The One Year Bible Club with Teaching
Commentary by Nick Boork
June 24
Acts 15:36-16:15
Commentary by Nick Boork
June 24
Acts 15:36-16:15
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June 24 ~ Acts 15:36 – 16:15
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.” 37 Now Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark. 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. 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. 41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
16 Then he came to Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek. 2 He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. 3 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. 4 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. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily. 6 Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. 7 After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. 8 So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.
11 Therefore, sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day came to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is the foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony. And we were staying in that city for some days. 13 And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. 14 Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. 15 And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” So she persuaded us.
OKAY, HERE'S MY TEACHING COMMENTARY
The Bible doesn’t cover up or hide the faults and defects of the leaders recorded in its pages. For example, Paul and Barnabas who up to this point seemed to be inseparable as very close friends have a major blow up in their relationship. The issue is concerning taking John who is also called Mark the cousin of Barnabas with them on their second missionary trip. Paul put his foot down saying; No way! Why? Because halfway into their first missionary journey Mark got either homesick or afraid and left them. Obviously he had some kind of a duty that he was supposed to be performing on the team but completely dropped the ball and went AWOL. As time passed, this broken relationship was restored. We know this because Paul wrote to Timothy about Mark telling him to go look for him and bring him on his visit to Paul while at Rome. 2 Timothy 4:11 Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry.
Christianity is all about relationships. We have this vertical relationship first with God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. We also have a horizontal relationship with our fellow Christian’s. The church is the family of God, the body of Christ. God is perfect but people are not! If you have been part of the church for any length of time you have probably had the opportunity to be offended, rejected, let down or disappointed one way or another. Relational problems and offenses are guaranteed but it’s how we handle them when things go sideways that really counts. The royal command is to love one another like Jesus loved us. Ref; John 13:34 Think about this just for a minute. How did Jesus love the disciples? He believed in them and had great patience with them as they developed into men of God. In the process, they made a lot of stupid mistakes and showed a lot of non Christ-like attitudes.
Remember when a village of the Samaritans did not accept Jesus or his ministry? What was James and John solution? Praying to call fire down from heaven like Elijah did, just toast em! Just give the word Jesus and we will do it!!! The Lord rebuked them and said you don’t know what spirit you are of because the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them. How about the time just before Jesus went to the cross when he was in the garden. What does Peter do? He pulls out his sword and tries to cut the head of the servant of the high priest’s head off but he misses and gets his ear instead. What does Jesus do? He has total control in the situation and tells Peter to put up his sword in it’s sheath then Jesus heals the guys ear!
James and John wanted to monopolize power in the kingdom of God by sending their mother to ask if one of them could sit on the right hand and the other on the left of Jesus when he came into the fullness of his kingdom on earth. Talk about the potential for a total split in the apostolic group. How do you think the rest of the apostles felt when they found out about their plan? Jesus had to forgive them and keep his team together at the same time. It’s not easy being a Christian and relating to all kinds of people in the church especially if you’re a pastor or full-time minister. There’s plenty of opportunities to get hurt and offended. People will let you down but one thing that I have learned is to keep my eyes on Jesus Christ and learn to forgive people quickly because I just can’t afford to allow any un-forgiveness or bitterness to enter into my soul because that will stop the anointing of God very quickly. I have it in my heart to write a book titled “How to survive the Church” practical survival guide on how to survive and thrive in the body of Christ.
WHAT'S THE BOTTOM LINE?
1) The Bible does not conceal the faults and failures of the leaders in it’s pages.
2) Paul and Barnabas were the closest of friends but had a major blow up!
3) We should always seek to reconcile our relationships.
4) Forgive people quickly and don’t allow un-forgiveness or bitterness to live in you.
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.” 37 Now Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark. 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. 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. 41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
16 Then he came to Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek. 2 He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. 3 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. 4 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. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily. 6 Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. 7 After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. 8 So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.
11 Therefore, sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day came to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is the foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony. And we were staying in that city for some days. 13 And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. 14 Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. 15 And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” So she persuaded us.
OKAY, HERE'S MY TEACHING COMMENTARY
The Bible doesn’t cover up or hide the faults and defects of the leaders recorded in its pages. For example, Paul and Barnabas who up to this point seemed to be inseparable as very close friends have a major blow up in their relationship. The issue is concerning taking John who is also called Mark the cousin of Barnabas with them on their second missionary trip. Paul put his foot down saying; No way! Why? Because halfway into their first missionary journey Mark got either homesick or afraid and left them. Obviously he had some kind of a duty that he was supposed to be performing on the team but completely dropped the ball and went AWOL. As time passed, this broken relationship was restored. We know this because Paul wrote to Timothy about Mark telling him to go look for him and bring him on his visit to Paul while at Rome. 2 Timothy 4:11 Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry.
Christianity is all about relationships. We have this vertical relationship first with God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. We also have a horizontal relationship with our fellow Christian’s. The church is the family of God, the body of Christ. God is perfect but people are not! If you have been part of the church for any length of time you have probably had the opportunity to be offended, rejected, let down or disappointed one way or another. Relational problems and offenses are guaranteed but it’s how we handle them when things go sideways that really counts. The royal command is to love one another like Jesus loved us. Ref; John 13:34 Think about this just for a minute. How did Jesus love the disciples? He believed in them and had great patience with them as they developed into men of God. In the process, they made a lot of stupid mistakes and showed a lot of non Christ-like attitudes.
Remember when a village of the Samaritans did not accept Jesus or his ministry? What was James and John solution? Praying to call fire down from heaven like Elijah did, just toast em! Just give the word Jesus and we will do it!!! The Lord rebuked them and said you don’t know what spirit you are of because the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them. How about the time just before Jesus went to the cross when he was in the garden. What does Peter do? He pulls out his sword and tries to cut the head of the servant of the high priest’s head off but he misses and gets his ear instead. What does Jesus do? He has total control in the situation and tells Peter to put up his sword in it’s sheath then Jesus heals the guys ear!
James and John wanted to monopolize power in the kingdom of God by sending their mother to ask if one of them could sit on the right hand and the other on the left of Jesus when he came into the fullness of his kingdom on earth. Talk about the potential for a total split in the apostolic group. How do you think the rest of the apostles felt when they found out about their plan? Jesus had to forgive them and keep his team together at the same time. It’s not easy being a Christian and relating to all kinds of people in the church especially if you’re a pastor or full-time minister. There’s plenty of opportunities to get hurt and offended. People will let you down but one thing that I have learned is to keep my eyes on Jesus Christ and learn to forgive people quickly because I just can’t afford to allow any un-forgiveness or bitterness to enter into my soul because that will stop the anointing of God very quickly. I have it in my heart to write a book titled “How to survive the Church” practical survival guide on how to survive and thrive in the body of Christ.
WHAT'S THE BOTTOM LINE?
1) The Bible does not conceal the faults and failures of the leaders in it’s pages.
2) Paul and Barnabas were the closest of friends but had a major blow up!
3) We should always seek to reconcile our relationships.
4) Forgive people quickly and don’t allow un-forgiveness or bitterness to live in you.
ORDINATION
We provide Ministry Credentials and Ordination through Diamond Ministerial Association. Click to learn more and apply! http://www.diamondinstitute.org/ordination
ONLINE COURSES
For Bible courses and ministry resources see our online school Diamond Institute. Enroll free today and get access to our free and pay as you go courses. http://www.diamondinstitute.org/enroll
We provide Ministry Credentials and Ordination through Diamond Ministerial Association. Click to learn more and apply! http://www.diamondinstitute.org/ordination
ONLINE COURSES
For Bible courses and ministry resources see our online school Diamond Institute. Enroll free today and get access to our free and pay as you go courses. http://www.diamondinstitute.org/enroll