1 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:10,400 Please take a seat, open your Bibles to we're in the book of 2 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:13,960 Acts, Acts chapter 5. We won't do all of chapter 5 3 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:19,560 tonight. You've probably heard a term if 4 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:24,200 any of you had any time through your Christian walk, some of you 5 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:27,040 won't have heard the term called slain in the Spirit. 6 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:32,320 Well, tonight you get actual biblical definition of slain in 7 00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:37,760 the Spirit. It's another title we can give 8 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:42,200 tonight is is is that you can't lie to God, can't lie to God. 9 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:50,160 So before we get into chapter 5 or no notice chapter 5 says but 10 00:00:50,160 --> 00:00:55,040 a certain man named Ananias with Sapphira his wife sold a 11 00:00:55,120 --> 00:01:00,080 possession. Acts chapter 5 verse one starts 12 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:02,280 with the word, but a certain man. 13 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:04,959 It's interesting. It doesn't start off with and a 14 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:07,880 certain man, doesn't it? You know why it starts that way? 15 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:12,200 Because that's why we teach through the Bible, because the 16 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:17,800 context of what happened, what lay behind this is in the 17 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:27,240 previous chapter and that's from verse 36. 18 00:01:27,320 --> 00:01:33,480 And Josie, who was also named Barnabas by the Apostles, which 19 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:36,800 is translated son of encouragement, a Levite of the 20 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:42,400 country of Cyprus. Now having land, he sold it. 21 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:46,080 What did he do? Brought the money later that the 22 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:54,160 apostles feat Wonderful. Now a couple try to do something 23 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:59,120 a little bit similar. Their name is Ananias. 24 00:01:59,960 --> 00:02:03,720 Ananias means in the Greek God is gracious. 25 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:10,600 He would learn that God is holy. Sapphira in the Greek means 26 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:14,680 beautiful. Unfortunately, her heart was 27 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:20,800 ugly with sin at this moment in the in the early church's life, 28 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:24,960 it had been filled with the Spirit of God and it was it was 29 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:29,680 continuing since the day of Pentecost 2000. 30 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:35,440 Sorry, 3000 souls saved another 2000 the man healed at the gate, 31 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:40,320 beautiful gathering of more and so the Lord adding to the church 32 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:45,160 daily as those would be saved. The church was growing. 33 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:49,720 It was growing because God was bringing into the church. 34 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:53,520 Remember those who were safe. So you, they weren't coming to 35 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:55,720 check it out. There was no spectators in the 36 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:58,240 early church. No, just, well, I'm just, you 37 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:01,800 know, cruising, no God save people. 38 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:06,440 And they came into the church and as the church got together, 39 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:11,600 they worshipped together, they sang together, they prayed 40 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:14,080 together. We learnt that after Peter and 41 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:18,920 John had been arrested and threatened and they ate 42 00:03:18,920 --> 00:03:24,280 together, not only communion, breaking of bread each Sunday, 43 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:29,040 but they had meals together, house to house. 44 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:33,520 And people, as we see with Barnabas, were giving 45 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:36,440 sacrificially. People were bringing what they 46 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:40,840 had, bringing it to the disciples and they were saying 47 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:44,040 here, here, you guys, we brought this, use it for what? 48 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:48,120 Whatever the church needs, the disciples led by the Holy Spirit 49 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:52,240 would then use those funds and people would bring this 50 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:55,680 sacrificially. I mean, this is not a wealthy 51 00:03:55,680 --> 00:03:58,680 group of people, especially now that they're believers because 52 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:03,040 they, many of them lost their jobs, cut off from the guilds. 53 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:06,680 That is like the unions, people went buying or selling from them 54 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:13,200 our outcasts. And as I said, Barnabas does 55 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:17,399 this amazing thing and he sells some land and he brings the 56 00:04:17,399 --> 00:04:19,720 money, lays it at the apostles feet. 57 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:25,560 We're told of the generosity and sacrificial giving of Barnabas 58 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:29,440 and what was the impact on the church was he was seen by the 59 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:32,080 churches. Now here what Barnabas did isn't 60 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:35,120 that awesome, helping out, you know, the widows can get some 61 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:37,280 funds now and we can get some bread. 62 00:04:37,280 --> 00:04:38,640 We're going to deal with that later on. 63 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:41,960 We can buy more bread. Look after certain situations 64 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:45,920 struggling. And he was respected by what he 65 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:52,240 did. Was his task, his giving? 66 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:55,520 Was it the catalyst for what fills chapter 5? 67 00:04:55,520 --> 00:05:00,400 I think it was verse 2. We'll start reverse one again, 68 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:05,120 but a certain man named Ananias with sapphire, his wife sold a 69 00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:11,760 possession and he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also 70 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:14,960 being aware of it. So it's a partnership and 71 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:18,920 brought a certain part, laid it at the apostles fleet. 72 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:22,600 Well done, good on you. He's doing like Barnabas. 73 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:29,640 But Peter said thank you. No he didn't. 74 00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:34,840 Peter said Ananias so he knows him. 75 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:44,320 Didn't say, hey you Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to 76 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:51,120 lie to the Holy Ghost and keep back part of the price of the 77 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:55,800 land for yourself while it remained? 78 00:05:55,800 --> 00:05:58,800 Was it not your own? He said you, you can do whatever 79 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:06,320 you like with your money. And after it was sold, was it 80 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:09,120 not all yours to control? You didn't have to give it, 81 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:14,680 could have kept it all. But why have you conceived this 82 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:19,400 thing in your heart? It's another question because 83 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:25,040 you're being deceptive. You've given the appearance and 84 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:27,760 the display of Oh yeah, we sold our land. 85 00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:30,120 Yeah, we had those acres, we sold them, sold it all, and 86 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:31,080 here's the mate. We've given it. 87 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:36,120 Just like Barnabas. You have not lied to men, Peter 88 00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:38,040 said. But to God. 89 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:41,680 Wow, that's not something you usually get when you're going to 90 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:47,760 give an offering, is it? They only gave a portion whilst 91 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:51,080 implying they had sacrificially given all. 92 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:54,320 Yeah, yeah, We go over. Yeah, we had some really good, 93 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:57,200 you know, nice property and we sold. 94 00:06:57,200 --> 00:06:59,080 We brought all the money in. Oh yeah. 95 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:00,760 Oh, wonder. Oh yeah. 96 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:05,320 We're just doing our just doing our bit, you know, just like 97 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:07,160 Barnabas. Wow. 98 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:12,720 The words kept back in the Greek. 99 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:17,040 I'm not going to try and pronounce it means to 100 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:20,120 misappropriate. You know, we always get that, 101 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:23,600 don't we? Some accountant somewhere and 102 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:27,600 some firm has been or manager of a sporting club or something or 103 00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:32,320 a manager of an athlete has misappropriated funds. 104 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:38,720 It's the very same word kept back that was used back in 105 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:44,520 another story in the book of Joshua, a fella called Akin. 106 00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:50,880 Remember Battle of Jericho, Joshua 721? 107 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:56,520 They were told in Joshua, go round Jericho. 108 00:07:56,560 --> 00:07:59,200 Then on the last day, go round, round, round shout. 109 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:02,240 Walls fell down. But don't take anything because 110 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:05,000 it's the Lords. It's an offering to the Lord in 111 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:06,960 the next town you could, but not this one. 112 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:10,440 It's the Lords. But we know Aiken. 113 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:16,560 He got some gold and some cloth, buried it in his tent. 114 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:18,600 His family knew about it, remember. 115 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:26,480 And when all the to the tribe by tribe and you know, and then 116 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:30,320 group by group, then family by family and then Aiken's family 117 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:33,200 that it's just man, that would have been a difficult day, 118 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:39,600 wouldn't it pass by? And then when Aiken was chosen, 119 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:43,640 found out, he was asked why did you do what you did? 120 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:48,840 And Joshua 721 Well, when I saw the spoils, a beautiful 121 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:54,560 Babylonian garment, 200 shekels of silver, wedge of gold 122 00:08:54,840 --> 00:09:00,000 weighing 50 shekels, I coveted them and took them. 123 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:04,360 And there they are, hidden in the earth, in the midst of my 124 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:09,160 tent with the silver under it. The words I coveted them and 125 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:13,000 took them means I stole them. It's the same word I kept back. 126 00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:18,320 I took them Ananias. And Acts 5 is akin to the same 127 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:21,360 story of greed found in Joshua Aiken. 128 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:26,360 It's a parallel. Both are a story of deceit 129 00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:31,080 interrupting. Remember celebration Jericho, 130 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:36,200 not a, not a, not an Israeli slain and a great victory and a 131 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:42,080 great booty to give unto the God unto the Lord, an offering that 132 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:46,240 everyone's celebrating and it's just victory and bang, the enemy 133 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:49,520 does something whenever you know, we go through something 134 00:09:49,520 --> 00:09:52,240 and you know, you come home from church and it's been, you know, 135 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:55,040 God spoken to you. You went to Bible study. 136 00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:58,680 You've just read something and then along comes someone or 137 00:09:58,680 --> 00:10:01,560 something and it just blows it out of the water. 138 00:10:02,560 --> 00:10:03,760 I know that's never happened to you. 139 00:10:09,450 --> 00:10:13,330 It interrupted the victorious progress of God's people in both 140 00:10:13,330 --> 00:10:16,480 cases. It's like the little foxes in 141 00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:20,480 Proverbs. You know, it just doesn't go 142 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:27,920 smooth. This just just ruin Peter nails 143 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:30,920 Ananias. Why has Satan filled your heart 144 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:33,400 to lie? The Holy Spirit kept back. 145 00:10:34,280 --> 00:10:37,200 You could have just kept all the money you didn't have to give no 146 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:41,920 one, no one forced you. But you've conceived this thing 147 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:46,400 in your heart. Notice premeditated wasn't just 148 00:10:46,560 --> 00:10:49,560 a whim. They worked this out. 149 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:52,400 You have not lied to men, but to God. 150 00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:55,800 Peter confronts Ananias. That's a pretty big deal. 151 00:10:56,560 --> 00:10:59,920 Why has Satan filled your heart here? 152 00:10:59,920 --> 00:11:04,120 Peter is given by the Holy Spirit at this moment. 153 00:11:06,280 --> 00:11:11,200 He was given the gift of faith when he grabbed the man who was 154 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:15,400 begging for more than 40 years and never worked, got into his 155 00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:19,120 feet, and now the Holy Spirit gives him another gift. 156 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:22,440 This one's not the gift of faith, but this one's the gift 157 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:27,000 of supernatural knowledge. 1 Corinthians 12, verse 8. 158 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:29,800 For one has given the Word of Wisdom through the Spirit to 159 00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:33,080 another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit. 160 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:37,760 And Peter has given the knowledge about what's happened 161 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:44,440 to Ananias and Sapphire. He knows exactly what's gone 162 00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:46,080 because God's revealed it to Peter. 163 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:52,680 Peter, notice with me in your text did not accuse Ananias of 164 00:11:52,680 --> 00:11:55,080 lying to the disciples. He didn't say, why have you lied 165 00:11:55,080 --> 00:12:01,280 to me and John? No, he says you've lied to the 166 00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:03,400 Holy Spirit. This is different. 167 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:07,880 His crime was not withholding the money. 168 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:15,080 It's his money, but the crime was in the implication by 169 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:19,640 premeditated deception that he was giving all of it to the 170 00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:23,800 Lord. It's funny how Jesus would watch 171 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:28,480 the silver trumpets by at the temple would watch how people 172 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:30,040 would give. He talks about that. 173 00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:33,880 You know, he talks more about money than he does about heaven. 174 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:40,320 And anyway, all the Pharisees and the Sadducees would come, 175 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:44,280 and before they go, they go. Everybody listen up. 176 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:49,440 Check this out. Wow, you are. 177 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:53,640 How godly are you? Meanwhile, Jesus, still watching 178 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:57,360 the widow, sneaks up. No one sees it, but Jesus sees 179 00:12:57,360 --> 00:13:00,640 it. She throws in all that she has, 180 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:06,360 all that she has. Jesus notes that and he talks 181 00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:09,840 about giving. It's not the amount, it's the 182 00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:14,480 heart. Giving demonstrates and reveals 183 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:23,760 the heart, your heart. The sin was greed, but the 184 00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:28,000 greatest sin was pride. Pride. 