What is the Best Proof that God doesn’t exist?
Acts 5:1 - 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.
Four Things Wrong with Ananias and Sapphira
1) They loved the
2) They loved
and always go together.
Luke 16:14 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. 15 And Jesus said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”
3) They were
4) Their hypocrisy
POSSIBLE WAYS TO DISCREDIT THE HOLY SPIRIT:
1) Maybe they didn’t really
2) Maybe they didn’t believe that God is
Hebrews 10:29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?
3) Maybe they believed that God’s standards are
Acts 4:36 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. Acts 5:1 - But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property
Digging Deeper
CONSIDER: Discipline Delayed
Thankfully, God doesn’t always immediately discipline hypocrisy. He hates hypocrisy. It angers Him. But He doesn’t always immediately judge hypocrites like He did Ananias and Sapphira. For this we are very, very thankful. Why? Because we are all guilty at times of being hypocrites.
In Acts 4 & 5 Ananias and Sapphira were hypocrites while Peter and Barnabas were not. But in the Church of Galatia, Peter and Barnabas acted hypocritically.
Galatians 2:13 says, “And the rest of the Jews in the Galatian church acted hypocritically along with Peter, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.”
But God did not punish Peter or Barnabas the same way He punished Ananias and Sapphira. Why?
To understand why God did one thing in Acts 5 and something differently in Galatians 2, we need to be aware that God did certain dramatic things in the early chapters of the Book of Acts to make certain points clear. God did certain things dramatically so that we could understand spiritual truths that we would have no other way of knowing.
For example, in the early chapters of Acts we see new believers not receiving the Holy Spirit immediately upon conversion. But later in the New Testament new believers immediately received the Holy Spirit. Why the difference?
Ask yourself, would we really appreciate the epic moment of the inhabitation of the Holy Spirit in believers without passages like Acts 8:14-17?
Most scholars believe that God did certain things in uniquely dramatic ways early in the formation of the New Covenant church era so that we could get a better understanding of what was happening in the invisible, spiritual realm.
For another example, we know that all Christians are empowered with spiritual gifts when they become Christians, but early on in the New Covenant church God empowered new Christians with dramatic sign gifts like tongues and healing powers (e.g. Acts 10:46). Later in the New Testament we do not see so many dramatic sign gifts. But because of the dramatic displays in all the early converts, we know that gifts are supernatural and present in all believers. We know that every Christian received at least one spiritual gift (e.g. 1 Corinthians 7:7).
So, the story in Acts 5 teaches us in a dramatic way that God is always angered by hypocrisy and hypocrisy deserves His severe punishment. Early on in the New Covenant church God immediately judged hypocrites like Ananias and Sapphira to dramatically establish His seriousness about the purity of His church, even though later such as in Galatians 2 God was less dramatic.
What does this teach us?
Maybe it teaches us that our hypocrisy deserves immediate judgment, and therefore, we should repent of it immediately. Maybe we learn that our lives and every decision we make can have an effect on the validity of the gospel in our community. Our lives should not discredit the name of Christ! Maybe we learn that just because God doesn’t immediately discipline us does not mean that He is not angry when we quench, grieve, or outrage the Holy Spirit?
1) Do you agree or not? Why?
2) What other lessons do we learn from Acts 4:36 – Acts 5:11?
3) Watch the full video clip about Hypocrisy that was partially shown in the worship service: https://youtu.be/QnbauJtqKF8