Amen. All right, well, we're there in Acts chapter number five, and we've been going
through an interesting series on Sunday night. It's called Drop Dead, and we've been going
through the stories of different individuals that drop dead in the Bible. We've been looking
at people who God slew, and we've been looking at their stories and trying to learn and figure
out why it is that God killed them. If you remember, we started three weeks ago with
the story of Onan in the book of Genesis, and we talked about Nadab and Abihu. Last
week, we talked about Azah. Remember, Azah, he tried to keep the ark of God from falling
to the ground. And tonight, we come to a very famous story of Ananias, very well-known story
if you've grown up in church, of Ananias and Sapphira. And I want you to notice there what
the Bible says there in Acts chapter five and verse one. It says, but a certain man
named Ananias, with Sapphira, his wife, sold a possession and kept back part of the price,
his wife also being privy. The word privy there means being aware of it, being privy
to it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles' feet. Now, as we go through
the story tonight, it'll become clear what's happening here, but let me just give you the
context. The problem is not that they sold a possession and kept back part of it. In
fact, the apostle Peter will make that clear as we go on in the story. The problem is that
they told the church that they were going to give or donate a certain amount and they
decided to keep back part of it and they lied. And here's what we mean by that. They went
to the church and they said, we're going to give all of the proceeds from this land that
we're selling, but then they lied about how much money they actually made and they kept
back part of it and told the church that they were giving all of it to the church and they
laid it at the apostles' feet. So what happens, notice there's verse 3, but Peter said, Ananias,
why has Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost and to keep back part of the
price of the land? Whilst it remained, notice this was not forced, they were not forced
to give, they chose to give. He says, whilst it remained, was it not thine own? And after
it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Peter's saying, nobody forced you to sell
this property or give it to the church. You chose to do that out of your own heart of
generosity. He said, when it remained, it was your own. And even after it was sold,
was it not in thine own power? Why has thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou
has 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. So we see here that
this man Ananias drops dead. He brings a certain amount and he says, hey, I sold this property
and I'm going to give all of it to the Lord. But he lied about it. He kept back part of
it and he lied. He said, I sold it for $100,000. When he really sold it for $120,000, he kept
$20,000. But he told the people, oh yeah, I sold it for $100,000 and I'm going to give
$100,000. And then Peter calls him on it and he says, you're lying and you're not just
lying to men, you're lying to God and Ananias dropped dead. The Bible says he fell down
and gave up the ghost. But the story doesn't end there. Notice verse 6. And the young men
arose 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. So his wife shows up like a typical woman. She shows up late. I'm just kidding. I'm just
joking. I'm tired, all right? Forgive me. And she shows up three hours later. I'm not
sure why she showed up three hours later. But she shows up three hours later and she
came in not knowing. The Bible says she didn't know what happened. She didn't know that her
husband was already confronted about the lie and had already been called out and that he
died. Notice verse 8. And Peter answered unto her, tell me whether you sold the land for
so much. And she said, yea, for so much. And when he asked her there for so much, he's
asking her the number that her husband lied about. He said, did you actually sell the
property for this much? And she said, yeah, we sold it for that amount. Notice verse 9.
Then Peter said unto her, how is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit
of Lord? Behold, the feet of them which are buried by 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.
Notice verse 11. And great fear came upon all the church and upon as many as heard these
things. So we see the story of this husband and wife who dropped dead, who God kills them
for these sins that they committed. Now, like I said, I don't want to preach very long tonight.
I'll do my best to try to keep it short. We've got pizza coming and we've got all those fellowship
tonight. But there are two sins that I see that Ananias and Sapphira took part in that
I'd like to point out to you. And I want you to notice that these sins were big enough,
they were a big enough deal that God would actually kill them. Now I'm not saying that
everyone that partakes in these sins, God just drops them dead. But in these stories
what we find is that God highlights these things because He wants us to know that He's
not messing around. This is important to Him. And when people sit and He makes these people
an example. So what are these sins? And maybe you're writing notes down on the back of your
course a week. There's a place for you to write down some notes. Maybe you'd like to
write these things down. What killed Ananias and Sapphira? We know God did it, but why
did God do it? What were the sins that they partook in? Here's sin number one. They agreed
together to bear false witness. They agreed together to bear false witness. Notice verse
three. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan? I want you to notice there that he puts the
blame on Satan. He says, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost? And
you say, well, what is it exactly that they did that was so bad? Don't miss this. They
lied. They lied and that was bad enough. Keep your place there in Acts chapter five. We're
going to, obviously, that's our text for tonight. Go to Exodus chapter number 20. Exodus chapter
