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Who are those guys? Well, that's great. Brother Farrell
is going to come and encourage your hearts tonight. I know he
will. Dr. Tom Farrell is a greatly
used evangelist across this country, and as I said this morning, really
around the world. Preaches in foreign countries
frequently, speaks 25 different languages, and everywhere he
goes he's just always in that language. Where'd he go to? There
he is. I thought, man, I got talking like that, he left. But I thank God for him and thank
God for the presentation of the gospel this morning. Presenting
the need and the answer to the need, I thank God for that. I
am going to have to ask you to excuse me tonight. I simply have too much energy
and I've just rested too much. And so what I'm going to do is
Aaron and I are going to drive through the night tonight to
go to North Carolina for a pastor's funeral tomorrow, Pastor Mark
Walters. And so we'll ride up a road and
listen to you as you preach here, Tom. And I want you to understand
that I'm not just slipping out. I want you to know what I'm doing
and where I'm going and what we're doing. We're going to go
as far as we can tonight. and then crash for a little while
and get up and go the rest of the way in the morning. And then
we'll be back tomorrow afternoon, tomorrow evening, well tomorrow
night, I guess about midnight we'll get back tomorrow night.
And so, you know, we're trying to, we're trying to get a good
honest tired in, is what we're trying to do. But I thank God
for Brother Farrell and his dear wife Regina being here with us,
what a delight to have them, that they would take time to
come here and be with us for just this one day. And we're
honored to have them. Somebody said, whenever you introduced
and talked about Tom Farrell, why didn't you say he was Tom
Farrell from the wilds? I didn't know the Wiles had to
be attached to your name, but this is Tom Farrell from the
Wiles. And many of you know of that
ministry, know it's his ministry there. And I thank God for him
and thank God for what he does and for what he has been used
to the Lord to do here today. Dr. Farrell, come preach to us
tonight. God bless you, my friend. Thank you so much, Pastor Axe.
Chapter 11 tonight, if you'll turn there. It has been a delight
for my wife and I to be with you in this brief time that we've
been at Volusia County Baptist Church. We're excited about the
past, present, and wonderful future that you have from four
families to hundreds in the congregation. and from a small storefront building
all the way to the multiple acres and beautiful places that God
has given you here, we rejoice in that. If you're glad that
God brought Pastor John Reynolds and his wife to come and be the
pastor of this church, would you say amen? It's been our joy
to know him through the years in multiple ministries, and we
count it a great privilege to have been here today. I trust
that you'll pray for Brother Byron Fox and also for his wife. It's Renee, am I correct? Renee
has heart problems, and she's unable to travel with him very
much. And when I travel by myself, I've got to tell you, I don't
like it. And so I trust that you'll pray for Mrs. Fox, and
I trust that you'll pray for Brother Byron. I told him when
he did the God Bless America crusade in Charlotte, North Carolina,
I know that God alone is omnipresent, but I think he's ubiquitous.
I've never seen anybody that can move so many places and get
so much done, and I'm glad that he's come and being a part of
this ministry. It's good to see Brother and
Mrs. Mark Sears again. It's been some time since I'd
seen them. Hope came up last night and brought
me a bottle of water, and she said, Now, I want to remind you
that in 1985, I was a teenager. and came to the wilds and heard
you preach. And I thought to myself, yeah,
she was 15 and I was 16, right? Amen. And so it's good to see
them again. And I'm glad for all the ways
that God is using you, dear folks, here. As God brings our name
to your mind, you pray for us. where I preach about 450, 500
times a year somewhere in this old world. I realize you're tired
tonight, and I hope I can be an encouragement to you. Thought
about preaching a Christmas message. I believe I'll leave that to
your pastor next Sunday. I want to bring you a message
of encouragement tonight. Would you stand, please, with
your Bibles open to Acts chapter number 11, Acts chapter number
11 and verse number 19. Now, they which were scattered
abroad upon the persecution arose about Stephen, traveled as far
as Phoenician, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but
unto the Jews only. And some of them were men of
Cyprus and Cyrene, which when they had come to Antioch, spake
unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the Lord
was with them, and a great number believed and turned unto the
Lord." Would you look this way, please? Aren't you glad that
not just in the first century, but here again in the 21st century,
a great number in the last five days have come to the Lord. Can
I get an amen? God is still alive and the gospel
still works. Then tidings of these things
came into the ears of the church, which was in Jerusalem. And they
sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch.
who, when he came and had seen the grace of God, was glad and
exhorted them all with purpose of heart that they would cleave
unto the Lord. For he was a good man and full
of the Holy Ghost and faith, and much people was added unto
the Lord." I want to bring you an interesting message tonight
entitled, Let's Be a Barney. Now, for some of you my age,
I'm not talking about the fellow with Andy Griffith and one bullet.
