 Good morning and welcome. Thank you for connecting on this session where we journey through the book of Acts and we will also study about the life of Apostle Paul. So far we have seen the first few chapters in the book. So we are going to go further and see all the occurrences that take place in the early church. So let's start with the word of prayer. Maybe I'll just start. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. Lord, we thank you that it is a privilege of God to have your word, to study your word. Lord, to encounter you through your word for the God and be transformed by it. Lord, we ask for your grace this morning. Lord, we ask for your presence. Lord, we ask for your power of God. Even as we learn your word, we pray God that each of us Lord in our life circumstances and situations will experience you the way people experienced you Father in the book of Acts. Thank you once again, Lord, for your goodness and faithfulness in our lives. We bless you and honor you. In Jesus we pray. So till now we have covered up to Acts chapter 4 and what we saw in Acts chapter 4 is the like almost a trial, isn't it? Of Peter and John for doing something good. They were only walking in the power of God and they were accused of conspiring against the powers and authorities of the time. And when such a thing happened, we also noticed how by the power of the Holy Spirit they were so bold, facing a council, facing leaders, facing opposition and we saw how God made a way for them to actually come out of the situation and their strong connect with the rest of the brethren or the body of Christ and we saw how they went back, reported all the events that took place and together they responded with prayer in one accord and as they sought the Lord God's power was demonstrated among them the earth shook the scriptures tell us in verse 31 and in this manner they strengthened themselves in the Lord at a very difficult time and further to that we continue to see the features of the early church and we saw how the church was so caring and so kind, generous towards people who were in need. People even saw their possessions and they gave it to the apostles. It is likely that the apostles provided leadership in the spiritual matters as well as other administrative aspects. So when the people came and gave their offerings to the apostles, they would have even managed the finances of the church. So this is how we see the structure of the church evolving through this time and we stopped at a point where we were introduced to a new individual by the name of Barnabas and we noticed that he was somebody who had a great background so he is a Levite and also he seems to be a rich person because he possessed land it says and also we noticed that his name was called as the son of encouragement. Now even Barnabas was someone who came he sold the land and gave the money to the apostles so this is the point where we have stopped. Now we will continue and see what really happens in this caring, sharing church setting. So let's start reading from Acts chapter 5. I request someone to read from verse 1 all the way till verse 11. But a certain man named Ananias with Safaria, 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 Apostle's feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to light to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself while it remained was it not your own and after it was sold was it not not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not light to man but to God. Then 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 rose and wrapped him up, carried him out and buried him. Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in not knowing what had happened and Peter answered her, tell me whether you sold the land for so much? She replied, yes for so much. Then 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. Then immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last and the young man came in and found her dead and carrying her out, buried her by her husband. So great fear came upon all the church, upon all who heard these things. Thank you, Zellie. So we've seen a portion of this book where some new people are introduced to us. This is a couple by the name of Ananias and Safaira. The story of Ananias and Safaira is a really disturbing one because totally the part of this church where miracles were taking place and God's abundant grace was seen upon this church, they did something which was not aligned to the nature of God. They lied to God and that brought them into trouble to an extent where both of them lost their lives. So what happened is that during this time when people were willing to share their possessions Ananias and Safaira also sold their possessions. It is important for us to note that there was no compulsion by the apostles for people to do such a thing but through the generosity of their heart people were doing it. So another important lesson for us today in our churches is that we don't impose giving upon people and say you have to give, you have to give so much or you need to sell your possessions and give because the early church never made a demand on the people. So it was like a free will offering or it was something that they did because of what God put on their own hearts. So Ananias and Safaira made their decision, they sold the possession and they kept back a certain portion and the remaining they came and they made it at the apostles' feet. Again, they made it at the apostles' feet means that it was submitted to the apostles for their decisions regarding the money. Now what happened is Peter asked Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to light of the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the prize of the land for yourself? So it is likely that Ananias claimed that he has given all the money that came from the selling of their possession to the apostles. So