1. 1. ACTS 5 COMME TARY EDITED BY GLE PEASE Ananias and Sapphira 1 ow a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. It is against this beautiful backdrop that we come to verse 1 of chapter 5 and are introduced to the first recorded hypocrites in the church, Ananias and Sapphira. The gracious act of giving is set in direct contrast to the sham giving of Ananias and Sapphira. It would appear, though I cannot be dogmatic about this, that they may have tried to gain the same kind of respect as Barnabas did when he gave, and that may be more speculative than fact because there was nothing said about how the apostles or the other believers responded when he gave. Ananias and Sapphira sold a possession, which means, land or property. ow notice that the giving was not mandatory, not legislated, not mandated, not pressured, but completely and totally voluntary. This is a very significant point that is just about completely overlooked in todays church when it comes to giving to needs. The Holy Spirit was, and is, very capable to move on the hearts of His people to give to needs. This is why I do not feel comfortable at all about even the hint of legislating finances and I have been that way for all of the years I have been in the pastorate. The church so much relies on other humans telling them what to do that they never seem to simply rely on what the Spirit of God leads them to do. Again, what we will clearly see in the text was that giving in the church was completely voluntary. In fact, it has always been that way and should stay that way. BAR ES, "But a certain man - In the previous chapter the historian had given an account of the eminent liberality and sincerity of the mass of early Christians, in being willing to give up their property to provide for the poor, and had mentioned the case of Barnabas as worthy of special attention. In this chapter he proceeds to mention a case, quite as striking, of insincerity, and hypocrisy, and of the just judgment of God on those who were guilty of it. The case is a remarkable instance of the nature of hypocrisy, and goes to illustrate the art and cunning of the enemy of souls in attempting to corrupt the church, and to pervert the religion of the gospel. Hypocrisy consists in an attempt to imitate the people of God, or to assume the appearance of religion, in whatever form it may be manifested. In this case religion had been manifested by great self-denial and benevolence. The hypocrisy of Ananias consisted in attempting to imitate this in appearance, and to impose in this way on the early Christians and on God.
2. 2. With Sapphira his wife - With her concurrence or consent. It was a matter of agreement between them, Act_5:2, Act_5:9. Sold a possession - The word used here ktma does not indicate whether this was land or some other property. In Act_5:3, however, we learn that it was land that was sold; and the word here translated possession is translated in the Syriac, Arabic, and the Latin Vulgate as land. The pretence for which this was sold was doubtless to have the appearance of religion. That it was sold could be easily known by the Christian society, but it might not be so easily known for how much it was sold. Hence, the attempt to impose on the apostles. It is clear that they were not under obligation to sell their property. But, having sold it for the purposes of religion, it became their duty, if they professed to devote the avails of it to God, to do it entirely, and without any reservation. CLARKE, "But a certain man named Ananias - Of these unhappy people we have no farther account than what is recorded here. In reference to birth, connections, etc., their names are written in the dust. The import of his name, chananiyah, the grace or mercy of the Lord, agrees very ill with his conduct. GILL, "But a certain man named Ananias,.... A name common among the Jews, the same with Hananiah, Jer_28:1 it signifies not the humility of the Lord, or the affliction of the Lord, or the answer of the Lord, as say some, as if it was derived from ; but the grace of the Lord, or the Lord's gracious one, coming from : there is no dependence on names; though this man's name signified one that was in the grace and favour of God; he was not so, but a graceless person, as appears by what follows. It is very likely he was a minister of the word, since the account of him follows upon that of Barnabas, and is opposed to it; it may be he was one of the hundred and twenty, on whom the Holy Ghost fell on the day of Pentecost; and yet, though he had great gifts, had no grace. This shows there are hypocrites among men of the greatest names and characters, and in the purest churches; this first and pure church, which, in the preceding chapter, has such large encomiums, was not free from them: with Sapphira his wife; whether this is the same name with "Shiphrah", Exo_1:15 or "Zipporah", Exo_2:21 both which are by the Septuagint called "Sephora", or whether another, and may signify "beautiful", is not very material. Jerom (c) says, in the Syriac language this name signifies "beautiful"; though he first gives other explanations of it, as "narrantem, literatam, sive librariam", as though it was derived from the Hebrew word . The precious stone called sapphire seems to come from the same root as this, and to be so called because of its beautiful azure colour. The name "Sappho", which was the name of a famous poetess, the inventress of a kind of verse called "Sapphic" verse, is said to be the diminutive of this name "Sapphira". Drusius observes, it may be read , "Tzephira"; which comes near to "Zipporah", and among other things signifies a "she goat"; and it was usual to give women names taken from such creatures. So "Rachel", a "sheep", and "Tabitha", or "Dorcas", a "doe". But whatever her name or person were, her actions were disagreeable:
3. 3. sold a possession; which was their own. So the Arabic and Syriac versions read, "their own field", or "farm"; find the Ethiopic version, "their own vineyard": it might be his wife's dowry or jointure, and so her consent was necessary; or they might be jointly concerned in this sale, to show not only their concord and harmony among themselves; but that they agreed in their devotion and religious actions, and that being both filled with zeal for God, and love to the brethren, sold their estate to support the common cause. HE RY, "The chapter begins with a melancholy but, which puts a stop to the pleasant and agreeable prospect of things which we had in the foregoing chapters; as every man, so every church, in its best state has its but. 1. The disciples were very holy, and heavenly, and seemed to be all exceedingly good; but there were hypocrites among them, whose hearts were not right in the sight of God, who, when they were baptized, and took upon them the form of godliness, denied the power of godliness, and stopped short of that. There is a mixture of bad with good in the best societies on this side heaven; tares will grow among the wheat until the harvest. 2. It was the praise of the disciples that they came up to that perfection which Christ recommended to the rich young man--they sold what they had, and gave to the poor; but even that proved a cloak and cover of hypocrisy which was thought the greatest proof and evidence of sincerity. 3. The signs and wonders which the apostles wrought were hitherto miracles of mercy; but now comes in a miracle of judgment, and here is an instance of severity following the instances of goodness, that God may be both loved and feared. JAMISO , "Act_5:1-11. Ananias and Sapphira. The first trace of a shade upon the bright form of the young Church. Probably among the new Christians a kind of holy rivalry had sprung up, every one eager to place his means at the disposal of the apostles [Olshausen]. Thus might the new-born zeal of some outrun their abiding principle, while others might be tempted to seek credit for a liberality which was not in their character. CALVI , "1.Those things which Luke hath reported hitherto did show that that company, which was gathered together under the name of Christ, was rather a company of angels than of men, Moreover, that was incredible virtue, that the rich men did despoil themselves of their own accord, not only of their money, but also of their land, that they might relieve the poor. But now he showeth that Satan had invented a shift to get into that holy company, and that under color of such excellent virtue; for he hath wonderful wiles of hypocrisy to insinuate himself. This way doth Satan assault the Church, when as he cannot prevail by open war. But we must specially in this place have respect unto the drift of the Holy Ghost. For in this history he meant to declare, first, how acceptable singleness of heart is to God, and what an abomination hypocrisy is in his sight; secondly, how greatly he alloweth [approves] the holy and pure policy and govermnent of his Church. For this is the principal point, the punishment wherewith punished Ananias and his wife. As the greatness thereof did at that time terrify them all, so it is unto us a testimony that
4. 4. God cannot abide this unfaithfulness, when as bearing a show of holiness where there is none, we do mock him contemptibly. For if, having weighed all the circumstances, we be desirous to know the sum, Luke condemneth no other fault in Ananias than this, that he meant to deceive God and the Church with a reigned offering. Yet there were more evils packed under this dissimulation: the contempt of God, whom he feareth not, though he knew his wickedness; sacrilegious defrauding, because he keepeth back part of that which he professeth to be holy to God; perverse vanity and ambition, because he vaunteth himself in the presence of men, without having any respect unto Gods judgment; want of faith, because he would never have gone this way to work, unless he had mistrusted God; the corrupting of a godly and holy order; furthermore, the hypocrisy itself was a great offense of itself. (237) The fact of Ananias did bear a goodly show, (238) although he had given only the half of his land. either is this a small virtue, for a rich man to bestow the half of his goods upon the poor; but the sacrifices of the ungodly are an abomination to God, (Proverbs 15:8;) neither can any thing please him where the singleness of heart is wanting. For this cause is it that Christ maketh more account of the two mites offered by the widow, than of the great sums of others, who of their great heaps gave some part, (Luke 21:2.) This is the cause why God doth show an example of such sharp punishment in Ananias. ow, let us note every point by itself.He laid it at the feet of the apostles. Lo, what ambition doth! Ananias is ashamed not to be accounted one of the best; therefore, although he be greedy of money, yet to the end