Honesty and Integrity
When we give material possessions
to support God's work, we are to do so
with pure motives.
Here's Dr. Gene Getz.
In chapter 4, we have a wonderful illustration
of a very generous man,
who gave with pure motives.
No question.
He didn't give to be seen of men.
He gave because he loved God.
I'm talking about Barnabas:
Sold a field he had. Brought the proceeds
and laid it at the apostles' feet.
But it's not accidental that in the
very next chapter we have
a story of impure motives.
And it's a very sobering story
involving a husband and wife.
And it involves a deceitful plan.
And here's what we read.
I'm simply, basically going to share the story
with you with a few comments.
But the story speaks for itself.
And here's what we read--
Acts chapter 5, beginning with verse 1:
But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira,
sold a piece of property. ...
Now you see, it's not accidental
that at the end of chapter 4,
Barnabas sold a piece of property.
So Luke records this as a follow-up
but a whole different outcome. We read:
...However, he [that is Ananias]
kept back part of the proceeds
with his wife's knowledge,
and brought a portion of it
and laid it at the apostles' feet.
In other words, they were in cahoots together--
this husband and this wife--Ananias and Sapphira.
And their motive, basically,
was to give the impression that they'd done
just what Barnabas had done:
Sold a piece of property
and gave everything.
But they didn't. They didn't.
It was a lie.
So here's what we read:
"Ananias," Peter asked,
"why has Satan filled your heart to lie
to the Holy Spirit and keep back
part of the proceeds of the land?...
By the way, there you see one of those
unusual abilities that was given to Peter
by the Holy Spirit: to see right into
this man's heart.
That's very unusual.
That is a supernatural capability:
...Wasn't it yours while you possessed it?
And after it was sold, wasn't it at your disposal?
Why is it that you planned
this thing in your heart?
You have not lied to people but to God."
Whoa, what an indictment.
Well what happened next is very sobering.
I've call this God's Judgment:
When he heard these words,
Ananias dropped dead, and a great fear
came on all who heard.
The young men got up, wrapped his body,
carried him out, and buried him.
By the way, aren't you glad that
this is not a normative kind of event?
This is a very unusual event.
Because there are a lot of people
that would probably drop dead
if this were something that happened
on a regular basis.
This is one of those unique moments
back here in the New Testament,
involving a special ability that
Peter has as an apostle.
Well we read on because the story
gets even more sobering:
About three hours later, his wife came in,
[Sapphira] not knowing what had happened.
"Tell me," Peter asked her,
"did you sell the land for this price?"
"Yes," she said,
"for that price." ...
Big mistake. Big mistake.
What happened?
...Then Peter said to her,
"Why did you agree to test
the Spirit of the Lord?
Look, the feet of those who have
buried your husband are at the door,
and they will carry you out."
And instantly she dropped dead
at [the apostle's] feet.
Whoa. Well you can imagine
what happened when people saw this.
We read about it. It's very clear
in this next passage
where multitudes believed. Multitudes.
Well we'll see what happened next:
When the young men came in,
they found her dead, carried her out,
[and] buried her beside her husband.
[And] then great fear came on the whole church
and all who heard these things.
In fact, we have a very specific reference
to the results of this event--
beginning in verse 12:
Many signs and wonders were being done
among the people through the
hands of [Whom?] the apostles. ...
You see, Luke doesn't record just this event.
Or the healing of the man who was ill
and who had a problem that Peter said:
Look at us. And said: Get up and walk.
There were many signs and wonders
the apostles were working.
...They were all together in Solomon's Colonnade.
No one else dared to join them...
I mean they held them in such high esteem.
And the "them" there refers to the apostles:
...but the people spoke well of them. ...
They had a good reputation:
...[And] believers were added to the Lord
in increasing numbers--
multitudes of both men and women.
Think about it: 3,000.
5,000 men. And now--and that's households.
And now again, multitudes are responding
to what God is doing there in Jerusalem.
Particularly these miraculous signs and wonders.
Well as I said earlier, aren't you glad
that this is not a normative experience?
But it's an incredible example
of the need for purity of motive.
And all of us--all of us certainly
are guilty of false motives
at times in our lives.
But God wants to give us this illustration:
First a man named Barnabas.
And his generosity--a great model.
Followed by two people
who tried to do the same thing
but lied to the Holy Spirit.
And of course, keep in mind that that lie
was conjured up in the context of all of
the miracles that were happening.
That God was revealing Himself
in such great power through the apostles.
And in the middle of that situation,
they decided to lie to the Holy Spirit.
And that makes this a very significant illustration.
And I think also helps us
to understand why it happened.
But here's the Reflection and Response question:
What spiritual guidelines do we all need
in order to be models of generosity
with pure motives?
And I think 2nd Corinthians,
the letter that Paul wrote,
particularly chapters 8 and 9 give us
at least seven guidelines for giving.
And here's the first one:
God wants us to take a step of faith
and trust Him to enable us to give
based on our future income.
And if you look back, the Corinthians
had made a promise based on future income
that they were going to give to help
support people who were in need.
And that is what I like to call a "faith promise."
Now if God doesn't provide,
He's never going to hold us
to what we promised by faith.
But He wants us to take a step of faith.
And we see that illustrated beautifully
in 2nd Corinthians.
Here's another principle:
God wants us to plan our giving
so we can give with a positive attitude.
In other words, God loves a cheerful giver.
And when you plan, and then you can
give according to your plan,
it leads to a joy that otherwise
may not be there--in our hearts and lives.
And so you see that illustrated in Corinthians.
Thirdly, God wants us to
give material gifts generously
so that He can bless us generously--
often in non-material ways.
And we see Paul referring to grace
for people who literally gave out of poverty.
He uses that illustration.
And I can't even identify with that.
I've never given out of poverty.
And yet Paul refers to the
Macedonian churches that gave out of poverty.
Now in God's sight, that may have been
far more than what Barnabas gave
when he sold the whole field.
And gave all of it to the Lord.
But God wants us to give material gifts
generously, so He can bless us generously.
And let's not define generosity
in terms of quantity.
It's in terms of sacrifice.
And God honored that in the lives
of the Macedonians. Another principle:
God wants each of us to be cheerful givers.
And God says that as I illustrated earlier.
Cheerful givers because we've planned our giving.
Whatever that amount might be.
And then next, God desires
to meet our material needs--
not necessarily our wants--
when we are generous givers.
You know, it's really interesting that
in the New Testament, God never, ever
promises He's going to make us rich. Never.
He doesn't promise, if we give
a certain amount, He'll make us rich.
That's not a correct theology.
You see, if that were true,
why did Peter say to that man:
silver and gold have I none.
Peter gave up everything.
He may have died penniless when he
was crucified upside down in Rome.
They gave everything.
Why didn't they die billionaires?
Because that wasn't God's plan.
Now God may bless us
like He blessed Barnabas.
But He doesn't promise that.
He wants us to be faithful with what we have.
And then here's another principle:
When we are generous, God will enable us
to continue to be generous,
even with what little we may have.
And that's very clear in 2nd Corinthians 9:11
because Paul said: Even though
the Macedonians gave out of poverty,
God gave them grace to continue to be
generous with what little they had.
And that's just a wonderful principle,
I think, to guide us.
And then, here's a very important principle:
The primary motivating factor for being generous
should be God's generosity.
And you remember how Paul ended
the end of that chapter on generosity?
Thanks be to God for His generosity
in Jesus Christ who gave everything
so that we might have eternal life.
So here's the Principle to Live By:
When we give material possessions
to support God's work,
we are to do so with pure motives.