WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.540 Well, thank you so much, Alice, and thank you, Fraser, for leading us this far. Folks, 00:00:03.600 --> 00:00:08.839 come back with me to Acts chapter 4, to this passage this morning. Maybe you've got lots 00:00:08.839 --> 00:00:12.540 of questions about it. Hopefully, as we go through this, you'll see that there's a big 00:00:12.540 --> 00:00:16.719 thing that holds it together. Looking forward to getting into this this morning. But here's 00:00:16.719 --> 00:00:21.219 what I want you to do. I want you to grab a Bible, come back to Acts chapter 4, and once 00:00:21.219 --> 00:00:28.519 you're there, I want you to make a beeline to verse 36. Okay, beeline to verse 36. And 00:00:28.519 --> 00:00:33.579 here's two questions for you. We'll have a show of hands. Okay, hands up if you know 00:00:33.579 --> 00:00:46.120 somebody with a nickname. Good. Excellent. Okay, hands up if you've got a nickname. Oh, 00:00:46.140 --> 00:00:49.859 wow, more than I was expecting. That's great. Well, you can be grateful for COVID restrictions, 00:00:49.939 --> 00:00:53.299 meaning that I'm not going to get you to shout out that nickname, but I'll get you the door 00:00:53.299 --> 00:00:58.359 afterwards. Okay, nicknames. Are they not a strange thing that we do as human beings? Really 00:00:58.359 --> 00:01:03.219 strange when you think about it. They say it's a sign of affection, don't they, to give somebody 00:01:03.219 --> 00:01:08.859 a nickname. Sometimes it's based on your appearance. Sometimes it's based on where you're from. 00:01:09.299 --> 00:01:13.959 Sometimes, in my case, it's based on your surname. Or sometimes, and see if this is true 00:01:13.959 --> 00:01:20.180 of the people that you know, sometimes it's based upon the things that characterize a person's 00:01:20.180 --> 00:01:26.780 life. Well, here's what we're seeing today. This section is brought to us in association with 00:01:26.780 --> 00:01:33.560 a guy in the early church with a nickname. Come with me to verse 36. We'll learn about him, 00:01:33.780 --> 00:01:39.579 see his nickname. So do you see his name? Verse 36, his name is Joseph. So that's his name. I mean, 00:01:39.640 --> 00:01:45.240 if ever there was a chance for the rollout of Holy Joe, this is the point, isn't it, to introduce that 00:01:45.240 --> 00:01:49.040 nickname. But do you see how they don't go for Holy Joe? They don't go for Wee Joe. They're not Scottish. 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:55.000 What do they call him? Well, it's not derived either from where he's from. We get that bit 00:01:55.000 --> 00:02:00.960 of information as well. He is a Levite from Cyprus. I'm sure if you were creative, you could come up 00:02:00.960 --> 00:02:05.980 with something there. But that is not what they call this man, Joseph. Do you see they call him, 00:02:06.120 --> 00:02:13.500 the apostles, call this man Joseph Barnabas. Do you see that in the text? They call him Barnabas. 00:02:13.500 --> 00:02:21.080 Because encouragement is the defining feature of this guy's life. Do you not love that? 00:02:22.340 --> 00:02:26.580 Encouragement. It's what they think when they look at him. Encouragement. Here's a guy that's 00:02:26.580 --> 00:02:34.240 been gifted by the Lord to serve him, to inspire his people. And they see that encouragement is the 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:40.319 defining feature of his life. I absolutely love that. Love that. Maybe you know some encouragers in 00:02:40.319 --> 00:02:46.400 our church family. I don't know. But Barnabas is all about encouragement. Now, remember verse 4 of 00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:52.319 chapter 4. How many people are in the early church at this point? What's the figure that we're given? 00:02:54.340 --> 00:03:04.240 Roughly 5,000 people. You see it? So why then does Luke move from 5,000 to one? Why does he 00:03:04.240 --> 00:03:10.180 introduce us? Why does he spotlight this man Barnabas? Well, I think there's a couple of things 00:03:10.180 --> 00:03:17.120 going on here. I think Barnabas is going to play a big role in the rest of the story at the book of 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:22.920 Acts at crucial points. Just give you a couple of them. It's Barnabas chapter 9 who introduces the 00:03:22.920 --> 00:03:29.300 apostle Paul to the rest of the disciples. When they're cowering at the sound of Paul's name given 00:03:29.300 --> 00:03:35.120 his previous life, Barnabas is the one that goes and gets him and brings him in. There's Barnabas 00:03:35.120 --> 00:03:41.260 later on in the story, chapter 13, who's commissioned with the apostle Paul to go and to take the gospel, 00:03:41.400 --> 00:03:47.640 the message of Jesus, to the nations and the peoples of the earth. So Barnabas is a big player 00:03:47.640 --> 00:03:57.460 in the rest of the book of Acts. And as well as that, I think Barnabas is almost like exhibit A 00:03:57.460 --> 00:04:05.740 of what the Lord is graciously doing in transforming the hearts and the minds of his people. 00:04:06.920 --> 00:04:13.500 Right? The people who together are now the church, right? This is the first time in the book of Acts 00:04:13.500 --> 00:04:20.160 you'll see that term, the church. Collective name for the people who are following Jesus. 00:04:20.160 --> 00:04:27.439 These people who are in the, who because of the power of the risen Jesus, because of the sent spirit, 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:33.300 are continuing to grow. I mean, I don't know if you've thought this over the last couple of weeks 00:04:33.300 --> 00:04:37.960 as we've gone through the book of Acts. It's almost as if the amount of people who are responding are a 00:04:37.960 --> 00:04:43.700 bit like daisies in your garden, aren't they? Or if you don't have a garden, go to the park. You see 00:04:43.700 --> 00:04:48.020 this time of year, daisies just coming up everywhere. You can't seem to get rid of them, can you? 00:04:48.019 --> 00:04:53.120 You mow your lawn, look out the next day and there's little things. How do you get rid of these things? 00:04:53.680 --> 00:04:59.079 You can't stop them. Well, that's kind of the early church is the sun shines and they respond. 00:05:00.479 --> 00:05:05.019 You can't stop them. They're coming up everywhere. And that's what's going on at this point in the 00:05:05.019 --> 00:05:12.799 story of the book of Acts. Church is growing. Can't be stopped. And I think the thing that we need to 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:21.220 appreciate at this point is that the devil hates it. Hates it. What's going on, what God is doing. 00:05:22.439 --> 00:05:32.980 So, he's going to go on an attack to stop it. And it's the old classic pincer movement, right? 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:37.780 You familiar with that term, the old pincer movement? I think it's a military term. I used to think it was 00:05:37.780 --> 00:05:41.100 associated with the crabs. That's where they got it from. I guess it's the same thing, isn't it? The pincer 00:05:41.100 --> 00:05:47.320 movement, the attack on two fronts. That's the attack here. Okay, last week we thought about the 00:05:47.320 --> 00:05:54.740 threat to the church that's coming from the outside. Yeah? Persecution, trying to stop people, 00:05:55.000 --> 00:06:01.160 stop the apostles talking, get a gagging order put on them. That was the attack. This week we're going 00:06:01.160 --> 00:06:08.439 to think about the threat to the church that's coming from the inside. The inside. Disunity. 00:06:08.439 --> 00:06:15.519 Hypocrisy. Hypocrisy. Whatever it takes to compromise the church's witness to the watching 00:06:15.519 --> 00:06:20.620 world. That's the kind of pincer movement that I think Luke is describing at this point in the book 00:06:20.620 --> 00:06:27.399 of Acts. External and internal. And I think that is why this chapter, this section, has so much to 00:06:27.399 --> 00:06:32.019 teach us today as the Lord's people. Because the devil's tactics haven't changed. 00:06:32.019 --> 00:06:40.019 Haven't changed. External and internal. We're thinking about internal today. And I think that's 00:06:40.019 --> 00:06:48.379 why we need to be savvy to what is going on in this section. If last week was about the early church's 00:06:48.379 --> 00:06:56.599 lips, this week is about their lives. Okay? Now, two headings for us this morning. Here's the first one. 00:06:56.600 --> 00:07:04.580 Luke gives us, firstly, a snapshot of a community gripped by grace. Right? A snapshot of a community 00:07:04.580 --> 00:07:09.640 gripped by grace. And here's the phrase, I think, that gets us to the heart of what's going on here. 00:07:09.700 --> 00:07:12.960 You'll find it in verse 32 if you've got your Bibles there. Here's the phrase. 00:07:14.540 --> 00:07:23.560 All the believers were one in heart and mind. All the believers. Think about it. There's 5,000 people at 00:07:23.560 --> 00:07:29.920 this point. Right? 5,000 people. All sorts of different people in there, I'd imagine. Right? 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:34.720 Doing all sorts of different things. Doing different jobs. Different personalities. Different interests. 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:40.779 Different temperaments. You take your pick. In a group that size, how diverse this group is. And yet, 00:07:40.779 --> 00:07:45.600 what is the thing that Luke draws our attention to again and again and again? It's their unity. 00:07:46.600 --> 00:07:53.199 Their oneness. Right? See the expressions here. One heart and mind. They had all things in 00:07:53.199 --> 00:08:01.039 common. Great grace was upon not just a few of them. It was upon all of them. They are one. One. 00:08:03.599 --> 00:08:09.039 How counter-culturally different in a world that doesn't know how to handle diversity. 00:08:10.659 --> 00:08:16.120 The only way to handle it is by uniformity. No, here is diversity and unity in this group. This is 00:08:16.120 --> 00:08:21.019 what God is doing. Do you see the phrases which I'm sure were part of their everyday life? Your needs 00:08:21.019 --> 00:08:28.979 are my concern. Your success is my joy. Your tears get my time. My abundance is your provision. This is 00:08:28.979 --> 00:08:35.639 a group of people who deeply care for one another. Why? Not because they're BFFs. Okay? It's a phrase 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:39.899 our kids are using at the minute. That's why I know it. Okay? Best friends forever. It's not because 00:08:39.899 --> 00:08:46.639 they're best mates. It's way deeper than that. It's this realization that in Jesus, 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:55.259 our lives, our lives are intrinsically bound together. Because the only way you can explain 00:08:55.259 --> 00:09:02.539 this is that this is a community from above. Right? Just notice a couple of things in the 00:09:02.539 --> 00:09:09.059 text that help us see that. Notice how they viewed what they owned. Verse 32, it's all the 00:09:09.059 --> 00:09:15.220 Lord's. Everything we have, he's given it to us to use for his purposes in the world. 00:09:15.220 --> 00:09:19.800 I think that's why they lay everything at the apostles' feet. They're not just spending it 00:09:19.800 --> 00:09:24.080 willy-nilly, are they? They're laying what they have at the apostles' feet. It's God's purposes 00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:29.340 we're interested in. You know, remember a church I was part of as a student. It was always the phrase 00:09:29.340 --> 00:09:33.980 when the communion bag went round. We are simply giving to God out of what he has first given to us. And 00:09:33.980 --> 00:09:41.259 that's what's going on here, I think. This is all the Lord's. And then notice how they used what they 00:09:41.259 --> 00:09:48.819 owns. Verse 34, there wasn't a needy one amongst them. So they're willing to meet each other's needs 00:09:48.819 --> 00:09:54.500 in extremely sacrificial ways. Do you notice that? I mean, this is not just ready cash from your piggy 00:09:54.500 --> 00:10:01.980 bank at home. This is people selling houses and fields, right? Which is where your money's tied up. 00:10:01.980 --> 00:10:07.639 They're doing it to meet needs. And do you see who's leading the way? Who's leading the way? 00:10:08.659 --> 00:10:14.879 Barney's leading the way. Do you see him, Barnabas? He's leading the way. What a community. 00:10:16.340 --> 00:10:23.180 What a community. Grace-filled community. And let me just say, just in case you're connecting the dots 00:10:23.180 --> 00:10:28.860 in your head, maybe you're not a Christian and you're thinking, I've seen something like this before. 00:10:28.860 --> 00:10:34.419 Let me just kind of, at this point, help us see that the gospel is doing something that 00:10:34.419 --> 00:10:40.899 communism could only dream of. Okay, it was Nikita Khrushchev, I think I've pronounced that right, 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:46.600 former leader of the Soviet Union, who famously said that communism's downfall was its failure to 00:10:46.600 --> 00:10:53.779 produce, and this is our phrase, its failure to produce the selfless man. Okay, and in other words, 00:10:53.820 --> 00:10:58.080 the idea that you make people share everything, you bring it to the lowest common denominator, 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:02.560 everyone has the same, and logically, oneness and togetherness should follow. 00:11:03.720 --> 00:11:09.100 In other words, you change the outside to get to the inside. Now, notwithstanding its conceptual 00:11:09.100 --> 00:11:16.420 merits, history tells us that the whole concept doesn't work. It doesn't work. Why? Because of its 00:11:16.419 --> 00:11:27.059 failure to change the human heart. You can't do it outside to end. It doesn't work. It's what the 00:11:27.059 --> 00:11:35.240 Bible consistently says the problem is. Where the problem is. Remember my mate at uni always had this 00:11:35.240 --> 00:11:39.639 phrase, the heart of the problem is the problem of the heart. Loved it. Wish I'd come up with it. I didn't. 00:11:39.639 --> 00:11:45.039 It was his. Okay, the heart of the problem is the problem of the heart. Stayed with me all these days. 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:50.240 That's where the Bible says the problem is. That's where the Bible says we need to change. 00:11:50.939 --> 00:11:56.620 That is where the Bible says that we can't change unless by God's sovereign grace. 00:11:58.620 --> 00:12:05.059 Whereas the gospel, friends, in contrast to communism, it can and it does work because, 00:12:05.059 --> 00:12:12.119 and this is what we need to see, it does it the other way around. Okay, change on the inside 00:12:12.119 --> 00:12:21.399 leads to transformation on the outside. Okay, where did this passage start? With Luke telling us that 00:12:21.399 --> 00:12:28.959 their hearts had been transformed by Jesus. It starts with their oneness and then it shows how that 00:12:28.960 --> 00:12:37.280 supernaturally, that unity flowed out into action. In other words, this was an inside out kind of deal. 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:45.200 Okay, remember it's like a young teenager thinking about the things of God, frustrated that it didn't 00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:50.040 seem to make sense. Remember there was a chorus that we used to sing, right? The chorus went like this. 00:12:50.700 --> 00:12:58.360 In my heart and my soul, Lord, I give you control. Consume me from the inside out, Lord. Let justice and 00:12:58.360 --> 00:13:05.460 praise. Become my embrace to love you from the inside out. And that concept blew my mind. 00:13:06.480 --> 00:13:12.779 Then went to the scriptures and saw that's exactly what Jesus is saying. The problem is an internal one. 00:13:13.240 --> 00:13:17.500 There's no point cleaning up your external act and thinking that's going to change you. We need a deep 00:13:17.500 --> 00:13:23.580 work of God in our hearts and our souls. That's where change needs to happen. 00:13:23.580 --> 00:13:31.960 By being gripped and transformed by God's free grace to sinners like you and I in Christ Jesus. 00:13:31.960 --> 00:13:37.040 He is the pearl of great price. He is the treasure hidden in the field. He is something far more 00:13:37.040 --> 00:13:43.080 glorious. And when he grips our hearts, change will happen. And I think that's the first question we need 00:13:43.080 --> 00:13:48.840 to ask ourselves perhaps as we respond to this section this morning. Friends, has Jesus gripped us inside? 00:13:48.840 --> 00:13:55.180 Has he gripped us inside? Do you know him? Do you love him? 00:13:57.899 --> 00:14:01.940 And flowing from that, friends, as we maybe think about our life corporately together, 00:14:02.420 --> 00:14:04.920 here's the question that I perhaps was dwelling on this week. 00:14:06.300 --> 00:14:08.040 Are we aware of each other's needs? 00:14:10.019 --> 00:14:13.639 It seems to be the thing that Luke draws attention to here, this early church. 00:14:13.639 --> 00:14:21.840 That word need, yeah? People responding to one another's needs. Friends, do we know one 00:14:21.840 --> 00:14:28.199 another's needs? Let me just take it up a level and think about application for us here. If you're 00:14:28.199 --> 00:14:32.039 a student here, let me ask you, do you know the needs of an older generation? 00:14:34.299 --> 00:14:39.059 Older generation here, are you aware of the pressures that are currently facing families? 00:14:39.059 --> 00:14:47.159 Families, are you mindful of the struggles that people living on their own are facing? Males, 00:14:47.339 --> 00:14:54.299 are you, are we aware of the concerns facing many of our dear loved sisters in our own church family? 00:14:55.359 --> 00:15:00.439 And on and on and on we could go, okay? But you get the point, friends. Are we mindful of one another? 