Dear Friends,
Greetings in Christ!
In this post, we will get a closer look at the moving of the Holy Spirit in the early church. The Spirit-filled believers in Acts 4 were of one accord because they were led of the Holy Spirit and they all followed the same Spirit-filled apostles. There was no one to sow division or preach false doctrine. When everyone submits to spiritual authority there is peace and harmony. This is the theme of a book I am reading by Watchman Nee, Spiritual Authority (Christian Fellowship Publishers, Inc, 1972). It will be so in heaven. When we finally make it to the New Jerusalem, we will all be on the same page with Jesus, his Father, the Holy Spirit, and one another. There will be no more backbiting, no squabbling over doctrine, just perfect unity.
Father, give us understanding as we read thy word, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Acts 4:32-5:11
32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.
33 And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.
The Holy Spirit gave great power (Gk dynamei; where we get our English word, dynamite) to the early church as the apostles continued to give witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. That same great power and great grace is still available to us today. I need that grace. I want that power.
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,
Here is the first mention of Barnabas, a man who lived up to his name. Barnabas will become an important figure in the Book of Acts.
37 Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
With the great power and great grace came great giving to every man as he had need, but Ananias and Sapphira will be less than honest about their giving. Later in the New Testament, we see there were also those (and still are) who took advantage of the generosity of Christians. (Eg, II Thess 3:10f) We must therefore exercise discernment and ask to be led of the Spirit in our giving.
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.
There are a few key points here: First, Peter asks Ananias why he lied to the Holy Spirit; then Peter tells Ananias he lied to God. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is God. (Or, more specifically, the third Person in the Godhead, God the Holy Spirit.)
Second, Peter reminds Ananias that his possession was his own before he sold it, and afterward the money was still his to do with as he pleased. He was not obligated to give it to the church. Yet Ananias lied and said he gave it all, when in reality he kept back some for himself. In The Spiritual Man, Watchman Nee talks about how important motive is when we do things for God. In other words, doing the right thing is not always the right thing if we do it for the wrong reason, like to get a reward of some sort, and not simply out of love for Jesus. Barnabas gave out of love for God and love for his brothers and sisters in Christ. Ananias and Sapphira, on the other hand, not only gave with the wrong motive, they lied about it. Under New Covenant grace, our giving is not bound by the letter of the law. II Corinthians 9:7 says I am to give as I purpose in my heart (not a fixed amount). To me, that means I am to give as I am led by the Spirit.
Third, although great grace was upon them all (4:33), the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable. (Jam 3:17) Grace requires repentance. (Luke 13:5 et al) Ananias and Sappira were engaging in hypocrisy, which literally means ‘acting’. They had not truly repented.
Fourth, Peter asks Ananias why Satan filled his heart. The Greek word for filled is the same word used for being filled with the Holy Sprit. It is often preached that a Christian cannot be demon possessed, and if a Christian is repentant and Spirit-filled, I would agree with that. (I John 4:4) But when a Christian grieves the Holy Spirit by engaging in sinful behavior like Ananias and Sapphira did, I think the Bible is pretty clear that it gives Satan legal ground to enter. That is why we must stay in the word and keep short accounts with God when we sin. I do not wait until I pray before I go to bed. If I sin, I immediately confess it and ask to be forgiven. (I John 1:9) If a Christian is involved in egregious sins like heavy drinking or drug use, homosexuality, etc either before or after he gets saved, I would highly recommend he seek biblical counseling and make a point of confessing and repenting of each and every aspect of his sinful behavior. Furthermore, he must purge his home and his life of all such materials (pornography, drugs, witchcraft books, etc). Not doing so leaves a door open for the enemy to possess or oppress him. Remember Matthew 17:21 (KJV).
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.
Acts 4:15-5:11
This matter of Ananias and Sapphira lying about their giving was so crucial that the Holy Spirit simply killed them rather than letting their sin hinder the progress of the church. Watchman Nee would have pointed out that they were rebelling against spiritual authority. Saul, for example, rebelled against spiritual authority by sparing the best of the sheep and the cattle to sacrifice to the LORD. Because he refused to destroy all the Amalekites along with their sheep and cattle, Saul (the first king of Israel) was killed by an Amalekite. This purged the throne of Saul’s rebelliousness, and his crown was given to the line of David.
In I Corinthians 11:30, Paul said that many in Corinth had become sick and even died because they were taking the cup and the bread of holy communion “unworthily.” These along with Ananias and Sapphira are examples of a sin unto death (I John 5:16f).
Jesus said if we do our alms only to be seen, we have no reward (Matt 6:1). By going a step further and lying about it, Ananias and Sapphira were allowing Satan to get a foothold in the church. They may have even became influential people in the church. Wiersbe points out how God takes particular care to judge impurities when He is starting a new work. (Lev 10; Josh 7) If Ananias and Sapphira had not been judged for their sin, the power the church enjoyed would have soured and the unity would have given way to division.
Ananias and Sapphira were judged by God, but Church discipline is a different matter. Paul exhorted Timothy to rebuke those who sin before all, that others may fear. (I Tim 5:20) That is what happened when Ananias and Sapphira were killed. Great fear came upon all who heard these things. (5:5, 11) In other words, it had a purifying effect and the work of the Spirit proceeded unhindered. First there was great power and great grace. (4:33) Then, God used great fear to purify the body. Let’s pray about how we can purify our thoughts and actions, that the Spirit may feel more at home in our hearts. Let’s pray about how we can do better at submitting to spiritual authority, so the Holy Spirit can guide us and fill us with his power.
In closing, please pray for a family I know in South Africa. The mom, like Sapphira, has fallen prey to the deception of the enemy. Traditional African healers posing as ‘Christian’ prophets have been telling her to keep away from family members who believe only in the Bible. She has had serious health problems since she started listening to these ‘prophets’. Pray she will have the discernment and courage to repent, trust God, and to worship Him in spirit and in truth.
Prophecy Update: It cannot be denied that the structure whereby financial transactions take place is being reengineered into something never dreamt of, except by John the Revelator (Rev 13:16-18). The EU is moving forward with plans for a digital euro. The UK has joined the growing list of nations to require digital ID. The latest ‘improvements’ in transactions are being implemented via the integration of autonomous AI ‘agents’ to assist in the process. To me, these are all warning signs, like the little red light that tells you that you are almost out of gas.
In this post we saw how sin grieves the Holy Spirit. It ought to grieve us as well. In the Book of Ezekiel, an angel with an ink horn is commanded to go through Jerusalem and set a mark on the foreheads of the men that sigh and cry for all the abominations that are done in the midst thereof. In ancient Hebrew, each of the characters were pictographs with symbolic meanings. The word for mark is spelled תו. The ancient character for ‘tau’ was a simple cross (+). The symbol for ‘vau’ was a tent peg, or nail. The text literally said to set a cross and a nail on the foreheads of those who were grieved with the sin of the city:
And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark [ו+] upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
Ezekiel 9:4
Then other angels with slaughter weapons in their hands were commanded to kill all those who did not have the mark of a cross and a nail on their foreheads:
Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.
Ezekiel 9:6
Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not.
Ezekiel 9:9
I believe this was not necessarily something that Ezekiel meant for the people of his day, or if so, not exclusively. I believe Ezekiel was seeing into the future, after the third Temple is built in Jerusalem just before the great tribulation period (which technically is the last 3.5 years of Daniel’s seventieth ‘week’). The Bible says that shortly after the Temple is built, the Antichrist is going to set up the abomination of desolation in that Temple. (Matt 24:15; II Thess 2:4) The iniquity of that event will be exceeding great, but what about the rest of us? Whether one considers what is happening in Israel, America, or just about anyplace else in the world today, the iniquity is exceeding great and should cause all of us to sigh and cry.
Finally, I have a book that was printed in 1973 that said there were 200 priests in Israel who were being trained to perform temple sacrifices. Ever since I committed my life to Christ in 1995, I have been hearing about how they have already built the Temple in Jerusalem, and how it is ready to be assembled at a moment’s notice. We have been warned for a long time now. The Temple is going to be built eventually, just as the Bible says. We are living in the last generation. When judgment comes, only those who are mindful that Jesus was nailed to a cross for us (ו+) will escape.
