Acts 5

1 – 2

A man named Ananias and his wife Sapphira sold some land. But he gave only part of the money to the apostles. He secretly kept some of it for himself. His wife knew about this, and she agreed to it.

It is a red flag when the devil tells you to do something in secret that you know is wrong. Barnaba s had just sold some land and this family may have thought that people would think that they were very spiritual if they did the same.

The idea of helping each was good but later the Christians in Jerusalem had no money. It would have been good to also create some jobs and ways of making money to prepare for the future.

3. Peter said, “Ananias, why did you let Satan rule your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit. Why did you keep part of the money you received for the land for yourself?

Pretending to be more spiritual than you really are is a life of lying! Be careful not to say things like, “When I was fasting, God gave me a vision and I did something and a miracle happened.” This is spiritual bragging but it sounds good. This kind of talk takes glory away from God and brings it on yourself.

If God gave told you to fast, and He used you for some job, then keep it to yourself. Please see the danger of very carefully saying things that make you look very spiritual!

4. Before you sold the land, it belonged to you. And even after you sold it, you could have used the money any way you wanted. Why did you think of doing this? You lied to God, not to men!”

Some say that the disciples were practicing Communism. We see here that this family did not have to sell their land. Communism forces people to give things they own to the government.

5 – 10

When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. Some young men came in, wrapped up his body, carried it out, and buried it. And everyone who heard about this was filled with fear. About three hours later his wife came in. She did not know what had happened.

Peter said to her, “Tell me how much money you got for your field. Was it this much?” Sapphira answered, “Yes, that was the price.”

Peter said to her, “Why did you and your husband agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The men who buried your husband are at the door! They will carry you out.”

At that moment Sapphira fell down by his feet and died. The young men came in and saw that she was dead. They carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

We see here that Peter gave her a chance to tell the truth. Always give people another chance. The sin was not stealing money but lying.

11. The whole church and all the others who heard about these things were filled with fear.

In the days of Joshua there was a man named Achan who stole some things and hid them so that nobody knew about it. God knew about it and the army of Israel was not able to fight against their enemies. Joshua 7:1

There can be no power in the church if there is some evil thing hidden in the life of the church.

12. The apostles did many signs and miracles among the people. And they would all meet together on Solomon’s Porch.

What would you choose: that your sin is found out and confessed and then watch God use you to see people set free from the same things? Or keep your sin hidden and have no power in your life or ministry? John 8:32

13. [Others were afraid] to stand with them. All the people were saying good things about them.

The people knew that God was with the Christians. They were afraid to join the church because they could see that this was not a game.

It would be better for people to see how serious it is to make a decision for Christ instead of just telling them to shake the pastor’s hand and say that they have joined the church without ever having come to Christ.

14. More and more men and women believed in the Lord and God added to the group of believers.

Even though people were afraid, we see that God Himself added to the church. Some churches do not understand this. If we walk closely with the Lord, and are in His Word, and speak up for Him, the results are in His hands, not ours.

15. As Peter was passing by, the people brought their sick into the streets. They put their sick on beds and mats so at least Peter’s shadow might fall on them.

The people believed some crazy things about shadows. We do not see that anybody was healed by Peter’s shadow. It makes us wonder if people sense the presence of God when they see our shadow?

16. Crowds came from all the towns around Jerusalem. They brought their sick and those who were bothered by evil spirits. All of them were healed.

It is sad to say that many times when we see these kinds of miracles today, it sometimes brings glory and honor to men who have certain gifts. God will have to help us to grow stronger in his Word so that someday we can live in this kind of power without spiritual pride.

The answer is found when Paul said, “I will show you a better way!” See I Corinthians 12:31 and Chapter 13.

17. The high priest and all his friends (a group called the Sadducees) became very jealous.

The Sadducees did not believe in the spiritual life or life after death. In the same way that cults today want to control people, the Sadducees wanted to be paid and to be looked up to. They were angry because now the people were not listening to them.

18 – 21

They took the apostles and put them in jail. But during the night, an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail. He led the apostles outside and said, “Go and stand in the Temple. Tell the people everything about this new life.”

We can say to unbelievers, “You will not believe what happened to me!” They will ask us to tell what happened. We can show them what our old life was and how we are new creatures.

21. When the apostles heard this, they obeyed and went into the Temple. It was early in the morning, and they began to teach. The high priest and his friends arrived. They called a meeting of the Jewish leaders and all the important older men of the Jews. They sent some men to the jail to bring the apostles to them.

This was the Supreme Court of the Jews.

22 – 25

When the men went to the jail, they could not find the apostles. So they went back and told the Jewish leaders about this.

They said, “The jail was closed and locked. The guards were standing at the doors. But when we opened the doors, the jail was empty!”

Hearing this, the captain of the Temple guards and the leading priests were confused. They wondered, “What will happen because of this?”

The leaders were thinking that maybe the guards had let the apostles go free. They may have thought that even the guards and the people are turning against them.

25 – 27

Then someone came and told them, “Listen! The men you put in jail are standing in the Temple. They are teaching the people!”

Then the captain and his men went out and brought the apostles back. But the soldiers did not use force, because they were afraid that the people would kill them with stones.

The soldiers brought the apostles to the meeting and made them stand before the Jewish leaders. The high priest questioned them.

You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are My followers. But this will be your chance to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about Me.

When you are arrested, do not worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time. Matthew 10:18 – 19

28. He said, “We gave you strict orders not to go on teaching in that name. But look what you have done! You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching. You are trying to blame us for this man’s death.”

We see that they do not want to say the name of Jesus. Demons hate the name of Jesus. Early Jewish writings called Jesus ”the hanged one.” It would be beautiful if someone would say that we had filled our city with the teachings of Jesus.

29. Peter and the other apostles answered, “We must obey God, not men!

When Martin Luther was accused he said, “Here I stand, I can do no other.”

30 – 31

You killed Jesus. You hung him on a cross. But God, the same God our ancestors had, raised Jesus up from death! Jesus is the One whom God raised to be on His right side. God made Jesus our Leader and Savior. God did this so that the people of Israel could change their hearts and lives and have their sins forgiven.

People who listen to the thoughts of the devil have confused minds. They do not see how they are the ones who said that they would take the blame for the death of Jesus. Matthew 27:25

32. We saw all these things happen. The Holy Spirit also proves that these things are true. God has given the Spirit to all who obey him.”

People do not receive the Holy Spirit by coming to an altar and being taught how to speak in tongues. The Holy Spirit comes upon us when we make up our minds to obey the Lord and give our lives to Jesus.

33 – 34

When the Jewish leaders heard this, they became very angry and wanted to kill them. A Pharisee named Gamaliel stood up in the meeting. He was a teacher of the law, and all the people respected him. He ordered the apostles to leave the meeting for a little while.

Gamaliel was Paul’s teacher. Acts 22:3

35 – 38

Then he said to them, “Men of Israel, be careful of what you are planning to do to these men!

Remember when Theudas appeared? He said that he was a great man, and about 400 men joined him. But he was killed. And all his followers were scattered. They were able to do nothing.

Later, a man named Judas came from Galilee at the time of the registration.[a] He led a group of followers, too. He was also killed, and all his followers were scattered. And so now I tell you: Stay away from these men. Leave them alone. If their plan comes from men, it will fail.

There was no reason to stay in the middle. God had already shown the leaders His power and they could say nothing against it. As we can see later, this plan did not work because even though the leaders knew these things were from God, they had given a place in their heart to the devil and they could not escape from this.

39. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop them. You might even be fighting against God himself!” The Jewish leaders agreed with what Gamaliel said.

Paul was there in this meeting and as we see later, he did not agree.

40. They called the apostles in again. They beat the apostles and told them not to speak in the name of Jesus again. Then they let them go free.

The leaders lied and said that they agreed, but they beat the apostles. They did not just let them go free.

41. The apostles left the meeting full of joy because they were given the honor of suffering disgrace for Jesus.

When someone has tasted God’s power using them this way, they will not stop because of beatings. Do you complain when you have to suffer for Christ or do you see it as honor?

42. The apostles did not stop teaching people. Every day in the Temple and in people’s homes they continued to tell the Good News—that Jesus is the Christ.

Many churches today are built to honor a man because he is a good speaker. These churches have a lot of preaching, but are weak in the area of teaching. Because of this, the people are not strong. If people are not taught how to feed themselves and become strong in the Scriptures what will they do when someday the church is scattered?