Acts 5

Acts 5:3-16

15. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A CHURCH MEMBER FALLS? Acts 5:3; Acts 5:12-16 Everything was going well for the church at Jerusalem. The gospel was being preached in the power of the Holy Spirit. The saints of God were united in heart, committed to Christ, committed to the gospel, and committed to one another. God was doing great things among his people. The little band of believers had grown from 120 to well over 8000 in number. The church of God, which had been a joke in the minds of men, was gaining respect and influence.

But there were some traitors within, hypocrites, who were of the seed of the serpent. Two of them committed a terrible act of hypocrisy by which their evil hearts were exposed; and judgment began at the house of God. Ananias and Sapphira were both killed by the hand of God for lying to the Holy Spirit. The news of what happened that day in the house of God spread like wildfire through the streets of Jerusalem. One of the despised band, along with his wife, had proven himself to be a hypocrite! You can imagine the talk, the snickers, the gossip, the finger pointing. Church members, professed followers of Christ do often fall just like this wicked pair. Some who, by their actions, appear to be pillars in the church do forsake Christ and his gospel. Pastors, elders, and deacons, evangelists and missionaries, respected men and women in the church fall into sin, forsake Christ, forsake the gospel, forsake the worship of God, and prove to be hypocrites by willfully abandoning all that they know to be right and true. From time to time many who profess to be our Lord’s disciples go back and walk no more with him (John 6:66). Every time we see that happen, we ask ourselves and one another, “What is happening? Why have they left us? What effect will this have on the cause of Christ? How is this going to effect the church of God?” WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A CHURCH MEMBER FALLS? Our tendency in the flesh is to be full of doubt and fear. We fear what might happen to the church of God. We fear that the gospel might somehow lose its power and influence because some religious hypocrite has exposed himself. But our fears are without foundation. The honor of God, the purpose of God, and the church of God are safe and secure! Even when reprobate men and women fall from our ranks, our God is graciously accomplishing his purpose in his wise and adorable providence, performing that which is best for his church, and making himself a great and glorious name (Romans 8:28; Psalms 76:10; Isaiah 63:10-14). Here are five comfortable answers given in the Word of God to the question under consideration in this study - “What happens when a church member falls?” First, GOD IS THE FROM THE VILE. From the very beginning local churches have been a mixed multitude of real believers and mere professors. In every field where our Lord sows his wheat Satan plants his tares. Goats, even some wolves have always been found among the Lord’s sheep. In every band of true, sincere believers some hypocrites will be found. The names of Judas, Demas, Alexander, Simon Magus, Hymenaeus, Philetus, Diotrephes, Ananias, and Sapphira stand upon the pages of Holy Scripture to warn us of the presence of false professors among the people of God. But God separates the tares from the wheat, the goats from the sheep and the hypocrite from the true believer (Matthew 13:30; Matthew 13:41-43; 1 John 2:19-20). This separation is the work of God. He plainly commands us to let the tares grow with the wheat, lest we uproot the wheat while trying to get rid of the tares. God knows how to weed his garden. He uses many things to do it. Earthly trials, the preaching of the Word, the temptations of satan, acts of judgment, even the apostasy of reprobate men are instruments in God’s hands by which he separates the precious from the vile (1 Corinthians 11:19). Secondly, GOD REMINDS US BY THE FALL OF OTHERS THAT IS BY HIS GRACE ALONE (1 Corinthians 4:7). Were it not for the grace of God none would persevere in faith (John 6:66-68). Let us never be proud, boastful, or presumptuous. Our only hope before God is the righteousness and blood of Christ our Substitute. Were it not for the fact that Christ holds our hearts we would soon cease to hold him (1 Corinthians 10:11-13). Yet, we rejoice in the comforting assurance that his grace is sufficient, even for us (2 Corinthians 12:9). “Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.” Without Christ I am nothing and I can do nothing.

But in Christ, by the grace of God, I can go on believing. I can persevere even to my final day in faith. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! His grace is sufficient! He can and will preserve his own. In spite of the weakness, infirmity, and sinfulness of their flesh, “They shall never perish!” Thirdly, ONE IS TAKEN IN THE SNARE OF THE DEVIL GOD DRAWS HIS SAINTS CLOSER TO CHRIST AND THEM IN THE FAITH OF THE GOSPEL (Hebrews 6:1-12; Hebrews 10:38-39). “Mighty men around us falling” reminds us of our own weakness. And every reminder of our weakness in the flesh and of the danger of satan’s devices drives believing hearts to Christ for refuge (Proverbs 18:10). Often we see our companions fall. Our only comfort, security, and rest is in the immutability of God’s grace (Malachi 3:6; Lamentations 3:24-26; 2 Timothy 2:15-19). Fourthly, THOUGH MANY DO FORSAKE CHRIST, GOD HIS PURPOSE OF GRACE (Acts 5:14). No real harm has been done. Christ has not lost one of his ransomed ones. The Good Shepherd has not lost one of his sheep. The Son of God has not been defeated by the powers of darkness. Ananias and Sapphira fell and God’s judgment fell on them; but their apostasy and God’s retribution only caused the people of God to be more fully united to one another. Like a loving family, huddled together in their house for fear of danger, the saints of God were “all with one accord in Solomon’s porch,” and the Word of God flourished (Acts 5:12-16). NOTE: Do not allow Acts 5:15 to cause you any trouble. Men and women who do not know God always become superstitious when the power of God is revealed. Fifthly, THOUGH MANY WHO PROFESS FAITH IN CHRIST DO FALL ALONG THE WAY AND DEPART FROM HIM, YET OUR GOD STILL HIS CHURCH AND HIS CAUSE IN THIS WORLD (Matthew 16:18; Acts 5:38-39). God’s covenant cannot be nullified. His purpose cannot be thwarted. His power cannot be defeated. The church of God is safe. The honor of God is secure. Our God shall yet be universally honored in all the fulness of his Triune glory and saving grace (Revelation 5:9-14). All is well, for the ark of God is safe! Though many do fall, all who truly trust Christ on this earth are as safe and secure as the saints of God in heaven (1 John 2:1-2; Romans 8:29-39). “When any turn from Zion’s way, (Alas, what numbers do!)Methinks I hear the Savior say, `Wilt thou forsake me too?' Ah, Lord, with such a heart as mine, Unless Thou hold me fast,I feel I must, I shall decline, And prove like them at last. Yet Thou alone hast power I know To save a wretch like me:To whom or wither should I go, If I should turn from Thee? What anguish has this question stirred, If I will also go;Yet, Lord, relying on Thy word, I answer humbly, No.”

Acts 5:17-42

16. THE OF GOD’S CHURCH Acts 5:17-42 The church of God has always had to endure persecution. Her history is written in the blood of faithful martyrs. Sometimes the persecution is fierce, sometimes more subtle, but it is always there. Usually, the persecution comes not from profligate, base men, but from devout, religious men. The bloodiest persecutions in history have been executed in the name of God! Until Christ comes again, the persecution will not cease (John 15:18; John 15:20; Matthew 10:22). In Acts 5:17-42 the Holy Spirit gives us a brief description of the second persecution of the church after the resurrection of Christ. (The first was in Acts 4:1-22). Why were these men of God thrown into prison? Why did the religious leaders of their nation want to murder them? The Apostles had not held any political rallies, trying to overthrow the liberal Roman government. They had broken no laws. They were not raising a social protest.

They were not even crusading against pornography, prostitution, and homosexuality, the common social ills of their day. They were being persecuted for only one reason - Preaching the gospel of Christ! That is all. They plainly exposed the evil of man’s depraved heart, declared the necessity of a Substitute, proclaimed the forgiveness of sins by the grace of God through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and pressed upon all men the claims of Christ, the risen, sovereign Lord. They had also committed the terrible evil of improving their society by healing the sick and teaching their followers to live in righteousness and peace! For these things, and these things alone, they were persecuted, imprisoned, beaten, and threatened with death! Here are six lessons which the Holy Spirit intends for us to learn from this brief history of the church’s second persecution at Jerusalem. First, THE CROSS OF CHRIST IS AN OFFENSE TO MEN (Acts 5:17-18). This persecution was primarily instigated and carried out by the sect of the Sadducees. They were the liberal, freethinking, broad-minded, religious gentlemen of the day. They did not agree with the fanatical Pharisees. They disapproved of the philosophical pagans. Yet, they were tolerant of both.

However, when the Apostles came preaching the gospel of Christ, these nice, religious men were filled with rage and ready to kill! The fact is, broad-minded religionists are broad-minded enough to accept any form of religion that leaves salvation in the hands of man; but the message of salvation by grace alone through the merits of Christ, the sinner’s crucified Substitute, is an offense to them (Galatians 5:11). The gospel of Christ is offensive to all, except those who are saved by it (1 Corinthians 1:23-24; Romans 1:15-17). Second, THE HOLY SPIRIT HERE SHOWS US THAT GOD TAKES CARE OF HIS OWN (Acts 5:19-26). It is written in the Scriptures, “Them that honor me I will honor” (1 Samuel 2:30). If we belong to God, if we serve the interests of his kingdom, if we are seeking his will and his glory, we have no reason to fear any man. “If God be for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31). “So now the future holds no fear, God guards the work begun, And mortals are immortal here, Until their work is done!” Until a believer’s work on earth is done, so long as he can be useful in the cause of Christ, until his appointed days are fulfilled and the Lord calls him home, he can be assured of these three things:

