Money Matters: Money in the Book of Acts

Transcript

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Hello and welcome to the Kalamazoo church of Christ podcast. Thank you so much for listening. We're startup church. We just planted in September, 2020 and at the Kalamazoo church, we believe that Christianity is done best when it is done together. And so if you live in the Kalamazoo area, we would love to connect, be it coming to a Sunday service, one of our small groups, or even just grabbing coffee with a member to learn more. You can visit kalamazoo.church in order to do that. We pray that you are inspired by what you hear today. It says now a man named Ananias together with his wife, Sapphira also sold a piece of property with his wife's full knowledge. He kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles feet. Then Peter said, Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold and after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings, but to God. When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died in great fear, sees all who heard what had happened. Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body and carried him out and buried him. About three hours later, his wife came in not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land? Yes, she said, that is the price. Peter said to her, how could you conspire to test the Holy spirit of the Lord? Listen, the feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door and they will carry you out also. At that moment, she fell down. She fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events. What an encouraging scripture in the middle of your work weeks, all of the stress and the energy that you put in. The weather is getting cooler and it's getting darker earlier and we look at this scripture and you're like, it can only, well, either it can only go up or it's only going to go down from here. I want to look at this scripture, not in an effort to scare us, but maybe in an effort to make a plea or hopefully convince you all that we are not as far from these two individuals as we would love to believe. I wish that we weren't and I wish that I wasn't, but there's stuff that they struggled with that I think we can struggle with as well. Right before this, in Acts 4, there's this person who sells his field and he says, they gave all the money, he put it at the apostles feet and he said, you can do with it what you want. Ananias and Sapphira, they see that and they see the respect that's given and they see the honor that's given and perhaps they feel a bit of guilt that their hearts aren't there. They feel like, oh man, I know I should be at this spot. I just got to do the right thing with all my heart being there, but I can't do the right thing. I don't have the faith for it and so what I've got to do, this is what we'll do. We will present this money communicating this is the price that we sold it for. They both agree to it and then what happens is we read that both of them, one, the wife has an opportunity to repent, the husband has an opportunity maybe initially to communicate, hey, I didn't have the faith to give all of it. Here's a lot of it. I just don't got the faith for it yet, but he chose not to. He said, he communicated or he inferred that this was the full price that we paid. I guess I want to ask what sins that you can see were committed by Ananias? Lying. Yeah, sure. Yep. Lack of faith. Yeah, there's a faithlessness. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. They agreed for sure. Yep. Catch for a moment that greed is a trail. It's almost like a trailing sin. Follow me here because right away there's a, it's a lack of faith. Like I think we've been here for a few weeks. We're like, oh wait, that's a lack of faith that God won't take care of them. There's lying right away and then greed, it is there, but it prompts all of these forward facing sins. Yeah. Bianca, what were you going to say? Yeah. There's like this. I want to, I want my status to seem higher. I want to seem, I want to seem in a way that is different than where my heart is actually at. Yeah. Angela. Yeah. There's no mandate that he has to give. Well, he probably would still be dead, but he wouldn't have died here. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. No, exactly. He would have died a great death instead of this one. I, uh, yeah, there's no mandate. You got to give this. There's no mandate. Absolutely. Yeah. And then what about for, if you're in anxiety, what about for, uh, anxiety? Uh, Safira, anything different or maybe in addition to, or maybe you're like, she didn't struggle with that, but she struggled with this or in addition to what did she struggle with? Yeah. What do you see? Yeah. She wasn't, she's not able to, uh, you know, have a blind eye perhaps if they wouldn't have talked. Let's keep this worldwide. They wouldn't have talked or he wouldn't have asked her. She wouldn't have been the one to present this as an opportunity to, uh, to keep some of it back and still raise your status perhaps, you know, he, she doesn't know about it. She doesn't know. She says, yeah. And she's still good perhaps. But she did know. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's right. And, and, and it's a strong, it's an ultimate price. It's a strong price. It's tough because this is the price that we all, that's the price that we all deserve. You know, when, when God, we think, Oh man, God is so harsh here. Uh, you know, in actuality, when we lie, uh, this is what we, this is what we, we deserve. You know, God chose a moment to make an example, especially for an early church and the young church. He chose to make an example so that people would know like God is for real and God is serious and he doesn't just say things and not mean them. Um, you know, the other thing that she does is the, the word that's used is conspire. And I don't want to chase rabbits, but I think it'd be unfair if I didn't bring up this stuff. Is that in our, uh, I'd put before you that maybe it's financially, but perhaps it's in other areas that we, um, if you're married, that you can conspire with your spouse to allow sin to, uh, to be present in, in your marriage and in your life, uh, perhaps it, you know, you, you think about this and this is just, I was considering my week and, uh, and I bet there's a, I bet there's more for you or at least as much for you, uh, and probably different ones as well. Um, you know, I, I thought about, um, how, how can I conspire with my wife to test God or conspire with my wife to not do the right thing, uh, that I know is right or allow her, uh, to me, I, I, and we, I could play it like I overlook her sin and instead of me standing up and, and bring something up and she might overlook my sin, like he's the leader. And you know, this is a few, a few things that I just thought in, in the way that we talk, uh, to each other and the way that we talk, um, you know, about situations like, uh, gossip is a word that I put, and I'm not sure that it's gossip, uh, but maybe this, this, uh, this critical heart in both of us, like we can allow it to fester and we can allow it to build, uh, just in our, just in our marriages and we, in that way, we see it and we don't bring anything up and we can inspire against the, the spirit of God. Um, potentially our lack of commitment to, uh, to the word of God, like, are you actively studying and pursuing and going after, uh, this stuff, uh, you know, and you, you're, if you're, if you're married to somebody like, you know, you have a pretty good gauge, maybe not a perfect gauge. You have probably the best gauge of anybody, uh, of anybody else, like how, how their walk with God is going. And uh, certainly none of us are going to be heroes in the faith for the entirety of our, you know, nobody's saying that, but when you see stuff, if you're not going to bring that up, if you're just going to allow them to, uh, to slow this, this faith to slowly fade, uh, I think that's a mistake. Um, and then, and then just this, uh, potentially this lack of commitment to, uh, to the body of Christ, like in meetings of the body, uh, this is truly, we're preaching to the choir here, but Wednesdays shouldn't be a special time for the best of the best. You know, that's not, that's what nobody's, uh, nobody's trying to make this a special best of the best. And, and, and it's, it, hear me, there's always, there's always stuff like if, you know, there's always stuff, but it's not just for like some, it's, it should be for everybody. Uh, you know, everybody should be here on a Wednesday. Um, and I think in these ways we can give our, potentially we can give our spouses a way out. And so again, I don't want to chase rabbits, but I read that and I'm like, man, I've got to bring it up. Uh, so let's keep talking about, uh, finances. Excuse me. Thanks for, thanks for working with me for that one. Um, in Acts, uh, in Acts nine verse 36, uh, if we're pulling like, what, what are we going to learn about money from just the book of Acts? Uh, well it mentions just a little bit here in a, in verse, in verse 36 it says in Joppa, there was a disciple named Tabitha. Her Greek name is Dorcas. I don't, which I, which would you prefer is, is, yeah, Dorcas ain't bad. You guys, Dorcas, yeah, Dorcas is much better. She was always doing good and helping the poor, uh, about that time she became sick and died. Her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. Lyda was near Joppa. So when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lyda, they sent two men to him and urged him, please come at once. Peter went with them and when he arrived, he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas made while she was still with them. Peter sent them all out of the room. Then he got down on his knees and prayed, turning toward the dead woman. He said, Tabitha, get up. She opened her eyes and seeing Peter, she sat up. So stop here. There's so much here that we can learn, uh, about the, you know, this first century church's view of, of money and of wealth. It says that this, this woman was always helping the poor. Like that was what she was known as. She's always doing good and she's always helping the poor. It says as well, it says she's a widow. Is that right? Do you guys see that or no? With the other widows, right? And so she's, she doesn't, you know, there's not a clear way for her to make money, but she's insistent on giving what she has to the poor. And not only that, she, uh, she's going out of her way to honor, uh, to honor Peter, to honor people in general, uh, people who are doing the Lord's work. How do we know this? Well, it, she makes, she made all these clothes and she was presumably, she wanted to give them to Peter, but I guess she was content not to even, it says they, so there, there, you imagine this, this image, you have the widows there, they're crying and they show Peter, Hey, these