THE SHOCKING LESSON OF ANANIAS & SAPPHIRA – Acts 5:1-11
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on January 6, 2019 under 2018 |
Bethany Bible Church New Year’s Message; January 6, 2019 from Acts 5:1-11
Theme: The Holy Spirit is everywhere-present within His church—and we must always behave with full integrity before Him in it.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
A very long time ago—in the earliest days of the church—a small group of young Christian men were together at the end of a very hard and very tragic day.
We don’t know how many were in this group of believing young men. They were probably only a few in number. And we don’t know their names or their backgrounds—except that they were members of the very first church in the ancient city of Jerusalem. But we can be pretty sure that by the end of this one particular day, they had a great deal to think about, and talk about, and pray about together.
They had just finished burying two people who had suddenly—shockingly—fallen over dead during a gathering of the church family; two people who had conspired together to commit a grievous sin before God. Those two people thought that their sin was something about which no one could possibly know. In fact, they may not have even thought of it as much of a sin at all. But the Holy Spirit revealed it; and after they were confronted with it, they dropped over onto the floor—dead. First the one; and then, shortly afterward, the other.
It was a shocking event. It left everyone who saw it completely stunned and terrified at the power and holiness of the God they served. And I wonder what might have been going on in the minds of these young men, after their sad work of burying these two church members was completed. How did this experience impact these young men? What lesson did they learn from it all? What did they talk about as they made their way home from the tombs that evening? What did they pray about when they went to bed that night?
My hope is that this morning, we will reflect on what happened, learn the lesson that these young men would have discussed amongst themselves, and take that lesson with us into the coming year as a church family.
The best place for us to begin, then, is to go to Acts 5; and to read for ourselves what it was that these young men saw on that tragic day.
* * * * * * * * * *
Now; this remarkable event occurred at a remarkable time in the history of the infant church. The Lord Jesus had just recently ascended to the Father. Pentecost had occurred. The promised Holy Spirit had descended upon the assembled followers of Jesus. The church had been born. The gospel of Jesus Christ was spreading. Miracles were happening. Multiple thousands were being added to the church. Persecution had arisen; but the testimony of the disciples had only been made stronger. And the called-out saints of Jesus Christ on earth were very much a witness to the world.
When we come to the end of Chapter 4, we find that the followers of Jesus were showing remarkable care for one another. No one among them had any lack. Everyone who had possessions or lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds to the feet of the apostles for distribution to whoever had need. It was all being done voluntarily—by the prompting of the Holy Spirit through the love of Jesus Christ for one another.
There was one man in particular who stood out in this. His name was Joses; but everyone called him Barnabas—which means “Son of Encouragement”. He was a Levite from a prosperous country; and he sold some property that he had, brought the money to the apostles, and laid it at their feet. It must have made a great impact on everyone; and true to his name, it seems that it encouraged others to do the same.
It must have been a very high time of joy within the church. Everyone felt the call of the Holy Spirit to give and to serve sacrificially. But as so often happens, whenever there is a genuine work of the Holy Spirit, the devil tries to spoil it all by bringing in his counterfeit influences—motivating people to act hypocritically in order to gain the praises of men.
And that’s when it is that we’re introduced to the tragic story of this couple. Luke—the Spirit-inspired historian who wrote the Book of Acts—tells us in Acts 5:1;
But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession (Acts 5:1).
Do you know what their names mean? Ananias’ name means “God is Gracious”; and his wife Sapphira’s name (from which we get the word “sapphire”) means “Fair” or “Beautiful”. Someone once said that they were not like their names. But I wonder if we should be careful about saying that. We don’t know anything else about their lives than what we know from this one story in Acts 5. It may be that, apart from this one terrible event, they had lived otherwise outstanding lives. It may be that, in many other respects, they had been model Christians and faithful church members.
It’s likely that, humanly speaking, no one would have expected the thing that was about to come upon them. And perhaps that’s what makes their story so shocking—and such an important lesson to you and me.
Luke tells us these words, in verse 2, about Ananias’ sale of this piece of land;
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 (v. 2).
It’s very important for us to understand that there was no wrong whatsoever in keeping back a portion of the proceeds. They were under no compulsion to sell their property. It was all a completely voluntary matter. And neither were they under any compulsion to bring the whole amount to the apostles. It was completely theirs to do with as they wished. They could have brought the whole amount, or could have brought half; or a quarter. They could have, in fact, sold it and kept all the proceeds for themselves. The sinfulness of their action didn’t lay in the fact that they kept back a portion. The sinfulness of their action was found in that they brought a portion of the sale; but were making it appear before the others that they were bringing it all.
