For a topic to be more easily understood, many times it helps to give a brief overview before the more detailed study is presented. For our topic we have twelve headlines which help us to get a handle on what the Bible teaches in the central chapters of the Book of Revelation.[5]

Let us begin with the first point.

1. The Three Angels Messages are proclaimed by human beings who are aided by the angels, Revelation 1:1-3.

   In this scripture we learn that God follows a process or definite order in giving His messages. We gather in our reading of these verses that God gives His message to Jesus. Then, since we know that Revelation states repeatedly, "Hear what the Spirit says to the churches", we know that Jesus gives the message to the Holy Spirit, thirdly the Holy Spirit gives the message to the angels who give it to the apostle John, who gave it to the seven churches. (Rev. 2:1,11,17,29; 3:6,13,22). That is also what is happening in Revelation chapter 14, there we find that angels, messengers (`angelos'), are human beings aided by angels to proclaim these messages (Verses using `angelos': Phil. 2:25; Mt. 11:10; Lk. 7:24; Jam. 2:25; Acts 6:15).

2. The three angels fly in the midst of heaven; which means that these messages are of heavenly origin. They are God centered messages sent by God from His throne. While these messages are of divine origin, Revelation also speaks of an opposing message. Their points of origin are opposite. We read, "And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon." Rev. 9:11. The opposition, we are told, has a king over them other then God. "They" in this verse is identified as "... those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads" (Rev. 9:4); that is the wicked led on by Abbadon the destroyer. This point reminds us when God speaks it is well for us to listen.

3. The three angels messages are proclaimed with a loud voice, that is with unmitigated power, Rev. 14:6-7. They are proclaiming loudly, "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 water." (Cmpr. Ex. 20:11). - The third angel proclaims his message also with a `loud voice.' There is no instruction not to ruffle someone's feathers. There is no political correctness in these messages. Only that it must be presented is important for they are God's very last messages for people in the world to be still saved by faith just before Jesus comes. When Jesus has come faith is turned to sight and no one will be saved on that basis, Rom. 8:24.

4. The angels are flying: That means the messages are to be proclaimed with the utmost speed and velocity. How angels give messages is beautifully illustrated in Ezekiel 1. We abbreviate,

   "Out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. ... they had the likeness of a man. And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. ... they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass. ... Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward. ... their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. ... And the living creatures ran and returned (they are going on missions and come back to get new commissions) as the appearance of a flash of lightning."

   Utter grandeur and speed is here presented as God sees it. We read here about fire, lamps and lightening denoting power and speed. (Hebr. 1) We learn here that God and the angels want to speed up the finishing of His work.

5. The messages are universal in scope: They are to go to every nation, kindred, tongue and people, Rev. 14:6. That means these messages are not primarily for the Jews. The gospel is to go into all the world and to all peoples irrespective of their background. That also means that there must be a people who believe and understand these messages so they can be preached by human beings empowered by God in all languages around all corners of the world. God's Sabbath keeping people are such a people. May you be challenged in cooperating and helping with this call from God. May you, if you are a member of a group of people which you know has not been reached, decide to step in and further this cause and reach your people (translate, speak, write).

6. The messages of the three angels must be given in their proper order: They are consecutive and cumulative, Rev. 14:6,8,9. The sequence is, "And I saw another angel ... and another angel followed him ... and another angel followed them" The 1st angel gives three commands: a) Fear God, b) Give Glory to God, c) worship Him because the hour of his judgment is come, the 2nd angel makes a call, to come out of Babylon. The 3rd angel gives a dire warning not to remain in Babylon in order not to receive the unmitigated wrath of God. The point is that these messages must be proclaimed in the order given in Revelation. No one can start the proclamation with the 2nd angel's message. You cannot call people out of Babylon unless you preach the 1st angel's message first to them. Because the reason Babylon falls is that they rejected the 1st angel's message. If people don't understand the 1st angel's message they feel no urgency to come out of Babylon - (1) because Babylon does not fear God; (2) Babylon does not give glory to God; (3) Babylon does not believe that we are in the hour of God's judgment; (4) Babylon does not worship the Creator - therefore we must begin with the 1st angel's message otherwise they will say, why should I come out? On the other hand, once they understand these messages they say, `Wow, I am in Babylon. I must come out,' and they come out because now they understand these messages and are ready for the 2nd message and the 3rd. - Since God is a God of love we are told that God loves people. He does not want them to receive the inevitable death sentence sin brings on itself, and that is why He gives the world these three final warnings.

7. The three angels messages are God's final messages and appeals before Jesus comes again. There will be no other message to the world after these messages. That is how important they are. How do we know that? Because right after these three messages of the gospel commission (Mt. 24:14; Acts 1:8-11) are proclaimed, Revelation says, Jesus comes, in Rev. 14:14. This then is a challenge to preachers to not fail to present these most important, present truth messages (Rev. 14:6-12) everywhere in our world today. The Bible means to say, `Woe to those who do not present them.'

8. The messages are accompanied by the power of the latter rain. Anciently, those living in the Bible lands understood what `latter rain' meant. It was cyclic in their hemisphere for the farmers to sow their seeds and plant their plants just before the early rain and then harvest the crop after the latter rain. - With respect to the angels messages the latter rain means that these messages will be accompanied by a special power from on high which ripens the whole world for the harvest by opening hardened hearts and deaf ears one more time so people will be saved. That is why immediately after the three angels' messages are proclaimed, Jesus has a sickle in his hand, Rev. 14:14. By this time the world will be divided in two camps. Those who accept the messages that they are accepted of Christ already, will be reaped to be part of the kingdom of God, if not, you will be like "sour grapes" Ez. 18:2 which are rejected and will be in the "wine presses" Neh. 13:15 and lose eternal life with God. These messages will polarize the world because we know already that God's messages can either soften or harden people's heart. While God does not want to harden people, they are hardened by shutting their heart when they read or hear the message. That is a serious issue for these things will with certainty come about.

9. These angels' messages are linked to the Most Holy Place of the heavenly Sanctuary. How so? They are connected to the Most Holy by the message of the first angel, to `fear God', `give glory to Him', and `worship Him.' As we explain from the Bible, these messages started to be understood and presented to the world when the door to the Most Holy was first opened as we read in Rev. 11:19. Therefore, these messages coming from the Most Holy place form the center of the Book of Revelation; they are framed by two important Bible texts where we read, "... the temple of God was opened in heaven ..." and, "... no man was able to enter into the temple ..." (Rev. 11:19; 15:8), which lets us know that the time of gospel opportunity is now, after the temple of God in heaven is closed, all people on earth will have made their final decision and the time of probation is over. The opportunity to accept God's offer of salvation through faith in Christ who has accepted us already, is still reaching out for man and woman everywhere. After the message of the third angel is given to the world, the heavenly temple will be closed and the long time of probation is over for ever. How do these messages present the love of God? God in His love presents these messages to you, to the whole world, because He loves people and does not want anyone to suffer the wrath of God but receive the 1st angel's message, which describes all the important truths God wants us to follow and come out of Babylon and be saved. Please be reminded that we are now in the period of the judgment in heaven which decides every case of those who knew and know presently His name. Like on Yom Kippur the faithful Israelites were separated from the unfaithful ones (Lev. 16:5,15-17,29-31). Then, once the temple is closed - meaning everyone has made their free will decision to follow God or not (Rev. 15:8) - there is no more day of grace left for the world, Rev. 15:5ff. The wrath of God, the seven last plagues take now effect, for the long period of salvation, of many gospel invitations, is past and `no man is able to enter into the temple.'

10. The acceptance or rejection of these messages is a matter of life and death as demonstrated by the third angel's message. You either have the seal of God, which we talk about as you read further down, or you do not. Those who reject the invitational messages will receive the `mark of the beast' and find themselves outside of the city of God where the wrath of God is poured out without mixture after having tried all he could to draw all these to Him by their own free choice.

11. The good news is God will have a victorious people in this world who will receive, proclaim and obey the three angels' messages even under severe and adverse circumstances, Rev. 15:2-4. This scripture teaches that God will have a people who will say `no' to the first and second beast, they say `no' to the image, the mark of the beast, they will stand up for what is right and righteous in the sight of God and be true to their Heavenly Father. That is why we read, "And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest." Rev. 15:2-4. - Since these people are standing on the sea of glass they obviously were victorious in the hour of trial and testing of their faith. Remnants of all nations will be among them who decided to follow the messages of the three angels.

12. The central issue of the controversy and conflicts raging now close to the end of time will be twofold:

    (a) who you worship and
    (b) who you obey

Therefore, the end time issues are not about the Middle-East, politics, wars, science. They are about the same issues we find already in Genesis. There we have Cain and Abel. Abel believed God and followed His instructions that only a blood sacrifice is able to forgive sins; Cain followed his own wisdom and logic and decided that offering vegetables was what he was going to present on the altar thus demonstrating that he disdained and opposed God's instructions. In the same way people are choosing today every day which side they want to belong to - the Lord's side or the wrong side.

In this article we shall present the message in an easy to follow format made user friendly by the Old Testament background revealed in the Book of Revelation. This reliance on the Old Testament is of course a result of the OT being the only Bible for Jesus, the disciples and very early Christians. Not until the apostles wrote their gospels and epistles, came a New Testament about. [10]

It fell upon the youngest of the 12 apostles, the Apostle John whose name is more correctly `Johannes,' to write the last book of the New Testament, "... the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass ..." Rev. 1:1.

When we study the book we should take into account that Revelation was written on the basis of prophetic visions John saw, ie. it was not written like his gospel and epistles, based on notes and recollection of his walk with Jesus as a disciple to the Saviour. That is why we find Jesus described as "the lamb" only in his gospel of John (Jh. 1:29,36) and in Revelation (Rev. 5:6 + 28 more times). We hold with many other historicists that Revelation, as a `prophetic' book is Jesus Christ spanning centuries, not days, months or years, as he shows His beloved disciple what must take place before He comes again the Second Time as King to end the reign of sin. Therefore, fulfillment of the prophecies contained in the book, if they superficially relate to events before the writing of the book in the mid 90's of AD when Domitian was emperor in Rome, are applicable to church history, the experience of the saints in the world up to and until the Coming of Christ in the clouds and heaven itself. When John uses the word "shortly" or `soon' we check how the Bible uses that word. What do we find? Revelation certainly contains references to events to take place in the not too distant future - things which must shortly come to pass, Rev. 22:6. Here is a list:

Rev. 1:3 - "the time is at hand"
Rev. 3:11;22:7,12,20 - "I come quickly"
Rev. 6:11 - "little season"
Rev. 12:12 - "a short time"
Rev. 17:10 - "a short space", explained in more detail in the reference.[20]

When John wrote his prophetic book, the destruction of Jerusalem, its Temple, and the dispersion of the Jews, was a quarter century in the past [30]. Those days were not current news anymore.

The reign of Domitian brought emperor worship starkly to the forefront and became for the first time a crucial issue for the Christians, in particular in Asia Minor, the area where the letters to the leaders of the seven churches were directed to. Emperor worship was known since at least the time of Alexander (b. 356-d. 323). When the Romans conquered the east, their generals and proconsuls were often idolized as deities. This is evident by the numerous temples to the goddess Roma, the personification of the spirit of the empire, built in many places. Such a temple was erected in 195 AD at Smyrna. In time the worship of Roma faded while that of the emperor rose. Rituals for the emperor were not easily distinguished from patriotic ceremonies, although the Senate did officially deify certain dead emperors, for example Gaius Gallus (37-41 AD) and Domitian (81-96).

Christianity had no legal recognition by the Roman government, but even such a religion was not likely to be persecuted by the Romans unless they ran afoul of the law. Christianity did just that. Domitian zealously sought to establish his claim to deity in the minds of the people, and to force his subjects to worship him. Suetonius records that he issued a circular letter in the name of his procurators, beginning with the words,

"Our Master and our God bids this to be done ..." [100]

We should also note the Roman historian Dio [200] whose account throws some light on the times:

"And the same year [95 AD] Domitian slew, along with many others, Flavius Clements the consul, although he was a cousin and had to wife Flavia Domitilla, who was also a relative of the emperor's. The charge brought against them both was that of atheism, a charge on which many others who drifted into Jewish ways were condemned. Some of these were put to death, and the rest were at least deprived of their property. Domitilla was merely banished to Pandateria."

Although on first sight this passage seems to record a persecution of Jews [300], scholars have suggested that it is really Christianity for which Flavius Clements and his wife were punished. From the standpoint of a pagan historian not intimately acquainted with Christianity, "Jewish ways" would be a logical description for Sabbath keeping Christianity, and "atheism" might well represent the refusal of Christians to worship the emperor.[310]

Such conditions of persecution for refusal to worship at the emperor's shrine doubtless constitute the immediate background of John's exile to Patmos, and thus of the writing of the Book of Revelation. Christianity had entered its second generation. Most of those who had known the Master were in their graves. The church was faced with the fiercest external threat it had yet known, and it needed a new revelation of Jesus Christ. We can see, therefore, how the visions given to John met a specific need in their own time. Through them heaven was opened to the suffering church, and Christians, who refused to bow to the pomp and circumstance of the emperor, were given reassurance that their Lord, now ascended and standing at the throne of God, infinitely transcended in majesty and power any earthly monarch who might demand their worship.

The Cosmic Sweep of the Apocalypse

Whereas most (classical) prophecy is concerned chiefly with national and international problems having to do with the history of Israel and the glorious future that might have been hers, apocalyptic (prophecy) events play upon the grander stage of the universe, and takes at its central theme from the great controversy between God and Christ on one side, and Satan on the other.[325] Today this controversy will likely appear to resolve itself into a contest to see which can preserve life on this planet. Are the powers that uphold Satans doctrine, teaching continuous sinning and thereby rebellion, winning or will the gospel of the three angels win? Read on to understand the issues in this great, spiritual conflict.

The apocalyptic writer records the dreams and visions granted him while "... in the spirit" (Rev. 1:10). He is often snatched away in vision and carried to distant viewing locations, where he beholds scenes of majesty and grandeur that defy adequate description in human language, and where he converses with angels. Although such experiences are also found repeatedly in the other prophets, they are particularly characteristic of apocalyptic writings; so much so, in fact, that they form virtually the whole content of the apocalyptic sections of Daniel and the Book of Revelation.

Not only that, Jesus Himself enumerated a list of signs which, when they are all happening together, let us know that His Coming is imminent. Jesus, the cornerstone, the rock of the ages (Psalms 62:1,2; 1.Cor. 10:4), is the one we look to for knowledge in these last days. He tells us that in the last days there is no reassurance and any kind of safety in riches. Only being rich in a knowledge of salvation in Jesus Christ is of any value then. We read,

"Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. . . .
Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. . . .
Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the Coming of the Lord draweth nigh." James 5:1-3, 5, 8.

These signs include those in the world of religion, in the world of politics, in nature and in society.

---

The First Angel's Everlasting Gospel

"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." Rev. 14:6-7.

The three concepts emphasized above, `the everlasting gospel being preached among all nations of the world,' is presented in Revelation as leading right up close to the Second Coming of Christ to `harvest' His people on the earth. Everything in the three angels messages revolves around the everlasting gospel - the idea that Jesus died on the cross to suffer the penalty for sin for me, that he drank the cup that I should drink - that is the driving and the motivating force for everything else in these messages.

This first angel's message arranges the whole world before the judgment bar of God, it changes their orientation. Its message is a stop and listen message for a busy world. It appeals to those who have not given up hope. To those who are still looking for answers. For those who the Holy Spirit can still reach.

Actually, what John here describes is the same gospel Jesus Himself preached when on earth,

"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." Matthew 24:14.

Both, Matthew and Revelation contain the same elements,

a) the gospel
b) being preached
c) in all the world

Both of these scriptures also end with Jesus coming again. So we see, Jesus preached the same gospel, as presented by Matthew and Luke, that John `saw' being preached.

We may compare this gospel that goes out into all the world with its opposite.[400] For that purpose we read just a few verses before the above quote from Rev. 14,

"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." Rev. 14:10.

In this scripture we read, that those who worship the beast and its image shall also drink ... drink of what?

"... drink of the wine of the wrath of God"

To understand this apocalyptic message let us look at the components we just read about. We have here,

a) they will drink
b) out of a cup
c) the wrath of God

In other words, the cup contains the `wrath of God' which the wicked must drink.

Our question is, `What has this strange language to do with the "... everlasting gospel ..." ?

Well, let us examine the gospels to find out what this is all about.

Please turn your Bible to the Book of Matthew. Here we read about Jesus being in the Garden of Gethsemane. He is about to be arrested, put before Caiphas [510], Pilate and then crucified,

"Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me." Matthew 26:38.

We read here about the innermost feelings of Jesus.

Why, then, was Jesus `exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death?'

We find the reason in the next verse,

"And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." Mat. 26:39.

"He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. ... And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words." Mat. 26:42,44.

We should now notice the connection between Revelation chapter 14 and Matthew 26, with respect to the experience Jesus is going through as far as drinking out of that cup is concerned.

In Revelation we are told that the wicked will drink from the wine that is in a cup. In Matthew, Jesus has to drink from that cup.[530]

We can also call on the Book of Hebrews to read how it describes so very vividly the sufferings of Jesus in Gethesemane.

"Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared." Hebrews 5:7.

We recall that Jesus asked His Father about them this way, `If it is thy will take this cup away from my hand so I do not have to drink it. But your will be done, not mine..'

Jesus feared what was before him. He could not see through to what was to come. Was the life he offered fulfilling what he had come for? Was it accepted by God? Or was it all a loss? Such were the trying fears of Jesus which weight so heavily upon his mind. He yearned for release if all that He did was of no avail. He feared now in his mind the death he would die, with no assurance of release. He had to drink the cup alone. His Father could send him no word, no reassurance, no comfort. His connection was cut off for these trying hours. He stood all alone.

But the situation is still getting worse for Jesus. We read,

"And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." Luke 22:44.

Unlike the way the movie `The Passion', which showed these events by concentrating on the physical sufferings of Jesus, in the gospels we read very little about the physical abuse, but more about his emotional sufferings. Jesus is agonizing before he is even arrested. While he suffered physically, being beaten and all, that is not the suffering stressed in the gospels.

To have sweat turn into blood, even before he was beaten or had the pain inducing crown of thorns placed upon his head, indicates another type of suffering.

We may think, `How can sweat turn into blood?' According to Luke, the physician, that is what happened.

Are the blood vessels somehow connected to the sweat glands?

In medical accounts it is known as `hematohidrosis' or `diapedesis' during which the many capillary blood vessels present in the lower skin layers become porous, allowing blood to enter the tissue and from there possibly allowing blood into the sweat glands, which then can come out of the skin as sweat mixed with drops of blood. [1000]

This event took place before anyone placed a finger on Jesus according to the biblical account.

Our question is, `Who gave Jesus this `cup' to drink?'

"Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?" John 18:11.

So it was God the Father, who gave Jesus the cup to drink. But the Bible is not silent on the close knit relationship between Jesus and His Heavenly Father. We read,

"And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him." John 8:29.

But now, in Gethsemane, something terrible happened which He could not shake off even while hanging on the cross.[1100]

"And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? ... My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring (groaning)?" Matthew 27:46; Psalm 22:1,2.

Even though Christ knew from the Messianic prophecy of Psalm 22, what he would feel, he could not see through the veil.

The Apostle Paul uses similar phraseology,

"For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. ... He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" Romans 8:22,32.

Ellen White commented on this experience of Jesus using the following words,

"The sins of men weighed heavily upon Christ, and the sense of God's wrath against sin was crushing out His life." Desire of Ages, p. 687.

Here we are told that it was the wrath of God against `the sins' which crushed out the life of Jesus, ie. `our sins', the sins of all of us. That is why the Roman soldier was so surprised when he saw that Jesus was dead already, and he did not break his bones.

She continues,

"The awful moment had come--that moment which was to decide the destiny of the world. The fate of humanity trembled in the balance. Christ might even now refuse to drink the cup apportioned to guilty man. It was not yet too late. He might wipe the bloody sweat from His brow, and leave man to perish in his iniquity. He might say, Let the transgressor receive the penalty of his sin, and I will go back to My Father. Will the Son of God drink the bitter cup of humiliation and agony? Will the innocent suffer the consequences of the curse of sin, to save the guilty? The words fall tremblingly from the pale lips of Jesus, "O My Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me, except I drink it, Thy will be done." DA 687, 690.

Can you imagine that the fate of humanity hung in the balance in the Garden of Gethsemane?

"It was the sense of sin, bringing the Father's wrath upon Him as man's substitute, that made the cup He drank so bitter, and broke the heart of the Son of God." DA p. 753. [Heaven sent Moses and Elijah to encourage Jesus to go forward with His atoning death, we read "... and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem." Lk. 9:31.]

Jesus bore every sin that has ever been committed or will ever be committed upon the cross and because His Father cannot countenance sin, Jesus felt the wrath of God for all these sins during those agonizing hours.

No human being will ever comprehend what that really means. We are never called upon to bear the sin burden of all of humanity upon a cross. The wicked will have enough to carry their own burden on judgment day since they made light of the forgiving grace of God.

Paul writes about it this way,

"Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." Galatians 3:13.

Is that a bad law Paul writes about?

Doesn't the Bible say here, that the law curses us?

If the law curses us, does that not say that the law must be bad?

Why does the law curse us?

Well, because we have broken it. - Because we are all sinners.[1200]

Do you suppose, that, if we had obeyed, the law would still curse us?

Doesn't the Bible also say, that "the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." Romans 7:12?

So we can tell, it is not the law that is bad, we are the one's who are bad. Bad, bad, bad, as we sometimes heard it being said, while growing up.

The law says, `You are cursed. You deserve to drink the cup of suffering the death. That is what the law says.'

Because,

"... all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God ... There is none righteous, no, not one." Romans 3:23, 10;

That is man's situation without Christ. But the good news is, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. And how did He do it?

Because He "... became a curse for us ...".

He, who never sinned, who never broke the law, who didn't deserve what He got. - He bore our guilt! He suffered because He took your sins and mine upon His innocent shoulders and died for you and me on the Roman cross of calvary.

For humanity that is the Greatest News of all the Ages. Jesus took them all so we can be innocent and free.

Amen, Hallelujah, Amen.

The Bible puts it this way,

"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." 2.Corinthians 5:21.

Listen! -- God Father made Jesus to be sin for us. -- By giving Him our sin --- that we might be looked upon as being righteous in him.

That is why we do not need to have any concern what God the Father thinks about us. We need to be concerned about what He thinks about Jesus, our Substitute. While the Jews had the law, they did not recognize the spirit which lies deeper than the law. They discerned the God of the law, but not God as His heavenly Father. That is why a Jew never discovered the real answer and meaning to his religion.

What does that mean?

When we sin, we make Jesus bear the burden for it. Satan can point his finger at us and accuse us before Jesus.

When we kid around and say all these things which make no one proud, which are not clean things, just and good. When we say such things, we sadden Jesus and the holy angels and they turn from us - until we come to our senses and pray, `Oh God, forgive me of my sins and my trespasses, for I have sinned against Thee. ... And He is just and good and forgives us our sins for He loves the sinner who comes before Him to ask for forgiveness (Ezekiel 18:9; Acts 26:18).[1400] Such a forgiven person has forgiven also all those whom he needed to forgive - without exception, Mark 11:25,26.

When we have Jesus, we have life -- everything.

Let us read that from the Bible,

"Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." Isaiah 53:4-6. Written 700 years before Jesus was born.

Here we read, `He was stricken by Caiphas, smitten by Pilate' -- is that what we read?

No! Jesus was stricken by me, by all of us. He was smitten by me, and all of us.

These are not the physical sufferings, these are the sufferings of the soul of the Son of God.

Romans says,

"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23.

His billboards and advertisements are gaudily colorful and show the good and careless life.

He works from an office which is for some hard to find. He likes to remain unrecognized. He wears disguises and runs more than one shady affair at a time.[See here for other, non SdA comments: here, here and here.]

When he pays his wages he tells you, he will write you a check. If we would look and read it, it will say `death.'

Most, like sheep, don't look. They just put it in their pocket thinking everything is fine.

The other equal opportunity is Mr. Righteousness. What are his wages?

He pays you with `everlasting life.'

That is what our text is saying. Mr. Satan pays you with the currency of death, but ... Mr. Righteousness `gives you the gift of eternal life through Jesus our Lord.'

When Jesus came, Satan told him, `I pay you the wages of death.' But when Jesus lived a righteous life -- what payment did He receive?

He was paid with death!

How can that be? If he worked so perfectly for Mr. Righteousness, how could He receive death? He never sinned -- Mr. Righteousness should not have paid Him any wages. He should have received the wages of life. Why?

Because He did not receive His own wages but ours, which we worked for in the office of Satan.

He took all the blame on Himself because He loved us. Jesus was made to be sin for us so we could be recognized as righteous.

We read,

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. ... And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." John 3:16; 1.John 2:2.

Jesus died and paid for the sins of the whole world. He even bore the sins of the future. There is not one sin which Jesus did not pay for.

Now here comes the big question.

`If Jesus paid for all the sins then everybody will be saved, right?'

Isn't that the good news of the everlasting gospel?

Unfortunatly, No!

Let us read it again in John 3,

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Did Jesus pay?

Must we receive what Jesus paid?

Yes, But there is a condition. The condition is that we must believe in Him. That is why Jesus said, that he gave "his life a ransom for many", that means not for all, Matth. 20:28. The believers are a very special group of people. Potentially all could be saved, but many, all too many in final analysis "would not", Isa. 42:24; Jer. 13:11; Zech. 7:13; Matth. 22:2,3.

The gift of Jesus, eternal life, is that a free gift?

How much do gifts cost?

You say, `They are free.'

Is that right?

Well, Yes and No.

They are free for the one who receives them, but they cost something for the one who gives them.

So, how much did the human race have to pay for Jesus to come?

Nothing.

Jesus was given for the world.

He will always bear His scars. Jesus has become a member of the human family.

He alone can feel for us to the utmost.

God is closer to us now than He has ever been. And true, if He would not have been born as a babe, He would be only God. But He is not only God now, He is also one of us.

The Bible says that "... he is not ashamed to call us brethren ..." Hebr. 2:11, where `brethren' is a collective term and means `man and woman.' He became part of our family, so that we can become part of His family.

Jesus paid a very high price to purchase our salvation. He drank the cup that we should drink ourselves. He sweated the drops of blood that we should sweat. He cried out, `Why have you forsaken me?' That should be our cry because of our sins. All that Jesus gave us as a free gift.

But this is the question, `If someone gives you a gift, do you have the right to accept or reject it?'

Of course, we do not need to accept it but once we know that the true gospel is that Christ has accepted us already while we were still sinners, if we come home then as the prodigal son or daughter, we are part of God's family.

We could be like that little ungrateful child who rejects the present his parents bought him.

So, is everyone going to be saved?

No, not everyone will accept the free gift offered. Even so Jesus paid already for the gift, it is already purchased, not everyone will think to enjoy it as their own.

Therefore, only those who receive the gift will enjoy its values.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16.

So, how do we show that we believe in Jesus?

When we are adopted, there must be a legal ceremony of course. What is this ceremony?

"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." Mark 16:15,16; Matth. 28:19,20.

When we join God's family we must be baptized. Baptism is the official incorporation ceremony, the official marriage ceremony which makes us part of His Family.

When Jesus drank the cup of the wrath of God, He exhausted the wrath of God, so we don't have to drink that cup.

But the Bible tells us also about a group of people in the world who will drink the cup of the wrath of God. Why must they drink that cup of the wrath of God?

Because they did not receive Jesus who drank the cup of the wrath of God in their place. They decided against Him. They did not care about what heaven has to offer. They rather believed the lies of Satan. They could not trust the Biblical assertions that any of this was really true.

So they decided against Jesus free offer - His gift for all.

And the truth is, that if someone does not receive Jesus who drank the cup for him, he must drink it himself, Rom. 20:7-9.

Jesus opened the door of salvation, He invites us to become His children.

"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins (Quit sinning. Use your power of choice and say no to when it presents itself.), should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls." 1.Peter 2:24,25.

That is the free gospel in verity.

The gospel that says, when summarized, that every man, woman and child (when of age and raised aright) must die daily. The will must be surrendered moment by moment to God, the heart united with His heart, the mind become one with His mind - only when we can think the thoughts and live the life of Jesus, only then will we be clothed with the beautiful garment of Christ's Righteousness.

This everlasting gospel became so unrecognizable through the teachings of some religious entities that the world had come to believe the false gospel of Satan - the concept that we can be saved in sin, not from sin.

Is there a relationship between these two scriptures?

Yes.

In Solomon's time the judgment shall come for it was still in the future. In Revelation's First Angel's Message it says the judgment is or has come. It is in session right now.[2000]

Wow!

We shall soon learn that the judgment began after the fourth beast power and after the little horn power was wounded, the latter event which took place in 1798. We have no space here to detail the beginning of this judgment more closely, but it is presented here and here.

Jesus will come soon and bring His reward with Him, Mt. 16:27; Rev. 11:18. Because Jesus brings the rewards with Him at the time of His Second Coming, that means who gets the rewards has been determined prior to that - namely in the judgment which for convenience sake we call the `Investigative Judgment.'

By implication this means also that the dead are not in heaven because if the judgment has not taken place until the end of the long prophetic period of Daniel 8:14, then the imagined, immortal souls of human beings are not yet in heaven, before they were judged.

That is why it says, we are to fear God, and give glory to Him. We are to obey His law and thus glorify God's character as He dwells in us and uses us as His witnesses.

For while we are grateful of what He has done for us, we will be more than willing to do everything that He wants us to do for Him.

You see, if we love Jesus, we do everything for Him.

Oh, they say, that is legalism.

No, it is the response of true love for what God has done for us first.

If you love Jesus you will not perform evil, for you saw what sin did to Jesus.

We studied the First Angels Message, - it began first to be sounded when the world was beginning to slip into the bottomless pit of evolution. In our days we have seen the diabolical theory captivate the minds of nearly the whole sophisticated, educated world. In this decade the world is wondering after the devil's great lie, many see it crumbling to pieces. The first angel challenges us not to accept evolution, but to return to worshiping the God who created this world and all life on it. We must arise and tell the world the truth - that those who will may fully "worship Him who made heaven and earth and the sea and the fountain of waters."

Let us pray therefore for God to plant this `fear' of willing obedience in our hearts.

Before we go on to the second angels message let us look some more at the `little horn' power because it is portrayed as a very influential power in the prophecies of Daniel. The question we want to ask is this, is the little horn power the same as the anichrist?

The Bible makes six references to the antichrist. Here they are:

1. The Man of Sin (2. Thessalonians 2)
   
2. The Little Horn (Daniel 7)
   
3. The Beast (Revelation 13)
   
4. The Harlot (Revelation 17)
   
5. The King of the North (Daniel 11)
   
6. The Abomination of Desolation (Matthew 24)

May He help us to hold Him in awe.

And may we serve Him, with every ounce of strength that is in us.

Amen.

Reviewing briefly the 1st Angel's Message (Rev. 13:6 in particular), what did we learn?

We learned that the 1st Angel's Message is a universal, world wide message because the angel flies `in the midst of heaven' (Rev. 8:13; 14:6). That also means that God must have a world wide people to preach these messages everywhere on earth. It tells us that the essence of the "gospel" is that Jesus paid the penalty for our sins and that he drank the cup of the wrath of God that we should drink. Out of gratefulness to Jesus, we are to obey the three commandments which we read about in verse 7,

"Fear God" - that means obeying God's commandments
"Give glory to Him And" - which means we are to reflect His character in all our activities
"Worship Him" - which is part of the message that we are now in the period of God's Investigative Judgment taking place in heaven, it calls us to keep God's holy Sabbath in honor of the Creator and teaches that the dead are dead until the moment of the resurrection.[100]

[Click here for an easy to understand explanation of the Investigative Judgment.]

So, all these things are contained in the First Angel's Message: `Obedience to God's commandments,' `reflecting His character,' `caring for our body and our minds,' `believing we are now in the hour of God's Judgment,' `keeping God's holy sabbath in honor of the Creator' and `the dead are dead until the moment that Jesus comes to resurrect them from the grave where they have been from the moment of their death.' That is the time when God's people will be clothed with a glorious garment of light, a white mantle or robe from our shoulders to our feet (Isa. 61:10; Rom. 13:12; Rev. 3:18). Then God will say, your sorrows are ended, and shouts of joy will be heard. So let us remember to give glory only to God, not to any man, as long as we are still down here, (Acts 12:22, 23).

The Second Angel's Message Content

We read,

"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." Rev. 14:8.

From where does this message come? It comes to us through people - from pulpits across the whole land, from government agencies, the culture at large, the media. ... It is a Babel of voices reaching us every day. That is why John the Baptist left his relatives and went into the desert to `hear' God's word in crystal clarity. It was like he was lifted above the things of this world and you will be too, if you spend such quality time in God's Word.

How did Babylon fall?

Babylon is fallen because she did not accept the first angel's message, instead she has given to all nations "the wine of the wrath of her fornication."

In other words, she has, like Israel of old, illicit relations with the kings of the earth.

But why should that be such a serious thing?

Because God's kingdom is not of this world. A church represents the body of Christ, the body of all believers in Christ. Christ has only one church on earth. For centuries the Roman church assumed she occupied that one place of Christ on earth. Why? The members of her flock actually believed she was God's church not knowing the Bible and how God's church is described in its pages. That she made war against all those who did not agree with her doctrines revealed that she was not representing the true Christ, the love God has for all His people, for the Bible says, do no violence to anyone, Lk. 3:14.

What we shall notice in this message is that her message is the exact opposite of the 1st Angel's Message.

The First Angel's Message is God's message to the world and the Second Angel's Message is Babylon's Message to the world. What we shall discover is that Babylon teaches the opposite of what God teaches in the 1st angel's message.

Some may wonder what it means that `Babylon is fallen.' We should realize that the Bible has a moral fall in mind and not the physical fall of Babylon. Babylon has fallen morally because she gives wine, her false teachings, to the world in contrast to the true teachings which God gives in the 1st angel's message.[118] Not only that, the Babylonian church, historically, also has been a prime merchant of liquor and strong drinks condemned in the Bible, Jer. 22:13-17.

Another reason the `fall of Babylon' of Revelation is not the physical fall of her, is, because the physical fall is not described until Revelation chapter 16, verses 17 to 21. That fall does not take place until the seventh plague occurs when Jesus comes.

At the time of the proclamation of the 2nd angel's message the `door of salvation' is still open. That means people other than Sabbath keepers [121] can still escape from that moral fall of Babylon and turn around to accept the 1st angel's message and be saved.

The next question which begs for an answer is this, we need to know what Babylon is. What Babylon represents.

Let us read about Babylon's physical fall when that whole, world wide system is going to collapse,

"And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great." Rev. 16:19-21.

Of course we know that "the great city" (Rev. 14:8) is Babylon. We also know that this 2nd angel's message is important. Why? Because it is the one which is repeated in Revelation chapter 18. It is important because it contains God's appeal to come out of Babylon, a term which stands for religious people who love the Lord but are confused about what the Bible teaches on many different subjects. The very fact that its message is repeated, Babylon "is fallen, is fallen" in chapter 14 and 18, indicates the importance to examine why God points that out that it is fallen.[126]

This city will be divided into three parts meaning that before being divided it was united.

The Three Parts of Babylon

What are the three parts of Babylon?

We read,

"And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." Rev. 16:13-14. [135]

These verses are actually a reflection of what we read about earlier in Revelation 12. There we have a dragon, the dragon which tried to kill Jesus when he was born.[156] In the first ten verses of chapter 13 we have the beast and in the remaining verses of chapter 13 we have the image to the beast, that is the false prophet. These parts will be discussed in the message of the Third Angel.

In Revelation 16 we have besides these three powers also the spirits of devils and the waters of the Euphrates. We notice that the purpose of these three evil spirits is the opposite of the three angels messages. The three angels send by God gather people on their side and the three evil spirits are aiming to gather a throng of people on their side, Rev. 16:14.

"... they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty."

Notice what it says,

"For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." Rev. 16:14.

What is the eventual goal of this three fold union and the three evil spirits coming out of their mouth?

It is to unite the whole world in a final battle against God. But Satan has blinded the minds of many so that they have been glad to find any excuse not to make John's Revelation their study. But Christ through His servant John declared what shall be in the last days; and He says, "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein." Rev.1:3.

We may also say, based on this, that it is no coincident that God is sending three angels to deliver messages to the world and that we have God Father, Son and the Holy Spirit; for the opposition, the three spirits or fallen angels, the dragon, beast and the false prophet - each give their false message to the world. The intention of God's Messages are to unite the world on God's side, and according to Revelation 16, the purpose of the three fallen spirits or angels is, to unite the world against God. And so we have these threefold messages on both sides, God's side to unite the world toward Him and the evil's goal is to unite the world under his banner.

To understand these three powers we shall study other Bible accounts which bear on such occurences relating to decrees issued against God's people. The best way to study the dragon, the beast and false prophet which represent Babylon united to join the world against God and which later on divides, falls apart, is to recall the following stories.

The Prophet Elijah

The first of these stories is that of the prophet Elijah. Elijah had how many primary enemies?

He had three primary enemies:

1. King Ahab - a wicked king (1.Ki. 16:33)
   
2. a vile harlot woman full of whoredoms and witchcraft - 2.Kings 9:22 - whose name was Jezebel.
   
3. and the prophets of Baal who were under the auspices of Jezebel.

The Phoenicians, home of Jezebel, were on the mind of King Ahab. He married the daughter of Ethbaal of Sidon, better known as Zezebel. To the Phoenicians, Baal was their sun-god (2.Kings 23:5,11; Zeph. 1:4,5) and they worshiped him on their high places, including on the roofs of houses (Jer. 32:35,29). Baal was thought to have power over crops, flocks, and fertility. The `golden-calf' was linked with him. Baal rites were lascivious, 2.Ki 17:17;21:6. They included human sacrifices, self-torture (1.Ki 18:28), and kissing the image (1.Ki 19:18). God does not want us to remember even the names of these idols which represent abject sin, Deut. 12:3.

Among these three, Ahab the political ruler, the Baal prophets and the harlot Jezebel. The latter was the fearsome character and her (Jezebel's) servants the prophets, worked to extend the worship of the sun-god among all the Israelites. Because Elijah defeated her purposes, Jezebel issued a death decree against the prophet of the Lord, 1.Ki. 19:2.[252]

The second story is that of John the Baptist. We remember the words of Jesus that John the Baptist was a likeness to the prophet Elijah, Mt. 11:14. He had the same message as Elijah. The type of apostasy of the days of Elijah and John was the same. God had raised up John the Baptist, to try and bring people back to God.

How many enemies did John the Baptist have?

Let us analyze his situation.

Was there a king who opposed John the Baptist?

Yes. King Herod.

Was there a harlot woman who committed fornication with the king who hated John the Baptist?

Yes. It was Herodias, Mt. 14:3.

Did Herodias have a daughter who was an instrument of her mother to fulfill her purposes?

Yes. It was Salome (Josephus, Antiquities, Bk. XVII, ch. I, Sec. 3).

As with the story of Elijah, the dangerous figure in this story is Herodias, the harlot woman. In the story of Elijah, Ahab, nor the false prophets, left to their own devices, were a threat to Elijah. All these characters were controlled by Jezebel. A difference, however, is this, in the New Testament this three-fold union is actually successful in slaying John the Baptist.

At the end of time, we find the same scenario in place with Babylon. We have

1. the kings of the world join with the
   
2. harlot religious system (Rev. 17:1-2) who will have
   
3. daughters (Rev. 17:5 "mother") who will do her biddings to get God's people slain (Rev. 17:6).

We may ask, `How is that possible?'

To find the answer to who is Babylon and how can it happen like that, we must first study again the Old Testament. It is in its pages where we find the background for the fall of Babylon in Revelation 14 verse 8.

The Old Testament

Let us first read how God calls His church, Israel, a beautiful and a delicate woman.

"I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman." Jeremiah 6:2.

A text, where `Zion' stands for `Israel.'

God then does call Israel as claimed above. In fact, the Old Testament states that God "married" Israel. God married Israel at Mt. Sinai. Lets us read the opening words,

"And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him. And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do." Exodus 19:3-8.

This is actually a marriage covenant. God says, I want to marry you.

What does Israel say?

They said in effect,

"... I do."

This is brought out in the words of Ezekiel,

"Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine." Ezekiel 16:8.

God says, `In the time of love I married ....

And the marriage started out well. But then Israel fell into apostasy. God's very own, special people whom He married at Mt. Sinai, fell into apostasy.

"Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations." Eze. 16:2.

According to this word, God's `wife' was committing abominations. What was the problem?[300]

" And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD." Ez. 16:14.

Is there any problem with that?

It depends. Potentially there may be a problem. What could be that problem?

"... thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty for it was perfect through My comeliness which I had put upon thee ..."

Whose beauty, whose glory did Israel reflect?

She reflected God's glory, not her own ...

And yet the Bible writes that she began committing abominations.

It gets worse.

Notice the next verse,

"But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was." Ez. 16:15.

