Sin short-circuits the work of the Holy Spirit
Ever notice sometimes you try to make yourself look better than you really are. Why do you do that, a lot of reasons maybe insecurity. You’re trying to impress, “You’re trying to impress people you don’t even like with stuff you don’t have." Part of that is because you don’t understand the Gospel. You don’t have to impress God anymore. God is not impressed with you, and God doesn’t expect you to impress Him. He knows who you are. He knows everything you’ve done. He knows your tendencies, and yet according to wisdom and knowledge, He chose to adopt you as a child of His, not because of you, but because of Jesus Christ.
You don’t have to impress God, so you don’t have to impress other people. You try to make yourself seem better than you are because you try to impress. Sometimes it’s competition. Sometimes you’re trying to "one up" one another.
"Then Peter said to Ananias, ’Why has Satan filled your heart?’" Just a little note here...God wants you to be filled with the Holy Spirit. You are going to be filled with something. Okay? It’s going to be the Holy Spirit or it’s going to be sin. In this case Ananias was filled with Satan, it says. Which I’m sure came as a surprise to him. He had no idea those were the stakes.
Peter says, "You lied to the Holy Spirit and you kept some of the money for yourself. The property was yours to sell or not to sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!" He takes it to a whole other level. Now how did Peter know this? Had somebody told him?
This is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He’s full of the Holy Spirit now and there is a whole list of gifts in 1 Corinthians, and one of them is a word of knowledge. A word of knowledge is where you get information that you couldn’t otherwise have had. The Holy Spirit drops it on you for a specific purpose and this is what, evidentially is happening here.
"As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died." Wow! "Everyone who heard about it was terrified." So let me ask you again, do you ever try to make yourself better than you are?
Then they carried out Sapphira his wife she was lying also. There is a higher degree of accountability going on. Do you know what’s happening here? God is stopping the ripple because the ripple could have destroyed the Church. Why is this such a big deal? Why is sin such a big deal? The ripple effect.
First of all, the ripple effect of sin short-circuits the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. That’s why it’s a big deal. It’s easy to wonder...what was God’s plans, or what could have been God’s plans to use Ananias and Sapphira? What could He have done through them? You don’t know, but you do know sin short-circuited it, whatever it was. Here’s what you can know. You do know God has plans to use you. Jeremiah 29:11 is not just for Israel, it’s for you.
God says, "I know the plans that I have for you. They’re good plans. They’re plans to prosper you and not harm you, to give you a hope and a future." That’s God’s plans for you. Ephesians, chapter 3, verse 20. It says that God is able to do abundantly more than you could ask or imagine.
You don’t have to impress God, so you don’t have to impress other people. You try to make yourself seem better than you are because you try to impress. Sometimes it’s competition. Sometimes you’re trying to "one up" one another.
"Then Peter said to Ananias, ’Why has Satan filled your heart?’" Just a little note here...God wants you to be filled with the Holy Spirit. You are going to be filled with something. Okay? It’s going to be the Holy Spirit or it’s going to be sin. In this case Ananias was filled with Satan, it says. Which I’m sure came as a surprise to him. He had no idea those were the stakes.
Peter says, "You lied to the Holy Spirit and you kept some of the money for yourself. The property was yours to sell or not to sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!" He takes it to a whole other level. Now how did Peter know this? Had somebody told him?
This is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He’s full of the Holy Spirit now and there is a whole list of gifts in 1 Corinthians, and one of them is a word of knowledge. A word of knowledge is where you get information that you couldn’t otherwise have had. The Holy Spirit drops it on you for a specific purpose and this is what, evidentially is happening here.
"As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died." Wow! "Everyone who heard about it was terrified." So let me ask you again, do you ever try to make yourself better than you are?
Then they carried out Sapphira his wife she was lying also. There is a higher degree of accountability going on. Do you know what’s happening here? God is stopping the ripple because the ripple could have destroyed the Church. Why is this such a big deal? Why is sin such a big deal? The ripple effect.
First of all, the ripple effect of sin short-circuits the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. That’s why it’s a big deal. It’s easy to wonder...what was God’s plans, or what could have been God’s plans to use Ananias and Sapphira? What could He have done through them? You don’t know, but you do know sin short-circuited it, whatever it was. Here’s what you can know. You do know God has plans to use you. Jeremiah 29:11 is not just for Israel, it’s for you.
God says, "I know the plans that I have for you. They’re good plans. They’re plans to prosper you and not harm you, to give you a hope and a future." That’s God’s plans for you. Ephesians, chapter 3, verse 20. It says that God is able to do abundantly more than you could ask or imagine.
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