The
“Gospel” During the Great
Tribulation
The Righteous Will Live by Faith
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The purpose of this
study is to exalt the Centerpiece of
the Great Tribulation, Jesus Christ
and His everlasting gospel. I hope
that this short study will lift some
darkness that currently obscures this
most important subject. What makes
this subject so important is that the
gospel is good news from God and good
news about God. (I should point out
the gospel also contains bad news
from God for those who refuse to
submit to His authority.) In the
coming hours of human extremity, God
will completely reveal the
everlasting gospel. In other words,
during the Great Tribulation, the
gospel of Jesus Christ will be
stripped of human varnish and
denomination ownership. Truth will
shine brighter than the sun at noon
on a cloudless day and truth will
soar high above antagonism and
confusion by the diverse religions of
the world. Everyone will clearly hear
the gospel – yes, even above the
roar and din of overwhelming
destruction and suffering. During the
appointed time of the end, the Holy
Spirit will empower God’s
anointed messengers as never before,
exalting Jesus Christ and His
everlasting gospel with power and
simplicity. (Revelation 7:1-8; 11:3;
Joel 2:28-32)
There is no higher
subject, there is no grander theme
and there is nothing more glorious in
the whole Bible than the
“revelation” of Jesus
Christ. Billions of people have
rejoiced to learn about Him down
through the ages without seeing the
stunning revelation of His Majesty
that is about to take place. Every
born-again Christian knows that
nothing can compare with the joy,
peace and transformation that comes
from knowing Jesus and understanding
the gospel of His kingdom. He is the
King of kings! He is the Lord of
lords! He is the Alpha and Omega! He
is the eternal Sun of Righteousness,
the day Star of humankind! Yet, for
all that He is, His favorite titles
seem to be Son of God and Savior of
man. (John 14:31; John 10:11;
Revelation 5:9) So why is it then,
that when people tell the story of
the Great Tribulation, our Lord and
His gospel are not usually the
centerpieces of the story? Why is the
book of Revelation regarded with so
much mystery, fear, foreboding and
gloom when Revelation is expressly
declared”The revelation of Jesus
Christ which God gave to him…?
(Revelation 1:1) Is it possible that
Christians do not comprehend how
Jesus and His everlasting gospel fit
into the end-time story?
It is absolutely
fascinating to discover how all the
books in the Bible are “directly
wired” into Revelation’s
story, comparable to the electrical
wiring connected to the main breaker
box in my house. All 66 books,
written by 40+ authors over a period
of 1,400 years, connect to the book
of Revelation in ways that reveal
something about the enormous
dimensions of God’s love and His
Plan to save man. No book in the
Bible stands alone; no book should be
excluded from our study. Each book
contributes something essential to
our understanding of the everlasting
gospel. Each book adds color and
detail to an infinite picture that
says something about the Most High
God. However, if I could exalt one
book above the others, it would be
the last book of the Bible. I say
this because I believe we are living
in the final days of Earth’s
history and the message within the
book of Revelation uniquely applies
to the last generation. In other
words, Revelation merits closer
attention because it is the
timeliest.
God
is Love
I have said often in
these studies that the most difficult
idea the 144,000 must convey during
the Great Tribulation will be that
God is love, simply because the
world’s view of what constitutes
God’s love is highly distorted.
Think about it. Revelation describes
many horrible events. Consider a
global scene with people perishing by
the hundreds of millions in great
fires, tidal waves, volcanic
eruptions, contaminated waters,
famines, plagues, wars and other
physical calamities. Consider the
great suffering that every survivor
will experience. Words cannot express
the anguish that will torment every
living person during the Great
Tribulation. No book in the Bible is
more graphic or more depressing than
the book of Revelation, especially if
we focus on the results of
God’s justifiable wrath. So, how
can I say that the book of Revelation
is the most glorious book in the
Bible? I say this because of what God
produces during the Great
Tribulation and what he brings out
of the Great Tribulation!
What do I mean when I
say, “What will God produce
during the Great Tribulation?”
God will enable every person
to have an unmistakable understanding
of Jesus Christ and His gospel.
“What will God bring out of the
Great Tribulation?” God will
save a numberless multitude of people
who supremely love Him and His truth.
(Revelation 7:9,14) Any process that
can produce results like this is
nothing short of amazing –
especially when you consider the
religious and cultural diversity of
this planet!
Basic
Elements of the Gospel
The gospel of Jesus
Christ can be compared with different
levels of algebra. Algebra I contains
introductory ideas. Algebra II builds
upon the foundations established in
Algebra I, so that issues like
quadratic and differential equations
can be studied. Algebra II also sets
the stage for the advanced study of
calculus. The point is that the
gospel is not a “sound
bite” or a flippant
“one-liner” – it is as
wide and deep as the ocean.
(Ephesians 3:16-19) True, you can put
small sample of the ocean in a jar,
but the water in the jar is not the
ocean! Unfortunately, many Christians
have been led to believe that the
gospel is a small matter (the jar of
water) rather than an infinite matter
operating within well-defined
principles and laws.
The Apostle Paul
became annoyed with the Hebrews
because they would not move on to
“Algebra II.” He wrote, “In
fact, though by the time you ought to
be teachers, you need someone to
teach you the elementary truths of
God’s word all over again. You
need milk, not solid food! No one who
lives on milk, being still an infant,
is acquainted with the teaching about
righteousness. But solid food is for
the mature, who by constant use have
trained themselves to distinguish
good from evil. Therefore let us
leave the elementary
teachings about Christ and
go on to maturity, not laying again
the foundation of repentance from
acts that lead to death, and of faith
in god, instruction about baptisms,
the laying on of hands, the
resurrection of the dead, and eternal
judgment.” (Hebrews
5:12-6:2, italics mine) If Paul were
alive today, I wonder what he would
say about the current condition of
Christians and their understanding of
the gospel.
Three
Important Points
The way the gospel
will be presented during the Great
Tribulation will be as it has always
been, only on a much grander scale.
God has always used a specific person
or remnant group to accomplish His
purposes. During the tribulation, God
will choose and empower 144,000
ordinary people from every religion
and culture to do the job. To be more
specific, one religious body will not
present the gospel during the Great
Tribulation and for the most part,
neither scholars nor “men and
women of letters” will present
the gospel either! God looks within
the heart (1 Samuel 16:7, 17:10;
Jeremiah 29:13) and He will choose
144,000 humble messengers that will
come from all nationalities and
faiths! Many people may question how
this diverse group will present only
one gospel! How will God accomplish
this? In every nation, there are
people who love God with all their
heart, mind and soul. These people
are living up to all they know to be
true. These are His sheep. (John
10:16; Romans 2:14,15) Once God
presents the “book of
truth” to such people (Ezekiel
2:3-3:4; Revelation 10:8-10) they
will rejoice to understand the
gospel! (Matthew 13:23) God will then
empower them to preach to their
respective nations. (Hebrews 8:10-13;
Joel 2:28-32; Matthew 24:14) The
world will listen because God will
stop the daily affairs of the human
race with His judgments. (Isaiah
26:9,10; Revelation 8 and 9) As a
result of God’s intervention, a
numberless multitude will receive
salvation. Think about it. God is
going to save to the utmost and
redeem people from every religion and
nation!
Two
Problems
Before we get into the
elements of the everlasting gospel, I
would like to present two important
points for consideration:
- Most
Christians believe their
church has the correct
interpretation of the gospel.
(This is the reason the
Christian community is so
divided – each church is
convinced of the certainty of
its position. Many churches
use prophets or authorities
outside the Bible to confirm
their claims.) Regardless of
denomination, church leaders,
pastors and church members
all believe their version
of the gospel will be
preached to all the world and
evangelicals are doing
everything within their power
to accomplish “the
impossible.” I say
“the impossible”
for two reasons: First, the
majority of people living on
Earth have not heard any
portion of the gospel after
2,000 years of promotion.
According to figures released
by the American Bible
Society, it is currently
estimated that more than 3.5 billion
people have never heard of
Jesus Christ! Second, the
population of Earth is
growing faster than people
sharing the gospel can reach.
Yes, through the miracle of
radio and TV, the gospel is
being preached in remote
places, but the problem is
not reaching remote places!
Radio and TV may beam the
gospel to every nation, but culture
and religion prevent most
people from giving the gospel
fair consideration.
History
confirms that it is almost impossible
for one man to prove the superiority
of his religion over that of another
man. One cannot count the number of
“holy wars” fought in the
name of God. Figures show that less
than 5% of the world’s
population change religions. Can
Moslems convince Jews of the
superiority of Islam? Can Catholics
convince Hindus that Catholicism is
right? Can Mormons convince
Jehovah’s Witnesses that
Mormonism is correct? No, the
likelihood of change in each example
is slim to none. It is heartbreaking,
but true – when it comes to
religion, most people cannot
objectively consider another point of
view if they have already embraced a
particular religion. Religion usually
starts in the cradle and whatever
religion a person is born into, that
is the religion they die out of. The
question is, will God allow people to
perish because two men cannot agree
with each other? No. God intends to
present the gospel to every person
and in a setting where each person
may fully consider His offer of
salvation. To do this, God must and
will break down religious barriers by
sending a series of devastating
judgments.
B.
During the Great Tribulation, God
will tear down the enormous loyalty,
trust and confidence that each person
places in his or her religion and
religious leaders. This tearing down
(disillusionment) will be painful and
sad (and many will curse God out of
deepest bitterness), but this
terrible experience will enable Jews,
Protestants, Catholics, Mormons,
Jehovah Witnesses, Hindus, Moslems
and everyone on earth to consider the
everlasting gospel for what it really
is. (Revelation 10:10,11) God will
open everyone’s mind by a
powerful and overwhelming course of
events that no one can deny. God
will put all people on a level
playing field. The light of His Truth
will illuminate the pompous, arrogant
claims of religious leaders and
religious systems. (Zechariah 13:7-9)
Sadly, the pride of their hearts will
be revealed. In stark contrast, the
144,000 will present the everlasting
gospel in simple, but powerful terms.
Blazing truth will shame the darkness
that is protected in the name of
religion with the same clarity that
daylight defeats darkness. In this
environment, everyone will have an
opportunity to (a) hear the gospel;
(b) make a decision (for the truth or
stand against it); (c) have their
resolve about their decision tested
by persecution; and (d) ultimately be
sealed or marked according to their
decision. In this manner, the
everlasting gospel will be preached
to every man, woman and child on
earth and each person will have a
fair chance to make an intelligent
decision about it.
Elementary
Teachings of the Gospel
My comments in the
previous paragraphs may have caused
some of you a great amount of
distress. You may want to ask:
“So, if this is true, then just
what is the everlasting gospel of
Jesus Christ?” I would respond
by saying, “The everlasting
gospel is the truth about the
relationship that exists between the
government of God, Jesus Christ,
Lucifer and fallen man.” The
following six statements explain this
relationship.
1)
Before there was anything in the
universe, there were three eternal
beings that we call God the Father,
God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
(1 Timothy 1:17; Colossians 1:17;
Hebrews 9:14; Matthew 28:19,20) The
laws of the Trinity are righteous,
supreme, eternal and nonnegotiable.
(James 1:17; Psalms 119:89, 160;
Daniel 4:34; Habakkuk 3:6; Romans
16:26-27) All violators of God’s
laws will receive the wrath of law
that requires death by execution.
(Genesis 2:17; Exodus 12:12,13;
Romans 6:23; Revelation 15:1;
Revelation 20:13-15)
Note:
God’s wrath is defined in this
presentation as the fair and unbiased
administration of a penalty as
required by law. When Adam and Eve
sinned, they were to be executed the
very day they committed their sin
because any violation of God’s
law is death by execution. (Genesis
2:17; 6:7; 13:10; 2 Thessalonians
1:8,9) Why is the consequence so
drastic? Here is the problem. When
sin occurs, the nature of the
violator is instantly changed –
the sinner becomes anti-God. (Adam
and Eve radically changed from having
a propensity toward righteousness to
having a propensity toward rebellion
against God. This happened the very
day they sinned. Remember how they
ran and hid from God? This behavior
shows the sudden change in their
nature. (Genesis 3:8; Romans 8:7)
From the beginning, God decreed that
the penalty for sin was death by
execution. To a liberal society, this
may seem a bit harsh. However, God
knew the ultimate result of sin
– He knew sinful beings would
eventually attempt to destroy Him and
all He had made if they had enough
power, time, and of course, if it
were possible. (See Revelation
12:7-9; 17; 12-14; 19:19,20.)
Violators of God’s law cannot
escape the moral changes that sin
brings. It is “natural” for
all sinners to be anti-God. The only
way to maintain a universe free from
the chaos and deadly infection of sin
is to totally eliminate sin and all
who choose to continue in
lawlessness. (2 Thessalonians 2:12)
Consequently, God executes the wicked
(including the devil and his angels)
at the end of the thousand years with
fire. (Notice that they are thrown
into the lake of fire! Revelation
20:15) Dying from the consequences of
sin (cancer, stroke, accident,
illness) is not to be equated with
paying the penalty of sin (death by
execution). If this was not the case,
all the Father would have to do was
wait for Jesus to grow old on earth
and die “a natural death.”
Please understand this point: The
penalty for sin is not natural death.
Now, follow this logic to its
conclusion: This is the very reason
why Jesus had to be executed at
Calvary.
2)
At a point in time (approximately
6,000 years ago), God the Son created
life on this planet, including man.
(Genesis 1:27; John 1:10; Colossians
1:16; Hebrews 1:2) At that time,
Jesus placed man under the obligation
of law with the promise of immediate
death by execution if man violated
the law. (Genesis 2:17)
Unfortunately, man disobeyed his
Maker. (Genesis 3:6)
3)
Just as Adam and Eve were about to be
executed, Jesus, the Creator of man,
stepped “in the way” and
offered to die in man’s
place.(Genesis 3:15; Hebrews 7:25; 1
John 2:1,2; 2 Thessalonians 2:7) The
law of God, which condemned Adam and
Eve to death, could not be changed.
After Adam and Eve sinned, the Father
had no option but to give the world
to Lucifer as the spoils of his
conquest. (Luke 4:6) However, when
Jesus made the gracious offer to
become man’s intercessor, the
Father accepted Jesus’ offer
based on certain conditions. From
that moment in time, Jesus became
man’s intercessor and will
continue to do so until the problem
with sin is fully resolved.
Jesus’ great love for Adam and
Eve and their offspring prompted His
decision to live on Earth and die the
second death (the penalty for sin).
During Jesus’ earthy life, He
would be tempted to sin, just as Adam
had been tested. (Hebrews 4:15) He
became an over comer and lived a
sinless life; therefore, He was
executed as Adam and Eve deserved-the
guilt of their sins would be
transferred to Himself. (1 John
2:2,3; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Revelation
1:5)
The Bible
indicates that any person’s
guilt can be transferred to Jesus if
they submit to the authority of Jesus
and live by faith in a hostile world.
This is good news of the everlasting
gospel-anyone who puts their faith in
Christ as their “atonement”
Lamb will receive eternal life at the
appointed time and escape the
execution awaiting the wicked at the
end of the 1,000 years. (Luke 8:1;
Acts 5:42; Ephesians 2:8,9; Malachi
4:1; Revelation 20:13-15) Remember,
the Father accepted Jesus’ blood
as atonement for sin because He too,
loved the human race as much as
Jesus. (John 3:16) Yes, Lucifer had
been successful in leading Adam and
Eve to sin, but the Father promised
that the world would be returned to
its rightful owner (and all of the
“faith” people who would
live on it) if Jesus were successful
in redeeming man from the
condemnation of eternal death. (The
spoils do go to the victor!) (Psalms
2:7-12; John 17:6; Hebrews 1:2, 8-13;
Daniel 7:13,14)
Note: Two
points need to be injected here.
First, Jesus created the human race
for the glory of the Father.
(Colossians 1:10-17) When Jesus
offered to become man’s
Redeemer, the Father promised to give
Jesus the world as a gift for the
price He would have to pay. (John
17:2-6) Jesus was found worthy to
receive His kingdom in 1798. (Daniel
7:9,10, 13,14; Revelation 5. For
those individuals who are alive
during the Great Tribulation, every
decision to belong or not belong to
the Kingdom of God will be made by
the time the seventh trumpet is
sounded. (Revelation 11:15)
Jesus’ first action after taking
possession of His kingdom will be to
avenge the suffering of His saints.
(This is the purpose of the seven
last plagues.) Ultimately, Jesus
destroys His enemies. (Revelation
6:10,11; 15:1; 16:4-7; 19:15-21;
Hebrews 10:13)
The second
point that needs to be made is that
although Jesus’ intercession
averted Adam’s and Eve’s
execution that day, they did die
years later due to the consequences
of sin. This is why the Bible often
speaks about the first death as a
temporary sleep (1 Corinthians 15:51;
John 11:11-13; John 6) and the second
death as the eternal or everlasting
death. (Revelation 2:11; 20:6; 21:8)
Many Bible students fail to
distinguish between the consequence
of sin and the penalty of sin.
The wicked will be resurrected at the
end of the 1,000 years to acknowledge
their guilt and receive the penalty
for their rebellion, which is death
by execution.
4)
Since all men have violated
God’s law (Romans 3:23; 1 John
1:10; Romans 3:10), then all men fall
under the penalty of law, death by
execution. For those who reject
Christ’s atonement, this
execution will occur at the end of
the 1,000 years. (John 5:28,29;
12:48; Revelation 20:6, 12-15;
Colossians 3:5,6)
5)
The good news from God is that no one
needs to perish! (2 Peter 3:9; John
3:16; 1 John 5:13) The righteousness
required for salvation has been
provided for all through the life
of Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:10; 1:17;
3:21) The penalty for sin has been
paid by the death Jesus
Christ. (Galatians 3:13,14; 1 Peter
3:18) Unfortunately, human
nature is naturally drawn to rebel
against God, His laws and Kingdom and
it is often hard for sinners to
accept the “good news.”
(Romans 8:7,8) Consequently, the only
way a person can wholeheartedly
submit to god’s laws is to be
born again. (John 3:3) The “born
again” experience cannot be
generated by human will. (We cannot
make ourselves born again.) This is
something alone that God creates in
our hearts and the transformation is
nothing less than a miracle. (John
3:6) The Bible also states that the
born again life requires constant
renewing. (2 Corinthians 13:5; Romans
12:2) However, the flip side of the
coin is this: If anyone knowingly
insists on remaining in a rebellious
state against God, they will be
considered a rebel who will be
resurrected at the end of the
thousand years. According to
God’s law, those who rebel must
pay the penalty for their rebellion
and they will be eternally destroyed
in the lake of fire. (Mark 3:29;
Hebrews 10:26,27; Revelation
20:11-15)
6)
How does a person put their faith in
Christ? To have faith in Christ means
that out of a heart full of love and
gratitude for what He has done, a
person willingly submits to his
authority. (1 John 5:2-4) Does
obedience merit salvation? No.
(Romans 1:17; 3:21,22; Hebrews 4:2-6)
Is obedience necessary for salvation?
Yes. (1 John 2:1-5) I know this
sounds contradictory, but actually,
the relationship is simple. Faith
demonstrates obedience to God because
the individual believes that
god is Sovereign and there is a
humble recognition that His commands
are to be obeyed above all others.
(Hebrews 11) Presumption, on the
other hand, excuses transgression
(rebellion), whereas obedience
reveals our faith in God. (Romans
1:5,6) Obedience is a definitive way
that faith can be refined and tested.
