 I'll begin reading. I'll read here in Acts 5. I'll read verses 1 and 2, but I'm going to take you back to chapter 4 in a moment. But I'll begin by reading verses 1 and 2, and I'll lead back to that. Luke writes a certain man named Ananias with Sapphira, his wife, sold a possession and he kept back part of the proceeds. His wife also being aware of it. And brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles' feet. You might want to turn to chapter 4 verse 23. I'll be picking up there in just a moment. Now in our last study, we saw two reactions to a message that was given by the apostle Peter. As you know, Peter and John had gone to the temple to pray at the hour of prayer, which I pointed out was 3 p.m. And as they were about to enter, there was a crippled man. He had asked for alms, and instead of giving him alms, Peter had done something much greater. By the power of the Holy Spirit, Peter had performed a miracle. He made the man to walk. The man was healed. Now as we've seen, he'd been crippled from his mother's womb, but it was made to walk. He had walked there into the temple, and he began to walk, and he began to leap, and he began to praise God. And when this happened, a crowd formed a marvel at what had happened. So we saw how that had given Peter an opportunity to preach to them about Jesus while he was there outside of the gates there in what was called Solomon's porch. And so he began to preach. He was telling them about the Lord, and Peter's message had two basic effects. Some who heard the message believed what he had said, and they came to faith, and the result was that the number of men of the church grew to be about 5,000, but others who heard what he was saying had a different reaction. Now obviously there were some in the crowd who heard but rejected Jesus, and that reminds us that not everyone hearing the gospel will have a desire to receive salvation. Now the ones who most openly rejected the message were the religious leaders. These men had faith in the religious system, and so they rejected Jesus Christ, and the result was that they put Peter and John into custody. Now Peter's message had been centered on the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and these leaders who were so upset were from a group called the Sadducees, and they rejected the resurrection. Acts 23 verse 8 says, the Sadducees say there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe all these things. So they put Peter and John into custody, and the next day they questioned them, and they were angered as we saw. They were angered and troubled that they said that Jesus had been resurrected. How dare these ignorant and unenlightened men teach these things to these people? Well Peter being filled with the Holy Spirit boldly made it clear how it had happened. He said it was in Jesus' name whom they crucified, but God raised from the dead. It was in his name that this man was able to be made to walk. Now he'd already said something similar when he had preached initially to the people. Acts 3.16 says that Peter said, his name through faith in his name has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. So Peter and John's boldness made them take note of what they were saying. These were men who were not formally trained. They were without status, but the work couldn't be denied. They didn't want the message to be spreading any further. So what they did is they tried to stop them. They threatened them severely. They promised them great punishment if they continued to preach in the name of Christ. So they were not to preach. They were not to pray. They were not to perform any more miracles in this name. They couldn't deny what had happened, and they feared the people because the common people had heard Jesus gladly and this once again is happening. They wanted this Jesus' movement to be crushed from its beginning. But instead the men would not stop preaching in Jesus' name. The most they could do was threaten them. They found no way to punish them. And so because of this they let them go, having nothing to charge them with. It says in verse 23, being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. So they returned to their friends. That's probably referring to the original 120. Now these men had spent a night in jail. They boldly have proclaimed Jesus to the council. They had been threatened. They were tired. They were drained. They needed encouragement. They needed comfort. You see persecution has a way of drawing believers into unity and support. What happens is in battle petty things disappear. You begin to focus on the things that are more important. So they went to their own companions according to verse 23, and they reported what had happened. They went to their own companions. Literally they went to their own people. These are their own people. These are the ones who were undoubtedly praying for them. And they gave them a report of what had happened. And they gave the response. Now I want you to notice something. The result wasn't that they complained against the religious leaders. They weren't saying things like, how dare they treat us like this? Don't they know who we are? Don't they see our authority and our power? How dare they treat us like this? How dare they say things like this? But what is it that they did? Well, it tells us that they lifted up their voices in prayer. It says in verse 24, when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said, Lord, you are God who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them who by the mouth of your servant David have said, why did the nations rage and the people plot vain things? The kings of the earth took their stand. The rulers were gathered together against the Lord against his Christ for truly against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together to do whatever your hand and your purpose determined before to be done. Now Lord, look on their threats. Grant to your servants that with all boldness, they may speak your word by stretching out your hand to heal and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke the word of God with boldness. And so what happened? Well, there are a few things that we can see taking place here as we roll into chapter five in just a moment. But I want you to see that as they're praying, we can learn things from them. In verse 24, it said, when they heard it, they raised their voice to God with one accord. When it says that they heard this and they raised their voice, first thing I want to point out is it was with one accord. They prayed in unity. They prayed with one mind. They prayed with one purpose. They heard this, but they raised their voice. And so with one accord, they're praying. You see, unity is an earmark of the early church. You've already seen that in chapter one, verse 14, as well as chapter two, verse one. We've seen it in Acts 246, which tells us they continue daily with one accord in the temple, breaking bread from house to house. And so with one accord, they were able to pray in unity, in oneness of heart, and they raised their voices together. They raised their voice. The second thing I want to point out in verse 24 is that they prayed with fervency. It says they raised their voice. So one, with one accord, two, they raised in their voice. It speaks of an intensity or a fervor. They were raising their voice with a passion. It wasn't just a mumbled kind of thing. It was something with some depth to it, with some understanding. And so they lifted their voices with emotional fervor, with intensity. It's like what it says in James 516, the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. And so they saw the need of the moment. They weren't lethargic about it. They were not unconcerned about it. They saw what was taking place. And because the church was unified and understanding that they had received from the Lord this mandate to proclaim the gospel, together they prayed and together in unity they were asking God to move. It says that they raised their voice to God in verse 24. They appealed to the sovereign God. They recognized his ultimate authority. They said, Lord, you are God who made heaven and earth and the sea when they speak to him. And they say that Lord, that word Lord is an interesting word. It's a Greek word despata. It's where you get the word despot from. It speaks of an absolute master. When they were speaking to God, they were speaking to the absolute master of all things. They were recognizing and appealing to his authority. They were saying everything, even the suffering that is about to take place. Everything is in your will. You are in total control of all events and we trust you. No matter what it looks like at the moment. Lord, you are the king of the universe. Lord, you are the one who has sovereign power. Lord, you know all things and are powerful and we're interceding to you. We're asking you to be our strength and we're doing so with a fervor of heart and intensity because we know that on the horizon there will be things that we have to deal with. They're forbidding us to speak in the name of your son Jesus and there are things on the horizon that we will deal with. So we're asking you to be with us in this because who else would we speak to? You made heaven. You made the earth and everything in it. You're in total control of all things and thus it is wise for us to speak to you. In verses 25 and 26 it's interesting to me how they begin to appeal to Scripture. It says, who by the mouth of your servant David have said, why did the nations rage? The people plod veined things. The kings of the earth took their stand. The rulers were gathered together against the Lord, against his Christ and so they're quoting Scripture. They're praying and appealing to Scripture which reveals their dependence on the word of God. Opposition is foreseen. We know that we're not going to be able to avoid it. So we're asking you to be with us. In Matthew 10, 17 Jesus said, be on your guard against men. They will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. So Lord we know that there are things on the horizon that we're about to endure. We're asking you to be with us. In verse 27 he went on to say, for truly against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together to do whatever your hand and your purpose determined before to be done. So we know that the opposition against us is really a rejection of Jesus Christ. Jesus in John 15, 18 said, if the world hates you understand it hated me first. The opposition that we as believers today is not simply against us. It's against the one we represent. It's the one that we serve and so we need to always understand that and so they're uniting against us and though they join forces they're only accomplishing what God you have determined because Jesus was given for the sin of the world according to His plan of salvation. And so they go on in verses 29 and 30. Now Lord look on their threats, grant to your servants that with all boldness they may speak your word by stretching out your hand to heal. Signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus. Lord we want to please you. Grant us boldness. Listen one of the things I think that we today in the church need to be praying for is more boldness. It seems to me that sometimes Christians fold under very little pressure. If somebody threatens to cancel them in one form or another, Christians get upset and they're afraid to lose popularity or whatever. I'm not saying we should go out and pick fights with people. You know that's not a very effective way to evangelize guys. We know that. But we ought to have the courage to stand up for our convictions. We ought to have the ability to stand up and speak that which is true. We ought to be able to be counted by the Lord. I made a choice a long time ago that I would speak in the name of the Lord and I've been doing that now for quite some time. Why? Because