Living Supernaturally or Superficially | Part 2

Is your devotion to the Lord Jesus sincere? Listen to the Truth Finding featuring the real truth of the gospel that never changes, found in the messages of Adrian Rogers.

In part one of today's message, we learned about Ananias and Sapphira. After seeing another church member receive praise for selling his property and giving everything to the church, this couple lied about their own offering to receive the same praise and suffered a grave price. Our devotion to the Lord is meant to be sincere.

We can't pretend in our commitment to him. If you have your Bible, turn to Acts chapter 5 as Adrian Rogers shares part two of living supernaturally or superficially. Today I want to lift up a red flag of warning against superficial religion. I want to give you two things to be aware of and two things to be sure of.

Okay? Number one, beware of the pretended devotion of superficial religion. Now let's begin to read. But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession and kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost and to keep back part of the price of the land? While it remained, was it not thine own?

And after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. Let me give you the background for this passage of scripture. There was a man named Barnabas, old Barney, did good. Barney had made a gift to the church. He was a very generous man, a great-hearted soul. The word Barnabas means encourager. And he was also wealthy. He had some property and he sold it because there was persecution, there was a great financial need to the church.

Now Ananias and Sapphira were there. They said, you know, we like to bask in some of that sunlight. Sapphira, we have a piece of property. Why don't we sell this piece of property and we'll take the money and bring it to the church. Well, do you think we ought to give all of it? Well, they don't know how much we sold it for. We'll tell them that's all we got for the property and we can keep part of it, but we'll get credit for giving everything. Nobody knows how much we sold it for, so we'll just say, hey, Pete, here's the money we got from the property. It's all there.

We're giving everything to the Lord. Well, it was a lie. It was a lie. It was a pretended devotion. It was a devotion they did not have. Now what made them do that?

What is behind all superficial and hypocritical religion? P-R-I-D-E, pride. Pride.

Now listen to me carefully. Their sin was not that they failed to give everything. They didn't have to give everything.

They had no command that they should give everything. Their problem was they pretended a devotion they did not have. Second point. Beware of the premeditated deception of superficial religion.

Now the key word is premeditated. Look in verses three and four. But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost and take back part of the price of the land? While it remained, was it not thine own?

And after it was sold, was it not thine own? Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. Now he had lied to the Holy Ghost.

Now this was not a casual lie. Satan put the lie in their heart, but they made room for the lie. Satan said, hey, Ananias, Sapphira, tell them you gave everything. Satan put that in their heart. Did you know every lie originates with Satan? Every lie originates with Satan.

You ever tell a lie? It's satanic. Put this verse down. John chapter 8 and verse 44. Jesus speaking to the Pharisees who had superficial religion said, You are of your father the devil.

The lust of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it. He is the spawner of all lies. He, Satan, is a liar and he's the father of it. Whenever you tell a lie, listen to me, teenagers, listen to me, businessmen, listen to me. Whenever you tell a lie, you're acting like the devil. Proof, John 8, 44.

He is a liar and he is the father of it. Not only did the Holy Ghost see it, but friend, it was a conspiracy. It was premeditated. Later on, Peter asked Sapphira, Did you agree to this?

She said yes. What this was, listen, it was a direct challenge to God. A direct challenge to the Holy Ghost. That's the reason that Peter said, You've not lied unto men, but unto God.

I would not advise you to try this. Pretended devotion, premeditated deception, here's the third thing. Two things to be aware of here, two things to be sure of. Be sure of the penetrating detection of superficial religion. God, the Holy Spirit, told Peter that Ananias and Sapphira were lying. Now, Peter was different than we. Peter was an apostle. And God spoke to Peter and Peter declared the word of God. The word of God was in the mouths of these apostles. You know, the Bible says in Hebrews 4-12, The word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, dividing asunder between soul and spirit, penetrating, penetrating to the thoughts and the intents of the heart.

Oh, there's the penetrating power of the word of God. If my heart were on display, if you could see, I'm talking about my spiritual heart, there it is. There is every secret in his heart.

