One for All, All for One

Acts 4, 32.

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 all 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 to 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 men, 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 man 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 these things.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

Troy Polamalu is a two-time Super Bowl champion

with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

He was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame last year.

And he is a vocal Christian

who has spoken often of how the humility and sacrifice

that the Christian life requires

has helped him in his football career.

And he says that football likewise requires

a selflessness in the name of greater good.

When he was voted the most valuable player

on his team one year,

he said, quote,

I've never been a fan of individual awards

because football is such a team sport.

There's so many things that goes into making plays.

It's about teammates trusting one another

and working together.

When an individual plays selfishly

in an attempt to keep the spotlight on himself,

the team inevitably suffers.

That's why there are players in various team sports

who are exceptionally talented

and have stellar individual stats,

and yet when you add them to a new team,

that team curiously gets worse, not better.

That's because these players lift themselves up

at the expense of others

rather than humbling themselves

and making personal sacrifices

in the service of the team.

In Acts 4, 32 to 5, 11,

we see a similar dynamic in play.

We are given a positive example of Barnabas

who makes personal sacrifices

for the sake of the church,

and we're also given a negative example

of Ananias and Sapphira

who seek to elevate their personal standing

within the church using deceit.

And the main point of this passage

is that the filling of the Holy Spirit

enables the church to bear witness to Jesus

with one heart and soul.

We're going to first look at the unity of the church

filled by the Spirit,

and then we're going to look at the duplicity

of those filled by Satan.

First, we see a wonderful picture

of the unity of the church filled by the Spirit.

It says in verse 32,

Now the full number of those who believe

were of one heart and soul.

The full number of believers

refers to the multitude.

It's the same word that's sometimes translated

congregation.

It's a reference to the gathered church.

And they were of one heart and one soul.

The many, the multitude, were one.

The heart, in Jewish understanding,

is the effective center of a person,

the seed of one's thoughts,

the seed of one's emotions, intentions.

Proverbs chapter 4, verse 23,

Proverbs 4:23

says that from the heart flows the springs of life.

The heart, in other words,

is the source of our words and actions,

all that we do.

Similarly, the soul, in Jewish understanding,

refers to the life and vitality of a person.

Together, the words heart and soul

refer to the totality of your inner self.

When you put your heart into something,

when you put your heart and soul into something,

it doesn't mean that you're just putting

a part of yourself into it.

It means you're putting all of yourself into it.

So likewise, the first Christians

were of one heart and soul.

They were united in their purposes and priorities.

They were of one mind.

And one tangible evidence of this unity

was that they shared what belonged to them,

their possessions.

It says in verse 32,

And no one said that any of the things

that belonged to him was his own,

but they had everything in common.

The full number was one,

and no one selfishly refused to share

what belonged to him or her.

What was one's own was held in common.

So we could call this common ownership.

But this is not a socialistic community

where private ownership is abolished.

People still own things,

and those things are at their disposal,

as we will see clearly in Peter's conversation with Ananias.

But nobody insists that his things are his own.

Meaning he doesn't keep those things to himself,

but freely shares them voluntarily.

So perhaps common use is a more accurate description

than common ownership of property.

I've personally seen many of you do this

for one person or another in our church,

whether it's sharing or giving away

an unused phone or headphones

or to someone who had need of it,

or whether it's sharing your drill,

your tent,

your car,

or even your house

with someone who has need.

So the early church likewise shared everything in common.

They also had a common message.

Verse 33 says,

And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony

to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,

and great grace was upon them all.

This is the common mission that God's people were driven by,

to give their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

Bearing witness to the fact that Jesus died for our sins

and was raised from the dead

and now reigns at the right hand of the Heavenly Father.

That's the church's mission.

We must never lose sight of that mission.

In the book entitled Mission Drift,

The Unspoken Crisis Facing Leaders, Charities, and Churches,

Peter Greer and Chris Horst

contrast originally Christian organizations

that drifted from their mission.

Like Harvard University,

Child Fund,

and YMCA.

To organizations that stayed true

to their explicitly Christian mission and values.

Like Taylor University,

and Compassion International.

