- 7 months ago
- #mlcc
- #church
- #churchonline
In the vibrant early church where believers shared everything to meet one another’s needs, a married couple made a public gesture that appeared deeply sacrificial. Yet beneath the surface lay a hidden motive that God refused to ignore, triggering events that shook the entire community. What does it truly cost to pledge something fully to the Lord, and why does He take such pledges so seriously?
📝 Study Notes, Scripture List, Transcript, and more: https://medicallake.church/sermons/church-purity
#mlcc #church #churchonline
📝 Study Notes, Scripture List, Transcript, and more: https://medicallake.church/sermons/church-purity
#mlcc #church #churchonline
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00So a local church asked its members if they would donate money for a building project.
00:05So the building committee decided that they were going to make one stipulation,
00:10and that is there would be no plaques or no honoring statements anywhere about who gave what.
00:18It was going to be all anonymous donations.
00:21Well, guess what?
00:22The giving was mediocre at best.
00:26So the building committee decided, okay, well, we'll change our tactics.
00:29We'll say we're going to honor plaques, and we're going to put honoring things all over the auditorium if you give money.
00:35And guess what?
00:36They appealed to the ego of the people, and they got all the money that they needed.
00:44Didn't Jesus warn us about how we give?
00:49That we're supposed to give not for our own self-glory, but for God's glory?
00:55I mean, in the sermon that we call the Sermon on the Mount, he spoke about this idea of giving,
01:00that it wasn't just about the amount, but it was about your heart and your giving.
01:07It's not about being seen of other people.
01:10In fact, he mentioned in Matthew 6, in that sermon we call Sermon on the Mount,
01:13this is what he said in Matthew 6.
01:15He says,
01:15Could you imagine that, though?
01:30Someone goes,
01:31Hey, I'm about ready to give money to somebody in need.
01:33Do-do-do-do-do.
01:34Check me out.
01:35I mean, I can't even imagine someone would want to do that.
01:38Sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets.
01:42Look at me, look at me, that they may be praised by others.
01:47Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
01:50But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.
01:55It's anonymous.
01:56So that your giving may be in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
02:03It's not about the honor.
02:05We don't give for the honor of other people.
02:07We give to glorify God, to honor, not ourselves.
02:11In this text today, that's exactly what happened with Ananias and Sapphira.
02:17It's a hard text.
02:18It's a hard text.
02:19But this is what happened to them.
02:21It appears that they were more focused on what the community, the Christian community, thought about them
02:27than their willingness to give for the glory of God to meet the needs of the people in the Christian community.
02:32It was more about what they could get out of it.
02:35Acts chapter 5, this is what we're going to be looking at, starting in verse number 1.
02:41And what we're going to see here is that which is devoted to God, that which we say, this is yours, God.
02:47I devote this completely to you.
02:48I pledge it to you completely.
02:50Must not be taken back to consume on oneself.
02:53Now, I have to say up front, this really isn't about giving money in this text.
02:59So this is not going to be focused on giving money.
03:01It's not about giving money.
03:02That's not the purpose of the text.
03:04It's something completely different.
03:05Money happens to be involved, but it's not about giving money.
03:09It's about devoting something to God and then taking that which I've pledged to him completely
03:15back for myself to consume on myself.
03:18That's what this text is about.
03:19I mean, somehow, do we really think that God doesn't care about our heart status?
03:26He would care much more about our heart than what we give, the amount of money or dedicate
03:31time for a vacation Bible school.
03:33He's more concerned with our heart than our outward.
03:38This text here underscores the importance of taking our commitments to God seriously.
03:44That which I've completely given to him, I don't take back to consume for myself.
03:48I've devoted it.
03:50I've pledged it to him.
03:51It's his.
03:51In other words, I've released it and given it to him.
03:54It belongs to him.
03:55And then you come along and you kind of just take it back like that.
03:57It's never a good thing.
03:59I learned that in the physical world.
04:01It's never a good thing to take back something you've devoted.
04:04When I was about five, kids in the neighborhood, next door neighbor had an Alaskan elk hound.
04:08A little bit wiry.
04:10A little bit tense.
04:11So we were all eating marshmallows.
04:13So we put marshmallows in the dog bowl.
04:16And then we're eating our marshmallows.
04:17Well, I finished all my marshmallows and I looked down in the dog bowl and I realized
04:21the dog hadn't eaten all of his marshmallows.
04:24So I reached in the dog bowl to grab the marshmallows and the dog did not like it.
04:27And I have two scars right here on my face showing he doesn't like.
04:31I took back that which I devoted.
04:33Now that's in the physical world.
04:35But in the spiritual realm, that which we devote to God, we give completely to him,
04:40whether it's your life or whatever you dedicate and devote to him.
04:43And then we pull part of it back to consume on ourself.
04:46That's the issue that's going on right here.
04:48So look at verse number one.
04:51So hopefully you have your Bibles.
04:52If not, there's one in the chair in front of you.
04:54A biblical device.
04:55Turn it on.
04:56This is God's word.
04:57We want to look at it together.
04:58So chapter five, verse one.
05:00But a man named Ananias with his wife Sapphira, so a husband and wife, believers, sold a piece
05:08of property and with his wife's knowledge, he kept back for himself some of the proceeds
05:13and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet.
05:18So they sold some goods, possessions, and they had devoted all of it to God, but instead
05:25they said, no, I think we're going to keep a portion of it ourselves and we're just going
05:28to give a small portion.
05:33But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to
05:40keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?
05:44While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own?
05:47In other words, this was a voluntary thing.
05:49It wasn't a communism where they come and took it.
05:51They came and took it.
05:52It was a voluntary thing.
05:53He could have said, I'm going to give you 25% of the proceeds or I devote 50% of the
05:58proceeds.
05:58Instead, he said, I devote 100% of the proceeds.
06:03And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal?
06:06Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart?
06:10It's a heart issue.
06:12You have not lied to man, but to God.
06:14Of course, the Christian community thought that they gave it all.
06:16They didn't know.
06:17So they're lying to the Christian community as well.
06:19But it's to God that the lie, the real lie is.
06:22It says, when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last.
06:27That is a euphemism.
06:28It says he died.
06:30He died.
06:33And great fear came upon all who heard of it.
06:37The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.
06:44Again, this is not an easy passage.
06:46This is a hard passage.
06:47Chapter 4 that we looked at, remember Barnabas sold some piece of property, a field, and
06:54he came and deposited it at the apostles' feet to help the Christian community, those in need.
06:59So I mentioned that last week, this is a transition into what's taking place here.
07:03Barnabas did it, and now Ananias and Sapphira have done too, just like Barnabas did.
07:07Except for Barnabas devoted everything that he promised to God.
07:11They held back some of it.
07:12The act of dedicating the money was voluntary.
07:17Ananias was under no obligation to give the full amount of the sale, but he lied and he
07:21said that he did.
07:23It was in his control.
07:24He didn't have to give it all.
07:25He could have just gave a small portion of it, but he said, I gave it all, and he lied.
07:30It wasn't true.
07:32They kept back some for themselves.
07:34And what a contrast that Barnabas sacrificed at the end of chapter 4.
07:37He laid it all at the apostles' feet.
07:39They took back some for themselves, that which was devoted to God, given to him.
07:46An unknown author said, men make counterfeit money, and in many cases, money makes counterfeit
07:52men.
07:53He was being a fake.
07:55He was being duplicit.
07:56He was being a hypocrite here.
07:58Said one thing and did come completely different.
08:01And because he promised the full amount, the money belonged to the common Christian fund.
08:07It was to help those in need, anyone who had a need.
08:09Remember, there was needy people, and they needed to help them.
08:12We talked about there should be no need among us here in the body.
08:15We should help each other out.
08:16There should be no needs.
08:19Belonged to the...
08:20It was devoted to God for sacred use, but no, they kept back part for themselves.
08:25Instead of giving all his pledge, Ananias embezzled.
08:29That's what the word means.
08:30They embezzled the money.
08:32They kept back part of the money.
08:34If you think of it like this, you cannot embezzle your own money.
08:38Makes no sense.
08:40You embezzle other people's money.
