THE GOSPEL | AdventAI

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 6, 1862

THE GOSPEL.

"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues, they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover." Mark xvi, 15-18.

Go preach the gospel, says Christ, and this he says to all his preachers. Those ministers who teach that our Lord here meant only the twelve, must admit that they have no commission from the great Head of the church to preach the gospel, hence they cannot expect that divine assistance which Christ promised. And no wonder that the gospel in their hands does not possess a saving power over sinners. Those who admit the perpetuity of the commission, yet deny that part of it which promises especial blessings to those that believe, are, to say the least, exceedingly inconsistent.

All agree that the gifts were needed when the twelve apostles went forth to sow the gospel seed, to sustain them in their arduous and responsible work, and to cause the good seed to take deep root. Very well. But pass on down through the periods of Pagan and Papal persecution, when the doctrine of Christ was being corrupted, and millions of his followers were being put to death for their faithfulness, and you will see all the necessity for the manifestation of sustaining grace and power, and instruction through the gifts, that existed in the days of the twelve. And when we look forward to the great work of fitting the 144000 for translation, and this, too, in the midst of the increasing perils of the last days, and the time of trouble such as never was [Dan. xii, 1], we see a necessity for the manifestation of the gifts, such as never before existed.

God, in his past dealings with his people, has never manifested his power for their amusement. Their extreme necessities for divine aid have been God's opportunities to manifest himself to them in might and in love. God lives and reigns, the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. He is leading out a people to keep his commandments. He is fitting them to bear a pointed testimony for primitive Christianity restored, and against the popular fables of the age. This testimony will stir the ire of the dragon, and will call down upon the heads of the remnant the rage of popular religionists.

The momentous period of the final ripening of the harvest of the earth, with the time of trouble such as never was, is just upon us. And will God look on in silence, and leave his people at such a time to the uncertain guidance of human wisdom? Never. The gracious manifestations of his presence to guide and to sustain his people, and power to save them, will be equal to their day.