Acts chapter 4, and let's read
two verses, verse 36 and verse 37 of Acts chapter 4. Joseph,
who by the apostles was named, surnamed Barnabas, which is being
interpreted the son of consolation. He was a Levite, the country
of Cyprus, having land which is unusual for a Levite, having
land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles'
feet. Now, I'm taking the title from
verse 36, Barnabas, Barnabas, the son of consolation. His name
by birth was Josie, or some say could be rendered Joseph, but
the apostles gave him a special name, sort of like we would say
a nickname. They gave him a special name,
Barnabas, which means son of comfort or one who was prone
to exhort or exhortation. or son of encouragement by which
he is known in scripture. Barnabas, son of consolation,
he's mentioned in scripture 28 times, 24 times he's mentioned
here in the book of Acts. He plays a very prominent role
In the early days of the church, he went preaching with the Apostle
Paul. He was a preaching companion
with Paul for about 14 years, best I can calculate. He was
a faithful companion to Paul. an able minister of the gospel,
a preacher of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was a man
that was full of the Spirit of God and clearly and plainly stood
for the gospel and preached the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now you remember so far in our
story HOW THE APOSTLES HAD BEEN PERSECUTED FOR PREACHING THE
GOSPEL. THEY WERE THREATENED AND EVEN COMMANDED NOT TO SPEAK
AGAIN IN HIS NAME. YOU REMEMBER BACK IN THIS SAME
CHAPTER, VERSE 18, THEY CALLED THEM, COMMANDED THEM NOT TO SPEAK
AT ALL NOR TEACH IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. THEY WERE VERY bold to keep preaching
the gospel even though they were threatened never to mention that
name again. But when they were threatened
and commanded not to preach the gospel they went home to their
church family THEY WENT HOME TO THEIR CHURCH FAMILY, AND THEY
PRAYED TOGETHER. NOTICE VERSE 24, ACTS 4, 24,
WHEN THEY HEARD THAT, THEY LIFTED UP THEIR VOICE TO GOD WITH ONE
ACCORD. WHEN THEY HEARD HOW THEY WERE PERSECUTED AND SAID, LORD,
THOU ART GOD WHICH MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH. the seed and all that
therein is. So when they were persecuted
and when they were in need and in trouble, they prayed to the
Lord for direction and for GUIDANCE AND WISDOM. REMEMBER ALSO IN
THE LORD'S MERCY AND IN THE LORD DEALING WITH THESE PEOPLE HOW
HE WORKED GRACE AND LOVE IN THEM AND HOW THEY SOLD OUT EVERYTHING
THEY POSSESSED AND PUT ALL THINGS IN THE COMMON STOREHOUSE TO MEET
THE NEEDS OF EVERY BELIEVER. Now, should we do that today?
No. This was a special thing that
God had them do in that day. This was a special occasion for
the church at that time because of the imminent destruction and
the pending destruction that God said would come on this city
of Jerusalem and on this nation. GOD WAS PREPARING A HURRICANE
OF PERSECUTION AND DESTRUCTION WAS COMING UPON THIS CITY AND
THE LORD WAS PREPARING THEM FOR THAT PENDING DOOM. LIKE THE PEOPLE,
DID YOU NOTICE WHEN THAT HURRICANE DORIAN WAS APPROACHING THIS COUNTRY
HOW EVERYBODY SCURRIED AROUND AND THEY TOOK GREAT PAIN AND
GREAT CARE TO DO WHAT? TO PREPARE FOR THE STORM. THAT'S WHAT GOD WAS DOING HERE,
PREPARING THEM FOR THE STORM. BUT THINK ABOUT THIS. THE IMMINENT
RETURN OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST IS AT HAND. HE'S COMING BACK
SOON. AND NOBODY FOR THE MOST PART
IS PREPARING FOR HIS RETURN. NOW SOME HAVE BY HIS GRACE. BUT FOR THE MOST PART THEY SAY
WHERE IS THE PROMISE OF HIS COMING? EVERYTHING'S REMAINED JUST AS
IT IS. WE DON'T SEE ANY PROBLEM. We're
gonna eat, drink, and be merry. We're not gonna worry about anything.
