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This week, we’re looking at some of the early days of the church. The idea of a being a “body” of believers was brand new. No one had done it before, and everyone was following the Spirit of God as closely as they could.
Barnabas, a man who was already distinguishing himself as a humble servant of God, had just selflessly sold a piece of land and given the proceeds of the sale – quite a sum of money – to the church. Since the church shared all things, the believers were all aware and were probably talking about his generosity. More than likely, his gift was drawing more attention to him than he would have liked. He was mature enough in his walk with Christ to realize that no glory should come to him. God had entrusted the parcel of land to him as provision for the body. God had directed him to sell the land and surrender the proceeds to the church for the ministry of the body. There was nothing glorious about that act as it related to Barnabas in his own eyes – all glory belonged to God.
But others wanted to ascribe glory to Barnabas, and still others became envious of that glory. Envy and pride are as old as the days of the Garden of Eden. And that nature still exists within us, even as believers, if we fail to surrender it to Jesus and ask Him to take it captive. That’s true today, and that was true among the believers of the early church. Though Barnabas had surrendered that nature and refused to be “puffed-up” by the recognition he received, there were others within the body that sought that recognition for themselves. After all, why shouldn’t their generosity be rewarded? (Can’t you just hear the serpent whispering in their ear?)
Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, were two of those early believers.(1) They also owned property. We’re not told whether God led them to sell the property, or whether they chose to do so on their own. But either way, they sold it. They chose to keep part of the money, and give the remainder to the church. Again, we don’t know what, if any, God had directed them to give. If God directed them to sell the property, He would have also directed them as to what portion they should give. It may or may not have been all of the proceeds. At issue here is not the amount that they gave. The issue is that they lied. And they apparently lied in order to garner the recognition that they had seen Barnabas receive. Otherwise there was no reason to claim that their gift was the full amount of the proceeds they had received.
Ironically, the name Ananias means “God is gracious” which is a testimony to God’s grace and mercy. But God is also holy. When Ananias and Sapphira lied, they not only did so to the believers in the church, but more importantly they lied to God. There was a purity in that initial church. That’s not to say that the early believers did not sin. We can be certain that they did; they were frail sinners just like you and me. But what made this sin of Ananias and Sapphira so repulsive to the Lord was their introduction of hypocrisy and deceit into His newly formed church, through their feeble attempt to glorify their own names. God Himself has told us, “…I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God….”(2) He is jealous for His glory and He will not share it. “I am the LORD; that is My name! I will not give My glory to anyone else….”(3)
Ananias proudly announced that he too was giving the full proceeds from the sale of his property to the church. Interestingly, the Spirit of God apparently gave Peter the discernment to know that was not the case, because he asked, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart?”(4) Ananias then heard the rebuke from God through Peter and fell to the ground dead. As soon as they had carried his dead body out of the room, the exact same thing happened when Sapphira also lied about the gift. She, too, fell dead to the floor.
Lest there be any confusion, Peter didn’t do anything that caused Ananias or Sapphira to “fall to the floor and die.” God did! God dealt with the sin of Ananias and Sapphira swiftly and severely. Too often, we presume upon God’s grace without regard to the fact that He is holy and just. We seemingly expect him to overlook our sin. We lose sight that the forgiveness of our sin cost the Father the agony and sacrifice of His only Son on the cross. He paid dearly for our sin because of His grace. And He will not allow His grace to be trivialized by our wanton disregard for His holiness. We would do well to join with those believers who, when Ananias fell to the ground, were “terrified” before God. They realized that God was not “one of the boys” to be disregarded, lied to, or defamed.
Even in its infancy, Satan was attempting to defeat the church. He was fresh on the heels of the reality that he was impotent to defeat Jesus. Satan’s best efforts had been defeated at the empty tomb. So now, he turned his attention to Jesus’s bride – the church. Satan knew that his best opportunity to defeat Jesus was through the church, and that defeat would not come from outside the church, it would come from within the church. He knew then – and he knows now – how to lie to and deceive church members – even sincere followers of Jesus.
He used the soulish ambition of Ananias and Sapphira to get them to do his bidding, and he convinced them that no one would ever be the wiser. He used the same tactic in the Garden of Eden with Eve, and he still uses it today. We would do well to remember the admonition from Paul to “put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.”(5) Because as Peter later wrote, “…your great enemy, the devil… prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”(6) One can’t help wondering if Peter was thinking of this very moment with Ananias and Sapphira when he penned those words. Satan lied to and through Ananias and Sapphira, and the lie led to their deaths.
At the very root of their sin was pride. The writer of Proverbs tells us, “pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.”(7) It was pride that transformed Lucifer into Satan.(8) It was pride that led to Adam and Eve’s sin.(9) And it was pride that led Ananias and Sapphira to attempt to deceive the Holy Spirit.
The early church saw God enter into their midst through His Holy Spirit in “great power,” extending His “great grace.” Then, in this moment, they were moved by “great fear.” As we continue in our journey on this side of eternity, we would do well to remember the words of the writer of Hebrews: “Therefore, since we are receiving a Kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.”(10)
One of the greatest tests in our own lives as to whether we are walking in the spirit or being led by our flesh is pride. Pride cannot exist in my life if i am truly walking in the Spirit. Lord, empty me of my pride and flesh, and fill me with your Spirit!
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You can read the account of Ananias and Sapphira in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 5.
This post is taken from chapter 15 of my book, Until He Returns. For more information about the book, click here.
(1) Acts 5:1-11 (NLT)
But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest. Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!” As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified. Then some young men got up, wrapped him in a sheet, and took him out and buried him. About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, “Was this the price you and your husband received for your land?”
“Yes,” she replied, “that was the price.” And Peter said, “How could the two of you even think of conspiring to test the Spirit of the Lord like this? The young men who buried your husband are just outside the door, and they will carry you out, too.” Instantly, she fell to the floor and died. When the young men came in and saw that she was dead, they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened.
(2) Exodus 20:5 (NLT)
(3) Isaiah 42:8 (NLT)
(4) Acts 5:3 (NLT)
(5) Ephesians 6:11 (NLT)
(6) 1 Peter 5:8 (NLT)
(7) Proverbs 18:18 (CSB)
(8) Isaiah 14:12-15
(9) Genesis 3:4-6
(10) Hebrews 12:28-29 (NKJ)
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