Which Gospel Was Preached and When?
Which Gospel Was Preached And When?
The Romans to whom Paul wrote the
Roman letter had a faith, in
something. But they were not established and so Paul was eager to
preach THE GOSPEL to them that are at Rome also. We know that they did
have faith, in something, because Paul thanks God for it:
Romans 1:8 First, I thank my God
through Jesus Christ for you all, that
your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
So we saw that they had a faith, but
it was not a mutual faith. In
other words the faith of the Romans must not have been the same as that
of Paul, because of what he said.
Romans 1:11 For I long to see you,
that I may impart unto you some
spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established;
Romans 1:12 That is, that I may be
comforted together with you by the
mutual faith both of you and me.
The Romans obviously believe THE
GOSPEL OF GOD but they have never
heard Paul's gospel, THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. Paul identifies the gospel
of God in the first four verses as the testimony of God pertaining to
His Son, Jesus Christ, that can be found in old testament scriptures.
Paul, never having preached to the Romans before, and they never having
heard Paul’s gospel could not have had faith in it. Therefore their
faith must undoubtedly have been in what could have been known before
the revelations given to Paul. Keep in mind that the GOSPEL OF CHRIST
is Paul’s gospel. Nobody else in the bible refers to or claims to
preach the gospel of Christ.
Romans 1:15 So, as much as in me is,
I am ready to preach the gospel to
you that are at Rome also.
So by way of the Roman letter, Paul
puts things in their minds which
will establih them in the gospel of Christ, which is Paul's gospel.
Romans 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.
So, it's clear then, that the gospel
of God is not the same thing as
the gospel of Christ. Well, if the gospel of God is not the same thing
as the gospel of Christ, then what is it? And just HOW MANY gospels are
there in the bible anyway? It's commonly taught that there is only one
gospel in the bible. That is to say, one message. The books of Matthew,
Mark, Luke and John are sometimes called the FOUR gospels but we all
know that they are basically four different accounts of the same thing,
the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ.
But contrary to popular opinion, and
contrary to the teaching of the
majority of fundamental Christianity, all news is not the same news.
And that's what the word gospel means, good news. So let's just take
the terms as they appear in a King James Bible, and get a BIBLE
definition of each of the terms. We are not going to try to fit the
definitions to somebody's theological system. And if it happens that
the bible is contradictory to the major doctrine books, or the major
"schools" and so on, we will use the bible as the authority.
So, in this study we want to look,
and find, what the bible says
specifically, about several different terms. Not that this will be an
alll inclusive list of all the good news you can find in the bible, but
that the terms we are going to look at are all used, not once, but on
numerous occasions in the bible. Here are those terms we want to look
at:
1. The gospel of the Kingdom
2. The gospel of God
3. The gospel of Christ
4. The gospel of the grace of God
5. The everlasting gospel
But before we look at those terms, we
want to look at two more terms:
The gospel of the uncircumcision and the gospel of the circumcision.
The reason we want to look at these two first is because these two
terms stand for a division in DOCTRINE. In other words, it's all God's
church, but there is more than one church in the bible. The bible shows
that there are, not one, but THREE churches. And the DOCTRINE to each
of those three churches is different. For instance, Moses had a church
in the wilderness: Look at what Stephen said about Moses:
Acts 7:37 This is that Moses, which
said unto the children of Israel, A
prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren,
like unto me; him shall ye hear.
Acts 7:38 This is he, that was in the
church in the wilderness with the
angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who
received the lively oracles to give unto us:
So we know that there was a church in
the wilderness, as in the book of
Exodus, and that Moses was the head of that church. Now look what Jesus
says in Matthew 16:
Matthew 16:15 He saith unto them, But
whom say ye that I am?
Matthew 16:17 And Jesus answered and
said unto him, Blessed art thou,
Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but
my Father which is in heaven.
Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto
thee, That thou art Peter, and upon
this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it.
Now when the Lord says "I WILL BUILD
my church," I know that the church
he is GOING to build cannot be the SAME church that was with Moses in
the wilderness. Do you see that?
He says I will build my church, and
we find that it also has a name:
Acts 8:1 And Saul was consenting unto
his death. And at that time there
was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and
they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and
Samaria, except the apostles.
Now the church which Moses was the
leader of, the church in the
wilderness, is no longer in existence, and the Lord said I will build
my church, and the only church in existence since Matthew sixteen up
until the time Stephen is stoned to death in Acts chapter eight is the
CHURCH WHICH WAS AT JERUSALEM. It began with 12 men, the founding
fathers, so to speak, and it grew by 3,000 in Acts chapter two and by
five thousand in Acts chapter four.
Acts 2:47 Praising God, and having
favour with all the people. And the
Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
So the church is AT JERUSALEM. Notice
also that it doesn't say that
8,000 people got saved and JOINED the church. It says the Lord added to
the church daily, such as SHOULD BE saved. And that SHOULD BE is the
operative phrase, because according to Peter, their sins would not be
blotted out until the second coming of Christ, as he says here:
Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be
converted, that your sins may be
blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence
of the Lord.
Acts 3:20 And he shall send Jesus
Christ, which before was preached
unto you:
Now that stands in contrast to what
Paul said when Paul reminded the
Corinthians of the gospel he preached, and this is important, because
it's the difference between the gospel of the UNCIRCUMCISION and the
gospel of the CIRCUMCISION. Paul says
1 Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered
unto you first of all that which I
also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the
scriptures;
1 Corinthians 15:4 And that he was
buried, and that he rose again the
third day according to the scriptures:
People who believe THIS gospel, the
gospel Paul preached, are members
of the THIRD church in the bible. The church, which is THE BODY OF
CHRIST.
Ephesians 1:22 And hath put all
things under his feet, and gave him to
be the head over all things to the church,
Ephesians 1:23 Which is his body, the
fulness of him that filleth all
in all.
So you see, a CERTAIN doctrine was
committed to Peter and a certain
DOCTRINE was committed to Paul:
Galatians 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;
So by comparing what Peter said with
what Paul said, you can see the
difference in the doctrine, and by Galatians 2:7, you can see that one
DOCTRINE was committed to Peter and another to Paul. Paul calls it the
"FORM of sound words." He tells Timothy:
2 Timothy 1:13 Hold fast the form of
sound words, which thou hast heard
of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
Notice that Paul says, "that thou
hast heard of.." Who? Of me. Not the
form of sound words that thou hast heard of Peter, because there is no
indication in the bible that Timothy every heard Peter. So in Galatians
2:7 we see two DIFFERENT DOCTRINES pertaining to salvation.
Now let's just totally demolish the
idea that there is only one gospel
in the bible. I am going to show you just a few verses here that
clearly demonstrate AT LEAST FOUR gospels. Four different messages that
are not the same. Things that are different, in the bible, are not the
same. You should NEVER consider them to be the same.
Galatians 1:6 I marvel that ye are so
soon removed from him that called
you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
Galatians 1:7 Which is not another;
but there be some that trouble you,
and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
Galatians 1:8 But though we, or an
angel from heaven, preach any other
gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be
accursed.
Now in those three verses alone,
there are THREE gospels. Three totally
different messages. Notice that Paul says "the gospel that we preached
unto you." Well what did Paul preach to the Galatians? The gospel of
Christ. He says they are being removed to ANOTHER GOSPEL. What is that
other gospel? Well, it turns out to be the gospel Peter preached, sins
blotted out at the second coming of Christ. That's not the same as
"Christ died for our sins, and was raised again for our justification,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." But do
you see anything else there? What about ANY OTHER gospel. What about an
angel from Heaven, preaching any other gospel? Look at the book of
Revelation:
Revelation 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,
Revelation 14:7 Saying with a loud
voice, Fear God, and give glory to
him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made
heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Well, that's not the gospel that Paul
preached, that Christ was JUDGED
in our behalf, that God made him to be sin for us, and there is now no
condemnation in Christ Jesus. It's also not the gospel that Peter
preached, "men of Israel repent that your sins may be blotted out when
Christ comes again."
So in Galatians chapter one, alone,
you see not one, but THREE GOSPELS.
The gospel Paul preached, the gospel Peter preached, and the gospel the
Angel preached. There is also a FOURTH gospel in the book of Galatians:
Galatians 3:8 And the scripture,
foreseeing that God would justify the
heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying,
In thee shall all nations be blessed.
So, the gospel to Abraham was that
through him, that is, his seed, that
all nations would be blessed. So, once again, just because you see the
word GOSPEL in the bible, it doesn't mean that all gospels are the same
gospel. Like we have said before, that is a TERRIBLE BLUNDER by the
religious system, one of the worst mistakes they ever made.
