GYC 2015: Called. Chosen. Faithful.

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Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

God's Final Call: The Three Angels' Messages

Charissa Fong Torossian

God’s Final Call: The Three Angels’ Messages—Part 1

This message was presented at the GYC 2015 conference called Chosen Faithful in Louisville, Kentucky.

For other resources like this visit us online at www.gycweb.org.

I welcome you to our very first of our three-part series on the 3 angels' messages.

And this is the first 1 in our series and it's entitled, Fear God and give glory to Him.

So let's open with a word of prayer for those of us that are here.

Loving Father in heaven, Lord, we just thank you for the time we can spend studying the Bible.

And as we studied this first angels message, I pray that you help us to be blessed and to understand what it is you have to share with us.

My name is Charissa Fong and I live in a place that is very close to the Sydney Adventist Hospital.

Well, Sydney Adventist Hospital every year has a Christmas tradition and that is before Christmas time we have carols by candlelight on the lawn of the hospital.

And I don't think you do that in America because it's probably a bit cold around this time of year to have carols by candlelight on a lawn anywhere.

You bring your candle, you bring your torch, and you sit on the lawn and you sing carols.

I love it because it's a family tradition for as long as I can remember.

We go there as a family and we enjoy these carols.

But my favorite part of the whole carols program is the ending where they play the Hallelujah Chorus while the fireworks go off.

Everybody stands, we watch the fireworks and we hear the Hallelujah Chorus blaring in the background and I love it because it's like a little picture of what it will be like when Jesus comes again.

Handel wrote the Messiah, the whole Messiah in 24 days.

At the time we are told he was struggling with depression.

And yet this wonderful masterpiece came as a result of that.

And there's a little story behind the Hallelujah Chorus.

1 day, Handel's assistant was calling to him, George, George, where are you?

He was a bit frustrated because this musician spent all of his time at his desk writing and it could be a very, it's not very social, you know, they didn't talk much.

And so he's calling for him, there's no response and so frustrated, he gets up and goes looking to find Handel.

He opens the door to Handel's room, office, and there was Handel sitting at a desk with tears coming down his cheeks and the assistant looked at him and said what's the matter why are you crying and Handel held up the composition of the Hallelujah Chorus that he had just completed and he said I did see heaven open and I saw the face of God." Something to that effect.

But that's how moved he was when he wrote this composition which is, I believe, the crowning piece of all the works that he wrote in his career.

And in fact, King George II, when he heard the Messiah played, When it got to the Hallelujah Chorus, we are told that King George II, he stood to his feet.

He stood because he recognized that there was a King that was greater than he.

And as I think about that wonderful chorus, and I think about the second coming of Jesus, I believe that 1 day very soon, we too, we will see the heavens open and we will see the face of Jesus as he comes to take us home.

And I believe that day is very, very near in the very near future.

But there is something that Jesus said had to happen before he returned.

And we find he tells us about it before Jesus comes.

He tells us in Matthew chapter 24 and verse 14, He says, and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in Jamaica.

As a witness to all the nations and then the end will come.

So friends, the gospel is something that is going to be witnessed, not just preached.

It's not just going to be heard, but it will be seen around the world.

And notice, friends, that when Jesus spoke these words, he was very specific.

He doesn't just say, and a gospel will be preached in all the world.

He says, this gospel, very specific choice of language.

And there is only 1 other place in all the Bible where we find a very specific choice of language associated with the gospel.

In fact, there's only 1 other place in the whole Bible that talks about a gospel going around the world globally as well as internationally.

So, before we explore the 3 angels' messages, I would like to bring your attention to some context.

There are 3 scenes that we see in Revelation Chapter 14.

We see the 144, 000 standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion.

The most important thing for you to know about the 144, 000 is found in Revelation 14 verse 4.

It simply says, these are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.

Friends, wherever Jesus goes, they are there.

They are representatives of those who will be ready when Jesus comes.

And this is a powerful and a very comforting picture for the faithful friends of Jesus.

Because friends, no matter what this life may bring to us, no matter what we may meet in this life, we need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.

Fixed on Him, the end goal, which is eternity with Him.

The second picture we see is that John describes 3 angels, and that's what we're about to explore, the very first 1 here, with 3 messages that must reach the world.

And then the third picture we see is a great harvest scene.

And according to Matthew 13, we know that this harvest scene is symbolic of the second coming of Jesus and it follows the messages of the 3 angels.

So if we look at this picture Right here, we can see that the 3 angels' messages, based on its context within the chapter, they must reach the world before the second coming of Jesus.

And the 144, 000 are who they are because of their response to this message.

So this is a little bit of background for us.

And according to the Bible, as we will discover as we read through these messages, it's not going to be easy to follow the Lamb at the end of time.

In fact, Revelation 13, 11, it describes a beast that looks like a lamb, but it speaks like a dragon.

This beast performs miracles, signs and wonders.

And because of this, he deceives the inhabitants of the whole earth.

He sets up an image in honor of the first beast.

And he forces everyone to worship the image or they'll be threatened with death and with a death decree.

No 1 can buy and sell unless they have the mark of the beast.

And so this first beast, it comes up out of the water.

There's a second beast that comes up out of the earth.

And the second beast looks like a lamb, but it speaks like a dragon.

It looks like a lamb so that people think they are following a lamb, when in actual fact, they are following the beast who receives his power from the dragon.

So this is a very dramatic picture that we see at the end of time.

God’s Final Call: The Three Angels’ Messages—Part 2

For other resources like this, visit us online at www.gycweb.org.

Loving Father in heaven, we thank you Lord for a new day and a day that we can also spend in your word and with 1 another.

We invite the Holy Spirit Lord to be present in our midst.

I pray that you will make this morning's teaching clear.

May we understand and may we be inspired and challenged to serve you faithfully is my prayer in Jesus' name.

The story is told of 2 men, and they were walking through a jungle area in Africa, and as they're walking through this area, and I don't know if I've said this correctly, yes, it was a jungle safari, They're walking through this jungle, and as they're walking along, suddenly, this great big lion jumps out in the path right in front of them, and the 2 men froze.

And as they froze, 1 of the guys says to his friend, don't move.

Remember that nature book we read about lions?

It said you just look the lion in the eye and don't move and they won't attack you.

And his friend still frozen said, yeah, but has the lion read that book?

Now I tell you that story because the Bible tells us that our adversary, the devil, he walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

And you can be assured that the devil has read this book.

He knows what we're talking about this morning.

He is very aware of God's last message that must reach the world.

And he is going to do everything he can to stop us from trying to study it and from trying to understand it.

So that's why it's important for us to study it.

Now, after John saw the first angel flying in the midst of heaven, the Bible tells us that suddenly he saw a second angel join the first in his flight and so these 2 angels are now flying in the midst of heaven.

And another angel followed saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

So John begins his message, and I'm just going to pull this apart.

He begins by saying, and another angel followed.

In other words, this message is to be proclaimed after the first.

It's a sequential order that is given here to us.

And not only that, but the very first words out of the second angel's mouth is Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city.

And so the first thing that I'd like for us to unpack together is this.

I think it's very important for us to understand because the message that the angel has concerning Babylon is a very solemn and a very serious 1 for us to comprehend.

It's a life and death message that we're about to study.

This is the first time that we find the word Babylon in the book of Revelation.

But the very first time we find the word Babylon in all the Bible is, do you know?

So it's actually in the book of Genesis and in Genesis chapter 10 verses 8 to 10, we can go there together.

This is the very first time we find the word.

Genesis chapter 10 And the Bible says in verses 8 to 10, Cush begot Nimrod and he began to be a mighty 1 on the earth.

He was a mighty hunter before the Lord, therefore it is said, like Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the Lord.

And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel.

Babylon, friends, was 1 of the first cities that was ever built.

And the word Babylon in Babylonian, does anybody know what that meant?

