Rev 14:6 "Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth--to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people."
Chapter 13 is a rough one, because this is when the dragon gives his power to the beast and where people receive the mark of the beast. We think the economy is bad now? Just wait. No one will be able to buy or sell or conduct business without this mark. And in the middle of all of this the everlasting gospel will be preached to everyone who is on the earth…every nation…every tribe…every tongue and all people. This time the gospel will be preached by an angel. He will tell the world the good news.
The thing that grabs me is that this time is going to be horrible on the earth. People are going to experience death and tragedy and loss and pain like they have never experienced it before. Of all of the wars, of all of the natural disasters, of all of the epidemics that history has given us, nothing will compare to the horror that people who are alive at this time will experience…and this is nothing compared to what will face them in forever and ever as they experience fire and brimstone in hell.
No wonder the gospel is preached to the entire world by this angel. It is almost like a last ditch effort. Let's give these people one last opportunity to repent. To fall on their faces and worship the true God of all creation. And there will be some who will refuse the mark. There will be some who grab on to the good news. There will be some who obey God and who will "die in the Lord".
The reality is that this is real. This is not just some fairytale. This is not just some mumbo-jumbo made up by some religious zealot who was hallucinating on an island. These words are God's words. These warnings are God's warnings. The question that I must ask myself is: "Do I really believe it?" Do I really believe that this punishment is going to be experienced by those who are living on the earth? Do I really believe in the agony that is going to take place here and then "forever and ever" (v 11)? If not, I will keep my mouth shut. But if so, I need to be like that angel and share the everlasting gospel. This after all is the good news. Jesus is the way to avoid all of this. Jesus came to rescue us from all of this agony. Jesus came so that we could sing a new song in eternity.
What am I going to do about it…now?
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