SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/9/2018
9:38 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2 “The Right Personal”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts
15:37-16:3a
Message of the
verses: “37 Barnabas wanted to take
John, called Mark, along with them also. 38 But Paul kept insisting that they
should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone
with them to the work. 39 And there occurred such a sharp disagreement that
they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed
away to Cyprus. 40 But Paul chose Silas and left, being committed by the
brethren to the grace of the Lord. 41 And he was traveling through Syria and
Cilicia, strengthening the churches. 1 Paul
came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And a disciple was there, named Timothy, the
son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, 2 and he
was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul
wanted this man to go with him;”
As we begin this SD there is still more to be written on the
controversy between Paul and Barnabas which we began to look at in our last
SD. We want to begin with the words “And
there occurred such a sharp disagreement.”
John MacArthur writes Paroxusmos
(sharp disagreement) is the root of the English word paroxysm. Their partnership
dissolved not amicably but with violent emotions, and ‘Barnabas took Mark with
him and sailed away to Cyprus (Barnabas’s home—Acts 4:36).”
The question that I brought up in our last SD was that I
am wondering who was right and so I am about to quote two paragraphs from John
MacArthur’s commentary that perhaps sheds some light on this subject that I
have been wondering about. Before I do
that I want to say that I heard a sermon earlier, and I don’t remember when,
and the Pastor stated that because of this split there were more missionaries
going out to spread the Word of God.
“The question arises as to
who was right, Barnabas or Paul.
Although the Scripture does not explicitly say, the weight of the
evidence favors Paul. He was an apostle,
Barnabas was not. Therefore, Barnabas
should have submitted to Paul’s apostolic authority. Also, Paul and Silas, but not Barnabas and
Mark, were commended by the church (v. 49).
Finally, Barnabas should have realized that it would have been unwise
and difficult to have Mark along if Paul did not trust him.
“Although they apparently
never again ministered together (this is the last mention of Barnabas’s
ministry in Acts), we know Paul and Barnabas eventually reconciled their
differences, because Paul later wrote approvingly of Barnabas’s ministry (1
Cor. 9:6). Even John Mark, the cause of
all the trouble, later became one of Paul’s valued co-laborers (Col. 4:10;
Philem. 24; 2 Timothy 4:11). He also
became a close associate of the apostle Peter (1 Pet. 5:13) and was privileged
to write on of the four gospels.
Barnabas did a remarkable job in helping to turn around the life and
ministry career of his young cousin.”
The same thing that the Pastor I mentioned earlier is
actually repeated by John MacArthur in his commentary, and he even adds that as
Satan tried another thing to hurt the church it backfired on him as now there
were two sets of missionaries going out to spread the Word of God.
In our next SD we will begin to look at Paul’s new
missionary partner, Silas, and then begin to look at how this new partnership recruited
another member of the team, a very important member, Timothy.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I can’t help but
remember Romans 8:28 as I re-read this account from Acts 15: “28 And we know that God causes all things to
work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according
to His purpose.”
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to guide my steps each and
every day, for I do not really know what the outcome will be each day, but the
Lord does and He has a plan for my life each day that I want to trust Him for.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Absalom” (2 Samuel 15:6).
Today’s Bible
question: “What two books are named for
women?”
Answer in our next SD.
4/9/2018 10:08 AM
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