I like patterns.  Maybe it’s that some of us never outgrow Sesame Street or mind-puzzlers, but I always liked those assignments in school where we had to figure out what comes next in the sequence by figuring out the pattern.

Well, in the book of Acts that we’ve been studying, we can now see a pattern emerging.  It goes like this: A Pure Church.  A Powerful Church.  A Growing Church.  A Persecuted Church.

Now we’re seeing it again in today’s passage.  But it began last week with purity.  As the cycle continues, the growing Church will become increasingly persecuted.  It follows:

Purity + Power + Growth = Persecution.

Each time the pure, powerful, and growing Church encounters the wider culture of governing socialites, intellectuals, and religious hoity-toities, the persecution will get kicked up a notch.  The Church’s increasing power is a threat to all other powers.

We’re mid-pattern this week since last week we saw purity matters to God and He rooted out Ananias’ and Sapphira’s deception before it could take hold in the Church and become an invasive cancer.  Great fear of the holiness of God filled the Church, just like fear of the Lord filled Jericho and was felt by Rahab in our OT reading (Joshua 2:8-3:5) this morning.

God wants a pure Church.  But He also one that is a complete Church, one that is increasingly holy, powerful, and growing…and visible to the watching world.

A pure Church in hiding… is an enclave.  A light under a bowl, soon to run out of oxygen and be snuffed out.

• To be fair, in some areas of the world where persecution is the worst, the Church hides from some (to avoid being beheaded for example) while reaching out carefully to others.  Oxygen comes in, but cautiously.  It’s an underground Church that has power beneath the surface.  It’s a pure Church, but not in total hiding.  It’s just underground, but the root is good and very much alive and growing.
• But in other areas, a Church in hiding becomes an exclusive club.  New club members aren’t allowed in unless they pass the litmus test of intellect, music preference, or doctrinal views on abortion, gay marriage and ordination, etc..  These churches slowly die out for lack of purity, light, oxygen, and power.

A pure Church displaying God’s power is a light on a stand for all to see.  This is what God wants:

A Pure Church.  A Powerful Church.  A Growing Church.  This is what changes lives as God does what only God can do….which is to save people.  The ultimate healing. It’s a picture of Revival that we’re praying for.

Some of you may recall my saying in conversation going way back to my first days here that God wants

Purity before numbers.”

Today’s passage in last week’s context is actually the root of that thought. 

It is not beyond God to grow this—or any—church! It’s not beyond Him to do it in a dying community.  Even in an neighborhood or town where people’s souls might be the sickest in all kinds of cultural ills, it’s a harvest waiting to happen!  That’s what God sees!

But God always starts from a place of purity and grows us from there.  God will not revive any church that doesn’t start with pure worship, for that is the source of the Church’s power. Pure Church Powerful Church, the power flowing from God being glorified!  A light in darkness!

We hear a lot of reasons why people go to church.  Why they make decisions to show up on a Sunday morning.  Why they will show up in inclement weather or in the face of persecution.  Why they will show up even if there’s a good game on TV.

Why do people bother to come to church?  Well,

• Some people view church as a town hall.  The church being a place of gathering, to gain encouragement from others who are also believers.  To know we’re not alone in our Christian walk.
• Some people view church primarily as a place of prayer where gathering together in prayer causes God to hear us differently than when you or I pray alone in our separate homes.  God hears us better because of our unity, praying with one voice as many people.
• Some people view church as a university—a place of higher learning.  Feeding on the Word of God.  To learn what the Word says and have it explained so that each of us may grow in our knowledge of the Lord Jesus.
• Some people view church as a gas station—a place of equipping.  To be spiritually filled, replacing what spiritual resources we’ve expended during the week in our Christian lives.
• Some people view church as a place of healing…like a hospital.  There is recovery for the sick and the injured, the emotionally weary, the depressed, those whose flesh is weak and whose spirit is exhausted.
• Some people view church as a place of safety.  There is protection and a time away—a vacation of sorts—escaping the stresses of life.  A place to forget about our problems for a little while.

