A Very Important Querstion

There are many questions that are asked in the bible.

Jesus asked quite a few of them:

Matthew 16:15 KJV 1900

15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

Matthew 20:32 KJV 1900

32 And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you?

All important questions.

But today i want to look at a question that was asked from a most unlikely source: The thief on the cross who was crucified with Jesus.

He actually asked one of the most important of all questions that every christian needs to think hard about:

Luke 23:40 KJV 1900

40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?

“Do you not fear God?”

That one of those questions that is difficult to answer.

On one hand our mouth says YES.

But on the other, our actions say NO.

Let me help you answer this question.

George MacDonald wrote, “Half of the misery in the world comes from trying to look, instead of trying to be, what one is not.”

The name that Jesus gave to this practice is “hypocrisy,” which simply means “wearing a mask, playing the actor.”

We must not think that failure to reach our ideals is hypocrisy, because no believer lives up to all that he or she knows or has in the Lord.

Hypocrisy is deliberate deception, trying to make people think we are more spiritual than we really are.

There is nothing wrong with aiming high, the problem is pretending to be high.

Case Study

Acts 4:33–37 KJV 1900

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 1900

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.

Let me tell you a little bit about this couple:

Ananias means “God is gracious,” but he learned that God is also holy; and Sapphira means “beautiful,” but her heart was ugly with sin.

No doubt some people are shocked when they read that God killed two people just because they lied about a business transaction and about their church giving.

Valuation of the text

It is worth noting that the Lord judges sin quickly at the beginning of a new period in salvation history.

Just after the tabernacle was erected, God killed Nadab and Abihu for trying to present “false fire” to the Lord (Lev. 10).

He also had Achan killed for disobeying orders after Israel had entered the Promised Land (Josh. 7).

So Ananias and Sapphira were not judged extra harshly, they were just judged instantly.

What was it about these 2 people that cause such a dramatic judgment?

To begin with, the sin of Ananias and Sapphira was energized by Satan.

Acts 5:3 KJV 1900

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?

If Satan cannot defeat the church by attacks from the outside, he will get on the inside and go to work.

He knows how to lie to the minds and hearts of church members, even genuine Christians, and get them to follow his orders.

Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote, “Sin has many tools, but a lie is the handle which fits them all.”

Satan is a liar and a murderer (John 8:44).

He lied to and through this couple, and the lie led to their deaths.

When God judged Ananias and Sapphira, He was also judging Satan.

He was letting everybody know that He would not tolerate deception in His church.

Their sin was motivated by pride.

Pride is a sin that God especially hates and judges.

Proverbs 8:13 KJV 1900

13 The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: Pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, And the froward mouth, do I hate.

No doubt the church was praising God for the generous offering that Barnabas had brought when Satan whispered to the couple, “You can also bask in this kind of glory! You can make others think that you are as spiritual as Barnabas!”

Instead of resisting Satan’s approaches, they yielded to him and planned their strategy.

Daniel Defoe called pride “the first peer and president of hell.”

Indeed, it was pride that transformed Lucifer into Satan (Isa. 14:12–15), and it was pride (“Ye shall be as God!”) that caused our first parents to sin (Gen. 3).

Pride opens the door to every other sin, for once we are more concerned with our reputation than our character, there is no end to the things we will do just to make ourselves “look good” before others.

Their sin was directed against God’s church.

We have every reason to believe that Ananias and Sapphira were believers.

The fact that they were able to lie to the Spirit (Acts 5:3) and tempt the Spirit (Acts 5:9) would indicate that they had the Spirit of God living within.

God loves His church and is jealous over it, for the church was purchased by the blood of God’s Son and has been put on earth to glorify Him and do His work.

Satan wants to destroy the church, and the easiest way to do it is to use those who are within the fellowship.

Had Peter not been discerning, Ananias and Sapphira would have become influential people in the church!

Satan would have been working through them to accomplish his purposes!

Satan hates the Church because it is an eternal reminder of his failure.

The church is “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15), and Satan attacks it with his lies.

The church is God’s temple in which He dwells (1 Cor. 3:16), and Satan wants to move in and dwell there too.

The church is God’s army (2 Tim. 2:1–4), and Satan seeks to get into the ranks as many traitors as he can.

The church is safe so long as Satan is attacking from the outside, but when he gets on the inside, the church is in danger.

Reflection:

It is easy for us to condemn Ananias and Sapphira for their dishonesty, but we need to examine our own lives to see if our profession is backed up by our practice.

Do we really mean everything we pray about in public?

Do we sing the hymns and Gospel songs sincerely or routinely?

If God killed “religious deceivers” today, how many church members would be left?

Hebrews 10:30–31 KJV 1900

30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

This truly terrifying passage is balanced out by:

1 Corinthians 11:31 KJV 1900

31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

Had Ananias and Sapphira judged their own sin, God would not have judged them , but they agreed to lie, and God had to deal with them.

Ananias was dead and buried, and Sapphira did not even know it!

Satan always keeps his servants in the dark, while God guides His servants in the light .

Peter accused her of tempting God’s Spirit, that is, deliberately disobeying God and seeing how far God would go.

They were actually defying God and daring Him to act—and He acted, with swiftness and finality.

Matthew 4:7 KJV 1900

7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

We must keep in mind that their sin was not in robbing God of money but in lying to Him and robbing Him of glory.

They were not required to sell the property; and, having sold it, they were not required to give any of the money to the church.

Their lust for recognition conceived sin in their hearts, and that sin eventually produced death.

The Result?

The result was a wave of godly fear that swept over the church and over all those who heard the story

Acts 5:11 KJV 1900

11 And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.

Last week we saw that to worship God you must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.

Today God is showing us that to Serve Him you must serve in Reverence and fear!

Hebrews 12:28–29 KJV 1900

28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 29 For our God is a consuming fire.