STRONGHOLD OF TRUTH
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ters of John, the Judean ministry, when the teaching was of the .Messiahship. Then from the beginning of the Galilean ministry, Matt. 4 :17, to the end of the Sermon on the Mount, the theme was the Kingdom of God. From Matt. 8 to the time of Cresarea Philippi, it was the Person of the Messiah. From Cresarea Philippi to the interview with the Greeks, it was the death of the Messiah. During the last week in Jerusalem, it was the Second Coming or the future. On the last night in the upper room, it was the dispensation of the Spirit-"in that day." And after the resurrection, it was the great commission: "Go ye into all the world," fomid in all four Gospels and at the opening of Acts. The Messiah, the Kingdom, the Per son, the Suffering, the Advent of the Holy Spirit, and the great Commission-this is the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospels. · Then what have the Gospels to say about Himself, His work? Just three things: His Ii fe, His death, and His resurrection, crowned by His ascension. For as Dr. Dale once said: "Jesus Christ did not come to preach the Gospel, but that there might be a gospel to preach." That is Christ in the glory of His incarnation. V. Christ in the glory of His position in the Church. This is the Christ of the Acts and the Christ of the Epistles. The Acts of the Apostles is a book incorrectly named. It should be called the Acts of the exalted Christ, for all through that great and wonderful book we find the Lord Jesus Christ as the living Worker by the Holy Spirit. The Apostles were not agents, only instru ments. It is the Lord who is the Worker. Just as Luke's Gospel tells us what Christ began to do and to teach until His ascension, so the Acts of the Apostles goes on to tell us what He continued to do and teach after His ascen sion. And if we run our mind through that book with the thought of the living Christ, we shall see these three things: Christ as Lord, Christ as Life, and Christ as Law. We find the gospel of the resurrection, the gospel of the kingdom, and the gospel of forgiveness always
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