I Want to Give My Heart to Jesus #9: Angel Messages and Messengers

Way down the pipe, way down at the terminal point in time, Satan planned to pull out all the stops. For centuries, even millenniums, he bent his mind to how he might deceive whoever he had opportunity to in the end of time. Until the close of the first century, he couldn't have known for sure what the last scenarios would be. But at that time, the book of Revelation was inscripturated. No question -- doubtless Satan or one of his imps was looking over the shoulder of John, reading the symbol-encoded book. And there, for the very first time, the angel messages of Revelation fourteen were inscribed in the roll of prophecy.

We don't know what thoughts passed inside his mind down through the ages, but we may be sure that he studied every line with care and interest. Also at his possession doubtless was knowledge of the book of Daniel and the rest of the Bible. The stories about showdowns over worship and obedience had to stand out to him.

At the same time, the Father had in mind the last generations of believers in His Son. All the prophets in the Bible prophesied more for those living at the end of time than for those presently walking through life (1 Peter 1:12).

Some today prefer to wrinkle their nose when even the very word "prophecy" comes up. Not wise. Instead, let us study these closing messages, found in Revelation 14:6-12. At the end still we purpose to follow our Lord. Here then we'll find insight into present truth for this time.

(We will look at 1888 next Sabbath and leave it out of our reckoning in this Sabbath message.)

Contexts for the Three Angel's Messages

Revelation chapter twelve gives an overview of the whole great controversy, and closes by highlighting the reality of the war between the commandment-keeping people of God versus Satan and his forces. Thirteen of Revelation goes into detail and identifies the first beast (vv. 1-10) as the Roman Catholic Church and the second beast (vv. 11-18) as the United States of America under the controlling influence of apostate Protestantism. Through those two entities finally the mark of the beast is imposed upon the populace of the world. The fourteenth of Revelation has three sections. Its first is the first five verses, centering attention on Jesus and those who follow Him in the end-time, and what they are like in character. The last part of Revelation 14 describes the unfallen angel's final verdict of total fealty to God and their affirmation that He has proven His case and the controversy can advance to finality. Between these sections stand three messages delivered as by angels. The eighteenth of Revelation contains a repeat message from fourteen as well. These four messages are the focus of our look into God's Word this Sabbath morn.

The location of these messages, just after the 144,000 have been described in Revelation 14:1-5, and the angels announce their agreement with God in the last portion of the chapter, is of special interest. In fact, just stop and think about it. Without the angel messages there in the middle of fourteen, there would be no group at the beginning to look at, and there would be no fully-convinced consensus among the angels permitting the controversy to close. Those angel messages in the middle are crucial, for they show what God's last warning on earth is, and that His people give those warnings, live those warnings, and that a remnant are produced in the end who -- finally -- can be described in that powerful 12th verse: "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."

On the way to that outcome -- that people produced -- stand three angel messages. The first angel's message is found in the sixth and seventh verses:

And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

Next is the second angel's message:

And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

Then the third angel speaks his warning:

And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

The result is the 12th verse:

Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

But actually, there is a fourth angel message. It is a development of the second. Here is the passage from Revelation 18:1-5:

And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

Now from our perspective in the flow of time, we have special insight into these messages. We can see somewhat about how events are structured around them. Let's begin by thinking of how this structure breaks out.

Pre-Millerite American Christianity

Let's pause for one moment to get a grip on where American Christianity stood in its ideas before the Millerite/Advent movement. The viewpoint that overwhelmingly filled the thinking of religious Americans was a very optimistic post-millennialism. That is, through the Christianization of society, the world would get better and better, and then after the 1000 years of the millennium, it could be handed off to Jesus who then would come. It was a time when there was a lot of positive thinking, the frontier was expanding, a pioneering folk were carving a new society out of the seemingly bottomless resources of the new world, and everything seemed to be going forward with great gusto.

Post-millenialism proposed, I say again, that through the persistent growth of the nation and its Christianization, the world will get better and better -- not worse and worse! It was in this context of thinking, that William Miller came preaching the very opposite!

Advent Movement

Miller's primary period of activity stretched form 1831 to 1844. He, letting the Bible interpret itself, found clear evidence that said that apostasy in Christianity would grow worse and worse, and Jesus would come in judgment. He and those who presented the same ideas were called "doom-sayers," and "gloom-and-doom prophets." But they shared their understanding none the less.

Most of Miller's preaching came in the early 1840s. As we will know already, here are some of the things that he and his associates taught:

1. Imminence of the judgment, marked by the close of the 2300 year period in 1843/1844.
2. The imminent premillenial, personal appearance of Jesus Christ.
3. The necessity of a personal preparation to meet the Lord.

These teachings were encompassed in the first angel's message of the sixth and seventh verses. We'll look much more closely at that in a moment, but let's remind ourselves historically what happened.

Miller and his teachings were widely accepted until it came near to the time when it was expected that Jesus would return. At that point the doors of the varied churches were largely closed to them, and they were cast out. Some left voluntarily, others were excommunicated or disfellowshiped. The Millerites steadfastly sought to listen to where they might be in error, but none were able to show where they were wrong. Soon it became evident that the main issue was an unwillingness to prepare for the second coming, a lack of desire to follow Jesus and let one's heart be cleansed.

The second angel message is found in the eighth verse, and in it, heaven announces the moral fall and designation of churches unwilling to adhere to the light He had sent, as being "Babylon." The "wine," of Babylon specifically is mentioned. In the cup of intoxication are the confused, false doctrines of Babylon. She is condemned for having through her iniquitous connection with earthly governments spread the poisonous and false teachings about God far and wide through the earth. Thus, the second angel adds . . .

1. Declaration of Babylon's moral fall and condemnation by heaven.
2. A circumstance: the departure of God's people from Babylon opens the door to new developments in understanding and Christian experience.

Charles Fitch, a fiery preacher among the Millerites was the first to give the second angel's message, in a sermon he preached in 1843. Notice the pattern historically presented. Light is sent from heaven (the first angel's message), and rejected. It is light that each individual Christian person must act upon, make a decision in regard to. When the members of religious bodies reject that light en masse, they are declared fallen by God, for they have manifest rebellion toward Him, and in so doing enforced upon themselves a moral fall away from Him.

Substantial errors that would soon bring great sadness to these intense Christians still were held by them. They understood the sanctuary to be the earth. They understood that Jesus was coming to the earth at the close of that time (October 22, 1844). A very potent experience, including considerable sorrow, was before them although they knew it not. But they were anxious to follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.

Transitions in Christ's heavenly Ministry

The first and second angel messages continued especially until the fall of 1844. At that time, at October 22 and according to prophecy, a transition occurred of crucial importance to the salvation plan of God. At that time Jesus' ministry was changed as He moved from the "holy place" of the heavenly sanctuary, to its "most holy place." Daniel 8:14 had prophetically indicated that at the close of the 2300 day/year period, "then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."

That is, just as in the pattern established in Scripture in the typical day of atonement (See Leviticus ch. 16), the symbolic service, finally in the end of time, in the antitypical, the actual and ultimate service and sanctuary, Jesus would complete His ministry in heaven by cleansing it. A process of investigative judgment would begin. Jesus moved from the holy place, which represented the conventional ministry of reconciliation and forgiving of sin, to the most holy, where historically the high priest of Israel had entered in but once in a year, to remove the sins of God's people from contaminating the sanctuary. In that service, the sanctuary was cleansed, the sins removed, the camp cleaned. All those events were both symbolical and intended to point to the final and ultimate resolution of the sin problem once and for all.

Jesus' movement in heaven from the holy to the most holy place was a giant advance in the process of finishing the work of the redemption plan. Now, in the presence of the heavenly throne room, the presence of the Father and the template of His law in the ark of the covenant, the Ten Commandments, now was revealed a cleansing work.

The followers of Jesus had been very diligent, but not quite diligent enough. They had come to a sound understanding of the prophetic time periods, and rightly estimated everything about the 2300 year prophecy but for one point: they misunderstood what and where the sanctuary it referred to was. For this reason they experienced a heart-breaking disappointment. They had expected to see Jesus come. Instead, the time passed and He had not returned to the earth.

After the disappointment of October 22-23, of course the Adventists were widely ridiculed. Some lost their way. Some went back to the churches from whence they had come or been expelled. Some continued to believe. Of these, perhaps the smallest group were the core of what soon became the Seventh-day Adventist movement.

(For a detailed exposition on the 2300 year/day prophecy and the investigative judgment, print out pages from these links: Yom Kippur and End-Time Bible Prophecy, and Longest Time Prophecy in the Bible.)

Seventh-day Advent Movement

Arising in the years following the disappointment were the group that would finally become known as Seventh-day Adventists. Within just a few years they had come to a refreshed understanding of what had happened and in what place they stood.

They soon saw that after the first and second angel messages, there were more! They saw that a third and even a fourth message remained to be given. Before the transition in Jesus' ministry in heaven, they had not understood this. Now they did. Now they saw that heaven's purpose for them was to live and give the third angel's message, along with the messages already given.

Their prophetic understanding had been very largely true; only in their understanding of what the sanctuary was had they been mistaken. Now they saw by the study of Scripture that the sanctuary referred to was a place in heaven. The comprehension that there was such a place immediately gave prominence to one of the key features that had been central to the earthly sanctuary: the law of God. All through the book of Revelation there come various changes in scene from one portion of the vision to another. One such pivotal "cut" comes at Revelation 11:19, which shows the "ark" of His covenant. As if to show its importance, heaven flashes this scene before the reader and then introduces the great controversy overview sequences of Revelation 12. At the end of that chapter we find highlighted a people locked in deadly war with Satan, who are characterized, among other things, by their keeping of God's commandments (Revelation 12:17).

When the law received emphasis in Revelation, and obedience to God's commandments, Adventists caught on to something powerful. Now they knew of a sanctuary in heaven, now they knew God's law still stood as the standard by which all would be judged. Now they knew that obedience to God's commandments was crucial to God's achieving His close-out program to remove sin. Along with the law came a point of great irritation to conventional Christianity: the seventh-day Sabbath (Saturday).

God's truth for the last days would contain a cross for you and me. Heaven reemphasized God's law and the Sabbath. Obedience was to be the decisive point of the end-time. A people would be called out to live and give just such a proclamation -- to insist on fealty to Jesus. Seventh-day Adventists were called for such an hour!

One more thing now before we take a closer look at these angel messages. A very important truth that our pioneers learned the hard way, and that we too will learn the hard way unless we take heed. Listen!

Why did they experience the tremendous disappointment of not seeing Jesus come? Because they had, without realizing it, embraced several ideas not founded in the Scriptures. Let me share here a few lines from Ellen White's Great Controversy, p. 353-354:

This test [the disappointment] would reveal the strength of those who with real faith had obeyed what they believed to be the teaching of the word and the Spirit of God. It would teach them, as only such an experience could, the danger of accepting the theories and interpretations of men, instead of making the Bible its own interpreter. To the children of faith the perplexity and sorrow resulting from their error would work the needed correction. They would be led to a closer study of the prophetic word. They would be taught to examine more carefully the foundation of their faith, and to reject everything, however widely accepted by the Christian world, that was not founded upon the Scriptures of truth.

We tend to cling to things, sometimes understandings that are ill-founded, not sustained by the Bible or the Spirit of Prophecy. Part of the task before us today, is to be deep Christians, to sort through a lot of theological static, and be true to our past and faithful to the future God has in mind. Nothing else will do!

The Angel Messages Grouped

There is another transition yet future that we want to keep in mind. It is the time when probation shall close. Actually, we do not know, in an absolute sense, exactly when that time will be. But there is a time coming when Jesus closes His ministry in the most holy place in the heavenly sanctuary and finally returns to earth. That culminates with the second coming. It is the most "Adventist" teaching of all! The advent -- the second coming of Jesus, will then occur. We long for that day, even while we acknowledge that the pathway through the last rapids of this earth's history will be most thrilling, chilling, and depressing, and dangerous. What you and I may live through in the end is more than can be humanly described.

What is of special interest to you and I, is that it is between Jesus' entrance into the heavenly most holy place and the exit of it are the transitions between which we live. And this is the time appointed for the work of the third and fourth angels.

Angel messages one and two just preceded Jesus' transition into the most holy place. Angel messages three and four just precede His exit from the most holy place.

There is a final work to be accomplished by the angel messages. A commandment-keeping,, completely-loving-Jesus people are to be produced. These messages are the key agency among ideas, leading to that outcome. The power to live it comes from the Holy Spirit. The motivation to live it comes from our appreciation for Jesus. But the change in how we live, comes from the messages, the truths of God for the end-time. Let's take a closer look then -- what our goal has been al along here this Sabbath morning -- at these angel messages.

Second and Fourth Angels

We'll start our examination with the second and fourth angels. Here they are again:

Revelation 14:8: And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

Revelation 18:1-5: And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

Immediately we notice great similarities, even exact phrasing. But there is a difference between them. The second iteration includes more finality than the first. In the first, Babylon is declared to be fallen, in the second she has become also a cage, a prison house, for evil. The first contains only an implicit call out, as anything heaven condemns contains such. The second contains a very plain and explicit calling out, and warning of imminent final destruction.

There is development between the two calls, as things become worse to the point of finality at the point of the second and last declaration.

Both calls include a condemnation of a corporate group, identified as "Babylon." There is an interesting contrast too, and that is the strength of the call given. In 14:8 it simply states that the angel "says," while in 18:1 it states that the angel comes down "having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory." It seems that the first time the declaration was not given so strongly as the last. We'll compare this in a moment to the intensity of the giving to the first and third angel message declarations. But first, let's also do something else. Let's go back and see if we can discover the texts where the ideas in these passages may have originhated. That may give us more insight into their use ultimately in Revelation.

Scriptural Origin Points

Isaiah and Jeremiah provide us our origin texts. In Isaiah 21:9 we have, "And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground." The passage features a watchman on the wall who is actually watching. In the distance he sees a ragged chariot approaching, and soon hears the morose declaration mentioned above. In this passage, the fall of Babylon is her capture by foreign armies, and as a result, her panopoly of idols and worship statuary are cast down and destroyed.

Our other text is found in Jeremiah 51:6-9:

Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD'S vengeance; He will render unto her a recompense. Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD'S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.

This text predicts the fall of Babylon, again, as a military conquest brought on by the Lord's anger toward her. Here, Babylon itself is identified as a golden cup in the Lord's hand that made all the earth drunken. It says that the nations of all the earth have drunken of her wine. Notice that the Lord does not prepare the wine, but simply uses her wine to wreak His vengeance.

Probably we are reminded of the text that says of the Lord, that "I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not" (Isaiah 66:4). Our Father never designed the false doctrines of Rome, but for those who refuse His call to fealty, for those who love evil, our God reserves the right to send them whatever delusion is appropriate to their punishment. The New Testament includes the same truth in 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12, "And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."

Revelation 14:8 tells us that Babylon is punished "because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." The wine of the wrath of her fornication doubtless signifies her false doctrines spread out through the culture in which her toxic blend of church-state relations is perpetrated. She makes use of her illicit connection of church and state to enforce her dogmas whenever and wherever she is able, and before time ends, she will again be very able! This religious conglomerate (Babylon the mother of harlots herself, the Roman Catholic Church), and the daughters of the harlot (apostate Protestantism in its varied forms), will work through the secular powers to enforce its will upon the consciences of the people of planet earth.

(For detailed expositions on this, print out copies of Big Words. Little Horn. http://www.collisionwithprophecy.org/journey/cwp8.html, and America in Prophecy. http://www.collisionwithprophecy.org/journey/cwp16.html.)

Five places in the Bible include "wine" and "wrath" in the same verse. The first is found in Esther 7:7 where the king, having discovered the perfidy of Haman goes out into the garden from the banquet of wine in anger, momentarily to return and announce death sentence upon him. The other four are all found in the book of Revelation 14:8, 10; 16:19; 18:3. All speak of God's great punishments. Part of His punishment of those who refuse fealty to Him is to let them absorb and be damaged by the writhing false doctrines of Babylon.

Early SDAs spoke plainly of these. J. N. Andrews and some others identified some of these troublous doctrines as "natural immortality," "infant baptism," "Sunday sacredness," "postmillennialism," and "spiritual parousia" (second coming of Jesus as not being literal). Along with such false doctrines, after 1844 the doctrines associated with modern spiritualism were especially thought to be signs of Babylon's infilling with demons and becoming a cage for the wicked. These are very sobering points when we realize that such false teachings more or less permeate most of the religious entities surrounding us, today more than ever. There may be less "infant baptism," but there is even more insistence on the great controversy-destroying concept of original sin and its kindred errors. But that is another point.

Suffice it to say that God calls His people out of such religious confusion because it will hinder and prevent His work of preparing serious Christian people to survive the closing deceptions and trials just before us. And we must be about this work of faithfully calling out of Babylon those willing to be faithful to God!

Similarities, Differences and Development

In the Old Testament references, the fall of Babylon is presented as a military conquest of her by another pagan nation. In the New Testament, the fall of Babylon is even more explicitly presented in moral terms. Back then, she had had the gall to attack His people, even burn His sanctuary (Jeremiah 51:11). He pulled back His mighty hand and permitted her to chasten His people, but she enjoyed her pillaging, and acted rashly in fighting against the people of God. Now comes her condemnation.

The arc begun by the Holy Spirit in inspiring the prophets to introduce these things into the Old Testament reaches its culmination in the New Testament as the final destruction comes upon Babylon at the height of her spiritual ascendancy, when the image beast of Revelation is enforcing her worship upon the whole earth (Revelation 13:11-12). Revelation 18 documents this climactic final destruction. And it is our task -- yours and mine -- to call people out of it just before it comes. So, we had best understand the second and fourth angel messages. Jesus urges us to be faithful witnesses so that His people may be saved out of Babylon, as many as can be gotten out of her. How merciful and precious is the love of our Jesus. How unfortunate that we so rarely have looked into the second and fourth angel messages with any depth. Even here much remains that could be spoken of. But we have yet the first and third angels. Let us proceed rapidly then, as our time is running away from us.

First and Third Angels

In contrast to the second and fourth angels, the first and third represent messages very personal in nature rather than first being so corporate. The first angel, again has:

And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

Here again is the third angel's warning:

And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

The first angel's message puts the whole of these angel messages under the "everlasting gospel." That gospel includes fearing God -- respecting Him and His gospel requirements. It means living within the perspective that the judgment is underway, both, of God's people, of our Satanic enemy and enemies, and even of God Himself. It calls us to live in the awareness, in the light of the fact of the great controversy. Obedience is especially highlighted, as we shall see in a moment. The first angel presents the first major unit of special light sent from heaven to guide God's people safely through the end-times. How regrettable then, as we have already seen, it is rejected and the second message must so declare that fact.

The third angel focuses again on personal fealty to God. If we should choose to worship the beast, receive his image rather than God's image, we'll be subject to the wrath of heaven unmixed with mercy. Here comes then -- in the light of the fact that the judgment is underway (remember, the first angel's message has announced this and the transition of Jesus from holy to most holy in heaven has occurred, as this is after October 22, 1844) -- here is a last, personal call, a plea similar to the first angel. The first angel urged the worship of God. The third angel urges that one NOT worship the beast.

Both the first and third messages are given with a "loud" voice (Revelation 14:7, 9). These are given in a strong manner then.

Scriptural Origin Points

All of these messages have angels flying in heaven. The first time we find an angel saying, "fear God," it is actually God Himself speaking to Abraham, in Genesis 22:11-12: "And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And He said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from Me." Did John have that in His mind as he wrote Revelation 14:7? It was the same kind of faith that John developed. It is the same kind we must develop. Is there anything -- anything or anyone at all -- that you value more highly than obedience to God? Then you are not ready. You need to walk the walk of faith, right into the arms of God, as did Abraham. In Jesus He has provided the ram in the thicket for you.

What is this angel proclaiming? The "everlasting gospel." Right here I must warn you of a terrible deception that has run in among us. Repeatedly we are seeing the everlasting gospel set apart as being the gospel of forensic righteousness only of the Magisterial Reformers. It is a very legal, very limited idea. It is very far from what we have spoken of repeatedly during this series, of Jesus' healing His people here and now, of that fact that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation for the believer (Romans 1:16), giving victory over sin. It not only contemplates counting us right, but making us right. The gospel is large. All promises in the Bible that we may claim because we are joined to a God who is faithful and just in covenant, are part and parcel of the gospel.

Obedience is not separate from the gospel. The gospel brings obedience, but obedience makes the gospel real. The gospel is large, not small. All the doctrines have their part in changing what we are, how we live, what we do. What I think about what the Bible says about marriage and the family, about baptism, about salvation, about obedience, about works, about prophecy -- all that changes me, in little tiny increments. I become more like Jesus or more like Satan depending upon which doctrines I embrace. The verses of this passage outline the basics of the gospel. They do not limit salvation to something that is somehow separate from doctrines.

The issues in the end time are the same issues there always were -- issues of simple obedience and faith. Revelation 14:7 repeats almost word for word, the lines from the fourth of the Ten Commandments: "Worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters" (compare with Exodus 20:11). The third angel message makes a personal appeal not to receive the mark of the beast. The tenth verse calls us back to Psalm 75:7-8. The whole Psalm speaks to the reader of God's sovereignty. Consider those two verses in particular:

God is the judge: He putteth down one, and setteth up another. For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and He poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.

