Pray for the reading and preaching of God's Word.
Heavenly Father, we humble ourselves before you and before your Word again this evening.
You said that your sheep hear your voice, they recognize your voice.
And Lord, we have heard your call and we have gathered here as your people to worship you.
And we now incline our ears, our hearts to you.
Because we want to become ever more familiar with our shepherd's voice.
Because we want to learn to better discern your will and to follow it, to surrender ourselves to it.
So teach us how to do that this evening from this text.
We want to exalt the name of your Son.
Captivate our hearts with Christ and His gospel discipline.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Acts chapter 15 verse 36 to chapter 16 verse 10.
And after some days, Paul said to Barnabas,
Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaim the Word of the Lord and see how they are.
Now, Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark.
But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work.
And there arose a sharp disagreement so that they separated from each other.
Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.
But Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord.
And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
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.
He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium.
But 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.
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.
So the churches were strengthened in the faith.
And they increased in numbers daily.
And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.
And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia.
But the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.
So passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.
And a vision appeared to Paul in the night.
A man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying,
Come over to Macedonia and help us.
And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
This is God's holy and authoritative word.
When it was published in 2001, the World Christian Encyclopedia counted 33,830 denominations worldwide.
That number is undoubtedly higher today in 2021.
And I don't mention this to discredit denominations at all.
Our local church is part of a denomination called Sovereign Grace Churches.
And churches that declare themselves independent or non-denominational are themselves splitting away from the historic denominations over different convictions about denominations.
So it's really not all that different from denominations that are split off for other reasons.
On matters of first importance that pertain to the gospel of Jesus, there is considerable agreement and unity among all Christians, even among the myriad denominations.
But the reality is, Christians don't always see eye to eye on everything.
1 Corinthians 13, 9-12 tell us that we know in part and we prophesy in part.
But when perfect comes, when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
It says, for now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.
Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
In the present, our knowledge of God and His will is imperfect and partial.
Our understanding is limited.
Our sins cloud our judgment.
Our perceptions are colored by various historical and cultural influences.
And for those reasons, disagreements between believers, even among godly believers, are inevitable.
In this passage, we learn from Paul and Barnabas' example that as we proclaim the gospel, we must discern God's will through conflicts, through controversies, and through closed doors.
And trust God to work through them.
So we're going to cover those in turn.
Conflict, controversy, and closed doors.
After spending some days teaching and ministering to the church in Antioch, Paul says to Barnabas in chapter 15, verse 36,
Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaim the word of the Lord and see how they are.
Paul was, as many of you know, a frontier missionary who made it his ambition to preach the gospel where the gospel had not been preached.
But this doesn't mean that Paul only cared about making converts and didn't care about those who were already converted.
He wanted to make another long and arduous journey to revisit all the cities where he had preached the gospel and planted churches
because he was invested in building up and caring for the people who were already converted.
Make sure that those churches are firmly established.
We, too, as a church, must do both.
We can't be content merely with caring for the internal needs of our local church.
We must send out missionaries.
We must evangelize.
We must have an outward orientation toward unbelievers.
But we also can't neglect the upbuilding of the local church.
We must nurture and build up one another in Christ-likeness.
Otherwise, if we don't do that, there would be no mature believers left to evangelize and minister to others.
We should ask ourselves, ask yourself, which area do you tend to be stronger in, tend to be weaker in?
Because we need to be doing both.
So far, so good.
Barnabas and Paul were agreed on that front.
They were agreed that they should revisit these churches to encourage them, check on them.
But then they hid a snag on the road.
It says in verses 37 to 38,
Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark,
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.
You might recall from Acts chapter 12 that John called Mark is the son of a certain Mary in Jerusalem
who hosted a house church there, so a prominent believer in Jerusalem.
Mary, it turns out, is Barnabas' aunt because John called Mark was Barnabas' cousin according to Colossians chapter 4 verse 10.
So this John called Mark, whom I will call Mark from now on, was beloved in the Jerusalem church.
Apostle Peter had a particular affection for this man and called him his spiritual son in 1 Peter 5 verse 13.
So after Paul and Barnabas delivered the famine aid that the Antioch Christians had prepared for the Jerusalem church,
they encountered John Mark, they encountered Mark and started having him accompany them on their missionary journeys.
However, it appears that on their missionary journey, while Mark was following them and assisting them,
that at some point he withdrew from them.
He didn't go with them to do the missionary work.
Paul saw this as nothing less than desertion.
Like when a soldier deserts his comrades in the battlefield.
You could imagine Paul arguing with Barnabas over this issue this way.
Barnabas, Proverbs 25, 19 says this,
Trusting in a treacherous man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips.
Barnabas, Mark proved undependable.
He deserted us at the moment of our need.
He was like a decayed tooth that you can't chew with when you need to eat something.
Or a slipping food that you can't put weight on.
Our missionary work involves long journeys that's physically exhausting and emotionally draining.
And even more than that, we're entering a spiritual battlefield.
And we can't, and we can be, and we have been persecuted.
We might even be killed.
We don't have the luxury of taking a chance on someone who has already deserted us in the past.
We're a small team.
Every single person is integral.
We can't afford to lose one man.
You really can't blame Paul for making this argument.
Saying we can't take Mark along with him.
But on the other hand, it's also hard to blame Barnabas for wanting to give Mark a second chance.
Barnabas was a gracious man.
Remember from Acts 4.36, his actual name is Joseph.
But nobody calls him that.
Everyone calls him Barnabas by his nickname because it means son of encouragement.
Why?
Because Barnabas was a man who was always found encouraging and building up other people, other fellow Christians.
The word encouragement means to exhort and embolden another person for a certain task, for a course of action.
The same word is used in Acts 9.31 to refer to the comfort that the Holy Spirit brings.
So Barnabas is someone who comforts others, encourages others.
There's an older pastor in our denomination named Kyle Huber.
And I mention him because he's been like a Barnabas to me.
He's someone that's always sending encouraging texts and letting me know that he's praying for me.
Whenever I spend time with him, I walk away more aware of God's gracious presence in my life.
That kind of person.
I hope you have people like that in your life.
People who encourage you, build you up, comfort you.
Barnabas was that kind of man.
So when a fledgling church in Antioch needed some encouragement, who would they send but Barnabas?
In Acts chapter 11.22-26.
In Acts 9.27, when Paul, right after Paul's conversion, because of his fierce reputation, his terrible reputation as a persecutor of the church,
the Jerusalem church was wary of him.
The apostles didn't want anything to do with him.
And of course, who else?
But it was Barnabas who took Paul along and introduced him to the apostles.
To the church in Jerusalem.
Barnabas was a man who understood the importance of second chances.
And Mark wasn't any man.
He was Barnabas' cousin.
So you can imagine Barnabas arguing back and forth with Paul.
Paul, please, let's give Mark another chance.
He's a young lad, and he's remorseful about what he did.
He's given us his word that he will accompany us and assist us and not desert us again.
Didn't nearly all of the twelve apostles forsake Jesus when he was arrested and crucified?
Did not the great apostle Peter deny our Lord three times?
And yet he did not give them all a second chance?
Did he not reinstate Peter as the leader of the twelve?
Come on, Paul.
You were once a persecutor of the church.
And yet our Lord showed you mercy, didn't he?
Can we give Mark just one more chance?
Even if it's just for my sake.
He's my cousin after all.
He'll be crushed if we refuse to take him along because of that one incident.
You really can't blame Barnabas for wanting to take Mark along with him either.
Verse 39 says that there arose a sharp disagreement.
The same word is used in Greek literature to describe a severe convulsion that comes as a result of a disease.
It's the word from which we get the English word paroxysm, which means a sudden uncontrollable outburst, a fit of emotion or action.
Paul and Barnabas were not engaging in soft-spoken debate.
They were engaged in a sharp disagreement.
There were emotionally charged statements said, bitter arguments made.
Two dear friends and Christian comrades simply could not see eye to eye on this issue.
So that, it says in verses 39 to 41, they separated from each other.
Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.
But Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord.
And he went through Syria and Cilicia, sprinkling the churches.
It's a sad scene, really.
The separation must have been so painful, can you imagine, for Paul and Barnabas.
Remember, it was Barnabas, as I mentioned before, who first took a chance on Paul and introduced him to the church in Jerusalem.
It was Barnabas who went to Tarsus to recruit Paul for their ministry in Antioch in the first place.
Humanly speaking, there would have been no Apostle Paul that we know of apart from Apostle Barnabas.
The two had traveled thousands of miles together.
They had preached the gospel together.
They had slept in the same quarters, eaten the same foods.
They had been persecuted together, driven out of cities by persecutors together.
They had seen the Lord perform miracles through them.
And had seen Him save multitudes through their partnership.
They were brothers from another mother.
And yet, they decided to go on separate ways on account of this sharp disagreement.
The way verses 39 to 41 are written seems to suggest that the church in Antioch sided with Paul on this disagreement.
Verse 39 makes it sound like Barnabas and Mark absconded without any fanfare.
It's kind of quietly departed.
Barnabas just took Mark along and left.
It just says, Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.
But, in contrast, it says, Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord.
That verb, commended, is singular in the Greek.
It applies to Paul only.
It doesn't apply to Paul and Barnabas.
And not only that, in chapter 16, starting in verse 10, we get the first we passage in Acts,
which are passages where Luke, the author of the book, starts to put himself in the narrative,
using first-person plural pronouns, indicating that he was an eyewitness of traveling with Paul.
So Luke himself decided to side with Paul and to go with him on his missionary journey.
But we do know that Barnabas was later vindicated from other texts.
In Philemon 24, Paul describes Mark as his fellow worker.
In Colossians 4, verse 10, he commands Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, to the Colossian church.
And then, most movingly, in 2 Timothy, chapter 4, verse 11, I think I have this to show on the projector.
Toward the end of his life, after Paul had been abandoned by almost everyone, he writes to Timothy this,
Luke alone is with me.
Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.
So obviously, Paul was willing to give Mark another chance at a later point in ministry.
And it seems by then that Mark had matured and grown in faithfulness as well.
He even authored the Gospel of Mark, which is part of the Scriptures.
I think this account of Paul and Barnabas' separation is very instructive for us.
Note first that this was not a disagreement that was a matter of truth and error, of orthodoxy and heresy.
They were both trying to apply biblical principles.
It was an important disagreement because it affected their ministry.
But they were both trying to faithfully apply biblical principles.
Paul wanted to protect the missionary work.
Barnabas wanted to care pastorally for Mark.
Sometimes, even godly Christians like Barnabas and Paul simply disagree.
It's not necessarily the case that one of them is in sin.
It is sometimes the case that one of them is just wrong.
And this kind of disagreement will happen until Christ returns and our faith is turned to sight.
Only then will we know perfect.
We are finite.
We are not omniscient.
We are all susceptible to faulty thinking and erroneous judgments.
Of course, the Holy Spirit could have decisively ended this debate
by giving them a vision maybe of what to do with Mark.
He does that.
He just shows Paul's vision later in chapter 16.
But he doesn't do that here.
Sometimes God works in and through uncertainty
and leaves us to make the best decisions we can
with the partial knowledge we have.
And then he asks us to trust him with the rest.
So as we proclaim the gospel,
we have to discern God's will through conflicts that inevitably arise
and trust God to work through them.
And God did work through this disagreement.
The outcome of the disagreement is that now,
instead of just one missionary team,
there are now two missionary teams that are sent out for gospel ministry.
Not having Barnabas or Mark to share in his ministry,
Paul chooses Silas to accompany him.
And we know that Silas, also called Silvanus,
as elsewhere in the New Testament,
became a faithful brother that accompanied him
through much of his mission's work.
Not only that, when he gets to Lystra in chapter 16,
Paul identifies another promising young man named Timothy
to accompany him on his missionary journey.
So that with the loss of Barnabas and Mark,
new leaders are raised up and equipped,
and more churches, therefore, can be planted.
It's also not hard to imagine the kind of humbling effect
that this disagreement would have had on everyone involved.
Paul's tough love probably humbled Mark
and helped him realize just how serious it is
for him to abandon fellow missionaries.
After seeing how seriously Paul took what he did,
I'd venture to say that Mark probably never did that again.
Not only that, Barnabas' graciousness toward Mark
probably made him more grateful for the privilege and mercy
of being called to the ministry of the gospel,
knowing that it's a grace, not an entitlement.
Likewise, Paul's emphasis on steadfast commitment
likely made Barnabas more watchful
and perhaps less indulgent of Mark his cousin.
And Barnabas' emphasis on grace
could have probably made Paul more patient
and compassionate toward others,
perhaps later in his ministry.
I say all of that to demonstrate the truth
of Joseph's observation in Genesis 50, verse 20.
You meant evil against me,
but God meant it for good.
Even what the devil means for evil against us,
God means it for our good.
Notice it doesn't say,
what you meant for evil,
God used for good,
or God turned into good.
It doesn't say that.
It says,
what you meant for evil,
God meant for good.
God is not a grand chess master
who can only control his side of the chessboard.
Imagine you're playing a game
against a world-class grand chess master
like Magnus Carlsen.
It doesn't even have to be Magnus Carlsen.
You could probably play against someone like Daniel Yuan.
You probably won't win a single game.
Because there are so many steps ahead of you,
it doesn't matter what you do.
You're just going to lose.
Every single time,
the outcome is going to be exactly the same.
But even someone like Magnus Carlsen
is only responding to
what other people are doing.
He can't,
doesn't have control,
any control,
doesn't have any idea
what the person sitting across from him will do.
He can only control,
he can only respond to it.
But God's not like that.
God doesn't merely play with us
on the chessboard.
He created the chessboard.
He made all the chess pieces.
He made you.
We're not equal players and actors
with God in this world.
God works out his sovereign will,
not in spite of what you do,
but in and through everything you do.
In other words,
even the sins we commit,
even the evils that we do,
the mistakes that we make,
even what the devil or our enemies
mean for evil against us,
God means that very thing
for his glory and for our good.
That's a kind of transcendence
and sovereignty
that goes far beyond
our logic and imagination.
So we proclaim the gospel,
and as we do that,
we discern God's will
through conflicts
that inevitably occur,
and we trust God to work through.
Not only disagreements
and conflicts,
but we will also inevitably
face controversy in ministry.
It says in 16,
verses 1 to 2,
Paul came also to Derbe
and to Lystra.
A disciple was there
named Timothy,
son of a Jewish woman
who was a believer.
His father was a Greek.
He was well spoken of
by the brothers
at Lystra and Iconium.
This is where we're first
introduced to Timothy
in the book of Acts.
Timothy was Paul's son
in the faith.
He accompanied Paul
on many of his missionary journeys
and became a trusted minister
of the gospel.
Paul heaps high praises
on him in Philippians 2,
19 to 20.
And we learn from
2 Timothy 3, 15
that Timothy's mother,
Eunice,
and his grandmother,
Lois,
were Jews
who passed on
their knowledge
of the Old Testament
to Timothy.
They had come to believe
in Jesus at some point,
probably,
maybe during Paul's
previous ministry
in Lystra,
two years or so ago.
And Timothy had been
absorbing everything
like a sponge.
He's been growing
and maturing
so that he was well spoken of
by the brothers
at Lystra and Iconium.
Now,
do you guys remember
what happened in Lystra
when Paul was there?
This is helpful to remember.
Last time Paul was there,
he was stoned.
He left in shame.
This is why
we can't judge
the success
of our ministry
by the external
appearance of things.
Paul's mission's work
in Lystra,
by all metrics,
was a spectacular failure.
Who would have known
that a gem of a man
like Timothy
would emerge
from that rubble?
Paul's missionary team
was already shorthanded
with the loss
of Barnabas and Mark,
so this was really
golden opportunity
and discovery
to find such
a promising young man.
But despite
Timothy's sterling reputation,
his ethnic background
was a matter
of controversy.
And Paul addresses
this in verse 3.
Paul wanted Timothy
to accompany him
and he took him
and circumcised him
because of the Jews
who were in those places
where they all knew
that his father
was a Greek.
Now this might seem
like a compromise.
After all,
wasn't Paul
just at Jerusalem
council in chapter 15
strongly contending
that Gentiles
need not be circumcised
and become Jewish
in order to be saved?
But this is not
a compromise.
Luke takes care
to note in verse 4
that 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.
The Greek word
translated decisions
is where we get
the English word dogma.
It refers to
a formal decision
rendered by
the appropriate authorities.
It can be translated
decree.
So that Paul
is going around
with his team
promulgating
the decree
that the apostles
handed to them
from the Jerusalem council.
They're telling
everybody about it.
And they're doing this
not only in the cities
that were specifically
addressed in that
apostolic letter
but in other places
as well.
in Lystra and Iconium
which shows
that they believe
that the letter,
the content of the letter
had universal validity
for all the churches.
All that to say
Paul's not backtracking here.
He's continuing
to stand his ground
and insist that
Gentiles will be saved
by grace
through faith
in Jesus Christ
not by their good works
and not by becoming
circumcised
and becoming a Jew.
The difference here
is that Timothy
had a Jewish mother
rendering his ethnic status
ambiguous.
Some Jews
were deeply offended
that Timothy
who had at least
some Jewish heritage
was not circumcised.
It's not hard
to imagine
the controversy.
Timothy
whom everyone knew
had a Greek father
was still active
in the synagogue
along with his mother
and Jewish mother
Eunice
and grandmother Lois.
he studied like a Jew
talked like a Jew
ate foods
along with the Jews
in every way
he seemed
a cultural Jew
but he was not
circumcised
which was
enough not to Jews.
So Paul
takes decisive action
and circumcises
Timothy
before taking him along
on this missionary journey.
In 1 Corinthians
9 20 to 21
Paul writes this
to the Jews
I became as a Jew
in order to win Jews.
To those under the law
I became as one
under the law
though not being myself
under the law
that I might win
those under the law.
To those outside the law
I became as one
outside the law
not being outside
the law of God
but under the law of Christ
that I might win
those outside the law.
We're seeing that
missionary principle
at work here
in Acts 16.
To the Jews
Paul became like the Jew
in order to win Jews.
While Paul consistently
objected to Gentile believers
being circumcised
he never objected
to Jews
being circumcised.
Paul was not
conceding that
Timothy needed
to be circumcised
in order to be saved
but that Timothy
needed to be circumcised
in order to be accepted
by the Jews
as a Jew.
It was a cultural reason
not a soteriological one
a salvation reason.
It was so that
Timothy wouldn't cause
offense at every
single synagogue
that they visit.
It was so that
they might be able
to get a fair hearing
for the gospel
from among the Jews.
It was for the sake
of the gospel.
But to Gentiles
Paul became
as a Gentile
in order to win
Gentiles.
So in Galatians
chapter 2
verse 1 to 5
Paul recounts
that when he traveled
to Jerusalem
with Titus
he did not
circumcise Titus
though he was
a Greek.
And when Judaizers
took issue
with this
and insisted
on Titus'
circumcision
Paul says this
we did not
yield in submission
even for a moment
so that the truth
of the gospel
might be preserved
for you.
Titus
unlike Timothy
did not have
an ambiguous
ethnic status.
He was a Gentile
through and through
and to circumcise him
would have been
a disastrous
concession
that undermines
the gospel itself
because it would
suggest that Gentiles
do need to be
circumcised
and become Jewish
in order to be saved.
So Paul is actually
being very consistent
here.
The concern
that drives Paul
in both of those
cases is the
preservation
and proclamation
of the gospel.
When we are
ministering
to others
especially
in cross-cultural
missionary contexts
we will face
many
controversial
issues.
contextualization
issues
that require
careful discernment
of God's will.
And in those
situations
we need to
distinguish
carefully
between
contextualization
and compromise.
Are we
compromising
the truth
of the gospel
itself?
Are we
marring the
picture of the
gospel?
Or are we
faithfully
applying the
gospel to a
different cultural
context?
In this case
Paul wisely
navigated this
controversy
regarding
Timothy's
ambiguous
status
and in
doing so
faithfully
preserved the
gospel.
And the
result was
this in
verse 5.
