Worship With A Purpose: Don’t Hold Back

“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?” Acts 5:3

Just looking at this account from the surface, it seems a rather harsh judgement for a people who identify themselves with a God who is love. But looking deeper into the situation, you will began to understand why this quick and precise judgement fell upon Ananias and Sapphira. The key component in it all was Satan filled their heart. Their heart were full of darkness as they dwelt so near to the light.

This was a big moment in the church. Their was some needs that had to be met and many were selling the things they had so to help meet those needs. Barnabbas at the end of the proceeding chapter sold all that he had and I am sure there were many others. It was a big moment and Ananias and Sapphira got caught up in it. I believe their intentions were sincere to begin with. They had some land and decided to sell it. But when that land became silver and gold, there hearts were filled with greed, tempting them to hold back part of the price. When asked by Peter if they gave the full amount, they said yes. They lied! And they not only lied to Peter, they lied to the Holy Ghost. After being confronted they both fell dead.

Again this seems rather severe but the issue here was that they knew they sold it for one price and gave to the church only part of it. They promised the whole price for the whole land, but gave only in part. Not only did they do it intentionally, they relished in it! Ananias and Sapphira had no concept of what it meant to worship in Spirit and in truth.

True worship doesn’t involve just part of the man or woman, but the whole man or woman. There is no time when we can take vacation from worship. Worship is not what we do, it is who we are. When we give to God it should come from the whole heart. Whether it is giving

·       Money

·       Time

·       Attention

·       Any other type of resources

we must give and do as doing unto the Lord. The purpose of worship is to give God our best! The best of who we are, what we are, wherever we are. This is what Ananias and Sapphira did not understand and they lost their lives for it.

There is in this account a little hint of the lesson that Jesus taught his disciples about cross bearing. He said “What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul and what shall he give in exchange for it?” (Matthew 16:26) Ananias and Sapphira lost their soul over a few extra dollars. They allowed Satan to deceive them, causing them to attempt to deceive the church and the Holy Spirit. God could not allow them to relish in this moment at the expense of the purity of the church. The result was “And great fear came upon all the church and upon as many as heard these things.” (v. 11)

Let us learn from this tragic example. It was written for our admonition. Let us strive to never hold back in our worship towards God!

Pastor Robby