ECD Stewardship Thrust WEST KENYA UNION CONFERENCE ECD Stewardship Thrust

INTEGRITY LESSONS FROM THE STORY OF ANANIAS & SAPPHIRA IN ACTS 5 West Kenya Union Conference

Acts 5:1-11 (NKJV) Lying to the Holy Spirit But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. 2 And he 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.

Acts 5 3 But Peter 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? 4 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? You have not lied to men but to God.”

Acts 5 5 Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. 6 And the young men arose and wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him. 7 Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

Acts 5 8 And Peter answered her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much?” She said, “Yes, for so much.” 9 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.”

Acts 5 10 Then immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying her out, buried her by her husband. 11 So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things.

Introduction The object of the book of Acts is in itself to; give a faithful and authentic record of the doings of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, after he had ascended into heaven, leaving them as his responsible agents to carry on the building of his Church on earth (The Pulpit Commentary, Emp. supplied).

To address the question of integrity, especially in this lesson, Acts chapter 5 introduces us to a couple, their possession, and shame.

Brief Exposition Ananias, as rendered in Nehemiah 3:23, points to a Hebrew name meaning God covers or protects. But the name occurs nowhere else. The very common name, Hananiah (God is gracious), is also rendered in the LXX. Ananias is doubtless the name meant here and in Acts 9:10; 23:2, etc.

Sapphira does not occur elsewhere Sapphira does not occur elsewhere. It is either a derivative of the Aramean word meaning beautiful, or from the Hebrew rypis which means a sapphire.

A possession (see Acts 2:45) A possession (see Acts 2:45). Though not specified by the word used here, the kind of possession referred applies to houses, fields, jewels, and wealth generally; but the nature of the property, as applied in verses 3 and 8, means especially” a parcel of ground” (John 4:5), “a field”(Acts 1:18, 19).

The shame of Ananias and Sapphira became evident when they, in the face of their possession, yielded to the temptation of compromise. Chinua Achebe said, “One of the truest tests of integrity is its blunt refusal to be compromised” (Examples of Integrity, examples.yourdictionary.com).

One of the authentic lessons that the Church today can draw from the first believers is that of integrity which is, “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles” https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/ definition/integrity (Jan. 20, 2017).

This sense of honesty and moral backbone appealed to the people upon whom they acted to an extent that the church membership grew more and more (v.14).

CHURCH GROWTH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT 120 disciples 3000 new converts 5000 men More and more Increasing Grew in numbers Church planting Many thousands Acts 1:15 Acts 2:41,42 Acts 4:4 Acts 5:14 Acts 6:1,7 Acts 9:31 Acts 16:5 Acts 21:20

In these days of Total Member Involvement (TMI), God has shown us the need and how to double the membership of His Church annually. We can draw lessons of integrity that will propel this work to the heights God had intended of it since the time of the apostles.

ACTS 5 Lets us know that despite the explosion of growth in the early church, they had moments of weakness, even gross sin.

ACTS 5 I believe that their deaths serve as a warning to the Church today, and that God has a lot to teach us — if we are willing to hear

ACTS 5 The incident described in chapter 5 is not solely a New Testament act. It was given to Peter on this occasion, by the Holy Ghost, to read the secrets of Ananias’s heart, just as it was given to Elisha to detect Gehazi’s lie [2 Kings 5:25, 26] (The Pulpit Commentary).

ACTS 5 …the swift punishment inflicted in both cases by the word of the man of God — leprosy in one case, and sudden death in the other — is another point of strong resemblance (Ibid).

ACTS 5 It is only one instance among many of the pure spiritual atmosphere in which the Church then moved, that a lie to the apostle was a lie to the Holy Ghost under whose guidance and by whose power the apostle acted.

In the church, there are two kinds of people, and it’s nearly impossible to distinguish them from the outside. On the outside, Ananias and Sapphira look just like another church member named Barnabas (introduced in Acts 4). Barnabas had just sold his property and brought the money to the apostles, and to the casual observer, Ananias and Sapphira were doing the same thing.

But deep in their heart lingered a love of money and a desire for people’s praise. So they conspired together to present a portion of their money while passing it off as the entire amount. This is worlds apart from the attitude of Barnabas, but looks very similar.. .

We may be able to get away with this sort of duplicity for a while, but if someone looks closely, the lies are there, threatening to undo everything. And even if they don’t.

WE CANNOT HIDE FROM GOD. It may be difficult for us to distinguish between a truly repentant heart and a seasoned faker, but nothing is hidden from God. The Holy Spirit knows our thoughts as if they were being played through a loudspeaker or being displayed on a screen. That is why despite fooling everyone else, Ananias and Sapphira were still found out. There are no locked doors or hidden closets for the Holy Spirit.

Remember, Ananias’s fraud was an ignoring of the whole spiritual character of the apostles’ ministry, and was accordingly visited with an immediate punishment (The Pulpit Commentary).

A day will come when every secret will be proclaimed from the housetops (Matt 10:27). Do we really believe this? Are we ready for it?

Ananias and Sapphira had known this. but they forgot it Ananias and Sapphira had known this . . . but they forgot it. They became so consumed with the praise of others that they forgot the only One whose praise really matters.

I can’t see inside of your heart to discern whether you’re a Barnabas or an Ananias. But the secrets of your heart are not secrets to God. When you proclaim with your lips that “Jesus is Lord” and live as if His law doesn’t matter, don’t deceive yourselves into thinking that you’ve successfully tricked God.

The closer we are to Grace, the Greater the offense of sin. Not everyone who lies gets struck down immediately for their sin. So why did Ananias and Sapphira? ……A couple of reasons:

First, their deaths—like much in Acts—serve as a sign. God takes something that is true in the kingdom of God and puts it on physical display. We see this most often through the healing miracles, but it is equally true of this judgment.

God doesn’t do this with everyone who lies to the Holy Spirit today God doesn’t do this with everyone who lies to the Holy Spirit today. But that should not cover up the fact that this death is a picture of how God feels about it.  It is a glimpse of the future judgment for all who share in the heart of Ananias and Sapphira

Second, Ananias and Sapphira had seen the activity of the Holy Spirit so closely that the seriousness of the sin increased.  Think of it like the temple: the closer you are to the holy place, the more significant is every blemish. These people had seen the mercy of God firsthand.

Do not take holy things lightly! Ananias’ name, in fact, means, “God is merciful.” They had likely been witnessess to the death of Christ itself! And yet despite being recipients of such great grace, they spurned it for the praise of men.  Do not take holy things lightly!

Fear is a part of Worship Unsurprisingly, these dramatic deaths caused a great deal of fear (Acts 5:5, 11). But we may be shocked to see that even in light of this, “more and more people believed in the Lord” (Acts 5:14). Fear is an integral part of worship.

“The Old Testament (e.g., Deut 21:21) and later Judaism (Dead Sea Scrolls, rabbis, etc.) in many cases prescribed the death penalty so that others might “fear” (v. 11); it thus served as a deterrent” (Acts 5:7-11, IVP Bible Background Commentary: NT).

For those of us familiar with the idea of an infinitely loving God, this is a jarring realization. But God’s love only makes sense when we know the magnificence of his glory and the might of his power.

That is why John Newton wrote, “Tis grace that taught my heart to fear That is why John Newton wrote, “Tis grace that taught my heart to fear.” As the fear of God increases, so does the sense of his love, because we understand more fully what we have been saved from.

My favorite definition of the fear of God is awe mixed with intimacy My favorite definition of the fear of God is awe mixed with intimacy. We are invited into the closest possible relationship with God, but this intimacy must never overshadow the majesty of who God is.

Sin is a Deadly Serious Matter to God. If we’re honest, many of us find God’s actions here offensive—but that merely reveals our ignorance of our sin and God’s holiness. We shouldn’t ask the question, “Why did they die?” Instead we should wonder, “Why do we remain alive?” 

Yes, God is patient with us and slow to anger. But as R. C Yes, God is patient with us and slow to anger. But as R.C. Sproul says, we forget that God’s patience is designed to lead us to repentance, not to become bolder in our sin. If Jesus really went through the tormenting hell of the cross to redeem us, and we neglect that in pursuit of our sin, what will it be like to stand before God?  “How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3)

A Warning Not to Forget. From the stern punishment meted out to those perjurers [Ananias and Sapphira], God would have us learn also how deep is His hatred and contempt for all hypocrisy and deception (AA, 75).

A Warning Not to Forget. In pretending that they had given all, Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit, and, as a result, they lost this life and the life that is to come (AA 75 ct’d.).

END West Kenya Union Conference