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Sep 21, 2025

Unified or Compromised | Spirit, Power & The Church

Unified or Compromised | Spirit, Power & The Church

Passage: Acts 4:32-5:11

Speaker: Matt Petty

Series: Spirit, Power & The Church

Category: Sunday Sermons

Keywords: acts 4, acts 5, what acts 4 and 5 teach about church unity and integrity, how satan attacks from within the church, biblical example of generosity and spiritual boldness, lessons from ananias and sapphira, how to live out radical generosity and unity in faith, unified or compromised

In this message, we explore Acts 4 and 5, where the early church displays incredible unity, generosity, and boldness, right alongside a sobering moment of spiritual dishonesty. Learn how Satan’s tactics can come from inside the church, why real unity leads to impact, and how generosity and integrity matter in the mission of Christ. This is a wake-up call and a reminder that being "all in" isn’t just about showing up, but it’s about surrender.

Well, good morning church, and hello to all of the fall break lone survivors. We're here today. It is a great week. Man, did you notice traffic yesterday in town was beautiful? It really was. Man, we're glad you're here today. Glad that you're here every week and just almost like we say every week, if there's anything that we can do just to help you connect into this place, it would be our pleasure. All right?

Well look, if you've got a copy of scripture today, we're jumping in pretty quick. Acts chapter four. Acts chapter four is where we're going to start from in verse 32, and we're going to make it, God willing, all the way to Acts 5:11, today. Acts 5:11. If you haven't been here in a couple weeks, what we're doing is we're actually marching through the Acts book. All right? This little letter that Luke has given us and he has given us what it looks like to live in the power of God under the control of the Spirit as the church. That's what he's done.

Last week, we actually gave the first point in the Book of Acts that opposition begin to press in to the church. The church has launched. God is saving people, lots of people and delivering them. And here in Acts chapter four, last week, we saw that there is opposition. And actually we said last week that anytime that God wants to move, that there is another force out there. Satan. He wants to push back. He not only wants to push back, but he wants to take control. He wants to disguise himself as truth and he wants to steal, to kill and destroy. And last week we jumped in and we saw culture and the gospel collide, and we saw that the high priests, the temple guard and the priest as well as the Sadducees, and we saw them coming against Peter and John and Peter and John showed us how to stand, how to be bold, how to pray for boldness, and how to proclaim Jesus's name.

Well, listen, last week was all about these outside forces that were trying to press in and affect the gospel being spread. That's what we saw last week. But this week, Luke masterfully, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, he actually shows us that inside Satan's plan, Satan's plan is not just to try to use these outside forces to bring the church down and to cause disarray, but he also uses inside forces.

Now, last week, it seems to be that Satan would've learned his lesson because it seems to be anytime the heat gets turned up on the gospel, that God shows up and shows out even more. This week, what we're going to see is another tactic that we need to be aware of, of something that Satan will try to do in churches. In fact, I gave you a principle in your notes today that I want to start the morning off with just so you'll get into this kind of thinking.

You can write this down in your notes. Here it is. Here's the principle that I want to start with. It's that if Satan can't destroy us or destroy the church from the outside, here's what Satan will do. He will attack it and he will influence it through those on the inside of the church, to which some of us, we have some church hurt. We grew up in places to where we saw this happen, all right? And sometimes Satan will even do this with things that many of us would look at as small things or not big deal things, or even some churches would sweep these things under the rug.

So what does that mean, all right? What does that mean? In a nutshell, this. I started thinking this week just about some of the tactics that Satan uses and some of the ways that he creeps in. Let me see if I can just bring you into his mindset a little bit when it comes to the church, and then we'll get into scripture.

Did you know, thinking about Satan, did you know that Satan does not care if churches operate? He does not care. You say, "Matt, that's an odd statement to say, because doesn't that totally oppose to Satan?" Yes, but stay with me because here's what I'm saying. Satan doesn't care if we as believers, if we get together and we gather in our little holy huddle here. He doesn't care if we come in and sing some heartfelt songs together and internally just feel all warm and fuzzy inside. He could care less that that is happening. Did you know that also Satan doesn't care if you come here and you just have a great morning in the Lord? He doesn't care. He doesn't care if you come here and you look at another believer after the service, you're like, "Oh, it is just so good to be in God's house." He doesn't care about that. Why?

Because he knows that as long as it's internal, and as long as it's just this little group of people that are doing this little church thing, the frozen chosen, as some people would say, that he doesn't care about if that church is operating.

Did you also know this? Satan doesn't care if we're one foot in the church and one foot in culture. In fact, he loves that. He absolutely loves that. Why? Because he is the great counterfeiter and he loves that perverted view of the gospel. He loves it when Christians come on Sunday and then they just go live however they want to live during the week. In fact, he will leave that church alone that promotes that kind of gospel.

He'll also leave the church alone that just does church on the inside, but never moves outside to bless its community and to spread the name of Jesus. Satan loves that kind of church. Why? Because he knows in one generation that church dies. He knows in one generation that church becomes obsolete. He'll concede a few little believers, I hope you're hearing me say this, as long as they are not living unified in the spirit under the power of the Spirit, proclaiming the name of Jesus to the neighborhoods. That's what the gospel is telling us here.

In fact, Satan, here's what he will not let go. He will not let go the church that is unified together, that is unified. And what have we seen in the Book of Acts? We've seen the church that is unified and being filled with the Spirit, that is preaching the life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus, that is loving people outside the walls of the church in the name of Jesus, that is loving each other inside the church, and that is walking, what we're going to see today, in a radical generosity lifestyle. Listen, listen, listen. That's the church that Satan hates. And here's the problem with that. That's what's happening in this church. I don't know if you've looked around lately, but that's how you guys, a lot of you guys, that's exactly how you are walking, and it's exactly how Peter and John in the Book of Acts is walking. That's why Satan keeps attacking them. That's why Satan keeps trying to come at them. That's why he keeps trying to destroy what is happening.

So last week, last week, what does Satan do? He tries to affect the church from the outside in, but this week what we're going to see is him try to shift modes a little bit and him come at it from the inside. So here's the glimpse we're going to get today. We're going to get a glimpse and is the mindset of some believers that really and truly grab hold of what it looks like to walk out their faith. And then on the back side, chapter five, this is tying these two chapters together with an unfortunate chapter break, all right, in the back side in chapter five, what we're going to see is we're going to see two people. We're going to see a husband and wife that really fail the gospel, that start living for themselves. They start living in the mindset of me first hypocrisy and lying. All right?

So here's what we're going to do, all right? We're going to check out Acts 4:32, and here's my prayer at the end of this. All right, let me put all the cards on the table. My prayer is that we leave here today with this mindset of God, here I am. Here's all of me, here's all of me and all of what I have. I'm unifying myself in your spirit. And Satan, you have no part of me. All right? That's where I want us to leave today. So let's get to the text and let's see what happens. All right? The two sides of this coin is going to show really fast.

They've prayed, they've prayed for boldness, the spirit has fallen on this place. Now, watch Acts 4:32. It says this. It says, "All the believers were one in heart and mind." Heart and mind. To which if you've been tracking through Acts, you're saying, man, it seems like Luke says that a lot. To which I would say, great observation. Because he does. He does. He says it over and over again. Why? Because one of the biggest things as the church that we can do is to have a holy oneness, a oneness, a unitedness, a one mind, a one heart, and moving forward together.

Let me set the scene of what's happening here. You've got about 20 thousand-ish believers at this point. They're all in Jerusalem, they're all together. They have confessed Christ as king. They've been baptized. They're now speaking the gospel out loud. The church is alive, the church is growing, and the people are one. They're unified in the spirit, all right? And I hope you're feeling that because that's a challenge. That's a call for us. That's what God is calling us to do. We've been called to live as a body of believers, all right? We're not called to dip in it out of here every third Sunday. You feeling where I'm stepping, right? We're called to be a body. All right?

Now look at the example of what that looks like. Verse 32. It says this, "All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had." All right? Now look, before you write this passage off and start scrolling the gram, all right, Paul's right there for a minute because I'm going to dive in and show you exactly what this is saying.

In fact, I want you to write this down because here's what it looks like to be unified in the spirit, all right? To be unified in the spirit, here's the first thing that we just saw. Number one means that we're to align our hearts towards one eternal mission. All right? When we're unified together, when we're walking as one, when we realize who Christ is, it means that it points our attention and our affections in one mission. All right? That's what we're reading right here in the text. We're reading that they are together, they're moving together and where were their lives pointed? Their lives were pointed to live for and proclaim the gospel of Jesus, to stand for Jesus. To them, all right, to them. And to us, I might add. It should be. To them, whatever temporary sacrifice that was needed to ensure that what, that Jesus's name was proclaimed, it was worth it. To them, whatever it was in their lives that they need to say, I am yours, I'm for your kingdom, it was worth it and their lives were focused there together.

Now, Paul would later on say it like this in Philippians one, he would say this to the Philippians, he would say this, he would say, "Whatever happens, conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Stand firm in one spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel," watch this, "without being frightened in any way by those that oppose you."

Now believers, I want you to see this. What does it mean? It means that when we live and when we operate and when we point our minds, our hearts, our souls in a oneness direction, it means that the church of Jesus, when it moves together, it always has impact. It always has impact. That means that it not only shines a light in the culture, but it changes culture for the name of Jesus. It means that it shines a light on who Christ is and away from me. And I want you to notice something, that the power comes when we take our minds off of me and I put it on we. Does that make sense? Little Dr. Seuss talk right there. Does that make sense? Right? The power comes when I take my mind off of me and I put it on we.

Here's the second way to say it. The power comes when I take my mind off of me and I put it on He. That's all the rhyming I got right there. It's all in one sentence. But here's what that means. That means when we do that, it settles so much of the peripheral issues that most of us get bogged down in.

You see, in this church that we're looking at, have you ever noticed that in the church of Acts, that the people are just so busy proclaiming the name of Jesus, sharing with each other, preaching the truths about Jesus, that they didn't have time for their little selfish motives? They didn't have time for it. Do you notice so far in the Book of Acts that there's no bickering, there's no back talking, there's no gossip, there's no criticism, there's no divisiveness, there's no finger pointing, and there is no self glory yet? To which you're like, well, then what do you do in the church? Right? None of those things, because this church is moving to proclaim the gospel. They were set on proclaiming the gospel. What are they? They're one in mission. You want to know if you're unified with the gospel? Ask yourself, am I one in mission with the Spirit?

In fact, watch what it says in verse 33. It says this, it says, "With great power, the apostles continue to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all." Now look, if number one is unity in the spirit sets us all in one mission, I want you to write this down. Number two, here's the second part of being unified in the spirit. Being unified in the spirit brings power. It brings power in two things, in grace and speech, in speech and grace. It's what we just saw in the text, right? What did it say? It said that the apostles were doing what? They were continually testifying. What does that mean? That means they did it one day on a Saturday morning and they checked off the box? No, no, no, no. That's not what it means. It's the imperfect tense there for you English nerds out there. It means that they're just continually, I had to look that up, I don't know that stuff, that means that they just kept doing it and doing it and doing it and they continually testified.

So what's happening here? Let me bring us back into the text.it's what we're going to do. It says that they're so linked at the heart, they're so linked at the soul, they're so linked into Jesus and linked into proclaiming the gospel of Jesus, you got to believe, you got to believe that this church has a chance. They got a chance. And here's what I believe. I believe that this church in the Book of Acts looks a lot like this church that we're sitting in right here. And look, I don't say that because I happen to be the lead of this place. I say that because I happen to get to be a part of so many of your lives that are living this oneness. I say that because there is a spirit of unity and oneness together here that has so much more than just gathering together at a little conference on Sunday mornings.

