The Church’s Proper Respect for God

Transcript

GR 1199
03/25/2001
The Church’s Proper Respect for God
Acts 4:32-5:11
Gil Rugh

We are going to the book of Acts in your bibles. And we’re at the end of chapter 4. The church of Jesus Christ began in Acts chapter 2. And the people of God are now identified as those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the One who died on the cross and was raised from the dead. They have been brought together in what is known as the body of Christ, the church. Ephesians chapter 1, verses 22 and 23 say that “Christ has been made head over all things to the church, which is His body.” So in reality God manifests His presence in the world today in the church, which is manifest in the various local churches that He has established around the world.

Turn over to the book of 1 Corinthians if you would, 1 Corinthians chapter 6. In 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 19, we are told, “do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, Whom you have from God and that you are not your own, for you have been bought by the price. Therefore, glorify God in your body.” There he is talking about individual believers. The context is the issue of immorality. And a reminder that the Holy Spirit of God dwells within the body of each individual believer. So our bodies are to be holy and devoted to the Lord.

Back up to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. Sometimes we as bible believing Christians place so much stress and emphasis on the fact that the holy spirit indwells us, that we are priests before God because of our high priest Jesus Christ, we develop an independent kind of attitude. As though our relationship to God was singular and we could take other believers or leave them. The church becomes somewhat of an option, even if an important option, but in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 16, Paul says, “do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you” and in this context, Paul is saying that the church is a temple of God; it’s the place where God dwells, the Spirit of God dwells in you, the Corinthian church. That’s why he said 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, we see the balance here. Every individual believer in Jesus Christ is personally indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. But it is also true that the church is also indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. As such it is holy before the Lord. God did not save us and then place us apart as independent isolated individuals, but He saved us and placed us into the body of Christ so we could be related to other believers and function and serve together with them under the authority and leadership of our head Jesus Christ since it’s not only the individual Christian that is indwelt by the Spirit but the local church that is indwelt by the Spirit.

Our attitude and conduct and behavior in the church becomes very important. It is a very serious matter before the Lord. Because the church is the body of Christ, it’s the place that God dwells in the world as what verse 17 said. “If any man destroys the temple of God which is the church God will destroy Him.” Remember this passage will be coming back to it later in our consideration in Acts.

Come back to Acts chapter 4. The earlier chapters of Acts give us some insight into the functioning of that earlier church. It began in Acts chapter 2. Persecution already was under way in chapter 4. Peter and John were arrested by the Jewish leaders. And these leaders forbid them to preach any longer the message of Jesus Christ. But God’s grace was sufficient for them. And the Spirit of God filled them. In verse 31 we are told that “they began to speak the Word of God of God with boldness.”

Then picking up with verse 32 we begin to see something of the conduct and behavior of the church in those days. And it was times of great blessing. Many people read the book at Acts and say, “Oh I wish the church today could be like the church in Acts” and there are things in the church of Acts that we indeed want to claim, want to use as a model. But you understand it was not all smooth and easy in the book of Acts. For there was not only external persecution and opposition to the work of the Lord, but tragically by the time we were in chapter 5 there is opposition to the work of the Lord in the church, even from among those who are part of the church.

We see something of the work of the devil and opposing the work of God. He not only stirs up those outside the church, but he works to try and use those with in the church to weaken it, undermine it, and ultimately ruin it. Verses 32 of chapter 4 down to verse 11 of chapter 5 form a unit. Even though we cross the chapter, really the account ties together. You note chapter 5 will begin with the conjunction, but and so what is going on in chapter 5 is understood in light of what takes place at the end of chapter 4. The contract between what the man at the end of chapter 4 does and the couple at the beginning of chapter 5 does.

Let’s begin with chapter 4 verse 32. “And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul.” What the Spirit of God does is produce unity among believers because He brings us into a relationship with God and into a relationship with one another. Then as we live our lives in submission to the Spirit of God, that unity that has been produced spiritually is manifest in our conduct and behavior, our relationships together.

Turn over to Ephesians chapter 4 in your bibles. At the last part of verse 1 Paul exhorts the church at Ephesus and the believers there to “work in a manner worthy of the calling of which you have been called.” Then in verse 2 of Ephesians 4. This walk is to be “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” So you see this Spirit has brought about the unity but now we as believers are to be careful in our walk, in our behavior, to be preserving that unity, to be maintaining it, to see that peace is the characteristic of our church as we function and relate together.

Now when you come back to Acts chapter 4, at the end of verse 31 we are told that they were “filled with the Holy Spirit and come under His control and so they are of one heart and one mind” which manifests itself in the way they behave together. Not one of them claim that anything belonging to him was his own. But all things were common property to them. Their love was so strong that there was no selfishness manifest among them. They were ready and willing to use whatever they had for the good and benefit of other believers. So their love was demonstrated indeed.

Listen to what John wrote in His first epistle. 1 John chapter 3 verse 17. “But whoever has the world’s goods and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart to Him, how does the love of God abide in Him?” It’s a natural outflow of our love for one another that we are willing to sacrifice for one another to give ourselves for the benefit of other believers. So that’s what was going on in these early days of the churches life. It doesn’t mean that everybody sold everything they had and put it in a common fund for a communal style of life. The rest of the book of Acts makes that clear, that fact in the very context we will be talking about. It’s clear nobody was obligated to sell anything and if they did sell anything, no one was obligated to give the proceeds to the church. So this was not a matter of something they had to do. But it was a natural result of the work of the Spirit of God in their lives.

Stop and think about it. The church is the family of God. How do we function in our physical families? If one on of your children have a need, what do you want to do? You want to do whatever you can to meet that need. I mean you don’t ever get a thought. If their need is very serious, you think nothing of selling something to help them. You’re glad to do it. You’re thankful you had something to sell so you would have something to help them with. I mean that is just the way we are as family. Now we are the family of God and that is to supersede even our physical family. Remember Jesus said, “who is my mother, my brother, my sisters, those who do the will of my father.”

And so it’s natural that we would want to be involved in one another lives and be used of God in one another’s lives and count it as a privilege to help in whatever way we can. So even though we read this and say wow, that’s really amazing, that’s unusual and when you stop and think about it it ought not to be unusual. We don’t think it’s unusual that families help one another and are glad to do it. We think that’s what families do. In fact later Paul will write in the Pastoral Epistles, “If we don’t take care of our own family, we’re worse than unbelievers.”

So, it’s not a surprise to see this happening among the spiritual family of God. Along with this, involved in another’s lives with their material possessions, verse 33 tells us “and with great power the apostles were giving witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.” It’s a reminder that the early church did not become ingrown. So now we have many people, more than five thousand believers, there are many needs within our body and we become occupied with ourselves. Now when the Spirit of God is working, He is accomplishing His purpose in lives. That means we are manifesting His love towards one another as fellow believers.

It also means we are giving forth the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ to others as well. Jesus said to His disciples in acts chapter 1 verse 8 that they “will receive power after the Holy Spirit comes on you and you shall be my witnesses.” In verse 31 of chapter 4, “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.” So here we see the Spirit is at work in this church. That doesn’t mean that church then does one thing. It means that the spirit of God controls these believers and they manifest His control by their involvement of one another’s lives by their being used of God to carry the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ to others as well. The end of verse 33 says and “abundant grace was upon them all.” It was the grace of God that enabled them to function in a matter that pleased God and you note this connects to what follows. An abundant grace was upon them all. For there was not a needy person among them.

So now he’s going back to the matter of their involvement with one another, with their material possessions that he talked about at the end of verse 32. It reminded us in verse 33 that “the proclamation of the gospel was going on in power.” He wants to go back and elaborate on how they were involved in one another’s lives. Now we’re reminded it was the abundant grace of God that enabled Him to do this. It takes God’s grace for us to function in an unselfish giving manner. We tend to want to think, “boy, can I afford to give this up? Can I afford to make this sacrifice?” And it takes God’s grace for us to move beyond being selfish and self-centered, to be concerned with what we can do for others though we can the benefits for ourselves.

So in verse 34 “there was not a needy person among them. For all who were owners of lands or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostle’s feet. And they would be distributed to each as any had need.” The picture here is of an ongoing process and that’s brought out in the tenses of the verbs that are used, as well in this context. He didn’t mean everybody did this all at once.

This was an ongoing pattern and needs would arise. Someone would say I have a piece of land. I’ll sell it and give the proceeds….I own a house, I’ll sell it and give the proceeds to the church. And no one considered that this was their own possession. In other words not something that they had to hold onto and grasp for themselves. There’s a need in our family. I mean stop and think about it. In your own physical family, what if your children had a desperate need? Perhaps they needed an operation to save their live. You say, oh I wouldn’t sell my house to do that. So I guess they’ll have to die. You think nobody is going to function like that. Well that’s not the way families function. I mean of course get the house on the market, sell it at a loss, just so we have enough money to meet the need of the family member.

So that’s the way the church is going on for the people of God. God’s brought us into His family, there’s a need here, I have some resources, I’m willing to use them. Now you note this going beyond just normal giving. It’s not like I had extra coming in every month, that a hundred dollars a month that we hadn’t had to use for anything and I’ve been putting it in the bank and I’ve going to get that and give it. I mean that’s one kind of giving. But when you start to sell your property, that’s gone. You sell your house, that’s gone. We’ve come down to the more basics if you will. Now what I’m I going to do tomorrow if I sold my land? What am I going to do tomorrow if I sold my house? And I’ll be renting the rest of my life or something like that.

But in the early days of the church you see this kind of willingness to give even of those things, which we would consider the more basic essentials. Those days your land was that kind of thing and your house of course even it is today. They would sell them, they’d bring the money to the church at the meeting of the church and present it before the apostles and then the apostles would distribute it out. This kind of arrangement went on until we get to chapter 6 when it became too time consuming to the apostles and they didn’t have enough time for prayer in the study of the Word so they delegate it to other individuals caring for the material needs within the body. Just note here that giving wasn’t something held so tightly secret.

Now there are dangers and problems that can come when people give in a public way. In fact we’re going to have one of those problems come up in chapter 5. There is also blessing and encouragement in that kind of giving. Here it was done in a public way and the church was encouraged and blessed as they saw people making such sacrifice. Now I sometimes think that we miss some of the blessings as a church that come by seeing people give sacrificially because we are giving very secretly. Most people don’t know what others give. I realize there are benefits to that and the scripture gives warnings about our giving, but there are also blessings lost.

Giving is one of the gifts of the spirit and the church is blessed by seeing the gifts operate. I have been blessed in my position when I have known of people who have given. Some have given sacrificially. That’s been a blessing to my life and a challenge to me to examine my own giving. I sometimes think that we as a church miss out on some of that blessing. But here in the days of the early church, it was indeed as a negative that they would bring it. “Here are the proceeds, I sold some property I had, I want this to be used for the benefit of the body.” And that’s the way they handled it. Now we have a specific individual name. Should he be getting this recognition, Joseph’s going to be honored because he sold land. I mean what about the people who didn’t have land to sell? They couldn’t sell it or give it. But Joseph did sell the land he had and he brought it and laid it before the apostle’s feet. And He did it with the right attitude to be an encouragement and a help to the body.

We’re familiar with Joseph because His other name is Barnabas. And, as often historians do, and Luke is a historian writing the early history of the church, he does this as well, He introduces us to Barnabas briefly here. We’ll find later in the history of the church, Barnabas is going to play a very key and important role. We’re told that Joseph was a Levite from the Island of Cyprus. So he wasn’t from Palestine. He was a Hellenistic Jew. So outside, around the land of Palestine, born in Cyprus. We don’t know how he came to be in Jerusalem in this time or how long he had been living there. He is also a Levite of the priestly family. He is going to sell a piece of property. Now you know in Numbers chapter 18, verses 20 and 24, the Levites were not allowed to own land. But somewhere along the line there were some adjustments in that.

Even in the Old Testament Jeremiah, 200 years before Christ who himself was of the priestly family, owned property so how that change came about we don’t know. But here is Joseph, a Levite man from the Island of Cyprus, he’s called Barnabas by the apostles. And Barnabas, we are told, means son of encouragement. Just a side light, etymologically, in other words the derivation of the name Barnabas. We don’t know how they get son of encouragement out of that. Barson, Novous, we don’t know how that comes to mean encouragement. So as far as the etymology of the word, the name, we don’t know how it came. He can say it means, or translates, son of encouragement, we don’t have enough knowledge of this particular name back then to make the derivation, but we don’t have to because the Holy Spirit tells us that’s what it means.

