Untruthful
giving Acts 5:1-16
A. A
Generous Gift or Glad Giving
In the previous
chapter, we should review verses 36 and 37.
Barnabas gave a glad gift to the church, not because he had to but
because he wanted to. Maybe, the church had a great respect for Barnabas and
his generous gift.
II Cor
9:7, teaches us to be a good steward and a cheerful giver. But we are not to
give our gift so that we will receive attention. Barnabas did not give to get
attention or be noticed, but maybe someone could have known about it and shared
this information with others. I do not know, nor am I responsible for that. What
I do know is, that, I want my gift to be without the attention of the church
and I try to ensure that all the people that I have ministered to have the same
opportunity. Therefore no jealousies break out and no one’s gift allows them to
rule or run the church. Amen!
5:1 But a certain
man named Ananias, with Sapphira
his wife, sold a possession, 2 And kept back part of the price, his wife
also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the
apostles' feet.
B.
Grudging Givers
The couple of Ananias and Sapphira, have sold some land. They have the right to sell what they
want to and to give as they feel led. However, I wonder if they did not know of
or had heard of, Barnabas’ gift and wanted to “out give” him or maybe their
intent was to get some amount of the church’s respect and attention. Therefore
they imply they have given all, but actually had not. Instead they had given
some portion. They could’ve given a portion and it would’ve been fine, but they
wanted to appear spiritual and lied, saying they had given all. Friend, there
are many today who spend more time trying to “look” rather than trying to “be”.
I read of a painting of a monk
sitting at a table with a book before him and his hands folded in the posture
of prayer. This painting was auctioned off for a great sum of money. After the
painting was brought home, the buyer had a chance for closer inspection and
found the monk sitting not over a book but over an empty pan. Instead of the
monk being in prayer it was noticed that in between the monks folded hands was
a lemon. The picture was a monk squeezing a lemon into a pan. At first the painting
“looked spiritual” but was only a bitter and sour picture.
The term “kept
back” is in the Greek “nosphizomai”. In the Greek it
means to appropriate for one’s own use. The same term is found in Titus 2:10 and
is translated “purloin”, that means to steal. Friend if you say you tithe and
really don’t, you are stealing not from the church, but from God. The Bible
teaches us that the love of money is the root of all evil. Please see I Tim
6:10. I’ve heard of many people who report to the IRS that they have
contributed thousands of dollars, but in actuality they did not give all they
reported. What about the caller to the radio station in need of donations, who
announced publicly of their charitable gift to the station, and it sounded so
good to the hearers, but the caller never followed through and sent the money.
The hearer thought “Oh, how spiritual” when in actuality is
was a lie. Friend, God knows the thoughts and intents of your heart and mine. It may look like
we have gotten away with something, but God knows and it will be judged.
3
But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine
heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the
land? 4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold,
was it not in thine own power? why
hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. 5 And Ananias
hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on
all them that heard these things. 6 And the young men
arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him.
C. The
In verses 3
through 6 we see that Peter spoke to Ananias about
his donation. Maybe Ananias thought Peter would
praise him for his contribution, but instead Ananias
was rebuked not for lying to men but for lying to the Holy Ghost. Obviously the
Holy Ghost had revealed this thing to Peter.
What a thing to do, the money was Ananias’, free and clear, to use as he wanted but because
he wanted the praise of men, he lied about what he gave and now he is
confronted by the man of God and Ananias would fall
over dead because of sin. I wonder if not even Peter was shocked by the fact
that Ananias just fell over dead.
I read of a restaurant in
7
And it was about
the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came
in. 8 And Peter answered unto her, Tell me
whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea,
for so much. 9 Then Peter said unto her, How is it
that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord ? behold, the
feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry
thee out. 10 Then fell she down straightway at his
feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead,
and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.
In verses 7
through 10 we read of Ananias’ wife, Sapphira. She knew of the plan and but not of her husbands
death. Peter questions her and she sticks to the conspiracy and lies to the
Holy Ghost as well. What a cover up! Please read Prov
28:13. Friend, if you try to cover up your sin, you will never prosper. You can
be sure that your sin will find you out.
All of this reminds me of the Old
Testament story of Achan found in Joshua chapters 6
and 7. Achan tried to hide his sin but was found out
and under the law he was punished by death at the hands of his fellow man. But
here in the New Testament book of Acts, the church is under grace and Ananias and Sapphira are put to
death at the hands of God.
Is it not
amazing today that as we sing, “I surrender all”, that we do not fall over
dead, if we are not under complete surrender to Him.
Thank God for His longsuffering and His great grace.
11
And great fear came
upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.
D. Great
Glory
Friends, because
of the two untimely deaths of Ananias and Sapphira, great fear came upon all of the church. In fact,
it still makes me fear and think of Prov 15:8.
12 And by the hands of the apostles were
many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one
accord in Solomon's porch. 13 And of the rest
durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them. 14 And believers were the more added to
the Lord , multitudes both of men and
women.)
E. Godly
Growth
Ananias and Sapphira were disciplined at
the hand of God Himself. Great fear has come upon the people. Usually when
there is discipline and fear, things slow down to a snails pace. But here, the
discipline of God only increases growth in the church.
Also it must be noted that with the
sin of Ananias and Sapphira,
we see the church having opposition from within. Usually opposition will slow
things down, yet here the opposition only causes the church to get focused and
it continued to grow.
Amazing,
is it not? God’s economy is not the worlds’ economy. Amen! Our ways are not
God’s ways! Amen! (Is 55:8,9)
15 Insomuch that they brought forth the sick
into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the
shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. 16 There came also a multitude out of the
cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were
vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.
F. Grace
Given
Now realize that
the apostles had great power, the power that God had given them. Note, that
people brought the sick, just to get under the shadow of the man of God, apostle Peter. The shadow was a contact point, but faith
brought the healing. I believe the book of James teaches us to anoint with oil
(James 5:13-16). It is not the oil that heals and it is not the preacher that
heals but the oil is simply a contact point. Faith in God is what produces the
healing.
Friend we have a shadow we can abide
under. It is found in Ps 91:1-4. “He that dwelleth
in the secret place of the most High shall abide under
the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the LORD , He is my refuge and my fortress: my
God; in him will I trust. 3 Surely he shall
deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome
pestilence. 4 He shall cover thee with his feathers,
and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall
be thy shield and buckler.” Friend maybe you should take a few minutes and read
that entire chapter in Psalms 91, it surely will bless you to get under the
shadow of the Almighty.”
The
Second Persecution of the Early Church Acts 5:17-42
17
Then the high priest
rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,)
and were filled with indignation, 18 And
laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison.
A. God’s
Appointments
1.
Arrested & Imprisoned
The apostles are
again arrested for preaching and doing good works. Notice again that the high
priest and the Sadducees are involved in this attack on the gospel of our Lord
and Savior. The apostles are taken
and placed behind locked prison doors.
19 But the angel of
the Lord
by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, 20 Go,
stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.
2. Angelic
Intervention
The angel of the
Lord was sent by night, when things looked the darkest for the apostles and set
them free. The angel gave a command from God to the apostles about what to do
next “Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this
life”. God has given the message that He wants declared.
I certainly could not say enough
about the apostles being set free to declare all the words of this life. This
life is eternal life and it is given to us at salvation by the Lord Jesus
Christ, through the shed blood upon
21
And when they heard
that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. But the
high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together,
and all the senate of the children of
3.
Appointments Indeed
Notice that the scripture says that
the apostles are in the
While the apostles are preaching,
back in the courtroom, an order is declared to bring forth the prisoners. As
the officers are sent they come upon the cell where the apostles were to have
been and found the doors locked and safe, BUT no apostles were found.
