Sudden Death in the Church

In the fifth chapter of Acts we read about two people who discovered that churchgoing was exciting beyond their wildest imagination. Who were these people? Ananias and Sapphira, members of the early Christian church. One day during the very act of worship Ananias and Sapphira experienced SDS–sudden death syndrome. That was the day Ananias and Sapphira discovered that it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

The Persecuted Church

In the fourth chapter of Acts we read that the church had been persecuted by the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council, because the apostles healed a crippled man in the name of Jesus Christ and by his power. In response to this persecution members of the church prayed and were filled with the Holy Spirit. The apostles began to witness again with great power and boldness about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and great grace rested upon the whole church. Filled with a spirit of great unity and love, those who were rich sold their possessions and gave to those who had need. Jesus had told his disciples in John 13:34-35, “A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By these all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” This text tells us there were no poor people in the church because it was practicing what Jesus taught.

This passage gives us an example of how the church should deal with persecution from without. Like these early disciples, we should be filled with the Spirit, walk in the unity of the Spirit, practice love, and declare the gospel with great power. When we do these things, we can be confident that the great grace and favor of God will be upon us.

Why did the rich people sell their possessions and give to the poor? No doubt they were led by the Spirit in love to help their poor brothers. But perhaps they were also reminded by the Holy Spirit that Jesus Christ himself had predicted the soon destruction of Jerusalem, and so they decided to liquidate their holdings and give the money to the church. Whatever the reason, we see people here filled with the Spirit and with love for each other selling what they had and giving to the poor among them.

In this context of love, unity and concern for one another, there was one other factor we must mention: Satan was also at work in the church. Satan hates it when the members of a church are united, filled with the Spirit, and practicing love and community among themselves, and he will do everything to oppose such a church. Here in the early church he tried to destroy its unity from within by tempting two members of the church, Ananias and Sapphira, to practice deceit.

We want to study three points from this passage: Deception practiced, deception exposed and deception punished. God is interested in a holy church and he will deal with those who are not practicing holiness.

Deception Practiced

Who were Ananias and Sapphira, these people who were tempted by Satan? Ananias means “The Lord is gracious,” and Sapphira means “beautiful.” These people were believers in Jesus Christ and I believe they were Spirit-filled. They were one with the church until they gave place to the devil. As those who loved money and the praise of men, they took notice of how other rich believers were praised for selling their properties, bringing the proceeds, and placing them at the apostles’ feet, and they decided they wanted to receive such acclaim also.

Ananias and Sapphira were affected by the generous giving of those around them. Let me say something about such giving: It is a grace from God. We read about this in 2 Corinthians 8, especially in verse 7, where Paul writes to the Corinthian church “see that you also excel in this grace of giving.” I have seen this grace of giving demonstrated many times in our own church. In fact, the other day a young couple brought a check written out to the church for a large amount of money . As we often do, we refused to accept it and told them to go home and seek the Lord as to whether they should give that money. They went home, prayed, and came back, saying, “We are united together in giving this to the Lord.” Only then did we receive the money.

In 2 Corinthians 9:7 Paul writes, “God loves a cheerful giver.” Joyful giving is a grace, and some people do not have that grace. In fact, many people treat the church as a welfare system and come only to receive. But we should have the same attitude as the poor widow who, though she was desperately poor, gave her two mites, all she had to live on. Why do you think she did that? Because she loved and believed in a God who gives us all that we need.

We must also recognize that there was no requirement in the early church for people to sell their houses and lands and give the money to the church. The Bible speaks about private property and that is why God gave commandments, such as “You shall not steal” and “You shall not covet” to deal with it. There is no problem with owning property, but if we want to give, we can give freely as we are directed by the Spirit of the living God.

The Essenes, who lived at that time in Qumran on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, were required by their group’s discipline to surrender all their properties to the community. But the members of this first Christian church gave freely and voluntarily out of love for God as they were led by the Holy Spirit. As Sapphira and Ananias observed how such people were publicly commended by the church, they desired to give also.

