HopeLives365

Guest (Male): Any so-called gospel that deals merely with deliverance from sin's condemnation but not sin's grip is not the fullness of the gospel.

This is Hope Lives 365 with Pastor Mark Finley. Today's message, 3 Angels' Messages and End Time Events, Part 1. Enjoy and remember you can always catch up with past messages and stay updated with Hope Lives 365 and Pastor Mark by going to HopeLives365.com. And now, Pastor Mark Finley.

Mark Finley: Father in heaven, we're going to study your book. As we open the Bible today, we pray that the spirit that inspired the Bible would enter into our hearts. The spirit that inspired the word of God would speak to our souls. We pray that this would be more than a humanistic lecture, more than a learning experience, but it would be an experience in which the word of God burns in our hearts and fills our lives and changes our lives, in Christ's name. Amen.

In the 1840s, there were social, political, scientific, and religious revolutions that would ultimately change the world. To understand the three angels' messages, it becomes imperative that we understand the social, the political, the psychological, and the religious trends of that day.

In the 1840s, Charles Darwin in 1842 published his first draft of the Origin of the Species. The Origin of the Species, which dealt with the evolutionary philosophy, would change the world. It would change politics. It would change philosophy. It would change psychology, and it would change religion.

In 1844, Charles Darwin published his first essay of the Origin of Species. The book wasn't published until 1859. When Darwin published the Origin of the Species, it basically reduced dramatically human beings' belief in the Bible and in the word of God.

The Origin of the Species shared this revolutionary thought, which was revolutionary in that day, although not new, which I'll show you in the lecture. It introduced the thought that human beings were not created by an all-powerful God, that rather they evolved from lower forms of life from the primeval sources of the sea, ultimately to single-celled amoeba, ultimately to plant life and human life. He ruled out the first 11 chapters of the book of Genesis. So that rocked the world. It dehumanized human beings. It took away the idea of a personal God as creator.

At the same time that that was developing historically, there was another major movement in the world. The Communist Manifesto was published in 1848. Do you think it is any accident that the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels is published in 1848, and that the Origin of the Species is published in 1859?

The devil knew that an end-time message would be going to the world. He knew that God would raise up a divine movement of destiny in 1844 to herald the message of the three angels. So the devil was doing everything he could politically, intellectually, and with the publishing of the Origin of the Species in 1859.

There were religious movements that were developing at the same time. Joseph Smith of the Mormons in the 1840s, which would become the largest homegrown American religion with Mormonism, the Latter Day Saints, that was developing in the 1840s. You had Christian Science with Mary Baker Eddy developing in the 1840s. By the time you come to the late 19th century, Jehovah's Witnesses are developing.

The devil knows that he's going to try to deceive humanity in every possible way he can. So as Adventism is growing, you have political movements, psychological movements, scientific movements, and religious movements that are beginning to develop. Now, to understand Revelation chapter 14, it becomes necessary to understand its context in the book of Revelation. So I'd like you to take your Bible and turn to Revelation the first chapter.

The book of Revelation is divided into two major parts: the first 12 chapters and the last 10 chapters. Revelation has 22 chapters. The first 12 chapters of the book of Revelation start with an introduction in Revelation 1. Then you go through the seven churches, the seven seals, and the seven trumpets. They are really a historical overview that takes you to Revelation 12.

Revelation 12 gives you four specific snapshots that summarize the great controversy down through the ages. That Revelation 12 is the hinge upon which the entire book of Revelation turns. That leads you to Revelation 13 to 22, which deal with primarily end events. But we're looking at Revelation 1 verse 1. The revelation of whom? The revelation of Jesus Christ.

If you study the book of Revelation and for you it's more about beasts and strange images, you've missed the point of the book of Revelation. In the book of Revelation, Jesus is mentioned as the Lamb of God 28 times. Seven in the book of Revelation is a number of perfection. Four is a number of universality. Four times seven, Jesus the Lamb of God, the perfect universal savior for all mankind.

Revelation 1:1, "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to Him, to show His servants things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ and to the things which he saw." So this is the revelation of Jesus.

Where did Jesus get the revelation from? God. God gave it to Jesus. Who did Jesus give it to? The angel. What did the angel do with it? Gave it to John. What did John do with it? He wrote it down in a book. You and I open that book, and we read it. When we read the book of Revelation, our hands tremble with the sense of sacredness because we sense that this message comes from the heart of God.

It comes from God to Jesus. It comes from Jesus to the angel. The angel flies and gives it to John, exiled on the Isle of Patmos. John writes it down, and you and I take it in our hands today. We have a straight line of prophetic truth that comes from the heart of God. Would you say that the book of Revelation is a serious message?

