Acts 5:1-11

It goes there. Wonderful. Well, good morning, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This is where every day you and I, we get together, we get into God's Word and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2022, we'll make it from acts to fight. Lehman, I'm so glad to have you today. Let's go ahead and have some coffee. We'll pray and we'll get into God's Word. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for the time that we get to spend in your word. God, we pray that we will live our lives in light of standing before your face.
Lord, we pray that you would teach us now in Jesus' name. Amen. We are at Acts chapter 5, the first 11 verses. Pretty shocking story here, Acts chapter 5. And we are going to look at the first couple verses. Let's drop those screens down real quick. And we are at Acts chapter 5, verses 1 through 11. Let's go ahead and read the text for us this morning. But a certain man named Ananias with Sapphira, his wife, sold the possession. And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part 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 part of the price of the land for yourself? While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God."
Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down He breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these sayings, and the young men arose and wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him. Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.
And Peter answered her, yeah, Peter answered her, tell me whether you sold the land for so much. She said, yes, for so much. Then Peter said to her, how is it that you have agreed together to test the spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door and they will carry you out. Then immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young man came in and found her dead, and carrying her out, buried her by her husband. So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things."
Well, what is this about? We know that this is the early church, that the apostles have just been there. They've, in the previous chapter, we ended with a story of Barnabas. this son of encouragement who was a Levite and sold his things and gave them to the church and how everybody was united in one heart and one soul and that they cared for one another's needs.
And so Ananias and Sapphira come into this picture and it seems like they're doing something right at first, you know. They sold their possessions. But verse 2, what does it say? They keep back a part of it. See, there's this certain amount in their heart that they're willing to give up, but not all of it. But they want all the prestige that came, like what Barnabas got, what Joseph got. And they want to get that same amount of recognition. Maybe they want the nickname. They want to be known as the couple of encouragement or something.
I don't know. But they decide in their hearts that they're going to deceive. So the sense of doing the right thing but with ulterior motives or not being totally honest. And notice this isn't, you know, communism going on. They have a right to their personal property. What does Peter say to them? He tells them, when you had it, was it not your own?
And when you sold it, did you not control it? You could do with your goods whatever you want. You didn't have to sell your stuff. Even if you did sell your stuff, you could have given a portion of it or none of it. It was in your own control. You could do with your money as you had decided. But what was the problem? They had lied, saying, we sold it for such and such and we are giving that full amount. And that wasn't the truth.
How many people in our society would think that that's just a white lie? How many people, it's coming up on tax season here, how many people will lie on their charitable contributions to get a tax reduction? How many people will tell these little white lies, half-truths, to deceive others, to puff up their reputation, to make it look like they're better than they are? And here, there's a reality. Who did he sin? Who did he lie to? It was against the Holy Spirit.
We live in a world where we often act like we are our own individual person and what we do behind closed doors, it doesn't matter. But we live our lives in the presence of an all-seeing God. We live our lives before an omniscient, an omnipresent God. We live our lives knowing that the Holy Spirit sees and knows everything that we do.
And so when we lie, We are sinning against God. There is a witness against us. There is a triune witness against us. And Peter knows this. The Spirit has somehow enlightened Peter's mind that he knows. He knows that they're lying, and he calls them out. At first, he calls out the husband. He calls out Ananias, and he drops dead. On the spot, stops breathing. The young men carry him out.
And Sapphira, having full knowledge of this deception that her husband was going to engage in, Sapphira comes, and Peter asks her the same question. Hey, how much you guys sell the land for? Exactly how much we gave you. Don't you know that the men who carried out your husband's cold dead body have just walked out of the room and she falls down dead?
Think about the reverberations that this would have through the church. Think about how people would have felt, what people would have talked about. What would the gossip on the street have been in Jerusalem? Think about how church discipline goes in our congregations. When people will commit far more atrocious crimes, crimes against God, sins against the Lord himself, and when the elders exercise church discipline, how do people respond there? Now, I'm not saying church discipline is meant to be used harshly, unlovingly, quickly, But there is a reality that judgment does happen even in this life.
That the apostles were given the keys to the kingdom. And here Peter is using those keys to the kingdom. A. What is this about? Ananias and Sapphira's lie. They're deceiving of the Holy Spirit and God's judgment upon them.
B. What's the best verse to summarize this? Well, I think in my Bible I have, if I was to underline something, I would underline verse 10 and 11. Then immediately she fell down his feet and breathed his last and the young men came in and found her dead and carried her out and buried her by her husband. So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things. See calling. What are we called to do? Maybe your idea of God is you know, a nice grandpa in the sky. Maybe he's just a Santa Claus who, you know, mystical Santa Claus up in heaven who answers all your prayers for all the things you need. But do we reverence him? Do we fear him? Do we live our lives in light of His holiness?
Will we be like Isaiah that as we learn more and more about this God who cannot stand to even look upon sin, will we cry out, woe is me for I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell amongst an unclean people? Will we confess our sin? Will we cry out to God to forgive us of our sin? Will we actually show our love for Christ by walking in Christ's commandments? Will we just be honest with ourselves and be honest with those around us, what we have and have not done? Will you live your life? Will I live my life in the light of God's face, knowing that we can't escape Him?
You can go up to the highest of the heavens, and you'll never escape his gaze. You can go down to the depths of the Mariana Trench, and you'll never escape his grave, his gaze. You can go down to the grave, you won't escape his gaze. There's nowhere we can go to flee the presence of the Lord.
So may we live our lives always in light of who he is, knowing that he judges even the deep recesses of our hearts. Let's pray. Father, we pray that we would fear you, that we would reverence you, that we would respect you, that we would fall down and worship you, that we would beat our breast and that we would confess our sins. Lord, please forgive us even of our hidden sins. Wash us of our iniquities. Let us be people who would walk in truth, walk in your ways, and love you. In Jesus's name, amen. May you be honest with yourself and with others. May you rest knowing in the forgiveness of Jesus Christ that's offered to sinners like you and I. And may you show your loving for Christ by keeping his commandments. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye.