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The Daily Word of Righteousness
So Near and Yet So Far!
Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 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. (Acts 5:1,2—NIV)
There are people set forth in the Bible who were so close to God, to Divine Glory, and yet so infinitely far from His Kingdom. There are people today who are so close to Christ, and yet so infinitely far from His Kingdom. It is a sobering thought!
The following essay is enough to frighten all but the most presumptuous believer. It frightens me!
For some reason or another, a few days ago I began to think about Ananias and Sapphira. I had never given much thought to these two people. But they are worth considering because of the unusual sudden violence with which the Holy Spirit judged their conduct.
Every Christian knows the story, how these two early Christians sold a piece of property, brought part of the proceeds to the Apostles and kept the rest of the money for themselves. Actually it was Ananias who kept back part of the money, but he did it with his wife's full knowledge.
Now Peter could have dealt with their lie in several different ways. He could have barred them from the fellowship. He could have demanded the remainder of the money. He could have chastised them and told them never to do this again. He could have given them back what they offered and told them God was not interested in anything less than total consecration to His will.
Why the violent judgment?
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 to men but to God. When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. (Acts 5:4,5—NIV)
Maybe the sudden violent judgment came because of the extraordinary presence of the Holy Spirit. As Peter pointed out, Ananias had not lied to the Apostles but to God. Perhaps this is the issue. Ananias was lying to God. His heart was not right toward God.
Ananias and Sapphira were members of the early church, so they were probably Jewish believers who were keeping the Law of Moses but had received Jesus as the Messiah. There is no evidence they were anything except members in good standing of the Christian community.
The believers had decided to share their material goods. I don't recall reading that God had commanded them to do this. Maybe they were trying to put into practice what the Lord told the wealthy young man when He said "Sell all you have, give the proceeds to the poor, and follow Me"; or it may have been a carry over from the days when the disciples of Jesus shared a common purse.
As Peter pointed out, the money belonged to Ananias. No one was pressuring him to give away any of it.
The issue was not that Ananias gave part and held back part, it was that he and his wife were pretending to be as fully consecrated as their fellow worshipers.
To be continued.