And great fear came over the whole church, and over all....

Acts 5:1-42 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible (link on links page)

Fate of Ananias and Sapphira

5 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, ² and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife’s full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles’ feet. ³ But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land? ⁴ While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.” ⁵ And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came over all who heard of it. ⁶ The young men got up and covered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him.

⁷ Now there elapsed an interval of about three hours, and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸ And Peter responded to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for such and such a price?” And she said, “Yes, that was the price.” ⁹ Then Peter said to her, “Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.” ¹⁰ And immediately she fell at his feet and breathed her last, and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹ And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things.

¹² At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s portico. ¹³ But none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, the people held them in high esteem. ¹⁴ And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number, ¹⁵ to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on any one of them. ¹⁶ Also the people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.

The account of Ananias and Sapphira is one of the only times we see the judgement of God as opposed to His grace in the new testament. The text says:  And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things.    There is a healthy level of fear that should exist in the church today but is mostly lost in the focus on God's love and grace. We do live in the age of God's grace and thankfully we see time and again how God continues to offer grace in place of judgement. If we are honest with ourselves we will recognize that we too are recipiants of that abundant grace. No one though should presume on that grace.

In the text it says:   “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit.  Jesus says:    "Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin "-- (Mark 3:28-29) Jesus also says of the Holy Spirit: when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.(John 16:13)   The Holy Spirit is God living with us and in us, leading us and guiding us in all truth and yet we like Ananias think that some how we can hide things from Him. God the Father is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent- all powerful, all knowing and present everywhere. The Holy Spirit lives with us and in us. Yet we still like Ananias will believe the lies of satan and think no one will see or know the things we do in secret.

I have good news for you though today. If you are questioning yourself and your actions, wondering if you are guilty of the eternal sin of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. You are not. Guilt, condemnation and hopelessness are all just other lies of the devil.  The very fact that we feel conviction is evidence that God is still speaking and revealing His truth to us. As long as we feel conviction we have the opportunity to turn and repent. The story of Ananias and Sapphira is here though to remind us that we can not presume on God's grace to take away our sin or it's consequences. Paul says in Romans 6:1-2:    What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? ² May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?   

Let's continue in the text, to see what God wants to do if we will continue in obedience to the Holy Spirit.    And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things.      Proverbs 1:7 says: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction. and Proverbs 9:10 again says: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.       If we will walk in the wisdom, knowledge and instruction that comes when we have a healthy fear, respect, awe of God, we will see the church operate more like the church we read about in Acts. 

¹² At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s portico. ¹³ But none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, the people held them in high esteem. ¹⁴ And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number, ¹⁵ to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on any one of them.

If the church and individual believers will walk in the wisdom, knowledge and instruction of God, we will also walk in the power of God. The world will look to us as it did to the apostles. Signs and wonders will be present and active in our midst. People will be healed and delivered and    all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their(our) number

In Matthew 13:39 Jesus tells the parable of the tares and wheat, He  says:  the harvest is the end of the age      Everything that has been sown in the world and in the hearts of men, both good and evil, will be reaped at the end of the age. God's desire is that we join with Him in the work of sowing and reaping the harvest of souls to the kngdom.

Thank You Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth. Thank You that I live in this age of abundant grace. Your mercies are new every morning. Holy Spirit, I desire to follow You as You lead me, guide me and instruct me in all truth, including the truth and wisdom of fear of the Lord. You know all, You see all, help me to live my life in such a way that I would be transparent, so others will see You and not me. Help me to walk in the fullness of the wisdom and the power of a life yielded to You.   Amen