Join me, if you would, this morning
in the book of Acts. Acts chapter 5. Acts chapter
5. In the bulletin, it's been said
many ways, and I'm not sure who said it that's quoted in the
bulletin. When I found it, it was just unknown. But it says,
we are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners. one of the things that we're
gonna find here in this fifth chapter. Now there's a lot of
other passages of scripture that are much easier to preach and
to bring a lesson from than Acts chapter five, verses one through
11. I was looking up in some of the records of other pastors
and they never once preached on this passage of scripture.
Well, many years ago, I shared with the church here that there's
two reasons that I go through books of the Bible. Number one,
I always know where I'm going to be. I can start tomorrow working
on next Sunday, maybe sometimes even this afternoon. And if I
hear something, I don't have to go look up a passage of scripture
to get after somebody. because we're going to be right
here in Acts chapter 5 today. Now, if Acts chapter 5 comes
up and touches us, then it's just the right place to be. In
the last chapter, we found out that there was such love among
the church. After Peter and John had been
arrested and confronted by that great group of men that denied
the gospel, and then they're set free and told never to say
another word about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They gather
with their saints, they gather with their friends, they gather
with believers, they gather with those who they are common with. And there is that passage of
scripture, that common salvation. We are together in that common
salvation, that common faith. It doesn't mean it's low degree,
it means everybody is saved by the same grace and everybody
is granted the same faith. And that faith will not lead
us in this direction or that direction. You'll not come up
with something so out of sorts or I won't come up with something
so out of sorts that it doesn't agree with the Bible if we have
that common faith. And that common faith will direct
us always to the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, here in the book of Acts
chapter 4, we met a man, his name is Joses, but he is called
Barnabas. We find that that's the name
that he's called to the rest of the New Testament, Barnabas,
which means son of consolation. Now, the interesting thing about
Barnabas is he did not give himself that name. The apostles gave
him that name. they saw in him something that
believers have, and that is they are content in Christ and they
also have a love for the brethren. They love each other. He loved
the saints. He's from Cyprus. He comes to
Jerusalem. Lord saves him by his grace.
And he is completely satisfied to settle down with a group of
people in Jerusalem and in fact, have some money and share with
everybody. And then we go to chapter five, Ananias and Sapphira. By what Peter reveals here, there
is more to this issue than we might gather from the incident
report. So let us look here at this passage
of scripture. We have the anti, we have the
antichrist demonstration here. Now I've read a number of commentaries
that said these two people were saved, but they just didn't live
for Jesus. Wrong. They did not know Christ. Christ
had never been revealed to them. And the only difference between
Ananias and Sapphira and Barnabas was grace. Barnabas could not take upon
himself great credit, and Ananias and Sapphira could not blame
anybody else. It was only grace that made the difference. Only
grace made the difference between Judas and Peter. Only grace made
the difference between two spies and 10 spies. Only grace made
a difference between Nadab and Abihu and their other brothers
that also served at the tabernacle. Only grace was the issue. It
always goes back to grace. God's grace, his marvelous grace,
unmerited favor displayed in the person of Christ Jesus, the
Lord. Here in this passage of scripture
says a certain man named Ananias with Sapphira, his wife, sold
a possession. All right, no problem. Peter's
going to bring this up. It's not a problem to sell a
possession. And if you can do whatever you want to with that,
well, we hope it keeps legal. You can do whatever you want
to with that money that you sell that property with. Invest it,
buy something, do something, give some away, keep it, whatever
you want to do. Peter's going to bring that out.
But the very next word, or two words in the book of Acts chapter
5 and verse 2, share with us. And we don't get it from the
English translation here. It says they kept back. That
word, it's one word in the Greek, and that means to embezzle. That
means to withdraw covertly and appropriate to one's own use. So they said in their mouth,
you remember what the Lord said about a whole bunch of people
that was around him? They honor me with their mouth. but their
heart is far from me." Now Ananias and Sapphira honored God with
their mouth. They wanted some of the same
strokes that they saw Barnabas getting and other people that
were there. And they did it, those people
in chapter four did it so unselfishly. They were not compelled to do
any of it. It was unselfish giving. It was their self. They love
Christ. They love the gospel. They love
their brethren. They love their brothers and
sisters in Christ. So it was an unselfish gift.
Do as you see please. I have no strings attached. And
you know really that's what a gift is. No strings attached. And so we
have these two. Their heart is the problem. They have a heart. Their mouth. Aren't you glad you can't see
my heart? And I'm glad I can't see yours.
Because our heart is in a serious problem by nature. The heart
is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can
know it? And we have it illustrated from time to time. Now we'll
get to looking over there in the book of Ezekiel that God
grants to his people a new heart. And this new heart is in love
with Christ. This new heart is in love with
the brethren. This new heart loves the gospel. This new heart is, well, as brother
Lauren just read, Fleshly circumcision is not the issue, but having
a circumcision that Christ has done of the heart, the new birth,
that's where we want to be. So they kept back part of it,
they embezzle part of it. Peter goes on and says, verse
two, it goes on and says, they 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. And Peter said, Ananias,
Why has Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost and
to keep back part of the price of the land? Now, how Peter knew
that, maybe word got to him, Holy Spirit revealed it to him,
but Peter understood what was going on. And he understood that
they were lying to God about the gift that they were giving
him. They were saying, this is everything. And Peter said, it's
not everything. You're lying to the Holy Spirit.
You're lying to God. Your heart is not right with
God. There is such a natural heart
that wanted to be like others, but has the incapability of being
like others without the new birth. They wanted the notoriety, but
they couldn't get to that point because they didn't have Christ.
God had not revealed himself to them. So it really shares
with us what we find over in the book of Romans chapter 8.
Would you turn over there with me for just a moment? In the
book of Romans, chapter 8, we read these words. Now, we probably
can say, I know people just like Ananias and Sapphira, except
for the grace of God, you're looking at them. except for the
grace of God, there go I." We never want to get to the position
that we're boasting about how much progress we're making. It's
by the grace of God. In the book of Romans chapter
8 and verse 7, he says, because the carnal mind is enmity against
God. Now, that's just hard to grasp,
but the meaning of that word enmity is that warfare Anger,
bitterness. God is no God. He's not my God. I don't want
him. And it's expressed in another
place, I will not have him rule over me. You know, in essence,
that's exactly what Adam said there in the Garden of Eden.
I'm not going to listen to him. I don't have to have him. I'm
not having him rule over me. Well, we know the consequences
of that. We find that the Holy Spirit is directing the Apostle
Paul to the words that we find here in Romans chapter 8 and
verse 7, because the carnal mind is enmity. Often I say it is at, but it's
not. It is enmity. against God, for
it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
So as we go through Acts chapter five, we are certainly brought
up right in the face of a heart check about us. Where are we? Where are we? Now, if we have Christ, we know
where we are. We're in Christ Jesus. You know,
there's been a whole doctrine created over this very subject. over whether you're a carnal
Christian or not. That's a whole doctrine has been
created over that subject. And that is not a subject that
we find in the Bible. Turn with me, if you would, to
the book of 1 Corinthians 3. Peter didn't say, Ananias and
Sapphira, you're acting like a carnal Christian. You know
what he said? You lied to the Holy Spirit.
He didn't say, you're acting foolish, you're not honoring
God, you're carnal in your mind. Well, here in the book of 1 Corinthians
3, we read these words, and as I mentioned, there's been an
entire doctrine created over this very subject to make an
excuse for people who, I wanted Jesus, and they're not living
for the Lord. I've got a profession of faith
out, and they're not doing the right thing. So I know they must
be saved because I led them to Jesus, and now they're not serving
the Lord. I have to create something to
explain that, and they have created a carnal Christian. Here in the
book of 1 Corinthians 3, and I, brethren, could not speak
unto you as unto spiritual, and he's writing unto a church, just
like we find there in the book of Acts 4, a church, and in the
midst of that church are two people we know of, Ananias and
Sapphira, and they do not have a heart that loves God, and we
have the result of that. Well, Paul is writing to a church,
the church at Corinth, and he said, I cannot write unto you
as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as babes in Christ.
I have fed you with milk and not with meat, for hitherto ye
were not able to bear it, neither ye now are able, for ye are yet
carnal. Have you ever looked up the definition
for the word carnal? ye are yet carnal. You're governed by mere human
nature, not by the Spirit of God. You're governed by your
own nature. That's not a believer. A believer is governed by God. He's been given a new heart in
Christ Jesus, and there is no such thing as carnal Christians.
Now there's Christians that sin, Got my hand up. Christians that
sin. There's Christians that disobey.
There's Christians, and as I mentioned, there's not a nickel's worth
of difference between Judas and Peter on what they did. And the
only difference we can find in all the scripture is grace. Peter
said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus
responded to him very quickly and said, flesh and blood doth
not reveal the Son to you, but my Father, which is in heaven.
So don't go off walking away and saying you're boasting in
what you got. Be thankful for what you've been revealed. You've
been revealed Christ. These here have been governed,
are being governed by their own human nature and not by the spirit
of God. Their motives are found in the
book of Acts chapter five. As we look at the motives of
this couple that were mentioned, they were not spiritual, but
they were carnal. They had carnal motives. We want
to be like the other folks are. We want to be respected like
the other folks are respected. They were not interested in the
progress of the church, but in their own reputation. They were
looking for preeminence, favor, honor. As Mr. Hawker said, they were abominable
hypocrites. In 1 Corinthians chapter 11,
would you turn there with me? First Corinthians chapter 11,
verse 18. There is a truth in this. There must be heresies. It's a must. There must be these things that
come up. There must be these divisions
that come up. Why? It shows the wheat different
from the chaff. Here in the book of 1 Corinthians
11, verse 18, it says, for first of all, when you come together
in the church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and
I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you,
that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.
Well, Barnabas, without his own vote, others looked upon him,
said, from all outward appearance, here is a man of God. Ananias and Sapphira, they voted
themselves out of that position by saying, I, we want to have
the preeminence. We examine what happened in Acts
chapter five. We're shown what it is to profess
a belief and never felt professing a real love for the Lord, yet
no heart love. Oh, I love Jesus. And as Mike
and I were talking this morning, We often hear, I love you in
the Lord. What does that mean? I love you
in the Lord. Does it mean I hate you the rest
of the time, but when we get together, I have to love you?
I haven't quite figured that out yet. The Bible does not teach
that kind of thing. God's people are gonna love one
another. I don't have to teach you that. God, the Holy Spirit,
already teaches us that, to love one another. Now, it's hard to
explain what that is, but I can tell you this, those who have
it, It cannot be explained away. And those who do not have it,
you can't explain it enough to them. It's just that what God
does in a miracle of grace gives us a great abounding love for
one another. We take preference to believers. We take preference to people
that are in Christ Jesus. By this example, the child of
God is led to discover that all the difference between me and
anybody else that is like Ananias and Sapphira is the grace of
God. And then we get down here, the
apostle Peter in Acts chapter five said something about Satan.
