Today we're going to talk about mail, about letters. My daughter, Miss Catherine, is again going to help me by doing the recording for me. I know you will enjoy this. Do you ever get letters in the mail? Or do you ever write letters and mail them to people? I do. Letters are fun to get, aren't they? But did you know that letters have been written for thousands of years? Yes, they have. Sometimes the letters were written to one person or sometimes they might have been written to a group of people or to an organization. Now, did you know that in the New Testament part of the Bible that there are 21 books that are actually letters that were written almost 2,000 years ago? Yes, 2,000-year-old letters that we can read today. Wow! And that is what we are going to talk about today, these 21 letters. And then, after we talk about these 21 books of letters, I'll also tell you about the book of Revelation. And it has letters in it, too. Revelation comes right after the letters and is the very last book in the Bible. Now, some of these 21 letters in the Bible were written to a person, and some of them were written to a group of people, often to the people in a church. These letters in the Bible are usually called epistles. Epistles is just another name for letters. The 21 books, letters or epistles, are divided into two sections. The first 13 of these letter books were all written by the Apostle Paul, many of them while he was in prison at Rome. The first nine of Paul's epistles are the books of Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. As you can see from their names, they were written to the people in the cities of Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae, and Thessalonica. Actually, they were written to the churches in these cities. And these nine books, these letters, are named after the people in the churches they were sent to. Romans to the people in the church in the city of Rome, 1st and 2nd Corinthians to the church in the city of Corinth, and so on. So the first nine letters in the New Testament are Paul's, as he wrote to the churches in these nine cities, aren't they? Then the next four letters in the New Testament are still letters written by Paul, but these letters were written to just individual people. Two letters were written to Timothy, 1st and 2nd Timothy, and then one letter each to Titus and Philemon. As you can see, these books of the New Testament, these four letters, are named for the people to whom the letters were sent, Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. So the Apostle Paul wrote 13 letters, nine to the Christians in nine particular cities and four to individual people. Then there are eight more letters, epistles, right after Paul's 13 letters. These eight letters are named Hebrews, James, 1st and 2nd Peter, 1st, 2nd and 3rd John, and Jude. We aren't sure just who wrote the letter to the Hebrews. Some people think Hebrews was also written by the Apostle Paul, but I really don't know. However, you can see that the last other seven book letters are named for the men who wrote the letters, aren't they? Yes, the rest of the letters were written by James, Peter, John, and Jude. These men mostly wrote to groups of people, though the tiny letter of 3rd John was written to a specific person. And then next, after that, there is the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, also written by John. But why does the Bible have 21 separate books that are just letters? What is important about these letters that they would be included in the Bible? Well, these epistles, these letters, were written for different reasons, just like we have different reasons for writing letters, don't we? One reason for the letters in the Bible was because sometimes there was a problem in that church that needed to be taken care of, and the letter would be telling them what the problem was and what they should do about it. Another reason was to teach the people or person something that God wanted them to know. Or the letter might be an answer to a question that the people had. Sometimes it was to tell them how a church should be run, like who should be the leaders. or sometimes the letter tells us how a marriage or a family should be run. After all, God made people and he made marriage, and marriage leads to families, so of course God would know the best way to run these, wouldn't he? Yet another reason for these epistles was simply to encourage people. Often the letters have several reasons for being written. But all of these letters say things that the Lord wanted the men to write about. These men were all inspired by God to write the letters. Yes, these epistles, these letters in the Bible, are full of wise things that the Lord had Paul, or Peter, or James, or John, or Jude write. And we today can learn from these letters. Perhaps we can find answers to some questions that we have about things in the Bible. Or they can help us solve some problems in our own lives. Or we can learn more about God or when the Lord Jesus comes back to earth. Or we can find out what is the best way to make a good family life. or we can learn how we should act and think about things. There are lots of things in these epistles that can help us now. So let's take a quick look at these letter books, OK? I think you will find them interesting. The first epistle in the Bible is the Book of Romans. As I said before, the Apostle Paul wrote this letter to the Christians in the city of Rome. Rome was a city in Italy. In fact, Rome was the capital city of the whole big Roman Empire. The Apostle Paul hadn't visited Rome yet, but he wanted to, and later he did. Paul wrote his letter to the Roman Christians, first telling them that if we just look around us, we can see that there is a God. After all, things can't make themselves, can they? No, of course not. God created plants and animals and the sun and moon and everything else, didn't he? And Paul also tells us that all have sinned. Yes, we are all sinners, aren't we? So we need a Savior to save us from our sins, don't we? But who is that Savior? Yes, the Savior is Jesus Christ. And Paul wrote about the Savior and the gospel and trusting in Jesus to save us from our sins. And Paul said, but God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Then Paul tells us that after we are saved from our sins by trusting in Jesus, that then we should lead a godly life. How can we do this? Yes, by serving God and doing what he tells us to do in the Bible. Also, Paul says in the book of Romans that we have the promise that the Lord Jesus will come back someday, and that we will be resurrected. And he talks about the nation of Israel. And Paul tells us that all things work together for good to them that love God, and that nothing can separate us from the love of God. Yes, when we are saved, God will always love us. You can see how this would be encouraging to the Christians in Rome, can't you? And it is encouraging to us today, too. So that is the first epistle in the Bible, the Book of Romans. But let's go on. The next two letters are 1st and 2nd Corinthians. These are both written by Paul to the believers in the church in the city of Corinth. Corinth is in the country of Greece. Now, the book of Acts tells us that Paul had been to the city of Corinth, doesn't it? In fact, Paul had stayed there quite a while and taught the people there about Jesus. But in 1 Corinthians, it tells that the church in Corinth was having some problems. One problem was that there was arguing among the Christians as to which of them was more important. Paul sort of told them that they were acting like babies and should grow up and act like adults. He also scolded them for being proud and told them to stop doing other bad things that they were doing. And he talked to them about marriage. Then Paul told them about the Lord's Supper, that Jesus had started it, and how they should do it. Next, Paul told them that the people in the church have different jobs to do. Some have big jobs and some have little jobs, but they are all important jobs. Then Paul compared the church to the parts of a body. Now, each part of a body has its own job to do, hasn't it? We stand and walk with our feet, we see with our eyes, and so on. But then Paul said that Christians are like parts of a body, too. What does that mean? Well, it's sort of a picture, as if Christ were a body and Christians were doing Christ's work. In the same way, Christians have different jobs to do. Some teach Sunday school to children. Some take meals to members of the church that are sick. Some make a point of greeting visitors. Even children can greet visitors, can't they? And so on. So they are like a foot or an ear or a hand in the church. Yes, Christians are like different parts of a body, Christ's body, the church. And they have different jobs. But they are all important parts of the body and need each other. Imagine if a body was nothing but an eye. In the same way, imagine if all Christians were pastors or song leaders. So there should not be arguing among the people in the church as to who is the most important. They are all important, aren't they? Instead of arguing, Christians should all work together, shouldn't they? Then Paul said that the most important thing is that people in the church were to love each other. In fact, there is a whole short chapter in 1 Corinthians about love. Often this chapter is read at weddings. It says that love is patient and kind, and not proud and not selfish. Without love, all of our good deeds don't really mean anything. Then Paul talked about how our bodies will someday be resurrected when Jesus comes back to earth, and that then all Christians will be together again and with the Lord forever. You can see that the church in Corinth had a lot of problems, can't you? In fact, they had so many problems that later the Apostle Paul wrote a second letter to them, the Book of Second Corinthians. In this second letter to the church in Corinth, Paul talked about the gospel and encouraged them to live godly lives. So, the epistles so far are Romans and 1st and 2nd Corinthians. But let's go on. Next in the Bible is the book of Galatians. Paul wrote this to the churches in the cities of an area called Galatia. Evidently, they were saying that certain works and keeping of some of the Law of Moses were needed in order to be saved. Paul told them that we are saved only through trusting in Jesus to save us. Then Paul said how we should be if we are Christians and are following God. He said that we should have love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faith, self-control, and be humble. These are called the fruits of the Spirit of God. And Paul also said that we shouldn't get tired of doing the right things because we will be rewarded for it. So the epistles so far are Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, and Galatians. But let's go on. The next book in the Bible is the book of Ephesians, which Paul wrote to the Christians in the city of Ephesus. Ephesus is in the country that we now call Turkey. Paul had been there before. Paul wrote this letter while he was in prison in Rome. He tells the Ephesians that being saved is a gift from God and doesn't come for any works we do, so we can't boast about being saved. He also tells families how they should be. The husband is to be the leader in the family and is to love his wife as he would love himself and as Christ loves us. The wife is to submit to the leadership of her husband as she would submit to the Lord. Children are to obey their parents in the Lord and to honor their parents, and this will help the children to live good, long lives. And the parents are to raise their children to know about the Lord. And the book of Ephesians is where Christians are told to put on the whole armor of God so that we can do what God wants us to do and so that we can resist the devil and his temptations. But what is this armor of God? Well, God's truth that we find in the Bible is like a strong belt. Righteousness is like armor on our chests. The gospel of peace is like having good shoes. Faith is like a shield that stops arrows. Salvation is like a helmet. And the Word of God, the Bible, is like a sword. If we have this armor of God, we are like brave soldiers in the Lord's army, aren't we? And then it tells us that we also should always pray to God, praying for ourselves and for each other. So, the epistles so far are Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, and Ephesians. But let's go on. Next is the letter of Philippians, which Paul wrote as a thank you letter to the Christians in the city of Philippi. Philippi is a city in northern Greece. Paul had been to Philippi, hadn't he? In fact, that is where he was in jail and the earthquake shook off the chains and opened the door of this prison. Do you remember that exciting true story? Well, Paul wrote this letter to the Christians in Philippi while he was in prison again, but this time he is in prison in the city of Rome. The church at Philippi had gathered money for Paul and had sent a messenger to Paul in Rome with the money for him. So Paul writes the epistle of Philippians and thanks them. This letter is full of happy thoughts. Paul tells them to rejoice, be happy. He says that being in prison there in Rome has given him a chance to preach the gospel to many people. He says he knows that if he dies, he will be with Christ in heaven. But if he keeps on living, he'll be able to encourage them more. He says for them to love each other and not only think about ourselves, our own needs, but to think of other people too. And Paul tells the Philippians the gospel and says that because Jesus Christ came and died for us, that God the Father has given Jesus a name that is more important than any other name. Then Paul says that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth. And every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. And Paul says, rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say, rejoice. And he says for them not to worry about things, but instead, in everything, by prayer and asking, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. If we do that, we will have the peace of God. Then Paul tells us in the book of Philippians what we should think about. He says that we should think about the things that are true, honest, fair, pure, lovely, and good. Thinking about those things would make us happy, wouldn't they? Yes, we should think of those good things rather than thinking about bad things. So, the epistles so far are Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, and Philippians. But let's go on. Then next, while he was still in prison in Rome, Paul wrote the book, Letter of Colossians, to the believers in the city of Colossae. Colossae was a city in the country that we now call Turkey. He tells how, though Jesus is God, he also became a man to save us from our sins. In this letter, Paul talks about how Gentiles, people who aren't Jews, could be saved as well as Jews. And evidently some people in Colossae were saying that you had to obey the law of Moses in order to be saved. Paul again told them the gospel, that we are only saved by faith in the Lord Jesus. And he told the Colossians to be patient with each other and to love and forgive each other. And he also told this church in Colossae how a family should be run. Husbands loving their wives, wives submitting to their husbands, children obeying their parents. Then he says, and whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men. Why? Because we serve the Lord. So, the epistles so far are Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians. But let's go on. The last two epistles that Paul writes to a church are 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. These are both to the same church, the church at Thessalonica. Thessalonica is a city in northern Greece. Paul had been there, hadn't he? In 1 Thessalonians, Paul tells them how much he liked being with them, and that when he'd had to leave them, that he'd left Timothy there with them to help them. Timothy had later gone to Paul and told him that the church of Thessalonica was doing well and holding fast to the faith. But evidently the Christians there were somewhat confused about their Christian friends who had died. So Paul reassures them that someday the Lord Jesus will come back to earth. And at that time, the dead Christians will be resurrected with their bodies all healthy. And then the Christians who are still alive will also be caught up to meet the Lord, and their bodies would be changed to be all healthy. And then all Christians will be with the Lord and each other forever. Then Paul ends the letter of 1 Thessalonians by telling them, Rejoice always, pray all of the time, in everything give thanks. We today can also take comfort in the words about what happens to dead Christians, can't we? And we should also rejoice, that is, be happy, and pray and thank the Lord for everything, shouldn't we? Well, the believers who lived in Thessalonica evidently still had questions, because Paul wrote them another, shorter letter, 2 Thessalonians. And in this letter, he explained some more about when the Lord Jesus will come back to earth again, and about the resurrection of believers. He tells them not to worry about when this will be, and tells them some things that will happen at that time. And he tells them to stand fast and remember what he has taught them, both when he was there with them and in his letters to them. He says, the Lord is faithful. So we can trust the Lord to do what he says, can't we? So, the epistles so far are Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. But let's go on. Now, those were the letters that Paul wrote to churches. But Paul then wrote four more letters, this time to individual people. And these letters are named after the men to whom they were written. So the next two letters, 1st and 2nd Timothy, Paul wrote to a man named Timothy. Do you remember about Timothy? I've told you about him before, haven't I? He was a very godly young man who often went with Paul on his missionary journeys. We hear about Timothy in the book of Acts. He is called an evangelist, which means that Timothy preached the gospel to people, telling them how they could be saved from their sins by trusting in Jesus. Paul loved Timothy like a son. At another time, Paul had left Timothy in the church of Ephesus to help the church there. Well, in the book of 1 Timothy, Paul gives Timothy advice. He says that, first of all, that prayers should be made for all men. Paul specifically mentions that prayers should be made for kings and other people who are in charge. After all, these people have more responsibilities, haven't they? And then Paul goes on to tell how a church should be run. He tells what kind of men should serve in the church, and also what these men's wives should be like. Paul also told Timothy that people should not love money, but should be content with what they have and live godly lives. Then, in Second Timothy, Paul mentions that Luke was with him, and he says that he'd really like to see Timothy again, and that it makes him happy just thinking about Timothy. He says that Timothy is like a son to him. Evidently, Paul wrote this letter while he was a prisoner in Rome, and he seems to be thinking that he may soon die. He encourages Timothy to stand fast. He says for Timothy to teach other men about the Lord and about how to be saved from their sins so that they may, in turn, teach these things to more people. He says to follow righteousness, faith, love, and peace with other Christians. And Paul says to avoid foolish questions and arguments or fighting. He tells Timothy about church leaders that the servant of the Lord must not fight, but be gentle unto all men, able to teach, patient, humbly teaching those who are against them. And he warns about people who will teach lies. Then he says that the Bible is given by God and is good for teaching the truth and for correcting us when we may go wrong. So the epistles so far are Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, and 1st and 2nd Timothy. But let's go on. Next, Paul wrote the epistle of Titus. This is a short letter to a man named Titus. We don't hear about Titus in the book of Acts. He may have been fairly young. As with Timothy, Paul also loved Titus like a son. Titus was with Paul on some of his missionary journeys as well. It is thought that Titus was probably with Paul when later Paul was in the prison at Rome. Okay, about the letter to Titus. Paul had been with Titus on the island of Crete, but Paul himself had to leave. So Paul had left Titus there on Crete to help the churches there on that island. So Paul then writes this letter to Titus to tell him how the churches should be run. The book of Titus is sort of like what Paul told Timothy. Paul tells what kind of men should be the leaders in the church. He also warns that false teachers may try to take part in the churches, but they must not be allowed to do so. Then Paul tells how people in the church should act. what old men and women should do, and how young men and women should act. He also reminds Titus to tell the people to obey the leaders of the country and to be humble and gentle. And he reminds Titus that we aren't saved by our works. He says, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to God's mercy he saved us. They weren't saved by following the laws, but by trusting in Jesus, right? So, the epistles so far are Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, 1st and 2nd Timothy, and Titus. But let's go on. The last letter that we have in the New Testament that the Apostle Paul had written is the Epistle of Philemon. It is only one chapter. Paul wrote it while he was a prisoner of Rome. Timothy and Luke were with Paul at the time. This letter is written to a man named Philemon and to a church that evidently met in Philemon's house. First, Paul tells Philemon that he is hearing lots of good things about Philemon. But then Paul asks Philemon to do something. You see, in those days, people often had slaves, and Philemon had a slave named Onesimus. Well, a while before Paul wrote this letter, Onesimus had run away from Philemon. Since the Romans had a big empire, there wasn't really anywhere that slaves could run away to and be safe. Also, it was against the law for slaves to run away, and slaves could be killed if they ran away. But some way, Onesimus had gotten to know Paul, where he heard the gospel and then trusted in Jesus, becoming a Christian. So now that Onesimus was saved, Paul was sending him back to Philemon. But Paul, in this little letter, tells Philemon to be good to Onesimus and not to punish him for having run away. He says that Onesimus is like a brother now because he is a Christian. To me, it sounds as if Paul is strongly hinting to Philemon to free Onesimus from slavery, but I'm not sure. So, the epistles so far are Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, 1st and 2nd Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. That is all of the letters that we know for sure that Paul wrote. But now let's go on to the rest of the epistles, the ones that other men who were not Paul wrote. Now, except for two tiny ones that John wrote, these last letters, which were written by other men, are general letters. That means that they aren't written to a certain church or a certain person. They were written to groups of people. So let's quickly look at them now. The next letter in the Bible is one called the Epistle to the Hebrews. It is written to the Jews in general. The Jews are often called Hebrews. Many people think that the letter Book of Hebrews was written by the Apostle Paul, but other people think that it was written by Luke or someone else. But since the letter itself doesn't say this, I'm not sure who wrote it. However, what is really important is that it is the Word of God. The book of Hebrews starts out by saying how great Jesus, God the Son, is. That Jesus is greater than anyone, even greater than angels. And it gives the gospel by first saying that Jesus created the whole world, but that later Jesus came to earth and died for our sins, but then that Jesus was resurrected, was alive again. It tells people not to harden their hearts, but to believe in Jesus. It also points out that following the law of Moses won't save a person. Only faith in Jesus will. The book of Hebrews explains that the Lord Jesus is our high priest in heaven. Because of this, it says, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help us in time of need. In other words, we can at any time talk to God the Father and ask him for help, because Jesus is our high priest in heaven. The book of Hebrews also tells us not to stop going to church, that Christians need each other for encouragement and to help us to do what God wants us to do. But it also talks about faith and says, but without faith it is impossible to please God. For he that comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that carefully seek him. Then the book of Hebrews says that we need to keep loving each other and we should be kind to all people. and it reminds us that God doesn't change. It says, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever. We can trust God, can't we? And we can trust him to keep his promises. God doesn't change. So, the epistles so far are Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, 1st and 2nd Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and Hebrews. But let's go on. The next epistle is the letter of James. This James is not the brother of John who went around with Jesus. No. This James, who wrote the book of James, was the half-brother of Jesus. This James at first had not believed that his half-brother Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, the one sent to save us from our sins. But after Jesus died, was buried, and then rose from the dead, Jesus appeared to James, who then believed. And then James became one of the leaders of the church in Jerusalem. James wrote this letter to all of the Jews, no matter where they lived. But all Christians should pay attention to what he says. James tells Christians that if we want to be wise, we should ask God to give us wisdom. And he reminds us that every good thing we have is given to us by God. Then James says that we should not only listen to what the Bible tells us to do, but we should do what the Bible tells us to do. After all, what good would it be if we knew what we should do, but then didn't do it? James goes on to tell us many things we should do. For instance, we should treat everyone kindly. We should treat people the same, not treating a rich person better than a poor person. In fact, we should help poor people and those who need help. James also says that we should be careful what we say because some words can hurt people. And we shouldn't say mean things about other people. Instead, we should do and say true and good things and try to keep things peaceful. Yes, we should be fair in the way we treat everyone. And we shouldn't be proud. Also, James reminds us that if we have troubles, we should pray to God. And we should help each other to do what God says. We can show others that we are Christians by how we act, can't we? So, the epistles so far are Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, 1st and 2nd Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, and James. But let's go on. The next two letter books are 1st and 2nd Peter. These were written by the Apostle Peter who had been with Jesus. He writes 1st Peter to Christians who live all over the country that we now call Turkey. Evidently, they were having a hard time and other people were being mean to them. Peter reminds them that Jesus also had a hard time when he was here on earth, and that Jesus had died for us, but then Jesus had been resurrected, was alive again after he had died on the cross for our sins. Peter said for these Christians in Galatia to be brave and to keep trusting in God, and after a while good things would happen to them too. Yes, he encourages these Christians to keep doing the things that they should do. Peter goes on to tell husbands and wives how they should treat each other, that husbands should be very good to their wives and that wives should submit to their husbands. And then he said that Christians should love each other as if they were all brothers and sisters and be polite to each other. And Peter reminds us that the Lord sees everything we do. And Peter also says, cast all your care upon him, for he cares for you. That means that if we have trouble, we should pray to God about it and trust him. Next, Peter writes the letter we call Second Peter, and it is written to all Christians. He said that God has given us the things we need. How has God done this? By our being able to know about him. But how do we know about God? Yes, by reading or listening to what he tells us in the Bible. And then Peter goes on to say that we should not only have faith in God, but we should also be good, learn more about what God wants, have self-control, be patient and kind, and love each other. Phew, that's a lot to work on, isn't it? But we should try. You see, Peter evidently thought he was about to die, and he wanted to remind Christians of these things. And he also reminded them that he himself had been with Jesus when Jesus was on earth, and that God had told him, Peter, what he should say. So we should pay attention to what Peter says in his letters, shouldn't we? Then Peter warns that bad people will come who say that God told them things to say, but if it isn't like what we have in the Bible, then we shouldn't pay attention to them, and those bad people will be punished. And then Peter reminds us that God always keeps his promises, and he does this at just the right time. And Peter says that the Lord Jesus is coming back to earth again someday, and that God knows when this will be, even though we don't know when it will be. Peter ends his second letter by reminding us not to be tricked by people, but to trust God to keep his promises. So, the epistles so far are Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, 1st and 2nd Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, and 1st and 2nd Peter. But let's go on. Now we come to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John. These three letters were all written by the apostle John. You remember John, don't you? He had, like Peter, been an apostle of Jesus and had been with Jesus when Jesus was here on earth. John seems to have written 1st John to all Christians. He starts off by reminding us that he had actually been with Jesus here on earth, that he had seen Jesus and touched him, and that he was telling things that Jesus himself had told him. John says that he's writing this so that we may be very happy. John then reminds us that Jesus died for our sins, and that we are all sinners, but that if we admit to God that we have sinned, God is so good and kind, and he will forgive our sins because of Jesus. And then we should try to do what God wants us to do. Then John tells us to love each other. After all, do you remember why Jesus, the Son of God, came to earth and died for us? Yes, because God loves us so much. Of course, three days later, Jesus was also raised from the dead, too, wasn't he? And we should love each other. And we should show our love for other Christians by doing good for them. Yes, John tells us that we should trust in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and love each other as he has told us to do. Oh, and because God loves us so much, Christians are his children. Yes, even a very old person who has trusted in Jesus is a child of God, and he is our Father. Isn't that wonderful? Then John tells us not to pay any attention to people who tell us things that are different from what the Bible says. Those people are liars. Yes, John says many things in this book of 1 John. He says that God loves us and that we should love each other. John says that we love God because God first loved us. And he says that God is love. John says that he wrote this letter so that we may believe on Jesus and also so we may know that we are saved and will someday be with God forever. And the Apostle John wrote two more letters, 2nd and 3rd John. They are both very tiny letters, only a few verses long. 2 John says it is written to a woman and her children. Some people think that means that 2 John was written to a church and the people in the church. But others think that it just means it was simply written to a woman and her children. I don't know. But either way, we should pay attention to what John says, because this is what God had John write. Anyway, John says he's very happy that her children are doing what God wants them to do. Then he goes on to say that we need to love each other and to do what God tells us to do. Then he warns that there are people who don't believe in Jesus and don't believe in the Bible. John ends this tiny letter by saying he had many more things to tell her, but he hoped to see her in person. The other tiny letter John wrote, third John, is written to a man named Gaius, who seems to have been a friend of his. John tells Gaius that he is very happy to hear how well Gaius is doing what God says to do, and that Gaius had helped other Christians who were traveling. John says that he had written a letter to a man who turned out to be proud and wouldn't help other Christians who were traveling. Then John mentions a man who is a good Christian, and to me it seems as if John is hinting for Gaius to help this man if the man travels near him. John ends by saying that he had more to say, but that he hoped to see Gaius soon. So the epistles so far are Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, 1st and 2nd Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1st and 2nd Peter, and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John. But let's go on. The very last epistle book is the book of Jude. This letter is only one chapter long. Jude, like James, who wrote the epistle of James, was also a half-brother of Jesus. At first, Jude hadn't believed in Jesus either, but after Jesus rose from the dead, then Jude believed in him. Jude wrote his short letter to Christians, and after reminding us of the gospel, Jude goes on to warn us of bad people who teach things that are against what the Bible teaches. And he mentions some bad people in the Old Testament. Then Jude says that the Lord Jesus will come back someday, and that then he will punish those bad people. And Jude warns Christians about people who teach or do things that the Bible says they shouldn't teach or do. And that is the last epistle. The letters have been Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, 1st and 2nd Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1st and 2nd Peter, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, and Jude. But, as I said earlier, the next book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, comes right after the epistles. In fact, it is the very last book of the whole Bible. Now, the second and third chapters of the book of Revelation have seven little letters from Jesus that are written to seven separate churches. But also, this whole book of Revelation is a sort of letter as well. You see, the rest of the book of Revelation is also a prophecy. A prophecy about what will happen before Jesus comes back to Earth, when he comes back, and after he comes back. And in the very last chapter of Revelation, Jesus says that the book is sort of like a letter to the churches. Revelation also tells about the New Jerusalem. We've talked about the New Jerusalem before, haven't we? And it also tells us a little about what heaven itself looks like. Okay now, most of the epistles, books, are quite short, aren't they? But there are four of them, Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, and Hebrews, which are longer. Now, did you notice any subjects that several of the epistles talked about? Yes. What were they? Well, in many of them, they talked about the gospel, about how we can be saved from our sins and be able to go to heaven someday, didn't they? Of course, that is the most important thing, isn't it? But several of these letters also talked about loving other people, especially other Christians, and not only loving them, but also being good to them and helping them. And some of the letters told how husbands and wives should be toward each other. And some of the letters said that we should not do or think about bad things. And some told us that we shouldn't pay attention to people who do or teach things that the Bible says not to do. Those are all things that we should remember, aren't they? Okay now, we've talked a little about each of the 21 epistles books. But where in the Bible do we find these 21 letters? Yes, I already said that they were found in the New Testament. But where in the New Testament? Well, the New Testament has 27 books in it. These 27 books can be divided into three general groups. The New Testament has five books of history, then 21 books of letters, and lastly, one book of prophecy. Five, 21, one. Of the five history books, the first four of these history books are what we call the Gospels. Gospel means good news. These books of good news are the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. But why are they called Gospels, good news? Why? Because they tell us the true story, the good news about why Jesus came to earth and what he did then. And what is the most important thing that Jesus did when he was here on earth? Yes, he died for our sins. And all four of the Gospels tell the Easter story about when Jesus died on the cross for our sins, was buried, but then three days later he was alive again, was resurrected and stayed alive. And that if we trust in Jesus, we can be saved from our sins and be able to go to heaven someday and be with the Lord God, don't they? And that's called the gospel. And that is really good news, isn't it? The very best news. The next and last history book in the New Testament is the book of the Acts of the Apostles, usually just called the book of Acts. Acts means doing what the apostles did. This book tells about when Jesus went back to heaven, where he is still alive today, and then it tells what the apostles did, how they acted after Jesus was gone. The book of Acts tells us that the apostles went all over preaching the good news about Jesus, and many people believed what was said and were saved from their sins. and it tells the adventures the apostles had while doing this. The book of Acts is where we find the exciting stories about the apostle Paul and other stories that happened after Jesus went back to heaven. Okay, so the first five books of the New Testament are what we would call history books, aren't they? Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts. They are full of exciting stories. Next come the 21 books of epistles, letters. These books are all shorter than the history books. First, the 13 letters written by Paul, both to churches and to individual people. Then come the eight letters written by other men. Then again, the very last book of the New Testament, Revelation, is another long book, the one book of prophecy in the New Testament. This is a book that the Lord Jesus had the Apostle John write down, and it is full of prophecies about when Jesus will come back again someday. And, as we said before, it has letters in it. Of course, prophecies about this are also found in the history books and the letter books in the New Testament, too. But the book of Revelation is almost all about prophecy. And that's not only the end of the New Testament, it is also the end of the whole Bible. The epistles also tell us the good news about Jesus and also tell us that the Lord Jesus is coming back to earth someday, don't they? And then he will be king of the whole world and the people who have trusted in him will be with him. But after we are saved, how can we know how God wants us to live? Well, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tell us that. But we can also turn to the epistles, those 21 letters, and Revelation, and they will tell us more, too. Isn't that good of God to tell us these things? I'm glad that God gave us those letters in the Bible, aren't you? So, the New Testament has 27 books. First, five long books of history, the four Gospels and the book of Acts. Next, 21 shorter letters, 13 by Paul and eight by others. And lastly, one long book of prophecy. So, five history, 21 letters, and one prophecy. 5, 21, 1. Now let's do a quick review. So how many books are in the New Testament? Yes, 27. How many are history books? That's right, five. How many are letters? Yes, 21. And how many are prophecy? That's right, only one. So again, 5, 21, 1. Now let's see if we can say the names of the books of the New Testament. You say them with me, OK? First, the five books of history are, come on, say them with me, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts. Very good. Next, the 21 books of letters are, say them with me, Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, 1st and 2nd Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1st and 2nd Peter, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, and Jude. And what is the one book of prophecy at the end? Yes, it is Revelation. Good for you! 521-1. So now, let's try to live as the epistles tell us to do, okay? And how is that? Well, first of all, we should trust in Jesus to save us from our sins. Then, let's love and obey God, and love each other, help each other, try not to do or think about bad things, and not pay any attention to people who want us to do bad things or who teach things that are against what the Bible tells us. If we can do those things, not only will we be happy, but it will make God happy. I hope you enjoyed hearing about the epistles, the 21 letters that are in the Bible. Did you?