1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,600 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen. 2 00:00:08,600 --> 00:00:17,600 I'm going to begin today not with a text, not with a portion of the canonical scriptures, 3 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:24,500 but with a saying, maybe a canonical saying, something that's well known, well used. 4 00:00:24,500 --> 00:00:32,600 There are three kinds of lies, lies, damned lies, and statistics. 5 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:37,366 Now the point of that saying is to say that, yeah, there are lies, then there are really 6 00:00:37,366 --> 00:00:48,933 bad lies, but then there are statistics, especially dangerous because they can cover over the 7 00:00:48,933 --> 00:00:56,866 malice and deceit with just numbers or graphs or pictures. 8 00:00:56,866 --> 00:01:02,500 Now I bring that up not to talk about that saying, but rather to point out that there 9 00:01:02,500 --> 00:01:11,333 is a profanity in that saying, but what makes it a profanity? 10 00:01:11,333 --> 00:01:16,033 What makes a saying, damned lies, in that saying a profanity is that it marginalizes, 11 00:01:16,033 --> 00:01:21,900 it obscures, it ignores that there really are things that are damned lies. 12 00:01:21,900 --> 00:01:25,966 There are lies that lead to death and damnation. 13 00:01:25,966 --> 00:01:30,266 So it should be there are lies, statistics, and damned lies. 14 00:01:30,266 --> 00:01:35,866 But that doesn't sound so good. 15 00:01:35,866 --> 00:01:42,533 The canonical example of a damned lie is in the lesson we had from the fifth chapter of 16 00:01:42,533 --> 00:01:47,033 the Acts of the Apostles. 17 00:01:47,033 --> 00:01:53,533 At this time, the believers, the apostles, they're all centered in Jerusalem. 18 00:01:53,533 --> 00:01:56,466 It's the early days of the church. 19 00:01:56,466 --> 00:01:59,533 The Spirit of the Lord has been poured out on them. 20 00:01:59,533 --> 00:02:02,466 The believers hold all things in common. 21 00:02:02,466 --> 00:02:06,233 No one goes empty handed. 22 00:02:06,233 --> 00:02:12,333 There are some who own property and they'll sell some and give the proceeds to the believers. 23 00:02:12,333 --> 00:02:21,500 And one day, a man named Ananias, with the full knowledge and consent of his wife, sells 24 00:02:21,500 --> 00:02:29,833 some property, takes the proceeds, but gives only a portion, sent only a portion at the 25 00:02:29,833 --> 00:02:40,233 feet of the apostles, but apparently claims it's the whole thing, the entire price. 26 00:02:40,233 --> 00:02:42,900 That's a damned lie. 27 00:02:42,900 --> 00:02:43,933 Why? 28 00:02:43,933 --> 00:02:48,266 Because you have not simply lied to men, you've lied to God. 29 00:02:48,266 --> 00:02:49,966 You've lied to the Holy Spirit. 30 00:02:49,966 --> 00:02:55,633 You have put the Lord your God in the Holy Spirit to the test. 31 00:02:55,633 --> 00:02:59,333 So when the husband hears this, he simply drops dead. 32 00:02:59,333 --> 00:03:06,033 And some people wrap him up, carry him out, and bury him. 33 00:03:06,033 --> 00:03:09,966 Three hours later, the wife comes. 34 00:03:09,966 --> 00:03:15,966 She doesn't know what has happened to her husband, or rather, her late husband. 35 00:03:15,966 --> 00:03:23,300 And she gets asked, so you sold some property and gave the proceeds, right? 36 00:03:23,300 --> 00:03:24,633 And this was the price. 37 00:03:24,633 --> 00:03:25,633 Oh yes. 38 00:03:25,633 --> 00:03:26,633 Oh no. 39 00:03:26,633 --> 00:03:31,766 How could you two put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? 40 00:03:31,766 --> 00:03:33,766 And then Peter curses her. 41 00:03:33,766 --> 00:03:36,866 Look, do you hear that sound? 42 00:03:36,866 --> 00:03:41,833 Those are the feet of the men who buried your husband, and they're going to carry you out 43 00:03:41,833 --> 00:03:43,433 too. 44 00:03:43,433 --> 00:03:48,066 And they did. 45 00:03:48,066 --> 00:03:52,466 This incident, of course, was fear-inducing. 46 00:03:52,466 --> 00:03:54,566 And that's how this passage ends. 47 00:03:54,566 --> 00:04:04,766 Great fear came upon the whole church, and in fact, to everyone who heard about it. 48 00:04:04,766 --> 00:04:12,800 And it still is a fear-inducing, terror-invoking thing. 49 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:15,200 And for two reasons. 50 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:23,200 One is, at that time, the people of God were still getting used to, getting to know what 51 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:27,000 it meant to have the Holy Spirit. 52 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:32,066 The Holy Spirit had long been promised to God's people. 53 00:04:32,066 --> 00:04:36,166 The Holy Spirit had long been something to be looked forward to. 54 00:04:36,166 --> 00:04:39,833 But in the Old Testament, only a few would have the Spirit. 55 00:04:39,833 --> 00:04:40,833 It would be the prophets. 56 00:04:40,833 --> 00:04:41,833 It would be David. 57 00:04:41,833 --> 00:04:46,166 It would be the 70 elders in the camp. 58 00:04:46,166 --> 00:04:54,266 But not all God's people, not by a long shot, that would have to come. 59 00:04:54,266 --> 00:05:01,900 But now with the coming of Jesus, His death, His resurrection, His ascension, now the Holy 60 00:05:01,900 --> 00:05:04,666 Spirit was being poured out. 61 00:05:04,666 --> 00:05:10,466 What had long been promised for the last days was now being realized. 62 00:05:10,466 --> 00:05:16,166 The Spirit was being poured out on all flesh. 63 00:05:16,166 --> 00:05:19,633 But they were still getting used to it. 64 00:05:19,633 --> 00:05:26,133 When the Spirit is given to the apostles, the people around think they've been drinking. 65 00:05:26,133 --> 00:05:33,566 When the Spirit is poured out on Gentiles in the house of Cornelius, it's astonishing. 66 00:05:33,566 --> 00:05:40,300 They're still getting used to what it means to have the Holy Spirit as a gift, as the 67 00:05:40,300 --> 00:05:46,500 presence and power of God in them. 68 00:05:46,500 --> 00:05:53,100 And so they find out, do not mess with the Holy Spirit. 69 00:05:53,100 --> 00:05:59,733 Jesus Himself had warned about this as Matthew talks about this. 70 00:05:59,733 --> 00:06:06,866 After He casts out a demon, some people say, this couldn't be the son of David, could it? 71 00:06:06,866 --> 00:06:12,400 And the Pharisees who were dead set against Him said, no, no. 72 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:17,933 He casts out demons by the prince of demons, Beelzebul. 73 00:06:17,933 --> 00:06:19,900 And Jesus knows about this. 74 00:06:19,900 --> 00:06:24,100 He says, first of all, no, that doesn't make any sense. 75 00:06:24,100 --> 00:06:30,066 And then second, if He's casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of 76 00:06:30,066 --> 00:06:32,233 God has come upon you. 77 00:06:32,233 --> 00:06:39,433 And then He warns, yeah, all kinds of sin, all kinds of blasphemy, that can be forgiven. 78 00:06:39,433 --> 00:06:42,433 But sin and blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? 79 00:06:42,433 --> 00:06:44,266 No. 80 00:06:44,266 --> 00:06:47,466 Sins against the Son of Man? 81 00:06:47,466 --> 00:06:49,866 That can be forgiven. 82 00:06:49,866 --> 00:06:54,833 Blasphening against the Holy Spirit? 83 00:06:54,833 --> 00:06:56,900 Never. 84 00:06:56,900 --> 00:07:00,666 Don't mess with the Holy Spirit. 85 00:07:00,666 --> 00:07:04,800 And Ananias and Sapphira did. 86 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:11,700 Now one reason this passage, and also like that passage about Jesus, still astonishes 87 00:07:11,700 --> 00:07:21,266 and brings about fear and terror is sometimes we in our churches don't know enough, don't 88 00:07:21,266 --> 00:07:25,233 appreciate enough about the Holy Spirit. 89 00:07:25,233 --> 00:07:33,900 No, the sign of the new age, the sign of things of being redeemed is not only Jesus Christ, 90 00:07:33,900 --> 00:07:36,566 but the Spirit of Christ. 91 00:07:36,566 --> 00:07:41,266 The good news is this, whether you know it or not, you who believe in Jesus as Lord, 92 00:07:41,266 --> 00:07:45,766 you have received baptism and received it in faith. 93 00:07:45,766 --> 00:07:54,333 You who listen to the word of Christ, follow the teaching of Christ, rejoice in the hope 94 00:07:54,333 --> 00:08:00,833 of Christ to come, you do that in and by the Spirit. 95 00:08:00,833 --> 00:08:03,633 The Holy Spirit is yours. 