← Back to the Bible Podcast
Back to the Bible Podcast
Episode 111: Acts 15:22-16:24
00:30:11
In this episode we consider the beginning of Paul's second preaching journey.
Loading summary
Transcript1 lines
- [00:01]
A
Back to the Bible. Let it be our plea. God's Word alone, our authority, every word, every step in the name of Christ. Back to the Bible for the way of life. Welcome to today's period of Bible study. We are thankful for every opportunity that we have to engage in a consideration of God's Word. And our prayer is that we indeed go back to the Bible for everything that we have to say with regards to how to follow Jesus. Because it is in the Bible and in the Bible alone, that God has revealed his will for us. And what we want to do is to make sure that every part of our life, not only in the congregations that we're a part of, though that's certainly not insignificant, but every part of our life, our thoughts, our words, and our actions, are shaped by the Scripture. And of course, we want to evaluate the teachings that the world offers with regard to what it takes for somebody to be saved and what local congregations should look like and what our worship should be. All of that we want to evaluate and deal with, but we want to make sure that we're not leaving any aspect of our life untouched, unchallenged, unchanged, untransformed by the fact that we have named Jesus Christ as Lord. Today I want to continue our study of the Book of Acts. And I believe that we're ready for the end of chapter 15, and we're going to make our way into the section that we sometimes call the second missionary journey of Paul. And we'll talk about that as we go. Now, maybe you have a Bible close at hand. If you do, that's great. And you can follow along in the text with us and you can evaluate what we have to say. It may be that you don't have a Bible. If you don't, then you can probably have one on your phone, but you can listen carefully and go back and evaluate what we have to say and just make sure that what you're doing is you are comparing us to what the Scriptures say, and we want to be clear and we want to be helpful. And if there's any place where maybe you don't disagree, but you don't understand what we're talking about, we'd like to clarify. And if there's a place where we are clear and you think we're wrong about that, then we want to make sure that we are compared with Scripture in a positive and favorable way, and we will make whatever adjustments need to be made. That's our prayer. We want to be changeable not by the words of men, but by the Word of God. And we want you to be willing to put yourself to the same test. And we want to have good discussions about God's work. So you can reach out to us@backtothebiblepodcast.com backtothebiblepodcast.com and we would love to hear from you there. So I'm ready for the end of Acts 15. And if you'll remember in the Acts 15 what we did is we talked about when we disagree. But to put ourselves in the context this group, we need to remember what the particular disagreement was that they were having to wrestle with. And that disagreement was the idea that the Gentiles needed to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses. But what we've got is we've got Paul and Barnabas who want to go back out, and they want to make sure that the brethren are encouraged. Let me note here that in verse 22 of chapter 15 they send out a letter. And I think we mentioned this in our study of Acts 15, but I want you to see that they say that we have heard that there are some who've gone out that we gave no instruction to. They've disturbed you, unsettling your souls and said in verse 25 it seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore we will send Silas and Judas, and they themselves will report the same things by word of mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from sexual immorality, from which, if you keep yourselves, you will do well. Farewell. So they are sent away. Verse 30. They went to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter, and when they read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. And both Silas and Judas, also being prophets themselves, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with a lengthy message. And after they had spent time there, they were sent away from the brothers in peace to those who had sent them. I take that to be Silas and Judas. Verse 34 is in certain contexts included. Some texts don't include it, but I think we'll understand why in just a second. But in verse 34. But it seemed good to Silas to remain there. But Paul and Barnabas spent a long time in Antioch teaching and preaching with many others. Also the word of the Lord. So what happens is Paul and Barnabas make their way back. They go to Antioch and. And as they go, what we've got is them going back to Antioch. They are encouraging the folks there to make sure that they understand what is required of them and what's not required of them. And there is rejoicing and there's continual teaching that is taking place as they continue there in Antioch. Now, in verse 36, what we've got is we have this. Now, after some days, Paul said to Barnabas, let us return and visit the brothers in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord and see how they are. And Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark along with them also, but Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along, who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. And