For some of you younger ones, I'm not talking about that purple
dinosaur. I'm talking tonight about a Bible
character I believe when I get to heaven I will not have to
have introduced to me. I've studied a lot about him.
His name's Barnabas, and my prayer is that his kind will be reproduced
in independent Baptist churches across the land. Thank you very
much. You may be seated. Heavenly Father, thank you for
all that you've done, all that you are. People have been saved.
In this fine ministry now, please help me to be help to our friends
and an encouragement in the next few moments, and you'll get the
praise, honor, and glory. In Jesus' name, amen. In the
book of Acts, there's an inspiring story about an intriguing character
who built his reputation on the ministry of encouragement. When
he was born, his parents named him Joseph, but when he was born
again, his peers nicknamed him Barnabas, son of consolation
or Mr. Encouragement. He had a dynamic
ability of lifting others and helping them take spiritual steps.
Dr. Luke in the book of Acts gives
us many snapshots of this fine character, but probably no more
concise, clear shot of his character itself than Acts 11, verse 24.
Notice the text, for he was a good man. You know, I've heard people say,
that man's a good man, but he's not saved yet. Did you know that's
not technically true? There's none good but one, that's
God. But when you become God's man,
you become a good man, and that's been taking place on these facilities
over the last few days. Have you been born again? My
good friend, if you'll understand, you're a sinner separated from
God. Jesus, not a Savior, but the only Savior. If you'll say
no to your sin and yes to God's Son, receive that free gift,
you can have happen to you what happened to Barnabas. It's believed
by many that he was saved during the day of Pentecost, a man from
the island of Cyprus. He was an honorable man. But
the Bible goes on and says, follow the Holy Ghost. He was not only
an honorable man, but he was a holy man. The Holy Spirit came
to make us holy people. Ephesians 5, 18 says, ìBe not
drunk with wine or success, but be filled with the Spirit.î Not
only am I asking you tonight, have you been saved by the grace
of God, but are you under the control of the Spirit of the
living God? The Bible goes on and says he
was full of faith and He was full of the Holy Ghost and faith,
so he was faithful. He was not only an honorable
man, not only a holy man, but he was a hopeful man, not one
of these. But one of these, he had total
confidence in God. Mark 11, 24 says, have faith
in God. God honors faith because faith
honors God. And then he was a helpful man.
The Bible says, much people was added to the Lord. He comes to
Antioch where God is moving among the pagans and they're getting
saved. He stays for a solid year and helps them in soul winning
and discipleship. Let me encourage you with all
those that have come to Christ this week, do everything you
possibly can to help them get unto the sound of the Word of
God, to help them be baptized, help them to be discipled and
walk with Almighty God. Many of you had friends and loved
ones this week say, do everything you can to get them in church
next Sunday morning, the Sunday before Christmas, to hear your
good pastor preach the Word of God. Here's a man who's an honorable
man, a holy man, a hopeful man, and a helpful man, and that's
his character. Now, let's see his conduct. What
is it that made him an encouragement? Come back in your Bibles, please,
to the book of Acts, and go with me to chapter number 4. The book
of Acts, chapter number 4. Someone said, more people fail
for lack of encouragement than any other reason. How many of
you men tonight have a set of jumper cables in your car? Would you raise your hand? All
right, there's two reasons for that. Number one is the kind
of car you drive. Number two is because you know
if you have some friend or loved one or somebody gets stuck in
Walmart, you can pop your hood with a good die-hard battery,
hook up those jumper cables, and put it into the two terminals
of the car that's in bad shape. May I tell you, across this country,
there's a lot of discouraged independent Baptists. And if
there's anything I think you could do tonight, it's be an
encouragement and set that jumper cables from a heart that's alive
for God to those that are just about to pass away spiritually.
Now, notice in Acts chapter 4, please, and verse 36. The Bible
says, "...and Joseph, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas,
which being interpreted the son of Constellation Levi, of the
country of Cyprus, having land, sold it, and brought the money,
and laid it at the apostles' feet." Interesting. The first
picture of Barnabas is giving financially. Ladies and gentlemen,
you and I can be a blessing, a help, an encouragement by way
of contribution. How many of you in this building
have ever had anybody give you something financially that encouraged
you? Would you raise your hand? This
is the time of year you could do that for folks all over this
county. Now, and this is the part of
the early church, and there's people that don't have much.
Evidently, Barnabas was pretty wealthy from a high-dollar island.
He took a piece of property, and rather than putting his proceeds
in the First National Bank of Cyprus, he put them in the First
Baptist Church of Jerusalem to get eternal benefits. You may
have a hard time knowing what's going on in the stock market,
but I can tell you where you'll put your money, and it'll never
go down. It'll always go up, and that's
in the local church, in the ministry that God has given here. The
Bible says in Luke 6, 38, Give, and it shall be given unto you.
Good measure pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall
men give to your bosoms. Are you a person who encourages
others by way of contribution? Brother Fox and I are in evangelism.
We live totally by faith. A number of years ago when we
were turning our ministry 501c3 nonprofit, I had just preached
at a major conference. The wall had come down in Russia. I got burdened to go to Russia.
Brother Fox, you'll identify with this. I told God I was willing
to go, made plans, and it dawned on me on the way to the car,
I did not have enough money to go to Raleigh, North Carolina,
much less Russia. And I said, well, if God guides,
He'll provide. I went to where I thought my
lawyer's office was, but he had moved. And when I walked in,
I said, the attorney so-and-so's not here. No, this is a real
estate office. I said, okay, would you tell
me, please, where attorney so-and-so is? He said, oh, he's a few doors
down. I heard my name from inside the real estate office. Out comes
walking a man I had not seen in years. He said, well, Pharaoh,
what in the world are you doing here? I said, I'm going to go
turn to our ministry nonprofit. I'm looking for attorney so-and-so.
He said, have you got a few minutes? I said, sure. He said, let's
have a cup of coffee. He said, what are you doing with your
ministry? What's God leading you to do? And I told him. And
then he said something like this, he said, God is speaking in my
heart, I'll be right back. Don't you love when that takes
place? And so he went back in the inner office, came back and
gave me a handshake and there was something in the hand. It
was a check. Now let me tell you, if you're
in full-time Christian service, you do not open the check in
front of people, no sir. You find the first bathroom you
can find and open that check. That's what you did. And I found
the little boy's room, and it was a check for $200, and I gave
a wave offering and shouted, glory, hallelujah. God whispered
to my soul, that's a down payment, and I'm going to take care of
every need. I never raised a single dollar. I never sent out a letter.
I never sent out anything on the radio. I simply talked to
God, and in the next couple of months, God sent me $10,000.
You say, Preacher, what did you do with it? Well, don't be a
cesspool and let it stock up. Be a channel and let it go out.
I was able to take that $10,000, go to Russia, and help them build
some local churches for the glory of God. It's high time we learn
that if we're going to be an encouragement, then we can be
an encouragement by way of contribution. When I was in Bible college,
I had a professor, and he walked in one day, and he said, flying
five. Said a second time, flying five.
I thought the man has lost his mind. He said, let me explain
what I'm saying. He said, there's students on
this campus, and they need some encouragement. Give them a $5
bill. Put a $5 bill in an envelope,
slide it under their dormitory door. Put it in their post office
box. Put it in the back of their Bible.
See if they're ever having their devotions. Flying five. Flying
five. We started doing that, and $5
bills were going all across the campus. You say, preacher, that's
a great idea. Well, with inflation, tonight
we need twirling 20s. Say amen. You could be a help
and a blessing to somebody tonight before you ever leave this building.
