“Treasuring God’s Holiness”
Acts 5:1-11
Some things are so surprising they just simply shock us. The team with the huge lead falls apart in the closing moments and loses. The golfer with only an easy, short birdie putt between himself and the championship, winds up with a double bogie and loses. The team that sweeps the Yankees gets swept. The upstanding citizen whom we so deeply admire is arrested and charged with a major crime. A minister murders a young mother.. You can, no doubt, add many things to the list. The early church also had many such surprises and shocks, one of the biggest of which concerned the generosity of two of her members. To get a feel for that incident let’s join Luke as he records it for us.
We begin in chapter 4, verse 32, with THE SIN THAT ROCKED THE CHURCH. “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet. Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 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.” For every good sheep there’s a black sheep; for every stalk of wheat there is a tare; wherever there is light, there is a shadow; wherever God builds a church, Satan puts up a chapel. Ananias and Sapphira, following the example of Barnabas, gave a generous gift to the church. It wasn’t the entire profit from their sale, but then they weren’t required to give at all, so even this partial gift should have been celebrated.
But Luke tells us THEY LIED TO THE HOLY SPIRIT. Verses 3-4: “Then 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? Didn't it belong 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." They offered their gift with a false piety by giving the impression that they, like Barnabas, had given the total proceeds. There were dishonest, deceptive. The appearance was not reality. They were trying to be simulated saints. They were masking what they were really doing, trying to portray themselves as something they were not. They envied the accolades Barnabas received and wanted some praise for themselves. They wanted prestige and privilege without paying the price. It’s already a sin to try to deceive other people; but to try to deceive God is one of the grossest of sins. Some of Jesus’ harshest words and most severe judgments were pronounced upon the religious leaders called the Pharisees. In Matthew 23:3 Jesus said, “But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.” He then goes on to point out many ways in which they put on a mask to appear far better then they really were. In Matthew 15:8 Jesus said, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” The issue again is the overt lie. We think about Ananias and Sapphira and haughtily wonder, “How dare they?” We look at the Pharisees, shake our heads and scornfully wonder, How dare they?”
But WE ARE NOT EXEMPT FROM LYING. We, too, often put on a false face, don a beautiful mask of piety, in an attempt to make ourselves appear as “Great Joe and Judy Christian,” to make others see us as someone different than we really are. So we sing “Sweet Hour of Prayer” while praying only a few minutes a day; we sing “Onward Christian Soldiers” but seldom volunteer when the call is issued; we sing “Oh, for a Thousand Tongues” but do not witness with the one we have; we sing “There Shall be Showers of Blessing” but complain about all that we do not have; we sing “Come We that Love the Lord” but criticize all that His body, the church, is doing; we sing “We’re Marching to Zion” but refuse to go to worship when the weather is poor or we don’t feel like it; we sing “I Surrender All” but give only 2-3% of our money and even less of our time.
In fact, HOW IS IT WITH YOUR VOWS? Upon joining this church you answered affirmatively the following questions: “Do you promise to make faithful use of the means of grace, especially the hearing of the Word and the use of the Sacraments; to give faithful adherence to the doctrines and teaching of the Church; to walk in the spirit of Christian fellowship and brotherly love with the congregation; …to offer faithfully to the service of God your prayers and your gifts; and to seek the things that make for purity and peace in the Church of Jesus Christ as long as you live?” So how are you doing? As Moses said to Israel (Dt. 23:21 ff.): “If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not be slow to pay it, for the Lord your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin….Whatever your lips utter you must be sure to do, because you made your vow freely to the Lord your God with your own mouth.” Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit and to God. How dare they? It’s shocking, isn’t it? So how dare we?
Talk about shocking – Luke continues the incident with THE SENTENCE THAT RESCUED THE CHURCH. (Verses 5-10): “When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him. About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, "Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?" "Yes," she said, "that is the price." 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." 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.” Wow! One mistake, one sin, and PUNISHMENT WAS RENDERED IMMEDIATELY BY GOD. No chance for regret, no opportunity to repent – just “BANG! You’re Dead!” How could God do this?
God could do this because He’s holy. This was the first real visible sin within the Body of Christ so He needed to act decisively. God judges impurity and sin. They lied to Him. They in essence challenged and tested Him. They dared Him to act – so He did! GOD WILL NOT BE MOCKED! We cannot fool God. Who do we think we’re kidding, anyway? As someone has suggested, “When we say we can’t stay awake through a 20 minute sermon but can read the entire Sunday paper – ads included – in one sitting, who are we kidding? When we say that Sunday is our one day of rest but get up at 5:30 to go fishing or spend the day golfing or boating, who are we kidding? When we say the pews are too uncomfortable or the sanctuary temperature is too hot or too cold but then sit on a bleacher for 3-4 hours in the cold rain watching 22 men play football on a muddy field, who are we kidding? When we say we can’t afford to tithe but live in a comfortable home, drive two new cars, eat well, clothe our family stylishly, who are we kidding? When we say 70 minutes of worship of too long but then get all pumped up when the 3 hour hockey game goes into overtime, who are we kidding?” God will not be mocked.