(James 1:3; 2:17-26; 1 Peter 4:17;
Hebrews 5:8,9; 2 Thessalonians 1:8;
John 14:15,23) Salvation is
guaranteed to all who are willing to
go, to be and do as God directs.
GO-BE-DO! (John 3:16; Romans
10:9; 1 Corinthians 10:13;
Philippians 4:19) Faith begins with a
willing and submissive attitude.
(Luke 23:42,43) Faith recognizes the
authority of God by producing
appropriate deeds. (James 2:17, 19)
The ultimate test of faith happens
when loyalty to God stands in direct
conflict with dire circumstances.
(Genesis 6; Daniel 3 & 6)
Note:
Many Christians today face a serious
problem without recognizing it. Most
Christians read and quote Bible texts
in their Nike tennis shoes, instead
of putting on the sandals of the
apostles. In other words, too many
Christians manipulate the
conversations in the Bible (based on
preconceptions) and glibly make them
say things that were never intended.
Here are two examples: “For
God so loved the world that he gave
his one and only Son, that whoever
believes in him shall not perish but
have eternal life.” (John
3:16) Individuals who read the Bible
often mistreat this verse “while
wearing Nikes!” Jesus uttered
these words to Nicodemus. To
understand the meaning of this verse,
you have to “put on the
sandals” of Nicodemus and
consider the frame of mind he had at
that time.
The words of
Jesus to Nicodemus could be
paraphrased like this:
“Nicodemus, the Father loves
everyone in the world, not just this
tiny nation of Jews. To restore all
humankind to Eden, the Father
provided the necessary atonement for
sin. You and your fellow citizens are
too parochial in your view of
God’s love. Everyone who submits
to My teaching will have eternal
life. I have only spoken the words
the Father gave Me. If you accept Me
as the Son of God, you must recognize
that your religion and your religious
acts cannot save you. They are
worthless in terms of salvation,
because man is saved by faith alone.
If you believe that I am the Lamb of
God, sent here to fulfill all that
the ceremonial system points to, then
you need not take a lamb to the
temple alter ever again. If you
believe that I am the Son of God and
my teaching is from God, you will not
be able to conform to the religious
customs of your people. I have come
to set you free of that obligation.
If you confess that you believe that
I am the Messiah, the Holy One
predicted by the prophets of Israel,
you will be cut off from your family,
friends and this nation-but, be
assured of this, you will receive
eternal life.”
Another
example of a verse (and many others
exist) that is often misrepresented
is this: “That if you confess
with your mouth, ‘Jesus is
Lord,’ and believe in your heart
that god raised him from the dead,
you will be saved. For it is with
your heart that you believe and are
justified, and it is with your mouth
that you confess and are saved.”(Romans
10:9,10) Many Christians quote the
preceding two verses as though the
words contain a magical statement, as
if merely to quote this verse before
other people and believe that Jesus
rose from the dead will be enough to
save them eternally! Paul had no such
thought in mind when he wrote these
words. Again, let us take off the
Nikes and put on the sandals of the
roman converts and consider what Paul
was actually saying to the Romans who
had suffered so much torment at
Caesar’s hand. Paul’s words
could be paraphrased as follows:
“If, when you are standing
before the authorities for your
faith, and all your possessions are
being confiscated from your house
because your name was placed on the
proscription list, and when you are
being beaten with 39 lashes because
you refused to bow down before Caesar
as a god – when this happens, if
you still confess with your mouth
that Jesus is your Lord and Master
and not Caesar, and if you can still
believe in your heart that god raised
Jesus from the dead and He will raise
you also-this is faith. Your faith in
God will save you, although you may,
like me, lose your life in Rome for
serving Christ! However, keep this in
mind: Neither giving away your
possessions nor standing in defiance
of Caesar will save you. Remember
that we are saved by faith alone in
Christ. Therefore, submit to the
teaching of Christ, confess that
Jesus is Lord of you life,
acknowledge your faults, but stand
firm in your loyalty to the
commandments of Jesus and your faith
will save you!”
To understand
the Bible writers and the intended
meaning of their words, we need to be
sure we understand the culture and
customs of people and the period in
which the words were written. To do
less is to make nonsense of the
Bible. The point here is that anyone
can enjoy a fellowship with the
writers of the Bible (even across the
passage of time), if he or she
strives to understand the issues and
circumstances surrounding the writer
and the time in which he lived.
The
Great Tribulation and the first
Message of the Gospel
To describe
the power of the gospel during the
Great Tribulation, it might be best
to briefly “walk through”
the scenario. I have presented in
previous studies why I reject the
idea of a pre-tribulation rapture, so
this topic will not be addressed
again in this article. However, other
matters need to be discussed as they
relate to the gospel during the Great
Tribulation:
A.
My understanding is that the Great
Tribulation will be a time-period of
1,335 days (Daniel 12:11,12) that
will be divided into two phases:
God’s wrath mixed with mercy
(seven first plagues (trumpets)
– Revelation 8 &9),
God’s wrath without mercy
directed at the wicked (seven last
plagues (bowls)-Revelation 15 &
16). This represents a total of 14
coming judgments.
B.
The seven first plagues (seven
trumpets) are judgments from God that
will destroy much of the Earth and
its delicate infrastructures.
Communication, travel, commerce,
manufacturing and distribution are
types of infrastructures.
According to the Bible, about 50% of
the world’s population will
perish before the seventh trumpet
sounds (yes this includes many
saints). The rest of Earth’s
population will be destroyed at the
Second Coming (excluding those saints
who live during the 75 days of the
seven last plagues).
C.
Right after the great
earthquake and other phenomenon
mentioned in Revelation 8:3-5, but
right before the sounding of the
first trumpet, the 144,000 will be
empowered by the Holy Spirit to speak
for God, much like Elijah, Moses and
John the Baptist were empowered. The
first gospel message to be proclaimed
is recorded in Revelation 14:7. John
describes the gospel message as
carried on the wings of an angel.
Notice what he saw: “Then I
saw another angel flying in midair,
and he had the eternal
gospel to proclaim to those who live
on the earth-to every nation, tribe,
language and people.” (Italics
mine)
Revelation
14:7 reveals three important things:
1. An
angel flying in midair suggests a
rapid transmission of this message to
the whole world. (See Daniel 8:5 for
parallel language on the swiftness of
the Grecian empire.)
2.
This angel has possession of the eternal
gospel. The emphasis on eternal
is given because the gospel preached
during the Great Tribulation will
not be new and improved. On the
contrary, something eternal also
means unchangeable and ancient.
Indeed, the way to salvation has
never changed. Salvation comes by
faith - always has - always will.
(Ephesians 2:8,9; Genesis 15:6; John
22:16; 2 Chronicles 20:20; Revelation
14:12) From the death of Abel in
genesis 4 to the seventh trumpet in
Revelation 11, the gospel that leads
to salvation includes joyful
obedience to the King of kings.
Joyful obedience can only occur in a
born again heart. True, tests of
obedience are not often joyful
(Daniel 3 & 6; Hebrews 11), but a
great peace fills the hearts of those
individuals who stand firm in their
faith. (Psalms 119: 165; Exodus
14:13; Isaiah 7:9; Ephesians’
6:14; 2 Corinthians 11:10-12)
3.
Notice that the eternal gospel
identified in this verse is sent to
every nation, tribe, language and
people. No worldwide church or TV
ministry can accomplish this
objective in the given time-period.
(The entire Christian communities,
with divergent views on the gospel
have not accomplished this task
during the past 2,000 years, nor can
they accomplish it during the Great
Tribulation.) This flying angel is
not symbolic of a denomination or a
silver-tongued orator. Actually, this
angel (Greek word for angel means
“messenger”) represents the
proclamation and work of the 144,000.
They will be
“spokespersons” for God
during this hour.
The
First Message of the Gospel
“He [the
flying angel] said in a loud
voice, “Fear God and give him
glory, because the hour of his
judgment has come. Worship him who
made the heavens, the earth, the sea
and the springs of water.” (Revelation
14:7)
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