But I strongly recommend flicking to it, because apart from anything else, you should want to check whether what I'm saying is actually in this text,
or whether I'm just making something up to talk to you about this morning.
And I'd encourage you as well to keep it open throughout the sermon, because we'll be referring back to it, of course, throughout that time.
And again, being able to understand that when I say, like, let's look at verse 8, we look at verse 8 and verse 8 has something to tell us in that kind of way.
So the passage, as I say, is Acts chapter 4, verse 32 to Acts chapter 5, verse 11.
Now, all the believers were one in heart and mind.
No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.
With great power, the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
And God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there was no needy person among them.
For from time to time, those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales, and put it at the apostles' feet.
And it was distributed to anyone who had need.
Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas, which means son of encouragement, sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet.
Now, a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property.
With his wife's full knowledge, he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles' feet.
Then Peter said, Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?
Didn't it belong to you before it was sold?
And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal?
What made you think of doing such a thing?
You have not lied just to human beings, but to God.
When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died.
And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.
Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body and carried him out and buried him.
About three hours later, his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.
Peter asked her, tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?
Yes, she said, that is the price.
Peter said to her, how could you conspire to test the spirit of the Lord?
Listen, the feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door and they will carry you out also.
At that moment, she fell down at his feet and died.
Then the young men came in and finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
Before I start talking about this, let's take time to pray together as we come to look at God's word together.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word.
We thank you for all that is in it, both the easy passages that we like and the difficult passages that are awkward for us to understand.
As we come to look at this passage this morning, we pray that you would be softening our hearts to understand the message, but also to respond to it.
I pray, Lord, that as I speak, if anything is not from you, then it would quickly be forgotten by everyone here.
But Lord, I pray that any word that is from you would be enduring and lasting, not just in our memories, but in our lives and our actions as well.
I pray that you will help all of us, including me, to listen, to hear, to respond.
In Jesus' name, I pray these things. Amen.
Money.
Money is one of those things that tends to grab people's attention, isn't it?
A few weeks ago, I was on a train from Cork to Dublin, and there were two IT consultants across the aisle from me,
and they were talking quite loudly about data security in one of their clients.
And everyone was doing their best, their absolute utmost, to ignore what they were saying,
because they weren't particularly interested, riveting topic though it is.
And then something changed.
One of them said to the other,
Yeah, it's probably going to be about 50 grand, isn't it?
At that, I looked up.
Not so much at them, but at everyone else in the carriage,
to see how everyone would react to a number like that just being thrown out casually in conversation.
And a remarkable change had come on all of them.
Suddenly, everyone was very interested in this conversation that was being had about data security.
You'd think it was the most interesting thing they had heard all week.
We tend to notice when money is mentioned, either consciously or subconsciously, we tend to notice that.
And I'm sure that many of you noticed it was mentioned in the passage today.
In fact, money and possessions play a key role in the passage, don't they?
And because money and possessions play a key role in the passage, we can't really ignore them as we go through it.
And so I just want to take a couple of minutes before we go on to talking about what may be a sensitive topic for some people,
to check in on two elephants that people may see in the room.
And those two elephants ask two main questions.
One, how is the preacher qualified to talk about money?
The guy up the front, what does he know about money?
And two, does he stand to profit or to gain from talking about money in some way?
Is he going to go out and buy a private jet somewhere after the service if you give him all your money, so to speak?
Now, as many people will know here, or at least hopefully know, I'm not Johnny Grant.
I'm not the pastor of this church.
I'm not tall enough.
I'm not indeed the pastor of any church.
I work in financial services.
And so I have a bunch of qualifications and letters after my name that all have to do with money.
I've thrown them up on the screen there.
There's a bunch of letters that I don't really like to use.
I'm almost embarrassed to put them on the screen there, but I put them up there for two reasons.
The first is to emphasize that none of this is in any way beneficial when talking about money as far as the Bible is concerned.
So you can see up there, I'm a financial advisor.
I'm an actuary.
I do financial reporting.
Accountant, actuary, financial advisor.
What they can tell you or what we can tell you generally is how much money do you have?
What should you do with your money to achieve the goals that you have?
And generally, maybe how you should go about investing or spending to achieve those goals,
what amount of money you need for certain things, and so on.
What we can't tell you is what you should or should not do with your money.
We can't tell you what your financial goals should be or how you should view money in general.
Meanwhile, God says quite a lot about all of those topics in the Bible,
and he is a far more authoritative source than any human could be,
and certainly far more authoritative than I am.
So who am I to talk about money, that first question?
Well, in this context, nobody.
I'm nobody.
But insofar as my words align with what the Bible says, they will be good.
So we'll aim for that throughout this.
And the second reason I put the qualifications on the screen is to address one second elephant in the room.
So as you're probably aware, there are several so-called preachers or pastors in various parts of the world,
particularly in the United States where they have these sort of mega churches, etc.,
who would use, let's say, cherry-picked verses from Scripture to try to get you to give them money
to manipulate people into donating large sums of money that they can then use to build or buy mansions
or acquire private jets for themselves.
So it's right to be wary of falling into that kind of trap.
But in my case, I work in the financial services sector.
I'm not now, nor have I ever been employed by a church.
And to the best of my knowledge, I have never received any financial reward or compensation or anything like that
for any church-related work I do.
So there is no vested interest there.
As one final thought before we delve in,
I will say to you now that even though this passage talks about money and possessions,
at its core, I don't think this passage is actually about money.
It's about something that's a whole lot deeper than that.
But in order to understand what the passage is about,
we need to understand what the Bible does say about money, both in this passage and outside it.
So with all of that caveat out of the way, let's dive into the text here.
We start off in verse 32 of chapter 4.
And this first paragraph we have here, from verse 32 to verse 35,
showcases some extraordinary generosity, doesn't it?
At the end of verse 32, we read that the believers shared everything they had.
And verses 34 to 35 become even more remarkable.
We read that there was no needy person among them,
for from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them,
brought the money from the sales, put it at the apostles' feet,
and it was distributed to anyone who had a need.
This is extraordinary generosity.
You can see that even in our own world today.
People don't generally or typically sell property in order to give to the poor and needy.
And we might be prompted to ask, well, what causes this?
How or why are they being so generous?
Well, verse 32 gives us one unifying fact about all of them.
It says all the believers were one in heart and mind.
So who are the believers?
Well, that may be a bit of a silly question to ask in a church on a Sunday morning.
The Christians are the believers.
The believers are the Christians, right?
But what do they believe?
Well, you can see if you flip back to the end of chapter 2,
you can see chapter 2, verse 42.
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching.
So what were the apostles' teaching?
Well, verse 33 of chapter 4, our passage here, gives us the answer.
With great power, the apostles continued to testify to what?
To the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
They testified to Jesus' death, yes,
but they also testified to his resurrection.
And that's what the author actually focuses on both here and throughout Acts.
So by the time we get to this passage, chapter 4 of Acts,
the author has told us at least seven times that Jesus has been raised from the dead.
In Acts chapter 1, we have verse 3.
It says he gave many convincing proofs that he was alive.
Verse 22, when choosing who would replace Judas,
Peter says that someone must become a witness with us of his resurrection.
In Acts chapter 2, we have verses 23 and 24.
You put him to death by nailing him to the cross,
but God raised him from the dead.
It was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.
Again, in Acts chapter 2, verses 31 and 32,
David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah.
God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it.
Acts 3.15, you killed the author of life,
but God raised him from the dead.
Acts chapter 4, verse 2,
the priests and Sadducees were greatly disturbed.
Why?
Because the apostles were teaching the people,
proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.
And Acts chapter 4, verse 9,
we have, it is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
whom you crucify, but whom God raised from the dead.
And then here in verse 33 of our passage,
the apostles continued to testify
to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
The church was born in the proclamation of the resurrection.
And if you think about it, actually, for a minute,
Jesus' death means nothing without the resurrection.
Imagine how hollow the gospel would be if he had stayed dead.
We'd be left saying,
Jesus was a good man.
He never sinned.
And now he's dead.
That's not the gospel.
That's not good news.
Jesus' death is only good news
because of the resurrection that followed.
And you can pick out a ton of writing in the New Testament
that makes that point.
So Romans chapter 4, verse 25,
he was delivered over to death for our sins.
And he was raised to life for our justification.
Romans 6, 4,
just as Jesus Christ was raised from the dead
through the glory of the Father,
we too may live a new life.
Romans 10, 9,
so if you may know it,
if you declare with your mouth,
Jesus is Lord,
and believe in your heart,
what?
That God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved.
1 Corinthians 6, 14,
by his power,
God raised the Lord from the dead,
and he will raise us also.
So Jesus' resurrection
is tied to our resurrection.
It's tied to our ultimate fate.
And we depend on Jesus' resurrection
just as much as on his death,
if not more so.
In fact, later in 1 Corinthians,
Paul makes that exact argument.
He makes it abundantly clear.
He says things like,
if Christ has not been raised,
our preaching is useless,
and so is your faith.
And again,
if Christ has not been raised,
your faith is futile.
You are still in your sins.
And if we have hope in Christ
only for this life,
then we are of all people
most to be pitied.
And against all of that,
Paul just has one simple argument.
But he has been raised.
And there is so much more
that could be said
about the resurrection.
It's the foundation of our hope.
the resurrection changes our futures
if we're trusting in Jesus.
But coming back to our passage today,
it's also the foundation
of everything that happens
in verses 32 to 35.
Why do I say that?
Well, what happens
when you believe in the resurrection?
You see a different future ahead of you.
And that changes your heart.
The resurrection changes our future
and our hearts.
If we want to be specific to this passage,
talking about possessions and money,
what does that mean
for our view of possessions and money?
What does it mean for our hearts
in respect of those sides of things?
Because we have to see here
that the people's generosity here,
giving to the poor and needy,
ensuring there wasn't one among them,
even being willing to sell property
to make sure that was the case.
Well, this is something
that flows out of their faith
in the resurrection.
How do we know that?
Well, we're told that the believers
did these things to support each other.
But in order to sell property,
you first have to have property,
don't you?
And as these are new believers
here in Acts 4,
we know that they chose
to accumulate this wealth
before they became believers.
The only thing that has changed here
is that they are now believers
in the resurrection.
And now they are giving it away.
They're selling.
They're distributing.
They're making sure
that there's no one needy among them.
So why does this change them?
Well, suppose for a moment
that this life is all there is,
which is a mortifying thought
to begin with.
But suppose for a moment
this life is all there is.
That seems logical
to live,
drink,
be merry.
We know how short
our lives are.
If this earth is all there is,
then it's better to live it
with plenty of money.
It's better to live it
with plenty of comfort,
isn't it?
And we can be tempted
even to rejoice
in that wealth
and in that comfort.
In fact,
in Psalm 119,
when the psalmist
wants a simile
to describe
how much he loves
God's law,
something that everyone
will understand,
he says in verse 14,
I rejoice
in following your statutes
as one rejoices
in great riches.
He wants to talk
about how much
he loves God's law
and the best comparison
he can give
in terms of earthly joy
is having great riches.
And even if we know
that this is all
not going to last,
we're ultimately
going to die
even if we think
that's the case
and we know
that the treasures
will ultimately perish
and fade away,
if this world
is all there is,
then it makes sense
to store up treasure here.
Meanwhile,
the resurrection
changes all of that.
Suddenly we're sure
of an eternal life
that puts this life
into context
and makes it look
pathetically short.
And if there is
a resurrection to come,
if there's new life
to come,
and we gain access
to that through Jesus,
then suddenly treasure here
doesn't really matter
all that much.
It's only around
for the tiniest sliver
of the eternal lives
that we will have.
So if you believe
in the resurrection,
if we believe
in the resurrection,
then we believe
that our genuine faith,
to use the words
of 1 Peter,
we believe that
our genuine faith
is of more worth
than gold,
which perishes
even though refined
by fire,
because it lasts.
We believe that
the resurrection
of Jesus Christ
from the dead
has given us
new birth
into a living hope
and into an inheritance
that can never perish,
spoil,
or fade,
kept in heaven for us.
And that fundamentally
changes how we look
at money
and earthly treasure
and possessions now.
As Paul says
in 1 Timothy chapter 6,
it says,
Command those who are rich
in this present world
not to be arrogant,
nor to put their hope
in wealth,
which is so uncertain,
but to put their hope
in God,
who richly provides
everything for our enjoyment.
Command them,
command those who are rich
in this present age
to do good,
to be rich
in good deeds,
and to be generous
and willing to share.
In this way,
they will lay up treasure
for themselves
as a firm foundation
in the coming age,
so that they may
take hold of that life
which is truly life.
Jesus himself said
something similar
in Matthew chapter 6.
