THIS GOSPEL
(THE SORROWFUL MYSTERY)
In the book of St. Matthew chapter 24, verse 14 we read one of Christ's unfailing prophecies: "THIS GOSPEL of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then The End will come."
This word was spoken almost 2000 years ago. Many generations have come and gone. Apostles, evangelists and missionaries have preached the Gospel in the whole world -- but "The End" did not come.
At first glance one would think that the prophecy of Christ was a disappointment, because the Gospel had been preached to the nations many times over but the "End of the Age" did not happen. The "End of the Age" refers to the cessation of Diablocracy (Satan's government) on earth, the demise of an evil world system, the fading away of the millennial night, the termination of great tribulation, of conflicts and calamities on earth. "The End" will take place simultaneously with the establishment of Christ's Kingdom on earth. "The End" of this old world will be the start of a new millennial day with Christ as King. The entry of this period will be signified by the confrontation of Truth and Lies followed by the crumbling down of worldly powers and nocturnal religions. Then the prayer of Christians, "Let YOUR kingdom come; YOUR will he done on earth as in Heaven" will be realized. And there will be no more politics, commerce or wars. Paradise will be restored, and there will be righteousness, peace and joy on earth forever!The coming of "The End" has been the wish of those who were living in sorrow. And Christ's return was the dream of those who were dying in despair. And these are still the object of our desire; the primary goal of Christian struggle in an incredible two thousand years period.
In secret, Church-people are wondering, "God, why are the days of evil taking so long? When will YOU intervene to fulfill "The End?" Many are getting desperate, while unbelievers just think the prophecy simply failed. Something is terribly wrong really, but not with Christ's prophecy. The trouble lies on the preaching!
Yes, assuredly, the word of Christ does not fail. He certified it by saying, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." (Matthew 24:35) The problem was on the preaching, because modern preachers did not understand what Christ meant by "This Gospel." They thought that "This Gospel" has already been preached since the days of the Apostles until the present day by thousands of Christian denominations all over the world. If that thinking was correct, then the coming of "The End" was long overdue, considering the great span of time that elapsed. But everybody knows, after many centuries of preaching, "The End" has not come. On the contrary, Satan's influence has totally enveloped the globe. Wicked powers continued to prevail and prosper. In fact, while the churches are doing their best, the moral condition of the world became even worse.
How many years are needed to preach a Gospel message to the world? During the Apostle's time there were fewer nations but mass media was primitive, and travel was quite difficult. A time-frame of 300 years to fulfill their mission was reasonable then - but, impressively, they made it for only 70 years! In the 16th century to the present there were more countries to take up, but travel and mass communication were swift. Today, 30 years are long enough to publish a message to the entire world.
How long has the Roman Catholic Church been preaching? More than a thousand years. And how old are the Protestant Churches? Some are three hundred years old; others, two hundred or one hundred more or less. Have they not yet done the task given such a long overtime? The world is overflowing with Catholic catechisms and Protestant doctrines. Somehow, nations were already sick, culturally damaged and impoverished by their gospels and theologies. Remember, we are not supposed to convert all people and suck their resources, but only to bear witness to them. Surely, if "This Gospel" had been preached, then "The End" would have come long ago. But why did the coming of "The End" linger for so long? Blame it on the preachers, for what they have been proclaiming all these years was not "This Gospel."
The key to solving this prophetic enigma is the word, "THIS." The prophecy of the Lord is accurate, reliable and will not lie. Christ did not say, "THE Gospel" but He said, "THIS Gospel." Catholic and non-catholic churches may have heard "The Gospel" but not "This Gospel," that is why "The End" did not come. Preach "This Gospel" and then, without delay, "The End" will come!
Take note that the Apostles were already preaching "The Gospel" when Christ spoke of a dreadful matter in Matthew 24:1-13, and then prophesied in verse 14: "THIS Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached" prior to "The End" and coming of the Son of Man. Obviously, "This Gospel" is a particular item within the scope of the whole Gospel. Wonderfully, "This Gospel" was left unattended for many centuries while the horrible conditions enumerated by Christ in the preceding verses were transpiring on the face of the earth. It has become a mystery, so to speak, because its bare fulfilment is witnessed by our very eyes, yet blindly relegated by preachers to another future time.