And they argue that this mission drift

happens slowly and gradually,

almost imperceptibly.

They call it in one of their chapters,

Death by Minnows.

They write,

quote,

Too often the passions of the first generation

become the preferences of the second

and are irrelevant to the third generation.

The authors of that book originally set out,

according to their own testimony,

to write the book thinking that mission drift

was an organizational issue.

But in the course of their research and writing,

they changed their hypothesis

and concluded that the mission drift

is not an organizational problem,

but a human problem.

Quote,

Individuals foiled by pride and sin

and allured by success.

They're the ones who drive mission drift.

They continue,

quote,

Pride leads us to adopt

the wrong definition of success.

When we begin to see our priority

as a growing ministry

instead of a faithful one,

we sow the seeds of drift.

As we go through the book of Acts

and as we've seen already

in the first four chapters,

it's tempting to try to replicate

the explosive growth

and visible success

of the early church.

It's tempting to try to replicate

that using the various techniques

and strategies

and values of the modern world,

but instead of fixating

on what works

from our limited human perspective,

we need to focus on

what the Lord has commanded us.

The Lord has commanded us

to bear witness to His life

and death and resurrection,

to make disciples of all nations.

Our goal isn't a large,

successful church,

but a church that faithfully

bears witness to Jesus.

The church in Acts 4

did not lose sight of this mission,

and their ministry was attended,

it says,

with great power

and great grace,

according to verse 33.

The power is the power

of the Holy Spirit,

which has been mentioned

numerous times in Acts,

and it refers to the power

with which God performed

many miracles through the apostles

to corroborate the message

that they were proclaiming,

the gospel that they were proclaiming.

The grace similarly refers

to the grace of God.

In Acts chapter 11,

Acts 11:21–23

verse 21 to 23,

it says that,

So this is the grace of God

to see what was happening,

and it says that,

when he came and saw the grace of God,

he was glad,

and he exhorted them all

to remain faithful to the Lord

with steadfast purpose.

So this is the grace of God

that is in view

when it says here in Acts 4.33

that grace,

great grace was upon them all.

Grace is the favor of God.

It is his favorable disposition

and blessing toward his people,

which is evidenced in many people

turning to faith in the Lord.

Whenever the church experiences

great revival in history,

when the gospel is boldly proclaimed

and many people repent of their sins

and believe in Jesus

and God's power is displayed

in signs and wonders,

whenever such revivals break out in history,

it's always the result of great power

and great grace of God.

In other words,

the source of such revival

is the filling of the Holy Spirit.

Remember what we learned

from the preceding passage last week.

It said in Acts 4.31,

and when they had prayed,

the place in which they were gathered together

was shaken,

and they were all filled

with the Holy Spirit

and continued to speak

the Word of God with boldness.

The ongoing revival we see here

in verses 32 to 37

is a result of that filling

of the Holy Spirit

in response to the concerted prayers

of the church.

On a static, you know,

pond,

boats can go all kinds of directions, right?

Depending on which way people are rowing,

depending on which direction

the wind is blowing.

People are all doing their own thing

on such a pond.

But as soon as you put those boats down

on the rapids,

they all start going down

in the same direction

in the irresistible flow of the river.

In the same way,

people who are doing different things

and living for different reasons,

when they come under

the mighty torrent of the Holy Spirit,

they all start flowing

in the same direction.

The many become one.

And that's what's happened here.

And once again,

Luke tells us in verses 34 to 35,

one obvious evidence of this unity

is the way they generously

and sacrificially give to one another.

Luke returns to this theme

because he wants to give us

two examples of this,

specific examples of this.

We saw earlier that they share

the things that they owned,

but that's not all they did.

They also sold the things

that they owned

to give away the proceeds

to their Christian brothers and sisters

who needed them.

So he says in verses 34 and 35,

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.

There was no needy person.

Why?

For as many as were owners

of lands or houses

sold them and gave the proceeds

to distribute it to each

as any had need.

Any who had need

was satisfied

because the many who had

generously gave.

Whenever there was someone with need,

someone with means

rose to meet that need.

