Barnabas: A Brief Character Study

“He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord” (Acts 11:24).

This is speaking of Barnabas. The preceding verse tells us that “he was glad and encouraged them all.” In chapter 4, we find that Barnabas’ name means “son of encouragement.” We also find that he “sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.” When he was with Paul, he was not the chief speaker (Acts 14:12), although in Acts 14:1 we see, “There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed.”

Barnabas was good, full of the Holy Spirit, full of faith, glad, encouraging, generous, and unashamed to speak the gospel. The result was that great numbers were brought to the Lord. If we are not seeing great numbers turning to the Lord, it may be that we are lacking the other characteristics which were in Barnabas’ life.

Join the #keepthefeast Bible Reading Challenge here. This post coordinates with today's reading.
Written October 1990.

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