82 Bible Verses about Gospel, Responses To

For Moses says of the law-way to right standing with God that whoever can perform the law will live by it. But here is what the faith-way to right standing 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.
But what does it say? "God's message is close to you, on your very lips and in your heart"; that is, the message about faith which we preach. For if with your lips you acknowledge the fact that Jesus is Lord, and in your hearts you believe that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For in their hearts people exercise the faith that leads to right standing, and with their lips they make the acknowledgment which means salvation. For the Scripture says, "No one who puts his faith in Him will ever be put to shame." But there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is over them all, because He is infinitely kind to all who call upon Him. For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.

So, my brothers, you must understand that through Him the forgiveness of your sins is now proclaimed to you, and that through union with Him every one of you who believes is given right standing with God and freed from every charge from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

Then the jailer called for lights and rushed in and fell trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas. After leading them out of the jail, he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, 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 giving men right standing with Himself has come to light; a way without connection with the law, and yet a way to which the law and the prophets testify. God's own way of giving men right standing with Himself is through faith in Jesus Christ. It is for everybody who has faith, for no distinction at all is made. For everybody has sinned and everybody continues to come short of God's glory,read more.
but anybody may have right standing with God as a free gift of His undeserved favor, through the ransom provided in Christ Jesus. For God once publicly offered Him in His death as a sacrifice of reconciliation through faith, to demonstrate His own justice (for in His forbearance God had passed over men's former sins); yes, to demonstrate His justice at the present time, to prove that He is right Himself, and that He considers right with Himself the man who has faith in Jesus.

Then the Jews began to grumble about His saying, "I am the bread that came down out of heaven." And they said, "Is He not Jesus, Joseph's son, whose father and mother we know? So how can He say, 'I have come down out of heaven'?" Jesus answered them, "Stop grumbling 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 ever 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; of course, He has seen the Father. I most solemnly say to you, whoever believes in me 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 the bread that comes down out of heaven, so that anyone may eat it and never die. I am this living bread that has come down out of heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever, and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my own flesh." But the Jews kept on wrangling with one another and saying, "How can He give us His flesh to eat?"

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves His child.

Come to me, all of you who toil and carry burdens, and I, yes, I, will lead you into rest.

Though God overlooked those times of ignorance, He now commands all men everywhere to repent,

"Stop storing up your riches on earth where moths and rust make away with them, and where thieves break in and steal them. But keep on storing up your riches in heaven where moths and rust do not make away with them and where thieves do not break in and steal them. For wherever your treasure is, there too your heart will be.read more.
"The eye is the very lamp of the body. If then your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is unsound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the very source of light in you is darkness, how dense is that darkness! No one can be a slave to two masters, for either he will hate one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot be slaves of God and money.

Your eye is the very lamp of your body. When your eye is sound, your whole body is full of light. But if your eye is unsound, your body is full of darkness. So be on your guard that the very source of light in you is not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light with no part of it in darkness, it will all be as light for you as it is when a lamp makes it light for you by its shining."

"Keep on asking, and the gift will be given you; keep on seeking, and you will find; keep on knocking, and the door will open to you. For everyone who keeps on asking, receives, and everyone who keeps on seeking, finds, and to the one who keeps on knocking, the door will open. What human father among you, when his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?read more.
Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a snake? So if you, in spite of your being bad, know how to give your children what is good, how much more surely will your heavenly Father give what is good to those who keep on asking Him? Then you must practice dealing with others as you would like for them to deal with you, for this is the summing up of the law and the prophets.

So I tell you, keep on asking, and the gift will be given you; keep on seeking, and you will find; keep on knocking, and the door will open to you. For everyone who keeps on asking, receives; and the one who keeps on seeking, finds; and to the one who keeps on knocking, the door will open. Now is there a father among you who, 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, in spite of your being bad, know how to give your children what is good, how much more surely will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who continue to ask Him?"

