Building
the right foundation part 9
Now
the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and
no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own,
but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles
were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,
and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among
them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and
brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles'
feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. Thus Joseph,
who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of
encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that
belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles'
feet.
But a man named
Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with
his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds
and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. But
Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the
Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the
land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after
it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have
contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to
God.” When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his
last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. The young men
rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.
After
an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what
had happened. And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the
land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” But Peter
said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the
Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your
husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” Immediately
she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men
came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her
beside her husband. And great fear came upon the whole church and
upon all who heard of these things.
English
Standard Version Anglicised
****************
Text:
verse 32: “Now
the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and
no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own,
but they had everything in common.”
We
continue in our studies in Acts for our series “Building the right
foundation.”
We
are now in our 9th
study as we seek to re-establish ourselves as the church here in
Callington it is good to remind ourselves that we must build on the
right foundation. The early church were learning this experientially
and thankfully Luke researched those early days thoroughly and has
given to us this divinely inspired accurate account of the events as
they unfolded. The wonderful thing about scripture is that it is
blatantly honest therefore it records events both good and bad. The
things that happened in the early church are as other history in the
bible; they are recorded in order that we might learn from them as
they serve as both encouragements and warnings. In 1 Corinthians 10
Paul used an example from Israelite history in order to warn the
church against idolatry, he said that “these
things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil
as they did.” The
experiences of the people of God serve as examples to us. The passage
that we have read this morning is a grave warning to the church about
false faith. The deaths of Ananias and Sapphira brought great fear
not only upon the church but also upon all who heard it.
Before
we go any further there is an important issue at hand in this very
point. The church of today often focusses upon the love of Jesus and
forgets that our God is an awesome God who is holy and just in every
way. We forget His hatred of sin and His judgement upon those who
play games with him. Ananias and Sapphira had colluded to try to
deceive God and the church into believing that they were more
generous that they actually were. This might sound rather trifling to
us today but God will not tolerate any who attempt to take glory to
themselves. That was the sin of Satan in heaven and which caused him
to be ejected. It was the original sin of both Adam and Eve;
deception towards God is unacceptable and will be punished. This
story serves as a dire warning to the church today. If you are here
today making out to the church and to God that you are something that
you are not beware, learn from Ananias and Sapphira that God will not
tolerate your behaviour. You may fool the church but the Holy Spirit
of God knows your every motive. In this if you are disingenuous then
you are already under judgement and are in a perilous situation.
BUT
As
always there is hope for you and so stay with us and hear not only of
the judgement of God but also of His wonderful mercy to His people.
Now
back to our text, we will consider 2 things from the text:
Who
are the full number?
What
does it mean to be of one heart and soul?
Who
are the full number?
The
answer is simple and obvious from the text; they are ALL those who
believed! This in itself is a wonderful statement that tells us that
there is firstly none missing from the church and secondly that
belonging is by faith alone. The gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of
God who died on the cross and rose from the dead as God's provision
for the forgiveness of sin for all who believe and call upon His name
for salvation is effective. Consequently a great number have been
added to the church and continue to dos so. On the day that Luke is
recording they were then the full number which means that ALL whom
God intended had been gathered by the Holy Spirit of God. These were
the true believers of the day and what is true of their day is
equally true of our day. The full number to this day are now ALL
together, you see the promise of God is that none will be lost and so
the church up to now is the full number which will continue in the
days of grace that we have left. As we know from the events that are
to follow in Acts there were still many more to be added to their
number in the days to come. As we consider beyond the New Testament
church and throughout church history until today then we see that God
in a remarkable way has kept the church “topped up” to the full
number at all times. Jesus told us that this would be true right up
until the very end of the age when none that are called of God will
be lost. This is the most wonderful truth that we can ever imagine.
The full number were gathered at the time of the apostles, the full
number is gathered today, it might be scattered across the entire
globe but all are so far safely gathered in and the gatherer of souls
is still reaping His harvest. This will continue until one day the
final full number will be complete and then the promise is that the
full number will be taken up with Christ into the eternal presence of
God the Father when they will be glorified, perfected and presented
as a perfect people in the same way as a beautiful bride is presented
to her groom. What a wonderful day that will be.
But
Sadly
some whom we know and love, some who belong to our earthly churches
will not be among that number. On that day they will attempt to come
to Jesus and call Him lord, lord as is their custom now but His
answer to them will be “away from me for I never knew you.” These
are the Ananias and Sapphira types who took glory to themselves and
never gave completely to God. It was not about the money but the lie.
There
is a parallel story in the Old Testament. It is during the time when
the Old Testament people of God were taking the land as their
inheritance. They had experienced the Passover and had gone through
the Red Sea, they had wandered through the wilderness for 40 years
and had gone through the Jordan and were in Canaan. Ai the first city
in Canaan had been defeated and God had pronounced that the people
should not benefit from the spoils of that war but that all should go
to His glory. Enter Achan who wanted some of the treasure for
himself. He took it and hid it under his bed the result of this was
much suffering for the nation. When Achan was exposed he paid the
penalty for his deception; both he and his entire family died as
God's judgement.
What
a pity that Ananias and Sapphira did not take his example to heart.
Surely they would not have continued in their deception had they
given it some thought. Just as at the new beginning of the nation of
Israel God now set the example of the seriousness of deception by
dealing with Ananias and Sapphira equally!
It
is interesting that we never hear prayers for God to work in this way
today. I am personally glad that He does not because I would never
have reached the grand old age of 64 had He treated me as I deserve
and in this matter neither would you be here today.
The
example was set on that day, the lesson ought to be learned but have
you learned it?
God
will not be lied to.
The
second point is this:
The
believers had all things in common.
Luke
uses Barnabas the son of encouragement as an example of what was true
of the whole church. Where Ananias and Sapphira took glory for
themselves, Barnabas took none for himself. The issue centred around
Christians in need. To understand what the issue was we need to know
that becoming a Christian at that time had started to make things
difficult for many. The gospel of Jesus Christ was odious to the
authorities and they were starting to have an effect. As
representatives of the Old Testament faith they were supposed to care
for the underprivileged amongst them but now they were set on making
believers poor by taking their jobs away and thus their wherewithal
to support themselves and their families. Where society failed the
church stepped up to the plate. We cannot take from this passage (as
some do) a theology of poverty and selling all and giving to the
poor. We cannot say that this is prescriptive for the church but what
is true is that the church was reacting to a situation of the day
caringly towards those in need amongst them. Notice on this occasion
this care was not for all people but for fellow believers. Loving as
Jesus commands must first come to the people of faith because this is
our witness to others.”See
how they love one another!”
Belongings
to the early church were seen as opportunities to support each other.
They were united in their belongings by example but they were also
united in heart. They truly loved each other, that is why Ananias and
Sapphira stand out so starkly! They loved themselves and their
reputation first. One of the marks of a true Christian is that we
love the people of faith. We love the true church over and above the
rest! Christians do we truly love each other, would we give whatever
is necessary to a brother or sister in Christ? Are we seen and known
as a loving community?
Do
not forget that Peter had to confront first Ananias and then Sapphira
with their sin. He had to pronounce judgement upon Sapphira and he
watched her drop down dead upon his judgement. We must also judge who
are true believers and then love them as we do ourselves. We are not
to become sentimental when we speak of loving the saints because
there is a different love for those outside of the family of faith.
God will not tolerate sin amongst His people and neither must we. We
do not ask for their immediate death but we do not let them have
authority amongst us through their deceptions. We are united with the
church but not with the disingenuous within our number. With
Christians we have all things in common and we work together for the
glory of Christ, whatever their church associations are but with
those who are not true gospel people we are not united.
The
final point of the text brings all of this together because unity in
the church is all dependant upon unity of soul. It is the soul that
is the heart of the matter. It is our soul which is our very being
that has been saved. It is in our soul that we are truly united
together because in this we are also united with God. We are his
family and as such we are intrinsically bound together. We often say
that blood is thicker than water meaning that family is a strong bond
that binds us together. The blood of Jesus purifies His people and
brings about forgiveness of our sins, our family ties are His blood
which is sufficient to save the final full number of the church
without any loss and to bring all as one family into eternal unity
with God in heaven.
Will
you be there?