Sermons on Biblical CharactersChappell, Clovis Gillham
Religion
Sermons on Biblical Characters
Chappell, Clovis Gillham
Bible -- Biography; Sermons, American -- 20th century
Then he did another big thing. Seeing the great opportunity that was
there, he went and sought Paul out over at Tarsus and brought him over
as his helper. And it was there as they labored together and
ministered to the Lord and fasted that the Holy Ghost said, "Separate
me Barnabas and Saul, for the work whereunto I have called them." And
they went forth as the world's first foreign missionaries. An army has
gone forth since that day,--the choicest spirits that this world has
ever seen. And those who have gone have consecrated the soil of every
continent by their prayers, their tears and their sacrifices. Their
ashes rest to-day upon every shore and the songs of the redeemed are
sung to-day under every sky because they have labored. Who was the
vanguard of that great army whose going forth was as the going forth of
the morning? The vanguard was made up of two men. One of them was
Paul, the other Barnabas, a man not marvelously clever, not greatly
gifted. His supreme merit was just this, that in a real and genuine
sense he was a good man, full of faith.
And last of all, Barnabas was a spiritual man. The inspired writer
says that he was full of the Holy Ghost. And that implied, of course,
that Barnabas was a man fully given up to God, There can be no deep
spirituality apart from that. Our surrender is the condition of our
being full of the Spirit. "For we are His witnesses of these things,
as is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey Him."
So you can readily see why Barnabas has a right to the fine compliment
that is paid him here by the writer of the Acts. Barnabas was generous
with his possessions. He had the Christian attitude toward money.
Barnabas was generous in his judgments. He had a brother's attitude
toward his fellows. He was thoroughly missionary. He made Christ's
program for world conquest his own. He was profoundly and genuinely
spiritual. And because of these fine qualities one who knew him well
said of him, "He was a good man."
Now, there are compliments more flashy than being called good. There
are encomiums that are much fuller of glitter, but in spite of that, I
am convinced that nothing greater or better could possibly be said
about any one of us living to-day or any one that ever has lived than
just this that is written about Barnabas: "He was a good man." I had
rather my boy would be able to say that about me when he stands by my
grave, sunken and grass-grown, than to say anything else in all the
world.
Brother, let us covet goodness. Let us seek that rare treasure. For
there is nothing better or finer or more beautiful or more useful.
"Goodness." It is the fairest flower that can ever bloom in your soul
garden. It is the sweetest music that even God's skilled fingers will
ever be able to win from your thousand stringed heart harp. It is the
virtue in those we love that grips us tightest and holds us longest.
And wonderful to say, it is within reach of every one of us.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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