Paul reports of how God opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

Acts 14:27-28

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“Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. So they stayed there a long time with the disciples.” Acts 14:27-28

This verse refers to coming to Antioch at Syria [seen on the east side of the picture below and circled in yellow]. As described in the previous post on Acts 14:21-26, Paul and Barnabas had traveled by land to Lystra, Derbe, Antioch at Pisidia, to Pamphylia, to Perga, to Attalia, then from Attalia sailed to Antioch at Syria.

The Church is wherever two or more people gather in the name of Jesus Christ in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Manmade churches are not the definition of a church. Paul and Barnabas were not gathering together pieces of a broken-down church building, they were gathering Believers together. “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God…” 1 Corinthians 6:19

When the Church was gathered together, Paul and Barnabas reported to them all that God had done with them. I’m a 1959 Baby Boomer, and decades ago the gathering of the Church would dedicate a time to hear the testimonies of anyone who wanted to share what God was doing with them in Jesus Christ. However, that time became polluted with people using that for the opportunity to talk about everything else but Jesus Christ and often carried on until they had to be told to give someone else an opportunity to speak. That is how the gathering of Believers is being destroyed by today’s atheistic culture. “These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves.” Jude 1:12

Paul gathered the Church to report of how the Gentiles [non-Jewish] were coming to God through Jesus Christ. This meant that people were learning that the laws of Judaism were not important for living for God. Our faith in Jesus Christ justifies us in the eyes of God. This is the report that every Christian would like to be able to share, that people have learned that they can live for God by the Spirit, and that the Church is anyplace where two or more Believers gather.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is open to everyone, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3:16-17

We are living in the days of the fulfillment of prophecy, and there are many reports to be made. God’s not dead, no He is alive.

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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