WORLD WIDE GOSPEL

Revelation 14:6-7

The true gospel given in the framework of the three angels of Revelation 14:6-12 with emphasis on creation and the Sabbath is God’s last warning message to a lost world. It is God’s last message before the end of the world and the return of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

As these seven messages are presented the next seven consecutive months, let us understand that God always sends a twofold message before He sends judgment. He sends a message of grace, mercy, and peace, and then He sends a message of warning. We will see that in the following seven sermons.

Sermon #1 World Wide Gospel

Sermon #2 World Wide Glory

Sermon #3 World Wide Judgment

Sermon #4 World Wide Worship

Sermon #5 World Wide Creation

Sermon #6 World Wide Babylon

Sermon #7 World Wide Mark

"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." Matthew 24:14

A basic policy of the Lord in dealing with people in all ages has been this: "Surely the Lord God will do nothing but He revealeth His secrets unto His servants the prophets." (Amos 3:7)

In every age period, God has preserved His Word and ordained some one to teach it, also, He has always set a time limit as to how long the message for a CERTAIN TIME PERIOD WOULD BE GIVEN.

1. 120 years during the time of Noah, the Ark, and the Flood! Genesis 6:

2. 40 days extended to Jonah, Ninevah, and Destruction! Jonah Chapters 3 and 4

3. 70 years for John the Baptist, Jesus and Jerusalem’s Destruction.

4. Appoint Time NOW - our generation has a time appointed for judgement. We are the people.

a. We have the Message of the Everlasting Gospel.

b. There must be an URGENCY.

c. There is a DEAD LINE

"And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." Acts 17:30-31

The gospel is now going to all the world! God has planned it and promoted the ways and means whereby the gospel is advancing very rapidly to all the world.

A number of years ago the American Bible Society reported that:

1. Parts of the Scriptures were printed in 1526 languages

2. The whole Bible was printed in 255 languages

3. The New Testament was printed in 359 languages

4. At least ONE book of the Bible was printed in 912 languages

There are perhaps 4,000 languages in the world, but nearly 95% of the world’s population speaks only 100 languages and 90% speak only about 50 languages. The Seventh-day Adventist Church is working in more than 200 countries and 1,000 languages.

Through the printed page, radio, television, telephone, telegraph, the increase of knowledge, and the speed of travel, the gospel is being given to just about the whole world. Modern inventions have been given to this generation and the true gospel in the framework of the Three Angels of Revelation 14:6-12 is accomplishing its work. The END will come.

1. The gospel that has to do with the End Time

2. The gospel of Assurance and Confidence

3. The gospel that Serves as a Witness

4. The gospel of Global Outreach

5. The gospel of Good News about the Coming Kingdom

"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." Mark 16:15

1. It is not a certain program

2. It is not a certain method

3. It is not promotion of any kind

4. It is not entertainment - not even beautiful music

5. It is not organization

6. It is not divine healing and talking in tongues

7. It is not fund raising

8. It is not talk shows with exciting news

1. Grandest thing in the past: the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ

2. Greatest thing in the present: the gospel of grace, mercy, and peace

3. Most glorious thing in the future: our Lord’s return

True Gospel: 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

1. Death of Christ! He died for us! Why? Hebrews 9:22 "Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness."

2. Burial of Christ! Why? Where no one could say, that Jesus just fainted on the Cross. You don’t have a burial for live people. Just for the dead.

3. Resurrection of Christ! Why? Because we have a risen Savior. Because He lives, we can look forward to being resurrected from the dead.

1844 - Small sect, a distinct group

1900 - Cult, a system of religious beliefs

1950's - Modern Day Church, another one of the main line religions

There is a danger in being accepted as just another religion. God did not need another main line religion in 1844. There were many denominational churches, but they all believed about the same thing. They were filled with opinions, customs, and traditions of men. They had not come out of Mother Babylon completely. Pardon the expression, "They were still tied to their mother’s apron strings."

1. A people to fulfill a time prophecy!

2. A people to declare the whole counsel of God and lift up the standard.

3. A people to proclaim the Three Fold Message of Revelation 14:6-12.

The proclamation of the gospel for the first time goes all the way back to the fall in the Garden of Eden. The gospel was presented to Adam and Eve and even before that the gospel was planned and agreed on back in the first eternity before the creation of what we know as planet earth and every living creature including mankind, but back to the fall. Here is the gospel.

"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." Genesis 3:15

"And Adam called his wife’s name Eve because she was the mother of all living. Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord make coats of skins, and clothed them." Genesis 3:21-22

Friends, the gospel is good news and it must have been good news accepted when our foreparents heard the voice of God in the Garden calling them back to Himself. It was real good news when the animal was slain and God clothed Adam and Eve. That was the gospel. The animal slain pointed to three great Bible truths.

1. Salvation is by the blood

2. Salvation is the free gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast

3. The animal is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything about the lamb slain is a type of Jesus. The covering skin of the animal is a perfect type of the free righteousness of our Savior.

So, the gospel has always been and that is why John calls it the "...everlasting gospel..." Revelation 14:6. Now, the gospel taught to Adam and Eve was great, it was good news then and it is good news today. But moving down through the span of time, we find the gospel in a different time period, but not another gospel. The gospel, the world wide gospel in our generation according to Revelation 14:6-7 is in a different setting, a different time frame and surrounded by the three angels messages of Revelation 14:6-12. But let us always remember there is not another gospel. The true gospel always remains the same. It is the gospel of grace, mercy, and peace.

Paul wrote to the churches of Galatia:

"I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ." Galatians 1:6-7

Gospel setting in the framework of the Three Angels of Revelation 14:6-12:

"To prepare a people to stand in the day of God, a great work of reform was to be accomplished. God saw that many of His professed people were not building for eternity, and in His mercy He was about to send a message of warning to arouse them from their stupor and lead them to make ready for the coming of the Lord.

"This warning is brought to view in Revelation 14. Here is a threefold message represented as proclaimed by heavenly beings and immediately followed by the coming of the Son of man to reap "the harvest of the earth." The first of these warnings announces the approaching judgment. The prophet beheld an angel flying "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." Revelation 14:6,7.

"This message is declared to be a part of the "everlasting gospel." The work of preaching the gospel has not been committed to angels, but has been entrusted to men. Holy angels have been employed in directing this work, they have in charge the great movements for the salvation of men; but the actual proclamation of the gospel is performed by the servants of Christ upon the earth." (The Great Controversy, p.311-312, E. G. White)

Biblical Truth of the Gospel - I Corinthians 15:1-5

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." Romans 1:16

"I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou knowest. I have not hid thy righteousness with in my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy loving kindness and thy truth from the great congregation." Psalm 40:9-10

Good News, Good News, it is used over 90 times in the New Testament alone. Now, what do you do with good news? You tell it. You need to tell it. Don’t withhold Good News.

A pastor during World War II was asked to go to the home of a family and help explain to them that their son was missing in action. The family was stricken with grief. Later on the Pastor was requested to return to the same family and tell them that their son was alive and coming home. Now, friends, that is good news. Would that not be good news to your family? Well, in this sermon we’re talking about the "Biblical Truth of the Gospel" and that’s the best news the world has ever heard. You see friend, Jesus has come to this world and lived a perfect exact life of holiness. He has conquered SIN, DEATH, and the GRAVE and because of that we have the promise and hope of eternal life. That’s the best news I know. How thrilled and exciting we should be about the good news we have in the gospel.

Lets read now our Scripture: I Corinthians 15:1-5

Now, what is it that makes good news - good news? It is the possibility of bad news. You see, there must be bad news in order for us to have good news. All things are not good news; neither are all things bad news.

What is the bad news? My sins and your sins - That’s bad news!

Let’s look at the Scriptures: "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures." The two words, "our sins" are bad news, but the good news and the gospel is like a bright shining diamond in the center of a black velvet drape hanging on a wall in a dark room.

Sin in our modern generation - What is it? We try and explain away sin. Sin does not have the same meaning to the religious world today as it did in past generations. We use other words for sins such as, error, mistake, misjudgment, weakness, psychological maladjustment, and malfunction. We have just taken the old poison out and given it a new name. We have tried to explain away sin by giving it a new label.

Everyone is sick, but no one is sinful - everyone is weak, but no one is wicked - everyone is ill, but no one is evil. That’s behaviorism. In doing and saying all of this, man has thought to make everyone good, but no one guilty.

1. Evolutionist just says, "we came up from nowhere and in an accidental manner." To him there is nothing called sin. There is no fixed standard of right or wrong. Everything is just changing.

2. Humanists will tell you that the invention of sin is just something religious people thought up to keep everybody in line. Liberal preachers have bought into all these way-out definitions of sin.

One liberal preacher has stated: "sin is the result of the environment and after preaching for 50 years, I cannot help but believe that the church harps too much on sin. And Paul’s words that death came because of sin is nonsense." A preacher, who believes that should get out of the pulpit and make an honest living.

Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."

Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death..."

Romans 5:12 "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all me, for that all have sinned:"

Have you and I sinned? Just a little bit. See James 2:10. How many of the 10 Commandments do you have to break to be a sinner? Just one.

Here is a person hanging over a 1,000 foot hole with a big sharp rock bed at the bottom, he is hanging on to a LINK CHAIN. Tell me, how many links have to break in order for him to fall to his death? Just one.

Have you ever told a lie? Have you ever cheated in school or deceived your mom? Have you ever taken any thing that did not belong to you? Maybe just a pencil, some peanuts out of the next door farmer’s field? How about watermelons from the farmer’s field or tomatoes from the garden next door? Here is one for you, have you ever stolen time from your company or cheated on your Income Tax?

Now, some of these are very small things, but the size is not the problem. Small things reveal what a person is. These things come out of the heart. You see, a man is not a thief because he steals, he is a thief because he is a sinner. So, he doesn’t get his stealing, just by stealing. He gets his stealing because he is a sinner. The problem is much bigger than being a thief. The problem is SIN. That is human nature.

There are three things, I want us to see about the gospel in these first 5 verses of I Corinthians 15: They are wonderful. The source of the gospel, the force of the gospel, and the course of the gospel.

Death - burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 3 "For I delivered unto you FIRST of ALL..." Now, friends that does not mean that this was the very first thing Paul said, but it means, top priority. It means foremost, forefront, no back burner for the gospel. This is number one. The gospel is the main thing, and so many times the problem is keeping the main thing - the main thing. The death, burial, and resurrection of Christ is the source.

Sin brings with it:

1. Penalty

2. Pollution

3. Power

Penalty - When Jesus died on the cross, He paid the redemption price. HE died for our sins. He paid our sin debt - according to the scriptures. You see friend, the death of Jesus Christ on the cross was not an incident, nor an accident, and was not an afterthought. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross was not something planned in Pilate’s Hall; nor the Court of King Herod. His death was according to the Holy Scriptures. What Scriptures? The Old Testament - all of it.

700 years before Isaiah had written, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." Isaiah 53:6. HE paid the sin debt in full.

Pollution - Lets look now in verse 4 "and he was buried..." Now, friend, let’s establish this, you don’t bury live people, you bury dead people. He actually died and there was a burial. They sealed Him in the tomb and placed guards to guard the grave and made sure no one came and stole his body. Why is the burial of Jesus Christ a part of the gospel? So everyone would know He really died.

Swoon Theory: They are the people, who have believed and taught that the Lord Jesus Christ did not die. He just passed out, went into a coma, and later was revived. The swoon theory teaches the Lord just fainted on the cross and that He came to in the tomb and arose.

I have a very hard and difficult time believing that. And here is why. You see Jesus had gone through so much . He went through the trial in Pilate’s Hall and then King Herod’s Court. He went through the beating, He carried His own cross, and fell under the load. He was nailed to the cross and then the cross was put into the ground. He is bleeding in the hot sun and a crown of thorns on His head. A sponge with vinegar was put in his mouth.

John 19:34 "But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and for with came there out blood and water."

After his death, some of the believers prepared His body and buried Him. They put a rock, a stone, in front of the tomb that was 4^1/2 feet to 5 feet tall and the engineers at Georgia-Tech in Atlanta tell us the stone could have weighed from 500 to 2,000 pounds. Tell me friend, do you believe a man that had gone through what Jesus had endured, could revive Himself, and come out of that grave? I have a greater problem believing the swoon theory than the Biblical resurrection facts.

Now, when the Lord Jesus Christ came out of that tomb, He left two things in the grave: His human fleshly body and He left our sins. He buried our sins. My sins were put out of sight. The old man is gone.

Power - Verse 4 "...And that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures." He broke the power of sin. He has broken the back of Satan. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." II Corinthians 5:17

When the pastor visited one of his new converts, he inquired, "how are you doing in your new Christian life?" The new convert replied, "Well Pastor, I know I am not what I should be and I am not what I desire to be, but thank God, Pastor, I am not what I used to be."

Thank God, friends, the power of sin has been broken and God’s children are not what they used to be. That is because through and by His resurrection, the power of sin has been broken. The hold of sin has been loosed.

There was a mock trial. They put Jesus on trial and the lower court, the court of man ruled that Jesus must be put to death, but the Higher Court, the Supreme Court of the Universe, the Court of Heaven reversed the lower court’s decision and brought the Son of God out of the grave. The Higher Court over ruled and broke the power of sin and death. Jesus had died for our sins, and the power of our sins were broken. Resurrection was the stamp of approval.

See Acts 2:22-23 - We know the Lord Jesus Christ was here. HE did exist. So who was Jesus? One of these three - you only have three choices: He was a liar, He was a lunatic, or He was Lord. He was a fact, but who was He? Did He deceive? Was He deceived or was He Deity? How do we know which one He was?

Romans 1:4 "And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:"

He died and that is past tense. He was buried and that is past tense. But He is risen, He arose, that is present tense. He always will be risen, present tense. That is what the gospel is all about. That is the source of the gospel.

1. Saving force of the gospel

Verse 2 - "By which ye are saved..."

Romans 1:16 - God has no other way, no other method. "...if you keep in memory..." that means hold fast - don’t let it go. Hold fast the Biblical gospel. If it is NEW - It is not TRUE! No other gospel.

2. Sanctifying force of the gospel

Verse 2 - "By which ye are saved..."

By which ye are being saved. Everyday is better than the day before and daily we are growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ and His Word. Now, wait a minute, am I saved, or am I being saved? Both of them. We have been saved from the Penalty of sin and daily we are being saved from the Power of sin. One day we shall be saved from the very presence of sin. The gospel continues to work. You see friend, the Lord is not finished with us yet.

"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." Philippians 1:6. We are still growing.

3. Stabilizing force of the gospel.

Verse 2 - "...Which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand." It is good news to know that we can have the assurance that we have been forgiven. It is good news that we can grow in His Word and friend, it is good news to know that we can stand and be stable people to God.

Let’s not go around judging and criticizing others. Look at it with me in Romans 14:4. "Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand." Standing in the gospel. I have said before, "I would not give the best 15 minutes of my life to get me to Heaven." Look at I Corinthians 15:10

The gospel of Jesus Christ extends to very person. It goes to anybody, any place, anywhere on God’s green earth. Give them the gospel. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Any person, any place - you don’t have to be in Church to be saved.

Any person - Any place - Any problem.

Here are your three problems: sin, sorrow, and death. Now, friend, the gospel is the only answer to these three problems. There is no other answer. No other method, no other way - no other means. And of course, you know man’s greatest enemy is Satan and he is God’s greatest enemy, too.

I want you to think with me in a spirit of truth and reality. Here we are at the funeral service of a wonderful Christian. they lived a life of service for the Lord. They were really born again. They had a good testimony for the Lord Jesus Christ. Their relationship was solid on the side of the Lord.

As we leave the Church for the grave side service, friends and loved ones are crying. The Lord is looking down from heaven and holy angels are overseeing the scene. Heaven knows - Heaven knows that because of the Biblical gospel of Jesus Christ that sleeping saint will be raised, will be resurrected at the last day. All because of the gospel. That is why I want to be known as a gospel preacher.