Well, it's good to be back with you this morning, brethren and sisters, and it's always a joy to have you fellowship here in Cookstown with the folks at Shiloh. We're turning this morning, please, to Acts chapter five, Acts chapter five. We've got air conditioning this morning with a fan on one side and a heater on the other. That's perfect. That's great. Well, the fan will not need to take my jacket off this morning. It looks like a heater but it's a fan. Oh, is it really? My apologies. I thought it was a new air conditioning system. Well, it's good to be with you. I miss our brother Bert with us here this morning, but he's coming apart to rest a while, so we trust that the Lord will bless him. Acts chapter 5, this is a very familiar portion of scripture, and we're commencing to read from verse 1. But a certain man named Ammonias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession and kept back part of the price. his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whilst it remained, was it not thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias, hearing these words, fell down, and gave up the ghost. And great fear came on all them that heard these things. And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him. And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost. And the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things. And we'll end our reading there at verse 11. And we trust as always the Lord to bless the reading of his precious truth to our hearts for his name's sake. This portion of scripture, was laid upon my mind over the weekend as I was seeking the Lord what message to bring to you this morning in the ministry of the word. I remember our brother Jordy ministered on this passage in the breaking of bread maybe about two years ago and I recall one of the last occasions when I was here we were studying naming the leper from 2nd Kings chapter 5. We conducted a four part series on Naaman the leper based on the four individuals who Naaman the leper met. The last of those individuals of course was the man called Gehazi. We know that Gehazi was a covetous man and he looked at what Naaman had He looked at the silver and he looked at the clothing and so on and said I will take somewhat of him after Naaman the leper of course had been cleansed of his leprosy by dipping in Jordan seven times and he went on his way rejoicing and glorifying God He was none the wiser as to Gehazi's ulterior motives. Gehazi told him a tall tale about two sons of the prophets coming to spend the night and how they needed provisions and so on. Of course we know that Gehazi managed to hoodwink Naaman into giving him silver and so on and so forth. Of course the leprosy of Naaman the leper cleaved onto Gehazi himself because Elisha was not fooled when Gehazi returned to him. And this passage really is reminiscent of that occasion in the account of Naaman the leper and Gehazi. And that was one of the reasons why I believe the Lord directed me to preach on this this morning. Not that I believe for one minute that anyone in this assembly is guilty of the sin of Ananias and Sapphira, but I believe that these things are written for our learning and for our admonition. As the saying goes, to be forewarned is to be forearmed. And I take this very much as a challenge to my own heart. As when we studied Gehazi, That was a challenge to my own heart of the danger of covetousness and the desire for filthy looker and to be greedy at gain and so on and so forth. I take this as much a challenge to my own heart as on that occasion when we studied the account of Gehazi. So when we come to this passage this morning, I would simply put a title over it and it would simply be this, When God Refuses the Blessing. when God refuses the blessing. You see behind that simple word but at the beginning of verse 1 the marks of the devil can clearly be seen. Why hath Satan filled thine heart is one of the most searching questions of scripture and yet we do not find it being asked by a preacher preaching the gospel to the unconverted. but by an apostle unto two people who belonged to the local church in Jerusalem. The church which began at Pentecost had been undergoing tremendous growth as the Lord from chapter 2 onwards added daily to the church such as should be seen. This was accompanied also by increasing persecution by the unbelieving rulers and elders of the Jews. We might call this satanic opposition from without. However, we know that it did not prosper because the blessing that was upon the early church continued unabated until iniquity was found on this particular occasion. You see, if Satan's strategy of opposition from without failed by way of persecution, here we see him now turn to his next tactic, his next device, not opposition from without, but corruption from within. Dear friends, the imprints and interference of Satan can be seen in this account. And God refused the blessing until that question was answered, why hath Satan filled thine heart? You see, we have an enemy at work, and if his aim then was to fill the heart of Ananias and his wife, then we can be certain that his motives have not changed until this very day. You see his aim is to tempt you and I as much as he did Ananias and Sapphira. We know that the book of Acts covers a very special time period. It was the beginning of the church age and the Holy Ghost was carrying out miraculous deeds which were specific to that time as the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and the truth of his resurrection was proclaimed. But we can be certain that this was recorded by the Holy Ghost here for a purpose. You see, if the operation of the devil can be seen, so much more can the all-prevailing power of the Holy Ghost be seen. And here it is seen in judgment. Where did this sin begin? Where did it take root? How did it creep into the church? And what does God require of us as we learn from it? You see these are questions which we hope to answer from the Word of God this morning and the first truth that we see here is simply this. The sin was entered into by defrauding. It was entered into by defrauding. In verse 1 the guilty party was singled out but a certain man The word certain there is very important because it tells us that the Holy Ghost knew exactly who it was. An Old Testament illustration of this is found in Joshua chapter 7. You remember how the Lord revealed unto Joshua who had taken of the accursed thing, and who had hidden it in the camp before the evidence was uncovered? It was, of course, Achan. And here we find a situation which is remarkably similar to that of Achan's sin. The Holy Spirit of God knew who the man was, but a certain man named Ananias. with Sapphira, his wife, sold a possession. Now, if the narrative had ended there, if they had simply sold the possession, they could join with the rest of the believers in the church back in chapter 4 and verses 31 to 37. Let's just look at those verses for a moment back in chapter 4 verses 31 to 37. Here we see great blessing in the church. When they had prayed the place was shaken where they were assembled together And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they speak the Word of God With boldness notice that they speak the Word of God with boldness they weren't speaking in gibberish as it were they were speaking the Word of God and the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and and of one soul, neither said any of them that all of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had all things common. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. Neither was there any among them that lacked, for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold. and laid them down at the apostles' feet, and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. And Joseph, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, which is being interpreted the son of consolation, a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet. You see, they sold their valuable possessions. Barnabas led by example as a senior man. He was surnamed by the Apostles He was the son of consolation it speaks of commendation by the Apostles here was a man of integrity and a man of uprightness Who led by example? He did exactly the same thing as Ananias and Sapphira did he brought the money and he laid it at the Apostles feet But there's a difference There's a vast difference between Barnabas and the others and this particular couple. You see, they acted honestly and uprightly, but Ananias and Sephira did not. There's not one hint or piece of evidence that any of the others, Barnabas included, kept back a part of their price. No. They brought the entire proceeds and gave them willingly, unreservedly, to the Lord by laying them at the apostles' feet. But let us look for a moment at the character of these other believers in the church in chapter 4. In verse 31, before they did anything with their possessions, they prayed. And the place was shaken where they were assembled together, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. We know that the speaking in tongues was a particular sign gift of the Holy Spirit in this particular age, but they were not speaking unintelligible language. For a start, the tongues, they were real languages. And all the devout Jews which were in Jerusalem at that particular time heard the Word of God spoken in their own language on the day of Pentecost back in chapter 2. And here we see the disciples being filled with the Holy Ghost and speaking the Word of God with boldness. The Word of God had the central place in the assembly where they were gathered together. The ministry of the Word was the central focus. They speak the word of God with boldness. They were consecrated to Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ had the preeminence. In all things he must have the preeminence. We know that from scripture. They had heard the gospel. They repented and believed. They were baptized and they were added to the church. And here we see them diligently and fervently seeking God in prayer. And the power of God was among them. They were totally consecrated. And then in verse 32 we read that the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one soul. They were united. There was no guile. There was no impure motive among them or in their hearts. The Holy Ghost had all of them. because they were filled with the Holy Ghost. He had filled them and taken entire possession of their beings so that they were totally consecrated to the Lord Jesus Christ and to his service. Not only were they consecrated, not only were they united, but they were humbled also. Neither said any of them that all of the things which he possessed was his own. There was no covetousness among them. These believers were not saying here, you know, such and such a possession is mine. That's mine, I own that. No, they were the opposite, both in mind and in heart. They were consecrated to God and the Lord Jesus Christ. They were filled with the Holy Ghost. And in their own minds, and in their own hearts, as far as they were concerned, they owned nothing. Everything they had belonged to God. And they were only stewards, giving back to God everything they possessed for Him to do with it according to His will. It reminds me of the words that we find in 1 Timothy chapter 6. Paul said to Timothy, For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain that we can carry nothing out. And we see the fruit of the Spirit here. Because there was great kindness shown to all and by all in verses 34 and 35. Neither was there any among them that lacked. For as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of all the things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles' feet, and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. You see, some had plenty. and others had need, and those who had plenty were not withholding from giving to those who had need. Great kindness and self-denial. And it was all the work of the Holy Ghost in the church and nothing hindered the blessing. Now, Ananias and his wife must have seen, they must have witnessed this wonderful manifestation of the love of God among the saints because they were part of the church. They