Our New Testament reading and our sermon text this morning is from Acts chapter 4 verse 32 to Acts 5 verse 11. This is God's Word. Now the number of those who believed were of one heart and soul and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were given their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet. And it was distributed to each as any had need. Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas, which means son of encouragement, a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet. But a man named Ananias with his wife Sapphira sold a piece of property and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained sold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God. When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him. And after an interval of about three hours, his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter said to her, tell me whether you sold the land for so much? And she said, yes, for so much. But Peter said to her, how is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door and they will carry you out. Immediately she fell down and breathed her last. When the young men came in, they found her dead and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. And great fear came upon the whole church and upon those who heard these things. May God add his blessing to this reading of his word. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, as we gather together to hear your word, we just pray that you'll be with us, that your Spirit will work among us, that my words will be your words, that you'll be glorified. And we would just pray that you would reveal your word to us this morning. In Jesus' name, amen. As I mentioned, when we gathered on Monday to say goodbye to Bill and Tracy, there's several things that Pastor Bill did for us that I'm personally grateful for. One was to regularly encourage us to develop a practice of reading the Bible daily and reading through the Bible in a year. And for me, this has been a huge blessing. Each time through, God reveals new truths. Things that did not make sense before have become clearer with each reading and I've been able to see connections to other passages that were not visible before. A second thing was to encourage me to lead a Bible study. This has become a source of growth for me as I prepared to lead each session and learn from others in the study. But when you read through the entire Bible, when you read it through, you're forced to encounter passages that are challenging. They may be confusing. It may be difficult to discern God's message for you. Or they may be so contrary to the way our culture has trained us to think that we struggle to make sense of what we're reading. And for me, this is one of those passages. Ananias and Sapphira decide to give some money to the church community, as others were doing. They sell a plot of land and donate some of the proceeds. And in doing so, they get caught in a deception about the amount. And as a result, they end up instantly dead. Just what is going on here? When I encountered this text for the first time, some things were very difficult for me to understand. And many people would have questions like, isn't death a harsh penalty for a lie? Why didn't Ananias get a chance to explain himself or make amends? Is it possible that he didn't understand the rules or that Peter misunderstood his question? Or he misunderstood Peter's question? And is this something a loving God would do? We believe that the Bible is the inerrant word of God. There's no mistakes in it. All of it is useful for teaching us how to love God, how to be obedient to Him, and how to conduct our lives. There's nothing in the Bible that is a mistake or does not hold wisdom for us today. Everyone in the Bible study that I lead is blessed by Don Codling's participation. And over the past two years, we've studied several Old Testament books of prophecy. And I'm blessed with an engineer's brain, which in leading a Bible study is not always a good thing. And on a couple of occasions, I've asked Don, is that passage intended for Israel in their situation millennial ago or for us today? And each time I asked this question, Don's answer was that it was intended for both. This is the case time after time throughout the Bible. Things that might seem to be relics of a distant time in God's incredible wisdom hold important truths for us today. When we encounter a passage that is uncomfortable for us or does not seem to make sense, we owe it to ourselves to take some time and dig in and try to discern God's message for us. And when its message is uncomfortable for us initially, then our obligation is not to ignore it or file it away, but to try to figure out what message God has put there for us. When I was contemplating this sermon, this passage popped in my head for some reason. I had always found parts of it to be puzzling, but I got to dig into it a few years ago when leading a study on Acts. So for those of you who have had some of the same questions about this passage, I hope you will find this helpful. And for everyone else, please bear with me, and I hope I can add in some small amount to your knowledge of this piece of Scripture. So I'll have three main points, the context of the early church, the sin of Ananias and Sapphira and their penalty. Let's begin by looking at the context of the early Christian church where this account takes place. The first seven chapters of Acts, which was written by Luke, covers the very beginnings of the first church in Jerusalem, from Christ's ascension into heaven until church leaders start dispersing throughout the Greek world after the martyrdom of Stephen. In Luke 24, just prior to his ascension, the risen Christ instructed his apostles to start building the church in Jerusalem, as Will had read for us, and that they would be equipped with the power of the Holy Spirit. And it reads, verse 45, then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and he said to them, thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead. And that repentance for the forgiveness of sin should be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things, and behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high. And this dialogue is repeated in Acts chapter one, where we read at verses four to five. And while staying with them, he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, you heard from me, for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. So Jesus has explained to the apostles