The Influence of Satan

Ananias and Sapphira, then, were not under any compulsion to give to the church, but Satan tempted them to sell some property and to give only a part under the pretense that they were giving all so that they could receive public recognition from the church. Brothers and sisters, a Christian believer is to be very aware of the reality of the governing presence of the Holy Spirit in the church as well as the beguiling influence of Satan, who prowls around like a roaring lion. We don’t come to church merely to see one another or to hear the preacher. Whether we are worshiping in the church or living in the world, we ought to be aware of these realities–there is the invisible, eternal God and there is Satan, a creature whose singular aim is to deceive us, corrupt us, and lead us astray. If we are led by the Spirit of God, we will be aware of these realities, resist Satan, and will live our lives to please the Spirit of the living God.

Who is Satan? In the Bible he is described as the prince of demons who, in turn, are fallen angels who do Satan’s bidding. Satan has children, as we read in 1 John 3:10, where it says every unbeliever is a child of the devil. Satan has a kingdom and in several places in the Scriptures he is described as the prince of this world, the god of this world, and the ruler of the kingdom of the air. Satan is also described by the apostle Paul as the serpent of Genesis 3 who beguiled Eve and now seeks to deceive the whole world.

Let me ask you: Do you ever think about Satan? Have you ever thought about demons? Or are you simply living a careless life, not thinking about the reality of either Satan or the Spirit of the living God? If you do not think about these things, you are walking about carelessly, and you are in danger of emulating Ananias and Sapphira.

Decision to Deceive

What is Satan’s chief aim? To deceive and lead astray the church, if possible. The church, therefore, must be filled with the Holy Spirit, led by the Holy Spirit, and ruled by the Holy Spirit in accordance with God’s holy truth. She should not be ignorant of Satan’s devices nor give opportunity for the devil through sin. The church is to put on the whole armor of God and submit to God so that she can resist the devil.

Ananias was a believer but he was double-minded; thus, he united with his wife in a plan to deceive the apostles. Why? Ananias loved money and human praise more than God’s approval and eternal glory.

We must realize that Ananias and Sapphira did not need to give in to Satan’s temptation. Every Christian has the freedom to resist the devil, which is known in theology as posse non peccare–to be able not to sin. The Lord Jesus Christ delivered us from slavery to sin, Satan, and death by giving his life as a ransom for us. As Christians, we are no longer slaves to sin, and sin has no dominion over us.

Ananias and Sapphira, therefore, had the freedom to resist the devil and submit to God, but they chose to sin. They consulted together and agreed to steal from the proceeds of the sale of their property and give only a small part to the church while pretending to give all. In public they wanted to be known as saying, “I surrender all, I surrender all,” but in reality they were surrendering very, very little.

The Problems of Practicing Deception

What were Ananias and Sapphira doing? Pilfering from what belonged to God. They said they were offering all the proceeds of their property to God but they really only gave part. In the Greek the word for pilfer is nosphizomai, which is also used in Titus 2:10 where Paul instructs believing slaves not to steal from their masters. This word is also used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, in Joshua 7:1 to describe Achan’s actions in pilfering from that which belonged to God. We find the same idea in John 12:6 when John says it was the habit of Judas to steal from that which belonged to God.

Ananias and Sapphira were also hypocrites skilled in keeping up with appearances. What was their motto? “Always appear good in public.” Like actors, they appeared very spiritual in the church but their lives were different at home.

What was the problem with this sin of Ananias and Sapphira? By yielding to Satan, they were destroying the unity and holiness of the church. As we already said, at this time the church was enjoying great unity, and God’s great power and favor was resting upon it. But through Ananias and Sapphira Satan was working from within to destroy that unity and mar the holiness of God’s church.

We see a similar situation in the story of Achan as found in the seventh chapter of Joshua. The great power of God had been manifested in the Israelites by the destruction of Jericho and the people enjoyed great unity and holiness. But then a man named Achan committed a serious sin which resulted in tremendous problems for all the people of God.

Like Ananias and Sapphira, Achan loved money. Now Joshua gave clear instructions concerning the plunder from Jericho: “All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury” (Josh. 6:19). Everyone, therefore, knew these items were devoted to the Lord. But in Joshua 7:1 we read, “But the Israelites acted unfaithfully in regard to the devoted things; Achan. . . took some of them,” and in verses 20-21 Achan confessed his sin: “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.” What was Achan doing? Like Ananias and Sapphira, he was practicing deception to cover his sinful greed. But why do you think he hid the plunder? He was keeping up with appearances! But there were serious consequences to Achan’s deceptive actions. Thirty-six Israelite soldiers died in battle against the city of Ai and eventually Achan and his family were destroyed.

