Easter Sunday opening messege notes - 2022 - Acts, Chapter 5
Acts 5
There seems to be a little confusion about the identity of Ananias.
Understandably because three men by the name of Ananias appear in the Bible, and each plays a role in the New Testament book of Acts. A common name among Jews, Ananias is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Hananiah and means “Yahweh has been gracious.”
The first Ananias is featured in a dramatic episode that took place in the early Jerusalem church and is part of our current chapter. At that time, the newly forming community was experiencing a time of great unity. All the believers came together to sell their excess land and share their money and possessions: “There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need” (Acts 4:34–35, NLT).
Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, were wealthy members of the church during this season of united purpose. When they sold a parcel of their own property, the two secretly conspired to withhold a portion of the profit for themselves and lie about the total. By divine revelation, Peter called out Ananias for lying to the Holy Spirit and to God. About three hours later, Sapphira, his wife, arrived. Not knowing what had happened, she, too, lied about the offering.. We’ll get into this in more depth a little later this morning…
A second Ananias in the Bible played a part in the conversion story of the apostle Paul. After Saul of Tarsus was struck blind on the road to Damascus, he was led to the home of Judas on Straight Street. Three days later, Jesus spoke in a vision to a disciple in Damascus named “Ananias.” The Lord told him to go to Saul, but Ananias was afraid. He was keenly aware of Saul’s unyielding persecution of the believers in Jerusalem and his intended persecution in Damascus. God reassured Ananias, saying, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name” (Acts 9:15–16).
Ananias obeyed God and found the recently converted Saul. He laid hands on him and prayed, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 9:17). Immediately, Saul was healed of his blindness and was baptized.
Right away, Saul went to the synagogue in Damascus and preached about Jesus to the Jews there. Later, Saul began his ministry of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles under his Roman name, Paul. Later, Paul mentioned Ananias when he shared his testimony in Acts 22:12: “A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there.”
A third Ananias in the Bible was high priest in Jerusalem during much of Paul’s early ministry. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, Ananias was appointed by Herod Agrippa II in approximately AD 48. Known for his harshness and cruelty, Ananias appears in Acts 23 during Paul’s trial in Jerusalem before the Sanhedrin council. Enraged by Paul’s defense, Ananias ordered him to be struck on the mouth (Acts 23:1–2). Paul objected, saying, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!” (verse 3).
When Paul realized that he was addressing the high priest, he apologized. As Paul continued his defense, a near riot broke out in the Sanhedrin over the issue of the resurrection of the dead—a point of theology that the Pharisees and Sadducees disagreed upon (Acts 23:6–9). The Roman guard took Paul into protective custody (verse 10). Ananias was probably involved in the plot to murder Paul on his way back to court (verses 12–15), but the plot was foiled when the Roman commander found out about it and transported Paul under heavy guard to Caesarea (verses 16–35). Five days later, Ananias traveled to Caesarea and continued to pursue his case against Paul before Governor Felix (Acts 24:1). Ananias and other Jewish leaders considered Paul to be the ringleader of a troublemaking Nazarene sect that was stirring up riots among the Jews.
Many of the Jews hated Ananias because of his ruthlessness and corruption, but he was protected by Rome even after he was deposed as high priest. In AD 66, at the start of the first great Jewish Revolt, Ananias was assassinated by an angry mob of anti-Roman revolutionaries.
Hope that clears up the confusion…..
In Isaiah, chapter 55 when he said, as the rain comes down and the snow from heaven, and do not return there but water the earth that it might bring forth and bud. So that it gives seed to this sower and bread to the eater, so is my word that goes forth from my mouth. It shall not return to me void, but it will accomplish that which I have sent it to accomplish. So that's what we're about this morning.
We're in the book of Acts, the word of God. We want to sow that into our hearts.
So we're going to pick it up in verse 23-24 of Acts chapter 4
Let's pray.
Father, we want to now bring to You, in prayer, our bodies as living sacrifices,
Father, we pray that, as Isaiah predicted, the word of God, like rain, would water our hearts and would strengthen our lives, as, our lives would bud and bring forth fruit . So that we might produce seed for the sower and bread to the eater, we would be satisfied, we would be justified and we would strengthen others with it.
In his name we pray,
Amen.
As I said and as per usual we will back up a bit to chapter 4 of the book of Acts to bring this all together..
