Encouragers

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

ENCOURAGERS

Acts 11:19-24

19 Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. 20 Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. 21 The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. 22 News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. 24 He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

NIV

The good news is starting to get around the countryside and into other regions. These that Luke tells us about still only brought the good news to other Jews. However, many did believe in Jesus as the Christ and put their faith in him. What is interesting is that when the news reached Jerusalem of what was happening in Antioch, they sent Barnabas when he arrived, he saw the evidence of the grace of God. Here is where we can see two ways to interpret the idea of seeing evidence of God’s grace. First, we could say that because many of those new believers were Greek, the grace of God was seen in Gentiles being brought into faith in Jesus as the Christ. That is when a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord, which was the hand of God, which was evidence of God’s grace, that unmerited favor, that no one can qualify for. The second way we could see those same words that Barnabas saw evidence of the grace of God, would see this word grace as not the one for unmerited favor, but it is the grace which is defined as the divine influence on a heart and how that is reflected in a person’s life. Barnabas could have seen the church in fellowship, in communion with one another, the love of Christ is open and full. Whichever see this, Barnabas was glad, happy to see the hand of God at work in their lives. He stayed and encouraged them to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. We are told that Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith. The question is; encouraging others should that only be done by those who are good men, full of the Spirit and faith? Sometimes it seems we all just go to church and expect the pastor to preach something that encourages us, for that is his purpose, for he is the one full of the Spirit and faith. However, that would be a wrong conclusion as we think we all should be full of the Spirit and faith and thus would be in the position to encourage one another. Paul writes about encouraging each other often in his letters to churches. This would be a church worth being in, yet all should be a church with the people being full of the Spirit and faith and encouraging each other, spurring one another on in their faith. Unfortunately, it seems we simply smile, with a customary greeting, or share a little gossip, or some other meaningless dribble, and then get into our rightful pews and wait for the pastor to encourage us. That sounds harsh, but we wonder how many churches are like that. However, we can encourage each other. By staying in step with the Spirit, we will become encouragers.