God's plan for redemption through Jesus Christ, and that they would be his instruments to spread the gospel. They were to start in Jerusalem and spread the gospel to the ends of the earth. Jesus ordered them to remain in Jerusalem until the coming of the Holy Spirit. We're told later in Acts one that the group of apostles and other followers at this point numbered about 120 people. Chapter two details the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended on those assembled, and Peter preached his sermon explaining Jesus' death, or Jesus' death and resurrection in the gospel. And Acts 2 41 tells us that 3,000 souls were added to the fellowship of believers. The last part of chapter two from verse 42 describes life in the fledgling church as follows, and they devoted themselves to the apostles, teaching the fellowship, and they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and at all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. So now we see that the church has grown beyond 3,000, and we get this beautiful picture of the early church where they are following the apostles, worshiping together. The apostles were doing miracles, and their lives were built around this community of believers sharing the resources with each other. In chapter 3, Peter and John encounter a lame man at the temple in Chorom, and Peter preaches the gospel telling how the entire scripture pointed to Jesus. In chapter 4, Peter and John are arrested by the Sadducees for preaching that Jesus was resurrected. And it says in verse 4 that the number of the church at that point came to about 5,000 men, all in and around Jerusalem. And accounting for the women and children, that number is likely 10,000 or more. In verse 13, it says the Sadducees saw the boldness of Peter and John and that they were uneducated, but they were disciples of Jesus. The Sadducees really did not know what to do with them. They did not like that Peter and John were stirring up the people and adding followers, but they could not deny the miracles and the things that were being witnessed. So they decided not to jail Peter and John, but to let them go and order them to stop preaching about Jesus. So now once again we have this incredible picture of the Holy Spirit at work and building the church. Just weeks earlier Jesus was crucified and the disciples were in hiding. Now there's a group of believers numbering at least 10,000 in a city of 80 to 100,000 people. Miracles are being done. Peter and John are preaching and their number is growing every day. Again we see this group of believers spending their time together, eating, worshiping, and praying. And they're also sharing what they have. And verse 32 of chapter 4 says, now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. So why were they sharing like this? I can think of a few reasons. It's likely that they were both rich and poor together in the early church and as they came to understand the gospel of what Christ did to them, that they were brothers and sisters in Christ. It's likely that those who had more could not bear to see others in need and the wealthier likely began looking on the poor as family members and not as strangers. Similarly, as they grew in faith, they likely came to understand what they did have was from God and not what they had achieved or deserved. And the natural response to that recognition is to share and give back to God. Finally and perhaps most importantly, this is because of boldness resulting from the Holy Spirit working in the early church. The word boldness appears three times in chapter 4. People are acting with boldness or they're praying for boldness. One commentator says that boldness can be manifested in word or indeed. We certainly see the boldness in word exhibited by Peter and John in their sermons and in standing up to the Sadducees. The radical giving and sharing is a form of boldness indeed. Those sharing all they had were so sure of God's care and provision for them that they were confident to give all of what they had. Failure to share as much as God may like us to is not necessarily stinginess but a fearfulness about what might happen. Then in the last five verses of Acts 4, give us a picture of church life once again. And with great power, the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. When great grace was upon them all, there was not a needy person among them for as many as were owners of land or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet. And it was distributed to each as any had need. Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas, which means a son of encouragement, a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet. So now with this event of Barnabas, who seems to be a leader in this early church and who would later become one of Paul's ministry partners, selling a field and giving the proceeds to the church, we meet Ananias and Sapphira in chapter 5. So let's move on and look at what got Ananias and Sapphira into so much trouble. So when we read the Bible, we often use chapters as a convenient place to pick up and leave off. On this account, it's important to read the end of chapter 4 along with the first 11 verses of chapter 5. The contrast of Barnabas, someone who would play an important part in the growth of the church with Ananias and Sapphira is there intentionally for us to see and to highlight the difference between the two. Immediately after we hear about Barnabas and his gift to the church, Ananias, a member of the community, also decided to sell a plot of land and donate the proceeds. Unlike Barnabas, however, Ananias and his wife Sapphira decided to keep back some of the proceeds for themselves. But when he comes before Peter, Peter accuses him, as it says in verse 3, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? And in verse 4, Peter says, why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man, but to God. And in verse 6 it reads, when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last, and great fear came upon all who heard of it. And then following in verses 7 to 10, after about three hours, Sapphira comes in and has a similar dialogue with Peter and meets the same fate as her husband. So what was the sin of Ananias and Sapphira, and why was the penalty so severe and immediate? Think about how many of us would handle something similar if it happened in a workplace, a club, or even in a church. What would our response be? We would not impose immediate and severe penalties. We would probably make sure the