he may purchase a name amongst men, he depriveth himself of some part of his riches. In the meanwhile, he doth not consider that he lieth and deceiveth in the sight of God, and that God will punish this lie. So it is, that he honoreth the apostles feet more than Gods eyes. Wherefore, we must take good heed, that when we do well, we do not seek to be praised of the bystanders; (239) and it is not without cause that Christ saith, that it is profitable for us when we give our alms, to have the left hand ignorant of that which the right hand doth. BARCLAY, "TROUBLE I THE CHURCH Ac.5:1-11 A man called Ananias, together with his wife Sapphire, sold a bit of ground he had, and surreptitiously kept back part of the price, and his wife knew about it. He brought some part of the price and laid it at the feet of the apostles. Peter said to him, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart so that you have deceived the Holy Spirit and kept back part of the price of your ground? While it remained yours did it not remain your own, and after it had been sold was it not entirely at your disposal? Why did you put this business into your heart? It is not to men you have lied but to God." As Ananias listened to these words, he collapsed and breathed his life out. Great awe came upon all who heard it. The young men rose and bound him up and carried him out and buried him. After an interval of about three hours his wife came in and she was not aware of what had happened. Peter said to her, "Tell me, did you sell the piece of ground for so much?" "Yes," she said, "for so much." Peter said to her, "Why is it that you agreed to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? Look now, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door and they will carry you out." Immediately she
5. 5. collapsed at his feet and breathed her life out. When the young men came in they found her dead and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. And great awe came upon the whole Church and upon all who heard these things. There is no more vivid story in the book of Acts. There is no need to make a miracle of it. But it does show us something of the atmosphere which prevailed in the early Church. It is on record that once Edward the First blazed with anger at one of his courtiers and the man dropped dead in sheer fear. This story shows two things about the early Church, the expectancy of men's minds and the extraordinary respect in which the apostles were held. It was in that atmosphere that the rebuke of Peter acted as it did. This is one of the stories which demonstrate the almost stubborn honesty of the Bible. It might well have been left out because it shows that even in the early Church there were very imperfect Christians; but the Bible refuses to present an idealised picture of anything. Once a court painter painted the portrait of Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell was disfigured by warts upon his face. The painter, thinking to please the great man, omitted the disfiguring warts. When Cromwell saw the picture, he said, "Take it away, and paint me warts and all." It is one of the great virtues of the Bible that it shows us its heroes, warts and all. There is a certain encouragement in this story, for it shows us that even in its greatest days the Church was a mixture of good and bad. Peter insists that sin is sin against God. We do well to remember that, very specially in certain directions. (i) Failure in diligence is sin against God. Everything, however humble it may be, that contributes to the health, the happiness and the welfare of mankind is work done for God. Antonio Stradivari, the great maker of violins, said, "If my hand slacked, I should rob God." That is a motto for every man to take. (ii) Failure to use our talents is sin against God. God gave us such talents as we have; we hold them in stewardship for him; and we are responsible to him for the use we make of them. (iii) Failure in truth is sin against God. When we slip into falsehood it is sin against the guidance of the Spirit in our hearts. COFFMA , "This chapter recounts the tragic fall of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11), the continued success and popularity of the apostolic mission (Acts 5:12-16), the renewed opposition of the Sanhedrin with another arraignment of the apostles before them (Acts 5:17-32), the purpose of the Sanhedrin to slay the apostles thwarted by Gamaliel, and the beating of the Twelve by the Jewish authorities (Acts 5:33-42). But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. (Acts 5:1) A A IAS A D SAPPHIRA But ... This word clearly connects the event of Barnabas' generous action which had
6. 6. just been narrated, with what ensues here. As Boles noted, "The two illustrations here were intended to be brought in contrast, as the conjunction `but' introduces the sentence."[1] The parallel with the conquest of Canaan in the Old Testament is evident in this event, this story being to the book of Acts what the story of Achan is to the book of Joshua. "In both, an act of deceit interrupts the victorious progress of the people of God."[2] (Joshua 7:1ff). Ananias and Sapphira ... The first of these names means "Jehovah hath been gracious," and "If SAPPHIRA is Greek, it means SAPPHIRE; if Aramaic, it means BEAUTIFUL."[3] How tragic is the contrast between these lovely names and what befell those who wore them. Sold a possession ... This does not mean that they sold all that they had, or that they had been commanded to sell anything at all. The event about to be related was a dramatic change from the wonderful miracles of mercy and healing which, until then, had marked the deeds of the apostles; but it was necessary that the severity of God, as well as his mercy, should be stressed. And, just as Jesus had withered the fig tree, there appeared here "an instance of severity, following the instances of goodness: God is to be both loved and feared."[4] The truth of the narrative of Ananias and Sapphira is guaranteed by its painful character. o historian would have gone out of his way to invent it.[5] As Ramsay saw this narrative, "It is a moral apologue, not as invented to embody a moral, but as remembered because it did so."[6] DeWelt was correct in making this wonder the first of a class: We have witnessed in the past record the evil forces from without, but this chapter opens with the account of the first marks of the evil one within the fold.[7] Wesley, however, it seems to us, was wrong in his view of this incident as "the first attempt to bring propriety of goods into the Christian Church."[8] Very few scholars have ever agreed with Wesley on this. See under Acts 5:4. [1] H. Leo Boles, Commentary on Acts ( ashville: Gospel Advocate Company, 1953), p. 77. [2] F. F. Bruce, The Book of Acts (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans, Publishers, 1954), p. 110. [3] J. R. Dummelow, Commentary on the Holy Bible ( ew York: The Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 824. [4] Thomas Scott, Henry-Scott Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1960), p. 447.
7. 7. [5] J. R. Dummelow, op. cit., p. 825. [6] Sir William M. Ramsay, Pictures of the Apostolic Church (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1959), p. 35. [7] Don DeWelt, Acts Made Actual (Joplin, Missouri: College Press, 1958), p. 73. [8] John Wesley, ew Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House), in loco. OTES, Most movies and stories that have happy endings have very unhappy endings for the evil ones who have made life miserable for the good. In Walt Disney's version of Snow White the ending is at the wedding of the Prince and Snow White, but in the original Grimm's Fairy Tales the wicked queen is invited to the wedding, and when she sees Snow White she is enraged. She is made to put on iron slippers heated in the fire, and she dances in the red hot shoes until she falls down dead. Grim indeed, but happy endings need justice for the wicked who made it all a complex mess to begin with. This is a terrible chapter to read, for it frightened the first Christians and it is frightning to read it yet today, for it is about aweful judgment that falls on a Christian couple. It is about the folly of faking and the horror, yet humor of hypocrisy. It is capital punishment falling from God without a trial or warning. It is scary and not funny at all. It is only funny in the sense of being foolish. Foolishness is funny for it can be easily avoided by being wise and honest. It was such a stupid thing to do that God made a point of it being so stupid that is led to immediate judgment. It was a warning not to deal falsely with God. What can be more stupid than lying to God who knows all? This is not laugh funny but scary funny and unbelievable stupid funny. When people do something so stupid that it leads to their death we do not laugh but say "How stupid can you be!" It is so stupid that it is funny. It is tragic funny, and sad funny, and so unnessarily aweful that it isn't even funny. Ananias and his wife Came into some large cash. But instead of it improving life It led to their great crash. They tried to play the cheater And make themselves look kind. But they could not fool old Peter For he was to swift of mind. You let Satan fill your heart So that you lied to God.
8. 8. ow in his church you have no part. You'll be buried in the sod. You did't have to give us any, But you have had the gall To say you gave us every penny, And that's the cause of your downfall. When Ananias heard this word He fell right down and died. The people thought what a nerd And they never even cried. The people then were seized with fear. It was not a pleasant day. There was not a single word of cheer As they carried him away. It was only three hours later When his wife came in the door. Peter did not debate her But simply asked as he did before. What was the total price You two got for your land? She tried to seem so nice But she lied to beat the band. Peter made it clear to her She would join her husband soon. Suddenly everything was a blur And she fell into a swoon. Young men came and found her dead. By her husband she was laid. The whole church was filled with dread, For this event made them all afraid. The issue here is motive. They saw great admiration for those who gave so much and they were jealous of such fame and honor and wanted it for themselves, but were not willing to pay the full price. They hoped to imitate Barnabus and get what he had in reputation without the cost. Cheap glory was their goal, and if they had to lie to God, what is the big deal? The tempation to get what others have gotten by great sacrifice by making a small sacrifice is with all of us. We all crave recognition and some degree of fame, and are tempted to find short cuts to get it.
