The church was enjoying the presence of the Lord, since Pentecost.
• Acts 4:32-35 says all the believers were one in heart and mind. They shared everything they had. Needs were met. The apostles continued to preach with great power. The church was doing well.
Acts 4:36-37 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), 37sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.
• An offering came from a foreigner, from Cyprus (an island blessed with many natural resources, a rich land). So it was likely a substantial amount.
• It was no ordinary offering. It was huge, and it became the talk of the church.
The people were happy. That action probably made Barnabas well-known.
• Then enters this couple, “Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property…” (Acts 5:1)
• The author Luke used the word, “ALSO sold a piece of property” – giving us a hint that some wanted to repeat the same act to get the attention.
Acts 5:2-4 With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet. 3Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4Didn’t it belongs to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God."
Something else was motivating them – not the love of God, or their care for the needy.
• We can read into their motivation. “This was far too much money to part with. We don’t need to give it all. We just have to APPEAR to be giving it all. We would have achieved our goal and no one would know.”
• John Ortberg called this “shadow mission” - it is not the true picture of what God has called us into.
• In ministry, we are always tempted by this “shadow mission” – a desire to please self more than God, to seek the praise of men more than the praise of God. It looks like I am doing it for God, but it is not.
• Do you sometimes have this urge? You want to APPEAR to be pious, to be righteous, or to be good? You want to APPEAR to be someone you know deep down in your heart you are not?
Beware of “shadow mission” where your motivation is no longer God but something else; when you find yourself driven by a different agenda and not God’s agenda.
• When you are tempted to IMPRESS, confess it to the Lord quickly, and neutralise that temptation.
• Such a desire will usually lead to the next step - deception.
Ananias and Sapphira agreed together to deceive. This was the logical next step.
• It was perfectly alright to keep the proceeds from the sale for themselves. No one was obliged to give.
• Even then, they can also choose to keep a portion of the proceeds for themselves – the money was theirs. They can do what they want with it.
• But sadly they had another agenda - they wanted the praises of men more than truth, more than the praise of God.
• They cared about men’s opinion of them, more than God’s opinion of them. They feared men more than they feared God.
Peter said, “You are not lying to men, but to God.” (v.4)
• Every lie is a lie before God.
Acts 5:7-11 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.
8 Peter asked her, "Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?"
"Yes," she said, "that is the price." 9 Peter said to her, "How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also." 10 At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
This was the problem with the couple - and this became the object lesson for the church – they had no fear of God in their heart.
• They may have the love of God but they have no fear of God in their heart.
• They were likely believers of the church, regular worshippers, and probably do care for the needy among them.
• But they have taken God’s grace for granted. They showed no reverence for God.
• Ps 24:3-4 “Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? 4He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.”
And the end result was - “great fear seized the whole church…”
• This fear has nothing to do with being afraid of God. If they are frightened, they would not draw near to Him. People would run away from the church.
• But verse 14 tells us: “Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.”
• This fear is not fright, but the fear of the Lord. The people gained a renewed sense of the holy presence of God. He must be honoured and respected.
The same problem happened in Malachi’s time about 500 years ago - Mal 1:6-8a
"A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?" says the LORD Almighty. "It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name.
"But you ask, `How have we shown contempt for your name?’ 7"You place defiled food on my altar. "But you ask, `How have we defiled you?’
“By saying that the LORD’s table is contemptible. 8When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong?”
• You call me Lord, but where is My honour and reverence? You kept the best for yourselves and offered Me what was defiled, crippled or diseased.
• God challenged them in verse 8b: “Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the LORD Almighty.
• Will you offer that to your leader, boss? If not, then why are you doing that to Me?
It’s contempt of God. In a court trial, we call it “contempt of court” if someone abuses the judge or is disrespectful of the court’s authority.
• Here the people were charged with contempt of God. They were not treating God as God. They were not giving Him due honour.
Do we fear the Lord today? Do we honour Him seriously?
• John Bevere says, “Let’s look at the degree of honour we often give to God. We come to church ten minutes late. We sit and watch, never lifting a finger to serve, all the while criticizing the leadership and those who do serve. We keep a constant and suspicious watch over how the money is spent even through we rarely give our own tithe in its entirety. In a rush to eat, we leave before the service is dismissed. We attend only regular services and are frustrated when special meetings are called. If the weather is bad, we stay home to avoid the inconvenience. If it is exceptionally lovely, we stay home to enjoy it. If our favourite program is on TV, we will miss the service to watch it.” (p.103, in The Fear of the Lord.)
The issue is not for a lack of love for God; it is for a lack of the fear of God.
• Jim Bakker, an American televangelist, was indicted for fraud and imprisoned for 5 years in 1992. He said it was not the lack of love for God that led to his downfall, but the lack of the fear of the Lord.
• We love our parents, but we do not always respect them. And the Lord has to put it in the Commandments: “Honour your parents!”
• The problem is not about love but reverence for God.
The Lord shook the church out of her complacency when Ananias and Sapphira died.
• But why were they punished so harshly. Many people lied in the past, and today as well, and no one died in the services.
• The likely reason was that God was powerfully present with Peter and the apostles. It was the birth of the church and God was manifesting Himself through the Spirit in mighty ways.
• Acts 5:12 “The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people.” Thousands were convicted by His Word and repented.
This manifest presence of the Lord is similar to the tangible appearances of the Lord before Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, or Daniel in the OT, when His presence could be seen and felt by the people.
• His strong presence in the early Church resulted in anything unholy or unrighteous to be judged in dramatic ways. God was stamping His mark.
The Lord was clearly present with Peter.
• Acts 5:15-16 “As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed.
• When Peter walked past the sick, they were healed. It wasn’t his shadow that healed; a shadow holds no power.
• It was God. God was with him. Peter walks with God and God’s power touches the sick and heals them.
Ananias and Sapphira came into such a presence when they met Peter.
• Peter knew it was a lie (because the Lord was there to show him).
• They lied before a holy God and were struck dead. If the couple were born-again Christians, they had just taken an early flight home to heaven.
• But God used their mistake to stamp His holy presence, and educated the church.
Aaron’s sons, both priests, met the same fate when they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord.
• Lev 10:1-3 Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to His command. 2So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. 3Moses then said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD spoke of when he said:
"’Among those who approach me I will show myself holy;
in the sight of all the people I will be honoured.’" Aaron remained silent.
Moses himself was denied entry into the Promised Land because he “did not honour God as holy in the sight of the people” (cf. Num 20:12), when he struck the rock twice with his staff.
• Let us walk in the fear of the Lord, and honour Him in every way.
• Don’t take Him for granted. Give Him reverence.
PRAY:
You are the King of kings and the Lord of lords, and we worship You. We magnify Your Name and we want to honour you. Remove from us Lord any selfish desires, pride, and self-centredness. Forgive us, for our sin of irreverence and contempt, when we treat you on the level of common man. Reveal Your glory Lord, and let us cry, holy, holy, holy is our Lord God Almighty. Glorify yourself again Lord, through us, in Jesus’ Name, we pray. AMEN.
