THEY LIED AND THEY DIED
Acts 5:1-16
Dr. Vines May 18, 1986
I cannot image a greater contrast than what we find in the opening verse
of the 5th chapter of the book of Acts. The early church is prospering and
revival is sweeping the land, but Ananias and Sapphira. Souls are being saved.
Believers are growing in the Lord, but Ananias and Sapphira. The Lord is
blessing, people are being sacrificial, God is doing unusual things in their
midst and thousands and thousands of people are being touched by the gospel,
but Ananias and Sapphira. The Bible tells us the tragic story of the entrance
of sin into the fellowship of the born again believers in the Lord Jesus
Christ. In other words, here is a picture of what takes place when a
congregation allows the devil to tempt them and to enter their lives and to
use them as a beachhead to bring trouble and difficulty into the fellowship of
the Lord. Trouble on the inside. Things are going well, but Ananias and
Sapphira. So, this chapter is a gnash on the body of the infant church of our
Lord. It is a splash of filth on the lovely robe of the bride of our Savior.
It is a rent in the seamless robe of the unity of the saints. It is the
account of sin within the fellowship of God's people. I want to call your
attention, first of all, to the church's problem.
This chapter is not a very pleasant chapter. This page in our Bible is
not a beautiful page at all. In fact it is a very ugly page. It would be much
more enjoyable if we could just pass over this page. One of the reasons we
know the Bible is inspired, one of the great proofs for that inspiration of
the Bible is that the Bible never glosses over the facts. The Bible tells it
just exactly the way it is. The Bible tells us that the church experiences a
problem. Sometimes we are so far removed from the early church and we so
idealize the heroes of the early church that we get the idea that there was
perfection in those early congregations. Just one careful ...
Acts 5:1-16
Dr. Vines May 18, 1986
I cannot image a greater contrast than what we find in the opening verse
of the 5th chapter of the book of Acts. The early church is prospering and
revival is sweeping the land, but Ananias and Sapphira. Souls are being saved.
Believers are growing in the Lord, but Ananias and Sapphira. The Lord is
blessing, people are being sacrificial, God is doing unusual things in their
midst and thousands and thousands of people are being touched by the gospel,
but Ananias and Sapphira. The Bible tells us the tragic story of the entrance
of sin into the fellowship of the born again believers in the Lord Jesus
Christ. In other words, here is a picture of what takes place when a
congregation allows the devil to tempt them and to enter their lives and to
use them as a beachhead to bring trouble and difficulty into the fellowship of
the Lord. Trouble on the inside. Things are going well, but Ananias and
Sapphira. So, this chapter is a gnash on the body of the infant church of our
Lord. It is a splash of filth on the lovely robe of the bride of our Savior.
It is a rent in the seamless robe of the unity of the saints. It is the
account of sin within the fellowship of God's people. I want to call your
attention, first of all, to the church's problem.
This chapter is not a very pleasant chapter. This page in our Bible is
not a beautiful page at all. In fact it is a very ugly page. It would be much
more enjoyable if we could just pass over this page. One of the reasons we
know the Bible is inspired, one of the great proofs for that inspiration of
the Bible is that the Bible never glosses over the facts. The Bible tells it
just exactly the way it is. The Bible tells us that the church experiences a
problem. Sometimes we are so far removed from the early church and we so
idealize the heroes of the early church that we get the idea that there was
perfection in those early congregations. Just one careful ...
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