20. In the Old Testament, of course, you've got the books of Genesis and then Exodus.
Exodus chapter 20. Exodus 20 is a famous chapter with the Ten Commandments. And you say, well,
why are you emphasizing it? Are you going to preach about lying tonight? And yeah, you
know what? God cares about lying so much, He killed somebody over it. Yesterday we were
out soul winning. Brother Chris and Sarah from Santa Maria were at the Fresno Soul Winning
Marathon yesterday and my wife and I went soul winning with them. And when I was out
soul winning with Chris, he was giving the gospel to somebody and he says to them, he's
showing them that we're all sinners and our sin is condemned us to hell. And he goes to
Revelation and he's going through that list where it says, but the fearful and unbelieving.
And he gets to the point where it says, and all liars. And the lady says, well, I don't
know about that. I don't know if I'm a liar. And he says, well, have you ever lied before?
And she said, well, I've lied, but I'm not a liar. And he says, well, how many lies does
it take for you to become a liar? She's like, I don't know. Well, let me ask you this. How
many people do you have to kill before you become a murderer? And she's like, well, you
know, they're little white lies, but this is a society we live in. This is the thinking
that is out there today that people just think it's okay to lie. It's fine to lie. It's just
a little white lie. It's not going to hurt anything. It's not going to upset anything.
But you know what? God in his big 10 commandments, he reserved one of the 10 commandments for
saying, I don't want you to lie. I don't want you to bear false witness. Exodus 20 verse
16, he says, thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor. You say, what is it
that Ananias and Sapphira were doing? Here's what they were doing. They were bearing false
witness against their neighbor. They brought a false witness to the church. They were lying.
This was one of the ninth commandments of the 10 commandments. And here's what I'm telling
you. Even in 2019, it's a big deal. God wants you to be honest. God wants you to tell the
truth. You say, are you really preaching about lying? Look, you're all a bunch of liars.
All of you. You say, I've only lied once. You're a liar. I've only killed somebody one
time. You're a murderer. And here's the thing. We need to just be refreshed on this idea
that integrity matters, character matters. Listen, you've got to teach your kids not
to lie. You've got to teach your kids to tell the truth. Go to Exodus 23. Look at verse
1. Exodus 23 and verse 1. Notice what the Bible says. Exodus 23 and verse 1. The Bible
says this. Thou shalt not raise a false report. Put not thine hand with the wicked to be an
unrighteous witness. And look, there's so many verses we could go to about lying. And
Proverbs tells us that he hates lying lips. But this is important for us to understand
that we must be honest and we must teach our children to be honest. Go to John chapter
14. John chapter 14 in the New Testament. If you kept your place in Acts, do me a favor.
Keep your place in Exodus. Keep your place in Exodus because we're going to come right
back to it. But if you kept your place in Acts, if you just go back one book, you've
got the book of John. And let me say this. You and I need to learn to just be honest.
And you say, well, what does that mean? Here's what that means. You actually need to make
a conscious decision that you will tell the truth when you are asked a question, when
you are asked about something, that you will tell the truth, that you're not going to
hide it even if it means it's going to cost you something. And you need to teach your
kids, you need to teach your kids to tell the truth. My wife and I were just talking
about this. She was going through some training on something and they were talking about the
fact that you need to look, you parents, you need to catch your kids in a lie. Recently
Pastor Anderson preached a sermon called Don't Be That Guy. And I didn't listen to the sermon,
but people told me about it. And he was preaching about just kind of being a bad church member
and don't be that guy. I don't listen to the sermon. But I was thinking to myself, that's
too generic of a sermon. I'm going to turn his sermon into a series. Because it's not
just don't be that guy. You need to just don't be that mom. Don't be that dad. Don't be that
husband. Don't be that wife. But one of the points I wanted to bring up, if I preach this
next year, all right, you know, don't be that mom or dad that just believes their kids
for everything. You know what I'm talking about? The mom and dad, just anything their
little kid brings to them, it's like, you know, everyone's bad. I'm good. I've never
done anything wrong. They're all hating on me. Look, mom, dad, you need to just catch
your kids in a lie every once in a while. And you need to spank them for lying. You
say why? Because if you don't, you're going to raise a pathological liar. If you don't
actually catch your kids in a lie and say, no, you're lying, that's not true. You are
lying and you're going to get disciplined. Look, even church members, even at work, if
you're an employer, you've got to catch your employees. If they're lying to you, you've
got to call them out on it. You know, there's a situation, I've told my wife, you know,
there's certain situations, I say, you need to just go to that lady and look her in the
eye and say, you're lying. I've caught you in a lie. You say, well, what's the point?
