| WHAT do
you think should be done with a man and his wife
who told a lie to one of Jesus’ disciples?
There was such a man and a woman who did this
very wicked thing. The man’s name was
Ananias, and his wife’s name was Sapphira.
The disciple to whom they lied was Peter. It is
wrong to lie about anything. It is even worse to
lie about the things we do in the service of God,
and it was this kind of lie that Ananias and
Sapphira told to Peter. Peter
and another disciple of Jesus, named John, were
working together preaching the Gospel. In my last
story I told you about the healing of a lame man,
which was a wonderful miracle performed by Peter.
Because of this good deed there were many people
who believed what Peter and John told them about
Jesus and the wonderful blessings which he will,
by and by, give to all the people in the world.
Peter and John were preaching
in Jerusalem, and in the temple of God. The
religious rulers of the Israelites became jealous
of them, just as they were of Jesus, and told
them that they would have to stop preaching about
Jesus. But these two disciples believed that it
was their duty to obey God, who had told them to
preach the Gospel of Jesus in Jerusalem and
wherever they could throughout the whole world.
So when they were told to stop preaching they
asked:
“Is it right in the sight
of God to hearken unto you more than unto God? We
cannot but speak the things which we have seen
and heard.”
So they continued to preach.
The religious rulers of the
people were really afraid to punish Peter and
John, because so many people in Jerusalem
believed that they were servants of God. The good
news about the crippled man who had been healed
caused them to think a great deal of these two
servants of God. Thousands of people believed the
story of Jesus, and decided that they would
become his disciples.
These people were all very
enthusiastic, and they wanted to do all they
could to tell others about Jesus. In order to do
this, they decided among themselves that they
would put all their belongings together just as
though they were one large family, and in this
way use everything they owned in the service of
God. Those who owned land or had other valuable
belongings sold what they had and put all the
money into the one common treasury. Then this
money was used to buy food and clothing for all
the disciples, so they could be free to preach
the Gospel of Jesus.
Now, Ananias and his wife
learned about the arrangement of the disciples to
sell everything and use the money in the service
of God, and they pretended to do this just as the
other believers had done. But they lied about it.
And it was Peter who discovered that they had
told an untruth. No one told Peter that they had
lied. The power of God helped him to know that
Ananias and Sapphira were deceiving him. They
sold a valuable possession, and kept part of the
money for themselves. The Bible says that Satan
filled their hearts and caused them to lie to
Peter, telling him that they had put all the
money into the treasury of the disciples.
Satan causes people to lie
whenever he can. Probably that is because he lies
so much himself. I wonder if you remember the
wicked lie Satan told to mother Eve in the Garden
of Eden? He said to her:
“You will not surely
die.”
God had told Adam and Eve that
if they ate the fruit of the tree of which he
told them not to eat they would surely die. But
Satan lied about it, telling them that they would
not surely die. Of course they did die, as we
know, and that is why everybody dies now. And
because Ananias and his wife lied to Peter, God
caused them to be put to death suddenly so that
everybody knew they had done wrong.
Then, more than ever, the
people knew that God was blessing Peter and John,
so the religious rulers became even more jealous,
and they caused these two servants of God to be
put into prison. But that night one of God’s
angels opened the prison doors and set them free,
and told them to return to the temple and
continue to preach about Jesus. They did this,
and still more people believed.
Again the religious rulers
arrested Peter and John. But this time the chief
one among them advised that it was not wise to
try any longer to interfere with the disciples of
Jesus, because they might be working against God.
The others agreed. So, after giving Peter and
John a severe beating, they set them free. Thus
God protected them, and they were able to
continue preaching the Gospel.
QUESTIONS
Who were Ananias and
Sapphira, and what great sin did they commit?
How was Peter able to know
that Ananias and Sapphira were not telling him
the truth?
How were Ananias and his
wife punished for their wrongdoing?
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