If you were the devil, what would you do? If you knew that God gave an end-time message to Jesus, to the angel, to John, what would you do? You'd tell people that this book is a closed book. You'd tell people that this book could not be understood. You'd tell people that it's too strange to understand and too complicated because it comes from the heart of God.

The heart of the book of Revelation are these messages that we call the three angels' messages. We're taking our Bible and turning to Revelation the 14th chapter. Now, Revelation 14 is divided into three parts. To understand the center part of Revelation 14, it's necessary to understand what precedes and what comes after it.

The first five verses in Revelation 14 speak of a people standing on the sea of glass, a people redeemed. Eastern thought is always different than Western thought. Western thought is linear in its progression. So in Western thought, we think of an introduction, the main body, and a conclusion. That's how Western thought thinks. We think progressively on a timeline. We think from end to beginning.

Eastern thought thinks differently. It thinks you put the ending first. So in Revelation chapter 14, you first have the redeemed people called the 144,000 that stand on the sea of glass, that follow the Lamb wherever they go. That's Revelation 14:1-5.

In Revelation 14:6-12, you have the message that prepares that people called the three angels' messages. That's the message we're going to study. In Revelation 14:13-20, you have the event for which they are prepared. So there are three things in Revelation 14 to keep in mind: the people, the message, and the event.

The message prepares the people to stand on the sea of glass for the event of the second coming of Christ. Now, with that background, it's important to understand that Seventh-day Adventists find their unique prophetic identity outlined in Revelation 14:6-12. It's here that we find our passion to proclaim the gospel to the world.

Let's read together these messages. Revelation 14:6-12, reading together: "Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—saying with a loud voice, 'Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.'" That's the first angel's message. That's enough for now, and we'll study the second and third as we go through the morning.

Guest (Male): We'll be right back with Pastor Mark Finley. We thank you for listening and hope you're enjoying today's message. Our mission is to attractively present the Christ-centered biblical truths of Scripture in a practical, relevant way to people around the world so that they may experience the abundant life that Christ offers and effectively share with confidence His life-changing truths with others. You can support this ministry and help us reach even more by going to HopeLives365.com/donate. And now, back to Pastor Mark Finley.

Mark Finley: So here's a basic question. Is the three angels' message an antiquated message of a bygone 19th-century generation that Adventism needs to grow out of? Is the three angels' message part of some kind of old legalistic thinking, or is it at the very heart of the gospel? Does the three angels' message speak with relevant terms to a contemporary 21st-century society?

One of the things I hope to do in this class with you this morning is look at some of the issues that the world is facing today and show you that the three angels' message is tailor-made for this generation. I want to look at it with you from new eyes, taking the prophetic message of truth and expanding it.

I read a manuscript statement this week that I had not read before. It said that in the final generation, Seventh-day Adventists will see new truths in Revelation 14, and we'll see it in a broader way. Now, I need to remind you that new truth never obviates old truth. When somebody says to you, "I've discovered new truth," and that does away with that platform of faith that has been established and wrought out in Bible study by Adventist pioneers, you run from that thing as fast as you can.

But God will always give an expansion of truth. He'll always give new insights to each generation where new truth becomes more relevant to that generation. We're going to look at the platform, the foundation, this morning of the three angels' message, but we're going to expand that and look at how it relates to some of the contemporary issues of our generation.

In a special sense, Seventh-day Adventists have been set in the world as watchmen and light bearers. To them has been entrusted the last warning message to a perishing world. Has the last warning message been given in its fullness yet? Is it being given now? Sure, it is. So if we've been entrusted with the last warning message to a perishing world, this is not some bygone message of another generation that we have to graduate out of.

On them is shining wonderful light from the word of God. They have been given a work of most solemn import. What is that? The proclamation of the first, second, and third angels' messages. There is no other work of so great importance. They are to allow nothing else to absorb their attention.

Is there anybody else preaching the three angels' messages other than Seventh-day Adventists? I remember a wonderful story that HMS Richards told. He was visiting Salt Lake City and had a guide who was a Mormon guide. They came to the Mormon Temple. They looked up there, and the Mormon guide pointed to the Angel Moroni, who's on the top of that temple, you know, the golden angel. Richards just stepped back and he said to the guide, "Where are the other two angels?" The guide was quite baffled at Richards' comment and didn't know what he meant.

But Seventh-day Adventists are not another denomination. They've been raised up by God in a unique prophetic movement to prepare a world for the soon coming of Jesus in heralding these messages of the three angels. Now, if you have your study guide, take it and turn here to the back part of the first page. It will be actually the second page, back part of the first page of your study guide.

There's a fascinating statement made by Winston Churchill. Churchill makes this interesting statement, and it really is germane when it comes to the three angels' messages. Churchill says this: "It is not enough to have lived. We must be determined to have lived for something."

