We live in a jaded world – for the most part, a post-Christian world. Even within the church, we find apathy and lethargy. Many people are not energized by their faith in God, which is a fulfillment of the statement Jesus made in Revelation 3 in addressing the church of the last days, “I know your works,” Jesus says, “that you neither cold nor hot, I could wish you were cold or hot.
So then, because you were lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth.” Jesus described the last-day church as “wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked” (Rev. 3:15-17). Yet this jaded world sits, as it were, in the shadow of a mountain that has been rumbling for six thousand years, frequently erupting, and causing catastrophe damage. There is a great war between good and evil that is raging and as Bible-believing Christians, the choice we make in this life determines where we will stand. Furthermore, the devil’s strategy from the beginning is to disrupt God’s redemptive work to Save lost humanity.
The good news is that God has a message that He has given to His church to proclaim to the world before Jesus comes. This is the three angel’s Message in Revelation 14.
Throughout Christian history, God raised His messengers for the proclamation of this prophetic truth to the world.
The message contains the good news of God’s saving grace, exposes the plans of the devil and the impending conflict, and warns us of God’s coming judgment.
In our time, the proclamation of God’s end-time message is more urgent than ever!
The testimony of Scripture is that Earth’s most challenging days are still ahead. There is coming “a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation” (Daniel 12:1). An “image to the beast” will be “granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed” (Rev. 13:14-15).
The “wine of the wrath of God” will be “poured out full strength” upon the earth (Rev. 14:10), and when Jesus returns to the world, the eternal destiny of all humanity will be finally and forever decided.
The “unjust” and “filthy” are declared to be irredeemably so, while the “righteous” and “holy” will remain united with the God of heaven for as long as time shall last (See. Rev. 22:11).
Yet for all the challenges presented in earth’s final days, Jesus was clear that “this gospel of the kingdom with be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, and then the end will come” (Math. 24:14).
He commissioned the early church to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit” (Math. 28:19).
And instructed a people that had endured the profound disappointment to “prophecy again” (Rev. 10:11).
Despite what appears to be an overwhelming tide of sin, cynicism, and secularism, the whole of humanity is going to be confronted by the claims of the gospel when the messages of Revelation 14’s
three angels to go “to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people” (Rev. 14:6).
Jesus has charged the church with the responsibility and the privilege of preaching the gospel to the world.
It is crucial to recognize that the preaching of the gospel to the world is not merely transmitting information; artificial intelligence could never complete the work. If the proclamation of the three angel’s messages were simply a matter of exposing someone to the truth, a comprehensive direct email campaign could get the work done in days or weeks.
Instead, Christ intends that his followers be used as vessels of not only information but light. Sharing the gospel will only be effective if the messengers share information and also the character of Jesus. The work of preparing the world for the return of Jesus is one with preparing the church for the same event.
In Revelation’s last, desperate cry to a world mired in opposition to God, a message comes “down from heaven, having great authority.”
Tellingly, the Bible says that “the earth was illuminated with his glory” (Rev. 18:1). The possible interpretation of this is that the earth will be lit up with a revelation of the character of God, manifested in the person of those sharing God’s end-time-message!
The three angel’s messages comprise “the everlasting gospel” (Rev. 14:6). It is imperative to remember that the remnant has not been commissioned to speak merely of judgment, days, systems, and false worship.
As important as those details are, it must never be forgotten that the church in earth’s last days has been mandated by God to proclaim the gospel, which has always been and will always be the powerful message of a perfect savior and the gift of full salvation for lost humanity.
The divine son of God came to the earth as a man, lived an obedient life, died for the sins of the world, rose from the tomb, and ascended to heaven to intercede for the human race as a heavenly High priest.
The apostle Paul explained the gospel in this way when writing to the church at Corinth: “…
Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve” (1 Cor. 15:3-5).
Emphasizing the gospel message is not antithetical to the proclamation of the prophetic message God has given his church.
Our prophetic focus should never cause us to forget that the mission of the church is to proclaim the everlasting gospel. In truth, the message of the gospel reaches a crescendo in the heart of the third angel’s message.
The Message of Justification by faith is the third angel’s message in verity. Possessing vital, last-day truths such as the investigative judgment, the Sabbath, the state of the dead, the identity of the anti-christ, or the correct understanding of the mark of the beast should never lead us to minimize the powerful, foundational truth of the gospel, that “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3). Hanging on the cross, Christ was the gospel.
Simultaneously, an emphasis on the gospel should not lead to a deemphasis on the prophetic message. The Christ of the cross is the Christ of Revelation. The judgment of Daniel 8 or Revelation 14 is the judgment in the heavenly sanctuary. The Jesus who healed the sick and raised the dead during His earthly ministry is the same Jesus who will return to the earth to raise the dead at the time of the Second Coming.
Any attempt to present Jesus while neglecting or downplaying the vitally important prophetic message of the bible will be just as unsuccessful as sharing a prophetic message devoid of the gospel. Both approaches are doomed to fail. God is calling His people to rediscover the power of the gospel and the prophetic messages, so that we may effectively share the true gospel message for this time.
Furthermore, If God’s people are to preach the gospel to the world, they must first experience the gospel. The pen of inspiration beautifully summed up the experience of the Gospel:
“All true obedience comes from the heart. It was heart work with Christ. And if we consent, He will so identify Himself with our thoughts and aims, so blend our hearts and minds in conformity to His will, that when obeying Him we shall be but carrying out our own impulses. The will, refined and sanctified, will find its highest delight in doing His service. When we know God as it is our privilege to know Him, our life will be a life of continual communion with God, sin will become hateful to us” (EGW, Desire of Ages, p. 668).
Undoubtedly, taking the gospel to the world is a vast and challenging task. But while we “Wrestle…against principalities, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12), we do not wrestle alone. The Holy Spirit has been made available to all who would ask God for this precious gift (Luke 11:13).
The bible assures us that God will pour out the Holy Spirit like the latter rain, which prepared Middle Eastern fields for harvest in Bible times (Deut. 11:4; Joel 2:23; Zech. 10:1).
As noted earlier, Jesus himself assured us that “this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations (Math. 24:14). The surest thing in the world is that the gospel message will go to earth’s remotest bounds. That it has not yet done so is not a commentary on God’s willingness to pour out His Holy Spirit but on the church’s willingness to live and proclaim the message of righteousness by faith.
God has invited us to share the gospel of Jesus Christ in the context of the three angels’ messages. We have been instructed to proclaim the righteousness of a mighty, life-changing Christ, which purifies the believer while connecting him or her to an all-powerful savior.
The church cannot waste this time in apathy and atrophy due to inactivity. The Gospel will go to the world, and our privilege is to be on the front lines sharing Jesus.
We must now reach the world, knowing that God has promised us success in our mission-or die trying!
God looks to every member of the church to take hold of the gospel commission. God has called every
individual to participate in this privileged work. Jesus spoke of the man who went to a faraway country and gave “to each his work” (Mark 13:34). Though the number of talents may differ from person to person (Math. 25:15), each one is called to share Jesus with others. Jesus made clear that while there is no shortage of people to reach, the challenge we face is a scarcity of laborers.
“The harvest truly is great,” Jesus said, “but the laborers are few” (Luke 10:2). Prayers should always be ascending, asking God to give us opportunities to share Jesus with those who- whether they realize it or not- are searching for Christ.
I pray that you and I can be the messenger of God’s end-time message today in whatever form he has entrusted to us. His promised presence will be with us.
His light of truth will guide us through the darker days ahead! Blessed are the feet of those who carry the three angels’ message to all the world!
Maranatha.
By Pr. David Filo
Seventh Day-Adventist Church
Solomon Islands
