Thus my testimony as to the Christ has been confirmed in your experience,

Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers, James, Joseph, Simon and Judah?

And while the people were in suspense and all were debating in their minds whether John might possibly be the Anointed One,

The people listened with amazement to His teaching--for there was authority about it: it was very different from that of the Scribes--

For be well assured that no fornicator or immoral person and no money-grubber--or in other words idol-worshipper--has any share awaiting him in the Kingdom of Christ and of God.

and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And Abraham believed God, and his faith was placed to his credit as righteousness," and he received the name of 'God's friend.'

If therefore they should say to you, 'See, He is in the Desert!' do not go out there: or 'See, He is indoors in the room!' do not believe it.

And I saw lying in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book written on both sides and closely sealed with seven seals.

For this reason let me remind you to rekindle God's gift which is yours through the laying on of my hands.

They were beside themselves with wonder, and exclaimed, "Are not all these speakers Galilaeans?

I have given them Thy Message, and the world has hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.

And if they had cherished the remembrance of the country they had left, they would have found an opportunity to return;

Moreover, brethren, as you learnt from our lips the lives which you ought to live, and do live, so as to please God, we beg and exhort you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live them more and more truly.

Then Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he replied, "Rulers and Elders of the people,

Do not quench the Spirit.

"To you," He replied, "has been entrusted the secret truth concerning the Kingdom of God; but to those others outside your number all this is spoken in figurative language;

the completeness of Him who everywhere fills the universe with Himself.

Therefore let us no longer judge one another; but, instead of that, you should come to this judgement--that we must not put a stumbling-block in our brother's path, nor anything to trip him up.

Your adornment ought not to be a merely outward thing--one of plaiting the hair, putting on jewelry, or wearing beautiful dresses.

After speaking thus Jesus was troubled in spirit and said with deep earnestness, "In most solemn truth I tell you that one of you will betray me."

"Alas for the women who at that time are with child or who have infants; for there will be great distress in the land, and anger towards this People.

So they brought Jesus from Caiaphas's house to the Praetorium. It was the early morning, and they would not enter the Praetorium themselves for fear of defilement, and in order that they might be able to eat the Passover.

Then he described to us how he had seen the angel come and enter his house and say, "'Send to Jaffa and fetch Simon, surnamed Peter.

Then the Pharisees went and consulted together how they might entrap Him in His conversation.

and did not need any one's testimony concerning a man, for He of Himself knew what was in the man.

And thou, Capernaum, shalt thou be lifted high as Heaven? Thou shalt be driven down as low as Hades.

Moreover we needed just such a High Priest as this--holy, guileless, undefiled, far removed from sinful men and exalted above the heavens;

Live honourable lives among the Gentiles, in order that, although they now speak against you as evil-doers, they may yet witness your good conduct, and may glorify God on the day of reward and retribution.

They profess to know God; but in their actions they disown Him, and are detestable and disobedient men, and for any good work are utterly useless.

On the first day of every week let each of you put on one side and store up at his home whatever gain has been granted to him; so that whenever I come, there may then be no collections going on.

and a bondservant of the Lord must not quarrel, but must be inoffensive towards all men, a skilful teacher, and patient under wrongs.

And the tongue is a fire. That world of iniquity, the tongue, is placed within us spotting and soiling our whole nature, and setting the whole round of our lives on fire, being itself set on fire by Gehenna.

After this I seemed to hear the far-echoing voices of a great multitude in Heaven, who said, "Hallelujah! The salvation and the glory and the power belong to our God.

For this we declare to you on the Lord's own authority--that we who are alive and continue on earth until the Coming of the Lord, shall certainly not forestall those who shall have previously passed away.

And I will authorize My two witnesses to prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.

For certain persons have crept in unnoticed--men spoken of in ancient writings as pre-destined to this condemnation--ungodly men, who pervert the grace of our God into an excuse for immorality, and disown Jesus Christ, our only Sovereign and Lord.

Bear in mind what I said to you, 'A servant is not superior to his master.' If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you: if they have obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

which God had already promised through His Prophets in Holy Writ, concerning His Son,

Again, the promise that he should inherit the world did not come to Abraham or his posterity conditioned by Law, but by faith-righteousness.

"It is necessary, therefore, that of the men who have been with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us--

while He--an agony of distress having come upon Him--prayed all the more with intense earnestness, and His sweat became like clots of blood dropping on the ground.

So the soldiers, as soon as they had crucified Jesus, took His garments, including His tunic, and divided them into four parts--one part for each soldier. The tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece.

"Master," replied Simon Peter, "to whom shall we go? Your teachings tell us of the Life of the Ages.

When the day of the Unleavened Bread came--the day for the Passover lamb to be sacrificed--

and then shall all mankind see God's salvation.'"

But it is easier for earth and sky to pass away than for one smallest detail of the Law to fall to the ground.

who, in the exercise of the power which He has even to subject all things to Himself, will transform this body of our humiliation until it resembles His own glorious body.

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;

His feet were like silver-bronze, when it is white-hot in a furnace; and His voice resembled the sound of many waters.

Meanwhile the Festival of the Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching,

So you also must be patient: keeping up your courage; for the Coming of the Lord is now close at hand.

Through faith Abraham, as soon as God put him to the test, offered up Isaac. Yes, he who had joyfully welcomed the promises was on the point of sacrificing his only son

I know your doings--you are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot!

Every branch in me--if it bears no fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

Abraham was the father of Isaac; Isaac of Jacob; Jacob of Judah and his brothers.

And may God, the giver of power of endurance and of that encouragement, grant you to be in full sympathy with one another in accordance with the example of Christ Jesus,

If I then, your Master and Rabbi, have washed your feet, it is also your duty to wash one another's feet.

Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

Since then we are God's offspring, we ought not to imagine that His nature resembles gold or silver or marble, or anything sculptured by the art and inventive faculty of man.

Here is an opportunity for endurance on the part of God's people, who carefully keep His commandments and the faith of Jesus!"

Now there were Jews residing in Jerusalem, devout men from every part of the world.

who will also keep you stedfast to the very End, so that you will be free from reproach on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Being a Prophet, however, and knowing that God had solemnly sworn to him to seat a descendant of his upon his throne,

So the rest of the disciples told him, "We have seen the Master!" His reply was, "Unless I see in his hands the wound made by the nails and put my finger into the wound, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe it."

trying whether I can succeed in rousing my own countrymen to jealousy and thus save some of them.

(Now this "re-ascended" --what does it mean but that He had first descended into the lower regions of the earth?

Tell me--you who want to continue to be subject to Law--will you not listen to the Law?

Then Herod, finding that the Magi had trifled with him, was furious, and sent and massacred all the boys under two years of age, in Bethlehem and all its neighbourhood, according to the date he had so carefully ascertained from the Magi.

If, for instance, a falsehood of mine has made God's truthfulness more conspicuous, redounding to His glory, why am I judged all the same as a sinner?

Now is my soul full of trouble; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this purpose I have come to this hour.

For whoever is bent on securing his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for my sake, and for the sake of the Good News, will secure it.

He is not here: He has come back to life, as He foretold. Come and see the place where He lay.

Then he brought Him to Jerusalem and caused Him to stand on the roof of the Temple, and said to Him, "If you are God's Son, throw yourself down from here; for it is written,

Immediately the curtain of the Sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom: the earth quaked; the rocks split;

With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in God's likeness.

He was passing through town after town and village after village, steadily proceeding towards Jerusalem,

For after the world by its wisdom--as God in His wisdom had ordained--had failed to gain the knowledge of God, God was pleased, by the apparent foolishness of the Message which we preach, to save those who accepted it.

The Apostles, on their return, related to Jesus all they had done. Then He took them and withdrew to a quiet retreat, to a town called Bethsaida.

"But give me your judgement. There was a man who had two sons. He came to the elder of them, and said, "'My son, go and work in the vineyard to-day.'

