There have been many things that have broken the heart of God, and one of them is the first recorded sin in the church: the sin of hypocrisy. In the book of Acts, we see in the early church a man named Ananias, along with his wife Sapphira, who sold a piece of property and kept back some of the proceeds for himself, with his wife’s full knowledge. He brought a portion of the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

Ananias appeared to be spiritual by pretending to give all the money from the sale of the property to the church, but he secretly kept some for himself. This sin of hypocrisy did not fool God. He tore away the veil of deception, exposed Ananias before the church, and brought swift judgment. Ananias dropped dead in front of Peter and the other apostles.

In our study from the Book of Acts, we will look at the destructive sin of hypocrisy.