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Acts 15:36-41  PAUL STARTING HIS  SECOND MISSIONARY TRIP

Introduction:  

	Paul and Barnabas had completed their first missionary tour.  After 
returning to Antioch they had successfully defended the true gospel message when 
men from Judea came teaching that Gentiles had to be circumcised and come under 
the law of Moses in order to be saved.  After that controversy was over they had 
tarried for a while at Antioch teaching and preaching strengthening and unifying 
the Antioch church.  
	In our text today the Apostle Paul proposes to Barnabas that they go back 
on the mission field to strengthen the churches which they had organized on 
their first missionary trip.  In this message we will not cover their entire 
trip, but we will see them get started on that trip.  

I.  Paul’s suggestion to Barnabas

	V. 36, “And some days after Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and 
visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, 
[and see] how they do.”  Paul at this point did not propose that they move into 
new territory and start a new work.  Rather, he suggested that they return to 
the cities where they had already started churches and see how the work was 
progressing in those places.      
	I feel confident that he had more in mind than just satisfying his 
curiosity.  I am also confident that he had more in mind than just having a 
pleasant visit with the people in  those churches.  Evidently what Paul had in 
mind was to strengthen those churches spiritually and doctrinally.  
	Perhaps you will remember that when they first got those churches started 
they had been unable to stay with any of those churches long enough to train 
them in the word of the Lord.  Almost as soon as they would get a church started 
they were ran out of town by unbelieving Jews.  They had to flee for their 
lives.  At one of those places Paul had actually been stoned and left for dead 
outside the city.    
	Paul and Barnabas had been able on their route back to their home church 
to revisit those cities and do at least some teaching and training before going 
back to Antioch.  But they had been gone for a considerable while now and Paul 
felt that they needed to return and see if some problem had arisen which they 
might help to straighten out.  At the very least, they needed to do more 
teaching and training in the word of the Lord in all of those places.  Since 
even their sponsoring church had become divided over the plan of salvation, Paul 
could see the possibility that those much younger churches might also need some 
help.  
	It was especially needful for them to revisit those churches to help them 
with regard to the matter of whether or not Gentiles must be circumcised and 
come under the law of Moses in order to be saved.  Those churches had both Jews 
and Gentiles in their memberships.  It was likely that some of the Judaizers who 
teach that Gentiles could not be saved without being circumcised and coming 
under the law of Moses had visited those churches and disturbed their fellowship 
on this matter as they had done at their sponsoring church.  It was urgent that 
they return to those churches as soon as possible and give those churches 
reassurance that Gentiles can be saved without circumcision and without coming 
under the law of Moses. 
	We can relate to this today.  In our so-called “Christian world” today 
there is a great deal of controversy about God’s plan of salvation.  A lot of 
people in the Christian movement teach that God requires a lot of things of the 
lost sinner which God does not require of him in order for him to get saved.  
What God does require is that the lost sinner repent of his sin and place in 
faith in Jesus Christ.   “Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, 
repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ,” Acts 20:21.

II.  The controversy between Paul and Barnabas

	V. 37, “And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was 
Mark.”  It seems that Barnabas was very receptive to the idea that they revisit 
the churches which they had organized.  He, too, must have seen the need of 
returning to those churches to strengthen those churches by teaching the word of 
the Lord anew in those churches.  They would especially need to be strengthened 
with regard to what God’s plan of salvation really is.  Every New Testament 
church needs to know the truth.  They especially  need to know the truth about 
what God requires a lost sinner to do in order for him to get saved.    
	So Barnabas and Paul agreed that they should revisit those churches, but 
Barnabas wanted to take his nephew, John Mark, with them on this trip as they 
had done on their first missionary trip.  In fact he insisted that they take 
John Mark with them.  Luke says that he was determined.  He was adamant about 
it. 
	But the Apostle Paul was not at all willing to take John Mark with them.  
V. 38, “But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them 
from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work.”  Paul did not want John 
Mark with them because on that first mission trip John Mark had left them at a 
time when they really needed him.  He left them in a pinch.  He left them in a 
bind and Paul did not want to take him this time.  Paul figured that John Mark 
would leave them in a bind again.  
	Paul was just as adamant about the matter as was Barnabas.  He was just as 
determined that John Mark would not go as Barnabas was determined to take him.  

III.  The division between Paul and Barnabas

	V. 39, “And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed 
asunder one from the other...” There were words between Paul and Barnabas.  
There were sharp bitter words.  Each of these brethren were so determined and 
their words were so sharp and so bitter that they had a parting of the ways.  
They split up.  Barnabas had been the one who had gone to the city of Tarsus and 
who had persuaded Paul to come to Antioch of Syria to help him teach and train 
that young church in the word of the Lord.  They had spent a long time together 
out on the mission field.  They had gone through dangerous times together.  They 
had returned to their home church and together they had battled the Judaizers.  
They had gone to Jerusalem together enlisting help from the apostles and elders 
of the Jerusalem church.  They had become what we might call “buxom buddies.”  
But now they split up over whether or not to carry John Mark on their next 
mission trip!
	Listen!  When it comes to a difference in doctrinal issues and when 
brethren cannot come to an agreement on doctrinal issues there can be a genuine 
need for division.  We must not depart from the doctrines of the Lord.  We must 
not compromise the doctrines of the Lord for any reason.  But have you noticed 
that there are times when Christian brethren split up and when churches split up 
it is not over a doctrinal issue at all.  It is just because brethren just 
cannot get along and they are not willing to settle their differences.  
Even in the case of Paul and Barnabas the issue was not doctrine.  These two 
brethren were agreed on doctrinal issues.  They split up over a personal matter 
which they should have been able to settle.  

IV.  Barnabas and John Mark working together

	It appears from the text that Barnabas was the first to leave.  (V. 39), 
“...and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus.”   Barnabas saw that he 
was not going to be able to convince Paul to take John Mark with them so he took 
Mark with him and he left and went to the Island of Cyprus.  He was originally 
from that island and he would just naturally have a desire to return there.  An 
additional reason for going there was that this was the first place that they 
had gone on their first mission trip.  Their first stop had been at the city of 
Salamis on Cyprus where they found a church already in existence.  We have no 
record in Scripture just which cities Barnabas and John Mark visited or what was 
the results of their trip.  We can reasonably assume that the Lord used them in 
a way which was very profitable to His cause. 
	I will say that it is likely that both Paul and Barnabas probably 
strengthened John Mark.  I think the Apostle Paul helped to strengthen John Mark 
by pointing out his shortcoming and letting him know that he needed to learn to 
shoulder responsibility.  I also think that Barnabas helped him by giving him a 
second chance.  A lot of young preachers bungle things in their first attempts 
at pastoring, but if given a chance they overcome their mistakes and do a good 
job for the Lord.    
	At any rate John Mark did grow in spiritual strength and became a capable 
and dependable worker for the Lord.  Later he even the Apostle Paul found him 
helpful to his own ministry and commended him for his help.          

V.  Paul and Silas working together

	V. 40, “And Paul chose Silas, and departed, being recommended by the 
brethren unto the grace of God.”  There was no mention of any kind of sendoff 
for Barnabas and John Mark by the church at Antioch.  I get the impression that 
they left without giving anybody a chance to give them a sendoff.  
	But the brethren of the church at Antioch gave Paul and Silas a big 
sendoff.  They evidently prayed sincerely for God’s blessings on their effort 
and recommended them to the churches for support.  This implies that they, 
themselves, gave more than just their good wishes.  They gave them funds and 
supplies to help them on their journey.  
	Instead of Paul and Silas going to the seacoast and catching a ship, as 
Paul and Barnabas had done on their first missionary trip, they decided to go 
overland, which was actually closer to the cities where they were going than 
going by ship.    
	V. 41, “And he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches.”
Apparently there were churches in Syria between the city of Antioch and the 
district of Cilicia.  These would be churches that Paul and Barnabas did not 
organize, but Paul and Silas stopped and sought to strengthen them, never-the-
less.  The word, confirm, as used in this verse means “To strengthen.”  It does 
not speak of the modern religious ceremony in which children have some kind of 
religious confirmation.  There was no such in that day.  There was no such 
ceremony mentioned in all the Bible.    
	Cilicia was a Roman province in Asia Minor in which Paul and Barnabas had 
preached and established churches.  However, before they would arrive in those 
cities where those churches were located they would come to the city of Tarsus, 
which was the home town of the Apostle Paul.  I suspect that they stopped 
briefly in Tarsus at least for a short visit with relatives and friends.  
Assuming that there was probably a church there, they would also seek to 
strengthen that church before moving on. 
	 
VI.  Three key elements in the work of the Lord

	As we examine this passage of Scripture along with reflecting back on 
other things that we earlier covered in this Book of Acts, we can observe some 
key elements in carrying on the work of the Lord in this world.  
	One of the key elements of the Lord’s work is the spreading of the true 
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  God intended the gospel message for everybody 
in the world.  It was not intended just for the people in the city of Jerusalem.  
It was not intended just for the people of the Jewish race or only for those of 
the Jewish religion.    
	The gospel was to be preached to all of the nations of the world.  As the 
Christian missionaries went into other parts of the world, they were to preach 
the gospel to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews.  It was to be preached to 
people of all races.  The Lord led Philip to preach to Samaritans and to the 
Ethiopian eunuch.  He instructed the Apostle Peter to preach to the Gentile 
household of Cornelius.  He had led the Apostle Paul and Barnabas on their first 
missionary trip to preach to the Gentile cities of Cilicia.  There they preached 
not only to the Jews but also to the Gentiles.  
	If there is anyone here in this congregation who is unsaved, you can be 
sure that God wants you to hear the gospel message.  He wants you to know how to 
be saved.  He wants you to be saved.  It is not the will of God that any should 
perish, but that all should come to repentance and that all should place their 
faith and trust in Jesus Christ for salvation.  
	Another key element in the work of the Lord is preserving the purity of 
the gospel.  Philip preached the true gospel message to the Samaritans and to 
the Ethiopian eunuch.  The Apostle Peter preached the true gospel message to the 
household of Cornelius.  The Apostle Paul and Barnabas preached the true gospel 
message on the Island of Cyprus and also in the cities of Cilicia.  
	But the Judaizers who said that Gentiles had to be circumcised and come 
under the law of Moses did not preach the true gospel message.  They taught that 
Gentiles had to keep the law of Moses in order to be saved.  There are many 
today who preach what they called “ the gospel message,” but what they preached 
was not the true gospel.  Some say that the sinner has to be baptized in order 
to be saved.  This simply is not so.  The thief on the cross was never baptized, 
but he got saved.  Some say that the sinner has to join a church in order to be 
saved.  This, likewise, simply is not so.  The Bible speaks of Joseph of 
Aramathia as being a secret disciple.  He was a disciple.  He was saved, but he 
was not a member of the church at that time.  Some say not only that a sinner 
must join a church, but that he must join a church of a certain religious 
denomination in order to be saved.  Some say that the sinner must keep the Ten 
Commandments in order to be saved.  This would make it impossible for anybody to 
get saved.  Some teach that the sinner must eat the Lord’s Supper in order to be 
saved.  Some say that the family of the deceased sinner must be baptized in 
behalf of the deceased in order for the deceased person to be saved. Some say 
that the family of the deceased must map a large sum of money in order for the 
deceased one to be saved.   Some say that one has to be reincarnated over and 
over again until they have reached a state of perfection in order to be saved.  
Some tell the lost sinner that he cannot possibly be saved unless he has already 
been chosen to be in the number who go to heaven and that most certainly is not 
true.  Brethren, it is not only vital that the lost sinner hear a gospel 
message, but he must hear the true gospel message in order to be saved.  
	Another key element in the work of the Lord is the strengthening of the 
churches by the preaching and teaching of the word of the Lord.  It is not only 
important to send out missionaries to preach the gospel message to the unsaved 
and to establish new churches, but it is vital that those churches be 
strengthened through the preaching and teaching of the word of the Lord.  If the 
only kind of preaching that a church ever has is the preaching of the gospel 
message that church is in danger of being led astray into false doctrine.  When 
the Judaizers introduced the false gospel saying that Gentiles had to be 
circumcised and come under the law of Moses, they not only preached a false 
doctrine, but they opened the door for all manner of false doctrine.  The 
Apostle Paul later wrote to Timothy and said, “If thou put the brethren in 
remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, 
nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast 
attained,” 1 Tim. 4:6.  
	In our day when so many false doctrines are being spread in the Christian 
world it all the more important for the Lord’s churches to have sound doctrinal 
preachers in the pulpit and sound doctrinal teachers in the classrooms.  
	Still another key element in the Lord’s work is the promotion of mission 
work.  It would seem at first that since about 2000 years have gone by since the 
time of Christ on earth that there would be little need for mission work today.  
It would seem that all of the world would have been reached with the gospel by 
now.  But that is not the case.  For one thing, the Christians are dying out of 
this world at a very rapid pace.  In addition to this, existing churches are 
going out of existence at a rapid pace.  For instance the Jerusalem church which 
Jesus organized is no longer in existence.  The church of Antioch of Syria, 
which had led sent out Paul and Barnabas and in this text sent out Paul and 
Silas do mission work is no longer in existence.  Without mission work and 
without the organization of new churches the work of the Lord would eventually 
die out altogether.  
	In addition to this there are a lot of new people being born to this world 
every day.  The cities and communities are filled with people who need to hear 
the gospel message so that they can be saved.  There are more people being born 
daily than there are who are being born again.  The younger people who do get 
saved need churches in which they can worship and be taught the truth of God 
from God’s holy word.  Whole new communities are springing up in the cities 
which exist and the existing churches in those cities are not able to reach them 
all with the gospel message.  New churches are needed even in cities which 
already have churches.  
	Let me say that Missionary Baptist churches are preaching the true gospel 
message and they are constantly doing mission work.  But we are not keeping up 
with the need.  There is the great need for more preachers.  There is the great 
for more missionaries.  There is the great need for more church buildings.  
There is the great need for more teachers and workers within the churches.  
There is the great need for the existing churches to be strengthened in number, 
in finances and in trained workers.  
	Let us pray for our churches in this vital period of history.  Let us 
labor hard for the cause of Christ in this church.  Let us give generously not 
only to our material needs here in this church, but in the outreach work to 
other parts of the world.  Let us seek to reach the people in our own community.