08:41So this was money that was devoted to God, and they embezzled, that they took back to
08:45consume on themselves part of it.
08:49Ananias, it seems, again, I don't know what's in his heart.
08:52It seems he's motivated by money, kind of like Judas was motivated by money.
08:56Kept the money bag, his hand, his hat in it, the money bag.
08:59Seems to be motivated like Judas for about money.
09:01It's interesting, as you read the Old Testament, there's multiple times when God is beginning
09:07something new among his people, that a divine judgment happens to get his people's attention
09:13so that they pay attention to what he has to say.
09:15A divine judgment happens.
09:17If you think about it, when the tabernacle was completed, Moses received the tabernacle
09:20from God in heaven.
09:21He made it according to the pattern that was shown him in heaven.
09:24And once it was dedicated, there was two guys named Nadab and Abihu who offered unprescribed
09:29fire.
09:30They offered strange fire on the altar, that which God did not prescribe, and God killed
09:34him.
09:35That got everyone's attention.
09:37What God prescribes is important.
09:39You can't just do your own thing.
09:40That which is committed to God is God's.
09:43And then if you remember when the Israelites came into the promised land, they came into
09:47the promised land and they went through Jericho and everything in Jericho was called, it was
09:51said devoted to destruction.
09:52The idea is devoted for sacrifice.
09:55Everything in Jericho was to be an offering to God.
09:58But Achan takes a little bit to himself and hides it in his tent.
10:05That which was devoted to God, Achan took.
10:11That which was set aside for God for sacred use, Achan takes it.
10:15But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, that which is devoted
10:20to sacred use.
10:22For Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, or Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah,
10:29took some of the devoted things.
10:30Now, I want you to mark that word took.
10:32We're going to come back to that word took here in a little bit.
10:34He took some of the devoted things, and the anger of the Lord burned against the people
10:40of Israel.
10:41After all is said and done, Achan received the judgment of death from God himself, and
10:49the people of Israel stoned them to death.
10:52Verses 25 and 26 of chapter 7.
10:55And Joshua said, why did you bring trouble on us?
10:58The Lord bring trouble on you today.
11:00And all Israel stoned him with stones, and they burned them with fire and stoned them with
11:04stones, and they raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day.
11:09Then the Lord turned from his burning anger.
11:13Therefore, to this day, the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor.
11:17So imagine in your mind, for the city of Jericho, everything's devoted to God for his sacred
11:21use.
11:22You're not to take anything.
11:23He takes something that's devoted to God and uses it for himself.
11:26That's exactly what happened here with Ananias and Sapphira.
11:29As a matter of fact, the word kept back here in chapter 5 is a very rare verb.
11:36It's used in the Old Testament, the Greek translation of the Old Testament.
11:40It's used in that, the same exact word as took in relationship to Achan.
11:46Exact same word.
11:47Very rare word.
11:48Not used very often.
11:49Here it's kept back.
11:50In the Septuagint version, it says he took.
11:53Exact same word.
11:54Remember, these people are all Jewish believers, most of them.
11:59There's very few Gentiles.
12:00They know the story of Achan.
12:02They know this story.
12:04And as soon as that word popped up, I'm sure in their minds they're thinking, that's exactly
12:08what happened to Achan.
12:10Achan took that which was devoted to God for God's sacred use and pulled it back for himself
12:14to consume on himself.
12:15They remembered that story of Achan.
12:17It got their attention.
12:18In fact, twice we're told in the text, great fear came upon them all.
12:24Don't lie to God.
12:31Don't take what's devoted to him.
12:33Fall into the hands of a living God.
12:35Yes, it's fall into the hands of a living God.
12:37Yes, it is.
12:38It's a fearful thing.
12:40We don't fear that God's going to crush us like we're little tiny ants because he's our
12:44father and loves us.
12:45I understand that.
12:46But we ought to have a reverential fear of God.
12:50He is so other than we are.
12:52If he appeared right now, I don't think any of us would stand upright and say, oh, look,
12:56here's God.
12:57I think all of us would be on our face if the Shekinah glory filled this place right
13:00now.
13:02It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
13:06See, once the money had been pledged, that's devoted for sacred work, it became a wholly
13:12different matter.
