The beginning of the fifth chapter of Acts is a strange and terrifying story. Several landowning members of the church had been stirred to show extravagant generosity, and many sold their land and gave the proceeds to the church. In keeping with the trend, Ananias and Sapphira, a married couple in the early church, sold their land as well. But there was one important difference; they decided to pocket some of the money for themselves, while acting like they were giving the whole amount to the church. This resulted in both of them being struck down by God immediately.

Why would God deal with them so drastically and swiftly?

In Matthew Chapter 6, Jesus warns his followers about practicing righteous acts in order to be seen by others. Clearly it is of the utmost importance to God that his Church be made up of people who are not putting on a show to impress others. Rather, our public actions should match up with our inner reality. 

In this message, Cody digs into what it means to be hypocritical, and how we can rage against that tendency in our own hearts.

This is a full service video from our 2023 sermon series titled, "If You Love Me". For an audio recording of only the sermon, check out our "podcasts" series within the White Stone App, or go to the White Stone Church audio messages podcast on your podcast app of choice.