‘All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need,’ Acts 2:44–45.

No one was more benevolent than a certain man from Cyprus named Barnabas and was a Levite. His name means Son of Encouragement.

Barnaba, generous in his giving without being required to do so, sold his field and donated his money, all of it, to the apostles to use to cater for the poor in the church.

Other landowners in the congregation couldn’t have missed the praise and respect showered on Barnabas for his selfless act. Barnabas was hailed as a hero and the epitome of encouragement, for others to follow.

Even in the freest of economies, when someone is lauded above his brothers and sisters, someone is bound to make an appearance. One couple in particular who heard and saw what Barnabas had done decided to play the ‘Me, too!’

‘Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property,’ Acts 5:1.

Ananias and Sapphira were clearly well-known among the believers, these two weren’t no-names or low-profilers. Perhaps they served in some leadership capacity for the early church, side-by-side as husband and wife, or had a thriving business that provided plenty of disposable income to support the cause.

Whatever the scenario, two truths stand out: (1) They were followers of Christ, and (2) they had the means to further God’s Kingdom in a significant way.

But while others were filled with the Holy Spirit, these couple were drained of the Spirit’s power, emptied by their own jealous, dishonesty and need for prestige and recognition. By selling their land exactly as Barnabas had, they hoped to get the spotlight off from him and onto them.

This story of Ananias and his wife Sapphira though took place two thousand years ago, it is still happening today be it a Christian or not. We adopt such a poor motive when giving to the church. We offer plaques mounted on chairs, offering baskets, doors, etc. our names printed into stainless metals or embroidered with our names printed on it. The sales pitch is obvious: Give in a big way so all will know how generous you are.

It reminds me of one of the charismatic churches in Accra where this prominent and political individual presented to a church a brand-new set of musical instruments under one condition: he would be made an elder of the church. And when the church refused, he took back his musical instrument and also took the pastor to the law court claiming that all monies donated to the church be refunded back to him.

It was clear that the couple were working in agreement. Sapphira had agreed to this deception to cheat unlike Adam and Eve, who took turns blaming elsewhere for their deception. But these two worked on a full-disclosure basis but only with each other, but not with God.” ‘With his wife’s full knowledge… Acts 5:2

The good news is, Sapphira wasn’t painted as subservient in any way. The bad news is, she didn’t prove to be very responsible either,

.. he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet. Acts 5:2

What so bad about keeping some of the money?

Wasn’t it their money? If I sell a pair of trousers, am I supposed to put every dime in the offering plate? The issue was honesty, not money. If I sell my pair of trousers for a 200.00 Ghana cedis but say I got 150.00 Ghana cedis for them and put that in the plate as if it were the whole amount, quietly pocketing the 50.00 Ghana Cedis difference and taking a bow for being completely unselfish. Well, even with my limited math skills, I know that adds up to 100 percent deceit. The apostle Peter knew it too.

Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?” Act: 5:3

How did Peter know Ananias had held some the proceeds back? In today’s property business, the selling price is a matter of public record, printed on flyers and social media. But in those days, unless the buyer bandied his purchase price about, how could Peter have found out?

I will opined that through the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost, Peter received a prophetic insight enabling him to read the thoughts and intention of the dishonest couple.

Thats certainly within the realm of possibility. Maybe Ananias wore, guilty expression, had shaky hands, or couldn’t look Peter in the eye when he handed over the money. Maybe the selling price did get around as is the norm ‘information travels’, such that Peter was expecting to receive a particular sum and was shocked when he didn’t.

In this story it isn’t the how but the what that matters most, and it’s not Peter’s actions that are in question but those of our ill-fated couple. What Ananias and Sapphira did was “the first open venture of deliberate wickedness” in the early church. In that sense they were very much like the Old Testament, deceived — as Peter pointed out by the wily serpent once again and quick to lie to cover their sins.

Greed was not their sin. Nor was it “just the ugly fruit of that greed a false witness. They lacked sufficient faith that God would supply their needs according to the riches through Jesus Christ and so hoarded some. They lacked trust in their brothers and sisters to share fairly and so kept a portion “just in case.” They had the symptoms of ‘fear of living’, lacked the willingness to live with less and place their hope in a spiritual rich future rather than a financially rich present, so they put some wealth aside.

Peter made sure their claim to the land was free and clear, with no mortgage to swallow up the proceeds and no moneylender waiting for his due.

“Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal?” Acts 5:4

Ananias’ response had to be “yes” and “yes.” How low his head must have drooped!

“What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.” Acts 5:4

A thousand years earlier David confessed before the Lord, “Against you, you only, have I sinned.” If Ananias had made such an admission, even at this hour, he might have been spares. We’ll never know.

“When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. Acts 5:5

Notice that Peter didn’t strike him dead. We scriptures also did not tell us that God smote him. Perhaps his own guilt took him out. whatever the case, Ananias wasn’t mostly dead. He was history.

And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Acts 5:5

The bad news got round fast, as it is always, followed closely by a wave of fear.

Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and, carried him out and buried him. Acts 5:6.

I’m amazed they were willing to touch the body, so great was their apprehension surrounding the man’s swift demise. It’s certain they wasted no time in putting him in the ground, because the day was still young when the little woman showed up.

About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Acts 5:7

Where had she been? we wonder. Shopping? Getting her nails done How had she missed the news? Wouldn’t somebody — a friend, an enemy — have tracked her down to tell her what had happened? Perhaps Peter asked them not to, intending to give her a chance to clear her own name. Or perhaps their fear kept them from seeking her out.

For God’s purposes it was important that she come alone and without forewarning. Just as these two were judged for their sins separately so will we stand alone before God someday. No amount of ‘my husband made me do this” will cut the mustard, dear ones.

When it comes to sin and judgment, God is exceedingly fair. And frighteningly just, which Sapphira soon discovered.

Peter asked her “Tell me, is this t e price you and Ananias got for the land?” Acts 5:8

Peter offered her a chance to be saved from certain death. He was neither accusing nor judging her here. Her choice was clear: Tell the truth or tell a lie. he wasn’t sealing her doom; he was giving her the freedom to come clean. In the words of one writer, “repentance was not yet too late — return to reason was not even now impossible.”

As with Eve, all hinged on her answer to one question.

“Yes,” she said “that is the price.” Acts 5:8

Ananias held the money back as well, but we are not told he lied to Peter outright, as Sapphira did. Why did she sin even more grievously?

“Sapphira’s lie began with fear,” Maybe it was the fear of not having enough — enough money, enough recognition, or enough of what she might have hoped those things would buy her: love, we hoard when we fear loss. We can all live without stuff. None of us can live without love. When we see someone demanding attention, as Sapphira did, it’s a sure bet that what’s, needed isn’t wealth, fame, or applause. It’s love.

But she knew what she was doing, that she was flirting with disaster. For the wages of sin is death was not a foreign concept to her. Sapphira chose to sin and flaunted her sin before Peter, before her fellow Christians and before God.

“Peter said to her, “How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord” Acts 5:9

She and Ananias had not only agreed to keep some of the money, they must have also agreed that the Holy Spirit, newly abroad in the land, was not powerful enough to know of their deception. As such, they tested God’s strength against their own and lost. If only they had written this truth on the tablet of their hearts: “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked.”

Sapphira’s name was as beautiful as a “jewel, but her heart was as hard as a stone. Before long, the rest of her would follow suit. In that, she reminds us of Lot’s wife, who also made one wrong move and paid for it with her life.

Peter delivered her sentence like the bang of a gavel.

“Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.” Acts 5:9.

Her punishment was swift. And terrible. At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Acts 5:10.

One might chalk up such a death as a heart attack if it happened once in a blue moon. this occurred twice in one spot, in one day. Two such divine judgment tells the tale. When Peter said it would happen, and at that moment” it did, a promise from Proverbs must have run through the minds of the onlookers: ‘the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out.”

Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried out and buried her beside her husband. Acts 5:10

Were there any heirs? Did they use the balance of funds from the land sale to buy a dual grave marker? Did anyone mourn them?

They certainly were remembered, as “partners in business, Partners in crime, partners in death.” their sad story was recorded in scripture as a lesson and as a warning.

Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events. Acts 5:11

As Christians this Ananias and Sapphira’s story should tell us that:

1. Pride and generosity don’t mix.

2. We should learn to give when nobody is looking.

3. Honestly is not the best policy; it is the only policy.

4. You pay your money; you make your choice.

Let us give with pure hearts, knowing that God cannot be deceived.