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The Bible is made up of 66 individual books, written by 40 different writers, over a 1600 year period, all with one Author, God Himself. Each book has a distinct Messianic undercurrent, often in surprising locations.
On the Day of Pentecost came the initial outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and it was His power that enabled the disciples to move the Gospel over such a large geographical area in such a short time. This amazing growth of the Church is recorded in the book of Acts.
Sources of knowledge are key to the effectiveness of an apologetic argument. The purpose of apologetics is to properly communicate the Gospel through the Bible and provide evidence for the reliability of its claims.
It was important for the believers to stay in close fellowship with those who taught the truth given by the Apostles, to avoid being led astray by the craftiness of false teachers. It was also the spiritual responsibility of believers to discern between truth and deception, to avoid false doctrines and even apostasy.
John, in several places throughout his letter, emphasized love as the confirmation of abiding in Him. The believers were not to love the world or anything in it, but instead were to love their Christian brothers and sisters.
Many readers who make it through the books of Samuel and Kings find the accounts in First Chronicles to be redundant. While it does duplicate much of the text, hidden truths are found in this book and it offers a unique perspective not found elsewhere. In short, the book of First Chronicles is God's perspective of Israel.
David was the most loved king of Israel and the author of a majority of the psalms. Other authors included Moses, Asaph, Heman, the sons of Korah, Solomon and Ethan. All of them, especially David, had an amazing gift of expression through words. Each psalm, or song, has a message and a purpose. Some are instructional, others are prayerful. Some call for the destruction of enemies, others meditate on the mercy and goodness of God.
The phrase "kingdom of heaven" is used 33 times in Matthew, emphasizing not only the existence of a government outside of the administration of the priests, scribes and religious teachers, but also that Jesus, who is proven as the Son of David, is the King over that kingdom.
The book of Luke, along with the book of Acts which was also written by Luke, makes up nearly a quarter of the New Testament. There are events and information recorded in Luke that are not in any other gospel book. But more importantly, the book of Luke was written from a perspective that is not shared by any other gospel book, as revelation from God and from witnesses rather than from first-hand experience.
The book of Exodus may be one of the most important books of the Old Testament. In it are the providence and protection for the people of God, whose forefathers moved to Egypt to escape a famine 430 years earlier. Exodus begins where Genesis ends, unfolding one of the greatest stories of deliverance.