WWUTT 2573 Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-16)

In Acts chapter 5, we read about a couple named Ananias and Sapphira. They sold a field for a certain amount of money, but they lied about how much they sold it for, and the Lord slayed them in the spirit when we understand the text.

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Reading Acts 5:1-16 and the Parallel with Barnabas

Thank you, Becky. In our study of the book of Acts, we continue on to chapter 5, and here we read the famous account of Ananias and Sapphira. I'll begin by reading verses 1 -16, here the word of the Lord.

But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife's full knowledge. And bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles' feet.

But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back some of the price of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your authority?

Why is it that you laid this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God. And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came over all who heard. And the young men rose up and wrapped him up, and after carrying him out, they buried.

Him.

Now, there was an interval of about three hours, and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter responded to her, Tell me whether you were paid this much for the land? And she said, Yes, that much.

Then Peter said to her, Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.

And immediately she fell at his feet and breathed her last. And the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. And great fear came over the whole church and over all who heard these things.

Now at the hands of the apostles, many signs and wonders were happening among the people, and they were all with one accord in Solomon's portico, but none of the rest dared to associate with them. However, the people were holding them in high esteem, and more than ever believers in the Lord were added to their number, multitudes of men and women, to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on any one of them.

Also the multitude from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all being.

Healed.

Barnabas, Ananias, and Sapphira: Genuine Generosity versus Hypocrisy

Now to quickly recap, let's look back at the conclusion of chapter 4, where we read this in verse 36. Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles, which translated means son of encouragement, and who owned a field, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.

Now you gotta pretend that like the chapter marker isn't even there, so don't think we're jumping from chapter 4 into chapter 5, we're meant to read all of this together. Because then at the start of chapter 5, we read that Ananias and Sapphira sold a piece of property.

So this is all right together with Barnabas having sold a piece of property. But Barnabas was genuine in his cell and in his heart, desiring to serve the Lord and his body, the church. And so he sold his field, gave all of the proceeds for the benefit of those who were in need.

And this may very well be why the apostles called him Barnabas, changed his name to Barnabas meaning son of encouragement. So he's known as Joseph. He's a Levite of Cyprian birth. Now the island of Cyprus is what this is in reference to.

It was a little bit to the northwest of Lebanon. So where Israel and Jerusalem were, it was almost straight north of there, a little bit to the west in the Mediterranean Sea. It's south of the nation of Turkey, Turkey as we know it today, and would have been like straight east from the island of Crete.

So you have two main islands there in the Mediterranean Sea that are south of Greece and Turkey. One is Crete, which is directly south of Greece, and the other one being Cyprus, which is to the northwest of Israel.

So it's on that island is where Barnabas was born. He was also the cousin of John Mark, who was the author of the book of Mark. This is Barnabas, and he will become a traveling companion with the apostle Paul a little bit later on.

So we're introduced to Barnabas here and this great charitable act that he does in service to the church. Well, contrasting that then with Ananias and Sapphira, who were hypocrites. They were not genuine in their gift and lied about the amount of money they sold the field.

For.

So starting in chapter five, a man named Ananias with his wife Sapphira sold a piece of property and kept back some of the price for himself with his wife's full knowledge. So the two of them are in cahoots on this little thing and bringing a portion of it.

He laid it at the apostles feet. Now, as we read through this, what we want to recognize from this is that you cannot fool God and lying in the way that they do. It's not men to whom they lie, but God, just as Peter says to Ananias.

And so this should strike fear in our hearts as well as we read this to recognize that we, even though we can fool some people, we can make people think that we're holier than we really are. We cannot fool God.

And so we need to keep that in mind. Be honest with ourselves and before the Lord that we are not as holy as we think we are. Confess your sins before God. Be cleansed of all unrighteousness, as said in first John one, nine, and desire to live lives of holiness before him until the day we meet Jesus face to face.

So that's what we want to take from what we're reading in this lesson today. So in verse three, Peter said to Ananias after he's brought this gift, laid it at the apostles feet, he said to Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land?

Now, Peter is being very prophetic here, of course, because nobody has said to him that Ananias actually sold the field for more money. Peter just knows because the Holy Spirit has revealed this to him.

And this is serving as a lesson for the entire church. As we see this at the conclusion of this saga, that fear filled the hearts of everybody who was in the church. There were even some that were a little bit timid to join the church because I don't want I don't want to be found out like Ananias and Sapphira were.

They recognized their hearts were not pure. And so that struck fear even in the hearts of those that weren't a part of the church. We'll read that as we as we come to it here. But the Lord is using this to purify his church.

And here Ananias is trying to look holier than thou. He sold a field for a certain amount of money, but he only gave part of it to the apostles and trying to look holier. He said that I sold it for this much.

This was the whole price of the field. And that way, everybody would look at him and go, oh, wow, that's that's amazing. He gave every dollar from the price of that field to God so that he would look great in the eyes of others.

It was a silly lie. It was nothing but self-serving. Because it would have been fine for Ananias to just give the portion that he wanted to.

Give.

