Studies in the Gospel Message
By W. W. P.
THIS is the general title of the Sabbath-school lessons for the next quarter, the subject for the first Sabbath, April 5, being “The Gospel of the Kingdom and the Coming of the Lord.” When the disciples asked Jesus, “What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” it is evident that they regarded these two events as so closely associated that the sign of one would be the sign of the other. When, therefore, in His reply, Jesus said, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come,” it is certain that “the end” of which He spoke was “the end of the world,” and that this preaching of the gospel in all the world, which would be the sign of the end of the world, would also be the sign of His coming. It follows plainly enough that the preaching of the gospel which will lead up to and usher in the coming of the Lord must be the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom, and that it must be proclaimed “in all the world.” Now by the reading of Rev. 14: 6–15 it appears that “the everlasting gospel” is to be preached to “every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,” in a threefold message of exhortation (verse 7), declaration of religious declension (verse 8), and warning (verses 9–11); that the result of thus declaring this gospel will be seen in a people distinguished from all others by the fact that they are commandment-keepers; and that following at once upon this work and its result is the coming of the Lord. We may therefore safely conclude that “the everlasting gospel” which is to be preached in this threefold message is “the gospel of the kingdom,” and that this preaching of it is the sign mentioned by the Saviour in His reply to the disciples. It should be noted, however, that it is not a new gospel which thus prepares the way for the coming of the Lord. It is “the everlasting gospel.” At the same time it is evident from the forms of statement, the topical outline, as it were, of this threefold message, that “the everlasting gospel,” when proclaimed so as to constitute the sign of the coming of the Lord, will be just the message needed to establish faith in, and the worship of, the Creator rather than the creature; to deliver God’s people from the evil results of the false teaching of Babylon; and to give them the victory “over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark.” This gospel of the kingdom is not a set of theological phrases, not the expounding of a creed; it is the reality of an experience. It is the good news of a power working in the heart of sinful man which overthrows the dominion of Satan, and establishes the reign of righteousness. This is the experience of the teaching that “the kingdom of God is within you.” This is the banishment of Satan from his usurped dominion, and the restoration of Jesus to His rightful place as “King of saints.” This is the going of Satan and the coming of the Lord. And so the sign of the coming of the Lord, and the preparation for the coming of the Lord, is the preaching of the experience of the coming of the Lord. Much of the teaching of the coming of the Lord seems to be based upon the idea that the only thing to be dealt with is an outward event, which will take place at some future date, and that the main thing is to establish that date. But this is such a partial view of this glorious truth that it practically misses the real truth. And this statement does not belittle the value of definite time prophecies and their teaching, but the mere fixing of a date neither saves a soul from the power of sin, nor prepares a sinful being to hail the Lord’s coming with joy. This leads us to note the difference between that coming of the Lord which no human eye can see, and that coming which every eye shall see. The former coming means salvation to the repentant sinner, the latter coming means destruction to the unrepentant sinner. This former coming is set forth in the following verses: “He that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto Him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” This coming of the Lord to dwell in the heart of the believer is the very soul of the gospel. This is the mystery of the gospel, “which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” This is the glorious experience that “it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me.” This is the gospel of the kingdom within, which is to be “preached in all the world,” not by mere word of mouth, but by a life of victory over sin, a life which shows itself, as the Master’s life always does, in going about doing good. This is that preaching of the coming of the Lord which will make his own people the greatest sign of the coming of the Lord in power and great glory. “Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs.” When this great truth of the coming of the Lord in the flesh of His people has been proclaimed to all the world with such power that all have accepted or rejected it by a definite decision, then the Lord will come in His own person, and this is “the manifestation of His coming” (2 Thess. 2: 8, R. V.) which is the central theme of all the time prophecies in the Scripture. This should be taught, and the other should not be left untaught. Now this gospel of the kingdom within, this gospel of the coming of the Lord, this gospel of God manifested in the flesh, is to be proclaimed to all the world in the very words of Rev. 14: 6–12 just before the personal second advent of our Lord. It is therefore essential that we should know the real nature of this gospel, and know how to proclaim it in the very words of this chapter, in order that the way of the Lord may be prepared.