July 25, 2020, Psalms 135, Acts 5

Psalms 135

Praise the Lord, 

Praise the name of the Lord;

praise him, you servants of the Lord, 

you who minister in the house of the 

Lord, 

in the courts of the house of our God. 

Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; 

sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant.

For the Lord has chosen Jacob to be his own, 

Israel to be his treasured possession. 

I know that the Lord is great, 

that our Lord is greater than all gods. 

The Lord does whatever pleases him, 

in the heavens and on the earth, 

in the seas and all their depths.

He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; 

he sends lighting with the rain

and brings out the wind from his storehouses. 

He struck down the first born of Egypt, 

the firstborn of people and animals. 

He sent his signs and wonders into

your midst, in Egypt, 

against Pharaoh and all his servants. 

He struck down many nations

and killed mighty kings--

Sihon King of the Amorites, 

Og King of Bashan,

and all the kings of Canaan-and he gave 

their land as an inheritance, 

an inheritance to his people Israel.

Your name, Lord, endures forever,

your renown, Lord, through all generations.

For the Lord will vindicate his people

and have compassion on his servants.

The idols of the nations are silver and gold, 

made by human hands, 

They have mouths, but cannot speak, 

eyes, but cannot see.

They have ears, but cannot hear,

nor is there breath in their mouths.

Those who made them will be like them, 

and so will all who trust in them.

All you Israelite's, praise the Lord;

house of Aaron, praise the Lord;

house of Levi, praise the Lord.

you who fear him, praise the Lord.

Praise be to the Lord from Zion, 

to him who dwells in Jerusalem. 

Praise the Lord. 

Still today some people have idols made from human hands. They have them in China, India, Middle east, and even in America. They represented to the people a God. But how can  you worship something that does not speak, hear, or have breath. 

Acts 5

Anaias and Sapphira

This passage is very popular

What do you think? 

One lie!

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 for 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 just to human beings but to God. 

(It seems to me that Peter is saying, the money is yours. Why have you allowed Satan to tell you to lie to us. Basically he could have just been honest. It reads as if Peter is saying the money was yours and it is not required that you have to give it all but you come here and lie about your intentions. Why? Its kind of strange.)

When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him. 

About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, "Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?

Yes, she said, "that is the price."

Peter said to her, "How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband  are at the door, and they will carry you out also.

(Do you think that God reveals to us when a person is lying? I say yes he does. I really believe lying is deceptive. It wants to hide its true motives. We know when someone is lying. Secondly we know truth when we hear it.)

At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events. 

NIV 

states that the couple was not sincere about their relationship with God. They were pretending. Its not so much lie but its what their intentions was, they wanted others to believe they were in it 100% just like the other believers. But honestly they were not. 

The moral of the passage could be thought of as;

In a fellowship donot try to trick others.

Do not seek to deceive people.

One lie might be destructive.

Sadly death was the penalty for this couple. 

Have a great day!