Tonight we are turning to God's Word, Acts chapter 4 this evening, as God speaks to us through the New Testament and the early life of the church. Acts chapter 4, we will begin in verse 32. You notice we're going to read into chapter 5, verse 11. 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. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them. For as many as were owners of lands or house sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet. And it was distributed to each as any had need. Thus Joseph, who was also called the Apostle Barnabas, which means son of encouragement, a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet. But a man named Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife's knowledge, he kept back for himself some of the proceeds, and bought only a part of it, and laid it at the apostles' feet. 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? 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. When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard it. The young man rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him. After an interval of about three hours, his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter said to her, tell me whether you sold the land for so much. And she said, yes, for so much. 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. They will carry you out. Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young man came in, they found her dead and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things. Let's pray and ask God's blessing upon this time. So Father, we pause again to acknowledge we need you. It is your spirit who speaks the word. It is not your servant, a pastor, as the primary speaker. It is your word and it is your spirit. So we ask again that you would attune our minds and our hearts to this word, that we might know it and that we might love it rightly. We pray this in Christ's holy name, amen. Now, you're sitting here in Hudsonville, Michigan in 2025, and I've just read for you a text from the apostolic age at the very beginning of the church. So let me just take you back there very briefly. This is a special season in the book of Acts. The apostles are beginning their ministry. Jesus has ascended. He's reigning at the right hand. And the office of apostle is functioning. Now, that is a special office that no longer exists. It was marked by miracles and judgment and immediate death. It was an incredible time of unique working of the Spirit. If you follow the apostolic office in the book of Acts, you're gonna see miracle after miracle. And modern Christians will love to read the book of Acts and with a genuine and sincere heart say, we wanna see these miracles again today. And I love the genuine impulse behind that. But you know what I never hear anyone say? Hey, tonight at church, during the offering, I wonder if anyone's gonna drop dead. Do you think that's gonna happen? No, we just want the shiny miracles. Nobody wants the judgment and the death of the apostolic age. And good news, this was a special period under a special office that had some pretty unique circumstances. And tonight, one of them takes front and center stage. What you see tonight are two stories that while your texts show it as divided with a paragraph break, truly show one main teaching. Yes, a Reformed pastor is going to have one point tonight. This is a mini miracle. You're going to see the reality of the heart. In the first section, we see a unified heart in the Lord Jesus Christ. And in the section section, you see the flip side of that, you see a divided heart in what comes of it. But all of this is really just one big point, the heart before the Lord. So look at me in verse 32 as it begins, I want you to see their unity. Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and one soul, simply meaning their desires, their affections were unified in the Lord Jesus Christ. If you know your Old Testament well and you have the Shema in the back of your head, you're thinking Deuteronomy 6, verse 5, the unity of God's people. You're seeing that now in the early in breaking of the New Testament church. And what's beautiful here is they're not united in their education. They are not united in their ethnicity. They are not united in their income. They are not united in their geography. It is a super-united unity through the distinct work of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is not superficial, it is spiritual. And so these people have a unique unity, not a personality or any kind of forced collectivism. It is they are all looking to Jesus, and because they're looking at the same source, A bunch of individuals can be equally united. Now, what spills out from that unity in Jesus? And we want to see this in our lives. We'll look at verse 32 as it continues there in the text. No one said that they had any of the things that belonged to him was his own. You see what they're saying there? They have this unique unity, verse 32b, that everything was in common. Now, if you're getting really excited right now, and you know somebody in this church has a snowmobile, and you cannot wait for four weeks from now because you now have a snowmobile, no, you do not. You are not reading this text correctly. This is not a pretext for socialism or communism. This is a heart posture of stewardship of your resources for the good of the gathered bride of Christ. This is not an abolition of private property. It is a open heart to the Lord and therefore an open heart of generosity to those who are in the Lord in your midst. You see it there in the text. But they had everything in common, and you'll see later, they had property, some didn't have property, they could sell it, they didn't have to sell it. They here had an open heart, and therefore their hands, by extension, released the claim and the grip on their possessions. because they had been gripped by the grace of Christ. So now you got a people gathered in the Lord Jesus, their hearts have been opened, their hands have been set free, and look at what it says at the end of verse 32 clearly. But they had everything in common. And this was an increased joint participation in their material goods. They said, where's the need? Because if you have a need, then I have a need. Because if you're in Christ and I'm in Christ, then we're united together. And if there's any need in Christ, the one who is fully sufficient, then let me meet this need through a joint participation, not just of my theology, but of my actual material possessions. What a beautiful thing when our right thinking leads to an ordered living that is sacrificial, first and foremost, in the household of God. That's what you see on display, and it begins to build this beautiful New Testament early church community. But now look at how it extends. And it goes on there in verse 33. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And great grace was upon them all. What was their message? What was their unity? that these men and these women had come to know the resurrection of Jesus, his death, his life, his ascension, and his present reign. They believed the core doctrines of the faith, and that fellow belief tore down every wall, even to their possessions. And what does it say there? But a great grace was upon them all. Our third child is named Grace. And all my kids have to know what their name means. So our oldest daughter is Geneva. You might be thinking, Camp Geneva? No. I did not go to Camp Geneva. I don't frankly care about Camp Geneva. I have nothing to do with Camp Geneva. But Geneva means juniper tree. It comes from Switzerland. My son is Owen. He's our second born. My mentor was Welsh, and so as a nod to honor him, we named our son a Welsh name, meaning young warrior. And it's our prayer that he would be young in spirit and yet a warrior for the faith. And then our third daughter, her name is Grace. And Grace is now in eighth grade, and if you would meet her and say, Grace, what does your name mean? She better square up with her shoulders, have big eyes, and she should look right at you with a smile, and she should say without missing a beat, my name means unmerited favor. And I smile and say, that's my girl. I will say to her, unmerited favor, come here, daddy needs you. Unmerited favor, come over here. Because that's what it means, and that's who we are at the core of identity. And the New Testament church is preaching the resurrection, people are believing the greatest miracle of all, and it says a great grace was among them. Yeah, because they were people of the resurrection. They were a people of the greatest unmerited favor the world had ever seen. And so, verse 34 continues to unfold. And as many were owners of land and households sold them, and brought the proceeds of what was sold, and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed as each had need. The resurrection's true. Jesus is alive. He has ascended. He is reigning and ruling over all things. Everything's being put under His feet. He is the king and the head of the church. And I've been called into that. I didn't do anything to deserve that, and that's mine? Well, if I now possess that, what are my material possessions but things to use to glorify the unmerited favor I've received? And so, how can I bring my possessions and sell them for the greater good of the church? And that unmerited favor is leading these men and women to have open hands and open lives of hospitality and charity. And then you see it play out in 34 and 35. and they sell the lands, it's brought to the apostles' feet. And then verse 36, thus Joseph, who was called by the apostles Barnabas, a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him, brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet. This final act of generosity. Now it's interesting, the scriptures are so clear. We're not to let our right hand know what our left hand is doing. And yet in this moment, A man is singled out for his generosity because at times it is good to stop and honor a heart that is moved from the generosity of Christ to them to a generosity to others. We are conduits of God's grace. And one way in which we extend God's grace to others is through our actual material possessions, through our time, through an open table, through the stewarding of our treasure. And the early church saw this as a natural response to right thinking. And so here you see this unbelievable unity. I'm a three forms of unity guy. I was raised in the Dutch Reformed Church. I just got back from the Netherlands and took my kids. I am all things Heidelberg Catechism. But I did have to take a vow in the PCA to the Westminster Confession. In chapter 26, verse one, it says, all saints are united to Jesus Christ, their head, by his spirit and by faith, and are also united to one another, how? In love. One of the greatest calls you will have in your life is that you get to love one another tangibly because you have first been loved by the Father. Imagine communing with the Father to the degree that you wake up each morning and you would pray a prayer like this. What if we woke up and said, Father, good morning. You are sovereign and holy. And Father, all that I own has come from you. Father, it is yours. And so Lord Jesus, spend it on your bride, steward it for the good of others. Use me for your purposes. Holy Spirit, show me one member of your body who needs what I could clutch, and yet loosen my grip. for the good of your people, amen. And then get up and go do whatever you were going to do that day. And watch if the Father and the Son and the Spirit don't put somebody in your way that you can bless with an unmerited favor because you are simply overflowing from one who has already received an unmerited favor. So theology leads to right living, and you see that in the New Testament church. They're of one heart. And now it's an amazing counterbalance here to say, that's who we get to be, but watch it, a warning. Our flesh is gonna creep in. Because you know why? We like things. We like resources. And so here's where it can go bad. And so chapter five, in verses one to 11, you get the story of Ananias and Sapphira. Can you imagine having scripture written about your worst moment? I am quite thankful the canon of scripture is closed and we are no longer writing new scripture. But what do you see here in chapter five? But Ananias has this field, it's private property. He can do whatever he wants with it. He could keep it for himself. He could save it for his children someday. But yet he decides to go in a different direction. Look there at verse three. 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? So we see a unified heart and now we see a divided heart. And Ananias and Sapphira are tempted by Satan. This is not a demonic possession, don't overread into the text, but it is a permissive influence of the satanic that gets a grip into their life. And this is total depravity. Our depraved mind, our desire of the flesh, leads us to succumb to temptation. Why? Because we like it. We like the lies of our sin and what it promises. And it is lying, and it is promising things it cannot deliver on. And so what does the text say? You see it there. Why have you lied to the Holy Spirit? You see the gravity of what he's doing. He's not just lying to the church. He's not just lying to the apostles. We're always lying before the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And it's not just that he verbally lied. You see it here in the text that he had an existential and an internal active hypocrisy. Do you see it in the text? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You see that word contrived there? It's not just that he said, whoopsie, I had a bad moment. No, no, no, Ananias and Sapphira. There was a deliberate planning. There was a premeditated scheme. There was a presumptuous sin that you might get away with something. Ananias and Sapphira, you were actually plotting rebellion against God's known will. That's what your heart has done here. by trying to project things that are not true. You have not lied to man, you see it there in the text, but what? You have lied to God. So when you step back from Acts chapter five in this story, what do you see? Well, do you hear two of the commandments? Do you hear the eighth commandment that forbids theft? And now he's lying about something, and he's actually keeping for himself something he's lied about. And then the ninth commandment forbids what? False witness. And so Ananias and Sapphira, in one moment that didn't even need to happen, they could have just kept it for themselves, decide to break the eighth and the ninth commandment by stealing from God, by giving false witness against the church. And God comes along and in this moment says, no, I will not have a divided heart in this New Testament congregation. This is their sin in this moment. You may have private property all day long. It is good and right. but to do a premeditated public lie, to project yourself as something you're not, to steal the glory of God while maintaining the benefits of your possession, God will not let stand. And so you see it here in the rest of the text. You see it there in verses seven all the way down to 10. Now comes his wife. So God judges him, the direct divine judgment of death. Then Sapphira shows up, and here comes the same question. How much money did you get out of this? And where's this gonna go? And she has this amazing moment. She can say whatever she wants. She lies again. She withholds. She breaks the commands. And you see this put to immediate judgment. Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door." This very same feet, this immediate death and judgment of God. And so if you just stop a second on the divided heart, what do you see? What can we learn from this? Because listen, you and I will walk in these ways. I walk in these ways. Well, number one, be mindful that you are always lying to God, not to your fellow man. As you lie, as you walk in untruth, be mindful. You can get away with it with your neighbor. You can get away with it in the church. But God is always present and He's always behind all things. Second, they conspired in advance. That premeditated deception. Watch for that in your life. Where you can talk a better game than any intention you have to deliver. When that inter-salesman or saleswoman in you begins to build, that might be a work of the satanic. Third, they lied publicly to the entire church. They had no searing of conscience. They happily were quick and public to lie. Fourth, they wanted spiritual prestige without any cost of actual righteous labor. Watch the shortcut to spiritual praise. It will always be a shortcut that leads to your ruin, for the clock is ticking, and it will always be found out fifth. Be mindful that as we desire to praise ourselves, the one who always desires to be praised most is whom? In a bad way, Satan. And so as we seek self-praise, know that's always the satanic behind it, because it loves to take you off the praise of God. Six, be mindful of those who lie and deceive after bearing and seeing God's power in action. We have beheld the truths of Scripture. We know the creeds and the confessions. Much is expected of us. Do not trifle lightly with those who know and are accountable. Ananias and Sapphira saw the power of God, they know the truths of God, and yet they still thought before the face of God, can we just get some of His glory? And God says in a clear way here, I will not share it with another. And so this evening we come to these postures. We see a united heart, and we see the severity of a divided heart. Now, how might that begin to show up in us? Because we wanna go towards the love and sacrifice of one another, and we wanna see the divided heart diminish. Well, just practically, very poignantly, How might that creep up in our lives? A few examples. First, watch for double-minded speech. Do you begin to get rather loose with your speech? James chapter three, verse nine says, they bless God, but they curse men with the same tongue. Is your tongue very quick to get in line the second you come in that door or the second you get around committed Christians, but the second they're gone or the second you're out that door, that tongue gets loose? and the desire to run with the ways of the world flows out of your lips. That's an alarm bell. That's a warning light in your car. Am I a man, am I a woman of double-minded speech? Second, look out for a love of the world over the love of God, 1 John 2. Verse 15 says, if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Ananias and Sapphira, what did they love most? They liked the church. They were thankful for God's people. But they loved their stuff the most. So we will contrive this lie before all in God. Look for that. Pray that prayer with great joy and expectation. God, where is my heart divided? Where do I love the world more than I love you or your word? God will answer that. He'll bless you. He'll free you from those things. Third, look for hypocrisy in your worship. Look for a sense of Matthew chapter 15, verse 8. This people honors me with their lips. And he looks good in that tie. He looks good in that suit. He can read a manuscript and work through the word. But is God right now looking at any of this in me? Man judges the external. And then here are the rest of this line. But God judges the heart. That's a prayer we want to pray. Father, look for any hypocrisy in me, where I love to honor you with my lips for what I can get out of it, but Matthew 15, eight, my heart is far from you. It's a great prayer to pray. Father, don't let me run from those things. Fourth, and lastly, I would just honor the fear of man over the fear of God. Have you seen that begin to grow in you? That around certain people, your boldness and your clarity of the gospel begins to shrink? Because it matters what people think. It matters the repercussions. The fear of man is one of the great issues in all of Scripture. Fight that with all of the Spirit's power. Fear God above all things. Love the praise of God before the praise of men, John 12, 42 and 43. Seek out the fear of God, behold His glory, and love His affirmation over all things. So this evening, We see two things, a united heart and a divided heart. And in this text, God brings the most severe of judgment upon the divided heart. The ultimate judgment, he will bring on all divided hearts in one day. So where do we land? Well, we seek a united heart. How do we do that? Well, where did the text begin? You may have noticed it. In Acts chapter four, you see it there in the text, but what were they doing? Now, the full number of those who believe were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, and they had everything in common. Ready? Verse 33. And with great power, the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. What puts to death a divided heart? And if you're sitting here thinking, I got a divided heart, my son-in-law's got a divided heart, my neighbor's got a divided heart, my grandkids have a divided heart, what's the hope for them? What's the hope for you? It's the hope of the