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May 26 - Acts 5 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello, friends. It's Sean here.
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  It's Tuesday, It's the 26th of May, and it's great to have your
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  company on this Tuesday as we continue reading through the
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  book of Acts. And today we come to a part of
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  the story that troubles a number of people.
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  It is the story of this husband and wife who try to trick the
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  Holy Spirit by keeping some money back and lying and they
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  drop dead. And some people like how on
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  earth can a loving God just kill people because of this this kind
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  of deception? What about the opportunity to to
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  repent and, and, and change their ways?
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  Well, brilliantly for us, we've just finished reading the story
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  of Joshua. Where do you remember that
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  little bit about that guy named Akan who stole some precious
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  items from the city of Jericho when God said do not take
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  anything? And then when he was found out,
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  he and his family were stoned? And so as Luke is now writing
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  the book of Acts, he's drawing this parallel to say that this
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  is the same God with the same absolute holiness which must be
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  honoured. So he tells this story and he
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  writes it in this way where it's clearly this divine act of
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  judgement that ends their lives. So that we are in no doubt that
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  this is not a new religion, but this is a continuation of the
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  religion of Yahweh, the Israelites, God who has made
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  himself known in Jesus. And then of course, the apostles
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  will continue to do some wonderful things today.
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  So let's dive in together friends and read together Acts
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  Chapter 5. But there was a certain man
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  named Ananias who, with his wife Zafira, sold some property.
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  He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was
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  the full amount. With his wife's consent, he kept
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  the rest. Then Peter said, Ananias, why
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  have you let Satan fill your heart?
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  You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for
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  yourself. The property was yours to sell
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  or not sell as you wished, and after selling it, the money was
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  also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like
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  this? You weren't lying to us, but to
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  God. As soon as Ananias heard these
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  words, he fell to the floor and died.
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  Everyone who heard about it was terrified.
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  Then some young men got up, wrapped him in a sheet and took
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  him out and buried him. About 3 hours later, his wife
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  came in. Not knowing what had happened.
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  Peter asked her, was this the price you and your husband
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  received for your land? Yes, she replied, that was the
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  price. And Peter said, how could the
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  two of you even think of conspiring to test the spirit of
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  the Lord like this? The young men who buried your
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  husband are just outside the door, and they will carry you
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  out too. Instantly she fell to the floor
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  and died. When the young men came in and
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  saw that she was dead, they carried her out and buried her
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  beside her husband. Great fear gripped the entire
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  church and everyone else who heard what had happened.
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  The apostles were performing many miraculous signs and
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  wonders among the people, and all the believers were meeting
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  regularly at the temple in the area known as Solomon's
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  Colonnade, but no one else dared to join them.
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  Even though all the people had high regard for them, yet more
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  and more people believed and were brought to the Lord, crowds
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  of both men and women. As a result of the apostles
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  work, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and
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  mats so that Peter's shadow might fall across some of them
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  as he went by. Crowds came from the villages
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  around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those possessed by evil
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  spirits, and they were all healed.
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  The high priest and his officials, who were Sadducees,
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  were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and
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  put them in the public gaol. But an Angel of the Lord came at
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  night, opened the gates of the gaol and brought them out.
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  Then he told them, go to the temple and give the people this
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  message of life. So at Daybreak the apostles
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  entered the Temple, as they were told, and immediately began
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  teaching. When the high priest and his
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  officials arrived, they convened the High Council, the full
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  assembly of the elders of Israel.
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  Then they sent to the apostles to be brought from the gaol for
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  trial. But when the Temple guards went
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  to the gaol, the men were gone. So they returned to the council
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  and reported. The gaol was securely locked,
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  with the guards standing outside.
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  But when we opened the gates, no one was there.
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  When the captain of the temple guard and the leading priests
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  heard this, they were perplexed, wondering where it would all
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  end. Then someone arrived with
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  startling news. The men you put in gaol are
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  standing in the temple teaching the people.
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  The captain went with his temple guards and arrested the
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  apostles, but without violence, for they were afraid the people
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  would stone them. Then they brought the apostles
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  before the high council, where the high priest confronted them.
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  We gave you strict orders, never again to teach in this man's
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  name, he said. Instead you have filled all
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  Jerusalem with your teaching about him, and you want to make
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  us responsible for his death. But Peter and the apostles
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  replied, We must obey God rather than any human authority.
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  The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead after you
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  killed him by hanging him on a cross.
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  Then God put him in the place of honour at his right hand as
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  Prince and Saviour. He did this so the people of
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  Israel would repent of their sins and be forgiven.
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  We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy
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  Spirit who is given by God to those who obey Him.
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  When they heard this, the High Council was furious and decided
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  to kill them. But one member, a Pharisee named
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  Gamaliel, who was an expert in religious law and respected by
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  all the people, stood up and ordered that the men be sent
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  outside the council chamber for a while.
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  Then he said to his colleagues, Men of Israel, take care what
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  you were planning to do to these men.
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  Some time ago there was that fellow Theodus who pretended to
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  be someone great. About 400 others joined him, but
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  he was killed and all his followers went their various
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  ways. The whole movement came to
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  nothing after him. At the time of the census there
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  was Judas of Galilee. He got people to follow him, but
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  he was killed too, and all his followers were scattered.
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  So my advice is, leave these men alone.
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  Let them go. If they are planning and doing
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  these things merely on their own, it will soon be overthrown.
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  But if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them.
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  You may even find yourselves fighting against God.
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  The others accepted his advice. They called the apostles and had
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  them flogged. Then they ordered them never
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  again to speak in the name of Jesus, and they let them go.
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  The apostles left the High Council rejoicing that God had
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  countered them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus.
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  And every day in the temple and from house to house, they
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  continued to teach and preach this message.
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  Jesus is the Messiah. Well, Lord, I think it's fairly
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  safe to say that this point in time, 2000 years later and
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  billions of billions of believers through time, your
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  church is your church. This is not merely a movement of
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  our own conjuring, our own cognition, but this is your
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  spirit and your church for your people, saved and loved by you.
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  Oh, thank you that you don't turn your back on this crooked
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  world, but that you continue to love it and you continue to draw
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  us back to you and to build your church so that there will be a
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  light in this world of people in your community who can show that
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  there is a different way of being and share this good news
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  of what Jesus has done for us. So Lord, inspire us to be your
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  church, not simply to attend a church or to be a member of the
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  church, but let us be your church, your Spirit filled
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  evangelistic presence, sharing this wonderful news of your love
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  and forgiveness to all. Ah, you are the best.
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  And we are just so grateful that you choose us to be your
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  brothers and sisters. And we pray this in your name,
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  Jesus, Amen.