Sometimes believers mistakenly conclude that God is stricter and more swift to bring judgment in the Old Testament era than He is in the New. This is, in part, an understandable conclusion. There is a sense in which God's judgments seem to be suspended on account of the atoning death of Jesus. One might even go so far as to make the argument that common grace flows globally in the New Covenant era--more so than it even did in the Old--since God is sending the message of the Gospel to the nations in these last days. However, there is another sense in which the Scriptures clearly teach that, right now, "judgment begins with the household of God" and that "our God is a consuming fire." We see these principles clearly worked out when we come to the account of Ananias and Sapphira, the two church members who God struck dead--not long after Pentecost and the founding of the New Covenant church--for lying about the sale of a piece of land. Why has the Holy Spirit seen fit to leave us this account? Very simply, Scripture teaches us that it only takes one individual or couple to spoil the purity of the church. If Ananias and Sapphira had been allowed to continue in their hypocrisy, it would have spread like wildfire throughout the church. It only take one individual or one couple, living in unrepentant hypocrisy, to spread hypocrisy and defile the purity of the church. While we may not see such judgments on a regular basis today, it would do us good to take to heart the fact that God is more serious about His church than we can ever begin to imagine. This should lead us to examine our hearts and cry out to God. We should be asking ourselves what motivates our interactions and activity in the local assembly. Are we living sincere Christian lives in the home and the church? Or, are we pretending to be someone that we are not in order to gain the praise and approval of men--without any real love in our hearts to Christ? God is not mocked. "Whatever a man sows, that will he also reap."