SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/10/2018 9:47 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-3 “The Right Personal”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts
15:37-16:3a
Message of the verses: “37 Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with them also. 38 But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 And there occurred such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. 40 But Paul chose Silas and left, being committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord. 41 And he was traveling through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
1 Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And a disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, 2 and he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted this man to go with him;”
As we began this 15th chapter of Acts we saw a problem that was brought to the church in Jerusalem by Paul and Barnabas. The problem was solved and because the church did not want any prejudice from their answer they sent some brethren from the Jerusalem church to go with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. One of those that came with Paul and Barnabas was Silas, and it was Silas who Paul chose to accompany him on what is called the second missionary journey. Silas was in every respect a suitable man for missionary work. “32 Judas and Silas, also being prophets themselves, encouraged and strengthened the brethren with a lengthy message (Acts 15:32).” MacArthur writes “As a Roman citizen (Acts 16:37), he enjoyed the same protection and benefits as did Paul. And his status as a respected leader of the Jerusalem church reinforced Paul’s teaching that Gentile salvation was solely by grace. That was especially significant since part of their ministry involved delivering ‘the decrees, which had been declared upon by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem’ (Acts 16:4).”
Paul and Silas would travel through Syria and Cilicia,
and this would mean that they would be coming into Galatia from the opposite
direction, and the significance of that will become apparent shortly. Syria was the region around Antioch, and the
neighboring region of Cilicia had in it Paul’s home town of Tarsus. Many of the church in that area were probably
started by Paul himself. Paul’s goal was
on this trip was to strengthen the churches.
One of the people on my prayer list is the head of a missionary agency
who only works in the United States. I
noticed that he seemed kind of down and so I asked him if I could pray for some
specific needs that he had. The problem
with the churches in our country is that they are becoming weaker and many are
being closed, thus they have a need to strengthen those weaker churches. He told me that they had a plan for doing
this and that is what I have been praying about. Churches in our country need to be
strengthened in the Word of God.
John MacArthur states that Paul and Silas had to cross
some very rugged mountains called the Taurus Mountains in order to get to Derbe
and to Lystra. As one reads through the
book of Acts, especially the last part of it which contains the ministry of the
apostle Paul and all of his traveling people, they perhaps do not understand
how difficult the traveling was during this time period that they were living
in. Travel was a great deal different
then than what it is today.
Now we come to a very important part of their journey as
they come into Lystra, a city that Paul and Barnabas visited in their first
missionary journey as seen in Acts 14:6 and following. The reason that this stop was important was
it was here that Paul meets a young man named Timothy. Imagine how many people in the world today
would have not named their sons Timothy if Paul and not meet up with Timothy in
Lystra at that time. Now Silas replaced
Barnabas and so Timothy will replace John Mark.
Timothy would become a son in the Lord to Paul, someone he had great
feelings for as he began to train him to actually take his place once the
Romans would execute Paul, but that was years away and so Paul had time to
teach this young man things of the Lord.
Paul would encourage Timothy to teach others the things that he had
taught him and thus this teaching continues today as older mature believers
teach younger believers the things of the Lord.
Timothy’s mom was named Eunice and she was a believer
along with his grandmother Lois as seen in 2 Timothy 1:5. His father was a “Greek.” John MacArthur writes that “The use of an
imperfect tense verb, instead of present tense, to refer to Timothy’s father
suggests he was dead. Being both Jewish
and Gentile, Timothy had access to both cultures—an important qualification for
missionary service at that time. He was
a young man, probably in his late teens or early twenties, but ‘he was well
spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium.’ A key requirement for church leaders is that
they be ‘above reproach’ (1Timothy 3:2, 10).
Timothy, even in his youth, was qualified for service on that count.”
As we come to the end of our section today we only have
to look at the fact that it was Paul’s desire to take Timothy with him. I am sure that there was much prayer by Paul
before deciding that he wanted Timothy to go with him and also Paul and Silas
probably spent some time with him before desiring to want him to come
along. We can be sure that this was in
the great plan of the Lord for Paul to meet Timothy and to take him along with
he and Silas on the second missionary journey.
One more thing that I want to mention and that is because it is believed
that Timothy’s father had died and the raising of him was left upon the
shoulders of his mother and grand-mother they were the ones who had to believe
that it was in the will of the Lord to allow Timothy to go with Paul and Silas
on this continuation of the second missionary journey. That decision had to be difficult for them as
they probably knew that there were dangers which lie ahead.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I do not know
what lies ahead for me, but I know who it is that does know what lies ahead for
me in my life and it is my desire to trust Him.
My Steps of Faith for Today: “5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. “
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Ruth and Ester.”
Today’s Bible
question: “At what hour did the Lord smite
the firstborn in the land of Egypt?”
Answer in our next SD.
4/10/2018 10:38 AM
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