They're not making any preparation for the imminent storm of God's
wrath. Everyone in our day, especially
the, what I call the environmental crowd, or I could get a little
bit plainer with you, but I won't, but the environmental people
are all up in arms over this global warming thing. They're
gonna get prepared for this global warming thing. Someone even went
so far as to say that the city of Miami will no longer be in
a few years, it's gonna be underwater. But nobody's concerned about
global burning. You think they'd be a little
bit concerned about global burning? What are you talking about, preacher?
Here's what Peter said, 2 Peter 3. The day of the Lord will come
as a thief in the night, when the heavens shall pass away with
a great noise, and the elements shall melt with a fervent heat,
THAT'S GLOBAL WARMING. YEAH, I BELIEVE IN GLOBAL BURNING,
NOT WARMING. dwelleth righteousness." Won't
that be a great day? But notice carefully verse 36
and verse 37 in our text for a moment. Barnabas, Barnabas. We see one specific example of
the Lord's great grace that was upon them, that was upon the
believers there in Jerusalem and as we shall see, that he
not only believed he was saved by the grace of God, that is
referring to Barnabas, a specific example God gives us is the grace
of God that was manifested in his heart. He was also saved
by the grace of God, but he was also gracious and generous and
gave to the cause of the furtherance of the gospel. What did he give
up? What did he sell out? Everything he had. LIQUIDATED
ALL OF HIS ASSETS, BROUGHT IT TO THE FEET OF THE APOSTLES,
AND SAID, USE THIS FOR THE LORD'S PEOPLE, FOR THEIR GOOD. WHY DID
HE DO THAT? WELL, THE LAW OF MOSES COMMANDED
TEN PERCENT. THE LAW OF GOD'S LOVE DEMANDS
ONE HUNDRED PERCENT. HE GIVES EVERYTHING TO THE LORD.
YOU SEE, EVERYTHING WE HAVE IS HIS. We submit it all to his
care and his keeping. He did so, that is born of us,
did so out of love for the Lord, our God, by the grace of God. The love of Christ constrains
us, does it not? Believers give, not out of law,
believers give out of love. We support the ministry here.
out of love, not out of, gotta give my 10%. Don't give it. If you can't give in love, put
it in your pocket and keep it, and buy you some ice cream this
afternoon or something. God people give out of love.
They give because they want to. They give because they want to
see the furtherance of the gospel, to support the gospel in whatever
way that we can. Now, having said that, THERE'S
FIVE OR SIX THINGS I WANT TO SEE HERE. I WANT US TO SEE TOGETHER
IN THIS MAN HOW GOD USED THIS MAN BARNABAS. JOSEPH WAS HIS
NAME BY BIRTH. THE APOSTLES NAMED HIM BARNABAS. HE WAS THE SON OF GOD BY GOD'S
ELECTING CHOICE. BARNABAS DIDN'T MAKE THE CHOICE,
GOD CHOSE HIM. Our Lord said, you didn't choose
me, but I have chosen you. It is true. God has a people
that he has elected unto salvation. And that election took place.
God's choice took place way back yonder in what the old timers
used to say, the council halls of eternity. God's path from
the beginning chosen you unto salvation. Now this is true,
not only of Barnabas, this is true of you. If you're a believer,
that's true of everyone that believes the gospel. We only
believe because we've been born of God. We do not believe to
be born of God. We only believe because God has
given us life in Christ. Now a lot of people believe.
