Author Archives: reveds

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About reveds

Occupation: Pastor, Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, Lennox, SD Education: BS - Christian Education, Sterling College; MDiv. - Princeton Theological Seminary Family: Married, with Four children. Hobbies: Running (will someday run a marathon), Sci-Fi (especially Doctor Who and Sherlock), Theater, and anything else my kids will let me do.

Full of the Holy Spirit and Faith

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“he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith…”
(Acts 11:24)

I want this passage engraved on my tombstone.

I know it’s too early to think about that sort of thing, but since I am turning 40 in a couple of weeks, one might as well begin thinking about the inevitable.

All kidding aside, wouldn’t we all want this said about us at the end of our lives?  This passage comes from Luke’s description in Acts of the growing church in Antioch.  Believers who fled persecution in Jerusalem had assembled in Antioch, a predominately Hellenist (read Greek, or non-Jewish) community.  We read in Acts 11 that “the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.”  When news of this tremendous growth reached Jerusalem, they sent Barnabas to Antioch to teach and encourage the believers there, and while Barnabas was there, God continued to prosper and grow the church.  Barnabas rejoiced when we saw the grace of God present in Antioch, and he exhorted them all “to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose.”  Then we are given a clue as to the success of Barnabus’ ministry, “he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.”

That Barnabas was a good man has been previously established in the book of Acts.  We first read of Barnabas in Acts 4:36-37.  There we find a man called Joseph, whom the disciples called Barnabas, which means “son of encouragement,” who, with many other believers, sold his property and gave the money to the poor.

This is the kind of guy people want to be around.  He was an encourager, building up others, helping equip and strengthen them for service.  And he was generous and charitable, considering the needs of others before his own.  This characterizes Barnabas as a “good man.”

But, as Matthew  Henry notes, “the goodness of his natural disposition would not have qualified him for this service if he had not been full of the Holy Spirit.”  That is a phrase that is worth considering.  It’s used to describe only two other people in the New Testament, Jesus, just after his baptism in Luke 4, and Stephen, when he was selected as a Deacon in Acts 6, and as he was martyred in Acts 7.

So what does it mean to be full of the Holy Spirit?  It think that first we must remember that it is the Holy Spirit who awakens us to the gospel, who convicts us of our sin, and who leads us unto a saving knowledge of our savior Jesus Christ.  One cannot be a believer, one cannot be saved, unless the Spirit has first come and given life.  There is no such thing as life in Christ apart from the Holy Spirit – for it is the Spirit who gives life (John 6:63).

But there is a sense in which, once quickened by the Spirit from death unto life, the Holy Spirit may also fill individuals with power and equip them for ministry.  It was this outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost that filled the disciples and enabled them to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ for salvation to the nations gathered in Jerusalem.  It was this outpouring of the Holy Spirit that strengthened Stephen to boldly proclaim the risen Christ even as he was being killed. It is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that equips and gifts the Church for ministry (1 Corinthians 12).  When the Holy Spirit fills a person, the result is a dramatic and mighty demonstration of God’s saving power.

Inwardly, the fullness of the Holy Spirit must also imply the crucifixion of the spirit of flesh.  Paul writes in Romans 8 that “the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus…” that we “walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit…” and “you, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.”  To be full of the Spirit is to live according to the Spirit, to seek the leading of the Spirit, through the Word of God (read and proclaimed), and through prayer.  It is following the lead of God’s Holy Spirit in every decision, every action, every word – placing yourself captive to the sovereign and gracious power of God’s Holy Spirit.

And, of course, Barnabas was a man of faith.  He knew and trusted the power of God for salvation.  He could give his possessions knowing his life was secure in the hands of his Provider.  He could encourage others to faithfulness because he knew that Christ was the Faithful One.  Again, Matthew Henry writes, “He was full of faith, full of the grace of faith, and full of the fruits of that faith that works by love.”

If you try to make a name for yourself, you will probably lose it.  But if you live selflessly, living by faith, living in the fullness of God’s Spirit, God will let the quality of your character be known.  “Seek first the Kingdom of God,” Jesus said, “and all these things will be added unto you.”  Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.  Can the same be said of you?  It is my prayer that it be said of me.

Only wretches need grace…

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“Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'”
(James 4:6)

Whenever I am asked to do a funeral for someone who is not a member of my church, I always remember my first “non-member” funeral.  It was a sad, sad, story.

After 75 years of marriage, a loving wife who had cooked every meal, done all the laundry, and handled all the bills was gone, leaving a husband who didn’t know how to care for himself.  Within a month he committed suicide.  He could bear to live without her, he didn’t know how to go forward on his own.

The pastor of the church they belonged to was out of town, and I was asked to lead the service.  I met with the family to find out about his life, his faith, those things in his life that made others better for knowing him.  No one had anything positive to say.

The children of this couple remembered their father as angry and quick-tempered.  Not even the man’s pastor could offer anything for a eulogy.  The only thing she could offer was that he had been in church a couple weeks back, and had come forward to recieve communion.

The funeral came, and I was struggling to find the words to say.  So I said what everyone knew, but was afraid to say out loud (I was in someone else’s church, officiating a sermon for a stranger in a sanctuary filled with strangers – I could pretty much say whatever I wanted.)

I said that the deceased was a hard man to love.  He was often angry and quick-tempered, and he seldom evidenced the fruit of a life of faithfulness.

And then I said something no one expected – He is just like everyone of us.  The man we had gathered to remember was a sinner in need of salvation, a sheep who had strayed from the fold.  While some of us may deal better with our sins, putting on a good front, pretending that its not really all that bad, we are each of us unloving and unlovable, in desperate need of help.

Then I finished with something like: The bottom line is, the grace that saves us is the same grace that saves those around us.  If anyone has any hope for salvation, it is not in our goodness, our commitment to the cause, our abiliy to make it seem like everything is okay.  Our hope for salvation is in the atoning work of Christ, who while we were still sinners proved his love for us in dying for us on the cross so that by faith we may live in Him and with Him a life that glorfies God.  There is no difference in the fare.  There is no difference in the grace.  The grace that covers me is the same grace that covers you, the same grace that covers the lowliest of all.

Friends, we are saved by grace, and that is a humbling thought.  For grace is only necessary for the wretched, healing is only needed for the sick, salvation is only for those who are doomed.  We are none of us above it, we all stand in desperate need of God’s grace.

Since we are covered by the grace of Jesus Christ, and because it is the same grace for each of us that gives us hope, should not that same grace lead us to be gracious to one another?  Let’s be honest, we all long to be treated with compassion, grace, and mercy.  We all know our shortcomings, we know our own faults.  We pray that when we spread ourselves too thin and things start falling apart, when our old nature, the way of the flesh, creeps up again, we pray that God will be gracious and renew, restore, and redeem us in Jesus Christ; and we hope that other Christians, other sinners saved by grace, will bear with our shortcomings.  Shouldn’t we, especially in the church, treat each other with the same patience and grace that we desire for ourselves?

I supposed I’ve said all of this just to be reminded, and to remind you, dear reader, of the golden rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  If you want people to treat you graciously, be gracious.  If you are looking for encouragement, encourage others.  If you want to be loved, be loving.

SDG