It is providential that "This Gospel" was hidden for a long time, since it was intended to be testified in due time - the end time. So, watch this: When "This Gospel" is understood and preached as a testimony to all nations, then "The End" will surely come as promised.
"This Gospel" contained in 28 verses of Matthew 24 is what we call, the sorrowful mystery in contrast with the joyful message preached by churches for centuries. The joyful side of the Gospel is not a secret. That popular part was made the centerpiece of both traditional and modern evangelism. Preachers would always present the Gospel as Good News (to mean, Happy News). They think Sad News is bad news and Happy News is good news. Evangelists would always deliver the Gospel in a jovial tune:victory always, prosperity, power, riches, conquest all the time, positive thinking,etc. Sad realities are ignored as something false or devilish. They specialize on the Scriptures of triumph and blessings. Humiliating and convicting verses were set aside. That's why they are now engaged in various spiritual recreations, and enjoying religious fantasies. Almost forgotten is the fact that the Gospel has a very Sad News which should seize the pulpits in this appropriate time!
The Gospel is about Christ (the Head), but it applies or extends to His Body (the Church). The Gospel has three parts (1 Cor.15:3-4):
1) Happy News -- The Birth and Ministry of Christ (5 B.C. to 31 A.D.) / The Founding of the Church and Ministry of the Apostles (31 A.D. to 97 A.D.)
2) Sad News -- The Death and Burial of Christ (31 A.D.) / The Demise of the Church, the Great Tribulation, the Rise of the Roman Beast and of Harlot churches (first century to the present)
3) Happy News -- The Resurrection and Ascension of Christ (31 A.D.) / The Revival of the Church (following the preaching of This Gospel, repentance, mourning, supplications), the End of the Age and Coming of the Son of man.
You see, the Gospel is both Happy News and Sad News. It is not only a great tale of gladness but also a stunning story of sadness. The joyful parts of the Gospel consist of the coming of the conquering Light and the marvelous rising again of the crucified Lord. In between those happy pages is a tragic chapter which tells of the passion and burial of the Son of Heaven. This lonesome portion is the subject matter of "This Gospel." The rejection and execution of the Son entails a series of dreadful consequences -- the Great Tribulation and Satan's return to the world -¬never yet tackled by preachers in the present tense but as a past episode or a future terror. The presence of their churches on earth is their Good News; for them, there is no place for the Sad News now, but only in another dispensation, when their churches (they suppose) are gone up to Heaven.
Contrary to the spirit of prophecy, church-people are enjoying the troublous present and are anxious of the days ahead, when in fact, the night of terror has already come such that The Faith and the days of Salvation temporarily ceased. What we should expect is "The End" of the Great Distress and the breaking down of the reign of Satan and the Beast. Actually, if we ever make a change from now on, humbly acknowledge the condemned status of this age, be really sorry and mournfully petition the FATHER of Christ for mercy, the future is not one of fear but of jubilation. But if we continue dancing and laughing with demons tonight we would never see the sunlight!
The Gospel that the world had been hearing so far is the Happy News. That Gospel is not "This Gospel." That Gospel is not what Christ meant in His end-time prophecy. That Gospel has flooded the world, while "This Gospel" has not yet rained on the nations. That is the very reason why "The End" did not come. Except we hear and believe "This Gospel" we could not show God a realistic repentance, and we would never see the conversion of Israel. Only the hearing of "This Gospel" could bring about genuine humility and godly sorrow which are the pre¬requisites of mercy and revival. This sorrowful mystery of the Gospel is what Heaven expects us to preach today. By the preaching of "This Gospel" will Christ's Kingdom be ushered in and Satan's dominion overthrown. The preaching of "This Gospel" will mark the beginning of "The End."
For a better understanding of these things one should know that the Gospel had cast a broad projection in the development of world events. The past, the present, and the future of mankind reflect the three Gospel stages of life, death and resurrection of the Messiah. Virtually, the Gospel has become the underlying principle of the universe!The First Part of the Gospel (Christ's Birth and Life) blossomed into the golden days of Apostolic revolution -- introducing the King and His Doctrines to the world. It was done in 70 years (from 27 to 97 A.D.) The Second Part of the Gospel (His death and burial) projected the universal decease and desolation that plagued the earth for more than a thousand years. In between the 70 years of Church formation in the first century and the future Second Coming of Christ, there is a long period of gloom and disaster, reflecting the Gospel stage of death and burial of the Messiah.
This is that stage when the Church (Body), like Her Head (Christ), was persecuted and slain; when the darkness re-gripped the earth, and Satan returned to the world from which he was exorcised (Mat. 12:43). From the evening of the first century, this dark tribulation period rolled for hundreds of years and matured to our time. All the while, the Truth was cast down and buried. And like an evil vine, religious lies rose up and flourished in the longest night that ever came to this planet. The wicked rejoiced under the full moon and enjoyed the romantic night with Satan and his seven arch-demons. We are still on this second Gospel stage about which, sadly, the churches are oblivious.
That is why instead of mourning they are celebrating along with the children of darkness. That is why they are preaching the Happy News and keeps putting off the Sad News, behaving as if they have everything and pretending to be the happiest children of God all these years, though inside them they are weeping! Such untimely message and inappropriate behavior have locked up the churches in the moonlighted garden of Satan's kingdom, unable to escape.
Now, let us take a closer look at The Sorrowful Mystery of "This Gospel," which covers the longest, darkest period in human history:
1. Jacob’s Trouble
While Christ was walking away from the Temple in Jerusalem, His disciples came up to Him to call His attention to its buildings.
"Do you see all these things? He asked. I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; everyone will be thrown down." (Matthew 24:2)
In A.D. 70, armed men from Rome led by Titus invaded Jerusalem, ransacked and burned the Temple. After plundering the holy place, the Roman terrorists left with the buildings thrown down!
2. False Christs
As Christ was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately and said:
"Tell us, when will this happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age? And YSU answered and said to them: Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, claiming, 'I am Christ,' and will deceive many..." (Matthew 24:3-5)
Many false "christs" indeed came, and made themselves Lord over churches and showed themselves either as the Father or the Master, the Vicar of the Son, the Head of the Assembly, the Embodiment or Medium of the Spirit, the new Adam, the new Messiah, the Prophet, the Priest, the King, the Son or the Christ that has returned! For more than a thousand years, Satan has raised thousands of such deceivers all over the world. Many are now dead but their successors still exist. Some of them emerged in Israel; many big ones came from the Old Roman Empire, and the rest from the Western world and Asian countries.
Many were and are still deceived by those impostors, who always prevent them from sensing the truth. This prophecy had long been fulfilled but Good News preachers say this is still to come.
3. Wars, Famines, and Earthquakes
"You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, hut see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, hut the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains." (Matthew 24:6-8)
Except "The End," all these have been happening such that the world became immune to wars; but Good News preachers warn that these are just beginning to happen. Bloody wars have occupied many tragic chapters of world history while cold wars are brewing continually. Famines and earthquakes have taken a toll on millions of lives and properties for many centuries down to the present. The birth pains were quite severe. The time of "The End" is about to be brought forth. After the water (This Gospel) and the blood (renewed persecution), the Spirit of Christ will return to revive the Church!
4. Persecution, Apostasy, Deception
"Then you will be handed over to he persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of Me. At that time many will turn away from The Faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will turn cold, hut he who stands firm to the end will be saved." (Matthew 24:9-13)
During the first century the believers of Christ were persecuted and killed. Fearing for their lives, hypocrites fell away from THE FAITH, the religion of Christ. Those apostates in turn betrayed and hated each other.
False apostles, teachers, and bishops, took over the seats of the true ones. Deceivers and deceived increased. Wickedness abounded. The prize of Salvation went to the first century Christians who kept The Faith to the end of their trials. The same Salvation shall be to those who would retrieve The Faith and stand firm on it up to "The End" of this wicked age.
5. Abomination of Desolation and the Great Tribulation
"So when you see standing in the holy place the 'abomination that causes desolation', spoken of through the prophet Daniel - let the reader understand - then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of his house. Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation unequaled from the beginning of the world until now, and never to be equaled again. If those had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of The Elect those days will be shortened.” (Matthew 24:15-22)
The Jews have tasted from the Roman destroyers what they did to their King. The filthy, stinking, detestable Cross of Rome trespassed into the holy Temple, and Israel's desolation began. The Israelites hastily dispersed to the ends of the earth! Great Distress struck humanity worldwide, worse than all the plagues that hit the earth. And it does not tend to end. Our only hope is when The Elect cry for deliverance. Do not expect it from happy churches, which (thinking that tribulation is still a future matter) are blind to all these things. The identifying marks of The Elect are humility, and repentance. They will know "This Gospel" by heart, and they will mourn and make supplications for mercy night and day.
