Studies in the Book of Acts: All in- Your Total Obedience
(Acts 5)
Senior Pastor Dr Daniel Ho
Reading from Acts 5
Introduction
Total obedience is expected of all believers of Christ. The Apostles of Christ, who went and teach
about Christ despite the threats and persecution, rejoiced because they counted worthy of suffering
disgrace for the Name (v.41). They obeyed, they suffered and they rejoiced! In their total obedience,
there are:
 The Purification in the Early Church
 The Progress of the Early Church
 The Persecution of the Early Church
1 The Purification in the early church
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 and put it at
the apostles’ feet. 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?
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.”
When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had
happened. Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and
buried him. About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked
her, “Tell me, is this the price 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.” 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. Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these
events. (Acts 5:1-11)
1.1 Deception
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. (Acts 5:22)
Both Ananias and Sapphira were not telling the truth, they attempted to deceive the Holy Spirit. They
lied to God.
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1.2 Death
When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great
fear seized all who heard what had happened. About three
hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had
happened. Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price 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.” 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. Great fear seized the whole church and all who
heard about these events. (v.5, 7-10)
For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the
outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? (1 Peter 4:17)
As serious as it may sound like, God intended to train us from the infant stage. Apostle Peter
confronted Ananias and Sapphira and death took place as they were covetous of the wealth of the
world and distrustful of God and His providence. This shows God’s abhorrence of sin and the lesson
for the rest of he church at that infant stage, which was dealt with swiftly and decisively.
1.3 Dread
Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events. (Acts 5:11)
We should and ought to fear God and do not play around with sins. Judgement began when we
believed in Christ. Do not just look at what is revolving around us, the outside of us. Look at
ourselves, what is inside of us. Why does this matter? Is it because of our preparation for the
judgement day? It does not matter when the day will come. What matter is, “Are we living right?
Have we got anything to hide?” Live right, live pleasing to God, expand God’s kingdom that will last
forever and ever.
2 The Progress of the Early Church
2.1 The amazing power of the Holy Spirit
The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. As a result, people brought the
sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on
some of them as he passed by. Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing
their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed. (v.12a, 15, 16)
Scriptures above had depicted the amazing power of the Holy Spirit.
How we long for such visitation in our church! Pastor Daniel shared
some testimonies about how people would refer the demon possessed
men to our church. There was an instance where a demon-possessed
man who was being extremely violent, was sent to our church (in Ruby
Cinema then) and amazingly calmed down. It is the Holy Spirit. Today,
the non-Christians who are visiting our church for lunch had testified
the difference whenever they step their feet in the church.
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Life of a church should be a continuous flow of the outpour of Holy Spirit. The influence of the power
and the presence of the Holy Spirit in us is extremely significant. When we pray, we enforce the
power of God.
2.2 The great increase in numbers
Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their
number. (v.14)
The people who came to believe in Christ was growing in an amazing manner. Ananias and Sapphira
may not be sincere, but God does not expect us to be- provided we repent. God called us to be
authentic and repent for the wrongs we have done. In that way, people respect us even more. We are
to live and cultivate a culture of humility, authenticity, holiness, unafraid, couragues, etc.
Sadly, in today’s society, there is not enough fear of God in Malaysia, in our churches, and in us.
Hence, we must applaud those who live their life fearing God. A man once shared the criteria he had
for candidates who applied for positions in the top management of a company: 1) Are they odfearing?; and 2) Are they family oriented/a family men? God will purify the church and we must get
things in order and be ever ready.
3 The persecution of the Early Church
3.1 The perceived threat of the establishment (v17)
Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were
filled with jealousy (v.17)
The high priest and the Sanhedrin felt threatened by the miracles performed by the apostles and the
followers that were accumulating. All these led to the persecution on the apostles.
3.2 The unjust silencing and false accusation of believers
The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high
priest. “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem
with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.” Peter and the other
apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! (v.27-29)
Well said by the apostles. Obey God rather than men- that is what we are called upon as children of
God.
The high priest claimed that the apostles’ teaching was to determine to make
“them” guilty- wait, who put Jesus Christ on the cross again? Was it really
“them”, the high priest and the Sanhedrin? It is the sins of the whole world,
not the Sanhedrin’s alone, that had put Jesus on the cross. You and I sent
Jesus to the cross. Without Jesus on the cross, we are still on bondage.
Christians, in general, are good people. There are, however, rotten ones. Be
a good apple, be a witness to Jesus Christ. When people we know tell us of their disappointment
towards Christians who do not live up to the moral standard, we should respond by saying, “Yes, it is
true. That is why we need Jesus Christ.”
How to respond to bosses who refrain us from sharing our faith? First of all, we must PRAY. Then, under
the guidance of the Holy Spirit, tell your boss that we will never impose, but to share our faith. Then,
inform your boss that he is imposing his personal view upon all by refraining all his staff from doing
things that do not please him. Where is the standard of measure?
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3.3 The privilege to suffer and boldness to keep on sharing their faith
The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace
for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped
teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah. (v.41-42)
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you
know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that
you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4)
The apostles were flogged, yet they rejoiced for they suffer for the Name
of Christ, counting it an honour to do so. Their boldness to keep sharing
the teaching of Jesus is not a form of disrespectful, not being rebellious,
but pure obedience to God. If the best thing in life is to accept Jesus into
our lives, and that every day is getting better and the best is yet to come,
why would not we want to share such a joyous news? Say, a newfound
cure for cancer was invented, would the scientist spread the good news
to the world? Jesus is God, who died for us. Satan is devil, and is trying to put all of us in hell. Sharing
the good news is expanding God’s kingdom, saving people from hell.
We are not fighting with human power, but with spiritual battle against satan. The apostles shared
humbly, not arrogantly; obediently, not rebelliously.
Conclusion
Sometimes, despite our obedience, situation may not allow us to do what the apostles did, even to our
good friends. However, we may do so by pointing to our holy book that records the miracles in our life,
ensuring them that God will hear their prayers and their cry. All we need to do is to live in total obedience
through prayers and talking to Him.
Pastor Daniel ended the message with an amazing and recent testimony of a man who transformed
from an extremist to a prominent house church planter, and how the whole transition had positively
changed the lives of all his family members. Similar to the testimony of Paul the Apostles from Saul the
persecutor, the journey started with total obedience.
Sermon summary and prayer points contributed by Chrisandra Wong.
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SERMON: All in-Your Total Obedience
Pray:

We will learn and make a deliberate decision to obey God more and more.

We will be obedient to God rather than human beings.

Christians to uphold one another in prayers for total obedience to God.

Believers to remain strong in faith even when suffering in His Name.
 Pray for a God-fearing nation.
Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and
prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess. (Deuteronomy 5:33)
MINISTRIES & EVENTS: CNBM- THE CITIZENS’ VOICE: HOW TO
BE HEARD
CNBM (Citizens’ Network for a Better Malaysia) serves as the
advocacy unit of the Community Excel Services (CES),
creating awareness, mobilising and providing a platform for
participation in civil society from a biblical standpoint (visit
http://bit.ly/1Ns3eGO for more info on CNBM). In recognising
the need to first define citizenship in substance and form
before encouraging participation, CNBM goes back to basics
by bringing a unique composition of speakers (Malaysian
Christian leaders, social science researchers, statesmen and
activists) to present a view of God-centred citizenship.This
event is taking place on the 5th and 6th of September 2015
(for more info please go to http://bit.ly/citizensweekend2015).
Pray:






People whose desire is to serve the society to come and join the two-day seminar.
Speakers will truly impart the deep and compelling message to everyone present.
Strong relationships to developed.
Significant connections to be formed and maintained.
Divine encounter of speakers and for the Holy Spirit to convey message through them.
Wisdom for the Writing Team who is covering the event, may the writing able to impact lives of
citizens.
Be a good citizen. All governments are under God. Insofar as there is peace and order, it's God's
order. So live responsibly as a citizen. (Romans 13:1, MSG)
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MALAYSIA MY NATION: BERSIH 4.0 RALLY
Series of (planned) BERSIH rallies were organized by The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections
seeking to reform the current electoral system in Malaysia to ensure free, clean and fair elections. The
next (which is the fourth) rally will be held simultaneously in Kuala Lumpur, Kuching (Sarawak) and Kota
Kinabalu (Sabah), scheduled to start at 2pm on Aug 29 and end at midnight on Aug 30. Objectives of
rallies are to demand for the following: 1) Clean elections, 2) Clean governance, 3) Saving the economy,
and 4) Preserving the right to dissent.
Pray:

Safety of all participants and enforcers.

Attempts to create tensions and create problems will fail.

Conditions of the Bersih 4.0 rally to meet those prescribed in the Peaceful Assemblies Act 2012.

Peaceful rallies to take place as the people exercise their constitutional rights.

Objectives of rallies to be achieved.

Voices of the citizens to be heard and will not be ignored.

Truth and justice to prevail.

Presence of unity among rakyat (citizens).

Malaysia to stay united as a country.
 All churches in Malaysia to pray together for our country.
Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. (John 3:32)
A TRANSFORMED WORLD: Practices of Massacre around the
World
Latest update found on the World Wide Web: “22nd Aug 2015: A heavily-armed gunman was detained
in northern France which had helped to prevent a massive train massacre.” There are many more
massacres that had taken place all over the world: Bomb blast in Thailand, The Suruc massacre in
Turkey, Tunisia beach massacre, the deadliest massacre in history of Boko Haram, etc.
Pray:

Pray for world peace.

Divine intervention to take place.

Culprits (the mastermind) to be brought down to their knees and repent, and salvation for them

Holy Spirit to comfort the families and friends of those killed in the massacres and for them to forgive
the murderers.

Protection for the advocates for justices and world peace.
 Churches across the globe to pray and care for their neighbours.
Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the
wicked. (Exodus 23:7)
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