You could be a Barney. Take your Bible, please. Go to
the book of Acts chapter number 9. Acts chapter number 9, not
only by way of contribution, but notice we'll see him again
in verse number 26 of Acts 9. The Bible says, Barnabas took
him. That's Paul, and brought him to the apostles and declared,
verse 27. Let me go back to verse 26. When
Paul was come to Jerusalem, he has said to join himself to the
disciples, but they were all afraid of him. And believe it
or not, he was a disciple. In that day, the very word Saul
put fear in the life of the first church. He was a terrorist of
that day, hated the things of the Christian church. Verse 27,
but Barnabas took him, brought him to the apostles, declared
unto him how he'd seen the Lord in the way, how he'd spoken to
him, and how he'd preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. One, by contribution. Two, by
commendation. Paul or Saul was the most resisted
man, but Barnabas was the most respected man. Nobody wanted
to be anywhere around Saul. They were not convinced he was
converted, but Barnabas was. From a human standpoint, Barney
became the campaign manager for one of the greatest apostles
to ever wear shoe leather, and God used him. May I ask you a
question? Do you let words encourage others
as they come out of your mouth? Let me ask again, how many of
you in this building have ever had anybody say something to
you that encouraged you? Would you raise your hand? Words
are important. Job 16.5, I'll strengthen you
with the words of my mouth. Ephesians 4.29, let no corrupt
communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is
good for the use of edifying. Sir, do you pull your wife up
or put her down with your words? Do you help your children take
spiritual steps or do you defeat them by the way you speak to
them? His name was David. He thought
he was called to preach. The first time he had a chance
to preach, it was terrible. He knew it was bad. The pastor
knew it was bad. The congregation knew it was bad. David actually
quit preaching and sat down totally defeated. The pastor, not knowing
what to do, just dismissed the service. People began to leave. He sat on the front thinking
to himself, maybe God has not called me to preach. Suddenly,
David, a young man, felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and
looked up. There was a veteran missionary named Robert Muffet.
He looked down at young David and said, son, you have the potential
of being a great missionary for Jesus Christ. David Livingston
stood up on his feet and determined he was called to preach, opened
the interior of Africa for the glory of God. May I say to you,
words can help a man take another step that might allow him to
win thousands to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Your words can
be a blessing. Your words can be a curse. Take
your Bible, go back to Acts chapter 11. We're seeing tonight how
everybody in this building can be a barney. Now, until this
point, basically the Jews had been being reached for Christ.
But now the pagans, the heathen, the ungodly are coming to the
Lord Jesus Christ. They're going to send Barnabas
from Jerusalem, because he's so highly respected, to check
and see that this is the real deal. Today, Brother Fox, we
would call them the FBI, Fundamental Baptist Investigators. They're
always checking up to make sure everybody's doing it the same
way. Nonetheless, here comes Barney. Now, the Bible says,
please, in verse number 22, then tidings of these things came
to the ears of the church, chapter 11, verse 22, which was in Jerusalem,
and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch,
who? When he came and had seen the grace of God, was glad. Would you look this way? You
know, grace is invisible. It's God riches at Christ's expense. It's infused love and mercy and
power of God that transforms a man's life. You can't see it,
but I'll tell you this. If it's real grace, you can see
the results of it. And when a man says, I've been
born again by the Spirit of God, and he lives just like he did
before he made a profession of faith, somebody ought to wonder
if he's ever gotten in the family. When you get in, God will change
your life. God Almighty does the changing. You don't change to get saved.
You get saved, and God changes you. Now, when Barnabas came,
and saw how the heathen and the pagans had been not only in testimony,
but in transformation, brand new people, the Bible said he
was glad. It's an interesting term. He
was cheerful, happy, and rejoicing. One, you can be a Barney by way
of contribution. Two, by way of commendation.
And three, by way of celebration. When Barnabas saw this, he said,
God has visited the Gentiles, and I'll rejoice. May I ask you
tonight, when God blesses your brother or sister, friend or
loved one, when you come to the parking lot and see a new car
and you almost have to roll yours to get it started, are you joyous
or jealous? If God gives a man in this church
a pay raise or a new job, if God blesses them in some spiritual
or financial way, what is your response? When you see someone
who's talented and can sing or play the piano, what is your
response? Are you joyous or jealous? Romans
12, 15, the Bible says to us, Rejoice with them that rejoice,
and weep with them that weep. I've come to this conclusion.
