Mat 28:19, Rom 10:18, Rev 14:6 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 19. Go ye therefore. Because all power is mine, go. I can defend you. The world is placed under my control. It is redeemed. It is given me in promise by my Father, as the purchase of my death. Though you are weak, yet I am strong. Though you will encounter many troubles and dangers, yet I can defend you. Though you die, yet I live, and the work shall be accomplished. Teach all nations . The word rendered teach , here, is not the one that is usually so translated in the New Testament. This word properly means disciple , or make disciples of , all nations. This was to be done, however, by teaching them, and by administering the rite of baptism. All nations . The gracious commission was the foundation of the authority to go to the Gentiles. The Jews had expected that the offers of life, under the Messiah, would be confined to their own nation. Jesus broke down the partition wall, and commissioned his disciples to go everywhere, and bring the world to the knowledge of himself. Baptizing them . Applying to them water, as an emblem of the purifying influences of the Christian religion through the Holy Spirit, and solemnly devoting them to God. In the name , etc. This phrase does not mean, here, by the authority of the Father, etc. To be baptized in the name of the Father, etc., is the same as to be baptized unto the Father; as to believe on the name of Christ is the same as to believe on Christ . . To be baptized unto anyone is publicly to receive and adopt him as a religious teacher or lawgiver; to receive his system of religion. Thus the Jews were baptized "unto Moses" . That is, they received the system that he taught; they acknowledged him as their lawgiver and teacher. So Paul asks, ( ) "Were ye baptized in the name of Paul?" --i.e., Were you devoted to Paul by this rite? Did you bind yourselves to him, and give yourselves away to him, or to God? So to be baptized in the name of the Father, etc., means publicly, by a significant rite, to receive the system of religion, to bind the soul to obey his laws; to be devoted to him; to receive, as the guide and comforter of the life, his system of religion; to obey his laws, and trust to his promises. To be baptized unto the Son, in like manner, is to receive him as the Messiah--our Prophet, Priest, and King; to submit to his laws, and to receive him as the Saviour of the soul. To be baptized unto the Holy Ghost is to receive him publicly as the Sanctifier, Comforter, and Guide of the soul. The meaning, then, may be thus expressed: Baptizing them unto the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, by a solemn profession of the only true religion, and by a solemn devotion to the service of the sacred Trinity. The union of these three names in the form of baptism proves that the Son and Holy Ghost are equal with the Father. Nothing would be more absurd or blasphemous than to unite the name of a creature --a man or an angel--with the name of the ever-living God, in this solemn rite. If Jesus was a mere man or an angel, as is held by many who deny his Divinity; and if the Holy Ghost was a mere attribute of God; then it would have been the height of absurdity to use a form like this, or to direct the apostles to baptize men unto them. How absurd would be the direction--nay, now blasphemous to have said, "Baptize them unto God, and unto Paul, and unto the wisdom or power of God!" Can we believe that our Saviour would have given a direction so absurd as this? Yet, unless he himself was Divine, and the Holy Spirit was Divine, Jesus gave a direction substantially the same as this. The form of baptism, therefore, has been always understood as an irrefragable argument for the doctrine of the Trinity, or that the Son and Holy Spirit are equal with the Father. (r) "Go ye" (1) "teach" or, "make disciples", or "Christians" of all nations (s) "all nations"

Matthew 28:19

Verse 19. Go ye therefore. Because all power is mine, go. I can defend you. The world is placed under my control. It is redeemed. It is given me in promise by my Father, as the purchase of my death. Though you are weak, yet I am strong. Though you will encounter many troubles and dangers, yet I can defend you. Though you die, yet I live, and the work shall be accomplished.

Teach all nations. The word rendered teach, here, is not the one that is usually so translated in the New Testament. This word properly means disciple, or make disciples of, all nations. This was to be done, however, by teaching them, and by administering the rite of baptism. All nations. The gracious commission was the foundation of the authority to go to the Gentiles. The Jews had expected that the offers of life, under the Messiah, would be confined to their own nation. Jesus broke down the partition wall, and commissioned his disciples to go everywhere, and bring the world to the knowledge of himself.

Baptizing them. Applying to them water, as an emblem of the purifying influences of the Christian religion through the Holy Spirit, and solemnly devoting them to God.

In the name, etc. This phrase does not mean, here, by the authority of the Father, etc. To be baptized in the name of the Father, etc., is the same as to be baptized unto the Father; as to believe on the name of Christ is the same as to believe on Christ. Jn 1:12, 2:23, 3:18, 1Cor 1:13. To be baptized unto anyone is publicly to receive and adopt him as a religious teacher or lawgiver; to receive his system of religion. Thus the Jews were baptized "unto Moses" 1Cor 10:2. That is, they received the system that he taught; they acknowledged him as their lawgiver and teacher. So Paul asks, (1Cor 1:13) "Were ye baptized in the name of Paul?" --i.e., Were you devoted to Paul by this rite? Did you bind yourselves to him, and give yourselves away to him, or to God? So to be baptized in the name of the Father, etc., means publicly, by a significant rite, to receive the system of religion, to bind the soul to obey his laws; to be devoted to him; to receive, as the guide and comforter of the life, his system of religion; to obey his laws, and trust to his promises. To be baptized unto the Son, in like manner, is to receive him as the Messiah--our Prophet, Priest, and King; to submit to his laws, and to receive him as the Saviour of the soul. To be baptized unto the Holy Ghost is to receive him publicly as the Sanctifier, Comforter, and Guide of the soul. The meaning, then, may be thus expressed: Baptizing them unto the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, by a solemn profession of the only true religion, and by a solemn devotion to the service of the sacred Trinity.

The union of these three names in the form of baptism proves that the Son and Holy Ghost are equal with the Father. Nothing would be more absurd or blasphemous than to unite the name of a creature --a man or an angel--with the name of the ever-living God, in this solemn rite. If Jesus was a mere man or an angel, as is held by many who deny his Divinity; and if the Holy Ghost was a mere attribute of God; then it would have been the height of absurdity to use a form like this, or to direct the apostles to baptize men unto them. How absurd would be the direction--nay, now blasphemous to have said, "Baptize them unto God, and unto Paul, and unto the wisdom or power of God!" Can we believe that our Saviour would have given a direction so absurd as this? Yet, unless he himself was Divine, and the Holy Spirit was Divine, Jesus gave a direction substantially the same as this. The form of baptism, therefore, has been always understood as an irrefragable argument for the doctrine of the Trinity, or that the Son and Holy Spirit are equal with the Father.

(r) "Go ye" Mk 16:15 (1) "teach" or, "make disciples", or "Christians" of all nations (s) "all nations" Isa 52:10, Rom 10:18

Romans 10:18

Verse 18. But I say. But to this Objection I, the apostle, reply, The objection had been carried through the previous verses. The apostle comes now to reply to it. In doing this, he does not deny the principle contained in it, that the gospel should be preached in order that men might be justly condemned for not believing it; not that the messengers must be sent by God; not that faith comes by hearing. All this he fully admits. But he proceeds to show, by an ample quotation from the Old Testament, that this had been actually furnished to the Jews and to the Gentiles, and that they were actually in possession of the message, and could not plead that they had never heard it. This is the substance of his answer.

Have they not heard? A question is often, as it is here, an emphatic way of affirming a thing. The apostle means to affirm strongly that they had heard. The word "they," in this place, I take to refer to the Gentiles. What was the fact in regard to Israel, or the Jew, he shows in the next verses. One main design was to show that the same scheme of salvation extended to both Jews and Gentiles. The objection was, that it had not been made known to either, and that therefore it could not be maintained to be just to condemn those who rejected it. To this the apostle replies that then it was extensively known to both; and if so, then the objection in Rom 10:14,15, was not well founded, for in fact the thing existed which the objector maintained to be necessary; to wit, that they had heard, and that preachers had been sent to them.

Yes, verily. In the original, a single word, (μενουνγε), compounded of (μεν) and (ουν) and (γε). An intense expression, denoting strong affirmation.

Their sound went, etc. These words are taken in substance from Ps 19:4. The psalmist employs them to show that the works of God, the heavens and the earth, proclaim is existence everywhere. By using them here, the apostle does not affirm that David had reference to the gospel in them, but he uses them to express his own meaning; he makes an affirmation about the gospel in language used by David on another occasion, but without intimating or implying that David had such a reference. In this way we often quote the language of others as expressing in a happy way our own thoughts, but without supposing that the author had any such reference. The meaning here is, that that may be affirmed in fact of the gospel which David affirmed of the works of God, that their sound had gone into all the earth.

