New Moon Transcript of CSDA Church

Three Angels and The Gospel Message (Part 2)

Contents

Review

Zahakiel: Brother Luke, can you open the study with a prayer?

Qinael: Our most holy and loving Father,

We thank you for this opportunity to gather together. Though far apart physically, we are one in Spirit in your Son.

We pray that selfsame Spirit enlighten our hearts to receive a special blessing from You. In the name of Yahshua we pray, amen.

Barb: Amen.
Naraiel: Amen.
Guerline: Amen.
Peterson: Amen.
Crystle: Amen.

Zahakiel: Today we are going to be concluding last month’s study, entitled “Three Angels and The Gospel Message.” By way of summary, we planned to look at the three angels of Revelation, from three different angles.

The first is the traditional interpretation used by mainstream Seventh-day Adventists, that of the message from Heaven that gathers the 144,000. We looked at the reasons why that works, considering the common symbols of prophecy in Daniel and Revelation, and also John’s style of writing.

The second is an expansion of this message into what I consider to be the Three Pillars of the CSDA Church. We got about 2/3 of the way with that one.

Today we are going to finish that section, and conclude with the third aspect of the message in Revelation 14 – what the Gospel is, and why this Rev 14 message is called “The Everlasting Gospel.”

We will begin this study by reading the passage, just as we did last time:

“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.’

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.’

And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.’” (Rev 14:6-12)

Say when you have read that.

Peterson: Done.
Qinael: Finished.
Crystle: Finished.
Barb: Finished.
Naraiel: Done.

Zahakiel: In the second part of last month’s study we began to look at how these three messages relate first to Victory, and then to Purity.

We saw that the first angel speaks of praising Yahweh, for the hour of His judgment is come, and then we looked at a number of passages such as Psa 88:10 and Isa 39:18, 19 that point out the state in which an individual must be in order to legitimately “praise” Yahweh. We must be spiritually alive, and not, as another verse says, “dead in trespasses and sins,” (Eph 2:1) which is the state of anyone who has not yet been “born again.” The previous life is “death” in sins, and therefore we must be born again. This choice of wording is not a coincidence, for spiritual life can only begin with a conception of that new life, which then “comes forth” into the world at birth. In other words, until we are born again, we are not spiritually alive, and cannot truly (in accordance with a perfect following of the Lamb) praise the Almighty. While this is probably a review for most of us, are there any questions in this one? This is how we arrived at the first pillar, the first angel teaches Victory over sin as a necessary part of the last-day Christian experience.

Qinael: No, no questions here.
Barb: No.
Ye: No.

Zahakiel: Now an interesting, and perhaps useful, side note… our ministry once learned of a group of people whom we met that teach a version of the Victory that is not the same as ours, and that allows for willful sin in this life on earth. The twist they put on the “born again” verses such as 1John 3:9 is that before there is birth, there must be conception. It is true that when we are born again we do not commit sin, they say, but this birth only takes place when Christ returns. Before that we are merely “in the womb” while waiting for Him, and therefore not fully “born” again.

But there are a few things wrong with that doctrine. First, Christ tells us we must be born again before we can even see the Kingdom, (John 3:3) but we know that we “enter” that Kingdom while yet here on earth. (Col 1:13) Second, even if what they teach is true, and we must wait for the return of Yahshua to be considered fully “born,” this still does not work as an allowance for sin. If we are conceived we do have life, and if we are conceived again that life is the new life. And further, if Christ is our example, then we must understand that He was “conceived […] of the Holy Ghost,” (Mat 1:20) and not just born in that manner. John the Baptist was filled with that Spirit from the womb. (Luke 1:15)

Of the second pillar, we next read of “Babylon falling,” and showed that Babylon is a state of confusion. When applied spiritually, it speaks of Romanism (since she is described by John as Babylon: Mother of Harlots – Rev 17:5, and so described by Peter in his letter) and those churches that have not shaken free of her errors and transgressions.

We didn’t look at this last month, but a Scripture that is relevant to the idea of a Church needing to be spiritually pure is this one: “And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, ‘We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.’” (Isa 4:1) In countering the idea that many independent ministries and “loose atoms” hold very dearly, we demonstrate that Yahweh created marriage as a symbol of the union between Himself and His Son, and also His Son and the Church, the “Bride” of Yahshua. (Eph 5:23) In this, He gives the pattern of what marriage is, in the eyes of the Godhead: “And He answered and said unto them, ‘Have ye not read, that He which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?’” (Mat 19:4, 5)

Marriage is uniformly defined in the Scriptures as being a sacred relationship between one man and one woman. Seen in the context of Isaiah 4:1, we see these “women,” all different, all with their own bread (for sustenance) and apparel (for appearance) who simply wish to take the name of the husband. And we can draw a strong parallel between that passage and the state of modern Christendom. There is not a single doctrine I can think of – not one – that is not taught in at least two conflicting ways by at least two branches of something called Christianity. This cannot possibly have been the purpose of the Father in sending the Son, and later the Holy Spirit. Christ has but one Bride, and she shares a like Spirit with Him.

A couple years ago, our pastor and I attended a Sabbathkeeper’s conference in Kentucky. Sister Daphna, who doesn’t live very far away, drove down and joined us. We sat in on a number of talks and workshop-type presentations, some of which were good, and some of which were pretty bad. We met with people when we could and spoke of the Victory, to which we got some of the typical responses: people couldn’t argue with the Scriptures, said it was interesting and at least somewhat true, promised to get back to us and never did. That’s the usual way of it. But one of the things we sought to do was to meet with the directors of the group and see if we could speak to them about opening up a dialogue so we could perhaps find common ground to unify in the Gospel work.

If they erred, let them confess it and come into conformity with the truth. And we, as always, have committed to doing the same at all times anyway. We spoke of the non-Trinitarian nature of the Godhead, which they seemed to understand (some had already become non-Trinitarian). We spoke of Ellen White’s inspiration, and nobody had much of an objection even to that (rather surprisingly). But, it was interesting, when we began to speak of the unity of the Body, of coming together, as Christ prayed in John 17, that was when we got… not really opposition, but a manifest loss of interest. The main organizer of the meetings told us openly, he didn’t have a burden for unity that we seemed to have. While it sounded nice in principle, he wasn’t going to invest the time in seeing that the Bride of Christ was truly one.

Now for us, and we can have a study on this, we know that the main purpose for Christ sending the Holy Spirit after His departure was to unify and expand the Kingdom. And we would have to say, based on those verses, that anyone who is filled with that Spirit will do the works of that Spirit. But it seems that the individuals in that movement have allowed such a diversity of “opinions” within their churches to take the place of a plain “Thus saith the Lord,” that they are now facing a near-impossible task if they did wish to become a unified… well, let me speak plainly, the Bride of Christ IS One, and therefore if they wished to be the Bride of Christ, they would have to come into unity. But because of the doctrinal diversity, I do not believe that will ever happen for that particular group of people. At least, not as a group.

We will talk about the importance of unity in a moment, but what I would like to point out here is the danger of letting any kind of doctrinal deviation become “acceptable.” To clarify that, we are not talking about everyone having exactly the same opinion on matters of preference and personal taste. But what we are talking about is a standard of truth that, while it may grow and develop as the light becomes brighter, will never conflict with the light that came before, except that we expose some misconception that existed in the Body. This is what leads us all closer to the perfection of character for which we are reaching.

When Babylon falls, as it says in Revelation 18, it is time for the people to flee. When the errors and failings of a Church become so bad that they lose faith in the Son of God completely, turning to human power for the defense of their doctrines, and making a new “marriage” with some other husband, the Scriptures tell us plainly that this is a woman under judgment, and that those who are under her authority must flee, lest they partake of her just punishment. They have “enshrined” those errors, and made it a part of their corporate identity, sealing that pact by uniting in that condition with another spiritually significant entity.

We need to be able to identify Babylon, a state of spiritual confusion, and to be innocent of such contradictory and contrary women. The 144,000 are such as do exactly this, and therefore Purity of doctrine must be another central pillar of our most precious faith.

This is about where we ended last time. Are there any questions on this recap so far?

Peterson: No.
Qinael: No, none here.
Galiel: No.
Ye: No.
Barb: No.
Crystle: None. Thank you for the recap though.
Tain: No.

