Acts Ch4v32-Ch5v11

But I strongly recommend flicking to it, because apart from anything else, you should want to check whether what I'm saying is actually in this text,

or whether I'm just making something up to talk to you about this morning.

And I'd encourage you as well to keep it open throughout the sermon, because we'll be referring back to it, of course, throughout that time.

And again, being able to understand that when I say, like, let's look at verse 8, we look at verse 8 and verse 8 has something to tell us in that kind of way.

So the passage, as I say, is Acts chapter 4, verse 32 to Acts chapter 5, verse 11.

Acts 4:32 Acts 5:11

Now, all the believers were one in heart and mind.

No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.

With great power, the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

And God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there was no needy person among them.

For from time to time, those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales, and put it at the apostles' feet.

And it was distributed to anyone who had need.

Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas, which means son of encouragement, sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet.

Now, a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property.

With his wife's full knowledge, he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles' feet.

Then Peter said, Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?

Didn't it belong to you before it was sold?

And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal?

What made you think of doing such a thing?

You have not lied just to human beings, but to God.

When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died.

And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.

Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body and carried him out and buried him.

About three hours later, his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

Peter asked her, tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?

Yes, she said, that is the price.

Peter said to her, how could you conspire to test the spirit of the Lord?

Listen, the feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door and they will carry you out also.

At that moment, she fell down at his feet and died.

Then the young men came in and finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

Before I start talking about this, let's take time to pray together as we come to look at God's word together.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word.

We thank you for all that is in it, both the easy passages that we like and the difficult passages that are awkward for us to understand.

As we come to look at this passage this morning, we pray that you would be softening our hearts to understand the message, but also to respond to it.

I pray, Lord, that as I speak, if anything is not from you, then it would quickly be forgotten by everyone here.

But Lord, I pray that any word that is from you would be enduring and lasting, not just in our memories, but in our lives and our actions as well.

I pray that you will help all of us, including me, to listen, to hear, to respond.

In Jesus' name, I pray these things. Amen.

Money.

Money is one of those things that tends to grab people's attention, isn't it?

A few weeks ago, I was on a train from Cork to Dublin, and there were two IT consultants across the aisle from me,

and they were talking quite loudly about data security in one of their clients.

And everyone was doing their best, their absolute utmost, to ignore what they were saying,

because they weren't particularly interested, riveting topic though it is.

And then something changed.

One of them said to the other,

Yeah, it's probably going to be about 50 grand, isn't it?

At that, I looked up.

Not so much at them, but at everyone else in the carriage,

to see how everyone would react to a number like that just being thrown out casually in conversation.

And a remarkable change had come on all of them.

Suddenly, everyone was very interested in this conversation that was being had about data security.

You'd think it was the most interesting thing they had heard all week.

We tend to notice when money is mentioned, either consciously or subconsciously, we tend to notice that.

And I'm sure that many of you noticed it was mentioned in the passage today.

In fact, money and possessions play a key role in the passage, don't they?

And because money and possessions play a key role in the passage, we can't really ignore them as we go through it.

And so I just want to take a couple of minutes before we go on to talking about what may be a sensitive topic for some people,

to check in on two elephants that people may see in the room.

And those two elephants ask two main questions.

One, how is the preacher qualified to talk about money?

The guy up the front, what does he know about money?

And two, does he stand to profit or to gain from talking about money in some way?

Is he going to go out and buy a private jet somewhere after the service if you give him all your money, so to speak?

Now, as many people will know here, or at least hopefully know, I'm not Johnny Grant.

I'm not the pastor of this church.

I'm not tall enough.

I'm not indeed the pastor of any church.

I work in financial services.

And so I have a bunch of qualifications and letters after my name that all have to do with money.

I've thrown them up on the screen there.

There's a bunch of letters that I don't really like to use.

I'm almost embarrassed to put them on the screen there, but I put them up there for two reasons.

The first is to emphasize that none of this is in any way beneficial when talking about money as far as the Bible is concerned.

So you can see up there, I'm a financial advisor.

I'm an actuary.

I do financial reporting.

Accountant, actuary, financial advisor.

What they can tell you or what we can tell you generally is how much money do you have?

What should you do with your money to achieve the goals that you have?

And generally, maybe how you should go about investing or spending to achieve those goals,

what amount of money you need for certain things, and so on.

What we can't tell you is what you should or should not do with your money.

We can't tell you what your financial goals should be or how you should view money in general.

Meanwhile, God says quite a lot about all of those topics in the Bible,

and he is a far more authoritative source than any human could be,

and certainly far more authoritative than I am.

So who am I to talk about money, that first question?

Well, in this context, nobody.

I'm nobody.

But insofar as my words align with what the Bible says, they will be good.

So we'll aim for that throughout this.

And the second reason I put the qualifications on the screen is to address one second elephant in the room.

So as you're probably aware, there are several so-called preachers or pastors in various parts of the world,

particularly in the United States where they have these sort of mega churches, etc.,

who would use, let's say, cherry-picked verses from Scripture to try to get you to give them money

to manipulate people into donating large sums of money that they can then use to build or buy mansions

or acquire private jets for themselves.

So it's right to be wary of falling into that kind of trap.

But in my case, I work in the financial services sector.

I'm not now, nor have I ever been employed by a church.

And to the best of my knowledge, I have never received any financial reward or compensation or anything like that

for any church-related work I do.

So there is no vested interest there.

As one final thought before we delve in,

I will say to you now that even though this passage talks about money and possessions,

at its core, I don't think this passage is actually about money.

It's about something that's a whole lot deeper than that.

But in order to understand what the passage is about,

we need to understand what the Bible does say about money, both in this passage and outside it.

So with all of that caveat out of the way, let's dive into the text here.

We start off in verse 32 of chapter 4.

And this first paragraph we have here, from verse 32 to verse 35,

showcases some extraordinary generosity, doesn't it?

At the end of verse 32, we read that the believers shared everything they had.

And verses 34 to 35 become even more remarkable.

We read that there was no needy person among them,

for from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them,

brought the money from the sales, put it at the apostles' feet,

and it was distributed to anyone who had a need.

This is extraordinary generosity.

You can see that even in our own world today.

People don't generally or typically sell property in order to give to the poor and needy.

And we might be prompted to ask, well, what causes this?

How or why are they being so generous?

Well, verse 32 gives us one unifying fact about all of them.

It says all the believers were one in heart and mind.

So who are the believers?

Well, that may be a bit of a silly question to ask in a church on a Sunday morning.

The Christians are the believers.

The believers are the Christians, right?

But what do they believe?

Well, you can see if you flip back to the end of chapter 2,

you can see chapter 2, verse 42.

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching.

So what were the apostles' teaching?

Well, verse 33 of chapter 4, our passage here, gives us the answer.

With great power, the apostles continued to testify to what?

To the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

They testified to Jesus' death, yes,

but they also testified to his resurrection.

And that's what the author actually focuses on both here and throughout Acts.

So by the time we get to this passage, chapter 4 of Acts,

the author has told us at least seven times that Jesus has been raised from the dead.

In Acts chapter 1, we have verse 3.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

It says he gave many convincing proofs that he was alive.

Verse 22, when choosing who would replace Judas,

Peter says that someone must become a witness with us of his resurrection.

In Acts chapter 2, we have verses 23 and 24.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

You put him to death by nailing him to the cross,

but God raised him from the dead.

It was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

Again, in Acts chapter 2, verses 31 and 32,

Acts 2:31

David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah.

God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it.

Acts 3.15, you killed the author of life,

but God raised him from the dead.

Acts chapter 4, verse 2,

Acts 4:2

the priests and Sadducees were greatly disturbed.

Why?

Because the apostles were teaching the people,

proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.

And Acts chapter 4, verse 9,

Acts 4:9

we have, it is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,

whom you crucify, but whom God raised from the dead.

And then here in verse 33 of our passage,

the apostles continued to testify

to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

The church was born in the proclamation of the resurrection.

And if you think about it, actually, for a minute,

Jesus' death means nothing without the resurrection.

Imagine how hollow the gospel would be if he had stayed dead.

We'd be left saying,

Jesus was a good man.

He never sinned.

And now he's dead.

That's not the gospel.

That's not good news.

Jesus' death is only good news

because of the resurrection that followed.

And you can pick out a ton of writing in the New Testament

that makes that point.

So Romans chapter 4, verse 25,

Romans 4:25

he was delivered over to death for our sins.

And he was raised to life for our justification.

Romans 6, 4,

just as Jesus Christ was raised from the dead

through the glory of the Father,

we too may live a new life.

Romans 10, 9,

so if you may know it,

if you declare with your mouth,

Jesus is Lord,

and believe in your heart,

what?

That God raised him from the dead,

you will be saved.

1 Corinthians 6, 14,

by his power,

God raised the Lord from the dead,

and he will raise us also.

So Jesus' resurrection

is tied to our resurrection.

It's tied to our ultimate fate.

And we depend on Jesus' resurrection

just as much as on his death,

if not more so.

In fact, later in 1 Corinthians,

Paul makes that exact argument.

He makes it abundantly clear.

He says things like,

if Christ has not been raised,

our preaching is useless,

and so is your faith.

And again,

if Christ has not been raised,

your faith is futile.

You are still in your sins.

And if we have hope in Christ

only for this life,

then we are of all people

most to be pitied.

And against all of that,

Paul just has one simple argument.

But he has been raised.

And there is so much more

that could be said

about the resurrection.

It's the foundation of our hope.

the resurrection changes our futures

if we're trusting in Jesus.

But coming back to our passage today,

it's also the foundation

of everything that happens

in verses 32 to 35.

Why do I say that?

Well, what happens

when you believe in the resurrection?

You see a different future ahead of you.

And that changes your heart.

The resurrection changes our future

and our hearts.

If we want to be specific to this passage,

talking about possessions and money,

what does that mean

for our view of possessions and money?

What does it mean for our hearts

in respect of those sides of things?

Because we have to see here

that the people's generosity here,

giving to the poor and needy,

ensuring there wasn't one among them,

even being willing to sell property

to make sure that was the case.

Well, this is something

that flows out of their faith

in the resurrection.

How do we know that?

Well, we're told that the believers

did these things to support each other.

But in order to sell property,

you first have to have property,

don't you?

And as these are new believers

here in Acts 4,

we know that they chose

to accumulate this wealth

before they became believers.

The only thing that has changed here

is that they are now believers

in the resurrection.

And now they are giving it away.

They're selling.

They're distributing.

They're making sure

that there's no one needy among them.

So why does this change them?

Well, suppose for a moment

that this life is all there is,

which is a mortifying thought

to begin with.

But suppose for a moment

this life is all there is.

That seems logical

to live,

drink,

be merry.

We know how short

our lives are.

If this earth is all there is,

then it's better to live it

with plenty of money.

It's better to live it

with plenty of comfort,

isn't it?

And we can be tempted

even to rejoice

in that wealth

and in that comfort.

In fact,

in Psalm 119,

when the psalmist

wants a simile

to describe

how much he loves

God's law,

something that everyone

will understand,

he says in verse 14,

I rejoice

in following your statutes

as one rejoices

in great riches.

He wants to talk

about how much

he loves God's law

and the best comparison

he can give

in terms of earthly joy

is having great riches.

And even if we know

that this is all

not going to last,

we're ultimately

going to die

even if we think

that's the case

and we know

that the treasures

will ultimately perish

and fade away,

if this world

is all there is,

then it makes sense

to store up treasure here.

Meanwhile,

the resurrection

changes all of that.

Suddenly we're sure

of an eternal life

that puts this life

into context

and makes it look

pathetically short.

And if there is

a resurrection to come,

if there's new life

to come,

and we gain access

to that through Jesus,

then suddenly treasure here

doesn't really matter

all that much.

It's only around

for the tiniest sliver

of the eternal lives

that we will have.

So if you believe

in the resurrection,

if we believe

in the resurrection,

then we believe

that our genuine faith,

to use the words

of 1 Peter,

we believe that

our genuine faith

is of more worth

than gold,

which perishes

even though refined

by fire,

because it lasts.

We believe that

the resurrection

of Jesus Christ

from the dead

has given us

new birth

into a living hope

and into an inheritance

that can never perish,

spoil,

or fade,

kept in heaven for us.

And that fundamentally

changes how we look

at money

and earthly treasure

and possessions now.

As Paul says

in 1 Timothy chapter 6,

1 Timothy 6 · chapter mention

it says,

Command those who are rich

in this present world

not to be arrogant,

nor to put their hope

in wealth,

which is so uncertain,

but to put their hope

in God,

who richly provides

everything for our enjoyment.

Command them,

command those who are rich

in this present age

to do good,

to be rich

in good deeds,

and to be generous

and willing to share.

In this way,

they will lay up treasure

for themselves

as a firm foundation

in the coming age,

so that they may

take hold of that life

which is truly life.

Jesus himself said

something similar

in Matthew chapter 6.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

He said,

Do not store up

for yourselves

treasures on earth

where moths and vermin destroy,

where thieves break in

and steal,

but store up for yourselves

treasures in heaven

where moths and vermin

do not destroy

and where thieves

do not break in

and steal.

Why does Jesus

give that advice?

Well, he tells us

in the next words.

Store up for yourselves

treasure in heaven

for where your treasure is,

there your heart is also.

Earlier I said

the core message

of this passage

I didn't believe

was about money.

And this is what I mean.

It's fundamentally

not about money,

but it's about our hearts.

This passage

is a really practical

worked example

of one of the things

that Jesus taught,

which is that money

is a real indicator

of where our hearts lie.

Now, money is just

an indicator

of where our hearts lie.

It's not the be-all

and end-all

in and of itself.

But it is a powerful indicator

of where our hearts lie.

And look at what the author

does between verses 33

and 34 here.

In verse 33,

he talks about God's grace

being so powerfully

at work in them.

God's grace.

God's free gift.

And then he links that in

with their not being

a needy person

among them.

So how does that work

in practice?

Do we see that

when God saves people,

he creates a money tree

for the new believers?

Or do we see that

in saving these people,

he gives them

some sort of new skills

or work attitude

that means that they're able

to improve their financial

condition themselves

or that sort of thing?

Well, no.

God's grace led

to there being

no needy people

among them

for or through

the means of

verses 34 to 35.

Those who owned

or land or houses

sold them.

They brought the money

from the sales.

They put it at the apostles' feet.

It was distributed

to those who had need.

God's grace is tied

directly into how believers

act with money.

I think it was something

that Ralph was saying earlier.

Real faith

or real worship of God

leads to a change

in our actions.

I want to be careful here.

I want to be really careful here.

This is not a contradiction

of the gospel message.

If you're following Christ,

then you are saved

by grace alone,

through faith alone,

in Christ alone,

to the glory of God alone.

And two of the clearest

verses in all of Scripture

that point to that

are Ephesians 2,

Ephesians 2:8

verses 8 and 9.

If you went to camps

or clubs as a child,

you may know those

of us as well.

For it is by grace

you have been saved,

through faith.

And this is not of yourselves.

There's a gift of God,

not by works,

so that no one can boast.

Saved by grace,

through faith.

But we can't detach

verses 8 and 9

from verse 10.

Verse 10,

which says,

we are God's workmanship,

created in Christ Jesus

to do good works,

which God prepared

in advance

for us to do.

And one of those good works,

referenced all the way

through Scripture,

is help the poor.

In the law,

we read various requirements

to help the poor.

If you read the first five books

of the Bible,

we have, for example,

one of the tithes

goes towards helping them.

Farm owners are forbidden

to glean to the edges

of their fields

so that people can come along

and make sure they have food.

The poor can have

something to eat.

If you look at the prophets,

the treatment of the poor

is tied to righteousness

and unrighteousness.

Isaiah 3,

we have,

the Lord enters into judgment

against the elders

and leaders of the people.

It is you

who have ruined my vineyard.

The plunder from the poor

is in your houses.

What do you mean

by crushing my people

and grinding the faces

of the poor?

Or Jeremiah 2,

Jeremiah 2:34

verse 34,

on your clothes

is found the lifeblood

of the innocent poor.

Ezekiel 16,

this was the sin of Sodom.

If you know Genesis,

you might think,

oh, well,

the sin of Sodom

was relating to sexual immorality

and impurity.

Ezekiel 16,

this was the sin of Sodom.

She and her daughters

were arrogant,

overfed,

and unconcerned.

They did not help

the poor and needy.

And then by contrast

in Isaiah 57,

God sets out

what he wants

from his people.

Is it not to share

your food with the hungry?

To provide the poor wanderer

with shelter?

When you see the naked

to clothe them

and not to turn away

your own flesh and blood?

In the New Testament,

I could point you

to the Gospels

or to James.

Concern for the poor

comes across really clearly

in those.

But I think maybe

the best place to go

for us may be Galatians.

Because Galatians

has one major message

from start to finish.

If you know that book,

it is you are saved

by grace,

through faith,

and not by works.

That is the summary

of Galatians

in one sentence.

At the start

of chapter 2,

Paul talks about

going to Jerusalem

to discuss the message

of salvation

with Peter,

James,

and John.

He says that they

agreed with his message.

They gave the right hand

of fellowship

to Barnabas and to me

when they recognized

the grace that was given

to me.

They agreed that we

should go to the Gentiles

and they to the circumcised.

So first,

they discussed and agreed

the fundamental message

of the Gospel.

And the only other thing

that Paul mentions

from this meeting

comes in verse 10.

All they asked,

the only other thing,

was that we should continue

to remember the poor.

The very thing

I've been eager to do

all along.

Even in the quintessential

grace not works

letter of the New Testament,

Paul can't avoid

mentioning helping the poor

and mentioning it

in the same breath

as the Gospel itself.

And in this passage

we see this is related

to the believers.

But this isn't restricted

to the believers.

We have passages

like Galatians 6

which says,

do good to all.

It says especially

to the family of the church,

especially to the believers.

But do good to all

is not restricted

to the believers.

Help the poor.

And helping the poor

is exactly what

the early church did.

We see it in this passage here.

But it also continued

for years after this.

Some of the people

in Rooted will have heard

me a quote

from Mike Duncan before.

He's a secular historian

who specialised

in the history of Rome.

If you're interested,

his podcast is like

70 hours

on the history

of ancient Rome.

And describing

the Roman citizens'

reaction

to the great persecution

of the Christians

in the early 300s AD.

So nearly 300 years

after the events of Acts,

he writes

that the Christians

were by the citizens

by this time

widely viewed

as a harmless cult

comprised of law-abiding,

tax-paying citizens

whose most visible

public act

was what?

Tending to the poor

and sick?

That was their most

visible public act.

That's what the early church did.

What about us today?

We have,

I would really hope,

we have the same faith,

the same hope,

the same God,

the same knowledge

of the resurrection.

So what should that

lead us to?

It might be tempting

to say,

you know,

selling property, etc.

This is only something

for the mega-rich.

If you have property

lying around,

then, you know,

what greater parallel

or what easier parallel

could you find here?

It's not presented

as a necessity

or required of everyone

since that's something

that everyone seems

to have done voluntarily.

But it's not presented

as fanatical

or a step too far either.

But we also need

to recognize

that most,

if not all of us,

fall into the category

of rich here.

We all have things

that we can give up.

If we look globally

around the world,

we are one of the richest

nations in the world.

I'm standing up here

in clothes,

if we include, like,

watch, shoes,

everything I'm wearing

at the moment,

I'm standing up here

in clothes

that I probably paid

more for

than some people

get paid in a year

for work.

We have wealth.

And we know

all too well

what need exists

in the world,

don't we?

Close to home

in Ireland,

we know that

over 10,000 people

are homeless,

each one a story.

And 10%

of the population

is estimated

to live in food poverty.

And we know

what's happening

with inflation

at the moment.

We know

what's happening there.

We can't ignore that.

That's just going

to rise,

isn't it?

Further away

from home,

we know well

from the news

what's happening

in Ukraine.

Similarly,

in Yemen,

it's estimated

that over half a million

are at acute risk

of starvation.

And that's the number

of children,

never mind the adults.

As James says,

suppose a brother

or sister

is without clothes,

daily food.

If one of you

says to them,

go in peace,

keep warm

and well fed,

but does nothing

about their physical needs,

what good is it?

So there are

some easy questions

we can ask ourselves

on a personal level,

on an individual level.

One of the ones

that the charities

would often go with

is can you give up

a coffee a week

to help someone in need?

Maybe even a coffee

a month,

given the way things

are going at the moment

in terms of inflation.

We can go deeper

than that.

Do we need

as many Amazon packages

or takeaways

or streaming services

or games

or cameras

or the newest laptop,

the best phone,

the latest app

on our phone

that costs

just a little bit extra?

Do we need

another trip abroad?

Do we need

another set of clothes?

Do we need

a newer car?

Do we need

a more

upper-middle-class

lifestyle?

Because we know

that this is going

to pass away.

We may not have

property to sell now,

but we have

extraordinary levels

of wealth

that previous generations,

including those

in this text,

could only have

dreamt of.

And I ask myself

these questions too.

And please,

if you see the love

of wealth

in my life,

please do me a favor

and point out

the giant plank

in my eye.

And yet,

as we ask these questions,

I'm also aware

that this is low-hanging fruit.

It's easy to pick.

But let's consider it more.

Let's think about it.

What more can we do

here and around the world?

What more can we do

individually?

