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The Deceit Of
Ananias And Sapphira
– Acts Five –
Pictured in Acts chapter five is the deceitful action and death of Ananias and Sapphira. They were killed because of a premeditated sin. Their death had nothing to do with not giving the whole price of their property. They lost their lives because they lied. They lied about the amount they were giving. Their desire was to receive praise of the brethren. Their focus should have been on pleasing God. Sincere love for God should have motivated truthfulness and acceptable service to God.
The Spirit of God made Peter aware of the sins of this couple. This sin, like all sin, had its beginning in the heart. Ananias had conceived this thing in his heart. The crime of Ananias was not keeping part of the money. He could have kept any or all of it. Sadly, both this man and his wife were part of this sinful act. The punishment for their sin was a speedy death.
This practice of discipline caused fear among the Christians and
others as well. "Great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as
heard these things." (Acts
Nothing could stop the apostles from
preaching the gospel. Threatings and beatings could not stop them. They
preached Christ, and Him crucified. They preached the
resurrection from the dead. This was the preaching that most offended the
priests. Whatever our position in life, we should seek to make Christ known,
and to glorify His name. "And daily in the temple, and in every house,
they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ." (Acts
The danger of willful sin – Acts 5:1-11: Ananias and Sapphira were guilt of a serious, willful sin. A willful sin is a grave, spiritual error for those that want to go to heaven. They agreed to lie about the price that they received for some land. Their desire was to have the praise of men. Ananias' sin was not in keeping the part but in pretending to give the whole.
Ananias was just making a show of charity. None but Satan could have put this lie in Ananias' heart. However, Peter knew of his lies by divine revelation. It was a terrible, premeditated sin. A premeditated sin aggravates the guilt of that sin and the severity of punishment.
People need to know how God feels about sin and how sever punishment will be. Sin was so repulsive to God that it cost Ananias and Sapphira their lives. They agreed together in this fraud. To agree together in a fraud and a lie is very dreadful. Ananias and Sapphira were united in marriage, religion, sin, death and eternity.
The power of a purified church – Acts 5:12-25: During this
period of progress for the church miracles were worked by the apostles. The
people were fearful of the apostles. Amazingly, the result was great growth for
the church. "And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes
both of men and women." (Acts
These events led to a second Jewish persecution. The motive for the second Jewish persecution was the jealousy of the leaders. The Jewish leaders told the apostles not to speak at all in the name of Jesus. God told them to, "Go, Stand and Speak the words of life." The apostles were certainly in a place of danger. However, this place of danger became a place of opportunity for the preaching of the gospel.
The true purpose of every Christian is to "Go, Stand and Speak the words of life." It is the design of the gospel to restore men to a productive life in Christ Jesus. Let us never forget that the will of God is the salvation of men and women. We must do our part to bring salvation to everyone.
When truth is opposed – Acts
The persecutors gave the apostles an up side down compliment and
what a compliment it was -- "you have filled
God raised up Jesus as an exalted Prince. He is declared to be both Lord and Christ. Full forgiveness of all sins can be obtained by the precious blood off Jesus. God gives the Holy Ghost to all that obey Him as a witness of Jesus’ incarnation, His crucifixion and death, His resurrection, His exaltation to the right hand of God, and of His offices as Prince and Savior.
Truth cuts to the heart – Acts 5:33-42: Even those that will not receive truth may be cut to the heart by truth. When the accusers of the apostles heard the resurrection message they wanted to kill the messengers. They did not want to hear that Jesus had been raised from the dead, exalted to God's right hand in heaven, and that He is the Savior of mankind.
Gamaliel advised the council to act wisely in what the intended to do with the apostles. He reminded them of Theudas and Judas of Galilee. They had led away followers and their work had come to nothing because it was not of God. He said, "if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God." (Acts 5:38-39)
They beat the apostles and "commanded they should not speak in the name of Jesus." The apostles had suffering bodies, happy hearts and obedient spirits. Every day, with great constancy, both publicly and privately, "they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ." Not a day should pass without some effort on our part to spread the gospel. The church grew through daily preaching done publicly and house to house. Christianity has not been overthrown, but has gone on conquering and to conquer.
Jesus died for your sins and was resurrected. To become a
Christian you must hear the gospel (Romans
- - - - Charles Box
News & Notes
1. Prayer
List: In Need Of Prayers: Sue Barlow (sister of Peggy Harper), Mitch
Bozeman (surgery) Malachi Beauchamp, Charles Box Sr. (knee replacement – 9096
Rocky Ford Road, Gadsden, Alabama 35903), Gene Buck, Carolyn Duncan, Ethel
Gafford, Jean Gafford, Roy Goodwin, Ramona Gravely, Ron Green, Evan Hartsell,
Darlene Herring, Frank Johnson, Jessie Kennemore, Mary Lawrence, Evelyn Lewis,
Mary Powell, Nettie Quintey, Grace Robinson, Anna Salter, Bobby Terrell (test),
Mary Lou Terrell, Mary Tindal, and Judson Webb (grandmother of Paige Box).
Crowne Health Care: Laura Ellis, Kathy Johnson, Myrtle Perdue, Bertha
Phelps, and Iva Lou Wright.
2. Requesting
Our Prayers: Peggy Harper requests our prayers as she studies and
learns how to server God better. Please get to know Peggy and encourage her.
3. Sympathy Expressed: Our love and sympathy is expressed to Sue Bagents and her family in the death of her brother, Jim Sanders.
4. Prayer
Request: Jennie Jackson ask that we pray for
her little nephew, William Thomas Lofton. He was born April 6th in
5.
Please Pray For: (a) Alan Jackson as he serves in
6. Wedding
Announcement: We will walk arm in arm into every day of our lives, we
Dorothy Amanda Hope and Claude Nathaniel Faulkenberry have chosen the first day
of our new life together in Christ as Saturday, the twentieth of May two
thousand and six. You are invited to share in our joy as we exchange marriage
vows at
7. Birthdays: Celebrating birthdays this week are: April 19th Bryan Buck, April 20th Hannah Owens, and April 21st Jerry Sanders.
8. Great Job: (a) Thanks to all that had a part in the Prom Alternative week-end. You helped our youth to know that they are special. (b) Thanks to Darrell and Jamie for hosting the egg hunt for the children. It was a fun time for all.
10. Graduation Banquet: Our high school graduates will be honor on May 28th after evening services. Everyone is invited to participate. Ladies are asked to bring finger foods. Our graduates this year are: Holly Arnold, Michelle Bagents, Terrell Brannon, Samuel Cauthen, and Kayla Thomas.
11. Area
Events: (a) April 21st-23rd
– Gospel Meeting – Lineville Church of Christ – Speaker: Ken Butterworth –
Time: 7:00 p.m. (b) April 22nd
– Ladies Day – Rock Hill Church of Christ – Speaker: Janice Claunch – Theme:
“Choices On The Road Of Life” – Time: 9:30 a.m. (c) May 6th – Ladies Day – Niceville Church of Christ,
Florida – Speaker: Sheila Butt – Time: 9:00 a.m. (see bulletin board for more
information.) (d) June 18th-23rd
– “National Worship for the Deaf” – Niceville Church of Christ – call
850-678-2911 for details. (e) July 9th-14th
– Backwoods Christian Camp. (f) September 25th-27th – Spiritual
Enrichment Forum at Embassy Suites Hotel – Southern Christian University – (see
bulletin board for speakers, topics, and time)
12. Web
Site: Our web is improving daily. The address is
www.walnutstreetchurchofchrist.org. Updates are frequently being made, so visit
it often. The entire Revelation series is now available.
13. Agape Coin Cans: By now your coin can should be getting heavy with change to help some children. Thanks for being involved in this good work!
The Father’s
Mercy
The lowly servant owed his master a large sum of money. So, other
servants brought him before the master saying, “this man is not able to pay
what he owes.” Then as he was being sent away to be sold with his family in
order to repay his debt, he fell down and begged, “Master, have patience with
me, and I will pay you all.” But the humble spirit of the servant moved the
master with compassion, and he released him and forgave him the debt. We can
surely take a lesson from the first part of this parable in Matthew chapter
eighteen.
First of all, every human on earth should realize the extent of his
or her indebtedness to Jesus Christ. Whether you believe it or not, “God
demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8.) In John 4:42, we read, “...we ourselves have
heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.” We are
all sinners (Romans
Take notice of the extent of the Master’s forgiveness. He didn’t
give the servant another deadline to pay the debt. He didn’t hold the servant’s
family as collateral for the debt. He
simply released him and erased the debt from his record. This is a true picture
of God’s forgiveness because the Bible says He blots it from his record (Isaiah
44:22), He hides our sins from His sight (Romans 4:6-8), and He forgets about
them forever. (Hebrews 8:12.)
However, we can only have God’s forgiveness as we repent of our
sins (Luke 13:3), are baptized for the remission of sins (Acts
- - - - Darrell Powell
Let us never forget that the will of God is the salvation of men and
women.
Don’t just own a Bible; read it!
(334-382-3001)