Sermon Tone Analysis

Pray

Introduction

In Genesis 3 we have a story about a man and his wife.

Adam and Eve.

And in this story, they are tempted by Satan to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil - fruit from a tree that God tells them NOT to eat.

Now Eve is directly tempted by Satan, but Adam goes along with the plan too - he is culpable in this crime too.

And Adam and Eve conspire against God and they sin against God by taking and eating the fruit of this tree, which God tells them not to eat.

They did what was right in their OWN eyes, and as a result they died.

That’s not what God wanted…but man and woman thought they knew best.

And after they sinned God took a walk in the garden of Eden, but he couldn’t find the man and woman he created, because they were hiding

They thought they could hide their sin and disobedience from an all-knowing God.

Pause

Before they sinned they lived in an idyllic setting - a perfect garden, with everything they wanted to eat.

They had a perfect relationship with God.

They lived in a state of blessing and favour of the Lord.

And Satan didn’t like it.

And Satan wanted to derail this utopia.

He wanted to derail this state of bliss and blessing and favour with God and so he tempts the woman who tempts the man, and as a result, their relationship with God is derailed...

This utopia comes to and end - and Satan was happy.

Pause

In Acts 5, this story is replayed.

The church has blossomed and grown.

The Spirit is moving in unimaginable ways.

People are coming to faith in Jesus Christ left, right and centre.

People are being healed, the Apostles are able to speak in different languages.

And...

They enjoyed the favour of all the people.

The early church had exploded into existence, and they are in the honeymoon period.

They are experiencing the favour of the people, but not only that - they are experiencing the favour of God, who is blessing them numerically, spiritually.

They are in a period of blessing and favour from the Lord.

And Satan doesn’t like it.

So what does he do?

Well, in Acts 4 he tries to derail this utopia from the outside, by having Peter and John seized and brought in front of the Jewish authorities to answer for what they have done…and all they did was heal someone.

But that didn’t work.

In fact, I love the verses at the end of chapter 4 when the apostles met together to pray and they prayed...

Now, look at what they are saying here.

They essentially say - we hear the threats of Herod and Pilate.

We understand full-well what might happen if we continue preaching about Jesus…

but instead of praying, ‘so God, remove these people from us.

May their threats come to nothing.

May you protect us’…instead they pray, ‘I hear these threats - we could die here…therefore enable us to speak your word with GREAT BOLDNESS.’

Now that’s a surprise right there.

Satan would have wanted them to give in, to cave in to the threats, but instead they preach with even more boldness.

Pause

So what’s Satan going to do now?

Well, there’s something that worked for him a few thousand years earlier in a garden somewhere nearby…Maybe this play will work.

So he chooses a man and a woman - Ananias and Sapphira, and he tempts them.

And both of these people are in on this plan to sell land, keep money for themselves and present the rest to the Apostles as if it was the full amount.

And as a side note, Peter explains that keeping money aside for themselves wasn’t a sin.

People were selling their possessions and giving it centrally to help the poor and the community.

Barnabas sold a field and brought the money to the apostles.

It was his prerogative to do that.

This wasn’t a commandment by the apostles.

This wasn’t a new law.

This was a result of the movement of the Holy Spirit among the believers.

And that’s where the sin of Ananias and Sapphira was...

They gave the appearance of being moved by the Spirit too… ‘Look here, we have also sold a field.

Here is the money that we got for it…We’re giving it all to the poor because THEY need it more than us.’

If they had said, ‘we sold a field too.

Here’s 60% of what we got.

We’ve kept some back to buy a hot tub, but you’ve got 60% of it so that’s not bad,’ there would have been no issue.

Their sin was that they were trying to look great, as if God had moved them to sell this field and give ALL the money to the poor.

And they would have discussed this with each other beforehand - the text says as much.

They were both culpable in this, like Adam and Eve were culpable in the garden.

So in this time of blessing and favour in the church, Satan tempts a man and a woman, causing them to sin...

…and they did what was right in their OWN eyes...

…and they tried to hide their sin...

...and as a result, they died.

Pause

Now, perhaps Satan’s plan was going to work.

Maybe NOW this church will be derailed.

Maybe now this utopia they had is going to be derailed.

And perhaps, for Satan, this went better than he imagined…because, as a result of what happened to this man and woman - being struck down dead for sinning, who would want to be a part of this church?

‘Come, follow Jesus.

Repent, ask for forgiveness of your sins…turn away from your sinful life and accept the grace and forgiveness of Jesus and join us in worshiping God and helping others know Jesus in a real way…come join us...’

‘uh…no thanks.

People are dropping dead for sinning…I don’t want to be a part of that.’

And so it says...

Maybe Satan had won this time, like he thought he won in the garden.

Pause

But the next verse tells us that wasn’t the case, because for another group of people, this was liberating...

The fact that this event happened to Ananias and Sapphira didn’t deter everyone.

In fact, more and more men and woman believed in the Lord and were added to their number…KNOWING the real possibility that if they hide their sin, they might drop dead at the drop of a hat.

But perhaps the attraction of that was that people could be open and honest with their sin and struggles, which I think is a really important thing to do.

If hiding their sin, which is futile in front of a God who knows everything and sees everything, but if hiding their sin could mean that they drop dead in an instant, it means that for some people, they aren’t going to hide their sin.

They are going to be open and honest with their sin and struggles and their need for Jesus’ grace, which in turn would actually bring life and not death.

And that’s attractive....certainly more attractive than the alternative - which is the possibility of dropping dead in a heartbeat.

Pause

Now, let me ask you - which would you prefer…to keep your sins hidden or expose them to God - to confess them?

[ would you prefer to keep your sins hidden?]

Cos if you want your sins to stay hidden, and you don’t want to know what they are (even though you probably do), but if you don’t want to examine yourself and see where you are sinning and address it…if you’d rather just stay blissfully ignorant of your sins...

…if that’s what you would rather want then this passage is a wake-up call to you.

Because you can’t hide your sins from God.

And your sinning against him, and so your relationship with God is not where it should be.

Satan has derailed your life with God…in fact, he may have even derailed you even experiencing God to begin with and you are dropping dead, albeit over a number of years.

Pause

However, if you would rather KNOW that you’re sinning so that you can bring them before God in repentance... that shows a completely different heart.

Because, while that is an extremely brave road to travel, and it is humbling, think about what that will do with your relationship with God...

…it will bring you to your knees in dependance on Jesus and his grace to forgive you, and that will increase your relationship with Jesus.

It will bless you even further and it will bring more and more life to what you’re experiencing right not.