apostles. They look to the one and they preach the one whose heart was never divided, the Lord Jesus Christ. who has the perfect unity within the Father and the Spirit, the Trinity. How do you grow away from a divided heart and into the beauty of a united heart, but you look to the one who is always and perfectly united, the Lord Jesus Christ? Look to Him, behold Him, love Him, and grow in His unity with His Father. Now, I wanna give you one very tangible way to do that. Right there. You see that table? I don't know the next time you have scheduled to celebrate the Lord's Supper as a church, but I know you have it scheduled. I know it's coming, and I know it is a part of the regular rhythm of this church. Why? Because he only gave us two sacraments, baptism and the Lord's Supper. So I know it's coming. The next time you come to the Lord's Supper in this church, and you come to meet the Lord Jesus by faith, through communing with him in his body and his blood, by faith, to be fed and nourished by him, and as your elders and your pastors lead you in that, I want you to remember this text. I want you to remember that the apostles were preaching the resurrection. He didn't stay in the grave. This is what united them. And when you look at this table, and you partake of that piece of bread, you actually consume it, as you partake of that cup and you drink it, I want you to remember that in Acts 4, they sold everything. And they gave those in need. And at the table, what did the Lord Jesus Christ say? But this is My body, what? given for you. This is the greatest gift that you have ever received. That somebody would plan and give the total gift on your behalf. And then in the Lord's Supper, you would see to it that they had distribution to each as he had need in Acts chapter 4. You remember the Lord Jesus saying, this is poured out for many, for the forgiveness of sins, for the many, the called, the elect, for those who are in need, the forgiveness of sins. My giving, my blood meets every one of those needs in this moment. If you will come to me in unmerited favor, and you will come to me at my lowest, my death, I have enough in me to meet the greatest needs of everyone who will come. When you come to the Lord's Supper next time, I want you to remember that Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit. They did not walk in holiness. And the Lord Jesus on that night looked at and said, this is my blood. that he was holy, that he was righteous, that he was so holy that his blood, his obedience could satisfy the right, just wrath of the God who struck down Ananias and Sapphira because of their unrighteousness. And that righteous God who rightly condemned them looked at Jesus and all of that wrath was consumed and satisfied in one man because he was so perfectly holy. And you get to come and partake. It is an unbelievable gift that he comes and says, this is my body, this is my blood given for you. And then what does he say? This is the cup of wrath, Luke chapter 22 verse 42. that the wrath of God that killed Ananias and Sapphira is finally satisfied in the Lord Jesus Christ. The next time you come to the table, I want you to remember, why are we here? How did we get to this table? But because the Lord Jesus Christ looked at his father and said, not my will be done, but yours. Jesus was so in unity with his father that it led him to his death and he willingly went on our behalf for the glory of God and the good of our souls. He had an undivided heart with the father and we can come to him because he was in perfect unity with the father. And lastly, you remember in this text time and time again, it says they came and laid it at the apostles' feet. And here at the Lord's Supper, we see what? That the Lord Jesus submits to the greatest authority, the authority of the Father who he is perfect unity with. This meal that you will partake of was ordained by the sovereign God of the universe before the foundation of the world, and Jesus submits to that plan of the sovereign Father. And so how do you grow in unity and love and holiness and sacrificial giving like the early church? You focus on Christ. You come and meet him at the Lord's Supper and you remember and you celebrate all that he has done for you in his death and resurrection. Why has he done it? Because he's in unity with the Father and he obeys the Father. And in that identity, grow, rest, receive, rejoice. And then from it, through that lens, look out at everybody in this church and say in light of the death and resurrection of Jesus, how might I love you? How might I bless you? How might you, my united heart, open my hands to serve and bless you in Christ. That was the initial heartbeat of the New Testament church. And brothers and sisters, that gets to be our same heartbeat here and now. What a gift and what a joy from Christ. Let's pray. And so Father, we are thankful for the clarity of your word, for the sufficiency in which it meets us where we are at. Father, we are thankful for the love displayed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who has lived the life that we could not, who dies the death that we deserved, and who has been so gracious and obedient on our behalf. So might we love him, rejoice in him, and see all things through him. In his name we pray. Amen.