If you have your Bible, please turn to the end of Acts 4:32. Last month we looked at “the Power of the Spirit Unveiled” in the healing of a lame man and the apostles’ first direct confrontation with the Jerusalem Council. I mentioned how there was a motif of action and reaction between the believing community’s new growth and hostile opposition. This pattern has been experienced by missionary evangelists worldwide. Satan and his host never yield their domains without a fight; and I believe God intended for the Church to contend with opposition. It forces us to rely completely on God for guidance and grace to overcome.

³² Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. ³³ And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. ³⁴ There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold ³⁵ and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. ³⁶ Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, ³⁷ sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

It is ironic that perhaps the most famous example of communism in the ancient world came from the early Church in Jerusalem. And yet 20^th century Communism was a hideous form of tyranny that ruthlessly persecuted Christians in Russia, China, Eastern Europe and elsewhere.

As I mentioned last month, a communal economy is hard to sustain, because people invariably work most productively for self-interest, not communal interest. That’s why socialism that refuses to reward private enterprise is a doomed form of politics and economics, one that invariably falls back on state coercion and wars against the Church.

But in first century Jerusalem there was a short, blessed season of a supernatural economy. God attended the actions of the apostles with signs and wonders, and with a sense of expectancy, perhaps, of the Lord’s imminent return. People weren’t thinking about their retirement legacy, but only this soul-thrilling, Messianic movement that promised eternal life with the God of Israel.

At this time we see the generosity of a Jewish Cypriot named Joseph, known as Barnabas, the son of encouragement. Barnabas appears later in Luke’s account as the one who accompanied Paul on his first missionary journey. Barnabas is my role model for a believer, because I love encouraging others with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Barnabas showed great generosity in selling a piece of land and donating it all to the apostles for the support of new believers.

In Chapter five, however, we see another side of the Spirit’s actions: tough Church discipline. Reading from v.1: “But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, ² and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. ³ But Peter said, “Ananias, 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? ⁴ While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” ⁵ When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. ⁶ The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.”

⁷ After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸ And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” ⁹ But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” ¹⁰ Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in, they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹ And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

This is a fiercely serious act of God, and one which might well disturb our soul. The punishment seems extremely harsh for the level of infraction. How many of us feel we deserve execution for fudging on the truth? How many of us can look in a mirror and say, “I’ve never acted selfishly and dishonestly like Ananias and Sapphira”?

We need to look more carefully at this incident, especially at its context, to see its implications and shape our understanding of this infinite Person who is God, the Holy Spirit. The context is critically important. I am unaware of any other time in Church history where God struck dead someone for giving only half of a land sale to God. So it wasn’t their half-generosity alone that was fatal.

Peter never accused Ananias of stinginess, but of lying to the Holy Spirit. Selling a piece of land and giving half the proceeds to God’s work is a generous act. Ananias and Sapphira must have been among those who had recently been converted and baptized into the early Messianic movement. Why else would they have contributed generously to it? Their deceit was in feigning to give all the proceeds to the apostles.

Peter asked, “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?” Let’s think about what Peter said. First, Peter’s revelation about what Ananias and Sapphira had done was a divine word of knowledge imparted by the Holy Spirit. He also knew Satan was behind this lie. This was a serious charge. God’s archenemy was subtly attempting to infiltrate the early Messianic community with the corruption of greed, hypocrisy and guile.

This was a serious threat to the future of Christ’s movement; and the Holy Spirit acted with swift and deadly judgment. Better that two errant believers be punished for their presumption and guile than for the work of Christ to be tainted with corruption and compromise from the outset.

If Ananias had meekly asked Peter if it would be OK to donate only half their proceeds to the cause, Peter would have replied something like this: “Do as the Lord tells you” or “Give according to your faith.” He would have thanked and blessed them for giving to the Lord’s work. This is implied by the way Peter regarded Ananias’ right to use his land and proceeds as he saw fit. He said, “While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal?”

During His ministry on earth Jesus received generous donations from affluent women and others; but nowhere did he demand they give everything they owned to His cause. That’s what cults tend to do.

Paul later gave the Corinthians the biblical standard for grace giving. 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 says: “Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁷ Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” So, God gives everyone the right to decide how much to give, unless He gives a clear and unambiguous command in how much to give. And even then, I know of no clear example of someone dying for not having the faith to give everything God told them to give. There was something unique about this particular incident that the Holy Spirit intended to set the tone for the early Messianic movement.

Peter told Ananias and Saphira that they were lying to the Holy Spirit and again to “the Spirit of the Lord”. When the Spirit is moving mightily it’s dangerous to oppose or undermine his working. I doubt God would have slain Ananias and Sapphira for wanting to retain some money for their old age even if He had told them to give all of the money to the apostles. God is not an extortioner.

No, it was the connivance of Ananias and Sapphira to appear as equally extravagant in their giving as the others. They wanted to look as good as Barnabas and others, and perhaps were afraid to look less generous than the others. It was the pride of appearances that was at the root of their lie; and that pride and lying in a period of an intensely Spirit-filled revival proved fatal to them. God made a stunning act of judgment to the early believers to instill a holy fear of lying to the Holy Spirit.

Being transparent before God and others is a really important virtue in God’s Kingdom. First of all, God is a God of truth, of what really is, whereas Satan is the father of lies. So lying positions you in Satan’s camp, even when you profess faith in Christ.

I personally believe that Ananias and Sapphira are not in hell for their transgression, unless they were just pretend believers who had been caught up in the enthusiasm of the hour. Peter said they lied to the Holy Spirit, not blasphemed the Holy Spirit, which Jesus called the unpardonable sin. No doubt they lost much of their heavenly reward; but if they were baptized into Christ, I don’t believe they lost their salvation for one dishonest act. However, their deaths served the spiritual health of the whole Christian community in those early days.

Don’t treat God lightly in anything that pertains to His Church and kingdom! You are accountable for knowing God’s will revealed in the Bible. Your integrity is of utmost importance to God; for integrity is the basis of trust and friendship.

After their deaths, Luke records, “great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.” There is a proper place for fear when we deal with God. God spoke forcefully through the last prophet under the Old Covenant. Malachi 1:14 says, “Cursed be the swindler who has a male in his flock and vows it, but sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord, for I am a great King,” says the Lord of hosts, “and My name is feared among the nations.”

Do you see the parallel between the swindler who violated God’s law by offering a defective animal from his flock for sacrifice, and Ananias and Sapphira’s decision to feign giving a complete sacrifice of their land sale to God’s work? They were fatally cursed by God for a false, swindling act of worship.

There’s something we can learn from this episode that will hold us in good stead with God in life. Generosity and grace-filled living go hand in hand. God is the source of all generosity and grace; and grace is what we need most to thrive as believers. All of creation reflects God’s extravagant generosity. Consider a universe filled with billions of trillions of stars. That’s extravagant power. Or this earth filled with marine, land and bird life and plants of incredible variety. That’s an extravagant endowment of life to our planet.

Or consider the richness of human cultures and expressions that God has allowed, and even cultivated, in our world. That’s extravagant kindness and forbearance toward human freedom and creativity, but also for also our selfishness and perversity. Jesus said God is kind to sinners; and God causes the sun to shine upon the evil and the good, and rain to fall upon the just and the unjust. Aren’t you glad that God doesn’t swiftly punish sinners for violating His moral law?

This act of divine judgment came when the Holy Spirit was moving powerfully amidst Christ’s New Covenant people. There is a corresponding responsibility that falls upon Christians when God is moving mightily. God wants to be treated as holy. If the Holy Spirit is doing signs and wonders, it’s dangerous to treat His presence lightly.

I read about an early 20^th century, Pentecostal meeting where the Spirit was moving. A couple men came in and openly mocked how people responded to the Spirit. Some of their reactions no doubt seemed extreme to outsiders. But when these mockers openly disrupted the service, they but suddenly became terrified and dropped dead. Once again, holy fear came upon the people.

In the Northern Irish revival of 1859, people frequently swooned and fell to the ground under Holy Spirit conviction. A teenage boy in Fermanagh province thought he’d feign swooning and told his friends what he intended to do. As the revival preacher spoke, he fell to the ground in mockery of the Spirit’s conviction. But he never got up again; he was struck dead for his insolence.

So if you’re ever in a revival atmosphere where there’s a strong moving of the Spirit, act reverently. Don’t put God to the test as Ananias and Sapphira did.

Let’s continue on from Acts 5, v.12: “Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. ¹³ None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. ¹⁴ And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, ¹⁵ so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. ¹⁶ The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.”

Even at this early stage in the new community, many Jews were afraid to associate with the believers, for fear of the Jewish council, and their legal and economic power. Even so, Luke said, “the people held them in high esteem.”

Luke said the “multitudes of both men and women” joined the new Messianic flock. One evident reason is the power of the Holy Spirit that brought healing to many. The anointing appeared to be so strong on Peter that they brought their sick into the street so that “at least his shadow might fall on some of them.” Such was their faith in Peter’s anointing as an apostle.

I don’t know if Peter’s shadow was needed for divine healing to occur; but I believe that honoring God’s anointed leaders allowed for divine healing. God is a God of order, who reigns over an orderly kingdom. So honoring those in authority who bear the word of God allowed the flow of God’s Spirit for healing to continue. Unity is the basis for power in God’s kingdom, whereas as strife and contention stifle the work of the Spirit. The sense of unity among the believers was so strong that people from outlying cities brought sick and demonized people to them; and they were all being healed.

What can we learn from this moment of early Church history, where the anointing of the Spirit was so strong? One thing is to appreciate the environment you are in. Even though we are not presently in an atmosphere of intense Holy Spirit anointing, He is still here, and here with the power to save, heal and deliver from satanic oppression. Your genuine enthusiasm and support for God’s work wherever you are allows for more of the Spirit’s work to change lives for the better.

Second, be prepared to respond positively whenever you see God at work around you. Be willing to accept that every situation he find yourself in is an invitation to exercise positive faith. Sometimes you can’t easily bring Jesus into the conversation; but you can always model Christ’s goodness and concern for others. You can offer to pray for someone who has a genuine hurt or concern. Most inmates have these concerns, so be alert to the opportunity to point someone to Christ as the ultimate answer to their needs.

The people outside Jerusalem brought their sick to the apostles for healing. Can we not encourage others to seek God by attending good Christian services, or reading the Bible or listening to an uplifting song? Believe that you can be an instrument for positive change or emotional healing in someone’s life and you’ll be surprised by how God steers needy people your way.

The apostles and early believers were riding high for a while, but opposition quickly struck back. Reading on from v. 17 of chapter 5:

¹⁷ But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy ¹⁸ they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. ¹⁹ But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, ²⁰ “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.” ²¹ And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.

So the high priest tried to arrest all the apostles; but an angel released them from jail. He told them to go to the temple and preach the gospel! What a shock that must have been to the priests – a mass escape from jail! They investigated and found the doors locked and the prison guards were oblivious to the apostles’ release. No doubt they failed to do a morning count.

Angels can operate inside and outside of space and time and can project imagery into human minds that we cannot distinguish from reality. So the apostles’ release may have taken less than a minute chronologically, or else the angel blinded the guards’ minds to not see what was happening right in front of them. Either way, their release was supernaturally aided.

The Bible says angels are ministering spirits sent to render help to God’s people. Angels are all about us; so the natural and supernatural are never far apart for God’s children. Trust in their willingness to help you, too, when you pray.

Suddenly, someone reported that the apostles were standing outside their chambers proclaiming Jesus to the people, just as the angel told them to do! So the priests sent officers to arrest the apostles again.

“And the high priest questioned them, ²⁸ saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” ²⁹ But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. ³⁰ The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. ³¹ God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. ³² And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

Peter seized the opportunity to declare three truths of utmost importance to you and me today. First, he rebutted their command to cease preaching Jesus. Peter spoke for the apostles, “We must obey God rather than men.” Fifteen centuries later, the Christian Reformers formulated a just doctrine of disobedience to governing authorities, which at that time meant the Catholic kingdoms of Europe.

Scripture charges you and me to obey laws and authorities at all times, unless those authorities compel us to disobey God in one of two ways. The first is commanding us to violate the moral will or law of God. The second is when government forbids you to do what God commands. The second is what Peter affirmed. We must disobey government in those two, and only those two, instances. And we must be wise, faithful to the Scriptures and willing to bear the consequences when we do.

Second, Peter immediately went to the core of our faith: the death and resurrection of Jesus, who is our Leader and Savior who grants us the ability to change (repentance) and then forgiveness of our sins. We should never disobey pesky laws that we don’t like; but we must disobey when laws prevent us from declaring ultimate truth – the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Third, the apostles declared they were witnesses of these two great truths, along with the Holy Spirit – God’s gift to all Christ followers. In John’s gospel, Jesus affirmed the central role the Spirit has in empowering our witness for the Savior, “I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. ⁸ And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.”

Let’s go back now and consider the Christian doctrine of civil disobedience. In the first instance, no government has the right to compel us to be false witnesses in court, to steal or harm others unjustly, or violate our conscience. But in this widely diverse, pluralistic world peoples’ “rights” or identities can collide against others’ sense of liberty or conscience.

The demand to compromise freedom of conscience or beliefs is the trickiest and most contentious in our country. Does a cake baker, out of Christian moral conscience have a right to refuse to make a wedding cake celebrating a gay marriage? What about a wedding photographer? These matters are being fought in state and federal courts, and become the grist of what is called “the culture war.” Any area where commerce or public practice collides with the moral demands of scripture can become a ground for legal contention.

I don’t have easy answers to provide you as to when you must take a stand and risk being arrested, sued or fired. The moral and social ground is shifting beneath our feet. Whether you choose to battle the authorities as a few have done, or look for a work-around or compromise, I can’t tell you what you must do except to obey your conscience and the clear commands of scripture. I advise you to seek wise and godly counsel before you take on an authority. There are right and wrong ways to appeal a perceived injustice or assert religious liberty.

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness.” He also said, “Be shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves.” I say pick your battles wisely, and ask yourself, “Is this a cause worth suffering for?” before you resist authority in the workplace or in the community.

The second reason is when government forbids us from doing what God commands us to do. In many countries with Communist or other religious elites, Christians have to meet in secret or risk arrest, imprisonment or harm. I urge you to learn about and pray for persecuted Christians in our world; for they are on the front lines in a cosmic struggle for the Kingdom of God against Satan and for religious liberty.

Our founding fathers made religious liberty the first of our First Amendment rights for good reason. They understood that without freedom of religion no other freedom can be safe. For true religion speaks to the ultimate meaning and purpose of our existence. Without God, societies and governments are without restraint and are capable of any level of atrocity or genocide.

In America, that’s not as much a danger. But what about sharing Jesus with a colleague at work? How far can you go in expressing your faith in the workplace? These are tough issues that you may face at some time when you release from prison. Seek wise counsel from your brothers in Christ, and stand firmly for righteousness and your faith, as you are able.

God used the most esteemed Jewish scholar of his time, Gamaliel – the future Apostle Paul’s mentor- to dissuade the council from harming the apostles. The council settled for beating the apostles with rods for disobeying their edict and charging them not to speak in Jesus’ name. But “they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.”

Brothers, the bottom line in this spiritual battleground we all live in is whether we are willing to openly identify with and share Jesus both publicly and privately. We are Americans, and we have a precious legacy of liberty and freedom of conscience that we must defend. I urge you to do this humbly, graciously and discreetly when you’re among secular people who don’t care much for Christ. Keep your family, co-workers and neighbors in your prayer; and prove by your deeds that you have respect and care for them. Let’s win over some who are willing to hear and be tolerant toward those who aren’t. Let’s trust the Holy Spirit to guide us and give us both discernment and courage to obey God rather than man.