82 Bible Verses about Gospel, Responses To

Moses said that anyone who carried out the uprightness the Law prescribed would find life through it. But this is what the uprightness that springs from faith says: "Do not say to yourself, 'Who will go up to heaven?' " that is, to bring Christ down; or " 'Who will go down into the depths?' " that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.read more.
No! This is what it says: "God's message is close to you, on your lips and in your mind"??hat is, the message about faith that we preach. For if with your lips you acknowledge the message that Jesus is Lord, and with your mind you believe that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with their minds men believe and are made upright, and with their lips they make the acknowledgment and are saved. For the Scripture says, "No one who has faith in him will be disappointed." There is no distinction between Jew and Greek for they all have the same Lord, and he is generous to all who call upon him. For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.

You must understand therefore, my brothers, that through him the forgiveness of your sins is announced to you, and that through union with him everyone who believes is cleared of every charge of which the Law of Moses could not clear you.

Then he called for lights and rushed in, and fell trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas. He led them out of the jail and said to them, "Gentlemen, what must I do to be saved?" "Believe in the Lord Jesus," they said, "and you and your household will be saved!"read more.
Then they told God's message to him and to all the members of his household.

But now God's way of uprightness has been disclosed without any reference to law, though the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it. It is God's way of uprightness and comes through having faith in Jesus Christ, and it is for all who have faith, without distinction. For all men sin and come short of the glory of God,read more.
but by his mercy they are made upright for nothing, by the deliverance secured through Christ Jesus. For God showed him publicly dying as a sacrifice of reconciliation to be taken advantage of through faith. This was to vindicate his own justice (for in his forbearance, God passed over men's former sins)??26 to vindicate his justice at the present time, and show that he is upright himself, and that he makes those who have faith in Jesus upright also.

The Jews complained of him for saying, "I am the bread that has come out of heaven," and they said, "Is he not Joseph's son, Jesus, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I have come down out of heaven'?" Jesus answered, "Do not complain to one another.read more.
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him to me; then I myself will raise him to life on the Last Day. In the prophets it is written, 'And all men will be taught by God!' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him will come to me. Not that anyone has ever seen the Father, except him who is from God; he has seen the Father. I tell you, whoever believes already possesses eternal life. I am the bread that gives life. Your forefathers in the desert ate the manna and yet they died. But here is bread that comes down out of heaven, and no one who eats it will ever die. I am this living bread that has come down out of heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give for the world's life is my own flesh!" This led the Jews to dispute with one another. They said, "How can he give us his flesh to eat?"

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves those who are his children.

Come to me, all of you who toil and are burdened, and I will let you rest.

While God overlooked those times of ignorance, he now calls upon all men everywhere to repent,

"Do not store up your riches on earth, where moths and rust destroy them, and where thieves break in and steal them, but store up your riches in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy them, and where thieves cannot break in and steal them. For wherever your treasure is, your heart will be also.read more.
The eye is the lamp of the body. If then your eye is sound, your whole body will be light, but if your eye is unsound, your whole body will be dark. If, therefore, your very light is darkness, how deep the darkness will be! No slave can belong to two masters, for he will either hate one and love the other, or stand by one and make light of the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is sound, your whole body is light, but when it is unsound, your body is dark. So take care! Your very light may be darkness! If, therefore, your whole body is light with no darkness in it at all, it will all be as light as a lamp makes things for you by its light."

Ask, and what you ask will be given you. Search, and you will find what you search for. Knock, and the door will open to you. For it is always the one who asks who receives, and the one who searches who finds, and the one who knocks to whom the door opens. Which of you men when his son asks him for some bread will give him a stone?read more.
Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a snake? So if you, bad as you are, know enough to give your children what is good, how much more surely will your Father in heaven give what is good to those who ask him for it! Therefore, you must always treat other people as you would like to have them treat you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

So I tell you, ask, and what you ask will be given you. Search, and you will find what you search for. Knock, and the door will open to you. For it is always the one who asks who receives, and the one who searches who finds, and the one who knocks to whom the door opens. Which of you fathers, if his son asks him for a fish will give him a snake instead?read more.
Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? So if you, bad as you are, know enough to give your children what is good, how much more surely will your Father in heaven give the holy Spirit to those who ask him for it!"

"Everyone, therefore, who listens to this teaching of mine and acts upon it, will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock. And the rain fell, and the rivers rose, and the winds blew, and beat about that house, and it did not go down, for its foundations were on rock. And anyone who listens to this teaching of mine and does not act upon it, will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand.read more.
And the rain fell, and the rivers rose, and the winds blew and beat about that house, and it went down, and its downfall was complete."

If anyone comes to me and listens to this teaching of mine and acts upon it, I will show you whom he is like. He is like a man who was building a house, who dug deep and laid his foundation upon the rock, and when there was a flood the torrent burst upon that house and could not shake it, because it was well built. But the man who listens to it, and does not act upon it, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation. The torrent burst upon it, and it collapsed at once, and the wreck of that house was complete."

Jesus answered, "Anyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but anyone who drinks the water that I will give him will never be thirsty, but the water that I will give him will become a spring of water within him, bubbling up for eternal life."

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread that gives life. No one who comes to me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty. But as I have told you, although you have seen me, you will not believe. All that my Father gives to me will come to me, and I will never refuse anyone who comes to me,read more.
for I have come down from heaven not to do what I please but what pleases him who has sent me. And the purpose of him who has sent me is this, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but should raise them to life on the Last Day. For it is the purpose of my Father that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and that I shall raise him to life on the Last Day."

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you abide by what I teach, you are really disciples of mine, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free."

I am the door. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will pass in and out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come to let them have life, and to let them have it in abundance.

Jesus said to her, "I myself am Resurrection and Life. He who believes in me will live on, even if he dies, and no one who is alive and believes in me will ever die. Do you believe that?"

But Jesus cried loudly, "Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who has sent me; and whoever sees me, sees him who has sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me may have to remain in darkness.

As he was passing along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets in the sea, for they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fish for men." They immediately abandoned their nets and followed him.

As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who was afterward called Peter, and his brother, Andrew, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. He said to them, "Come and follow me, and I will make you fish for men!" They immediately dropped their nets and went with him.read more.
And he went on a little farther and saw two other men who were brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother, John, in the boat with Zebedee, their father, putting their nets in order, and he called them. And they immediately left the boat and their father, and went with him.

He went on a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; they too were in their boat putting their nets in order. He immediately called them. And they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and went off after him.

Afterward, as Jesus was passing along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tollhouse, and he said to him, "Follow me!" And he got up and followed him.

And as he was passing along he saw Levi, the son of Alpheus, sitting at the tollhouse, and he said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed him.

After this he went out, and he saw a tax-collector named Levi sitting at the tollhouse, and he said to him, "Follow me!" And he left everything and got up and followed him.

So they welcomed his message and were baptized, and about three thousand people joined them that day.

The fugitives from the persecution that had broken out over Stephen went all the way to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, but they told the message to none but Jews. There were some men from Cyprus and Cyrene among them, however, who when they reached Antioch spoke to the Greeks also, and told them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord's hand was with them, and there were a great many who believed and turned to the Lord.

Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out plainly, and said, "God's message had to be told to you first, but since you thrust it off and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we now turn to the heathen. For these are the orders the Lord has given us: " 'I have made you a light for the heathen, To be the means of salvation to the very ends of the earth!' " When the heathen heard this they were delighted, and praised God's message, and all who were destined for eternal life believed,

On the Sabbath we went outside the gates, to the bank of the river where we supposed there was a praying place, and we sat down and talked with the women who gathered there. One of our hearers was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple goods, from the town of Thyatira. She was a believer in God, and the Lord touched her heart, and led her to accept Paul's teaching. When she and her household were baptized, she appealed to us, and said, "If you are really convinced that I am a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house." And she insisted upon our coming.

