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Paul and Barnabas had a disagreement, and the two went different routes and continued their missionary work in different ways. Sometimes we use that story to justify our disagreements in the body, but we shouldn't.

Because Paul was probably sinning when we understand the text.

Many of the Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we understand the text as an online ministry committed to teaching sound doctrine and exposing the faulty, visit our website at www .utt .com.

Now here's our host, Pastor Gabe Hughes.

Paul’s Closing Instructions to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4

Thank you, Becky. We continue our study of the book of 2 Timothy in those closing instructions that Paul gives to Timothy toward the end of the letter. This is chapter 4, beginning in verse 9. The Apostle Paul writes, Do your best to come to me soon, for Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.

Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas.

Also the books, and above all the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. At my first defense, no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me.

May it not be charged against them. But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth.

The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. So again, Paul is urging Timothy to come and see him, and that he would not delay, but he would make haste and get to Paul before he's martyred, but especially before the winter comes upon him and he's not able to make the trip from Ephesus to Rome.

To try to hurry Timothy along, he mentions that Demas deserted him, and he says that Crescens and Titus have left to go fulfill their missionary duties. Only Luke is there with the Apostle Paul. Now we talked about Demas yesterday, but as we read about Crescens and Titus, we're not meant to read about them in the same light that Paul presents Demas.

Crescens did not desert Paul, and neither did Titus. They had obligations that they needed to go and fulfill, and it was probably at Paul's urging that they would go do those things. We don't know who Crescens is.

His name is not mentioned anywhere else, just here in 2 Timothy. Titus, we know who he is. That's the same Titus that Paul wrote to in the next pastoral letter, which is where we're going to go next once we finish up 2 Timothy, probably next week when we finish up this letter.

We don't know much about Titus, though, either. Titus was a Greek, possibly from Antioch, but we don't know that for sure. It's just where his name comes up in the story in the book of Acts. We know that Paul entrusted Titus a great deal, for Titus was the one who collected the offering from the Corinthians.

Paul mentions that in 2 Corinthians chapter 8. Paul sent Titus to Crete, or actually left him there in Crete. So Paul goes to the island of Crete, preached the gospel, planted some churches, but as quickly as he planted those churches, false teachings started to come in.

And so as he left Crete to continue on his missionary journey, he told Titus to stay there and put elders in all of the churches. They probably didn't have plurality eldership yet. The gospel had been preached, the Christians assembled, but they did not have the proper structure of church yet, eldership, deacons.

And so Paul gives qualifications for elders at the start of Titus, whereas in 1 Timothy, it wasn't until chapter 3 that Paul gave the qualifications for elders. There were already elders in the church in Ephesus.

There were not yet elders in those churches in Crete. And so Paul made it a point to tell Titus to raise up qualified men that would lead the teaching there in those churches. And part of the qualifications for those men is that they would also rebuke those who contradicted sound teaching, as Paul mentions in Titus 1 .9.

So this was Titus's assignment. And what we're reading about here is something that would have happened after Crete. So Titus had fulfilled the duties that he had there at Crete. He had gone to see Paul in Rome.

And even there, while he was ministering to Paul, while he was in prison, Paul probably urged him to go on to Dalmatia to continue the work of preaching the gospel. Luke was there with Paul, and Paul was content to have Luke with him.

Luke the physician, and we know that Luke was a doctor because that's how Paul mentions Luke in the book of Colossians, in Colossians chapter 4. That's where we get that reference that Paul was a doctor.

It's at the conclusion of Colossians where we have that reference to him being a physician. So Luke is likely there serving as Paul's scribe. Paul is sitting in his jail cell and telling Luke what he wants Luke to write to Timothy.

So Luke is writing down everything that Paul tells him to write, and it was by Luke's hand that this letter was written. That's speculative. We don't know that for sure, but I would see that as being the likely scenario.

And then once Luke had finished it, he handed it to a messenger who delivered it to Titus in Ephesus. We don't know who that messenger was. Maybe Epaphras, because we know that Epaphras was from Ephesus, could be one of the names that's mentioned in verse 21, like Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, Claudia, somebody like that.

Maybe it was somebody else who had good fellowship with Luke and Paul there in Rome that Luke could have handed the letter off to and taken it to Titus. So Luke alone is with me, Paul says. And then he goes on to say, get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.

Paul, Barnabas, and John Mark in Acts 15

And this represents a turning point in Paul's relationship with John Mark, at least for us, the reader. They likely had patched things up long before this mention here in 2 Timothy chapter 4. But the last time we saw Paul and John Mark together in the New Testament was in Acts chapter 15.

And there was a disagreement between the two of them. So here Paul is mentioning John Mark and saying, he's useful to me for ministry. But there was a period of time where he was hesitant to do ministry with John Mark.

This was in Acts chapter 15 after the Jerusalem Council, after the letter was agreed upon that would be sent to Gentile believers in Acts 15, starting in verse 36. After some days, Paul said to Barnabas, let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaim the word of the Lord and see how they are.