Notice three key words,

1. Israel committed abominations
2. she became a harlot
3. she committed fornications

Next let us notice the following scripture,

"And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent; and, lo, they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments,
And satest upon a stately bed, and a table prepared before it, whereupon thou hast set mine incense and mine oil." Ez. 23:40,41.

Notice also Ezekiel 16 on this same point.

"Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them." Ez. 16:17.

Israel is described as a beautiful woman and is all decked with gold and silver and with all precious stones not to attract glory to God but to attract glory to herself.

By doing and acting that way Israel is

1. committing abominations, she is
2. committing fornication,
3. she is called a harlot

We also notice,

"And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast polluted in thy blood." Ez. 16:22.

We remember, Israel was faithful and had a good relation when she was young. When she just got married she was ok. Yes! But she did not remember the days of her youth. And "... thou wast naked and bare and polluted in thy blood ..."

God says, you do not remember when I picked you up, when you were desolate, when you were a slave in Egypt.

Thou hast not remembered those good old days when I came to save you ...

Notice how Israel committed fornication. She did it by having illicit relationships with the kings of the earth.

Let us read it,

"Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied. Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith." Ez. 16:28,29.

In other words, Israel, instead of remaining as the committed bride with God is now committing fornication with the kings of the surrounding nations of that day and age, adopting their practices and their customs. Israel learned from them, not like Solomon where the kings learned from him, 1.Kings 10:23-25.

It gets so bad, that when God speaks about His own chosen people, that in the next verse God says,

"How weak is thine heart, sayeth the Lord GOD, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman." Ez. 16:30.

Strong language indeed. The word `imperious' means "great" like in imperial empire, it means "great" whore, "great" harlot. God is calling His professed people a "great" harlot. - Because of her abominations and fornications. She decks herself with all these jewels to attract the nations to herself but forgot to give the glory to God. She is proving herself to be an unfaithful wife to God.

In fact, let us notice that,

"But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband!" Verse 32.

What has Israel done here?

She has found other lovers. Others then the Lord.

Was she once married to the Lord?

Was she once faithful to the Lord?

She certainly was. - But then she forsook the way of the Lord and she became a harlot according to the Bible.

This scripture is not talking about the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Philistines or the Babylonians. It is talking about those who profess to be God's chosen people.

Notice the following scripture,

"Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord." Jer. 31:32.

The situation worsens even more. God gave Israel the sanctuary, and God gave Israel the Sabbath.

Do you know what God's own people were doing with the sanctuary and with the Sabbath?

Notice this Bible portion,

"Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths." Ez. 23:38.

Well, is that about as bad as it gets?

No! It gets still worse!

Do you know that this harlot woman was actually slaying those who were faithful to God in Israel?

Notice what we find in Ezekiel 23,

"And the righteous men, they shall judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women that shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands." Ez. 23:45.

What has Israel been doing? This harlot has shed the blood of God's faithful people among her.

But she does not do that alone. She has daughters who helped her.

"Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness." Ez. 23:48.

And it continues,

"As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters." Ez. 16:48.

Does God's church have daughters that were committing these abominations and these fornications? Were they spilling innocent blood?

According to these scriptures, Yes. They did just that.

Now, what did God's Word promise to do to Israel, His own professed people because they were doing this?

Here it is,

The punishment of Israel is spoken of as drinking what?

Drinking the cup.

And if you read Ezekiel 23, the totality of the chapter, you discover that God is saying that by drinking the cup, Israel is really drinking the cup of God's wrath.

But how was that wrath manifested?

This way,

A very important verse. With this we are setting the stage for what we are going to discuss in Revelation chapter 17. The people, palaces, temples and institutions of the wayward entity will suffer these destructions.

That is the way in which God's wrath is going to be manifested against His unfaithful people.

This is not a very nice picture and all God's people today, just like way back then, should take note of it. - For what comes around, goes around (Mt. 18:35; Num. 33:56).

We have here described a really terrible picture about God's people. None of us should take this lightly. It can repeat itself.

Let us review once more what we studied.

We have,

1. this woman, God's wife, whom He married at Mt. Sinai,
   
2. during her youth everything functioned ok, but then
   
3. she went astray, she began committing abominations,
   
4. she adopted neighboring nations evil practices,
   
5. she fornicated with the surrounding kings,
   
6. she became a harlot and
   
7. she decked herself like it with expensive glitter,
   
8. she wanted to attract attention to herself,
   
9. she became a great harlot,
   
10. she became unfaithful to her husband,
    
11. she trampled upon God's sanctuary and God's Sabbath
    
12. she shed the blood of the innocent along with her daughters

And God said, because of this you are going to drink the cup of wrath and that will be manifested through the very kings you have been fornicating with, who are going to arise and destroy you.

Why does God give us all these details from Old Testament times?

Because, as we said, according to Revelation this story is going to reoccur again.

In fact things are happening today which lead many to believe that it is in progress at this hour. In these end times.

What are we talking about?

We switch now to the Book of Revelation chapter 12.

The New Testament

We just read above how God compares his Old Testament church to a woman. Do we find anything comparable in the New Testament? We read,

"And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars." Rev. 12:1.

What does this woman represent?

She represents Israel.

How many stars are in her crown?

Twelve stars, why twelve?

Twelve tribes.

You may say, `How do we know it is not the twelve apostles?

Simple. Because in the next verse it says, that she is pregnant with a child and that child is Jesus. He had not been born yet.

Therefore, it cannot be the New Testament church because the apostles haven't even been called yet.

Therefore, God's Old Testament church is still being compared with a woman. - But you know something? In the New Testament we are dealing with the same woman.

Well, some people say, there is a difference between Israel and the church. - Israel is one people, the church is another. - Revelation chapter 12 does not sustain that view.

In this chapter the woman is with child, since it hasn't been born yet it must be the OT church represented by the twelve stars. And then it says, that the child is born and he has gone up to his throne, that is the ascension of Jesus, his resurrection is not mentioned, and then the same woman has to flee into the wilderness for 1260 years, Rev. 11:3; 12:6.

Is it the same woman?

Yes!

Is it the same church?

Yes it is the same church. The only difference is, at first we are dealing with the OT church, which then is followed by the NT church!

In the same line of thought that in the NT the relationship between Jesus and His people is also compared to a marriage. - Let us read it.

"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it." Eph. 5:25.

Evidently in the NT too, the relationship between husband and wife is the same as between Christ and the church.

Another scripture says the same,

"For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." 2. Cor. 11:2.

God speaks about His people, as His bride.

The relationship being the same, our questions may be the same.

How did the relationship between Christ and the new church begin?

Was it a pure church in the days of her youth?

Was it a living and thriving church?

Was it faithful to God's message?

Acts chapter 1 and 2 clearly underscore that it was. - At the beginning of this marriage, between Jesus and His church at Pentecost, the church was in a very close relationship with Jesus.[430]

She went out as a conqueror to conquer. She was pure. Her message and her lifestyle was pure.

But what happened in the course of time?

What happened is what the Bible calls the great apostasy, where the church looses its original purity, its original teachings, and you enter into the Second Century and onward loomed, what is known as the Dark Ages. They are called `Dark Ages' because God's truth has been forgotten, for you see, the Bible is a light unto our path, Ps. 119:105; 2Pet. 1:19. But soon darkness came into the church. The Bible had been neglected and cast aside, Isa. 5:24b.

And the church that had been buried with Jesus and at first was pure, became involved in apostasy. Here we learn about the opposition against God's purposes. An apostasy that culminates in Revelation 17.

Let us read in Revelation 17 now and notice the striking parallels between what we studied in the OT and what we study now.

We study the OT because the Book of Revelation contains a thousand references to the OT. No one can understand Revelation unless he is intimately familiar with the OT.

Therefore, the whole scenario with Israel committing all those sins we enumerated, and at the end drinking the cup of God's wrath and the kings of the earth turning against her, all this is being repeated at the end of time.

Question: If in the OT it was God's professed church that apostatized, who will it be at the end of time?

Today, many think, when we talk about Babylon, they think of Islam, in particular of the Iranian president.- It used to be Sadam Hussein, but he is no more.

They look for a place close to where old Babylon was.

But we ought to realize that the Book of Revelation is really talking about an apostate religious system. Not about a man, a city, or some influential cleric.

Revelation talks about a religious system that once was married to Jesus but since has become a harlot.

It is a harlot that teaches contrary to the First Angel's Message.

And we shall notice that clearly!!!

Let us start with this scripture,

"And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters." Rev. 17:1.

Other translations use "harlot" (NKJV) instead of "whore" (Moffatt, KJV).

Do we have once again a harlot being spoken about in the Book of Revelation?

Absolutely yes!

But where is the harlot located or seated?

We read, it is seated or

"... sitteth upon many waters."

What does sitting indicate?

It indicates that this system is in control.

It is a system that rules.

Where does it rule?

Upon the waters.

What are the waters?

We read - and we notice the relationship to the First Angel's Message,

"And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues." Rev. 17:15; Isaiah 17:12.

These are the same expressions we noticed already in the First Angel's Message.

Does this woman do the opposite of the First Angel's Message?

Does she seek to control the multitudes of the world, - in contrast to God trying to gather the multitudes in the world on His side of the First Angel's Message?

In other words, this harlot and God, both want to exercise control over the world.

You see, over every nation, tongue and people - God through the 1st angel's message and the devil through Babylon's wine.

Wine is the opposite of the First Angel's Message. This wine is the opposite of truth.

That must mean Babylon teaches that the dead are not really dead, that the Sabbath is really not on the seventh day of the week, that they do not teach that we are now in the hour of God's judgment, they must teach that perhaps the law of God was nailed to the cross, that they teach that it doesn't really matter what you put in your mouth and into your belly, that health principles don't really matter that much ... [462]

So we see, that the wine, the abominations of Babylon is the opposite of the First Angel's Message.

Are you still wondering, `What system is this?'

Question: Must it be a world wide church? And why?

Because it sits on every nation, tongue and people.

Is it a church or something else?

How can we tell?

It is a woman. In the Bible a woman represents a church.

What kind of a church is it?

It is a harlot church.

Was it once in a good relationship with Jesus?

Yes. But what happened is, it apostatized and became a harlot.

What does this harlot do? - Notice verse 2. - With who? ... the kings of the earth have committed fornication...." Rev. 17:2.

Is she involved in the political systems of the world?

It is a church but it is involved into the political systems of every nation, tongue and people of the world.

Did we find in the OT that Israel had the same experience? That they fornicated with the kings of their world and assimilated their practices and ideologies?

Yes, and yes!

Let us read on,

"And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth." Rev. 17:5.

Babylon, a mysterious city. Paul wrote that in his days the "mystery of iniquity" or "the mystery of lawlessness" was already at work, 2.Thess. 2:7. Those who are involved with this mysterious system of lawlessness think they are keeping the law when they are not. That is what makes it so devastating to Christianity. This apostate system, Paul wrote, is going to come "with all power and with signs and lying wonders"(2.Thess. 2:3-14), that is with all Satanic superstition providing power available to it. People travel all over the world to see `the tears' or a supposed `appearance of Mary' somewhere. Paul is saying that the whole world will be deceived except those who hang on to the love of the truth. This power will come with "the lie". What is this lie? It is Satan coming, as we just read, and announcing that he is Christ. The lie is that we can be saved in our sins. They say, just keep on confessing your sins every day and everything is ok. No, friends. We must confess and overcome the besetting sins in our lifes.

What is the name of this system that exhibits such delusion providing powers? Well, some may say, this is a harlot but there is no relationship to the Second Angel's Message!

But there is a relationship. Notice Verse 5 again.

"And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great" and what? - "... the mother of harlots".

If she is a mother, she must have children, right?

She has daughters.

They are daughters because she is the mother of harlots (feminine).

So this mother must have had daughters that were born of her at a certain stage of her existence.

Are you, dear reader, following what we have been paying attention to up to this point?

She is a mother, she has daughters, she is called Babylon, and now notice the last part of the verse, "... Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth." Rev. 17:5.

This mother has daughters and besides that, she commits abominations.

Is that the same picture we saw fitting Israel in the OT?

Is this talking about some Muslim country that doesn't have the Christian religion?

Does it talk about the Hindus, or the Buddhists?

Of course not. They never claimed to be the bride (church) of God.

They would never have committed adultery for they were never married to the Lord in the first place.

But we are not finished. There is still more to be discovered.

Notice what we find here,

"And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls ..." Rev. 17:4.

Isn't that what we read earlier about Israel in the OT?

Sure, we find here the very same correlations that we found between Israel and Babylon.

It goes on,

"... having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication." Verse 4b.

What does she have in her cup? - Her abominations - Wine![500]

Whom does she give the wine to? She gives the wine to the kings and inhabitants of the earth.

Is this a blood thirsty system?

Is this system guilty of killing God's saints in her history?

Most certainly, yes.

We read,

"And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration (or astonishment - NEB)." Rev. 17:6.

What have we seen so far?

01. we saw a woman, a woman represents the church,

What kind of a woman?

02. an adulterous woman, a great harlot,

Where does she sit?

03. on multitudes, nations, tongues and people, on the whole world,

Must this be a world wide system? Absolutely!

Is it a system that is involved with the political systems of the world? Yes,

04. she fornicates with the kings of the earth,

Is she also the mother of daughters that were born from her? Yes.

Does she give wine or teachings in contrast to the First Angel's Message to the nations? Yes.

Is she all decked out with jewels and precious stones? Yes.

Is she drunk with the blood of the saints? Yes.

Is this talking about an apostate religious system? Yes.

It has to be in the light of what we find in the OT.

In the OT it was Israel. In the NT it is the church. Yes.

But how can we say such a thing?

Question: When Jesus came to this world the first time, was Israel in open apostasy to God?

Those who professed to be God's people, were their leaders in this open apostasy against God?

Have they taught against the teachings of the Word of God?

Have they gone against the practices of the Word of God, Yes and yes and yes they have - to such a point, that, when Jesus came, they not only were not expecting Him, they - What? They rejected Him!

Is it just possible, that before the Second Coming of Christ those who profess to be the children of God will also be in the same situation?

That they will not be teaching the truths of the Word of God?

They will not be teaching the people the divine truths and practices of the Word of God!

And when Jesus comes the Second Time, He will come to His own, and His own will not be ready ...

We ask you, `Is that possible?

It is not only possible but probable, because the devil is not sleeping. The same devil that deceived the leadership before the First Coming of Jesus, is the same devil who is alive and well and who knows his time is short. That is why he is getting angrier every day bringing calamities to everyone, 1.Pet. 5:8.

What will be the end of this religious system we studied?

We read,

"And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. . . ." Rev. 16:19.

Here we read how the same ten horn powers, which she used and flirted with, will cause her end, just like it was with Israel. These ten horns are identified as kings, in fact the kings of the whole world, Rev. 16:14..

" . . . And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire." Rev. 17:16.

The kings which she committed fornications with, it says, will `hate the horn.' Not only that, they will take away all her riches, and make her desolate and naked. So, we should never envy these clerics, theologians and religious leaders. They bear a solemn responsibility, which, if not admininistered in the spirit of Christ, will cause her eternal end.

Why did those kings turn on their former `Mother?'

Because at some point they found out the deceivableness, the lies, the abominations and wickedness of that whole system and it caused them to `hate the woman church.'

And yet, today we hear so many Christians say, that our big enemies are the Muslims, perhaps also the Hindus and Buddhists and the secular humanists for we know that SdAs look to Christ's ministry in heaven; Christianity looks to Jerusalem; Muslims look to Mecca; and humanists look to the Galapagos Islands as their spiritual center of their faith.

How are true Christians supposed to react to this situation?

We find the answer in Rev. 18:1-5.

God says, you must come out from her. Click on it to review and come back.

Dear readers. Let us not forget that throughout history the greatest enemies to God's people have been other people who claim to be God's people.

However, what may be going on behind the scene ist that the beast power through its secret agencies is trying to get the US and Muslim world to go to fight each other [560] so they can overcome them both. The hatred generated by such events could easily lead to look for a means to bring back "peace and safety" - in comes a Sunday law.

Who killed Abel?

His own brother killed Abel on the question of how to worship God.

Who killed the prophets in the OT?

Their own people Israel to whom they were sent.

Who killed Jesus?

Well, you will say, our sins did.

That is true, but who appealed to the arm of the state to carry out the execution?

They were the very people that claimed to serve God.

Who persecuted God's saints during the Middle Ages?

The established church that claimed to be the church of Jesus Christ - that is why Jesus said, "the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service." John 16:2.

The current movements to join church and state are an ominous sign and we should get ready.

Are you ready to become another Stephanus? Or another Peter or John or Paul?

The woman and her offspring fall because they reject the First Angel's Message. These are very serious issues. They will divide all of humanity into two camps. Those who are God's and those who are Satans.

God Sends One More Message

Let us read it,

"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 ..."

Is this the same as the Second Angel's Message?

Yes, only intensified!

"... and is become the habitation of devils ..."

Because she teaches the doctrines of devils. - An expression the apostle Paul uses, 1.Tim. 4:1.

"... and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird." Rev. 18:1-2.

Does that sound like a place you want to be in?

We learn here that the devil has doctrines, but God has life giving doctrines, 1. Tim. 6:1. The devil always tries to trump what God does.

What made Babylon fall into this condition?

It was her wine!

"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." Rev. 18:3; Esther 3:15b. (Also note that in the Bible being drunk with wine and wrath go together.)

This is one of the most dire warnings we find in all of the Bible. Speaking of those who worship the beast and receive the image of its mark, we find that the wrath of God will be poured out upon them without mixture of mercy. In other words, the door of mercy is closed. We find that what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah will happen again at the end of time in the exact sequence, (Cmpr. Genesis 19:24 with Rev. 14:9-11).

We find the following parallels,

1. brimstone and fire
   
2. from the Lord out of heaven / in the presence of angels and the Lamb (Jesus)
   
3. overthrowing the cities / smoke rises to heaven

The Bible tells us that the judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah is for all the world an example of what such sinning, moral decline and wickedness will cause to happen. We read,

"Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." Jude 7; 2.Peter 2:6; Gen. 19:24.

This review is summarized here! Look at it briefly and then come back.

Where it arises

First we shall talk about the location, where the second beast arises.

"And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon." Rev. 13:11.

We find here a different point of origin for this beast which comes "up out of the earth" while all others came up out of the sea. That is the reason why this two horned land beast did not originate in Asia (lion and bear), or in Europe (like the leopard and the iron toothed beast) because these four powers (Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome) rose up out of the sea, Dan.7:2-8. These powers progressed from the east toward the west, where the sea (i.e. waters) represents multitudes of people, long established and populated areas in the world.

The second, lamb like beast to be

Next we should notice that in Revelation 7 we have a contrasting group.

"And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God (in contrast to the mark): and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads." Rev. 7:1-3; Eph. 1:13.

This passage says then, do not release the winds [800] so that the cataclysmic events of the end of chapter six do not take place until we have a chance to seal the servants of God in their foreheads. - So, we have here in Revelation two contrasting views of the saved and the lost.

In chapter 6 and 13 we find that those, who are crying for the rocks to fall upon them, will be the ones having the mark of the beast. On the other hand in chapter 14 we find that those, who receive the seal of God, will be preserved in the midst of ruin, when destruction comes.[840]

Two contrasting groups. In other words, at the end of time, when Jesus comes, there are only two groups in this world. Those who have the seal of God, and those who have the mark of the beast. [844] Those who have the seal of God will be saved and those who have the mark of the beast will be lost. None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict.

Question: In light of this, how important is it to know what the Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast are?

Is it a matter of life and death? - Absolutely!

To identify the `mark of the beast' we have to know first, who the beast is. Let us study that now. We know that the beast represents the Roman Catholic System. This RC system must then have a mark which the US is going to "cause", that is, enforce by law. Therefore we shall need to know what that mark is.

In order to understand the `seal of God', particularly in Revelation 7:1-3, we need to go back to the Old Testament. Without that background it is not possible to come to logical conclusions on the content and intent of the Book of Revelation. - We must go back to those portions of the OT which tell the story of Israel just before their Babylonian captivity for that captivity occurred because of their sins.[1000] In the end time, this world will also be destroyed because of the sins committed by its inhabitants. To study this we go to the Book of Ezekiel which tells us in chapter one that God is coming in judgment upon apostate Israel. God is represented as coming from heaven to the Jerusalem Temple to judge Israel because Israel has been in reckless apostasy against God.

God had a right to do that to Israel for we studied already that God had `married' Israel, Ez. 16:8. He married no other nation, he made Israel His bride on Mt. Sinai. When we continue to read in Ezekiel we discover that Israel became an unfaithful bride. An unfaithful wife. She started being a harlot or whore, Ez. 16:30.

" And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.
Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose." Ez. 8:16,17.

At length the Lord shows Ezekiel what the worst abomination is, the one on top of the list. We read,

"... O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.
And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.
Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.
Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them." Ez. 8:15-18.

Why was "worshipping toward the east" such a terrible abomination? - Because by worshipping toward the sunrise they were worshiping the sun like all the pagans around them did, they were trampling upon God as the Creator. They were really claiming that anyone or more of these gods: Baal, Ashera, Astarte, Ishtar, Amon-re or Mithra was their creator. At issue, by worshiping the sun, was their failure and rejection to worship God as the one who made everything, their Creator. They saw God as being angry, a God who must be appeased, not as a God of `agape' love.

But again, why was that so bad? --- Because such abominations and false worship led Israel to shed the blood of innocent people in Jerusalem. [1200] You can read about that shedding of blood in the following scripture,

"And the righteous men, they shall judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women that shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands." Ez. 23:45; Jer. 7.

Because of these terrible conditions among those who forsook worshiping the only true God and instead worshiped the sun God, God said, `I am going to come in judgment against this people.'

Ezekiel tells us, where the judgment is coming from:

"Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
Also, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD unto the land of Israel; An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land." Ez. 7:1,2.

Does anyone reading this, recall reading about `four corners' in Revelation chapter 7?

How there were four angels at the four corners holding the winds, and when they were released, what follows? - Destruction!

Here in Ezekiel God is saying destruction is coming upon the four corners of the land of Israel - the whole country. This is a definite connection between Ezekiel and the Book of Revelation.

But before God comes in judgment against Israel, those who claim to serve Him, who are committing abominations, fornications, shedding innocent blood, dominating the multitudes and people, being unfaithful to God, playing the harlot - before God comes in judgment and in punishment against them - there is a work that needs to be performed because not everyone was unfaithful to God. God has to separate a people. That work is described in the following scripture:

"He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man (angels) with his destroying weapon in his hand.
And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen [1300], with a writer's inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brazen altar.
And the glory of the God of Israel (Hebr. Ichabod) was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called [1400] to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side;
And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
And to the others he said in mine hearing (after the sealing is finished), Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:
Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house." Ez. 9:1-6.

This passage is not talking about a judgment against some heathen nation, it is talking about the capital of God's chosen people, the city where God's Temple stood and where priests were supposed to offer offerings to the Lord God. - Here we learn that God's judgment will come over his own people. But before that judgment comes, God separates out those few, who were faithful, who sighed and cried over those abominations to save them from the destruction. A picture of end times.

Israel was in a terrible apostasy. The leaders, the priests, scribes and princes were the instigators by pushing their apostasy. Their minds were utterly polluted by idolatry and immorality.[1450] They had become the most hardhearted people in the world, the hardest to impress with truth. Already since the time of Elijah, who was fed by a widow outside of Israel, God's people did not live up to the knowledge God brought to them. And so it was that the Syrian Naaman was healed of leprosy while Israelite lepers remained defiled. These are illustrations on what happens to a people who reject light of understanding divine truths from God.

This message ought to cause us to look around today, in our own churches - are abominations being committed among Christian churches today? The lack of sessions in churches to pray, confess sins and repent leads to only one conclusion, church leaders, pastors, church officers, church members do not recognize sin. They are far removed from serving the Creator God in acceptable worship. No matter how pious and sincere they sound. We must sigh and cry for all of us to come before the Lord, confess, repent and change Our ways. God does not change. We must change. And an obvious change which must come is this, God's faithful people must keep the borders of the Sabbath and Sabbath itself faithfully. - Often, preaching in churches, is most inadequate, untimely and blind to what people need to hear in these last days. Too many pastors are spreading not bad, but untimely ideas, when they must preach what the 3 angels shout from heaven. Jesus comes soon and people will not be ready unless we reform our ways and get serious.[1455] Dear reader. Keep God's Sabbath holy, for it is God's test for citizenship in heaven.

We are bidden to do this. Closely examine your own heart as in the light of eternity. Hide nothing from your examination. Search, oh! search, as for your life, and condemn yourself, pass judgment upon yourself, and then by faith claim the cleansing blood of Christ to remove the stains from your Christian character. Do not flatter or excuse yourself. Deal truly with your own soul. And then as you view yourself a sinner, fall, all broken, at the foot of the cross. Jesus will receive you, all polluted as you are, and will wash you in His blood, and cleanse you from all pollution, and make you fit for the society of heavenly angels, in a pure, harmonious heaven. There is no jar, no discord, there. All is health, happiness, and joy.

This world is a training school for the higher school, this life a preparation for the life to come. Here we are to be prepared for entrance into the heavenly courts. Here we are to receive and believe and practice the truth until we are made ready for a home with the saints in light.

Thank God, that He will seal his faithful people, so that when the destruction comes they are spared.

What happens when God finishes His work of judgment?

The Bible tells us the answer,

"Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.
And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city (the Mt. of Olives)." Ez. 11:22,23.

When God is finished separating all the righteous from the wicked, the Bibles says, that the glory that was in the Temple departed from it and Jerusalem was forsaken. Yaweh is no longer their shield. Their defender has become their enemy because they have joined the camp of His enemies, the idols. It speaks of the cherubim angels of the `Ark of the Covenant', in type, as leaving their place. Thus symbolically, and if we could see with spiritual eyes, actually, angels left and interceded and communicated no longer with His people. As a result, some foolishly try to discern the future by studying the abdominal entrails of animals like sheep to learn the future. They wanted to know what awaited them, but not on God's terms. - Jerusalem was now a city which no one could defend. The city was desolate and ready for destruction, Ez. 12:20.

What historical event fulfilled the destruction of Jerusalem? [1460]

The Bible tells us, that after the work of sealing, there came a terrible crisis over Jerusalem. The account of this we find written in the funeral dirge of Jeremiah, in the Book of Lamentations (Lam. 4). When Nebuchadnezzar encircled the city, he breached the walls and this is what happened ... ...[1470]

"Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldeans, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand." 2.Chr. 36:17 cmpr. Ez. 9:6.

Why did all of this have to happen? -- Because they were committing what?

They were committing abominations!

And the greatest abomination they committed was to worship the sun god.[1478] Disregarding the day of the Creator God. Turning their back to the Most Holy where God's holy law was enshrined in the Ark of the Covenant and turning their faces toward the east. - - - Friends. God never changes, Mal. 3:6; Hebr. 13:8. That means He would never set aside, nullify, destroy a jot, tittle or letter in any of his 10 laws he engraved into tables of stone. These tables are so sacred that God did not allow them to fall into the hands of the Babylonians or any other wicked people. They are a copy of God's Law kept in the heavenly sanctuary. -- Do not dare to change them but keep them and you will be saved. -- But people forgot God's warning messages and they look upon their works and how they prosper and take that as their cue that they are all right with God, when examination by the Word would show them their sin which reaches unto heaven. The Lord's teaching sometimes contains rebukes and warnings one would rather forget. But to do so is dangerous. Paul, after reviewing the historical failures of ancient Israel, tells the church in Corinth that God had them recorded for their admonition, 1.Cor. 10:6,11. The successes of churches is often due to dodged work and Satan's lack of strafing them for he has them in his pocket.

That is what God's professed people do when they flaunt God's holy seventh day Sabbath and worship their god on Sundays religiously, Jer. 17:27. Each week they commit the worst abomination which caused the destruction of Israel, Jerusalem and the Temple and brought them into a 70 year captivity. --- There will not be any more captivities, but God's final judgment day. [1500]

Even some of the professed people of God have no excuse, for they teach creation and show creation to be true, yet, they still commit this great, terrible abomination in God's sight and trample on His holy Sabbath day. But Satan has his followers in both camps, those defending creation and those denying or marginalizing it. Most adherents of these groups trample on God's holy day. That is not of God and He shows in His Word that eventually God-send- destruction will come upon those who break His Commandments and teach others to do so.

Jeremiah and Ezekiel show at length that Nebuchadnezzar was given license to destroy Jerusalem, because Israel was not keeping God's holy Sabbath. Jeremiah's inspired words, "Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall seek for me with all your heart." (Jer. 29:13). This admonishen, if heeded, would get God's people out of their Laodicean condition. Only a thorough reformation is acceptable to God. Today wickedness leads people to laugh about and scorn God's holy day just like they did then, See Lamentation 1:7-10.

Nebuchadnezzar entered Jerusalem, destroyed and burned it and led Israel captive to Babylon because of their rebellion against God. Long before that, even in the desert wilderness, Israel was constantly rebellious and when she entered Canaan she was in rebellion too. Today, God's wake up call will also be severe. We may be headed straight into it.

The Bible tells us what God gave Israel to protect them from rebellion.

"And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God." Ez. 20:20.

"Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." Ez. 20:21.

Distorted teaching today assumes God abrogated His sacred Sabbath in favor of Sunday because of the resurrection. What a travesty in false Bible interpretation. Christians everywhere need to face up to the commands of God and not of man. Read the Bible, don't ask your preacher is what God says.

The scriptures we just quoted say, that Sabbath keeping reminds those who keep that day, who God is.[1555] ---- What does that mean? --- We could think of the inverse when using that assertion. ---- It means that those who do not keep the Sabbath have another god before them. And we are reminded of the words in Proverbs 28:9. No matter how skilled their preaching is, how mightily they work - in final analysis, they come short of the glory of God but are high up on the glory to Baal.

While God may overlook times of ignorance, with the readily available numbers of Bibles around today, hardly anyone ought to have an excuse; if he can read. All that is required is to read Exodus 20. There we find God's eternally valid Law in any language (ca. 5,500) available in the world. If man would have faithfully kept the Sabbath, evolution would never have arisen as an explanation for origins while at the same time seeking to destroy faith in Creation by the hand of God. If Israel would have kept the Sabbath, Jerusalem also would never have been destroyed, Jer. 17:27. For you see God said so and it was. Jesus said so and the centurions servant was healed. When God speaks His word creates immediately. It happens right away for He Is the Creator. If it would take time, that would be evolution. Israel failed because they trusted in "We, I" will do it. They professed to believe in the creative power of the word of God, yet in their own lives they left it out. That is why those were evolutionists. The Centurion had great faith, he believed that the spoken word only was needed for healing. He was a Creationist. That is so because whoever lets time pass between the spoken word and the accomplished task, is an evolutionist. This way too, comes "a clean heart" by creation, Ps. 51:10.

But who was to be blamed for the unfaithfulness of Israel?

We read,

"A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?" Jer. 5:30,31.

That is where the unfaithfulness of Israel came from. So it is today. The leaders of churches, pastors and theologians are to be blamed today for leading millions of professed Christians astray. Yes, the people also carry some blame. Today too. They `love to have it so.'

That smells like blatant enmity and hostility toward the only true Creator God. It is abomination to the highest degree and soon we will see calamities taking lives and this world will go down on a path of destruction.

Or read these words. The same idea,

"The priests said not, Where is the Lord? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit." Jer. 2:8.

Let us paraphrase that in a free rendition. Here it goes,

"The ministers, teachers, reverends, priests, bishops and popes said not, `Where is the Lord?' and they that handle the law, the same people, knew me not: the pastors of all these churches also transgressed against me, and the prophets, the theologians who predict how the Bible ought to be understood, prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit." [1600]

I hope we all get the point. We must be more faithful to the Word. Not to people telling us what is in the Word. It does not take a degree to understand the Bible, just willingness, consecration, prayer, faith and a clear, thinking mind.

How many groups were there in Jerusalem before the Babylonian destruction? -- There were two groups. One group worshipped the sun, the other group were those who were sighing and crying because of the abominations, particularly the worshipping of the sun being committed in Jerusalem. - - - And this whole scenario is actually transported into the Book of Revelation for the same situation shall happen again in our days.

We recall that Jesus married the church, `husbands love your wives, even as Christ loved whom? .... the church, Eph. 5:25.

Did the church, according to Revelation chapters 2 and 3, after a good beginning, fell away from God and start playing the harlot? -- Yes, she did.

Almost every conservative, biblical expositor says that Revelations 4th church of Thyatira is the church of the Middle Ages. -- Do you remember who was involved in the church of that time? -- We read it was that harlot woman `Jezebel' who enticed God's servants to be unfaithful to God.

But by this time Jezebel was long dead and reduced to dust, but it was a church similar to Jezebel who had caused and pushed that slide into unfaithfulness. The church had become a harlot. --- We read:

"And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication." Rev. 17:1,2.

In the days of Jesus, the church was totally unprepared to receive the Son of God. Why? Because they were misinterpreting Bible prophecy, the prophecies of the Old Testament. That is happening today too. Most churches misinterpret the prophecies, now those of the Old and New Testament.

Oh, they say, that is never going to happen again - because Satan is all tied up.

Oh, yeah? We rather think that the majority of the Christian world will be just as deceived over end time prophecies, as the Jews were on the First Coming of Jesus, the Messiah.[1650] -- And yet, they think of themselves as the most favorite of God and look at fulfilled prophecy to the Middle East and the Iranians, Iraqis, Afghans, Jews and Muslims. [What prophecy deals with Mohammedanism is briefly shown here for we certainly must present the people in those countries the Gospel of Christ. The link is meant to help in that someway.]

Do we have abominations today? Yes, we do.

Do we have fornication - the influencing of governments by the church to do her bidding? Yes, we do.

Do we have this woman filled with the blood of the saints? Yes.

Is this woman controlling the nations? Yes.

Is she decked with silver and gold and all precious things? Yes

This harlot woman, does she represent the Muslims?

Why should that be the case? By what Bible principle would this harlot woman have anything to do with the Muslims?

Is it because of news articles? What about the Bible? Bible prophecy must be interpreted by the Bible. Not by magazines or newspapers.

Remember, the sea beast resides on the city of the seven hills in Europe.

What Is the Seal of God

We shall determine the answer from several perspectives.

First we shall take a brief look at the First Angel's Message.

Does the First Angel's Message call us to keep God's Holy Law? We refer to where it says, `Fear God and keep His commandments.' We recall that Ecclesiastes says, Fear God and give glory to Him?'

Oh, yes, then there are those who say, `But preacher, this is the Old Testament. We are New Testament Christians and do not have to worry about the Sabbath.' [1700]

Right. That is what they say or something similar. For our answer you may click for several articles which we shall provide a quick link to. Old and New, Did God Change? and God's Sanctuary, but there are more articles which bear on the subject.

But let us continue our line of thought. We know that the First Angel calls us to keep God's Holy Law. - Does the First Angel call us to worship the Creator by keeping His Holy Sabbath?

We determined that the answer is `Yes.'

The First Message therefore contains these main points:

Keep God's Holy Law and

Worship the Creator God

We can hardly claim that we worship the Creator God unless you keep His holy Sabbath which is the `Sign' of the Creator as we read above from the Bible.

Have you ever noticed the contrast of the Third Angel's Message?

The Third Angel's Message says, `If anyone worships the What .... ?

..... The beast or his image. Putting it that way, could that mean people are trampling on the true Creator? Yes? .... And upon His Holy Sabbath? Yes!

So is the issue in the Third Angel's Message `worship?' Is the issue worshiping the Creator or worshiping the beast? Absolutely!

Why is this important? We may say, the reason God speaks as strongly against worshiping the beast is because He knows that people cannot possibly be truly happy to be a follower of such a power whose mark they bear and will later receive burned into their conscience, Rev. 14:11. In following this power there is no rest, there is only a strange, supposed happiness because they can live in sin. As a consequence many drown out their conscience by partaking of all sorts of vices which the beast power supports for they believe that we can drink and eat all we want.[1720]

And let us be reminded that the Third Angel's Message ends by saying, "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, ..." Rev. 14:12.

So the First Angel's Message calls God's people to obedience and trust, to keep the commandments and to worship the Creator, that must mean that in the Third Angel's Message the beast counterfeits the work of the Creator .... and it must mean that he tramples upon the Holy Law of God. ... Because the First and the Third Angel's Messages are in contrast to each other.

On that note, let us also remember the contrast we have in Ezekiel chapter 8 and 16 and in Ezekiel chapter 9. Let us underline in our mind these contrasts once more.

One group in Ezekiel 8:16 is worshiping the what? They are worshiping the sun. And immediately in the next chapter are those who have what on their forehead? ..... the seal of God. So what is the contrast here? It is the contrast between those who worship the sun and those who have the seal of God. So does the `mark of the beast' have something to do with the sun? --- In contrast to those, who have the seal of God? -- Look at Ezekiel and we find that is true. Absolutely true.

Let us look at some additional evidence,

"And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." Deut. 6:5; Ex. 20:1,2.

What table of the law is that verse dealing with?

It is dealing with the first table of the law.

What did God tell Israel to do with this table of the law?

Notice Deuteronomy 6:8, and thou shalt do what?

"And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes." Deut. 6:8.

Does the seal on the forehead have anything to do with God's commandments, particularly with the first table of the law? --- In context, Yes! It definitely has a relationship with the first table of the law. --- Which calls us by the way,

to have no other gods,

to make no images of God,

to not take God's name in vain,

and to keep His Holy Sabbath.

Let us read also Isaiah chapter 8. Serious Bible students discover that constantly in the Bible, the law is identified with the forehead - with sealing. Notice this reference,

"Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples." Isa. 8:16.

Again, we have here the idea of sealing the what? ... the law among God's disciples.

Are we to heed those who say, `Well, this is the Old Testament.' In the New we don't read that?

Come on. Are you serious? ... Or are we wily when someone says that? ... wily means to wiggle your way out of having something to do which you have no desire to do. You are on a dangerous path when it comes to things pertaining to worshipping God if you do that.

You see, the Bible teaches, when we are Christ's, we are Israel, Gal. 3:29. What makes us `Israel?' Is it our blood or name? No. We are `Israel' if we belong to Christ. When we are Israel, we are to keep the Sabbath holy. We have to choose, whether we want to belong to the harlot or to God's true church.

Ok, having said that lets go to the New Testament. We read the same idea again and again in its pages. This scripture is actually a quote, that is a reamplification, one that is supposed to reverberate in our ears for all time to come, of the Old Testament.[1750]

"This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them." Hebr. 10:16; 8:10; Jer. 31:33.

Where is God going to write His law? -- In the mind.

Where is your mind? It has to do with the brain. Where is your brain?

Behind the forehead. God will take His law and He will write it into our brain. He will seal it into our brain. So our obedience to it comes naturally, almost without thinking. We are then used to keep His law gladly because we are sealed, Eph. 1:13.

That is when we have bound God's law as frontlets between our eyes. We delight to do His will.

That is being a mature Christian. It is the way we have embarked on after we got baptized. Well, some of us on a circuitous route, nevertheless, we are now God's followers and reoccupy our mind, brain, forehead again with these eternal truths and inside we feel that joy rising higher and higher until we brake forth in a shout of `Hosanna, Hallellujah. Praise the Lord. Amen.'

Ezekiel chapter 8 contrasts those who worship the sun-god with those who worship God. --- He contrasts those who receive the First Angel's Message to worship the Creator with those who worship the beast who must be a counterfeit of the Creator.

On this same note, time and again, in the Book of Revelation, we find this idea, that the devil is enraged against those who keep the commandments of God. Here is an example,

"And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Rev. 12:17.

The woman in Revelation 12, is she pure or impure?

She is the pure church. Do we realize that in Revelation 12 that the true church during the 1260 years was fleeing and was in exile? ... when it says, that the woman fled into the wilderness for 1260 days which are prophetic `day for a year' years, who did she flee from? She fled from the other woman. ---- So, how many churches were there during the 1260 years which span the Middle Ages? --- There were basically two churches the Bible shows. God's true church, which had an uneasy and often dangerous existence because of persecution, and the ruling harlot church. There was a persecuted church and a persecuting church.[1770]

What characteristic does the pure woman, the pure bride of Christ, have, what enrages the devil?

Oh, Rev 12:17 says, the devil was enraged and wants to make war on the woman because of what? ... Because he wants to make war on those `which keep the commandments (plural, all), and have the testimony of Jesus.'

Does the devil hate the Law of God? --- Very much so!

Let us reflect on something at this juncture.

Remember that we said, that Daniel 7, Revelation 12 and Revelation 13 all present parallel material.

They all begin in the Old Testament.

They all refer to Rome.

They all talk about a dragon with ten horns.

They all contain a period of 1260 years of persecution.

In context even Daniel 7 has this power still existing at the Second Coming of Christ and therefore its wound must be healed before Jesus comes.

The `healing of the wound' of Rev. 13 is also found in Rev. 12 when the earth helps the woman and persecution ceases.

Therefore these are all parallel passages.

Then you have Rome ruling when the child was born in chapter 12 and the dragon beast in chapter 13

Then the woman flees into the wilderness for 1260 years and in chapter 13 the woman is persecuted for 42 (Jewish) months (=1260 prophetic years).

Then, in chapter 12, the earth helps the woman, and in chapter 13, the beast receives a deadly wound.

Help on both sides

Herod wanted to kill the child when it was born, the book of Revelation pulls the curtain aside and shows it was the dragon who wanted to kill the child; it presents the history behind the history - the real causes for historical events that are taking place.

Then it says, the deadly wound is healed, and the United States speaks as a what?

the United States speaks as a dragon according to Rev. 13.

What we are getting at is this: In Revelation 12 the final stage of persecution, of the dragon against the woman, is that she keeps the commandments of God and she has the testimony of Jesus.

If Revelation 13 is parallel to Revelation 12, which it is, then we ask this question:

Would you expect to find the two characteristics the devil hates also in chapter 13?

Yes? Of course. What do you suppose the devil hates. Which commandment does the devil hate more than any other commandment?

Remember, he is going to enforce the `mark of the beast' because he wants to counteract the `seal of God,' and we are reminded of the words, "As the movement for Sunday enforcement becomes more bold and decided, ..." (GC 607) we learn here that this is an issue of enforcement, not enactment. Enactment has already happened in 33 states. --- And, by the way, how does he counteract the testimony of Jesus? (More on this is linked to just below.) The way he tries to counteract the testimony of Jesus, which is identified in Revelation 19:10 [1800] as the Spirit of Prophecy, is by raising up a What? -- By raising up a false prophet or prophets. [1900]

In other words, the true remnant church of God is going to keep the commandments of God and Revelation 13 says that they have the seal of God in contrast to the mark of the beast, because there is one commandment which is particularly the great issue, that is God's fourth Sabbath commandment which the RCC moved down into third place in their catechisms and creeds.

Therefore the Giver of the law governs. There is only one commandment in the law of God, which is at the very center, which contains God's name, office and territory.

And you know what? Satan hates this law the most. How is that shown by the beast, the harlot woman? ... If you are not a Catholic, have you ever read in a catechism? Most catechisms that I have read in, have the Roman Catholic version of the ten commandments. And you know what? -- In it they abbreviated God's fourth law. Not only that, they also made unauthorized changes in the wording of this law:

"Remember thou keep holy the sabbath day." `The Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine', p. 38.

That is all there is. They left out the seal of God.

The devil hates the Sabbath, the fourth commandment, because it is the law which identifies God as the only true God and as the Creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is.

All that is in what? -- All that is in the heavens, all the angels, the galaxies, the globular galaxies, the black eye galaxy, the Milky Way galaxy, all the stars and our sun and planets and so on and on ...

That being so, what then would the mark of the beast be? --- Remember, we are dealing with opposites here.[1950]

The mark of the beast must represent an opposite day of worship!

It must have something to do with the day of the sun. Recall Ezekiel chapter 8 and Revelation chapter 7 which talk about the same seal.

We are saying that some people worship at least not openly today the sun as much as they worship on the day of the sun. But the art of these religions tell the story as shown.

Well, you may say, `Well, that is not the same thing.'

Yes, it is effectually the same thing!

Who made the sun? --- God made the sun.

Did God make the sun for us to worship it?

So what happens if people make it an object of worship? What is that called?

It is called idolatry.

Now, who made the first day of the week?

God did. Did God make that day for worship?

Show us from the Bible that God made the first day of the week for worship.

Oh, they say, Jesus was resurrected on that day!

So? Where does it say that we are supposed to keep the first day of the week in honor of His resurrection?

It is merely a human assumption, when the Bible says from Genesis to Revelation that we are supposed to keep the Sabbath day holy in honor of the Creator. When Revelation references "the beginning of the creation of God" (Rev. 3:14), inspiration references the Sabbath day.

This is a vital issue in the world today. For there are Sabbath keepers and first day keepers all around the world. Let us be faithful Sabbath keepers.

So, what happens if you convert the first day of the week into a day of worship?

It is idolatry. -- It does not matter if it is an object or a day. Anything that you make for worship that God did not make for worship is idolatry.

Yet. There are many idolaters that do not know any better. And God will wink at their ignorance (Acts 17:30), if they did not have a chance to know the truth. But He will hold us responsible if we do not keep His law.

If they knew, they would come out of Babylon.

If you know, do come out and keep God's Holy Sabbath holy.

What we really studied now is what the Bible says the little horn thought he could do. What did the little horn think he could do?

Let us read it in the Bible,

" I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. ... And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them ... And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end." Daniel 7:8,20,21,25,26.

He shall think to change times and the law.

"Thus says the Lord of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law." Haggai 2:11.

Has the Roman Catholic Church claimed to have changed God's law?

Yes! They did so frequently. They make no bones about it.

J.F. Snider, in 1895, wrote a letter to Cardinal James Gibbons and asked him, whether it was true that the Sabbath was the day of rest. This is the question he asked, `Does the Roman Catholic Church claim the act of changing the observance of the Sabbath to the first day of the week as a mark of her power?'

Here is the answer:

"Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act. ... And the act is a Mark of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters." [Letter from C.F. Thomas in behalf of Cardinal Gibbons, dated October 28, 1895.]

September 1, 1923, `The Catholic Record'.

"Sunday is our mark of authority. .. The Church is above the Bible, and this transference of Sabbath observance is proof of that fact." [Catholic Record', Sept. 1, 1923.]

Check out what Pope John XXII said,

"He (the Pope) alone promulgates law; he alone is absolved from all law. He alone sits in the chair of St. Peter, not as mere man, but as man and God ... His will is law; what he pleases has the force of law." [Pope John XXII in one of his edicts. Milman's `History of Latin Christianity,' Vol. VII, book XII, Chap. VI.]

Here is one more quotation. Father Enright, longtime president of `Redempters College of America.'

It was the holy Catholic church that changed the day of rest from Saturday to Sunday, the first day of the week. And it not only compelled all to keep Sunday but urged all to labor on the seventh day under pain of anathema. Protestants profess great reverence for the Bible, and yet by their solemn act, in keeping Sunday, they acknowledge the power of the Catholic Church. The Bible says, `Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy', but the Catholic Church says, `No! Keep the first day of the week.' And lo, the entire civilized world bows down in reverend obedience to the command of the holy Catholic Church."

Here is what Pope John Paul II wrote in his `Dies Domini', `The Day of the Lord' or `Lord's Day.' He calls Sunday

"the churches precept" Paragraph 18; "Sunday was established through Christian reflection, pastoral practice and wise pastoral intuition." Paragraph 27; "Christians felt they had the authority to transfer Saturday to Sunday." Paragraph 63; "The spiritual and pastoral riches of Sunday, as it has been handed down to us by tradition." Paragraph 81.

From all we said so far, we all should understand what the mark of the beast is. --- The Law of God has been chiseled. As it were man has attempted to reach inside God's Ark of the Covenant by lifting up the mercy seat and attempted to change God's law.

We should also remember that the mark of the beast is received in the right hand or in the forehead, whereas the seal of God is received only in the forehead. Why is that? What does the the `hand' represent in the Bible? The `hand' represents work, Eccl. 9:10. All you have to do with your hand. What do we do with our mind? We think with our mind of course. Why do some worship the beast? Some worship the beast because they are really deceived into thinking that the beast is right. Their mind is totally given over to the beast. Others, in order to work, in order to carry on their activities, they will receive the mark of the beast because they are afraid of not being able to buy or sell, and they will receive the mark, even though they know the beast is wrong. -- We have here the same type of relationship between those two groups and the sin of Adam and Eve. --- Was Eve deceived by the serpent? Did she swallow the bait and the hook and the pole? Did Adam believe the serpent? No. He could not live without Eve. Adam sinned out of convenience, so he knew he was wrong. Therefore, there are only two types of people, but we also know that God will only have one type of people at the end of time, -- not those who serve Him out of convenience, only those whose mind is given over totally and completely to Him.

What happened to those who were not authorized but did touch the Ark of the Covenant? The power of God caused that they died instantly. Since the Church has not touched that physical Ark directly, they have a period of amazing grace, during which God's people will come out of Babylon, at the end of which the same fate of those remaining in Babylon will be theirs.

What we need to remember is this. The United States of America is going to make an image of this sea beast and it is happening now.

All the world will acknowledge the power of the sea beast [2130]. For example this October 2007 the Dalai Lama coming before Congress to receive a `Peace' maker medal on invitation of President Bush. Do you suppose it will take much, to get the Buddhists to acknowledge the mark of the beast? --- It does not seem so now, does it?

Making an image to and of the beast means to establish a system as it was in place in Europe during the Middle Ages. When the church controls the state to enforce her religion. That is an image, it is a likeness. But when we study through the sure word of prophecy we come to the conclusion that if someone wants to force a religion on people in the end time, he must first centralize economical and political power - buying and selling will be controlled.[2140]

Of course the United States is not only going to make an image to the beast, it is going to enforce the mark of the beast which may also be identified by its number.[2150] Protestants little know what they are doing when they propose to accept the aid of Rome in the work of Sunday exaltation. While they are bent on the accomplishment of their purpose, Rome is aiming to reestablish her power, to recover her lost supremacy.

No one in the world has the `Mark of the Beast' yet. Praise the Lord for that. But when people know the issues in the very end time, and they choose to keep the first day of the week, in spite of knowing what the Bible teaches about that, at that moment they will receive the mark of the beast and what will happen to them? --- The same thing that happened to Israel after the sealing. --- They will be left in this world without any refuge. Was the Sabbath only for literal Israel?

That is why we present these messages. It is not to scare anyone into serving God. But you may make an intelligent study and serve the Lord as a result.

Ultimately it does not do you any good to keep the Sabbath because you are afraid. You want to keep the Sabbath holy, because you love Jesus. You want to spend the Sabbath hours with Jesus in your heart. That is the purpose of the Sabbath.[2200] It is not just a legal precept, you better keep it or you are going to hell. No. It is a matter of having come to love Jesus for what He did when He died and rose and sent His Holy Spirit to convict us of sin so we confess, repent, get baptized and live the Christian life - this world is our training ground for life eternal in heaven. If that is what you want, these messages will bless you beyond all else that could ever come your way. The Sabbath rest (`sabbatismos') is an ongoing one.[2220]

We must ask, is there any sighing and crying going on about these abominations as it was in old Jerusalem? (Ps. 56:8)

Do we know where in the Bible we find it described for our days? Lets read it,

"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." Rev. 18:1,2.

No! He represents whom?

He represents those who are faithful to God, His church, and cannot stand these abominations and falsities being preached in Babylon. This angel represents a group of people, who do not necessarily see or know each other, but they recognize and sigh over these terrible abominations being committed today by this harlot and her daughters.

"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." Rev. 18:3,4.

God has his people among all walks of life, all around the world. Yes, leaders of nations are among them too.

Be On Guard

The final events will be a trying time for God's people, a time of Jacob's trouble. There is something we must especially guard against. It was written up as follows,

"The time is not far distant when the test will come to every soul. The observance of the false sabbath will be urged upon us. The contest will be between the commandments of God and the commandments of men." {PK 188.1}
"Through His servants, God gave the Jewish people a last opportunity to repent. He manifested Himself through His witnesses in their arrest, in their trial, and in their imprisonment. Yet their judges pronounced on them the death sentence. They were men of whom the world was not worthy, and by killing them the Jews crucified afresh the Son of God. So it will be again. The authorities will make laws to restrict religious liberty. They will assume the right that is God's alone. They will think they can force the conscience, which God alone should control. Even now they are making a beginning; this work they will continue to carry forward till they reach a boundary over which they cannot step. God will interpose in behalf of His loyal, commandment-keeping people.
On every occasion when persecution takes place, those who witness it make decisions either for Christ or against Him. Those who manifest sympathy for the ones wrongly condemned show their attachment for Christ. Others are offended because the principles of truth cut directly across their practice. Many stumble and fall away from the faith they once advocated. Those who leave the true faith of Jesus in time of trial will, to secure their own safety, bear false witness, and betray their brethren. Christ has warned us of this, that we may not be surprised at the unnatural, cruel course of those who reject the light." {DA 630. 1,2}

The Fourth Angel

We have studied the three angels messages. But there is a fourth angel presented in Revelation chapter 18. Who is this angel and what is his work?

When Jesus began His public ministry, He cleansed the temple from its sacrilegious profanation (John 2:13-25). Among the last acts of His ministry was the second cleansing of the temple (Mt. 21:12-16; Mk. 11:15-18). In the end, Jesus will cleanse His church "... the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion" (Isa. 4:4; 10:5; 30:29-30; 9T 228) Likewise in the last work of warning the world of the soon Coming of Christ, three distinct calls are made to the churches. The first is "Fear God and give glory to Him." The second angel's message is, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." And in a loud voice the third angel's message warned, `not to worship a false god.' (EW 124,125)

The fourth angel of Revelation 18 combines these three angel's messages for one final warning.

"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." Rev. 18:1,2.

As Christ began His ministry in the Most Holy of the heavenly sanctuary - remember the cleansings of the Jerusalem temple just cited - in 1844, He sent the call "Babylon is fallen."[2235] By the end of His priestly ministry He again calls for the people the second time to come out of Babylon - this time He cries "mighty with a strong voice . . . Come out of her my people that ye be not partakers of her sins."

Looking at Revelation 18:21, we see a mighty angel with a great millstone casting it into the sea.[2240]

Who is this fourth angel?

This mighty angel is the same angel we read about in Revelation 10:1, he is Jesus Himself. [2250]

Both cleansings of the temple by Christ were to be symbolic of the cleansing of the church.

Both calls by Christ to come out of Babylon are similar to the cleansing of the temple.

It is a call to the world to be a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar people, whom He calls out of darkness to His marvelous light,

"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light." 1.Peter 2:9.

Is there anything in the Bible which is a smaller version of the third angel's message?

There certainly is. It is the account of God's judgment over the wicked and exceedingly sinful cities of Sodom and Gomorra. The parallels we find between the third angel's message and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorra are these:

destruction happens by fire and brimstone, Gen.19:24; Rev.14:10.

both accounts speak of smoke which ascends, Gen.19:28; Rev.14:11.

three angel's are sent on both occasions which is no coincident, Gen.18:2; Rev.14.

their messages are delivered in the exact order both times:

"Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. .... I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out My hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all My counsel, and would none of My reproof." Proverbs 1: 23-25.

The Bible uses the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah three times as examples for the destruction of the wicked at the time of the end. We read,

"John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable." Luke 3:16,17; Malachi 4:1; Lev. 10:1-2.

"Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee. For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God." Deut. 4:23,24.

Let us look at another text.

"Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire." Hebr. 12:28,29.

Again, we read here the same thing. God, that is God's glory is a consuming fire. For how long does that fire exist?

Forever. It is an eternal fire for God is eternal. However, while God is eternal, the glory fire of God consuming something, that which is consumed is not eternal. That was the case of Sodom and Gomorrah. Let us read it.

"Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." Jude 7; Matth. 25:41; 2.Thess. 1:7,8.

The effect of the fire has eternal results, for the wicked of the cities would not repent and the judgment of God cut them short.

A similar situation we find explained in Leviticus chapter 10.

Nadab and Abihu

Their story, like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, has a lesson for us who live at the time of the end.

"And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not.
And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. Lev. 10:1,2.

Why did this have to happen? Because these two became careless. They followed their own inclinations and not the instructions of the Lord. They performed services in the tabernacle sanctuary. Inside the Most Holy stood the Ark of the Covenant with the Shekinah Glory between the Cherubim angels on top of the Ark. The Glory of God Almighty filled the sanctuary and these two kindled a strange fire. That means they did not use the fire from the altar but kindled their own fire. That ordinance of holy fire was in place because God has no provision for self-willed works among his servants.

"Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations:
And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean;
And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses." Lev. 10:9-11.

Nadab and Abihu drank wine which caused them not to put the Lord's work ahead of their own desires. Therefore, beware, wine blurs the ability to distinguish between the holy and the common and God's people should never touch it.

The Israel in the World Today

But you say, `Well, but these laws were only for the Jews.'

Where does it say that? It says it was for Israel, and today, God's people are the spiritual Israel.

Are then these words for us today? Most certainly, they are guidelines by which we should live today too in order that we can know that God lives in our heart.

But the wine which blurred the senses of Nadab and Abihu also blurs the senses of many people today. They come to church bringing their own strange fire to the Lord.

What are we talking about?

We are talking about the wine of false doctrines. False doctrines are those which do not glorify God.

Does it glorify God if we teach that it is permitted to drink wine?

Does it glorify God if we say that man has an immortal soul just like God?

Does it glorify God if we say, `Well, dear God, today we keep Sunday instead of your Sabbath.' Does that glorify God?

These are some examples of strange fire offered to the Lord in our day and age. - There is a complete lack of discernment, an inability to distinguish between the holy and the profane. These are the doctrines of Babylon and that is why the first Angel's Message calls out, `Fear God and give glory to him.' That is the start-out message we must present today.

The wine of Babylon is contrary to God. Any doctrine that makes God look bad is a bad doctrine. Nadab and Abihu had sinned, they could not stand in the Shekinah Glory of God and were consumed.

That is a hard message. So what shall the righteous do?

That we shall find out next.

Shortness of Time

The Bible consistently represents the time left until the Second Coming of Christ as short in order for people to ready themselves.

Preparatory Steps Taken Today

For all these events to occur and considering how close we have come for Christ to come again in might and power, what are the signs today helping us to see prophecy being fulfilled? Are there any signs? Well, elsewhere we had agreed to the view that in the eighth month of 08 the financial system in America would collapse. The woes in the financial system started to collapse at the very end of that month and in the next month continued in accelerated fashion, even around the whole world. - Studying the responses from all around the world reveals a very strange phenomena, countries which would normally disagree on everything, Islamic countries, China, Asia, France, England, Germany, are cooperating and one can hear hardly any inflammatory language blaming the US among all the voices publicised. And we are reminded of the words,

"And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." Rev. 13:16,17.

Nebuchadnezzar lived as a beast for seven years (Dan. 4). He had raised an image before each one had to bow, those who did not were to be killed. This reminds us of Hananhiah, Mishael and Azariah, the three friends of Daniel who stood before the image of the beast (Dan. 3) but had developed a fire proof character so the incinerator oven could not destroy them. What is this type of character that will save us from being burned in the last great fire? Study the following scriptures and follow them: (Isa. 33:12-15,17; 1.Peter 3:11-14; 1Jhn. 3:2,3; Hebr. 12:14,28,29). They had a character of Jesus developed which we must have, Psalm 119:9,11; Eph. 5:25-27; 2.Cor. 3:18. God's Word gets into our heart through our eyes and ears. So let us use those senses only to the honor of God.

Ready for the Second Coming

Dear reader, you have followed the account patiently this far. The following will be very encouraging and goal oriented. Young people often feel urged that they need something to enliven and divert the mind. But we must know that there is pleasure in industry, a satisfaction in pursuing a life of usefulness. Some still urge that they must have something besides to which the mind can turn for relief and refreshment amid cares and wearing labor. The Christian's hope is just what is needed. Religion will prove to the believer a comforter, a sure guide to the Fountain of true happiness. The young should study the word of God and give themselves to meditation and prayer, and they will find that their spare moments cannot be better employed. Young friends, you should take time to prove your own selves, whether you are in the love of God. Be diligent to make your calling and election sure. Men need to be aroused to realize the solemnity of the time, the nearness of the day when human probation shall be ended. God gives no man a message that it will be five years or ten years or twenty years before this earth's history shall close. He would not give any living being an excuse for delaying the preparation for His appearing. We take a look at what God's people are like who will stand when Jesus comes again in the clouds. We read,

"And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
And the heaven departed as a scroll ...
And the kings of the earth ... the great men ... the rich men .... hid themselves
And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" Rev. 6:12-17.

We must find out who those are who will be able to stand on their feet when the Lord Jesus comes again as the great King of Glory (Ps. 24:7-10) who conquered death.

Let us study a short list of scriptures.

In the next chapter we find the answer. They are those ...

". . . which were sealed . . . (with the seal of ) . . . God which sitteth upon the throne ... and ... the lamb." Rev. 7:4,10.

Which are those who receive . . .

". . . a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire."? Hebr. 12:28,29.

They must be those who are like Jesus. We must be like Jesus. We must be like Jesus in love, faith and obedience. (How? See here.) That way we can live in the presence of God and not be consumed like Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah (Dan. 1:7) were not consumed.

"To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." Rev. 3:21

That is how the message to the church of Laodicea ends.[2910] Divine love can conceive of no higher honor, no more exalted position, than that the Eternal would share the throne of the universe with frail and faulty man, now redeemed by His sacrifice and love.

While it contains warning and reproof, the Laodicean message is one of comfort and hope, "Oh, how precious was this promise, as it was shown to me in vision!" Or this one, "`I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.' (Rev. 3:20) Just look at that love, the wondrous love of God! After all our lukewarmness and sins He says: `Return unto Me, and I will return unto thee, and will heal all thy backslidings.' Mal. 3:7 This was repeated by the angel a number of times. `Return unto Me, and I will return unto thee, and will heal all thy backslidings'." {5T, p. 143} The counsel of the True Witness is full of encouragement and hope.

The True Witness, after revealing to the Church of Laodicea her condition, recommends the three remedies to heal the three maladies, then discloses man's part of the transaction: he must repent - repent with zeal. "Be zealous therefore, and repent." Rev. 3:19 God's people must repent particularly of the lukewarmness they exhibited. The True Witness counsels us to buy gold.

How do we do that?

The church will possess just before Jesus returns a holiness such as God's people have never before achieved. "Those who receive the seal of the living God and are protected in the time of trouble must reflect the image of Jesus fully." {EW p. 71} "There will be among the people of the Lord such a revival of primitive (original, genuine) godliness as has not been witnessed since apostolic times . . . At that time many will separate themselves from those churches in which the love of this world has supplanted love for God and His word. Many, both of ministers and people, will gladly accept these great truths which God has caused to be proclaimed at this time to prepare a people for the Lord's Second Coming." {GC, p. 464}

As the church received power at Pentecost, so it will be prior to the Second Coming of Christ. "The great work of the gospel is not to close with less manifestation of the power of God than marked its opening. The prophecies which were fulfilled in the outpouring of the former rain at the opening of the gospel are again to be fulfilled in the latter rain at its close." {GC, p. 611,612}

Miracles and healings will take place. "In visions of the night, representations passed before me of a great reformatory movement among God's people. Many were praising God. The sick were healed, and other miracles were wrought." {9T, p. 126} "Miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed, and signs and wonders will follow the believers." {GC, p. 612}

Prayer will revitalize the church. "I saw some, with strong faith and agonizing cries, pleading with God. Their countenances were pale and marked with deep anxiety, expressive of their internal struggle. Firmness and great earnestness was expressed in their countenances: large drops of perspiration fell from their foreheads." {EW, p. 269}

Never before will the church have attained such a capacity to love. The possession of such love will banish human selfishness and implant the Christian virtues. God's end time church will be a praying church. "Through the church [God's Sabbath keeping SdA church] eventually will be made manifest the final and full display of the love of God to the world that is to be lightened with its glory." {TM p. 50; 9T 19,20} The demonstration of God's love in the final victorious experience of His church will also exhibit to the watching universe that His dealings with His creatures had been just.

What will bring about such an unprecedented degree of holiness, power, miracles, prayer, and finally the full display of God's love in the hearts of His people? He will produce these manifestations in human lives. But what is man's part? Repentance, confession, and reformation - not only of the sins of the flesh, but also, and especially with the Laodicean, the sins of the spirit.

This challenge of the Laodicean message is not an issue that lies in the future. It is here, today.

It faces every member of the church now and cannot be put off. The world cannot wait much longer, nor will the True Witness. The hour of decision crowds in. Note Mrs. White's warning, "And as we near the close of this earth's history, we either rapidly advance in Christian growth, or we rapidly retrograde toward the world." {R&H, Dec. 13, 1892}

Which will it be?

It is a decision that only the individual Laodicean can make. And it is the only aspect of the entire process that he needs to concern himself about. If he will surrender his will, the Lord will do all the rest. He guarantees to see the poor, frail Laodicean through to victory. Notice the following promise:

"When it is in the heart to obey God, when efforts are put forth to this end, Jesus accepts this disposition and effort as man's best service, and He makes up for the deficiency with His own merit." {1SM, p. 382}

"If you will only watch, continually watch unto prayer, if you will do everything as if you were in the immediate presence of God, you will be saved from yielding to temptation, and many hope to be kept pure, spotless, and undefiled till the last." {5T, p. 148; For a favorite, existing, true Bible class using Powerpoint illustrations, call Sacramento: 916-428-3027}

"As the people of God afflict their souls before Him, pleading for purity of heart, the command is given, "Take away the filthy garments" (Zech. 3:4) from them, and the encouraging words are spoken, "Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment." Zech. 3:4. The spotless robe of Christ's righteousness is placed upon the tried, tempted, yet faithful children of God. The despised remnant are clothed in glorious apparel, nevermore to be defiled by the corruptions of the world. Their names are retained in the Lamb's book of life, enrolled among the faithful of all ages. They have resisted the wiles of the deceiver; they have not been turned from their loyalty by the dragon's roar. Now they are eternally secure from the tempter's devices. Their sins are transferred to the originator of sin. And the remnant are not only pardoned and accepted, but honored. "A fair mitre" (Zech. 3:5) is set upon their heads. They are to be as kings and priests unto God. While Satan was urging his accusations and seeking to destroy this company, holy angels, unseen, were passing to and fro, placing upon them the seal of the living God. These are they that stand upon Mount Zion with the Lamb, having the Father's name written in their foreheads. They sing the new song before the throne, that song which no man can learn save the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. "These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God." {Rev. 14:4; 5T 475.2}

Isaiah caught a glimpse of the triumph of the forces of God. "Behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light." Isa. 60:2,3. He wrote about what could have been Israel's story: "O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and they righteousness as the waves of the sae." Isa. 48:18. Someday that will happen. As the waves of the sea. When His people respond to His commandments, righteousness, like a tide, will finally conquer evil.

But first, there will be a tide of repentance, a tide of character surrender, a tide of confession, a tide of conversion permeating the Christian experience. Then will follow a tide of prayer - earnest, persevering, agonizing prayer, intercessory prayer - for those within the church and for those without. Then "the people of God are sighing and crying for the abominations done in the land. With tears they warn the wicked of their danger in trampling upon the divine law, and with unutterable sorrow they humble themselves before the Lord on account of their own transgression." {5T, p. 474}. Thus it is the matured Christian character which provides the best evidence testifying to God's righteousness and unselfishness. The power of God unto salvation is the gospel. Their response is their own free-will response to be obedient to God that arises because of being convicted by the evidence of their faith.

The time has come when God will open the floodgates [2989], and the tide of salvation will sweep away all before it. Now all those who have waited, the children who have drifted, the loved ones who have hesitated, the neighbors who have not understood, the truant members who have strayed, and the hungry individuals on far-off shores - all of them the mighty tide will now sweep in. Amen. [2990]

May God help us to use our time left to us towards this goal.

Jesus Coming in the Clouds

We read in Daniel's prophecy: "And at that time, Michael shall stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book." (Dan. 12:1) I want to be among that number who shall have their names written in the book, who shall be delivered. I want the overcomer's reward. The masterly temptations of Satan will overpower many who now profess to believe the truth. Their unworthy course of action, their denial of Christ, will make it necessary for God to blot their names from the book of life. But may it not be so with you! Jesus has said, "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding, in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven." Luke 10:20.[2995]