Barnabas - The Encourager

Barnabas – The Encourager

Opener:

Good morning and welcome to Church! A place where we are growing together for the glory of God! This morning we are switching gears a bit and we are going to be talking about a character in the bible. This character was key to the writing of half the New Testament. No it was not the apostle Paul, but it was someone that knew him. While, this character may not be the most popular bible character, however, he was one of great value. His name was Barnabas.

Barnabas who was born known as Joseph was an early disciple. It is said that Barnabas was cousins to Mark the Evangelist. We are first introduced to Barnabas in the bible in the book of Acts. Barnabas may not get all the accolades or recognition, he was a key cog in the early church. He was a man that had a heart to do what was right. He was very generous with his finances as he sold some land and contributed to those that we struggling. Barnabas which is his nickname earned this name as a result of a special talent that he exhibited which was an encourager. In many cases, Barnabas was willing to stand with others when nobody else would. Barnabas life was cut short when he was martyred in Cyprus around the year 61 A. D.

I. Standing next to an apostle

A. Saul turned Paul

a. The first person that we see Barnabas standing by is none other than the person that wrote over half the New Testament, the apostle Paul.

b. At first, the disciples were very apprehensive of Paul. They had heard about Saul and all the way that he was persecuting believers all over. They heard about how he was there while Stephen was being stoned and how intent he was to bring the early church to it’s knees.

c. So when the disciples heard about Paul’s conversion to Christianity they were very apprehensive to accept him into the group.

d. Not that they did not want to accept him but as you can image they did not trust him.

e. We pick up the story in the book of Acts 9:26-28(NKJV) 26 And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. 28 So he was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out.

f. Someone had to step up on Paul’s behalf and that person was Barnabas.

g. Barnabas put himself out there. He stood with Paul when no one else would.

h. Of coarse, we know the remainder of the story. Paul went on to do some great things for God.

i. Really these things would have never been achieved if Barnabas did not step up and speak on Paul’s behalf.

II. Another bible author

A. John Mark

a. After Paul’s conversion to Christianity, Paul went on to do several missionary trips.

b. Paul’s first missionary trip, he visited the city of Pamphylia.

c. This city was located in Asia minor and was about 20 miles long and 10 miles wide.

d. Civilization in this city was less developed than it’s neighbors.

e. This city was strongly influenced by paganism and their culture and coins reflect this.

B. Calling of John Mark

a. So on this missionary trip, Paul did not go alone. He took several fellow disciples with him.

b. Paul took Barnabas, and also a disciple named John Mark.

c. John Mark was known by the early church as a man that had a heart for evangelism.

d. John Mark would later become the first bishop of Alexandria and established the Christian church in Africa.

C. The disagreement

a. While on this missionary trip, we see that there was some sort of disagreement between John Mark and Paul

b. The bible does not go into the details regarding this disagreement between these two men.

c. We just know that as a result of this disagreement Paul and John Mark decided to go their separate ways.

D. Results

a. So as you can image John Mark was probably a little discourage as a result of this disagreement.

b. John Mark continued though in the ministry that God had called him to.

c. It was none other than Barnabas that encouraged John Mark not to give up.

d. Later on, Paul even recognized the importance of John Mark in 2 Timothy 4:11 (NKJV) 11 Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry.