Last week in Proverbs chapter
three, we saw that a child of God is to trust in the Lord with
all their heart. Certainly God is worthy of all
the trust of our hearts. We are to lean not on our own
understanding. In Isaiah chapter 55 verse eight,
God said this. He said, for my thoughts are
not your thoughts and neither your ways My ways. And that's why in all our ways,
we are to acknowledge Him. That's what Proverbs chapter
three tells us. God's ways must become our ways. In all our ways, we are to acknowledge. That word means to know. We're
to acquaint ourselves with God and His beloved Son. There's
life in no other. There is a way that seemeth right
unto a man, but the end thereof, the end of that way is the way
of death, Proverbs 16, 25. Man's thoughts are not God's
thoughts, and man's ways are not God's ways, and our ways
are the ways of death, and his way is the way of life. but to
know God, to acknowledge Him, God shall." Oh, I like that word. God shall, God will direct, He
will straighten, He will even our paths, which refers to that
road to eternal life. Jesus Christ is that way, that
narrow way. No man comes to the Father, but
by Him. Now, the apostle Paul said in
Colossians chapter one, verse 23, if you continue in the faith,
in other words, continue trusting in the Lord with all your heart,
that's what faith is, to trust in the Lord with all your heart.
He said, grounded and settled and be moved not away from the
hope of the gospel, which you have heard and which was preached.
What is the hope of the gospel? That's a good question. I want
to know what the hope of the gospel. Paul told Titus what
it was. He said, it's the hope. In Titus
chapter one, verse two, it says, in hope of eternal life, which
God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began, but hath
in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed
unto me according to the commandment of God our Savior. How is this
hope of eternal life obtained? Titus chapter three, verse four
tells us that it is obtained after the kindness and love of
God our Savior toward man appeared. The hope of eternal life. I'm
interested in eternal life. I hope that you are too. I know
that you are. The hope of eternal life comes
by the kindness and the love of God in the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Eternal life comes no other way.
Eternal life comes by the Lord's kindness, His love, His grace
and mercy toward chosen sinners in Christ. That's how we receive
it. It's a gift of God. Paul goes
on to tell Titus that this hope of eternal life is not by works
of righteousness, which we've done, but according to God's
mercy, He saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing
of the Holy Ghost, which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus
Christ, our Savior, that being justified by His grace, we should
be made heirs according, again, to the hope of eternal life.
I suppose if I was going to title this message, it would be the
hope of eternal life. The hope of the gospel is the
hope of eternal life. The believer's hope is eternal
life. It's to forever be with Christ
our Lord and Savior. That's what this temporal life
is all about. It's while in this temporal life
in which we live, that God prepares and God conforms His chosen people
for eternal life, that life which is to follow. There's only one
way to have eternal life, and that is to trust and have faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's to be conformed to His image,
and it's God that does the conforming. salvations of the Lord. The most
important thing in all the world is the preaching and the hearing
of the gospel of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Well, we just saw why. The hope
of the gospel is the hope of eternal life. If you and I are
to live eternally in the presence of our Lord and Savior, it's
gonna be through the preaching and the hearing of Christ and
Him crucified. James asked this question, for
what is your life? What is this temporal life? It's
even a vapor. It appeareth for a little time,
and then it vanisheth away." Thursday morning, I was asked
to preach at the funeral of my aunt, who was 89 years old. I
hadn't seen a lot that I saw there that I knew for almost
30 years. I couldn't believe how old they
got. This life's like a vapor. It's going by quick. Fast. What is your life? It's but a
vapor that appears for a little time and then vanisheth away.
But real life is eternal life. And eternal life is the hope
of the gospel which we preach. That's what I want you to see.
Now, turn with me if you would to Acts chapter four. The book
of Acts chapter four. And I want to begin in verse
32. Acts chapter four, verse 32. We have an amazing story here
before us, and I pray that the Lord would be pleased to teach
us some things from this story. Acts chapter four, let's begin
reading in verse 32. It says, and the multitude of
them that believed were of one heart and of one soul. Neither
said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed
was his own, but they had all things in common. And with great
power, God gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of
the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all." Now, when
these believers here that this is speaking of heard the gospel,
when they heard the witness of the apostles concerning the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus, They were of one heart and one soul and
were told that great grace was upon them. Oh, how I pray that
for you and I this day. Oh, that God would cause his
great grace to be upon us. Christ's resurrection had a profound
effect on these believers. Voluntarily, they begin to sell
their possessions for the common good of the kingdom of God. All
they had, and I might add all that we had, belongs to God.
Our possessions are only on loan to Him. It all belongs to Him.
And these believers, by God's mercy and by God's grace, they
were given such great faith that they were able to set their affections
on things above and not on things of the earth. You see, when God
reveals Christ to a chosen sinner and enables them to trust in
God with all their heart and lean not on their own understanding,
the things of this earth will mean nothing. When God reveals
Christ to a chosen sinner, man's earthly treasures, we see that
they're devoured, that they rust, they corrupt, they're stolen,
but not the treasure of heaven, which is eternal life in Christ.
After Paul encouraged believers to set their affections on things
above, he went on to say there in Colossians chapter three,
that when Christ, who is our life, Christ is our life. When
he shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory. Now that's a true treasure right
there. And I want you to think about
that. No wealth on earth can purchase that. Men act as if
though they'd give anything and everything to live forever, but
that's just not so. For men by nature will not bow
to Christ who is eternal life. Men and women by nature will
not have this God, the Son of God, God the Son to rule over
them. And to appear with Christ in
glory is only by God's grace through faith in Christ, who
is God's gift to his people. Christ is our life. Christ is
our hope. Christ is the hope of the gospel
that we preach. And the hope of the gospel is
eternal life. I hope that we've established
that. When God shows you that, the things of this life, as the
hymn says, will grow strangely dim. They just will in the light
of His glory and grace. Now look at verse 34. It says,
neither was there any among them that lacked, for as many as were
possessors of lands or houses sold them, and they brought the
prices of the things that were sold, and they laid them down
at the apostles' feet, and distribution was made unto every man according
as he had need. And Hoseus, who by the apostles
was surnamed Barnimus, which is being interpreted the son
of consolation, a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, having
land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles'
feet. You've heard this, I've heard
this, and we know that it's so. Believing hearts are giving hearts. Believing hearts are generous
hearts. These early disciples show us by their example that
faith doesn't live for material gain, but for spiritual good.
Faith does not seek temporal riches. Faith loves not the things
of the world which are passing away. True faith seeks the things
of the world to come. Real faith seeks the kingdom
of God and His righteousness. God's people are devoted to one
cause, and that's the kingdom of God. God's people seek one
thing above all others, and that's the will and the purpose of God. God's people have one goal, one
thing that dominates their being, and that's the glory of God and
the Lord Jesus Christ. Does that describe you? I must
confess that I fall way short, but I can tell you this, there
is no greater desire in my heart than to trust Christ for everything. I ask the Lord every day, Lord,
enable me to trust you with all my heart. Enable me to trust
you for everything. It all comes from Him. If He
doesn't give it, we won't receive it. I want to reiterate that
these gifts that Christ's disciples gave here in this passage were
free. They were voluntary sacrifices
of love. And you don't have to beg believers
to give. You know that. No one told them
to give. No one told them how to give.
No one told them how much to give. You see, giving is not
regulated by the law. Giving is regulated by love for
Christ. They saw the needs of the church
and God made them willing to meet those needs without any
pressure to do so. What a far cry from the religious
hucksters found today who make the souls of men their merchandise. What a striking contrast we have
here between true faith and a mere profession of faith. Now Barnabas
sold out to God. He sold out. He sold what he
had, he laid it at the apostles feet. He trusted completely in
God to take care of him. He didn't have, you know, a big
bank account left. He didn't have CDs. He didn't
have all these earthly investments. He sold it all and he laid it
at the apostles feet. What better way to say, Lord,
I'm trusting in you with all my heart. I'm not leaning on
my own understanding. In all my ways, I'm acknowledging
you. You can take care of me. I know
you can. Every child of God believes that.
God's gonna take care of you. God's out to do you good. He's
working all things together for your good and for the glory of
his own great name. Barnabas sold out. You know,
there's an old saying, put your money where your mouth is. Well,
Barnabas put his money where his faith was. God helped me
to do that. Now look at the next verse found
here in Acts chapter five, verse one. But a certain man named
Ananias with Sapphira, his wife, sold a possession, in verse two,
and kept back part of the price. His wife also being privy to
it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles'
feet. What a difference between believers
with true faith and with those who are nothing more than just
professors of saving faith. Now listen, true children of
God sell out, trusting the Lord with all their hearts. In all
their ways, they acknowledge God. They know that God's gonna
take care of them in every circumstance, in every trial, in every trouble,
no matter what it is. Do you believe that God can take
care of you? Ananias didn't trust God. Ananias
kept back. Well, those words just kept ringing
in my ear when I read, kept back. He kept back. He didn't surrender
all. He trusted in the manna of the
world. He did give some, but he didn't
give all. Lord enable me to give all. I
want to trust in him with all my heart. I want to give him
all of me. Enable me, Lord, to trust in
you with all my heart. Enable me to acknowledge you
in all my ways and trust in you alone to direct my paths, lead
me by the still waters and the paths of righteousness through
the valley of the shadow of death. He can. It's no big task for
him. Lord, make your goodness and
your mercy follow me all the days of my life. "'cause me to
dwell in the house of the Lord forever.'" Isn't that the hope
of the gospel? Dwelling in the house of the
Lord forever? The hope of the gospel is eternal
life. Now, verse three of Acts chapter
five, "'But Peter said, Ananias, "'Why hath Satan filled thine
heart "'to lie to the Holy Ghost "'and to keep back part of the
price of the land?' Friends, it's Satan's goal for you to
keep back part of your heart from God. One who professes faith
in Christ and yet keeps back part of their heart. is lying
to the Holy Spirit. And again, let me remind you
that Ananias was not at all obligated to sell his land. He could have
kept it. He could have disposed of it
as he pleased. No man was forced to sell and
to give. It was a voluntary thing. Now
look at verse four. While it remained, was it not
thine own? Before you sold it, it was yours.
And after it sold, it was in your own power to do what you
wanted with the money. It was in Ananias' own power
to dispose of the funds as he saw fit. Now, whether it was
to give it all, or whether it was to give just a part, or whether
it was to give none, was at his discretion. It was in his power
to do so. But this was his sin. He lied unto God. Peter said
in the last part of verse four, why hast thou conceived this
thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men,
but unto God. Ananias pretended to give all,
but he didn't. The story of Ananias and Sapphira
is not so much a story about greed and selfishness, but it's
a story about trusting in the Lord. Maybe when Ananias saw
how greatly Barnabas was admired by God's people, he was filled
with envy. Regardless of his reason and
his motive, he and his wife agreed to lie to God. They kept back,
not just their money, but their trust. Hypocrisy is lying to
God. Hypocrisy is to say that you're
trusting in God when you're not. If recognition was what they
wanted, well, they certainly got it, but they didn't get it
in the way that they had hoped. Look at verse five. And Ananias,
hearing these words, fell down and gave up the ghost. He died. And great fear came on all them
that heard these things. And the young men arose and wound
him up and carried him out and buried him. And it was about
the space of three hours after when his wife, not knowing what
was done, came in. And Peter answered unto her,
Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea,
for so much. And then Peter said unto her,
How is it that you have agreed together to tempt the Spirit
of the Lord? Behold, the feet of them which
have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee
out. Then fell she down straightway
at his feet and yielded up the ghost. And the young men came
in and found her dead and carrying her forth, buried her by her
husband." Look at verse 11. And great fear came upon all
the church and upon as many as heard these things. What things? The things concerning the death
of Ananias and his wife. But look what the Lord did, verse
12. And by the hands of the apostles
were many signs and wonders wrought among the people, and they were
all with one accord in Solomon's porch. Verse 13, and of the rest,
Durst no man joined himself to them, but the people magnified
them. Now, who are the rest here spoken
of in verse 13? Those that didn't join themselves
to the church. Those who didn't join themselves
to the hope of the gospel, to the hope of eternal life. Those
who didn't believe. Verse 14, and believers were
the more added to the Lord. Multitudes, that word means a
large number of both men and women, insomuch that they brought
forth the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and couches
that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow
some of them. Boy, that's faith, isn't it?
Verse 16, there came also a multitude out of the cities round about
unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them that were vexed
with unclean spirits, and they were healed everyone. Isn't that
amazing? To those who believed in the
Lord, trusted in Christ with all their heart, God moved in
a powerful way on their behalf. Is that not the case with you?
While the Lord healed you of the disease of the leprosy of
sin, God took your sin away and made you as perfectly holy and
righteous as God himself. Boy, that's a miracle of grace.
People were healed from their sicknesses. Men and women were
delivered from their diseases. Evil and unclean spirits were
cast out. And it says, and they were healed
every one. God healed every single one of
them. All that were His, all that trusted in Him, all that
He gave faith to trust in Him, He healed them every one. He
can do anything. He can do everything. All were
healed. who had need of a physician.
Those who were righteous and whole, those who had no need
of a physician, those that were well in their own sight, they
were not made whole. They were not made well. But
those that were sick were. And it's still the same today.
Christ came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Are
you a sinner? Then rejoice. That's who Christ
came to save. That's the hope of the gospel.
That's the hope of eternal life, that I might be with him who
loved me and gave himself for me forever, forever. I said in the beginning of this
message that preaching and hearing the gospel is the most important,
crucial, and urgent thing that we can do in this life. Do you
agree with me? There's nothing more important
than that. There's nothing more important than hearing how men
and women, sinners that they are, can be redeemed and saved. Why? Preaching the true gospel,
which the world calls foolishness, is the very means that God is
pleased to use to save those that believe. Why is this the
most crucial thing in all the world? Because faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Why is this so important? God of his own will, beget he
us with the word of truth. If you're ever going to see God,
you're going to have to hear about him through the preaching
of this word. This is something that the apostles
of Christ proved over and over again in their actions. Matter
of fact, the best that I can find, all the apostles except
for John, in one way or another, gave and lost their life for
the cause of preaching the gospel. Look at verse 17. Then the high
priest rose up, and all that were with him, which is the sect
of the Sadducees, and they were filled with indignation. Now,
if you have a reference Bible there, you see that the word
indignation there means envy. They were filled with envy. Listen,
they were flat out jealous of the disciples, the apostles,
and they were desirous of the miracles that they wrought. They
were in a rage over the large number of people that were being
joined to them, added to their number. They were beside themselves. And what did they do? Verse 18,
they laid their hands on the apostles and they put them in
the common prison. Well, what did the Lord do? Look
at verse 19, but the angel of the Lord by night opened the
prison doors and brought them forth. What did the Lord tell
them to do when he did that? Verse 20, the Lord said, go stand
and speak, preach in the temple to the people all the words of
this life. Now, what life was the Lord speaking
of? He's speaking of eternal life.
Tell them the hope of this gospel. Tell them the hope of eternal
life. That's the only gospel there
is to preach. Preachers don't preach about this life. We already
know it's a vapor that faded away. We're talking about the
life to come, eternal life. That's what the gospel is. That's
the most important, crucial, and urgent thing in this world
to do, to preach the hope of the gospel, the hope of eternal
life, being forever with Christ. Now let's read a few verses here.
They don't need my comment. Verse 21, and when they heard
that, they entered into the temple early in the morning and they
taught. They did what God told them to do. Now they'd just been
thrown in prison for doing it. God delivered them and they went
right back to preaching just like God told them to. Verse
21, but the high priest came and they that were with him and
called the council together and all the Senate of the children
of Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when
the officers came and found them not in the prison, they returned
and told the high priest saying, the prison truly found we shut
up with all safety and the keepers standing without before the doors. But when we had opened the doors,
we found no man within. Now, when the high priest and
the captain of the temple and the chief priest heard these
things, they doubted of them where unto this would grow. And
then came one and told them, saying, Behold the man whom you
put in prison." Well, they're standing in the temple and they're
teaching the people. Verse 26, then when the captain
with the officers and brought them without balance, for they
feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. Verse
27, and when they had brought them, they set them before the
council and the high priest asked them, in verse 28, look at this,
did we not straightly command you that you should not teach,
preach, that's same word, in this name? Whose name? Christ's
name. Jesus Christ is the word of God. To preach the gospel is to preach
Christ. Jesus Christ is the gospel of
hope. Jesus Christ is our only hope. Jesus Christ is the hope of eternal
life. That's why we preach Him. What
think you of Christ? That's the question of all urgency. What do you think of Him? What
does Jesus Christ mean to you? Do you love the message of Jesus
Christ and Him crucified? Is that message more important
than your own life? It was to the apostles. Why didn't
Peter and the other apostles stop preaching when the high
priest told them to? Had the authorities told them
to stop? Yes, sure did. They said, did
we not straightly command you that you should not preach in
this name? Wasn't that some kind of a mandate? Verse 29, then
Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to
obey God rather than man. true gospel preaching, as I've
said this third time, I believe, is the most important. It's the
most urgent thing that this world needs. And God commanded His
people to preach it. The world commanded them not
to preach, but God commanded them to preach. And we ought
to obey God rather than men. That's what our children need.
Those that are yet without Christ, they need Him. They need to hear
the gospel. That's what our family needs.
They need to hear Christ and Him crucified. They need to hear
the hope of the gospel, the hope of eternal life. That's what
our lost friends need more than anything else in this life. It's
to hear how Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
They need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. And this is
why, verse 30, the God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom
you slew and hanged on a tree. Now listen, every single man
and woman born of woman is a sinner. Our hearts, the scripture says,
are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. And our
minds are carnal, making both our hearts and our minds enmity
with God, that word means hostile. Our hearts and our minds by nature
are hostile against this God who saved sinners by his grace.
Now that's just how messed up we are. And that's why we keep
on preaching, because we are endeavoring to show people that
the God who loved us and gave himself for us is the only one
that can help us. Look at verse 31. They said,
him, speaking of Christ, hath God exalted with his right hand
to be what? A prince and a savior for to
give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. Now that's
what it's all about. Repentance and forgiveness is
what we need most. These men were representatives
of Messiah, the Messiah, the Prince. They were acting under
His authority. They were promoting His kingdom.
They were preaching the hope of eternal life. Their preaching
was by His divine command. It couldn't be set aside by human
authority. The Prince of Israel, the King
of Kings and the Lord of Lords, the Son of David alone had the
power and the might to issue commissions to those who owe
all allegiance to Him. And do you know what? It's the
same for us. It's the same for us. God hadn't
changed. His word hadn't changed. Jesus
Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Man hasn't
changed. Not until God does a work of
grace in his heart. This gospel message is the message
of the Prince and the Savior who is to give repentance to
Israel and forgiveness of sins. Child of God, you are Israel. And that was the best reason
in all the world for these men's preaching. The message has not
changed. It's still the same reason we
preach today. If religion would be engaged
in preaching that sinners should repent, assuring those that do
repent are forgiven, we might fill this whole world with his
doctrine, just like the apostles did Jerusalem. Preaching the
gospel is serious business. I can't reiterate that enough. It's the gospel of hope. It's
the hope of eternal life. And that's why we won't be hindered
in preaching it. Not God's people. Verse 32, we
are his witnesses of these things. And so is also the Holy Ghost
whom God has given to them that obey him. The child of God is
a witness to the hope found only in Christ. I like that word hope. We have witnessed this hope.
We've experienced this hope. Now the God of hope fill you
with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope through
the power of the Holy Ghost. Every child of God ought to have
great hope. Seeing then that we have such
hope, we use great plainness of speech. Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved and thy house. but he that
believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed
in the name of the only begotten Son of God." Sinner, are you
holding back? Or are you trusting in the Lord
with all your heart? Are you leaning on the everlasting
arms of God Almighty? Or are you leaning on your own
understanding? Do you have the hope of the gospel
or has fear stolen your hope? Do you have the hope of eternal
life or has the things of this world stolen your rest and your
peace? Joshua said, and if it seemed
evil, if it seemed wrong, if it seemed burdensome, no longer
a pleasure and delight unto you to serve the Lord, choose this
day whom you will serve. Now, men and women are gonna
serve something or someone. Man's going to have one master,
but he can't serve two. You can't love one and love the
other. You're gonna love one more than
the other. You can't serve two masters, but every man's gonna
serve one. Choose this day, whether you
will serve the gods which your father served, or whether you'll
serve the true and the living God. That's the issue of the
scriptures. What think ye of Christ? "'Will
you serve the prince of the power of the air, "'the spirit that
now worketh in the children "'of disobedience, the prince of this
world, "'in whose land you dwell? "'Or will you serve the prince
and savior of God, "'who gives repentance and the forgiveness
of sins?' "'Joshua said this, "'Oh God, give me grace to say
it with thee. "'But as for me and my house,
we will serve the Lord.'" Friends, may God be pleased to enable
us to serve the Lord for His glory and for Christ's sake. Amen.