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The voice of the flight attendant woke me up. Glancing at my watch, I saw that it was 6:05 a.m., London time. In half and hour more the plane would land at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow. I was arriving in Russia to direct an evangelistic campaign.
A I looked out the window, trying to catch a glimpse of the Russian capital, there came to my mind the difficulties that people had faced in the old Soviet Union when they had wanted to study the Bible and serve God. Whoever had dared to preach the good news of Jesus ran the risk of going to prison . But the fall of the Iron Curtain and the perestroika of Mikhail Gorbachev had opened the door for the message of the gospel.
In 1992 pastor and speaker Mark Finley with an evangelistic team from the television program It Is Written did something that would go down as a landmark in the history of preaching. He held an evangelistic series in the Kremlin, the place where the former government had passed laws attempting to make God disappear from the lives of the Russian people. During Pastor Finley's meeting almost 3,000 people accepted Jesus and were baptized. Today Russia is a fertile soil for the gospel seed. It is part of the fulfillment of another of the signs of the coming of Jesus: the preaching of the gospel of the world.
Enormous challenges still remain, however. A number of countries and areas have yet to hear the saving message of Jesus. From the human standpoint it seems that for now, at least, it impossible for the gospel to go to such regions. But as we look at the recent past and remember such places as Russia and elsewhere that were once apparently impenetrable and yet today are open, we have the assurance that one day there will be no place in the world where the gospel does not reach. The church is moving forward with strength in fulfilling its mission.
During the eight days I spent in Siberia, I saw spiritual hunger everywhere. People fervently wanted to hear God's message. Every night I witnessed dozens of them accepting Christ as their personal Savior. I saw them restored by the transforming power of Jesus.
The purpose of the gospel is to raise fallen men and women and return to them the lost image of the creator. Human beings of all times and in all places have always needed the gospel. But if there ever was a point in history when we should preach the good news of Jesus with force, it is today. Never before have people been so desperate and lost in the shadows of their own reasoning. And never before have human beings so sought urgently to make sense of life.
Jesus loves such people and seeks to save them. He longs to show them the road to peace and joy. That is why one of the signs that tells us we are living in the time of the end is preaching of the gospel to everyone every where: "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come".
Right now, while you read these words, millions of fervent Christians are going going one to one, preaching the good news of the gospels in both cities and towns and in remote areas of the planet. The word is going out through radio, television, and Internet as well as being printed in countless books and magazines. Millions of people invite friends and neighbors to their homes to share with them the world of hope. They direct evangelistic series of all sizes and give Bible studies in people's homes. The sign that Jesus mentioned as evidence of His return is being fulfilled in an extraordinary way.
In recent years I have traveled to different countries of the world to preach in stadiums, in the open air, and in churches, rented halls, cinemas, theaters, etc. I have seen how this prophecy has become reality as people have been baptized by thousands. They join the church of God and express their desire to prepare for the return of Jesus.
It was not only Jesus who mentioned the preaching of the gospel as a sign of the time of the end. We find the message in the prophetic book of revelation in which John records what he saw in symbolic vision: "I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live in the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; and he said in a loud voice. 'Fear God, and give Him glory, because the Hour of His judgement has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters".
The passage makes it clear that the gospel that the world needs to hear during the time of the end is not a modified message or something altered or watered down. The gospel that Adam and Eve heard in Eden is the same as that announced at Sinai. The good new at Sinai was the same as in the time of Jesus. The Master of Galilee preached the same gospel as the apostle Paul. The gospel of the New Testament is identical to that of the Middle Ages and our postmodern era. The good news that Jesus Christ---what He did, does, and will do for the human race. It is news of forgiveness and restoration. Humanity needs to hear it. Therefore, God sends an angel flying in midheaven to preach this message to a suffering world now with more emphasis that ever.
Who is this angel? Whom does he represent? An angel symbolizes a messenger or a group of messengers. The prophecy of Revelations 14 means that before the return of Christ God will raise up a group of messengers to proclaim the eternal gospel to the whole world. Prophetically those messengers would begin their activity after the persecution of the obedient church, the period would last for 1,260 years.
The prophecy says that the group of messenger would preach "with a loud voice". It means that the message is to be clear and distinct, one might be startle or alarm or even be politically incorrect, going against the thinking of majority.
The message begins like this: "Fear God, and give Him glory". Why? Because the message has to be proclaimed at a time when the human being prefers to worship the creature rather than the Creator. It is for this reason that the angel points out the mighty works of God creation. He emphasizes the sovereignty of God as a Creator that He is infinitely greater than the things He created. He "made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters". Therefore, the creatures must not direct their attention to created things but to God Himself.