Ananias’ Problem

Like Achan, Ananias and Sapphira became tools through which Satan hoped to destroy the unity and holiness of the church, and they did so one day during the worship service. Just picture the scene: Representing himself and his wife, the gracious Ananias entered the church as everyone was watching. How pious and spiritual he appeared! He placed a bag of money at the apostles’ feet and stepped back, waiting for the recognition and applause.

This time, however, there was a problem. There was no applause or recognition of Ananias’ gift. In fact, as Ananias stood there, there was only silence. Rather than being pleased, the apostle Peter himself seemed angry with Ananias. “I wonder what is wrong?” Ananias probably said to himself.

Do you know what was wrong? By pretending to give all when he was only giving a part, Ananias was robbing God. In Malachi 3:6-9 we read something about what happens when God’s people rob him. “‘I the Lord do not change,'” God said. “‘So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty. But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’ ‘Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, “How do we rob you?” In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse–the whole nation of you–because you are robbing me.'”

Ananias stood before Peter in great silence. There was no applause, no recognition of his generous donation. Ananias had a problem.

The Church of the Living God

What was Ananias’ problem? He did not realize the true nature of the church. The church of Jesus Christ is not just a human society. It is the temple of God in which dwells the Spirit of the living God. In other words, Ananias did not recognize that he was standing before God.

In Ephesians 2:21-22 we read about the church: “In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” And in Hebrews 12:22-24 we read this description of God’s church: “But you have come to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”

When we come to church, we are not merely coming to men. Ananias was coming to the living God, the judge of all men. How dare he pretend to be a Christian and carry on deception at the same time before the living God!

The church is the dwelling place of the invisible, eternal, almighty, all-holy, all-seeing God, and we who come are exposed before him. The church is the church of the living God, the Lord Jesus Christ, whose eyes are like flaming fire as he walks in the midst of his people.

We cannot deceive the Lord of the church. In Hebrews 4:12-13 we read, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him before whom we must give an account.” The church is also under the headship of the Lord Jesus Christ who gives gifts of his ministers. Peter was filled with the gifts of the Spirit, especially the gift of the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge and the discerning of spirits, which he practiced as Ananias brought the offering to him.

Did Ananias have this understanding of God and his church? No. Ananias’ actions demonstrate that he had no understanding of these things.

Nothing Is Hidden from God’s Sight

Throughout the Scriptures we read that we cannot hide anything from God. In Psalm 139:1-2 David writes, “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.” He concludes the psalm, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (vv. 23-24). In Psalm 51:6 David says, “You desire truth in the inward parts,” meaning God can see our hearts and is more interested in them than in our keeping up with outward appearances. We see this again in 1 Samuel 16:7 where God told Samuel, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Whenever we examine ourselves, we may come away having a very high opinion of ourselves. But the question is not whether I am pleased with myself but whether God is pleased with me as he examines my heart, my thoughts, my imaginations, my intentions, and my attitudes. God alone can look through all the externalities into the depths of our being, which he did with Ananias, and through the charismatic ministry of Peter, Ananias’ sin was exposed.

Deception Exposed

Peter broke his silence and spoke to Ananias. “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit. . .? You have not lied to men but to God” (Acts 5:3-4). Ananias had thought he was only lying to men, but in reality he was trying to deceive God. Have you ever thought about that? Have you ever thought that lying to a pastor or an elder or a father or a mother may be lying to God?

Ananias and Sapphira had determined to deceive God. Husbands and wives should unite to love God but here Ananias and Sapphira agreed to deceive him. This was a terrible unity or symphony, from the Greek word symphōneō. In Matthew 18 that word is used for agreement in prayer. Now, when we come to God in prayer it is wonderful to agree with one another, but we should never agree to sin. Whenever a husband and wife unite to sin, that unity is a curse. If you are a wife, I would say to you, “Never unite with your husband to sin. Run from that person and go to the church and say, “You know, my husband is asking me to sin. Come and pray and help us.” I give that advice to husbands as well.

Peter asked Ananias why he lied to the Holy Spirit. This is a serious offense. The Bible warns us about doing certain things against the Holy Spirit. First, we are not to lie to the Holy Spirit. Second, we must not provoke the Holy Spirit. Third, we must not grieve the Holy Spirit. Fourth, we must not blaspheme against the Holy Spirit. Fifth, we must not despise the Holy Spirit. Sixth, we must not quench the Holy Spirit. Instead of these things, we are exhorted to be filled with the Holy Spirit, led by the Holy Spirit, and walk in the Holy Spirit.

