Chris Sales - Paul's Enemies and Friends - Class 1 - Friends in the Truth

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:00

   This is day one of the 2023 Palm Springs Bible School. Our second period teacher is Brother Chris Sales. His general subject is Paul's enemies and allies. Today's topic is friends and the truth. Brother Chris. Well, good morning, everyone. Good, good. Thanks for that.

2. 0:24

   Well, it's great to see everyone. And Martha and I certainly appreciate being here. And some of you we haven't seen since Idlewild, I think it was 2013. So it's great. And there's many new people that we hope to meet. So please come and say hello. It's certainly a pleasure for us to be here this week with you.

3. 0:48

   I'm glad Jeff didn't say I was the second class teacher, because that's what he told me I was. So as you mentioned, our theme this week is Paul's enemies and allies. What I want you to do is think about, I'm assuming we all know the story of Paul. That's one of the ones that we learn very, very well.

4. 1:11

   And what we want to do this week is see things. So we're going to change the angle a little bit and look at the people around Paul, both enemies and allies, and draw lessons from that. So it's not really a character study. And hopefully there's lessons and exhortations. But hopefully the familiarity with the story will allow for us to maybe see it just a little bit differently and just turn that angle just a little bit.

5. 1:38

   So, oops, just get in control of this. All right, so a bit of brainstorming just to get the creative juices flowing. So call out who are some of the Christian friends of Paul. Go ahead and Peter.

6. 1:55

   Barnabas. Timothy. Silas. Okay, good, good, good. Those are excellent. Those are excellent. So, I mean, there's some of them as I thought of. And my original plan was to, you know, do a lot of this in the first class.

7. 2:13

   Could have done a whole week just on his friends. But I wanted to stick with, you know, I think if we look at it from both perspectives, friends and enemies. So we're going to look at Barnabas. That's all we're going to get. So let's get our Bibles open and turn up to Acts chapter 4.

8. 2:31

   You know, a lot of it will be here on the screen. But it's good to have our Bibles open. And hopefully, you know, if you're someone who makes little notes in your Bible or does a little bit of coloring, hopefully there's some of that along the way as well. So we're introduced to Barnabas in Acts chapter 4.

9. 2:50

   And right near the end, the Ecclesiastes, of course, knew and they're sharing things. And there's a lot of, you know, interaction. And it's just a really good, good scene. It says in verse 32, you know, they had one heart and one soul. A really great start to the Ecclesia. And we'll pick it up in verse 34.

10. 3:16

    Neither was there any that lacked among them. For as many as the possessors of lands and houses sold them and brought them in the prices and the things that were sold lay them at the apostles' feet. And distribution was made to everyone who was in need. And we're then introduced in verse 36 to this man, Barnabas.

11. 3:33

    It was actually, I'm going to call it a nickname. So it says in verse 36, And Joseph, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, which is being interpreted the son of consolation, a Levite of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.

12. 3:53

    So it's a nickname. This is, you know, reading carefully, as Brother Kitson has said. That we need to do. Well, let's think about this. He really has two names. It's Joseph, which is just a contraction of Joseph. Okay, so he has the name Joseph. And he's surnamed Barnabas. Names are important in scripture.

13. 4:12

    We know that. So we need to think about what his name was. Well, Joseph, as we've got here, You know, if you have the story. Oops, sorry. Bob was supposed to tell Bob I was heading this way, potentially. You know, he's the adder, right? Why was Joseph the adder? Why was he named Joseph?

14. 4:36

    Does anyone remember? Rachel's firstborn son. She called him Joseph because she said, God's going to give me another son. He's going to add to that. Okay? And that's the way it worked out. The adder or the increaser. And this is going to follow the, these are like little progress report in Acts. And there's one in Acts chapter 5, verse 14.

15. 4:58

    Believers were added to the Lord. Okay? So, and Barnabas is going to play a significant role in this. And we're told that he's a son named Barnabas, which is really just the son of Abba, Abbas. It's not the father. It's like proclaiming and so on. So the name Barnabas doesn't necessarily give this exactly.

16. 5:19

    But we're told in Scripture, this is what the intention of it was. They called him Barnabas because he's the son of consolation. And we know this word, paraklesis. I'm not a Greek scholar, but this is the word that comes up a lot, right? Where do we see this kind of word? Where's this word coming up?

17. 5:38

    Okay? Exhortation, the comforter. Okay? This is this word. One who comes alongside. I'm a math teacher, so para, parallelogram, parallel. Okay? One who comes alongside to bring comfort. And this is going to be everywhere in the life of Barnabas as well. This is what he was known for. Okay? So we've got to think about that.

18. 6:01

    Like, what are we known for? What's our nickname, as it were? Right? We can think about that. If we were to be surnamed by everyone in this room, what would they hang on us? What would they call, what are we known for? What are we known as? I think that's pretty powerful here with Barnabas.

19. 6:21

    And that's what we learn from him. There's some other stuff here. He's a Levite. That's going to be significant. We'll see. From Cyprus, that's going to be hugely significant. You know, we're always, we're connected in some way, right? To, like, where we come from. There's something about that that's significant. And, of course, he brings it.

20. 6:42

    He has some land. He has some extra land. And that's what people are doing at that time. And he's very generous with it. He's not doing it for the glory and honor. We know that for sure. We know that Barnabas has got this sorted out. That he is, you know, the son of consolation and encouragement.

21. 6:59

    And we know that for sure. He didn't do it for false motives. Because chapter five starts with the word, but. All right? Acts chapter four. Read and write in Acts chapter five. But. Ananias and Sapphira. Completely different thing. They kind of did the same thing as Barnabas. But that ended in disaster. Because they were doing it, obviously, for the wrong reasons.

22. 7:22

    So that's their introduction to Barnabas. And that is going to kind of follow him through now. As we follow his connections, eventually, to the apostle Paul. Let's go over to Acts chapter nine. And when you think of Acts chapter nine, what comes to your mind? Why is Acts chapter nine so significant? Conversion of Saul.

23. 7:43

    Conversion of Saul. Conversion of Saul. Perhaps the most significant event in all of the New Testament, outside of the crucifixion. Death and resurrection of Jesus. Yes? Means Saul becoming Paul. The rest of the New Testament history is basically his life and his writings, for the most part. But if I said, who's the most important person in Acts chapter nine, it might be Barnabas.

24. 8:15

    Okay? And this is just, it just sort of, you know, jumps out at me. Some have suggested that they may have known each other. It's possible that they may have known each other. We're not, that's a bit of speculation. So here in Acts chapter nine, when Paul sees the blinding light and falls to the ground, and in verse five, you know, he cries out to the Lord, who art you, Lord?

25. 8:39

    And Jesus says, it's, I am Jesus whom thou persecuted. It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks. Probably some pricks of conscience. You know, was he, was he ruminating upon the, that, that dreaded words of Stephen that he had, you know, managed to, to have killed on this journey? Perhaps if he knew Barnabas, some have suggested they both were raised at the feet of Gamaliel.

26. 9:05

    It's all, this is all like speculation, but we know what Gamaliel's attitude was to persecution, right? You've cut off the head of the snake, leave it be, right? If it's of God, it's going to, you can't, you can't stop it. And if it's not of God, you've done, you've done the deed. You've got rid of Jesus, their leader, let it go.

27. 9:23

    And maybe Barnabas had encouraged Paul to do that or Saul. That's a bit of speculation, but we do know here when we come to verse 26, so we'll skip. So he's been converted. He's, he's been to Damascus. He was, he was there and he was preaching and so on, but he had to flee.

28. 9:43

    Okay. And we'll come back to some of that when we look at Paul's enemies, but here in verse 26, and when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he is say to join himself to the disciples, but they were afraid of him and believed that not that he was a disciple. Now, where would you have been in Jerusalem at this time as a believer?

29. 10:01

    And Saul comes back and says, I've been converted. I've seen the Lord. Let me into your midst. Who's welcoming him? Not me. Like what a perfect way to infiltrate the Ecclesia. Yes. All right. Get names. He's taking names, right? Keep, you know, finding all the connections. He's going to obliterate it, right? He left in an absolute rage to wipe out, stamp out, just get rid of the sect of the Nazarene.

30. 10:31

    That was his goal. Okay. Now he comes back and he's got this conversion story. Yeah. Right. Okay. I'm, I'm with the majority of the disciples here. Like, no, he's not coming anywhere near us. Wow.

31. 10:50

    But Barnabas took him. Like, wow. Like this is, this is incredible. That's why I think Barnabas is, you know, perhaps the most important person in this chapter. So verse, verse 27 there, 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 he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.

32. 11:16

    Barnabas took him. And, and he obviously knew quite, he, again, this is, I think where some of the suggestion is that he had, had already known him. Like how, how, how did, look at all he knows. He, he knows what happened on the way to Damascus. He knows that Jesus spoke to him.

33. 11:31

    Um, and, and he basically commends Saul to the ecclesia in Jerusalem. And then verse, verse 28, again, a biblical phrase here. Saul was coming in and going out. This means there was no more suspicion. He had like kind of free reign. He was coming and going. Right. They, they completely accepted, um, Saul.

34. 11:54

    Um, on the basis of the commendation from, from, from Barnabas. So, you know, he was a son of consolation, uh, or, or commendation. And, and based on this, it basically unlocked Paul's, Saul's full potential. I mean, think about it. He, he may have worked things out, but like he had to get, he had to get it figured out in Jerusalem.

35. 12:15

    That was kind of the center of things at that time. And it was based on, on what Barnabas did and brought him to the ecclesia, that this, his full potential was, was unlocked. And, and so really we ask ourselves, you know, what are we doing to either help or hinder the work of the truth?

36. 12:31

    And we're going to see both this week with those that encouraged Paul and helped Paul, like Barnabas did, and those who just made it their life's work to undermine everything Paul did. And, and that's both inside the ecclesia, let alone what's going on outside. But tomorrow we'll look at some of the, the enemies from within.

37. 12:51

    And so we ask ourselves, you know, where are we on that? You know, are we building up or are we tearing down? There's, there's really only two, two things that we can do in the truth. We can either encourage and build up, edify one another, or we can spend our time, um, tearing it down.

38. 13:08

    Um, so we can see here how, how happy Paul would have been, to have someone like Barnabas. Can you imagine? Like he's, he's comes back, he's on fire, right? He is like so pumped. He was heading into Damascus and he got completely turned around because of the interaction with the Lord. Right? And he's preaching boldly in Damascus, so much so that the Jews there are threatening to kill him.

39. 13:29

    The brethren and sisters there help him to escape. He gets back to Jerusalem and they don't want him. He could have just, I mean, I think me at that point, maybe I'm like, okay, I'm out of here. Like whatever, like, you know, they don't trust me. You don't believe me, whatever. But Barnabas took him and encouraged him.

40. 13:46

    No, you know, we've, we'll, we'll work this through and how, how, how amazing that would have been for, for the apostle. So how, you know, where are we on that? Are we hesitant? Are we reluctant to respond, you know, to other, other people's, you know, ideas or, you know, are we, or do we encourage them?

41. 14:04

    Um, now he ends up here as we've seen. Um, so they, they, he's going in and out. And he, he's speaking boldly the word of the Lord, right? Uh, he's disputing against Grecians. We'll, we'll come across them. So Grecians are Greek speaking Jews. Okay. Remember there's a problem in the early Ecclesiastes between Grecians and Hebrews.

42. 14:22

    Okay. So he's, he's not going to the Gentiles yet, but he's kind of getting his feet wet so much. So again, that they're trying to slam. He ends up in Tarsus. So hold that thought. We're going to pick them up there in Tarsus in a moment. And what's the very next verse say?

43. 14:37

    I don't know what, when you, when you read this verse, I mean, why was the Ecclesia now having rest? Saul's on their side now. It's like, that was a, that was a great one to get on your team, right? But it says not only that rest, and, and they're, they're doing all this, these, these good things.

44. 14:55

    They have comfort. Why are they got comfort? Because of the work of Barnabas. And obviously Paul, Saul is now on their side, but it's because of the work of Barnabas that they have comfort. And this is just punctuated throughout the scriptures. It follows Barnabas around. This is what he is known for. That's why he was surnamed Barnabas.

45. 15:19

    Now, this is always kind of fun. Like who was greater order of names, all that kind of thing. I don't want to spend a lot of time on this. We've got a lot to get through, but I think this is, this is important. Just, just kind of for fun. Can you think of a time when it was probably clear that Barnabas was the greater of the two?

46. 15:44

    Hmm? Okay. And what incident in particular? Okay. Okay. So, there's a time they'd healed the lame man in Lystra, Lystra. Okay. And the people like, the gods have come down from us, to us, from heaven. Right? And they surname Barnabas, the King James says Jupiter. Modern translation says Zeus. That was Barnabas. And Paul, Mercurius, or Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.

47. 16:19

    So, Paul was the chief speaker, but who was the chief guy? It's Barnabas. I'm not sure, I don't want to get into this too much, and I, you know, I'm not a, not only a Greek, I'm not a Greek speaker, I'm not a Greek mythological expert. So, I took this straight out of the Encyclopedia Britannica, but Zeus, Zeus is the chief deity of the Panthenon, identical with Jupiter, so that, that's fine.

48. 16:40

    So, so like, Zeus is the main guy, and Hermes is just a good talker, which we know Paul was good at. And some have suggested he was the messenger of Zeus. So, it's just kind of interesting. But order of names. It's in Acts chapter 13 that his name has changed. We're going to come to that incident in a little bit.

49. 17:01

    And I'm not going to go through this. Again, we can make these slides available. Like, it's, this is not a big, complex study. You can just search in your, whatever. So, it's Barnabas and either Saul or Paul, all those accounts there. And then it's Paul and Barnabas after. And Acts 13, when his name's changed, seems to be, when, when things changed, equally distributed.

50. 17:22

    So, it's kind of interesting. And I think that's important. You know, when you look at names, you think of, you know, I kind of got a, a bit of a vibe here of like Moses and Aaron. Kind of got a bit of a vibe there. They like, you know, Moses is obviously the, the, the main one.

51. 17:38

    Aaron was the one who did the talking at least. You would get that sense because Moses said he wasn't a good speaker. So there, there's some, some interesting dynamics going on there. So that's just a little bit of a study that, that you can, can pick up on your own. Okay. Acts chapter 11.

52. 18:01

    So Acts chapter 11, Acts chapter 10, of course, is the conversion of, of Cornelius. And that causes some concerns in, in the ecclesia. And, and Peter's got to defend what he did. If we pick it up there in verse 18, well, verse, if you just glance your eyes down, like 14, 15, 16, 17, basically the brethren are saying like, what are you, what are you doing, Peter?

53. 18:23

    Like talking to Gentiles and, you know, making them think they could be Christians and stuff. And he has to defend himself. And he recounts the story, the conversion of Cornelius, another really, really, really significant event. And we'll talk about that more tomorrow as well. Verse 18, when they heard these things, they held their peace and glorified God saying, then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.

54. 18:44

    This was a like, this was a, a light bulb moment for them. Wow. Gentiles are going to be included. And, and God in his wisdom had Peter involved in that. And then verse 19. Now, when they, which were scattered abroad about the persecution that had arose about Stephen. Okay. Why was Stephen being persecuted?

55. 19:07

    Who was the, who was the lead instigator of that? Dude named Saul. Okay. So he's implicated in this. And instead of stamping out Christianity, it was like trying to put out a fire, right? And it, the sparks just flew. Cause that's what Jesus said. If they persecute you in one city, flee to another city, right?

56. 19:26

    Don't give up, spread the word wherever you go. So that's what's going on here. So where are some of the places they went? They traveled as far as Fennes and Cyprus and Amnes. Antioch. Those are going to be really, really important places to remember. Preaching the word to none, but Jews only. So in the early days, persecution of Stephen, they're spreading the gospel message, but they're only going to Jews.

57. 19:47

    Okay. And, and, and Barnabas is implicated here too, because of the Cyprus connection. And Antioch is going to be hugely significant. And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which when they were come to Antioch, speak unto the Grecians, preaching the word of Jesus. Okay. So it's starting to spread a little bit.

58. 20:07

    We can now include Grecian, because there was some prejudice there between Hebrew speakers and Greek speakers and their culture and Hellenist versus, you know, Judaistic upbringing. There was some, some issues going on there. So this was a big deal. And it's going on in Antioch. And some of the people preaching were people originally from Jerusalem who went to Cyprus and now have gone to Antioch.

59. 20:27

    I'll have a map up here in a minute. Okay. Verse 22. I think that's where I pick it up on my slide here. Okay. Verse 22. Then tidings of these things, these things is talking, preaching to Grecians. That's the, these things. They came into the ears of the Ecclesia, which is in Jerusalem.

60. 20:51

    They're like, what's going up there in Antioch? Like, whoa, what's going on? We got to go find out. So who did they send? Barnabas. Who would you choose to go and like potentially solve a, an Ecclesial strife situation? Right. There's people saying, you should be talking to Grecians. You know, they're like, unless they're going to become like fully, you know, Hebrew speaking, whatever.

61. 21:11

    I don't know what the issue was. They sent Barnabas to Antioch. Okay. So this is, this is what he's known for. Like we got this issue. Who are we going to send? We send Barnabas. He's, he's the guy, right? He's got a good track record. And when he came, he had seen the grace of God.

62. 21:30

    It was like, this is incredible. Grecians are starting to accept the gospel message. This is Barnabas's view of things. He's always looking at how positive things are. And it's all for the work of the truth. He exhorted them. He's a son of consolation and exhortation. Okay. So Paul was a great speaker, but, but Barnabas was no slouch either.

63. 21:51

    He's got a reputation of, of encouraging and exhorting. And it's a cleave to the Lord. This is, this is his message. You know, don't be discouraged. Cleave to the Lord. For he was a good man. This is our Barnabas. He was a good man, full of the Holy spirit and of faith. Much people was full.

64. 22:08

    Of course, much people were added to the Lord because he's Joseph. Barnabas. All right. And, and the truth is spreading. He's adding to the, everything he does. Everything he does is, is adding to the truth and to the people. And then what does he do next? I don't know how long it's been since he's seen Saul.

65. 22:32

    He got Saul acclimatized and commended and accepted in Jerusalem. And he was so successful in Jerusalem that he was persecuted and he, he flees to Caesarea first of all, and then up to Tarsus. Well, why did Saul go back to Tarsus? Well, that was his hometown. Maybe he felt more comfortable there. And so here's Barnabas.

66. 22:51

    He's in Antioch. And he's like, he's thinking to himself, this is amazing. You know, the truth is starting to spread. Grecians are being included. And he thought, I need some help. We need some help here. We need, we need to take this further. We got to go next step, right? Not just Grecians, but Gentiles.

67. 23:08

    I know a guy who can help me out. And he goes and he seeks, he seeks for Saul. He goes all the way to Tarsus. This map is coming. Oops, there it was. So now, interestingly enough, I pulled this off some internet thing on the life of Paul, because everyone focuses on Paul.

68. 23:26

    Okay. It's all this stuff that Paul's doing. Like he's converted and he has, I'm not going to read through all this. This is, this is Paul's travels. And what jumped out at me is Barnabas, Barnabas, Barnabas. Okay. So after Paul was down here in Jerusalem, he goes to Caesarea and then he goes up to Tarsus.

69. 23:43

    And we're not sure what he was doing there. It was obviously important work. And he, you know, he's, he was doing what he could. There's trouble up here in Antioch. Grecians are being included and they send, and it's not on this map. All the arrows are going the other way because it's all about Paul.

70. 23:56

    But we're talking about Barnabas. He goes from Jerusalem to Antioch, sent by the brethren here to find out what's going on in Antioch and make sure it's all okay. While he's in Antioch, he takes the time to go from Antioch to Tarsus and finds Paul, seeks him out. Okay. We don't know how hard that would have been.

71. 24:15

    He makes this effort. He goes over and above, goes, and they both come back to Antioch. I just find that remarkable. And I think of, think of ourselves, you know, what, what, what do we do to encourage and to help? Do we go the extra mile? Talk about this extra few miles here.

72. 24:31

    Okay. He's got, he's been sent by the elders in Jerusalem. Go sort out Antioch, sorts that out. People are added to the Lord. And you know, what would he have said when he got to Tarsus? This is me. Great, great Bible study. I think is also putting yourself right in the record there.

73. 24:47

    So he's in Antioch. And this is, this is my imagined speech or appeal of Barnabas. Paul, I've got just the place for you to come to fulfill your calling. Remember what the Lord said to you. I'm going to send you to the Gentiles. I got the place. Okay. We have Grecian conference, converts in Antioch.

74. 25:09

    And by the way, they were converted by, remember you're persecuting Stephen. Well, some people fled from that and they went to Cyprus. Those people went to Antioch. So like, this is kind of, you kind of got this going on the other side of things. Well, now they're, they're, they're talking about, you know, Jesus and the gospel message, but we need to go the next step.

75. 25:27

    We need to teach Gentiles. It's perfect. You know, come with me to Antioch. Whatever you're doing in your heart, Tarsus, I'm sure it's great. Come with me to Antioch. This is, this will be where we'll get it going. This is Barnabas encouraging Saul. I mean, we need friends like that, don't we? You know, whatever we're doing in the truth, whatever, we all got our struggles, personal struggles, ecclesial struggles, family struggles, and we need each other.

76. 25:54

    That's one of the amazing things about Bible school, right? Because we find out, okay, beneath that veneer of me standing up here, we're having struggles, right? And we're having challenges. We need to encourage each other. And how much Paul would have cherished the efforts of Barnabas to include him in the work and get going on things.

77. 26:16

    You know, so do we look to encourage others to, you know, to not think, oh, I'm just going to go do my thing over here. Like, I had a submission to Antioch. I kind of, I kind of did my thing. No, we look to include others and, and, and help each other on their, you know, on their journey.

78. 26:34

    And we keep reading in, in Acts chapter 11 here, and verse 26. So he got to Tarsus. He found him, besought him, I'm sorry, brought him, besought him, I think, to, to come to Antioch. Came to pass a whole year. Barnabas was right. There was lots of work to do there. And he stumbled out with the ecclesia and taught much people and disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.

79. 26:59

    I'm not sure, and I run quickly out of time. It's, time goes too fast. When you're talking up here. Disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. I'm not sure what you've thought of that. I always, you know, was this derogatory? Was it, you know, we know they were called the way, the sect of the Nazarenes.

80. 27:19

    It says they were called disciples first in Antioch. So first of all, why Antioch? I think because they were starting to figure out the gospel message for Jew and Gentile. Hebrew speaking Jews, Greek speaking Jews, Gentiles. Paul was there for a year. You know what he's doing. Okay. And Antioch is going to become the center of really the first century controversy, Jew versus Gentile.

81. 27:43

    And this word called, every other place it's used, it's, it's a divine calling. like the angel called unto Joseph and told him, or it's, it's always in that context. I've got, I've got a couple here, but we can flip back just a page to, um, Acts 10, verse 22.

82. 28:08

    And this is, this is, uh, you know, what Peter's being called up to, to Caesarea to speak to Cornelius. Um, they said, Cornelius, the centurion, a just man and one that feareth God and of good report among the nation of the Jews was warned of God. He was called, God spoke to him.

83. 28:25

    That's the same word by an holy angel to send for thee. And therefore, you know, we want you to come to his house. Um, it's used of the angel that spoke to, to Joseph in, in Matthew. Um, it was revealed unto him by the Holy spirit, that Zacharias in Luke chapter two. Um, so whatever this meant, however we take it, I think this is God's divine stamp.

84. 28:49

    They were called Christians, followers of Christ, Christ's men in Antioch first. And that's the work of Barnabas. So then they have this, uh, here still in Antioch, a prophet comes along and prophesies of this, of this dearth, this famine that's coming. So everyone gets together in the Ecclesian Antioch and says, our brother and down in Judea are going to be in want.

85. 29:14

    So let's be proactive and let's take a collection, you know, whether money, food, clothing, whatever you needed, and let's send it to them down. And, you know, let's send it to them. So, you know, volunteer, or, you know, whatever, who's, who's going to take this relief? Well, this is the incredible thing about Barnabas.

86. 29:35

    He wasn't to, it wasn't below him or beneath him to take the relief, the, the, the, the money, the, the clothing, the, whatever they sent down there. This is Barnabas. He's doing everything. You know, he's, he's a great preacher and teacher, but he also looks after the physical needs. That's not, that's not something like, well, that's someone else's job.

87. 29:59

    Like pick someone who's got nothing better to do to, you know, and that's a bit long way down there from, from Antioch to Jerusalem. And I just think this is, this is a beautiful view we have of, of Barnabas. So over in chapter 12, of course, the word of God is, is growing and multiplying because, you know, Joseph Barnabas is, is being involved.

88. 30:24

    And we'll pick up the pace here just a little bit. They're there in Antioch and he's chosen. This is the beginning of the first missionary journey. Okay. Keep this in mind. We're going to come to this in a moment. They take John Mark with them. Separate from me, Barnabas and Saul. A little, you might have some cross references there.

89. 30:44

    Barnabas is a Levite and back in numbers, you know, Levites already separated. So there's some interesting things going on there. They fasted and prayed and then they send them on their way. First port of call, they go to Cyprus. This is, this is all, helps us to understand, you know, how Barnabas was looking for direction in his life.

90. 31:04

    They're going to start off on this, this journey. And they're going to go to kind of what, to his, his hometown as it were.

91. 31:14

    Okay. We'll, we'll pick that up in, in a, in a little bit. And just to kind of remember about John Mark, we'll come back to him as well. So, uh, Acts chapter 14, let's just flip our page. A Bible's open to their Acts chapter four. So 13 and 14 is the first missionary journey.

92. 31:31

    And we're not going to go into that detail. We're not, we're not, we're not studying Paul's journeys. We're trying to see, you know, where Barnabas fits into all of this. They come back at the end of chapter 14. And, um, just picking up in verse 26, uh, from fence, they sailed to Antioch.

93. 31:47

    So they've made the, the complete circuit, uh, and, uh, that's where they started from whence they'd been recommended. So we saw them separated and commissioned for this work. They do their journey. And when they had come, they had gathered the Ecclesia together. They rehearsed all that God had done with them. And I would open the door of faith to the Gentiles.

94. 32:07

    Uh, and there they abode long time with the disciples. Careful Bible reading again. Don't stop at chapter breaks. Keep reading. They've come back to Antioch. They've been away for a period of time, however long that first missionary journey took. They've come back and they've rehearsed it. They're excited. The, the doors are opening to the Gentiles.

95. 32:31

    And certain men, which came down from Judea, taught the brethren and said, except you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved. Now that's tomorrow's class. Enemies from within. They were undermining. So they're like Paul and, Paul and Barnabas are out of town for a little while. Let's go into Antioch.

96. 32:49

    We'll come up from Jerusalem. We're going to come into Antioch saying that we have, you know, we've been sent by those from James. Probably not true. And this is great. All this Gentile thing is great, but make sure you follow the law. Right. And they're undermining everything that, that Paul has, has, has done.

97. 33:07

    So we know Acts 15. We'll come back to it later in the week, more than once. Okay. So, um, there's strife now. Do they need to keep the law or not? And Paul and Barnabas. So Peter gives his testimony. Paul and Barnabas give, give theirs. Um, James kind of wraps things up, uh, and they have the necessary things.

98. 33:26

    So they, they make some, some resolutions. There's some good news to take back. And of course they send Paul and Barnabas to, to, to, to spread that, that message. So in the, at the end of, towards the end of the chapter, chapter 15, when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch. And when they had gathered the multitude together, I mean, they were, they came from Antioch to sort this out.

99. 33:45

    They went down to Jerusalem to get some help from the Jerusalem Ecclesia and the apostles. They come back to Antioch. They deliver the epistle. This is the words of James, the, you know, the necessary things, um, to, to, and we'll talk about that more tomorrow, which when they read, they rejoiced for the consolation.

100. 34:05

     This is Pericletus. This is the son of consolation. This is Barnabas. Everywhere he goes, he's bringing, he's bringing consolation. And then we get to the end of Acts chapter 15. And I don't know how you've read this in the past. Have you always kind of felt it was like anticlimactical? Kind of like, Oh, I don't want the story to end that way.

101. 34:29

     Paul and Barnabas separating them and this, this strife between them. That's not the way we, I saw the way I would have written the book, written the book. Okay. So let's just, let's just, as we kind of wrap this up, think, think about this, you know, these, this, this, this, this, all it's been about Paul and Barnabas is about encouragement and, and helper in the, in the faith.

102. 34:49

     And they, they kind of complimented each other. You know, if Paul, some have suggested maybe his bodily presence was a bit weak and contemptible. I pick, I see Barnabas as a fairly robust, you know, person. And, and Barnabas, you know, maybe he was, um, a bit more on the, like, he said, the glass was always half full for him.

103. 35:10

     You know, maybe Paul was a bit more strict, a bit more, but they, they just worked so well together. So what happened? Well, let's, let's find out. So they brought this, this message from the Jerusalem conference back. And, uh, Paul's like, this has been amazing, Barnabas. Let's do it again. Right. Let's, let's go.

104. 35:28

     We've got all these people we know in Asia minor. Um, let's, let's go again and visit our brethren in every city where we've preached the word of God and see how they do. We know something about that, right? Like that's part of a Bible school. You catch up with people like, well, how's it going?

105. 35:42

     What's happened? You know, that's what we want to do. So Barnabas is like, yeah. So, and John can come with us again, right? Paul's like, are you crazy? I don't, did you, have you forgotten already? What happened? Now we're not given much detail about that. Remember, we, we said, you remember from Acts 13, Paul thought not good to take with him, the one who would depart from them, from Pamphylia when they went and went not with them to the work.

106. 36:09

     So this is the first missionary journey. They left Antioch. First port of call was Cyprus. We'll come to that tomorrow because he met some enemies there. Actually, that'll be probably Thursday. Eliam is the sorcerer. And then they came into Pamphylia. Now, what do we know about Cyprus? Barnabas's hometown, maybe John Mark's as well, because they were, it was his nephew.

107. 36:34

     There was a connection there to John Mark. You know, did, did John Mark, yeah, oh, he's not so, I'm not sure if he's cut out for this and maybe got a bit homesick. I don't know. He gets to, they get to here and, and John Mark goes, goes back home. And Paul's like, you know what?

108. 36:49

     the work is just too important. We can't, we can't have that distraction of this, this kid who, you know, might not like pull it, pull it, pull it, pull his, pull his weight as it were. And, and so they, they separate.

109. 37:04

     The contention was so sharp between them that they departed asunder one from another. So what does Barnabas do? Exactly what you would expect him to do. He takes John Mark and he sails to Cyprus. He's going to kind of like, he's going to do a do over with John Mark. Right? Because this is where kind of went, went all wrong for me.

110. 37:26

     You know, by the time he got up into here into Pamphylia, John Mark left. And Paul chose Silas. He's one of the ones we could, we could have a whole class on Silas. That's how important Silas is. Well, he's here because of this, this, this event. Um, and of course they do this journey and eventually, why is this significant in the second journey?

111. 37:49

     What, what's, what's the significance here? All the, the work had been in kind of Asia minor and this area. What's, what's going on here into Europe? This is huge. The gospel message, it's crossing this divide as it were. This is huge. So, yeah, it was sad. I'm sure in tragic that they, they couldn't sort this out between them, but look what came from it.

112. 38:14

     John Mark got a second chance. Flip over in your Bible to, uh, second Timothy chapter four. Barnabas was right again. John Mark deserved a second chance. Now maybe did he, did he do it because of some sort of family connection or something? It doesn't really matter. His, it was the right thing to do.

113. 38:43

     And, and John Mark proved his worth. And Paul had to acknowledge that in second Timothy four. Um, you know, there's, there's some bad things that have happened. Verse 10, Demas has forsaken me loving, loving this present world. Other people are doing some other work elsewhere, but look verse 11 and he's writing to Timothy.

114. 39:03

     Timothy is in Ephesus and he says, only Luke is with me. Take Mark and bring him with thee for he is profitable to me for the ministry. This is John Mark. So now, um, you know, Paul's, Paul's in prison. Timothy's here in Athens. And he's saying like, bring, bring John Mark with you.

115. 39:23

     you know, he's profitable to me for the, for the ministry. And of course, some have suggested that while he's now on these missionary journeys and, and connecting with Barnabas and Paul and the other apostles, John Mark takes the time to, to kind of recount things, right? Of, of the life of Christ. He's got the gospel message a hundred percent figured out.

116. 39:47

     And of course he, you know, we benefit from that, don't we? Cause we have this thing called the gospel of Mark, which he wrote. So he was profitable. All right. And, and he's there. Maybe some have suggested in, in Mark chapter 14, remember the young man who flees away naked because they're all, all the disciples are fleeing and someone grabs his cloak.

117. 40:07

     Okay. He doesn't mention his name. Um, kind of like John, I guess in his epistle. So yeah, something good came from this and, and Paul and, and Barnabas couldn't figure it out. So they, they, they separated. But what good came out of Barnabas's work and what good came, came for, for others. Um, you know, the ecclesias and ecclesias in Cyprus would have benefited because, uh, Paul wasn't heading back there.

118. 40:30

     He, he went through Asia minor, visited these ecclesias and then off into Europe. Incredible work that needed to be done. But there was work for the ecclesia for, for Barnabas and John Mark in, in, in Cyprus. Silas got the opportunity to work with Paul. That was pretty impactful for Silas. Changed his life.

119. 40:50

     Um, then Timothy comes along after that. Um, um, the ecclesias in Asia minor were revisited. And of course, as we've mentioned, the gospel went into Europe.

120. 41:00

     So we are just about out of time and, uh, kind of feel like, uh, the writer to Hebrews 11, you know, time fails us to speak of, you know, Aquila and Priscilla teamwork, husband and wife working together. What, what, you know, we could spend a whole session easily on them. Timothy, you know, Paul's son in the faith, you know, they weren't, they weren't peers.

121. 41:20

     The importance of mentorship, right? It's not just all about just hanging out with people your own age. There, there needs to be these sort of cross generational things. And, and Timothy benefited, uh, and Paul benefited from, from that. Uh, Silas, we've mentioned fellow sufferer. You know, they're the ones that are singing praises and hymns while they're in chains in Philippi, uh, bound together by trials and experiences.

122. 41:42

     And of course there's many others, many, many others. Some Paul mentions my name. Sometimes we get just a one line or my fellow workers in the Lord. And we're like, tell us that story. Right. And we don't know. Um, just incredible. The friends that, that, uh, that Paul had in the truth that helped him each and every day, but we'll just wrap up.

123. 41:59

     What are our lessons then from, from Joseph Barnabas? Well, we can add to the family of God by words of encouragement. Just, just follow his example. Just, just do what Barnabas did and, uh, encourage, uh, each other and encourage others. Preach, preach the truth. You know, what's our, what's our nickname? What's our reputation?

124. 42:23

     What are we, what are we known as? Um, you know, Barnabas had an incredible surname by the apostle. They looked at this guy and they said, a son of consolation. All he does is build people up. You know, that's, that's, he always looks for the, the good in people. And in life circumstances.

125. 42:43

     And he practiced what he preached. You know, he, he's, he's there and he's, he's helped the collision Antioch. And it's like, Oh, I'm going to go get Paul. And like the second time I helped him get into Jerusalem. Now I'm going to get him from Tarsus and bring him to Antioch. You know, he, and then, Oh, we need, we need someone to take relief to the poor brothers and sisters in Jerusalem.

126. 43:01

     I'll go. Says Barnabas. Right? Nothing. There was no, there was no job that was too big or too small. He would take on any challenge, like trying to convince people that the worst persecutor of the ecclesia in the history of the world is now okay. Like, I'm not doing that. There's no, so that was not too big for him.

127. 43:19

     And they're like, Oh, we want to take some money down to the people that are, you know, suffering. I'll, I'll go. I'll go. This is, this is, this is, um, Barnabas. He practices what's he, what he preaches. And he always tries to, to look at the best of, of life circumstances. Um, you know, he must not have, he must not have wanted to leave Paul, but he just felt there was something about John Mark, you know, that he could work with him and, and do any, any, any, and he did that.

128. 43:43

     He kind of stepped out of the limelight. Right. Do you want to go and be the, you know, superstar tandem with Paul? No, I, there's this other project. There's this young guy who needs help. and he just, we don't hear from him again. You know, we just sort of the, the carry on the, his work, uh, carries on throughout Acts of the Apostles, but, but his story ended there and he was quite happy with that.

129. 44:05

     You know, and I think, I think there's so much we can learn from, from Joseph Barnabas.