I gonna drop dead because

I'm not being giving like I should? No? I don't. I can't

say that. I do say in scripture we do see God's bringing discipline upon

his people. And sometimes that what is Scripture says in first create the ends

of eleven. Sometimes that is in the form of those in the church dying.

But he also says that some of you have been sick, some of

you have been ill for not for mishandling the Lord's supper. I will tell

you this with all love and sincerity. I can scriptures very clear that God

disciplines those that he loves. And if God brings discipline upon you, it's

not to harm you, it's to bring you back. You remember the illustration

I gave you last week, right that there was that little boy and he

had a little boat and went out to the water right and he got away

from him and he couldn't figre out how, And then he noticed what someone

on the other side of the pond was thrown rocks at the boat, and

he got upset because someone was thrown and he realized that the one throwing rocks

at the boat was trying to create ripples to bring the boat back to the

boy. Sometimes God will bring discipline upon you, but the purpose of discipline

is to bring you back, to bring you back. But I can tell

you this, God will discipline those who are deceptive and bring disunity. I'll

never forget as long as I leave Pritchards here telling me one time we were

in a church and there was a church member that was so in disunity in

the church, and it was pretty egregious. I was worried about it was

young, first church I had to meet seminary. I didn't know what to

do. Priggio would say to me, Jonathan, just take a baby ashprin,

go to bed. It'll be all right. I didn't think it was

gonna be okay because this guy was just renting and raving about doing different.

I'm just trying to create discord in the church. Is being very deceptive.

Not long after that, that man got cancer. That disunity spirit, that

discord spirit kind of came down cancer. He got through some chemos, some

different treatments, got helped, and guess what happened, rose up the disunity

discord. I'd say, Pregagerio, Priggierry, he's at it again. He

said, no, don't worry, don't worry. God's in control. God

takes this serious. Not a few months that man died, and as a

true story, I'm telling you today, God will judge those that destroy unity

through deception. I'm gonna ask you today as we come today, you say,

Pastor, how should I respond to this? I would say, one

is evaluate with your heart and where are you? Are you as a church

life? Are you one spirit and one mind? Are you unified in your

giving? And I believe it starts there. But if you say to me

today, Pastor, I'm not there's some things that are I'm not right,

I'm not in one accord. Maybe there's some things that's maybe not giving thing.

Maybe it's the thing that you've there's some disunity, there's some things that

you don't agree with what's going on at Bethesda. Maybe today say Lord,

I've I've had some thoughts in me that I'm just not unified with where the

church is right now. Maybe you say, today, Lord, I need

to I need to let those things go. I need I need to be

unified with the church body. Maybe it is your giving and your givings not

where it should be. I would say, today, what's my response?

What should be your response? Responses to come to the Lord repent. Scripture

says we saw it this week and execu all right, therefore I will judge

your house, So visual everyone according to these ways, declares the Lord.

Repent and turn from your transgressions. Least the iniquity be your ruin. I

say to you today, turn to the Lord, find forgiveness in him.

Repent, be unified with the Church. Know that Lord doesn't wants you where

you are. The Lord wants to bring you where he wants you to be.

Will you pray with me? Every head, valudy, every eye close.

Lord, I thank you for your word today. Lord, this is

a tough passage. We all can feel that this morning it's heavy. Lord.

Do we think of disunity? We think of people that theologically may be

on different places that we are. We sometimes think of disunity of those who

are in called in sin, and sometimes the Lord, we discount what withholding

from you God and our giving what that does a disunity would discount being deceptive

about our giving. The Lord your word tells us today that this is part

of Satan's plan. This is part of Satan's attack. Lord. Today you

revealed to us that Lord, you hold each of us accountable, Lord for

the things in our life, for the sin in our life. And God,

you tell us today that you will judge us. Lord, You'll discipline

us when we're not where we need to be. So, Lord, I

pray these truths today would not lead us from you. Lord, lead us

to you today. Father, your word tells us, if we're faithful to

confess our sins, Lord, you're faithful to forgive. So today I pray

we would confess. God, I pray today we repent. Today, Lord,

you would unite us, one spirit, one mind, one giving.

Lord, we love you. I thank you Lord for your word. Lead

us, Lord to respond now. And your name we pray, say Jesus

painted and all to him