the problem was not that he kept a little bit back for himself but the problem is that he made it look like he is giving everything to the apostles. So there is a lack of integrity and a lack of honesty in what Ananias is doing and also another important part that we must notice is the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the people as well as the leaders of the church. So there is a word of knowledge that Peter is functioning with. How would Peter know that Ananias has done something like this? If he just comes up to Peter and says, hey here's all the money that I got from selling my land. But Peter has come to know by the Holy Spirit and that's what verse 3 says but Peter said Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to light to the Holy Spirit? How did Peter know about the word of knowledge? So Peter recognized through the operation of a gift of the Holy Spirit that Ananias was lying. So he is confronting him and he is telling him, look it's because of Satan that you're doing this, you're influenced by Satan and you've kept back a part of the price of the land for yourself and he also is questioning him and he's saying when it was there it was yours and after you sold it everything was in your control. Now why did you lie saying that you have given all the possessions to the church? That was the problem. It was not that he kept something back but the fact that he lied or he demonstrated a lack of integrity and Peter by the operation of the word of knowledge is confronting Ananias of this matter and he's also rebuking him because towards the end of his statements he says you have not lied to men but to God. So he is rebuking him and he's accusing him of doing something inappropriate. But let's see Ananias's response in verse 5 when Ananias hears these words he fell down and breathed his last. Now we don't know what was in his heart and why such a thing has happened it's what we call as judgment. So in that very moment Ananias fell down and breathed his last. So we are not told very many things that were discussed ahead of this, done ahead of this and how Ananias really pre-planned all this but mostly Ananias wanted to gain fame. He wanted to be noted as a noble person among the church folk so maybe that is why he did what he did but it was very evil it got cycle and there was judgment right at the moment when Peter rebukes him Ananias fell down and breathed his last is what the bible tells us. So we understand here that in times of great power when the spirit of God is moving powerfully and sometimes we use the term revival to describe that. At times of great revival the judgment is also quite severe isn't it because we experience the presence of God in a heightened way we experience the works of the Holy Spirit in a very powerful way but at that time when there is sin in the midst of the move of God there is quite a strong judgment or the way we noticed you know there is a punishment for the wrong that Ananias's heart conceived and performed. So this is something for us to note at a time of revival the judgment also seems to be quite severe so then when such a thing happened great fear came upon all those who thought these things obviously because everything was going so well but now all of a sudden this has happened there is a man who died and the rebuke of the apostles and so people are gripped with fear and when something like this happened you know the young men of the church they arose they wrapped him up carried him out and buried him as would have been their practice so they're just doing the needful in a situation like this now after about three hours we are told that Ananias's wife came in she did not know what had happened so the chain of events would have been very quick so he died they quickly took him and maybe news couldn't travel that fast those days we don't know why there was a delay but she comes into the church without the knowledge of her husband having died you know a couple of hours ago and Peter is asking her as well tell me whether you sold the land for so much so immediately she says yes for so much now again the lack of integrity shared by both the husband and wife was something that God did not like now we have learned in scripture that there is power in agreement we have learned in scripture that you know it is God who brings people together and you know the marriage covenant and agreeing together in marriage is so powerful it can you know release the power of thought however in this situation unfortunately they have agreed for the wrong matter which did not please God so yes the husband was wrong but there was an opportunity for the wife to speak the truth but she has joined together with the life which Ananias had spoken and this was definitely not pleasing in the sight of God and so what is her fate Peter again by the Holy Spirit he recognizes that she is not speaking the truth so he asks her in verse 9 how is it that you have agreed together to test the spirit of God look the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door and they will carry you out that immediately she fell down at his feet and pray for the last so judgment to very severe judgment of in this case a couple who lacked integrity or honesty and this happened in a matter of moments and you know they had to be buried on the same day and when such a thing happened verse 11 says great fear came upon all the church and upon all we heard these things so it was really a matter that created fear in people's hearts fear of God because they understood that you know they cannot cheat God or they cannot lie to God isn't it so at a time when the presence of God is so powerful unfortunately people were functioning in their flesh but God did not ignore that and there was an immediate judgment upon these people so I'm just going to stop to ask all of you if there is anything that you are thinking at this moment you want