Their sound. Literally, the sound or tone which is made by a stringed instrument, (φθογγος). Also a voice, a report. It means here they have spoken, or declared truth. As applied to the heavens, it would mean that they speak, or proclaim, the wisdom or power of God. As used by Paul, it means that the message of the gospel had been spoken, or proclaimed, far and wide. The Hebrew is, "their line," etc. The Septuagint translation is the same as that of the apostle--their voice, (οφθογγοςαυτων). The Hebrew word may denote the string of an instrument, of a harp, etc., and then the tone or sound produced by it; and thus was understood by the Septuagint. The apostle, however, does not affirm that this was the meaning of the Hebrew; but he conveyed his doctrine in language which aptly expressed it.

Into all the earth. In the psalm, this is to be taken in its utmost signification. The works of God literally proclaim his wisdom to all lands and to all people. As applied to the gospel, it means that it was spread far and wide, that it had been extensively preached in all lands.

Their words. In the psalm, the heavens are represented as speaking, and teaching men the knowledge of the true God. But the meaning of the apostle is, that the message of the gospel had sounded forth; and he referred doubtless to the labours of the apostles in proclaiming it to the heathen nations. This epistle was written about the year 57. During the time which had elapsed after the ascension of Christ, the gospel had been preached extensively in all the known nations; so that it might be said that it was proclaimed in those regions designated in the Scripture as the uttermost parts of the earth. Thus it had been proclaimed in Jerusalem, Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, Rome, Arabia, and in the islands of the Mediterranean. Paul, reasoning before Agrippa, says, that he could not be ignorant of those things, for they had not been done in a corner, Acts 26:26. In Col 1:23, Paul says that the gospel had been preached to every creature which is under heaven. See Col 1:6. Thus the great facts and doctrines of the gospel had in fact been made known, and the objection of the Jew was met. It would be sufficiently met by the declaration of the psalmist, that the true God was made known by his works, and that therefore they were without excuse, (comp. Rom 1:20) but in fact the gospel had been preached, and its great doctrine and duties had been proclaimed to all nations far and near.

Revelation of John 14:6

Verse 6. And I saw another angel. This must, of course, mean a different one from some one mentioned before; but no such angel is referred to in the previous chapters, unless we go back to Rev 12:7. It is not necessary, however, to suppose that John refers to a particular angel immediately preceding this. In the course of these visions he had seen many angels; and now, accustomed to these visions, he says that he saw "another" one employed in a remarkable embassy, whose message was fitted to cheer the hearts of the desponding, and to support the souls of the persecuted and the sad--for his appearing was the pledge that the gospel would be ultimately preached to all that dwell upon the earth. The design of this vision is, therefore, substantially the same as the former--to cheer the heart, and to sustain the courage and the faith of the church, in the persecutions and trials which were yet to come, by the assurance that the gospel would be ultimately triumphant.

Fly in the midst of heaven. In the air; so as to appear to be moving along the face of the sky. The scene cannot be in heaven, as the gospel is not to be preached there; but the word must denote heaven as it appears to us-- the sky. Prof. Stuart renders it correctly, "mid-air." He is represented as flying, to denote the rapidity with which the gospel would spread through the world in that future period referred to. Compare Isa 6:2.

Having the everlasting gospel. The gospel is here called everlasting or eternal,

(a) because its great truths have always existed, or it is conformed to eternal truth;

(b) because it will for ever remain unchanged--not being liable to fluctuation like the opinions held by men;

(c) because its effects will be everlasting--in the redemption of the soul and the joys of heaven. In all the glorious eternity before the redeemed, they will be but developing the effects of that gospel on their own hearts, and enjoying the results of it in the presence of God.

To preach unto them that dwell on the earth. To all men--as is immediately specified. Compare Mt 28:19, Mk 16:15.

And to every nation, and kindred, etc. To all classes and conditions of men; to all men, without any distinction or exception. Rev 7:9. The truth here taught is, that the gospel is to be preached to all men as on an equality, without any reference to their rank, their character, or their complexion; and it is implied also, that at the time referred to this will be done. When that time will be the writer does not intimate farther than that it would be after the beast and his adherents had attempted to stay its progress; and for the fulfilment of this, therefore, we are to look to a period subsequent to the rise and fall of that great Antichristian power symbolized by the beast and his image. This is in entire accordance with the prediction in Daniel. Dan 7:19, seq.

(e) "everlasting gospel" 2Sam 23:5, Isa 40:8 (f) "to every nation" Eph 3:9