All right, we'll open your Bibles to the book of Acts and chapter 15. Acts chapter 15, we're studying through the life of Paul in our Wednesday night services, and we're gonna finish up chapter 15 this evening. Chapter 15 begins with the question of what must a person do to go to heaven? And the church wrestled with that. These Gentiles are getting saved. They haven't practiced Judaism. They haven't been circumcised. Do they need to do that in order to be saved? Is their salvation not complete unless they're circumcised and keep the law? Of course, we entitled the message last week, Salvation Settled. It was always settled with God, but the church had to come to an understanding of what God had revealed about salvation, what was really necessary in order to be saved. And they came to the right conclusion, that no, you didn't have to be circumcised or keep the law in order to be saved. And so they settled that and proclaimed that truth, and that's where we are this evening. And I wanna begin just to read our text tonight, and then we'll go from there. In verse 32, it says, Judas and Silas, being prophets also themselves, exhorted the brethren with many words and confirmed them. And after they had tarried their space, that is in Antioch, they were let go in peace from the brethren unto the apostles. Notwithstanding, it pleased Silas to abide there still. Paul also and Barnabas continued in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord with many others also. 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. And Barnabas determined to take with him John, whose surname was Mark. But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia and went not with them to the work. And the contention was so sharp between them that they departed asunder one from the other. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed on to Cyprus. And Paul chose Silas and departed, being recommended by the brethren under the grace of God. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches. I've entitled the message tonight, A Divisive Disagreement. And I've done something different tonight. I don't think I've ever done this before. But I've actually manuscripted my message this evening. So probably you'll do more reading than I would normally do. I hope that won't distract you if I'm not always looking up. I'll try to look at you from time to time so I'm not just reading to you. But the Jerusalem Council had determined that salvation was indeed by grace through faith apart from works, that there was no need to require the Gentile believers to keep the law of Moses. And this gave great joy to the church at Antioch, and it affirmed Paul's ministry to the Gentiles. You notice again that as they read the letter, in verse 31, they rejoiced for the consolation. And so the church sent a letter announcing their decision, and in that letter they expressed their support for Paul and Barnabas and their work among the Gentiles. In verse 25, I don't know if we noted this last Wednesday night, but they refer to Paul and Barnabas as our beloved Barnabas and Paul. And remembering that, you know, as Paul is writing to the Galatian churches, if you remember in chapter one, He talks about those who would bring another gospel, but he goes on to point out that the gospel that he preached was not something that he had gotten from the apostles in Jerusalem, but something that he had gotten by direct revelation from God, that his understanding of the gospel, that salvation was by grace through faith in Christ alone, apart from works, that he didn't learn that from many, he learned it from God himself directly. And that was a controversy. Is Paul preaching another gospel, or is Paul preaching an incomplete gospel? No, he's not, and that's a conclusion the Jerusalem church came to. But the fact that they would refer to Barnabas and Paul as our beloved Barnabas and Paul was just a further support of Barnabas and Paul's ministry and the gospel message that he was preaching. So that's significant that they stated it that way. Again, we noted last Wednesday night, there was so much wisdom in this whole thing. as the Holy Spirit directed the church in dealing with this issue, how they settled it, and even how they then passed that along. So they're expressing their support for Paul and Barnabas, their work among the Gentiles. And then they also sent along two from the council, Judas and Silas, who were leading men in the Jerusalem church, who would confirm the genuineness of the content of the letter. So it's not just Paul saying, here's what the church decided, and it's his word. And somebody else comes along from Jerusalem and says, no, they didn't. And it's not just Paul's word against somebody else, there's actually two who are part of the Jerusalem church, well respected in the Jerusalem church, who come, and as the letter is read, they can give public declaration that indeed, that is what the decision the church made, that Paul's not making this up, that this is indeed what the church had said. And so Judas and Silas were gifted prophets of God. it tells us. And the ministry of prophets in that day included receiving direct revelation from God, but also proclaiming previous revelation from God, teaching the Old Testament Scriptures, the previous revelation of God. But before the New Testament Scriptures were completed, God did give God did give revelation, God gave direction, God spoke to and through prophets. He doesn't do that today because the Bible is complete, but he did it in that day. So they had that gift and that ability, but probably in the main, their ministry in Antioch was primarily just preaching and teaching the word of God, the Old Testament scriptures. how they related to the New Testament truth. And so as they ministered at Antioch, the believers were more firmly grounded in the faith. That's the idea of confirming in verse 32. They're grounded in the faith and they're resolved to keep on following the Lord. So they're exhorted, don't turn away from the Lord. And because of their ministry, they're more settled in their faith. The time came when the church agreed that their ministry, that is the ministry of Judas and Silas, was no longer needed in Antioch, and so they were free to return to Jerusalem. And the Bible tells us that Judas went, but Silas remained behind in Antioch. No doubt he had seen something at Antioch that appealed to him, and he wanted to be a part of it. And as I thought about that, I thought, you know, sometimes the Lord leads us through the desires of our heart. In 1 Timothy 3 and verse 1, we read, if a man desires the office of a bishop, he desires a good work. that God calls men even into ministry. One of the ways he does that is by putting a desire in their heart for the work that he wants them to do. And I believe God does that in other areas as well, that we have to be careful. We have to weigh our desires against the word of God. And of course, in 1 Timothy 3, he goes on to give some qualifications. It's not just the desire, but he also has to meet the qualifications. But God does often lead through desires. Proverbs 16.9 says, a man's heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directed his steps. And so God uses his word and of course the leading of the Holy Spirit and the desires of our heart. And in these ways he leads us into his will. And there was something at Antioch that caused Silas to want to stay there. And so he does. And so the work of the Lord continued in Antioch with several men being gifted for preaching and teaching the Bible, including Paul and Barnabas. If you'll notice, It says in verse 35, Paul also and Barnabas continued in Antioch. So Silas, verse 34, is abiding there still. Paul and Barnabas are continuing there, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord with many others also. So there's many men in Antioch in the church who are gifted for preaching and teaching the word of God. Silas, Barnabas, Paul. We read in chapter 13 about seven men that were gifted as teachers in that church. So there were a number of men that could do that. Though each church in the New Testament had a pastor, the ministry of the word in those churches was not confined to the pastor alone. Where others were gifted to preach and teach, they exercised that gift for the edification of the church. God has gifted FBC, Faith Baptist Church, with many men who can expound the word of God. We have a number of men who can preach and teach God's word. Some of them regularly teach in Sunday school and we're thankful for their ministry. Others we provide with opportunities as we can because they have a gift and we want to give them an opportunity to exercise that gift. And God gives them understanding, gives them messages and truth that they can reveal to us. And so we're blessed in that way as the early church was. But the time came when Paul's heart is stirred to return to the churches he and Barnabas had established on their missionary journey. Maybe he felt that there were too many preachers at Antioch and not enough in the places that he had been. We don't know what stirred his heart, but it may be that he looked around and saw, you know, we got a bunch of teachers here, a bunch of preachers here. Uh, you know, I'm not really needed here. I mean, uh, I can minister here, but they can get along without me. And it may be that that had something to do with Paul's heart to go back and visit those churches again. It may have just been his pastoral heart for those people that he had left behind and didn't know how they were faring. But he decided to go. A note here, no man should waste his gift. And if he cannot rightly exercise it where he is, he ought to consider if perhaps the Lord would have him go somewhere else where he is needed. We are told today that in America there are more churches than pastors available to lead them. Some of that is just because, I guess, let me give you partly my opinion. Our young people, it's not just our young people, but the Christians, In America today, we are so distracted by the things of the world that people are not hearing the call of God because they're not really listening for the call of God because they're so distracted by the things of the world. And it's not that God wouldn't call, it's just that people are not listening for that call. God is still calling men into ministry, but no doubt there are others that he would call if they would just listen, but they're not listening. And the spiritual decline in the churches is a part of that as well. But there are more churches today than pastors available to lead them. There are churches around the country that need pastors. There are also areas, even in America, where Bible-preaching churches need to be planted because the churches that do exist, if there are any, are not preaching the Bible in truth. They're preaching another gospel. and somebody needs to go into those areas and establish churches where the Word of God will be preached. For whatever reason, and it may have been that, it may have been there's just so many people here. It doesn't say in this case, no doubt the Holy Spirit is at work, but it doesn't say in this case like it did in 13.1 that the Holy Spirit said, separate me Barnabas and Paul, 13.2. The Holy Spirit said separate me Barnabas and Paul, this was a desire of Paul's heart. No doubt the Holy Spirit was stirring his heart to go for whatever reason. So Paul shared his heart with Barnabas, and Barnabas agreed that they ought to go, but Barnabas wanted to take John Mark with him. John had been with him at the beginning of the first missionary journey, but didn't stick it out for the entire journey, and Paul didn't believe that John had changed and figured he would back out again when things got difficult. But Barnabas, being the son of consolation, which is what his name literally means, wanted to take John along. They have just come from Jerusalem, not many weeks or months prior to this. Barnabas, his sister, lived in Jerusalem, John Mark's mother. John Mark is his nephew. No doubt while Barnabas was in Jerusalem for the this meeting with the church. He stayed with his sister. He had time with John Mark. Maybe he told him all the things that had happened on their missionary journey and John Mark's heart was stirred and he was regretted that he ever backed out. Maybe he, John Mark just was, you know, realized he had messed up. He had done wrong and he apologized and he told Barnabas, you know, if you ever go again, I want to go. Whatever reason Barnabas just believed that John Mark was salvageable, that he wouldn't do it again, he wouldn't back out again, and he wanted to take him along. But Paul would have nothing to do with it. And Barnabas had a gift for encouraging and mentoring others. He had been the one that had accepted Paul, and Paul came to Jerusalem, everybody was afraid of him. because they didn't believe he had really been saved, and Barnabas did, and Barnabas brought him to the church, to the apostles, and introduced him, and it was Barnabas that brought him to Antioch in the beginning. Barnabas had that kind of, he's a son of consolation, he just has a gift for encouraging people and mentoring them, and so he believes in John Mark, and so he wants him to go along. And so Barnabas insisted that John go along. Paul adamantly refused. And the text suggests that they argued back and forth about it for days. But finally it became obvious that neither would yield, that the only way to resolve the matter was to go their separate ways. And so Barnabas took John, and the Bible says that they sailed away to Cyprus. That was Barnabas's home. It was the scene of their early missionary endeavors. That's where they started their first missionary journey. And so Barnabas and John Mark go there, and Barnabas is not mentioned again by Luke in the book of Acts, but Paul does refer to him twice after this, once in his letter to the Galatian churches, and once in his letter to the Corinthian church. And I think the statement that he makes in the Corinthian letter is significant. Let me share it with you. You can turn if you want. This is in 1 Corinthians chapter nine, and Paul's defending his apostleship, primarily the fact that he served without pay. In other words, he went to these areas, he preached the gospel, he didn't require those churches to support him. And he said in 1 Corinthians 9, beginning of verse 3, he said, my answer to them that do examine me is this, have we not power to eat and to drink? Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as the other apostles? We know that Peter, when he traveled around in his ministry, he took his wife with him. Evidently, the other apostles did as well. And Paul said, we have the same right they do. And when he talks about a sister, a wife, he's talking about their wives were believers. He said, don't we have a right, just like the other apostles, if we had wives who were believers, to bring them with us in our ministry? Don't we have the right to do that, like the brethren of the Lord and Peter? Or I only and Barnabas, have we not power to forebear working? So he mentions Barnabas. But the thing that's interesting about this is the Corinthian church was started on Paul's second missionary journey. We'll come to that when we get into the second missionary journey. That's when he started this church. So Barnabas wasn't with him. And yet he mentions to the Corinthian church about Barnabas and how Barnabas traveled without a wife and without support. He had the same heart that Paul did about taking support from the churches that they had started. So it suggests that Barnabas also had been to Corinth and had ministered there, but he wasn't with Paul when Paul established the church. And the point of that is that Barnabas and Paul, though they had gone their separate ways, remained friends. that they still respected one another. They still interacted with one another. They just weren't working together as a team, at least, you know, being there at the same time. By the way, we know that Barnabas was right in his assessment of John Mark. Under Barnabas's tutelage, John Mark became a valuable coworker in the ministry, and even Paul agreed. Mark was with Paul. during his Roman imprisonment and was sent by Paul on various ministry errands. That's what Colossians 4.10 suggests. In writing to Philemon, Paul calls Mark a fellow laborer. So as far as Paul is concerned, John Mark becomes a co-laborer with him just like Barnabas and Silas and Timothy and Titus and others. He has the same esteem for John Mark as he has for these other men. John Mark probably was not as gifted. as some of those others, but he did have ministry gifts and did serve in ministry. And during Paul's second Roman imprisonment, he asked Timothy to bring Mark with him when Timothy would come, stating, Mark is profitable to me for the ministry. So clearly, Barnabas was right. Paul was wrong. And John Mark did indeed prove himself and became a valuable asset and ally in ministry. But because they disagreed about John Mark and the contention was so sharp between them, They couldn't go on. Barnabas, neither one is willing to compromise. Barnabas is not gonna give up. No, we're taking John Mark. And Paul is not gonna agree to take John Mark along. They're just, neither one of them are gonna change their mind. They're not gonna agree. So finally they just have to agree to disagree. And they go their separate ways. Both men were godly. Both men were seeking to implement the teaching of the Bible. but the disagreement was so sharp they could no longer cooperate with one another directly in ministry, again, though they probably maintained a cordial personal relationship. As I thought about that, I was reminded, you know, these things happen. It's unfortunate but true that at times otherwise good and godly men have come to a parting of the ways due to a strong disagreement on one issue or another. I thought about Well, let me start with Charles Spurgeon. In the 1800s, he was a longtime member of the Baptist Union in Great Britain. But eventually, he separated from the Baptist Union because it was promoting, in his words, quote, a new religion, which is no more Christianity than chalk is cheese. And this religion, being destitute of moral honesty, palms itself off as the old faith with slight improvements. And on this plea, usurps pulpits, which were erected for gospel preaching. The atonement is scouted, the inspiration of scripture is derided, the Holy Spirit is degraded into an influence, the punishment of sin is turned into fiction, and the resurrection into a myth. And yet these enemies of our faith expect us to call them brethren and maintain a confederacy with them. So in other words, there are men who are members of the Baptist Union who don't believe in the inspiration of scripture, they don't believe in the atonement through the blood of Christ, salvation through faith in Christ, they don't believe that the Holy Spirit is a person, They don't believe in a literal hell. They don't believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ. These were men in the Baptist Union that were being allowed to remain and accepted and being called brethren. And Spurgeon said, we can't do that. That is not the old faith. And yet, that's what it's being referred to. It's like the old faith with improvements, he said. And these men are filling pulpits that were established for preaching the gospel, but they're not preaching the true gospel. Spurgeon went on to argue that true believers cannot be ministry affiliates with those who have compromised the faith. And so in 1887, just a few years before his death, five years before his death, Spurgeon withdrew from the Baptist Union. Three months later, in January of 1888, the Baptist Union Council voted to accept his withdrawal, and then the council of nearly 100 members voted to censure Spurgeon. Can you imagine? Some believe that that controversy hastened Spurgeon's death. Spurgeon was only 58 when he died. Died very young. He had health issues. He had gout and he had, he battled depression and some other things. He died young, but this was, again, this occurred five years before his death, and no doubt it did impact him and have some bearing on the timing of his death. But it cost him friendships. It cost him his reputation. Even his own brother, disowned his decision, his own brother who was, I'm not sure if at that time, but who had been and maybe was at that time the co-pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, who often filled in when Spurgeon was not there. But he voted against Spurgeon. He voted against his brother in this controversy with the Baptist Union. But for Spurgeon to remain within the union would be tantamount to theological treason. There was another one I thought of more recently, somewhat. It occurred between Bob Jones and John R. Rice. Bob Jones Sr. and John R. Rice had been friends and co-laborers in the ministry. They didn't hold formal ties, but they were friends and co-workers. Bob Jones Sr. was an evangelist and the founder of Bob Jones University, which was the leading fundamental college in America at that time. And John R. Rice was an evangelist and editor of the Sword of the Lord, which was a leading periodical of the fundamentalist movement. After the death of Bob Jones Sr., Bob Jones Jr., who had taken his father's place as the head of BJU, and John R. Rice had a falling out over the matter of separation. Both men believed in the same issue that Spurgeon dealt with in the 1800s. Both men believed that the Bible taught the necessity of separating from false doctrine and false teachers, but they disagreed over the application of that principle. Bob Jones, Jr. strongly advocated that fundamentalists should separate from mainline denominations and that staying in them violated the principle of separation. Further, he believed and taught that to associate with those who stayed in was also a violation of the principle of separation. He saw them as being disobedient brethren. So in other words, you're in a mainline denomination, which By that point, most, if not all of them, were departing from the faith. And though there were still good men and Bible-believing fundamental preachers and people in those denominations, by and large, the denominations, at least the leadership, were liberals who were denying the very fundamentals of the faith. Bob Jones Jr. said, because of that, you need to withdraw from those mainline churches, denominational churches, and be separate. And if you stayed in, you were a disobedient brother. And so not only do we separate from those who do not hold the fundamentals of faith, but if you hold them but you stay in a denomination that is not holding them, then you're being disobedient and we have to separate from you as well, even though you and your personal beliefs are fundamental. John R. Rice, on the other hand, believed that staying in or coming out of those denominational churches, and particularly the issue at that time was the Southern Baptist Convention. But John R. Rice believed it was a matter of personal choice and that it was okay to cooperate with those who chose to stay in as long as they were fundamental in doctrine. One of the issues was that John R. Rice was printing the sermons of fundamental Southern Baptist preachers in the Sword of the Lord, and Dr. Bob Jones Jr. thought that John R. Rice was compromising by doing that. because those men had chosen to stay in denominations that were either had completely departed from the faith in their leadership or were moving in that direction. And so for a long time, there was no cooperation and I think even, I want to be careful here because I don't know all the facts, but I think even some harsh words back and forth between Bob Jones Jr. and John R. Rice about this issue and almost even attacking one another because they disagreed. But again, they're both godly men. Just like Barnabas and Paul, they were both trying to do right. They just didn't agree on what that meant to do right. And their disagreement, like Paul and Barnum's, was so sharp that they couldn't cooperate with one another. I don't know what their personal relationship was like after that, but I know that there was no more working together. Bob Jones University and the Sword of the Lord parted ways. Now there was some healing of that rift after Bob Jones Jr., I believe it was after he passed away, Dr. Bob III invited the Sword of the Lord to come and have their annual conference at Bob Jones University, and they kind of healed the rift, though they still didn't fully agree on the practice of separation, although I think the Sword of the Lord would be more in line with Dr. Bob Jones Jr. in their stand now than they were in that day. And things have changed a lot from those days, but nonetheless. My point is simply that these kinds of things happen. And you know, when it's doctrinal in nature, you can hardly fault the parties for their party. But when it's personal in nature, it just reminds us that those who serve the Lord in ministry are just men. I mean, they're not perfect, they're just men. And we ought to esteem them highly and love for their work's sake, but we must guard against unduly exalting them. Our confidence must be in God and not men. We read in John 2, beginning in verse 23, that when Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover and the feast day, many believed in his name when they saw the miracles that he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them because he knew all men and needed not that any should testify of man, for he knew what was in man. He didn't trust these men. and just commit himself wholeheartedly to them because he knew the fickleness or even the weakness of men. And we need to remember that. We struggle sometimes when a man in ministry falls and it should grieve our hearts, yes. It shouldn't surprise us. But secondly, it shouldn't destroy our faith because our confidence should never be in men, but in God. It's also true many times that when a pastor, a longtime pastor leaves a church, the church struggles and many times goes down and sometimes even doesn't survive. And I think sometimes, and every situation has to be evaluated on its own merits, but I think many times the problem is the people had their eyes on the man instead of on the Lord. Because if it's God's church and we're following God, the man in leadership, his being there or his leaving shouldn't affect. I mean, it's going to have some impact, yes, but it should not dramatically affect the ministry of the church because he's just a man. And the next man that comes along can step in and take his place. And again, if we're all following God, both the former pastor and the new pastor and the church, we're all following God, then things should just continue on. Yeah, there'll be some minor changes, but basically the ministry should go on unhindered because it's still the Lord's church and he's still leading and directing. And that's the way it ought to be. So now Paul needs an associate. Because Barnabas is not it. And so considering all the possibilities, he chooses Silas. There are many advantages to his choice. Silas is associated with the Jerusalem church and was one of the representatives sent to affirm the church's decision not to require the Gentile converts to be circumcised and keep the law. So as Paul is continuing his ministry as the apostle to the Gentiles, and he's going into new territory and starting new churches and leading new Gentiles to Christ, he's got Silas along with him that when the Judaizers come along and say, now you got, Paul preached his gospel, but it wasn't a complete gospel. Let me tell you what you need to do. And Silas can say, no, the Jerusalem church settled this. And Silas could say, I was there. And I was one of the representatives that was sent to tell the Gentile churches that you don't have to keep the law or be circumcised in order to be saved. Just believe on Christ as your savior. So that's a decided advantage that Paul is taking Silas with him. Silas was most likely a Hellenist. That is, he's a Jew, but he was raised in an area where he's exposed to Greek culture. So when he's going with Paul into these Greek cities, Roman cities, but with Greek culture, he's familiar with that. He doesn't struggle with that like a, a Jewish Jew would, okay? So that's an advantage. He's also a Roman citizen, and that becomes an advantage. We see that especially at Philippi. And he was gifted by God for the work. He's a prophet. And it is possible that he had already risked his life to preach the gospel to the lost. If you'll notice, in verse 25 and 26, it says, it seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men that have hazarded their lives for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent, therefore, Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth. Now, verse 26, men that hazarded their lives for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, does that mean, is that referring to Barnabas and Paul, or is that referring to Judas and Silas? And it may be referring to Judas and Silas. So it may be that Silas has actually already had to deal with that. So Paul can have confidence in him that he didn't have in John Mark that, hey, if I bring Silas along, he's not going to back out because he's already faced these kinds of things. And he stood, so I can count on him. And so the Bible tells us that the church commended Paul and Silas to the grace of God. Verse 40. and sent them on their way. By the way, it doesn't say, and I had to wonder, did they do the same thing for Barnabas and John Mark? When Barnabas took John Mark and sailed into Cyprus, did the church commend them to the grace of God? We don't know. It doesn't say. Were they siding with Paul or were they neutral in this contention between Paul and Barnabas? The Bible doesn't say. But since Barnabas had gone to Cyprus, Paul and Silas took the overland route through Syria and Cilicia, going back to Galatia, where they had had their ministry. And the Bible says that as they went, they sought to establish the churches in Syria and Cilicia. And because Paul's hometown, Tarsus, was in Cilicia, they probably stopped there, and Paul probably visited his family as they're passing through that area. And so that's the beginning of Paul's second missionary journey. And so we will take that up after Christmas. We will come back and begin Paul's second missionary journey. But let me say in closing tonight just a couple things. Number one, remember that God uses men with all their faults and failures, that we must not unduly exalt them lest we become disillusioned when we find out that they are merely human after all. And furthermore, we need to be gracious with one another as we sincerely seek to serve the Lord despite our weaknesses. In other words, We're not talking about deliberate disobedience, but we're talking about the fact that we're all human and we're all weak, and yet God uses us, and we should have some grace in dealing with one another in considering our weaknesses. We also need to remember that failure doesn't have to be final. As someone said, failure is often the back door to success. And so maybe you're here tonight and there's been a failure in your past and you feel like, I'm done. No, be encouraged, get up and begin anew to serve the Lord in whatever way he chooses. Or maybe you know somebody who's struggling right now because they have failed in the past. And maybe you could be their Barnabas to encourage them to help and help them get on their feet and get going forward again for God. And then lastly, are you using your gifts to their fullest capacity for the Lord? And if not, and I say this cautiously, but if not, perhaps God has another place for you to minister where you can be more useful and effective for him. We hope not. We don't want anybody to go. We want everybody to stay here at Faith Baptist Church and minister here, and we're glad you're here. But at the same time, we wouldn't want to stand in the way of something God wanted to do. And so, you know, it might be that you say, you know, I've got some gifts and abilities aren't being used here and it doesn't seem like there's any opportunity for me to use them. So maybe God has something else and you begin to seek the Lord. But be careful, be sure it is God's will. But if you know that it is God's will, go forward with confidence in his leading and enjoy his blessing. Or again, it may be that you don't need to go anywhere, you just need to step up to another area of ministry within the church where you can put your gifts and talents to use for the glory of God and the good of this ministry. And again, ultimately, it is what does God want you to do. I was reading the memoirs of a pastor friend of mine who's with the Lord now. He had a heart to plant churches. He was pastoring a church in Texas many years ago, and he said as he would go into the church building, he would always see something in their missions program that reminded him about the fact that he's He felt like he was taking the word, like the disciples feeding the 5,000, you keep giving it to the same ones over and over again. He said, and there's all those people behind them that don't have anything. And he just felt like, I'm here in this church, this established church, and there's people out there that don't have this, and I need to go. And he did, and started another church. And when that church got established, he said, you know what? I'm doing it again. I need to go. And he went. And I forget how many churches he started. A number of churches that he started. But each time he would leave, it was because he felt like, OK, now this church is established. There are other people that need this. I need to go on, because that's what God wanted him to do. And that's what he did. And God blessed that. And the last ministry he was in, he actually stayed there about 20 years, and I felt like it was just kind of God's blessing to him, I guess you could say. He struggled for so many years. Church planting is a challenging thing to do. And it has its struggles, and often has financial struggles, and you're pastoring small churches, and you're limited in what you can do as you're getting that work established. And as soon as it would get established, he'd move on. Well, the last ministry he was in was a good ministry, a good church, and he enjoyed the last 20 years of his life, from 55 to 75. He pastored that church, and it was a good church, and they could do things, and they did, and the Lord blessed. And I felt like the Lord was just kind of saying, okay, now you've done it and I'll just settle in and enjoy this one because this is the last one. Just enjoy it and get in on all those things you missed before. And it was a blessing to him and he was a blessing to me. Well, let's stand together for prayer. Our father, we thank you for this portion of your word. And I pray that you'll take our thoughts tonight or take the truth of your word and use it in each of our hearts as it is needed. Thank you for those that have encouraged us through the years as we've struggled from time to time. And there have been Barnabas's that have come along and encouraged us and enabled us to keep going. And Lord, you have sent them and we thank you for that. We pray you'll continue to guide us, that we will be sensitive to your Holy Spirit and his leading in our life or that you would use us in your service in whatever way you would choose. Lord, help us to love one another, help us to be gracious with one another. Lord, we would never want to have to separate over a disagreement. And I pray that we can always be agreeable. And even when we disagree, that we can do it agreeably and we can love one another and we continue to function together. And yet, Lord, we know it's not always possible. Lord, guard us against the kinds of disagreements that would create division. Help us to have a unity of heart and purpose, even if we don't agree on all the particulars. Continue to guide us in our study of the life of Paul and bless your word to our hearts, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.