I ran into a man in the parking lot. up in Williamson, West Virginia
on Wednesday. It was real hot. I parked my
truck, went outside, and I didn't have enough change for the parking
meter, the right change. So I saw a man sitting in a truck,
and I asked him if he had some quarters. I told him I'd take
my nickels and my dimes and pay enough so I could put some money
in the parking meter, wouldn't get a ticket. He says, sure,
I got some money. I'll give it to you. And I said,
well, I'm gonna give you some money. So I got those two quarters,
and I put them in that parking meter, and the conversation turned
to the gospel of God's grace. And he said, oh, I'm a preacher.
I'm a generous man. I'm a preacher. I'm a pastor.
And I said, really? You are? I said, I am too. He said, well, that's good, is
it not? And then, you know, I had to
ask him, where he went to services, and where he was a pastor, and
he told me. And I said, you believe then
that Christ died for all the sins of all men without exception?
He said, oh, most definitely. Most definitely. And of course,
my follow-up question was this, is there anybody in hell for
whom Christ died? Oh, well, hmm. Never thought
about that. He said he died for all men,
and then men have to believe, and then that atonement's effectual.
Oh, that means the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ depends
upon your faith. Oh, that's not what I'm saying.
That's exactly what you're saying. And here's the point I tried
to make with the deer. I called him brother. He's my
brother in Adam or my brother in Christ, but one way or the
other, he needs help. He told me he'd been a preacher
for 50 years and doesn't know, doesn't have a clue what the
gospel is. I gave him one of my cards and
told him to listen to our radio program. Maybe God will do something
for him, I don't know. But here's what I tried to emphasize. We do not believe the gospel
to be born of God or believe the gospel to be forgiven. We
only believe because we have been forgiven. WE ONLY BELIEVE
BECAUSE GOD HAS PUT AWAY OUR SIN BY THE SACRIFICE OF HIMSELF. WE BELIEVE ACCORDING TO THE WORKING
OF HIS MIGHTY POWER. WHOSOEVER BELIEVES THAT JESUS
IS THE CHRIST, HE IS BORN OF GOD. THAT'S THE REASON ANY MAN
BELIEVES. THAT'S THE REASON THAT BARNABAS
BELIEVED CHRIST WAS BECAUSE GOD GAVE HIM LIFE. Now, if you'll turn to John chapter
one, let me show you this. John chapter one, I tried to
help, I tried to help this man. He was older than me and needed
help. And I stood there in a hundred
degree heat and preached the gospel to him for 30 minutes
the best I could. John chapter 1, he came unto
his own, his own received him not, but as many, verse 12, as
received him, to them gave he power, right to become sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name, ah, you gotta receive
him, you gotta believe on his name, don't end there. Most people end there. There's
not even a period there, is there? Which were born, not of the blood,
not of blood, family inheritance, nor the will of flesh, nor the
will of man, We're born of God, that's the reason you believe.
As many as were ordained to eternal life, they believe the gospel.
By Barnabas, his first birth, he was born a natural Jew, born
into the natural kingdom of Israel. By his second birth, he was born
into the family of God, the kingdom of heaven, and made a new creature
in Christ. That is true of everyone who
believes the gospel. WE ONLY BELIEVE ACCORDING TO
HIS MIGHTY WORKING RESURRECTION POWER IN US. BARNABAS WAS A CHOSEN
SON OF GOD. HE WAS A SON OF CONSOLATION,
READ IT THIS WAY, SON OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. BEHOLD WHAT
MANNER OF LOVE THE FATHER HAS BESTOWED UPON US THAT WE SHOULD
BE CALLED SONS OF GOD. SECOND POINT IS THIS. By his
natural heritage, he was of the tribe, it says there, of Levi. He was a Levite. Now, we know
from studying the scripture that the tribe of Levi was the priestly
tribe. You remember Jacob had 12 sons? Levi was one of those sons. God
designated that tribe as the priestly tribe. Those people
were set up, by the Lord our God during the days of the Levitical
priesthood to offer up animal sacrifices to the Lord, which
we know the blood of bulls and goats cannot put away sin. that
by the grace of God, this man Barnabas, by the will and purpose
of God, he counted all that he had as dung and turned his back
on his Jewish heritage and became an heir of God and a joint heir
with the Lord Jesus Christ. He now has an inheritance that's
incorruptible, undefiled, that He was of the country of Cyprus.
Cyprus. Even though he was a born Jew
in the tribe of Levi, this country, Cyprus, was an island in the
Mediterranean Sea, best I can figure, two or three hundred
miles west of Jerusalem. Out in the Mediterranean Sea
is this island known today even the same name, Cyprus. Cyprus out there two, 300 miles
away, Jerusalem way over here yonder, you couldn't jump on
a 747 or a 777. He had to get on a boat, sail
all the way to Jerusalem, and that is where he ran into the
gospel. Now, the point I'm trying to
make is this. How did he end up from Cyprus
to Jerusalem. He probably went there for a
reason or an errand, maybe to visit, yet by the good and sovereign
providence of God, he came to Jerusalem. Maybe he went there
on the day of Pentecost, as a Jew would do, to observe the Pentecostal
feast. And when he went there, do you
know who he heard? Peter and John preached the gospel. By the good and sovereign providence
of God, he came to Jerusalem, heard Peter and John preach the
gospel, and he was one of those that the Lord added daily to
the church, such as should be saved. THE LORD GRANTED HIM FAITH
IN CHRIST AND REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD. LOOK BACK AT VERSE 4, ACTS
CHAPTER 4, VERSE 4, HOW BE IT MANY OF THEM WHICH HEARD THE
WORD BELIEVED, AND THE NUMBER OF THEM WAS ABOUT FIVE THOUSAND
MEN. BARNABAS WAS ONE OF THEM. THE
LORD TELLS US A LOT ABOUT BARNABAS, HOW THE LORD CALLED HIM AND SAVED
HIM. THE LORD OUR GOD WILL CALL OUT
HIS PEOPLE WITH THE GOSPEL. Barnabas had to leave Cyprus.
There was no gospel there. He had to leave that Jewish heritage,
no gospel there. And he went all the way to Jerusalem
and God sent him a gospel preacher. The Lord will call out his people
with the gospel. Now listen to me. you know you
who believe the gospel know this is so he arranges all the affairs
of our life to bring us to hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ all the affairs of our whole life he arranges all these
things to bring us to hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the reason why, it pleased
God by the foolishest of preaching to save them that believe of
his own will, begat he us with the word of truth. Faith comes
by hearing and hearing by the word, the living word, the Lord
Jesus Christ. One more interesting note here
on this point about Barnabas being from Cyprus. On his first
missionary journey with the Apostle Paul, hold your place here and
find Acts chapter 13. When Paul and Barnabas were in
the church here in Antioch, Acts chapter 13, verse two, as
they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said,
separate me, Barnabas and Saul, for the work weren't to have
called them, And when they had fasted and prayed and laid their
hands on them, they sent them away. So being sent forth and
being, and so they being sent forth by the Holy Spirit departed
from Seleucia and then sailed to, uh-oh, Cyprus. And when they
were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogue
of the Jews, and they had also to their ministry John, or John
Mark, which I believe was Barnabas' nephew. Now, preacher, what do
you see in all that? That's what I see. You remember
what the Lord told that wild Gadarene when God saved him,
and that wild Gadarene wanted to go with the Lord? And the
Lord said, you go home to your family and you tell them how
great things the Lord had done for you. When God saved Barnabas,
he wanted his country of Cyprus and his family and those that
he had been with in that Jewish synagogue HE WANTED THEM TO HEAR
THE GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD. AND GOD, IT WAS GOD'S WILL FOR
PAUL, SAUL, TARSUS, PAUL THE APOSTLE, AND FOR BARNABAS TO
SAIL BACK TO CYPRUS AND THERE THEY PREACHED THE GOSPEL. I'M
SURE THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT BARNABAS DID. WELL, IF YOU'LL FIND ACTS
CHAPTER 11, VERSE 22, ACTS CHAPTER 11, Verse 22, Then tidings of these
things came into the ears of the church, which is in Jerusalem. And they sent forth Barnabas,
that he should go as far as Antioch, who, when he came, had seen the
grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all with the purpose of
heart that they should cleave to the Lord. And he was a good
man, full of the Holy Ghost, and of faith, AND MUCH PEOPLE
WERE ADDED TO THE CHURCH THROUGH HIS MINISTRY. HE WAS A MAN FULL
OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. THOSE WHO ARE FULL OF THE HOLY
SPIRIT, THEY BOLDLY SPEAK THE WORD OF THE LORD, THE GOSPEL
OF GOD'S GRACE. NOW, HERE'S THE FOURTH THING
WE SEE, VERSE 37 IN ACTS 4, HAVING LAND, HE SOLD IT, BROUGHT THE
MONEY, and laid it at the apostles' feet. He sold out everything,
even his land, which was unusual for the tribe of Levi, because
they were not originally given land like all the other tribes.
Remember when we studied for the book of Joshua? The Levitical
tribe had no land granted to them because they were to minister
in the temple and to live off of the remaining parts of those
sacrifices. But he sold everything he had,
even his land, and gave it all to the apostles
and laid it at their feet. He looked for that city whose
builder and maker is God. He sold out everything. trusted
the Lord, looked to the Lord for everything. And that is true
of what every believer does as well. We sell out everything. I don't mean what we have physically,
but those things that one time we thought meant something to
us spiritually, we say with Paul, we count them all dung, ruined,
and lost, that we may win Christ and be found in him. We've sold out everything, and
we've laid it at the apostle's feet, and said, Lord, meet our
every need, and he does. Remember what we read in Hebrews
3, consider the apostle, the great apostle, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And believers have submitted
all, all of their salvation, all of our keeping unto him.
Now, this is not all we hear about Barnabas. Turn over here
to Acts chapter 9. When he heard about the conversion
of Saul of Tarsus, he sought him out and introduced him to
the apostle. Look at Acts chapter 9. you see
how God worked grace, much grace in his heart. You remember great
grace was upon them. In Acts chapter 9, We see that
in verse 20 that Saul of Tarsus, after his conversion, he now
is preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's now preaching
the one that he at one time hated. Now look at verse 23, Acts 9. And after that many days were
fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him, that is Saul of
Tarsus, but their lying await was known of Saul, and they watched
the gates day and night to kill him. Then the disciples took
him by night and led him down by the wall in a basket. And
when Saul was come to Jerusalem, now remember he was well known
in Jerusalem. He was a Pharisee of Pharisees
there in Jerusalem. But when he came back a converted
man, Paul the Apostle, when Saul was come back to Jerusalem, he
is saved to join himself to the disciples, but they were all
afraid of him. Remember, he wanted to put them
all in jail. And believe not that he was a
disciple. They were very suspicious. They
thought this is a scam. Saul of Tarsus now he comes back
and said he's a lover of the Lord Jesus Christ not many days
ago he said he hated the Lord Jesus Christ now look what happened
verse 27 Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and
declared unto them how he had seen the lord in the way and
that he had spoken to him and how he preached boldly at damascus
in the name of the lord jesus christ so barnabas interceded
for paul sol of tarsus and introduced him to the church there at Jerusalem. Very interesting, is it not?
We know also that Paul and Barnabas were sent to or from, they were
sent to Jerusalem to receive instruction from, for the apostles,
from the apostles on the question of circumcision for the Gentiles,
considering should the Gentiles be circumcised. Look at Acts
chapter 15. Paul and Barnabas were sent to Jerusalem to receive
instruction about this question of circumcision, Acts 15, 1. And certain men, which came down
from Judea, taught their brethren and said, except you be circumcised
after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved. When therefore
Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension or disputation with
them, they determined that Barnabas, Paul and Barnabas, and certain
others of them should go up to Jerusalem about this question. The bottom line, Peter said,
verse 11, Acts 15, we believe through the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ, we shall be saved as others. Now, That's five things
about Barnabas that we see that's taught in the book of Acts. But
I want to go back to Galatians chapter two a minute, just for
a minute. Barnabas, let us never forget,
even though a son of God, a son of consolation, one who exhorted
and preached the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, Barnabas,
like Peter, like Paul, was a sinner Saved by the grace of God now
in Galatians chapter 2 When Peter was come to Antioch I Was stood
into the face because he was to be blamed verse 11 For before
that certain came from James that he did eat with the Gentiles
but when they were come he withdrew and separated himself fearing
them of the circumcision the Jews and And the other Jews dissembled
likewise with him, insomuch as Barnabas also was carried away
with that dissimulation. And Paul rebuked both of them
because they got confused for a moment about how God saves
sinners in Christ only. The point I'm making is this.
Paul, Barnabas, and Peter were all sinners saved by the grace
of God. Salvation is for weak, frail,
guilty sinners. The Lord came to save sinners. The best of men are only men
at best. Christ died for the ungodly.
We read in the book of James, Elijah was a man of like passion
as we are. The Lord our God doesn't seek
to hide the failures of his saints, but rather he exposes them to
magnify his grace. Now, why didn't he just leave
that part off about Peter and Barnabas getting caught up with
that thing of circumcision where Paul had to straighten them out?
Why didn't God just cover that up? Well, to show us that salvation's
all of grace. Now, let me give you some examples
of this, how the Lord exposes the sin of his choice people. Noah built an ark to the saving
of his house, but after the floodwaters receded, he planted a vineyard
and got drunk. Abraham believed God that it
was imputed to him for righteousness, but he also tried to fulfill
God's promise by going into Hagar And that produced Ishmael. Well, we're still fighting that
battle. You ever wonder why Ishmael and Isaac are still fighting
over there? They're still fighting over there. Abraham sinned, but God imputed
righteousness to him. You see, salvation's all of grace.
David, King David, the man of God's own heart, yet committed
adultery, murder. Yet God used him in a mighty
way. You see, the point I'm making
is salvation depends totally upon the Lord Jesus Christ, not
our doing, not our faithfulness. Even Peter and Barnabas stumbled
and was rebuked by the Apostle Paul. And Paul said, knowing
that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by
the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus, Christ,
that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, not by the
works of the law, for by the works of the law shall no flesh
be justified. I quote this psalm often. Upon a life I did not live, upon
a death I did not die. Another's life, another's death,
I rest my hope eternally. Salvation is dependent, accomplished,
and applied by the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a very good
article in your bulletin by Pastor Mahan about salvation all in
Christ and of Christ. But in the middle part of that
article, something that he said, he quotes Brother Fortner. And
Brother Fortner actually used this quote Thursday night. And here's what the article says,
as Brother Fortner said, my relationship with the eternal God in Christ
does in a great measure determine what I do, but what I do, whether
good or bad, in no way determine my relationship with the eternal
God. Now did you get that? YOU SEE, IT'S ALL THAT ETERNAL
UNION WE HAVE WITH CHRIST. NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM
THE LOVE OF GOD WHICH IS IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. IT'S ALL OF
GRACE FROM ELECTION TO GLORIFICATION. GRACE, GRACE, GRACE, AND GRACE. OF HIS FULLNESS HAVE WE ALL RECEIVED
GRACE FOR GRACE. justified freely by his grace
to the redeeming blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That as sin
hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through
righteousness by Jesus Christ our Lord. Now may God be pleased
to do for us what he did for old Barnabas and Saul of Tarsus. Teach us the gospel and cause
us to look not here, I don't want to look in here. All I see
in here is sin. But look out of self unto Christ. He said, look unto me and be
you saved. All the ends of the earth, for
I am God and there is no other.