November 20, 2012
The sin and death of Ananias and Sapphira. Barnabas sold a piece of land and gave all the money to the church. Ananias and Sapphira sold a piece of land as well. They wanted to "appear" committed to the cause and "religious" as well. So, they decided to say they were giving all the money to the church, but in actuality they kept some and gave some. Their sin was not in keeping some of the money—they could have kept all the money. There wasn't a rule where they were supposed to give all the money. It was their field. They had every right not to sell it. When they chose to sell their land they could have decided to keep all the money, give all the money, or give part of the money. Their sin was in planning, orchestrating, and living the lie of deceit. They wanted to "appear" religious. They wanted the glory of people looking up to them for being so generous. So, Ananias and Sapphira schemed and strategized together on how to pull off their plan. They misrepresented truth, and their deceit resulted in their deaths.
You can hide the truth from man but you cannot fool God. The Holy Spirit revealed to Peter their hidden actions and Peter confronted them. Acts 5:4 - "What made you think of doing such a thing?" NIV); "Why did you think of doing this?" (NCV); "How is it that ye have agreed together...?" (KJV) What? Why? How? I remember asking those exact same questions when we found out about the actions of my sister and brother-in-law. Peter is saying—Don't you get it!?! "You lied to God, not to us!" Peter wasn't responsible for righting the wrong. God was, and their sin caused their death. Sin does that. The wages (result) of deceit/sin is death. In this case it was death of their physical bodies. It can also mean the death of relationships, everything you dreamed or worked for, your core governance, your relationship with God, your witness, etc.
Sin is deadly, and it will be dealt with. Sin is not just dealt with as a punishment to the sinner. It is also dealt with so the power of the Holy Spirit can be unleashed and the witness of His followers increased. After—AFTER the sin was dealt with, the ministries of the followers (church) of Christ exploded. ALL to bring honor and glory to His name. They gained respect; people were healed; and "more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to the group of believers." (Acts 5:14) A seed has to die before a plant can be born. Sin within ourselves must die before we can be fully used by God. And there are times that sin in a group must be revealed and removed before God's purpose can be fully realized. It would be easy to get hung up on what happened to Ananias and Sapphira and focus on the fact they lost their lives, BUT what happened was God SAVED THE CHURCH!! And for that you can't be sorry.
All that happened still wasn't enough to make all believe. The Sadducees and high priest became very jealous. They took the apostles and put them in jail. Acts 5:19 - "But during the night, an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and led the apostles outside." The physical walls or bars of a jail (or a lawsuit) could not (or cannot) prevent God's plan. The apostles were led out! They didn't fight their way out. No one even knew they were freed. It appeared they were still in bondage, but they were not! It appears we are still held in bondage by a lawsuit, but we are not!
Not only did the angel lead them out, he also gave them clear instructions. "Go stand in the Temple and tell the people everything about this new life." Go—TELL! That is our instructions as well. When the apostles heard what they were supposed to do they obeyed and went into the Temple and continued teaching. We know we are supposed to tell HIS story whenever we have the opportunity. When we get further instructions, we WILL obey and DO!
The Sadducees "think" they have the apostles right where they want them—in jail. They call a meeting and they sent some men to go and get the apostles from jail so they could question them and give them orders to stop teaching about Jesus. As the men arrive at the jail everything appears as they think it should. The jail was closed and locked. The guards were in position. But the apostles were not there. Man, with his evil intents, CANNOT circumvent God's plan. CANNOT! The apostles weren't in the jail. They were teaching the people in the temple about who Jesus was/is!!!
The Sadducees had the apostles brought to them. "We gave you strict orders" to stop this. (This sounds so familiar! My sister and brother-in-law's angry words; their accusations; and then later blaming us by saying, when are you going to stop this, for the sake of elderly parents, children, grand-children and generations to come. What?) The Sadducees were feeling guilty. They didn't want to accept responsibility or guilt for themselves so they projected it upon the apostles, and accused the apostles of trying to make them responsible for abandoning and ultimately killing Jesus by nailing Him to the cross. Hebrews 6 says our unbelieving actions causes Jesus to be nailed to the cross—again.
I love Peter's response. Acts 5:29 - "We must obey God rather than men!" We must! Jail? Threats? Orders? Lawsuits? None of that matters. WE MUST and WE WILL obey God and not be fearful of man. Peter boldly preaches God's message, telling them it is through Christ that you can be saved; change your hearts and lives; and receive forgiveness. Peter, the man who had denied knowing Jesus three times, was now Peter, a man filled by the Holy Spirit, and no one was going to shut him up. He was going to speak boldly—No Matter What! He was a witness to all Jesus had done Acts 5:32 - "We saw all these things happen." When you see the hand of God at work in your life it changes you and you cannot keep it quiet!
When the Sadducees failed at destroying Peter and his ministry, "they were furious and wanted to put them to death." A lawsuit doesn't try to kill someone physically, but the lawsuit my sister and brother-in-law filed against us is fueled by fury. It tries to destroy everything we materially own, which in their minds would therefore destroy us personally. They don't understand—our self value does not come from anything we own. They cannot remove from us the only thing that matters, and that is our relationship with Christ! A respected Pharisee stood up and cautioned the Sadducees about the ramifications of what they were wanting to do to Peter and the other apostles. He said: "Stay away from these men and leave them alone! Let them go. For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourself fighting against God himself." (Acts 5:38-39 NCV and NIV)
"But!! If it is from God, you will not be able to stop them; you will be fighting against God himself."
The Sadducees agreed with the respected Pharisee but they still had to try and remain (or at least appear to remain) in control. So they called the apostles in, beat them, ordered them again not to be speaking about Jesus, and then they let them go free. And the apostles response? Acts 5:41–42 - "(They) left the meeting full of joy because they were given the honor of suffering disgrace for Jesus. Every day in the Temple and in peoples homes they continued teaching the people and telling the Good News—that Jesus is the Christ." They were beaten and given orders to shut up, but in the ugliness of their situation they understood they were part of a "blessed event" and they were full of joy. Day after day, and from house to house, "they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the Good News that Jesus is the Christ." Makes you want to stand up and yell "Hallelujah" while waving a white hankie! 😊 Blessed be the name of the LORD!
Nothing—can stop accountability
Nothing—can thwart God's plan
Nothing—can keep His message from being told
"No power of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from His hand."~ From In Christ Alone by Natalie Grant (Romans 8:38–39)
Father, I thank you for allowing us to be the recipients of this ugly thing called a lawsuit which is actually a beautiful Blessed Event. May we always boldly proclaim that you are indeed the Christ.
Next Entry: Acts 6:1–15
The sin and death of Ananias and Sapphira. Barnabas sold a piece of land and gave all the money to the church. Ananias and Sapphira sold a piece of land as well. They wanted to "appear" committed to the cause and "religious" as well. So, they decided to say they were giving all the money to the church, but in actuality they kept some and gave some. Their sin was not in keeping some of the money—they could have kept all the money. There wasn't a rule where they were supposed to give all the money. It was their field. They had every right not to sell it. When they chose to sell their land they could have decided to keep all the money, give all the money, or give part of the money. Their sin was in planning, orchestrating, and living the lie of deceit. They wanted to "appear" religious. They wanted the glory of people looking up to them for being so generous. So, Ananias and Sapphira schemed and strategized together on how to pull off their plan. They misrepresented truth, and their deceit resulted in their deaths.
You can hide the truth from man but you cannot fool God. The Holy Spirit revealed to Peter their hidden actions and Peter confronted them. Acts 5:4 - "What made you think of doing such a thing?" NIV); "Why did you think of doing this?" (NCV); "How is it that ye have agreed together...?" (KJV) What? Why? How? I remember asking those exact same questions when we found out about the actions of my sister and brother-in-law. Peter is saying—Don't you get it!?! "You lied to God, not to us!" Peter wasn't responsible for righting the wrong. God was, and their sin caused their death. Sin does that. The wages (result) of deceit/sin is death. In this case it was death of their physical bodies. It can also mean the death of relationships, everything you dreamed or worked for, your core governance, your relationship with God, your witness, etc.
Sin is deadly, and it will be dealt with. Sin is not just dealt with as a punishment to the sinner. It is also dealt with so the power of the Holy Spirit can be unleashed and the witness of His followers increased. After—AFTER the sin was dealt with, the ministries of the followers (church) of Christ exploded. ALL to bring honor and glory to His name. They gained respect; people were healed; and "more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to the group of believers." (Acts 5:14) A seed has to die before a plant can be born. Sin within ourselves must die before we can be fully used by God. And there are times that sin in a group must be revealed and removed before God's purpose can be fully realized. It would be easy to get hung up on what happened to Ananias and Sapphira and focus on the fact they lost their lives, BUT what happened was God SAVED THE CHURCH!! And for that you can't be sorry.
All that happened still wasn't enough to make all believe. The Sadducees and high priest became very jealous. They took the apostles and put them in jail. Acts 5:19 - "But during the night, an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and led the apostles outside." The physical walls or bars of a jail (or a lawsuit) could not (or cannot) prevent God's plan. The apostles were led out! They didn't fight their way out. No one even knew they were freed. It appeared they were still in bondage, but they were not! It appears we are still held in bondage by a lawsuit, but we are not!
Not only did the angel lead them out, he also gave them clear instructions. "Go stand in the Temple and tell the people everything about this new life." Go—TELL! That is our instructions as well. When the apostles heard what they were supposed to do they obeyed and went into the Temple and continued teaching. We know we are supposed to tell HIS story whenever we have the opportunity. When we get further instructions, we WILL obey and DO!
The Sadducees "think" they have the apostles right where they want them—in jail. They call a meeting and they sent some men to go and get the apostles from jail so they could question them and give them orders to stop teaching about Jesus. As the men arrive at the jail everything appears as they think it should. The jail was closed and locked. The guards were in position. But the apostles were not there. Man, with his evil intents, CANNOT circumvent God's plan. CANNOT! The apostles weren't in the jail. They were teaching the people in the temple about who Jesus was/is!!!
The Sadducees had the apostles brought to them. "We gave you strict orders" to stop this. (This sounds so familiar! My sister and brother-in-law's angry words; their accusations; and then later blaming us by saying, when are you going to stop this, for the sake of elderly parents, children, grand-children and generations to come. What?) The Sadducees were feeling guilty. They didn't want to accept responsibility or guilt for themselves so they projected it upon the apostles, and accused the apostles of trying to make them responsible for abandoning and ultimately killing Jesus by nailing Him to the cross. Hebrews 6 says our unbelieving actions causes Jesus to be nailed to the cross—again.
I love Peter's response. Acts 5:29 - "We must obey God rather than men!" We must! Jail? Threats? Orders? Lawsuits? None of that matters. WE MUST and WE WILL obey God and not be fearful of man. Peter boldly preaches God's message, telling them it is through Christ that you can be saved; change your hearts and lives; and receive forgiveness. Peter, the man who had denied knowing Jesus three times, was now Peter, a man filled by the Holy Spirit, and no one was going to shut him up. He was going to speak boldly—No Matter What! He was a witness to all Jesus had done Acts 5:32 - "We saw all these things happen." When you see the hand of God at work in your life it changes you and you cannot keep it quiet!
When the Sadducees failed at destroying Peter and his ministry, "they were furious and wanted to put them to death." A lawsuit doesn't try to kill someone physically, but the lawsuit my sister and brother-in-law filed against us is fueled by fury. It tries to destroy everything we materially own, which in their minds would therefore destroy us personally. They don't understand—our self value does not come from anything we own. They cannot remove from us the only thing that matters, and that is our relationship with Christ! A respected Pharisee stood up and cautioned the Sadducees about the ramifications of what they were wanting to do to Peter and the other apostles. He said: "Stay away from these men and leave them alone! Let them go. For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourself fighting against God himself." (Acts 5:38-39 NCV and NIV)
"But!! If it is from God, you will not be able to stop them; you will be fighting against God himself."
The Sadducees agreed with the respected Pharisee but they still had to try and remain (or at least appear to remain) in control. So they called the apostles in, beat them, ordered them again not to be speaking about Jesus, and then they let them go free. And the apostles response? Acts 5:41–42 - "(They) left the meeting full of joy because they were given the honor of suffering disgrace for Jesus. Every day in the Temple and in peoples homes they continued teaching the people and telling the Good News—that Jesus is the Christ." They were beaten and given orders to shut up, but in the ugliness of their situation they understood they were part of a "blessed event" and they were full of joy. Day after day, and from house to house, "they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the Good News that Jesus is the Christ." Makes you want to stand up and yell "Hallelujah" while waving a white hankie! 😊 Blessed be the name of the LORD!
Nothing—can stop accountability
Nothing—can thwart God's plan
Nothing—can keep His message from being told
"No power of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from His hand."~ From In Christ Alone by Natalie Grant (Romans 8:38–39)
Father, I thank you for allowing us to be the recipients of this ugly thing called a lawsuit which is actually a beautiful Blessed Event. May we always boldly proclaim that you are indeed the Christ.
Next Entry: Acts 6:1–15
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