The Pilgrim Path---Acts 4: 32 – 37

Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common . And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the LORD Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

AND GREAT GRACE WAS UPON THEM ALL...

The Believers were not forced to practice some form of Christian communism---but they did exhibit Christian care and concern with a fervent interest in one another. This interest acted. You must recall the numbers: there were around 120 followers of Jesus at Jerusalem at the beginning of the Book of Acts. Then at Pentecost, some 3,000 souls were added to the church. Then another 5,000 shortly thereafter (as Dr. Luke records—the LORD added to their number day by day---those who were being saved---Acts 2: 47). However, not all Jews were quick to believe that Jesus was the Anointed One of God. Persecution would be real for “true” followers of Christ. Their devotion to Him would be costly. Allegiance to Jesus would separate families and become an economic strain for many of “The Way.” What we see in this brief passage is a beautiful expression of love: “as many as were owners of lands / houses---sold them---and put the proceeds at the apostles’ feet---for distribution to those in need.” All voluntary---for Jesus’ sake---to Help the Saints! We even get a name of one of the first participants: Joseph (or Barnabas= son of encouragement). He gave property to bless those in dire straits. His attitude was, “I will give it all---when he sold some property---to benefit them ALL”---Thanks be to God! What a testimony of delight and grace!

From Theodore Cuyler: Barnabas, if in New York or Brooklyn or London now, would likely be found in a mission church for the half or the whole of every Sabbath. He would show us how to bridge the chasm between wealth and poverty, and between Christian culture and city heathenism. On many an evening during the week he would be found beside the squalid bed of sickness, or amid the swarming outcasts of the slums. When the members of our Churches become “sons of consolation” in the broadest sense of the word, bestowing not merely their dollars, but their time, their presence, and the sympathy of their hearts upon the unchristian masses, we shall have a primitive and Pentecostal revival. Personal sympathy is worth more to the poor, the suffering, and the neglected than silver and gold. Pulpits speak only for an hour or two, and then only to those who fill pews before them; it is by sermons in shoes---and plenty of them---that the suffering and the sinning only can be reached. The curse of too much of what passes for Christianity is itself selfishness. There is another plume in the coronet of Barnabas. He was the father of systematic beneficence. We are told that having land he sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet. Having given his heart to Christ, he consecrated a goodly portion of his property to his Master’s service. Some others of the new converts may have done this as soon as he; but he is the first one mentioned. He is, therefore, to be regarded as the pioneer in that long procession of systematic givers which reaches on to our times, and numbers in its ranks the Nathaniel Ripley Cobbs and James Lenoxes and William E. Didges, and many other bountiful stewards of the LORD; and not only they who gave of their abundance, but every conscientious Christian who gives according to his means---however humble---and gives spontaneously. Barnabas did more than fling loose money into Christ’s treasury. He sold real estate and contributed the proceeds. That looks as if there were self-denial in the transaction, and that the man would stand a pinch for Christ’s sake. When he was converted, the work reached not only the bottom of his heart, but the bottom of his pocket.

From William Brock: There are men who everywhere leave behind them a sense of irritation, like winds that blow dust into face and eyes. They are the opposites to Barnabas. There was sunshine where he came…

Hmmm…what do people say about Us?

Even in the church---too many people discourage our soul. LORD---help us by Your Spirit to be Sons and Daughters of encouragement---So many people need the hope of the Gospel. O LORD---give Us a Faith Lift!

And great grace was upon them all…

From J. I. Packer: The great Puritans were as humble-minded and warmhearted as they were clearheaded, as fully oriented to people as they were to Scripture, and as passionate for peace as they were for truth. They would certainly have diagnosed today’s fixated Christian intellectualists as spiritually stunted, not in their zeal for sound words but in their lack of zeal for anything else.

From Brownlow North: The sinner in Christ is his justification; Christ in the sinner is his sanctification. The two invariably go together.

HYMN

O Breath of life, come sweeping through us,

Revive your church with life and power;

O Breath of Life, come, cleanse, renew us,

Fit your church to meet this hour.

O heart if Christ, once broken for us,

‘Tis there we find our strength and rest;

Our broken, contrite hearts now solace,

And let your waiting church be blest.

Bessie P. Head, ca. 1914

Grace and Peace in Jesus, the Only Redeemer of broken and wretched souls, Pastor Jason