Acts 5:1-16 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is Acts 5:1-16. As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below. Let’s go!
Acts 5:1-11 (NIV)
1 Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property.
2 With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.
3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?
4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.”
5 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.
6 Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.
7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.
8 Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?” “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”
9 Peter said to her, “How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”
10 At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
11 Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
On verses 1-11: What exactly did Ananias and Sapphira do wrong here? Weren’t they generous in giving money to the church? Did God strike them down simply because they kept a bit of the money for themselves? Are we not allowed to keep anything for ourselves when we sell something?
Keep in mind that the church did not put Ananias and Sapphira under any obligation to sell their property or to give to the church any money from the sale. It was up to Ananias and Sapphira to decide what they would do with the property and the money they received if they sold it. The mistake Ananias and Sapphira made was not that they decided to give something to the church. Rather their mistake was that they were dishonest about the kind of offering they said they were giving. Ananias and Sapphira sold their land and then publicly claimed that all of the money they received from the sale they were now giving to the church. However, privately they knew they were keeping a part of the money for themselves. They were lying to God and to the church about the nature of the offering they were giving. By lying, it made their sacrifice and offering seem much more selfless than it actually was.
As Peter says in verse 4, “Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.”
It appears that Ananias and Sapphira were more concerned about how they looked in front of people than how they looked before God.
What can we learn from this? When we focus too much on appearances, we will be tempted to exaggerate and lie just to make ourselves look better. When you give to God, remember that God looks at your heart and how you go about giving, not just the amount you give. Giving generously and living with integrity go hand in hand.
Acts 5:12-14 (NIV)
12 The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade.
13 No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people.
14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.
On verses 12-14: What does it mean when verse 13 says about the church “No one else dared join them” and yet “more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number”? Perhaps what Luke means is that when the church would meet together at the temple in an area called Solomon’s Colonnade, during the time of this public gathering, onlookers would be hesitant to join them because of the persecution or social stigma attached to being a follower of Jesus. Yet they would join them privately and thus more and more believers were being added to the church.
Also, notice that the church was “highly regarded by the people” (v13). Why was the church so highly regarded? It’s not because the rest of Jerusalem believed what the church believed. Rather, it’s because the people in Jerusalem saw the positive impact the church was making in their city, serving the sick, taking care of the poor, bringing hope to many. It’s because they saw Christians as people with integrity that they could respect.
I pray that our church would be that way as well, that we would shine such a great light and make such a positive difference in our community that even those who don’t believe what we believe have no choice but to respect us and look at us favourably.
Acts 5:15-16 (NIV)
15 As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.
16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed.
On verses 15-16: When a church is meeting real needs, bringing real help and hope to people, growth is inevitable. Hope attracts like a magnet. It’s our calling as the church to bring that help and hope to people in our cities.
Holy Spirit, because You test the heart and love integrity, I pray that there would be a consistency in my thoughts, my words and my actions. I pray that I would be far more concerned about what You think than what people think, and that I would live and give with integrity. I also pray for my church, that we would shine such a great light and make such a big difference in our cities that people, though they may not all ascribe to what we believe, cannot help but look at us positively and with favour. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
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