Ananias and Sapphira

This weeks FUEL is about a husband and a wife who try to get one past the Holy Spirit. But we see that this does not work out the way they had planned. And you can be sure that Ananias and Sapphira did have this planned (Acts 5:4). But as we have learned and what Ananias and Sapphira seemed to have forgotten is that the "eyes of the Lord are in every place keeping watch on the evil and the good (Pr. 15:3).

There are many things that can be said about Ananias and Sapphira. They loved this world more than God. They desired the praise of men rather than honoring God. They were hypocrites...representing themselves as one thing but in reality were something totally different. They wanted to seem more generous than they really were. They lied to God. All these things I am sure you will look at and study, but really quickly I want to point you to Proverbs.

I wont take the space to type it, but read Proverbs chapter 16. If Ananias and Sapphira had only taken the time to read this small chapter they might have done things a little different. For example, verse 2 says, "All the ways of man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weights the spirit (motives in other translations)."

The story of Ananias and Sapphira is told in contrast to the story of Barnabas contained in chapter four. During my time in Fuel I am going to ask the students to compare and contrast Barnabas with Ananias and Sapphira. There are some major differences between them so if you get a chance check it out.

Lastly, we see that God used Ananias and Sapphira to warn the church that this is what always happens to phony Christians, sooner or later.

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