One of the reasons a lot of people do not rejoice with other believers
is because they've never wept with another believer. If you
go through a tough time with a friend, and that friend gets
an award, an accolade, or is promoted in some way, you'll
be just as excited as if it happened to you. A number of years ago,
an evangelist and I were in India. And while we were there, the
first three days, I noticed he was not himself. Now the first
couple of days, you're in a coma from all the flying that you
have to do anyway. But about the third day, I said, my brother,
something's wrong. He looked and said, my wife,
and her name was Terry, when I left had a growth. And I wonder
if it's cancer. I said, that's serious. We got
out and prayed. There was a revolution that broke
out. We actually were never in any jeopardy whatsoever. But
the missionaries and American Airlines felt it was best for
us to go back to America. This is the day before cell phones,
or at least before I had one. I went to Kansas City. He went
to Denver. I'd been at Walmart, came back.
My wife said, Steve called. I said, what does he want? She
says, I don't know, but it sounds serious. I called him back. I
said, Steve, this is Tom. What's going on? And I heard
him say what some of you have heard. Terry, his wife, Terry
has, and the word was cancer. He began to weep. I began to
weep with him. I wouldn't give you a plug nickel
for a man that can't cry and hurt with somebody else. I said,
Steve, we're going to stay with you. We're going to pray with
you. We're going to rejoice when everything that God does. Glad
to tell you that God brought her through that cancer and has
given her a measure of health and restoration in that area.
During that time, Steve called me and he said, you're not going
to believe this, but there are three Bible colleges that have
called me in the last few weeks. In the coming May, they all want
to give me an honorary doctorate. Let me explain. In the Christian
circle, if an institution of higher learning would like to
give a preacher an honorary doctorate, it is a high honor. And I said,
Brother Steve, that is tremendous. God bless you. He said, You didn't
hear what I said. I didn't say one institution.
I said three want to do that. I said, Wonderful. The next time
I see you, I'll call you Dr., Dr., Dr. Steve. Amen. And I said,
if you get a hundred of them, I'll just say, Steve, amen. Now
look, when you cry on the phone because a man's wife is at death's
door, you do not get jealous when God honors that person.
May I say to you tonight, if you want to be a Barney in church
and in your family, stop looking with a jaundiced eye and look
for opportunities to rejoice with them that rejoice. But I
want us to see in the fourth place something that I think
is very unique. Go down to verse number 25. Then departed Barnabas
to Tarsus to seek Saul. And when he found him, he brought
him to Antioch. And it came to pass that a whole
year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much
people, and the disciples were called Christians first. in Antioch. One, by contribution. Two, commendation. Three, celebration. And four,
cooperation. Now, blessed is the man who knows
what he doesn't know. Here's Barnabas. He's looking
at all the converts. He sees all the work in front
of him. And some of the pastoral staff is saying, you know, we're
not finished. With Journey Through Christmas,
we've actually just gotten started. And there's so many things, Brother
Sears, I'm sure that are going through your mind and the rest
of the staff for the follow-up. Barnabas said, I need help. So
he makes a journey to Tarsus. You can see him as he knocks
on the door, and the door is open. There stands Paul. Now, Paul's
not booked up in meetings, my friend. No, sir, people are not
sure they want him or not. And so he sees him, and he says,
Barney, what are you doing here? He said, have you heard what's
going on in Antioch? No, sir, what's taking place? I'm telling
you the Gentiles are coming to Christ by the barn loads, and
I need your help. Go get an extra toga and another
set of sandals, and let's go, my friend. We've got work to
do. Now, the Bible doesn't say this, but I hear the conversation
somehow in my mind. I hear Paul say to Barnabas,
well, would you like me to be in the council room? That'd be
good. Well, would it be okay if I sing a solo? Fine. How about
a testimony? Fine. I have been working on
a sermon. That'd be good. But what Paul did not know, that
you'll find Acts verifies, is that Barnabas was going to work
himself out of a job and go back in the background and push Paul
up to the front. He was going to be a man of cooperation
because he was a man of condescension. We'd call that being a servant.
Luke 22, 27, Jesus said, I'm among you as he that serves. Mark 10, 43, whoever will be
the greatest among you, let him be your servant. What's a servant? A servant sacrifices himself. for the success of someone else. Let me say it again. A servant
sacrifices himself for the success of someone else. Is your wife
succeeding, sir, because you sacrificed and invested in her?
