Pastor Mac v.19 "YoU Can't Fake This!" Acts 5:1-11

words of encouragement and inspiration

"A Few Minutes with Pastor Mac"
                       www.bdubjr.com

Transcript

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Whatever you need. Whatever you need. Whatever is wrong.

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Hello and good morning. Thank you for tuning in to another podcast of a few minutes with Pastor Matt. We hope God is blessing you less on this Sunday morning. And we hope God is our favourite strength. We upon you for this new week. That is upon us. If you can't make service, don't forget it. We have to give the five app that you can give your donations and fresh fruits and praisegiving the right app. And um, if you can't make it to service, so don't forget about that. We always want to make sure we give opportunity to uh so season to God's ministry. And if you can't make it again, our website as well, uh Give the website and on our app, uh Gibbilify. Good day to you. Thank you again uh for another chance of you dropping in or downloading uh few minutes past the main podcast. Thank you for this broadcast uh that is still going on uh all these years later. God is really blessed. I just have an avenue and opportunity to uh share a little bit for those out there uh who wants a little word before the word on Sunday morning. Uh thank you, thank God for you. And hope God is blessing you uh in this first I guess first whole week of April and uh after the after party at Resurrection Sunday, uh so to speak. Easter to say we call it a resurrection day. But I hope you had a great one, a great week. Look forward to this new week, God has given us uh starting today today. So the blessings upon you as April is here before the month already, so time is moving. We have to be I know we're thankful for God that providing it supply everything we need, and even when we think we won't. Um that we all need, that we really just won't affect how we worship him and how we have our spiritual life for him. Let us pray, oh God, we thank you for the chance of your word. As you bless his word this morning, that touch, that it brings joy and happiness that it share and the message that Jesus is alive, Jesus is risen. Just like you said, he would somebody's heart is admit at their space and place where they need 'em. Thank you for what you've done, what you're going to do. Bless us now. Oh my Saviour, my ridigma. In Jesus the Christ's name we pray all. Amen. We got away from the Acts series for two Sundays, and uh, we might uh uh do that again in the future. Uh I'll let you know what verse uh what text rather that'll be. But we're gonna try to do acts all year. Profusely and profoundly. Uh to extrapolate what God has. And those words written by Dr. Luke uh about Peter and Paul and uh missionist missionary, first century church, first deacon, all of that in acts. So hopefully we can get through it in this year. I'm trying to chop it up and spread it out until we finish in December. Amen. But uh today we'll be I gave it last Sunday, five, one through eleven. Next week five twelve through forty-two, but we'll be uh keying on thirty-five through forty-two. Read the entirety of the chapter. The rest of five after uh eleven, so twelve through forty-two technically. But uh for our listening and responsibility, thirty-five through forty-two. Next Sunday Lord says the same. Um five one through eleven translation that you follow. Now a man named Ananias and his wife Safari sold a piece of property, and with his wife's for knowledge and complicity, he kept back some of the proceeds, bringing only a portion of it and setting at the apostle's feet. But Peter said Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and secretly keep back for yourself some of the proceeds from the cell of the land? As long as it remained unsold, did it not remain your own to do as you please? And after it was sold, was the money not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this act of hypocrisy and deceit in your heart? You have not simply lied to people but to God. And hearing these words, Ananias fell down suddenly, and died in great fear and awe gripped those who heard of it. And the young man in the congregation got up, young men, got up, wrapped up the body, and carried it out and buried it. Now after an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, Tell me whether you sold your land for so much. And she said, Yes, for so much. Then Peter said to her, How could you two have agreed together to put the spirit of the Lord to the test? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also. And at once she fell down at his feet and died, and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. In great fear and awe gripped the whole church and all who heard about these things. The word of God for the people of God for the edifying of God. I just want to tag this podcast with Pastor Mac a few minutes with Pastor Mac. You can't fake this. You can't fake this. Let me paint this picture. A man walks to a bank, not with a weapon, but with confidence. He can dress right and talks right, smiles like he belongs there, and he hands the teller a check. Everything looks legitimate. Everything's look legit. Uh signature looks real. Uh a mount looks right. But when they scan it, it's counterfeit. And here's the thing, it wasn't obvious at first glance. It took examination to expose it. Now watch this. That's how some people walk into church. Hands lifted, voice strong, language right, but heaven scans deeper than appearance, and what look real to people can still be counterfeit before God. You can look blessed and be burdened. Um look strong and be struggling, look committed and be compromised. And if you're not careful, you can get so used to performing for people that you think you can perform before God. Truth be told, you can't fake this. Uh-uh, because God doesn't deal in appearances, God deals in authentic. And that's why A.W. Toza said, and he wrote, What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. Because if you think God is surface level, you will live surface level. But when you know God sees everything, you start living differently. Preach Pastor Mac, I'm doing the best I can. That's the tension of Acts 5. Because in Acts 4, people were laying everything at the apostles' feet. The church was unified, the power of God was moving, nobody lacked anything, and then right in the middle of the revival, counterfeit shows up. And can I tell you something real? The greatest threat to a move of God is not persecution from the outside, it's pretending on the inside. Lean in for me for a second and hold up. Wait a minute, before we rush to judge Ananias and Sapphira, we need to understand what's happening here because this isn't just about money, this is about the integrity of the early church. As John Stock put it, the sin of Ananias was not that he kept back part of the money, but that he pretended to he pretended to give it all. In other words, God wasn't measuring the size of the gift, he was exposing the condition of the heart. And that's why we that's why our text opened first, the danger of a divided heart. And at verse 1 and 2, Ananias' wife, uh soul peace, wipes full knowledge, kept back some of the proceeds, bring it all, only a portion of it. So they kept back part of the price, as some translations say. Ananias didn't have to give everything. Peter makes it clear it was his to keep or give. So what's the problem? It wasn't the amount, it was the motive. Um, he gave part but acted like it was all. And that's a divided heart. That's one part for God, one part for self, one part for image, one part for truth. And the truth is, God is not after your portion, he's after your whole heart. Peace, Pastor Max. Some people are struggling because they're empty, they're struggling because they're split. Worship on Sunday, compromise on Monday, praise in public, pride in private, half in, half out, half surrendered, half selfish, half holy and half hiding. A divided heart would always produce a disceptive life. Meaning, if you're not careful, your heart will start producing things that compete with God. You'll start worshiping image. Approval. You'll worship reputation. For you know what you're concerned about how people see you, then how God knows you. Saint Augustine reminds us that God does not regard the outward appearance but the heart. You can fix your presentation, but God is inspecting your heart. Look at somebody and say he wants all of me, not your leftovers, not your public version, not your edited life. He wants your whole heart, not that stuff you put on Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram. He wants the real you. You can't fake this. Now here's what makes this even heavier. Peter didn't catch them because of investigation, he caught them because of revelation. Uh, which means when God is moving, he doesn't just bless, he exposes. FF Bruce writes, the period of the church was essential if it was to be the instrument of God's power. And that's heavy. Now let that sit for a minute. A minute. God will not allow hypocrisy to sit comfortably in the atmosphere of power. Well, I don't know about you, but you can't fake it while you're trying to praise him. You can't fake it and do real worship. You can't allow hypocrisy and sin to inter sit comfortably in the atmosphere of power. That's why the church, and I'm going on my second point, that's why the church got problem now. Because we've allowed things to come in and sit comfortably in God's house. Well, I don't know about you, but I'm just feeling a little um um uh like we need to say, get on out of here. Uh we need we need to tell some things we can't allow this. Because we dealing with a God who doesn't allow just anything. Yeah, well, number two, the deception of spiritual performance. Um Peter said, Why you allow Satan to fill your heart? Lie to the Holy Spirit, sold, and it was under your control. You didn't have to say what you're gonna do, but you had a wrong motive. You simply, you have not simply lied to people, but to God. Why does Satan fill your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? They weren't lying to people, they were not lying in the streets, they were lying uh in church to God through the Spirit. Uh let that sit for a second. This is spiritual performance. Looking anointed without being authentic. They wasn't fooling outsiders, they were trying to fake it in the presence of God. That's spiritual performance. Look and save without being surrendered. They wanted the applause of generosity, the reputation of sacrifice, the appearance of holiness, but without the reality. There's a difference between being used by God versus being real with God. Sound and saved versus being surrendered. Church activity versus spiritual integrity. That we got we got a lot of busybodies in church. You're not saying you're just doing a lot of stuff. There's nothing real spiritual about it. It's just busybodiness. Just doing a whole lot, thinking that you're gonna work and you're gonna be all right. But work without faith. Well, I'll let y'all figure that out, those Bible scholars. Noise versus transformation. Peter says something heavy here. He said, Satan, feel your heart, not possession, but influence. He let the enemy shape the mode. That's what he's been doing ever since the Garden of Eden. Our Bible study Thursday night, and we've been going to we recap one and two, and we and three, and the the enemy uh influence Eve. He's been doing it ever since. He's always on his job, he's always taking the saints of God down a peg because we allow him to come in, can't possess us, but he can't influence us around us. When image matters more than integrity, deception has already started. He wanted to look deep without dying to self, wanted the applause without the altar, wanted the reputation without the relationship. And there's a difference between being used by God and being real with God. Well, time will permit me to go real deep in that being used by God versus being real with God. A whole lot of folk anointed, but they're not saved. Uh oh, I ain't got time. Let me start. I ain't got time. You got preachers and you got some singers, you got some anointed singers, but they write life as raggedy. Life is ratchet. There's a difference between used and being real. God can still bless through the singing and preaching of some unset and some activity, but that's not real with God. Because his gospel does not fall on shallow ground. Got church activity versus uh spiritual integrity, noise versus uh transformation. And that's the whole problem sometimes in church. And I've been a PK all my life. I've been around church for can I be 100 with you? Uh uh sometimes it's just noise. Some people don't need another shout, they just need a real surrender. Yes, they look at your neighbor and say, stop performing, start becoming. We gotta become all that God wants us to be. I and I and I know this part, I'm gonna I know this part makes people uncomfortable, but because we don't like a God who judges quickly, but the early church understood something we've got casual about. God is not only loving, God is holy. So R. C. Spro famously said, we are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners. Which means the issue wasn't just what they did, it was who they were refusing to be honest about. Well, that segues into my land. First, the danger of a divided heart, the deception of spiritual performance, and the consequence of dishonest devotion. That's my last one. Uh you think at 5 through 11 tells how uh Ananias fell down suddenly and died. Fear gripped, all gripped. Young men took the body, wrapped, took the body out. Now, about three hours later, here come the wife, and as Peter asked the same thing. How you how could you two have grieved to do something? Uh put the Lord to the test. She said, Oh. But she knew, and she failed, and died. Carried her out, buried her beside her husband. Great fear, not not terror fear, but reverence. This is the part that makes us uncomfortable right here. Because we like a grace-only version of God. But that five, Acts five reminds us God is also holy. And Anias falls dead. Sapphira falls dead. And the church gets quiet because we like grace. We don't always respect holiness. But hear me. God wasn't being harsh. The early church was being established. God was protecting the purity of his power. Because if hypocrisy allowed at the foundation, they will corrupt everything that's built on top. God takes seriously what we often take casually. Problem is we measure sin against culture instead of measuring it against God. Notice great fear came on the church. When you see how holy God is, you stop playing with what he did for us. Yeah, not fear of punishment, but reverence for his holiness. Sometimes to deal strongly with something, so the whole body learns to walk carefully. J.J. Packer said, reverence for God is the foundation of true religion. Charles Spurgeon declared the fear of God is the death of every other fear, which means when you fear God, you stop fearing people's opinions, you stop chasing applause, you stop living for image. You can't fake this. You can't fake real surrender. You can't fake real holiness. You can't fake real relationship because God doesn't see your hands, he sees your heart. Davis Willis said it like this: the greatest issue is whether those who identified as Christians will become disciples. God is not looking for actors, he's not looking for players in a play, he's looking for disciples. Can I preach it like I feel it? Look at somebody and say, you can't fake this, you can't fake a shout, you can't fake a dance, you can't fake a title. But you can't fake a heart that belongs to God. Because when your heart is real, your worship gets real, your prayer gets real, your life starts changing for real. And I hear the Lord saying, stop trying to look like it and start living like it. Because when you give God your whole heart, what happens? He'll give you power, he'll give you peace, he'll give you real joy, he'll give you real presence, he'll give you real happiness, real hope. Do I have anybody on the sound of my voice that can say I'm not I'm done pretending, I'm done performing, I'm done playing church because when I give it's gonna be real and I'm not fake you can't fake this and I'm not gonna try. I want the real thing. Ain't he real? Ain't he holy? Ain't he worthy? And if you've been half in, half out, looking right but living wrong, performing but not surrender, this is your moment to get it right. He's not asking for perfection, he's only asking for honesty, because you don't have to fake it when grace can fix it. And if you don't mind, let me tell you a little something about him. Can I talk about him? Born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth, baptized in the Jordan, but one Friday on a heath. You call Calvary. He died. Yes, he died. He died, but that's not the end. He put him in a borrowed tomb. You stay there for three days. But early Sunday morning he rose from the grave. Living he loved me. Dying he saved me. Buried he carried my sins away. Rise and he justified me. But the good news to say is oh he's coming back and I dare you one time to just open up your mouth if you're somewhere where you can yell and give him a praise like he's worthy. Because when praise breaks out, chains are broken, doors open, enemies break back, blessings break forth. And if you don't give him glory, yeah, I told you a couple of weeks ago, he said the rocks will cry out, but as long as I got breath in my body, yeah. Why do I praise him? Because he got up from the grave. I ain't got time for no rocks to cry out for me. I got to give him praise for everything he's done, for every door he's opened, uh, every tear he's drowned, every battle he's fought. I can't be quiet now. I I'm not gonna fake him. I got a whole lot of real Invitation is extended now. If you don't know Jesus and the pardon of your sins, if you would like to get to know him better, uh and get saved, allow him to come into your life, simply say this prayer. Jesus, I need you in my life. I believe you died and rose again on the third day. I trust you to control my life and to enhance my future. If you said that prayer, uh it's as simple as ABC, accept, believe, and commit. If you did that, we would love to hear from you. You may contact us through our email, get praise on at house of praisep.org. Or you may go simply to our website, www.house of praisep.org, contact us, and someone from our discipleship team will get back with you with other information you need in order to begin this new life in Christ. We love you to life, we look forward to hearing from you. Thank you again for listening to our podcast. We hope something was said, be a blessing for you, and be a blessing for you this week. We know that we are still in the hands of God, and we will trust Him to keep and deliver us. Bless you, God bless you. County Line, we love you to life, and you can't do anything about it. Look forward to next week. The Lord says the same. We hope that you are praying, reading your word, and staying true, and standing on the promises of the Lord. God bless you, and we'll see you next week, Pastor Mac Alex.

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I need to hear you.