27th Mar 26 | 16:08
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01 Acts 05 01-11 THE FEAR OF GOD IN HIS CHURCH 17 Acts 05 07-10 Do not test God
📖 Acts 05:01-11
17 – 02Apr2023 – *Do not test God* - _Acts 05:01-11_ - THE FEAR OF GOD IN HIS CHURCH - Bible reading: _I Corinthians 10:09-11_
“Lord Jesus, help us remember that You are always with us and we can trust You and not test You. In Your name, we pray. Amen.”
_Acts 5:7-10 Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. (8) And Peter answered her, "Tell me whether you sold the land for so much?" She said, "Yes, for so much." (9) Then Peter said to her, "*How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord?* Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out." (10) Then immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying her out, buried her by her husband._
Peter judged Ananias and Sapphira for testing the Holy Spirit. How did this couple test the Holy Spirit? What does it mean to test God?
The testing of God that Ananias and Sapphira indulged in was *questioning the presence of God*. They decided that God was not present and therefore they indulged in the lie.
An incident of testing God took place during the journey of the Israelites in the desert. There was no water for this large contingent of people and their animals in the desert. We can imagine how desperate the situation might have been.
_Exodus 17:1-2 Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped in Rephidim; but *there was no water for the people to drink. (2) Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, "Give us water, that we may drink." So Moses said to them, "Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the LORD?*"_
The Israelites quarrelled with Moses, asking him to provide them with water. How would we have behaved had we been in that situation? I think we would have conducted ourselves in the same manner as the Israelites. Moses judged the people as testing the Lord.
How were the people testing God?
The people were testing God by behaving as though God was not present in the situation. It was God who had commanded them to go on the journey and to camp at Rephidim. God wanted them to know that He is with them to meet their needs but they were questioning the presence of God with them. _Exodus 17:7 So he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because *they tempted the LORD, saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?*"_
When we look at our lives against this understanding of testing God, we realise how often we are testing God. We question the presence of God. We test God repeatedly.
There is another perspective to testing God.
_Numbers 14:22-24 because all *these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice*, (23) they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it. (24) *But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it.*_
The Israelites had experienced all the miracles that God had done but yet when it came to crossing over and possessing the land, they tested God by questioning if God would be able to give them the land.
Ananias and Sapphira had initially decided to give the proceeds of the sale of the land to the Lord but after it was sold, a thought came into them to keep back a certain part for themselves and to give the rest, as though it was the entire sale amount. *They doubted if God would be able to look after their needs if they gave away the entire amount. They were testing God.*
Peter confronted them that they had tested the Holy Spirit. Aren’t we also often testing God in similar ways? Is it not necessary for us to confess before God for testing Him?
Ananias and Sapphira did what they did, assuming that God was not present. Thus, they tested God and since they did not confess and repent, they perished.
Apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthian church was warning them not to test God and he referred to the journey of the Israelites, reminding them of how the Israelites tested God. *_I Corinthians 10:9-11 nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; (10) nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. (11) Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come._*
Friends, we are at the end of the age and it is important for us to heed the warning not to test God.
```Will we heed the warning from the example of Ananias and Sapphira and ensure that we do not test God?```