He said,
Do not store up
for yourselves
treasures on earth
where moths and vermin destroy,
where thieves break in
and steal,
but store up for yourselves
treasures in heaven
where moths and vermin
do not destroy
and where thieves
do not break in
and steal.
Why does Jesus
give that advice?
Well, he tells us
in the next words.
Store up for yourselves
treasure in heaven
for where your treasure is,
there your heart is also.
Earlier I said
the core message
of this passage
I didn't believe
was about money.
And this is what I mean.
It's fundamentally
not about money,
but it's about our hearts.
This passage
is a really practical
worked example
of one of the things
that Jesus taught,
which is that money
is a real indicator
of where our hearts lie.
Now, money is just
an indicator
of where our hearts lie.
It's not the be-all
and end-all
in and of itself.
But it is a powerful indicator
of where our hearts lie.
And look at what the author
does between verses 33
and 34 here.
In verse 33,
he talks about God's grace
being so powerfully
at work in them.
God's grace.
God's free gift.
And then he links that in
with their not being
a needy person
among them.
So how does that work
in practice?
Do we see that
when God saves people,
he creates a money tree
for the new believers?
Or do we see that
in saving these people,
he gives them
some sort of new skills
or work attitude
that means that they're able
to improve their financial
condition themselves
or that sort of thing?
Well, no.
God's grace led
to there being
no needy people
among them
for or through
the means of
verses 34 to 35.
Those who owned
or land or houses
sold them.
They brought the money
from the sales.
They put it at the apostles' feet.
It was distributed
to those who had need.
God's grace is tied
directly into how believers
act with money.
I think it was something
that Ralph was saying earlier.
Real faith
or real worship of God
leads to a change
in our actions.
I want to be careful here.
I want to be really careful here.
This is not a contradiction
of the gospel message.
If you're following Christ,
then you are saved
by grace alone,
through faith alone,
in Christ alone,
to the glory of God alone.
And two of the clearest
verses in all of Scripture
that point to that
are Ephesians 2,
verses 8 and 9.
If you went to camps
or clubs as a child,
you may know those
of us as well.
For it is by grace
you have been saved,
through faith.
And this is not of yourselves.
There's a gift of God,
not by works,
so that no one can boast.
Saved by grace,
through faith.
But we can't detach
verses 8 and 9
from verse 10.
Verse 10,
which says,
we are God's workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus
to do good works,
which God prepared
in advance
for us to do.
And one of those good works,
referenced all the way
through Scripture,
is help the poor.
In the law,
we read various requirements
to help the poor.
If you read the first five books
of the Bible,
we have, for example,
one of the tithes
goes towards helping them.
Farm owners are forbidden
to glean to the edges
of their fields
so that people can come along
and make sure they have food.
The poor can have
something to eat.
If you look at the prophets,
the treatment of the poor
is tied to righteousness
and unrighteousness.
Isaiah 3,
we have,
the Lord enters into judgment
against the elders
and leaders of the people.
It is you
who have ruined my vineyard.
The plunder from the poor
is in your houses.
What do you mean
by crushing my people
and grinding the faces
of the poor?
Or Jeremiah 2,
verse 34,
on your clothes
is found the lifeblood
of the innocent poor.
Ezekiel 16,
this was the sin of Sodom.
If you know Genesis,
you might think,
oh, well,
the sin of Sodom
was relating to sexual immorality
and impurity.
Ezekiel 16,
this was the sin of Sodom.
She and her daughters
were arrogant,
overfed,
and unconcerned.
They did not help
the poor and needy.
And then by contrast
in Isaiah 57,
God sets out
what he wants
from his people.
Is it not to share
your food with the hungry?
To provide the poor wanderer
with shelter?
When you see the naked
to clothe them
and not to turn away
your own flesh and blood?
In the New Testament,
I could point you
to the Gospels
or to James.
Concern for the poor
comes across really clearly
in those.
But I think maybe
the best place to go
for us may be Galatians.
Because Galatians
has one major message
from start to finish.
If you know that book,
it is you are saved
by grace,
through faith,
and not by works.
That is the summary
of Galatians
in one sentence.
At the start
of chapter 2,
Paul talks about
going to Jerusalem
to discuss the message
of salvation
with Peter,
James,
and John.
He says that they
agreed with his message.
They gave the right hand
of fellowship
to Barnabas and to me
when they recognized
the grace that was given
to me.
They agreed that we
should go to the Gentiles
and they to the circumcised.
So first,
they discussed and agreed
the fundamental message
of the Gospel.
And the only other thing
that Paul mentions
from this meeting
comes in verse 10.
All they asked,
the only other thing,
was that we should continue
to remember the poor.
The very thing
I've been eager to do
all along.
Even in the quintessential
grace not works
letter of the New Testament,
Paul can't avoid
mentioning helping the poor
and mentioning it
in the same breath
as the Gospel itself.
And in this passage
we see this is related
to the believers.
But this isn't restricted
to the believers.
We have passages
like Galatians 6
which says,
do good to all.
It says especially
to the family of the church,
especially to the believers.
But do good to all
is not restricted
to the believers.
Help the poor.
And helping the poor
is exactly what
the early church did.
We see it in this passage here.
But it also continued
for years after this.
Some of the people
in Rooted will have heard
me a quote
from Mike Duncan before.
He's a secular historian
who specialised
in the history of Rome.
If you're interested,
his podcast is like
70 hours
on the history
of ancient Rome.
And describing
the Roman citizens'
reaction
to the great persecution
of the Christians
in the early 300s AD.
So nearly 300 years
after the events of Acts,
he writes
that the Christians
were by the citizens
by this time
widely viewed
as a harmless cult
comprised of law-abiding,
tax-paying citizens
whose most visible
public act
was what?
Tending to the poor
and sick?
That was their most
visible public act.
That's what the early church did.
What about us today?
We have,
I would really hope,
we have the same faith,
the same hope,
the same God,
the same knowledge
of the resurrection.
So what should that
lead us to?
It might be tempting
to say,
you know,
selling property, etc.
This is only something
for the mega-rich.
If you have property
lying around,
then, you know,
what greater parallel
or what easier parallel
could you find here?
It's not presented
as a necessity
or required of everyone
since that's something
that everyone seems
to have done voluntarily.
But it's not presented
as fanatical
or a step too far either.
But we also need
to recognize
that most,
if not all of us,
fall into the category
of rich here.
We all have things
that we can give up.
If we look globally
around the world,
we are one of the richest
nations in the world.
I'm standing up here
in clothes,
if we include, like,
watch, shoes,
everything I'm wearing
at the moment,
I'm standing up here
in clothes
that I probably paid
more for
than some people
get paid in a year
for work.
We have wealth.
And we know
all too well
what need exists
in the world,
don't we?
Close to home
in Ireland,
we know that
over 10,000 people
are homeless,
each one a story.
And 10%
of the population
is estimated
to live in food poverty.
And we know
what's happening
with inflation
at the moment.
We know
what's happening there.
We can't ignore that.
That's just going
to rise,
isn't it?
Further away
from home,
we know well
from the news
what's happening
in Ukraine.
Similarly,
in Yemen,
it's estimated
that over half a million
are at acute risk
of starvation.
And that's the number
of children,
never mind the adults.
As James says,
suppose a brother
or sister
is without clothes,
daily food.
If one of you
says to them,
go in peace,
keep warm
and well fed,
but does nothing
about their physical needs,
what good is it?
So there are
some easy questions
we can ask ourselves
on a personal level,
on an individual level.
One of the ones
that the charities
would often go with
is can you give up
a coffee a week
to help someone in need?
Maybe even a coffee
a month,
given the way things
are going at the moment
in terms of inflation.
We can go deeper
than that.
Do we need
as many Amazon packages
or takeaways
or streaming services
or games
or cameras
or the newest laptop,
the best phone,
the latest app
on our phone
that costs
just a little bit extra?
Do we need
another trip abroad?
Do we need
another set of clothes?
Do we need
a newer car?
Do we need
a more
upper-middle-class
lifestyle?
Because we know
that this is going
to pass away.
We may not have
property to sell now,
but we have
extraordinary levels
of wealth
that previous generations,
including those
in this text,
could only have
dreamt of.
And I ask myself
these questions too.
And please,
if you see the love
of wealth
in my life,
please do me a favor
and point out
the giant plank
in my eye.
And yet,
as we ask these questions,
I'm also aware
that this is low-hanging fruit.
It's easy to pick.
But let's consider it more.
Let's think about it.
What more can we do
here and around the world?
What more can we do
individually?
And what more can we do
as a church?
I do mean that.
Let's think about it.
Let's chat about it
after the service
before we leave.
Let's plan.
Let's make sure
it gets beyond
the level of thoughts
and feelings
and gets into action.
Let's do something.
I'm going to move on
now shortly
in the passage,
and trust me,
I won't be spending
anywhere near as long
on the rest of the text
as they're in those
first few verses
because that's established
the foundation
and the rest
is basically one example.
But before I do move on,
please take a note.
I don't mind if it's like
a strong mental note
or a physical one
and a pen and paper
or a note in a phone
with a reminder set on it,
but let's not forget.
It can be so dangerous
to forget.
As Paul writes
in 1 Timothy 6,
he says,
if we have food
and clothing,
we will be content
with that.
Is that us?
He goes on,
those who want
to get rich
fall into temptation
and a trap
and into many foolish
and harmful desires
that plunge people
into ruin
and destruction.
For the love of money
is a root
of all kinds of evil.
Some people,
eager for money,
have wandered
from the faith
and pierced themselves
with many griefs.
It's not written down
in my notes here,
but the passages
have just come to me.
There's a part,
I think it's in Mark's gospel,
where a rich young man
comes to Jesus
and he asks,
good teacher,
what must I do
to inherit eternal life?
And they run down
through a list of laws
and requirements
and eventually
they get to the end
of it
and the guy says,
look,
I've kept all these
since I was a boy.
It says,
Jesus looked at him
and loved him
but said,
one thing you lack,
go sell everything
you have,
give to the poor
and you'll have treasure
in heaven,
then come follow me.
And it says
that rich young man
went away sad
because he had
great wealth,
wasn't willing
to give it up.
let's not wander away
for love of money
as we also see
later in this passage.
In verses 36 and 37
we have one example
basically of what's been said
in the previous verses.
We have a guy called Joseph
who's a Levite,
the apostles call him Barnabas
which means son of encouragement,
he sells a field,
he brings the money
to the apostles,
they distribute it.
Now,
if some of you know
Matthew 6 well,
you might wonder
if this is okay.
Because Matthew 6
verses 3 and 4
says that when you give
to the needy,
incidentally,
when,
not if,
when you give
to the needy,
do not let your left hand
know what your right hand
is doing
so that your giving
may be in secret.
And people clearly know
that Barnabas
has given this money here.
So it doesn't seem
to meet the requirements
on the face of it.
But Matthew 6
is more about
whether the giving
is done in public
to be honoured by others
as it says in verse 2
of that chapter.
It doesn't look like
Barnabas
fails this test.
But for us,
if we're giving,
if we're supporting,
the best way,
the safest way
to be sure
that we're not
doing this
to be honoured
by others
is to do it
in secret.
That way we can be
sure of our motivations.
Having said that,
I just want to take a moment
to talk about
one specific Irish example,
particularly for anyone
who's earning money
here and paying taxes.
In Ireland,
if you're a taxpayer
and you give
more than €250
a year
or more than €21
a month
to a charity,
they can claim
almost 45%
of that back
from the government.
And all you have to do
is sign a very simple
basic form.
I think people get worried
whenever you talk about
taxes and forms
and, oh,
this is going to be difficult.
It's literally,
what is your PPS number?
Do you want this charity
to be able to reclaim
the money?
Tick.
Sign your name.
Date it.
Send it off.
And that gets
whatever charity
you're given to,
whether it's this church
or any other,
it gets them an extra
roughly 45%
from the government.
So just something
to think about
when it comes to mind there.
But if we go back
to Barnabas here,
it is clear
that his example
acts as a really
marked contrast
to what Ananias
and Sapphira do next.
They sell a plot
of land,
we're told in verse 2
of chapter 5,
and they keep
back some of the money.
Now, interestingly,
keeping back some
of the money
doesn't seem to be
a problem here.
It doesn't seem
to be the problem.
So much is the fact
that they're saying
and implying
that they're not doing that.
So they're saying
or implying
that they're handing
over the full sum.
And we get that
from what Peter says
in verse 4.
He's berating Ananias.
He says,
didn't it,
didn't the piece
of property
belong to you
before it was sold?
And after it was sold,
wasn't the money
at your disposal?
What made you think
of doing such a thing?
You have not lied
just to human beings,
but to God.
He had the choice
of what to do here.
His land was,
well,
his.
He had been granted
stewardship of it
by God,
ultimately.
He could have kept it.
He could have sold it
and kept all the money
if he wanted to.
From what Peter
is asking here,
it doesn't look like
either of those courses
of action
would have been
wrong or sinful
for him to do.
But what is wrong
is the lie.
Verse 4.
You have not just lied
to human beings,
but to God.
What is that lie?
Well,
in effect,
it's that they're giving
everything to God.
We don't see that so much
when Peter is talking
with Ananias.
We see it in verse 8
when he's talking
with Sapphira.
He asks,
tell me this.
Is this the price
that you and Ananias
got for the land?
He clearly has the money
that Ananias left with him.
He's saying,
is this the price
that you received?
And the lie
is where she says,
yes,
that is the price.
And there's a lot
we don't know about this.
We don't know
how much money
or what proportion
of the money
or what proportion
of their total wealth
represented.
We don't know
why they decided
to do this.
Maybe looking back
to verse 36 and 37,
maybe they're seeing
this new name
being given to Barnabas
and maybe they want
a new name
for themselves
from the apostles.
But whatever the case is,
you can see the judgment here.
It's really not easy
to read.
As both of them
claim to be giving
everything to God,
they lie
and they fall down dead.
The punishment is death.
And here is where
I think
we come back
to our hearts.
We saw earlier
money is an indicator
of where our hearts lie.
But we see here
that our hearts' lies
will be revealed.
We can't hide stuff
from God.
This isn't just
about money.
There are many other ways
in which we could
theoretically be claiming
to give everything
to God
throughout our lives.
It could be,
for example,
in church.
Maybe the reason
we volunteer
isn't exactly
what it seems to be
to everyone
or what we make it out to be.
Or at home,
what we think,
say and do
behind closed doors.
Maybe only select few
know about it.
Maybe even only God
knows about it.
Or it could be
when we're talking
with certain friends
or family
from years gone by.
Maybe from before
we became a Christian,
before we started
living out our faith.
We're willing to change
everything
in church
and in church
and Christian circles.
We are on fire for God.
But when talking
with these people,
we can't show them
that we've changed.
They'll mock us
if we've changed.
They'll be like,
what's wrong with you?
Maybe that's us.
Or maybe it's at work.
Do we claim to work
for the glory of God?
Have we really given
everything to Him
in that area
of our lives?
There might be
other ones
that come to your head,
ways we lie,
places we say
we're giving everything
to Him
and yet we're not.
The resurrection
changes our future
and our hearts.
Money is an indicator
of where our hearts lie.
One indicator,
a powerful indicator though.
And our hearts' lies
will be revealed
whatever they may be.
As I wrap up,
I'd like to encourage you
again to consider
and think about
your use of
and your attitude
towards money
and possessions.
I'd encourage you again
to talk about it
after the service.
Where can you use it better?
Where can we all
use it better?
But far more than that
on an individual level,
can I encourage you,
don't lie to God.
Your lies will be found out.
As the Apostle John writes,
if we claim to be
without sin,
we deceive ourselves
and the truth
is not in us.
The truth is not even in us.
But we know
that if we confess
our sins,
He is faithful
and just
to forgive us
our sins
and to purify us
from all unrighteousness.
So let's be honest
with God
and let's surrender
everything to Him.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father,
we thank You
for the resurrection.
We thank You
for this foundation
to our hope.
We thank You
that we can see
in Jesus'
rising again
our future
being changed.
We thank You
that You
are changing
our hearts
and have changed
our hearts
if we are following Christ.
And we pray
that You would help us
to find those parts
of our hearts
that are not fully
given over to You.
We pray that You
would help us
in particular
to think about
how we use money
and possessions,
whether that is
honouring or glorifying
to You.
We pray that this
would lead to
concrete steps
that we have
in our lives
but Lord,
we also recognise
that money
is only an indicator
of where our hearts
lie.
We recognise
that there are
so many ways
that we lie
to ourselves
and maybe even
lie to You, Lord,
and we pray
that we would
not do that.
We pray that You
would help us
to be honest with You,
to recognise
the sin in our lives
and to come to You
with it knowing
that You are faithful
and just
to forgive us
our sins
and cleanse us
from all unrighteousness.
Father,
we praise You
for what You
have done.
We praise You
for what Christ
has done
and we praise You
for what the Spirit
will do
in our lives.
As it's in Jesus'
precious name
we pray.
Amen.