Sapphira

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:

1. What lie do you remember telling when you were a child? What happened?
2. Were Ananias and Sapphira required to sell the land and lay all the money at the apostles’ feet? What was their sin?
3. What do you learn about the fear of the Lord from this story? How will you apply this in your life today?

Mary of Bethany and A Sinful Woman

MARY of Bethany and A SINFUL WOMAN

Scripture References: (Mary of Bethany) Matthew 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9; Luke 10:38-42; John 11:1-2, 19-20, 30-36, 45; 12:1-9 (Sinful Woman) Luke 7:36-50

Mary of Bethany

ABOUT HER

• She was the sister of Martha and Lazarus.
• She lived in a town called Bethany.
• She is known for sitting at the feet of Jesus.
• Mary was sensitive.

“We know that Mary was a good listener, quiet and contemplative, for we read in Luke 10:39, ‘And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.’ Mary had a hungry soul and sat humbly as a pupil before her Teacher.” -Frances Vander Velde, Women of the Bible

HER HUNGER

Read Luke 10:38-42

Concerning Martha and Mary’s service to Jesus: “We see their devotion to one another and to the Lord whom they love and serve, each in her own way.” -Frances Vander Velde, Women of the Bible

“She was a woman who cultivated deep, spiritual inner thoughts, and who was busier internally than she was externally.” -Herbert Lockyer, All the Women of the Bible

v. 39 “sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching” -We need to order our lives and our schedules around our time of sitting at the Lord’s feet. Life is too short. Before we know it life will pass on by and the enemy desires that we are busy and distracted that the life Jesus has given us will escape from our senses.

Psalm 63:1-3 ESV “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”

When we sit down at the feet of Jesus our hunger is satisfied...but it also grows.

Proverbs 4:23 NIV “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”

Mary was an example of someone who guarded her heart. How? Because she let her heart be tended to by Jesus. She understand what was ultimately important. We need let Jesus tend to our heart so we can live the life He died to give us.

What is life? What is the importance of your life? Most of our lives are going by so fast and we can hardly grasp our purpose. All of these demands can leave us feeling like we are not living or doing what we were maybe created to do.

The purpose of your life is to glorify God.

Mary (mother of Jesus)  in the beginning of “Mary’s song” in Luke 1:46 says “And Mary said: "My soul magnifies the Lord,”

1. Life is a gift from God.

You did not CHOOSE to be born!

Genesis 2:7 NKJV “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”

Your very life is a precious gift from God. He created you and formed you while you were in your mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13).

You didn’t choose to be born or to exist. God chose you to! Whether or not you were “called” by God or chosen by God...you were called to be born! You were chosen to exist! There IS a reason.

With the purpose of living to glorify God it takes the weight of us having to try to make ourselves something great in this world. We already are great! God made us. We are His artwork. WE ARE NOT TO LIVE LIKE THAT. Don’t worry about that. Let the pressure of that dissipate.

2. Each day is important to God.

Psalm 139:16 NLT “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.”

3. Each life is but a moment

Consider all the people who have ever lived. How many of them do you know about? Some are recorded in history books, some you read about in the newspaper, some you watch on television. Think about all the lives that have been lived in all centuries past. People no one knows and no one remembers.

Matthew 6:19-20 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”

We need to remember that our days are coming to an end and our lives are passing by quickly.

Matthew 24:42 ESV “Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.”

HER CHOICE

v. 4 “Mary chose the good part” -isn’t it true that in today’s day in age we as women who love the Lord need this the most? If this is not something we choose to do in our daily life it is not going to “just happen”. If we want to grow we need to choose to take time to sit at the feet of Jesus.

We allow too many things in our lives to keep us away from intimacy with God. We need to stop like Mary did and sit down. Remember God is pursuing your heart. When it comes to us seeking God it is a RESPONSE to His love. This was how Mary was responding to the love of Jesus. She chose to sit down.

“There are moments in life which do not come a second time. And if they are not acted on at once, they may never return. Mary was sensitive enough to realize this.” -Brenda Poinsett, She Walked With Jesus

POEM

Thank you for your service, Martha

We love all that you’ve done

You’ve opened up your heart and home

Unto the Holy One

And now we get to sit with Him

To hear His words of truth

Because of hospitality

Under your own roof

Women of good works we praise

Your example is adored

But take heed, Martha, when you hear

These words from your own Lord

“Martha, Martha, anxious one

Put your finger down

I must correct this foolishness

And defend my daughter, Mary, now

You have become distracted,

Oh Martha, can’t you see?

Mary chose the better thing,

The better thing...is Me”

HER ABANDONMENT

Read Mark 14:3-9

WHO IS THIS? (John 11:1-2)

“At the outset we affirm our disagreement with those expositors who connect Mary of Bethany with the woman who was a sinner (Luke 7:36-50 with John 11:2, 12:1-8). Certainly both anointed the feet of Jesus, but the language used to describe the sinful woman is utterly out of harmony with what we know of the commendable character of Mary. The former’s anointing expressed the gratitude of a forgiven and cleansed penitent -the latter’s anointing was an act of gratitude of a much-loved brother brought back from the dead.” -Herbert Lockyer, All the Women of the Bible

WHAT IS THIS?

“In the days Jesus was on earth, when a young woman reached the age of availability for marriage, her family would purchase an alabaster box for her and fill it with precious ointment. The size of the box and the value of the ointment would parallel her family’s wealth. This alabaster box would be part of her dowry. When a young man came to ask for her in marriage, she would respond by taking the alabaster box and breaking it at his feet. This gesture of anointing his feet showed him honor.” -Debby Jones and Jackie Kendall, Lady in Waiting

Abandonment to Jesus is always going to be criticized...not just by the outsiders.

Mary let Jesus be her Defender.

“Notice that she never jumps up to defend herself. The deep love relationship that she has with Jesus draws fire from others -first, from her sister, and later, from Judas and others who thought she had gone overboard in breaking the flask of perfume at Jesus’ feet. But Mary leaves her defense to Jesus -and He defends her very well both times.” -Dee Brestin, Falling in Love With Jesus

During this whole act we notice Mary did not say a word. She adorned herself with a “gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.” (1 Peter 3:4)

“Should you ever be criticized for your acts of devotion, follow Mary’s example. Let the ornament of a gentle and quiet spirit speak volumes.” -Elizabeth George

“Others before her had come to His feet to have their need met; she came to give Him His due.” -Scofield Reference Bible Note

“Silent love can be a mighty force. The greatest work in the world is not accomplished by the best talkers.” -Herbert Lockyer, All the Women of the Bible

A SINFUL WOMAN

Read Luke 7:36-50

She is known as “a sinner” in the city, this was what the men called her...leaving her even nameless.

What did both of the women who broke their alabaster jars at Jesus’ feet understand? They both understood that He WAS their life.

What we DO shows what we BELIEVE.

In the middle of a CELEBRATION Mary recklessly abandoned herself. In the middle of RECREATION the sinful woman abandoned herself. They both abandoned themselves in their broken REVELATION of who Jesus was. Notice they weren’t at church!

Wherever you are at, whatever your past, you can abandon yourselves to Jesus.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is that good part which Mary chose? How can we obtain that good part? How much do we need it? Can we share it? How?
2. Who defended Mary against Martha’s accusation? What does this teach us about Mary’s character, and what practical lesson do we find here for ourselves?
3. How can we maintain a “forgiven much, loves much” attitude in our day-to-day life?