Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
Psalm 5:1-5
UNBELIEVING IS MISTRUST
Unbelief is not necessarily failure to acknowledge the truth. You can acknowledge or assent to something being true and still be unbelieving. UNBELIEVING IS MISTRUST. It is failure to trust a person. Abraham believed God, yet there were times when he did not trust Him. Twice he let Sarah go into a Harem because he did not trust God to take care of him. Unbelief is actually the sin from which all other sins come! This is what Satan used to tempt Eve. "Hath God said..." Satan did not mean, "Did God really make that statement?" He meant,"You don't have to believe what He said implicitly." "You shall not surely die." The stress and worry we have is nothing more than unbelief! It is a failure to trust God! The lack of assurance we have is unbelief. It is failure to trust Christ. From this sin (unbelief) comes all other sins! "How can a believer have unbelief?" someone asks. Because of the flesh. An unbeliever has nothing but unbelief. A believer has faith; but he still has unbelief and has need to cry daily, "Lord, I believe, help Thou mine unbelief!"
Pastor Todd Nibert
"Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me" Psalm 51:11
Every true believer fears the removal of God's presence and power. David prayed, "Take not thy Spirit from me." Paul feared that, "While preaching to others I might become a castaway." My thoughts are that this condition is manifested in the following ways:
(1) We begin to experience no blessing nor benefit from the reading or preaching of the Word. When the Word ceases to convict, rebuke, burn in my heart and cause me to rejoice in Christ, then God is not speaking to me; for God speaks through His Word.
(2) We are in trouble when we feel satisfied with our spiritual progress and become puffed up with knowledge. We become authorities instead of learners; having arrived, our humble spirit is in creed alone; not experience.
(3) We can be absent from the fellowship of believers and worship of God without feeling a great loss and an empty heart. A man who can be warmed by his own fire is either dead or dying spiritually.
(4) We begin to be critics and find fault with others. The Spirit of God leads a man to feel that he is "less than the least," "chief of sinners. " When the Spirit of God is not present, we become judges and faultfinders.
(5) When our souls are not vexed, by the sin within us and the conversation of men about us, when we can feel comfortable in the presence of those who "never knew our God, " when we can conform to the ways of natural men and the trend of materialism, the light of God is dim or extinguished.
(6) When our thoughts become self-centered and the general welfare, well-being, and joy of others is of no great concern to us, we are certainly not motivated by the Spirit of God. Selfishness, like self-righteousness, is not of God. The heart filled with God's love and grace dwells on others; to make them happy, is to be happy.Pastor Henry Mahan
BARNABAS, SON OF CONSOLATION
And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet(Acts 4:36-37).
God the Holy Spirit identified one of the many who heard the word of God, the preaching of the gospel by the apostles and were given grace to believe. (Acts 4:32; 15:11; Eph.1:19). Barnabas is a good example of sovereign grace and mercy in Christ and one used of God to the furtherance of the gospel.“For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord” (Acts 9:240.
His birth name was Joses, his new name given by the apostles was Barnabas, “son of consolation” born of the Spirit of God and adopted into the family of Christ (Gal. 4:4-6). (1John 5:1).
He gave up his Levitical priesthood and the typical sacrifice for the fulfillment of the law (Matt.5:17), Jesus Christcrucified (1Cor. 2:2) and became a priest of God in Christ (Rev. 1:5-6).
He gave up his Jewish heritage, ceremony, and traditions and became an heir of God in Christ (Rom. 8:15-18; 1Peter 1:4).
He sold his earthly land and became a pilgrim and stranger here looking for the heavenly city (Heb.11:10), “the new heaven and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2Peter 3:13).
This is the first mention of Barnabas in the book of Acts but not the last.God raised him up to preach the gospel of Christ to many. Barnabas introduced Saul of Tarsus (Paul) to the Apostles (Acts 9:27).Barnabas sought out Saul (Paul) and brought him to Antioch to preach the gospel (Acts 11:29).Barnabas and Paul were chosen by God the Holy Spirit and sent out from the church in Antioch to preach the gospel of Christ to the Gentile world. “As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them” (Acts 13:2-3).May the Lord be pleased to raise up more like Barnabas (son of God), totally sold out to the gospel of Jesus Christ the Lord and fully dedicated to the cause of God and truth (1 Cor. 16:15; 1 John 3:1-2)!!
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