to share your thoughts regarding this situation. Pasu is this just a I don't like to be sorry to ask also but do we see that God was very strict in the early church or is Grace more about me right now God is not doing it with that severity right now. So one thing we know John is that our God he is a very gracious God you know all along the very fact that Adam and Eve sinned and he sent his only son to redeem us and he had a plan to redeem us reveals how much God loves us and it also shows us that his plan is to redeem every situation like he was 725 he saves to the uttermost the scripture says so it is my belief that though it seems like in this particular incident that there was no opportunity for Ananias and Sapphira to respond and you know God was too strict with them or you know in that period maybe Grace is not looking that abundant my feeling is I'm sure God would have dealt with their hearts before this but it would be a matter of hardening their hearts and not responding to God over a long period of time which all those details we don't have because you see God is the one who who is a righteous judge isn't it he's enthroned on righteousness and justice scriptures tell us so if he's a God of justice definitely he will not do anything unjust so if the if this has transpired in a moment I don't think it's so much about the the availability of grace I think it's more about these two individuals and their journey with God they may not have responded to multiple prompts by God and so you know it finally ended up like this they would have received the grace of God is what I feel so what I mean what do you think Jaan yeah it should be right yeah thanks yeah yeah he's enthroned on righteousness and justice so obviously the most righteous king would never do anything which you know is like it goes at anything that goes against his own nature so yeah that's my good question Jaan thank you for that yes yes so we see in this scripture that uh so he actually bought a certain part he didn't give the full part of it that's that's the thing am I being right so he actually bought certain part of the money but he kept something to himself yeah yeah so uh but I just want to know where he actually lied or is it a rule like we should give the full amount is there is there a rule like that because I don't know where he lied and I also want to ask is lying that big sin is lying that big sin uh because uh is it mean and then I don't think no one has lied in their life uh I think we all do at certain points but uh doesn't really talks about lying or it talks about not being honest about like lying in front of that okay so uh yes definitely uh your first question was like do we need to give everything to god is keeping something back uh an issue but I don't think that is the issue here uh because Peter quite clearly says in verse 4 while it remained wasn't not your own so it was a decision that Ananias had to make unfortunately he was trying to paint a wrong picture it's not about the amount of money now let's say you know uh um he sold the land and he decided that he only wants to give a part of the money he could have just you know revealed to the people around or the apostles that he is giving a part of the money but what he tried to do is he is trying to show as if he has given everything to look good in front of people okay which was the problem so god is not telling us that any point in time we can we have to give everything to him now even when you go back to the construction of the temple uh uh and the instructions that were given or the tabernacle god told people to give what they can he said whatever each one can let them give so you never see a compulsion upon the people to uh give beyond their capacity so that that is not something we observe uh you know as a pattern so that we have to keep in mind I hope it answers your first question the second question that you asked is uh uh lying uh you know a big sin see when we consider god uh he's the god who said be holy as I am holy so when we compare any form of sin with holiness it is not acceptable someone once gave an illustration if you take a very white sheet of paper and there's just a very tiny ink dot on that piece of paper it it will get noticed even if it is so tiny it will get noticed because the rest of the paper is so white so it's somewhat like that when we think about god it's not the extent of the sin the very fact that it is sin it is uh uh away from god's nature it is away from uh the way things must be done it's contradicting the person of god and the nature of god so it's not acceptable if I got any sin so we can even talk about uh the garden of edith we can say you know just one god told them not to take that food but then they went and took it so what is so wrong with that they just made one mistake and for that you know the whole world has come under the corruption of sin uh and uh you know uh so many things changed because of one decision right but it's not so much about you know one decision or a big or small sin sin is sin and sin uh is unacceptable by god okay no matter no matter how big or small it is uh and which is why you know if if there's anything that we are being convicted of uh even if it is a tiny we have to repent and uh you know complete before god because sin separates us from god and we don't want that to happen I hope I've answered your question I know just want to know one more thing so in in verse 2 we see that he brought only a portion I just want to know in which scripture it says that he's he pictured it like he brought everything in where and like yeah so see it's implied uh we don't have a scripture which says that um uh you know he he uh just come again in your own words and it's pictured like yeah like as if he tried to make himself look good where does it say that it doesn't say uh that he tried doing that but we can understand from this passage because