You know there's a lot of our brothers and sisters in the world who suffered tremendously for the cause of Christ. So with that in mind, what is the Christian to do when threatened, hassled, otherwise treated poorly… What are we to do?
Well, when we come to verse 23 of chapter 4, we get some insight. And being let go--
this is after they were threatened, after they were treated poorly, after they were persecuted.
Being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and the elders
had said to them. And when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said, Lord, You are God who made the heaven, the earth, the sea and all that is in them. Who by the mouth of Your servant David have said, why did the nations rage and the people plot vain things? The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ. For truly, against Your holy servant, Jesus, whom You anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. And now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that, with all boldness. They may speak Your word by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy servant, Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
Notice that verse 23 does not say, then being let go,
they gathered together, rallied together…. They didn't protest, they prayed. They gathered together, and they appealed to God. They immediately went to prayer. Their reaction, against the world, was to pray for the world. Now, that to me is striking, because that would not be in my natural makeup.
That would not be my first reaction. I would think of retaliation. How can I get back at them, or how can I put a stop to them? How can I get a law passed?
but what I want point out , first and foremost, the early church was group of spiritual activists,
The Apostles got together, and they prayed to the Lord for the world that had persecuted them, and we're going to examine this prayer a bit more.
And so that's what they did. They prayed, and we looked just briefly last time, and now we want to look a little more deeply, complete this chapter and enter, if you will chapter 5..
First of all, their prayer had backing. They're appealing to God, and they're not just throwing up words. They're not just spouting out words. They're not just talking into the air. They have the backing of heaven. It says that they raised their voice and said, Lord You are God..
And I may have even mentioned the prayer of Jeremiah, in Jeremiah 32, and he said, ah, Lord God, You made the Heavens and the Earth with Your great strength and Your outstretched arm, and there is nothing too hard for You.
And what I want you to see is that, when you pray, the first thing you and I must do is recognize to whom we're speaking. We're not speaking to somebody who is weak. We're not talking into the air. We're not talking to somebody with even earthly authority. We're talking to the sovereign God, of whom nothing, nothing is impossible; who is our creator. When you elevate your prayer by recognizing to whom you're praying, it inspires faith.
Now, we just framed the prayer with the framework of faith. We put God in the right perspective, and it's important to do that, because too often, you and I, we carry our limitations over onto God. What is hard and impossible for us is so easy, for God.
We have faith when we have a cold. Our faith diminishes when we see it is a cancer, not a cold.
Oh Lord, this person has inoperable cancer. But to the Lord all things are possible cold or cancer.. This good to understand every time you close your eyes in prayer…
Second, they had basis. Notice that they quote Psalm 2.
Who by, verse 25, the mouth of Your servant, David, has said. Now, it's a direct quote out of Psalm 2,
They quote, why did the nations rage and the people plot vain things. The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ.
in your Bible, in Psalm 2 it says, they've gathered together against the Lord and against His anointed.
They quote a messianic Psalm, the first of the psalms…They're praying realizing that God is in control…
Everything is even predicted and is happening in Jerusalem on that day,, It was predicted in the scripture. They've gathered together, like the Psalmist said they would gather together, against the Lord, and against his anointed… The Apostles are living the fulfillment of the scriptures as they create a church for Christ… Even though that Psalm will have its ultimate fulfillment in the kingdom age, at the second coming of Jesus Christ, Revelation 19. When He takes all the kings of the earth that really were against Him, will be against Him at the end of the great tribulation period, judge them, and usher in the millennial kingdom. It also has an in the meantime application, and that is what was happening in Jerusalem that day; it was predicted. So this elevates prayer.
The third thing about their prayer is it has balance. Notice how they begin their prayer, and they move from adoration, worship, ascribing things to God, to their petition. The prayer moves from adoration to petition.. Sometimes we come to God like we go to an emergency room.
You know, as you drive by a hospital, that there's doctors in the emergency room, but you don't feel compelled to go in and talk to the doctor every time you drive by the hospital. You know they're there, but you'll go to the emergency room if there's an emergency. Some people, they know God's up there, but why bother him. But if there's an emergency in my life, if I need an aspirin or medication or a prescription, I'll go to God. So their communication to God is so often imbalanced, almost like an emergency room physician.
How did Jesus teach us to pray? He didn't say, now when you pray, say our Father in Heaven, gimme, gimme, gimme. That's how you pray, and, then throw on an amen at the end because that sounds good.
So when you pray, begin like this. Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Adoration before petition, so this prayer has balance as well, not only basis and purpose, but it as balance.
Now verse 29, now therefore, Lord, look on their threats. Grant to Your servants that with all boldness, they may speak Your word by stretching out Your hand to heal. That signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.
Fourth characteristic about this prayer, it has bearing. They're not just throwing out dusty, overused, ambiguous phrases like bless, lead, guide, and direct. They're very, very specific about what they're asking from God.
Verse 29, grant Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word.
Now, I find this absolutely amazing. That’s what got them into trouble to begin with?
They're boldness. Going the streets of Jerusalem, being very bold about what they believe in. That got them arrested. Now, they're asking God to fill them with more of what got them in trouble to begin with.
Number two, they are asking God for changed lives, stretching out Your hand to heal.
That signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy servant Jesus. Verse 31, and when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken. And they filled with the Holy Spirit, notice that, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
Now, the multitude, verse 32, of those who believed were of one heart. Look at this beautiful description of the first Christians in Jerusalem.
The multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul. Neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common, similar to chapter 2. And with great power, the apostles gave witness to the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. Nor was there any one among them who lacked. For all who were possessors of lands or houses, sold them and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold and laid them at the apostles feet. And they distributed to each as anyone who had need.
It was a temporary fix. Why? Well, most of the jobs in Jerusalem were related to the temple. Who in Jerusalem ran the business of the temple? The Sadducees. The Sadducees are the enemies of the early church. Remember, I told you that the Pharisees and Sadducees were the two groups? The Sadducees are the ones that are hostile toward the apostles. Why? Because the apostles say that Jesus rose from the dead. The Sadducees didn't believe in any spirits, didn't believe in heaven, didn't believe in hell, did not believe in a Resurrection. So all of those temple related jobs, all of those people who believed in Christ, were no doubt fired from their jobs.
It would have been difficult to live their lives, having no income. So the church got together to support one another during this difficult time, and it gets so bad that Paul will even take an offering of Gentile churches, that he visits on his first second missionary journeys. Take up a collection, and bring the money to the poor saints who are struggling through this, at the earliest church in Jerusalem. So it was all purely voluntary, as they shared what they had with one another.
Now, notice this, verse 36. In the light of that spirit of giving, and Joses it says, or Joseph..Later to be called Barnabus.. THIS NAME, incedently, means the son of encouragement, or one who encourages. How can I bolster your belief? So he is called a son of encouragement by the apostles…
As Barnabas believed that what God had given to him, God has shared with him, he could give to others. That he was a Steward, he was a conduit of a blessing that God had done for him, and he knew that his brothers and sisters were in need. See, he understood the principle that when you give for the Lord's work, that God keeps the account books in heaven, and you will get fruit OR BLESSINGS.
The Lord will reward you, one day openly in heaven
Now, that's the end of chapter 4. We're, going to get into chapter 5 but let me just throw something out at you.
So far, in the book of Acts, we have seen the Lord adding to the church. Right? Acts 247, the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. That's what the text says. We've also seen the Lord multiply. In chapter 4 verse 4, thousands upon thousands more were added to those who were initially saved on the day of Pentecost. Two people in the church, he's going to subtract, a blessed subtraction.
And the Lord does add, and the Lord does multiply, and the Lord does subtract. There's one thing the Lord never does, he never divides. He never divides a church. People do that. We're good enough at doing that. We're good enough at creating division and animosity. God never does. He'll add. He'll multiply, and yes, he will subtract.
So verse 1 chapter 5,
But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira, his wife, sold a possession and kept back part of the proceeds. His wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles' feet, a certain part. The word Ananias, in Hebrew, the name means God is gracious ; beautiful name. Sapphira is an Aramaic word that means beautiful. These are two people that really didn't live up to their names..
This couple has no warning that they would die within a few hours of each other on the same day. And that their names would go down in history as the two that the Lord subtracted from the church to make it pure. Well, that's what this first part of the story is about.
Acts chapter 5 is the third miracle in the book of Acts.
Do you remember the first? The first miracle was a man by the gate beautiful who was lame from birth. That's the first miracle. He was healed. Peter raised him up. Peter and John were going into the temple. After he was healed he was walking and leaping and praising God. That's the first miracle recorded in the book of Acts.
Second miracle recorded in the book of Acts is in chapter 4, when the building shook. It was miraculous. This is the third miracle. Now, why am I bringing this up? Because people say, man, I wish we could see more miracles, like they had in the book of Acts.
If you have done the reading you might think, Do you really want that? Because you're about to read of another miracle in the book of Acts, but I bet this is one miracle you're thankful to God that you don't see. They sold a possession, I believe property, verse 1, and kept back part of the proceeds.
Now, at first, as we get into this chapter, it would seem like Ananias and Sapphira were doing the same thing Barnabas did. Barnabas sold land, laid it at the apostles' feet. Ananias and Sapphira perhaps even had good intentions at first,
The failure here that you're about to read, that we're about to see, was not that they
didn't give the right amount. It has nothing to do at all with that. It's they misrepresented what they gave.
They said they gave all , but they withheld and were giving far less. They were both lying, so that people would think, wow, so extravagant, such a huge gift, like Barnabas.
I'm certain that when Ananias and Sapphira watched Barnabas sell land and give the money to the apostles,
they thought, notice how the people are responding to what Barnabas just did. Did you hear the banter that we are hearing in church? They're saying, man Barnabas, what an awesome, amazing, encouraging person. So spiritual is Barnabas, and Ananias and Sapphira thought, man, and I want to hear them say that about us. So they planned to sell the land. But not give it all they’ll just say we're giving it all, but we'll keep back some. Now, that wouldn't be a problem. Peter's going to point out, not a problem. All you'd have to say is, hey Peter, you know, my wife and I sold some land. We sold it for this much. Our intention was to give it all to the people in the church who could use the money, but we just can't do that right now. We got to take care of some bills, and we just need some money to live on. So we're going to give this much. That would be honest. The problem was their dishonesty with it. So they kept back part of the proceeds, and Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? Now, Peter's not smiling at this point. But Peter is the defender of the Holy spirit on a different level.. He didn’t say how dare you lying to me ! He said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? While it remained, was it not your own, and after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? Notice this. You have not lied to men, but to God. Did you notice, in the first sentence, he says, you lied to the Holy Spirit. In the second, he said, you lied to God. OK, so it's easy to put those two together. What he means then is the Holy Spirit is God. Please notice that. You've attempted to lie to the Holy Spirit. You've attempted to lie even to God. Then Ananias, hearing these words-- fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. I can imagine. Can you picture what this is like? Ananias walks up in front of the meeting with his offering of money.
Anonias puts that offering down, but suddenly he feels something in his chest grabs, and his breath is short and just, bam, falls over, breathes his last.
And so great fear came upon all who heard these things and the young men arose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him. When I read about it, and I don't want you to think that Anonias went to hell, he just died. I think he was a true believer. My opinion, he is a believer in Christ, because he had faith in Jesus. He's not saved by works. He's not saved by selling land and giving the money. He's saved by faith through grace, period. But God removed him, a subtraction, and I think about somebody else who was not saved, and that is Judas Iscariot. Who also pretended to really be a caring individual.
When that woman broke that vase of costly ointment, and Judas protested, and said, what a waste.
This could have been sold and given to the poor, and he said this because he was a hypocrite. And this is the crux of the matter.. To be a hypocrite.. To attempt to deceive God himself.. We can deceive others in the church, we can fool our friends and even our enemies but at the end of the day we cannot deceive God.. We could fool ourselves easier than we could deceive the Holy Spirit…
Anonias was a hypocrite, and his wife was party to it as well. So verse 7, it was about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter answered her, tell me whether you sold the land for so much. She said, yeah, for so much. Then, Peter said to her, how is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord. Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out. Then immediately, she fell down at his feet, breathes her last. And the young men came in and found her dead, carrying her out, buried her by her husband.
So great fear-- there it is again-- came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things. What kind of a meeting will this be?
One dies, another dies, and then the young men who bury those two are looking around and may be wondering , who's next? Fearing it may be them…
Sad when you consider that the very first Christian funeral in the book of Acts was for a hypocrite.
It seems to those left, yeah, this is harsh. We know them. We're going to miss them, but why would the Lord do this?
We’ll look at this a bit closer….
Not only does this happen here, but it would seem that physical death, in the form of God judging believers in the early church, was not unheard of, even as the church developed.
When Paul writes to the Corinthians, do you remember when he talks about the Lord's supper and people gathered together? They don't take it with the right intention, the right motivation, mixed motivations. And he said, for this reason, many among you are sick and have died. So it wasn't unheard of, even in other congregations besides Jerusalem. And then what about when Paul writes to the Corinthians and he said, concerning unrepentant ones in the church, deliver them to Satan, for the destruction of the flesh that their spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Remember that from first Corinthians 5?
So he says, you deliver one to Satan, to the realm of Satan. You deliver that believer to the world, that their flesh may be destroyed, that the spirit would be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus…But because they were believers, lest they fall any further and influence any more, that the Lord would take them off this earth. That their spirit would be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
So the impact on others was profound in Jerusalem ,on this day, and great fear, verse 11, came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things. And through the hands of the apostles, many signs and wonders were done among the people, and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch, not the coffee shop, the temple. Yet, none of the rest dared join them. You can't blame them.
They didn't dare join them, but the people esteemed them highly. And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women.
See on one hand, you have people who are not going to join the bandwagon, half hearted, insincere individuals. On the other hand it must have instilled fear in the hearts of the men who sat on the Sanhedrin in the temple. Those who would be enemies of the Christians…
On the other hand, true believers did join. They were increasingly added to the Lord. Multitudes, so the Lord's multiplying after he has subtracted.
And I have discovered that when God subtracts, he does it in order that he might multiply.
So they brought the sick out into the streets and lay them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. Also, a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.
Peter's shadow, I believe, provided a point of contact for people who had a disease to release their faith, nothing magical about Peter's shadow, nothing mystical about Peter's shadow. But people thought if Peter's shadow falls on me, I'm going to be healed. So when Peter walked by in the shadow hit them, they released their faith, and they were healed. That's what I believe is happening. I think it's much like the hem of Jesus' garment. The woman said, if I can just touch the hem of his garment. Because she believed there was power with Jesus. She believed that Jesus wanted to heal her.. The power of faith is an awesome power. Doctors have come to understand that if a patient “believes” in the healing process the will heal quicker.. This power is a gift to us by God and faith in him is what it takes to be saved..
I think this is a good place to stop for today. As per usual we are unable to do a chapter in one meeting.
So when we pray that our faith be increased understand that you are asking for the most power gift of all. On one hand a simple concept ; on the other it is a belief powerful enough to give us eternal life.. One cannot have it but for God’s grace in the first place… We need this faith in our homes, shared with our families, to be witnesses to our neighbors whether they are next door or spread all over the world. We need this faith to establish our values, it guides our behavior and becomes a solid rock beneath us which grounds us to our world and to each other…One other thought before we close..
Remember as Luke recounted in 5:17 – 23 , I believe… “One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” And he was healed..
This Gospel passage is about how Jesus puts a man’s life back together. It’s also an important testament to the faith of friends who help bring a buddy from the captivity of sin to the freedom of forgiveness. We can be glad that Jesus is still putting lives back together through his ability to forgive our sins & heal us. Today “friends” still play an indispensable role in bringing hurting and broken people to Jesus. The power of faith can be incorperated in your prayers for a friend even if he cannot have faith himself… Can a man or woman be saved through the faith of a friend? You be the judge as you read over Luke 5 and cross reference it. Jesus said to the man. “Your sins are forgiven” not based on the man’s faith but the faith of his friends…
Lets close with a prayer…
Our Heavenly Father..
We gather here this morning to enjoy your word.. The words that provide us with guidance each day..The bread of life.. The scriptures. Open our hearts and minds to receive your word today and give us strength as it guides us down the right path…
Today we ask for some mitigation for all those in our humble Bible study who are suffering in some way. May they be healed and strengthened if it is your will..
We ask these things in Jesus’ name..
Amen
Closing prayer
Dear Lord in Heaven, hear our prayers,
We are grateful for those who attended this gathering on this morning of Easter Sunday. And we are grateful for the testimonies, the sharing and the fellowship. We ask for your blessings on this gathering so that we may learn and grow under your watchful eye… Extend compassion for all those who struggle physically, emotionally and spiritually but who have an honest heart. Guide us in all things. On this celebration day of your resurrection we are clothed and empowered by the proof that you are God almighty.
We ask in Jesus’ name,
Amen
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