Lying To The Spirit and Dying — James Jennings

Well, before I forget this thought, so Prince mentioned at the start of his sermon as he looked at Mark 5 in the Demoniac, one of the things that he emphasized is it's something that it feels so far removed from us.

It just feels like this happened 2 ,000 years ago. And we're going to find a similar thing with the passage that I'm going to look at. You could approach it thinking, wow, this is so far removed. And we don't look at it with the face value on how it really can be more applicable today than we realize.

And I would even back to Prince's message, I don't know if you guys heard, but at some point early on when he was reading the text and making points from the passage, a young guy, Eric, in the back who used to live with me 14 years ago, he just randomly happened to be here, this Sunday, he was at the Grace House.

He wouldn't look me in the eyes before the service. We were talking. He wouldn't give me any eye contact. I don't know what provoked him in the middle of Prince's sermon. But you know what Prince is talking about?

The very things of demons impacting and influencing people's minds. And right in the middle of talking about that, there's a guy back there who we know who hasn't been around in so many years, and he wasn't the same guy as he was at the Grace House.

He is far worse than where he was back then. And so I just say that as a practical example here, I'm sitting there hearing Prince speak about something and you might think this is some far-off topic of demons.

Brethren, it's not. Some far-off thing that has no application in our own day and age. Let's pray. And let's pray for Eric even. Father, Lord, it's something to see Eric here today. Lord, he wouldn't look me in the eyes.

He was disturbed. And Lord, I look at that through a biblical lens. And my Bible, even what our brother just talked about in the first hour, Lord, we don't want to be here today as the humans who try to chain people up and we're trying to force some change that only Your power can create in that person.

And Lord, that's what Eric needed 14 years ago at 728 North Pine. Lord, that's what he needs right now. And Lord, I pray You'd set him free from the spirits that are oppressing him. Lord, the world might not describe it in that way, but Lord, we're not here as people of the world.

We're here as spiritual people. Lord, we're just saying about You, the holy God. And Lord, You're holy. And You're so holy, You're so set apart, that Lord, we don't want to blend You wrongly with carnal thinking of the world.

Lord, we want to think about You for who You truly are in all of Your glory, even Lord, in all of Your terror. Lord, there are things about You, even some that we will look at in the following moments, Lord, that can just...

Lord, we can step back. Lord, we can almost feel like apologizing for who You are, for certain things that You have done. But Lord, even that demoniac You set free, Lord, it's a miracle. It actually is a testimony of Your power.

Lord, prior to that happening, it just looks like the world has fallen. But Lord, the world is fallen. And there are people like even that demoniac in our own day and age. And Lord, we pray You'd have mercy.

Lord, we might not recognize and witness in a certain way demons come out of a person and go into a bunch of pigs and they go down to the river. Lord, we're not living in life expecting to see something of that nature.

But Lord, we do expect there's power in Your name and that we can, in the name of Jesus Christ, just as we read in the Word, Lord, we can command even devils to depart. Lord, Father, we don't want to approach Your Word and just rip that out of it and think as if that was just something for the apostles.

And so Lord, forgive us. If there's in any way, Lord, situations that we've approached in a carnal way and we've not approached it according to Thy Word. And so Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You that we have a guide.

We have a light. Lord, we're not sitting here in the dark today. And so Lord, I just commit this time to You. Pray You'd bless this message to Your people. Lord, use this, what I'm going to share. Lord, use it in my own heart.

Use it in the heart of the people sitting here. Lord, there's certain things that I don't know how they could impact someone's soul. But Lord, You work in ways that we cannot see. And so we trust in You.

In Jesus' name, amen. We'll go ahead, turning your copy of God's Word to Acts 5. Acts 5, we're going to start reading in Acts 4. And this, you know, the book of Acts is Luke. He has written extensively about the church and the happenings of this early church.

The Early Church’s Shared Life and Barnabas’s Example

And there's much here. Again, this isn't just some history book. There's things here to really consider about who God is. And we're going to see that this morning, or this afternoon. So let's go to Acts 4 and why don't we start, yeah, let's start in verse 32.

Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul. No one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power, the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon all of them.

Can you see that? Great power, great grace. If you look back at verse 31, says there, when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the Word with boldness.

So you've got people being filled with the Spirit. You've got people having great power and you've got great grace upon them all. Verse 34, there was not a needy person among them for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet.

And it was distributed to each as any had need. Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas, which means son of encouragement, a Levite, a native of Cyprus, he sold a field that belonged to him and he brought the money and he laid it at the apostles' feet.

So you get a picture here of the early church and this guy Barnabas, he goes and he sells a field and he brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet for them to discern how to use these resources.

Ananias and Sapphira Lie to the Holy Spirit

Now chapter five, and the chapter number obviously is added after the fact, it's always connected by a contrasting word. He laid it at the apostles' feet, but, so he gave a positive example of what was happening and then he gives a negative example.

And this is something that is written down for our example that we would learn from this. So we don't want to just read over this and dismiss it, minimize it. There are certain ways that this could apply in our own hearts.

We're going to consider that. But a man named Ananias with his wife, Sapphira, doesn't say if they had any kids, they sold a piece of property. So they did exactly what Barnabas has done and many others are doing.

Verse two, and Luke specifically, he adds this, and with his wife's knowledge, he kept back for himself some of the proceeds. So the husband's leading apparently and keeping back some of the proceeds of the sell and Luke makes it clear the wife, she was fully aware of what was taking place.

And he brought it and laid it at the apostles' feet. And we don't see what he says right here, but we get Peter's response. So Luke records Peter's response. But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?

So Peter knows that they kept back some of the proceeds. How did Peter know that? You know, there's a manifestation of the Spirit of God, of discernment of spirits. You know, the Holy Spirit can give a prophetic insight into something.

Now Peter goes on and it helps when you see what Peter goes on to say. This is going to help us. Verse four, while it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal?

Meaning, was it expected in the early church that if you sold your house, you had to give 100 of the proceeds to the church? No, that was not the expectation, right? It was all at their disposal. They had a decision, right?

They imagined they sat around the table as a couple and they were speaking about selling this property and then they were talking about how much to give. You know, how much of this sell do we give to the church?

And they were having that discussion and then the day came where they go down to the real estate office and the property is sold and that money is put into their bank account and they have these resources and Peter's reminding them it was at your disposal.

Why is it, goes on in verse four, that you have contrived this deed in your heart? So something was contrived, gave birth in the heart. And then he says this, you have not lied to man, but to God. Now, he lied.

How did he lie? You might want more to be said here and it's going to become clearer with the wife when that situation, we're going to read that. But clearly they were giving the impression that the money they laid at Peter's feet was what?

All of the profits from the sell, right? Whether he said, he looked at it and said, hey, this is all of the profits of the sell or not. That was the impression that they were trying to convey to Peter or actually I think it, maybe I missed that.

It says apostle's feet, is that plural? Yeah, plural. And so multiple people are there, they're laying it down. They're giving the impression, this is all of these resources that we got from the sell of the home.

Divine Judgment and the Fear of God

Okay, verse five. And maybe, you know, this, I don't even remember the first time I read this passage as a new Christian, right? But if you just stop right here at verse four, and you did a survey to people who've never read the Bible and you said, hey, you knowing God and having the knowledge of God, how do you think God would punish the people who did what they just did?

Right, you surveyed a group of people. How do you think God would punish? And maybe you can even add this. How do you think God would punish them if these people on the survey, they had a working knowledge of the Old Testament?

They knew the whole Old Testament and they hear about what this couple has done. And you then think, how would God punish? What would even be some, is there any example in the Old Testament that almost feels a little parallel with what we're reading about here?

You've got the early church. They're trying to progress. You have corrupt motives coming in. It doesn't say that that was hindering the advance of the gospel, but you can imagine if this goes on like that and you've got people there just for show, that's going to absolutely hinder the purity of the church.

Is that making you think of anything from the Old Testament? Achan? Yeah, I mean, if you look, there's actually the exact same Greek phrase in the Septuagint right here for kept back. Exact same phrase right there in Joshua.

When it talks about Achan keeping back, that's exactly what they did here. When Achan kept back, what was it that he kept back? A cloak and some other things? And what happened? God was opposed to Israel.

It's rather shocking. But yeah, what would people put on a survey? Because honestly, the first time you read this, and maybe that's for some of you all right here. I don't know. But verse five, look at verse five.

And he just made it clear, the sin, the primary sin is you've lied to God. It's not about a lie to Peter. It's not about primarily trying to make it appear like you were really sacrificial. That's not the primary sin.

Is that happening? Did they sin by trying to make it look they were more sacrificial than they really were? Yes. Is it true they sinned by lying to Peter? Yes, but the primary thing, they lied to the Spirit of God.

That's the main thing Peter emphasizes here. And it's that very Spirit of God who revealed to Peter, a possessor of the Spirit, that what was said was not true. It's the only way he knew this insight.

And now we actually see the Spirit of God at work in verse five. When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. Now, was Ananias given a chance, right there in the text, to repent?

Was he given a chance? Nothing in the text indicates he had any opportunity to rethink it. It was too late for him to do that. Now we're going to see his wife is given a chance. His wife is given a chance.

Now look what happens. First off, we might be shocked by the punishment. I mean, how many people would have put on that poll, oh yeah, they lied and they made it appear like they gave everything when they didn't.

Oh, God's going to strike the person dead. How many people would really put that on a poll? I don't think a lot would. Now, the next thing too I think is surprising. What do you think a divine judgment of God, well, we know what it's going to produce, right?

We know it's going to produce fear. And that's what happens. Great fear came upon all who heard it. Let's keep reading. Verse six, verse six. The young men rose and wrapped Him. And notice, the young men rose, meaning the young men were where at this point?

They were sitting there. Some would say this is during a church meeting. And it's going to go on to say three hours later, the wife comes in and that these were set times of prayer. I can't necessarily prove that, but the young men were there.

I mean, you got the apostles, plural, you got young men. They're all here and they just witnessed someone drop dead and die. And I hope, who killed Ananias? Who slew him? The Lord did. We just had that in our grace group.

2 Samuel 2. Hannah's prayer is the Lord who kills. She said that in the prayer. That's absolutely right. I am absolutely amazed. You go read some commentaries on this. There are people who want to say that Peter had a hidden concealed weapon and that he killed Ananias and Luke just doesn't record that.

The same type of people will argue that everything before Pharaoh and the staff turning into a serpent is an optical illusion. People want to rip out the supernatural power from God's Word. We don't want to do that.

We don't want to tear God's Word apart. Okay, verse seven. So the young men, they take him out and wrapped him up and they carried him out and buried him. Verse seven. After an interval of about three hours, the wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

Does that surprise you that it says she doesn't know what happened? Why do you think it would say she doesn't know what happens? Because you know what we're about to get? What are we about to get? We're about to get an unfiltered, genuine response.

If she knew what had happened, what do you think that would do with her response? I mean, if you just found out from your friend, hey, you're about to go into the meeting, your husband just died there two hours ago.

I mean, what do you think that's going to do? Is she going to get an honest, genuine response in the situation? No, she's not going to give that. And to me, that is striking because sometimes you can almost feel bad trapping someone.

As a parent, there's times you have knowledge about what your kid did, but you don't let them know you have the knowledge and it almost feels like you're hiding something. Then you ask them a question to see what response they give.

Well, you do that because you want to get a genuine response. And that's exactly what happens here. Peter doesn't tell her what had happened. He doesn't strike fear in her to see if she'll now, based on that, make the right decision.

He wants to see, without her knowing of the death of her husband, does she really fear God or not? Last thing you need is someone making a false repentance out of fear and it's not genuine in the heart.

So verse 7, after an interval of three hours, his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter said to her, tell me, whether you sold the land for so much. So she's got an opportunity right here to say no, we didn't sell it for that amount.

She has an opportunity to repent, to own that this is a deception that is happening right here. She's given that opportunity right there. And you know what? We could speculate about this woman and being there and even wondering why was she even being asked this question?

I mean, if you came into church and you just sold a property and gave money and one of us went up and asked you how much you sold the property, did you really sell it for this amount? I mean, wouldn't that kind of make your suspicions rise ahead of time?

What's her answer? She said yes for so much. Verse 9, but Peter said to her, and he makes the same statement, he says it a little different way, how is it? How? He said, how is this possible? How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord?

Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband. So she finds out right there her husband's dead. They're at the door. Now, where were those guys before? They were in the meeting. Now they're at the door.

I mean, some would say they literally just got back after three hours of burying the person and they're right back, right at the moment she drops dead. Whether that is or that isn't, it doesn't really matter.

But he says, the people who buried your husband are at the door. They will carry you out. That's shocking. Immediately, she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in, they found her dead.

And they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Verse 11,. And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things. So there you have the great fear again. Let's keep reading.

Signs, Wonders, and the Purifying Judgment of God

Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles and they were all together in Solomon's portico. None of the rest dared join them. That's interesting. Well, there's a group of people who don't dare join them.

And I would agree with most who take that to mean it's other people who had false pretenses and false motives. This couple dying all of a sudden just made different tares not want to be a part of this.

And look at v. 14,. And more than ever, believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets, laid them on cots and mats as Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them.

It's incredible. So there you have our passage. And I kind of give a lot of running commentaries we're going through that. But I don't know about you the last time you've thought about this passage. And it's very, very thought provoking just to witness everything that is happening right here in this situation.

And even I was thinking about, we so often think that, you know, a sermon might lead to revival or some great preaching might. But what led to a revival right here in this early church? Is a divine judgment of God.

Right? A church discipline. Some might even want to use that type of language. I personally wouldn't, but isn't that interesting? It strikes a fear of God. I mean, if there's anything, if one application from this passage that you and I should have in our lives, we should read Acts 5 and go away with a greater what?

A greater terror of the Lord. A greater fear of God. That's a right response to have. A greater fear of God. Well, let's think of a few things more from this passage right here. And the first thing is, just to, and I mentioned this, but to think about what the specific sin is.

Let's think of that, all right? Because you got to get this. Don't look at this. Is the sin of doing something with a false motive and having a false pretense, is that sinful? Absolutely. If I'm trying to represent myself in a certain way to you all that is not genuine, it is not true.

If I'm trying to make myself to appear to you all more zealous than I actually am, if I make it appear like I gave a certain amount when it really wasn't genuine, is that sinful? Yeah, that is. That's sinful.

Is that the thing that Peter reproves this couple for? It's not. He reproves them for lying to the Holy Spirit. How often do you think about sinning against the Spirit and it happening in this way? I mean, I don't think I think about that enough in my own life as a Christian.

And if you didn't notice this, make sure you catch this. Lying against the Spirit is lying against who? God, right? Look at v. 3. Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? Then you go to the end of v. 4.

You have lied not to man, but to God. Well, how did they lie to the Spirit? Did the lying to the Spirit happen in Ananias and Sapphira's hearts right when they were sitting around the dinner table scheming this plan?

If one takes them to have been true Christians who committed a willful sin, well, clearly, the moment the Christian is thinking of something sinful to do, who's at work within the Christian trying to prevent them from going down that path?

The Helper? The Holy Spirit who convicts of sin, righteousness, and the judgment? Is that when the sin against the Spirit was starting? If they're Christians and they're going in a path that's against the Spirit of God?

Or is Peter referring to the fact that when they lied to Him, the Apostle and Him being full of the Spirit, and maybe them being unregenerate trying to deceive Peter, that right there their lying to Him right there was actually a lie against the Holy Spirit?

Which one of those or another might it even be referring to right here? What does it even mean lying against the Spirit? How does that even apply to you and me? Well, here's one way to look at it is, and I think this is really what he's getting at here.

Did they know of the Spirit's power and work in a greater way than many of us do? Yes, I specifically read earlier in v. 4, they were all filled with the Spirit. V. 33, great power, great grace. I'm not saying we aren't seeing great power and great grace, but this happens after all of these manifestations of the Spirit of God are happening within the life of the church.

This is happening after all these people have been converted. You've got this power of God. You've got the Spirit convicting of sin, righteousness, and the judgment. And you're scheming about deceiving Peter, but you're ultimately deceiving the Lord.