"So everyone who listens to my words and practices their teaching, will be like a prudent man who built his house on a rocky foundation. And the rain fell, and the rivers rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, but it did not fall, for its pillars had been laid on a rocky foundation. And anyone who listens to my words and does not practice their teaching, will be like an imprudent man who built his house on sand.read more.
And the rain fell, and the rivers rose, and the wind blew and beat against that house, and it collapsed, and the wreck of it was complete."

Everyone who comes to me and continues to listen to my words and practices their teachings, I will show you whom he is like. He is like a man who was building a house, who dug deep, and laid its foundation upon the rock; and when a flood came, the torrent burst upon that house but it could not shake it, because it was well built. But the man who merely hears them and does not practice them is like a man who built a house upon the ground without a foundation. The torrent burst upon it, and at once it collapsed, and the wreck of that house was complete."

Jesus answered her, "Anyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never, no never, be thirsty again, for the water that I will give him will become a spring of water that keeps on bubbling up within him for eternal life."

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread that gives life. Whoever comes to me will never get hungry, and whoever believes in me will never get thirsty. But I have told you that, although you have seen me, yet you do not believe in me. All that my Father gives to me will come to me, and I will never, no, never reject anyone who comes to me,read more.
because I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of Him who sent me. Now the will of Him who sent me is this, that I should lose none of all that He has given me, but should raise them to life on the last day. For it is my Father's will 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 believed in Him, "If you live in accordance with what I teach, you are really my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free."

I am the door myself. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. A thief does not come for any purpose but to steal and kill and destroy; I have come for people to have life and have it till it overflows.

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life myself. Whoever continues to believe in me will live right on even though he dies, and no person who continues to live and believe in me will ever die at all. Do you believe this?"

But Jesus cried aloud, "Whoever believes in me believes not merely in me but in Him who has sent me; and whoever sees me sees Him who has sent me. I have come as light into the world, so that no one who continues to believe in me can remain in darkness.

As He was walking 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. So Jesus said to them, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishermen for catching men." And at once they forsook their nets and followed Him.

As He was walking by the shore of the sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was summed Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. He said to them, "Come! Follow me, and I will make you fishermen for catching men." And at once they left the nets and followed Him.read more.
And as He was going on from that point, He saw two others, brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, getting their nets in order; and He called them. And at once they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

He walked on a little farther and saw James, the Son of Zebedee, and his brother John; they too were in their boats getting their nets in order. He at once called them. They left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and went after Him.

And as He was passing along from there, He saw a man named Matthew in his seat at the tax-collector's desk, and He said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed Him.

And as He was passing by, He saw Levi, the son of Alpheus, sitting in the tax-collector's office, and He said to him, "Follow me." Then he got up and followed Him.

After this He went out and saw a tax-collector named Levi in his seat at the tax-collector's desk, and He said to him, "Follow me." So he left everything behind, got up and followed Him.

So they accepted his message and were baptized, and about three thousand persons united with them on that day.

Now the fugitives from the persecution that started over Stephen went all the way to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, telling the message to none but Jews. But there were some of them, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who on reaching Antioch began to speak to the Greeks too, and proceeded to tell them the good news about the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

Then Paul and Barnabas courageously spoke out, "God's message had to be spoken to you Jews first, but since you continue to thrust it from you and since you show yourselves unworthy to receive eternal life, now and here we turn to the heathen. For here are the orders that the Lord has given us: 'I have made you a light to the heathen, To be the means of salvation to the very ends of the earth.'" The heathen kept on listening and rejoicing and giving the glory to God's message, and all who had been destined to eternal life believed,

On the sabbath we went outside the gate, to the bank of the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and began to talk with the women who had met there. Among them was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple goods from the town of Thyatira, and she stayed to listen to us. She was already a worshiper of God, and the Lord so moved upon her heart that she accepted the message spoken by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she begged us by continuing to say, "If you have made up your mind that I am a real believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house." And she continued to insist that we do so.

Although He had performed so many wonder-works right before their eyes, they did not believe in Him, so that the utterance of the prophet Isaiah was fulfilled: "Lord, who has believed what they heard from us? And to whom has the mighty arm of the Lord been shown?" So they could not believe, for Isaiah again has said:read more.
"He has blinded their eyes and benumbed their hearts, so that they cannot see with their eyes and understand with their hearts, and turn to me to cure them." Isaiah said this, because he saw His glory; yes, he spoke about Him.

This is why I am speaking to them in stories, because they look but do not see, they listen but do not really hear or understand. So in them the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: "'You will listen and listen and not understand, and you will look and look and never see at all, For this people's soul has grown dull, and with their ears they can scarcely hear, and they have shut tight their eyes, so that they will never see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn to me, so that I may cure them!'

When He was by Himself, those who stayed about Him with the Twelve began to ask Him about the stories. Then He said to them, "To you the secret of the kingdom of God has been entrusted, but to those who are on the outside everything is presented in stories, so that 'They may look and look and yet not see, And listen and listen and yet not understand, Lest, perchance, they should turn and be forgiven.'"

His disciples were asking Him what this story meant. So He said, "You are granted the privilege of knowing the secrets of the kingdom of God, but to others they are told in stories, so that they may look and not see, may hear and not understand.

as the Scripture Says, "God has given them over to an attitude of insensibility, so that their eyes cannot see and their ears cannot hear, down to this very day."

So I mean this and now testify to it in the name of the Lord: You must now stop living as the heathen usually do, in the frivolity of their minds, with darkened understanding, estranged from the life of God because of the ignorance that exists among them and because of the stubbornness of their hearts; for in their recklessness they have abandoned themselves to sensuality which leads to excessive practices of all sorts of immorality.

And what was sown among the thorns illustrates the man who hears the message, and the worries of the times and the pleasures of being rich choke the truth out, and he yields no fruit.

A different class are those people sown among the thorns. They are people who listen to the message, but the worries of the times, the deceiving pleasures of being rich, and evil desires for other things, creep in and choke the truth out, and it yields nothing.

And the portion of them falling among the thorns illustrates those who hear it, but as soon as they pass on they are choked out by the worries and wealth and pleasures of life, and thus yield no mature fruit.

No one can be a slave to two masters, for either he will hate one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot be slaves of God and money.

No house-servant can be a slave to two masters, for either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

for Demas has forsaken me because he loved the present world, and has gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia;

You faithless wives! Do you not know that the friendship of the world means enmity with God? So whoever wants to be a friend to the world puts himself down as an enemy to God.

Stop loving the world, or the things that are in the world. If anyone persists in loving the world, there is no love for the Father in his heart,

Whoever is not in partnership with me is against me, and whoever does not gather in partnership with me scatters.

Whoever is not in partnership with me is against me, and whoever does not gather in partnership with me, scatters.

For to be thinking the things suggested by the lower nature means death, but to be thinking the things suggested by the Spirit means life and peace. Because one's thinking the things suggested by the lower nature means enmity to God, for it does not subject itself to God's law, nor indeed can it. The people who live on the plane of the lower nature cannot please God.

And yet, for fear of the Jews, nobody dared to speak in public about Him. Now when the feast was already half over, Jesus went up to the temple and began to teach. The Jews were dumbfounded and said, "How can this uneducated man know the Scriptures?"read more.
Jesus answered them, "My teaching is not my own, but it comes from Him who sent me. If anyone is willing to keep on doing God's will, he will know whether my teaching comes from God, or merely expresses my own ideas. Whoever utters merely his own ideas is seeking his own honor, but whoever seeks the honor of him who sent him is sincere, and there is no dishonesty in him. Did not Moses give you the law? And yet not one of you is keeping that law. If so, why are you trying to kill me?" The crowd answered, "You are certainly under the power of a demon! Who is trying to kill you?"

So the Jews surrounded Him and kept asking Him, "How much longer are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are really the Christ, tell us so plainly." Jesus answered them, "I have already told you so, but you do not believe me. The works which I am doing on my Father's authority are my credentials, but still you do not believe in me, for 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 to them eternal life, and they shall never get lost, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My father who gave them to me is stronger than all, and no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. The Father and I are one." The Jews again picked up stones to stone Him. Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good deeds from my Father. For which of them are you going to stone me?" The Jews retorted, "It is not for a good deed but for blasphemy we are going to stone you; namely, because you, although a mere man, claim to be God."

But they ordered the prisoners to step outside the council, and they conferred together and repeated, "What shall we do with these men? For it is evident to everybody living in Jerusalem that an unmistakable wonder-work has been done by them; and we cannot deny it. But to keep it from spreading farther among the people, let us severely threaten them not to say anything at all to anyone else 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.

Now the high priest took a stand, and all his friends, the party of the Sadducees; and being filled with jealousy, they had the apostles arrested and put into the common jail. But in the night the angel of the Lord threw open the jail doors and let them out, and said to them,read more.
"Go and take your stand in the temple square and continue to tell the people the message of this new life." So they obeyed, and about the break of day they went into the temple square and began to teach. The high priest and his party arrived and called a meeting of the council and the whole senate of the sons of Israel, and sent to the prison to have the men brought in. But the attendants who went for them could not find them in the jail, and so came back and reported, "We found the prison safely locked and the keepers on duty at the doors, but on opening the doors we found no one on the inside." When the military commander of the temple square and the high priest heard this, they were utterly at a loss to know how this might turn out. But somebody came by and reported to them, "The men that you put in jail are standing right here in the temple square, teaching the people." Then the military commander went with his attendants and brought them back, but without any violence, for they were afraid of being pelted with stones by the people. 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!"

"You people, stubborn in will, heathenish in hearts and ears, you are always resisting the Holy Spirit, as your forefathers did, too. Which of the prophets did your forefathers fail to persecute? They killed the prophets who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have betrayed and murdered Him, you who received the law by order of the angels, and yet you did not obey it!"

He went to the synagogue there and for three months courageously spoke, keeping up his discussions and continuing to persuade them about the kingdom of God. But as some of them grew harder and harder and refused to believe, actually criticizing The Way before the people, he left them, withdrew his disciples, and continued his discussions in the lecture-hall of Tyrannus.

As the seven days were drawing to a close, the Jews from Asia caught a glimpse of him in the temple and began to stir up all the crowd, and seized him, as they kept shouting, "Men of Israel, help! help! This is the man who teaches everybody everywhere against our people and the law and this place; yea, more than that, he has actually brought Greeks into the temple and desecrated this sacred place." For they had previously seen Trophimus of Ephesus in the city with him, and so they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.read more.
The whole city was stirred with excitement, and all at once the people rushed together, and seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and its gates at once were shut. Now while they were trying to kill him, news reached the colonel of the regiment that all Jerusalem was in a ferment. So he at once got together some soldiers and captains and hurried down against them, but as soon as they saw the colonel and his 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 too have suffered the same sort of ill-treatment at the hands of your fellow-countrymen as they did at the hands of the Jews, who killed the Lord Jesus and persecuted the prophets and us; and who continue to displease God and show themselves in opposition to all mankind, by trying to keep us from speaking to the heathen, so that they may be saved, so as always to fill to the brim the cup of their sins. But at last God's wrath has come upon them.

This is why we must pay much closer attention to the message once heard, to keep from drifting to one side. For if the message spoken through angels proved to be valid, and every violation and infraction of it had its adequate penalty, how can we escape, if we pay no attention at all to a salvation that is so great? This is so because it was first proclaimed by the Lord Himself, and then it was proved to us to be valid by the very men who heard Him themselves,read more.
while God continued to confirm their testimony with signs, marvels, and various sorts of wonder-works, and with gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed in accordance with His will.

For what benefit will it be to a man to gain the whole world and fail to gain the higher life? For what price can a man give to buy back life? For whoever is ashamed of me and my teaching in this unfaithful, sinful age, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of him, when He comes back in His Father's splendor with the holy angels."

But I will show you whom to fear. Fear Him who, after killing you, has power to hurl you down to the pit; yes, I tell you, fear Him.

Then He was traveling from town to town and from village to village, teaching and making His way toward Jerusalem. And someone asked Him, "Lord, are only a few to be saved?" And He said to them, "You must struggle on to get in through the narrow door, for I tell you, many will try to get in, but will not succeed,read more.
when once the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand on the outside and to knock on the door again and again and say, 'Lord, open it for us'; but He will answer, 'I do not know where you come from.' Then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.' But He will say to you, 'I do not know where you come from. Go away from me, all you wrongdoers!' There you will weep and grind your teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves being driven away on the outside. People will come from east and west, from north and south, and take their seats at the feast in the kingdom of God. And so there are those now last who will be first then, and there are those now first who will then be last."

If anyone hears my words and fails to keep them, it is not I that judge him, for I have not come to judge but to save the world. Whoever persistently rejects me and refuses to accept my teachings has something to judge him -- the very message I have spoken will judge him on the last day. This is because I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who has sent me has given me orders Himself what to say and what to tell.read more.
And I know that His orders mean eternal life. So whatever I speak I am speaking as the Father has told me."

For it is impossible for those who have once for all been enlightened and have experienced the gift from heaven, who have been made sharers of the Holy Spirit and have experienced how good God's message is and the mighty powers of the age to come, and then have fallen by the wayside -- it is impossible, I say, to keep on restoring them to their first repentance, since they continue to crucify the Son of God to their detriment and hold Him up to contempt.

How much severer punishment do you suppose that one deserves who tramples the Son of God underfoot, and counts as a common thing the blood of the covenant by which he was consecrated, and has insulted the Spirit that grants God's unmerited favor? For we know who it was that said, "Vengeance belongs to me, I will pay back!" and again, "The Lord will be His people's judge." It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the ever living God!

See to it that you do not refuse to listen to Him who is speaking to you. For if they did not escape, because they refused to listen to him who warned them here on earth, how much less can we, if we reject Him who is from heaven?

Such men are dried-up springs, clouds driven by the storm, and they are doomed to densest darkness. For by uttering arrogant nonsense, through base desires of the lower nature, they entice into immorality men who are just escaping from those who live in error, promising them freedom, though they are slaves of destruction themselves; for a man is the slave of anything that conquers him.read more.
For if, after men have escaped the corrupting ways of the world through a full knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they again become entangled in them and are conquered by them, then their last condition is worse than their former one. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of uprightness than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command committed to their trust. In them is verified the truth of the proverb, "A dog turns back to what he has vomited"; and of that other proverb, "A sow that has washed herself goes back to wallow in the mire."

And a man came up to Him and asked, "What is there good that I can do to possess eternal life?" And He answered him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only One who is perfectly good. But if you want to get into that life, you must practice keeping the commandments." He asked Him, "What sort of commandments?" Jesus answered, "You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not lie,read more.
You must practice honoring your father and mother. And you must love your neighbor as you do yourself." The young man said, "I have kept all these commandments; what more do I lack?" Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go and sell everything you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come back here and follow me." And when the young man heard that, he went away in deep distress, for he owned a great deal of property.

As He was again starting on a journey, a man ran up to Him, and knelt to Him, and was asking Him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to get eternal life?" And Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me perfectly good? No one is perfectly 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. Practice honoring your father and mother."read more.
But he said to Him, "Teacher, I have kept all these commandments ever since I was a child." Then Jesus looked at him and loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing. Go, sell everything you have, and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come back and follow me." But his countenance fell at that command, and he went away in deep distress, for he owned a great deal of property.

Then a certain member of the council asked Him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to get possession of eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me perfectly good? No one is perfectly good but God Himself. You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery. Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Practice honoring your father and mother.'"read more.
But he said, "I have kept all these commandments ever since I was a child." When Jesus heard this, He said to him, "One thing you still lack. Sell everything you have, and distribute the money among the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come back and follow me." But when he heard that, he was very sad, for he was surpassingly rich.

Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men. 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.read more.
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.

"You people, stubborn in will, heathenish in hearts and ears, you are always resisting the Holy Spirit, as your forefathers did, too. Which of the prophets did your forefathers fail to persecute? They killed the prophets who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have betrayed and murdered Him, you who received the law by order of the angels, and yet you did not obey it!"read more.
As they continued to listen to this address, they were becoming infuriated and began to grind their teeth at him. But since he was full of the Holy Spirit, he looked right into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at God's right hand. So he said, "Look! I see heaven open, and the Son of Man standing at God's right hand." But they raised a great shout and held their ears, and all together rushed upon him, and dragged him out of the city and continued stoning him. The witnesses, in the meantime, laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.

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

The next sabbath almost the whole town turned out to hear God's message. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were completely overcome by their jealousy and began to contradict the statements made by Paul, and even to abuse him. Then Paul and Barnabas courageously spoke out, "God's message had to be spoken to you Jews first, but since you continue to thrust it from you and since you show yourselves unworthy to receive eternal life, now and here we turn to the heathen.read more.
For here are the orders that the Lord has given us: 'I have made you a light to the heathen, To be the means of salvation to the very ends of the earth.'"

Now just about that time a great commotion arose about The Way. A silversmith named Demetrius, by manufacturing silver shrines of Artemis, was bringing in great profits to his workmen. He called together his workmen, and others engaged in similar trades, and said to them: "Men, you well know that our prosperity depends on this business of ours,read more.
and you see and hear that, not only in Ephesus but all over the province of Asia, this man Paul has led away a vast number of people by persuading them, telling them that gods made by human hands are not gods at all. Now the danger facing us is, not only that our business will lose its reputation but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be brought into contempt and that she whom all Asia and all the world now worship will soon be dethroned from her majestic glory!" When they heard this, they became furious and kept on shouting, "Great Artemis of Ephesus!"

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. 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."

As Paul continued to make his defense, Festus shouted aloud, "You are going crazy, Paul! That great learning of yours is driving you crazy!" Paul answered, "I am not going crazy, your Excellency, Festus, but I am telling the straight truth. The king, indeed, knows about this and I can speak to him with freedom. I do not believe that any of this escaped his notice, for it did not occur in a corner!read more.
King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do." Then Agrippa answered Paul, "In brief you are trying to persuade me and make a Christian of me!"

I have given them your message, and the world has hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to it.

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.

But Elymas the magician -- for this is the meaning of his name -- continued to oppose them by trying to keep the governor from accepting the faith.

But this enraged the Jews; so they got together some wicked loafers about the public square, formed a mob, and set the town in an uproar. They stopped at Jason's house and tried to bring them out to the people. So, as they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the town magistrates, shouting, "These fellows, who have turned the world topsy-turvy, have come here too, and Jason has welcomed them. They are all acting contrary to the Emperor's decrees, because they claim there is another king, Jesus."read more.
Thus they wrought up to great excitement the crowd and the town magistrates, on their hearing this, and they made Jason and the other brothers give bond, and then turned them loose.

Saul heartily approved of his being put to death. So on that day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all of them, except the apostles, were scattered over Judea and Samaria. Some devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation for him. But Saul continued to harass the church, and by going from house to house and dragging off men and women he continued to put them into prison.

this is the very reason, namely, through your faith, brothers, that I have been encouraged about you, in spite of all my distresses and crushing difficulties,

and so the message of the Lord spread all over the country. But the Jews stirred up the devout women of high rank and the men of first rank in town, and so started a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district.

so that we are always boasting of you among the churches of God for your patient endurance and faith, in spite of your persecutions and crushing sorrows which you are enduring.