³¹ “So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven—except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven. (Mat 12:31)

The Story of Ananias and Sapphira

¹ But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. ² He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest.

³ Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. ⁴ The property was yours to sell or not 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!”

⁵ As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified. ⁶ Then some young men got up, wrapped him in a sheet, and took him out and buried him.

⁷ About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸ Peter asked her, “Was this the price you and your husband received for your land?”

“Yes,” she replied, “that was the price.”

⁹ And Peter said, “How could the two of you even think of conspiring to test the Spirit of the Lord like this? The young men who buried your husband are just outside the door, and they will carry you out, too.”

¹⁰ Instantly, she fell to the floor and died. When the young men came in and saw that she was dead, they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹ Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened. (Acts 5:1-11)

Observation

As Christians, this passage can be very disconcerting.  Why would God, who is merciful and loving, strike these two people dead without even an opportunity to ask for forgiveness?  What was their sin?  Did they die because they didn’t give everything to God?  No, they died because they LIED to the Holy Spirit.  They knowingly conspired to lie.  It was not an accident.  “With his wife’s consent” leads us to believe that they had discussed this prior to taking the money to the Apostles.

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all spoke of the unpardonable sin in such a way that indicates they knew what it was.  They didn’t need to elaborate or explain; they just simply stated it as fact.  I believe Ananias and Sapphira knew exactly what they were doing and went ahead and gambled on their lives.  Their sin was in trying to take for themselves the glory that was due to the Holy Spirit.  This is blasphemy.

Application

How does this apply to our lives today?   Let’s say a coworker performed some heroic action and I took credit for it.  I did not specifically say anything negative or demeaning about  my coworker, and I continued to be her friend; but in taking credit for her actions, I got the glory for what she did.  What if that action led to a promotion?  Did I deserve that promotion?  No, the other nurse did.  I injured her good name and her future purposefully and knowingly.  This is a form of blasphemy.  This is what Ananias and Sapphira did to the Holy Spirit; they tried to take credit for themselves.

Blasphemy is still a sin, no matter who it is against.  To take credit for someone else’ work is punishable by law in most parts of the world.  It is a big deal.  I don’t believe you can do it without knowing it.  You can not take credit for something on accident.  In my example above, I either did or  didn’t perform a heroic act.  Peter’s question to Sapphira “was this the price of the land” is a yes or no question.  There is no wondering “did I just blaspheme the Holy Spirit?”  This is black or white; yes or no; there is no gray.  If you find yourself afraid of committing the unpardonable sin, then you haven’t done it.  You will know.

Prayer

Lord God, I don’t even pretend to know all about You.  You are so far above my thoughts.  But thank-you for speaking to me through Your word.  Thank-you for giving me the assurance that through Jesus I am assured of forgiveness for all the sins I am capable of doing.  If I should ever be tempted to blaspheme the Holy Spirit, I am confident that because You live in me, I will know exactly what is at stake.  I can never accidentally hurt You.    Help me to also overcome any temptation I my have to hurt those around me by taking credit for their actions.

¹ One day as Jesus was teaching the people and preaching the Good News in the Temple, the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders came up to him. ² They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right?”³ “Let me ask you a question first,” he replied. ⁴ “Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human?”

⁵ They talked it over among themselves. “If we say it was from heaven, he will ask why we didn’t believe John. ⁶ But if we say it was merely human, the people will stone us because they are convinced John was a prophet.” ⁷ So they finally replied that they didn’t know.

⁸ And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Observation

The people who asked Jesus this question did not do so out of an earnest desire to learn the truth.  They were trying to trip Him up.  They thought about the answer they were to give and how it would effect their ultimate motive.  Jesus knew they were not sincere seeker of truth.  He did not feel the need to expand upon His answer in any way or justify Himself at all.  He didn’t argue with them or try to make them understand His point of view.  He knew it would do no good at all.  He did not waste His time.

Application

Occasionally we meet people who are hostile towards our faith in God.  They ask questions; sometimes in the guise of truly wanting to know.  But they are just trying to trip us up.  They want us to say something that will make them feel better for not believing the way we do or give them ammunition to refute our beliefs.  They are not truth seekers, but journalists.  They want to pick out the parts of our words that justify their ends.  We should not feel compelled to answer these questions.  How do we know the intention of the person asking the questions?  God will let us know.  As we draw closer to Him, we can hear His voice and learn His emotions.  We will know if we should engage in a theological debate or not.  Sometimes a person may appear outwardly hostile, but they are really seeking the truth.  God can help us differentiate.

Prayer

Lord, teach me to know when to talk about my faith in You to other people.  I don’t want to miss any opportunities to share You with unbelievers, but I don’t want to cast pearls before swine either.  Jesus knew Your heart and He knew when to engage.  I want to know Your heart the way Jesus did.

Jeremiah 1,2
John 10

Too (fill-in-the-blank) for God’s service

Scripture

“O Sovereign Lord,” I said, ” I can’t speak for you!  I’m too young!”  The Lord replied, “Don’t say, ‘I’m too young,’ for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you.” Jeremiah 1:6-7

Observation

Jeremiah thought he was too young to be used by God.  There is always a weakness in our lives that we believe will hinder God from using us.  Too fat, too slow, too poor, too tired, too uneducated, too tied down, too (fill-in-the-blank).  There are many instances in the Bible where God uses people in spite of their percieved weaknesses.  Jesus said, “My grace is all you need.  My power works best in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Application

Whatever is in my life that is hindering me from submitting to be used by God, I need to realize that He is in control.  If He has called me to do something then He will make it happen.  Actually, it takes the stress out of it, because now it is out of my hands.  I can’t Lord, but You can.  How do I submit?  By daily seeking to know Christ more and more.  As I spend more time with Him, I will become more like Him and I will be able to hear His voice more clearly.

Prayer

Dear Jesus, help me to know and understand that even though I am weak, You are strong.  If there is something You want me to do that I am not doing, please reveal it to me.  Thank-you that your grace is all I need.

2 Kings 23
2 Chronicles 35
John 7

Godly parents, evil children

Scripture

“Never before had there been a king like Josiah, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and soul and strength, obeying all the laws of Moses. And there has never been a king like him since.” 2 Kings 23:25 “Jehoahaz [the son of Josiah, who succeeded him to the throne] did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, just as his ancestors had done.” 2 Kings 23:31-32

Observation

Josiah was such a great king. He completely and utterly got rid of every form of idolatry. He restored the passover. God promised him that because of his faithfulness, He would not destroy Judah until Josiah died. Why do great and Godly kings have children that are evil? Didn’t the Bible say to “direct your children onto the right path and when they are older they will not leave it”? Proverbs 22:6 It makes me wonder if the kings were actively involved in raising their children. Lots of very Godly people have rebellious children.

Application

It’s not enough to just be a Godly person. “Direct” or “train” or “raise” are action words. They require more than just a passive belief that because we love God, so will our children. We should not leave the teaching up to others either, although there is a place for that. It is our duty to God and our children to practice our faith, explain to our children what we are doing and why, and to live our lives to the best of our ability the way we want our children to live theirs (ie. practice what we preach). Thankfully, God is full of grace and will fill in where we make mistakes, but mistakes are only made when we are active.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, help me to actively train my children about you. Help me to take responsibility for their spiritual health while they are young. Help me to live my life in just the way I want my kids to live theirs. Thank-you for your grace. Thank-you for filling in the gap where I fail.

 Somehow, Paul and Silas praised God.  I don’t believe that God anesthetized their pain.  I believe they suffered through the pain and praised God until the pain became bearable.  That is the challenge we face: living the pain and suffering until it becomes bearable.  When praise is the LAST thing that comes naturally to us and we choose to worship Him anyway, we’ve just had the privilege of offering a genuine sacrifice of praise. 

The pain in my life over the past few years has been depression and anxiety.  God has taught me to praise Him even though that is the very last thing I’ve wanted to do.  I remember sitting on my front porch and telling God that I didn’t believe He could exist because there is no way He could be a loving God and allow me so much despair and anguish.  But, I reached beyond what I felt and did what I knew.  I thanked God for the day even when I couldn’t get out of bed to see it.  I thanked Him for my job even though the thought of going there caused every symptom of a heart attack.  I thanked Him for my children, even though I feared them.  I thanked Him for my husband who was about the only thing I really was thankful for.  I sang to God.  I danced before God.  I  smiled at the world.  In my peer review from work were things like “she is always so happy and brings peace to the department” “she is level headed and does not become overly excited at stressful situations” “she helps us to feel relaxed and happy”.  These all came during my deepest period of anxiety and depression!  When my husband had to drive me to work because I was afraid to drive, when I would spend my lunch hour hidden in an unused room crying, when each time I entered a patient’s room my heart would feel as if it were bursting through my chest.  This is not faking peace or happiness, this is grabbing a hold of what you can’t feel, but knowis there.  It is the evidence of things unseen.  It is FAITH that God is there and that He loves you.  The change in my life was not instantaneous.  God did not see a child struggling and drop a flash of joy down into my life.  Slowly I crawled out of my pit of hell and I can now FEEL God again.  But when I begin to notice the signs of depression or dispair or when my heart starts to pound and I feel like running away, I stop and immediately thank God for His goodness.  I KNOW that I will survive.  I may again decend into that deep dark pit of dispair, but even though I may not feel God’s presence, I will praise Him and know He is there.  I will continue to offer my sacrifice of praise to Him.