Son of encouragement. The word encouragement particularly used of the Holy Spirit, the one who comes along side to give aid, to give help, to give encouragement. And evidently this was characteristic of Barnabas. Very early, as being part of the church, the apostles began to call him the encourager, the son of encouragement. We’ll find this as we go through the book of Acts. And you get to a difficult situation, Barnabas will be there. He’s the understanding one. He’s the one who will help in a special way in this situation.

Now turn over to chapter 11. Just one example and we’ll pick up the rest as we move through Acts. “Some men came from Cyprus and Cyrene to Antioch and we’re preaching.” So the apostles in Jerusalem send Barnabas up there to make sure everything is okay and to help with the situation. The end of verse 22, “the church at Jerusalem sent Barnabas off to Antioch. Then when he had come and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord for he was a good man full of the holy spirit and of faith. That’s something of the man Barnabas. We’ll learn much more of him as we move through the book of Acts.

Back in chapter 4. He owned a tract of land. We’re not told were the land was. Maybe it was on the island of Cyprus. Where his family was from? Maybe it was somewhere in Palestine. Maybe they had bought some land here, coming from Cyprus, we don’t know. But he owned a tract of land, he sold it, he brought the money, he laid it at the apostle’s feet. Evidently in the public meeting there was an opportunity for them to come forward. I sold the land I had. Here are the proceeds to be used as you see fit. That’s all that is said there. That’s brought up really not only to tell us something of how the early church functions, but to lay the ground work for what happens in the early part of chapter 5. And you note the “but” in chapter 5, verse 1, that we have mentioned. “But, a certain 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 apostle’s feet.”

Now we’re going to see how Satan is already at work to try and work among people who are part of the church in Jerusalem to undermine the character and integrity of the church and thus discredit its testimony. Ananias and Sapphira have become impious in the church. You don’t have to be in the church very long until you know of Ananias and Sapphira. What a legacy to leave. Two individuals, privileged to be part of the church, and I think from the context indicates they are believers.

And yet they become tools of Satan and have left that as their legacy. They had some property. And they sell it, but they keep back part of it for themselves. And the husband and wife agree on this, verse 2 tells us. So they bring a portion of it, the next meeting of the church and present it before the apostles. Now you note some could say well look, if Barnabas had done this secretly it wouldn’t have provided the occasion for Ananias and Sapphira to sin. That’s not even dealt with as an issue. The issue was Barnabas right before the Lord in his heart with what he did.

The fact that Ananias and Sapphira now want some of the glory that comes from some action and certainly there was recognition. Wasn’t it a blessing to see Barnabas make such a sacrifice to sell that land and be willing to give it all to the church? I mean we appreciate His Godly character in the way the He is an encouragement to our church. And Ananias and Sapphira say I would like to be looked at like that. I like people to think that I’m spiritual and godly. And I’m willing to sacrifice. Let’s sell that land we have but, you know, we don’t want to give all that to the church. Let’s sell it and say we’ll give it all, but we’ll keep some for ourselves. Well He comes and lays it before the apostles’ feet and again Peter speaks up. He’s aware of the deception. How he’s aware we don’t know. I assume the Holy Spirit made him aware. Maybe someone told Him I don’t know. But Peter said “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land?”

Imagine the shock to Ananias, as well as to the congregation here. They are gathered, someone comes up and it seems they made a great sacrifice having sold a valuable piece of property, and saying, “here I’m giving it all to the Lord,” and Peter stands up and says “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?” I’m sure you could have heard a pin drop in that service that day. Imagine the shock that Ananias felt. You note what Peter says he has done. Satan has filled your heart. Satan, the adversary. The adversary of God and the work of God the adversary of the people of God, the adversary of the church has worked in the heart of Ananias.

This is not something not seen before. There are passages in the Old Testament, we don’t have time to go to, as well as in the New Testament. We are told Satan moved David to number the people in the book of Chronicles. Peter himself became tool in the hand of Satan, but here Ananias is confronted. “Satan has filled your heart.” That ought to get the attention of every one of us. See how the devil works. Now he’s on the inside of the church. Now he has someone part of the church that he can use to try to damage and destroy the church of Jesus Christ. You remember what Paul wrote. We read in 1 Corinthians 3:17. He who destroys the temple of God, referring to the church, God will destroy. Ananias is on the brink of destruction here. Satan has filled his heart to lie to the Holy Spirit.