13:13Again, if he would have said, hey, listen, we're going to sell a piece of property.
13:15We're going to give you 50%.
13:17We're going to keep 50%.
13:18That would have been perfectly fine.
13:20But they promised to give it all, devote all of it to God, and then took back part of
13:24it to consume on themselves.
13:26They embezzled what was sacred, was God's, belonged to the Christian community.
13:33It wasn't theirs any longer.
13:34Once they released it, it wasn't theirs, that they took it back to themselves.
13:38The only way that Peter knew what happened is the spirit had to have told him.
13:41I mean, that's the only way.
13:43The spirit would have had to tell him because no one knew what was going on.
13:45It was a secret.
13:46The spirit would have had to tell him what was going on.
13:50We were told earlier that the whole Christian community was of one heart and one soul.
13:55But here the text says that Satan filled the heart of Ananias.
14:00What?
14:04Ananias' heart was divided.
14:07He's supposed to be filled with the Holy Spirit, which is the exact same word.
14:10Instead, he's filled with Satan.
14:12Satan is now inside the church.
14:14This new church that God has established.
14:19His heart was divided, having one foot in the Christian community and one foot in the
14:23worldly security of earthly possessions.
14:25I need to have part of that.
14:27Well, then you shouldn't have promised it to God.
14:28You promised it to God.
14:29You devoted it to him.
14:32An anonymous author wrote,
14:34Satan's primary strategy is deception.
14:36He tries to deceive us.
14:38He's the father of lies.
14:39Okay?
14:39We know that.
14:39He will introduce his thoughts and ideas into your mind and deceive you into believing that
14:44they're yours.
14:45We call them temptations.
14:49It happened to King David, remember?
14:51Satan moved David to number Israel.
14:53First Chronicles 21.
14:54Satan moved him to number Israel.
14:57Did Satan walk up to David one day and say, hey, I think you should number Israel?
15:00Of course not.
15:00David, being a godly man, would have said, get out of my face.
15:03I'm not going to do that.
15:05Instead, Satan came along and convinced him it was his idea.
15:09Hey, I need to know how large my army is.
15:12I think I'll count the troops.
15:14So if Satan can place a thought in your mind, and he can, it isn't much more of a trick for
15:19him to make you think it's your idea.
15:22If you knew it was Satan, you'd reject the thought.
15:24Of course, temptation coming.
15:26Ah, no, I don't want to do anything to do that.
15:27But we think it's our thought coming into our head.
15:30But when he disguises his suggestion as your idea, you're more likely to accept it.
15:34That is his primary deception.
15:36If you knew where the thought came from, you would reject it immediately.
15:41Ananias and Sapphira might have thought it was their idea to withhold some of their offering
15:45while getting the strokes and attention from others who believed they had given everything.
15:49If they knew that it was Satan's idea, they probably wouldn't have done it.
15:52If Satan can get you to believe a lie, he can control your life.
16:00That's why the truth is what sets us free.
16:06So the Holy Spirit, he's supposed to fill our hearts.
16:10Ephesians 5.18.
16:11Instead, Satan fills Ananias' heart.
16:16Satan filled his heart.
16:17Same word.
16:18Should be the Holy Spirit filling our hearts.
16:19It was Satan that filled his heart.
16:21And when Satan, when your heart is filled with the Holy Spirit, it will not be filled with Satan.
16:27They were letting Satan have his way in their life.
16:31D. Martin Lloyd-Jones wrote,
16:32Believing the devil's lie always leads to selfishness.
16:36The cause of the tragedy in the human race.
16:39Always.
16:40Always leads to selfishness.
16:43So Satan had entered the young Christian church for the first time.
16:47Remember he was outside with the persecution?
16:49Chapter 4.
16:50Now he's inside the church.
16:52And when Satan is inside the church, there is greater danger than when he's persecuting us from the outside.
16:59If it happened in the first century brand new church, don't you think it could happen today?
17:05Yeah.
17:06Satan can come and fill a church as well today as he did here by working in the hearts of people who attend a church.
17:13So, they didn't resist the temptation of Satan.
17:17James told us what to do.
17:19Submit yourself therefore to God.
17:20Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
17:22Instead, they said, okay, that sounds like a great idea.
17:24So, let's do it.
17:25And to think that they thought they could deceive God.
17:30They thought they could deceive God.
17:32The one who knows all things.
17:34He knows our hearts.
17:35He knows everything.
17:36How could they think that they could deceive God?
17:39And then I thought, I have done the same thing.
17:43I've done the same thing.
17:45I thought I could get away with something.
17:47Thinking that the father doesn't see what I'm doing.
17:50How could we ever deceive God?
17:51He knows everything.
17:52He sees all things.
17:55In fact, Hebrews, the writer of Hebrews says this in Chapter 4.
17:58And no creature is hidden from his sight.
18:01But all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him whom we must give an account.
18:06We can't deceive God.
18:07He sees it all.
18:10And they had betrayed the Christian community.
18:12They promised something and they didn't fulfill their promise to them.
18:16And the Holy Spirit indwells the Christian community who gives it life and unity.
18:22They're disrupting the unity of the church at this point.
18:25See, God will not tolerate hypocrisy and deception in his church.
18:31He won't.
18:32He won't.
18:33His church is supposed to be holy.
18:36It's supposed to be unlike this world.
18:38We come here as a refuge to this world.
18:41You don't find the attitudes that people have in this church in your workplace unless the person is a believer.
18:46We come here for a refuge.
18:48This is to be our family place we come to.
18:52Kingdom ethics rule in our hearts.
18:55Where we forgive one another and we encourage one another and we love one another.
18:58We live out the kingdom in this.
19:00His church is to be set apart and holy.
19:04Satan is now here.
19:061 Peter 1.
19:07As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance.
19:11But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy.
19:15Set apart in all your conduct.
19:17Since it is written, you shall be holy for I am holy.
19:21But Satan is now in the midst of the church.
19:25We don't know.
19:30Divine judgment.
19:31I don't know how he died.
19:32The text doesn't say he just fell down dead.
19:34But they, the people, saw it as divine judgment.
19:37Because twice it says the fear of them came upon all.
19:40Fear of them came upon them all.
19:42Divine judgment.
19:44So they take him out and they bury him.
19:46Now, in the Middle East, you bury people quickly.
19:49Why?
19:49Because it's hot.
19:50Bodies bloat.
19:51Okay, you got the point.
19:52Okay, kind of gross.
19:53You got the point.
19:53This one was unusually fast.
19:57They don't usually bury people this fast unless you're criminals or under the divine judgment of God.
20:03So they see him as under the divine judgment of God.
20:08Ananias' name means God is gracious.
20:12But he also learned that God is holy.
20:16God is holy.
20:17You've taken that which was devoted to him for sacred use to consume upon yourself.
20:26So now Sapphira returns to find her husband dead.
20:30She's not even at the funeral.
20:34She comes back after they bury him.
20:36She's not even present when they bury her husband.
20:39Look, verse number seven.
20:42After an interval of about three hours, so they've gone out.
20:45They buried him.
20:46It took him three hours.
20:47Okay, now, it's not like they dug a hole.
20:49It's typically in the side of a mountain.
20:51Stone, you know, stone, tomb.
20:53You got it.
20:53It's not like digging a hole.
20:54But it took three hours.
20:57After an interval of about three hours, his wife came in not knowing what had happened.
21:01She didn't know her husband was dead.
21:03And Peter said to her, tell me whether you sold the land for so much.
21:07So he's giving her an out.
21:09And she said, yes, for so much.
21:11But Peter said to her, how is it that you have agreed together to test the spirit of
21:17the Lord, to test him?
21:21He lied, yes, but they're testing the spirit of the Lord.
21:24Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will
21:28carry you out.
21:30Immediately, she fell down at his feet and breathed her last.
21:33Again, metaphor for she died.
21:35When the young men came in, they just finished three hours burying.
21:39They come in, they find her dead.
21:41The young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside
21:47her husband.
21:47They're kind of going, really, again?
21:49I mean, we just did this, again?
21:52I mean, they got to go out and they buried her right by, at least they buried her by her
21:55husband, which was nice.
