Revelation 14: | 6: And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the EVERLASTING GOSPEL to preach unto them that dwell on earth, and to every nation and kindred and tongue and people. |
Have you ever heard the Everlasting Gospel? Can you tell us what it is, what its requirements are, what's so good about it and why it is called ‘everlasting’ in the first place?
Believe it or not, comparatively few people know the Everlasting Gospel. To be sure, millions have heard parts of it, and countless billions of Gospel tracts have been published through the centuries. But, astonishingly enough, not many people really know the Everlasting Gospel and what it calls for. If you were to ask a dozen Christians to list the main points or requirements of the Everlasting Gospel, you would probably come away with a dozen different answers, some the very opposite of the others.
Well, let us not speculate any longer. Let us find out what the Everlasting Gospel is. And, more importantly, what its requirements are. The book of Revelation tells us shortly before the return of Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) three angels will bear special messages to mankind. The First Angel’s Message is called the Everlasting Gospel. It is the message on which we will concentrate in this sermon. Angels, in normal circumstances, do not preach to mankind. The work of preaching the Gospel has been committed to men. Yes, men will preach the Everlasting Gospel to all the world just before the return of Jesus Christ to earth. As you read the Bible text below, notice the twofold requirement of the Everlasting Gospel. In particular notice the second requirement, which calls for worship of the Creator.
Revelation 14: |
6: And I saw another angel fly 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, 7: 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. |
Closely examine the above message. Read it again and again and let its eternal
truth sink deep into your mind: for you are in fact reading the Everlasting Gospel
encapsulated in a single sentence. Of course, you will not understand all it
means - no man on earth does - but here before you in essence are the twin
requirements of the Everlasting Gospel, the message which throughout
eternity will engage the minds of all the inhabitants of the mighty universe. These
instructions are everlasting! They are ageless. They will never become obsolete;
but will be carried out by the redeemed host for all time. What's more, the
blessings the Everlasting Gospel brings to those who accept it, are eternal! So
let us without further delay study the Everlasting Gospel and see what it says.
What does this twin instruction mean? How does one go about obeying it? What are we
expected to do - or not do - when called upon to “Fear God and give glory
to Him” And finally how can a believer be sure he is worshipping
the One who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the fountains of water? This sermon
is designed to briefly answer those questions; especially the one concerning the
“worship of Him who made the heavens, the earth and the sea and the fountains
of water”.
Well, to begin with He created mankind to live in perfect happiness with Him. But man sinned, he set aside the Almighty's instructions, which if obeyed would have led to life. Instead man chose the way of doubt, disobedience and death. That was indeed a tragic day for mankind when our first parents sinned; for it wasn't long before sin, suffering, sickness and death engulfed the whole human race. The Almighty, however, was not caught off-guard by man's disobedience. In His infinite wisdom, He already had an emergency plan to salvage mankind should sin enter the world. And this is how that plan found expression:
John 3: |
16: God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17: For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18: He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. |
Yes, that's what the Almighty did for mankind, for you and for me. He allowed His only begotten Son Yeshua (Jesus) to die in our stead in order to redeem us from eternal death. It now remains for us to gratefully accept His free gift of salvation made available, through His Son Jesus, and to give glory to Him for so great an act of love and mercy. “And how,” you may well ask, “does one accept salvation?” “How can we be saved?” The Apostle Paul gives us the answer.
Acts 17: | 31: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. |
This first part of the Everlasting Gospel - of having faith in the Almighty God and accepting salvation through His Son Jesus is very well known to the Christian world. Millions of sermons have been preached about this vital first step towards salvation. But have you personally accepted Jesus as your Savior? Have you committed your life to Him? Are you giving God the Father glory for what He has done for you? It is not enough to know the Almighty's Hebrew name is Yahweh, or how His name is pronounced; or even to believe His Son Yeshua (Jesus) was a righteous person who died for the sins of the world. The devils know all this; but it avails them nothing. What you must do if the Everlasting Gospel is to benefit you is to repent and confess your sins before the Almighty, make a total commitment to His Son and accept him as your personal Savior. Nothing short of this will do. You may do so at this very moment by praying - in the secrecy of your own home - a short prayer like this:
A simple prayer like this, and of course the words may be changed without corrupting the meaning, will testify to the angel host you have personally placed your faith in God and have begun to glorify Him by accepting salvation through Jesus.
To glorify God by personally accepting salvation through His Son Yeshua (Jesus) and then by declaring your allegiance to Him is the first requirement of the Everlasting Gospel. You will not live for eternity if you refuse to meet this requirement. It is mandatory. And now to that second requirement: the one very, very few preachers proclaim.