Would you turn back there with me to Acts chapter 5? This is
one of my pet peeves. How Satan has been promoted to
the position that he's in. He's a created being. He is not
a being that has all power. He is not Jesus's brother. all
the other stuff that people come up with. Go back there with me
to the book of Acts chapter five, and there we find that the apostle
Peter shares with them. Those, that group, he said in
verse three, and Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled
that heart to lie to the Holy Ghost? You know, in the original
language, there was no capital letters, and it is up to the
translators to do that. Now, if you have in your mind,
and you are translating the scriptures, and you have in your mind that
Satan is a very, very important, powerful being, and he can rule
you and tell you what to do and lead you and all this stuff,
Contrary what the Bible says about what God does for his people,
then you're going to put a capital S, because that's going to mean
something. You know, if this is left in
a little s, that word that we find with a little s means an
adversary. Adversary. And you know what? That's exactly what Jesus told
Peter when he said, oh, it was in my mind about 13 seconds
ago. Get thee behind me, Satan. Can you imagine the holy God
of heaven calling one of his saints Satan? Capital S. Now he can call his
adversaries. We can get crossways, but we
can never have that title of S, capital S-A-T-A-N. You know,
we find that so often it has been brought out that the real
issue with natural man is not the natural man. But the real
issue is how Satan has been able to rule in them. You know, a
man once said, it is strange that by the general consent of
man, sin against God has been so ever considered so perfectly
unnatural. Natural man thinks sin against
God is so perfectly unnatural. That's not something that we
intend to do. And it's so evil in itself that
no man would commit it unless pushed by Satan to do it. Now let's look at the scriptures.
We are not pushed by Satan. We are pushed by our own heart. That's the problem. Don't go
blaming it onto someone else. Don't blame it on your spouse.
Don't blame it on your friends. Put it where it sits, right at
our feet. And don't go saying, Satan made
me do that. He did not. He's not ruling. He's not reigning. He's not in
a place of great power. In fact, he is God Satan and
God has him on a chain. He's not omnipotent, omnipresent.
Omniscient, he cannot read your mind. He cannot go where he cannot
go. He's a created being. Now, there's
no sense in saying that he's not powerful because angels,
we're created a little lower than the angels, so they can
do things that we can't do. But my friends, when the problem
is, it's right with our heart. Peter brings up, why are you
being an adversary against God? What's the problem? He's a small
S, adversary. Satan caused you to lie to God?
Your heart caused you to lie to God. Your very nature, born
that way. You know what? Natural man will
kill his own mother. Oh, it happens. The worst of
things happen because of natural man's condition before Almighty
God. The fall is so serious. The fall is so serious. We have
not been able to come to the conclusion of how bad the fall
is and as close as we can ever, ever come in this life. is to
look what it required, God required, in order for us to have our sin
forgiven. And that is the giving of his
only begotten son to the suffering, and I mean suffering, of the
cross. They appointed suffering when
God poured out his righteous indignation upon his son, and
he cried out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? We're
that close to being able to see the effects of the fall. There's
the illustration, and we can't see it. It's no wonder that there
was darkness for three hours. No wonder at all. It's an impossibility
to see, but God's people rest in the fact that he has delivered
us from our sin by the sacrifice of himself. What a lie from the
pitch we have here. The real significance of our
passage today is found over in the book of Acts chapter 8. Would
you turn with me to Acts chapter 8 and there in verse 20. There's a man that, he's called
a sorcerer. How much they can do. I'm having
trouble connecting to the internet. Check your Wi-Fi. Just the appropriate time, isn't
it? Here in the book of Acts, there's
a man who's a sorcerer. Now, I don't understand, and
I try to stay away from a lot of things about demon possession. I think a lot of it is just simply
the heart of natural man. And we can blame it on anything
and everything, and it is blamed on anything and everything. but
it just settles down right in our heart. Well, here is a man
that has been a sorcerer in this town, and Peter says in verse
20, but Peter said unto him, now he wanted the same power
that the rest of the disciples had, and he was willing to pay
money for it. Just let me, I'll pay money.
You give me that gift that you have with the Holy Spirit. And
Peter said unto him, thy money perish with thee because thou
hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.
Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter. Notice the reason. For thy heart is not right in
the sight of God. There's the problem. Your heart
is not right. That same thing could have been
said to Ananias and Sapphira. Your heart is not right with
God. Repent, therefore, of this thy
wickedness, and pray, God, if perhaps that the thought of thine
heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art
in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity. Then answered
Simon and said, pray ye to the Lord for me. I'm sorry I got
caught. that none of these things ye
have spoken come upon me. I don't want that stuff happening.
