The Glad Tidings

The Glad Tidings of the Everlasting Gospel is the foundation of the Three Angels Messages of Revelation 14:6-12. John declares--"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." The Good News of salvation through faith alone, in the atoning blood of Christ alone, will continue to be proclaimed until the fulfillment of the Blessed Hope, the return of Christ a second time with great Glory. "Jesus told them (Holy Angels) that he would stand between the wrath of his Father and guilty man, that he would bear iniquity and scorn, and but few would receive him as the Son of God. Nearly all would hate and reject him. He would leave all his glory in heaven, appear upon earth as a man, humble himself as a man, become acquainted by His own experience with the various temptations with which man would be beset, that he might know how to succor those who should be tempted; and that finally, after his mission as a teacher should be accomplished, he would be delivered into the hands of men, and endure almost every cruelty and suffering that Satan and his angels could inspire wicked men to inflict; that he should die the cruelest of deaths, hung up between the heavens and the earth as a guilty sinner; that he should suffer dreadful hours of agony, which even angels could not look upon, but would vail their faces from the sight. "Not merely agony of body would he suffer; but mental agony, that with which bodily suffering could in no wise be compared. The weight of the sins of the whole world would be upon him. He told them he would die and rise again the third day, and should ascend to his Father to intercede for wayward, guilty man." 1 The first Angel does not cease to proclaim the everlasting gospel when the second angel begins to sound His message, or the third his. Further one must ask, from what did Babylon fall? The answer is simply the gospel. The "beast" of which the third angels warns is "the mystery of iniquity" 2 Thess. 2:7 in contrast to "the mystery of Godliness" 1 Tim. 3:16, "the everlasting gospel." ""Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you." John 14:27. "Peace, peace to him that is afar off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord." Is.57:19. God has sent grace and peace, bringing righteousness and salvation to all men--even to you, whoever you are, and to me.... This grace and peace come from Christ, "who gave Himself for our sins." "Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ." Eph.4:7. But this grace is "the grace that is in Christ Jesus." 2Tim.2:1. Therefore we know that Christ Himself is given to every one of us. The fact that men live is an evidence that Christ has been given to them, for Christ is "the life," and the life is the light of men, and this life-light "lighteth every man that cometh into the world."... Christ "gave Himself for our sins." That is to say, He bought them, and paid the price for them. This is a simple statement of fact; the language used is that commonly employed in referring to purchases. "How much did you give for it?" or, "How much do you want for it?" are frequent questions. When we hear a man say that he gave so much for a certain thing, what do we at once know?--We know that that thing belongs to him, because he has bought it. So when the Holy Spirit tells us that Christ gave Himself for our sins, of what should we be equally sure?--That He has bought our sins, and that they belong to Him, and not to us. They are ours no longer, and we have no right to them." 2 The emphasis of man's inability to contribute anything to the redemption which God initiated, and his lack of power to regain the lost "image" of the original creation, is sustained in the record of the Old Testament. In one of the oldest books of the Bible, if not the oldest, its leading character, Job, asks - "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?" And the answer follows - "Not one." (14:4) Job, who was declared by God to be "a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil" (1:8), confessed - "Behold, I am vile" (40:4) - and stopped his mouth. He had heard of God, but when his blindness was removed, and he saw God, he could only confess -" I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes." (42:6) Abraham, father of the faithful, related to the promises of God with a simple, "Amen," and it was accounted to him "for righteousness." (Gen. 15:6) The KJV translates the Hebrew word, amin, as "believed." In the Gospels, amhn is almost always translated, "verily." In English, we say, "Amen" - so be it. While Abraham accepted the finality of the decision that one born in his house would not be his heir, he did not grasp the full intent of the promise that the heir would be his by Sarah. When Sarah passed the point of possibility in child bearing, she advised taking the fulfillment into their own hands. Ishmael was born of Hagar. This did not illustrate the gospel from God's viewpoint; it was of human devising. When it was fully recognized as impossible by human initiative, then God intervened, and Isaac was born. The question was answered - "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" (Gen. 18:14) What God promises, He is able to perform to those who by faith say, with meaning, "Amen, Lord." In the ceremonies of the sanctuary given to Israel, the gospel is revealed. The sinner makes confession over the substitute provided. It is the priest who makes the atonement assuring forgiveness. (Lev. 4:25-26) On the Day of Atonement, it was the high priest alone who entered the most holy and secured the cleansing of Israel. (16:17) Only two things were required of the recipients: 1) They were to afflict their souls, and 2) cease from their work(s). (23:29-30) They could not cleanse themselves; no amount of work on their part could contribute to God's initiative. The soul affliction would but reveal to them their desperate situation, and their need for Divine mercy and cleansing. Isaiah, known as the gospel prophet, pictures God as asking - "Is there a God beside me?" - and the answer is given, "Yea, there is no God; I know not any." (44:8) Isaiah had just written - "Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and His Redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first and the last; and beside Me there is no Elohim." (v.6) This unique oneness in duality is linked with God as the only Savior. Quoting God, Isaiah writes - "There is no God else beside me; a just God and a Savior; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else." (45:21-22) Only God can save. Turning from God's power to save, Isaiah focuses on man's inability to save himself, or to contribute to his salvation. "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all of our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we do all fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." (64:6) Even the elementary things we do which are right are as "filthy rags." With the Psalmist, Isaiah is but confessing that our goodness attaineth not unto God. (See Ps. 16:2) In the pantomime of the book of Zechariah with its eschatological implications, the high priest is pictured as robed in "filthy garments." The command is given - "Take away the filthy garments from him." Then to the high priest, the Lord declares - "Behold I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I have clothed thee with a change of raiment." (3:3-4) It is God acting; man but surrendering to the Divine mandate. What does he lose? - only his own "righteousnesses" which have no merit, and his "iniquities" arising from his corrupted fallen nature. 1 GC 1858 (Ch. 3) Plan of Salvation 2 E. J. Waggoner "The Glad Tidings" 1900 Original Edition (Ch. 1)