Are your children walking closer to God because you sacrificed
and invested in them? That person that you led to Christ,
are they walking closer to God because you've given time, energy,
and effort to pour yourself into them? Philippians 2, 3, "...let
nothing be done through strife or vainglory. But in lowliness
of mind, let each esteem other better than himself." Now let
me tell you how this church can march on and continue to impact
this community for Jesus Christ. God help you, dear people, to
get rid of any type of competition in this ministry and get a ministry
that is totally in cooperation. Let me pause and commend you
for what my wife and I saw. We stepped on this property last
night, and it was a hive of honeybees. Man, there were people out there
who were parking our car. There were folks who were welcoming
us as we walked in. I saw all kinds of cookies and
hot chocolate. I saw people in their garb. There
were folks who were running lights. And what made this fantastic
presentation impact some 1,200 plus people was cooperation. The greatest team on planet earth
is not in the NBA or the NFL. It's called Team Church. Can
I get an amen? You say, Who owns Team Church?
His name is Jesus Christ. He paid for it with his red royal
blood. Now let me say this local team, Volusia County Baptist
Team Church, can really even go farther than what you've ever
dreamed if there's tremendous cooperation. Never compete with
somebody for a position. Don't worry about a position.
Just worry about the privilege of investing your life. Don't
try to be somebody. Seek to serve somebody. Give
everything you have. How many of you are Sunday school
teachers? Would you raise your hand, please? God bless you.
Now, listen. If you did not raise your hand,
but you go to one of those Sunday school classes, do you realize
how many things you can do to make that class go? Number one
on Saturday night, you can be the person who calls every member
of the class and reminds them what time Sunday school is. Number
two, you can be at the door recruiting and welcoming everybody in the
class. Number three, You could be the person who brings some
good coffee. Now, my wife happens to like
Starbucks. I'm a Dunkin' Donuts fan, I must confess. And if you'll
go get some Dunkin' Donuts, your Sunday school attendance will
increase, I assure you. I happen to like donuts. How
many of you like Krispy Kreme donuts? Could I see your hands?
I call that glazed manna. They will have them in heaven.
The definition of a balanced diet is a Krispy Kreme in both
hands. Now, good friend, if you'll start encouraging people, loving
on people, and doing everything you can, don't worry that you
may not be able to sing as good as somebody else. Don't be concerned
that you can't play the same way somebody else can play. Everybody
in this ministry, my friend, is important. Look to serve somebody
to promote them. Do you realize there's a lot
of people who can stand on stage, but there's only a few people
willing to pull the curtain? And it's time we get a bunch
of Baptist curtain pullers not worried about what all is going
to happen to them. but getting concerned about God
getting the glory. My wife and I were out at the
Lancaster Leadership Conference, and my friend Tim Rasmussen took
me to the Ronald Reagan Library. If you ever have a chance, I
hope you'll go. On one of the places where you will go, there
is a sign that reads, lots can be accomplished if you don't
care who gets the credit. Someone has changed that and
said a lot can be accomplished in the church if you don't care
who gets the credit as long as God gets the glory. Can I get
an amen? It's important that we be a body. Now take your Bible
finally and go to Acts chapter number 15. Acts chapter number
15, and I want to pick up my reading please down in verse
number 36. Acts 15, 36, and some days after Paul said unto Barnabas,
let's go again and visit our brethren in every city where
we have preached the word of the Lord and see how they do.
And Barnabas determined to take with him John, whose surname
was Mark, but Paul thought it not good to take him with them
who departed from them from Pamphylia and went not with them to the
work. And the contention was so sharp between them, and they
departed to asunder one from the other. And so Barnabas took
Mark and sailed to Cyprus, and Paul chose Silas and departed,
being recommended to the brethren under the grace of God. One,
by contribution. Two, commendation. Three, celebration. Four, cooperation. And five,
by compassion. Let me tell you what's going
on. Notice in this passage of Scripture who is instructing
who. Until about chapter 13, you'll
always read Barnabas and Saul or Barnabas and Paul. But the
latter part of chapter 13, it flips, and it's Paul and Barnabas,
Paul and Barnabas. So Paul says, Barney, I tell
you what let's do. Let's go back and check on the
converts. Let's see how they're doing. And Barney says, great,
let's take my nephew John Mark. Paul said, nothing doing. We're
not taking that young man with us. He jumped ship on us, and
he took off back at Pamphylia. We're not going to take him.
He's a loser. I hear Barnabas say, no, sir, he's not a loser.
He's a learner. Let's take him with us, and they
have contention. Now, it got so sharp that Paul
decides Silas is going with him, but Barnabas is a man with compassion,
forgiveness, and he's going to give a great gift. Let me tell
you what it is. It's called the gift of a second
chance. How many of you in this building
have ever blown it and somebody gave you another chance? Raise
your hand real high. If you're glad for that, say
amen. I'll tell you what, it's a wonderful, wonderful time.
I said to a man not long ago, if God only uses perfect people,
he's out of business because all of us at one time or another
have failed. Now, I couldn't understand why
Paul was so dogmatic until you study the word departed. It borderlines
the word apostasy. He didn't just get homesick and
go home. It looks like he was about to abandon the faith. But
Uncle Barney had some confidence. I can hear Paul say, don't you
know, Barney, that confidence in an unfaithful man's like a
broken tooth and a foot out of joint? And I hear part of us
say to Paul, yes, and don't you know that the merciful man does
good to his own soul? And might have said to Paul,
where do you think you'd be if we hadn't had a little mercy
on you? And I'd like to ask you tonight, where would you be if
somebody hadn't had mercy on you? Has somebody failed you?
You have a son or a daughter that's broken your heart, and
you're estranged from them. Did you realize you could pray,
settle whatever's wrong on your part, and have a different Christmas
this year? You could get them to come home.
Has some pastor failed you, some church failed you? Has somebody
hurt you and hurt you deeply? You say, yeah, preacher, you
got to understand. Burn me once, shame on you. Burn me twice,
shame on me. Would you like to tell me where
in the Bible that's found? Ladies and gentlemen, that is
not taught anywhere. The Bible says, blessed are the
merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. I used to live in Kansas
City, was there for 16 years. We had people who'd been in ministry
for one reason or another that it had to step out. Now, we would
never take a man who disqualified himself biblically from ministry
and put him back in, but you better believe we helped him
get back with his wife and children and everything that we could.
If that bothers you, you do not understand the mercy of God.
But there are some who disqualified themselves, Brother Sears, from
a ministry, but not all ministry. and so they stayed with us for
a while. We encouraged them, and some of them today are assistant
pastors, some are pastors, and some are serving the Lord Jesus
across this country. May I say to you, don't be so
quick to look down at a person who has failed as if it could
never happen to you. Galatians 6, 1, Brethren, if
a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore
such a one in the spirit of meekness. considering yourself, lest you
also be overtaken with that same temptation." Now, good friend,
whatever has happened to somebody you know, in the wrong circumstance,
without the power of God, could happen to you and could happen
to me. You say, preacher, who was right
in this situation? God doesn't leave it to our imagination.
If you study 2 Timothy chapter 4 and Paul's swan song, Paul
says to Timothy, bring John Mark, same guy, for he is profitable
to me for the ministry. Here's Barney that stuck his
neck out. Here's Barnabas that said, we'll give him a second
chance. Here's Barnabas that said, I'm going to give mercy
because I've received mercy, and John Mark is back in ministry
serving God, and as far as we know, wrote the book of Mark,
and God Almighty used him. May I say to you good folks in
this building tonight, don't you give up on somebody. You
say, preacher, my son's been away from the Lord for 20 years.
As long as there's breath in his lungs and a God in heaven
and your prayer life, it's very possible that he could come home
before Christmas Day if there was mercy that you are willing
to administer. Never forget when the prodigal
son ran away and got in the hog lot. His dad stalled and kept
fattening the calf, believing he was coming home. And when
he came home, he said, Father, I have sinned against heaven,
could not finish the rest. His father forgave him, and they
threw a party. I believe it's time in independent
Baptist churches that though we have high standards, we believe
in holiness, we believe in walking with God, we also believe, please
listen to me, in the mercy of God and forgiveness for our brethren. And so I'd like to ask you tonight,
could anybody call you a Barnabas? If I walked up to your wife and
I said, you know, tonight I preached on Barnabas, is your husband
a Barney? Does he encourage you? What would she say if I walked
up to your husband? And I said, is your wife an encourager? What would he say? If I walked
up to your children and I said, are your parents encouraging
you? What would they say if I went to your pastor? And I said, Brother
Reynolds, thanks so much for the privilege to preach. I call
him on the phone. He's on the way to North Carolina.
