KEEPING BACK PART OF THE PRICE

KEEPING BACK PART OF THE PRICE

ACTS 5:1-5 ¶ But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.

What was the sin of these two that brought such swift punishment? Today we may look and say that this was harsh, but what was the crime? It was threefold.

#1. The two had declared openly that they would sell their possession and give the whole of what they received to the Church. Why would they boast of such when they already KNEW they would not do it? They did so to receive GLORY FROM MEN. They wanted the glory, without paying the price. It is pure hypocrisy.

#2. Ananias and Sapphira had vowed that the whole of the price of their possession was to be given to GOD and to his service. Thus when they kept back part of the price, they actually robbed God.

#3. When they were confronted by Peter, they purposely lied to cover their hypocrisy. When they lied to the Apostle, the Ambassador of GOD, they lied to the God he represented.

So we see the sin of Ananias and Sapphira was three fold, and God quickly made an example out of them so that other would fear. Now this story is included in the Scriptures for our admonition. We are to LEARN from their example.

And hopefully we can delve a bit deeper in this than to simply warn people against robbing GOD in their tithes and their offerings. Let’s look at their three sins.

HYPOCRISY

Matthew 6:1-2 ¶ Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Today it seems that popular Christianity and Hypocrisy go hand in hand.

In Chapter 6 of Matthew alone Christ warned against:

Giving alms like the Hypocrite.

Praying like the Hypocrite.

And Fasting like the Hypocrite.

And in Matthew 15, he warns against worshiping God like the hypocrites.

And then Christ pronounced Seven woes against the Hypocrites in Matthew 23.

What is the root of the Hypocrite? They want to be glorified by MEN. They want to be esteemed by men. All the ‘good-deeds’ that they perform, must be accompanied by the applause of men.

It is the glory of man that they seek, and it is that glory that motivates them.

In some countries, like the United States, it is considered a prestigious thing to be a part of a large church. You will see presidents, congressmen, senators and governors file out to the Church on Sunday. Simply because they want the people to say, "He is a man of God" or "He is a good man, he goes to Church". Many people choose the church they attend by the size of the congregation. It is more prestigious to attend a church with a great number, than a small Church that teaches the truth.

Often times criminals will go to Church, and use the Church as a front, so they will not be as quickly suspected of the evil that they do. All of this is Hypocrisy.

GENUINE LOVE FOR GOD - OPPOSITE OF HYPOCRISY.

The opposite of hypocrisy is the sincere Christian. And the difference between the hypocrite and the sincere Christian is their motivation. What motivates the hypocrite? They want glory from men. What motivates the Sincere Christian? It is the genuine love of GOD.

Today in our small Church we MUST ask ourselves, What are we motivated by?

Why do we do, the religious things that we do? Do we do it so we

can be esteemed by our brethren? Do we do it, so we will fit in? Do we do it so we will be spoken well of? What motivates you?

If it is the love of GOD then you will do the same things in secret, as you do in public. Do you pray in secret? Do you give in secret? Do you fast in secret? When you are alone, do you bow your head and thank him for your meal, the same way you do when your brothers and sisters are looking? Hypocrisy is a sin that is hated by GOD and we must be careful not let it have a place in our lives. Turn with me to: Malachi 3:8

ROBBING GOD

Malachi 3:8-9 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.

When we think about robbing GOD, we often think back to this passage in Malachi, where God says that the people robbed him in their tithes and offerings.

And we indeed rob GOD when we spend the tithes on anything other than the support of the ministry, or when we hold back our offerings that we are bound by conscience to give.

Yet I want to emphasize that we rob GOD when we hold back from God what is rightfully his.

What do I have in mind?

1 Corinthians 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Christ has purchased the Church with his own blood. He has redeemed us back to GOD. The Bible teaches that we are not our own anymore (1^st Corinthians 6:19).

Everything about you is to be offered to GOD for his service. All of your heart, all of your mind, all of your soul and all of your strength, is to be at God’s disposal. What ever we have we are to give to GOD. What ever we hold back, we steal from God.

WE ROB GOD THROUGH POLLUTED SACRIFICES

Malachi 1:6-8 ¶ A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name? Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible. And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts.

And in Romans we read: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. – Romans 12:1

Are we any better than priests of old? Are we offering GOD of our pollution? Our bodies are to be offered as a living sacrifice, and we are to be holy. Yet we pollute our bodies and attempt to offer them to God?

We smoke our cigarettes, take our pills, drink our alcohol, over eat, pierce and tattoo our flesh, dress indecent and all the while we claim to be the temple of the Holy Ghost?

\And how about our minds? What do we fill our heart with? We listen to worldly sensual music, we listen to gossip and rumors and indecent jokes.

We set our eyes upon television, and behold all manner of evil. Adultery, fornication, witchcraft, spiritualism, blasphemy and violence we bring into the sanctuary of our mind, which is to be the dwelling place of GOD.

Then we walk into the Church, and ask GOD to bless us?

When we give Satan a place in our lives, we are stealing that place from GOD! It is to be his!

LYING TO GOD

1 John 2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

The Church world is filled with liars.

You have men who say, "God has said thus", when GOD has not spoken. They run to and fro and teach all manner of evil doctrine and then declare that it is God’s word.

Still today there are false prophets, who speak lies in the name of the Lord.

Then you have the vast majority who sit in the pulpits and sing, "Oh, How I love Jesus", "I’d rather have Jesus", and "You’re my all in all".

If they don’t sing it, they testify it, "I love God with all my heart".

But when they walk out the Church door they practice the same evils as the rest of the world. And through their rebellion they refuse to obey the Commandments of GOD.

My friends if we say we love him and keep not his commandments we are lying, and deceiving ourselves. Christ said if we love him we WILL keep his commandments.

If you are not willing to obey GOD, then you do not love GOD {PERIOD}.

TURN WITH ME TO JOEL 2:12

WHAT DID ANANIAS AND THE SAPPHIRA NEED?

Joel 2:12-13 ¶ Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

What did these two need? The same thing that many of us need today. They needed to turn to GOD with all their hearts.

Too many men and women enter this thing we call "Christianity" half-heartedly. They come and they pray for what ever reason, but their hearts are not fully broken, and they are not fully given to GOD.

And it is those who make a half-hearted profession of faith that you see walk out of the Church in a few weeks or months.

God doesn’t want your left overs, God doesn’t want half of your heart, God wants it all. You are to turn to GOD fully.

When he is truly your "All in All". When you truly love GOD with all your heart, it will be a very hard thing to walk away from him. God is to be the very CENTER of your universe, he is to be the axle upon which your life spins... you must come to the point that without GOD you will have NOTHING.

When your treasure is TRULY in heaven you will not worry about dross of this earth.

And I hope that the next time we read about Ananias and

Sapphira that we will check our own hearts to make sure we are not doing even as they did. If God chose today to smite everyone that practice hypocrisy, or robbed and lied to him, then no doubt most of the Churches would be emptied.