The Gospel Message for To-day
By A. G. DANIELLS.
In the prophecy of Rev. 14:6-14 we find the gospel set forth in language which is altogether peculiar to that prophecy. The messengers brought to view in the prophecy are said to have “the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth.” In preaching that gospel, they say to the world:— “Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come. . . . Babylon is fallen, is fallen, . . . because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. . . . If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God.” From the fact that in proclaiming the everlasting gospel the messengers say the very words just quoted, we have the most positive evidence that the preaching of these three messages, or, rather, this threefold message, is the preaching of the everlasting gospel in God’s way at the time this message is due the world. To illustrate: Noah was an heir of the righteousness which is by faith. Heb. 11:7. He was a preacher of that righteousness. 2 Peter 2:5. As the righteousness which is by faith is the very essence of the everlasting gospel, Noah was a preacher of the gospel. In preaching the gospel, the righteousness which is by faith, Noah “prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world.” There was salvation in the acceptance of the message of Noah concerning the flood, and there was condemnation in its rejection. At no other time has the gospel ever been preached by the peculiar warning and work of Noah. But that was the particular message of the gospel for that time, and it was not possible to preach the gospel in God’s way without giving that warning and building the ark. To have ignored that would have been to reject the gospel. That was what the masses did, and the result was their destruction. By giving the warning and building the ark, Noah was counted an heir and preacher of righteousness—of the gospel. So with the threefold message of Rev. 14:6-14. That message is the gospel. When it is due the world, as was Noah’s message, it must be preached in the language ascribed to the messengers. The world must be told plainly that the judgment hour has come, that Babylon has fallen, and that if any man worship the beast and his image, and receives his mark, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God. The facts declared in this message are gospel facts. They will some day be due the world, and when they are, they must be preached. The preaching of these specific truths will be the preaching of the gospel. It will be impossible knowingly to reject or even ignore them and preach the gospel acceptably to God.