Ensign: Is Any Lying To Men NOT Lying To God?

All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. Isaiah 18:3

AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS                                                  1 May 2015

But Peter said,
Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back of the price of the land?
While 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 thy heart?
thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.

(Acts 5:3-4)

There are three men who go by the name of Ananias in the New Testament book of Acts. There's no evidence the three ever met or would have in the normal course of events. But each of them, just like each of us, had the call of God on their lives; in fact, the name Ananias is derived from the Hebrew proper name Hananiah which means "God is gracious". How often we forget (or seem to) that the names we're given actually mean something, often something to live up to! Regrettably, not everyone who's called by God responds in a way that honors Him -- in fact, of these three men, only one gave his best, the Ananias in Damascus (from Acts 9) who attended the blinded Saul. We'll see that the Ananias whom Peter refers to above gave his least, and the final one (Ananias the high priest in Jerusalem, from Acts 23-24) gave only grief. 

 

"But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, 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."  We'll have to backpedal a bit to Acts 5 for this scene in the church at Jerusalem. Like any organization, the church needs money to operate, especially when it was finding its footing in a hostile at worst and indifferent at best world -- after all, the Roman Empire tended to not interfere with any religion or religious practice so long as all of them agreed to "keep the peace". As the story unfolds in Acts (take a minute to look at the end of Acts 4), those who believed in the apostles' witness of Jesus Christ and His resurrection assembled into a faith community that pooled their goods and resources. For skills or items they couldn't really barter -- trade without money, a generally recognized medium of exchange -- for, people who'd become members of the assembly would sell their lands our houses and bring the prices they got for them, lay them at the apostles' feet (another way of saying "put into the general fund") and the apostles decided who got what.

 

It's hard to discern just what Ananias' motivation was in holding back part of the price for the land he sold, but Peter knew right away that he had. In Acts 5:3 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?" To even have land to sell likely meant Ananias and his wife were pretty well off; the Christian church was NOT started by beggars, criminals, or thieves. But here was Ananias saying that he was giving everything from the sale and lying to make it look good for others. What looks good to others -- our righteousness -- is as filthy rags to God, and to be caught in an unnecessary lie (he didn't have to give all the money, just don't lie about it) to God Himself. It's little things like that which allow Satan to wedge into a church and into a family.  His death in verse five ("gave up the ghost") and the death of Sapphira three hours later (in verse ten, even when Peter gave her the chance to tell the truth in verse eight) when she told the lie she and her husband had agreed upon was meant as an example "and great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things". (11)      

 

When I first heard this story growing up, I'll admit I didn't like it. Part of me still doesn't; at least, I don't think I've seen people drop dead because they didn't give all they promised to the church. (If that happens, this is my last Ensign.) But take a moment with me; the church is not just that building you go to on Sunday mornings to worship God and maybe for special days. We don't like to think so, but our children are modeling us, new believers are modeling us, everyone around us is modeling us and constantly learning how we treat others and how sincere we truly are. Ananias and Sapphira's problem was a lack of sincerity; from the severity of Peter's comment that they "tempt the Spirit of the Lord" in verse nine, this might not have been a one-time thing. 

 

Christians are no more immune to temptation than anyone else. We often get more concerned about how we appear to others than we should, and we often seek the best for ourselves at the expense of others. But ultimately that's not the attitude which keeps us effective as disciples; we may fool people for a while, but we'll never fool God, and if we've become too dangerous (or Satan uses us in a dangerous, destructive manner) to remain in the fellowship of believers, we have to be let go. Of course we can come back, but we have to start at the beginning -- not that our salvation is lost; Ananias and Sapphira didn't lose that even in death, but unless God makes a lasting change in us with His Holy Spirit, we cannot do any good for anyone. 

David

P. S. I write this weekly devotional to keep in touch with you, and I hope it encourages you too. If I'm not or you want me to get lost, please let me know -- thank you!

Thank You, Lord, that we can come to You in praise and prayer and that You provide for all our needs, even the ones we don't know we have! Let us pray for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides of the fence there and around the world.

Thank You, Lord, for all of us in leadership and service here and abroad, as well as for opportunities we have and the promise of new life! I pray we all seek and have a blessed week. Amen.