ACTS 4:36-37 "THE CHURCH MEMBER OF MY DREAMS"
A) Now what would a pastor’s dream church member be like?
* If I had the kind of church member who would be the church member of my fondest dreams,
what would he be like? * Well I’m going to show you in just a moment what he would be like.
* Now the church member of my dreams would be the Apostle Paul.
* Oh, I’d love to have Paul in the congregation, but I’d personally hate to have a congregation full
of Pauls. * You talk about being intimidated when you preach!
* But I just don’t believe I’d enjoy preaching to a congregation of Pauls!
B) I love Peter, I’m glad God made Peter, I believe God made one because we needed him,
* But only one because he’s the only one we could stand. * Thank God for Simon Peter.
* He’s a great guy, but I just don’t believe I’d like a church full of Simon Peters.
* I believe that if I could have the church member of my dreams it would be this man, Joses that I
just read to you about. * Only that’s not what they called him.
C) They called him Barnabas, that is, that was the name he was given!
* Today, we would say that his nickname was Barnabas!
* And the word Barnabas was interpreted, son of consolation!
* Well you say, "What’s so great about that?"
* Well the word consolation is the same word that the Holy Spirit is called by, the Comforter.
* Well what does that mean? * It literally means encouragement!
D) Now we’re getting to the bottom line ... What was so great about Barney?
* They nicknamed him encourager! * They said, "You are Barnabas, you are the encourager.
* You are the son of consolation, you’re the guy that encourages us every time we’re around you."
E) Now I don’t really believe they even called him Barnabas!
* If I know this guy like I think I know him, they called him Barney.
* Old Barney, the guy everybody loved! * He was a great encourager.
* You see folks, if there’s anything that people need today, it’s encouragement because there’s so
many folks who are discouraged.
* So many people are so low they could sit on the curb and dangle their feet.
* They are discouraged and they need to be encouraged.
F) Did you know that in 2Cor.1:3 it says that God is called, "The God of all comfort!"
* And literally it’s this same word, the God of all consolation, the God of all encouragement!
* Friend, if you are discouraged God didn’t do it, the devil did it.
* The devil wants to get you discouraged, because folks, if he’s got you discouraged he has you
set for failure! * Discouragement is the dark room where the negatives of failure are developed!
G) Now, if you are discouraged the devil is on your trail!
* If you are encouraged you can do almost anything!
* In the football hall of fame, there’s a helmet hung up there.
* It belonged to Bobby Lane and underneath that helmet it says this,
* "Bobby Lane never lost a football game, time just ran out." * I like that!
* Here’s a man who just believed that it could be done and he was a man that kept the fires of
encouragement in his heart and therefore he was able to encourage other team members.
* Thank God for people who have the gift of encouragement, who know how to encourage people!
H) The Bible tells us in 1Thes.5:14 "Comfort the feeble minded."
* Now when he said feebleminded there, he didn’t literally mean those who are weak minded,
* I mean, he is not talking about senile people, or retarded people.
* The word feeble minded there means those people who are discouraged.
* He is saying encourage the discouraged. * If there is anything that we really need in this day and
time, it is those who know how to encourage other people!
I) And that’s the gift that Barnabas had, the gift of encouragement!
* He was a great encourager, and therefore I want you to see five characteristics in his life.
* We’re just going to do a little character study on Barnabas tonight and I want you to see five
characteristics in his life that I pray God will put into my life and into your life.
(1) AN ENCOURAGER IS A LOAD-LIFTER - V.36-37! * Now, what had happened was this:
* There was a great distress in the land of Jerusalem at that time.
* You see, revival had broken out and many people wanted to know what was happening and they
just poured into the city of Jerusalem.
* Many of them became Christians and they decided to stay to learn more about their faith!
A) They had no home to sleep in, there were no hotels or motels!
* They were not wealthy people, many of them just common ordinary people.
* And besides that, early persecution arose immediately, and so many of these people had no place
to go, nothing to eat! * It was just turmoil.
* And there was a great need for financial resources and immediate needs.
B) Now Barney had some property, and he said, "I know what I can do!"
* I’ve got a piece of land, it’s a valuable piece of land, and I can sell it easily."
* And he sold the land and he just gave it to the apostles and he said, "Here, this ought to help."
* Now, what he did was this, he saw a need and he moved in to meet that need!
C) He saw a load and he decided to lift it!
* You see, the apostle Paul later wrote in Gal.6:2 "Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so ......."
* That’s what an encourager is ... he just lifts burdens from people!
* You say, "Well I don’t have any property to sell."
D) Well you don’t have to have property to lift a load! * Maybe you have love that you can give!
* Maybe you have wisdom that you can give, maybe you have advice that you can give!
* Maybe you have time that you can give, maybe there’s a mother next door that’s got a sick child!
* Maybe there’s somebody that you know that has an elderly parent whose mind is leaving!
* Maybe there’s somebody that you know who has just lost their job and needs somebody to loan
them a car or something like that! * You see, we all have something to give!
* If we’ll just think about it there’s somebody that we can say, "Look, have you got a need?"
* "I believe I can help you!" * Wouldn’t it be wonderful just to be in a church full of people,
* Who want to lift somebody else’s load and bear somebody else’s burden.
E) That’s what this man Barnabas did, he had land and he sold it!
* By the way, Barnabas knew the difference between ownership and stewardship!
* A lot of us think we own what we own! * We don’t own it! * We’re only stewards!
* And it needs to be available to the Lord if the Lord wants to use it.
F) You say, "Well Barnabas lost what he had!" * No he didn’t! * As a matter of fact,
* He still has it, because the only thing we carry to heaven is what we’ve given away!
* So, Barnabas still has it! * You see, true wealth, when it’s divided, multiplies!
* So many times we tell people, if you’ll tithe, you’ll be able to do more with the 90% after you
tithe because God will bless the 90%.
* If you really think about it, it’s not really the 90% that God blesses, it’s the 10% that God blesses
that you gave! * You see, it’s not the seed that’s kept in the barn that increases!
G) It’s the seed that is invested that increases! * It’s that which you give away!
* It’s that which you invest, it’s that which you sow! * It’s that which you plant that multiplies and
comes back again and again and again, and the way to get is to give!
* And here was a man who didn’t give to get, he gave to lift a load! * He was an encourager.
* I thank God for the Barnabases in this world today who are load-lifters!
* Let me tell you another sign of a Barnabas, a son of consolation. * Not only is he a load lifter,
(2) HE IS A FRIEND FINDER - ACTS 9:23-27!
* This episode is right after the conversion of Saul when he became Paul.
A) Now Saul, as you know, was persecuting the church!
* Jesus appeared to him, he became converted, and now I begin reading in Acts 9:23-24,
* Why did they want to kill Paul? * Well they felt that Paul was a traitor, a turncoat!
* Paul had been persecuting the church and now he’s lined up with the church!
* And so they think of him as a turncoat and they are going to kill him! * But v.25 says .......
* Can you see this once proud Pharisee hovered in a wicker basket, going down over the wall of
Damascus, trying to escape the city for his life? * Now notice v.26!
B) Now here he is ... His former friends want to kill him!
* Now he needs to go and be with the Christians in Jerusalem and they are afraid of him!
* He’s in no man’s land, they are suspicious of him, they don’t think he’s really been saved!
* And so he’s kind of a man without a country! * But now notice v.27!
C) "But Barnabas took him," * Just underline that! * Now what did Barnabas do?
* Barnabas was a friend finder! * Here was a man who needed a friend!
* Barnabas went out and found him and became a friend to a very lonely new disciple!
* Now folks, I want to tell you, there are a lot of new Christians who need somebody to find them
and to be a friend to them! * There are a lot of people who need an encourager!
D) Do you know what the new Christian needs?
* If anybody needs encouragement, it is a brand new Christian!
* Oh God, give us some Barnabases who will reach out and be a friend to them!
* That’s what an encourager is, he’s a friend finder!
* Can’t you just see the big fisherman putting a bear hug on old Saul and just loving him and
saying, "Come on brother, you’re one of us, we’ll love you, God bless you."
* And a church needs to be filled with Barnabases, people who will find a friend and embrace that
friend and welcome him into the fellowship!
* Barnabas was called an encourager! * He was a friend finder!
* And I want to tell you another reason that Barnabas was an encourager!
(3) HE WAS A BRIDGE BUILDER - ACTS 11:19-24! * Now what had happened was this:
* A revival meeting broke out in Antioch, the gospel fires were beginning to burn!
* The Christians have been persecuted and many of them left Jerusalem, some of them to Antioch!
* They began to tell the story of the resurrected Lord.
* People believed and revival fire got started!
A) That city was turned upside down and inside out for the Lord Jesus!
* Now, word of that revival went back to Jerusalem, to the headquarters where the apostles were.
* And they said, "Look, a lot of folks, a lot of Greeks are getting saved over there in Antioch."
* Well they said, "We wonder, is that true fire or wildfire? Is that of God."
* They had not approved it, they had not initiated it, they had not watched over it!
* They said, "We wonder, is that real Christianity, is God really blessing there?
* Should we approve it? We better send somebody to investigate."
B) And who do you think they sent? You guessed it, they sent Barnabas!
* Now Barney goes up there and the Bible says that Barney was a good man, full of the Holy
Ghost and of faith, and he saw there the grace of God, he saw God moving!
* And what it said in the Bible is, "he exhorted them all."
* So, old Barney is just going around slapping backs, hugging, saying hallelujah, praise the Lord!
* And the Bible says he just exhorted them to cleave, or to go on with the Lord!
C) Now here’s the important thing I want you to see about Barney, he’s a bridge builder!
* Over here in Jerusalem is what we’re going to call traditional Christianity.
* Even though it’s young, it’s still old enough now to have tradition to it.
* I mean the apostles are here and they know exactly what God is doing.
* I mean these are the Jews! * Over here in Antioch, here’s something that is just spreading.
* These folks back in Jerusalem didn’t start it, they didn’t control it, and it’s among the Greeks!
* And it has a little different form, but it’s the same thing.
D) Now here’s Barnabas ... Barnabas comes from that group, but he knows this group!
* And what he becomes is a bridge builder! * He’s a fellow who sees what God is doing here, and
he knows what God has done there! * He knows the old and he sees the new.
* And he just sort of is used of God to mold it all together ... he’s a bridge builder.
* And, let me tell you, we need that kind of a person in our church!
E) Do you know what’s wrong with so many people today?
* They look at something new and they say, "We’ve never done it that way before."
* There are three kinds of church leadership: There are risk takers, care takers and undertakers!
* Now there are a lot of people who don’t want to be a risk taker.
* I mean, they like it all just like it is and they don’t want anything new.
* They don’t want anything to disturb them! * They like it just like it is!
* But thank God for the encouragement Barney gave them & also gave the folks back in
Jerusalem!
F) That’s the kind of a guy, an encourager that old Barney was, you have to love him!
* Two pastors were talking, they said, "Do you have any committees in your church?"
* He said, "I’ve got a lot of committees." * "Do you have any standing committees?"
* He said, "Sure," He said, "We’ve got standing committees, sitting committees and committees
lying down." * He said, "We even have a bucket committee."
* He said, "What’s a bucket committee?" * He said, "Well whenever we think of anything good
and great and grand and glorious, there’s a self- appointed bucket committee.
* They come and pour cold water on everything. They just simply say it can’t be done."
G) Oh God deliver us from the bucket committees, God give us some Barney’s,
* Some people who say, "Yes, God’s in it and it can be done and it will be done."
* What is a Barnabas? * I’ll tell you what a Barnabas is, a Barnabas is a guy who is a load lifter!
* When he finds a need he moves in to lift that load!
* A Barnabas is a friend finder! * He goes out and he finds the lonely and those that nobody else
seems to pay any attention to, and he puts his arm around that person.
* And brings him over and says, "Come on, we want you to be a part of our group."
* A Barnabas is a bridge builder & when there’s a bridge that needs to be built over troubled
waters he says, "I’ll build that bridge and I want to bring people together for the cause of
Christ." * I’ll tell you what else a Barnabas is, I’ll tell you what else an encourager is:
(4) HE IS A DISCIPLE DEVELOPER - ACTS 11:25-26! * Now, here’s what Barney does:
* He looks around and he says, "My goodness, look what is happening here.
* These folks need to be taught, they need somebody to develop them.
* I mean, we’ve got to get some wine skins to put this new wine in.
* I know just the fellow, it’s that guy Saul." * Now remember, he doesn’t see with the eyes we see!
* It’s not the apostle Paul that he sees, it’s just that new convert that he sees right now!
* He says, "I wonder where that fellow is ... Boy, he’d make a dandy teacher.
* He’s got the gift, he’s got the ability, with his background I know what he could do.
* I wonder where he is." * Somebody said, "Oh, some folks say he’s down in Tarsus."
A) "Well you stay right here, I’m going down to Tarsus."
* Have you seen Saul? Have you seen Saul? Oh there he is.
* Hey Saul, hey buddy, come over here ... Saul, man let me tell what has happened!
* Man, revival has broken out in Antioch, I mean, there are folks there who are hungry!
B) Thousands of them are getting saved" * Saul, they need a teacher and buddy you’re the guy
who can do it! * God has given you an insight into the word of God, you have the ability."
* Hey Saul, come on buddy, I want you to go on back there and I want you to teach those folks.
* Saul goes back, he becomes such a great teacher of the Word, that people are first called
Christians at Antioch, because he so inspires them for Christ!
* Now what this man did was, he finds a disciple and finds hidden talent and buried gifts and he
develops them and brings them out.
C) Now, in every church there are people like that!
* There are people who need to be found, they need to be discovered, they need to be encouraged,
they need to be developed! * They have gifts and they have abilities.
* But it takes a Barnabas to find those people.
D) Now Barnabas, he just plays second fiddle. * You don’t hear much about Barnabas.
* Paul wrote 14 books in the New Testament, and later on I’m going to show you another man that
Barnabas influenced who wrote one book in the NT.
* More than half of the books in the NT are there through the influence of this man named
Barnabas. * Isn’t that wonderful!
* Now he’s just kind of playing second fiddle, but yet he’s a man who knows how to encourage
people. * He’s a man who can find talent.
* God give us some Barnabases, some people who say, "There’s a fellow named Saul down there,
I believe Saul could do it." * "Saul come here son, here’s a job that you can do."
* "I see it in you and you can do it." * He stood by his side to encourage him.
E) No wonder they called this man Barnabas, no wonder they called him encourager!
* Because he was a load lifter, he was a friend finder, he was a bridge builder, he was a disciple
developer. * But I’ll tell you one last thing about him that I really like,
(5) HE WAS A FAILURE FIXER - ACTS 15:36-41! * Now here’s what happened:
* Paul and Barnabas have linked now to become missionaries.
* And on the first missionary journey that they are going on, Barney says,
* "You know, I have a nephew whose name is Mark."
* And Mark was Barnabas’ nephew! * He said, "I have a nephew who would like to go, he’s
interested in missions." * Paul said, "Fine, bring him along."
A) Well, when things got started, Mark quit!
* I mean, he just dropped out, didn’t know why he dropped out.
* Maybe it was too hard on him. * Maybe he was afraid. * Maybe he was home sick.
* Maybe he was spiritually discouraged. * Maybe he was backslidden, I don’t know.
* But I’ll tell you this much, what happened is this, that John Mark went home to mama!
B) Now they are going on a second missionary journey.
* And Paul says, "Come on Barney, let’s go check on the churches."
* Barney says, "Fine, I’ll get Mark." * Paul says, "No you won’t."
* "Oh yeah, Mark needs," * "No, you’re not getting Mark." * "Listen, Mark."
* "No, we’re not taking Mark, Mark’s a quitter. I’m not going to be hindered with Mark."
