923. Barnabus: A Servant Chosen and Equipped

Welcome to The Daily Platform from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. Today on The Daily Platform, we're continuing a four-part seminary series entitled New Testament Servants, which studies how God chose and equipped particular servants in the Bible to minister His Word. Today's message will be preached by Pastor Jeff Hawke, Senior Pastor of Grace Baptist Church in East Flat Rock, North Carolina. Well, if you would, please take your Bible and open to Acts chapter 4.

Acts chapter 4, we'll look at verse 36 to start with. It's fair to say that Barnabas is an underrated New Testament figure. I mean, here's a man who was a prominent member of the mother church in Jerusalem. He was instrumental in the founding of the missions-minded church in Antioch of Syria. Here's a man who was a partner in ministry with the Apostle Paul, traveling with him on his first missionary journey, planting churches and reaching lost Gentiles for Christ. Here's a man who was a member of the important delegation who went to Jerusalem for that first church council to resolve the church's very first doctrinal crisis. And yet, we know Barnabas better not for his ministry accomplishments so much, but for the impact that he had on other people. He was known as an encourager.

He encouraged people. Look at chapter 4, verse 36. Now Joseph, and that was his real name, now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles, which translated means son of encouragement.

Now scholars who fixate on etymology really struggle with Luke's translation of the name Barnabas. But Luke's very clear here on what the apostles meant when they called this man by his nickname Barnabas. They meant, here is a man who is a real encourager.

Here is a son of encouragement. If you'll pardon the pun, Barnabas was in fact your average Joe Christian, but he was also an encourager. That was what he was known for.

That was his reputation. He was a man who was filled with the Holy Spirit, who knew something of the fruit of the Spirit, joy. He was a joyful man and he spread that joy everywhere he went and every life he touched.

God used this man mightily. In the brief time that we have together this morning, I want to encourage you, I want to encourage you to be a son of encouragement, to have that same heart, that same spirit that Barnabas had, to be an encourager of others. Now based on the biblical information available to us, I'd like us to consider four categories of people that Barnabas encouraged throughout his ministry.

The first category would be that of new believers. Barnabas encouraged new believers. For one thing, he was instrumental at a very key time in the life of Saul of Tarsus. If you'll turn over to Acts chapter 9, we'll look at verse 26 here. After Saul of Tarsus was saved, Christians were very leery of this man who had been a persecutor of the church, and rightly so. But Barnabas took a risk on this new convert. Look at Acts 9 26. When he, Saul of Tarsus, came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road and that he had talked to him, and how at Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. So here's Barnabas taking a personal risk on a former persecutor of the church, Saul of Tarsus.

It's a personal risk. He went out on a limb. He was able to look at this former persecutor of the church and see God's fingerprints on his life.

Now let's be clear. It's not a matter of us believing in people, for let us not put confidence in the flesh. It is rather having faith in God that God can get a hold of a life and transform a person from what he was to a disciple of Christ who will serve him and glorify him. And so it's looking at people with that eye of faith. A new convert who maybe is disheveled. Maybe they come from a very bad former life.

Maybe it's drug abuse. Maybe it's all kinds of sinful behaviors. But it's looking at them with that eye of faith and believing that God will make a difference in their lives. It's about to see people as redeemed sinners and visualize what God can do in and through them, just like Barnabas did with respect to Saul of Tarsus. So Barnabas encouraged Saul of Tarsus. He also encouraged the new believers in Antioch.

If you'll turn over to Acts chapter 11, verse 22. So what happened here is Stephen had been martyred. And the persecution that came with that caused Christians to scatter. And with that, the spread of the Gospel. The Gospel spread to places like Antioch in Syria. And both Jews and Greeks there in Antioch had heard the Gospel and had gotten saved.

And here's what happens next in verse 22. The news about them reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem. And they sent Barnabas off to Antioch. Then when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord. For he was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith and considerable numbers were brought to the Lord. So the church in Jerusalem, the mother church picked Barnabas. Of all people, they picked Barnabas to go to Antioch. And when he got there, he was very encouraged by what he saw. A whole bunch of new believers.

Such potential. He saw in them the potential that could be worked by the power of God. He rejoiced over what was happening there in Antioch.

And what did he do? He encouraged those new believers. He encouraged them to remain faithful, to remain strong in their faith, to not waver. He was a son of encouragement to these new believers. Barnabas rejoiced and his joy was contagious and it spread to the other people there.

They were rejoicing in what God was doing in their midst. Who knows how the Lord might use just a simple word of encouragement that you might give to a new convert. Robert Moffatt had returned to England on the only furlough of his 52-year missionary service in Africa. And as he spoke to the interested crowds, he said this, In the north I have seen in the morning sun the smoke of a thousand villages where no missionary has ever been. After he spoke, one young doctor approached Moffatt and asked if he also might be used of the Lord in Africa. And Moffatt gave to this young man a most encouraging answer.

He said, Yes. Yes, the Lord can use you in Africa. In fact, you need to go to these tribes of the north.

That young doctor's name was David Livingston. Who knows if the Lord might use a simple word of encouragement that you might give to new believers. Be a son of encouragement like Barnabas. Encourage new believers. That's the first category of people that Barnabas encouraged. Second category would be ministry partners.

Encourage your ministry partners. You know, God was doing a great work there in Antioch under Barnabas' ministry. So good, in fact, that he desperately needed some help.

He needed some assistance. And so he went to Tarsus and he brought Saul, now Paul, back with him. And the two of them ministered together there in Antioch as a team. Barnabas was not too proud to share the ministry with someone else.

And even to allow Paul's gifts to outshine his own. Because they were in it together, not for themselves, but for the Lord. And so they ministered together in Antioch for about a year. And if you'll turn over to Acts chapter 13, we're told in verse 2, while they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. The Holy Spirit had selected these two men to now be partners in this great missionary enterprise to the Gentiles.

They were going to be partners together on this first missionary journey. Guess where they went first? They went to Cyprus. They went to Barnabas' hometown, if you will. And then they went on from there to Asia Minor, preaching the gospel and planting churches as they went. They had a very successful ministry.

Missionary ministry, reaching the lost, church planting ministry. They traveled together. They preached together. And yes, they faced opposition together and persecution and difficulties. But they had each other to encourage one another. I think it's interesting, perhaps more than coincidental, that when Jesus sent out the 70, he sent them out two by two. And when the Holy Spirit sent the first missionary team out on a missionary journey, he sent them out as two, Paul and Barnabas.

They had each other. They were partners in ministry. Ecclesiastes 4 and 9 says, two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor, for if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion.

But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. When the Lord places you in ministry, wherever that may be, in whatever capacity it may be, you're not going to be in that ministry alone. You're going to have partners in ministry.

You may be serving on a team together with others. And as you do serve in that capacity, however the Lord may use you, will you be a son of encouragement to the other members of that team? Will you be an encourager to that senior pastor that you're serving under?

I hope you will. The great preacher Charles Spurgeon said this, pray for the minister and encourage him, for there are plenty to discourage him. There are always carping spirits abroad who will remind him of any fault. He will be afflicted by those who will not dare to sign their names to a letter, but will send it to him anonymously. And then there is the devil, who the moment the man has got out of the pulpit, will say, there is a poor sermon. You will never dare preach again. There are all sorts of discouragements to be met with. Professing Christians will backslide.

Those who do remain will often be inconsistent. He will be sighing and crying in his closet while you perhaps are thanking God that your souls have been fed under him. Spurgeon says, encourage your minister. I pray you, wherever you attend, encourage him for your own sake. Will you be a son of encouragement to that senior pastor that you're serving under?

Will you be a son of encouragement to other members of the team that you're serving alongside of? Will you encourage your ministry partners like Barnabas did? There's a third category of people that Barnabas encouraged, and that would be those in need.

If you go back to Acts chapter 4, you've already seen the introduction that Luke makes to Barnabas. He tells us about who this man is, and it's in this context when we're first introduced to him, we're told in verse 37 that he owned a tract of land and sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet. Now here's a man who had a generous heart, and he sought opportunities to encourage those who were in need, and he did something about it. He was willing to sell some of his property in order to be a blessing to someone who was in need. Later on in time when Barnabas and Paul are serving together in Antioch, guess who the church chose to take the collection that they had gathered up to Jerusalem to encourage the saints who were needy there?

It was Paul and Barnabas. Here is someone who really cared about others, and no doubt he gave substantially to that collection himself. A true son of encouragement will respond to opportunities to be generous, to meet others' needs. James asks us in James 2.15, if a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you say to them, go in peace, be warmed and filled, and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?

Even so, faith, if it has no works, is dead being by itself. And so one of the ways that we live out our faith is by giving generously to meet the needs of others. We just recently had one of the missionaries that we support, the Largents in Uruguay, home on furlough, they came to our church, gave us an update on their ministry. They recounted what they've been through the past few years. Ivan has suffered with tremendous back pain. And then after that he was treated for that in Uruguay and that got his stomach all messed up.

