The Spirit Acts: One Heart, One Mind - English Sermons - 10:15

Today's message is built around Acts 4:32-5:11. This passage explores the early church's profound unity and the critical challenges it faced. Together we examine the powerful example of Barnabas, a Levite from Cyprus, whose genuine and sincere love for God and his community led him to sacrificial generosity. His actions highlight what it truly means for believers to be "one in heart and mind". In stark contrast, we will trip across the sobering story of Ananias and Sapphira, whose deception (on the level of a kind of fraud) and lack of sincere love brought immediate divine judgment. This powerful encounter teaches us that God intimately knows our hearts and judges sin, especially when it involves lying to the Holy Spirit and attempting to deceive the church community. We'll see how Satan actively works to fill hearts with deceit, seeking to undermine the unity and integrity of God's people. This message calls us to reflect on the nature of sincere love—a love that is unhypocritical, authentic, consistent, and selfless, reflecting God's own character. It's a reminder that while God is patient, His judgment of sin is real, and deception destroys fellowship. We should all prepare ourselves—Get Ready—to be awakened to the seriousness of willful deception and the call to live with honesty and integrity within the body of Christ.