HYPOCRITES IN THE CHURCH
ACTS 5:1 16
(Opening: #399 of Illustrations of Bible Truths Spiros Zodhiates)
Last week we left off on a positive note with the story of Barnabas, the encourager, who set an example of just how positive of an influence becoming a Christian can make not only in an individual life but in the life of the church.
His life was so transformed by the Holy Spirit that he was given a new name, one that represented the character that had been given him as a Christian.
But not everyone followed his example. Unbelief and ungodly living hinder the work of God and also discourages man, and in our Scripture passage today, we’ll see the mixture of bad with good that is evident, even in the best of situations. [Tares will grow among the wheat until the harvest.]
READ 5:1 16
Up to this point in our study in the book of Acts, we’ve seen signs and wonders that were truly miracles of mercy...but now we will examine a miracle of judgment.
The story of Ananias and Sapphira introduces us to a whole different world of thought than we have in modern times today. It was a world in which sin was taken seriously...
It was a time when a person convicted of sin against the Holy Spirit might well suffer a fatal shock at the thought of having committed such a serious offense.
Just the thought of such a thing almost seems funny...because today we seldom even blush at things that are just as bad or even worse. In fact, for the most part we’ve eliminated sin from our vocabulary.
Things that we once knew were sins against God we now look upon as just alternative lifestyles, like the adultery, premarital sex, homosexuality, and other perversions to God’s design for family life.
Or sins like drunkenness, and substance abuse which are now looked at as diseases, something beyond our control...like catching a cold or getting the measles.
Much like the deacon from the illustration...we talk the talk but we don’t walk the walk. And we’ve become masters in the art of justifying the sins that we so easily commit. But that’s getting too personal, so let’s move on.
Today we are going to look at 3 things concerning hypocrisy...how it was perpetrated...how it was perceived...and how it was punished.
We already mentioned that a man named Joseph was so changed by the power of God that he was given the name Barnabas, which means "Son of Encouragement".
The name Ananias, in the Hebrew, means "Yahweh is gracious" and Sapphira means "beautiful." But there was nothing gracious about what Ananias did, nor anything beautiful about his wife’s cooperation in their pretense of loyalty to the Lord and His people.
The example of Barnabas, in giving over the proceeds of the sale of his property in Cyprus, was one that drew great admiration among the believers in Jerusalem.
Desiring to attract the same attention, Ananias and Sapphira sold their possession, which was also a piece of land, with the thought in mind of giving the money to the church.
But this is where the problem comes in. They made a promise to give it all to the work of the Lord, and then kept back part of the money. So what is so wrong in what they did?
Any church would be glad to get a check in the offering plate like that, even if it was only part of the actual sale price, right? But the blessing isn’t in the gift itself, but in the heart of the giver.
They sold their land, and then, perhaps in a burst of enthusiasm they decided to be like Barnabas and give the money to the church...but when the money was in hand that whole idea no longer seemed so great and they held back part of the price.
That money looked good to them, and they probably thought it was too much to put into the hands of the apostles...and besides, who knows when there might come a time when that money might be needed for some "emergency."
The problem was that they pretended to give over all the proceeds of the sale of the property. They knew they couldn’t give the full amount away and yet they wanted others to think they had.
Luke makes it very clear that no one had said that they were required to give anything. But the spirit of giving to the One who had given all for the believers was very strong.
No one said that what he or she had was their own...except Ananias and Sapphira. It was the deception that was the sin. They thought they could do what Jesus clearly said was impossible...and that was serve both God and mammon or money.
Their hearts were divided. If they had been serving just "mammon" they would never have sold the property in the first place, or even entertained the thought of giving the money to the church...
But if they were truly serving God, they would not have held back on !anything„Ç they had promised to God. How many of you have ever made a promise to God...knowing all along you may never keep that promise?
