Praising God for Paul’s Holy Spirit filled ministry that led multitudes to Jesus Christ.

Acts 21:17-20a

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“And when we had come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. When he had greeted them, he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord.” Acts 21:17-20a

The “we” in that verse includes Luke, Timothy, Silas, and Paul. The “brethren” were brothers and sisters in Christ. The next day, Paul would go with Luke, Silas, and Timothy to greet James, the other Apostles, and other elders of the way of Jesus Christ.

In the presence of James and the other leaders of the body of Jesus Christ, Paul described in detail how God had worked among the Gentiles in the name of Jesus Christ. This would include his ministry in Cyprus, Antioch in Pisidia, Antioch in Syria, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, Corinth, Ephesus, etc. All through the regions of Galatia, Asia, Phrygia, Macedonia, Greece, etc. Paul was bringing Jesus Christ to the non-Jewish Gentiles. The map below shows the area that Paul covered. The Holy Spirit was moving the testimony of Jesus Christ westward, which eventually reached the United States and all of the Americas.

The map below is like a mustard seed compared to the enormous global impact of Paul’s ministry to the non-Jewish Gentiles. All through his ministry, Paul followed the doors that the Holy Spirit opened to him and walked away from the doors that were shut. As followers of Jesus Christ, we cannot share His Gospel to hardened hearts but must always be prepared to plant the Gospel seed in good soil. “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.” Matthew 13:31-32

The map below helps us to simplify the missionary journey of Paul. It’s easier for me to think of Paul as having one missionary journey because it covered the same territory. He revisited the places he did his missionary work in to follow-up and support the new Believers in their growth in Jesus Christ. Some even add Paul’s journey [as a prisoner] to the prison in Rome as a missionary journey [from Jerusalem to Rome by ship]. Today, if someone talks about having two or three missionary journeys, they will refer to separate continents, such as Africa, South America, far-east countries etc. That was not the case with Paul, all of his missionary work occurred within the territory of the Roman Empire and basically along the same route

James and the elders of the way of Jesus Christ glorified the Lord when hearing how the Holy Spirit was drawing people to Jesus through the ministry of Paul. As followers of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit rejoices in us when people come to Jesus. Mary was pregnant with Jesus when she approached Elizabeth who was pregnant with John the Baptist, and this is what happened, “And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” Luke 1:41

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:11