Lessons From First Church: Hypocrisy: The Church's First Sin

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The Church’s First Sin

Acts 5:1–11 ESV
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.

Context:

The Church has everything in common. They are consistent in prayer. The apostles are preaching and demonstrating the power of the Holy Spirit with miracles. The people are sacrificial, selling land and homes. They are boldly sharing and living their faith, even while understanding that suffering and persecution will happen. In the previous chapter Peter and John had been imprisoned and, in chapter 7 we see Stephen become the first Christian martyr die for his faith. And so in all this, the church is thriving, growing, daily numbers are being added and people are being saved and baptized. Chapter 4 ends with a man named Barnabas living out this faith as an example of the grace and power of the Holy Spirit present among the people. He sold his field and laid the money at the apostles feet.
These passages then are a change in tone, but are purposely placed. The bible does not hide the weakness and failure of man. It always confronts us with our sinful tendencies, and here is no different. The couple of Ananias and Sapphira have lied to God, and have introduced the first open sin of the church which will threaten to divide it. Notice something, when the devil attacked the church from the outside, all it did was bring them together and make them more prayerful. They thrived. So the devil here attacks the church, not from without but within. And this you will find is the battle that we continue to face, and the reason why many churches are powerless and divided. As I mentioned a few weeks ago..it is our divided hearts which divide the church. It is the battle within, not without the church that is most destructive.

Questions:

1. What was their sin?
2. Why was their punishment so severe?
3. What does this teach us about today’s church?

What was their sin?

The sin of Ananias and Sapphira seems to come down to lying to the Holy Spirit. They were testing the Lord (vrs. 8). The implication is that they had said that they sold their property for the needs of the poor, and they confessed that they were giving the full amount to the church. What we see is that they held some back for themselves. So the problem with holding back the money had to do more so with the fact that they said they were giving all and didn’t. It was the lack of honesty about what they gave, more so than what they gave which was the problem.
We see intentional deception
They were attempting to see how much they could get away with while maintaining the look of spirituality.
They wanted the benefits of looking like they were sacrificial without the cost of actually being sacrificial. This is hypocrisy. They were testing God and dishonoring the church. Though the church could not see it, God could.
They wanted to appear more spiritually mature than they were. They were confessing one thing, but their hearts were believing and living another.
Now when it comes to hypocrisy, there are some important truths we see here.
Hypocrisy may deceive man, but it can not deceive God.
Mark 7:6
Mark 7:6 ESV
6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;
1Corinthians 4:5
1 Corinthians 4:5 ESV
5 Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.
Proverbs 15:3
The problem for the church is that as the we mistake fooling people, as fooling God. We put more energy into hiding our sin from others, than repenting and bringing our sin before God. God can not be fooled, and if everyone celebrates you publicly, but you know privately you are trying to test God and see what you can get away with, you’re going to have to answer for it.
Hypocrisy is the language and strategy of satan
Acts 5:3
Acts 5:3 ESV
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?
Satan had tempted and deceived them into lieing and testing God.
2Corinthians 11:14
2 Corinthians 11:14 ESV
14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
Satan is the original hypocrite
John 10:10
John 10:10 ESV
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
Satan will come appearing as a friend, but his motives are as your enemy. If he were to tell you who and what he was, and his intention to destroy you, we would never fall into a trap. But a trap is a trap because it is unseen. And so if Satan is the original hypocrite, the original deceiver, then hypocrisy is incredibly dangerous and destructive for the church and the kingdom fo God
Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy, but most of the things the devil has stole from you, he didn’t have to break in to take it. We opened the door and handed it to him. He’ll tell you, give me this, and i’ll give you that. Compromise here, and you can gain here. Eat this fruit..and you’ll become like God. And again and again we have sacrificed our families, relationships, witness…only to windup empty handed..finding out the devil never keeps his promises.
The Jesus told the Pharisees that their father was Satan..and He said it, because they were hypocrites. People who hid what they were, in an effort to appear more spiritual than they actually were.
John 8:44
John 8:44 ESV
44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
To live in hypocrisy, to hide your sin, trying to appear what you are not for other people, is to walk in satan’s footsteps. We have to be honest about our struggles, our weaknesses, our failures..and stop hiding.
Hypocrisy deceives the hypocrite.
James 1:22
James 1:22 ESV
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
We are deceived into a false sense of security. It is to believe that you are safer under the covering you’ve created.
When our confessions of our mouth don’t match the condition of our heart, that gap between who we really are and what we say we are is where Satan thrives.
Sin thrives in the dark, but will die in the light.
Hypocrites don’t get into hypocrisy deliberately by thinking, “I’d like to bring God’s judgment down on myself by being a hypocrite. That sounds like the way to go!” Rather, due to pride, they think, “I want people to respect me. If they knew what I was really like, they wouldn’t respect me. So I need to keep up a good front. Besides, everyone does that to some extent.” So he tries to impress others, forgetting that God examines the heart. He ends up deceiving himself in the worst way
Hypocrisy relies on the covering of man which kills instead of the covering of God, which saves.
To cover your sin, something has to die. (Adam and Eve)
Most of us, to cover our sin, end up sacrificing marriages, friendships, our testimony. God has already taken care of the dying part, so if you’ll trust in his covering, you can stop sacrificing your marriages, futures, and life to hide and keep your sin. If you’ll trust in the death of Christ to cover your failures and sin, you can stop destroying your life trying to hide who you are.
Proverbs 28:13
Proverbs 28:13 ESV
13 Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.
Psalm 85:2
Psalm 85:2 ESV
2 You forgave the iniquity of your people; you covered all their sin. Selah

Why Was Their Punishment So Severe?

Context

Acts 5:5 ESV
5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it.
Acts 5:10 ESV
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.
There is no opportunity for repentance, but it is sudden and severe punishment. And it is surprising to us, and it may even lead us to question God’s method here. But as we answer this, let us put this in perspective.
God’s actions are always perfect, just, and wise.
Deuteronomy 32:4
Deuteronomy 32:4 ESV
4 “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.
Isaiah 40:13
Isaiah 40:13 ESV
13 Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows him his counsel?
Isaiah 55:8-9
Isaiah 55:8–9 ESV
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
We are never in a position to council God. We may ask God questions, but let us not question God. There's a difference. Asking God questions our of trust, so we can understand is good. Questioning God and assuming we know better is not. Our posture in reading this is to understand why a just God would do this, not to question whether He is just God.
Tim Keller: If we knew, what God knows, we would ask exactly for what He gives.
So if God’s actions ever seem severe or unfair, it is because of our limited understanding, not an error on God’s part.
God fiercely protects the holiness of His people.
This text almost seems out of place. We read it today and it seems almost inconsistent with who and what Jesus was. But here is the a crucial point, when you look at the totality of the bible, this is not uncommon. God repeatedly, consistently, over and over again, punishes his people when they defile the holiness of God. For those who have help that God was different, or that the NT God is the different from the OT God..this is a reality check. God has always been fiercely protected the holiness of His people..and He would do whatever it took to accomplish that.
Joshua 7:1
This verb kept back may have been chosen by Luke to make a link with Joshua 7:1 (enosphisanto), where it describes the sin of Achan, who retained for private use property that had been ‘devoted to the Lord’. But the sin of Ananias was different, as Luke goes on to show. The land and its proceeds were his (v. 4) and he was not under any obligation to give it to the apostles. His error was to pretend that he had given everything when he had given only a part, thus making himself out to be more generous and self-sacrificing than he really was. -Acts of the Apostles
Joshua 7:25-26
Joshua 7:25–26 ESV
25 And Joshua said, “Why did you bring trouble on us? The Lord brings trouble on you today.” And all Israel stoned him with stones. They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones. 26 And they raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from his burning anger. Therefore, to this day the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor.
With the first city going into the promised land of Jericho, God gives the city into their hands and tells them to bring the spoils of war back to God, and devote them to God. Achan does the same thing..kept back from God what the people said they were going to bring..and God does the same thing, fiercely disciplines him and his family. Why because God has determined that He will protect fiercely the holiness of HIs people.
The problem with Achan wasn’t that God needed silver or gold..but that God was after the heart and holiness of His people! In the same way, it was not about the money for Aninas and Sapphira. God wanted His people to be Holy!
1Peter 1:15-16
1 Peter 1:15–16 ESV
15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
Leviticus 11:45
Leviticus 11:45 ESV
45 For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”
1Peter 2:9
1 Peter 2:9 ESV
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Ananias and Sapphira appear to be believers, here. Chapter 5 mentions the full number of those who believed, and they are included. The severity of God’s judgement to them isn’t about their unbelief, but how even believers can hinder and hurt the church by their sin. Being under grace was not meant to inspire less holiness, but more than the law!
Deuteronomy 21:18-21
Even if no one knows your sin…it still hurts the church! As a matter of fact, it is precisely because it is in the dark that makes it worse. A lot of times, the coverup is worse than the mess up. If we would just be honest!
God has never played about the holiness of His people.
So Why did God kill them..because the Holiness of the church is that important!
God wanted the church’s first breach of faith to be a warning for the future. God called them and us to a reverence and fear.
The sudden, dramatic deaths of Ananias and Sapphira served to purify and warn the church. “Great fear seized the whole church” (Acts 5:11). Right away, in the church’s infancy, God made it plain that hypocrisy and dissimulation were not going to be tolerated, and His judgment of Ananias and Sapphira helped guard the church against future pretense. God laid the bodies of Ananias and Sapphira in the path of every hypocrite who would seek to enter the church- Gotquestions
Joshua 7:1 Why was Achan’s punishment so severe also? Because it also was the first breach in faith for the people in the promised land, and served as a warning.
There are three parts to the defeat: the sin of Achan, the anger of God, and the judgment against Israel. This is followed by the identification of the cause and the resolution in the death of the perpetrator. The chapter demonstrates the problem of sin in Israel’s mission. It follows the account of Jericho because the sin occurred in the context of the capture of that town. It occupies so much space because the first breach of Israel’s purity as a holy nation before God brings the harshest judgment and punishment. This also serves as a warning against yielding to future temptations.[1]
Over and over God would remind HIs people to have a healthy fear of Him and flee from sin. So the consequences for Aninas and Sapphira serve as a reminder and a challenge for every hypocrite that thinks that they can hide from God!
“They drop dead is not because this happens to all hypocrites. For example, it doesn't happen to Simon the Magician in Acts 8:20–24. The reason they drop dead is to give a stunning warning to the whole church that phony Christians will all end up this way, sooner or later. God means for his people to fear hypocrisy. He means for us to be afraid of treating the Holy Spirit with contempt. Notice at the end of verse 5, after Ananias had died: "And great fear came upon all who heard of it." Then again in verse 11 after Sapphira died, "And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things." This is the lesson Luke wants us to get: faking faith in the presence of God is a fearful thing.”
We say one thing and do another because we don’t fear God.

