Sunday, July 28, 2024 AM

The Direction of a Strong Church in Acts 16

Let's go to the Lord together in prayer. Heavenly Father, we come before you today, and we thank you for your kindness towards us. We thank you for your loving kindness. We thank you for Christ's suffering for us, and we thank you for your long suffering toward us.

We thank you for the gift of life. It is by your gift and by your grace that we breathe this gift of life, and we give you thanks for your Holy Spirit, by which you raise us from spiritual death and bring us into everlasting life with you.

Truly, every good and perfect thing comes down from you, our Father, the Father of light, in whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. You are a good and perfect God, our maker. We pray that you would help us today as we read your word together to comprehend the truth of it, to be moved by the power of it, to be shaped into the form of it, that Christ is honored and glorified in this, his church.

And we pray that you would do this work by the power of your Holy Spirit. And we pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

I invite you to open your Bibles and turn with me to Acts chapter 16. Acts chapter 16, and we're going to be reading verses 1 through 5. So Acts chapter 16, verses 1 through 5. We're talking about the direction of a strong church.

In Acts 15, verse 30, through Acts 16, verse 5, we're given three short events, short descriptions of events in the life of the early church. But each one, although they all have a different theme, each one concludes that the church was strengthened, that the brethren were strengthened, that they were strengthened by the continuing ministry of the preaching and teaching of the word.

Sometimes we see everybody together in unity and remaining with one another. Then we see people separating from one another, either in good spirits or in stress and strain, division. But either way, whether staying for Christ or separating for Christ, we see this strengthening in Christ, which can only occur because there is a submission to Him.

And that really is the theme of verses 1 through 5 of Acts chapter 16. When we're thinking about the direction of a strong church, we have to know why we stay for Christ. We have to know why we separate for Christ.

But whether we stay or whether we separate, it all comes down to submitting to Him. He gets to say. And since we're putting our focus on Him and His word, thus His authority, we must submit to Him if we're going to see His work accomplished in our midst.

Christ is building His church. We're reading about that in the book of Acts. He's building His church in Jerusalem, in Samaria, in Caesarea, in Antioch, on the island of Cyprus, in the region of Galatia.

He's building His church. And sometimes in various situations, we find a great need for wisdom, a need for clarity, a need for direction. We can always find that when we submit to Jesus Christ. He's the good shepherd, and we are His sheep.

So I invite you to stand with me as we read God's holy word, Acts 16, beginning in verse one. This is the word of the Lord by His Holy Spirit through His servant Luke. 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. Paul wanted to have him go on with them, 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.

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. As we consider our meal together, our communion together today, recognizing our sharing together in the person and work of Jesus Christ, eating the bread, drinking the cup, we must recognize that we have an opportunity here today.

The meal is not meant to be a fragile facade that covers over the holes of bitterness and selfishness. The meal is to be robust in consideration of Christ, in repentance of our sin, confession of our sin before God, and filled with joy, the joy of knowing our forgiveness in Christ, the joy of knowing our righteousness in Christ, the joy of knowing our fellowship together in Christ by His Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ builds His church with true materials, and so the meal should not be a lie. Communion in the local church comes by humble submission to Christ, humble submission to Christ. What are His priorities?

What are His desires? What direction does He take us? These are our primary considerations. By upholding His priorities, by considering Him first, by considering Him most in our fellowship, in our interaction together, we will have true, strong communion together.

Communion is not to be a platform for our pride. It is to be a bench for our knees. And Jesus Christ, as ever, invites us by having us consider His broken body and His shed blood. He invites us to lay down our self-serving bonds, our self-saving bonds, our sin-enslaving bonds, to take up His name as our cross.

Whoever desires to come after me, whoever desires to take up the name of Jesus Christ must necessarily, by so doing, take up a cross. You cannot take up the name of Jesus Christ without laying down your own.

And by taking up His name as our cross, we breathe in the free air of salvation in Him. Whether we stay for Christ or separate for Christ, let it always be in love for one another. Let it always be with an eye to the ministry, the continued ministry of the Word, the teaching and the preaching of the Word, that believers will be built up in Jesus Christ, equipped for every good work.

Let it always be for the long-term, further strengthening of fellow believers for the sake of Jesus Christ. But whether we stay or whether we separate, let us always submit to Jesus. In verses 1 through 5, we come to a passage that on the heels of the Jerusalem Council and on the heels of the separation of Paul and Barnabas, I find it rather strange.

I find Paul doing things that, initially, I just don't understand and seems out of place given the context of what has just occurred. We find, first of all, Paul taking Silas back to Derbe and Lystra.

Lystra, remember Lystra? This is the place where Paul was stoned and left for dead. He finds there a young man whom he wants to take on to his missionary journey, much like they had John Mark with them on their first missionary journey.

Now, here's another young man, and Paul wants to disciple him and to help him and to bring him along. His name is Timothy. But Paul has him circumcised. Notice in the text, he has him circumcised, and the reason given is because of the Jews who were in that area.

Remember those Jews, the ones who hunted Paul down and stoned him and left him for dead because Paul was preaching a salvation in Jesus Christ that did not require circumcision. They then go on to preach to the churches in the area and share with them the letter, the precepts that were handed down, the decrees that were handed down from the Jerusalem church, which said Gentiles don't need to be circumcised in order to be saved.

In fact, that's a burden, that's a yoke that was placed upon us and our forefathers, which we can't bear and they can't bear. So getting circumcised and keeping the law of Moses is not part of the gospel.

And yet here is Paul acting in this way. What is going on? This is why in this passage, especially given the context of Paul and Barnabas splitting ways over John Mark, some read the passage and think Paul's on tilt.

He gets it wrong versus John Mark and he gets it wrong again. He's just making one wrong decision after another. But I think we can do better than that. I think we can read Scripture in light of Scripture and come to a settled conclusion.

What are we to make of Paul's relationship to Timothy? Why is Timothy circumcised in this text? Did Paul do something wrong? First consider Timothy in this theme of submitting to Jesus Christ. First consider Timothy in his submission to Christ as he lives as an honorable son.

He lives as an honorable son. Timothy lives in Lystra. Paul comes there and we remember, of course, Paul being stoned and being persecuted by the Jews there considering what all Paul had to go through to strengthen that church and establish that church where he sacrificed.

I think it's very, very likely he met Timothy on his first missionary journey there. Timothy lives there and he is being discipled in his childhood by his mother and his grandmother, Eunice and Lois. In 2 Timothy 1, verses 1 -5, Paul calls Timothy his dear son.

He expresses his deep affection for Timothy. He recalls the way in which his mother and grandmother proclaimed the truth of Jesus Christ to Timothy. And that very same faith was in him. We read that Timothy had a good reputation with the saints.

So his relationships are considered. He is the son of a believing Jew, but he is the son also of a Greek, a Gentile. And the fact that he remains uncircumcised is likely due to that. His father was a Gentile.

His father was Greek. And that's why Timothy was not circumcised even though his mother was a Jew. Now in the passage, this is stated, his father was Greek, is stated in such a fashion that his father is no longer there.

His father is no longer alive. What does Paul do as he sees this young man without a father in his life? He takes him with him and calls him his son, his dear son, his son in the faith. And Paul shows loving kindness to Timothy.

But Timothy was in submission to his father. That's why he wasn't circumcised. He was in submission to his mother and his grandmother, which is why he was learning so much in the faith. He was in submission to the church that he was well spoken of by all the brethren who were there in Lystra, not only at Lystra, but also Iconium.

Everybody knew who Timothy was and they knew that he was a good young man. And this is why Paul wanted to bring him along and teach him and train him and bring him up in the faith. What a huge test for leadership amongst young men.

What does the family say about the young man? Is he submissive to his parents? What does the church say of the young man? Is he submissive to the church? Is he one who has a good reputation not only in that church, but in other churches?

What does the family say? What do the churches say? They say of Timothy that he's an honorable son. And Paul greatly loves Timothy. He takes him along and he and Timothy take a course of action, which can only be understood as a humble service.

