ADVENTISM'S THREE ANGELS MESSAGES: A FALSE GOSPEL

Introduction

The Three Angels' messages of Revelation 14 are highly significant to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In the SDA Church's official mission statement, the Three Angels' Messages are prominent. The following statement was voted by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Executive Committee at the Annual Council Session in Silver Spring, Maryland on October 13, 2014: 

Our Mission

Make disciples of Jesus Christ who live as His loving witnesses and proclaim to all people the everlasting gospel of the Three Angels’ Messages in preparation for His soon return (Matt 28:18-20, Acts 1:8, Rev 14:6-12).

SDA 28 Fundamental Beliefs #13 says:

“This remnant announces the arrival of the judgment hour, proclaims salvation through Christ, and heralds the approach of His second advent. This proclamation is symbolized by the three angels of Revelation 14; it coincides with the work of judgment in heaven and results in a work of repentance and reform on earth.”

1. What is the significance of the 3 angels’ message of Rev. 14 to the SDA church?

It has an end-time missiological significance.

“Three Angels’ Messages. A reference to the angelic messages of Revelation 14:6-12, which Seventh-day Adventists regard as symbolizing their own message and mission to the world prior to the second coming of Christ (Revelation 14:14-20). Foundational for the Adventist understanding of those messages are the notions that “no one hears the voice of these angels, for they are a symbol to represent the people of God who are working in harmony with the universe of heaven,” and that the messages have “a direct bearing upon the people living in the last days of this earth’s history.” Ellen White Encyclopedia p. 1219

“In a special sense, Seventh-day Adventists have been set in the world as watchmen and light-bearers. To them has been entrusted the last warning for a perishing world. On them is shining wonderful light from the word of God. They have been given a work of the most solemn import— the proclamation of the first, second, and third angels’ messages. There is no other work of so great importance. They are to allow nothing else to absorb their attention” (Testimonies for the Church, 9:19)." - Ellen White Encyclopedia p. 1219

“Many are doing the same thing today ... because they have not had experience in the testing message comprehended in the first, second, and third angels’ messages.” Upward Look 368

2. When did they apply its fulfillment within the Adventist history?

“Seventh-day Adventist authors, including Ellen G. White, refer to the preaching of the three angels as initiated by the nineteenth-century Millerite and Sabbatarian Adventist movements.” - Ellen White Encyclopedia p. 1219

3. What is the First Angel's message is about?

Revelation 14:6-7 (NKJV)

"Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”

“The first message (verses 6, 7) has been identified as the Millerite proclamation in the late 1830s and early 1840s that “the hour of his judgment” would arrive in 1843-1844, at the end of the 2300

symbolic days of Daniel 8:14.” - Ellen White Encyclopedia p. 1219

4. Did the 1844 Millerite Movement really reach "every nation"?

Not according to Joshua V. Himes. Next to William Miller, Joshua Himes was the foremost leader of the 1844 movement. No one was in a better position to assess the progress of the 1844 movement than Elder Himes. Note carefully what Himes wrote after the Great

Disappointment:

"...the cry of the seventh month was a local and partial one. It was confined to this country..." Joshua V. Himes." The Morning Watch, Feb. 20, 1845.

5. The first angel in Revelation 14:6 is described as having the "everlasting gospel." Was the "everlasting gospel" preached by the Millerites?

Not according to one Adventist scholar who studied the writings of the Millerites in-depth:

"Finally, and possibly most significantly, one can consider what is omitted in Miller's [15] rules. They make no mention of Christ, of salvation, or of the gospel. This matches the near-total lack of devotional writing in Millerite periodicals." Dr. Arasola, The End of Historicism, p. 59

6. The Millerites understood the hour of God’s judgment to be the judgment of God upon the wicked. William Miller never preaches the Investigative Judgment as part of his message?

No, it was not even concocted by Adventists until after the failure of 1844, and William Miller never even accepted the teaching. The context of Rev. 14 supports this:

“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: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever 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. ... And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.” (Rev. 14:10,11,19,20)

After 1844, however, the Adventists faced a dilemma. The wrath of God did not commence as expected in 1844. How could they continue to claim the first angel's message had been fulfilled when the judgment upon the wicked did not occur? In order to explain away this obvious failure, they concocted a theory that the judgment referred to an investigative judgment in Heaven. The investigative judgment, rather than being the execution of justice upon the wicked, envisions a court-room procedure where God ponders the fate of every soul and makes a decision upon each case. This "court-room" investigation is not found anywhere in Revelation 14. Nevertheless, the Adventists adopted this teaching because even though it violated the context of the passage, it allowed them to have a "judgment" commence in 1844, while at the same time allowing them to say the first two angels' messages had already sounded.

7. In Early Writings Mrs. White writes very clearly that the First Angel's Message was sounded in William Miller's announcement of the "coming of Jesus" in 1843/1844.

“I saw that God was in the proclamation of the time in 1843. It was His design to arouse the people and bring them to a testing point, where they should decide for or against the truth. Ministers were convinced of the correctness of the positions taken on the prophetic periods, and some renounced their pride and left their salaries and their churches to go forth from place to place to give the message. But as the message from heaven could find a place in the hearts of but few of the professed ministers of Christ, the work was laid upon many who were not preachers.

Some left their fields to sound the message, while others were called from their shops and their merchandise. And even some professional men were compelled to leave their professions to engage in the unpopular work of giving the first angel's message. Ministers laid aside their sectarian views and feelings and united in proclaiming the coming of Jesus. Wherever the message was given, it moved the people.” Ellen White, Early Writings, p. 232.

In other words, God was burning up with fury and anger, because there were some Christians who were audacious enough to reject Miller and follow Christ who said, "But of that day and hour knoweth no [man], no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only."(Matt. 24:36) So why would God be so furious at Christians for disbelieving a delusion? Shouldn't He be happy that His children were not deceived?

8. An older and wiser Ellen White must have realized the utter absurdity of the things she "saw" in vision in the early days, so by the time she published Great Controversy, in 1888, she completely changed the meaning of the first angel's message.

“...the first angel's message, "Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come," pointed to Christ's ministration in the most holy place, to the investigative judgment, and not to the coming of Christ for the redemption of His people and the destruction of the wicked.” Ellen White, The Great Controversy (1911), p. 424

9. The Bible teaches that the first angel's message was fulfilled by the apostles and early Christians, as they preached the gospel to all nations. The angel in Rev. 14:6,7 is seen preaching the gospel to every nation, as Jesus commanded:

Mark 16:15 (NKJV)

"And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."

10. Compare Paul's sermon to the idolatrous heathen at Lystra, Acts 14:13-16, with the words of the first message, Rev. 14:7, and they will be seen to be almost identical.

Acts 14:13-16 (NKJV)

"Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in front of their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, intending to sacrifice with the multitudes. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them, who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways."

So Rev. 14:7 says "Worship him that made heaven and earth, and the sea." This, then, was a message to idolaters, announcing to them the living God who made all things, but of whom they had been ignorant. This is exactly what the early church preached to the heathen nations till idolatry was overthrown.

11. Paul says the gospel "was preached to every creature which is under heaven," Col. 1:23. This was before he died, and this exactly fulfilled Rev. 14:6,7.

But the Advent work of 1844 was a small, local affair, limited to a few states; much less was it preached to all nations. It is claimed that the apostles could not have preached this message, as the judgment did not come in their day. Let us see. Jesus preached thus:

John 12:31 (NKJV)

"Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out."

1 Peter 4:17 (NKJV)

"For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?"

12. What is the Second Angel's message in Rev. 14:8 all about?

Revelation 14:8 (NKJV)

"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.”

“The second message (verse 8) has been understood as the warnings by Charles Fitch and a few others, from the summer of 1843 on, calling the Millerites out of the churches that had rejected the message of the first angel.” - Ellen White Encyclopedia p. 1219

13. The substance of the second angel's message is, "You should leave your church because your church does not accept the imminent return of Christ in 1844."

“When the churches spurned the counsel of God by rejecting the Advent message, the Lord rejected them. The first angel was followed by a second, proclaiming, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." Revelation 14:8. This message was understood by Adventists to be an announcement of the moral fall of the churches in consequence of their rejection of the first message. The proclamation, "Babylon is fallen," was given in the summer of 1844, and as the result, about fifty thousand withdrew from these churches.” Ellen White, The Story of Redemption (1947), pp. 364-65.

“Since the rejection of the first message, a sad change has taken place in the churches. As truth is spurned, error is received and cherished. Love for God and faith in His Word have grown cold. The churches have grieved the Spirit of the Lord, and it has been in a great measure withdrawn.” Ellen White, The Story of Redemption (1947), p. 366.

14. When the second angel's message is repeated, it is about the Sabbath and soul-sleep, whereas the first time, it was about the rejection of the first message, which message was actually the imminent return of Christ, but in reality, should have been understood as the "Investigative Judgment."

“[Revelation 18:1, 2 quoted] This is the same message that was given by the second angel. Babylon is fallen, "because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." What is that wine?--her false doctrines. She has given to the world a false sabbath

instead of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, and has repeated the falsehood that Satan first told to Eve in Eden--the natural immortality of the soul.” Ellen White, Review and Herald,

Dec. 6, 1892.

In 1844, the Christian churches were told that Jesus was returning that year. By and large, they rejected that message. And it turns out, they were correct in doing so, because that message was thoroughly and absolutely false. But according to Ellen White, they are now "rejected" by God, because they refused to believe a delusion!

15. What is Babylon, that great city?

It is fully described in Rev. 17 and 18 and is regarded by all Protestants as the Roman church. Adventists themselves agree with this, though endeavoring to make Babylon also include the Protestant churches. Even with their view Babylon, "the great," must refer primarily to Rome, and only include other fallen churches as a secondary idea, as her daughters.

16. Did they preach what Rev. 14:8 says?

No! They said Babylon was fallen because she rejected Millerism, but the message gives a far different reason. Babylon fell "because she made all nations drink of the wine of her fornication." The Bible gives one reason, Adventists give another.

Revelation 14:8 (NKJV)

"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.”

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17. Again, Babylon must at least include Rome. Did the Catholic church fall in 1844?

No, for she fell ages ago, as every Protestant knows. So, then, the fall of Babylon does not mean what Adventists say, nor did they preach what the message says.

18. Luther startled the world with the bold proclamation that the Roman church was the "Mother of harlots," "Babylon the great," of Rev. 17:1-6, and that she was fallen, as stated in Rev. 14:8; 18:1- 4.

October 6, 1520, he published his famous book on the "Babylonish Captivity of the Church."

Quote from D'Aubigne's History of the Reformation, Vol. II:

"Luther had prepared a mine, the explosion of which shook the edifice of Rome to its lowest foundation. This was the publication of his famous book on the 'Babylonish Captivity of the Church,' which appeared on the 6th of October, 1520." Page 130. In it, he said: "I know that the Papacy is none other than the kingdom of Babylon." p. 131.

"Christians are God's true people, led captive to Babylon." p. 133.

"All the evils that afflicted Christendom, he sincerely ascribed to Rome." p. 138.

Says Luther: 

"It is true that I have attacked the court of Rome, but neither you nor any man on earth can deny that it is more corrupt than Sodom." p. 139.

"This Babylon, which is confusion itself." "Rome for many years past has inundated the world with all that could destroy both body and soul. The church of Rome, once the foremost in sanctity, is become the most licentious den of robbers, the most shameless of all brothels, the kingdom of sin, of death, and of hell." p. 140.

Luther's message was a mighty cry, which enlightened the earth, announced the fearful corruptions of Rome, and called out of her millions of people, and gave to the world that mighty power, Protestantism. In all the history of the world, such a mighty religious move had never before been seen. This was worthy of a notice in prophecy.

It illustrates how they interpret everything to fit themselves. No; the second message of Rev. 14:8, the fall of Babylon, applies to the Catholic church, not to Protestants, and was given three hundred and fifty years ago by Luther, not by the Millerites in 1844.

19. What is the content of the Third Angel's message?

Revelation 14:9-12 (NKJV)

"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 name.” Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”

20. Ellen White makes it very clear that the Third Angel’s Message (Rev. 14:9-12) is about the mission of the SDA Church is to recruit believers from the Sunday-keeping churches so that they will not receive the Mark of the Beast.

"...the churches were left as were the Jews; and they have been filling up with every unclean and hateful bird. I saw great iniquity and vileness in the churches, yet they profess to be Christians. Their profession, their prayers, and their exhortations are an abomination in the sight of God.

Said the angel, God will not smell in their assemblies. Selfishness, fraud, and deceit are practiced by them without the reproving of conscience. And over all these evil traits they throw the cloak of religion. I was shown the pride of the nominal churches. God was not in their thoughts, but their carnal minds dwell upon themselves. They decorate their poor mortal bodies and then look upon themselves with satisfaction and pleasure. Jesus and the angels looked upon them in anger. Said the angel, Their sins and pride have reached unto heaven. Their portion is prepared. Justice and judgment have slumbered long, but will soon awake. Vengeance is mine, and I will

repay, saith the Lord. The fearful threatenings of the third angel are to be realized, and they will drink the wrath of God. An innumerable host of evil angels are spreading themselves over the whole land. The churches and religious bodies are crowded with them.” Ellen White, Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 1 (1858), pp. 190-191

“Some of those who left the churches eventually accepted the third angel’s message (verses 9-12), preached since 1844, and embraced “the light of the Sabbath” and follow Jesus “by faith” into the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary (see Spiritual Gifts, 1:128-173). Seventh-day Adventists eventually enriched their understanding of the third angel’s message by adding to it, in the 1860s, the health message and, in the 1880s, a clearer understanding of justification (righteousness) by faith.”- Ellen White Encyclopedia p. 1219 “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.”—Selected Messages 1:372 (1890).

It was not until 1888, that the message of Justification by Faith was prominently taught in the SDA Church by A.T. Jones and E.J. Waggoner. Even then, some of the leading brethren fought against the message, and even today it is still being debated as to whether or not the church ever fully accepted it. It is astonishing that the SDA Church can claim that all other churches are led by Satan when those very churches were the ones preaching a true understanding of the foremost Christian doctrine--Justification by Faith--for a quarter of a century while the SDA Church was caught up in the chains of legalism!

21. This warning against the worship of the beast and his image, and his mark, has been given by all the Protestant churches for the last three hundred years.

Look at the multitude of books against popery and the corruptions of Catholicism. From press and pulpit has been thundered one continual warning against apostate Rome. Never was a prophecy more plainly fulfilled than this. Seventh-day Adventists say that they are giving this message. Never was a claim more absurd.

22. Seventh-day Adventists teach the seventh-day Sabbath is the “seal of God.”

The traditional Adventist support for the seventh-day Sabbath as the seal of God comes from the common understanding of what a seal is. It is a mark that shows authenticity by (1) giving the name of the one in authority, (2) the title of the one in authority, and (3) the dominion of the one in authority. Seventh-day Adventists show that the Sabbath, not the Fourth Commandment has all of this information:

“The Lord” (name), “The Lord your God” (title), “Who made the heavens and the earth, and sea and all that is in them” (dominion). This may be good human reasoning, but the New Testament never speaks of the Sabbath as the seal of God. Because the Sabbath commandment was placed in the very center of the Ten Commandments, it served as the dynastic sign of the Sinaitic Covenant. On several occasions within the old covenant, we find the Sabbath called a sign. In context, it is always the sign between God and the sons of Israel. Never is the Sabbath called a seal or a sign within the new covenant.

23. The Holy Spirit is said to be the seal that the Christian receives when he believes.

“Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.” (2 Cor. 1:21, 22)

“In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.” (Eph. 1:13, 14)

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (Eph. 4:30)

According to Scripture, it is the Holy Spirit and not the seventh-day Sabbath that is the seal of God. According to the New Testament, the seventh-day Sabbath is not the sign which is to be remembered. Rather, Christians are to celebrate the Lord’s Supper (the new covenant sign) in remembrance of Christ (Matt. 26:28; Luke 22:19, 20). 

Luke 22:19-20 (NKJV)

"And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” Likewise, He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you."

Conclusion

Seventh-day Adventism has elevated an obscure and easily misunderstood passage in the book of Revelation to a position of prime importance to their church. Unfortunately, they have misinterpreted the meaning of this passage, resulting in a twisted and warped understanding of their relationship to other Christian churches. Realizing the absurdity of their position, Adventist evangelists are reluctant to reveal their understanding of the meaning of this passage to other Christians whom they are recruiting to join the sect. However, once they are in the sect, new Seventh-day Adventists are indoctrinated to view other Christian churches as "Fallen," "Babylon," or "Apostate Protestantism." While Jesus prayed for unity between believers (John 17:22), Adventists seek to drive a wedge between Christian faiths, claiming that the prayers of nonAdventists are not heard by Jesus, because non-Adventist prayers are ascending to the Holy Place, whereas Jesus has moved into the MostbHoly Place. Such vicious sectarianism is contrary to both the gospel and the Spirit of Christ.