29 Bible Verses about Popularity

and such a crowd gathered that after a while there was no room even around the door, and he was telling them his message.

For he cured so many people that all who had any ailments pressed up to him to touch him.

So he went with him. And a great crowd followed him and pressed around him.

Once as the crowd was pressing about him to hear God's message, he happened to be standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,

His mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not get near him, on account of the crowd.

Great crowds followed him about, from Galilee and the Ten Towns and Jerusalem and Judea and from the other side of the Jordan.

And such great crowds gathered about him that he got into a boat and sat down in it, while all the people stood on the shore.

Then great crowds came to him bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, or dumb, and many others. And they laid them down at his feet, and he cured them,

and the whole town was gathered at the door.

He went out of the town again and along the shore, and all the people came to him and he taught them.

Meanwhile as the people gathered in thousands, until they actually trod on one another, he proceeded to say to his disciples first of all, "Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, hypocrisy.

for they cared more for the approval of men than for the approval of God.

"Alas for you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is the way their forefathers treated the false prophets!

You who are slaves must always obey your earthly masters, not with mere external service, as though you had only men to please, but with sincerity of heart, because you fear the Lord.

About that time King Herod laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the church. He had John's brother, James, beheaded, and when he saw that this gratified the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too, at the time of the festival of Unleavened Bread.

But when two whole years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, and as he wanted to gratify the Jews, Felix left Paul in prison.

Then Festus, wishing to gratify the Jews, said to Paul, "Will you go up to Jerusalem and be tried there before me on these charges?"

For consider, brothers, what happened when God called you. Not many of you were what men call wise, not many of you were influential, not many were of high birth. But it was what the world calls foolish that God chose to put the wise to shame with, and it was what the world calls weak that God chose to shame its strength with, and it was what the world calls low and insignificant and unreal that God chose to nullify its realities,read more.
so that in his presence no human being might have anything to boast of.

Yet there is a wisdom that we impart when we are with people who have a mature faith, but it is not what this world calls wisdom, nor what the authorities of this world, doomed as they are to pass away, would call so. But it is a mysterious divine wisdom that we impart, hitherto kept secret, and destined by God before the world began for our glory.

Then what shall we conclude? That the Law is sin? Certainly not! Yet, if it had not been for the Law, I should never have learned what sin was; I should not have known what it was to covet if the Law had not said, "You must not covet."

Those who are found guilty you must reprove publicly, as a warning to others.

If we say, "We are without any sin," we are deceiving ourselves, and there is no truth in our hearts.

So it came about that many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and saw what Jesus did, came to believe in him, but some of them went back to the Pharisees and told them what he had done. Then the high priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council, and they said, "What are we to do about the fact that this man is showing so many signs?read more.
If we let him go on, everybody will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and put an end to our holy place and our people."

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!" So the commotion spread all over the city, and by a common impulse the people rushed to the theater, dragging with them two Macedonians, Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's traveling companions. Paul wanted to go before the people himself, but the disciples would not allow it. Some of the religious authorities also, who were friends of his, sent to him and begged him not to venture into the theater. Meanwhile the people were shouting, some one thing and some another, for the meeting was in confusion, and most of them had no idea why they had come together. Some of the crowd called upon Alexander, as the Jews had pushed him to the front, and he made a gesture with his hand and was going to speak in defense of them to the people. But when they saw that he was a Jew, a great shout went up from them all, and they cried for two hours, "Great Artemis of Ephesus!" At last the recorder quieted the mob and said, "Men of Ephesus, who in the world does not know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis, and of the image that fell down from the sky? So as these facts are undeniable, you must be calm, and not do anything reckless. For you have brought these men here, though they have not been guilty of disloyalty nor uttered any blasphemy against our goddess. If Demetrius and his fellow-craftsmen have a charge to bring against anyone, there are the courts and the governors; let them take legal action. But if you require anything beyond that, it must be settled before the regular assembly. For we are in danger of being charged with rioting in connection with today's events, though there is really nothing about this commotion that we will not be able to explain."

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!" 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. 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. But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law highly regarded by all the people, got up in the council and ordered the men to be removed for a while, and then said, "Men of Israel, take care what you propose to do with these men. For some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be a person of importance, and a group of men numbering some four hundred joined him. But he was killed and all his followers were dispersed and disappeared. After him, at the time of the census, Judas of Galilee appeared, and raised a great following, but he too perished, and all his followers were scattered. So in the present case, I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this idea or movement is of human origin, it will come to naught, but if it is from God, you will not be able to stop it. You may actually find yourselves fighting God!" They were convinced by him, and they called the apostles in and had them flogged, and warned them not to speak about the name of Jesus, and then let them go. So they went out from before the council, glad that they had been thought worthy to bear disgrace for the sake of Jesus,

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. Then the colonel came up and seized him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains, and then inquired who he was and what he had been doing. Some of the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and as he could not find out the facts on account of the confusion, he ordered him to be taken into the barracks. When Paul got to the steps, he was actually carried by the soldiers, on account of the violence of the mob, for the mass of people followed them shouting, "Kill him!"

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. And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it will be for those who have money to enter the Kingdom of God!"