“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.”
Acts 5:9 (NIV)
For those of us who doubt Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 11:30 that our Lord will judge His people by bringing sickness and death to us, we have been provided by the Holy Spirit with the account of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 and the letters to the churches at Pergamum and Thyatira found in Revelation 2.
None of us like fear, and fear is the enemy of faith.
Yet when it comes to an assembly of Christians, Acts 5 makes it very clear that the fear of the Lord is a church growth catalyst.
We could only dream that Parkdale would experience the growth described in Acts 5 after this act of judgment by the Lord.
God killed Ananias and Sapphira for lying to the Holy Spirit (church) about their gifts of money.
God tells His churches in Revelation 2 that He will bring sickness and death upon those who teach and lead His people into idolatry and sexual sin.
God brings sickness and death upon the Christians in Corinth for their refusal to discern the body of Christ during their observation of communion.
What kind of a God treats His people like this?
A God who saves us from ourselves, who is willing to step into lives, and do whatever it takes to save us and the Christians around us from our sinfulness.
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