Let us now examine this most neglected aspect of the Everlasting Gospel, the aspect of OBEDIENCE. One day, a young man asked Jesus this question:
“Keep the commandments.” Is the Master here pointing to an alternative route to salvation? Is he perhaps making a colossal ecclesiastical blunder by stating obedience, instead of faith, is the real path to eternal life? Could it be Yeshua is here disagreeing with the Apostle Paul who said:
The answer is obvious: the Master knew very well what he is talking about. He was not defining an alternative route to salvation. He was not disagreeing with Paul or canceling the necessity for faith. He was merely pointing to the other side of the same coin of salvation: that most neglected side of the Everlasting Gospel - the matter of obedience. “Keep the commandments.” Yes, keep the commandments: for that, according to Jesus, is the way to life.
When questioned further as to which commandments, Jesus specified the Ten Commandments. In other words, obedience to the Ten Commandments is a vital consideration in this matter of salvation. It is a part of the Everlasting Gospel - the neglected part. And that is exactly what the First Angel's Message calls for. It is calling for obedience. So let us now briefly consider this most neglected aspect of the Everlasting Gospel; the one which calls upon mankind to worship the Creator by obeying Him.
How does a Christian meet this vital requirement of the Everlasting Gospel? What are we supposed to do to ensure we are in fact worshipping the Creator, the One who “made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the fountains of water?” For example, how can you prove you are worshipping the One who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the fountains of water? A man or woman may think he or she is doing so; but can he or she prove it? The answer is yes, they can. The only one way a true believer can prove he/she is worshipping the One who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the fountains of water is by keeping the seventh day Sabbath which is the divinely appointed Memorial of Creation.
Read the above statement again in the light of the Bible text below, which is the fourth of the Ten Commandments:
Exodus 20:8-11 |
8: Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9: Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. |
Can you now see the link between the Sabbath commandment in (Exodus 20) and the First Angel's Message in (Revelation 14)? Can you recognize the fact both texts are calling upon mankind to worship the CREATOR! The One who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the fountains of water? To be sure you can. It is an indisputable link, which only the spiritually blind will refuse to recognize. The Everlasting Gospel is calling upon mankind to Fear God and give glory to Him and to worship the Creator! Therefore, we repeat the assertion, the only way a true believer can be absolutely certain he/she is worshipping the One who made the heavens, the earth the sea and the fountains of water is by keeping the seventh day Sabbath, which is the divinely appointed Memorial of Creation. No other sensible conclusion is possible.
Put another way, we may say believers who ignore Yahweh’s seventh day Sabbath (Saturday) are like soldiers who refuse to honour their country's flag. They are like army officers who trample on the official orders issued to them. Sad to say there are thousands of church leaders who are doing exactly the same thing with Yahweh’s law. They have little or no respect for His commandments and like rebellious military officers, deliberately ignore the orders from above. They reject the Sabbath commandment, which if kept identifies true worship of the One who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the fountains of water.
We trust, however, you will be different: you will heed the requirements of the Everlasting Gospel and:
The question is, are you willing to meet these two critical requirements?
Also remember the Everlasting Gospel will continue throughout eternity. In other words the redeemed host will respect Yahweh, praise Him for salvation through Jesus and keep His Sabbath day - throughout eternity! Does the Bible teach this; believers will congregate on the Sabbath day to worship the Most High - throughout eternity? It certainly does.
Isaiah 66: |
22:For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain
before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. 23: And it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me saith the Lord. |
Revelation 13: |
4: And they worshipped the dragon (Satan) which gave power unto the
beast: and they worshipped the beast, (The Antichrist) saying, Who
is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? 5: And there was given unto him a mouth (The False Prophet) speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 6: And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. 7: And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 8: And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. |
Then, the Antichrist will deceive most of mankind into thinking he has the right to change the Ten Commandments. Because most people are basically unwilling to obey Yahweh's law - His Truth - God will hand over millions of souls to believe the Antichrist - to believe the Lie. The world will then gladly accept the falsehood taught by the Antichrist. This astonishing prediction is detailed in 2 Thessalonians 2 and Revelation 13. The choice facing mankind will then be between:
Revelation 14: |
9: And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man
worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or
in his hand, 10: The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 11: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. |
Here are divine threatenings of an awesome nature. We therefore humbly advise the reader to study Revelation 13 and 14 and to read the AVITW - USA explanation on The Mark of the Beast. You must understand what the Antichrist’s Mark is.
This, then, is the Everlasting Gospel, the good news will prompt us to worship the Most High throughout eternity. If you accept the Everlasting Gospel and apply it to your life, you will be blessed abundantly and will live for all time. That is the wonderful news! But, if you reject it you risk losing eternal life at the coming Judgment. So pause awhile and re-consider those twin requirements of the Everlasting Gospel: