In Acts 4:32-35 we see the believers during this time were united in a way that inspired them to sell their possessions for the good of the community of believers We even see a specific example of a man by the name of Joseph/Barnabas selling a field he owned and bringing the proceeds it to the Apostles.
Shortly after, Acts 5 begins with a recount of the last days
of Ananias and Sapphira. In short, Ananias has sold some property and he and
his wife agreed to keep a portion of the money and give the rest to the Apostles.
Scripture doesn’t say that this was necessarily wrong for them to do, but what is
clear is that they both lied saying the money they presented to the Apostles
was the entire profit of what they made from selling the property when we know
they held back a portion for themselves. As you may well know, they were both punished
with death for lying to the Holy Ghost (Acts 5:5-10)
We normally focus on the fact that these two lied and highlight
the punishment they received for doing so, but very rarely do we give thought to
what may have caused them to lie. First, we know that Satan is the Father of
Lies, so we know that they were influenced by Satan. The question then remains,
what was going on in them that left them susceptible to Satan’s influence received?
This question is important because it causes us to look at ourselves in the
light of this situation. Would we have done the same thing under similar
circumstances? If so, what excuses might we have offered as to why we made the
decision?
Keep in mind, Scripture does not expressly state why Ananias
and Sapphira lied, but we can look at Scripture as a whole and the nature of
man to come to a conclusion and make sure we aren’t harboring the same things
in us that they had in them.
The Anatomy of a Lie
A lie begins as a cover-up to a truth that we believe may
project us in an unfavorable light or to gain something to our advantage without
having earned it. If we live and walk in a spirit of truth, we know, at times,
the truth can be personally incriminating. One of the first steps in becoming Born
Again is to come to the realization that we live a life of sin contrary to God
and must repent (turn away from everything that goes against God and His Word).
Most folks hate to admit they weren’t as good of a person as they were led to
believe, and instead of allowing the light of God’s Word to shine in the dark
places of their lives they hide from that truth and open themselves to receive another
Jesus, another spirit and another gospel (2 Corinthian 11:4). 1 John 1:6 says
we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God and go on living in darkness.
It is by LIVING in the light [and Truth] (Christ Jesus Himself) that we can claim
to be in fellowship with God and rightfully identify ourselves as Christians.
One lie gives birth to another lie until we are overcome by the
lies and cannot see the Truth in God’s Word. This is a dangerous place to be.
Why Did They Lie?
The preceding chapters in Acts chapters 1 – 4 provide us
with an outline of how the Church was being established on the testimony of the
Apostles concerning Jesus. The Apostles were doing miracles (Acts 3:1-11) which
upset the religious leaders to jealousy. They were losing their hold on the people
because of Jesus and His Apostles. At the same time, the Church was growing exponentially
adding 3,000 believers in one day and well over 5,000 on another occasion (Acts
2:41, 4:4). They were being established in unity as they met together often and
began to sell possessions and property for the good of the entire group. 2
Corinthians 9 provides great clarity on the mindset they likely had (READ IT).
With this in mind, here are some reasons why Ananias and Sapphira
may have lied.
- They thought they were required to give everything and had to lie to keep back a little something for themselves.
- They were not in full agreement with the other believers and likely thought they were foolish to give up all their profit. My assumption would be that they believed the Apostles’ testimony concerning Jesus, but they weren’t fully on board with the direction the Church was going. Like the rich young ruler, they couldn’t let go of their earthly possessions because they worked hard to get what they had and couldn’t see themselves not directly profiting from it. They wanted to be a part of the community without being fully vested in the Church.
- They were swindlers before they believed the testimony about Jesus and had no intention of letting that part of them go. If they looked and sounded like the folks around them, they could pass off as real believers. How would anybody know? They wanted to play the part without being what they professed (definition of a hypocrite). They didn’t think they would be found out, but they lied to the Lord, not man! You can’t hide anything from God.
- They were willing to give up some of their profit but were concerned that people might think of them as selfish if they didn’t give up all the proceeds.
- . They didn’t trust the Apostles.
- . They didn’t think they would die!
Whether they were trying to look a certain way or operated in total
malintent doesn’t matter. The coldest part about all of this is I sincerely
believe if they were honest from the beginning and told the Apostles they kept
some of the money back for themselves, we wouldn’t be talking about them
tonight. Peter told Ananias the property and money were his to do what he
wanted to do with it. There was never a direct command from the Lord to sell their
possessions. They very well may have been able to split the profit has they’d
just told the truth. There was
absolutely NO REASON TO LIE!
See! This is just like the devil. He will convince you that to save face, gain an advantage or get what you are owed you have no choice but to lie. Forget all this holier than thou stuff. Everybody tells a “little white lie” every now and again. It won’t hurt anybody. What Satan doesn’t tell you is he knows full well how the Lord operates and one way or the other you will reap what you have sown.
Don’t Get in God’s Way
Here is an important truth you need to understand. When the Lord is building something, He will not allow anyone or anything to disrupt His work. He may not cause you to drop dead like Ananias and Sapphira, but He will deal with whatever is attempting to thwart His purposes. What the Lord was building in Acts was something pure and powerful! Bad company corrupts good character. Had He allowed Ananias and Sapphira and their little white lie to pass, that mindset would have spread throughout the Church.
The point in exploring why Ananias and Sapphira chose to lie isn't just to stress the importance of honesty. It is to get us to stop making excuses to justify our sin and become more concerned with the Lord showing us all those hidden places in our lives so we can live in confidence with Jesus as our Lord.
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