Through the words of Peter the living God penetrated the hearts of Ananias and Sapphira and exposed them, stripping them and laying bare their innermost thoughts and intentions which they had guarded so diligently. Why did this happen to them? Because they had refused to be filled with the Spirit, led by the Spirit, and to walk by the Spirit. They had chosen to lie to the Holy Spirit, provoke him, and grieve him. They had chosen to insult and quench the Spirit of the living God and of grace.

What was God telling Ananias and Sapphira through all of this? “Ananias and Sapphira, Grace and Beautiful, your giving is a sham. You are phonies, hypocrites, and white-washed sepulchers. You are acting in a way that is detrimental to the life and unity of the whole church. Ananias and Sapphira, you are not Grace and Beautiful. You are both ugly materialists who love the praise of men more than the praise of God. But all your game-playing, play-acting, sham generosity, and hypocrisy is over. God, who is long-suffering, is also one who acts quickly, and he will do so without even giving you time to repent.”

Ananias and Sapphira were publicly exposed and found guilty of great sacrilege. They were like members of the church of Laodicea who said they were rich, had acquired wealth and needed nothing. But the one whose eyes are like flaming fire came up with a different analysis of that church. First, he said, “But you do not realize. . .” meaning they did not even know their true condition. What was it? “But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked” (Rev. 3:17).

God Disciplines His Church

What was God’s response to the deception of Ananias and Sapphira? He meted out punishment. This is discipline, and let me point out here that God only disciplines his true church. Many people may join together and call themselves a church but that doesn’t make their church a true church. But if a church is God’s church, he will discipline it to keep it pure in doctrine and life.

Very few churches today exercise discipline but that does not mean God is not disciplining his church. He is. He disciplines the church all the time because he will not tolerate evil in his holy church. In fact, in 1 Peter 4:17 we read that the judgment of God must first begin in the family of God before it goes out into the world to deal with unbelievers.

We find several examples of God’s disciplinary actions in the Bible. In Leviticus 10:1 we read, “Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to his command.” Nadab and Abihu were worshiping contrary to God’s command, but I am sure they were saying to themselves, “It’s okay. We can worship God in our own way, however we want, and we know he will be glad.” But notice verse 2: “So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them.” This was sudden death syndrome, punishment meted out instantly without any opportunity to repent. Why? God is long-suffering but he is also short-suffering. We must understand that.

Whatever happened to Achan? In Joshua 7:24 we read, “Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold wedge, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor.” Notice, we do not see Achan’s wife listed here. Perhaps she told Achan, “No deal. I am not going to agree with you,” and left. Like the sons of Korah, she did not want to share in another’s sin. But in verse 25 Joshua asked Achan, “‘Why have you brought this trouble on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today.’ Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them. Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks which remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from his fierce anger.” Again, sudden death syndrome. God’s punishment was meted out.

In 2 Samuel 6 we read about the bringing of the ark to Jerusalem. In verse 6-7 we read, “When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God because the oxen stumbled. The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God.” Again, this was sudden death syndrome, the short-suffering of God. Uzzah was finished and done with, with no room for repentance.

Deception Punished

God also disciplined Ananias and Sapphira for their deception. After bringing in his money, putting it at the apostles’ feet and being rebuked by Peter, Ananias experienced something else. In Acts 5:5 we read, “When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died.” What was happening? Did Peter strike down Ananias? No. God did it.

After three hours Sapphira came in, not knowing that her husband had just died and been buried. She entered the church with her heart filled with Satan and a determination to lie to the apostles. When Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?” she gave her planned answer, “Yes, that is the price” (Acts 5:7-8).

Peter rebuked Sapphira and in verse 10 we read, “At that moment she fell down at his feet and died.” In fact, the Greek text says she fell down suddenly and died–parachrēma. This was another example of sudden death syndrome, a demonstration of the short-suffering of God in which there is no room for repentance.

God’s discipline of Ananias and Sapphira was a word of warning to his church. What was God telling the church? “Be holy because I am holy.”

God takes the issue of holiness in the church seriously. In 1 Corinthians 5 we read of a man who was committing immorality and I believe he, like Ananias and Sapphira, was a believer. But in verses 4-5 Paul writes, “When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan, so that his flesh may be destroyed and his spirit saved in the day of the Lord.” Notice, it is not the power of Peter or Paul or anyone else. It is the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, the head of the church, who will not tolerate any unholy tumor in the body of Christ.

Perhaps you are thinking that these things happened in the first century church but God will not do them today. But in 1 Corinthians 11:30-32 we read, “That is why so many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.”

Have you ever experienced weakness? Have you ever lacked the strength to do your daily tasks and dragged yourself through each day, taking pills all day long just to get through? Some people are weak for other reasons but this is speaking about those who are weak because they are being judged by God. So Paul writes, “Many . . . are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.” That phrase “fallen asleep” tells us Paul is speaking about believers. Paul continues, “But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.” In other words, if you are being disciplined in this way by God, you can go to heaven but you must first undergo this severe discipline of God. Why? God will not tolerate evil leaven in his church.

Jesus himself said to excommunicate an unrepentant brother (Matthew 18). A time comes when there is no more room for repentance, and sudden destruction shall come upon a person without remedy.

We Must See God

Are you naturally arrogant and argumentative? Do you claim to know more than the pastors or your father and mother or everyone else? Are you characterized by pride, not humility? If so, you haven’t seen God yet. That was the problem of Ananias and Sapphira. But their deception was exposed and punished publicly by the infinite, eternal God. What was the effect of it all? Great fear came upon the whole church.

When God came down on Mount Sinai, the people were filled with fear. Quaking in terror, they pleaded with Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die” (Ex. 20:20). But Moses told them that God came to them in this fashion so that the fear of God would be with them to keep them from sinning.

Why do we sin? We do not really fear God. The true fear of God is not some purposeless shaking and trembling. True fear of God is a potent, powerful fear that will keep us from sinning.

What was the result of this fear in the early church? Unity was restored. The early church had been characterized by unity, but Ananias and Sapphira introduced disunity. God disciplined Ananias and Sapphira, and the church was again in one accord (Acts 5:12). There was honesty, purity, holiness, and great fear of God instilled in the hearts of the people after they watched God’s judgment of Ananias and Sapphira.

No doubt some people were surprised by God’s swift dealings with this couple. Do you think the Christian God will do this kind of thing? Yes. The late Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said that people often come to church to receive some sweet syrup so they can feel good. But we must change our view of God to align with that which is revealed in the Scripture. When we see God as he is, we will fear him.

Hebrews 12:29 tells us to worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, “for our God is a consuming fire.” And Hebrews 10:31 says, “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” This is why we need to demonstrate great fear.

May God Have Mercy on Us

Great fear came upon the church. Have you ever considered that when you come into church you are coming into the very presence of God whose eyes are like flaming fire? Oh, how we cover up our thoughts, our intentions, our imaginations, our lusts, our sin, and our guilt when we come to church, thinking we can fool the pastor, the elders, our parents and everyone else. But this God can strip you naked, expose you, and cut deep into the recesses of your heart.

We sin because we do not fear God. We have sanitized God and made him to be like us. We think of God as being always nice, always kind, and always doing what we think he should do. But let me assure you, the true God who sees all things is still gracious to us. Why do I say that? Because we are sinners but we are not dead yet. As we said before, churchgoing can be exciting, as it was for Ananias and Sapphira, but I am not interested in that type of excitement. I personally am interested in obtaining God’s mercy for myself as well as for you.

May God have mercy on us all! If you never trusted in Jesus Christ, may you even now trust in him who alone can save you from your sins. And if we have practiced any deceit or pretension, may God forgive our deception, our lies, our pretension, our game-playing, our keeping up with appearances, our stubbornness, and our refusal to pay heed to the many rebukes he has already given us. May we realize and appreciate that, although God can be short-suffering, in our case he has been long-suffering and is still giving us time to repent. May we receive his rebuke as grace to us, and may we repent of our sins and change. May God forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, that we may begin to walk before him in honesty, integrity, holiness, thanksgiving, humility, and in the fear of God that will keep us from sinning. Then our Christian lives will be exciting, not with the excitement of sudden death syndrome, but with the excitement of following our Lord Jesus Christ in the paths of righteousness, peace, hope, and life. Amen.