1. God will direct his path (Proverbs 3:5-6).2. God will protect his life (Hebrews 13:5-6).3. God will supply his needs (Psalms 34:10). Third, THE SPIRIT OF GOD HERE SHOWS US THAT IT IS THE OF EVERY IN THIS WORLD TO OBEY GOD (Acts 5:27-32). The proof of faith in Christ is obedience to him. The fruit of God given faith is obedience to God (1 John 5:1-3). Hebrews 11 is faith’s hall of fame. It records the great deeds of faith performed by men and women in obedience to God. The Apostles followed their example. When they were commanded not to preach the gospel of Christ, they not only said they must continue to do so, but they preached Christ to their persecutors. And they did it publicly! They did not consider the consequences of their actions. They knew their duty and they did it. That is faith in action. Our lives, our course of action at any given point in life, must be determined by four things:
2. What does the Word of God require of me?2. What is the will of God in my present situation?3. What will best serve the glory of God?4. What is in the best interest of God’s people? Fourth, THE SPIRIT OF GOD TEACHES THAT GOD’S TRUTH CANNOT BE , GOD’S CAUSE CANNOT BE , AND GOD’S KINGDOM CANNOT BE (Acts 5:33-40). What an encouraging lesson this is! The truth of God, the cause of God, and the kingdom of God are not in anyway dependent upon men and circumstances! If God is in a thing, if it is of God, it will be successful. Nothing can stop it. God will even use the counsel of Gamaliel to preserve his work! There is much in these verses of Scripture for the comfort and encouragement of every preacher and every congregation of believers. God’s man in God’s place doing God’s work will be maintained by God’s hand. There is no need for compromise, fear, or even hesitation. God will promote the gospel we preach by the power of his Spirit. He will provide for the needs of his church by the hand of his providence (Ezra 4:2-3; Genesis 14:22-23). God will protect his cause in this world (Ezra 8:22-23). Fifth, learn this lesson - IT IS AN HONOR FOR ANYONE TO SERVE THE CAUSE OF CHRIST IN THIS WORLD, EVEN IF YOUR SERVICE IS TO SUFFER FOR THE HONOR OF HIS NAME (Acts 5:41). Shortly after I was converted, I was asked to serve as the janitor at our church. I counted it an honor to keep the house of God clean and comfortable as a place where sinners could hear the gospel and worship Christ. It is a great mercy and honor that now I am called to preach the gospel of Christ. If I am counted worthy of suffering abuse, reproach, and scorn for doing so, that too is my honor. I am astonished that God is pleased to use me in any way for his honor! Sixth, WE ARE HERE TAUGHT THAT OUR ONE AND IN THIS WORLD IS TO PREACH THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. Those Apostles were given an angelic commission (Acts 5:19-20) and they were obedient to it (Acts 5:42). You and I have the same commission. Every man and woman who is born of God is a missionary sent by God into the world to preach the gospel. Not all are called and gifted to be public preachers. (No woman is allowed to do that - 1 Timothy 2:11-12). But all who have seen Christ are his witnesses. All who know him are to proclaim him (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8). God has chosen to save sinners by using saved sinners to tell them of his great grace in Christ (Matthew 22:8-9; Luke 14:21-23; John 1:35-45). “Go, and speak to the people all the words of this life!”

Acts 5:31

17. “A PRINCE AND A SAVIOR” Acts 5:31 When Peter and the rest of the Apostles stood before the high priest and the Sadducees, they were commanded not to teach or preach in the name of the Lord Jesus. “Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). They gave three specific reasons why they had to go on preaching Christ and him crucified to all who would hear them.
18. Jesus Christ is the exalted Lord of glory. “The God of our fathers hath raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior” (Acts 5:30-31). If Jesus Christ is indeed our only Lord, we must obey him!
19. This Prince and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the sinner’s only hope. God has exalted him “to be a Prince and a Savior, for to give repentance to Israel, and the forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5:31). Sinners have no hope without Christ. He alone can give life to dead sinners. Christ alone can change the heart. Only Christ can forgive sin. If we do not tell perishing sinners about him, they will perish forever under the wrath of God.
20. “And we are his witnesses” (Acts 5:32). The Apostles were the representatives of Messiah, the Prince. They were, by the power of God the Holy Spirit, acting by the authority of God himself. They asserted that their teaching and preaching could not be set aside by any earthly, human authority, civil or ecclesiastical. Are we his witnesses? If so, we are under constraint of love and allegiance to Christ our almighty, sovereign King, to proclaim him to men, in so far as we are able to fill the world with his doctrine. Our mission as his witnesses is twofold. First and foremost, we seek to exalt, magnify, and glorify the name of God our Savior. Above all else, let us seek the glory of God (1 Kings 18:36-37). Second, we seek the salvation of God’s elect, realizing that it is not possible for sinners to be saved until they know Christ and that they cannot know him unless someone tells them who he is and what he has done (Romans 1:16-17; Romans 10:13-17; 1 Corinthians 1:21-23; Matthew 28:18-20). WHO IS THE LORD JESUS CHRIST? We know that Jesus Christ is God (John 1:1-3). We also know that Christ Jesus is a real man, God incarnate (2 Timothy 3:16; Isaiah 9:6). He is the God-man, as much God as though he were not man and as much man as though he were not God. But, in the text under consideration, the Holy Spirit describes the Lord Jesus Christ in his saving character as “a Prince (King) and a Savior.” That person who is so taught of God that in his heart he knows Christ as both “a Prince and a Savior” is a saved person. He bows to Christ as his Prince and trusts him as his Savior.

Some see Christ only as a Prince to regulate their lives. So they have a lifeless religion of laws and works. Others see Christ only as a Savior to keep them out of hell. Because they do not recognize Christ’s Lordship, they live as licentious antinomians. Their religion, having no real effect upon their hearts and lives, is a useless religion. Only those who see the Lord Jesus Christ as both “a Prince and a Savior” are true believers.

True believers resign themselves to Christ’s will and subject the passions of their souls to Christ their glorious Prince. They yield themselves to his will, direction, and control as their Lord. At the same time they trust Christ as their Savior, realizing the infinite sufficiency of his righteousness and the infinite merit of his blood as the sinners’ Substitute for the pardon of sin and everlasting acceptance with God. No one is saved until he bows to Christ the Prince, acknowledging him as his Lord (Romans 10:9-10; 1 Corinthians 12:3; Luke 14:25-33). “No man has truly given himself to Christ until he has said, `My Lord, I give thee this day my body, my soul, my power, my talents, my goods, my house, my children, and all that I have. Henceforth, I hold them at thy will, as a steward under thee. Thine they are. As for me, I have nothing. I have surrendered all to thee!’” (C. H.

Spurgeon) If we would have Christ as our Savior, we must have him as our Prince, our Lord and King. If he is not our Ruler and Commander, he is not our Savior. One of the first instincts of a new born soul is to fall at the Savior’s feet in adoring, worshipful submission, crying, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:6). A person saved by the grace of God does not need to be told that he is under solemn obligations to serve Christ. The new life within tells him that! It is no burden to the believing heart to be under Christ’s yoke.

It is our delight! He who believes gladly surrenders to Christ as his Master (1 John 5:2). As soon as a sinner sees the glory and grace of God in Christ by faith, he willingly bows before his throne crying, “All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give!I will ever love and trust Him, in His presence daily live.” Christ must be acknowledged as our rightful Prince and trusted as our only Savior. He is a Prince with sovereign authority and power. He is a Savior with infinite merit and grace. Jesus Christ, the God-man, has established the grounds of salvation - ! He has paid the price for salvation - HIS OWN BLOOD! And he possesses the POWER to save all who come to God by him (Hebrews 7:25; John 17:2). WHAT ARE THE OF ? That may appear to be a strange question to some, but Acts 5:31 sets before us two things required by God, two conditions that must be met before a holy, righteous, and just God can save any sinner. They are “repentance and forgiveness of sins.” is the work and gift of God’s goodness and grace (Romans 2:4; Zechariah 12:10). It is a change of character, a change of heart brought about by the regenerating power and grace of God the Holy Spirit. Without genuine repentance there is no faith in the heart, no salvation wrought in the soul, no true hope of life to come (Isaiah 55:6-7; Matthew 9:13; Mark 6:12; Luke 13:3; Luke 24:47; Acts 2:38; Acts 20:21; 2 Timothy 2:25; Revelation 2:5). Repentance is constant. Like faith, it is a life long grace. Yet, repentance is no grounds for salvation. Repentance cannot satisfy justice and atone for sin. must be granted by God our Savior. In order for a holy, just God to forgive sin four things must be done: (1) The sinner must be punished. (2) Justice must be satisfied. (3) The sin must be removed, put away, annihilated from record. And (4) the sinner must be made righteous. This can be accomplished only through the substitutionary sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ and the free imputation of his righteousness to us by the grace of God (2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 3:24-26). THIS AND OF SINS IS THE GIFT OF CHRIST TO ALL THE ISRAEL OF GOD, TO ALL WHO LOOK TO HIM IN FAITH. Every sinner who looks to Christ is forgiven of all sin forever and is saved (Isaiah 45:22). Once a sinner knows that he is forgiven, he truly repents of his sins (Psalms 32:1-5; Psalms 51:1-17; Zechariah 12:10).