In our study of Acts 5 a couple of weeks ago we saw the first internal threat to the early church in the sin of Ananias and Sapphira, who lied even to the Holy Spirit in their effort to gain prestige within the church under false pretenses. God judged their sin very quickly and the church was purified as all who heard of their deaths became fearful. Sin is serious.

A couple of weeks ago I pointed out that much of American Christianity has fallen into the trap of the belief that underlies the message of the health, wealth & prosperity preachers. Those preachers push this idea into a right and demand of being able to name and claim whatever you want from God. Of course, the safety net for their heresy is that if you do not have those things it is because you do not have enough faith. Most American Christians do not go that far, but they have bought into the idea that God will protect them from all harm and meet their needs and desires. The truth is that though we can trust in God’s protection and provision for our needs, He has not promised to meet our wants nor has He promised that we will escape all physical or emotional harm. In fact, Jesus promises just the opposite for those that will follow Him. In passages such as Matthew 5:10-12, Matthew 10:16-23, John 15:20, John 16:32,33, Luke 21:12,13 Jesus made it clear to His disciples that they would face tribulation because of their relationship with Him. Paul put it bluntly in 2 Timothy 3:12, "all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."