could have done exactly as the others did and brought, as in verse 34 of chapter 4, the price of that which was sold, that is the full price. But this is where the defrauding came in. In verse 2 of chapter 5, and kept back part of the price. The word defraud there means to take or to keep something which is not yours. Now I'm using that word, I know it's not found in the text, but really this is what they were doing. They were taking or keeping something which they should have given over to God, like the rest. You see, unlike the rest of them in the church, this couple did not see their possessions as holy, belonging to God in the first instance. Otherwise, they would not have wished to have kept back any of it. And they would have followed the example of the rest. They would have submitted to the oversight of the apostles and obeyed the Holy Ghost, but they did not. Instead in verse 2 he that is Ananias brought a certain part and laid it at the Apostles feet not the whole part You see there was covetousness here because he kept back apart for himself You see there was also a conspiracy here as well as covetousness because we read his wife also being privy You see, this leads us to the next point. Not only was the sin entered into by defrauding, but the sin was encouraged by deception. In verse 2, they conspired together secretly to keep back part of the price and then to bring a certain part to the apostles. And so their conspiracy was to make it appear to the apostles that they had brought the whole price. They intended to fool the apostles into believing that they had done as the rest, that they had followed the example of the others and obeyed fully the leading of the Holy Spirit by sacrificing their all to God. And here we see their hypocrisy. They wanted part of the money for themselves, but they also wanted the same commendation that all of the other believers had. They wanted part of the same honour. We might call this keeping up appearances, because their desire was to keep face with the rest. They did not want to be left out, as it were. And so they conspired to deceive. They must have believed that their deception would be a success. They must have had a degree of confidence in their ability, as it were, to hoodwink God's servants. You see, they did as the others did. And they laid it at the apostles' feet. It tells us that they followed the same pattern. They copied the others, outwardly that is. They walked up and they laid this money, this sum of money at the apostles feet. You see they were pretending. They were copying the actions of the others outwardly and by so doing they were putting on a pretense like actors. That's what the word hypocrite means. But what they misunderstood was this. They may have been able to hide their sin from men, but they could never hide it from God. And the next truth that we see is this. Not only was the sin encouraged by deception, but the sin was exposed as devious. It was exposed as devious. In verse three, it is remarkable to note that the uncovering of the sin was instantaneous. But Peter said, Ananias, Peter knew immediately both who the guilty party was and what had taken place. He spoke to him face to face and man to man. Ananias, he said. Why? Because the Holy Ghost knew. And the Holy Ghost had revealed it unto Peter because of what Peter said, Why hath Satan fouled thine heart? Now notice the order here. Peter named Ananias and then he named Satan. You see, Peter knew the guilty party, but he also knew that the devil was at work here. He discerned it without a moment of doubt, and without a moment's hesitation. The sin was devious. It was of the devil. It was devilish. Why was Peter so certain that the origin of the sin was satanic? Well, because of that vital piece of evidence in his question. Why hath Satan fell thine heart, verse 3, to lie to the Holy Ghost? to lie to the Holy Ghost. You see the Holy Ghost revealed the whole truth of the matter to Peter. Peter the Apostle was merely God's instrument through whom the Holy Ghost spoke. You see you can never deceive the Holy Spirit of God. You might be able to fool men but you can never fool God, neither the Spirit of God in this instance. You see Ananias was the instrument whose heart Satan had filled to lie to the Holy Ghost. What blasphemy! And that gives us an insight into the realm of spiritual warfare. We read about spiritual warfare over in Ephesians chapter 6, that great passage on putting on the whole armour of God and so on, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. How sad it was that a man permitted the devil to take possession of his heart through covetousness and through pride and through wickedness in an attempt to defraud God and to deceive the Holy Spirit. and it all came to nothing. Because not only did the Holy Ghost reveal to Peter who it was, that is Ananias, and where it came from, that is Satan, but he also knew exactly what it was. In the last part of In the last part of the question of verse 3, Peter's words identify the precise nature of the sin and to keep back part of the price of the land. You see Peter knew just exactly what had taken place. Notice in verse 1 it is simply called a possession. But Peter names it as land here in verse 3. Peter knows exactly what it was and what was sown. You see there is nothing hid from the eyes of God. And it was also devious because in verse 4 we read that it was conceived. Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? That would remind us of James 1, verses 14 and 15. But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin. It speaks of temptation. Taking root in the heart of a man or woman and springing up to produce something. To be tempted by sin in and of itself we know is not sinful provided by the grace of God we resist the temptation and resist the devil that he may flee from us. But if we yield to the temptation then it becomes sin. Because this sin, when it takes root in the heart of a man or woman, it will conceive something. It will spring up to produce something conceiving. It speaks of bearing forth the corrupt fruit of sin. Notice that Peter asks the question to Ananias here, why? Twice Why do such a thing? Thou hast not lied unto men, verse 4, but unto God. They had forgotten God. Their fear of God was gone and their love of God was gone. Why? Well, only the Holy Ghost knew the answer because he knew the state of their hearts. Three hours later, Sapphira arrived, unaware of what had taken place in verse 7. We read there that it was about the space of three hours after when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. But notice what Peter said to her in verse 8. Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much. Now what did Peter mean by so much? Well on one occasion I must confess when I preached on this passage before in St. Field Baptist Church a number of years ago, I mistakenly thought and mistakenly concluded that Peter quoted the whole price of the land. That is the price that it should have been sold at but no, Having consulted various commentaries on this particular portion of scripture, sound commentaries, they all agree that what Peter meant when he said so much here was the amount that was brought to the apostles feet. Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much. In other words, that amount that is sitting there. And she said yea for so much. She repeated the same lie. and the scholars agree that she repeated the same line. And so this morning when I speak on this passage I am correcting myself because I mistakenly assumed beforehand that what Peter meant was the entire price, the price that it was initially sold for before they kept back part of the price. In other words, when she said, yea for so much, I used to believe that Saphira was owning up. Yes, this is the exact amount that we sold the land for, but no, she was lying. Just like her husband, she was lying. She was attempting to deceive and to fraud. But every single particular part, every single particular detail and part of this transaction was known to God. The sin was exposed as devious. But the fourth point is this. The sin was ended by death. It was ended by death. The last part of James 1 verse 15 reads, And sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Now this was true for Ananias and Sapphira. Notice the conspiracy again that Peter reveals in verse 9. How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? If he asked Ananias why, and then he asked Sapphira how, there is one thing that is certain. None of this ever need to have taken place if they had both obeyed the Spirit of the Lord. It was their choice and they made it to their own destruction. Why? Why hath Satan filled thine heart? How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of God. God could not be blamed for their death when it took place here. You see lying to the Holy Ghost could not be tolerated. There had been great blessing prior to this but for this brief interlude God withheld the blessing and he refused to bless until the sin was put out. What was the outcome? Verse 11, and great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things. This fear of God did not bring bondage, but rather blessing, because the blessing returned again following the death of Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, and the believers were the more added to the church. And when those young men carried out their solemn duty, of burying Ananias and his wife. It shows that those young men knew exactly the judgment of God that had taken place, and they feared the Lord, and in turn that fear came upon the whole church. In all of Peter's words to Ananias and to his wife, two things were missing. Two things were not present in Peter's words to Ananias and to his wife. Number one, gratefulness. And number two, sympathy. There was no gratitude and there was no sympathy. Peter did not thank Ananias for the part of the money from the sale of the land that he brought. Neither did he or any of the other apostles express compassion following their deaths. There were no great things spoken at this particular funeral service. And a remarkable meeting it was. A meeting of the church. where discipline was exercised and immediately a funeral service took place. But there were no wonderful words spoken about Ananias and Sapphira at this particular meeting. Peter did not thank Ananias, neither did he or any of the other apostles express any sympathy or compassion whatsoever. And this was because, very simply, there can be no sympathy or thanks for sin in God's eyes. Yet how this sin and the consequences of it must have broken their hearts. How it must have broken the hearts of the apostles and of the other believers when they saw that two people who perhaps they thought very highly of had done this wicked thing and had deceived the others. But they could not deceive God and neither could they deceive the apostles as God's chosen instruments. Paul instructed Timothy In 1st Timothy chapter 5 and verse 20, damn that sin, rebuke before all that others also may fear. That is exactly what took place here and the rebuke was so strong it was unprecedented. The fear of God is meant for our good and not for our evil. After James warned that sin bringeth forth death, he added these tender words of compassion and exhortation. He said, do not err, my beloved brethren. Beloved brethren and sisters, God is not operating today as he did in the days of the apostles. But these things are written for our learning. And there is only one thing that is able to cleanse sin in the sight of God, and that is the precious blood of Christ. And praise God for that wonderful promise in 1 John 1 and verse 9, that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And what is the basis and foundation of that cleansing? 1 John 1 and verse 7. The blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all sin. You know, it has been said that if the Holy Spirit was still operating as he did then, a very large percentage of believers would not be alive today. 