21:56And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.
22:01Not just the believers, but anyone that heard the story, great fear came upon them as
22:05well.
22:06Well, Sapphira, three hours later, she arrives, not even at her husband's funeral.
22:12He gives her a chance to come clean.
22:14She doubles down on the lie.
22:15He says, yes, for this much.
22:17That's it.
22:19They were lying to God.
22:20They were lying to the believers.
22:22Did they claim, did they do this to claim a greater status in the church?
22:25I don't know.
22:25Maybe.
22:26Text doesn't say.
22:27I'm not sure.
22:28Seems like it.
22:29I mean, why else would you do it?
22:30But it doesn't say.
22:31But they were lying to the Holy Spirit.
22:35They were lying to God.
22:36That's the same thing.
22:37It's a trinity.
22:38Triune, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.
22:41So they're lying to the Spirit, lying to God.
22:42Same thing.
22:43They're lying.
22:45Peter offered her a chance for repentance.
22:49He didn't just say, okay, now you die.
22:51He gave her an out.
22:53He said, listen, tell me the truth.
22:55Tell me the truth.
22:56What really happened?
22:57Yep.
22:57Double down.
22:58Exactly what happened.
22:59And this time, it was not a matter of lying, but of testing the Lord, tempting the Lord,
23:06testing Him.
23:07That is, tempting Him to see how tolerant He would be.
23:11And in this case, not very tolerant.
23:16Deuteronomy 6, 16 says, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test as you tested
23:22Him at Massa.
23:23Don't test the Lord.
23:26Stanley Toussaint wrote, to test the Holy Spirit is to see
23:29how much one can get away with before He judges.
23:35Now, we don't ever do that, do we?
23:39I've looked at my Christian experience when I was reading this quote, and I thought, you
23:42know, I have played this game before.
23:46How much can I get away with before He judges me?
23:48I've played this game before.
23:51It's a terrible game to play.
23:52It's wrong.
23:54It means to presume on Him to see if He will perform His word.
23:58Okay, God, will you really do this?
24:00Or stretch Him to the limits of judgment, testing Him to see how much He's going to get.
24:06Oh, yeah, I can just do this little sin.
24:08It's okay.
24:09How much can I get away with?
24:10That's the idea, testing Him.
24:15The irony here is that money was supposed to be laid at the apostles' feet, but these
24:20two fell down dead at the apostles' feet.
24:24That's the irony.
24:25Verse 11 mirrors verse 5.
24:29Great fear came upon all who heard it, both the church and those outside the church.
24:36See, the Holy Spirit is not to be taken lightly.
24:39It's not to be taken lightly.
24:40He must be viewed with holy fear, a reverent awe, and respect.
24:45Don't test the Holy Spirit.
24:47Don't test God.
24:49Don't say, how much can I get away with before He judges?
24:51Don't test Him.
24:52Don't test Him.
24:54Now, this is one that some don't know, and it's a tough one, too.
24:59It's a tough passage.
25:01This is a case of a sin that leads to death.
25:05You say, what?
25:06Yeah, there is a sin that leads to death.
25:09Really?
25:10Yeah, there really is a sin that leads to death.
25:13John, in his first letter, said this, 1 John 5.
25:16If anyone sees his brother committing a sin, not leading to death,
25:20he shall ask, and God will give him life to those who commit sins that do not lead to death.
25:26There is a sin that leads to death.
25:29I do not say that one should pray for that.
25:31I don't know what the sin that leads to death is.
25:33He didn't tell me.
25:34I don't know.
25:35But there is a sin that leads to death.
25:37There is a sin that God could come with divine judgment on a believer and bring us home to heaven.
25:42It happened in the church of Corinth.
25:47Same thing happened in the church of Corinth.
25:49If you remember, they got together for the agape feast, the love feast,
25:53and they brought a potluck, and the rich people would bring all of their food and their wine,
25:57and they'd set it up on the table, and they'd sit there and consume it,
26:00and kind of garden it like that.
26:02And their poor brother and sister over here, who doesn't have very much,
26:05is sitting looking on saying,
26:06I don't have anything.
26:08Are you going to share with me?
