Again, in his letter to Timothy, Paul sent greetings to these friends. These humble tentmakers were constantly seeking ways in which they could serve their Lord. Entertaining strangers, teaching new Christians the way of the Lord, inviting God’s children to wor ship in their home—these were all ways of showing their love for their Saviour. Christians of today may serve their Lord in similar ways, remembering His promise, “ Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my breth ren, ye have done it unto me.” was a “ good” man (24). This goodness was the evidence of the transformation wrought within his heart. He was also “full of the Holy Ghost” (24). That means that he had fully yielded himself to the will of God so that the Spirit possessed him. Such fullness of the Spirit was doubtless responsible for the goodness mentioned above (Gal. 5:22) as well as the faith and the fruitful min istry he enjoyed (24-26). Barnabas. A Separated Man (Acts 13:1-3) The true servants of God are sepa rated individuals. They are called and commissioned by the Holy Ghost. In the case of Barnabas, the church at Anti och was doubtless led by the Spirit of God through one of the prophets men tioned in verse one, to send forth Barna bas and Saul into missionary service. Happy is the situation when the Spirit and the church work together in such matters. God’s work must be done by separated men (Zech. 4:6b). Helps for the Children Barnabas, the Greathearted (Acts 4:36,37; 9:26,27; 11:22-26; 12:25; 15:36-39) Memory Verse: Let us not love in word . . . but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18). After the Lord Jesus had returned to His Father in Heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to live within God’s children. What a change the Holy Spirit made in their lives! Selfishness and hatred were taken from them. None of them lacked anything, for their love for one another caused them to share all things equally. One of the men, Barnabas, “having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.” After the wicked Saul had become the godly Paul, the great soulwinner, he came to Jerusalem and tried to join himself to the disciples. All of them were afraid of Paul and refused to be lieve that he had become a Christian. Barnabas took him, brought him to the apostles, and told them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and had believed and then had boldly preached the gospel in the city of Damascus. Because Barna bas befriended Saul, the disciples re ceived him as one of themselves.
God more perfectly that he might serve his Lord better. After Priscilla and Aquila had re turned to Rome, their home town, Paul wrote a letter to the Roman Christians. At the close of the letter, he said, “ Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus: Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not I only give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise greet the church that is in their house” (Rom. 16:3-5a).
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In Barnabas we have another man appearing in the sacred record who was not brilliant. He did not take the ini tiative in the work of the church, but he was always helpful to others, depend able, a man deeply spiritual and an en couragement to those who associated with him. In the four passages selected for this week’s lesson, we have four pictures of Barnabas which we will do well to look at carefully: Barnabas, A Generous Man (Acts 4:36, 37) In harmony with the decision of the early church to place all their posses sions at the command of the infant group, Barnabas sold his land and brought all the proceeds to the apostles. He may have been a man of some means. This fact might have been a real temp tation to him, but he was so ,taken up with the cause of Christ that he did not allow the sin of greed to grow in his life. There was none of the spirit of Judas in him. His life and posses sions were fully dedicated to the Lord. In principle, Barnabas demonstrated what should be the attitude of every child of God toward life and posses sions. All belong to God, not just a tenth, or a half, or three-quarters, but all. In His plan today God expects us to set aside a definite portion of our in come for His service. Barnabas, A Resourceful Man (Acts 9:26, 27) The disciples at Jerusalem were afraid to trust Saul when he first came to that city after his conversion. They had not forgotten his former actions. But Barnabas saw the possibilities in Saul, for the experience on the Damas cus road was known to him. Barnabas had heard Saul preach at Damascus. He sought to befriend him that the hidden resources in him might be uncovered and a great witness for Christ be given to the church. Barnabas, A Pious Man (Acts 11:22-26) The life of Barnabas was of such spiritual character that it merited the confidence of the Jerusalem church (22,23) which sent him on an impor tant ministry to Antioch. Moreover, he A U G U S T . 1 94 8
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