Date: August 15, 2021 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 10, No. 15
Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be multiplied to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you into another week of the month of August 2021. My prayer is that your heart will always be strengthened by the Spirit of God to walk in love and sincerity with all the people of God in your life, so that you won’t expose yourself to God’s judgment instead of enjoying the fullness of the joy of Christian fellowship. Amen.
The bible says, “Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” (Col 3:9-10NIV) Did you see that? Lying, deception or deceit is an offspring of the nature of death that God removed from us, when we got born again. So, we must not allow it in our lives or in our dealings with one another. Otherwise, we may expose ourselves to God’s judgment. And who knows how He is going to judge? Nobody!
For example, if Ananias and his wife Sapphira had thought God could judge them with death for acting in deception towards the people of God, they most likely would not have acted the way they did. But because they had no idea that He could do so, they lied about their giving and were immediately and seriously punished for it. Both of them were judged and killed by God the same day. (Cf. Acts 5:1-11)
Now someone may say, “But many of God’s people still act in deception every now and then. Yet they don’t get killed by Him each time they do so. How come Ananias and his wife’s case was treated differently by Him?” Well, first, we need to understand that the fact that people are not judged immediately with death by God for acting in deceit or for doing any wrong thing does not mean they are not being judged at all. There are different ways He judges people. And if they are not sensitive to His things, they may never know they are being judged.
Second, we need to understand that it was not that God was treating Ananias and his wife differently. Rather, He was merely using them as scapegoats to warn others that may want to follow in their steps. And I pray that you won’t ever take any step that will make God use you as an example of how He judges wickedness, in Jesus’ name. Amen. But why did God have to use Ananias and Sapphira as scapegoats for others to learn from? It was because they tried to introduce deceit into His church. And we too should watch what we introduce into God’s church, for He is watching us and will reward us accordingly.
At any rate, as bible accounts show us, what happened to Ananias and his wife happened at a time that the love of Christ was truly reigning in the lives of all the brethren and over their affairs. This love so much dominated their lives that those who had properties among them were selling them off and bringing the money they made from their sales to the apostles to distribute to others who had need. And that, in fact, was what eradicated poverty among them, for the bible says, “There were no needy persons among them at that time.” (Cf. Acts 4:32-35)
So, all the brethren at this time, whatever their number was, were truthful and loving towards one another. And God wanted it that way, for that was what would show the world that they were true disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, during that same period, Satan somehow succeeded in getting Ananias and his wife to start thinking and acting differently. How long they carried on like this we would not know. But we do know that, at some point, they too, like some other brethren, pledged to sell a property of theirs and bring the money to the church. And they did.
However, they were not willing to bring all the money they made from the sales of the land to the church. So, they kept a part of it for themselves. Was that a problem? No! The money was theirs in the first place, as Peter would later tell them. So, they had the right to choose how they used it. But to try to deceive other people of God, who loved them and cared about them, and give them the impression that they were giving more than they were actually giving was unacceptable to God. That was why He judged their deceit, giving others like them an opportunity to learn and change their ways.
In like manner, if we too will not walk in love and sincerity with our brethren, whether in the use of our resources or spiritual gifts or in other matters, we may just be exposing ourselves to God’s judgment, which could be as terrible as physical death. Therefore, let us allow the word of God to cleanse us of all forms of insincerity and hypocrisy while we still can. And may the Spirit of God enable you and me to do what is right in this matter, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Do have a lovely week.
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