While all of these have some truth in them, together they paint a picture of a powerful church because of the big distinction in a Pure Church Powerful Church:

• After all, what sets apart the church gathering from a city council meeting?
• What distinguishes a church of prayer from a mosque of prayer?
• What’s the difference between the church and a religious studies program at a university?
• Why would one need to come to church to be filled if they could be filled elsewhere, like the self-help section of the bookstore, or the personal Bible study at the coffee shop?
• Why come to church for emotional or physical ministry when there are therapists of every shape and size, VA hospitals, even Christian ones, and insurance covers the cost?

What is the big distinction of the Pure Church Powerful Church? 

Worship of the One True God.

It’s not happening at the city council meeting, the local mosque or New Age temple, it’s not happening in a religious studies course.  It’s not happening in the self-help section or even in the fullest sense while studying your Bible alone in the coffee shop. It’s not happening in the counselor’s office or even the pastor’s office.

Why?  Because the focus in all of those instances is on me, on you.  And on what you or I are getting out of it.  The focus is not on Him, the One True God.

Worship of the Almighty God in the Pure Church is what makes the Church a powerful one.

With that in mind, let’s look at Acts 5:12-16 and see this in action:  A Pure Church.  A Powerful Church.  A Growing Church.

God has just finished purifying the Church by rooting out deceivers like Ananias and Sapphira, great fear seizes the people and now

Acts 5:12 The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people.

That’s power.  A Pure Church is a Powerful Church.  Now this doesn’t mean we’re suddenly going to be a place for faith healings, but salvation is the ultimate healing and if we’re preaching the Gospel, salvation will be happening.  Eternal healing is happening.  There’s power in the Pure Church–verse 12 continues…

And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade.

They gathered, but it wasn’t a social club.  They met together in a public place to worship the One and Only True God at great personal risk.  Their light of Christ was on a lamp stand, not hidden under a bowl.  That’s why next week the persecution follows in our pattern.

It’s often said that the Church has grown the most during times of persecution.

How many “causes” still exist for which people will willingly die for that cause?

Over the past few days, we’ve seen a terrorist attack at Charlie Hedbo in Paris.  The publication, which ridicules religion (period), was targeted by Islamic militants because of Charlie’s cartoons of their prophet Mohammed.  The editor who lost his life at the hands of the gunmen was previously quoted as saying, “I’d rather die standing than live my life on my knees.”  Ironically, this same quote was from Emiliano Zapata, a charismatic revolutionary in the Mexican Revolution.  It has been said about Zapata, “in the long run, he has done more for his ideals in death than he did in life.”  It is said that he died a martyr and his beliefs lived on in the hearts of Mexicans.  He revolted.  How could he be a martyr?  A casualty, yes. But a martyr?  Hold that thought.

Centered in Paris, the world’s backlash against the terrorists shows that there is courage in numbers as people gather in public…raising pens in solidarity and holding signs that say “Je Suis Charlie” (translated, “I am Charlie”).

I find myself rather struck by the notion that people will gather courageously in solidarity with a newspaper’s right to ridicule religion and it reverberates around the globe, making headlines…and yet far more than 12 Christians are dying every day simply for being Christian and it barely merits notice in most media outlets.  While Charlie was going on, no one blinked at the story last week of Boko Haram killing thousands, obliterating whole towns in Nigeria, and reported as “too many to count.” 

Christians aren’t dying for the right to ridicule, for freedom of speech, or for freedom of religion.  Christians aren’t dying for public attention or world accolades as charismatic revolutionaries.  Christians aren’t putting up a military defense.  Or even dying for something like New Hampshire’s motto “Live Free or Die!” as General John Stark said in 1809 “Live free or die: Death is not the worst of evils.”  Christians aren’t dying as Patrick Henry’s rallying cry :

 “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains or slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take but as for me; give me liberty or give me death!”

It’s not about freedom—per se—to the Christians who are dying for their faith.  It’s about who they worship freely.   At Solomon’s Colonnade on the east side of the Temple complex, the believers gathered to worship Jesus at great personal peril then and Christians face persecution for the same faith in Christ now.  The Nazarenes in Iraq are still dying for Christ even if it’s not making headlines!  They are the true martyrs.

And yet, Christian martyrdom preaches in a quiet way. 

A profound, yet subtle way.  Person to person.  Face to face.  Not as crowds united, lifting the Cross of Christ high in a show of solidarity.  One by one.  Individual by individual.  People trusting God with their lives so much that they’re willing to die for their faith.  John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends,” as Jesus once said.

