Living on the Edge

Chip Ingram: Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, did you realize that the Christian life is grace from beginning to end? We come to Christ by faith, through grace. We live by faith, through grace. But there are grace stoppers. There are two things that will destroy grace in your life. That's today on Living on the Edge.

Guest (Male): The early church was bold, unified, and growing by the thousands. And then something went wrong. It's something that remains a threat today. Today on Living on the Edge, Chip Ingram opens Acts chapter 5 and puts a name to the two things that can quietly drain the power right out of a church, or a life. And then later in today's program, Chip will let you in on a special opportunity happening this month only, through our mid-year match. Stay tuned for that.

Guest (Male): Well, now here's Chip Ingram with a message titled, "Grace Stoppers! Two Things that Destroy God's Work in Our Lives."

Chip Ingram: Well, as we get started, I want to ask you a question, have you ever had one of those like, "What happened?" moments? You know what I mean? I a number of years ago, I visited where our family lived about 15 years earlier and had not been there in ages, and so I was near that town, and you know, I was by myself. I thought, "Well, I'll just drive by the old neighborhood." Have you ever done this, any of you?

Chip Ingram: So I drove by the old neighborhood. It was, you know, 10, 15 years later. And I'm sure part of it was my perception. But it seemed like a nice neighborhood when I lived there. And I drove back and there were like weeds over here and a car like this and something else like this and a house that looked like it was, I mean, the place was just like a dump. And I remember driving through and thinking, like 10 years ago, this was kind of a, you know, not fancy, but it was a nice, clean, little street. And I just, like, what happened? I mean, what, what happens like in 10 years that this thing just went completely south? What happened?

Chip Ingram: When I study with you, Acts chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. There's some things that I see. Just a casual observer, what I learn is the church in Acts is powerful. The church in Acts is bold. The church in Acts is ridiculously generous with one another. The church in Acts is loving. The church in Acts healed the brokenhearted, the outcast, the poor and the rejected. The church in Acts, they just grew literally, not weekly, daily. The church in Acts expected and saw the miraculous. And when I see the church in Acts, and I travel quite a bit, and I've been to churches here and all over the world, and I look at the anemic, selfish, inwardly focused, non-dynamic basic church today, I look at this church and I look at the church of Acts, and I say, "What happened?"

Chip Ingram: Now, I'm there's wonderful exceptions, obviously. But the research is overwhelming. Most Christians don't live like Christians. Most churches have very little impact. Most churches are filled with very religious people but not people that make much of a difference in their communities. So what happened? How could that be?

Chip Ingram: And what I want to suggest is the answer is in Acts chapter 5. And what you're going to see is there are two things, two things that are grace stoppers. There's two things and they happen to good people like you and good people like me, literally, two specific things that will destroy God's work in your life. These two things will sap the power out of you, your small group, this church, and every church. You ready? Let's look at attack number one.

Chip Ingram: 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 brought the rest of it and put it at the apostle's feet. Then Peter said to him, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you've lied to the Holy Spirit? And you have kept back for yourself some of the money you received from the land. 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 to men, but to God."

Chip Ingram: When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard it. And what happened? Then the young men came forward and they wrapped his body. They carried him out. They buried him. About three hours later, his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter asked her, "Uh, tell me, is this the price that you and Ananias got for the land?" And she replied, "Oh yes, brother Peter, yes we did. It was a big sacrifice and we just felt like that's something God wanted us to do. We're actually pretty wonderful, aren't we?" I'm reading into the text just a bit. But I I do that because that's what's behind all this.

Chip Ingram: Peter said to her, "How could you agree to test the spirit of the Lord? Look, the men whose feet buried your husband are at the door and they will carry you out as well." At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and finding her dead, carried her out, buried her beside her husband. And great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events. I guess so. What's going on in this passage? What's really going on here? What's the attack? What was the sin? Why did God judge it so severely? And then maybe more importantly, what in the world has it got to say to you and to me today?

Chip Ingram: Let me suggest that the temptation is to pose, to pretend. What they wanted is they wanted the applause of people. They wanted the people to think really well of them. And the sin here is they pretend. Any of you all do that? We all do that.

Chip Ingram: And and you say to yourself, well, if we all do that, why does God judge it so harshly? Because at the core of posing is hypocrisy. At the core of posing is, I will tell you this, this story tells us that Ananias and Sapphira reveal how seriously God regards his church as an authentic manifestation of his character. This is a brand new baby. And if he lets inauthenticity and and hypocrisy and and people begin to play games and use the church as a political place and to get the applause of people, and if it's not for real, if the people aren't for real, if they don't live it out, then like cancer, the thing would have been gone in the first few years.

