39. God Works Despite Our Failures

Announcements

Wednesday Youth Chapel

Restarting Wednesday, July 29th

Starting a study in Philippians

Random Question

If you could meet any author or movie director, who would it be and why?

Me: Author of Hebrews, I want to crack the mystery!

Lesson

Vs. 36

Recap from last week:

Problem: Jewish Christians demanded that Gentiles become Jews in order to be saved.

Story: Conflict over the salvation of the Gentiles; James rose up as the leader of the Jerusalem church and used Scripture as their authority in making this decision. The church agreed that it was wrong to force the Gentiles to become Jews to be saved, they wrote a letter to encourage them and make fellowship possible with the Jews.

Lessons: We compromise some liberties so that we might protect our fellowship with our weaker brethren. The weaker brethren don’t judge the stronger.

The dust is settling from that crazy council meeting, and now Paul and Barnabas are ready to keep moving forward.

Acts 15:36 KJV 1900

36 And some days after Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do.

Paul and Barnabas are on the same page thus far, they want to go back to the churches they’ve already began.

Why do they want to visit these people again? (To see how they’re doing)

They’re checking up on these new believers, they are nurturing them, discipling them!

Training up new staff in McDonalds kitchen… Managers had a lot to show new staff, and that took time.

- Where the meat freezer was, how to prepare big macs, wraps, how to cook meat, how to use the deep fryer, how to clean the kitchen, sanitary procedures, etc.

- What if the boss runs them through all their responsibilities and left them immediately after? It wouldn’t go too well!

- (Cedric leaving burgers on floor)

We can’t assume that new believers are mature, we all need nurture and help from believers that are more mature then we are. We just don’t start off our Christian life full of Biblical knowledge and wisdom.

So far so good…

Vs. 37

Acts 15:37 KJV 1900

37 And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark.

Who does Barnabas want to take along with them? (John Mark)

What do we know about John Mark? (Barnabas’ cousin, joined them on their first missionary journey)

Everybody turn to Acts 13…

Context: Paul and Barnabas sent out to the mission field from Antioch. They encounter the sorcerer Bar-Jesus as they begin ministry, Paul deals with the guy, and a Roman official gets saved.

What do we see happening in vs. 13? (Paul and his crew set sail for more ministry in Pamphylia)

But what happens to Mark? (He deserted the crew and returned to Jerusalem)

We have no idea why he left…

Alek Manoah…

There are many theories why…

Missions life was too hard for him

Sickness

Didn’t appreciate Paul’s leadership

Homesick

Pampered in childhood?

All we know is that he left the crew, and it was not the right thing for him to do. Now, turn back to chapter 15.

Vs. 38

In vs. 38, how did Paul feel about having Mark back on the crew? (Paul insisted that they don’t take them)

Acts 15:38 KJV 1900

38 But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work.

Whiteboard:

Insisted = Worthy, honourable.

What was the only honourable move in Paul’s mind? (In Paul’s mind, Mark’s actions were so awful that the only honourable move to make is to go without him)

This is strong language!!! Paul is saying that having Mark in their presence would be a dishonour to the mission team.

Paul and Barnabas have a serious disagreement here; Barnabas thinks they should be merciful to Mark, but Paul thinks that would be the wrong thing to do.

Who do you think is right here?

Let’s break it down together…

Whiteboard:

Barnabas = Mercy

Why would Barnabas want Mark on his team?

- Cousin

- Extend grace just like God does (Barnabas was known as the “son of encouragement”!)

- Saw Mark’s potential

Paul = Facts

Why wouldn’t Paul want Barnabas on his team?

- In leaving the mission last time, Mark was unreliable

- Mark was a liability

- Bitterness??

I personally think both were right; Barnabas was right to show grace and give Mark a second chance. Paul was right to be concerned about Mark, how can we be sure that he’ll stick around?

One commentary says: Our judgment goes with Paul, but our hearts go with Barnabas.”

If I were to pick a side, I’d probably lean a little closer on Barnabas’ side. His reaction just seems to be aligning closer to God’s character than Paul’s.

Jesus forgave Peter after he denied Jesus three times

Jesus called the disciples to forgive people seventy times seven

I’ll let you figure out in your own mind who you’d line yourself with more.

Let me ask you guys a question, and I’d love for each of you to pitch in on this…

When you get in an argument, are you more like Paul (Facts over emotions) or like Barnabas (mercy, more lenient)?

It’s good to be aware of ourselves in arguments, because things can easily get out of hand when our opinion is being challenged.

Vs. 39

How do we know from verse 39 that things got out of hand between Paul and Barnabas? (The contention became so sharp that they parted from each other)

Acts 15:39 KJV 1900

39 And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus;

This is wild! Let’s break this down together…

Whiteboard:

Contention… Anyone know what this means? (Agitation/stirring up; an intense state of turmoil, especially expressed in words. This is a heated verbal debate!!)

- This is the kind of stuff you see when playing monopoly with family

Not only this, but it was a sharp debate… These differences in opinion were drastic.

What does verse 39 say is the outcome of the debate? (They parted from one another)

Whiteboard:

Paul / Barnabas

The “parting” here is literally a disassociating with each other. They broke off their friendship here, they break off their fellowship with one another.

- You’ve heard of church splits over the colour of the carpet or the music that is sung. Here, the mission group is split off.

In this split off, Barnabas is losing the greatest missionary to ever live. And Paul is losing the man whom he owed the most in life. When Paul was a new believer and every Christian was scared to death of him, who stood up for him? Barnabas!!! This is such a sad bible verse. Both Paul and Barnabas committed an awful sin here.

Whiteboard:

ARGUMENT

If we were in an argument just like this one, how would you handle things differently? (Write answers on the board)

Vs. 40-41

The argument ended in Barnabas taking Mark to serve in Cyprus…

What does Paul end up doing in verse 40? (Choses Silas as his companion)

Acts 15:40–41 KJV 1900

40 And Paul chose Silas, and departed, being recommended by the brethren unto the grace of God. 41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches.

Both of them committed serious sin against each other and against the Lord.

The Bible doesn’t show many weaknesses in Paul’s character, but here we get a glimpse of his sinfulness.

If my confidence is placed in the leadership and abilities of men, how would Paul’s failure like this impact me? (It would crush me! If I am trusting in men to do God’s will perfectly, I will always be disappointed. Why? Because men fail!)

But what if my trust is in the Lord? (I’ll be upset, hurt, but not crushed, because God always does right)

They split up on bad terms, and go their separate ways…

The plan at first was for everyone to travel together, right? That would make for one missionary team going out to serve. But now what does this split cause? (Two missionary teams sent out, doubling their reach)

Anyone see God’s hand in that?

What does this teach us about God’s sovereignty? (God will accomplish His plan whether we cooperate or not)

Whiteboard:

Start —> Finish

What’s the “Finish” goal? (Gospel reach the world)

Paul and Barnabas are working their way to that goal. But their argument breaks out as their doing this.

Does their goal seem achievable anymore? (It doesn’t, the dream team has messed it up BAD, no recovering from this)

But what does God do? (He uses their failures to accomplish His good will)

Joseph in Genesis 50 (What you meant for evil, God meant for good)

Just because God will get His work done despite our disobedience doesn’t mean we can disobey freely!

Application

What can we learn from this passage?

Learn from Paul and Barnabas’ failure, learn make peace with each other through conflict.

Should we place our confidence in men? No, leaders are just like anyone else.If these two mighty missionaries can fail, anyone can. Since everyone can fail, we should be placing our trust in the Lord who never fails.

Psalm 118:8 KJV 1900

8 It is better to trust in the Lord Than to put confidence in man.

God sovereignly works out His will in this world, nothing will stop Him from doing this, not even our failures.