Good morning all. Wish I had more time. Here is a real brief post for this chapter. For this post the focus is on verses 1-11 as i consider these the most important in this chapter. 

Brief Summary:

        The chapter starts with the hypocrisy of Ananias and Sapphira his wife. This couple sold their land for a certain amount but then kept some and brought the money to the Apostles and put at Peter’s feet claiming that the amount was the true amount the land sold for. Ananias brought the money to Peter.
        Some three hours later Sapphira came and Peter asked her if the land was sold for said amount. She claimed that yes, the money brought to Peter by her husband was the correct amount.
        In both cases these two fell dead at Peter’s feet for they had lied to the Holy Spirit. When the people heard about this there was great fear and, as it should be, we are to be ethical in all our dealings.
        After this many signs and wonders were done by the Apostles at this time. The people that had been listening to them magnified them and many more believers were added to the church.
        Then the high priest (Sadducees) were indignant and rose up against the Apostles and put them in prison. whereupon an angel of the Lord released them, and they were commanded to go into the Temple and preach “the words of life.” The Apostles proceeded in the morning to go out and preach and teach as they were commanded.         Then the high priest and all the leaders of the people came together and called for them from the prison but, they were found not to be there. Then someone else came and told the high priest that those imprisoned were teaching in the Temple. So, the officers of the Temple went and brought the Apostles in (without violence for the feared the people.) Then the priest told the Apostles “did we not tell you not to teach in this name?”
        Then Peter answered saying that they (the Apostles) were to obey God rather than men. Telling them that God raised Jesus from the dead and that they are witnesses to Jesus. When the leaders heard this, they cut to the heart and took council to kill the Apostles.
        It is at this point that Gamaliel, a well-respected lawyer stood up and took control sending the Apostles a small distance away and counseled the entire leadership in the matter saying how many came before the Apostles thinking they were someone and they came to nothing. Then Gamaliel told the leaders to leave the Apostles alone because if this be of men then it will come to nothing but if it be of God then it cannot be overthrown, and the leaders will find themselves fighting against God. So, the leaders of the people agreed with Gamaliel and brought the Apostles in and beat them and again commanded that they not speak in Jesus name.
        Then the Apostles were let go and upon departing rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus Christ and daily they preached Jesus Christ everywhere, in the Temple in houses wherever the opportunity arose and the ceased not to preach in Jesus name.

Some Details:

1. Ananias’ sin was not that he sold his property for any specific amount of money but rather that had conspired to put forth a certain amount of money as if that amount was the true amount for which the property was sold, in other words he willingly and knowingly lied, and this could not be accepted by God. What he should have done was presented the amount honestly by indicated the correct amount (out in the open) the property was sold for and the amount that he kept (for whatever reason) so that his offering would be clean.


2. What was Ananias’ motivation for this? This is strictly speculation on my part but, perhaps he felt he needed to keep some to the money just in case there was need for himself and his wife. In this scenario he would have obviously been blinded to what was going on. It shows a lack of faith to the doctrine of the Apostles and in Jesus Christ. He would not have been totally committed to what he had heard. The other reason may have been pure selfishness in that he may have wanted to seem important in the eyes of others in which case the “truth was not in him.”


3. What lesson is learned here by the Church? That you cannot be a follower of Jesus Christ and remain in the world. “You cannot serve two masters”. There is no middle ground, we are either with Christ all the way or we are in the world.


4. What is the lesson for us? 1. We cannot hide anything from God. 2. There are consequences for doing wrong in the site of God. 3. “Thou shalt not lie”, this is it an OT Law that Ananias should have known, had he lived he could not have claimed ignorance. 4. Our actions have consequences for others, good and not so good. 5. Our “fruit” tells others whether we are followers of Jesus Christ.

The story picks up after the closing of Chapter 4, which went like this:

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32 Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. 33 And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold 35 and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. 36 Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, 37 sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.

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This voluntary distribution of wealth was necessary. These new Jewish Christians had now been in Jerusalem for several weeks. They journeyed to Jerusalem with plans to return after the Pentecost grain sacrifices and festivities, but they way overstayed their plans.

Many were very far from home. Acts 2 9-10 listed Jewish attendees of the following nationalities present at the Pentecost gathering: Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamians, Judeans, Cappadocians, Pontusians, Asians, Phrygians, Pamphylians, Egyptians, Libyans, Cyrenes, and Romans. Map it out and you’ll see that covers a vast amount of geography.

But they couldn’t go back. This was the only church, and they were new believers. They stayed, but had nothing. Not only that, but if they did return home these Jews would have been excommunicated from the temple, cut off from their families, and refused employment because of their perceived heretical conversions.

That’s undoubtedly why believers with possessions sold them to care for those who didn’t.

By the way, don’t confuse this with some sort of communism as some interpreters have. In pure (theoretical) communism, all wealth is divided evenly among everyone so that there is only a single economic class, and no one has an opportunity to give or not give. That isn’t what happened here. Those who had needs were willingly helped by those who had possessions. Very different.

So now on to our current Chapter 5…

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But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” 5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. 6 The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him. 7 After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” 9 But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” 10 Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

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Ironically, Ananias’s name means “God has been gracious.” He must have forgotten the truth of his name. Can you imagine, in their own language, Peter saying to him “How could you lie to the Holy Spirit by making people think you gave more than you did, Mr. God-Is-Gracious?”

The sin wasn’t that Ananias and Sapphira didn’t donate the full selling price. Peter reminded him in v.4 that he wasn’t under any compulsion to give at all.

Then what sin prompted God to strike them dead? Lying and hypocrisy. Wanting people to believe they were more spiritually generous than they really were. God has plenty of room for sinners, but no room for fake spirituality.

One problem with hypocrisy is that unbelievers watching the church get a distorted understanding of what Christianity is.

This isn’t the only time in the New Testament God ended the lives of people who displeased Him. In Acts 12:23, God struck King Herod dead for not praising Him, and in 1 Corinthians 11:29-30 Paul wrote that some in their church had died because they ate and drank the Lord’s Supper without “discerning the body of Christ.” The gist of that is that they took the Lord’s Supper (making it look to everyone else like they were spiritually minded) but in reality were they were self-absorbed. Not all that different from Ananias and Sapphira when you lay it out.

I do imagine that Ananias and Sapphira were genuine believers. There was just way too much at stake in calling yourself a Christian at that time for anyone to associate with them who wasn’t genuine. Believers do sin.

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11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

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This was a reverent fear (Greek, phobos, φόβος). “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline” (Proverbs 1:7). Such reverent fear focuses our minds on how serious is all that God wants to accomplish in this world, and how mighty He is and we aren’t.

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12 Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon's Portico.

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Solomon’s Portico - (also called Solomon’s Porch and Solomon’s Colonnade – was the place in the temple where the man crippled from birth was healed (Acts 3:11).

It was also the place where the Jews had challenged Jesus to tell them plainly whether He was the Son of God and, not liking His answer, attempted to stone Him (John 10:22-42).

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13 None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem.

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That is a very loaded statement! Everyone held these Christians in high esteem. There was nothing to be held against them. They were obviously blessed, empowered by God, and growing exponentially. But none of them wanted to join this church where disingenuous liars and hypocrites were struck dead. They were aware of their own sin.

So, what was the result of the Ananias and Sapphira scandal in the Jerusalem church? Next verse, please…

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14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,

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 Exposing sin in the church causes it to grow!

As a former consultant to churches and coach and confidant to many pastors, I have yet to encounter a single pastor who is willing to call out and discipline sin in his church.

The church is no place to make sinners comfortable. We don’t gather for their sakes. We can welcome them in, but our gathers are not for them. This got flip-flopped and the “seeker-sensitive church” movement began when Christians became lazy I evangelists. Everyday Christians stopped recognizing their individual responsibilities to share the full gospel with unbelievers. First, that duty was offloaded to “church professionals,” and later the attitude developed that our gatherings were places to bring people to hear the gospel (rather than believers taking the gospel to the world).

I will offer personal experience of how modern churches avoid confronting sin. This is from nearly 20 years ago. I was a deacon with a whole lot of responsibility in a 150 member church. And then I fell into a sin that many men have fallen into, especially since the world has moved online. I was disgusted with myself and confessed to the elders at my church. I also told them that I wanted to confess my sin before the entire congregation, ask for the church’s prayers for healing, and remove myself from the Deaconship. The Elders forbade me to confess my sin publically, and they begged me not to step down from my responsibilities. Against their pleading. I did both anyway. After my public confession, some church members thanked me for transparency, prayed with me, and held me accountable going forward.

The majority shunned me. What a huge contrast to Ananias and Saphira.

Despite many biblical examples and the explicit command of Jesus (Matthew 18:15-17), Church leaders are afraid that addressing sin explicitly will drive people away and keep people from coming.

And they are right! Again, “None of the rest dared join them…” (v.13). Yet despite that, “more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes…” (v.14).

Think for a moment... How did the church begin? With Peter publically calling out the sins of Jesus’ murders.

Yet it kept growing and growing. But some reasonable estimates, the church had now reached around 20,000 members in just a few short weeks!

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15 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16 The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed. 17 But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy 18 they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, 20 “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.” 21 And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.

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What Irony! Two things that distinguished Sadducees from other Jews were that (1) they didn’t believe in resurrection from the dead, and (2) They didn’t believe in angels. So God blessed these men who were preaching a resurrected Messiah by sending an angel to free them from prison so they could go preach some more!

The High Priest was in a difficult spot. There was no denying the explosive growth of the church, and it was cutting deeply into his ability to perform his duties as the supreme religious leader of the Israelites. But seriously? After seeing the miracles performed through these believers, he thought prison was going to slow them down?

Just the opposite happened… The High Priest inadvertently provided yet another pulpit for the apostles to spread the gospel.

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Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. 22 But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, 23 “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.” 24 Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. 25 And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.”

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Is it just me, or does this sound a lot like Christ being put into His tomb with guards standing by, but when the door was opened no one was there?

I may be fooling myself, but I think after all of this I would believe. But the High Priest and his minion had their minds set on accomplishing what they set out to do (stop this religion from spreading), and I think often we are so wrapped up in accomplishing our own plans that we can look right past what God is doing.

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26 Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. 27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, 28 saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.” 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” 33 When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them.

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“You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching”… awesome!

“And you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us” … There was really no denying this. They were clearly to blame for the crucifixion. Rome had no vested interest in killing Jesus. Rome was pressured and manipulated by the Jews.

And guess what? The High Priest gave them yet another opportunity to preach the gospel – this time to himself!

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34 But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. 35 And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. 36 For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. 37 After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. 38 So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice,

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I love this guy Gamaliel. He politely asks he Christians to wait outside and has a chat with the leaders. With a balanced mind, Gamaliel steps back from the situation and assess it reasonably rather than emotionally. His logic was flawless, and it convinced the ruling party to back off

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40 and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. 42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.

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Oh that we should live in such a way that we could share the honor of suffering dishonor for the name of Christ!

In Acts we are reading about the church in its purest form. The rest of the New Testament describes the deterioration of the church.