Bible Lesson: Miracles Of The Power Of The Holy Spirit: Judgment of Ananias And Sapphira.
Bible Messenger: Peter.
Bible Location: Jerusalem.
Bible Text: Acts 4:32-37/ Acts 5:1-11 KJV
Acts 4:32-37 KJV
32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.
33 And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.
34 Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,
35 And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.
36 And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus,
37 Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet.
Acts 5:1-11 KJV
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.
This story was the early church in action, in power, and in the blessing of the Lord.
Acts 4:32-35 NLT
32 All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had.
33 The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all.
34 There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them 35 and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need.
This was Christian communal living. There were no big shots, hot shots, land barons, or secret multimillionaires. Everything was "open and honest,”"caring and sharing," in the early church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And today, what features of this early church of power carry on yet? The Eucharist, and that is all (Communion).
What a difference when the heart and life is “honestly,” controlled by the Spirit of Grace.
Into this open and giving atmosphere, came Ananias, with Sapphira. Yes they had observed all too well the giving, love, and untold appreciation of gifts and givers not with standing congregational adoration to the Living God.
They had a plan, a “dishonest,” plan, a plan of collusion. Ananias, would appear before Peter first. He would present a financial gift representing the sale of land he once owned. Surely he too would be praised “in the congregation,” for his great “sacrifice”!
But Ananias was a liar, for the greater part of the sales price, he and Sapphira, kept back for themselves.
Acts 5:1,2 KJV
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.
One thing Ananias and Sapphira hadn't counted on was the fact that God sees and knows all things!
I Samuel 2:3 NLT
“Stop acting so proud and haughty! Don’t speak with such arrogance! For the Lord is a God who knows what you have done; He will judge your actions.
I Chronicles 28:9 KJV
And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve Him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts..."
Job 34:21 KJV
For His eyes are upon the ways of man, and He seeth all his goings.
Psalm 1:6 KJV
For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Psalm 69:5 KJV
O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.
Psalm 119:168 KJV
I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies: for all my ways are before thee.
Psalm 139:1-4 KJV
1 O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.
2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.
Proverbs 5:21 KJV
For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and He pondereth all his goings.
Isaiah 40:28 KJV
Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of His understanding.
Jeremiah 16:17 KJV
For Mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from My face, neither is their iniquity hid from Mine eyes.
Jeremiah 17:10 KJV
I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
Jeremiah 23:24 KJV
Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 32:17-19 KJV
17 Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:
18 Thou shewest loving kindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of Hosts, is His name,
19 Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:
Daniel 2:20-22 KJV
20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are His:
21 And He changeth the times and the seasons: He removeth kings, and setteth up kings: He giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:
22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: He knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with Him.
Acts 5:3-6 KJV
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.
*Fear-Greek-Phobos (Fob-os): To be put in fear; alarm or fright: be afraid, exceedingly, fear, terror.
Just in case you needed the instruction, our God wishes to inform those who cherish wisdom, “not all works done in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ are, holy works! Nay, and if the works appear holy, the presenters may not be.
Matthew 7:21-23 KJV
21 Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me,
ye that work iniquity.
How could a loving Saviour, say such a hurtful thing regarding Christian workers in the House of God?
How indeed.
Charismatic Christians, Prophesying, exorcising evil spirits, doing many wonderful spiritual works!
Christ call them “workers of iniquity”!
How can this be? We had better understand this for the sake of our church today!
He called them workers of iniquity, because of verse 21
Matthew 7:21 KJV
Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but
he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven.
They in their pomp and circumstance were “not,” living in the will of the Father. They went through great rituals, and ceremonies, but their lives were corrupt.
Matthew 23:27 KJV
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
Why did our Lord, call these spiritual workers in the church “workers of iniquity?'
He did because not only were their lives evil and not Christian, but through their beguiling religious works, lead countless others to be just like them.
I Corinthians 9:13,14 KJV
13 Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?
14 Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.
James 3:1 KJV
My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation (Judgment).
