One of the greatest spiritual gifts in my opinion is that of the encourager. Pastors, Bible teachers and evangelists are more in the limelight, and for some reason Christians sometimes feel that if they are not a pastor, Bible teacher or evangelist, the best gifts are taken and there is nothing left for them.

Pastors, Bible teachers and evangelists do a great work if they are truly obedient to God’s will, following the Holy Spirit’s direction and giving the Lord Jesus the glory. There is no denying that, and I applaud those I have just described. However, I believe most of them would also agree that the encourager could very well be the greatest gift of all.

The gift of encourager receives little to no limelight, and is rarely made visible to the general public. They work in the background and are rarely known by name except for those they encourage.

There is one person however that is well known to us today as being an encourager. His name actually means, “Son of Encouragement.” (Acts 4:36) His name was Joseph, but he was known as Barnabas. He quickly became an early traveling companion of the apostle Paul.

Paul had a reputation of being a cold-blooded killer of Christians, so obviously it can be understood why so many of the early Christians did not initially believe that he had actually become one of them. However, Barnabas believed Paul, and wanted him at Antioch to be a witness for Jesus.

Barnabas was a good man, totally unselfish. He didn’t care about receiving any credit. He just wanted Christ to be preached and he knew Paul was the man to do it. So he went to Tarsus and brought Paul back to Antioch.

“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.

The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.

When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.

He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.” (Acts 11:20-26)

It would have been easy for Barnabas to have forgotten all about Paul and just stayed in Antioch, but he wanted the people to hear about Jesus and how Paul came to be saved. The people needed to hear what Jesus instructed Paul to tell others. So Barnabas, instead of standing in the spotlight, steps back, and brings Paul back to Antioch, all the while, encouraging these new Christians.

If you read about these two in the book of Acts, you may notice that the Holy Spirit listed Barnabas first and Saul second up until Acts 13:42. Beginning with Acts 13:42 and thereafter, Saul is changed to Paul and listed first and Barnabas is listed second instead of first. Saul was Hebrew and meant ‘desired.’ Paul was Latin and meant ‘little or small.’ I don’t want to read something into this that isn’t there, but I personally believe that God is telling us something here.

Saul was brilliant and well on his way to the top as a Jewish leader, but God doesn’t need human greatness. It is useless and means nothing to Him. He wants someone who is willing to submit to Him. Saul the ‘desired’ became Paul the ‘undesired.’ I think Paul explains it best in the following verse.

“That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10)

Okay, so Paul stopped using the name Saul, but what about Barnabas? Why were their roles suddenly reversed at this time? Following is my opinion.

It was time for Barnabas to take the back seat and for God to show His mighty power through the greatest missionary who has ever lived. God used a willing Barnabas to bring Paul to the people so His message would be heard, and He used a now humble Paul to take His Gospel to the world, in particular the Gentiles.

Have you wondered if Barnabas ever got jealous of Paul? A lot of men (and women) would do just that. I’ve lived long enough to have seen it myself in the churches over the years. I don’t think there was ever the first hint of jealousy with Barnabas. When I read about these two, I see a man who is totally supportive of Paul and is more than willing to accept ‘second chair.’ That, my friends, is an encourager.

What about the incident with Mark, Barnabas’ cousin? You can read about it in Acts 15:36-41. When Barnabas left Paul and took Mark on a missionary journey, I believe he did so as an encourager to Mark. That was the nature God had given him. Mark was willing to change and Barnabas, being the encourager he was, took him under his wings and guided him along in his spiritual walk. Paul went one way with Silas and Barnabas went the other with Mark.

I have had encouragers in my life, and I honestly hope you have too. If you have, you probably remember who they are. I remember clearly those people in my life and they meant a lot to me at the time, and still hold a special place in my heart to this day.

Barnabas encouraged the people of Antioch. He was an encourager to the apostle Paul and also Mark, who wrote the second of what is called the Gospels. Actually, there is no doubt in my mind, that throughout his life he encouraged many along the way.

All of us can be an encourager, but granted, there are some with that special gift God has provided them. They are special people, I guess because they treat everyone else as ‘special.’ The encourager has a lot of patience and they have a lot of love to share. I think those two attributes strengthen their gift of being an encourager. What is the greatest gift? I think it is to be an encourager, because it is saturated in love, and what does our Lord (through the apostle Paul) say about love?

“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:1, 13 emphasis mine)

Grant Phillips

Email: Phillip5769@twc.com

Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com

Rapture Ready: https://www.raptureready.com/featured/phillips/phillips.html

The United States of America has been so gloriously blessed by the one and only true God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the apostles Paul, Peter and John. Most of us in this country are probably more intimidated from fear in these last days than any other group of people in the world. The reasons for this are; we are probably softer in nature and have a great deal more to lose in general. What I mean by that is we are used to having life easy; i.e. big cars, big houses, big paychecks, great medical care, freedom to do as we please, everything at our fingertips. In other words, we are quite spoiled. Now I don’t know about you, but I like being spoiled. On the other hand, I also know what is of the greatest importance.

Most people in our country attribute their happiness to money and personal items, in other words material things of the world. It would be a catastrophic loss for them to lose it all. Unfortunately, those days are coming. Think about this also; those who have a lot and lose it all will hurt worse than those who have little and lose it all. However, in reality, do any of us really have anything? Name one thing we can take with us after we die. Get my point?

This article is supposed to be about ‘comfort.’ How can there be any comfort in these first two introductory paragraphs? Well, there isn’t any comfort apart from Jesus Christ and His Word we call the Bible. If our faith is in Jesus we have nothing to fear and everything to rejoice about. In the Bible we have the promises of God, Jesus, to provide the comfort we so desire.

Those who do not have Jesus as their Savior and Lord have only gods of their own making. These gods come from many different areas. Brief examples would be; dead men of the past, money, popularity, power, possessions, etc., and by the way, I really don’t believe in such a thing as atheism. Everyone has either false gods in their life, or the one and only true God. Those without God have everything to fear, but that can be changed if they will repent (change their mind) and put their trust in Jesus Christ and Him only. The only comfort for those without Christ is that they may be saved if they turn to Jesus.  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) So from here on I speak to those who are the family of God.

The Bible is replete with verses that can provide real comfort to a child of God. The only problem is; Ya gotta read it, and ya gotta believe it. Far too many Christians have so much dust on their Bibles they would choke if they were to blow it off. Allow me to provide just a few verses out of the many in God’s Word.

In this first verse Jesus lets us know that He knows of our burdens. He knows how weary we are, but even though we’re broken down from trials and tribulations, He will give us rest. He says for us to take His yoke, but how can toil provide us rest? When two oxen are yoked together, one is always the leader. Jesus says that He will lead and bear the load. Just walk with Him and He will take care of us. We know that to be true because He tells us that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Why is that again? It is easy and light because we can lean on Him.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

Jesus tells us in this next verse that He has overcome the world. Many of us today can only shake our heads at the mess our world is in and in particular our beloved country. We look around us and can only conclude that the world has gone mad.

There is an overwhelming degree of immorality, crime, hate and vindictiveness from our government leaders, apostasy from most churches, crime and illicit drug usage. The world is ready to blow itself up and we wonder who will be the first to push the red button. Jesus said that He has forewarned us of all this, and there is no need to worry. Even while the world falls apart around our ears, we are reminded of, “I have overcome the world.” It’s already a done deal. Jesus is in control. The enemy is already defeated. He just doesn’t know it yet.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

King David tells us in the following verse to cast all our cares upon Jesus, not just some of them, but all of them. David had a lot of problems. Some were of his own making and some were not, but if you have read the Psalms you know David cast all his cares upon the Lord Jesus Christ. We all have cares and sometimes they are so heavy they bow our backs from the load we lug around. Jesus wants us to let Him carry the load and He will hold us up and keep us strong.

“Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.” (Psalms 55:22)

Do you trust God? The Holy Spirit says through Nahum that He cares for those who trust in Him. Are you undergoing trouble in your life? Jesus is our refuge. In other words, He is our shelter where we can stay while the storm passes us by. Whatever is troubling you in your life, you are not alone. Jesus has already been there and He cares. (Hebrews 4:15) Jesus wants to cover us as a hen covers her chicks. Jerusalem was not willing. Are you? (John 23:37-39)

“The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him,” (Nahum 1:7)

Now that big fisherman, Peter, reminds us to cast all our anxiety upon the Lord Jesus. It is interesting to note that “cast” means to throw, “all” means all, and “anxiety” means worries. So let us throw every single one of all our worries upon Jesus. Don’t keep any back! He can carry that load. We can’t. He wants us to trust Him with everything in our lives because He cares.

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)

We all suffer to one degree or another. Many of God’s children right now are suffering horribly. Many question God about that. Others turn their back on Him because they blame Him for all the suffering. Folks, I’ve pretty much had it when I hear people blaming God. There are two reasons we all suffer. First is primarily that snake in the grass Satan. Give him the credit for a change! He deserves it! Secondly we often bring suffering upon ourselves. God came down to earth, became a man just like us, and suffered with us. Then He died on a cross, and rose from the grave three days later to provide us the only way of salvation. Anything we suffer now on earth can never be compared to the glory that awaits us.

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18)

Are you comforted yet? One of those many glories mentioned in the verse above is told to us by Jesus in our next passage. He is preparing us a home in Heaven where we will reign with Him for eternity. Think about this now. He is preparing a place for me, Grant Phillips, and He is preparing a place for you, __________________, (enter your name on the line). Now He isn’t finished. He also says that He is coming back to snatch us up from this earth in the blink of an eye and take us home before the really nasty stuff starts with the Tribulation. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:1-3)

This next passage has always been one of my favorites. Jesus says through the apostle Paul; (1) don’t worry about anything, (2) but in everything, (3) present your requests to God. How do I do that? I present my requests to Him by just talking to Him, presenting my need and thanking Him. And then He says that we will receive peace that comes from Him that we won’t be able to explain, because it is beyond our understanding. Yes folks, it is true. That peace from God does come, and even though it is hard to understand how we can have peace in the fiery furnace, it is real. Our whole person is in the shelter of His wings.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

I would ask that you notice the question God presents to us. It demands the answer of, “No, nothing is too hard for God.”  Most everything that comes our way is too hard for us to deal with, but it is not too hard for God. If we can just remember that and trust Him, maybe our problems won’t seem so big after all.

“I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27)

Well I feel comforted. How about you?

 

Grant Phillips

Email: Phillip5769@twc.com

Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com

Rapture Ready: https://www.raptureready.com/featured/phillips/phillips.html