there was such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and left, being committed by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. And he was traveling through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. Do you see the disagreement that Barnabas and Paul have? So they want to go and check on the brothers and sisters from their first trip, but Barnabas wanted to take John, Mark. Now, do you remember that Mark had left them at Antioch of Pisidia on their first missionary journey? And we don't have a. We don't have a record of, of the reason why. We, we don't know why he left. Was he afraid? Were there issues back at home? Whatever it was, it was not significant enough in Paul's mind to have merited going back home because he didn't want him to abandon them again on the next trip, evidently. So this is a situation where Barnabas and Paul went their separate ways. And so Barnabas took Mark to work with him among the Cyprus churches, and Paul takes Silas. Now, in verse 34, it says that Silas remained there in Antioch. It is possible that he went back to Jerusalem with Judas, given the textual variant there. But regardless, Paul takes Silas. And that makes sense because Silas would have been one of those representatives from the Jerusalem congregation who would have been able to speak to what Paul was saying about the circumcision matter that was dealt with in chapter 15. But Paul takes solace and they go north through Syria and Cilicia, and that would be the areas north of Antioch and moving into what is today modern Turkey, headed towards Galatia. So you can see that they're going back to the area where they went on their first missionary journey, it looks like Barnabas is going to focus on the Cyprus area. That is where Cyprus was, where Barnabas was from. He was from Cyprus originally. And then Paul and Silas are going to go north and they're going to go through Syria and Cilicia and they're going to make their way over to Galatia as well. Now, I know last time when we looked at Acts 15, we talked about when we disagree. And what happens in Acts 15 with regards to the circumcision disagreement is that they come to a unified understanding of God's word. But here you have Paul and Barnabas disagreeing and they go their separate ways. Does this violate what we talked about in Acts 15? I think this is an important passage to think about. One thing that I would say is it does not seem to me that there are lasting remaining antagonisms between Paul and Barnabas and John. Mark. For example, in second Timothy, chapter four, the very end of Paul's ministry, Paul commends Mark for his work in the Lord. Now, at this moment, it does not seem like Paul thinks he is trustworthy enough to go with them. But later on, that attitude will not be present in Paul. He will think of Mark as a valuable asset. Now, what that shows us is this is not a matter of Paul doubting Mark's condition before the Lord. It's not a matter of false doctrine. It was just a matter of personal reliability. I think the idea here that Paul and Barnabas go separate ways is not a matter of them dividing within the Lord. They're not abandoning the gospel. One of them is not promoting a false doctrine. One of them is not doing something that is in error. Rather, they are going to do work in different places because they had different personal preferences with regards to Mark's reliability. Now, maybe Barnabas is being encouraging in giving Mark another opportunity. And perhaps Mark. Paul is trying to hold Mark to a higher standard because of his failure. But both of them have a reason for why they are doing this. And it seems to me that both of them are successful in accomplishing the work that God intended for them to do. Now, I would hope that in every instance when there is a personal disagreement that we might work it out and be able to be unified in our work. But that was not the situation here with Paul and Barnabas. I don't think I'd read in the text any condemnation of either side in this work that they do. It seems to me that both of them are able to continue in faithful work to the Lord even though they go in different directions. Now, all that is to say is Paul and Barnabas are going to go to Cyprus and to the north, Syria and Cilicia. They are going to be sharing the same message to each one about the message from Acts 15. And then they're going to continue to do some preaching and teaching in other places. And that will continue in chapter 16. So we come to chapter 16, and Paul comes back to Derbe and Lystra. Let's read here in verse 1 of 16. Now, Paul also arrived at Derby and at Lystra, and behold a disciple there named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, and he was well spoken of by the brothers who were in Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted this man to go with him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. Now, while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering the decrees which had been decided upon by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem for them to keep. So the churches were being strengthened in the faith and were abounding in number daily. So Paul comes back to Derbe and Lystra, and there at Lystra, he finds a young disciple named Timothy. Now, it's difficult to know exactly how old Timothy was, but it would not be out of the realm of possibility. In fact, it's probably pretty likely that Timothy is in his late teens, early 20s, when Paul will write a long time later about Timothy. A letter to Timothy. He said that he needed to abstain from youthful lust. So is Paul still youthful when he writes 1 Timothy to him? All that is to say is, Timothy is a young man at this point. And we're going to see the work that Paul calls Timothy to do. And it's going to be a lot of tasks, heavy work as a young man. But he's highly recommended by the brethren in Lystra and Iconium. And so Paul takes him, uses him as a companion. But even though Timothy's mother was Jewish, his father was Greek, and Timothy had never been circumcised. Now you might say, well, didn't we just have that discussion? Didn't we just have the discussion that it was not necessary for someone who was a Gentile to be circumcised in order to be right with the Lord? Absolutely, we just had that discussion. And I don't think that it was necessary for his salvation for Timothy to be circumcised. And I will explain that in just a moment. But what I want you to see is that Timothy is so interested in serving the Lord that he's even willing to do that. But there's an important note to make here. Later, Jewish teachers in Jerusalem are going to try to force another young partner of Paul, Titus, to be circumcised, and Paul will refuse. So why is it that Paul would allow Timothy, in fact, make Timothy be circumcised, and then Titus, when they try to circumcise him, he absolutely prohibits it. Paul's pattern seems to be that if following some old covenant practice will help draw Jews toward Jesus, he is on board, as with the case of Timothy. And what I mean by that is not necessarily that Paul feels obligated to do that, but Paul is a Jew. And Paul does meet many of the expectations of a Jewish person. And when he is going to be among Jewish people, he is going to make sure that nothing that he is doing is violating principles that there's nothing wrong with that will help them to draw Jews toward Jesus. Now, Timothy had not been circumcised, but had a Jewish mother, and there were going to be Jewish people who perhaps would have limited his access to places that Paul would go preach, like the synagogues. And so Paul is saying, in order for you to be most effective in the work, you're going to have to go through this procedure. And Timothy does that. Now, later, with regards to Titus, I think we see that if a Gentile or a Greek is being taken and being placed back under the law of Moses, which was never intended for them, he would refuse, as was the case of Titus. So what I want you to see is that if it's helping Jews come out from under Judaism only and be committed to Christ, and if it takes a Gentile and puts it back under the law, there's a different reaction on Paul's part. And I think that's helpful to see. Now, of course, it was important that even as Paul is doing this, that these cities know the decision rendered at Jerusalem. This strengthened the congregations and helped them grow numerically. So, interestingly, Timothy is being circumcised. And what are they doing? They are still teaching what was being taught in Acts 15, that it was not necessary for a person to be circumcised in order to be right with the Lord, especially with regards to the Gentiles. Now, in verse six, we have an interesting passage. Sixteen, verse six. And they passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the Word in Asia. And after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them. And passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas, and a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him and saying, come over to Macedonia and help us. And when he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the gospel to them. Now, as they traveled, they had been forbidden to speak in certain regions. Now, we do not have clear indicators as to why, but what we can see is that God was directing their steps. Now, Paul in the night had a vision of a Macedonian calling for help. Now, Macedonia would be just across the Aegean Sea from where he was north of Greece. And Macedonians, there was one who Paul saw in a vision calling for help. Now, Paul saw that as that cry for help, as God calling for him to preach the Gospel. That is the great help that they had to offer. I want you to think about that. If you received a letter from someone in a foreign country that said, we really need help, how would we react? Think about how our government would react. Think about how churches would react. Think about how you would react if you received a message from someone in a foreign country that said, we really need help, what would you assume they needed? I think often we would assume that what they needed was money or food or military aid or health care or something like that. Now, please don't misunderstand. I'm not opposed to food at all, not opposed to good health care. I'm not opposed to money in general. I'm not opposed to military protection. But here's what I want us to see. That Paul had the thing they really needed. And when they say, come over and help us, his first conclusion is not, let's raise money so we can send an aid package of food and clothing. His response is, it's time to go preach the Gospel. That is the great help that he had to offer. Do you see that? As local congregations, as Christians, we need to keep that in mind. We need to understand that the great help that local churches have to give is the preaching of the gospel. When someone calls us for help, that's the help we have to give. Now, I want you to notice there in verse 10, note the use of the word we and the word us. We sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. That is the first time in the book of Luke, excuse me, the book of Acts, where the author includes himself in the participation. It seems to be that Luke, the author of Acts, was picked up at Troas and he joins Paul's preaching team and travels with them. Now, we're going to note that use of we in the book because then we'll be able to see where Luke gets left to do other work along the way. But right here is the first place where that we word is being used in order to connect Luke to the travels. I'm not sure if I ever would have noticed that under normal circumstances, but somebody did, and I think it's very helpful in seeing what's going on. Now what we have here is that Paul leaves from Troas and he goes across the sea into Macedonia. And his usual habit was to go to the synagogue of a city. But look what happens when he comes in Macedonia. So setting sail from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace and on the day following to Neapolis and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony. And we were staying in this city for some days. And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer. And sitting down, we began speaking to the women who had assembled. And a woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshipper of God was listening, whose heart the Lord opened to pay attention to the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay. And she prevailed upon us. So Paul's usual habit was to go to the synagogue of a city. But in Philippi, it doesn't seem that there were enough Jewish men to qualify for a synagogue to be built. But there was a group of women, Jewish women that went to the riverside to pray to the Lord on the Sabbath. Now one of them was named Lydia. Now she was a purple seller and a God worshiper. So Luke tells us that the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to the words of Paul. Now some people have suggested that this points to the work that God must do on a heart because of our hard hearted, total depravity, total depravity in this woman. Now certainly she needed the forgiveness of sins, but she was a worshiper of God. God opened her heart through the words that Paul was teaching. That's how the Lord went to work on her heart through the message of Paul. Now, upon her baptism, you can notice this in verse 15. Upon her baptism, she urged Paul and the others to stay at her house, if that is with the idea of sense. They saw her as someone who is faithful, and they went with her. So the establishment of the church at Philippi that we're going to read some bit about down the road, we have a letter written to them. The church at Philippi that Paul was extremely encouraged by was established through preaching to these women on the riverside. And that is going to be a significant starting place. Now, in verse 16, it happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a servant girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune telling. Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, these men are slaves of the Most High, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation. And she continued doing this for many days. But being greatly annoyed, Paul turned and said to the spirit, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to leave her. And it left at that very moment. But when her masters saw that their hope of profit had left, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. And when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, these men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, and are proclaiming customs that are not lawful for us to accept or observe, being Romans. And the crowd joined together to attack them, and the chief magistrates, tearing their garments off of them, proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. And when they had inflicted many wounds, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely, who, having received such command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. Now, there's this demon possessed slave girl, and her masters were using her for profit, saying that she could bring, by her divination and fortune telling, being able to tell the future. Now, the Greek word behind what she was doing is often used to describe and condemn false prophecy and idol worshipers. Was she actually able to tell the future? I'm not sure. But as one older preacher has rightly said, only the true God holds the future in his hands. So this girl followed Paul and the rest of the teachers, saying they were servants of the most high God and they were proclaiming the way of salvation. Now, this bothered Paul because it was a demon making this proclamation. So he commanded the demon to come out. Now the slave owners are angry, and the leaders of Philippi are going to have them thrown into prison in the inner prison with their feet in the stocks. And that's going to set the tone for what happens next. But you'll have to wait for the next study in the Book of Acts. And until then, we bid you a pleasant good day. Back to the Bible. Let it be our plea. God's word alone, our authority. Every word, every step in the name of Christ. Back to the Bible for the way of life.