Do not lie to the Holy Spirit
Acts 5:1-10; 4/16/2023; BCBC/IOUC; Rev. Paul Wang
Introduction
Why not lie to the Holy Spirit? One is that you cannot deceive, and the other is that you should not deceive, do you agree? You cannot deceive because of His holiness and power, and you should not deceive because of His kindness and goodness. Let’s look at the first point:
Falsification
In today’s world, it’s not so difficult to meet a fake person, is it? First, Ananias sold a piece of property. It is not difficult to meet Ananias in one’s life. The question is, will you one day become Ananias? The Bible says there was a man, a man that seemed to come across by random chance. But there are no accidents in God, right? That is to say, Ananias is not far from us, and we may even be playing the role of Ananias ourselves. Ananias sold a piece of property and offered it as a gift. Is there a problem? How did it become such a serious problem? Am I not free yet? Could it be that the first church that Peter pastored was a “heretic”? In fact, the antichrist at that time also called Peter and the early church in this way. It is not surprising that a person who does not know Christ and does not fear God will of course consider Christ-only people or churches heresy!
Secondly, he kept back part of the money for himself. Really, is there any question about keeping back part of the money for oneself? My money, my time, my travels, my children, and my emotions are all mine. Can I not be my own master? It may seem confusing and overwhelming at first. Going back to the verses 31-32 of Chapter 4, it tells us that the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is to be single-minded, to share everything, to give everything without reservation. There was Barnabas as an example, and everyone followed and agreed. At this point, the Bible says, There was a man, a man who kept part of the money for himself, and his name was Ananias. Ananias means “the LORD is merciful” in Hebrew, and this meaning is also carried over in Greek. Obviously, the people who took this name ignored God’s meaning of justice and holiness in addition to kindness.
Finally, it was brought and laid at the feet of the apostles. With God’s words and the Holy Spirit through the church’s decision, it still couldn’t make Ananias feel awe of God. “There is a person” that appeared in chapter 5 verse 1 did not jump out with no reason, but a character that continued out of chapter four. The whole church was praying, even the meeting place shakened, the words of the Bible were spoken while being filled with the Holy Spirit, and the resolution of the church was immediately produced! Lay all the land and houses sold at the feet of the apostles, this sentence occurs three times, showing that God personally participated in this matter, declaring the sovereignty of God. However, a fool can’t understand God’s words no matter how hard he tries, so God makes him continue to be ignorant, just like Pharaoh’s heart is hardened. The situation in the church today is the same. The old self of man is at war with the Holy Spirit, wanting to rob the Holy Spirit of His authority. May I ask, do you still want to continue to be an enemy of God? Let’s look at the second point:
Deceive the holy spirit
It is really not easy for a person to go to the point of deceiving the Holy Spirit, do you agree? First of all, I have no feeling for prayer. The beginning of verse 31 of Chapter 4 records the first church prayer meeting of the New Testament church. Judging from the context, Ananias and his wife attended it. Otherwise, he would not know the important decisions made at the prayer meeting in the first place, and he would not respond immediately. Think about our own spiritual life. Maybe we have attended many church prayer meetings, but we have no sense of the meaning of prayer. Perhaps the meaning of prayer is limited to making some demands on God and achieving certain satisfactions. But they have no sense of establishing an intimate relationship with God through prayer, and prayer is like some kind of visible request. Over time, prayer becomes a form of religion without the essence of faith.
Second, insensitivity to the Holy Spirit. The consequence of insensitivity to prayer will inevitably lead to insensitivity to the Holy Spirit, why? Because the Holy Spirit tells God what we want through prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving, a person who has no sense of prayer must be a stranger to the Holy Spirit. The result of being unfamiliar with the Holy Spirit is ignorance, and one will only act on your feelings in everything. The terrible thing about walking on feelings is to substitute feelings for the work of the Holy Spirit. In the end, it will inevitably come to the point of deceiving the Holy Spirit, without exception. Ananias feels good, thinking that he has donated money, can’t he get a good review? In ignorance, the ordinary heart of giving money is regarded as the ambition of relying on money to boast. This phenomenon of taking the name of the Lord in vain and robbing the authority of the Holy Spirit has occurred frequently in the history of the church, and it is not uncommon until now.
Finally, indifference to the church. Indifference to the church is the inevitable result of the first two indifferences. The church is the body of Christ, and the authority of Christ is manifested or accomplished through the church. What the Church binds on earth, Christ binds in heaven, and vice versa. However, the church will not be perfect until the Lord comes back. After all, the church is full of sinners, saved sinners and friends of the gospel. God’s wisdom and power are precisely to practice His completely holy way, truth, and life in a church full of sinners. God gives the filling of the Holy Spirit in the church prayer meeting, and gives the authority and wisdom of Christ in the church meeting. The Ananias had no Christ in their eyes, no Holy Spirit in their hearts, and no prayer in their mouths. It is not surprising that they eventually took the path of deceiving the Holy Spirit. Let’s look at the third point:
Dead end
The wages of sin is death, an open mystery. It is said to be a mystery because the gospel is the power of God to save all who believe. For unbelievers, they are dazed of sin and ignorant of death. First, self deceiving. “since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. (Romans 1:19)” From the beginning of the church prayer meeting in verse 31 of Chapter 4, to the speaking of God’s word, and finally, the decision of the church that everything is common, Ananias and his wife have no excuse to say that they don’t know. The scariest thing about people is knowing what they don’t know, knowing what they know but not knowing. This is self-deception. To the words of God, the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the decisions of the church, the exhortations of the pastor, and the care of members of the church they turn a blind eye to all. They even made unreasonable words, spread rumors, slandered and attacked the church.
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Second, remain stiff-necked. When a person reaches the point where he remains stiff-necked, ten cows will not be able to pull him back. You can decide your own property, but you must not deceive people or God! At that time, what the church received at the prayer meeting was to encourage brothers and sisters to offer honest and pure money offerings to God. The specific church operations are: “that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales. (Acts 4:34)” Church guidance is clear and unambiguous. The point is that they were all sold, and the price of the sale was laid at the feet of the apostles, and it all belonged to Christ. Under such a premise, Ananias kept back part of the money for himself.
Finally, unrepentant. The oneness of husband and wife must be in Christ, and they cannot go outside the church to find the oneness in Christ. The mutual love between people must be established on the basis of loving God first, and then loving each other. Apart from Christ and His body, the Church, love between people is not real, reliable, or lasting. The marriage established by God is a mystery, a mystery about Christ and the church. The visible marriage today is a shadow of the now invisible relationship between the Church and Christ in eternity. Until we meet the Lord, we will fully understand the mystery of it. Ananias’ wife, Sapphira, clung to her love by flesh and commanded her husband, but the result was of course a dead end.
Conclusion
Well, dear brothers and sisters, God is not to be mocked! Jesus even said: “every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. (Matthew 12:31)” May the Lord have mercy and help, and don’t let us reach the point where we are unrepentant and lie to the Holy Spirit!
Let us pray……
Acts 5:1-10
1 Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property.
2 With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.
3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?
4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”
5 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.
6 Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.
7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”
“Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”
9 Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”
10 At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband.