Encouragement | Acts 11:22-24

Intro

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

That expression first appeared in print in 1894 in a collection of “folk-phrases,” gathered and recorded for the English dialect society. Today, it’s well known, but is it true?

Odds are that you have been hurt—deeply hurt by words at some point in your life. Perhaps you still recall with great clarity a name you were called by a classmate, a condemning judgment from a parent or teacher, or a scathing criticism from a boss. And those words still echo in your mind. Words are powerful. 

Scripture has a lot to say about the power of words. Consider Proverbs 12:18: “There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” Or Proverbs 15:4: “A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.” Or Proverbs 18:21: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.”

Sword thrusts or healing. A tree of life or a broken spirit. Life or death. So much for “words will never hurt me.”

What kind of words come from your mouth? And how do your words impact those around you—your spouse and children, your coworkers, your roommates, your siblings, your brothers and sisters in Christ?

This is the middle of our seven-week series called Habits of Grace, and we are exploring the Seven Shaping Virtues of Sovereign Grace Churches. A virtue is a good habit—a habit of grace. And virtues describe the kind of person whose life is shaped by the gospel. This morning, we’re giving our attention to the biblical virtue of encouragement.

Acts 11:19–24

“Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists [i.e., Greek-speaking non-Jews] also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord.”

The Virtue of Encouragement

We are first introduced to the man called Barnabas back in Acts 4:36. His name was actually Joseph, but the apostles nicknamed him Barnabas. And Luke makes a point to tell us that that means “son of encouragement.”

Nicknames typically reflect a defining characteristic or an established reputation. The Sandlot had Hamilton “Ham” Porter, Michael “Squints” Palledorous, Kenny “The Heater” DeNunez, and “Yeah-Yeah.” The Goonies had “Chunk,” “Mouth,” and “Data.” When I taught here at Sioux Falls Christian, there were a few classes that had all kinds of nicknames: “Meatball,” “Hardware Hank,” “The Elephant,” “Chin,” “Horse,” and Horse’s younger brother, “Pony.”

Joseph was called Barnabas—“son of encouragement”—for a reason. He was so marked by the virtue of encouragement that it became his nickname. 

If you were given a nickname that summarized your character, what would it be?

Barnabas is known for his effective ministry of encouragement throughout Acts. Besides our text in Acts, there are two other notable examples from the life of Barnabas.

In Acts 9, immediately following the conversion of Saul, the disciples in Jerusalem were understandably fearful and suspicious of Saul, who had persecuted the church violently. Listen to what Luke says: “And when [Saul] had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. So he [Paul] went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord” (Acts 9:26–28).

In Acts 15, Luke records another incident. John Mark had accompanied Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey, but he left them abruptly and returned to Jerusalem (Acts 13:13). When Paul and Barnabas were preparing for their second journey, it was Barnabas who wanted to give Mark a second chance. Paul and Barnabas ended up parting company, and Barnabas took Mark and returned to his home country (Acts 15:37–39).

And then there’s our text here in Acts 11, which tells how Barnabas visited the brand new church in Antioch, “And he exhorted [encouraged, NIV and NASB] them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose” (Acts 11:23).

The Greek word translated here is parakaleō. Literally, it means to call to one’s side. Depending on the context, it can mean to urge strongly, exhort, or encourage. Think of the kind of encouragement a coach shouts to an athlete: “Keep going! Dig deep! Hurry up! You can do it!” There is a kind of encouragement that emphatically urges others to do what they don’t feel like doing or to press on when they’re tempted to quit.

The word can also imply comfort in the midst of affliction.

When you endure suffering and sorrow, when you encounter temptation to sin, when your own sanctification feels painfully slow—how does God intend to preserve your faith?

Answer: He uses his people to comfort and encourage each other.

Kyle Huber, lead pastor of a Sovereign Grace Church in NJ, writes, “The most fruitful Christian you know very likely feels as though their life is poorly used and ineffectual on a regular basis.” You probably know what that feels like, but have you ever stopped to consider that others feel that way—even the most mature and fruitful Christians you know? Just like a marathon runner needs encouragement to keep going, the Christian sitting beside you or behind you right now needs encouragement to remain faithful. 

