Acts 15:36-16:5

to go with it. Good morning, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This is where every day you and I, we get together, we get into God's Word, we have a little bit of coffee, and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2022, we'll make it all the way from the book of Acts to the book of Philemon, I don't know about you, but I have been having a blast working through the Book of Acts. There's a lot of reading and stuff that goes on in the background as I get ready for this, and it's been really fun to look at the maps and put things together and read commentaries. And so thanks for coming on this journey with me.
Let's have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into the Lord's Word. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for your word. We pray, Lord, now that as we read your word that your spirit would be working. We pray that we would not just have knowledge of who you are, but that we would love you. We pray that you would show us the work that your Holy Spirit has done in history past. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, here we go, Acts chapter 15 verses 36 through chapters, the microphone, through chapter 16 verse 5. Then after some days Paul and 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.
All right, so talk about some sober realistic stories. This is not a fun story to pick up here, but what's going on? Well, Paul says to Barnabas, dude, let's go back. Let's go back to those churches where we saw so many people come to faith and let's go see how they're doing. Let's go deliver the decrees from Jerusalem. And so they're talking about it and Barnabas says, hey, you know, we should take John Mark with us. And Paul's like, whoa, hold on, dude. You remember what happened back there? We left from Cyprus. We went to Perga and he went back to Jerusalem. That's what happened in chapter 13, verse 13. Why are we going to take them with us?
And there became this dispute, this argument between them so sharp that they split company. These are guys who had been in the trenches with each other. These are guys who had been in spiritual battle, warfare with one another, and now They're going their different ways.
Barnabas goes back to his hometown. He goes back to Cyprus and he takes John Mark with him. And Silas goes with Paul and they go up to Cilicia. They go to the area where Paul is actually from, Tarsus. And so they split ways and they go there. Now, these are guys who they have, you know, John Mark was somehow now in Antioch and he had been down in Syria. Well, Silas had been one of those appointed by the Jerusalem Chamber or the Jerusalem Council to actually go with them to Antioch in Syria. And so this is what they do. They go and they spread the word.
And that's all we have. We're going to get to more later, but what happens is there's eventually a reconciliation. But doesn't this happen in the church? Notice Luke does not give us any type of judgment on who is right or who is wrong, but this is a reality that even amongst believers, there can be strong opinions about things like this. Just is what it is. People have opinions. People disagree on things.
And they're both still entrusted to God in the work that they're going. There is eventually a time in which brothers have to say, you know what, you go this way, I'm going to go that way. Eventually they'll be able to come together. But right now, they go and they do the work that the Lord has for them. Their disagreement can't stop the work. They need to go continue the work. Well, let's go ahead and pick up chapter 16, the first five verses.
Then he came to Derbe and Lystra, this is speaking of Paul, and behold, a certain disciple was there named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek. He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted to have him go on with him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek. And as they went through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep, which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in numbers greatly.
What's going on in this story? Well, Silas and Timothy, or Silas and Paul, they go up to the region of Tarsus, this region of Cilicia. This is Paul's kind of old stomping grounds. They go there and instead of taking the sea, to get up to the old churches. You know, last time they went to Perga, and then they went to Antioch-Pisidia, and then they went to Lystra, and Iconium, and Derbe. This time, instead, they're going from the area of Cilicia, and they're going to go up through the Cilicia Pass, sorry, the Tarsus Pass, through the Cilicia Gates, and then they're going to make their way by land over to Derbe. And there, when they're in Derby and Lister, they find who? Timothy. They find a young man whose mother is a Jewish woman, but his father is Greek-speaking.
And so, this is one of these conundrums that people will have. Because what was just going on in the last chapter, Acts chapter 15, certain people from the Pharisees stood up and said, you must be circumcised to be saved. But by that, they meant all the laws, all the kosher laws, all the religious laws, all the ceremonial laws, all of that had to be kept. And the decision was, no, you don't.
So why here is Paul circumcising Timothy? Well, this is a utilitarian tact. Paul speaks of it elsewhere in 1 Corinthians chapter 9 where he specifically tells them, you know, to the Jews I became a Jew and to the Greeks I became a Greek because it didn't matter. So if it would give him an opportunity to be able to tell people the gospel in those cities, he would do it. And so if Timothy needed to be circumcised for them to be able to actually speak to people about Jesus Christ, circumcision or uncircumcision doesn't matter.
Okay, fine. You could keep your stuff if you want. It doesn't add a single ounce to your salvation. It will never make you righteous. But if it makes it that he's able to go and speak to them, he's going to do it. And so that's what he does. It's a utilitarian thing. It's a missionary tactic that he uses. It doesn't matter to him whether you're circumcised or uncircumcised. What matters is that he's able to continue to go into the synagogues and preach. He's able to continue to go and tell them about Jesus Christ. And so he does that. And so what's the best verses in these sections? Well, in my Bible, I have underlined verse 40. I think that's really getting at the heart of what's going on here. So let me ask you.
Are there people in the church that you need to maybe, you know, get over your disagreements with them and realize that it's a difference of opinion, not a matter of moral issue? But are you strengthening the churches? Are you being built up in your faith? Are you walking before the Lord with integrity? Are you the one who is rejoicing in Jesus Christ?
I'm going to go out on a limb here, and I'm going to speak to some of you. Maybe you've had your conscience pricked a time or two, and maybe you need to have more gospel conversations. Maybe you need to go to either your old stomping grounds and tell people of Jesus Christ, or possibly go to a whole different land and tell people about Jesus Christ. Have you asked the Lord for divine appointments to speak to others about Christ?
Let's go ahead and pray now. Father, we pray that you would strengthen your churches. Lord, that we would follow your decrees, that we would turn away from idols and come and serve the living and true God. We pray that you would bring the nations to yourself, that you would strengthen the brethren, that you would build up your churches, that your kingdom might continue to advance in all the nations. Lord, we pray. that you would give us opportunities this week. Please, Lord, bring non-Christians into our sphere of influence, into our relational communities, that we could speak to them of the joy we have in Jesus Christ. And it's in His name we pray. Amen. Well, I pray that Lord blesses you today. I pray that you walk in the joy and peace of Jesus Christ. And I'll see you tomorrow. Bye.
Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.