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For so greatly did God love the world that He gave His only Son, that every one who trusts in Him may not perish but may have the Life of Ages.
for all alike have sinned, and all consciously come short of the glory of God,
Every Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for convincing, for correction of error, and for instruction in right doing;
I plead with you therefore, brethren, by the compassionsof God, to present all your faculties to Him as a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to Him. This with you will be an act of reasonable worship.
The Spirit, on the other hand, brings a harvest of love, joy, peace; patience towards others, kindness, benevolence;
For it is by grace that you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves. It is God's gift, and is not on the ground of merit--
Now we know that for those who love God all things are working together for good--for those, I mean, whom with deliberate purpose He has called.
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations; baptize them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit;
And do not follow the customs of the present age, but be transformed by the entire renewal of your minds, so that you may learn by experience what God's will is--that will which is good and beautiful and perfect.
"I am the Way," replied Jesus, "and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
and yet you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judaea and Samaria and to the remotest parts of the earth."
"Repent," replied Peter, "and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, with a view to the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
For the wages paid by Sin are death; but God's free gift is the Life of the Ages bestowed upon us in Christ Jesus our Lord.
But all who have received Him, to them--that is, to those who trust in His name--He has given the privilege of becoming children of God;
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
as righteous men, had done, but as the result of His own mercy He saved us by means of the bath of regeneration and the renewal of our natures by the Holy Spirit,
that if with your mouth you confess Jesus as Lord and in your heart believe that God brought Him back to life, you shall be saved.
And the Word came in the flesh, and lived for a time in our midst, so that we saw His glory--the glory as of the Father's only Son, sent from His presence. He was full of grace and truth.
But God gives proof of His love to us in Christ's dying for us while we were still sinners.
And He Himself appointed some to be Apostles, some to be Prophets, some to be evangelists, some to be pastors and teachers,
and they were constant in listening to the teaching of the Apostles and in their attendance at the Communion, that is, the Breaking of the Bread, and at prayer.
"Come to me, all you toiling and burdened ones, and *I* will give you rest.
If we confess our sins, He is so faithful and just that He forgives us our sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness.
"In most solemn truth I tell you," answered Jesus, "that unless a man is born anew he cannot see the Kingdom of God."
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy: I have come that they may have Life, and may have it in abundance.
What follows? This comparison. Through one man sin entered into the world, and through sin death, and so death passed to all mankind in turn, in that all sinned.
Then He said to them, "Go the whole world over, and proclaim the Good News to all mankind.
And in no other is the great salvation to be found; for, in fact, there is no second name under Heaven that has been given among men through which we are to be saved."
So that if any one is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old state of things has passed away; a new state of things has come into existence.
"Let not your hearts be troubled. Trust in God: trust in me also.
The true Light was that which illumines every man by its coming into the world.
Jesus however came near and said to them, "All power in Heaven and over the earth has been given to me.
Standing then acquitted as the result of faith, let us enjoy peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
I have strength for anything through Him who gives me power.
Do not be over-anxious about anything, but by prayer and earnest pleading, together with thanksgiving, let your request be unreservedly made known in the presence of God.
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus;
Two days later there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there,
At length, on the day of the Harvest Festival, they had all met in one place;
I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me; and the life which I now live in the body I live through faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself up to death on my behalf.
For I am not ashamed of the Good News. It is God's power which is at work for the salvation of every one who believes--the Jew first, and then the Gentile.
A new commandment I give you, to love one another; that as I have loved you, you also may love one another.
Now there was one of the Pharisees whose name was Nicodemus--a ruler among the Jews.
Earnestly seek to commend yourself to God as a servant who, because of his straightforward dealing with the word of truth, has no reason to feel any shame.
But make His Kingdom and righteousness your chief aim, and then these things shall all be given you in addition.
And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be for ever with you--the Spirit of truth.
Therefore, surrounded as we are by such a vast cloud of witnesses, let us fling aside every encumbrance and the sin that so readily entangles our feet. And let us run with patient endurance the race that lies before us,
God is Spirit; and those who worship Him must bring Him true spiritual worship."
Let the same disposition be in you which was in Christ Jesus.
"Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has placed you to take the oversight for Him and act as shepherds to the Church of God, which He has bought with His own blood.
For "every one, without exception, who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."
"If you love me, you will obey my commandments.
For God's anger is being revealed from Heaven against all impiety and against the iniquity of men who through iniquity suppress the truth. God is angry:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim Good News to the poor; He has sent me to announce release to the prisoners of war and recovery of sight to the blind: to send away free those whom tyranny has crushed,
"In most solemn truth I tell you," replied Jesus, "that unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.
Now as soon as the Master was aware that the Pharisees had heard it said, "Jesus is gaining and baptizing more disciples than John"--
Now faith is a well-grounded assurance of that for which we hope, and a conviction of the reality of things which we do not see.
and you shall know the Truth, and the Truth will make you free."
For God's Message is full of life and power, and is keener than the sharpest two-edged sword. It pierces even to the severance of soul from spirit, and penetrates between the joints and the marrow, and it can discern the secret thoughts and purposes of the heart.
Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be cured. The heartfelt supplication of a righteous man exerts a mighty influence.
The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him and exclaimed, "Look, that is the Lamb of God who is to take away the sin of the world!
To you Gentiles also, who were dead through your offences and sins,
But when He has come--the Spirit of Truth--He will guide you into all the truth. For He will not speak as Himself originating what He says, but all that He hears He will speak, and He will make known the future to you.
Let every individual be obedient to those who rule over him; for no one is a ruler except by God's permission, and our present rulers have had their rank and power assigned to them by Him.
And I declare to you that you are Peter, and that upon this Rock I will build my Church, and the might of Hades shall not triumph over it.
"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then will He sit upon His glorious throne,
All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing that exists came into being.
The Jews at Beroea were of a nobler disposition than those in Thessalonica, for they very readily received the Message, and day after day searched the Scriptures to see whether it was as Paul stated.
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will teach you everything, and will bring to your memories all that I have said to you.
The father whose sons you are is the Devil; and you desire to do what gives him pleasure. *He* was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand firm in the truth--for there is no truth in him. Whenever he utters his lie, he utters it out of his own store; for he is a liar, and the father of lies.
He came as a witness, in order that he might give testimony concerning the Light--so that all might believe through him.
For the grace of God has displayed itself with healing power to all mankind,
"Do not for a moment suppose that I have come to abrogate the Law or the Prophets: I have not come to abrogate them but to give them their completion.
In conclusion, strengthen yourselves in the Lord and in the power which His supreme might imparts.
"'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God,'" He answered, "'with thy whole heart, thy whole soul, thy whole mind.'
Christ is the visible representation of the invisible God, the Firstborn and Lord of all creation.
I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who continues in me and in whom I continue bears abundant fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
"In most solemn truth I tell you that he who listens to my teaching and believes Him who sent me, has the Life of the Ages, and does not come under judgement, but has passed over out of death into Life.
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever wins respect, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovable, whatever is of good repute--if there is any virtue or anything deemed worthy of praise--cherish the thought of these things.
But where there is no faith it is impossible truly to please Him; for the man who draws near to God must believe that there is a God and that He proves Himself a rewarder of those who earnestly try to find Him.
in expectation of the fulfilment of our blessed hope--the Appearing in glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ;
And this proves that faith comes from a Message heard, and that the Message comes through its having been spoken by Christ.
So He plaited a whip of rushes, and drove all--both sheep and bullocks--out of the Temple. The small coin of the brokers He upset on the ground and overturned their tables.
Reckon it nothing but joy, my brethren, whenever you find yourselves hedged in by various trials.
They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in foreign languages according as the Spirit gave them words to utter.
He who believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he who disbelieves will be condemned.
Thus it stands written, "There is not one righteous man.
Make them holy in the truth: Thy Message is truth.
"Believe on the Lord Jesus," they replied, "and both you and your household will be saved."
And if any one of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask God for it, who gives with open hand to all men, and without upbraiding; and it will be given him.
"I am the Resurrection and the Life," said Jesus; "he who believes in me, even if he has died, he shall live;
Those, therefore, who joyfully welcomed his Message were baptized; and on that one day about three thousand persons were added to them;
When He had said this, and while they were looking at Him, He was carried up, and a cloud closing beneath Him hid Him from their sight.
On the first day of the week, when we had met to break bread, Paul, who was going away the next morning, was preaching to them, and prolonged his discourse till midnight.
but in your hearts consecrate Christ as Lord, being always ready to make your defence to any one who asks from you a reason for the hope which you cherish.
And in this consists the Life of the Ages--in knowing Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.
Do you not know that unrighteous men will not inherit God's Kingdom? Cherish no delusion here. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor any who are guilty of unnatural crime,
Presently there came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus asked her to give Him some water;
"In most solemn truth," answered Jesus, "I tell you that before Abraham came into existence, I am."
For, from the very creation of the world, His invisible perfections--namely His eternal power and divine nature--have been rendered intelligible and clearly visible by His works, so that these men are without excuse.
But you are a chosen race, a priesthood of kingly lineage, a holy nation, a people belonging specially to God, that you may make known the perfections of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.
God, who in ancient days spoke to our forefathers in many distinct messages and by various methods through the Prophets,
"There was once a rich man who habitually arrayed himself in purple and fine linen, and enjoyed a splendid banquet every day,
I am now standing at the door and am knocking. If any one listens to My voice and opens the door, I will go in to be with him and will feast with him, and he shall feast with Me.
"Not every one who says to me, 'Master, Master,' will enter the Kingdom of the Heavens, but only those who are obedient to my Father who is in Heaven.
The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So is it with every one who has been born of the Spirit."
"Sir," replied the sufferer, "I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is moved; but while I am coming some one else steps down before me."
Jesus therefore said to those of the Jews who had now believed in Him, "As for you, if you hold fast to my teaching, then you are truly my disciples;
He who trusts in Him does not come up for judgement. He who does not trust has already received sentence, because he has not his trust resting on the name of God's only Son.
Your lives should be untainted by love for money. Be content with what you have; for God Himself has said, "I will never, never let go your hand: I will never never forsake you."
Once more Jesus addressed them. "I am the Light of the world," He said; "the man who follows me shall certainly not walk in the dark, but shall have the light of Life."
"Do not lay up stores of wealth for yourselves on earth, where the moth and wear-and-tear destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
I and the Father are one."
For ours is not a conflict with mere flesh and blood, but with the despotisms, the empires, the forces that control and govern this dark world--the spiritual hosts of evil arrayed against us in the heavenly warfare.
that you may fully know the truth of the things which you have been taught by word of mouth.
"I am the Vine--the True Vine, and my Father is the vine-dresser.
And since it is reserved for all mankind once to die, and afterwards to be judged;
if you have had any experience of the goodness of the Lord.
for the sake of the truth which is continually in our hearts and will be with us for ever.
"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,
He came to Jesus by night and said, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher from God; for no one can do these miracles which you are doing, unless God is with him.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has crowned us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ;
They listened to Him, and then, beginning with the eldest, took their departure, one by one, till all were gone. And Jesus was left behind alone--and the woman in the centre of the court.
*You* are the light of the world; a town cannot be hid if built on a hill-top.
The circumstances of the birth of Jesus Christ were these. After his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they were united in marriage, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but put the spirits to the test to see whether they are from God; for many false teachers have gone out into the world.
In Him the distinctions between Jew and Gentile, slave and free man, male and female, disappear; you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Is any one ill? Let him send for the Elders of the Church, and let them pray over him, after anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
Then an expounder of the Law stood up to test Him with a question. "Rabbi," he asked, "what shall I do to inherit the Life of the Ages?"
Now, concerning those who from time to time pass away, we would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, lest you should mourn as others do who have no hope.
Every gift which is good, and every perfect boon, is from above, and comes down from the Father, who is the source of all Light. In Him there is no variation nor the slightest suggestion of change.
He has made Him who knew nothing of sin to be sin for us, in order that in Him we may become the righteousness of God.
"I have spoken all this to you in order that in me you may have peace. In the world you have affliction. But keep up your courage: *I* have won the victory over the world."
And in Him you Gentiles also, after listening to the Message of the truth, the Good News of your salvation--having believed in Him--were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit;
Married men, love your wives, as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself up to death for her;
The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overpowered it.
The Lord is not slow in fulfilling His promise, in the sense in which some men speak of slowness. But He bears patiently with you, His desire being that no one should perish but that all should come to repentance.
He was not the Light, but he existed that he might give testimony concerning the Light.
The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for this reason your holy offspring will be called 'the Son of God.'
The religious service which is pure and stainless in the sight of our God and Father is to visit fatherless children and widowed women in their time of trouble, and to keep one's own self unspotted from the world.
He who believes in the Son has the Life of the Ages; he who disobeys the Son will not enter into Life, but God's anger remains upon him.
Married women, submit to your own husbands as if to the Lord;
"If your brother acts wrongly towards you, go and point out his fault to him when only you and he are there. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
who said, "Galilaeans, why stand looking into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken up from you into Heaven will come in just the same way as you have seen Him going into Heaven."
Repent, therefore, and reform your lives, so that the record of your sins may be cancelled, and that there may come seasons of revival from the Lord,
For we are God's own handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works which He has pre-destined us to practise.
What good is it, my brethren, if a man professes to have faith, and yet his actions do not correspond? Can such faith save him?
For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
And do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
"In this manner therefore pray: 'Our Father who art in Heaven, may Thy name be kept holy;
In the same way exhort aged women to let their conduct be such as becomes consecrated persons. They must not be slanderers nor enslaved to wine-drinking. They must be teachers of what is right.
To what conclusion, then, shall we come? Are we to persist in sinning in order that the grace extended to us may be the greater?
Do not over-indulge in wine--a thing in which excess is so easy--
And I saw a new Heaven and a new earth; for the first Heaven and the first earth were gone, and the sea no longer exists.
