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