The Lie
Acts 5:3
Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?
Ananias has just placed the offering at the apostles feet for them to once again to distribute to the poor and needy. His testimony would have been, “We believed led of the Lord to sell our property and give the money in this season of extravagant giving.”
Now whether Peter knew approximately how much their property was worth and could tell they hadn’t given everything or whether it was a gift of knowledge that revealed the truth it matters not. Peter announced that Ananias in lying to the apostles and the church community was actually lying to the Holy Spirit. When we try and make other people believe and look at us in a way which is not real we bring a false testimony of what the Spirit is doing in our life. It looked like the Spirit was moving powerfully through him, he wasn’t. We have lied to the Holy Spirit. Of course the lie never works and the Spirit is never mocked. Peter views this so seriously he calls it a move of Satan in his life. Even when the Spirit is moving powerfully Satan can be prowling looking for someone to devour.
Missions Paul 