Christians can never know too much about the Bible. In this book, given from Heaven, we hear the voice of God speaking to us from another world, and addressing our needs as no other piece of writing can.

In addition to knowing the details of the Bible story, it is also important and profitable to have an overview of what the big picture is. That is the burden of this book, as well as its companion volume on the Old Testament, Promises Made.

Mark Dever is the pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington DC, and director of 9Marks ministries (check out his website at www.9marks.com for some brilliant material in the form of articles and audio interviews). He studied for his PhD on Richard Sibbes at Cambridge University, and has been involved, along with Ligon Duncan, Albert Mohler and C.J. Mahaney, with the ‘Together for the Gospel’ conference (www.togetherforthegospel.com).

This book is the expansion of a series of sermons preached at Capitol Hill Baptist, and each sermon simply summarises the main themes and thrust of each New Testament Book. The contents give an idea of the flow of the book:

The Truth About Jesus

The Message of Matthew: Jesus, the Son of David
The Message of Mark: Jesus, the Son of Man
The Message of Luke: Jesus, the Son of Adam
The Message of John: Jesus, the Son of God
The Message of Acts: Jesus, the Risen Lord

Key Ideas for the Times

The Message of Romans: Justification
The Message of 1 Corinthians: Church
The Message of 2 Corinthians: Weakness
The Message of Galatians: Faith
The Message of Ephesians: Grace
The Message of Philippians:Humility
The Message of Colossians: New Life
The Message of 1 Thessalonians: The Second Coming
The Message of 2 Thessalonians: Hope
The Message of1 Timothy: Leadership
The Message of 2 Timothy: Success
The Message of Titus: Beginnings
The Message of Philemon: Forgiveness

Living in the Real World

The Message of Hebrews: Sticking with the Best
The Message of James: Faith that Works
The Message of 1 Peter: When Things get Tough
The Message of 2 Peter: Certainty
The Message of 1 John: Christianity and the Flesh
The Message of 2 John: Truth and Love
The Message of 3 John: Why go to all the trouble?
The Message of Jude: Having Faith in Faithless Times
The Message of Revelation: What are we waiting for?

Would you be able to summarise the message of each book of the New Testament in one word or phrase? Or sermon? While it is important for us to know the details of the Bible’s contents, it is useful to have an overview like this. Why not use this as a daily devotional, or take it up as you study a portion of the Bible so that you can get a feel for the context of what you are studying? With study questions at the close of each chapter, this book and its companion Old Testament volume are extremely helpful volumes for Bible study.

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