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Continual Submission
WAIT!
The Dove
Continual Submission
January 21, 2010
“How is it that Satan has so filled your heart . . . ?” (Acts 5:3)
“Keep on being filled by the Spirit . . .” (Ephesians 5:18)
Had he lived to tell about it, Ananias probably would have said, “Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.” . . .
It was the year 33 A.D. Jerusalem was still in shock over recent events. The Prophet from Nazareth had come to the city to celebrate the Passover. One evening the officials of the temple had him arrested on suspicion of blasphemy. Concluding that he had committed a capital offense, they handed him over to Pilate, the governor of Judea, who eventually caved into pressure to have Jesus put to death. Shortly afterwards the Prophet’s disciples began to claim that he had been raised from the dead and that miracles were happening all over the place. As a result, many people became followers of what they called “the Way.”
Eager to learn how the Scriptures foretold the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah, the disciples of “the Way” met regularly to hear the teaching of the apostles, to pray, and to join together for meals. As they got to know their Lord and each other better, they rapidly matured in compassion and generosity. Many in the fellowship began to sell property and give the proceeds to the apostles to help meet the needs of believers.
Just as we have seen in recent weeks a great outpouring of generous compassion for the people of Haiti, so the early Christians got caught up in the spirit of giving. One couple, Ananias and Sapphira, sold property in order to make a donation to the fellowship. For whatever reasons, they misrepresented their gift by pretending to donate the entire amount, but keeping back a portion for themselves. The apostle Peter exposed the deception and put his finger on the spiritual dynamic: “Satan has filled your heart.”
Although we may feel—and even claim to be—“empty” or “used up,” with “nothing left to give,” the Bible shows us that such is not the case. We are either being “filled” by Satan or by the Holy Spirit. Although a satanic “infilling” is not necessarily “possession,” it certainly is influential. Through deception and appeals to self-interest, Satan tries to fill the minds of people with delusions of grandeur, waves of self-pity, or fear of being “left out.” Those who allow this infilling to take place find it hard to resist the thought that even something they know to be sin is somehow justifiable “in these circumstances.”
Ananias and Sapphira learned the hard way that, unless we continually submit to being filled by the Holy Spirit, even believers can conceive and carry out the worst kinds of sin.
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©2009 Meadowbrook Church