Vance Havner once preached about this story and said, “If the Lord treated churches today like he did the first church, every church would need a morgue in its basement.” Ouch!
Sapphira had a chance to come clean and live. The Apostle Peter asked her about the selling price of the land she and Ananias sold. Not knowing her husband had died, she perpetuated the lie he had told. Consequently, she also died. What was the cause of death? Truthfully, they lied themselves to death.
Does God still care about the truth? Yes, he does. We can trust God to tell us the truth. Can he trust us? Paul would later write to the believers in Ephesus, “Therefore, each of you must off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body” (Ephesians 4:25).
Why does God care if we tell a white lie? Why does it matter if we tell the truth? We are all part of one body. We show love when we tell each other the truth (Ephesians 4:15). Ultimately, truth is the currency of the church. If we devalue it with our words, we may devalue the gospel itself in the eyes of others. So when is the best time to stop lying? Now.
