God’s High Demand for Holiness

Transcript

GR 1589
01/23/11
God's High Demand for Holiness
Acts 4:32-5:11
Gil Rugh

Turn to Acts 4 in your Bibles. God has begun a new work in the world with the establishing of the church in Acts 2. In Genesis 12 we have recorded the call of Abram, the covenant that God established with Abram and his descendants. With the Exodus from Egypt the descendants of Abram are formed into a nation. They are given the Mosaic Law that will govern their life as a nation. And they function as the focal point of God's work in the world until the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ and His ascension to heaven. Then with Acts 2 God creates a new people in which He will focus His work in the world until the rapture of the church, its removal from earth, and then He will resume His program with Israel directly, focusing His work in the world in that nation once again.

The church is comprised of those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. In the early chapters of the book of Acts it is completely Jewish in makeup. But you understand it is a new work, even though it is comprised of Jews. Now it has a new identity. Peter, John and the other apostles and other saved Jews at this time do not understand at this early point the uniqueness of the work of God in establishing the church. They do not understand the major change that has taken place. That will be part of unfolding revelation, particularly the revelation that was given in fullness to the Apostle Paul in clarifying the work that God is doing with the church.

The church is identified as the body of Christ in the world. Turn to I Corinthians 12. In talking about the spiritual gifts given to the church Paul uses the analogy of a physical body that has various parts. And that is true of the church. And he says in verse 12, even as the body is one and has many members and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. And that's the work of the Spirit placing us into the body of Christ, when we place our faith in Christ. Whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free we were all made to drink or partake of one Spirit. For the body is not one member but many. So you have one body but many parts. And this local church functions as the body of Christ in this place. And there are other local churches obviously throughout the city and around the world. When a person believes in Jesus Christ the work of the Spirit is to place them into the body of Christ and the manifestation of the body of Christ in the world is the multitude of local churches in various places.

Come over to Ephesians 1. And he has talked about the sovereign work of God in eternity past in choosing for Himself people for His salvation. He has talked about the work of Christ and the provision that has been made, what He brought about in Christ. Verse 20, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenlies. Verse 22, He put all things in subjection under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church. You see the church is that new entity brought into existence as a result of the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ to the right hand of the Father, from which He sent the Holy Spirit who began to carry out His baptizing work in Acts 2, to make up a people who would comprise the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. And the church today is the place where God manifests His presence in the world. In the Old Testament it was Israel, and they had the tabernacle and then the temple, and the focal point there in the Holy of Holies where God manifested His presence in the world. And He did so at the center of that nation. And those people were to be His people manifesting His presence. Now it is the church, a distinct group from the nation. And we are His body in the world, the manifestation of His presence.

Come back to I Corinthians 6:19, do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you. So even though in the Old Testament the presence of God was manifested in a physical temple, that building in the midst of Israel, now His presence in manifested in the body of the individual believer. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God. You are not your own, you have been bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body. Remember that emphasis, it becomes significant in the portion we're going to be looking at in Acts. And even as God required holiness of His people because of His presence in their midst in the Old Testament, in Israel, that's why we call it the Holy Land, Jerusalem the holy city. Now God manifests His presence in us as His people, each of us individually.

Back up to I Corinthians 3:16, do you not know that you are a temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you? There is a distinction here. In I Corinthians 6 he was talking about the individual believer's body being a temple of the Holy Spirit. Now here he is talking about the corporate group when he says you are a temple of God. He speaks of the church at Corinth, corporately, together they are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in them. So in us individually and in us as a church brought together, because we are a people in whom the Holy Spirit dwells. We assemble together and the Holy Spirit dwells in this local church. Now note this, if any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy and that is what you are. So you see both for the individual believer and for the church corporately as the dwelling place of God. There it's required that we glorify God in our bodies individually and recognize that the church is holy because it is the place where God manifests His presence. And He requires holiness.

We fail to take this seriously. Israel failed to take it seriously in the Old Testament and it brought God's devastating, withering judgment to them. And God is no less serious about His holiness and our holiness, both individually and corporately because He is the same holy God, with the same unchanging requirement—holiness.

Come back to Acts now and we'll pick up in the 4th chapter. We see how the church has been functioning in the early stages. In Acts 2 the church began. Three thousand people respond to the preaching of the gospel by Peter. And they form the church at that time. They were all Jews. Perhaps there were some Gentiles in there that had been converts to Judaism, but primarily it is a Jewish church at that point, in the sense that it is made up of Jews. At the end of chapter 2 verse 42, they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship and to the breaking of bread and to prayer. So you see what characterized the church—the apostles' teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, praying. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe. There are miracles being done through the apostles. All those who believed were together and had all things in common. They began selling their property and possessions, were sharing with all as anyone had need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple. As we noted their meeting place was still the temple, particularly as there is reference in the book of Acts to the portico of Solomon and that eastern side of the temple in the Court of the Gentiles that was a very large area and was a meeting place. For these Jews, well they keep meeting at the temple. But you see something of the ministry going on. With one mind, breaking bread from house to house, taking their meals together, gladness and sincerity of heart. And the Lord was adding to their number. We saw that number grow, 5000.

Then we come over to Acts 4 and as a result of the work of God, the healing of a man and the connecting of that healing with the power of Jesus the Nazarene and the proclamation of His death and resurrection, the demonstration of His resurrection power in the healing of that man. There is a turn taken and now the church is being brought under persecution, opposition from the Jewish leadership becomes more focused. And it becomes clear, the nation as a nation is not going to turn to Jesus as their Messiah. Represented by their leaders, they are settled in opposing the message and they have forbidden the apostles to continue to preach the message of Christ, which of course they cannot do. They have to obey God rather than men.

We saw their prayer in Acts 4:29 where they ask the Lord to take note of their threats and grant that your bondservants may speak your word with all confidence, boldness. Verse 31, when they had prayed, the place where they were gathered together was shaken. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness. Their prayer is answered and God confirms His presence there and His power. And His intention for the ministry of the gospel to continue on.

But you know Satan does not give up. He has turned and brought opposition from outside the church to bear against the church, this young early church, in the Jewish leadership. Now he will turn and raise up opposition to the church from within and from those who profess to be part of the church and identify with the church. And joined together at least in one way in what the church is doing. But it's a corrupted action that threatens the church from within. That's what is going to be happening at the end of chapter 4 and into chapter 5.

The end of chapter 4 is similar to the end of chapter 2, which we just read. Verse 32 says and the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and one soul. We saw at the end of chapter 2 that they were continuing with one mind. Now the believers here are joined together with one heart, one soul. The Spirit has produced His unity because those who believe in Jesus Christ are joined together in a relationship of oneness. That's what binds us together. That's why the church cannot be focused on external diversity—the rich versus the poor, this race versus that race, and so on. Because what binds us together is a work of the Spirit and the presence of the Spirit in our lives. So that's why in Ephesians 4 in the opening verses we are instructed to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. We don't create the unity, but we are to be very careful to maintain it because if by our unbiblical conduct or action we fracture that unity, we set ourselves in opposition to the Spirit of God. That is what is about to take place.

Not one of them claimed that anything belonged to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. Again this is similar to what we read in chapter 2. So this doesn't mean everybody has sold everything they had and made a common pot. That's going to be clear as we move through the chapter. This is not a communistic kind of idea, but what it does is demonstrate the unity that is here and a readiness to sacrifice for the benefit of others. And so that oneness manifests itself by the willingness to sacrifice in a very visible, tangible way. Serious thing for a Jew to identify himself with Jesus Christ and the message of Christ in these days. Because already you would have suffering. Some of these Jews may have found out when they turned up at work, they didn't have a job. Were you not baptized in the name of Jesus Christ? You have no place here. Difficult thing to live in Jerusalem and be an open follower of Jesus Christ. And at this time you have a mixed body now, you have people who have possession, you have people that are in great need. So they function as a family. What do you do when your family has a need? You are willing to make the adjustment to help meet that need, sacrifice what you can and what you have to help the family member who has a need. That's how the body is functioning here. So they are ready to utilize their possessions for the good of others.

Turn over to I John 3:16, we know love by this that He, referring to Christ, lay down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. That readiness to give everything we have for the benefit of fellow believers, including our own lives if necessary. But whoever has the world's goods and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? I mean, what I have is mine and I want to enjoy it. Now you want me to sacrifice what I have to help you out. If that's my attitude, I really don't have a love for you, is what John is saying. Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.

