The Universal Gospel
Ll.D. Bevan, D.D. Romans 16:25-27 Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ… 1. Revelation is perfected in promulgation. That which has been made manifest in Jesus Christ is to be made known by the Church unto all nations. 2. The means of this information is the Scriptures of the prophets. Which from Ephesians 3:3-6 we must not limit to either those of the ancient or the later dispensation. The later Scriptures supplement and expound the former, and thus come to the obedience of faith. I. THE GOSPEL AS A SCHEME OF UNIVERSAL SALVATION IS REVEALED IN ORDER THAT IT MAY BE PUBLISHED TO ALL MEN. 1. God might have adopted some method of treatment of the race which was not a matter for revelation. There must be a great part of the Divine system of the universe which deeply affects man which, perhaps, he never will and never can know. Indeed, very much of the physical constitution of things, by which the circumstances of our daily life are determined, is wholly unknown to us. We find it out only by patient observation after long ignorance, repeated failure, constant mistake. The system of nature is left for man to find it out for himself. But this is not so with the gospel. It must be made known, to be effective. There are no esoteric or exoteric doctrines in Christianity. All need it, all may receive it; it must be made known to all, and this universal knowledge must be a knowledge of all the truth. When Jesus was revealed, nothing was to be kept back. "All the truth," and "All the world" are the twin legends of His revelation. 2. Thus nothing which conceals from men the truth or seeks to produce spiritual effect other than by the influence of truth clearly apprehended, can be in harmony with the gospel. Two evils are contrary to this clear law of gospel promulgation, viz: the sacrifice of intelligent apprehension to mere feeling and sentiment; and the production of religious ends by mechanical services. The former is the error of the fanatic, the latter of the sacerdotalist. II. THE LAW OF THIS PROMULGATION IS THE COMMANDMENT OF THE ETERNAL GOD. 1. We might seek for illustrations of this command in the words of Christ, "Go ye into all the world," etc., or in His appointment of those who should be "witnesses unto Him," etc. (Acts 1:8), or in the vision of Peter, or in the word to Ananias concerning Saul, or to any other of those direct appointments of the gospel ministry in its relation to the entire race. But we prefer to understand by the "command of the eternal God" that everlasting purpose which lay at the base of the methods of the Divine procedure. Any conception of the gospel which is less than this, must necessarily be incomplete. Creation lies in the bosom of redemption. Salvation by Christ is not a mere scene enacted as part of a vast drama upon the theatre of time and nature. The world, with all its physical characteristics, i.e., its human story are but episodes in vast movements and evolutions of salvation. 2. Science boasts that it has relegated the earth and all earthly things to their proper place as very minor items in the universe of being. But such science forgets that, after all, its universe must be a universe which thought transcends. I can, in imagination, pass beyond the utmost limits of your natural universe, and I can rise to a height of moral being, beyond the uttermost reach even of my thought. Thus, vast though the universe may be, I am greater even than all the worlds, and it is with this range of being that the eternal God is concerned in the redemption of Jesus Christ. Hence, the consummation of the spiritual ends of the Divine purpose is the only infinite. It is this that circumscribes the universe. It is this that antedates creation. 3. The gospel is thus no expedient put in to prop the falling race, the temporal cure of an accidental injury to man. The salvation of the entire race of man is part of that universal gathering of all things into one in Christ which has been the everlasting purpose of God's almighty will. Upon this ocean of eternal will, time and being float, as the barques which the waves lift and the currents bear. And, as a part of this commandment of the eternal God, the mystery is revealed and made known unto all nations. 4. If this be so, with what calm equanimity shall we not regard the phases through which the Divine designs move on to their accomplishment. We see the world in its apostacy, overwhelmed by a flood, and threatened with complete destruction. Over the raging of that catastrophe moves the calm purpose of the eternal God. We behold patriarchal ages when one family, and it but feebly, maintained the pure faith. How the flame flickers; but we know the eternal God is overhead, and His purposes depend not upon the choice and fleeting life and character of man. It is the time of the Mosaic economy, and one people is chosen, one family is priestly, one land alone has received the light of God's revealed grace; and we are affronted by its idolatry and sin. Shall we fear for the outcome? Not at all. The purposes of God are ripening fast, and millenniums are only the moments of the Eternal. And so of our own age and time. Perchance we lift the old lament or mocking cry: "The fathers, where are they?" etc. Lift up your eyes and see the clear, calm stars of an eternal purpose. The tempest reaches but a few fathoms below the surface, and the waves that strew the ocean with wrecks are only ripples in the mighty currents that roll unceasing in the sovereign will of God. The gospel is His; its proclamation is His command. And when the eternal throne crumbles into ruin, then, and then only, shall the evangel of God's grace and Christ's redemption be an empty sound. III. THIS DIVINE PURPOSE OF THE PROMULGATION OF THE GOSPEL HAS BEEN MADE KNOWN BY THE UTTERANCES OF A CONTINUED SERIES OF INSPIRED PERSONS. There has ever been a witness amongst men, the sum of whose testimony has been to make known to all nations the mystery of a universal salvation. A Divine purpose has ever been accompanied by a prophetic word. IV. THE ULTIMATE END OF THIS PUBLISHING OF THE MYSTERY IS THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH AMONG ALL NATIONS. 1. Paul here returns to the opening ideas and expressions of the Epistle, one of which is the "obedience of faith." By this, some understand that obedience which springs from faith. But this does not seem altogether to suit the word as it is used in the first passage. Others give to faith the meaning of "the Christian truth" — a signification which belongs to the word in the later usage of the Church and not in the New Testament. Is it not rather that obedience which counts as faith itself, that yielding of the heart and the will to the revelations of God which is the ground of justification on its human side? (Romans 10:3). To accept the grace, to believe in God through Jesus Christ, is to render the obedience of faith. This, then, is the object which is sought by the divulging of the mystery. 2. The end, then, of an apostolic ministry is more than a mere testimony. Some have held that the gospel is only a test, whereby the elect and non-elect are discovered. Men say, on the one hand, We have preached the truth, the hearer must take the responsibility. On the other hand, men say, We have heard the truth; it does not compel our faith; it cannot be for us. Now, to both of these Paul says, "Made known to all nations for the obedience of faith." Shall we dare to rest content that we have spoken even the whole of the Divine grace, and not seek by every means in our power to induce men to obey? How is it with you who have believed? Are you content with a world still disobedient, with your city full of the faithless, with your homes, your very pews, occupied by those who resist the gospel? And what shall I say to you who hear and refuse? You heap judgment on yourselves. There is no hope but in the gospel. If you do not obey, with faith in God's way of salvation, there is nothing for you in this world but disappointment, and in the world to come eternal death. 3. The promulgation of the gospel is not merely that men may know; the object of its being known is the obedience of faith. Will you believe? Then you take Jesus Christ not only as your atonement, but as your Lord, your pattern, your rule, your guide. (Ll.D. Bevan, D.D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, WEB: (14:24) Now to him who is able to establish you according to my Good News and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret through long ages,