Westland, Virginia — Monday Morning, February 5, 1973
Our Father, we pray that our hearts may rejoice as we gather together unto Thyself. Thou art the joy of our house. Thou art our strength, our worship, and our praise. How we praise and thank Thee that Thou dost condescend Thyself to be with us and to receive the praises and worship of our hearts.
What a privilege! What an acceptance! It is all because of Thy grace, Thy precious grace. Thou hast opened this new and living way for us. Oh, how we praise Thee that Thou art so real, so living, and nothing can separate us from Thy love, because it is Thy love for us.
May Thy love inspire us, that we may love Thee, Lord. Because we love Thee, we want to know Thee more. Manifest Thyself to us as Thou hast promised. Let us hear Thy voice, Lord. It is Thee Thyself that we desire, and nothing else.
May Thou have a greater place in our lives—Thy rightful place. We commit this time into Thy hands, trusting Thee to perfect the good work which Thou hast already begun. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
Please turn to the book of Acts.
And when he was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: and they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.
But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that He had spoken to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus.
They therefore that were scattered abroad upon the tribulation that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia, and Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to none save only to Jews.
But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Greeks also, preaching the Lord Jesus.
And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number that believed turned unto the Lord.
And the report concerning them came to the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas as far as Antioch:
Who, when he was come, and had seen the grace of God, was glad; and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord:
For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord.
And he went forth to Tarsus to seek for Saul;
And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that even for a whole year they were gathered together with the church, and taught much people; and that the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers, Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen the foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
And as they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate Me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
We have mentioned before that those formative years of this new vessel, called the body of Christ—the church—are very, very important. Whether this new vessel, the body of Christ, will be formed according to the heavenly pattern, becoming a vessel fit for the Master’s use, or whether it will degenerate into something other than what God wants, depends very largely upon those formative years.
As we find from Acts 6 through Acts 15, thank God that He raised up seven key men and used these men to help in the formation of this body of Christ. So finally, we find that God did get what He wanted.
We have mentioned several in the past: Stephen, Philip, Paul, and Peter. Now this morning we would like to go on to Barnabas, because Barnabas has a very special place in the foundation of the body of Christ. He served as a kind of bridge. He joined Peter and Paul together.
You will find that he had a very special ministry in the foundation of the body of Christ.
We see Barnabas first in Acts 4. During that time, God was increasing the number of those who believed in the Lord. All those who believed were together. They were of one spirit and one soul, and they loved one another.
They were delivered from self-possessiveness. They were willing to share everything with one another. They were really one body.
It was during that period that the members of the body realized there were poor people in their midst, those who were in need. They could not see their brothers and sisters in need and merely say, “May the Lord supply all your needs.” They felt constrained by the Lord to supply the need of those needy ones.
Some of them began to sell their properties and take the proceeds of these sales to the feet of the apostles, that these might be distributed to all who were in need.
Among them, there was one who stood out. Of course, he was not the only one who did that, but he was the one whom the Holy Spirit particularly mentioned as an example. There was a man by the name of Joses, a Levite, a Cyprian. He sold his property and laid the proceeds at the feet of the apostles.
The apostles surnamed him—they gave him another name—Barnabas, which means “son of consolation,” or “son of comfort.”
Barnabas’ Jewish name was Joses. But you find that he had another name, Barnabas, son of consolation. He was a Levite, and he was born and reared in Cyprus. So he was a Hellenistic Jew, not a Hebrew Jew.
In him, you find the combination not only of Greek culture but also of Hebrew culture. In that sense, he was very much like Paul.
He loved the Lord, not in word only, but in deed. He sold his property and laid the proceeds at the feet of the apostles. He did all this not independently; he did it in relationship with the church.
You know, sometimes we can do good things, but we would rather do them independently. Yet in the early days of the church, as they were moved by the Spirit of God to do certain things, they never did anything independently. It was always in relationship with the church.
Everything came out of the church, and everything was related to the church. Even in this matter of ministering to the poor, it was related to the church. Oh, that was really beautiful.
At first, Saul was converted on the way to Damascus. He had become famous in Jerusalem as the chief persecutor of the church. He dragged men and women out of their houses and put them into jail. He was well known in Jerusalem.
Then he went to Damascus, and he was converted. After he was converted, he went to Arabia, probably for around three years, and there he was before God. After those years, he came back to Damascus. He was with the disciples for a time, and because his witnessing was so effective, he had to flee.
You know how he fled: in a basket, let down over the wall. So he went to Jerusalem to seek fellowship. But nobody believed him. Even after the years, the impression was just too deep.
These believers in Jerusalem were afraid of Paul, who was called Saul at that time. Even though he came back a changed man, after three years nobody believed it. Here you find Paul in Jerusalem, rejected by the Jews and not accepted by the Christians. He was all alone, and it must have been a terrible experience for Paul.
But thank God, of all the disciples in Jerusalem there was one man who would take heart: Barnabas.
Barnabas was a Hellenistic Jew. When the persecution first started in Jerusalem, it was actually focused upon the Hellenistic Jews. Stephen was a Hellenistic Jew, and he was stoned to death. Then the great persecution began. It was mainly against the Hellenistic Jews.
Certainly Barnabas was also a target, so he should remember it well. Yet you find Barnabas was a man of such a big heart that he was able to forgive and to forget the past. He was able to see what God had done in this person’s soul, and he was able to believe what God had done.
He had faith not only in God, but, you know, in people too. Sometimes it is very difficult for us to change our view of a person. Once you come to a conclusion, that is it.
Very often people ask their brother, “What do you think of this brother, or this sister, or this man, or this woman? Do you think there is any hope?” In the beginning, you do not know exactly what kind of person that is. Then you have some contact, and you begin to form an idea, a concept. Once your decision is made, that is it.
But do you believe God? Do you believe God is able to change a person, to transform a person? If you believe in God, then you can believe that. Not that man can change, but God can do it.
All the other disciples could not believe it. They said, “This man cannot be saved. Probably he is just playing a trick. He is trying to find out who these Christians are by joining with them, and then to persecute them.” Nobody would believe.
But Barnabas was a man with a big heart. He saw what the Lord had done in that person, so he took him and introduced him to the believers in Jerusalem. That is how Paul met Peter: through the introduction of Barnabas.
Paul was able to be with the disciples for a certain period, until his witnessing became too strong again and he had to go away. So the church sent him away, and Paul went back to Tarsus. He spent a number of years in Syria and Cilicia, because Tarsus is in Cilicia.
Because of the persecution, the disciples were dispersed. As they went along the way, they went to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, and they announced the glad tidings, but to the Jews alone.
But there were some from Cyprus and Cyrene. These people began to witness to the Greeks, and the Lord began to add many, many of these Greeks to the church. Finally, the news began to come back to Jerusalem that in these Gentile cities many were converted to Christ—not only Jews, but many Gentiles.
So they sent out one person, and that person was Barnabas. Barnabas was most fitting for this kind of work. He was sent out to visit all these places as far as Antioch.
Did he go out as an investigator or an inspector? Not at all. You know, in the early church there was no thought of one church controlling another church. There was no such thing.
Jerusalem was not the mother church, with all the other churches as children churches. That was a concept which came much later.
In the early days, as the churches began to spread into different places, every church maintained its independence in government. But there was fellowship in the Spirit among the churches.
So when they heard in Jerusalem that God had done something in the cities of Syria and Cilicia, they sent Barnabas out not for the purpose of investigating or inspecting and then bringing them under their control. They sent Barnabas to seek fellowship, that they might be joined in one fellowship and strengthen one another.
The Bible never has the thought of mother churches and children churches—never. What the Bible has is sister churches.
In 2 John 1:13, we find:
The children of thine elect sister salute thee.
The relationship between churches is the relationship of sisterhood. One church is a sister to another church. Some are bigger sisters and some are smaller sisters, but they are sisters. It is not a relationship of parents and children.
If it is a relationship of parents and children, then the parents control and rule over the children, and the children are supposed to obey the parents. But if they are sisters, their relationship is one of equality, and yet of fellowship.
In the formation of the church, the body of Christ, in the most practical way, you find the Holy Spirit guiding and leading the way. Barnabas was sent out. He was the kind of person who had a big heart. He was the son of consolation. He was a Hellenistic Jew.
He did not go out with the thought of exercising power over all these churches which God had raised up, to bring them into the fold of the church in Jerusalem. That is a human way, not the divine way.
The Holy Spirit had started all these churches, and then Barnabas was sent out to join all these churches in fellowship in the Spirit, but not to bring them under the control of the church in Jerusalem.
The whole structure of the church today is unscriptural. On the one hand, every local assembly is independent, in the sense that it is governed directly by God. No one church governs another church. Yet this is balanced by fellowship between churches, so that they really are one.
The body of Christ is universally one, and yet in its practical working out you have local churches. All these local churches are local expressions of the body of Christ. Therefore, they have fellowship with one another to show that they are one. That is beautiful.
That is the reason why Barnabas was sent. As he traveled to these places, he saw the grace of God manifested in them.
You know, it is very easy, when we go out and visit, to see all the faults, weaknesses, and shortcomings. That is very easy. If you have a very keen observation, you can go to any place and immediately see the weaknesses and faults in God’s people. You can go there as a judge, not as a brother.
But Barnabas was such a man. When he went into the midst of these Gentile believers, instead of seeing their weaknesses, making comparisons, looking down upon them, and criticizing them, he saw the grace of God in them.
Oh, brothers and sisters, how easy it is for us to see negative things. You do not need to look too deeply to see the negative things. But it is very difficult for us to see that which is positive. Why? Because of our very nature—our sinful nature, is it not?
Here you find this man full of the Holy Spirit. He was really under the control of the Holy Spirit. So when he came into the midst of these people, he had no idea of dominating them. He had no idea of judging them. He came simply as a brother, ready to help.
He saw the grace of God in their lives, and he rejoiced. He could rejoice in what God had done outside of himself.
He encouraged them to serve the Lord with one purpose—to abide in the Lord. In other words, his ministry was a ministry of establishing the believers.
He was not too much of an adventurer, but he was warm, like a pastor. He would come in and help them, strengthen them, and establish them. Because of his labor among these people in Antioch, the Lord added more to the church. It was a ministry of establishing the believers.
As he stayed with them, Barnabas began to realize the potential in the church at Antioch. He began to realize that what God would do in that church was something that he could not do by himself. It was a work bigger and greater than Barnabas could handle.
So he went out to Tarsus to seek for Paul. Now think of that.
Usually, humanly speaking, it is always the temptation of a servant of the Lord: if they go to a place and the Lord begins to use them, they consider that place as their own. Here and there you find one cutting out a kingdom for himself, and another cutting out a kingdom for himself. Then you guard your kingdom very carefully. You consider the church as your personal property.
That is human temptation, and it happens everywhere. When God begins to use a person, he cuts out a kingdom and will not let anybody else touch it. “This is my territory.”
How are you? Are you building your own kingdom, or are you building the body of Christ?
As a missionary tactic, different missionary societies have come to an agreement: “You go to the east, I go to the west, he will go to the south, and the other will go to the north. We will each carve out a territory and work it. Now, you do not come to my territory.”
What are you doing? Are you building your own kingdom, or are you building the body of Christ? If it is the body of Christ, it belongs to Christ. If it is the body of Christ, it should be able to benefit from all the ministries that God has given to the church.
Barnabas was a person who was not seeking for his own gain. He did not come out of Jerusalem simply to be a king in Antioch. This was the church, the body of Christ, and it had to be cared for.
He saw great potential in that church, and he realized that it was more than he could do. Thank God for Barnabas! If a servant of the Lord can realize his limitation, that is something to be said.
He was thinking only of the welfare of the church; he was not thinking of his position. If he had been thinking of his position, he would never have gone to find Paul. Why? Because from the very beginning Paul was more gifted than he was. That is why he went to find him.
He realized that this was a work that he could not handle by himself. He was able to establish them in the beginning, but then he came to his limit. He would not keep the church in Antioch within his own limitation; he wanted them to be what God wanted them to be.
Thank God for that. All the servants of God today should learn this lesson.
Paul had been in Syria and Cilicia for a number of years already. He could not stay in Jerusalem, so they sent him away to Tarsus, and he spent a number of years in that area. In Galatians 1, he says that he was in Syria and Cilicia, laboring for the Lord. Those people in Judea only heard that the former persecutor was now announcing the glad tidings, but they had never seen him.
Paul was almost forgotten. There were two alternatives: either Paul would become so discouraged that he would give up, or he would become so infuriated by the treatment he received that he would say, “All right, if you do not care for me, I do not care for you. I will establish a work in my area, and that will be my kingdom. I will have nothing to do with the church in Jerusalem or with anybody else.”
A person like Paul, if he had not found someone to balance him, might have gone to that extreme. But thank God for God’s divine wisdom: Barnabas went to find him.
If you read the word carefully, you find that Barnabas made some effort to find Paul. He did not simply know that Paul was in Tarsus, run there, and knock at his door. No. He did not even know where Paul was. He had to seek him.
He was willing to spend time finding Paul, and he brought him to Antioch. There Paul labored with Barnabas for a whole year.
Because of the joint labor of these two servants of the Lord, the disciples grew so much in the Lord. The church manifested Christ in such fullness that people began to look at them and say, “Who are they?”
They were not Judaism, because most of them were Gentiles. In the beginning, most believers were Jews, so people could look at the church and say, “This is just a sect of Judaism.” But in Antioch the situation was entirely different.
These were mostly Gentiles. You could not say that this was a sect of Judaism or a part of Judaism. It was something in front of you, something alive. People looked at them and said, “They are Christians”—Christ-men.
Christ was so manifested in the midst of these people that they earned this nickname: Christians.
They were able to arrive at such a testimony because of the love, humility, and labor of Barnabas, who was willing to be hidden.
You know, in Colossians 2:19 we read:
Holding fast the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and bands, increaseth with the increase of God.
We all hold fast the Head. Christ is the Head. Then the whole body is supplied, joined together, and united together by the joints and bands.
In the body, you need joints and you need bands. The joints are joints of supply. The joints supply the blood, supply the life, and supply the body. But you need bands too, because the bands unite together.
Just like in your physical body, you not only need the bones and the joints, but you need the muscles. They join the body together. With the joints of supply and the bands of union, the body increases with the increase of God.
Barnabas was a band. Probably Paul was a joint of supply, but Barnabas certainly was a great band. Without such bands, the church cannot increase.
Brothers and sisters, we often emphasize the ministry of the joints, but somehow we overlook the ministry of the bands. We think that for the building of the body of Christ, we need people who are like joints, who can supply life. Thank God for all these joints.
Yet there are people who do not seem to do much supplying, and still there is a quiet ministry going on: binding people together, joining people together, uniting people together, establishing them together.
It is just as essential a ministry as the ministry of the joints. Usually they are not seen. Usually they are neglected by other people. But without these bands, the body cannot increase with the increase of God.
Through the joints and the bands, you find that the church in Antioch increased with the increase of God. There was a wonderful testimony: they were called Christians.
That is how the church is to be built. Such principles must be carried on if the body of Christ is to be built everywhere, wherever the local expression of the body is to be manifested. You need these joints, and you need these bands. You need Paul, and you need Barnabas.
During that time, God raised up five prophets and teachers in the church in Antioch. Barnabas was the leading one, because his name is mentioned first, and Saul was mentioned last, because he was relatively young in the Lord and was still learning.
As the five prophets and teachers ministered unto the Lord with fasting and prayer, before they ministered to the church and before they ministered to the people of God, they first ministered to the Lord. That is the right order.
They ministered to the Lord, to His need, and then to the church. As they were ministering to the Lord, the Lord said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Paul” for a special apostolic work.
Because they were so faithfully ministering in the local church, God enlarged their ministry and gave them a wider ministry—an apostolic ministry. God sent Barnabas and Paul out for that.
Brothers and sisters, you find that the way God trains His people is that you are always trained in the local church.
Very often, when people say they want to serve God, especially young people, immediately they think of a distant place. That is natural, because there seems to be adventure there. You never think that you will serve God here; you are always thinking of serving God somewhere else.
In order to serve God somewhere else, what should you do? Get trained. Go to a Bible school. Where else can you go?
Now, I am not criticizing people, because I went through this. When I was saved and was on fire, I wanted to serve God. Where should I go? Mongolia, of course! Not Shanghai, my native place. How should I go to Mongolia to serve? Of course, I must go to a Bible school. Where can you be trained?
You read your New Testament, and you do not find that. How did God train His workers?
If God puts a desire in you to serve, the church is there. There is the training. It is not a school; it is the church, the body of Christ.
There is no school from which you can learn how to serve Christ better than the local expression of the body of Christ. You say, “Everybody knows you.” Thank God, everybody knows you. That is where training begins.
If you are faithful in the place where God has put you, ministering unto the Lord, one day the Lord may say, “Set apart. Go out.” Then you are able to enter into a bigger ministry.
You find that it always begins in the place where you are. If you cannot be used by God among the people whom you know, can you expect that suddenly you will be greatly used by God among people whom you do not know?
Many people say that they cannot win any souls here, but if they go to Africa, suddenly they will win many souls. It has to be proven here first. Out of faithfulness, God will enlarge your ministry.
Barnabas and Paul were set apart to go forth. Barnabas was such a man of a big heart. He was always trying to help people. He was always trying to find whom he could help and build up.
Without Barnabas, we would not have Paul. Even though God had revealed Himself in such a way to Paul, yet without Barnabas, Paul might have been lost. It was Barnabas who brought him into the fellowship of the saints. It was Barnabas who brought him into the work. Paul was actually trained under Barnabas.
Barnabas had his eyes on Paul. For several years, after he left Paul in Jerusalem, he still remembered him. He knew that he was a young man, very promising, and he wanted to help him, to build him up, to become someone greater than himself.
When God set Barnabas and Paul apart for this apostolic work, immediately you find Barnabas also took another young man, John Mark.
Not because John Mark was his cousin. I believe Barnabas knew much better than that. It was not because of a fleshly relationship. No, in the work of God, the flesh cannot enter.
You find the big heart of Barnabas. He was always looking for young people whom he could help and build up to become vessels for God. We need to thank God for Barnabas. This is what the church needs today.
Young people who have a desire to serve God and who want to learn need help. Where can they come? Who will help them? Who will remember them? Probably older people are afraid of younger people, because one day the young people may replace them.
But not Barnabas. When he saw the grace of God in a person, he wanted to help and build him up. So he set his eye on John Mark. Paul agreed with him, so it was not a fleshly relationship.
If you read the book of Acts carefully, during that period you find that in the beginning it was Barnabas and Paul. When God said, “Set apart Barnabas and Saul,” they went out as a company: Barnabas, Saul, and John Mark.
But then something happened. Suddenly you find the Holy Spirit saying, “Paul and Barnabas.” Because it was now Paul and Barnabas, John Mark could not stand it.
This young man was still a man of blood and flesh. His cousin had been the leader of this group, and now Paul took over the leadership. He could not agree to that, and he left.
But Barnabas continued on with Paul. Paul was prominent. People saw Paul, heard Paul, and talked about Paul. Barnabas was under the shadow of Paul, but he took it graciously.
Oh, the humility of this man of God! Brothers and sisters, how we long to see something like this today among God’s servants.
Very often God’s servants strive for position and prominence against one another, just as people strive for authority and power in this world. What a sad thing it is.
If we only know how to surrender ourselves to the Head! Whatever the Head says, that is where you should be, even if humanly it is difficult.
But Barnabas was not dragging Paul’s feet. He was supporting Paul in his ministry. You do not find anywhere in Scripture that, when the Holy Spirit changed the order, Barnabas went along reluctantly while secretly putting obstacles in Paul’s way. No, he was supporting Paul wholeheartedly—a son of comfort, a son of consolation.
When they decided to go out a second time, Barnabas said, “Let us take John Mark again.” John Mark had left them and gone to Jerusalem. Somehow, through the ministry of Peter, John Mark was partially restored. Barnabas and Paul had taken him from Jerusalem and brought him with them before.
When they decided to go out the second time, Barnabas said, “Let us take John Mark.” He forgot John Mark’s fault completely. Barnabas was forgiving; he was restoring. He was anxious to fully restore this young man.
But Paul, because John Mark had deserted them at one time, felt that he had to be disciplined. They had a disagreement. Barnabas took Mark and went to Cyprus, and Paul chose Silas. The church commended them to the Lord, and Paul went to Syria, Cilicia, Galatia, and so on.
Today, brothers and sisters, we often ask this question: who was right?
These two servants of God had labored together and had been so much blessed. Now you find that they clashed to such an extent that they could not be reconciled. They had to go each his own way. Who was right? Who was wrong?
History tries to judge the right and wrong of this incident. Usually people say, “Of course, Barnabas was wrong.” Why? After this, Barnabas was no longer mentioned. What he did was no longer mentioned. The history from then on is Paul, and Barnabas fades away.
We do not know what happened after he took Mark to Cyprus. It seems as if the Holy Spirit said, “You have gone off,” while Paul continued, supported by the church. Therefore, some people say Paul must have been right and Barnabas must have been wrong.
But, dear brothers and sisters, I am afraid God does not judge so simply. It is true, it seems as if Barnabas, in this decision, was making a wrong turn. It seems to be that way.
If Barnabas had a fault, it was the fault of generosity. He was of such a big heart; he forgave too much. How can that be wrong? It was simply the sovereign way of God.
It is true that, through the continued help of Barnabas, even though Barnabas seemed to fade away, John Mark was perfected. He was perfected. Later Paul could say, “He is useful to me for the ministry.” Even God could use him to write the Gospel according to Mark.
So here you find, it seems as if Barnabas died that Mark might live. It is a ministry of love—of love. Who are we to judge? He might have been wrong, but it was the fault of his generosity, and God is able to overlook the fault and still use him to perfect this young man, John Mark.
Brothers and sisters, this is how the body of Christ is to be formed. Through the dying of one person comes the life of Christ in another person.
When this happens, you cannot judge anymore. I think that one day, when we come to the judgment seat of Christ, we will have a different idea about Barnabas.
I know not many people have a very high opinion of Barnabas, but I wonder whether one day we will change our opinion about him. He was a man of God, and he had a very special place in the building of the body of Christ.
He was a bridge who faded away, but the church was built.
So we need to ask God to raise up more—not only more Pauls, but also more Barnabases. We need them.
Our Heavenly Father, how we praise and thank Thee for the variety even of Thy servants whom Thou hast given to Thy church, that Thy church may be built according to Thy divine design.
We thank Thee for Paul, and we thank Thee for Barnabas. We pray that there may be many joints of supply and many bands of union, that the body may increase with the increase of God.
Oh, Lord, this is the vessel for which Thou art looking, and we want to have it, that Thou, the Head, may be able to continue to do and to teach. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.