Father, as we come to the book of
Acts this morning, we are coming to you.
We thank you, Lord, that we're not here
just to do a study like sitting in
a library to do a book report.
We are here with you, with open hearts
and open Bibles, and thank you, Holy Spirit,
that you are the resident truth teacher in
each one of our hearts.
And we do pray, Lord, that now, by
your Spirit, you would lead us, each one
individually and all of us together, through this
passage and minister to us, that all of
it, Lord, would teach us, and some of
it, Lord, those special parts would penetrate us
deeply and meet that need that we have
today before you.
So, Lord, use your word now to bless
us and bring us into deeper worship with
you, and we ask it in Jesus' name.
Amen.
I have given this passage a title, and
the title is Barnabas or Ananias, which one
are you?
Barnabas or Ananias, which one are you?
In the passage before us, we're going to
pick up in Acts 4, 32, then we'll
cross over into chapter 5 and go down
to verse 11.
It's worth pointing out that man put in
the chapter divisions in your Bible.
When Luke wrote the book of Acts, he
didn't have chapter divisions and verses.
He just simply wrote it as a hysterical
narrative, a historical narrative.
It's exciting.
It's not that hysterical, but it is exciting,
and there's never a dull moment.
But the chapter division between chapter four and
chapter five was put in by editors, and
I have to point out it's an unfortunate
division because it breaks the flow of thought.
So take the chapter division out and we'll
be ready to roll here.
For years, I wondered why the Holy Spirit
would give so much space to this account.
There's a good bit of detail about Barnabas,
but there's a lot of space and detail
about Ananias and Sapphira, and I wondered about
that for years.
It becomes very clear on close examination just
exactly why there's so much detail here.
In the end, what you discover is this.
It is a study in contrast, a study
in contrast.
Barnabas is brought into the forefront and then
Ananias is brought into the forefront, and it's
a study in contrast of a true giving
individual and an individual who wants to be
known as giving without living a giving life.
So there's much here for us.
There is a great blessing on this truly
giving body of believers, and then there is
the great tragedy of hypocrisy and missed blessing
all taking place in the same church.
And this was a good church.
So in Acts 432, now the multitude of
those who believed, I like that now the
multitude of those who believe they have been
persecuted, they've been forbidden to preach the word,
but they've gone on to do it anyway,
empowered by the Holy Spirit.
And now there's a multitude because they wouldn't
back down.
Now the multitude of those who believed were
of one heart and one soul.
Neither did anyone say that any of the
things he possessed was his own, but they
had all things in common.
Here is this wonderful group of believers of
one heart and one soul.
Why?
Because don't miss this persecution.
Persecution had driven them closer to God and
then closer to each other.
So this thing that none of us want
so often works such a great work when
it happens.
Persecution drew them closer to God and closer
to one another.
And a verse 33, and with great power,
the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of
the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon
them all.
Nor was there any among them who lacked
for all who were possessors of lands or
houses sold them and brought the proceeds of
the things that were sold.
And they laid them at the apostles' feet
and they distributed to each as anyone had
need.
And Joseph, who was also named Barnabas by
the apostles, which is translated son of encouragement.
Notice a Levite of the country of Cyprus,
which is actually an island in the Mediterranean
sea.
He wasn't native to Jerusalem.
He had land and he sold it.
Verse 37, he brought the money and laid
it at the apostles' feet.
Wonderful man, wonderful gift.
Then chapter five, verse one, but a certain
man named Ananias with his wife, Sapphira, sold
the possession and kept back part of the
proceeds.
His wife also being aware of it and
brought a certain part and laid it at
the apostles' feet.
And Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled
your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit
and keep back part of the price of
the land for yourself while it remained?
Was it not your own after it was
sold?
Was it not in your own control?
Why have you conceived this thing in your
heart?
You have not lied to men, but to
God.
Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and
breathed his last.
So great fear came upon those who heard
these things, and the young men in the
midst arose and wrapped him up and carried
him out.
Look at this and buried him on the
spot.
He dies.
The young men get up, they go over,
they wrap him up, they take him out,
they bury him right away.
Verse seven, that was about three hours later
when his wife came in, not knowing what
happened, which may be in fact exactly why
she came in.
It's very possible she wasn't planning on coming
at all.
But as the time is going by and
the clock is ticking off and Ananias isn't
coming home, she goes down to the church
to find out what happened to him.
Where is he?
I think that's exactly the case.
And so she comes not knowing where is
Ananias?
What's happened?
And as she comes, the Holy Spirit gives
her a chance to repent of this sin
and she doesn't.