I see this because I see the level that you guys speak into people's lives in this community, that you guys share the gospel in this community. I see that because of how you take care of each other and how you minister to each other. I see that how your life groups come around people in hurting times, in needful times. I see that how you give. I see that how you serve. I see that how this church gets on its knees and prays for this community. Listen, this church, man, kudos to y'all because you work so hard for a togetherness in unity. To do what?

To do exactly what we're seeing right here, to experience God's power and to experience God's grace together. And I believe that the result of that is what we're seeing, what we're seeing right now. We're seeing God do huge things in this place.

In fact, what did verse 33 say? It said this, it said "And God's grace was so powerfully at work in all of them." I mean, what a gift. What a gift. What does it mean for God's grace to be on you? Do you know what he's literally saying here? He's saying that it is a gift of the blessing of God to be put on your life. That's what he's saying. Man, I'm telling you that's what I'm praying over this church every single day that God's blessing, not for my sake, not just for your sake, but God's blessing because of how we are unified as one, moving as one, that God's blessing would sweep over us.

But I need you to remember something. I need you to remember something. There's three prerequisites that we've just read that happened in order for God's blessing to continue to move. We've already talked about them. First was the oneness. It was this oneness in moving in Jesus and moving with each other. Second, they were speaking, we just read that, they were proclaiming the gospel over their community in the name of Jesus. And the third one was what? There was a generosity on them. There was a radical generosity that we just saw in verse 32 and in verse 33, that means what did they do? They shared. They took care of people in the name of Jesus.

In fact, write this down. Here's the third sign of being unified in the spirit. Being unified in the spirit overflows into wholehearted generosity. Are you seeing the progress here of what we're walking through? Look, our hearts are aligned to the mission. What happens next? Secondly, we move over here. It brings us power of speech and this gift of grace on our lives. And then thirdly, when unified means that it overflows into this spirit of just radical generosity in our lives.

Keep reading. All right? And I want you to feel the oneness of Christ right here. What does it say in verse 33? It says, "And God's grace with so powerfully at working them all," verse 34, "that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time," might want to circle that time to time, "those who own land or houses, they sold them. They brought the money from the sales and they put it at the apostle's feet and it was distributed to anyone who had need."

Now look, I know this seems super radical. I know it does. I know it does. And I know what you're feeling because that'd be the same thing I would be feeling if you were up here saying this, but I need to walk you through something because this is not radical thinking. This is not radical thinking. Here's what I mean by that. Here's what I mean. When we really realize what God, what Christ has done for us eternally, for our eternal soul, when we really realize that we are secured and saved and we are satisfied in him for eternity, doesn't it make sense that God cannot only hold up our financial security, but he can actually bless it exponentially? That's what we're seeing right here. That's what we're seeing. Doesn't it make sense that when Jesus said in Matthew 6:33 that were to "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and then," there's the implication, "and then all these other things will be given to you as well."

Doesn't it make sense that Jesus can and Jesus will take care of everything else in our lives when our life, when our attention, when our affection and when all of us are here with him saying, God, here I am with open hands if you need me, yes. That's what we're seeing in the text. You see, here's the deal. Jesus has not only called us to be generous that we see here, we also see that generosity is the proof of being unified in the spirit. Generosity is the promoter of God's grace and our oneness with Him. Now, before you kind of walk out and be like, oh gosh, another giving sermon, no, no, no. No, no, no. I need you to pause because I need you to tell you some stuff this passage is not saying, okay?

First, this passage is not saying that we're universally all to go home this afternoon and call one of the 25,000 realtors there are in this church and say, "Hey, come put a sign in my yard." All right? That's not what it's saying. Although they're like, "Wait, I'm for that." But the rest of us are not. Okay? That's not what it's saying. All right? It is describing an event right here. It's describing people that have a means to meet a need right here.

