Portraits of a Paraclete
Acts 4:36-37; 9:19-30; 11:19-26
Everybody needs a “Barney”!
Fred Flintstone, that three fingered cartoon character of television’s first animated prime-time series, and now spokesperson for children’s vitamins and cereal, had a Barney. Barney Rubble, the next door neighbor who was always accompanying Fred. Whenever Fred went off on one of his hairbrained schemes, faithful Barney stayed right with him.
Barney Fife was the overeager sidekick to Sheriff Andy Taylor. Barney was the bumbling idiot that Andy had to keep pulling out of trouble. Don Knotts was on The Andy Griffith Show for five years and won five Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Barney. When Don Knotts left the show to pursue a movie career, many people say that the program just wasn’t the same anymore. Barney may have been bumbling, but he gave Andy sometime to do besides sitting around the sheriff’s office.
Everybody needs a “Barney”! Even if your Barney is a six-foot tall purple dinosaur, our Barney friends have a way of getting into our heart as they stand beside us.
Today we are going to introduce you to a “Barney” in the New Testament. This Barney came alongside the church in such special ways that Christianity was changed forever! Without this Barney, there would be no Ananias and Sapphira, who cheated God and were killed. Without this Barney, there would be no Gospel of Mark in your Bible, In fact, if this Barney had not done what he did to come alongside of others, you would not have any books from Romans through Philemon, because the Apostle Paul would not have been accepted by the Believers. All because of Barney!
There is a wonderful word given us in the New Testament about what a friend really is.
A Paraclete is one who is called alongside to help.
I want to highlight for you five ways this “Barney” was called alongside to help others and how that you can be a paraclete.
A Paraclete is a Provider
Acts 4:32-37
32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.
33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.
34 There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales
35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.
36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement),
37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.
(NIV)
His given name was Joseph, just an ordinary follower of Jesus, who was so greatly used by God to provide for the needs of others that the Church gave him the nickname, “Barnabas”, meaning “son of Encouragement”. God called him alongside to share what he had been blessed with. In this case, there was a need for money. We don’t know how long Barnabas had owned the land he sold, or what his intensions were for the land. All we know is that Barnabas saw a need, saw e ad something he could contribute to help with the need, and simply did it!
Even though God can create something out of nothing, He chooses to use paracletes whom He has blessed in order that they might be a blessing to others.
A couple of weekends ago, we held a State Men’s retreat, which some of our men got to attend. As we dreamed about this event last summer, the Lord put it into our hearts that this Men’s Retreat needed to be offered to the men of our state at a low cost. The monies needed for the quality of program we desired would have to be found outside the registrations and outside the budget of the state. God put it into our hearts to ask some businessmen if they would contribute to the cause. Because God placed the burden on one man’s heart, even though he could not attend the Retreat himself, he handed us a large gift. He told us how God had provided exactly the amount of his gift on the day we had first asked him.
Maybe you know of a need and you cannot get it off your heart. Maybe God has already provided you the means whereby you can meet that need. You’ve been blessed to be a blessing! What are you waiting for?
Who has God called you alongside for whom you can become a provider?
A Paraclete is a Protector
Acts 9:19-30
23 After many days had gone by, the Jews conspired to kill him,
24 but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him.
25 But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.
26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple.
27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus.
28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.
29 He talked and debated with the Grecian Jews, but they tried to kill him.
30 When the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
(NIV)
Saul was born again with arrest warrants in his pockets. His reason for going to Damascus in the first place was “…so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.” (Acts 9:2 NIV) The Lord appeared to him on the way and changed his life. Saul started proclaiming his newfound faith to others and the Jews decided to kill him. Those he had led to the Lord helped him escape to Jerusalem.
The only problem was every Christian knew what Saul looked like. When he showed up for church, all the believers tried to find some way to get away from him.
Look at verse 27: “But Barnabas…!” Barnabas risks his own life to help Saul be accepted among the believers. That’s what a paraclete does! Barnabas knew that the only way Saul could get in with the Believers was for he himself to stick his neck out for Saul! Barnabas defends Saul. How did he know that all this wouldn’t backfire on him and he get thrown our of the fellowship along with Saul? He didn’t! But Barnabas believed that Saul was worth protecting! That’s what a paraclete does! A paraclet comes to the defense of another.
