Introduction
At the turn of the 21st century, Blockbuster reigned supreme in the video rental industry.
If your family wanted a movie night, someone likely had to drive to one of Blockbuster's 9,000 stores, stroll through rows of DVD-lined shelves, and hand a membership card to a blue-clad employee.
When Reed Hastings, founder of a fledgling startup called Netflix, met with Blockbuster CEO John Antioco in 2000 to propose a partnership, he was laughed out of the office.
Despite changing consumer preferences, Blockbuster doubled down on its store-first model by offering popcorn, books, and toys, while Netflix experimented with a subscription model and no late fees.
Just 10 years later, Netflix became North America's largest source of streaming Internet traffic during peak hours, with over 20 million subscribers.
Today, Netflix has over 300 million subscribers worldwide.
In 2010, Blockbuster declared bankruptcy.
Some opportunities should not be overlooked when influencing people.
This is particularly true when it comes to the good news about Jesus.
The Book of Acts records how the good news about Jesus turned the world upside down.
One of the key figures in the advance of the gospel was the apostle Paul.
Today’s lesson shows us how the gospel advances.
Scripture
Let’s read Acts 16:1-5:
1 Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. 2 He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.
Lesson
Acts 16:1-5 shows us how the gospel advances.
Let’s use the following outline:
1. The Gospel Advances with the Right Personnel (16:1-3a)
2. The Gospel Advances with the Right Precaution (16:3b)
3. The Gospel Advances with the Right Presentation (16:4-5)
I. The Gospel Advances with the Right Personnel (16:1-3a)
First, the gospel advances with the right personnel.
In our last lesson, we learned that Paul wanted to go and visit the brothers in every city where he and Barnabas had proclaimed the good news about Jesus (Acts 15:36).
Paul wanted to see how the disciples were growing in their faith.
Barnabas wanted to take his cousin John Mark with them on this second missionary journey (Acts 15:37).
Paul adamantly refused to take John Mark with them because John Mark had deserted them on the first missionary journey in Pamphylia (Acts 15:38).
Paul and Barnabas sharply disagreed, so they separated from each other.
Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed to Cypress (Acts 15:39).
Paul took Silas and commenced his second missionary journey (Acts 15:40).
On his first missionary journey, the last two towns Paul visited in Galatia were Lystra and Derbe (Acts 14:19-21).
Lystra was where Paul and Barnabas healed a man crippled from birth. Then, they had to fight the people’s attempt to honor them as gods.
It was also at Lystra that Paul was stoned and left for dead from the stoning (Acts 14:19). But he was revived and went on to Derbe to share the good news about Jesus.
On his second missionary journey, Paul reversed his course. As we read in verse 1a of our text for today, “Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra.”
Luke tells us more about what happened in Lystra. In verse 1b, we read, “A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek.”
What do we know about Timothy?
First, Timothy was a disciple of Jesus.
One commentator suggests that Timothy was converted to Jesus during Paul’s first missionary journey about five years earlier.
Timothy was half-Jew and half-Gentile.
His mother believed in Jesus, but there is no indication that his father was a believer.
From Paul’s writing, we learn that Timothy’s mother, Eunice, and grandmother, Lois, were believers who helped Timothy grow in his faith.
Luke tells us more about Timothy in verse 2, “He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium.”
Timothy was growing rapidly as a disciple of Jesus.
He was living a consistent Christian life or, as we vow in our church membership vow, he was endeavoring “to live as becomes the followers of Christ” (Vow 3 of PCA Membership Vows).
Moreover, Timothy met the first and general requirement of a church elder: to be “above reproach” (1 Timothy 3:2).
The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of Timothy. He was well-regarded, and his fellow Christians looked up to him as someone who was following Jesus closely.
Scholars suggest that Timothy was in his late teens or early twenties.
It is not surprising to read in verse 3, “Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him.”
Timothy Joined Paul and Silas as they continued the second missionary journey.
Timothy continued to learn and grow as Paul mentored him.
Timothy became a vital member of Paul’s inner circle. Paul later described Timothy as his “fellow worker” (Romans 16:21; 1 Thessalonians 3:2), “brother” (2 Corinthians 1:1; Colossians 1:1; 1 Thessalonians 3:2), “bond-servant” (Philippians 1:1), “beloved and faithful child in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 4:17), and “son” (1 Timothy 1:2; 2 Timothy 1:2).
Paul eventually had Timothy stay and pastor the church in Ephesus, no doubt because Paul had great confidence in Timothy’s ability to shepherd the flock of God there.
I read a story about a college student and part-time youth leader who met an eleven-year-old boy during a summer church retreat.
The eleven-year-old’s sincere love for Jesus was quickly noticed.
The youth leader soon invited the young boy to travel with the youth team to share his testimony with other kids.
As the eleven-year-old grew, he also grew in his walk with Jesus.
The young college student eventually married and moved away.
But years later, the former youth worker received a touching letter from the boy he had once discipled.
Now a young man, he wrote a letter of thanks to his one-time mentor. A portion of the letter read:
“I’m not sure if you realize your impact on my life, but I am now a pastor. As I look back at my Christian journey, I cannot think of anyone who gave me more opportunities for ministry than you. No one else dared to believe in me. Thanks for being my teacher. It was a privilege being your student. I grew more under the influence of your ministry than at any other time in my life. Thank you!”
The youth worker put down the letter. Tears of joy made any further reading impossible.
The young boy had become an adult, but he was still walking in the truth and influencing others to do the same (Leadership Ministries Worldwide, Practical Illustrations: 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude [Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide, 2003], 26).
Do you want to make your life count for eternity?
Find someone who can teach you about Jesus. Get involved in a Bible study, Adult Bible Fellowship, or Discipleship Group to learn what it means to be a fully devoted follower of Jesus.
As you grow, you will discover God using you and your gifts to advance the gospel.
So, the gospel advances with the right personnel.
II. The Gospel Advances with the Right Precaution (16:3b)
Second, the gospel advances with the right precaution.
Luke tells us that Paul “took him [that is, Timothy] and circumcised him” (v. 3b).
Now, why did Paul do that?
You recall that Acts 15:1 states, “But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’ ”
Paul and Barnabas vehemently disagreed with these men.
However, they were unable to persuade them that they were wrong.
So, the Antioch Church appointed Paul, Barnabas, and others to go to Jerusalem and get a definitive answer from the Jerusalem Council about the necessity of circumcision for salvation.
The Jerusalem Council, consisting of the apostles and elders, stated that circumcision was unnecessary for salvation.
All people were saved by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
Works--like circumcision--are not required for salvation. Indeed, works cannot save a person.
So, why, then, did Paul circumcise Timothy?
The text gives us the answer. Look at it. Verse 3b states that Paul circumcised Timothy “because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.”
An uncircumcised Jew was an anomaly.
Indeed, not to be circumcised would be seen as a rejection of his Jewish heritage.
It is possible that Timothy’s Greek father refused to have him circumcised because he did not want Timothy to consider himself Jewish.
As a dutiful wife, Timothy’s mother, Eunice, would have acquiesced to her husband’s wishes.
Scholars believe that Timothy’s father was no longer alive, so he could not object to his son’s circumcision.
But, still, we must ask why Paul circumcised Timothy in light of the Jerusalem Council’s decision.
One Bible commentator stated, “What was unnecessary for acceptance with God was advisable for acceptance by some human beings” (John R. W. Stott, The Message of Acts: The Spirit, the Church & the World, The Bible Speaks Today [Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994], 254).
If Timothy had not been circumcised, he would not have been able to enter certain Jewish places (such as synagogues) because only Jews could enter those places.
So, in order not to offend Jewish sensibilities, Paul had Timothy circumcised.
For Paul, in this instance, circumcision was not a salvation issue but a service issue.
Paul took the necessary precautions to avoid offending Jews so that he and Timothy could share the gospel's good news with them.
This was Paul’s constant approach to advancing the gospel, as he wrote to the Christians in 1 Corinthians 9:20-23:
To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.
We need to be sensitive to people's scruples so that we don’t offend them.
I remember on one of our short-term missions trips to Mexico, we were asked to dress conservatively.
Previous Christian groups had visited the church we were to help, and the Christians had worn clothing that offended the locals.
It may seem like a small thing, but Christian love calls us to take the appropriate precautions to avoid offending others so that there are no barriers to sharing the good news of Jesus.
So, the gospel advances with the right precaution.
III. The Gospel Advances with the Right Presentation (16:4-5)
Finally, the gospel advances with the right presentation.
This is by far the most critical point.
Personnel will come and go.
Precautions will vary in different cultures and settings.
But the message must never change.
That message is that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
The Jerusalem Council had made it clear that circumcision was not necessary for salvation.
The Jerusalem Council declared that the customs of Moses were not required for salvation.
The Jerusalem Council understood that salvation is by faith alone, not by faith plus works.
This was the message that Paul, Silas, and Timothy now proclaimed on Paul’s second missionary journey.
Luke writes in verse 4, “As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem.”
James, the leader of the Jerusalem Council, suggested some practical matters of fellowship.
Not only did James and the Jerusalem Council not want Jews to trouble the Gentiles, but he also wanted the Gentiles not to trouble Jewish believers.
The concern was that Gentiles would revel in their freedom in Christ and would pressure Jewish believers to exercise that same liberty and violate their consciences.
So, James suggested that the Council write a letter to the Gentile believers.
In this letter, the Gentile believers are told “to abstain from the things polluted by idols” (Acts 15:20a). This refers to food sold in pagan temples. To Jews, eating such food was seen as blasphemous.
The Gentile believers would also be told to “abstain… from sexual immorality” (Acts 15:20b). In their previous pagan lives, the Gentiles were
promiscuous. They were now to live lives consistent with their new identity in Christ.
The Gentile believers would also be told to “abstain from what has been strangled, and from blood” (Acts 15:20c). This had to do with the Jewish dietary laws. Jews ate what we call kosher food. The Gentile believers were asked to respect the consciences of the Jewish believers in this respect.
In other words, Gentile Christians were to love their Jewish fellow believers by abstaining from things that would upset Jews.
What was the result of the preaching of Paul, Silas, and Timothy?
Luke wrote in verse 5, “So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.”
This is an excellent description of the spiritual and numerical growth of church believers.
In other words, discipleship and evangelism flourished in those churches because they were feeding on the word of God.
The men from Jerusalem taught that circumcision was necessary for salvation, thus confusing the gospel message.
The danger was that different factions would arise, with different apostles teaching different gospels, which would have destroyed the church’s unity.
Luke went to great lengths to show that the Jerusalem Council was unified.
Peter spoke.
Paul spoke.
James spoke.
The apostles, elders, and the whole church were united in their belief that salvation was only by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
The result of that clarity turned the world upside down in the first century.
Even in the twenty-first century, the gospel advances only with the right presentation of the truth.
Conclusion
Shark Bay, Australia, should perhaps consider a name change to Seagrass Bay since the most prominent resident isn’t a great white predator but a single seagrass meadow.
After discovering that the whole bay’s worth of seagrass spread from one seed and was all part of the same plant, it instantly became the world’s largest plant—as large as 20,000 football fields.
At 77 square miles, it’s three times the size of Manhattan and could be 4,500 years old.
Jane Edgeloe and colleagues took samples from several stalks from across Shark Bay.
They wanted to determine the number of individual plants in the rich meadow, which extends 110 miles throughout the giant inlet.
Edelgoe said, “The answer blew us away—there was just one! Just one plant has expanded over 112 miles in Shark Bay, making it the largest known plant on Earth.”
Another researcher said, “It appears to be really resilient, experiencing a wide range of temperatures and salinities plus extreme high light conditions, which together would typically be highly stressful for most plants.”
That seagrass is an illustration of the gospel.
The gospel is one message.
The gospel is the good news that Jesus is alive and changing lives.
The gospel is that Jesus reconciles sinners with a holy God by his sacrificial death on the cross at Calvary.
The gospel is that sinners must repent and believe the good news to be saved.
If you have never done so, I urge you to turn to Jesus in repentance and faith now. Amen.
