There are many questions you are faced with every day.
We are all searching for answers that will make a real difference in our lives.
It's hard to imagine that these answers might be right in front of us.
Get ready to discover answers in the Bible with Bayless Conley.
Did you know some of the larger-than-life, you know, Bible heroes and heroines got in
knock-down drag-out fights?
They got into conflict and they worked through those conflicts.
And we're going to look at some of those.
You are going to be surprised at a few of these stories.
Look with me, if you would, in Acts, chapter 4.
This is at the inception of the church right after the Day of Pentecost.
The church is brand new.
And enter the scene: Barnabas.
Verse twenty… excuse me, verse 36 of Acts, chapter 4:
And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement),
a Levite of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold it, and brought the money
and laid it at the apostles' feet.
Now this guy, Joses, was such an encourager, had such a gift of encouragement on his life,
that the apostles nicknamed him Son of Encouragement.
His gift identified him.
He was so moving in it, it just was so much a part of everything he did, how he rubbed
off on other people, they said, "Look, we're not calling you Joses, anymore.
From now on your name is Barnabas, Son of Encouragement."
Now if people were to observe you and the effect you have on other people and what you
act out in your life, what are they going to nickname you?
Son of… fill in the blank.
A lot of people have a nickname for you already.
You just don't know it.
So we move, actually, five years into the future.
Barnabas is not mentioned again for another five years.
And during this time Saul of Tarsus, who has been persecuting the church, he gets saved
on the Damascus Road.
And eventually Saul tries to integrate with the believers in Jerusalem, but they are all
afraid of him.
And he meets Barnabas.
And this is where Barnabas and Saul are on the scene together; and it, again, is the
second mention of Barnabas in the Bible.
Look with me at Acts, chapter 9, if you would, verse 26.
Acts 9 and 26:
And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid
of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple.
But 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, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.
So he was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out.
And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Hellenists,
but they attempted to kill him.
When the brethren found out, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him out to Tarsus.
So like Paul's life is threatened; or, Saul, later became known as the Apostle Paul.
They sent him to Tarsus in order to save his life.
That was his hometown.
They said, "Look, Saul, you need to go home."
And so he ends up going home.
But we find Barnabas in the story just being Barnabas.
He says he went and he brought Saul in.
So Saul is trying to get in with them; they'll have nothing to do with him.
Barnabas goes, "Come on, now we can make this thing work.
I'm going to go talk to him.
Come on with me."
And so Saul comes in, he says, "Look, I believe in this guy.
He's for real.
He really did meet Jesus on the Road.
You know, Jesus taught us that a tree is known by its fruit.
He preached boldly in Damascus!
We need to accept this guy."
Barnabas is being an encourager.
You know, he's lifting people up.
He's believing in people.
That's what he does.
That is his gifting.
Now we move on from here another five years into the future.
Acts, chapter 10, approximately ten years after the Day of Pentecost.
And up to this point, the church is still exclusively Jewish.
Ten years after Christ has been raised from the dead and all these Jewish believers, they
do not know that salvation is for the rest of the world.
God has not been able to get it through to them yet.
And so Peter is supernaturally led to the house of a Roman centurion named Cornelius.
Peter goes into the house, which was forbidden among Jews to go into a Gentile house, but
he does it, anyway, because he knows God is working.
He preaches Christ, His miracles, His crucifixion, His resurrection.
While he's preaching, God interrupts him and baptizes the whole bunch of them in the
Holy Spirit, and they all begin to speak with other tongues.
And Peter says, "Look, if God's given them the Holy Spirit, we need to baptize them."
So they baptized them in water.
Now, "Oh happy day," you think.
But Peter gets back to Jerusalem, and he gets called on the carpet.
And they say, "What were you doing?!?
What are you thinking?
You went in to Gentiles!"
And Peter recounts the whole story.
He said, "Look, God gave them the Holy Spirit just like He did us at the beginning.
You know, who was I to resist God?"
And so their criticism turns into praise.
And they began to thank God.
All right, then the rest of the world can be saved, too.
The salvation, it's not just for the Jews.
It's for the whole Gentile world.
And then directly on the heels of that some other people, following Peter's que, begin
to preach to some other Gentiles, as well.
And we pick it up in Acts, chapter 11.
Look with me, if you would, in verse 20.
Acts 11:20,
But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch,
spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus.
Now Hellenists means Greek-speaking Jews; but in this case, it also encompasses Greek-speaking
Gentiles.
So they're preaching to the Gentiles.
Verse 21,
And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the
Lord.
Then news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent
out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch.
When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and encouraged them all that
with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord.
For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.
And a great many people were added to the Lord.
Now after all these years Barnabas is still being Barnabas.
He's encouraging people.
You know, in Romans 11:28 it says, "Whatever your gifting is… you know, if it's teaching,
if it's prophecy, if it is encouragement… you need to give yourself to that gift."
And that's just what Barnabas has been doing.
He's been developing this gift.
And now he is moving in this gift at an amazing level.
And the church actually grows here in Antioch under his leadership.
And this is a first ever!
This is the first-ever Gentile church.
So he exhorts them and encourages them to be faithful to the Lord.
A lot of people get saved while he's there.
And it says that he was a good man.
He was an encourager.
He had faith.
He was full of the Holy Spirit.
Barnabas was all that, but he realized these people needed more.
They needed something that he could not give them.
He was gifted in exhortation and encouragement, but he realized these new Gentile believers
must be grounded in the Word of God.
So he begins to think to himself, "Who can I bring?
Who would be best-suited for this job?
Who could best bring these Gentile fledgling believers into maturity in Christ?
And then it dawns on him, "Of course!
Saul!"
And so he leaves Antioch to go to Tarsus to find Saul.
And we pick it up in verse 25.
It says,
Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul.
And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch.
So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people.
And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.
You wonder where the phrase, "Christian", came from.
This is where it came from.
Now whether that was a derogatory name that the town of Antioch gave them or whether they
coined it themselves, it stuck.
These are Jesus people.
These are Christ's people.
These are Christians.
That name came from this first little Gentile church in the City of Antioch.
So we read in verse 26 they spent a full year together in Antioch teaching, this amazing
team that God has created.
And then together Barnabas and Saul go to Jerusalem to take an offering to help the
suffering believers there.
Just read it with me, if you would.
Verse 29 of chapter 11:
Then the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the
brethren dwelling in Judea.
This they also did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.
So we see the lives and the ministries of these two men being interwoven and intertwined
together.
They're teaching together, they're exhorting together, they're leading the church together,
they're traveling together, they're going as emissaries to Jerusalem together.
And during this time when they went up to Jerusalem is when Peter was thrown into prison
by King Herod.
And you know the story: An angel breaks him out of jail, the gates to the city opens of
its own accord, and then the angel disappears, and Peter sort of comes to himself and says,
"Man, God just set me free."
And he goes to the household of some friends, some people that he knew quite well, and it
turns out when Peter shows up at the house, there's a prayer meeting going on.
In fact, they are praying for him.
And I want you to see something because it feeds into our story.
Look in chapter 12 and verse 12:
So, when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose
surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying.
So enter the fourth person into our narrative.
We have Barnabas, we have Saul, we have Peter who has entered, and now we have John Mark,
the son of Mary.
Now look down with me at verse 25, if you would.
And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their ministry, and
they also took with them John whose surname was Mark.
So John Mark actually leaves Jerusalem and goes with Barnabas and Saul back to the Gentile
church in Antioch.
And when they return, they have a prayer meeting of their own.
They are praying and fasting, and in that meeting the Holy Spirit said, "Now separate
to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I've called them."
And I want you to read with me a few verses.
It's important.
Acts 13 and verse 2:
As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, "Now separate to Me
Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."
Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.
So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they
sailed to Cyprus.
And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews.
They also had John as their assistant.
So John Mark went with them on their first missionary journey.
He's their assistant; he's there to help them in the work; he's there to support
them.
And their first stop is the Island of Cyprus.
They preached through Cyprus, then they sail up to Perga.
The missionary journey has just begun, but something happened in Perga.
Verse 13 of chapter 13:
Now when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia; and
John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem.
John Mark went home.
I guess he got to missing his mama's lamb roast and pistachio cakes; got out with these
guys and thought, "Man, this is hard!
I didn't know it was going to be like this.
I miss my mom!
I miss my bed.
I'm not staying, guys.
I'm going home."
And John Mark left them.
Not even a quarter of this first missionary trip was over, and he bails on them.
So all of the support, all of the aid that he was to provide is now gone.
Made their jobs harder.
Won't you mark your place here and look with me in Galatians, chapter 2.
This is where Paul actually writes about what happened when Peter came down.
Galatians, the second chapter.
We're going to pick it up in verse 11.
Galatians 2:11,
Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed;
for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they
came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision.
And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried
away with their hypocrisy.
Paul goes on and says, "I rebuked Peter in front of everyone, said, "Hey, you are
living like a Gentile, yourself, and now you are going to try and make them live like Jews?
We know that salvation comes through faith in Christ alone, not through keeping the works
of the law."
But think about what's happened.
Here comes Peter; he's having a good time; he's eating with the Gentiles: "Hey, pass
me another pork chop.
I had no idea these things were so good!"
And then these guys come from the church at Jerusalem, and Peter drops his pork chop,
goes to the other side of the room; and because he is so much larger than life, all of the
Jewish believers in the church follow him.
And even Barnabas separates himself from the Gentile believers.
And Paul dresses Peter down in front of everybody.
You see, Peter feared those of the circumcision, the believers that still believed that you
had to keep the law that came from James.
The Greek says that he was over-awed by them.
You are in trouble when you get over-awed by anybody.
Sometimes we're carried away and we're false to our own convictions because we're
so over-awed by a personality.
Friend, famous people, just because they're famous, doesn't make them right.
And the majority is not always right.
You need to remember: the person you think is a big shot, they're just a little shot
away from home.
And so Peter is carried away in hypocrisy… everybody else… and even our beloved Barnabas
is carried away in the hypocrisy.
I mean, you know, of all people!
He's been a champion for the Gentiles being saved by grace through faith as well as Peter.
And so Paul rebukes Peter in front of everyone, and you know it had to be absolutely humiliating
for Peter to be rebuked and corrected in front of all these people.
And how does he react?
Did he swell up like some old toad and say, "Look, who do you think you are?
I lived with Jesus for three years.
I saw the miracles.
I heard the sermons.
You preach about the loaves and the fishes, I was the one that distributed them.
I was there on the Mount of Transfiguration when Moses and Elijah appeared.
Where were you?
I was there when Christ ascended into heaven and the angels told us that He would come
again in like manner.
Who do you think you are talking to me like that?"
No.
They worked through it, and Peter got over it.
Listen to what he writes later on.
In Second Peter, chapter 3, verse 15, Peter writes, "And consider that the longsuffering
of our Lord is salvation as also our beloved brother, Paul, according to the wisdom given
to him, has written to you."
He called Paul beloved; he called him wise.
He got over it.
Now crisis averted, hallelujah!
But how many of you know sometimes crisis' come in two's.
Yeah!
If you know anything about life, you know it is true.
Look back with me in the Book of Acts, chapter 15.
Right on the heels of this thing getting settled we come to verse 36 of Acts 15:
Then after some days Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us now go back and visit our brethren
in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing."
Now Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark.
But Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them
in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work.
Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another.
And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus;
This was no small argument.
The contention was so sharp that it divided them.
In fact, the word "contention" literally means an explosive argument.
Talk about clash of the Titans, here are these heroes of faith, they are having it out!
And Barnabas takes John Mark and sails away to Cyprus.
And as far as the Scriptural record goes, he's never heard from again.
We never hear another thing about Barnabas.
You see, he was just being Barnabas.
He's just encouraging, saying, "Look, man, John Mark, he's a good kid!
You know, I know he messed up the first time, but he's grown a little bit.
We need to take him."
Paul says, "We're not taking him!"
John Mark said, "No, I believe in him!
He needs to come with us!
John Mark's coming!
We're taking him!
You know, he's learned his lessons.
He's coming."
And Paul says, "No!
Do you remember last time I got stoned!
Do you remember we got beaten?
Do you remember we got chased from city to city?
Barnabas, there's eternal souls hanging in the balance.
This is too important.
The boy needs to grow some more."
Barnabas says, "No, no!
He's ready.
If he's not going, I'm not going."
"Barnabas, what are you doing?"
"Well, I'm just being Barnabas."
Listen, my friend, any gift, any strength taken to an extreme creates problems.
Any strength taken to an extreme becomes a weakness.
You get someone that is decisive and a good leader, taken to an extreme, and they become
a dictator.
You take someone that has a gift of mercy and compassion taken to an extreme, they get
taken advantage of and they actually can endanger themselves and others.
And Barnabas just took his strength too far.
And, you know, Paul was right.
There was some more maturing that needed to take place.
John Mark was not ready.
But Paul did not give up on him!
Paul writes later…
Second Timothy 4:11…
"Only Luke is with me.
Get Mark and bring him with you for he is useful to me for ministry."
The Message Bible says, "He will be my right-hand man."
Paul writes about him in the Book of Colossians and says, "He's a fellow worker, and he
has been a great comfort to me."
Peter writes about him in his epistle and calls John Mark his own son.
And oh yeah!
He did this little thing like write the Gospel of Mark.
That literally has shaped the world and brought untold millions to faith in Christ.
You talk about a giant in the faith, it's John Mark.
Now here's a little postscript.
What about Paul?
What's he going to do?
Barnabas was called to travel with him by the Holy Spirit!
What about God's one-two punch?
What's going to happen?
Well, you know, nothing takes God by surprise.
And when these two guys came back from Jerusalem, Barnabas and Saul, one of them named Silas,
it just seemed good to him to stay.
And so Paul chose him to be his next traveling companion.
We read it in verse 40 of chapter 15:
but Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of God.
And you know what?
They went on and changed the world together.
They established churches.
God worked miracles through them.
They saw cities come to Christ.
In fact, they went into that City of Philippi, named after Philip of Macedonia, the father
of Alexander the Great, that city that commanded the road between Europe and Asia where Lydia,
the very first European convert was won to Christ.
And you will find some secular historians that refer to Lydia's conversion as the
turning point of western civilization.
Yeah, that was Paul and Silas.
Now maybe someone that you expected to be your partner for life walked out on you.
It didn't take God by surprise.
Maybe you had a conflict with someone and they just wouldn't let go, and you were
parted asunder.
And to this very day reconciliation hasn't taken place.
It didn't take God by surprise.
And I want to tell you today that God already had a plan working for you before that event
happened, before that disappointment happened, before that abandonment happened.
God was working in the wings by His Spirit because He knows the end from the beginning,
and He has made provision for you.
Your Silas is already waiting in the wings, and God has been preparing what you need.
You can trust Him to do that.
Won't you bow your heads just for a minute, if you would.
I want to take a minute together and just reflect.
Perhaps there was something in the message that stood out to you, just maybe the fact
that God did what He did through people working together.
Maybe it was Peter's great character in receiving correction and that relationship
between he and Paul standing strong.
Maybe it was the fact that Barnabas took his strength a step too far.
Maybe it was the fact that we shouldn't write people off.
We need to be cautious and wise, but God does change people.
Or whatever.
If anything stood out to you, I just want to encourage you: lay ahold of it right now
and determine to not let that thing escape you.
Decide to ponder it.
Write it down.
Reflect on it.
Search it out.
Drill down and see what God has for you.
You know, I think one of the great things about the Scripture is that God always gives
the full picture when he talks about someone like Peter or Paul and Barnabas.
I mean, you know, He doesn't airbrush off the warts.
He just leaves the whole thing there.
God uses regular people.
People like you, people like me.
People with flaws.
People that are works in progress.
So don't give up on yourself.
My friend, God has plans for you.
Dust yourself off, get up and get going again in Jesus name.
We'll see you next week.
If we're not careful, unforgiveness and strife can cling to our hearts like dirt.
"It may be a terrible thing that happened to you; but for your own good, breathe out
forgiveness.
Get yourself under the place of God's blessing, forgiveness, and goodness."
"You can't breathe in God's goodness and His blessing and His forgiveness if you
don't breathe out forgiveness.
It's just the way we're made."
In his CD/DVD series "Healthy Relationships 101," Bayless Conley shows you how to let
go of the tension that keeps you from living a joyful, unburdened life.
Learn to resolve conflicts the right way; order this powerful series today.
Just use the information on the screen now.
Healthy Relationships 101.
Thank you for watching Answers with Bayless Conley.
For more information and inspiration visit answersBC.org.
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