But can all these things really go unnoticed? Well, Ananias brought the money and gave it to the apostles, fully expecting to be commended and encouraged, as others were...but Peter was not deceived.
Here we see more evidence of the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those who sincerely seek to serve God. Here we see in action one of the gifts of the Spirit we talked about in chapter 3...the power to discern spirits.
Peter was able to discern not only the fact that the information he was given was wrong, but also what was at the bottom of this obvious case of deception.
The Spirit given capacity to see what was really motivating a person enabled Peter to see that, in this case, it was Satan, and not the Holy Spirit, to whom Ananias and Sapphira were devoting their loyalty.
And that kind of spiritual dishonesty caused him great concern for the fellowship of believers.
This sin was not simply an attempt to deceive the human leaders of the church. These leaders were men inspired by the Spirit, and so they were God’s representatives. That’s why Peter said he had lied to the Holy Spirit.
Notice that Peter says here that it was Satan who filled his heart to lie and keep back part of the price. But is Ananias able to plead his case by saying, "The devil made me do it"...
Of course we never do that, do we? .... Oh, how many times I’ve heard someone say that they just couldn’t help themselves, or "I’m not strong enough to resist, or do the right thing." And we blame it on the devil.
But Peter goes on to say "What made you think of doing such a thing?"
which shows that we cannot cast the blame for our sins entirely onto the devil. He tempts, but he cannot force you...
Paul says that we are drawn away and tempted because of our own lusts. So the responsibility lies within us...the buck stops here! And Ananias realizes this.
Peter says to him, "you have not lied to men but to God" and when he heard that he fell down and died." The power of the Word of God in the mouth of the apostle struck him like a dagger to the heart.
That was quite a severe punishment for something that is done with regularity in the church today...but it was a just punishment. It should show us the danger in resisting the Spirit and doing things in spite of His leading in our lives.
And, as if what happened to Ananias wasn’t bad enough, along comes his wife just three hours later, completely unaware of what had taken place. Her husband is dead and buried and no one has told her, or given her warning of what happened and what might also happen to her.
And as we examine the conversation between Peter and Sapphira we can be reminded of the seriousness of the situation, because instead of informing her of her loss, he goes right to the heart of the matter.
Read v. 8a...Sapphira is given the opportunity to tell the truth and show some sign of repentance...but she persisted in claiming that they were truthful in their dealings.
READ v. 9 10a...the action of the guilty couple is represented as an agreement to tempt the Spirit...to test God, much like the Israelites did in the wilderness. They were testing God to see how much they could get away with.
Let’s get personal for just a minute. What is it that you are doing, knowing full well that it is wrong, but seeing just how far you can go and still keep your salvation.
For many of you it may be that your are letting things go on that are within your ability to either stop, or at least draw attention to it and bring it to those who can do something.
What if Peter, knowing what was happening with Ananias and Sapphira, took the same attitude many of you do, and said, "Hey, God, you handle it. Yeah, I see it, and I know it’s wrong, but it’s none of my business."
What is the difference between Peter and us? He put the spiritual welfare of the body above his own personal welfare, and above the fear of taking a stand for righteousness.
He had a true and honest love for the church, and was willing to do whatever it took to see that any sin that was brought to his attention was dealt with as the Holy Spirit would lead. He cared enough about their eternal souls to take sin head on...but only in the power of the Holy Spirit.
He was given the gift of discernment, but it was his choice to be a vessel that could be used so that the body would gain. He spoke the fate of Sapphira, but only as he was led by the Spirit. He was obedient...so that God’s power would be shown and !His„Ç name would be glorified.
That’s the boldness we talked about some weeks ago. And what was the result? Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
It wasn’t just a case where all the people were scared out of their socks because of what happened, although there was a measure of that kind of fear.
But those that had joined the church were struck with a powerful sense of awe and wonder and reverence for God and His judgments. They gained respect for the things of God, and for the working of the Holy Spirit.
The Lord, who had battled the forces of evil and won was not about to give up His newly formed church to Satan’s ploy of spiritual pretense...of having a form of godliness, but no power inside and no reality in their lives.
There was a sick and suffering world that needed the gospel from a church that was free from any hold outs. And it would be through a people who were totally yielded to the Holy Spirit that this infant church would grow and prosper.
And this striking example of divine judgment wasn’t a wet blanket on the joy that they were experiencing...they saw the mighty miracles that were being performed...and saw the hand of God move on their behalf, but it certainly did teach them to be serious in it.
It taught them to be serious about holding back a part of !any„Ç area that they had given to God. The difficulty in our church today is not in holding back the proceeds of a sale of property...it is the holding back of part of ourselves.
It is only when we are willing to give all...the total package...all that we are and ever will be...when we give that to God with no holding back !then„Ç we can experience what happened next in the early church...!READ v.12 16„Ç
I believe this passage lines up directly with the prayer in 4:30 that God would help the church’s witness by performing signs and wonders. The miracles that were being done gave proof of their divine mission.
And it wasn’t just a few here and there, but many miracles of many different kinds. And they weren’t things that were done in a corner, but among the people of Jerusalem...people who were free to check them out for fraud and deception.
And the result of this was a growing vibrant church...one that resulted from being of one mind and soul...of loyal commitment to the risen Lord and loyalty to each other.
Let’s compare our church to the church we see here in the book of Acts and determine where we need to grow..if we’re ever to be the kind of body that will impact the world like this early church did.
1. It was a supernatural church. Signs and wonders were done. Signs were an outward evidence of the inner working of the power of the Lord in a person or a situation. It tells us that the Spirit is here, and at work in a very real way.
And wonders were signs which caused one to be gripped by a sense of awe...WOW!!! Something beyond human ability was involved in the healings and the transformed lives that were occurring as a result of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the apostles.
This leads me to ask a very important question...What is happening in our churches which could only be explained by the presence of the Holy Spirit at work?
But let’s bring it even closer to home...What are you attempting which could not be done without the power of the Holy Spirit?
2. It was a respected and growing church. Verses 13 14 seem to be a contradiction. The first says that people didn’t dare to join the church and the second says that more and more believers were added.
V. 13 simply means that the unbelieving Jews kept away from the Christians and left them alone. They were most likely frightened because they now knew that halfhearted allegiance would lead to judgment.
There was no way they could stand in the presence of God. What had happened to Ananias and Sapphira had put the cost of commitment to Christ and loyalty to the fellowship at a high price, and they weren’t able to meet that payment.
But if fear kept them away, they still couldn’t help praising them as they were impressed by the things they did. This was a church that really stood for something. It was preaching Christ boldly rather than begging for new members just to raise the budget or build a building.
But the real reason for the growth was that authentic believers were being born. That was the Lord’s doing! Only His Spirit can convict, convince, and confirm His love in a person.
3. It was a healing church. People are sick today. They need Christ’s healing hand on their hearts, minds, and bodies. But it’s not enough to hear a sermon on the healing power of God.
Luke tells us that the people were laid in Peter’s path so that at least his shadow would fall on them. But people today need more than the shadow of our busy lives...they need personal contact!
They need to be listened to...and they need the physical contact of touch. The gentle laying on of hands is described in James 5:14 where the one who is sick calls for the elders of the church to pray over him.
But not just the elders...or the pastor...have that power. He will use our gentle touch as a physical sign of His spiritual hand...and there will be wonders, you can be sure of that!!
A supernatural church, a respected growing church, a healing church. All three were based in the authentic, Spirit filled body of believers called to the Lord...and then called to loyalty to each other.
The church cannot grow when there is sin in the church. Note the words found in I Peter 4:17 "For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God"
Let us learn and then never forget the example found in the lives of Ananias and Sapphira. Give Him your all...hold nothing back from the Lord...and then stand and see His power unleashed.
