Rev. David Holwick Z
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
August 8, 1993
Acts 5:1-11
YOU CAN'T FOOL GOD
I. A necessary warning.
A. Ananias' and Sapphira's offer of property was voluntary. 5:4
1) No one was forced to give anything, much less all.
2) The decision to give was entirely up to them.
3) Ananias and Sapphira sinned, not by holding back, but by lying.
B. Parallels with Achan. Joshua 7:25
1) Acts parallels the OT book of Joshua, and both books temper
their enthusiastic victories with an account of failure.
2) Achan also sinned by taking for personal use that which
had been devoted to God.
3) Both were judged immediately, and fatally.
II. Dishonesty is serious stuff.
A. Does God judge people like this today?
If he did, where would I be?
Speaking to an empty church! #40
1) Many criticize Acts 5 for harshness.
a) Judgment is not a popular theme with modern people.
b) Comment by women in 12-Step group "Families Anonymous":
"I truly believe that God loves and cares rather
than judges and condemns."
2) God does judge, though fortunately usually not immediately.
B. The whole church was filled with fear. 5:5,11
1) This incident is a reminder that no church is perfect.
a) Many Christians harbor secret sins.
b) The fact that fear ran through the church indicates
others felt guilty, too.
c) We need enough fear to consider the consequences of
our actions.
2) God judges, but out of love rather than cruelty.
a) He judges us to wake us up.
b) Perhaps a recent misfortune does have meaning - God
is trying to teach us something.
c) He begins judgment with the church. 1 Peter 4:17
C. Dishonesty causes serious problems among Christians.
1) We need to present ourselves as we really are.
Ananias and Sapphira lied because they wanted to impress
the rest of the church.
Have you ever tried to impress somebody and have it blow
up in your face?
Successful author Sidney Sheldon tells a memorable story
about an embarrassing event that occurred to him.
He had bought a lovely blue Rolls-Royce.
He owned other cars, but that one was his pride and joy.
A few days later he parked near a shop in Beverly Hills.
He went inside, did his shopping, returned to parking lot and
got behind the driver's seat of the Rolls.
An arm reached through the window and grabbed his shoulder,
and a voice said, "What do you think you're doing?"
He looked out the window, and there stood an enormous Texan.
"This is my car," said the Texan.
"No, it isn't," Sheldon told him. "It's mine."
To prove it, he started to put the key in the ignition.
It didn't fit.
He realized what had happened.
He said to the Texan, "I'm terribly sorry, but I'm driving
the same model and color Rolls as you, and I obviously
parked right in back of you."
And as the huge stranger stood there watching him, Sheldon
got out of the car and walked in back -- to his wife's
white Volkswagen, which he was driving that morning.
Have you ever done something like that?
Trying to impress people just makes you look fake.
#2278
2) Many look to you as an example of faith.
a) One lesson here is that people, even Christians, will
always fail you. Only Jesus deserves full trust.
b) Yet people can't see Jesus. They only see us.
1> Be as consistent as you can.
2> Watch your life, for their sake.
D. Dishonesty ruins our witness with outsiders.
Robert Tamasy writes about a Christian friend of his in the
Midwest who was general manager of a chain of newspapers.
One of his responsibilities was the setting of advertising
policies.
At one point he ordered that advertising clients who used a
Christian symbol or Bible verse on business cards or
stationery would be required to pay cash in advance.
These were his worst-paying accounts.
Our most effective witness - to non-Christians and to fellow
believers - is not through what we say, but through what
we do.
#2458
III. The need for integrity.
A. What face do we present to the world?
1) God hates hypocrisy and lukewarmness. Rev 3:16
2) Are our actions and thoughts consistent?
a) All of us are inconsistent to some extent.
b) No Christian should become complacent about their walk
with God.
B. We must be honest throughout, not just sometimes.
Charles Swindoll in "Growing Deep in the Christian Life,"
writes about a man who bought fried chicken dinners for
himself and his date late one afternoon.
The attendant at the fast food outlet, however, accidently
gave him the proceeds from the day's business - a bag of
money (much of it cash) instead of fried chicken.
