Matt. 24:13, “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”

Again, to prove further that this statement has nothing to do with when Christ is to come in what we call the second coming, we shall consider another scripture as indicated by Paul on this subject matter.

And so in Rom. 1 we read;

Rom. 1:8,

“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱.❞

So which world is Paul talking about? This letter was written in AD 56-58. And we know also that Christianity arrived in Egypt and Africa at about AD 50 and reached the region around Carthage by the end of the second century. Then it got to Modern Ethiopia, the former Aksumite Empire and Eritrea in the 4th Century and became one of the first regions in the world to adopt Christianity as their official Religion.

Christianity got to Nigeria here around the 15th Century through Augustinian and Capuchin Monks from Portugal. The first mission of the Church of England was only established though in 1842 in Badagry by Henry Townsend.

My question then is, which world heard about faith of the Roman Christians that Paul was talking about? Realizing that then there were no means of communication like we have today such as television, etc., where broadcasts could have been aired of their Faith.

So why state that their faith is being spoken of around the world? Which world?

Again, the answer is very simple. “Your faith is spoken” (𝗸𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶) means their faith was being celebrated throughout the whole world-that is in every place where the Christian religion is being practiced.

And of course this certainly means through all parts of the Roman dominated Empire. This again is what THE WORLD means, not the universe. For we never heard of any Roman Christian Faith in Africa as such.

So when Jesus said, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matt. 24:14),

He wasn’t talking about the globe, neither was that in connection to His second coming.

Furthermore, Paul speaking to the Colossian Christians in the same language said;

Col. 1:21, “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled

22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗹, 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝘆𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗱, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻; whereof I Paul am made a minister.”

“To every creature which is under heaven.” This is the Hebrew language indicating 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞, and particularly referring to the two grand divisions of mankind, that is the Jews and Gentiles. What he meant was that the Gospel of salvation in Christ has being preached to all persons on the face of the earth.

But was that true? For even now we know that there are some tribes who haven’t heard the Gospel of Jesus, the missionaries called them the unreached peoples group.

He meant to say no one has been excluded from receiving and hearing the word of the Gospel. But how far is that true?

You know what? Paul was simply saying the Gospel was preached to every creature under heaven, as being offered without restrictions or limitations to only a select people, to the two main human divisions of Jews and Gentiles, and that speaks for the entire human race. And so we read;

“13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;

15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace” (Eph. 2:13-15).

This is what is meant by every creature under heaven hearing the Gospel. Otherwise, not everyone even up till now has heard the Gospel preached to them. And don’t forget this was written in AD 61-63, some seven to nine years before the fall of Jerusalem.

So the witness of the Gospel of the kingdom went forth to all men before the fall. It is not the world that ended, but the Jewish sacrificial system of worship.

To be continued…