The Purity of the Church, Acts 5: 1-14

We looked last week at persecution against the church and how paradoxically persecution actually benefits the church.  We found that persecution produces identification with Christ, it produces proven faith,  persecution produces allegiance to God, not man, persecution produces effective praying, and so forth.  Basically, we showed that persecution tends to strengthen the church and increase fruitfulness in the church.  History reveals that persecuting the church  only causes the church to become purer and more powerful and more effective. 

Now, as we will see illustrated in this passage, Satan changes his strategy. If direct attacks do not destroy the church, he will change tactics. Not only is Satan a murderer, going about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, but he is also a liar, and a deceiver, and so he disguises himself as an angel of light.  In this strategy,  he attacks inside the church, even through the church, where he is more effective at achieving his aim. Satan attempts to prevail by subterfuge what cannot be won by frontal attack.  And so Satan tempts the members of the fellowship to sin, thus fostering rebellion against God from within the very ranks of the church, and using sin to corrupt the purity of the church, which is the secret of her effectiveness.

The fact that there is sin in the church should not come as a surprise to anyone.  It is after all completely evident to the people outside the church.  That is why non believer’s consistently say that the thing which turns them off more about the church is not old fashioned music, or even the preacher’s message, or the lack of young people activities, but anecdotal evidence suggests that what turns unbelievers off more than anything else in regards to the church is that it is filled with hypocrites. 

And to a certain extent they are correct. None of us are what we should be.  There’s sin in the church because there are sinners in the church. But sinners who mourn over their sinfulness and repent of it, trusting in the grace of God for their redemption do not make hypocrites.  But rather hypocrites are people who pretend they are righteous, while they continue to live in sin. The Greek word for hypocrite means an actor on a stage.  Therefore, hypocrites are people who put on an act in order to receive applause from men. And nothing is more damning to the church’s effectiveness, and it’s witness, and it’s fellowship than hypocrisy.  Our Lord was most incensed against the hypocrisy of the Pharisees.  He saved His most scathing attacks for those that talked the talk, but did not walk the walk.  And the devil knows that sowing hypocrisy in the church will destroy it from the inside.

Jesus said in Matthew 13, that the kingdom of God (which is the church) is like a mustard seed that grew into a great tree.  But people hearing that parable in those days understood that mustard seeds do not grow into great trees, but grow into mustard bushes.  So Jesus is saying first of all that the mustard seed, the church, grows abnormally large.  And then He says it grows so large that the birds of the air came and nested in it’s branches.  What does that mean?  Well, in another parable when Jesus taught about the various type of  soils, He identifies the birds of the air as the devil and his demons that swoop down upon the seed cast into the soil and eat it up.  So birds nesting in the branches of the tree indicates that demons will nest in the branches of the church.  They find refuge there, they find rest there, because the church does not deal with unrepented sin.

As I said, this is the strategy of the devil. He finds it more effective to attack the church from within than from without.  And he does that by tempting us to sin and harbor that sin, producing hypocrisy.  And hypocrisy is one sin that Jesus spoke most vehemently about.

Now up to this point, the new church in Jerusalem had been going famously.  It was growing, it was vibrant, it was powerful.  But suddenly our attention is drawn to this egregious example of pride and hypocrisy in the church, and the Holy Spirit acts swiftly to cut it out of the body.  Because unrepentant sin is like leaven, that is if it’s left in the dough it will leaven the whole lump.  Unrepentant sin is rebellion towards God, which 1Samuel 15 says is as the sin of witchcraft.  It destroys fellowship with God, it destroys unity in the body, it destroys your testimony, and ultimately it destroys lives.  And that is why God moves to deal with this sin of hypocrisy in a mighty way before it destroys this infant church.

Boy, if you want to put a damper on your church growth program, you would think that God striking people dead would do it, wouldn’t you?  I mean, from our point of view that is the wrong thing for God to do if you want to build a church.  But yet God does this for exactly that reason.  He knows that if it is to truly be His church, so the gates of hell will not prevail against it, then He must deal with flagrant sin, rebellious, unrepentant sin, and if it takes these two to make an example, to put the fear of God into this church, then that’s what it takes.  Because God said we are to be holy, even as He is holy.  It is His church.  His Holy Spirit indwells the church. The Son of God shed His precious blood to purchase the church.  And God knows that for it to be effective, for it to endure, for it to prevail, He must deal with the enemy within, the enemy of impurity which corrupts the church.

Let’s look then in detail as to what happened.  The story really starts in the latter part of chapter 4.  Barnabas has done what many others were doing in the church, they were selling property and bringing in the proceeds and laying it at the apostle’s feet.  No one had told them to do this.  This was just the result of their unfeigned love of God.  They loved God, so they loved His body.  They loved His people and so they wanted to participate in serving them, and they did it by sacrificial giving. 

And there had obviously been some recognition in the church of these people that did this.  The church was rejoicing in these people’s generosity.  People that were displaced from their homes or jobs or families due to their faith were being blessed by these folks sacrificial giving.  There must have been a certain amount of accolades and recognition due to these magnanimous gifts.  There surely would have been a certain amount of recognition that these people were spiritually mature, and in the case of Barnabas at least, some were elevated to a place of leadership in the church.  Barnabas would go on to be one of the great missionaries sent out by the church, responsible for nurturing no less person than the apostle Paul, and also John Mark. 

So this couple in the church named Ananias and his wife Sapphira want to get in on this.  Let me tell you, there is no righteousness so sweet as righteousness noticed.  The church is no stranger to this malady of self righteousness today, even as we see it illustrated in these two people in this infant stage of the church.  They wanted to be seen as spiritual, as dedicated, and committed.  But in fact, they had ulterior motives, planning to claim something that was a lie. 

Now we need to realize that these two people were believers.  The text in ch.4 makes it clear that all of the people in the fellowship were of one heart and soul.  But at some point the sin of envy, or jealousy, came into this couple’s hearts as they saw the accolades, or respect given to people like Barnabas.  And that little bit of envy gave birth to another sin which was pride.  They wanted to be seen as spiritual examples.  They wanted to be able to go around with people thinking they were especially spiritual. 

It’s interesting to note their names.  I think they give us a clue to their personalities. Ananias means “Grace with God.”  This guy even had a name which denoted his favor with God.  And perhaps he leaned a little too heavily on God’s favor, even presuming upon the grace of God to overlook his presumptuous sin.  And the wife’s name, Sapphira, is a take on a sapphire stone, which had come to mean beautiful.  That probably is not the best name you want to pick for your child.  It can’t exactly help a child have a healthy self image if everyone is calling them beautiful all day long.  I can’t help but think that both of these people had a pride problem.

And this is purely speculative on my part, but I would not be surprised if they did not see this move as a means to gain a position in the church.  You know, there were upwards of 15,000 to 20,000 members in this church at this point.  And so it’s not surprising that someone would attempt to gain leadership status through some sort of underhanded approach to win the people’s favor. The sin of hypocrisy often lends itself to a desire for preeminence found in leadership or teaching.

So, in vs. 1 Luke tells us that in response to what Barnabas and others had done, this couple conspired to sell some property that they owned but keep some of the proceeds and yet tell the church that they were in fact giving them the full amount. There was no compulsion to sell their property.  They were simply motivated by pride.  They wanted to be seen as something they were not.  They directly contradicted Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6:1, "Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.” 

Which sin would you have picked to be the first sin that the Lord disciplined in the church?  Maybe you would’ve picked immorality.  Maybe you would’ve picked stealing.  Maybe you would’ve picked some form of blasphemy.  Maybe you would’ve picked some relationship characterized by anger, hostility, lack of forgiveness.  Those are all part of life in the church.  But the sin that the Holy Spirit places here to teach how God deals with sin in the church is the sin of hypocrisy, pretending to be something you’re not. 

That’s why Peter said in 1 Peter 4:17 that it is time for judgment to begin with the house of God first. The church is to be a shining example to the world. God wants to clean out the old leaven which is always a used as a picture of sin in the Bible..  He doesn’t want sin corrupting this new church in it’s infancy.  Because as Paul said, a little leaven leavens the whole lump. He says in 1Cor. 5:6, “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.”  In the Passover festival, the Jews were to clean out the leaven from their houses.  That was meant to be an illustration of searching your heart for sin and getting rid of it.  Not harboring it.  David said in Psalm 139:23-24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.”

But Ananias comes to the church and lays the money at the apostles feet in brazen hypocrisy.  Premeditated hypocrisy.  Unrepentant hypocrisy.  You know there are all kinds of ways to sin.  But there are some sins that are more dangerous than others.  Spontaneous sin, or sin of the passion of the moment is one thing.  But deliberate, intentional sin that refuses to acknowledge it as sin is another thing altogether.  It’s like the difference between manslaughter and premeditated murder.  It’s the most dangerous sin in the life of a Christian, and it’s most dangerous to the church.

And so Peter is given discernment by the Holy Spirit to recognize this.  You know, I can’t claim to have Peter’s level of discernment.  But I will say that discernment is a characteristic of a godly leader.   And I do believe that God often gives me a measure of discernment or intuition that enables me to see things where otherwise I might be deceived or fall into a trap.  I think God given spiritual discernment is the only way a preacher can truly teach the truth of the gospel.  And I think you have to rely on that God given wisdom in order to lead the church.  But though I may often find myself thinking inwardly that what someone is saying to me is not right, or that it comes from wrong motives, I do not pronounce deadly judgment upon them.  I let God be the judge, and I let God deal with them, unless He clearly tells me to confront them.

Notice that Peter does not enact corporeal punishment himself here either.  But he does show discernment.  He rebukes Ananias publicly.  And I think he does that for the benefit of the church.  If Ananias just fell over dead from a heart attack without clarification from Peter, the church would likely have erected his statue in the front vestibule. He would have looked like a benefactor who died an untimely death. But Peter, acting on behalf of the Holy Spirit, wants this to be understood, to be an example, a lesson for the rest of the church, that they do not lie to the Holy Spirit.  And that is what Peter accuses Ananias of.  He says you lied to the Holy Spirit, you have not lied to men but to God.

So Ananias fell down dead at that moment, right there in the front of the church.  And Luke says great fear came over all that heard of it. Then three hours later, Sapphira came in.  I don’t know why she was late, I guess she was fixing her hair or something.  Had to look beautiful, you know.  But she confirms the same lie that her husband had given, not knowing that he had just died.  And so Peter rebuked her for testing the Holy Spirit and she also fell down dead in the midst of the congregation. Once again, in vs. 11, Luke tells us that the result was that great fear fell on all the church.  Twice Luke tells us that great fear fell on the church.  That was the goal.

Now fear is another thing that you would think would be bad for church growth.  But actually it serves the purpose of God.  That the church would have a holy fear of God.  You know, as a preacher, every time I talk about the fear of God I am usually encouraged to downplay the aspect of fear to that of just some sort of reverence or awe.  But here in this passage, you cannot escape from the holy dread of Godly fear. Heb. 10:31 “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Listen, Romans 3:18 makes it clear that the primary characteristic of the unbeliever is that there is no fear of God before their eyes.  Then conversely does not that tell you that the characteristic of a Christian should be that they have a fear of God?  We should have a holy fear of God.  We cannot, nor should we want to live in sin, in flagrant rebellion against God.  If He is our heavenly Father, then He says that He chastens those He loves, and He scourges every son. 

I don’t know what your childhood may have been like, but I really loved my dad.  And I know that my dad loved me enough to lay down his life for me if necessary.  When I was a little boy and my dad would come home I would run and leap up into his arms and throw my arms around his neck.  I knew that he loved me.  But on those days when my brother and I drove my mother crazy, and wouldn’t obey, and deliberately rebelled against her, she would say, “just wait until your dad get’s home.”  And on those days when dad would come in the front door I wouldn’t run to him.  I was afraid because I knew that I was probably going to get a spanking.  It didn’t mean that my dad didn’t love me anymore.  It meant that I had a problem and I needed to get straightened out before I could have fellowship with my dad.  But afterwards, when all the crying was over, I would find my way back to my dad, and crawl up on his lap, and bury my head in his chest sobbing and he would tell me that he loved me and I would tell him that I loved him too.  Now to some people today that probably sounds like a form of child abuse.  But I would retort that that kind of attitude is what has produced the kind of society that we live in today.  There is no fear of God before their eyes, and as a result the world is in chaos, families are in chaos, because people do whatever they think is right in their own eyes. 

God’s family is not designed to be like that. God’s plan of discipline of His family, the church is found in Heb. 12:5-10 "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES."  It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?  But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.  Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?  For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness.”

That’s what God’s discipline is designed to produce – holiness.  2Cor. 7:1 says, “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”  See, if we were to examine ourselves, and put away filthiness, put away fleshly defilements,  put away sin, and desire holiness, then God will have no need of discipline.  But when we refuse to confess our sins, refuse to acknowledge it as sin, and continue in sin, then God will discipline us for our own good in order to produce holiness.  So rather than continuing in sin we are to be perfecting holiness in the fear of God.  To be striving to be holy, even as He is holy.  This is what we were given the power of the Holy Spirit to enable us to do.  To do righteousness, to be holy in all our behavior, to be set apart, consecrated only unto the Lord.

Some of you undoubtedly are saying, “Well, I can’t believe a loving God could do something like that.”  But in saying that, are you not guilty of defining God?  Are you not guilty of making a god in your own image?  According to what you want God to be?  I would remind you that God is jealous of His church. James 4:5 "He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us." The church is to be the spotless bride of Christ.  And so He is just in His vengeance against those that would bring sin and shame into His church. 

This is not an isolated example of God’s severe discipline against sin, but this an ever present reality of the early church. According to 1 Corinthians 11:30-32 there were true believers that God was putting to death because of the way they came to the Lord’s Table.  “Some of you are weak and some of you are sick, and some of you sleep.”  You’re dead because of how you desecrate the My table.  Some of you, Paul says.  That means some of you Christians pay the ultimate price for your rebellion. 

In 1 Cor. 5, Paul was writing to address an immorality issue that had continued in the church and everyone knew about it, and the person refused to confess it as sin. And so Paul writes in 1Cor. 5:5 “I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”  Do you understand what Paul is saying there?  He is saying, I’m going to remove him from the protection of the church, so that he might be destroyed by Satan.  This man is going to be destroyed physically, so that he might be saved in his spirit in the judgment day of Christ.  This man was saved, and so he was going to enter into heaven, but he would suffer the punishment of God here on this earth by allowing the devil to destroy him. 

So we see here in this passage another miracle of the Holy Spirit, empowering the church, but not one that gets all the attention like speaking in tongues, or healing.  But this is the power of the Holy Spirit nonetheless.  It is the power to discipline the church.  The Holy Spirit has that right, and that responsibility, so that the church may be the holy and spotless bride of Christ.  He has the right to purify the church.

So what was the result of this purification, this godly fear that fell upon the church?  Did it kill the church?  Did people stop coming to church for fear that they would be struck dead on the spot?  Did the church shrivel up and die because they were too legalistic, or too condemning?  No, actually the opposite happened.  The church increased in it’s effectiveness.  The purity and zeal for God in the church reached a new level and the whole city was aware of it.  There suddenly weren’t very many hypocrites that wanted to associate with them, that’s for sure.  Look at vs.12-13 “At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon's portico. But none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, the people held them in high esteem.”

So here is the result in a nutshell.  As a result of purification the apostles were enabled to do even more miracles, the church was unified in doctrine and in fellowship, and unsaved people did not dare associate with them.  That means that there was no social benefit to being a church member.  And people were afraid to try to pretend that they were righteous when they were still unsaved.  But, and this is important, but the people held them in high esteem.  The unsaved community watching this church had nothing bad to say about them.  They weren’t cursing the church because they were a bunch of hypocrites.  No, they held them in high esteem because they could see them practicing what they preached.  They saw the purity and commitment and devotion of this early church and it was a testimony to the unsaved world as to the power of the Holy Spirit to transform men and women, to conform them to the image of Jesus Christ.

And then notice another result of the Holy Spirit’s purification of the church. Vs.14 “And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number.”  The church continued to grow by leaps and bounds.  The church’s effectiveness was not hindered, but helped as they continued in the fear of the Lord because it’s light burned ever more brighter. 

Listen, in closing I would just ask you today to examine yourselves today in light of this standard of purity and holiness that God expects from us.  Ananias and Sapphira were Christians.  And even though their motives were suspect, they were giving money to the church, weren’t they? They were involved in fellowship.  Wasn’t that a good thing?  No, the fact is that God is not concerned about outward signs of religion.  He is concerned about the heart.  And God sees our heart.  David said, a broken and contrite heart O Lord you will not despise. 

The sin of Ananias and Sapphira was not just that they kept back some money.  It was that they lied to the Holy Spirit.  And I would ask you today, are you guilty of lying to the Holy Spirit?  Are you telling God that you are His, you have surrendered all, when in fact you are holding back a portion for yourself?  Are you holding on to some sin, holding onto some thing that is not honoring to God?  Have you come here today with your head held high, attempting to put one over on the church, and in effect you are guilty of not only sinning against God but lying to the Holy Spirit by in effect telling saying that you are good, you are righteous, when in fact you refuse to repent of sin that you are harboring in your life? 

If that is the case, then I would “urge you by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1,2) Don’t leave this place today in a spirit of rebellion.  Confess your sins one to another that you may be healed. (James 5:16) That the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint.

Come all the way to God.  Come all the way to salvation.  In Titus chapter 2 we have the full range of salvation delineated for us.  Not just one aspect of salvation, but the full range of salvation is given for us in Titus 2:11-14 which says, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,  instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”

That is salvation.  All of it. “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”  For our God is a consuming fire.