Notice the reasons given for circumcising Timothy. First of all, Paul wanted to take Timothy with him. That's reason number one. Reason number two is that the Jews of the region, he knew about them. He knew them firsthand.

They were violent. They were zealous and violent. And they would attack anyone who looked like that they were undermining the principles of the old covenant as they understood it. And they all knew Timothy too.

They knew about this young man, Timothy. They knew he had a father who was Greek and a mother who was a Jew and that he was a Christian. They all knew about Timothy's situation. He was well known. Because of these three reasons, because of these three reasons, we are told, Paul took him and circumcised him.

Now, what is going on here? We are led to believe simply by the reading of the text that there is something here in which Paul is acting as a father to Timothy, being described that his father was Greek, but he no longer lives is the idea.

So there's something of an adoption going on here, but also there's the idea of ministerial usefulness that somehow Timothy is not going to be useful to the ministry in this region unless he is circumcised.

Now, in reflection on those ideas, let's look over at 1 Corinthians 9 for an explanation. 1 Corinthians 9 verses 19 through 23. It's a correlating passage in 1 Corinthians 10, but we will focus on 1 Corinthians 9, beginning in verse 19.

Paul says,.

For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more. And to the Jews I become 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 the 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 become as weak, that I might win the weak.

I have 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. Let me say what Paul is saying and let me say what he's not saying.

Paul is saying that I'm free from all men. I'm not obligated by anyone's authority other than Jesus Christ. I'm about his business. And his business is me preaching the gospel to all men wherever I may find them.

And some of them are Jews and some of them are Gentiles. Some of them live under the law of Moses and some of them live without the law of Moses. But Paul says, but I'm bought and paid for by Jesus Christ.

So I am under the law of Christ. What he says goes, I'm not under the old covenant law. I'm under Jesus Christ. He's my king, he's my authority. And so I'm not lawless, he says, but what I am doing as I am flexible towards Jews or to Gentiles, the reason why I'm changing up my dietary habits and my weekly habits and why I would change this or change that is all for the sake of being able to preach the gospel to all these people wherever they may be.

That's what he's saying. So he's about Christ's business because Christ commissioned him as an apostle to preach the gospel to all men wherever he may find them. That's what he's about. That's why Paul does what he does one way over here and does it a different way over here.

He's being absolutely consistent. It appears he's not being consistent, but he's being 100 consistent. He's not saying here, I become all things to all people that I might save some. I affirm everybody in whatever they do, however they think that I may get them to say something nice about Jesus.

He's not saying that. He's not saying acceptance regardless. He's not saying love is love is love is love.

Right?

Notice he's not lawless. He's like, I'm not without law toward God. He's still my authority. I'm under the authority of Jesus Christ. But he is considering those who call him a fool and saying, I want to be at your table and tell you what wisdom is.

He's considering those who call him a heretic and want him dead. And he says, I want to spend time with you and declare to you life and tell you about the love of Jesus Christ.

How does he do that?

He may have to change some things. He may have to refrain from eating this or he may have to actually eat that. Some things might have to change, but Paul is putting himself aside in the business of doing what Christ is calling him to do.

When he has Timothy circumcised, it's not because he's saying, this is how Timothy becomes a full Christian or stays a Christian. He's not committing the Galatian heresy. He's not in rebellion against the decrees from the church in Jerusalem.

In fact, they're preaching and teaching them. But because everybody knows that Timothy had a Jewish mom and his father is now dead and Paul's acting like a father to Timothy now and they're moving forward, he has Timothy circumcised so that he will not be an unnecessary stumbling block to all the people they're trying to preach to.

Who are they trying to preach to, by the way? Who are they sharing the gospel to? They're trying to preach the gospel to the Jews of Lystra and Iconium, the men who tried to kill Paul. Paul, Silas, and Timothy are concerned with their violent, hateful, sinful neighbors.

And they're so concerned about their violent, hateful, sinful neighbors that they are granting to them all manner of concession and conciliation.

What goes on here?

In Acts 15, verse 21, remember the concern. The concern that Peter and James speak about, about the way in which the Gentile Christians should relate to the Jewish population and the Jewish Christians and the preaching of the gospel throughout the empire.

Verse 21 of chapter 15, for Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city being read in the synagogues every Sabbath. They are concerned about not being an unnecessary stumbling block to the people who hate them, who want them dead.

To make sure that the only stumbling block left is the gospel of Jesus Christ himself. Now, what does the world teach us? We see the effectiveness of this in the preaching of the gospel throughout the cities, that the churches, plural, that the churches in Derbe and Lystra and Iconium were being strengthened in the faith and they were increasing in number daily as they were selflessly laying aside their own priorities to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and even showing deep concern and love for their enemies.

But what does the world teach us about these types of situations? The world teaches us to assert our personal preferences as rights. If you don't cater to me, you're not being kind. If you don't cater to me and affirm what I think, that you're somebody who is unrighteous and wrong.

The world teaches us to assert personal preferences as rights, to promote the self in all cases, in all ways to promote the self and to judge others by standards not applied to the self, to hold people accountable for things that we never hold ourselves accountable to.

This is considered to be good self-promotion. The world teaches us to seek out self-affirming community, some so-called community that will always tell you what you think and how you feel and what you do is good.

That's what the world teaches us to do. To avoid any kind of self-sacrificing communion. This vision of love and acceptance, which is on display right now during the Olympics, brings about all manner of disaster.

This is the way that divorce is celebrated. Division is standard. What does the word teach us? We know what the world teaches us. It does not look like the Apostle Paul having Timothy circumcised for the sake of better reaching the violent haters.

What does the word teach us? Well, the word became flesh and tabernacled among us. The word became flesh and tabernacled among us. While we were yet enemies, Christ died for us. Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, that He lays aside His glorious divine prerogatives to deserve all manner of privileges and honor.

And He lays this aside and takes on the form of a bondservant, and in so serving, He humbles Himself even to death upon the cross. Jesus shows us how to love enemies because He loves us. He shows us how to love God because He laid down His life for us, for the glory of God.

And what did Jesus say at the Last Supper? What did He say at that meal where He took the elements and reinterpreted it all in terms of Himself, His own body, His own blood? He said, as I have washed your feet, so wash one another's feet.

As strange as it is that Paul would have Timothy circumcised because of his love and concern for the people who violently hated Paul, isn't it more strange that Jesus Christ, who is King of kings and Lord of lords, who is perfect in all things, who is the Master and the Teacher, would get down on His knees and wash the dirty feet of His disciples?

But even more so, that the God who made us in the second person of the Godhead would take upon human flesh as fully God and fully man and die for us on the cross, purchasing us for God, saving us from our sin when we have no merit to persuade Him to do the least of this.

So when it comes to the direction of a strong church, it's about submission, but a submission that is for Christ. Submitting to one another for Christ. Submitting even to the needs of our enemies and those who hate us for the sake of Christ.

Rather than self-promotion or man exaltation, we should submit to one another to honor Christ. We come to communion, we recognize that we come as those who are continually tempted to make a big deal of ourselves.

How often are we tempted to hijack Christian vocabulary and Christian standards for our own personal aggrandizement? When we are very big, Christ is very absent. When you are very big in your mind, this self-occupying mind, Christ is not.

But the communion that we can have at His table that is not a fragile facade, but is truly warm and full of joy is the one in which we leave ourselves behind, lay aside our priorities, lay aside our demands, lay aside our expectations, and submit to one another for Christ purposing to love one another in Christ.

Communion, Self-Emptying, and Prayer

Let's pray. Father, we thank You for this opportunity to have this meal together. Lord, the depths to which You sacrificed Yourself for us. Truly, what excuses should we retain to not humble ourselves in submission to one another for You?

I pray that You would help us to come to this meal with joy, that we would be relieved of all of these demanding, self-promoting expectations. That You would take all of that away. That You would grant to us the gift of godly sorrow and the gift of repentance and the clarity of confession and that we would know the joy, the joy of approaching this table with no agenda but Yours.

And that the love of God would be present in our midst by the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit. We pray these things for the sake of Jesus Christ.

Amen.