And look at v. 9. Look at v. 9 how it words it. I think this really gets to the heart of it. Peter said to her, how is it that you have agreed together to do what? To test the Spirit of the Lord. To tempt God.

So, Ananias, Sapphira, you know that there is a protector of this church. You know this protector is in your home. The Holy Spirit knows your thoughts. He knows your motives. He knows your intentions.

He knows everything. And you have this knowledge. And you're going to try to experiment to see, well, what if we're just deceitful in this one area in our lives? We want to have a good reputation as big givers, but you know what?

We don't want to give everything. We're going to keep some of it back. We know the Spirit is aware of everything. Even the intentions of our heart. But you know what, honey? Let's experiment to see. Will the Spirit do anything if we are deceitful in this area right here in our lives?

Is the Spirit of God going to do anything? We're going to test the Spirit of God. Is the Spirit going to allow this to happen? The sin being described, this act of tempting God, it means you're testing His patience and challenging not only His all-knowing nature, but His ability to punish.

Would the Spirit stand by and allow this corruption to happen and possibly cripple this early church? And this couple together, unified, had the boldness to sin in such a way. Right here. Now, what happens when God doesn't judge when someone boldly sins against the Spirit of God?

What happens when you have generations and generations or years and years of no judgment from God? What does that tend to do to people? There's a verse, right? What verse talks about this? Ecclesiastes 8.

Listen to this. Ecclesiastes 8. 11. Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, what happens? The heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. So imagine if Ananias and Sapphira, nothing happened here.

No judgment from God. The Spirit doesn't reveal to Peter the truth. They don't die. And they start to get involved in the community even having a reputation of being incredibly sacrificial givers. And let's say all of that resources that they're giving even gives them some sort of influence within this early church.

And then that influence actually starts corrupting the church in certain ways. The Spirit is preventing all of that from happening by revealing the truth, by judging these two individuals. And you know what?

We saw right here that Ecclesiastes' verse has lived out right there in verse 13. None of the rest dared join them, but they held them in high esteem. The church had a sense at this moment in its history, God is among these people.

And you know what? I mean, even studying it, it just puts fear in you. Like God can kill me at any moment. He has that power. It makes you think of David saying, you know, there's but a step between life and death.

And here they lied to the Holy Spirit. The church is called what? The temple of the Spirit of God. The Bible talks about us corporately being a temple, and then it does seem in 1 Corinthians 6 there's an individual reality of being a temple of the Holy Spirit.

And that made me think of this. Imagine you and I going into the Holy of Holies, which very few people, you know, these high priests, these different people could even go into the temple. Most of us, we'd all be on the outside.

Imagine going in there and scheming in the temple and talking there in the very presence of God and talking with your wife about, well, let's lie to the church about how much we're giving. Would you do that right there in the temple itself in the very presence and Shekinah glory of God?

Would an Old Testament Jew have done that? You think there's no way they would have done it. That's terrifying. Brethren, this is the thing, us as New Covenant Christians, if I'm sitting at my table and I'm looking at my wife and I'm making some sinful plan with her to further our reputation in some carnal way, that's the same thing as me being in that temple because we are the temple of the Holy Spirit.

We can right there deceive the very Spirit of God. And so we need a greater fear of the Lord even in that sense. Now the church, we're the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. When you and I are dishonest, it carries the same significant impact.

I would argue is lying in that way in the Old Testament right there in the Holy of Holies, right there in the temple, right there in the presence of God. One commentator, he says this, they would have succeeded Ananias and Sapphira in winning the esteem of man if they could only have kept God silent.

If God would allow it to happen, if God would but keep silent, they could have done everything. But God thought it was necessary to show that young church that He was in them, that He was among them, that He is a God of truth.

He saw fit to impress upon them all by a terrible proof the fact that He has not deserted the earthly however much the earthly may set aside or forget Him. And you know, what's one of the statements people make about Ananias and Sapphira?

And I think it's the right statement to repeat. They would say that the lack of judgments like this happening in the church is what upon the church. The fact that this doesn't happen is in itself a judgment on the church.