You know, the requirement is a new heart. I don't know how many people
I've asked when we get into a discussion about the gospel. I've asked
this very simple question. How much did you have to do with
your physical birth? And you know 100% of those people
I asked that question had answered the same thing? Nothing. And I say, you're correct. Now
how in the world would God, with the most serious birth of all,
ever put it into our hands to bring about our own spiritual
birth? How much do we have to do with
our physical birth Nothing. Now God moves us to get under
the sound of the gospel. That's a miracle. How God moves
his people to get under the sound of the gospel, where we don't
want to be. But we are smacked with it. God
brings it. whatever means he uses to bring
the gospel to us. God's going to bring the gospel
of God's free and sovereign grace to his people before they're
born again. And as a result of that great
work that he has as the gospel is preached, he brings about
the new birth in that person. You must be born again. It's
not you, it's me. But I'm going to have to have
the seed, and God's going to put you in a place where you
hear the seed. The seed must be planted. When the seed is
planted, on good ground, bring forth much fruit. Barnabas, Peter,
sinner saved by grace. A new heart must be given. We cannot walk through this life
and meet God in good standing with our old heart. And people
say, give your heart to Jesus. You know, friends, he doesn't
want it. He's not interested in it. It's a old, dirty, black
heart. But he said to my sheep, I will
give them a new heart, a heart of flesh, and they will love
me. I'll be their God and they shall
be my people. Well, we know the account. Peter brought that subject
up to Ananias. He brought up what he had done,
and a serious consequence took place. He dies in his steps. His wife comes in three hours
later, and he just simply asks a question, did you? Oh, yeah,
yeah. It already said they privately
agreed on how to do this, how to embezzle money, and they did
it. And he said, the same people
that just carried your husband out to bury are here now, and
she dies. And you know what it says? Great
fear came upon the church. Oh, Lord God, help me from that. Let's share just a few words
in the time we have about giving from a biblical standpoint. You know, the Lord shares with
us in the book of Matthew chapter 6. Would you turn there with
the book of Matthew chapter 6? Matthew chapter 6. This sermon, part of the Sermon
on the Mount, He gives three answers to three of the most
religious things that people do. He gives three statements
about three of the most religious things that people do. You know
what the religious things that we do? Before we're saved, we
measure ourselves by these three religious things. Our prayers. Oh, I'm praying. our giving,
and our works. Three things that we measure.
When we moved into this building, it was easy for the people that
were in here to measure it because there was boxes out here with
people's names on it and they kept track of it. And if you
didn't do your duties, you were talked to. Now, Most churches
don't go to that extreme, but I'll tell you what, most of us
had some idea of our works, our prayers, and our giving. I was asked one time to speak
at a church, and this was before I knew the gospel. I was asked
to speak at a church, and they took up an offering for me. And
at the end of the service, I'm at the back of the building,
as Wink Stewart said, glad-handing people, shaking hands with the
people that were there, And this man came up to me and palmed
me a $50 bill. He put a $50 bill in my hand. Now, why did he do that? He wanted
credit. He wanted me to know who had
given that $50 bill. Now, when the rest of the pile
that was given me, however much it was, I had no idea. Now, the
sad thing about that was my own dad. In the book of Matthew chapter
six, as we go over this, verses one through four, take heed that
you do not your alms, your works, your gifts, to be seen of them,
otherwise you have no reward of your father, which is in heaven.
Therefore, when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet
before thee. Why did he say that? It was going
on. People were doing it. as the
hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they
may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, they have
their reward. But when thou doest thine alms,
when you give, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand
doeth. Uh-oh, that takes it out of everybody's
view. And that's right. That's the
way it's supposed to be, out of people's view. It's between
God and us. It's between us and God. The
next thing that's brought out is verse 5, 6, 7, and 8. It says
here, and when thou prayest, thou shall not be as the hypocrites
are, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the
corners of the streets that they may be seen of men. Verily I
say unto you, they have their reward. Where's prayer? Where is real biblical prayer? In your closet, in my closet. And I've shared a number of times
that some of my best closet time is at the steering wheel when
I'm alone. But I don't have to even be alone. You know what?
God knows my heart. I don't have to say a word and
he knows what I'm saying. He has knowledge of what I need
him before I ask. I don't have to say words to
pray. Now I may have to say words to
greet you. And you may have to say words
to greet me. But when it comes to God, that's not what we have
to do. He knows our heart. He knows
our prayer. He's omniscient. And then it
goes on to tell us here in verses 16, 17, 18, When you're doing your religious
services, and that's what fasting was in those days, when you're
doing your fasting, when you're doing religious service, he says,
don't put flour on your face. Don't paint your face to let
people know that you're fasting. That's not right. Why did he
say that? Because people were doing it.
And he says here in verse 18, Verse 17 and 18, but thou, when
thou fastest, anoint thy head and wash thy face. Act like it's
every day. Take your shower, comb your hair. Don't make a special effort here.
And then it goes on, that thou appear not unto men to fast,
but unto thy father, which is in secret, that your father,
which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. So the three
of the most religious things that we do, he says, here is
what it is in Christ. Keep it to yourself. God knows about it. Now when
it comes to giving, we find that there's a lot of people, I grew
up with this, you gotta tithe. You know, tithing is an Old Testament
institution. There was a statement found about
Abraham that he gave tithes of all the rewards he found or got
after cleaning the clocks of those kings that had taken his
nephew. And he gave tithes to Melchizedek, And in that giving
of tithes, he paid all the tithes 400 years in advance for Levi. What a statement about how God
takes care of our debt way ahead of time. Levi did not pay tithes. All the other tribes did pay
tithes. Why didn't Levi pay tithes during
the time that they were wandering through the wilderness? Already
been paid. Abraham paid their tithes 400
years earlier. Good enough for God. That's good
enough for us, isn't it? That's what he did. He went and
paid all that was required. Now, there's only four times
in the New Testament that the word tithe is meant, and three
of them are in not very good light. I tithe all, well, let's
go over here, Matthew 23, 23. Now, if you want to tithe, that's
your business. Don't make it a law. Matthew 23, 23. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees. It already starts off bad, doesn't
it? God's saying something about
these Pharisees and hypocrites. For you pay tithe of mint, you
brag about it, you have show over it. And the same thing,
woe unto you Pharisees, for you tithe your mint in Luke chapter
11. And then, you remember the Pharisee there at the temple
with the publican? Lord, I fast twice in a week
and I give tithes. So every one of those three times,
it's not very good. He's not making a positive statement.
The only positive statement mentioned in the New Testament is in Hebrews
chapter 7, where it mentions about Abraham paid the tithes
for Levi in the Old Testament. What is the rule of thumb about
giving? Turn with me to the book of 1
Corinthians, if you would. 1 Corinthians chapter 16. 1 Corinthians 16, verses 1 and
2. Now concerning the collection
for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia,
even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week,
let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered
him, that there be no gatherings when I come. How do I know about
you how much God has prospered you? I don't. None of my business. How much do I, have I been prospered
and give as a result of it? It's nobody else's business.
Why? Because don't let your left hand know what your right hand
is doing. But God has given us that statement. All right, let's
follow this out just a little further. And we find out that
he also tells in chapter eight of the book of 2 Corinthians.
2 Corinthians chapter eight. 2 Corinthians chapter eight. Verse 1, 2 Corinthians 8, verse 1, moreover, brethren,
we do We do you to wit of the grace
of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia, how that a great
trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty
abounded unto the riches of their liberality. Even in their poor,
they were able to help. What? To give to the brethren. For to their power I bear record,
yea, and beyond their power they are willing of themselves, praying
us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift and take
upon us the fellowship of the ministering of the saints. And
this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves
to the Lord. They first gave themselves to
the Lord and unto us by the will of God. What a statement God
has made here about giving. First give yourself to the Lord. And then in chapter nine of that
same book, 2 Corinthians chapter nine, there in verse seven, 2
Corinthians chapter nine and verse seven, 2 Corinthians 9, verse 7, it says
here, Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so
let him give, not grudgingly, or of necessity, for God loveth
a cheerful giver. And then, in the book of Romans,
chapter 12, would you turn there with me? Romans chapter 12, verse
8. Romans chapter 12 and verse 8,
we have this. Or he that exhorteth on exhortation,
or he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity. Let him do
it with simplicity, free from pretense and hypocrisy, not self-seeking. That's what that means, with
simplicity, not looking for honor. Just God loveth a cheerful giver. Let him do it with simplicity.
I'll never forget the words of the pastor who brought me the
gospel. And he said he had a friend come visit him in his office
back there in Ashton, Kentucky one time, a pastor friend. And
he was sitting there complaining to Brother Henry and said, you
know, Brother Henry, I just can't get my folks to give. You know,
you can go online and you can get 52 five minute statements. That's one a Sunday. It's there
for pastors on how to invoke people to give so the budget
can be kept. Go there. How ridiculous. Well, Brother Henry was brought
this problem and he said, I just can't get my folks to give. You
know what Henry's answer to that was? When they're saved, they
will. Now, not all saved people will
do that. And not all lost people won't
give. Because a lot of lost people give for points. I know. And I wanted to make sure people
knew about it. With simplicity. And as we mentioned
earlier, Did Joses take the name Barnabas, or was it given to
him? Son of consolation, surnamed Barnabas by the apostles. And finally, if you would turn
with me to the book of Luke chapter four. Luke chapter four, just
a good rule of thumb with regard to God, with regard to service,
with regard to our place in the church, our place in the world,
Luke chapter 4, verse 7, it says, if thou therefore wilt worship
me, all shall be thine. And Jesus answered and said unto
him, get thee behind me, Satan, for it is written, thou shalt
worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou
worship. And he brought him to Jerusalem
and set him on a pinnacle and said unto him, if thou be the
son of God, cast thyself down from hence, as it is written. He shall give his angels charge
over thee. In their hands they shall bear
thee up, lest that any time thou shalt dash thy foot against
a stone. And Jesus answered and said unto him, it is said, thou
shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. And when the devil had ended
all the temptation, he departed from him. Oh my goodness. This is not what
I wanted. 14, I was just going to say that.
Luke 14. It's a wedding feast. I should have stopped. There's a wedding feast. people
have been bidden to the wedding feast it says there a parable
of those that were bidden when he marked how they Chose out
of the chief rooms saying to them when thou art bidden of
any man to a wedding sit not in the highest room lest a more
honorable man than thou be bidden of him and he that bathed thee
and Him come to and say to thee, give this man place, that thou
begin with shame and take the lowest room. And when thou art
bidden, go sit in the lowest room, that when he that bade
thee come, he may say unto thee, friend, go up higher. Then shalt
thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meet with
thee. Don't take the chief seat, take the low seat. And if he
are bidden to go higher, amen. If you're put into a position
to have to be demoted, oh me. God loveth a cheerful giver.
Ananias and Sapphira, they weren't cheerful. Ananias and Sapphira
lied in their heart. Ananias and Sapphira wanted what
other people had but couldn't get there from here because their
heart was not right with God. And Peter brought out to them
this. Now, like so many we find in
the Old Testament, it was an instant judgment by Almighty
God upon them. We don't find that type of thing
very much in the New Testament. There is going to be one king
that's going to be eaten with worms in front of his people. God judged him. All right. God
loved the cheerful giver. Watch yourself from ostentation. Watch yourself from preeminence.
Enjoy grace. Remember the only difference
between us and Judas is the grace of God.