Acts 5:1-11 | God Doesn't View Sin Lightly

Today, we’re going to learn about two people who allowed their ego’s to get in the way and how God handled their sin. We’re going to move quickly through six principles from the passage as we read

1 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” 5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. 6 The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him. 7 After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” 9 But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” 10 Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

God does not view sin lightly. Every moment from our text today, pushes this truth into our hearts. Let me ask you this… if God dealt with the modern church the same way as He did here, what do you think would happen to it? Dr. Barnhouse said, “You’d have to have a morgue in the basement of every church and a mortician on the pastoral staff.”

The truth is that many churches do not treat sin very seriously. It may be because we don’t treat our personal sins seriously. You see, we tend to cover them in all sorts of defenses, and give multiple reasons for why we do the things that we do and we can relate to many of those reasons because we’ve wrestled with many of the same temptations. And boy are we great at minimizing our sins. Adultery is phrased as “struggling with lust”. Lying is wrapped in layers of context and nuance and self-justification. Murder in the heart is said to be “well we just don’t see to eye” or “we’re too different” or “you don’t know them like I do” and meanwhile you hate your brother or sister in Christ and praise God with the same heart. Do you believe that is pleasing to our Heavenly Father? Do you really think that is the way the Lord desires for you to act?

You see here’s the first point from the passage:

1. Sin Often Starts Small And Secret, But All Sin Is Offensive To God

1 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

The facts are pretty straightforward: Ananias and Sapphira are a married couple and they see these wonderful things happening and the honor that Barnabas has and they want to achieve the same feeling without the same cost. They want everyone to think they made a huge sacrifice while keeping back some of the money for themselves.

Talk about subtlety! This passage is about something that no one would know about. It’s not murder, adultery, or theft. Based on the fact that Barnabas was mentioned with his gift and was honored just before, I think it boils down to pride that they were dealing with. They were envious of Barnabas’ honor and coveted it and Satan knew it and placed this temptation in front of them which caused them to lie.

We don’t know much about these two people but we do know that Ananias means “God is gracious” and Sapphira is Aramaic for “beautiful”. We know that they sold their property and “kept back” part of the proceeds and brought the rest of it as if it was the entire proceeds. This word “kept back” is the Greek word “nosphizomai” which means to “pilfer or embezzle”. Its the same word Joshua uses in

1 But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel.

It is taking the devoted things and what was the result? God’s anger being kindled against the people of Israel. We’re not dealing with something new, it’s the same story under a new covenant. It’s also important to note that this sort of generosity was never something required. The sin isn’t about the amount of money, it’s about the deception and pretending they were something they weren’t.

How many times do you pretend to be something you’re not? You might come into church and pretend to have a close walk with Jesus but you haven’t spent any time with the Lord this last week. You might have a secret hidden sin and instead of confessing your sin before the Lord, you find it easier to hide so people think better of you. This is the same sin that brought death and it is bringing death to you.

Ananias wanted to be seen as generous and spiritual. He desired to be thought of in the same light at Barnabas. This happened in his heart and lets see see what happens when that private decision meets the presence of God.

3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.”

Peter says that Satan “filled” Ananias’ heart. I want to point out the change between Acts 4:31 and this passage.

31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

So you have two fillings here. The thing about being filled is that you can’t hide it. When someone is “filled with joy” you see it! It’s in how they look and act. If someone is “filled with anger” you can tell, right? In the same way, when a believer is filled with the Holy Spirit, there is an obviousness marked by the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control”. Those are pretty obvious to see in someone’s life if you’re watching.

But Satan deals in subtlety. The fruit he loves to bear is secret and deadly.

14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Notice the progression: there is a temptation of our desires, desires give way to sin, and sin leads to death.

The second point is

2. Sin Increases the Moment It's Covered in Deception

You see, it wasn’t just that they coveted, but there was lying and not just to everyone else but they lied to the Holy Spirit, to God Himself! Private sin is never really private. Your sin is offensive to God Himself.

When you sin against the church, the assembled local body, it is first a sin against God. Look at verse 4 again:

4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.”

What a fool we can be when we are tricked by sin! When temptation seduces our desires we don’t think clearly and we think, “I can fool God!” We justify ourselves and deceive our hearts and minds. We sometimes even think we’re wise and experienced but we foolishly think, “God winks at sin” but He never has, and never will.

Look at these questions one right after another. Five questions of why? How did you come to this? Wasn’t it yours? Question after question and we see that Satan’s influence never minimizes our personal culpability. Judas was completely guilty of betraying Jesus Christ. But we know Satan entered into Judas as well. Judas was not innocent. He was personally responsible for his sins.

This is what R Kent Hughes says is “pious pretense, religious sham, simulated holiness, Christian fraud” We’re not talking about a lapse in judgment.

Ananias thought he was improving his reputation before the church and the apostles. But the truth was that he was standing before God and God never leaves our sin unanswered. Third point:

3. Sin Meets Swift, Decisive Judgment, Because God Will Not Be Mocked

Let’s look at verses 5-6

5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. 6 The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.

If we’ve learned that God takes sin seriously, then we learn here what seriously means. He heard the words and fell down dead. No delay. No negotiation.

That would have been a crazy church service to attend, wouldn’t it? And this is important because we see this sort of work occur every time God does something new.

In Genesis with Adam and Eve there was the presumption that God was being selfish and preventing them from good gifts.

In Leviticus 10 we learn a story about a couple of priests that choose to act presumptuously:

1 Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. 2 And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.

This is the same thing happening. You have presumptuous sins being done. The presumption here is “God doesn’t care about how we worship.” but God spent the last half of Exodus explaining that He cares very much about He is worshipped. Looking at verse 4 here

4 And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, “Come near; carry your brothers away from the front of the sanctuary and out of the camp.” 5 So they came near and carried them in their coats out of the camp, as Moses had said.

In Joshua 7 when the people are entering the Promised Land, Achan kept the devoted things that God had said not to take and and Achan was destroyed for his sin.

We could talk about Uzzah and Gehazi and Judas. Every time God was doing something new it was disrupted by sin and God acts every time in a decisive manner. What’s interesting is that God’s judgment was taking away a gift that He alone gives: life.

Now… if the story ended here we could just write this off as a bad moment in the church but let’s look at the next bit of the verse:

7 After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.”

Notice that God gives Sapphira a chance to repent. Peter gives her the opportunity to come clean. Notice, that she is not Ananias’s extension of himself. She is a free moral agent which is important to know because of the time that she lived in. She had a chance for restoration and didn’t take it.

This is such a mercy and yet she chooses to close the door God provided for life. She chooses to close the door and we can’t read this as collateral damage from her husband’s failed leadership. She chooses to sin knowingly and willfully against God Himself.

The fourth point I want to make is

4. Sin Is Not Excused by a Second Chance Refused

She is not extended special consideration because she is a woman. It is not, “Oh, she’s being a good submissive wife.” No, it’s that she chooses the sin too and the judgment that happens is quick.

Look at verses 9-10

9 But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” 10 Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

This is a repeated judgment: sin brings death. Peter shifts here and instead of saying she lied, it says that they “tested” the Spirit. Going back to the Old Covenant with Israel, God was tested in the wilderness by His people. In Exodus 17 the people were thirsty and they fought with Moses about water but they were testing God.

2 Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?”

When Israel was considering mutiny against Moses and returning to Egypt God said

21 But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, 22 none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, 23 shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it.

And here, Peter is saying that Ananias and Sapphira were testing God. Do you think for a moment that you can test the Lord and walk away unscathed? Don’t mistake God’s patience for His approval. You can live a life of blessing and have your works burned up when they are tested.

Listen to what Peter later says as his life and ministry begin to conclude

9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!

Fifth point:

5. God's Verdict Is Consistent

None of us can behave presumptuously in our sin and think things are okay with us and the Lord. All the Scriptures teach us this truth and I think it’s important to note that this is the New Covenant. Its the same covenant we are under in Christ. We can’t read this as myth or think God doesn’t work this way. In fact Paul tells us

30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.

Why?

29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.

The believers in Corinth were saying they had communion with God, but were living in sinful rebellion and considering Christ’s sacrifice for them. Obviously, God doesn’t strike us all with sickness, but it’s clear that sin is still treated seriously today. So how should we then live? Thankfully, Luke tells us what to do. Point 6

6. The Right Response to a Holy God Is Fear, Which Is A Characteristic Of The Church

Look at Acts 5:11

11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

The passage doesn’t tell us if these two were saved. That’s not the point. The point is how should we live before the face of a holy God? The church is a community of believers and we are defined partly by what does not belong inside of us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ are defined by holiness and the fruit of the Spirit. But what doesn’t belong? Its the works of the flesh, violations of God’s moral Law, things like that that don’t belong amongst God’s people.

In fact, the result within the church is of “great fear”. That is “phobos megas” which is not simply a casual reverence, but a personal revelation that God is not a trifling God. The point that the whole church walked away with was that we cannot think lightly of our sin.

So I want to bring this home to you… if God took Annanias and Sapphira’s sin this seriously, then you should know that He takes your sin seriously as well. If you pretend to be spiritually mature, or you fake generosity, or perhaps you act like God is at work in your life when He’s not… then you have to consider what God thinks about that and this text shows you exactly what He thinks.

This should also show us what is at stake when we fake relationships with one another. When we pretend we are at peace with one another. You know the one anothers we’ve been reading on Sundays are instructions from God about His Church and how we are to interact with each other. On Sunday we smile and shake hands, but the rest of the week we are critical on social media, or slander and gossip about others in the church then this is the same sin and you must deal with it. Take it before the Lord, confess it, and ask God to help you overcome it by His grace. Don’t treat it like a small thing because it’s not.

Head: God wants you to know that He doesn’t view sin lightly.

It doesn’t matter if you put it into religious language or justify it in your heart because God judges truly and honestly. He sees all things and in spite of your secret sins, He still loves you and offers forgiveness to you.

Heart: God wants you to believe that you have nothing to prove.

We all come to God based on grace and that’s what the Gospel does, it sets us free! So we are free to give and not be beholden to what others think about us.

Hand: God wants you to choose honesty and truth over appearances and performance.

Get some people in your life to hold you accountable and don’t live before God with pretense.