THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT!
Acts 5:1-11
INTRODUCTION
That great preacher of old, Spurgeon said – and I quote, ‘Mark Antony once yoked two lions together and drove them through the streets of Rome, but no human skill can ever yoke together the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and the Lion of the Pit.’
What an incredible truth! And yet how many of us try to yoke, or hold together in our own lives the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Jesus Christ) and the Lion of the Pit (Satan). We pledge our allegiance to Jesus and yet walk hand in hand with darkness.
In continuing our studies in the book of Acts – I invite Angela to come forward and read to us Acts 5:1-11.
This is one of those passages that we tend to pass over, perhaps because it makes us feel uncomfortable, or perhaps because we think it shows God in a bad light.
Listen carefully to God’s Word as Angela reads it to us – Acts 5:1-11. Thanks Angela.
READ PASSAGE
We may recall that things were going extremely well in the church. Satan’s attempts to thwart by external attack had failed dismally. His tactic had proven ineffective in stopping the advance of the gospel, so he tried a different strategy - he attacked from within. How tragic it is when God’s own people allow Satan to use them to spoil God’s own work!
Let’s consider the account we have just heard – and we’ll look at it in four sections.
The first being -
1. The Sin of Ananias and Sapphira
What was their sin? It must have been terrible when we consider how God judged it! What was their sin?
(ALLOW RESPONSE)
It was the ‘Lion of the Pit’ inspired – vs 3 ‘…how is it that Satan…’ You belong to Jesus, you belong to the Lion of the Tribe of Judah – ‘…how is it that Satan…’ has taken your heart?! ‘…how is it that Satan has so filled your heart…’ ‘…how is it that Satan has so filled your heart…’ that you would choose him over the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. That you would be true to him and lie to God Almighty! ‘…how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit…’
You know, ‘refusing to deal with our own potential for evil can make even our goodness dangerous.’
Well, their sin was premeditated, deliberate, planned – vs 2 ‘With his wife’s full knowledge…’
This husband & wife team, were quite possibly known & respected in the Church. They had witnessed the power of the blessing of God. They were not outsiders or enemies of the Church - they were hinderers from within!
Several weeks ago I was pressured into doing what I try my hardest not to do - weeding! And I was working on a particular patch in the garden where lawn had gone wild & spread its runners throughout the garden bed – it was terrible to remove – in fact I left a fair amount of it there. And I commented to my son Daniel, ‘Its amazing the harm caused by a valued plant when it crosses the boundaries & goes wild – it’s more damaging than weeds!’ It’s like the believer who walks with the Lion of the Pit!
Barnabas sold a field he owned and gave the proceeds to help the needy & expand the gospel. Unfortunately somewhere in the church a man and wife saw the recognition that Barnabas was getting, and desired the same kind of acclaim. Ananias and Sapphira thought, ‘I would like to have people praising me like that! Look at all the attention that he is getting.’ So they decided to sell some land and do the same. But a terrible thing happened! Satan tempted them to withhold some of the money on the pretence of giving all. He convinced them to pretend to be what they were not! Look at us they said. We are so spiritual! Praise us for our service!
We have a tendency to excuse our sin and blame Satan by rather glibly saying as Flip Wilson used to joke, ‘The Devil made me do it!’
The truth of the matter is the Devil can’t make you do anything! (1 Cor 10:13).
It is interesting that Jesus, who usually treated even the vilest of sinners with gentleness, who ate with them, who forgave them, always got angry with one particular sin - the sin of Hypocrisy. Jesus called the Pharisees, ‘white-washed tombs’, looking clean on the outside but opposite on the inside. The reason Jesus hates this sin in particular is that it leads people away from God. It stands in the way of people seeing Jesus. It cries out, ‘Look at me!’
If this sin where left unchecked the church would end up looking like the Pharisees.
Does the church of the twenty first century in some cases look like the sect of the Pharisees? Do I try to impress with my ‘spirituality?’ Am I being used by the powers of darkness to hide Jesus Christ? God hates hypocrisy!
Next we note -
2. The Courage of the Apostle Peter
This is brought out in vss 3-4 and 8-9 (READ). God gave Peter special discernment to recognise the true state of things. Mighty things were happening in the Church, and Satan was doing his utmost to upset the apple cart, and it took great courage for Peter to act as he did.
How did he get this courage?
(ALLOW RESPONSE)
In Acts 4:29, we read that at a special prayer meeting they (the believers) prayed that they might have courage to do God’s will - God answered their prayers! Simple as that! They prayed in accordance with His will & He answered. You know sometimes we may have to be courageous & speak words of truth that may be deeply challenging! Not acceptable in this day of tolerance! - where truth takes 2nd or 3rd or 4th place.
For being utterly courageous for their Lord, Jeremiah, Daniel and the apostles landed in prison, John was banished to the Isle of Patmos-and Stephen was martyred. Today many are displaying the same courage as they face the enemies of the Faith.
Ask yourself, ‘Am I courageous for my Lord, or am I all show – one who does little more than talk the talk?! Do I love the praise of man to the extent that I will lie to God & present myself as one of great spirituality?!!’
Thirdly we see
3. The Judgment of God
This is clearly stated in vss 5-6 and 9-10 (READ). How terribly solemn it is to read of the way in which Ananias and Sapphira were judged for their sin! If God judged His people today for their unreality, insincerity, hypocrisy, falsehood, pretence-how many would fall down dead? It is so easy to profess more than we possess, to make out that we are holier than we really are (Mtt 15:7-8).
Why did God’s judgment fall like this?
Perhaps because it was the first appearance of this sin in the Church; perhaps because it was to be a solemn warning to the Church that God is not mocked & that He desires truth in the inward parts (Ps 51:6); perhaps it was done in accordance with 1 Cor 3:16-17; and 1 Cor 11: 28-32.
Does God work in this way today?
Maybe He does. One thing is certain. We cannot, dare not, remove these verses from our Bible. They are there to warn us, instruct us and lead us to walk carefully and humbly with God.
Finally we note-
4. The Reaction of the people
What effect did this intervention of God have upon the people?
‘Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events’ (vs 11). Those inside the church and beyond were gripped with fear! A great sense of awe fell upon them, a great sense of the presence and the power of God (1 Sam 11: 7; 2 Chron 14:14 and Prov 23: 17). Often in Scripture when it talks of the fear for God, or the fear of the Lord – it is referring to an overwhelming sense of reverence and awe!
However, there is another sense in which we should fear God – and this passage makes it clear that we should fear His judgment!
CONCLUSION
It is significant that when the sin of Ananias and Sapphira had been dealt with, and the offenders had been removed, God’s blessing came down.
Could I have a volunteer to come up and read Acts 5:11-14 to us?
What was the sin of Ananias and Sapphira? Hypocrisy! It is believed that in the Christianised world the biggest turn off Christ is just that – hypocrisy! All we see are people who pretend to be walking hand in hand with God!
May the question never have to be put to me, Ananias (David), how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and the world has witnessed your pretence. David why have you stopped the gospel light from shinning?
You know the judgment on Ananias and Sapphira may seem harsh at first sight – but it was a judgement carried out by God because of His love for you – for me. He wanted you, He wanted me to see His Son – and He knew that it was necessary to keep His church pure so that we could!
Come to the One who loves you beyond compare – put your trust in Jesus and honour God.
