Barnabas’ Exhortation – Acts 11:22-23

Even though we are Christians, and we know that this is true –

We need to remind ourselves that the Bible is not a human book; it’s author is the Lord.

Holy of men of God may have penned the scriptures, but they did so “as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

That means that it is important to read the Bible fully and carefully, because every word and even every lack of a word was intentional.

For example, when Barnabas arrived in Antioch and had seen the effects of the grace of God, he rejoiced.

He was glad to see that the Lord was saving Syrian souls for His own eternal glory,

But Barnabas was not content with that alone.

Because he was a good man and full of faith and the Holy Ghost, he exhorted the Christians there.

Specifically, what was it that he said to those people?

“That with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord.”

Does anyone think that this was all that he told those people?

Does anyone think that he didn’t get any more specific than that?

Did Barnabas spend months in Antioch and never preach anything but “cleave, cleave, cleave”?

I believe that as much as time allowed, he preached the whole counsel of God.

But out of all that was taught and preached, the Holy Spirit summarized it for us with that one statement:

“That with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord.”

This should tell us that this is an important declaration.

This should tell us that here is something that we need to implement in our lives.

Technically speaking, WHAT IS IT TO CLEAVE unto the Lord?

“Cleave” is a not very common Greek word that means “to continue” or to “abide” with the Lord.

Barnabas was telling those people to determine – to resolve – that with a fixed purpose they would, for the rest of their lives, walk hand-in-hand with the Lord.

In Romans 12:9 Paul clearly illustrates the meaning of the word:

“Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.”

To paraphrase, he says, “hate and avoid evil, but love and cling to that which is good.”

A marriage is a very good illustration of this Biblical relationship between the Christian and the Lord.

When two people marry, they vow and purpose to abide with each other for the rest of their lives:

“Til death do us part.”

And do you remember what word the Bible uses to describe this marriage relationship?

“And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”

That word “cleave” in Genesis 2, or course, was originally written in Hebrew,

But the Lord Jesus used the same Greek word as Barnabas when He said:“For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh.”

When Barnabas exhorted the new Christians in Antioch, he was encouraging a relationship to God very much like the relationship between a Christian man and his new bride.

Is that the way that you look at your Lord?

Notice that, in this case, the point of contact between the saint and the Lord should be that Christian’s heart.

Sure we should obey the precepts, the will and the wishes of our Saviour.

If we love Him we will keep His commandments.

And he that abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God, so holding to and professing to believe the teachings of Christ and the doctrines about Christ are included here.

But this cleaving to the Lord is not a matter of the head or the hand.

This is all about the heart, about love, about sincerity and about a genuine desire to be with the Lord.

When I quoted Romans 12:9 a minute ago, I only quoted the last part of the verse.

“Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.”

Actually the verse begins with the words, “Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.”

Barnabas is not directly saying, “It’s extremely important that you faithfully obey the Lord.”

When he said, “Cleave” it included obedience, faith, faithfulness, love, and devotion.

But to cleave unto the Lord is an act of the heart, just as faith is an act of the heart.

Now, think about the word “purpose” – “that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord.”

This same Greek word is used to describe the purpose of God.

Romans 8:28 – “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Ephesians 1:11 – “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.”

Ephesians 3:11 – “According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

II Timothy 1:9 – “Who hath saved us, & called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”

Can there be anything more fixed and unchangeable than the determined purpose of the Almighty?

That is the kind of purpose that we are supposed to have to cleave unto the Lord.

Are you as determined to adhere to the Lord as the Lord is determined to cleave unto you?

I’m not talking about your ABILITY to cleave as compared to HIS ability.

But I’m talking about resolve, about determination, about resoluteness.

Barnabas exhorted each and everyone of them that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord.

This perseverance is ONE OF THE MARKS of a true saint of God.

Let’s say that two young Syrian Jews professed to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

When Barnabas arrived they were both baptized and joined the mission in Antioch.

They both quit going to the bars; and they both quit smoking, cussing and carousing.

Both these men married good Christian young ladies and both began to serve the Lord.

But one of them had an uncle in Jerusalem who was a Sadducee, and a member of the Sanhedrin.

When that uncle heard about his young nephew in Antioch he took the next shuttle flight up to Syria,

And after a marathon session he convinced him that to be a Christian was to be a fool.

Eventually this young man dropped out of church, quit studying his Bible, mistreated his wife, returned to his sin and gave no indication of the presence of the Holy Spirit in his life.

But the other man has cleaved unto the Lord and served Him more or less faithfully his entire life.

And then eventually twenty years later, both men are killed in a train wreck.

At their funeral, should the preacher tell their wives that based upon their decades-old professions of faith and their baptisms both men are safely in the arms of the Lord Jesus?

Don’t we have the responsibility to look at their lives and their on-going professions, as some sort of evidence about their earlier professions?

What was the Lord talking about when he said, “By their fruits ye shall know them”?

Although a man’s works do not justify him, they don’t save his soul,

A man’s works do justify his profession before the eyes of other men.

Coeur d’Alene, this weekend, is hosting their annual “Iron man Competition.”

As I understand it there is a long run, a long swim, and a long bike race.

The combined times of each segment of the race are added together to determine the overall winner.

Some of the racers they will be disappointed if they don’t win.

But for the majority, just to be able to finish the course and to get the t-shirt, will be enough.

What they want to do is cross each of those three finish lines running, swimming and biking.

How do we know that so-and-so is a Christian?

It’s not if they appeared to start the race

And it’s not WHEN they cross the finish line.

It’s if they are STILL CLEAVING to the Lord WHEN they do cross at finish line.

In one sense it’s not cleaving to the Lord that saves the soul; cleaving to the Lord proves that someone is a child of God.

But on the other hand, if cleaving means clinging to Christ, then in another sense, that is exactly the way that we are saved.

Of course there are enemies which militate against this perseverance.

The world and the Devil fight against it, but they aren’t nearly as malignant as our own flesh.

Why do we have to be exhorted to cleave to the Lord?

Because we are spiritual whimps.

With our hands we loose our grip on the Saviour’s hand.

With our minds we forget the conviction and the moving of the Spirit of God in our hearts the day that we made that profession of repentance.

And our hearts are so frequently turned this way and that way, that we forget Who it is that we vowed to love, honour and cherish for the rest of our lives.

Cleave unto the Lord, cleave unto the Lord, and while you’re at it don’t forget to cleave unto the Lord.

Going back to the illustration about the Coeur d’Alene Iron Man Triathelon, consider Hebrews 12:1-2:

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, & let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Our highest example for cleaving unto the Lord, is the Lord Jesus Himself.

There never was a moment when He didn’t have the will of His Father in his heart, mind and sight.

Despite the pressure of temptation, there was never the contemplation of sin.

Despite the problems of earthly life, Christ Jesus never forgot that He was a citizen and King of Glory.

But the fact of the matter is that Jesus is not just our example in this exhortation, He is our power to cling.

The doctrine “the perseverance of the saints” is the idea that God’s true saints will persevere, cling and cleave until the day of their death.

They may backslide from time to time, and they may sin, but they will never completely turn their backs upon the Saviour.

They were saved by God and they shall die as children of God.

But the perseverance of the saints is actually the perseverance of God on their behalf.

No man is saved by grace and then kept saved by his works or by his cleaving.

Turn to John 15:1-11.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”

What is the source of life here; is it in the branch or in the vine? Vine.

Who is that vine; the Christian or the Lord?

But what is it that is supposed to bear the fruit? The Christian branch.

What if the branch doesn’t bear fruit? It is cast into the fire.

But can that branch bear the fruit all by itself? Without Christ, we can do nothing.

On the other hand, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

There are no Christians who can successfully cleave unto the Lord in their own strength.

There is no such thing as personal perseverance.

But when there is a heart to cleave and a heart to persevere, the grace and power of God will make it happen.

Without Christ we can do nothing, but we can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth us.

So like Barnabas, our exhortation is: “With purpose of heart cleave unto the Lord.”

But like the initial faith to believe on Christ, we know that the ability to cleave belongs to the Lord Himself.

Are you this day, cleaving unto the Lord?