The landowners and homeowners

did not insist on keeping

their properties to themselves.

They could have said,

well, do you know how hard

I work to save up for this house?

Do you know how many years

of backbreaking labor

it took me to buy

this parcel of land?

They were entitled to that.

The land was deeded

to their name.

But instead of selfishly

insisting on their right,

they sacrificially surrendered

their right for the sake

of their fellow church members.

I said earlier

that this is not

a socialistic community

where private ownership

is abolished.

But it's also true

that this is not

a capitalistic community

where private ownership

is prized and guarded

and where the desire

to increase one's own capital

governs all commercial dealings.

It's like comparing

apples and oranges

because the early church

functioned

not as an economy

but as a family.

The clause,

there was not

a needy person among them

echoes an Old Testament

ideal within the family of God.

The word needy

occurs only once

in the entire New Testament

right here.

And it's the same word

that occurs

in the ancient Greek translation

of Deuteronomy chapter 15

Deuteronomy 15:4

verse 4

where it says,

but there will be

no needy person

among you.

Acts 4.34

is a fulfillment

of that word.

This command

in Deuteronomy

is given in the context

of directions

about the sabbatical year,

a year of rest.

Jewish lenders

were permitted

to exact

what was owed to them

from their borrowers

if those borrowers

were foreigners.

However,

they were forbidden

from exacting

what was owed to them

from their fellow Jews.

And when the sabbath year

came,

the seventh year

of rest came,

they were commanded

to forgive

any outstanding loan

of their Jewish brethren.

So it says

in Deuteronomy 15

Deuteronomy 15:2

verse 2,

every creditor

shall release

what he has lent

to his neighbor.

He shall not exact it

of his neighbor,

his brother,

because the Lord's release

has been proclaimed.

This is how family works.

I recently received

a check

for serving

on jury duty.

It's not much

and the tax

is already taken out.

But it's money

that I earned

with the work

that I did

and the check

had my name on it.

But it really

doesn't matter

in the end

because it all goes

into the family

bank account.

In fact,

I told Hannah

that I'm giving

my jury check

to her

to use as she desires

since she had to work

extra hard at home

to make sure

I can go to jury duty

and then do church work

at night

and weekends

because I wouldn't have

been able to serve

on that jury

if it weren't for her.

Some of the money

undoubtedly

will end up

going to our kids

who are net negative

on our account.

They don't contribute

to our family's earning

in any way.

In fact,

they're quite a drain.

But that's how

families work.

They take care

of each other's needs.

They share

what belongs

to them

with one another.

So it is

within the family

of God.

The church

is the family

of God.

Church is not

a worship service

that you attend

or a building

that you enter into.

it's a congregation

of believers

as it says

in chapter 4

verse 32.

The full number

or congregation

the multitude

of those who believed

were of one heart

and soul.

The church

is a gathering

of people

a community

of followers

of Jesus Christ

who meet together

for prayer

and teaching

and the breaking

of bread

who live

closely enough

to know

each other's needs

and who love

each other enough

to meet

those needs

as they arise.

And I want to commend

many of you

who have done this

within our church

as well.

Some of you

have used

your own money

to pay

for another member's

medical expense

or housing expense.

Note that

at this point

in the book of Acts

the church

did not have

its formal structure

with the elders

and the deacons

as specified

in 1 Timothy chapter 3.

1 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

At this point

there's still

only one church

in all the world

the church

in Jerusalem

and the apostles

functioned

as the elders

of that church.

This is why

people bring

the proceeds

of what was sold

and laid

at the apostles' feet.

The apostles

being leaders

of the church

had a fuller picture

of the various

needs within the church

and by having them

coordinate

the distribution

of funds

they made sure

that every need

was met

and that there

wasn't any

reduplication

of efforts

with several people

trying to meet

the same need

not knowing

that it was already met.

This is what

we do

as a local church

as well

when we take up

offerings

for a collective fund.

It's what we did

at our members meeting

last Sunday

when we established

the benevolence fund

for future deacons

to allocate

to those who are in need.

Having made his point

about the unity

of the church

and how they met

one another's needs

Luke now gives us

two specific examples

a positive one

and a negative one.

We see the positive example

in verses 36 to 37.

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.

This brother's name

was Joseph

but we know him

by his more famous nickname

which the apostles

called him by

Barnabas

which means

son of encouragement.

He's one of the most

prominent believers

in the book of Acts.

His name occurs

again and again

and we'll encounter him

many times

and it's not surprising

for that reason

that the apostles

had a special nickname

for him.

And what a great nickname

son of encouragement.

To refer to someone

as a son of something

is an idiomatic way

in Hebrew

to describe

the character

of a person

and because

the Greek New Testament

is influenced

written by Jews

it reflects that influence.

So a son of

Ephesians 5, 6

calls disobedient people

son of disobedience.

So then

a son of encouragement

is someone

who is often

given toward

encouraging others.

If encouragement

had a son

it would look like

Barnabas.

The word encouragement

means to exhort

and embolden

another person

in his or her belief

or course of action.

The same word

is used

later in chapter 9

verse 31

to refer to the comfort

of the Holy Spirit.

He's a son

who gives comfort

to others

brings encouragement

to others.

We see him

doing this often

throughout the book of Acts.

When Paul

returned to Jerusalem

after his conversion

the apostles

were wary of him

knowing his reputation

as a fierce

persecutor

of the church.

However,

it's Barnabas

who personally

takes Paul

by his hand

and introduces him

to the apostles

assuring them

that he has

genuinely converted

and that he's safe.

In Acts chapter 9

Acts 9:27

verse 27

When a new church

begins to take

shape in Antioch

the apostles

send who?

Barnabas.

They're to encourage

them and build them up.

Acts 11

22-26

And then

when those same

Christians in Antioch

hear a prophecy

that anticipates

a famine

throughout Judea

they send relief

by the hand

of Barnabas.

When Paul

insists on not

taking John Mark

along with him

on their missionary

journey

being unwilling

to give Mark

a second chance

because Mark

had deserted them

in one leg

of the journey

previously

it's Barnabas

who insists

on giving Mark

a second chance

is in Acts chapter 15

Acts 15:37–40

verse 37-40

Paul virtually admits

later in his life

that Barnabas was right

because in 2 Timothy 4-11

he asks Timothy

to get Mark

and bring him with you

for he's very useful

to me in my ministry.

So Joseph

was a godly man

who was often

encouraging other believers

and building up the church

so he was nicknamed

Barnabas

and fittingly

Barnabas

sold a field

that belonged to him

and brought the money

to and laid it

at the apostles' feet

so that it might be used

to meet the needs

of the saints.

While Levites

were not given

an inheritance

in the land of Israel

by this time

Israel was not

a theocracy

governed by

the Mosaic law

rather they were

a conquered nation

subjects of the Roman Empire

and so under

these changed circumstances

it appears

Levites also owned land.

So Barnabas

a Levite

sold his land

and donated

it to the church.

But lest you think

that this is

just an idealized

depiction

of the early church

Luke gives us

a negative example

as well.

The early church

was not perfect.

Wherever the spirit

of God

is powerfully at work

Satan always tries

to do his worst.

And we see this

beginning in chapter 5

says in verses 1-2

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.

It's clear

that Ananias

and Sapphira

were part of

the Christian community

in Jerusalem.

They knew

who the apostles

were and they knew

that it was common

practice to sell

one's property

and bring the proceeds

to the apostles

to be distributed

to those who are in need.

But Jesus also taught us

in Matthew 13

24-30

that among God's people

there will always be

weeds mixed in

with the wheat

and that it will not

be possible

to separate them out

until the last day

the judgment day.

So it's possible

that Ananias

and Sapphira

were not genuine believers.

Considering

the divine judgment

that befalls them later

I think it's possible

that they were

not true Christians.

But Peter

prophetically sees

right through

Ananias and Sapphira's

deception

and he asks Ananias

a series of questions

in verses 3-4.

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?

While it remained

on sold

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.

Peter's questions

reveal exactly

what Ananias

and Sapphira

did wrong.

First,

they had no obligation

to sell their piece

of land.

