Son
of Encouragement
I. The
Scriptures tell us of an interesting man
A. His
name was Joseph and he was from the
B. No
one remembers him by his true name, everyone calls him by his nickname.
C. "Bar”
= Son of, and "Nubas” = Encouragement. Or as we know him, Barnabas
II. Barnabas
was a name, much deserving of his nickname
A. We
first read of his selling his personal property to aid poor Christians in
36 And 4Joses,
who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of 5Encouragement),
a Levite of the country of Cyprus, 37 ohaving
land, sold it, and brought
the money and laid it at the
apostles’ feet.
B. It
was Barnabas who introduced Paul to the Christians in
27 zBut Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. And he
declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had spoken
to him, aand how he had preached boldly at
C. When
word came that people were believing in Christ in
` 20 But some of them were men from
22 Then news of these things came to the
ears of the church in
25 Then Barnabas departed for w
D. When
God requested two men to be sent out to preach the gospel, it was Paul and
Barnabas who were picked to go - Acts 13:2
2 As they
ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, d"Now
separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work eto
which I have called them.”
E. When
Paul didn’t want to take John Mark on their second trip because John Mark quit
on them during the first trip, Barnabas insisted taking him along -- to the
point of going separately - Acts 15:37-40
37 Now Barnabas 4was determined to take with them iJohn called Mark. 38 But Paul insisted that they should not take with them jthe one who had departed from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone
with them to the work. 39 Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one
another. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed tok
III. Would
people say that of us?
A. Are
the people you come in contact with day-to-day so uplifted that you could be
called the son or daughter of encouragement?
B. Rom. 12:3-8 -
Not everyone has the same talents. Some people are better at encouraging people
than others. Notice it is a gift from God! We may not be excellent at each of
these things, but we should be able show capabilities in each.
3 For I say, fthrough the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, gnot to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God
has dealthto each one a measure of faith. 4 For ias we have many members in one body, but all the members do not
have the same function, 5 so jwe, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one
another. 6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is kgiven to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us lprophesy in proportion to our faith; 7 or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; mhe who teaches, in teaching; 8 nhe who exhorts, in exhortation; ohe who gives, with liberality; phe who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, qwith cheerfulness.
C. Encouragement
is one of the duties of preachers - Tit. 2:14-15
D. I Thess. 5:9-11 - We should encourage (comfort) and
edify each other
E. Further,
Paul encourages us to encourage the timid and help the weak - I Thess. 5:14
IV. There
are many things in this world that can cause people to be discouraged
A. Sometimes
things turn out to be harder than we first imagined
1. Num. 21:4 -
The Israelites were discouraged by their journey - 4 Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to dgo around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very 2discouraged on the way.
a. I
can imagine they thought they would just waltz into the promise land
b. Not
only was it hard work, but just getting there was very difficult
2. Nehemiah
had this same problem with the rebuilding of the walls of
10 Then
3. It
doesn’t help when you see other people, who don’t care having an easy time - Ps. 73:2-3
B. It
is also discouraging when the things we hope for doesn’t come as soon as we
would like - Pr. 13:12
C. Christians
need to counter this discouragement.
1. It
is not a one time act, but a daily task - Heb. 3:12-13
12 Beware, brethren, lest there be
in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but 2exhort one another daily, while
it is called "Today,” lest any of you be hardened
through the deceitfulness of sin.
2. We
need to think how we may encourage each other - Heb. 10:23-25
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for rHe who promised isfaithful. 24 And let us consider one another in order to
stir up love and good works, 25snot forsaking the assembling of ourselves
together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and tso much the more as you see uthe Day approaching.
V. Conclusion
A. I Pet. 3:8 -
Live in harmony, be sympathetic, love, be compassionate.