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Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Have you given much thought to that little phrase “Walking with Jesus”? When the disciples and women walked with Jesus in Israel about 2000 years ago, do you think there were expectations of honesty, reliability, integrity, and even trust between them?
Do you remember what John wrote about Judas Iscariot when Jesus was anointed by Mary with an expensive perfume, the evening before Palm Sunday? John records “Judas Iscariot objected saying, ‘Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor?’ He did not say this because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief and as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.” (John 12:5) Wow, that’s pretty strong isn’t it? Have you ever thought about why there is no evidence Jesus, or any of the other disciples, ever confronted Judas about his integrity?
So what are the fair integrity and honesty expectations of you and me as we ‘walk with Jesus’ today, if we claim to be followers of Jesus Christ? Today would you join me in Acts 5 as we continue experiencing the remarkable “Great Awakening” which was happening in Jerusalem in the weeks following Jesus’ ascension back to heaven. We’ve seen 120 followers of Jesus experience the powerful coming of the Holy Spirit upon them in Acts 2, and then 3000 people respond to Peter’s passionate message of explanation (Acts 2:41), and we’ve seen that number grow to more than 5000 within a few days, in response to the healing of a crippled man. (Acts 4:4)
The description Dr. Luke gives us, in Acts 4:32-35, of how these thousands of people were behaving is almost shocking isn’t it? What a dramatic contrast to the normal life we see in any city in the world, especially in the recent destructive riots in America. Generosity, selflessness, mutual practical care for each other and so much more, was the norm in this Jesus movement! Like any city, there were many poor people, widows, orphans, and unemployed people in Jerusalem, but do you see that among these Christ followers many felt moved by the Holy Spirit to share their belongings and their food with each other? Some even sold houses or land and brought the proceeds to be distributed to those in need. It was radical living, for sure, but it’s what Jesus taught and how He had lived!
You’ll notice my friends the title of this book of the Bible is “Acts”. The full title could be “The Acts of the Holy Spirit of God in birthing and initially growing the Church of Jesus Christ.” Notice please the last verse of chapter 4 “Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement) sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.” That little phrase “put it at the apostles’ feet” means Barnabas brought the sale proceeds and made it entirely available to the apostles to use however they saw appropriate, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, as they cared for the very real practical needs in this huge and growing movement of Jesus followers.
Joseph, known as Barnabas, evidently had come to Jerusalem for the Pentecost “Festival of Weeks”, and was perhaps one of the 3000 who had experienced hearing the apostles speak in Holy Spirit empowered languages, heard Peter’s message, and trusted in Jesus Christ to be his Messiah and his Savior. Evidently he remained in Jerusalem like many others, and quickly became known in the group as an encourager and one who recognized people’s needs, and was led by the Holy Spirit to meet those needs. We have no previous mention of Barnabas in any of the Gospels or earlier in Acts. You will remember this Barnabas becomes very important in the life of the Apostle Paul. Here, he is an example of the remarkable generosity and integrity prevalent in this Jesus movement, as the Holy Spirit led Barnabas to sell some property and give the money to serve the poor among them.
Acts 5 is a sad but very important event which evidently happened at about that same time. Ananias and Sapphira were evidently also among these more than 5000 people who were experiencing the euphoria of this great Jesus movement. We know nothing about them except that they too sold a piece of land, as others were doing, and they brought the money. The big difference is that their motive was not Holy Spirit led generosity, it was pride and self advancement. They claimed the amount of money they brought to the apostles was the full sale price, when in fact they had done as John reported Judas Iscariot sometimes did…they had helped themselves and kept some of the sale price for themselves, and then they lied about it.
Notice please what Peter said to Ananias: “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God!” (Acts 5:3,4)
I’m sure each of us has experienced the pain and damage of a lie. We’ve each probably experienced how lying breaks trust and can damage a relationship, haven’t we? If that has happened to you, even after an apology, have you noticed it’s very difficult to trust someone who has lied to you?
Over and over Jesus had said “I tell you the truth” when He taught the people. From the first pages of your Bible, in the garden of Eden, TRUTH and DECEIT are pitted against each other as Satan tempted Adam and Eve to doubt God’s truth. Remember we saw in John 8 Jesus was in a strong debate with religious leaders about the importance of truth and He said “You belong to your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)
Do you see, my friends, why Peter challenged Ananias to see that in his deceitfulness about the money he was submitting to the influence of Satan filling his heart with pride and greed, so that he lied!
Now you might ask why this is such a big deal that God would actually strike dead, on the spot, both Ananias and his wife Sapphira, who also lied about the money? It’s not about the money my friends, it’s about truthfulness, integrity, and the purity of this Holy Spirit of God led Jesus movement! The Holy Spirit was birthing and building this movement of Jesus followers, and Jesus had promised “…on this rock I will build My church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” (Matt. 16:18) What ‘rock’ was Jesus talking about? The “rock” of truth which Peter had spoken when he said “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matt. 16:16)
Jesus had asked His disciples who the people were saying Jesus was. Then Jesus had asked them straight out… “and who do YOU say I am?” It was a fork in the road moment, a line of demarcation. Everything Jesus said and did relied on the integrity of who He claimed to be… Jesus Christ, the Son of God! The cornerstone foundation of our Christian faith is God’s TRUTH.
Remember John challenges us with this: “God is light (truth); in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with God yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light (truth) as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:5-7)
Either Ananias and Sapphira were not legitimately born again, Holy Spirit filled, followers of Jesus and were just pretending so they could be accepted by this Jesus movement, OR they were legitimate Christ followers who were yielding to the temptation of Satan to steal and lie. Either way it was a serious problem which undermined the purity and integrity of what the Holy Spirit of God was doing in Jerusalem and it had to be stopped. As you read Acts 5:11 you’ll see how the people responded to the sudden death of these two liars: “Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.”
Did you notice Dr. Luke used the word “church”? That’s the first time this movement has been given that wonderful name. There it is my friends… the authentic, born again, Holy Spirit filled followers of the resurrected, ascended Jesus Christ are called “the Church”!! Oh what a wonderful moment! And if you have trusted Jesus to be your Savior, you are part of this “church” stretching from that day to this, and from Jerusalem to where-ever you live in the world! Oh my friends, let’s make sure we are men and women of integrity, honesty, truthfulness as we ‘walk with Jesus’ in our deceitful, greedy, dark world.
Oh Jesus thank you that integrity and truthfulness are so important to you, and that we can ALWAYS Trust YOU to be honest, truthful and holy!
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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