Scripture: Acts 5: 1-11
The theme for today’s message may seem rather
obvious – after all, who, in their right mind would ever think that they could
ever get away with something, without the LORD ever knowing what they
had done? Our “all knowing”, “all
present” God doesn’t work within our frame of time and understanding – He works
in a way that not only isn’t ours, but is far beyond anything we will ever know
or could ever imagine (Isaiah 55:8-9).
And yet, how many folks act as though they can do
whatever they want, and that it will never make an iota of difference when the Day
of Judgment arrives? Today’s message is
about a husband and wife who think that if they lie to the church and continue
in the lie, that God will only know what the church knows. As we will soon discover, this is so far from
the truth that it boggles the senses (Hebrews 4:12-13)!
The point is that the church’s only truth is founded
in the truth of God, and it will never be any different!
As an introduction to our passage, we read in Acts 4:32-38, (verse 32) that no one in the church was claiming
that any of his possessions was his own, and they shared everything they had.”,
and in verse 34 that “ from time to time those who owned lands or houses
sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet,
and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.”
All too often, the Church tends to focus on who can truly
perform miracles, and who is only faking the miracles for their own prestige
and benefit. But now we read of ways
that the Church could truly and fully be the Church, and poverty had become a target for
those who had anything to give in the “battle”.
But was everyone so generous?
Read Acts 5:1-4
The Church should be one body, with one heart to
follow the ways of Jesus, and with a singular and total commitment to let the
Holy Spirit lead wherever God would have us go.
Sometimes, we are to go to far away places to share the word and love of
Christ with others. Sometimes, we are
called to simply be part of the greater mission of the Church, but sometimes we
are called to be caring of our next-door neighbors who are in need. In 1 Corinthians12:7-11 we read that it isn’t everyone who receives each of
the God given gifts, but everyone does receive “the manifestation of the
Spirit … for the common good”. In
other words, only some will be blessed with the gifts of the Spirit, but we all
receive the Holy Spirit, and are to exhibit the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-25) through the way we live out our faith.
Interestingly, Luke chooses to include the story of
Ananias and Sapphira to make the point that even the church of that day had its
problems! But the question for us is
this - What does it take for someone to resist God’s call to grace, and use the
LORD’s
opportunity to further their own position?
I think the answer is that their faith is so shallow
that they can’t see the blessing that is inherent in giving all the honor and
glory to God, instead of holding it back for their own edification.
We might also wonder how Peter knew so quickly and
so assuredly, that Ananias had lied! As
previously mentioned, Peter might not have known about the deception through
his own mind, but the LORD has a way of revealing those things that offend Him
to one who He can use to correct the situation.
Blasphemy
is a profoundly serious issue in faith, and that is exactly what lying to God
is all about. (Luke 12:10)
Ananias and Sapphira could have sold the land and
kept the entire sale price, but that wouldn’t have gained them any benefit in
the church. So they didn’t. They could have sold the land and give a portion
to the apostles without lying, but they didn’t.
They tried, instead, to take advantage of the grace shown to them by their
God. And they failed.
Read Acts 5:5-8
And Ananias pays the price for his arrogance. But does that mean that if we lie to God that
we, too, will drop dead on the spot? It’s
hard to say, but rest assured that when the Day of Jesus Christ finally
arrives, the Judgment will not go well for us!
And three hours later, Sapphira meets the same fate
as her husband. Now remember that back
in verses 1 & 2, we read that they both sold the land, but that Ananias
withheld some of the proceeds, and his wife only had knowledge of the
deceit. So when the issue is presented
to her, if she had come clean with the truth, if she had confessed and repented
of the lie, she might have been forgiven for the transgression. But again, she didn’t.
Later in Acts, this thought is played out in the
life of Simon the Sorcerer. (Acts 8:9-13) Simon was a boastful man who put himself
above others, as well as above the Great God Jehovah. The people even called him “the Great
Power of God”, and he never corrected their misconception. Claiming that you are the “Power of God” when
you are anything BUT is deceit before the name of God. But Simon’s story has a totally different outcome. He repents, claims the name of Jesus as his
Savior, was baptized, and became a follower of Philip – no death or punishment!
This is the difference between Simon and our couple
of the day.
Read Acts 5:9-11
Sapphira commits the same offence as Ananias, and receives
the same fate that her husband did. But
what good would come of it? It seems
that word of the events of that day began to spread far and wide, so much so
that fear began to reign in the lives of both the Church as well as in those
who were outside of the faith.
The lesson hit home over and over, and I believe that
not only did the Church became stronger for it, but the truth behind the people’s
attitude regarding Jesus may also have changed.
The Power of God was at work within the Church. It wasn’t so much that faith in Christ was
frightening, but more so that God, through faith in Him, was powerful, and
those who opposed Him had best beware!
As we continue to read through Acts 5:12-14, we discover that miracles of healing
continued to grow, that the Power of God was at work in mighty ways through the
faith of Peter and the other apostles, and that many men and women were
added to the roles of the faithful from that day on.
The lesson that comes to us from Ananias, Sapphira,
and Simon the Sorcerer, is this:
Don’t ever lie to God and then persist in the
lie. For if we do, the consequences will
certainly be dire – if not now, then certainly on the Day of Christ’s return.
But the second part of this story, is that when we
lie, when we sin, when we turn away from the LORD and begin to establish
our own way in this life, our only hope is to repent of those ways, and to seek
God’s forgiveness for the wayward life we have succumbed to.
True confession and repentance in the name of Jesus is
the only means to divine forgiveness and restoration in the family of God. He has no desire to have anyone lose out on
the eternity that has been lovingly prepared for us all, but sin and deceit can
never be tolerated in God’s Kingdom, and faith and trust in the name of Jesus
is our only hope to know the LORD’s Better Day.
May it be so today and always.
Amen.
