948
THE KING ’S BUSINESS
o f this practice did not continue long even in the Apostolic church, and it may be utterly impracticable in the complicated life o f today, but the spirit o f it holds still. Every true Christian will consider his property not as his own, but as belonging to the whole church and to be used for them (1 Tim. 6:17-19; 1 Jno. 3 :17-19). We may have no apostles to do the distributing for us nowadays—those who claim to be such usually forget to distribute, and sim ply line their own pockets—but if there are no apostles to do it for us we must do it for ourselves under the Holy Spirit’s guidance, W e have been looking upon an exceed ingly fair picture but now the scene chánges. ' The old serpent again enters Eden. Up to this .point the church’s chief danger had been from without, from the open opposition o f foes, but now it faces the greater peril o f foes within, foes who fancy themselves friends. It is no wonder that God who loves His church, dealt with this matter with a stern hand. The atmos phere o f love and consecration and sacrifice o f self in which the deed o f Ananias was done, made it all the more unpardonable. It is to be noted that the same words are used in describing the action o f Ananias as those used in describing the action o f Barnabas up to a certain point, but then what a difference! In the one case we have a deed o f self-forgetting love, in the other a deed o f closely calculating hypoc- ricy. It is evident the early church was not perfect, as some seem t o , imagine it was. There was ip it an Ananias and Sap- phira as well as a Barnabas. The plan of Ananias and Sapphira was to bring part o f their property and put it in the general fund, 1 but keep back part for themselves, and- yet at. the same time enjoy the dis tribution o f the general fund. It was a deliberate fraud. 1 Friday, October 27 . Acts 5 : 1 , 2 .
Saturday, October 28 . Acts 5 : 3 , 4 ,
The lie o f Ananias was not an ordinary lie, and we cannot conclude from this story that every lie is a lie to the Holy Ghost. Ananias had seen the whole-hearted love o f Barnabas (cf. ch. 4:36, 37), how he had literally brought all that he had and laid it at the Apostles’ feet. He had also seen the admiration which the consecrated Bar nabas had awakened in the Apostolic com pany, and he decided to gain the same applause for himself, and also apparently, to share in the general distribution, but he aimed to do it without paying the full price. He, too, “sold a possession,” but secreted part o f the price and brought the rest with the intent to deceive the church. But the Holy Spirit guided the early church and an attempt to deceive the Spirit-guided church was an attempt to deceive the Spirit Himself. Further than this, he pretended full consecration when he did not make a full consecration. Now consecration is to the Holy Spirit, and to pretend to conse crate all when one does not, is to lie to the Holy Ghost: It is evident there is much lying to the Holy Ghost in these days. When we stand up in consecration meetings and say we have surrendered all and that our “all is on the altar,” when in fact we have not surrendered all and our all is not on the altar, is to lje' to the Holy Ghost. It would be well if these words should sink into the hearts o f those who so lightly and flippantly profess an entire surrender with out being -sure as to whether they have made an entire surrender or not, and whether the profession is a reality or a lie to the Holy Ghost. It was Satan that prompted Ananias to this deception. The Holy Spirit had filled the heart o f Barna bas, Satan had filled the heart o f Ananias. But while Ananias’ sin originated with Satan, Peter’s question implies that Ana nias was none the less responsible in that he had given place to Satan and permitted him to fill his heart. The fact that his sin originated with Satan did not lessen, but aggravated his guilt. He had entered’ into
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker