Would you turn to Colossians
chapter 4? Now, before I read this verse,
I want to remind you that all scripture is given by inspiration
of God. And the verse of scripture that
I'm getting ready to read is just as inspired as Romans 8
or Isaiah 53. Now let's read this verse of
scripture together. Colossians chapter four, verse
10. Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner,
salute you. And Marcus, the sister's son
to Barnabas, touching whom you receive commandments if he come
unto you. receive him. I want to try to preach on Barnabas. As a matter of fact, I want to
look at all these characters. The Lord willing, next time I
want to preach on John Mark. Marcus was the nephew of Barnabas
and he was the same Barnabas that we've just read of in Acts
chapter 2. He was the same Barnabas that
Paul had that great contention with in Acts chapter 15 when
they split asunder in anger over the issue of John Mark. It's
the same Barnabas that Paul spoke of in Galatians chapter 2 when
he said Barnabas was carried away with the hypocrisy of Peter. And you remember that story.
Peter was eating with the Gentiles. Some Jewish believers came in
from Jerusalem and they felt nervous about this. They thought
they wouldn't be pleasing to them. So they got up and moved
tables. They no longer sat with the Gentiles
and they sat with the Jews. And Paul publicly rebuked Peter
for this because by that action, Peter was saying that although
the Gentiles were saved the Jews were a little bit more pleasing
to God by their adherence to the law and Paul rebuked Peter
for this and said that the truth of the gospel was at stake and
he said even Barnabas was carried over by their hypocrisy. Now I want us to look at the
life of Barnabas and if I fail to preach the gospel in this
message, I've failed miserably, haven't I? Oh, pray for me that
I will preach the gospel as we deal with this subject of Barnabas. Now Barnabas was a very special
man in a very special time. He was a part of the early church
right after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Can
you imagine how special that must have been? And in reality,
it should be no more, it should be no less special right now.
That's the way we ought to be thinking about the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ and the glory of his resurrection. Let's turn back to Acts chapter
2, that passage I just read. This is the introduction to Barnabas. Acts chapter 4, I'm sorry. Verse 32, and the multitude of
them that believed were of one heart and of one soul. Now by this time there were 5,000
people and they were of one heart and one soul. Neither said any
of them that out of the things which he possessed was his own,
but they had all things in common. Now, the first thing that strikes
me is about the unity of this group. No strife, no division. They were all of one heart and
one soul. And if I'm seeking the glory
of Christ and you're seeking the glory of Christ, we'll be
of one heart and one soul. Now, if we're not, I think of
that scripture where the wise man said in Proverbs, by pride
only cometh contention. By pride only. My pride, your
pride, but the multitude of them that believed were of one heart
and one soul. Isn't that beautiful? And then
it says in verse 33, and with great power gave the apostles
witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. and great grace
was upon them. Now, their message was the resurrection
of Christ. Yes, the actual event, but why
he was raised from the dead. And I love to think of this. I think of the Lord being carried
into that tomb dead and three days later opening his eyes.
That's a glorious thing to think about, isn't it? The Lord being
raised from the dead and opening his eyes. And when he was raised
from the dead, I was justified. He was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification. That's the gospel. And all the
power of this, it just happened. And I would to God that you and
I would know it just happened. It's always powerful and fresh
before God. And the scripture says that great
grace was upon them. And I love that phrase, great
grace. You know, if it's grace, it's great. If it's grace, it's
great, isn't it? Free grace, sovereign grace, great grace,
saving grace. The reason they had such power
in bearing witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is great
grace was upon them. And I pray that great grace will
be upon me and you. Verse 34. Neither was there any
among them that lacked. For as many as were possessors
of lands and of houses sold them. Now they weren't told to do these
things. It just happened spontaneously. And they brought the prices of
the things that were sold and laid them down at the apostles
feet and distribution was made to every man according as he
had need. Now there have been many people
who have said communism and socialism came out of this, the even distribution
of wealth. Let me say this, love says, what's
mine is yours. What communism and socialism
says is, what's yours is mine. Big difference in there. But
may the Lord give us this spirit of generosity that's demonstrated
by these people. Now this thing of generosity,
giving. First of all, it's a love issue.
And second, it's a faith issue. If you love, you give. Giving, according to 2 Corinthians
8, proves the sincerity of your love. If you love little, you'll
give little. If you love much, you'll give
much. It's a love issue, and it's a
faith issue. Unbelief says, I need this money
for something else. I'm afraid I'll need it down
the road. Love. Trust the Lord to take care.
I trust him to take care of my needs. Now, I'd love to see the
generosity of the early church at this time. Verse 36, and Joseph,
who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, which is being interpreted,
the son of consolation. The apostles changed his name,
this very special man, The son of consolation, the son of comfort,
a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold
it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.
Some have suggested that Barnabas is the author of the book of
Hebrews. Others appalled because he was a Levite and had such
an understanding of the Levitical system. I don't know, but he
was very special. The apostles gave him a new name,
the son of consolation, the son of comfort. Now, Barnabas was
like you and I, a sinner, saved by grace. The Bible actually
points out two very glaring faults of his. One was the fight that
he had with the Apostle Paul. They split asunder. Both of them
were wrong in this. Paul was equally as wrong as
Barnabas was in this contention that came between them. And it's
really one of the saddest things in the New Testament because
they were such friends up until this time and they split asunder. Now evidently it was mended because
Paul mentions him in Colossians chapter 4 and this took place
years after that contention had taken place but it was so sad
the way they split asunder being upset with each other and then
what I've already referred to in Galatians chapter 2 where
Paul said that Barnabas was carried away with the hypocrisy of Peter
and acted just like Peter did. He got out and moved tables too.
He did the same thing Peter did really bowing down to the peer
pressure of religious error, where the Jews were coming in
and he just caved underneath it. Now, he was a sinful man
like me and you, but he was a very special man by the grace of God. And you know, every believer
is special. Special to God. And he was special. Now, the
next time he's mentioned is in Acts chapter 9. Look, turn with
me there, Acts chapter 9, verse 27. Verse 26, and when Saul was come
to Jerusalem, he is saved to join himself to the disciples,
but they were all afraid of him and believed not that he was
a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him into the
apostles and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the
way and that he had spoken to him.
And now he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. Now turn back to Acts chapter
seven, verse 58. This is at the stoning of Stephen.
And they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the
witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose
name was Saul. Look in chapter 8, verse 1. And
Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time, there
was a great persecution against the church, which was Jerusalem.
And they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea
and Samaria, except the apostles. Look in verse 3. As for Saul,
he made havoc at the church. entering into every house and
hailing men and women and committed them to prison. Look in chapter
nine, verse one. And yet Saul, breathing out threatenings
and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went into the high
priest and desired of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues,
that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or
women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. Now, if all of
a sudden he claimed to be a Christian, wouldn't you be a little bit
suspicious? You think he's just trying to get into our midst
to do damage to us and to take advantage of us and to arrest
even more of us. I understand why the disciples were afraid
of this. They didn't trust him. But Barnabas,
he became a dear friend of the Apostle Paul. He laid his hands
on him. He said, I saw what he did. Now look in Acts chapter 11. Verse 19, now they which were
scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen, and
there was a great persecution that took place. And there is
what a blessing persecution is. It is indicative that the Lord's
blessing is on us. The Lord said, blessed are they.
who are persecuted for righteousness sake. What a blessing that is.
You know, we ought to always ask when we hear the gospel,
where's the offense? Where's that which would bring persecution?
It ought to always be there. And this persecution arose, so
people had to leave, and they fled in order to avoid this persecution,
and it opened up the door for them to preach the gospel to
other people. What a blessing this was. Now in verse 19, Now
when they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that
rose about Stephen traveled as far as Phanesi, and Cyprus, and
Antioch, preaching the word to none but the Jews only. And some
of them which were men of Cyprus, and Cyrene, which when they were
come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, the Gentiles, preaching
the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was
upon them, and a great number believed, and turned unto the
Lord. Then tidings of these things
came into the ears of the church, which was in Jerusalem, and they
sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch,
who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, he was glad,
and he exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they would
cleave unto the Lord." Now, something that I found very touching about
this statement, when he'd seen the grace of God. You know something? It takes grace to see grace. You know, anybody can see faults
and errors and be critical. That's easy. But it takes grace
to see grace. And when he saw the grace of
God. Now, how did he see the grace
of God? Well, in two ways. Number one, he saw it by words
of grace. He heard what they were saying.
You see, The message of the scripture has something to do with the
difference between law and grace. That's always there. And he saw
the grace of God by what they said concerning the grace of
God. The saving grace of God. And he beheld gracious conduct. Conduct befitting to grace. And he did what any preacher
of the gospel would do when he sees the grace of God. He exhorted
him to cleave to the Lord. with purpose of heart. Look what verse 24 says about
Barnabas. Verse 24, for he was a good man
and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith. And much people were
added unto the Lord. Now, what's that mean he was
a good man? You know, I think of where the Lord said when the
rich young ruler came to him and said, good master, what good
things shall I do to inherit eternal life? And The Lord said,
why callest thou me good? There's none good but one. That is God. So how was it okay
for Luke to call Barnabas a good man? Well, it is because God
the Holy Spirit inspired this. What is the goodness of God? It's his capacity. to save sinners
like me and you. That's the goodness of God. When Moses said, show me your
glory, he said, I'll make all my goodness to pass before you
and I'll proclaim my name before you and I will be gracious to
whom I will be gracious and I'll show mercy on whom I will show
mercy. So the goodness of God is his
capacity to save. He delights in mercy. And then I thought of that passage
of scripture in Romans chapter 5, verse 7, where Paul said,
for a righteous man, nobody will die. For a good man, some would
even dare to die for. Now what did he mean by that?
Well, a righteous man. He's not talking about righteous
as in truly righteous before God. He's talking about a man
who thinks he's righteous. and he feels he's righteous,
and you feel uncomfortable around him, and you feel judged around
him, and you feel condemned around him, and you don't even like
him. Nobody's going to die for that person. He's a jerk. Nobody
likes him. But for a good man, some would
even dare to die, and that's talking about a merciful man,
a kind man, a gracious man, a forgiving man, and that is what Barnabas
was when it says he was a good man. He was a gracious man. He
had a capacity for mercy because he'd experienced the mercy of
God. And it says he was full of faith
and full of the Holy Ghost. He was full of faith. To him
that worketh not. I love this verse of Scripture.
To him that worketh not. Have you ever been convinced
that there's no point in you trying to earn your way to God's
acceptance? You can't work. You can't. To
him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is canon for righteousness. Barnabas was full of that. And
why was he full of that? Because he was full of the Holy
Spirit. Be not drunk with wine wherein
is excess, but be ye filled with the Spirit. He was full of the
Holy Spirit and the evidence of being full of the Holy Spirit
is he's full of faith. He believed the gospel. Now, turn to Acts chapter 12,
verse 25. And Barnabas and Saul returned
from Jerusalem when they'd fulfilled their ministry and took with
them John, whose surname was Mark. And during chapter 13 is
when Mark departs from them. And that's what Paul and Barnabas
had the contention about. But in chapter 13, we're told once again of Barnabas.
Now there were at the church that was Antioch certain prophets
and teachers as Barnabas, he's the first one mentioned. And
Simeon, which was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manian,
which had been brought up with hair of the tetrarch, and Saul,
talking about the apostle Paul, and they ministered to the Lord
and fasted. The Holy Ghost said, separate me Barnabas and Saul
for the work whereunto I have called them. Now, at this time,
God separates Barnabas and Saul to this missionary journey. And
as a matter of fact, when you go on reading in Acts chapter
13, we read the first sermon recorded of the apostle Paul.