And what more can we do

as a church?

I do mean that.

Let's think about it.

Let's chat about it

after the service

before we leave.

Let's plan.

Let's make sure

it gets beyond

the level of thoughts

and feelings

and gets into action.

Let's do something.

I'm going to move on

now shortly

in the passage,

and trust me,

I won't be spending

anywhere near as long

on the rest of the text

as they're in those

first few verses

because that's established

the foundation

and the rest

is basically one example.

But before I do move on,

please take a note.

I don't mind if it's like

a strong mental note

or a physical one

and a pen and paper

or a note in a phone

with a reminder set on it,

but let's not forget.

It can be so dangerous

to forget.

As Paul writes

in 1 Timothy 6,

he says,

if we have food

and clothing,

we will be content

with that.

Is that us?

He goes on,

those who want

to get rich

fall into temptation

and a trap

and into many foolish

and harmful desires

that plunge people

into ruin

and destruction.

For the love of money

is a root

of all kinds of evil.

Some people,

eager for money,

have wandered

from the faith

and pierced themselves

with many griefs.

It's not written down

in my notes here,

but the passages

have just come to me.

There's a part,

I think it's in Mark's gospel,

where a rich young man

comes to Jesus

and he asks,

good teacher,

what must I do

to inherit eternal life?

And they run down

through a list of laws

and requirements

and eventually

they get to the end

of it

and the guy says,

look,

I've kept all these

since I was a boy.

It says,

Jesus looked at him

and loved him

but said,

one thing you lack,

go sell everything

you have,

give to the poor

and you'll have treasure

in heaven,

then come follow me.

And it says

that rich young man

went away sad

because he had

great wealth,

wasn't willing

to give it up.

let's not wander away

for love of money

as we also see

later in this passage.

In verses 36 and 37

we have one example

basically of what's been said

in the previous verses.

We have a guy called Joseph

who's a Levite,

the apostles call him Barnabas

which means son of encouragement,

he sells a field,

he brings the money

to the apostles,

they distribute it.

Now,

if some of you know

Matthew 6 well,

you might wonder

if this is okay.

Because Matthew 6

Matthew 6:3

verses 3 and 4

says that when you give

to the needy,

incidentally,

when,

not if,

when you give

to the needy,

do not let your left hand

know what your right hand

is doing

so that your giving

may be in secret.

And people clearly know

that Barnabas

has given this money here.

So it doesn't seem

to meet the requirements

on the face of it.

But Matthew 6

is more about

whether the giving

is done in public

to be honoured by others

as it says in verse 2

of that chapter.

It doesn't look like

Barnabas

fails this test.

But for us,

if we're giving,

if we're supporting,

the best way,

the safest way

to be sure

that we're not

doing this

to be honoured

by others

is to do it

in secret.

That way we can be

sure of our motivations.

Having said that,

I just want to take a moment

to talk about

one specific Irish example,

particularly for anyone

who's earning money

here and paying taxes.

In Ireland,

if you're a taxpayer

and you give

more than €250

a year

or more than €21

a month

to a charity,

they can claim

almost 45%

of that back

from the government.

And all you have to do

is sign a very simple

basic form.

I think people get worried

whenever you talk about

taxes and forms

and, oh,

this is going to be difficult.

It's literally,

what is your PPS number?

Do you want this charity

to be able to reclaim

the money?

Tick.

Sign your name.

Date it.

Send it off.

And that gets

whatever charity

you're given to,

whether it's this church

or any other,

it gets them an extra

roughly 45%

from the government.

So just something

to think about

when it comes to mind there.

But if we go back

to Barnabas here,

it is clear

that his example

acts as a really

marked contrast

to what Ananias

and Sapphira do next.

They sell a plot

of land,

we're told in verse 2

of chapter 5,

and they keep

back some of the money.

Now, interestingly,

keeping back some

of the money

doesn't seem to be

a problem here.

It doesn't seem

to be the problem.

So much is the fact

that they're saying

and implying

that they're not doing that.

So they're saying

or implying

that they're handing

over the full sum.

And we get that

from what Peter says

in verse 4.

He's berating Ananias.

He says,

didn't it,

didn't the piece

of property

belong to you

before it was sold?

And after it was sold,

wasn't the money

at your disposal?

What made you think

of doing such a thing?

You have not lied

just to human beings,

but to God.

He had the choice

of what to do here.

His land was,

well,

his.

He had been granted

stewardship of it

by God,

ultimately.

He could have kept it.

He could have sold it

and kept all the money

if he wanted to.

From what Peter

is asking here,

it doesn't look like

either of those courses

of action

would have been

wrong or sinful

for him to do.

But what is wrong

is the lie.

Verse 4.

You have not just lied

to human beings,

but to God.

What is that lie?

Well,

in effect,

it's that they're giving

everything to God.

We don't see that so much

when Peter is talking

with Ananias.

We see it in verse 8

when he's talking

with Sapphira.

He asks,

tell me this.

Is this the price

that you and Ananias

got for the land?

He clearly has the money

that Ananias left with him.

He's saying,

is this the price

that you received?

And the lie

is where she says,

yes,

that is the price.

And there's a lot

we don't know about this.

We don't know

how much money

or what proportion

of the money

or what proportion

of their total wealth

represented.

We don't know

why they decided

to do this.

Maybe looking back

to verse 36 and 37,

maybe they're seeing

this new name

being given to Barnabas

and maybe they want

a new name

for themselves

from the apostles.

But whatever the case is,

you can see the judgment here.

It's really not easy

to read.

As both of them

claim to be giving

everything to God,

they lie

and they fall down dead.

The punishment is death.

And here is where

I think

we come back

to our hearts.

We saw earlier

money is an indicator

of where our hearts lie.

But we see here

that our hearts' lies

will be revealed.

We can't hide stuff

from God.

This isn't just

about money.

There are many other ways

in which we could

theoretically be claiming

to give everything

to God

throughout our lives.

It could be,

for example,

in church.

Maybe the reason

we volunteer

isn't exactly

what it seems to be

to everyone

or what we make it out to be.

Or at home,

what we think,

say and do

behind closed doors.

Maybe only select few

know about it.

Maybe even only God

knows about it.

Or it could be

when we're talking

with certain friends

or family

from years gone by.

Maybe from before

we became a Christian,

before we started

living out our faith.

We're willing to change

everything

in church

and in church

and Christian circles.

We are on fire for God.

But when talking

with these people,

we can't show them

that we've changed.

They'll mock us

if we've changed.

They'll be like,

what's wrong with you?

Maybe that's us.

Or maybe it's at work.

Do we claim to work

for the glory of God?

Have we really given

everything to Him

in that area

of our lives?

There might be

other ones

that come to your head,

ways we lie,

places we say

we're giving everything

to Him

and yet we're not.

The resurrection

changes our future

and our hearts.

Money is an indicator

of where our hearts lie.

One indicator,

a powerful indicator though.

And our hearts' lies

will be revealed

whatever they may be.

As I wrap up,

I'd like to encourage you

again to consider

and think about

your use of

and your attitude

towards money

and possessions.

I'd encourage you again

to talk about it

after the service.

Where can you use it better?

Where can we all

use it better?

But far more than that

on an individual level,

can I encourage you,

don't lie to God.

Your lies will be found out.

As the Apostle John writes,

if we claim to be

without sin,

we deceive ourselves

and the truth

is not in us.

The truth is not even in us.

But we know

that if we confess

our sins,

He is faithful

and just

to forgive us

our sins

and to purify us

from all unrighteousness.

So let's be honest

with God

and let's surrender

everything to Him.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father,

we thank You

for the resurrection.

We thank You

for this foundation

to our hope.

We thank You

that we can see

in Jesus'

rising again

our future

being changed.

We thank You

that You

are changing

our hearts

and have changed

our hearts

if we are following Christ.

And we pray

that You would help us

to find those parts

of our hearts

that are not fully

given over to You.

We pray that You

would help us

in particular

to think about

how we use money

and possessions,

whether that is

honouring or glorifying

to You.

We pray that this

would lead to

concrete steps

that we have

in our lives

but Lord,

we also recognise

that money

is only an indicator

of where our hearts

lie.

We recognise

that there are

so many ways

that we lie

to ourselves

and maybe even

lie to You, Lord,

and we pray

that we would

not do that.

We pray that You

would help us

to be honest with You,

to recognise

the sin in our lives

and to come to You

with it knowing

that You are faithful

and just

to forgive us

our sins

and cleanse us

from all unrighteousness.

Father,

we praise You

for what You

have done.

We praise You

for what Christ

has done

and we praise You

for what the Spirit

will do

in our lives.

As it's in Jesus'

precious name

we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.