How far has the Gospel message spread?
The Bible Society– is committed to providing every person on earth with access to the Bible and currently has established local Bible Societies in 146 (out of a total of 193) countries of the world.[1]
Languages– there are currently 7,099 living languages in the world. At least one portion of Scripture has been translated for 3,312 of these languages. The New Testament is available in 1,521 languages, with portions in a further 1,121. The complete Bible has been translated into 670 languages,[2]with just 23 languages accounting for more than half the world’s population.[3]
An estimated 5.8 billion people now have all or some of the Holy Bible translated into their first language, and the Bible is now in more than 2,800 different languages, according to a recent announcement by Wycliffe Bible Translators USA – “This represents tremendous progress toward our goal of starting a translation project in every language needing one by 2025.”[4]
Radio– In less than 130 years, from Marconi’s first radio transmission in 1894, anyone can listen to radio broadcasts anywhere in the world.
Satellite TV – only in 1962 was the first satellite broadcast made between the USA and Japan. In 2017 there were 1,000,000,000 (one billion) subscribers with access to a huge number of channels.
Mobile Phones– since 1985 when Comedian Ernie Wise made the first “public” mobile phone call in the UK from outside the Dicken’s Pub in St Catherine’s dock to Vodafone’s HQ, mobile phones have rapidly developed into the handheld computers that are today enabling access to the Internet from almost anywhere.
What does this mean?
We are witnesses today of the fulfilment of Jesus’ words nearly 2,000 years ago, foretelling that the Gospel would be preached to all nations;
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.
What else does the Bible tell us?– The Future
What does that mean for you?– Good News
[1]The Bible Society
[2]Biblica 2017
[3]Ethnologue 2018
[4]Wycliffe Bible Translators – 11thNovember 2014