He didn't have to give all of it. And that's what Peter goes on to say here in verse four, while it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your authority?

Why is it that you laid this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God. This is way more serious than Ananias thought. And though he could fool people, he could not fool the Lord so that the Holy Spirit had even revealed to Peter what it was that Ananias had done.

He could have kept back some of the money for himself. That would have been fine. But the problem is he lied about it. He lied that he actually sold the field for this lesser amount, which he was making everybody think he was giving all of.

He wanted everybody to see how good and pious he was. Remember, this was the Pharisees' problem as well. When Jesus refers to the Pharisees as hypocrites, it's exactly this kind of stuff that they did.

They would show themselves to be fasting in prayer, but really it was just because they wanted the attention of others. They would give charitably to the poor, but they would do it sounding a trumpet, as Jesus said in Matthew chapter six.

They wanted others to see, look how much money I've given to the poor, so that everybody would go, oh, what a generous and compassionate soul. Oh my goodness, he's so good. He's definitely going to heaven and he would get the approval of men.

Jesus would say of those Pharisees, I tell you, they've received their reward. If that's what they wanted was the approval of men, then that's all they were going to.

Get.

Ananias, it seemed, didn't even get that much. As Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last and great fear came over all who heard. Going on to verse six, the young men rose up and wrapped him up and after carrying him out, they buried him.

Now remember his wife was, she was even aware of all of this that was going on. So after an interval of about three hours, his wife came in not knowing what had happened. And Peter responded to her, tell me whether you were paid this much for the land.

So he asks her based on the amount that was laid at the apostle's feet and she affirms that amount of money is what the field sold for. Now she had an opportunity right here to say, no, that isn't what we sold the land for.

We actually sold it for more, but Ananias had given only this much. She could have done that and spared herself, but no, she continued in the same lie following the lead of her dishonest husband. And verse nine, Peter said to her, why is it that you have agreed together to put the spirit of the Lord to the test?

Behold, the feet of those who buried your husband are at the door and they will carry you out as well. Verse 10 and immediately she fell at his feet and breathed her last and the young men came in and found her dead and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

Charismatic Claims, “Slain in the Spirit,” and the True Signs and Wonders of Acts

You've certainly seen in charismatic services, Benny Hinn in particular, some of his videos are popular on social media for this, but the charismatics will, especially the preachers laying their hands on people or they'll blow on people sometimes or they'll wave their jacket around like Benny Hinn does, and then a bunch of people will fall over and this will be referred to as slain in the spirit.

Whenever they get healing or something, they get their forehead slapped or whatever, and then they fall backward or maybe the healer doesn't even touch them at all. He just puts his hands out or something and he's be healed and he'll shout like that.

And then by the power of suggestion, they'll just fall over. If you are familiar with Kosti Hinn's ministry, he used to be a catcher. He is Benny Hinn's nephew and he would catch people whenever they would do these crusades like this.

He was one of the persons that stood behind them whenever under the influence of the preacher, they would just kind of faint and fall backwards while Kosti would be there to catch them. Eventually, the Lord would open his eyes and he would see just how much of a fraud this.

Was.

And this wasn't truly what the scripture taught concerning miraculous gifts of healing. The only place we have in scripture of people falling down in this way, there's two places where we read this. One is in the gospel of John and it's when the temple guards, well, the officials of the high priest, they come to arrest Jesus and they ask him if he is Jesus and he says,.

I am.

And what happens? They all fall over. They all fall down as though the very voice of God had just knocked them off their feet. So there you have that slaying that occurs right there. And then the other occasion where we read of this in the New Testament is right here in Acts chapter five, where Ananias and Sapphira fall down as though dead.

This will be referred to in charismatic circles as being slain in the spirit. But these are the only two accounts that we have in the New Testament of being slain. One is having heard the voice of God and everybody fell down.

The voice of God himself, Jesus Christ saying, I am calling himself by the divine name. And then the other occasion being here when Ananias and Sapphira had lied and because they had lied, well, they were slain in the spirit, but really slain.

They were struck dead. You don't see this happening in charismatic churches, do you? You have all these claims of these miraculous healings, but you don't have anybody coming to church and falling down dead because of the dishonesty that was in their hearts.

I've shared this before, but when I was in college, I got really, really sick. And the reason I was sick, I would come to understand this years later. I didn't know this at the time, but the reason why I was sick was because I was doing things with my girlfriend that I should not have been doing.

And it was making me feel guilty. But instead of stopping doing it, I just tried to suppress and stomach the guilt, but it was making me very ill. And nobody knew why I was sick. I would go to the doctors, they would check me out.

There was even one experimental drug I was given because nobody could figure out what was wrong with me. Well, maybe he would be up for trying this pill. That didn't help me either. Probably did more harm to me than good, looking back on it.

But I just could not kick this illness. And I was losing a lot of weight, 15, 20 pounds even. I looked like skin and bones. It was the lightest I had ever been, I think, since the time I'd hit puberty.

And the couple that I was living with, I was living in their basement at the time. They were a very charismatic couple, actually attended the same church that I did. But they were way more charismatic than I was.

