Well good morning to everyone, it is a great day at Living Hope Church. I'm looking forward to the baptismal service and the report from the Dieblers, and just a great day to think about the purpose that we're here for, the Christian life and bringing the gospel to lost men. That's what we've been studying through the book of Acts. 

What we see in the life of Paul and Silas and Barnabas and John Mark is that they're continually going and taking this good news message to lost sinners. We spent the day yesterday at the fairgrounds. Bray and Doug and I participated in a barbecue cook-off, and we won, by the way. But anyway, Doug and I were getting an Indian taco at the Indian taco truck at one point in the afternoon, and I was just looking around and I said, "Doug, it's just a world of lost sinners," and that’s how we see men now, their spiritual state. We no longer regard men according to the flesh, but we see their spiritual state. It's our desire to bring the truth to them that they might be saved.

We have before us this morning a very interesting, a very diverse text. It's Luke's recording of the historical account of the ministry of Paul and Barnabas in the early church in the book of Acts. As I studied these words before us, I was striving to understand what really ties it all together. What is this record really about? What can we learn from these evangelists and pastors and teachers of the early church and what they did and how they did it? 

Even as we look at this sort of spattering of events at the end of chapter 15, with the conflict between Paul and Barnabas resulting in their split, to the circumcision of Timothy, and the struggling of Paul to find where to go next, and the resulting fruit that God brings in Macedonia, we see tremendous truth and tremendous example and tremendous encouragement in these words for us today at Living Hope Church. 

These events in the life and ministry of Paul have been questioned at length—Paul's decisions to split with Barnabas, to circumcise Timothy—whether maybe Paul was acting on his own here, perhaps he was in sin or made a mistake in the actions that he took. I have to tell you, for several reasons after studying this text, that I don't really buy that idea. 

What we see here is real-life ministry. What we see here are decisions made with the right motives. What we see here is a passion for people centered on the most important thing, and that is the gospel of Jesus Christ and bringing that gospel to lost men everywhere. The truth is that sometimes ministry can be messy. Sometimes we do the best we can. Sometimes we do make mistakes. But if our motive, our passion, the driving force behind our lives, is to glorify God and see people saved—if our trust is in God to work through us as we obey Him in preaching His gospel truth to every creature—then God's overruling grace works in our lives and ministries, and He produces fruit, amazing, abounding, life-changing fruit.

This is the conclusion that we will see in our text today as we see Lydia and the women by the river hear the Word, believe the gospel, and joyfully, willingly submit to the command of Christ to be baptized as a testimony of their faith in Him.

Well, let's dig into these amazing events in chapter 15 at verse 36. It says, "'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.' Now Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark, 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. Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of God. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. 

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. He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. And 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. 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. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in number daily. 

When they had gone through Phrygia in the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After they had come to Mycenae, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. So passing by Mycenae, they came down to Troas. A vision appeared to Paul in the night, and a man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, 'Come over to Macedonia and help us.' Now, after they had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them. Therefore, sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day to Neapolis, 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. 

On the Sabbath day, we went out of the city to the riverside where a prayer was customarily made, and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. 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. 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.' And so she persuaded us."

I've given you four points on your outline this morning: first, a passionate conflict; second, passionate preference; third, passionate perseverance; and fourth, a passion for people. 

Well, first in our text, we see a passionate conflict. I have to tell you, my brothers and sisters, I struggled for some time about this passage at the end of chapter 15. I initially had planned an entire message on conflict in the church and how to deal with it and go through it and these kinds of struggles between believers. But as I studied the text in the context, I don't really think this is what this was about, nor is this the focus of what's going on. 

What I think we see here is a disagreement that results because of a wonderful passion for people that drives the heart and mind of each of these men. Paul and Barnabas are two entirely different kinds of people, and I think this is really beautiful in the body in the church. Paul is the logical, linear-thinking kind of guy, where black is black, and white is white, and we have a mission, and that mission is clear, and we have no time for anything that would distract from or hinder that mission. He is adamant and bold and clear as to what he is to do and how he is to do it. 

Barnabas, his very name, means son of encouragement. He is a lover of people, an encourager, a helper. Remember, he'd help Paul when the Apostles would not receive him. He had persuaded them that Paul was a true convert and that they should accept him as a brother. I think Barnabas liked to see the best in people, give them the benefit of the doubt. You see these two personalities—both great servants of the Lord, pastors, evangelists—who had worked tirelessly to further the gospel, to pastor the church in Antioch, to give their very lives for the ministry of Christ, were both used in profound ways by the Lord to accomplish His will. 

But they were very different people, each very passionate for people and for the gospel. But here, in the case of Mark, they came into conflict. You remember on their first missionary journey, having been sent out from the church in Antioch, Paul and Barnabas took John Mark with them. He remained with them for a time, going down through Seleucia and on to Cyprus and even to Paphos, where they had stood against the sorcerer and led the pro-council to Christ. But then there's that fateful verse in chapter 13 at verse 13, where we see Mark leave the missionary team. 

In Acts 13:13 it says, "Now when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga and Pamphylia, and John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem." That's all it says, my friends. Why did Mark leave? We talked before about the amazing perils and struggles and dangers they experienced on this journey, and now they were facing a monumental trek up through the Taurus mountains and nearly impossible terrain and filled with bands of robbers and treacherous difficult trails and topography. Think of this now; just this leg of the journey from Perga to Antioch of Pisidia was 100 miles. It was an amazing feat that Paul and Barnabas even made it to Antioch of Pisidia. 

I would guess that Mark was maybe not enjoying this lifestyle much. He was young, it was exceedingly difficult, and they were run out of town by the Jews wherever they went. There was conflict, dispute, and now they're facing this journey. Paul was steadfast, marching on. I think most likely John Mark said, "I've had enough. I'm going back. I'm going back to Jerusalem." You can imagine how Paul must have felt about this situation.

Now we come to a much later time and another plan to set out and go back to these places they'd evangelized to strengthen the churches and the brethren. Barnabas wants to take Mark along again. Paul says, "No way." Look at verse 36, "after some days, Paul said to Barnabas, 'Let us go back and visit our brethren in every city where we've preached the word of the Lord and see how they're doing.' And it says, Barnabas was determined to take with him John called Mark. 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." 

The contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus, and Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of God. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. You can imagine the mindset of Barnabas here as well. Mark was young. He has a good heart. He has a heart for the Lord. Remember, Mark was the companion of Peter later on, and he's the one who wrote the gospel of Mark. 

We'll see that he was even a great helper and encourager to Paul towards the end of his life. Barnabas wanted to give Mark another chance. He wanted to encourage him, to grow him, to disciple him in the Lord. This was great, and I'm very thankful for the Barnabases we have in the church. But I'm also thankful for the Pauls. The wording here suggests that Paul said "no way," but Barnabas kept on persisting to take Mark with them. He wouldn't let it go. So the argument rose to a level where Paul said, "You take him. I'll take Silas and we'll go our own ways."

But who was right? That's the question that invariably comes, but I think it's the wrong question. If I had to answer it from the text, I'd side with Paul for a couple of reasons. One, Paul was an apostle with authority, and I think Barnabas should, for that reason, have been submissive to the decision and guidance of Paul. But look at verse 40. It says, "but Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of God." It appears that the church there, the elders and leaders, gave their commendation to Paul and approved of what he was doing. We see no such commendation given to Barnabas.

Again, I think it's the wrong question. What we have in both men is a passion for people expressed differently, but both driven by a motive of love for people and a desire for them to be saved and a commitment to the gospel as a means to that end. Though Satan may have meant to divide and cause trouble for the furtherance of the gospel in this instance, what was the ultimate result of God's overruling grace? It was two missionary teams being doubly effective for the cause of Christ. We see the abounding fruit that comes as we will study the rest of the book of Acts. 

We can relegate this conflict to a result of passion for the gospel, for people, and appreciate each of their personalities and how God used them, as well as their motive to see the gospel furthered and the brethren strengthened. I'd like to just point out one text for our encouragement. In 2 Timothy 4:6, Paul talks about how he's at the end of his life. He's writing to Timothy, he's already been poured out as a drink offering, and he says, "there's laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the righteous judge will give to me on that day." 

At the end of that passage, he says, "only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you for he is useful to me for ministry." At the end of his life in ministry, Paul, writing to his beloved Timothy, asks him to bring Mark, the same John Mark, because he says he was an encouragement to him. This is a beautiful picture of reconciliation between brothers.

Next, we see in our text passionate preference. Look at verse 1 of chapter 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. He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium, and 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." 

And they went through the cities, delivering to them the decrees to keep which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. Look at verse 5, "so the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in number daily." Here we come to another controversy in the ministry of Paul, but again I think it need not be. Paul meets Timothy, and it says that Timothy was a disciple; he was already a believer. Paul did not lead him to Christ, but it may be that Paul led his mother and grandmother to Christ on his first missionary journey and that they had led Timothy to Christ. 

He writes in 2 Timothy 1, he says, "that faith that he had received from his mother and grandmother." Paul is writing to encourage and strengthen the struggling pastor in that passage, and he tells him to recall his genuine faith which dwelt first in his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice. So now Paul comes back through, and here's Timothy, son of his friend, his sister in Christ. Timothy is well spoken of, and Paul wants to take him with him on a journey. 

Now why is it that Paul circumcises Timothy? Is this a mistake? Does this confuse the whole issue with the Judaizers? Well, these are all good questions, but what does the text say? It says, "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." Remember, we see Paul consistently going to the Jews first whenever he comes to a town preaching Christ in the synagogues. Timothy was a Jew; his mother was a Jew, but it says all the Jews knew that his father was a Greek. 

Why did Paul circumcise Timothy? He did it to gain access to the Jews, to remove a stumbling block, to give preference to their convictions. This is just what we studied last week in our text—doing what we can, not compromising the gospel, but allowing our passion for the furtherance of the gospel, our love for men, to overrule our preferences and to esteem others over ourselves. 

This may seem strange to us, but I don't think it was a compromise by Paul because Timothy was a Jew. Interestingly, we see later that Paul absolutely refused to circumcise Titus. Remember that? Because he was a Gentile. In Galatians 2:3 it says, "...yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised." And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in, who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus. They might bring us into bondage. Paul says we didn’t submit to them for even an hour. 

Paul's thinking was that he would circumcise Timothy because it would remove a major stumbling block for the Jews in that region. Because Timothy was a Jew, this would in no way violate or compromise the clarity of the gospel. Turn with me to 1st Corinthians 9, please. 

In 1 Corinthians 9 at verse 19, Paul says, "for though I am free from all men, I've made myself a servant to all that I might win the more. And to the Jews I became as a Jew that I might win Jews. To those who are under the law as under the law that I might win those who are under the law. To those who are without law as without law, not being without law toward God but under law toward Christ, that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became as weak that I might win the weak. I've become all things to all men that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel's sake that I may be partaker of it with you." 

This is Paul's thinking here, and his motive is to yield to their preferences because his passion for them is to be saved—that he might save some. This is what drove Paul. I also want you to pay special attention to what the text says by way of affirmation in verse 5, Acts 16:5, "so the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in number daily." We see nothing negative in these words concerning Paul's decision but only that God was working and using him to strengthen and increase the church.

So we see a passionate conflict, we see passionate preference, and next we see passionate perseverance. Look at verse 6. "Now when they had gone through Phrygia in the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the Word in Asia. After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. So passing by Mysia, they came to Troas." 

No matter where they went, the Spirit kept shutting the doors. They couldn't go here, they couldn't go there, and it says in verse 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.'" They concluded that the Lord had called them to go there, so they went immediately. It seems everywhere he attempts to go the Spirit forbids him, and they just keep moving, responding to the leading of the Spirit until they come to the sea at Troas, and they have nowhere else to go, no options left, and then Paul receives a vision. 

They go on over to Macedonia. They make their way to Philippi, it says. When we get to Macedonia, God had prepared great works for them to do in that place, as we'll study in the coming weeks. Look at verse 11 of Acts 16. "Therefore sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is the foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony. We were staying in that city for some days." 

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. Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshipped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. 

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. Here, my friends, is the point of all that we have been studying in the book of Acts: people. The gospel is about people. The ministry is about people. The passion that drove Paul, that drove Barnabas, that drives every believer, is people. 

In 1 Thessalonians 2:19, Paul says, "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ that is coming?" 2 Corinthians 5:14 says, "The love of Christ compels us." He has poured His love out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. We no longer regard men according to the flesh, worldly things, appearances, riches, what they can do for us. We now regard men, see men, according to the Spirit. Do they know the Lord? Are they saved? How can I witness to them? How can I show them, convince them, that religion and relationship are not the same thing?

I remember when Bobby and I first moved back to this area and lived right out here on South Crab Lake Road. Guy Folsom was caretaking for a place there, and we were going to replace him and take up residence on the lake there. Bobby and I were both raised in religious families, had attended church all of our lives, and we were convinced that we were pretty good people. But we really didn't have much interest in Jesus, and we really didn't know squat about the Bible. Guy began telling us about Jesus. He began preaching the good news of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus apart from the works of the law, apart from religion and ritual and any work that we could do. 

Well, this was very strange to us at first. We liked Guy, but we thought he was a little too religious. After a long cold winter out there in that little cabin, listening to tapes of sermons by a preacher named Krenz, I became more and more interested in what Guy was talking about, to the point which this was something that was major for me, coming out of a denominational religion, to the point that I attended a Bible study with him in Montreal, Wisconsin, at the home of Brian and Bess Maksinoski. 

I went back again and again, and I want to share this story because I had known a lot of people in my life. My dad was a business owner and a politician, and he loved to socialize and throw parties, and congressmen and governors would come to our house. In my growing up years, I'd met a lot of different kinds of people—very rich people, poor people, religious people, non-religious people, all kinds of people. But I had never met anyone like the group of people who met in that home group Bible study up on that hill in Montreal. 

What was different about these people was that they were genuine. They didn't want anything from me. They didn't have an angle, they didn't have an agenda, they just wanted very much, sincerely and truly in their hearts for me to know Jesus Christ. They knew that I was a religious man, that I'd grown up in the church, been an altar boy, gone to parochial school, attended church for many years six days a week. 

They also knew, because they knew the truth of God's Word in the gospel, that I was as lost as the day was long, that I had no clue about God's plan of salvation by grace as a gift from God because of what Jesus did on the cross. They loved me enough to tell me the truth, to take me by the hand and patiently, persistently lead me to faith in Jesus Christ. 

This, my friends, is what it's all about. This is the reason that Paul and Barnabas and Silas and Luke and so many others were willing to endure the hardships, to travel the hard miles, to suffer persecution because they had a passion for people just as Jesus did. They loved men just like God loves men, and their single desire was to lead men to faith in Christ and to disciple them, to grow them, so that they might go out and do the same.

This is what we see in the conversion of Lydia in our text this morning. They traveled to Philippi looking for an opportunity to preach Jesus. They went down by the riverside where the women were praying, and they began to preach the gospel—the truth of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection in our place for our sins, and how He paid the full price for our sins, satisfying the wrath of God and rising from the dead the third day. 

The glorious truth is that for anyone who would turn to Jesus in faith and place their faith in Him alone and what He accomplished on the cross, not in religion, not in sacraments, and good works, but in Jesus, that person would be saved forever, receiving by faith the very righteousness of God and eternal life. They were there to preach this good news, and Lydia heard them. When she heard the gospel truth, she believed. She forsook her own works and righteousness and accepted Jesus' death in her place for her sins. All her household with her heard this truth and believed as the Holy Spirit drew them through the message of truth and God opened their hearts. They were saved—saved, my friends, from the wrath of God to come, from the fear of death, from doubts and worries and bondage to sin and death and hell. They were saved by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

This was a cause for testimony, for witness, for celebration. In Luke 15, we see that there is rejoicing in heaven. There's a celebration over one sinner, each sinner who repents and turns to Jesus in faith. But there was also joy and witness and testimony right there on that riverbank that day. Look at verse 15; it says, "and when she and her household were baptized." I want you to pay special attention to this verse on this day because we're about to have a baptism ourselves over across the street in North Turtle Lake. We have three people who are going to be baptized by immersion as Jesus prescribed and set by Himself as an example. Lydia heard the gospel, she believed, and then she was baptized in water.

This is so important for us to note because there are so many misunderstandings and false teachings about water baptism today. Baptism in no way saves you and doesn't forgive one sin. A man is saved only by faith in Jesus and what He accomplished on the cross. Salvation does not come by baptism or any other religious work or ritual. We have 157 verses in the New Testament that tell us that salvation comes by faith, so I want to be sure that we are clear about that.

So what is the point and purpose of water baptism? First of all, it is obedience to a command given by our Lord. When He sent out His disciples, He told them to go into all the world, preaching the gospel to every creature, making disciples. Then He told them to baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. So when a person turns to faith in Christ, the first act of obedience—and we see this is done immediately all through the book of Acts—was to be baptized in water. 

Now the second reason for water baptism is to publicly profess our faith, to testify of what Jesus has done in us, saving us, uniting us to Himself in His death, burial, and resurrection. This is why the only biblical mode of baptism is by immersion because it is a picture, it's a symbol of what happened when we believed. We were crucified with Christ, we died with Him, we were buried with Him, and just as He was raised from the dead, so we were raised to newness of life.

So baptism is an act of obedience. Jesus told us to do this. Baptism is also a public testimony, a witness, a picture of what has already happened to us in salvation by faith in Christ. But there's one more significant truth to understand about water baptism. In 1 Peter 3:21, Peter explains to us that water baptism does save us in one sense. He says it's a picture, it's a figure representing our death, burial, and resurrection with Jesus, and that in this act of water baptism, God makes a promise or a pledge to us that because of our union with Jesus and His death, burial, and resurrection, we can now have a clear conscience toward God. 

We can be saved from fear and doubt concerning our salvation. This is God's promise to us through baptism—that we are now right with Him, that we can know that we can have a clear conscience toward God. So we see that biblical baptism is a very significant event in the life of the believer, and it is indeed a celebration of the truth of salvation that we already have by faith alone in Jesus alone.

We've seen in our text today, my friends, passionate conflict, passionate preference, passionate perseverance, and I hope that you can see that all of this—the ups and downs, the joys and pains of the Christian life for Paul and Silas and for believers here at Living Hope Church—revolve around a passion for people, love for people, the love that God has poured out into our hearts and the desire for men to be saved, to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, to believe and to have eternal life. 

Listen to Jesus' words in John 5:24. He says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but he has passed from death to life." That's a promise, my friend—a promise you can take hold of this very day, this very moment by faith in Him. 

Let's close in prayer. Father, we're so thankful for Your Word. We're thankful for this record of what the Apostles and evangelists and pastors and teachers did in the early church and how You grew the church and multiplied it. Thank You for their passion. Thank You for their example to us. Thank You for Jesus, our salvation. It's in His name we pray.