But for all the signs he had shown among them, they refused to believe in him, in fulfilment of the saying of the prophet Isaiah, "Lord, who has believed our account? And to whom has the Lord's mighty arm been unveiled?" So they could not believe; for Isaiah says again,read more.
"He has made their eyes blind and their minds dull, To keep them from seeing with their eyes, and understanding with their minds, And turning to me to be cured." Isaiah said this because he saw his glory; it was of him that he spoke.

This is why I speak to them in figures, because though they look they do not see, and though they listen they do not hear or understand. They are a fulfilment of Isaiah's prophecy, " 'You will listen and listen, and never understand, And you will look and look, and never see! For this nation's mind has grown dull, And they hear faintly with their ears, And they have shut their eyes, So as never to see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their minds, and turn back, And let me cure them!'

When he was by himself, those who stayed about him with the Twelve asked him about the figures he had used. And he said to them, "To you has been intrusted the secret of the reign of God, but to those outsiders, everything is offered in figures, so that " 'They may look and look and yet not see, And listen and listen and yet not understand, Lest possibly they should turn and be forgiven.' ",

His disciples asked him what this figure meant. And he said, "You are permitted to know the secrets of the Kingdom of God, but they are given to others in the form of figures, so that they may look and yet not see, and hear and yet not understand.

The rest became callous; as the Scripture says, "God has thrown them into a state of spiritual insensibility, with eyes that cannot see and cars that cannot hear, that has lasted down to this day."

So what I mean and insist upon in the Lord's name is this: You must no longer live like the heathen, with their frivolity of mind and darkened understanding. They are estranged from the life of God because of the ignorance that exists among them and their obstinacy of heart, for they have become callous, and abandoned themselves to sensuality, greedily practicing every kind of vice.

And what was sown among the thorns means the man who listens to the message, and then the worries of the time and the pleasure of being rich choke the message out, and it yields nothing.

It is different with those sown among the thorns. They are people who listen to the message, but the worries of the time and the pleasure of being rich and passions for other things creep in and choke the message out and it yields nothing.

And what falls among the thorns means those who listen and pass on, and the worries and wealth and pleasures of life stifle them and they yield nothing.

No slave can belong to two masters, for he will either hate one and love the other, or stand by one and make light of the other. You cannot serve God and money.

No servant can belong to two masters, for he will either hate one and love the other, or he will stand by one and make light of the other. You cannot serve God and money!"

for Demas has deserted me for love of the present world, and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia.

You renegades! Do you not know that the friendship of the world means enmity with God? So whoever wishes to be the world's friend declares himself God's enemy.

Do not love the world or what is in the world. If anyone loves the world, there is no love for the Father in his heart,

Anyone who is not with me is against me, and anyone who does not join me in gathering, scatters.

Anyone who is not with me is against me, and anyone who does not join me in gathering, scatters.

For to be physically minded means death, but to be spiritually minded means life and peace. For to be physically minded means hostility to God, for it refuses to obey God's law, indeed it cannot obey it. Those who are physical cannot please God.

But no one spoke of him in public, for fear of the Jews. But when the festival was half over, Jesus went up to the Temple and began to teach. This astonished the Jews. "How is it that this man can read?" they said, "when he has never gone to school?"read more.
So Jesus answered, "My teaching is not my own; it comes from him who has sent me. Anyone who resolves to do his will will know whether my teaching comes from God, or originates with me. Whoever speaks simply for himself is looking for honor for himself, but whoever looks for honor for the person who has sent him shows his sincerity; there is no dishonesty about him. Was it not Moses who gave you the Law? Yet not one of you obeys the Law. Why are you trying to kill me?" The crowd answered, "You must be possessed! Who is trying to kill you?"

