Sermon
Statement
Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy
Spirit and faith.
Text
AC 11:19 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.
AC
11:22 News of this reached the ears of the church at
Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 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.
Introduction
Heroes
of the Faith
Reading Christian biographies is
inspirational and encouraging. It shows us how other Christians struggle in
their faith to remain true to God. It also exposes to new perspective of God we
may not be aware of and new spiritual experiences we have not encountered
before. Hebrews 13:7 says, "Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you
the word of God; consider the outcome of their life, and imitate their
faith." Hebrews 6:12 says, "Do not be sluggish, but imitators of
those who through faith and patience inherit the promises." And of course
Hebrews 11 is a collection of excerpts from the lives of great men and women of
faith. All these examples are for our inspiration and encouragement.
One of my favourite hero of the faith is Sadhu
Sundar Singh (September 3, 1889, Patiala State, India). He is believed to have
died in the foothills of the Himalayas in
1929. Sundar felt that his religious pursuits in Sikhism and the questioning of
Christian and Hindu priests left him without ultimate meaning. Sundar resolved
to kill himself by throwing himself upon a railroad track. That very night he
had a vision of Jesus who opened Sundar's soul to the truth. Sundar announced
to his father, Sher Singh, that henceforth he would follow Christ. His father
denounced him, and his brother Rajender Singh attempted to poison him. Sundar's
life was saved by the help of a nearby Christian community (Wiki).
Another is William Franklin
"Billy" Graham, Jr. (born November 7, 1918) is an American Christian
evangelist who is an ordained Southern Baptist minister. According to his
staff, more than 3.2 million people have responded to the invitation at Billy
Graham Crusades to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. As of 2008,
Graham's estimated lifetime audience, including radio and television
broadcasts, topped 2.2 billion. During the civil rights movement, he began to
support integrated seating for his revivals and crusades; in 1957 he invited
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. to preach jointly at a huge revival in New York City, where they appeared together at Madison Square Garden,
and bailed the minister out of jail in the 1960s when he was arrested in
demonstrations.
There are many biographical persons in Acts
which was recorded for us by Luke. Luke a doctor was very precise in his use of
language and gives us good glimpses of the personalities involved. One of them
is Joses or Joseph of Cyprus. Most of we know him by his nickname Barnabas (Acts 4:36).
Who is Barnabas?
Barnabas is interpreted
by Luke as huios paraklēseōs in Acts 4:36 and variously
translated as “son of consolation” (KJV), “son of exhortation” or “son of
encouragement” (RSV, JB, NIV). Barnabas had originally come from Cyprus (Acts 4:36) and settled in Jerusalem. His strong Jewish roots as a
Levite (Acts 4:36)
and his Hellenistic background in the Jewish diaspora gave him a background
similar to Paul’s and their conservative training as respectively Pharisee and
Levite.
Barnabas owned land
in Jerusalem.
His first appearance in the NT shows him among the earliest converts, selling
his parcel of land and giving the proceeds to the apostles (Acts 4:36). He quickly became a
highly admired and respected leader within this circle. When, after the death
of Stephen, many of the Hellenists fled north (Acts 8:1), Barnabas stayed in Jerusalem with the
apostles. Barnabas had family connections in Jerusalem. His cousin was John Mark whose
mother, Mary, lived in Jerusalem
and hosted the church in her home (Acts
12:12) which was the house Peter went to after his jailbreak.
AC 12:5 So Peter was
kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.
AC
12:6 The night before Herod was to bring him to
trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and
sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a
light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up.
"Quick, get up!" he said, and the chains fell off Peter's wrists.
AC
12:8 Then the angel said to him, "Put on your
clothes and sandals." And Peter did so. "Wrap your cloak around you
and follow me," the angel told him. 9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he
had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he
was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second guards and
came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and
they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly
the angel left him.
AC
12:11 Then Peter came to himself and said, "Now
I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's
clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating."
AC
12:12 When this had dawned on him, he went to the
house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had
gathered and were praying.
Luke tells us that Barnabas was a good man,
full of the Holy Spirit and faith (11:24)
He was a good man; full of the Holy Spirit
and faith
·
Good man
·
Full of the Holy Spirit
·
Full of faith
How do we understand being a good man,
fullness of the Holy Spirit and faith?
John Piper helps
How do they relate to each other? Probably fullness of the Holy Spirit
and faith is the root or source of Barnabas' goodness. Paul unpacks this
relationship in Galatians. He says in Galatians 5:22 that goodness is a fruit
of the Holy Spirit. You don't get the Holy Spirit because you are good. The
Holy Spirit takes over your life and starts to make you good.
But what do we do in that process? We are not passive in this affair of
becoming good. That's why Luke doesn't just say that Barnabas was full of the
Holy Spirit. He is full of the Holy Spirit and faith. Faith is what we do. Now
what does faith have to do with the work of the Holy Spirit?
Galatians 3:2 tells us: "Did you receive the Spirit by works of the
law, or by hearing with faith?" The assumed answer is that we received the
Spirit by faith in the Word of God. Then verse 5 says, "Does he who
supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the
law, or by hearing with faith?" And again the assumed answer is FAITH! The
Spirit is received by faith and goes on being supplied through faith.
Putting It All Together
So let's put it all together: At the very beginning of the Christian
life we receive the Holy Spirit by trusting in the truth of the gospel
(Galatians 3:2). Then as the Christian life goes on and there is need again and
again to be strengthened and filled with the Spirit, this too happens by faith
in the word of God's promise (Galatians 3:5). One of the practical fruits or
products of this Spirit-filled faith is goodness (Galatians 5:22).
So when Luke says that Barnabas was "a good man, full of the Holy
Spirit and faith," my understanding is that Barnabas had a great faith in
God, and that by this faith the Holy Spirit became powerful in his heart, and
that the result was a lot of practical goodness in Barnabas' life.
“@TozerAW: "Real
faith not only does something for us, but it also does something to us."
AW Tozer (A Disruptive Faith)”
Reflections on the Life of Barnabas
As we examine the life
of Barnabas I will suggest six ways in which he acts as an example and
inspiration to us.
1.
He is open to the grace of God
11:22 News of this reached the ears of the church at
Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 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.
a.
Why did the Jerusalem
Church send Barnabas?
The church was growing rapidly, especially among the Greeks and
Hellenistic Jews, and soon a Christian church was thriving in the city of Syrian Antioch (about 400 miles north of Jerusalem). Initially it was mainly Jewish.
Then increasingly more and more Gentiles joined the church especially in Antioch, influenced by men from Cyprus
and Cyrene. The
church in Jerusalem
which consisted mainly of Jews was in a dilemma. Who to send to this Gentile
church? Someone who can do cross cultural ministry.
The apostles
dispatched Barnabas to travel to Antioch
and to pastor the fellowship there (Acts
11:22). Under his guidance the church grew even more, with
Barnabas respected “as a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith” (Acts 11:24). Barnabas is able
to see God’s grace in making outsider insider.
Many of us see the
world through the lens of ‘them and us.’ This reminds me of a Helen Reddy’s
song “You and Me against the World.” I believe the early church in Jerusalem also suffered
from this. Now we have Gentiles in the church! What are we to do? They found in
Barnabas a man able to make outsider insiders, strangers to be friends. Such a
person will be perfect to be sent to pastor the new and growing church of Gentiles
in Antioch.
Charles Edwin Anson Markham (23 April 1852
– 7 March 1940) was an American poet, most famous for his poem, The Man With the Hoe. But I really like
this poem which express what I have been trying to say:
He drew a circle that shut me out —
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But Love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took him in.
The Shoes of Happiness, and Other Poems (1913)
b.
Paul
Barnabas’s ability to include others is
also reflected in his acceptance of Paul. When Paul returned to Jerusalem after his
conversion and lengthy stay in Arabia, the
apostles were understandably cautious about him. But as Ananias had brought
Paul into the Christian fellowship at Damascus, so Barnabas trusted the integrity
of Paul’s conversion and became his advocate among the Jerusalem leaders (Acts
9:27-28). With the help of Barnabas Paul was invited into the center of the
church’s life.
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.
After fifteen days (Gal 1:18) Paul set sail from
Caesarea to return to Tarsus while Barnabas
remained in Jerusalem.
Acts 9:29-30
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.
2.
He is an encourager of men
Because he sees the potential where others see
failure
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.
a.
Paul
AC 11:25 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.
Since Tarsus was
nearby and since Paul had become well known in the regions of Syria and Cilicia (Gal 1:21–24), Barnabas found
Paul and invited him to join the work in Antioch.
Together Paul and Barnabas co-pastored the church there for one year (Acts 11:26).
b.
Encourages the Jerusalem
Church
Barnabas also traveled
with Paul on the so-called famine visit to Jerusalem (Acts 11:27–30).
AC 11:27 During this
time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them, named Agabus, stood
up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the
entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) 29 The disciples, each according to
his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. 30 This they did, sending their gift to the
elders by Barnabas and Saul.
Antioch was the third-largest city in the Roman Empire
(next to Rome and Alexandria) and its church, no doubt the
wealthiest yet, determined to share its riches with the poorer Christians of
Judea.
Following the famine
visit, Acts 13 tells us
that the leadership at Antioch
had grown (now to include Simeon, Lucius and Manaen, Acts 13:1). Barnabas and Paul
were commissioned to travel west as missionaries in what will be known as the
First Missionary Journey. The decision to sail to Cyprus may have been influenced by
Barnabas since it was his home and he would have known the island well.
3.
He is a mentor to leaders
because he knows the expansion of the work
of God’s grace depends on Godly leadership
Barnabas' ministry in Antioch had been so successful that the
converts were everywhere. Many of us would say at this point: I am now a
respected leader. I have earned a good reputation for my work. It is now time
to consolidate my gains and establish myself as a prominent preacher in this
part of Syria.
Instead Barnabas went to look for Paul. I believe Barnabas sees the great
potential in Paul.
a.
Risk taking with Paul
The Jerusalem Council. Following the first missionary journey west,
Barnabas accompanied Paul to Jerusalem
in order to settle the now divisive issue of the Law and circumcision. Barnabas
is given equal respect with Paul (Acts
15:12) and perhaps his word, as that of a convert and leader prior to Paul, carried important weight.
Barnabas was a disciple of the Jerusalem
church who was now reporting to his mentors.
b.
Being patient with John Mark
John Mark’s presence
in Acts 12:25 and
13:5 implies that he had been in and around Antioch all along and had teamed up with
Barnabas and Saul. But when Barnabas and Paul, after their arrival in
Pamphylia, decided to leave Perga and climb the mountains toward Antioch of
Pisidia, John Mark turned back. Barnabas’s later defense of John Mark would
prove to be the decision that would separate Barnabas from Paul on subsequent
journeys. This happened when they have been working together for at least 15
years!
Acts 15: 36-41
AC 15:36 Some time later
Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the
towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing." 37 Barnabas wanted to take John,
also called Mark, with them, 38 but Paul did not think it wise to take him,
because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in
the work. 39 They had
such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and
sailed for Cyprus,
40 but Paul chose
Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41 He went through Syria and Cilicia,
strengthening the churches.
Who is right and who
is wrong? Barnabas wants to give John Mark a second chance but not Paul.
Later Paul will work
with John Mark and John Mark will write the Gospel of Mark. Without Barnabas,
we may only have three gospels rather than four!
4.
He is fallible
a.
Incident with Peter and the Judaizers
Peter came to Antioch and mixed freely with the Gentile Christians; but
he withdrew from having fellowship with them when a conservative delegation
from Jerusalem
appeared (Gal 2:11–13).
Worse yet, Barnabas was, in the words of Paul, “carried away by their
insincerity” (Gal 2:13).
Gal 2: 11-14
GAL 2:11 When Peter came
to Antioch, I
opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. 12 Before certain men came from
James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to
draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those
who belonged to the circumcision group. 13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so
that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.
GAL
2:14 When I saw that they were not acting in line
with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, "You
are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then,
that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?
b.
Conflict with Paul over John Mark
The second tour
witnessed the rupture of Barnabas’s relation with Paul. Barnabas wanted to give
John Mark another chance, but Paul refused (Acts 15:36–41). Luke uses
discretion when he writes, “And there was a sharp disagreement (paroxysmos), so that they separated from
each other” (Acts 15:39).
Once again Barnabas had stood his ground and while Paul assembled a new team.
Again as an example,
John Piper notes:
There is no passage in Scripture that says,
"When a young missionary has forsaken the work on his first journey, you
shall give him a second chance after 18 months of penitent and faithful
service." And no biblical text says not to.
