1. A Great Suggestion (verse 36)
2. Different Opinions (verses 37-38)
3. A Sharp Disagreement (verse 39a)
4. A Separation (verses 39b-41)

It is easy for us to have an idealized view of the early church, thinking that going back to the early church is the answer to all of our church problems of our day: a simple structure, a simple faith, led to much sacrifice and love on the part of those of the early church. Now to be sure, the early church is to be commended in the way that they embraced the gospel and loved and served each other in word and in deed. There is much in the early church that we long for among ourselves!

Yet, people often forget that the early church was a time of great revival, when the Holy Spirit moved among his people to accomplish great things. The only reason why thousands of people believed on the day of Pentecost was because of the Holy Spirit's coming and filling so many thousands (Acts 2:4, 17). The only reason why the apostles were able to preach with such boldness and success is because they were "filled with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 4:8; 13:9). The only reason why the apostles were able to perform their miracles among the people is that the power of the Holy Spirit was with them (Acts 3:6). The great missionary enterprise of the early church was initiated and empowered and guided by the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:2, 4; 16:6).

So, much of what happened in the early church is impossible to duplicate, apart from another sovereign move of the Holy Spirit to bring another revival in our day and age.

Down through history, this has happened. It's not the norm in the history of the church. But from time to time, God pours out his Spirit upon the world, and a revival comes. During these days, there is a heightened sensitivity to spiritual things. Many people become aware of their sins. Many people come and flood the churches, looking for hope. Many are converted during the days of revival. But it's nothing that we can do. The revival that took place in the early church isn't a normal experience for the church throughout its history.

I was reminded of that this week as I finished a book entitled "The Pastor of Kilsyth." This book was a biography about William H. Burns, a Scottish pastor in the 1800's. The book was written by his son, Islay Burns (who took over for Robert Murray M'Cheyne in Dundee, Scotland after his death).

The book was difficult to write, because William H. Burns was such an ordinary pastor. During his lifetime, little spectacular happened. He ministered in a town called Dun (a town of 700) for 20 years (1800-1821). Then, he ministered in Kilsyth (a town of 4,260) for almost 40 years (1821-1859). During those days, he simply carried on in his regular work. His biographer describes his ministry in Dun with the following words:

He preached the word; dispensed the sacred supper; warned the careless; comforted the sorrowing; [baptized little children; blessed the union of young and loving hearts;] visited the sick, the dying; buried the dead; pressed the hand, and whispered words of peace into the ear of mourners; carried to the poor widow and friendless orphan the charity of the Church and his own; slipped in softly into some happy home and gently broke the sad news of the sudden disaster far away; lifted up the fallen one from the ground, and pointed to Him who receiveth the publicans and the sinners—these things and such as these, he did in that little home-walk for twenty successive years day by day; but that was all.^[1]

This was his ministry. He did this in Dun and in Kilsyth for almost 60 years. The only year that was different was 1839! It's when the Spirit of God visited Scotland. He visited Kilsyth, where Burns was going about his pastoral business as usual. A great change came. Burns wrote of those days, "Tuesday, the 23d July, a decided and unquestionable religious revival took place. We may well say of the amazing scene we have witnessed, 'When the Lord turned our captivity we were as men that dreamed.' We have, as it were, been awakened from a dream of a hundred years."^[2]

The biographer went on to describe the scene:

The day was cloudy and rainy. The crowd, however, in the Market Place was great; and on being invited to the church, it was soon crowded to an overflow—the stairs, passages, and porches being filled with a large assemblage of all descriptions of persons, in their ordinary clothes [in other words, it wasn't an ordinary church day when people came in their Sunday finest. They just came].

The prayer was solemn and affecting; the chapter read without any comment was Acts 2. [William Burns preached] from Psalm 110:3, "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power." Throughout the whole sermon there was more than usual seriousness and tenderness pervading the hearers; but it was towards the close that the emotions of the audience became too strong to be suppressed. The eyes of most of the audience were in tears.^[3]

The account goes on and on to describe how that day began a revival in Kilsyth. The revival lasted for months. They had midweek meetings, evening meetings every night of the week, outdoor meetings, with thousands of hearers in attendance. The effect upon people was obvious! Burns writes, "The state of society is completely changed. Politics are quite over with us. Religion is the only topic of interest."^[4]

But as quickly as it began, life soon resorted to what it was before. Only many more people were added to the church. In Kilsyth, 99 people were added to the church!^[5] After the revival settled down, William Burns simply continued on in his ministry, loving people, serving people, teaching, counseling, consoling, encouraging.

This is what revival looks like! God stirring in the hearts of people for a short time, so that many repent and come to Christ! Revival doesn't come by us manufacturing it up. It will only come as the Lord, in his sovereignty, sends his Spirit among us to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and the judgment to come (John 16:8). That's why we need to pray. If ever the Lord will do this, it will come through prayer. It will come through us seeking the Lord for him to work upon the earth.

Are you praying for revival? In our nation? In our city? In our church? With the turmoil and conflicts that we have been experiencing, there would be no better time than the present for the Lord to come and stir hearts of people everywhere. But we need to pray.

This revival is what we see in the early church. That's what we see in the book of Acts. We see a prayerful people, upon whom God pours out his Holy Spirit, which makes them bold with the gospel (Acts 4:31). God brings revival. Many people repent of their sin and the Holy Spirit was working his wonders in such a great way! God was working in the church.

It is only right for us to long for those days. However, people often forget how the early church had its problems. It wasn't all as perfect and pristine as we like to think. When you look at Paul's epistles, you discover that the early church was proud (1 Corinthians 1-4). You discover that the early church tolerated sin (1 Corinthians 5). The early church lacked love and discernment and belief (1 Corinthians 13-15).

In the book of Acts alone, we can see some of the problems of the early church. When Jesus ascended into heaven, he only left a few dozen believers on the earth, and they were fearful of the Jews, so they met behind locked doors (John 20:19). In Acts 5, we read of Ananias and Sapphira, who lied to the Holy Spirit and, as a result, died. In Acts 6, we read of how there weren't enough people serving the widows, which led to people complaining and arguing among the people. In the early church, there was much prejudice. When Peter brought the gospel to the Gentiles, many in the church criticized Peter, saying, "You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them" (Acts 11:3).

Further, there were doctrinal problems in the early church. We have been looking at this the last few weeks in Acts, chapter 15. When the Gentiles were believing in Jesus, there were some Jews who were saying, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved" (Acts 15:1). Further, these same people were requiring the believing Gentiles "to keep the law of Moses" (Acts 15:5).

For the past few weeks, we have been looking at this controversy, which is recorded in Acts 15, which records "The Jerusalem Council," which was established to resolve the controversy. If you remember, at that council, there were arguments going back and forth, until Peter stood up and argued that the Gentiles were saved by grace, not by ceremonies of the law. To this, Paul and Barnabas agreed, describing what they experienced on their missionary journey. Finally, James put forth a recommendation to bring the church into unity. Gentiles coming to faith in Jesus were not required to submit to the ceremonial laws of Moses. But they were to avoid the practices that were highly offensive for the Jews.

This brought great unity and great joy to the church! When the Gentiles heard of the decision, "they rejoiced because of its encouragement" (Acts 15:31). That's where we left things last week in Acts 15—a happy, unified church.

But as happy and as unified and as wonderful as things were last week, this morning, we are going to see some of the ugly sides of the church. We are going to see the leaders of the church in disunity with each other. We are going to see them in disagreement. We are going to see them in sharp disagreement. We are going to see them go their own ways. It's a sad picture. But such is the reality of the early church, and there are some very practical lessons for us as well.

Let's read our text. It comes in Acts 15:36-41.

Acts 15:36-41
And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are." Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. And 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.

It's really a sad chapter in the life of the church. The title of my message this morning is "Disunity in the Church." What makes this passage sad is that it came on the heels of such unity! Paul and Barnabas (and Judas Barsabbas and Silas) (Acts 15:22) had brought this great letter of unity to the church in Antioch! The people of that church had received it well. These four men remained in Antioch, ministering to the people. They encouraged them (verse 32). They strengthened them (verse 32).

In verse 35, we read, "Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord with many others also" (Acts 15:35). The picture that we get is of many months, perhaps a year or two, that Paul and Barnabas were ministering happily in Antioch together. Then, Paul had a great idea. We see this in verse 36.

