Caught In The Memories
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Introduction
36 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.”
Acts 15:
Paul understood that he was called to go and make disciples, not to sit and be comfortable. Again, he plans to go back to the churches that were established to help them and correct them rather than leaving them to their own devices.
Paul understood that he was called to go and make disciples, not to sit and be comfortable. Again, he plans to go back to the churches that were established to help them and correct them rather than leaving them to their own devices.
This theme seems to be popping us throughout this entire series doesn’t it?
We don't leave people alone. We do life with them, face to face. We check on them routinely. We offer help to them often. We make ourselves available to them.
Like a doctor that makes house calls, checking on the patient from time to time, monitoring the healing process, prescribing for the cure and preventing a relapse.
The gang member illustration
Let’s keep reading
Acts 15:37
37 Now Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark.
Barnabas felt a responsibility to his cousin to help him and give him opportunities to serve and to lead. Although he had fallen through in the past, Barnabas sought to give him another shot.
Listen to what Paul later writes in his letter to the Thessalonians:
Barnabas felt a responsibility to his cousin to help him and give him opportunities to serve and to lead. Although he had fallen through in the past, Barnabas sought to give him another shot.
14 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all.
Remember, Barnabas is translated, Son of Encouragement. It is in his nature to come along side and encourage people. He led from his heart through compassion and grace. He understood that there might not be another opportunity to build this man up. I know he messed up, but he has a good heart and much potential.
Remember, Barnabas is translated, Son of Encouragement. It is in his nature to come along side and encourage people. He led from his heart through compassion and grace. He understood that there might not be another opportunity to build this man up. I know he messed up, but he has a good heart and much potential.
Can any of you relate to this? This is one of my weaknesses. I will believe in people when no one else will. This might not seem like a weakness to all of you, but sometimes I allow people to take advantage of this because I want to see them succeed. I want to see the victory in their lives sometimes even more than they want to see it. Barnabas believed in Mark and wanted to see him succeed. But let’s look at how Paul feels about this.
Barnabas believed in Mark and wanted to see him succeed. But let’s look at how Paul feels about this.
Acts 15:
38 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.
Paul felt very strongly that it was a mistake to take with them the same person who abandoned them in the past. , which is not unreasonable.
Paul felt very strongly that it was a mistake to take with them the same person who abandoned them in the past. ,
19 Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble
Is like a bad tooth and a foot out of joint.
Paul's focus was on the success of the mission and making sure God's will be done in the evangelism. He led from his mind through logic and outcome.
Paul's focus was on the success of the mission and making sure God's will be done in the evangelism. He led from his mind through logic and outcome. Paul was no nonsense, all about the mission. Listen again to what he would later write in a letter to the Galatians:
8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.
10 For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.
In Paul’s mind, Mark had his chance and he blew it.
Mark had his chance and he blew it.
Many times, we don't include certain people in what we are doing because we feel that they don't have the same spirit as we do, the same heart, the same dedication, the same goal.
Maybe Paul felt some ownership over those ministries because he is the one that suffered for them, was attacked and abused for them, almost died for them. Those churches were a product of His and Barnabas' labor.
He didn't feel Mark deserved to enjoy the fruit of what he did not help to sow. Mark should have stayed with them, worked with them, and suffered right along with them from the beginning.
Have you ever met anyone like that? They will not let you do anything because they know you won’t do it exactly like they would? You can’t touch their stuff or drive their car or lead their SS class. You may be sitting next to one this morning (no finger pointing now).
I’m that way about my laptop.
So let’s see what happens:
39 Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus; 40 but Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of God.
39 Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus;
After everything they had been through together, they could not agree and move on together.
This was the dream team! It's like Daryl Johnson and Emmitt Smith, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, Abbot and Costello, Mario and Luigi, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Spongebob and Patrick, Pinkie and The Brain.
Barnabas sticks to his convictions and moves forward with his cousin Mark.
Barnabas was determined, he had resolved, to take Mark with him. He knew it in his heart that thats what he was supposed to do.
Paul was also insistent that they should not take Mark.
Neither would submit to the other, both knowing that they were correct in their thoughts, which is pretty sad because they were both just trying to do God's will and share the Gospel.
Paul stuck to his convictions and went on with Silas. Not his original plan or preference for sure, but the decision he made so that the work would continue. Both men continued in the work assigned to them, sharing the Gospel of Christ.
Paul stuck to his convictions and went on with Silas. Not his original plan or preference for sure, but the decision he made so that the work would continue.
This was where the church split into Southern v Independent Baptist. Jk, this was not a dispute over doctrine, but a personal dispute over judgment. Both men continued in the work assigned to them, sharing the Gospel of Christ.
This was where the church split into Southern v Independent Baptist. Jk, this was not a dispute over doctrine or church structure but a personal dispute over judgment.
We are witnessing the separation of a union that was brought together by the Holy Spirit itself.
2 As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
So I have to ask the question, “Who’s fault was it?”
Was Paul right? After all, only his group was commended by brethren to the grace of God in verse 40. Paul's group went on to be very successful in sharing the Gospel and in building up the saints.
Was Barnabas right? He and Mark set out for Cyprus to do the exact same thing.
Don't forget about the fact that it was Barnabas who vouched for Paul when the disciples were suspicious of him back in chapter 9. Now that Barnabas is vouching for Mark, Paul does not agree. Where what would it have looked like if Barnabas had not vouched for Paul, or if the disciples had not trusted Barnabas' judgment?
It is also good to remember that it was Barnabas who had called for Paul to come and help him with the work in chapter 11. At this time Paul had gone back to Tarsus because of his struggles in ministering.
The truth is that there is no one person at fault. They were both at fault for being so stubborn as not to seek a compromise. They were also both at fault for allowing the disagreement to reach such a point of separation.
These men were truly only men, just as you and I. They were gifted and sent but were flawed and with the same nature as us.
These men were truly only men, just as you and I. They were gifted and sent but were flawed and with the same nature as us.
But the great thing is that God works in the flawed, in the broken, in the incomplete, in the struggle, in the uncertainty.
41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
Paul went on with Silas to further the Kingdom of God and affect change through the sharing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
And let’s not forget about Mark.
We are not told why he left the mission in the first place. Maybe it was the realities of missionary life with its ongoing conflicts and discomforts, sickness in Pamphylia, Paul’s growing ascendancy over Barnabas, a pampered upbringing, homesickness.
Hughes, R. K. (1996). Acts: the church afire (p. 202). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
How could this entire situation have made Mark feel?
Knowing that Paul did not think him a good choice might have made him that much more eager to prove himself.
Knowing that Barnabas not only defended him against Paul, but left Paul because of the disagreement, would have made him that much more loyal to Barnabas.
I will tell you this, there is nothing more encouraging and valuable to someone that having someone else who believes in him. Mark had something to prove to Paul, to Barnabas, to himself.
It's worth mentioning that later, Paul recognizes his heart and his value and requests Mark to come with Timothy for more work that is to be done.
Mark is later used by God to write the 2nd Gospel of the Bible.
11 Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry.
Mark is later used by God to write the 2nd Gospel of the Bible.
Although Paul would later recognize Mark's value, he and Barnabas would never see each other again. When you think about it, Barnabas still took Mark with him and Paul still took someone that had not been there to do the work.
The Point
The Point
We must not allow disagreements to cause division within our lives, in our relationships, in our families, or in our churches. We must not be so set in our thoughts and opinions that we discourage someone else who is also trying to follow God's will for their life or damage a relationship beyond the point of mending.
Men's ministry: 4 faces of a manhood. King face and Warrior face. We push so hard for what we think is right that we roll over anyone who disagrees with us. The solution is not giving in to the thoughts of others or compromising on your morals, but to be sensitive to dynamic of the relationship by finding truth in both sides of the argument. It doesn't always mean you will come to an agreement, but to love someone enough to listen and try makes a huge difference.
Past decisions and experiences are no guarantee of future results.
Our past victories do not define our future.
41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
, ,
Temptation is always waiting and it takes but one moment, one decision, one impulse for us to fall to it. The work we are called to is not done until we are called home. Don't sit in your past successes and feel as if you are superior to those around you because of what you used to do. I'm glad you did what you did but that time is gone and tomorrow is already here.
Temptation is always waiting and it takes but one moment, one decision, one impulse for us to fall to it. The work we are called to is not done until we are called home. Don't sit in your past successes and feel as if you are superior to those around you because of what you used to do. I'm glad you did what you did but that time is gone and tomorrow is already here.
16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
What are you doing today to build others up and set them up for success in their faith walk? Are you holding them back or cheering them on? The past has set the stage for the present and the present is setting the stage for the future.
What are you doing today to build others up and set them up for success in their faith walk? Are you holding them back or cheering them on? The past has set the stage for the present and the present is setting the stage for the future.
62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
When we do the work, we look forward. We look at the mission, we look at the field, we take note of where we are going and what adjustments need to be made in order to be the most effective.
But just as our past victories don’t define us,
Neither do our past mistakes and sins define our future.
Neither do our past mistakes and sins define our future.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Every day is an opportunity to live the life God has set aside for you, to live in victory, to bear fruit, to be a blessing to someone else, to make a difference in your community, to be the parent you know you need to be, to be the spouse you know you need to be, to be the friend you need to be, to be the Christian you were designed and created to be.
This doesn’t mean that we are perfect or never stumble and always make the right call.
Every day is an opportunity to live the life God has set aside for you, to live in victory, to bear fruit, to be a blessing to someone else, to make a difference in your community, to be the parent you know you need to be, to be the spouse you know you need to be, to be the friend you need to be, to be the Christian you were designed and created to be.
Our defeats in this life are only temporary, for through Jesus we have the eternal victory. But we must constantly seek Him in all things. We must hide His word in our hearts that we might not sin against Him. We must surrender our lives to Him completely that He may complete His work in and through us. Regardless of the situation, we should always continue in the work which has been given to us.
Make that choice today. Your past does not define you. Don’t get so caught up in your good memories that they cause you to hinder someone else’s progress and don’t get so caught up in your bad memories that they hinder you from moving forward and being fruitful in your own life.