So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How much longer are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are really the Christ, tell us so frankly!" Jesus answered, "I have told you so, and you will not believe it. The things I have been doing by my Father's authority are my credentials, but you do not believe it because you do not belong to my sheep.read more.
My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them and they follow me, and I give them eternal life, and they shall never be lost, and no one shall tear them out of my hands. What my Father has intrusted to me is of more importance than everything else, and no one can tear anything out of the Father's hands. The Father and I are one." The Jews again picked up stones to stone him with. Jesus answered, "I have let you see many good things from the Father; which of them do you mean to stone me for?" The Jews answered, "We are not stoning you for doing anything good, but for your impious talk, and because you, a mere man, make yourself out to be God."

But they ordered them out of the presence of the council and conferred together. They said, "What are we to do with these men? For it is plain to everyone in Jerusalem that an extraordinary wonder has been done by them. We cannot deny that. But to keep it from spreading farther among the people, let us warn them to say nothing to anyone else at all about this person."read more.
So they called them in and ordered them not to speak or teach at all about the name of Jesus.

This aroused the high priest and all his supporters, the party of the Sadducees, and filled them with jealousy, and they had the apostles arrested and put in the common jail. But an angel of the Lord opened the jail doors in the night and let them out, and said to them,read more.
"Go, take your stand in the Temple, and tell the people all about this new life." And they obeyed, and about daybreak went into the Temple and began to teach. The high priest and his party came over and called together the council and indeed the whole senate of the Israelites, and sent to the prison to have the apostles brought in. But the attendants who went for them could not find them in the jail, and they came back and reported, "We found the prison securely locked up, with the sentries on duty at the doors, but on opening the doors we found no one inside." When the commander of the Temple and the high priests heard this report, they were very much at a loss as to what would come of it. Someone came over and reported to them, "The men that you put in jail are standing right here in the Temple, teaching the people!" Then the commander and his men went and brought them back, but without using violence, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. So they brought them before the council. The high priest called on them for an explanation. "We strictly forbade you," he said, "to teach on this authority, and here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and propose to hold us responsible for this man's death!"

You stubborn people, with heathen hearts and ears, you are always opposing the holy Spirit, just as your forefathers did! Which of the prophets did your forefathers not persecute? They killed the men who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and killed??53 you who had the Law given to you by angels, and did not obey it!"

He went to the synagogue there, and for three months spoke confidently, holding discussions and trying to persuade them about the Kingdom of God. But as some of them were obstinate and refused to believe, finding fault with the Way before the people, he left them, and withdrew the disciples, and held daily discussions in the lecture-room of Tyrannus.

The seven days were almost over when the Jews from Asia caught sight of him in the Temple, and stirred up all the crowd and seized him, shouting, "Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches everybody everywhere against our people and the Law and this place, and besides he has actually brought Greeks into the Temple and desecrated this sacred place." For they had previously seen Trophimus of Ephesus with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the Temple.read more.
The whole city was thrown into confusion, and the people hurried together, and seized Paul and dragged him outside of the Temple, the gates of which were immediately shut. They were trying to kill him when the news reached the colonel of the regiment that all Jerusalem was in a tumult. He immediately got some officers and men and hurried down among them, and when they saw the colonel and the soldiers they stopped beating Paul.

For you, brothers, followed the example of God's churches in Judea that are in union with Christ Jesus, for you in your turn had to bear the same ill-treatment from your neighbors as they did from the Jews, who killed the Lord Jesus and persecuted the prophets and us; who displease God, and in their hostility to all mankind try to keep us from speaking to the heathen so that they may be saved, so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But God's wrath has overtaken them at last!

This is why we must give the very closest attention to the message we have heard, to keep from ever losing our hold upon it. For if the message delivered by angels proved to be authentic, and every violation or neglect of it led to a corresponding penalty, how can we escape if we pay no attention to such a salvation as this? It was first proclaimed by the Lord himself, and it was guaranteed to us by those who heard him,read more.
while God himself corroborated their testimony with signs, portents, and various wonders, and by impartations of the holy Spirit when he saw fit.

For what good does it do a man to gain the whole world and yet part with his life? For what can a man give to buy back his life? For if anyone is ashamed of me and my teachings in this unfaithful and sinful age, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of him, when he comes back in his Father's glory, with the holy angels."

I will show you whom to fear: fear him who, after killing you, has power to hurl you into the pit. Yes, fear him, I tell you.

So he went about among the towns and villages, teaching and making his way toward Jerusalem. And someone said to him, "Are only a few to be saved, Master?" He said to them, "You must strain every nerve to get in through the narrow door, for I tell you many will try to get in, and will not succeed,read more.
when the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock on the door, and say, 'Open it for us, sir!' Then he will answer you and say, 'I do not know where you come from,' Then you will go on to say, 'We have been entertained with you, and you have taught in our streets!' And he will say to you, 'I do not know where you come from. Get away from me, all you wrongdoers!' There you will weep and gnash your teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, while you are put outside. People will come from the east and west and the north and south, and take their places in the Kingdom of God. There are those now last who will then be first, and there are those now first who will be last."

If anyone hears my words and disregards them, it is not I that judge him, for I have not come to judge the world but to save the world. Whoever rejects me and refuses to accept my teachings is not without his judge; the very message I have given will be his judge on the Last Day, for I have not spoken on my account, but the Father who has sent me has himself given me orders what to tell and what to say.read more.
And I know his orders mean eternal life. So whatever I say, I say only as the Father has told me."

For it is impossible to arouse people to a fresh repentance when they have once for all come into the light and had a taste of the gift from heaven, and shared in the holy Spirit and felt the goodness of the word of God and the strong influences of the coming age, and yet have fallen back, for they crucify the Son of God on their own account, and hold him up to contempt.

How much worse a punishment do you think will anyone deserve who tramples the Son of God underfoot, and treats as worthless the blood of the agreement by which he has been purified, and outrages God's spirit of mercy? For we know who it is that has said, "Vengeance belongs to me! I will pay back!" and in another place, "The Lord will be the judge of his people!" It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!

Take care not to refuse to listen to him who is speaking. For if they could not escape because they would not listen to him who warned them here on earth, how much less can we, who reject him who is from heaven!

Such men are dried-up springs, clouds driven before the storm, and they are doomed to utter darkness. They utter arrogant nonsense and use physical cravings to lure into immorality men who are just escaping from among those who live in error; promising them freedom when they are themselves slaves of destruction; for a man is the slave of whatever overcomes him.read more.
For if after men have escaped the corrupting influences of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they again become entangled in them and are overcome by them, their final condition is worse than their former one. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of uprightness than after knowing it to have turned their backs upon the sacred command with which they had been intrusted. What has happened to them shows the truth of the proverb, "A dog returns to what he has vomited up, and a sow that has washed goes back to wallow in the mire."

A man came up to him and said, "Master, what good deed must I do to obtain eternal life?" But he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. But if you want to enter that life, keep the commandments." He said to him, "Which ones?" Jesus said, "These: 'You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness,read more.
Honor your father and mother,' and 'You shall love your neighbor as you do yourself.' " The young man said to him, "I have obeyed all these commandments. What do I still lack?" Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go! Sell your property and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come back and be a follower of mine." But when the young man heard that, he went away much cast down, for he had a great deal of property.

As he was starting again on his journey, a man came running up to him, and knelt at his feet and asked him, "Good master, what must I do to make sure of eternal life?" But Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God himself. You know the commandments??Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'read more.
But he said to him, "Master, I have obeyed all these commandments ever since I was a child." And Jesus looked at him and loved him, and he said to him, "There is one thing that you lack. Go, sell all you have, and give the money to the poor, and then you will have riches in heaven; and come back and be a follower of mine." But his face fell at Jesus' words, and he went away much cast down, for he had a great deal of property.

A member of the council asked him, "Good master, what must I do to make sure of eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God himself. You know the commandments, 'Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.' "read more.
And he said, "I have obeyed all these commandments ever since I was a child." When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "There is one thing that you still lack. Sell all that you have, and divide the money among the poor, and then you will have riches in heaven; and come back and be a follower of mine." But when he heard that, he was much cast down, for he was very rich.

Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men. The God of our forefathers raised Jesus to life when you had hung him on a cross and killed him. God took him up to his right hand as our leader and savior, in order to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.read more.
We and the holy Spirit which God has given to those who obey him are witnesses to these things." When they heard this, they were furious, and wanted to kill them.

You stubborn people, with heathen hearts and ears, you are always opposing the holy Spirit, just as your forefathers did! Which of the prophets did your forefathers not persecute? They killed the men who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and killed??53 you who had the Law given to you by angels, and did not obey it!" When they heard that, they were enraged and ground their teeth at him.read more.
But he, full of the holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw God's glory and Jesus standing at God's right hand. And he said, "Look! I can see heaven open, and the Son of Man standing at God's right hand!" But they uttered a great shout and stopped their ears, and they rushed upon him all together, and dragged him out of the city and stoned him, the witnesses throwing down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.

When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We should like to hear you again on this subject."

The next Sabbath almost all the town gathered to hear God's message. But when the Jews saw the crowd, they were very jealous, and they contradicted what Paul said and abused him. Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out plainly, and said, "God's message had to be told to you first, but since you thrust it off and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we now turn to the heathen.read more.
For these are the orders the Lord has given us: " 'I have made you a light for the heathen, To be the means of salvation to the very ends of the earth!' "

Just at that time a great commotion arose about the Way. A silversmith named Demetrius was making large profits for his workmen by the manufacture of silver shrines of Artemis. He got the workmen in that and similar trades together, and said to them, "Men, you know that this business is the source of our prosperity,read more.
and you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but almost all over Asia, this man Paul has persuaded and drawn away numbers of people, telling them that gods made by human hands are not gods at all. There is danger, therefore, not only that this business of ours will be discredited, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be neglected and the magnificence of her whom all Asia and the world worship will be a thing of the past!" When they heard this, they became very angry, and cried, "Great Artemis of Ephesus!"

Some days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and sent for Paul and heard what he had to say about faith in Christ Jesus. But as he talked of uprightness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became alarmed, and said, "You may go for the present. I will find time later to send for you."

As he said this in his defense, Festus called out, "You are raving, Paul! Your great learning is driving you mad!" "I am not raving, your Excellency Festus," said Paul, "I am telling the sober truth. The king knows about this, and I can speak to him with freedom. I do not believe that he missed any of this, for it did not happen in a corner!read more.
King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do!" "You are in a hurry to persuade me and make a Christian of me!" Agrippa said to Paul.

I have given them your message, and the world has come to hate them, for they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.

But when the Jews at Thessalonica found out that God's message had been delivered at Berea by Paul, they came there too, to excite and stir up the populace.

But Elymas the magician??or that is the meaning of his name??pposed them, and tried to keep the governor from accepting the faith.

This offended the Jews and they gathered some unprincipled loafers, formed a mob and started a riot in the town. They attacked Jason's house, to find them and bring them out among the people. As they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the town magistrates, shouting, "The men who have made trouble all over the world have come here too, and Jason has taken them in. They all disobey the emperor's decrees, and claim that someone else called Jesus is king."read more.
The crowd and the magistrates were very much excited at hearing this, and they put Jason and the others under bonds before they let them go.

And Saul entirely approved of his being put to death. A great persecution of the church in Jerusalem broke out that day, and they were all scattered over Judea and Samaria except the apostles. Some pious men buried Stephen and loudly lamented him. But Saul harassed the church. He went into one house after another, and dragging out men and women, put them in prison.

I feel encouraged, brothers, about you, in spite of all my distress and trouble, at your faith,

and the Lord's message spread all over the country. But the Jews stirred up the well-to-do religious women and the leading men of the town, and they started a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district.

As a result, we ourselves speak of you with pride in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in the face of all the persecutions and troubles you are having to endure.