[Songs in the Night - May 2]
Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out. John 6:37
AS SOON as the limit of time expired, God manifested
his favor toward the Gentiles by sending the
Gospel message to Cornelius, a reverential and holy
and generous Gentile.
Since then God's favors are as
open to the Gentile as to the Jew—"the middle wall of
partition" has been "broken down."
The Gentiles and
Jews are now both received on the same terms, viz.,
faith in Jesus and consecration to walk in his steps.
It
is from this standpoint that we should read the Apostle's
statement that the Gospel of Christ "is preached to
every creature under heaven."
He did not mean, nor
would it have been true, that the Gospel had been
preached to every creature in the sense of being proclaimed
to all.
For now, eighteen centuries later, it
has not yet been proclaimed to all mankind.
What the
apostle did mean is that the Gospel is now unrestricted,
free to be preached to every creature under heaven,
no matter what his nationality—that it is no longer
confined to Jews as at first.
Now, whoever has "an
ear to hear, let him hear" the good message of the
kingdom.
Now, whoever hears and has a heart to
accept God's gracious message, let him present his
body a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God
through Christ. Z'12-294 R5101:1 (Hymn 291)