Worship
Scripture
“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.” -Acts 5:1-11, emphasis added
The Deception of Pride
“Since Barnabas was getting so much recognition, why not level up and get the same?” they thought. Image and public notoriety were of greater value than honesty to these two. Pride has an image to maintain, a name to gain, and public recognition to garner. It’s a sneaky invitation from the enemy, isn’t it? I have wrestled with the response of the Lord in this passage because it feels so Old Covenant to me. However, as I have prayed and studied, I can see that it was the mercy of the Lord to give the Church a fear of the Lord. He was protecting the purity of this new community of Christ followers. He wasn’t interested in compromise but consecration (and He still is). He was willing to protect a community from pride as they lived in humility and dependence solely on Him.
Remember last week we learned that great (mega) grace and great (mega) power characterized the Church. Well here comes the third beautiful “great”—a mega fear of the Lord, as the writers of Scripture intended to communicate. The Greek word for “fear” is phobos, which is the word for holy fear throughout the New Testament. It’s defined as fear, terror, reverence, respect, honor. Paul uses the same word in Philippians 2:12-13 when he writes, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” This is a holy fear, given by the Spirit of God as a gift to His people so that we would continue to walk with Him in the purity of our calling all the way to the end.
Peter had a word of knowledge from the Spirit that showed him what Ananias had done. If Ananias was a follower of Jesus, then I have to believe the words the Holy Spirit gave Peter were not meant for condemnation but were a sincere invitation to repentance. Whatever happened physically in Ananias, only God knows. For most human beings, it is more horrific to be found out in our secret sin than the sin itself. I don’t know if this was the case for Ananias and his heart stopped at his public revealing. Repentance is the single most beautiful gift for Christ followers and for whatever reason, it evaded Ananias. It also evaded Judas as we studied at the beginning of Acts. Both were caught in financial fraud and betrayal that resulted in their demise. Please note: since Ananias owned the land, he was free to do with it as he pleased—God was not demanding he and his wife give anything. It was the pride and deception that ensued that the Lord was bringing into the light.
Pride is the single greatest gateway to corruption in the body of Christ, more than anything else. It can take down entire congregations and organizations single-handedly.
Revival and Judgment
“Because his sin was lusting after public praise for his generosity, it was appropriate that the sin be exposed publicly. ‘It is a good general rule that secret sins should be dealt with secretly, private sins privately, and only public sins publicly.’ (Stott)” -David Guzik, Acts 5 commentary
We are coming into a time, I believe, where what has been hidden, allowing for the perpetual fraud and betrayal to the Word of the Lord, will be revealed. I also believe that the Lord is quick to lavish mercy and grace on His people when we repent. It’s imperative for a 180-degree turning and changing, choosing to own and repent before the Lord. Too much has existed in the Church that is contrary to both the Word of God and the character of God. Revival cannot happen in America if there is not a purging of the mixture of sin and self-righteousness, pride, and a lack of repentance because we are right in our own eyes.
I find the following excerpt from David Guzik’s Enduring Word commentary so thought-provoking for us today and for those of us praying for revival in America:
“God’s purpose was accomplished in the church as a whole. This was evidence of a great work of God among His people.
“i. Dr. J. Edwin Orr’s last sermon was titled Revival is Like Judgment Day. In it, he describes how the coming of revival is almost always marked by a radical work of God in dealing with the sins of believers.
“ii. ‘Now, put this in a modern context. If this had happened today, we would have had a cover-up committee. Don’t let it get out to the public. You can take heart, this may be a surprise to you, when God exposes things… one of the outcomes was that when God was vindicated, the work gained strength again.’ (Orr)
“iii. ‘William Castle, from Sichuan in China, said, “Revival means judgment day.” That’s what happened in Shantung. Judgment on missionaries, pastors, people, and then fear fell on the world and God’s name was glorified. And people have such a wrong idea of what revival means… They think of revival as something triumphant and, shall we say, an overflow of great blessing. It’s judgment day for the church. But after the judgment, and after things are settled, it’s blessing abounding.’ (Orr) …
“As much as anything, the lesson of Ananias and Sapphira is that we presume greatly on God when we assume that there is always time to repent, time to get right with God, time to get honest with Him. Any such time given by God is an undeserved gift that He owes no one; we should never assume it will always be there.”
A Call to Holiness
Church, Satan can influence us, but we choose to do the sinning. We have to take responsibility for our sin and for allowing any of it to grow in our hearts in the first place. Ananias chose to conceive this deception and act on it, which began in his heart. At any point, repentance could have turned the matter around. As followers of Jesus, the blood of Jesus has cleansed (forever) and will cleanse—we stand pure and holy before Him. But it’s time that we pursue purity and holiness at all costs for the sake of intimacy and revival. Jesus wants to partner with His Church to fulfill His purposes in the Earth. Pride will create an insurmountable barrier to this process, resulting ultimately in our downfall so that holiness and purity can return. Then we walk in not only the mega grace and mega power but mega fear of the Lord in honor and worship and consecration.
Let me close with this compelling and beautiful outline of the benefits of holy fear from John Bevere in his book, “The Awe of God.”
“The fear of the Lord is the starting place for an intimate relationship with God. We become His friends, and His secrets are made known to us.
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. It gives foresight and clear divine direction.
“The fear of the Lord is how we mature in our salvation and are conformed to the image of Jesus.
“The fear of the Lord is clean; it produces true holiness in our lives.
“To abide in the fear of the Lord is to secure an eternal legacy
“The fear of the Lord produces confidence, fearlessness, and security. It swallows up all other fears, including the fear of man.
“The fear of the Lord gives us identity, makes us productive, and empowers us to multiply.
“The fear of the Lord provides angelic assistance, fulfilled desires, enduring success, nobility, influence, longevity, productive days, enjoyment in life, happiness, pleasure in labor, healing for our body, and so much more.
“The fear of the Lord endures forever—it will never fade. The fear of the Lord is a treasured gift from our heavenly Father.”
A Few Key Notes
- Join us May 27-29 for a time of prayer and intercession for the global Church and for revival in the nations. Sign up for a 30-minute time slot to cover the entire 72 hours in prayer.
- Come take the gospel to the nations with Arise. View our open teams and apply for one today!
