Lying to the Spirit
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2022 · 4 September 2022
This section actually records the loving, caring sacrificial unity of the church. That’s in the first part. And then when we come to Acts 5, it introduces to us the first recorded sin in the church. We know that the early day of the church’s history were bright days. They were days of teaching sound doctrine, prayer and fellowship. The testimony of converted souls was loud and clear.
The result in the early weeks of the church had been explosive. As many as 20,000 people have now come to faith in Christ, and were baptized. Virtually every pool in the city of Jerusalem must’ve been being used for baptisms, starting on the Day of Pentecost when 3,000 people were baptized, all across the city of Jerusalem. When persecution broke out, the church met it head on.
And the church was triumphant, even in the face of that persecution. In Acts 4 the preaching of the gospel brought about persecution, but also brought about 5,000 more conversions among men, plus among the women. So, the church prayed harder, preached harder, was granted more boldness by the Holy Spirit, and more and more people came to believe and were baptized.
Never before had the provision for the forgiveness of sins been offered. Never before had God been fully satisfied. Never before had the Holy Spirit taken up full residence in people. Never before had there been new natures implanted in redeemed souls. This was all new in redemptive history. And the people were on fire with the power of the Holy Spirit, and the truth of the gospel.
But Satan was active. He persecuted the church, but persecution failed to put out the fire. Eternal purposes were being unfolded. Eternal power was being unleashed. External pressure was like pouring gas on that fire. Satan then knew that if he was going to do damage to the church, it wasn’t going to happen from the outside. He was having to go inside the church itself.
And as we come to Acts 5, we see Satan’s assault on the inside of the church. We come face to face here with the first open incident of sin in the church. This is the beginning. And sin has had a foothold in the church ever since. This is the beginning of what all generations of believers throughout all history in all places in all churches have had to face: that Satan goes into the church.
Sin has plagued the church. Moral sin and doctrinal sin. It plagues the church now. This is where Satan does his greatest damage. History would tell us that to persecute the church externally only causes the church congregation to become purer, more powerful and more effective. So we’re going to look at the beginning of the sins of the saints in the history of the church.
The church is imperfect because people are imperfect. There’s sin in the church because there are sinners in the church. There is a truthfulness in this, and there’s also an encouragement. God took that early church with its sin and sinners, and transformed the entire world. The fact that the Lord, from the very beginning, had to work with sinful people, gives us hope.
When the apostle Paul talked about his ministry and the struggles of ministry in 2 Corinthians 11:24 - 28, he talked about all the beatings, whippings, shipwrecks, and all of that. But the hardest part of ministry Paul says, was the care of all the churches. Apart from external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches. This is the burden of every pastor.
People often say, “I don’t want to go to church because there are a bunch of hypocrites there.” My answer is, “That’s right, and there’s plenty of room for another one.” In fact, Paul is so concerned about sin in the church that he has identified the sinners by name. He speaks of sinners in the Corinthian church. He speaks specifically about those sinners that bothered him in the Philippian church.
1 Thessalonians 5:12, “Brethren, we request of you that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another. We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with everyone.”
That’s true of Israel, and the church, even true believers are characterized legitimately as an assembly of redeemed sinners. Here in Acts 5, that becomes very public. Peter has to deal with this. Peter got the first assignment to deal with sinners in the church because Peter wouldn’t have any problem accepting the fact that that was a reality since he was a well-known sinning apostle.
But there’s an interesting preliminary section that sets that sin into perspective starting in Acts 4:32 - 37, “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. 33 And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.”
34 Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, 35 and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need. 36 And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which means Son of Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus,”
37 having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.” We were saying it was all joyful, sacrificial, loving and unified. Here is a great example of that. How far would you go to meet somebody’s need? Are you prepared, if you own a piece of land, to sell your land, and take the money, and say, “Do whatever you want with this money to meet the needs of people?”
These are believers for just weeks, yet they are so unified. Verse 32 says, that “the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul.” Philippians 2:3-4, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”
This is not communism; this is saying no one held onto anything. They all understood that it all belonged to the Lord, and it all was to be used for His honor, His glory and His people. That is a perspective that should be true of every believer and how you view whatever it is that you possess. They hold it lightly in their hands, as a stewardship from the Lord Himself to be used for whoever has a need.
And there’s strong preaching. Verse 33, “And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.” They’re preaching the glory of His resurrection. They’re too busy caring for each other and too busy preaching the gospel to the world to waste time over selfish bickering, personal pursuits, gossip, criticism, self-will and self-gratification.
We talked about how to face persecution, that when persecution comes, you don’t suppress the message. Of course it offends people. They need to be offended. But they couldn’t stop them from speaking. The problem in the church today is we can’t get people to start speaking. They also experienced in verse 33, “abundant grace was upon them all.” Believe me, grace will come from heaven.
Verse 34, “For there was not a needy person among them.” How could that be? “For all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales.” Can you imagine that? This is the spiritual grace that has engulfed these people. Because they trusted the apostles to distribute them. Some people say this is communism. It all went into a pot, and they doled it out equally.
No. Look at Acts 5:4. Peter confronts Ananias about a piece of land. “While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? Even after it was sold, was it not under your control?” They did not immediately, all of them sell everything and then dole it out in equal portions. People continued to own things. But whenever they recognized the need, their sacrifice was great.
Remember, there are thousands of people who came for Pentecost, and that’s when the church was born. They don’t want to leave. Why? Because there’s no church in their town. There’s only one church in the world that time. What are they going to go back to? Paganism? Judaism? So thousands of people are there with no homes and no jobs. They have abandoned Judaism.
They’re viewed as apostates and are kicked out of the synagogue. They’re basically outcasts. They have to be cared for, even the apostle Paul later, after this, travels throughout Asia Minor raising money to take back to give to the poor Jerusalem saints, many of whom never left. Some of whom gave everything they had away, and therefore had needs that had to be met.
The apostles then, according to verse 35, have the responsibility to do the distribution as, in Acts 6, they chose deacons to do the distribution of the food to the widows who weren’t getting a fair share of food. This should be the Christian view of money. None of it really is yours. It is God who gives you the power to get wealth. All of it is a stewardship, and belongs to God.
You belong to God. Your children belong to God. Your money belongs to God. Your house belongs to God. Your abilities, your talents, your resources, they all belong to God, and they are all there to be used for His honor and for His glory. John writes in Acts 3:17, “Little children, let us not love only with word or with tongue but in what we do and in truth.”
James 2:14 - 17, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
Paul is saying to the Corinthians, “Why can’t you be like the Macedonians who gave out of poverty?” So, while this existed in the beginning in the church, it didn’t take long for believers to settle into their natural inclinations of living in the world, holding onto everything you have. There are many warnings in Scripture about loving money. The love of money is the root of all evil.
So the church didn’t maintain this, but this was the pure church in its early life, in the euphoria of this incredible transformation. Scripture instruct those who are rich not to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to store up for themselves treasure in heaven, which is the only good foundation for the future.
Now back to Acts 5:1-5, “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. 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.” 5 Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard this.” And the same thing happened to his wife Sapphira in verses 7-11.
7 Now it was about three hours later when 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?” 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.”
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.” The sin is not that they didn’t give enough. In the New Testament, there’s no amount prescribed. The sin is in lying. God hates lying.
They lied to the Holy Spirit and to Peter and to John. And secret sin on earth, is an open scandal in heaven. It is a lie that is intended to make them look spiritual. They sought to gain prestige and high praise. Hypocrisy is not just a lie; it is a lying life. They lied to create a false perception of their spiritual condition. God hates those who paint spiritual beauty on themselves where there is none.
Is the church full of hypocrites? Absolutely. None of us lives as we ought to live. None of us lives the Christ-like life. And neither should we pretend that we do. What sin would be the first sin that the Lord disciplined in the church? Maybe you picked immorality or stealing or blasphemy. But the sin that the Holy Spirit convicts here is the sin of hypocrisy, pretending to be something you’re not.
You can’t deceive God. He knows your heart, your mind and your thoughts. And that judgment begins with the spiritual integrity of the church. Well, we’ll say more about that next time when we’ll see the consequences of all this. When we go through things like this, we come face to face with the fact that even the best of churches, there’s the reality of sin. Let us pray.