Acts 5:1 ¶ But a certain
man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, 2 And kept back part of the price, his
wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it
at the apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said,
Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to
keep back part of the price of the land? 4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and
after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this
thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. 5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down,
and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.
6 And the young men arose, wound him up,
and carried him out, and buried him. 7 And it was about the space of three hours
after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. 8 And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether
ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. 9 Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye
have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them
which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.
10 Then fell she down straightway at his
feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead,
and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. 11 And great fear came upon all the church, and
upon as many as heard these things.
The crime Ananias and
Sapphira committed was to lie to the Holy Ghost. The penalty was death. I don’t
think this is typically going to happen after this unique beginning to the
Christian church. So, don’t be fearful when you put your offering in the plate.
What it reinforces is that God is more focused on your intentions than on
actions alone. God is not the pragmatist. He not only wants you to give of the
blessing He has bestowed on you willingly and joyfully but He wants truth. See
here what Paul says in the context of giving to other churches in need (not to
funding your church’s basketball court.)
2Corinthians 9:6 ¶ But this
I say, He which soweth
sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap
also bountifully. 7 Every man according
as he purposeth in his heart, so let
him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful
giver.
And this heart in which
you purpose things such as giving God knows. The spirit of man is the mind,
heart, talents, even the intentions and ideas of a person. For contexts where
the Spirit of God or the spirit of man can be synonymous with mind please see the
following;
Romans 8:27 And he that
searcheth the hearts knoweth what is
the mind of the Spirit,
because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
1Corinthians 2:16 For who
hath known the mind of the Lord,
that he may instruct him? But we have the
mind of Christ.
Ephesians 4:23 And be
renewed in the spirit of your mind;
Philippians 1:27 Only let
your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come
and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind
striving together for the faith of the gospel;
2Timothy 1:7 For God hath
not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Our spirit is our mind,
as shown before, but it is more than that as it is our also our heart,
emotions, without which no rational mind can function, and our talents and
inclinations given to us by God or tarnished by the fall of man.
Deuteronomy 2:30 But Sihon
king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the LORD thy God hardened his spirit,
and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day.
Psalm 34:18 The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
The phrase the comes
after a colon often helps define what went before it.
Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices
of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a
contrite heart, O God, thou
wilt not despise.
As for talent and
skills given by God through things like practice, apprenticeship, and learning
unless you believe that Bezaleel woke up one day and suddenly knew how to do
marvelous works.
Exodus 31:1 ¶ And the LORD
spake unto Moses, saying, 2 See, I have
called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:
3 And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in
understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, 4 To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and
in silver, and in brass, 5 And in
cutting of
stones, to set them,
and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship. 6 And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab,
the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in
the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that
they may make all that I have commanded thee;
If you want to be wise hearted get to work. Wise hearted first, then wisdom from
God. God searches man and woman’s mind, heart, inclinations, sin-nature, and
all of the things that make up what we are.
Proverbs 20:27 The spirit of man is the candle of
the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.
As God reads our spirit
there is nothing, no thought, that is hid from God.
Psalm 139:23 Search me, O
God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way
everlasting.
Isaiah 66:18 For I know their works and their thoughts
Hebrews 4:12 For the word
of God is quick, and powerful,
and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of
soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
And the intentions
behind your actions for God will be judged in the end but you will be spared in
eternity if you are saved by Him through the Cross.
1Corinthians 3:11 ¶ For
other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man build upon this foundation
gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for
the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire
shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built
thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15
If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself
shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
Do not promise or swear
something you cannot or will not or have no true intention to come through on.
Ecclesiastes 5:4 When thou
vowest a vow unto God, defer not
to pay it; for he hath no
pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.
What this episode
teaches us is that it is more important to be sincere than it is to try to
impress others with empty, vain words and promises. When you try to impress others with your
giving or promises of service but secretly hold back from what you promised you
are lying to God. Set expectations truthfully. I cannot overstate this. There
is much hypocrisy in religion because many professing Christians’ god is Self
rather than the God of the Bible. They think that if they look and sound like
Christians they can be villains in their hearts although they would not
characterize themselves as anything but well-intended followers of Christ.
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