“In Verity”

The message to the world found in Revelation 14 is replete with both hope and warning. The three angels’ messages speak of judgment and worship, of commitment to God, and of the danger of choosing falsehood over truth.

At the eleventh hour of this world’s history, the inhabitants of the earth are given a solemn warning. Those who steadfastly refuse to yield their lives to the God of heaven have no hope of eternal salvation and will instead be forever lost.

So where should the focus of the believer be when it comes to the messages of the three angels? Do we emphasize giving glory to God or worshiping Him “who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water” (Revelation 14:7)? Is alerting people that Babylon is fallen to be the church’s primary burden, or does the church pour its energies into educating people regarding the mark of the beast? Notice this important insight given by Ellen White: “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,’ ”* “What is justification by faith? It is the work of God in laying the glory of man in the dust, and doing for man that which it is not in his power to do for himself.”† The message of the three angels is designed by God to bring the righteousness of Christ into the life of the believer. The sinner is to be transformed by the indwelling presence of Jesus. Rightly understood, this is the burden of the three angels’ messages.

The three angels’ messages are not messages of denunciation.

They are messages of hope, showing the world that in a time of crisis, an eternal future is granted in the One who died for the sins of the world.

The “everlasting gospel” is the gospel.

As specific as the three angels’ messages are, we must not lose sight of the theme of God’s last-day message: justification by faith, in verity.