"Who Was Right?"

Overview

Two Disagreements, One Gospel

Acts 15 closes with two disputes in the early church. The first—whether Gentile believers must add law-keeping to salvation by grace through faith—was resolved beautifully by the Jerusalem council, and when the letter from the apostles arrived, "they rejoiced at the exhortation" Acts 15:31. The second, however, did not end so cleanly. Paul proposed to Barnabas that they revisit the churches they had planted Acts 15:36—a faithful living-out of the Great Commission to make disciples and teach them Matthew 28:19-20, so that we may "present everyone mature in Christ" Colossians 1:28. But Barnabas wanted John Mark along; Paul refused, because Mark had abandoned them earlier in Pamphylia Acts 13:13. The Greek behind "sharp disagreement" describes a violent eruption—real anger, not mild preference. They parted ways.

So who was right? A genuine case can be made for each. Paul wanted a teammate he could trust on a demanding mission; Barnabas wanted to give a struggling brother another chance. Notably, God brought good out of the rupture: where one mission team had gone, now two went—Barnabas with Mark to Cyprus, Paul with Silas through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. The kingdom advanced through human conflict that the Lord redeemed.

If we must cast a vote, Barnabas commends himself. Consider Peter, who swore he would never desert Jesus and then denied him three times (Matthew 26:33-35; Matthew 26:69-75). The risen Christ did not discard him; he restored him with a threefold "Do you love me?...Feed my sheep" John 21:15-17. Jesus uses those who fail. And Mark himself was eventually restored in Paul's eyes—"Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry" (2 Timothy 4:11; see also Colossians 4:10).

That is the pastoral heart of this passage. The law exposes our failures—what we have said, done, thought, and left undone—but the blood of Jesus covers our sin daily. Claimed in the waters of baptism, we are called into service not because we are reliable but because Christ is. The most beautiful restoration in Acts 15 is not eventually between Paul and Mark; it is the restoration God works with us. He has made the call, and the call is forgiveness. You are claimed, and you are sent.

Transcript

Don Driesdale, he was a fantastic pitcher with the LA Dodgers a few decades ago. 0s

He ran a consecutive scoreless innings of 58 consecutive scoreless innings he pitched. 10s

Now when you ponder that, a moment. 19s

Let me see, he didn't give up a run to the opposing team for six straight games that he pitched. 22s

Pitching complete games the entire time. 32s

And then even going in to the next game about halfway through, not giving up a run, credible and credible pitcher. 37s

He's a boy when bedtime would come. 50s

I oftentimes would not go well exactly to sleep right on time. 54s

I would go into my desk, I would take out my transistor radio, and I would put it underneath my pillow. 61s

I would tune in to the Dodger game, and the magnificent announcer Vince Skully as he would call the game. 69s

More often than not, after a while, I would fall asleep before turning the radio off. 77s

The battery would be dead, I would ask my parents once again, you know, I think I need some more batteries. 83s

They said with a little smile on their face, point must be listening to the radio a lot, never mentioning at all about the Dodgers. 90s

They knew exactly what I was doing. 98s

Remember it was late in the streak of drizzel. 102s

There was a play at the plate. 107s

I wasn't there, but I was, because Skully could absolutely paint a picture with his words. 109s

The battery was rounding third, and you could just tell it's going to be a play at the plate. 119s

The right fielder launching it towards home plate, and Skully with a little bit of dramatic flair said, 125s

and he's out. 134s

I just breathe the sigh of relief. 139s

Well, Skully also said, however, that there might have been a little grace in that Empire's call on that. 142s

In fact, that was a debated call for quite a while as the consecutive scoreless inning streak was continued. 154s

Here's why I raised that. 167s

I'd like you this morning to be an Empire, like to be an Empire. 170s

I'd like you to make a decision this morning. 175s

I want you to make a call. 178s

Who was right? 182s

Who was right? 188s

Let's study. 192s

As we conclude the 15th chapter of Acts, you'll recall that for the last three weeks, we've been talking about a disagreement that was in the early church. 194s

It was a disagreement, it was a matter of theology. 204s

There were some Christians of Jewish origin that were taking the great doctrine, 207s

and salvation by grace through faith and the Lord Jesus Christ, and adding adherence to the law to it. 213s

Well, that couldn't stand. 221s

Church leaders gathered, they issued a letter here, and that disagreement was resolved wonderfully. 223s

Well, take a look again at verse 31 of chapter 15. 231s

When its members read it, they rejoiced at the exhortation. 236s

So here was a disagreement. 241s

It was resolved wonderfully. 244s

Now you go into verse 36 and following. 251s

And here's another disagreement that comes up. 256s

But this disagreement, at least initially, wasn't resolved with such great success. 261s

Look with me, please. 273s

At verse 36, starts out quite encouraging. 274s

After some days, Paul said, debarne us. 279s

Come. 282s

Let us return and visit the believers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord and see how they're doing. 283s

The wonderful thing to do. 294s

That's really the living out of the great commission, right? 296s

Jesus said, and of Matthew 28, go make disciples of all nations. 298s

Howard disciples made baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 304s

And then he said, and teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you. 311s

You see, the call was to not only make disciples through the waters of baptism, 318s

but also to teach. 324s

That's the maturing of the church. 329s

That is literally behind every class here. 333s

It's behind confirmation. 337s

It's behind Sunday School. 339s

It's behind the Academy. 341s

It's the living out of the great commission to teach. 343s

So that together, we might be matured in our walk of faith. 348s

Paul says this in Colossians 1. 355s

It is he whom we proclaim warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom. 359s

So that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 367s

So the call now, is there going to revisit the churches? 377s

They're going to go back to the saints. 383s

They're going to see how they're doing. 385s

They're going to teach so that by the spirit's operation, 387s

there might be a maturing of the body. 391s

Wonderful. 395s

But next verse, verse 37. 399s

Barthabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. 404s

But Paul decided not to take with them one who had deserted them in Pamphilia 410s

and had not accompanied them in the work. 417s

What's the backdrop on this? 423s

Turn back, please, to chapter 13, verse 13. 426s

This is what they're referring to here in chapter 15. 431s

Chapter 13, verse 13, there we read then Paul and his companions, set sail from Paffos, 437s

came to Purgah in Pamphilia. 444s

John, remember he was also called Mark. 447s

John, however, left them and returned to Jerusalem. 450s

So that's what's being referred to in 37. 456s

So let's go back to the text then. 459s

Verse 37 again. 462s

Barthabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. 465s

But Paul decided not to take with them one who had deserted them in Pamphilia 469s

and had not accompanied them in the work. 475s

So there's the disagreement. 480s

Why is it that Mark left back in chapter 13? 484s

Why did he leave the mission field? 489s

The scripture doesn't tell us. 492s

It just doesn't tell us. 494s

We can guess. 496s

Was it the difficult travels there through the mountains that would be very dangerous? 499s

Was it persecution? 504s

What was it? 506s

We don't know. 508s

Whatever reason he left Barthabas says, I want him to come. 508s

Paul says he's not coming. 514s

There's the disagreement. 516s

And this was quite a disagreement. 518s

When you look at the words here, in verse 38, 522s

Paul decided not to take with them one who had deserted them in Pamphilia 526s

and had not accompanied them in the work. 531s

The disagreement became so sharp that they parted company. 535s

The Greek word there that's talking about the level of disagreement. 544s

That Greek word there means a violent explosion. 550s

A violent explosion. 556s

So this was not an interchange between Paul and Barnavus, 558s

where Barnavus says, I sure would like him to come along and Paul says, 562s

You know, I really don't want him to come. 567s

I don't want him to come. 570s

No, they were angry at each other. 570s

I mean, really angry at each other. 573s

This didn't come to blows. 576s

That's not what violent explosion means here. 578s

But the words that were used were the intensity of the anger toward each other on this issue. 581s

This is a big disagreement. 589s

When you go back into verse 37 where it says, 592s

Barnavus wanted to take with them John called Mark. 597s

That Greek there indicates the tense indicates that Barnavus was persistent in wanting Mark to come. 602s

So you got Barnavus on this side. 611s

You got Paul on this side. 612s

They come together. 614s

They don't want to take Mark and their angry at each other. 615s

And they part ways. 620s

They part ways. 624s

Look in the second part of verse 39. 628s

Barnavus took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. 632s

I just a little aside there. 639s

There's already Christians in Cyprus, right? 642s

So in Barnavus gets there with Mark, what are they going to do? 645s

They're going to teach for what purpose to mature the disciples, right? 649s

Same thing here that Paul is going to do. 654s

Verse 40, but Paul chose Cyprus and set out. 659s

The believers commending him to the grace of the Lord. 663s

He went through Syria and Sylasia. 666s

And here it comes strengthening the churches. 669s

Time for you to make your call. 680s

Who's right? 684s

Who's right? 687s

Is it Paul or Barnavus? 690s

Who's right? 696s

You're the Empire. 698s

If you have to make the call, here's the play at the plate. 699s

Who's right? 703s

Paul or Barnavus? 707s

But let's just complicate this a little more. 713s

You can make a case for either one of them. 717s

Can't you? 719s

You can make a legitimate case for either one of them. 720s

Let's take Paul here. 725s

Paul wants someone that he can trust on the team, right? 729s

Paul has had experience here where Mark, all of a sudden, 735s

Abandon's them on the trip. 738s

Paul says, we're not doing that again. 741s

We're not going to do that again. 744s

He's not going to come here. 745s

I don't trust him that he's not going to stay with us. 748s

You can make that case, right? 755s

All right, then now look at Barnavus. 758s

Barnavus says, I know what he did. 762s

I know what he did. 765s

But that doesn't mean that he can't join us for another mission trip. 768s

Give them another chance. 774s

Give them another chance. 777s

Paul, you're being too hard here. 779s

You can make a case for either one of who's right. 782s

The good that God brings out of it, 790s

because remember God brings good out of things for those who love the Lord. 793s

What's the good that comes about? 799s

All of a sudden, now instead of one team, you've got two teams. 801s

That means there can be a greater impact. 806s

That means they're going to be able to go to different areas. 810s

That means they're going to be able to evangelize. 813s

That means they're going to be able to teach. 815s

That means they're going to be able to mature by God's grace. 817s

The disciples. 821s

But even though you can make a case for either one, 826s

if you had to make the call, 829s

who'd you pick? 834s

I'll throw my hat in the ring. 838s

I'll give you my vote. 841s

My vote? 843s

Barnabas. 846s

My votes for Barnabas. 848s

Let me show you why. 851s

Let's go to Matthew the 26th chapter. 854s

That's page 26 in the New Testament. 857s

Matthew chapter 26. 860s

We're going to start at verse 33. 865s

In Matthew chapter 26 verse 33, 873s

Peter is speaking to Jesus. 878s

And Peter says to Jesus, 881s

though all become desertors because of you, 884s

I will never desert you. 888s

Jesus said to him, 891s

truly, I tell you this very night before the cock crowes. 892s

You will deny me three times. 897s

Let's jump down now. 902s

Chapter 26 verse 69. 903s

Chapter 26 verse 69. 907s

Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. 912s

A servant girl came to him and said, 915s

you also were with Jesus together, 917s

but he denied it before all of them saying, 921s

I do not know what you're talking about. 924s

When he went out to the porch and other servant girl saw him 928s

and said to the bystandards, 931s

this man was with Jesus of Nazareth. 932s

Again, he denied it with an oath, 936s

I do not know the man. 939s

After a little while, the bystandards came up and said to Peter, 943s

certainly, you are also one of them, 947s

for your accent betrays you. 950s

Then he began to curse and he swore in oath. 954s

I do not know the man, 960s

at that moment the cock crowed. 963s

Let's go now to the gospel of John chapter 21. 970s

That's page 101. 976s

The gospel of John chapter 21 will pick up in verse 15. 978s

John 21 verse 15. 987s

This is after the crucifixion, 990s

it's after the resurrection. 993s

Verse 15 of John 21 says, 998s

when they had finished the breakfast, 1000s

Jesus said to Simon Peter, 1003s

Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? 1005s

He said to him, yes Lord, you know that I love you. 1010s

Now what's the these there? 1013s

Remember Peter was a fisherman. 1015s

So what Jesus is referring to, 1017s

do you love me more than the fish? 1019s

Let me more than your boats. 1022s

Let me more than the nets. 1023s

You love me more than what you do for a living. 1024s

Do you love me more than that? 1027s

He says, yes Lord, you know that I love you. 1030s

Jesus said to him, feed my lambs, verse 16. 1032s

The second time he said to him, 1037s

Simon, son of John, do you love me? 1039s

He said to him, yes Lord, you know that I love you. 1040s

Jesus said to him, tend my sheep. 1043s

Verse 17. 1049s

He said to him, the third time, 1051s

Simon, son of John, do you love me? 1053s

Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, 1056s

do you love me? 1059s

And he said to him, Lord, you know everything. 1060s

You know that I love you. 1064s

Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. 1067s

The threefold denial is replaced by the forgiving, 1074s

threefold exhortation of the one who has forgiven him. 1083s

And Jesus uses the one who fail. 1092s

Barnabas said, I want him. 1108s

He's failed. 1115s

But I want him. 1119s

Barnabas gets my vote. 1125s

Barnabas gets my vote. 1128s

He said, the same thing for us doesn't he? 1133s

The law comes and reveals all of our sin. 1137s

Our failures in terms of sin. 1143s

The law reveals to it all the things we've said, 1146s

all the things we've done, all the things we've thought, 1149s

all of the things we've left undone. 1152s

The law reveals all of it. 1155s

And God, that his grace comes and Jesus sheds his blood on the cross, 1158s

our sins are forgiven. 1164s

The relationship is restored. 1167s

We continue to fail every single day. 1171s

Every single day we fall short in thought, word, and indeed, 1176s

by what we do and by what we don't do. 1181s

And every single day the blood of Jesus Christ covers our failure. 1184s

It covers our sin. 1193s

We are claimed in the life-giving waters of baptism, 1197s

and we are called unto service. 1202s

And God uses failures like you, like me. 1206s

He uses us. 1224s

As you read further, 1229s

there was some restoration that occurred that was beautiful between Paul and Mark and Barnabas. 1232s

Mark had changed and Paul had confidence in Mark once again. 1244s

We read in 2 Timothy 4, 1251s

where Paul says, only Luke is with me, 1254s

get Mark and bring him with you. 1258s

He is useful in my ministry. 1261s

In Colossians 4, he writes, 1266s

Arista Carcos, my fellow prisoners, 1269s

greet you as done as does Mark the cousin of Barnabas. 1272s

Concerning whom you have received instructions. 1277s

If he comes to you, 1281s

welcome him. 1285s

In 1 Corinthians 9th chapter, Paul writes, 1288s

glowingly of Barnabas, 1293s

how Barnabas supported himself as he served as a missionary. 1296s

There was some restoration that occurred. 1302s

That is beautiful. 1308s

Beautiful. 1310s

But what is more beautiful? 1312s

What is even better is God restoring the broken relationship with us. 1316s

God saying, 1330s

I am making the call, 1332s

and the call is forgiveness. 1336s

Called and claimed, 1345s

claimed to serve. 1352s

That is God's decision about you. 1355s