it's the only voice I want to be speaking for. I want to speak for the Lord and so it's very important for us to pray for boldness. I ask the Lord for it because I think each one of us may get the idea. Well, sometimes people may get the idea that people like me and others like me are just naturally bold and the fact is we're not. We're not. You know, I was a hippie, man. Hippies got along. We kind of floated. You know, whatever you want to believe it, you know, as long as it doesn't hurt me, I don't really care. That was me. I started praying for courage and boldness to speak the truth when I was in the military. I got drafted and went into the service three months after I got saved and I can still remember when I was here at Fort Bragg in North Carolina that I would go off by myself. I would run every day six days out of the weekend and I can still remember as I would go down this particular path I would be praying for a couple of things. One of the things I prayed for was to learn to love people. That was a prayer I've prayed now since almost since I got saved. It's got helped me to love people to know how to do that. But the other thing was, and this was my prayer, I'll give you the actual words of the prayer like you're interested, but the words were give me a spine. Lord, give me a spine. I want to be strong for you because, listen, in the army it's easy to backslide. When you're in the military and you're around a lot of people who don't know the Lord, it's very easy to get lonely. It's very easy to just slide away. It's very easy to do that. So I would pray often and well actually daily, give me a spine, give me courage, and I would spend time in the Word and I had fellowship so I could grow in the things of the Lord. And I was praying constantly, God, I want to have courage. I want to have boldness because boldness has nothing to do with how big you are or how strong you are outside. Boldness has everything to do with how strong God is within you. And so you're asking the Lord, strengthen me from within. I don't want to be a person who kind of yields just because somebody believes very strongly about whatever it is they're saying. Lord, help me to be equipped, to be able to answer, to give an answer to anyone who has a question concerning the hope that lies within me. And give me the ability to speak it clearly and not to be afraid or the consequences that may come. And so that's what they're praying for. They've just been threatened severely and you're going to see what happens in the book of Acts. His persecution becomes very great. And so they're already praying, God grant that we may speak with boldness in the name of Jesus Christ. We've been commanded to no longer speak in the name of Christ. So we're saying strengthen us as we do. It's going to get worse. So grant us courage and strengthen the face of danger. We have received orders in the Great Commission. May we be found faithful. You performed a tremendous miracle. Empower us to do even more. In verse 31 it continues and it says, when they had prayed the place where they were assembled together was shaken, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. They spoke the Word of God with boldness. So they were visited by the power of God. They were filled with God's Holy Spirit. And with courage and boldness they began to speak His Word. Persecution had actually strengthened them and had refined them. Their need for God increased even more. And it led to an even greater impact on the surrounding area. So as this is taking place, verse 32, the multitude of those who believed were one heart, one soul. Neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all. Nor was there anyone among them who lacked for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold and laid them at the apostles' feet and they distributed to each as anyone had need and and Joseph who was also named Barnabas by the apostles which is translated son of encouragement, a Levite of the country of Cyprus having land sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet. And so the church is multiplying. It's growing rapidly. It's getting so large the numbers are no longer being recorded. The growth is a direct result of the Spirit of God moving among them. And once again I want you to notice this. Luke emphasizes they were of one heart and one soul. Now their unity was not coming through compromise in the word of God. Their unity was the result of faithfulness. They were sharing life together. They were worshiping God together. They were seeking peace together. They served one another and together they were reaching a lost world with the gospel. Notice verse 32. Neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own. So the fruit of this loving unity was generosity. They considered their possessions to be part of their stewardship. If someone had a need they made sure that that need was met. Now that's something that when I first got saved impressed me very much. The concern that these people had for one another coming from the background I came from which was a drug background. For me generosity was interesting because the people I hung around with took advantage of each other. We bargained with one another. I have a car. You have some grass. You give me some grass. I'll give you a ride. That's kind of how it worked. I didn't give you a ride. I bargained for it. You give me a few joints. I'll take you a few miles. That's how it was. And that's how all my friends were. So we took advantage of each other. Some of you know exactly what I mean by that. We took advantage. We'd call each other brother but we'd still rip each other off. You know if you were sitting at the table with me and you left your wine that was mine. Your wine is mine. I was that way and you'd come back and where'd it go? I said I don't know. Some guy came in and drank it. I don't know. He's gone. That was how we were. That's true. I'm not even teasing about that. That's