Bible Text: Acts 4:31-5:11 | Preacher: Rev. Dr. Lou Saldiveri | Series: Sunday Morning Worship | Intro: As you know, the root of all sin is pride. Pride causes us to make some bad decisions. Pride tells us the we need to look good on the outside so that we could mask the bad stuff going on in our hearts. Unchecked pride eventually results in putting on a facade so that we look good on the outside to impress people. Pride prefers superficial impression rather than developing godly character. The worst aspect about pride is that we think we know better than God and we can then lie to God and ourselves.

In this passage, Dr. Luke gives us a comparison between Christ Followers walking the talk verse Christ Followers whose talk is deceptive and misleading. They are deceiving others, God, and themselves. That is a very dangerous position in which to be.

Christ Followers Who Walk the Talk

They were united in heart and mind

They realized that what God has given them is not theirs, but God’s possessions

We are call to be good stewards of God’s blessings

Out of a voluntary and compassionate heart, they were willing to sacrifice from time to time for the sake of others

The result, by God’s grace and in the power of the Holy Spirit, there was no one in need

The money from the sales were laid at the Apostle’s feet to be used the help others in need

Christ Followers Who Didn’t Walk Their Talk

Ananias and Sapphira decided to sell a piece of their property

The money from the sale was all their money

They could have kept all of it, donated all of it, or donate a portion of it

They were more interested in showing that they were better than the others in giving. They were more interested in image than character

When they presented the money to the Apostles, they deceived them into believing that they were give 100% of the money from the sale of the house to the church. Instead, they  both conspired to keep a potion of the money for themselves

They lied to the Holy Spirit and the church

They had opportunity to repent and confess

They continued to lie even as they were confronted

God sent judgement

Others in the church understood that God takes sin seriously

Great fear spread over all the church

Closing: Will we let the Holy Spirit examine our hearts to help rid us of any pride that will cause us to settle for just looking good on the outside? Are we willing to let the Word of God and the Holy Spirit change us from the inside out to start producing godly character so that we can work towards congruence in our lives?