29 Bible Verses about Popularity

and such numbers of people came together that there was no longer room for them even round the door. He was speaking His Message to them,

For He had cured many of the people, so that all who had any ailments pressed upon Him, to touch Him.

And Jesus went with him. And a dense crowd followed Him, and thronged Him on all sides.

On one occasion the crowd was pressing on Him and listening to God's Message, while He was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.

Then came to Him His mother and His brothers, but could not get near Him for the crowd.

And great crowds followed Him, coming from Galilee, from the Ten Towns, from Jerusalem, and from beyond the district on the other side of the Jordan.

when a vast multitude of people crowded round Him. He therefore went on board a boat and sat there, while all the people stood on the shore.

Soon great crowds came to Him, bringing with them those who were crippled in feet or hands, blind or dumb, and many besides, and they hastened to lay them at His feet. And He cured them,

and the whole town was assembled at the door.

Again He went out to the shore of the Lake, and the whole multitude kept coming to Him, and He taught them.

Meanwhile the people had come streaming towards Him by tens of thousands, so that they were trampling one another under foot. And now He proceeded to say to His disciples first, "Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is to say, beware of hypocrisy.

For they loved the glory that comes from men rather than the glory that comes from God.

"Alas for you when men shall all have spoken well of you; for that is just the way their forefathers behaved to the false Prophets!

Slaves, be obedient in everything to your earthly masters; not in acts of eye service, as aiming only to please men, but with simplicity of purpose, because you fear the Lord.

Now, about that time, King Herod arrested certain members of the Church, in order to ill-treat them; and James, John's brother, he beheaded. Finding that this gratified the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also; these being the days of Unleavened Bread.

But after the lapse of fully two years Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus; and being desirous of gratifying the Jews, Felix left Paul still in prison.

Then Festus, being anxious to gratify the Jews, asked Paul, "Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem, and there stand your trial before me on these charges?"

For consider, brethren, God's call to you. Not many who are wise with merely human wisdom, not many of position and influence, not many of noble birth have been called. But God has chosen the things which the world regards as foolish, in order to put its wise men to shame; and God has chosen the things which the world regards as destitute of influence, in order to put its powerful things to shame; and the things which the world regards as base, and those which it sets utterly at nought--things that have no existence--God has chosen in order to reduce to nothing things that do exist;read more.
to prevent any mortal man from boasting in the presence of God.

Yet when we are among mature believers we do speak words of wisdom; a wisdom not belonging, however, to the present age nor to the leaders of the present age who are soon to pass away. But in dealing with truths hitherto kept secret we speak of God's wisdom--that hidden wisdom which, before the world began, God pre-destined, so that it should result in glory to us;

What follows? Is the Law itself a sinful thing? No, indeed; on the contrary, unless I had been taught by the Law, I should have known nothing of sin as sin. For instance, I should not have known what covetousness is, if the Law had not repeatedly said, "Thou shalt not covet."

Those who persist in sin reprove in the presence of all, so that it may also be a warning to the rest.

If we claim to be already free from sin, we lead ourselves astray and the truth has no place in our hearts.

Thereupon a considerable number of the Jews--namely those who had come to Mary and had witnessed His deeds--became believers in Him; though some of them went off to the Pharisees and told them what He had done. Therefore the High Priests and the Pharisees held a meeting of the Sanhedrin. "What steps are we taking?" they asked one another; "for this man is performing a great number of miracles.read more.
If we leave him alone in this way, everybody will believe in him, and the Romans will come and blot out both our city and our nation."

Now just at that time there arose no small commotion about the new faith. There was a certain Demetrius, a silversmith, who made miniature silver sanctuaries of Diana, a business which brought great gain to the mechanics in his employ. He called his workmen together, and others who were engaged in similar trades, and said to them, "You men well know that our prosperity depends on this business of ours;read more.
and you see and hear that, not in Ephesus only but throughout almost the whole province of Asia, this fellow Paul has led away a vast number of people by inducing them to believe that they are not gods at all that are made by men's hands. There is danger, therefore, not only that this our trade will become of no account, but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana will fall into utter disrepute, and that before long she will be actually deposed from her majestic rank--she who is now worshipped by the whole province of Asia; nay, by the whole world." After listening to this harangue, they became furiously angry and kept calling out, "Great is the Ephesian Diana!" The riot and uproar spread through the whole city, till at last with one accord they rushed into the Theatre, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, two Macedonians who were fellow travellers with Paul. Then Paul would have liked to go in and address the people, but the disciples would not let him do so. A few of the public officials, too, who were friendly to him, sent repeated messages entreating him not to venture into the Theatre. The people, meanwhile, kept shouting, some one thing and some another; for the assembly was all uproar and confusion, and the greater part had no idea why they had come together. Then some of the people crowded round Alexander, whom the Jews had pushed forward; and Alexander, motioning with his hand to get silence, was prepared to make a defence to the people. No sooner, however, did they see that he was a Jew, than there arose from them all one roar of shouting, lasting about two hours. "Great is the Ephesian Diana," they said. At length the Recorder quieted them down. "Men of Ephesus," he said, "who is there of all mankind that needs to be told that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Diana and of the image which fell down from Zeus? These facts, then, being unquestioned, it becomes you to maintain your self-control and not act recklessly. For you have brought these men here, who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess. If, however, Demetrius and the mechanics who support his contention have a grievance against any one, there are Assize-days and there are Proconsuls: let the persons interested accuse one another. But if you desire anything further, it will have to be settled in the regular assembly. For in connexion with to-day's proceedings there is danger of our being charged with attempted insurrection, there having been no real reason for this riot; nor shall we be able to justify the behaviour of this disorderly mob."

This roused the High Priest. He and all his party--the sect of the Sadducees--were filled with angry jealousy and laid hands upon the Apostles, and put them into the public jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said,read more.
"Go and stand in the Temple, and go on proclaiming to the people all this Message of Life." Having received that command they went into the Temple, just before daybreak, and began to teach: So when the High Priest and his party came, and had called together the Sanhedrin as well as all the Elders of the descendants of Israel, they sent to the jail to fetch the Apostles. But the officers went and could not find them in the prison. So they came back and brought word, saying, "The jail we found quite safely locked, and the warders were on guard at the doors, but upon going in we found no one there." When the Commander of the Temple Guards and the High Priests heard this statement, they were utterly at a loss with regard to it, wondering what would happen next. And some one came and brought them word, saying, "The men you put in prison are actually in the Temple, standing there, teaching the people." Upon this the Commander went with the officers, and brought the Apostles; but without using violence; for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. So they brought them and made them stand in front of the Sanhedrin. And then the High Priest questioned them. "We strictly forbad you to teach in that name--did we not?" he said. "And see, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and are trying to make us responsible for that man's death!" Peter and the other Apostles replied, "We must obey God rather than man. The God of our forefathers has raised Jesus to life, whom you crucified and put to death. God has exalted Him to His right hand as Chief Leader and as Saviour, to give Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins. And we--and the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him--are witnesses as to these things." Infuriated at getting this answer, they were disposed to kill the Apostles. But a Pharisee of the name of Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law, held in honour by all the people, rose from his seat and requested that they should be sent outside the court for a few minutes. "Israelites," he said, "be careful what you are about to do in dealing with these men. Years ago Theudas appeared, professing to be a person of importance, and a body of men, some four hundred in number, joined him. He was killed, and all his followers were dispersed and annihilated. After him, at the time of the Census, came Judas, the Galilaean, and was the leader in a revolt. He too perished, and all his followers were scattered. And now I tell you to hold aloof from these men and leave them alone--for if this scheme or work is of human origin, it will come to nothing. But if it is really from God, you will be powerless to put them down--lest perhaps you find yourselves to be actually fighting against God." His advice carried conviction. So they called the Apostles in, and--after flogging them--ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then let them go. They, therefore, left the Sanhedrin and went their way, rejoicing that they had been deemed worthy to suffer disgrace on behalf of the NAME.

But, when the seven days were nearly over, the Jews from the province of Asia, having seen Paul in the Temple, set about rousing the fury of all the people against him. They laid hands on him, crying out, "Men of Israel, help! help! This is the man who goes everywhere preaching to everybody against the Jewish people and the Law and this place. And besides, he has even brought Gentiles into the Temple and has desecrated this holy place." (For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and imagined that Paul had brought him into the Temple.)read more.
The excitement spread through the whole city, and the people rushed in crowds to the Temple, and there laid hold of Paul and began to drag him out; and the Temple gates were immediately closed. But while they were trying to kill Paul, word was taken up to the Tribune in command of the battalion, that all Jerusalem was in a ferment. He instantly sent for a few soldiers and their officers, and came down among the people with all speed. At the sight of the Tribune and the troops they ceased beating Paul. Then the Tribune, making his way to him, arrested him, and, having ordered him to be secured with two chains, proceeded to ask who he was and what he had been doing. Some of the crowd shouted one accusation against Paul and some another, until, as the uproar made it impossible for the truth to be ascertained with certainty, the Tribune ordered him to be brought into the barracks. When Paul was going up the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob; for the whole mass of the people pressed on in the rear, shouting, "Away with him!"

As He went out to resume His journey, there came a man running up to Him, who knelt at His feet and asked, "Good Rabbi, what am I to do in order to inherit the Life of the Ages?" "Why do you call me good?" asked Jesus in reply; "there is no one truly good except One--that is, God. You know the Commandments--'Do not murder;' 'Do not commit adultery;' 'Do not steal;' 'Do not lie in giving evidence;' 'Do not defraud;' 'Honour thy father and thy mother.'"read more.
"Rabbi," he replied, "all these Commandments I have carefully obeyed from my youth." Then Jesus looked at him and loved him, and said, "One thing is lacking in you: go, sell all you possess and give the proceeds to the poor, and you shall have riches in Heaven; and come and be a follower of mine." At these words his brow darkened, and he went away sad; for he was possessed of great wealth. Then looking round on His disciples Jesus said, "With how hard a struggle will the possessors of riches enter the Kingdom of God!"