And you note, remember that passage in 1 Corinthians 3, the church, the local church, writing about the church at Corinth there is the temple of the Holy Spirit? So when Ananias lies to the church, he is lying to the Holy Spirit. I realize sometimes we as bible believing Christians get nervous because some groups like Roman Catholicism have made the church, the magisterium in the church, become the controller of salvation and on and on. But we need to be careful we don’t swing the other way and get out here as though the church was some kind of loose affiliation that you can take or leave or who can deal with according to the mood of the moment.

So, Peter tells Ananias, in coming and declaring to the church that he is giving all the proceeds of that land, that is a lie. But when that lie is told to the church, it is told to the Holy Spirit. You have lied to the Holy Spirit is what Peter says. And you’re keeping back some of the price of the land for yourself. I know what he says in verse 4. While it remain unsold it did not remain your own. You own the land. Was yours to do with as you please. You didn’t have to sell it. So you note there was no requirement in the church in Jerusalem. Everybody who has land needs to go sell it. No Peter says it was yours. You didn’t have to sell. It remained unsold, it was your land. Do with it as you want. Furthermore, after it was sold was it not under your control? If you want to sell your land and use that money for shopping or a vacation or a new house, that was your privilege. It was yours.

What was the problem? The problem was the lie they told. You say you need to be careful we don’t tell people oh if you own land, you own houses, if you have any possessions you have to sell them and give them to the church. No that’s a matter between them and the Lord. But don’t tell God you’re going to do it, then default on your word. Don’t try to act spiritual before the church when really, it’s a lie, and it’s a lie not told to the church, it’s a lie told to God. “Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart?” I want you to note something here. In verse 3, “why has Satan filled your heart?” And note in verse 4, “Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart?” You note you cannot transfer the blame to Satan. Both are true. Satan has filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and you conceived this deed in your heart, a lie to God. Both are true.

What happened? Satan is there to encourage us to disobey God, to be dishonest before God. But he cannot make me do that. But we need to be very careful. We decide in our heart to sin. We open the door of opportunity for the devil to work. That’s why we cannot control the results of our sin. By the grace of God and the strength he provides, I can decide not to sin. When I have chosen not to draw upon that grace, but to enjoy the pleasures of sin, I cannot control where that goes. Now Satan is involved. I have given him access to my heart. That’s what Ananias did. His wife agreed they would like to look more spiritual. And that gave opportunity to the devil. Here, you’ll look good before the congregation. Perhaps their land was more valuable than Barnabas’, look you’ll be getting more than He did even if you are keeping some back. And that’s a great sacrifice you’re already given.

All this makes sense. We don’t know the details, they don’t matter. You know we think, well if we knew more details, we could sort it out. What’s to sort at? It’s been sorted out. The Holy Spirit filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit. You conceived a wicked plan in your heart to lie to God. Well, who did it, the devil or themselves? Both. How to make us, as God’s people, terribly afraid of sin in the right sense. We don’t indulge in sin because we wouldn’t find it pleasurable? I’ll you the truth, the reason I don’t indulge in sin is because I’m afraid, but I live a sinless life. Oh, where will it go, you open the door to your heart to the devil. It will allow Him to have influence and control.

Where am I going to go with this? I was reading a letter before I came in this morning, sorting through the pile on my desk, one that I had not opened. And sent to me by a man in prison who happened to get a couple of the booklets that we print. A multiple page letter, hand written, talking about the mess of His life. I don’t know how this happened. It refers to a time when He was young and he would say talk about young Scotty, they never thought Scotty would turn out like this. He said that was my nickname. Now here He says I’m in prison with no future. What a mess. And he talks about the mess of his life and he’s right. He is a mess. What happened? Sin. The plan, oh yes, I’m going to do this here, and then someday I’ll be in the pit? No. Do believers do that? Even as God’s people. Ananias says, look, we’re going to sell a valuable piece of land and give a large portion of that money to the church. And it’s going to result in my death and my wife’s death? No. That’s a little thing.

We all like to look a little more spiritual than we are. Well I wanted to get a little more credit than we deserve even in the body. Is this all that serious? Oh, you put it in the context. You lie to God. Is that serious? You lie to the Holy Spirit of God, is that serious? I think it’s very serious. And that’s the point of what is taking place here. The end of verse 4. “You have not lied to men but to God.” Now you note in verse 3, “you lied to the Holy Spirit.” The end of verse 4 “you lied to God,” just another one of those passages that indicate the Holy Spirit is God. We have a triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and when you lie to the Holy Spirit you are lying to God. “As he heard these words Ananias fell down and breathed His last.” Ananias drops dead. On the spot.

It has great impact on all who heard of it. “Great fear came upon all who heard of it.” And you can be sure it did. You see these men, did we give everything? We didn’t, you sure you gave everything? Look in your pocket. Great fear came upon the multitude. The young men take up his body, kick him out, and bury him. It was practice in Palestine, they didn’t embalm, in Palestine, they did in Egypt. So the body had to be buried quickly. Amazingly here they don’t even contact the wife. Take him out and bury him. Three hours later Sapphira comes to church, they had long services, I guess. Verse 7, there elapsed an interval of about three hours and His wife came in. Not knowing what had happened. Husband died three hours ago and has been buried and He doesn’t even know. Probably out shopping with the proceeds from the land. Peter responded to her. Tell me whether you sold the land for such and such a price. She said yep that was the price. “Peter said to her, ‘why it that you have agreed together to is put the Spirit of the Lord to the test?’”

You see how serious these matters are. You lie to the Holy Spirit, you lie to God, and you put God to the test. Remember the Old Testament says “you shall not test the Lord your God.” What are they really doing? When I lie to the church, I am lying to God. What am I really doing? Testing God to see if He’ll do anything. You know how your kids do? They know they are not supposed to do this, but they’re going to try it. Put you to the test to see if you…what? Do anything? God says to Sapphira, that’s what you and Ananias have decided to do. You’re going to test God. You’re going to see if He’ll do anything. He’s going to do far more than they ever thought. So, the feet of those who carried your husband out for burial are waiting to carry you out. “She fell immediately at His feet and breathed her last”. The young men take her up, carry her out, and bury her with her husband.

Verse 11, “great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.” Great fear came upon the church. We want people to be comfortable when they come to church. Can you imagine? Says here “great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard these things.” What would that do to church growth? You know some people say, oh I don’t want to go to this church, I hear they do church discipline. Imagine what it would be like if we had a couple people drop dead in the front? Oh, I’ll never get my friends here. You’re not getting me into that church. Not the place where you’ll drop dead if you don’t do what’s right.

You know what God’s concerned about? The proper reverence and fear that He is to receive. We get concerned, will they be comfortable, will they enjoy it? Don’t worry about it. Nothing expected of you, just come and enjoy it. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with enjoying our time together. You know what God is impressing upon the church. There is to be a reverence and awe of the God of the church here. He must be treated with reverence and respect and honor, that means in our dealings with one another. We are dealing with God. Not that I am God, or you are God. But the church is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. Not a playground for me. Not a social organization, not a club. This is the place where the Spirit of God dwells. And He intended to be a place where there is reverence and awe for Him. And a fear of not doing the right thing. A fear of sin. And people who want to pursue their sin. There ought to be a reputation….that would be a fearful place to go if you’re going to do those things. We want to take that away. We say that’s a stigma that keeps people away. You think this didn’t keep people away.

We’ll be told later in Acts, there were people afraid to join the church, a place where God dwells. Turn back to the Old Testament quickly to Joshua chapter 7. There is a particular word used in Acts chapter 5, verse 2 where they kept a back of a portion of the price to where it’s used very rarely in the bible. In fact, it’s used once in the Old Testament in Joshua chapter 7 verse 1. The Greek translation of the Old Testament and it’s only used twice in the New Testament, once in the epistles for stealing, and then the other occasion, where Ananias and Sapphira kept back a portion of the price. In Joshua chapter 7 verse 1. “The sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban. For Akan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah,” his family line here, “from the tribe of Judah took some of the things under the ban,” he took some of the things, there’s our word. He kept back some of the things under the ban. “Therefore the anger of the Lord burned against the sons of Israel,”

Remember God had said everything in Jericho was to be devoted to the Lord, everything. But He saw some things there he wanted to have so he took them and hid them in His tent. Costly decision. Verse 25 of Joshua 7. “Joshua said, ‘why you have troubled us. The Lord will trouble you this day’ and all Israel stoned them with stones and burned them with fire after they had stoned them.” That was Akon and his family. Here Israel is coming into the land God has promised them. First city we are going to conquer. They cross the Jordan and there’s a serious lesson to be learned. God will be treated with reverence and respect. Now God isn’t going to do this again, and again, through Israel’s history. He gave them the object lesson at the front end. Israel will get careless, they think they can test the Lord and the Lord doesn’t do anything, but the attitude of the Lord has been established. He will deal with these matters.

So, it is here we are at the beginning of the church’s history. Ananias and Sapphira think that it’s not so serious to deceive or delude the church, to act in hypocritical way. God establishes right at the front end with a clear object lesson. He takes this very seriously. Know the danger 2000 years after Ananias and Sapphira? We become relaxed. We think look, the church it’s not that big of an issue. We all have the Spirit individually. We can go directly to God. I mean the church, that’s just a group of people. And you know, sometimes I like what they do and sometimes I don’t, and I’m not concerned with what they think. We develop an attitude.

God has established at the beginning of the church history how he sees the church. What He demand’s and it’s functioning together. What excuse will I have to stand before the Lord and say well Gil, you weren’t honest. You didn’t function for the good of the church and you acted like you did. And you go, oh Lord, I didn’t know it was that serious. What do you mean you didn’t know, didn’t you read the account of Ananias and Sapphira? We’ll yes, you know I assume they were probably not as spiritual as I am. I may find out they were more spiritual in some sense than I am.

What has God established? He is very displeased when His people lie to Him. When they are dishonest. When they don’t take seriously the proper functioning of the people of God in the world as a testimony for Him. When they allow themselves to be instruments that Satan uses to oppose the work that God is doing. Well, the lessons of Ananias and Sapphira are very important. Note this church is to be of one heart, one soul, as it said in verse 32. We’re to be a church “testifying to the grace of God manifested in His son Jesus Christ, preaching the power of the resurrection” as we saw in verse 33. We are to manifest are oneness of heart and Spirit and the control of the Spirit and not only in the approximation of truth, but in the evolvement in each other’s life. With integrity, and honesty, doing what we can do to build the body of Christ, to strengthen it and to encourage it and fearing greatly to do anything that would weaken it, hinder its testimony. That would be in opposition to the work of God in His church. Verse 5 the end of the verse says “great fear came upon all who heard of it.” Verse 11, “great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard these things.”

You know it may not be quite as clear as somebody dropping dead on the spot, but Paul told the Corinthians, the church at Corinth. Some of them were weak, some of them were sick, some of them had died because they did not function as God intended them to function as a church. And the relationships together, there in the context of the communion service. First John 5, at the conclusion of that epistle, John warns about the danger of sins in the lives of believers. James chapter 5 warns about the danger of sin in the life of believers. We ought to take very seriously the matter of a proper reverence and respect for God. Now we don’t want to put the church in a place that the scripture does not, but we do not want to fail to recognize the place God gives to the church.

I praise God every believer has the Holy Spirit dwelling within them. We do not need a church to intercede for us before the Lord. We go directly into His presence, however we need to recognize the local church is the place where the Spirit of God dwells as well. And what is done in that church is something done either for or against the Spirit of God who dwells in that church. And God forbid that we should do anything against the Spirit. That would necessitate the discipline of God in our lives. May we be made known here the people who have the fear of the Lord, and may it be acceptable to us, to people outside the church. Have a fear because it is a place where God is honored respected, and where he works. May that be our testimony? Let’s pray together.

Thank You, Lord for the testimony of the early church. Lord it cannot help to be disappointing to see so early in the life of the church that Satan was able to get a foothold in that young body of believers. Ananias and Sapphira allowed their hearts to be filled with Satan so that they lied to the Holy Spirit. Oh Lord, may we stand in fear, even as the early church did as a result of those events. Take these lessons to heart ourselves, that sometimes we do not take seriously enough, that the church is the dwelling place of the Spirit of God. We don’t take seriously enough the relationships that You have established among those who are part of the body. Lord may we manifest the proper desirable, correct, characteristics of this early church. And learn from their failure that we might be more careful to honor You as Your people. We pray in Christ name. Amen.