Who has God called you alongside for whom you can become a protector?
A Paraclete is a Personal Coach
Acts 11:19-22
19 Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews.
20 Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus.
21 The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.
22 News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
(NIV)
The Church in Antioch is growing by leaps and bounds. People are finding the Lord and the believers at the Jerusalem home base are thrilled and concerned that these young believers be given the right foundation. Someone needs to go to Antioch and help the new believers there grow in the Lord. Who should go?
Look at verse 22: they sent Barnabas to Antioch. And why not! Barnabas knew the culture since he was from near there. He knew the language. He knew the mindset of the people in those parts. And on top of all that, Barnabas was an encourager. He knew how to coach these folk to be there best for the Lord.
While I have never been an athlete, I’ve had some great paraclete coaches who came alongside me and trained me in the things of God…
like Arnold Sponsel, who trained me in evangelism,
and Roy Chism, who trained me in pastoring,
and Gene Miller, who trained me in study,
and John Conley, who trained me in preaching,
aand Arlo Newell, who trained me in teaching,
and Joe Faircloth, who trained me in prayer.
Each of us has something we can train someone else to do! But you cannot give what you do not have! What do you know that you can teach someone else?
Who has God called you alongside for whom you can become a personal coach?
A Paraclete is a Promoter
Acts 11:23-24
23 When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.
24 He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.
(NIV)
Barnabas went right to work coaching the folk in Antioch in the things of God. But it was so that he could say, “Well those folk are who they are today because I trained them!” There is no “I” in paraclete! Barnabas really didn’t care if anyone ever knew he had been in Antioch. All he wanted was to see these people make it. If they could just simply become whom God wanted them to be, and if they could reach their potential in the Lord, who cares who gets the credit!
Because Barnabas lifted up the Christians in Antioch, the scripture says:
a great number of people were brought to the Lord. (vs 24)
Jams Curtis was a promoter to me. He came alongside me to encourage me, to push me beyond what I had learned and the accomplishments of my past. I will never know how many times I rode the wave of Bro. Curtis’ influence and was carried to opportunities I could have never been afforded on my own. He was the one who invited me to serve with him in an internship between my junior and senior year. He was the one who encouraged me to pray for someone to go and begin a work for God where one was needed. He was the one who encouraged others to give me an opportunity to pastor their church. He was the one who told more than one pastor to invite me to preach a revival in their church. That’s what a paraclete does! He opens doors for you. He promotes you!
Who has God called you alongside for whom you can become a promoter?
A Paraclete is a Partner
Acts 11:25-26
25 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul,
26 and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
(NIV)
A paraclete know just who to involve so that God’s plan can be accomplished. Saul has been out of the picture for several years.
The man pictured was one of my “Barney’s”, although his name was Chester. Chester Cowgill came into my life shortly after I became a Christian. Chester was an encouragement to teenagers all over Southwest Ohio. He would travel from church to church, asking God to point out some particular young person he could encourage. Finding out their name and address, when he got his next retirement check he would contact that young person and their parents. He would travel to their home and present them with a Bible with their name on it, along with some Christian literature for the teenager and their parents. He left their home with a promise to pray for their family.
When the state of Ohio told Chester he no longer could drive his car, Chester rode his bike all over Middletown, carrying personalized Bibles to young people he had encountered. He scared my dad half to death several times as he would wobble that bike down the street.
Chester had a passion for getting God’s Word into the hands of teenagers because he knew God said:
Isaiah 55:11
11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
(KJV)
After I got my driver’s license, I became Chester’s chauffer, taking him to those appointments of encouragement. God called Chester alongside of me to place in me a passion for getting God’s Word to people.
After Ronda and I got married, we went to see Chester. You know what Chester gave us for a wedding present? A family Bible. He wanted to encourage us to build our home on the Word of the Living God.
Chester died a few years back. On one of our visits to my parents, an announcement was made at church that Chester’s home church was closing and that they were donating an organ to my home church. They needed some help to transport it and so I volunteered. As I walked around that building, memories of Chester flooded my mind. When I came into the old pastor’s office, I found a treasure. A picture of one of my paracletes, Chester Cowgill. I keep it in my office as a constant reminder that I am also called to come alongside of others, to be a paraclete to others.
Who has God called you alongside for whom you can become a partner?
