14:11Revelation 14:11

The verse is the warning of the third angel that whoever worships the beast and his image and receives his mark in forehead or hand will suffer the wrath of God with torment whose smoke ascends forever and with no rest day nor night.GC 435.2–436.1+2 The beast is papal Rome that set up a rival Sabbath, its image is apostate Protestantism joined to civil power to enforce religious decrees, and the mark is the observance of the first day as counterfeit Sabbath opposed to the seventh-day Sabbath as God's seal.1T 78.2–79.1+4 The mark is received only by knowingly choosing the counterfeit after the issue is plainly presented and Sunday is enforced by law, so those who kept Sunday honestly without fourth-commandment light have not received it and no one has yet received it.1T 78.2–79.1+2 The strong language about rising smoke and unending torment does not mean God keeps the wicked alive in endless torture, for the punished are destroyed as though never been.8T 116.2–117.1+4 It stands inseparably linked with the first and second angels as one threefold final message of mercy to be proclaimed worldwide with a loud voice until the close of history immediately before Christ's second coming and the harvest of the earth.GC 435.2–436.1+2

The smoke rising forever is part of the third angel's message, inseparably bound to the first and second angels as one threefold final warning of mercy to be proclaimed worldwide with a loud voice until the close of history immediately before Christ comes again in power and great glory and the earth is reaped.GC 435.2–436.1+4 The three together are living truth and the everlasting gospel, calling all to fear God and give Him glory and worship Him as Creator because the hour of His judgment has come, announcing the fall of Babylon, and warning against worship of the beast; those who receive them keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, for God's law is the standard in the judgment and faith is essential to true obedience.GC 435.2–436.1+3 The warning does not rest on setting a time, for time will never again be a test; it stands on its own foundation, goes with power, accomplishes its work, and distinguishes the church of Christ at His appearing.ExVEGW 48.4+1 Its proclamation belongs to the closing work of intercession in the most holy place, and immediately after it the Son of man is seen coming in glory to reap the harvest of the earth.4SP 273.1+1

In order, the first angel calls every nation to fear God, give Him glory, and worship the Creator because the hour of judgment has come, the second announces that Babylon is fallen, and the third warns with a loud voice that if any worship the beast and his image and receive his mark in forehead or in hand he will drink the wine of God's wrath poured out without mixture and be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb, with smoke ascending forever and ever and no rest day nor night.GC 435.2–436.1+2 The second message was first preached in 1844 when the fall announced was incomplete, to reach fullness when apostasy and union of church with world culminate, and the earlier proclamation by Miller and his associates fulfilled prophecy even though they did not understand that further proclamations had to follow before the Lord came.GC88 389.2–3+1 Flying in the midst of heaven with a loud voice, another angel follows the first and second, and these messages belong to this period of time and call for waking from sleep, pressing together, and advancing the work as fast as possible.21MR 265.4+1

Its place after the first and second is fixed by divine authority and cannot be moved or changed; the first and second were given in 1843 and 1844 and the time of the third is now, yet all three are still to be proclaimed together because there cannot be a third without the first and second.1MR 43.1–2+2 The third follows the two former, leads and purifies a people who must move together without rushing ahead of the leading or introducing new teachings before they are ready to receive and act, lest confusion and discord come.1T 206.3–207.1+1 The testing message comprehended in the three has its proper place in prophetic history at the time of the end as present truth, not still future; to search Scripture to prove these messages future and miss their present place misleads souls about where they stand, while correctly locating them recognizes the signs of Christ's coming and that the day of God is at hand.Ms 41a, 1896, par. 34 The order and application of the prophecies that bring to the third message must be shown in the line of prophetic history, what has been and what will be, sounded to the world and repeated by pen and voice in publications and discourses to those seeking truth.1MR 43.1–2+1

Revelation 14:6-12 is a firm, solid, immovable platform and established faith built by God step by step, purchased through much suffering and severe conflict; no block or pin of it is to be moved.EW 220.1+2 True understanding of the first, second, and third steps is of vital importance, and the destiny of souls hangs upon the manner in which they are received.EW 220.1+2 Those who stand well guarded and firm upon them, giving no countenance to those who would unsettle them, receive approbation, while finding fault with the foundation, seeking improvements, stepping off to examine it, or declaring it laid wrong is fighting against God as Master Builder.DTCP 6.2 The message is correct and an immovable waymark and pillar holding the grand truths and great principles of the Word clear and distinct, able to bear all weight placed upon them; to lose them is to descend from the highest elevation to the lowest and replace them with imaginings, fables, and sensational extremes, while those true as steel to principle hold fast and are helped and blessed, for the rise and progress of these messages are joined to the special work of the Spirit and to misapply Scripture to set them aside leaves faith without solid foundation.LSEGW 278.2+2

The warning against worshiping the beast and receiving its mark is the last message of mercy and final warning to a perishing world, precious and glorious, to be proclaimed to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people as the last call to the marriage supper before judgment and the end.Ms 163, 1897, par. 2–5+2 It is God's warning of perils in the last days, beholding a deceived company working counter to God who have rejected truth until light has departed, and it appoints judgment in the great day upon all who deceived earth's inhabitants and caused them to believe fatal lies as truth.Ms 163, 1897, par. 2–5+2 When God's law is made void and held in open universal contempt by priests and rulers, the loyal proclaim loudly that worshipers of the beast and his image and receivers of his mark in forehead or hand will drink wrath without mixture and be tormented with fire and brimstone before holy angels and the Lamb.Ms 163, 1897, par. 2–5 That startling truth reveals to churches drunk with Babylon's wine their true position, and its rejection by those taking pleasure in unrighteousness is joined to Babylon's final condition before God's people are called to come out of her to escape her sins and plagues; past consecration in 1844, present preparation, and future glory are all pictured in the three messages.GC 390.1–2+2

Revelation 14:9-12 identifies God's people as those who keep the commandments of God and have the faith and testimony of Jesus Christ, set against those who worship the beast and receive its mark.ACSMHFP 3.4+2 The third angel's message is the proclamation of God's commandments and the faith of Jesus, the last message of mercy to prepare a world for Christ's second coming and soon appearing, calling for response before He returns.Ms 13, 1888, par. 20–23+1 Revealed in glory to John on Patmos for people now and joined to the angel coming down with great power to lighten the earth with glory, it warns against the wickedness of the last days and the mark of the beast, to be read, understood, and proclaimed with no uncertain sound to warn the world and stir those unmoved by ordinary preaching as the distinct God-given message.Ms 169, 1902, par. 12–14 Understanding the first, second, and third messages gives strength to the cause, making experienced men who grasp them precious and calling them to preserve strength and work together; the verse means a direct faithful warning must be given, not peace and safety but prepare to meet God, like John the Baptist rebuking iniquity plainly even in kings at peril of life before Christ's public ministry, addressed to a world as in the days of the flood.Lt 127, 1903, par. 3+1 The final warning is to be carried everywhere, especially to those who have not yet heard, by all who have received its light.Lt 390, 1907, par. 3–4

The warning was given after the great disappointment of 1844, when Christ began the closing work of atonement as High Priest in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary during the investigative judgment to purify a people prepared for His appearing.4SP 273.1+3 Those who by faith followed Him into that ministry were prepared to understand and give the solemn warning to the world, which directs minds to the sanctuary and to Sabbath light.GC 424.4–425.2+2 The second angel's message was first preached in 1844, warning of Babylon's fall, then incomplete and reaching its full extent only when apostasy and union of the church with the world culminate.GC88 389.2–3 Miller and his associates fulfilled prophecy in the earlier proclamation though they did not understand that further proclamations had to follow before the Lord came.4SP 496.1

The first and second messages were proclaimed in many large cities during the 1840-44 movement, and now the third is to be proclaimed as widely as messengers can carry it as the solemn binding-off message of warning and invitation to prepare a people for the coming King, because time is short and nothing may hinder its advance.Ms 53, 1909, par. 9–10+2 With the first and second in prophetic order it must be repeated with great power and loud voice of assurance under the Holy Spirit, binding up the law among disciples, to honest souls confused by strange religious developments and waiting for a certain sound to meet the emergency.5MR 128.2+2 It is entrusted to God's servants as a final warning to be given in Eastern cities where the first and second were preached in 1844, in large and small cities, in the South, and all over the land, exalting the truth with every effort.Ms 53, 1909, par. 9–10+2 The labor of Miller, the passing of the time, and the tarrying time to gain light on the fourth commandment belong to a prophetic history that must not be torn down.Ms 53, 1909, par. 9–10+1

The message does not depend on setting a time, for time will never again be a test; it stands on its own foundation, needs no time-setting to strengthen it, and will go forward in mighty power to do its work and be cut short in righteousness.ExVEGW 48.4+3 Preaching time with it brings false excitement, and bending everything to calculations about a coming fall and disposing of property with reference to that time is wrong; instead present duty must be sought from God daily.Ms 1, 1851, par. 1–2 The earlier proclamation by Miller and his associates was fulfillment of prophecy even though they did not understand that further proclamations had to follow before Christ's coming.4SP 496.1

At first the meaning of the beast's worship, image, and mark was not yet clearly understood, though the closing words about the saints who keep God's commandments and the faith of Jesus pointed to Sabbath reform.ExVEGW 48.4+1 The mark is exactly what it has been proclaimed to be and its light is true, though not everything about the matter will be understood until the scroll is unrolled and the prophetic scroll fully opened.6T 16.4–17.1+2 This warning about worshiping the beast and receiving its mark is to be proclaimed urgently to the churches and to the world.8T 159.3+1

The verse is present truth for this time at the time of the end, just before the day of God and the signs of Christ's coming, holding its place in the line of prophecy whose work does not cease till the close of earth's history.Ms 31, 1890, par. 9+2 The first and second messages are still truth for this time and run parallel with what follows, while the third proclaims its warning with a loud voice, and the light of all three is combined in the illumination when the earth is lightened with the glory of the angel come down from heaven.Ms 31, 1890, par. 9 It is the great solemn testing work made up of the living oracles, understood by few and often presented without full force, warning of the decisive choice between faithfulness to God and siding with lawbreakers to escape persecution, presenting God's law as the rule of His government.Ms 15, 1888, par. 13–16+1 It gives light through John on Patmos about things now taking place in the last remnant of time, containing special truths that have separated God's people from the world and are fraught with eternal interests, not to be made less prominent nor shaped by counsels of unbelievers, but proclaimed with pen and voice in demonstration of God's power, including the seventh-day Sabbath distinction against a false man-made sabbath, without softening to gain the world's approval.Ms 16, 1890, par. 57–61+1

Had Advent believers after 1844 proclaimed it unitedly in the power of the Holy Spirit, directing minds to the heavenly sanctuary where Christ entered to make atonement and carrying forward Sabbath reform to make up the breach, requiring purification through obedience unto the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, the world would have been warned, the closing work completed, and Christ would have come to reward His people.Ms 4, 1883, par. 51–53+1 Instead dissension, division, and opposition to Sabbath truth hindered the work and left the world in darkness, delaying the completion that would speedily separate humanity, binding tares for burning and gathering wheat into the heavenly garner.Ms 4, 1883, par. 51–53+2 The message carries Sabbath reform forward with greater power than the reform under Luther and must be given to nations, kindreds, and tongues in all countries by sentinels for God.Ms 194, 1901, par. 5–6

The verse belongs to continued gospel work while Christ ministers as Advocate and the judgment of the righteous is completed before His coming, not to a completed work or shut door of mercy.4SP 499.1–2 Its proclamation brought renewed hope and confidence to those who understood it.4SP 499.1–2

The beast warned against is papal Rome, the man of sin that thought to change times and laws, set up a rival sabbath to be worshiped, sits in the temple of God showing himself to be God, and drank the blood of the saints.Ms 16, 1884, par. 3–4+1 The warning meets its final fulfillment when Satan appears as an angel of light with great power and heavenly glory, claims to be Lord of the whole earth, declares the Sabbath changed from the seventh to the first day, and as lord of the first day presents this spurious sabbath as a test of loyalty to him.19MR 282.1–2 In that trying time he pronounces blessing, gladness and honor only upon the combined corrupt powers of earth, the fallen churches that rejected light, the papal power, the image power, and spiritualism, and only a remnant who keep the word of patience and refuse to worship the beast or his image will stand.Ms 16, 1884, par. 3–4 The beast and his image issue a decree enforcing the worship brought to view in Revelation 13, and those who yield face the wrath of God without mixture and torment with fire and brimstone.Lt 183, 1902, par. 8–9+2

Its image is apostate Protestants with lamb-like pretensions who speak as a dragon, the Protestant world joining popery in oppressive power.Ms 16, 1884, par. 3–4+1 It is a religious body joined to civil power, formed when churches influence the state to enforce religious decrees, when a wonder-working power deceives those not connected with God into making an image to the beast which had the wound by a sword and did live.Ms 100, 1893, par. 8–9 Enforcing Sunday observance through civil power forms that image and enforces that worship.GC88 448.3–4 Worshiping the beast and his image means bowing to the decree of national councils and obeying national laws to exalt the Sabbath instituted by the man of sin to the disregard of God's holy day.Lt 55, 1886, par. 17

The mark of the beast stands in direct opposition to God's sign and seal, the seventh-day Sabbath of the fourth commandment, and is the observance of the first day of the week as a counterfeit Sabbath on the day of the sun.Lt 31, 1898, par. 17–19+3 To worship the beast is to bow down to an idol sabbath and worship an institution of the papacy in place of conscientiously keeping the commandments of God.RH Jun 19, 1900 The forehead represents the mind while the hand represents power, so God's servants are sealed in the mind whereas the beast's mark may be received through belief or imposed worship.4SP 505.2–3 Those who bear it are set apart from a distinct people who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, marking the division of mankind into two parties.Lt 31, 1898, par. 17–19+1 Honoring a false, man-made sabbath in place of the day God sanctified is part of the danger plainly to be proclaimed without softening to gain the world's approval.Ms 16, 1890, par. 57–61

The mark is received only by knowingly choosing Sunday observance over the Bible Sabbath after the true Sabbath obligation has been made clear, when the issue is plainly presented and Sunday is enforced by law.GC88 448.3–4 Those who kept Sunday honestly in the past, true Christians in every church, and those without fourth-commandment light have not received it, and no one has yet received it because the testing time has not yet come.1T 78.2–79.1+2 At first the meaning of the beast's worship, image and mark was not clearly understood, though the closing words about the saints who keep God's commandments and the faith of Jesus point to a Sabbath reform.1T 78.2–79.1 Knowingly choosing the counterfeit after light comes is allegiance to Rome and worship of the beast, acknowledging papal authority rather than God's authority, defying God and removing His memorial.8T 117.4+1

In the last days that deceptive wonder-working power stirs religious excitement to make rejecters think God still works through fallen churches, using lying wonders including fire from heaven, while divine miracles accompany the true proclamation.Ms 100, 1893, par. 8–9+1 The solemn warning is given in the great conflict between those who keep the commandments of God and those who make void His law.Ms 100, 1893, par. 8–9 People are not to be threatened with hell for failing to keep the fourth commandment but are to be shown God's Word, while the Holy Spirit convicts them and they answer to God for the truth received.Ms 110, 1904, par. 62–63 God calls His people out of Babylon so they will not take part in that worship under the oppressive law enforcing the false Sabbath.STBk 39.1–40.1

The seventh-day Sabbath was instituted in Eden, observed by the patriarchs, proclaimed from Sinai and kept as a perpetual sign, memorial of creative power and seal of Creator authority and royal requirement, and the fourth commandment is the standard in the judgment.GC 435.2–436.1+4 The threefold warning of Revelation 14:6-12 prepares the inhabitants of the earth for Christ's second coming, its announcement that the hour of judgment has come pointing to His closing work of intercession, calling all to fear God, give Him glory and worship Him as Creator.GC 435.2–436.1+2 Those who accept the messages keep God's commandments and the faith of Jesus, with faith essential to obedience, and these truths with the everlasting gospel distinguish Christ's church at His appearing as the last message before He comes.GC 435.2–436.1+4 Immediately after the message is proclaimed the Son of man is shown coming to reap the earth to reward every man according to works, and its closing words about the saints point to a Sabbath reform.GC 453.3+2 The warning of torment whose smoke rises forever with no rest day nor night is to be clearly presented alongside the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus.8T 116.2–117.1+2

The verse presents the final choice between the beast's mark and the seal of the living God as a loyalty test dividing the world into two companies at the appearing of Jesus Christ.Lt 31, 1898, par. 17–19+4 On one side stand the children of obedience worshiping the true God, keeping His commandments and having the faith of Jesus and refusing the mark to overcome the beast; on the other stand the children of disobedience worshiping the beast, subjects of the kingdom of rebellion.Lt 31, 1898, par. 17–19+4 The conflict is rooted in Satan's claim that God's law was faulty and needed revising, and the Sabbath people keep shows whose kingdom they acknowledge.ST Mar 22, 1910+2 Each Sabbath institution bears the name of its author and an enduring mark of that authority: the false sabbath is Satan's sign of authority while God's Sabbath is the seal of His royal requirement.ST Mar 22, 1910+2 God's truth and law are to be prized above all else, those who receive the message honor God by observing His sanctified rest day, and observance of the true Sabbath is the sign that distinguishes those who serve God from those who serve Him not.ST Mar 22, 1910+4

God's sanctified memorial has been torn down and replaced in belief by a false Sabbath with no sanctity, and millions are being deceived.HSFM 275.4+4 The message is therefore Sabbath reform to repair the breach in the law of God, to press Sabbath claims, to make up the breach, and to call many to embrace the Lord's Sabbath and return to loyalty to God's commandments and the faith of Jesus before the great day of God.HSFM 275.4+4 Its truths test whether people will obey God despite religious opposition and personal cost, warning of punishment for the world and for religious bodies that reject light and truth.HSFM 275.4+2 It directs minds to the heavenly sanctuary where Christ entered to make atonement for His people, requires purification through obedience to truth and preparation to stand without fault at His coming, and many who hear it will accept it.SG1 165.1+2 Loyalty to God's law made visible by Sabbath observance distinguishes God's people from the world.HSFM 275.4+2

To the obedient the Sabbath is a sign of loyalty to God, given not to Jews only but to all people, the whole posterity of Adam through all time.RH Aug 4, 1904+4 How it is treated presses as the great test, bound closely and inseparably with the gospel and with medical missionary work as present truth for this time.Ms 172, 1899, par. 7–11+2 The third angel's message means much and lays solemn obligation to take a decided stand for truth and righteousness, to awake from sleep and indifference, to be holy, to retain the peculiar features of faith, and to keep in covenant relation with God in order to receive blessings essential for a people to be severely tried.7T 108.1+2 The line of demarcation between those who keep the commandments of God and those who do not is to be revealed with unmistakable clearness.7T 108.1+2 Treating faith as not a dominating power dishonors God, turns from His commandments which are life, and denies that He is God and believers are His people, with eternal outcome either of worthiness for the everlasting kingdom or sentence of eternal death.RH Aug 4, 1904+2

Refusing the mark requires firm decision now before the decree goes forth, for people will be pressured by decree to observe the beast's institution.EW 57.2+4 A coming decree enforcing the mark of the beast and his image will restrict buying and selling and threaten persecution and death, withdraw support, and bring oppression not from popery alone but from the Protestant image, with Satan directing laws that would threaten survival unless the time is very short.EW 57.2+4 Time is almost finished, so those who accept truth late must learn in months what others learned over years step by step, gaining strength with every step, unlearning much and learning again to stand firm.EW 57.2+2 The conflict concerns obedience to all ten of God's commandments versus the beast's requirements, the saints' keeping provoking the dragon's war, while surrendering distinctive features would end opposition.CET 188.1+2 It is the last persecution as Abel's was the first, in which the faithful remnant cannot defend themselves against arrayed powers and must make God their defense, though during the loud cry some rulers will receive truth and endure with the saints through the time of trouble.CET 188.1+2

Set against the torment is the patience of the saints who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, do His commandments, have right to the tree of life and entrance into the city when Christ comes.GC 435.2–436.1+4 The warning is immediately followed by that call to patience, obedience and faith, identifying God's distinct people apart from bearers of the mark.GC 453.3+4

Those who worship the beast and his image and receive his mark in forehead or hand will drink the wine of God's wrath poured out without mixture and be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.8T 116.2–117.1+4 That torment brings dreadful anger, incurable sores and withering plagues with no shelter or deliverance, ending in destruction as though they had never been.Ms 45, 1900, par. 14–16+2 This fate is the burden of the genuine truth to be proclaimed now with a loud voice, growing in force and importance as the work nears its close, and the following verse identifies the saints in contrast by patience, keeping God's commandments and the faith and testimony of Jesus.8T 116.2–117.1+4

