After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the
disciples, and when he had exhorted them and
taken his leave of them, he left to go to Macedonia.
When he had gone through those districts and
had given them much exhortation, he came to Greece,
and there he spent three months. And when a thought
was formed against him by the Jews, as he was
about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return
through Macedonia. And he was accompanied by
Sopater of Berea, the son of Purus, and by Aristarchus
and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius
of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus
of Asia. But these had gone on ahead and were
waiting for us at Troas. We sailed from Philippi
after the days of unleavened bread and came to
them at Troas within five days, and there we
stayed seven days. In Acts chapter 2, after many,
many people are converted and brought to Christ,
we read this. Peter says this to the crowds that
were... Crying out to be saved. And he says this
to them starting in Acts chapter 2 verse 40.
And with many other words. He solemnly testified
and kept on exhorting them. Saying be saved from
this perverse generation. So then those who had
received his word were baptized. And that day
there were added about 3 ,000 souls. They were
continually. devoting themselves to the apostles'
teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of
bread, and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a
sense of awe, and many wonders and signs were
taking place through the apostles. All of those
who had believed were together and had all things
in common. We'll stop there. In this text we
see sinners being saved. And what's happening?
They're leaving the world behind them. And Christ
is gathering in his people and he's building
his church. We see people being brought out of
the world and we see people being brought in
and added to. the church of Jesus Christ. And
as they are added to the church, we read that
they were continually devoting themselves to
the apostles' teaching and to fellowship and
to the breaking of bread and to prayer. God saves
sinners from the consequence and the penalty
of their sins. He forgives them, He pardons them,
He justifies them, He makes them new, He makes
them new creatures, and they live unto His glory,
and they are brought into these assemblies, these
congregations, these groups. And those groups
are churches. And they live in those churches
throughout their days in this world as trophies
of God's grace. As trophies of God's mercy. Knowing
that they are pardoned, that they are forgiven
in Christ. And living in that grace towards those
they have covenanted together with. And towards
other members of the Christian church as well.
And toward unbelieving sinners outside of the
church. Last week we saw. And we considered really
Paul's relationship to the churches. We considered
his ministry, his missionary endeavor, this third
missionary journey in particular, and what his
missionary endeavors were characterized by, exhortation
in the word. We saw that he had this unique relationship
with local churches and the church universal
because he is an apostle of Christ. which means
that Paul had universal authority in every single
local church because he was an apostle. He related
and he interacted with every single local church.
He would correspond with local churches. We really
considered Paul's relationship with these local
churches. But we didn't touch so much on the
companions of the Apostle Paul here in verses
4 -6. In verses 4 -6 of Acts chapter 20, we're
introduced to this group of men who are accompanying
the Apostle. And today I want to consider their
relationship to local churches. and their relationship
to the Apostle Paul. So today we're going to
consider briefly who these men are. We're going
to consider the reality that they are cooperating
together. And we're going to consider the basis
for their cooperation together. So the first
thing we must do is consider who these men were.
Their names are given and locations of their
churches or their region they're from, their
accompanying geographical correlation, we could
say, is given. We're told about Aristarchus.
Aristarchus, in this text, is referenced throughout
Scripture by the Apostle. as a brother in Christ,
a fellow prisoner. We see this a little earlier
whenever the riot in Ephesus took place. Do you
remember who they first went to and dragged off?
It was Aristarchus. We're told a little bit later
in the book of Colossians, and he is referenced
as a dear brother in Christ, a faithful servant,
a fellow prisoner of the apostle Paul. We're
told of Tychicus. He is referred to throughout
the New Testament epistles on various occasions.
He is referred to as a fellow servant, but also
as a messenger or an ambassador that is trusted
and utilized by the Apostle Paul and local churches
to interact between them. He's referenced. In
Ephesians chapter 6 verse 21 and at the end of
Colossians as well. We're told of Trophimus.
Now we don't know too much about Trophimus. But
he is referenced a little bit later in the book
of Acts. And there the crowds used Trophimus
as an excuse of laying hold and securing Paul.
Saying that he had brought an Ephesian Gentile
into the temple. So we know that Trophimus is
a Gentile believer, most likely from Ephesus
where Paul had planted the church, he had preached
the gospel, and he had been saved. He's referenced
in 21 -29, a little bit later in the book of
Acts. Then we're told of Timothy, who also accompanies
Paul on this journey. We know a great deal about...
don't we, brothers and sisters? He was like a
son in the faith to the apostle. And the apostle
Paul was like a father to Timothy. We read 1
and 2 Timothy, the pastoral epistles, where the
apostle is giving him practical wisdom and theological
wisdom with regards to pastoral ministry and
what that looks like for him. So we know a great
deal about the faithfulness and the character
and the labors of young Timothy. But then we're
told of Sophater, Gaius, and Secundus. We don't
know too much about these brothers. Sophater
is not mentioned elsewhere. There's another name
that someone thinks may refer to him, but most
likely not. There's another Gaius that is mentioned
in Acts chapter 19 during the uproar in Ephesus.
It's most likely not the same Gaius that is mentioned
here. And what we know about Secundus is that
most likely he is a slave who has been saved
and converted because Secundus was a name or
a title that was given to slaves, meaning secondary,
second. subservient to the master, essentially.
So he's probably a slave that was saved in Paul's
preaching labors. Now, also in this group is
Luke. We can't forget that. He includes himself,
though he doesn't mention his name. And then,
of course, there's the apostle Paul. Now, these
men... If they're with Paul, obviously that says
something about their character. It says something
about their integrity, about who they are. But
we're also told in this text about their affiliation
or their association with local churches. They
are not simply there for their own purposes.
They're not simply traveling with the apostle
for their own cause and agenda. Sophater of Berea
is associated with the church at Berea or in
Macedonia. Aristarchus and Secundus are associated
with Thessalonica. What church would that be,
brothers and sisters? The Thessalonians. Gaius
of Derbe. Timothy is associated with Lystra in
the book of Acts or the areas of Galatia. Tychicus
and Trophimus are associated with the province
of Asia, most likely Ephesus and the church at
Ephesus and churches in that area. We don't know
exactly which church Luke is affiliated or associated
with. Commonly, It is thought that he is a member
of the church at Philippi. So we have these men
who are present, but they're present in a representative
capacity. Most certainly, brothers and sisters,
we find these men, these companions of the apostle,
being referenced in 2 Corinthians 8, verses 23
-24. And we'll go ahead and turn there and read
that. This is the Apostle Paul writing. And he
says this in chapter 8, verses 23 and 24. And
this is within that section where he is expounding
on the Jerusalem fund, the Jerusalem collection
for the saints at Jerusalem, the poor needy saints.
And here's what he says, starting in verse 23.
As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker
among you. As for our brethren, they are messengers
of the churches, a glory to Christ. Therefore,
openly before the churches, show them the proof
of your love and of our reason for boasting about
you. Who are these messengers? They are men.
They are representatives of local churches in
a variety of regions that are accompanying the
Apostle Paul to deliver the funds to Jerusalem,
brothers and sisters. This whole section in 2
Corinthians 8 -9, Paul is wanting accountability
with regards to delivering the funds to Jerusalem.
And he wants the churches to provide men, and
many of them have provided men to go with him,
representatives from their local assembly, to
deliver the funds that he has raised. So here
we have these brothers, these seven men that
are listed. Here we have Sophater, Aristarchus,
Segundus. Gaius and Timothy and Tychicus and
Trophimus. And we have Luke and Paul. And what
are they doing? They are working together on
behalf of their local churches accompanying the
Apostle Paul to deliver funds. Now, if their
churches chose them to accompany the Apostle,
as a means of accountability to deliver the funds.
Again, this says something about their character
and who they were. So knowing a little bit about
who they were and a little bit about what they
were doing, we have to secondly recognize the
fact that These brothers were cooperating or
working together for the gospel. And it wasn't
just these brothers. Remember, they are representing
what? Their local churches. So we don't just
find seven men. We find many churches cooperating
together for the purpose of the gospel. Now,
in order to understand this cooperation and the
nature of it, I think it's helpful to get a little
bit of the background for the Jerusalem Collection
and the nature of this work that they were all
involved in. Now, when we think about the Jerusalem
Collection, I'm sure that we've all heard of
it, we've all heard it mentioned, and we've seen
it in our Bible reading. It's referenced where
Paul's talking about funds or gifts or donations.
So why was the apostle spearheading this endeavor
to raise money for the church at Jerusalem? Well,
if we think about the nature of the church in
Jerusalem, that church is in a highly, a densely
populated Jewish area in Jerusalem. Which means
that there's also a highly... dense population
of Christians because if we remember early on
in the book of Acts, lots of sinners were saved
in Jerusalem, which meant there was a great deal
of social ostracization of those believers. There
was real need because these Christians, these
saints in Jerusalem that were a part of that
church, most likely being made up and composed
of Jewish They didn't have access to the jobs
that everybody else did. They didn't have access
to the food and the opportunities that everybody
else did because they were a part of the way.
They were a part of the church. They associated
with Christ. So they had real, substantial, meaningful
needs in their life that needed to be met. But
we also know from Acts chapter 11 that there
was a famine that was severe. In Jerusalem. So
why does Paul. Do this? Why is he gathering funds
to bring money. To the Jewish saints. Who are
in need. At the Jerusalem church. Now this is
mentioned throughout. The New Testament. We see
it mentioned in several places. We see that it's
mentioned in. Romans 15, 25 -27. The end of Romans,
Paul is talking and making an appeal about this
Jerusalem fund. 1 Corinthians 16, 1 -4, where
Paul gives them instructions on giving. He's
talking largely about the Jerusalem collection
for the saints in Jerusalem. He references this.
Also in 2 Corinthians 8 -9 where he's appealing
to them to give from the heart out of generosity
because Christ has been gracious to us. We see
that it's referenced here in Acts with the messengers.
But we also find that it's referenced a little
later on in the book of Acts where Paul is giving
an explanation. He says, after many long years
I've come to bring gifts and alms. my people
here in Jerusalem. The purpose of this was to
meet real needs in the life of the Jewish saints,
but Paul had a much bigger scheme in mind as
he was doing this. Why was he a fundraiser, brothers
and sisters? Why did he want the Gentile churches
around the Mediterranean world To show their
love and to prove their love to the Jewish church
in Jerusalem. What would that do to bridge the
gap between the Jewish believers and the Gentile
believers? Paul was working for the unification
of the church as a whole. Paul was working to
bring cohesiveness. to the body of Christ and
the known world at that time. This is a big project
that Paul has going on, brothers and sisters.
And we have these brothers, these companions,
who are caught up in this. And all the local
churches, not all of them, but the churches we
know of that are participating, they're involved
in it. What would this require of them to be
involved in this? Well, they'd have to orchestrate
travel plans with the apostle. Very literally
and very practically, it meant giving money to
this shared cause. It meant sacrificing as a
church for the greater good of the whole church,
the church universal. It would require time.
We can think about these seven brothers who are
the companions of Paul on this trip. they would
have been gone for an extended period away from
their local churches, so the local churches would
have been lacking those leading men in their
congregation for extended periods. Most likely
this meant sharing pulpits with other men. It
would have cost these churches and these individuals
to cooperate in very real, very practical ways.
There were practical implications. But it's important
for us to understand there was a very real, a
very vital relationship and cooperation between
these early churches and the New Testament. When
we think about the New Testament, we don't just
think about one church, do we, brothers and sisters?
There's not just one church, that's it. No, the
New Testament presents to us a vast network of
various and diverse local churches that are interacting
and sharing and working together that is supporting
and strengthening and cooperating for one cause,
the gospel of Jesus Christ. And this in spite
of great differences. There were great differences
in these churches. Think about the church at
Jerusalem and Antioch. One is a Gentile church
that has diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
And then there's the Jewish church in Jerusalem.
Brothers and sisters, this... Working together,
this cooperation required them to place the gospel
above and over some of their preferences, some
of the secondary things, some of the cultural
aspects or the situational or circumstantial
aspects in the life of their church. in order
to encourage and strengthen and benefit and bless,
and to be benefited and to be blessed by other
local churches. We might think that this is the
only example of local churches working together
in the New Testament. But there's actually a
plethora of examples in the Bible. Think about
all the times that... People are greeting one
another at the end of epistles. Greet so -and
-so. Give them my love. Blessings upon them.
So -and -so greet so -and -so. Why is that, brothers
and sisters? Because there's a very real relationship
between the two. They shared support in the life
of missionaries. We find that maybe two or three
churches would give and support one missionary
or two missionaries. Or maybe when a missionary
is traveling through this area, this church will
provide housing in this part of the trip, and
this church will provide housing in that part
of the trip. There's very real interaction. They
gave letters of commendation to other local churches.
Why did they do this? Do you remember in Acts?
Where Apollos comes and there's Priscilla and
there's Aquila. There's Priscilla and Aquila
working with Apollos. They don't know. But they
believe that he has a genuine profession. Though
he is negligent in a few things with regards
to John's baptism. They work with him. They interact
with him. And then they send a letter. to the
churches of Achaia, to command Apollos. The book
of Philemon is one big letter that Paul and his
co -workers are sending to a church to command
Onesimus, a slave to that body. There's interaction
among the... There's no question about it. Maybe
the best example... Of this cooperation. Apart
from the Jerusalem collection. Is the Jerusalem
conference. In Acts chapter 15. Now what's going
on in Acts chapter 15. We have lots of churches.
Coming together for one multi -day. Conference
essentially. To hash out doctrine and truth.
They're working together. to gain doctrinal clarity
with regards to the gospel of Jesus Christ and
what is required of Christians in the world at
that time, brothers and sisters. There's example
after example after example. This was a real
relationship between churches and churches. And
this was the norm. In the apostolic age. What
does this teach us? About Christ's design. And
Christ's will for local churches. We believe
wholeheartedly. And we believe that the scripture
teaches. That churches are independent. And self
-governed. Brothers and sisters. That is what
we believe as a local church. That is what our
foundational documents teach. That is what our
confession of faith states. That churches are
independent, but hear me well, brothers and sisters,
independent church does not mean isolated. There's
a difference between being autonomous and being
insular. There's a difference between being independent
and being isolated. Christ's will for his church
is that they be independent and self -governed,
but not isolated and insular from other like
-minded local churches. Do you believe that a
Christian can survive? holy and completely and
be a healthy, God -fearing, godly, holy believer,
all by themselves, never rubbing elbows with
other believers, never seeing the light of day,
never coming to church, never worshiping. You
cannot be a healthy, vibrant, holy believer if
that is you or another person that professes
the name of Christ. Now, take that same principle.
and apply it to a local body, brothers and sisters.
It is Christ's will that local bodies have fellowship
and cooperate with other local bodies who are
like -minded. Not exactly the same, but not too
terribly different either. So we see a clear
doctrine. and precedent in the New Testament
church. That there is a visible and outward and
practical cooperation and fellowship among like
-minded New Testament churches. Now, we have
to also, and most importantly, most significantly,
Consider the basis of this cooperation. Because
this leads us into all kinds of questions, doesn't
it? Well, who do I cooperate with? Who does a
church work with? What is the basis that churches
have to come together on? What are the grounds?
That local churches establish this cooperation
and this fellowship upon. Do we just fellowship
with anybody and everybody? Do we go to the nearest
and closest local churches God provides opportunity
and just say, hey, we're going to fellowship
with you? We want to work with you? No, brothers
and sisters. We have to remember in this text.
These companions that the apostle is working
with, they're with who? Who are they fellowshipping
with? Who are they cooperating with? Who are
they working alongside of? They're working alongside
of the apostle Paul. Do you remember what Paul
says at the beginning of the book of Galatians?
Even if I or an angel from heaven should preach
to you another gospel, let him be anathema, cursed,
condemned eternally. Let a curse be upon him
if he preaches another gospel other than the
one I preached. Do you think Paul took apostolic
doctrine seriously? He did. So if these men are
working, fellowshipping, and cooperating with
the Apostle Paul, then brothers and sisters,
what does that necessarily assume and require
of these companions? That there is agreement
in apostolic doctrine and truth. Do you remember
in Acts chapter 2, verse 42? We'll go ahead and
turn there. Acts 2 .42, it says this. They were
continually devoting themselves to the apostles'
teaching or doctrine and to fellowship. Devotion
to doctrine, teaching, truth precedes the fellowship.
There would be no fellowship among the early
believers if there was not first agreement in
apostolic doctrine and truth. Unity in truth
must precede any meaningful or effective cooperation
or fellowship or relationship among believers
and among local bodies and churches, brothers
and sisters? This is a very relevant question,
isn't it? This is a very relevant topic for us
to consider. Listen, we live in the day of tolerance,
empathy, relativism, and acceptance. Don't we,
brothers and sisters? Have you heard those words
lately? Have you heard the culture and the world
pressing in with those terms and pressing in
with those concepts and pressing in with those
ideas? Tolerance? And what does that mean? It
doesn't mean just allowing. It means accepting.
Accepting a person's... Differences in views
and perspectives as your own. And saying, great,
that's wonderful, that's perfect. What about
this idea of being relative? I've heard so many
times in the last year, my truth is my truth
and your truth is your truth. What's the purpose
of that? The fact that we can have a relationship
and fellowship. despite differences in truth.
What does the Bible say about true unity, brothers
and sisters? The Bible and the Word of God in
this text teaches us that there is no unity whatsoever
apart from apostolic doctrine and truth. Unity...
precedes any cooperation or any fellowship in
the Christian sense, and especially as a corporate
body. So what is apostolic doctrine, brothers
and sisters? What's the authoritative proclamation
and explanation of the person and the work of
Jesus Christ? His life? His death? his resurrection,
his ascension, and his return, and how one receives
this, which is by faith. That's apostolic doctrine
and truth. It is the faith, once for all, handed
down to the saints that is passed down through
the ages. It is the standard of sound words that
is spoken of throughout the New Testament. And
the Bible. Brothers and sisters, this is the
basis for fellowship and cooperation. The gospel
of Jesus Christ. Now, because we don't live in
the first century, and we have progressed 2 ,000
years, a wide variety, and a wide variety of...
Christianity and versions of Christianity have
come about. So anymore, it's not just simply
adequate to say, are you a Christian? Any number
of people might say, yes, I'm a Christian, even
though they've never gone to church, or even
though they don't go to a Christian church, but
a Mormon church, or a Jehovah's Witness church.
It's not enough just to say and receive and accept,
yes, I'm a Christian, I believe in Jesus. Because
of all the complexities that have blossomed over
time, we need a little bit more information about
what people believe and what they mean by these
terms. A good way of thinking about this, I believe,
is like -minded bodies. So like -minded, but
not twins. Not clones. Because there can be distinctions.
There can be differences. But brothers and sisters,
on the big things, and preeminently theological
and doctrinal things, there needs to be agreement
in the truth before. There is cooperation and
fellowship among the bodies. So we find that
this really is the basis for any true and meaningful
cooperation among two local churches. Now there
are implications to this. And believing this
and holding to this. One. is that when this is
present and providence permits, it is good and
right for local churches to cooperate and to
fellowship together. But these things need to
be openly confessed, openly made known, so that
there's understanding and trust among the two
bodies. It's when you don't know. what people
believe. It's when you don't know what they think
about who Christ is. It's when you don't know
what their church as a whole believes. That's
what tears down trust and unity, brothers and
sisters. But when you know what people believe,
and there's clarity, and there's transparency
about what they believe, there's an openness
about it, that breeds cooperation and fellowship.
An effective inner working between two groups
and two peoples. So when this is providentially
an opportunity, churches should, and it's good
and right, to take part in this. Now, there's
also something else that's very important. When
this is absent, or when people reject apostolic
doctrine, When people deny that salvation is
by faith alone, grace alone, brothers and sisters,
when there is not agreement in apostolic doctrine
or there is outright rejection, a church must
not associate with them. A church must not. fellowship
and cooperate with them because that would not
be unity, brothers and sisters. There's only
unity in truth, in the gospel of who Christ is
and what He has done. Now, if a church holds
that there's only unity in the gospel, And they
actually implement this. And they make distinctions
about who they will work with and who they won't
work with. Yes, I will fellowship with you. No,
I won't fellowship with you. Brothers and sisters,
you have got to be prepared and ready for the
fact that cultural Christians will call you prideful,
pompous, and arrogant. Who are you to say that
they are wrong? Unbelievers will mark you as
divisive. But brothers and sisters, hear me well.
We cling to the gospel of Jesus Christ. And if
you cling to the gospel of Jesus Christ that
He gave to His apostles, and the apostles preserved,
and the apostles propagated, and has been inscripturated
in the Bible, if we preserve this, if we hold
to this, then we will hear, Well done, good and
faithful servant, by our Lord and our Savior,
Jesus Christ. What's more important, the applause
of men or the smile of your Savior? We must cling
to the gospel until our knuckles are white. And
we must refuse to let go of, and that must be
the basis and the grounds for cooperation. And
fellowship among like -minded churches. We want
to honor and glorify and please the Savior that
died for us. The one that lived perfectly. The
one that died in our place. The one that rose
again. The one that ascended. The one that's
ruling and reigning. And the one that will return.
And the way we do that is by walking in His truth.
We do that individually and corporately as a
body. So we've seen, brothers and sisters, who
these men are, the companions. But we also see
very clearly that they are cooperating for the
purpose of the gospel. And we see the basis of
that cooperation is in apostolic doctrine and
truth.