Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly. And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women. (Acts 5:13-14)

Sometimes we think that when the church lives as it should, the church will be a magnet that draws all those who do not yet believe on Jesus. They will see the purity and power and holiness of God among His people and say, “I want to join with such people.”

I suppose it works like that sometimes, and in some places. But certainly not always. Here, in Acts 5:13-14 we see that when the holiness and purity of the church was evident to the world, none of the rest dared join them.

When everyone learned of how God dealt with Ananias and Sapphira, and how jealously God guarded the purity of His people, they thought twice before joining the community of God’s people. They had such a marvelous reputation for integrity that everybody knew it was a serious thing to be a follower of Jesus.

When God cleanses the church this radically, it feels painful – even traumatic. Yet, one of the good things that flows from it is that there is much less of a casual commitment among believers. People then are more likely to count the cost as Jesus said they should (Luke 14:25-33).

Despite the hesitancy of some, the church kept growing. We read, believers were increasingly added to the Lord. Though people knew it was a serious thing to be a Christian, the Spirit of God kept moving with power. More and more people joined the community of the disciples of Jesus.

In fact, they were added in multitudes. We read that they joined the disciples in multitudes of both men and women. This was Luke’s way of reminding us that the cleansing of the church connected with Ananias and Sapphira did no lasting damage. God’s work continued forward.

Notice the phrasing that the Holy Spirit chose to describe this. They were increasingly added to the Lord. This means that new believers were added, but they were added to the Lord, not primarily to a “church” or to a person or even to a movement. They were added to the Lord Jesus Himself.

Christian, please understand: your fundamental identity is who you are as someone added to the Lord Jesus.

– You have a race and an ethnicity; those are not your fundamental identity.
– You live in a nation and perhaps belong to a political party; those are not your fundamental identity.
– You have an education and some kind of economic class; those are not your fundamental identity.
– You belong to a certain church or denomination; those are not your fundamental identity.

You have been added to the Lord Jesus; you are “in Christ.” This is the greatest and most glorious identity. Rejoice in it, rest in it – and remember it is a serious thing to be among those who are added to the Lord Jesus.

 

Click Here for David’s Written Commentary on Acts 5

Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. And the young men arose and wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him. (Acts 5:5-6)

A man named Ananias, along with his wife, lied to God and cheated the church. They did it to appear more generous and spiritual than they really were.

Shockingly, God brought swift judgment: Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. Peter did not pronounce a death sentence on Ananias. It isn’t the business of the church to pronounce a death sentence on anyone. Peter simply confronted him with his sin and Ananias fell down dead, and he was probably more surprised than anyone else when Ananias fell down dead.

This was a harsh penalty for a sin that seems common today. Some wonder if God was too harsh against, but maybe the greater wonder is that God delays His righteous judgment in almost all other cases. Ananias received exactly what he deserved; he simply could not live in the atmosphere of purity that marked the church at that time.

This judgment on Ananias must be seen in the context of its time. This was a critical stage for the early church and such impurity, sin, scandal, and satanic infiltration could have corrupted the entire church at its root. Then, the church was all “root” – the branches had not yet developed. We can guess that one reason we don’t see God’s judgment just like this today is because God’s church has so many branches. Even if the entire body of Christ in the United States was to become corrupt through scandal or sin, there is plenty of strength in other parts of the tree around the world.

What God did here in Acts 5 shows it is wrong to assume that there is always more time to repent, more time to get right with God, more time to get honest with Him. Any such time given by God is an undeserved gift that He owes no one; we should never assume it will always be there.

There was an immediate result: So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. God’s purpose was accomplished in the church as a whole. This was evidence of a great work of God among His people.

When God begins to move in a mighty way among His people, it often starts with the exposure of sin, leading to radical repentance. God wouldn’t allow for a cover-up; this was going to be exposed so God’s people would take sin seriously.

We often think revival is something triumphant, moving from glory to glory. True revival from God is glorious, but often begins as judgment day for the church. But after the judgment, and after things are settled, real blessing flows.

If God is “cleaning house” in your church or life, don’t despise it. It could be the start of the revival you’ve been praying for.

View or listen to the late Dr. J. Edwin Orr’s  wonderful message, “Revival Is Like Judgement Day”

But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. (Acts 5:1-2)

God was moving in a powerful way among the earliest Christians. The movement of the followers of Jesus was so fresh, so new, and so full of life that they hadn’t even yet taken the title “Christians” – that would come later. But even without that name they were a community of love, power, and great generosity.

It has been said that whenever God moves in a powerful way, the devil also starts moving. There is some truth to that. As the church grew and prospered, Satan didn’t surrender – he got busy. Satan’s strategy of scaring Christians into silence didn’t work, so he tried attacking them from the inside.

Satan attacked the church at a strong point: the great generosity described at the end of Acts 4. There we read of a man named Barnabas who was especially generous – and people noticed his generosity.

So, we read of a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife who sold a possession. After seeing the great generosity of Barnabas and how well he was respected (Acts 4:36-37), Ananias and Sapphira decided they wanted to receive the same respect.

Here is the problem: once they sold the land, Ananias and Sapphira kept back part of the proceeds. They sold the possession, and gave only a portion, while implying that they sacrificially gave it all. They misused the money to “buy” the image of being radically generous while keeping back a good part of it for themselves.

In a time when God was moving in remarkable ways, their greed and misuse of money was a threat to God’s work. It wasn’t just Ananias – we read, his wife also being aware of it. They were partners in the deception. Maybe they originally vowed to sell the land and give all the money to God and told others they would do that. But when the money was in their hand they said, “We don’t have to give it all – but let’s tell everyone we did.”

There was a lot of evil packed into the sin of Ananias and Saphira, evil that went beyond the attempt to deceive God and the church.

They showed disrespect to God, and they defrauded the Lord. They did it out of a twisted ambition to be thought of as amazing people. They cared more about having the image of being generous than actually being generous. They arrogantly thought they were clever enough to sin this way and not be found out.

It didn’t work. The planned hiding of our sin doesn’t work. Eventually, things that are only image and not reality are exposed.

Today, ask God to guard you from the proud lies that promote the image of godliness when the reality falls far short.

Click here to read David’s commentary on Acts 5

Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. (Acts 4:32-33)

Back in Acts 2:44-45 we saw the sharing heart of the early church. Those verses tell us how they shared with one another and even sold their possessions to help each other. That was true of the church when they were about 3,000 in number. Now, the number of Christians was much greater, and they still had that sharing heart.

We read of this great generosity: those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of things he possessed was his own. This was true of the multitude, not just a few. To say it simply, they regarded people more important than things. This unity was a wonderful evidence of the work of God’s Spirit among them.

James Boice made an interesting observation about this unity in the early church. It wasn’t the unity of conformity, where everyone is pressured to be exactly alike. This unity was something greater than that; it was the unity of God’s Spirit, centered on Jesus.

Because of their unity, they had all things in common. They recognized God’s ownership of everything; it all belonged to God and His people. Because God had touched their lives so deeply, they found it easy to share all things in common.

The unity and generosity of these early Christians was wonderful to see. Everyone would love to live in a community like that! Yet, those Jesus-focused hearts also experienced something else: with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. This great power was paradoxically both the result and the root of their unified, generous attitude. They put God first, people second, and material things a distant third.

We also notice that they gave witness to the resurrection. We see the central place that the resurrection of Jesus held in the message of the first Christians. They preached a resurrected Jesus.

We read that great grace was upon them all. Grace is God’s favor. Without sounding too sentimental, we can say that God’s grace is His smile from heaven. It is the favor and goodness of God to His people. Even better, this wasn’t just grace – it was great grace. One commentator says that literally this was mega grace. The phrase great power can be understood as mega power.

Did you notice who this was for? We read that this mega grace was upon them all. Not just a few special apostles, but for them all.

Today, radically put your focus on the resurrected Jesus. Receive the gifts of His generosity and spirit of unity. Then, receive His mega power and mega grace. It’s for us all!

Click here to read David’s commentary on Acts 4

Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus. (Acts 4:29-30)

Prayer is much more than asking God for things. Sometimes we get into a bad habit of thinking that if we don’t ask God to do something, we aren’t really praying. But prayer can be and should be rich with praise, thanksgiving, declaring the glory of God, listening to God, enjoying His presence, humble worship, and more.

While prayer is more than asking God for things, it isn’t wrong to ask our Father in heaven for His help, guidance, empowering, and blessing! In Acts 4, the disciples of Jesus had a prayer meeting after Peter and John had been threatened and released when the appeared before the religious council. In their prayer the honored God, gave Him glory, and prayed the Scriptures. Acts 4:29-30 tells us what they finally asked for.

The disciples asked God to look on their threats. “Lord, look at the powerful men who oppose us. They seem to have every advantage, but we are safe in You, as long as you will look on their threats.

The disciples asked God for boldness. “Lord, we want to be more bold – not less! The council wants us to be so afraid of their threats that we won’t talk about Jesus. We don’t want to be afraid of them, so please give us boldness.”

The disciples asked for boldness to speak God’s word. “Lord, our message is not ourselves or even our story. Give us boldness to proclaim the best message we can – Your word.”

The disciples asked that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus. “Lord, all this trouble started with a miracle at the temple. Please do more of those kinds of miracles!”

All of these requests were consumed with God’s cause and glory, not with the comfort and advancement of the disciples. The disciples prayed for things that would lead to more confrontation and trouble, not less.

I don’t know if I have ever really prayed, “God, please send me more trouble.” I usually pray that God would take my troubles away! But I want to have the heart that these first disciples of Jesus had. They cared more about the glory of God and the souls of men than they cared about their own comfort and ease. If God could work through their trouble to His glory and to bring more men and women into the kingdom, they wanted God to send more trouble!

I don’t expect you to pray, “Lord, send more trouble.” But today, you can pray this: “Lord, I need Your boldness to speak Your word and I want to see You do great things. If that means more trouble, so be it!” Let’s pray like these early disciples.

Click here to read David’s commentary on Acts 4