Acts 15:36
And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are."

I'm calling this,

1. A Great Suggestion (verse 36)

Because that's what it was. It was a great suggestion. As most all of you know, Paul and Barnabas had been sent out by the church on a missionary journey. They traveled some 1,500 miles! To the island of Cyprus, into Pamphylia, throughout much of southern Galatia, and back. During that time, they saw many people repent of their sin and believe in Jesus. They established churches, they appointed elders, they committed them to the Lord.

Paul and Barnabas knew what difficulties they would face. When Paul and Barnabas brought the gospel to these new regions, they faced some tribulation. In Pisidian Antioch, "The Jews stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district" (Acts 13:50). In Iconium, "An attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat them and to stone them" (Acts 14:5). In Lystra, "They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead" (Acts 14:19).

In fact, while visiting the cities on the way back home, their message was one of warning: "Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). Here in verse 36, we see Paul suggesting to Barnabas that they "return and see how they are." This is a good lesson for many evangelists to learn. I have witnessed many "evangelists" through my years simply interested in preaching the gospel and getting people to pray some prayer. Then, they notch up some numbers to report home of the great impact that God is making through their ministry. But many times, they have no idea what ever happened to these converts, whether they continued on in the faith or not.

Because many times, those who profess a faith in Christ don't continue on! Even in Kilsyth, when so many people believed in 1839, not all of them remained true to the faith. Many were caught up in the excitement of the day but soon fell away from their profession. Paul knew of this danger as well. Jesus had taught about it. Remember the parable of the sower and the seed? Four seeds were cast on four different soils. Some of the seed didn't grow. Some of the seed sprouted up but withered away for some reason. But some of the seed blossomed and brought forth great fruit. These are the genuine believers who will see the kingdom of God.

Paul was simply suggesting to Barnabas that they return to check out their long-term fruit, in Salamis and Paphos and Antioch and Iconium and Lystra and Derbe. It was a great suggestion. But with the suggestion came

2. Different Opinions (verses 37-38)

This is where we see the disunity in the church begin.

Acts 15:37-38
Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work.

This takes us back to the missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas. If you remember, when Paul and Barnabas were sent out from Antioch, they were not sent out alone. They had a traveling companion with them. "John called Mark" (or John Mark) was with them. In Acts 13:5, we read, "They had John to assist them." This is the same Mark who wrote the gospel of Mark. He proved to be a mighty servant of Christ.

John Mark was with them as they sailed to Cyprus. John Mark was with them as they journeyed through the island on their preaching tour in the synagogues. John Mark was with them as they sailed to Pamphylia. But when they arrived in Pamphylia, "John left them and returned to Jerusalem" (Acts 13:13).

Now, we don't know why John left them. There is speculation about it, but we don't really know. The only clue that we have is of the ministry that John had with Paul and Barnabas. On the one hand, John would have seen some wonderful things take place on Cyprus. He heard the gospel preached in many synagogues. He certainly saw many Jews come to faith.

But John also saw the difficult side of ministry as well, like when Paul rebuked the false prophet, Bar-Jesus, to his face: "You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time" (Acts 13:10-11). And it came true. "Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand" (Acts 13:11).

Perhaps the eyes of John Mark were opened to the reality of the spiritual warfare in which they were engaged, and he couldn't take it. So he left for home (that is, Jerusalem), where his mother was. If you remember, John Mark's mother was Mary, who hosted the prayer meeting at her house (recorded in Acts 12, see Acts 12:12), when they were praying for Peter, who was set to be executed the next day (and an angel rescued Peter from death).

I think that this is the best guess. Something about the ministry spooked him, and he left Paul and Barnabas high and dry. This is at least consistent with why Paul didn't want Mark to come along with them on the journey: "But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work" (Acts 15:38). Surely, Paul thought that history could repeat itself. John Mark put them in a bad situation on their first trip. Paul didn't want to be placed in the same difficult situation on their second trip.

Barnabas, on the other hand, had a different take: "Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark" (Acts 15:37). It's easy to know why Barnabas thought this. First of all, Barnabas was an encourager. In fact, Barnabas was not his real name. His real name was Joseph. But the apostles gave him a nickname. They called him "Barnabas," which means "son of encouragement" (Acts 4:36), because of his gift of encouragement. He lifted people up. He spoke kindly to others. He focused on the good in people, not the bad. He was willing to give anybody a chance.

Do you remember when Paul was first converted on the road to Damascus? He had set out to persecute the Christians in Damascus. Then the Lord appeared to him on the road, and he was wonderfully converted. But when he returned to Jerusalem and tried to join forces with the disciples, "They were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple" (Acts 9:26). But who believed in Paul? Barnabas. "But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus" (Acts 9:27).

This is the character of Barnabas. He is generous. He believes in people! He believes in second chances. He believed in John Mark! Barnabas wanted John Mark to come with them on the journey to visit the churches. Now, it also helped that John Mark was his cousin (Colossians 4:10). Yet, it was not out of character for Barnabas, the encourager, to take a risk again with Mark.

So, there it stands: different opinions. Barnabas wanted to take Mark. Paul said, "No way!" But this is all that it was. It was a difference of opinion. Barnabas saw it one way. Paul saw it another way. This is super applicable for us as a church. How many times do we have different opinions among us? We have different opinions about our Sunday morning format. We have different opinions about our small group format. We have different opinions about how we should allocate our budget—how much to missions, how much to support staff, how much to building improvements.

We have different opinions about the behavior of our children at church. We have different opinions about food and coffee in the auditorium. We have different opinions about our music selection. We have different opinions about special music. We have different opinions about children's church, what curriculum is best. We have different opinions about our monthly potlucks. We have different opinions about what books should be in the library and the air fresheners and snacks in the nursery and the Christmas decorations and the website and our logo.

We have different opinions about how ministry should run—we need to be more organized, we need people to serve, we need bulletin boards to announce everything, we need a phone tree to get prayer requests out. Whenever we have a big project, we have many opinions about the colors of the walls and the carpet and tile choices and the counter tops and the timing of when it all gets done. We have different opinions about our giving—we should pass an offering plate to give people an opportunity to worship in giving during the service, we should talk more about giving.

It goes on and on. I have heard it said before, whenever you have two Christians at church, you have three opinions. But with Paul and Barnabas, that's all it was. It was opinion. How they dealt with it is sad in my mind. They had a great suggestion (verse 36), different opinions (verses 37-38), and then

3. A Sharp Disagreement (verse 39a)

Now, we can disagree on our opinions. In fact, it's healthy for us to disagree on our opinions. We, at Rock Valley Bible Church, are not a cult, trying to control all aspects of your life, trying to get everyone to think the same thing about everything, as if there is one opinion to be had. There is one political party to which we all must hold. There is one stance on racial matters that we must all hold. There is one stance on COVID that we must all hold.

Yet, there is a way to hold your different opinions. As church history has brought to us: In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, harmony. In all things, charity. Sadly, this was not modeled by Paul and Barnabas. We read in verse 39, "And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other" (Acts 15:39).

It would have been OK for them to have a disagreement, because that's the way that life works. But I believe it was not OK to have such a "sharp disagreement" on these things that they "separated" from each other. I say that it's not OK because of what Paul said. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul wrote, "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

I trust that you have heard these words. This word translated "Love is not irritable" is often translated "Love is not provoked." That is, love doesn't take a disagreement and turn it into something sour. Love doesn't take a disagreement and turn it into a fight. But that's exactly what Paul and Barnabas did. You could just as well translate verse 39, "And there arose a provocation, so that they separated from each other."

In other words, in this instance, Paul and Barnabas were not loving toward one another. Their differences of opinion had risen to a fight, a "sharp disagreement" if you will. Now, we don't have a volume level in the Bible. But if we did, I would not be surprised if those in the other room could hear them arguing about this very thing, with tempers flaring and accusations made and justifications expounded. They were not following: In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, harmony. In all things, charity.

"Charity" means "love." In all things, "love." That was not Paul and Barnabas at this moment. What is so shocking to us about this is the level and depth of their relationship. Barnabas stuck his neck out for Paul when he was converted. Barnabas believed in Paul enough to bring him to Antioch in the first place (Acts 11). Barnabas and Paul spent many hours together in travel, on the boat, along the road. Barnabas and Paul spent many hours ministering together. It was like they were joined at the hip for a few years!

They obviously had a great love for each other. Sadly, it all broke down because of opinion. Church family, this has bearing upon us. When there is a difference of opinion, it should not rise to a provocation. It should not rise to the point where we need to separate from each other. Yet, sadly it does. I have seen it, and it is sad. But love will "bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, endure all things" (1 Corinthians 13:7).

Perhaps there are people in your life right now who you disagree with, who have a different opinion that you have. I say this: love them through your differences. Don't let opinion (i.e., non-essentials) get in the way of your relationships. Sadly, for Paul and Barnabas, opinion led to separation, which is our final point.

4. A Separation (verses 39b-41)

Acts 15:39-41
And 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.

At this point, it is often asked, "Who was right?" Some say that Barnabas was right. Some say Paul was right. I believe that they both were right. Paul was right. Paul had every reason to keep Mark from his journey. When traveling, especially in dangerous situations like they faced, you want someone who has your back. Think about being stoned and left for dead. You don't want someone who is going to leave you at that moment. Apparently, Paul didn't trust that Mark would be there at his side. Paul wanted more time to see if Mark would be faithful. Paul was right.

I believe that Barnabas was right as well. He had some power of discernment. He discerned Paul's conversion, that he was genuine. He discerned Paul's abilities. Likewise, he discerned Mark's character as well, as worthy of a second chance. Time proved this, even to Paul. When Paul wrote Colossians, he wrote it from prison. Mark was there with him, not as a prisoner, but one who had Paul's back, serving Paul and helping Paul in his distress. Further, at the end of Paul's life, he was in prison, soon to die. He writes this to Timothy: "Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry" (2 Timothy 4:11). So Barnabas was right.

However, I believe that they both were wrong. To allow their difference of opinion to lead to such a rift between them that they were forced to separate was wrong. Didn't Paul later say in Philippians 2:3, "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves"? They should have bent. Perhaps they tried. Or at least sought the church's input.

The way that we work as elders would have worked hard to resolve these differences. We work on the principle of unanimity. We all need to agree. I have had coffee with someone who doesn't attend our church. He was curious how our leadership team works. "As the pastor, you get two votes?" I said, "We don't vote as elders. We seek full agreement, quickly bending toward others."

If there was still an impasse, perhaps they could have worked an arrangement where they split up with a blessing upon both of them. (Would the truth be told, this is how many church plants are started.) If anything, it looks as if the church only supported Paul. Regarding Barnabas, who took Mark, we read that they "sailed away to Cyprus" (Acts 15:39) and we never read of Barnabas again in the rest of the New Testament. However, we read of Paul and Silas that they departed, "having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord" (Acts 15:40).

Although these men split, God sovereignly used it to multiply his missions teams to the world. Barnabas and Mark went west across the sea. Paul and Silas head north (then west) across Asia Minor.

The good news is this: Time often heals. I have reason to believe that Paul and Barnabas experienced a reconciliation. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he mentioned Barnabas in a way that indicates they were on good terms again: "Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living?" (1 Corinthians 9:6). This suggests that the sharp disagreement didn't destroy their relationship permanently.

Yet, the entire scenario of this split is sad. If the church had merely recognized that there are two groups of missionaries off doing the same work, how much better (it seems to me), the church would have been.

By way of application, if you are having difficulty and strife in a relationship, I would encourage you to seek help. In God's sovereignty at this time, we do have a small group working through Ken Sande's excellent book, "The Peacemaker." It may help you to work through relational conflicts in a biblical way.

This is a sad chapter in the life of the church, yet it has many lessons for us. When disunity comes, it is never fun. It is never enjoyable. In our humility, we need to consider others as more important than ourselves. In all things, we must exhibit charity. Be loving toward one another, even when we see things differently.

May God bless such efforts of unity toward our church for his greater glory. May the revival in Kilsyth in 1839 come to Rock Valley Bible Church!

This sermon was delivered to Rock Valley Bible Church on January 30, 2022 by Steve Brandon.
For more information see www.rockvalleybiblechurch.org.

[1] Islay Burns, The Pastor of Kilsyth (London: T Nelson and Sons, 1860), 60.

[2] Ibid., 143.

[3] Ibid., 144-5.

[4] Ibid., 150.

[5] Ibid., 155.