Getting Real With God

Getting Real with God

Acts 5

Tonight I want us to look at an area that is uncomfortable for many of us. I’ve never met anyone who likes to be wrong, or feels good about feeling bad.

Since no one likes to feel bad, no one likes to be wrong, we create a mindset that tries to rationalize our actions.

I’m going to tell them off, they deserve it anyhow.

I’m not going to talk to that individual because they did me wrong.

I’ve had a bad day so watch out!

I received too much back in change from the store, well praise the Lord, I’m blessed.

Does any of this sound like anyone you know? All of these things are rationalities to cover weakness in our own life. When I’m thinking like this, then I don’t have to worry about doing what’s right because doing what’s wrong is made to sound not so bad.

Let me share something with you tonight. The bottom line is are your actions or reactions what the Word says they should be.

This kind of thinking carries over into our spiritual life, and what it begins to breed is our inability to be honest with God.

At no time does the Heavenly Father take sin lightly. It’s because of our sin nature that our Heavenly Father had to give His only begotten son as a sin sacrifice.

Jesus, who knew no sin, took on Himself our sins and became cursed for us, that the sins in our life would no longer be held against us. This is serious to God, but yet we act like it’s no big deal.

We’ve lost the awe and wonder of God. We’re no longer afraid that God would send us to hell. We’ve so diluted God down to a bundle of love, that we forget that God is a God of judgment, and a God that demands Holiness.

How can you say that preacher?

I can say that because I look at people’s lives and I see the lack of care and concern for spiritual things.

If we’re going to be the Church that God wants us to be, we’ve got to get real with God. We’ve got to quit looking at things through our eyes, and start seeing everything with an eternal prospective.

He does not accept our excuses for the lack of prayer, for the lack of the Word in our life, for our slackness in coming together to Worship Him.

A church that can be used of God is a church that’s willing to say God, we’ve messed up, we’ve not done those things that we should, and we confess them before you. Forgive us our sins, and renew a right spirit within us.

The Church that God can use is a church that is repentant, awe struck, and listening to the voice of God and willing to walk in obedience to Him.

Anything less is we’re just going through the motions, playing church, not impacting anyone’s life.

I want us to look at Acts 5 tonight because I believe that God wants to speak to us through this chapter. There are some important principals we need to understand. The first thing about getting real with God, what we say and what we do needs to match up.

Ananias and Sapphira simply planned to lie and deceive. They were looking for the praise of the disciples, they wanted to look good to man, and not thinking about what they were doing was committing a fraud in the eyes of God.

They had gotten together and made sure that each other new what their story was going to be. They were so good at it, they both died by the story.

God notices everything we say and do.

Phil 3:20 “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ:”

Nothing is hid from Him. There are no such things as secret sins, they are all open and exposed to God.

When you make a promise to God, make sure you follow through with it.

Psalms 76:11 “Vow, and pay unto the LORD your God: let all that be round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared.”

Ecclesiastes 5:5 “Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.”

Ananias and Sapphira didn’t do anything that was too bad in most people’s eyes. What harm did they do? It was only a little miss statement of what happened.

We look at this and we say what was so bad that God struck them down?

There are two things I see. First God takes His business very seriously and second God takes what we say very seriously.

It’s time for the church to wake up and realize God’s not playing games. It’s not about how big we can build our own ministries. Not about our ability to brag on our Sunday Morning attendance.