* "Mark’s a quitter, you can’t depend on Mark, you can’t count on Mark, we’re not taking Mark."
* "Paul, I believe we ought to take him." * "We’re not taking Mark."
* "Well all right, but I tell you what Paul, there’s some good in that boy."
* "He’s a failure, he’s a quitter." * "Yeah, but there’s some good in him."
* "I don’t care, we’re not taking him." * And they agreed to disagree.
C) The Bible says the contention was sharp! * Do you know what happened?
* Barnabas said, "All right, I’ll take Mark and you take somebody else."
* And so Paul and Silas went their way, Barnabas and Mark went their way.
* I mean, these were brothers! * They agreed to disagree, they really felt strongly about it.
* But now, Barnabas takes this failure, this boy, this coward, or whatever he was, this backslider
and he reaches down and lifts him up and puts his arm around him and says,
* "Come on John Mark, you’ve got good stuff in you son, you can do it!"
D) I want to tell you, that was the same John Mark who later wrote the gospel of Mark!
* He was the same man, you read there in 2Tim.4:11 when the apostle Paul was in a dirty, dark,
damp Roman prison he said, "Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with ..."
* Isn’t that wonderful? * The one man in all the world Paul wanted when he was in prison, he
said, "Bring Mark. Bring Mark."
* Aren’t you glad, there was somebody who found failure and fixed it and salvaged it?
CLOSE
A) There’s a boy whose daddy died when he was five years old.
* This boy dropped out of school when he was 16. * He had already lost two jobs by the time he
was 17. * By the time he was 18 he got married. * By the time he was 19 he had a little baby.
* By the time he was 20, he and his wife were separated.
B) From that time on he tried to make a living! * He tried to be a railroad conductor, he failed.
* He got in the army & he washed out of the army. * He applied to law school, he couldn’t make
it. * He tried farming, he couldn’t grow a thing in the world.
* He tried to be an insurance salesman, he couldn’t be an insurance salesman.
* He even tried to kidnap his little baby and get his little baby in his own arms and he couldn’t
even do that.
C) Finally he got a job as a dishwasher and a cook … He couldn’t do anything else!
* He finally talked his wife into coming back to him, and together, in a little cafe they cooked and
washed dishes.
* When this man got to be 65 years of age, he retired and he got his first S.S. check for $105.00.
* On the day that check came, he looked at that check and it so discouraged him he said,
* "Now I’ve been a failure all of my life, a dishwasher, I can’t do anything.
* I can’t make anything work, and now the government is going to have to take care of me."
D) And he decided he would commit suicide at the age of 65!
* He went out in the backyard of his house & sat under a shade tree & began to write out his will.
* And then he got to thinking, "Why should I be such a failure?"
* "Is there anything I can do, isn’t there anything I know how to do."
* He said, "One thing I can do better than most folks, I can cook."
* And an idea came to him, & he went down to the local bank and borrowed $87.00 against his
next social security check.
E) And he went down to the supermarket and bought some chicken and some boxes!
* And he began to fry that chicken the way only he could fry it and he went from door to door
in Harlan, Kentucky selling that chicken.
* You’ve already guessed, Colonal Harlan Sanders, Kentucky Fried Chicken king.
* At 65 a failure, ready to commit suicide. * Couldn’t do anything. * Immediately successful.
* Known the world over. * Afterward, he was speaking one time and a boy asked him, said,
F) "Mister Sanders, how much money do you have?"
* He said, "Son, I don’t know, but," he said, "If I want it, I can have it. If I want it I can afford it,
and anything I want, I have."
* Now, I’m not interested in selling fried chicken today, don’t misunderstand me,
* But what I’m trying to tell you is this, listen to me, that man wasn’t a failure when he decided he
wasn’t a failure! * Maybe one of you have decided tonight that you’re a failure!
* What you probably need is some Barnabas to tell you you’re not & to put his arm around you.
* Thank God for a Barnabas who found a John Mark and a man that even Paul wouldn’t have
anything to do with and said,
* "Come on son, we love you. We’re going to give you another chance."