Back up to James 2. Here it is talking about saving faith produces a changed life, a changed lifestyle, changed focus of life. Verse 14, what use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but has no works? Can that kind of faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food and one of you says to him, go in peace, be warmed, be filled and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is it? So faith without works is dead. You see if you truly experienced the heart transformation that the Spirit of God produces, and now He is dwelling in you, you have that bond with other believers. And just as our physical bond to our physical family draws us to them and to help them, in an even greater way is the spiritual bond we have in Christ. It draws us to the same kind of self-sacrificing attitude. That doesn't mean that some in the body won't have maybe riches and others in the body will be poor. But nobody in the body should be starving, going without a place to sleep while others of us are living in great homes. There has to be a readiness and realize that God has provided perhaps our excess to help those who are going through a particular time. That does not excuse laziness. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians on that. Believers who are just unwilling to work, then they ought to be disciplined because they are not functioning in a biblical way.

Come back to Acts 4:33, and with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and abundant grace was on them all. These are great days. The power of the Lord is on the apostles and they are proclaiming a resurrected Christ who is alive. The grace of the Lord is on all these believers at this time. I take it that is an evidence of their functioning as God would have them function. They are involved in one another's lives, not just proclaiming the message of Jesus Christ, but they are involved now as God's people, separated to Himself.

The evidence is, you'll note verse 34 begins with the word for. So abundant grace was upon them all and it's God's grace providing this enablement and motivation in their functioning biblically. There was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles' feet and they would be distributed to each as any had need. We do this in one way at the end of the year, we take an offering so we would have plenty ready to help members of the body who come into need. That's one way we do it. Corporately. Many thousands of dollars were given to that particular fund to help believers who may come into need. Other ways we do it is individually. Here it is done corporately. They brought it to the apostles who would be more aware of the need. Remember the church has grown into the thousands and so here is a way that the apostles can help oversee the needs. By the time we get to chapter 6 the needs will be of such a level they need special men appointed just for that kind of ministry. But at this point the apostles are carrying it out.

This is a voluntary thing, that will come out in chapter 5, no one is required to do it. This is not a doctrine of the church, that if you're going to be here you must sell some of your possessions and give it to the apostles' fund for the needy. But as a result of the grace of God, just being made aware of such an opportunity, just like we distributed envelopes to different classes. We didn't say everybody here is required to give significantly, it was a voluntary thing. We trust the Lord will move people to do that, which is the way it is to be in our giving as God's people.

That's great, you think here we have in the early church a perfect church. Doesn't have the kind of problems that other churches face. And there is a unity and cohesiveness in these early days, but the devil is at work. And even in great works of God the devil works, and he works with our fallen, sinful nature, even as believers, to bring division, to bring sin into the congregation.

Before we get to that there is an example given, and we read here of a very special person—Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth. And we don't know him very well by that. If we had a Bible test and said who Joseph, the one of Cyprian birth was? We could say Mary the mother of Christ was married to Joseph. Who would Joseph of Cyprian birth be? But he is known as Barnabas to us and he is identified that way here. He is also called Barnabas by the apostles. And the translation of his name given is son of encouragement. And you may have in your margin that encourage means exhortation, consolation. This is the word we have used of the Holy Spirit in John 16. He is the paraclete, the one who is called alongside of to give help, aid, encouragement. So here Barnabas, name translated means son of encouragement. Interesting, no one knows what the derivation of Barnabas is that it can be translated son of encouragement. We know the word encouragement, but we don't know what the derivation of Barnabas is at this point, where the meaning Barnabas came to mean son of encouragement. But it is because the scripture tells us here.

Already he has a reputation in the early church for what will characterize him and he becomes a very key figure as you are aware. He'll appear again in Acts 9, 11, 13-15. He'll become the traveling companion, as you are aware, of Paul in Acts 15. Over in Acts 11:22, we'll just look at this one passage on Barnabas. And Barnabas is sent by the church in Jerusalem to Antioch because of the work that the Lord was doing there. So he goes in effect as an apostolic representative. He is not an apostle himself but he comes from the church at Jerusalem where the apostles are centered. When he arrived, verse 23, and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all. You would expect that from the son of encouragement, wouldn't you? With resolute heart to remain true to the Lord. And note here the testimony given to him, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. So here you have a very godly man, living his life under the control of the Holy Spirit, being used. Evidently, obviously gifted of God with the gift of encouragement here and having a great influence on people's lives.

So here he comes into the picture. And what does he do? He owns a tract of land and he sold it and brought the money to the apostles and laid it at the apostles' feet. What do you note here? There is nothing hidden about his action. We sometimes get the idea that we want to be careful we don't give our money in a public way, we do it secretly. And I can appreciate that, we want to be careful. There is danger, there is danger with anything we do as believers. There are dangers in my preaching the word to you—am I doing this for self-glory and self-honor? And in your ministry do you do it for the credit you get? And so anything can be corrupted. Barnabas does it here with a heart of a desire to serve the Lord and I'm sure his action was a great encouragement to the church that he would do this.

Just as an aside, Joseph is a Levite. That's of the priestly family. In the law of Moses the priests weren't allowed to own land, but here Barnabas does own a piece of land of some value. So even though the law said the priests, the Levites were not to own land, that does break down, particularly through the times with Assyrian captivity, then the Babylonian captivity. And for example, we won't take time to go back to the book of Jeremiah, but in Jeremiah 1 we find out that Jeremiah is of the priestly line, he's a Levite. But later in the book of Jeremiah under the direction of God he is instructed to buy a piece of land in Israel. So there was some change that with the passing of time.

And here Joseph the Levite from Cyprus has a piece of land, it is evidently of some value. He sold it, brought the money. There is a need in the church, I have some land, I could sell that and give it to the apostles. And there it could be used of the Lord in meeting the needs. And so it is.

That prepares us for chapter 5, that begins with a “but.” And that brings us to a contrast with Barnabas. This is what Barnabas did, but a man named Ananias and his wife, Sapphira. Sapphira means beautiful. Sold a piece of property. So they are like Barnabas and they are following the example of Barnabas. And perhaps in the church there was a recognition of a sacrifice Barnabas had made in selling this piece of land and giving the money. And the church recognized that and he is honored in a godly way and appreciated for the realm of service, like we appreciate one another and the way the Lord uses us perhaps at times, even in special ways in one another's lives and in the life of the church. So Ananias and Sapphira, they have a piece of property. So they sold it.

Then we are told in verse 2 they kept back some of the price. Ananias did here, focusing on him, for himself with his wife's full knowledge. She is complicit in this. And bringing a portion of it he laid it at the apostles' feet. So he comes when the church comes together and here you have the apostles and now you have Ananias coming. And I have sold a piece of land and I want to give the proceeds of that for the help of the poor in our church family. Sounds good, sounds nice, sounds like a godly thing to do. It's just what Barnabas did.

But Peter said, we have another but here. 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? Now here you have the church assembled, we know that from what's going to follow in a moment. And in the meeting there is opportunity here, Ananias comes forward and says, here is something I want to do. Peter, imagine the shock of the congregation, they'd be saying, isn't that wonderful. Look what Ananias is doing, just like Barnabas. Praise the Lord. And Peter says, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land. The Spirit of God has made clear to Peter what has happened here, revealed to Peter what Ananias has done. And so he confronts him before the church and he said, you have lied to the Holy Spirit. Not even you have lied to us as the apostles, or you have lied to this church family, which he has done. But in doing so you have lied to the Holy Spirit because what happened? Well we read in I Corinthians 3 that this is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. So to lie to the church, you're lying to the Holy Spirit who dwells in the church, according to I Corinthians3. So serious, serious issue. Far beyond a little deception to other Christians. It's carried to a level far beyond that. This is a lie to the Holy Spirit who dwells in the church.

