Revelation 14:6 "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, 7 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.
8 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.
9 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,"
Exodus 31:13 "Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you."
A most solemn and important work is to be done in our world by God’s people. This work is represented by the third angel flying in the midst of heaven. The third angel’s message is preceded by the messages of the first and second angels. The first angel’s message proclaims the hour of God’s judgment. The second declares the fall of Babylon. {KC 146.3}
"The Lord has been pleased to give his people the third angel’s message as a testing message to bear to the world. John beholds a people distinct and separate from the world, who refuse to worship the beast or his image, who bear God’s sign, keeping holy his Sabbath, the seventh day, to be kept holy as a memorial of the living God, the Creator of heaven and earth."
John writes, “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. {KC 146.4}
“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 fornications.” {KC 146.5}
“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.” {KC 146.6}
These messages must go to all the inhabitants of the world. The Lord is soon to come, and he calls upon all to whom he has entrusted his capital of means to invest it in his work as it demands help. His money is not to be shut up in banks and buildings and lands when there is such a great work to be accomplished. The Lord will not send His judgments for disobedience and transgression upon the world until he has sent his watchmen to give the message of warning. {KC 147.1}
The Lord has been pleased to give his people the third angel’s message as a testing message to bear to the world. John beholds a people distinct and separate from the world, who refuse to worship the beast or his image, who bear God’s sign, keeping holy his Sabbath, the seventh day, to be kept holy as a memorial of the living God, the Creator of heaven and earth. Of them the apostle writes, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” {KC 147.2}
“After 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 is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and the cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.” {KC 147.3}
What is sin? “The transgression of the law.” God denounces Babylon, “because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornications.” This means that she has disregarded the only commandment which points out the true God, and has torn down the Sabbath, God’s memorial of creation. {KC 147.4}
God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh, sanctifying this day, and setting it apart from all others as holy to himself, to be observed by his people throughout their generations. {KC 147.5}
But the man of sin, exalting himself above God, sitting in the temple of God, and showing himself to be God, thought to change times and laws. This power, thinking to prove that it was not only equal to God, but above God, changed the rest day, placing the first day of the week where the seventh should be. And the Protestant world has taken this child of the Papacy to be regarded as sacred. This is called in the word of God her fornication. {KC 147.6}
God has a controversy with the churches today. They are fulfilling the prophecy of John. “All nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” They have divorced themselves from God by refusing to receive his sign. They have not the spirit of God’s true commandment keeping people. And the people of the world in giving their sanction to a false sabbath, and in trampling under their feet the Sabbath of the Lord, have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. {KC 147.7}
God set the seventh day apart as the day of his rest. But the man of sin has set up a false sabbath, which the kings and merchants of the earth have accepted and exalted above the Sabbath of the Bible. In doing this they have chosen a religion like that of Cain, who slew his brother Abel. Cain and Abel both offered sacrifice to God. Abel’s offering was accepted because he complied with God’s requirements. Cain’s was rejected because he followed his own human inventions. Because of this he became so angry that he would not listen to Abel’s entreaties or to God’s warnings and reproofs, but slew his brother. {KC 147.8}
"God has given men the Sabbath as a sign between him and them, as a test of their loyalty. Those who, after the light regarding God’s law comes to them, continue to disobey, and exalt human laws above the law of God in the great crisis before us, will receive the mark of the beast."
By accepting a spurious rest day the churches have dishonored God. The people of the world accept the falsehood, and are angry because God’s commandment keeping people do not respect and reverence Sunday. The Lord sanctified and blessed the seventh day. God says, “Her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works; in the cup which she hath filled, fill to her double. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her; for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord who judgeth her.” {KC 148.1}
God declares, “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.” God will punish those who attempt to compel their fellow men to keep the first day of the week. They tempt them to deny their allegiance to God. They accept the fruit of the forbidden tree, and try to force others to eat it. They will try to compel their fellowmen to work on the seventh day of the week and rest on the first. God says of them, “They shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation.” {KC 148.2}
“Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep,” the Lord says, “for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.” Some will seek to place obstacles in the way of Sabbath observance, saying, You do not know what day is the Sabbath. But they seem to understand when Sunday comes, and have manifested great zeal in making laws for compelling its observance, as though they could control the conscience of man. {KC 148.3}
God has given men the Sabbath as a sign between him and them, as a test of their loyalty. Those who, after the light regarding God’s law comes to them, continue to disobey, and exalt human laws above the law of God in the great crisis before us, will receive the mark of the beast. {KC 148.4}
The prosperity of God’s people is dependent on their obedience. The Lord declares, “It shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments, which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, that I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full. Take heed to yourselves that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit, and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you.” {KC 148.5}
God’s curse for disobedience is upon man and beast and the fruit of the earth. Why do not those who claim to obey God, study his word, and learn there why the earth does not produce as it once did. Why are the cattle all so full of disease? {KC 148.6}
“Behold I set before you this day a blessing and a curse: a blessing if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day; and a curse if ye will not obey the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after gods, which ye have not known. {KC 149.1}
“Thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; but because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, the hand of Pharaoh King of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him, and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; and repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them; he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face. Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.” {KC 149.2}
These words should be as distinctly stamped upon every soul as though written with a pen of iron. Obedience brings its reward; disobedience its retribution. {KC 149.3}