Zahakiel: The third part of section two, then, and let us refresh ourselves on the passage in question:

This has been described as the sternest warning in the entire Bible. And it’s rightly so called, and rightly placed, because it forms a part of the human race’s last chance to turn away from the elements of Satan in the world, and toward salvation. But what does it mean to us? First, we must be able to identify what the Beast and his image is. Without a very long Bible study, which most of us have seen before, we can quickly establish that a “beast” in prophecy is a king and his kingdom. We read from Daniel, another key prophetic work: “I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things, ‘These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.’” (Dan 7:15-17) The rest of the chapter has him describing the kingdoms of Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece and finally Rome, the last kingdom in the Old World before the spiritual kingdom of Christ began to go forth in the earth.

In prophecy, the Serpent or Dragon is Satan. This is outright defined for us: “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (Rev 12:9) But he does not appear to human beings with horns and red spandex and say, “I am here to deceive you.” In fact, he very rarely appears at all. He works much more subtly than that, as Paul warned the congregations. (2Cor 11:3) He works through organizations, through men, through kingdoms.

The specific Beasts of revelation, which become enemies of the saints, get their power directly from the Dragon, (Rev 13:4) and then they attempt to cause people to worship that Dragon. Satan gives his power, his deceptions, to men, to kingdoms of men, to organizations and governments… and thus attempts to receive worship from humanity by having them turn away from Yahweh by the power of these things.

And right when John is describing the beasts, he breaks away from the vision and says something that appears, at least at first, to be out of place. We read, “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship [the first beast], whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear.

He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

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 13:8-11)

Right between describing the two beasts, John draws us aside, as it were, and says that part about those who take up the sword will, themselves, be destroyed by the sword, and then he tells us that this is the patience and faith of the saints. The saints, you see, understand the law of cause and effect, as it’s written, “Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him.” (Pro 26:27) The beasts will be destroyed by their own evil. Whatsoever human, group of humans, or power of humans, attempts to stand up against the bearers of the Gospel, it will fall by its own devices. But this also tells us something about the methods that these satanic agencies will use to produce worship of the Dragon: Force.

What we are ultimately faced with in this life, whether we deal with it in the context of the Gospel or not, is the choice between love and force. And all sin, all fear, all coercion, all deception, is really a kind of force, because what it does is it causes us to act against our will. A gun or a threat can accomplish the same thing; it inspires actions contrary to an individual’s desire. Love, on the other hand, works by shaping the desires, so that what is done is done willingly, and this is the kind of service, as I mentioned in my study a few Sabbaths ago, that has true value in Yahweh’s eyes.

This is why we are called to avoid the Mark of the Beast, because by accepting this mark, what we would be saying is that we have come to accept the operating principles of this world. Currently, these are under the power of Satan, who rules by means of the various “beasts” that he raises up. This is why Satan is called, without too much exaggeration, “the god of this world.” (2Cor 4:4)

We have the example set before us with such reformers as Martin Luther. They saw the errors of the Church in their day, and what they really saw, with their spiritual eyes, was “a woman riding a beast,” as John did. They saw a Church that had united with the beasts, with the principles of the “god of this world” in human form, and was either exploiting the world, or being exploited BY the world, and this caused them to “protest,” hence the name that we as Christians bear to this day: Protestants.

You see, the Gospel is not something that we simply receive and sit on. It is not something that remains inside of us; if the Gospel is present with us, it will make itself known in our words and actions. As James said, “I will shew thee my faith by my works.” (James 2:18b) And a part of this involves not only saying pleasant words, but also at times very straight and directed ones. This is one of the things that we, as CSDAs, must do, speak out against falsehood, as a part of the very “Good News” that we have received from Christ. Look at His own example when faced with the Sadducees and Pharisees, and you will understand perfectly what I mean by this.

Christ came to spread the Gospel, the message of Salvation, but in order to do that, at times He had to pronounce some “woes” on those who would distract, denounce, and even oppose His message. His followers were called to protest the restrictions to their liberty, suffering whippings, imprisonment, even death, because they were told, “Do not preach in that name,” or “Do not preach in this place,” or “Do not teach these specific things.” But they continued to do so, for this is what the Spirit drove them to do; and again, by working through love and not Force, Yahweh did not compel them to peach against their will. Instead, they willingly cooperated with the divine agencies in order to do the work of Heaven.

In this, we must do exactly the same. In order to be Protestants, to be Christians, those with Martin Luther needed to stand against the restrictions to religious liberty imposed upon the true-hearted by the Roman Church. In order to be Protestants, in order to be Christians, the Seventh-day Adventists in the 1800s needed to stand against the restrictions to religious liberty imposed upon the true-hearted by the Sunday-keeping Churches regarding the Sunday-laws. And you see, the Sunday Law proposition was a lot more subtle than was the persecution being carried out by pagan Rome. And… in order to be Protestants, in order to be Christians, the Creation Seventh Day Adventists need to stand against the restrictions to religious liberty imposed upon the saints by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists concerning their trademark, their claim to human ownership, on the property of God, the name that He gave us as a testimony to the last generation.

But notice, this is how Satan works… in each case the persecution is only against a few people. That much remains constant. For Christians, the first persecution under Rome seems like “a big deal” compared to the persecution today, because every educated Christian in the world has been taught about those things that happened to those few men. So, the news of it went to the whole world… but in reality it did not affect (relatively speaking) a great number of individuals. But as I said, that much is constant. Where Satan’s true deception comes in is the way in which he refines the persecution to make it harder to detect.

His desire to see Christians and the Gospel message crushed is not weaker than it was in Roman times. In fact, as his time draws to a close we read, “the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” (Rev 12:12) That being the case, why is it that we don’t see armored soldiers riding through the streets on horseback with swords intended for faithful necks? There are two reasons. First, there aren’t that many Christians these days who pose an actual threat to the kingdom of hell. Their faith is weak, unstable, and they cannot stand against sin. In other words, Satan already has them “safely” tucked away. And second, if he were to use the same approach as he did before, even the most worldly mind would recognize it for what it was. Thus, he has had to be more cunning. First, he changed the form of persecution to be a matter of “fines and imprisonment” and not exile or death. But that is just as effective in many cases at silencing the voice of protest. And in these last days, the persecution is a matter of “fines and imprisonment,” but it is not even now about something physical! It is about “intellectual property,” which, while it manifests itself as something physical (Bibles, Church names, religious observances) it is now almost purely a spiritual distinction between those who accept the ways in which the Beast works and the ways in which Heaven operates. Do you see what I mean by this?

Qinael: <nods.>
Ye: Yes.
Naraiel: Yes.
Barb: Yes.
Galiel: Yes.
Crystle: Yes.

Zahakiel: So this is the reason why we do as we do and say what we say. This is the reason why, despite the ruling of secular courts, we must be true to the instructions God gave to us, for if we – by silence or compromise – once allow the civil authorities to decide for us who the true SDAs are, who the true Christians are, we ourselves would be going along with the Beast, led to destruction by our outstretched hands.

And in this protest, we must be perfectly united! This is the subtlety that the groups such as the Sabbath keepers in Kentucky just do not, or will not, see. Protesting the mark of the beast requires a unity of the Body, a unity of judgment, and desire, and purpose. For even the protest is a part of the Gospel. If we do not do this, we do not HAVE a message of salvation, for we teach another kind of doctrine that allows the minds of men and demons to have a controlling influence on our decisions as a people. And, I tell you plainly, when fallen minds control your Church, they will surely then have the authority in the spirit to control your Church members. This is a solemn thought. And in short, there can BE no Gospel within an organization that has sold its soul to this world, to the beasts that operate under Satan’s principles. Christ understood this, which is why it was necessary for His Church to be a completely distinct body of people, and not just the newest sect of Judaism.

This is why, in our understanding of the Three Angels' Message, that third angel is a call for Unity of all believers. Questions or comments at this point?

Naraiel: No.
Ye: No.
Qinael: No.
Barb: No.
Galiel: No.
Crystle: No.

The Good News

Zahakiel: Now, the third part of our study today deals with why this is all good news. First a reminder that the word “Gospel” from the Greek language is euaggelion, and it means “good news.” How is the Three Angels’ Message “good news?”

Well, the first message speaks of praising Yahweh, and for the Christian that’s scarcely an unwelcome instruction. But as we have seen the implications of this as we expound the doctrine, that we must have and claim a complete victory over sin, we come to understand the “judgment” that has come to earth in an entirely new light. Judgment is not something the Scriptures speak of to be feared by the faithful. We read, for example, the first mention of the word when Yahweh is speaking of Abraham:

“For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of Yahweh, to do justice and judgment; that Yahweh may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken of him.” (Gen 18:19) The Father in Heaven will say that about everyone who lives in this last generation, purifying himself and herself in the hope of Yahshua’s soon return. But it says that those faithful of Abraham’s house will do “judgment,” and therefore will deal fairly and well with all whom they encounter.

We have a couple more examples:

“And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial before Yahweh continually.” (Exo 28:29)

“The just Yahweh is in the midst thereof; He will not do iniquity: every morning doth He bring His judgment to light, He faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame.” (Zeph 3:5)

Of Christ, Matthew uses this prophecy, “A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, till He send forth judgment unto victory.” (Mat 12:20)

Now that last is an interesting one, “judgment unto victory.” Because of Yahshua’s judgment, His way of deciding right and wrong, His consistent choosing of the right, He won for us a victory over sin, and self, and Satan. And, I think I mentioned this to someone in the past week, if we truly understand victory, this is the best of news indeed. In Christianity is it commonly taught that we may have “victory over sin,” but one of the ways of looking at the difference between their doctrines and the Biblical one is the matter of plurality. By this I mean, modern Christianity may teach, “We may have victories over some sins, some victories will be total, some partial, and some maybe not at all.” And even if they use the word “victory,” they are speaking of “victories,” because they are focusing on individual acts of overcoming (or, in their case, being overcome) rather than a finished work of divinity.

For us, there is one Victory. Now this one Victory may manifest itself in a series of “victories” over individual incidents, and temptations. But if we are participating in Victory, this is a state of the life, and not a series of acts. It’s interesting, but true Seventh-day Adventism (as taught by the CSDA Church) is one of the few movements that actually teaches justification by faith, and not by works. As much as Adventism is criticized for its focus on “works,” we are the only Body that actually explains that the justification comes by faith. Now, some may say, “We teach justification by faith, we don’t care about the works.” And that’s the problem. They don’t care about the works, so while they may claim a faith, they are not “justified,” (i.e., made just) by that faith.

Does everyone see what I mean by that?

Qinael: <nods.> Yeah.
Ye: Yes.
Peterson: Yes.
Barb: Yes.
Naraiel: Yes.
Crystle: Yes.

Zahakiel: We are justified by our faith, and as a result of being justified – made just – we participate in sanctifying “works” that we may draw closer to Christ in character. In the mainstream modern religions, they claim to have faith, but do not participate in Christ’s single, perfect victory to make them justified. Nor do they care about the acts of faith so clearly set forth in the Word, and do not move forward in sanctification either (assuming it were even possible without justification first).

But if we do participate in that victory, then we have the promise (often claimed before the victory is claimed), “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one.” (John 10:27-30) And how is it that the sheep follow Christ, and I mean the true Sheep? It must be perfectly, for we read that this is how the Lamb is followed: “whithersoever He goeth.”

So, Yahshua’s judgment brings before us the urgency of the time in which we are living. Our response to it, to come alive and praise Yahweh, means that for us the judgment is not something to fear, or to avoid. Judgment for the righteous, as we mentioned in one of our last sessions at the Feast, is “good news” on two levels. First, on a personal level, judgment allows us to identify those things displeasing to the Father, and to put them away by His power and in the context of His longsuffering and grace. Second, on a larger scale, it is judgment that destroys sin, and which allows for the fulfillment of this promise: “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away.” (Rev 21:4)

This can only be accomplished through a process of judgment, as read, “The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” (Mat 13:41-43)

So many are waiting for Christ to return and “fix” things; but Yahshua’s return will only fix the outside world by bringing the global judgment. Even before those who work iniquity are cast into the fire, they are first “gathered.” The angels are going forth doing a work of “judgment” that separates the wheat from the tares, identifying those that love Yahweh and do His commandments, and those who do not love Him. And we have come to understand that the separating work is actually manifest in the physical world through the testimony that we bear OF that judgment and OF that victory over sin that is necessary to stand in the judgment. In other words, how people respond to the Victory determines whether or not they love Yahweh, for if they love Him and hate sin, this will be “good news” that they were miseducated, and it is possible to live in full harmony with their Savior. On the other hand, if they love sin they hate God as He truly is (whether or not they even realize it!) and even if they claim to hate sin, if they do not jump at the chance to put it away from themselves forever, their hatred is hollow and their love of God not made perfect.

For such as this, judgment is a fearful thing, for they are the ones who must be gathered and put away before the universe can be a perfectly joyful place. Are there questions here?

Galiel: None.
Crystle: No.
Ye: No.
Qinael: No.
Barb: No.
Peterson: No.

Now the second angel… just as the expansion was brief, so may our understanding of the “good news” of it be brief. I gave a New Moon study entitled “To Whom Ye Yield,” in November of 2005 that described the specific effects upon the soul that false doctrines have. To mention a few, the false doctrine of eternal torture in “hell,” gives an impression of Yahweh that cannot conceivably be described as “just,” and it makes of His own testimony of Himself a liar. Those who accept this doctrine must resort to some very bizarre justifications in order to speak of God in a loving manner (often involving setting His mind as an alien thing, entirely unlike the mind in whose image we ourselves were created). This has a greatly negative effect on the testimony they give to others – not to mention those who are seeking to learn about the faith. The doctrine of the Trinity has a third Person filling us when we become born again, which warps the idea of the loving and gentle cooperation that we must hold with the Father and Son. In my mind, this teaching subtle, but significantly, makes the Victory a more difficult concept to accept and live out. The doctrine of Once Saved Always Saved, as it is commonly used, provides license – however it is downplayed –for all manner of offensive lifestyles under the name of Christ.

The full details of these are found in that study, so please do review it if you are curious about how those, and a number of other connections, are made.

But it is “good news” that Babylon falls, that the confusion and errors of Christendom are exposed openly to the spiritual mind, and we are warned by our loving Father to flee the scene of the spiritual crimes before the judgment mentioned by the first angel falls upon it as destruction. Any commentary or questions about that?

Qinael: No.
Ye: No.
Peterson: No.
Guerline: No.
Naraiel: No.

Zahakiel: Then finally, how is it good news that we receive such a stern warning about the Mark of The Beast? It is because, to accept the mark of the beast means to either accept Satan’s thinking on the way Churches and states should be run, or to merely go along with it, and thus NOT escape fallen Babylon, therefore receiving the plagues intended for her. The warning is a stern one, in other words, because the penalties are about to fall, and if the wording were not so striking, many souls would miss it amidst the many and various warnings that do not directly apply to these last days. The Scriptures contain many warnings against unfaithful people, but this is the very last one, a last-ditch effort to awaken those of Laodicean mindsets, that they may see their great and terrible need to be saved – and I include those who are comfortable in their cushioned pews, and their weekly sermons that do not stir the heart to repentance, or press upon them the spiritual needs of those around them. A sermon preached under the 3rd Angel’s message must be a fierce one. I do not say it must always be to the level of "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" a very famous fire-and-brimstome study by Jonathan Edwards that actually has its own Wikipedia page. But it must certainly fulfill all that a prophet’s task must fulfill, to speak for Yahweh, and to lead men and women to a solemn review of their lives, and thereby to repentance and labor in the fields.

And in another sense, it is very “good news” that Yahweh does not just call people out from apostate organizations only to leave them wandering around aimlessly. By having a united, Protestant body of born-again believers that are actively and intensely seeking Heaven, Yahweh has created a “resting place” for the faithful. If the message taught by this Church is properly understood, those who love Yahweh will see that it is not about finding a Church that fits them, or something that is “close enough,” but that there is a community led by the Lamb, whose work is to sanctify itself and lead others along the way, and whose destination is the New Jerusalem. The Third Angel’s Message, with its warning of protest against the Mark of The Beast is really a rallying cry that gathers together all who love Yahweh, and who therefore hate the works of the Beast, into one body, one unified voice, one “loud cry,” and therefore whosoever will can find them, and be as one with them, and thus with the Son, and thus with the Father. “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3) This is all very good news.

Are there any questions before we close?

Qinael: None here.
Naraiel: No.
Barb: No.
Crystle: No.
Galiel: No.
Ye: No.
Peterson: No.

Zahakiel: Ok. Brother Peter, will you offer the closing prayer?

Happy Rock: Ok.

Our Father in Heaven,

We thank you for such a truth as this for our time. We thank you for you love that you have extended to us in these last days with you warnings for us that we can be ready for the coming of you loving Son.

May we, through the power and might of you Son, accept these messages that you have given through your servants as they minister to the world, we pray in the name of Yahshua. Amen.

Naraiel: Amen.

Zahakiel: Amen.

Guerline: Amen.

Crystle: Amen.

Qinael: Amen.

Ye: Amen.

Peterson: Amen.

Barb: Amen.