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Introduction: We have been looking at miracles. At Pentecost the room where the disciples met was filled with wind and noise and fire! They spoke in languages they did not know, and 3000 people came to faith. Last week we read of a man that was lame from birth being healed, and again more people came to faith.
I would like to take a moment to hear from you about some miracles. Who has experienced a miracle?
Let's look at another book of Acts miracle, but this one  is the miracle that no one want to repeat.
Before the first century would end the disciples would perform numerous miracles. They experienced supernatural releases from prison, they healed the sick, they prophesied, they cast out demons and even raised the dead. But today we are going to look at a miracle I bet no one here really wants to volunteer for.
It occurred right after the one we studied last week. In Acts 3 Peter and John healed the lame man. In Acts 4 they were told to quit preaching Jesus. They held a prayer meeting and the room was shaken. By the end of the chapter Luke writes that they shared everything they had, the apostles did a lot of miracles, and the grace of God was on them. Then we pick up with the last couple of verses of chapter four, which set up the story told in chapter five.
AC 4:36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet.
AC 5:1 Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2 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.
AC 5:3 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? 4 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 to men but to God."
AC 5:5 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. 6 Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.
AC 5:7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, "Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?"
"Yes," she said, "that is the price."
AC 5:9 Peter said to her, "How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also."
AC 5:10 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. 11 Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
Anyone want to volunteer to repeat that miracle? The Scripture goes on to say.
AC 5:12 The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon's Colonnade. 13 No one else dared join them , (I BET!) even though they were highly regarded by the people. 14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number . (No casual takers, but a lot of genuine converts.) 15 As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem , bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed.
Whoa, a guy lies to Peter and drops dead, followed by his wife, and the Church kept growing?! What is happening here?
The church of Jerusalem was growing faster than anyone could imagine. Many scholars believe that many of the pilgrims in town for the Feast of Pentecost never left town to return to their homes. The apostles kept preaching (and performing miracles), the disciples kept meeting for worship and communion, and people kept coming to faith in Christ.
The shear number of people dictated that they practice radical sharing. People began to sell belongings and bring the money to the apostles, in order to be distributed as necessary. This kind of radical sharing got attention, both inside the Church and out. It encouraged others to share, but unfortunately it also encouraged insincere imitation.
Ananias and Sapphira liked the attention that giving merited, so they too sold some property, and gave a portion of the proceeds to the church, while saying that they had given the full amount. When Peter learned of this he rebuked the man publicly, and the man fell dead. When his wife entered the room she too lied, and joined her husband in death.
Now we are going to take up another offering . Just kidding. But does anyone really want to repeat that miracle? What a bizarre story, right? But it happened. What can we learn from it?
 God is holy and is not to be taken lightly.
In the Vineyard we put a premium on intimacy with God. We emphasize God's mercy and forgiveness, because the Bible makes the same emphasis. We emphasize the Father heart of God, because referred to God as Father more than any other way, and taught us to do so.
But don't kid yourself. God is holy, and He is not to be toyed with.
There is a similar story in the Old Testament. In Samuel 6 David and his leaders are bringing the Ark of the Covenant back into Jerusalem . They build a cart to carry the Ark on (a violation of God's specific instructions) and it topples. When Uzzah, son of Abinadab, reaches out his hand to steady it God strikes him dead. What is going on? Why is God killing people for touching the Ark and telling little white lies?
Because, in each case the persons involved had come to consider too lightly the holiness of God, and His awesome power. If you read 1 Chronicles 13:7 you learn that Uzzah grew up with the Ark stored in his home. The Ark was not anything new to him. He grew up with it. His familiarity with it caused him to treat it like any other piece of furniture. But the Ark symbolizes the presence of God and His mighty power. The presence and power of God are nothing to be taken lightly or to be toyed with.
In the early days of the Vineyard movement God began visiting a group of young people very powerfully. Many miracles occurred. Healing was common, and many people were being set free from unclean spirits. Some of the guys began playing around while casting out demons, saying things like, "This one is a wimp." Or "This one is coming out easily." Fortunately no one fell dead, but the Lord let them know that His power and holiness are not to be regarded lightly.
We enjoy the presence of the Lord, and want to experience His love. We love to worship, and soak in His presence. We believe that God is merciful and that our sins are cast far away from us. All of these things are true. Thank God!
But we must be careful to remember that God is also awesome, and powerful, and holy . We must not take lightly the holiness of God. In our quest for intimacy we must not forget reverence . The book of Proverbs teaches us that the very beginning of wisdom is to fear God . 
The New Testament says perfect love casts out fear. That means that when we truly love God we do not fear that He will be unjust with us, or that He is against us and just waiting to smite us. But the reverential fear of God is a good thing. It is an essential thing. The realization that God is capable of judgment and would be justified in punishing us for our sin is wisdom. It elicits a gratitude in us that is an integral part of our love for God.
God knows the truth about the motives of our hearts. Ananias and Sapphira saw the attention that sacrificial giving got when Barnabas sold a field and gave the money to the church. They wanted the attention Barnabas got, but without making the sacrifice Barnabas made.
Today people want the attention that comes with position and title, but without the genuine commitment that it takes to bear those positions and title. People get jealous when someone else receives attention (like Barnabas) so they seek to do something to get attention, but their heart is not true. They want position. They want title. They judge those who have position, or title, or positions, or popularity, or a bigger church. They want the attention, but are not willing to make the sacrifice.
This passage is not about giving. Though there is a lot we can learn about giving from this passage. Worship, sacrifice, giving.are all voluntary. God is not going to force anyone to love Him, to worship Him, or even to give to the church. Those things must come from a heart that is fully devoted to God.
While God really owns everything, the property of Ananias and Sapphira was fully at their disposal. God would not have killed them for not giving. Peter made that clear when he said, 4 "Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal?"
What got them killed was thinking that they could get away with lying to God, all for the sake of looking good in front of people. Boy, it's a good thing that doesn't happen in church today isn't it? What if every time someone gave a testimony in order to look good, and it contained a lie, they dropped dead? Testimony times would be a whole lot shorter, but the ones we heard would be powerful!
What if every time someone volunteered for a position, or sought a title just to be seen by people, God struck them dead? It may be more difficult to recruit. But the ones who served would be fully committed.
If there is anything that this passage teaches us about New Testament giving it is that it is absolute. Today people want to argue about whether tithing is New Testament. Tithing is giving ten percent of your incoe to the church, believing that God will reward you for doing so. In the New Testament they sold property and gave the money to the church!
I am not saying that people should sell their boat, or give a way their car, or donate a house to the building fund. What was going on in Acts was a time of particular sacrifice because of a serious need. But everything we own should be at God's disposal. And we should be willing to give just as sacrificially of we are called upon by God to do so. And we shouldn't argue about giving a measly ten percent.
If everyone in church tithed there would be no special offerings or giving campaigns. The next time you complain, or hear someone complain, about why the church doesn't do more to help the poor.consider what the church could do if everyone gave sacrificially.
Okay, back to Holy God! God's presence and power of God are nothing to be toyed with. The love of God is nothing to be taken for granted. We enjoy the embrace of a loving Father. We also are blessed to rest confidently in the presence of a holy God.
But we must also reverence God. Our lives, our worship, our giving, our serving.are all gifts laid at the feet of a holy God. He is the sovereign ruler of the universe, not just our Daddy. And is certainly not Santa Claus or our fairy Godfather. He does not serve us, we serve Him. He does not need us, we need Him. Wimber used to say, "We are change in His pocket. He could spend us on a candy bar if he wanted to." But He loves us and He doesn't spend us on a candy bar. This should elicit some reverential gratitude. This should elicit reverence as well as intimacy.
And God is never fooled by us when we are not sincere. Thank God He is merciful with us when we are insincere, but we must learn to repent from everything done with a selfish motive.
As best we know God only did this once in Church history (though I've heard stories to the contrary). Paul did say that some are sick and some even die because of the way they take communion (gesture to tables). How is everybody feeling?
You cannot lie to God, as Ananias and Sapphira discovered. And God does not merely overlook sin. Sin is always punished. Jesus died on the cross for our sin. That was judgment. That was punishment. That should elicit gratitude on our part, not complacency.
The miracle that no one wants to repeat teaches us this.
Our loving Father is also a Holy God. He is giving, and full of mercy. But He is also just and demands sincerity. In all of our giving, in all of our worship, in all of our service.let us give it in reverence to God. Let us worship Him, as Jesus said, in Spirit and in truth.with absolute commitment and sincerity.
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