The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1935-03-02
Sunday, March 3.
Acts 5:1-6, S:1S-24.

sunday, Marcn D.
Acts sis, S:1S-24.
Golden Text-Wherefore put
ting away lying, speak every mar
truth with his neighbour; for We
D.. are members one of another
Ephesians 4:25.
In Jerusalem when early bro
therhood was at its best Petel
unmasked the falsehood anc
hypocrisy of Ananias. In Sa
maria when the primitive perse
cution was at its worst Peter un'
masked the falsehood and n.y.
pocrisy of Simon the sorcerer.
HYPOCRISY IN
JERUSALEM (Acts s.
Ananias Falsely Sought Promln-
ence in Christian Philanthropy,
As the church at Jerusalem
sought to attain its ideal in com
munity of goods, one noble spirit
(Barrabas, later Paul's associate)
sold his land and put the money
. into the apostles hands for dis
tribution among the needy. Two
other members of the church
coveted the same honor without
being willing to make the same
sacrifice. But their hypocrisy
brought upon them swift and ter
rifle doom which filled the church
with fear. % The power Of
hypocrisy was exhibited in An
anias and Sapphire. They bore
good names: Ananias, an object
of Gods mercy; Sapphire, the
beautiful. They had made a
good profession and do doubt
were prominent members of the
church. They had good property
of their own and evidently were
thrifty residents of the city. They
sold certain piece of property,
which was all right, and they
kept part of the price, against
which nothing could be said pro-
vided the fact were known. How
ever, on presenting the price to
the church they claimed that they
were giving all the money receiv-
ed from the sale. They wanted
credit for giving all and yet they
wanted to reserve for themselves
a part of the price. They were,
therefore, guilty of vanity and
covetousness. (2) The penalty on
hypocrisy was exhibited in the
fate of Ananias. Though both
had agreed together as to what
they should do. the money was
brought to the apostles by Ana
MAS alone. Peters searching
questions, transfixing the culprit,
were like a thunderbolt out of
heaven upon the deceiver's head.
The apostle told the hypocrite
that he was inspired by satan to
practice the deception which was
as unnecessary as it was unjusti-
fable, and to lie not to men but
directly to God. Under the stroke
Ananias fell down and instantly
: expired. According to custom,
his body was at once carried out
and entombed. (3) The public
ity for hypocrisy was exhibited in
the effect of this terrific stroke.
1t thrilled with fear every heart
as far as the news could travel.
In particular, it filled the church
with solemn and holy awe.
Simon Falsely Sought the Pos
session OF Spiritual Power. For a
time after the death of Ananias
and Sapphira, the church at Jer-
usalem had great power and sue
cess. The second persecution
arose, the Apostles being beaten
by order Of the Sanhedrin. The
third persecution followed in "a
or 35 AID, Stephen being cruel
ly martyred and the church scat
tered, leaving only the apostles
in the capital. But new fields
opened, including Samaria, where
Philip and Peter and John en-
gagged in fruitful ministry.
The ministry of Peter and
John at the first was one of
prayer rather than preaching.
They were instrumental in con-
ferring upon Samaritan believers
the Holy Spirits miraculous pow
er, converting power having
been experienced already. At
this point was exposed the n.y.
pocrisy of Simon the sorcerer.
Note (D the affiliation of hy-
pocrisy. The sorcerer had long