"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.

He who did not withhold even His own Son, but gave Him up for all of us, will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

But, when the time was fully come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born subject to Law,

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.

For both He who sanctifies and those whom He is sanctifying have all one Father; and for this reason He is not ashamed to speak of them as His brothers; as when He says: "I will proclaim Thy name to My brothers: in the midst of the congregation I will hymn Thy praises;" read more. and again, "As for Me, I will be one whose trust reposes in God;" and again, "Here am I, and here are the children God has given Me." Since then the children referred to are all alike sharers in perishable human nature, He Himself also, in the same way, took on Him a share of it, in order that through death He might render powerless him who had authority over death, that is, the Devil,

At that time Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the Desert in order to be tempted by the Devil. There He fasted for forty days and nights; and after that He suffered from hunger.

There He fasted for forty days and nights; and after that He suffered from hunger. So the Tempter came and said, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to turn into loaves." read more. "It is written," replied Jesus, "'It is not on bread alone that a man shall live, but on whatsoever God shall appoint.'" Then the Devil took Him to the Holy City and caused Him to stand on the roof of the Temple, and said, "If you are God's Son, throw yourself down; for it is written, "'To His angels He will give orders concerning thee, and on their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any moment thou shouldst strike thy foot against a stone.'" "Again it is written," replied Jesus, "'Thou shalt not put the Lord thy God to the proof.'" Then the Devil took Him to the top of an exceedingly lofty mountain, from which he caused Him to see all the Kingdoms of the world and their splendour, and said to Him, "All this I will give you, if you will kneel down and do me homage." "Begone, Satan!" Jesus replied; "for it is written, 'To the Lord thy God thou shalt do homage, and to Him alone shalt thou render worship.'" Thereupon the Devil left Him, and angels at once came and ministered to Him.

Here they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith Jesus said to the paralytic, "Take courage, my child; your sins are pardoned." "Such language is impious," said some of the Scribes among themselves. read more. Knowing their thoughts Jesus said, "Why are you cherishing evil thoughts in your hearts? Why, which is easier? --to say, 'Your sins are pardoned,' or to say 'Rise up and walk'? But, to prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to pardon sins" --He then says to the paralytic, "Rise, and take up your bed and go home."

"All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one fully knows the Son except the Father, nor does any one fully know the Father except the Son and all to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.

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

He was still speaking when a luminous cloud spread over them; and a voice was heard from within the cloud, which said, "This is My Son dearly beloved, in whom is My delight. Listen to Him."

Jesus however came near and said to them, "All power in Heaven and over the earth has been given to me. 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; read more. 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."

But He Himself was in the stern asleep, with His head on the cushion: so they woke Him. "Rabbi," they cried, "is it nothing to you that we are drowning?"

He wondered at their unbelief. So He went round the adjacent villages, teaching.

"How many loaves have you?" He inquired; "go and see." So they found out, and said, "Five; and a couple of fish."

"For those words of yours, go home," He replied; "the demon has gone out of your daughter."

"My heart yearns over the people," He said; "for this is now the third day they have remained with me, and they have nothing to eat.

Heaving a deep and troubled sigh, He said, "Why do the men of to-day ask for a sign? In solemn truth I tell you that no sign will be given to the men of to-day."

Then Jesus asked the father, "How long has he been like this?" "From early childhood," he said;

Jesus, however, on seeing this, was moved to indignation, and said to them, "Let the little children come to me: do not hinder them; for to those who are childlike the Kingdom of God belongs.

Then He took with Him Peter and James and John, and began to be full of terror and distress,

"I am," replied Jesus, "and you and others will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the divine Power, and coming amid the clouds of the sky." Rending his garments the High Priest exclaimed, "What need have we of witnesses after that?

Then He said to them, "Go the whole world over, and proclaim the Good News to all mankind. He who believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he who disbelieves will be condemned. read more. 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. They shall take up venomous snakes, and if they drink any deadly poison it shall do them no harm whatever. They shall lay their hands on the sick, and the sick shall recover."

And as Jesus grew older He gained in both wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.

and the Holy Spirit came down in bodily shape, like a dove, upon Him, and a voice came from Heaven, which said, "Thou art My Son, dearly loved: in Thee is My delight."

Jesus listened to the Captain's message and was astonished at him, and He turned and said to the crowd that followed Him, "I tell you that not even in Israel have I found faith like that."

The Lord saw her, was moved with pity for her, and said to her, "Do not weep."

On that same occasion Jesus was filled by the Holy Spirit with rapturous joy. "I give Thee fervent thanks," He exclaimed, "O Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, that Thou hast hidden these things from sages and men of understanding, and hast revealed them to babes. Yes, Father, for such has been Thy gracious will.

You however have remained with me amid my trials;

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." Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, read more. and He said, "Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise again from among the dead; and that proclamation would be made, in His name, of repentance and forgiveness of sins to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem. You are witnesses as to these things.

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!

Jacob's Well was there: and accordingly Jesus, tired out with His journey, sat down by the well to rest. It was about six o'clock in the evening.

And He who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone: for I do always what is pleasing to Him."

Seeing her weeping aloud, and the Jews in like manner weeping who had come with her, Jesus, curbing the strong emotion of His spirit, though deeply troubled, asked them, "Where have you laid him?" "Master, come and see," was their reply.

"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'?

After this, Jesus, knowing that everything was now brought to an end, said--that the Scripture might be fulfilled, "I am thirsty."

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."

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.

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.

in whom we have our redemption--the forgiveness of our sins.

has at the end of these days spoken to us through a Son, who is the pre-destined Lord of the universe, and through whom He made the Ages.

For it was fitting that He for whom, and through whom, all things exist, after He had brought many sons to glory, should perfect by suffering the Prince Leader who had saved them.

In that case Christ would have needed to suffer many times, from the creation of the world onwards; but as a matter of fact He has appeared once for all, at the Close of the Ages, in order to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself.