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Experiencing Acts - Chapter 5 – Questions and Answers

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Experiencing Acts - Chapter 5 – Questions and Answers Experiencing Acts - Chapter 5 – Questions and Answers I. Ananias and Sapphira fall dead (V 1-11) II. Many Signs and Wonders (V 12-16) III. The Apostles Arrested and Freed – The Second Persecution (V 17-42) I. Ananias and Sapphira fall dead (V 1-11) 1. What was the “bridge” story between the end of Chapter 4 and the beginning of Chapter 4? Leader tips/commentary: Barnabas, at the end of chapter 4, had given a large sum of money to “the church”. This “living in community” made sure all members were taken care of. Now the first defection comes in. Having all things common could not continue and did not continue simply because of the carnal nature that is in mankind. Dr. Luke is a master of contrast as he tells this story immediately after the brief citing about Barnabas. 2. What prompted Ananias and his wife, Sapphira to sell property and give to the community? Leader tips/commentary: Ananias, with Sapphira were obviously imitating Barnabas. He had probably received much “publicity” for his substantial gift, so they wanted that same attention. Key questions: Did Barnabas give a large sum of money to the church just to get attention? Do many give to the church today to get attention? 3. Was Ananias and Sapphira’s sin because they wanted the attention that would come with giving a large gift to the church? Leader tips/commentary: NO. The primary sin was that they lied about it! 4. Why the emphasis on this story? Leader tips/commentary: God will allow nothing to stand in the way of the proclamation of his gospel and the expansion of his church. This couple wanted acclaim without sacrifice and comfort without commitment. They caused the first demonstration of defeat within the ranks since the betrayal of Judas and denial by Peter. Satan “filled your heart to lie”… INSTEAD = Eph 5:18 says – “Be filled with the Holy Spirit” We see immediately that the sin lay not in failing to give all the money, but rather in pretending to do so. The basic issue here was lying, not only to the church but to the Spirit. Integrity describes those standards of moral and intellectual honesty on which we base our conduct and from which we cannot swerve without cheapening ourselves. 5. What is lying to the Holy Spirit today? Leader tips/commentary: It is a sin that Christians commit frequently today. When Christians act hypocritically by pretending a devotion that is not there or a surrender of life that they have not really made, they lie to the Holy Spirit. A lie, such as these two were living, could not exist in the early church. There was a holiness of life in the church. Ananias and Sapphira, although they were saved, lied to the Holy Spirit and were removed from the company of believers. This was a sin unto death which Ananias and Sapphira committed. Sickness and death do not always result from sin, but God reserves the right to deal with sin in his church, even to the strongest possible penalty. God can remove a spiritual cancer by surgery and may very well choose to do so on some occasions In neither case did Peter pronounce a curse of any kind. Peter explained the sin, but God took care of the judgment. 6. Experiencing Acts is about the formation and power of the first church. What is significant about Acts 5:11 in relation to this study? Leader tips/commentary: The death of Ananias and Sapphira brought two results: fear in the church and fear in the city. This is the first appearance in Acts of the Greek word for church (V 11 - ekklesia). Fear in the city centered on the power of God and perhaps the ugliness of sin. money, greed, and deceit—all very popular problems in today's church. Deceit, disunity, and duplicity always undermine the Holy Spirit's work and always erode the effectiveness of the Christian community. II. Many Signs and Wonders (V 12-16) 7. What led to the exponential growth of the church during this period of Acts? Leader tips/commentary: There were many signs and wonders through the ministry of the apostles. Gifts of healing and gifts of miracles were sign gifts which were given to the those who had been filled with the Holy Spirit. The discipline in the church had put a fear on the people and had stopped the explosive revival. Yet there were those who were still being saved. Believers were being added daily, exponentially. We know that by A.D. 300 there were millions of people in the Roman Empire who had turned to Christ. 8. What group was leading in the persecution of these apostles? Leader tips/commentary: Sadducees were leading in the persecution. It was the Pharisees who had led in the persecution against Jesus; it is the Sadducees who lead the persecution against the early church. Overt efforts to proclaim the gospel in an alien environment will often result in persecution, but God takes care of his people. When the apostles exercised their gifts, they produced a reaction. 9. What was the key reason the Sadducees were so upset? Leader tips/commentary: A key reason the Sadducees were upset – jealousy. V 17 “jealousy” in Acts, only occurs here and in Acts 13:45. A key term in Judaism for religiously motivated rage. A zeal motivated by a desire to maintain the purity of their faith and ruling posture. In chapter 4 God's grace intervened in the minds of the Sanhedrin, and the apostles were released. Here we have a physical deliverance and a divine revelation directing them precisely back to what they were doing, preaching the gospel in the temple courts. III. The Apostles Arrested and Freed – The Second Persecution (V 17-42) 10. Apostles arrested for the second time….How did they get out this time? Leader tips/commentary: This time an angel intervened and opened the gates of the prison!! Sadducees didn’t believe in angels! Interesting God’s choice for the apostles’ delivery! When they saw the apostles preaching in the temple again, they appealed to the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative and judicial body among the Jews. According to Dr. Luke, it appears that the guards did not even know they had escaped (12-16). 11. What was Peter’s response when the high priest asked why that had disobeyed the court’s orders? Leader tips/commentary: When the high priest questioned them about disobeying their strict orders not to teach in Jesus’ Name, Peter said, “We must obey God rather than man. This Savior is at the right hand of God to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. We are witnesses to these events and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.” When witnessing Christians work IN the Holy Spirit to proclaim the message of crucifixion and resurrection, those who oppose that message find themselves fighting against God! 12. Did Peter try to defend their actions? Leader tips/commentary: No. Peter offers no defense, only a witness, an offer of salvation to Jesus' murderers. Verses 30-32 are pure gospel. Repentance and forgiveness of sins offered to Israel. There is no anti-Semitism here, but a frank explanation of historical events and a free offer of salvation to those who believe. 13. How can the “court” know this is true? Leader tips/commentary: Eyewitnesses! Apostles and the Holy Spirit. Notice the Holy Spirit comes as God's gift to those who obey Him and receive Him. 14. How did the Sadducees respond to Peter’s words? Leader tips/commentary: (V 33) – When the Sadducees became so furious over what they were saying, they wanted to execute them. 15. Who came to the Apostles defense? Answer: Suddenly, help came from an unlikely source…a Pharisee!! His name was Gamaliel...famous Jewish scholar, lawyer and teacher (mentioned also in Acts 22:3, and in many historical references). It took someone of his statue to logically quiet this threat. Probably wasn’t doing it to defend this NT church, but was political enough to know that you would not be good to kill leaders of this wildly growing Jewish cult. 16. What were Gamaliel’s arguments? Leader tips/commentary: 1. In a previous uprising, events took care of the leader…he was killed; 2. If these men are actualy voices from God, you can’t stop them…and may be actually fighting against God! l 17. What was the result of Gamaliel’s defense? Leader tips/commentary: Gamaliel won them over. The apostles were beaten…and then ordered to no longer speak in the name of Jesus. 18. Was this a defeat for the Apostles? Leader tips/commentary: The apostles left the council rejoicing! To be worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of Jesus’ Name! And EVERY day, both in the temple and house to house they taught and proclaimed the good news….that Jesus was the Christ!! Two great lessons for us. First, the calm, quiet logic of Gamaliel should appeal to Christians repeatedly told in Scripture to be sober and controlled. Second, though committed believers must speak out against heresy and cultic error, attacks against fellow Christians on minor matters are out of place and out of character. .
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