Peter says,

while it remained

on sold

did it not

remain your own?

There was no

church policy

demanding that

everybody relinquish

their property

and bring it

to the apostles.

it was theirs

to do with it

whatever they pleased

and yet

he sold

they decided

to sell it.

Second,

after selling it

Ananias and Sapphira

did not have

the obligation

to donate

any or all

of the proceeds

to the church.

Peter says,

and after it was sold

was it not

at your disposal?

You could have

kept 100%

of the proceeds

for yourself

or you could have

kept 80%

of the proceeds

for yourself

and then donated

20% to the church.

Nobody would have

faulted you for it.

You could have

done whatever you

wanted with the

proceeds from the sale.

It was your money.

The problem

was not that

Ananias and Sapphira

withheld part

of the proceeds.

The problem

was that they

withheld the proceeds

while lying

that they were

donating all

of the proceeds.

The problem

was not

that they

were cheap.

Even donating

a part of the proceeds

would have been

very generous.

The problem

was not

that they

were withholding

what they

had already

dedicated to God.

The money

was theirs

to dispose of

as they wish.

The problem

was that

they lied

to God.

And why

would they

do something

like this?

Well,

because Joseph

had recently

donated all

of his proceeds

from the sale

of his land

and the apostles

and the rest

of the church

loved him.

They even

gave him

a nickname.

They called him

Barnabas,

son of encouragement.

Ananias' name

means the Lord

has shown favor,

but the favor

of God

shown in Jesus

wasn't enough

for him.

He wanted

man's favor.

He wanted

man's acclaim.

He wanted

to be

a beloved

of the apostles.

I want

to call

me

a son

of generosity.

Maybe

you can

be called

the daughter

of hospitality,

Sephira.

Oh,

but I really

want some

of that money

too.

Hey,

I've got

an idea.

Since we

got a great

deal on this

sale,

we can just

give a part

of the proceeds

and it will

still look

like we are

giving away

the entirety

of our profit.

This way

we can have

the best

of both worlds,

a sterling

reputation

in the church

and sparkling

riches at home.

How about

that idea?

But nothing

can be hidden

from the all-knowing

and all-seeing

God.

God is light

and in him

there is no

darkness at all.

If we say

we have fellowship

with him

and yet walk

in the darkness,

we lie

and do not

practice the truth.

every single

person in the

universe stands

completely exposed

before the

light of God.

So God

reveals Ananias

and Sapphira's

duplicity to

Peter and

Peter gets

right to the

heart of the

issue.

Twice he

repeats the

word heart.

He says in

verse 3,

Ananias,

why has

Satan filled

your heart

to lie to

the Holy

Spirit?

And again

in verse 4,

why is it

that you have

contrived this

deed in your

heart?

You have not

lied to man

but to God.

We see both

Satan and

Ananias' own

sinful flesh

at work here.

Satan has

filled his

heart and

Ananias has

contrived

the misdeed

in his own

heart.

And notice

the contrast

between this

description of

Ananias and

the description

of the

believers early

in chapter 4

verse 31,

where he said

that they were

all filled

with the

Holy Spirit.

When the

church is

filled by the

Holy Spirit,

there is unity.

unity.

But when

its members

like Ananias

are filled

instead by

Satan,

there is

duplicity and

disunity.

Earlier in

chapter 4,

verse 32,

it said the

believers were

of one heart,

but Ananias and

Sapphira were

not one of

them because

they let

Satan fill

their hearts.

So their

hearts were

divided,

double-minded.

Brothers and

sisters,

be watchful of

your heart.

When your

heart is full

of envy of

another church

member,

when your

heart is full

of rivalry,

when your

heart is full

of desire for

man's approval

or acclaim,

when your

heart is full

of pride that

thinks it can

hide things

from God,

that is not

the work of

the Holy Spirit

but the work

of Satan.

Such attitudes

are destructive

to the church,

it sows

discord.

When we see

one another

not as

teammates,

members of

the same

family of

God,

but as

competitors,

when we are

out to gain

glory for

ourselves rather

than for

God,

we begin to

act independently

instead of

interdependently

as we should.

Different parts

of the same

body vying

for prominence

instead of

each doing

its part

for the

benefit of

the whole.

It's not

the way

it's meant

to be.

Do you

struggle with

envy when

you see

another brother

or sister

in the church

enjoying the

favor of

other members

and or

the leaders

of the

church?

Do you

feel tempted

to do

good deeds,

to serve

diligently,

to speak

knowledgeably,

or to give

generously,

not primarily

out of your

love for

God and

for his

people,

but out

of your

desire for

recognition?

That's

what Ananias

was doing.

And God

would not

stand for

it.

It says in

verses 5 to

6,

when Ananias

heard these

words,

he fell

down and

breathed his

last.

And great

fear came

upon all

who heard

of it.

The young

man rose

and wrapped

him up and

carried him

out and

buried him.

Peter neither

condemns nor

curses Ananias,

yet God

himself brings

down this

spontaneous

judgment,

and Ananias

falls down

and breathes

his last.

Maybe he

died of a

heart attack

at the shock

and shame

of being

exposed in

public like

that.

We can't

know for

sure,

but what we

do know is

that this

was an

act of

divine

judgment.

The result

of that

judgment was

great fear

among all

those who

heard it.

Great power

and great

grace were

upon the

church in

verse 33,

and this

inspires

great fear

among all

those who

hear of

the mighty

acts of

God.

Verse 7

says,

After an

interval of

about three

hours,

Ananias'

wife came

in,

not knowing

what had

happened.

This is

ironic.

Early in

verse 2,

a slightly

different form

of the same

word to

know was

used to

tell us

that Ananias,

with his

wife's

knowledge,

kept back for

himself some of

the proceeds

and brought

only a part

of it and

laid it at

the apostles'

feet.

At that

time,

it was only

Sapphira who

was in the

know, so

to speak.

Only she

was aware of

her husband's

ploy, or so

she thought.

But now,

Sapphira is the

only person who

is not in the

know.

Peter knows,

the young

man who

carried out

Ananias'

corpse knows,

and of

course God

knows, but

Sapphira herself

does not

know what

has happened.

May this be a

warning to

those of us

who think

that we can

hide things

from God

and get

away with

sin.

We might

deceive man,

but we can

never deceive

the all-knowing

God.

If you think

you know

something that

God doesn't

know in

truth, you're

the one who

doesn't know

what God

knows.

Peter asks

Sapphira in

verse 8,

tell me whether

you sold the

land for so

much.

It's possible

that Peter was

at this point

unaware that

Sapphira was

Ananias'

partner in

crime, in

which case he's

trying to

determine

Sapphira's

knowledge and

role in the

matter.

If Peter

already knew

prophetically that

Sapphira was

part of the

ploy, then he

is here offering

her a second

chance to

repent and

tell the

truth.

Is the money

that your

husband dropped

off earlier

today really

the full

amount that

you received

for the

sale of

your land?

And Sapphira

responds,

yes, for

so much.

And Peter

says, 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 once

again, the

result is

great fear

that came upon

the whole

church and

upon all

those who

heard of

these things.

Why does

God act with

such severe

immediate

judgment of

Ananias and

Sapphira?

Verse 3

says that

Ananias lied

to the Holy

Spirit.

Verse 4

says that

he lied

not to

man but

to God.

Similarly,

verse 9

says that

Ananias and

Sapphira agreed

to test the

spirit of the

Lord.

That's the

crux of

the matter.

Lying to

God, or to

put it another

way, testing

God is a

serious offense.

First, Ananias and

Sapphira were

lying to God.

They lied to

Peter and the

apostles, but

Peter says that

in doing so,

they have not

lied to man but

to God.

Peter's not

claiming to be

God.

He's rather

speaking like

Jesus does

later in Acts

Acts 9:4

chapter 9,

verse 4.

The risen Jesus

says to Saul who

was persecuting the

church, Saul, Saul,

why are you

persecuting me?

Because the

church is the

body of Christ and

Christ is the

head of the

church.

The church is the

temple of the

very spirit of

God.

To persecute the

church, then it's

to persecute Christ

himself.

