From Gary... Good Advice

Picture says it all, doesn't it?  Even though the word LOVE isn't used, I still get it.  Love is the cure for hopelessness.  I have used the following passage many times, but each and every one of them it is appropriate. See what  you think...

1 Corinthians, Chapter 13

1 If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don’t have love, I have become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.  2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don’t have love, I am nothing.  3 If I dole out all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but don’t have love, it profits me nothing. 

  4  Love is patient and is kind; love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud,  5 doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil;  6 doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;  7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will be done away with. Where there are various languages, they will cease. Where there is knowledge, it will be done away with.  9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part;  10 but when that which is complete has come, then that which is partial will be done away with.  11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. Now that I have become a man, I have put away childish things.  12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known.  13 But now faith, hope, and love remain—these three. The greatest of these is love. 

Love, is powerful.  Whether your a little kid or someone with WAY too many years under your belt- it is something we can all understand.  Thank God for giving it to us and also thank HIM for those who practice it!!!

From Mark Copeland... Ananias And Sapphira (Ac.5:1-11)

                          "THE BOOK OF ACTS"

                     Ananias And Sapphira (5:1-11)

INTRODUCTION

1. Previously, we examined the remarkable liberality in the Jerusalem
   church...
   a. As people sold lands and possessions to aid their brethren - 

      Ac 2:44-45; 4:32-35
   b. As exemplified by Joses, named Barnabas by the apostles - 

      Ac 4:36-37

2. In vivid contrast, we are then told of the example of Ananias and
   Sapphira...
   a. A husband and wife who sold a possession, giving part of the
      proceeds to the apostles
   b. Who were both struck dead!

[Why did this happen?  What can we learn from this remarkable incident in
the history of the early church?  Let's take a closer look at the case of
Ananias and Sapphira, beginning with...]

I. THEIR PLOT TO DECEIVE

   A. FROM THE TEXT...
      1. Ananias and his wife Sapphira sold a possession - Ac 5:1
      2. Ananias kept back part of the proceeds, his wife knowing - Ac 5:2
      3. He brought a part of the proceeds to the apostles - Ac 5:2

   B. OBSERVATIONS...
      1. From the context we know that they intended to deceive the
         apostles
      2. To give the impression they gave the full amount of the
         proceeds
      3. Evidently to appear magnanimous in their giving

[What happens next may at first seem shockingly extreme...]

II. THE DEATH OF ANANAIAS

   A. FROM THE TEXT...
      1. Peter challenges Ananias - Ac 5:3-4
         a. Why has he allowed Satan to enter his heart to lie to the
            Holy Spirit?
            1) The land was his to use
            2) The money was his to control
         b. He has not lied to men, but to God!
      2. Ananias drops dead - Ac 5:5-6
         a. Upon hearing the words of Peter
         b. Creating great fear on those who heard
         c. Carried out by young men and buried

   B. OBSERVATIONS...
      1. Noted in our lesson on "Communal Christianity"
         a. The selling of homes, lands, possessions, et all, was
            free-will offerings
         b. They did not have to sell their possessions, nor give 100%
            of the proceeds
      2. The relationship of the apostles to the Holy Spirit
         a. Lying to the apostles was lying to the Holy Spirit
         b. Because the apostles were inspired by the Holy Spirit - cf.
            Jn 16:13
      3. The relationship of the Holy Spirit to God
         a. Peter identifies the Holy Spirit as God - Ac 5:3-4
         b. One of many passages that illustrates the deity of the Holy
            Spirit

[Not long after the death of her husband, just as shocking is...]

III. THE DEATH OF SAPPHIRA

   A. FROM THE TEXT...
      1. Peter confronts Sapphira - Ac 5:7-9
         a. She enters three hours later, unaware of her husband's
            death
         b. Did she sell the land for a certain amount?  Yes, she
            answers
         c. Why did she agree with her husband to the test the Spirit?
         d. Those who buried her husband were ready to carry her out
      2. Sapphira falls dead - Ac 5:10-11
         a. Immediately at the feet of Peter
         b. Carried out by young men and buried by her husband
         c. Creating great fear upon all the church and all who heard

   B. OBSERVATIONS...
      1. The accountability of Sapphira
         a. Her complicity in the sin of lying was exposed
         b. She could not use submission to her husband as an excuse
      2. The punishment of death for lying to the apostles
         a. Reminiscent of the deaths of Nadab & Abihu - Lev 10:1-3
         b. Both incidents occur at the beginning of their respective
            dispensations
            1) Nadab and Abihu struck down just as the Law of Moses
               begins
            2) Ananias and Sapphira struck down just as the Church
               begins
         c. Both make the point:  God's Word and His spokesmen must be
            taken seriously
      3. The first case of "church discipline"?
         a. Jesus and His apostles taught church discipline - 

            Mt 18:15-17; 1Co 5:1-13; 2Th 3:6-15
         b. One effect of such discipline is to preserve the purity of
            the church - 1Co 5:6-8
         c. Of course, church discipline today calls for withdrawal
            from the one who refuses to repent, not death - cf. Mt 18:17;
            1Co 5:13; 2Th 3:6,14
         d. But even the extreme case of Ananias and Sapphira reveals
            the positive effect "church discipline" can have in the eyes
            of the community (i.e., respect) - cf. Ac 5:11,13-14

CONCLUSION

1. From the case of Ananias and Sapphira, we learn that apostles were
   to be taken seriously...
   a. Lying to the apostles was lying to the Holy Spirit (i.e., God!)
   b. Just as heeding their words is heeding the words of God - cf. Jn 13:20

2. Do we take the apostles of Christ seriously today...?
   a. We may not lie to them as did Ananias and Sapphira
   b. But do we respect their teaching as did the early church? - cf.
      Ac 2:42; 1Th 2:13

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2012