The sermon 'The Face of Hypocrisy in the Church' by Jason Dohm focuses on Acts 5 and the story of Ananias and Sapphira as a stark contrast to the early New Testament Church's unity and sincerity. Dohm highlights six major lessons from the passage: the distinction between sincerity and hypocrisy, the nature of temptation and sin, the issue of idolatry, the principles of giving, the fear of the Lord, and the role of signs and wonders. The New Testament Church was characterized by selflessness and unity, but Ananias and Sapphira's deceitful actions, driven by selfishness and hypocrisy, resulted in severe judgment from God. Their story serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of hypocrisy and the seriousness with which God views sin. Dohm underscores the importance of fearing the Lord, understanding the true nature of sin, and maintaining sincerity in worship and giving.

So we'll start in Acts 2 in verse 42 and 47. Our passage this morning is actually Acts 5, but I wanted to set the table with a couple of spots in Acts leading into chapter 5, because the author, Luke, definitely in chapter 5, definitely, unquestionably, expects to paint a stark contrast. And it's the contrast between what has characterized the New Testament Church, the gladness and sincerity of heart, the unity, the selflessness with the account of Ananias and Sapphira. So I just want to start in Acts 2.42, reading through the end of the chapter. They were continually devoting themselves to the Apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe, and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common. And they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, They were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Now turn to Acts 4, starting in verse 32. These are the last few verses leading into today that Scott preached on last week. And you'll notice that the words are really similar to what we just read in Acts 2. It's almost a carbon copy, starting in verse 32, chapter 4. And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul, And not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them.

And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. For there was not a needy person among them. For all who were owners of land or houses would sell them, and would bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles' feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need. Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles, which translated means son of encouragement, and who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles feet. But a man named Ananias with his wife Sapphira sold a piece of property and kept back some of the price for himself with his wife's full knowledge.

And bringing a portion of it, he 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 some of the price of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart?

You have not lied to men, but to God. And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last, and great fear came over all who heard of it. The young men got up and covered him, And after carrying him out, they buried him. Now there elapsed an interval of about three hours, and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter responded to her, Tell me whether you sold the land for such and such a price.

And she said, Yes, that was the price. Then Peter said to her, Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well." And immediately she fell at his feet and breathed her last, and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. And great fear came over the whole church and over all those who heard these things. At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people, and they were all with one accord in Solomon's portico.

But none of the rest dared to associate with them. However, the people held them in high esteem. And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women were constantly added to their number, to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on any one of them. Also, the people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed. So you see the contrast.

This New Testament church has been birthed by the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit has been poured out on them in overwhelming measure. The pleasure of the Lord is on these people. The favor of the Lord is with them. They have one mind. They're unified.

They're selfless. And then chapter 5 starts and we run into Ananias and Sapphire and it's just like a buzz saw hitting the New Testament church. They come with an act that was meant to look the same, but it wasn't the same. The mechanics are exactly the same, right? You have a piece of property, you sell a piece of property, you bring it to the apostles' feet.

But Joseph the Cyprian at the end of chapter 4 gets a cool nickname, the Son of Encouragement, and Ananias and Sapphira get killed. These are really different. They were meant to look the same and all the mechanics were the same, but they were radically different. So what do we learn in this passage? There are six things that I want to highlight that I saw in my study of this passage.

In this passage we learn about sincerity and hypocrisy. Being together with gladness and sincerity of heart and having hypocrisy creep into the church. We learn about the nature of temptation and sin, what it was that entered the heart of this man Ananias and his wife Sapphira. We learn about idolatry. We learn about raising something up above the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

We learn about giving. We learn a lot about giving in this passage. We learn about the fear of the Lord and holiness. The result, and if there's one thing that would come out of this morning, I would pray, the result for the New Testament church was that they feared the Lord like never before and it caused them to walk circumspectly. I would pray that we would gain this from this passage as well.

And then finally we see the role of signs and wonders. The New Testament church was rich in signs and wonders, but it wasn't for their own sake. They had a purpose, and this text helps us to understand this purpose. So let's start at the beginning. Sincerity and hypocrisy.

The but in verse 1, the very first word of our passage, but signals that we have a major departure from the character of the New Testament Church to this point. These believers, they were united in heart, they were unified. There was gladness, there was sincerity of heart, there was self-sacrificing, and there was sharing. And Barnabas, the son of encouragement, was the poster child for this. But now in chapter 5 we get a completely different poster child.

The Lord Jesus Christ was giving the spirit an overflowing measure to the New Testament church and he was pleased with the conduct and with the testimony of his people. But then along come Ananias and Sapphira to teach us something about hypocrisy, which is the polar opposite to the gladness and sincerity of the heart that's been the hallmark of this group of believers. This is, when we consider the act of Ananias and Sapphira, it obviously goes beyond just being a sin where you react wrongly under pressure and you transgress the ways of God. This isn't that kind of sin. This is premeditation.

But this even goes way beyond premeditation. This is a premeditated collaboration. In other words, it's not even just the sin in my heart. It's that I would have this in my heart. I would let it manifest itself outwardly, and then I would join you in it.

