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Let’s turn together to Acts 5. Today we look at a cautionary tale from the early church and two individuals named Ananias and Sapphira.

Several years ago Sanja, Alastair, and I were watching an episode of that TV show, “Shark Tank.” If you are familiar with “Shark Tank,” you know that it’s this show where people bring business ideas to investors to raise capital for their companies. And in one particular episode we watched, there were two entrepreneurs pitching their new product idea, which was an alternative to chewing tobacco. And they had these different flavors including chocolate, mint, and cinnamon. And afterwards, Alastair said to me, “Daddy I want some chewing tobacco.” That was a new one for me. What do you do with that?

Well growing up I had some friends who asked for tobacco as kids and their parents (I think in an effort to dissuade them) gave them some. And that worked surprisingly good as a deterrent for those kids. They never wanted it again after that.

But I figured that’s probably not the best approach with Alastair. So I chose the route of “cautionary tale.” I told Alastair about the dangers of tobacco, how addictive a substance it is, and how it can cause things like cancer. Sanja then told Alastair about a good friend of hers from college who would chew tobacco. He actually contracted stomach cancer and died in his thirties, which was very sad. And I think Alastair got the point.

All of that to say this—there’s great power in the use of “cautionary tales.” Some cautionary tales are fables that teach a point like the “Boy who Cried Wolf.” Some are true stories like Sanja’s good friend from college.

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In the OT, we have a few examples of this. Some have called them “penalty miracles.” An example of this is when Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, were put to death for offering up unauthorized fire before the Lord (Lev 10:1–3). Also when the Ark of the Covenant was being transported, a man named Uzzah was put to death for touching the Ark of the Covenant with his hand when the oxen stumbled (2 Sam 6:5–11). The Ark was not to be touched (Num 4:15). Also the Ark wasn’t supposed to be pulled by oxen. It was supposed to be carried by priests on poles (see Exod 25:14–15; Num 7:9; Deut. 10:8; 31:9, 25; Josh 3:15). God made that clear. So this man, Uzzah, became a byword in ancient Israel. So did Nadab and Abihu. You can hear the people say to one another in ancient Israel, “Don’t be like Uzzah, Nadab, and Abihu. Obey the Lord and his precepts.”

Probably the best example of this was a man named Achan from the book of Joshua. In that book, the people of Israel were finally entering into the Promised Land. What Achan was to Joshua, Ananias and Sapphira were to the early church. Just as Achan interrupted Israel’s process and progress in the conquest of the Promised Land, Ananias and Sapphira’s act of deceit interrupted the process and the progress of the program of God. And as part of that, they destroyed Jericho… or to be more precise, God destroyed “Jericho” for them. And then they went off to a dinky little battle in the city of Ai (Josh 7:1–9). This battle in Ai should have been a piece of cake for the Israelites. Ai was nothing compared to Jericho. But something happened that prevented their victory.

Joshua 7:1 says this, “But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for Achan … of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel.” You see, the Lord told the Israelites, “Don’t take any plunder for yourselves at Jericho. Don’t take any of it!” All of it will be dedicated for destruction, except for the “silver and gold, and every vessel of bronze and iron, are holy to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord” (Josh 6:19).

But someone… someone not very smart… disregarded that command of the Lord. This guy, this man from Judah named Achan directly disobeyed the Lord. So the Israelites go up to Ai, and they get their clocks cleaned by these Canaanites. Afterwards Joshua and the leaders cry out to the Lord in despair for what happened to these people. And then God explains someone has directly disobeyed him by taking plunder from Jericho.

So Joshua brings out all the people of Israel. And God identifies this guy Achan, whose sin has already caused the loss of lives in battle. And Achan is put to death with all of his family. And he and all of his possessions are burned in the valley of Achor (Josh 7:24–26). Achor means “trouble” in Hebrew. This is a reference to the trouble that Achan brought upon the Israelites.

What’s the moral of that story? What does that cautionary tale teach us even here 3,500 years later? It’s this: “Your sin will find you out.” That’s what happens with Achan. God calls Achan’s sin, “an outrageous thing in Israel.” It’s outrageous especially because God had just dealt with the sin of the faithless Israelites of the previous generation in the wilderness and now they are finally entering into the Promised Land. And isn’t it amazing how the sin of one individual has far-reaching implications for his family and for his tribe and for the whole community of God?

 Now you might say, “That’s so harsh. That’s so severe.” Well, that’s exactly the point. God wants you to grasp the severity of his hatred towards sin. Here’s the lesson the Israelites learned that day, “Don’t mess with Yahweh!” “Yahweh is not a God to be trifled with.” And this episode at Ai was necessary to shock the system of these Israelites, so that they would “think twice” about transgressing God’s command again in the future.

To that you might say, “Where’s the grace? Where’s the love?” Well here’s something else you need to consider in our New Testament, post-cross era. Without judgment, there’s no such thing as grace. Grace is the removal of what we deserve. It’s the removal of God’s judgment. It is the cancellation of God’s wrath. And until you understand God’s holiness and God’s righteousness and the extent of God’s just and holy wrath towards sin, you’ll never understand the concept of “grace.”



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 Okay, so now let’s turn our attention to Acts 5. The NT equivalent to those OT penalty miracles are Ananias and his wife Sapphira. Who are they and what did they do? And how did they become a cautionary tale in the NT community?

Write this down as the first exposition point from the passage. We’ll talk application a little bit later. But before we talk prescriptively, let’s just deal descriptively with this text. We’ll see first in Acts 5:1–6…

1) A punishment observed (5:1–6)

Here’s what Luke tells us. Look at verse 1.

1 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property,

Now this statement about Ananias and his wife comes on the heels of an incredible revival in Jerusalem. People are getting saved. People are getting healed. The church is blowing up with new converts. The generosity of the people is immense. At the end of Acts 4, Luke tells us that wealthier people in the fellowship were selling their possessions and giving the proceeds to the apostles. It was wonderful. It was utopia on earth. And you might think to yourself, “This is a perfect church.” Well, no. As we’ll see in our passage today there’s no such thing as a perfect church.

I heard a story once about Charles Spurgeon. A man came up to him once and was seeking his help in finding a “perfect group of God’s people.” And Spurgeon told this guy, “If you find such a group, don’t join it, for if you did, it would no longer be perfect.”

There’s no such thing as a perfect church, even with the early church. It’s true that everything was wonderful and idyllic and joyful at the end of Acts 4, but then there’s that ominous word at the beginning of Acts 5, “But.”

1 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 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.

This word “but” at the beginning of chapter 5 is used to contrast Ananias with the godly man, Barnabas. Barnabas was a wonderful example of generosity in the early church. He sold a field of his, and he brought the proceeds to the apostles’ feet.

And there must have been this great social pressure to keep up with the likes of Barnabas in the early church. Ananias and Sapphira, who were probably wealthy individuals in the church, didn’t want to be upstaged by the likes of Barnabas. And so they sold a piece of property too. But their actions were different than Barnabas.

Verse 2 tells us that they hatched this plan. They concocted this scheme to get noticed in the church. They retained some of the proceeds of their “perceived” generosity. But they would present the rest of it to the apostles as if it was the entirety of the sale. It’s a very clever plan. Who’s going to know?

Now we don’t know exactly what happened here, but we have enough information to fill in the details. Let’s be clear about something, nowhere does the Bible say that we are required to sell all our possessions and give them to the church. Please don’t go home and do that this afternoon. Please don’t sell all your possessions and give away your car and move in with your parents. God doesn’t want that. The church doesn’t want that. Your parents don’t want that.

Barnabas wasn’t under any obligation to sell his property and give it all to the church. And neither were Ananias and Sapphira. So there must have been some deception here with the way that they went about this transaction. They must have told the other church members that the entirety of this land was being given over to God. You get the sense later in the text that they promised God that they would give the proceeds of this sale to the church. I’m sure it wasn’t the only thing that they owned. Probably it was just one of their landholdings. But still, they didn’t have to sell it and give all the money away.

Well Peter knows immediately that something’s fishy here. They sell this property and they pretend to bring all the money and lay it at his feet. Peter knows what’s going on… probably the Holy Spirit is giving him special knowledge into their deception.

So look at verse 3.

3 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?

That’s why I think there must have been some kind of vow made before the Lord, because why else would Peter say that he lied to the Holy Spirit? So instead of Spirit-filled generosity, now we’ve got Satan-filled duplicity. Instead of mutuality of soul and togetherness, we’ve got deceit and strife. Instead of God’s glory coming down and rocking the congregation, we’ve got Satan scheming in the hearts of men. Ananias’s treachery is threatening to compromise the entire operation of the church by letting Satan get a foothold. This is serious stuff that’s happening here.

Peter continues in verse 4.

 4 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 men but to God.”

Now let me just point out a couple things here. I don’t want to lose the momentum of this story, but I want to direct your attention to two points of significance in verse 4.

First of all, understand that generosity is never mandated. You can’t mandate generosity! And so Peter points out clearly here that this money was at their disposal. He says essentially, “You could have done whatever you wanted with it. But instead of being honest before God and the church you tried to have it both ways. You tried to keep some of the profit for yourself, while concurrently appearing to be a man of great generosity before the church fellowship. That’s duplicity! That’s hypocrisy!” Hypocrisy made Jesus angry repeatedly in the Gospels (e.g., Matt 6:1, 5; 7:1–5; 15:7–9; 23:23). And now we have an example of it in the early church.

Notice too that Ananias lied … not to Peter. He lied to the Holy Spirit in verse 3. And Peter says in verse 4, “You have lied not to men but to God.” Interesting! Everyone see that?

Here’s where I’m going with this. This is probably the most definitive statement on the Deity of the Holy Spirit in the Bible. So underline that in your Bible. And hear me on this…. this is so important… One God. Three persons. Our God is one. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deut 6:4). Our God is one God in three persons: Father, Son, and Spirit. Everyone got that?

Okay, back to the story. Peter calls Ananias out on the carpet for his hypocrisy. And we’re all kind of wondering what happens now. Well conceivably God will give him a chance to repent and rectify the situation. But instead something shocking happens. Something fear-inducing happens… Look at verse 5.

 5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last.

He died right there in front of them all.Ananias’s sins found him out and his punishment was instantaneous retribution. Wow, that’s unexpected! And Luke tells us afterwards in verses 5 and 6.

And great fear [φόβος μέγας] came upon all who heard of it.

6 The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.

There’s a sense of urgency here as they bury him with great haste.

Here’s Raphael’s rendering of this incident with Peter and Ananias. It’s pretty striking.


“The Death of Ananias” by Raphael (c. AD 1515)

I like this painting because you can see the shock and awe that comes over the people after Ananias falls dead. And Peter’s there with the other apostles looking on.

And notice too in verse 5, the people didn’t get all high and mighty after this. They didn’t feel superior to Ananias or think of themselves as “holier-than-thou.” No, just like those incidents in the OT, the response of the people was fear (φόβος μέγας).

For our part, I don’t think we should relish the downfall of another person whether it’s Achan or Ananias or someone else we know who has been punished severely for their sin. I think we need to approach this passage humbly. I think we need to observe what’s happening here and take note of this aspect of God’s character. I think we need to receive this text as a “cautionary tale.” This can happen to you. This is what God thinks of you harboring your sin. And I think that our attitude should be something like this, “There but by the grace of God go I.” “This could be me. In fact, this should be me. I deserve that. And it’s only the grace of God that has kept me from the same fate.”

A lot of people might read this story and ask, “Why did God react so harshly towards Ananias in Acts 5?” But I think that’s the wrong question. The better question is this, “Why doesn’t the Lord always act this harshly towards the sin in you in me?” He could do that. That should be you and me lying dead because of our sin. “There but by the grace of God go I.”

Believe it or not, I learned this lesson as a kid. In Sunday School, we used to sing this song called “Ananias and Sapphira.” I haven’t met very many people who know this song. And that’s probably for the best, because it’s a really creepy song. The song goes like this:

“Ananias and Sapphira, got together to conspire a plot, to cheat, the church and get ahead.

They knew God's power but did not fear it, tried to cheat the Holy Spirit.

Went into the temple and then they both dropped dead!”

If you thought “Ring around the Rosie” was a ghoulish, fatalistic song, think about singing “Ananias and Sapphira.”

But we would sing that song faster and faster and pretend to drop dead every time at the end. And we sang it smiling and laughing. But really this passage is meant to inspire “fear of God.” Why are Ananias and Sapphira in the Bible? I think it’s so that we might fear God and hate sin as much as God does. And we should take seriously the effect that sin has upon the community of faith that is the church.

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Now this sad story gets sadder. Write this down as a second exposition point:

2) A mistake repeated (5:7–11)

Look at verse 7.

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

It’s pretty remarkable that she doesn’t know what happened to her husband. Perhaps they just threw him in a tomb without any formal ceremony since his death was so sudden and ill-fated. I don’t know exactly how his wife was unaware of what happened, but she was.

8 And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.”

I guess the money was still there from where Ananias had left it. What’s amazing here is that Peter actually gave her a chance to come clean and repent and make it right. “Here’s your chance, Sapphira! Don’t blow it! Don’t do something stupid! Don’t lie right in the face of one of the apostles who leads the church! Don’t test the Spirit of the Lord!”

But what does she do?

And she said, “Yes, for so much.”

9 But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord?

Here’s the bottom line—she didn’t grasp how significant her sin was. She didn’t understand how much the Lord hates duplicity and false piety in the church. She didn’t feel the weightiness of her sin, and how much it was an affront to the God of the Universe.

“Why not? Why didn’t she?” you might ask. I don’t know. I wish she would have. But I also wish that people in our own day would see how much their sin is an affront to God.

Peter says in verse 9.

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

10 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.

11 And [here’s the result… here’s the silver lining in this story… here’s God’s great purpose in this tragedy] great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

Do you get it? Do you see why this is recorded in God’s Word? Here’s what God is telling you right now, “Don’t mess around with sin!” Don’t trifle with the God of the Universe! Don’t treat your sin like it’s something small and insignificant… something that you can piddle around with! It’s an offense to God!

For those of us who are Christians in this room, this should not be lost on us. Jesus Christ died for our sins. No small price was paid for them. So should we continue in our sin so that grace may abound? “God Forbid,” says Paul in Romans 6:1–2!

Now let’s talk about the “fear of God.” At the end of verse 11 and at the end of verse 5, Luke tells us that “great fear” came upon the whole world. I think for many in America today, that verse is read negatively. “Fear is bad! It’s bad.” “Great fear came upon them? That’s horrible. Perish the thought. What a tragedy!”

But here’s the truth—that verse should be read positively not negatively. It’s a good thing to fear God. It’s a good thing to have great “fear of God” reign down on the church. Why? Because the “fear of God” is one of the greatest deterrents to sin and self-destruction that we have in this world. Fear is our friend.

Let me illustrate it this way. When my son was little, I wanted him to do things because he loved me… I wanted him to obey me because of love and trust. But I’d settle for fear. When I’d see him about to cross a street and put himself in danger, I’d yell at him “Stop!” And I would hope in that moment that he’d obey me because of love and trust. But if that failed in that moment, I’d settle for fear. I wasn’t picky. I didn’t care if he responded in obedience because he loved me or because he feared me. Maybe for a time fear was the necessary motivator to get him to do what is right. We all know that’s true as parents.

Here’s where I’m going with this. Sometimes when our “love for God” fails us in times of temptation, our “fear of God” doesn’t. And here’s the thing with you and your kids. Listen up, parents. Your ability to punish your kids and inspire fear in them will wane in time. Parents just play this elaborate game of chicken with their kids. Eventually the kids realize that they are stronger and faster than their parents. And then the gig’s up. And you hope that when the gig’s up, you’ve trained them well enough to survive and thrive in this world.

But here’s the thing with God. He is infinitely powerful. He is infinitely strong. He is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-righteous. And fear of him never ends. You don’t outgrow that. And sometimes, even in adulthood, when your love of God fails to keep you on the path of obedience, your fear of God succeeds.

I speak from experience. Hopefully, we learn obedience through both our love of God and our fear of him. Those two things are not mutually exclusive. Deuteronomy 10:12 says, “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”

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Now there’s more to this story in Acts 5. There’s more than just God inspiring fear in his people. There’s a sense in which God purifies his people, in order to do a great work among them. There’s a sense in which punishment purifies and leads to a great outpouring of his power. That’s exactly what happens in the verses that follow.

Write this down as a third exposition point.

3) A power unleashed (5:12–16)

Look at verse 12.

12 Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles [in other words this Ananias and Sapphira business was just par for the course. God was regularly doing stuff like that by the hands of the apostles]. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico.

Here’s that picture again of Solomon’s Portico.


This is one of the places where the early church would congregate. This is the place where Peter healed the crippled man and thousands of people got saved in Acts 3. This is one of the few places that was large enough for the church at this time to gather.

And so here they are again later in Acts 5 doing their thing in the temple at Solomon’s Portico. This is probably the place where Ananias and Sapphira died.

And now, look at this. this is remarkable to me. Look at verse 13.

13 None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem.

That’s wild. The people were like “This is amazing. This is awesome. God is moving in their midst. I can see it.”

“Well then, why don’t you join them?”

“O no! I don’t want anything to do with that. I’d rather watch from the sidelines, thank you very much.”

I always laugh when people say, “If only God would show up in some powerful way, then I’d believe him.” O would you now? These people saw God do amazing things. And that didn’t convince them to believe!

Luke says, “None of the rest dared join them.” They might have said to themselves, “Yeah, people get healed over there, but people die too. I heard about Ananias and Sapphira! I’m probably one of those people who would die, so I’ll just keep my distance.”

But nevertheless they still held them in high esteem. In other words, those unbelieving Jerusalemites in verse 13, who were rejecting the whole enterprise, held them in high esteem, even though they didn’t join them.



Other people, on the other hand, saw these miraculous things and got saved. Look at verse 14.

14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,

Remember what I said last time—there’s too many people to count now. There were multitudes of men and women. First there was 120, then there was 3,000, and then there was 5,000 more men. Now there are just too many to count. It was multitudes and multitudes of both men and women.

Look at verse 15.

15 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them.

Jesus told his disciples that they would do even more powerful miracles than he did (John 14:12). Case in point, right here in Acts 5.

16 The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem

Notice now that the gospel is starting to spread beyond the city of Jerusalem. That’s the big theme of the book of Acts—Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. Jesus isn’t just for Jerusalemites. Salvation is available to all men, Jews and Gentiles alike. We’ll see that unfold more in more in the following chapters of the book of Acts.

16 The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

So just to recap, the punishment of Ananias and Sapphira led to the purification of the church, which subsequently led to an outpour of God’s power. I wonder how many churches fail to see God’s power unleashed in their midst because they fail to purify themselves. “O no, let’s not do church discipline. That’s uncomfortable. That offends people.” “O no let’s not keep each other accountable or deal with sin in our church. That would chase people away, and we want to grow.”

I wonder how many churches fail to experience God’s power because they fail to fear God and take him seriously? And instead of their church being filled with radical converts for Jesus Christ, they are filled with weeds and tares and false-converts. And instead of being this vertical place where God shows up and brings his glory down, it becomes hopeless and ineffectual. God save us from that!

Before we talk application, let me just say one thing about the unleashing of God’s power in these last few verses. For the record, I don’t think the unleashing of God’s power is going to look the same in our own era as it did in this first century apostolic era.

Peter and the other apostles did some things that are not normative for our own day. And this whole incident where Peter’s shadow was able to heal people, that’s not something that I see happening today.