The messengers symbolized by this angel call on human beings to worship the Creator God. And they justify the demand by declaring that "the hour of His judgement has come". The world urgently needs to abandon the ways of idolatry and worship the only true God, because the judgement hour has come.
What judgement is it speaking about here? When Christian thinks of divine judgement, they generally look to the future. They relate the judgement to the coming of Christ and the destruction of the world. But the angel says that the hour of God's judgement has already come. Therefore, it cannot be a future matter, but one of the past and present.
The prophet Daniel describe the judgement in the following way: "I keep looking until thrones where set up, and the Ancient of Days took His seat; His vesture was like white snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool.... A river of fire was flowing and coming out from before Him. Thousands upon thousands were attending Him, and myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; the court sat, and the books were opened". So you see, the "books" were opened to begin the judgement. A careful study of Bible prophecy indicates that it would commence in 1844. Otherwise, how could Jesus reward the just at His second coming if He had not already examine the case of every person.
Speaking of the judgement terrifies people. Even the thought of it makes them uncomfortable, because people equate the judgement with destruction. And if it is destruction, how it is part of the eternal gospel? The gospel is "good news", not unhappy news. Most of us need encouragement and not fear, don't you think?
How should we view the judgement? Consider this: suppose that someone was trying to steal possessions of your house. Both of you go to court about the problem. When the matter comes for the judgement, who needs to be afraid? You, who are going to get your house back, or the individual who has taken it away unjustly? Therefore, the judgement is news that brings fear and desperation.
According to Bible, the judgement is part of the gospel of salvation for a simple reason: the Lord Jesus, speaking of the Holy Spirit, said: "And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin righteousness and judgement". Here we find the components of the message of the whole gospel. First, I am a sinner and I can do nothing in my own strength to free myself from the condemnation to which my sins have subjected me. Second, justice comes only from Jesus. Therefore, He died for me on the cross and offers me freely His grace. Third, if I fail to take advantage of the marvelous provisions of God's mercy and grace, I will have to give an account for my decision in the judicial process when I face the judgement bar of God.
Bible prophecy affirms that in 1844 two important things took place in the universe. The first took place in heaven. there the judgement began. The second happened on the earth. God raised a group of messengers to preach the eternal gospel, announcing that the judgement begun and calling on men and women everywhere to renew their worship of God as the Creator.
This group of messengers formed a remnant church, the descendant of the woman of the revelation. The prophecy announces that God has summoned a church to give the last message to human beings. Because the church's mission is urgent, Scripture symbolizes it by the angel flying through the heavens. And because its message is important, the angel speaks "with a loud voice".
Through them and many other communications other methods, the gospel is reaching people even in the remotest and distant places. The other day I received a letter from a man who said. "Pastor, I will never have an opportunity to meet you in person in this life. I just want to thank you because one day, over the radio, I heard the good news of the gospel as I listened to the message you were presenting. At the time my home was destroyed and I had just made two attempts at suicide. I had come to the point that life made no sense. I was suffering a strange anguish that had plunged me into desperation. I couldn't sleep. I would pass hours of the night awake. I had gone to many doctors and specialist in emotional problems, but no one had been able to help me.
"Early in the morning I turned on the radio and heard you preach. I had never believed in the gospel, Jesus, or the Bible. A rational man, I was agnostic and considered religion something for weak people. I had no need for such crutches. But suddenly I don't know what happened in my life. I began to lose the taste for everything. Nothing made sense anymore, and I was sinking deeper and deeper in a sea of despair until that early morning when I heard you speak on the radio, In its darkness and silence the Spirit of God spoke to my heart, showed me reality, and made me see my need for Jesus. I accepted Him, and today I rejoice in sharing the news that has filled my life with people who don't know Jesus. I am a happy man".
The preaching of the gospel is fulfilling its purpose: to rescue people from death. The sign of the return of Christ is being fulfilled and the world is being prepared for the final harvest.
Very soon, according to God's timetable, the day will come in which the Father will say to the Son: "Go and bring home My redeemed children, whose who believe in Me and are willing to obey Me even at the risk of losing their lives. I don't want see them suffering, and I don't want to live anymore without them. The table is ready, the banquet is prepared. Only the guest are lacking. Please, go and bring them".
When that day arrives, will you be ready to go with Jesus?
The answer is yours alone.
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