Means gate of, oh sorry Tom, gate of the gods, Tom's got it.

All right so it means gate of the gods and the Babylonians no doubt believed that the gods literally descended upon their city to meet with men and order the affairs of this earth.

And the Hebrews would mockingly refer or associate this word Babylon with their Hebrew word Balaal which actually means confusion.

And you remember the story of the Tower of Babel?

Well, Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon was actually built upon the ruins of the Tower of Babel.

And of course, Babel in the Bible stood as a tower or a monument to apostasy and rebellion against God as such.

Throughout the Bible, Babylon comes to represent apostasy, rebellion, unbelief, self-exaltation, confusion, defiance, false teaching and oppression.

Sounds like a city Satan could call home, yes?

And actually, if you're familiar with a little bit of English literature, I studied to be an English teacher in high school before I didn't do that anymore.

And Charles Dickens wrote a very famous book.

In a very similar sense, the Bible is almost the tale of 2 cities as well.

It's the tale of the city of God, which is Jerusalem or Zion, being where the government of David was, and of course later the greatest son of David, who was Jesus.

And then of course it contrasts this with Babylon, which was always oppressing God's people.

These 2 cities, as we watch them throughout the Bible, they come to represent the forces of good and evil at work in our world.

It's like the great controversy is pictured right there.

And Babylon is consistently depicted as being in a two-front war.

A war against the God of Israel and the Israel of God.

And this is why, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Isaiah is impressed to refer or to identify Lucifer as the invisible king of Babylon in Isaiah chapter 14 verse 4 and you can read again verses 12 to 14.

Here's the another amazing thing about what we're talking about and that is this.

When John penned these words, when he was writing down what he saw in vision and this second angel's message, he was on the rocky isle of Patmos, which is in the middle of the Aegean Sea, and guess what?

To this very day, Babylon is still in ruins and many have tried to rebuild it.

I think Saddam Hussein, he tried, but it's still in ruins today.

So if Babylon did not physically, literally exist in the time of John, then we can take 1 thing from this for certain.

And that is this, that Babylon is symbolic here in the Bible.

Well, chapter 17 of the book of Revelation gives us some important clues.

Let's read together from Revelation 17, 1 to 3 and verses 5 and 6.

The Bible says, Then 1 of the 7 angels who had the 7 bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness.

And I saw a woman on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having 7 heads and 10 horns, and on her forehead a name was written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots, and the abominations of the earth.

I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.

And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.

What John sees in chapter 17 in vision is something that he is truly amazed about.

Now your students of Bible prophecy, so let's do a little refresher here.

A woman in Bible prophecy always represents a what?

Now what does a beast represent in Bible prophecy?

A nation, a civil secular political power.

So when John is seeing in vision, when John is seeing this vision, he sees a woman and she's not just any woman, she's a harlot, she's an impure woman, therefore she represents an impure church and she would unite, She's riding on a beast, symbolic of the fact that she would unite with a political power.

God’s Final Call: The Three Angels’ Messages—Part 3

Our loving Father in heaven, we thank you Lord for the Sabbath and we thank you for the opportunity we have to come and study the Bible together.

We just invite the Holy Spirit Lord to be present in our midst and we pray that you will help us to understand and to gain a blessing from our time in your word and may we also grasp the seriousness of the message and the times in Which we live or we ask it in Jesus name.

Amen All right so if you've been following along with us for the last couple of meetings, you will know we've addressed the first angel that was flying in the midst of heaven.

And the very first words out of the first angel's mouth was, fear God and give glory to Him.

And we recognized that in the days in which we are living that that message is perfect for right now.

The world needs to fear God, give glory to Him for the hour of His judgment has come and worship Him.

In the second angel's message we heard how Babylon is fallen, is fallen that great city because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication and we unpacked that as we went through that Bible study together and now we are up to the third angel's message and I'm going to begin by putting it on the screen for you.

Revelation chapter 14 verses 9 through to 12.

The Bible says, Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of his indignation.

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 ascends forever and ever, and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and His image, and whoever receives the mark of His forehead, sorry, whoever receives the mark on of His name.

Here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, Amen.

Now that is a very solemn message that you just read there.

In fact it sounds like the most fearful warning that has ever been addressed to the human race.

You didn't think you'd get amazing facts in this seminar, did you?

Over a hundred years ago, Ellen White wrote these words about the third angel's message.

She said, several have written to me inquiring if the message of justification by faith is the third angel's message and I have answered it is the third angel's message in verity." Very interesting.

White, She said that justification by faith is not the introduction or the preamble, but it is at the very heart of the third angel's message.

And when I read this quote, I have to ask the question, and I hope you're asking it as well, how can this be?

Well, let's give this message some context.

Notice that the third angel follows the first and the second.

Again, this is highlighting the fact that there is a sequential order to the messages.

You can't have a third unless you've got the first and the second, right?

These messages are presented in order and they fly together.

So it becomes an unbreakable threefold unit of messages that go to the world.

And that's why she says in Manuscript 32 1896 there cannot be a third without the first and the second, these messages we are to give to the world.

Now do you remember that when Revelation 14 opens we discovered and I talked about this in the previous session, that there are 3 scenes that John writes about in Revelation chapter 14.

The first scene he sees is 144, 000 standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion.

The second scene that we see in that same chapter is the 3 angels' messages flying in the midst of heaven.

And then the third and final scene is a great harvest scene, which we know represents the second coming of Jesus based on a clue we find in Matthew chapter 13.

Now, go back to the first scene with the 144, 000 standing with the lamb on Mount Zion.

The 144, 000 stand with the lamb because they worship the lamb.

But in Babylon, we find out that they are not worshipping the lamb.

And The third angel's message tells us who they are worshipping.

The third angel tells us in verses 9 and 10, it says, If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of his indignation.

So while they worship the Lamb on Mount Zion, in Babylon they are worshipping the beast and his image.

And not only that, the third angel says that anybody who worships the beast and his image, he receives the mark of the beast and drinks of the wine of the wrath of God.

We'll unpack this a little bit more a little bit later, but Revelation chapter 15 verse 1 tells us that the wrath of God is poured out in the 7 last plagues and we will look at that in a little more detail just a little bit later.

So these 7 last plagues are really just a foretaste of the complete destruction of the wicked that occurs at the end of the millennium, at the end of the thousand years, which we find in Revelation chapter 20, where the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever, that is, they will be completely destroyed.

So friends, this is a very, very serious message.

And because the whole world is in danger of worshipping the beast and his image, the angel addresses his message, not just to Australia, not just to New Zealand, the angel addresses the message to anybody.

It says, if anyone worships the Beast and His image.

So friends, this is a reminder that in the last conflict, in the final crisis of Earth's history, you and I are each responsible for whom we choose to worship.

The third angel's message is a warning to prepare the world for a fearful scene.

Revelation chapter 13 and Revelation chapter 14 are a detailed explanation for the war that we find begins in Revelation chapter 12 and verse 7 and just for the sake of your own understanding of what I'm saying here Revelation chapter 12 verse 7 talks about how the great controversy begins says and war broke out in heaven Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.

So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world.

He was cast to the earth and his angels were cast out with him.

And verse 12 says, Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them, woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you having great wrath because he knows he has a short time." So these chapters are a detailed explanation of how the devil who is angry because he knows his time is short, how he is going to come and rebel against God and lead the world in rebellion against God with him.

What is this beast that we are talking about?

We've kind of looked at this in a little bit of detail in our previous session.

However, you are students of Bible prophecy.

So tell me, what does a beast represent in Bible prophecy?

Well, a beast in Bible prophecy represents a kingdom or a political power, okay?

Now is this a surprising thing for the Bible to do?

Series

God's Final Call: The Three Angels' Messages

God’s Final Call: The Three Angels’ Messages—Part 2

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

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