The works of Ananias, had judged him. Not only was Ananias a liar, but one who taught his own wife to be one as well.
Acts 5:7-11 KJV
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.
*Fear-Greek-Phobos (Fob-os): To be put in fear; alarm or fright: be afraid, exceedingly, fear, terror.
These two individuals, had forgotten that God sees and knows all, and one thing more. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ, is just that the Lord's Church, not mans!
Matthew 16:18 KJV
"...I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
The Fear of God, is not, for the most part in the church of Jesus Christ today.
And because it is not, in its place are darkness, dishonesty, and hypocrisy.
Leviticus 19:30 KJV
Ye shall keep My sabbaths, and reverence* My sanctuary: I am the LORD.
*Reverence-Hebrew-Yare (Yaw-ray): To fear; to revere; cause to frighten;: affright, be made-afraid, dreadful-put in fear-be had in reverence.
Deuteronomy 10:12 KJV
And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear* the LORD thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,
*Fear-Hebrew-Yare (Yaw-ray)
Joshua 24:14 KJV
Now therefore fear* the LORD, and serve Him in sincerity and in truth... serve ye the LORD.
*Fear-Hebrew-Yare (Yaw-ray)
Ecclesiastes 12:13,14 KJV
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear* God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
*Fear-Hebrew-Yare (Yaw-ray)
Psalm 33:8 KJV
Let all the earth fear* the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
*Fear-Hebrew-Yare (Yaw-ray)
Psalm 89:7 KJV
God is greatly to be feared* in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence* of all them that are about Him.
*Feared-Hebrew-Arats (Aw-rats): To awe or to dread; hence to be affrighted, afraid, dread, feared, terrified, dread, fear, shake terribly.
*Reverence-Hebrew-Yare (Yaw-ray):
Isaiah 8:13 KJV
Sanctify the LORD of hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear*, and let Him be your dread*.
*Fear-Hebrew-Mowra/Mora/Morah (Mo-raw): Fear, fearful thing or deed: dread, (that ought to be feared), terribleness, terror.
*Dread-Hebrew-Arats (Aw-rats):
Matthew 10:28 KJV
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear* Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
*Fear-Greek-Phobeo (Fob-eh-o): To frighten, i.e. to be alarmed; to be in awe of i.e. revere: be (sore) afraid, fear (exceedingly), reverence.
Luke 1:50 KJV
And His mercy is on them that fear* Him from generation to generation.
*Fear-Greek-Phobeo (Fob-eh-o)
Acts 10:35 KJV
But in every nation he that feareth* Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him.
*Fear-Greek-Phobeo (Fob-eh-o)
Philippians 2:12 KJV
Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear* and trembling*.
*Fear-Greek-Phobos (Fob-os): To be put in fear; alarm or fright: be afraid, exceedingly, fear, terror.
*Trembling-Greek-Tromos (Trom-os): Quaking with fear: tremble, trembling.
I Peter 1:17 KJV
And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear*:
*Fear-Greek-Phobos (Fob-os)
I Peter 2:17 KJV
Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear* God. Honour the king.
*Fear-Greek-Phobeo (Fob-eh-o)
Regarding gifts in the church. We are “not,” to recognize gifts by name, nor by the amounts of gifts!
Matthew 6:1-4 NLT
1 “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven.
2 When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get.
3 But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.
4 Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
If men do not “give as unto the Lord,” then their gifts no matter how munificent is worthless.
Oh how the evil one has had his way in the church.
Oh how the evil one has had his way in the church.
And as a result, the presence and power of the Lord, are absent.
We cannot name our “own,” spiritual terms, when it come to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, who purchased her with His own blood.
Acts 20:28 KJV
Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood.
In the days of the early church Ananias and Sapphira, met immediate judgment.
And they did because they were made examples to all who would come after them, that God sees and knows all and that we must walk in Godly fear.
Ecclesiastes 8:11 KJV
Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
Think this only true of murders and thieves? Ask Ananias and Sapphira.
Matthew 7:21 KJV
Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but
he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven.
Selah
