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Men of the Bible

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Philip or a St Paul may preach in vain. But where, on the other hand, these are present, then God may use even the humblest and feeblest of His servants to speak some word, to utter some warning, which may be worth to us more than all we have in the world besides. God grant that it may be so with us, and that by the power of the Holy Ghost the word preached may be welcomed, "not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the word of God, which also worketh in you that believe" (1 Thess. ii. 13). ANANIAS AND SAPPHIRA BY REV. GEORGE MILLIGAN, M.A., D.D. One of the most striking features of the early Christian Church was what we have come to know as Christian Communism, or as the historian describes it in Acts iv, 32: "_And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and soul: and not one of them said that aught of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common_." It is a bright and a pleasing picture that is thus presented. Nor is it difficult to understand how such a spirit should arise amongst men whose hearts were full to overflowing with the new Christian graces of brotherhood and peace. For we must not imagine that there was anything compulsory about this communism. It was entirely voluntary, and was due to the eager desire on the part of the wealthier members of the Church to do all that they could for their poorer brethren. In this particular alone, we can at once see how widely it differed from what is generally known as communism or socialism in the present day. The spirit of much at any rate of our present-day socialism--so the distinction has been cleverly drawn--is, "What is thine, is mine": but the spirit of those early believers was rather, "What is mine, is thine." At the same time, we can readily understand that in a large and mixed community like the early Church, all members would not think exactly alike, and that while many, we may believe most, would cheerfully obey this unwritten law of love, and share and share alike, others would give in to it--if they did give in, for, let me again emphasise, there was no compulsion upon any--more grudgingly and hesitatingly. Of these two classes the writer of the Book of Acts presents us with individual examples--of the former class, in the case of Joseph, or Barnabas, a wealthy Cypriot, who "_having a field, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet_" (Acts iv. 37)--of the latter, in the case of Ananias with Sapphira his wife, whose melancholy story is now before us. That story is very familiar, and is often regarded simply as an instance of the sinfulness of lying. And that undoubtedly it is; but it warns us also against other equally dangerous and insidious errors, as a little consideration will, I think, show. For what were Ananias's motives in acting as he did? If we can discover them, we shall have the key to the whole story. And here, it seems to me, they must, in the first instance at any rate, have been of a sufficiently _generous_ character. Ananias had seen what was going on around him, and he had determined that he must not be behindhand in this ministry of love. But--and now we get a little deeper into his character--_ambition_ to stand well with his fellow-members evidently mingled with the pure spirit of charity: though we do not need to suppose that there was as yet any conscious intention to deceive. Acting, then, on these somewhat mixed motives of charity and ambition, Ananias determined to sell a possession, some farm or other which he had, and hand over the money to the apostles. He probably meant at first to hand over the whole price, but with the money in his hand, the demon of avarice entered into his heart. And he "_kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, did it not remain thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thy power? How is it that thou hast conceived this thing in thy heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God_" (Acts v. 2-4). The sin of Ananias, then, lay in this, that he gave a certain sum _as if it were the whole_. There was no necessity for his giving either the whole or the part. Had he hung back, when others were selling their possessions, he would have been pronounced _ungenerous_ in comparison with them. Had he brought a part, making no mistake about it that it was only a part, when they were giving all, then he would have been not _so generous_. But when he brought a part as if it were the whole, he added to his former selfishness and avarice _deceit and hypocrisy_. If he did not in so many words tell a lie, he did what was equally heinous, he _acted_ a lie. It is only when we thus clearly realise the enormity of Ananias's sin, that we can understand the reason of the dreadful doom that followed. "_And Ananias, hearing these words, fell down, and gave up the ghost_" (ver. 5). The judgment came not from men, but from God. As it was in God's sight--the sight of the living and heart-searching God--that the sin had been committed: so it was by the direct "visitation of God" that it was now punished. Nor was the awful lesson yet over. Three hours had scarcely elapsed since the young men had carried forth her husband, and buried him, when Sapphira, "_not knowing what was done, came in_." "_And Peter answered unto her_"--answered her look of amazement as she regarded the awe-struck faces of those present--"_Tell me, whether ye sold the land for so much_?" "_Yea, for so much_," she replied, adhering to the unholy compact into which, with Ananias, she had entered, and adding deceit in speech to his deceit in act. "_But Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and they shall carry thee out_" (verses 8, 9). It was the first intimation the unhappy woman had received of Ananias's death: and to the shame of her own consciousness of guilt, must have been added the feeling that she had a certain responsibility in what had befallen him. A word of remonstrance on her part might, at the

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