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the expectation, however, that all the nations will as a whole accept the gospel, but only that it
will find adherents in all the nations and will thus be instrumental in bringing in the fulness of
the Gentiles. At the end of time it will be possible to say that all nations were made acquainted
with the gospel, and the gospel will testify against the nations that did not accept it.
It will readily be understood from what we said in the preceding that many dispensationalists
have quite a different view of the matter. They do not believe that the evangelization of the
world need be, nor that it will be, completed before the parousia, which is imminent. According
to them it will really begin at that time. They point out that the gospel indicated in Matt. 24:14
is not the gospel of the grace of God in Jesus Christ, but the gospel of the Kingdom, which is
quite different, the good news that the Kingdom is once more at hand. After the Church has
been removed from this earthly scene, and with it the indwelling Holy Spirit has gone — which
really means, after Old Testament conditions have been restored —, then the gospel with
which Jesus began His ministry will again be preached. It will be preached at first by those who
were converted by the very removal of the Church, later on perhaps by converted Israel and a
special messenger,[Blackstone, Jesus is Coming, p. 233.] or, particularly during the great
tribulation, by the believing remnant of Israel.[Scofield’s Bible, pp. 1033,1036; Rogers, The End
from the Beginning, p. 144; Feinberg, Premillennialism or Amillennialism, pp. 134,135.] This
preaching will be wonderfully effective, far more effective than the preaching of the gospel of
the grace of God. It is during this period that the 144,000 and the great multitude which no man
can number of Rev. 7 will be converted. And in that way the prediction of Jesus in Matt. 24:14
will be fulfilled. It should be remembered that this construction is one which the older
Premillenarians did not accept, which is even now rejected by some present day
Premillenarians. and which certainly does not commend itself to us. The distinction between a
twofold gospel and a twofold second coming of the Lord is an untenable one. The gospel of the
grace of God in Jesus Christ is the only gospel that saves and that gives entrance to the Kingdom
of God. And it is absolutely contrary to the history of revelation, that a reversal to Old
Testament conditions, including the absence of the Church and of the indwelling Holy Spirit,
should be more effective than the preaching of the gospel of the grace of God in Jesus Christ
and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
2. THE CONVERSION OF THE PLEROMA OF ISRAEL.
Both the Old and the New Testament speak
of a future conversion of Israel, Zech. 12:10; 13:1; II Cor. 3:15,16, and Rom. 11:25-29 seems to
connect this with the end of time. Premillennialists have exploited this Scriptural teaching for
their particular purpose. They maintain that there will be a national restoration and conversion
of Israel, that the Jewish nation will be re-established in the Holy Land, and that this will take
place immediately preceding or during the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. It is very doubtful,
however, whether Scripture warrants the expectation that Israel will finally be re-established as