Page 142 - TH130 Kingdom of God A4 Final

The Kingdom of God

prophecy, and then do nothing about it. We must be about preaching the
gospel to all people everywhere before Jesus comes again.

In Matthew 24:14 the Greek word
translated world means the inhabitable
We must be about earth. The word translated nation

preaching the means tribe, ethnic group, or people
group. Jesus was therefore saying that
gospel to all people the gospel of the Kingdom must be

everywhere before preached in all the inhabited earth as
a witness to every tribe and people
Jesus comes again. group before His coming and the end
of the age. In Mark 13:10 Jesus’ words
are even more emphatic: “The gospel
must first be preached to all nations” (emphasis added). This is the clear
task of the church.

It is useful to compare Jesus’ prophecy in Matthew 24:14 with His
statement of the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18–20. Such a
comparison reveals three striking similarities, as illustrated in Table 12.1.

Table 12.1—Comparison of Matthew 24:14 and Matthew 28:19–20

Matthew 24:14 Matthew 28:19–20

Task “And this gospel of the “Therefore go and
kingdom will be preached” make disciples”

Scope “in the whole world as a “of all nations”
testimony to all nations”

Method “baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit, and teaching
them to obey everything I
have commanded you.”

Duration “and then the end will come.” “And surely I am with you
always, to the very end
of the age.”

::: 134 :::