Scripture Reading: Acts 5:1-11
The book of Acts chronicles a crucial transitional kairos moment in time, during which a new revolutionary dispensation had just begun in not only the history of Israel, but also the history of the world. This was an apostolic time. What do I mean by that? It was the time wherein God established His apostolic government and authority on the Earth as it was in Heaven. It was shortly after the time when Jesus explained to His disciples that He must go away, so that Holy Spirit may be SENT, enduing THEM with the necessary apostolic authority to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on the Earth in a revolutionary way that had never occurred before. It was the time when the set apostles of the Lord were commissioned to establish Kingdom authority, power and order in the Earth for the purpose of reconciling the nations BACK to His original intent of Creation. It was the time for Christ’s apostles to lead a chosen and set apart people in their return to the Garden of Eden, but this return would only come through the tremendous manifestation of true Kingdom authority through truly SENT and EMPOWERED apostles of Christ, THE newly crowned KING of this Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.
In the same way, we NOW find ourselves in such an apostolic time. Yes! We now find ourselves on the brink of another apostolic revolution. For we have truly stepped into a NEW apostolic dispensation, wherein Christ, our KING is restructuring and reestablishing an even GREATER measure of apostolic authority than originally chronicled in the book of Acts, and He is doing this through the establishment of His apostolic government in the Earth.
Therefore, Christ has come to warn us not to repeat the failures of our rich Kingdom history. He has come to reveal THIS sin unto death committed by Ananias and Sapphira. For truly, just as Christ did not first come to condemn the world, but to save it; He also has come NOW, NOT to pronounce death, but to pronounce a warning that leads to LIFE. He warns us, because He loves us. He warns us, because He does NOT desire ANY to perish. He does NOT desire ANY to repeat THIS sin unto death, because in THIS dispensation, such a sin will again reap the wages of death.
Yet, Christ comes to warn us, so that we may choose LIFE instead of death. He comes to warn us, so that we may RETURN to full communion with Him as demonstrated in the Garden of Eden through the partaking of the Tree of Life, rather than suffering the consequences of death through the partaking of the sin unto death represented by the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Then what exactly was Ananias’ and Sapphira’s sin unto death? First, let us take note that this particular passage chronicling Ananias’ and Sapphira’s sin unto death and consequential judgement by God is located in Acts chapter five. The number five prophetically represents grace. At first, this appears to be an oxymoron! How is it that God executed such swift judgement unto death in the midst of not only a dispensation of grace, but even within the fifth chapter (representing grace) of the Biblical book that chronicles the initial history of THIS dispensation of GRACE? Although this truly does appear to be an oxymoron, it actually REVEALS the very nature of Ananias’ and Sapphira’s sin unto death, which was caused by their failure to perceive and honor the apostolic grace bestowed by Christ Himself upon, within and through this first apostolic community. Though their failure to perceive and honor the apostolic grace before them led to their sin unto death, this was not the actual sin unto death itself.
Rather, Ananias’ and Sapphira’s sin unto death was this: They broke the apostolically God breathed covenant of Christ that He had established within that unique apostolic community.
Therefore, Ananias and Sapphira not only failed to perceive and honor the apostolic grace upon this community, but they also failed to perceive and honor the covenant of the Lord established within that community. You see, Ananias’ and Sapphira’s sin unto death wasn’t merely the fact that Ananias and Sapphira withheld a portion of their resources from their “free will” offering. Neither was their sin unto death merely the fact that they lied to the apostles, which we know based upon this Scripture was equivalated to lying to God, Himself. Rather, Ananias’ and Sapphira’s sin unto death was hidden within the very nature of their lie. We may be tempted to say, “Well, a lie is a lie, cause there’s no such thing as a ‘white lie’. In one sense, this is true, but in another sense, this is not true. Otherwise, we would have all died, cause we’ve all lied at some point in our lives.
Therefore, it is important to understand the unique nature of Ananias’ and Sapphira’s lie in order to understand the unique nature of their sin unto death. For only then will we be able to heed Christ’s warning to “Beware of THIS sin unto death.” So, let me expound upon the Light of this revelation.
Christ, God wrapped in flesh, came and gave all even unto death on the cross. Why did He do this? He did this for one primary purpose, which was to reconcile us back to God due to the covenant that we had broken through our sin and rebellion against Him. Christ gave all so that we could partake in the covenant of ahava (love) and communion with God, which was the very purpose for which He created us. Christ gave all so that He could establish His Heavenly Kingdom on the Earth and we could be restored to the community and oneness with God and one another that Adam had in the very beginning in the Garden of Eden. Christ gave all! Then He explained that He must go away, so that the Comforter may come. The Comforter! Who is this Comforter? He is Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God Himself, who also came to wrap Himself in flesh (through His indwelling of the sons of God) that He may give all through the establishment and demonstration of this same Covenant of Ahava within and through an apostolic community following after the pattern of Christ, the Son of the Living God. The Comforter came to raise up sons of God who would give all by laying down their lives for Christ and one another even unto death, just like the pattern of Christ, Himself. By accomplishing THIS assignment, the Comforter would bring COMFORT to the world through the demonstration of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ through the revealing of the true sons of God, who follow after the pattern of Christ Himself.
Truly, THIS was the apostolic grace bestowed upon that first apostolic community of which we read in the book of Acts. Truly, THIS was the apostolic grace that Ananias and Sapphira failed to perceive and honor leading to their sin unto death. Yet again, it was NOT their withholding of resources that was rightfully theirs to begin with. Even the apostles noted this as recorded in the Biblical text.
Rather, Ananias’ and Sapphira’s sin unto death was that they presumptively (“to undertake with unwarranted boldness”) and deceptively (“to mislead by a false appearance or statement”) portrayed themselves as partakers in an apostolic grace and God breathed covenant that they truly had not partaken of within their hearts before and as unto Christ Himself.
So, we must heed the warning of Christ to beware of THIS sin unto death. For truly, such an apostolic kairos time and dispensation is upon us once again; truly such an apostolic government is being established once again by Christ Himself through apostolic communities throughout the nations of the world; and truly, such an apostolic God breathed covenant of Christ is being established amidst those communities through which some will be compelled and choose to give all by laying down their lives for Christ and one another even unto death, just like the pattern of Christ Himself. Therefore, we must not fail to perceive and honor this apostolic grace; and we must not fail to perceive and honor this covenant of Christ by presumptively and deceptively portraying ourselves as partakers in this apostolic grace and God breathed covenant, if in fact we have not truly partaken of it within our hearts before and as unto Christ Himself. Why? Because by doing so, we would have partaken of the very sin unto death committed by Ananias and Sapphira, which truly will be judged by Christ due to the apostolic dispensation and grace that He is now establishing amongst His set apart apostolic communities. Therefore, let us choose life by heeding His warning to beware of THIS sin unto death.
Respectfully Submitted,
Minister Christine Lombard
(One whose heart has been seared with the revelation of God breathed covenant)
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