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  • What is the Gospel? What are the Gospels?

    What is the Gospel? What are the Gospels?

    Ask five Christians,

    What is the Gospel?

    And you may hear THREE different answers, see an empty puzzled look and perhaps hear an honest, “I don’t really know; how do you define the gospel?”

    Go ahead: EMAIL ME your definition BEFORE you read the following OR add your definitive COMMENT at the bottom of this Christian Jargon post.

    Gospel & Gospels – Two Definitions

    photo of earth from the moon

    You have probably heard from one version of this Scripture:

    “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

    Gospel of Mark 16:15b NIV

    I mention ‘Gospel‘ in two different contexts here:

    1. Gospel from a quote of the risen Lord Jesus Christ
    2. Gospel identifying the written account of the disciple John Mark

    Four Gospels recorded by four witnesses

    Briefly:

    1. Matthew
    2. Mark
    3. Luke
    4. John 
    We've quoted these four writers of the Gospels many times AND we cross-reference these Scriptures in other accounts as well.

    TalkofJESUS.com treats the GOSPELS as a single category due to the connected importance of the Good News of Jesus Christ reported LIVE and IN PERSON from different perspectives.

    manger of a timeless Christ "I will be with you always even to the end of the earth

    Gospel of Matthew 28:30 – Quote of JESUS after the Lord’s resurrection.

    that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.
    Gospel of LUKE 1:4
    John Mark (mentioned above) and Luke, the physician who continued his detailed account of Jesus and the early Church with Acts of the Apostles, were both gentile (non-Jewish) believers who interviewed the Twelve and other witnesses of JESUS. 

    Matthew (quoted above) and John are two of the Twelve Apostles. Jesus includes John and his brother James along with Simon Peter in the Lord's inner circle of closest confidants and friends.
    about the Author the Gospel of John - photo of quill and pen & computer talkofJesus.com
    The GOSPEL of JOHN

    Luke also introduces himself in both volumes of his accounts Luke-Acts.

    The Gospel: Definition

    εὐαγγέλιον

    Strong’s G2098 – euangelion

    a reward for good tidings

    good tidings

    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.

    Topical Encyclopedia

    The term “Gospel” originates from the Old English word “godspel,” meaning “good news” or “glad tidings,” which is a translation of the Greek word “euangelion.”

    In the context of the Christian faith, the Gospel refers to the message of salvation through Jesus Christ, encompassing His life, death, resurrection, and the promise of eternal life for believers.

    gos’-pel (to euaggelion): The word gospel is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word which meant “the story concerning God.”

    The Gospel is simple really, yet with the mysterious depth of God proclaimed as the good Word of saving sinners. 

    I have written topically about the Gospel at least twice:
    Go into all the world (and SHARE the Gospel) – 1

    (Go into all the world and) SHARE the Gospel – 2

    Further Study

    Vine’s Expository Dictionary of NT Words offers a deeper study of biblical words used in the English language. English entries are mapped to each applicable Greek root according to the Strong’s reference numbers, and include biblical usage, main occurrences in the Bible, English transliteration, and definitions.

    εὐαγγελίζω – euangelizō – verb

    Strong’s Number: g2097

    Gospel (Noun and Verb: to Preach):“to bring or announce glad tidings” (Eng., “evangelize”), is used

    (a) in the Active Voice in Rev 10:7 (“declared”) and Rev 14:6 (“to proclaim,” RV, AV, “to preach”);

    Some claiming Christ, christians or even churches, will claim the Gospel without understanding.

    OR worse, pulpits may proclaim the Gospel while hiding behind it.

    AND some christians and churches take no action at all in evangelization or preaching the Gospel to our own personal need of Christ Jesus for salvation.

    Good News before our inevitable end

    death — and the JUDGMENT of ALMIGHTY GOD!

    2025 of the Common Era seems to have begun with story after story and yet more of the continuing BREAKING NEWS of our fallen world.

    Common Era NEWS begins with the same old sins of the world wrapped in the false idolatry: MOTHER NATURE and a world out of control * and a human-created environmental apocalypse – impending DISASTER out of reach of all their hand-holding gods.

    God as provided a paradise for man but the Lord will take vengeance who will not fear the fire of His wrath and judgment. Maui fires of AD 2023 are not the Lord's first warning to the idolaters of the earth
    Fire Maui Hawaii US
    A Kurdish Syrian woman walks with her child past the ruins of the town of Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab, on March 25, 2015. (Yasin Akgul/AFP/Getty Images)
    1945 dead slave labors
    Tens of thousands of protesters marched through the driving rain (Pic: Andrew McGowan)
    prepare for Judgment! Revelation 8:2 KJV apokalypsis of the 7th seal pictured 2 (of seven trumpets) shofars - Prepare, Christians, for Jesus' return on the clouds!
    And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound…

    .. but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He proclaimed G2097  good G2097  news G2097 to His slaves, the prophets.

    The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 10:7 LSB

    WHAT NEWS TODAY?

    How many died THIS TIME? And how many were SAVED for nothing more than BAD NEWS? (And for how long until the inevitable return of each broken body into the dust of the grave?)

    Does the world’s news end with a feel-good story? *Do YOU feel good about YOURSELF now?

    What percentage of us will die sometime soon?

    What does the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST mean to your eternal soul

    — your deeper human created in God’s image — the YOU by which so many souls you love in this world (or perhaps just a few) know you well as more than flesh and blood?

    DON’T YOU think, mere mortal, that God in his Only Son Jesus Christ enbraces and knows your soul more than any?

    Of course! the GOSPEL proclaims.

    Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out - Acts 3: Peter preaching repentance
    Repentance!

    and BELIEVE the Gospel.

    “Many false prophets will arise and will deceive man.

    And because lawlessness is multiplied, most people’s love will grow cold.

    But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.

    Gospel of Matthew 24:11-13

    Talk of JESUS .com

    “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in the whole world as a witness to all the nations,
    and then the end will come.

    Matthew 24:14 Legacy Standard Bible

    Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel

  • .. because the days are evil

    .. because the days are evil

    What will it take to convince a world of universal appeasement of all enemies of God that these last days are in action and in deed: evil?

    destruction in Kyiv - Ash Wednesday in the year of our Lord 2022
    KYIV UKRAINE – ASH WEDNESDAY AD 2022

    A Caution about Evil for Christians

    Therefore watch carefully how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise; redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

    Ephesians 5:15-16 HNV
    • What’s the Good News in this (if any)?
    • Do you know the next line of this caution to a Church witnessing to a world which surrounds the Gospel of Christ Jesus with works of darkness?
    Click here for Ephesians 15-17 in: NKJV, PHILLIPS English Paraphrase, German, Greek & Russian
    By Bettina Menzel Marcus GableMarcus Gable The Ukraine war is heading into its fourth week.
    In Mariupol, it is feared that the number of victims could rise to as many as 20,000. The news ticker.

    Wars & rumors of wars

    And Jesus began to say to them, “See to it that no one misleads you.

    Gospel of Mark 13:5 NASB20
    destruction temple ad70

    MARK 13:

    NKJV [EngliUpdated Gdańsk Biblesh]; Ukrainian Bible; Nádej pre kazdého; Russian Synodal Version

    Syria

    “Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He!’ and they will mislead many.

    “When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end.

    statue by UN man beating sword into plowshare

    “For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom;

    there will be earthquakes in various places;

    there will also be famines.

    These things are only the beginning of birth pains.

    Gospel of Mark 13:5-8 – Caution of the One Messiah of God, Jesus

    Beat your plowshares into swords,
    And your pruning hooks into spears;
    Let the weak man say, “I am a warrior.” – Joel 3:10
  • Apocalypse – a mystery of Good News Unsealed

    Apocalypse – a mystery of Good News Unsealed

    Good News & Bad News

    Which would you like to hear first?

    Invitation

    ‘Apocalypse? How can Good News come out of inescapable consequence,’ you ask?

    I’ll answer this mystery as our series progresses, but first please accept my invitation to subscribe to my February 2021 series for Scripture’s answers to some of our most difficult questions.

    The END in the beginning

    Those enticed by mysteries will sometimes peek at the end of the book for clues of the unraveling of its plot. Rather than beginning this brief series from Chapter 1, Verse 1, or simply summarizing a ‘Sparks Notes’ approach to one of Scripture’s most important books; allow me to quote just part of one verse from an early section to encourage you (perhaps) for now.

    Then the kings of the earth and the eminent people.. and the wealthy and the strong.. hid themselves…

    Revelation 6:15 excerpt NASB

    I did not want to go there — to this Book of Revelation. For after enduring the heated discussion of this month in SHAKEN! and I wanted nothing to do with recent controversary or judgment because I’ve had enough of it already. (How about you?)

    The current crises [yes, plural, i.e. COVID, Political unrest, etc.] seem to hold yet more bad news, not good; yet somehow a verse from Revelation comforted me. NO, I claim no special insight into the great mysteries of this Book, but as I read this verse my spirit settled in peace with the promised punishment of the wicked.

    The END Revealed + Fear of the Judge!

    I’m no king and certainly not eminent in any way — not wealth or strong — hardly fit to judge Kings, Premiers, Presidents, Popes, Prime Ministers, Senators, Representatives, Governors, or any others of the rich and powerful of this land or nations beyond our shores. NO, I do not expect ANY of these to send solutions only the Lord God can accomplish.

    Yet I take comfort in Christ Jesus, that HE will return in the end and judge those who have taken what they want for the most part from your life and from mine.

    Before we move on though, you’d better read the rest of this verse so that you will know why I was so SHAKEN to reveal it to you.

    Revelation 6:

    15 Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.

    Note that WE THE PEOPLE, those ruled also will want to hide from the Lord on the Day of Judgment!

    And they said to the mountains and to the rocks,

    “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb,

    because the great day of their wrath has come! And who is able to stand?”

    The Revelation of Jesus Christ to the Apostle John 6:16-17 CSB
    To be continued...

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