Death By Motive
Acts 4:32-5:11
1. As many of you know, we Vasiceks temporarily housed a pet pig for over 6 months.
2. So when this Australian story hit the press on Friday, I noted it.
CANBERRA (Reuters) - A pony-size pig who held an Australian woman hostage for 10 days inside her home will be removed on Wednesday to a piggery…
The 176 pound pig, nicknamed Bruce, kept self-confessed animal lover Caroline Hayes, 63, in her farmhouse near Uki, in northern New South Wales State, with aggressive demands to be fed, even headbutting her bedroom door at night.
"I picked up a broom and poked him out with it and he snapped it in half with his mouth," Hayes told Australian media.
She said the pushy pig was as big as a "Shetland pony" and wandered onto her property 11 days ago after being let loose in surrounding rainforest by neighbors.
"One of its eyes it couldn’t see out of, so I put cream in it and I fixed its back up. But apparently it’s actually claimed my land and claimed my place," Hayes said.
Len Hing, a pest animal ranger…said, "I wouldn’t like to see the pig go as a pet anywhere because he could become a potentially dangerous animal," he said.
(Reporting by Rob Taylor, editing by Miral Fahmy)
3. Pigs can make good pets, but this story illustrates that they can get out of control and become dangerous.
4. Many Christians seem to be gentle and kind on the outside, but can be nasty inside.
Main Idea: Matters of sin and righteousness are not merely matters of behavior, but also matters of motive.
I. Our Choice: PRESTIGE or Godliness?
A. We Can Give to God’s Glory Out of LOVE (4:32-37)
1. This is not socialism, nor equalizing; rather, the wealthier believers sold some of their holdings to help out those who were truly in need. It was voluntary
2. The early believers were made up of all classes; Barnabas and his family -- which included John Mark, were wealthy; the church met in John Mark’s mother’s home, and she had servants.
3. Others were impoverished widows without support.
4. Joseph, whose nickname is Barnabas, sells some property and gives all of the proceeds to the apostles for distribution as needs arose.
5. Barnabas is a positive example of giving freely, cheerfully, without constraint, and giving to bless others, not for personal attention.
B. We Can Give for ATTENTION and Prestige (5:1-11)
• The story of Ananias and Sapphira is a contrast to that of Barnabas
• From the narrative we can learn that no one was required or pressured to sell property or liquidate assets to help the church
• Property and riches belonged to the Christians, not the church (not socialism)
• People could sell property if they so desired and give some or all of the money to the church
• But Ananias and Sapphira wanted to give some but pretended they were giving all
C. In This Instance, God PUNISHED the Prestige Seekers
1. Miracles of punishment/discipline
• Achan
• Nadab and Abihu offering unauthorized fire (Lev. 10)
• Uzzah touching the Ark (2 Samuel 6)
2. This passage has more implications than meets the eye
• Giving "at the Apostles feet" meant the apostles were trustees of the church’s funds; the money was not give to them (their hands); that’s why Peter could say, "Silver or gold have I none…" (as a person)
• Ananias had insincere motives; Peter did not just guess at what was going on, nor did he go by a gut instinct; this was revealed to him prophetically.
• I Samuel 16:7, " The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
• By saying "Satan put this in your heart," the account moves from a mere instance of greed to spiritual warfare -- a Satanic scheme to harm the church
• Satan strategically uses our sin natures to harm the church
• Ananias is struck down in judgment and carried away to be immediately buried; this was unusual, but the pattern seen in the OT when God struck someone down, as in the case of the punishment miracles mentioned above
• Sapphira comes in and it is obvious that she was in collusion with Ananias
• Our duty to God surpasses our duty even to our spouses…
• Question: Did Ananias and Sapphira go to heaven? I think so.
• The concept of I Cor. 5:5 -- I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
II. Our Emphasis: INTERNAL or External?
A. JESUS and motives
Matthew 6:1-4, "Be careful not to do your ’acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But 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. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
I Corinthians 4:5, "Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God."
James 4:3, "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."
Proverbs 16:2, "All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the LORD."
B. PURITY of Heart
C. God’s Pleasure at Our REPENTANCE
III. How Can We NURTURE the Right Motives?
A. Accepting our UGLINESS
On the outside, we try to present a good image; clean clothing, hair in place, etc.; but inside, parts of us might be an absolute wreck.
1. True humility is simply being realistic
2. We cannot save ourselves
3. Our hearts are deceitful and wicked (Jeremiah 17:9)
Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?"
Ecclesiastes 9:3, "This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one fate for all men Furthermore, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead."
4. As believers, we still sin; our motives are often selfish
5. We have an element of insidious evil within us
B. Spiritual INTROSPECTION
One sign of being truly saved is that sin bothers us and we seek to repent of it.
2 Corinthians 9:7-11, "…yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.
1. Taking inventory as we study the Word
2. Mediating "day and night" (Psalm 1)
3. Preparing our hearts (like before communion Sundays)
4. Jews: 10 days of Awe between Trumpets and Yom Kippur
David Branon asks, "Have you ever locked your keys inside your car? Mailed an envelope without putting the payment check inside? Baked a recipe without adding one of the main ingredients? These are the kinds of things we all do when we don’t give careful thought to what we are doing." [Daily Bread]
C. Combating EXTERNALISM
Mark 7:15, "Nothing outside a man can make him ’unclean’ by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ’unclean.’ "
Illustration: It can be tough to buy a ripe watermelon. I have bought them when they are over-ripe, mushy, and inedible. In other cases, the still taste "greenish." On the outside, they look alike. And you can thump. But it is what is on the inside that counts.
Matters of sin and righteousness are not merely matters of behavior, but also matters of motive
CONCLUSION
God Wants to change your heart. Do you want it to change? Are you nurturing your walk with God, the source of change? It won’t happen by itself.
