Exposing Satan's Playbook The Perry Stone

(Acts 1:18–19). The third example is a married couple, Ananias and Sapphira. This couple owned a piece of land and made an agreement to sell it and give the proceeds to the ministry. When the moment arrived for them to present their offering before the apostle Peter, they withheld a portion for themselves. Peter confronted them separately, asking why they allowed Satan to fill their hearts to lie against the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3, 9). Remember, Peter himself had once been subject to the sly whispers of Satan in his ear to rebuke Christ’s comments predicting his suffering. I believe Peter had sharpened his discernment and sensed by the Holy Spirit a deceiving and lying spirit in the hearts of this couple. Herein lies an important point. Both Judas and this couple were originally believers and active in the ministry. Judas was one of Christ’s disciples, and Ananias and Sapphira were a prominent couple in the church. Because of the phrase “Satan filled your heart,” it is assumed that Satan possessed these two individuals; thus believers can be possessed by spirits. True believers, however, will not lie and deceive as Ananias and Sapphira did. It was the lie and the deception that opened a door to the enemy to enter the lives of these individuals. It is also important to see that Simon Peter was an active believer, but he had suddenly listened to the wrong voice. Judas was a backslidden disciple (he was a thief, John 12:6). Judas followed the wrong voice. Ananias and his wife were active members of the church, but they had conspired in secret