Acts 4:32-5:11
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning. My name is Spencer. I'm one of the pastors here. We're going to be in Acts chapter 4 today, verse 32 through 5:11. You can grab one of those black Bibles on page 1057 and follow along.
That's what the text is going to be. Before we jump into that, I want to talk about something that I know is going to excite your souls. And that is 2nd century heresies. Just lean in, guys. It's great.
In the 2nd century, there was a false teacher named Marcion. And he had a false teaching called Marcionism. This false teaching was the idea that the Old Testament had a different God than the New Testament. That the Old Testament had a God who was wrathful and angry. But Jesus is not that.
And he's loving. So Marcion taught this false teaching where he's ripping out pages of the Bible to satisfy his view of who he thinks God should be. Now, God doesn't change. His character is both love and wrath that flows throughout the whole Bible. And I'll be honest with you.
If you closely read the New Testament, you're going to run into some situations and places where, like Marcion, you're going to have to rip out pages of the Bible. Because there are places where Jesus absolutely displays love. And there are other places where in the Gospels and in the Book of Acts and in the rest of the New Testament, you're going to see the wrath of God on display. And today is one of those stories that Marcion surely would have ripped out and not actually held. So we're going to look at a story today that captures this idea of God's judgment.
We're going to see two different situations. In the end of chapter 4, as we finish up that chapter, we're going to see how the church has responded with generosity and selflessness. And then we flip over to chapter 5, we're going to see the opposite. We're going to see a couple that embodies self-interest and selfishness. And we're going to see God's response to them.
And then we will take a moment to consider what's going on in their sin and also God's response. Let me pray for us, then we'll walk through this together. Heavenly Father, I pray that you would help us have ears to hear what you have to say this morning. I pray that we would be open-minded towards truth that may be difficult, but ultimately points to you and your character and your glory. And I pray that you give us eyes to see it and ears to hear it.
We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. So after what we've been in the last couple of weeks where the church is being persecuted, we get an update on how the church is doing, embodying the values we've seen since Pentecost. Back in Acts 2, 42 through 47, we saw that the early church had all things together. And at the end of chapter 4, we get that further described.
In verse 32, we'll pick up there. It says,
Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul. And no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.
— Acts 4:32 (ESV)
So everybody had their own belongings and stuff, but what they were doing was believing the gospel and saying, Here, take it. Let's advance to the gospel. Let's take care of one another's needs. The well-being of others was the heartbeat of the early church. In verse 33, it continues.
It says,
With great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.
— Acts 4:33–35 (ESV)
So they keep proclaiming and preaching the resurrection. Great grace is falling upon the church, and the description of all things in common gets some further picturing. That there's not a needy person among them. That in the early church, there wasn't need. Now, I would go on a limb to say that the way that the early church classified needs, and how we classify needs, is probably quite a bit different.
In our culture, Wi-Fi ends up being a need. So I think the needs were probably a little bit different, but I think probably covers the basics. Food, clothing, shelter. And the picture that you get here in Acts 4 is that the church is getting rid of the excess to provide for those so that anyone in the church is not in need. They want to make sure the household of faith is taken care of.
This means it is likelier, wealthier Christians who owned extra land and houses, and they're selling them. And they're giving the proceeds, laying it at the feet of the apostles, trusting the leadership of the church, the apostles, to distribute it to those who are in need. I don't think that means that everybody went homeless. I don't think that's what this teaching is getting at. You can see later in Acts chapter 12, Mary, the mother of John Mark, is hosting people in her home.
So I do think what this picture is, is that those who had excess were selling it to provide for their brothers and sisters in Christ. And they're laying it at the apostles' feet to distribute. Which I'll be honest, that's probably one of the many joys of pastoring in this church, is that regularly people are looking to provide for one another. They're looking to get rid of excess to take care of other people in this church. And it's a lot of fun to have someone that comes to you and says, I just want to be able to bless.
Here, take it, make it anonymous, make sure that this person is taken care of. It's a lot of fun to be in the seat that I'm in. Because I get to see people respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ in new and wonderful ways. I don't think, historically, I don't think that we've had someone sell land, donate land or houses. But I do think, pretty consistently, one of the things that happens in our church is that people give away cars.
It's a thing that happens every year. It's just, I love it. Someone says, listen, I've got this car. It's got a lot of life left in it. I'm getting ready to get something else.
