You may recall that last week we learned about a man who showed tremendous generosity by selling some property he owned and donating the proceeds of that property to the church. That man’s name was Barnabas.
Well, today, were going to learn about a man (and his wife) who sold some property and donated part of the proceeds to the church, and they ended up dropping dead. Well, what happened? What’s the difference between Barnabas and the other two?
That’s what we’re going to learn in today’s passage in a sermon entitled “Shock and Awe in the Early Church.”
Before we go any further, let’s pray together and ask God to speak to us.
(prayer)
Today’s passage is taken from Acts 5:1-16. Let’s look at the passage together and then learn what God has to say to us.
1 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property. 2 However, he kept back part of the proceeds with his wife’s knowledge, and brought a portion of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
3 “Ananias,” Peter asked, “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the proceeds of the land? 4 Wasn’t it yours while you possessed it? And after it was sold, wasn’t it at your disposal? Why is it that you planned this thing in your heart? You have not lied to people but to God.” 5 When he heard these words, Ananias dropped dead, and a great fear came on all who heard. 6 The young men got up, wrapped his body, carried him out, and buried him.
7 About three hours later, his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 “Tell me,” Peter asked her, “did you sell the land for this price?”
“Yes,” she said, “for that price.”
9 Then Peter said to her, “Why did you agree 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.”
10 Instantly she dropped dead at his feet. When the young men came in, they found her dead, carried her out, and buried her beside her husband. 11 Then great fear came on the whole church and on all who heard these things.
12 Many signs and wonders were being done among the people through the hands of the apostles. They were all together in Solomon’s Colonnade. 13 No one else dared to join them, but the people spoke well of them. 14 Believers were added to the Lord in increasing numbers—multitudes of both men and women. 15 As a result, they would carry the sick out into the streets and lay them on cots and mats so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16 In addition, a multitude came together from the towns surrounding Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.
Well, obviously this is a fascinating story from the Bible; a true story, by the way.
In the weeks, months, and years that the church first began, we see a lot of shocking and awesome events take place, and we are learning about one of those today.
So, what’s going on? Well, I want to walk through this story by pointing out two foundational truths about the relationship between God and His church.
First, . . .
I. God expects purity in His church.
Plain and simple, the Lord doesn’t mess around when it comes to how much He loves His church.
The church is called the Bride of Christ, the Body of Christ, the Temple of God, and so much more.
Ephesians 5:25 says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her.” Jesus gave Himself for the church. Jesus loves the church.
The church is utterly important to God, and He wants the church to be pure. He doesn’t want the church to be tainted by sin, deceived by false teachers, lied to by liars, or taken advantage of by scoundrels.
So, we see in this passage that when someone seeks to deceive the church, God takes action.
What happened to Ananias when he tried to deceive the church and its leaders? Verse 5 says, “When he heard these words, Ananias dropped dead.”
What happened to his wife, Sapphira, when she also lied to the church and its leaders? Verse 10 says, “Instantly she dropped dead at his feet.”
What resulted in these two lying to the church was that they dropped dead. Do you think God wants purity in His church? You better believe it!
Now, I’ve said a few times that they were lying to the church, but that’s not fully accurate.
You see, Peter points out, they were lying not only to the church, but also to God.
Peter says in verse 3, “ . . . why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit . . . ” You see, rather than being filled with the Holy Spirit, Ananias was filled with the lies of Satan.
Again, in verse 4, Peter asks, “Why is it that you planned this thing in your heart? You have not lied to people but to God.”
By the way, this is one of many evidences that the Holy Spirit is God; Peter calls Him the Holy Spirit in verse 3, then He calls Him God in verse 4; he’s talking about the same one in verse 3 as he is in verse 4.
So, we see that lying to the church is the same as lying to God.
God expects purity in His church.
This desire that God expects purity in the church has great implications for us, doesn’t it? This evidence that lying to the church is the same as lying to God has great implications for us, doesn’t it?
When we sin against the church, we sin against God. The church is God’s, and He loves His church.
When we gossip about the church or its leaders, we are gossiping about what is God’s. When we dishonor the leaders of the church, we are dishonoring God. As pastors and leaders, when we are irresponsible in how we lead the church, we are irresponsible towards God. When we neglect the church, we are neglecting God. When we are not generous towards the church, we are not generous towards God. When we decide not to use our gifts and talents for the church, we are deciding not to use our gifts and talents for God. When we sin against the church, we sin against God.
God desires His church to be free from sin, and to be pure.
Now, some of us may look at this passage, and think, “What’s the big deal? After all, it appears that Ananias and Sapphira did give a lot of money to the church, even if they didn’t give all of it.”
Well, that’s a good thought. However, we can clearly gather from the context and the surrounding verses that it seems that Ananias and Sapphira were giving the impression that they were giving all of the proceeds of the property to the church.
You see, the issue wasn’t the money; the issue was their sinful, deceitful hearts.
Listen, church: God doesn’t need your money, but He wants your heart!
Jesus said in Matthew 6:21, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
When our hearts are filled with evil, and we begin to bring impurity into the church, you better believe that God is not pleased.
Now, you may also have another thought; you may think, “Well, why aren’t people dying today from bringing impurity into the church?”
Let me ask you a question: How do you know that’s not happening?
Now, I want to be clear: I’m not saying that everyone who dies, dies for such reasons. Some of the godliest people I know, who loved the church deeply have died. However, maybe some have died for sinning against God and His church.
Obviously, not everyone just falls over dead on the spot when they bring sin into the church, but maybe it happens at times. What’s more, maybe the Lord caused it to happen in the manner it did in Acts because He was doing something specific among those people at that time.
We don’t know all that there is to know about the will of God, the ways of God, and the timing of God. However, we do know this: God is serious about His church, and God expects purity in His church.
Second, we learn that . . .
II. God exudes power through His church.
By the way, to exude means to display strongly and openly.
Notice how the church responded to all that happened in this passage. In fact, verse 11 is probably an understatement. It says, “Then great fear came on the whole church and on all who heard these things.”
I can imagine there were things said, such as, “Did you hear about that?” and “Are you serious?”
I also imagine that the offering increased in the church after that week.
You see, what happened that day left no doubt that there really is a God, He really is serious about His church, and He really is powerful!
By the way, the fear that came upon the people in the early church was surely a healthy fear.
You see, the fear of God is not a fear that is based on a feeling that God is something like a monster. Rather, the fear of God is based on an awareness of the greatness, holiness, and power of God.
The fear of God is a good thing. The Bible says in Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
So, as shocking as this moment was, it was a moment for the church to realize and recognize the awesomeness of God.
We also see that the people outside of the church reacted to this event.
Verse 13 says, “No one else dared to join them, but the people spoke well of them.”
There was probably a sense, for those who were not part of the church, that they wanted to keep their distance. After all, they didn’t want to fall over dead themselves.
However, the outsiders could not help but recognize that God was at work in the church, and Luke says that even the outsiders spoke well of those who were part of the church.
So, we see power in the fact that God made Himself known through what happened with Ananias and Sapphira.
Additionally, we see God exuding power through continued signs and wonders happening through the church.
Verse 12 says, “Many signs and wonders were being done among the people through the hands of the apostles. They were all together in Solomon’s Colonnade.”
Now, remember, Solomon’s Colonnade, Solomon’s Portico, or Solomon’s Porch probably looked something like this artistic rendering. It was a common meeting place in the temple complex.
So, the church gathered there, under the leadership of the apostles, and God did powerful things through them.
What was the result of the power that God exuded through the church?
Well, even though we see in verse 13 that people were afraid to join them, we see in verse 14 that “Believers were added to the Lord in increasing numbers—multitudes of both men and women.”
Verse 15 tells us that there was so much recognition of the power of God among the early church that people would even seek to be exposed to Peter’s shadow so they could access some of that power!
By the way, there’s no evidence that Peter’s shadow actually brought healing. Rather, Luke (the author of Acts) points out the level of recognition people had for the power of God through the church. People were doing whatever they could to get close to that power.
We see further in verse 16 that other multitudes would come from all around to experience the power of God that was exuded through the early church.
Church, I believe that if we truly get in touch with the Holy Spirit of God, He will do something through us that people will want to experience.
If we love powerfully, if we give powerfully, if we pray powerfully, if we forgive powerfully, if we serve others powerfully, if we stand for truth powerfully, if we are united together powerfully, if we are humble powerfully, the people around here will say, “Something is happening over there at First Baptist Church Bartow, and I need to see what’s going on.”
When God displays power through His church, people can’t help but want to see what’s happening!
God exuded power through His church then, and He can do so through His church now.
Let this bottom line summarize what we’re learning today:
Bottom Line: God has something special for His church.
Do you believe that? I hope you do.
Listen, if this passage should teach us anything, it should teach us not to mess around with the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
God has something special for His church. Let’s not get in the way; let’s get on board.
Challenge yourself this week in the following ways:
Weekly Challenge #1 – Ask God to give you a heart for the church like His heart for the church.
God loves the church; it is special to Him. Do you love the church? Is the church special to you? Challenge yourself this week to ask God to give you a heart for the church.
Weekly Challenge #2 – Ask yourself how you can be a witness to the power of God.
The church we’re learning about today displayed the power of God. What about us? Ask yourself this week how you can be a witness to the power of God.
Don’t be content to just be a church person; be a witness to the power of God!
(Gospel presentation)
(closing prayer)
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