Three Angels
And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on 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.” And there followed another angel, saying, “Babylon is fallen, fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of her fornication.”
And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in the forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever, and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receive the mark of his name.”
(Rev 14:6-11)

erhaps the quote above is not the warmest introduction possible, but as you continue to read you may well develop a better opinion of these words. The reason I have chosen this passage to start out with is because of the extreme relevance of the message I present to the world today. Outlined above are several concepts which are absolutely vital to the salvation of mankind as the end of all days approaches. Among these are Creation (“...worship Him that made heaven, and earth...”), avoiding the “city” of Babylon and the state of its inhabitants, refusing to worship the beast and its image, and to never, under any circumstances, receive the mark of its name. The punishment for doing so is the absolute sternest given in all of Scripture, so we know we are dealing with serious business indeed!

In the last days, the church of the living God (to whom I will refer mostly as “Yah” for reasons outlined in my article The Name) is to bear this threefold message of redemption to fallen humanity, so that it may ready itself to face the return of Christ, and to explain the prophecies in books such as Daniel and Revelation for the benefit of “every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” The beasts, the horns, the stars, the winds... all of these have a very definite significance, and understanding these is vital, so “that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.” (Col 1:10)

Another very important concept to the understanding of the world’s state in these last days is the verse directly after the three angels’ message, which says, “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” (Rev 14:12)

What “commandments” are these, then? And why does this verse follow the call of the angels? The reason for this is because all the messages of the angels, from the first to the last, deal with the avoidance of the Beast and Babylon by the gift of Yah’s holy Law, by the reflection of the character of His Son, who came to bring salvation.

The 10 commandments, written on stone tablets and given to Moses as a sign between Yah and Israel for all time, is a particularly controverted point in the Christian world today. Note, though, that it was the tablets, we may even say the Law in a sense, given to Moses as a covenant, not the principles behind them. Genesis makes it plain enough that the decalogue was no new, startling revelation to the Israelites, but were standards of righteousness from the creation of the world right down to the exodus from Egypt. This is covered in an article called Before Sinai. Now, most Christians don’t have any problem with the Law at all, to tell the truth. They are merely inconsistent on one basic point. While still claiming it is forbidden to kill, steal etc, they hold that the Law’s principles are no longer binding because of one specific article: that of the Sabbath, the 4th commandment.

Of course, Satan’s charge against commandment-keepers has always been that they are legalistic, attempting to be justified by works. The article mentioned above, however, and several essays herein attempt to explain that this is not the case. It is not by observance of an outward form that anyone is saved. When one accepts Christ Yahshua, the Law of love is engraved upon his/her heart, and obedience becomes a part of this individual’s very nature. This blessed state is called The Victory, and is really the central theme of the site – as you read, you will see it mentioned just about everywhere. All else (commandment keeping, sanctification, even eternal life) are just the inevitable results of the life of triumph lived in union with the Son of Yah. The point has always been to know Him, for “let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these I delight, saith the LORD.” (Jer 9:24)

I go into this in some depth in a series of articles called the Sabbath Rest Principle (parts a, b and c), starting with the first, which is an introductory essay called “The Riddle of The Nine.” After reading these, what follows here will be made clearer. If you choose to continue reading here before continuing on to the articles, keep this verse in mind as you go: “For whosoever shall keep the whole Law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” (James 2:10) For those who believe this Law is not the same as the decalogue, James even obliges to give two examples. Verse 11 continues: “For He that said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ said also, ‘Do not kill.’ Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor.” We must therefore do all things “heartily, as to the Lord,” as the Scripture says.

For now, let us say that there IS a church that has been entrusted with the three angels’ message, including the Sabbath Day doctrine, and for the past hundred and fifty years it has been endeavoring to do just what it was called forth to do – proclaim the Gospel to fallen humanity, and prepare itself for the return of our Lord. The name of this church embraces all these principles.

Seventh Day Adventists, by definition of the name, are those who keep the Sabbath (7th Day) and await the return (Advent) of Yahshua (Jesus the Christ).

From its founding by William Miller in the 1800s, this organization has carried forth the holy mission of teaching repentance of sins, and baptism of water and the Holy Spirit, and a return to holy principles of living that the apostle Paul (for just one example) was eternally questing to uphold and encourage. Had they continued to do this, the True Gospel would have assuredly reached the four corners of the world, and humanity would have been prepared for the renewal of the earth. Unfortunately, they too ingested pagan errors and, falling away from what they previously believed, they found themselves in dire straits.

Unwilling to repent of their wrongdoing and cry out to Yahshua for a reparation of the problem, they instead chose to unite with a civil institution. By trademarking the name “Seventh Day Adventist,” they sought to protect their title and reputation. However, in doing this outwardly praiseworthy act, they in fact broke a sacred and vital trust, made clear in the words of Paul, as he wrote, “Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust and not before the saints?” (1 Cor 6:1)

In fact, he goes on for several verses thereafter explaining the inherent wrongness of taking a religious matter to civil court. Within the SDA church itself, the writings of its very founders condemned the practice; Ellen G. White and Alonzo T. Jones to name just two. All of this is by way of introduction, for in the next link (A Fourth Angel), the specific issues are explained a little more clearly, with evidence from both Scripture and early church writings to back it up, so that you will be prepared for reading the remaining articles of this site, wherein lie the true spiritual “meat” of the matter.

For now, let me just give another quote from John’s Revelation. Chapter 18 begins, “And after all 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.” This fourth angel (the last of the flying creatures) comes to earth and declares Babylon to be a cage; a cage in which is imprisoned every unclean and hateful bird.

The original “three angels,” the SDA church, has in this manner crashed, and is imprisoned. The purpose of the fourth is to redeem the message, “and the earth was lightened with his glory.”

May Yahshua’s grace be upon you, as you continue to read of the horrors of this sinful age, this Nightmare Babylon, and of the infinite mercy of the One who seeks to save us from all suffering.

~David P. Aguilar~

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