a fact. So when I started going to this Christian guy's house and he was making meals for people and they were sharing with one another. These were people who were going to a church called Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa. And I was an unbeliever and I began seeing that. I thought these people are weird. These people are unique. I haven't ever seen this kind of thing. I was very impressed with that and it was a very much a New Testament style ministry that was taking place when our first God saved. This caring and concern for one another was unusual. But it's an evidence that God is actually moved in somebody's life. Notice in verse 33 it says with great power the apostles gave witness. They gave witness to the resurrection. So great power and grace was upon them. They were faithfully preaching the word. They'd been forbidden to do that but it's what they had to do. They didn't suppress the truth in order to avoid persecution. Now according to verses 34 and 35 no one had any. There was no one amongst them who lacked anything. You see some had remained after Pentecost and others may have lost their jobs as a result of what was taking place. But they remained. They remained to grow in Christ and then yet they were in financial need and this new community took care of one another and they did it in the name of Jesus. At first the apostles took oversight of this. Eventually it led to them handing things over to others. Now in verse 36 and 37 you're introduced to a guy named Jose. Oh I'm sorry. Joseph who was also named Barnabas by the apostles which is translated as a encouragement. He's a Levite. He's from the country of Cyprus. He had land. He sold it. He brought the money and laid it at the apostles feet. So this is the introduction of Barnabas. He's a Levite meaning he's a member of the priestly tribe. He's a Jew. He's from Cyprus. He's an encouraging man. He's a generous man and he's submitted to apostolic leadership. So we close with a picture of him as he's selling land and bringing the money and laying it at the apostles feet. Everything is going very good and now Satan tries to join the church. Satan tries to join the church. Verse one chapter five. A certain man named Ananias with Sapphira his wife sold the possession. He kept back part of the proceeds. His wife also being aware of it and brought a certain part laid it at the apostles feet. Now by this time generosity for the members of the church had become normal. From the birth of the church generous concern for the members became the norm. In Acts two forty four and forty five it says all who believed were together and had all things in common sold their possessions and goods divided them among all as anyone had need. You see the same thing in chapter four verse 32 as well as verses 34 and 35. God was moving in mighty ways. The people in the church were excited at what was happening. So Barnabas sold the possession and doing so there is a recognition he had actually gained praise and even authority because of his generosity and his character. So this provokes a couple by the name of Ananias and Sapphira. They're seeing what's taking place. So they want to join in on the action if you will. It seems that the couple wanted to receive attention. It may be that they even wanted to gain a position. Now Barnabas had sold land. He had given the proceeds to the church. So it seems that this couple thought that they could get attention or position with less sacrifice. He had sold property. He gave a portion over to the apostles care Ananias. But sadly his greed and his hunger for riches overruled any impulse to give in any kind of faith. Someone said it would seem that he had a partial victory over his avarice, over his greed. Now these are professing believers it appears but they're not true followers. How do we know that? Well because all who were genuine according to chapter 4 verse 32 were of one heart and one soul and these people were not. They weren't of this sort. They were trying they were trying to appear to be genuine believers. I saw that when I first got saved and into the first several months into the years first few years of my walk with the Lord. You see the Jesus movement that occurred that I was part of. There were quite a number of people who who liked the attention that was taking place at that time were where these wild-eyed hippie kids were getting saved and churches were being birthed and music was beginning and there were festivals and a variety of things that it actually for a while became kind of cool. There were people on in that ancient rock scene back in the 60s and 70s. There were people during that time who were actually professing to know Christ and there were people who were singing songs about Jesus. You know crystal blue persuasion. Tommy James some of you are old. I'm just throwing this out for the old people young people hold on. I was reading that that was actually inspired when Tommy James was reading I think it was time James was reading the book of Revelation and he saw the crystal sea before the throne of God and there were actual songs that were being inspired by by by the Bible and faith. It was an interesting time. Even John Lennon himself who who who wrote the song Imagine even he for a while was walking around saying praise Jesus. It was really interesting. A lot of the movers and shakers the influences of that day were being asked questions about faith in Christ. There were rocks operas you know Jesus Christ Superstar and then there were counter operas that were coming out like Tommy or Aqualung. It was an interesting time when the spirit began to move in a way that the name of Jesus began to be seen and then then those who were opposed to the name of Jesus began to come out. It was just an interesting time to be alive and so when I was around at that time I as a young Christian there were people who were you know who were professing Christ who who were going to the Bible studies who were carrying the 200 pound Bibles and all the bumper stickers in the back of their cars and stuff that after six months to a year it just faded away. There were a lot of I don't know if this word is even used anymore. A lot of posers people who were saying you know oh yeah I mean in fact they didn't and I knew people like that. Out of the about eight or so maybe eight or nine who were in the Volkswagen van when I got saved went to the Maranatha concert in Hollywood and it was a VW filled with people. Out of all those people that were in that van there's only two of them that I know are walking with the Lord. Now all the rest faded away because it was not a real change in their life. They were hooking up with and wanting to be like Christians because there were magazine articles being written about us. Time magazine was writing about us and they wanted to be part of that wave of coolness and all but eventually it crashed and they took off and so that isn't new. I've seen it. That isn't new when somebody kind of jumps on the wave and wants to ride for a while but he kicks out and that's it. It's over no more and so Ananias and Sapphira were watching. They saw what was taking place. They saw how Barnabas had sold a parcel of land laded at the authority of the apostles and so they had land themselves. They sold it too but they kept a portion of it for themselves. They put some of the proceeds under the direction of the apostles but they kept a portion for themselves. Now somebody says well why was it wrong to keep some of the prophets for themselves? Even giving a small portion should have been recognized as something generous and even it should have been recognized as something good but it seems that Ananias and Sapphira wanted to profit twice. First, they wanted the spiritual prestige of being thought to be generous and then secondly on a personal level they wanted to profit financially. Now God's word warned against this kind of action. It warns against the greedy accumulation of riches in Proverbs 21 verse 6, a fortune made by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare. The sin wasn't in making money on the sale of property. Their sin was in lying and pretending to give it to the Lord and so as this is taking place they brought this verse 2, brought a certain part, laid it at the apostles feet but Peter said Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? Well it remained was it not your own and after it was sold was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? Now notice this you have not lied to men but to God. Peter is exercising spiritual gifts. He's exercising the discernment of spirits as well as having a word of knowledge. When you look at the discernment, the gift of discernment, discernment of spirits that speaks of being able to read hearts if you will, it's determining whether something is true or not. The word of knowledge speaks of a knowledge that is supernatural. It's imparted by God and those gifts are noted in 1 Corinthians 12, verses 8 and 10 and so he's exercising spiritual gifts. Why? He's filled with the Holy Spirit and so he asked in verse 3, why has Satan filled your heart? Now notice to lie to the Holy Spirit instead of a word of praise, he was directly confronted. Notice how he asked, why has Satan filled your heart to lie? The impulse to lie was spiritual, it originated with Satan. By asking this we see that Ananias was open and Satan encouraged him to lie. Satan encouraged him to do what he desired to do. Satan took advantage of his inclinations, he used his greed to trap him. That's the same thing that had happened to Judas. Satan worked to incline his mind into betrayal. In Luke 22, verses 1 and 3, it says, the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called Passover. The chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him, for they feared the people. Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Ascariot, who was numbered with the twelve. John 13, 2 says the devil already put it into the heart. He suggested put into the heart of Judas Ascariot, Samson, to betray him. So he was working with something that was within him, and he began to inspire him to provoke him to the greed that already ruled him. Why has this happened? Verse 4, why have you conceived this thing in your heart? So Satan provokes the impulse, but the responsibility for yielding was on Ananias. The sin originated in himself. Satan didn't force him to sin. Ananias didn't have to sell his property. Ananias didn't have to give anything as a gift. He chose to do this and to misrepresent himself before the people, and because of this he was judged. Now I want you to see something else. It's very important. I want you to see this here. Notice in verse 4 how he says, he concludes by saying, you have not lied to men, but to God. That's very important theologically. I'll touch it for a second, but it's very important. Notice he's speaking of the Holy Spirit. This is the person of the Spirit. You cannot lie to. You cannot test an energy or a force. There are those who say that the Holy Spirit is God's energy. Jehovah's Witnesses will say it's his force. You cannot lie to a force. I can't lie to the lights. The Holy Spirit has personality. You cannot lie to or test a force, but secondly the deity of the Holy Spirit is revealed here. Peter said in lying to the Holy Spirit Ananias, you have lied to God. And that's what he says to him. You have not lied to men, but to God. Now Ananias hearing these words fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. And the young man arose and wrapped him up, carried him out and buried him. Ananias heard these words and breathed his last. Peter didn't bring judgment. God did. God's judgment was swift and the sin was immediately dealt with. Why? What would happen if God did that now? I wouldn't be here and neither would you. This is a new work. It was a fresh work. The church had recently been