9. 9. IVP, "This chilling account of the sudden deaths of Ananias (Hebrew, "the Lord is gracious") and Sapphira (Aramaic, "beautiful") makes us face the fact that God deals with sin, especially church members' deceit and lack of integrity. If God acts to preserve the integrity of the community that the gospel produced, we can have increased confidence in the truthfulness of the message itself (Lk 1:4). That's the good news for the inquirer. This narrative is bad news, though, for any who would take a casual approach to entering the kingdom of God. DAILY BREAD, "Two young women lost their lives in a fire that swept through their apartment as they slept. Their home was equipped with a smoke detector that was in good working order, but it hadn't gone off. Why? Fire inspectors concluded that the device had been deactivated for a party the night before. The unit had been disconnected to keep it from sounding off because of the smoke from cooking and candles. In Acts 5 we have another example of two people who apparently deactivated an alarm system that could have saved their lives. Ananias and Sapphira must have quenched the Holy Spirit by turning a deaf ear to their consciences, believing they had plenty of good reasons for doing what they did. But their action cost them their lives. We need to realize that the Holy Spirit was not given to annoy us like a sensitive smoke detector. He doesn't sound false alarms. When He activates our conscience by bringing to mind a principle or warning from God's Word, it is really His love and wisdom in action. By weighing the warnings of His love against the cost of our foolishness, we'll soon realize that it's always better to be safe than sorry. MRD II Mart De Haan Our conscience is a gift from God, It is a guiding light; And when aligned with God's true Word, It shows us what is right. Sper SBC 1-10, "From the conduct of Ananias and Sapphira we see: I. The vital difference between the spirit and the fashion of Christianity. (1) We may imitate Christ, yet not know Him after the Spirit. (2) We may mingle with Christians, and yet know nothing of the spiritual power of Christianity. II. The fatal temptation to give the part as the whole. III. The concealed sin, as well as the public iniquity will be followed by the judgment of God. (1) There is yet to be a reading of hearts. (2) Not only what we have done, but what we have left undone is to be judged. (3) Sins which apparently do no harm to society, are to be punished. Parker, City Temple, vol. ii., p. 124.
10. 10. HAWKER 1-10. "But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, (2) And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles feet. (3) 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? (4) While it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. (5) And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. (6) And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him. (7) And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. (8) And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. (9) 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. (10) 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. We have here a most interesting record of two abominable hypocrites, whose crimes and punishment are circumstantially related, for the instruction and comfort of the Church in all ages. It is blessed to observe how God the Holy Ghost watches over his Church, in causing such histories to be handed down to the people. Without such records, we might have been led to suppose, that in those happy days no characters of a contrary principle to the Apostles standard were to be found. But now we learn that the best of Churches, and the best of times, have their spots. In the ark, there was an Ham. Among the Apostles, a Judas, Under the first days of the Holy Ghosts ministry, the Lord permitted Ananias and Sapphira to mingle for a space with the faithful. But so far are these things from proving injurious to the Church, that they ultimately minister to her glory. Reader, let us first contemplate the dreadful state of the human heart. Here were two persons most fully convinced, as far as head-knowledge could carry conviction, of the truths of God, professing a belief they never felt, and to preserve an opinion among the faithful, consenting, apparently, to give up the whole of their worldly goods for the benefit of the Church of Christ; and yet all the while had not the least real love to Jesus, or his people. And are such instances singular? Alas! the reverse. Perhaps there is not now upon earth a single congregation of professing Christians, of any number, but what hath some of the same description. And doth not the Lord overrule such events to his glory, and his peoples welfare? Yes! for it tends to make the Lords people jealous of themselves, when they discover such goats got into the sheepfold. It tends to humble the soul, under a sense of common corruption. And it operates most blessedly to the Lords glory, when a child of God is thereby led to discover, that all the difference between one and another is all of grace. Let us next learn from this picture of human depravity, to admire the tender love of the Lord to the Church, in qualifying Peter to the detection of it. By the power which the Holy Ghost gave him of discerning spirits, the iniquity was found out, and the Church cleansed from the impurity. And thus the Lord watches over his people for good in all ages. I beg the Reader particularly to remark with me, that Peter charged this man with lying to the Holy Ghost. But why is it so specially said that the lie was to the Holy Ghost? I apprehend on this account. Because conversion-work is the personal operation of God
11. 11. the Holy Ghost? So that the whole, and every part of this mans conduct, was directly leveled against the Holy Ghost. He never had been converted. He never had felt the love of God, and of Christ, in his heart And therefore the deception was principally against God the Spirit. I pray the Reader, under this head, not to overlook how Peter speaks of the Godhead of the Holy Ghost. In verse three, (Act_5:3) he chargeth Ananias with lying to the Holy Ghost. And in another, (Act_5:4) he saith that lie was not unto men, but unto God. A plain proof, in Peters view, that the Holy Ghost is God. One observation more meets us on this wonderful transaction, I mean the judgment of God, in instant death, both on the man and his wife. It must have been very awful; but it should seem that the Lord deemed it to be necessary. The honor of God the Spirit. The honor of the Church of Christ now more eminently forming. The dreadful alarm it must have given hypocrites, to keep them from the Church. The fears it must have awakened in cautioning the foes of Christ to be very careful how they molested the Apostles. And the terror in all the future ages of the Church it might afford, to preserve the faithful from numberless instances of deception. These were certainly among the causes for which the speedy judgment of the Lord fell upon Ananias and Sapphira; and for which they stand forth, and will stand forth to the end of the world, monuments of the Lords anger. Reader! let you and I, in the contemplation, learn to bless God for his unspeakable gift! COKE, "Acts 5:1-2. But a certain man, &c. In Psalms 110 where our Saviour is prophetically described in the person of a king advanced to the throne of divine majesty, glorious and triumphant, it is said, that his people, in the day of his power, should offer him free-will-offerings; which alludes to the Eastern custom of bringing presents to their kings on their inauguration. This prophesy was fulfilled in some small degree, in a temporal sense, as we find in the fore-going chapter; when, after Christ's ascension into heaven, and his inauguration was proclaimed by the descent of the Holy Ghost, they, who by believing in him acknowledged him their king, dedicated their goods to his service, selling their lands, &c. and laying down the money at the apostles' feet, to be distributed for the relief of the poor. But the consecration of the heart to him, makes infinitely the superior sense of the prophesy. Among those who had joined the church, there was one Ananias, who, as if he had intended to imitate the zeal and liberality of Barnabas, sold a possession of land for the supply of this charitable fund: but, after he had sold it, he conspired with his wife Sapphira privately to keep back part of the price, and yet publicly to deliver in the remainder as the whole price. St. Peter, who had the gift of discerning spirits, and probably received a direct revelation from heaven on the present occasion, immediately detected this lying and deceitful behaviour. MCGARVEY, "1, 2. In close connection with this unprecedented liberality of the brethren, we are now introduced to a remarkable case of corruption, of which it was the occasion. The praise always lavished on disinterested benevolence sometimes prompts illiberal men to make a pretense of liberality. But the mere desire of praise is incapable of subduing selfishness, so as to make a truly liberal heart; for it is itself a species of selfishness. In contrast with the course of Barnabas, we are told: (1) "But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, (2) and kept back part of the price, his wife being also privy to it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the feet of the apostles." This language implies, what is distinctly
12. 12. avowed by the wife below, that this part was represented as the whole price of the possession. GUZIK, "After they saw the great generosity of Barnabas, and how well he was respected, Ananias and Sapphira decided they wanted some of the same respect. b. He kept back part of the proceeds: They sold the possession, and gave only a portion to the church, while implying that they had sacrificially given it all to the church. i. The word for kept back is nosphizomai, which means "to misappropriate." The same word was used of Achan's theft in the Greek translation of the Old Testament (Joshua 7:21), and in its only other ew Testament use, it means to steal (Titus 2:10). ii. "The story of Ananias is to the Book of Acts what the story of Achan is to the book of Joshua. In both narratives an act of deceit interrupts the victorious progress of the people of God." (Bruce) c. His wife also being aware of it: Clearly, both husband and wife were in on the deception. i. "There may indeed be the further implication that Ananias and Sapphira had vowed to give the whole proceeds of the sale to God, but then changed their mind and handed over only part." (Bruce) ii. "Once the love of money takes possession of a person, there is no evil that he cannot or will not do." (Horton) THE HIGH COST OF DECEIT ACTS 5:1-11 To the all-seeing (omnipresent), all-knowing (omniscient) eyes of God, there are no secret sins. As Thomas Brooks put it, "Those sins which lie closest and are most secretly lurking in the heart, are as obvious and odious to God as those that are most fairly written upon a man's forehead." We deceive ourselves to think that we can nurture sin without its ugliness affecting our lives and those about us. It is a remarkable thing that the Bible gives us not only the good and positive, but also the evil and negative things that have happened throughout biblical history. We can see a David slay Goliath by the hand of the Lord, then see him blacken his holy reputation by his sin with Bathsheba. Peter received the divine revelation of Jesus being Messiah, then found himself denying the very Messiah he had proclaimed. We can learn from both the positive and negative.
13. 13. The movement of the Spirit in the early church is captivating throughout the first four chapters of Acts. We see the coming of the Spirit in power, the unforgettable drama of Jerusalem coming together to hear Peter's "Pentecostal sermon," the healing of the lame beggar, and the testimony of Peter and John before the Jewish religious leaders. So far, so good! When you read the latter part of chapter 4 you discover the practical unity of the church displayed in their care for one another. And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own; but all things were common property to them. And with great power the apostles were giving witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales, and lay them at the apostles' feet; and they would be distributed to each, as any had need. And Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means, Son of Encouragement), and who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet. (Acts 4:32-37) Here was the magnificence of Christian unity which Christ had prayed about in His high priestly prayer of John 17. These brethren stood together in "one heart and soul," giving of themselves and their means for the cause of the gospel and the good of the church. They did not sell all their material possessions and put them in a common fund as the Essenes did in the Qumran region, but as anyone had need, they would sell property and goods, using the proceeds to meet the needs of others in the body. Luke carefully points out one such believer who acted in this way, a man we know as Barnabas. He had a tract of land which he sold and gave all the proceeds for the church. Obviously, he was held in great esteem by the rest of the church and this act of sacrificial giving was admired by others in the body. Perhaps there was a buzz of excitement about this substantial gift which Barnabas laid at the apostle's feet. It is was in the context of such a selfless act of giving that we see the first real blight upon the infant church. The names of Ananias and Sapphira will forever go down in the annals of church history as the first members of the church to strike a blow against the unity of the church as instruments in Satan's hands. The adversary had assaulted the church externally, using religious persecution as a means to deter the Christians from their Christ-centered mission. But that assault only served to increase the church rather than destroy it. So Satan turned his evil attention inward and filled the heart of two church members to do something that would pollute the church. Two important questions arise from this text. First, what is the nature of the church for a member's secret sins to be so serious? Second, is the Holy Spirit really serious about the purity and holiness of the church? Both of these questions are answered
14. 14. with clarity in our text. We must never lose sight of the truth that the saving work of Christ purifies a people for Himself (Titus 2:14). We must not presume upon the purity and unity of the church. It is vital that we constantly search our motives and actions to make sure that we do nothing to grieve the Spirit (Eph. 4:30) and hinder the church of Jesus Christ. With this exhortation in mind, let us see... I. The nature of the church I believe that one of the great benefits of studying the book of Acts is to understand more about the whole nature and workings of the local church. It addresses the local church as opposed to the mysterious, universal church. The first instance of the word "church" being used in Acts is found in v. 11. Let's admit that there is probably a great deal of confusion concerning precisely what the church is in our day. I would point out that whatever the true church "was" in the first century, it "is" in the 20th century. The problem comes in our sifting through the many ideas of "church" that seem to be prevalent and coming to some firm, biblical conclusions on the nature of the church. The church is described by many terms. It is called "the body of Christ" (I Cor. 12; Eph. 4), "the bride of Christ" (Eph. 5:23ff; Rev. 19:6,7), the "pillar and support of the truth" (I Tim. 3:15), and dozens of other names. The church, in its truest sense, is composed of all true disciples of Jesus Christ, i.e., those who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ and who now live under the Lordship of Christ. ow, I am speaking in the true, biblical terms concerning the church. The unfortunate thing is that it is difficult to get a clear picture of the church by looking at the thousands of organized churches which exist throughout our world. The term "church" seems to imply more of the idea of a building or an active organization or a membership roll or a calendar of programs and activities rather than the redeemed of the Lord. I want to challenge us to think in biblical terms about the church rather than the modern, worldly ideas. I would point out at least three truths concerning the nature of the church that are inherent within our text. 1. A habitation of the Spirit The emphasis on the sin of Ananias and Sapphira is that they have lied to the Holy Spirit and sought to put the Holy Spirit to the test. The language used shows that the activity and life of the church is in relationship to the Holy Spirit. We must begin by noting that the deity of the Spirit is clearly confirmed in these verses. otice in verse 3 that Peter tells Ananias that he has lied to the Holy Spirit. Then in the next verse he states, "You have not lied to men, but to God." Again, in verse 9, Peter calls the Holy Spirit "the Spirit of the Lord." The Holy Spirit is called "God" by this use of parallelism in these verses. Just as the Father is God and the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, is God, the Holy Spirit is Himself God of very God. The
15. 15. 1689 London Baptist Confession states: "Three divine Persons constitute the Godhead--the Father, the Son (or the Word), and the Holy Spirit. They are one in substance, in power, and in eternity. Each is fully God, and yet the Godhead is one and indivisible..." (p. 19). If He is not God, then to pray to Him, to depend upon Him, to trust in Him, to ask for His power would constitute the highest form of idolatry! We must understand that the Holy Spirit is a Person. Only a person can be lied to or put to the test. Some have the mistaken notion that the Holy Spirit is an "it," albeit a 'powerful it'. Others think that He is merely a 'force' or a 'power' that works in people's lives. But Peter unmistakably shows that He is a Person. And as a Person, He is involved in relationships with other persons. The Holy Spirit is One with whom we have to do, One to whom we must answer, One whom we must not ignore or presume upon. He is One with whom we have fellowship, according to II Cor. 13:14, and you cannot have fellowship with anyone who does not have personhood. The fact of the Spirit's deity lays the groundwork for the essential truth we must see. The church is a "habitation of the Spirit." Paul expressed it like this in Ephesians 2:22, "in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit." That word "dwelling" means "a place of settling down" or "a habitation." Think of the enormity of that statement. When the church gathers together the Holy Spirit, God Himself, dwells right in our midst! When we come to worship, the Spirit is among us. When we come and go to serve, the Spirit is among us. When we come together in any fashion, the Spirit is among us. The point we must see is that since the Holy Spirit is among us, we must not in any way offend Him by unholiness or disobedience. Let us consider some practical outworking of this truth. Do you prepare for Sunday School and worship as if you are going to be in the presence of the Spirit of God Himself? Perhaps your mind is on some project or a television show or an activity. Do you think the Spirit is unaware of this, yet you are gathered with the church which is His holy habitation? Maybe you are not really interested in the truth of God's Word being proclaimed. Instead, you just want lots of programs and activities to keep you busy and make you 'feel' spiritual. Dare you have such an attitude when the Author of the Word of God who breathed the Scriptures into existence through human personalities is right in our midst? This Holy Spirit who habitates among us as a local church can be grieved by our sin (Eph. 4:30), quenched by our resisting the proclamation of God's Word (I Thess. 5:19-20), and offended by our attempts to "use" the church for self-centered purposes (context). 2. An organic unity The seriousness of the sin of Ananias and Sapphira can be seen in how they took liberty with the unity of the church. They were willing to treat the "one heart and soul" of Acts 4:32 lightly by deceiving the church. They lived under the ruse that the
16. 16. church was an organization they could use rather a body to whom they were responsible. Unity is to always be at the heart of the local church. This is not merely an organizational unity. It is not a unity that is structured because you have all the right programs and personalities in place. It is a unity that is grounded in the redemptive work of Christ. It is a unity that is threaded together by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. It is a unity that is bound as tight as the unity of the Father and the Son (John 17:21). It is a unity that is a grand display of the glory of the indwelling Christ (John 17:22-23). Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth. As Thou didst send Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me. And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them, and thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and didst love them, even as Thou didst love Me. (John 17:17- 23) Unity does not mean uniformity, that is, we all look alike, act alike, think alike. Unity implies that we are bound together at the deepest level of the soul. Our hearts and minds beat in sync though we may have different ideas and interests and ministries. Unity is a fact that is wrought through Christ so that though we are different in many ways, we harmonize together due to our common bond in Jesus Christ and common desire to bring glory to His name. The truth is that as Christians we have unity and we must not do anything to obscure the unity which has been purchased at the cost of the blood of Jesus Christ. This organic or living unity is described by Paul as the many members of the human body functioning together though different in many ways (I Cor. 12). The hands, feet, ears, eyes are all distinctly different but belong to the same "head" and have the same purpose, to do all that the "head" desires them to do. Such unity can be hindered only by one of two things: "There are always those in the church who are not of it. Inevitably they occasion division....And those who are truly of the church are still at best very poor Christians. The frequent disobedience of the members of the church to its Head drives them apart" (R.B. Kuiper, The Glorious Body of Christ, 97-98). 3. A holy people The prayer of our Lord, "Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth," was a prayer for our holiness as the people of God. Paul explained what it meant to be a recipient of the grace of God in Christ:
17. 17. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus: who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. (Titus 2:11-14) There is no doubt in this passage and many others like it, that the work of Christ in the heart of a sinner is not to leave that sinner living the same old way. It is a work that makes him a "new creation" (II Cor. 5:17), so that he lives in a way that is distinctly Christian. Holiness means that we are set apart to the Lord. In practical fashion, being a holy people means that we are living our lives as if we belong to the Lord and not to this worldly system. The threat by Ananias and Sapphira was that of obscuring the holiness of the church. Christ had saved this body of believers, given them a new nature, filled them with new desires, so that they distinctly lived as the people of God in the midst of a corrupt people. When Ananias and Sapphira thought that they could deceive the church, embezzle funds (the meaning of "kept back" in v. 2), lie about their gift, and gain a position of prominence in the church for their own selfish purposes, the Holy Spirit would not allow it to go on! Holiness is one of those words which people don't like to talk about. Yet at the heart of the saving work of Christ is that of producing a holy people. This does not mean that we are just to be holy in "position" but not in practice. It implies that we are to give ourselves to the practice of personal holiness in word, attitude, deed, and actions. In his classic work, Holiness, J.C. Ryle has written, "I fear it is sometimes forgotten that God has married together justification and sanctification. They are distinct and different things, beyond question, but one is never found without the other. All justified people are sanctified people, and all sanctified are justified....Tell me not of your justification, unless you have also some marks of sanctification. Boast not of Christ's work for you, unless you can show us the Spirit's work in you" (p. 46). II. An offense to the church Keeping in mind that the nature of the church is one of being a habitation of the Spirit which exists in unity as a holy people of God, when sin creeps in it is something that is "foreign" to the church's nature. We have in our text the first great offense of the church. There have been many since then, but perhaps none so clearly seen and severely dealt with than the one found in our text. We must remember that the church was in its infancy. If it began to tolerate sin among its members it would soon become defiled and impure, losing its salty effect in its ministry. It was in this pristine condition that the adversary assaulted the church from within. Though Satan was at work, the blame lay not at his 'feet' but at the feet two church members, Ananias and Sapphira. As Thomas Brooks has
18. 18. pointed out, "Satan must have a double leave before he can do anything against us. He must have leave from God, and leave from ourselves, before he can act anything against our happiness" (Works, vol. 1, 153). Though Providence permitted this assault, Ananias and Sapphira had the responsibility of opposing it and resisting it (I Cor. 10:13; I Peter 5:8-9). They did not and we have for an example to us the seriousness of an offense against the Holy Spirit and the church whom He inhabits. 1. Wrong motives When we begin to analyze the sin of this husband and wife duo, we must see that at the root of it lay wrong motives (an evidence of breaching the 10th commandment-- coveting). They wanted to use the church for personal gain and personal glory. They were interested in drawing attention to themselves, receiving the accolades of their fellow church members, and giving the perception that they were very spiritual, sacrificial people. They were satisfying their own craving for personal prestige and power. They hoped to gain greater influence within the infant church. Though their hearts were corrupt they wanted everyone else to think they were good-hearted and pure. We must understand, as our text points out in verses 1-4, Ananias and Sapphira did not have to sell their property and give all the proceeds to the church. They could have sold it and given a portion to the church and that would have been fine. But the ruse was that they were giving all of the proceeds of the sale of their property to the church. Can you imagine for a moment the scene in the gathering of the church. The body had gathered for worship and the proclamation of the Word. At some particular time, Ananias came before Peter with a sack of money which he had set aside and presents to him as the full proceeds of the sale of his property. We have already seen that Barnabas had done this. Evidently Ananias had stated that he was going to give all of his proceeds to the church, so when he approached Peter it was under the guise of giving a magnanimous gift. The smile on his face was suddenly dismissed by the questioning of Peter. The wrong motives of Ananias and his wife were exposed. o longer could Peter or the church be neutral about such a sin. What of your motives? All of us are susceptible to falling prey to wrong motives. It may be in our preaching or our teaching or our leadership or our singing or our acts of service that we begin to think of 'what's in it for me' rather than the glory of God. Perhaps we do what we do so that others will notice us and stroke us. If it bothers you when no one notices your service then you best check your motives for serving. Perhaps you come to church so that you might please others or satisfy some carnal desire rather than the glory of God. "Francois Fenelon was the court preacher for King Louis XIV of France in the 17th century. One Sunday when the king and his attendants arrived at the chapel for the regular service, no one else was there but the preacher. King Louis demanded, "What does this mean?" Fenelon replied, "I had published that you would not come
19. 19. to church today, in order that your Majesty might see who serves God in truth and who flatters the king" (ODB). We must have a motive check lest we find ourselves offending the Holy Spirit who habitates the church. 2. Cruel deception The act of Ananias and Sapphira is called "embezzling" by our text. In verse 2 it states that he "kept back some of the price for himself," then in verse 3 Peter questioned him because he kept back some of the price of the land. The word can literally be translated 'embezzled'. This couple secretly took some of the larger portion that belonged to the Lord for themselves and their own selfish purposes. They intentionally sought to deceive the church. Peter wastes no time in calling their sin an act of lying to the Holy Spirit. What they had failed to recognize is that when you seek to deceive, you are actually deceiving your own selves. "But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves" (James 1:22). How could they do such an act of deception to the church? They were part of this pristine assembly of the redeemed of the Lord. They had joined together at the Lord's table. They had partaken of the good things of God hand-in-hand. They had prayed together, fellowshipped together, shared of their goods together. They had witnessed the blessing of the Lord upon their fellowship. Then, with malice in their hearts, they subtly attempted to improve their personal appearance before the church by an act of embezzling. But, my brethren, God will not be mocked! 'Be sure your sin will find you out!' I would exhort any of you who may be flirting with such secret sins, whether of brazen acts like Ananias and Sapphira or disdaining attitudes like David's wife Michal or doctrinal deception like those at Galatia or abandoning the faith and going after the world like Hymenaeus and Alexander (I Tim. 1:18-20), TUR FROM YOUR SI ! Realize that your offense is not in isolation but in relationship to the church and the Holy Spirit who dwells among us. It is odious in the sight of God! You cannot please God, no matter how many good deeds you try to add to your account, when you are living in such sin and rebellion against the Spirit of God! III. The price of an offense Sin is always costly. For our redemption, sin demanded the precious blood of the sinless Son of God. For those who are careless with sin, there is always a cost. When Achan stealthily took a Babylonian garment along with gold and silver during the battle of Jericho and hid them in his tent, he thought that no one would ever know. Yet his sin cost the lives of 30 men who went to battle against the city of Ai. And his sin ultimately caused the loss of his life, his family, and everything he possessed,
20. 20. aside from the demoralizing of the congregation of Israel. We seem to have too light of an attitude about sin in our day. Sin is odious in the sight of God! He hates sin! Sin is the very opposite of His holy character and acts. Sin is a description of everything which God loathes and declares that He will punish. Since sin is so contrary to God and His character it should come as no surprise that when those who are redeemed by the blood of Christ give way to sin it affects that body that has been set apart to holy living. 1. Costly to the church's unity and purity You may think that the quick execution of Ananias and Sapphira by the Holy Spirit was not fair, perhaps even bordering on the edge of injustice. But I would submit to you that what was done was merciful to the entire church! Their unity was at stake. Without unity they could not worship, they could not fellowship, and they would not go forward in the work of proclaiming the gospel. To have let this sin of wrong motives and deception slide would have amounted to a cruelty exacted upon the church. Everyone of us contributes to the ongoing unity of this church. Unity is as much your responsibility as it is mine. I must guard my motives, my attitudes, my tongue, my actions, my thoughts, and my deeds. But so must you, for you are as much a part of the church as anyone else if you are indeed born again. The redemptive purpose of our Lord is seen Ephesians 5:25-27. "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her; that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless." In light of this, we cannot allow ourselves to do anything that would affect the purity of the body. Is there a sin you are harboring, nurturing, hiding? Then repent of it! Call upon the Lord for His forgiveness and mercy and turn away from such sin. The unity and purity of this church is before you, so give glory to God by holy living. 2. Judgment upon the offender Once Peter confronted Ananias, he fell dead at the hearing of those words. What happened exactly in medical terms, we do not know. The text just says, "Ananias fell down and breathed his last." And when Sapphira was confronted with the fact that she "agreed together" with Ananias' deception of the church, she too "breathed her last" and was carried out and buried by her husband. ow the question is, were they saved? Our text does not state that, but you would assume from the fact that they had evidently partaken of the Spirit to some degree that they may well have been. They were part of the church, given all of the rights and privileges of partakers of Christ. The fact that such severe discipline was dealt to them appears to infer that they were indeed part of the church as believers, but