After driving to their picnic site the two of them sat down
to enjoy some chicken.
They discovered a whole lot more than chicken - over $800!
But he was an unusual guy.
He quickly put the money back into the car and drove all the
way back.
Mr. Clean got out, walked in, and became an instant hero.
By then, the manager was frantic.
The guy with the bag of money looked the manager in the eye
and said,
"I want you to know I came by to get a couple of chicken
dinners and wound up with all this money here."
The manager was thrilled to death.
He said, "Let me call the newspaper.
I'm gonna have your picture put in the local newspaper.
You're one of the most honest men I've ever heard of."
The man quickly jumped in: "Oh, no. No, no don't do that!"
Then he leaned closer and whispered, "You see, the woman I'm
with is not my wife.
She's, uh, somebody else's wife."
Harder to find than lost cash is a perfect heart.
#2085
C. We must be honest in motivations as well as actions.
IV. How to gain integrity.
A. Be committed to honesty within yourself. (Charles Swindoll)
1) Be committed to the truth regardless of how much it hurts.
In his recent book "INTEGRITY," Ted Engstrom told this story:
For Coach Cleveland Stroud and the Bulldogs of Rockdale
County High School (Conyers, Georgia), 1991 was their
championship season.
They accumulated 21 wins and 5 losses on the way to the
Georgia boys' basketball tournament.
There they had a dramatic come-from-behind victory in the
state finals.
But now the new glass trophy case outside the high school
gymnasium is bare.
Earlier this month the Georgia High School Association
deprived Rockdale County of the championship after
school officials admitted a mistake.
A player who was ineligible due to low grades had played
45 seconds in the first of the school's five post-season
games.
"We didn't know he was ineligible at the time; we didn't
know it until a few weeks ago," Mr. Stroud said.
"Some people have said we should have just kept quiet about
it, that it was just 45 seconds and the player wasn't an
impact player.
But you've got to do what's honest and right and what the
rules say.
I told my team that people forget the scores of basketball
games; they don't ever forget what you're made of."
#2103
2) Hate all that is phony or false. #1616
B. Be committed to honesty with God.
1) Make an in-depth assessment of your spiritual strengths and
weaknesses.
2) Don't take God's forgiveness lightly.
a) Don't admit how weak you are - and then do nothing
about getting stronger.
b) Work on those areas where you are weakest.
In 1987 there was a crime wave in Ghana - the criminals
were mostly Christians.
Journalist Roy Beck commented:
"What a warning for the United States, where fundamental
character traits are treated carelessly!
There is an absolute need for intellectual integrity in
Christian living.
Without it, dishonesty creeps in under many guises."
If Christians cut moral corners in one aspect of their
lives, they undercut everything else they do.
And their moral influence dissolves.
#2365
3) Do everything as "unto the Lord." Colossians 3:23
Integrity is more than not being deceitful or slipshod.
It means doing everything "heartily as unto the Lord."
In his book "Lyrics," Oscar Hammerstein II points out one
reason why, a reason Christians have always known:
A year or so ago, on the cover of the New York Herald Tribune
Sunday magazine, Hammerstein saw a picture of the Statue of
Liberty taken from a helicopter.
The picture showed the top of the statue's head.
Hammerstein was amazed at the detail there.
The sculptor had done a painstaking job with the lady's hairstyle,
and yet he must have been pretty sure that the only eyes that
would ever see this detail would be those of sea gulls.
He could not have dreamt that any man would ever fly over this
head.
He was artist enough, however, to finish off this part of the
statue with as much care as he had devoted to her face and
her arms and the torch and everything that people can see
as they sail up the bay.
When you are creating a work of art, or any other kind of work,
finish the job off perfectly.
You never know when a helicopter, or some other instrument not
at the moment invented, may come along and find you out.
#1828
C. Honesty before others.
1) Be accountable to someone else.
a) One of the keys to 12-step groups.
2) Be patient with their failings.
[for documentation of illustrations, download Holwick's Sermon Illustration
database at http://illust.holwick.com
First Baptist Church; Ledgewood, New Jersey
This document last modified July 26, 2000