FROM DIVISION TO EXPANSION

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on March 8, 2023 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: March 8, 2023 from Acts 15:36-41

Theme: God is able to use disagreements among His workers to expand His work—if the disagreements are handled rightly.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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So far in our study of the Book of Acts, we have read the story of Paul’s first great missionary journey. It began in 13:1-3; when the Holy Spirit told the leaders of the church in Antioch, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (v. 2). That journey took them across the Isle of Cyprus; and then on into the regions of Pamphylia, Pisidia, and Cilicia. They preached in the cities of Pisidian, Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. There were many troubles along the way; but God brought Barnabas and Paul through them all. And by the end of Chapter 14, they were able to come back to Syrian Antioch—back to their missionary headquarters—and report that the work was completed. God “had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles” (14:27).

And as we now come to the end of Chapter 15, we find the story of the beginning of Paul’s second great missionary journey. The story of this second journey is told to us all the way to the latter verses of Chapter 18. And it too involves many troubles along the way. But one of the first troubles we see involves how it began—and how a division formed between the two missionaries. Luke tells us, in Acts 15:36-41;

Then after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing.” Now Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark. But Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work. Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus; but Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of God. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches (Acts 15:36-41).

Now; if the Bible were merely a product of human creativity alone, this story might not have been included. After all, why would anyone want the heroes in their story to be brought down in the readers’ estimation by such a strong disagreement that occurred between them? Wouldn’t the writer want to make the main characters appear as noble and as flawless as possible?

And yet, God wants us to know the truth about the Bible’s heroes. The second missionary journey didn’t begin in the nice and pleasant way that the first one began. The division between Paul and Barnabas over this disagreement of policy was so sharp that they went their separate ways. The team broke up. And yet, God used the conflict in such a way as to end up with—not just one—but two missionary teams going forth to minister the gospel to the gentile world.

This story shows us that such disagreements do not have to be fatal to the work of God. In fact, they may be a way that God leads His workers forth. As this passage shows us, our sovereign God is able to use disagreements among His workers to expand His work—if the disagreements are handled rightly.

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Now; the context of the beginning of this story is suggested to us in verse 35. We’re told that after the important ‘Council in Jerusalem’ met—after it made the declaration that the gentiles are not required to be under the law of Moses to be saved—Paul and Barnabas brought the good news back to Antioch. We’re told that they remained in the city; “teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.” It was a busy time of ministry.

But along the way, we read of how the ‘missionary impulse’ took hold; and …

1. THE PLAN WAS FORMED (v. 36).

Verse 36 tells us that, “after some days Paul said to Barnabas, ‘Let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing.’” Just how long they stayed and ministered in Antioch before making this decision isn’t told to us. But it would have had to involve enough time for a significant amount of preaching and teaching to be carried on first. And eventually—and even in the midst of such a busy and rewarding ministry—Paul began to feel a yearning in his heart for the people that he and Barnabas had ministered to in their travels.

If you have ever been on the mission field—or if you have ever served in short-term missionary work—you know a little of what that’s like. You feel a deep bond of love for the faraway people that you ministered to. You love them; and you want to see them again. You care for the condition of their soul. And if an opportunity should ever arise to go back to them, it’s very hard to say no. It must be that Paul thought of the hardships that he underwent in that first missionary journey—the opposition, the persecution, and even the stoning. But he also longed for the people in Cyprus, Antioch, and Iconium; and Lystra and Derbe. He no doubt kept them much in his prayers; and he wanted to see what their spiritual condition was. And so, he proposed the idea to Barnabas. And it seems that Barnabas wholeheartedly agreed. The intention of this trip didn’t seem to be ‘evangelism’ as much as it was the ‘discipleship’ of those that had been evangelized. That teaches us an important lesson about true missionary work, by the way. It doesn’t stop at winning people to Jesus. It also involves the work of making them strong and well-grounded in the faith.

But there’s an interesting and significant difference to notice in the ways that the first and second missionary journeys began. In the first, it’s clear that the Holy Spirit called Barnabas and Paul to the work, and commanded the church to set them apart and send them out. But we don’t read of a similar ‘Holy Spirit-led’ commission at the beginning of this second journey. It seems to have been motivated by the impulse of Paul’s heart.

That, of course, doesn’t mean that it wasn’t Spirit led or church approved. In fact, at the end of the story, we find that the church family ‘commended’ the work to go forth. But perhaps that difference between the beginnings of the two missionary campaigns helps explain what happened next.

That leads us to the story of how …

2. A DIVISION AROSE (vv. 37-38).

In verse 37, we’re told, “Now Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark.” Do you remember John Mark? He was the one who had started off with Paul and Barnabas on the first missionary journey. He went along with them as far as across the Isle of Cyprus—where, as Acts 13:4-12 tells us, they encountered the sorcerer Elymas, who was struck blind for a time by the Lord because of his opposition to the gospel. As soon as they got off the coast of Cyprus, John Mark quit and went back home to Jerusalem. Was he afraid? Were his expectations disappointed? Was the spiritual warfare that he saw something more serious than he expected? Whatever the reason might have been, he left when he should have stayed. Barnabas—who is also called “the Son of Encouragement” in Acts 4:36—wanted to take him back on the team for this second journey. John Mark, after all, was Barnabas’ relative (see Colossians 4:10); and Barnabas was intent on giving him a “second chance” in ministry.

When we’re told that Barnabas was “resolved” or “determined” to do this, the word that’s used is put in what’s called ‘the imperfect tense’. This means that Barnabas didn’t just mention the idea once. He was in the habit of mentioning it repeatedly. Perhaps every time Paul raised up the idea of going on this second trip, Barnabas—again and again—insisted that they take John Mark along. But as verse 38 tells us, “But Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work.” Perhaps Paul felt that it would bear a bad testimony to the people to whom they were going out to encourage. Perhaps Paul simply felt that the work was too important to risk bringing someone who had proven to be untrustworthy in the work. But for whatever reason, Paul was just as determined that Mark not be brought along as Barnabas was determined to bring him.

Who was right? It’s hard to say. Both arguments had their strong points. But in any case, as far as the beginning of this second journey was concerned, things came to an impasse. A division had formed between Paul and Barnabas.

And that’s when we read that …

3. A SEPARATION OCCURRED (vv. 39-40).

Verse 39 tells us, “Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another.” The word that is used for this ‘contention’ is interesting. In the original language, it’s the word from which we get the English word “paroxysm”—a sudden expression of a feeling or an emotion, or the sudden onset of a fever or a convulsion. In this case, it seems to indicate such a sharp agreement that it became an irritation to both Paul and Barnabas. They just couldn’t come to an agreement—and it was hurting their fellowship with one another. Perhaps it kept coming up ‘suddenly’ to disrupt their preparations and planning.

Now; we read this, and we’re somewhat sorry to do so. It’s not the kind of thing we would like to imagine happening between two such great men of God. But what we notice is that the work didn’t come to an end because of it. This strong contention between them was not allowed to bring the work of God to a halt. Instead, they found a mutually agreeable solution. Verses 39-40 go on to tell us; “And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus; but Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of God.”

Notice three important things. First, Barnabas was able to take Mark along and give him that much-needed ‘second chance’. In fact, he took Mark with him to Cyprus (which was where Barnabas himself was from; see 4:36), and back to the very place where Mark had formerly let the team down. Perhaps Barnabas—the Son of Encouragement—told Mark, “Now; here is where that sad event happened. But the Lord Jesus loves you and forgives you; and I am here to support you. Let’s pick things up right where you left off; and let’s learn how sufficient the Lord Jesus is to help you to do what He wants you to do.” It must be that something significant happened in the life of Mark; because later on, Paul was able to write to Timothy and say, “Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry” (2 Timothy 4:11). The apostle Peter wrote at the end of his first letter, “She who is in Babylon, elect together with you, greets you; and so does Mark my son” (1 Peter 5:13). And of course, Mark is the author of the Gospel that bears his name. It seems that Barnabas’ ‘encouragement’ led him back into the faithful service of the Lord.

Second, Paul chose Silas to be his missionary partner in Barnabas’ place. Silas was one of the leading men among the believers in Jerusalem who went with Paul and Barnabas to deliver the decision of the Jerusalem Council (see 15:22). We’re told in verse 32 that Silas was a prophet (perhaps meaning that he was a Spirit-empowered preacher). He suffered along with Paul in many of the trials and imprisonments of the second journey. He also went by the name Silvanus; and was mentioned with Paul as one of the writers of 1 and 2 Thessalonians. He was also the one who wrote down the words of the New Testament letter of 1 Peter, at Peter’s dictation (see 1 Peter 5:12); being described by Peter as “our faithful brother as I consider him”. Paul’s choice introduced a co-worker into the ministry who has benefited and blessed us all greatly!

And third, this decision to split up and form two missionary teams does not seem to have been something that the church at large frowned upon or considered to be a scandalous thing. In fact, we’re told that Paul and Silas departed, “being commended by the brethren to the grace of God”. We shouldn’t necessarily take this to mean that only Paul’s and Silas’ departure was commended by the church; and that Barnabas’ and Mark’s departure was not. We’re most likely told of the church’s approval of Paul’s and Silas’ departure because that missionary team then became the main focus of the story all the way to Chapter 18. We don’t read of Barnabas’ and Mark’s missionary work any further in Acts; but because we read later on of Mark’s usefulness to the Lord, we can assume that God used this team too.

And that leads us to notice—finally, and most importantly—that …

4. THE MINISTRY WENT FORWARD (v. 41).

As it says concerning Paul in verse 41, “And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches”; Silas now being his co-laborer in the work. Paul fulfilled his sense of ministry from the Lord; and so did Barnabas.

A conflict occurred. But because of the way it was handled—and in the providence of our sovereign God—the gospel continued to spread.

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Now; we don’t like to read or hear of conflicts and disagreements within the ministry of the church. We’d much prefer to think that such things never happen—that everyone gets along perfectly in the mission field—that no one ever disagrees in the service of the Lord. But as this story shows us, that’s just not the case. Whenever imperfect people are involved in ministry, such things will occur.

But as this story also shows us, such things don’t have to be fatal to the cause of Christ or to our ultimate cooperation with each other in the service of the Lord. Let’s remember what Paul wrote at the beginning of Philippians 2;

Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others (Philippians 2:1-4).

If attitudes are kept under God’s control in that way, and if the differences are clearly laid out, and if the advancement of the kingdom of Jesus Christ is always kept in view, then God can even use disagreements and divisions between His laborers to advance the cause of Christ.

AE