I think that Peter was given unique, apostolic authority to perform miracles very much like what Jesus did. And so what we see here is something descriptive, not prescriptive for us. Peter and Paul and the other disciples in Acts are able to do things that we can’t do. And that’s okay. That was God’s way of exploding the gospel throughout the world in the first century.

Now sometimes I wish I could heal people on command like Peter, and strike people dead on command when they sin against the church. But I’m probably better off not having that ability. How many people are glad that I can’t strike people dead on command? I’m glad too. And I’m glad that no one in this room has that authority. It was something unique in the apostolic era, and I don’t believe it’s normative for us to have those abilities.

But I do believe this. The enduring principle here for us is that God moves and works powerfully in those places where unity, purity, and sincerity are guarded. I do believe that we can turn off the tap of God’s power in our midst by harboring sin in our community of faith. So don’t do that! Deal with sin. Get rid of it. Fight the good fight against sin.

Let me put it even more simply than that. In Proverbs it says this, “There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers” (6:16–19). Ananias and Sapphira were guilty of at least three of those seven things: 1) “a lying tongue,” 2) “[devising] wicked plans,” and 3) “[breathing] out lies.” I would also make a case for a fourth thing: “[sowing] discord among brothers.”

The point is this, the favor of the Lord is not going to rest on a community of faith where these types of sins are tolerated. God hates them. And one of the reasons that this story of Ananias and Sapphira is recorded is so we as the church, as a community of God’s people would grasp just how serious he is about preserving the purity of the church.

We are all sinners, yes. We have all fallen short of the glory of God, yes. We all come to Christ broken and twisted and dysfunctional with bad habits that need to be broken. But those habits must be broken. Otherwise we trample on the blood of Jesus that has been shed for our sins. Take this cautionary tale seriously. This is why Ananias and Sapphira are in the Bible! To show us how important it is to deal with sin in our hearts.

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So what are we going to do about this? How are we going to apply this passage? Well do this.

Application:

1) Deal quickly and decisively with sin

Paul says in 2 Timothy 2:19, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” Don’t minimize sin. Don’t pretend it doesn’t exist. Don’t excuse it with some lame excuse, “I can’t help myself.” Or “I’m not like most people.” Or “That’s just the way I am, deal with it.” No, deal with sin! Get a handle on it. Don’t try to theologize it away with some statement like, “More sin, more grace. I just need more grace than everyone else.” That is such an affront to God.

Hear me on this, “If God’s grace hasn’t changed you, it hasn’t saved you.” If you are the same person today that you were five years ago or ten years ago or thirty years ago, I challenge you right now to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12). Are you really saved? Have you really given your life to the Lord? If you have, then there should be evidence of the Holy Spirit’s transformation in your life.

 Now let me deal with the specific sins that are dealt with in this passage. Write this down:

a) Root out every hint of untruthfulness

Do you fudge facts? Do you exaggerate? Root it out! Do you let people believe things about you that aren’t true? Do you remain silent when an untruth is circulated? Root it out! Do you cook books? Do you massage details? Do you talk a big game and promise things you can’t deliver? Root it out.

I had this coach once who used to tell us all the time, “Don’t write checks your body can’t cash!” It was a great statement. It means, don’t try to do something on the basketball court that you are not capable of doing. Don’t pretend to be Michael Jordan. You’re not. Church, don’t be untruthful with your intentions. Don’t write checks your body can’t cash.

Also, do this.

b) Get your money-lust under control

This was at least part of Ananias and Sapphira’s issue. You might say, “I don’t have a money-lust problem, Tony.” Okay, well let me ask you this, “Do you spend more money than you make?” If you do, you might have a money-lust problem. Do you buy things you can’t afford? If you do, you might have a money-lust problem. Do you begrudge your spouse because they don’t make enough money to support you? If you do then you might have a money-lust problem! Do you refuse to give back to the Lord a portion of your income? If so, then you probably have a money-lust problem.

Let me ask this question. This’ll apply to all of us. “Are you an American?” Anybody here an American? If you’re an American, you probably have a money-lust problem or you are at least tempted by it on a daily basis. “Why do you say that, Tony?” Because materialism and consumerism has totally run amuck in this country!

“What’s the cure for that? What’s the cure for materialism?” We saw it at the end of Acts 4—It’s generosity. Here’s one way to get your money-lust under control – give some of it away. You might say, “Well how much do I give away, Tony. What percentage should I give away?” I don’t know. But here’s a suggestion. This’ll help—give it away until it starts to hurt, and then give a little more. And see if that doesn’t get your money-lust problem under control.

Also, write this down as c).

c) Don’t play the game of spiritual pretense

There is nothing more obnoxious in the church than false piety. Some people have mastered the art of hypocrisy, pretending to be something they are not, portraying themselves as more righteous or more generous or more holy than they are. Jesus hated hypocrisy. He hated it when people feigned godliness. He would dress down the Pharisees publicly for their spiritual pretense. Don’t play that game. Just be sincere and honest and humble.

When you make mistakes, admit them. When you’re struggling with sin, confess it. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (Prov 3:34; 1 Pet 5:5–6; Jas 4:6–7).

2) Respect the church as the place of God’s presence

I’ve said this already, “Don’t trifle with the God of the Universe.” But let me say this as well, “Don’t be flippant with sin as a member of Christ’s bride, the church.” I believe that one of the reasons that Ananias and Sapphira’s sins were especially heinous to the Lord was because their sin jeopardized the health of the church. Church is the place where God wants to bring his glory down. Church is the place where God wants to be glorified and to broadcast his goodness and holiness and his salvation throughout the world. And so when selfish, sinful saints screw that up, that makes God furious.

So leaders and parishioners alike, respect the church. It’s where God manifests his presence. Let me say this about God’s presence in the church—it brings both grace and correction. I think there’s a sense in which those guys who wouldn’t dare join the church were right. They knew that there was a higher standard that they would have to submit to if they joined the church. And so they said, “No thank you.” They didn’t want to be purified in that way. They passed on God’s grace, because they couldn’t handle the expectations that God would put on them as well.

You know Jesus challenged us to count the cost (Luke 14:28–30). And the Christian life isn’t a gravy train. God promises to chasten and purify us. And that’s a good thing. I’m glad he doesn’t leave us the way that we are. Who wants to stay the same? I don’t want to. So respect the church as the place of God’s presence, and receive the correction that God brings.

3) Welcome fear as friend

In the Bible, fear is both negative and positive. John tells us that “perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). But that’s not the same “fear” that’s recorded in Proverbs where the Bible says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (9:10). So we need to distinguish between good fear and bad fear. Acts 5 is about good fear.

You know if I were to summarize this entire cautionary tale with one statement, it would be this, “Fear God.” I think that’s what Luke is driving home here—“Fear God.” You might say “No, the main point is that we need to be honest.” Or “Don’t be greedy!” Or “Don’t be falsely pious!” Or “Don’t be stupid by lying to God!” You could make a case for all of those. But really, those are byproducts of the ultimate message here. The ultimate message is this: “Fear God.”

I realize that we might have some people here today who are hearing about the fear of God for the first time. You might say, “I’ve done things much worse than Ananias and Sapphira, Pastor Tony.” You might be feeling right now the weight of your sinfulness and your need for forgiveness. Listen, it’s right to fear God. He is fearsome. But you don’t have to fear him as your enemy. You can fear him as your Heavenly Father. You have an opportunity, right now, to become a child of God. You can have all of your sins forgiven… past, present, and future sins.

I don’t know if Ananias and Sapphira were believers or not. Some say yes. Some say no. Some say they were punished with an early death as believers. I actually would lean in that direction. But the truth is we don’t know. The text doesn’t specify. Ultimately that’s between them and God, and it’s too late for them to change their destiny now. But it’s not too late for the people in this room. You can still repent and receive the free gift of salvation in Jesus Christ. You can do that today.

I’m going to go ahead and ask our worship team to come up now, and as their coming up let me ask every person in this room, “Do you know Jesus Christ as your Savior? Have you had your sins forgiven?” If not, then today is the day of salvation for you. Put your faith in Christ.