A Spouse who will not agree with our hypocrisy: Jesus

“How is it that you have agreed together

to test the Spirit of the Lord?”

(Acts 5:7-11, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, May 29, 2011)

7 After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” 9 But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” 10 Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

7 After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.”

Ananias made a very poor choice. He did not do it alone. He had a partner with him, his helpmate, his wife, Saphira.

Marriage is such a good gift from God. But like all of the Lord's gifts, we can use it in a way that would be against the Lord's purposes. The helper who should be with us in holiness can easily work with us in an evil scheme.

Ananias had lied to God the Holy Spirit. He did this by giving the church the impression that he had given all of the proceeds of a sale of land to the work of the kingdom of God. He had not given everything. He gave only a portion of the proceeds, and not all of the funds from the sale. That was his right to do. The land was his before the sale, and the proceeds from the sale were his after the sale. But no one has a right to lie to God.

When Peter was talking to Saphira, he already knew that her husband Ananias had lied to the church. He also knew that Ananias had been confronted and that he was dead. Saphira did not know what had happened to her husband, but she did know the truth about the land sale. The apostle asked her about the price of the land. This would have been the opportunity for Saphira to tell the truth. To do that would have exposed the lie that they had decided upon. She did not choose that path. She attempted to continue in the way of deception.

Everyone with Peter already knew the truth. But Saphira did not know that they knew. She stayed with the original plan, but the man she had as a partner in deception was already dead, and everyone with Peter knew. How often do people think that they are maintaining a successful impression of godliness or of achievement in holiness, and all the people that they think that they have convinced are not believing a word of it? How often do liars fall for their own stories when everyone else has seen the truth?

9 But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”

Peter confronted her in her lie. They had not sold the property for the amount that they had claimed. This deception was not the individual work of one man. It was something the couple did together. They had “agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord?”

Think of the Lord of the church in His perfect integrity. He was never promoting Himself. Those who saw Him on the cross taunted Him with barbs, urging Him to save Himself. He stayed His ground with a singleness of heart. This is integrity. The hypocrite is dedicated to a double mind. He knows the truth, but he suppresses it in unrighteousness. This double-mindedness, this lack of a simple integrity was not just one man's choice. Man and wife agreed on this together. Who started this bad plan? We don't know. Was it like the first marriage in the garden, where Eve ate the forbidden fruit, and then Adam, who had not protected her from evil, partook of something that God had not allowed? We only know that at some point it became the action of not just one person, but the united evil deed of a marriage.

10 Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

The immediate judgment of God that had come upon Ananias now came to his partner. She fell down at the feet of Peter and died. The young men that had just buried her husband only hours before, now carried her out and buried her beside him.

Ananias and Saphira – together in life and in death... Their earthly days were over. They were in God's hands. Scripture does not tell us that they went to hell, so we should not say that they did. We do know that they both died right there, and that should be enough to take our breath away.

11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

These two deaths had an impact on the church and upon others who heard about the events that had transpired. Great fear came upon everyone. What kind of fear? It was the fear of God. It was a reminder that the Lord was not interested in a life of pretense.

Men and women live their lives of hypocrisy. God knows the truth.

Marriage is a very powerful fact of human existence. Sometimes husbands and wives can help each other on the pathway of integrity. Even just a small look of love can check the conscience of one party in the direction of truth and save a couple from a big mistake.

But marriage does not always work that way. Sometimes people find encouragement in the way of evil from the person who could have helped the most, a trusted and loving husband or wife.

With Ananias and Saphira, the encouragement that led to their deaths was an agreement to be religious hypocrites together. If one person started with the idea that they could secretly hold on to a portion of the proceeds and just make it seem like they had given everything to the church, the other person went along with it. They ended up lying together.

Jesus, when He gave His all for us as a Husband, had a spouse that would have dissuaded Him from true righteousness. Even Peter, who confronted Ananias and Saphira here, had to be confronted by the Lord. He saw the cross as an act of service that was too generous, unnecessary or beneath Jesus. There is a difference between righteousness and showy self-righteousness. The church needs to agree with Jesus on the path of quiet goodness. He was no hypocrite.

When you feel that impulse to pump yourself up in the eyes of others, or when you see it in your spouse, remember what happened to this couple. Turn your gaze away from self, and focus on the Husband of the church. He finds showy self-righteousness very offensive among those who bear the name Christian. But He looks on Peter, and you, with love. He saves us.

1. What role did Sapphira, the wife of Ananias play in this great trouble?

2. What does it mean to test the Spirit of the Lord?

3. How is it that both Ananias and Sapphira died?

4. Was it good or bad that great fear came upon the church and others heard what happened to Ananias and Sapphira?

OT Passage: Genesis 3