And so he suffered with all kinds of stomach problems. And then this past year, early in the morning one morning, a tornado hit their home and ripped the roof off. They've been through one thing after another. And they've been in need. But you know the blessing, a blessing to the pastor's heart, is for me to see our people respond to those needs and to give generously to them. We took up a love offering for the Largents and so did other of their supporting churches.

And do you know the Lord met every need for them. So be a son of encouragement, like Barnabas. Encourage new believers. Encourage your ministry partners.

Encourage those in need. And there's yet a fourth category of people that Barnabas encouraged and that is those who fail. Turn over to Acts chapter 15.

You know the situation here. When Paul and Barnabas left Antioch on their missionary journey together, they took Barnabas's cousin John Mark with them. But John Mark turned out to be a great disappointment. He abandoned them early in their journey and he returned to Jerusalem. And so when the time came for Paul to begin another missionary journey, Barnabas and Paul could not agree on whether to bring John Mark with them again.

And so that's kind of where we pick it up here in Acts 15 and look at verse 36. After some days Paul said to Barnabas, Let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaim the word of the Lord and see how they are. Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with them also. But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. And there occurred such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.

But Paul chose Silas and left, being committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord and he was traveling through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. Let's face it, John Mark had been a failure. He had suffered ministry failure, having abandoned Paul and Barnabas at a time when they really needed him. He had let them down.

And to this day commentators have a raging debate on who was right in this dispute. Was it Paul? Was it Barnabas? Was it not within Paul's apostolic authority to deny John Mark a second chance? Should Barnabas have just deferred to Paul in this matter? Well on the other hand, the Apostle Peter had denied the Lord three times.

He had failed miserably. And what did the Lord Jesus Christ do? He gave him a second chance. He restored Peter to a position of ministry where he could serve the Lord and God used him mightily from that point forward. How many Bible heroes were given second chances?

How many of us have been given a second chance? It would seem that Barnabas was operating on the principle of restoration that we find in Galatians 6.1. Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, each one looking to yourselves so that you too will not be tempted.

Well we have the benefit of hindsight. And in hindsight we can see that Barnabas' approach worked out for the good. Because not one but two missionary teams were sent out by the church.

The Gospel spread even further. And in due time, John, Mark, and Paul's relationship was apparently fully restored. About a decade later, Paul is writing to the believers in Colossae and he says to them, Colossians 4.10, Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you his greetings and also Barnabas' cousin Mark, about whom you received instructions, if he come to you, welcome him. And then Paul also writes in 2 Timothy 4.11, some years later, this is now near the very end of his life, he's in prison in Rome, he says, only Luke is with me, the writer of the book of Acts.

He says, pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service. So here's a man who got a second chance, John Mark, useful to the apostle Paul. This man got a second chance because of Barnabas, because of the son of encouragement, and he longed and encouraged someone who had failed in ministry, someone who might have just given up, but they were given another chance.

G. Campbell Morgan was one of about 150 young men who sought entrance into the Wesleyan ministry in 1888. He had passed his written exam, the next step was to give a trial sermon in front of a panel. Apparently he didn't do too well.

When the results were released, Morgan's name was among the 105 who were rejected. He wired his father with one word, rejected. Then he sat down and wrote in his diary, very dark, everything seems still.

The reply to his wire was quick to arrive. It read, rejected on earth, accepted in heaven, dad. A dad can be an encouragement to a son who's gone through a disappointment like that. A brother in Christ can be an encouragement to someone who's gone through a disappointment like that.

Someone who feels rejected and that word is just hanging over them like a dark cloud. They need someone who will not give up on them like they've given up on themselves. They need a Barnabas who will come alongside of them and put their arm around them and encourage them. Say, the Lord is not through with you, brother. Get up and dust yourself off and go forward and serve the Lord. Do what you can to encourage those who fail so that they, like John Mark, like G. Campbell Morgan, can go on to useful service to our Lord. Be a Barnabas. Be a son of encouragement. Encourage those around you. Encourage new believers. Encourage your ministry partners. Encourage those who are in need.

Encourage those who have suffered a failure or a setback. Be that brother, that Barnabas to them that encourages them. Be the one that God uses. Be this man who was spirit-filled and full of faith, who was used of the Lord to encourage others, who spread the joy of the Lord to those around him. Will you be a Barnabas? Our Father, we thank you for this profile of this man that you used mightily in ministry. I pray, Lord, that you would help each of us to live up to this standard in our own lives, that we might be an encourager to those around us, not tearing others down, not always criticizing, not always seeing the bad. But may we be that Barnabas, that son of encouragement to those who need encouragement, that they might go on and serve you. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. You've been listening to Dr. Jeff Hawke, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in East Flat Rock, North Carolina. Listen tomorrow as we continue this series of New Testament Servants on The Daily Platform.