Joshua Daniel addresses the deception of the heart in his sermon, emphasizing the dangers of covetousness and the importance of allowing the Holy Spirit to lead the church. He reflects on the early church's integrity, contrasting it with modern practices where deception and sin can be hidden. Daniel warns against the influence of money and human control in the church, urging believers to seek truth and the Holy Spirit's guidance. He highlights the story of Ananias and Sapphira as a cautionary tale about the consequences of lying to God. The sermon concludes with a call for personal reflection and prayer for purity of heart.

When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and time shall be no more, and the morning breaks eternal bright and fair, the Savior birds shall gather over on the other shore. When the road is called up yonder, I'll be there. Welcome to the Lord's Challenge, our weekly quarter-hour broadcast bringing the reality of God's Word to all people everywhere. Stay tuned as Joshua Daniel challenges us to a walk with God and the corresponding impact that will have on our lives, families, and society today. Acts, fifth chapter. Let's begin with the fourth chapter and from verse 34. Neither was there any among them that lacked, for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles' feet. And distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. And Joseph, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, which is being interpreted the son of Consolation, a Levite and of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet. In the early church there came in covetousness into Ananias and Sapphira. Deception, the love of money, is the root of all evil. See how people are deceiving the government with all kinds of false bills. You know, actually, some people told me after the war, as I started preaching in Europe, we made false claims. We lost so much and so on and so forth, and the government gave us money. And I would tell them, listen, you need to restitute the money back to the government. And so I see a lot of people restituting to the government. Now my dear friends, you know that governments are today bankrupt, and they hardly know how they are going to pay their bills. But what happened? There was a discerning person there, Peter, and he said, listen, this is your own, this is your own. You don't have to deceive like this. When you sold your land, that was your money. No questions asked. But what do you mean, telling a lie to the Holy Ghost? You see, friends, our idea of the church is, there's a big pastor there, there's a big speaker there, and he does everything, and the church runs, and the deacons decide this and that and so on. But where is the Holy Ghost? In the early church, the Holy Spirit was in control. Today, we feel we are in control. Some people tell the pastor, if you're going to be like this, if you're preaching like this, we are going. And the poor pastor thinks, boy, if this man goes away, I'm going to lose 200 pounds coming into the church. Oh boy, what shall I do? And so he looks at the front seats. Oh, I should not disturb that businessman. He may have his fourth wife, but I must just say, fine, you're a great, hallelujah, brother, great. My goodness, where is the Holy Spirit? Is money going to rule the church? It's going to be corrupt as hell. But this is how it is going on. Not in the early church. In the early church, sin could not be hidden. You know what I am presently alarmed at? Do you know what is it that gives me great sorrow? I grew up in a fellowship where the Holy Spirit was in complete control. People couldn't speak a lie. No stealing could be possible. Immediately, God's hand would come upon them. No deception possible. The Holy Spirit in control. Now when I see some people hiding sin, six months, some for greater periods, I say, what? Have we declined so much? Have we lost that revival spirit? The Holy Spirit's control? I don't want a human organization. I don't want anybody to praise me. I've never had a paycheck in my life. I owe it all to God. He built His work. He brought in souls. I didn't go hunting after them and having parties and saying, hey, come on boys, we're going to have fun, fellowship, and frivolity. Come on. Nonsense. The apostles never used those methods. And I'm not going to use those methods. Now, this man fell down dead. My father used to say, if you choose to dance, don't you dance in the powerhouse where electricity is generated. That's no place to dance. And you touch one of those high voltage points, your dance will be ended. So, what are we doing today? We are conducting a kind of pantomime. A drama. And we call it the church. Who is the head of the church? You know, when we were preaching in one place, my dad and I, the bishop there was one of those very important functionaries in the ecumenical movement. He was almost the one who was promoting and getting the ecumenical movement. Everybody come together. Everybody. Forget truth. Put it off. Forget truth. Forget the Bible. Come on, let's be together. You know, friends, his diocese was in quite some trouble. And he invited my father, and of course I was the junior preacher at that time, and we preached. And the man, he would go and sit down on the floor. And my father would not even have a bishop on the platform, lest he should talk something which is grievous to the Holy Spirit. You know, bishops who say, okay, we can have Sharia law, and this, that, and the other, they are talking through their hats. Have they lived in a Muslim country? Let them go live in five years. If they survive, they won't survive five days. And yet they begin to talk through their hats. My dear friends, listen. Such men would sit humbly and realize that it's only the Holy Spirit that can run the church. And he defined the church. The church is the place where the Holy Spirit works. And we make it the place where the Holy Spirit can't work. Folks, the Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth. If you don't have truth, neither will you have the Holy Spirit there. When he, the spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth. You want the Holy Spirit without truth? Never. You can never have the Holy Spirit without truth. So they carried out the man for his burial. Three hours elapsed. Three hours. Did his wife use that time carefully to consider that she wasn't going to speak a lie? She came in wondering, where's my husband? What's happened to him? He went to donate money to the church, but where is he? He's already buried. Peter said to her, Acts 5, 7, And it was about the space of three hours after when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether you sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Let us pray. Let's tell God, Let not my heart be preoccupied with my covetousness. Let not the same condition of Ananias and Sapphira be found in me. Nor do I want to share such a death. O God, cleanse us, that we may be members of your body. Wash us in Jesus' holy name. Amen. The speaker on this program was Joshua Daniel. He would like to know what your response has been to the Lord's challenge, and would be delighted to hear from you. Please write, and if you have burdens you want to share and want prayer, do let us know. You can reach us on the World Wide Web at lefi.org or else you can mail us at We are continually reaching out to millions in many countries and we appreciate and we need your continuing prayerful support.