So the
churches were
strengthened in
the faith and
they increased
in numbers
daily.
As we
proclaim the
gospel we
must discern
God's will
through conflicts
and controversies
and trust God
to work through
them.
In ministry
we will also
inevitably face
closed doors.
Read
verses 6-8
chapter 16
with me.
And they
went through
the region
of Phrygia
and Galatia
having been
forbidden by
the Holy Spirit
to speak the
word in Asia.
And when they
had come up to
Mysia they
attempted to
go into
Bithynia but
the Spirit of
Jesus did
not allow them.
So passing
by Mysia they
went down to
Troas.
Paul wanted
to go to
Asia Minor
to proclaim
the gospel but
he was forbidden
by the Holy
Spirit from
doing so.
After that
door was
closed Paul
attempted to
go into
Bithynia but
once again
the Spirit of
Jesus did
not allow
them.
We are not
told why
the Holy Spirit
prevented Paul
and his
companions from
going into
those two
areas but
we are told
twice that
it was the
Holy Spirit
himself who
closed those
doors and
that's an
important point.
The rare
phrase Spirit
of Jesus
used there
teaches us
two things.
One that
Jesus also
sends the
Spirit.
He is.
It's
Jesus'
Spirit.
Not only
the Father
Spirit which
is an
unmistakable
statement of
Jesus'
deity.
Secondly it
shows us
that Jesus
is still
himself
personally
involved in
the missionary
work of
his apostles.
Remember at
the Great
Commission in
Matthew 28
Jesus promised
his disciples
surely I
will be with
you always
to the very
end of the
age.
This is how
he's fulfilling
that promise
through the
Spirit of
Jesus accompanying
and directing
their mission.
So we
as a
church are
in the
process of
training and
sending out
missionaries and
as we make
our plans we
have to
remember that
it's God
who ultimately
directs our
missionary
efforts.
I've said
this many
times but
successful
Christian
missions work
is never
a calculable
result of
man's
ingenious
methods and
man's
meticulous
plans.
Never.
It is
always the
sovereign work
of the
Spirit of
God.
To be on
mission is to
be submitted to
the orders of
our general.
To be guided
by the Spirit
of Jesus.
Paul is not
so rigidly
attached to
his own
plan that he
just barges
into Phrygia
and Galatia
anyway after
being forbidden
by the Holy
Spirit from
doing so.
Well God I
can't do that.
It's part of
my plan.
My 10 year
plan.
Have it all
figured out.
Paul remained
pliable to
the will of
his master
and that's
what Christian
laborers should
see themselves
as.
Completely
disposed to
the will of
God.
Totally
expendable
and therefore
ever attentive
to the voice
of the Spirit.
But this
doesn't mean
that we
humans should
take no
initiative.
Notice that
Paul doesn't
just throw
his hand up
in the air
and sit
around when
God closes
doors.
When God
closes the
door to
Phrygia and
Galatia,
look at what
Paul does.
He just
goes right to
Mysia and
then tries to
go into
Bithynia.
So God
has to
close that
door too.
And then
he goes to
Troas.
Troas was the
primary Asian
harbor for
ships destined
for Macedonia.
It's possible
that Paul was
planning that
and that the
Spirit of God
confirmed that
in his vision.
If we wait
around for the
hand of God
to appear
and then
write on the
wall exactly
what he wants
you to do,
we likely
won't get
much work
done.
Because God
often does not
speak with that
kind of clarity.
So we need to
learn to discern
God's will
through closed
doors and
trust God to
work through
them.
Paul doesn't
know exactly
which city he
should travel to
next, but he
does know that
God has
commanded him
to preach the
gospel to all
nations.
So when God
closes one door,
he just goes to
another place in
an attempt to
share the gospel
there.
Likewise for us,
we do not need
to wait around
for the writing
on the wall.
You do know
that God has
called you to
be fishers of
men.
You do know
that God has
commanded you to
share the gospel
with your neighbors.
You do know
that God has
called the church
to make disciples
of all nations.
So the question
to ask is,
how can I be
involved with
that?
Everyone can be
involved with that
in some way.
