Greater Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church

Narrator: You are now listening to an inspirational message from Greater Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church where Dr. Michael W. Wesley Sr. is the pastor. Please join the service in progress.

Guest (Male): Toss blocked my way, but there was a voice speaking to me, awakening the passion so quiet in me. In me. So still in me. I choose to worship. Yes, I do. I can’t give up. I can’t lay and give up now. I choose to worship, yes, I do. My mind is made up. My mind is made up. Is that your voice calling me into that secret place with thee? My heart has longed for this moment with thee.

I choose to worship. I choose to worship, yes, I do. I just can’t lay and give up now. Oh, I choose to worship right now. I choose to worship, yes, I do. My mind is made up. I won’t give up. My mind is made up. I just can’t give up now.

He’s healing me. He’s healing me. He’s healing me. Yes, he is. Yes, he is. I’m going to worship. He’s healing me. He’s healing me. He’s healing me. I’m going to worship. Oh, he’s healing me. Yes, he is. Yes, he is. He’s healing me. I’m going to worship. Anybody know he’ll heal you? Anybody been brought? I’m going to worship.

Oh, he’s healing me. Yes, he is. Yes, he is. He’s healing me. Oh, yes. I’m going to worship. And I’m going to worship him. I’m going to worship. Yes, I am. I’m going to worship him. Yes, I am. I’m going to worship him. He’s been that good to me. I’m going to worship him. Yes, I am. I’m going to worship him. I’m going to worship him. I’m going to worship him.

I’m going to worship. Yes, I am. Yes, I am. Yes, I am. Yes, I am. I’m going to worship. I’m going to worship him. I’m going to worship. I’m going to worship. Is that your voice calling me into that secret place with thee? My heart has longed for this moment with thee. I choose to worship.

Dr. Michael W. Wesley Sr.: Worship God is why we're here. We're here to worship him. Worship is a term that has a number of meanings, or should I say different ways for which it is accomplished. Worship in its simplest definition is to love God with all your heart, and with all your mind, and with all your soul. There are elements to worship such as singing, such as praying, such as giving, such as preaching and teaching.

Sometimes worship is quiet and meditative. Sometimes it is praiseworthy and uplifting. Personally, I like the quiet times of worship. I like to worship sometimes by myself. I worship when I'm driving, sing when I'm washing dishes, cutting grass, or planting in the flowers. That's from yesterday. I just love to worship. I do. I love to get up early in the morning before everybody else gets up and just spend time with God and just have that time of worship. When I come away from that, I feel lifted, I feel refreshed, I feel ready for whatever might come.

And that's what's supposed to happen here. You come here, there's supposed to be an inspirational moment that sends you out into the week so that you're ready for whatever comes. And so the songs have been sung, the scriptures have been read, the prayers have been prayed. Now we need a word that that word may settle in our hearts and minds, and we can think about it over and over as we go into another week. If it is God's word, it's going to produce some fruit. And so let's ready ourselves for just that word.

It's all right for the songs, and we've had them. Now get ready for the word. Father, thank you for bringing us through another week. Oh, that's worship. Thank you. You didn't have to do it, but you did. Brought us over some mountains, you brought us through some valleys. You raised up resources, you made a way when we were confused. You gave us energy and strength to get through it. And so we've come today just with our simple selves in our humble ways to say thank you.

And now we ask you, God, to speak through your word, through your man servant to us. You know what we need, you know who we are, you know what you have laid out in front of us. Allow that word to speak to us. So I pray now that you will bless the words that are in my mouth and the meditations that you have laid on my heart, that it may be acceptable in thy sight, oh Lord, my strength and my redeemer. Speak, Lord, your servants are listening. We ask it in Jesus' name. Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Come on, let's thank God for what he's done. Amen.

Been speaking to men, and we'll be speaking again to men. We're speaking to everybody, but the text today as we continue the series on men, the first installment we talked about men who answer the call, that was Abraham. Then we talked about men who God uses, those were those disciples of Jesus. Then last time we talked about men who discover the word, and that was Josiah as he discovered the book of God that was lost in the temple, and it caused him to be different. And so here comes another installment: the Book of Acts, Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 11, Verses 19 through 26. And there we'll encounter two different men, and we'll see what happens with them.

Now they that were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only. And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned unto the Lord. Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which is in Jerusalem, and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch.

Who when he came and had seen the grace of God, was glad and exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. For he was a good man and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith, and much people was added unto the Lord. Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus for to seek Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. This is the word of God for the people of God.

Today I want to talk about men who encourage others. Men who encourage others. May I say to you today, no matter who you are, no matter where you're from, no matter how long you've been there, come from there, whatever it is, you need encouragement. Everybody periodically needs encouragement. And the truth is, men especially need encouragement. Men need encouragement because the truth be told, men live and lead lonely lives. Men are in crowds, men lead crowds, men stand before people all the time, but men are lonely.

And every now and then they need encouragement. You may not know it, you may not think it, because men also have this outward shell. And in that outward shell, they resist encouragement or resist the attempts of people to get close. It doesn't start when a man is old that he starts this resistance. It actually starts early in his life. And for many in school who attend school, it's been my experience and my true exposure that guys who are struggling with certain issues, whether it be academic, struggling with reading or struggling with math or struggling with some other subject, they tend to put on this outward shell.

They would rather get in trouble, get sent to the office, and get sent home rather than to have someone to discover that there's a weakness there. And so men start early in life disguising and masking their inner hurt, and they don't let people get close. Consequently, men have scars on their face. "Get back. Don't you come close." Men have strong voices. "Stop right there." There was a man one time, finally found a woman, and everybody knew he was mean. He was mean, real mean. And she one day walked up to him and she put her hand in his pocket, and he hollered, "Don't!" And everybody turned and looked. He said, "Don't leave a penny."

Men resist. They have that front. Men resist women in their life, men resist men in their life. And even when a woman or a person is trying to get close, a man tends to push back. Some men even start fights when someone try to get too close so that the safe distance can be re-established. But the truth is, men need encouragement. Everybody needs encouragement. You pat a dog on the head and encourage that dog, you say "Attaboy," and that dog gets animated. He'll wag his tail, he'll stick out his tongue, he'll become excited. And even though men try to resist it, when he is encouraged by the woman in his life or whoever it might be, he finds himself feeling better at the end of the day.

So I want to show you, I want to show you today, some men who God used to encourage others because here's the bottom line: when you become an encourager, God will have someone to encourage you. The text that claims our attention this morning is in the early days of the founding of the Christian church. You'll remember it was in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost that the Holy Spirit descended. This is 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus, after the tumultuous time when he had been crucified and had appeared for 40 days on the earth, appearing and disappearing, showing himself alive with many infallible proofs to the disciples that he was yet alive.

Ten days after that, after he got back to heaven after those 40 days, he sent the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit came with power. And the church was born, and Peter was used as the inaugural preacher to encourage the people in Jerusalem who were confused over the understanding, the move of God. And 3,000 people responded and became part of the church. And the Bible said and the church God added daily to the church and the church grew all the way through until we get to Acts Chapter 6. By the time we get to Acts Chapter 6, the church has multiplied to more than 25,000 members.

But then they hit a buzz right there. Sickness break out in the church. A murmuring arose among the Grecian women that they are being neglected. And the apostles rose quickly and settled that problem by looking out and finding men that we now call deacons and setting them over that problem. And the church settled down and began to grow. But then a new problem broke out: persecution. And the Jews began to scatter. But God wasn't through. You know Jesus had told the men that they could not stay in Jerusalem. They were to begin in Jerusalem, they were then to go to Judea, to Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.

But they enjoyed hanging around Jerusalem because it was fun there. Miracles were happening, the word of God was being preached. But God dispatched Peter. He said, "Peter, go through the cities." And Peter went through the cities, and as he was going, he was healing. He went to Joppa and he healed a woman who had fallen out of a window, who had made coats for many people there in town. And he hung around Joppa for a few days. And while there, he was staying with a man named Simon, who was a tanner. And he went up one afternoon after the meal and he took a nap.

And God had to help him. Now Peter, if you're going to be an encourager, you're going to have to overcome, here it is men, number one: your prejudices. You're going to have to get past trying to decide that the only people you're going to talk to are your homies. You're going to have to reach whoever I send you to with the word of encouragement. So while Peter was napping, God let down a big sheet. The sheet was a picture of the church. And in that big sheet were all kind of animals, four-footed animals. The Jews had a dietary restriction that they wouldn't eat certain meats that they called unclean from unclean animals.

Now certain meats they could eat, but pigs and animals that had hoofs on their feet, they resisted them. And this sheet had pigs and all kinds of things in it. And God told Peter, "Peter, arise, slay and eat." And Peter resisted, "No Lord, I've never touched anything unclean." And God had to put his finger in his face and say, "Don't you call anything that I have made unclean." Can I pause right here and help all my brothers and my sisters understand that when God wants someone to be encouraged, you just may be the one? And you are going to have to learn how to get over your prejudice in order to do it.

And God will do what is necessary to teach you how to overcome that. Sometimes you work, sometimes our problem is we think that when God wants us to encourage people, we have to be in church and they have to look a certain way. They have to have on certain tie, they have to be dressed up, they have to be in my frat, they have to be in my club, they have to be in my posse, they have to be my group. No, sometimes God will use you to talk to other people. I got a letter this past week from a lady, yes, she was of a different color, but she used to work with me years ago.

And she wrote me, she said, "You said something to me years ago that I've never forgotten. And now God is using me in a unique way, and I just want you to know I thank you." There was another woman of a different nationality, different color, that I was riding on the plane with coming from California. Now she made the mistake of sitting next to me. At first, I was asleep, but then I woke up. And then when I woke up and I looked and I saw her, I said, "Where are you going?" And she said, "I'm going home." I said, "Where are you from?" She said, "I'm from Florida."

And man, I knew we had a long ride, so guess what we talked about? And today she writes me regularly to tell me, "Who would have ever thought that a chance plane ride would have led me to this place that I'm in now where I love and believe God?" God will use you. But you're going to have to overcome some things. You're going to have to overcome your stereotypes of who can be saved and who can't be saved. Church folk got it bad. We look down our noses on people on people who look different from us, who may smell a little funny, may have a little alcohol on their breath, may smell like a little marijuana every now and then, and we think that God can't save them. But God can save anybody.

And so we have to overcome our prejudice. So he work on Peter: Peter, arise, slay and eat. God was preparing him, man, and Peter protested. God said, "Don't call anything I made unclean." And about that time, here come some men who came from Caesarea from the household of a man whose name was Cornelius. And they said, "We're looking for Simon Peter." He said, "Here I am." And he said, "Please come with us. You have been summoned to go to Cornelius' house." And Peter went. He goes to Cornelius' house. Cornelius is a Gentile. If you notice earlier in the text, the Jews were only preaching the gospel to the Jews.

They didn't believe that the Gentiles could be saved or should be saved. They had that prejudicial mindset. Peter had it too, but he goes. He goes to Cornelius' house and he said, "What purpose have you sent for me?" And Cornelius start telling him, "The other day I was in the spirit and I saw a vision of a man named Peter coming here to preach to us. And I was obedient to that heavenly vision, and so I need to hear the word that you have to say." And Peter begin to preach. He begin to encourage the people in Cornelius' house with the word of God. And the spirit of God fell on that house.

And Cornelius was converted, and Cornelius' house was converted, and God's name was glorified. You know what? It should have been a time of rejoicing. But before Peter could get back home to Jerusalem, word had already beat him there that Peter been up there talking to them Gentiles. He been up there in Cornelius' house. He been not only talking to them, but he even had a dinner with them, a meal with them. And so when Peter returns to Jerusalem, not only must you overcome if you're going to be an encourager your own prejudice, but you're going to have to get past the criticism of other folk.

Watch that now, look at Peter. Peter come home, he come back to Jerusalem, and the "circumcision," which was a small group of those who were supposed to have been converted, but people who believed that the only way you could become a Christian was to become a Jew first. So you had to go through the rituals of circumcision in order to be converted to Christianity. Now we know that that wasn't the truth, but that was their little limited mindset, and they were waiting on Peter. Soon as Peter hit Jerusalem: "How dare you? You going up there with them Gentiles. And we hear you not only went up there and shared the word with them, but you also sat down and ate a meal with them. How dare you? What kind of Jew are you?"

Man, I wish y'all could see the church like that because you got folk that don't want other people to have the gospel. You got people even in church that don't believe that God can save everybody. They don't look like us, they ain't from us, they ain't from around here. Why you want to talk to them? Because God, Jesus died on the cross to save everybody that you see. And everybody can be saved. Everybody won't be saved because everybody won't hear and everybody won't believe, but it's our job to be an encourager. You hear me?

So Peter has to overcome the criticism. How does he do it? He just simply tells the truth. He said, "Look y'all, I was down in Joppa, I was at Simon the tanner's house, and I saw a vision where God let down this great sheet, and God told me don't call anything he made unclean." So I could not resist the heavenly vision. Who you think I am? I can't push back against God. And beside he said there was six other men who went with me, and they all could tell you that when I begin to share the word of God with those Gentile men, the spirit of God fell on them just like the spirit of God fell on us.

And they had to leave Peter alone. So my brothers and sisters, you can overcome criticism, even from folk in church, even from folk in your family, even when other people are trying to dog you out and telling you who ought to be saved and who ought not to be saved. Just remember that they somebody too. How many know that out of one blood God created all mankind? And everybody needs somebody sometime. Hello somebody. And sometimes you might be the one that God has chosen. Because this might be the person that’s working right there beside you. This might be the person that you spend more time with than you spend with anybody else.

And how dare you hold back the encouragement that they need? So here we go. If you're going to be an encourager, you got to overcome prejudice, you got to be able to overcome your particular criticisms that may come. But here it is, thirdly: you got to be willing to accept new assignments. New assignments. Yeah, you've been going through the same routine, you know what you've been doing, but God can do something different. See, what happened now, while Peter was up in Joppa and in Caesarea preaching, other folk who were experiencing the persecution that was going on in Jerusalem from guys like Saul when he first start, they start scattering too.

See, God knows how to move us into new assignments. He had said, Jesus had said, go into all of the world and preach the gospel, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and teaching them to observe everything I commanded you. But those folk wanted to stay right there in Jerusalem. So God let a little trouble break loose. And when trouble begin to break loose in Jerusalem, folk begin to scatter. And when they begin to scatter, they carried with them the gospel that they had learned. And so word, some of the folk went as far north, man, getting out of Jerusalem. Now this is about seven years after Pentecost now.

And seven years from now, by now, the gospel has gone through Samaria and now is going up into the northern part of Syria, which is where the city of Antioch is. Some of the men went to Cyprus, which was along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and there was Phoenicia and Tyre, and others would take ships and board and go across the Mediterranean to the isle of Cyprus. And all up in there, people were receiving the gospel. And some of the men that left Jerusalem begin to preach to people from Cyrene and who were Greek-oriented. Now they were moving beyond their prejudice and taking the gospel to other races now.

And a little church begin to spring up in the city of Antioch. And guess what? When word got back down to Jerusalem that the folk in Antioch are receiving the word and they're pagans, they're Gentiles, some of those Jews got a little upset. And they said, "We better send somebody up there and see what's going on." Hallelujah. They chose another man. This time it wasn't Peter, this time it was a man named Barnabas. God always got the right man for the right assignment. And may I tell you, that just might be you.

Look, if some of those hard-hearted, hateful Jews had gone to Antioch, they would have gone up there with the wrong attitude, with the wrong mindset, and they would have poured cold water all on the new development of young Christians who had just been witnessed to. So God needed a special encourager. And this man, whose name is Barnabas, was just the right man. Barnabas, when he comes to the forefront of scripture in Acts Chapter 4, his name is Joseph. But no one called him Joseph. They called him by his nickname, and his nickname was Barnabas, which means "son of encouragement."

The boy had a natural thing about himself on knowing what to say, when to say, and how to say. He was primed for the assignment, and God chose him. Can I tell you that God doesn't make mistakes? You may think that you're the wrong person for the given assignment, and you're sitting at the park and this boy sitting next to you, or this man sitting next to you and your boys out on the field playing. God has parked you right there because you're the right man. You, sister girl, you're sitting at the doctor's office or you're sitting in the salon and they can't get to you yet, and you're sitting right next to sister girl, and her heart is in her hand and you don't even know it.

But God has put you right there. Let me help you understand what I'm talking about. Henry Blackaby, in his book called "Knowing and Experiencing God," said that when God puts you in the right place, it becomes known as a "crisis of belief." You'll know you're in the right place because somehow the conversation is going to come up about God, about Jesus, about church, or something is going to trigger that opening that could be there. And you'll be saying, "No, that ain't me. I ain't going to say nothing." God has put you right there. You are the right person for the assignment.

And what you have to learn to do is believe that God has put you right there, whether you're in the grocery store behind somebody, whether you're in the doctor's office and both of y'all waiting on your treatment. Come on here, don't you pretend. God will set you up. You need to understand that your witness assignment is not limited to a pulpit or to a church environment. Jesus' best assignment was on the road sitting at the well of Samaria of Sychar when he talked to the woman that came out of the village. His second greatest assignment was preached at night when Nicodemus, a religious leader, came to him at night one-on-one.

God will set you up, sometimes where it's just you and her, or you and him, and you are there to be the person that God needs to be the encourager. So Barnabas accepts the new assignment, and he goes up to Antioch. Now listen at what the scripture says about Barnabas, Verse 23: when he came, he saw the grace of God, and was glad, and he exhorted them with all purpose of heart that they would be encouraged to cleave unto the Lord. Look at Verse 24 because here is his description: for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost, and of faith, and much people was added unto the Lord. He was the right man for the right assignment.

He was because he had the Holy Ghost living on the inside. And that was his testimony to God that, "God, I'm available to you." He had the Holy Spirit living. He was a good man, which was his outward testimony to everybody else that, "I'm approachable. I don't have a bad attitude. I'm not lost, I'm not hung up on things everybody else is hung up on." And he was a man who's full of faith, which was his testimony to say to himself that, "I believe that this is God's assignment just for me." Man, you got to have those three ingredients. When you got those three ingredients, you can be an encourager.

When you got the Holy Ghost living on the inside, you know God put you there. When you have an outward goodness and a genuine willingness to be open to new people and to other folk, you know God has put you there. When you have faith to believe that the word of God is true and that everybody you meet is somebody that can be saved or need to be encouraged in some kind of way, then you can be an encourager. So look at what Barnabas does. He goes into the church meeting and he sees these handful of young, new Christians. And what does he do? He encourages.

The scripture said he exhorts them. He has the right spiritual gift, and that is the gift of preaching. The gift of encouragement is a wonderful gift. I can't tell you how many times God has used me to encourage. Man, sometimes all a person need is "let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me." Sometimes a person need to hear, "trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding. But in all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your path." Sometimes a person need to hear "God is our refuge and strength, a present help in the time of trouble."

Sometimes a person need to hear God is on your side. And when God is for you, who can be against you? Sometimes somebody need to hear "no weapon formed against you can prosper, and every tongue that rises against you is defeated in judgment." Sometimes a person need to just know that the Lord is your shepherd and you don't have to want, that God will take care of you no matter what. Whatever betide, God will take care of you. We need to be encouraging because somebody need it. Don't you need it sometimes? Don't you need when your heart is heavy, when your heart is broken, to hear a right voice at just the right time?

Someone to put their hand on your shoulder to say, "Hang in there." That's what Barnabas does. He goes into the meeting, he see that God has sincerely moved on these men hearts, and their lives are changing, and that they are new in the faith. And he exhorts them. He encourages them. What did he say? He said one thing. He said to them, "Cleave unto the Lord." In other words, what he said: "Hold on. Hold on to God's unchanging hand. Build your hopes on things eternal and hold on to God's unchanging hand." Anybody ever been told to hold on? Did it come at the right time?

How many know that there are times when you be ready to give up? There been times when life can get so ugly and you can become so depressed? Depression is real, despondency is real. You can be so low that you can't hear nobody pray. But to have somebody to say, "Hang on in there. Cleave to the Lord." If you're going to help a new Christian, that's what you need to tell him: "Hang in there, baby. Keep trusting God. Keep reading the word." How many know that young people, young Christians don't know the word like you? And they don't need your theology. They don't need to know about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

They don't need to know about his omnipotence and his omnipresence. Sometimes they just need to know the Lord is right there with you. And he'll help you if you trust him and never doubt. And that's what Barnabas did. He said to those people, "Cleave unto the Lord. Hold on." Man, I promise you, that's encouragement. Look at somebody right now and tell them, "Hold on." Tell somebody else, look at another person, say, "Hold on. It's going to be all right." You don't know who you talking to. The person you just spoke to might be someone who's at the end of the road.

Should never forget, man, one Sunday we was at the old church, and I was preaching about who's in a crowd. And at the end of service, I was at the back door like I be, and I was shaking hand, and a man came up to me. He said, "Sir," he said, "You don't know me." He said, "I've never been to this church before in my life." He said, "As a matter of fact, I don't even know how I got here." He said, "I got a .38 on my seat, and I told the Lord I'm going to give him one chance more to save me, that he better send me somewhere. And I found this church and you were talking about suicide and who's in the crowd, and you didn't know that I was in the crowd."

And he said, "And you blessed me. You helped me. Now I think I can make it." Man, you just don't ever know. Be an encourager. Be an encourager. Tell somebody, tell your children sometimes that you can make it. Sometimes they're ready to give up. Other people can be so cruel. The criticism can be so strong. Tell your husband, tell your wife they can make it. Tell your siblings they can make it. Tell your friends they can make it. Tell your neighbor, "Hold on." You don't ever know what another person is going through and where another person is. But God knows.

And that's why he assigns you to the place that he does, because he knew that Barnabas would be just the right guy. He knew the kind of heart Barnabas had. What kind of heart did he have? He was a generous man. Barnabas early on had had property. And when there was a problem, Barnabas sold his property and laid the proceeds at the apostles' feet so that they could go ahead. Barnabas knew what kind of city Antioch was. He knew some geographic understanding. He knew that Antioch was the third-largest city in the whole Roman province.

He knew that there were more than 6,000 people who lived in the city of Antioch. He knew that Antioch had become the capital of that part of Syria. And he also knew that there was a temple there in Antioch, a temple where they worshiped the goddess Daphne. And there was a 10-mile square radius around the temple to Daphne. And Barnabas knew that there were prostitutes and sacred priestesses who worked the temple of Daphne. And he knew that many of the citizens of Antioch had become gripped by the debauchery that was in Antioch. And he recognized that God's hand had fallen upon a handful.

And a new church had come, and it would have been so easy for them to have slipped right back into the old way. And so he was the right man to step in at the right time to say, "Cleave unto the Lord. Hold on to what you got. You don't have to look back, you don't have to go back, you don't have to turn around." And guess what? They received Barnabas. Why? Because Barnabas was one of them. Barnabas had grown up not far from Antioch, just across the river in Cyprus on the island. So he understood their language, he understood their walk, he understood their talk.

God will bring you sometimes full circle. And it's believed by theologians that one of those men who had founded that church in Antioch was somebody that Barnabas had shared the gospel with himself early on. Won't God do it? Won't God bring people back in your life? Folk that you long forgot about, people that you met early on. People, if you're a teacher, if you're an educator in here, you know God will do it. You met them as a child, but then you meet them as an adult, and they say to you, "Oh, I remember you. You blessed me, you helped me, you were my teacher, you put something in my mind, you put something on my heart."

Man, how many know people come back to you in years late? "You were my Sunday school teacher. You went to my church. You were the person in my community that I looked up to, and I just want to tell you thank you." God will do it. Barnabas looked around and he saw the great need, and he saw the massive opportunity that existed in Antioch. So he leaves for a little while. He doesn't go back to Jerusalem, he doesn't go to Cyprus to go back home, but he goes to Tarsus because there was a man in Tarsus whose name was Saul, who had been a persecutor but now had been converted to Christianity.

And Barnabas knew that Saul had the gifts. He had the gift of teaching. He could relate because he had been a thug himself. He could hang with the people because he had been a persecutor, because he had been a lowlife, and because he knew that God took a nobody and made a somebody out of him. He knew that Paul would be the perfect companion to join him on a teaching crusade. And he went to Tarsus and he brought back Saul. And they begin to teach for a whole year at the church at Antioch. And yes, at first, it was Barnabas and Saul. But as God begin to grow in Saul and his gifts begin to increase under the tutelage of Barnabas, the script got flipped.

And it became Paul and Barnabas. Paul put down his Jewish name and he took up his Greek name. He took up Paul the Apostle. And everywhere they went from then on, it was Paul and Barnabas because God knew how to put the right man in the right place for the right assignment to do some serious encouragement. I'm just trying to tell you, when you leave out of here today, wherever you go, know that God's hand is on you. And God is sending you, sir. God is sending you, ma’am. God is sending you, brother or sister, on a new assignment. And you're to go everywhere and tell everybody about somebody who can save anybody.

Oh, God will do it. And let me tell you something: and while you at the work of trying to encourage somebody, let me tell you, God won't let you outdo him. He'll fix it so that there be somebody there who'll encourage you. I remember when I was a young deacon in the South Hilton church. And we would have to go out and visit the sick. And I used to go and visit one of the senior members of the church at that time who had been a child who had mentored. She's one of the first female principals that I remember. Her name was Lucille Boyd. And Lucille Boyd had been the principal of Camlan Lane for a number of years.

But now in her senior days, arthritis and other kinds of ailments had her bedridden. And I used to love personally to go to see Miss Boyd. And I'd go in Miss Boyd's room to visit with her and to pray with her. But she had a way of doing what I did not expect. I'd grab her feeble hand and I'd start to pray, and I'd pray my little prayer that I had rehearsed. And I'd get through with it and I'd say amen, and she said, "Now Wesley, before you go, let me talk to you." And man, she'd start talking to me and start encouraging me and telling me things. Boy, and before I know it, I was ready to go out of that room and set the world on fire because what I thought I was doing got done to me.

Is there anybody here who's ever gone on an assignment for God with the expectation of blessing somebody else, and you end up being the one who got blessed instead? You went to encourage, but you end up becoming encouraged. That's what God will do for men and women and boys and girls who become encouragers. Can I give you my encouragement and I'm out? That I've been covered, and I'm encouraged that I've been covered. See, I could have lost my mind so many times. The enemy has come against me, he's attacked my body, he's attacked my ministry, but thank God that God covered me.

Anybody here ever been covered by God? When Jesus went to the cross and he shed his blood, his blood covers me. His blood covers you. You are somebody. You are somebody special today. You are blood-washed son and daughter of the Most High God. And God wants you to go forth and tell your story. And as you tell your story, be ready for somebody else's story because their story will bless you. Doors of the church open. Doors open any time during the singing of the song. Give God your heart, give one of these your hand. And let's begin a great walk. Come on, sir, say it.

Guest (Male): Well, the enemy came against me, talked about me, attacked my body and my ministry. But what God ordained, he will maintain. I’m grateful he covered me. Come on, everybody, let’s sing the song. He covered me. Hands of protection are all around me. If not for your grace and your mercy, thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. You covered me. Oh, let me sing it again. I could have lost my mind, wanted to give up so many times, but God was my anchor, a consistent way-maker. Yes, I’m grateful. God covered me.

Well, the enemy came against me, he talked about me, attacked my body and my ministry. But what God ordained, yes, he will maintain. I’m grateful, he covered me. Come on, everybody, let’s sing. You covered me. Hands of protection are all around me. If not for your grace and your mercy, thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. You covered me. I failed so many times, but your love divine, you touched this soul of mine and restored me.

You covered me. Hands of protection all around me. If not for your grace and your mercy, thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. You covered me. Oh God, we thank you for your covering grace. We thank you for your covering grace. We thank you for your hands of protection all around us. We know that when the enemy comes in like a flood, you lift up our standard. No weapon formed against us shall ever, ever prosper.

You covered me. Hands of protection around me. Your grace and mercy covered me. I could have lost my mind, wanted to quit many times. But God, what you ordained, I’m a witness you will maintain. You covered me. Hands of protection around me. Your grace and mercy covered me. You covered me. Hands of protection around me. Your grace and mercy covered me. You covered me. Hands of protection around me. Your grace and mercy covered me. You covered me. Hands of protection around me. Your grace and mercy covered me.

Dr. Michael W. Wesley Sr.: Clap your hands all you people and tell the Lord thank you. Aren't you glad that the Lord covered you? Yeah. You know God will give you an assignment. He'll give you a new assignment, and he knows that you can't handle it by yourself. He'll give you the right gifted people to come along beside you to help you with that assignment. He got a Paul for you that he is already equipped. You just be faithful in what he gives you. Be that encourager. Overcome your prejudice. We got black people that need Jesus, we got white people that need Jesus, we got Mexican people that need Jesus, we got Japanese and Chinese.

You know, we got older people who need Jesus and younger people who need Jesus. We need to be mentors, we need to be encouragers. Encourage somebody today. God bless you is our prayer. We're going to bring our service to a close. We're going to sing the old hymn, "Higher Ground."

Narrator: Hope you enjoyed the broadcast. You have been listening to a message from the Greater Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, where we are reaching the world for Christ. Located at 2135 Jefferson Avenue Southwest, Birmingham, Alabama, 35211. For a copy of this message, you can reach us at 205-925-9750 or 925-9751, or visit us on the web at www.greatershiloh.org. For another uplifting message, we invite you to join us for our next broadcast.