Turn to Acts chapter 5. Acts chapter 5. The title of this lesson is Trifle
Not with the Gospel. Don't play around with the gospel. You know, we can play around
with a lot of things, but not the gospel. This is dealing with
God's chief glory, His redemptive glory. And to make a false profession
is what we will see here and what it led to. Now the Lord
reveals to His church, the infant church at that time and to us
now, that there will always be tears among the weak. Satan will always be at work. You know the scripture says that
Satan is like a roaring lion going about seeking whom he may
devour. He never rests. He's always trying
to divide God's people. He's always trying to bring a
blotch on the glory of God, His redemptive glory, God's chief
glory. There will always be some in
the church that are covetous, idolatrous, hypocrites. There will always be that, always
be. Simon Magus, he's a good example. You remember the story of Simon
Magus? You know, he tried to purchase
the gifts of the Holy Spirit. When he saw the laying on of
hands, he wanted to purchase it. And the apostle said, your
heart's not right with God. Your money perished with you. The children of Israel in the
wilderness, they made a golden calf. They had an errand to make
a golden calf and they worshiped that golden calf. And for the
most part, they died in the wilderness. They did not enter into the promised
land because of unbelief. They did not believe God. They
had the name, but not the nature. And this is what we'll see here
in Ananias and Sapphira. They carried the name of a Christian.
They said, we are Christians. They were baptized. And they
joined in with this group, the believers, this group of believers.
And they made a profession and they carried that name, but the
name doesn't give you the nature. That's a work of God. That's
a work of God. And it comes out. It comes out
in one's life. It comes out through acts of
faith. And really this starts back in chapter 4 back in verse
32. Remember this, the word of God
was not written in chapters and verses. Just let this flow. Let's go back to verse 32. And
the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one
soul. Those that did believe, they
were of one heart and one soul. And neither said any of them
that ought of the things which he possessed was his own, but
they had all things common. First of all, they shared the
same faith. There's only one faith, the common
faith of God's people. That one faith is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. That one faith comes out in works
of love. James said this, faith without
works is dead. True faith shows itself in works
of love. All that they possessed at one
time, listen, at one time, this group of people, they were divided. They said, this is mine. The
other one said, this is mine. And one believed this and another
believed that. But now that God has saved them,
they said, nothing is ours. They honestly believe and understood
that all things belong to God. What I have and what you have
belongs to God, doesn't it? All of it. Now he's given us,
he's made us stewards of what he's given us. You know, everything
we have, and this is so, and you realize this as you grow
in grace and in knowledge of Christ. Everything we have, God
has given to us and he's made us stewards of those things. And we are to use the things
that he's given us, you know, we're to use them for our, you
know, for our well-being, you know. have to have a home to
live in, food to eat. He's given us these things that
we can take care of ourselves, but not just ourselves. He's
given us these things that we can help and take care of one
another. The scripture says that you may
work with your hands, that you may have to give to them that
are in need. Not just meet my needs, but the
needs of others. And then we are stewards of these
things that we may promote the kingdom of God and the gospel,
that we send it out, tell others about it. And these things come
out in acts of faith. Our life is not centered on ourselves
no more as it once was. You know, every one of us at
one time were very self-centered. What we did, we did for ourselves.
That's so. Even the world, when the world,
even when the world gives in charity, there's a whole lot
of that is for self-promotion. You see these so-called movie
stars, I hate to call them movie stars, I don't know what else
you call them. Scripture, I mean, they're called actors, which
in the scriptures means hypocrites. That fits them. They're hypocrites.
They're playing a part that they are not. They're acting like
someone or something. They're not. But what they do,
they do for themselves. They do to make themselves feel
good, and they do it for recognition. You know, they give big money,
and then they get their name stuck up on a building or on
a bridge or someplace. for acts of charity. But the
believer, you, you give out of genuine love. Love to Christ
and love to one another. And you give and you don't want
the recognition. You don't. Those who grow in
grace and knowledge of Christ, when you give, when you help,
you just assume You just assume that no one knew about it. The hypocrites, the Pharisees,
they were a good example. They did what they did to be
seen of men. The Lord said, you do what you
do to be seen of men because the Lord knows the heart. And
he said, this is why you do it. You know, why we do something,
the motive for why we do something is everything. It's everything. You can be like that woman who
tossed in a penny, and the Lord says she gave of all her living.
She gave everything she had. And he said the others have cast
in out of their abundance. They just gave a little piece,
a little bit here, a little bit there. Attitude in giving is
everything. You can give a lot, and it'll
be an abomination to God, but you can give a little with the
right heart, and it means everything. It means everything. And this
is what we see here in Luke verse 33, chapter four. And with great
power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus. And great grace was upon them all, which was evidenced
by their conduct. And neither was there any among
them that lacked because they all took care of each other.
They looked after one another, they loved one another. That's
what you do in the family, isn't it? The family takes care of
one another. And they laid the price of what
they had sold down to the apostles' feet and told them to distribute
it. Barnabas is mentioned here as
an example of grace. Barnabas didn't write this down
about himself. Luke wrote this down about Barnabas. You know, Barnabas was a preacher
of the gospel. And he laid aside everything that would hinder
him from preaching. He sold everything. You know,
the scripture says, especially concerning like a pastor, he
that woreth entangles not himself again with the affairs of this
life. This that I do as a pastor is
a warfare. I preach to you the gospel and
Satan is always at work to destroy it, to bring it down. We don't always see his handiwork
because sometimes it comes in the door and you don't realize
what's going on, just like here. We'll see this here in a minute.
And so Barnabas here, he sells everything, and he's held out
as an example of grace. He says, having land, he sold
it, brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet. And
no doubt, Ananias and Sapphira, but especially Ananias, he saw
this, and he saw the recognition that some of them were getting,
and he wanted some of that recognition. He wanted to be recognized. And
so he plots with his wife. But a certain man named Ananias
and Sapphira, his wives, they sold a possession. And they kept
back part of the price. Now, is there anything wrong
with that? There's nothing wrong with what, you know, he sold
a piece of land, say, let's say he sold it for $10,000. And he
keeps back part of it. But he keeps back part of it
for, I think, a couple of reasons. Number one, greed. He sold it
and the part that he's going to give, he didn't give it because
he loved the church or he loved the Lord Jesus Christ. He gave
it because he wanted recognition. That's all he wanted was recognition. But he also kept back part of
it because he did not trust the Lord to provide. He didn't trust him to provide.
We might need to put this up for a rainy day. You know, we
need to have a stash here on the side in case we need it.
So he just gives part of it and he pulls his wife into it. Now,
here's a lesson for wives. You know, the scripture says,
wives, be in subjection to your husband. but not in things that
are wrong. Not in things that are wrong.
It's like, it says, children, obey your parents in the Lord,
but not in things that are wrong. We don't subject ourselves to
that. We don't submit to that. In things
that are right, but not in things that are wrong. Well, he calls
his wife in on it. And he says, you've got to have
a partner in this, because they're husband and wife, and they're
going to go together. And she falls right in with him, because
her heart was just as void of grace as his was. Both of them
had just gotten caught up in this. There was 3,000 saved.
There were 5,000 saved. And I'm sure there were several people caught
up in that. Satan's at work. They got caught
up in it because Satan behind the scenes he's at work and he
moves these tares into the church and he does so to disrupt their
unity to disrupt their love. This is why he's always at work.
He does it in families where the gospel is preached. He does
it in the church. He does it wherever he can where
the gospel is believed and preached. He will always be at work to
disrupt. And so Ananias calls his wife
in on it and his wife also being privy to it or agreeing to it.
She said, oh, it sounds good. I agree, we ought to keep back,
we ought to keep back several thousand dollars here. We don't
have to give it all, but we'll tell them this is what we sold it
for. We sold it for 10, but we're going to tell them we sold it
for $3,000. We're going to give you all of it. And his wife being
privy to it, she brought a certain part and they brought a certain
part and laid it at the apostle's feet. But Peter said, and a nice,
You see, Ananias came first because this plot was hatched by him
under the spirit of Satan. And Peter said, Ananias, why
has Satan? Why has Satan? And he's letting
him know that he's under the power of Satan, not the Holy
Spirit. And here's something that's very
sobering. Why has Satan filled thine heart
to lie to the Holy Ghost? You're lying to the Holy Ghost.
The Holy Ghost is God. The Son is God. The Father is
God. There's only one God, but he
says you're lying to the Holy Ghost. Well, what is he lying
about? First, at first when I was looking at this and reading it,
I thought, he's lying about keeping back part of the price of the
land, because that's what Peter says. But he's also lying about
the fact that he's saved. He's lying about the fact that
he's born of God. He's lying, he's saying that
he's been saved and born of God, regenerated by the Holy Spirit.
He said, you're lying on the Holy Spirit, you're lying. You
know, one of the things that God hates, seven things that
God hates, you know what? There are six things that God
hates and He says, yeah, seven. One of them, the lying tongue.
Especially when you lie on God and you say that God has saved
you and He hasn't. You know how many say that today?
You know how many this morning are gathering together and saying
that God has saved me and He hasn't saved them at all? They
don't know Jesus Christ at all. They don't believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ at all. They believe on another Jesus
and they believe another God that does not exist. It says, why has Satan filled
thine heart, that evil heart of yours, to lie over the margin,
it says, to deceive, to deceive the Holy Ghost? and keep back
part of the price of the land? While it remained, was it not
in your own hand? And after it was sold, was it
not in thine own power?" In other words, you sold it, you know,
it was in your power to sell it and the money you couldn't,
you know, the apostles didn't tell them. We don't see here
where the apostles told them to go sell everything they had
and give it all. They did this voluntarily. Someone
did it, and another one did it, and then another one did it,
and they did it, but they said, we're going to tell them we sold
it for X amount of dollars, and we're going to keep back X amount
of dollars. He said, you didn't have to do that. The very fact
you did that shows the state of your heart. It shows the hypocrisy
of your heart. It shows a lying tongue. It shows
that God has done nothing, no work of grace in you. That's
what it shows. Why has thou conceived this thing
in that heart? Thou hast not lied to men, but
unto God. You see, in verse three, he says,
you've lied to the Holy Ghost. Verse four, he connects. He connects
the Holy Ghost with being God. He says, you've not lied to men.
But to God, he lied to God. Ananias, hearing these words,
fell down and gave up the ghost. God killed him. God killed him
right there on the spot. Just fell right down, dead. And here's the reason why. And
great fear came on all them that heard these things. Then the
young men took him out and buried him. And then about three hours
later, in verse seven, his wife comes in. She doesn't know what's happened.
She doesn't know her husband died. She comes in three hours
later and Peter asked her, and here, listen, here's an opportunity
to make things right. You see, Ananias pulled her in
on it. She agreed with it, but here
she's given an opportunity to repent. And she doesn't. She doesn't. She sticks with the plan. She
sticks with the plan. She knew better. Ananias standing
there knows he's lying. She's standing there before Peter,
whom God has given a discerning spirit. And there she stands
with an opportunity to repent and say, no, this is not so. She doesn't. because her heart's
not right with God either, just like her husband. Both of them, both of them have
made a false profession. Both of them are hypocrites.
Both of them are actors. They're acting out a part that
they are not. And Peter answered her and said,
tell me whether you sold the land for so much. She said, yeah,
for so much. And Peter said to her, how is
it that you have agreed together to tempt the spirit of the Lord
to lie to God? You see, here's the great offense
of a false profession. You're not just lying to the
people, you're lying to God. You're lying to God and you're
lying on God. Because you're saying, he has
saved me and he hasn't. He's given me a new heart and
he hasn't. And he says, behold, the feet
of them which have buried thy husband are at the door. And
she fell down dead and they carried her out. They carried her out. Both of them made a false profession. They're very hypocritical in
their selling of the land and the price they received and what
they were going to give. They lied. They lied to God.
And they did so for recognition. What's the one thing the Lord
tells us in the gospel? Except you deny yourself. Believers, they deny themselves. They deny themselves of recognition. He must increase. I must decrease. I must fade away into nothing. Or better off to say this, I
must fade away into him. I must fade away to such an extent
that when you hear me, you are hearing the Lord Jesus Christ. And when you leave here, you
are thinking upon the Lord Jesus Christ, that you are amazed at what a Savior, what a Savior
we have. Well, they carried her out dead
and they buried her also. Then fell she down straightway
at his feet and yielded up the ghost and the young men came
in, found her dead, carried her forth and they buried her beside
her husband. And verse 11 here, and this is
why God did this at that time and for the early church at that
time, because Satan was hard at work. and the Lord let it be known
how serious it is to confess Christ. How serious it is to
call yourself a Christian and not be serious about it, not
be committed to it. Great fear came upon all the
church, I guarantee you, at this time that they were not so quick to make a profession. I guarantee
you, at this time, when this went abroad, what happened, they
gave serious, serious thought to this matter of confessing
Christ. that gave serious matter to it.
You know, we live in a day, you know this, we live in a day of
easy believism. Come down the aisle, say a prayer,
repeat this prayer after me, accept Jesus as your personal
savior. If you've repeated this prayer,
then call this number and tell us about it, because we need
your credit card. That's what it is, they need
your credit card number. But we live in such an easy believism. And the Lord shows right here,
you don't trifle with the gospel. It's serious business. This thing of believing on the
Lord Jesus Christ, now listen, it is an all out commitment. He is my life. He owns me. If I'm His, I have been redeemed. You know what that means? I have
been purchased. I have been purchased. Paul said, you are not your own. You've been bought with a price.
Be not the servants of men. We are the servants of God. We
serve in His kingdom. We serve in His vineyard. And
this matter, this matter of believing on the Lord Jesus Christ is serious
business. It's interesting to me how there
are some, and I know them. I know some. I know too many. They make a profession, but they
rarely show up. They say God has saved them,
but you rarely see them. Every once in a while, they're
every once in a while people. They show up every once in a
while. I think you don't know how much trouble
you're in if you're just making a profession and you've duped
yourself, not God. We never deceive him. He knows
the heart. God knows the heart. I pray that God would make it
clear to us that we are his and he is ours. That this just not
something we got, we've gotten fixed up so we don't have to
go to hell. Someone's talked us into a profession.
but that God has genuinely given us a new heart and a right spirit,
and we are His. And we are totally sold out,
committed to Jesus Christ. He is my life. Without Him, I don't have one.
And what I have belongs to Him. And I'm a steward and you are
a steward of what he's given us. And I pray that by God's
grace, he'll enable us to be faithful stewards. All right.