“But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him. 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 ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.”(Acts 5:1-10)
In 2017, the month of November, the Lord asked me to go to the mountain and wait on him. I went with two church leaders. During our three-day waiting, the Lord taught us many things. One of them was something He referred to as “tiny ropes” and how they will take many believers to hell fire. According to the Lord, tiny ropes are the things we refer to as “little sins” that don’t matter. The Lord gave us an example about the tiny rope. He said:
“A good example of a tiny rope that can hold you down is this: when you take a public transport and receives an extra balance from the fare you gave the bus conductor, no matter how small the extra money the bus conductor mistakenly gave you is, if you refuse to give it back to him, you have stolen. “That is something that can block your way to my kingdom”, said the Lord. “In the spirit’s realm, I clothe all my children in white. That is why I call you, saints. However, any time you commit sin, no matter how small it is, it stains your garment and defiles you. A tiny rope (little sin) can become a stumbling block to you,” He added. That was not all.
“Everybody in church think they have salvation because they call my name. Most believers in Christ think because they call my name and confess that I am their Saviour, salvation is theirs without keeping my word. They forget it was because of disobedience that I sent Lucifer who is now Satan out of my presence.
Many people think because they come to church every day and raise up their hands to me, they have an automatic ticket to my Father’s kingdom. They take things for granted and live as they like without obeying my word. However, it is not so. Many people in church will end up in the lake of fire if they are not careful of the “tiny ropes” pulling back the cross on their shoulders.”
That was part of the things the Lord told us about the effects of tiny ropes whilst we waited and prayed to Him on the mountain. Tiny ropes (little sins) include hatred, bitterness, envy, lies, forgiveness, disobedience, sorrow, anger, pride, gossip, and all the sins we consider as nothing. They may look like nothing in our eyes, but they are serious sins before the Lord.
A typical example of the effects of a tiny rope happened to Ananias and Sapphira when they lied to the Holy Spirit and died because of it. The following scripture tells us what happened.
“But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him. 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 ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.”(Acts 5:1-10)
Like many people who think lying is not a serious sin, Ananias and his wife, Sapphira must have thought they could lie and get away with it. Unfortunately, their action grieved the Holy Spirit, and they died. Someone might say, “Oh, but that was in those days. We are no more in that era. The grace of God covers our sin.”
The above statement might sound good. However, it is not the truth. Being in the era of grace does not mean we can walk in sin and get away with it. Ananias and Sapphira were also in the time of God’s grace. They were part of the early church. If the Holy Spirit did not spare them for lying, he won’t spare us if commit even the minutest sin without repentance. If Ananias and his wife knew that the tiny rope called “lies” will destroy them, they would not have lied. Let us not take God’s mercy for granted.
I will tell you a true life story that will help you understand how little things we do and think they are nothing before God can rob us of eternal life. In 2020, there was so much strife in our church; envy, hatred, pride, bitterness, unforgiving, disobedience, and so forth. All the little things we take for granted, including pain and sorrow manifested in the life of people in our church. Even I, the Pastor was equally a victim. I was in so much pain and bitterness because of how some church members treated me.
At intervals, the Lord would speak to us, prophetically, and plead that we should repent. He will warn of the consequences of our actions. However, we refused to change. People’s attitude caused me much pain and made me bitter. Many people in the church also had their own issues with me. We were guilty of one sin or the other against one another. The Lord was not pleased with it. There were days the Holy Spirit stopped us from taking the Holy Communion because our hearts were not right with one another.
One day, during church service, the Lord spoke to us concerning our behaviour again. But that day differed from other days. It was a day I will never forget in life. When the Lord spoke to us that day, first off, He asked us to bring a chair and place it in front of the pulpit. We did as He said. After that, the prophetess whom the Lord spoke through, sat on the chair and said, “All of you, line up before me.” We did accordingly.
Truth be told, though we had lined up before the prophetess, none of us had any idea what the Lord was about to do. However, I knew all was not well. That morning, a warning prophecy had come to the church, instead of repenting, as usual, people got angry and were murmuring. Our attitude must have provoked the Holy Spirit to handle us in a more severe manner so we would repent and not perish. All the same, nothing was clear in the beginning. All I can say is that I knew whatever was ahead of us was not good.
Some of our church leaders had developed the habit of intimidating I and those who prophesy in our church. They did not like the rebuke that came to the church through prophecy. Even their faces scared those who prophesied. One day, a sister told me that the Lord gave her a word of caution to the church. When she stood in front of the congregation, some faces she saw scared her so much, she forgot the message the Lord gave her. To cover the embarrassment, she said something else to us. She later came to me and confessed. That was how bad it was with us.
The carnally minded people in our church did not like my message. They tried to shut me up from preaching the true word of God because of their lifestyle. But I refused to bow to man. They became rebellious and divided the church. They painted me black before the congregation as much as they could. Many, especially those who hated rebuke believed their lies and joined camp with them. The man who gave us the property for the church auditorium was the ringleader of the rebels in the church. He wanted me to see him as my God, but I refused. That made him become very hostile towards me.
Many times, a prophetic warning came to him to repent. He refused to listen to the voice of God. At a time, I realized that like Jezebel, who, wanted the head of Elijah because he destroyed the prophets of Baal, the man wanted me out of the church so he could lead the people of God to himself and become a god to them. He wanted to be worshiped. But I was a stumbling block to his evil plans. I told the church that no man deserved my worship and praise except the Lord Jesus Christ. He did not like that. So, he did all he could to frustrate me. But the Lord fought for me. He did not win until the day the Lord took him and his likes out of my life.
Truth be told, if you want to speak the truth, be ready to suffer. It is difficult to stand on the truth amid liars. Satan will use his agents in the church to attack you. But don’t fear, God will always fight for you and victory will be yours if you remain resolute.
If you are a man of God, be careful about people around you, especially those who bring money to support the ministry. Some of them come to destroy. One day, they will try to use the help they have given you to blackmail you. Be careful!
So back to what happened that day, the Lord said, “Take it that today is judgment day and I judge the world. Every one of you, step forward and judge yourself based on the state of your mind and the thoughts of your heart now.”
That was when we realized we were in for something we could not handle. Our cup was full. The Holy Spirit wanted us to see how we would end if that day was judgment day.
“I have warned you people in this church for too long, but you refused to repent.”
Like the day our Lord Jesus Christ wrote the sins of those who wanted to stone the woman caught in adultery and asked the guiltless to throw the first stone at her, the Lord mentioned all the tiny ropes we had entangled ourselves with to us and asked us to judge ourselves based on them.
“Take it that today is judgment day. Consider that I have met you in the state you are in now and judge yourself.,” said the Lord. “If you know you are righteous, come to my right-hand side. That is my Kingdom. If you know you are not righteous, based on the things I have mentioned, go to the left-hand side. That is the place of darkness which I prepared for Satan and his followers,” He added.
Hmm! Church became quiet like the graveyard. Everyone looked at the other in silence. We did not expect that. After several warnings without repentance, the Holy Spirit caught us unawares like the flood caught sinners in the days of Noah and swept them off. I don’t know what was going on in the mind of others, but as the church Pastor, I knew we were all guilty of one sin or the other at that moment. Whilst, I was pondering over what was happening; the Lord broke the silence.
“Frank,” He called. It was me.
“Papa,” I answered.
“My son, don’t be afraid. I want to teach you how it will be on judgment day. Be honest with yourself. If you know you qualify for a place in my kingdom based on the things I have mentioned and state of your heart right now, go to the right-hand side of me. If you are not, go to the left. Remember, I know what is going on in your mind,” said the Lord.
Hmm! Well, I had no choice than to do as the Lord said. Painfully and shamefully, I went to the left. I knew I was in pain and was bitter because of what was going on in the church. Many things were wrong. People became stubborn and refused to repent. Their attitude hurt many times such that it had become difficult to forgive some people. My inability to forgive made me bitter. The bitterness caused me pain. Many times, the Lord had asked me to forgive, but it was no longer easy because some people were hurting me, deliberately. So, when the Lord mentioned those things, I knew I had failed. I was very sad and disappointed in myself.
“What if this was real judgment day?” I asked myself. I knew the answer. I am lost, and I knew it. I had not confessed and repented of those sins the Lord had been warning me about. How could I enter His rest? So, knowing that I did not qualify for the kingdom of Heaven as my eternal place of rest, I went to the left, the place prepared for Satan and his followers. Though I am a Pastor, my refusal to repent made me a follower of Satan at that moment.
Well, it is sad to say that everyone in the church joined me to the left-hand side of the Lord. This means that the whole congregation of about 50 went to hell fire because of tiny ropes(little sins) like hatred, pain, bitterness, unforgiving, lying and so forth. After that, the Holy Spirit warned us seriously about the dangers of allowing tiny ropes to hold back the cross of salvation in our lives.
“The little sins my children do not consider important will send many of you to the lake of fire. Avoid them if you want to be with me in my kingdom. Remember, on that day, it won’t be like this. My children, repent now and save yourselves from eternal condemnation,” He advised. “I love you. That is why I teach you this,” He added.
That I was ashamed of myself that day is an understatement. I was totally disappointed in myself. That day, I realized it is easy to allow those who offend us to make us miss heaven. On judgment day, everyone will judge himself or herself by the way we lived.
Truth be told, many of us will miss heaven if we are not careful. On Judgment day, the Lord Jesus Christ will not spare believers who refuse to live above sin. All the hatred, division, pride, bitterness, unforgiving, envy and all the little sins which have become tiny ropes in our lives will send many to hell fire if we don’t repent.
My brothers and sisters, let nothing hold you back. Avoid the tiny ropes mentioned above. Never take things for granted because of God’s grace. Sin is sin. The wages of sin, even the little sins we joke with is death. Therefore, let us beware of tiny ropes. They can hold us back from entering heaven.
NB: This is not a fabricated story. I have this event on video.
Source: "Truth be told (TBT) series"
Author: Apostle Frank B. Ogbu
Head Pastor/Overseer
Champion Grace Eternal Ministries
Ayikai Doblo, Amasaman
Accra, Ghana
Contact us on:
Telephone: +233 2470 16970
Email: @apostlefrank01@gmail.com
Twitter: @apostlefrank01
Instagram: @apostlefrank01
Facebook: @pastorfrank1