Thematic Bible


Thematic Bible



The governor, because he saw what had occurred, was thunderstruck at the Lord's teaching, and so came to believe. Verse ConceptsProconsulMiracles, Responses ToThose Who Believed In ChristConversion, examples of

He was an intimate friend of the governor, Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent man. The governor sent for Barnabas and Saul and in this way tried to hear God's message. Verse Conceptsevangelism, kinds ofDerision

While in this business I once was on my way to Damascus with authority based on a commission from the high priests, and on the road at noon, your Majesty, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, flash around me and my fellow-travelers. We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice say to me in Hebrew, 'Saul! Saul! Why do you continue to persecute me? It is hurting you to keep on kicking against the goad.' read more.
'Who are you, Sir?' said I. 'I am Jesus,' the Lord said, 'whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for the very purpose of appointing you my servant and a witness to me of the things which you have seen and those which I shall yet enable you to see. I will continue to rescue you from the Jewish people and from the heathen to whom I am going to send you, to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from Satan's power to God, so as to have their sins forgiven and have a possession among those that are consecrated by faith in me.' Therefore, King Agrippa, I could not disobey that heavenly vision, but I began to preach first to the people of Damascus and Jerusalem, and all over Judea, and then to the heathen, to repent and turn to God, and to live lives consistent with such repentance. For these very things the Jews arrested me in the temple and kept on trying to kill me. As I have gotten help from God clear down to this very day, I stand here to testify to high and low alike, without adding a syllable to what Moses and the prophets said should take place, if the Christ should suffer, and by being the first to rise from the dead was to proclaim the light to the Jewish people and to the heathen."

and before I went up to Jerusalem to see those who had been apostles before me, I retired to Arabia, and afterwards returned to Damascus. Verse ConceptsSolitudedamascus

At Damascus the governor under King Aretas kept guards watching the city gates to capture me, Verse ConceptsGovernorsdamascus

as the high priest and the whole council will bear me witness. Indeed, I had received letters from them to the brothers in Damascus, and I was on the way there to bind those who were there and bring them back to Jerusalem to be punished. But on my way, just before I reached Damascus, suddenly about noon a blaze of light from heaven flashed around me, and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?' read more.
I answered, 'Who are you, Sir?' He said to me, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.' The men who were with me saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of Him who was speaking to me. Then I asked, 'What am I to do, Lord?' And the Lord answered, 'Get up and go into Damascus, and there it will be told you what you are destined to do.' Since I could not see because of the dazzling sheen of that light, I was led by the hand by my companions and in this way I reached Damascus. There a man named Ananias, a man devout in strict accordance with the law, of good reputation among all the Jews who lived there, came to see me, and standing by my side said to me, 'Saul, my brother, recover your sight!' Then instantly I did recover it and looked at him, and he said, 'The God of our forefathers has appointed you to learn His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear Him speak, because you are to be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now, why are you waiting? Get up and be baptized and wash your sins away by calling on His name.'

While in this business I once was on my way to Damascus with authority based on a commission from the high priests, and on the road at noon, your Majesty, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, flash around me and my fellow-travelers. We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice say to me in Hebrew, 'Saul! Saul! Why do you continue to persecute me? It is hurting you to keep on kicking against the goad.' read more.
'Who are you, Sir?' said I. 'I am Jesus,' the Lord said, 'whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for the very purpose of appointing you my servant and a witness to me of the things which you have seen and those which I shall yet enable you to see. I will continue to rescue you from the Jewish people and from the heathen to whom I am going to send you, to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from Satan's power to God, so as to have their sins forgiven and have a possession among those that are consecrated by faith in me.' Therefore, King Agrippa, I could not disobey that heavenly vision, but I began to preach first to the people of Damascus and Jerusalem, and all over Judea, and then to the heathen, to repent and turn to God, and to live lives consistent with such repentance.

Paul fixed his eyes upon the council and said, "Brothers, with a clear conscience I have done my duty to God up to this very day." At this the high priest Ananias ordered the people standing near him to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, "You white-washed wall, God will strike you! Do you sit as a judge to try me in accordance with the law and yet in violation of the law you order them to strike me?" read more.
The people standing near him said, "Do you mean to insult God's high priest?" Paul answered, "I did not know, brothers, that he was high priest, for the Scripture says, 'You must not speak evil against any ruler of your people.'" Because Paul knew that part of them were Sadducees and part of them Pharisees, he began to cry out in the council chamber, "Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a Pharisee's son, and now I am on trial for the hope of the resurrection of the dead."

At the governor's signal to Paul, he answered: "Since I know that you for many years have acted as judge for this nation, I cheerfully make my defense, for you can verify the fact that not more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship, and they have never found me debating with anybody in the temple nor making a disturbance in the synagogues or about the city, read more.
and they cannot prove the charges they have just made against me. But I certainly admit this as a fact that in accordance with The Way -- that they call heresy -- I continue to worship the God of my forefathers, and I still believe in everything taught in the law and written in the prophets, and I have the same hope in God that they cherish for themselves, that there is to be a resurrection of the upright and the wicked. So I am always striving to have a conscience that is clear before God and men. After several years' absence I came to bring contributions of charity for my nation, and to offer sacrifices. While I was performing these duties they found me just as I had completed the rites of my purification in the temple; however, there was no crowd with me and no disturbance at all. But there were some Jews from Asia who ought to be here before you and to present their charges, if they have any, against me. Or let these men themselves tell what wrong they found in me when I appeared before the council -- unless it is for one thing that I shouted out as I stood among them, 'It is for the resurrection of the dead that I am here on trial before you today.'"

Then Agrippa said to Paul, "You have permission to speak in defense of yourself." So Paul with outstretched arm began to make his defense. "I count myself fortunate, King Agrippa," said he, "that it is before you that I can defend myself today against all the charges which the Jews have preferred against me, especially because you are familiar with all the Jewish customs and questions. I beg you, therefore, to hear me with patience. read more.
"The kind of life I have lived from my youth up, as spent in my early days among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is well known to all Jews, for they have known all along from the first, if they would but testify to it, that I as a Pharisee have lived by the standard of the strictest sect of our religion. And now it is for the hope of the promise made by God to our forefathers that I stand here on trial, which promise our twelve tribes, by devotedly worshiping day and night, hope to see fulfilled for them. It is for this hope, your Majesty, that I am accused by some Jews. Why is it considered incredible by all of you that God should raise the dead? I myself, indeed, once thought it my duty to take extreme measures in hostility to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. That was what I did at Jerusalem; yes, I received authority from the high priests and shut behind the prison bars many of God's people. Yes, when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them, and often in all the synagogues I had them punished and tried to force them to use abusive language; in my extreme fury against them I continued to pursue them even into distant towns. While in this business I once was on my way to Damascus with authority based on a commission from the high priests, and on the road at noon, your Majesty, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, flash around me and my fellow-travelers. We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice say to me in Hebrew, 'Saul! Saul! Why do you continue to persecute me? It is hurting you to keep on kicking against the goad.' 'Who are you, Sir?' said I. 'I am Jesus,' the Lord said, 'whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for the very purpose of appointing you my servant and a witness to me of the things which you have seen and those which I shall yet enable you to see. I will continue to rescue you from the Jewish people and from the heathen to whom I am going to send you, to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from Satan's power to God, so as to have their sins forgiven and have a possession among those that are consecrated by faith in me.' Therefore, King Agrippa, I could not disobey that heavenly vision, but I began to preach first to the people of Damascus and Jerusalem, and all over Judea, and then to the heathen, to repent and turn to God, and to live lives consistent with such repentance. For these very things the Jews arrested me in the temple and kept on trying to kill me. As I have gotten help from God clear down to this very day, I stand here to testify to high and low alike, without adding a syllable to what Moses and the prophets said should take place, if the Christ should suffer, and by being the first to rise from the dead was to proclaim the light to the Jewish people and to the heathen."

Yes, your obedience has been told to everybody; so I am delighted about you, but I want you to be wise about what is good and innocent about what is bad. Verse ConceptsGenuinenessInnocence, Teaching OnJoy, Of The ChurchWisdom, Human ImportanceCharacter Of SaintsHarmlessnessGuileBe Wise!Obeying The GospelYou Will Rejoice In Salvation

Therefore, King Agrippa, I could not disobey that heavenly vision, Verse ConceptsFaith, Nature OfVisions From GodWe ObeyHeavenly Visiondisobedience

Therefore, King Agrippa, I could not disobey that heavenly vision, Verse ConceptsFaith, Nature OfVisions From GodWe ObeyHeavenly Visiondisobedience

Therefore, King Agrippa, I could not disobey that heavenly vision, Verse ConceptsFaith, Nature OfVisions From GodWe ObeyHeavenly Visiondisobedience