Acts 5:1-11
An man was walking on the beach and found a magic lamp. He picked it up, rubbed it, and a genie appeared. “Because you have freed me,” the genie said, “I will grant you a wish.” The man thought for a moment and then responded, “My brother and I had a fight 30 years ago and he hasn’t spoken to me since. I wish that he would finally forgive me and love me.”
There was a thunderclap, and the genie declared, “Your wish has been granted. You know,” the genie continued, “most men would have asked for other things like wealth or fame. But you only wanted the love of your brother. Is that because you are old and dying?”
“No way!” the man cried. “But my brother is, and he’s worth about $60 million.”
Ecclesiastes 5:4-5-When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; for He has no pleasure in fools, pay what you have vowed--Better not to vow than to vow and not pay.
Verse 3-4-Whether they had a agreement already arranged or that God revealed to Peter what Ananias was doing.
What Peter is saying, “You have the right to it. You have the right to sell it. And after you sold it, you have the right to give it or not to give it.”
The problem was not that Ananias did not give the whole sum of the purchase price, but that he pretended to be giving all while he held back some.
The one important fact we must take away from their sin was that it was deliberate!
They purposed in their heart beforehand to withhold some of the money while making it look like they were giving all away.
The Curse of Cain. (Genesis 4)
He deliberately and purposefully killed his brother Able.
Because of his sin God placed Cain under a curse, made him a restless
wanderer, and caused his labor to be fruitless.
David and Bathsheba. (2 Samuel 11-12)
As a king, he abused his power and slept with a Bathsheba who was someone else’s wife.
Then he tried to cover it up by killing Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband. He thought that if no one would find out then it would go away. But God knew what he was doing.
His punishment was the death of David and Bathsheba’s first born.
You have not lied to men but to God-They were trying to look good before men and probably thought, “Who is going to know how much we sold the land for, if we give this much and keep this much, who’s going to know the difference?” God Did!!
David recognized that every sin is against God!
Psalm 51-1-4-Have mercy upon me, 0 God,
According to Your loving kindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
Blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.
For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me.
Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in Your sight—
We live in a world that does not like to shoulder the responsibility for it actions.
We either try to blame someone or something else; our parents, our genetic make up, our environment or society as a whole or we try to minimize them by saying, “It does not hurt anyone but me.
The story is told of a little boy who said to his mother, “Mother why is it whenever I do something wrong, it is because I am a bad boy, but whenever you do something wrong, it’s your nerves.”
Have you lied to the Holy Spirit?
How many times have you sat in a service when the invitation was given, and you know you should be going down to the altar, you know you need to repent, but because you don’t want anyone to know that you’re not perfect, you sit there trying to make those around you think everything’s okay!
How many times have we lied to the Holy Spirit?
When He’s convicted you of areas of your life and you’ve told Him that you would give them up, but yet there’s been no change!
1 Peter 4:17-For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?” NKJV)
Steps To Change:
1-Come to grips with the fact that you are a sinner.
The first step to any healthy “recovery” is admitting the fact that you have a problem!
2-Pray for forgiveness and cleansing.
When David was “found out” his prayer to God was Psalms 51:10-Create in me a clean heart, 0 God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
He not only wanted to forgiveness, but a new heart. He wanted to start all over.
3-Avoid temptation at all costs.
Jesus taught us to pray”... and lead us not into temptation”.
If you are a recovering alcoholic is it smart to go into places where you can obtain alcohol easily?
The same is true for any other deliberate sin you are dealing with.
There’s nothing that can get our attention any faster than God giving us a reality check.
What God wants us to do is give our selves a reality check every day.
We need to search our hearts and make sure that everything is all right in our lives.