OK, so what’s the difference between an Islamic “martyr” who kills 12 people and then dies in an exchange of gunfire with police…and what we see here in Acts?

These believers gathered in Acts 5 are committing no acts of violence or anarchy.  They didn’t draw first.  They’re simply gathering as Christians and doing so at the risk of their own lives, never once threatening someone else’s.  The terrorists in Paris are killers, not martyrs.  They are casualties of a war they are waging against others.

So these believers met in Solomon’s Colonnade, right there outside the Temple in Jerusalem.

Jerusalem! 

Where Jesus was sentenced and crucified only a few short weeks ago. This is why those who watched from a distance had this reaction:

13 No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people.

* * *

Onlookers were witnessing faith in Christ.  Yet, fear of man overshadowed it for the moment.  They saw the pattern.  Purity.  Power.  Growth…uh-oh: Persecution.  Respect for the Church and the believers was clearly apparent.  The light shines best in the darkest place.  Light penetrates darkness, not the other way around.  A powerful church witnesses.

14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.

Though Persecution comes next, we still see a Growing Church. A Pure Church is a Powerful Church and becomes a Growing Church.  One that shines in dark places and stands firm in public witness!

15 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.

The altar call, if you will, maybe didn’t happen with crowds rushing forward to be baptized in Solomon’s Colonnade, but despite the risk, the Church grew.  In a few weeks, we’ll see our first view of the Apostle Paul…back when he better known as Saul, archenemy and persecutor of the Church.  The Pure Church, the Powerful Church, the Growing Church penetrates the darkness of the darkest hearts and even in the midst of persecution, it can change people.  Saul the persecutor extraordinaire of Christians becomes changed to Paul the powerful Christian evangelist.  Live free in Christ or die trying would be his motto.

Sometimes this change of heart happens as an overnight, lightning bolt Eureka moment, but often it is as the quiet accumulation of many points of light until onlookers have light enough to see.

16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed.

People see a Pure Church worshiping God alone! 

A Powerful Church standing firm. 

And a Growing Church and people know this is where healing occurs. 

So what’s our take home lesson from all of this?

1. Pure Church!  First, we need to constantly assess our purity as a church.  Is there anything in our church closet, in the drawer, on the computer, under the table, on the wall, in our history, or in our pews that is keeping us from being pure?  If so, we need to deal with that because it’s keeping us from growing.  Jesus said,  Mark 9:43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. 44  45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. 46  47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,
2. Powerful Church!  Second, since the power flows from God we need to see the Church as being primarily about Him.  Let’s ask ourselves why we come to church and each of us ask, “Do I come to church primarily to worship Christ?”  Yes, the church fills many other needs and heals in many ways, but keeping in mind that we worship Him, we will embrace the changes necessary to bring others to worship Christ in purity and in power.  John 4: 21 Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”  It doesn’t say attenders, observers, club members, or even family members.  The dominant word in this is worship.  That’s what believers were doing in Solomon’s Colonnade and what we need to do here.
3. Growing Church!  Third, we want to be a growing church.  If we are church that worships Christ in purity and in power, crowds will gather.  But it won’t happen without two things:  (1) asking God to grow us.  We need to pray for revival and then act upon it. And (2) our risking something like the believers were doing in Solomon’s Colonnade. Is there anything that keeps you from inviting people to come?  Maybe you not know any people who are not already church goers and you need to come out of your shell or from under your bowl to meet some.  Maybe you need to get a case of courage and ask one person to come.  Is there anything that you find embarrassing about Plymouth that keeps you from inviting your friends out of fear they will judge you?  Share that at GROW Plymouth and let’s change that.  From God’s perspective, the harvest is always plentiful.  The workers are always too few for what God is willing to do with people sold out for Him.  So let’s pray and ask for more people to join us.  Bold people!  Luke 10:1 “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.” So where is the Lord about to go in Racine?  Where is He sending you?  What risks are we willing to take?
4. And for those of you seeing the pattern, you know what comes next.  Persecution.  Are you willing to be challenged as a believer, to be embarrassed, ridiculed, or even benched by your family and friends for asking them to come some Sunday?  This is how the Kingdom grows.

So let’s be A Pure Church.  A Powerful Church.  A Growing Church.  That is the picture of Revival in Racine that we’re praying for.

This sermon entitled Pure Church. Powerful Church. Growing Church (based on Acts 5:12-16) was first preached on January 11, 2015 at Plymouth Congregational Church of Racine, WI.  Click on this link to listen to the audio version on YouTube.

There’s nothing like a New Year.  All kinds of hopes and dreams and diets are reborn.  All kinds of plans are made that will soon be forgotten, lost in the shuffle, or stripped of every ornament and left out at the curb. 

But still, we love the idea of a New Year.  There’s something happy about it: the dawn of a New Year always brings with it the idea of a clean slate—a new beginning.

Even if it’s just an accounting gimmick since really it’s that one day flows to the next.

Our Christian lives, however, are no mere gimmick.  When we become Christians, we are not gently tweaked versions of what we were before.  We are not slight improvements. We are not last year’s model polished up for eBay or a garage sale.  We are not the same person only thinner, thanks to Nutrisystem.

We are reborn into an entirely new life, a new start, a new attitude, a clean slate, new manner of living, and we are born into a whole new thing: the Church.  This is one new thing that God cares VERY deeply about.

And this new thing called the Church demands our most careful attention to keeping the good thing going and not allowing it to become polluted.  As believers in our day, we’re not too good at keeping it from being polluted.  When you think of the Church these days, you see probably see headlines of scandals and abuses and all kinds of pollution that grieve the heart of God.  Pollution takes what Jesus died to give us and turns it into hypocrisy at best and fraudulent, self-aggrandizing ineffectiveness that defames the Name of Christ on the other.  How God must weep over what we have done… with what His Son… did!

Have you ever noticed that pollution is a one-way street?

Put clean clothes accidently on the dirty laundry and it’s all dirty.  It never miraculously makes the dirty laundry clean.  When we go to the mall and we put our clean hand on the railing of the escalator, we don’t make the escalator suddenly free of flu germs, we catch the flu if we’re not careful.

Which brings us to the passage of Scripture that I referred to last week.  You may remember that last week we talked about how Christians are supposed to share and share alike.  That a really good guy named Barnabas, the Son of Encouragement, was a role model, an encourager, who sold some property, brought the money to the disciples for it to be distributed to the needy.  In the Church at Jerusalem, there were many needs since it was a poor place with many elderly Jews coming to Jerusalem to die in the Holy City and be buried there.  There was an abundance of widows and not enough money to go around…if it weren’t for people like Barnabas.

No doubt people saw what Barnabas did and wanted to be like him.  They wanted the recognition that Barnabas received, the favor of all the people…to be known as a good person, an encourager!

Let’s look at Acts 5:1-11 and learn 7 principles regarding the early Church and for our lives today as a New Year Holiness Challenge.

But first, let’s backtrack a bit to the prior verses to put today’s passage in its proper context and then explore these principles.  Acts 4:34 There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. 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 Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property.

Principle 1:  Encouragement is contagious.

Barnabas didn’t have to parade what he did.  He just had to do what he did and it encouraged others to want to do likewise.  Others wanted to imitate, emulate his behavior because they saw the favor he received from doing the right thing.

Encouragement is contagious!  But it’s not a one way street or unidirectional.  You see, we often view encouragement as being something good, but things like “peer pressure” and bullying are nothing more than encouragement to conform to someone else’s standards or expectations.  So for example, three-quarters of the Florida State Seminoles in a show of poor sportsmanship followed the leader—whoever the first one was–into the locker room instead of crossing the field to shake hands with the team from Oregon that defeated them in the Rose Bowl.

You may have heard the quote “Imitation is the sincerest [form of] flattery”.  But what you may not know is the author Charles Caleb Colton was an English cleric whose curacy was the vicarage of Kew and Petersham.  Colton’s job performance was profoundly erratic, described as “at times conscientious and brilliant while at other times cursory and indulgent.”  Eventually, he fell away.  He left formal church employment, fled from his creditors, invested money he owed others in an art gallery and fine wines in France where he took up residence.  He gambled his life away in the gaming salons of the “Palais Royal” –at first being quite successful, but eventually he became destitute, living off of family members until he died.  Not a life worth imitating.

Colton obviously didn’t imitate the right things.  He must have been sleeping in his theological education when they covered Ephesians 5:1 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.

In our passage today, you know what?  Ananias and Sapphira were little different.  They didn’t choose to imitate the good.  Acts 5:1 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.

“Why is this bad?,” you might wonder.  After all, it was their property.  It was their money!  Didn’t we talk about this last week that property rights are A-OK? Yes we did.  Now we will see what makes Ananias and Sapphira’s actions bad.

Principle 2: Deception is contagious and dangerous.

Ananias and Sapphira wanted the full recognition for doing what Barnabas had done, but as a show for their own glory and accolades and not at all as sincerity.  They decided to deceive the Church, letting the other believers think that Ananias and Sapphira were doing exactly what Barnabas had done…while not being completely forthright about the truth of what they were doing.

Is this really that bad?

Yes it actually is.

Pure hearts and holy people are what God wants, not a culture of deception.  But, in our present-day culture, deception is the name of the game.  Lies are thought to be fine so long as you get away with it.

It hasn’t always been like this.

When Richard Nixon lied to the American people, it was a headline.  His name became synonymous with “I am not a crook!” even as he lied to the American people.  Nixon is probably best remembered for lying to the nation he swore to uphold and protect, ending with his resignation and receiving a Presidential pardon.

* * *

Back then, lying was a huge deal.

* * *

Today, however, we still don’t know the truth about any of the present-day “phony” scandals, we cannot keep our doctor or our insurance as we were promised, and Chicago probably runs a close second to Washington, DC in numbers of lies told per political official.  OK, well, maybe New York City and Detroit are in there, too…because you see, unchecked– deception is contagious and dangerous!  It’s like invasive cancer and people get hurt.

So Principle 3: Purity matters.  Encouragement is contagious, Deception is contagious and dangerous.  And Purity matters.

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 to men but to God.”

Was Peter being greedy as the overseer in charge of the finances of the Church?

Did he just want more money than they were giving him?  No.  He pointed out that it belonged to Ananias both before and after he sold it.  What Ananias and his wife did, however, was to deceive others intentionally, to pretend to do exactly what Barnabas had done as the full amount…and get equal accolades for doing it…all the while keeping some for themselves in a secret way.  Deception.

One way that we can tell that Peter wasn’t being greedy is that he didn’t have x-ray vision to see in Ananias’ heart.  He had no way of knowing what we know thanks to the narration in the verses.  Rather, it was God was speaking through Peter.  Ananias didn’t lie to Peter.  He lied to God.  And God was watching.

God doesn’t want money.  He wants pure hearts and pure lives…and a pure Church!

Principle 4: Accountability prevents contamination.  Encouragement is contagious, so is deception.  Purity matters so God demands accountability.

I don’t particularly like this section of the story.  It seems to me rather harsh.  No second chances, no explanations, no nothin’.  Peter recounts what God thinks and then boom,

5 When Ananias heard this [You have not lied to men but to God] he fell down and died.

That’s a pretty instantaneous consequence.  No elongated Pinocchio nose to let everyone know he’d been caught. No 3 strikes and you’re out.  No warning this time before a ticket.  No excuse even allowed to be offered.  Why?  Because the same God who knew about the property, who knew about the sale, who knew about the money and the decision to deceive…also knew the heart of Ananias –a heart that would choose to lie to God in the first place.  God doesn’t need to be further insulted by having some deceiver offer a flimsy excuse…which Pastor Greg Laurie says and excuse is a “skin of a reason stuffed with a lie.”

Ananias died.  Why did God take such drastic action?  Well, first, one thing’s for sure, Ananias is never going to do that again.  The death penalty guarantees it.  But look what else happened:

And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.

Principle 5: God doesn’t mess around when it comes to holiness.  His Church will be pure if people must be destroyed to make that happen.

I know that doesn’t sound like the God of love we all know and love.  But we must understand the intricate balance of love and wrath in the Godhead–love for God’s image bearers but wrath against sin.  If the God of love wants His pure gospel and His pure Church to reach people to communicate His love, He can’t have an impure gospel or an impure Church doing it.  Our actions have consequences.  Just like cancer requires drastic measures to get rid of it, deception in the church must be dealt with.

Sometimes destroying people or letting them destroy themselves will happen gradually as those who contaminate the Church fall away.  Maybe they leave the church and move to France like Charles Caleb Colton of Imitation and flattery fame, to gamble and drink their lives away.  Maybe those people move to another church that will catch them in what they’ve been doing all along which is what we see in the headlines of sex abuse scandals. Maybe it will involve getting caught and going to jail for a little while.  But maybe it will be redemptive because the heart of the person is willingly changed and takes a Holiness Challenge.

And one thing we can say about God is He knows what’s going on, what’s required, and what it will take to keep the Church alive and holy.

6 Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him. 7 About three hours later his wife came in, 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 agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! 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.

God doesn’t mess around when it comes to holiness in His Church which brings us to a 6^th principle:

Principle 6: If Holiness is important to God it should be important to us.

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

Great fear seized people after Ananias died. 

Great fear seized people after Sapphira died. 

God intended that it would be this way so that the cancer of deception would be cut out before it spread.

Chances are really good that the same encouragement to share and share alike that Barnabas and his actions showed in the positive, was displayed in the negative by the case in point of Ananias and Sapphira—also recorded for all history as deceivers.  Everyone noticed the good and the encouragement of Barnabas.  Everyone was scared to death to follow the examples of deceivers.

God doesn’t tolerate sin in His Church.  His Son Jesus died for the Church and will be the bridegroom in the last day, marrying His Bride (the Church).  The purity of this Bride is paramount!  We need to take God’s holiness seriously!

Which brings us to the final principle for today:

Principle 7:  Live Pure or Die.

That’s the principle for the Church.  The Wall Street Journal just had an article yesterday about all the big empty church buildings in Europe.  Big buildings.  Lights are on.  Nobody’s home.  Young people don’t go to church.  They close the doors and die out.  Nothing left behind but a big, empty building.

In the US, we don’t have to look too far to find a lot of mainline church denominations in decline.

Live Pure or Die. 

Harsh words, but if Ananias and Sapphira’s example teaches us anything, it’s that God has absolutely no problem—whatsoever—with letting pretenders die.  And frankly, there are a lot of churches out there with fancy robes and large crowds and dark, deceptive hearts.  They aren’t preaching Jesus at all.  Pretenders.  Deceivers.  God is not impressed.  He wants pure hearts, not crowds.  They’re dying from the inside out.

Live Pure or Die. 

Consider the holiness of the One we’re coming to worship.  If He were to walk through that back door right now and walk up here to the microphone, I dare say we’d all be scared to death.  We don’t know what holiness is truly like.  We don’t see purity very often in our lives.  We’re so accustomed to pollution in our world, in our lives, in our governments, and in our churches, that we don’t even know what holiness is anymore.  We don’t expect it of our churches, ourselves, or others from the federal government on down to our kitchen table.

Live Pure or Die. 

God doesn’t want any of us to play church. 

To show up when we feel like it and to treat it as just another day-planner item, something to fill up a Sunday morning slot between the newspaper and the football game.

On this Communion Sunday, let’s remember that Christ died for this church.  So, let’s get rid of anything impure.

Live Pure or Die.  Each of us, in the silence of our hearts would be wise to bring our failings and deceptions before God and ask His forgiveness.  Each of us should look at our lives at the start of this New Year and see where we can take the New Year Holiness Challenge to Live Pure.  As individuals.

But also to look around this church and ask whether we’re a church that honors Christ and whether we’re displaying the name Christian with the beauty and purity that He gave His life to create.  He paid for our sin so we’d be pure.  New life.  New Beginning. The Church universal matters deeply to God.  This church matters to God.  And as uncomfortable as these 7 principles are—from the examples of Barnabas (positive) and Ananias and Sapphira (negative)—we’d be wise to remember:

1. Encouragement is contagious,
2. Deception is contagious and dangerous. 
3. Purity matters.
4. Accountability prevents contamination. 
5. God doesn’t mess around when it comes to holiness.
6. If Holiness is important to God it should be important to us.
7. With the result that we’d choose to Live Pure, rather than die.

This sermon entitled “The New Year Holiness Challenge” (based on Acts 5:1-11) was first preached on January 4, 2015 at Plymouth Congregational Church of Racine, WI.  Click on this link to listen to the audio version on YouTube.