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.
This passage also is against the concept that these early
Christians were communists in the modern sense. The property belonged to the
man or woman and it is acknowledged that they were free to do with their
property as they so chose, only they could not lie to God.
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