Back to the book of Acts, Acts
chapter 4. Acts chapter 4. It's amazing
to me how many times that we can read Scripture and re-read
Scripture and then re-read it again and again and then one
more time and then see things that we've never seen before.
And that's true of this portion of Scripture today. I see something here I've never
seen before, never noticed before, and I hope that I can relate
that to you this morning. Now, Acts chapter 4 verse 31,
And when they had prayed, they were praying under persecution
for the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, but they did not diminish
their worship did not diminish their praying unto God, their
consecration and dedication and addiction to the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And as they were praying and
bringing their burden unto the Lord, God spake with authority
and power. They were visibly shaken. The house began to move. The building began to shake.
and God answered their prayer. God heard their cry and God answered
their prayer and they were all, look what it says there, they
were all filled. Now some of them, all of them
were filled with the presence of the Spirit of God. And all
of them that were filled with the presence of the Spirit of
God, as all of believers are today, They're filled with the
presence of God the Holy Spirit that manifests the gifts of the
Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit in us. And I tell you what it
involved in being Christ, Christ being magnified and Christ being
glorified within us. When the Spirit of Truth has
come, He will lead you into all truth. He shall not speak of
Himself, but He shall take the things of Christ and show them
to you. He will glorify Me." Those who
are filled with the Spirit of God are filled with the glory
and the person of the Lord Jesus Christ in you, the hope of glory. And they speak the Word of God.
Those who are full of Christ full of the Spirit of God, full
of the gifts of the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit, cannot
but believe Christ, love Christ and worship Christ. And when
you love somebody, don't you love to speak of them? You grandparents,
you love to speak about your grandchildren, don't you? Why
do you do that? Because you love them. Have you
seen my picture of my grandbaby? Why don't you show those pictures?
You love them. You love to talk about those
to whom you're in love with. And the same is true with believers. Believers are in love with the
Lord Jesus Christ, and because they're in love with Him, filled
with His presence, they cannot but speak of Him. Him. They speak the Word of God with
boldness. Now, what is the essence of the
Word of God? Christ. He is the Word. Now, I want you
to find 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. 1 Corinthians
chapter 1. They spake the word of God with
boldness. With boldness. It says here in
1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse
1. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse
1. They spake the word of God with boldness. And I brethren,
verse 1. 2nd chapter. 1 Corinthians. Brethren, when I came to you,
came not with excellency of speech or wisdom, declaring unto you
the testimony of God. But I determined not to know
anything among you, said Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. And
I was with you in weakness and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching
was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration
of the Spirit and of power. that your faith should not stand
in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." Now, how do
we preach the gospel in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power? Tell
the truth about Christ from the Word of God. And that's exactly
what these did in the early church, the apostles. They prayed that
these apostles might speak the Word of God with boldness. God
answered that prayer, filled them with His presence, and they
spake the Word of God. with boldness, speaking of Christ
in plainness of speech. Now verse 32, and the multitude,
Acts 4, 32, and the multitude of them that believed were of
one heart, one soul, neither said any of them that ought that
the things which he possessed was his own, but they had all
things common. They were all filled with his
presence, they were all filled with the glory of Christ, They
were all, and they had all things together. They had all things
in common. Now, beginning here at verse
32, down through this chapter, we see the manifestation and
the evidences of the fruit of God's presence, the fruit of
the Holy Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, meekness,
temperance, gentleness, faith, these things. Now, here's the
first thing. You see it in verse 32? The fruit of the Spirit is
this, the multitude of them believed. The fruit of the Spirit is faith.
They believed, the multitude believed. Remember now, we're
talking about 8,000 people plus. These that were blessed to hear
God's Word, faith is a gift of God. Those who are born of God
believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were exposed
to the truth of God, and God the Holy Spirit took that seed
of life, the word of truth, and they were begotten by the Spirit
of God with the word of truth, and the fruit of that is faith
in Christ. whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. We believe the gospel. We have
faith because we have been given life from God. The multitude
of them that believed. Faith is the gift of God, not
the will of man. It doesn't come by the will of
man or the work of man or the merit of man. Faith is the gift
of God. We believe according to the working
of His mighty power. We're born again. Not by the
will of the flesh, not by the will of man. We're born again
by the will of God. We believe. And if you're a believer,
it's by God's will that you believe the gospel. Faith is a gift of
God. The multitude of them believe. Faith is the gift of God. That's
the first thing we see. Believing. You'll believe in
God's a miracle. Believing the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ is a miracle of God. The second thing we see
is this. All the multitude that believed,
these 8,000 plus people, they were of one heart and one soul.
They were knit together in love. They loved one another. They
were of one purpose, one heart, and made new creatures in Christ
Jesus. I want you to find Philippians
chapter 1. Philippians chapter 1. They were
made new creatures in Christ. They were in harmony together
with one purpose, one cause, one goal, one objective, one
heart, one soul. They were made one in Christ.
They continue together. Philippians chapter 1, Philippians
1 verse 27, I only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel
of Christ, that whether I come and see you or else be absent,
I may hear of your affairs, That you stand fast in one spirit,
with one mind, striving together for the faith, the one faith
of the gospel. That's true of God's people.
They are knit together in love in Christ Jesus. Remember back
in the book of Acts, chapter 1, turn over to verse 14. Acts
chapter 1, verse 14. That's how they started. They started with one accord.
They continued in one accord. one heart and one soul, one purpose,
one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Acts chapter 1 verse 14, these
all continued with one accord in prayer, supplication with
the women, Mary, the mother of Jesus, with his brethren. Now
turn over to chapter 2, chapter 2 verse 46, they continued in
one accord. Acts chapter 2 verse 36, and
they continuing daily with one accord in the temple, breaking
bread from house to house that their meat with gladness and
singleness of heart, praising God, having favor with all the
people. And the Lord added to the church
daily such as should be saved. They were of one heart. They
believed and they were all together. Now, here's thirdly. The third
thing we see is this in verse 32, Acts chapter 4. Here's the
third thing we see is this. They had all things common. They
had all things common, all things together. Not only things physical,
they had all things together, but they had all things in common
not only physically, but spiritually they had all things in common
together. Now what are we talking about
here? They had common faith. I want you to find Titus, the
book of Titus. They had common faith. Titus
chapter 1. Titus chapter 1, page 300 in
the Cambridge here, Titus chapter 1, Paul a servant of God, an
apostle of Jesus Christ, this is Titus 1.1. According to the faith of God's
elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness,
in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised
before the world began, but hath in due times manifested his word
through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment
of God our Savior to titus my own son after the common faith."
They had all things common. Common faith. They all looked
to the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation, grace, peace,
mercy and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
our Savior. They had common faith. They had
not only that, but common salvation. Turn over here to the book of
Jude. Jude. Only one chapter in Jude, right
before the revelation. Jude chapter 1, verse 1. Jude 1-1. Jude, the servant of
Jesus Christ, the brother of James, to them that are sanctified
by God the Father, and preserved in Christ Jesus and called. Mercy
unto you in peace, and love be multiplied. Beloved, when I gave
all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, common
hope, common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto
you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith
that was once delivered unto the saints." They had all things
common. Common faith, common salvation. They had one common hope. One
hope. They all had one hope. They all
believed the gospel. And that one hope is Christ in
you. The hope of glory. We have a
good hope through the grace of God alone. Something else we
see that they had in common, they all loved one another. They
gave to help one another. I want you to find 1 John chapter
3. 1 John chapter 3. And the fruit of the Spirit is
love. joy, peace. You see how that's
manifested in the early church, and it's manifested in believers
today. 1 John 3, verse 14. He says this, 1 John 3, 14. We know that we pass from death
unto life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not
his brother abides in death. Now find 1 John 4, verse 7. 1 John 4, 7, Beloved, let us love
one another, for love is of God, and everyone that loveth is born
of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not
God, for God is love. And this was manifested, the
love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten
Son into the world, that we might live through Him, and hear in
His love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent
His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God
so loved us, we ought also to love one another." So they had
all things in common. Common faith, common hope, common
salvation, and common love. They loved one another because
God first loved them. Now, back to the text. Acts chapter
4. We see something else in verse 33. Here's the fourth thing. power gave the apostles witness
of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ." Now, here's the
fourth one. Great power was upon them, and they gave witness of
the resurrection of Christ. The apostles and the early church
were blessed to preach the gospel with great power, with great
power. We preach not ourselves, but
Christ Jesus the Lord. And one particular aspect of
the gospel they were at liberty to speak about was the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, we've seen this all the
way through the book of Acts. Every time they had an opportunity
given, they talked about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
That was the issue in that day that was disputed. Now, here's
what some said. I want you to look at this. Turn
back to Matthew chapter 28. Here's what the rumor was in
that day. You know, he really didn't come
forth from the tomb. His disciples came at night and
stole the body away and said he arose from the dead. That's
what some of them said. So the issue in that day was
the resurrection. So every time they had an opportunity
to preach the gospel, they said that we are witnesses, eyewitnesses
of his majesty. God did raise him from the dead. Now, Matthew chapter 28, verse
11. Matthew 28, verse 11. Now, here's
one reason why they stood firm on this issue. Had to. Now, when
they were going, behold, some of the watch, that is these soldiers,
came into the city and showed unto the chief priests all things
that were done. And when they were assembled,
they said that the angel came and rolled the stone away, and
the Lord Jesus walked out. And when they were assembled
with the elders and had taken counsel, they gave large money
unto the soldiers, saying, Say, his disciples came by night and
stole him away while we slept. And if this come to the ears
of the governor, the governor's ears, we'll persuade him and
secure you So they took the money and did
as they were taught, and the saying is commonly reported among
the Jews unto this day. Well, that was the issue in that
day. They were bribed. They were given a large sum of
money to say, well, his disciples, we were asleep, and disciples
came and stole him away. So every time they had an opportunity,
now look back at the text, and with great power gave the apostles
witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now his
resurrection declares his person to be true, that he is a true
God and Savior. If the Lord Jesus Christ, turn
to Roman chapter 1, if the Lord Jesus Christ did not come forth
from the tomb on the third day, we have no gospel, no good news. We are yet in our sin and our
faith. Our faith is vain. Romans chapter
1, but his resurrection declares his person to be true. He is
a just God and Savior. Romans chapter 1, verse 1, Paul,
a servant of Jesus Christ, to be called to be an apostle, separated
unto the gospel of God, which he promised to four by his prophets
in the Holy Scripture, concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord,
who was made of the seed of David according to flesh, declared
to be the Son of God with power," how? According to the Spirit
of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. So he declared. He declared to be the Son of
God. He declared to be who he said he was by the resurrection
from the dead. Now stay right here in Romans
and turn to chapter 4. So his resurrection declares
his person to be true, the true God, just God and Savior. Secondly, His resurrection declares
His work to be successful. Romans chapter 4 verse 25. Romans 4 verse 25, "...who was
delivered from our offenses and raised again for or because of
our justification." Because He completed the work of putting
away our sin, what happened? God raised Him from the dead
because He completed salvation. His atonement was successful.
And thirdly, His resurrection declares His Word to be true. His Word to be true. Now find
the book of John. The Gospel of John, chapter 2.
John, chapter 2. John, chapter 2. So His resurrection
is absolutely vital. He died for our sins according
to the Scripture. He was buried. He rose again
the third day according to the Scripture. Now find John, chapter
2. Now notice this carefully. John, chapter 2. Verse 18, Then
answered the Jews and said unto him, What signs showest thou
unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? He came to the
temple and drove out the money changers. And the Lord answered,
verse 19, unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days
I will raise it up again. Then said the Jews, Forty-six
years was this temple in building. Wilt thou rear it up in three
days? But he spake of the temple of
his body. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples
remembered that he had said unto them, and they believed the scriptures
and the word which he said." So if he didn't come forth from
the dead, his person's not true. He's an imposter. If he didn't
come forth from the dead, his atonement is a failure. He died
in vain. If he didn't come forth from
the dead, his word is of non-effect. And we're in big trouble. But
we do preach and believe the bodily resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ, His successful atonement, His glorious ascension,
and His enthronement. He's seated, seated, sitting
on the right hand of the throne of God. Now back to the book
of Acts. Verse 33. Acts 4.33, And with
great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of
the Lord Jesus, now watch this, here's the fifth thing, and great
grace, great grace, great favor was upon them all. Now here's
the only reason for all spiritual blessing given to us, grace,
grace. Do you believe the gospel? It's
because of the grace of God, the favor of God. We're justified
freely by His grace through the redemption that is in our Lord
Jesus Christ. Now back to the book of John
chapter 1 this time. And the reason for grace, what is the reason for grace?
John chapter 1. The reason for grace is grace. It's not my merit or not my effort,
so I don't earn grace, I don't merit grace. The only reason
for grace is the grace of God. Great grace was upon them all.
Notice in John chapter 1, John chapter 1 verse 14, And the Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. John bear witness of him, verse
15. and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, he that cometh
after me is preferred before me, for he was before me, and
of his fullness have we all received grace for grace." Grace because
of grace. For the law was given by Moses,
but grace and truth came by our blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ. We believe through the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ that we believe the gospel. Great
grace was upon them all. Now back to Acts chapter 4. Acts
chapter 4. Now notice this if you will. Verse 34 and verse 35. Here's
another manifestation of this fruit of the Spirit in the believers. It's Christ which worketh in
you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Verse 34 and
verse 35. Neither was there any among them
that lacked, for as many as were possessors of lands and houses,
they sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were
sold, and laid them down at the apostles' feet, and distribution
was made unto every man according as he had need." Now you see
the love of God that's manifested in them. Here was great, not
only great grace was upon them, but great love was manifested
in them as well. God's church not only They're
not only saved by grace, but you know this grace of God makes
His people gracious and generous and loving and kind. Be merciful unto others as God
has been merciful unto us. We love one another, forgive
one another even as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven us.
You see, this grace of God has an effect upon our person. We
not only believe grace, God's people are gracious people, giving
people, loving people, forgiving people. If any man be in Christ,
he's a new creature. Old things are passed away, behold,
all things are become new. Now notice this, these sacrificial
gifts, and these were sacrificial gifts, they sold out their houses,
their land, And they brought it and gave it to those who had
need. These sacrificial gifts were not given out of law. If that would be the case, how
much would they have brought? Just ten percent. That was the
law. But these gifts, these sacrificial gifts, weren't given out of law.
They were given out of love. Give as God had blessed you. How has God blessed you? Well,
with all spiritual blessing. That motivates us to give. The love of Christ constrains
us to give. Not because I have to, because
I want to. Notice this also. Here's the
seventh thing. Great trust they had of each
other. Notice verse 35. They laid, they
brought all the money from the houses and land, those who sold
them, as many as had them, and they brought it to the Apostle's
feet and said, here, it's yours, you use it as you see fit. Give
it to those who remain. You see, there was a trust here.
They trusted one another. They trusted one another. Great
trust had they of each other. These who gave trusted God's
servants to give as the need was there. Now, I remember a story my pastor
told me years ago along this line. This either happened in
the late 50s or the early 60s after they had constructed the
building there in Ashland, 13th Street Baptist Church. They were
trying to pay off the mortgage. And I don't know exactly how
much that they were trying to pay off or how much the outstanding
debt was, but one person came of that congregation, one of
the members there, and came to Brother Henry's house one evening,
knocked on the door. He came to the door and he said,
I want to give this gift to help pay off the mortgage. And he
handed him $20,000. $20,000. That's a lot of money today,
but back in 1959 or 1960, that was a whole lot of money. Here's
$20,000. Pastor Mahan said, well, I'm
so thankful. That would really help. Let me
get a piece of paper and write a receipt real quick and give
you a receipt so we'll make sure we... You know what the man said
to him? He said, I've trusted you with
much greater things than with $20,000. I've trusted my soul Unto the word of the Lord that
you have preached, I've trusted you with the gospel. You think
I can't trust you with a measly $20,000? I don't need a receipt. You see, we trust one another. The gifts that you give here,
don't you give in trust that will be used in what it's intended
for in support of the gospel? Those who gave toward Walter's
truck fund. Every penny that was given toward
that and more was sent to purchase the vehicle. So we trust one
another. We have a trust for one another. We love one another.
We have all things in common. Now, here's an example of this.
And here's something I've never seen before. And oftentimes we
just read over this. In verse 36 and verse 37, here's
a specific example of a man who was a Jew by nature, born in
sin, shaped in iniquity, who at one time trusted his Levitical
priesthood work. He was of this country of Cyprus,
but he was a Jew because he was a Levite. His name was Joseph. The apostles called him another
name, Barnabas. the son of consolation, a Levite
of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold it, brought the money,
laid it at the apostles' feet. Now what do you see there? Here's
what I see. Here's an example. Here's an example of this grace.
Here is grace demonstrated by God the Holy Spirit. This man
was the tribe of Levi. He was a Jew. He was from this
country. But he is one of these who When Peter preached at Pentecost,
he was one of these Jews who came to that feast at Pentecost,
heard the gospel, and was given great grace to believe the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He heard the gospel, and he believed
the gospel, and sold out everything. It says there that he was a son
of consolation. He was the son of the Spirit
of God. The Spirit is the comforter.
The Spirit is the consolation. He was born of God's Spirit. That's why they called him, you're
a son of God. You're a son of consolation.
Even though he was a son of Adam and a sinner, now he said, the
apostle said, you're a son of God. You're born of the Spirit
of God. This man heard the gospel, believed
the gospel. Something else we see about this
man. It says here he was a Levite. Now, we've been studying about
the Levites and all the particular work that was involved around
the tabernacle and the temple and the sacrifices and all those
things. You know, this man gave up his
Levitical priesthood, turned his back on it, and he became
a true priest of the Lord Jesus Christ. He became a true priest.
Turn over here to Revelation chapter 1. He gave up that Levitical
priesthood, and he became a true priest of Christ. This man, Joseph, named Barnabas,
he became a priest and a king in Christ. Revelation 1, verse
5, it says, unto him that loved us and washed us from our sin
in his own blood, and made us kings and priests unto God and
his Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. He
made us kings and priests under our God. He loved us and washed
us from our sin in his own blood. He gave up that Levitical priesthood,
forgetting those things which are behind, God made him a priest
of God in Christ. Something else we see about this
man, he gave up his Jewish heritage and became an heir of God and
a joint heir with the Lord Jesus Christ. He had this inheritance
that's incorruptible and undefiled. It fadeth not away. He's made
a new creature in Christ Jesus. Something else we see about this
man. He took his land. Having land, he sold it. Sold
out. He gave up his earthly land and
became a stranger and pilgrim here looking for the eternal
city whose builder and maker is God. He was looking for that
new heaven and that new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. You see, there's a whole lot
in this right here. Son of consolation. Oh, he was
a Jew. He was a priest, a Levitical
priest. And he had some land, he had
some Jewish inheritance, but he turned his back on all that,
having all those things but done, and looking to the Lord Jesus
Christ. My friend, that is salvation. Counting everything lost but
Christ. Now, this is not the last we hear of this man Barnabas. I want you to find Acts chapter
9. You know, he's mentioned in Scripture 28 times in the New
Testament. We read about Barnabas. But in
Acts chapter 9, when Saul of Tarsus was converted and started
preaching the gospel, You know, the apostles down in Jerusalem
were afraid of Saul of Tarsus. They heard a lot about this man.
But you know who wasn't afraid? Barnabas. Look what it says here
in Acts chapter 9, that Barnabas took him and brought him to the
apostles. Barnabas introduced Saul of Tarsus 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. And he was with
them coming in and going out at Jerusalem. Not only that,
but turn to Acts chapter 11. Acts chapter 11. Barnabas went
out and sought Saul of Tarsus and brought him to the church
there in Antioch. In Acts chapter 11, verse 22. Acts 11, 22. Then tidings of these things
came into the ears of the church which is in Jerusalem. There
was a revival going on in Antioch. And they sent forth Barnabas,
that he should go as far as Antioch. Verse 23, Who, when he came,
had seen the grace of God, and was glad, and exhorted them all
with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. For he
was a good man, he was full of the Holy Spirit, and of faith,
and much people was added to the Lord. Then departed Barnabas
to Tarsus. Why did he go to Tarsus? Saul
of Tarsus was there to seek Saul, who later became the apostle.
And when he found him, he brought him to Antioch, and it came to
pass, the whole year, he spent one whole year with the apostle.
They assembled together with the church and taught much people,
and the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. You see how God used this man?
Now here's another place. about Barnabas, Acts chapter
13. When they were at the church of Antioch there for a year or
so, when God said, send out missionaries to preach the gospel, you know
who was sent? Acts chapter 13. Look at verse
2, And as they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy
Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto
I have called them. And when they had fasted and
prayed, they laid their hands on them and sent them away. Isn't
that a glorious story? And this man Barnabas was raised
up to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul and Barnabas
went together. Now this is a manifestation of
the fruit of the Spirit of God. in the hearts and lives of the
believers. Who could have motivated or who
could have taught old Josie into selling out and following Christ
and preaching the gospel? No one could have convinced him
of that. But God the Holy Spirit made him a new preacher in Christ
Jesus, motivated him out of love and gratitude, forgiveness of
my sin, to go preach this gospel in all the world. God hasn't
changed. He is still today raising up
men like Barnabas to go preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ, who have sold out, sold out to the gospel of Christ.
And they're motivated, highly motivated, to preach Christ.