The Subtle Attacks of Satan
Acts 4:32 – 5:11
May 6, 2012
Last week we saw the church under attack
And we saw the church thriving under those attacks.
Peter and John were arrested and threatened,
But that did not deter them nor those who believed with them.
Peter told the Sanhedrin that they must obey God rather than man,
And when they shared with the congregation about the threat
The congregation didn’t retreat, they focused on their big God
And prayed for boldness.
In short, the threat of persecution didn’t faze the church.
And that is the first thing I want to show you tonight.
So let’s look at that and then
I want to show you something else that is very important.
But first off, we recognize that the church was un-phased by the threats.
#1 THE CHURCH’S POWER
Acts 4:32-36
That is a great statement about the church and who they are.
Let me show you a previous statement about the church that we studied:
Acts 2:41-47 “So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.”
That was the church immediately after Pentecost
Back when there was no threat of persecution.
And yet after persecution begins, they are still the same church!
Still unified, still bold, still sharing their possessions.
They don’t seem fazed in the least.
3 things we see here as we notice the church’s power.
1) THEIR UNITY (32)
What a statement!
“And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul;”
It is obvious that persecution
Hadn’t caused so much as a crack in their unity.
You would expect that today if threats came and persecution began
That there would at least be some who think boldness was a bad idea.
You would hope the majority would do as this church did and focus on God and pray for boldness,
But you would still expect that at least some would disagree.
But they didn’t in this church.
They were all on board.
They “were of one heart and soul”
They were unified.
And this is one of the marks of a great church.
Because there is such a push these days for some sort of surface unity,
Unity can get sort of a bad name, but please understand
Unity is important and it is the mark of a great church.
WHY UNITY?
For one reason, BECAUSE GOD IS ONE.
When the Corinthians had division and fighting Paul asked them:
1 Corinthians 1:13 “Has Christ been divided?”
A divided church makes Christ appear to be a little bit of a schizophrenic.
• One group says baptism is necessary another says it isn’t…
• One says salvation is secure, another says it isn’t…
• One says the Bible is God’s Word, another says it isn’t…
• One says holiness is required, another says it isn’t…
And all claim that Jesus told them that.
• So can Jesus just not keep His story straight from church to church?
• Is Jesus confused about baptism, security, the Bible and holiness?
Certainly not.
But it sure appears that way to a lost world when there is such division.
Another reason is because TRUTH IS SINGULAR.
Paul wrote to the Ephesians
Ephesians 4:1-6 “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.”
Truth is not relative as our world would so readily declare it.
According to our world, everyone is right and no one is
All at the same time.
But truth is truth and it always has been truth.
2+2 always =4
That is the truth.
If truth is singular then the church has no excuse for not being unified.
The church by definition is “the pillar and support of the truth”
And so if we are not unified then we are obviously not all supporting truth.
Another reason is because JESUS WANTS IT THAT WAY.
Colossians says that Jesus is the head of the church and we are His body
Jesus is the Lord of the church.
If He is Lord then His will is supreme.
And His will is unity.
John 17:20-21 “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.”
That verse also indicates that unity is important
TO VALIDATE OUR MESSAGE.
“so that the world may believe that You sent Me”
And so you see why unity in the church matters.
Now, I agree I don’t want some sort of sentimental surface unity
Where we all agree to disagree and smile at Thanksgiving
While we all preach a drastically different gospel.
That is nonsense, and I certainly don’t want that.
But that does not mean that unity isn’t important,
It is, and we are to work to achieve it.
The early church was a great church because they had unity.
Let me show you another mark of this great church.
2) THEIR AUTHORITY (33)
The apostles didn’t just preach with power,
They preached with “great power”
They didn’t just have grace on them
They had “abundant grace” on them.
And they had it because they
“were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus”
They were not intimidated.
Again, in our world of uncertainties, this church was not uncertain.
Paul told Titus:
Titus 2:15 “These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.”
The early church had that.
Not intimidated in the least.
Unity, Authority
3) THEIR CHARITY (34-35)
You could really even include the end of verse 32 which says, “and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them.”
CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?
Not only that they did it, but “not one” of them resisted.
They didn’t even have a sour apple in the group
That refused loving charity to those in need.
And because of this, “there was not a needy person among them”
WHY?
Because those who had enough
Freely sacrificed to take care of those who did not.
Even to the point of selling property to fill a need.
Now it’s one thing to give of your surplus,
But it’s quite a different thing to sell something you can’t get back to share.
That is deep deep charity.
And that is also the mark of a great church.
John said:
1 John 3:16-17 “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?”
James said
James 2:15-17 “If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”
This church had it figured out.
• You would think that this new threat of persecution would have put a
crack in their unity, but it didn’t.
• You would think that this new threat of persecution would have slowed
their preaching, but it didn’t.
• You would think this new threat of persecution would have caused
them to tighten their fists to brace for any coming hardship, but it
didn’t.
They are the same church after persecution that they were before it.
And from that we see that while we often fear persecution,
It has never been a factor able to stop the church.
Church history proves that the church has thrived under persecution.
Outward hostility has never been the biggest threat to the church.
Worldly persecution has never been the church’s biggest danger.
WHAT IS?
Inward deception.
Satan has never caused as much danger to the church
Through outward persecution has he has through inward deception.
He is far more successful placing SPIES INSIDE the church
Then he has ever been with SOLDIERS OUTSIDE the church.
This is why Scripture gives so many warnings
About this dangerous inner influence.
Galatians 2:4 “But it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage.”
Jude 4 “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
2 Peter 2:1-3 “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”
And these subtle and dangerous influences are very potent
And dangerous in the church.
That is why we get such warnings about them in Scripture.
1 Corinthians 5:6 “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?”
Galatians 5:7-9 “You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.”
All one has to do is look at the churches of the Revelation.
Pergamum was a church in danger
Revelation 2:14-16 “But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. ‘So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. ‘Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.”
Thyatira was a church already fallen
Revelation 2:20-23 “But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. ‘I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality. ‘Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. ‘And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.”
It is the deceptive danger of a sinful inner influence
That is most dangerous to the church.
And so while the church here shined amidst persecution,
Now we turn to see the really dangerous problem they faced.
The Church’s Power
#2 THE CHURCH’S PROBLEM
Acts 4:36 – 5:11
Now here there are four things I want you to see.
1) THE CONTRIBUTION (36-37)
There is certainly nothing in the world wrong with this incident.
Luke had mentioned how some were selling the property to meet the needs of others and here he gives an example of what he means.
This may have in fact been the initial example.
It is quite likely that Joseph here started the ministry
By being the first to sell property and give it to the church.
Because of his generosity he was given a nickname.
“Barnabas”
“(which translated means Son of Encouragement)”
So his name wasn’t Barnabas, his name was Joseph
But his nickname was “encourager”
And the idea is that he gave the church significant encouragement
Through his selfless example.
• He encouraged the poor that they were loved
• He encouraged the rich to be generous
• He encouraged the apostles who wanted their children to walk in truth
The point is that what Joseph did was highly encouraging to the church
And no doubt earned him a high reputation.
He certainly didn’t do it for the recognition,
But recognition found him none the less.
The Contribution
2) THE COUNTERFEIT (4:1-2)
On one hand you had Joseph who did it correctly,
But it is obvious that the accolades he received
Were a tremendous temptation to some of the other members.
For here we have “Ananias, with his wife Sapphira”
And they also “sold a piece of property”
And they also laid the money “at the apostle’s feet”
The only difference was that Ananias and Sapphira
“kept back some of the price for himself”
Now, there was no sin in keeping some of the money.
• No law said he had to sell the land,
• No law said he had to give all the money.
The sin is in the fact that he pretended like he did.
And here for the first time sin tries to enter the congregation.
MacArthur likened this to the Old Testament account of Achan.
“the troubler of Israel”
Joshua 7:1 “But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban, for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the things under the ban, therefore the anger of the LORD burned against the sons of Israel.”
Joshua 7:25 “Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? The LORD will trouble you this day.” And all Israel stoned them with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.”
He was a man who let his own greed bring sin into the camp
With such a result that God’s favor turned away.
Achan’s greed brought trouble on Israel.
That was the threat here.
The Contribution, The Counterfeit
3) THE CONFRONTATION (3-6)
Peter immediately calls him on it.
• We aren’t told how Peter knew Ananias was lying.
• Perhaps someone informed him…
• Perhaps the Holy Spirit made it known…
But either way Peter was brought to light as to what was occurring,
And Peter was infuriated by this subtle attack on the church.
“Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land?”
Last Sunday morning we talked about selfish ambition and jealousy.
No doubt Ananias had both.
He was JEALOUS of the praise heaped on Barnabas
And he was AMBITIOUS to receive the same praise for himself.
We also learned who is at the root of jealousy and ambition.
James 3:13-16 “Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.”
And that is exactly what Peter said here.
“why has Satan filled your heart..?”
• This was not some secondary incident.
• This was not some coincidental accident.
This was a full scale attack from Satan against Christ’s church.
Satan tried to attack from the outside through the Sanhedrin
And the church went on in unity, authority, and charity.
So now Satan attacks the unity, authority, and charity
With seductive attack from within.
Satan filled the heart of Ananias with ambition and jealousy
And Ananias took the bait and lied to God in order to get gain for himself.
And as Peter noted, this was unnecessary.
(4) “While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”
Ananias may have thought, this was harmless,
After all the poor were still being helped.
Ananias may have also thought that he was merely fooling men.
But Peter clarifies, “You have not lied to men but to God”
And the result of this confrontation.
(5-6) “And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came over all who heard of it. The young men got up and covered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him.”
The point was clearly made.
You don’t go to church and lie to God.
NOW JUST FOR A MOMENT MAYBE WE SHOULD EXAMINE
WHY THIS WAS SUCH A BIG DEAL
There are a lot of churches that would say, “So he didn’t give it all, at least he gave some and that is helpful…”
There are some churches today who wouldn’t care
If deception was involved so long as they got the money.
I’ve been around some churches who would take a tithe off a band robbery.
WHY WAS IT SUCH A BIG DEAL?
BECAUSE IT PROMOTED HYPOCRISY
• Which do you suppose God desires more money or truth?
• Which is more important to God in regard to His church, finances or integrity?
What is happening here is opening the door
For the church to completely change directions.
If what Ananias did catches on,
The entire focus of the church could change
From a group of people seeking the glory of God
To a group of people seeking praise from each other.
That is why we talked last Sunday morning about things like the church being careful who they praise.
Think about the children for a moment.
Paul said a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.
When a child comes to church what do you think they are taught, just by what they see?
• They are told they look nice when they wear a cute dress or outfit…
• They are told they did good when they sing in front of the church…
• They see us pat the preacher on the back…
• They see us applaud the soloists…
And again I’m not saying words of encouragement
Or even appreciating someone who sings or preaches is a bad thing.
But the danger is that our kids learn
That church is a place to get accolades, and they miss the point.
This was the danger trying to infiltrate the church here.
Satan was trying to shift the focus of the church from a place that gives God glory to a place that seeks God’s glory for themselves.
This was so dangerous that Ananias lost his life.
The Contribution, The Counterfeit, The Confrontation
4) THE CONSPIRACY (7-10)
“an interval of about three hours and his wife came in”
MacArthur asked, “How long does it take you to do your hair?”
But that was the point.
She was waiting to make her grand entrance
And the Bible intensely warns about this sort of thing.
Matthew 6:1-3 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. “So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. “But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,”
Sapphira was blasting the trumpet, she was ready for glory.
But, like her husband, Peter stops her in her tracks.
(8-10) “And Peter responded to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for such and such a price?” And she said, “Yes, that was the price.” Then Peter said to her, “Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.” And immediately she fell at his feet and breathed her last, and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.”
(Let me go on record as saying ushers have it much easier today)
• And so she also was instantly judged.
• God was not about to let this leaven infect the entire lump.
• God was punishing them publicly to leave little doubt as to where He stood.
And let me show you the final thing
5) THE CONSECRATION (11)
I think that is an understatement.
“fear” is PHOBOS
Where we get our word for phobia.
These people had “publicgiveaphobia”
They learned real quickly and without confusion
That you don’t go to church and steal God’s glory,
And you don’t go to church and lie to God.
1 Peter 1:17-21 “If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”
This is also what Peter meant when he said:
1 Peter 4:17 “For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”
It is a serious thing to be a hypocrite in the house of God.
• It is a serious thing to be shady leaven infecting the body.
• It is a serious thing to give the wrong impression.
• It is a serious thing to lead others the wrong way.
And God put a stop to it here.
But all that really does is reinforce what Jesus has taught us:
Matthew 18:6-7 “but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!”
• This is why Paul handed that one sinning brother over to Satan…
• This is why Paul removed Hymenaus and Alexander so they would be taught not to blaspheme…
• This is why God was killing some of the Corinthians for their hypocrisy surrounding the Lord’s Supper…
They were putting the church at risk, and God would not have it.
The point tonight is obvious.
1) The most dangerous attacks against the church don’t come from outside, they come from within, be alert.
2) Make sure when you become a part of Christ’s church you do so in genuineness and truth, not hypocrisy.
Consecrate yourselves and have a little holy fear.
Do what you do for the glory of God.
And do not let Satan fill your heart with jealousy and ambition
So you lie to God, lie to the church, and blaspheme God’s name.
That is a serious offense.
Be real in the church.
1 Peter 4:17 “For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? “
