Lying To God
Sermon Scripture Acts 5:1-4 (KJV)
Acts 5:1-4 1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, 2 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. 3 But Peter said, Ananias, why Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost and to keep back part of the price of the land? 4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Why hast though conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
We need to stop lying to God.
Many times when we are faced with difficult situations and we really don’t understand how to fix them, we do what we think to be safe.
For instance, if someone confronts us about something we have said and we did not have a reason to say what we said neither did we know what we were talking about, we tell “little white lies” as if that is acceptable.
Lying is not acceptable by man or God because a lie is a lie no matter whom tells it or why they told it. So even when we tell what we think are small harmless lies we are not only lying to man but to God as well.
Another mischievous practice that we have is in our financial situations. When dealing with our finances we often find ourselves writing “bad checks”. We are willing to go as far as to use our signature (a personal official sign swearing that all that we have wrote before our signature is true) even when we are certain that we are writing a bad check. If the check is for two hundred dollars and we know that there is only fifty dollars in the bank at the time we sign it then we have just told a lie. We have lied to the person receiving the check, the bank, ourselves but most importantly we have lied to God.
Saints in case you did not know, I have been sent to tell you that lying to God is punishable by death.
There are many people in today’s society that live only by the grace of God. Though it is certainly true that even if we had never sinned we would still be living only by the grace of God (II Corinthians 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.).
Not only have we sinned but we are bold enough to think that no one sees us in our wrong doing. Some of us are like rivers.
Illustration:
From (Wayne Field - SermonCentral.com)
Have you ever seen a straight river? Canals are straight, but all rivers seem to be crooked. We call it “meandering.” Why are rivers crooked? Because the natural tendency of a river is to take the easiest way around any obstacle. So rivers are always crooked, and they always run downhill.
Some people are like rivers. They are too lazy and immature to put forth much effort into walking with God. For them it’s easier to watch TV than to pray and easier to read their newspaper than to read their bible. They even think that it is easier to lie to God rather than tell him what is true.
Many of us live by the promises that we have made to God. In times of need we may often find ourselves making promises to God about what we would do for him if he would deliver us out of our situation.
For instance, we may tell God that if he would only save us from jail this one time, we will serve him for the rest of our lives. Or if he would help to feed our family this one time, we will tithe for the rest of our lives. There are various ways that we make promises or covenants with God only to find ourselves often straying away from those words after deliverance.
Let’s go back to our bad check situation. What if someone from your church worked in the bank that received your check and they saw the check that you wrote? This person really looks up to you because God sent you to them to witness and through your witnessing and testimonies they were drawn to Christ. However, now because of your lies their perception of God has changed. Some may think that this is acceptable and that God understands but the punishment for such an action is death because truly what we are doing is lying to God.
This point brings us to our scripture for this chapter (Acts 5:1-4). This passage highlighted the covenant breaking actions of two Christians Ananias and Sapphira. Ananias was the husband of Sapphira. This passage was set up by (Acts 4:34 Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,) which clearly states that they were living in a time that no one lacked anything. So there was really no need to steal.
Which reminds me of many situations in today’s time. If we would only allow God to provide for us by the tithing of our first fruits we would not have any reason to steal because no one would be lacking anything (Malachi: 3-10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.).
It is interesting in verse 1 that the scripture says that they only sold a possession. They did not sell all that they had. They had made a conscious decision that they could afford to give the gift before they made the sale. Somewhere between the sale and the giving something was utterly lost. Have we decided to give God our hearts only to only give him half after the agreement seeing how profitable it may be to have the heart.
Whatever the offering was it must have been impressive. In verse 2 it shows the man of God going to apostle and laying at his feet as if it was an awesome gift. Ananias must have really been impressed and proud of himself for the tremendous gift. He was probably smiling from ear to ear waiting for Peter to announce to everybody how good he was because of his gift.
Do we think that there is something that we could possibly give to God that will make him so happy that he does not see the truth?
Saints keep the gift and just give the truth. It would have been better for the man of God to keep his offering and tell Peter that he changed his mind.
What a shock it must have been for Ananias to actually receive the word from the apostle. How in the world could he know that I have kept back part and why isn’t he just happy I gave what I gave?
God has made many people financially free in the church. The problem is however that instead of bringing God’s part of the money to the storehouse we are taking it to the local car dealer or the realty office and bringing God our leftovers thinking that he should be happy that you even gave anything.
Many wives would like to use the word of God that says that man is head of the household as an excuse for following their husbands and not serving God but be careful because this is not an excuse especially in this case. Maybe Sapphira thought she would be immune because it was an idea from her husband. Many believe perhaps that she should have been. But remember her husband was dead and she was completely liable for her own actions now.
When we are in the midst of lying to God, no matter how many other people are around us, God has a way of putting us in one-on-one counseling. Sometimes this session may be but a brief moment before we go ahead and do what is wrong or this counseling may go on for hours or days before we make the decision. But before we do wrong, God gives us all an opportunity to change our mind to do right.
At this point (verse 4) I would venture to say that he was either ready to give it all or confess. It was too late.
Are we thinking that we are getting away with robbing God? Do we think that God does not know the truth about every thing about us? Do we think that because of his grace that he is ignorant?
We are truly bold these days, we confess to know that God knows all and we still want to walk with God as if he does not know that we are trying to hide something. At least confess to God that you be set free from what has you bound.
It is beyond my understanding but after visiting Las Vegas a couple of times, it seems as though people have more faith in a casino than in the word of God.
People willingly lose thousands of dollars in Las Vegas hoping for that lucky strike while the word of God says that if we would just bring our tithes and offering he would open up a window from heaven and pour us out a blessing that we don’t even have room enough to receive.
CONCLUSION
Lying to God is a very serious offense that we should make sure to stay away from. Although you can not see God’s ears he hears you. Although you can not see his mouth he is warning you, though you can not see his hands you are in his palms. He is concerned with your every thought so why do we think that he does not know that we are lying.
Let’s Pray
Thank You. May God continue to bless you and keep you. Amen
Your Friend
Minister Juan D. Lane
