I can’t say that I am familiar enough with various ministers that I can realistically say there is more of an emphasis on Paul’s writings than what is found in the four Gospels…Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  I don’t watch a lot of TV and I particularly do not watch many of the Televangelists today.  Many of them seem to use the Lord to enrich themselves.  I can’t they all do that, but many of them do.  I simply do not watch them.

Let’s read John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  Along with that, let’s read John 1:14, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH.”  This portion is, or course, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ.  He is the eternal God and He became a man and dwelt on the earth for about 33 years.  It is said of Him here that He is FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH.  It’s been said that grace without truth deceives people and ceases to be grace.  Truth without grace crushes people and ceases to be truth.  What is crucial for the believer is that we learn of the Lord’s grace AND His truth.  We need that balance to truly know Him and to grow spiritually. 

We absolutely need the Gospels.  These four accounts of the life of Christ are vital for us.  In these books we learn of how the Lord Jesus was born of a virgin and came into this world to honor His Father and to give Himself as the perfect sacrifice to pay our sin debt.  In the Gospels, we learn of the teachings and miracles of the Lord Jesus.  We learn of a love that is so perfect and complete that it is simply beyond our comprehension.  As a young believer, I was encouraged to read an account of the crucifixion of the Lord at least once a week.  It certainly draws my heart continuously to the Lord as I continue to meditate on Him as He suffered the wrath and forsaking of God.  We cannot possibly go over all we find in the Gospels in this meditation.  John, the writer of the Gospel of John, graciously told us why he was led to write his book.  We read in John 20:30-31, “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”  The purpose of the Gospels is that we might “believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God…” 

Saul of Tarsus (later known as Paul) was chosen of the Lord to be the apostle to the Gentiles as we read in Romans 11:13, “For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles…”  Paul was used of the Lord to teach us about the church.  He wrote in Ephesians 5:32, “This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”  To speak of this mystery of the church is not to say it was something that could not be understood, rather it was a great truth that was not written about in the Old Testament.  Paul (by the leading of the Lord) teaches us about the church.  He teaches us about how Christ is the chief corner stone of the church (Ephesians 2:18-22).  He teaches us about the proper order in the church (1 Corinthians 14:40), and he teaches us about the coming rapture of the church (1 Corinthians 15:51-58; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).  Peter even acknowledges Paul’s writings as being on the same level with all the other scriptures in 2 Peter 3:15-16. 

We cannot, and should not, underemphasize the Gospels or Paul’s epistles (or all the books of the Old Testament.)  We need to be familiar with all the scriptures so that we might grow in the Lord’s things and be capable servants of the Lord.  I encourage you to establish a habit of reading your Bible each day and include different parts of the Bible in your readings.  (CC)  (599.6)