Secondly, it's not saying that any disparity in wealth or possessions is evil. It's not saying that at all and that we should for somehow just redistribute all wealth and hope for the best. That's not what it's saying. Communism, socialism, it's not promoted in the Bible. It never works out.

Here's what it's simply saying. It's simply saying this, when I am unified in the spirit, when Christ has set me free, Christ is my king, and my calling is simply to steward everything that he has given me. Is to simply say, all of me is for all of you. And when I see a need that I think I can meet, my answer is "Yes, Lord." That's what it's saying. It's simply saying that I am yours.

And also it's simply saying number four, check this out, if I'm unified in the spirit, it actually changes my perspective on my possessions. That's what it's saying. You see, I move from me to I move to He. Remember that? That's what it's saying. When we truly understand what Christ has given me, listen, I can't help but be generous and I can't help but to take care of others. And I would add to that, that it's always better to give too much than too little. Why? Because we see it all over the Bible and we're about to see it in just a minute. The extreme case of it is that always remember that in our generosity, God is always more generous. His shovel is way bigger than ours.

I've got a friend doesn't go to this church. Super, super, super wealthy guy, doesn't even live in this town. We've just become friends. And he says it like this, he says, "Matt, listen, here's what I know about myself. I have a shovel and God has a shovel. My shovel, every time I shovel it out and shovel it to something for the kingdom, God's shovel is exponentially larger than mine and he just shovels it right back in." That's what he says. And this is a man that is a kingdom mover when it comes to finances. That's what it means to be generous. In fact, you say, "Well, I'm not buying it, Matt." Luke knew that. So he gave us some examples next in the text. Watch the two examples he gives us. Watch this in verse 36. He says, "Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas, which means son of encouragement," he was one of those that did this, watch, "he sold a field he owned and he brought the money and he put it at the apostles feet."

Now, I love this 'cause this is the first time we see Barnabas in all of Acts, we're going to hang out a lot in the next coming months with Barnabas, this is the first time, it's the starting point of him. Seems to be one of Luke's good friends. And here Barnabas, he must have had some means, that's what we're seeing, he sells a piece of property, no strings attached. No, "Hey pastor, remember this. I might need a favor later." He offers it in front and to the apostles to use it for the kingdom. And we see later in Acts chapter 11, it tells us that Barnabas was a good man. He was full of faith, he was full of the Holy Spirit and he was known for encouraging others.

Now, I want you to feel this about Barnabas life because this is where he gets that nickname, son of encouragement because he actually steps up firstly with his possessions and secondly with this voice of encouragement. So Barnabas stands in the gap right here as a unifier. He has that kingdom perspective of its God's and I manage it and I steward it, and what does he do? He paves the way for the gospel believers. He paves the way in his actions, in his generosity, in his deeds, with his life. If you remember, these believers that are needing support have come from all over the world now. They can't get a job because the Sadducees control 80% of the jobs in Jerusalem. The church is growing. They have no way to make any ends meet at this point, and Barnabas steps up and listen, we need Barnabases to be the best Barnabas's on the planet, he steps up and says, I see a need and I will meet a need and I will watch God's kingdom continue to progress.

Listen, you may have never heard this before, but let me just have a little pastor talk with you for a minute. Let me just have this because I don't know if you've ever heard this in church, many of you, God has immensely gifted you. I mean he is gifted... You are like a 50 talent person. He's given you the gift, listen, to grow things, to create things, to build things, to manage things, and for you, it is like this gift of everything you touch just grows. Listen to me closely. God gave you that gift. He gave it to you and let me set you free, it is a good gift from the Lord. It is a good gift from the Lord.

Hear me, hear me. It is not a sin to be wealthy. It is not a sin to be rich. It is not. The divide is not rich and poor. It's not evil to be rich, wealthy, or good at what you do. It's a gift. The question is, what will you do with it for the kingdom? Are you feeling what I'm stepping in right there? Some of you young people, listen to me. You go make bajillions of dollars, please, and support the kingdom of God. Some of you that are good at your job, you go be the best, I don't know what you are right now, for the kingdom of God. The divide is not rich and poor. The divide is greedy and generous. That's what we're seeing in scriptures right here. The early church needed this Barnabas to be his best. Amen. The church of today needs people to do what he's doing.

So let me ask you this. Let me ask you this. How can we live this out? I know some of you're like, "Man, I got like $27 in my checking account. What am I going to do?" A lot. A lot. Because it ain't got nothing to do with the amount. It's got everything to do with the heart going, "Hey God, I am all yours." What did Barnabas do? He provides, he lays it at the feet, but watch the contrast real fast. Watch Satan creep in. No preacher ever preaches this text, so I'm going for it. Watch this. Here it is.

"Now a man named Ananias together with his wife, Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife's full knowledge, he kept back part of the money for himself, but he brought the rest and he put it at the apostles feet."

All right, now let me get you into the context here. So you've got Ananias, which I mean, this is a gift from God, His name literally means gracious in the original text here, Sapphira literally is from Sapphire. So you've got gracious and beautiful, all right, right here in the text. And here's their mindset. They want in on the action. They want in on the accolades that our boy Barnabas has just gotten from the apostles. They want to be like Barnabas, but they're not going to do what Barnabas did. So they come up with this mindset. They come up with this plan in their mind. Hey, you know what we're going to tell everybody we're going to go sell this field, going to go make this huge offering of faith to bless all of the believers, but we're going to lie to everybody about how much we sell it and we're going to tell Peter and the boys over here that we're giving all of what we have so they will look at us and they will give us all the accolades and then we will receive the glory.

But here's the problem with that, all right? Here's a principle I put in your notes this morning. When you practice righteousness to be applauded by man, rather than be obedient to God, you're actually on a path led by Satan. All right? And that's what we're about to see here. That's exactly what's happening. All right?

How do you know that pastor? Well, I'm glad you asked that. Look at verse three. Watch what Peter tells them. "Then Peter said, 'Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and you have kept yourself some of the money that you received from the land?'" In other words, "Hey, you didn't have to do this." Watch what he says. Verse four, "didn't it belong to you before it was sold and after it was sold? Wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings, but you have lied to God." In this moment, Peter receives this wisdom from God, and Peter looks at him and is like, Hey, why are you lying about this? Why are you acting like it's everything and it's not everything? Why are you holding back? Peter was like, it's never a command in scripture for all of us to go sell everything we own and give this back to the apostles. Peter's like, why are you lying?

Oh, believers, how many times have we done this with the Lord? How many times have we promised him so big chunks of our lives, but end up just offering him this little bitty gift over here? Listen, believers, God takes this way more seriously than I think we do. In fact, I know he does. Watch verse five, watch it. "When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died and great fear seized all who heard what had happened? Then some of the young men came forward and wrapped up his body and carried him out and buried him." I mean, how would you like to be a part of that guest services team that day? Right? I mean, listen, believer, here's the point. It's not about the fact that they didn't give everything. It's the fact that they lied about it. That's the point. It's the fact that they offered this little token gift when they said it was all God.

Listen, God despises dishonesty. It's never just some white lie is what we're seeing here. God despises this puffed up living, look at me, lifestyle and God despises when we take his glory from Him and we try to shine it on us. The point is not that God is telling all of us to sell everything and give everything. The point is they lied about it. They said they did it. They wanted the glory from it. They wanted to be seen as a follower of Jesus, but they didn't live up to the lifestyle they said they were living. That's the point. And listen, God hates that. You say, man, God doesn't hate things. Oh yeah, He hates sin. He especially hates the sin of His saints. Why? Because it not only brings the saint down, but it brings the church down.

I want you to notice that this brother and sister right here are people that were in the church and causing division in the church. You say, Matt, what did the wife have to do with anything?

