Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
6/15/2021
Has the saving and sanctifying grace of God ceased to surprise us? Part II
Why was Barnabas sent to Antioch to witness God’s Grace?
“The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord” (Acts 11:21). He saw God breathing on dead bones (and Gentiles bones, at that), raising them with spiritual flesh and muscle. He saw souls walking out of the graves of bitterness, worldliness, covetousness, and sexual immorality.
What did Grace look like? Barnabas saw grace building and church building. They “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42). They gathered regularly, gave generously, and shared boldly (Acts 2:44–47).
Barnabas was watching God intervene in a city, a city like yours or mine — rescuing the lost, conquering sin, unleashing forgiveness, reconciling relationships, inspiring love, providing for the needy, building his kingdom. He was witnessing a miracle community — sinful people bathed in the mercy of God, declaring the mercy of God, and loving each other in Christ. Grace was saving, redeeming, restoring, uniting, transforming, equipping, and sending — all in ways he could witness. Barnabas saw the grace of God.
Because he knew just how easily we fall from grace into spiritual laziness and complacency. For some, the continual strain of adversity, temptation and monotony eventually wears us down and leaves us disillusioned. Following Christ is unavoidably hard, like carrying a Roman cross (Luke 9:23) — so hard we can often be tempted to lay ours down. For others, the experience of blessing can subtly make us spiritually sleepy and negligent.
We begin to rush through Bible reading, to pray a little less, to spend more of our time and money on ourselves, to let our minds wander in worship. Experiencing the merciful intervention of God can leave us feeling strangely entitled to the merciful intervention of God.
“True grace nurtures love where the weeds of laziness, selfishness, and pride might have grown.”
Both groups need to be reminded, again and again, to remain faithful with steadfast purpose — to not take tomorrow’s faithfulness for granted, but to press in and be ready to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). When a healthy soul witnesses grace, it makes him all the more hungry for grace, all the more dependent on God, all the more vigilant before temptation. True grace nurtures love where the weeds of laziness, selfishness, and pride might have grown.
Will you pray for one hour this week and ask the Holy Spirit to help you see his Grace and be really rejoice and be glad in it.
Glorious Day-Kristian Stanfill/Passion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s4UblPViiI
Excerpts are taken from Desiring God Ministries on Barnabas seeing the Grace of God
