53 Bible Verses about Preaching, Effects Of

So with great power the apostles continued to give their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God's favor rested richly on them all.

and from there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had first been committed to God's favor for the work which they had finished. On arriving there they called the church together, and in detail reported to them all that God had done through them as instruments, and how He had opened to the heathen the door of faith.

But by God's unmerited favor I have become what I am, and His unmerited favor shown to me was not bestowed for nothing, for I have toiled more extensively than any of them, and yet it was not I but God's unmerited favor working with me. But whether it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the good news -- but not by means of wisdom and rhetoric, so that the cross of Christ may not be emptied of its power. For the message of the cross is nonsense to those who are in the process of being destroyed, but it is the power of God to those who are in the process of being saved. For the Scripture says: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will set aside the learning of the learned."read more.
So where is your philosopher? Where is your man of letters? Where is your logician of this age? Has not God shown up the nonsense of the world's wisdom? For since in accordance with the wisdom of God the world had never in reality, by means of its wisdom, come to know God, God chose through the nonsense of the message proclaimed, to save the people who put their faith in Him. While Jews are demanding spectacular signs and Greeks are searching for philosophy, we are preaching the Christ who was crucified -- a message that is a trap-stick to the Jews and nonsense to the Greeks, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks alike, the Christ who is God's power and God's wisdom. It is so, because God's nonsense is wiser than men's wisdom, and God's weakness is mightier than men's might.

Now when I came to you, brothers, I did not come and tell you God's uncovered secret in rhetorical language or human philosophy, for I determined, while among you, to be unconscious of everything but Jesus Christ and Him as crucified. Yes, as for myself, it was in weakness and fear and great trembling that I came to you,read more.
and my language and the message I preached were not adorned with pleasing words of worldly wisdom, but they were attended with proof and power given by the Spirit, so that your faith might not be in men's wisdom, but in God's power.

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He has consecrated me to preach the good news to the poor; He has sent me to announce release to captives and recovery of sight to the blind; to send the downtrodden away in liberty and to announce the year of favor from the Lord."

When the day of Pentecost had now come, they were all meeting in one mind, when suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a terrific blast of wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting, And they saw tongues like flames of fire separating and resting on their heads, one to each of them,read more.
and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in foreign languages as the Spirit granted them to utter divine things. Now there were devout Jews from every part of the world living in Jerusalem. And when this sound was heard, the crowd rushed together in great excitement, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were perfectly astounded, and in bewilderment they continued to say, "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? So how is it that each of us hears them speaking in his own native tongue? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, of Judea and Cappadocia, of Pontus and Asia, of Phrygia and Pamphylia, of Egypt and the district of Libya around Cyrene, transient dwellers from Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs -- we hear them all alike telling in our own tongues the great wonders of God."

While Peter was still speaking these truths, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the message. Then the Jewish believers who had gone along with Peter were astounded because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been showered upon the heathen too, for they heard them speaking in foreign languages and telling of the greatness of God. Then Peter asked,read more.
"No one can refuse the use of water, can he, for these to be baptized, since they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did ourselves?" So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they begged him to stay on there a few days.

and my language and the message I preached were not adorned with pleasing words of worldly wisdom, but they were attended with proof and power given by the Spirit, so that your faith might not be in men's wisdom, but in God's power.

At the same time keep on praying for me too, that God may open the door of opportunity for the message, so that I may tell the open secret about Christ, for the sake of which I am held a prisoner, in order to make it evident why I have to tell it.

And now, Lord, give attention to their threats and help your slaves with perfect courage to continue to speak your message, by stretching out your hand to cure people and to perform signs and wonders by the authority of your holy Servant Jesus." When they had prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and continued courageously to speak God's message.

So the Twelve called together the whole body of the disciples, and said, "It is not desirable that we should leave off preaching the word of God to wait on tables. So, brothers, you must select from your number seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit, and of good practical sense, and we will assign them to this business, while we will go on devoting ourselves to prayer and the word of God."

Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who is called Niger, Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen who was an intimate friend of the governor, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul, for the work to which I have called them." So after fasting and praying, they laid their hands upon them and let them go.read more.
So, as they were sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from that port sailed away to Cyprus. When they reached Salamis, they began to preach God's message in the Jewish synagogues. They had John with them as their assistant.

Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the message of the Lord may continue to spread and prove its glorious power as it did among you,

For we have had the good news told to us as well as they, but the message heard did them no good, because they were not by faith made one with those who heeded it.

For another reason too, we, as far as we are concerned, are constantly giving thanks to God; that is, when you received the message you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the message of men but as the message of God, as it really is, which keeps on working in you who believe.

The men of Nineveh will rise with the leaders of this age at the judgment and condemn them, for they turned to the message preached by Jonah, and there is more than Jonah here!

The men of Nineveh will rise at the judgment with the men of this age and will condemn them, for they turned to the message preached by Jonah, and yet One who is more than Jonah is here.

In those days John the Baptist appeared, and kept preaching in the desert of Judea, and saying, "Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is near." This is he who was mentioned by the prophet Isaiah, when he said: "Here is a voice of one who shouts in the desert, 'Get the road ready for the Lord; Make the paths straight for him.'"read more.
This very John had his clothing made of camel's hair, and wore a leather belt around his waist; his food was dried locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea, even the whole Jordan district, continued to go out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan River, as one by one they continued to confess their sins.

He is a voice of one who shouts in the desert, 'Get the road ready for the Lord; make the paths straight for Him.'" John the Baptizer appeared in the desert and was preaching a baptism conditioned on repentance to obtain the forgiveness of sins. And people from all over Judea and everybody in Jerusalem kept on going out to him and being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.

And he went all over the Jordan valley, preaching a baptism conditioned on repentance to obtain the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the sermon-book of the prophet Isaiah: "Here is a voice of one shouting in the desert, 'Get the road ready for the Lord, make the paths straight for Him. Every ravine must be filled up, and every mountain and hill leveled down; the crooked places must become straight roads, and the rough roads must be made smooth,read more.
And all mankind must see the salvation of God.'"

But many of those who heard their message believed, and the number of the men grew to about five thousand.

Peter said to them, "You must repent -- and, as an expression of it, let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ -- that you may have your sins forgiven; and then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, for the promise belongs to you and your children, as well as to all those who are far away whom the Lord our God may call to Him." With many more words he continued to testify and to plead with them to save themselves from that crooked age.read more.
So they accepted his message and were baptized, and about three thousand persons united with them on that day.

There was a man named Simon in the city, who had kept the Samaritan people thrilled by practicing magic there and by claiming to be a great man. Everybody, high and low, kept running after him, saying, "He is certainly what is known as the Great Power of God!" They kept running after him, because for a long time he had thrilled them with his magical performances.read more.
But when the people came to believe the good news proclaimed by Philip about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were constantly baptized. So Simon himself came to believe too, and after he was baptized he continued to be devoted to Philip, and he was always thrilled at seeing such great signs and wonder-works continuously performed.

The Jews there were better disposed than those in Thessalonica, for they welcomed the message with all eagerness and carried on a daily study of the Scriptures to see if Paul's message was true. Many of them came to believe, and not a few distinguished Greek women and men.

Now let me remind you, brothers, of the essence of the good news which I proclaimed to you, which you accepted, on which you now are standing, and through which you are to be saved, unless your faith at first was spurious.

They told the good news in that town, and after winning many disciples there, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the hearts of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith, and warning them that it is through enduring many hardships that we must get into the kingdom of God.

To Him who can make you strong in accordance with the good news I bring and in accordance with the message preached about Jesus Christ, in accordance with the uncovering of the secret which for ages past had not been told, but now has been fully brought to light by means of the prophetic Scriptures, and in accordance with the command of the eternal God has been made known to all the heathen, to win them to obedience inspired by faith -- to the one wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ. Amen.

And He has given some men to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, some to be pastors and teachers, for the immediate equipment of God's people for the work of service, for the ultimate building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain to unity in faith and to perfect knowledge of the Son of God, namely, to a mature manhood and to a perfect measure of Christ's moral stature;read more.
so that we may not be babies any longer, or like sailors tossed about and driven around by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men through their cunning in inventing new methods of error. But, on the other hand, we shall go on holding to the truth and in love growing up into perfect union with Him, that is, Christ Himself who is the Head. For it is under His direction that the whole body is perfectly adjusted and united by every joint that furnishes its supplies; and by the proper functioning of each particular part there is brought about the growing of the body for its building up in love.

So, just as you once accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue living in vital union with Him, with your roots deeply planted in Him, being continuously built up in Him, and growing stronger in faith, just as you were taught to do, overflowing through it in your gratitude.

Then they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord kept on working with them and confirming their message by the signs that attended it.

Then He went all over Galilee, as He continued teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and curing any disease or malady among the people. So the news about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were sick with various diseases, especially those who were suffering with torturing diseases; and he cured them. So great crowds followed Him, from Galilee and Decapolis, from Jerusalem and Judea, and from the other side of Jordan.

Then He called the Twelve together and gave them power and authority over all the demons, and to cure diseases, and then He sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to cure the sick. So He said to them, "Take nothing with you for your journey, no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, nor even have two shirts.read more.
Into whatever house you go, stay there and continue to go out from it as headquarters. And when you leave that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a protest against all the people who do not welcome you." And so they set out and went from village to village, telling the good news and curing people everywhere.

Jesus sent these twelve out, after giving them the following charge: "Do not go to the heathen, or to any Samaritan town, but rather to the lost sheep of Israel's house. And as you go continue to preach, 'The kingdom of heaven is near.'read more.
Keep on curing the sick, raising the dead, healing lepers, and driving out demons. You received and gave no pay; you must give and take none. Do not accept gold or silver or even copper money for your purse, and do not take a bag for your journey, nor two shirts, nor any shoes, nor a staff, for the workman deserves his support. Into whatever town or village you go, inquire for some deserving person, and stay at his house until you leave the place. As you go into his house, wish it well, and if the house should prove deserving, may your good wish for peace upon it come true, but if not, may your good wish bring peace to yourselves. And whoever will not welcome you, or listen to your words, on leaving that place shake off from your feet its very dust.

And He called the Twelve to Him and sent them out two by two, and gave them power over the foul spirits. He ordered them not to take anything for the journey except a staff, no bread, no bag, no money in the purse; they were to go with plain sandals on their feet and not to wear two shirts.read more.
And He continued to say to them, "Whenever you put up at a house, stay there until you leave that place. And if any place refuses to welcome you or to listen to you, when you leave there shake off the very dust from the soles of your feet as a warning to them."

And now, Lord, give attention to their threats and help your slaves with perfect courage to continue to speak your message, by stretching out your hand to cure people and to perform signs and wonders by the authority of your holy Servant Jesus."

So Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began to preach the Christ to the Samaritans. As the crowds continued to listen to his message and continued to see his wonder-works which he was performing, with one mind they became interested in what was said by Philip. For many of those under the power of foul spirits cried out and the spirits came out of them, and many paralyzed and crippled people were cured.read more.
So there was great rejoicing in that city.

At Iconium too they went to the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks came to believe. But the Jews who refused to accept their message aroused and exasperated the minds of the heathen against the brothers. In spite of this, however, they stayed there a considerable time and continued to speak with courage from the Lord, who continued to bear testimony to His gracious message and kept on granting signs and wonders to be done by them.

When Jesus had closed this address, the result was that the crowds were dumbfounded at His teaching, for He was teaching them as one who had authority to teach, and not as their scribes did.

So He came down to Capernaum, a city in Galilee. And He continued to teach them on the Sabbath, and they were completely astounded, because His message was spoken with authority.

They went into Capernaum, and as soon as the first Sabbath came, He went into the synagogue and began to teach. And they were dumbfounded at His teaching, for He was teaching them like one who had authority to teach, and not like the scribes.

Now there were devout Jews from every part of the world living in Jerusalem. And when this sound was heard, the crowd rushed together in great excitement, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were perfectly astounded, and in bewilderment they continued to say, "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?read more.
So how is it that each of us hears them speaking in his own native tongue? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, of Judea and Cappadocia, of Pontus and Asia, of Phrygia and Pamphylia, of Egypt and the district of Libya around Cyrene, transient dwellers from Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs -- we hear them all alike telling in our own tongues the great wonders of God." And thus they all continued to be astounded and bewildered, and continued to say to each other, "What can this mean?"

They were surprised to see the courage shown by Peter and John and to find that they were uneducated men, and especially untrained in the schools, but they recognized the fact that they had been companions of Jesus, and since they saw the man who had been cured standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply.

He left there and went back to His hometown, and His disciples followed Him. When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue. And the people were dumbfounded when they heard Him, and said, "Where did He get all these things? What sort of wisdom is it that has been given Him? And such mighty deeds are done by Him! Is He not the carpenter, Mary's son, and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And do not His sisters live here among us?" And so they found a cause for stumbling over him.read more.
But Jesus said to them, "A prophet never fails to be honored except in his native neighborhood, among his kinsmen, and in his own home." He could not do any mighty deeds there, except that He put His hands on a few ailing people and cured them. And He wondered at their lack of faith in Him. Then He made a circle of the villages and continued teaching.

He went to His own home town, and kept teaching in their synagogue in such a way that they were dumbfounded, and said, "Where did He get this wisdom and this power to do such wonder-works? Is He not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother's name Mary, are not His brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? And are not His sisters all living here with us? Where then did He get all these things?"read more.
And so they found a cause for stumbling over Him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet never fails to be honored except in his native neighborhood and in his own home." And so He did not do many wonder-works there, because of their lack of faith.

While Jews are demanding spectacular signs and Greeks are searching for philosophy, we are preaching the Christ who was crucified -- a message that is a trap-stick to the Jews and nonsense to the Greeks,

While Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred to its depths to see the city completely steeped in idolatry. So he kept up his discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and the pagans who were worshiping there, and also day by day in the public square with any who chanced to be there. Some of the Epicurean and the Stoic philosophers began to debate with him; and some said, "What is this scraps-of-truth-picker trying to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a preacher of foreign deities." They said so because he was telling the good news of Jesus and the resurrection.read more.
So they took him and brought him to the city auditorium and said, "May we know what this new teaching of yours is? For some of the things you bring sound startling to us; so we want to know just what they mean." (Now all the Athenians and foreign visitors in Athens used to spend their time in nothing else than telling or listening to the latest new thing out.) So Paul stood up in the center of the auditorium and said: "Men of Athens, at every turn I make I see that you are very religious. For as I was going here and there and looking at the things you worship, I even found an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' So it is about the Being whom you are in ignorance already worshiping that I am telling you. The God who made the world and all that it contains, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made by human hands, nor is He served by human hands as though He were in need of anything, for He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one forefather He made every nation of mankind, for living all over the face of the earth, fixing their appointed times and the limits of their lands, so that they might search for God, possibly they might grope for Him, and find Him, though He is really not far from any of us. For it is through union with Him that we live and move and exist, as some of your own poets have said, "'For we are His offspring too.' Since then we are God's offspring, we ought not to suppose that His nature is like gold or silver or stone or anything carved by man's art and thought. Though God overlooked those times of ignorance, He now commands all men everywhere to repent, since He has set a day on which He will justly judge the world through a man whom He has appointed. He has made this credible to all by raising Him from the dead." But when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some sneered, but others said, "We will hear you again on this subject."

Then Felix, who had a fairly clear conception of the principles involved in The Way, adjourned the trial, saying to the Jews, "When Lysias, the colonel, comes down here, I will carefully look into your case." He ordered the captain to keep Paul in custody but to let him have freedom and not to prevent his friends from showing him kindness. Some days later, Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess, and sent for Paul and heard him talk about faith in Christ Jesus.read more.
But as he continued to talk about uprightness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became alarmed, and said, "For the present you may go, but when I find a good opportunity, I will send for you." At the same time he was hoping to get money from Paul, and so he kept on sending for him and talking with him.

But when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some sneered, but others said, "We will hear you again on this subject."

But others in derision were saying, "They are running over with new wine."

But when the Jews at Thessalonica learned that God's message had been proclaimed at Berea by Paul, they came there too to excite the masses and stir up a riot.

While they were talking to the people, the high priests, the military commander of the temple, and the Sadducees came down upon them, because they were very much disturbed over their continuing to teach the people and to declare in the case of Jesus the resurrection from the dead. So they arrested them and put them into prison until next morning, for it was already evening.

So they brought them and had them stand before the council. And the high priest asked them, "Did we not positively forbid you to teach anymore on this authority, and yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and now want to bring on us the people's vengeance for this man's death!" Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men.read more.
The God of our forefathers raised Jesus to life after you had hanged Him on a cross and killed Him. God has exalted to His right hand this very One as our Leader and Saviour, in order to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We and the Holy Spirit that God has given to those who practice obedience to 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 respected by all the people, got up in the council and gave orders to put the men out of the council a little while; then he said to them: "Fellow Israelites, take care as to what you are about to do to these men. For in the days gone by Theudas appeared, claiming that he was a man of importance, and a considerable number of men, about four hundred, espoused his cause, but he was slain and all his followers were dispersed and as a party annihilated. After him, at the time of the enrollment for the Roman tax, Judas the Galilean appeared and influenced people to desert and follow him, but he too perished and all his followers were scattered. So in the present case, I warn you, stay away from these men, let them alone. For, if this program or movement has its origin in men, it will go to pieces, but if it has its origin in God, you can never stop it. It is to be feared that you may find yourselves fighting God." They were convinced by him, and after calling the apostles in and having them flogged, they charged them to stop speaking on the authority of Jesus, and then turned them loose.