This is an exposition of the judgment that fell on Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-14.
It comprehensively covers the 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬.
The message 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐧𝐬 𝐡𝐲𝐩𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐲, 𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐆𝐨𝐝’𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐥, 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐞’𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
Furthermore, 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐚’𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚, 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲.
1. 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭
The Holy Ghost was the true leader of the early church, and submission to His leading prevented confusion and division. Leaders are instruments of God when firmly rooted in Scripture and guided by the Spirit.
𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞-𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬
The communal sharing in Jerusalem was a temporary response to immediate needs, not a lasting doctrine. The instruction to the rich was to willingly share, not to live communally. The act of selling property, as done by Barnabas, was recognised because it flowed from sincerity and love, unlike the hypocrisy of Ananias and Sapphira.
𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞-𝐃𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐲
Ananias and Sapphira’s offering was for appearance and recognition, not sincerity. Serving, praying, and giving should be for God’s glory, not for human praise. The sin began in the heart; they conceived, nurtured, and agreed together in deceit.
𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐞-𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭
Peter discerned the lie through the gift of revelation. The Spirit never sleeps and is always ready to reveal the truth. Leaders need the Spirit’s gifts of word of knowledge, word of wisdom, and discerning of spirits to uncover half-truths and uphold the purity of the church. Lying to a God-indwelt man like Peter was lying to God Himself.
2. 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐋𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐇𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐟
Living with honour means refusing to degrade oneself with lies, as truth preserves honour and consistency.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞-𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐬
Seeking human approval led to Ananias’s and Sapphira’s sudden death and burial without honour. Death is separation from God, and every lie brings that separation. The condition in which a person dies is how they remain in eternity. Living in lies leads to dishonour and eternal separation from God.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
Hidden ambition and dissatisfaction become a door to perversion. The enemy seeks an entry point and will take advantage of those whose pursuit is recognition and human exaltation. Agreement with a spouse must be in righteousness, as agreement in falsehood leads to destruction.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠
Believers must make up their minds against pretence, lying, deception, and hypocrisy. They must be continually purged by the Spirit. All liars, including private liars and professional liars, will have their part in the lake of fire.
3. 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬
Personal obedience to Scripture is the first responsibility while labouring for others.
𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 (𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞) 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐧
Their union and agreement in deception under Satan brought judgment. Agreement outside the scripture is no excuse before God.
𝐀𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐚 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 (𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚) 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 (𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧) 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬
Their agreement was rooted in sanctification, purity of heart, and holiness of life. Agreement outside God’s Word leads to destruction, but unity within Scripture brings blessing and eternal life. The Word of God must stand above all, and no one can reach heaven by supporting evil.
𝐀𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 (𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬) 𝐁𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭
The unity of the apostolic ministry flowed from supportive agreement without rivalry. This unity allowed the power of God to flow mightily in their ministry. The final goal is for the church to rise to a higher level of revival, with the power of the Holy Ghost fully manifest.