It's very interesting, but Paul and Barnabas were the men God
the Holy Spirit chose to bring this message. One of the things,
he said this to the church. You know the church will recognize
when someone's called to God to preach the gospel. Then somebody
says, well, I'm called of God to preach the gospel. If the
church doesn't recognize it, maybe you'll think, why come
y'all can't see this? Well, there's a reason. You're not called to
God to preach the gospel. The church recognizes this. Nobody
goes out as a maverick. The church recognized this. And
he said, the Holy Spirit said to the church, separate unto
me Barnabas and Saul, that I might send them to the work whereinto
I've called them. And like I said, chapter 13 is
a glorious chapter when we see the first sermon of Paul. Look
in verse 16. Chapter 13. Then Paul stood up and beckoned
with his hands and said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God,
give audience. And go on down to verse 38. I
love this statement during the course of this sermon. Be it
known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this
man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. I love the
way he says that, don't you? He doesn't say forgiveness is
offered. He says through this man the forgiveness of sins is
declared to you. Salvation begins. with the forgiveness
of sins. And he goes on to say in verse
39, and by him, all that believe are justified from all things,
which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. Now verse
44, And the next Sabbath day, when almost the whole city came
together to hear the word of God, but when the Jews saw the
multitudes, they were filled with envy and spake against those
things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.
Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said it was necessary
that the word of God should first have been spoken to you. But
seeing you put it from you and judge yourselves unworthy of
everlasting life, lo, he turned to the Gentiles. For so hath
the Lord commanded us, saying, I have sent thee to be a light
of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends
of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and
they glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as were ordained
to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was
published throughout all the region. But the Jews stirred
up the devout and honorable women and the chief men of that city
and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled
them out of their coasts. They were kicked out of town.
And they shook off the dust of their feet against them and came
unto Iconium. And the disciples were filled
with joy and with the Holy Ghost. And then in chapter 14, we're
given the story of Paul and Barnabas going to Lystra and Paul healed
somebody and they thought he was God and they got ready to
sacrifice to him. And they stopped, don't do this,
don't do this. You're to turn from these vanities. And they
ended up stoning Paul, you remember, and drug him out of town. taking
him up dead, but he raised back up with Barnabas and went on
somewhere else to preach the gospel. And then in chapter 15,
we have this very interesting story of what I would call the
first Sovereign Grace Bible Conference. Now, what was going on? Verse
1. And certain men which came down
from Judea taught the brethren and said, except ye be circumcised
after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved. Now, I think
it's interesting how Luke doesn't call these men brethren. They
came from the church of Jerusalem, but he doesn't call them brethren.
He calls certain men. came down from Judea and taught
the brethren and said, except you be circumcised after the
manner of Moses, you cannot be saved. They were adding something
to grace, verse two, and therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small
dissension and disputation within. They were upset at this. You
see, grace plus anything is what? Works. Grace plus anything is works. And Paul and Barnabas, they had
no small disputation. I'm sure people accused them
of being mean and so on. You should be more gentle about
this. But they were upset over what was going on, this mingling
of law and grace. And there was a disputation that
took place. And they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain
other of them should go up to Jerusalem and to the apostles
and elders about this question. And being brought on their way
by the church, they passed through Phoenicia. Thenasi and Samaria
declaring the conversion of the Gentiles, and they caused great
joy unto all the brethren. And when they were come to Jerusalem,
they were received at the church, and the apostles and elders,
and they declared all the things that God had done with them.
But, they tell about what happened, there rose up certain of the
sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying it was needful to circumcise
them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses. And the
apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.
And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up and
said unto them, Men and brethren, you know how that a good while
ago God made choice among us that the Gentiles by my mouth
should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God which knoweth
the hearts bared them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even
as he did unto us, and put no difference between us and them,
purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why tempt ye God? to put a yoke upon the neck of
the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we are able to
bear." What he's saying is that's pure hypocrisy. Why would you
put the yoke of the law on them when you can't bear it? You can't
keep it. And I love this next statement.
But we believe, and here's our statement of faith. We believe
that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be
saved even as they. Notice he didn't say they'll
be saved like us. He said us Jews will be saved
like those Gentiles. The only way a Gentile can be
saved is by the free grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then verse
12, the multitude kept silence and gave audience to Barnabas
and Paul declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among
the Gentiles by then. Look down in verse 25. This is
when they were sending that letter to the Gentile church to let
them know that they didn't need to observe these Jewish laws. They said in verse 25, it seemed
good unto us being assembled with one accord to send chosen
men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul. I love the
way he calls them our beloved Barnabas and Paul. Men that have
hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus. Now, in chapter 15, verse 36,
here's that sad story. And some days after Paul said
unto Barnabas, let us go again and visit our brethren in every
city where we have preached the word of the Lord and see how
they do. And Barnabas determined to take with them John. whose
surname was Mark, but Paul thought not good to take him with him,
who departed from them, from Pamphia, and went not with them
to the work." He deserted. And so you can understand why
Paul thought it was not good to take him. He deserted him. Why
would we want to bring him again? And the contention was so sharp
between them. These men who were dear friends,
who had traveled and preached together and had gone through
so much together. the contention was so sharp between
them that they departed asunder one from the other in anger.
And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed into Cyprus and Paul chose
Silas and departed being recommended by the brethren unto the grace
of God. And he went through Syria and
Sicily confirming the churches. Now that verse 13, the contention
was so sharp between them that they departed asunder one from
the other That ought not ever to happen between believers.
Now, you can understand why Paul felt the way he did. And you
can understand why Mark felt the way or why Barnabas felt
the way he did. As a matter of fact, as it turns
out, Paul must have ended up being wrong because he goes on
later and says regarding Timothy or to Timothy concerning Mark,
he said, bring Mark for he is profitable to me for the ministry. So evidently Paul was wrong in
his assessment. of John Mark. And I believe that
Barnabas was wrong for his contention with the Apostle Paul. If Paul
said to do something, I believe I'd show deference to Paul. I
believe I would, whether I agreed with it or not. I mean, I probably
would show deference to Paul, and you would too. And so both
of these men were wrong. And this is just sad, this contention
that took place that caused them to part us under in anger. I've already quoted this once.
The wise man said, by pride only cometh contention, and there's
never a reason for strange relationship or conflict or contention between
believers. Amen? Paul was wrong. Barnabas was wrong. Everything about this drips with
pride. I'll guarantee you both of them
were made to feel very unclean. about all this, but a believer
hates this conduct in himself and others. Turn with me for
a moment to Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4. Paul says, I therefore the prisoner
of the Lord beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation
wherewith you are called with all lowliness and meekness, with
long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring
to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." Now, is
the unity of the Spirit worth endeavoring to keep? You better
bet it is. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
6. He's speaking to the church at
Corinth and he says in verse 6, but brother goeth to law with
brother and that before the unbelievers. Now they were actually taking
each other to court for litigation. One wronged another one and he's
going to sue him for it. Now what does Paul say about
this? Now therefore there is an utterly a fault among you
because you go to law one with another. Now look at this question
he asks. Why do you not rather take wrong? Why do you not rather suffer
yourself to be defrauded and to be done wrong and to be mistreated?
Why don't you just go ahead and let that happen rather than trying
to defend yourself and stand up for your rights and bring
reproach on the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? Now I ought,
and may God give me the grace to do this, I ought to suffer
myself to be defrauded and wronged rather than bring reproach on
the gospel through my argumentation. I have heard it said before that after this contention between
Paul and Barnabas, you never hear about Barnabas again. God
put him on a shelf. Do you know what? That's not
so. Because Paul mentions Barnabas
in Colossians chapter 4 years after this took place. When he
said, he talked about John Mark, the nephew of Barnabas. I'm sending
him to you. So yeah, we do hear of Barnabas
again. And I'm thankful for that. And
Barnabas, may the Lord make us to be Barnabases. He's a delightful
man by the grace of God. He's a special man. I want to
be like him. I want to preach his gospel.
I want to stand with him. And I love the way, I don't know
if I'm using the right language, I love the way the Lord points
out his glaring faults. I don't know anybody with that
glaring faults. Actually, if I want to look for them. but
he was a son of consolation. I love what the Bible calls him,
what the apostles named him, the son of consolation, the son
of comfort, the son of encouragement. May the Lord make me and you
to be like first, like the Lord. I don't want to, you know, he's
a man, but the Lord has given us the character of this man.
And may you and I be sons of encouragement. Let's pray together.