185 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:31,480 What is pride in church? Pride is look at me, look what 186 00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:36,960 I'm doing, look how good I am. Oh, so you don't, you haven't 187 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:40,680 learnt Greek. What Bible do you read? 188 00:13:40,680 --> 00:13:44,000 Oh, yeah, that translation, you know, it's a paraphrase. 189 00:13:44,560 --> 00:13:46,560 Oh, you have ATV in your house? Yeah. 190 00:13:46,560 --> 00:13:49,320 We don't watch TV. Never had ATV. 191 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:50,960 And. And. 192 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:53,320 And it goes on. And I've heard all these things 193 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:57,800 come up, you know, you know, about people just elevating 194 00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:04,720 themselves above, above others. And God cannot stand proud or 195 00:14:04,840 --> 00:14:09,560 pride people, proud people. And they were wanting Ananias 196 00:14:09,560 --> 00:14:13,520 and Sapphire were wanting people to think that they had given all 197 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:18,160 the proceeds from the sale of the land, all how godly they 198 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:23,880 were. Proverbs 15-8 You know when you 199 00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:29,600 don't give right? You know Al Capone, he was the 200 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:32,600 gangster and he was in church every Sunday. 201 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:35,120 You know, he was the biggest giver in the church that he went 202 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:38,040 to. You know what God thought of 203 00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:41,000 what he gave because he murdered people throughout the week. 204 00:14:42,040 --> 00:14:50,080 Proverbs 15-8 says the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination 205 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:58,520 to the Lord, an abomination. Today this same greedy sin is 206 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:02,320 still prevalent. People wanting to be considered 207 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:07,360 spiritual whilst refusing to pay any price in their service to 208 00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:10,960 God. And you know the sad thing? 209 00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:14,960 As we read chapter 5, as Peter has said, and this is all 210 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:18,360 unnecessary. This didn't need to happen. 211 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:22,560 Satan filled the heart of Ananias. 212 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:25,920 Let me say this, he wasn't demon possessed. 213 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:31,960 This is not what this is saying Satan influenced because as a 214 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:34,480 believer you cannot be demon possessed. 215 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:38,240 Like darkness can't go together. You can read through the Bible, 216 00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:44,520 it doesn't work. Satan worked on the heart of 217 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:49,120 Ananias. Satan can influence you even as 218 00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:52,680 a Christian will read and get the scriptures to back that up, 219 00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:57,840 but Satan cannot do your sinning for you, you do it. 220 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:00,320 Oh well Judas, he never had a choice. 221 00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:03,920 He was the son of petition. No, Judas had a choice. 222 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:11,840 He chose to go and surf Satan. Ananias had to conceive this in 223 00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:15,320 his heart. Verse 5. 224 00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:20,040 Then Ananias, hearing his words, fell down, slain in the spirit, 225 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:27,040 actually really fully, and breathed his last man. 226 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:29,200 That was a church service you'd never forget. 227 00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:34,560 So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. 228 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:39,440 That's the result. And the young men arose, wrapped 229 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:42,000 him up, carried him out, buried him. 230 00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:45,280 Because you know, in that culture still exists today, you 231 00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:46,840 got to be buried within 24 hours. 232 00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:49,960 Wrap him up, put into a place ready for the burial. 233 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:55,840 Ananias drops dead on the spot. Peter didn't. 234 00:16:55,920 --> 00:16:57,600 And no one caught him by the way, either. 235 00:16:57,880 --> 00:17:01,680 There's no catching. Peter did not pronounce the 236 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:06,640 death sentence on Ananias. Peter confronted his sin only. 237 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:12,000 The church is not in the business of announcing the death 238 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:16,000 sentence on anyone. Ananias death. 239 00:17:16,319 --> 00:17:18,640 What was it? This was an act of God's 240 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:22,800 judgement. I believe even Peter was shocked 241 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:24,839 at Ananias suddenly dropping dead. 242 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:27,280 I think Peter went, oh, yeah, when I tell him, and then he's 243 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:29,480 going to drop dead. And Ananias went next one 244 00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:37,320 Peter's got, maybe take a step back, guys. 245 00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:39,840 Come grab this guy. He's dead. 246 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:46,120 Why was this act treated so vehemently, so strongly? 247 00:17:47,840 --> 00:17:51,520 It was more than an attempt to see God and his church. 248 00:17:52,360 --> 00:17:56,760 It was treating the holy God with contempt. 249 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:03,360 God doesn't like that. It was disrespecting that which 250 00:18:03,360 --> 00:18:07,080 is sacred. God is holy one. 251 00:18:07,080 --> 00:18:10,600 Corinthians Chapter 11 talks about communion. 252 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:14,000 Paul wrote to the Church of Corinth because things were 253 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:16,400 going awry. They had all the gifts happening 254 00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:24,160 but man it was it needed fixing. 1 Corinthians 11 it's read out 255 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:26,720 when we take communion. Therefore, whoever eats this 256 00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:29,920 bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will 257 00:18:29,920 --> 00:18:32,160 be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 258 00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:35,600 But let a man examine himself. So let him eat of the bread and 259 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:39,040 drink of the cup, for he who eats and drinks in an unworthy 260 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:42,680 manner eats and drinks judgement to himself, not discerning the 261 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:46,240 Lord's body. Verse 30 For this reason, many a 262 00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:50,160 week and sick among you, and many sleep. 263 00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:56,160 That means not that they died. They've abused. 264 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:01,800 And this is the believers. This is not, you know, some 265 00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:05,320 bloke going off the street. This is believers not doing that 266 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:09,600 which is right, for if we would judge ourselves we would not be 267 00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:11,560 judged. But when we are judged, we're 268 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:16,240 chastened by the Lord who does? Who does the Lord chasten those 269 00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:20,640 whom he loves, that we may not be condemned with the world. 270 00:19:21,120 --> 00:19:26,360 So Ananias action also offload with overflowed with vanity and 271 00:19:26,360 --> 00:19:29,480 a lack of faith. Where was he keeping the money 272 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:31,240 back? Well, you know, because we'll 273 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:34,760 need it. No, because when you give, it's, 274 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:37,400 it's not about I give. But you know, I can only give so 275 00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:39,840 much because I'm going to need this. 276 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:45,400 The widow didn't do that. She didn't go, oh, I've got 4 277 00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:47,920 coins. I'll put one in because I need 278 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:51,800 the other three. No, no, no, it's not about. 279 00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:57,640 You know, I know God says in his word that he'll look after us, 280 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:00,320 but, but no, no, no, I'll do this. 281 00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:08,600 Lastly, it was a profound act of hypocrisy. 282 00:20:09,920 --> 00:20:14,920 Just it just how everything's been growing and going well and 283 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:17,520 the Spirit's moving. People are getting saved. 284 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:19,200 They're praying with one another. 285 00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:23,080 You know, it's just the Lord is building the church. 286 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:27,280 But Keith is still harsh in judgement, Don't you think? 287 00:20:28,360 --> 00:20:33,720 Well, God was judging lies and who's the father of lies? 288 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:40,640 Say God will not tolerate deception in the church at this 289 00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:45,360 time. Jesus made it clear that we must 290 00:20:45,360 --> 00:20:51,440 be careful how we give. Pride seeks to take God's glory 291 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:57,000 from Him. We must use what He gives for 292 00:20:57,000 --> 00:20:59,880 His glory alone. As God gives, we give. 293 00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:03,520 The sin was directed against God's church. 294 00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:08,520 The sin that was in Ananias and Sapphira was against God's 295 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:12,480 church. Satan wanted to use Ananias and 296 00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:17,080 Sapphira in the church, and if they stayed, he would work 297 00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:19,000 through them. What's that? 298 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:23,720 A little bit of 1111's a lump. Oh, you know, and so this couple 299 00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:27,160 if they'd been allowed to stay infection. 300 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:34,480 No, the great wonder, you know, when we say, isn't this harsh in 301 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:37,840 in his judgement? No, the great wonder is actually 302 00:21:37,840 --> 00:21:40,840 the very opposite. In fact, as I read my Bible that 303 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:46,360 God delays his righteous judgement on the world that he's 304 00:21:46,360 --> 00:21:49,320 holding back. How many people would be 305 00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:52,920 frightened to death before God if they were confronted with 306 00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:58,400 their sins so openly as this? Ezekiel and Jeremiah, Jeremiah 307 00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:01,600 in particular, young 14 to 17 year old, he's told, go down, 308 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:04,400 stand at the gates as the people are coming into the temple and 309 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:08,760 say you're a thief, you're robbing God, you, you're an 310 00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:11,160 adulterer. This and, and other people 311 00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:14,280 coming, you know, coming with the prayer and the bringing 312 00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:16,920 their offerings. And that's that's Jeremiah's job 313 00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:25,640 in this case, Peter has taken on that role and he's speaking to 314 00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:28,920 people and an ice of fire. Imagine coming into church and 315 00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:32,720 someone said, you, you've just done this. 316 00:22:33,360 --> 00:22:36,320 Here we go. You'd feel like dropping dead, 317 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:43,160 wouldn't you? It was a crucial time in the 318 00:22:43,160 --> 00:22:48,120 early church, but such impurity of sin, scandal and Satanic 319 00:22:48,120 --> 00:22:50,640 influence because that's what's behind it, because Peter said 320 00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:54,720 why is Satan remember, go back to the root cause. 321 00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:01,000 Satanic influence would have would have come in and sat in 322 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:04,880 the front row of the church. Oh, and a nice to fight. 323 00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:06,640 Yeah. That part of part of the board. 324 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:09,720 Yeah, all that been here, you know, years back they gave and 325 00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:13,240 you see how it just, it can just ball along. 326 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:17,920 Ball along. They could have corrupted the 327 00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:20,040 entire church at its earliest roots. 328 00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:25,720 If allowed to remain and fester. Then why does not God judge like 329 00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:26,800 this today? You go. 330 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:31,800 I don't want him. Oh, yeah. 331 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:33,520 Church service today. How'd you go? 332 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:40,160 We had 50, what, 50 in the church, No 50 drop dead. 45 a 333 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:49,840 week before you know the church has many branches now worldwide. 334 00:23:50,360 --> 00:23:54,280 At this moment the church was in one location. 335 00:23:54,320 --> 00:24:00,440 It was the the very beginning of it before it was dispersed 336 00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:03,600 around the world. The church oversight today as 337 00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:07,800 well is not what it was back then with the disciples over it, 338 00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:11,400 because there would be bodies stacked high at the end of some 339 00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:14,240 services today if God still did that today. 340 00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:18,720 Seriously, as a result of God's judgement on Ananias in this 341 00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:21,960 manner, then Ananias hearing these words, fell down, breathed 342 00:24:21,960 --> 00:24:25,520 his last, and what happened? You see, Notice the result of 343 00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:29,080 this great fear, great fear, right, of a holy God. 344 00:24:29,360 --> 00:24:32,720 You see, that was, that was being, that was the damage, that 345 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:34,680 was that God's no longer holy. You know what I mean? 346 00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:35,440 Just look. Look. 347 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:38,920 What can happen. Came upon all those who heard 348 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:41,120 these things. No one was lying. 349 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:44,200 I can tell you. It's Peter. 350 00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:45,160 Yeah. No, Peter. 351 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:45,800 Yep. Yep. 352 00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:48,520 What do you want to know? You know everything anyway. 353 00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:50,920 You know about my life. Anyway, they'd be scared stiff. 354 00:24:53,120 --> 00:24:57,400 Three hours later, she didn't knock on the door. 355 00:24:57,400 --> 00:24:59,720 I just did that for effect. So fire. 356 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:02,000 His wife turns up. Verse seven. 357 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:04,920 Now it was about 3 hours later when his wife came in, not 358 00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:10,120 knowing what had happened, Peter answered it. 359 00:25:10,120 --> 00:25:15,160 Tell me, you tell me whether you sold the land for so much. 360 00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:18,880 She's yeah, yeah, that's the amount that's right. 361 00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:24,600 And Peter said to her, How is it that you have agreed together? 362 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:32,200 Premeditated sin, premeditated hypocrisy, premeditated pride. 363 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:38,000 You have agreed together to test who us and say the disciples, 364 00:25:38,360 --> 00:25:42,040 our administration board. No, the spirit of the Lord. 365 00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:47,080 Look, the feet of those who've buried your husband are at the 366 00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:49,560 door. Young guys come back, they just 367 00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:52,520 cut it off. The husband, they come in, bang, 368 00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:56,680 there's another one and they will carry you out. 369 00:25:57,480 --> 00:26:02,040 Then immediately she fell down at Peter's feet, breathed, alas, 370 00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:05,040 and the young men came in and went, no, I'm not another one. 371 00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:08,440 No, they didn't say that. Found her dead, carrying her 372 00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:13,880 out, buried her by her husband. She was a willing sinful partner 373 00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:16,720 in the satanic inspired deception. 