Sapphira
“It’s All About the Secrets”
Scripture References: Acts 5:1-11
ABOUT HER
|
Read Acts 4:32-5:11
Why is this story in Scripture? 1 Corinthians 10:11-12 NKJV ”Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”
- The wife of Ananias
- Agreed together with her husband to lie
- Fell down dead after her husband
- The Bible gives us no genealogical record of Ananias and Sapphira
Read about the atmosphere of the early church (Acts 4:33-35). This was after the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost and it was an intense time in church history of the initial working of the Holy Spirit.
HER FEARLESS MISTAKE: She was afraid the wrong way
|
Acts 5:1-11
(v. 1) “But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira…”
Here we see them trying to mimic someone else’s spiritual action without a personal heart connection.
“The action of Barnabas to sell all was inspired by the Holy Spirit. Now two other believers are actuated by the spirit of evil to pretend a similar surrender…….They wanted to give the impression that their all was on the altar, when it was not, and thus they became guilty of sacrilege in the attempt to obtain the reputation of saintliness with the reality of sacrifice.” -Herbert Lockyer, All the Women of the Bible
It is believed that they were professed believers and that this was an act of God’s discipline in the church.
“they were struck down in sanctifying discipline, rather than in an everlasting condemnation. And that they so died that we might learn so to live as not to die.” -Alexander Whyte
Their problem: They did not fear the Lord.
It is good to have a healthy fear (reverence) of God that reminds you of your place in comparison to His holiness, righteousness and the knowledge that He is all-powerful.
When is it good to be afraid? “Not all fear is unhealthy. Some of it qualifies as reverence. Maybe the apostle Paul felt the kind we’re discussing in 2 Corinthians 11:3. ‘I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be seduced from a complete and pure devotion to Christ.’ Look at is this we: We lock our doors at night to keep out intruders. Fear can be wise.” -Beth Moore, James Mercy Triumphs Judgement
The only way you can truly be a fearless woman of God is to fear the Lord!
Proverbs 29:25 NKJV “The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe.”
Luke 12:4-5 NKJV “And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!”
In the Greek this word for fear is “phobeo”
Webster’s definition of the english word “phobia” is “an exaggerated usually inexplicable and illogical fear of a particular object, class of objects, or situation”
How do you develop a healthy fear of the Lord? By regularly getting into God’s presence.
Hebrews 10:31 ESV “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
(Psalm 96:9 NKJV) “Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.”
(Psalm 114:7 NKJV) “Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob”
HER HYPOCRISY: She kept the wrong secrets
|
Ananias and Sapphira cared more about the appearance of spirituality then the actuality of spirituality.
“Half of the misery in the world comes from trying to look, instead of trying to be, what one is not.” -George MacDonald
Where you are, when you are, how you are is what you are! Be what you are. Don’t try to be. Just be.
“If you’re not somewhere yet in your spiritual walk, don’t pretend to be there.” -Karen Kyle
Matthew 6:1-4 ESV “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
It’s not so much about what we do as it is about how we do it.
One of the secrets of successful Christian living is the life of the secret heart.
Psalm 51:6 ESV “Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.”
(Psa 19:12 NKJV) “Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults.”
(Psa 90:8 NKJV) “You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.”
(Psa 91:1 NKJV) “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”
(Ecc 12:14 NKJV) “For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.”
(Dan 2:22 NKJV) “He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him.”
Ask Yourself: What was it that kept them from seeing the severity of what they were doing? PRIDE
Pride will blind you.
“Pride opens the door to every other sin, for once we are more concerned with our reputation than our character, there is no end to the things we will do just to make ourselves ‘look good’ before others.” -Warren W. Wiersbe
Safeguard against deception: Get in agreement with the Lord through His Word first before being in agreement with someone else’s assessment, opinion or decision.
Read James 2:13-18
It’s one thing when one person is doing something wrong. It is another dynamic to agree together with someone to do something wrong.
SECRET: Here is a secret to NOT living as a hypocrite is to live from the heart.
Homework: Read Psalm 119 and highlight the word delight every time you see it.
HER DEATH: She died the wrong way
|
Bad death: Focus on the outside (appearance) will bring inner death (sin).
Good death: Focus on the inner (heart) will bring inner death (life).
Romans 8:13 NKJV “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”
Live on the inside (according to the flesh) -----> DEATH
Die on the inside (by the Spirit) -----> LIVE
(Romans 6:16, 21) “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? ... What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.”
(Romans 6:23 NKJV) “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
(Romans 7:5, 13 NKJV) “For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. ... Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful.”
Life Lesson
|
“The heart of the problem is the problem of the heart”
Discussion Questions:
|
- What lie do you remember telling when you were a child? What happened?
- Were Ananias and Sapphira required to sell the land and lay all the money at the apostles’ feet? What was their sin?
- What do you learn about the fear of the Lord from this story? How will you apply this in your life today?
Posts