There are the things that nobody else knows about, but they're right up there. Would you want your heart up there for everybody to see? No secrets. Now, the Bible teaches one of these days that's going to happen. The Bible says one of these days, our hearts are going to be put on display. There's nothing hidden that will not be revealed.

Things that are spoken in secret will be shouted from the housetop. And one of these days, those things are going to be made known. Now, listen. Peter, with penetrating insight, saw that sin. It's only a matter of time.

Listen. It is only a matter of time until hypocritical and half-hearted religion and pretended devotion will be made manifest. Paul said, when our Lord comes, he's going to make known the hidden counsels of men's hearts. Perhaps there are things in your heart you don't even know are there. One of these days, God's X-ray vision is going to look into your heart and my heart.

And the things perhaps we don't even know that are there, but I'm telling you, there is a penetrating insight that God has. Are you willing? Are you willing to ask God, the Holy Spirit, to put the searchlight into your heart right now? Search me, O God, and know my heart? Try me and see if there will be some wicked way in me.

Do you know what I do not want in my heart and in my life? I don't want hypocrisy. I do not want to preach something I don't practice. I don't want to say something I don't believe. And constantly I'm saying, Oh, God, I want to be real, I want to be true, I want to be pure, and therefore I put myself at God's X-ray in the mornings.

Do you do that? Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and see if there will be some wicked way in me. There is, dear friend, the penetrating detection, if not now, later on. Now, here's the fourth and final thing I want you to be sure of. Two things to be aware of, two things to be sure of.

You can be sure of the purifying discipline of superficial religion. What happened? They told a lie. They told a premeditated lie. It was detected. And notice what happened, beginning in verse 5. And Ananias hearing these words fell down and gave up the ghost. That means he died. And great fear came on all them that heard these things.

And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out and buried him. And it was about the space of three hours after when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether you sold the land for so much. And she said, Yea, for so much. Three hours later, don't you ever complain about a long church service, okay?

She's just getting there, and the service has been going for three hours. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? You see, this was a conspiracy.

This is not an off-handed thing. To tempt, that means to test the Spirit of God. It was a challenge to God. You agreed, you conspired to tempt the Spirit of the Lord. Behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. And she fell down straightway at his feet, and ye led up the ghost. And the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. And great fear came upon all the church, and as many as heard these things. I want to say two things about this discipline, this judgment. Number one, it was a severe judgment. They both died.

It's almost humorous. It's almost like they had in the church, you know, various kind of committees, and they have a blanket committee to bury the dead. They say, well, Ananias died. Wrap him up, carry him out, bury him. Hey, committee, we got another one. Get this one.

Wrap her up, carry her out. Talk about grandma buried in the backyard. No wonder they had cemeteries so close to those churches in those days. They died.

It was very severe. Now, question. Were Ananias and Sapphira saved?

I believe they were. Will God judge his own children? Certainly. I believe I'll meet Ananias and Sapphira in heaven. I've told you before, there are three kinds of judgment. There is our judgment as a sinner, there's our judgment as a servant, and there's our judgment as a son. Our judgment as a sinner takes place at Calvary. When Jesus Christ died, he took the judgment for our sins, that is the judicial judgment, and we'll never face that again. Romans 8 and 1, there's therefore now no condemnation, no judgment to those who are in Christ Jesus.

Thank God we've settled out of court. Amen? Amen. But there's also our judgment as a servant. That's the judgment seat of Christ, where we're going to receive the rewards for the things that we've done. And he's going to say, Well done, good and faithful servant, if you've been a good and faithful servant.

That's our judgment as servants. Now, that takes place at the judgment seat of Christ after the rapture. But there's a third judgment, and that's our judgment as sons, and that takes place day by day. Do you think that if you get saved that you can sin and get away with it?

No. If you get saved, that means if you sin, you won't get away with it. An unsaved sinner, God does not deal with him in this life like he does one of his own children. The Bible says, Whom the Lord loves he chastens.

