Acts 4:32-36 – The believer’s share their possessions.
- "A cheeky question to ask yourself"
- The believer’s prayer reflects back on them.
- They take action and begin to implement on earth what they believe will be a taste of the Kingdom.
- Barnabas means Bar – son of and nabbas can mean prophet – one who speaks God’s words of council, encouragement etc.
- Here Barnabas demonstrates what real encouragement is… action.
- We have often diluted it down to words. Encouragement has come to meant someone who simply verbally affirms but real encouragement is about actions.
- Barnabas encourages the church by selling some land and donating it to God’s work.
- The writer is setting up tomorrow’s passage – the conflict between following Jesus and Christianity.
- Which one will I choose?
Since Barnabas was from Cyprus, and island quite a distance away, I have wondered if he sold land in cyprus, or had more land near Jerusalem that he sold. If he sold land in Cyprus then he probably sold it prior to making the trip to Jerusalem, which would have meant that God was at work in his heart to do this thing long before the first church was born. If so, that would have been an amazing act of faith on his part to sell land for God for purposes unknown. Since I highly doubt he sold some land and then just walked around the country with lots of money in his pocket looking for charitable causes.
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