The warning in the first angel ("the hour of His judgment is come") comes before the execution of His wrath in finality. Rightly then do we call it "the investigative judgment." But under the third angel, we are in the time-frame when Jesus is cleaning the most holy place. He is about to leave the heavenly most holy place, and return to earth, "In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thessalonians 1:8).

Well then do we see warning here under the third angel tracing back to reference to God's execution of His wrath as portrayed in the Psalms. "But the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them." Under the third angel, the investigative judgment is already in process, and the execution of the final result looms. No wonder a most solemn message stands there in the pathway of a world staring eternity in the eye. The climax of the battle between good and evil is come. A people needing Jesus stand in the climactic point in the battle and must be faithful to Him.

Similarities, Differences, and Development

The linkages may not appear so clear here as between the second and fourth angels, but they are present. There is a final end-time showdown between God and obedience to Him, and the devil, and obedience to him. It is a time of decision, and the results are eternal. Indeed, upon us the demands are that much higher than even upon the pioneer Adventists. They lived and worked and preached and sought God at a time that had been coming up for 2300 years, when Jesus would cross over into the most holy place in heaven. That was awesome. But we live at a yet more awesome, yet more critical time. God put us on the map to give the third and fourth angel messages faithfully before Jesus leaves the most holy place in heaven! The SDA pioneers could have been the terminal generation, but they missed their chance, and became a waymark. We live at the terminus, the end, the time just before probation closes. That is the transition yet future to us. And we do not know when our names will come up.

Or have they already come up? For at some point, the judgment will pass from the names of those deceased, to those of the living. And you and I -- we are among the living. I can assure you of this. If you and I walk out of this place -- if we are translated without seeing death when Jesus comes -- then our names will, absolutely will, be presented in the investigative judgment while we are yet living on this earth.

I want to walk out. How about you?

Pre-Transition Duets

Here an additional observation of interest. The first and second angel messages contain no speaking of fire and finality, while the third and fourth BOTH do. This reminds us that the first and second compose one duet, preceding the transition of Jesus from holy to most holy place, and that the third and fourth both speak of fire and final punishment and just precede Jesus' exit from the most holy place and His replacement of His priestly robes with His garments of vengeance.

These points, along with others made in this presentation, sustain the SDA understanding that Daniel 8:14, the "cleansing of the sanctuary," fits exactly where it does -- right in the middle of the angel messages, between the second and the third. Just where historically we saw it, now we see several meaningful factors within the text itself showing what is going on there, and exactly how it fits.

Concluson

We will never walk out of here unless we do so with Jesus. The result of what God does in us, His sanctification, is found in the fourteenth of Revelation's 12th verse:

Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

We have taken a serious look at the angel messages of Revelation fourteen. Only after doing that, can we ourselves be serious messengers. We might not need to remember every detail, but it is well to strengthen our knowledge of this tract of Scripture. It is at the core of why we exist.

Giving our hearts to Jesus means that in the end-time, we respond to His overtures presented in these three messages, by a full acceptance of His plans for us, His blessings for us, His hopes and dreams for us, His making of us a holy people. We walk out of this sanctuary today to a renewed reality, in that heaven designs that we be bold in telling people about what God has done for us, how Jesus has changed us, and how the Holy Spirit has empowered us to live above the crowd that is marching in lock-step to hades. Let us part today with a renewed courage that our faith is as biblical as ever we thought it was, and more so. Let us ponder these things and go deeper, and realize where we stand. We cannot separate how we live from what is the gospel. The everlasting gospel is proclaimed in all the angel messages, and we must all be His angel messengers.

That's why we're here. Let us praise Him and let Him teach us how to live and how to share all the best things that He longs to do in us and through us! Amen.

Pastor Larry Kirkpatrick is an ordained minister of the gospel. Since 1994 he has served in the American Southwest as pastor to several churches. He received his BA in Religion from Southern Adventist University in 1994 and a Master of Divinity from Andrews University in 1999 with a specialization in Adventist Studies. While in Michigan he was employed by the General Conference at the White Estate Berrien Springs branch office. More important than his scholastic preparation has been his immersion in the biblical and Spirit of Prophecy materials. He is author of the 2003 book Real Grace for Real People. Presently he serves as Pastor of the Mentone Church of Seventh-day Adventists, located near Loma Linda, California. Larry is married to Pamela. The couple presently live in Highland, California along with their two children, Etienne and Melinda.