The Bible, the Spirit of Prophecy, and the Church

Preaching the Gospel in All the World

This is what the commission means, not merely among the Jews but into the great Gentile world; not merely in Palestine, but in every country under heaven. National boundaries were to be overrun in the onward progress of the truth of God. Language problems will be surmounted so that every man may hear the message in his own tongue. No barrier of whatever kind will be able to stand before the victorious march of God’s church as she moves forward under the direction of her great Commander. The gospel is destined to triumph, and erelong will triumph gloriously in the kingdom of our God. BSPC 182.10

The business of the church then is to preach this gospel of Christ. Over and over again we have this divine command. The call is for men to give this living message. Men have been endowed with the power of speech, and it is the purpose of God that by this means this blessed gospel will be proclaimed to the ends of the earth. There are variant forms of this act of telling the message. We read of “preaching” (1 Corinthians 1:21), publishing (Isaiah 52:7), “witnessing” (Acts 26:22), “ministering” (Romans 15:16), communicating (Galatians 2:2), and making known (Ephesians 6:19) the precious message of salvation to save men from sin. BSPC 183.1

The words used to designate the act of telling, or talking, are of wide range. Some of the original words involve the idea of proclaiming publicly, perhaps before large crowds, or before small assemblies of people. Other words indicate the thought of teaching, maybe in the home, in the church, or at the fireside. Still others convey the idea of ordinary conversation, a talk by the way, perhaps a chat over the garden wall. The thought is that the followers of Christ are to tell, to witness, wherever they may be, whether before the great assembly or walking down the street with a friend. They are to bear witness to the saving power of the great God and Savior Jesus Christ. This is evidently what the early believers did when they were persecuted and scattered from Jerusalem. We read that “they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.” Acts 8:4. BSPC 183.2

But one may ask, How could church members do this? Doubtless many of them had the gift of preaching, as we ordinarily understand this term; but think of the many sisters of the church, of the young people, and the grandfathers and the grandmothers who did not have this gift. All of them did have one gift, however, and that was the gift of speech, and here was an instance where they used it. In their enthusiasm for their new-found faith they went everywhere speaking the word of life. They did it with such power that “the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.” Acts 11:21. This was a wonderful testimony to the truth of the living God. They preached, they conversed, they witnessed, but they also lived the truth they taught. This was a vital thing. They themselves were living epistles; the truth of God was exemplified in their hearts day by day. BSPC 183.3