God loved Ananias and Sapphira. Put down Hebrews chapter 12, verses 5 through 7. Have ye forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children? My son, now listen, this is sons, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons, for what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? You say, but they died.

Yes. This judgment is a severe judgment, especially when you challenge God, when it is premeditated, when it is a conspiracy, when it is a confrontation between that which Satan has put in your heart and that which the Holy Spirit of God has warned you against. Paul warned the church at Corinth about the way they were taking the Lord's Supper. 1 Corinthians chapter 11, verses 29 and 30. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself. The word damnation means judgment, not discerning the Lord's body.

For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and some sleep. Some had died like Ananias and Sapphira in the Corinthian church because of the judgment of God upon them. They were children of God, and they died prematurely. Again, the Bible says in 1 John chapter 5, verse 16, If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. What is a sin not unto death? It is not premeditated, it is not tempting God, it is not challenging God. And then he goes on to say, There is a sin unto death.

I do not say you should pray for it. There comes a time when you as a child of God can so challenge God that you sign your own death warrant. It doesn't mean you're not going to heaven. It means you're going to heaven sooner than you should. Now, it was a severe judgment.

I believe I've seen this in my years in the ministry. I believe I've seen people who've challenged God, living hypocritical superficially, yet with a name in the last book of life, who check out and go to heaven too soon, like Ananias and Sapphira did, which incidentally like Moses did. When Moses died, his eye was not dimmed nor his strength abated.

Moses died prematurely because he challenged God. Now, listen, not only was it a severe judgment, but it was a saving judgment. You say, God is cruel, God is vindictive.

No, God is loving and God is kind. Number one, it was to save Ananias and Sapphira from further sin. God did this, I believe, in mercy. There was a man in the church at Corinth who was living in open sin, a brother. 1 Corinthians 5, 5.

This man was living in sexual immorality. He had been warned, he would not repent. Paul said, deliver such a one. This is 1 Corinthians 5, 5. Deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the Spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. You see, God is far more interested in your spirit than he is in your body.

Deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the Spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, could it be that God in mercy brought Ananias and Sapphira home to keep them from further sin? Now, not only was it saving to Ananias and Sapphira, it was to save the early church from pollution. God doesn't want hypocrites in the church. So God took them out because there was such a holiness there, such a fire, such a revival.

God would not let them spoil it. And the Bible says in this same chapter in verse 11, and great fear came upon all the church and upon as many as heard these things. Therefore, this was a blessing to the church. Number three, it was a blessing because it saved lost people from hell. The worst thing could happen to a church would be for the church to be so filled with hypocrites and superficiality that unsaved people can see no difference. It's good when God brings judgment like this upon a church. The Bible says in Acts chapter 5, verse 14, and believers were more added to the church, multitudes of both men and women. The home going of Ananias and Sapphira brought fear to the church and it brought salvation to many people. And where Satan ruled, God overruled. And I'll tell you another reason God may have done it. To save succeeding generations from hypocrisy.

Now, there's a big question right here. If God took Ananias and Sapphira to heaven early, why doesn't God do that today? I mean, why doesn't God go through the congregation and say, you're one of them, you're out of here, you're one, you're out of here, you're one, you're out of here? One preacher said if God would kill all people who did that, where would I be?

They all laughed. He said, I'd be preaching to an empty house. Why doesn't God do that today? You're going to find there's a principle in the Bible.

God will do certain things as an example in the physical world about how He feels in the spiritual world. For example, Sodom and Gomorrah. God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone. Well, why doesn't God destroy cities today that are given over to Sodom with fire and brimstone?

Answer, Jude 1 verse 7. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh, are set forth an example, for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. When God eradicated Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone and left their smoking ruins, God said, that is an example. That's an example.

You want to know how I feel about it? There's an example. In the wilderness, when the children of Israel were coming out of Egypt, going to Canaan, they lived in sin, they fell into idolatry, and God destroyed many of them. Now listen to 2 Corinthians 10 verses 10 and 11. Neither murmur ye as some of them murmured and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for examples that are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come. God does these things sometimes as examples. How many of you have five thoughts?

Very quickly, just click them off. Sin among the saints is more serious than sin among the lost. Number two, sin against the Holy Spirit is very serious. All sin is serious, but sin against the Holy Ghost is very serious. Number three, be on guard against hypocrisy in your life.

Ask God to search you. Make certain that your heart is clean and pure. And above all, do not pretend a devotion greater than you have. Number four, don't let some hypocrite keep you away from Jesus Christ. There have always been hypocrites. There always will be hypocrites. One of the 12 apostles was not even saved at all.

Don't you let some hypocrite keep you from Jesus. And last of all, a church that is filled with the Holy Ghost, a church that has the Word of God, a church that will live pure and clean and righteous and holy cannot, will not be stopped by superficiality and hypocrisy on the part of some. You want to know how strong a church is, you see what it takes to stop it.

All hell could not stop this church, and it continued to grow. Now, what is the lesson? The lesson is this. Love Jesus with all of your heart. If you're weak, say, Lord, help me. If you can't give all to the Lord Jesus Christ and haven't given all to the Lord Jesus, say, Lord, I want to help me. While it's in your power, it's your own. Just don't pretend a devotion that you do not have. Say, Lord, here's where I am. Here's where I want to be. Help me to grow.

And God will start with you where you are, and God will bring you to where you need to be. Just don't stonewall God. Don't be a big pretender. Don't be superficial. Don't be hypocritical.

Be real. God will love you. God will help you. God will strengthen you. God will guard you. God will guide you, and he'll take you where you are and make you what you ought to be.

Let God start with you where you are, and God will bring you. Just don't stonewall God. Don't lie to the Holy Ghost.

Don't be superficial and hypocritical. Amen? Now, the message, the episode concerning Ananias and Sapphira, do you know what it did? It caused unsaved people to get saved, and I believe it'll do the same today. If you're here today without the Lord Jesus Christ and you want Christ, don't let some hypocrite keep you from Jesus. I promise you, on the authority of the Word of God, God will save you, and he'll keep you saved if you trust him. The Bible says believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved. If you'll pray a prayer like this from your heart, oh, God, I'm a sinner.

I'm lost. I can't save myself. I need to be saved. I want to be saved. Oh, Jesus, come into my heart. Forgive my sins.

Save me, Lord Jesus. He will. I promise he will. He'll forgive every sin. He'll put his Spirit in your heart and begin to make you the person he wants you to be, and when you die, he'll take you home to heaven. And if you prayed to receive Jesus just now, we want to celebrate with you and invite you to our Find God's Love page on the website. There you'll find answers you may need about your newfound faith. Who is Jesus?

How can I know him? Go to lwf.org slash radio and click on the tab at the top that says Find God's Love. Welcome to God's forever family. We can't wait to hear from you today. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of this message in its entirety, you can call us at 1-877-LIVE-GOD. Request the title, Living Supernaturally or Superficially.

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For information, go to lwf.org slash radio. We are saved by grace, but one day we'll face the judgment seat of Christ and give an account for how we stewarded our lives. Be careful not to lie to the Holy Spirit. And join us next time for more from Adrian Rogers right here on Love Worth Finding. I want you to hear what a donor to Love Worth Finding says about using these messages and resources we offer to share her faith with others. I have listened to Pastor Rogers for many years and have always been blessed. I recently shared his preaching within a small group, and everyone was tremendously blessed. It is such a privilege to hear how you're sharing your growing faith with others through these messages and the resources we offer. When you donate to the ministry right now, we want to thank you by sending you a copy of the book God's Wisdom is Better Than Gold. Anyone who reads the Bible ought to know that there's no cheap, no easy, no lazy way to serve Jesus. In this book, Adrian Rogers shares the true definition of prosperity and gives solid biblical instruction on God's way to health, wealth, and wisdom. Request a copy of this book, God's Wisdom is Better Than Gold, when you call with a gift at 1-877-LOVE-GOD.