TheEverlasting Gospel: A Reformation Day Meditation on Revelation 14

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, 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.

 And there followed another angel, saying,

Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations

drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

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,

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:

 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 is the patience of the saints:

 here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write,

Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth:

Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours;

and their works do follow them.

I have noticed over the years that it is increasingly common for people to use words contrary to their meanings, or to use them without regard to their definition.  Sociologists, linguists, philologists, and philosophers have pointed to the Post-Modern propensity to ignore external or objective truth so as to affirm internal perceptions of truth; i.e., the distinction between the old world’s pursuit of what is actually true, versus the new world’s pursuit of what feels true to me.  In a theological context, the term “Gospel” suffers from the same confusion.  I have noticed that it is all too often bandied about as a sentimental opine, as if to evoke a certain emotional response in the hearer of warm, fuzzy, and non-descript things.  However, on this celebration of Reformation Day, it is worth remembering that the word “Gospel” has a very particular meaning as it is used by the authors of Scripture, was promulgated in the early centuries of the Church, and was defended by the 16^th century Reformers.  To the ones who coined it, preached it, defended it, and gave their lives for it, the Gospel was not a sentimental experiment in personal naval-gazing about what makes the individual feel good, but rather the very Word of God for the salvation of the human race.

The Post-Modern soup in which we stew would tempt us to exchange objective truth for sentimental experience, but doing so comes with great peril.  There is a real God who made the heavens and the earth, and each one of us.  This same God has spoken to His people to tell them who they are, where they came from, and where they are going.  He has revealed who He is, His will for His creation, and the consequences of rebellion against Him.  He has revealed the dignity and eternal destiny of all people created in his image, either in the bliss of His fellowship or the torment of His judgment.  He has revealed to us our freely chosen Fall from His good created order and into the inescapable wickedness of evil, together with the consequent death and hell which awaits every person according to His divine justice.  He has revealed His self-sacrificial plan to save all mankind from their sin, death, hell, and the power of the devil through the life, death, and resurrection of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.  He has revealed that He has sent His Holy Spirit to abide among us, working saving faith and repentance in the world through Jesus’ Word and Sacraments, until He comes again on the Last Day to bring forth the final judgment of the living and the dead.  The several thousand year record of God’s revelation of these truths to mankind, replete with fulfilled prophecy to prove its divine origin contrary to the false witness of charlatans and deceivers, we call Holy Scripture; the people who have gathered around that divine Word in faith and repentance to receive God’s saving grace, from the time the world began until its Last Day, we call the Church.

These are true, and real, and trustworthy—not sentiments, or feelings, or personal opinions.  This is not my truth versus your truth, but the truth against which there is no other truth.  This is the reality in which we live and move and have our being, as eternal creatures before our infinite and eternal Creator, within the world of His making.  The reality of His Word—His Law and His Gospel—are as inescapable as the universe in which we live, the time in which we exist.  The Gospel is not a subjective exercise of self-patronizing theologians or political pundits, but rather the very Word of God’s salvation for the world.  Apart from that Good News, there is only the righteous and just condemnation of every rebellious, prideful, self-centered person who prefer to worship themselves in delusion rather than serve the only true and Living God.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a Word which comes from outside of you from God Himself, calling every man, woman, and child, of every tribe and tongue and nation, to turn from the deadly ways of evil and abide in Him by faith—a faith and repentance which receives from Him the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation, all for Jesus’ sake.  This Gospel is more real than the air that you breath and the earth upon which you stand, and more eternal than the uncounted stars in the heavens.  This Gospel has reached down to speak life into your dead and dying body, will secure your soul in His loving embrace when you die, and then raise you up body and soul to eternal life in a new heavens and a new earth on the Last Day.  This Gospel is more real, more true, more eternal than anything else in all creation—even more than the stone which will be placed upon your grave.  This Gospel is life everlasting from the Author of Life, love unfathomable from the Author of Love, peace and joy and reconciliation from the Author of Peace and Joy and Reconciliation. 

Do not be deceived by the soft-minded insanity of our current time and place, or the self-destructive sentimentality of a self-absorbed age.  The Word of the Lord endures forever, because He Himself endures forever.  The ancient Patriarchs knew this, as did the Prophets and Apostles, Saints and Martyrs, and the faithful of every age in every millennia down to our own time.  The Word of the Lord’s grace and mercy for the sake of Jesus—the Everlasting Gospel of salvation from sin, death, hell, and the power of the devil—bind His people to Him in every age that has passed, and every age that is yet to come, until all is fulfilled at the end of time.  This is the Gospel the Reformers fought and died to preserve in their time, and the Gospel which calls us to the same faithful witness in our time, that we might pass it on to our children for their witness in their time.  This same Everlasting Gospel will be the hope and unity of all the people saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, now and forevermore.  Hear the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Repent, believe, and live!  Amen.