Come along with me. Collaborate with me in this sin. Verse 2 says, Ananias kept back some of the price for himself, and himself here is the operative word. This is an extremely selfish act by Ananias. And furthermore, verse 2 says, he did it with his wife's full knowledge.

This was collusion. Ananias was in cahoots with his wife, Sapphira. They were conspiring together to do this sin against the Lord. This is what the Nelson Study Bible says, Ananias and Sapphira wanted to have a reputation like that of Barnabas, but they did not have the same character that he had. At a time when others were seeking to serve their fellow believers, Ananias and Sapphira were seeking to serve themselves.

Think about what marriage is supposed to be. Think about all you know about what God has designed marriage for. God has designed marriage so that there would be godly offspring. Malachi says that. Why the two?

One, The Lord desires godly offspring. Marriage is designed to display the glory of Christ to a watching world. He would join a man and a woman together to show the world the greatness of His plan in history that one day He has taken for Himself a bride, His people. And one day at the consummation of history there will be a great wedding feast. This is the purpose of marriage.

God created a woman so that she would be a helper, fit for a husband, a companion, suitable for him, so that God can join them together in a great mission to spread His glory across the earth. And in Acts chapter 5, this first section we see the total perversion of that where this thing that God created to be good is perverted. Marriage when it's good, it's good, but when it's bad, it's even worse. John Gill says this, For husband and wife to agree together in what is good, in things civil, honest, and lawful, and in religious matters, is very commendable. But to agree in a fraud, in a lie, is very dreadful.

So, how does God view the sin of Ananias and Sapphira? Well, for a second I just want us to look through the lens of Proverbs. Proverbs gives us a list of things that you're all very familiar with. It's a list of seven things that God hates and are an abomination to Him. Listen, Proverbs 6, 16 through 19.

There are six things which the Lord hates, yes seven which are an abomination to Him. Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers." So how did they do? How did they hit on in this list? Well, there are seven things on the list, and the list is things that God hates that are an abomination to Him. And absolutely unquestionably, undebatably, they are right solidly in the middle of three of them.

And you could probably make a case for a couple others as well. Such was the sin of Ananias and Sapphira. Why? Why is this so detestable to God? You know, when I think of it, I normally think the big ticket sins are murder and adultery and what are some of the other big ticket sins?

Those are it, right? It's things where somebody dies or idolatry, yes, bowing down to a physical piece of something. Which is why when you poll people, I'm going to say the wrong numbers, but when you poll people 75 percent of people think Billy Graham's going to heaven and 90 percent think they're going to heaven. Because we we only want to focus on the big ticket sins, but when God describes the things that He hates, none of my big ticket items are on there. So it is important to look through the lens of scripture when we think about sin, to reset our thinking about how God views sin and think his thoughts after him.

God hates hypocrisy. He hates it. God hates it when we abandon sincerity of heart and become hypocrites possessing a lying tongue as Proverbs says, with a heart that devises wicked plans as Proverbs says. And here's what makes this particular instance of hypocrisy so insidious. Jesus tells a parable where the servants are waiting for their master to return.

And this is the end of the parable. It's in Luke 12.48. I'll just read it to you. This is just the end of the parable. From everyone who has been given much, much what?

Much will be required. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required. And to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more." We cannot blame our sin on our circumstances, but having said that, having said there's no circumstantial excuse for sin, we'd all acknowledge that there are some environments where it's easier to be obedient than others. The beach in the middle of summer is a harder place to be obedient than it is here at the Brown Barn on Sunday morning by a long stretch. The New Testament church on a relative scale was a place replete with good example, with the Holy Spirit moving in the hearts of people, with signs and wonders confirming the messengers and confirming the message.

And out of this we get Ananias and Sapphira in their hypocrisy. They were entrusted with much and much was required of them. So Ananias teaches us a lot about hypocrisy. Number two, the nature of temptation and sin. Do we learn anything about that in this passage?

You bet. You bet we do. This is a fascinating case study about how temptation incubates in a human heart, and then it gives birth to sin, and then how that product is such an offense to God that he considers it worthy of revoking the life that he has given to a person. See, when you initially come to this passage, your knee-jerk reaction is, what's so bad? Why did God kill them?

That's the wrong question. The right question should be, why doesn't God kill us? This is cosmic treason when we sin against the Lord of the universe, our Maker. It's cosmic treason. It makes the most sense in the world that when we're hypocrites against Him, that He would say, give back this life.

If that's how you're going to use the life that I've given you, give it back to me right now. I won't give you another day, I won't give you another breath. And this is what has happened with Ananias and Sapphira. There are at least four things that we see very clearly in this passage about sin, and I'm going to click through them and then we'll look at them. One, we see a deadly combination.

We see this incubation in the human heart where Satan is at work with the human frailty that is there for all of us and we really have to guard against and what that combination can produce. We see the putting of the Spirit of the Lord to the test. They did that and this is what Peter says to Sapphira actually. How could you agree together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Number three, We see that sin is against God.