1 John 5 and verse 16 tells us that if any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death he shall ask and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death but there is a sin unto death I do not say that he shall pray for it And this tells us that it is possible for a believer, that is a genuine believer, to sin to such a degree. Now we're not talking of continuous, habitual, willful sin of the unsaved. Because then that person would fall into the category of 1 John 3 and verse 8, who commit sin and who are of the devil. In other words, they're committed to sin, committed to a life of sin. No. What's being spoken of here is the possibility of a believer or believers to sin so seriously and so grievously, enough that the only course of action left for God to take in order to punish them is to punish them with physical death. As for example, in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 where for this cause Paul said, that is, they were eating and drinking unworthily. at the Lord's table, Paul said, many are sickly among you, and many sleep. The word sleep, of course, is speaking of physical death, but it's never spoken of in the New Testament in reference to the unsaved, but only to believers. Ananias and Sapphira belonged to the church at Jerusalem. They witnessed the honor that was bestowed upon Barnabas and upon the others when they voluntarily sold their possessions and gave the proceeds to the Lord by laying the money at the apostles' feet. And we can be sure that the apostles were not spending any of that money on themselves. No, you remember what Peter said to the lame man before he healed him in chapter 3 in verse 6, silver and gold have I none. No, distribution was made to all according to their need. The money was merely entrusted to them for the Lord's purposes. And it is remarkable to note here, furthermore, Peter's emphasis on the voluntary nature of this particular ministry. They did not have to do what they did. Look at what he said to Ananias again in verses 3 and 4. In other words, it belonged to Ananias. The giving up of it was not compelled or commanded or required, it was a free will offering to God. Now we know that the other believers considered all their possessions to be as belonging to the Lord anyway, and so they gave the proceeds of them back to the Lord. And we know that Ammonias and Sapphira wanted to do likewise, or rather appeared to do likewise. But in this particular instance, in reality, The possessions were theirs. This was not something that was required of them as the basis of salvation because we know that by grace we are saved. Through faith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. No, these were free will offerings to God. out of love and gratitude to the Lord for saving their soul. And look at what he says again in verse 4. And after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? And so the proceeds were still his even after it was sold. He did not have to lay the money at the feet of the apostles, although it would not have reflected well on the spiritual character of Ananias and his wife had they not offered it. And they knew this. Nevertheless, the emphasis in this whole account was not upon the money, but on the lie. It was on the pretense. They had a pretense of sanctimonious spirituality by making it appear as though they had given all when they had not. Beloved brethren and sisters this morning, this searches my heart. as to the motives behind all I do for the Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for me. It was the lying to the Holy Ghost that was the sin, that was the sin unto death in this account. The Lord did not place so much emphasis on the money as on the lie. They kept back a part of the price of the lamb because they were attempting to deceive God. What a blasphemy that is. My dear beloved brethren and sisters this morning, may God deliver us and me from any such hypocrisy. And may we instead follow after righteousness, charity, faith, meekness with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Just like the widow, the poor widow of Mark chapter 12 and verses 42 to 44. who cast into the treasury all that she had, even all her living, and of whom the Lord Jesus Christ said, this poor widow hath cast more in than all day. Beloved brethren and sisters, may the Lord keep us from following this poor example of Ananias and Sapphira. but may we, by the grace of God, give our all to him in the spiritual sense of the word. May God bless his word to our hearts this morning for his name's sake. Shall we pray? Our Father in heaven, we thank thee for thy goodness to us and we thank thee for thy precious word. We thank thee for these solemn admonitions that we find in the precious word of God. We thank thee, our Father, for the holy scriptures The Holy Scriptures which are able to make wise unto salvation. We thank Thee our Father that these things are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come. Our Lord, we see that the emphasis here was not upon the money. The amount of money is not even mentioned. We do not know how much the land was sold for. We do not know how much Ananias and Sapphira kept back. But Father, the grievous sin that they committed was that they lied to thyself. Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto the Holy Ghost, Peter said. Grant our Father that we may not follow that example. Grant our Father that we may be genuine and sincere in all that we do, that we might love one another fervently with a pure love, that we might walk in love as Christ also hath loved us. and given Himself an offering and a sacrifice for a sweet-smelling savour unto God. Our Father, bless Thy Word to each one of our hearts. Help us to be doers of the Word and not hearers, only deceiving our own selves. Our Father, we thank Thee that Thou art not punishing the churches Thy didst to Ananias and Sapphira, even though, Father, many of us, myself included, certainly most likely would deserve it. Forgive us our sins, Father, forgive us for any hypocrisy, any thoughts that we have had which have grieved Thy Holy Spirit, and cleanse us afresh, and help us to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called, just as these early disciples did, in the Savior's precious and worthy name we pray, amen.