But if Christ is in you, though your body must die because of sin, yet your spirit has Life because of righteousness.

Moreover, Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant in delivering the message given him to speak;

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.

At that time you were living apart from Christ, estranged from the Commonwealth of Israel, with no share by birth in the Covenants which are based on the Promises, and you had no hope and no God, in all the world.

Nor is He ministered to by human hands, as though He needed anything--but He Himself gives to all men life and breath and all things.

These latter preach Him from love to me, knowing that I am here for the defence of the Good News;

and those whom He has pre-destined He also has called; and those whom He has called He has also declared free from guilt; and those whom He has declared free from guilt He has also crowned with glory.

For you have had the privilege granted you on behalf of Christ--not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer on His behalf;

"In solemn truth I tell you," replied Jesus, "that there is no one who has forsaken house or brothers or sisters, or mother or father, or children or lands, for my sake and for the sake of the Good News,

Yet there was danger of this through the false brethren secretly introduced into the Church, who had stolen in to spy out the freedom which is ours in Christ Jesus, in order to rob us of it.

Habitually therefore give one another a friendly reception, just as Christ also has received you, and thus promote the glory of God.

The Message which He sent to the descendants of Israel, when He announced the Good News of peace through Jesus Christ--He is Lord of all--that Message you cannot but know;

Death has no longer any power over Him. For by the death which He died He became, once for all, dead in relation to sin; but by the life which He now lives He is alive in relation to God.

"For no good deed," the Jews replied, "are we going to stone you, but for blasphemy, and because you, who are only a man, are making yourself out to be God."

for the government of the world when the times are ripe for it--the purpose which He has cherished in His own mind of restoring the whole creation to find its one Head in Christ; yes, things in Heaven and things on earth, to find their one Head in Him.

Many therefore of His disciples, when they heard it, said, "This is hard to accept. Who can listen to such teaching?"

Through faith Noah, being divinely taught about things as yet unseen, reverently gave heed and built an ark for the safety of his family, and by this act he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which depends on faith.

It would be well for him if, with a millstone round his neck, he were lying at the bottom of the sea, rather than that he should cause even one of these little ones to fall.

"And I tell you that every man who shall have acknowledged me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God.

not having a righteousness of my own, derived from the Law, but that which arises from faith in Christ--the righteousness which comes from God through faith.

Do not deceive yourselves: "Evil companionships corrupt good morals."

that all may honour the Son even as they honour the Father. The man who withholds honour from the Son withholds honour from the Father who sent Him.

One Simon, a Cyrenaean, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing along, coming from the country: him they compelled to carry His cross.

"For this reason a man is to leave his father and his mother and be united to his wife, and the two shall be as one."

Departing thence they passed through Galilee, and He was unwilling that any one should know it;

This is right, and is pleasing in the sight of God our Saviour,

Yet in just the same way these dreamers also pollute the body, while they set authority at naught and speak evil of dignities.

and learn in your own experiences what is fully pleasing to the Lord.

A little yeast corrupts the whole of the dough.

After this, Joseph of Arimathaea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but for fear of the Jews a secret disciple, asked Pilate's permission to carry away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him leave. So he came and removed the body.

so that your lives may be worthy of the Lord and perfectly pleasing to Him, while you exhibit the results of right action of every sort and grow into a fuller knowledge of God.

to the great festal gathering and Church of the first-born, whose names are recorded in Heaven, and to a Judge who is God of all, and to the spirits of righteous men made perfect,

Afterwards we who are alive and are still on earth will be caught up in their company amid clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

Judge of this for your own selves: is it seemly for a woman to pray to God when she is unveiled?

God also brought about extraordinary miracles through Paul's instrumentality.

"The eye is the lamp of the body. If then your eyesight is good, your whole body will be well lighted;

For he is God's servant for your benefit. But if you do what is wrong, be afraid. He does not wear the sword to no purpose: he is God's servant--an administrator to inflict punishment upon evil-doers.

In what respect, therefore, have you been worse dealt with than other Churches, except that I myself never hung as a dead weight upon you? Forgive the injustice I thus did you!

"The man who is not with me is against me, and he who is not gathering with me is scattering abroad.

But, as for us, we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the delivery of the Message."

"'To him who overcomes I will give the privilege of sitting down with Me on My throne, as I also have overcome and have sat down with My Father on His throne.

So we have a cheerful confidence, and we anticipate with greater delight being banished from the body and going home to the Lord.

Let him turn from evil, and do good; Let him inquire for peace and go in pursuit of it.

No one else who was dead rose to Life until the thousand years were at an end. This is the First Resurrection.

(For all the Athenians and their foreign visitors used to devote their whole leisure to telling or hearing about something new.)

To each man He will make an award corresponding to his actions;

Why then was the Law given? It was imposed later on for the sake of defining sin, until the seed should come to whom God had made the promise; and its details were laid down by a mediator with the help of angels.

The God of our forefathers has raised Jesus to life, whom you crucified and put to death.

but it is in vain they worship Me, while they lay down precepts which are mere human rules.'"

But go and learn what this means, 'It is mercy that I desire, not sacrifice'; for I did not come to appeal to the righteous, but to sinners."

Then Philip began to speak, and, commencing with that same portion of Scripture, told him the Good News about Jesus.

And each of the four living creatures had six wings, and in every direction, and within, are full of eyes; and day after day, and night after night, they never cease saying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God, the Ruler of all, who wast and art and evermore shalt be."

"I tell you that in the same way there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one repentant sinner."

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he exclaimed, "O vipers' brood, who has warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Then Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, "We have found him about whom Moses in the Law wrote, as well as the Prophets--Jesus, the son of Joseph, a man of Nazareth."

And alas for the women who at that time are with child or have infants!

This is He about whom I said, 'After me is to come One who has been put before me, because He was before me.'

Re-entering the Praetorium, therefore, Pilate called Jesus and asked Him, "Are *you* the King of the Jews?"

And hast formed them into a Kingdom to be priests to our God, And they reign over the earth."

(For John was not yet in prison.)

Sell your possessions and give alms. Provide yourselves with purses that will never wear out, a treasure inexhaustible in Heaven, where no thief can come nor moth consume.

when He comes on that day to be glorified in His people and to be wondered at among all who have believed, including you--because you believed the testimony which we brought for your acceptance.

So teach and exhort. If any one is a teacher of any other kind of doctrine, and refuses assent to wholesome instructions--those of our Lord Jesus Christ--and the teaching that harmonizes with true godliness,

We also are but men, with natures kindred to your own; and we bring you the Good News that you are to turn from these unreal things, to worship the ever-living God, the Creator of earth and sky and sea and of everything that is in them.

Dependent on Him, the whole body--its various parts closely fitting and firmly adhering to one another-- grows by the aid of every contributory link, with power proportioned to the need of each individual part, so as to build itself up in a spirit of love.

And how are men to preach unless they have been sent to do so? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings of good!"

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.

For this man, Melchizedek, King of Salem and priest of the Most High God--he who when Abraham was returning after defeating the kings met him and pronounced a blessing on him--

Be on the alert; stand firm in the faith; acquit yourselves like men; be strong.

For the precepts, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," "Thou shalt do no murder," "Thou shalt not steal," "Thou shalt not covet," and all other precepts, are summed up in this one command, "Thou shalt love thy fellow man as much as thou lovest thyself."

And just as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so also these false teachers withstand the truth--being, as they are, men of debased intellects, and of no real worth so far as faith is concerned.

"Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are just like whitewashed sepulchres, the outside of which pleases the eye, though inside they are full of dead men's bones and of all that is unclean.

Thereupon many of His disciples left Him and went away, and no longer associated with Him.

And when they continued their furious shouts, throwing their clothes into the air and flinging dust about,

He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon, son of John: you shall be called Cephas" --that is to say, Peter (or 'Rock')

Stand therefore, first fastening round you the girdle of truth and putting on the breastplate of uprightness

He has seen a man called Ananias come and lay his hands upon him so that he may recover his sight."

On once occasion He was expelling a dumb demon; and when the demon was gone out the dumb man could speak, and the people were astonished.

Then, three years later, I went up to Jerusalem to inquire for Peter, and I spent a fortnight with him.

Then He was accosted by some of the Scribes and of the Pharisees who said, "Teacher, we wish to see a sign given by you."

and certain women whom He had delivered from evil spirits and various diseases--Mary of Magdala, out of whom seven demons had come,

Earth and sky will pass away, but it is certain that my words will not pass away.

For there are many that spurn authority--idle, talkative and deceitful persons, who, for the most part, are adherents of the Circumcision.

The fact is that in the stubbornness of your impenitent heart you are treasuring up against yourself anger on the day of Anger--the day when the righteousness of God's judgements will stand revealed.

So they signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them; they came, and they filled both the boats so that they almost sank.

What then, brethren? Whenever you assemble, there is not one of you who is not ready either with a song of praise, a sermon, a revelation, a 'tongue,' or an interpretation. Let everything be done with a view to the building up of faith and character.

Returning from the neighbourhood of Tyre, He came by way of Sidon to the Lake of Galilee, passing through the district of the Ten Towns.

All whom I hold dear, I reprove and chastise; therefore be in earnest and repent.

For as I passed along and observed the things you worship, I found also an altar bearing the inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' "The Being, therefore, whom you, without knowing Him, revere, Him I now proclaim to you.

Let your language be always seasoned with the salt of grace, so that you may know how to give every man a fitting answer.

who gave Himself to suffer for our sins in order to rescue us from the present wicked age in accordance with the will of our God and Father.

and is not in accordance with the Good News of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.

with prophetic foresight he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, to the effect that He was not left forsaken in the Unseen World, nor did His body undergo decay.

For I have been distinctly informed, my brethren, about you by Chloe's people, that there are dissensions among you.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou who murderest the Prophets and stonest those who have been sent to thee, how often have I desired to gather thy children just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not come!

Jesus said to the attendants, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them to the brim.

John also gave testimony by stating: "I have seen the Spirit coming down like a dove out of Heaven; and it remained upon Him.

Just as Thou didst send me into the world, I also have sent them;

If you know all this, blessed are you if you act accordingly.

A week later the disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them, when Jesus came--though the doors were locked--and stood in their midst, and said, "Peace be to you."

And while He was reclining at table, a large number of tax-gathers and notorious sinners were of the party with Jesus and His disciples.

But for His part, Jesus did not trust Himself to them, because He knew them all,

But he said to them, "Do not be terrified. It is Jesus you are looking for--the Nazarene who has been crucified. He has come back to life: He is not here: this is the place where they laid Him.

and yet by His beneficence He has not left His existence unattested--His beneficence, I mean, in sending you rain from Heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and joyfulness."

On another occasion, when He was in one of the towns, there was a man there covered with leprosy, who, seeing Jesus, threw himself at His feet and implored Him, saying, "Sir, if only you are willing, you are able to make me clean."

let him who is on the roof not come down and enter the house to fetch anything out of it;

And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet-blast, and they will bring together His own People to Him from north, south, east and west--from one extremity of the world to the other.

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for it is on account of these very sins that God's anger is coming upon the disobedient.

Do you not understand that whatever enters the mouth passes into the stomach and is afterwards ejected from the body?

On the first day of the Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus with the question, "Where shall we make preparations for you to eat the Passover?"

Suppose a Christian brother or sister is poorly clad or lacks daily food,

In His right hand He held seven stars, and a sharp, two-edged sword was seen coming from His mouth; and His glance resembled the sun when it is shining with its full strength.

one of the Elders said to me, "Do not weep. The Lion which belongs to the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed, and will open the book and break its seven seals."

and in the center of the lampstands some One resembling the Son of Man, clothed in a robe which reached to His feet, and with a girdle of gold across His breast.

It is evident, too, that no one can find acceptance with God simply by obeying the Law, because "the righteous shall live by faith,"

Relieve the necessities of God's people; always practise hospitality.

This Jesus is the Stone treated with contempt by you the builders, but it has been made the Cornerstone.

and was teaching them when the Scribes and the Pharisees brought to Him a woman who had been found committing adultery. They made her stand in the centre of the court, and they put the case to Him.

So also Sodom and Gomorrah--and the neighboring towns in the same manner--having been guilty of gross fornication and having gone astray in pursuit of unnatural vice, are now before us as a specimen of the fire of the Ages in the punishment which they are undergoing.

As for me, brethren, if I am still a preacher of circumcision, how is it that I am still suffering persecution? In that case the Cross has ceased to be a stumbling-block!

While I was with them, I kept them true to Thy name--the name Thou hast given me to bear--and I kept watch over them, and not one of them is lost but only he who is doomed to destruction--that the Scripture may be fulfilled.

If a man wishes to be my servant, let him follow me; and where I am, there too shall my servant be. If a man wishes to be my servant, the Father will honour him.

Then He said, "Now, take some out, and carry it to the President of the feast."

In conclusion, my brethren, be joyful in the Lord. For me to give you the same warnings as before is not irksome to me, while so far as you are concerned it is a safe precaution.

And He found in the Temple the dealers in cattle and sheep and in pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there.

to occupy the place in this ministry and Apostleship from which Judas through transgression fell, in order to go to his own place."

Then the High Priest asked him, "Are these statements true?"

Jesus perceived that they wanted to ask Him, and He said, "Is this what you are questioning one another about--my saying, 'A little while and you do not see me, and again a little while and you shall see me'?

The Scribes, too, who had come down from Jerusalem said, "He has Baal-zebul in him; and it is by the power of the Prince of the demons that he expels the demons."

"Why is it that you have been searching for me?" He replied; "did you not know that it is my duty to be engaged upon my Father's business?"

Such persons are mere babes. But solid food is for adults--that is, for those who through constant practice have their spiritual faculties carefully trained to distinguish good from evil.

Therefore do not cast from you your confident hope, for it will receive a vast reward.

But as God tested and approved us before entrusting us with His Good News, so in what we say we are seeking not to please men but to please God, who tests and approves our motives.

Therefore, "'Come out from among them and separate yourselves,' says the Lord, 'and touch nothing impure; and I will receive you, and will be a Father to you,

So then let him who thinks he is standing securely beware of falling.

Every one who hates his brother man is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has the Life of the Ages continuing in him.

That is why, when He comes into the world, He says, "Sacrifice and offering Thou has not desired, but a body Thou hast prepared for Me.

For we are the true circumcision--we who render to God a spiritual worship and make our boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in outward ceremonies:

I for my part am like a drink-offering which is already being poured out; and the time for my departure is now close at hand.

Afflict yourselves and mourn and weep aloud; let your laughter be turned into grief, and your gladness into shame.

and you also were once addicted to them, while you were living under their power.

But as to you, brethren, I am convinced-- yes, I Paul am convinced--that, even apart from my teaching, you are already full of goodness of heart, and enriched with complete Christian knowledge, and are also competent to instruct one another.

Therefore let us aim at whatever makes for peace and mutual upbuilding of character.

in order that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and that you may be glorified in Him--so wonderful is the grace of our God and of the Lord Jesus Christ!

If, however, the meaning of our Good News has been veiled, the veil has been on the hearts of those who are on the way to perdition,

but I proceeded to preach first to the people in Damascus, and then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judaea, and to the Gentiles, that they must repent and turn to God, and live lives consistent with such repentance.

He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah!" --that is to say, the Anointed One.

King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know that you believe them."

It stands written in the Prophets, 'And they shall all of them be taught by God'. Every one who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to me.

"How was it," replied Peter, "that you two agreed to try an experiment upon the Spirit of the Lord? The men who have buried your husband are already at the door, and they will carry you out."

Again He said to them, "I am going away. Then you will try to find me, but you will die in your sins. Where I am going, it is impossible for you to come."

"Sir," said the woman, "give me that water, that I may never be thirsty, nor continually come all the way here to draw from the well."

On their second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Pharaoh was informed of Joseph's parentage.

Now when the day began to decline, the Twelve came to Him and said, "Send the people away, that they may go to the villages and farms round about and find lodging and a supply of food; because here we are in an uninhabited district."

and in course of time his wife Elizabeth conceived, and kept herself secluded five months.

He again definitely mentions a certain day, "To-day," saying long afterwards, by David's lips, in the words already quoted, "To-day, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts."

Yet God's solid foundation stands unmoved, bearing this inscription, "The Lord knows those who really belong to Him." And this also, "Let every one who names the Name of the Lord renounce all wickedness."

For this reason I would have you understand that no one speaking under the influence of The Spirit of God ever says, "Jesus is accursed," and that no one is able to say, "Jesus is Lord," except under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

He referred to the Spirit which those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not bestowed as yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

even as Abraham believed God, and his faith was placed to his account as righteousness?

On the contrary, we believe that it is by the grace of the Lord Jesus that we, as well as they, shall be saved."

And angels--those who did not keep the position originally assigned to them, but deserted their own proper abode--He reserves in everlasting bonds, in darkness, in preparation for the judgement of the great day.

saw fit to reveal His Son within me in order that I might tell among the Gentiles the Good News concerning Him, at once I did not confer with any human being,

So they entered the house; and when they saw the babe with His mother Mary, they prostrated themselves and did Him homage, and opening their treasure-chests offered gifts to Him--gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

After remaining a considerable time longer in Corinth, Paul took leave of the brethren and set sail for Syria; and Priscilla and Aquila were with him. He had shaved his head at Cenchreae, because he was bound by a vow.

He who holds his life dear, is destroying it; and he who makes his life of no account in this world shall keep it to the Life of the Ages.

Write down therefore the things you have just seen, and those which are now taking place, and those which are soon to follow:

But while giving you these instructions, there is one thing I cannot praise--your meeting together, with bad rather than good results.

No one is taking it away from me, but I myself am laying it down. I am authorized to lay it down, and I am authorized to receive it back again. This is the command I received from my Father."

He appointed twelve of them, that they might be with Him, and that He might also send them to proclaim His Message,

And you will be objects of universal hatred because you are called by my name; but he who holds out to the End--he will be saved.

when He made known to us the secret of His will. And this is in harmony with God's merciful purpose

I have come as my Father's representative, and you do not receive me. If some one else comes representing only himself, him you will receive.

For whoever shall have been ashamed of me and my teachings, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own and the Father's glory and in that of the holy angels.

Living as we do in broad daylight, let us conduct ourselves becomingly, not indulging in revelry and drunkenness, nor in lust and debauchery, nor in quarrelling and jealousy.

Just at that time there came some Pharisees who warned Him, saying, "Leave this place and continue your journey; Herod means to kill you."

and were baptized by him in the Jordan, making full confession of their sins.

Upon receiving these tidings, Jesus went away by boat to an uninhabited and secluded district; but the people heard of it and followed Him in crowds from the towns by land.

Upon descending from the hill country He was followed by immense crowds.

in order that their hearts may be cheered, they themselves being welded together in love and enjoying all the advantages of a reasonable certainty, till at last they attain the full knowledge of God's truth, which is Christ Himself.

Then the passion conceives, and becomes the parent of sin; and sin, when fully matured, gives birth to death.

and no longer lend your faculties as unrighteous weapons for Sin to use. On the contrary surrender your very selves to God as living men who have risen from the dead, and surrender your several faculties to God, to be used as weapons to maintain the right.

this Priest, on the contrary, after offering for sins a single sacrifice of perpetual efficacy, took His seat at God's right hand,

And no created thing is able to escape its scrutiny; but everything lies bare and completely exposed before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

Do not be ashamed then to bear witness for our Lord and for me His prisoner; but rather share suffering with me in the service of the Good News, strengthened by the power of God.

If one of you has a grievance against an opponent, does he dare to go to law before irreligious men and not before God's people?

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.

What does it matter, however? In any case Christ is preached--either perversely or in honest truth; and in that I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.

Alas for them; for they have followed in the steps of Cain; for the sake of gain they have rushed on headlong in the evil ways of Balaam; and have perished in rebellion like that of Korah!

If you then, imperfect as you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in Heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Now in Damascus there was a disciple of the name of Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, saying, "Ananias!" "I am here, Lord," he answered.

Already you are cleansed--through the teaching which I have given you.

As yet you have not asked for anything in my name: ask, and you shall receive, that your hearts may be filled with gladness.

And Crispus, the Warden of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, and so did all his household; and from time to time many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and received baptism.

But *I* have prayed for *you* that your faith may not fail, and you, when at last you have come back to your true self, must strengthen your brethren."

So they put a question to Him. "Rabbi," they said, "we know that you say and teach what is right and that you make no distinctions between one man and another, but teach God's way truly.

and yet you are unwilling to come to me that you may have Life.

While He was thus speaking, a Ruler came up and profoundly bowing said, "My daughter is just dead; but come and put your hand upon her and she will return to life."

So Joseph went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judaea, to David's town of Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,

But now I an returning to Him who sent me; and not one of you asks me where I am going.

Then He drew the Twelve to Him and said, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything written in the Prophets which refers to the Son of Man will be fulfilled.

So they came to Capernaum; and when in the house He asked them, "What were you arguing about on the way?"

You say, I am rich, and have wealth stored up, and I stand in need of nothing; and you do not know that if there is a wretched creature it is *you* -- pitiable, poor, blind, naked.

Be assured that the testing of your faith leads to power of endurance.

For the Creation fell into subjection to failure and unreality (not of its own choice, but by the will of Him who so subjected it)

But God's free gift immeasurably outweighs the transgression. For if through the transgression of the one individual the mass of mankind have died, infinitely greater is the generosity with which God's grace, and the gift given in His grace which found expression in the one man Jesus Christ, have been bestowed on the mass of mankind.

He added an oath, in order that, through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for Him to prove false, we may possess mighty encouragement--we who, for safety, have hastened to lay hold of the hope set before us.

And when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals I saw it, and I heard one of the four living creatures say, as if in a voice of thunder, "Come."

not that in this world you are to keep wholly aloof from such as they, any more than from people who are avaricious and greedy of gain, or from worshippers of idols. For that would mean that you would be compelled to go out of the world altogether.

All this kept happening to them with a figurative meaning; but it was put on record by way of admonition to us upon whom the ends of the Ages have come.

I am jealous over you with God's own jealousy. For I have betrothed you to Christ to present you to Him like a faithful bride to her one husband.

Love avoids doing any wrong to one's fellow man, and is therefore complete obedience to Law.

In this way Joseph, whom the Apostles gave the name of Bar-nabas--signifying 'Son of Encouragement' --a Levite, a native of Cyprus,

But thanks be to God that though you were once in thraldom to Sin, you have now yielded a hearty obedience to that system of truth in which you have been instructed.

Here he found a Jew, a native of Pontus, of the name of Aquila. He and his wife Priscilla had recently come from Italy because of Claudius's edict expelling all the Jews from Rome. So Paul paid them a visit;

He who descended is the same as He who ascended again far above all the Heavens in order to fill the universe.)

For God does not repent of His free gifts nor of His call;

And now, Lord, listen to their threats, and enable Thy servants to proclaim Thy Message with fearless courage,

But they will have no further success; for their folly will be as clearly manifest to all men, as that of the opponents of Moses came to be.

And God, the giver of all grace, who has called you to share His eternal glory, through Christ, after you have suffered for a short time, will Himself make you perfect, firm, and strong.

"Rise," said Jesus, "take up your mat and walk."

but if you do not forgive others their offences, neither will your Father forgive yours.