Excitement fills the council, when suddenly someone bursts into the meeting and
shouts that the prisoners are in the
The officers go to the
Friend, the blood of Jesus was shed
at their hands, and they hate Him even more now than they did to begin with.
29
Then Peter and the
other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised up
Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.
31 Him
hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour,
for to give repentance to
B.
Gospel’s Authority
1. Answer
In verse 29, we
find that great answer “we ought to obey God rather than men”. Which I am sure
the high priest and Sadducees knew was Old Testament doctrine that had just
been quoted to them. We must note that the apostles, by this statement, are not
preaching civil disobedience, as Peter made clear in I Pet 2:13-17. We are to
obey civil government, but when it goes contrary to the Word of God, we must
obey God and suffer the consequences. Think about Daniel, after the law was
signed that no one could pray in the name of God, Daniel threw open the window
and prayed anyway. His penalty was being thrown into the lions den. But God
overcame the consequences and Daniel was not harmed. Daniel is one example
where a man obeyed God rather than man.
2. Arisen
In verse 30 and
31, the apostles are preaching Jesus crucified. The council knew that the
scriptures taught, “cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree”. Jesus was made a curse for us that we
might be saved. But thanks be to God, that after Jesus
died and was buried, on the third day, God raised Jesus up from the grave and
the Son of God is the Prince of God forevermore. Amen!
3.
Ascended
In verse 31 and
32, the apostles not only share that Jesus is a Prince, in that He is the only
Son of God, but that He is the Savior. Certainly, because Jesus defeated death,
as He took our penalty of death and yet He arose from the dead, He is our
Savior. Right now Jesus is seated on the right hand of God the Father and
awaits His Fathers command to go and receive the bride (the Church).
33
When they heard
that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them. 34
Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all
the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space; 35 And
said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do
as touching these men. 36 For before these
days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be
somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who
was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought. 37 After this man
rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people
after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were
dispersed.
C. Gamileel’s Advice
1.
Argument
Gamaleel was a respected Pharisee, a doctor of the law and was
Paul’s teacher and mentor (Acts 22:3). The council is very upset, but Gamaleel moves in as a lawyer and he begins to present an
argument to the council. The precedents for the case being: #1) Thaddeus, he
boasted about being a savior and 400 followed him until he died and then his
followers fell by the wayside. #2) Judas, he drew many away by proclaiming
himself to be a savior yet when he died his followers also fell out. #3) Many so called “messiahs” have arisen, but have died out and
their followers were soon disbanded and amounted to nothing. Basically, Gamaleel is saying that maybe this movement is just a fad.
Kind of like all those who used to “hula-hoop” or use the “rubik’s
cube”. You can’t find a lot of those folks doing those things anymore.
38 And now I say
unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or
this work be of men, it will come to nought: 39 But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it;
lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.
2. Advisement
Gamaleel advises those in the council, that if this movement is of
the flesh or man, it will run it’s course and amount
to nothing as did all of the precedents. However, if this is of God, you can’t
overthrow it. Let’s wait and see what happens, is Gamaleel’s
advice,
You and are to walk by faith, Gamaleel walks by sight. Friend, step out and trust Jesus. He will never fail you. Don’t
wait and see, just trust Him now.
40
And to him they
agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded
that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 And they departed from the presence of
the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his
name. 42 And daily in the temple, and in every
house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.
3.
Agreement
The council
agrees with Gamaleel, but yet again, beat the
apostles and forbade them to speak in the name of Jesus. The apostles were then
released. But notice, the apostles are not complaining or murmuring about their
treatment, yet they were bold and faithful and continued to go out and share
Jesus with anyone who would listen and to those who would not.
Friend, you and I are not of this
world. Our home is yet on high. While we are here, let’s spend time sharing
Jesus with others. Let’s rejoice in our trials and sufferings and not quit
preaching and teaching in the name of Jesus