26:10And the believer goes,
26:11No, I don't care about you.
26:13I'm only concerned about myself.
26:16How did God respond?
26:17Listen.
26:19He said,
26:20Let a person examine himself then,
26:22and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
26:24He's talking about the Lord's table that they did after they had the agape feast.
26:28For if anyone who drinks, or eats and drinks without discerning the body,
26:32eats and drinks judgment on himself.
26:35Again, these are believers.
26:37That is why many of you are weak,
26:39and ill,
26:41and some have died.
26:46There is a sin that leads to death.
26:48I don't know what it is.
26:49He didn't mention it.
26:50But the people in Corinth experienced God's judgment,
26:53because of what they were doing,
26:54and not discerning the body of Christ.
26:56Both his body that was broken for them,
26:59and the body of Christ which we were a part of.
27:01And their death brought fear on all the church.
27:08All the church.
27:09Do you think God got the church's attention?
27:12Do you think God is trying to say,
27:13this is a holy place?
27:14This isn't a place that we play games like the world does.
27:17We don't do stuff like the world does.
27:19This is my church.
27:22He was at work.
27:23God was at work in his church,
27:25purifying it,
27:25disciplining it.
27:26This is my church.
27:28This is not man's church.
27:29This is not some man's organization.
27:31This is God's church.
27:33God established it.
27:35As a matter of fact,
27:36God loves the church
27:37because he bought it with his own blood.
27:41That's right.
27:43We are a blood-bought people.
27:45He bought us with his own blood.
27:48Acts 20,
27:49Paul is talking to the Ephesian elders.
27:52He says this,
27:54Pay careful attention to yourselves
27:55and to all the flock
27:56in which the Holy Spirit
27:58has made you overseers
28:00to care for the church of God
28:02which he obtained with his own blood.
28:05God loves the church.
28:07He will purify his church.
28:09He will discipline his church.
28:10We are to be lights to this world.
28:12He will work within his church.
28:16You're probably wondering,
28:17I remember your wheels are turning.
28:19I can see it right now.
28:20Smoke's coming up.
28:20No, I guess it's the heat.
28:21Smoke's coming out of your head.
28:24You say,
28:24does God still do this today?
28:28Well, it doesn't seem to be.
28:30I mean, it doesn't happen again
28:31in the book of Acts.
28:32It doesn't seem to be
28:34that God does this today.
28:36Could God do this today?
28:38Absolutely.
28:40Absolutely.
28:41But I'm saying
28:42that he doesn't do it today.
28:43And you know why
28:44he doesn't do it today?
28:45How I know
28:46he doesn't do it today?
28:47We're all alive.
28:52We're all alive.
28:57The church,
28:58his body flourishes
28:59when there is unity
29:00and trust
29:02and openness,
29:03a oneness of heart,
29:05empowerment by the Holy Spirit.
29:08You and I,
29:09we are the family of God
29:10and by the power
29:11and grace of God,
29:12we seek to maintain
29:13this family trust
29:14by keeping our commitments
29:16to the Father
29:16as well as to each other.
29:19Let's pray.
29:19Father, thank you.
29:21It's a hard text, Father.
29:22It's a difficult text.
29:25And I thank you
29:26that you are holy
29:27and you want your people
29:28to be holy people.
29:30You want us
29:31not to be hypocrites.
29:32And I know
29:32at some level, Father,
29:33all of us are hypocrites.
29:34We desire one thing
29:35and often we don't do
29:36what we desire to.
29:38I understand that.
29:39But this was open duplicity,
29:41open hypocrisy.
29:42So, Father, I pray
29:44as you purify your church,
29:46as you enliven your church
29:48by your spirit,
29:48as you bond us together
29:50into this tight-knit family,
29:53may the unity of trust
29:54be among us.
29:56May the desire
29:57to honor one another
29:59and to love one another
30:00and be committed
30:00to one another,
30:01to serve one another
30:03be evident in our lives.
30:05For this is a church
30:06that you bought
30:07with your own blood.
30:09It is yours.
30:10And you want us
30:11to be holy.
30:13We thank you
30:13in Jesus' name.
30:14Amen.
Comments