Acts Chapter Five and Faking Piety

We're all familiar with products which warn that misusing the contents may be harmful to our health. Is it not the same with spiritual matters? In the first-century church, God made an example of a lying couple and showed that the Holy Spirit is in fact part of the Godhead.

Acts 5:1 and 2 (BBE) introduces us to these scheming congregants. "But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, got money for his property, And kept back part of the price, his wife having knowledge of it, and took the rest and put it at the feet of the Apostles."

What was wrong with what they did? These two lied? Both said they gave all the money from the sale of the property to the church. We hear what Peter's answer was in Acts 5:3 and 4 (BBE). "But Peter said, 'Ananias, why has the Evil One put it into your heart to be false to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land? While you had it, was it not your property? and after you had given it in exchange, was it not still in your power? how has this purpose come into your mind? you have been false, not to men, but to God.'" So the Lord struck Ananias dead on the spot.

The same thing happened to Sapphira a few hours later. Those young men must have been tired after burying two church members in one day.

Fear came upon those church folks and outsiders alike at the news of that couple's demise. They all realized that trying to trick God to get praise from  people led to two deaths.

Though the Lord doesn't strike down phoney Christians now, it's still dangerous to people's spiritual health to fake piety. Christ warned his audience in Matthew 6:1 and 2 (BBE), "Take care not to do your good works before men, to be seen by them; or you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. When then you give money to the poor, do not make a noise about it, as the false-hearted men do in the Synagogues and in the streets, so that they may have glory from men. Truly, I say to you, They have their reward."

And if our Master doesn't return by Saturday, I hope to post about the temptation to sell out and join the crowd of takers in this world.

The More You Give, The More God Gives

Please understand, I know that this sounds like a wrong doctrine. After all, we aren't supposed to give so we can get. Even so, God will bless our sacrificial giving but in ways we could never dream of.

Proverbs 19:17 (BBE) reads, "He who has pity on the poor gives to the Lord, and the Lord will give him his reward."

We see the same principle in Luke 6:38 (BBE) which says, "Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, crushed down, full and running over, they will give to you. For in the same measure as you give, it will be given to you again."

Now some folks might think they'll get a lot of praise for drawing attention to how much they give. But Jesus warned in Matthew 6:1-4 (BBE) not to do that. "Take care not to do your good works before men, to be seen by them; or you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. When then you give money to the poor, do not make a noise about it, as the false-hearted men do in the Synagogues and in the streets, so that they may have glory from men. Truly, I say to you, They have their reward. But when you give money, let not your left hand see what your right hand does: So that your giving may be in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will give you your reward."

This is one reason I despise tithing. People become inordinately proud of their own accomplishment in giving ten percent of their income.

Such people should remember Ananias and Sapphira and how they tried to get praise for giving so much to the church. Peter said to them in Acts 5:3 and 4 (BBE), "But Peter said, 'Ananias, why has the Evil One put it into your heart to be false to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land? While you had it, was it not your property? and after you had given it in exchange, was it not still in your power? how has this purpose come into your mind? you have been false, not to men, but to God." In short, both he and his wife died that day.

Churches also gave money to other congregations, as we read in Romans 15:26 (BBE), "For it has been the good pleasure of those of Macedonia and Achaia to send a certain amount of money for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem."

So we note that giving to the Lord's work brings benefits even in this world. How wonderful that we can help our poor Christian siblings when we are blessed of God.

On Saturday, I hope to post about a day when we'll be with the Lord, never to be parted again.

Are God and Allah the Same Person?

This month, I want to deal with the subject of Islam. Certain people teach that we worship the same deity as the Muslims. They reason that since both religions claim Abraham as their father, it must mean we worship the same creator. This is obviously false.

If God and Allah were the same deity, the Bible and the Quran would agree with each other. After all, the Old Testament and the New Testament agree. Neither contradicts the other.

But the Quran gainsays Holy Scripture in many places. It denies the Trinity, the deity of Christ, and many other tenets of Christianity. And as I pointed out before, it calls Jews and Christians "apes" and "pigs."

Why would God suddenly change from being the heavenly Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to being a single entity? Did he forget or lie when he said in Malachi 3:6 (KJV), "For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed."

Jesus also said in Revelation 22:13 (KJV) that, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." How could he say that if he were a mere prophet as the Quran claims?

Furthermore, how could the Holy Spirit be a mere angel when Peter accused Ananias of lying to the Lord about the sale price of some land? Acts 5:3 and 4 (BBE) reads, "But Peter said, 'Ananias, why has the Evil One put it into your heart to be false to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land? While you had it, was it not your property? and after you had given it in exchange, was it not still in your power? how has this purpose come into your mind? you have been false, not to men, but to God.'"

This shows without doubt that God and Allah aren't the same entity. Just as two people can have the same name and yet be totally different, so we can see by these verses and other statements in Holy Scripture that the god of the Muslims is not God at all.

I'll be covering more of this topic in my upcoming book, You Think You're Going to Heaven? A god by any other name can't save people. Only the one who sent his son to die for the sins of sinful humanity can save us.

On Thursday, I'll post about the false claim that Muhammad was the prophet like unto Moses. Muslims think this is true but it obviously isn't.