And in trying to

deceive the church

and its

representatives,

Ananias sought to

deceive God

himself.

When children are

little, it's

patently obvious

that they are

lying.

That's the case

with some

adults too,

but especially

with very young

children.

So it's almost

cute when a

parent catches a

child doing

that.

But the case of

Ananias and

Sophia is far

worse than

that.

It's absurd

to think that

one can deceive

the omniscient

God.

In fact, to

lie to him is

to make a

mockery of him.

You don't

really see all

that I do,

do you?

You don't

really know

everything I

know, do

you?

You're not

really God,

are you?

Ananias and

Sapphira lied

to God, and in

doing so, they

were also

testing God.

When the

Israelites tested

God in the

wilderness, God

called it

rebellion in

Psalm 78.

to test God

in this

instance is to

know that

something is

wrong, but

to do it

anyway in

defiance of

God, to

test him, to

see whether

God is really

serious about

his prohibition

or not, to

test it to see

whether God

will really

react or

not.

Sorry for all

the parenting

analogies here,

but there comes a

moment in

parenting when

you realize that

your toddler is

not the innocent

angel that you

thought he or

she was, but a

willful, sinful

human being like

the rest of us.

We have a

plant in our

house whose

leaf is poisonous

to humans if

you consume it.

It's fittingly

called a snake

plant.

And of course,

our toddler likes

to crawl over to

this plant, rip

off the leaves,

and try to eat

it.

One time, she

was trying to do

exactly this as I

was watching her,

and I looked her

in the eyes and

told her,

no, you

can't eat that,

no.

And then she

looked at me very

intently with a

serious look on

her face, and I

knew she understood

exactly what I was

telling her.

And then after a

few seconds of

staring me down

and as if daring

me to do

something about it,

she began to

test me by

proceeding to

rip off the

leaf.

I got even

closer to her

and told her

again, no.

And this time,

she knew she

couldn't get away

with it.

So she looked at

me with the

saddest little

face and started

crying.

Thankfully, she

doesn't do that

anymore.

She hasn't tried

it since.

Doing the wrong

thing unknowingly

is one thing,

but to do it

knowingly,

willfully,

that's something

else.

That's hubris,

defiance,

rebellion,

and it must be

addressed.

And Ananias and

Sapphira agreed

together to test

the spirit of the

Lord.

And that's a

serious offense

because God is

not someone to be

trifled with.

He's not someone

you can treat

lightly.

I love this

illustration from

The Chronicles of

Narnia,

The Lion, the Witch,

and the Wardrobe.

When Mr. Beaver

is talking to

Susan, Mr. Beaver

says, Aslan is a

lion, the lion,

the great lion.

Oh, said Susan,

I thought he was

a man.

Is he quite safe?

I shall feel rather

nervous about meeting

a lion.

Safe?

said Mr. Beaver.

Who said anything

about safe?

Of course he isn't

safe.

But he's good.

He's the king,

I tell you.

God's the king.

He is holy.

He sits enthroned

far above the

heavens.

And yet we

sometimes think

that God is

someone who

will put up

with endless

indignities

at our own

sinful hands

and never

respond.

God is the king.

If this instance

of divine judgment

makes you uneasy,

you're not alone.

That's in fact

the appropriate

response.

That's why

twice we are told

that great fear

came upon all

those who

heard this

incident.

Later,

chapter 5,

verse 13,

it says,

none of the

rest there

joined them,

the church,

but the people

held them in

high esteem.

Unbelievers

who observed

the kinds of

things that

were happening

in the church

realized that

God is holy,

that his church

is sacred,

so they were

careful around

the gathering

of believers.

They did not

treat them

irreverently

or flippantly.

They treated

the church

with respect.

They didn't

saunter over

to a church

gathering

like a

cackling

spectator

at a

carnival.

They wouldn't

dare to do

that.

When we see

a terrifying

act of judgment

like the one

we see here

in this passage,

we need to

be reminded

that God

is a holy

God who

hates sin

and judges

sinners.

Even if you

don't receive

immediate judgment

like Ananias

and Sapphira,

every sinner

will receive

ultimate judgment,