# Mark 13:10 And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.



## Pergamum

> Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.






> Mark 13:10 And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.



Signs of the End | Reformed Bible Studies & Devotionals at Ligonier.org

Renewed Mind: Has the Gospel Been Preached to All the World?

"The Gospel Preached to All Nations"

When Will Christ Return? – Justin Taylor

Is it alright to preach this text as a present and future missionary imperative if this verse really was fulfilled in 70 AD?

Also, was it REALLY fulfilled in 70AD? Totally?

How would you preach this verse?


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## ShagVT

I don't see it as fulfilled in AD70. 

That said, I don't agree with groups like Wycliffe that say that we have to have the Bible translated into every dialect on earth in order to clear the way for Christ's return. We have the promise that his coming is imminent, like a thief in the night. God only knows when in his opinion the Gospel has been preached in all the world, and I have no reason to think that his definition has any correspondence to 21st century political maps.

I think we can preach it as a missionary imperative, and we need to preach it so that people realize that having the gospel preached in the whole world means taking the Gospel to the unreached tribe in the jungles of Ecuador as much as it means taking the gospel to the unreached neighbor behind his curtains and garage door across the street.


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## Pergamum

"The Gospel Preached to All Nations"


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## KMK

I don't have time to read the articles but if you consider where Christianity was when Jesus uttered those prophetic words, I think His original audience would have believed them to be fulfilled, from their perspective, in Acts 28:30,31 "And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, *31Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him."

The city of Rome was the capital of the world in those days and the fact that there was a world famous church in Rome, and Paul preaching in Rome unhindered could easily be considered as a fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy.


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## Jack K

From the structure of Acts, it seems that Paul's preaching in Rome signals that the gospel is being preached to all the earth, even though Luke surely realized there were unreached people yet. So I would say that ever since Paul's arrival in Rome the gospel has been preached and continues to be preached to all the earth, more and more. That means Jesus, in Mark, is giving a condensed timeframe. Once the gospel-to-all-the-earth happens (with Paul in Rome), sometime after that the end will come.

A better missionary imperative would be the many passages about how God delays judgment so that many people will come to repentance. That, more than the gospel-to-all-the-earth idea, seems to best explain why the end has not yet come.


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## J.Paton24May1824

I believe it was not fulfilled in 70A.D. Many who hold to this view see the destruction of Jerusalem as the second coming of Christ in its first phase. 

I believe Revelation 14:6 is a fulfillment of Matthew 24:14. We should preach it as a missionary imperative, but the final completion will not be seen until the angel proclaims the Gospel "to every nation and tribe and language, and people." Rev.14:6


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## JohnGill

Pergamum said:


> Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
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> Mark 13:10 And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.
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> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Signs of the End | Reformed Bible Studies & Devotionals at Ligonier.org
> 
> Renewed Mind: Has the Gospel Been Preached to All the World?
> 
> "The Gospel Preached to All Nations"
> 
> When Will Christ Return? – Justin Taylor
> 
> Is it alright to preach this text as a present and future missionary imperative if this verse really was fulfilled in 70 AD?
> 
> Also, was it REALLY fulfilled in 70AD? Totally?
> 
> How would you preach this verse?
Click to expand...


Yes, it was fulfilled prior to AD 70. The scripture (end of Romans is one I remember off hand) teaches this based on the contextual usage of the word "world" in those two passages. Such is the post-millenial view. A great lecture series on the subject is the postmillenial audio set by the late Dr. Bahnsen. Even the pre-millenialist John Gill states those two passages were referring to events prior to AD 70. It would be bad exegesis to rip these two verses from their context and use them to support a missionary imperative unless you also intend to provide an unbiased examination of the various eschatalogies and how they view these verses. (Kenneth Gentry on the verses.) It would be better to use the following verses:*Mark 16:15, 15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 
Matthew 28:19, 20: 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo , I am with you alway , even unto the end of the world. Amen.*​


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## Pergamum

So, many of you would say that any sermon treating these verses would have to largely focus on 70AD rather than worldwide missions urgency today?


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## Jack K

Pergamum said:


> So, many of you would say that any sermon treating these verses would have to largely focus on 70AD rather than worldwide missions urgency today?



I don't think it follows that a sermon based on that passage ought to be a history lesson. A sermon must apply the text to the listeners' lives. Jesus' desire for the gospel to be spread widely, to many people of all nations, is evident in that passage and ought to be an encouragement to us as we do or support missions work today. But I think it'd be a mistake to preach that the end won't come until some yet-to-be-acheived outreach takes place. God delays because he desires more people to be saved, not because we haven't met his whole-earth goal yet.


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## Pergamum

"God delays because he desires more people to be saved, not because we haven't met his whole-earth goal yet."

Do these two thing need to be different things? In Psalm 22 it says that God would have all the families of the earth be blessed. This seems to be a whole-earth goal, doesn't it? Also, panta ta ethne seems to be all the nations in the world (not merely "The Gentiles" generically).


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## KMK

Pergamum said:


> So, many of you would say that any sermon treating these verses would have to largely focus on 70AD rather than worldwide missions urgency today?



I don't think it has anything to do with the year 70.


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## Jack K

Pergamum said:


> "God delays because he desires more people to be saved, not because we haven't met his whole-earth goal yet."
> 
> Do these two thing need to be different things? In Psalm 22 it says that God would have all the families of the earth be blessed. This seems to be a whole-earth goal, doesn't it? Also, panta ta ethne seems to be all the nations in the world (not merely "The Gentiles" generically).



No, I don't think they're all that different. And I certainly think we should still be spreading the gospel to far-flung corners of the world. That's one of the big things this age is all about.

The fact that, in one sense, the gospel has already gone out to the ends of the earth does not mean the task stops. By no means! I just don't think it's a right interpretation/application of that passage to teach that we have to get to every nook, or absolutely every people group or some such thing as a condition of Christ's return. But should we still try to reach every nook and every people group? Absolutely! Does it fit the heart of Christ as revealed in that passage? You bet it does! And might God be delaying because such-and-such a people have not yet heard the gospel and his desire is for them to come to repentance? Well, it would fit what we know of his character if that were the case.


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