Scripture
1But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. 2He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest. 3Then 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. 4The 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!” 5As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified. Acts 5:1-5
Observation
Just a few verses earlier at the end of Acts 4 we are told of how a man’s name was changed by the Christian community to Barnabas (son of encouragement) because he so generously gave of his wealth, sold properties, and became a conduit of blessing so that “there was no need”. It’s clear that Ananias and Sapphire saw the renown of Barnabas and wanted it for themselves. Like Barnabas they sold some land to give to the church, but unlike Barnabas they inflated their numbers to inflate their reputation. Biblical commentator Duzik points out, The ancient Greek word for “kept back” is nosphizomai, which means “to misappropriate.” The same word was used of Achan’s theft in the Greek translation of the Old Testament (Joshua 7:21). The only other time nosphizomai is used in the New Testament, it means to steal (Titus 2:10).” In Joshua’s day Achan hid treasure under his tent that was set apart for God and all of Israel suffered a defeat at the battle of Ai. When the truth was discovered Achan and his family were sentenced to death. God was not about to let this lie be buried in the wet cement foundation of His newly formed church. In fact, it’s in this passage that we see the first use of the Greek word “ecclesia”- “Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened.” (Vs. 11). Fear of the Lord and generosity were always meant to be markers of The Church instead of hypocrisy, greed, and vain conceit. Sadly, the American Church is usually known more for the latter than the former.
Application
A true sign of revival will be true repentance at how much deception we take part in as people who’re supposed to be know for The Truth. Dr. J Edwin Orr’s last message was titled “Revival is Like Judgment Day”, “And people have such a wrong idea of what revival means … They think of revival as something triumphant and, shall we say, an overflow of great blessing. It’s judgment day for the church. But after the judgment, and after things are settled, it’s blessing abounding.” God’s timing is amazing. I was listening to this passage as I drove to the San Diego Sherrif’s Dept. this morning to take a lie detector test. This step was necessary before the Department could grant me the clearance necessary to become a police chaplain. The man performing the test was impressed at how it easy it was to administer the test to someone who had nothing to hide. The truth is we all have stuff we hide. I may have passed the lie detector test at The Sherrif’s Dept., but The Holy Spirit has been talking to me ever since through this passage. The same Holy Spirit in the early church is the same Holy Sprit in the 21st Century church. We may not be dropping dead as often, but there has been much death that has spread through the church because we have normalized lies. We embellish, exaggerate, and elaborate the truth to make ourselves look more spiritual or generous than we actually are. Speaking of lie detector tests, 60% of adults can’t have a 10 minute conversation without lying at least once. 40% of us lie on resumes. 90% of us lie on a dating profiles. Women lie that they weigh 8 1/2 pound less and men lie about being taller, richer, and more educated than they actually are. In our image-driven culture we craft a perception that is often different from reality. Is that any different than what Ananias and Sapphira did? We lie to make ourselves look better. We buy into the lie of our worth and then we become the lie in our relationships. If we truly want to see revival in our land it starts with repentance in our hearts for how we’ve become purveyors and pushers of lies. The name Sapphira means, Beautiful in Aramaic. The name Ananias means God is Gracious in Hebrew. God wants to restore our true identity in Him and it starts when we repent for lying to The Holy Spirit.
Prayer
I am very convicted today. I’ve been praying for revival for many years, but I won’t see it around me until I recognize the sin within me. Forgive me for treating little white lies as something other than sin. Forgive me for being more concerned with how people perceive me than how You see me. You make it clear that what is in the darkness will be brought into the light. So, instead of dreading the light I run into Your light and pray with David, ”23Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Ps. 139:23-24)
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