Now Peter gives an explanation. This makes clear this is to be voluntary action. While it remained unsold did it not remain your own? You didn't have to sell that land, there is no requirement in the church for whoever has something extra, something not directly needed for their own shelter or food, clothing and so on. It was your own and you didn't have to sell it. After it was sold, was it not under your control? So you see that's what he was saying, these are voluntary actions as a result of being made aware of the need, the opportunity, and the Holy Spirit moving on people to do what they believe should be done. So he could have kept the land or he could have sold the land and kept the money. He could have sold the land and said I want to give this portion of what I have sold. His sin was lying to the Holy Spirit in telling the people of God, I'm giving it all. And in so doing it becomes a lie. We say, at least he gave some. When you think about it he didn't have to sell the land, and when he sold it he didn't have to give any of the money. Isn't it at least something to his credit that he gave some of the money? That's more than some people did who didn't sell the land they had. Or more than other people who sold what they had but didn't give any money to the church. They don't get any punishment. You see what God expects, He expects transparency. There is no room for hypocrisy, there is no room for lying. That is a personal affront to the Holy Spirit who dwells in the church.

Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You see where the problem goes. You determined to lie to the church and in doing so you determined to lie to the Holy Spirit. You have not lied to men but to God. You see the Holy Spirit here is called God. In verse 3, Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit; verse 4, you have not lied to men but to God. When you lie to the Holy Spirit you lie to God. Now you'll note here, Satan filled his heart to do this, but it does not excuse the responsibility. Ananias wanted to do it. Now this is a serious matter, we ought to see how Satan can work, even in the life of a believer that he is there to work on us, if you will. And he knows us, he knows our weakness. As Ananias contemplated here, that's quite a sum of money I got for that land. Maybe he got more than he expected. I didn't expect I was going to get that much for that. We don't know. And the Holy Spirit is ready to move in our hearts and minds. You don't have to give it all, it would be very generous of you and is it anybody's business but yours what you really got and what you really give? And all kinds of reasoning’s go through. But you see what God expects, He expects total honesty. We see something of the conduct expected and required as we read in I Corinthians 3 as well as our individual conduct in I Corinthians 6, as those in whom the Holy Spirit dwells. Our conduct is serious, serious business.

You have not lied to men but to God. Well if that's the case I'll start my own church in Jerusalem. That's what they do today. Verse 5, he won't get that chance. As he heard this words Ananias fell down and breathed his last. There is no chance for a response on Ananias' part. Here you have the church assembled, Peter rebuking him for his sin. When Peter is done speaking, Ananias drops dead. And great fear came over all who heard it. I can imagine great fear came over all who heard it. I mean, what a remarkable thing. Can you imagine the word spread out to people who weren't here at this particular meeting? Do you know what happened? Remember Barnabas when he sold his land and gave it? Yes, and how excited the church was. Ananias did the same thing except he kept part of what he made on the land back and Peter said he lied to God when he did that. And you know what? Ananias is dead. No, I just saw him, he is healthy, he's doing fine. Ananias is dead. You can imagine great fear came on all of them.

We're not done because Beautiful has to come in, Sapphira. Three hours later she comes in. You know this was a different age, they didn't text in those days. Three hours later she still doesn't know Ananias is dead. So here she comes into the meeting with the apostles. The young men have carried the body out. There elapsed an interval, verse 7, of about three hours. His wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter responded to her, tell me whether you sold the land for such-and-such a price. We get a fuller picture here. When Ananias brought the money he had indicated, here is the money I made on the land. Here is what I sold it for and here is what I'm giving. Now he asked Sapphira, what did you get for the land? She tells him the amount that she and Ananias had agreed to say they got, which was less than they really got.

So did you sell the land for such-and-such a price? Yes, that's what we sold it for, that was the price. Peter said to her, verse 9, why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of God to the test? See the seriousness of these matters? This is the early days of the church. What is being unfolded here is how seriously God takes holiness among His people. Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Lord to the test? Do you know what happens when you don't function as God says you must? You are putting Him to the test to see if He'll do anything. You are lying to Him and you are putting Him to the test.

Behold the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, they'll carry you out as well. And immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young men came in and found her dead and carried her out and buried her beside her husband. And great fear came over the whole church and over all who heard these things. We're not going any further, but you ought to note in verse 13, none of the rest dared to associate with them. I mean, people may have though this is an exciting new thing. I think we'll become part of that new group. I don't think so.