He just lied to Peter, but the first thing out of Peter's mouth is, what? He haven't lied to me. He lied to God. And number four, sin receives judgment. God is so rich in mercy that sometimes we forget that sin receives judgment until we get these little glimpses and we are reminded.

God wants us to be reminded. That's why texts like these are in the Scriptures there so that we will be sober in the way that we walk before Him. First let's look at the deadly combination. Peter says in verse 3, if you look at verse 3, Peter says, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart? Why has Satan filled your heart?

And then in verse 4, he turns right around and says, one verse later, Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? So on one hand it's Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart? And in the other hand he says why have you conceived this thing in your heart? Did he forget from one verse to the other? No.

Do they contradict themselves? No, but we see things in combination, actually that we see in combination in other places in the scripture, and it should cause us to think about how sin incubates in the human heart. The word filled, when Peter says, ìWhy has Satan filled your heart?î the word filled is the same word that is used in chapter 4 verse 8 of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was filling the people. So now when Luke recounts this story for us and he says that Peter said, ìWhy has Satan filled your heart?î It is the same word as the Holy Spirit filling the people.

Judas is a good case study for this, isnít he? We see in Luke 22, ìAnd Satan entered into Judas, who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve. John also comments on this, and he's talking about the Last Supper. John says, during supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon to betray him. So you see this?

You see this in John 13? The devil comes and he puts this into the heart of Judas. We have an active enemy of our souls. We're not in neutral. The world is not neutral.

There is an enemy that's raised up against Christ that seeks to destroy everything that brings glory and honor to God. Peter says, why is it that you have conceived this thing in your heart? At the end of the day though we do have an active enemy who is sowing these seeds in our heart, who is putting these things in hearts, the devil made me do it is not a story that ultimately will play. The devil made me do it will not be an excuse for Judas. The Devil Made Me Do It is not a story that ultimately will play.

The Devil Made Me Do It will not be an excuse for Judas. The Devil Made Me Do It will not be an excuse for Ananias. The Devil Made Me Do it will not be an excuse for Steve Breagie or Dan Horn or let's pick on a woman. Who can we pick on? Janet Dome.

In fact, in Acts when Peter talks about Judas, there's no mention of the devil at all. What does Peter say? This is, they're getting ready to replace him in the ministry of the apostleship. Peter says, Judas turned aside to go to his own place. Do you see these things working together?

Yes, the devil put something in the heart of Judas, and yet Judas turned aside. It's these things working in combination. We have these elements for ourselves. We have an enemy that's prowling around like a lion, doing what? Seeking whom he may devour.

We have hearts that have a bent. We have to be careful. We have to be vigilant. In our study of James, this was so clearly put forward. James 1, verses 12 through 15, blessed is a man who perseveres under trial.

Ananias was a man under trial. He did not persevere in his trial. Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial. For once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself does not tempt anyone.

But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by what? By his own lust. By his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

Can you look at James and superimpose it on Acts 5, 1-16 and see what's happening here in the heart of Ananias? But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived he gives birth to sin, and when sin is accomplished it brings forth what? Death. The heart is where sin is conceived.

The heart is where sin is conceived. The heart is where sin is conceived. The English Standard Version, instead of conceived, it renders it contrived. The Home and Christian Standard, instead of conceived, renders it planned. Planned.

The heart is where sin is planned. It originates there and it's planned there. And then it gives birth to something. And then when that's accomplished it brings forth death. This is what we see in Acts 5, 1-16.

Consider this, Matthew 15, but the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. Ananias' false witness came from the things that were stored up in his heart. Secondly, what else do we learn about sin? Secondly, as we read in verse 9, to conceive and then carry out this kind of willful premeditated sin is to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test.

To conceive and then carry out willful premeditated sin puts the Spirit of the Lord to the test. Ananias and Sapphira were seeing how far they could go in presuming on the goodness and the graciousness of God. They were seeing where the limit was. How gracious will He be? They were presuming upon His grace.

Think back to the temptation of Jesus. The devil brings Him up to the pinnacle of the temple and he says, Cast yourself down, for it's written, and he quotes this Psalm that says that the Lord's anointed will be saved by his angel, they won't even strike his foot. He even quotes scripture. And Jesus' response is, it is written, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test. Jesus understood that if he was on the edge of the cliff and he stumbled backwards and he falls off the cliff that God's word will prove true, that the angels will save him, that he wouldn't even hurt his foot, but that to throw himself off of the pinnacle of the temple just to see if God will be faithful is a completely different category.

It's presuming upon the grace and the mercies of God, which is what Ananias and Sapphira are doing. Matthew Henry says this, those that presume upon security and impunity in sin tempt the Spirit of God. Paul says in Romans, What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may increase? May it never be.

How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Paul says that we have this grace, we can be forgiven of sin. Does that mean to make this wonderful grace abound and we should sin more? No! Absurd!

Ridiculous! We were saved from it so that we can be free from it, Not that we can wallow in it. Paul is saying, Paul is saying that God's abundant grace does not mean that God no longer cares about whether we sin or we don't. That's not the message of the cross. The message of the cross isn't you have a get out of jail free card, now do whatever you want all the time.

No, of course it isn't. Does it even mean saying that? Doesn't that just assault your senses? Everybody just innately knows that's not the message of the cross. That's an abuse of His grace to say that, to think that, to act like that as Ananias and Sapphira did.

What else do we learn about sin? Thirdly, we learn in verse 4 that sin is against God. Ananias says, just lied right to Peter's face and if that's not explicit in the text then Sapphira doing it a couple of verses later, couldn't be more bold faced. And what is Peter's response? You haven't lied to man, but to God.

You didn't lie to me, you lied to God. This must have been a shock to our friend Ananias. Do you think Ananias thought of it that way when he did it? I'm sure he talked himself out of that one. Think of the insanity of lying to the Holy Spirit.

What kind of madness is that, that you would lie to the Holy Spirit? So, undoubtedly, an anioniasis was couched in different terms and he had a hundred reasons why this was okay. But Peter says, no, you haven't lied to man, you've lied to the Holy Spirit. Again, Matthew, Henry, those that pretend to an inspiration of the Spirit, in imposing upon the church their own fancies, either an opinion or a practice, that say they are moved from above when they are carried on by their pride, covetousness, or an affectation of dominion. Belie the Holy Ghost.

That's what Ananias was doing. He was piggybacking right on Barnabas, right? Barnabas comes and he lays it at the Apostles feet with a pure heart. And Ananias sees opportunity and thinks that God won't notice or He'll notice and He won't act because He's seen the grace of God a thousand times and He just assumes that grace would be applied to Him too. At this point many of the commentators mentioned Gahazi in connection with this.

Gahazi was the servant of Elisha. He was Elisha's servant. And in 2 Kings chapter 5, Just jot that down, 2 Kings 5. Go look at it, the whole chapter. It's a great story.

Your kids will eat this story up. Elisha is a prophet in Israel and there's this man, He's the captain of the army of the king of Aram, and he's a valiant warrior, but he's also a leper, and his name is Naaman. And Naaman the leper hears about the man of God in Israel. Actually he hears it from an Israelite girl who's been captured. He desires to be healed, so he goes to Naaman, and Naaman won't even see him.

Here's this powerful general outside the door of Naaman and he just sends a servant out to say, the man of God says, go wash in the Jordan seven times, you'll be fine. And he leaves And he's seething in rage saying, the rivers where I am are cleaner than the Jordan. I could have done that at home. I can't believe I have to put up with this. And his servants very gently, very gently say to him, if he had asked you to do something really difficult, wouldn't you have done it to be cleansed?

This is a simple thing. Wash in the Jordan, he washes seven times, he's cleansed. He comes back to offer money and all sorts of goods to the prophet, and the prophet won't take anything. So he goes away. His servant's thinking, I could use some of that stuff.

So he goes after Naaman and says, a couple guys just showed up, they need some stuff, the prophet says give me the stuff I'll give it to the guys. He goes back as if the prophet of God wouldn't discover him. And this is how the story ends. Then Elisha said to Gehazi, did not my heart go with you when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Translation, I saw the whole thing.

I saw it all. Is it a time to receive money and to receive clothes and olive groves and vineyards and sheep and oxen and male and female servants? Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and your descendants forever." So he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow. Ananias knew this story. He knew this story.

God had given him warnings and he ran right through them into sin. And He probably thought he had great reasons to do so. What was David's testimony about his sin? It was the same as Peter's testimony about the sin of Ananias. David, in Psalm 51, David committed some of the most heinous sin in the Bible when he committed adultery with Bathsheba and then sent her righteous husband off to war and caused his commanders to withdraw in the heat of battle so that he would be killed.

And David said this about his sin in Psalm 51, against you, you only I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified when you speak and blameless when you judge. Had David sinned against anyone? Had David sinned against Bathsheba and committing adultery with her? Had David sinned against Uriah and committing adultery with his wife and then having him murdered? Absolutely, sort of, sort of.

From our eyes, yes, he sinned against them. But in God's economy sin is against God. It's against His glory. It's against His fame. It's transgressing His law.

When we sin, we sin against God. There may be others who are offended. There may be others who are harmed, but ultimately our sin is against God, which makes Him completely justified when He speaks, and it makes Him completely blameless when He judges. Was God justified when he judges Ananias? Was he blameless when he spoke against Ananias?

Of course he was. It was his laws that had been transgressed. And this is what Peter puts his finger on. As a side note, this is why vengeance is the Lord's. This is why the Lord's people aren't allowed to go around taking vengeance when they're sinned against, because the sin is against God.

It's His to repay. And we need to be very careful about becoming obsessed when we are sinned against. Did you hear that? We need to be very careful about taking on an obsession when we are sinned against because really in the end it's not our good name, it's not our law that's been transgressed as God's. It's His to repay.

Lastly and fourthly what we learn about sin is that all sin receives judgment. All sin receives judgment. The only questions are timing and who's paying the bill. When you sin there's judgment. The only question is timing and who picks up the tab for your sin.

There are no freebie sins as Ananias finds out in chapter 5. To believe that Christ standing in our place and purchasing for us an eternity with God somehow equates to us being able to sin with total impunity, with no concern or worry about consequences is a complete fallacy. To think that that's what Jesus died for is absurd. If you cheat on your wife, you might go to heaven. If you cheat on your wife, you may very well go to heaven.

And if you do, it's because you're elect, because the Lord, in His good pleasure, decided to save you. And He turned aside, in an ultimate sense, the wrath of God for that sin. Do you think that's going to make everything okay at the dinner table the next night? Everything going to be the same at the dinner table? You cheated on your wife, now you're at the dinner table.

Are things the same? What about next week? What about next month? What about a year from now? That's why the Proverb says that adultery, there's a death that happens with adultery.

Things die when there's an adultery. They are never recovered in the same way again. Because although the sin can be forgiven, there's natural consequences for sin. God is not mocked. Ananias could sin against God, he could lie to Peter and the Holy Spirit, but he could not mock God.

Galatians 6 says this, do not be deceived, God is not mocked for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. Matthew Henry communicating The same thing says, if we think to put a cheat upon God, if we think to put a cheat upon God, we shall prove in the end to have put a fatal cheat upon our own souls. God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. First Corinthians, sorry.

First Corinthians 11. We talk about it almost every week in our communion time, but it's about taking communion in an unworthy manner and it says, for this reason many among you are weak and sick and a number sleep. A number die. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. That's why it's so critical that we use our communion time for its purpose.

It is the first step in church discipline that we would examine our own hearts before the Lord and ask Him to show us our anxious thoughts, our wickedness, so that we could repent of them, be clean, and not do them anymore. Lastly, 1 Peter 3, for the one who desires life, now think as I read about this, think if you want what is being described here. Do you want this? For the one who desires life to love and see good days, must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. He must turn away from evil and do good.

He must seek peace and pursue it. For The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, and his ears attend to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." This is Peter writing to the church. Do you desire life? Do you want to love and see good days?

Keep deceit off your tongue, Ananias, Sapphira, brothers, sisters. There are consequences for sin, and our standing with Christ does not automatically exempt us from all consequences of our sin. It doesn't. That's not even prosperity gospel. I don't even know what kind of gospel that is.

We continue to sin, we'll be saved from sin, but no, that's not a pass to be free from all consequence of sin. Okay, I beat that dead horse, I'm going to stop beating it. Third thing that we learn is about idolatry. We see here idolatry in the hearts of Ananias and Sapphira. The circumstances did not create idolatry in their hearts.

The circumstances revealed the idolatry that was in their hearts. Something was lifted above Christ in their hearts. That idolatry was looking for a way to get out and this just happened to be the way. Jesus said, you cannot serve. You cannot serve two masters.

You cannot serve God and money. He says this in Matthew 6, no one can serve two masters, no one, no one can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God in wealth. And this applies to money. And in its context this is talking about money, but really this is a principle about idolatry.

It's not about money. Fill in the blank. You cannot serve God in blank. What's your blank? Ananias, it was money.

What's your blank? You cannot serve God and whatever you filled in the blank with. Matthew Henry says this, they halted between the two. If they had been thorough paced worldlings, they would not have sold their possession. And if they had been thorough paced Christians, they would not have detained part of the price.

Thus, in giving our hearts to God, in giving our hearts to God, we are not admitted to divide them. Satan, like the mother whose own child was not, would take up with a half. You remember the story? The two women come, they say, it's my child, no it's my child. Solomon says, we'll just split it right down the middle.î The mother whose child it wasnít says, ìFine by me.î The mother whose child it was, was not about to see her child split in half.

This is what heís talking about here. Satan, like the mother whose own child was not, would take up with a half. Heís happy to have half, or a tenth, or five percent of your heart. But God will have all or none. Brothers and sisters, this is a hard teaching.

Teaching on idolatry is a sobering thing because we see, like Calvin said, our hearts are an idol factory. No sooner have we smashed one than there's another, raising itself up, wanting to be above Christ. We also learn about giving. We shouldn't give like Ananias and Sapphira gave. Is that clear enough in the passage or do I need to spend more time there?

We should not give like they gave. If you need me to drill down on the whole instant death thing, I can do that for you. But it's probably not necessary. Anybody want to look at a happy scripture? Raise your hand if you want to look at a happy scripture.

Alright. I want to look at the polar opposite of Ananias and Sapphira's giving and it's found in Mark 12. This is just a beautiful story. Mark 12. And Jesus sat down opposite the treasury and began observing how people were putting money into the treasury, and many rich people were putting in large sums.

Poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling his disciples to him, he said to them, Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury, for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on. So question, and this is an open book test it's on the screen what was Jesus observing he was observing how people were putting money in Most people would be observing what how much they put in? Look at that heap look at that heap look at that heap old woman look at that heap But Jesus is looking for how people are putting money in the treasury. And so, when the rich people come and give a little out of their abundance, even though it's a lot of money, It's very ho-hum to him.

He's unimpressed. But when this lady who comes and Jesus knows that her heart's attached to her money, and she gives all she has to live on, he calls his disciples over to remark on it, to teach them about it. So, here's a question for you about Acts 5. Who gave more? Who gave more money?

The son of encouragement or Ananias and Sapphira? Who gave more money? It doesn't matter. The text doesn't say the author who's the Holy Spirit could care less who gave more money. I'm willing to bet, and I'll bet you anything because there's no way we can verify it, but I'm willing to bet that Ananias and Sapphira brought a greater sum of money to the feet of the apostles.

It's total speculation, the text doesn't say. But maybe they did. Maybe they brought more money to the Son of Encouragement and laid it at His feet. And maybe that's what they said in their hearts. I'm not bringing it all, but I'm going to represent it all.

And it'll be okay because it's more anyway. And look how it's going to be used and all the blessed things that will happen to this money. And they had the litany down by the time the lying happened they had it exactly down in their mind about how it wasn't such a big deal until they fell at the apostles' feet dead as a doornail. Paul teaches us about giving, 2 Corinthians. He says this to the Corinthians, �Each one must do as he is purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." This is what Peter says to Ananias, it was yours when it was your property, and when you sold it, the money was yours.

You weren't under compulsion to bring it. No one asked you to bring it grudgingly. God wants us to give cheerfully, not under compulsion. And then he broadens this principle out in Philemon, takes it completely away from money and just applies it to everything. He says, but without your consent I did not want to do what?

Anything. Without your consent I did not want to do anything so that your goodness would not be in effect by compulsion but of your own free will. Philemon, without your consent I didn't want to do anything, nothing, not give time, not give money, not speak to people, so that when I had your consent it wouldn't be by compulsion, but you'd be giving cheerfully as God wants you to give. Number five, the fifth thing that we learn, the fear of the Lord in holiness. Ananias dies in verse five.

The King James version is the most eloquent. It says, He gave up the ghost. He gave up the ghost. The home in Christian standard is a lot less proper, and it's my favorite. It renders it dropped dead.

Verse 5, Unceremoniously Ananias drops dead and the text says what? Great fear came over all who heard of it. Sapphira dies in verse 10 and verse 11 says almost exactly the same thing. Great fear came over the whole church and over all who heard these things. Great fear, a lot of fear, abundant fear came over all the people.

And the fear of the Lord is a concept that spans one cover of the Bible to the other. It is everywhere. The fear of the Lord is everywhere. In fact, this is my challenge. Just put up the fear of the Lord radar in your Bible reading.

Just put it up. Just be on the lookout for the fear of the Lord and just see how many times Old Testament, New Testament, Pentateuch, Psalms, Proverbs, Pastoral Epistles, Gospels, see how many times how comprehensive the fear of the Lord is. Psalm 19.9, the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. You want to be clean? Learn to fear the Lord.

Learn what it means. Pray that the Lord would give you the fear of him not the fear that causes you to despise him But the fear that caused you causes you to walk circumspectly before him wisely Understanding his true nature and your true place in the universe Proverbs 1 7 the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge fools despise wisdom and Instruction the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, fools despise wisdom and instruction. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Do you want knowledge? Learn to fear the Lord.

Psalms 111-10, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Do you want wisdom?

Learn the fear of the Lord. God used this to teach the fear of the Lord to the New Testament Church. What a blessing this was to this church. That right out of the gate God would use this to teach them to fear him in a way that caused them to love him more, to honor him more. We're going to see this again later in Acts.

There's a chief priest, a Jewish chief priest named Skiiva. Skiiva has seven sons. Anybody in here got seven sons? We'll make analogies. No?

All right. We'll wait until Damian gets back. Skiiva has seven sons, and they're going around, they're misusing the name of Christ. The disciples have been casting out demons in the name of Jesus Christ, so they try it. The demons are completely unimpressed.

They say, Jesus we know, Paul we know, who are you?î And this man who is possessed by demons beats them and takes their clothes. And hereís what is recounted after that. ÌThis became known to all, both Jews and Greeks who lived in Ephesus. I bet it did. I just bet it did.

And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. Do you see why God wants to be feared? Because when He's feared, the name of the Lord Jesus is magnified. When people fear Him, the name of the Lord is magnified.

When people fear Him, the believers come and they confess and they disclose their practices and they are free of their sin. I forget the guy's name, the pastor out in Colorado who's just been exposed. Ted Haggard. Whatever you might think of him, I just love some of the quotes that have come out of him afterwards where he's completely honest about the nature of his own sin. And one of the things that was said after his letter of resignation in church was that, hey, you know what?

Ted is a lot better off this week than he was last week. As he was preaching here last week, he was bringing the Word of God, and hypocrisy was running rampant unchecked in his life. And this week he's a broken man, he's repentant for the Lord. This, look, this is what the fear of the Lord does in the church. When we fear Him, it causes us to see our sin rightly and to come and confess our practices and be free from them.

The times of refreshing may come from the Lord. Ecclesiastes, now this is an interesting book. It chronicles the wisest non-Jesus man who ever walked the earth. The wisest man who ever walked the earth and God let him try everything. Sin, pleasure, riches, work and accomplishment And at the end of Ecclesiastes he ends with a summary statement.

Do you want to know what that, are you interested in what that summary statement says? The wisest man on the earth gets to try everything kind of way down the line until he sees the end point of it? And he calls it all futile by the way, it's all vanity. Vanity, all vanity. He gets to the end and he's going to capture for us all that He's learned in a lifetime of applying wisdom to every manner of thing.

This is what He says. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil." Fear the Lord. I'm going to back up.

I missed a John Gill quote. John Gill said this, �And great fear came upon all them that heard these things, both upon the members of the church, and so was of service to make them careful of their words and actions, and cautious and circumspect in their lives and conversations. And upon those that were without, and might be a means of making them fearful of speaking against them or mocking at them or of joining themselves to them without being thoroughly satisfied that they should and had a right and were meet for it. They are having favor with all the people. They're being appreciated almost universally.

We've seen a little persecution, but almost universally they're being appreciated. And the temptation is for everybody to jump on the bandwagon. Believers, unbelievers, everybody. And the Holy Spirit at the beginning of chapter 5 slows this train way down and forces people to walk circumspectly and understand that over here on this other side of the line, they're not playing around. I'm going to give some thought to whether I'm joining this clan or not.

People are dying over there. There's a lot of good things happening. I like those. I appreciate those but I'm thinking differently about joining them than I thought yesterday. Matthew Henry says this, those that had joined themselves to the church were thereby struck with an awe of God in His judgments, and with a greater veneration for this dispensation of the Spirit which they were now under.

It was not a damp or check to their holy joy, but it taught them to be serious in it and to rejoice with trembling. It's not a wet blanket for the joy of the Lord at all, but it does cause them to be serious in it. The role of signs and wonders. This is the last thing that we see in the chapter, the final section. In Acts 14, Paul and Barnabas have been chased out of somewhere.

I don't even remember where. They get chased out of a lot of places. It's hard to keep track. They're chased out of somewhere and they come to Iconium. And Paul and this son of encouragement that we're seeing here in Acts 4, it says this, Therefore they spent a long time there speaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord, who was testifying to the word of His grace, granting that signs and wonders be done by their hands." I'm so glad some of these verses are in there that tell us exactly what all these signs and wonders were about.

Notice that the word of the grace of Jesus Christ is at the center of it all. They're testifying boldly, and the word of the grace of Jesus Christ is at the center of it all. They are testifying boldly and the word of the grace of Jesus Christ is being confirmed by the signs and wonders. The Signs and the wonders are validating the message. What is the message always?

It is the Word of Grace. It is the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus told us that there would be these signs and wonders. In Mark 16, These signs will accompany those who have believed. In My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues, they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison it will not hurt them.

They will lay hands on the sick and they will recover. The signs and wonders validate the messenger. It validates the messenger and it validates the message so that people can know the truth of the gospel. Praise the Lord that many wonders and signs were taking place through the hands of the apostles. The messengers were being confirmed and validated by God Himself.

The message was being confirmed and validated by God Himself. The death of Ananias and Sapphira, Their death was also a sign and a wonder, wasn't it? At first blush you think, you know, bad part of the chapter, then ha, we're back to happiness, signs and wonders in the church. No, no. The death of Ananias and Sapphira was a sign and a wonder.

Matthew, Henry. The signs and wonders which the apostles wrought were hitherto miracles of mercy. Before now they'd all been miracles of mercy. But now comes in a miracle of judgment. And here is an instance of severity following the instances of goodness.

That God may be both loved and feared. God has no interest in your love if you will not fear Him. If you will not reckon Him as God, He does not want your love. The love of God is only for those who understand Him, and those who understand Him fear Him. If you've got, if you have handouts, If you have your hand out, sorry about that.

Okay let's see, where did I start? That was kind of nervous laughter there. So on the back of your notes handout when you have it is this quote. And we're going to labor in it. It's a long quote.

And normally, my better judgment rules supreme, and we don't do really long quotes. But this one by Matthew Henry also captures so well what I think are the salient points of this passage that I thought we should cover it together because it really gets to the heart of what we're looking at here. So we're going to go through it here, but when you get your handout, take it home and just read it again sometime, maybe during your family worship time after you got done with the really important stuff like the Bible, you can read this quote. So it's on the screen as well if you don't have one. This punishment of Ananias may seem severe, But we are sure it was just.

One, it was designed to maintain the honor of the Holy Ghost as now lately poured out upon the Apostles in order to the setting up of the gospel kingdom. It was a great affront which Ananias put upon the Holy Ghost as if he could be imposed upon. And it had a direct tendency to invalidate the apostles' testimony. For if they could not by the Spirit discover this fraud, how could they by this Spirit discover the deep things of God which they were to reveal to the children of men? It was therefore necessary that the credit of the apostles' gifts and powers should be supported, though it was at this expense.

2. It was designed to deter others from the like presumptions, now at the beginning of this dispensation. Simon Magus afterwards was not thus punished, nor Elimus, but Ananias was made an example. Now at first, that with the sensible proofs given what a comfortable thing it is to receive the Spirit. There might be also sensible proofs given what a dangerous thing it is to resist the Spirit and do despite to Him.