How might this have happened? It could be that they had felt motivated by the generous spirit that was flowing throughout the church family to sell their land, and had originally intended to give only part of it—keeping the rest to meet some other needs. That was, of course, their right to do. Perhaps as they were about to bring this dedicated portion to the apostles, they originally thought of announcing that it was only a portion. But along the way, perhaps Ananias said to Sapphira, “You know what? Let’s just not say anything. Who needs to know that it wasn’t the whole thing? In the end, what difference would it make one way or the other?” And thus—subtly, secretly—they would have been putting forth the idea that they had been more generous than they really were.
Do you remember the story that’s told about our Lord regarding the poor widow? He was sitting in the temple one day—watching how people were making donations to the treasury. He was able to watch as some folks who were rich were putting in large amounts of money. But then He watched as a widow woman put in only a few coins—what amounted to little more than pocket change for anyone else. He called His disciples attention to her and said,
“Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood” (Mark 12:43-44).
Our Lord knows not only what’s in our hand when we give, but also what’s in our hearts while we are giving it. And just as surely as He knows how a poor widow gave a small amount with a heart of sacrificial devotion, He also knows when someone gives a much larger amount with a heart of hypocrisy and deceit.
Apparently, only Ananias was there that day to bring in this portion of the sale. And I imagine that no one who saw it would have thought anything wrong in it. But it must be that the Holy Spirit—who sees and knows all that is in our hearts—spoke to the apostle Peter about it. And after Ananias laid the gift at his feet, Peter spoke up. Verses 3-4 tell us;
But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and 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” (vv. 3-4).
We might be able to identify other sins that were involved in the background of this act. There was, of course, a desire to do good works in the sight of men. The Lord Jesus warned, in the Sermon on the Mount, not to do that kind of thing. He said,
“Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly (Matthew 6:1-4).
Ananias did what he did, clearly, in order to be seen by others—and to be thought of as more generous than he and Sapphira truly were. There may have also been a mistrust in his heart of God’s providential care for him and Sapphira. The Lord Jesus had told us not to worry about the future—that if we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, our heavenly Father will meet all our needs. Ananias would never have conspired with his wife to do this deceitful act—to keep back a portion deceitfully—if he had fully trusted in God’s provision. We could also say that they sinned by mistreating their brothers and sisters in Christ, in that they had felt free to deceive them and mislead them in their thoughts about what it was they had done.
There certainly were other aspects of this act that were sinful. But the one thing that Peter identified above all others—the one thing that I believe we are meant to notice as the primary sin—is that they attempted to lie the Holy Spirit. That’s how Peter put it: “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit …? … You have not lied to men but to God.” And though it was true that Satan had filled Ananias’ heart to do it—though it was true that Satan sought to capitalize on his sinful motivation to look ‘sacrificial’ before others—it was nevertheless Ananias himself that was culpable for allowing it to happen; and for daring to think that he could lie to the majestic, holy, all-knowing Spirit of the living God!
And I believe, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, that this is the main thing that we are to take away from this passage and apply to our lives together in this church family. The Holy Spirit has called this church family together. He abides in the hearts of those who have placed their faith in Jesus. He is here today—not in part, but completely; not from a distance, but personally. He is fully present in our midst. He is active and involved in everything that we do together in the name of God’s Son. He brings His holy presence to bear in every aspect of this church family. We must never behave as if He is not here. We must never think that we can pass a hypocritical act off on His people and not have Him know about it completely. And more; we must never think that He doesn’t see every act done in secret, or hear every word spoken in quiet, or know every thought in the hidden place of every heart. We must never think that He doesn’t evaluate those acts of service rightly that go on in the assembly, or weigh those acts of sacrifice justly that are given within the assembly of the redeemed people the Lord Jesus Christ. We must never think that our witness to this world is something that does not matter to Him; or that He will not do whatever is necessary to protect the holiness of our Savior’s cause.
We must never, ever think that we can lie to the Holy Spirit.
And just to show us that this is so, we read in verse 5,
Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last (v. 5a).
It appears that Ananias died instantly. Was he an unbeliever? Did he go to eternal judgment? We don’t have any evidence that such a thing would be the case. It may be that he was a genuine believer whose sin was significant enough—and whose actions presented sufficient harm to the witness of the people of God—that God simply took him home early and abruptly. And let’s not think that—in any way—it was Peter who did this. All Peter did was report the truth. It was the Spirit of God who took action. Perhaps God took this action early on in the history of the church, in order to establish that we—as God’s holy people; assembled together as those redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus—must never try to lie the Holy Spirit. Perhaps this was done in order to teach us, early on, to always live with integrity before the Holy Spirit in God’s household.
Verses 5-6 tell us;
So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. And the young men arose and wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him (vv. 5b-6).
And that’s when we first encounter these young men. I suspect that they were called to this task because they were among the more physically capable in the group. But I also wonder if Peter didn’t also call them out for this hard task because he wanted them—perhaps as future leaders within the church and future servants for the cause of Christ—to think deeply about what they had just seen.
Now; we’re told that they ‘buried’ Ananias. It doesn’t appear that there was much of a ceremony involved. Perhaps it was necessary to bury him quickly because of the climate in that part of the world; but it may also have been because of the nature of the event. They simply wrapped Ananias’ body and took it away from out of the assembly of God’s people. And it’s not likely that they took a pick and shovel and dug a 6′ hole—as we might have done today. Most likely, they would have buried Ananias in the way that people were commonly interred in those days—that is, by placing them in a shelf-like formation carved out of the inside of a burial cave, and rolling a stone over the entry.
Whatever the process involved, it must have taken about three hours or so. That would have been three hours for these young men to think about and talk about what had just happened. It would have also been three hours of time for the church family to sorrow and to be awestruck by the holiness of the God they serve.
And it would have been three-hours time for the lesson to then be repeated. Verse 7 then goes on to say;
Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened (v. 8).
Do you suppose that when Sapphira walked in, the first thing that she would have noticed would have been the somber atmosphere of the gathering? Would she have noticed that instead of greeting her, the people in the gathering were gazing at her with a look of sad astonishment? Perhaps she herself had a look on her own face that said, “What’s going on …?”; because Peter responded by ‘answering’ that look—perhaps even pointing downward to the money that her husband Ananias had left at his feet.
And Peter answered her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much?” (v. 8a).
This was her chance; wasn’t it? She could have repented. She could have told the truth. But instead, she carried the lie forward. She said, “Yes, for so much”; which, as one Bible teacher put it, was as if she said outwardly “Yes, that’s how much we sold it for” … but inwardly thought, “and a bit more than that as well.”
We know that she continued her partnership in her husband’s lie; because of what we find in verses 9-10;
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 men came in and found her dead, and carrying her out, buried her by her husband (vv. 9-10).
Those poor young men! What a day this was for them! But what a day it was for all those who witnessed it! And notice again her sin. She ‘tested’ the Holy Spirit by lying to Him; just as her husband had done. And just like him, she fell over dead. Verse 11 tells us;
So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things (v. 11).
* * * * * * * * * *
Now, dear brothers and sisters in Christ; we are now—today—also among those who have heard these things. Has great fear come upon us because of it? Has the lesson of it sunk into our hearts?
Let’s go back now and consider what those young men might have been thinking at the end of this very remarkable, very tragic day in the household of God. As they strolled slowly and wearily along the path from the tombs—or perhaps as they sat upon a rock or beneath a tree along the way to rest—what sort of things would have come to their minds?
I am wondering if one of them might have turned to the other and said, “You know; this reminds me of a similar thing in the Scriptures. Do you remember the story of how in the days of Moses, after the tabernacle of old was set up, and the glory of God appeared upon it, that the two sons of Aaron—Nadab and Abihu—filled their censers with fire, put incense in them, and offered a ‘strange’ fire to the Lord that He had not commanded?”
“Yes,” the other would say; “and I remember how God responded! A fire went out from Him and devoured them both on the spot! They died before the Lord for what they did—a whole lot like Ananias and Sapphira just did!”
“And I remember a story too”, another would say. “Do you remember how King David tried to bring the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem? The scriptures commanded that it be carried upon the shoulders of the Levites. But instead, he put it on a cart drawn by an ox.”
“Yes,” another might say; “and do you remember how the cart shook, and the man Uzza put his hand out to steady it? He died instantly before the Lord; because he dared to put his hand upon God’s holy ark!”
Perhaps one of them said, “Brothers; I believe we have been given a sober lesson today. Our God—the Father of our Lord Jesus—is the very same God who broke out so fearsomely against those who didn’t reverence Him in that older era. He is just as much to be revered today. And haven’t we seen today how the Holy Spirit has demonstrated that very fact to us in the way He broke out against Ananias and Sapphira? What God said to Moses way back then is just as true for us today:
‘By those who come near Me
I must be regarded as holy;
And before all the people
I must be glorified’ (Leviticus 10:3).”
And these young men might have gone to bed that night and summarized this important lesson in their thoughts: the Holy Spirit is everywhere-present within His church—and we must always behave with full integrity before Him in it.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; may this same lesson be fixed into our hearts, as a church family, in this coming year.
EA
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