The second greatest advancement for the Kingdom

Matthew 28: 18-20 “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”

The greatest advancement for the Kingdom of Jesus Christ since the resurrection may very well be the printing press. People prior to 500 years ago thought the earth was flat and the sun and stars revolved around a stationary earth. The development of the telescope disproved this but the communication and information distribution technology informed the world.

Galileo was the first person to use a telescope to observe the stars in 1609. His first astronomical discovery was that the moon had mountains, valleys and other characteristics just as does the earth.

It was also only a little over a century before the Galileo discovery that Columbus discovered the New World and certified the earth is a sphere and there is a Western Hemisphere.

Many exciting and belief changing discoveries were made during those same centuries. Prior to that time period, the world existed in a state of convinced but wrong beliefs. Many of those were in reference to religions.

The concept of “convinced but wrong beliefs” is in existence today as it was 400 years ago (Proverbs 12: 15). The problem continues to exist in a people mindset that gives definition to the word “adamant.” Missionaries discovered years ago that once a person adopted a belief, to try to convince them otherwise is mostly impossible.

Ecclesiastes 3: 11, “God has set eternity in the hearts of men.” This being the case, mankind, regardless of location or levels of enlightenment (or ignorance) has invented for themselves a god.

Another action of people groups in many locations was the adoption of physical objects to worship. Even the Hebrew people made a golden calf to worship when Moses went onto the mountain to bring down the Ten Commandments (Exodus 32: 1-4).

People groups for centuries have worshipped mountains, the sun and moon, cows and money. In some cases, such as in the worship of material goods, man is not even aware of the worship action he is taking.

One reason for the demonstrations of ignorance concerning awareness for the one true God of the Bible is that communication methods were limited and an example of such is that the only Bibles were hand written and few people had access to one.

Over the last five centuries we have seen the world progress into a state of chaos because many have no concept of right and wrong as taught by the Holy Bible.

Therefore, the printing press stands to be the greatest advancement for the Gospel since the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. With literally millions of printed copies of the Bible in the world today, there is no excuse for anyone not to realize that some actions are acceptable in a civilized society and some are not.

In such a case, there is still a glitch of the teaching of God’s word to the people of the world. That glitch is the Christian community.

Why can we not perform the one simple task Jesus ask us to do in the scriptural references we call The Great commission? Surely this is not too much for Him to ask of us. After all, He allowed nails to be driven into Himself to give us salvation for all eternity.

Gutenberg’s printing press made it possible for millions to have a copy of the Holy Bible. Previously, very few and the privileged only had access to God’s word. The only copies were hand written and the writers took months to produce one copy.

The first printed Bibles were produced by Johannes Gutenberg. His newly invented printing press printed 180 bibles in 1455. Forty-eight of those original Gutenberg Bibles have been saved and preserved.

Gutenberg invented a wooden printing press, metal type and oil based ink in 1440. His creation made phenomenal changes in education, information conveyance, reading as a personal source of knowledge and many other (mostly unnoticed or taken for granted) items we see and use every day of our lives.

Over the last four to five hundred years, the availability of a Bible to anyone and everyone has grown exponentially. Many Christians have multiple copies covered in dust.

Reports vary but a commonly accepted number is that there are around 7000 languages in the world. Many of those are variations of tribal dialects. The number of those is impossible to determine. The Bible has been interpreted and printed in to over 700 languages.

In a hotel room in Kathmandu, Nepal, looking into the night stand drawer I found a copy of a Holy Bible placed by the Gideons. Surprise is an understatement. In a country where Christianity was considered a minor religion, to find a Bible was completely unexpected.

Daniel 12: 4 “But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” Are these words of Daniel prophetic beyond our superficial thinking?

Because of inventions and discoveries such as magnifying lens (telescopes and microscopes) and the printing press, advancements in knowledge have greatly increased. The solar system, the universe and the earth itself is nothing like mankind imagined it for thousands of years.

While the world did not understand such concepts as we consider common knowledge, the Gospel of Jesus Christ has not changed.

Revelation 11:15: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever” The printing press, the internet and other media resources provide us a way to teach Jesus to a lost and godless world.