374 00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:20,160 You know, we, we look at this so glibly and we go, well, it 375 00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:22,720 wasn't such a big deal. You see, that's where we we've 376 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:26,960 lost it so much now, you know, do you remember back when shut 377 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:34,520 up was a swear word, like a belted well, my mom constantly, 378 00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:37,040 forever, not kind of I'd say it, but since I said that it was a 379 00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:41,720 good whack that was a swear word. 380 00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:48,000 Things have changed. She was a willing sinful partner 381 00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:51,600 in the Satanic inspired deception as we read it and pull 382 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:57,160 it apart. Behind this is Satan who tried 383 00:26:57,160 --> 00:27:00,880 to persecute him. Then he said we'll join them. 384 00:27:03,240 --> 00:27:06,440 Now a question that comes up is were Ananias and Sapphire 385 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:10,120 believers, Well whether you know were they Christians or not 386 00:27:10,120 --> 00:27:11,320 Christians? Good question. 387 00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:15,360 Firstly, proof text is the Bible. 388 00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:20,120 Firstly, they were included in the congregation of those who 389 00:27:20,120 --> 00:27:22,280 believe. Remember they weren't hangers on 390 00:27:22,280 --> 00:27:26,220 in the early church. They weren't nominal or part 391 00:27:26,220 --> 00:27:28,280 time believers. Or I'm checking it out. 392 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:32,120 No, you're in the church because you were saved. 393 00:27:34,360 --> 00:27:38,680 Acts 432. Secondly, they were involved 394 00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:44,640 with the Holy Spirit. They were lying to the Holy 395 00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:49,520 Spirit, thus indicating a relationship to Him. 396 00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:57,560 Thirdly, if they were not Christians, what's the big deal? 397 00:27:58,840 --> 00:28:02,920 What lessons about sin did this give to teach all the rest who 398 00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:04,720 are true believers? They were just a couple of 399 00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:07,040 yokels came in. So they gave money something. 400 00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:09,160 What's what's it got to do with the Church? 401 00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:17,320 Fourthly, Satan can become personally involved with 402 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:21,400 believers. Matthew 1622. 403 00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:26,480 Peter, Jesus talking about anything. 404 00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:28,080 I got to die. I got to go to Jerusalem. 405 00:28:28,280 --> 00:28:29,000 Die. No, wait, wait. 406 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:29,680 Come. Come here. 407 00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:31,160 Come here. I want to talk to you. 408 00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:33,920 You've been talking about you going to Jerusalem. 409 00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:36,040 You dying. This is not going to happen. 410 00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:40,800 Peter took Jesus aside, began to rebuke him. 411 00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:50,160 Wow, Yeah, we don't read, Peter rebuked Jesus saying, far be it 412 00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:54,480 from you, Lord, that doesn't that doesn't work well, does it? 413 00:28:56,560 --> 00:29:03,240 This shall not happen to you. But he, Jesus turned and said to 414 00:29:03,240 --> 00:29:07,480 Peter, I'll stop it, Peter. No, what did he say? 415 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:12,440 Get behind me, son. You're influencing here. 416 00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:17,000 You're an offence to me. For you are not mindful of the 417 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:18,720 things of God, but the things of men. 418 00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:22,320 Ephesians 612 You and I, we know all that. 419 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:25,320 We often go there when we have spiritual battles, don't we? 420 00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:28,800 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against 421 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:31,720 principalities, against powers, against the rules of the 422 00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:35,160 darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in 423 00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:37,480 the heavenly places. We're wrestling with Him all the 424 00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:39,880 time. He's trying to influence us all 425 00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:42,360 the time. One Peter, chapter 5, verse 8. 426 00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:44,440 Be sober. Be vigilant. 427 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:46,960 Why? Because your adversary, the 428 00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:51,200 devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he 429 00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:54,000 may devour. These are words and verses 430 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:57,280 written to Christian, to believers, not unbelievers. 431 00:29:57,320 --> 00:30:00,320 Unbelievers don't care. I didn't believe in the devil. 432 00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:08,760 Resist him steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same 433 00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:11,360 sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. 434 00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:15,000 It is possible for a Christian to sin unto death. 435 00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:20,200 John tells us this one. John 516 If anyone sees his 436 00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:24,480 brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, 437 00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:27,480 and he will give him life. For those who commit sin not 438 00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:30,560 leading to death, there is sin leading to death. 439 00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:33,080 I do not say that he should pray about that. 440 00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:37,680 So we do have New Testament examples of saved people being 441 00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:43,760 judged, brought home in death. We read that about communion. 442 00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:48,880 Death can be divine chastening for a believer. 443 00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:54,120 The horror of the sin of pride is that it is the sin which will 444 00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:58,240 corrupt the church more quickly than anything else. 445 00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:02,800 That's why God had to deal with it back in Joshua with Akin. 446 00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:07,320 Remember God told Moses, OK, this is when you have a parade, 447 00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:11,560 tribe group, families, individuals, you know, all this 448 00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:14,640 way. And then at the end, who carried 449 00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:16,520 out the execution? The people did. 450 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:23,480 They brought judgement, Ananias of fire in the book of Acts. 451 00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:26,960 God took this judgement out of the hands of the church and he 452 00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:28,440 brought it down personally. Why? 453 00:31:29,080 --> 00:31:33,280 The church has no place in administering such punishment 454 00:31:33,320 --> 00:31:37,080 itself or in having civil authorities to do it on their 455 00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:42,520 behalf. A couple sold land just like 456 00:31:42,520 --> 00:31:47,200 Barnabas is how it all started. Yet they lied and wanted to be 457 00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:53,160 seen in the same light as him. The Holy Spirit filled Barnabas 458 00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:57,240 to do what he did and the other believers as they gave, but it 459 00:31:57,240 --> 00:32:00,680 was Satan in an Ananias sense of fire. 460 00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:06,160 We learn from this that the Holy Spirit, and that's where we've 461 00:32:06,160 --> 00:32:09,840 lost it a bit. I think today the Holy Spirit is 462 00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:13,360 not soft on sin. You know people today well, you 463 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:15,320 know all you have to do. You can live together, sleep 464 00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:17,960 together and just ask God to forgive you after get married 465 00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:19,880 and just ask him to forgive you after. 466 00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:22,200 That's no big deal. What? 467 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:25,760 Hang on a minute. That's that's not, that's not 468 00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:31,520 what the Bible says, premeditated sin motivated by 469 00:32:31,520 --> 00:32:35,920 pride. It's it's wicked sin and a 470 00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:41,240 Christian is worse than sin and a believer unbeliever, you know, 471 00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:45,520 we the church, ha, probably might sing this hymn from now 472 00:32:45,520 --> 00:32:50,840 on. We sing, I surrender all, I 473 00:32:50,840 --> 00:32:58,840 surrender all to him. I freely give, I surrender just 474 00:32:58,840 --> 00:33:07,560 a bit, just three quarters. We sing, Oh, are we? 475 00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:15,160 When we lie to believers, we're not lying to them, but to the 476 00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:17,640 Lord. So wrap this up. 477 00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:31,920 Am IA truthful person. Do I engage in in exaggeration? 478 00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:37,680 Do I promote a spiritual deception about my walk? 479 00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:39,960 How big's your? Oh, yeah, I've got a bigger one 480 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:42,760 than I've read. How many chapters you read 481 00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:44,120 today? I read. 482 00:33:44,600 --> 00:33:48,240 I read at least a book a day. How long do you pray for? 483 00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:51,280 Oh, yeah. Well, I'll pray for you. 484 00:33:52,880 --> 00:33:56,240 Do I promote a spiritual deception about my walk with God 485 00:33:56,240 --> 00:34:04,240 to others when we gather, let us all come before God humbly, 486 00:34:05,960 --> 00:34:11,239 Thanksgiving humbly before God and seek his forgiveness. 487 00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:17,760 Verse 11 said so after this Sephirus carted out, it said it 488 00:34:17,760 --> 00:34:22,920 again. So great fear came upon all the 489 00:34:22,920 --> 00:34:29,000 church, and upon all who heard these things, Peter says, one 490 00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:34,159 Peter 417 For the time has come for judgement to begin at the 491 00:34:34,159 --> 00:34:40,440 House of God, and it begins with us first, what will be the end 492 00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:42,920 of those who do not obey the gospel of God.