00:15:01.579 --> 00:15:06.599 Do we know one another's needs? You know a really simple way to find out? Just ask. 00:15:06.600 --> 00:15:13.440 Just ask. I'm going to kick this up a level in terms of our spiritual life together. Great question 00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:18.460 to get to the heart of it. How can I pray for you this week? You'd be amazed at what comes back. 00:15:19.659 --> 00:15:25.200 How can I pray for you this week? Now this is what I'm finding perhaps, and it's only been in the last 00:15:25.200 --> 00:15:31.759 few weeks, hasn't it, that the scales are beginning to shift, that we're seeing more of people in person 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:37.439 than we are on Zoom, which is a huge relief for everyone, isn't it? But perhaps as I'm seeing more 00:15:37.439 --> 00:15:43.799 people, I think I'm recognizing, and I'm picking up, looking people in the eye instead of on a screen, 00:15:43.899 --> 00:15:49.799 and I'm picking up on body language. Perhaps listing a lot more and recognizing that, friends, 00:15:49.879 --> 00:15:56.019 there are needs that have arisen, are arising, and will arise down the line because of what we have 00:15:56.019 --> 00:16:04.079 experienced in the last year and a half. Do we know one another's needs? And I think that's why we 00:16:04.079 --> 00:16:12.100 need to see that we have no hope of doing this virtually. We cannot do this virtually. We've got 00:16:12.100 --> 00:16:19.079 to be doing this physically, which is why coming together is such an important thing. 00:16:19.080 --> 00:16:27.340 Right? Do we know one another's needs? You know, for some of us, it's going to be financial. For some 00:16:27.340 --> 00:16:33.060 of us, it's going to be spiritual. For some of us, it's going to be emotional, mental, physical, 00:16:33.820 --> 00:16:38.500 practical. Do we know one another's needs? And I think the other question is, are we willing to meet 00:16:38.500 --> 00:16:47.340 them? Can't do this virtually, friends. We need to do this physically. All the believers were one 00:16:47.340 --> 00:16:55.259 in heart and mind. Luke gives us a snapshot here at the start of a community that's gripped by grace. 00:16:55.340 --> 00:17:02.180 And boy, is it attractive, isn't it? Boy, is this attractive. Community gripped by grace. Now, at this 00:17:02.180 --> 00:17:07.880 point, I'm reminded of a lecturer I once had at university, and he introduced me to this word I'd never 00:17:07.880 --> 00:17:17.200 heard of before. Ready for the word? Hagiography. Anyone heard of it? No? Oh, here, every day is a school 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:22.759 day. It's great. Right? Hagiography. Pull that one out of the bag and scrabble, friends. Game's 00:17:22.759 --> 00:17:29.500 yours. Okay? Hagiography. The danger of idealizing something. Okay? Or as I like to call it, rose-tinted 00:17:29.500 --> 00:17:36.380 spectacle syndrome. Right? Luke's about to burst the bubble that I think he knows might be developing in 00:17:36.380 --> 00:17:43.019 the minds of his readers when it comes to the early church. Right? And he does it with the very first 00:17:43.019 --> 00:17:48.960 word of chapter five. The very first word. Do you see it? It's always the word your teacher used to use 00:17:48.960 --> 00:17:54.859 in your school report card, wasn't it? Okay? Always a very enthusiastic people. Used to get that every 00:17:54.859 --> 00:17:59.900 single report. Very enthusiastic people. Oh, she engages well in class. And then what was the next word 00:17:59.900 --> 00:18:09.480 that came? But. But. Or however, sometimes you put the but. Here's the but, friends. The other side of 00:18:09.480 --> 00:18:17.560 the story. What's an all tale of the early church? And we're going to move from the snapshot to the mugshot. 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:27.259 Right? And it's a mugshot of a couple who are eaten alive by envy. And we're back to our boy with 00:18:27.259 --> 00:18:33.400 the nickname at this point. Okay? Remember Barney? Remember him? Well, keep him in the back of your 00:18:33.400 --> 00:18:40.000 mind as we look at what's going on with this couple here. Ananias and Sapphira, who are presumably part 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:45.960 of this group of 5,000 people. Right? And to get to the heart, I think, of what this is about. And it 00:18:45.960 --> 00:18:50.900 is difficult. We're going to zoom in in the text and then zoom out to the Bible story really quickly. 00:18:50.900 --> 00:18:57.480 Okay? Zoom in on the text. Verse 1. What do they do? They sell a piece of property. 00:18:58.740 --> 00:19:04.360 And they bring the cash to the apostles' feet. Now, at this point, you're asking yourselves, 00:19:04.440 --> 00:19:07.980 is that ringing any bells? Does that sound familiar to something that we've read? 00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:13.780 Right? Remember, again, your school exam papers. What was that phrase? Compare and contrast. 00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:20.259 Compare and contrast. This is exactly what just has been used to describe 00:19:20.259 --> 00:19:25.879 what Barnabas has just done. Right? At the end of chapter 4. Do you see it? Compare and contrast. 00:19:25.960 --> 00:19:32.240 They look exactly the same. Two very similar acts on the surface. But what's really going on behind 00:19:32.240 --> 00:19:39.460 the scenes? Ananias and Sapphira have deliberately kept back some of the money whilst deliberately giving 00:19:39.460 --> 00:19:46.039 the impression to the watching world that they gave it all. Here's what's going on. The hearts of this 00:19:46.039 --> 00:19:57.399 people crave the same fame that Barnabas got. Right? The envy has gripped their hearts. Jealousy has gripped 00:19:57.399 --> 00:20:03.579 it. We want a piece of that action. But all the while, they're not willing to pay the cost. 00:20:04.740 --> 00:20:11.019 And what's happened in their desire for that nickname is that they have lied to God. 00:20:11.019 --> 00:20:20.319 Okay? So do you see the issue isn't in the amount that they gave? Okay? They didn't need to give 00:20:20.319 --> 00:20:24.220 anything. That's clear if you read on Peter's response here. They didn't need to give anything. The 00:20:24.220 --> 00:20:32.559 issue is, verse 3 and 4, that they lied to God. Right? They tried to play him for a fool. As my grandpa used 00:20:32.559 --> 00:20:40.779 to say, they're at it. They're at it. Okay? You know that scene where you get boxers who are, 00:20:40.779 --> 00:20:45.299 they're trying to promote the fight, and you get them toe to toe. This is what they've tried to do 00:20:45.299 --> 00:20:52.779 with God. I think they could fool him. And Peter, presumably through divinely inspired knowledge, 00:20:52.920 --> 00:21:00.220 he outs them. Verse 5, Ananias falls down dead. Three hours later, verse 8 and 9, and I think this is 00:21:00.220 --> 00:21:07.920 crucial to see, even though the text implies that Sapphira is given a chance to repent and come clean, 00:21:07.920 --> 00:21:15.500 which she doesn't take, the same thing happens to her. And so ironically, the couple who were craving 00:21:15.500 --> 00:21:21.640 that positive nickname end up being a negative byword throughout history. 00:21:22.580 --> 00:21:24.920 Remember we said a few weeks ago that Luke is into irony. 00:21:27.259 --> 00:21:31.420 Well, that's the zoom in. Let's zoom out and see what's going on here as we seek to understand this. 00:21:31.500 --> 00:21:35.880 Maybe, I don't know whether this is helpful, but maybe think on it like this. Okay? I remember growing up 00:21:35.880 --> 00:21:40.460 playing football. I'm sure this applies to every sport you can think of. There was always a phrase 00:21:40.460 --> 00:21:45.640 that was drilled into us when it came to the game. And the phrase was, you are at your most vulnerable 00:21:45.640 --> 00:21:53.160 when you've just scored. You heard that phrase before? You're at your most vulnerable when you've 00:21:53.160 --> 00:21:59.440 just scored. And the logic, I think, is that when you've just scored a goal, when you take the lead, 00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:05.160 as it were, you're kind of in a new phase of the game. Things aren't the same as they were before. 00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:10.700 You're kind of in a new part of the game. Things are different now. And because of that, you're open 00:22:10.700 --> 00:22:18.039 to two potential dangers, right? You're open firstly to complacency, sneaking in. Okay, we've kind of got 00:22:18.039 --> 00:22:21.440 this one. We know what we're doing. It doesn't matter. Let's just keep on going. You're open to 00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:29.960 complacency and you're open to an opposition who are desperate to strike back because of what's just 00:22:29.960 --> 00:22:36.880 happened. Desperate to strike back. Friends, I think the key thing we need to see here is the moment that 00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:43.420 this happens. The moment that it happens, right? Because the death, resurrection, and ascension of 00:22:43.420 --> 00:22:48.740 Jesus, and the pouring out of the Spirit has seen, do you remember this a few weeks ago, the turn of a 00:22:48.740 --> 00:22:57.220 new page, right? In the life of the church and God's purposes. We are at a new phase in the game now. 00:22:57.580 --> 00:23:04.720 Something has happened. We're at a new phase. But the church at this point is still at the kind of 00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:10.940 Bambi on ice phase. You know that phrase? You kind of, we're beginning to grow. Things are beginning to 00:23:10.940 --> 00:23:20.100 happen. And if blatant sin begins to creep into this community and goes unchecked at this point, 00:23:21.200 --> 00:23:28.680 right? If envy and anger and jealousy, if that seeps into people's hearts and is it most likely 00:23:28.680 --> 00:23:34.559 will grow and will fester amongst the community, this is going to kill the witness of the early 00:23:34.559 --> 00:23:38.500 church, is it not? That phrase, it won't even get up off the ground. 00:23:40.940 --> 00:23:46.100 And so it's almost as if God, at this critical point in the story, at the start of this new phase of the 00:23:46.100 --> 00:23:54.700 game, he visibly reminds the church and the watching world that he is the still the same holy God. 00:23:56.539 --> 00:24:05.380 And he cares way too much about his glory and his purposes for the peoples of the world being 00:24:05.380 --> 00:24:14.080 blessed and the good of the hearts of his people to let this slip in stealth under the radar and 00:24:14.080 --> 00:24:20.980 potentially compromise the whole thing. And I think that's why people rightly see parallels here, 00:24:21.080 --> 00:24:26.040 again in the Bible story, with the story of Achan in Joshua 7. You can look at it in your own time. 00:24:26.540 --> 00:24:31.880 That's a key point in the Bible story as well. You've got, there you have Israel just having 00:24:31.880 --> 00:24:38.440 entered the promised land and by God's grace, they have taken the city of Jericho and they've taken 00:24:38.440 --> 00:24:45.700 the plunder as well. But God is saying, no, that is for my purposes. Okay. And what happens is Achan 00:24:45.700 --> 00:24:51.560 takes some and hides it for himself. And this whole community is bigger than 5,000 Israel at this point. 00:24:51.660 --> 00:25:00.320 God hones in and says, no, that is not on. It's not on. And God outs him. It's the same thing, 00:25:00.319 --> 00:25:06.519 isn't it? It's the same thing. And I think the key lesson to learn here for us is in what the church 00:25:06.519 --> 00:25:13.299 learnt. Okay. Luke repeats this twice. If you've got the text there, verse 5 and verse 11, watch the 00:25:13.299 --> 00:25:26.159 phrase that great fear seized the whole church. Okay. Fear being the right response of reverence and 00:25:26.160 --> 00:25:34.860 wonder at who this God is. One that sees you orientate your life and live it in joyful and 00:25:34.860 --> 00:25:42.220 faith-filled obedience to the God who has gripped your soul. You know, we were doing Christianity 00:25:42.220 --> 00:25:47.720 Explored last Tuesday night and it suddenly occurred to me that this is the same word, the same root word, 00:25:47.860 --> 00:25:53.800 fear here, that Mark uses to describe the reaction of the disciples as they see Jesus calm the storm. 00:25:53.799 --> 00:26:00.680 Right? Fear filled their hearts. What is the question they ask in that? Who is this that even the wind and 00:26:00.680 --> 00:26:05.559 the waves obey him? It's the same word there. Great fear gripped them because they were gripped by 00:26:05.559 --> 00:26:10.859 something far greater and far more glorious. They realized the Lord Jesus was those things far 00:26:10.859 --> 00:26:16.940 greater, far more glorious than they had ever initially realized. They couldn't take their eyes off him. 00:26:16.940 --> 00:26:24.660 And I take it the fear of the Lord is the response that we need to make as we almost come to a close 00:26:24.660 --> 00:26:30.660 this morning. You know, for some of us, friends, this might come as a huge wake-up call. If we're 00:26:30.660 --> 00:26:38.920 trying today to pull the wool over God's eyes, right? Yes, we might not be living at this precise 00:26:38.920 --> 00:26:43.640 moment in church history. And again, I think we need to see that narrative isn't always normative, 00:26:43.640 --> 00:26:48.560 but make no mistake that this God hasn't changed. 00:26:50.520 --> 00:26:56.540 And God sees when we're trying to play him and he will not be mocked. And let me just say church 00:26:56.540 --> 00:27:04.980 history and even very recent church history when it comes to church leaders tells us that when people 00:27:04.980 --> 00:27:12.420 think they can get away with sin, God has got this habit of bringing it to the surface and exposing it for 00:27:12.420 --> 00:27:20.420 what it is. And he does it internally. This God will not be mocked. He will not be lied to. 00:27:21.300 --> 00:27:26.759 And I take it, friends, if some of us might be watching this, and we have to remember that for 00:27:26.759 --> 00:27:32.360 many of us, that is good news. For all of us, that is good news because you might be here today and you 00:27:32.360 --> 00:27:39.779 have been lied to in the most horrific of circumstances. And I take it we should be comforted that this God not 00:27:39.779 --> 00:27:46.779 only sees, but this God will do something about it. This God will not be mocked. 00:27:49.660 --> 00:27:54.619 And friends, let me just say, if we see the presence of envy and jealousy and resentment and bitterness, 00:27:54.759 --> 00:28:01.819 if we see that in our own lives, I take it again, this is a huge wake-up call not to let those things 00:28:01.819 --> 00:28:08.659 fester in our hearts. How easy is it individually and corporately to believe the devil's lie? Did God 00:28:08.659 --> 00:28:14.720 really say? Did God really say that you can't have your cake and eat it? What kind of killjoy would he be? 00:28:14.759 --> 00:28:21.079 It doesn't matter. But he's been to kill the sin. Do you remember that government slogan a number of years 00:28:21.079 --> 00:28:27.179 ago with swine flu? What was the phrase? Catch it, bin it, kill it. Catch it, bin it, kill it. And that's what 00:28:27.180 --> 00:28:33.840 we're challenged to do with these things when we see the presence in our own hearts. Friends, what is 00:28:33.840 --> 00:28:40.740 the state of your heart before him today? Great fear seized the whole church. 00:28:42.880 --> 00:28:49.160 And as we close, Luke has presented us with the snapshot and the mugshot. And essentially, 00:28:49.320 --> 00:28:56.600 this is a tale of two hearts, really, isn't it, before the Lord? Two hearts. I say two, really it's three. 00:28:57.180 --> 00:29:02.759 Because standing above and in the midst of all this is another man who got a nickname. 00:29:04.420 --> 00:29:11.340 What do people say of Jesus? When they saw who he associated with, when they saw who he ate with, 00:29:11.440 --> 00:29:17.560 when they saw who he conversed with, when they saw who was drawn to him and their questionable 00:29:17.560 --> 00:29:23.900 character, what did they call him? And what did they call him mockingly so? The friend of sinners. 00:29:23.900 --> 00:29:35.660 Are you not so glad that that was his nickname? Not the enemy of sinners. Not sick of sinners. 00:29:36.220 --> 00:29:43.019 Not the tolerator of sinners. No, the friend of sinners. Not because he winked at sin, 00:29:43.759 --> 00:29:49.580 but because his heart welled with compassion for those who knew their failings and ran to him 00:29:49.579 --> 00:29:59.019 repentant for grace and salvation. Friends, this morning, let us be characterized as a community 00:29:59.019 --> 00:30:03.759 who have fear of the Lord. What will that mean? It means we will run to and be captivated by the 00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:10.399 friend of sinners. The God who shows us grace in Christ. And that's where we're going to end this 00:30:10.400 --> 00:30:20.580 morning. By that compelling call to run to him and know who he is. So why don't we just be quiet for 00:30:20.580 --> 00:30:27.380 a moment? And I take it that as this has gone forth this morning, the Lord, by his grace and through his 00:30:27.380 --> 00:30:31.240 spirit, will be at work in our hearts in different ways. So why don't we just have a moment of silence, 00:30:31.240 --> 00:30:34.120 of reflection, and then I'll close. 00:30:38.200 --> 00:30:47.859 And so, Heavenly Father, we thank you for who you are today. Lord, help us in the words of the writer 00:30:47.859 --> 00:30:58.380 of Ecclesiastes to let our words be few in light of who you are. Father, I pray for many of us today 00:30:58.380 --> 00:31:03.240 who will have heard this and who will be, it may have brought back painful memories. Lord, I pray that 00:31:03.240 --> 00:31:09.360 your spirit would be at work in their hearts, Father, bringing comfort and peace for those of us, 00:31:09.520 --> 00:31:15.820 Lord, who maybe respond to this in that same defiant spirit that Ananias and Sapphira had. Lord, I pray 00:31:15.820 --> 00:31:22.940 that you would be at work softening our hearts. Thank you so much for the Lord Jesus and for who he is 00:31:22.940 --> 00:31:30.799 today. And I pray, Lord, that you would help us all to have hearts that are captivated by him. 00:31:32.980 --> 00:31:39.960 So, Father, thank you for your great grace. Thank you, Lord, for your holiness. And we pray these 00:31:39.960 --> 00:31:42.720 things in Jesus' wonderful name. Amen.