Now, let's take the GOSPELS in the
order they appear in the bible. We
have already looked at the everlasting gospel in the book of
Revelation. It's about the judgment of God and it's preached by an
angel from Heaven. No man even preaches that gospel, but only the angel
in the book of Revelation. So I think it's pretty clear that that
message is not a message for today. But in Matthew, is the first time
you see the phrase, the gospel of the Kingdom.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 9:35 And Jesus went about all
the cities and villages, teaching
in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and
healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the
kingdom shall be preached in all
the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
So what is the gospel of the Kingdom?
It's the good news that the
nation of Israel was promised the Kingdom of Heaven on the earth, Jesus
Christ has come on the scene, and the good news is that the kingdom of
Heaven is at hand.
Mark 1:14 Now after that John was put
in prison, Jesus came into
Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
Mark 1:15 And saying, The time is
fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is
at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
So Jesus Christ preached, and he sent
the 12 Apostles out to preach,
the message of the Kingdom:
Matthew 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent
forth, and commanded them, saying,
Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the
Samaritans enter ye not:
Matthew 10:6 But go rather to the
lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Matthew 10:7 And as ye go, preach,
saying, The kingdom of heaven is at
hand.
The message of the Kingdom continues
through Matthew, Mark, Luke and
John, but the nation of Israel rejects both their King and the Kingdom,
and Christ is crucified, buried and is raised from the dead. And in
Acts chapter two, Peter begins to preach the message that Paul
identifies in Romans chapter one as THE GOSPEL OF GOD. Let's refresh
our memory for just a second:
Romans 1:1 Paul, a servant of Jesus
Christ, called to be an apostle,
separated unto the gospel of God,
Romans 1:2 (Which he had promised
afore by his prophets in the holy
scriptures,)
Romans 1:3 Concerning his Son Jesus
Christ our Lord, which was made of
the seed of David according to the flesh;
Romans 1:4 And declared to be the Son
of God with power, according to
the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
So Paul identifies this message, or
this information shown in these
four verses, as the GOSPEL OF GOD. It is the testimony of God about His
son, Jesus Christ. It was testified by the prophets in the scriptures.
It testifies that Jesus IS God's son, and that according to the flesh,
in other words, the virgin birth, he is of the seed of David, but he is
PROVEN to be the son of God by the resurrection from the dead. The
gospel of God.
Now let me show you where Peter
preaches the gospel of God:
Acts 2:22 Ye men of Israel, hear
these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man
approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God
did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
Acts 2:23 Him, being delivered by the
determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified
and slain:
Acts 2:24 Whom God hath raised up,
having loosed the pains of death:
because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.
Acts 2:25 For David speaketh
concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always
before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:
Acts 2:26 Therefore did my heart
rejoice, and my tongue was glad;
moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:
Acts 2:27 Because thou wilt not leave
my soul in hell, neither wilt
thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Now if I stop there, and don't go any
further, what do I have? I have
the same information Paul has identifed in Romans chapter one as THE
GOSPEL OF GOD. It is the testimony from scriptures, and here Peter is
quoting from the book of Psalms, and referring to David's prophecy. In
other words what God promised before in the holy scriptures.
But Peter doesn't stop there:
Acts 2:29 Men and brethren, let me
freely speak unto you of the
patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is
with us unto this day.
Acts 2:30 Therefore being a prophet,
and knowing that God had sworn
with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the
flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
When Peter says those last four words
SIT ON HIS THRONE, what do we
have? We are back to KINGDOM information right? In other words Jesus of
Nazareth, is the heir to the throne of David, the King of Israel.
Acts 2:34 For David is not ascended
into the heavens: but he saith
himself, THE LORD SAID UNTO MY LORD, SIT THOU ON MY RIGHT HAND,
Acts 2:35 UNTIL I MAKE THY FOES THY
FOOTSTOOL.
Acts 2:36 Therefore let all the house
of Israel know assuredly, that
God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and
Christ.
So as Peter preaches to a town full
of devout Jews, he is telling them
that they have murdered their Messiah, but that God has raised him from
the dead. The prophets prophesied of this, and they need to repent,
identify with their Messiah in water baptism, looking for the day when
Christ will come again, sit on the throne of David, and rule over
Israel and all the earth. But he has FIRST preached what? The gospel of
God. In other words he first IDENTIFIED the Son of God and the fact
that he was proven to be the Son of God by resurrection from the dead.
So the KINGDOM INFORMATION is added
to that basic truth. The gospel of
God. Now that Peter preached the gospel of God, look here:
1 Peter 4:17 For the time is come
that judgment must begin at the house
of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that
obey not the gospel of God?
Now Paul preaches a VERY SIMILAR
message to a bunch of ignorant
idolaters in Athens in Acts chapter seventeen:
Acts 17:30 And the times of this
ignorance God winked at; but now
commandeth all men every where to repent:
Acts 17:31 Because he hath appointed
a day, in the which he will judge
the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof
he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from
the dead.
Now let me say this. You only find
the phrase, the gospel of the
Kingdom, in the Four Gospels. Peter is preaching basically the same
information as you find in the gospel of the Kingdom but it's not
called that. Peter's message is not called the gospel of the Kingdom.
Instead it's called what? The gospel of the circumcision.
Galatians 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;
So basiclly, the only difference in
the gospel of the Kingdom and the
gospel of the circumcision is that there is NO DATE INVOVLED. Peter
never says "repent for the Kingdom is at hand." He says repent, and
your sins will be blotted out when Christ comes again. Remember in Acts
chapter one that they had asked the Lord if He was going to restore the
Kingdom to Israel AT THIS TIME. And he told them it is not for you to
know THE TIMES or the seasons. So the gospel of the circumcison is
basically the same as the message of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the
gospel of the Kingdom, without a date.
But you see that the GOSPEL OF GOD is
something that came AFTER the
gospel of the Kingdom, because the gospel of God includes the
resurrection of Christ and in the gospel of the Kingdom, in Matthew,
Mark, Luke and John they didn't know anything at all about the DEATH of
Christ. As a matter of fact they were not even sure about the
resurrection until Christ appeared to them. So Peter's message is
called the gospel of the CIRCUMCISON and it's related to the Kingdom
and the King ruling and reigning on the THRONE OF DAVID. But, guess
what? Paul NEVER mentions the THRONE OF DAVID.
2 Timothy 2:7 Consider what I say;
and the Lord give thee understanding
in all things.
2 Timothy 2:8 Remember that Jesus
Christ of the seed of David was
raised from the dead according to my gospel:
Notice he says according to MY
gospel. He doesn't say according to OUR
gospel, or according to THE gospel. So there is a DISTINCTION in the
two messages. There is a DIVISION to be made. And that distinction is
made clear and unmistakable when the Lord sends Paul, by revelation, TO
COMMUNICATE to the men in Jerusalem:
Galatians 2:2 And I went up by
revelation, and communicated unto them
that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them
which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run,
in vain.
So Paul says he COMMUNICATED unto
them THAT GOSPEL that I preach. But
yet, we see where BOTH Peter and Paul preach what Paul refers to as the
gospel of God. It shows that scripture is FACTUAL and TRUSTWORTHY,
because God PROMISED IT in the scriptures. It identifies the Saviour,
PROVES that prophecy in scripture is correct and can be trusted, and
that there IS such a thing as resurrection from the dead, because
Christ has been PROVEN to be the Son of God BY RESURRECTION.
So it's truth that ANYBODY must
clearly understand BEFORE they can
trust in or believe in any further information. In other words, if you
don't know WHO God is, how can you understand WHO Christ is or what it
is he has done, or is going to do? Now here are some ignorant idolaters
we need to look at:
Acts 17:16 Now while Paul waited for
them at Athens, his spirit was
stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.
Acts 17:17 Therefore disputed he in
the synagogue with the Jews, and
with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met
with him.
Acts 17:18 Then certain philosophers
of the Epicureans, and of the
Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say?
other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he
preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.
Acts 17:19 And they took him, and
brought him unto Areopagus, saying,
May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?
So these idol worshippers have come
upon Paul where he is preaching to
some people who MEET WITH HIM. Notice that he doesn't go TO the idol
worshippers, but instead they come to him, they hear him and he is
preaching Jesus and the resurrection.
Now I suggest that you take the time
to read the whole passage in Acts
chapter seventeen. It says that Paul preached Jesus and the
resurrection. They think it's about strange Gods. That should tell you
what they might have been in a position to understand about what Paul
said. But Paul takes their devotions, and an alter they have TO THE
UNKNOWN GOD and preaches to them about God that made the world and all
things and that he doesn't dwell in temples made with hands, and that
he is also not worshipped with men's hands.
Now if that tells me anything it
tells me that there is no such thing
as fruits of the flesh. It tells me that you cannot worship God by your
physical activities or the things you build, or the things you bring,
or with AIDS to worship. Things that men build or can do with their
hands is not the worship of God.
So he tells them that God made of ONE
BLOOD all nations of men and hath
determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their
habitation. In other words, no man has ascended into Heaven, but Jesus
Christ, and your habitation is limited to the earth you walk on and the
air you breath. And he says that men should seek the Lord:
Acts 17:27 That they should seek the
Lord, if haply they might feel
after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
Well, WHAT WAS IT that was not far
from these Athenians? Not far from
them was the synagogue of the Jews and in there they COULD HAVE found
out about the God who made heaven and earth and all things. But they
were not in the synagogue, where Paul had just come from, and you DON'T
find Paul preaching a salvation message to these ignorant idolaters.
Instead he preaches a resurrection and a judgment that you never find
in the books of Romans through Philemon.
Acts 17:31 Because he hath appointed
a day, in the which he will judge
the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof
he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from
the dead.
So basically, what you have in Acts
17 is that these Athenians are PUT
ON NOTICE. What you have basically is what? Not the gospel of Christ.
Paul has preached Jesus and the resurrection, and God the creator. So
this might qualify as the gospel of God. In other words Paul gave them
something to think about and he warned them of a future judgment.
Acts 17:34 Howbeit certain men clave
unto him, and believed: among the
which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and
others with them.
So Paul got some peoples attention in
Acts 17. What happened AFTER
verse 34 we are not told. Anything OTHER THAN what you can read in the
passage you will have to READ INTO it. So the point is, WHAT DID Paul
preach, and when? You could say that Paul preached the gospel of God
here, but there is no way you could say he preached the gospel of
Christ. Now let's go back to Acts chapter 14.
Acts 14:8 And there sat a certain man
at Lystra, impotent in his feet,
being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked:
Acts 14:9 The same heard Paul speak:
who stedfastly beholding him, and
perceiving that he had faith to be healed,
Acts 14:10 Said with a loud voice,
Stand upright on thy feet. And he
leaped and walked.
Now Paul has found a crippled man at
Lystra. Paul perceived that he had
faith to be healed. What does that mean? It means that the man had
faith in the God of Abraham, and Paul healed him.
Acts 14:11 And when the people saw
what Paul had done, they lifted up
their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down
to us in the likeness of men.
Acts 14:12 And they called Barnabas,
Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius,
because he was the chief speaker.
Acts 14:13 Then the priest of
Jupiter, which was before their city,
brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice
with the people.
And Paul and Barnabas tear their
clothes and run in among the people
and they cry out, we are men just like you and so on. They say, we
preach that you should turn from these vanities unto the living God
which made heaven and earth and the sea and all things, and so on.
Acts 14:18 And with these sayings
scarce restrained they the people,
that they had not done sacrifice unto them.
In Acts chapter fourteen, in this
passage, you CAN'T EVEN find the
gospel of God. These people are in no position to be told ANYTHING
about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, raised from the dead. They are just
not in a position to hear it. They don't even know WHO God is, much
less WHO the promised seed of David is. These people don't even hear
the gospel of God. If anything at all, it would be what Paul called the
"knowledge of God in their heart."
Romans 1:21 Because that, when they
knew God, they glorified him not as
God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and
their foolish heart was darkened.
Romans 1:22 Professing themselves to
be wise, they became fools,
Romans 1:23 And changed the glory of
the uncorruptible God into an
image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted
beasts, and creeping things.
So those idolaters in Acts 14 didn't
even know enough about God to be
told anything. And the next thing that happens is the Jews show up and
stone Paul and drag him out of the city for dead.
So back to the Gentiles at Rome, to
whom the Roman letter was written,
Paul says they have a faith. He recognizes it and thanks God for it,
but he says he is ready to PREACH the gospel to them also. The point
is, they have a faith, but it is not a mutual faith, they are not
established and it is Paul's gospel, the GOSPEL OF CHRIST that will
establish them.
Romans 1:15 So, as much as in me is,
I am ready to preach the gospel to
you that are at Rome also.
Romans 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.
So that's what Paul delivers to them,
THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST, in the form
of the Roman letter. Now let's go back to Acts chapter 17 because I
want to show you a parallel situation. In other words some people who
have believed the GOSPEL OF GOD, but who are not established until they
can be taught the GOSPEL OF CHRIST.
Acts 17:1 Now when they had passed
through Amphipolis and Apollonia,
they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews:
Acts 17:2 And Paul, as his manner
was, went in unto them, and three
sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,
Now let's remember WHERE it is that
the GOSPEL OF GOD can be found:
Romans 1:1 Paul, a servant of Jesus
Christ, called to be an apostle,
separated unto the gospel of God,
Romans 1:2 (Which he had promised
afore by his prophets in the holy
scriptures,)
So Paul goes to Thessalonica, he goes
into the synagogue of the Jews,
and he reasons with them OUT OF THE SCRIPTURES for three Sabbath days.
The Jews, and the God-fearing Gentiles would meet, on Saturday, on the
Sabbath, in the Synagogue. So Paul, using the Hebrew scriptures, the
old testament, reasoned with them:
Acts 17:3 Opening and alleging, that
Christ must needs have suffered,
and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto
you, is Christ.
So there you see THE GOSPEL OF GOD,
the identity of the Son of God,
that it IS Jesus, and that God has raised Him from the dead. Now let's
read on:
Acts 17:4 And some of them believed,
and consorted with Paul and Silas;
and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not
a few.
Acts 17:5 But the Jews which believed
not, moved with envy, took unto
them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company,
and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason,
and sought to bring them out to the people.
So the unbelieving Jews started an
assault, they set the whole city
into an uproar, and Paul has to flee for his life. They send Paul to
Berea, and he preaches in the synagogue, but the Jews follow him:
Acts 17:13 But when the Jews of
Thessalonica had knowledge that the
word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also, and
stirred up the people.
Acts 17:14 And then immediately the
brethren sent away Paul to go as it
were to the sea: but Silas and Timotheus abode there still.
So this is where we were at earlier,
with Paul in Athens. But notice
that he left Silas and Timotheus there. Now from Athens Paul goes on
down to Corinth, which is in Greece, and Silas and Timothy join him.
And from Corinth he writes the Thessalonian letters.
1 Thessalonians 2:1 For yourselves,
brethren, know our entrance in unto
you, that it was not in vain:
1 Thessalonians 2:2 But even after
that we had suffered before, and
were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our
God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention.
1 Thessalonians 2:8 So being
affectionately desirous of you, we were
willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also
our own souls, because ye were dear unto us.
1 Thessalonians 2:9 For ye remember,
brethren, our labour and travail:
for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto
any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.
So Paul says that he preached THE
GOSPEL OF GOD to the Thessalonians,
and we saw that clearly in the verses in Acts 17. But Paul is worried
about them. Remember he preached to them for three Sabbath days, but
then he had to flee for his life and he had not had time to ESTABLISH
THEM. What is it that will establish them? The GOSPEL OF CHRIST.
1 Thessalonians 3:1 Wherefore when we
could no longer forbear, we
thought it good to be left at Athens alone;
1 Thessalonians 3:2 And sent
Timotheus, our brother, and minister of
God, and our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you,
and to comfort you concerning your faith:
So Paul sent Timothy back to
establish them in THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST.
Now let's go back to the book of Romans:
Romans 1:11 For I long to see you,
that I may impart unto you some
spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established;
Romans 1:12 That is, that I may be
comforted together with you by the
mutual faith both of you and me.
So the Romans have a faith, but it is
not a MUTUAL faith, that is they
are not established in THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST.
Romans 1:15 So, as much as in me is,
I am ready to preach the gospel to
you that are at Rome also.
Romans 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.
So we have seen that the angel in the
book of Revelation will preach
the EVERLASTING GOSPEL. We saw that the gospel preached in Matthew,
Mark, Luke and John was a Jewish message, it was for Israel, and it was
called THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM. We saw that Peter preached basically
the same message in the book of Acts that had been preached in Matthew,
Mark, Luke and John. Peter has new information. Christ has been
crucified, buried and raised from the dead and Peter says it was TO SIT
ON DAVID'S THRONE.
So Peter's message and doctrine
pertains to a specific group of people.
It is called the GOSPEL OF THE CIRCUMCISION. When Paul was saved and
given a different DOCTRINE, there had to be a distinction made. Peter's
message had to be identified as ANOTHER GOSPEL, and Paul's gospel then
was referred to, in a private meeting in Jerusalem with Peter, James
and John, as the GOSPEL OF THE UNCIRCUMCISION.
Galatians 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;
But before ANY salvation message can
be preached, FIRST the identity of
the Saviour has to be made clear, hence THE GOSPEL OF GOD, which as we
saw was preached by both Peter and Paul. Then after it is clear that
Jesus is the one spoken of in prophecy, he is the Lord, he is the Son
of God, proven to be by resurrection from the dead. Once those facts
are understood, then a salvation message BASED ON those facts can be
preached.
So, the Romans believed the gospel of
God, that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God and that God raised him from the dead. (The Gentiles to
whom Romans was written have probably also previously believed in some
type of Messianic message, as they are said to be “graffed in” to the
Olive Tree in Romans 11) The Thessalonians had not heard ANY message
before Paul arrived. But neither the Romans nor the Thessalonians are
ESTABLISHED in their faith with just that information. So with that
information Paul preached to the Romans and established them in THE
GOSPEL OF CHRIST. Silas and Timotheous ESTABLISHED the Thessalonians in
the GOSPEL OF CHRIST.
1 Thessalonians 3:6 But now
when Timotheus came from you unto us,
and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity, and that ye have
good remembrance of us always, desiring greatly to see us, as we also
to see you:
1 Thessalonians 3:7 Therefore,
brethren, we were comforted over you in
all our affliction and distress by your faith:
So Paul's gospel, THE GOSPEL OF
CHRIST, is preached, all the way
through the book of Acts. It is the power of God unto salvation, to TWO
GROUPS OF PEOPLE.
Romans 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.
Two groups of people, to the Jew
first, and also to the Greek. All the
way through the book of Acts you see Paul preaching and he is preaching
the gospel of Christ TO THEM THAT ARE CALLED, he says.
1 Corinthians 1:22 For the Jews
require a sign, and the Greeks seek
after wisdom:
1 Corinthians 1:23 But we preach
Christ crucified, unto the Jews a
stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
1 Corinthians 1:24 But unto them
which are called, both Jews and
Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
All the way through the book of Acts
you see both Jews and Gentiles
being saved and becoming members of the body of Christ by the preaching
of Paul. The Gentiles who are being saved turn out to be God-fearing
Gentiles who have associated themselves with Israel in the past. The
whole book of Acts is the record of the blinding and the casting away
of the nation of Israel. The whole thing culminates in Acts 28 and it
says THE JEWS DEPARTED.
So there are Jews and Gentiles being
saved during the book of Acts. The
Gentles turn out to be Greeks. They are called Greeks in a King James
Bible. Paul preached to the Jew first and also to the Greek, and his
message is called THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. But then there is a TURN of
events. After spending three years in Ephesus, Paul leaves.
2 Corinthians 2:12 Furthermore, when
I came to Troas to preach Christ's
gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord,
2 Corinthians 2:13 I had no rest in
my spirit, because I found not
Titus my brother: but taking my leave of them, I went from thence into
Macedonia.
So Paul left Asia and went over into
Europe, into Macedonia. There is
little record written by Luke in the book of Acts of what Paul did.
Luke merely says:
Acts 20:1 And after the uproar was
ceased, Paul called unto him the
disciples, and embraced them, and departed for to go into Macedonia.
Acts 20:2 And when he had gone over
those parts, and had given them
much exhortation, he came into Greece,
So Paul went over those parts, gave
them much exhortation and came into
Greece. it was from Greece that Paul wrote the Roman letter.
Acts 20:3 And there abode three
months. And when the Jews laid wait for
him, as he was about to sail into Syria, he purposed to return through
Macedonia.
So the Jews are hounding Paul again.
He was going to sail into Syria,
but instead he goes back north through Macedonia.
Acts 20:6 And we sailed away from
Philippi after the days of unleavened
bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven
days.
