But God Meant it for Good
Acts 15:36-6:10
Introduction
If you recall, the last time we are in Acts 15, we saw the Jerusalem Council. There the apostles affirmed the Apostle Paul’s contention that the Gentiles could be saved as Gentiles, apart from keeping the Law of Moses.
Now, Paul has returned to Antioch along with Barnabas, and two other disciples, Judas and Silas. They’ve come back to explain the Jerusalem decree. They’ve come to explain that circumcision is no longer required of Gentiles because it would be a violation of the gospel.
It would be a violation of justification by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. Paul had won this great and important victory for the gospel. It was made clear that works have no place in justification – our being made right with God. It’s an important point, and Paul will make a great deal of it. He’s already made a great deal of it as he’d written a letter to the Galatians, who are equally troubled about this issue.
And now a year has gone by, maybe more than that. Verse 36 says, “After some days….” Its likely that the winter 48 AD has come and gone and now it’s the spring of 49 AD. And spring is the time people usually traveled. So it’s been about 14-15 months since Paul and Barnabas were in Galatia.
A lot can happen in a year, and Paul is worried about the churches in Galatia. They had had these false teachers come through and confuse them about the nature of the gospel. He’s written to them, tried to encourage them. But now he’s worried about some of the other churches as well. What’s happened to them? Are they growing, are they doing well?
And so Luke tells us,
And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” [37] Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. [38] But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. [39] And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, [40] but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. [41] And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
[16:1] Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. [2] He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium. [3] Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. [4] As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. [5] So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily. (Acts 15:36-16:5)
As we look at this passage, we want to think about this conflict that rises up between these two servants of God and see how in his sovereignty and goodness, God works to further gospel and encourage his people.
1. God Uses Sinful Servants
Things start off well, don’t they? Luke says, And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” (15:36)
As John MacArthur says, they have the right passion and the right priorities – they want to exercise care for God’s people.
The problem in comes in how they are going to do it. Luke says, Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. [38] But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. [39] And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other.
It’s something of a tense moment. Here are these two great leaders of the church – Paul and Barnabas – and something that seems almost trivial has them at odds with each other. Luke calls it a sharp disagreement. This isn’t some polite conversation; they men are having words with each other. Tempers are flaring, voices are raised and both men are insisting that they know what is best.
All of this over one man – John Mark. So what’s the big deal? Why is Paul so unwilling to have him on the team? Well if you remember back when we looked at chapter 13, we saw the Holy Spirit directing the church at Antioch to set apart and send Paul and Barnabas as missionaries to the Gentiles.
And the first place they set for was the island of Cyprus, where Barnabas is from. There Luke tells us they pick up a young man named, John Mark. This was actually Barnabas’ cousin. Mark’s mother, Mary, was Barnabas’ aunt. He seemed okay to Paul then and he was brought onto the team.
From the island of Cyprus then they pay for passage on a ship and sail to the city of Perga in Pamphylia. And that’s the when the problem started. We don’t know why – it could have been the rigors of missionary life, it could have been a spoiled upbringing, it could have been fear, it could have been any number of things – but whatever the problem was, it caused Mark to say ‘I’m out of here.’ Again in chapter 13, Luke tells us John [Mark] left them and returned to Jerusalem.
That’s the issue herein chapter 15. Barnabas is saying, let’s give Mark another chance. Let’s take him with us again. And Paul is saying forget it! Are you crazy? There’s no way I’m taking that deserter with me on another trip. And, frankly, the most difficult thing in this passage is that Luke doesn’t tell us who is right in the argument.
Some think that these two leaders are arguing is a problem. It’s not a problem, it’s actually a help! It helps show that Luke isn’t making up all of this. He’s showing us real people. Furthermore, he isn’t white-washing these men either. He’s not hiding their faults from us. Luke says these guys were just like anyone else – sinners saved by God’s grace. And sometimes they still sinned.
The reason I think Luke doesn’t show who was right is because neither of them is really right. Think about Barnabas position for a minute. Let’s give him another chance. Look, Mark was young and inexperienced; he got scared. But he’s sorry he left us and things will be different. But surely, some of this is driven by family isn’t it? I mean we’re reading into this a little here, but I don’t think wrongly so. This is Barnabas’ cousin and no one likes to speak bad about family. Barnabas is likely making too littler of what happened.
And Paul knows it. After all you can hear him say, this isn’t some holiday. This is taking the gospel to the Gentiles. This is a mission that requires dedication, long-suffering, and endurance. Mark has already shown he’s not reliable. What happens if things go south and we really need him, but he runs home again? I can see Paul’s point. In fact, personal experience has taught me this the hard way! And yet, perhaps Paul is being too stubborn. Perhaps he’s being a little hot-headed and unforgiving in this world situation.
You see, there’s no clear answer. Both Barnabas and Paul have good points, but they are also making decisions with some sinfulness as well. If nothing else, can you being a Christian in Antioch looking at these two great men – men who led you to the faith, fighting and angry at one another? Can you imagine being Mark? I can almost see him standing off in the corner, red-faced with embarrassment knowing he’s caused this great rift between these two men.
As we read this, I think we should keep two things in mind. First, even the best of Christians are still sinners and are open to falling into such a situation. Now I know here at BBC, we would never act like this – this is the kind of problem other churches have, right? We should be wary of getting caught up into making decision based on our sinful and selfish reasonings. Kingdom-interest should guide our thinking, not self-interest.
At the same time, however, we shouldn’t think that our sin and our failures derail God’s plans. It’s not as if God saw Paul and Barnabas going at it and fell off his throne in heaven from shock.
Do you remember the story of Joseph? Out of jealousy, his brothers faked his death and sold him in slavery. Joseph suffers one hardship after another bouncing around from master to master until he eventually becomes vice-regent under the king of Egypt. In that position he is able to provide food for his family in the midst of the famine and sustain the people that would eventually become the nation of Israel.
And eventually Joseph’s brothers come to beg his forgiveness and do you remember what Joseph tells them? “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Gen 50:20).
In the mystery of God’s providence, even the wicked actions of sinful men are woven into the tapestry of God’s plan and used to bring about good. We see it Joseph’s life, we see it all through the Bible, and in Barnabas and Paul’s life as well.
What happens as a result of this disagreement? Now there is not one missionary team going out, there’s two. Instead there being only one gospel witness planting churches among the Gentiles, now there are two. God has a way of taking even the worst of man’s sin and turning into good for his purposes.
More than that, though, we also need to see that . . .
2. God Gives Second Chances
When I was younger, a local radio station used to play these little 5 minutes vignettes from a guy named Paul Harvey. He would always tell some true story and then at the end he would show how it tied into a famous person or event. He would always end by saying, ‘and now you know the rest of the story.”
Well, I would like us to take minute and see the rest of the story about Mark this morning. Mark wasn’t just any old disciples. You see it was Mark’s mother who supplied Jesus and his disciples with the upper room for their last supper.
Furthermore, after the supper, Mark went with Jesus and the other disciples to Gethsemane where Jesus spent the night praying. And when the soldiers came to capture Jesus, he fled along with the other disciples.
Later as Paul and Barnabas had set out on their first mission trip, Mark would have talked with his cousin, Barnabas and said ‘let me go with you.’ And he went with as far as the city of Perga, and then he left them.
You can imagine then, then, the kind of reason Mark has for wanting to prove himself now. He wants to go with them again so that he can show he is a reliable disciple; that he is committed to the task of taking the gospel of Christ to whole world.
But Paul has said no – it must have been a hammer bow to Mark. In all likelihood, Mark probably looked up to Paul – saw him as a spiritual hero. And now that hero was saying he was too immature to be of any use to him. It must have been difficult.
But how does it all turn out in the end? What happens to Mark? Was Barnabas right to take him with him? Well, we don’t know what happened with Mark on that mission trip. As he and Barnabas leave, the walk right out of the pages of Acts – we hear nothing else about them.
But what happened to John Mark? The next time we read about him is in Paul’s letter to the Colossians. That letter was written around AD 60, so it’s been around 10-11 years from now. Paul is in Rome John Mark is with him. In fact he says, “if he comes to you, welcome him . . . [he is] among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and [has] been a comfort to me.”
Then we read about Mark in Paul’s second letter to Timothy. That letter is Paul’s last; it’s his final words as he is waiting to be executed by the Romans. He is writing to tell Timothy to come and see him soon because he about to die. And he says “Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.”
Paul and Mark have not only been reconciled, but Mark has shown himself to be a faithful servant for the work of the gospel. It’s amazing that after such a heated disagreement with Paul saying, ‘he’s not going with me again’, the two are working together side-by-side with Paul now saying, “He’s very useful to me.”
But there’s more than that even. You know one time in seminary, we were in Sunday School and someone said, ‘I wonder why Peter never wrote a gospel.’ And I wanted to say, ‘he did, it’s just called Mark.’
You see, Mark wasn’t just useful to Paul, he actually get taken under Peter’s wing and is discipled by him. So much so that in 1 Peter 5, Peter calls Mark his son in the faith. And what is probably his greatest accomplishment is his writing of the Gospel of Mark – it’s the same Mark. He’s sat at the feet of Peter, worked alongside him, asked him about his time with Christ and writes his gospel account.
It’s amazing! Here’s a man who was a failure, a deserter, a quitter; a man who deserted Jesus and Paul in the hour of need. And that’s the man God chooses to pour out his grace upon. That is the man who God doesn’t give up on, but allows his to be strengthened and built up as a faithful servant for the gospel. This is the man God chooses to write The Gospel of Mark.
Some of you out there may feel like a deserter. You may feel like a quitter. Perhaps it’s some big sin that’s put you on the sidelines. Perhaps it’s been a series of small sins that has led you away from a close walk with God. Perhaps the cares of the world have become a priority in your life instead of the things of God.
Whatever the circumstances, you are kind of hanging back wondering, ‘what good am I to the kingdom of God?’ Maybe you’re hanging back asking yourself, ‘Can God use me? Can God use a failure like me?’
And of course, the answer is yes! The Bible says, God gives grace. That there is forgiveness with God. The promise is given to us, ‘draw near to God and he will draw near to you’ (Jas 4:8).
The God of the Bible is a God of second chances. Seconds and thirds and fourths and fifths. You cannot out sin the grace of God. So, if you find yourself like Mark did so many years ago, repent of your sin and turn back to God.
God delights to forgive the humble. He delights to take what appears to be useless and make it great in his kingdom. So this morning, turn to God and ask him for the chance to be useful again for the good of his church and the glory of his name.
3. God Provides for Ministry Success
Beginning at verse 40 Luke says, Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. [41] And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
Luke says that while Barnabas and Mark went back to Cyprus view the sea, Paul choose to take Silas with him and cross over the land through Syria and Cilicia.
If you remember from several week ago, when we looked at the first part of chapter 15, you will know that Silas was one of the men sent from Jerusalem to accompany Paul and the letter giving the judgment about Gentiles keeping the Jewish law. We are told that Silas was one of the best and the brightest and did much to encourage the church at Antioch with his teaching.
So Paul would have been very happy to have him along. But more than likely this trip was originally planned with three men in mind – Paul, Barnabas, and a third man. Perhaps Silas was Paul’s choice in the first place, because now they off with only two.
But then, look at what Luke writes in chapter 16, Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. [2] He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium. [3] Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. [4] As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. [5] So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.
God provides the third man. In fact, it seems to be someone Paul could not have better picked himself. Young Timothy we know from Paul’s letters to him was raised with the Scriptures. Specifically, his mother and grandmother were constantly teaching him the things of God. More than that though, they taught him about Christ.
Luke says Timothy is a disciple – he’s already a Christian. His mother and grandmother have not just taught him some moral ways of living, they have taught him of Jesus Christ, the Messiah that was promised and came to save sinners.
They would have showed him how the Scriptures foretold of how Christ would come and be the mediator needed between sinful man and a holy God. How Jesus Christ came as God in the flesh. How he died as a sacrifice to appease God’s wrath against his people’s sins. How by looking to Christ in faith, trusting him to make us right with God, would bring forgiveness and life.
Young Timothy has believed, he’s made Christ the savior of his life.
More than that though, he is half Jewish and half Gentile. In Timothy, Paul has found someone who will help bridge these two cultures as the gospel is preached. Paul says, ‘I want this guy with me!’ Timothy agrees to go with Paul.
And because he is half-Jewish, Paul has him circumcised so that he will not be a stumbling block to the other Jews he will encounter. He doesn’t do it out of pressure from them saying that Timothy isn’t saved. No because later he refused to circumcise Titus who is a Gentile. No, he does it so that Timothy will be able to have fellowship with the other Jews who would have considered him Jewish.
The last time Paul was in Lystra he was stoned and dumped out of the city like a piece of trash. This time, God has used the sinfulness of an argument to bring him back here and connect him with a godly young man who become Paul’s dearest friend and partner in ministry.
In his sovereign goodness, God provides exactly what Paul needs for his ministry. In fact, he provides it in ways that even couldn’t have predicted. God uses the sinful disunity between Barnabas and Paul to bring about a greater good.
And what was the result of this new team? Luke says “So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.” Not only were the churches themselves encouraged, but they were growing. The gospel was being proclaimed and people were getting saved.
Conclusion
When I went to my first Promise Keepers conference back in high school, I went with my church youth and music ministers and a deacon and we stayed in a couple’s home who lived near the where the conference was being held.
The husband was a very kind Christian man, not unpleasant, but had a very serious undercurrent to him. Later, I heard his testimony of how he came to faith. Years before he had been a drunkard. He didn’t drink out of depression or anxiety over life, he drank because he enjoyed it. He loved to party. And no matter how hard his family worked on him, he never would sober up.
Until one day he had come home drunk and turned around and was about to leave drunk. He got into his car turned the key and began to back down the driveway when he hit something. The man got out of the car to see what he’d hit and he saw his little 4-year old girl crushed under his car.
More than anything else in life, he loved his little girl and he had just ran over her in his drunkenness. He yelled for his wife to call 911, and picked up his daughter held her in his arms. As her life was quickly slipping away, she looked up and ‘Don’t be sad, Daddy, I forgive you.” Then she died.
That man was absolutely devastated. Up to this point, every argument, every conversation, every reason given to him to stop drinking he simply shrugged off. But this turned his life around. God used this terrible tragedy to crush his heart and bring him to faith in Jesus Christ.
Brothers and sisters, even in the worst of situations, God can bring about good. Knowing that gives us the confidence to press forward in the calling God has placed on our lives. Knowing that allows us to go to him in repentance, to endure hardship, and to share Christ with boldness and love.
