Don't Lie To The Holy Spirit Series

Don’t Lie to the Holy Spirit

Text: Acts 4:36-5:11

Introduction

1. Illustration: “You can fool some of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you can’t fool Mom.” (Captain Penny).

2. You can take this wisdom from Captain Penny and appropriate into our spiritual lives. We could say, “You can fool some of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you can’t fool the Holy Spirit!”

3. This is a story about spiritual integrity, or the lack thereof in the case of Ananias and Sapphira.

4. Here’s how that story goes. Read Acts 4:36-5:11.

Proposition: God calls his people to live lives of integrity, being honest and genuine in all we do.

Transition: The first thing we see in this story is…

I. Spiritual Deception (1-2).

A. Claiming It Was the Full Amount

1. This story begins in chapter four where people are selling land and bringing the proceeds to the apostles to be distributed to those in need.

a. Bringing the money to the apostles for distribution was a wise decision because it kept people from becoming proud in their giving.

b. It kept them from saying, “Look what I did! See how holy I am!

c. It’s always better to let someone else praise you for your generosity that to do it yourself.

d. As in the case of Barnabas “Son of Encouragement.”

e. He gave by bringing the money to the apostles, who knowing what he did, showed their admiration for his generosity.

2. Unfortunately, some people in the church longed for the praise and admiration that Barnabas received, but they didn’t want to pay the price to receive it.

3. Such is the story of Ananias and Sapphira. Ananias and Sapphira were a married couple in the Jerusalem church. As far as we know, they were both believers. However, even believers make bad decisions, and that is the case here.

4. Luke sets the background for us in vv. 1-2, “But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. 2 He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest.”

a. The conjunction “but” ties this section with the previous one that talked about Barnabas, and what he did with the money for the land that he sold.

b. He got great accolades for what he did, and that is what Ananias and Sapphira were looking for.

c. However, they gave into the sin of greed, and wanted to give part of the money to God and keep part of it for themselves. But they wanted everyone to think that they gave all the money to the apostles, and that was their sin.

d. The phrase “kept the rest” comes from the Greek word that means “to pilfer.” or “embezzle.” Now, when someone embezzles money, the take money that is not there’s and keep it for their own use by some fraudulent means.

e. The only other place it us used in the NT is in Titus 2:10 where it is translated “steal.”

f. We also see several places in the OT that talks about taking something that belongs to God.

1) “However, anything specially set apart for the LORD—whether a person, an animal, or family property—must never be sold or bought back. Anything devoted in this way has been set apart as holy, and it belongs to the LORD.” (Lev. 27:28).

2) “But Israel violated the instructions about the things set apart for the LORD. A man named Achan had stolen some of these dedicated things, so the LORD was very angry with the Israelites.” (Josh. 7:1)

3) “Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! “But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’ “You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. 9 You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!” (Mal. 3:8-10)

g. Now again, let’s remember that no one was requiring them to sell their property, and if they did, no one said that had to give it all to the apostles.

h. However, since they claimed to be giving all the money they received for the property, in essence they were stealing from the church, and more importantly, from God.