And instead of trading it in, instead of selling it, they say, who in the church is in need? And it's wonderful. And this happens regularly. And that embodies the heart of one anothering that happens in the early church. And that's what's happening.
And we get one more picture of this in verse 36, as we get the name of somebody who will play a bigger role in the book of Acts later. But in verse 36, it says,
Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas, which means son of encouragement, a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.
— Acts 4:36–37 (ESV)
So this is the Barnabas that later is going to become a missionary alongside Paul. And he's from Cyprus, and he's got some land in Cyprus. And he says, this is excess. I don't need this. But the people of God do, and he sells it, and he gives it to the apostles, and they distribute.
And that's how chapter 4 ends. And it's a very, very interesting segue into chapter 5. Where we're going to see a couple that does not embody what we just read. What we just read was selflessness, not self-interest, the desire to give so that others may be provided for. And we're going to see something quite different here in chapter 5.
Now, I'm going to be honest with you. This is perhaps one of the most jarring stories in the New Testament. It's a lot. So what I want to do is I want to work through all of it. I want to read through all this.
And then I want to come back to help us see two things. I want to see what went wrong and how we should consider God's response. So let's work through the story starting in verse 1.
But a man named Ananias with his wife Sapphira sold a piece of property. And with his wife's knowledge, he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet.
— Acts 5:1–2 (ESV)
So they do something that others are doing, selling property. But what we're going to see is that this is sneaky and this is deceptive. And Peter sees straight through it. Verse 3, But Peter said,
Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.
— Acts 5:3–4 (ESV)
So Peter, presumably, from the Holy Spirit, gets supernatural insight into what's happening here. That they're being dishonest. That they're faking godliness, trying to look like others. They want to look like Barnabas. They want to look like they're giving.
But they're actually faking. They're giving the appearance of godliness without true sacrificial generosity. And Peter sees straight through it. And he convicts them with the four lines of questioning. He says, Why has Satan filled your heart?
To lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the proceeds? Wasn't it yours to begin with? When you sold it, what wasn't the money yours to do as you wished? Why have you come up with this evil plan to lie to God? So Peter sees through it.
Then verse 5,
When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last breath. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.
— Acts 5:5–6 (ESV)
So immediately, Ananias drops dead. He's carried away, buried. And then, his wife shows up. Verse 7,
After an interval of about three hours, his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter said to her, Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.
— Acts 5:7–8 (ESV)
So Peter's questioning to see if she's going to continue with the charade. And she said,
Yes, for so much.
— Acts 5:8 (ESV)
But Peter said to her,
How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out. Immediately, she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in, they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.
— Acts 5:9–11 (ESV)
So Ananias and Sapphira come up with a deceitful plan. They get called out on it. And then God kills them. That's a lot to absorb. So what I want to do is I want to zoom in and I want to consider what went wrong with Ananias and Sapphira.
And then I want to see, take a step back and see how we should consider God's response. So let's look at first what went wrong. I want to, as we look at this, consider Peter's response to Ananias. In verse 3 it said, But Peter said,
Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.
— Acts 5:3–4 (ESV)
There are three aspects I want to consider of what went wrong. The first is the work of the enemy. The second is their hearts. And the third is their actions. So let's look at that first one.
The work of the enemy. It says,
Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart?
— Acts 5:3 (ESV)
That's Peter's response here. The church is filled with the Holy Spirit that is directed, as we just saw in chapter 4, to live a selfless life. But Ananias, lured and enticed into the web of Satan, was pierced to the heart with the venom of self-interest, which is really displayed in the native dialect of the devil, which is deception. Satan whispers lies. And he fills his head and his heart with visions of self.
And then Ananias tries to carry out this deception. And I want to say very clearly, we have an enemy that wants to destroy you. We have an enemy that wants to destroy us. That he's going to whisper lies, saying, if you do this, Ananias, if you do this, they're going to think highly of you. Ananias, if you, at this point, if you tell the truth, if you're honest about this sin, they're going to think less of you.
They're going to think you're a fake. They're going to think you're a fraud. Look at Barnabas. Look at all these other people. Look, you could be just like them, but here's the deal.
All you got to do is go through the charade. You can pocket the profits. He whispers lies that do not align with the voice of God, the spirit of truth. And we're going to hear lies like that. We're going to hear lies.
And if anyone understands that, it's Peter who's right in the middle of the story. Peter knows this type of deception. He knows what it means to lie. He knows what it means to battle with the work of the enemy. He denied and lied three times about Jesus, about knowing him.
And before that happened, Jesus tried to warn Peter. In Luke 22, he said,
Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat.
— Luke 22:31 (ESV)
And then he did. And then Peter, because of his fear, lied. So Peter knows what it means to be deceived. He knows what it means to have the enemy work in your heart to spread lies. I think that's why in 1 Peter, why Peter is so intensely corrective in the church, talking about Satan, the devil, prowling around like a roaring lion, that we need to resist him is the command that comes out of 1 Peter.
That we should resist the work of the enemy and stand firm because he's going to lie. And y'all, I have been pastoring for almost, I don't know, almost a decade at this point. And I just, at this point, I've seen so many people, rational, thinking people, believe some of the most absurd things that do not align with any reality whatsoever. And when this happens, I just have the go-to assumption that it's not just the work of the flesh, that the enemy is somewhere in the middle of it. And we've walked with people over and over again who are believing lies that are from the evil one.
So we need to wake up to that reality. Because if we think that it's just normal to believe things that are not remotely true about us in Christ, that you need to reckon with, that may not just be from you, that might be from the enemy. And that's what's happening here in this passage. So the second thing I want us to consider and what went wrong is the hearts of Ananias and Sapphira. So back in verse 1, the setup is,
But a man named Ananias with his wife Sapphira sold a piece of property and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet.
— Acts 5:1–2 (ESV)
So I'm kind of with Peter here and wanting to know why. Why are they doing this? Why did they contrive this deceptive plan? Because there's no mandate for the church to have to sell your excess land. There's no requirement in this passage.
There's no requirement even now. The church is not some forced socialistic system that has requirements on what must be collected. Peter even highlights his individual property rights. He says it was yours to do with what you wanted. No one was forcing you and the question is why?
And I think we get to use a little bit of biblical reasoning in how we think about this and how we imagine what's happening with Ananias and Sapphira. Maybe you've experienced this at around Christmas time. There's a normal practice that happens. If you've ever been to a coffee shop at a drive-thru what happens around the holiday season is that people do basically like a pay-it-forward chain. So I used to—I was a barista when I was in seminary.
This is a thing that happens where you drive up to the window to pay for your coffee and they tell you hey I just want to let you know that the person who's in front of you paid for your drink. Oh that's great. Actually this has been going on for quite a while. We've got like this is like for like the last hour. It's just everyone's feeling it and they're paying for the person behind them.
Do you want to do the same? Yes I do. Alright. Well it's going to be $64. I'm sorry what? $64?
What are they doing? Well they're ordering coffee for the office and you know I mean that's like eight drinks now so it's pretty easy to get there. $64? Man I like I budget for this? I I bring my own at home to come here on a Friday to enjoy this? Like I that's that's this.
And it's like I think what happens is you can get swept up in the generosity and the moment that you have to count the cost it's like oh boy that's a lot. And I think that it's very likely that Ananias and Sapphira are they're seeing there's a spirit of generosity that's just sweeping through the church and they're feeling it. But the moment that it required them to count the cost the game changed and they had to consider oh wait this is a lot that I'm giving up here. And the appearance of godliness without the cost of godliness seemed like a good plan that they could get away with. Because no one is forcing this but they think we can get the credit without the cost.
Now we can only speculate as to their motivations to why they faked godliness and lied to the apostles about their gift. There are typically reasons beneath the reasons, sin beneath the sin, idols beneath the idols. That's something we regularly talk about in our church. There are reasons that we tell lies. There are reasons for the sins that we commit.
And the warning here is that if we're not discerning enough to realize this in real time you can step into great sin at great cost to your life and you can ruin yourself. So the last thing I want to consider what went wrong is the action itself. And that's lying. I want to consider the problem of lying. I think the issue for many of us is that when we encounter you shall not lie when we encounter this in the scriptures that we have a pretty narrow understanding of what lying is.
That we think it's basically just bald-faced lying. Did you eat my ice cream? No no I don't. I think the children did. I didn't eat your ice cream.
I think that's like our category is like fabrication, denial. But the reality is is that lying and deception is a much bigger category than that. You can lie by exaggerating the truth. Maybe you're a storyteller and you you like when you tell stories when people are laughing and cutting up and you just give a little more and a little more a little more you start adding things that didn't happen. You like to be liked but you just want to add a little more.
And exaggeration is lying. Minimizing is lying when you minimize things. I was just joking when you know I said the whole office said you smelled. It's like really didn't feel like a joke. Felt like it's a real thing.
Like I'm real self-conscious about halitosis and like I don't really feel like there's truth behind that. Are you sure? No I just I don't mean it at all. I kind of think you did. That minimization is lying.
Think about this: telling yourself lies is lying. Let that sit upon our souls. If you tell yourself like I'm just so stupid I'm terrible nobody loves me nobody cares about me. If you repeat this to yourself over and over again you're lying to yourself. And that's not a small thing.
You can lie by omitting facts to give a false impression. I'm just going to leave out these details that leads you to believe something else. It's deceptive. It's sneaky. It's going to happen in your group at a care night. Someone can say I don't know is it you got any sin that you're struggling through right now.
No I'm good. I'm doing alright. Things are good right now. Or my favorite which is the vague confession. You know I'm working through some stuff.
I'm just struggling. And it's like, really, with what? Ah just you know just I don't know just you know struggling with some lust I'm working through it. It's like, what do you mean struggling with some lust? And then like it takes like three or four backup questions to kind of get into it.
And it's oh you're looking at pornography like three times a week. You're not struggling. You're losing. You're getting out. I don't know why it took three or four minutes to get to the truth.
But but we do this y'all. You can lie on your taxes. You can tell half truths which by the way are full lies. Were you at class today? Yeah I was at class.
Really because like someone said you showed up for like the last five minutes. But I was there. It's like that's you know that's not what I was asking. It's deceptive I think we narrow the category of lying and that's much broader than we consider. And here's the deal the reason why that's so important is because all it takes is a little bit of deception to ruin trust and relationships.
And that matters. Show of hands, how many of you know what BC powder is? Okay all right that's not okay. I thought that everyone knew what BC powder was. Okay I thought this was a universal experience.
Apparently it's not. This is more of a southern thing and it's kind of niche. BC powder or Goody's powder is aspirin. Uh-huh yeah okay Goody's. There you go.
It's it's it's aspirin powder. Okay the reason I thought everyone knew this is because when I was growing up there was a box in the kitchen there was a box in my parents' bathrooms there was a box in each of their cars which I put together and they had something to do with my brother and I and how much of a a pain we were to them on a regular basis. Maybe a big source of headache. But that was the go-to treatment for headaches in our household. Now I found out since then according to Mike Goble who's a doctor he disapproves of the use of them because it's a very high dose of aspirin straight to the stomach and that's frowned upon by doctors who aren't from the south.
But that's why we get second opinions for a reason. Now I want you to imagine for a moment you've been using BC powder or Goody's powder for years and then one day you take it and it's got just I mean the faintest the tiniest little bit of fentanyl in it. Just a hair of fentanyl. Not a lot. And then you drop.
And thankfully you get Narcan'd and you wake up in the hospital and you get told what would happen is is that there's just a little bit of fentanyl in your BC powder. Now let me ask you something. Are you going to keep using BC powder? No. Game over. I think I'll take an Advil.
I think I'll just drink a lot of water. I don't I don't think I'm ever taking that again. And the reality is is that when we downplay deception. It's just a little bit. It's not that big of a deal.
It is all it takes is a little bit to ruin your trust in someone. And it's a massive deal. When we lie, we ruin the trust that we have in marriages. The parent-child relationship is affected. Friendships are affected.
Work relationships are affected. Churches are affected. And we need to see that. God hates it. He hates lying.
He makes it abundantly clear in Proverbs 6. This will be on the screen. It says
There are six things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil,
a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.
— Proverbs 6:16–19 (ESV)
Two of those are explicitly lying a lying tongue and a false witness who breathes out lies. You can make the case that three of those involve deception. God hates it. It's a big deal. And listen the part of this that makes it even bigger is that Ananias and Sapphira are lying it says not to man but to God.
God the Holy Spirit, the third member of the Trinity, in his people. That when you lie to Christians. There's this category. Everything they were doing the deceptive way that they were giving the lying to Peter that this opens up a category for that lying to Christians is in essence lying to the Holy Spirit in the church. So we shouldn't lie to anyone period.
But there's this you definitely should not lie to your brothers and sisters in Christ. You definitely should not be deceptive or sneaky amongst the household of faith. There's this extra layer of this extra further degradation of evil that's happening when this is done to the church. Both are evil but certainly don't do it amongst the people of God. So after we've sat in this woe to any of us that downplay our deception after reading this.
Woe to any of us that when we receive conviction of the Spirit on this that we just push it away. I don't want to deal with this. I don't want to confront this. You need to understand God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance. Do not presume upon his forbearance.
We should be a people that take this seriously and this story highlights that. Now that's what went wrong. I want to end with how should we consider God's response. So it says in verse 5 that
When Ananias heard these words he fell down and breathed his last and great fear came upon those who heard it.
— Acts 5:5 (ESV)
In verse 10 it says
Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last breath.
— Acts 5:10 (ESV)
So this begs the question: does God still kill people, strike people down, in the New Testament? Yes he does. I was reading the commentary and you could tell the commentary was interacting with this argument that someone was making. And the argument essentially was well what really happened is that they died of natural causes in this moment.
And I was I felt like the most gaslighting take I've come across. I was like really just just right was their time. You know right right at the exact time that they're lying. Actually Peter calls a shot and he just states what's coming and it happens. So no it's like that's an absurd take.
It's so clear that God is bringing judgment here. And the question is why? That's what, when you read this story, you're like: why does this happen? And the big 10,000 foot above answer is because
God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, but he will by no means clear the guilty.
— Exodus 34:6–7 (ESV)
That's how God out loud describes himself before Moses at Mount Sinai. That he describes himself as a God who is loving and a God who has wrath. And this is clear in the scriptures. This is a part of his character.
And when you read places like God hates lying that we need to sit in that he hates lying. He has wrath towards lying. And it's because it does it destroys marriages and it destroys families and communities and churches. It's deeply disunifying and it is one of the main weapons of the devil and sowing disunity and destruction here on earth. And then there's another question that kind of sits in this.
How come Peter doesn't get struck down? How come he does this in the courtyard, and now, not that long later, months later, he's pronouncing judgment on a couple like this? How does Peter get to walk away and Ananias and Sapphira don't? And as God says to Moses in Exodus 33 and Paul later repeats in Romans chapter 9 the answer at a bigger level is
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy; I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
— Romans 9:15; Exodus 33:19 (ESV)
Because God chose. He chose to give grace to Peter and he chose to give judgment to Ananias and Sapphira. And you might ask, but how is that fair? And I would say that fairness has become really a postmodern concept that gets to be subjectively applied to whatever I think is right.
Meaning that it's in the eye of the person who gets to call what's fair. I think this is fair. You think that is fair. And it just gets to be subjective to whatever you think is fair. And my children will say that's not fair.
And y'all what happens next has been so repeated and rehearsed and redone in my household over and over again that when one of my kids says that's not fair you can see the other two begin to hang their heads because they know what's coming. And then I with excitement turn to the one who just said that's not fair. And at this point he or she knows what's coming. And I say, you want fair? Papa will take you.
It comes once a year. Which is my go-to line it's like the fair is what comes and you can get papa to take you because my dad loves taking the kids to the fair. But we don't do fair in this household in the way that you just described fair. That's not a concept here. And it's it's like that because God is not described as fair anywhere in the scriptures.
God is described as just. God is not a fair God. He is a just God. And if God was fair and he gave us the full justice we deserved everyone who lies would be struck down. But God is merciful.
He is merciful and letting corrupt creation continue to sow corruption through deception and deceit and letting us breathe the next breath. So people will this is a tough text. I know it is. And we'll say like but why. How does Peter not get judged? Like,
were they Christians? Were they—were Ananias and Sapphira unbelievers? I want answers. And the real specific answers is we we don't really know for sure. The text doesn't tell us.
If they're unbelievers then what God did was he moved up their judgment sooner and protected his church. And if they're believers he protected his church he brought judgment and the very next thing they did is they experienced the glory and the presence of God into eternity. We don't know. The text doesn't tell us one way or the other. People will also ask, does God still do this today?
And I would say it's not outside of his character. Why would his character from Old Testament and New Testament somehow change now, today? Now, is it a normative practice? I doubt it because we're all breathing in this room. But it's not outside the character of God.
And when you start to wrestle with these things, it's like, okay, but what am I supposed to do with this? How am I supposed to respond to this? And I think the answer is bound up in how this passage closes. In verse 11 it says
And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.
— Acts 5:11 (ESV)
The response is we should fear. Now that's hard for us because we as Christians we have two minds on this because I know that in Christ I stand with the perfect righteous covering of Christ that stands for me there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Therefore I don't have to live in timidity and in fear that at any moment God's going to get me. I know that the wrath what we just sang earlier the wrath of God was satisfied.
But we didn't sing that earlier. That's In Christ Alone. But that's something that we sing. But at the same time this command is to fear God. So how do I balance the two of those things?
And I would like to consider that by considering three different types of fathers. The first father will call him buddy dad. Buddy dad is the kind of dad that just wants to be friends with his kids. He's a buddy. He's the kind of dad that says I will not discipline my kids because I will not teach them to fear me ever.
And so he just he's a buddy and he's a friend. And children who have foolishness bound up in their heart as the scriptures teach see blood in the water regularly. And they see him as weak and they walk all over him. And they scream at their mother and their father. And in public they scream no at their parents and they run away.
And when they become teenagers they curse at their parents. They don't respect their parents. And that's buddy dad. Second dad we'll call him brutal dad. Brutal dad is the kind of dad that always has a temper and you can find it real quick.
He's always angry, always upset, always moody, always grumpy. Everyone walks on eggshells in the house. Spill a drink: cold chill goes up the kid's spine. Misspeaks a word just waiting at any moment to get gotten. Because they live and just fear and cower that at any moment brutal dad is going to lash out and get them.
The third dad is biblical dad. And this dad is a mighty dad but he's also a loving dad. And his kids know that he they're going to toe the line sometimes. They know that there's order in this house. They know they're going to respect their mama.
They know that he will bring discipline. And they know they might even get spanked. But in the next breath they know that their dad is tender and loving and kind and he's going to swoop them up and he's going to play games with them. And they're going to be silly. And they're going to and he's gentle and he's fierce.
And that's biblical dad. Now if you think that God is like buddy dad who's just going to co-sign your life. He's just going to—your choice. You get to do whatever you want. You can be self-centered.
You can fake holiness. You can gratify your flesh. But he'll and he'll just he's a friend. He's never going to do anything about it. If you think that is God you misunderstand his character.
Also if you think God is like brutal dad who everything you do he's waiting to get you. He's going to he's going to get you at any moment that you feel like you've got to cower and fear at every mistake that God's going to strike you down. Then I'm telling you you misunderstand the character of God. But if you think that biblical dads are just trying to model our Father in heaven a God who takes sin seriously so seriously that he sent his son Jesus Christ to bear the full cup of his wrath in our place. That God hates sin with an incomparable fire but he also loves us with an unmatched ferocity.
That he loves his church so much that he gave up his life for us claimed us redeemed us set us apart. And then lays out commands that are for our good rules that help maximize joy in our lives. And that as we follow Jesus Christ his wrath and judgment is meant to be something that in the seasons where our hearts are cold and we are pursuing sin it keeps us from falling headlong into hell as a warning to say don't pursue this don't go after this you know where this ultimately goes. But in the seasons where our hearts are warm that we are by the power of the Spirit at work in us reminded of who he is as he stirs our affections and makes sin less appealing and obedience more compelling. That we love him because of his great love for us.
And that when we stumble we're reminded that no one will snatch us out of the fierce hand of our mighty God. That if we can choose to see the infinite complexity of God and all of his rich love and fierce wrath. And then we worship him and we don't have all the answers. Then we'll be better set up to understand passages like this. So we're going to close by singing about that.
Matt and Kelly are going to come up and we're going to sing one final song. Passages like this highlight truth that is difficult for us to receive. It is hard for us as finite creatures to understand our infinite God. The good news is that he's given us songs he's given us truth that we even when it's hard to believe it can sing deep into our soul. So what I want to do as we close out is to sing a song about the complexity of who our God is and his love and his wrath.
Let me pray for us and then we will stand and sing. Heavenly Father, these truths are wonderful and difficult. Understanding who you are and all of your infinite complexity and all of your wonderful love and all of your terrifying wrath is hard for us as finite creatures. But God I pray that you would soften our hearts to receive what is true. I pray if there's anyone here that is struggling with this that they would see that the perfect example of love and wrath was borne out on the cross.
And that we would see that your correction is ultimately born out of your fierce love. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Stand.