Acts 5:1-11
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.
Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?
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 just to human beings but to God.”
When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.
Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.
About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.
Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?” “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”
Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”
At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
What about people who say they forgive but don't? A friend once said, "A bitter person can rationalize anything", and I believe he was correct. I have to watch over this in my own life.
Jesus told us to pray to God and ask Him to forgive our trespasses the same way we forgive those who have trespassed against us.
I sometimes remember a young internet pastor who took deep offense at a suggestion I made to help improve this group, insisted the comment targeted him specifically, and although he said he forgave, he cut me off, backed off from ministering to the people in this group, and it saddened me because I knew if God answered his prayer and forgave him the way he forgave me, he would most certainly perish into hell never to arise again.
That probably seems harsh and judgmental to some. But, that is not nearly as important as whether or not it is true. A person who forgives as Jesus forgives loves as Jesus loves. Jesus Himself told us if we won't forgive our brothers and sisters we will not be forgiven ourselves. He said so plainly and He illustrated it with parables and backed it up with the Lord's Prayer. It was apparently something He did not want us to overlook or forget.
Lying and saying, "I forgive" won't cut it. The Bible speaks about worshiping God in spirit and in truth, and we can do neither if we cannot forgive our brothers and sisters with any kind of sincerity that God can call sincere without lying. Does that make sense? Or did I say it in the most confusing way possible?
God does not lie. If you say you forgive but don't, that's lying, and God will have no choice but to tell the truth and say you're a liar. Revelations 21:8 says liars perish into the lake of fire.
Oh, but I said the sinner's prayer. I went to church. I took communion. I got my salvation and can never lose it. I've been baptized. I preached. I saved people. I taught Divinity students in the seminary. I healed the sick and preached to millions.
None of that matters. God will stand by His Word. Are we faithful to Him? Do we trust Him? Do we obey Him or make excuses for disobeying and distrusting Him? Is Jesus our Lord, or are we merely lying and hoping that making religious noises will save us? Have we come to trust and obey God? Have we repented and left our sins behind? Are we real or fake? Do we bristle when we are offended because the offense is unjust, or because our pride, our stupidity, our arrogance will not let us open our eyes to what God is saying because it offends us and calls us to change?
Are we sincere? Are we real? Or are we lying to God?
I ask this of you, but God asks it of me and I must ask it of myself before the time has run out. When this life is over, when the heart stops, when the breathing stops, when we can wake from our sleep on earth no more, the time will be too late and we will face the questions we refused to face in this life whether we want to hear them or not.
Have we trusted Christ at all, or have we merely played religious games? Have we lied to God? Have we patronized Him? Have we thrown Him our refuse, our garbage and have we expected great appreciation for it? Have we offended God? Be sure we all have. But no enemy of God can use the other enemies of God as an excuse for unfaithfulness. The kisses of an enemy will never be better than the hard words of a sincere friend.
Can we lead a loved one to Christ if we won't go to Christ ourselves? Can we love God if we're ashamed of Him? Can we minister without the grace of God, without the love of God, without the anointing of God? We can play the role but can we truly minister? Or will we be a minion of hell dressed up in minister's clothing?
Until we surrender to Christ fully, we can only serve Satan.
Will we surrender to Christ?
From: Daniel
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.
Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?
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 just to human beings but to God.”
When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.
Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.
About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.
Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?” “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”
Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”
At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
What about people who say they forgive but don't? A friend once said, "A bitter person can rationalize anything", and I believe he was correct. I have to watch over this in my own life.
Jesus told us to pray to God and ask Him to forgive our trespasses the same way we forgive those who have trespassed against us.
I sometimes remember a young internet pastor who took deep offense at a suggestion I made to help improve this group, insisted the comment targeted him specifically, and although he said he forgave, he cut me off, backed off from ministering to the people in this group, and it saddened me because I knew if God answered his prayer and forgave him the way he forgave me, he would most certainly perish into hell never to arise again.
That probably seems harsh and judgmental to some. But, that is not nearly as important as whether or not it is true. A person who forgives as Jesus forgives loves as Jesus loves. Jesus Himself told us if we won't forgive our brothers and sisters we will not be forgiven ourselves. He said so plainly and He illustrated it with parables and backed it up with the Lord's Prayer. It was apparently something He did not want us to overlook or forget.
Lying and saying, "I forgive" won't cut it. The Bible speaks about worshiping God in spirit and in truth, and we can do neither if we cannot forgive our brothers and sisters with any kind of sincerity that God can call sincere without lying. Does that make sense? Or did I say it in the most confusing way possible?
God does not lie. If you say you forgive but don't, that's lying, and God will have no choice but to tell the truth and say you're a liar. Revelations 21:8 says liars perish into the lake of fire.
Oh, but I said the sinner's prayer. I went to church. I took communion. I got my salvation and can never lose it. I've been baptized. I preached. I saved people. I taught Divinity students in the seminary. I healed the sick and preached to millions.
None of that matters. God will stand by His Word. Are we faithful to Him? Do we trust Him? Do we obey Him or make excuses for disobeying and distrusting Him? Is Jesus our Lord, or are we merely lying and hoping that making religious noises will save us? Have we come to trust and obey God? Have we repented and left our sins behind? Are we real or fake? Do we bristle when we are offended because the offense is unjust, or because our pride, our stupidity, our arrogance will not let us open our eyes to what God is saying because it offends us and calls us to change?
Are we sincere? Are we real? Or are we lying to God?
I ask this of you, but God asks it of me and I must ask it of myself before the time has run out. When this life is over, when the heart stops, when the breathing stops, when we can wake from our sleep on earth no more, the time will be too late and we will face the questions we refused to face in this life whether we want to hear them or not.
Have we trusted Christ at all, or have we merely played religious games? Have we lied to God? Have we patronized Him? Have we thrown Him our refuse, our garbage and have we expected great appreciation for it? Have we offended God? Be sure we all have. But no enemy of God can use the other enemies of God as an excuse for unfaithfulness. The kisses of an enemy will never be better than the hard words of a sincere friend.
Can we lead a loved one to Christ if we won't go to Christ ourselves? Can we love God if we're ashamed of Him? Can we minister without the grace of God, without the love of God, without the anointing of God? We can play the role but can we truly minister? Or will we be a minion of hell dressed up in minister's clothing?
Until we surrender to Christ fully, we can only serve Satan.
Will we surrender to Christ?
From: Daniel
