"Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord." Acts 11:23

It has often happened in the history of the Church that what was designed to bring about its destruction, was, under God's hand, instrumental in its expansion. By the persecutions which followed the death of Stephen many of the disciples were driven out of Palestine. Some made their way to Cyprus and other islands of the Levant, while others went as far as Antioch, the capital of Syria. Although those disciples could be banished they could not be silenced. In Antioch, some Creek-speaking Jews proclaimed the Word not only to their fellow-Jews, but also to the Gentiles. The question of whether the Gospel ought to be preached to the Gentiles was one to which the Jews had for long given but one answer, an answer born of the spirit of exclusivism and national prejudice that had held sway among them for generations. However, God's blessing followed the preaching of the Gospel in Antioch, and many were converted, fully justifying the boldness and the zeal of those who had not hesitated to preach to the Gentiles the Lord Jesus.

It is not surprising that the news of the revival in Antioch excited interest among the disciples in Jerusalem, and they resolved to send someone to Antioch to find out at first hand what was actually taking place, and to give such help as the situation there might require. For this mission, they chose Barnabas, a person well-fitted for such an undertaking. A Hellenistic Jew, a native of Cyprus, he was a spiritually-minded man of sound judgment, who could be relied upon to give a just appraisal of the situation.

It is interesting to learn from the words of our text his recognition of what was actually happening in the Syrian capital, and we might first of all consider:

(1) What he saw on arrival there

He saw the grace of God. There is no word about his seeing or hearing things that cut across the early prejudices and traditions of the Jews. There is no word of his seeing what many of his fellow-Jews would have deemed irregular, or even offensive. He saw right to the root cause of all that was taking place where the Gospel was proclaimed; he saw--the grace of God.

This was a clear-cut answer to the problem that had given rise to a number of questions in those early days of the Church. God had set the seal of His approval upon this ministry to the Gentiles, and vindicated the actions of those who would make known to all the world the unsearchable riches of Christ. Moreover, this is a glorious description of what underlay the change in men's lives that was so obvious to Barnabas when he arrived there.

It is evident that Jews and Gentiles in that region had believed in the Lord. And it must be remembered that however many privileges those Jews had previously enjoyed, and however much the Gentiles may have lacked them, nothing less than the grace of God could turn the hearts of men of either class to the Lord; while, on the other hand, that same grace was sufficient to convert as many as were made partakers of it.

If the blessings of which the fruits were seen in Antioch are traced to their source, we find that it is all of grace! The election of those predestinated unto eternal life is called the "election of grace". It is not because of anything foreseen in those who are to be the subjects of that grace, but according to the sovereign purpose of a gracious God, who loved His people with an everlasting love. The very heart of the revelation God has given of Himself speaks to us of grace-full and sovereign and free, and the Son's giving of Himself to suffer and die for sinners is the exercise of His grace.

In the lives of those converts grace is seen in its irresistible power. Those who had been enemies of the Cross of Christ, whether consciously and avowedly, or in the darkness of their spiritual ignorance, surrendered to the claims of the Lord Jesus and turned from idols to serve the living and true God.

Is not light cast also on the freeness and the sufficiency of God's mercy? Those souls had been steeped in pagan darkness and enslaved by every conceivable vice, but God, in His loving kindness did not pass them by. Nor can anything other than this mercy cover the sins of those whose conduct may appear to themselves blameless, and who tend to rest in their own righteousness. All have sinned and have come short of the glory of God, but, the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared unto all men.

No power other than that of the Gospel can change the human heart and enable sinners to render obedience, not only to the commands of the law, but to the invitations of the Gospel, and to rest upon Christ as the Rock of their salvation.

But, we ask, how could Barnabas see this grace? He saw the effects and the fruits of it in lives changed from being careless and unbelieving to being followers of the Lord.' They accepted without question the testimony of Scripture concerning themselves as lost and ruined, and the testimony of Scripture concerning Christ, for the grace that saves works through faith, and such saving faith will prove its reality by its works.

It is not surprising that Paul says to the Ephesian believers that their salvation was to be to the glory of God's grace, and His is the grace of which the fruits were seen in the transformed lives of the converts in Antioch. By their fruits they shall be known.

(2) His reaction to what he saw

Barnabas was glad. Nothing moves the heart of the believer more than the coming of Christ's kingdom in the world, and that for various reasons.

The principal cause of such rejoicing is, we suggest, that God reveals a peculiar measure of His glory in the conversion of sinners. It may be said that the twin strands of God's redemptive purpose in Christ, are the glory of His own name and the salvation of His people. We are familiar with the thought that the chief purpose for man is to glorify God but we must never forget that that was, and is, God's chief purpose and aim in the salvation of the Church. In that redemptive purpose of God the glory of His name and the good of His people can never be separated, as is so evident from the High-priestly prayer of the Saviour recorded in the Gospel, where the Son speaks of glorifying the Father and giving eternal life to His people. This thought was before the Psalmist's mind when he declared: "When the Lord shall build up Zion He shall appear in His glory" (Ps. 102:16). In that glory He appears wherever the Holy Spirit is applying the Gospel savingly to needy sinners, but none have eyes to behold the glory save those who are themselves the subjects of God's grace. As more than one colour can be seen whenever the rainbow is visible, so the attributes of the Godhead shine forth in holy splendour when the saving power of the truth is in operation in the hearts of men.

The gladness occasioned by the quickening work of the Spirit arises also from the knowledge that a blessing of inestimable value has been bestowed on poor unworthy sinners. When one thinks of what they had been in their unregenerate days--without hope, and without God in the world--one cannot but feel intensely grateful to God that He has set their faces heavenwards, and their feet in the paths of righteousness. Not for them the condemnation of the law and the terrible doom that awaits all who die Christless. They have peace with God, based on a right and righteous relationship, for their sins are remitted, and they are the sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Would not one rejoice in the accession to a fortune of one who had been poor and needy; or in the restoration to health of one who had suffered from a deadly disease? But what is the misery of temporal poverty or bodily illness in comparison with the effects of sin! Therefore no blessing of wealth or health can compare with the riches of God's grace in its ability to bestow happiness upon a human soul. Each believer is an heir of God and a joint heir with Christ.

Another factor that contributed to the gladness felt by Barnabas was, in all likelihood, that his own soul was refreshed by what he saw and heard. Those who have experienced something of the power of the Spirit-charged atmosphere of a revival can understand, while they cannot describe, the blessedness of feeling in their own hearts, and of sharing with others, the abundant joy of the Holy Ghost. No doubt Barnabas had been praying for the coming of Christ's kingdom, and perhaps had thought of that in terms of the spread of the Gospel throughout Palestine, and the Lord answered in a way that was far above what he had asked or even thought. This is always the manner of God's working, and however much the believer sees of the power of the Gospel, each fresh token of the working of His grace causes, and calls forth, fresh admiration and a holy gratitude that move His people to give the glory to Him alone.

(3) His exhortation to those who had believed

In our consideration of his exhortation to them it is worth noticing how our text sets forth the sovereignty of God and man's responsibility. Their salvation was all of grace, but that salvation was not to be worked out in such a way that exhortation and edification could be dispensed with. In all ages there have been those thoughtless enough to imagine that the doctrine of the sovereignty of God undermined or rendered invalid the doctrine of man's responsibility, but the very opposite is the truth. It is because God is sovereign that we are duty bound to act as responsible creatures, and therefore accountable to Him. It is because we are indebted to grace alone that we ought to render willing and whole-hearted obedience, as those redeemed by the blood of Christ.

Moreover, as we notice, there were to be no exceptions to this rule. He exhorted them all. The Gospel places all believers on the same level as far as relationship to God and relationship to His word are concerned.

Probably all the duties of our Christian religion are comprehended under the one duty that Barnabas urged upon his hearers in Antioch--to cleave unto the Lord, and the word suggests that believers are to make God Himself their goal. Close attention to this counsel would have saved the Lord's people from many a sad situation, and prevented many a tragic happening in the history of the Church. All too often allegiance has been given to a party; liberty of conscience sacrificed to the dictates of a so-called leader, or truth compromised in order not to give offence, all with baneful results for the cause of Truth. Barnabas mentioned neither party nor leader, but directed them to follow Him who alone is worthy of their worship. This did not mean a going forward in the dark, but an advancing in the way of holiness, in accordance with the mind of the Spirit revealed in the Scriptures.

This cleaving to the Lord, moreover, implied the bringing into full exercise of all the faculties of the soul. It is an activity of the head as well as of the heart. It calls, on the one hand, for a holy diligence in the use of all appointed means, and on the other, for a humble dependence upon the grace of God, without which no progress in sanctification can be made.

Those who value most highly the grace that saves, will, of all people, be most conscious of their obligation to follow the Lord in sincerity of heart. Saving faith has Christ, and Christ alone, for its object, but it as surely has the inspired Word for its rule by which the conduct must be regulated, as the believer goes forward to the fulfillment of that destiny for which he has been called by the Spirit.

It would be well for us all to seek this grace. This is the substance of the counsel addressed by the writer to the Hebrews to those who had received a kingdom which could not be moved--let us have grace, and if we receive it we shall inevitably be partakers of the glory.

Let us therefore cleave unto Him until, in God's appointed time He shall, in the words of Zechariah, "bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying Grace, grace unto it" (Zech. 4:7).

 

Rev Donald Gillies (deceased) was minister of Lochcarron and Lochs.