Grace And Love Intertwined

Acts Chapter 25 Now when Festus had come to the province, after three days he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem.Then the high priest and the chief men of the Jews informed him against Paul; and they petitioned him,asking a favor against him, that he would summon him to Jerusalem— while they lay in ambush along the road to kill him.But Festus answered that Paul should be kept at Caesarea, and that he himself was going there shortly.“Therefore,” he said, “let those who have authority among you go down with me and accuse this man, to see if there is any fault in him.”And when he had remained among them more than ten days, he went down to Caesarea. And the next day, sitting on the judgment seat, he commanded Paul to be brought.When he had come, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood about and laid many serious complaints against Paul, which they could not prove,while he answered for himself, “Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I o...

Acts Chapter 24 Now after five days Ananias the high priest came down with the elders and a certain orator named Tertullus. These gave evidence to the governor against Paul.And when he was called upon, Tertullus began his accusation, saying: “Seeing that through you we enjoy great peace, and prosperity is being brought to this nation by your foresight,we accept it always and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness.Nevertheless, not to be tedious to you any further, I beg you to hear, by your courtesy, a few words from us.For we have found this man a plague, a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.He even tried to profane the temple, and we seized him, and wanted to judge him according to our law.But the commander Lysias came by and with great violence took him out of our hands,commanding his accusers to come to you. By examining him yourself you may ascertain all these things of which we accuse him.”A...

Acts Chapter 23 Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, “Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.”And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth.Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! For you sit to judge me according to the law, and do you command me to be struck contrary to the law?”And those who stood by said, “Do you revile God’s high priest?”Then Paul said, “I did not know, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’ ”But when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged!”And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees; and the assembly was divided.For Sadducees say that there is no ...

Acts Chapter 22 “Brethren and fathers, hear my defense before you now.”And when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they kept all the more silent. Then he said:“I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today.I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women,as also the high priest bears me witness, and all the council of the elders, from whom I also received letters to the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring in chains even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished.“Now it happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me.And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’So I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, wh...

Acts Chapter 21 Now it came to pass, that when we had departed from them and set sail, running a straight course we came to Cos, the following day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.And finding a ship sailing over to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail.When we had sighted Cyprus, we passed it on the left, sailed to Syria, and landed at Tyre; for there the ship was to unload her cargo.And finding disciples, we stayed there seven days. They told Paul through the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem.When we had come to the end of those days, we departed and went on our way; and they all accompanied us, with wives and children, till we were out of the city. And we knelt down on the shore and prayed.When we had taken our leave of one another, we boarded the ship, and they returned home.And when we had finished our voyage from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais, greeted the brethren, and stayed with them one day.On the next day we who were Paul’s companions departed and came to Caesarea, and entered...

                              Acts Chapter 20 After the uproar had ceased, Paul called the disciples to himself, embraced them, and departed to go to Macedonia.Now when he had gone over that region and encouraged them with many words, he came to Greece and stayed three months. And when the Jews plotted against him as he was about to sail to Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.And Sopater of Berea accompanied him to Asia—also Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia.These men, going ahead, waited for us at Troas.But we sailed away from Philippi after the Days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days joined them at Troas, where we stayed seven days.Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.There were many ...

                              Acts Chapter 19 And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some discipleshe said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”And he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?” So they said, “Into John’s baptism.”Then Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.”When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.Now the men were about twelve in all.And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concern...

                                                         Acts Chapter 18 After these things Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth.And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla (because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome); and he came to them.So, because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked; for by occupation they were tentmakers.And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks.When Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook his garments and said to them, “Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”And he departed from th...

                        Acts Chapter 17 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures,explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.”And some of them were persuaded; and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas.But the Jews who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace, and gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have turned the world upside dow...

                                                                  Acts Chapter 16 Then he came to Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek.He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium.Paul wanted to have him go on with him. And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek.And as they went through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep, which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem.So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia.Aft...

And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question.So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy to all the brethren.And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders; and they reported all things that God had done with them.But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.” - Acts 15:1-5 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts15:1-5&version=NKJV Some Jewish Christians tried to bind circumcision on the Gen...

                            Acts Chapter 14 Now it happened in Iconium that they went together to the synagogue of the Jews, and so spoke that a great multitude both of the Jews and of the Greeks believed.But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren.Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.But the multitude of the city was divided: part sided with the Jews, and part with the apostles.And when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to abuse and stone them,they became aware of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding region.And they were preaching the gospel there.And in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother’s womb, who...

                                                                    Acts Chapter 13 Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had John as their assistant.Now when they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a f...

Acts Chapter 12 Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church.Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword.And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during  the Days of Unleavened Bread.So when he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover.Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison.Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands.Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”; and so...

Acts Chapter 11  Now the apostles and brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God.And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him,saying, “You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!”But Peter explained it to them in order from the beginning, saying:“I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object descending like a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came to me.When I observed it intently and considered, I saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air.And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’But I said, ‘Not so, Lord! For nothing common or unclean has at any time entered my mouth.’But the voice answered me again from heaven, ‘What God has cleansed you must not call common.’Now this was done three times, and all were drawn up again into heaven.At that very moment, three men stood before ...

Acts Chapter 10  There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment,a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always.About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!”And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?” So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God.Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter.He is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. He will tell you what you must do.”And when the angel who spoke to him had departed, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier from among those who waited on him continually.So when he had explained all these things to them, he sent them to Joppa. - Acts 10:1-8 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts10:1-8&...