are some of the robes that she made you. This is what she made for you. This is the energy that she spent, the money that she spent just, just to honor you. She knows you're working for the Lord and she wants to honor you. And uh, and then, and then obviously, uh, an amazing, an amazing miracle occurs. I'm, I'm drawn to the widow saying, Hey, you have to come over here and see this, uh, that perhaps they wanted to just give them the robes. I have to believe that there was some that felt like, well, maybe, you know, she's a good, she's a pretty great woman. Like maybe he'll raise her, you know? Um, and then, and then the, uh, again, work with me here. I think the grace, um, uh, of, of Tabitha Dorcas to be able to, uh, maybe she'd never say in the matter, but to at least be joyful after being raised from being able to be like on the verge of going to heaven, um, on the verge of heaven. And then they call you back and you're like, Oh my goodness. It's amazing. It's amazing though. Like it does communicate her character a bunch, I think, uh, if you're pulling anything, we, we talked about it. I don't want it to just be something that we said one time. And you're like, I don't know. Paul mentioned it. Uh, you know, Paul, Paul Stennett mentioned it about, Oh, you don't always have to get, you know, it's not, it's not limited to your giving in the plate on a Sunday. There's no giving on the plate on a Sunday in Acts nine. And yet this woman is commended, right? Uh, and so we have the opportunity to do that as well. Um, this is just a quick fly by in Acts 10, Acts 10 verse four. Uh, this is Cornelius, um, Cornelius stared at him in fear. What is it Lord? He asked the angel answered your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. Consider it your prayers and your gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. We have the opportunity to give a memorial offering before God. Again, this talks nothing about contribution on Sundays, uh, we, by giving to the poor and I, I perhaps you have something in your, uh, in your schedule or perhaps you've got something locked in, but if you don't have a continued way to serve, give, give, pray for the poor, if they're not on, on our hearts, I think it's an area of great repentance for our church. If we are going to be great stewards with God's money in God's time, amen. And, um, it acts, uh, so acts 19 there's, uh, these people who are driving out demons and, uh, the demons are like, we don't really know about you actually. Like we've, we, you're, you're doing it in Jesus name. Uh, we know Jesus, we've heard of Paul. We don't know who you are. And uh, they, they, the demons mess them up. And it says in verse 17, this is X 1917 when this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all serious, seized with fear. And the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to 50,000 drachmas. In this way, the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power. 50,000 drachmas might've been about $750,000. I did, this is, it's, it's kind of rough math, but that's kind of a low number. Um, a low estimation, I would say. Uh, so these guys hear and see what's happening. Uh, and, and they're, they're blown away and they're terrified and they're like, whatever we were doing and whatever we were messing up, we've got to repent, uh, whatever, if, you know, halfway in between full faith in God, not full faith. Hey, we were, we love God. It says, uh, they were, you know, these were the believers. Uh, many of those who believe they, because they confessed, Hey, we got to get open about what's going on and what's holding us back. And so then they bring their scrolls and they have, uh, this, this public burning of, uh, of, of the scrolls. Think about how powerful it would have been. And what are we learning then from this? Well, God's math is not our math. You know, if you had to just look at what makes the most sense, well, they could have taken $750,000 and they could have given it to the poor and they could have started a foundation and then an institution. And, you know, especially, you know, they could have done so many things. They could have sold it. And, but they said, no, like these things are causing people to sin. We're just getting rid of them. Like us selling them or us like doing something with them to, to make money. Even if we were to give it for a good reason, it's not worth it because we're perpetuating sin. You know, God's math is not our math. Our math says that doesn't make sense. Like you're, you're foregoing money that you could give to something worthy. And, uh, and, and, but God is super honored, extremely honored by, by these people repenting and doing it in an outward and obvious way. We'll, we'll speed through these last, last couple here. It's in Acts 20 then. So in Acts 20 and verse 35 and everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work, we must help the weak remembering the words of the Lord. Remembering the words of the Lord, Jesus himself said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. It's interesting. There's not a clear scripture that, uh, in, in the first four books that we can point to. I think in Luke, there's one that gets close to this, but I, I just think it's kind of powerful that, uh, that they have, they're like, no, Jesus knew this. And it, it maybe didn't show up at all of the, uh, the gospels. You think about the Holy Spirit and like his gospels are being written. And he's like, man, they, they