Author: Pastor David Page 32 of 57

“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.” (Acts 4:36)

During this blessed time of outpouring of charity in the early church, there were many that sold their possessions and gave the proceeds to the church. One of these men who sold his land and contributed the proceeds to the church was Joses. We know Joses much better in the Bible as Barnabas, which was his surname given to him by the apostles which means “the son of consolation”. Barnabas had a great gift to encourage and exhort the brethren in the Jerusalem church; so much so that the apostles named him “the son of consolation”. We need to follow Barnabas’ pattern to console, encourage, and admonish the brethren in the church. We should be publicly known and identified by our exhortation of others. Even more so, we look to the God of all Consolation and Jesus Christ as our Son of Consolation, to console and encourage our soul.   

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How much knowledge of the events on earth – either in the past, present, or future – will God’s children have when they go to heaven? This is a very common question, especially when a loved one passes away. Unfortunately, some people approach this question with more sentimentality than scripture. Your loved ones are not looking down on you from heaven, disappointed when you make poor decisions or cheering you on when good things happen. Their focus in heaven is not sitting as a spectator in the bleachers watching our lives play out on the earth. No, heaven is consumed with the worship and glory of God. While those in heaven are not focused on the events of earth, scripture does indicate that they do have special knowledge of the events of this world, even knowledge of future events on the earth. We will still have memories of our lives from here in this world, and then we will be able to view those events through the perfect perspective and will of God. Scripture does show that we will know our loved ones in heaven, although our relationships will be different there as the entire elect family of God. While we cannot fully comprehend exactly what heaven will be like, we need to make sure to view heaven through the lens of scripture. We hope to consider some verses together that hopefully can provide a more precise view of exactly how much knowledge of earthly events we will have in heaven.

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“9) After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10) Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11) Give us this day our daily bread. 12) And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13) And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” (Matt. 6:9-13)

During Jesus Christ’s sermon on the mount in Matt. 6, he instructed the disciples in the proper manner that we should pray. We read a similar account in Luke 11:1-4 at a later time when the disciples request Jesus to teach them to pray. After hearing Jesus pray unto God, the disciples understandably felt very inadequate in their prayers unto God (Luke 11:1). Could you imagine hearing the second person of the Godhead praying to God the Father? The disciples clearly saw their futility in prayer compared to Jesus Christ and requested, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” (Luke 11:1b) The disciples, and certainly us today as well, need instruction and teaching from Jesus for how to better pray unto our Heavenly Father. Jesus is teaching all the disciples of Christ the proper manner of prayer for how we are to communicate with our Heavenly Father in prayer.

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“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Cor. 10:13)

It is a common Christian cliché today to say that “God will never put on you more than you can bear”. This verse in 1 Cor. 10:13 is typically used to support that statement. However, this verse does not teach that God will never put more on you than you can bear. Actually, a studious reading of this text will find that God typically will put on you more than you can bear by yourself. In the midst of those overwhelming situations, God has promised that he will give us a way of escape with grace sufficient to embolden us with God’s strength to be able to bear up under that trial. The same writer of 1 Cor. 10:13, the Apostle Paul felt that God had previously put on him more than he could bear; he had been “pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life” (2 Cor. 1:8). Paul felt pressured beyond his own strength, pressed beyond what he could bear in and of himself. Moses, Job, and Elijah all felt their trials were too much to bear and requested God to take their life. It often takes fierce, apparently overwhelming, trials in our lives for us to be reminded of our own insufficiency and how dependent we truly are upon God for everything. Truly, without Christ we can do nothing (John 15:5). However, praise God in spite of our weakness that we are empowered to still do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Phil. 4:13). When the storms of life are raging, we trust God’s faithfulness and providence to empower us with sustaining strength and grace sufficient during our great times of need.

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“And Jesus said unto [Zacchaeus], This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.” (Luke 19:9)

Zacchaeus was arguably public enemy number one in Judea since he was the chief of the publican tax collectors. He was despised as a traitor and probably universally hated in the community. However, we see the genuine repentance displayed by Zacchaeus, not just committing to act honestly going forward but to make full restitution for past offenses and even restore fourfold to everyone he had previously defrauded. As a result of his sincere and radical repentance, Jesus tells him that “salvation is come to his house today”. Salvation and deliverance come to our homes when we humbly repent of our sins and commit to honest service to Jesus Christ in our lives. There is a deliverance when the leaders of our households (especially the fathers) commit to serving Jesus Christ, not just in their lives in general, but commit to making Jesus Christ the Lord of their house as well. We can experience “salvation coming to our house” when we serve Jesus Christ in sincerity and devotion in our homes with our family.

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