Instead we have principles that say,
"Encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them
all." And we have principles which say that leaders in the church should
be above reproach, and well-tested. One principle stresses the glory of God's
mercy. Another principle stresses the glory of God's calling. One principle
accents the bounty of God. The other principle accents the holiness of God…
But what does
wisdom dictate in a choice like this? Barnabas seemed to focus on the need and
potential of Mark. Paul seemed to focus on the demands and potential of the
larger cause of the gospel and the honor of the mission.
I believe the mistake here is not the
difference in opinions. There will always be difference in opinions when people
work together. The important point is how to resolve these differences.
Barnabas and Paul by now would have worked and served together for 15 years.
Could their different opinions be resolved by setting up different teams
without the bitterness and break in friendship?
5.
He is a giver
a.
Generous with his wealth
(Acts 4: 36-37)
AC
4:36 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.
b.
Generous with his standing in ministry
In Acts 13:1–3 the Holy Spirit sets
Barnabas and Saul apart for a missionary journey to the unreached cities of Cyprus and Galatia. Notice the order of the names
in verse 2: it is still Barnabas first and Saul second, the way it has been
back in Acts 11:30 and 12:25.
Barnabas and Saul at Antioch (Acts 11:19-26)
Barnabas and Saul appointed (Acts 12:25-13:3)
Barnabas and Saul sent off (Acts 13:1-3)
Barnabas and Saul on Cyrus (Acts 13:4-12)
Paul and Barnabas at Antioch in Pisidia (Acts 13:4-12)
Paul and Barnabas at Iconium (Acts 14:1-7)
Paul and Barnabas at Lystra and Derbe (Acts 14:8-20)
Paul and Barnabas separate (Acts 15:36-41)
When they get to the
city of Paphos on the island of Cyprus, the proconsul invites them to speak to
him, and in Acts 13:7 Barnabas still has the honor of first place: "he
summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God."
But when Elymas the
magician tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith, it was Saul who
exploded with the Holy Spirit in verse 10:
You son of the devil, you enemy of all
righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making
crooked the straight paths of the Lord?
But from this point
on, Saul (now called Paul for the first time in verse 9) is in charge.
We see this
immediately in verse 13. Luke says, "Now Paul and his company set sail
from Paphos." Barnabas is not even mentioned. In verse 16 it is Paul not
Barnabas who delivers the sermon in Antioch of Pisidia. When both of them are
mentioned, it is now "Paul and Barnabas" not "Barnabas and
Paul" (13:43, 46, 50; 15:2, 22, 35; except in Jerusalem where Barnabas is on his home turf,
15:12, 25; and in Lystra where Barnabas is called Zeus and Paul Hermes).
6.
He is highly respected
a.
Paul
It seems clear that
Paul, Barnabas and John Mark shared a longer working relationship than Acts
implies. Paul’s reference to Barnabas in 1 Corinthians 9:6 shows not only that the Corinthians
knew Barnabas but that Paul continued to respect him.
1CO
9:3 This is my defense to those who sit in
judgment on me. 4 Don't we have the right to food and drink? 5 Don't we have the right to take a
believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord's brothers
and Cephas? 6 Or is it
only I and Barnabas who must work for a living?
Paul refers to
Barnabas as a fellow worker who shares his mission and work. They are friends
again.
b.
Others
Calvin and Luther
were convinced that 2
Corinthians 8:18–19 also referred to Barnabas: “With him (Titus)
we are also sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his
preaching of the gospel.” Likewise, the mention of John Mark in Philemon 24 and 2 Timothy 4:11 shows that Paul
and this younger disciple were later reconciled.
2 Tim
4:11
11 Only
Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me
in my ministry.
Summary
Reflections on the life of Barnabas
1.
He is open to the grace of God
2.
He is an encourager of men
3.
He is a mentor to leaders
4.
He is fallible
5.
He is a giver
6.
He is highly respected
Challenge
Are you a good person, full of the Holy
Spirit and faith?
Reference
Hawthorne, G. F., Martin, R. P., &
Reid, D. G. (1993). Dictionary of Paul
and his letters (66–67). Downers
Grove, IL:
InterVarsity Press.
Soli Deo Gloria