Paul and Barnabas had been together at that Jerusalem Council. So now after all of that was completed and the letter had been delivered and everything, what do we do next? Well, let's go check on the churches that we've planted, the places where we've proclaimed the gospel, those who had left their former idolatry and became worshipers of Christ.

Let's go back to those places and see how those brothers are doing. In verse 37, now, Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark, who was a cousin to Barnabas, also a close associate of Peter's.

And it's John Mark who wrote the gospel of Mark. Verse 38, but Paul thought best not to take with them the one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. And we really don't know anything else about that story except what's mentioned right there in verse 38.

We don't know why Mark didn't go with them to Pamphylia, but we know that it rubbed Paul the wrong way. Paul just didn't like that there was something Mark would place ahead of going and proclaiming the gospel, even though Mark may have had a perfectly legitimate reason for why he didn't go to Pamphylia.

But the reason would be totally speculative. We wouldn't be able to know why. Maybe it was because Mark came from a very well-to-do family, which is true. His mother and father were wealthy. And when he saw that the apostles and other missionaries were being persecuted for the gospel, some of the adversity that they would face, maybe Mark looked at that and he was too comfortable with his luxuries, and he just wasn't ready to give that up yet for the sake of declaring the gospel.

But I actually lean on the side of believing that Mark really was capable and was ready. It's just that for whatever reason, he couldn't go to Pamphylia. The reason why I think Mark is capable is because Barnabas vouched for him.

Barnabas had previously vouched for Paul. When Saul of Tarsus was converted from Saul, the persecutor of Christians, to Paul, the missionary to the Gentiles, when Paul was brought before the other apostles, it was Barnabas that stepped up and said, hey, I can vouch for this guy, that he's legit.

What he's been preaching and what he's been proclaiming is the gospel. Some of his other members of his entourage that were with him on the road to Damascus that heard the voice and the blinding light that knocked Paul down and struck him blind until he went into Damascus and prayed for three days.

And then Ananias came and blessed him and baptized him. And the scales fell from his eyes and all this kind of thing. And Barnabas is stepping forward in front of the apostles and saying, I can vouch for this guy, Saul.

Saul was his Hebrew name. Paul was his Greek name. I can vouch for him. It's legit. His conversion is real. He is a follower of Jesus Christ. I know you've heard all the stories. He was a persecutor of Christians.

He's not that guy anymore. He is now going to be an apostle and a missionary to the Gentiles. So Barnabas vouched for Paul. Barnabas seems to be able to, he seems to be a person who has a good judge of character.

Paul, on the other hand, maybe not so much. Because remember, we just read about Demas in 2nd Timothy and Demas was one of those faithful missionary brethren to the apostle Paul. But somewhere along the line, it was revealed that Demas really wasn't who Paul thought he was.

He wasn't a true convert. He abandoned Paul in his darkest hour and ran back to Thessalonica because he was more in love with the world. And Paul says to Timothy that Demas deserted me. So maybe Paul just did not have as much discernment in recognizing the true character of a person.

And so he made a judgment about John Mark that was incorrect. Barnabas, on the other hand, seems to have a great judgment about the character of people. He knew about Paul and he knew about John Mark because what eventually is confirmed is that John Mark does happen to be a useful missionary, as Paul even says to Timothy in 2nd Timothy chapter 4.

But because Paul was hesitant with Mark, and it could have been prejudice on Paul's part, could have been because Mark was from a well-to-do family and Paul's looking at this guy like, no, he's a softie.

Look at this guy's hands. He's never done a hard day's work in his life. And he's going to go with us to do this missionary work. He already didn't go with us to Pamphylia. What makes you think he's going to stick with it if we take him with us to go visit these churches that we need to go see?

But Barnabas urged strongly that Mark was totally capable. And so then in verse 39, there arose a sharp disagreement so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.

But Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. So there was the disagreement right there between Paul and Barnabas and John Mark.

But we know that eventually these things get patched up. And it's pretty common among Christians to refer to this story whenever there is disagreement. They might refer to their disagreement as a Paul and John Mark kind of a situation.

We don't agree, but we're going to go our respective ways and do the ministry that God has called us to do. Paul went one direction and he did his ministry. And then Barnabas and John Mark went another direction and they did ministry.

And ministry was even more widespread because we disagreed and went separate ways. And that's how they'll justify the disagreement. It is a Paul and John Mark situation. But I tell you, that's not really an accurate.

I think that's kind of a cop out, actually. It's trying to justify your stubbornness because two brothers or two sisters simply wouldn't agree with one another because Paul was wrong. I don't think it was right that Paul disapproved of John Mark going with Barnabas.

And I think that's confirmed later that Barnabas was right, that he rightly judged the character of John Mark and Paul was incorrect in his judgment. I think that that's confirmed later, especially with Paul's affirmation in Second Timothy of Mark being a useful missionary to him.

However, these things got patched up between him and Barnabas and John Mark later on. I think it was by Paul's admission that he was wrong, that he did not have this situation correct. And so it's not OK that brothers and sisters in the Lord would disagree to the extent that they have to be divided.

This this did not end in an amicable separation. This was Paul and Barnabas kind of taking their ball and going their own separate directions. We don't really see here that there was that there was a a friendly kind of a disagreement.

After all, it says in Acts 1539, there arose a sharp disagreement so that they separated from each other. That's not amicable. That's not a friendly disagreement. And Paul was wrong in this instance, and he ate crow and fessed up to it later on, especially with the way that you see him refer to John Mark to Timothy in Second Timothy chapter four.

So I don't think it's OK for us to respond to situations of disagreement as a Paul and a John Mark situation, especially when Paul was wrong in that particular episode. Now, God can certainly take our disagreement and continue to work out his will for his glory.

But that doesn't mean that our disagreement was right. That doesn't justify us. It just means God is sovereign. But we still need to figure out our stubbornness. We still need to figure out our issues and be of one mind in Christ Jesus, which is Paul speaking to the Philippians Philippians 2 5.

Let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus. We need to be of one mind and one spirit together in the missionary work that we do. There should have been a better conclusion to this exchange that we read about in Acts chapter 15.

But but Paul takes up Silas. They go do some missionary work, which they were very successful at doing, and Barnabas and John Mark were successful on their end. But it would have been better for them to come to a more spiritual brotherly agreement with one another before separating and and going the way that they did in the missionary work.

And when you hear me say that Paul was wrong, understand that I'm saying he was incorrect in his character judgment, not in his teaching. OK, don't hear me saying that Paul's teaching was wrong. That's not what I'm saying at all.

But the apostles were still men and they were flawed men. They were men growing in sanctification, just like any of us who are followers of Jesus. The apostle Paul had to oppose Peter, which we read about in Galatians, because Peter chose to associate himself with the Jews and would not be seen eating with the Gentiles.

So because of his prejudice, Paul had to confront him to his face. So we see the the sin that Peter committed in that sense. And and Paul here in Acts chapter 15 had this disagreement with Barnabas, which wasn't necessary, a sharp disagreement that caused them to to sever the partnership that they had in the missionary work that they were doing.

And Paul should have been better with that. He and he should have been more trusting of Barnabas vouching for Mark, especially when Barnabas had vouched for Paul for the apostles. And so there's where we see one of Paul's shortcomings.

I remember hearing Sinclair Ferguson teaching on Paul and saying that Paul was likely a very difficult man to get along with. It may have been very difficult to work with Paul. And we see kind of one of the examples of that right there in that that difference between Paul and Barnabas.

But praise the Lord for for the Holy Spirit and the sovereign work of God in the transmission of Scripture that we get to see a resolve in that disagreement. We get to Second Timothy, chapter four, and we see that eventually Paul did patch things up with John.

Mark welcomed him into the missionary work and even has a useful task for him, for when he says to Timothy in Second Timothy 411, get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry. It could be that Mark was there in Ephesus with Timothy.

So as Timothy is going to come to Paul, he would bring Mark with him. Or it could be that it was well known where Mark was at at that particular time, and it would have been on the way for Timothy. So as he's leaving Ephesus and going to Rome, he would stop and pick up Mark on the way.

But but Paul does see the usefulness in Mark now and does have a job for him to do, which he's going to he's going to send him out to do, just as he did with Crescens, sending him to Galatia and Titus to Dalmatia.

Prayer for Humility, Unity, and Patience

So we're going to stop there for today and pick up the rest of Second Timothy, chapter four next week and finish up our study Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. Let's conclude here with prayer.

Our mighty God and Savior, we thank you for the forgiveness that you have shown us through your son, Jesus Christ. And I pray that you would continue to show us your patience daily, that we may be patient with one another.

As individual sinners, it's often difficult for us to empathize with other people. And so we come into disagreements whenever we're we're not of the same mind. And when we hit those disagreements, may we be humble enough to recognize our errors and and apologize and desire to patch things up again so that we may be of one mind and one spirit serving the one God and father of us all.

We not try to justify our disagreements in order to hold tightly and pridefully to the places where we think we are right. But we are willing to be humble toward one another. Peter wrote in first Peter five that all of us should clothe ourselves with humility toward each other in the body of Christ.

And so help us to consider one another's needs ahead of our own and consider those who may be less mature in their faith. See how we can serve them in order to to mature them, to build them up in the faith and help us to be discerning, to recognize which of those issues need to be confronted and which ones we just need to let go.

It doesn't need to be a big deal. We don't need to stew over it, nor do we need to cause a conflict where there doesn't need to be a conflict. May we all desire to please Christ in all that we say and do.

It's in his precious name that we pray. Amen.

You've been listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study. Then on Thursday, we look at an Old Testament book.

On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers. Tomorrow, we'll pick up on an Old Testament study, When We Understand the Text.