96 00:08:03,633 --> 00:08:09,166 The Holy Spirit is your gift. 97 00:08:09,166 --> 00:08:23,966 But still, it is a call to study, to learn, to assimilate what it is to have the Spirit. 98 00:08:23,966 --> 00:08:27,566 So one reason that there would be terror is that, still getting used to, what it means 99 00:08:27,566 --> 00:08:29,700 to have the Holy Spirit. 100 00:08:29,700 --> 00:08:36,866 But the other is, of course, the fact that this was so stark, so absolute, that the line 101 00:08:36,866 --> 00:08:43,333 between life and death, between salvation and damnation was made very clear. 102 00:08:43,333 --> 00:08:46,900 When those things come about, of course, that's a fearsome thing. 103 00:08:46,900 --> 00:08:51,733 They're terrifying prospects. 104 00:08:51,733 --> 00:08:58,433 So perhaps you have thought about, have I lied to the Holy Spirit? 105 00:08:58,433 --> 00:09:01,433 Have I blasphemed against the Holy Spirit? 106 00:09:01,433 --> 00:09:06,833 Or you have been asked, and if you're preparing for ministry, whether as a pastor or a teacher, 107 00:09:06,833 --> 00:09:11,500 a deaconess or as a teacher, you will be asked if you haven't already. 108 00:09:11,500 --> 00:09:14,466 What about that? 109 00:09:14,466 --> 00:09:15,933 So there are a couple of responses. 110 00:09:15,933 --> 00:09:20,366 One is, this is one instance where, I usually don't like this, but this is one instance 111 00:09:20,366 --> 00:09:24,500 where I would say, if you're worried about it, you probably don't have to be worried 112 00:09:24,500 --> 00:09:25,500 about it. 113 00:09:25,500 --> 00:09:30,233 Well, no, when it came to the Pharisees and what they were saying about Jesus casting 114 00:09:30,233 --> 00:09:36,133 out demons by Beelzebul, that was just a manifestation of how dead set they were against Jesus. 115 00:09:36,133 --> 00:09:40,766 And his God and the Spirit who dwelt in Jesus. 116 00:09:40,766 --> 00:09:42,233 This was not a mistake. 117 00:09:42,233 --> 00:09:43,333 This was not confusion. 118 00:09:43,333 --> 00:09:50,333 No, this was outright opposition to God and his salvation through Jesus Christ. 119 00:09:50,333 --> 00:09:55,133 And when Ananias and I and Sapphira did this, they knew what they were doing. 120 00:09:55,133 --> 00:09:57,233 They knew that they were lying. 121 00:09:57,233 --> 00:09:59,966 They were trying to get away with something. 122 00:09:59,966 --> 00:10:03,833 No, because they weren't just talking to some people. 123 00:10:03,833 --> 00:10:08,100 They weren't just, you've lied not just to men, but to God, because these people 124 00:10:08,100 --> 00:10:11,633 had the Holy Spirit. 125 00:10:11,633 --> 00:10:17,366 But there is something still terrifying about that. 126 00:10:17,366 --> 00:10:20,166 So that explanation only goes so far. 127 00:10:20,166 --> 00:10:26,066 And in fact, this is a case where don't ask whether you can be forgiven. 128 00:10:26,066 --> 00:10:30,133 Go get it. 129 00:10:30,133 --> 00:10:38,333 If this is a problem for you, or if someone asks about it, don't just explain it. 130 00:10:38,333 --> 00:10:40,166 Get forgiveness. 131 00:10:40,166 --> 00:10:41,866 Give forgiveness. 132 00:10:41,866 --> 00:10:45,033 This is a matter for confession and for absolution. 133 00:10:45,033 --> 00:10:52,500 This is a matter for the Word of the Lord. 134 00:10:52,500 --> 00:10:59,400 But finally, because this isn't a problem that always bothers you, but it is true. 135 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:03,400 You are people of the Spirit. 136 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:04,900 Rejoice in that. 137 00:11:04,900 --> 00:11:13,566 You are people of the Spirit, because you have the Spirit of God in Jesus Christ. 138 00:11:13,566 --> 00:11:15,266 Salvation is yours. 139 00:11:15,266 --> 00:11:17,566 Eternal life is yours. 140 00:11:17,566 --> 00:11:25,533 No matter what you face in this life, no matter what threat or problem or confusion you face 141 00:11:25,533 --> 00:11:36,700 in this life, eternal life and blessedness is yours through God, by His Son, and by His 142 00:11:36,700 --> 00:11:40,700 Spirit. 143 00:11:40,700 --> 00:11:46,766 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit 144 00:11:46,766 --> 00:11:47,766 be with you all. 145 00:11:47,766 --> 00:12:03,033 Amen.