I didn't put this statement in your notes, but I have it in mine. The great Christian philosopher who resisted communism, Fyodor Dostoevsky, wrote this: "The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive but in finding something to live for." I love it. The mystery of human existence is not simply staying alive. It's having something to live for.

There is nothing grander, nothing greater than knowing that you're part of a prophetic movement raised up by God to herald in the second coming of Christ. Helen Keller put it this way: "True happiness is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose." When you discover the reason for living, it's no accident that you were born in this generation. You could have been born 100 years ago, 2,000 years ago, but you were born at this time in the prophetic divine drama of destiny. Come on the stage known by God to be part of a last-day prophetic movement. There can be nothing as thrilling, nothing more exciting than knowing that we're part of this divine movement of God.

The three angels' messages lift us from the narrowness of the claustrophobic confines of our own self-inflated importance and they focus us on this enduring purpose for living. I want you to look down at this fascinating statement on page 2. It says, "The 14th chapter of Revelation is a chapter of deepest interest. This scripture soon will be understood in all its bearings."

In other words, even after 1844, there's something broader, deeper, greater to understand in the three angels' messages. It's a message we need to continue to study constantly and compare it with scripture. This scripture will soon be understood in all its bearings. The messages given to John the Revelator will be repeated with distinct utterance.

So there are two aspects of this statement. Number one, the three angels' messages that our early Adventist pioneers taught will provide the foundation for a larger, fuller understanding in the light of the end time. Secondly, that this message will be proclaimed with greater power.

You're going over to page 3. We're going to look at the three angels' messages in their sequence. Now, verse 6 is not some preamble to the message. It's the very heart of it. Notice Revelation 14:6 and 7: "Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people."

So we want to look at those two expressions: the everlasting gospel. The everlasting gospel is not a preamble to the three angels' messages. It's not an add-on to the three angels' messages. The everlasting gospel is at the heart of what these messages are all about. So it says, "I saw another angel flying in heaven with the everlasting gospel."

Notice three things about this message. First, it's urgent. The angel flies in the middle of heaven; he does not float. Second, the gospel is eternal; it's an eternal message. Now, for something to be eternal, it needs two qualities. It needs to be eternal in time and universal in application. So if something is really eternal, it has to be ageless. It has to apply to every generation. Secondly, it has to be universal. It has to be able to speak to every ethnic group, every culture, every nation. So the message is an urgent message, this three angels' message, it's an eternal message, and certainly it is a universal message.

The phrase speaks of the everlasting gospel. We look at two words: the everlasting gospel. And the first question we raise is: what is the gospel? What is the gospel? Paul answers that in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Paul answers what the gospel is.

So this is the message of the everlasting gospel. Of all people, Seventh-day Adventists ought to be at the foremost of lifting up Christ before the world in the context of these three angels' messages. We're looking at 1 Corinthians the 15th chapter. Here Paul defines the gospel.

"Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which you are saved if you hold fast the word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures." He's now defining the gospel. "That He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures."

So what is the gospel? It is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Let's probe that a little more. What is the gospel? It's the revelation of the Christ who dies on the cross and who lives in the sanctuary above. It is the revelation of Jesus as the dying Lamb and the living priest.

What is the gospel? It is the revelation of a Christ that delivers us from the guilt of sin and the grip of sin. Any so-called gospel that deals merely with deliverance from sin's condemnation but not sin's grip is not the fullness of the gospel. The Apostle Paul defines the gospel clearly for us as the death and resurrection of Christ.

Christ dying on the cross is the gospel. Christ's ministry in the sanctuary above is the gospel. The gospel is the incredible good news that through Jesus, the guilt of sin can be gone and through Jesus, the grip of sin can be released. The gospel is the good news that through Jesus, sin's penalty is eradicated on the cross. Romans 8:1, "There is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus, who walk after the spirit and not after the flesh."

So we're delivered from the condemnation of the law, but we're also delivered from the dominion and bondage of sin. So the gospel is the fullness of the gospel, understood by Seventh-day Adventists as unique. It is not only that we're delivered from the guilt of sin, but it's rather that the dominion of sin is broken, the bondage of sin is broken. Not only was Christ crucified for us, but we are crucified with Him.

Guest (Male): You've been listening to Hope Lives 365 with Pastor Mark Finley. We hope you've enjoyed today's message and remind you that you can find more in our many ministry resources at HopeLives365.com. And you can support this ministry by going to HopeLives365.com/donate. And now, a final thought from Pastor Mark.

Mark Finley: As my friend George Vandeman used to tell me, Mark, when I look at myself, there's no way I can be saved. But when I look at Jesus, there's no way I can be lost. Isn't that good news? The judgment is passed in favor of the saints. When individual names come up in judgment, we become Exhibit A's of God's goodness, grace, and His mercy.