Have you ever heard someone say it in that way? Because a judgment like this, an act of the Lord purifying in this way, what did it lead to in the church? I mean, it led to revival. It led to the fear of the Lord.

It led to all manner of conversions. It led to a sense that God is alive. Right? In the same way, if in the first hour right back there, you know, something would have happened and demons would have left the guy Eric who came here and was speaking nonsense, we would all have been reminded if he was sitting in his right mind giving a testimony here at the end of the 10 a .m. and being baptized 20 minutes later, we'd all be sitting here just in awe of God's power at what He just did in that person's life.

You see? And again, we don't want to think, well, that's far off, that's impossible with the demonic. We don't want to think, oh, this is far off. You know what? The early church, the Lord saw fit to act as He did right here.

I don't know how many other times the Lord has done something specific in this way. I'm going to share some examples here at the end of my message. This passage is an encouragement of God's protection of the church.

So, I mean, yeah,.

This is shocking, this passage. These people, everything, it's kind of like princess. I mean, there's names here. Even I remember one person made the comment, you don't hear of any daughters named Sapphira.

It's like that name's been ruined by this conduct. Well, let me think of a few observations and then we'll have a final thought here on this passage. One thing to recognize, did their sin happen in some unguarded moment?

Just some unguarded, meaning, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said it maybe in that way. Was this just some compulsive thing? You know, you're in the line and you're going up to put the money down and you're kind of hashing it out right there.

You just don't get that sense. You get the sense, this is very willful. This is very willful by this couple what they did. And that just shows an extreme hardness for them to seek to carry it out. All for what motivation?

Their reputation. I'm telling you, brethren, this is terrifying just in that sense. This is a terrifying example of the snare that plagues humanity of people wanting to be people pleasers and be known amongst people in a positive light and to portray themselves in a way that is not genuine.

So you want to think of an application that should strike fear in you? I mean, if I asked you, hey, do you know anyone who's been killed by God in a judgment and it was because they misrepresented what they did to make it look like they were more giving than they really were?

I mean, if you said it in that way, someone might not even think of this passage. Again, they're lying to the Spirit. But if you lie to me or I lie to you, does that mean I'm not lying to the Spirit of God?

If I conceive a lie in my own heart, is a born-again Christian possessed of the Spirit of God, and I push that lie out my lips and I speak to you, I have grieved and lied to the very Spirit of God who is in me.

Do I even think my sin is happening against the Spirit? The Spirit is there at work in me to will and to work for God's good pleasure. The Spirit is at work in me to mortify the deeds of the flesh, to prevent me from saying that thing and being willful in sin.

So they're parting with their land apparently for zeal of the Gospel. Right? How gracious of them to part with all of this for the sake of the Gospel. Yet, that really wasn't what was happening. It's like it says in Matthew 23, the Pharisees, they do all their deeds to be seen by others.

It's a terrifying reminder here. Another observation. Think of this. Ananias. I mentioned this. The only warning apparently he got that the text indicates he got, the warning to repent, was from the Spirit of God.

Look, you and I, we might have something in our life where we are drifting spiritually and the Spirit of God is convicting us. That might be the only warning you get. It might be too late when you stand before Peter.

You see what I'm saying? Don't minimize the Spirit of God's convicting work in your life or in my life. We just assume, well, God is long-suffering. And He absolutely is. But brethren, God's long-suffering doesn't mean there aren't going to be fast judgments like this to purify the church and to drive home a point.

So he was swept into eternity without any real heads-up warning. It's shocking. Honestly, people will argue this is harsh. You know what was harsh? You know what was a disgrace? A disgrace was them lying to the very Spirit of God.

Them thinking they could deceive the One who is protecting this community of believers, these chosen ones of God. Another thought, another observation here. You know, you and I can lie and have falsehood just by the impression, by letting on to something.

We might not say anything. And I realize I could be stretching this, but you don't have him saying anything in the text. That made me think as I'm studying this, it's almost like Ananias, he let on that this is all the money.

Maybe he did say this is all the money from the sale of the property. But you realize even if I don't say it's all the money, but I let on, if Peter looks at me and says, is this all the money? And you just kind of nod your head or something like that.