So she shows up and Peter says to
her, verse eight, Peter said to her or
answered her, tell me whether you sold the
land for so much.
This is her chance to come clean with
the truth.
God always gives you a chance to repent
before he brings judgment.
Always.
He's gracious.
Tell me whether you sold the land for
so much.
She said yes, for so much.
Peter said to her, how is it that
you have agreed together to test the spirit
of the Lord?
Look, 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 last and the young men
came in.
They don't get up this time.
They come in.
They've been out burying the body of Ananias.
So they're now just finishing and they're getting
done.
They're coming.
Whoa, this is a heavy day at church.
They come back in and just as they
come back in, boom, another one falls and
they take her out and they bury her
by her husband who was already buried.
Verse 11.
So great fear came upon all the church
and upon all who heard these things.
What a fascinating passage.
Definitely not cliche, is it or typical?
And thank God that he's not working exactly
the same way in the offering today.
Or a lot of us would go down,
I think by now none of us would
be left and we'll talk about what really
happened there.
Do you think Ananias and Sapphira went to
heaven?
You ever thought about it?
You should think about it.
We'll hit that before we're done.
Let's talk about, first of all, the good
going on here, the blessing on the true
giving body, the blessing on the true giving
individual Barnabas.
And then we'll come to the blessing missed
by hypocrisy to begin with the blessing on
the true giving body.
This is a great church, the early church.
And there is great love here in their
midst.
In Acts 432, now is the multitude of
those who believed were of one heart and
one soul.
They were a one heart and one soul.
What a great state to be in.
And it was the adoration of Jesus Christ
that brought them together like that.
They were all of one heart and one
soul on Jesus Christ.
How far so many are from that today?
This is a worshiping church, an adoring church,
and it is a united church as a
result.
The centrality of Jesus Christ is at the
center of this church.
I'm reminded of what the psalmist said in
Psalm 57, verse 7.
He said, my heart is fixed.
Oh, God, my heart is fixed.
I will sing and give praise, a fixed
heart.
They had hearts fixed on the Lord, and
that's why they were of one heart and
one soul.
In Psalm 108, verse one, David writes and
he says, oh, God, my heart is fixed.
Time goes by.
The psalmist writes again in Psalm 112, verse
seven, he shall not be afraid of evil
tidings.
His heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.
If ever there was a group of believers
who all had their hearts fixed on the
same thing and on the same Christ, it
was here in the early church.
This is a pure church.
This is a real church.
This is the way every church should be.
Christ adoring, Christ honoring and filled with his
love.
As a result, because they love the Lord
so much, they saw everything they owned as
belonging to God.
Each individual saw what he had as belonging
to God.
So in Acts 4, 32, second half of
the sentence, neither did anyone say that any
of the things he possessed was his own.
But they had all things in common.
As a result, everything they had belonged to
the Lord.
I love the words of Alexander McLaren here.
He said there is nothing of modern communism
in all this.
But there is a lesson to the modern
church as to the obligations of wealth and
the claims of brotherhood, which is all but
universally disregarded.
In quote, great words.
This has been used to substantiate communism and
it's not talking about that.
McLaren is very, very precise when he says
this is a lesson to the modern church
as to the obligations of wealth and the
claims of brotherhood, because it's all but universally
disregarded.
In other words, most Christians don't live like
this.
They don't have such a passion for the
Lord and such a love for the brethren,
and they don't have a sensitivity to their
wealth and what they have to be able
to meet the needs of the people around
them.
They're too busy just working on their own
life.
McLaren is good at bringing it out to
the light and making it very clear and
yet simple.
So here is a group of people that
the Lord is free to work through them
because their hearts are fixed on him and
they deeply, deeply love the Lord and love
one another.
When you live like that and everything you
have belongs to God, he can do anything
he wants to do with you.
In fact, he can then give or take
away as he pleases.
He can use you any way he wants.
Can you hold your place there and turn
to Philippians chapter 4 verse 12 in your
Bible?
Philippians chapter 4 verse 12.
Paul here is writing to the Philippians.
Paul had been a very wealthy man.
Then he came to know Jesus Christ.
He lost a lot of what he had.
Different times he had a lot, at different
times he had nothing.
Writing to the Philippians in chapter 4 verse
12, he said, I know how to be
abased and I know how to abound.
If you could stop right there, the church
we're looking at in the book of Acts
knows how to abound.
There are people in there that have been
blessed by God and they know how to
abound.
They know what to do with what they
have when they do abound.
And Paul has been there and he's also
been very poor.
He says, I know how to be abased.
I know how to abound.
And he says everywhere then in all things
I have, he says, learned.
It's a process of learning.
I have learned both to be full and
I've learned to be hungry.
I've learned to abound and I've learned to
suffer needs so that whether I'm abounding or
whether I'm poor at the moment, I've learned
verse 13, this, I can do all things
through Christ who strengthens me.
My sufficiency is Christ.
And so I can be poor or I
can be abounding.
Either way, I know how to operate as
a Christian, loving God and loving my brethren.
And so it was in his life.
He lived like these people here.
Now, turn back to the book of Acts.
When you live like that, you're not tied
to anything except Jesus and his will for
your life.
And he can use you as a result
because they saw everything as they owned as
being God's.
They very naturally met each other's needs.
So that here's what happened.
The personal things of their lives became secondary
to the cause of Christ after they came
to know Jesus Christ.
See, I think that what we see with
all this giving and this great love in
this body is something that came about fairly
suddenly.
Don't forget that the bulk of this church
was birthed out of the group that came
up to Passover and stayed for Pentecost so
that many of them stayed and didn't go
back home.
That's why there are those with needs that
have no money, and then there are those
that have land.
Many of them had come up to Pentecost
in obedience to the word.
They heard the word preached by Peter on
Pentecost, and they stayed and lived in Jerusalem.
And as a result, they didn't have jobs.
They didn't have money.
So there was great need.
But the others that lived there had enough
to meet their need, and as a result,
their needs were taken care of.
When you come to know Jesus Christ, things
change.
And one of the greatest things that happens
to you is he makes you a giver,
a giver.
You learn that it is more blessed to
give than to receive.
The personal things of your life become secondary
to the cause of Christ.
So verse 34, Nor was there any among
them who lacked.
For all who were possessors of lands or
houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of
the things that were sold, and laid them
at the apostles' feet, and they distributed to
each one as they had need.
Now, that doesn't mean they sold the houses
they lived in, because as you go on
in the book of Acts, you find people
have houses, extra houses, extra land.
Again, Alexander McLaren said, Thus, they possessed as
though they possessed not.
And each held his property as a trust
from God for his brethren.
Lord, my life is yours.
What I have is yours.
And whatever you want to use for your
work, you just tell me.
So the personal things of their lives became
secondary to the cause of Christ.
And as a result, the whole church got
into giving and the offering to make it
very practical.
Why?
Because they had a sense that they as
individuals were the church, that they as individuals
were the church.
They were mindful of that.
You are the church.
The church is never a building.
It is the people.
And they had a sense.
We are the church.
So we take care of each other.
And as a result, great grace was upon
them.
They came in verse 35 and they laid
at the apostles' feet whatever they had.
The apostles then distributed to each as anyone
had need.
This is not communism, share and share alike.
This is as each has need.
And in this practical demonstration of love, you
know that there had to be a powerful
witness that went out around Jerusalem because Jesus
said, They will know you are my disciples
by your love one to another.
So here they are.
Now, one thing that's interesting to me is
that selling houses and land is far more
sacrificial than just giving a portion of your
income because selling houses and land is liquidating
assets that could be irreplaceable.
Thus, follow this reducing one's personal security.
Reducing one's personal security, they were placing their
security more and more in the Lord and
less and less in things and bank accounts.
Verse 35 and they laid them at the
apostles' feet and they distributed to each as
anyone had need.
You know why they did this?
Because God was just simply working in their
hearts.
In First Thessalonians 4 9, it says, But
concerning brotherly love, you have no need that
I should write you, Paul says, for you
yourselves are taught by who?
By God to love one another.
Here they are with this great love because
God's great love was flowing through them as
they sought him above all things.
And then they had great power.
Acts 4 33 says with great power they
gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ and they had great grace, great
love, great power and great grace were the
earmarks of this church simply because Christ was
the center of everything, not man.
And they were anointed with the blessing of
God.
When I read that phrase in verse 33,
great grace was upon them, I think of
simply this.
They were under the smile of God, under
the smile of God.
God's touch was on their lives.
So as they sought him, Lord, what do
we do?
Where do we go?
How do we give?
How should we worship?
The blessing of God was upon them as
they witnessed, as they worshipped, as they fellowship
together.
They were under the smile of God.
So here's the blessing on this true giving
body.
But in this church, there's an individual and
there is a blessing on this true giving
individual.
This church cultivated great individual givers.
It cultivated great individual givers.
Acts 4 36 and Joseph, who was also
named Barnabas by the apostles, which is translated
son of encouragement, a Levite of the country
of Cyprus, having land, sold it and he
brought the money and he laid it at
the apostles feet.
Now, Barnabas, there are others doing this, but
Barnabas is taken and brought to the forefront
and singled out by Luke as an example.
And Luke gives us a good deal of
detail about him.
It's rarely the case that you find the
tribe of a disciple.
Name.
Think about that.
Very rarely do you find the tribe of
a disciple named.
Here is Joseph, verse 36, also named Barnabas
by the apostles, a Levite of the country
of Cyprus.
Why did Luke put that in there?
I thank God for the detail from Luke.
Luke put that in there because we read
previously that not a few of the priests
believe, but that there were a number of
the priests turning to the Lord as well
here by this point in time.
All the persecution that's gone on right before
this has come from the priests.
So Luke is careful to say there was
a Levite who was named Barnabas by the
brethren and he was a great giver.
So he's there in their midst.
The Levites were those that were the tribe
set aside by God, out from which came
the priests.
The priests came from the tribe of Levi.
Now, by this time, the priests are the
greatest opposing factor to Christ and Christianity.
So here's the deal.
There are some very grand who believer believers
who came from the ranks of those who
were opposing Christ and the Christians the most
out from those who were opposing the Lord,
the most came some of the greatest Christians
during this time.
Isn't that great?
I love that because we tend to look
at those that persecute the church and those
that disdain what we do as being a
lost cause out from their ranks came Barnabas
and he rises to the surface as a
great believer in Jesus Christ and a great
example to us.
So the tribe of Levi, he wasn't from
Jerusalem.
He was from Cyprus in the Mediterranean.
He is this is worth noting.
He is related to John Mark Colossians 410.
He is related to John Mark.
He's effectively his uncle.
So we read that his sister's house was
the meeting place of the Jerusalem church in
Acts 1212.
So Mark in the Bible and Barnabas are
related.
He is his uncle.
And Luke describes him as a good man
and acts 1124 and full of the Holy
Spirit and faith.
This man is a great example.
His example is so powerful, they changed his
name.
Have you ever given anyone a nickname?
Come on now.
We all give people nicknames.
Come on, be honest.
Don't look at me like that.
We all give people nicknames.
Now, what does it take to get one?
What makes you eligible for the group to
give you one?
We do it as groups.
You have to have a very dominant character
trait that really sticks out there so that
the group agrees that that.
Yeah, it's like a caricature of reality.
So those in our midst sometimes that talk
a lot, they get little nicknames and they
don't know it.
Those that never talk get nicknames, too, and
they don't know it.
We tend to give nicknames.
Sometimes they're good.
Sometimes they're not so good, but it takes
a very strong, consistent trait in a person
over a period of time to gain a
permanent nickname.
So then this man who is nicknamed in
Acts 436, he is named by the apostles
the son of encouragement.
Can you imagine how encouraging then he must
have been?
And he got that nickname during the midst
of heavy persecution.
So when other people are like knuckling under.
Oh, man, I can't take it.
The devil's been really banging on me.
Barnabas comes along and says, come on, get
up.
We can do all things through Christ who
strengthens us.
You have the Holy Spirit filling your brother.
Let's go.
We can do this.
He was there to encourage the brethren.
He was such an effect on the brethren
that they gave him the name Mr. Encouragement,
Mr. Encouragement.
So when he came walking down the street,
you go, hey, here comes Mr. Encouragement.
You see him sparkling and beaming as he's
coming down the pathway.
What an example.
I pray that God makes me like this
man, Mr. Encourager.
And I pray that God makes each one
of you like him in good measure, Mr.
or Mrs. Encourager.
What a great nickname.
What a great example.
So Barnabas set forth as an example.
And Barnabas is really used mightily in the
early church.
Now you know why.
Luke sets him forth here, I think, as
a forecast of how much God is going
to use him.
And he gives us the secret of why
he is such a kind, encouraging man.
You know, when you have an individual like
this, you have the kind of man or
woman God can truly work through and God
does work through.
You can't be real encouraging unless you are
others minded.
Others minded.
Otherly minded.
Barnabas is known for being that way.
You know, he is mentioned 24 times in
the book of Acts alone, 24 times.
And here he is.
He sells his land and he gives it
and he encourages the brethren, does all of
these things.
Now you might think, well, I don't have
any land to sell.
I don't have anything.
How can I be an encourager?
How can I be a giver like Barnabas
if I don't have anything?
That question is worth answering, especially if Paul
said, I've learned what it's like to abound
and I've learned what it's like to be
a base.
How do I give if I'm a base?
I want to show you.
Hold your place here.
Turn to Luke 21, Luke 21, verse one.
Jesus is with the disciples here.
He's teaching them and they are right by
the treasury of the temple.
And at that time, the the receptacles for
the offerings were made of gold.
They're very conspicuous.
And a lot of the religious leaders made
a lot of fanfare when they would go
up to give.
Some of them would stop before they gave
flash their offering in the sun and have
someone announce it, then drop it in and
everybody be whole.
Wow.
What an offering.
Thank you very much.
Same time, same place next week.
I'll be here.
Thank you very much.
You're all dismissed.
And, you know, Jesus said of people like
that, they have their reward.
That's it.
They got their reward.
The praise of men.
Now, in the middle of this, Jesus is
there with his disciples, whatever it is he's
teaching them.
He stops and he says, stop everybody.
Look, there's a little poor woman who's a
widow and she's about to give her offering.
Luke 21, verse one.
He looked up and he saw the rich
putting their gifts into the treasury, as I've
just described.
And he also saw a certain poor widow
putting in two mites, two very small copper
coins.
You know what they added up to?
One eighth of a penny.
And Jesus stops and he points her out
to all the disciples in verse three.
So he said, truly, I say to you,
this poor widow put in more than all
for out for all these out of their
abundance have put in offerings for God.
But she out of her poverty put in
all the livelihood she had.
So you say, how can I be a
giver if I'm being a base?
You just give what you can and God
will notice.
And when it comes from a heart like
that, he takes notice.
And what she was saying, Mark tells us
she put in all her livelihood.
Luke tells us she put in all her
livelihood.
In other words, she didn't have anything left.
She she kind of snuck around these religious
leaders making their big fanfare.
She quietly dropped in her two pennies and
she said, Lord, that's it.
That's all I have.
I don't have any more.
And you're my provider.
Seek first the kingdom of heaven.
Everything else will follow.
Lord, I trust you.
I love you.
I just want to give what I could.
And the Lord was a provider.
The Lord noticed, you know, he blessed her.
So you give what you can and God
will bless it.
You don't have to necessarily have a lot
to give.
What you really need is simply this, a
giving heart.
That's what the Lord looks at, a giving
heart.
So Barnabas is the kind of man or
woman God can work through that kind of
individual.
God works through them.
Now, go back to Acts as we're looking
at Barnabas.
I want to remind you of something.
I want to remind you of who he
discipled.
Who did God use this man with this
wonderful example?
Well, for one thing, he discipled the apostle
Paul in Acts, chapter nine, verse twenty six.
It says when Saul had come to Jerusalem.
He tried to join the disciples, but they
were all afraid of him, I guess so
he's been killing them, putting them in prison,
having them tortured.
Suddenly he is converted on the Damascus Road
and then he comes around the Christians.
Jesus converts him out there personally.
Then he comes to Jerusalem later and he
wants to join up with the church and
they're afraid of him.
They think he's just coming, pretending to be
a Christian, and then he's going to bust
loose with his persecution.
So they won't let him in the church.
We read Acts nine, twenty seven.
But Barnabas took him.
Great words.
Barnabas took him and he brought him to
the apostles and he declared to them how
he had seen the Lord on the road
and that he had spoken to him and
how he had preached boldly at Damascus in
the name of Jesus.
In other words, Barnabas took him, said, Come
on, I'll take care of you.
He discipled Paul.
He brought him in.
He got him into the church.
Barnabas was so credible in the church that
the brethren then were willing to take in.
Saul, who became known as Paul, Barnabas influence
went into Paul in a great way.
And what happens is you find Paul discipling
people like Barnabas.
For example, he taught the church at Ephesus
when he founded it in such a way
that they came to know it is more
blessed to give than receive.
And when Paul was on the ship on
the way past Ephesus going toward Rome and
he met with the elders from the Ephesian
church, they came all the way out to
the ocean, about nine miles, and they met
with Paul on the beach and they wept
and they cried because this man was such
a source of God's love to them.
And they were told by Paul that they
wouldn't see him again.
And it was a very sad time because
so much of the love of God had
been revealed to them and brought into their
lives by Paul to these people in Ephesus.
My point is this.
He was discipled by Barnabas, and he went
on to be one who discipled others to
become like Barnabas, great givers, great lovers.
So if he discipled Paul, you could say,
couldn't you, that he discipled a winner, right?
That's easy.
So Barnabas was used by God to disciple
winners.
But here's an interesting thing.
Barnabas was also used by God to disciple
losers.
In other words, he wasn't just one who
said, I only work with the elite.
Give me the erudite, the smart, the strong,
the gifted, the luminaries, the shooting stars.
I'll work with them.
No, he was willing to work also with
losers.
Let me give you an example of that.
Acts 1536.
Can you turn in your Bible?
This is that well-known account where Barnabas
and Paul finally split up.
Acts 1536.
Then after some days, Paul said to Barnabas,
let's go back and visit our brethren in
every city where we have preached the word
of the Lord and see how they're doing.
Verse 37.
Now, Barnabas was determined to take with them
John called Mark.
Now, Barnabas insisted they should not.
Paul insisted they should not take him with
them because he had departed from them in
Pamphylia and had not gone up to the
work.
In other words, on their last trip, Mark
bailed out.
When you're on a missionary journey and someone
who is a key player on the team
bails out, it makes everybody else on the
team have to pick up the slack, causes
everyone else on the team to have to
pick up the slack and do double duty.
So Paul, now going for his second missionary
journey, he says, listen, on the last one,
Mark bailed out.
He left us hanging.
We're going on a very important journey now.
We're not taking any people that are going
to bail out again.
So he's not going.
And Barnabas is very adamant about it.
But Paul knows what is ahead of them
and he knows he'll never make it.
And by the way, it was a very
difficult journey and he wouldn't have.
Now, verse 39, the contention became so sharp
they parted from one another.
And we read an interesting thing in Acts
1539.
So Barnabas took Mark and he sailed to
Cyprus.
Now you know why he sailed to Cyprus,
because he came from Cyprus.
That was his home in the Mediterranean.
He took him back to where his native
home was.
He was, in fact, his uncle.
And we read in Acts 1540, but then
Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by
the brethren to the grace of God.
And everybody agreed, you know, Paul, that was
a really good move.
Good decision.
Barnabas takes Mark and he disappears.
And the wonderful thing is he takes this
loser.
I call him a loser because at that
point in time he is.
But the thing about it is in the
kingdom of God, you can be a loser,
but you don't have to stay that way.
God will bring people alongside of you to
work with you so you can become a
winner in the kingdom of God.
And he worked with John Mark.
And when Paul was writing his last letter,
Second Timothy, chapter four, verse 11, he writes
and he says, Only Luke is with me.
Get Mark and bring him with you.
I love this, for he is useful to
me for ministry.
Isn't that great?
Years earlier, he says he's not coming.
He's useless now at the end of his
life when it's very critical who is around
him.
He says, bring Mark.
I want him with me.
He's so useful.
Who made him that way?
Jesus?
Yes.
But who did God use?
Barnabas.
When you're willing to work with winners and
losers in the kingdom of God.
Then you have become Christ like because the
kingdom is made up of a lot of
winners and a lot of losers.
And the great thing is that Jesus Christ
can take a loser and turn them into
a very productive, useful individual.
So Barnabas, what an example.
What an example.
No wonder he was blessed.
No wonder this church was blessed.
It's no wonder.
But I'll tell you what, it is a
big wonder to me why Anna and I
are so blessed to be a part of
the kingdom of God and to be a
part of the kingdom of God and to
be a part of the kingdom of God
and to be a part of the kingdom
of God and to be a part of
the kingdom of God and to be a
part of the kingdom of God and to
be a part of the kingdom of God
and to be a part of the kingdom
of God and to be a part of
the kingdom of God and to be a
part of the kingdom of God and to
be a part of the kingdom of God
and to be a part of the kingdom
of God and to be a part of
the kingdom of God.
But Barnabas, Annias and Sapphira are not blessed
like everybody else.
By that I mean it's an amazement to
me.
We have seen so far the blessing on
this true giving body and the blessing on
the true giving individual.
Now we come to the last thing.
The blessing missed by hypocrisy.
This is a great church.
No need to be a hypocrite.
But the quality of the church doesn't always
determine whether people are hypocrites or not.
Would you agree to that?
That's an individual choice.
And that's what we find here.
Acts 5.1, a certain man named Ananias
with his wife, Sapphira, sold a possession.
Do you remember the story of Achan in
the Old Testament, in the book of Joshua?
Joshua went into the promised land.
They took Jericho by a great miracle of
God.
Huge fortress.
Archaeologists have discovered stones there that they say
are part of the oldest known fortress on
earth.
Huge fortress.
Great victory.
We know the account of taking Jericho.
Then they went on to Ai and they
lost the battle and it was a little
tiny place and they lost because of a
man named Achan.
The Lord said, don't touch any of the
wealth of these ungodly people.
Don't take any of their idols.
And Achan, who loved money, he went in
during the battle at Jericho and he got
a bunch of their stuff and he hid
it under his tent.
And as a result, when they went up
to fight at Ai, they had defeat instead
of victory because he brought sin into their
midst.
Achan in the book of Joshua is much
like.
Ananias in the book of Acts, just as
they were early going in the promised land
as God's people, and God was very jealous
to guard their purity, that's why he judged
Achan so severely.
Here is the early church and God is
very jealous over the purity of the early
church, and that's why he judges Ananias so
severely.
See, Satan has failed to stop them by
persecution.
So what's his new strategy?
Pollute them, corrupt them from within.
That is why God acts in the way
that he does here so severely.
You have to see that.
So in Acts 5, 1, Ananias and Sapphira,
they sold the possession and they kept back
part of the proceeds.
Verse two, and they brought it.
They laid it at the apostles feet and
verse three, Peter said.
Ananias, don't miss this.
Ananias, why?
You have to hear the pathos.
You have to hear the redemptive tone in
Peter's voice.
You just read the black and white words.
You don't hear any tone.
But think about for a minute, who is
Peter?
Who is the man that failed Christ when
he was sifted by Satan?
Peter, who is the man that was walking
down the road with Jesus and he said,
I have to go up to Jerusalem and
I have to go to the cross and
I have to die and was taken by
Peter and rebuked.
You're not going to the cross.
And Jesus responded, saying, the Lord rebuke you,
Peter.
No, the Lord rebuke you, Satan.
Peter is a man so well acquainted with
Satan's working in the human heart.
It's no wonder to me God has Peter
standing there at this moment.
Peter knew very well what it's like to
be human.
He knew very well what it's like to
have good intentions.
And he knew very well what it's like
to have Satan cut you off right in
the middle of it.
And you have to make a choice to
do right or do wrong.
And he knew what it was like to
do wrong.
So you understand that and you're going to
read that different.
I used to read it like Peter said,
Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart with
the light of the Holy Spirit and keep
back the price of land?
You're going to die.
Boom.
And he turns everybody he did.
We know he did.
And his wife's coming.
She's going to die, too.
I just saw it as judgment on a
hypocrite.
I don't see it that way anymore.
I see a man, Peter, who was well
acquainted with this type of thing.
And he is reaching out.
Ananias, why?
All Ananias had to do was say, stop.
I'll tell you why.
I'm in sin.
Peter, pray with me.
I want to repent right now.
I've done a terrible thing.
I'm about to do a terrible thing.
Peter, pray for me.
And then Peter could have said, oh, God
bless you.
I know what it's like, man.
Let's pray.
And he could have gone home.
He could have said, you know what, Peter,
I kept back part of the money.
In fact, I'm going to keep it all
because I can't give it with a right
heart.
God bless you.
Take your money.
The Lord loves a cheerful giver.
Go home, Ananias.
But instead, he didn't heed the love of
God to give him a chance to turn
from his sin.
And in verse four, Peter said, while it
remained, was it not your own?
And after it was sold, was it not
in your own control?
Why have you conceived this thing in your
heart?
You have not lied to men, but to
God.
It's very important to see verse three and
verse four.
In verse three, Peter says, why has Satan
filled their heart to lie to the Holy
Spirit?
In verse four, he puts the responsibility on
Peter.
Why have you conceived in your heart to
do this?
We can't just go say the devil made
me do it.
We have a will and we have to
exercise it for right or for wrong.
Yes, Satan was involved.
Definitely.
But Ananias consented to Satan's involvement rather than
saying no.
You know how Jesus says in the book
of Revelation to the one church, behold, I
stand at the door and knock.
Well, in a very real sense, you could
look at Satan that way.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
He wants to get into your life.
He will come in if you let him.
He can't come in unless you let him.
Christ lives in you.
If you say no, he can't come in.
But if you let him, he's going to
lead you into all kinds of weird things.
And that's what happened here.
Why Ananias?
And then verse five, Ananias hearing these words
fell down and breathed his last.
And so great fear came on all those
who heard these things.
The young men arose, wrapped him up, carried
him out.
In the end, he got caught right in
the middle.
He was about to give that money away.
And he thought, you know what?
I don't want to give it all.
Just give a little tiny bit.
Oh, I want to be known as a
great giver in the church, like Barnabas.
So I'll go and I'll lie.
And God saw it all.