uh in verse 2 it says he kept back part of the proceeds his his wife also being aware of it okay and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles week so he has done this now Peter when he's speaking we know it's coming across like a rebuke and he's asking questions you kept back a part of a price of the land for yourself it is the reality it is the reality but why does Peter have to confront about a reality because the person has uh made it look like something else mr so it's quite basically like you know it's implied or after reading the passage we can come to that conclusion that he may have lied to the apostles so that's how okay roslyn uh pastor what if your boss asks you to lie to the client at workplace what should we are stand at that time I come across the situation often my friends ask me so roslyn obviously we shouldn't lie that is the answer so the boss asks us to lie we would need to say that you know we won't be able to do that and it's so tricky it's uh you know you're at risk of losing your job but that's your decision to make it's like joseph isn't it joseph who was trying to live with integrity when uh the situation was not easy for him isn't it in potiphar's house he was under pressure but uh we see how he says when potiphar's wife this is uh this is a different circumstance when he's coming under temptation but he makes a statement and he says you know I cannot um I cannot sit against God so even when we are asked to do something uh dishonest by our higher authorities um we cannot sit against God so we need to carry that resolve and that determination in our hearts and uh it's going to be tricky to let them know uh but God can still give the wisdom for us to come out of this situation yeah okay sure thank you all right um any other doubts questions regarding this uh occurrence I know it's so out of place in the book of acts when everything is going so wonderful suddenly uh two people are judged and they fall dead in moments so it's quite difficult to even accept what's going on but the works of the flesh are evident even at the time when the work of the Holy Spirit is so powerful in the church so let's look ahead and see what happens as a result of uh or not really as a result but after these things take place uh we saw that the fear there was fear among all the people great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things what else was going on let's read from verse 12 to verse 16 I request another person to please go ahead and read it okay class we have to back up we are in the book of acts uh you know full of fire so this book is all about fire so I want some you know fire from your side so as soon as we finish one section uh somebody can quickly just jump in and read the next section so now we are uh at verse 12 verses 12 to 16 and through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people and they were all with one accord in solvents porch yet none of the rest they've joined them but the people esteemed them highly and believers were increasingly added to the door multitudes of men both men and women so then they brought the sick out into the streets and gave them on beds and couches that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on them also a multitude gathered from uh the surrounding cities to Jerusalem bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits and they were all cute wow that is so powerful so we see the in the years that went by after starting with the baptism in the Holy Spirit the church is becoming spiritually very strong how what are some characteristics that make them strong now they are a people of prayer they are a people given to the doctrine of the apostles they are a people of fellowship they are a people open to the works of the Holy Spirit we can see the operation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit uh particularly now we saw Peter how through a word of knowledge he is leading the church guiding the church in the right direction so there is so much going on in the church and these are incredible times because the church is walking in the fulfillment of what Jesus had promised he had told them in Acts 1 8 and you shall receive power from on height and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth so uh the difference happened after this power that they received from on height that was the baptism in the Holy Spirit and what else do we see we see a manifestation of the power of God among God's people in this section we are noticing how God used the apostles but later on we will also observe believers in the church moving in the power of the Holy Spirit so the science wonders miracles are not limited only to the apostles but in this section Luke is recording that the apostles or the leaders of the church were people who were moving in the power of the Holy Spirit and what happened no science wonders were done among the people and they were all with one accord remember I said that one is of heart fellowship uh that was it continued with the people even though a situation like Ananias and Sapphira has happened um then what else we see that these people or the church was highly esteemed even though uh none of the rest dare to join them who are the none of the rest it's likely that they were Jews who heard the message of Jesus but maybe they didn't have the courage or the conviction to or they did not respond to the conviction of the Holy Spirit to accept Christ to their own life so they did not join the church but one good thing is that the church was highly esteemed or respected that's a powerful place so the church is strong spiritually but the church is also strong in the community because there is a respect which they are gaining from the uh uh you know surrounding communities and uh we see that the church is growing in terms of numbers as well so that's another strength of the church it's increasingly um uh you know