Acts 5:1-11 Ananias & Sapphira

This particular passage from the bible is talking about the story of Ananias and Sapphira. The story goes; they sold some of their land and gave the money they made to the church at least that is what they were telling everyone. Yet in reality they were actually lying, because the amount that they were giving was significantly less than the actual amount that they made. The thing is, it didn't matter how much they were giving because the pennies that the old lady was giving was more important than the bags of gold that the Pharisees were giving. If they had been honest about what they were giving there wouldn't have been a problem but because they're pride go in the way they were punished. Unfortunately for them their payment was death, but isn't that the payment for sin. Romans 6:23 says "for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." They sinned because they were lying about the amount they were giving, as well as they were being prideful and we know from scripture that God hates pride. Proverbs 8:13 says "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate." Ananias and Sapphira's arrogance and pride got in the way of their service and therefore they had to be punished for their sins. We may think that punishment was harsh but it was exactly what they deserved and we deserve no less for the way that we behave. Our pride gets in the way of our love and affection for Christ and it hinders our relationship with him. Put off the old man and put on the new man, and be conformed to His image instead of being conformed to the image of this world.

Acts 3

Chapter three of Acts tells us another story of the amazing work that the disciples did in the name of Jesus Christ. It starts out talking about how Peter and John were on their way to the temple and outside the gates of the temple sat a crippled beggar. He had no use of his legs and feet so he even had to be carried to the temple by people so that he could beg for scraps from those that came and went at the temple gates.

When Peter and John walked by they asked for the attention of the beggar. When they did so the beggar thought that he was going to be given a piece of gold or silver but Peter said “silver or gold I do not have but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Peter did not give the man things of this earth that will only pass away but he gave this crippled man the power of Christ because it is only by the power of Jesus’ name that the man was able to rise up and walk again.

Yet there was more to this story than just that. The man didn’t just receive the ability to use his legs again he received Christ into his heart. He had faith and trusted in the name of Christ Jesus and when he did so his health was restored to him.

The people say this man and looked upon him with wonder because they knew his condition and knew that there was nothing that could be done for the man. They looked at Peter and John as if it was by their power that the man regained his leg but Peter went on to inform that it wasn’t by their power but by the power of the Holy Spirit that this had happened.

This needs to speak to us because Peter and John didn’t live off of worldly things and focus on their needs but they knew that faith and trust in the name of God is what would sustain them and bring peace to the turmoil around them. They sought to bring these people to Christ and knew that if they themselves sought after things of this world then so would those that they were speaking to. Christ and our faith and trust in Him will sustain us during the mess that we will go through in life. Its not about what we do or what we want but instead it is about what we can do to further His kingdom.

There are times when life truly stinks and all we want to do is to curl up and get away from everything, but those are the times when we need to focus on God the most. The man at the beginning of this chapter didn’t think he had any hope for a normal life but when two men came into his life and showed him the name of Jesus Christ his life was transformed. He no longer had to live in misery and agony but instead could live with the knowledge that Christ was amazing and that faith and trust in Him would sustain him through anything that he was to go through.

Acts 2

Chapter two starts out with the disciples being filled with the Holy Spirit. The Bible describes it like a blowing of a violent wind and tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. What they felt was something for the ages. More than likely the only people that had ever had that feeling were men that had the spirit come upon them during the Old Testament. It was such a feeling that they were overwhelmed and couldn’t contain themselves.

When this happened they started speaking in many different languages. The spirit was truly filling them with His presence and He was making it know throughout Jerusalem that He was there. The Bible goes on the say “that there were God fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they head this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. There literally were Jews from everywhere, from modern Turkey and Europe all the way to Asia and Africa. All of these Jews had come for the day of Pentecost and were there to worship. They were certainly in for a surprise.

There were some Jews there that weren’t impressed and just thought that they were drunk and loosing control of themselves, but later on in scripture we read that we are to be not been over come with drunkenness but instead to be filled with the Holy Spirit. To me that am a sign because these men were truly under the influence of the Spirit and they were behaving as such. No they were not drunk but they were filled with something so strong that it poured out from the very being of who they were.

Luke goes on to tell us the story of how so many was saved in one day. Luke tells of the message that Peter spoke to the multitude. Peter told of the prophesy of Joel. God in the last days would send the Spirit down on the people and that they would be filled so much that they would be over pouring from His presence. Peter goes on to tell about how Jesus was the man that fulfilled so many prophesies and truly showed the Jews who he was. Peter’s sermon was so strong that his words cut to the core of the people that he was speaking to.

The people that were there listening to him asked him what they could do. Peter told them to repent and be baptized; to call upon the name of Jesus Christ and they would be baptized. They were so convicted by what they were hearing that they could do nothing but follow Christ and live by his ways. All in all that day there were over three thousand people that came to know the Lord and more came to join the church each and everyday.

The early Christians set the example that we should live by. They lived by Christ and followed his example.

Acts 1

In Acts we see Luke telling us the story of the first church and how it came about. Chapter 1 starts out with Christ tell the disciples about the coming of the Holy Spirit. Christ gave them the command to stay in Jerusalem until the spirit came upon them. The disciples thought that at that time Christ would come back and reign on Earth and set up His kingdom but that was not the case. They wanted to know when that was going to be but He told them that “it is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth.”

They were to wait until the Spirit came down upon them and when it did come they would have power that they could never imagine. They would be overcome with the Spirit and He would guide them and show them the way that God wanted them to go. That says a lot to us because we are so often moving at our own pace that we don’t take a moment to slow down and listen to what God is telling us. We want to get out and do something but sometimes we need to slow down and read what the Bible has to tell us and listen to the heartbeat of God to know that there is a reason for everything.

God doesn’t have us do meaningless tasks just for the fun of it. There is always a reason that we do something we may not understand what that reason is but who are we to say that we need to. Why can’t we just have enough faith in Him to say “ok God, whatever you want to do I’ll do it. No matter what it is I’ll continue to serve you.’ If we could just do that and have faith that it will all turn out for the best then amazing things would take place.

Later on in the chapter the disciples are faced with the decision of who should replace Judas the Betrayer. They do something then that most of us won’t do or instead choose not to do anymore. They discussed it and prayed about it, then they prayed some more and discussed even more. They wanted to make sure that the person that they brought into their group would be a good servant and would uphold all that Christ has been teaching. In a way they really did something that is extremely prohibited in the eyes of most Christians today. They cast lots. In modern day language they gambled and left it to chance. God is great and they trust that He would provide the best person for the Job.

I guess what chapter one really comes down to is that they had to have faith. They needed to trust that God would provide for them. They could have made their own decisions and went their own path claiming that they were doing it to further the gospel, but instead they put their faith in God and made decisions based on what He wanted for them.