And they asked me if I would be up to having a healer come and pray over me. And I said that was fine.

And he did.

He came over. I was laying in bed. My mom was at my side holding my hand. And this healer prayed these healing prayers over me. And it never worked. I still continued to be sick. And I was sick until I broke up with my girlfriend.

And then it was sometime after that I recovered. I still didn't repent before God. It wasn't until later that I realized what I had done. And it was my guilt that was overwhelming me. And that's why I was feeling sick.

As it says in Psalm 32, 4, for day and night your hand was heavy upon me. My strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. That's exactly what I was going through at the time. But again, I wouldn't realize it until much later.

You know, it wasn't just that one guy that came and prayed over me for healing. There were several occasions where someone would lay hands on me and ask for healing. And in the midst of all of that, no one, not one person, though they would claim to have all these revealed prophecies given to them and all this kind of stuff and God is going to heal you and this, that and the other.

But no one recognized what I was doing with my girlfriend or called me out for my sin and said that I needed to repent. Not one person. And so if they were really led by the Holy Spirit, why didn't they see that?

I continued to put on a good Christian face. I still look like the good, squeaky clean young man that everybody thought that I was. And in the meantime, I've got things that I'm hiding that people did not know anything about.

I looked holy and pious on the outside, but on the inside, I was full of dead man's bones. And the Lord was gracious to me because he could have struck me dead in those moments, claiming to be a follower of Jesus Christ and living my life free from sin.

And in the meantime, I was doing things that nobody else could see. And it was really a blessing that the Lord afflicted me in such a way that I would not end up doing worse than what I was already doing.

I could fool the people, but I couldn't fool God. I could not, I could not lie to the Holy Spirit. I was lying to the Holy Spirit, but I couldn't pull that off against God. And praise God that he afflicted me to the point that that relationship ended.

And now I have the wonderful marriage that I have today, not to repeat the same mistakes that I made back then. And we have this wonderful family and these great kids. I'm thankful for that trial and what the Lord taught me in the midst of that.

But it was no thanks to any of the charismatics around me who were claiming to be able to heal me and were not. What I needed to hear was that I needed to repent of my sin, but nobody even had any inclination that I was sinning.

The Holy Spirit was not really leading them in that way. When this thing happened to Ananias and Sapphira, verse 11 says that great fear came over the whole church and over all who heard these things.

So people in the church and people who were outside. Now at the hands of the apostles, many signs and wonders were happening among the people and they were all with one accord in Solomon's portico. Now catch this in verse 13, but none of the rest dared to associate with them.

However, the people were holding them in high esteem. So there were some people who were very afraid about what was going on in the church because even unbelievers were recognizing, we can't just fake this.

Ananias and Sapphira couldn't fake that they sold the field for a certain amount of money that they didn't really sell it for. And so if I can't hide any of my vices, just be better for me not to go into the church at all.

I remember when I was leading a youth group a number of years ago, there was a young man that we finally convinced to come, but he had said the reason why he didn't come is because he really thought he was going to step into a church building and get struck.

By lightning.

This was a young man who was overwhelmed with guilt of all of the sins that he had done in the way that he was living his life. And there were people here in Jerusalem that were just like that. I don't want to be with the church because I'm afraid of what they're going to find out.

In me.

But they still held the apostles in high esteem, knowing that their sicknesses could be healed, their diseases, their afflictions from unclean spirits. So verse 14, more than ever, believers in the Lord were added to their number, multitudes of men and women.

So it's not that people had so much fear that no one was becoming a Christian, but those were who were converted, were genuinely converted to such an extent. Verse 15 says that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and mats so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on any of them.

By the way, something else you don't see happening in the charismatic church. Nobody is being healed by shadows of faith healers. Verse 16. Also, the multitude from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all being.

Healed.

An incredible movement of God that is going on. And again, this all goes back to that prayer we had heard in Acts chapter four, where the apostles had said, now, Lord, take note of their threats and grant that your slaves may speak your word with all confidence while you extend your hand to heal and signs and wonders happen through the name of your holy servant, Jesus.

Now, my friends, you may not be struck down dead because of the sins that you commit against God, the things that you hide, but cannot really hide from God. And who knows? Maybe the Lord will afflict you like he afflicted me.

Maybe he will strike you down. Maybe he will turn you over to your sin so that you cannot escape it and you will be consumed by your depraved mind. I tell you, turn from your sin now. Confess to the Lord Christ.

And if you must, tell your pastor or somebody else about sins that you've been hiding, but you know you need to confess. 1 John 1, 9, once again, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

But you must confess them before the Lord. You cannot hide them from God. Heavenly Father, we thank you for what we've read. And I pray that even this would strike fear in our hearts and that we would turn from our wicked ways and walk in the righteousness of Christ that we have been clothed in.

Lead us in paths of righteousness for your name's sake, as we read in Psalm 23, 3. It's in the name of Jesus that we pray.

Amen.

You've been listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study. Then on Thursday, we look at an Old Testament book.

On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers. Tomorrow, we'll pick up on an Old Testament study, When We Understand the Text.