Because it's not okay to sit there and bear false witness. God cares about it so much,
He killed somebody over it. And look, we need to be people that are honest. We need to be
people that have integrity. We need to be people that when we give our word, it actually
means something. You say, why is it a big deal, pastor? You know, God killed somebody
for lying. Well, here's what you need to understand. Lying is an assault on God. You say, well,
how can that be? Well, look, Jesus, the Bible tells us, is truth. Are you there in John
14? Look at verse 6, John chapter 14. And if you're an adult and you're just rolling
your eyes at me, you know what? You go ahead and live your life the way you want to and
just mess your life up. But you kids, you listen to me right now. Just learn to tell
the truth. Learn to tell the truth all the time. If you tell the truth, you don't have
to remember what you said. You don't have to remember what story you told. Just you
learn to do right, do right, do right till the stars fall. You just be somebody with
some character and integrity. You say, well, my parents lie. You let them lie and reap
the benefits of that. You learn to tell the truth. You say, why does it matter? Well,
notice John 14, 6. Jesus saith unto him. Notice what Jesus says. He says, I am the way, don't
miss this, the truth. Jesus said, I am the truth. He said, I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. You know the Bible says Jesus said,
I am the truth? The Bible says that ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you
free. The Bible says, sanctify them through thy word. Thy word is truth. Truth is important.
You say, why does God care so much about lying to the point that he would kill somebody?
Here's why. Because God is truth. And when you lie, you're attacking truth. And when
you lie, you're attacking God. And here's the truth. When you lie, you're not being
like God. You're being like the one person who hates God more than anyone, the devil.
You're there in John 14. Look at John 8. John 8. Because remember, what did Peter say? Peter
said to Ananias, he said, Satan hath filled your heart to lie. He said, Satan put this
lie in your heart. You say, why is it that Peter said that? Well, in John 8, 44, that's
the answer. John 8, 44 says this, ye are of your father, the devil. The lust of your
father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth,
because there is no truth in him. When he speak of the lie, he speaketh of his own,
for he is a liar, don't miss it, and the father of it. Where do lies come from? They come
from Satan. He's the father of lies. He created lies. He's the first liar. He lied in the
Garden of Eden. He lied. He changed the truth of God in the Garden of Eden. And here's what
Jesus taught. Jesus said, I'm the truth. When you tell the truth, you're being like Jesus.
When you lie, you're being like Satan. And here's what you need to understand. Lying
is a fact on truth. Go to James chapter 3. James chapter 3. If you start at the end of
the book of the New Testament, and you head backwards, you're going to go past Revelation,
past Jude, past 3rd, 2nd and 1st John, 2nd and 1st Peter, James, James chapter number
3. James chapter 3. Lying is an attack on truth. Now, I asked you to keep your place
in Exodus. I'm also going to ask you to keep your place in James. We're going to come back
to both of those locations. James chapter 3, but look at verse number 14. James chapter
3 and verse 14, the Bible says this, but if ye have bitter envying and strife in your
heart, glory not. Notice what he says at the end of the verse. And lie not against
the truth. You see that? So look, lying is an attack on the truth. Jesus is the truth.
This is why the Bible cares about it. This is why God makes a big deal about it. When
we lie, we are attacking the truth. We're attacking the Lord Jesus Christ. We're attacking
God. Go back to Acts chapter 5. Look at verse 3. And when we lie, we're sinning against
God. Acts 5, you say, you know, Ananias and Sapphira, what's the big deal? The big deal
is this. They agreed to lie. They agreed to not tell the truth. They agreed, and people
have all sorts of reasons why they lie, but none of them are valid. When you're not lying,
when you're not telling the truth, when you're lying, when you're being deceptive, it's
unacceptable. Acts 5, look at verse 3. The Bible says, 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 has thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Notice what he
says at the end of verse 4. Thou has not lied unto man, but unto God. He said, you are lying
to God. And look, when you tell a lie, you might fool man, but you're not fooling God.
God knows the truth. You say, why is it important not to lie? Here's why. Because lying is an
attack on God. It's an attack on truth. Jesus is truth. Jesus is God. But let me just say
this. You say, well, I don't care about God. It's fine. Let me say this about lying, though.
If you want to know why not to lie, listen, you kids, listen up. Here's why you don't
want to lie. Because lying destroys trust. See, there's lots of sins that people can
forgive you for and get over. And we ought to forgive people for any sin, you know? I mean,
we're not talking about a reprobate sin, all right, or a sin unto death. But when people do
us wrong or whatever, we ought to forgive them. But here's the problem with lying, is that lying
destroys trust. You know, some of you teenagers, your complaint is, my parents treat me like a
child. But see, what you don't understand is this. What you're really saying is this. My parents
don't trust me. Because if they trusted me, they would treat me like an adult, not a child. So you
got to ask yourself, why do your parents not trust you? Oh, maybe it's because you're always
lying to them. Maybe it's because you're telling them you're at a certain place when you're really
at another place. Maybe it's because you're telling them you're doing one thing when you're
really doing another thing. You say, why won't you treat me like an adult? Well, why don't you start
acting like one? Why don't you start having some integrity and some character telling the truth?
Say, but if I tell the truth, it's going to hurt, literally. I'm going to get a spanking. Then you
take the spanking and just be honest. Because you don't want to go down the road of lying. And here,
God gives us this story of adenitis of fire. And God says, I hate lying lips. I hate it. And these
two show up with their lie. And God says, I hate it. He's dropped them dead. Look, lying is a big
sin. We can't get caught up with our society saying, oh, lying's no big deal. Just a little
white lie. Who decides that anyway? Oh, it's just a little white lie. Sure, I had a body buried in
my backyard, but it was just a little white lie. I mean, who decides what a little white lie is?
Look, the Bible says clearly, lie not against the truth. When we lie, we sin against God. But let
me say this. You say, what was their problem? The problem was that they lied. But the problem was
also this, that they agreed together to lie. Notice Acts 5. Look at verse 5 again. And Adonai's
hearing these words fell down and gave up the ghost. And great fear came on all of them that
heard these things. And the young man arose and 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. You know what's worse than sinning is involving other people in your
sin? It's bad enough that Adonai has decided to lie. But then he involves his wife with it.
And they agreed together to sin. Did you keep your place there in Exodus 23?
It's really interesting to me. If you go back to Exodus 23, I asked you to keep your place there.
We read verse 1 that says this, thou shalt not raise a false report. Put not thine hand with
the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. That has to do with lying, right? Notice verse 2,
thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil. Neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline
after many to rest judgment. You know, the other problem with Ananias and Sapphira is not just
that they lied, but that they agreed together to lie. You know what the Bible says? It says,
my son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. You know what the Bible says? The Bible says,
a little leaven, leaveneth the whole lump. You know, if you're going to get backslidden,
if your heart's going to get, you know, wrong towards the things of God and cold towards the
things of God, do us all a favor and just go ahead and go and do what you're going to do.
But don't try to drag other people into your sin with you. Here you have Ananias, and there's so
many applications. I mean, there's so much that we could talk about Ananias and Sapphira. How about
this? Sapphira could have said, well, my husband's in charge. No, you know what? You ought to obey
God rather than men. And you wives, you should submit to your husbands in the Lord. But when
they're asking you to do something that goes against what God has called you to do,
then you disobey because you ought to obey the higher authority, which is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Hey, if you've got friends that are trying to get you into sin, they're trying to get you,
those are not good friends. Proverbs 27, 17 says this, iron sharpeneth iron, so a man
sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. Your friends ought to be making you better.
Your friends ought to be encouraging you. Your friends ought to, they should not be discouraging
you and causing you to sin. That would be making you better. You should say, well,
what was the sin of Ananias and Sapphira? Well, number one, they agreed together to
bear false witness, and God killed them. But there's another sin that I want you to notice.
Go back to Acts chapter 5. Acts chapter 5. We've got about eight minutes. The pizza's supposed to
be here at seven. If it doesn't get here, though, I'm going to keep preaching, okay?