I said, Pastor, I met so-and-so. Would you call them one of your
encouragers? If I used your name, what would
he say? You know, everybody in this building
can be an encouragement. There's a lot of things you'll
never be. Some of you'll never be musicians. You'll never be
pastors. You will never be teachers. Some of you will never be high-tech
people, but there is not a person in this room, not a young person,
not a mom or dad, not a senior citizen that cannot be a modern-day
Barnabas for the cause of Jesus Christ. Thank you so much for
letting us come and be a part of your ministry today. I close
with this. A number of years ago, a friend
of mine was running a camp. Three children out of a family
of nine children worked there in the summer. I knew their daddy. His name was Dennis. Dennis was
what I would call a modern-day Barnabas. He was in the business
world for a while, and he would give financially, always writing
notes, sending kind e-mails, encouraging people to take spiritual
steps. He went into what we call full-time
Christian service, but he continued the same thing he'd done when
he was in secular work. At the end of that summer, Dennis
and his wife took the other six children up to the camp, and
they were going to family camp, and then they were going to take
the three who'd worked there home. During that week, Dennis
began to witness to a man and his wife. The man was a police
officer, and he and his wife were not safe. Somebody had paid
for them to come to a Christian camp. Dennis gave the gospel.
The police officer was very interested. That day, when he first arrived,
Dennis passed a car, noticed the tires were almost bald, went
to the office and said, who belongs to that car? They said, counselor,
so and so. He reached in his pocket, got
out some money and said, tell that young man to get some tires.
I want him to live a long time. That's the kind of guy that Dennis
was. It's what he did on a regular daily basis. If you ever saw
him, he was always with a good word. If you were ever down,
you wanted to hang around Dennis because he would help pick you
up. On Thursday of that week, Dennis' son, who'd been at camp
all summer, said, Dad, we're playing a pickup basketball game.
Can you play with us about 2 o'clock? He said, I'd love to. About 2
o'clock, they went. Dennis and the police officer,
because they had so many playing ball, were standing on the sidelines
waiting their turn to get in. Once again, he was witnessing,
encouraging the man to come to Christ. The whistle's blown,
they went in, and within moments after he gets in, the ball's
thrown to him. It looked like he tripped and fell, but what
exactly happened was an aneurysm popped in his head, and he dropped
dead at 50 years of age right in front of his son. Of course,
they were trying to give him CPR, but they were blowing air
into a man's lifeless body. They straightened out every curve,
took him to the hospital, but he was dead on arrival. The camp
director called me, and he said, you know, I've got to fly to
South Carolina, and I've got to do a funeral for Brother Dennis. If you were preaching it, what
would you say? I said, well, don't laugh, but
I think I'd preach a message entitled, What a Way to Go. He
said, what are you talking about? I said, well, let me ask you
a question. Though Dennis did not live long, didn't he live
well? He said, oh, he sure did. There's
a lot of people who live long, but they don't live well. Other
people don't live long, but they live well because they touch
people's lives, and they're known as a Barnabas. Well, I could
not go to that funeral. My friend priested on the day
of the funeral. I called and talked to the secretary. I said,
Would you please tell the family how much we love them, and I'm
sorry that we cannot be there. She said, Dr. Farrell, I'm not
so sure, but I think this funeral has probably made history. I
said, In what way? She said, Last night, the line
did not cease going by his casket until 2 a.m. in the morning.
She said, we're not sure exactly how many people came by, but
the last count we have, there was at least 1,400 people who
walked by the casket of Dennis. Let me tell you why. Dennis walked
by the lives of those people. He always had time to stop. He
was always a modern-day part of us, and when he passed in
this life, people came by to say thank you for being my encouragement. My friend, Are you being a Barney? Let's stand together and bow
our heads.
Let's be a Barney
| Sermon ID | 1215131842473 |
| Duration | 40:50 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - PM |
| Bible Text | Acts 11:19 |
| Language | English |