The Gospel of the Kingdom.
By R. F. C.
Each announcement of good news connected with the great plan of salvation is a portion of the gospel. The gospel was preached to Abraham. It was the good news of the Messiah to come—the promise that in Abraham's seed all the families of the earth should be blessed. John the Baptist preached the good news that this promised One was about to be manifested to Israel. This was a part of the gospel scheme. Jesus preached the good news of the approach of the kingdom promised in prophecy, but his words, correctly understood, do not signify that it was an event immediately to take place. In 1 Cor. xv, Paul tells us what the gospel was which he preached; but it was not the same thing announced to Abraham—the promise of a Messiah yet to be born; but it was a part of the same plan—the good news that Christ had already died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures. There is yet another promised proclamation of the gospel to be made after the days of the apostles—the good news of the everlasting kingdom at hand—to be preached to the world as a witness or sign, and then the end will come. It is the everlasting good news, Rev. xiv, 6, because it is the last work of the gospel age, and introduces the everlasting kingdom and the immortal and eternal state. R. F. C.