THOSE WHO ARE FOUND IN THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST
Acts 4;32-5:16
Dorn Ridge Church of Christ
Audio Link to sermon: http://chirb.it/Ag3PrB
INTRODUCTION:
1.) This morning I want us to make an examination of Acts 4 and 5, looking at three types of people we will find in almost any Church.
2.) My desire is that this passage of Scripture will challenge our hearts to take serious our relationship with God and to have a reverent fear of God.
I. IN THE CHURCH YOU WILL FIND THOSE WHO LOVE GOD.
1.) The believers were one in heart and mind.
A.) They had experienced a universal sickness.
aa.) Every person of the human race has a common fatal malady, and that malady is sin, and our sinful nature.
ab.) The penalty of that sin is death, both physically, and also eternally from the presence of God.
ac.) Apart from the cure, every person in the history of the world will die both physically, and also experience an eternal separation from the presence of God.
B.) The church was in one heart and one mind rejoicing in God, because they had found the cure.
ba.) Really that is what the church is – a fellowship of those who have found the cure to the disease of sin.
baa.) That does not mean we will become free of sin or the effects of sin in this life, but in Jesus Christ we knew he had paid the penalty of our sin.
bb.) Last week, I dealt quite a bit with Acts 4:12 where Peter declared: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
bc.) When we come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ we have experienced the only cure that God has given to the human race for our sinfulness.
bca.) By a saving faith we speak of the faith seen in the New Testament Scriptures where a person repents
of his sins, confesses Jesus as Lord and Saviour, and is immersed for the forgiveness of sins and indwelling gift of the Holy Spirit of God.
C.) When those things take place a believer has the assurance from the Word of God that he has entered into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.
ca.) The only way one can know he has passed from spiritual death is through an obedient saving faith in Jesus Christ.
D.) When the love and Spirit of God dwells within it is only natural that God’s love will also be extended to those around us as well.
da.) This is exactly what happened in the church at Jerusalem.
daa.) Acts 4:32
E.) When Body of Christ grows in the love of God, it is natural to also grow in love for each other.
ea.) This portion of Scripture introduced us to a man who had a love for God and for the church.
eca.) His love gave him a spirit of incredible generosity to the body of Christ.
F.) The man I want us to see is a Levite.
fa.) By saying he was a Levite, I am saying he was a descendant of the tribe of Levi.
faa.) To refresh ourselves on Levi, it was him and his descendants who were entrusted with the service of the temple of God.
fab.) That means that this man would have been an official individual who would have served as a priest,
musician, or in some other official capacity in the temple of God.
.01) This man who was one of the leadership in the Jewish temple, was now a man completely dedicated to Jesus Christ, and giving himself for the benefit of the church.
fb.) Acts 4:36-37
fc.) As we continue to go through the book of Acts, we will see a great deal more of this man Joseph or
Barnabas.
fca.) He did a good job of building up the Church of Jesus Christ.
.01) Because of this, the Apostles gave him the nickname “Barnabas” which means Son of Encouragement.
fcb.) Because of his love for God, and the church, he felt compelled to sell some land and give the money to
the Church.
.01) This seems to have been something that was done from Love, and with a good heart, and the
very best of intentions.
.02) The result of this was that:
2.) The Resurrection of Jesus Christ was proclaimed with power.
A.) People were coming to love God.
aa.) When the church of Jesus Christ loves and serves God, it will impact the power in proclaiming the
resurrection of Jesus Christ.
B.) It is through the word of God, and the preaching of the gospel message that the power and Spirit of God
moves among people.
ba.) The more the seeds of that message grow in the hearts of those who hear it, the greater will be the power of God to move in even the hearts of both the redeemed, and those without Christ.
II. IN THE CHURCH YOU WILL ALSO FIND THOSE WHO DO NOT CHOOSE TO GLORIFY GOD.
1.)The Good news is that not everyone in the church are Christians.