people they're increasingly added to the church and we are told multitudes of men and women so we can picture that there is a church and then every Sunday there are more first-time visitors you know less seats and uh you know places kind of becoming less and we need ushers to be a little bit more uh uh sort of uh you know plan plan better and organize themselves better because the church is filling up and the church is overflowing maybe they were thinking about second service and third service an overflow area uh obviously they didn't have live stream right but uh they are trying to manage the growth of the church the church is really becoming so strong during these times and the powerful works of the Holy Spirit are continuing because uh sick people are being healed now where are these sick people coming from we are told that they were brought right they were brought and uh they were even out in the streets laid them on beds and couches I don't know how many of you have attended crusades uh it here in our city at least in my observation it's sort of the thing of the past we don't have so many crusades anymore as much as we used to have when I was a kid and I have attended some crusades back in those years uh oh when permissions were easier and I attended one particular crusade which was uh uh conducted by healing minister and uh at that point I was working for uh I mean obviously I was a little older and I uh was working in a hospital so part of the hospital team they had put us in charge of an area that was given only for the sick people so that was the first time in my life that I saw so many sick people who had gathered and that's the picture that comes to my mind when I see was 15 when it says the sick uh were brought out into the streets and you know they were all gathered together why would somebody do this at least at the crusade that I went to uh people had heard that healing stake place miracle stake place so they made great effort to bring their sick people in that I saw some on the stretchers you know with the with the IV lines and a lot of doctors even like the doctor knows they had all come so it was amazing to see that people had so much faith to actually be healed of their sicknesses and they had gathered to experience the touch of God the power of God so in the times of the book of acts it's so similar to that scene that there are so many sick people they have gathered that only goes to tell us that there was an expectation from the apostles that these guys that they come and they lay hands or they speak a word or you know whichever way they minister it healings will take me so the sick had gathered and even on beds and couches right so so many people had actually gathered and the way God worked is out of the box we are told that the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them so even the shadow of Peter was healing now this also teaches a lesson as far as the healing ministry is concerned God can work however he pleases we have generally heard of methods such as laying hands or speaking of you know command over the sickness we've even heard about using things anointing oil or you know pray over or over something and made upon the sick person so these are our common practices in the in the church but think about this an unusual miracle was taking place and that is people were getting healed by the shadow of Peter which is a non-material it's not even material okay so how do you explain this phenomenon we cannot explain it so the point is in various times of the move of the Holy Spirit God can minister however he likes so even when we study revivals we observe that the manifestation is so different the way people got healed is so different in each of these these revivals or you know each of the services each of the meetings Maria Woodworth Hitter if you've read about her meetings there was an unusual manifestation and one of which was that in the presence of God she would she would just go into a trance for hours and it is said that even maybe you know over a couple of days she would just be like a statue how can that happen we don't understand these things God can work any way in which he likes so we are no one to tell God what to do and exactly how to do it but when these things take place by the fruit of what is occurring we are able to tell whether something is God or it is so the manifestations are unusual in this particular situation in verse 16 you know a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits and they were all healed so it tells us that the fame of the church of Jerusalem spread far and wide beyond the city imagine imagine a city where God's presence is incredible to the extent where people from surrounding cities you know they are buying train tickets and bus tickets and you know maybe even flight why they just want to go to the city where the church is and they want to bring their sick people they want to bring their tormented people because something is happening there and God is on the move and in the power of God is manifesting and the people of God are moving in science wonders and miracles it's amazing to even think of a time like this and for us you know we may feel like wow I wish I was part of those years when these things were taking place but the beauty is that God has not spoken anywhere in his word and said that this is only limited to the early church in fact we could consider this as a time when God was revealing how the church is meant to be and the early church is really a prototype church where we can look at it and the desire for our churches to be like this that people will come from far and wide when they hear hey lives are getting transformed in that church sickness is getting healed in that church demons are fleeing in this church come on let's go even if it's a Sunday far away let's just go let's experience the power of God and that is the picture of the early