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Acts 5 - Devotion · The Five Minute Bible Podcast

• 0:00
  Welcome to Five Minute Bible in our journey through the New
• 0:02
  Testament. In each episode, we take just a
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  few minutes to focus on one chapter of the New Testament,
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  exploring the truths God is teaching us through His Word and
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  expanding our view of who He is. Before you listen, make sure
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  you've gone straight to the source, either by reading
• 0:19
  today's chapter of the Bible yourself or listening to today's
• 0:22
  read along episode in this podcast feed.
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  If you haven't done that yet, feel free to pause and do that
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  now. And when you're ready, let's
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  dive into God's Word together. Acts chapter 5 begins with a
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  shocking scene, the death of early church members Ananias and
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  his wife Sapphira. Before we get there, we need to
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  rewind just a few verses to the end of Acts chapter 4.
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  It's here that we meet Barnabas. We'll see a lot more about
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  Barnabas in this book of Acts. What we learn in chapter 4 is
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  that Barnabas real name is Joseph and he's a Levite from
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  Cyprus. His nickname, Barnabas means son
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  of encouragement. So you can probably guess what
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  kind of guy Barnabas is. At the very end of Acts chapter
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  4, Barnabas sells a piece of property that he owned and gives
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  all the proceeds of the sale to the apostles to be used to meet
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  needs within the church. This incredibly generous gift
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  lines up with the spirit of generosity and care that we see
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  in this early church. In fact, Acts 244 through 47
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  describes the early church this way.
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  And all those who had believed were together and had all things
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  in common. They began selling their
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  property and possessions and were sharing them with all as
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  anyone might have need day-to-day, continuing with one
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  mind in the temple and breaking bread from house to house.
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  They were taking their meals together with gladness and
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  sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the
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  people. And the Lord was adding to their
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  number day by day those who were being saved.
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  Now this brings us to Acts chapter 5.
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  What you need to remember here is that though these acts of
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  generosity were normal in the church, they were not required.
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  The entry ticket, and this can be backed up throughout the New
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  Testament to church membership, was not selling all your
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  property and giving it to the church.
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  Ananias and Sapphira at the beginning of chapter 5 decide to
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  make a similar sale to the one that Barnabas made in chapter 4.
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  They have a piece of property, sell it, and lay what they
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  claimed was the full amount of the proceeds at the feet of the
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  apostles. However, they were lying, they
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  kept back some of the sale price for themselves, and what happens
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  from here is nothing short of tragic.
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  Peter, knowing by the Holy Spirit that this was not the
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  full amount, asked Ananias why he has lied.
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  He tells him that this property was his.
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  In other words, he tells him you didn't have to sell this
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  property, you didn't have to hand over the full amount to the
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  church, but you lied and you said you did hand it over.
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  And that's the problem. Peter tells him that he's not
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  just lied to men, he's lied to God.
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  And in that moment Ananias falls down and dies on the spot.
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  Now Peter brings in Ananias wife Sapphira.
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  He gives her an opportunity to confess to her lies to come
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  clean of this sinful act. She doesn't though.
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  She double s down saying yes, that was the price.
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  And just like her husband, she falls down dead.
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  Now there's a lot going on here. On one hand, God is establishing
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  the apostles as leaders of the church.
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  After this scene, this church is filled with fear of the
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  apostles. He's recognizing and confirming
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  their leadership at the same time, God's making clear that
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  the church is called to holiness.
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  This is a new people, and their way of living ought to be new.
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  It's fair to assume, based on the fact that this story
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  immediately follows the story of Barnabas selling this tract of
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  land. The Ananias and Sapphira decided
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  to make this move out of a desire for notoriety and fame.
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  Maybe they like the way Barnabas was honored and talked about
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  after he generously sold his land and donated the proceeds.
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  They couldn't go all in, though. Their selfish motives betrayed
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  them and they were unable to give this gift earnestly.
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  And so we as God's people today are left with this glaring
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  contrast. Genuine, heartfelt generosity
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  versus benevolence for show we are seeing lived out in the
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  early church Jesus commentary in Matthew 6 that we should not
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  give to be noticed by men. Here's the kicker.
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  This takes place in the church. Ananias and Sapphira were part
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  of the people of God. They weren't outsiders putting
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  on a show. These are church members.
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  And that's what we cannot miss, even in the church.
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  Maybe, especially in the church, we'll be tempted to live in
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  arrogance about our own righteousness, to live lives
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  that appear holy for the sake of being noticed by those around
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  us. But take this lesson from
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  Ananias and Sapphira to heart. There is no room in Christchurch
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  for self righteousness and hypocrisy.
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  Serve the Lord in whatever way He's called you, with pure
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  motives and genuine love. Live for Him, not for yourself,
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  and experience His joy and reward.