A.) That may sound like a rather peculiar statement to make.
aa.) By its very nature, the church consists of those who have been redeemed by Jesus Christ.
ab.) That is what the church is—a fellowship of the redeemed in Jesus Christ.
B.) While the church is made up of the redeemed, something is wrong when the church is not drawing in those
who have never yet come to Christ.
ba.) If only the redeemed are present in the assembly of the church, then the church is failing in its mission.
bb.) Although the church should always have people present who have not yet come to an obedient faith in
Jesus Christ, the primary place of salvation is outside of the church.
bba.) When we see the church as a place to convert the lost, we have lost sight of Christ’s vision for the church.
bbb.) If the church is carrying out its role, it will be seen outside of the walls of the church.
.01) It is there and not in a church building that the lost are impacted by the message of Jesus Christ.
.02) It is beyond the walls of the church where the church must go with the message of Jesus Christ.
2.) The bad news is that some of the church can actually be serving Satan instead of Christ.
A.) Perhaps one of the places where we clearly see this is in the parable of the ten virgins.
aa.) If we carry through the symbolism that is throughout the Word of God, then the ten virgins all are
representative of the Church of Jesus Christ.
ab.) If that is a correct understanding of that passage of Scripture, then at any given time there are a large
number of the church that are saved, and also a large number who call themselves Christians that are not included with the redeemed.
3.) Even in this early church at Jerusalem there were some claiming to be Christians that were led by Satan,
rather than the Spirit of God.
A.) Let me through the Word of God introduce you to this couple.
aa.) Acts 5:1
ab.) Like Joseph we had looked at earlier they had sold a piece of property and decided to donate the money to the church.
B.) The Bible also tells us that Ananias kept back part of the money for himself..
ba.) Acts 5:2
C.) I want to stress there was no problem in keeping back some of the money for himself.
ca.) He had in no ways sinned by holding back some of the money.
cb.)Acts 5:4
cc.) Peter made it very clear that both before the sale of the property and after the sale of the property that he owned it.
cca.) Because he owned the property, he had the freedom to do whatever he wanted to do with either the piece of land, or the money from the sale of that land.
D.) The problem was nothing to do with the actual money. The problem was that Satan had control of his heart instead of the Lord Jesus Christ.
E.) Ananias and Sapphira claimed to be Christians, but had little regard for the holiness of God.
ea.) He thought it a casual thing to lie to the Almighty God.
eb.) Let me set the backdrop for you. Joseph (whom we would know better as Barnabas had sold some land and given the money to the church.)
ec.) I think myself this couple want to receive some glory within the church and may have been jealous that
Joseph was being praised for his action, his love, and his generosity towards God and the people of God.
ed.) Let’s say that Joseph sold a piece of land for $5,000.00.
eda.) I want to stress that this figure is just one from my imagination as the Bible does not place a value
on either property or whose property would have been worth more.
.01) But to illustrate this passage let’s just say that Joseph sold his land for $5,000.00 and gave the entire money of the sale to the church.
.02) Now also for the purpose of illustration, let’s imagine that Ananias and Sapphira sold a piece of property for $10,000.00
.03) Like Joseph, Ananias and Sapphira also decided to give money to the church, but decided to give
the church the sum of $8,000, while holding back the other $2,000.00.
.031) Now Ananias presents the $ 8,000.00 to the church telling the church this is the entire sum of money he had received for the land and wanted to give it to God.
edb.) There was no reason for Ananias to lie about the money he got for the land.
.01) If he wanted to sell the land for $10,000.00, and keep $2,000.00 of that money for himself he had every right to do so.
.02) If he wanted to sell that land and keep all of the money from it, he also had that right.
.03) The issue was that he lied about it, perhaps to make himself look like a better and more generous man than Joseph, and receive the praise of the people.
F.) Take note of how God dealt with this couple and their lack of reverence and fear of God.
fa.) Acts 5:3-10
fb.) This was very early in the church, and God chose to strike this couple dead.
fba.) We can only imagine the shocked looks on the church as this man, and then three hours later his wife, both drop dead while the church is worshiping God.
fc.) Certainly, God does not always immediately judge the wicked who demonstrate such an arrogant disregard
for the Holiness of God.
fca.) Yet here in the early years of the church, that is exactly what God had done to get his point across to the church that our worship and our view of God is to exalt Him up in holiness and in reverence, while looking at God in humility and fear.
G.) This act of God brings me to a third group of people we are to see in the church.
III. IN THE CHURCH YOU WILL ALSO FIND THOSE WITH THE FEAR OF GOD.
1.) The fear of God needs to be present in the people of God.
A.) Many times the Word of God instructs God’s people we are to have a fear and reverence of God.
aa.) Jethro instructed his son in law Moses to find men who feared God to assist him in leading the people.
aaa.) Exodus 18:21
ab.) Moses instructed the Israelites that “The fear of God would keep them from sinning.”
aba.) Exodus 20:20
ac.) God himself instructed the Israelites that they had a duty to “Fear God.”
aca.) Deuteronomy 10:12-13
ad.) There are many things that have changed from the Old Testament period to the New Testament, as well as in our present period of time.
ada.) One thing that has never changed is that man is to have a reverent fear of God.
ae.) Sadly in the early church Ananias and Sapphira had lost that fear of God.
aea.) Perhaps others also looked at God with contempt, or a casual and irreverent view.
aeb.) When God struck this couple dead it brought the fear of God back to the people of God.
aec.) Through His judgement, God demonstrated that our worship and service of Him is not something to be taken as casual, or insignificant, but is to include our whole heart in full surrender to Him.
2.) The fear of God was brought back to the church.
A.) Acts 5:5, 10-11
B.) I have heard people today speak very flippantly about God, and who He is.
C.) I have heard well-meaning Christians declare that when Christ returns they are going to run up to Jesus and give him a big hug.
ca.) On one level I can appreciate their enthusiasm for what Jesus has done for them.
cb.) Yet when I look in the accounts of Scripture, I do not find such an action.
cc.) Anytime the Bible records a man coming into the presence of the divine, even of angels who are certainly not near the level of God, man will bow to the ground in fear and reverence.
cca.) I am not suggesting we need to always cower in fear at the thought of God.
ccb.) Thankfully for the church, Jesus Christ has removed that need to fear the presence of God.
.01 Because of Calvary, we are called Sons (and Daughters) of God, coheirs with Jesus Christ.
ccc.) The fact that we have relationship with God, does not mean we can be casual or irreverent towards God.
3.) The fear of God makes our relationship with God a serious thing.
A.) After this act of God’s judgment, those both in and out of the church really had to think twice about a relationship with God.
aa.) People feared God, and were fearful of joining the church.
aaa.) Anyone wanting to become a Christian weighed carefully if they were willing to put God first in their lives.
ab.) Acts 5:13
4.) The fear of God causes the body of Christ to grow.
A.) Even though the fear of God scared many from the church, the Church continued to grow.
aa.) Acts 5:14
ab.) Many people decided that if God is that holy, and this was the kind of dedication He required, that it cost too much to be a Christian.
ac.) Others seeing the same things were drawn to God because He expected a very high and holy standard from his people.
CONCLUSION:
1.) Today we have looked at three groups of people who are present in the church.
2.) Reality is that every person in this room can fit into at least one of these categories.
A.) Joseph was a man who loved God with all his heart, and loved the people of God.
B.) Ananias and Sapphira were a couple who claimed to be Christians, but did not take seriously their
relationship with Christ, and fell under the judgement of God.
C.) The third is a group both in and out of the church who saw the workings and judgment of God, and came to revere and fear God.
3.) If you are not taking serious your relationship with Jesus Christ, than you need to put your eyes fully on Jesus Christ.
4.) Wherever we find ourselves in these verses today, it is my prayer that we will each one leave recognizing more fully the seriousness of what it means to be a Christian, and that we would look in reverent fear to Almighty God.