forgot this key line. I've got to have Paul say it and make sure it's recorded by Luke, uh, right here. It's more blessed to give than to receive. And if we, if we really believe that, then we would, uh, we would, we would want to give a lot more. I think my heart is that I, I believe it's true, um, most of the time. And I believe it's true, uh, when I'm the one, the recipient a lot of times, and I believe it's true after I give. But in the time before I give, I'm just not super sure it's true all of the time after you give, it feels great, right? Like it hurts a little, but you're like, I did it for God. And I feel great about that before you give. And like that little, like in between time, that's when it doesn't feel better to give them to receive. It feels a lot better to just hold on. This is the word, the words of Jesus. And that's what he says. And then in Acts 28, we got to infer just a little bit, but it's in verse 30 says for two whole years, Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance. That's the end of the book of Acts and the, uh, the reality. So Paul's in his own rented house. Perhaps he rented it with his own money. Um, and he was a tent maker, but somebody had to bring him the materials. Uh, presumably someone had to sell those tents that he made. Like he was being supported and helped by people, uh, all throughout, um, all throughout his ministry. And he, he, he helped himself. Like he did, he did work for sure, but he was being supported and he was being helped. And, uh, and I, I think it's, it's worth again, bringing up that it's there's contribution and then there's how you're just helping your brother and sister when you see them down. And when you see they need a little extra help, um, let's, let's go to second Corinthians eight as just a little vision. I think, um, that we can have as we, uh, as, as we think about, you know, what, what our church, I believe is going to, to look like and can grow in over the next, uh, over the next little bit of time here. As we, as we read these words, just think about how, uh, how happy, how encouraged, how satisfied, uh, you know, we'd be to hear these words said about our church, uh, second Corinthians eight verse 10. And here's my judgment about what is best for you in this matter. Last year, you were the first, not only to give, but also to have the desire to do so now finish the work so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have. We are, uh, we're a small church and we are a church of, of workers. You know, certainly there are those that make a little more. There are those that make a little less, there there's all in between, but what the Bible teaches and the joy that we can get, like, I want God to be able to look at this church and say, you guys gave according to what you had, not according to what you didn't have, not according to what you might have in five years, not according to what somebody else has, not according to what you had. And then you gave up. And so because you gave up this big thing. Now you're like, ah, I gave that up for God. And so I don't have to give more. According to what you have give, and you did it and you had the desire to do it. And you'll, and you're going to be blessed in your giving in this way. I believe with my whole heart, like we are going to be a church that's, that's able to do that. And there's going to be convictions that, that are built if they're, if they're festering or they're getting closer and closer, there's going to be convictions that are built now that are going to last throughout your entire time as a Christian. There are going to be conversations that, that you develop now and that you have now that you're going to go back to time and time again. And that as you continue, as we, as we grow this church and we teach people about God's word, it's going to be a conversation that we have with people coming in. Then it's going to be one, not like, oh, that's what the Bible says. It's like, that's what the Bible says. That's what I believe because this is how it's changed my life. And that's much more powerful than, than, than just saying, just giving a scripture without any kind of personal, like I've done this to see, look at me. And so right now I want to take just a little bit of time on this sheet. There's, it says prayer prompt. There's, there's three prayer prompts that I want to, I want to challenge us to take a few moments to pray. It doesn't have to be a, you know, 20 minute prayer time, but take a few minutes. The first is God show me where I'm holding back in my giving to you. So you'd pray that and then you pause and you'd wait and you maybe there's more to say, but then you'd wait and listen for what God has to say. God, please transform my heart to view money, how you view it. And you might pause and you, you, you continue in your prayer and then we can pray. You can pray, God, give me the faith to give sacrificially to you and certainly financially, but in all areas of our lives, feel free. If you need to step out or go somewhere, feel free to do that right now. Amen. Not right now, but, but after, yeah, there's probably opportunities. Thank you so much for listening to the Kalamazoo church of Christ podcast. If you're in the Kalamazoo area, we'd love to get connected. Please go to kalamazoo.church and fill in your information to come to a Sunday service or any other event that we have going on. In any case, you'll be hearing from us next week.