You know we talk about trying to break down barriers so people feel more welcome. You see what God is making clear—the only people welcome in His church are the people saved by His grace and committed to live by that grace. And here a barrier is put up. Last thing I want to do is go and join the first church of the apostles in Jerusalem. Do you know what happens to people who don't tell the truth in that church? Ananias and Sapphira, go visit their graves. Do you want to go there Sunday? Maybe we'll go to their church. No, I don't think so.

You see the work of God, there is unity, there is harmony. What is God doing? Come back to Leviticus 10. When we started out I mentioned that in Genesis 12 we have the call of Abram recorded and the covenant that God established with him. That will be reiterated and expanded on later occasions. Abraham and his descendants. We come to the time of Joseph, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the children of Jacob. And then Joseph sent into Egypt and the descendants of Abraham go down into Egypt to spend 400 years in bondage. They go down as a family of 70, the come out as a nation of perhaps 2 million. Then they are gathered at Mt. Sinai, and there God gives them His law, His commandments to govern all of their conduct as His people in every area. They are now a nation. And in the context of being established as God's nation. You have instructions for the priest and their consecration that is recorded in Leviticus 8. Aaron and his family are to be the priestly family. And you come to chapter 10, instructions have been given regarding sacrifice and so on. Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans and after putting fire in them placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the Lord which He had not commanded them. He has given them instructions but now they are disobeying the instructions for functioning as God's priests. And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. Dead on the spot. Then Moses said to Aaron, it is what the Lord spoke saying, by those who come near Me I will be treated as holy. And before all the people I will be honored. So Aaron kept silent. He just lost his two sons, and you know he is forbidden even to give any evidence of mourning. You understand our relationship to God supersedes everything, including our relationship to our children or our parents or anything else. That's why Jesus said, you must love Me more than father, mother, brother, sister and so on. You see the priority here. And any disobedience is dealt with.

What is God doing here? At the beginning of the nation functioning as God's nation, God's people, a holy people, there is a clear demonstration of how serious God is about holiness among His people. And you have the death of Nadab and Abihu at this beginning stage of Israel now functioning as a nation before God. And that clear statement, by those who come near Me I will be treated as holy. You understand what we are to be as the church? A holy people. What is happening in the early days of the church with Ananias and Sapphira? God is demonstrating clearly, I will be treated as holy by those who come near Me. It's a good thing in a couple of verses we read that people were afraid to become part of their group. They should. We just think the church ought to be open to everyone and everything and that's a good thing. And it no longer has the identity that God gives it. This is the place where I dwell, according to
I Corinthians 3. I not only expect holiness, I require it.

Now you'll note, in Israel's subsequent history God did not bring the immediate decisive judgment, even on the priests who became so corrupt. But you understand even though the judgment of God was not so openly evident, the attitude of God toward sin among His people never changed. And while the priests may not have experienced immediate, decisive judgment in death during Israel's history when they rebelled, God's attitude toward them had been clearly manifested. And judgment delayed is not judgment forgotten. And it's true in the church. We don't experience necessarily the immediate judgment of God in every case when a person lies in the church, lies to the Holy Spirit. But you understand the attitude of God has not changed since the days of Ananias and Sapphira. He is simply demonstrating in a very clear way His requirement for His church and the judgments He brings upon disobedience, if not immediately, subsequent. He handles it but you understand God's attitude. We get the idea, well nothing happened. I sinned and I didn't drop dead. I guess God doesn't see it so seriously today. He has clearly manifested how He sees it, He has declared it. I will be treated as holy before all the people. I will be honored. Anything that is an affront to His holiness is something that must and will be dealt with.

So both at the beginning of Israel's history and at the beginning of the church's history, God makes clear that He expects and requires holiness. This comes out in the New Testament. Come to I Corinthians 11. And here it is in the context of observing the Lord's Supper together as God's people. And Paul is concerned because he says, verse 17, in giving this instruction I do not praise you because you come together, not for the better but for the worse. What a terrible thing to say to a church. When you get together as the church, that's a bad thing because in the first place when you come together as a church I hear that divisions exist among you. And in part I believe it for there must be factions among you so that those who are approved may become evident among you. All the factions can do is separate those who truly belong to God and are functioning in a manner that is pleasing to Him, and those who are not.

Then he talks about when you meet together it's not to eat the Lord's Supper. Your factions even carry over to the Lord's table. And you'll note what he says. Verse 22, second statement. Do you despise the church of God? You see how serious it is. What does it mean when you despise the church of God? Well in I Corinthians 3 Paul has already told them the church of God is the temple of God, it's where He is dwelling. And you despise it? What is that saying? You are despising God. This is a serious thing. We make the church our own little faction and battleground.

I just was talking to a pastor this week about a church that is being closed because there is only a handful of people together and there are so many factions among that handful of people. The best thing to do is just shut it down, close it up. What kind of accountability does that give before God that you use the church as a place for your own playground. And it becomes a place of factions. You despise the church of God.

He goes on to talk about the observance of communion. Verse 26, for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. The people at Corinth thought they were getting away with something. Nothing has happened, we have our divisions, our factions. And I have my way, you have your way, we battle it out. No, for he who eats and drinks, drinks judgment to himself if he doesn't judge the body rightly. And note verse 30, for this reason many among you are weak and sick and a number sleep. Do you think God has let it go by? A number of you suffer physical weakness, physical sickness, and some have died in the church at Corinth. They didn't recognize it in a clear way, perhaps it had been recognized with Ananias and Sapphira but God will not be mocked. God will not be despised in his church.

When we are judged we are disciplined by the Lord, verse 32, so that we will not be condemned along with the world. You see he is talking to believers and God disciplining them and it is necessary discipline, because as the book of Hebrews tells us, if you are without discipline you don't belong to the Lord. Because He disciplines all His children who don't function properly in the context of His holiness. We think we sin against the Lord, we act in a way that shows we despise Him and treat Him lightly. That's no big thing and we go on. It's not a trivial thing.

Another passage, I John 5:16, if anyone sees his brother, fellow believer, committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask God and God will for him give life to those who do not commit a sin to death. There is sin to death, I do not say he should make request for this. All unrighteousness is sin and there is sin not to death. This is a case where a believer is persisting in sin and the judgment of God comes and it is clear, there is no reason to pray for them because this is the hand of God. Not every sin that brings the discipline of God is going to result in our death. Now we need to be careful, every sickness we have, every illness is not a result of the judgment of God in our life for specific sin. Timothy had some physical problems, Paul told him to drink a little wine for your stomach's sake and your oft infirmities. He didn't say, God must be disciplining you for sin in your life or you wouldn't have that physical problem. So we want to be careful. But I tell you, if I have sin in my life and you may not know about it and I come down sick, my first thought is that this is the hand of God on me, better deal with it quickly. It won't get better. God will have His way among His people.

That's why we have church discipline. We don't have time to go to I Corinthians 5. Paul said another sin of the church at Corinth was they were tolerating someone who was living in sin in their midst. And again he rebukes them. What do you think this is? A game? There is not only now the man living in sin that is guilty before the Lord, but you as the church are guilty before Him in corrupting what belongs not to you but to God. We see the seriousness of it. What an honor, we have been called by God to belong to Him but we are to fear the Lord, have that holy reverence of Him. We are not in terror of Him, but I have a healthy fear of Him. He will be honored, He must be honored, His people must honor Him. Paul said in I Corinthians 5, I'm not concerned about the world living in sin, but I am concerned about people in the church who are living in sin. That must be dealt with.

We are a holy people. Unbelievers are welcome to come and hear the word, but you understand you come and hear the word, this is a serious matter. And now you are doubly guilty before the Lord. And those who profess to be believers and are part of the body, they are in a more serious position. And those who are genuine believers, everything in our power and the power bestowed upon us by the Holy Spirit, we live by His grace and want to do nothing that would be an affront dishonoring to the God who dwells in us.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, it's hard for us with these finite minds to appreciate the fullness of the wonder that you in the person of the Holy Spirit dwell personally in these physical bodies. They are your dwelling place, they must be a place where you are glorified and honored. You dwell in this church as your dwelling place. You must be honored here, you must be treated as holy. We must be holy as the people set apart to the God who is holy. Lord, may these truths grip our hearts and minds, and may we honor you with the holiness that characterizes us personally and characterizes us corporately. Thank you for the privilege of belonging to you. In Christ's name, amen.