Gospels

“ It is the presentation of Christ as He is presented in the written Gospels, the narrative of His life and death without note or comment, theory or inference, argument or appeal, which stands in the first rank of efficiency as a means of evangelizing the world. ”

“ He asks the man who talks of reading the Gospels really to read them as he might read his daily paper and to feel the terrific shock of the words of Christ to the Pharisees or the behaviour of Christ to the money-changers: to look at the uniqueness of the Church that has died so often but like Her Founder risen again from the dead. ”

“ Nothing if the general indifference to detail helps the ecclesiastical consciousness and entitles it to save itself from the disintegration of the Gospels to the phrase of the Gospel and to balance and blunt the differences and contrasts of the real Gospels by means of that phrase. ”

“ The arrangement of its contents can, it seems, best be learned from Luke.
3. One or two remarks may here be added as to the bearing of the results of literary criticism upon the use of the Gospels. Their effect is to lead us, especially when engaged in historical inquiries, to look beyond our Gospels to their sources, instead of treating the testimony of the Gospels severally as independent and ultimate. Nevertheless it will still appear that each Gospel has its distinct value, both historically and in regard to the moral and spiritual instruction afforded. ”

“ In the Gospel by Matthew there are over a hundred quotations from twenty of the books in the Old Testament. In the Gospel of Mark there are fifteen quotations taken from thirteen of the books. In the Gospel of Luke there are thirty-four quotations from thirteen books. In the Gospel of John there are eleven quotations from six books. In the four Gospels alone there are more than one hundred and sixty quotations from the Old Testament. You sometimes hear men saying they do not believe all the Bible, but they believe the teaching of Jesus Christ in the four Gospels. ”

“ Experience shows that the most profitable way of studying the evangelical narrative is to take each gospel as a whole, but with continual reference to the parallel parts of the other gospels, so far as they can be ascertained. ”

“ The most famous New Testament authorities agree on only one thing, that the Church was able to select in the great mass of primitive literature the oldest Gospels thought up to that time to be the most reliable. ”

“ A great void in the early life of the Saviour is filled up by these
Gospels. In none of the Canonical Evangelists is any mention made of the
childhood of Jesus. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, more
rapidly than satisfactorily, pass over the period intervening between His
birth and ministry. ”

“ The Church has provided us with an author for each Gospel, and some early Fathers have argued that there ought to be four Gospels, because there are four seasons, four principal points to the compass, and four corners to the earth. ”

“ He also strangely sums up at the end, “that the peculiar value of both Gospels, in spite of their very mixed nature, has claim enough on our gratitude” (!) .19 This surely is simply to make use of the Gospels’ literary or other value in the interest of the belief in their historical credibility. ”

“ Priest to whom the Holy of Holies
has been committed; and who
alone has been intrusted with the
secrets of God.
23 He is the door of the Father;
by which Abraham, and Isaac,
and Jacob, and all the prophets,
enter in; as well as the Apostles,
and the church.
24 And all these things tend to
the unity which is of God. Howbeit
the Gospel has somewhat in it far
above all other dispensations;
namely, the appearance of our
Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ,
his passion and resurrection.
25 For the beloved prophets
referred to him; but the Gospel
is the perfection of incorruption. ”

“ The Gospel that we preach is the power of God unto salvation; and the first principle of that Gospel is, as I have already said, faith in God, and faith in Jesus Christ His Son our Savior. We must believe that he is the character he is represented to be in the holy Scriptures. Believe that he told the truth when he said to his disciples, "Go ye forth and preach the Gospel to every creature; he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned." ”

“ The Gospel of Jesus Christ, as it is given in the Old and New Testaments, the Book of Mormon, the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and in the experience of every true Christian who has lived and still lives upon the earth, teaches that it is the privilege of every Saint so to live and walk before their God, as to enjoy the light of the spirit of truth from day to day, from week to week, and from year to year, through their whole lives. ”

“ How many methods of obtaining the spirit of prophecy and the gifts of healing and the discerning of spirits? One. One God, one faith, and one Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and one only. Well, the Apostles went and preached this gospel, yet one would vary a little on one point, and another on another, and those who took the gospel and ran here and there would introduce items of doctrine that were altogether imaginary. Do we find any curious ideas advanced in our day? Yes, I can relate a circumstance that I once heard myself, from one of the first elders in this church. ”

“ If I am asked why I receive Scripture as the Word of God, and as the only perfect rule of faith and life, I answer with all the fathers of the Protestant Church, ‘Because the Bible is the only record of the redeeming love of God, because in the Bible alone I find God drawing near to man in Christ Jesus, and declaring to us in Him His will for our salvation. ”

“ The preaching of Jesus Christ, which was kept secret since the world began, now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith, Rom. xvi. 25, 26. The doctrine of grace and salvation by the gospel is for all ranks and conditions of men (slaves and servants, as well as masters) , therefore engaging and encouraging all to receive and believe it, and walk suitably to it, adorning it in all things. ”

“ Now then let me look back a little, and examine things as they have existed. What kind of a Gospel was it that Jesus introduced? We are told that it was the Gospel; but what sort of an organization did his Church have? Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Teachers and Evangelists—inspired men—men who had the ministering of angels, the spirit of prophecy, and the principle of revelation; men who had the heavens opened to them, so that they could contemplate the purposes of God as they should roll along throughout every subsequent period of time until the winding up scene. ”

“ To the Latter-day Saints the Gospel of life and salvation is worthy of particular attention. In my reflections upon the great work that the Lord has commenced, its operations appear marvelous to me. I look upon those who have separated themselves from sin with a great deal of pleasure and delight; they are a very peculiar people. When the elders go and preach the Gospel, all who have the privilege of hearing, with a very few exceptions, are convinced of its truth in a greater or smaller degree. ”

“ We have toiled and labored together, gathering the people, preaching the Gospel to the nations, hunting for the pure in heart, those who love the Lord our God, those who believe the Bible. Where is the minister, the deacon, where are the people who believe in God the Father? In our Lord Jesus Christ? Who believe the New Testament? Who will accept of the salvation that is proffered to the human family through the labors of Jesus and his Apostles? We are after them. Is there an individual on the face of the earth that will receive the truth? ”

“ I recollect reading in one of the revelations, in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, where the Lord says—"If a man, inasmuch as he is an Elder, has a desire in his heart to preach the Gospel, he it is that is called to preach the Gospel." ”

“ For over forty years my voice has been heard in the preaching of the Gospel of the Grace of God. For close on thirty years all my time has been given to the proclamation and defense of New Testament truth as held by us as a people. Every year has added strength to the conviction that God has led me to take my stand among the people who of all the people on the earth are making the best and most consistent effort to get back to the religion established by Christ and his apostles. ”

“ As the progressive revelation culminates in Christ, so He possesses fullest inspiration; and it varies in others according to the closeness of their contact, and intimacy of their communion with Him. (7) As the primary function of Christ is redemptive, so the inspiration of the Bible is directed to make men “wise unto salvation.” (8) It is the presence and influence in the souls of men of the same Spirit of God as inspired the Scriptures which makes the Bible effective as a means of grace ”

“ This is the Gospel which has been taught to us to-day, in a plain and simple manner, and in that simplicity that it was taught by Jesus Christ and his Apostles, and by many others who were ordained by them. The people profess to believe the Bible; the whole Christian world profess to believe that book—to believe that it is the Bible, but do they believe what is in that Bible? ”

“ May God grant them peace, and give them abundant consolation in believing. The people every where hear with American attention. Clergymen, wherever I sojourn, are generally my hosts. Gospel, unadulterated gospel, is pleasant to the believing soul; I content myself with showing that man is lost by sin; that the law is the ministration of death; that the gospel is a divine declaration of life, by Jesus Christ, to every creature. Yes, I will continue to preach the gospel freely to every creature. ”

“ Well, though we or an angel from heaven preach any other Gospel, let him be accursed No matter how near men may preach the Gospel; they must preach the same Gospel, every part of it, every ordinance of it, every principle Jesus Christ revealed and his Apostles taught, if they do not, they teach another Gospel, and if they teach another, says the Apostle, let them be accursed. ”

“ And that so the whole Bible, from beginning to end, is one glorious, methodic, and organic tree of life, every part growing out of the others and depending on the others, from the root—that foundation, other than which no man can lay, which is Christ, revealing Himself, though not by name, in that wonderful first chapter of Genesis,—up to the fruit, which is the kingdom of Christ, and Gospel of Christ, and the salvation in which we here now stand. ”

“ Now if you will preach the same Gospel, you will preach the same principles precisely that were taught not only by Paul, Peter, James, and John, but by all the rest of their fellow servants. And when men received the Holy Ghost, they spake with other tongues, and prophesied. In order to tell whether people have embraced the true Gospel or not, we need only to look at their fruits, for by their fruits shall ye know them, says the Savior. ”

“ The word of Christ shall always continue in the mouths of the faithful; there shall be some in every age who, believing with the heart unto righteousness, shall with the tongue make confession unto salvation. The word shall never depart out of the mouth of the church; for there shall still be a seed to speak Christ's holy language and profess his holy religion. Observe, The Spirit and the word go together, and by them the church is kept up. ”

“ If it makes a difference what we believe, then we can see why the Bible has been given – to guide us into the Truth; and the Bible itself says that our salvation depends upon our belief of the gospel as revealed in it’s pages. ”

“ Now we may learn hence, First, To admire the height and depth of the doctrine of Christ; it is a great mystery of godliness. The things of the gospel are heavenly things, out of the road of the enquiries of human reason, and much more out of the reach of its discoveries. ”

“ The Gospel, whose principles we have been hearing about this morning, is the Gospel that every Christian professes to believe in. I do not know of a Christian but what will admit that the Bible is true; then where is the difference between the Latter-day Saints and the various Christian sects that dwell on the earth? The difference is that we believe enough to obey; while they believe just enough to acknowledge but not to obey. ”

“ And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." What blessed words! and then they doubtless explained to him that the faith here spoken of, meant such a belief in Jesus, as would lead to repentance for all sin so displeasing to Him, and make men strive to do all in their power to please Him: for to believe the Gospel, means to do all that the Gospel teaches. Such, no doubt, was the Apostles' teaching, as "they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house." ”

“ Some of you now say in your hearts, we have the everlasting gospel contained here in this book, the New Testament, and we have had it for some eighteen centuries or more, and consequently what was the use of another angel having the same everlasting gospel to commit to the children of men when we already had it? ”

“ The Gospel that they had in any age of the world was to lead men to God; the Gospel that we have, and that we have taught to you, is to lead you to God, to righteousness, to virtue, purity, integrity, to honor, to revelation, to a knowledge of the ways of God, and of his purposes pertaining to you and your families, to your progenitors and your posterity ”