How severely was the worshiping of the golden calf punished and the gathering of sticks on the Sabbath day when the laws of the second and fourth commandments were now newly given. So was the offering of strange fire by Nadab and Abihu and the mutiny of Korah and his company, when the fire from heaven was now newly given, and the authority of Moses and Aaron now newly established. The doing of this by the ministry of Peter, who himself with a lie denied his master but a little while ago, intimates that it was not the resentment of a wrong done to himself. For then he who had himself been faulty would have had charity for those that offended. And he who himself had repented and been forgiven would have forgiven this affront and Endeavored to bring this offender to repentance But it was the act of the Spirit of God in Peter to him the indignity indignity was done and by him the punishment was inflicted.

Application. Whoever put this massive alarm clock up here, it did not work at all. I just looked down to it and this has been an ineffective tool. All right, application. Application.

You're going to look at number one and say, how strange, how odd. Reflect on the mercies of Christ. This passage will make us reflect on the mercies of Christ. Yes, now more than ever before. Have you ever done a sin this bad?

I spent half the week trying to figure out what was so wrong about this sin. And trying to comfort myself about how maybe the hundred things I've done weren't really worse than that. Did you feel that at all when you read this passage? Man, if that could And if that could happen to him, if that could happen to him and her, what about my sin? The mercies of Christ are rich.

They're rich. His long suffering and patience towards us is unfathomable. We should thank Him for His mercies. We should reflect on the mercies of Christ. Here's a Here's a quote by guess who?

Some sinners God makes quick work with, while others he bears long with, for which difference doubtless there are good reasons, but his is not accountable, but he is not accountable to us for them." God has good reasons. He's not accountable to us. Did you notice the questions we'd like to know about Ananias are completely ignored by the passage. Was Ananias a believer? Find me something in the passage that will tip your hand about whether Ananias was a believer or not.

The author, the Holy Spirit, has no interest in you knowing the answer to that question. It doesn't matter. He could have been. You cannot make a case that there's no possible way that Ananias was a believer. And you can't make a case that there's no possible way that he wasn't a believer.

It's left completely open and the Holy Spirit wants it that way so that the church will fear God to reflect on your marriage. This marriage ended as ingloriously as any marriage possibly could, couldn't they? I mean there are a couple others in the annals of history like Ahab and Jezebel, but you'd have to go far and wide to find much worse than Ananias and Sapphira. What will the testimony of your marriage be? Heads of households, God has given you a companion suitable for you, that you are to engage in a ministry for His glory, to give Him godly offspring, and to bring the reign of Christ, the glory of Christ to the world that they could see it lived out in your four walls.

What will the testimony of your marriage be? God has given you great resources. He's blessed you with many things. Number three, understand sin and the consequences for sin. Sin is deceitful to the core.

It will turn you into a hypocrite and it will supply you with a hundred reasons why it's okay. Did you hear that? Sin is deceitful. It will turn you into a hypocrite and it will supply you with a hundred reasons why it's okay. Did you hear that?

Sin is deceitful. It will turn you into a hypocrite and you won't even know it because it will have supplied on a silver platter all the reasons why it's really not that bad. Reset your thinking about sin. Reset your thinking. My sin deserves death.

The disgusting, gory death of Jesus Christ on the cross was required by my sin. That's how God views sin. That's how seriously God takes sin, that the perfect, sinless, spotless Lamb of God, His own Son, a member of the Trinity, would have to come live on earth, suffer temptation, and die on the cross for your sin. Do not take your sin lightly. God does not.

He could require your life from you at any moment for your sin. He gave it to you. It's His to command in any way He wants for his own glory. Reset your thinking about sin. Lastly, fear the Lord.

It's clean. It endures forever. It's the beginning of wisdom. It's the beginning of knowledge. Fear the Lord.

Let's embark on this together. Let's embark on a study of the fear of the Lord together. As we put the radar on, just in any reading you do in the scriptures, it's there, you'll find it there explicitly. Don't even look for the implicit ones, just look for the explicit ones, they're everywhere. God wants us to fear Him.

Why? So that we'll be afraid and despise Him? No, that's not that kind of fear of the Lord. So that we'll love Him and obey Him. You know obedience to God is not a favor to Him.

He gains nothing from your obedience. It's for your own blessing. It's for your own good, your own blessing. Alright, I'm done. Here ends the sermon, let's pray.

Heavenly Father, I'm grateful to You for Your infinite mercies in the Lord Jesus Christ that You have not counted my sins against me. You've cast them as far as the east is from the west. Oh Lord, help me not to forget that You won't contend with us forever. Help me to see sin as you see sin. Help us as a group of brothers and sisters to see sin as you see it.

God, I pray even now for our communion time, use it Lord to show us the gruesomeness of our sin as we partake of the broken body of Jesus Christ, as we partake of the shed blood of Jesus Christ. May we see our sin. May it repulse us as it repulses you. God, you say you hate it, you say it's an abomination to you, things that we've done a thousand times. We thank you for your mercies in Christ.

Help us to fear you, God. Teach us what it is to fear you. In Jesus' name, Amen.