Reformed & Expository Preaching

Growing Pains (Acts 6:1-7)

Introduction The book of Acts gives us honest "metrics" of the church. Luke records remarkable growth for the early church. There are thousands of converts. However, he never presents an idealized picture of the church. Alongside gospel success come persecution and real problems. In Acts 6, the congregation begins to murmur. The church is in the wilderness and is acting like Israel in the wilderness. Luke does not hide the conflict, but records how the church worked through the conflict. We are reminded that healthy churches are not churches without problems, but churches that address problems through Christ’s wisdom. Sometimes a church loses sight of Christ’s priorities. How does this church repent and conform to Christ’s wisdom? The Church Experiences Growing Pains As the church expands, believers from different backgrounds join the congregation. Luke intentionally calls them disciples. A disciple is someone who is dedicated to their teacher’s instruction. This is an important reminder that Christians are lifelong learners who continually grow in conformity to Christ. We never arrive or graduate as disciples in this life. We continually grow in Christ. This is a lifelong dedication to the master’s instruction through his word and spirit. The problem is growth exposes weaknesses. Cultural tensions arise as the Hellenistic widows are neglected, and murmuring threatens to divide the body along ethnic lines. The group is on the verge of splitting over a legitimate issue. We have seen Israel do this in the wilderness. The Lord wrestles with his people, and sometimes we wonder if the Lord will prevail. Christ Provides Wise Servants for his Church The apostles recognize the legitimacy of their grumbling. This is very scary for the church. Israel grumbled about food, and the Lord provided through manna (Exodus 16). Another time when Israel grumbled was when Korah challenged Moses’ rule (Numbers 16-17). We see in these examples that when God’s people grumble, they are complaining about God. So, now the new community is grumbling. They might have a legitimate concern, like Exodus 16, but this normally does not end well for God’s people. Will they meet God’s anger, or is there another solution? The apostles hear this, and they know that they have a God-given task to preach and pray. So, the solution has to be honoring to God. They have to preach and pray. However, the Lord is upset when the community’s weak are exploited or neglected. The complaint is not presented in a godly way. The community is grumbling; widows are exploited, and the community is not bearing a godly witness to outsiders. They have a solution. It is not that they are beneath waiting on tables, but that is not their priority. They are called to preach and pray. They cannot abandon their God-given task. They tell the congregation to choose seven men of good reputation, men who are full of the Spirit, and who demonstrate Godly wisdom. The apostles will be dedicated to preaching and praying. These men will tend to the widows’ needs to make sure that the widows are not exploited. The community is satisfied with this solution. There are seven servants or deacons who are appointed primarily to this task. The solution teaches us that every office in Christ's church matters. All the offices in the church serve to advance the gospel. The Word of God Remains the Source of Life Luke concludes by reminding us that the church will continue. We learn that as the apostles preach the Gospel, "the Word of God continued to increase." This is not saying that the word of God grows bigger, but that the church continues to bear more fruit as it grows through Gospel preaching. We hear the wonderful declaration that priests who once opposed Christ become obedient to the faith. The power that preserves and grows the church is never organizational skill alone, but the faithful preaching of Christ. This has to be accompanied by prayer and a congregation that is continually transformed by the Gospel message. Conclusion We must realize that the church will always experience growing pains. The church is comprised of struggling sinners. Unfortunately, the poor are always among us (Matthew 26:11). We are disciples to be instructed through the preaching of the Gospel. It is through this means of grace that Christ continues to instruct the church in his wisdom. It is through Gospel preaching that the Spirit is pleased to work to grant discernment. Christ comes to redeem the exploited and give them relief. The church, as disciples, is called to emulate Christ’s mission. So, the apostles will continue to preach the Gospel and pray, while the office of servant, deacon, will care for the physical needs of the saints. So, we see that the church, guided by Christ’s wisdom, finds the solution. We have the office of deacon. We see that the church as a whole receives the Lord’s care. As disciples of Christ, we are called to imitate his compassion, rejoice in his gospel, and confidently trust that he will continue building his church according to his perfect wisdom.

Realizing Christ’s Promised Reign (LD 19; Psalm 110)

Introduction We confess that Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father, but we might ask, “What difference does that make today?”After all, we cannot see him. We still live in a world filled with evil, persecution, and injustice. At times, we might think that Christ has left us as orphans. Psalm 110 answers those doubts. David shows us that Christ's ascension was not his retreat from the world but his glorious enthronement. Our risen Lord now reigns as our King, represents us as our perfect High Priest, and will one day return as righteous Judge. His throne is the church's comfort because his work is complete. So, how do we know this is true? Christ Reigns as Our Enthroned King Psalm 110 begins with the Father inviting the Son to sit at his right hand. Christ’s sitting communicates that this work is 100% complete. Christ has finished his humbling earthly work of redemption and now reigns with all authority. His reign does not mean the world immediately becomes peaceful or enters a golden age. Psalm 110 reminds us that Christ rules in the midst of his enemies. Evil still opposes the gospel and seeks to challenge Christ. The church still faces hostility. History continues to ebb and flow between seasons of ease and seasons of persecution. Nevertheless, none of this threatens Christ's kingdom that is ministered through his church. Even when his enemies rage, they do so only under his sovereign rule. He continues to gather his church, preserve his people, and govern history according to his perfect wisdom. His heavenly throne assures us that appearances of evil, sin, and persecution never overrule Christ’s enthronement. Christ truly reigns in the midst of his enemies. Christ Represents Us as Our Eternal Priest We can say, “Christ is in heaven? He is absent from us! How can you say that he represents us when he is removed from us?” We are asking the wrong questions! We are assured that the ascended Christ is present with his people. He continues his ministry on our behalf in the heavenly sanctuary. He is not like a mere mortal who can only be in one place at a time. He can be in heaven, and still dwell in us and with us. Psalm 110 tells us that Christ is in the order of Melchizedek. He is a priest who ministered in Jerusalem when Abraham triumphed over Lot’s captors [https://www.esv.org/Genesis+14/]. Genesis compiles a genealogy for each significant person. However, Melchizedek breaks this trend. He has no genealogy to communicate his birth. He has no record of his death. He is a priest without beginning or end. Christ is a priest in this order. Christ never grows weary interceding on our behalf. Christ never grows weary of protecting us and leading us by his Spirit. In the Holy Spirit, he unites us to himself, strengthens his church, and equips his people to serve him faithfully. Psalm 110 reminds us that God's promise concerning this Priest-King will never change. Unlike the temporary priests of the Old Testament, Christ's priesthood is everlasting. His sacrifice is complete. His intercession never ceases. His protection will never expire. Our acceptance before God rests entirely upon the finished work of Christ. His heavenly enthronement testifies to us that his work is truly complete. Christ Will Return as Our Judge The same Christ who now reigns in the midst of his enemies will one day return to judge the living and the dead. His invisible reign will be very visible on the day of his wrath. We realize the day of the Lord after Christ’s enthronement, but not the full physical blessings of the day. We already have the guarantee because Christ is enthroned, giving us his Spirit. However, we wait for the fullness. Christ will bring the conclusion to the day of the Lord in the day of his wrath. (Gospel Coalition: “Day of the Lord” is worth a read [https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/the-day-of-the-lord/]) For unbelievers, that day will be a day of wrath. Every rebellion against God's King will finally be brought to an end. Christ will address every injustice that has been done. In fact, every knee will bow to Christ. It is better to bow the knee now and take Christ’s yoke upon yourself rather than to bow the knee as Christ’s enemy on the day of his wrath. When we bow the knee today and take Christ’s yoke upon us, we will be comforted by his return. It is on that day when we realize the full physical blessings of the day of the Lord that we will be taken into our rest. Our king will visibly rule us because his eternal priesthood guarantees it. His sitting in glory testifies to the successful completion of his mission. He will bring his people into the full glory of his rest. Ruling in the midst of his enemies is only between his first coming and his second coming. Until that day, we may grow weary. We face suffering, disappointment, and spiritual battles. Yet Psalm 110 closes with the image of refreshment, reminding us that Christ himself sustains his people as they journey toward glory. His people drink from the river of life as they are united to their glorified priest-king. The One who conquered through suffering now supplies his church with the living water that enables us to persevere. He will preserve his people as they persevere in him. Conclusion Christ's ascension is not the story of a Savior who left his people behind. It is the declaration that the work of redemption is finished and that the victorious King now reigns from heaven. He rules over his church in the midst of his enemies. He continually represents us as our faithful High Priest. And he will return to judge the world in perfect righteousness. Therefore, when the struggles of this age tempt us to lose heart, Psalm 110 calls us to lift our eyes to the throne of Christ. Our Priest-King reigns. His kingdom cannot fail. His Spirit sustains his people. And the day is coming when every enemy will publicly bow before him. Until then, let us continue to drink deeply from the river of life. This is the life that he freely gives. Let us rest confidently in our ascended Savior. He unites us to him, we taste his goodness in his Spirit, and he will visibly come to bring us to glory. Let us long for the day when he brings us into the full physical blessings of his kingdom. Today, he rules in the midst of his enemies, but he will bring us to glory on the day of his wrath. Let us drink deeply of the river of life as we walk in his Spirit. He will bring this creation to its glorified goal because his enthronement guarantees it.

Can Piety Oppose the Gospel? (Acts 5:12-42)

Introduction: Beware the Pious Ones Introduction: Beware the Pious Ones My dad used to warn me, "Be careful of the pious ones." That puzzled me for years. Piety should be about loving God, pursuing God. So why would anyone warn you to be careful of pious people? Then, I noticed that the most pious in Christ’s day received His sharpest words. Christ warns the pious that they are shutting people out of the kingdom. In fact, in all their evangelistic zeal, they are only creating disciples of hell. That should make us pause and contemplate true piety. Acts 5 gives some insight into this problem. We discover that there are self-proclaimed pious people actively working against the work of Christ. So the real question is: how do we know what piety we're actually pursuing? The Community's Power (Acts 5:12–16) Word spreads about Ananias and Sapphira, and the healing of the disciples. The crowds do not discern the truth, but hold the apostles on some superstitious pedestal. They bring their sick to the disciples, hoping that at least a shadow will fall on the sick and bring healing. However, they don’t want to get too close because people die in this community. The problem is that people look to the apostles for healing rather than to Christ. We have seen this with the crippled man. He clung to the apostles, and not his savior. The apostles made it very clear that the Lord brings healing. So, the Apostles continue to preach the gospel. Tragically, the crowd misses the point of the signs. The signs are not self-promoting signs that the false prophets use to promote their own significance. Christ warned his disciples about these false prophets before going to the cross (Mt. 24:24; Mk 13:22; Luke 21:8). No, these are signs that gave the prophets credibility and authenticity to confirm their message. It was not to compete with the message. Unfortunately, they would rather watch for a miracle than find their wholeness in Christ. It takes time to be progressively transformed by His word. This helps us see true piety versus false piety. True piety looks to our God. False piety looks to the tangible in this world. God's Power Play (Acts 5:17–26) The high priest and the Sadducees move against the apostles out of jealousy. The Sadducees deny the supernatural. They claim that there is no resurrection, no miracle, nothing supernatural. They believe that Scripture is an ethical handbook rather than the living and abiding Word of God that confers life. They are jealous that the Apostles are gaining traction. They cannot tolerate a movement built on a risen Christ. A movement with credible healings and miracles. The apostles’ ministry is a radical existential threat to their power. So, they react by assuming that if you silence the messengers, then you silence the movement. So, they try to silence the apostles by locking them up in jail. An angel quietly opens the prison at night. There is no disturbance outside the prison, so the guards assume everything is fine. The Lord sends the apostles right back to the temple with a simple charge: go speak all the words of this Life. The next morning, the council sends for the prisoners and finds an empty locked cell. The word returns to the senate that the "prisoners" are already preaching at the temple. God dismantles the power play without raising his voice. The glorified and resurrected Jesus of Nazareth will be proclaimed. Who Really Holds the Power (Acts 5:27–42) The Apostles are escorted from the temple to the senate. The apostles are accused of trying to put "this man's blood" on them. Please keep in mind that this senate is the same group of people who once told Pilate, "his blood be on us." Peter's answer is direct: "We must obey God rather than men," and he pointedly calls God "the God of our fathers.” The Apostles are in the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob because they embrace Christ. This means that the pious ones, who deny Christ, cannot claim the same historic identity. Where Pentecost's crowd was cut to the heart and repented, this council responds with rage. Gamaliel, a Pharisee, then offers a test: movements built on mere men collapse when their leader dies. This happened with Theudas. He rose up, and Rome executed him, silencing his mission. Judas the Galilean led a tax revolt, and Rome executed him, killing his movement. Two clear movements that were not from God rose up and died almost immediately. The movements had no power beyond the leaders. So, if the apostles are from God, there is no way that the Sanhedrin/council can stop it. However, if it is merely a man-made movement, then it will die. So, let history unfold. Praise be to God! We worship the same resurrected and ascended Christ that the Apostles proclaimed. The movement continues by the Lord’s continued providence and care. Conclusion: True Piety Points Away From Itself So, how do we know if we're pursuing the right piety? Luke 18 answers it: the Pharisee's sin wasn't effort, it was trusting in his own righteousness. There's nothing wrong with looking back and thanking God for how he's sanctified us. However, when it becomes look how good I am, Christ has quietly left the stage. The Pharisees make their own disciples (Matthew 23:19). They are not making disciples of Christ, but disciples of their theology. When Christ gives the great commission, the disciples are commanded to teach and disciple in all that I have commanded you. True piety asks, “How do I glorify Christ?” It is the assurance that I only draw near to God because I am in Christ. He has lived, died, been raised, and ascended to glory. He rules me/us by His Spirit from heaven. True piety seeks to glorify Christ rather than self. That's the whole difference between the pious ones my dad warned me about and the true pious. May we distinguish true piety and desire to please our Lord, who has redeemed us. Then,  I noticed whom Christ reserved his sharpest words for in the Gospels: the most pious people of his day.  Christ warns the pious that they are shutting people out of the kingdom. In fact, in all their evangelistic zeal, they are only creating disciples of hell. Acts 5 gives some insight into this problem. We discover that there are self-proclaimed pious people actively working against the work of Christ. So the real question is: how do we know what piety we're actually pursuing? The Community's Power (Acts 5:12–16) The Apostles continue to minister the Lord’s gospel.  The problem is that people look to the apostles rather than to Christ. We have seen this with the crippled man.  His attention was called to Christ as the crippled man clung to the apostles.  It is the Lord’s word that brings the healing. This is where we see the true piety versus the false piety.  The true piety looks to our God.  False piety looks to the tangible in this world. Word spreads about Ananias and Sapphira, and the healing of the disciples.  The crowds do not discern the truth, but hold the apostles on some sort of a superstitious pedestal.  They bring their sick to the disciples, hoping that at least a shadow would come into contact and bring healing.  However, they don’t want to get close because people die in this community. Tragically, they miss the point of the signs.  The signs are not self-promoting signs like the false prophets who use the signs to promote their own significance.  Christ warned his disciples about these false prophets before going to the cross (Mt. 24:24; Mk 13:22; Luke 21:8).  No, these are signs that gave Moses credibility and authenticity before Pharaoh.  Unfortunately, we see that the crowds are still the crowds who lurk rather than join.  They would rather watch for a miracle rather than find their wholeness in Christ, being progressively transformed by His word. God's Power Play (Acts 5:17–26) The high priest and the Sadducees move against the apostles out of jealousy.  The Sadducees deny the supernatural. They claim that there is no resurrection, no miracle, nothing supernatural.  Scripture is an ethical handbook rather than the living and abiding Word of God that confers life. They are jealous that the Apostles are gaining traction.  They really are not going to allow a movement built on a risen Christ.  A movement with credible healings and miracles.  This is not a competition for them, but a radical existential threat.  Their existence is about to be completely undermined.  So, they react by assuming if you silence the messengers, then you destroy the movement.  They lock up the apostles in jail. An angel quietly opens the prison at night.  There is no disturbance outside the prison, so the guards assume everything is fine.  The Lord sends the apostles right back to the temple with a simple charge: go speak all the words of this Life. The next morning, the council sends for the prisoners and finds an empty locked cell.  The word returns to the senate that the "prisoners" are already preaching at the temple. God dismantles the power play without raising his voice.  His life message will go forth.  The glorified and resurrected Jesus of Nazareth will be proclaimed. Who Really Holds the Power (Acts 5:27–42) The Apostles are escorted from the temple to the senate.  The apostles are accused of trying to put "this man's blood" on them.  Please keep in mind that this same group of people once told Pilate, "his blood be on us." Peter's answer is direct: "We must obey God rather than men," and he pointedly calls God "the God of our fathers.” The Apostles are in the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob because they embrace Christ.  This means that the pious ones, who deny Christ, cannot claim the same historic identity.  Where Pentecost's crowd was cut to the heart and repented, this council responds with rage instead. Gamaliel, a Pharisee, then offers a test: movements built on mere men collapse when their leader dies.  This happened with Theudas.  He rose up, and Rome executed him, silencing his mission.  Judas the Galilean led a tax revolt, and Rome executed him.  His movement died.  Two clear movements that were not from God.  We know that because the movement died.  It had no power beyond the leaders. So, if the apostles are from God, there is no way that they can stop it. If the movement is only in their power, then it will cease. So, let history unfold. Praise be to God!  We worship the same resurrected and ascended Christ that the Apostles proclaimed.  The movement continues by the Lord’s continued providence and care. Conclusion: True Piety Points Away From Itself So, how do we know if we're pursuing the right piety? Luke 18 answers it: the Pharisee's sin wasn't effort, it was trusting in his own righteousness. There's nothing wrong with looking back and thanking God for how he's sanctified us.  However, when it becomes look how good I am, Christ has quietly left the stage. The Pharisees make their own disciples (Matthew 23:19).  They are not making disciples of Christ, but disciples of their theology. When Christ gives the great commission, the disciples are commanded to teach and disciple in all that I have commanded you. True piety asks, “How do I glorify Christ?” It is the assurance that I only draw near to God because I am in Christ.  He has lived, died, been raised, and ascended to glory.  He rules me/us by His Spirit from heaven.  True piety seeks to glorify Christ rather than self.  That's the whole difference between the pious ones my dad warned me about and the true pious.  May we distinguish true piety and desire to please our Lord, who has redeemed us. Amen.

Better to Have an Ascended Priest? (LD 18; Hebrews 9:24)

ntroduction If we're honest, the ascension is something that we might want God to rethink. In our human understanding, we would love to have a visible priest on earth. Imagine if Christ stayed on earth like the disciples wanted? Imagine if we could walk through a set of giant doors, stand before him, and hear him answer our requests face-to-face. We might even think that waiting a month for an appointment to gain an audience would totally be worth it. Our natural desire likes this because it feels more tangible. We like this because we think that having our priest in front of us is better than having our priest concealed by heaven’s glory. But that instinct is exactly what the author of Hebrews is correcting. The early church, maybe Jerusalem, was asking the same question in a different form: how can this new covenant possibly be better than what we had in the past? We had visible priests, visible sacrifices, a temple where God's presence could be seen. It seemed superior in every way. Please remember that this is the 1st century, where Christians are asking about the tangible religion. Hebrews answers by pointing us to a priest who is with us. We have a priest who serves us in a way infinitely superior to anything the old order could offer. He serves in the true holy of holies and not a replica, prototype, or model. So, does this really make Christ’s priesthood superior? He Is Our Advocate Christ's entrance into heaven in Hebrews 9:24 is a one-time act, which distinguishes him from the old priesthood. This one-time event has everlasting results. The priests in the Old Testament died. They had to be replaced. They would need to sleep. They would need to eat. They would get fatigued. The most pious priest would still feel the effects of the common curse. Age would eventually hinder him from doing his task. Hebrews points out that our advocate has entered heaven. Christ never grows weary. Christ overcame death, meaning that sin’s curse has no effect on his performance. He did not have to offer blood for himself. Christ enters heaven once and continues forever as our priest. He perfectly and continually pleads our case. He represents us before the Father. There will never be a scandal to discredit our advocate. He dwells in us by His Spirit, and we dwell in him. The priests of old were never so close, never so competent, and never so effective. Thus, Christ’s advocacy is superior in every way. Our Flesh Is in Heaven Here, the catechism presses further into the consistency of Christ's two natures. Christ is the God-man. He has two natures joined together in one person. These natures are never mixed or separated, and each nature retains its own properties. This means that when Christ is seated in the glory of heaven, his glorified human body is truly there. His divine nature is also united to his human nature in the one person of Christ. These two natures are forever joined together without losing their distinct properties. According to his human nature, the glorified Christ is bodily present in heaven. According to his divine nature, he is not confined to one place but fills heaven and earth. This guarantees that we will dwell in glory as glorified human beings. Our flesh will be fit to enter into the Lord’s glorious presence. What our fallen and sinful flesh is incapable of experiencing, Christ guarantees that we will have this full benefit. Christ never has to renew his work. There is no expiration. Christ’s glorious seating in heaven guarantees that we will also dwell in heaven’s full glory in the Lord’s presence. This also means that, according to his divine nature, Christ is everywhere present with us, even while his human nature remains bodily in heaven. Christ is not merely praying for us from a distance; he is with us, in us, interceding in the very moments when we don't even know what to pray for ourselves. A human priest, however wise, could only guess or speculate about our need. Christ knows it fully and never stops praying it before the Father. Thus, Christ, being the God-Man, establishes a better priesthood in heaven. Our Orientation Is Heaven-Bound Hebrews draws a sharp contrast between the earthly tabernacle, which is merely a copy of the heavenly glory, and the true sanctuary. The earthly tabernacle is “made with hands.” The true sanctuary in heaven is the reality that casts a shadow on the type. This is the place where Christ now serves. The old sacrifices had to be repeated endlessly, proof that they never fully accomplished what they pictured. They did serve a purpose to cleanse the earthly vessels for usage in heaven’s glory. Christ's one-time sacrifice cleanses the heavenly reality itself, securing forever what the old system could only picture. Christ’s sacrifice is not because heaven is imperfect, but because we are. We would defile the true sanctuary. However, now that Christ’s blood has been shed, his once-for-all offering guarantees that we can draw near today. Christ’s provision is permanent rather than temporary. Hebrews 11 goes on to communicate the sojourn of God’s people, like in Hebrews 3 to 4. Hebrews 11 ends in chapter 12, where we assemble on Mount Zion. There is a great cloud of witnesses testifying to the successful mission of God’s people. How did they find success? Only in the priestly work of Christ. If they found success under a promise, how much more now that the sacrifice has been completed? How much more than the word that is “spoken to us by his Son” (Heb 1:2). His speech is the action of God. Christ confirms the Old Testament provisional models and brings us to sojourn in light of the reality. He is our priest interceding on our behalf, so we pass through the wilderness time of testing to the arrival of heaven’s full glory. What Israel recounted in Psalms 93-100, we possess in Christ. We like Israel long to recite Psalms, but not in the earthly Jerusalem. We long for the heavenly Jerusalem. Our priest is leading us there as the pioneer who has gone before us. Thus, our priest is bringing us to the full vision of peace. Conclusion So, when we honestly consider that we think an ascended Christ is an inferior Christ, we really need to rethink our struggle. If we keep Christ on this earth, we will never arrive at glory. Our problem is that we think that because we did not visibly see Christ, he is absent. The honest truth is that Christ is everywhere. He knows what to pray on our behalf when we are too weak and broken to pray. His work is not set in a calendar and limited to one-hour slots. He is continually praying for you and for me. He never grows tired. He never grows weary. He can care for all his people as if he were leading only one person through the wilderness at a time. However, he does this for all his people. So, why would you want an earthly priest? Yes, it is true that walking by faith is difficult. The dust of the wilderness can get very dry. We might thirst for the living waters. However, we must always see that our Lord is near and dear to each and every one of us. We can call out to him in bouts of joy or bouts of sorrow. He is there listening to us. We wanted chaos in the fall, but he is bringing us order by overcoming Adam’s failure. It was pictured in Israel. Christ moves us beyond the prototype to the reality. Let us seek to walk in him, believing that he has not forsaken us despite our forsaking him in the fall.

Is God Greedy? (Acts 4:32-5:11)

Introduction If there's one passage that makes American Christians squirm a little, it's this one. "Held everything in common"? "No needy person among them?” Sell the house, sell the land, drop it at the apostles' feet? Our first instinct is to wonder if private property itself is the problem. It certainly appears to be the case, considering that Ananias and Sapphira drop dead after deceiving the apostles about their land sale. Why is it such a big deal that they did not give the whole amount to the apostles? Sharing Burdens The apostles had just prayed for boldness, and Luke shows us that prayer answered as they give the testimony of Christ’s resurrection. This leads the community to also seek to share one another’s burdens. The Jerusalem church was poor. Scripture tells us that the church was poor. The widows live on the church (Acts 6),Paul explicitly calls attention to the poverty of the Jerusalem church (Romans 15). Paul lays out the procedure and defense of the offering for the Jerusalem church (1 Corinthians 16). So when Luke says there was "no needy person among them," he is summarizing how well the church joins together to bear one another’s burdens. Acts tells us how they did this: Christians sold land and houses and laid the proceeds at the apostles' feet. This is a demonstration of submission. The Apostles would distribute the funds as needed by individuals. Barnabas, literally meaning “son of a prophet”, but Luke names him "son of encouragement.” This tells us that the word of God is encouragement. Barnabas is a Levite who technically should not own land under the old case laws, and yet he does, and he's never rebuked for it. This is puzzling: is it okay for a priest to own land if he gives it to the church? Does this mean that the call for Christians is not to have private property? Being a Burden Ananias (grace of the Lord) and Sapphira (beautiful) enter the scene. Unfortunately, they do not live up to their names. They sell land, keep back part of the proceeds, and present their offering as if it were the whole. Peter's word for what they did is "pilfered.” This is a word that Luke borrows from Joshua 7 with the Achan story. Achan stole from the Lord, and so Luke is drawing the correlation to this couple in the context of the church. It is important to understand that this is not something they did as an absent-minded oversight. Acts 5:2 makes it very clear that they conspired together as a couple. We might think that the problem is that they wanted private property. However, Peter is explicit in verse 4: the land was theirs; they were never obligated to sell it, and even after selling it, the money was still theirs to keep or give as they chose. This tells us that the gifts were still voluntary, but people gave generously to share one another’s burdens. So, the sin was not withholding money. It was staging a performance to gain a better place in the community. They are pretending to give everything for the praise of the church. They want to have a prestigious place in the community rather than seeking to serve their fellow Christians. Peter calls attention to the heinousness of this sin, “Why has Satan filled your heart?” We might think that Peter is a hypocrite in asking this question. Christ himself says to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!” However, Peter knows that one cannot blame satan. He knows that Ananias could have and should have stood up to Satan. However, his desire to be significant in the community without Christ is his downfall. The devil did not make him do it, but he did it himself. So, Peter is not condemning them for having land. He's exposing a heart that wanted to look sacrificial without actually being sacrificial. They lie to the Holy Spirit as they deceive the church. They use the church to prop themselves up rather than being used by the church. Conclusion Is it wrong to own private property? Is that why this couple dies? No! Scripture elsewhere defends both generosity and private land ownership, and this passage does too, if we read it honestly. We are reminded that Christians may have to radically share one another’s burdens. Some might ask if Ananias and Saphira are in heaven? This is the wrong question, isn’t it? This is a question that distracts us from the real issue: where do we find our significance? We are called to find it in Christ. This narrative reminds us that God is not pleased when people come into his community and use his community for their self-promotion and advancement. God does not praise those who exploit others for their own advancement. God cares about the poor, the widow, and those who are unjustly treated in this age. The severity of God's judgment here isn't really about money at all. No, it's a warning not to play games with the Lord, not to use the church's generosity as a stage for our own significance. This whole account only makes sense in light of Philippians 2. How does Christ care for the sinful and exploited? He does more than just share their burdens, but he emptied himself of significance so that the sinful and broken can have life in him. This church is emulating Christ’s model as they voluntarily share one another’s burdens for the glory of Christ. No, God is not greedy! In fact, he is abundantly generous. May his generosity impact our desire to share one another’s burdens.