But a time is coming--nay, has already come--when the true worshippers will worship the Father with true spiritual worship; for indeed the Father desires such worshippers.
Just at this time an edict was issued by Caesar Augustus for the registration of the whole Empire.
For there is but one God and but one Mediator between God and men--Christ Jesus, Himself man;
At that time Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the Desert in order to be tempted by the Devil.
"You search the Scriptures, because you suppose that in them you will find the Life of the Ages; and it is those Scriptures that yield testimony concerning me;
It is in Him, and through the shedding of His blood, that we have our deliverance--the forgiveness of our offences--so abundant was God's grace,
Wonder not at this. For a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear His voice and will come forth--
But if we live in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.
No human eye has ever seen God: the only Son, who is in the Father's bosom--He has made Him known.
I, then, the prisoner for the Master's sake, entreat you to live and act as becomes those who have received the call that you have received--
"Judge not, that you may not be judged;
For I repeated to you the all-important fact which also I had been taught, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures;
No one has greater love than this--a man laying down his life for his friends.
They are the world's children, and so their language is that of the world, and the world listens to them. We are God's children.
This then is what I mean. Let your lives be guided by the Spirit, and then you will certainly not indulge the cravings of your lower natures.
You, however, are not devoted to earthly, but to spiritual things, if the Spirit of God is really dwelling in you; whereas if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, such a one does not belong to Him.
On that same first day of the week, when it was evening and, for fear of the Jews, the doors of the house where the disciples were, were locked, Jesus came and stood in their midst, and said to them, "Peace be to you!"
and, asking, "What has become of His promised Return? For from the time our forefathers fell asleep all things continue as they have been ever since the creation of the world."
"no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; then I will raise him to life on the last day.
After this there was a Festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
For in Him was created the universe of things in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, thrones, dominions, princedoms, powers--all were created, and exist through and for Him.
And just as Moses lifted high the serpent in the Desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
"Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad the road which leads to ruin, and many there are who enter by it;
Those times of ignorance God viewed with indulgence. But now He commands all men everywhere to repent,
"How is it possible," Nicodemus asked, "for a man to be born when he is old? Can he a second time enter his mother's womb and be born?"
If however you have risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, enthroned at God's right hand.
For those whom He has known beforehand He has also pre-destined to bear the likeness of His Son, that He might be the Eldest in a vast family of brothers;
But prove yourselves obedient to the Message, and do not be mere hearers of it, imposing a delusion upon yourselves.
Clothe yourselves therefore, as God's own people holy and dearly loved, with tender-heartedness, kindness, lowliness of mind, meekness, long-suffering;
not neglecting--as some habitually do--to meet together, but encouraging one another, and doing this all the more since you can see the day of Christ approaching.
because Christ also once for all died for sins, the innocent One for the guilty many, in order to bring us to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit,
About this time, as the number of disciples was increasing, complaints were made by the Greek-speaking Jews against the Hebrews because their widows were habitually overlooked in the daily ministration.
Peace I leave with you: my own peace I give to you. It is not as the world gives its greetings that I give you peace. Let not your hearts be troubled or dismayed.
My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
For it is always he who asks that receives, he who seeks that finds, and he who knocks that has the door opened to him.
The burden of our sins He Himself carried in His own body to the Cross and bore it there, so that we, having died so far as our sins are concerned, may live righteous lives. By His wounds yours have been healed.
Submit therefore to God: resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.
"Yet it is the truth that I am telling you--it is to your advantage that I go away. For unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
"I am the Good Shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his very life for the sheep.
For we have not a High Priest who is unable to feel for us in our weaknesses, but one who was tempted in every respect just as we are tempted, and yet did not sin.
and Jesus also was invited and His disciples.
"*You* are the salt of the earth; but if salt has become tasteless, in what way can it regain its saltness? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown away and trodden on by the passers by.
He brightly reflects God's glory and is the exact representation of His being, and upholds the universe by His all-powerful word. After securing man's purification from sin He took His seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Curb every passion, and be on the alert. Your great accuser, the Devil, is going about like a roaring lion to see whom he can devour.
In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness; for we do not know what prayers to offer nor in what way to offer them. But the Spirit Himself pleads for us in yearnings that can find no words,
Dear friends, let us love one another; for love has its origin in God, and every one who loves has become a child of God and is beginning to know God.
Every one whom the Father gives me will come to me, and him who comes to me I will never on any account drive away.
Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If any one loves the world, there is no love in his heart for the Father.
"When the Advocate is come whom I will send to you from the Father's presence--the Spirit of Truth who comes forth from the Father's presence--He will be a witness concerning me.
See what marvellous love the Father has bestowed upon us--that we should be called God's children: and that is what we are. For this reason the world does not recognize us--because it has not known Him.
On the first day of the week, very early, while it was still dark, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from it.
Then Peter began to speak. "I clearly see," he said, "that God makes no distinctions between one man and another;
And He said to all, "If any one is desirous of following me, let him ignore self and take up his cross day by day, and so be my follower.
"Seven pounds' worth of bread," replied Philip, "is not enough for them all to get even a scanty meal."
One day--it was a Sabbath--He was taking a meal at the house of one of the Rulers of the Pharisee party, while they were closely watching Him.
He came to Nazareth also, where He had been brought up; and, as was His custom, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.
I have left you behind in Crete in order that you may set right the things which still require attention, and appoint Elders in every town, as I directed you to do;
"In most solemn truth I tell you," replied Jesus, "that the Son can do nothing of Himself--He can only do what He sees the Father doing; for whatever He does, that the Son does in like manner.
Now after the birth of Jesus, which took place at Bethlehem in Judaea in the reign of King Herod, excitement was produced in Jerusalem by the arrival of certain Magi from the east,
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus;
Let the teaching concerning Christ remain as a rich treasure in your hearts. In all wisdom teach and admonish one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and sing with grace in your hearts to God.
But, above all, remember that no prophecy in Scripture will be found to have come from the prophet's own prompting;
"Nor is it for them alone that I make request. It is also for those who trust in me through their teaching;
Dear children, I write thus to you in order that you may not sin. If any one sins, we have an Advocate with the Father--Jesus Christ the righteous;
On the last day of the Festival--the great day--Jesus stood up and cried aloud. "Whoever is thirsty," He said, "let him come to me and drink.
Now you know full well the doings of our lower natures. Fornication, impurity, indecency, idol-worship, sorcery;
"If you had known God's free gift," replied Jesus, "and who it is that said to you, 'Give me some water,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."
Christ having made us gloriously free--stand fast and do not again be hampered with the yoke of slavery.
The brethren at once sent Paul and Silas away by night to Beroea, and they, on their arrival, went to the synagogue of the Jews.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither the lower ranks of evil angels nor the higher, neither things present nor things future, nor the forces of nature,
For there are three that give testimony-- the Spirit, the water, and the blood;
For those who are led by God's Spirit are, all of them, God's sons.
Just so let your light shine before all men, in order that they may see your holy lives and may give glory to your Father who is in Heaven.
My former narrative, Theophilus, dealt with all that Jesus did and taught as a beginning, down to the day on which,
Afterwards Jesus found him in the Temple and said to him, "You are now restored to health. Do not sin any more, or a worse thing may befall you."
May grace and peace be granted to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and to-day--yes, and to the ages to come.
What then shall we say to this? If God is on our side, who is there to appear against us?
For of this I am confident, that He who has begun a good work within you will go on to perfect it in preparation for the day of Jesus Christ.
Now just before the Feast of the Passover this incident took place. Jesus knew that the time had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father; and having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
for never did any prophecy come by human will, but men sent by God spoke as they were impelled by the Holy Spirit.
Well, then, we by our baptism were buried with Him in death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from among the dead by the Father's glorious power, we also should live an entirely new life.
Have you endured such sufferings to no purpose--if indeed it has been to no purpose?
As they pursued their journey He came to a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed Him to her house.
Therefore, my dearly-loved friends, as I have always found you obedient, labour earnestly with fear and trembling--not merely as though I were present with you, but much more now since I am absent from you--labour earnestly, I say, to make sure of your own salvation.
And He, when He comes, will convict the world in respect of sin, of righteousness, and of judgement; --
and you pay court to the one who wears the fine clothes, and say, "Sit here; this is a good place;" while to the poor man you say, "Stand there, or sit on the floor at my feet;"
"If any one loves me," replied Jesus, "he will obey my teaching; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
If we claim to be already free from sin, we lead ourselves astray and the truth has no place in our hearts.
"Beware of the false teachers--men who come to you in sheep's fleeces, but beneath that disguise they are ravenous wolves.
Love is patient and kind. Love knows neither envy nor jealousy. Love is not forward and self-assertive, nor boastful and conceited.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in His great mercy has begotten us anew to an ever-living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
At one place where He was praying, when He rose from His knees one of His disciples said to Him, "Master, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples."
even as, in His love, He chose us as His own in Christ before the creation of the world, that we might be holy and without blemish in His presence.
He also taught them by a parable that they must always pray and never lose heart.
In my Father's house there are many resting-places. Were it otherwise, I would have told you; for I am going to make ready a place for you.
But, when the time was fully come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born subject to Law,
"Demolish this Sanctuary," said Jesus, "and in three days I will rebuild it."
And let us bestow thought on one another with a view to arousing one another to brotherly love and right conduct;
If then I can appeal to you as the followers of Christ, if there is any persuasive power in love and any common sharing of the Spirit, or if you have any tender-heartedness and compassion, make my joy complete by being of one mind,
Do not come into close association with unbelievers, like oxen yoked with asses. For what is there in common between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what partnership has light with darkness?
Do not deceive yourselves. God is not to be scoffed at. For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
simply fixing our gaze upon Jesus, our Prince Leader in the faith, who will also award us the prize. He, for the sake of the joy which lay before Him, patiently endured the cross, looking with contempt upon its shame, and afterwards seated Himself-- where He still sits--at the right hand of the throne of God.
"Blessed are the compassionate, for they shall receive compassion.
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these others do?" "Yes, Master," was his answer; "you know that you are dear to me." "Then feed my lambs," replied Jesus.
"I am the bread of Life," replied Jesus; "he who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never, never thirst.
For this reason I charge you not to be over-anxious about your lives, inquiring what you are to eat or what you are to drink, nor yet about your bodies, inquiring what clothes you are to put on. Is not the life more precious than its food, and the body than its clothing?
He caused to spring from one forefather people of every race, for them to live on the whole surface of the earth, and marked out for them an appointed span of life and the boundaries of their homes;
She will give birth to a Son, and you are to call His name JESUS for He it is who will save His People from their sins."
Or do you not know that your bodies are a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is within you--the Spirit whom you have from God?
God has put all things under His feet, and has appointed Him universal and supreme Head of the Church, which is His Body,
So the Jews asked Him, "What proof of your authority do you exhibit to us, seeing that you do these things?"
That which was from the beginning, which we have listened to, which we have seen with our own eyes, and our own hands have handled concerning the Word of Life--
Now Saul, whose every breath was a threat of destruction for the disciples of the Lord,
Why, what we now suffer I count as nothing in comparison with the glory which is soon to be manifested in us.
But the man who had been cured did not know who it was; for Jesus had passed out unnoticed, there being a crowd in the place.
This then is the reason why God gave them up to vile passions. For not only did the women among them exchange the natural use of their bodies for one which is contrary to nature, but the men also,
Now to Him who, in exercise of His power that is at work within us, is able to do infinitely beyond all our highest prayers or thoughts--
It is God who has delivered us out of the dominion of darkness, and has transferred us into the Kingdom of His dearly-loved Son,
and teach them to obey every command which I have given you. And remember, I am with you always, day by day, until the Close of the Age."
May mercy, peace and love be abundantly granted to you.
among whom you also, called, as you have been, to belong to Jesus Christ, are numbered:
"Listen, Israelites, to what I say. Jesus, the Nazarene, a man accredited to you from God by miracles and marvels and signs which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know, Him--
Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led about by the Spirit in the Desert for forty days,
A second time, therefore, He said to them, "Peace be to you! As the Father sent me, I also now send you."
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for to them belongs the Kingdom of the Heavens.
Some of His disciples therefore said to one another, "What does this mean which He is telling us, 'A little while and you do not see me, and again a little while and you shall see me,' and 'Because I am going to the Father'?"
Now one of the Pharisees repeatedly invited Him to a meal at his house; so He entered the house and reclined at the table.
Dear friends, we are now God's children, but what we are to be in the future has not yet been fully revealed. We know that if Christ reappears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.
Then I saw a great white throne and One who was seated on it, from whose presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.
"The time has fully come," He said, "and the Kingdom of God is close at hand: repent, and believe this Good News.
and submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Seeing that many have attempted to draw up a narrative of the facts which are received with full assurance among us
After this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them before Him, by twos, to go to every town or place which He Himself intended to visit.
Seeing the multitude of people, Jesus went up the Hill. There He seated Himself, and when His disciples came to Him,
But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren; and both of them were far advanced in life.
But of this be assured: in the last days grievous times will set in.
"No man can be the bondservant of two masters; for either he will dislike one and like the other, or he will attach himself to one and think slightingly of the other. You cannot be the bondservants both of God and of gold.
No temptation has you in its power but such as is common to human nature; and God is faithful and will not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength. But, when the temptation comes, He will also provide the way of escape; so that you may be able to bear it.
For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
Jesus prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing." And they divided His garments among them, drawing lots for them;
And, on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices they had prepared.
Inasmuch, then, as we have in Jesus, the Son of God, a great High Priest who has passed into Heaven itself, let us hold firmly to our profession of faith.
Judah was the father (by Tamar)
It is not you who chose me, but it is I who chose you and appointed you that you might go and be fruitful and that your fruit might remain; so that whatever petition you present to the Father in my name He may give you.
"Ananias," said Peter, "why has Satan taken possession of your heart, that you should try to deceive the Holy Spirit and dishonestly keep back part of the price paid you for this land?
But let me recall to you, brethren, the Good News which I brought you, which you accepted, and on which you are standing,
"But beware of doing your good actions in the sight of men, in order to attract their gaze; if you do, there is no reward for you with your Father who is in Heaven.
and that from infancy you have known the sacred writings which are able to make you wise to obtain salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
Then, after John had been thrown into prison, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming God's Good News.
Stung to the heart by these words, they said to Peter and the rest of the Apostles, "Brethren, what are we to do?"
But I command you all, love your enemies, and pray for your persecutors;
But my God--so great is His wealth of glory in Christ Jesus--will fully supply every need of yours.
Then I saw a door open in Heaven, and a white horse appeared. Its rider was named "Faithful and True" --being One who in righteousness acts as Judge, and makes war.
In most solemn truth I tell you that he who trusts in me--the things which I do he shall do also; and greater things than these he shall do, because I am going to the Father.
Everything, therefore, be it what it may, that you would have men do to you, do you also the same to them; for in this the Law and the Prophets are summed up.
You have condemned--you have murdered-- the righteous man: he offers no resistance.
For where there are two or three assembled in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
And signs shall attend those who believe, even such as these. By making use of my name they shall expel demons. They shall speak new languages.
"It is written," replied Jesus, "'It is not on bread alone that a man shall live, but on whatsoever God shall appoint.'"
Although from the beginning He had the nature of God He did not reckon His equality with God a treasure to be tightly grasped.
Brethren, if anybody be detected in any misconduct, you who are spiritual should restore such a one in a spirit of meekness. And let each of you keep watch over himself, lest he also fall into temptation.
But He gives more abundant grace, as is implied in His saying, "God sets Himself against the haughty, but to the lowly He gives grace."
"But to you who are listening to me I say, Love your enemies; seek the welfare of those who hate you;
Take care lest there be some one who leads you away as prisoners by means of his philosophy and idle fancies, following human traditions and the world's crude notions instead of following Christ.
The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ the Son of God.
And this Good News of the Kingdom shall be proclaimed throughout the whole world to set the evidence before all the Gentiles; and then the End will come.
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, God says, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all mankind; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall have dreams;
and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, thy whole soul, thy whole mind, and thy whole strength.'
"Mark! The maiden will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call His name Immanuel" --a word which signifies 'God with us'.
For it is in Christ that the fulness of God's nature dwells embodied, and in Him you are made complete,
And this is the test by which men are judged--the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness more than they loved the Light, because their deeds were wicked.
He came to the things that were His own, and His own people gave Him no welcome.
but may rather be restored. Persistently strive for peace with all men, and for that growth in holiness apart from which no one will see the Lord.
For the Lord Himself will come down from Heaven with a loud word of command, and with an archangel's voice and the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
For all that was written of old has been written for our instruction, so that we may always have hope through the power of endurance and the encouragement which the Scriptures afford.
Now the Spirit expressly declares that in later times some will fall away from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and the teachings of demons;
You unfaithful women, do you not know that friendship with the world means enmity to God? Therefore whoever is bent on being friendly with the world makes himself an enemy to God.
But now a righteousness coming from God has been brought to light apart from any Law, both Law and Prophets bearing witness to it--
It is by this that every one will know that you are my disciples--if you love one another."
give, and gifts shall be bestowed on you. Full measure, pressed, shaken down, and running over, shall they pour into your laps; for with the same measure that you use they shall measure to you in return."
This is my commandment to you, to love one another as I have loved you.
If I can speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but am destitute of Love, I have but become a loud-sounding trumpet or a clanging cymbal.
and the whole multitude of the people were outside praying, at the hour of incense.
He who is destitute of love has never had any knowledge of God; because God is love.
You are therefore no longer mere foreigners or persons excluded from civil rights. On the contrary you share citizenship with God's people and are members of His family.
And while in their company He charged them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father's promised gift. "This you have heard of," He said, "from me.
Always be glad in the Lord: I will repeat it, be glad.
For the Message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are on the way to perdition, but it is the power of God to those whom He is saving.
I give them the Life of the Ages, and they shall never, never perish, nor shall any one wrest them from my hand.
I marvel that you are so readily leaving Him who called you by the grace of Christ, and are adhering to a different Good News.
It tells how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, so that He went about everywhere doing acts of kindness, and curing all who were being continually oppressed by the Devil--for God was with Jesus.
"Then will He say to those at His left, "'Begone from me, with the curse resting upon you, into the Fire of the Ages, which has been prepared for the Devil and his angels.
You know this, my dearly-loved brethren. But let every one be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to be angry.
and He is an atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
Now while he was doing priestly duty before God in the prescribed course of his class,
Now there were in Antioch, in the Church there--as Prophets and teachers--barnabas, Symeon surnamed 'the black,' Lucius the Cyrenaean, Manaen (who was Herod the Tetrarch's foster-brother)
Then, taking a Passover biscuit, He gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body which is being given on your behalf: this do in remembrance of me."
Moreover He is the Head of His Body, the Church. He is the Beginning, the Firstborn from among the dead, in order that He Himself may in all things occupy the foremost place.
seeing that His divine power has given us all things that are needful for life and godliness, through our knowledge of Him who has appealed to us by His own glorious perfections.
Let no one say when passing through trial, "My temptation is from God;" for God is incapable of being tempted to do evil, and He Himself tempts no one.
And an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Rise and proceed south to the road that runs down from Jerusalem to Gaza, crossing the Desert."
To Timothy my dearly-loved child. May grace, mercy and peace be granted to you from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Blessed is he who patiently endures trials; for when he has stood the test, he will gain the victor's crown--even the crown of Life--which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
And thus there sprang from one man, and him practically dead, a nation like the stars of the sky in number, and like the sands on the sea shore which cannot be counted.
For just as the human body is one and yet has many parts, and all its parts, many as they are, constitute but one body, so it is with the Church of Christ.
For the Spirit which God has given us is not a spirit of cowardice, but one of power and of love and of sound judgement.
And to some who relied on themselves as being righteous men, and looked down upon all others, He addressed this parable.
Now the wine ran short; whereupon the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine."
For already, while we were still helpless, Christ at the right moment died for the ungodly.
"Why, it is like a man who, when going on his travels, called his bondservants and entrusted his property to their care.
But as for cowards and the unfaithful, and the polluted, and murderers, fornicators, and those who practise magic or worship idols, and all liars--the portion allotted to them shall be in the Lake which burns with fire and sulphur. This is the Second Death."
that they may all be one, even as Thou art in me, O Father, and I am in Thee; that they also may be in us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send me.
Ram of Amminadab; Amminadab of Nahshon; Nahshon of Salmon;
On one occasion the crowd was pressing on Him and listening to God's Message, while He was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.
You believe that God is one, and you are quite right: evil spirits also believe this, and shudder."
But there were also false prophets among the people, as there will be teachers of falsehood among you also, who will cunningly introduce fatal divisions, disowning even the Sovereign Lord who has redeemed them, and bringing on themselves swift destruction.
Is one of you suffering? Let him pray. Is any one in good spirits? Let him sing a psalm.
The Genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Among all those who had embraced the faith there was but one heart and soul, so that none of them claimed any of his possessions as his own, but everything they had was common property;
"Sir," replied the woman, "I see that you are a Prophet.
I tell you, certainly not. On the contrary, if you are not penitent you will all perish as they did.
Hence too He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, seeing that He ever lives to plead for them.
Once when they were with Him, they asked Him, "Master, is this the time at which you are about to restore the kingdom of Israel?"
For the Son of Man also did not come to be waited upon, but to wait on others, and to give His life as the redemption-price for a multitude of people."
"Therefore let the whole House of Israel know beyond all doubt that God has made Him both LORD and CHRIST--this Jesus whom you crucified."
"If any one is coming to me who does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes and his own life also, he cannot be a disciple of mine.
"Have I been so long among you," Jesus answered, "and yet you, Philip, do not know me? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How can *you* ask me, 'Cause us to see the Father'?
The Scribes and the Pharisees were on the watch to see whether He would cure him on the Sabbath that they might be able to bring an accusation against Him.
"If you continue in me and my sayings continue in you, ask what you will and it shall be done for you.
Whatever has been born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever has been born of the Spirit is spirit.
"The chief Commandment," replied Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord;
For through the authority graciously given to me I warn every individual among you not to value himself unduly, but to cultivate sobriety of judgement in accordance with the amount of faith which God has allotted to each one.
And He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you--that everything must be fulfilled that is written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and the Psalms concerning me."
There was a man of the name of Ananias who, with his wife Sapphira, sold some property but,
But He rose to life early on the first day of the week, and appeared first to Mary of Magdala from whom He had expelled seven demons.
You however are to be complete in goodness, as your Heavenly Father is complete.
And you, fathers, do not irritate your children, but bring them up tenderly with true Christian training and advice.
After the Sabbath, in the early dawn of the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala and the other Mary came to see the sepulchre.
Children, be obedient to your parents as a Christian duty, for it is a duty.
"My kingdom," replied Jesus, "does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my subjects would have resolutely fought to save me from being delivered up to the Jews. But, as a matter of fact, my kingdom has not this origin."