What are you tempted to do when you are discouraged? To slack off, to give up, to quit. In order to endure, you and I need encouragement. Thus we are commanded, “Encourage the fainthearted” (1 Thess 5:14; cf. 4:18, 5:11).

Encouragement is one of the aims of gathering in worship as the Body of Christ. Paul begins his letter to the church in Rome like this: “For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.” (Romans 1:11–12). And Hebrews instructs us, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another” (Hebrews 10:25).

Throughout Acts, encouragement is at the forefront of their ministry and travels. “And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed” (Acts 16:40). “Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia. When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece” (Acts 20:1–2). Everywhere Paul went, encouragement was his aim.

Christians are called to encourage one another because our God is the God of encouragement. In Romans 15:5, Paul calls God, “the God of endurance and encouragement.” And in 2 Corinthians 1, he writes, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction” (2 Corinthians 1:3–4). It’s actually the same word in both places, but one context implies encouragement to endure and the other implies comfort in the midst of affliction. 2 Corinthians 7:6 says that God himself comforts (or encourages) the downcast.

By the grace of God, you can cultivate the virtue of encouragement and become a conduit of God’s grace in the lives of others. What made Barnabas so good at encouragement? His ministry of encouragement is explained at the end of verse 24: “For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.” 

It’s easy, isn’t it, to write off certain people and make excuses for ourselves? “That’s just Barnabas. He always sees the good in others. He has a way with words. I’m not like that.” But that’s not what Luke says about Barnabas. 

This was more than his personality type or his genetic nature. This was a Spirit-empowered ability that is available to every Christian. Barnabas was full of the Spirit and of faith. Spiritual encouragement is a supernatural ministry. That doesn’t mean “elite, Delta-Force-level Christians only.” It means that if you have the Holy Spirit, you can grow in the virtue of encouragement.

So from this text in Acts 11 and the example of Barnabas, I want to show you how you can cultivate the virtue of encouragement: look for the grace of God in others; delight in the grace of God in others; and speak of the grace of God with others.

Look for the Grace of God in Others.

Verse 23 says, “When he came and saw the grace of God ….” Barnabas was sent from an established church in Jerusalem to check on the wellbeing of a fledgling church plant in Antioch. And when he got to Antioch, he saw the grace of God. He recognized that God’s grace was at work in Antioch. God’s grace is not an abstract idea; it is a discernible reality, an observable power.

Looking for the grace of God in others is essential to cultivating the virtue of encouragement. David Peterson says of Barnabas, “His ability to discern the grace of God at work in others gave him a generous and encouraging spirit.”

But what does the grace of God look like? The grace of God looks like the fruit of the gospel in the lives of those who believe the gospel. Look at Acts 4:32–33: “Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.” 

Great grace was upon whom? All those who believed the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And what was the discernible effect of believing the gospel? It included their unity of heart and soul (v. 32), their bold witness and proclamation of the gospel (v. 33), and their generosity toward those who were in need (v. 34). Unity and evangelism and generosity are not themselves the gospel. The gospel is the good news that Christ died for our sins (1 Cor 15:3). But things like unity, generosity, and evangelism are implications of the gospel—Spirit-empowered responses to the grace of God in the gospel.

In Acts 20:32, Paul said, “And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” So God’s grace—his dynamic power—operates through the gospel message and actively strengthens and transforms and preserves those who continue to believe it. Wherever you see the functional effects of the gospel, you see the grace of God. 

Grace on display looks like trust in and desire for God, hunger for God’s Word, zeal for prayer, faithfulness to the truth, affection for God’s people, gradual progress in sanctification and growth in godliness, or increasing victory over sin.

Here’s a practice—a habit to cultivate if you are involved in a Gospel Community. Sit down with a notebook and jot down some evidence of God’s grace that you have observed in each person in your Huddle or your GC.

You can practice this in your home, as well. Parents, are you more aware of your children’s weakness or of God’s grace at work? Husbands and wives, are you looking for the grace of God in your spouse? Or are you more aware of annoying habits and critical of flaws? Kids, you can ask God to help you see his grace in your siblings and your parents.

The first step in cultivating the virtue of encouragement is looking earnestly for evidence of God’s grace in others. I don’t know if this dynamic is at play in anyone else’s marriage, but it seems to be a theme in our home that I suffer from inexplicable blindness when my wife asks me to look for something—especially items located in the kitchen.

The other day, I was looking for a dish brush. We keep it right by the dish soap, for obvious reasons. But I couldn’t find it anywhere. I try to force myself to look extra hard before I call Barbara for help. Her most helpful advice has been to look with my hands. But I couldn’t find this brush at all. I was convinced she had found a new home for it for reasons known only to her.

When she came around the corner, she immediately pointed out that it was right there. Right next to the dish soap! In my defense, it was standing upright and camouflaged to the wall. Normally it’s lying down.

Our vision is selective, isn’t it? But the grace of God is on display all around you in the life of every single believer. Do you have eyes to see it? It is a skill that takes practice (and grace from God!) until it becomes a habit.

Delight in the Grace of God in Others.

Look at our text again: “When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad” (Acts 11:23). He was glad! He rejoiced to see the grace of God because he treasured the grace of God.

The virtue of encouragement is the overflow of hearts that are genuinely glad to see God’s grace at work in others. Like the Apostle John, who wrote, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” (3 John 4). Or Paul, who told the Thessalonians, “For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?” (1 Thessalonians 2:19).

This, too, requires the Spirit of God. Those who are in the flesh can neither see nor enjoy God’s grace in others. To delight in God’s grace in others requires a work of God’s grace in you.

In those who don’t know God’s grace, God’s kindness to others provokes envy and insecurity. Mark 15:10 says that the chief priests wanted to murder Jesus out of envy. In Acts 5, the apostles were preaching the gospel and healing the sick and those afflicted by evil spirits, “and more than ever believers were added to the Lord” (5:14). “But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him …, and filled with jealousy they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.” (Acts 5:17–18).

When Paul preached the gospel in Thessalonica, some of the Jews trusted Christ, “But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason” (Acts 17:5).

In John Calvin’s commentary on Acts, he says of Barnabas, “And the joy is a testimony of sincere godliness. Ambition is evermore envious and malicious; so that we see many seek for praise by reproving other men, because they are more desirous of their own glory than of the glory of Christ. But the faithful servants of Christ must rejoice (as did Barnabas) when they see the gospel increase, by whomsoever God shall make his name known.”

Faithful servants of Christ rejoice when they see the gospel increase. Does the increase of the gospel—and its fruits—in the lives of others bring you joy?

Luke helps us immensely when he attributes everything good in the Antioch church to the grace of God. This is the cure to envy and the key to rejoicing with others. Every legitimate good that anyone else has is owed entirely to the grace of God. “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” (1 Corinthians 4:7). Envy and encouragement cannot coexist because envy begrudges God his generosity (Matt 20:15).

In John 3, some people came to John the Baptist to point out that everyone was leaving John to go follow Jesus. Was John discouraged? Was he defensive? “John answered, ‘A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. [That’s grace.] … The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease’” (John 3:27–30).

John understood his role: he was like the best man at a wedding.  The bride belongs to the groom, and the best man is happy for his friend.

There was a season in my life years ago when I was disillusioned with the church. And during that time, I was highly critical of “the institutional church.” I had no trouble finding and pointing out the faults and flaws of local churches. Until I heard someone teach from John 3. I’ll never forget his words. He said, “The church is the Bride of Christ. Who are you to criticize another man’s wife?” Those words changed my life.

Does the church have flaws and imperfections? Yes. 

But what has Christ done? “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25–27).

This is the grace of God in Christ—that Jesus loved the church and died to purify her for himself. If that is the way Jesus sees his people, how could we be nitpickers and faultfinders? If that is the way Jesus relates to his people, how could we not also delight in the grace of God on display in the church? To grow in the virtue of encouragement, begin to practice (by grace!) responding with joy when you detect God’s grace in the lives of others.

Speak of the Grace of God with Others.

Having seen and delighted in the evidence of God’s grace in the church in Antioch, Barnabas spoke: “And he exhorted [or encouraged, NIV and NASB] them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose” (v. 23). I imagine that he reflected to them the grace of God that he observed.

Winnie the Pooh calls this, “Say What You See.” There is a scene in the 2018 film Christopher Robin, where a grown-up and very boring Christopher Robin is on a train with Pooh and he says, “Pooh, do you think you might be able to amuse yourself for a while? I’ve got some rather pressing work to do.”

Pooh looks out the window and begins to say, “House. Clouds. House. Tree. Bush. A man. Dog.”

Christopher Robin asks in annoyance, “Pooh, what are you doing?”

“Oh, I’m playing a game. It’s called, ‘Say What You See.’”

“Well, could you say what you see a little more quietly?” Christopher Robin asks. 

Pooh slowly gazes out the window and begins to whisper, “House, grass, trees, pond, I don’t know what that is.”

To cultivate the virtue of encouragement, you must not only look for and rejoice in the grace of God in others; you must say what you see.

That’s how encouragement unleashes even more of God’s grace toward others. Encouragement usually involves words, and words have the ability to give grace. “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29; cf. Ac 15:32).

The good news is you don’t have to rely on your own eloquence to grow in encouragement because God’s Word is the primary source of encouraging words. “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4).

You can encourage others simply by reminding them of the truth of God revealed in Scripture. “Say to those who have an anxious heart, ‘Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you’” (Isaiah 35:4). Anxious hearts, fearful hearts, despairing hearts, tempted hearts, unbelieving hearts—what do they all need to hear? Behold, your God!

Listen to how Paul does this in 1 Thessalonians 5:9–11: “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” First, he lays out the gospel: Jesus died for us so that we might live with him. Therefore, encourage one another. Encouragement is an implication of the gospel. (He does the same thing in 1 Thessalonians 4:14–18.)

It’s true that there are other types of verbal ministry like rebukes and warnings, but even those have encouragement and endurance as the ultimate aim. And those best suited to deliver hard words are those who have cultivated the virtue of encouragement, not nitpicking, nagging faultfinders. 

There is also a counterfeit kind of encouragement called flattery. There are at least two problems with flattery. First, it’s empty and deceptive. Flatter tells people what they want to hear, not what’s true. Pop culture’s approach to depression and insecurity is flattery. There’s lots of hair-petting: “There, there, you’re not that bad. In fact, you’re wonderful! You’re the best! There’s nothing you can’t do if you believe in yourself!” The problem is … that’s not true.

Biblical encouragement is more than empty platitudes, trite quotes, or wishful clichés. This is what makes biblical encouragement so powerful and effective. It’s not speaking flowery and untrue words. It’s speaking the Word of God and pointing out the grace of God. This means that no matter how weak, feeble, or entangled in sin a fellow believer is, it is always possible to encourage him or her with the truth of the gospel.

Second, flattery is insincere and self-serving. The aim of encouragement is to build up and strengthen the other person. The aim of flattery is to benefit yourself by pleasing or impressing the other. When you flatter someone, you are seeking to increase your own standing in their eyes. Proverbs warns, “A flattering mouth works ruin” (Prov 26:28), and, “A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet” (Prov 29:5).

As you participate in spiritual community with each other, make a conscious effort to talk about the grace of God that you see in others and the grace of God revealed in Scripture. One of our favorite rhythms as a church has been to use birthdays to point out evidence of grace in someone’s life. GC  gatherings and Huddles are also opportunities to encourage one another.

When you are meeting with your Huddle, make sure you aren’t blowing smoke or giving your own advice, but speaking the truth of Scripture and pointing one another to Christ, in whom the grace of God is fully revealed.

Conclusion

To cultivate encouragement, look for the grace of God in others, delight in the grace of God in others, and speak of the grace of God with others. The key is to say something. It does no good to make a mental note that someone is discernibly growing in grace. Say something so that your words might give grace to those who hear.

I don’t think it’s possible to over-emphasize the value of encouragement in a local church. Look at the effect of Barnabas’s encouragement: “And a great many people were added to the Lord” (v. 24). Barnabas and Saul stayed in Antioch for a whole year, teaching “a great many people” (v. 25). Luke adds that, “In Antioch the disciples were first called Christians” (v. 26). And it was the church in Antioch that later sent Paul and Barnabas out as missionaries. There is a correlation between encouragement from Barnabas, conversions in Antioch, and gospel impact on the nations. Churches that are strengthened by encouragement are fruitful churches.

So I encourage you to cultivate this virtue in your life for your joy, for our good, and for the glory of  God.