This Is Appendix 140 From The Companion Bible.
The Greek word evangelion means good news, glad tidings; and these good tidings, which may be concerning various and different subjects, must be distinguished. See Philippians 1: 10, note. There is, first :-
This was proclaimed from the first, for example after the Fall, and it was proclaimed to men as men, by God, the Creator, to His creatures. Its message was that the Creator alone to be feared and worshipped, and men were to have no other gods beside Him. He was the holy and righteous One, and He was, and is, and will be the only and final Judge of men. God proclaimed this from the first, and among its heralds were ENOCH, "the seventh from Adam", who proclaimed His coming for this judgment of the ungodly (Jude 14, 15); and NOAH, a herald of righteousness and of coming righteous judgment (Hebrews
11:7 and 2 Peter 2:5).
When the "calling on high" shall have been given (Philippians. 3:
This is the Gospel proclaimed by the Creator to His sinful creatures after the Fall; and it will be proclaimed again at the end. Hence its name "everlasting". Then followed :-
To Abraham and his seed was the good news proclaimed, and the promise given that God would make of him a nation in whom all the families of the earth should be blessed (Genesis 12:1 - 3). This good news was gradually expanded and developed.
In Genesis 15:
In Genesis 15:
In
This "good news" was first heralded by angels sent specially from heaven; and the exact terms of the proclamation are recorded. The angel of Jehovah spoke from the glory of Jehovah, and said :-
Thus the good news concerned a Person, Who would "save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21) : the Saviour Whom God had anointed (Messiah), appointed, given, and sent. [At this point see and note the object and subject of Christ's ministry as set forth in Appendix 119.]
In the proclamation of this Kingdom the Lord taught in Parables; for there were "mysteries" (that is to say, secrets) which concerned the rejection, and consequent postponement and abeyance of the Kingdom, which could not openly be made known, but only in private ("in the house", Matthew 13:
It had been foreseen, and therefore foretold, that His People would not receive Him, and would reject Him (Isaiah 53, etc.) and put Him to death. This would not affect the fulfilment of all the promised glories connected with the Kingdom. See Luke 24:
True, Christ had been put to death; but God had sworn to David, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, He would raise up Christ to sit on his throne (Acts 2:
This proclamation was made by Peter and the Twelve in the capital of the Land (according to Matthew 22:
In Acts 28 this was brought to a conclusion by a formal rejection on the part of "the chief of the Jews" (Acts 28:
All these "mysteries" (or secrets) concerning the postponement and abeyance of the Kingdom were spoken "in parables", "because (the LORD said), it is given unto you (unto the disciples) to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them (to the People) it is not given" (Matthew 13:
There was nothing in Old Testament prophecy that told of what the Lord reveals in these Parables of the Kingdom : how it would be rejected, and to what lengths the People would go in the rejection of the King; what would happen in consequence; how a second offer would be proclaimed, and how that too would be rejected : and what new revelation would be made in consequence.
All this was hidden in the parables spoken by the Lord, yet revealed to the disciples, and written for our learning (Matthew 13:
The following parables set forth the proclamation of the Gospel of the Kingdom, from various points of view :-
This, the first parable, covers the whole ground.
The "seed" was "the word of (or concerning) the Kingdom". When repeated later (Luke 8:
The First Sowing was "by" the wayside. This must have been the proclamation by John the Baptist (Matthew 3. Mark 1:
The Second Sowing was by Christ Himself (Matthew 4:
The Third Sowing was by Peter and the Twelve, and "by them that heard Him" (the Son, Hebrews 2:
The Fourth Sowing is in the future. It will be the final proclamation of "the Gospel of the Kingdom", immediately preceding and during the Tribulation (Matthew 24:
The servants first sent forth were John the Baptist, the Twelve, and the Seventy, and these were sent to those who had been previously bidden. But "they would not come".
The "other servants" who were next sent were Peter, the Twelve, and "them that heard Him" (Hebrews 2:
They proclaimed that "all things were ready". Nothing now was wanting. The "sufferings" had been fulfilled and the glory was ready to be revealed (Luke 24:
But instead of repenting they "took His servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them" (Matthew 22:
"But the King was wroth, and sent His armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city" (Matthew 22:
The last servants sent will go "into the highways" of the world. Here we have, again, a reference to the yet future proclamation of "the Gospel of the Kingdom".
Now, this marriage-feast is postponed; and all invitations to it are in abeyance. Its future fulfilment is yet to take place. This is referred to in Matthew 24:
This was spoken in immediate connection with the blessedness of eating bread in the Kingdom of God.
Again we have the Four Ministries, as in the above parables.