person got a chance to tell their side of the story. Probably the more serious the accusation, the more opportunity they would get to explain. We would be looking for ways to avoid the most severe penalty, just to be safe. Maybe Ananias misspoke when he told Peter how much he sold the land for. Maybe he misunderstood what the process was for giving to the church. Yeah, maybe he did wrong, but perhaps his heart was in the right place. Why do we do this? Well, first of all, we want to be careful to get the facts straight. Also, we do not know what's in a person's heart. Why did they do what they did? We do our best to understand the facts and the motive before we determine consequences. One thing about this account that troubles some people is that it does not tell us exactly what Ananias and Sapphira said upon making the gift. We are not told if they explicitly lied about the sale of the proceeds, implied that they were given the entire proceeds, or simply left some things open for interpretation. We don't know Ananias' response to Peter's charges. If you've struggled with this passage, as I have, you may want to see Peter as being judgmental and to give Ananias the benefit of the doubt. But we have already discussed how at this time in the early church, the apostles were equipped with power from the Holy Spirit to accomplish things not usually witnessed today. The commentators I have read agreed that Peter was not the judge. God was. The Holy Spirit alerted Peter to the deception, and Peter delivered the message, but the penalty was imposed by God. God knows the facts, and more importantly, God knows with certainty what's in our hearts. And as we go through this, I hope you will see that Ananias and Sapphira's sin was not about what they said, but was about what was in their heart. And if we've been saved by Christ, if we have put our faith in Him, we will not face the penalty of death for our sins, but God still wants us to recognize our sins, to grieve over them, and to repent. We may be able to rationalize or justify our behavior to those around us, but there's no way to rationalize or justify our sin to God. When we sin, the only solution is to humbly repent to God who knows what is in our hearts and ask forgiveness of those that we've sinned against. So just what was the sin of Ananias and Sapphira? Were they guilty of lying to the church leaders? They certainly did do that, but that is not the sin that this story is about. And it's not about withholding funds from the church. They did do that as well, but it's not the sin we're talking about here. And in fact, simply withholding some of the money was not a sin at all. In verse 4 we read, while it remained unsold, this is Peter speaking, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you've contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man, but to God. What Peter is saying here is that there was no requirement to sell the land. While our text tells us that many were selling their possessions, it was not a requirement. The others selling were donating out of love, not out of obligation. Peter is also saying that once they sold the land, they could have done as they pleased with the money. They could have kept it all, or they could have donated a portion. The problem was that they sold the land, donated a portion, and at least left the impression that they had donated the entire proceeds. So they did lie to the apostles and to the church, but what God is concerned about here is a much deeper problem that we all need to guard against in creeping into our lives. Ananias and Sapphira wanted to credit a ratulation for being sacrificial givers. They wanted the respect that was accorded to Barnabas, but they had a very different motivation. They wanted to be recognized, but were not prepared to pay the price of doing so. Where Barnabas was willingly acting only out of obedience to God and love for the church, Ananias and Sapphira were acting in their own self-interest. Their motive was not God's honor, but their own honor. Their motive was not to benefit the community, but to benefit themselves. Their sin was not mere lying. Of the two main references I used, one called it hypocrisy. The other called it malicious deception. Whatever you call it, it's deceiving the church community and foolishly trying to deceive God about what is in your heart. It undermines the work of the Holy Spirit and the witness of the church. So now, maybe some of you might say, I understand what their sin was, but was it so serious that they had to die? Over the centuries, nothing has hurt the work and witness of the church more than this type of behavior. B.K. Chesterton was reputed to have said, the greatest argument against the truth of Christianity is the lives of Christians. He was not talking about people living faithful lives of willing obedience to God, but of people who purport to be Christians while their lives tell a different story. We can all name news stories or accounts from history of church leaders who have been caught in corruption or in sexual sin. And think of the damage to the church that occurs when these stories hit the news. And the issue is not that these church leaders sinned because we all sin. The issue is that their private lives did not reflect the gospel of Jesus Christ that they were preaching. On a more local level, think of a church like this one or any other local church. Imagine a church leader, like an elder or a deacon, a Sunday school leader, or maybe somebody who simply shares with other people that they're a Christian. And then imagine if that person does something outside of their church lives that tells a different story. Maybe they own a business and do not deal honestly with their customers. Maybe their kids play sports, but they're abusive to the teenage referees. Maybe they're unfaithful to their spouse. Maybe they brag to their friends about how they got one over on the government on their tax return. And if such a sin continues and is not dealt with through repentance, what is likely to happen in that church? I can think of three things. First, people within the church may become discouraged by this behavior in their church leadership or church family members. They may question their faith and fall away from the church. For some people, if they see the behavior in their church family, it may defeat their conscience as it relates to their own lives. If it's okay for him to do this, then it must be okay for me to do that. People outside the church may say to themselves, those people claim to be Christians, but they're no better than me. They're fakes and they're phonies. And those people outside the church may not be very interested when we try to share the gospel or invite them to a service or a program. The sin of Ananias and Sapphira is so devastating because it undermines the work of the Holy Spirit. Tim Keller argued that things like murder, embezzlement, and adultery, as painful as they are, are less damaging to the gospel because they are plain and obvious and are usually dealt with. Ananias and Sapphira were guilty of spiritual pride and using Christianity to gain reputation and standing, and they seem to have missed the message of God's free grace to unworthy sinners. So finally, let's talk about the penalty that befell Ananias and Sapphira. Hopefully you will see at this point just how serious the behavior of Ananias and Sapphira was and if not dealt with how devastating it could be to this young church. But if you're like me, you may still be asking, but why did they deserve to die? That for me is much harder to explain. And it's also, I believe, harder to explain for the writers of the resources I used in preparing this. Nonetheless, I'm going to try to give you some ideas to think about. First, we discussed how hypocrisy or malicious deceit can be so devastating to the church. This account takes place just weeks or even days after Jesus' ascension into heaven. This group of a few thousand believers in Jerusalem was at the time all of the church in the entire world. The church was thriving through the work of the apostles, empowered by the Holy Spirit, but also facing opposition from both the Jewish leaders and the Roman rulers. It appears now that Ananias and Sapphira were visibly part of the church, but were not faithful believers. If their sin was not called out, it no doubt would have continued in this church. They may have even risen to be leaders in the church. That may have meant the end of the radically loving, generous spiritual community that is described in Acts 4. At a time of unusual, visible acts by the Holy Spirit in building the church, God acted decisively to protect his church. Second, God's word tells us that the penalty for sin is death. It's through God's mercy that we are spared this through the course of our natural life. One commentator said that in this account, God has interrupted his normal pattern of mercy to remind his people that they do not deserve it. So far in the life of the church, the Holy Spirit brought healing and thousands of conversions, and as the text tells us about a radical change in the lives of the people in the early church, this commentator tells us that God interrupted this pattern of mercy to show the early church that apart from God, we are subject to judgment and to show how great a gift God's mercy towards us as sinners is. Acts 5.5 says, when Ananias heard these words, he fell down his breath this last, and great fear came upon all who heard it. And upon Sapphira's death in verse 11, it says, and great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard these things. What is this great fear, and why did great fear come upon the church and all who heard? I believe God used this event in the early church to show that the God who was saving them through Jesus Christ is also a God of judgment for those outside of Christ. Or as Romans 6.23 says, for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. So to conclude, what can we take from this account? I selected this account to talk about because it was one that I found difficult to understand at first, but which became a bit clearer through reading and discussion and participating in Bible studies. My hope was to share some of that insight with you, especially if you had some of the same questions I did. And so from that perspective, I hope you found it useful. With that in mind, I want to repeat Bill's exhortation to us to develop a practice of reading the Bible every day and reading through the Bible in a year. By doing so, you will confront more difficult passages, but you'll also gain a deeper and deeper insight into God's Word. And when you encounter a difficult passage, take the time to talk to a Christian friend about it, bring it up in a Bible study, or do your own research. Today there are so many resources available to us, and I know many of you use some of these tools. I receive a daily email that explains my daily Bible reading. I also have two apps on my phone where I can find a sermon or an article on just about every chapter in the Bible. I just need to take the time to use them. But I do want to highlight a few lessons from this account of Ananias and Sapphira. Malicious deception, especially amongst God's people, is a very serious thing. There are many warnings about this in Scripture. The account of Achan that we read in Joshua 7 is one account. The account of David and Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11 and 12 is another. This behavior may reveal a lack of genuine faith, and it damages the witness of God's people. Second, the account of Ananias and Sapphira assumes all sin is ultimately a sin against God. In Acts 5, 4, Peter tells Ananias that he is not lied to men but to the Holy Spirit. In 2 Samuel 12, 13, David said, talking about or praying about his sin with Bathsheba, I have sinned against the Lord. And similarly in Psalm 51, 4, against you only have I sinned. But Matthew 25, 4 tells us that the opposite is also true. When we do good to others, we do good towards the Lord. This is one reason why Martin Luther argued that a work can only be good if it is done out of faith and unto the glory of God. Every other work is ultimately done against the Lord and unto the glory of the self. And finally in this account, God interrupts his normal pattern of mercy to remind his people that they do not deserve it. The Holy Spirit brought people to God, healed people through Peter and John. Now the Holy Spirit is an instrument of judgment. We are told that this interruption brought fear on the whole church. The same God of abundant, undeserved mercy is also a God of justice and wrath for those outside Christ. Ananias and Sivira suffered an immediate punishment from God for a very serious sin. It was a pervasive sin that arose from a lack of faith in the God who was manifesting himself in so many works day by day in the early church. What distinguished Barnabas and David from Ananias and Achan, the answer to that is faith. Faith in Jesus and faith in the gospel.