church that we have okay any thoughts any comments before we move ahead into the next section all right so let's continue then let's see what is happening you know whenever something good is happening we we are rejoicing in it but there is also like an opposition that is rising against the church among those who don't believe so unfortunately even at this point we noticed that the authorities were noticing all that was going on at the church of Jerusalem and they came against the church so let's read the section from verse 17 all the way till maybe till verse 21 and then we can move on through the next passage verse 17 then the high priest rose up and all those who were this way which is the sect of the Sadducees and they were filled with indignation and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison but at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out and said go stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life and when they heard that they entered the temple early in the morning and stopped but the high priest and those with him came and called the council together with all the elders of the children of Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought in all right so just when you think everything is fine again there's another challenge to face so what is this challenge the authorities see a threat in what's going on so the high priest he rises up and he was filled with indignation it says which is anger he was very angry and laid hands laid hands to seize or to catch the apostles and put them in the prison now once they are put in the prison notice that whatever is going on in the church is not just the leaders and the people it's also God who is working with them so sometimes women feel like the minority we may feel like hey I'm feeling so alone doing God's work but we are not alone that's the whole point so I just want to share also whenever I share I talk about this I remember we have some we have a campus ministry it was known as campus elevates that used to go to colleges and get permission and all that so at one point I remember we had like I had one more person who would go with me to the colleges but there were times when she was busy and so she said hey Nancy can you go I can't go with you so I remember walking into these huge institutions trying to go to the you know principal's office the admin office but I'm alone over there right and I would think God I'm alone and I have to do this alone it's quite a intimidating scary thought but I was always reminded when we serve the Lord even though physically we sense that we're alone and we have to take the work forward by ourselves we're actually not alone we have the presence of the Holy Spirit and we have the most of angels we have God himself who's looking into the work that we are doing and so when we are moving as for the purposes of God we see his intervention whether it is through a wisdom the word of wisdom that he gives us in that circumstance or even to let's say send an angel in that moment or send people to come and assist us so we are never alone in the work of God that's the point that I want to make for us so when these apostles were caught by the High Priest what happened in the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors look at that so this is teamwork we are working with heaven and so God is sending angels to deliver his people so they came and opened the prison doors wow I it's like you I know there's already a movie but you could make another movie isn't it because so dramatic the things that are going on in the lives of God's people so they're in the prison in one at one moment at another moment divine intervention angelic intervention the angels go they open the prison doors and bring them out okay but it wasn't just that there was an instruction by the angels so sometimes God uses angels to minister instructions to us the angels may appear physically and provide these instructions or the angels may be a part of a vision or they may part of be part of a dream delivering a message to us so these are all ways in which God guides us and he speaks to us so notice how the acts of the apostles is actually the acts of the Holy Spirit the acts of God that are continuing you know passage by passage incident by incident so God is working at this time through the angels so the angel has come and the angel is giving an instruction what is instruction go stand at the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life and you're thinking what is this instruction we have to escape right now and protect ourselves save ourselves and the angel is telling us go back into the you know like the front lines the war zone get back into the war zone that doesn't sound like God is calling you into safety isn't it but God has a purpose so when God leads us it's according to his purpose and yes he will protect us he will take care of us but we have to follow the instructions of God think about the apostles at this time they were imprisoned so were they scared maybe they were but the instruction is go back to the temple right and speak to the people all the words of this life so putting themselves again you know sort of a dangerous situation but that's what God wants from them so according to God's instructions they heard they entered the temple early in the morning wow that means there were people with fire and passion if they were not excited about it they would go like you know wake up at 10 a.m and then go but the point we see here is they entered the temple early in the morning meaning they were excited they were passionate about the work of God so they showed up and they did the work of that God wanted them to do but you know once again high priest came and called the council and you know they were brought to be tried so we look at that trial pretty soon let's take a break now and let's meet in 10 minutes to continue thank you