The smoke of their torment ascends up for ever and ever, and they have no rest day nor night.8T 116.2–117.1+4 This unending lack of rest stands in contrast to the faithful who are sealed and bound for the heavenly garner.8T 116.2–117.1+1 It is the closing part of the third angel's warning, following the first angel's call to fear God and worship the Creator because the hour of judgment has come and the second angel's announcement of Babylon's fall.Lt 87, 1896, par. 5–6+1

The warning is given before the judgments fall so the world may have notice of the sin and danger, understand it, escape it, find shelter in Christ and leave fallen Babylon.GC 449.2–450.1+2 It will be proclaimed with power during a short time of trouble while Christ still ministers in the heavenly sanctuary and the work of salvation is closing, while the nations are angry yet held in check and the four winds are held and mercy remains.EW 1.2–3+1 The latter rain will give power to its loud voice and prepare the saints to stand through the seven last plagues.EW 1.2–3+1 Before the plagues honest people will leave the fallen churches and join the remnant, for the angel selects the wheat from the tares and seals or binds the wheat for the heavenly garner, testing all and calling the faithful out of fallen religious bodies to keep God's commandments, though wonder-working religious excitement will try to make them think God still works through those churches.EW 237.2+2

In heaven a record is kept of the impieties of nations, families and individuals, while God bears long with calls to repentance and offers of pardon.ST Jan 25, 1910+1 When the account is full and the soul's decision is made and by his own choice man's destiny is fixed, the signal is given for judgment to be executed, and though long delayed the threatened punishment is none the less certain and terrible.ST Jan 25, 1910+1 To a merciful God punishment is a strange act, yet He will by no means clear the guilty but by terrible things in righteousness will vindicate the authority of His downtrodden law.ST Jan 25, 1910 His wrath falls only after truth has been brought to mind and conscience and rejected, after people have had opportunity to see the result of rebellion, with the Sabbath as the decisive test of loyalty in the final crisis when the mark is imposed through a decree restricting buying and selling and threatening death, and His reluctance to execute justice testifies to the enormity of the sins calling forth His judgments and the severity of the retribution awaiting the transgressor.ST Jan 25, 1910+3

The strong language of rising smoke and torment without rest does not mean God keeps the wicked alive in endless torture or takes pleasure in suffering.GC88 535.1–536.3+2 To teach conscious eternal torment misrepresents His compassion, gives Him cruelty and bitterness that do not belong to Him, makes Him responsible for endlessly increasing sin, and is contrary to His desire that the wicked turn and live.ST Apr 9, 1885+3 That error cannot be harmonized with denial of the resurrection of the wicked nor with the heavenly origin of the third angel's message, and its proof-text use of this verse misconstrues a strong scriptural expression.SG4 308.3+2

The issue decides each person's case for life or death, heaven or hell, the seal of God or something else in place of the seal.Ms 199, 1899, par. 10+1 It is the most fearful threat ever addressed to mortals and the most solemn message ever given, to reach the whole world before God's judgments so people can understand why they come and escape them.ST Jan 25, 1910+2 In the final conflict Christendom is divided into two companies, those who keep God's commandments and have the faith of Jesus standing apart from those who worship the beast and receive his mark.GC 449.2–450.1+1 God's commandment-keeping people refuse the mark, overcome the beast and his image and his mark and triumph as Israel triumphed at Jericho, with victory attending the message and God Himself working to silence every lying tongue, while rejecters who fix destiny against eternal law face sweeping plagues and sentence of eternal death, either being pronounced worthy of a home in the everlasting kingdom or receiving that sentence.GC 449.2–450.1+4

The flying angel in mid-heaven means a work that moves swiftly and loses none of its power in its onward flight, but increases in strength until the whole earth is filled with glory and lightened by it.CT 548.3+2 It is to go rapidly to every nation, kindred, tongue and people, to cities, villages, highways and neglected places close by as well as lands far off.Ms 162, 1905, par. 27–29+2 It swells into the loud cry when the latter rain and refreshing from the Lord's presence revives and strengthens the faithful, makes their faces shine, and enables honest souls long kept from hearing to accept without fear of relatives.CET 177.2+2 Accumulated prayers then overflow as healing light, the message is carried with intensified zeal till the close of time, and its course is onward, ever onward.CT 548.3+2

It is present truth for the closing work that must be given as a clean-cut message with trumpet-certain sound, in plain decided simple language, not in a tame spiritless way but in demonstration of God's power.Ms 40a, 1890, par. 43+2 It presses conscience, enlightens ignorant minds in practical godliness, lays solemn responsibility on souls, keeps eternal realities in view, and brings hearers to decision on what must be done to be saved.Ms 15, 1888, par. 13–16+1 It presents God's law as the rule of His government, exalts law while lifting Jesus as complete Saviour, and makes Christ's righteousness central as the bread of life and fresh manna to starving souls rather than pleasing fancy or glorifying the preacher.Ms 15, 1888, par. 13–16+2 Its closing proclamation goes with great power and with a power not known for years, laying on every recipient responsibility for faith shown by works and not mere theory, and the work will be cut short in righteousness.Ms 15, 1888, par. 13–16+1

The angels represent a people who accept the light and go forth as God's agents, watchmen and light-bearers to sound the warning throughout the length and breadth of the earth.ST Sep 30, 1886+2 To them are committed as sacred trust the law of God and the great truths of prophecy for this time, as the holy oracles were to ancient Israel, to separate a church into sacred nearness to God and to bear His signature as loyal commandment-keeping subjects rather than another banner.Lt 45, 1900, par. 5–8+1 Those who proclaim it stand in God-given responsibility as moved by the Holy Spirit, without fear of human threatening or oppression and without binding themselves to glorify any man, all coming into harmony in the everlasting gospel in the hour of judgment.Ms 162, 1905, par. 27–29+1 The work is done by humble instruments without literary training but qualified by the Spirit's unction, men of faith and prayer, common workers from plow and vineyard, youth, women, physicians, consecrated children and carefully chosen workers laboring two and two under Christ's direction.Ms 49, 1910, par. 9+1

It is the all-important work for time, far-reaching as eternity, to be given now to fallen churches and to souls still unwarned who have never heard, with entire energies of mind and without delay, and nothing is to hinder its progress.Lt 18, 1910, par. 7–9+2 It must enter the great cities where multitudes dwell unwarned and unsaved, towns and cities including many places in Michigan, neglected nearby fields, difficult fields, and every sanctified tongue must teach its Bible truth instead of hovering over the churches.Ms 49, 1910, par. 9+3 It is to reach the South, Washington D.C. the capital where lawmakers must understand God's law, the East, Central Europe, Italy, Australia, islands, California cities, New York, Detroit, Melbourne and London, by organized effort, camp-meetings, publications, canvassing, schools and sanitariums, with money used carefully and economically and not diverted to selfish indulgence.Lt 18, 1910, par. 7–9+1 Leaving it undone dishonors God, counteracts the Holy Spirit, hurts souls and lowers the estimation of the work even at the heart where institutions are established.Ms 14a, 1897, par. 24–25

Its proclamation stirs and enrages inhabitants of earth who will not receive it, awakens intense opposition from the religious world, and Satan works to cast his hellish shadow about it to hide its import, time and place.SG1 197.1+2 Thousands upon thousands who never heard such words are stirred and amazed as it unmasks enforcing church observances by civil authority, the inroads of spiritualism, the rapid progress of the papal power, and the sins of Babylon fallen through errors, rejection of heaven-sent truth and union with the state.4SP 424.1+1 When seekers ask former teachers if these things are so, ministers present fables and smooth things to soothe fears and quiet conscience, and when many demand a plain Thus saith the Lord the popular ministry denounces the message as of Satan and stirs the sin-loving multitudes to revile and persecute.STMW11 8.1+1 Yet victory attends it as the walls of Jericho fell before the Captain of the Lord's host, the commandment-keeping people triumph, opposing elements are defeated, and the end comes when the witness is complete.SG1 197.1+1

Its closing work joins the renewed announcement that Babylon is fallen and the call to come out to avoid her sins and plagues, exposing corruptions entered since 1844, false Sabbath, natural immortality of the soul, union with civil power and spiritualism.STA 38.2+2 It announces that great Babylon has come into remembrance before God and will soon receive punishment for her sins, as the last warning and final call of mercy to a perishing world and the only hope for salvation and preparation for soon-coming events.ST Jul 4, 1906+1 It must be opened plainly with pen and voice by messengers under the Spirit's baptism who speak not their own words, for the last days are now and perils are upon us.4SP 424.1+1

For a time the warning that Sunday observance is the mark was not to be told to the much-oppressed Black people of the South, and Sabbathkeeping there did not require working on Sunday.SPBC 224.1+1 Teaching it then would arouse violent prejudice, bring whipping, imprisonment and destruction of life by white transgressors joined to the continuing spirit of slavery, close the missionary field, and be honestly misconstrued into false impressions and strange actions.SPBC 224.1+2 Labor was to clear obstructions, give the gospel to white and colored in separate distinct lines, work calmly quietly faithfully without agitating the color question or hastily defining future relations, trusting the Elder Brother while the Lord takes care of the rest.SPBC 224.1+1 In that way truth would come before white men and women of the Southern States and then a work be done in their families leading to many souls saved.9T 209.3

The solemn testing work for this time is the living oracles of the third angel's message, and the sanitarium at Battle Creek was ordained to give character to that message by making an impression upon the world, yet presenting medical missionary work and making appeals for it before assemblies in camp-meetings has put that testing work almost out of work and made little of the living oracles.Ms 6, 1900, par. 16–19 The special warnings that call out from the world point out the right way and must never be treated as secondary to medical missionary work nor leave that impression on other minds, but those who have heard them must come to their senses and make life an expression of genuine faith and spirituality with an experience different from the Jewish nation who rejected warning and chose their own way.16MR 12.4–13.3+1 Health reform and medical missionary work are only the entering wedge to prepare the way for the saving truth for this time and last warning to a fallen world, the arm of the body rather than the body itself, to be kept in its proportionate rightful place so as not to eclipse that message or hinder its designed success.Lt 86, 1899, par. 1–6 Elevating medical missionary work above the ministry is not in harmony with that message, for the burden of the work is the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus to be proclaimed with a loud cry to the whole world, and presentation of health principles must be united with it and never independent of it nor in any way take its place as the arm cannot take the place of the body.4MR 131.2–3+1

Health reform is as closely allied to that message as the hand and arm to the body and the lines of ministry to the poor and sick must be carried forward together without separation, with practical care never eclipsing its spiritual features.Lt 57, 1896, par. 1+1 The warning that precedes punishment for transgression of God's law is accompanied by the light of health reform, for violating the laws of the body through appetite and passion is also violation of God's law, and that light makes those natural laws and their consequences clear to prepare a people for the coming of the Lord.HRP 1.1–2.1+1 When the message is received in its fullness health reform has its proper place in the church and its work, as part of the gospel truth as it is in Jesus to be preached not with abrupt declarations of any phase of faith but with all brightness and special radiance from the Sun of Righteousness, dwelling on the lessons of Christ and practical godliness.HPMMW 48.2–3+1 That preaching works under the Holy Spirit's guidance in words of confidence and love for God and in simple humble testimonies expressing the love of God that touch hearts, so that even unbelievers see doctors and nurses and workers combined to represent the truth in character.HPMMW 48.2–3+1

When the message is received in its fullness health reform is given its proper place in the church's work and in the home and daily life as a supporting part and not a replacement.CH 464.2+2 God's people must make an advance move in this great work with ministers and people acting in concert, for they are not yet prepared for the loud cry and have a work to do for themselves which must not be left for God to do, an individual work that one cannot do for another.STBk 125.2 The present truth for this time must be believed and acted upon together with the principles of health reform, making the Sabbath question the great test and centering on Sabbath reform bound closely and inseparably with the gospel and with medical missionary work.Ms 172, 1899, par. 7–11 Its work is to enlighten a world blind to the movements preparing the way for the plagues God will permit, to show through sanitariums the reformatory work that must be done to prepare a people to receive the truth, and to restore the moral image of God in man by sanctification through the truth that gives grace and power to be gospel workers.Ms 172, 1899, par. 7–11

Under the banner of that message physicians are called to stand and fight perseveringly for truth and holiness, relying on God's Word and heavenly armor, and its important truths medical workers should present from the physician's point of view as a warning and message for the last days to help proclaim it.STB 648.3–4+2 Medical missionary work is as the right hand and arm to the message to a fallen world, and physicians, managers, and workers in any line who faithfully act their part are doing the work of the message.Lt 205, 1899, par. 11–12 Through them its sound goes forth to every nation and kindred and tongue and people, with heavenly angels bearing a part, bringing saving truth for soul as well as body and awakening spiritual joy and thanksgiving in those freed from suffering who receive the truth.Lt 205, 1899, par. 11–12

The fearful judgment against worshiping the beast and his image and receiving his mark is meant to move every person endowed with reasoning powers to heed the warning.GC 594.2+2 It should lead all to diligent study of prophecy, searching the word of God carefully and searching Daniel and Revelation, to learn what the mark of the beast is and how to avoid receiving it and how to escape the plagues.GC 594.2+4 The ungodly who worship the beast and his image and receive his mark in forehead or hand will suffer dreadful terrible anger with incurable sores and withering plagues, with no shelter and no deliverance, and be destroyed by them as though they had never been, so that trampling God's law and treading down His holy Sabbath in view of such awful threatenings is a great wonder.GC 594.2+2 The mark is identified with papal principles, and popular education teaches principles that lead people to help give life to the image of the beast and take that mark, pointing to a coming religious and civil darkness greater than any before.GC88 594.2+2

The message tests everyone, and those who accept its warning separate from fallen religious bodies and fallen churches, from the world and from error, following conscience and joining those who proclaim the warning.4SP 287.1+3 It is a life-and-death warning about torment whose smoke ascends forever with no rest day nor night, to be presented together with the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, separating a people who stand on eternal truth from the churches.RH May 22, 1900+2 Accepters keep all God's commandments including the Sabbath and reject the beast's worship and mark, for loyalty to God's law made visible by Sabbath observance distinguishes God's people from the world, and its truths call for obedience to the fourth commandment even when that brings conflict with the world.4SP 287.1+3 This saving truth in Jesus presents the gospel as a life-and-death appeal that separates from the churches a people who stand on eternal truth and warns of punishment for the world and for religious bodies that reject given light and truth.RH May 22, 1900+2

The message is present truth understood by few and often presented without full force, concerning the Lord God, eternity and truth, laying open the decisive choice between faithfulness to God and siding with lawbreakers to escape persecution.Ms 15, 1888, par. 13–16+2 It must be given as a clean-cut message in plain decided simple language that presses conscience, enlightens ignorant minds in practical godliness, lays solemn responsibilities on souls, keeps eternal realities in view and brings hearers to decision on what must be done to be saved.Ms 15, 1888, par. 13–16+2 Its preaching presents God's holy unchangeable law as the rule of His government and God as supreme Governor, and lifts up the Saviour with Christ's righteousness as vitally important, breaking the bread of life and fresh manna to suffering starving souls rather than pleasing fancy or bringing glory to the preacher.Ms 15, 1888, par. 13–16+2 It is holy ground demanding careful reverent tread with cleansing of heart, feelings, sympathies and words and turning the face not the back to the Lord, and it is to be proclaimed everywhere with a loud voice with pen and voice in demonstration of God's power, not in a tame spiritless way, with power not known for years as the loud cry whose work shall be cut short in righteousness.Ms 40a, 1890, par. 43+2 It is light given for the church that must be fully received and will triumph to prepare a people for the great day of God, as a trumpet giving a certain sound in an urgent work of the Lord with no time to lose, requiring faith shown by works and not mere theory, with straight paths made and stumbling blocks removed and no heeding of unbelievers' counsels.Ms 40a, 1890, par. 43+2

Genuine faith in the message is shown by works including self-denial and resistance to worldly influence, for conformity to the world clouds faith, cools love for truth and leads away from God's cause.HSFM 284.5–285.1+2 Embracing it requires getting ready because time is almost finished, reflecting the lovely image of Jesus and dying a greater death to the world than ever before, with a great work to do in little time.HSFM 284.5–285.1+2 It calls every person in childhood, youth and age, high and low, rich and poor, to unreserved consecration of soul and body, to stand at the post of duty in saving souls and to prepare as awake men for Christ's coming, preached with a certain sound without wavering to awaken interest and sow seed bearing fruit to God's glory.RH Mar 2, 1905+2 It calls for letting truth burn upon the altar of the heart, separating from all iniquity and false dealing and dishonesty, and taking a stand where God's glory can shine.RH Mar 2, 1905+2 It is closely connected with health reform, and personal reform is part of the individual work each must do that no one else can do to prepare for the loud cry.STA 125.2+2

The solemn warning is entrusted to God's people as watchmen and light-bearers, especially in the cities, as the most important work for the saving of souls, opening the way to warn those who never heard and shining as wonderful light and truth for this time.Lt 18, 1910, par. 7–9+2 It is now to be proclaimed not only in lands far off but in neglected places close by, in towns and cities and many places never yet warned where multitudes dwell unwarned and unsaved, carried by carefully selected workers laboring two and two in harmony with experienced counsel under Christ's direction and commission.Ms 49, 1910, par. 9+2 It includes the first and second messages, makes prominent and exalts the Sabbath of Jehovah of the fourth commandment instituted in Eden, observed by patriarchs, proclaimed from Sinai and still binding as perpetual sign and covenant, and means much to believers and unbelievers whose future depends on receiving, believing and living it out.Lt 18, 1910, par. 7–9+2 It is Bible truth and the last warning to an impenitent world for souls still unwarned, to be given with entire energies of mind without delay, with ministers carrying a burden for those souls instead of hovering over churches and every sanctified tongue teaching its truth.Lt 12a, 1910, par. 3–6+2 Carrying it forward is the missionary work God wills to be done with carefully and economically used means, and leaving it undone while diverting means to selfish indulgences dishonors God, counteracts the Holy Spirit, hurts souls and lowers estimation of God's work, while neglect while multitudes perish shows indifference.Lt 18, 1910, par. 7–9+2

The Laodicean message exposes backsliding and calls God's people to repentance so they may receive Jesus' presence and be spiritually prepared and fitted with divine presence to proclaim the message in the loud cry.SG4 190.3+2 Its threat of God's plagues falls not only on churches opposing God's law but just as verily on those who heard and received truth and joined the commandment-keeping people yet remain without vitality and consecration like nominal churches, for if the church becomes lukewarm it stands no more in God's favor than fallen churches.Lt 102a, 1897, par. 11–13+2 Many who once proclaimed it zealously are now neglecting it, withholding influence while multitudes perish through indifference, conformity to the world and love of trade and worldly gain, and the warning calls for earnestness in sharing it rather than such neglect.8T 118.4–119.1+2 It must be allowed to do its work upon the heart by steadily arising out of darkness, clearing rubbish from the door of the heart, opening the door to the Saviour, reforming and not merely confessing without change, looking away from self-unworthiness and exalting Jesus and talking light and heaven in order to have light.SG4 190.3+2 It continues the Protestant witness with protest against trampling God's law, where half-hearted testimony cannot save, and only those sanctified through truth who love Christ and keep His commandments will escape the plagues and compose the royal family in the heavenly mansions.Lt 102a, 1897, par. 11–13+2

It is truth and a message sent from God that men enjoy, accept and work in, and yielding to temptation in crisis, taking offense, turning thoughts to other channels and advocating the opposite shows lack of thorough conversion and leads to apostasy.7MR 174.3+2 It does its fearful work of separating wheat from tares and sealing or binding the wheat for the heavenly garner, warning of coming temptation and anguish when the faithful face close conflict with lives at stake and steadfastness is their only hope of eternal life.EW 96.4+2 It calls the world to prepare for the great day of God and bears the seal of the living God, pointing steadfast sufferers to Jesus' final intercession in the heavenly sanctuary.EW 215.2+2 It is of highest importance at this time as a life-and-death question where everything is at stake, setting forth the great issue and test for God's people in the last days, to be strengthened and confirmed and presented with boldness and power with no toning down or muffling.7MR 174.3+2 Satan works to bind about its proclamation and mingle deception with truth to create side issues turning people from it, so it must be held without change to probation's close, believed and acted upon with Old and New Testaments combined, deeply impressed through true education despite error, guarded against fanaticism and flat-world hobbies and false loud cries and claims that Adventists are Babylon, until it triumphs with glory lightening the earth.7MR 174.3+2