If you were to ask almost every church member, what has got to happen before Christ returns, you will get the standard answer -
“When the gospel has been preached in all the world”
On one hand the church has told us for years that they have gone into every nation and language, but He hasn’t come.
They sing the church’s anthem from the General Conference session, circa 1980 -
“We have this hope that burns within our hearts,
Hope in the the coming of the Lord”
But secretly, as they sing, many, underneath, are hoping that it is not yet, they have so many things that they would like to do on this earth, before He comes. We have heard all sorts of theories from them as to how the gospel will go to all the world. One satellite TV ministry even had the audacity to claim that their ministry was the 4th angel of Revelation 18. We see the counsel of the Scriptures and "the Testimony of Jesus, which is the Spirit of Prophecy" totally ignored and “they love what the world loves and do what the world does”. So, what is the gospel, we need to ask at this point?
The same as Genesis 3:15, it is “the everlasting gospel” of Christ, to the close of time.
Then He came and demonstrated how to live the gospel and how to preach it. As He was about to ascend He said -
All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I Am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Note carefully the “therefore” - Whose power?
We were told that Cain and Abel represent the two great classes of people who shall exist til the end of time. One believed and lived the everlasting gospel and the other was going to DO it himself. The everlasting gospel can only be preached by those who live it, which is absolute dependance on Christ for everything, where they wait on Him to open the way for entrance of truth in to a receptive heart at the right time, e.g. Peter to Cornelius, Philip to the Ethiopian.
We were told that the message of 1888 was “the 3rd angel’s message in verity” and also “the latter rain” - it was all about “union with Christ”, so that gives us a very clear indication of what the everlasting gospel is all about. Here are a few quick quotes from “the boys” who gave it -
“The gospel is the creative power of God in men. Any gospel that leaves out creation is a false gospel.”; Every false gospel is a human gospel.”; “The gospel is the power of God, not the power of man. The only thing that has any efficacy in the way of salvation is the life of God in Christ. He may use men as instruments/channels but He alone is the giver.”; “The same gospel is to be preached in the church as the world.”; “When there is bickering, strife and fighting in the church, you can be sure that the gospel has been sadly perverted.”; “The gospel tells of the same power that He uses to create and bring worlds into existence is now exerted for the salvation of men.”; “In the days of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God shall be finished, as He hath declared to His servants the prophets. That mystery of God finished is the gospel preached to all the world, that the end may come. That mystery of God finished in the world is the work of God finished in preaching the gospel to the nations.
And it is more than that, along with that. The mystery of God is God manifest in the flesh. The finished mystery of God is the completion, the perfection, of the manifestation of God in the flesh, in the believers in Jesus who belong to the church. Thus there are two places occupied in the finishing of the mystery of God. One place is the world itself, to which the gospel is to be preached, the other place is in the lives of the believers of the truth. We might preach and proclaim in words to the ends of the earth, to every soul on the earth in our generation, so that phase of the work would be completed, and would be finished, yet if the manifestation of God in the lives of those who preach that, is not completed also, we could preach that thing ten thousand years, and the end would never come. It is not simply that the gospel shall be preached to all the world, and fill all the world, but it is that when that is done, there shall be a people ready to meet Him at the end. Without the finishing of that manifestation of God in the flesh of each believer, there can be no finishing of the mystery of God.”
One more profound quote from them for us, who are striving “with all the power that God has given to be among the 144,000 -
Victory, in order to be victory, must be eternal.
But the final victory over death is only the present victory over sin, which is the sting of death. The translation of the 144,000 at the second coming is not due to the accident of their being on earth at this time, but to their life of perfect righteousness by faith. It is the natural working out of the life of Christ in them.
By His perfect obedience He has made it possible for every human being to obey God's commandments. When we submit ourselves to Christ, the heart is united with His heart, the will is merged in His will, the mind becomes one with His mind, the thoughts are brought into captivity to Him; we live His life. This is what it means to be clothed with the garment of His righteousness. Then as the Lord looks upon us He sees, not the fig-leaf garment, not the nakedness and deformity of sin, but His own robe of righteousness, which is perfect obedience to the law of Jehovah. COL 311
We see in the 3AM, they come -
“with 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…Here is the patience (Gr. endurance, constancy) of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”.
The gospel is in all 3 but note the beginning and the end words/phrase. The “everlasting gospel” is lived by “the faith of Jesus”. In this time of the judgement, when the sanctuary in heaven will be cleansed, the hearts of His people will also be cleansed of every defilement. These two events are synonymous, and are occurring now.
Maybe just one more well known quote -
Christ is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church. When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own. It is the privilege of every Christian not only to look for but to hasten the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. COL 69
