If we're gonna deny ourselves
in turning from an unlawful use of God's law, we have to be brought
to see by God that this whole law, just like creation, just
like everything He's made, everything, His first interest in all is
to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, His beloved Son. And only when
He gives us this heart will we cease to want our first interest
to be at hand. Only then will we want to have
His first interest at heart. Barnabas didn't know it when
he brought the price of this land. He didn't know it at the
time that the Lord had separated him by grace to serve Christ,
His King and High Priest through the preaching of the Gospel.
Barnabas, we'll see throughout Acts, is greatly used of God.
And at this time, Barnabas, Luke's writing this, so he's writing
it to us, and he's telling us that he was surnamed Barnabas,
which is being interpreted the son of consolation. He was a
son of comfort. God used him to comfort his people,
to preach the gospel. And the heart that he's been
given here to do this is manifest in this act that he performed
here when he went and sold some land. He viewed everything, not
his own, but had all things common with his brethren. And therefore
he sold this piece of land in his hand and he brought the price
of it and laid it down at the feet of the apostles. That distribution
should be made to his needy brethren. But this same heart that's manifest
by this act of Barnabas here, is the heart God gives to all
His vessels of mercy in the season of His love. It's the heart He
gives to every one of His servants, you and me and all of us, according
to the measure of His grace to serve Him and to serve His people. But it's only going to be when
He's brought us to see Christ as His first interest, and made
Christ our first interest, that He'll use us in His kingdom and
in His church. Only then. We won't be fit for
anything else but killing, just like Ananias and Sapphira until
then. So let's look here at this in
Acts 4.36. Joseph, who by the apostles was
surnamed Barnabas, which is being interpreted the son of consolation,
a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, country of love, having
land, sold it, brought the money and laid it at the apostles'
feet. The key to understanding here what it was that God did
in the heart of Barnabas, the key to understanding that God
doesn't put anything in His Word that's unimportant. It's all
important. Every bit of it. The key to understanding what
took place in the heart of Barnabas here is this word right here. He was a Levite. That's the title
of the message. Barnabas was a Levite. And we're
going to see just how true that is. He was a Levite. A true Levite. I want you to turn to Numbers
chapter 3. And I want you to hold your place there with me
for a few moments. We're going to look into God's
law concerning the Levites according to the flesh. And that's how
we come to understand something of what God did in the heart
of Barnabas, the Levite. Under the law, the tribe of Levi was chosen
and separated from all other tribes by the Lord to be priests
unto God. And this is the reason the Lord
gave for choosing them. Look here, Numbers, did I say
Leviticus? Numbers, Numbers 3, 11. And the
Lord spake unto Moses, saying, And I, behold, I have taken the
Levites from among the children of Israel, instead of all the
firstborn that openeth the matrix among the children of Israel.
Therefore because the Lord said I took them I took them from
among them therefore the Levites shall be mine Because all the
firstborn are mine For on the day that I smote all the firstborn
in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me I sanctified unto me
in that day It's they hadn't been separated until right here
when the Lord told Moses now separate them But the Lord said,
In that day when I passed through Egypt, I hallowed unto me all
the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. Mine shall they
be. I am the Lord. Now hold your
place right there. Don't turn yet. The Lord chose
the son who was born first to be His. The Lord gave the firstborn
son authority over the younger members of the household. The
Lord gave the firstborn a double portion of inheritance. The Lord gave the firstborn the
crown rights in the succession of the kings. A king passed the
rights to the throne to his firstborn son. The Lord's law of the firstborn
son has its end in glorifying God's son. Colossians 1 15 says he's the
image of the invisible God the firstborn of every creature Hebrews
12 23 says we've been brought to the General Assembly and Church
of the firstborn Now here's the point brethren according to his
good pleasure God set apart a people to be his and Like He separated
the Levites by saying, they're mine. I separated them, they're
mine. No other reason needs to be given.
He said, I did it, they're mine. And that's the case with everyone
that He put in Christ. God the Father did this for a
reason. He did it to glorify His Son. God gave His people. his true
Levites as a gift to his son. I won't have you turn there,
but in Numbers 18.6, this is typified whenever the Lord said
to Aaron the high priest, I behold, I have taken your brethren, all
these are his brethren, the firstborn son's brethren. He said, I took
your brethren, the Levites, from among the children of Israel,
out of all the other people, I took them, and He said, to
you they are given as a gift for the Lord. They are given
to you as a gift for the Lord. He gave them, Romans 8, 29 tells
us, he chose a people for himself and gave them to his son for
this reason. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate
to be conformed to the images of his son, that he, his son,
might be the firstborn among many brethren. So everything
the Lord's doing here is to glorify his son, every bit of it. Now,
I want you to see substitution in this. If we're going to understand
what caused Barnabas to do what he did, we've got to see what
Barnabas was made to see by the Spirit of God. I want you to
see substitution in this. There in Numbers 3.12, when he
said, I've taken the Levites from among the children of Israel
instead of all the firstborn that opened up the matrix among
the children of Israel. Therefore, they're mine. I chose
them. and set them apart instead of
the firstborn that opened the matrix among the children of
Israel. And he says here, on the day that I smote all the
firstborn in the land of Egypt, I hallowed unto me all the firstborn
in Israel. When God put His people in Christ,
in the will and purpose of God, He redeemed all His elect children
in that one. He called us those things that
be not as though they were. Because as He sees it, that's
how it is. He's not a creature of time like
me and you. Christ is the Lamb slain from
before the foundation of the world. And on that day, as He's
picturing here, on that day that I passed through Egypt and I
judged all this land of Egypt right here, I judged them in
that day that I took my people and put them in my Son. I judged
them that day. I separated them to be mine and
mine they are because of what I did in my Son. You see that? You see that? When the Levites
were taken in the place of the firstborn in Israel, that's a
type of grace. That's the type of the sovereign
grace of God. Taking Christ, the firstborn of His people,
to serve God in laying down His life. That's what the Levites,
that's what this choosing of them was for. They had to lay
down their life from then on to serve the high priest. But He's passed by all the firstborn
in Israel. And that's a picture, brethren,
of Him pouring out His wrath on His
Son in the place of you." The Israelites, the Israelites who
He passed by and He didn't take their firstborn sons for this
office, none of them complained because they didn't have to give
up their firstborn son, Art. Instead, He took the Levites
and they were thankful to God that He took the Levites because
He chose to take them in their place. That's how it is when
somebody like Barnabas who's been under the law all his life,
is brought to see that salvation is not about some kind of superior
grace where you've been elevated to a point where now you can
perform on your own and take glory. Salvation is all of God. And it begins with God setting
apart His Levites for Himself in Christ and judging the world
in Him in that day that He chose them. Were the Levites separated
on that day? Back there when He passed through
Egypt, were the tribe of Levi, were they separated on that day?
Not according to the flesh, but according to God they were. He said they're holy now, on
that day. So in our text, when the Holy
Spirit shook the house, He shook Barnabas. in the heart. And when He did that, this One
who all His life had been a Levite according to the flesh, He shows
by this act that He manifests, that He understood that the law
was given to instruct Him in righteousness. This law was given
to instruct Him in righteousness just like all the law of God
is given. To teach Him that from all eternity
the Lord had hallowed Him, had sanctified Him, and had said,
You're mine. It was to teach him that he beheld
that he was the inheritance given to God's Son. He was the gift
given to God's Son by God for the Lord. That's what Barnabas
beheld. And God chose to glorify the
Son of His love and thereby Barnabas beheld, this is the reason this
grace has been poured out on me. It's because of Him. And
Barnabas, when he heard the Son of God, the high priest, the
one who is from the country of love, from the country of Cyprus,
Christ the Lord. When he heard him speak, he realized
his citizenship wasn't in Israel. It wasn't in Jerusalem. It wasn't
in this world. His citizenship was in the land
of love in Cyprus, in heavenly Jerusalem. And Barnabas manifested when
he came with a loving heart. And he bowed to God and he trusted
the Lord Jesus Christ. This one who had been a Levite. This one who, according to the
law, had every privilege under the law. And now he says, I see what my
privileges are. And they're better than that
law could have ever manifest. Better than that law ever could
have shown. It was just a type and a shadow. The righteousness
of God is manifest by faith of Jesus Christ. Not by faith in Jesus Christ.
We don't see the righteousness of God when I look at your faith
in Jesus Christ, Eric. I see the righteousness of God
when I behold the faith of Jesus Christ. Barnabas is beholding the righteousness
of God. This is his right. This is his
right. Now look here, secondly, there
in Numbers 3.6. To understand Barnabas' new willingness
to sell his land and bring the price and lay it at the apostles'
feet, consider the end purpose for which God separated the Levites.
Consider the end of this law. Verse 6, Bring the tribe of Levi
near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may
minister unto him. And they shall keep his charge.
and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the
congregation to do the service of the tabernacle. And they shall
keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the congregation
and the charges of the children of Israel to do the service of
the tabernacle. And thou shalt give the Levites
unto Aaron and to his sons. They are wholly given unto him
out of the children of Israel." Barnabas knew this law. He was
a Levite. You know he knew it. This thing
gave him all kinds of privileges. He knew this though. And he knew that the tribe of
Levi was presented before or to Aaron, the high priest. And
that tribe of Levi was given to Aaron to do his bidding. That tribe was given to, those
sons were given to Aaron to do whatsoever Aaron commanded them
to do. And those sons of Levi were given
to Aaron for the purpose of serving in the tabernacle for the people,
for the congregation. Because in all of it, it's bringing
glory to the high priest. It's bringing glory to God. But
it's bringing glory to his son who is pictured in the high priest.
When the Spirit of God created life in Barnabas, when it came
to him and gave him life, he beheld that God had wholly given
him to Christ, to serve Him and to keep His charge, and to do
it for the edifying of Christ's people, not for his glory, not
for Barnabas's glory, not for any room for Barnabas to be able
to boast, but because they're Christ's people. because they're
Christ's redeemed. That's why Barnabas was called
out and put into the ministry was for that purpose. That's
why, brethren, God called you out was to serve Christ Jesus
the Lord, to submit to Him, to His commandments, to His charge,
to serve His people as unto Him. That's the purpose of it. Let's
see here Barnabas being a Levite. He knew how the Levites were
cleansed to this office, and now he saw Christ where he never
saw him before. You can go at your leisure and
read Numbers chapter 8, but let me give you just an overview
there of it. Moses and Aaron were commanded to cleanse the
Levites by sprinkling the water of purification on them. That's
how they were cleansed. And that's typified the Holy
Spirit's work of cleansing our conscience by turning us to trust
Christ alone. When the house was shaken, who
shook it? The Holy Spirit did and filled them. This is that
sprinkling of purification. And then the Levites shaved their
bodies and washed their clothes and took with them two young
bullocks and fine flour mingled with oil. And that's typified
the grace of God. What did God's grace cause Barnabas
to do? It caused him to lay aside that
which he looked at and valued most. It caused him to lay that
aside. And it caused him to lay aside
all his filthy garments of self-righteousness and wholly be given to God alone.
And that lamb, those two lambs that they brought and that fine
flower, one of those lambs was slain in their place. They put
their hand on that lamb, and that lamb was slain in their
place as a sin offering, typifying Christ's one offering. And then
that other lamb was offered as a burnt offering, typifying the
sweet smell of the faith of Christ, wherein the righteousness of
God is manifest, which is unto all those for whom He died, and
it's upon all those for whom Christ died who believe. That righteousness of God is
unto all His people. It was unto the Levites only.
It wasn't to the rest. Just to the Levites. And it was upon them. When that
water was sprinkled upon them and they were joined to that
high priest, God said, they're mine. They're hallowed unto Me.
They're mine. Revelation 1, Jesus Christ loved
us and washed us from our sins in His own blood and has made
us kings and priests unto God and His Father. To Him be glory
and dominion forever and ever. Amen. This is the righteousness
of God manifest by the faith of Christ, by the faith that
Christ had toward God. And this is that righteousness
that Barnabas beheld. And this is the only thing, brethren,
this is the only the only work that will cause a sinner to look
at everything he's got and understand that everything I've got is God's. And everything that is God's
is for this first cause, to glorify His Son. And it will make us
see, brethren, that we want to glorify His Son. We want His
Son to have all the glory. When he came and sold his land,
he manifest that this was what Barnabas believed. He
manifest that Christ his Lord was his all. I don't preach Christ
and that's all. I preach Christ because he is
all. He is everything. The reason men don't go to this
Word and see that Christ is everything is because Christ is not everything
to them. God has to make Christ all. And He does that in all His people,
in a time of His good pleasure. Before, in His spiritually dead
condition, Barnabas served an earthly priest, an earthly high
priest, because by the law, he had to do that. He was bound
by the law to do it. And so all his religion existed
around bondage to that law. Even if he didn't want to, he
had to serve that high priest. He had to do it. The regard that
so many so-called Christians have in our day, brethren, and
they reveal it in their acts that they perform in the message
that they preach, and in the manner in which and the motive
behind why they give what they give and do what they do. It's
manifest by their own words, by what they preach and the message
they'll set under. But the regard that so many so-called
Christians have for Christ is no more than that of a man. Do
you hear what I said? The regard that so many have
for Christ is no more than what Barnabas had towards that high
priest when he served him under the law. He was just serving
a man because he had to. And folks will go through the
routines of religion, calling on Jesus, claiming to serve this
one because they think they're obligated to if they want to
escape hell. This is how you've got to do
it. I like what Brother Jotaro says.
He said, I won't say it, never mind. But now in newness of spirit,
Barnabas served Christ his high priest in spirit and truth. Not
because he was under the law, but because the love of Christ
for him constrained him. He bowed to Christ and because
he wanted to, because he trusted the faith of Christ as his complete
salvation. His faith laid hold of the faith
of Christ. He saw Christ now as He is. And that was all his rejoicing.
He wasn't looking at Scripture now and going, well, now, according
to the letter, this is what this said. He had a spiritual understanding
now. All his theology was lined up
with the fact that God's first and foremost purpose is to glorify
His Son. The righteousness of God is manifest
by the faith of His Son. The Gospel is the Gospel of Christ,
for therein is the righteousness of God revealed. From faith,
from that faith that is unto all his elect and upon all them
that believe. It's from him to you. It's from faith to faith. For
the just shall live by faith. Those that he justified. They're
going to live by his faith, by the faith that he exercised,
the faithfulness he exercised in justifying them, and their
faith lays hold on him, on that, on his righteousness, his person
and his finished work. Before, Barnabas served in earthly
tabernacle, kept the vessels in the congregation because the
law bound him to it. Didn't his same legal bondage
prevail among those in the early church? All right, we'll see Ananias
and Sapphira. They did what they did out of
hypocrisy. They did what they did trying
to serve in the letter of the law and out of a covetousness
for the glory of God, for the glory of Christ, for the glory
that was bestowed upon Barnabas, for the glory that their brethren
bestowed upon Barnabas for this kind act. That's all they wanted. And it's the same today. But
Barnabas was this way because before Christ came into his heart,
he didn't hear what the law was teaching him. He didn't see the
beauty of that law. But when Christ came, when faith
came, now then, what the law couldn't teach us, what the law
couldn't show us because the law could only teach us We're
guilty, and the law can only teach us that, show us in shadows
and figures and types, Christ. But when Christ comes, now we
behold that picture in the very image of the things. But now,
having been made alive in spirit, Barnabas left the temple. He
left National Israel. He left them. Left them behind. And he came to Christ, the true
high priest, and he came to the Lord's true Israel, his people,
his brethren. And he manifested in such a way
to show that I ain't going back. I'm not going back. I'm sold
out. This thing is true. Christ is all my righteousness.
I'm going to lay down my life for Him. Laying down my life
for my brethren because that's what he did for me And every
blunt believer on the sound of my voice knows this is the case
because Barnabas With Barnabas because it was a case with us
and if it hadn't been the case with us Well, I called an election
shirt bathroom Because God opened our eyes and
turned us from darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto
God, that we might receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among
them which are sanctified by faith that is in Christ. Now
look here thirdly with me. Numbers 18. What made Barnabas and what makes a sinner
so in love with Christ and so incredibly
sure and persuaded that everything will be perfectly fine with His
eternal salvation. What makes a sinner who understands
that, what makes him totally give himself for the good of
God's people, for the good of Christ's sheep. What makes him
do that so much so that he'll do what Barnabas did right here
and sell a piece of land and take that price of that land
and bring it and not tell folks what they ought to do with it,
but bring it and lay it down at defeat of apostles. You get
the gist of it. This is a Levite, a man whom
the law said had every right and privilege of the Levitical
priesthood according to the law, who had everybody bringing everything
to him and serving him and serving his flesh. But when Christ came,
he says, I don't want to have anything else to do with that
because I see now who that law is fulfilled in. And this man
that he sent, he's God's messenger. I'm not his messenger, Barnabas
said. And I'm going to take this and lay it down at his feet.
And his messengers didn't say, come and put it in my hands either.
His messengers said, put it down here at our feet. We don't want
you putting it in our heart, in our bosom. Just put it here
on the ground. Later on we'll distribute it.
That's not our care. Our care is you, Barnabas. That's
our concern. And our concern is you because
Christ is our concern. Now look here, what will make
a man do that? Numbers 18, verse 20. And the Lord spake unto Aaron,
Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt
thou have any part among them. I am thy part and thine inheritance
among the children of Israel. As this Aaron, the high priest,
you know he's a picture of Christ. And as much as Christ Jesus had
no part or inheritance with this world, amongst this world, and
the things that the flesh lusts after, as much as the Lord God
of glory is His inheritance, that's how much He's the inheritance
of His people. Look here with me now. Look down
at verse 23. And the Levites are but the Levites. shall do the service of the tabernacle
of the congregation. Now this is talking about Aaron's
brethren, the Levites. And they shall bear their iniquity.
And it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations that
among the children of Israel, among the children of Israel,
they have no inheritance. Do you have an inheritance here?
You might have something that your father is leaving you, you
children. But is your inheritance really here? Our inheritance is in glory.
Our inheritance is with God. Now look here now. With the tithes
of the children of Israel, how are they going to get by then
if their inheritance is not here on this earth? How are they going
to get by? How are they going to live? They've got to live.
We've got to go until the day appointed when we'll die. But
the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as a
heave offering unto the Lord, I have given to the Levites to
inherit." Who gave it? God said, I gave it to them.
I made every provision for them. Therefore, I have said unto them,
among the children of Israel, they shall have no inheritance.
None. Look over at Numbers 35. Numbers
35. He separated them to serve Christ
the High Priest. And because Christ Jesus the
Lord's inheritance is God Almighty and His people, brethren, by
the same token, the Lord said to His people, the Levites, that
He separated to serve Him, He said, your inheritance is not
of this world. I'll give you all the food. that
you need. I'll provide it for you." That's
what he showed right there in Numbers 18. Now in Numbers 35,
the Lord spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan
near Jericho saying, Command the children of Israel that they
give unto the Levites of the inheritance of their possession
cities to dwell in. He didn't just give them food,
provide food for them. He gave them whole cities. Give
them cities to dwell in, and you shall give also unto the
Levite suburbs for the cities round about them. And the cities
shall they have to dwell in, and the suburbs of them shall
be for their cattle, and for their goods, and for all their
beefs. And the suburbs of the cities which ye shall give unto
the Levites shall reach from the wall of the city and outward
a thousand cubits round about." Listen to how exact the Lord's
purpose is to provide for these Levites. Listen to how exact
it is now. He gives them the measurements of exactly how big
these suburbs will be. thousand cubits roundabout and
he shall measure from without the city on the east side 2,000
cubits and on the south side 2,000 cubits and on the west
side 2,000 cubits and on the north side 2,000 cubits and the
city shall be in the midst and This shall be to them the suburbs
of the city And among the cities which you shall give unto the
Levites." You see, brethren, in the exactness of it, we can
see, brethren, how that God exacts everything, predestinated us
in all ways. And these Levites are not a picture
right here of His people as much as they are in a way. But they're also a type of Him
choosing people out from among this world and using this world,
just like He used the children of Israel to provide for His
brethren. You notice, we're going to come
here in the next chapter, we're going to see that Ananias and
Sapphira did something and were killed for what they did. And
God taught the church through it. The manifold lessons taught
through it. But the money that they brought
from selling that land, from selling that possession they
had, It went to the church. The Lord used even the rebellion
of Ananias and Sapphira and their hypocrisy to provide for his
people. That's what the Lord's teaching
you and me who've been made a Levite unto him spiritually. He separated
unto our high priest. If we've heard Christ our High
Priest speak, we know, brethren, our eternal salvation is totally
secure and exact by what He's done, and so is everything in
this earth. Everything. In order that you
and I not have any worldly care whatsoever, God does in the heart
of a sinner what He did in the heart of Barnabas, to see that
everything He has, in his possession is common with all his other
brethren because it came from his God. It came from the One
who created it and made it for the glory of His Son. And so
when he saw one of his brethren had need, he didn't hoard away
his possession that he had because he said, God gave this to me,
I'm going to give it to help them. Do you see that? And look here, in among the cities
which you shall give unto the Levites, verse 6, there shall
be six cities for refuge. You know why the Lord calls out
these Levites, and you know why He gave them these six cities?
It was so that the manslayer who had slain somebody could
flee thither, and he could go to those cities and be spared.
You know why the Lord Jesus Christ is pleased to call out His sheep?
And why God is pleased to separate you in Christ the High Priest?
And why He's pleased to call you out and give you this heart
to serve like He gave Barnabas? You know why? So that you have,
you're a city of refuge. Together in this place, this
is a city of refuge. But every one of us individually
that's saved by His grace are a city of refuge where when a
man realizes that he's sinned against God, he can flee to you
and you're somebody God will use to tell him the truth and
point him to Christ and say, here's your refuge. Here's your
refuge. That's what those cities of refuge
are all about, about Christ and the glory of Christ, but that
His people are one with Him, brethren. And just as He is,
so are we. He gives us that heart that He
gave Barnabas. And so all the cities which you
shall give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities. And them
shall ye give with their suburbs, and the cities which ye shall
give shall be of the possession of the children of Israel. From
them that have many ye shall give many, but from them that
have few ye shall give few. Everyone shall give of his cities
unto the Levites according to his inheritance which he inherited."
Now, Leviticus 25.32. Leviticus 25. It holds its place
there. And the law of the Lord God,
He made every provision to sustain and keep His priests. He gave
them everything they needed to eat and live and survive. He
gave them cities to live in. He gave them lands to graze the
cattle on. And then they even had greater
privileges than anyone else in Israel when it came to the law
of Jubilee. That year when the trumpet was sounded and every
man's debts were forgiven and his land was restored. They had
greater privileges than everybody else in that law too. Look here in verse 32. The cities
of the Levites and the houses of the cities of their possession
may the Levites redeem at any time. They didn't have to go
by the other restraints that was on the rest of Israel where
they only had a year to redeem. They could redeem it at any time.
And if a man purchases of the Levites, if he makes a purchase
of the Levites, then the house that was sold and the city of
his possession shall go out in the year of Jubilee. For the
houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the
children of Israel. But the field of the suburbs
of their cities may not be sold, for it's their perpetual possession." This perpetual possession, brethren, This land that was given to typify the true perpetual
possession. This land is what Barnabas sold. Because he saw that land is not
my perpetual possession. That law is telling me my God
is my perpetual possession. And I have everything in Him. He separated me and put me in
Him. He's given me as a gift to His
Son. And His Son has given His life
for me. Laid down His life for me. Sent
forth the Spirit and purged me from dead works to serve Him.
And not only that, but He's provided me with a city whose builder
and maker is God. He's provided me with a country
that is the country of love, that is the country of His habitation,
wherein dwelleth righteousness and true holiness. And He's given
me all temporal provision. He's given me everything that
I have. Do you think Barnabas would have
had this thought in his mind? Have you ever had this thought?
You mean to tell me all this time that I have been esteeming
myself so highly as to think that I was walking righteously
before this law that God gave, and yet I never, ever saw the
One in whom this law ended. You mean to tell me that even
then, because He loved me and separated me and hallowed me
from eternity in Him, in His Son, He didn't destroy me for
all my self-righteousness even then. And Barnabas says, I'm going
to take this possession and sell it because I have my true field
now. I've got the riches of God's
grace now. Everything that He's given is
mine, and I know it's mine. And He's given me brethren that
I didn't know I had. These are my true Levite brethren. Brethren, the scripture says,
if you're children, then you're heirs, heirs of God and joint
heirs with Christ. If so be that we suffer with
him that we may also be glorified together. The Lord is the inheritance
of his people. And our Lord is our inheritance. And the spiritual lesson taught
in the law of Jubilee. is the lesson taught here and
everything that God does in providing for us in Christ Jesus. Here's the law. Here's the lesson. Look at Leviticus 25.17. You shall not, therefore, oppress
one another. The law is oppressive. Bondage
is oppressive. These poor folks that are sitting
around and people are They're making it out to be like
there's something in it. They're glorifying the flesh. They're feeding the flesh. They're
making people glory in the flesh. And it's all oppression by preaching
what man ought to be doing or ought not to be doing instead
of preaching what Christ has done, which makes a man do what
Barnabas did right here. But here's what this law says.
Don't oppress one another anymore. But, here's what you should do,
and here's what preaching the law is not doing. Thou shalt
fear thy God, for I am the Lord your God. Wherefore, ye should
do my statutes. What was his statute here that
he gave? When Barnabas said, I believe the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's all my hope and all my stay. And I love his brethren as myself.
And he said that by manifesting it in his life by bringing that
land and selling it and bringing the price thereof and giving
it to his people. When he said that, that's the first day that
he began to see what it is to do God's statutes and keep his
judgments and dwell in the land in safety. That's the first day
he ever beheld it. And the Lord said this, is governed to glorify His Son,
and saving His people glorifies His Son, and making His people
walk honorably before Him glorifies His Son. He says, therefore,
I'm going to provide everything for you so that there will not
be any hindrance from you glorifying My Son. In verse 19, He says,
and the land shall yield her fruit, and you shall eat your
field and dwell therein in safety. And the greater significance
is to it, brethren, is that that's eternal glory. That's where we're
going. If you trust Him, if you know
Him, that's where we're headed, to be with Him forever. So in
our text there, look back there with me, Acts chapter 4, Barnabas,
he heard the the word of the Son of Consolation, Christ the
Lord. And it made Him a Son of Comfort
to preach the Gospel to His people. And this Levites, having land,
sold it, brought the money and laid it at the Apostles' feet. I can hear the Pharisees flying
through the law to condemn Barnabas the Levite. Oh, but Barnabas,
the law says Levites are not to exchange their land with anybody
but their Levite brethren. That land is supposed to be a
perpetual possession of you. You're not supposed to give it
to anybody. If you want to honor God and bless God and serve God,
you ought to not be doing that. The scripture gives no account
of any of the apostles coercing Barnabas with the law to make
him lose his life. And by that I mean what he manifested
in selling his property. No man bribed him with special
rewards in heaven to make him give himself for the edification
of his brethren. If they had, and if he would
have done it for that reason, it would have been the same hypocrisy
with which Ananias and Sapphira came. And God won't have it.
He won't have it. Nothing but the love of Christ,
for such a lawless rebel as Barnabas now saw himself, who can make
a sinner submit to Christ and lay down his life for his brethren.
That's it. That's it. And so Barnabas answers
these Pharisees, I can just hear him answering them, saying, Christ,
my high priest, has freed me from the law. He's the end of
the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. He is
the image of the shadows and types of God's law. And therefore,
I'm doing exactly what He told me to do in His law. I'm giving
my possession. I'm exchanging my possession.
I'm not selling it. I'm just exchanging it. I'm just,
that which is common with my God and me is common with them,
because it's His. I'm just exchanging it with them,
and they're my Levite brethren. That's what I'm doing. They're
true Levites. They're spiritual Levites, and I'm just sharing
what I got with them. That's it. You see that? Peter's going to ask Ananias
here in the fourth chapter. He's going to say, when you had
that which you had, wasn't it your own? When you sold it, wasn't
the money your own? You could do with it whatever
you want to. The hypocrisy wasn't in that
they, it says they sold a possession, and it says here that Barnabas
sold a piece of land. I don't know what possession
it was. Generally possessions bring a little less money than
land does. But, regardless of the matter,
the point of being is, it's not that they didn't, if they didn't
bring as much as what Barnabas brought, that's not what made
them hypocritical. And the fact that they just gave
some of it and didn't give all of it, that's not what made them
hypocritical. When you've been freed, and you
know you've been freed, you know, brethren, that you can serve
the Lord in the manner in which God has the measure of grace
with which He's given you to serve Him. And it's accepted
of God because you trust in His Son. You're not looking to what
you do or don't do. But the hypocrisy was, is they
saw that glory that Barnabas had bestowed upon him from the
people in thanking him. They heard those praises going
up to God and glorifying God for their subjection to the Gospel
and for God blessing them with the substance to provide for
the brethren. And they wanted that glory. That's
what they want. That's where the hypocrisy is.
In every situation, brethren, that's where our hypocrisy is.
We want the glory that belongs to God alone. Well, has the Lord
written His law in your heart? If He has, then meditate upon
this thought right here. And I'll end with this. The love
with which God has toward His Son and the preeminent concern
with which God has toward His Son is the same love and preeminent
concern He has toward you. He has passed the rights to His
throne, to His firstborn, Jesus Christ the Lord. He said, I'll
make Him my firstborn higher than the kings of the earth.
And He's done that. And if He's made Christ your King, priest,
you're a true Levite. You are a Levite, just like Barnabas
was. Barnabas and the people around
him thought he was a Levite before. But when God worked a work of
grace in his heart, he revealed, according to God, he was a true
Levite. He was a Levite. And the light
of every spiritual Levite is to willingly give everything. Because God gave his Son. And his Son gave everything for
us. And everything we've been given
into our hands and at our disposal, brethren, is to be used for Him to bring
out His sheep out of this world to behold that very thing. That's
why we have everything we have in this life is to be used for
that chief end. Because that's the end for which
God made it was to glorify the son of his love. All right.