Don’t Lie to the Holy Spirit
Text: Acts 4:36-5:11
Introduction
1. Illustration: “You can fool some of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you can’t fool Mom.” (Captain Penny).
2. You can take this wisdom from Captain Penny and appropriate into our spiritual lives. We could say, “You can fool some of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you can’t fool the Holy Spirit!”
3. This is a story about spiritual integrity, or the lack thereof in the case of Ananias and Sapphira.
4. Here’s how that story goes. Read Acts 4:36-5:11.
Proposition: God calls his people to live lives of integrity, being honest and genuine in all we do.
Transition: The first thing we see in this story is…
I. Spiritual Deception (1-2).
A. Claiming It Was the Full Amount
1. This story begins in chapter four where people are selling land and bringing the proceeds to the apostles to be distributed to those in need.
a. Bringing the money to the apostles for distribution was a wise decision because it kept people from becoming proud in their giving.
b. It kept them from saying, “Look what I did! See how holy I am!
c. It’s always better to let someone else praise you for your generosity that to do it yourself.
d. As in the case of Barnabas “Son of Encouragement.”
e. He gave by bringing the money to the apostles, who knowing what he did, showed their admiration for his generosity.
2. Unfortunately, some people in the church longed for the praise and admiration that Barnabas received, but they didn’t want to pay the price to receive it.
3. Such is the story of Ananias and Sapphira. Ananias and Sapphira were a married couple in the Jerusalem church. As far as we know, they were both believers. However, even believers make bad decisions, and that is the case here.
4. Luke sets the background for us in vv. 1-2, “But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. 2 He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest.”
a. The conjunction “but” ties this section with the previous one that talked about Barnabas, and what he did with the money for the land that he sold.
b. He got great accolades for what he did, and that is what Ananias and Sapphira were looking for.
c. However, they gave into the sin of greed, and wanted to give part of the money to God and keep part of it for themselves. But they wanted everyone to think that they gave all the money to the apostles, and that was their sin.
d. The phrase “kept the rest” comes from the Greek word that means “to pilfer.” or “embezzle.” Now, when someone embezzles money, the take money that is not there’s and keep it for their own use by some fraudulent means.
e. The only other place it us used in the NT is in Titus 2:10 where it is translated “steal.”
f. We also see several places in the OT that talks about taking something that belongs to God.
1) “However, anything specially set apart for the LORD—whether a person, an animal, or family property—must never be sold or bought back. Anything devoted in this way has been set apart as holy, and it belongs to the LORD.” (Lev. 27:28).
2) “But Israel violated the instructions about the things set apart for the LORD. A man named Achan had stolen some of these dedicated things, so the LORD was very angry with the Israelites.” (Josh. 7:1)
3) “Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! “But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’ “You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. 9 You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!” (Mal. 3:8-10)
g. Now again, let’s remember that no one was requiring them to sell their property, and if they did, no one said that had to give it all to the apostles.
h. However, since they claimed to be giving all the money they received for the property, in essence they were stealing from the church, and more importantly, from God.
i. They wanted to be seen as generous and faithful, but they also wanted to be rich.
j. As the old saying goes, “you can’t have your cake and eat it too!”
B. Don’t Do as the Hypocrites Do
1. Illustration: To Whom Are You Giving? An experience in the life of English preacher and theologian Andrew Fuller illustrates this truth. James Duff, in Flashes of Truth, told of a time when Fuller went back to his hometown to collect money for foreign missions. One of his contacts was an old friend. When presented with the need, the man said, "Well, Andrew, seeing it's you, I'll give you five dollars." "No," said Fuller, "I can't take your money for my cause, seeing it is for me," and he handed the money back. The man saw his point. "Andrew, you are right. Here's ten dollars, seeing it is for Jesus Christ."
2. When we give, we must see to it that Jesus gets the glory and not ourselves.
a. “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. 2 When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. 3 But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. 4 Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” (Matt. 6:1-4).
b. The bible talks a lot about money. In fact, Jesus talked more about money than he did salvation.
c. The bible is clear that we must give to God what is God’s, and to keep that for ourselves is stealing from God.
d. The bible is clear that God requires us to pay a tithe, or ten percent of our increase. He gives us everything and all he asks is that we give him 10%. So, he gets 10% and we get 90%. Sounds like a good deal!
e. However, what the story of Ananias and Sapphira is really talking about is taking pride in our giving. In other words, keeping the glory for ourselves instead of giving it to God.
f. Do we see this in the church today? Trust me, in 25 years as a pastor I have seen it a lot! Over the years I have even encountered people who thought they gave so much that they deserved the right to make the decisions in the church.
g. Furthermore, some people in the church do things in the church, not for the glory of God, but for their own glory.
h. Jesus calls this hypocrisy! He tells us to give our gifts, whether it is financial or talent, in secret so that our heavenly Father receives the praise!
Transition: Next, in the story we see…
II. Spiritual Revelation (3-6).
A. You Lied to the Holy Spirit
1. There is an error that Ananias and Sapphira made in which they should have known better.
a. As members of the Jerusalem church, they should have known that the Holy Spirit is all-knowing, the theological term here is omniscient.
b. They should have known that you can’t lie to the Holy Spirit and get away with it.
2. In vv 3-4 it says, “Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. 4 The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!”
a. The first question we need to ponder here is how did Peter know they had lied?
b. Well, it’s simple, the Holy Spirit told him. In 1 Cor. 12, Paul talks about some of the gifts of the Spirit, and this one is the gift of knowledge.
c. The Holy Spirit spoke to Peter through the gift of the word of knowledge and told him that Ananias and Sapphira were lying about the money.
3. The next thing we notice is that Satan had filled their hearts.
a. Now, this was not a demonic possession like in “The Exorcist,” but they listened to Satan’s lies just as Adam and Eve did in the garden.
b. They allowed the devil to deceive them into thinking they could get away with their deception.
c. However, just because this was Satan’s doing does not mean that it releases Ananias and Sapphira from the guilt of their sin.
4. Then Peter makes it clear to Ananias that his sin was lying to the Holy Spirit, who as the third person of the Trinity, is God.
a. So, he lied to God himself.
b. They had claimed that the money they gave the apostles was the full price they had received for the property, but it was far less.
c. They tried to get credit within the Christian community for the full price, but that was a lie, and that lie was to God.
5. Peter reminds Ananias that he was under no obligation to sell their land, and he was under no obligation to give the money to the apostles.
a. Furthermore, he was under no obligation to give all the money to the apostles.
b. But his sin was that he claimed they had given all the money to the apostles.
c. It was not only the sin of lying, but it was also the sins of greed and pride.
6. Next, we find out just how serious God takes it when we lie to him. In vv. 5-6 it says, “As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified. 6 Then some young men got up, wrapped him in a sheet, and took him out and buried him.”
a. Now, we like to talk about God being a God of grace, forgiveness, mercy, and love, but we must also deal with the fact that God is also holy, righteous, and just.
b. Since he is all these things, he is also a God of judgement.
c. There is no nice way of putting it, this was the judgement of God.
d. The phrase “he fell to the floor and died,” comes from a Greek word that means “to breathe one’s last, to die,” and usually has to do with divine judgement.
e. Luke makes it clear that this was not accidental. He did not have a heart attack or stroke, and he didn’t die of natural causes. But rather he died of supernatural causes. It was an act of divine judgement.
f. It was a clear message to the new church that God was a holy God, and this type of behavior would not be tolerated.
g. God expects his people to walk in integrity, honesty, and truth. Just as God is a God of holiness, they too must walk in the truth.
B. Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit
1. Illustration: “The unforgivable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is an act of resistance which belittles the Holy Spirit so grievously that he withdraws forever with his convicting power so that we are never able to repent and be forgiven." (John Piper).
2. We need to be cautious so that we do not blaspheme the Holy Spirit.
a. “So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven—except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven. 32 Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.” (Matt 12:31-32).
b. Now, I must confess, that in 25 years of ministry I have never preached on the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
c. Furthermore, until I read this quote from John Piper, I’ve never heard another pastor preach on the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
d. Probably because most of us don’t know what to do with the topic.
e. However, if blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is “an act of resistance which belittles the Holy Spirit so grievously that he withdraws forever,” isn’t that what Ananias and Sapphira did?
f. When we lie about something, aren’t we really saying, “you’ll never find out!” Isn’t that what Ananias and Sapphira were doing?
g. If it wasn’t blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, why did they die for it? I mean, most of us here have lied in the past, but I don’t think any of us dropped dead on the spot.
h. We need to be sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and when he convicts us of sin in our lives, we need to repent of it.
i. Don’t lie to the Holy Spirit and say to him, “you’ll never find out!”
Transition: Next, we see a major point in the story…
III. Spiritual Holiness (7-11).
A. Great Fear Gripped the Entire Church
1. Well, the story is not over yet, and Sapphira would be given the chance to come clean and repent. Luke tells in vv. 7-8, “About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, “Was this the price you and your husband received for your land?” “Yes,” she replied, “that was the price.”
a. Three hours later, Sapphira comes in and she is unaware of what had happened to her husband.
b. Peter asks her the same thing he had asked her husband.
c. She had every opportunity to come clean and admit to their sin, but she chose to stay with their deception.
d. In doing so, she showed that her heart was hardened to the grace of God.
2. As a result of refusing to repent, her fate was sealed. In vv. 9-10 it says, “And Peter said, “How could the two of you even think of conspiring to test the Spirit of the Lord like this? The young men who buried your husband are just outside the door, and they will carry you out, too.”
a. In testing God, they tried to see how much they could get away with before God would act upon his Word.
b. Their actions were selfish, self-centered, and possibly church destroying.
c. However, God was not going to allow that to happen.
d. As a result, Peter makes it clear that she would receive the same punishment her husband had received.
e. The same young men who had buried her husband would also bury her.
3. In v. 11, we see the result of God’s judgment on Ananias and Sapphira, “Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened.”
a. God’s judgement on this husband and wife brought fear, but fear of what, or more importantly, whom? It brought the fear of God.
b. Now, I’d like to be able tell you that I’ve studied the term “fear of God,” and found out that it means something else. But I can’t do that, because the biblical term “fear of God” means exactly what it says.
c. We should be afraid of God’s holiness and his hatred of sin. We should also be afraid of his judgement.
d. We must also realize that he is a God of grace and forgiveness, but we can never forget the holiness of God.
B. Be Holy
1. Illustration: Life has its challenges to our walking in God’s presence. But we are presented with an opportunity, in all things remember that the closer you are to God, the more defined and visible will be the image of him that you reflect. (Andrew W Moffatt).
2. We must be holy in everything we say and do, just as God is holy.
a. “But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” 17 And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.” (1 Pet. 1:15-17).
b. The story of Ananias and Sapphira is a difficult one to grasp, but it is an important one
c. We must always keep in mind that God is holy, righteous, and just.
d. We must always keep in mind that God desires us to live holy lives as a reflection of his holiness.
e. But preacher, doesn’t God forgive, and isn’t he full of grace?
f. Of course, he is, but we must not use his grace as a reason to be deliberately disobedient.
g. We must live in fear of God and walk in his grace.
h. They go hand in hand.
Conclusion
1. This is a story about spiritual integrity, or the lack thereof in the case of Ananias and Sapphira.
2. What’s the point preacher? You can fool some people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you can’t fool the Holy Spirit!
