Naylor Community Christian Church
Naylor, Georgia
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Acts 4:32-35
Acts
4:32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of
their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With
great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were
no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or
houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’
feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.
-- several years ago, Kim and I
watched a show that quickly became one of our favorites of all times -- when it
comes to TV and movies, we gravitate towards spies and mysteries and similar
dramas -- this show was called, "The Americans" -- hopefully, you had
the opportunity to see it yourself
--
to sum up the plot, “The Americans” is the story about a typical suburban
family in Falls Church, Virginia in the early 1980's -- but this typical
suburban family has a very non-typical secret -- you see, the husband and wife
in this family are not what they seem -- they are actually Russian spies
-- as the story unfolds over the six
seasons it ran, we learn that the husband and wife in this family are not
really Americans -- they were recruited in Russia to give up their lives and to
come to America to live a secret life -- to be married and to have children and
to appear to be, for all intents and purposes, normal suburban Americans
-- they look like Americans -- they
talk like Americans -- they go to work like Americans -- they socialize like
Americans -- they take their kids to soccer practice and dance recitals and
drop them off at the mall -- just by looking at them, no one can tell that they
are actually undercover Russian sleeper agents
-- every time I open the news and
read a story of a church scandal or when I see people I know acting in very
non-Christian ways, I think about this show – it is a poignant reminder that our
churches are made up of people – and not everyone who comes to church or
attends church is truly a Christian
-- surveys by the Barna Research
Group and other pollsters reveal that only about 20-30% of people in any given
congregation are considered committed, highly-engaged, believers – these would
be the people that are born-again – that have a personal relationship with
Jesus – those who have put their faith and trust in Jesus for eternal life and
the forgiveness of sins and who have committed to living sanctified lives of obedience
to Christ’s commands
-- between 40 and 60% of attendees
are considered nominal or cultural believers – these would be the people who might
call themselves Christians, but who have not fully put their faith and trust in
Jesus
--
this group would also include the cultural believers – those who think they are
Christian because they are Americans or because their parents or grandparents
were Christian
--
these are the people we associate with in our daily lives who look like
Christians and talk like Christians and do all the normal things that
Christians do -- they may go to our churches on a fairly regular basis -- they
may even put Jesus fish on the back of their cars and tell everybody on
Facebook that they are Christians -- but in reality, they are not true,
committed believers in Christ
--
in a very real sense, they’re only pretending to be believers -- and it could
be they've lived this lie so long they have started to think it’s true -- if
you were to ask them if they were Christians, they would tell you,
"yes," even though they don't have a personal relationship with Jesus
--
the rest of the people in a congregation – about 10-20% of the attendees – are the
non-believers and visitors – these include the seekers – people who are curious
about Christianity and are coming to learn more about our faith – this category
also includes those people who come only because they are closely associated
with someone in the church or in a community, but who have no real interest in
religion – for instance, family members who may come with their families to
services from time-to-time but who have no true spiritual faith in anything
--
now, keep in mind that these are generalized statistics, and you may see
different percentages based on what poll you look at – Rick Warren always said
that in his experience, 30% of the church were committed Christians, 30% were
nominal Christians, and the rest were what he called, “the crowd” – unbelievers
and seekers – but he pastored in California, which certainly has a different
demographic than we do here in the Bible Belt
–
also, I expect that the percentages in each category vary based on the size of
the church – more than likely, you have a greater percentage of non-believers
and nominal Christians in larger congregations – where it is easier to get lost
in the crowd – than in a small church, where the fruits of the Spirit and the
evidences of faith are more easily discerned by the other members
-- the point that I am trying to get you to see,
though – the truth that I want you to grasp -- is that in any congregation,
there is a mosaic of belief – there is a gradient of faith in a church that
runs from unbelievers or cultural Christians to the fully committed, born-again
believers
–
that means that in any church, there are some people who truly believe and some
people that are either in the beginning stages of belief or who are unbelievers,
even though they may be members of that church and may call themselves
Christians
-- the passage we opened up with -- Acts
4:32-35 -- points to the ideal state for the church – it gives us the picture
of a community of believers who were one in heart and mind – they were all
committed to their new faith in Jesus as the Messiah – and they put into
practice His teachings and the commands that He passed on to the apostles
--
they did life together in a way that we do not see in the world today – sharing
all things with each other – taking care of each person as if they were their
own family, such that there were no needy persons among them – and sharing their
resources communally so that everyone in the community was provided for
--
this is what we should be striving for – both personally and corporately – ideally,
this is who we should be in our personal spiritual lives – and this is what our
churches should look like – not just on the surface, but in our heart of hearts
--
believers who live in koinonia – true biblical fellowship – being one
with each other in heart and mind – and sharing our lives with each other as we
follow Christ in all our ways
--
but even in this idyllic New Testament Church – which certainly had a higher
percentage of true, born-again believers within it – there were those who were
not what they seemed – even in the first church, there were sleeper agents among
them who were not true believers and who continued to live for themselves while
calling themselves believers
--
as we move on in our series in the Book of Acts, we find ourselves in a section
here from Acts 4:32 through the end of Chapter 5 where we see these differences
in the church come to the forefront
–
in this section, battle lines are drawn and people have to decide whether they
are truly going to place their faith and trust in Jesus and unify around the
testimony of Jesus’ death and resurrection and live in the power of the Spirit
or if they are going to hold onto their worldly religious practices and
materialistic lifestyles while claiming to be believers
--
in other words, the people have to decide -- do they stand for God or do they
stand for themselves in their lives and in their practices?
--
in this section, we see three clear examples of people who made that choice –
two groups chose to live for themselves – to hold onto their religious
traditions and practices and their materialism – while one group chose to stand
up for God and live for Him instead
II. Ananias and Saphira (Acts 4:36-5:11)
-- let’s look at the first example
here – look at Acts 4:36-5:6
Acts
4:36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which
means “son of encouragement”), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money
and put it at the apostles’ feet.
Acts
5:1 Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece
of property. 2 With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money
for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.
3
Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that
you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money
you received for the land? 4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And
after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of
doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”
5
When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who
heard what had happened. 6 Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his
body, and carried him out and buried him.
-- this section opens with the story
of Barnabas – the same Barnabas that we recognize from the missionary journeys
of the Apostle Paul
-- Barnabas was a truly faithful and
committed member of the early church – and he was moved by the Spirit to sell a
field that he owned and to give the proceeds from that sale to the church
-- here’s a case where we can read
between-the-lines and know what is going on, even though we are not told in
black-and-white – while the Scriptures do not tell us how the church and the apostles
reacted to Barnabas’ sacrificial act of giving the proceeds from the sale of
his land to the church, we can assume that he was praised by the apostles for
this act
-- there was obviously some type of
public recognition that called attention to what Barnabas did – and when
Ananias and Saphira saw the recognition that Barnabas received, they wanted it,
too -- the desire for similar laud and praise drove them to act in a way that
brought about their ultimate downfall
-- just like Barnabas, Ananias and
Saphira had a piece of property, too – and after seeing him sell his property
and give the money to the church, they decided to do the same – however,
instead of giving all the money from the sale of the land to the church, they
held some back – which was not wrong – it was their right – no one would have
faulted them for that
-- but here’s where they got into
trouble – they lied through omission – and when Ananias brought the money and gave
it to the apostles, he let them believe that he was giving them the entire
amount that he received from the sale of the land, even though he was keeping
some of the money back for himself
-- he wanted the recognition and the
applause for doing just like Barnabas, but in his heart he was lying to the
church and to God
-- Ananias, in collusion with his
wife Saphira, chose to take a stand for himself – to pretend to be wholly sold
out as believers while living a lifestyle of his own choosing
-- and for this lie – and to make
clear the distinction between true faith and nominal belief in an idea – God struck
Ananias down and killed him in the presence of the entire congregation
-- verse 7
Acts
5:7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8
Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”
“Yes,”
she said, “that is the price.”
9
Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord?
Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they
will carry you out also.”
10
At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in
and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11
Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
-- just a few hours later, Sapphira
came to the place where the church was meeting and was confronted by Peter
about the money she and Ananias had offered to the church -- he asked her point
blank, "Is this all the money you got for the land?"
-- Sapphira
looked Peter in the eye and said, "Yes, it is" -- and the same
judgment that fell on her husband fell on her -- Sapphira dropped dead on the
spot and was carried out and buried next to her husband
-- battlelines
were drawn – decisions were made – rather than committing themselves to faith
in Christ and following His commands, Ananias and Sapphira decided to live for
themselves and to allow their desire for praise and recognition, along with
their material greed, to color their relationship with God
-- the other two examples of
decisions to either follow Christ or follow self occur in an event very similar
to the passage from last week
-- look at verse 12-17
Acts
5:12 The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all
the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. 13 No one else
dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. 14
Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added
to their number. 15 As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and
laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some
of them as he passed by. 16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around
Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all
of them were healed. 17 Then the high
priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees,
were filled with jealousy.
-- now, skip down to verse 27-29
Acts
5:27 The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be
questioned by the high priest. 28 “We gave you strict orders not to teach in
this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are
determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.” 29 Peter and the other
apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings!
-- and let’s finish up at verse 41-42
Acts
5:41 The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted
worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. 42 Day after day, in the temple
courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the
good news that Jesus is the Messiah.
-- in the first example, we see
Ananias and Sapphira holding on to the desire for material things – in this
case, money – and the desire for praise and recognition instead of giving
themselves fully over to faith in Jesus
-- in the second example, we see the
high priest and his associates, the Sadducees, and the Sanhedrin – choosing to
hold onto their religious practices and traditions instead of turning to Jesus
as the promised Messiah
-- when Peter and John and the other
apostles continued to preach and teach the good news of salvation and the forgiveness
of sins through faith in Christ – and when God affirmed their teaching with
signs and wonders through the power of the Holy Spirit – we read in verse 17
that the high priest and his associates were filled with jealousy
-- as the leaders of the Jewish
community and as those in charge of worship in the Temple, the high priests,
the elders, and the Sanhedrin were accustomed to being recognized and lauded
for their holiness and righteous way of life
-- because of this, the worship of
Yahweh, the Lord God Almighty, had become more about practicing religious
traditions and rituals than worship of the Father in spirit and truth – and as
the leaders who mediated the presence of God to the people, the high priest and
his associates basked in the praise of the people of Israel
-- when Jesus appeared in Judea and
began preaching and teaching the good news of the Kingdom of Heaven,
proclaiming Himself the long-awaited Messiah – this did not set well with the
high priest and his associates – their desire for praise and recognition were
being usurped – and their religious practices and traditions were being
threatened – and so they had Jesus put to death on the cross by Pontius Pilate
-- when they cried out before Pilate
to let Jesus’ blood be upon them, they made the decision to stand for
themselves and their positions in the community against the Messiah – they put
their religious practices and traditions above all else so that they would
continue to enjoy the praise of the people
-- and now, even after Jesus’
resurrection from the dead and the obvious power that the church enjoyed
through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, the desire of the high
priest and his associates continues to be praise and recognition from the
people – and when the people begin to turn to Peter and the other apostles in
response to their teaching – when the people start paying attention to someone
other than the high priest and his associates and the religious order of the
day – they became jealous
-- just like we read in last week’s
passage, they tried to quench the move of God in their midst by arresting the apostles
and having them appear before the Sanhedrin
-- once again, they demand that
Peter and John and the other apostles stop preaching and teaching in the name
of Jesus
-- just like Ananias and Sapphira, a
choice has been made – a battleline has been drawn – and the Jewish religious
leaders, from the high priest to the Sanhedrin – choose themselves and
religious tradition above the plain truth that the Messiah has come
-- but we see in this passage
another way – another choice – in the example of Peter and the other apostles –
just like last week, Peter stands before the religious right of his day and
states in verse 27, “We must obey God rather than human beings”
-- and then in verses 41 and 42, we
read that he and the apostles walked out of the court proceedings with the Sanhedrin
and never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the
Messiah
-- another choice was made – another
battleline was drawn – but in this case, Peter and the apostles chose to stand
for God
III. Closing
-- in 1836, a pivotal event
occurred in the Texas Revolution against Mexico – about 100 Texans under the
command of Colonel William B. Travis and James Bowie were garrisoned at the
Alamo Mission in San Antonio
-- on February 23, about 1500
Mexicans marched into San Antonio as the first step in Mexico’s campaign to
retake Texas – Travis and Bowie and his men retreated into the Alamo, where they
faced an onslaught of battle from the determined Mexican army, led by General
Santa Anna
-- fighting claimed the majority of
the Texans – and after several days of the siege, it became obvious that the remaining
men would not be able to hold off the Mexicans much longer – they knew it would
only be a matter of time before the wall was breached and all of them put to
the sword – it was an impossible situation
-- on what became the final day of
the siege, Colonel Travis took his sword and drew a line on the ground, and he
issued a call -- he said everyone who is willing to fight for Texas, come and
stand with me behind this line, knowing that it may cost you your very life --
the rest could leave and surrender to the Mexicans and save their lives
-- there was a moment of silence as
each man pondered the decision in their hearts -- and then, as one, every
single man remaining in the Alamo took a step and crossed that line and made
their choice
-- they chose to do what was right,
despite the personal cost -- they chose to stand up for what they believed in,
despite the fact it could cost them their life -- and, in the end, every Texan
in the Alamo that day was killed
-- throughout the Bible, we are
faced with a similar call – a choice that we all have to make – battlelines are
drawn – and we have to decide which side we will stand on
-- on one side is the cross – on the
other is the world
-- on one side is the choice to live
our lives based on faith in Christ for salvation and eternal life – on the other
is the choice to live for ourselves and our own personal desires
-- in this section from the Book of
Acts, we see three separate groups facing that choice – Ananias and Sapphira,
the high priest and his associates, and Peter and the apostles
-- two groups chose the world –
they chose self – they chose to live into their desire for praise and
recognition – for material wealth and religious practices and tradition – over Christ
and His kingdom
-- one group – Peter and the apostles
– chose the way of Christ
-- this same choice is before us
today, for the Bible tells us that we must make the choice every single day to
get up, pick up our cross, and follow Christ
-- every morning when we rise, we
face a line in the sand – and every morning, we have to choose how we will live
that day – which side of the line we will stand on
-- that choice is before us now
-- as we close in prayer, we need
to make a decision as to who we are going to be – how we are going to live –
and what we are going to choose to believe
-- this same decision has to be
made every single day
-- I pray that you will choose the
path of Christ, and that you will stand for Him in this world above all else
-- so, let us close now in prayer and
consider the examples that are before us in Scripture – and let us choose the
path that we will take
-- let’s
pray
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