The supper was made by "a certain man", and many were bidden. This bidding was the ministry of John the Baptist. It is set forth as a simple statement of a past and accomplished fact. This was the First Ministry (verse
The Second Invitation was sent to those who had been already bidden by John. It was sent by "His Servant", Who was none other than the Lord Jesus Himself. His Ministry is expressed in one sentence : "Come; for all things are now ready" (verse
The Third Invitation was sent, not to those who had been already bidden, but to another class altogether. It was sent by "The Master of the House", Who has perfect right and authority to invite whom He will. He sent "quickly" : that is to say, very soon after the return of the second servant; and "into the streets and lanes of the city". This was the ministry of Peter, the Twelve, and Paul.
The Fourth Invitation is yet future, as shown above in the other parables. It will be sent forth by "the Lord" (verse
Thus the present dispensation (since the destruction of Jerusalem and dispersion of Israel, which took place shortly after Acts 28, has nothing to do with the Kingdom, and the proclamation of the good news connected with it is postponed and in abeyance. Meanwhile, and during this dispensation, we have :-
This is the Gospel unto which Paul the Apostle was separated (Romans 1:1), and is supplementary to "the Gospel of the Kingdom", of which it was another aspect.
"The Gospel of the Kingdom" was first proclaimed by John the Baptist and the Lord. But both were rejected and put to death.
The Lord, however, was raised from the dead and the Gospel of God has to do with a risen Messiah. It characterizes the ministry of the Acts rather than that of the Gospels; especially Paul's share in it.
The Gospel of a risen Messiah, re-proclaimed as about to come and restore all things, was the burden of the apostolic proclamation during the dispensation of the Acts. See Acts 2:
"With great power gave the Apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus; and great grace was upon them all" (4:
This too, was the burden of Paul's proclamation, as we may see from Acts 17:
In spite of all their sins, and their heinous crime in murdering His beloved Son, He would blot out all their sins and fulfill all His promises. Truly, this was in very deed :-
This is why, in the canonical order of the books of the New Testament, God's overruling is seen in the fact that the first writing which comes to us following on the double rejection of His Son (in the Gospels and the Acts) is the word and good news of His grace in Romans 1:1. In spite of all that we should consider the unpardonable nature of Israel's crime, the first written words which meet our eyes are these :-
"Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, a called Apostle (or, an Apostle by Divine calling), separated to God's Gospel (or glad tidings), which He before promised by means of His prophets in sacred writings concerning His Son, Who came of the seed of David according to the flesh, Who was demonstrated [to be] God's Son, in power, with respect to [His] holy spirit [body,
Here we have the sum and the substance of the good news of the grace of God.
It was not new. It was promised before and written down by His prophets. The sufferings, death and resurrection and glory, were all foretold. But now "those things, which God before had showed by the mouth of all His prophets that Christ should suffer, He hath so fulfilled. THEREFORE, Repent ye, and turn again that your sins may be blotted out, so that [haply] may come seasons of refreshing from the presence (or face) of the Lord, and [that] He may send Him Who was before proclaimed (or according to all the critical texts, "was foreordained") for you-even Jesus Christ" (Acts 3:
Thus "God's Gospel" was based on the prophecies of the Old Testament, and was the logical development of them.
It is in this that it is distinguished from that which had not been before revealed by the prophets in the concluding verses of Romans. That epistle begins with what had been written in the Scriptures; it ends with what had never been written till "now", when the SECRET which had been kept in silence from times eternal, or during [the] times of [the] ages was then at length made manifest (Romans 16:
The time had come for this secret to be revealed, and to be committed to prophetic writings. This revelation is contained in the three Epistles written by Paul from his prison in Rome, to the Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians.
Thus "the Gospel of the Kingdom" was the proclamation by and concerning the Messiah made by John the Baptist and Himself, and is the subject of the Four Gospels.
"The Gospel of God" is the proclamation concerning the same Messiah, made by the Twelve, the apostle Paul, and "them that heard" the Lord, during the dispensation of the Acts of the Apostles, and is the subject of their testimony and of their writings and the earlier Epistles of Paul. Seeing it was good news sent after the resurrection of Christ, it is all of pure grace and favour, and hence is "the Gospel of the Grace of God".
(2 Corinthians. 4:4).
This is connected with Christ's exaltation as Head over all things to His church, which is His body, which is developed and revealed more fully in the Prison Epistles (Ephesians 1:21 - 23. Philippians 2:9 - 11. Colossians 1:14 - 19). It not only involves the present glory of Messiah, but includes the final defeat of Satan, the crushing of his head, and the subjugation of all spiritual beings, be they powers, principalities, authorities, dominions, or thrones, etc.
Hence, it is Satan's great aim now, at this present time, to blind the eyes of them that believe not, so that they may not learn of his coming defeat, as foretold in Genesis 3:
Knowing his object, and being "not ignorant of his devices", we know also what should be our own object : videlicet, the making known this good news which he would seek to hide; and proclaiming "the Gospel of the glory of Christ".
1 The second time being in John 12:37 - 41.
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