Acts 11:19-26

Page 920. Acts 11, 920.

We're going to look at the Barnabas facts tonight.

I'm sure we can all think of someone of whom we'd say,

where would we be without that person?

In your family, you've probably got someone like that.

Where would we be without them?

Or certainly in church life, where would we be without that person?

And so where would we be without Barnabas?

Well, humanly speaking,

we'd be without half of the New Testament.

Because it's Barnabas in Acts chapter 9

Acts 9 · chapter mention

who introduced Paul or Saul of Tarsus

as he was then to the others.

They're very suspicious of him.

They don't want to borrow him.

But Barnabas recognised what God was doing

in Paul's life and he introduces him.

He vouches for him to the other apostles.

So can you imagine Christianity without the letters of Paul?

And if it were not for Barnabas,

John Mark would have gone down in church history

as a backslider.

That's the guy that wrote Mark's Gospel.

Depending on what you think of the synoptic problem,

there would be other gaps in the other Gospels.

We won't go into that now.

But it was Barnabas who stood up for John Mark to Paul.

When Paul wanted to ditch him and say,

he's not going to stick with us,

if it were not for Barnabas, humanly speaking,

John Mark, well, wouldn't have written his Gospel.

Without Barnabas, humanly speaking,

Christianity would not have become

the great world movement that it is today

because something really significant happened

in the passage that we read.

Look at what it says in Acts 11, verse 26.

Acts 11:26

For a whole year, they met with the church

and they taught a great many people

and it was in Antioch

that the disciples were first called Christians.

Up until then,

Christianity had been thought of a Jewish sect, really.

But now at Antioch,

the door is opening for the Gentiles to come in.

Christianity is going to become the world movement

that we know today

and it's happening in Antioch.

It's why church historians have called Antioch

the cradle of Christianity.

It's no exaggeration, is it,

that this church at Antioch

became a hub of missionary activity.

It planted churches all around the Mediterranean

and humanly speaking,

it's thanks to this man Barnabas

because Barnabas was the guy

that was sent down from Jerusalem to Antioch.

And the Barnabas factor is crucially important

to the growth and development of the Christian church.

The Barnabas factor is crucial

for the development of any Christian church.

And so let's try and understand

what that might look like for us in IPC.

First of all, Barnabas the man.

And then we want to look at the difference it makes

when you have a man like Barnabas

in your church and in your team.

So first of all, who is this man?

Barnabas is not his name, his real name.

His real name is Joseph.

Barnabas is his nickname.

We know that from Acts chapter 4.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

And we're told that his name was Joseph

and he was a Levite, a Cypriot by birth.

And he is the one that the apostles call Barnabas.

It's a nickname.

It means literally a tower of strength

or son of encouragement.

I quite like that.

I quite like that the early church gave themselves nicknames.

Next weekend, I'm preaching at a church weekend

in Northern Ireland

from a minister called James Blair.

But when I preached at the Reformed Presbyterian Conference

a couple of years ago,

I was being introduced

and then they said,

and now Cream Bun is going to come and lead in prayer.

And when you walked to the front,

there was this man with a very small head

and a very, very large body.

And all the ministers called him Cream Bun.

It's an amazing thing, isn't it?

I quite like that though.

And so it's not the equivalent of Cream Bun, is it?

But in the New Testament,

they had nicknames for each other.

We mustn't romanticize them.

Cephas, isn't it?

What does that mean?

It means Peter's nickname.

Rock.

We often think, don't we,

of St. Barnabas or some stained glass window.

But we think of the early church

far too formally,

too institutionally.

The people that you read of in Acts,

they're just like us.

And they loved each other

and they hung out with each other

and they gave each other nicknames.

So, son of encouragement.

So Barnabas comes into the meeting

and they say,

well, here he is, Mr. Encouragement.

And if you look at Acts 4,

it says that Barnabas,

he was a field owner.

He sold a field that he owned.

He bought it and then he sold it

and he laid it at the apostles' feet.

He didn't put the proceeds of that field

into a superannuation fund.

He didn't put it into the bank.

He brought the money

and he laid it at the apostles' feet.

It's always encouraging

when people are generous, isn't it?

When they're generous

in support of the Lord's work.

It's a sign of blessing in the church

when giving begins to increase

because people are committed,

not to the elders,

not because the elders are

kind of putting a guilt trip on you

or there's a big thermometer

like they do put outside some churches.

But when people start to give,

they are confident in their vision

and they're committed to the cause.

That's what's happening here.

It's a supreme act of generosity

on Barnabas' part,

but it's much more than that.

Notice we're told two things about Barnabas

back in Acts chapter 4.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

We're told that he was a Levite

and a landowner.

And in the Old Testament,

those two things were exclusive.

They shouldn't have happened.

So when Moses is dividing up the land

in the Old Testament

and he's giving the tribes

their inheritance,

we're told there in Joshua

that he didn't give a portion

to the tribe of Levi

and we're given the reason for that

because the Lord God of Israel

was the Levite's inheritance.

They weren't to be landowners

because God was their inheritance

just as he had promised.

So how can a man who's a Levite

and a landowner,

how can he be that?

Well, in the Old Testament

that couldn't be.

But look what it says about this man

who was a Levite and a landowner.

It says he sold the field

that belonged to him,

he brought the money

and he laid it,

not on the temple treasury,

he didn't go to the Jews with it,

but he laid it at the feet

of the apostles.

As if to say,

Jesus,

the Jesus the apostle preached,

Jesus is now my inheritance.

That's what's going on.

And that's why he's such an encouragement.

He's totally sold out

on the Lord Jesus.

He's not just donating

to a good cause here.

He's devoting himself to Jesus.

Do you see that?

It's the exact opposite of Judas.

So Barnabas is Judas in reverse.

Remember what we're told about Judas.

Judas abandoned his commitment to Jesus.

He walked out on Jesus

and with the proceeds of that treasury,

do you remember what he did?

He bought the 30 pieces of silver.

He bought a field.

He went into that field

and he committed suicide.

It's a tragically sad, sad story.

Barnabas had a field

and it was his by right.

He owns it.

He's got a holiday home in Cyprus,

a timeshare property,

and he sells it

and with the proceeds of the sale

of his land,

he commits himself to Jesus

as Lord of his life.

That's the kind of people

we should aspire to be.

If God's work is to flourish amongst us,

generous,

committed,

Christ ones,

totally sold out on the Lord Jesus.

Now let's take a look secondly

at the difference this man makes

to the cause of Christ.

So come with me to chapter 11

and look at verse 23 in particular

because that's the key verse

that we need to look at.

And in that verse,

we're told three things about Barnabas.

We're told, first of all,

what he saw.

That's the first thing.

And then we're told

how he felt about what he saw

and then we're told

what he did about what he saw.

So let me read the verse to you.

Verse 23.

When he came

and saw the grace of God,

he was glad

and he exhorted them all

to remain faithful

to the Lord

with steadfast purpose.

For he was a good man,

followed the Holy Spirit

in faith,

and a great many people

were added to the Lord.

He was glad.

Let me unpack that verse.

And what did he see?

He saw the grace of God.

Now not everybody does, do they?

Do you remember in Luke 15

the elder brother

in the parable of the prodigal son?

There are lots of elder brothers

in churches

and elder sisters.

What you see depends

on a large extent

on what you're looking for.

Two men

looked out

through prison bars.

One saw

mud,

the other saw

stars.

Imagine what might have happened

if they'd sent someone else

other than Barnabas

down to Antioch.

A church bureaucrat,

perhaps.

Wearing his

ecclesiastical spectacles

and his book of church order.

Not wearing his book of church order,

but carrying it.

What would he have seen

in Antioch?

He might well have seen

the thin end of the wedge.

If Barnabas had gone down to Antioch

looking for trouble,

he'd have found it.

Because something quite unprecedented

was happening in Antioch.

Look at verses 19 to 21.

It all began with the persecution

in Acts chapter 8

Acts 8 · chapter mention

that broke out

and we're told that Stephen was killed.

Up to then,

they'd been stockpiling Christians

in Jerusalem

and God from there

scattered them.

And those who were scattered

travelled as far

as Phoenicia

and Cyprus

and Antioch,

spreading the word

amongst the Jews.

And at first,

some of them,

however,

went from Cyprus

and Cyrene

and they went to Antioch

to speak to the Greeks

telling them the good news

of the Lord Jesus.

These aren't professional

church evangelists.

They're not

church planters

that have been fully trained

and equipped.

These are grassroot

grassroot Christians

telling others.

I was reading this week,

somebody called this

the great gospel sneeze.

That what happens in Antioch

is there's a super spreader event.

And now in Antioch,

there's community transmission.

It's like a flashback to COVID.

And there are new cases every day

and we're told

what it says in verse 21.

And the hand of the Lord

was with them.

And a great number

who believed

turned to the Lord.

It's a spontaneous work

of the Holy Spirit.

And when the Holy Spirit moves,

often the rules

go out the window.

It broke all the rules.

It's never been done

like this before.

And no doubt

in a situation like this,

there would have been

irregularities

and there would have been

anomalies to sort out.

And they would have been

needed to be sorted out

in the long term.

But God was at work

in Antioch.

And Barnabas saw it.

And he saw it.

Others might talk

about the problems there.

Others might talk

about the Jew-Gentile problem.

Lots of people up there

in HQ, Jerusalem,

they were worried about that.

But he didn't see it

that way, did he?

He saw it as an opportunity.

So years later

at the Jerusalem Council,

when there's a lot

of Jew-Gentile tension

and it's threatening

to split the church,

he didn't see it

as a door to slam shut.

He saw what God was doing.

And he saw a door

opening wide

for the Gentiles

to be brought in.

He saw the grace of God,

the generosity of God

to all the nations.

The God of all the earth,

he saw what he was doing.

That God was opening

a door wide

for all the people

to come in.

He saw the grace of God.

And when we come here

Sunday by Sunday,

is that what we see?

In the faces of each other,

in the conversations

that we have,

in the different issues

of our lives,

God is at work.

And the grace of God.

And notice Luke tells us

how he felt.

I love this.

He saw the grace of God

and how did he feel about it?

He was glad.

How do you know

someone's glad?

How do you know

someone's glad?

They show it,

don't they?

We struggle a little bit

with that as Presbyterians,

don't we?

Luke might well have seen

this with his own eyes

because according to tradition,

Luke was a native Antioch.

There's some kind of evidence

that he might well

have been there

at the time.

If you look at

the Western tradition,

it introduces the words

when we were gathered.

Luke includes himself.

Be that as it may,

whether it's right or not,

I'm not sure.

But Luke tells us

that Barnabas saw

the grace of God

and he was glad.

Why does he bother

to tell us that?

He tells us that

because feelings matter.

We need to be better

at this, don't we?

It's not very British

to show our feelings,

but it is very Christian.

I can remember when

I started here

and 20 years ago

and we would meet

on a Sunday night.

That first Sunday night

there were eight people

and in the early days

we'd meet in the church lounge,

you remember it,

and it gradually grew.

Claire or Katie

would be banging

on the piano.

We'd be in this little room.

We were all sitting on seats

that were really low

to the ground

and when somebody came in

everyone would turn around

and see what it was.

But occasionally

people would turn up

and some would come

and they would just be delighted

that there was a

kind of Sunday evening service

where the Bible

was being taught

and the Gospel

was being preached

and they'd rejoice.

But there were others

who came from

well-known churches

and you could see them

as they came in

thinking,

what on earth

is this funny little cult?

And they'd turn up their nose.

It doesn't look very impressive.

But those who came

and were so encouraged,

it was such a real encouragement,

wasn't it?

What a difference it is

when people are glad

at the grace of God.

Barnabas came down,

they must have been thinking

instead,

they must have thought,

what is he going to make of us?

These Gentiles,

we used to be in thought

of as second class citizens

and now the big church

in Jerusalem

sends down an emissary.

They must have thought,

what is he going to think of us?

But they didn't have to worry

because as soon as he came

through the door,

it was written across his face.

He was glad,

he was glad

to be amongst them,

glad that God

was at work amongst them.

And that is an understatement.

It's much,

it's much stronger.

But literally,

he's thrilled,

he's overjoyed,

he's literally jumping for joy.

So excited to see God

at work in people's lives

and I'm not very good at this.

I am very good

at concealing my gladness.

Churches like ours

often curb our gladness.

Tragically,

often I am

more prone

to put people down

than to build people up.

instinctively,

we can speak

the angry

and dismissive word

and damn people

with faint praise

and pour cold water

on things

far ready to criticise

and rebuke

than to encourage.

Instead of rejoicing

with the angels

in heaven

over one sinner

who repents.

What do we do?

Well,

we put him on probation.

Let's see if it's for real.

Let's see how he turns out

or she turns out.

If Barnabas

got on the Elizabeth line

tomorrow morning

and saw someone

reading his Bible,

I would think,

it's one of the JWs.

It's one of the cults.

But not Barnabas.

Barnabas would be glad

someone was reading the Bible.

He saw the grace of God

and he was glad.

There is almost,

there is something,

isn't there,

God-like

in his gladness.

I talk about this often.

Do you remember

that voice from heaven

that came down

in our Lord's baptism?

He spent 30 years

in obscurity

and at the age of 30

he is about

to take the public roads

to the cross

and there he is

at the River Jordan

and John the Baptist

is baptising

sinful men and women

in the Jordan

and what does Jesus do?

Jesus stands

in the line of sinners.

He doesn't stand aghast.

He joins the queue

of sinners

even though

he is without a sin,

even though

he is not a sinner.

He is numbered

with the transgressors

because he is stepping

on the road

to the cross

and at that very moment

at his baptism

he sets his face

towards Jerusalem

to go to the cross

to die for people

like you and I

and heaven is opened

and a voice is heard

from heaven

that's my boy.

This is my beloved son.

I'm so pleased

with you.

When did you last

tap someone

on the shoulder

and say something

like that?

When did you last

send a text message

or an email

to encourage a believer?

How many missionaries,

how many pastors,

how many elders,

how many Sunday school teachers,

how many youth group leaders

are languishing

ready to give up

just for want

of a word of encouragement?

He saw the grace of God

and he was glad.

But it's not only

what he sees

and what he feels about it,

it's what he does,

that's what I want you to see.

Look at verse 23.

When he came

and saw the grace of God

he was glad

and he exhorted them all

to remain faithful

to the denomination.

No, that's not right,

isn't it?

When he came

and saw the grace of God

he was glad

and he exhorted them all

to remain faithful

to the church in Jerusalem.

It doesn't say that.

When he came

and he saw the grace of God

he was glad

and he exhorted them all

to remain faithful

to remain true

to themselves.

That's not what he says.

Remain faithful to the Lord

with steadfast purpose.

How did,

how does he do that?

How did he build

this church

of baby believers

into the church

which changed the world,

the cradle of Christianity?

How did he do that?

He did two things

and Barnabas went

looking for help.

He realized

he couldn't do it

on his own

so he

recruited a team.

He knew he couldn't

do it on his own

so verse 25

he went to Tarsus

to look for his

old friend Saul.

And we found him,

he brought him to Antioch.

It's so reminiscent,

isn't it,

of what happened in Geneva

at the time of the Reformation

if you know that story.

John Calvin was an intellectual

and he was on his way

to Germany

with his books

because he wanted to study

and he happened

to pass through Geneva

and William Farrell

at that time

was the reformer

in Geneva.

And William Farrell

lays hold of John Calvin

and says,

Calvin may God curse you

in your studies

if you don't join me

in the work

that he's called you to do.

It's a great word

of encouragement,

isn't it?

I found it worked

a treat on Reuben Hunter.

And the rest is history,

isn't it?

It's great risk

putting the team together.

It's super risky.

Paul, this man,

had been persecuted.

He persecuted the church.

There were people

in the church in Jerusalem

who would have questioned

Barnabas' judgment

at this point

but it was a strategically

brilliant thing to do.

To bring Paul alongside him

to share the load

for one thing

but at the same time

for Paul to be discipled

and that is because

that's what Barnabas

was all about.

He's very intentional

about it.

So if you read

the next chapters of Acts

you can see this

discipleship relationship

developing and growing.

It's on the first

missionary journey

out of Antioch

it's Barnabas and Paul,

Barnabas and Paul,

Barnabas and Paul

but very soon

it flips, doesn't it?

And it becomes

Paul and Barnabas,

Paul and Barnabas,

Paul and Barnabas.

And in the end

Barnabas slips

from the seed.

And what Barnabas

is doing is

he's making way

for Paul

to enter into the ministry

and he's releasing him

into his role

as the great apostle

to the Gentiles.

That's no small thing.

So someone has said,

isn't it,

it takes more grace

than I can tell

to play the second fiddle

well.

And Barnabas was content

to play second fiddle

to Paul

for the advance

of the gospel.

He's not hungry

for the limelight.

He doesn't want to start

Barnabas International Ministries.

He's willing to fade out

of the picture altogether

if someone better

comes along.

And his all-consuming passion

is not that he would

make a name for himself

but that the name

of Jesus would be known.

And that is what he's about.

And he saw the potential

in Paul from day one.

It's Barnabas

that introduces Paul

to the others

who vouched for him

when others treated him

with suspicion.

It was Barnabas

who recruited him

for ministry

and mentored him

on his first missionary journey

and eventually

stepped back

out of the way

and released him

into his role

as an apostle

of the Gentiles.

And he saw Paul

as a bloke worth watching.

He recognized him

as a brilliant scholar

steeped in scripture,

a Roman citizen,

fluent in Greek,

totally familiar

with contemporary culture,

just the man

for the job.

So he recruited a team.

And for a whole year,

Paul and Barnabas,

they meet with the church

and do you see what it says

there in verse 26?

This is the other thing they did.

They taught.

They taught a great many people.

And so can you just see

the vital, vital link

there is between encouragement

and the word of God?

Just don't miss that link.

How do you encourage people

to remain true to the Lord?

You teach them the word of God.

Let me just show you

that in a few places, okay?

So early letter of Paul's,

one of the earliest

is Thessalonians.

The Christians are dying

and Jesus has not returned

and the Thessalonians

are confused

and they're bewildered.

And their grief

is compounded

by a wrong thinking

about Jesus' return.

They're worried

that their loved ones

might miss out

because Jesus didn't come back.

So what does Paul do?

Paul spells out for them

the doctrine

of the second coming.

He teaches them

sound doctrine,

healthy doctrine.

And when you grasp

sound doctrine,

it puts strength into you.

It makes you healthy.

And when Paul teaches them

about the doctrine

of the second coming,

then in verse 18

of chapter 4

of 1 Thessalonians,

he says,

now encourage each other

with these words.

Are words all we've got?

No, of course not.

You can be there

for one another

in a situation like this

when people are grieving.

We cook meals

for one another.

We give practical help

to one another.

We phone.

We text.

You're doing that here,

aren't you?

But understand this.

In the end,

God's comfort

comes to God's people

through God's Word.

And we need to

understand that

so that we need

to be in the Word.

We need to know

sound doctrine

because that is how

we'll build one another up.

Think of the letter

to Hebrews.

Hebrews 13,

Hebrews 13:22

verse 22,

whoever wrote it,

some people actually

think Barnabas wrote it,

I don't know about that,

but the writer

in Hebrews 13

calls it a word

of encouragement.

Thirteen chapters,

chock full of doctrine,

full of Jesus,

full of how Jesus

fulfills the Old Testament.

It's a word

of encouragement.

So it encourages

Christians who are

tempted to slip back

into Judaism,

to go on with the Lord.

And so,

the word of encouragement

is you teach them

about Jesus

and how much better

than he is,

how much better

he is than angels,

he's better than Moses.

Well, think of Romans.

Romans 12,

I appeal to you,

the application part

of the letter,

I appeal to you,

therefore,

brothers,

by the mercies of God

to present your bodies

as living sacrifices,

holy and acceptable to God,

which is your spiritual worship.

That's the pointy end

of Romans.

Romans.

Romans.

That we are to be

living sacrifices.

And someone has said,

isn't it,

the problem with the living

sacrifice,

you're forever

climbing off the altar.

And Paul says,

I appeal to you,

therefore,

by the mercies of God.

What are they?

What are the mercies of God?

Well,

that's Romans 1 to 8.

Romans,

Hebrews,

they're the biggest books

in the New Testament.

We've got to get our heads

around them,

and we encourage one another

with these words.

So we're told,

aren't we,

for a whole year,

Barnabas and Paul,

they taught loads of people,

don't underestimate

what that is.

Antioch is the third largest city

in the world at that time.

Next to Rome and Alexandria,

it's 20 times the size of Jerusalem.

It's densely populated

and cosmopolitan.

It's far more multicultural

than you would think.

Greeks,

Romans,

Indians,

Chinese,

Jews,

Arabs,

and Persians

lived in Antioch.

There were 18 different

ethnic quarters

separated by high walls

to protect the inhabitants

from each other.

And now see what happens.

The gospel comes to town

and the walls come tumbling down.

And that's what needs to happen

in London,

isn't it?

And in every major city,

people leave their ghettos

and their old hostilities

and they become Christ ones.

That's what's happened here.

And that has come into their vocabulary,

Christ ones in Antioch

for the first time.

And if the gospel can do that

in Antioch,

it can do that here,

it can do that

wherever else it is preached.

But it won't happen overnight.

In Antioch,

it took 12 months

of week in,

week out

teaching the word of God.

And I hope

that's what you understand

that we're committed to here,

the regular systematic teaching

and preaching of the word of God.

The word of God

is spirit and life.

And it renews us.

It puts strength into us.

It encourages us.

When the people of God

come

to worship the living God

and hear the word of God,

God speaks.

There's nothing more important

in church life.

There's no better place

for any of us

than to be sitting

under the ministry of the word.

And we ought to be so thankful

to God that we're able

to do that.

Right in the center

of all of this

is this man

that the Lord raised up,

Mr. Encouragement.

This was his ministry.

I am thrilled to say

that there are lots

of Barnabases

and lots of

Barnabases

and IPC.

Barnalases.

And the ministry

of encouragement

and

encouragement

is not something

that you're born with.

Encouragement

is not in your genes.

It's not like the color

of your eyes

or the shape of your nose.

It's not something

that you can pick up

by reading

the right books

or attending a seminar.

It's not a skill.

It's not a technique

that you can learn.

It is something spiritual.

So see what it says

in verse 24

as we finish.

Barnabas was a good man

full of faith

and the Holy Spirit.

Barnabas was a good man

full of the Holy Spirit

and of faith.

That is not a bad epitaph

to put on your gravestone,

is it?

I wouldn't mind

having that on my tombstone.

Full of the Holy Spirit.

So think with me

for a moment

as we finish.

Barnabas is Mr. Encourager.

The Holy Spirit

is the encourager

par excellence.

In some translations

of the Bible

he's called the comforter.

Right in the middle

of that word comforter

is the word fort.

He is the fortifier.

He is the one

who puts strength into us.

The Greek word

is paraclete.

And so apparently

every army

had a paraclete

whose job

was to address

the troops

before going into battle.

To give them strength.

To give them

fortitude.

To make them feel invincible.

To give the team talk.

That was his job.

Isn't that what

the Holy Spirit

does in the heart

of the believer?

As the word of God

is preached

he points to Christ

and his finished work

on the cross

and he convinces us

that we are more

than conquerors

through him

who loved us.

And so tonight

you want to be a Barnabas

and I really hope you do.

Be filled

with the Holy Spirit

and point people

away from yourself

to Christ.

Let's pray.