Live Free with Josh Howerton - Ananias and Sapphira // Acts 5:1-11

Episode Date: November 14, 2024

Ananias and Sapphira saw how Barnabas was praised for his generosity, and they wanted the recognition, too. They tried to lie to Peter and the church, but the Spirit cannot be deceived. By faking their generosity, they revealed that they did not have a proper fear of the Lord. Their deception cost them their lives. What about you? Do you live in awe of the God of the universe who loves you, or do you seek the temporary praise of man?   For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.combe. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, thanks for hanging with us today on the Daily Drive, where we just pursue God together every day. And wherever you are and whenever you might be listening, hopefully these next few minutes might spur you on to pursue God all day long. Hey, my name is Bro, and we are currently diving into the Book of Acts.

And we have seen how united and together the early church is as they live this, what they called the shared life. But today, they hit a bump in the road. Yesterday we met a really special guy named Barnabas, nicknamed the son of encouragement. We read how he, along with lots of other people that sold property to fund the benevolence ministry of the church, and like we said yesterday, he was such a humble guy that being singled out for his generosity probably really embarrassed him. He definitely wasn't in it for the spotlight or the praise. But that can't be said of everybody. Today in Chapter 5, we meet a couple named Ananias and Safira, who craved the applause and attention. They wanted to be singled out and recognized

for their generosity, like Barnabas was, thinking, we'll pretend to be really super generous, too, so that they will like us, so they will accept us, so they will lift us up as an example, maybe even give us a nickname, too. Let's just jump into chapter five. It's a story that I do not like to read. It's a story about approval seeking and lying to get it. It's a story about how God wanted authenticity to rule in his infant church, and he still values that today. Let's jump in. But there was a certain man named Ananias, who with his wife, Sapphire, sold some property. He brought part of the money to the apostles claiming it was the full amount. With his wife's consent, he kept the rest. Now, there's nothing wrong with what he did through half of those verses.

He and his wife agreed to sell some property and give part of it to the church. Great. Thank you very much for your generosity, enjoy the rest of it. All of us are pitching in and we're grateful that you want to be a part of this amazing thing, too. However, they claimed it was the full amount of the sale. Well, God's spirit reveals to Peter what's really going on. He says this, verse three, Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. I mean, the property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. and after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. What made you think of doing such a thing?

You weren't lying to us, but to God. What made you think of doing such a thing? How could you be involved in something so supernatural and not sense the awesome power of God? Ananias, the Holy Spirit, is moving. People are speaking in different languages. There's all kinds of signs and wonders and miracles. There's healings.

There's room-shaking prayer. We're sharing our possessions, and we're joyfully meeting the needs of other people. There's this miracle of one heart, one mind unity. This place is empowered by a supernatural force like none other. People's lives are being changed right before our eyes. What made you think of doing such a thing? To think that you would flippantly pretend

in the presence of an all-knowing God who is so good and so wonderful and so true and so faithful and so incredibly powerful. It's simply astounding. What made you think of doing so good? such a thing. Don't you fear God? You see, here's the deal. They didn't. They didn't fear God, and they didn't fool God. In faking their generosity, they revealed their hearts. And it says this in verse 5. As soon as Ananias heard these words from Peter, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified. Then some young men got up, wrapped him in a sheet, and took him out, and

buried him. About three hours later, his wife came in, not knowing what it happened. Peter asked her, was this the price you and your husband received for your land? And you know everybody's got to be thinking, please, come on, please come clean. Don't do what your husband did. It's not an issue at all that you kept some of the money for yourself. But it is an issue that you would think you could lie to the Holy Spirit. So come on, fess up. Just come clean. But instead, she says, yes, that was the price. And Peter says, how could the two of you even think of conspiring to test the spirit of the Lord like this? The young men who buried your husband are just outside the door, and they will carry you out too. And instantly she fell to the floor and died.

When the young men came in and saw that she was dead, they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. And great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened. You think? When we talk about the fear of God, we're not talking about being afraid of God. Although when you consider His immense power, we would have reason to be afraid of God. I mean, the one who spoke the world into existence could squash me like an aunt if he chose to. But instead of fear, being afraid, we're talking about deep respect and reverence and admiration and adoration and worship and wonder and awe. There is no one like God, no one.

Let me ask you, do you stand in all of His sovereignty, His wisdom, His majesty, His mercy, His compassion, His holiness, his creative genius and power, and his unfailing love? Man, when I look at my depravity and I look at His holiness and know that He loves me like he does, man, I fear a God who can love like that. even though the Holy Spirit was present and active in their church and moving in the believers' lives, Satan was still active too, still lying to them, still accusing them, still reminding them of their past, their inadequacies, their fleshly desires. And I don't know, perhaps he whispered to Ananias like he does to us. Anonias, come on, man, you've never been popular. No one's ever given you any press, any notoriety, any applause, no props.

Check out Barnabas. Everybody loves that guy. Did you see what he gave? Man, you got the resources. You could give half the amount he gave. It still be the biggest gift in church history. And you never even miss it. Just tell them that you're giving it all.

They don't know the price anyway, and they will love you for it. They will applaud you, probably even give you a plaque, maybe even name the first building after you. They'll never know the truth. Just trust me. And they did. And it led to death. Isaiah 2915 reminds us what sorrow waits for those who try to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their evil deeds in the dark.

Oh, the Lord can't see us, they say. He doesn't know what's going on. It's futile to fool God. There's just no way to pull that off. It's like playing hide-and-seek with a toddler who's hiding behind like a pole lamp. He sees. He knows. Hebrews 413 tells us nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight.

everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give an account. He sees. He knows. It's futile to try to fake him out. You can't do it. And why would you want to anyway when there is such freedom in authenticity? When you know that you are loved with an unfailing love, that your father knows everything about you but loves you anyway, why wouldn't you be honest with him? This story is one of the more uncomfortable stories for me in the Bible. And honestly, I'm hoping to ask Ananias and Sapphire about it when I get to heaven. Because there's nothing in the story that indicates they were condemned to hell.

And if they were genuine believers, they had already passed from death to life. And it seems like they were part of this family of faith, this new community, they were a part of that whole description of the early church in chapter four. and while we can't know whether or not they were genuinely following Jesus, I know all kinds of believers, people who have been born again, including me, who have fallen victim to Satan's lies. Let their ego take over, sought the approval of people, and lost momentarily their fear of God. And here in the beginning of the church, with the Holy Spirit being so active among them,

and the great need for his church to be authentic and pure, it was a sin that need to be dealt with swiftly and firmly, and it sent a message that what we're doing here is real and requires an appropriate fear, respect, and awe of God. Like I said, it's an uncomfortable story, and I can't pretend to know all the answers, but I know I don't want to pretend. I want to live with an authentic faith knowing I stand in need of the grace of God every day of my life, to not try to fake him or anybody else out for that matter. Just trying to be real with a deep gratitude for the unfailing love of God. So let's be content in his approval and his applause today. And let's just walk honestly with him. I'll see you back here tomorrow.

Have a great day. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays and Sundays. For more information about all the digital ministries of Lake Point, visit lake point.church slash daily drive. Also, if this podcast was helpful to you, would you be sure to rate, review, and share this podcast to help get the word out.