Well, let's keep reading because evidently the wife was late to church. Amen. Never happened in this place before, but she's picking out an outfit, taking a little bit of time. Look at verse seven. It says this, "About three hours later," now that's a good church service, right, "three hours later, his wife came in." I guess she wanted her praise too, "not knowing what had happened, and Peter asked her, 'tell me, is this the price that you and Ananias got for the land?' 'Yes,' she said, 'that is the price.' Peter said to her, 'how could you conspire to test the spirit of the Lord? Listen, the feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door and they will carry you out also.'" Verse 10, here it comes. "And at that moment," this is why preachers don't preach this text, "she fell down and died at his feet. Then the young man came in finding her dead and carried her out and buried her beside her husband" those brothers were like, this is not what we signed up for.

So what is Peter doing? What is he doing? Peter's testing this lady to see, hey, is this just a husband problem or is this a both of you conspiring together problem? And obviously the answer is it was both of them. Two thoughts just popped in my mind really quickly about this. Number one, husbands, you better be leading your wives well in the Lord and in the Spirit. Secondly, wives, if your husbands are not leading you in the Lord, you stand for the Lord however you can.

Second thing that popped in my mind about this is that there's really two kinds of unified relationships. There's the first kind of unified relationship that we walk in the Lord together and we glorify God together, and the second kind is this unified unholy relationship that me and my wife are moving away from the cause of Christ. But here's the question. Which one are you and your spouse walking in?

Now, I know it's easy to get really caught up in this whole idea of I'm not wealthy, I can't sell a piece of property. Like I said, they got $27 in my checking account, although I got a $4 latte. But that's a whole other story. But here's the deal. Here's the deal. The point is not the property. The point is not the property. The point is not the amount, the point is the heart. That's the point. Because here's the deal, some people have great, great, great financial means. Some people have great, great, great other means. The point is no matter what it is, whether it's financial or social or speaking or living or serving, the point is I should be in a posture of unifying myself under God in a point knowing that I'm standing before a holy God, that I say all of me is for all of you. That's the point. And I'll stand in your honor. That's the question.

In fact, write the last point down here. Here it is. Unity in the Spirit actually results in a life-changing, God-honoring fear of God. Do you know what got Ananias and Sapphira? They forgot the fact that God is almighty. Do you know what it is in our lives that have us looking at ourselves and not looking at God most of the time? Is that we treat God more like our buddy and less like the God of the universe that created us, sustains us and gives us everything.

Keep reading. Look at this last verse and then we're going to shut it down. Here's the last verse, one of the most understated things in all scripture. Verse 11, "And great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events." You think, right? I bet they had a pretty good offer in that next week. But even more. Even more. The point is this. The point is they stood together. They stood together unified in the spirit, walking out the gospel, speaking out the gospel, and looking at God, going, God, all of me is all for you. Use me. That's what unity looks like. That's what we're going to begin to see next week when this little bitty church in Jerusalem begins to explode across the world. That's what holds it up, and that's how God still propels his gospel forward.

 

Follow Along with the Message

Unified or Compromised

 

September 21, 2025

PRINCIPLE: If Satan can’t destroy the church from the outside, he will try to attack and influence through the church.

Acts 4:32
All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.
Unity in the Spirit

1. Aligns our toward one eternal mission.

Philippians 1:27–28
27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ … stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel 28 without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you.
Acts 4:33
With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all.

2. Brings power in speech and .

Acts 4:33
And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all.

3. Overflows into whole-hearted .

Acts 4:33–35
33 And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.
Matthew 6:33
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

4. Changes our perspective on .

Acts 4:36–37
36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.
Acts 5:1–2
1 Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2 With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.

PRINCIPLE: When you practice righteousness to be applauded by man rather than being to God, you are on a path led by Satan.

Acts 5:3–4
3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”
Acts 5:5–6
5 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. 6 Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.
Acts 5:7–10
7 About three hours later his wife came, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?” “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.” 9 Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.” 10 At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

5. Results in life-changing, God-honoring of God.

Acts 5:11
Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
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