Acts 14: 26 Finally, they returned by ship to Antioch of Syria, where their journey had begun. The believers there had entrusted them to the grace of God to do the work they had now completed.27 Upon arriving in Antioch, they called the church together and reported everything God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles, too.28 And they stayed there with the believers for a long time. So much good had happened on the first missionary tour and now it has come to an end. An end with much rejoicing over what God did through the faithfulness of Paul and his companions. It also meant so much more to their sending church in Antioch. These believers at Antioch had prayed, fasted, and provided for this missionary journey and God truly did a great work.
It is always a good thing to rejoice over what God has done in the past and to see what more He will do in the present and the future. The past accomplishments by Paul and his companions were going to be a springboard to more missionary journeys where the gospel would be shared and more churches would be established and encouraged. Had they not shared all that God had done those who sent them might not keep the fire going. The only ones who were jealous and not for them were the ones against the gospel and this rejoicing only seemed like bragging to them because their hearts were not right and they were trying to stop the fire from spreading. It was like they were serving satan. They would be considered wolves in sheep's clothing.
Those Jews had their religious hooks in almost every town along the way and tried to stop Paul, but the gospel message was too powerful and God upset their apple carts. Leave it to religious people to try and stop God from moving in a place and then they jump on the messenger, much like those who stoned Paul and his companions. But through God's strength, the message continued to grow and grow and the future was going to hold four more missionary journeys that would impact the world as never before. The stimulus for those journeys was going to be their sharing all that God had accomplished and learning from their past mistake and going to the next place to see it happen again and again. True revival! Always Report the Victory and see what God will do next!
The Pilgrimage Continues
David Warren
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