Acts 20:24 Cross References - WNT

²⁴ But even the sacrifice of my life I count as nothing, if only I may perfect my earthly course, and be faithful to the duty which the Lord Jesus has entrusted to me of proclaiming, as of supreme importance, the Good News of God's grace.

¹⁰ But the angel said to them, "Put away all fear; for I am bringing you good news of great joy--joy for all the People. ¹¹ For a Saviour who is the Anointed Lord is born to you to-day, in the town of David.

²⁷ And you also are witnesses, because you have been with me from the first.

⁴ I have glorified Thee on earth, having done perfectly the work which by Thine appointment has been mine to do.

¹⁷ For Judas was reckoned as one of our number, and a share in this ministry was allotted to him."

¹⁵ "Go," replied the Lord; "he is a chosen instrument of Mine to carry My name to the Gentiles and to kings and to the descendants of Israel.

²³ On getting there he was delighted to see the grace which God had bestowed; and he encouraged them all to remain, with fixed resolve, faithful to the Lord.

³ Yet Paul and Barnabas remained there for a considerable time, speaking freely and relying on the Lord, while He bore witness to the Message of His grace by permitting signs and marvels to be done by them.

²¹ and urging upon both Jews and Greeks the necessity of turning to God and of believing in Jesus our Lord.

³² "And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace. He is able to build you up and to give you your inheritance among His people.

¹³ His reply was, "What can you mean by thus breaking my heart with your grief? Why, as for me, I am ready not only to go to Jerusalem and be put in chains, but even to die there for the sake of the Lord Jesus."

²¹ "'Go,' He replied; 'I will send you as an Apostle to nations far away.'"

¹⁷ I will save you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you to open their eyes, ¹⁸ that they may turn from darkness to light and from the obedience to Satan to God, in order to receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified through faith in Me.'

²⁴ gaining acquittal from guilt by His free unpurchased grace through the deliverance which is found in Christ Jesus. ²⁵ He it is whom God put forward as a Mercy-seat, rendered efficacious through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness-- because of the passing over, in God's forbearance, of the sins previously committed-- ²⁶ with a view to demonstrating, at the present time, His righteousness, that He may be shown to be righteous Himself, and the giver of righteousness to those who believe in Jesus.

⁴ But in the case of a man who works, pay is not reckoned a favour but a debt;

²⁰ Now Law was brought in later on, so that transgression might increase. But where sin increased, grace has overflowed; ²¹ in order that as sin has exercised kingly sway in inflicting death, so grace, too, may exercise kingly sway in bestowing a righteousness which results in the Life of the Ages through Jesus Christ our Lord.

³⁵ Who shall separate us from Christ's love? Shall affliction or distress, persecution or hunger, nakedness or danger or the sword? ³⁶ As it stands written in the Scripture, "FOR THY SAKE THEY ARE, ALL DAY LONG, TRYING TO KILL US. WE HAVE BEEN LOOKED UPON AS SHEEP DESTINED FOR SLAUGHTER." ³⁷ Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who has loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither the lower ranks of evil angels nor the higher, neither things present nor things future, nor the forces of nature, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God which rests upon us in Christ Jesus our Lord.

⁶ But if it is in His grace that He has selected them, then His choice is no longer determined by human actions. Otherwise grace would be grace no longer.

¹⁷ And if I preach willingly, I receive my wages; but if against my will, a stewardship has nevertheless been entrusted to me. ¹⁸ What are my wages then? The very fact that the Good News which I preach will cost my hearers nothing, so that I cannot be charged with abuse of my privileges as a Christian preacher.

²⁴ Do you not know that in the foot-race the runners all run, but that only one gets the prize? You must run like him, in order to win with certainty. ²⁵ But every competitor in an athletic contest practices abstemiousness in all directions. They indeed do this for the sake of securing a perishable wreath, but we for the sake of securing one that will not perish. ²⁶ That is how I run, not being in any doubt as to my goal. I am a boxer who does not inflict blows on the air, ²⁷ but I hit hard and straight at my own body and lead it off into slavery, lest possibly, after I have been a herald to others, I should myself be rejected.

⁵⁸ Therefore, my dear brethren, be firm, unmovable, busily occupied at all times in the Lord's work, knowing that your toil is not fruitless in the Lord.

¹ Therefore, being engaged in this service and being mindful of the mercy which has been shown us, we are not cowards.

⁸ We are hard pressed, yet never in absolute distress; perplexed, yet never utterly baffled; ⁹ pursued, yet never left unsuccoured; struck to the ground, yet never slain;

¹⁶ Therefore we are not cowards. Nay, even though our outward man is wasting away, yet our inward man is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For this our light and transitory burden of suffering is achieving for us a preponderating, yes, a vastly preponderating, and eternal weight of glory; ¹⁸ while we look not at things seen, but things unseen; for things seen are temporary, but things unseen are eternal.

⁸ So we have a cheerful confidence, and we anticipate with greater delight being banished from the body and going home to the Lord.

⁴ On the contrary, as God's servants, we seek their full approval--by unwearied endurance, by afflictions, by distress, by helplessness; ⁵ by floggings, by imprisonments; by facing riots, by toil, by sleepless watching, by hunger and thirst; ⁶ by purity of life, by knowledge, by patience, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love; ⁷ by the proclamation of the truth, by the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness, wielded in both hands; ⁸ through honour and ignominy, through calumny and praise. We are looked upon as impostors and yet are true men; ⁹ as obscure persons, and yet are well known; as on the point of death, and yet, strange to tell, we live; as under God's discipline, and yet we are not deprived of life; ¹⁰ as sad, but we are always joyful; as poor, but we bestow wealth on many; as having nothing, and yet we securely possess all things.

⁴ I have great confidence in you: very loudly do I boast of you. I am filled with comfort: my heart overflows with joy amid all our affliction.

¹⁰ In fact I take pleasure in infirmities, in the bearing of insults, in distress, in persecutions, in grievous difficulties--for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

¹ Paul, an Apostle sent not from men nor by any man, but by Jesus Christ and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from among the dead--

⁶ to the praise of the splendour of His grace with which He has enriched us in the beloved One.

⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of the intense love which He bestowed on us, ⁵ caused us, dead though we were through our offences, to live with Christ--it is by grace that you have been saved-- ⁶ raised us with Him from the dead, and enthroned us with Him in the heavenly realms as being in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that, by His goodness to us in Christ Jesus, He might display in the Ages to come the transcendent riches of His grace. ⁸ For it is by grace that you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves. It is God's gift, and is not on the ground of merit-- ⁹ so that it may be impossible for any one to boast. ¹⁰ For we are God's own handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works which He has pre-destined us to practise.

¹³ Therefore I entreat you not to lose heart in the midst of my sufferings on your behalf, for they bring you honour.

²⁰ in fulfilment of my eager expectation and hope that I shall never have reason to feel ashamed, but that by my perfect freedom of speech Christ will be glorified in me, now as always, either by my life or by my death. ²¹ For, with me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. ²² But since to live means a longer stay on earth, that implies more labour for me--and not unsuccessful labour; and which I am to choose I cannot tell. ²³ I am in a dilemma, my earnest desire being to depart and be with Christ, for that is far, far better.

¹⁷ Nay, even if my life is to be poured as a libation upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I rejoice, and I congratulate you all.

¹³ Brethren, I do not imagine that I have yet laid hold of it. But this one thing I do--forgetting everything which is past and stretching forward to what lies in front of me, ¹⁴ with my eyes fixed on the goal I push on to secure the prize of God's heavenward call in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ Therefore let all of us who are mature believers cherish these thoughts; and if in any respect you think differently, that also God will make clear to you.

²⁴ Now I can find joy amid my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my own person whatever is lacking in Christ's afflictions on behalf of His Body, the Church.

² But, as you will remember, after we had already met with suffering and outrage at Philippi, we summoned up boldness, by the help of our God, to tell you God's Good News amid much opposition.

³ that none of you might be unnerved by your present trials: for you yourselves know that they are our appointed lot.

¹² That indeed is the reason why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know in whom my trust reposes, and I am confident that He has it in His power to keep what I have entrusted to Him safe until that day.

¹¹ and the persecutions and sufferings which I have endured; the things which happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra. You know the persecutions I endured, and how the Lord delivered me out of them all.

⁶ I for my part am like a drink-offering which is already being poured out; and the time for my departure is now close at hand. ⁷ I have gone through the glorious contest; I have run the race; I have guarded the faith. ⁸ From this time onward there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who love the thought of His Appearing.

¹⁷ The Lord, however, stood by me and filled me with inward strength, that through me the Message might be fully proclaimed and that all the Gentiles might hear it; and I was rescued from the lion's jaws.

³ And at the appointed time He clearly made known His Message in the preaching with which I was entrusted by the command of God our Saviour:

¹¹ For the grace of God has displayed itself with healing power to all mankind,

⁴ But when the goodness of God our Saviour, and His love to man, dawned upon us, not in consequence of things which we, ⁵ as righteous men, had done, but as the result of His own mercy He saved us by means of the bath of regeneration and the renewal of our natures by the Holy Spirit, ⁶ which He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; ⁷ in order that having been declared righteous through His grace we might become heirs to the Life of the Ages in fulfilment of our hopes.

³ how shall *we* escape if we are indifferent to a salvation as great as that now offered to us? This, after having first of all been announced by the Lord Himself, had its truth made sure to us by those who heard Him, ⁴ while God corroborated their testimony by signs and marvels and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed in accordance with His own will.

³⁴ For you not only showed sympathy with those who were imprisoned, but you even submitted with joy when your property was taken from you, being well aware that you have in your own selves a more valuable possession and one which will remain.

¹ Therefore, surrounded as we are by such a vast cloud of witnesses, let us fling aside every encumbrance and the sin that so readily entangles our feet. And let us run with patient endurance the race that lies before us, ² simply fixing our gaze upon Jesus, our Prince Leader in the faith, who will also award us the prize. He, for the sake of the joy which lay before Him, patiently endured the cross, looking with contempt upon its shame, and afterwards seated Himself-- where He still sits--at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Therefore, if you would escape becoming weary and faint-hearted, compare your own sufferings with those of Him who endured such hostility directed against Him by sinners.

¹² I send this short letter by Silas, our faithful brother--for such I regard him--in order to encourage you, and to bear witness that what I have told you is the true grace of God. In it stand fast.

¹⁶ We know what love is--through Christ's having laid down His life on our behalf; and in the same way we ought to lay down our lives for our brother men.

¹¹ But they have gained the victory over him because of the blood of the Lamb and of the testimony which they have borne, and because they held their lives cheap and did not shrink even from death.