WWUTT 1043 Ananias and Sapphira?

Have you ever heard of being slain in the Spirit? No, it's not falling down because some sort of miracle happened to you.

It might be because you had experienced the judgment of God. So let love be genuine when we understand the text.

Many of the Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we understand the text is an online ministry dedicated to teaching the

Word of God in context, promoting sound doctrine while exposing the faulty. Here's your teacher,

Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We continue our study of the book of Acts and we'll finish chapter 4 today.

Yesterday, we read the prayer that the disciples prayed for boldness. We're going to pick up in verse 32 and even read into a little bit of chapter 5.

Here's Acts 4 .32. Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul.

And no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.

And with great power, the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the

Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them.

For as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet and it was distributed to each as any had need.

Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas, which means son of encouragement, a

Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.

We'll stop there for just a moment. I'll pick up in chapter 5 a little bit later on. So we're introduced to Barnabas here, you know,

Barnabas, who would travel around with Paul spreading the gospel. His name is Joseph, also called by the apostles

Barnabas, as if it was a name he earned, for it means son of encouragement.

How's that for a name? Do you know a Barney? Yeah, Barney's name is son of encouragement.

Let's go back to verse 32 here. Now, the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul.

Now, this whole section that we've just read here, it looks kind of familiar, right? Very similar to what we read at the end of chapter 2.

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers, and all who believed were together and had all things in common.

Remember reading that about the early church? That was regarding that first number of 3 ,000 that became

Christians at Pentecost. Then we read about the lame beggar being healed. Peter and John come before the council.

They're threatened, but they're let go. They lift up a prayer to God asking for boldness.

And now those other thousands that have been added to the church are together in one heart and soul.

As the number of the church is being added to day by day, there is unity among them, which is brought about by the

Holy Spirit of God. This is a kind of unity that man cannot manufacture.

It is only through the Holy Spirit that we can be unified. We are unified to God and we become one with God's people.

In Titus chapter three, verse three, the apostle Paul says that we were once hated by others and hating one another.

That's who we were before we came to Christ. There is no unity apart from Christ. There's something that might look like unity, but it's all in vain.

A person has self -interest in mind. It is self -righteousness for it is not according to the righteousness of God.

True unity can only happen through the Holy Spirit, that we would be of one mind in Christ Jesus and of one accord.

In Ephesians chapter four, we read the following. Paul says, I, therefore, a prisoner for the

Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

There is one body and one spirit. Just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one

Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.

We have a varied grace as Paul also talks about in Romans chapter 12, verse three.

So there is a respective calling that God has to each one, but then there is that calling that everyone in the body of Christ has to unity in the spirit.

This unity is only brought about by God's sovereign hand, by his working through his people, that we may be of one heart and soul.

Continuing with Acts 4, 32, and no one said that any of the things that belong to him was his own, but they had everything in common.

And with great power, the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the

Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all. This shows that the Lord had answered their prayer that we had just read in the previous verses.

They prayed for boldness. And when they had prayed, the place where they were gathered together was shaken and they were filled with the

Holy spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

So they were speaking with great power, giving the testimony to the resurrection of the

Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all. This grace that they might show to others.

Verse 34, there was not a needy person among them for as many as were owners of lands or houses, sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet and it was distributed to each as any had need.

Now, this particular passage, along with what we had previously read in Acts 2 about everybody having everything in common, this passage gets used to advocate for socialism or the thing that's popular right now in American culture is democratic socialism, which is just socialism with an adjective attached to it.

There's really no difference. But the argument is that you see, what we see here is socialism.

Everything was distributed equally among one another. Actually, it doesn't really say that.

It doesn't say that everybody had an equal share in everything. Well, you made $10 ,000.

That guy made $2 ,000. So let's even it out here and I'll give you both $6 ,000.

That's not what it's saying. Those who had much, they came and they laid it at the apostles' feet and the apostles distributed it to those who had need.

This isn't democratic socialism. This isn't everybody having an equal share and spreading the wealth around.

As a matter of fact, this is a ridiculous level of charity as what you're seeing here. See, socialism is forcefully taking.

No one is voluntarily giving anything. The government has control over anything that a person makes and they can take it from that person and distribute the goods or the services.

However, they see fit. It's forcefully taking from a person. It's theft and it leads to communism, which is a very tyrannical government.

The government therefore also says what you must say and what you must believe and the kind of jobs that you're supposed to have, the things that need to be done.

The government controls everything. That's not what's going on here. The apostles weren't controlling anything.

It was because of the great grace that was upon them all that they considered the things that they had belong to God anyway.

It wasn't worth anything on Earth because eventually the day was going to come. They were going to inherit a kingdom even greater than anything that they had on Earth.

So it demonstrates the great faith that they had in a future kingdom and not in wealth here on Earth that they would be willing to give it up for the service of the church, for the advancement of the gospel and for the care of those who were in need.

That's what we're reading about here. Those who give freely out of their charity, free will giving, not forcefully taking, which is what socialism does.

In 2 Corinthians 9, verse 6, we read the point is this. Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion for God loves a cheerful giver.

It is an opportunity for us to demonstrate the love that is in our hearts when we have that chance to give as we feel we must give.

And that's what's going on here in the church, that great love for one another being demonstrated and being displayed.

No one is forcing anyone to take anything. The apostles aren't pointing at anybody and going, you haven't given enough.

So go and sell more of your stuff and bring more of the proceeds to the poor. There's no sort of oversight that is going on in that way.

Everyone is giving out of genuineness, out of love and care for each other.

You force someone out of obligation to give more than what is in their hearts to give and it's not genuine giving.

The apostle Paul didn't pressure the Corinthians into that and nor was anybody being pressured in the early church to give, but just that they would give as they wanted.

The less taxes we have to pay, the less government control that we are under, the more we actually have to care for one another.

The more government oversight there is, the less care there actually can be. So then verse 36, thus

Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas, which means son of encouragement, a

Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.

Here we see the genuineness of Barnabas, which is gonna be contrasted against Ananias and Sapphira in the next chapter.

Let's pick up now chapter five, verse one. But a man named Ananias with his wife Sapphira sold a piece of property and with his wife's knowledge, he kept back for himself some of the proceeds.

And brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said,

Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the

Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own?

And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart?

You have not lied to man, but to God. When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last.

And great fear came upon all who heard of it. The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.

After an interval of about three hours, his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

And Peter said to her, tell me whether you sold the land for so much. And she said, yes, for so much.

But Peter said to her, how is it that you have agreed together to test the spirit of the

Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door and they will carry you out.

Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in, they found her dead and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

So yes, once again, we see the genuineness of Barnabas's gift compared to what

Ananias and Sapphira did from a disingenuous heart. Barnabas sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money from the cell, all of it, and laid it at the apostles feet.

What he said he sold it for is what he gave. The story is different with Ananias and Sapphira.

So starting in chapter five, verse one again, but a man named Ananias with his wife, Sapphira sold a piece of property, just like Barnabas did.

And with his wife's knowledge, he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles feet.

Now, if Ananias had brought a part of the money and laid it at the apostles feet and kept back a part of himself and told them that that's what he was doing, then it would have been fine.

No one would have thought any less of Ananias. Again, there was no obligation on anyone to go and sell all of their property and give all of the proceeds to the apostles.

It was Ananias' field to do with what he wanted. So if he wanted to sell it and keep half and give half, that would have been fine if that was the honesty of his heart.

But he said that he was giving it all because he wanted the praise and recognition from the apostles while at the same time being able to keep a little worldly wealth for himself.

And verse three, Peter said to Ananias, why is Satan filled your heart to lie to the

Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? So Ananias is lying.

He is showing that he had sold the field for this much, but the truth was he had sold it for twice more than that, which he was keeping for himself.

It's as if Ananias thinks that he will not be found out. But the Holy Spirit of God searches mind and heart and knows the deeds and thoughts of every man.

Verse four, Peter goes on to say, while it remained unsold, did it not remain your own?

And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart?

You have not lied to man, but to God. And when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last.

See, that's truly being slain in the Holy Spirit. You know, these charismatic services where they might do some sort of healing or prophesying or something like that, and people will fall down.

Surely you've seen it in the Benny Hinn concerts, you know, Bethel Church or any of these other things.

Some sort of charismatic Pentecostal preacher would do something, wave his Nehru jacket around or whatever, and people will fall down and they will say it's being slain in the

Spirit. Being slain means to be killed. That's what the word means.

Slay, to slay someone, S -L -A -Y. It means to murder them. It means to kill them.

If you go out and slay somebody, you don't just knock them down. They are dead. And so this being slain in the

Spirit is truly what happens here to Ananias. Not this falling down thing that happens in some charismatic or Pentecostal service, putting on a show, believing that so doing, either by mind manipulation or because you wanted to, believing that doing this means some miracle or the

Holy Spirit has somehow come upon you. In this particular case, Ananias lied. He lied to the

Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit took his life. He fell down and breathed his last.

It's interesting that the charismatics who want the miracles that we read about in the early church, these miraculous signs and wonders, they want that to go on in Sunday services in their charismatic churches every

Sunday, but they don't like this one. This is not the one that happens in the local church.

The one where when you lie to God, you fall down dead.

That's not the one that we hear about. No, we hear about the speaking in tongues and the flopping on the floor and prophesying and all these other kinds and being healed of your back problems or that one leg was uneven with the other one.

Great fear came upon all who heard of it. Of course it would. Great fear would come upon anybody who had heard about this story.

It would come upon our own church. If it were to happen in my church this coming Sunday morning, great fear would come upon everyone to see the judgment of God and acted in this way in everyone's very presence.

Verse six, the young man rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.

And after an interval of three hours, his wife came in not knowing what had happened.

And Peter said to her, tell me whether you sold the land for so much. And she said, yes, for so much.

So she was in on it with her husband and the money that Ananias brought in and laid down before Peter.

Sapphira testifies to that being the full amount. So she's now committed the same sin that Ananias had just committed.

Of course, she's exposing what was in her heart. It's not like being asked this. She was standing around looking around going, oh, what's the right answer?

What's the answer that won't get me killed? No, it was already in her heart to do this thing. Ananias and Sapphira did it together.

So here Sapphira is revealing the condition of her heart. The lie that she had contrived with her husband.

And that's why she gave the answer that she did. And Peter said to her, how is it that you have agreed together to test the spirit of the

Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door and they will carry you out.

Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in, they found her dead and carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

In first Corinthians chapter 11, the apostle Paul warned the church in Corinth that they were partaking of the

Lord's table in an improper manner. And so therefore some of them had gotten sick and some had even died because they had unclean hands when they came to communion.

They had unconfessed sins. They were coming in vain, rather in honor of Christ. And I truly believe the

Lord will still afflict a person in this way. Not that everybody who is sick is sick because of their sin.

That's not what I'm saying, but it can be the case. In Psalm 32, for David said for day and night, your hand was heavy upon me.

My strength was dried up as by the heat of summer because of the sins that David needed to confess before the

Lord. This may be an affliction of a person's conscience. It may be that they experienced depression or it may be that they actually have a physical ailment that afflicts their body because of their sin.

I know of this because it happened to me. When I was in college, I was in a relationship.

I had no business being in. We were doing things we should not have been doing. I was living in an unholy manner.

I was not taking care of this girl and there was no fear of God in my heart. And I got very, very sick.

As long as I was in that relationship, I was sick. I lost a tremendous amount of weight. I had no motivation to do anything.

It wasn't until that relationship came to an end that I started getting better. I wouldn't truly repent before God until sometime after that.

But once the relationship ended, I wasn't as afflicted in my body as I had been when

I was in that relationship. So I've been there before. I know how sin can even affect a person physically.

And so as long as we keep silent, the hand of God would be heavy upon us. And that can be a blessing, folks, that we would feel that guilt so we would come before God and confess it and so be healed, receive forgiveness and grace and testify to the

God who loves us as a father disciplining those he loves. If he did not discipline us, we would not be sons and daughters of God.

So praise God for his discipline and then that he gives us grace to pull us out of the pit that we fall into because of our own sin.

In Romans chapter 12, the apostle Paul says, let love be genuine. When we are showing love and kindness to others, let it be because we genuinely care for one another in one heart, in one spirit, one

Lord, one God and father of us all who is over all and through all and in all.

And it's in this unity that we genuinely love and care for one another. Let our love not be to the observance of somebody else.

Well, look how great I am. Look how kind I can be. That was kind of what Ananias and Sapphira did.

And at the same time, we're also lying with holding what it was that they could have given, holding some of it back for themselves and the

Lord afflicted them because of their sin. But those who were genuine in the Lord Christ were blessed and rejoiced to be part of his body in this way.

And so let us be one in body and spirit with Christ Jesus, our savior, genuinely loving one another with the mind of Christ.

Let us pray. Our heavenly father, we thank you for your grace and your goodness upon us. And I pray that you would lift us up if we have any unconfessed sins that we would confess them before you and that you would heal us and raise us up again, lift our gaze to you.

May we not be ashamed to look upon our God, but we know that you are gracious and merciful and that you have love and kindness for us every day through Jesus Christ, our savior, in whose name we pray.