birthed. The power of the Holy Spirit was residing upon the people. God was working in the church, and God is giving a warning. It's similar to what happened when God was working originally with the nation of Israel. We see it when God was teaching Israel what he demands in worship. It's found in Leviticus 10, 1 through 3, where it speaks of Moses's brother Aaron and Aaron's sons. It says Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abiyu, took their sensors, put fire in them and added incense, and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to his command. So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. Moses then said to Aaron, this is what the Lord spoke of when he said, among those who approach me, I will show myself holy. In the sight of all people, I will be honored. And Aaron remained silent. The great fear, great fear according to verse 5, came upon all those who heard these things. And so verse 6, the young men arose and wrapped him up and carried him out. They buried him. When it says the young men, it speaks not only of their age, but their position. They were similar to what would eventually become deacons. They put him in a winding sheet. They buried him immediately. People were buried immediately, especially those under God's judgment. Because of the climate, the bodies would decay quickly. Well, this has taken place, notice verse 7. Well, about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened, Peter answered her, tell me whether you sold the land for so much. She said yes for so much. Peter said to her, how is it that you have agreed together 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. And immediately, she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young men came in and found her dead and carrying her out, buried her by her husband. Great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things. And through the hands of the apostles, many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch, yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly. So Peter gives her an opportunity. About three hours later, his wife came in and she didn't know what had happened. Three hours have passed and Ananias hasn't come home. So when Peter asked the question, she may have thought, well, maybe we're receiving more honor. Now there are those who would say she shouldn't have died. She was just loving her husband. She was just, you know, covering his back. But Peter speaks to her. Notice in verse eight how it says, he answered her. The word answered there is not as if she spoke to him. The word answer means to respond or to conclude. So he's speaking to her. And Sapphira knew her husband had done this. Sapphira had agreed with him. And even though it was he who lied, she consented to it, and she was all so guilty. Now she didn't outright lie. She agreed with it. And because of that, she received judgment. She ultimately had to give an account of herself, like it says in Romans 14 12, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. So together they desired to be regarded as important. But sadly, they weren't disciples at all. They just wanted to appear to be. And that's why Peter had said in verse nine, how is it that you agree together to test the spirit? How is it that you put to test the spirit of God? You see, in attempting to deceive the apostles, they were testing the spirit of God. Was the spirit really empowering these apostles? Was the spirit truly gifting them? Was the Holy Spirit really leading them? The church was in its infancy. Sin was not welcome in the body. And our sin was exposed and dealt with. Once again, the judgment of God was swift. It says in verse 11, that great fear came upon all the church. So the judgment brought purging of sin amongst the people and a holy fear. Notice how verse 13 says none of the rest dare join them. The people esteemed them highly. You see, I'm going to close with application. Great fear came upon all the church. If there's anything that the church needs to awaken to in our day, it's reverence and respect for the awesome power of God. If there's anything that is lacking in many Christians' lives, it's a lack of appreciation of God's majesty and holiness. There are many people I've encountered over the years, including myself in my earlier days walking with the Lord. I didn't have an appreciation of the majesty and power and awesomeness of God. And so sin was almost permissible. It was almost casually accepted. But the Holy Spirit has a way of working with you and you to bring conviction to you to make you aware of the holiness of God and the need that you have for God's grace. And if you have a hunger for him, if you're in his word, if you're in prayer, if you're in fellowship, if you're sharing the things of God, if you're asking God, fill me with your Holy Spirit, these are things that are actually protecting you. But if you don't have that, if you're not doing that, then you're left open to the various kinds of things the world has to offer that can entice you and draw you away. And it's not that hard. It's very easy to slip away slowly because you don't normally make an immediate choice to just do something wrong. You normally will take steps until you finally are doing it. In the early church, God was moving in such a powerful way that the unbelievers actually feared joining amongst those people. There weren't people who were just popping in like Ananias and Sapphira trying to appear to be important within the body of Christ. They weren't doing that. Why? Because God was moving in a purging way and he wasn't allowing that unholiness to get rooted in the church. The people actually feared God. And when you fear God, you stay away from those things that are not pleasing to him. If there's ever been a time, parents, if there's ever been a time when our children need to be in Bible studies, in church, it's now. It's now. Too often I hear of parents who, well, it's Sunday and we're on a traveling softball team, a traveling soccer team. You know, it doesn't hurt to miss a Sunday. I am telling you that's the most unwise thing you can be doing because parents who are doing that right now are going to reap later on the fruit of children who see that fellowship with God is not that important. That fellowship with God's people is not that important because my dad said a 10-second prayer and he read a verse from the Bible. That's all I need. I'm telling you that's happening right now. I'm greatly concerned for that. Why? Because this generation is under attack like none of us ever were, where your identity itself is being attacked. Whether you're a male or female is being attacked. We have never seen that accepted and fought for in the way we are right now. And we need to be aware of that. You see, when the Holy Spirit is moving in your life, you're going to avoid those things that are not pleasing to God. And you will be the kind of person, I have to tell you the truth. It's true that people will look at you and think, you're just a bummer, man. You're so boring. Whatever happened to you? You used to be a lot of fun. We used to get drunk together. We used to party together. We used to do all these things together. And now you're just so, oh, man, what happened to you? That happened to me when I first got saved. My cousin, who I on occasion, well, I, you know, he was my cousin, so we knew each other very well. When I got saved, he said, what happened to you? You used to be a lot of fun. Now you're a bummer, man. You're going to church and all of that. What happened to you? And I shared with him, you know, the Lord Jesus Christ has transformed my life. I no longer want to be the doper. I don't want to be the drunk. I don't want to be the fool. I want to be somebody that God uses in my life. He didn't understand that. You have to make a choice. You have to draw a line. You have to say, I'm not going to proceed past this line. You have to do that. You have to walk in the fear of the Lord and the power of the Spirit. You need to know his word. You need to be armed and dangerous because the enemy is coming after your children. And we have to stand up. I really, I'm just telling you what's true. It's true. The enemy is coming after our kids right now. You have to be aware of that. When you have people marching saying we're queer, we're here and we're coming after your children, what else do we need to hear? What else do we need to hear? And so in the early church, there was no casualness about sin. They weren't taking the grace of God and extending it over their sinful habits and saying, it's okay, God understands. What shall we continue in sin so that grace may abound? Paul said to the Romans, God forbid. How can we who have been set free from sin, dead to sin? How can we live any longer therein is what he said. The grace of God never freed me up to continue in sin. God's grace freed me up to no longer be in bondage to sin. And what happens is the church was a holy place and the believers were respected because they held fast to the principles of what Christ had taught them and they didn't bend and they didn't yield and they didn't compromise. And when the sinner tried to enter in and get a place of position, God said, ain't going to happen. And that was a warning about the holiness of the body of Christ. God gives time for repentance. God gives us opportunity. But because the church in the latter days even now sees that sin is a casual thing, the name of Jesus has become blasphemed by unbelievers. But God is gracious to us. He gives us space to repent. But his patience does have an end. In 2 Timothy 2 verse 19, Paul said, the foundation of God stands sure, having this seal. The Lord knows them that are His. But he goes on to say, let everyone that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. We have a holy God. We have the Holy Spirit. We have the holy Bible. And combined, they're to create a holy believer. We need to be in God's Word in these last days, more so than ever before, guys. Do you want to be used by the Lord? Get serious. Get serious. Get serious about Jesus Christ. Because you have friends who don't know Him. You have family who don't know Him. You've got coworkers who don't know Him. People that you have gotten to know over time, they don't know Him. Our work is cut out for us. Ask the Lord to use you. Ask the Lord to fill you with this Holy Spirit. Don't be cruel and malicious. Don't be mean-spirited. But love people enough to tell them the truth and be willing to receive whatever comes as a result of that. Because I've been rejected. All of us have. But you know what? When somebody rejects you, that's just part of life. The one that I don't want to ever reject me has always been God. I don't want him to reject me. And so we need to hold fast to the Lord. Ananias and Sapphira tried to enter into the church, tried to get a position, and God said it's not going to happen. Peter didn't kill them. The Lord judged them. Why? Because the body of Christ is holy. And it was a warning to those who would attempt to come in in such a way. Again, verse 13, none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly. They respected them. If there's anything that we should rejoice in, we should rejoice in the fact that the God we serve, who is working through us, that we can be respected because of our walks with God, even if they disagree with us. At least there's that sense of respect. But you guys are true to what you believe. Let us not be hypocrites. Let us not say one thing and do another. Let us love the Lord and serve Him with all of our heart. These days are dark. It's time to be serious. But at the end of the day, I believe that no matter what, in Christ, we are still victorious. In Christ, we still have opportunity to reach the lost. And until he takes us home, that's what we're called to do. Let's just do it together, shall we? Let's serve the Lord together.