What were the sins of Ananias and Sapphira? Number one, they agreed together to bear false witness.
There's another sin, though. Number two, they allowed others to believe a false impression
of spirituality. I know I was a little wordy, but it's the point. They allowed, you say,
what was the problem? Well, they agreed together to bear false witness. They agreed together to
bear false witness. They conspired to lie. But here's the other sin. You say, well,
why did they do that? Here's why. Because they were wanting to allow others to believe
a false impression of their own spirituality. See, they wanted people to think that they were
more spiritual than they really were. They wanted people to think that they were more generous than
they really were. They wanted people to think that they were a better Christian than they really
were. They wanted people to think that we're the type of Christians that sell our land and give it
all to the church. But they weren't that type of Christian. They were the type of Christian that
sold their land and gave half of it to the church. And look, there's nothing wrong with that
until you lie about it. There's nothing wrong with that until you try to get people to believe
something about you that's not true. Acts 5, look at verse 4. Notice what Peter said. Because people
will take this passage and just say, see, people need, you know, it's about giving and it's about
this and it's about churches forcing them to give. But notice Peter says, whilst it remained,
was it not thine own? And after it was told, was it not in thine own power? Here's what Peter's
saying. He's saying, you didn't have to give anything. Nobody forced you to give anything.
It was your land. It was your money. You could have done whatever you wanted with it. He says,
with that understood, why has thou conceived this thing in thine heart?
He says, thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. See, they wanted people to think that they
were more spiritual than they really were. They wanted people to think that they gave
a certain amount. When they really did not get that amount, they were lying about it.
And where does this come from? Where does this false impression of spirituality, where we want
to look like we're better than we actually are? Well, I want you to notice the context of this
chapter is that this was a product of envy and strife. You're there in Acts 5, but go to Acts
chapter 4. Look at verse 34, and I want you to notice the context that leads us to Acts chapter
5. Because in Acts 5, we have this tremendous story about a husband and wife who agreed to lie
and who agreed to bear false witness, and God kills them. But I want you to understand
what brought these people to this place. Acts chapter 4, verse 34. Notice what the Bible says.
Neither was there any among them that lacked. Now, the church is going through a difficult
time. The church in Jerusalem is going through a difficult time, and there are people that are
struggling. There's persecution. There's all sorts of things happening. But in the church in
Jerusalem, the believers there, they were not lacking. You say, why? Notice, neither was there
any among them that lacked. You say, why? For, that means because, as many as were possessors
of land or houses sold them and brought the prices of the things that were sold.
So they were going through a difficult time. There was a time of persecution.
People were struggling and not able to make it. And these weren't just people that were just lazy
and not working. The Bible says that if a man doesn't work, he shouldn't eat. But this was
not the case. Because of persecution, they weren't able to work. They weren't able to provide for
their families. But there were some people that had resources. They had land. And they sold the
land, and they gave the money to the church that it might be used during this time of need.
Look at verse 35. And lay them down at the apostles' feet, and distribution was made unto
every man according as he had need. And by the way, this is very scriptural. It's very scriptural
for churches to take up special offerings and to give according as people have need.
But look at verse 36. And Joseph, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas,
which is being interpreted the son of consolation, a Levite of the country of Cyprus. You remember
Barnabas? Paul and Barnabas go on their missionary journeys. This was Barnabas. He was surnamed
Barnabas. His name was Joseph. Notice what it says about him in verse 37. Having land sold it
and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet. You say, what was the motivation for Ananias
and Sapphira to bring this lie to the church? Well, the motivation we find out in chapter 4
is that there was other people who were actually selling their land and giving the money to the
church. And one guy gets special recognition. Joseph is recognized for being so generous.
They even surname him, and they gave him a special name Barnabas. And they say, wow,
look at this guy. Look at, you know, we're thankful for this man and his generosity.
Everyone in Acts 4 was doing the right thing. They were giving. They were being generous.
Their heart was in the right place. They weren't doing it to get attention. They weren't doing it
to get credit. They weren't doing it to get accolades. They weren't doing it to get their
name in the bulletin. They weren't doing it to get a pat on the back. They were just doing it
because the Lord laid it on their hearts. But Ananias and Sapphira, they saw that, and they
said, well, we want that too. But the problem is that they weren't Joseph's. They weren't actually
that generous. They weren't actually that giving. They weren't actually that spiritual. They said,
well, we want that too, but we're not willing to actually be what we need to be. So we'll just lie.
We'll sell it for this much. We'll keep some of the money. We'll tell the people that we
actually sold it for this much, and then we will look like the spiritual ones. They might
give us a nickname. They might think we're special. You say, what is it that motivated
Ananias and Sapphira? Well, if you kept your place in James chapter 3, you can go back there.
James chapter 3. It's interesting how God, when you look at Ananias and Sapphira,
God connects these verses together. Because we went to Exodus, and we saw a verse about
not lying. And then in the same context, the next verse is about not following a multitude to sin,
which applies to Ananias and Sapphira. Well, in James 3.14, we were here earlier,
we saw the last part of the verse, which says, and lie not against the truth.
But the first part of the verse applies to Ananias and Sapphira also. It says,
But ye have bitter envyings and strifes in your heart.
You say, what was Ananias and Sapphira's problem? Envy and strife. They were envious.
They were envious that somebody else was getting the credit. They were envy. Well,
why is Brother Jared getting the credit? Just because he went and started a church.
Why is Brother Stuckey? Just because they went. Or how about Pastor Jones? Or how about Pastor
Jones? Why do those guys? And they were envious. They were strifeful. They were bitter. They were
angry. And they didn't want to be that spiritual. They just wanted to pretend they were that
spiritual. So they could get the accolades. So they could get the credit. The Bible says,
but if ye have bitter envyings and strife in your heart, glory not. And lie not against the truth.
Go to Philippians chapter two. Philippians chapter two. You got 1st, 2nd Corinthians,
Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians. Philippians chapter two. Philippians chapter two.
See, Ananias and Sapphira, they were bitter people. They were envious. They were strife.
They were upset. Whenever somebody else got credit, somebody else got recognized,
somebody else had something nice said about them, and it bothered them. It angered them.
And here's the truth. Look, if you are struggling with envy, you know that's you. When somebody
else gets credit, it bothers you. There's something wrong with your heart. God blesses
somebody else, and it bothers you. There's something wrong with your heart. Philippians
2, 3, the Bible says this. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory. Vainglory means that
I'm only doing something to get the glory and get the credit and get the accolades. And you say,
well, why does he always talk about strife and vainglory or envying a strife? Here's why. Because
when you're envious of vainglory, it always produces strife. It always produces contention.
It always produces a bad treatment, an ill treatment of church people. And let me tell
you something, and I hope this, I hope you understand this, and I hope you don't get
worried about me, but that first part, let nothing be done through strife or vainglory,
that's the type of stuff that makes a pastor want to quit. And I'm not quitting, so don't get your
hopes up, all right? But, you know, pastors joke around because we quit the ministry like
four times every day, you know? I mean, I wish I could tell you how many times I walk into,
you know, my wife's doing school, and she's the school where I walk in. I'm like, I quit the
ministry. She's like, okay, honey, it'll be fine. Let's talk about it, you know. You say, well,
what makes you want to quit? What makes you want to just run in another direction, you know,
just dealing with strife and vainglory, dealing with carnal Christians? I remember when I was a
kid growing up, I used to laugh. I thought it was a joke. When I was a kid growing up,
I went to Regency Baptist Church, Pastor Steve Nichols. I'm bringing that up because Brother Ray
and Ms. Denise, they went to the same church, so they can attest to this. Pastor Nichols would
stand up on a Sunday night, and he'd be screaming and yelling about carnal Christians, and he'd
talk about these carnal Christians they want to fight about. You're sitting in my chair. You
parked in my parking spot. You're using my hymn book, and he'd be all mad about it, and I'd be
like, come on, really? Seriously? You know, I'm a teenager. I'm like, nobody really argues about
somebody sitting in your chair or parking in your parking spot. Really? Are we in third grade,
nine years into ministry? Yeah, they do. It's so stupid. I can't even believe it.
It makes me want to quit the ministry, seriously, like strive and carnality and vainglory,
just fighting and arguing about stupid stuff. You know what? Christian maturity, you know what it
means? Look at it. Philippians 2, 3, let nothing be done to strive for vainglory. That's carnal.
Here's maturity, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves.
You know, when people actually live like that, that makes the ministry fun.
When people say, no, brother, go ahead, send that seat. Can I get your hymn book?
That makes the ministry fun. When people actually are mature Christians, they're spirit-filled,
they're not arguing, they're not gossiping, they're not fighting about stupid things,
let nothing be done through strife or vainglory. That makes living for God,
being in the church world, being in the church life, it makes it miserable. But when people walk
with the Lord, when they humble themselves, when they're walking in lowliness of mind,
let each esteem other better than themselves, then the ministry gets fun.
Then walking with God gets fun. Then loving the Lord gets fun. You say, what was the problem? What
was the problem with Ananias and Sapphira? Well, the problem, number one, was that they agreed
together to bear false witness. And the problem, number two, go to Hebrews chapter four, we're
almost done. I think I smell the pizza. Is the pizza here? Let me tell me. Yeah, all right.
Hebrews four, the Holy Spirit told me that the Spirit's here. The same Holy Spirit that told
me that you're lying. Hebrews four, you say, what's the moral of the story? Here's the moral
story. You can fool man, but you can't fool God. Hebrews 4 13, neither is there any creature
that is not manifest in his sight. This is what the Bible says about God. Neither is there any
creature that is not manifest in his sight. You know that God sees everything? Neither is there
any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and open unto the eyes
of him with whom we have to do. Listen, Ananias and Sapphira, you can lie to Peter, you can lie
to Barnabas, you can lie to everyone, you can fool everyone, but you'll never fool God. God knows.
God knows. And you know what? God has a way of revealing things. He says, neither is there
any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and open unto the eyes
of whom we have to do. But you know, the Bible says that there's coming a day when God will
reveal. And here, what we learn in this story, look at Acts five. Go back to Acts five. We're
done. Look at verse four. He says, while it remained, was it not thine own? And after it
was sold, was it not in thine own power? Why has thou conceived this thing in thine heart,
that thou has not lied unto men, but unto God? You can fool man, but you can't fool God.
Look at verse five. And Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and gave up the ghost, and great
fear came on all them that heard these things. Look at verse 10. Then fell she down straightway
at his feet and yielded up the ghost. And the young man came in and found her dead and carrying
her forth, buried her by her husband. Notice verse 11. And great fear came upon all the church and
upon as many as heard these things. You know what we learn about here in Acts five? We learn about
an extreme form of church discipline. Sometimes people get upset about, you guys believe in church
discipline, like we actually will kick you out of church for sinning, for not getting things right,
for causing problems? Yeah, we believe in that. That's in the Bible. But this was an extreme
example of it when God just said, you know what? Forget church discipline. I'm just going to kill
you now. I'm just going to take care of you now. But I want you to notice this thing. What is the
point? What is the point of church discipline? Here's the point. That great fear may come upon
all the church. You know what I've learned as a pastor? I've learned as a pastor, and I want you
guys to like me. I hope you like me. I know you like my wife. You love my wife. You guys write
around notes and tell her. It'd be nice if you wrote me a note every once in a while. But anyway,
it's a different sermon for another day. I hope you like me. But you know what I've learned as
a leader? And I'm telling you this because some of you parents need to figure this out.
It's more important for people to fear you than to love you. Because you know what? God has put
me in charge of this church to be vigilant, to pay attention. You say, pastor, do you do what
Peter does, and you confront people when they're lying, and you tell them, no, you're not telling
the truth here? You say, why do you do that? Doesn't it make people not like you? You know
what? I'd rather they fear. Because at the end of the day, I don't get rewarded in heaven for
whether or not I won a popularity contest, but I do get rewarded for what happened in this church.
And people like Ananias and people like Sapphira will make a mess out of this place.
And God steps in and says, no, let me give you an example. Let me give you an example. Don't lie.
Don't involve other people in your sin. Don't try to act like you're spiritual when you're not.
All those things upset God. That's why I had to have a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for your word. Thank you for the Bible. Thank you for these stories.
Lord, and help us to take heed. I mean, these stories are in the Bible for a reason.
You put them there for us to learn from them, for us to be able to apply them to our lives.
And Lord, I pray you'd help us. I pray you'd help us to learn from Ananias and Sapphira.
And we realize that you're not going to strike everyone dead who does these things.
But the fact that you did it in this story shows us how you feel about it,
shows us that it's a serious thing for you. And Lord, we pray that you would help us and
bless us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.