Acts 5:1-16

Teacher: Rusty Kennedy
Series: Acts

Rusty's Notes

Acts 5
LYING TO THE HOLY SPIRIT
1 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property.

• Ananias means “God is gracious,” but he learned that God is also holy; and Sapphira means “beautiful,”[1]

2 However, he kept back part of the proceeds with his wife’s knowledge, and brought a portion of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

• Nosphizomai – Greek word to describe his action in holding back part of the money.
• The verb means to pilfer, to purloin, to embezzle.
• One does not embezzle one’s own funds but those of another, in this instance those that rightfully belonged to the common Christian fund.[2]
• Same Greek word used Joshua 7 when Achan took from the fund of Jericho that was devoted for sacred use.
• Achan received the judgment of death from God.

3 “Ananias,” Peter asked, “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the proceeds of the land?

• How did Peter know?
• The Church was of one heart and one mind (Acts 4:32)

4 Wasn’t it yours while you possessed it? And after it was sold, wasn’t it at your disposal? Why is it that you planned this thing in your heart? You have not lied to people but to God.”

• They were not required to sell the property; and, having sold it, they were not required to give any of the money to the church.
• Their lust for recognition conceived sin in their hearts, and that sin eventually produced death (James 1:15 - Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death. [3]).[4]

5 When he heard these words, Ananias dropped dead, and a great fear came on all who heard. 6 The young men got up, wrapped his body, carried him out, and buried him.

• Only prophets and kings were buried within Jerusalem and few of those.
• Burial was generally outside the walls, where the corpse was laid in a cave, which explains why the young men could complete the procedure so quickly.[5]

7 About three hours later, his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

• Ananias was dead and buried, and Sapphira did not even know it!
• Satan always keeps his servants in the dark, while God guides His servants in the light (John 15:15).[6]
• In both his Gospel and in Acts, Luke paired women with men, particularly in contexts of witness and discipleship.
• Here perhaps he was showing that along with discipleship goes responsibility; and this applies to all disciples, female as well as male.[7]

8 “Tell me,” Peter asked her, “did you sell the land for this price?”
“Yes,” she said, “for that price.”
9 Then Peter said to her, “Why did you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”

• Peter’s role was to confront… not judge.
• This is the first Sapphira heard of Ananias’ death.

10 Instantly she dropped dead at his feet.

• Now she lay at Peter’s feet, in the place of her money.
• The same place that Ananias had laid the money.

When the young men came in, they found her dead, carried her out, and buried her beside her husband.

• He was letting everybody know that He would not tolerate deception in His church.
• If the Church is God’s temple, where He dwells… why wouldn’t Satan want to enter into the Church?
• The church is safe so long as Satan is attacking from the outside, but when he gets on the inside, the church is in danger.
• The Church as a flock
• If Satan cannot defeat the church by attacks from the outside, he will get on the inside and go to work.[8]
• Acts 20:28–31 - 28 Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. 29 I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Men will rise up even from your own number and distort the truth to lure the disciples into following them. 31 Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years I never stopped warning each one of you with tears.[9]
• The Church is God’s army.
• 2 Timothy 2:1-4 - 1 You, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
• Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in the concerns of civilian life; he seeks to please the commanding officer.[10]

11 Then great fear came on the whole church and on all who heard these things.

• This is the 1st time the word “Church” (Ekklesia) is mentioned in the Bible.
• The people of God gathered in a religious community.
• By the power of this spiritual presence in its midst, the young community worked miracles, witnessed fearlessly, and was blessed with incredible growth.
• The Spirit was the power behind its unity, and its unity was the power behind its witness.
• The church can only thrive as the people of God if it lives within the total trust of all its members.
• Where there is that unity of trust, that oneness of heart and mind, the church flourishes in the power of the Spirit.
• Where there is duplicity and distrust, its witness fails.[11]

 

• Often it is said that the pair died of psychological fright.
• This can be neither proved nor disproved from the text, and it well may have been the case; but it does not alleviate the strong judgmental note of the text.
• Peter knew and told Sapphira beforehand that she was about to be carried feet first out the door.
• When all is said and done, there is no “comfortable” solution to the passage.
• It is a unique story. There is nothing like it elsewhere in Acts, or for that matter in the New Testament.
• It’s as if God treated the early Church as an infant.
• Their death did not necessarily involve their loss of salvation.
• Still, the judgment that befell Ananias and Sapphira was severe, and one is all too aware that today’s churches would be much emptier if such standards were consistently applied.
• The same Spirit that gave the community its growth also maintained its purity.
• This seems to have been Luke’s point, for the Ananias and Sapphira story is bracketed by an emphasis on the unity of the community (4:32–35) and the power of the Spirit in its midst (5:12–16)[12]

 
APOSTOLIC SIGNS AND WONDERS
12 Many signs and wonders were being done among the people through the hands of the apostles.

• This was God’s way of authenticating the apostle’s ministry.
• Not only for God’s glory but His stamp of approval.
• We find no miracles performed in Genesis, but at the beginning of the age of Law, Moses performed great signs and wonders.
• Elijah and Elisha were miracle workers at the beginning of the great era of the Prophets, and Jesus and the Apostles performed signs and wonders when the Gospel Age was inaugurated.
• Each time God opened a new door, He called man’s attention to it.
• It was His way of saying, “Follow these leaders, because I have sent them.”
• Remember in John 14:13-14 when Jesus said you will do even greater works than these you have seen?
• When Jesus performed miracles during His ministry on earth, He had three purposes in mind:
• (1) to show compassion and meet human need;
• (2) to present His credentials as the Son of God;
• (3) to convey spiritual truth.
• For example, when He fed the 5,000, the miracle met their physical need, revealed Him as the Son of God, and gave Him opportunity to preach a sermon about the Bread of Life (John 6).
• The apostolic miracles followed a similar pattern.
• Peter and John healed the crippled beggar and met his need, but Peter used that miracle to preach a salvation sermon and to prove to the people and the council that he and John were indeed the servants of the living Christ. One[13]

They were all together (unified) in Solomon’s Colonnade.

• This is probably in reference to the apostles only so as not to contradict the next verse.
• Pictures of Temple & Cory at Colonnade.
• Crisis in the Church – Come together and wait for God to work.

13 No one else dared to join them, but the people spoke well of them.

• There was intimidation after what just happened with Ananias & Sapphira.
• The people were not only talking about them… they were watching them closely.

14 Believers were added to the Lord in increasing numbers—multitudes of both men and women.

• For the 1st time Luke includes women in his reference to salvations added.
• Luke is consistent in including women as part of the growth of the Church.
• This was not normal in that day.

15 As a result, they would carry the sick out into the streets and lay them on cots and mats so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them.

• Whether or not they were healed by Peter’s shadow Luke did not explicitly say, but the note underlines the strength of the apostle’s healing reputation.[14]
• Acts 19:11 - God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul’s hands, 12 so that even facecloths or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them.[15]

16 In addition, a multitude came together from the towns surrounding Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

• At this point the apostles were still confined to Jerusalem.
• The people came to them from the outlying villages.
• Only later would they go forth from Jerusalem and take their gospel and their healing ministry into the villages of Judea.[16]

[1] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 422). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[2] Polhill, J. B. (1992). Acts (Vol. 26, p. 156). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[3] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Jas 1:15). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[4] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 422). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[5] Polhill, J. B. (1992). Acts (Vol. 26). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[6] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 422). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[7] Polhill, J. B. (1992). Acts (Vol. 26, p. 156). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[8] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 422). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[9] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ac 20:28–31). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[10] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (2 Ti 2:1–4). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[11] Polhill, J. B. (1992). Acts (Vol. 26, p. 160). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[12] Polhill, J. B. (1992). Acts (Vol. 26, pp. 161–162). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[13] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 423). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[14] Polhill, J. B. (1992). Acts (Vol. 26, p. 164). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[15] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ac 19:11–12). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[16] Polhill, J. B. (1992). Acts (Vol. 26, p. 164). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.