God’s purpose works itself out even through what may appear like a setback or a hindrance to the Gospel message.

Transcript:

Sometimes Christians part ways. Most of you here know that I, I grew up in this church. I've gone from the nursery to the pulpit. However, between those points, my path also went other in other directions. My family left this church when I was 12 years old, and I understood the reasons, it made sense to me, but as time went on, it seemed more regrettable, more regrettable to me, even if understandable. That was then and here I am now. Was it lost time? Hardly. God used the in-between, he used the parting of ways in, in my formation. My exposure to different churches broadened my vision of the church. And I have to say, like, that, that experience inspires my present efforts to unite pastors and churches in our area across denominations and different traditions for, for the sake of the gospel.

My participation in a youth group that was in my hometown, a youth group that was closely connected to my school, it gave me natural leadership opportunities that God used to reveal to me my, my call to pastoral ministry. And I'm confident that there's more besides that God did through my time away. And perhaps as you think back on your life, you can think of similar situations that God worked through.

God works in surprising ways, ways that defy how we would've drawn things up. And today's text reminds us of this even, even as it will also remind us of our own part in exercising prudence in order to promote the peace and purpose of God. So first we, we do look at verses 36 through 41, which conclude chapter 15 in Acts.

There, again, Luke tells us, some time later Paul said to Barnabas, let's go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and and see how they're doing. Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cypress, but Paul chose Silas and left. Commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia strengthening the churches.

So what we're entering upon here is the threshold of Paul's second missionary journey. And the purpose that Paul has in mind here is that he and Barnabas would go back to the churches that they had previously visited. You can't see all the towns listed here, but they went up into this area in Asia Minor, a little bit into the provinces of Cillica. And also, um, well that's part of the course that he took. He went through Syria and Cilicia and they're gonna head up into this, this area of Asia Minor in particular. Sounds like a great idea.

And it also reminds us too, that the purpose of Paul's missionary journeys was not strictly just about evangelism, bringing the gospel to people that hadn't heard it before. Yes, that was always part of his purpose, but it wasn't just about conversion. Discipleship is about leading those who come to believe in Christ into their full formation as followers of Jesus Christ. And so Paul says, we need to go back. We should see how they're doing. Make sure that they're, they, they are progressing well in the faith.

Sounds like a great idea, but there's a problem that emerges because Barnabas wants to take Mark, also known as John Mark along with them. Now, as we learn elsewhere, Mark is Barnabas's cousin actually, so there's a little bit of a family connection here. Now Paul doesn't want to take Mark with them though, because on their first journey when they got to Pamphylia, Mark deserted the mission. And we don't know why he left, but based upon how Paul's assessing things here, it wasn't really a favorable departure. Perhaps the journey just became too much for Mark and he wanted to go home. Now we can understand why Barnabas probably wants to bring him along beyond the relationship of him being his cousin. We know that Barnabas is one known for encouragement. That's literally what his, his name means. And we remember that back in Acts nine when Paul, at that time known as Saul, was first being introduced to the Apostles. He wasn't readily welcomed because he had been previously persecuting the church. Everyone was suspicious of him, and yet Barnabas advocated for him.

So we see that Barnabas has this special gift of kindness and trying to bring people along, bring people in. And so we see this present now as he's not giving up on Mark. We can appreciate that quality, quality about Barnabas. That's an important quality for us to have as, as Christians, as members of the church, not just easily giving up on people.

At the same time too, we can also understand Paul's concern here. Paul wasn't talking about Mark's membership in the church or anything like that. They were going on a very serious mission, wasn't a vacation. It, it's filled with all kinds of difficulties and hardships. And Paul's kind of evaluation of what ministry takes and what a mission like this would take is it's kind of like suiting up for warfare. In second Timothy two verses three through four, he says, join, he says to Timothy, join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer.

So again, this isn't like a vacation, it's more of like Lord of the Rings if you watch that, you're trying to get, you're trying to get to Mount Doom. This is, this is no joke. And so in Paul's evaluation, he's, he's thinking, I don't think this would really be best for us to, to bring him. Now maybe you can think about sort of differences you've had with people, maybe with, you know, within the church family before about things that matter and, but there's two different perspectives on it. And the thing that's just amazing about this whole situation is you can truly see both sides, and you can see that in some sense, both of them were right. You can see that Paul was probably right, that Mark had some growing to do, potentially, maybe he wasn't going to be ready for this journey. And yet Barnabas was also right that we shouldn't give up on this guy.

And so they are led to take different courses because they just firmly just disagree on, on this. Now Luke doesn't tell us how things kind of leave off with their relationship, but as we go forward in scripture there seems like there's some indication that they're on friendly enough terms, we just don't, the Bible doesn't tell us every single thing we might want to possibly know. So we shouldn't assume that they're enemies from hence forth or anything like that. And part of the reason why we might come to this conclusion is 'cause Paul's evaluation of Mark changes later on. And just to remind you, Mark is the, is the author of the Gospel of Mark, so pretty significant fellow to put together that gospel.

In Colossians four 10, Paul says, my fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. You've received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him. Well, that sounds like a pretty positive evaluation. Paul's encouraging Mark to be welcomed. And second Timothy four 11. He says, only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you because he is helpful to me in my ministry. It's like, wow. Talk about a big change. Firstly, he doesn't want to have this guy coming with him on a mission, and now later on in his ministry he's saying, this guy is helpful.

And so what this passage really kind of illustrates for us, it gives us an example of is how God's providence, his sovereign purpose can be at work even through the midst of differences. A lot of times we think, oh, people have different opinions on things, like this is a disaster. Every, everything's ruined. It's not the case. God can work through differences. You'll remember the, the verse in Isaiah 55: 9, which is familiar to many of us, says the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. God can see what we cannot see. He has a plan that can defy our greatest imagination. And so Barnabas and Mark go to Cyprus and Paul and Silas, they go to Syria and Cilicia.

And so what we can kind of see here, I mean, we don't, again, we can't even comprehend everything that God did through this parting of ways. But one basic thing that we can kind of just gather, just looking at the map is, wow, they're covering more territory this way. And so we can see how God might have a purpose there in that. Now, one example of God's providence is that God, Paul's path seems to open a door for a young man to enter the ministry with him. So we move on to Acts Chapter 16, and we'll just be looking at verses one through five today. It says, Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother, his mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek. The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in J...