From Harmony To Hypocrisy In The Church Pt. 2 Series

From Harmony to Hypocrisy in the Church pt. 2 Acts 5:1-11

Last week we began looking at Acts chapter 5 and how the church, quickly, went from Harmony to Hypocrisy. We looked at #1. The problem in the church and discovered that if Satan cannot conquer the church, externally, he’ll try to corrupt it, internally.

I was reminded, last week, of the story in Joshua where the children of Israel suffered defeat in the little village of Ai and 36 men lost their lives.

This happened right after Israel’s awesome defeat of the super fortified city of Jericho. Suddenly this little one camel town beat the soup out Israel so Joshua knelt before God and asked why this had happened. God told him that sin was in the camp!

After the battle of Jericho, Achan had taken some of the things that God had forbidden and hid them in his tent. (See Joshua chapter 7)

Achan’s sin was deliberate and pre-meditated.

You may believe that your sin is no ones business but your own BUT I want you to understand that your sin, my sin WILL affect your family and it will affect this church!

We all struggle with sin and at times even give in BUT there is a major difference in tripping and choosing to LIVE in it.

We also saw #2. The purging of the sin and that the source of the sin in any believer’s life is Satan. He is the one who planted the thought there but we must make a conscious decision to listen as well as participate.

We also discovered the seriousness of the sin was that it was lying to God!

Now let’s look at:

3. The Price of Ananias and Sapphira’s sin

There are a couple of things we need to see here…

a. The Price was extreme.

What happened to these two? They died!

Remember God’s Word says…be sure your sin will find you out.

It also says God will not be mocked!

The truth is that WE ALL reap what we sow!

Every believer undergoes 3 judgments…

As a sinner, as a servant and as a son.

If you’ve been saved, your judgment as a sinner is in the past.

Once you are saved, you become a servant and judgment will be in the future, based on your level of servant hood.

But you are judged as a son right now!

As a sinner, you were judged on the cross and you died with Christ, on that cross. God’s wrath was poured out on Christ, not for anything He had done but for everything you/I have done!

[Rom 8:1 NKJV] “[There is] therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”

Too many times I hear this verse quoted but the second half of the verse is missing. We need to understand that the first half is a promise but the second half is the condition for the first half becoming a reality. In other words, you don’t get the first part unless you’re living the second part. If you consider this verse as a whole then you can begin to see the difference. There is no condemnation for the child of God…who REFUSES to walk in the world but DOES walk according to the Spirit. If I refuse to walk according to the Spirit and choose to walk according to the flesh then I can expect to be disciplined by my Father in heaven.

Please listen to me, for a moment… You need to understand that being saved by grace doesn’t mean you have a license to commit habitual premeditated sin.

Being judged as a servant comes in the future and you’ll be judged not as a sinner, but as a how faithful have you been, as a servant. This is the time your motives for serving God will be brought out. This will also be a time of rewards.

[1Co 3:11-15 NLT] “11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have--Jesus Christ. 12 Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials--gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. 13 But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person's work has any value. 14 If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. 15 But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.”

Which of the six items will make it through the fire? Which will not? Is your service to the Lord fireproof? My Dad loves the song “Pile of Crowns” which talks about the crowns we receive for our service to our King. But the most important part of the sing is when each of us takes our crowns and piles them at Jesus’ feet. I don’t want to be standing there with nothing to place at the feet of the One who gave His life for me. I don’t want to be the only one in heaven to hear my Master say, “Welcome home Jimmy. I sorry I have no crowns to give you but your work was burned in the fire.”