God saw it all and dealt with him
heavily because God loved this church and he
didn't want the early church right up front
to be a bunch of hypocrites telling lies
to each other, acting like they were giving
when they weren't giving, acting like they were
loving when they weren't loving.
And so he sets him out as an
example.
And God does that occasionally.
Then verse seven, it was about three hours
later.
So Peter's standing there thinking about this for
three hours.
And then comes his wife not knowing what
had happened.
So you can hear again in his voice
the same thing.
You know what, Sapphira?
You can get out of this.
I'm going to ask you a question and
I'm going to ask it in such a
way you have an opportunity to repent.
How much did you sell the land for?
You know what, Peter?
I don't know what's going on here, but
I have to tell you, my husband, I
did a terrible thing.
Oh, let me pray with you.
Oh, please do.
I want to turn from this.
But no, the decision was firm.
And so Peter said to her, how is
it?
Verse nine, you have agreed together to test
the spirit of the Lord.
Look, the feet of those 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 last.
And the young man came in and found
her dead and carried her out and buried
her by her husband.
So great fear came on all the church
and upon all who heard these things.
Great fear is a healthy fear.
You know what it was?
Jesus is in our midst.
God is real and God is holy and
God wants his church holy.
And God saw everything in private that we
didn't see about Ananias and Sapphira.
Peter's just standing there in church.
He's not thinking things about Ananias and Sapphira.
When when Ananias comes in, he's not at
all.
Here comes Ananias.
You know, that guy's shifty.
He's got a weird look in his eye.
He's not acting like that.
He's just in church.
He's he doesn't have any idea of this.
And suddenly the Holy Spirit gives him the
whole panorama and he understands and he is
responsible with what the Holy Spirit shows him.
And these two are judged.
These two are judged.
Alexander McLaren put it this way concerning Sapphira.
He said she had a hard choice to
make, which we have to make sometimes, and
that is to be true to some sinful
bargain or to be true to God.
And she chose the worst part.
We need to be careful of that, to
be true to some sinful bargain or to
stop and respond to God when he gives
us that chance.
Now, here are these people.
They did this thing and they die for
it.
The reason it's so severe is because God
was so serious about keeping his church pure.
The question that comes up then is, were
they true believers or not?
Did they go to heaven or did they
go to hell?
I believe they were true believers.
I'll tell you why.
I'll give you several reasons, five of them.
First of all, they were included in the
congregation of those who believe the multitude of
those who believed Acts 432.
Second, they were involved with the Holy Spirit,
indicating a relationship.
Third, if they were not Christians, what lesson
about sin did this give to teach all
the rest who were in the in the
church, all the believers?
There weren't Christians.
What's the lesson of sin to each other?
Believers for Satan can become personally involved with
believers.
So that's not unusual.
And that is why on the way I
pointed out Peter and reminded you of that
fifth.
And this is pretty heavy, but it's true.
Death can be divine chastening for a believer.
And you'll find that on first Corinthians 11,
when Paul says you're coming drunk to the
Lord's table and for this cause, many among
you are sick and some have even died.
They sleep.
They have died.
And first, John 5 16 speaks of a
sin that is under death.
Sometimes God takes a believer out because their
example in their witness is so bad.
He'll take them out and in mercy, take
them to heaven.
Thank God.
Huh?
Thank God.
You see, in the end, he's a merciful
God.
He was merciful.
Don't miss this.
He was merciful to Ananias and Sapphira by
taking them out to heaven.
And he was merciful to the church by
taking their sinful influence out of their midst.
And so the church got really sharp at
that point, and they had the fear of
the Lord in their hearts because they knew
the Lord was in their midst.
So you understand, then, that here is a
great church.
Here is the love of God.
Here are great opportunities.
And here is an account of people that
are all in heaven now.
And we're here.
We're the church.
We're here to worship Jesus.
We're here to witness.
We're here to bring the loss to the
Lord.
May God make us, each one of us,
great givers, like Barnabas, like these other brethren,
great lovers, loving God and loving one another,
sensitive to each other's needs.
But most of all, sensitive to him, Jesus
Christ.
Let's pray, shall we?
Lord, thank you for this highly instructive passage.
Thank you, Lord, especially that you're still working
in hearts by your Holy Spirit.
You're still filling people with your love, and
you're still blessing people with great grace and
your power by your Holy Spirit.
Bless us, Lord, with these things, and bless
us with giving, loving hearts.
And we will give you all the glory
as you work in us, but we cannot
work up ourselves.
And we ask these things in Jesus' name.
Amen.