Chip Ingram: God emphatically serious when he says, the world should be able to look at the lives of his fellow servants who walk with Jesus and see something different, significant, perfect, no, but progressively Christ-like and honest and real. And when they blow it, they they say things like, "I blew it. I'm sorry." They own their stuff.

Chip Ingram: See, it's the sin of pretending to be more devoted to God than we really are. It's the sin of portraying outward actions that don't correspond to inward reality. At the at the essence, it's playing games with God in order to gain the applause and the approval of people.

Chip Ingram: And at the core, according to this text and the Holy Spirit, it's lying to God. It's lying to others. And it's lying to yourself. And here's the danger of posing. Once you start getting the applause of people for misrepresenting where you're really at with God, I will tell you what, you'll start believing your own stuff. And you'll start thinking you're really kind and you're really loving. And pretty soon, there's this image, this almost spiritual hologram that you portray, and the reality is back here. You know what Sapphira's name means? Beautiful. This is, her name means beautiful and her behavior is ugly.

Chip Ingram: You know what Ananias's name means? God is gracious, or God is generous. And he's one greedy dude in his heart. But he wanted to come off as gracious and generous. And when I do this and when you do this, and it starts, I mentioned the texting, it starts in little things. Oh, I'll really pray for you. That's bigger. And then it's like, oh yeah, I really want to follow you, God, whatever you want me to do, but I'm not consulting your word. I'm not talking to you. I'm not reading. I'm not doing anything, but I just expect you to bless me. And then the pretension and the posing and pretty soon, who you are and what you purport to be tells two different stories. And when unbelievers get up close and they smell us and see us and and you know what? They see that difference. They say, you know what? I don't believe in your message and I don't believe in your savior.

Chip Ingram: That's why the judgment was so harsh. God was protecting his church. I've done this passage once with a group of pastors and I said, guys, you do understand that if God was acting like this that most of us would have to change jobs and instead of being pastors, we'd have to be undertakers. And we'd just have to bury all these people in our church. And then I said, no, no, not really. Probably there wouldn't be any undertakers because pastors pose as much or more than anybody else. So there wouldn't be anybody around to bury people.

Chip Ingram: But when God wanted to make the point, and he wanted to stop the attack. And this is satanic. Okay? This is serious. And and some sins once they get going, here's the problem. Since we know everybody else kind of poses, since we know that everyone else has levels of hypocrisy, we say stuff like, well, no one's perfect. God's not asking to be perfect. He's asking and demanding that you be authentic. Listen carefully, purity is a prerequisite for power. You want to know why the church today or the small groups today aren't like the small groups and the church in Acts? It's posing. It's lack of purity.

Guest (Male): This is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, and we'll continue in a minute. Right now, Living on the Edge is in the middle of a mid-year match, and every dollar you give this month will be matched dollar for dollar by a group of generous ministry partners. It costs you nothing extra. Your gift simply does twice the work. To find out more, just go online to LivingontheEdge.org, and Chip will share more details in a little bit. Now, back to our message.

Chip Ingram: I think it's also interesting as you look at this passage that it has to do with finances. I mean, Jesus talked more about finances than heaven and hell combined. You say, well, why? Because see, Jesus said in Matthew, you might jot this down. Matthew 6 verses 19 to 22, according to Jesus, wherever your treasure is, there's a chain connected to it and that chain is connected to your heart. So wherever your treasure is, that's the revealer. That's the MRI, the X-ray machine of the Holy Spirit of God. If you ever want to know where you're at spiritually, just look at your money. Wherever your money flows, it tells you where your loyalty is. It says where your priorities are. It says what really matters.

Chip Ingram: According to Jesus, are you ready for this? According to Jesus, the two gods are not God and Satan. You read that passage in Matthew 6. Jesus says, there's me, God, or Mammon. Those are the two things that are vying for your heart and my heart. It's money. It's materialism.

Chip Ingram: Now, interestingly, you got your Bibles open? Skip back up to verse 31. And after God is affirming them, right, chapter 4 verse 31. It says, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. That word literally means to be controlled by. And notice in verse 31 there of chapter 4, they're controlled or they're filled. There's one baptism, you trust Christ and you're put into the body of Christ. There's many fillings. So what happens to their behavior when Jesus is controlling their behavior? Look at verse 32, 33, 34. They have one heart, one mind, unity. Everyone says they don't claim anything as their own. This isn't socialism. They weren't in a commune. They didn't have to give anything. But it was since Jesus is living in them and controlling them and their values, it's like, look, all that I have comes from God. So if I have a lot and you have a little, of course I would share because that's what the Holy Spirit would do. And I I know that he'll meet my needs. So there's generosity and then there's boldness and there's power when you're filled with the Spirit.

Chip Ingram: Now skip down to about verse 3 or 4 of chapter 5, and Peter says, "Ananias, how has Satan filled your heart?" You ready for this? Same word. Exact same word. He was being controlled by. He was being influenced by. But where did it come from? It came from envy. It came from jealousy. It came from I want people to think of me the way they think of Barnabas, but I don't trust God. I don't believe if I sold a piece of property that God will meet my needs. So I'm going to keep control. It's not about money. It's about control. And it's about under the control a lack of faith. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to pose and I'm going to sell this, keep this for me. His sin was he said he paid this for the land.

Chip Ingram: Before he didn't have to sell the land. And after he sold the land, he said, "Peter, tell you what, my wife and I really been praying. We're convinced that 4.7% of this ought to go to the church." And Peter would have said, "Thank you very much. Appreciate it." He could have said 72% of it. He could have said 5% of it. But what he said was, "We paid this is what we got for the land and we're giving it all because we're so generous." Hypocrite.

Chip Ingram: See, money is one of those things that it's like real objective. You know what I mean? I can say, oh, I get this really great feeling. Man, when we worship, I get this great feeling. Or I feel close to God when I did this or listened to this song or prayed or I and all that's kind of subjective, and I'm all for all those subjective things. But let me tell you where there's no power in the church. The average believer in America gives 2.8% of their money to the church of Jesus Christ. In America, across the board of all the millions of people who go to church, over half the people in any church give absolutely nothing.

Chip Ingram: See, there there's this lack of connection between, oh, my mouth. This is what Isaiah said when he was bringing down the judgment of God upon people. He says, "Israel, you honor me with your lips, but your deeds and your ways are far from me." And so when I say, I love God, you're the most important person in my life. I have these needs. I'm really praying. I really need your help. And my money says what I love is me and I have all this debt and I have all this stuff. See, it's not about the money. It's about who's controlling my heart. Which desires are getting fed? And then at the end of the day, it's really about faith. Well, I I would like to be generous and help people, but, and then the but is you just list. Why is it that over half of all the marriages that fail are around financial issues?

Chip Ingram: Money is never a problem in marriage. Money just reveals values. And when there's lots of debt, lots of stuff you can't afford, lots of credit cards that you pay part-time on, what you're saying is, I don't tremble at God's word. Basic biblical stewardship would just have certain things like, God says give the very first off the top, so you remember that I own it and so that my mission gets done. And then he says things like, don't spend more than comes in. That's a radical idea, you know? And and by the way, I own it all and so what I want you to do is it's not just about giving. I actually want you to save, even if it's just a little. I want you to actually invest, even if it's just a little. And then what comes in each month, I want you to keep the number that comes in bigger than the number that goes out. You do that for three years, and then five years, and then seven years, and 20 years, and 30 years. I will tell you, you will end up with surplus and greatly blessed.

Chip Ingram: Now, you understand why, see, it's just a revealer. Now if you happen to be brand new, by the way, or you're brand new in Christ, you know, this is a journey. You know, this isn't this isn't some big message on finances. You know why we're talking about finances? Because we're in chapter 5. Okay? Chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4. This is what happened. And it is the greatest, clearest revealer of where your heart is. Notice here the reason. Hypocrisy kills the authenticity of the message and the credibility of the messenger. You understand what I'm saying?

Chip Ingram: Now, I know this is a hard message to hear. But do you now understand why the church is anemic? Do you understand why some people don't get specific, powerful answers to prayer? Do you understand why marriages and kids that have issues and relationships that you want to come together? God uses and always will finances to direct our energy and our priorities. In the Old Testament, when people were just totally out of whack, he said, you know something? You're doing your own thing and neglecting my stuff and that's why you have a purse that has holes in it. That's why you plant seeds, but you know, then the blight comes. I will keep frustrating you in this area because when he has our finances, he has our attention, right?

Chip Ingram: This is an alignment where God wants our hearts directed and really what the issue is, will you trust me? Would you believe that when I say I'll take care of you, I'll take care of you? Notice what happened as a result of this. We pick up the story, it says a great fear seized those in the church. And and I mean, this is more, I'm going to talk a little bit about fear in just a second. But notice there was a sense of, whoa. This isn't like Jesus is my buddy and I think we'll do whatever we want and I hope things work out and help my life work out. I mean, this is like, ooh, serious.

Chip Ingram: And then notice what happens. The apostles performed many miracles and signs and wonders among the people and all the believers used to meet together in Solomon's colonnade. No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. I love that. Christians were highly regarded. They weren't weird. They weren't people screaming on TV for people's money. They weren't hypocrites. The people said, "I don't want to join that group because I'll tell you what, you better be a for real authentic person or you might die." But, man, they love each other. They're for real. They so reflect that person they say they follow, who came back from the dead, Jesus.

Chip Ingram: As a result, people brought their sick in the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as they passed by. Crowds gathered also from the towns all around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed. Circle the word all. All of them were healed. Now, very carefully here, don't think that the Bible's teaching that God heals all people all time. Notice how much faith all these people had, by the way. If 100% of the people are healed, see, it doesn't say. Healing and faith doesn't always necessarily go together. Three times in all of biblical history you see miracles as the norm. When the law is given under Moses, when the prophetic ministry of restoring Israel, Elijah and Elisha, and Jesus and the apostles. Every time God gives new revelation, the law from Sinai, then there's a season of miracles, miracles, miracles, miracles, miracles, parting of the Red Sea, the manna, the quail. Why? To say that God's truth is here and you can believe it. And then there is also when people take the first steps of disregard, there's a very harsh initial judgment that this is for real. The same thing with Elijah and Elisha, a great season where miracles were the norm. The same thing here with the apostles.

Chip Ingram: Now, God still does miracles, but he does it as he chooses and according to his will. But here's what I want you to see, there was a great fear. We have a lot of misguided thinking about fear. I've heard people talk about, well, the fear of the Lord, what it just means is reverential awe. Tozer wrote, "In the olden days, men were said to walk in the fear of God and to serve the Lord with fear. However intimate their communion with God, however bold their prayers, at the base of their religious life was a conception of God as awesome and dreadful. The idea of God's transcendence runs through the whole Bible and gives color and tone to the character of the saints. This fear of God was more than a natural apprehension of danger. It was a non-rational dread, an acute feeling of personal insufficiency in the presence of God the Almighty." We've forgotten, God is God. What would it be like to come near the presence of someone whose energy speaks a word and galaxies come into existence?

Guest (Male): You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. And a message titled, "Grace Stoppers! Two Things that Destroy God's Work in Our Lives." We're going to hear a special word from Chip in just a few moments, so stay with us. As we heard today, Ananias and Sapphira didn't leave the church. They didn't deny the faith. They just decided to perform generosity they weren't actually living. And God treated it as a direct attack on the integrity of the movement. Chip made a weighty point today. Purity is a prerequisite for power. Not perfectionism, authenticity.

Guest (Male): Right now we're in a powerful series called The Jesus Revolution. Join the movement. And in case you want to revisit or share what you're learning here, remember that Chip's messages are also available on the Living on the Edge podcast. Search for it and subscribe today wherever you get your podcasts. Authenticity is what makes the message credible and the messenger worth listening to. Well, here's Chip Ingram with a word about the movement he believes God is building and what it needs from people like you right now.

Chip Ingram: Before Jesus ascended into heaven, he made a promise. He told his disciples, "Don't go anywhere. Wait, because what's coming is going to change everything." And then the Holy Spirit came and he did change everything. In Acts chapter 1 and 2, we see the blueprint for what the Christian life was always meant to be. Not a quiet, private belief tucked safely away from the world, but a bold, spirit-filled, culture-shaking way of living. In my teaching, The Jesus Revolution, I'm unpacking this blueprint. What did the early church have that we actually see re-emerging today like never before? Young people coming to Christ. At Living on the Edge, hundreds of thousands of pastors asking us to help them not make decisions but make disciples. This is a movement that started in Acts and is going forth in America and around the world. Here's my question: Are you going to watch it or be part of it? I just want to remind you, the spirit is still working today, like he did in the early church. And here at Living on the Edge, we're seeing God work like never before. But we can't do it alone. And here's the great opportunity. Every gift that you give during the month of June, thanks to a small group of donors is going to be doubled dollar for dollar. The Jesus movement launched. It's still moving. Here's the question: Will you help fuel it?

Guest (Male): The movement is moving, and your gift this June is fuel. Join the mid-year match right now, every dollar doubled, every gift multiplied, every life reached goes twice as far. Go online to LivingontheEdge.org or call us at 888-333-6003. Or send your donation through the mail by writing to us at Living on the Edge, P.O. Box 3007, Atlanta, Georgia 30024. The Jesus Revolution is not slowing down. Don't sit this one out. Give today and be part of what God is doing. Well, next time, the second grace stopper, and the surprising reason courage is the prerequisite for power. I'm Dave Drewy, and Chip Ingram has more for you next time on Living on the Edge. Today's program is produced and sponsored by Living on the Edge.