God has raised up a last-day people to stand on the shoulders of the great Reformers of the past with the Bible as their only creed, Christ alone as their only source of salvation, the Holy Spirit as their only source of strength, and the return of our Lord as the consummation of all their hopes. Truths long obscured by the darkness of error and tradition, including the true Bible Sabbath, will be proclaimed to the world just before the return of our Lord.
The three angels’ messages gave birth to this last-day movement to complete the Reformation and to participate with Christ in finishing His work on earth.
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The great prophecies of the Bible’s last book reveal a divine movement of destiny arising out of disappointment to proclaim God’s final message to the world. Revelation chapter 14 describes a worldwide church spanning the globe with the good news of the eternal gospel.
The three angels of Revelation chapter 14 are joined by a fourth angel in Revelation chapter 18. This angel gives power to the proclamation of the three angels so that the “earth [is] lightened with [God’s] glory” (Revelation 18:1). Chapter 18 focuses on the major events leading up to the climax of human history and the final, ultimate triumph of the gospel.
Read Revelation 18:1. What three things does John tell us about this angel? (See also Habakkuk 2:14.)
The angel who comes down from the glorious presence of God in the throne room of the sanctuary was commissioned to proclaim God’s last message of mercy and to warn the inhabitants of the earth of what is coming upon planet Earth.
The text says that the angel comes with “great authority” (Revelation 18:1, NKJV). The New Testament Greek word for “authority” is exousia. Jesus uses this word in the Gospel of Matthew in harmony with the sending out of His disciples. In Matthew 10:1, Jesus gives His disciples “authority” (NIV) over the principalities and powers of evil. He sends them out with the divine power to be victorious in the battle between good and evil. In Matthew 28:18-19, He once again sends them out, but this time with “all authority” in heaven and on earth to go and “make disciples of all the nations” (NKJV).
| Ultimately, how do the issues in the last days (as they really do every day) come down to authority? Whose authority do we follow: God’s, our own, the beast power’s, or someone else’s? Whose authority are you following now? |
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