Lies Can Kill You
I spoke about fear the other day in one of my blogs…I talked about how important it is to have the fear of the Lord in your heart.
But what if I told you that is possible for you to die from sin…and not Spiritually but physically.
Sin in our society seems to be a misconception, even among the Christians. People take sin very lightly. This is due to the heresy that is taught at many of the churches these days. Instead of teaching the consequences of sin, they teach how God is all forgiving. Interestingly enough, if it wasn’t for Jesus, we wouldn’t stand a chance.
As I was reading the Bible today I stumbled on a few verses, where God isn’t so merciful. Where God actually punishes sin with Death. Imagine that, you are knowingly committing sin and all of a sudden death is upon you. You are struck down by God himself. Would that make you reconsider your sinful patterns?
The story speaks about a man named Ananias and Sapphira. When they sold their land, they brought only part of the proceeds to the apostles.
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.
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 just to human beings but to God.”
5 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. 6 Then some 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 conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! 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. 11 Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events. (Acts 5:1-11).
As I read this text I was confused, I couldn’t believe why this had happened…Why was God so strict! Imagine you lie right now and you are instantly struck down for your sins. Would this be just?…
Why would God be so violent?..Was there something God was trying to point out in this example?
Luke recounts what must have been a well-known but tragic story of Ananias and his wife Sapphira, who lied to the Holy Spirit. The story actually continues Luke’s account of how the believers shared their possessions, which he ended with the example of a generous Barnabas. But in the case of Ananias and Sapphira, we see another side of the church.
What Luke did was present two cases that stand in opposition to each other. Barnabas is a concerned, faithful and a true disciple; Ananias and Sapphira are selfish, faithless liars. The incident shows that the church, even in its earliest days, was not a community of perfect people. Perhaps Luke tells this story to warn his readers not to overestimate the spiritual perfection of the first believers. The example also serves as a warning to the church. The best -intention good works of human beings — which the generous giving illustrated — can have unintended negative side effects. In short, the church is always an imperfect, sinning body that daily needs the forgiveness of Jesus Christ.
Peter tells Ananias: “Didn’t it (the land) belong to you before it was sold?…And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal?” Ananias was perfectly free to keep or sell his property as he thought fit. If he sold his property, he could have kept all the money for himself. The sin of Ananias was not in keeping his money, but in lying to the community, and hence, to the Holy Spirit.
We aren’t forced to do anything against our will, God will not smite you for not selling off all your possessions. The sin of which Ananias was guilty was hypocrisy, a sin which received from Jesus the most scathing condemnation. Ananias was under no obligation to sell his land at all, or to hand over the proceeds, but having done both he alleged that all the money he had obtained was now being given magnanimously for the relief of the poorer members of the community, whereas in fact he had slyly retrained part of it for his own use. His wife as a party to the fraud.
After these events, Ananias gets struck down. I think although Peter was simply trying to rebuke the sin in Ananias’s life, the Holy Spirit had already proclaimed divine judgement against their sin. We mustn’t confuse this context, it wasn’t Peter that struck them down, but the hand of God. And when it is referring to fear, in the later context, it is probably talking about Peter as well (Peter was probably just as surprised about the death as the congregation).
The death of Ananias and Sapphira serves as a powerful example of the presence of God in the community of believers. “Great fear seized all who heard what had happened” (5:5). After this, no one would be tempted to gain a reputation for generosity by lying about it — although before this, the temptation was probably not unique to Ananias and Sapphira.
I think what we have to remember after learning about this lesson is; God will not be mocked and there is nothing he doesn’t see and know. The issue we see here is clear- Ananias lied and deceived both the community and God (Holy Spirit). God didn’t respond lightly and instead of allowing them to repent, he intervened with great judgement.
I think God also wants this to be a lesson to the church -both then and now- how serious hypocrisy an be.
The story of Ananias and Sapphira is a reminder to us today that God sees the heart, that He hates sin, and that He is concerned for the purity of His church . As Jesus told the compromising church in Thyatira, “All the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds”
I think there are many people that do things for the wrong reason these days, they dedicate their time to be acknowledged. Money is donated for self praise….God doesn’t need your money, your time, your praise if it is with a cold heart, a selfish motive. There is no point to even be Christian if you are doing it for the wrong reasons. In fact, I think it is better for you not to be Christian at all than to pretend, and mask the wicked desires of your heart.
Sources:
https://www.gci.org/bible/acts5
[E. William Neil, The Acts of the Apostles, The New Century Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973), page 94.]