6. False Prophets and Churches
"At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is Christ! Or 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even The Elect, if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time. So if anyone tells you, 'There he is, out in the desert,' do not go out; or 'Here he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. For as the lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather." (Matthew 24:23-28)
Where is Christ? He is at the right hand of the FATHER in Heaven. And where is the Church? She is like a "carcass" torn apart and feasted upon by religious "vultures!" Look at those thousands of improvised churches. As the Lord has warned, stop believing them. The Elect who may have been deceived for a while must come out and refrain from getting involved with the sins of idol churches, and from partaking of their punishment.
7. Post-Tribulation and the Sign of the Son of Man
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will he darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will he shaken. At that time the sign of Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His Elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other."
(Matthew 24:29-31)
Satan and the imperious monster almost had it all. Fortunately, the Heavenly FATHER is Good and HIS mercy endures forever. HE will show compassion to those who cry. HE will put an end to tribulation, and shake up the religions of the night. The Sign of Truth will appear; "This Gospel" will be heard worldwide, and the nations will be convicted and go weeping, before the KING of Kings come again to commune with His chosen ones.
The Third Part of the Gospel is about to bloom into a season of majestic triumph and of real Christian REVIVAL. There will be a gathering of The Elect into a COMMUNION, where they will be prepared for the Second Coming of the LORD of Lords. "The End" of Satan's rule and the fall of wicked world powers will occur during this period. These will begin to happen as soon as we change our world outlook and behavior, then repent (by the hearing of "This Gospel") and put on mourning instead of merry-making. You should realize that faking happiness and self-excitation will only worsen the situation. True joy and happiness starts at the shedding of tears. Only "This Gospel" would unlock the backdoor out from Satan's palace to the freedom of Christ's Elect. This is the road to our liberation!
Today's churches are so used with the preaching of Happy News such that they already consider Sad News taboo or a lack of faith. They compete with the worldly in all their carnalities; they enjoy hearing those prosperity preachers who are good at cracking jokes and rocking jolly songs. In the silent moments of truth, however, tears are rolling down their cheeks and their hearts are sobbing, betraying the inner sorrows of their soul! Truly, we are in a period that is "exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death." But they could not hear the voice of truth in their heart because of the loud hypnotic spells from the leaders of their congregation, telling them: "only believe!," "sing unto the lord!" and "rejoice evermore!" So there they would go again always pretending conquest and all bliss, as if they are playing with angels in heavenly places! Like drugs there make-believe rituals have sustained the dying morale of churches and kept their members conscious. If we leave them in this false way, their miseries and infamy would go on for another rotten generation. Take courage now and face the Truth. Drink the bitter pill and share "This Gospel" despite all odds. For this mission is not only a prophecy but a command of Christ to those who understand.
"This Gospel shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations..."
Expect Satan to keep blocking your way, for the preaching of "This Gospel" would expose his horny wiles during the night, bring to judgment the "Great Harlot" that is riding on his pet "Beast," and eventually unmask the "Man of Sin." This would also reform the conventional churches that dance with the music in Satan's courts, or disband them for the better. But after a healing-crisis and a little while of Armageddon the long-desired "End of the Age" would come, for it is not only a prophecy but a promise of Him who rose from the dead:
"...And then The End will come."
The Son of Man will definitely come to establish His Kingdom. His Almighty FATHER will see to it that everything is accomplished in their time according to His faithful word. Finally, as we are about to see the climax of history and prophecy, Brothers, there is nothing more expedient than these: to believe and preach "This Gospel," to "repent and be baptized," to seek HIS Kingdom and justice, and to "watch and pray."
If you want, you can also download this booklet - STIGMA "The Mark of the Beast"
http://rapidshare.com/files/349520091/STIGMA_THE_MARK_OF_THE_BEAST.pdf
http://hotfile.com/dl/28227616/0ebe610/STIGMA_THE_MARK_OF_THE_BEAST.pdf.html
BY: Prof.WILLY C.OLMO
Professor of Christism