What Does This Teach The Church Today?

Being under grace should inspire us to more holiness, not less
Hebrews 3:1-3
Hebrews 3:1–3 ESV
1 Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, 2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. 3 For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself.
Romans 6:1-2
Romans 6:1–2 ESV
1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
Deuteronomy 21:18-21
If the law could bring a degree of holiness, people who would at-least obey by letter, even if not by the Spirit of the law…should we be more or less Holy?
If you think, what can I do and still be saved, rather than what can I do to be holy..you do not understand the gospel.
Though we are not under condemnation, we should grow in conviction!
Stop playing with sin church.
Conviction is a necessary feeling that we should cultivate; condemnation is a lie that we should throw off. Conviction comes from the Holy Spirit, whom we grieve with our sin (John 16:8; Ephesians 4:30); condemnation comes from the devil, who will do anything to drive a wedge between people and God (Revelation 12:10). Conviction is like a pain signal that leads us away from danger; condemnation is like an anesthetic that leaves us feeling numb.
Church health is not about numbers or budgets, but holiness!
In proportion as a church is holy, in that proportion will its testimony for Christ be powerful.
We must close the gap between who we are publically and who we are privately.
Sin thrives in the space between who we say we are and who we really are.
Satan thrives in the dark and areas we are afraid to show.
We must start to bring to God all of us, expose all the mess.
What if God were to confront each of us who are followers of Jesus with that which we have help back? Have you given your life to Jesus, confessed that you love and will follow Him? Well, let us give Him what we have said. And if we are unwilling, admit it. Face it!
Does what we say church match the condition of our heart?
Check your heart
I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold. I’d rather have Jesus than riches untold. But we don’t tithe or give. If were honest, our job is much more important to us than God is.
“Where you go I’ll go, where you stay I’ll stay , where you’ll move I’ll move, I will follow you” Is this true? Be honest with yourself. I had somebody tell me, when I was going to Colombia, that they could never do that. What the lyrics should be, “Lord I will follow you if you don’t ask me to go that far.”
Have we told Jesus that we will take up our cross…but we can’t even pick up our bible to read it? Do we say this is the best news that has ever been told..Jesus dying for us giving us life, but we haven’t told anybody all week about it. If it good it must not be that good.
Do we sing of Amazing Grace on Sunday, but yell in somebody’s face on Monday
A.W. Tozer- Christians don’t tell lies, they just sing them.
Church, God doesn’t ask for perfection, but confession. As long as we pretend to be more spiritually mature than we are, As long as we hide..Satan will thrive in the darkness.
You think in keeping your sin hidden, from keeping your weakness disguised, that you are saving yourself and others from pain. You are really, slowly inviting Satan in to kill, steal and destroy.
Man’s covering kills…God’s covering saves! Let God cover it! Trust in His provision…and you will find in Him is life!
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