Acts 21:19
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Paul greeted them and recounted one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
he declared particularly--in detail. what God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry--as on previous occasions (Act 14:27; and see Rom 15:15); no doubt referring to the insidious and systematic efforts of the Judaizing party in a number of places to shrivel the Church of Christ into a Jewish sect, and his own counter-procedure.
Open source ↗We have, with a great deal of pleasure, attended the apostle in his travels throughout the Gentile nations to preach the gospel, and have seen a great harvest of souls gathered in to Christ; there we have seen likewise what persecutions he endured; yet still out of them all the Lord presently delivered him, Ti2 3:11. But now we are to attend him to Jerusalem, and there into lasting bonds; the days of his service now seem to be over, and nothing to remain but days of suffering, days of darkness, for they are many. It is a thousand pities that such a workman should be laid aside; yet so it is, and we must not only acquiesce, as his friends then did, saying, "The will of the Lord be done;" but we must believe, and shall find reason to do so, that Paul in the prison, and at the bar, is as truly glorifying God, and serving Christ's interest, as Paul in the pulpit was. In this chapter we have, I. A journal of Paul's voyage from Ephesus to Caesarea, the next sea-port to Jerusalem, some places he touched at, and his landing there (Act 21:1-7). II. The struggles he had with his friends at Caesarea, who mightily opposed his going up to Jerusalem, but could not prevail (Act 21:8-14). III. Paul's journey from Caesarea to Jerusalem, and the kind entertainment which the Christians there gave him (Act 21:15-17). IV. His compliance with the persuasions of the brethren there, who advised him so far to compliment the Jews as to go and purify that it might appear he was no such enemy to the Mosaic rites and ceremonies as he was reported to be (Act 21:18-26). V. The turning of this very thing against him by the Jews, and the apprehending of him in the temple as a criminal thereupon (Act 21:27-30). VI. The narrow escape he had of being pulled to pieces by the rabble, and the taking of him i…
Open source ↗Cross-references
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When they arrived, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them, and how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
He was one of our number and shared in this ministry.”
But I consider my life of no value to me, if only I may finish my course and complete the ministry I have received from the Lord Jesus—the ministry of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
On their arrival in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and apostles and elders, to whom they reported all that God had done through them.
As God’s fellow workers, then, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.
The whole assembly fell silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul describing the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.
To this end I also labor, striving with all His energy working powerfully within me.
The true marks of an apostle—signs, wonders, and miracles—were performed among you with great perseverance.