Study Desk

"From the descendants of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus,

"Brothers, sons of Abraham's family, and those among you who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent.

"But God raised Him from the dead;

that God has fulfilled this promise to those of us who are the descendants by raising Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm: 'YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE FATHERED YOU.'

but He whom God raised did not undergo decay.

Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and the God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking to them and urging them to continue in the grace of God.

Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, "It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first. Since you repudiate it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.

and saying, "Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men, of the same nature as you, preaching the gospel to you, to turn from these useless things to a living God, who MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA, AND EVERYTHING THAT IS IN THEM.

strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, "It is through many tribulations that we must enter the kingdom of God."

From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been entrusted to the grace of God for the work that they had accomplished.

When they had arrived and gathered the church together, they began to report all the things that God had done with them and how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were received by the church, the apostles, and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them.

After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, "Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe.

"And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us;

"Since this is the case, why are you putting God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our forefathers nor we have been able to bear?

All the people kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were relating all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the Gentiles.

"Simeon has described how God first concerned Himself about taking a people for His name from among the Gentiles.

"Therefore, it is my judgment that we do not cause trouble for those from the Gentiles who are turning to God,

When he had seen the vision, we immediately sought to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

A woman named Lydia was listening; she was a seller of purple fabrics from the city of Thyatira, and a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.