CHAPTER 28 (The
Great Controversy)
The Third Angel's
Message
As the ministration of Jesus closed in the Holy
place, and he passed into the Holiest, and stood before the ark containing the
law of God, he sent another mighty angel to earth with the third message. He placed a parchment in the angel's hand,
and as he descended to earth in majesty and power, he proclaimed a fearful
warning, the most terrible threatening ever borne to man. This message was designed to put the children
of God upon their guard, and show them the hour of temptation and anguish that
was before them. Said the angel, They
will be brought into close combat with the beast and his image. Their only hope of eternal life is to remain
steadfast. Although their lives are at
stake, yet they must hold fast the truth.
The third angel closes his message with these words, Here is the
patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and
the faith of Jesus. As he repeated these
words he pointed to the heavenly Sanctuary.
The minds of all who embrace this message are directed to the Most Holy
place where Jesus stands before the ark, making his final intercession for all
those for whom mercy still lingers, and for those who have ignorantly broken
the law of God. This atonement is made
for the righteous dead as well as for the righteous living. Jesus makes an atonement for those who died,
not receiving the light upon God's commandments, who sinned ignorantly.
After Jesus opened the door of the Most Holy the
light of the Sabbath was seen, and the people of God were to be tested and
proved, as God proved the children of Israel anciently, to see if they would
keep his law. I saw the third angel
pointing upward, showing the disappointed ones the way to the Holiest of the
heavenly Sanctuary. They followed Jesus
by faith into the Most Holy. Again they
have found Jesus, and joy and hope spring up anew. I saw them looking back reviewing the past,
from the proclamation of the second advent of Jesus, down through their travels
to the passing of the time in 1844. They
see their disappointment explained, and joy and certainty again animate
them. The third angel has lighted up the
past, present and future, and they know that God has indeed led them by his
mysterious providence.
It was represented to me that the remnant
followed Jesus into the Most Holy place, and beheld the ark, and the
mercy-seat, and were captivated with their glory. Jesus raised the cover of the ark, and
behold! the tables of stone, with the ten commandments written upon them. They trace down the lively oracles; but they
start back with trembling when they see the fourth commandment living among the
ten holy precepts, while a brighter light shines upon it than upon the other
nine, and a halo of glory is all around it.
They find nothing there informing them that the Sabbath has been
abolished, or changed to the first day of the week. It reads as when spoken by the mouth of God
in solemn and awful grandeur upon the mount, while the lightnings flashed and
the thunders rolled, and when written with his own holy finger in the tables of
stone. Six days shalt thou labor and do
all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. They are amazed as they behold the care taken
of the ten commandments. They see them
placed close by Jehovah, overshadowed and protected by his holiness. They see that they have been trampling upon
the fourth commandment of the decalogue, and have observed a day handed down by
the heathen and papists, instead of the day sanctified by Jehovah. They humble themselves before God, and mourn
over their past transgressions.
I saw the incense in the censer smoke as Jesus
offered their confessions and prayers to his Father. And as it ascended, a bright light rested
upon Jesus, and upon the mercy-seat; and the earnest, praying ones, who were
troubled because they had discovered themselves to be transgressors of God's
law, were blest, and their countenances lighted up with hope and joy. They joined in the work of the third angel,
and raised their voices and proclaimed the solemn warning. But few at first received the message, yet
they continued with energy to proclaim the warning. Then I saw many embrace the message of the
third angel, and unite their voices with those who had first proclaimed the
warning, and they exalted God and magnified him by observing his sanctified
Rest-day.
Many who embraced the third message had not an
experience in the two former messages.
Satan understood this, and his evil eye was upon them to overthrow them;
but the third angel was pointing them to the Most Holy place, and those who had
an experience in the past messages were pointing them the way to the heavenly
Sanctuary. Many saw the perfect chain of
truth in the angels' messages, and gladly received it. They embraced them in their order, and
followed Jesus by faith into the heavenly Sanctuary. These messages were
represented to me as an anchor to hold the body. And as individuals receive and understand
them, they are shielded against the many delusions of Satan.
After the great disappointment in 1844, Satan and
his angels were busily engaged in laying snares to unsettle the faith of the
body. He was affecting the minds of
individuals who had a personal experience in these things. They had an appearance of humility. They changed the first and second messages,
and pointed to the future for their fulfilment, while others pointed far back
in the past, declaring that they had been there fulfilled. These individuals were drawing the minds of
the inexperienced away, and unsettling their faith. Some were searching the Bible to try to build
up a faith of their own, independent of the body. Satan exulted in all this; for he knew that
those who broke loose from the anchor, he could affect by different errors and
drive about with winds of doctrine. Many
who had led in the first and second messages, denied them, and division and
scattering was throughout the body. I
then saw Wm. Miller. He looked
perplexed, and was bowed with sorrow and distress for his people. He saw the company who were united and loving
in 1844, losing their love for each other, and opposing one another. He saw them fall back into a cold,
backslidden state. Grief wasted his
strength. I saw leading men watching Wm.
Miller, and fearing lest he should embrace the third angel's message and the
commandments of God. And as he would
lean towards the light from heaven, these men would lay some plan to draw his
mind away. I saw a human influence
exerted to keep his mind in darkness, and to retain his influence among
them. At length Wm. Miller raised his
voice against the light from heaven. He
failed in not receiving the message which would have fully explained his
disappointment, and cast a light and glory on the past, which would have
revived his exhausted energies, brightened up his hope, and led him to glorify
God. But he leaned to human wisdom
instead of divine, and being broken with arduous labor in his Master's cause,
and by age, he was not as accountable as those who kept him from the truth. They are responsible, and the sin rests upon
them. If Wm. Miller could have seen the
light of the third message, many things which looked dark and mysterious to him
would have been explained. His brethren
professed such deep love and interest for him, he thought he could not tear
away from them. His heart would incline
towards the truth; but then he looked at his brethren. They opposed it. Could he tear away from those who had stood
side and shoulder with him in proclaiming Jesus' coming? He thought they surely would not lead him
astray.
God suffered him to come under the power of
Satan, and death to have dominion over him.
He hid him in the grave, away from those who were constantly drawing him
from God. Moses erred just as he was
about to enter the promised land. So
also, I saw that Wm. Miller erred as he was soon to enter the heavenly Canaan,
in suffering his influence to go against the truth. Others led him to this. Others must account for it. But angels watch the precious dust of this
servant of God, and he will come forth at the sound of the last trump.
See Exodus 20:1-17, 31:18; 1Thessalonians 4:16;
Revelation 14:9-12
Exo 20:1 And
God spake all these words, saying,
Exo 20:2 I am
the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the
house of bondage.
Exo 20:3 Thou
shalt have no other gods before me.
Exo 20:4 Thou
shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is
in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under
the earth:
Exo 20:5 Thou
shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a
jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the
third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
Exo 20:6 And
shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my
commandments.
Exo 20:7 Thou
shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold
him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Exo 20:8
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exo 20:9 Six
days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
Exo 20:10 But
the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any
work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant,
nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
Exo 20:11 For
in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is,
and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and
hallowed it.
Exo 20:12
Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which
the LORD thy God giveth thee.
Exo 20:13 Thou
shalt not kill.
Exo 20:14 Thou
shalt not commit adultery.
Exo 20:15 Thou
shalt not steal.
Exo 20:16 Thou
shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Exo 20:17 Thou
shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's
wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any
thing that is thy neighbour's.
Exo
31:18 And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with
him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with
the finger of God.
1Th
4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with
the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ
shall rise first
Rev 14:9 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,
Rev 14:10 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:
Rev 14:11 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.
Rev 14:12 Here
is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God,
and the faith of Jesus.
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