“19 Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only. 20 And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord. 22 Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch. 23 Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. 24 For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord.” (Acts 11:19-24)
Here in Acts chapter 11, the Christians have begun to disperse after the stoning of Stephen. And as they go, they go preaching and teaching the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says in verse 21, “The hand of the Lord was with them.” And in fact, the Bible records for us that “a great number believed and turned to the Lord.”
So, word of their success comes back to the Mother Church in Jerusalem, so they decide to check it out. They send Barnabas, one of the early church leaders as far as Antioch to see what is going on, and then to come back and report his findings. So, when he had gone as far as Antioch, the Bible says, “He came, and had seen the Grace of God.” Right in the midst of heavy persecution on the church, right here in the middle of turmoil, the Bible says Barnabas saw “the grace of God.” The Bible says that when he had seen God’s grace – HE WAS GLAD – He was happy.
Have you ever sat around and really thought about Grace? I hope first off that you understand what God’s Grace means, and simply put, it is defined as “The unmerited favor of God.” It is the gift of His Son Jesus Christ who died for us. He who knew no sin became my sin. It’s God’s unmerited favor – you can’t be good enough to deserve it and you can’t work hard enough to earn it. Someone said the letters of GRACE stands for God’s Riches at Christ Expense.
I got to thinking about that and thinking about how great God’s Grace is. And you know what? We can’t even be saved apart from God’s Grace! “For by grace are ye saved through faith . . .”
Though I can’t speak for you, I am grateful for the day when I was a little boy, that I came to my senses, I went running slap into the arms of God’s Amazing Grace. And I’ll tell you folks, Grace will ALWAYS take you to Jesus! And I’m so grateful that “where sin abounds, GRACE does much more abound.”
Verse 23 goes on to say something else that I really want to focus on for just a moment. It goes on to say that after he had seen the grace of God and was glad, he “exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord.” He Exhorted Them, He comforted them, He encouraged them.
Barnabas’ name is translated as “son of consolation,” or “son of encouragement.” What and honor to be recorded in the Bible for all eternity as Mr. Encouragement! When Barnabas goes to God’s people and he sees what God is doing, when he sees the lives being saved, the Bible tells us that he “Exhorted them all.”
He was saying to them: Whatever you’re doing – keep doing it; don’t stop; don’t get discouraged; just keep on keeping on! I’ll tell you what’s a shame, is for people to get saved at an early age, live 50-60 years as a Christian and never encourage one single person in the faith. What a waste of a Christian life.
If this journey was all about the destination, why didn’t God just kill us when He saved us? He didn’t because He wanted us to bring others into the family of God. He wanted us to encourage one another along this life’s journey. I don’t know about you, but some days, I just don’t need anybody to tell me what I’m doing wrong – the Holy Spirit does a pretty good job of doing that for me! Some days I don’t need anybody telling me what I ought to be doing! Some days I just need a handshake, or a hug around the neck and have somebody say, “I love you brother and I’m praying for you.”
I’m just saying that some days, when we’ve been with God and seen his Grace, we ought to want to be helpful to others. Our problem is that we can’t get our eyes off ourselves, or off our problems or circumstances to see the needs of others.
- We get our eyes on stuff;
- On our problems;
- On our situations;
- On our circumstances.
We get so caught up in “our thing” that we can’t see the needs of others. I pray to God that when I die, when they bury me in the ground, I pray somebody standing there around that grave can say, somehow, someway, that I encouraged them along their life’s journey. I love this old song by General William Booth:
Others Lord, yes others, let this my motto be
Help me to live for others that I might live like Thee!
Heavenly Father, help me to get my eyes off of ME and keep my eyes on Jesus so that I can be a helper, and exhorter, and encourager to others, in Jesus Name – AMEN.
Fighting for My Pea Patch 