Acts 4:32-5:11: Ananias and Sapphira

This lesson was divided into two separate lessons.

Watch "1. What did they do?" on YouTube, or listen to it here.

Watch "2. Why did they do it?" on YouTube, or listen to it here.

Introduction

1)     It looks like there are two stories (4:32-37; 5:1-11) AND they are divided by a chapter break, BUT they obviously belong together so make sure to read them as a unit.

2)     This material also flows from Acts 2:42-47.

A)   3:1-4:31 is surrounded on both sides by an ongoing story in the first church:

B)    2:42 – Fellowship

1)     2:44-45

C)    3:32-37

3)     5:1ff. – And now we have a bump in the road.

This lesson will come in two questions:

1)     Question 1: What did they do that was wrong?

A)   This is a problem for me because there is the answer that I WANT to be true, and the answer that I THINK is true that I don’t like. Or at least the second part is a part of the truth.

1)     (what I want to be true) – The main problem was deceit (esp. v. 4, also v. 8-9).

2)     I have an uncomfortable feeling that this might not be the full picture.

B)    Their problem is that they kept some back / he didn’t give everything.

1)     This one is harder. If deceit is what they did wrong, no problem: just don’t lie. If holding back is what they did wrong, then I need to actively give myself entirely. That’s harder.

Consider 3 things:

2)     cf.

(a)   4:32b – “…no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.” (then vv. 34ff.)

(b)   5:2 – “he kept back for himself”

(c)   5:3 – Accusation: “…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?”

3)     Luke has a major emphasis on money (more than other Gospel writers):

(a)   10:29-37 – The Good Samaritan (only in Luke).

(i)    v. 35 – “And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’”

(b)   cf. Matt. 10:37-38 / Lk. 14:25-27 – Conditions of discipleships: hate father, mother, wife, children…

(i)    Only Luke adds vv. 28-33.

(ii)  v. 33 – So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

(c)   12:13-21 - Parable of the rich fool (only Luke) (esp. v. 21).

(d)   16:1-12 (only in Luke) - Dishonest manager.

(i)    v. 13 is also in Matt. 6:24, but in a different context. Luke is all about money.

(e)   16:14-15 – The Pharisees, who were lovers of money…”

(f)    16:19-31 – The rich man and Lazarus (only in Luke).

(g)   19:1-10 – Zacchaeus (only in Luke).

(i)    v. 2 – Chief tax collector, and he was rich.

(ii)  v. 8 – “Half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.”

4)     v. 3 – “Keep back”

(a)   This word is only used 3 times in the NT (Acts 5:2, 3; Titus 2:10 – “pilfering”).

(i)    NIV – “not to steal”

(b)   BDAG – To put aside for oneself, of engagement in a type of skimming operation.

(c)   L/N - To misappropriate funds for one’s own benefit—‘to misappropriate funds for oneself, to embezzle.’

C)   Conclusion: What did they do that was wrong?

1)     They lied – Yes.

2)     But also, they held back, and didn’t give everything they had.

(a)   KEY: Lk. 14:25-26, 33 – “Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”

(b)   Deut. 6:5 – “You shall love the Lord your God with ALL your heart and ALL your soul and ALL your might.”

(c)   Rom. 12:1 – We present our bodies to God as a living sacrifice.

3)     God demands EVERYTHING from us, and nothing less will suffice.

2)     Question 2: Why did they do it?

A)   v.  3 – Satan in the background.

1)     cf. Judas – Lk. 22:3 (note money is involved).

2)     cf.

(a)   2:4 – Filled with the Holy Spirit.

(b)   4:33 – “great grace was upon them all”

(c)   5:3 – Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit.

B)    Lie (Dark hearts).

1)     v. 2 – Premeditated lie (conspiracy).

2)     v. 4 – “Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart?”

3)     v. 8 – Sapphira had a chance to tell the truth.

4)     NOTE: Take some time here to talk about the confidence that we have in Jesus verses the knowledge that we fail and need to do more (I die daily).

(a)   cf. Heb. 10 – go on sinning deliberately

C)   Desire to be seen.

1)     Sermon on the Mount

(a)   POINT: It is better to do nothing than to do something good for the purpose of being seen.

(b)   Matt. 6:2 – Giving.

(c)   Matt. 6:5 – Praying to be seen.

(d)   Matt. 6:7 – Praying to be impressive.

(e)   Matt. 6:16 – Fasting to be seen by others.

2)     This might be the core problem in this story.

(a)   4:36-37 – Barnabas gives, people know it, they give him a name, “the son of encouragement.”

(b)   Ananias and Sapphira say, “Hey, we want people to say things like this about us too.”

(c)   They’re not giving because great grace has fallen upon them, but because of what they think they can get out of it.

3)     Conclusions

A)   “The sequence of sin is never isolated. The desire for praise and perhaps a desire to hang on to possessions led to lying…Sin almost never comes in a single package; it begets more sin.”[1]

B)    Why such a harsh judgement?

1)     cf.

(a)   Lev. 10:2 – Nabad & Abihu – Right at the start of the Old Covenant

(b)   Josh. 7:1, 19-26 – Achan – Right at the start of entering the Promised land.

(c)   Acts 5 – Ananias & Sapphira – Right at the start of Christianity.

2)     God makes a point right at the start of something to teach his people that he’s not messing around.

3)     cf.

(a)   Acts 5:11

(b)   Idolatry: Deut. 12:29ff. / 13:6-11 (esp. v. 11)

(i)    Deut. 17:11-13; Deut. 19:20; 21:21

(c)   LESSON: God is not messing around.

[1] Darrell L. Bock, Acts, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2007), 227.