Acts 5:1--4 Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife's full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles' feet. Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God." --NIV In the name of the One Who knows all things, amen.
One can hardly speak about hypocrisy in the Church without mentioning Ananias and Sapphira. They are the arch-hypocrites, and they paid the ultimate price for their hypocrisy. In trying to look good to people, they lied to God. They stand as a warning to all of us, and we should all be very grateful that the Lord does not deal with each of us so swiftly and severely.
The Holy Spirit knows everything, and there is no way that we can get away with hypocrisy. We might fool people, but we won't fool Him. In His infinite mercy, God gives us the chance to repent. So, with that in mind there is no time like the present to repent, lest we suffer the same fate as Ananias and Sapphira. Amen.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, forgive us of all our hypocrisy, even the hypocrisy that we ourselves are unaware of. We ask this by Your mercy in Jesus our Savior, amen.
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