By Pastor Brandon Young
We often find ourselves bound by lies. We lie to ourselves, others, and to God. The first thing we see Adam and Eve do in the Garden of Eden after they sin is hide from God. When we hide, we lie because the truth is made to reveal, not cover up! Lying is so dangerous! We often convince ourselves the lie is the truth. Satan is not only a liar, but the Father of all lies, so when we lie, we are giving Satan access to our lives. These lies will steal our joy, kill our testimonies, and destroy our lives. We know lying is a behavior common in society today, but it should not be a quality we find in Christians. Unfortunately, that’s not the case oftentimes. We need to look closely at the power in truth.
The truth is liberating. The Bible says in John 8:32, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” We are only bound by lies. When we speak the truth, we are speaking Jesus! The Bible says in John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” We know as Christians that the Holy Spirit lives inside us, and only speaks the truth. It cannot speak a lie for God cannot lie. If we speak lies, we speak in the flesh and not in the Spirit of God. John 16:13 states, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”
We must be careful not to speak from the flesh. Let’s look at an example in the scriptures from the early church. Acts 4:32-37, “And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. 33. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. 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, 35. And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. 36. And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, 37. Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.“
Here we see the early Christians selling their property and possessions and giving the proceeds to be distributed to the families in the church. In chapter 5, we see a husband and wife named Ananias and Sapphire who decided they wanted to make a contribution to the church as well, but they chose to lie about their contribution. Acts 5: 5-11 states, “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 hath 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 thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. 5. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. 6. And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him. 7. And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. 8. And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. 9. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. 10. Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. 11. And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.
This couple wanted to look like everyone else, but it was only an appearance. They chose to lie about their contribution. We can lie and never speak a word. Our actions can say it all! Ananias came in and laid the money down, walked away, and never disclosed the price of the land. He was very deceptive, but we can always be sure that our sins will find us out. Peter called out his wrongdoing, and then he fell over dead. Ananias and his wife had conspired together, and once she was asked about the price and lied as well, she also fell over dead. Fear then came upon the church, and today we need to revisit this story, and think about the dangers of lying to God.
If only Ananias and Sapphire had come in telling the truth, this story could have had a different outcome. They could have said something like this, “We sold our property, but unlike all of you, we are not able to give the entire portion of the proceeds. Please gather around us and pray that God would help us.”
(The Solution Column is provided by Pastor Brandon Young of Harmony Free Will Baptist Church, Hampton, and his associate, Hunter Greene.)