And God has not changed. He still has high standards; He is still holy.
So WE ARE ACCOUNTABLE FOR A LIFE OF PURITY. Some years ago a noted psychologist said that “The early church discovered the tremendous social value of confessing our sins to one another – being accountable. But the Roman Church came along and said we only had to confess our sins to the priest. When the Protestants came on the scene, they made it worse! They said we only had to confess our sins to God. Then Freud blew the whole thing: he said we didn’t have any sins to confess!” Yet listen to what the Reformed Church requires of Elders: “…Scripture teaches that those chosen to this office are called, together with the ministers of the Word, to take spiritual oversight of the church which is committed to them, and to look diligently whether every member of the church lives in the way of Christ; to admonish those who behave themselves unbecoming the Gospel of Christ; to prevent as much as possible the Sacraments from being profaned; and to act according to Christian discipline against the impenitent, and to receive the penitent again into the fellowship of the Church.” I can assure you, that on those occasions when I, or the Elders, have sought to carry out such oversight or discipline we have not been greeted with open arms. Rather I have heard such things as, “Who in the (world) do you think you are? You have no right to do this! You’re no better than I am and you know it! You do this and you’ll b hearing form my lawyer. I’ll get you for this” It’s tough – how many times does someone want to hear that?
But THE PRIMARY FUNCTION OF THE CHURCH IS NOT TO ENLARGE BUT TO PURIFY ITS MEMBERSHIP. I like how Howard Spring put it, ”The Church must discover that its first function is not to enlarge but to purify its membership, for the cause of true religion is advanced not by churches becoming full of people but by people becoming full of God.” The failure of ministers and Elders to exercise a more thorough accountability and discipline is perhaps the most disastrous failure of the church in our time. “Go and sin no more” has been replaced with “Judge not lest you be judged.” In spite of all the valuable insights we have gained from church consultants and church growth experts, the key to an effective church is the holiness and purity of her members. Trees die not from disease without so much as from rotting within. As expositor John MacArthur has noted, the very first thing Jesus said to His Church in Matthew 18 was “When you see someone sin, go to him.” He then states, “Authentic church discipline is not an elective. It is a necessary and integral mark of authentic Christianity.” Such discipline drives us to be more like Christ. True discipline, by its very nature, is redemptive. The first three chapters of Revelation demonstrate Jesus examining and disciplining his Church. When discipline is absent from the Church, so is Jesus. It’s so easy for us to talk about all the sin in the world, all the evil in Washington DC and the deceitfulness of the media and the sin of liberal groups – but before we get too carried away in our lofty pronouncement, we must stop and think. The world is going to act like the world! It’s who they are! We need, rather, to be sure we also confront the sins that lies between our walls, within the lives of our people. When we sing, “Weep o’er the erring one. Lift up the fallen, Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave,” we are singing not just of those sinners out there in the world, but those sitting in our pews as well. The church was rocked because she understood, dramatically, that we are all accountable for a life of purity.
I can hear the concern: “But if we start doing this discipline thing, we’ll lose members.” Turn again to Acts and read about THE SIGNS THAT REVIVED THE CHURCH (5:11-13): “Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events. The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon's Colonnade. No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. FEAR OF GOD SEIZED THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY. People began to fear God, many became members of the church, and the ministry of Jesus continued in an exciting way. All because God wiped out and corrected the sin that was in their midst. This is what divine judgments do – they call forth deeper commitment. They promote the pruning of the trees so there can be true growth. DIVINE JUDGMENT IS INTENDED TO INCREASE COMMITMENT! We see the proof in Acts and throughout the world-wide history of the church.
So catch the connection this morning: AFTER PURITY COMES THE POWER. (5:14-16):“Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. 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. Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed.” Again, quoting John MacArthur: “The absence of church discipline is the most glaring evidence of the worldliness of the church and the most obvious reason for its impotence… The church fails because it lacks the power that comes with purity.” It defies human reasoning, but then the ways of God often do! As a preacher of a previous generation put it, “Where Christian standards are discarded in favor of conformity to the world, where sin goes unchallenged, where membership is offered to the unregenerate…and where the only fear is the minister’s fear of losing his job if he speaks out, the masses lose interest in ‘organized religion…Purity and power: that is the order.” Let us never forget: THE ONLY THING THAT CAN SILENCE THE TESTIMONY OF THE CHURCH IS UNREPENTANT SIN.
We often pray for revival in the Church. And we would love to have all the signs of the book of Acts - all the miracles and growth – happen to us. Yet revival comes not on our terms but God’s. This passage in Acts reminds us that “In the church where the lame walked liars died.” If we want Hope Church to have maximum impact on the lives of people, it will begin with calling all of us to repentance and accountability for purity and holiness - because with the power of God comes his holiness. And are we ready to treasure that? DO WE REALLY WANT REVIVAL?