So we use our
best discernment
and start working,
trusting that God
will close some
doors and redirect
us as necessary.
And when God
closes a door,
it means either
that the work
we're currently
engaged in is
still not over,
or that he's
about to open
another one.
He says in
verses 9 to 10,
and a vision
appeared to Paul
in the night.
A man of Macedonia
was standing there
urging him,
saying,
come over to
Macedonia and
help us.
And when Paul
had seen the
vision,
immediately we
sought to go
on into Macedonia,
concluding that
God had called
us to preach
the gospel to
them.
So God shows
Paul a vision.
He recognized
this figure in
the vision as
a man of
Macedonia,
so he must
have been in
some kind of
traditional
Macedonian
attire to
be recognizable.
And then
Paul,
after recognizing
him,
the man urges
Paul to
come over
to help
them.
And then it
says in
verse 10,
that immediately
we sought
to go into
Macedonia.
Notice it
says we.
Paul doesn't
unilaterally
decide this.
Paul receives
the vision from
the Lord,
tells his team,
and then we
immediately sought
to go on
into Macedonia.
Once the team
concludes that
Paul's vision is
indeed directed
from God,
there's no debate.
The time for
discerning God's
will is over.
It's not time
for obedience.
And they obey
promptly,
immediately.
Notice their
laser focus on
their mission.
There's no doubt
in their mind
what that vision
means.
They don't ask
after the vision,
so what are
we supposed
to do when
we get to
Macedonia?
Wait, wait, wait,
don't go away
man of Macedonia.
Tell us what
exactly you need
help with.
You didn't tell us,
you just said
help us.
What do you
need help with?
No such
questions are
raised.
Why?
Because they
know exactly
what their
mission is.
To proclaim
the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
They know
that that's
what the man
of Macedonia
needs most
to be saved.
that's our
mission too.
To proclaim
the good news
of Jesus
being led
by the Holy
Spirit.
The Christian
life is all
about Jesus
because Jesus
is the way,
the truth,
and the life.
No one comes
to the Father
except through
him because
there is no
other name
under heaven
given to
mankind
by which we
must be
saved than
the name
of Jesus
because Jesus
alone died
for our sins
and was raised
from the dead.
Because Jesus
alone can offer
forgiveness of sins
because Jesus
alone promises
eternal life
and future
resurrection
from the dead.
Frederick Buechner,
an American
novelist and
theologian,
once famously
said this,
the place
God calls
you to
is a place
where your
deep gladness
and the world's
deep hunger
meet.
For us
as Christians,
brothers and
sisters,
our deepest
gladness
is Jesus
Christ,
our Savior.
And the world's
deepest hunger
is for
Jesus Christ.
proclaiming
Jesus
is precisely
where our
deep gladness
and the world's
deep hunger
meet.
So how can we
orient our lives
around this
mission?
Are you willing
to drop what
you're doing
to lose
what you value
in order to
pursue this
calling?
That's the
posture of the
servants of Christ
and Paul and his
missionary companion
responded with
that kind of
faith and
obedience,
and the result
quite literally
changed the
course of human
history.
This is what
New Testament
scholar Richard
Longnecker
says about
this verse.
Authentic
turning points
in history
are few,
but surely
among them
that of the
Macedonian
vision ranks
high.
Because of
Paul's obedience
at this point,
the gospel
went westward,
and ultimately
Europe and
the western
world were
evangelized.
Christian
response to
the call of
God is never
a trivial
thing.
Indeed,
as in this
instance,
great issues
and untold
blessings may
depend on
it.
No
obedience is
too small in
the cause of
Christ.
So let us
faithfully
proclaim the
gospel,
discerning God's
will through
conflicts,
controversies,
and closed
doors,
while trusting
God to
work through
them all.
Let's pray.
God,
increase,
increase our
gladness in
Jesus,
and increase
our awareness
of the world's
desperate hunger
for Jesus.
God,
amen.
Amen.
Make us
more attentive
to and
sensitive to
the voice
of your
spirit,
and give
us wisdom
as we make
decisions,
as we
trudge along,
carrying our
cross and
following our
Savior.
Jesus' name
we pray.
Amen.