Well, good morning, and what a blessing to be here today. Thank you, ladies, for that song and challenge and that prayer. And I hope that's all of our prayer today, to know the Lord. And I know through some of the trials that people are facing, this is happening. You're getting to know the Lord. You're getting to know Jesus more through the tests and trials in your life. I look forward to this morning to be together with you and to be able to open the scriptures. And, and, um, we're going to start in Acts chapter four this morning. That's where we're going to be. You want to go ahead and turn there in your Bible, Acts chapter four. We've been learning together since January. The growth of the early church in Jerusalem was quite an incredible event. At the ascension of our Lord from the Mount of Olives, the apostles were promised the baptism and the power of the Holy Spirit, and they were commissioned to proclaim the news of Jesus, the Messiah, and they were to do it boldly and powerfully. Preach the gospel where? Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the othermost part, to the end of the earth, as chapter one there tells us. So in chapter 2, Peter begins that, and we read the sermon that Peter preached at Pentecost with a call to repentance there at the end, and many did. Verse 41 of chapter 2 tells us that 3,000 people repented and believed and were added to the church that day. This was more than an evangelistic crusade in the city. It was the beginning of the church. It was the church-planting effort in Jerusalem. And I remember Andrew saying when he was preaching through in this area of the scriptures that he believed this was the healthiest time of the church in history, in the life of the church. Because here's what Luke says about that. I want to remind us where we are. This is what Luke says. In Acts chapter two, verses 42 to 45, he says, they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all as any had need. So we continued on through that. We more and more were added to the church, and we see the boldness on display. We see the power and the authority of the apostles on display, because there are healings, there's signs, there's wonders that are validating the veracity of the church. There's preaching in public, there's arrest, there's threats of death and punishment. And then last week we heard about the prayer for boldness in the church. All the while, men and women were being saved and added to the church. What an amazing time. What an amazing thing. And what's even more amazing is to think that God used a group, a small group of common men, who had, they had no political power. They had no money, no formal education, and really no real influence in the people around them. But he used them to turn the world upside down and change the course of history. That's an amazing thing. How did that happen? How did that happen? Well, what we've learned is that for them to be so effective, so bold, and so confident, they had been with Jesus. We learned that a few weeks ago. They were with Jesus, and they had both a complete devotion to Christ and the gospel. They had a complete devotion to that, and they had the power of the Holy Spirit. And you think, wow, that was great for them. But you know what? We can have the same thing. We can be devoted to the gospel cause, and we have the power of the Holy Spirit. And we, too, can change the world as believers. But so far, Luke, the historian, has recorded for us this amazing and fast-paced story of God at work in building His church. And today, we get to a passage that really actually should cause us to step back for a moment, to pause, and to reflect on life inside that church. And I want you to think of it this way. I want you to think of it like that Luke gives us two pictures of life in the church, two pictures. One will be for us, it will be positive and encouraging. And we're going to find that at the end of chapter four, starting in verse 32. It's a positive and encouraging picture of life in the church. It actually is something that we as believers today can aspire to, that we can look to have, that we can cultivate in our midst. Positive and encouraging. The second picture he paints for us is in chapter five, the first part of chapter five. And that picture is actually terrifying and sobering. And it's actually something that we would look at and say, we need to avoid that. This is something we need to avoid in our life. So let's read the passage together, and I'm gonna be reading from the Christian Standard Bible this morning. We're gonna start in chapter four, verse 32, and I'm just gonna read through the entire passage for the day, okay? So you follow along as I read. Now the entire group of those who believed were of one heart and one mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but instead they held everything in common. Quick pause. Sounds like Luke is getting back to what he said earlier. Let's go back and revisit that statement that he made in chapter two, and let me tell you about that a little bit more. With great power, the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was on all of them. For there was not a needy person among them, because all those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the proceeds of what was sold, and laid them at the apostles' feet. This was then distributed to each person as any had need. Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus by birth, the one the apostles called Barnabas, which is translated son of encouragement, sold a field he owned, brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet. But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property. However, he kept back part of the proceeds with his wife's knowledge and brought a portion of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. Ananias, Peter asks, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the proceeds of the land? Wasn't it yours while you possessed it? And after it was sold, wasn't it at your disposal? Why is it that you planned this thing in your heart? You have not lied to people, but to God. When he heard these words, Ananias dropped dead, and a great fear came on all who heard. The young men got up, wrapped his body, carried him out, and buried him. About three hours later, his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Tell me, Peter asked her, did you sell the land for this price? Yes, she said, for that price. Then Peter said to her, why did you agree to test the spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door and they will carry you out. Instantly she dropped dead at his feet. When the young men came in, they found her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Then great fear came upon the whole church and all who heard these things. Now, let's not make the mistake here of thinking, wow, that is an interesting story. That's amazing. That is terrifying. Let's not do that. Let's just not make that mistake of just simplifying it. It's as if this is just some historical record that's preserved for us, and it just happened thousands of years ago and has no bearing on us today. Instead, I want us to approach this today and think of it as a warning, a wake-up call. a moment of clarity, a time of reflection, an examination of our own hearts and our own motives as we live and serve in the church today. We said there were two pictures, so let's look at the first, the one we should aspire to, and we're going to call this a picture of unity. And actually, we're talking about the empowered church, the empowered church in the book of Acts. That's our theme for the year. And I submit to you that an empowered church is a unified church. And we see that in chapter 4 there, in verses 32. So where does this unity come from? If we're going to be a unified church, how do we get unified? How do we get unity? The entire group of those who believe are of one heart and one mind, he says. And I say the source of that unity is from God alone. God gives us the unity. We know the church has been experiencing incredible growth. In a matter of weeks, it's likely approaching 15,000, 20,000 people in the church, and by some accounts, much more, much more. This is a conservative estimate. And this first tells us that the entire group, the entire group was united in one purpose. How is that possible, right? That's what you think. How is that possible to all these people? Well, the simple answer, the diverse group of people from all nations under heaven, we learned in chapter two, they're coming from everywhere, they're now experiencing unity, unity that was only possible through the gospel of Christ. That's what brought them together. The gospel united them, the truth of Christ, the faith and the resurrection of Christ. Even in the face of persecution, and opposition, it united them in one purpose of the church, to continue the gospel advance. They continued on preaching boldly, even in the face of opposition. They were in harmony. They were motivated by love for Christ and each other that allowed them to stay focused on what truly mattered. And for us, I think this stands as a glaring reminder that we can't create unity. God establishes the unity in the church and the unity of the saints through the gospel. Now, we know by looking out at our world and our nation that there is a continuing segmenting and division brewing and growing in our nation. It seems like there's just further and further separation and going into small groups everywhere, and we're just getting so divided. This can't happen in the church. We cannot allow that to happen in the church. We have the responsibility to maintain that God-given unity. It's a gift God has given to us, and we work to maintain that. So, and it's actually a good time to remind ourselves that unity in the church is not uniformity. This is something we've spoken about on many occasions. In fact, it's actually come up earlier this year a few times when Andrew was preaching through the Healthy Church and what that looks like. He reminded us that the Healthy Church is a God-centered church, not man-centered. He reminded us that we are people-oriented, not program-oriented. And he reminded us that where we get in trouble sometimes is we begin to elevate form over function, how we do things versus why we do things. And the beauty of the local church is the diversity that we can enjoy. We can enjoy this. Man, this is wonderful to look out and say, and I know many of you, and we just know so many diverse backgrounds. So many diverse vocations and life experiences. Ethnicities, preferences, hobbies, gifts, skills, viewpoints on cultural issues. We are just rich in diversity. And it's just like the early church. And we can enjoy that diversity, and we can thrive in that, but we cannot remain unified in spirit outside of the truth of the gospel of Christ. That's the baseline. So then, when we talk about unity within the church, our strongest source of unity is not our common affinities. If you like Italian, who likes Italian food? I know there's a group over here that does. Not everybody likes Italian food. It's hard to believe as that is. Places we like to vacation. We might like the same places, but that's not going to maintain unity in the group. our favorite sports team, our musical tastes, our feelings on appropriate attire for worship service, our preferences on expressive worship. None of these things, our common affinities, are not what's gonna keep us unified. The insistence that others be like us, think like us, behave like us, is one of the most disunifying and hurtful mindsets a church can have. Why? Because when you begin to view every difference with an ever, you will do this, you will begin to view every difference with an arrogant and judgmental spirit. And over time, it's gonna push people away. It's gonna push people away from the very gospel that you claim to be committed to. No, our strongest source of unity is our God-given unity and our gospel identity, who Christ is. That's our source. In one article I read in my study, it said it this way, the further we drift away from the ultimate unifier, Christ, the further we get away from the kind of counter-cultural, world-impacting, Christ-exalting unity that's highlighted in this record of the early church. And this is what Jesus prayed for us when he said in John chapter 17, may they all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am you, may they also be in us. Why? So that the world may believe that you have sent me. May God help us to work at maintaining the unity that he so graciously gifted to us here at Calvary in Simpsonville. And Luke tells us our source of unity here is God. is in the gospel, it comes directly from him, but he goes on and he gives us an example of what that looks like, how that plays out in the church. And he uses the example of generosity Luke records that the church excelled in generosity and sharing. Verses 32, 34, 35, no one claimed any of his possessions were his own. They held everything in common. Great grace was upon them. There was not a needy person there because they sold their lands and houses and they gave it to the apostles to distribute as needed. Do you find these statements amazing that they did this? Think about this. This church is just getting started and they're already doing this type of work. Unity in the gospel pushed and motivated people to share with others what God had given them to enjoy and experience. Some key points to highlight here. Everyone did this. No one claimed anything was his own. Everything was shared. Nothing was his own. Everything was in common. Grace empowered them. Great grace was upon them all. He says, I love this. The truth about Christ was preached with boldness. The power of the Holy Spirit was on full display. The people believed. The gospel radically changed them. Then a sensitivity to others was born in their hearts. And the church congregation understood quickly and began to share in the physical and spiritual care of others. There was a diversity of needs among the community, because it says, we know there were wealthy and affluent people there, all who owned houses and lands. There were wealthy people in this early church. And because it highlights that there were wealthy there, we do know there were people with needs. There were poor. There were some who had nothing. Think about this, a multitude of people had traveled to Jerusalem, from every nation under heaven, he tells us, to Jerusalem for Passover. They heard the gospel when Peter preached. They repented, they believed, they were added to the church. Man, we can likely assume that not everyone immediately left and departed to go back to their native land. So they needed work, they needed places to live, they needed a means to care for themselves, and the community of believers stepped in to help each other and meet the practical needs of others. I wonder sometimes, when we read this little section, if we think it'd make it more complicated than we need to. Like, we wanna know, how did this all work out? It seems like so impractical. You just share everything. And some actually have used this passage to justify the man-made governmental system of communism that says, what's yours is everyone's. It's a communal property. But that's not what we're saying here. That's not what it's saying. This is gospel-centered generosity. And what it's saying is, what's mine is yours. I'm willing to share what God has given me to help meet your needs. And this was a group of generous people who were so sensitive to the needs of others. No one went to bed hungry in the group. No one slept on the street because there was a means to solve that problem. And they did. Luke here is giving a snapshot of what everyday life in the church looked like. There was a care. There was a love in that church body that filled their community. A spirit of giving just permeated the church. It's right here for us to tell us what it is. I think this includes both material and spiritual care. One person put it this way, when Christians, motivated by the Spirit, sincerely care for one another's material needs, they desire to bear spiritual burdens and pray for one another as well. Don't you find that to be the case for you when you just get so caring for people that it extends beyond their physical needs? And you begin to think, how can I help this person trust God? I'm concerned about their spiritual need as well. It just pushes you to have generosity and compassion in that regard as well. Now my role here at Calvary, I oversee a lot of the administrative things and so I have a unique perspective on some of these things. And one of the joys I have is when someone walks up to me and they'll hand me a card and they'll say, would you please pass this on to this person? I heard they have a need. And I want to help them with that. But don't tell them where it came from. I just want to help them out. There's a passing on that anonymous gift to help someone who has a need. I hear of people helping other people with projects because they have gifts and they have skills. And they're not doing it for pay. They're not doing it for a reward. They're just doing it because they want to help somebody who has a need. They're generous in their giving. and their time and their skills. We have our Benevolence Fund. We have people who give to that week after week, and we're able to take those funds and pass them on to someone who has a need. But you know, it doesn't stop just there. There's counseling that's taking place within the body. People are gathering together over coffee, cup of coffee in the Bible, and they're talking about spiritual issues and needs. There's generosity and sharing and counseling. I know of some who help people find jobs. They do life training and skills, training life skills. Giving them time, giving them what God has given, passing on. Now, like anything, we can continue to grow in this, but this pastoral team is so grateful for the community of generosity at Calvary, and our desire is that it just flourishes. Thank you for what you're doing. So we know that unity is coming from God, that's the source. The example is through generosity, and then it's like Luke says, let me just illustrate for you how this plays out. So he tells us about Barnabas. a Levite from Cyprus by birth, the son of encouragement. Joseph was his name, but the apostles gave him a nickname, Barnabas. Apparently he had made his mark on the early church by being someone who came alongside others and just was an encourager, a lifter up of people by serving and giving and encouraging people along the way. He's going to get mentioned many times in Acts as we continue on, and each time it's going to be in some facet of encouraging other people. He was born in Cyprus. He was a Jewish man born in Cyprus, so he was considered one of the foreigners who came. He had land to sell, so he had means. He sold property. He invested in the life of a new believer named Saul later on in chapter 9. He encouraged believers in chapter 11 to remain faithful to the Lord in the face of persecution. And he was no doubt considered humble and a trustworthy servant of God because he was given funds during a dire famine to pass on to others. He was entrusted with that. And one of the things that stands out to me is how he was so patient with other people's imperfections. Think about John Mark. When Paul wanted to push him aside, Barnabas pulled him in. And John Mark became a great leader in the church as a result of Barnabas's encouragement. Here's a good way to summarize Barnabas the encourager, the illustration that Luke gives to us. He laid aside his possessions, and his money so that he could lift people up. Or his grip on his stuff was so loose so that he could strengthen his grip on people. What we're seeing here is a Jewish man that was radically changed and transformed by the gospel. And it pushed him and motivated him to be unified in the church with the body. And in this passage, the generosity of Barnabas is emphasized. He saw a need and he acted to help rectify it. Did he have to? Did he have to sell that property? No, he didn't have to do that. He could have helped in a number of ways. He could have said, Hey, let me, I hear you have a need. Let me, let me pray for you. You know, and that's fine. That's a good thing to do. Let's pray about that together. He could have said, let me help you find some help. I can give you some time and I can help you find the help you need. Could have done that. But he took it a step further. He let go of the possessions that were rightfully his, that God had given to him, and he came to the apostles and he said, here's the proceeds. I want you to take this and do with it what you will. Laid it at the apostles' feet, no strings attached. He released it to their care. I think this indicates he trusted their authority in the church, but he also says he didn't want credit for it. He didn't want credit for how it was used. He gave glory to God, and he used what God had given him to make a difference in the life of people. And that is our introduction to Barnabas. He's gonna play a significant role in the growth of the church and the advance of the gospel. a hero that made an impact in people's lives, both directly and indirectly. So we get to the end of that section there in Chapter 4, and we think, okay, great, this is wonderful. What does it mean for me? Well, I think this whole section gives us a glimpse into life of the early church, and it's a period, as we said, that's marked by unusual unity and generosity. It's a picture that's encouraging. It's a picture that is strong and positive and something that we should aspire to. So I say, may we too be a people. of generosity, that give generously, that sacrifice, and we do it cheerfully, letting go of our desire for comfort and possessions, letting go of those things, letting go of our desire for recognition for what we do, and instead be like Barnabas and put a firm grip on people and embrace them. and their physical and their spiritual needs and help them and do what you can to be generous and helpful in the church. So we read the passage there, we get to chapter five and the first word there is but, but. Unity in the church is a wonderful thing, given by God. We help maintain that by how we react and what we do. But there's a danger, and unity is endangered now in this passage. And as we continue, we quickly realize that we have a blessing from the gospel writer Luke. By divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he did not paint a picture that everything was all sunshine and roses in the church. He did not leave us to think that everything is just so pretty and has a happy ending. He doesn't ignore the faults of the early believers. And this is our second picture. This is the picture that should both terrify us and sober us to the reality that while God is good and gracious and kind, he is a holy, just God that will protect the purity of his church. He will protect that. And we know from previous messages that Satan has worked behind the scenes trying to destroy the church. He started, he tried to destroy Jesus, not successful. So persecutions and boldness and civil authorities through accusations and persecutions and arrests, he's trying to take them down. And actually all it did was accelerate the growth of the church. So here's a different strategy. Attack the church internally. Attack the unity internally. And he chose a couple to do that, the husband and wife team of Ananias and Sapphira. What we find here is the first recorded sin in the church. Now, we know there was already sin in the church, there's sin in life, there were people there, so there was sin taking place, but this is the first recorded sin in the church. And he calls it out to us as a stark warning. The beautiful unity of spirit that we have just seen is now in danger. The work of the gospel community is at risk. And as I thought about this, actually, as we were discussing this passage and how to divide everything up, someone made a statement, oh boy, that's a complicated passage. And so I get assigned this, and I'm thinking, okay, well, I've read it before. First commentary I open up, you know what it says? This is the most difficult passage for a Christian to understand. You all right? But I think what it did for me was raise three questions in my mind. Three questions. And first is why. Why did Ananias and Sapphira do what they did? Why did they do this? Well, I think it was spiritual hypocrisy. What an ugly thing. What an ugly thing, spiritual hypocrisy. What is that? Insincerity, two-facedness, duplicity, a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles that one does not really possess. It's as if you're a business owner, and all of your advertising dollars go into promoting how that you run your business by a set of Christian ethics, and you're a believer, and where you go to church, and all the things that you do, but then you mistreat people, and you lie, and you deal with them poorly, being unethical. It's like you've advertised one thing, and you do the complete opposite. Hypocrisy. Here's what Pastor Tony Merida, in his commentary on this passage, it's called Christ-Centered Exposition, very helpful for me to kind of think through this. Here's what he calls this. Determine hypocrites. They wanted to be known and praised for their righteous acts. They wanted to be known for that. Calls them spiritual posers in verses one and two. Selling the property, we said, was totally voluntary. They didn't have to do that. They could have kept it for their own use and enjoyment. But keeping all the proceeds was permitted. They could have sold it. They could have kept everything. It was theirs. Peter told them that. They didn't have to give anything to the common fund. But what they had was a sham, a sham holiness, a fake piety. They kept back part of the proceeds while pretending to give it all. They were spiritual posers. They were glory seekers. Appears that laying the gift of the apostles, by some accounts, it seems like that this was a public act, that you walk in and you give your gift to the apostles. Others could see what was happening. Maybe they desired to have the same reputation that Barnabas had. But they lacked His compassion and His character. Maybe they wanted to be recognized for their generosity. They were glory seekers. They wanted their own glory. They were liars. Verse 3 and 4 tells us that. They were liars. They lied about their gift. They're deceivers in that they conspire together. They did this together. So let's say we sold it for this and give it. And the ease with which they appear to lie without considering the ramifications to themselves and to the whole body is just really a demonstration of the sinful nature that we all have. We can do that. They did not value the holiness of God. It was not something of value to them. So therefore they minimized their sin. That's the only way you could do this. It's just to minimize your sin because you're not looking at how holy God is. Peter confronts their lie and declares it a lie against whom? God. So you didn't lie to the people. You lied to the Holy Spirit. You lied to God. They devalued the gospel. Spiritual posers, glory seekers, liars, they were greedy. It says they kept back, or the word is pilfered, they kept it back, some of the proceeds for their own. It's the same idea, really, that Joshua chapter 7 has when he talks about Achan, keeping back for personal use some of the items that had been devoted to God. But the big difference here is that Ananias and Sapphira already owned the property. It was theirs to do with what they wanted to. And they were under no obligation to dispose of it, but they pilfered from God. The greed captured their heart. They wanted the glory and they wanted the goods. And the sad thing is they were Satan's instruments. Verse three tells us that Satan filled their heart to lie. It might interest you to know this is the first post-cross appearance of Satan. Before that, his strategy was to kill Jesus. Now it's to destroy the church, and Luke says this is Satan's work. And I don't understand, honestly, all the nuances, all the dynamics, all the ramifications of what this is saying here, that Satan filled your heart to lie. Because I do think that these were genuine believers. Based on chapter four, verse 32, it says they all have everything in common. So I think they were believers. But I think that they were influenced by Satan. And we must affirm the real influence on the evil one on their thinking and on their actions. How else could they lie to the Holy Spirit? How could they test God? Something influenced them. And the word they're testing is like, just like the Israelites did when they were in the wilderness, testing God to see how much can I get away with? In the same way, for us, Satan tempts us to act unwisely, to be selfish, to act ungodly, tempting us to think that sin is no big deal. He's a liar. Satan is a liar. I mean, even this morning, just to be totally transparent with you, I felt it. Satan said, I feel this, what are you doing preaching today? What if they really know who you are? Oh. But Satan's a liar. Make no mistake, his goal is to steal God's glory and to destroy people, destroy the church. Ananias and Sapphira, they fell for the big lie. They fell for the lie that they could get away with it. And they fell that no one would ever find out. But God knows the heart, and he revealed it to Peter, and Peter called him on it. So the second question that comes to mind, if it's first, is why do they do this? Well, they're spiritual hypocrites. Why did God strike them dead? Why did they drop dead? When you just read through this passage, cursory reading, it seems to play into all the complaints that our worldly system would have about God. Man, he is unfair. Why did they have to die? At least they gave something. They helped somebody. So unfair. Or, God's so unjust. They were believers. They were just misguided. They just made a mistake. That is just so unjust of God. So not right. Wasn't this instantaneous judgment, was this an extreme thing? Well, if one minimizes the offense by minimizing the one against whom the offense was committed, then yes, you could say this is extreme. But let's be reminded, this was not a casual deception. This was a warning to all believers that spiritual deception is heinous to God. He hates it. Ananias and Sapphira did not take God's holiness seriously. And in their worship, their act of worship, they conspired together to lie and to test God for their own glory. There are other times in the Bible when people tested God like Ananias and Sapphira did, and it didn't go so well. Nadab and Abihu, when Aaron's sons Nahab and Abihu offered unauthorized fire, we read about in Leviticus, before the Lord at the tabernacle, he consumed them with fire. God was doing a new thing in the life of his people. He'd just given them the tabernacle with all the regulations about how to worship, but they did not do it God's way. They underestimated God's holiness and they overestimated their own goodness. And they died for it. And just like Peter did, Moses instructed the young men to carry them out and bury them. How about Uzzah and the Ark back in 2 Samuel, when King David brings the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem on a cart led by oxen. They stumble. The Ark of the Covenant begins to fall. Uzzah reaches out with his hand to steady the Ark, and God strikes him dead. It was golden chest with two angelic beings called cherubim on top. It was holy because God resided there, and God had instructed, do not touch it. There's only certain people who can even look at it. I like what R. Z. Sproul says about this in his book on the holiness of God. Uzzah presumed his hands were cleaner than the dirt, and God said no. So was it really necessary? Was it really necessary? Well, suppose you've been feeling poorly for the last few weeks or months, and you've often thought about, I'm gonna go to the doctor and get checked out here. Something's not quite right, but because of other commitments, work, vacation, different things going on, you just keep putting it off, until finally the pain is there, and it's not just discomfort anymore, you're hurting. I gotta go, I gotta go check it out. So the doctor you go to, you get it checked out, and upon examination, the doctor looks at you and says, hey, tomorrow morning, I need you to go see this oncologist. Something's going on here. And then you visit that oncologist the next day, and he says, tomorrow morning, surgery, immediately. It's time. We've got to take care of this. It's not an option. We have to remove it. Leaving the tumor and ignoring the problem is not an option because your continued health is extreme risk. And so I think in much the same way right here is what's happening is that we find an immediate removal of the cancer that's putting the purity of the church in jeopardy. And God says, no, this is a sign from God. I will not be mocked. I will protect the integrity of my church. Paul speaks of judgment in the church later on in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 when he says many people partake of the Lord's table impurely or wrongly. That's why many of you are sick. And he says some of you are dead. It's the same idea. They're asleep. Showing how seriously God regards the purity of the church. So in the end, this is divine judgment of sin in the church. And everyone recognized it. Great fear came upon all of them. So we get to this third question that I have. What is this application for me and you today? How do we think about this? Well, I think helpful for you and me to begin to ask ourselves a series of diagnostic questions when it relates to the holiness of God and our own hypocrisy. Questions like, am I a spiritual poser? Are you a spiritual poser? Are you pretending to be something you're really not? Are you faking it, but everyone thinks you're a model Christian? Do you practice spiritual deceit? Do you actively attempt to make others think you are something you are not? How about this one? Do you get frustrated When Christians around you are obviously not taking their faith as seriously as you do, that's hypocrisy. Do you judge people unfairly by your own standard of acceptable spirituality? And when they don't agree with you, or they do things you don't approve of, or something you simply don't like, think, whew, I wish they could be like me. Do you claim to trust God and His sovereignty, but secretly fret and worry about the things you cannot control? Are you seeking your own glory? These are diagnostic questions that can help reveal in us a heart of pride and deception. And if we answer honestly, we're likely going to find something that we have to take to the Lord and repent of. In his book, The Pursuit of Holiness, Jerry Bridges writes this, hypocrisy sets in because our attitude towards sin is more self-centered than God-centered. So what do we do? Repent. Repent. Repent of our hypocrisy. Don't be like Ananias and Sapphira. Be like Barnabas. Give thanks to the Lord for the grace he gives us to help us avoid hypocrisy and we pursue integrity. God have mercy on me. And be with Jesus. Be with Jesus. Rather than constantly be focused on what am I gonna do for Jesus. Be with him. Cultivate a healthy fear of the Lord that will allow you to worship and serve him in awe and in reverence. And then I say, pursue a healthy understanding of the holiness of God. Because you know what that's gonna do for us? It's gonna help us to be more shocked by the mercy that God has on us than we will be about the judgment he has on sin. Pursue a healthy understanding of the holiness of God. Well, time doesn't permit us to look at the last few verses, but I'll just say here at the conclusion of this account, you would think that Because God has struck people dead, and the church is just going to push people away, and they don't want to be a part of it. Now, there were some people who were standing off, and they said, we don't want to associate with them. Maybe it's because they had sin in their life. But if you read on, down through verse 16, you're going to see that many multitudes of both men and women were continuing to be added to the church. The evil one attempted to take down Jesus. but he was defeated in that attempt. And we see from the very beginning, he's tried to destroy the church from both the outside and the inside to no avail. And the final report, the purity of the early church was maintained. God protected his church and multitudes of men and women have continued to be added to his church to this day. So maybe two closing questions here, two closing questions. In light of this passage, how are you actively working out your faith to maintain the unity in the church? How are you actively working out your faith in order to maintain unity in the church? And two, are there areas of spiritual hypocrisy in your life that must be met with God's mercy and grace? Turn to him. Repent. Be like Barnabas. Don't be like Ananias and Sapphira. Will you pray with me? God, we thank you that you give us your word to help and guide our lives. I'm so thankful for this pictures that Luke has painted for us of life in the church. Will you help us to aspire to be generous, to be trusting, to maintaining unity, to love you, to pursue you, to be with you, to be a lifter up of people? And will you sober us to the fact that we could very easily fall into the trap of believing the lies of Satan and doing our own thing and neglecting and avoiding your holiness So God, when you change us, I pray, will you use this to draw us to you, to be made more into the image of Christ. Amen.