"The greatest danger besetting American Evangelical Christianity is the danger of anti-intellectualism. . . . For the sake of greater effectiveness in witnessing to Jesus Christ Himself, as well as for their own sakes, the Evangelicals cannot afford to keep on living on the periphery of responsible intellectual existence."
Please note these studies can not in any way take place of your personal Bible study I am just pointing you a directions that I have taken in the past. If they are hard to follow let me know and I’ll try to break them down for you a wee bit. The purpose is to get you to think outside your comfort zone and grow in the Grace and knowledge of Our Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus.
Gentle Reader,
It has been assumed by many that simply calling yourself a Christian is the same as walking into a car park and calling yourself a automobile!
Christians need to understand that they (like so many others) are a faith based on a Book [which we call God’s Word]. The problem is that so many are willing to take their denominations perspective, or their pastors or deacon....they carry their Bible which sits on their lap for most of the worship service (Protestant not Catholic) {note: Catholic have a liturgical service which is built around a mass with prayers and music leading up to the communion service, but I digress).
The Protestant service for the most part revolves around music and a message and or teaching from a selected Bible verse or verses, chosen by the Pastor/Principle teacher or by a committee of their denomination. If there is any Bible study (most people hate that word "Study" because they never received a good impression from their teachers in primary school and have carried with them ever since a distaste for learning which also is unfortunate as their opportunity to learn more about their Lord and Saviour is also lost.
Do you remember that meeting in the Book of Acts?
And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he
would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? (Act 8:26-36).
So Gentle reader God intends for us to learn of Him for Scripture has said: "Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Mat 22:35-40)
We cannot worship God without the use of our mind for "God does not do His deepest work in our shallowest part!"
The Gospel: Which one did you find? Or which one do you follow?
Here are 15 different gospels for you to consider:
1. Mat 4:23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.
2. Mar 1:1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;
Mar 1:14 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
3. Mar 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Mar 16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
Mar 16:18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
4. Rom 1:1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
5. Rom 1:9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;
6. Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
7. Rom 2:16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
8. 2Co 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
9. Gal 2:7 But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter;
10. Gal 2:7 ...as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter;
11. Act 20:24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
12. Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
13. Eph 6:15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
14. 1Ti 1:11 According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.
15. Rev 14:6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
In addition we can add Ephesians 3:6 and 2 Timothy 1:10,11 where the gospel is defined as that which Paul has been a minister, a preacher, an Apostle and teacher of the Gentiles.
It would be as untrue as it would be absurd to say that because we have compiled a list of 15 different titles of the Gospel, that there are 15 different "Gospels", but it would be equally harmful and untrue to sweep them aside and heap them altogether in a pile and not notice all the manifest differences that are here and to think there is little or no importance.
Next time we’ll look at two different gospels and consider the sameness as well as their differences.
Love,
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