Conspiracy Against God
Text Acts 5:1-11
Intro: Illustration of botched conspiracies
·Conspiracy literally means to plot or scheme, to connive or work against
Trans: Let us consider the "steps" of their conspiracy against God
I. The Conspirators’ Plan
1. To deceive the church - for they were members of the church and had been baptized.
i. They believed on the Lord
ii. Publicly confessed faith in Him
2. To deceive God
i. By conspiring together to keep back part of the price of the land
ii. So now they are attempting to deceive the church that they are members of, and the God that they have professed faith in.
3. Plotting against God or scheming against God- imaging the absurdity of it.
i. Conspiring against is to deceive and to deceive is to lie.
1. Lying lips are an abomination unto the Lord
2. All liars shall have their part in the lake of fire
3. God despises a dishonest scale
4. He wants truth- the truth will set you free.
ii.The eyes of the Lord are in all places beholding the good and the evil.
iii. He’s an omniscient God
iv. There is nothing done in secret but what the Lord already knows
II. The Conspirator’s Purpose
1. They wanted to be seen as the one’s who gave all for the church and for God
2.They wanted to be seen of the people and commended for what they’d done, their sacrifice.
3.They wanted to appear to be something that they were not. They wanted to appear to be:
i. Dedicated- but they were deceitful
ii. Faithful- But they were fraudulent
iii. Self-Sacrificing- but they were scandalous
III. The Conspirator’s Punishment
1. They were exposed before all- the entire church v.3
2. They were faced with the truth v.4 “while it remained was it not yours? And after it was sold was it not yours?
i. But Satan has filled your heart to lie to the Holy Ghost.
3. Death ensued v.5 Hearing these words he fell down dead and breathed his last.
Conclusion:
· David’s conspiracy against Uriah
1. After David had set him up and had him killed, God sent the prophet Nathan to David’s house to expose the conspiracy by telling the story of a rich traveler who abused a poor man by taking his only ewe lamb and killing it.
2. After this story David expressed his rage toward such a one that would do this thing, but Nathan said to David: “Thou art the man” II. Samuel 12:1-10