21. 21. who had fallen into grievous sin. God mercifully stayed their sin by bringing severe measures of death upon them. This is an example, I believe, of a "sin unto death" which I John 5:16-17 speaks of. I would ask you, would it be better to live a life of hypocrisy or for God to take them out of the way to protect the rest of the body? The answer is obvious. The ew Testament gives plenty of teaching about "church discipline." We might say that the Holy Spirit took matters 'in his own hands' at this point, but we are given strong teaching in both the gospels and epistles concerning not tolerating sin in the body. Conclusion ow, what are we to make of all this? First, we must live with a deeper consciousness of the nature of the church. We gather, not as an organization, but as the body of Christ inhabited corporately by the Holy Spirit, preserving our unity that has been purchased and paid for by Christ, and maintaining holy lives seven days a week. We must realize that being part of the church is not like being part of a civic club. We are in covenant with one another. We are responsible to the entire body. We are accountable to one another and to the Holy Spirit who abides with us. Consequently, we must regularly review our own motives in everything we do within the church. If those motives are impure, then repent of them with haste! If you are sinning against the church by attitude, conversation, or actions, then repent of it immediately! If you are trying to use the church to bolster your own ego, then repent of it now! If you are living as a hypocrite, then turn from your sin and cast yourself upon God's mercy. Realize that all of us are to guard the unity and purity of the body. The Holy Spirit is serious about the church indwells being pure and holy before the Lord. Let us not take this lightly. Let's exhort and admonish and even correct one another for the sake of the body. Let's not resist the brotherly admonitions for the sake of the church of Jesus Christ. Copyright 2007, South Woods Baptist Church, All Rights Reserved EBC, "HONESTY AND PRETENCE IN THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH THE exact period in the history of the apostolic Church at which we have now arrived is a most interesting one. We stand at the very first origin of a new development in Christian life and thought. Let us observe it well, for the whole future of the Church is bound up with it. Christianity was at the beginning simply a sect, of Judaism. It is plain that the Apostles at first thus regarded it. They observed Jewish rites, they joined in the temple and synagogue worship, they restricted salvation and Gods favour to the children of Abraham, and merely added belief in Jesus of Nazareth as the promised Messiah to the common Jewish faith. The spirit of God was indeed speaking through the Apostles, leading them, as it led St. Peter on the day of Pentecost, to speak words with a meaning and scope far beyond their thoughts. They, like the prophets of old, knew not as yet what manner, of things the Spirit which was in them did signify.
22. 22. "As little children lisp, and tell of Heaven, So thoughts beyond their thought to those high bards were given." Their speech had a grander and wider application than they themselves dreamt of; but the power of prejudice and education was far too great even for the Apostles, and so, though the nobility and profuseness of Gods mercy were revealed and the plenteousness of His grace was announced by St. Peter himself, yet the glory of the Divine gift was still unrecognised. Jerusalem, the Temple, the Old Covenant, Israel after the flesh, -these things as yet bounded and limited the horizon of Christs Church. How were the new ideas to gain an entrance? How was the Church to rise to a sense of the magnificence and universality of its mission? Joseph, who by the Apostles was surnamed Barnabas, emerges upon the scene and supplies the answer, proving himself in very deed a son of consolation, because he became the occasion of consoling the masses of mankind with that truest comfort, the peace of God which passes all understanding. Let us see how this came about. I. The Christian leaders belonged originally to the extreme party in Judaism. The Jews were at this time divided into two sections. There was the Hebrew party on the one hand; extreme Nationalists as we might call them. They hated everything foreign. They clung to the soil of Palestine, to its language and to its customs. They trained up their children in an abhorrence of Greek civilisation, and could see nothing good in it. This party was very unprogressive, very narrow-minded, and, therefore, unfit to recognise the developments of Gods purposes. The Galileans were very prominent among them. They lived in a provincial district, remote from the influences of the great centres of thought and life, and missed, therefore, the revelations of Gods mind which He is evermore making through the course of His providential dealings with mankind. The Galileans furnished the majority of the earliest Christian leaders, and they were not fitted from their narowness to grasp the Divine intentions with respect to Christianity and its mission. What a lesson for every age do we behold in this intellectual and spiritual defect of the Galileans. They were conscientious, earnest, devout, spiritually-minded men. Christ loved them as such, and devoted Himself to their instruction. But they were one- sided and illiberal. Their very provincialism, which had sheltered them from Sadduceism and unbelief, had filled them with blind prejudices, and as the result had rendered them unable to read aright the mind of God and the development of His purposes. Man, alas! is a very weak creature, and human nature is very narrow. Piety is no guarantee for wisdom and breadth, and strong faith in Gods dealings in the past often hinders men from realising and obeying the Divine guidance and the evolution of His purposes amid the changed circumstances of the present. The Galilean leaders were best fitted to testify with unfaltering zeal to the miracles and resurrection of Christ. They were not best fitted to lead the Church into the possession of the Gentiles. There was another party among the Jews whom God had trained by the guidance of His providence for this purpose. The Acts of the Apostles casts a strong and comforting light back upon the history of the Lords dealings with the Jews ever since the days of the Babylonish Captivity. We can see in the story told in the Acts the reason why God permitted the overthrow of Jerusalem by the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, and the apparent defeat for the time of His own designs towards the chosen people. The story of the dispersion is a standing example how wonderfully God evolves good out of seeming ill, making all things work together for the good of His Church. The dispersion prepared a section of the Jews, by travel, by foreign civilisation, by culture, and by that breadth of mind and sympathy which is thereby produced, to be mediators between the Hebrew party with all their narrowness and the masses of the Gentile world whom the strict Jews would fain have shut out from the hope of Gods mercy. This liberal and progressive
23. 23. party is called in the Acts of the Apostles the Hellenists. They were looked at askance by the more old-fashioned Hebrews. They were Jews, children of Abraham indeed, of the genuine stock of Israel. As such they had a true standing-ground within the Jewish fold, and as true Jews could exercise their influence from within much more effectually than if they stood without; for it has been well remarked by a shrewd observer, that every party, religious or political, is much more powerfully affected by movements springing from within than by attacks directed from without. An explosive operates with much more destructive force when acting from within or underneath a fortification than when brought into play from outside. Such was the Hellenistic party. No one could deny their true Jewish character, but they had been liberalised by their heaven-sent contact with foreigners and foreign lands; and hence it is that we discern in the Hellenistic party, and specially in Joseph, who by the Apostles was surnamed Barnabas, the beginnings of the glorious ingathering of the Gentiles, the very first rift in the thick dark cloud of prejudice which as yet kept back even the Apostles themselves from realising the great object of the gospel dispensation. The Hellenists, with their wealth, their culture, their new ideas, their sense and value of Greek thought, were the bridge by which the spiritual life, hitherto wrapped in Jewish swaddling clothes, was to pass over to the masses of the Gentile world. The community of goods led Joseph Barnabas to dedicate his substance to the same noble cause of unselfishness. That dedication led to disputes between Hellenists and Hebrews, and these disputes occasioned the election of the seven deacons, who, in part, at least, belonged to the more liberal section. Among these deacons we find St. Stephen, whose teaching and martyrdom were directly followed by St. Paul and his conversion, and St. Paul was the Apostle of the Gentiles and the vindicator of Christian freedom and Christian liberty. St. Barnabas and his act of self-denial and self-sacrifice in surrendering his landed estate are thus immediately connected with St. Paul by direct historic contact, even if they had not been subsequently associated as joint Apostles and messengers of the Churches in their first missionary journeys; while again the mistaken policy of communism is overruled to the worlds abiding benefit and blessing. How wonderful, indeed, are the Lords doings towards the children of men! II. We have thus suggested one of the main lines of thought which run through the first half of this book of the Acts. Let us now look a little more particularly at this Joseph Barnabas who was the occasion of this great, this new departure. We learn then, upon consulting the sacred text, that Joseph was a Levite, a man of Cyprus by race; he belonged, that is, to the class among the Jews whose interests were bound up with the maintenance of the existing order of things; and yet he had become a convert to the belief proclaimed by the Apostles. At the same time, while we give full credit to this Levite for his action, we must not imagine that either priests or Levites or Jews at that period fully realised all the consequences of their decisions. We find that men at every age take steps blindly, without thoroughly realising all the results which logically and necessarily flow forth from them. Men in religious, political, social matters are blind and cannot see afar off. It is only step by step that the purposes of God dawn upon them, and Joseph Barnabas, the Levite of Cyprus, was no exception to this universal rule. He was not only a Levite, but a native of Cyprus, for Cyprus was then a great stronghold and resort of the Jewish race. It continued to be a great centre of Jewish influence for long afterwards. In the next century, for instance, a great Jewish rebellion burst forth wherever the Jews were strong enough. They rose in Palestine against the power of the Emperor Hadrian, and under their leader Barcochba vindicated the ancient reputation of the nation for desperate and daring courage; while, in sympathy with their brethren on the mainland, the Jews in Cyprus seized their arms and massacred a vast multitude of
24. 24. the Greek and Roman settlers, numbering, it is said, two hundred and forty thousand persons. The concourse of Jews to Cyprus in the time of the Apostles is easily explained. Augustus Caesar was a great friend and patron of Herod the Great, and he leased the great copper mines of the island to that Herod, exacting a royalty upon their produce as we learn from Josephus, the well-known Jewish historian (Antiqq., 16. 4:5). It was only to be expected, then, that when a Jewish monarch was leasehoulder and manager of the great mining industry of the island, his Jewish subjects should flock thither, and it was very natural that amongst the crowds who sought Cyprus there should be found a minister of the Jewish faith whose tribal descent as a Levite reminded them of Palestine, and of the City of God, and of the Temple of Jehovah, and of its solemn, stately worship. This residence of Barnabas in Cyprus accounts for his landed property, which he had the right to sell just as he liked. A Levite in Palestine could not, according to the law of Moses when strictly construed, possess any private landed estate save in a Levitical city. Meyer, a German commentator of great reputation, has indeed suggested that Jer_32:7, where Jeremiah is asked to redeem his cousins field in the suburbs of Anathoth, proves that a member of the tribe of Levi could possess landed estate in Palestine. He therefore concludes that the old explanation that the landed property of Barnabas was in Cyprus, not in Palestine, could not stand. But the simple fact is that even the cleverest German expositors are not familiar with the text of their Bibles, for had Meyer been thus familiar he would have remembered that Anathoth was a city belonging to the priests and the tribe of Levi, and that the circumstance of Jeremiah the priest possessing a right to landed property in Anathoth was no proof whatsoever that he could hold landed property anywhere else, and, above all, affords no ground for the conclusion that he could dispose of it in the absolute style which Barnabas here displayed. We conclude then that the action of Barnabas on this occasion dealt with his landed estate in Cyprus, the country where he was born, where he was well-known, and where his memory is even still cherished on account of the work he there performed in conjunction with St. Paul. III. Let us see what else we can glean concerning this person thus prominent in the early Church, first for his generosity, and then for his missionary character and success. It is indeed one of the most fruitful and interesting lines upon which Bible study can be pursued thus to trace the scattered features of the less known and less prominent characters of Scripture, and see wherein Gods grace specially abounded in them. The very personal appearance of Barnabas can be recalled by the careful student of this book. Though it lies a little out of our way, we shall note the circumstance, as it will help us to form a more lively image of Barnabas, the Son of Consolation. The two Apostles, Paul and Barnabas, were on their first missionary tour when they came to the city of Lystra in Lycaonia. There the multitude, astonished at the miracle wrought upon the cripple by St. Paul, attempted to pay. divine honours to the two Christian missionaries. "They called Barnabas Jupiter, and Paul Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker." It must have been their physical characteristics as well as the mode of address used by the Apostles which led to these names; and from the extant records of antiquity we know that Jupiter was always depicted as a man with a fine commanding presence, while Mercury, the god of eloquent speech, was a more insignificant figure. Jupiter, therefore, struck the Lycaonian people as the fittest name for the taller and more imposing-looking Apostle, while St. Paul, who was in bodily presence contemptible, was designated by the name of the active and restless Mercury. His character again shines through every recorded action of St. Barnabas. He was a thoroughly sympathetic man, and, like all such characters, he was ever swept along by the prevailing wave of thought or action, without allowing that supreme place to the judgment and the natural powers which they should
25. 25. always hold if the feelings and sympathies are not to land us in positions involving dire ruin and loss. He was carried away by the enthusiasm for Christian communism which now seized upon the Jerusalem Church. He was influenced by the Judaising movement at Antioch, so that "even Barnabas was carried away with the Petrine dissimulation." His sympathies got the better of his judgment in the matter of St. Marks conduct in abandoning the ministry to which St. Paul had called him. His heart was stronger, in fact, than his head. And yet this very weakness qualified him to be the Son of Consolation. A question has, indeed, been raised, whether he should be called the Son of Consolation or the Son of Exhortation, but practically, there is no difference. His consolations were administered through his exhortations. His speech and his advice were of a consoling, healing, comforting kind. There are still such men to be found in the Church. Just as all other apostolic graces and characteristics are still manifested, -the eloquence of a Paul, the courage of a Peter, the speculative flights of a John, - so the sympathetic power of Barnabas is granted to some. And a very precious gift it is. There are some good men whose very tone of voice and bodily attitudes-their heads thrown back and their arms akimbo and their aggressive walk-at once provoke opposition. They are pugnacious Christians, ever on the lookout for some topic of blame and controversy. There are others, like this Barnabas, whose voices bring consolation, and whose words, even when not the clearest or the most practical, speak counsels of peace, and come to us thick-laden with the blessed dews of charity. Their advice, is not, indeed, always the wisest. Their ardent cry is always, Peace, peace. Such a man on the political stage was the celebrated Lucius Carey, Lord Falkland, in the days of the great civil war, who, though he adhered to the royalist cause, seemed, as the historian tells us, to have utterly lost all heart once that active hostilities commenced. Men of this type appear in times of great religious strife. Erasmus, for instance, at the time of the Reformation, possessed a good deal of this spirit which is devoted to compromise, and ever inclined to place the interests of peace and charity above those of truth; and principle, just as Barnabas would have done at Antioch were it not for the protest of his stronger and sterner friend St. Paul. And yet such men, with their sympathetic hearts and speech, have their own great use, infusing a healing, consoling tone into seasons of strife, when others are only too apt to lose sight of the sweet image of Christian love in pursuit of what they consider the supreme interests of religious or political truth. Such a man was Barnabas all his life, and such we behold him on his first visible entrance upon the stage of Church history, when his sympathies and his generosity led him to consecrate his independent property in Cyprus to his brethrens support, and to bring the money and lay it down at the Apostles feet. IV. Now for the contrast drawn for us by the inspired pen of St. Luke, a contrast we find oft repeating itself in Church history. Here we have the generous, sympathetic Son of Consolation on the one side, and here, too, we have a warning and a type for all time that the tares must evermore be mingled with the wheat, the false with the true, the hypocrites with real servants of God, even until the final separation. The accidental division of the book into chapters hinders casual readers from noticing that the action of Ananias and his wife is set by the writer over against that of Barnabas. Barnabas sold his estate and brought the price, the whole price, and surrendered it as an offering to the Church. The spirit of enthusiastic giving was abroad, and had seized upon the community; and Barnabas sympathised with it. Ananias and Sapphira were carried away too, but their spirits were meaner. They desired to have all the credit the Church would give them for acting as generously as Barnabas did, and yet, while getting credit for unselfish and unstinting liberality, to be able to enjoy in private somewhat of that which they were believed to have surrendered. And their calculations were terribly
26. 26. disappointed. They tried to play the hypocrites part on most dangerous ground just when the Divine Spirit of purity, sincerity, and truth had been abundantly poured out, and when the spirit of deceit and hypocrisy was therefore at once recognised. It was with the Apostles and their spiritual natures then as it is with ourselves and our physical natures still. When we are living in a crowded city we notice not strange scents and ill odours and foul gases: our senses are dulled, and our perceptive powers are rendered obtuse because the whole atmosphere is a tainted one. But when we dwell in the pure. air of the country, and the glorious breezes from mountain and moor blow round us fresh and free, then we detect at once, and at a long distance, the slightest ill-odour or the least trace of offensive gas. The outpoured presence of the Spirit, and the abounding love which was produced thereby, quickened the perception of St. Peter. He recognised the hypocrisy, characterised the sin of Ananias as a lie against the Holy Ghost; and then the Spirit and Giver of life, seconding and supporting the words of St. Peter, withdrew His support from the human frame of the sinner, and Ananias ceased to live, just as Sapphira, his partner in deceit, ceased to live a few hours later. The deaths of Ananias and Sapphira have been ofttimes the subject of much criticism and objection, on the part of persons who do not realise the awfulness of their position, the full depths of their hypocrisy, and the importance of the lesson taught by their punishment to the Church of every age. Their position was a specially awful one, for they were brought into closest contact, as no Christian can now be brought, with the powers of the world to come. The Spirit was vouchsafed during those earliest days of the Church in a manner and style which we hear nothing of during the later years of the Apostles. He proved His presence by physical manifestations, as when the whole house was shaken where the Apostles were assembled; a phenomenon of which we read nothing in the latter portion of the Acts. By the gift of tongues, by miracles of healing, by abounding spiritual life and discernment, by physical manifestations, the most careless and thoughtless in the Christian community were compelled to feel that a supernatural power was present in their midst and specially resting upon the Apostles. Yet it was into such an atmosphere that the spirit of hypocrisy and of covetousness, the two vices to which Christianity was specially opposed, and which the great Master had specially denounced, obtruded itself as Satan gained entrance into Eden, to defile with their foul presence the chosen dwelling-place of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost vindicated His authority therefore, because, as it must be observed, it was not St. Peter sentenced Ananias to death. No one may have been more surprised than St. Peter himself at the consequences which followed his stern rebuke. St. Peter merely declared his sin, "Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God"; and then it is expressly said, "Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost." It was a stern action indeed; but then all Gods judgments have a stern side. Ananias and Sapphira were cut off in their sins, but men are every day summoned into eternity in precisely the same state and the same way, and the only difference is that in the case of Ananias we see the sin which provoked the punishment and then we see the punishment immediately following. Men object to this narrative simply because they have a one-sided conception of Christianity such as this period of the worlds history delights in. They would make it a religion of pure, unmitigated love; they would eliminate from it every trace of sternness, and would thus leave it a poor, weak, flabby thing, without backbone or earnestness, and utterly unlike all other dispensations of the Lord, which have their stern sides and aspects as well as their loving. It may well have been that this incident was inserted in this typical church history to correct a false idea which would otherwise have grown up. The Jews were quite well accustomed to regard the Almighty as a God of judgment as well as a God of love.
27. 27. Perhaps we might even say that they viewed Him more in the former light than in the latter. Our Lord was obliged, in fact, to direct some of His most searching discourses to rebuke this very tendency. The Galileans, whose blood Pilate mingled with their sacrifices, the men upon whom the tower of Siloam fell-neither party were sinners above all that were at Jerusalem, or were punished as such. Such was His teaching in opposition to the popular idea. The Apostles were once quite ready to ascribe the infirmity of the man born blind to the direct judgment of the Almighty upon himself or upon his parents. But men are apt to rush from one extreme to another. The Apostles and their followers were now realising their freedom in the Spirit; and some were inclined to run into licentiousness as the result of that same freedom. They were realising, too, their relationship to God as one of pure filial love, and they were in great danger of forgetting that God was a God of justice and judgment as well, till this stern dispensation recalled them to a sense of the fact that eternal love is also eternal purity and eternal truth, and will by no means clear the guilty. This is a lesson very necessary for every age of the Church. Men are always inclined, and never, perhaps, so much as at the present time, to look away from the severe side of religion, or even to deny that religion can have a severe side at all. This tendency in religious matters is indeed simply an exhibition of the spirit of the age. It is a time of great material prosperity and comfort, when pain is regarded as the greatest possible evil, softness, ease, and enjoyment the greatest possible good. Men shrink from the infliction of pain even upon the greatest criminals; and this spirit infects their religion, which they would fain turn into a mere matter of weakly sentiment. Against such a notion the judicial action of the Holy Ghost in this. case raises an eternal protest, warning the Church against one-sided and partial views of truth, and bidding her never to lower her standard at the worlds call. Men may ignore the fact that God has His severe aspect and His stern dispensations in nature, but yet the fact remains. And as it is in nature so is it in grace: God is. merciful and loving to the penitent, but towards the hypocritical and covetous He is a stern judge, as the punishment of Ananias and Sapphira proved. V. This seems one of the great permanent lessons for the Church of every age which this passage embodies, but it is not the only one. There are many others, and they most important. An eminent modern commentator and expositor has drawn out at great length, and with many modern applications and illustrations, four great lessons which may be derived from this transaction. We shall just note them, giving a brief analysis of each. (1) There is such a thing as acting as well as telling a falsehood. Ananias did not say that the money he brought was the whole price of his land; he simply allowed men to draw this conclusion for themselves, suggesting merely by his conduct that he was doing exactly the same as Barnabas. There was no science of casuistry in the apostolic Church, teaching how near to the borders of a lie a man may go without actually being guilty of lying. The lie of Ananias was a spiritual act, a piece of deception attempted in the abyss of the human soul, and perpetrated, or attempted rather, upon the Holy Spirit. How often men lie after the same example. They do not speak a lie, but they act a lie, throwing dust into the eyes of others as to their real motives and objects, as Ananias did here. He sold his estate, brought the money to the Apostles, and would fain have got the character of a man of extraordinary liberality and unselfishness, just like others who truly sacrificed their all, while he enjoyed in private the portion which he had kept back. Ananias wished to make the best of both worlds, and failed in his object. He sought to obtain a great reputation among men, but had no regard to the secret eye and judgment of the Almighty. Alas! how many of our actions, how much of our piety and of our almsgiving are tainted by precisely the same vice. Our good. works are done with a view
28. 28. to mans approbation, and not as in the sight of the Eternal God. (2) What an illustration we find in this passage of the saying of the Apostle, "The love of money is the root of all evil; which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves with many sorrows!" The other scriptures are full of warnings against this vice of covetousness; and so this typical history does not leave the Church without an illustration of its power and danger. Surely if at a time when the supernatural forces of the unseen life were specially manifested, this vice intruded into the special sphere of their influence, the Church of every age should be on its perpetual guard against this spirit of covetousness which the Bible characterises as idolatry. (3) What a responsibility is involved in being brought near to God as members of His Sons Church below! There were hypocrites in abundance at Jerusalem at that time, but they had not been blessed as Ananias had been, and therefore were not punished as he. There is a reality in our connection with Christ which must tell upon us, if not for good, then inevitably for evil. Christ is either the savour of life unto life or else the savour of death unto death unto all brought into contact with Him. In a far more awful sense than for the Jews the words of the prophet Ezekiel are true, "That which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone"; (Eze_20:32) or as the poet of the "Christian Year" has well put it in his hymn for the eighteenth Sunday after Trinity:- "Fain would our lawless hearts escape, And with the heathen be, To worship every monstrous shape In fancied darkness free." "Vain thought, that shall not be at all, Refuse we or obey; Our ears have heardth Almightys call, We cannot be as they." "We cannot hope the heathens doom To whom Gods Son is given, Whose eyes have seen beyond the tomb, Who have the key of Heaven." (4) Lastly, let us learn from this history how to cast out the fear of one another by the greater and more awful fear of God. The fear of man is a good thing in a degree. We should have respect to the opinion of our fellows, and strive to win it in a legitimate way. But Ananias and his consort desired the good opinion of the Christian community regardless of the approval or the watchful eye of the Supreme Judge, who interposed to teach His people by an awful example that in the new dispensation of Love, as well as in the old dispensation of Law, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and that they and they alone have a good understanding who order their lives according to that fear, whether in their secret thoughts or in their public actions. BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR 1-11, "But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. Ananias and Sapphira The word Ananias means grace of God; and the word Sapphira signifies just a sapphire, the familiar jewel of brilliance and beauty. We sh