And then he continues on his way
until he comes to Miletus, a seaport
not far from Ephesus. He send for the elders of the church at Ephesus,
and talks to them there by the seashore.
Acts 20:18 And when they were come to
him, he said unto them, Ye know,
from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been
with you at all seasons,
Acts 20:19 Serving the Lord with all
humility of mind, and with many
tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the
Jews:
Acts 20:20 And how I kept back
nothing that was profitable unto you,
but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to
house,
Acts 20:21 Testifying both to the
Jews, and also to the Greeks,
repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
Acts 20:22 And now, behold, I go
bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem,
not knowing the things that shall befall me there:
Acts 20:23 Save that the Holy Ghost
witnesseth in every city, saying
that bonds and afflictions abide me.
Acts 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.
So Paul tells them that he has
received a ministry of the Lord Jesus
and he tells them what it is, to testify the GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD.
So Paul goes on to Jerusalem, the
Jews from Asia catch him in the
temple and try to kill him. He is rescued by the Romans, and he asks to
speak to the people. He speaks to them in the Hebrew tongue and tells
them of a vision he had from the Lord:
Acts 22:17 And it came to pass, that,
when I was come again to
Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance;
Acts 22:18 And saw him saying unto
me, Make haste, and get thee quickly
out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.
Acts 22:21 And he said unto me,
Depart: for I will send thee far hence
unto the Gentiles.
So Paul becomes a prisoner in Rome
FOR YOU GENTILES:
Ephesians 3:1 For this cause I Paul,
the prisoner of Jesus Christ for
you Gentiles,
Ephesians 3:2 If ye have heard of the
dispensation of the grace of God
which is given me to you-ward:
So we have the GOSPEL OF GOD, THE
GOSPEL OF CHRIST, AND THE GOSPEL OF
THE GRACE OF GOD. The gospel of the grace of God pertains to the
dispensation of the grace of God, and Paul says it was a mystery that
you couldn't prove by the Old Testament scriptures. There was no way.
He said that it was unsearchable.
Ephesians 3:8 Unto me, who am less
than the least of all saints, is
this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the
unsearchable riches of Christ;
Ephesians 3:9 And to make all men see
what is the fellowship of the
mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God,
who created all things by Jesus Christ:
So these Gentlles to whom Paul wrote
the Ephesian letter didn't come to
Christ through the Law, and they didn't come to Christ by blessing
Israel. They didn't hear Paul preach in all those synagogues of the
Jews. These people were ALIENS from the commonwealth of Israel,
STRANGERS from the covenants of promise, and without God and without
hope in the world. So the gospel of the GRACE OF GOD in the
dispensation of the grace of God had a beginning:
Philippians 4:15 Now ye Philippians
know also, that in the beginning of
the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with
me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only.
Nobody was helping Paul or supporting
Paul, only these Phillipians did.
All that were in Asia, those people Paul had met with on the seashore
in Acts 20, all those people Paul had preached to for three years in
Ephesus and Asia had left Paul, they had turned away:
2 Timothy 1:15 This thou knowest,
that all they which are in Asia be
turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.
Paul said that only Luke is with me.
Everyone had deserted Paul. But he
had said that none of these things move me. I don't even count my life
dear to myself, so that I might finish my course with joy. And he did:
2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought a good
fight, I have finished my course, I
have kept the faith:
So all gospels are not the same
gospel. We have looked at several
gospels. And we have went into some detail about the GOSPEL OF THE
KINGDOM, THE GOSPEL OF GOD, THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST, AND THE GOSPEL OF THE
GRACE OF GOD. I hope this helps you to see WHAT gospel was
preached WHEN. Now we will close the study with this next verse. but I
want you to think about WHICH appearing Paul MIGHT be talking about
here:
2 Timothy 4:8 Henceforth there is
laid up for me a crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at
that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his
appearing.
We know that those who are saved by
grace through faith are looking for
that BLESSED HOPE, and the glorious APPEARING of the great God and our
Saviour Jesus Christ. But could Paul also have had in mind the
appearing of the Lord in Acts chapter nine, on the road to Damascus?
Could he have had in mind the “abundance of visions and revelations” he
received from the Lord? Could he have in mind what the Lord had said to
him, that he would be a witness of THESE THINGS (Acts chapter nine) and
of THOSE THINGS “in the which WILL APPEAR unto thee?” I am thinking
that he probably did.