Question Corner by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Jun 30, 1914

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 41, No. 25.

Question Corner

By Editor

WE can not answer repeatedly in the same volume questions upon the same scripture. The name and address must accompany question. It is well always to enclose stamp for reply.

4322—THE GOSPEL TO ALL THE WORLD AS A SIGN OF THE END

Do not Rom. 10:18 and Col. 1:23 show that the gospel was preached to all the world in the apostle's time? Please show the relation of these scriptures to Matt. 24:14 and Rev. 14:6, 7.

Most assuredly the gospel was preached in all the world in the times of the apostles. Roman history corroborates the statements made in Rom. 10:18 and Col. 1:23. Truly the sound of the gospel message went into all the earth, and Christianity became strongly established in the city of Rome itself, the great capital of the empire, and from there, as well as from Jerusalem, it was carried into all the provinces, and was discussed and taught everywhere.

Matt. 24:14 reads: "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." This text, taken by itself alone, might be difficult to understand; but when we study it in connection with Rev. 14:6, 7, and other similar scriptures, we see that a world-wide proclamation of the Judgment hour and the second coming of Christ is predicted by the prophets.

Ponder well these words in the sixth and seventh verses of Revelation 14, as you read them: "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His Judgment is come; and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters."

Observe that this message carries the everlasting gospel. Observe that it goes to every nation and kindred and tongue and people. Observe also that it not only calls upon us to fear God and give glory to Him, but it proclaims with solemn majesty that the hour of His Judgment is come; it is a time when the Judgment is in actual session.

So, then, we are to look for a gospel message that will be carried into every nook and corner of the world, and it is to proclaim the Judgment day and the end of the world. And while Matt. 24:14 may incidentally embrace the work that was done by the apostles in carrying the gospel to the Roman Empire, the text must include a reference to this great, all-embracing message that proclaims the Judgment hour, for it is definitely stated, "When this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, then shall the end come." This message embraces not only the gospel of salvation, but it is the gospel of the glorious kingdom of God as well.

Paul thus addressed Timothy: "I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom; Preach the Word." Thus does Paul clearly show that the kingdom of Christ is established at the appearing of Christ. And in like manner, in the parable of the tares in the field, in Matt. 13:24-30, the Master shows that the establishing of His kingdom is at His second coming; for in His own explanation of the parable, He says that the field is the world (verse 38), the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels (verse 39); and then He tells of the purifying fires of the last days, so often spoken of in the Bible, that will burn up the wicked and consume all wickedness out of His kingdom, and "then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." Verse 43.

Every true Christian in all the ages has been a subject of God's kingdom, and has been in His kingdom of grace, which extends to the end of probation. In this time the apostle exhorts us, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." A throne of grace implies a kingdom of grace, and we are now in the time of such a kingdom; but we must distinguish between this and the kingdom of glory which we have at His second coming. "When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: and before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Matt. 25:31-34.

It is when the Son of man sits upon the throne of His glory that He invites His faithful followers to inherit the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world. And this gospel of the kingdom, which presents the prophetic evidence that the great day is at hand, is the message that is to sound in all the world, in the ears of every kindred and tongue and people; and then shall the end come. We may not set a day for this great event, for the text says, "Of that day and hour knoweth no man." Matt. 24:36. But the same Word says just as emphatically, "When ye shall see these things [the fulfilment of His prophetic utterances] come to pass, know that it [margin, He] is nigh, even at the doors." Mark 13:29.

These texts studied together are very clear in presenting God's great plan.

4323—REBAPTISM

Is there any scripture in the Bible that proves it is necessary to be baptized the second time, if one fails to live a Christian life after the first baptism? or is probation closed with one who fails to live right after the first baptism?

We know of no scripture which directly says that one who has departed from the Christian life should be baptized a second time on returning to the faith. However, there are numerous passages which very clearly teach this. In the message to the church at Ephesus, in Rev. 2:5, those who have left their first love are exhorted to repent and do their first works. From Acts 2:38; 16:30-33; 8:36-38, we see that the first work after repentance is baptism. Heb. 6:1, 2 admonishes the believer to leave or advance beyond the elementary principles of the doctrine of Christ, and go on to perfection, not making it necessary to lay again the foundation of repentance, of faith, of baptism, etc.; showing that in case the Christian apostatizes, it is necessary to go back to these things, which, as the foundation principles, are necessary to the fully developed Christian character.

The object of baptism is to show death to sin, that the candidate has repudiated sin; he has forsaken the old ways and habits; and when, after baptism, he has gone back to these old practises, it is necessary to lay again the foundation from which he has departed.

God's dealings with the Israelites, during all the years of their apostasy and rebellion, show that there is repentance and salvation for those who have wandered away from Him. Although they had utterly turned away from Him, and were worshiping idols, with the heathen, still He pleaded with them to return to Him, and He would forgive and cleanse them. Read Jer. 3:6-15.