The Health Message in The SOP
The Third Angel's Message And The Health Reform.
COMPILED FROM THE WRITINGS OF ELLEN G WHITE by LAMULANI NGWENYA B [B.A Theology]
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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, 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 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 name1.
When
Christ entered the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary to
perform the closing work of the atonement, he committed to his
servants the last message of mercy to be given to the world. Such is
the warning of the third angel of Revelation 14. Immediately
following its proclamation, the Son of man is seen by the prophet
coming in glory to reap the harvest of the earth. {4SP 273.1}
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then
peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good
fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. James 3:17. {LHU
309.1} The third angel's message is infallible. Upon the grand,
ennobling truths connected with that message you can dwell with
perfect safety. Labor intelligently to encourage union of faith and
union of judgment, that all may be united in the bonds of Christian
fellowship and love. . . . {LHU 309.2} "The wisdom that is
from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be
intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and
without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of
them that make peace" (James 3:17, 18). {LHU 309.3}
The principle here
laid down is the natural outgrowth of the Christian religion.
Especially will those who are engaged in proclaiming the last solemn
message to a dying world seek to fulfill this scripture. Although
possessing different temperaments and dispositions, they will see eye
to eye in all matters of religious belief. They will speak the same
things; they will have the same judgment; they will be one in Christ
Jesus. . . . {LHU 309.4}
No one should feel that his judgment is faultless, that
his ideas are above criticism, and that he can pursue a course of his
own, regardless of the opinions of others with whom he is united in
labor. When we think we know all that is worth knowing, we are in a
position where God cannot use us. The third angel's message is not a
narrow message. It is worldwide; and we should be united, so far as
possible, in the manner of presenting it to the world. {LHU 309.5}
Man is fallible; but the message is infallible. With it all should
be in harmony; it is the center of interest, in which all hearts
should be united. We may get up points that are of no consequence,
and seek to maintain them; but we shall gain no strength by so doing.
The message is to prepare a people to stand in the last great day,
and to be united in heaven above. None should feel that it is of no
special importance whether they are in union with their brethren or
not; for those who do not learn to live in harmony here will never be
united in heaven. . . . {LHU 309.6}
Some have a natural independence which leads them to
think more highly of their own judgment than of that of their
brethren. In so doing they place themselves where they fail to obtain
much knowledge that God would have them gain. . . . Doctrines and
plans should be compared with the law and the testimony2.
We should never feel too independent to learn of one another
(Historical Sketches, pp. 122-125). {LHU 309.7} The great Center
of attraction, Jesus Christ, must not be left out of the third
angel's message. . . . The sinner must ever look toward Calvary; and
with the simple faith of a little child, he must rest in the merits
of Christ, accepting His righteousness and believing in His mercy
(Evangelism, pp. 184, 185).
A Life-and-Death Message.--The third angel's message is
to be given with power. The power of the proclamation of the first
and second messages is to be intensified in the third. In the
Revelation John says of the heavenly messenger who unites with the
third angel: "I saw another angel come down from heaven, having
great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried
mightily with a strong voice." Revelation 18:1, 2. We are in
danger of giving the third angel's message in so indefinite a manner
that it does not impress the people. . . . {PM 387.1}.
The
Third Angel's Message in Verity.--Several have written to me,
inquiring if the message of justification by faith3
is the third angel's message, and I have answered, "It is the
third angel's message in verity."-- Review and Herald, April 1,
1890. {Ev 190.3} . The Three Angels' Messages.--The proclamation
of the first, second, and third angels' messages has been located by
the word of Inspiration. Not a peg or pin is to be removed. No human
authority has any more right to change the location of these messages
than to substitute the New Testament for the Old. The Old Testament
is the gospel in figures and symbols. The New Testament is the
substance. One is as essential as the other. The Old Testament
presents lessons from the lips of Christ, and these lessons have not
lost their force in any particular {CW 26.2}.
The
first and second messages were given in 1843 and 1844, and we are now
under the proclamation of the third; but all three of the messages
are still to be proclaimed. It is just as essential now as ever
before that they shall be repeated to those who are seeking for the
truth. By pen and voice we are to sound the proclamation, showing
their order, and the application of the prophecies4
that bring us to the third angel's message. There cannot be a third
without the first and second. These messages we are to give to the
world in publications, in discourses, showing in the line of
prophetic history the things that have been, and the things that will
be.--Manuscript 32, 1896. {CW 26.2}.
Many
who heard the first and second angels' messages thought they would
live to see Christ coming in the clouds of heaven. Had
all who claimed to believe the truth acted their part as wise
virgins,
the message would ere this have been proclaimed to every nation,
kindred, tongue, and people. But five were wise and five were
foolish. The truth should have been proclaimed by the ten virgins,
but only five had made the provision essential to join that company
who walked in the light that had come to them. The third angel's
message was needed. This proclamation was to be made. Many who went
forth to meet the Bridegroom under the messages of the first and
second angels, refused the third angel's message, the last testing
message to be given to the world.
{16MR 269.3}.
A similar work will be accomplished when that other
angel, represented in Revelation 18, gives his message. The first,
second, and third angels' messages will need to be repeated. The call
will be given to the church, "Come out of her, My people, that
ye be not partakers of her sins." "Babylon, the great, is
fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the
hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful
bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her
fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication
with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the
abundance of her delicacies. . . . Come out of her, My people, that
ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her
plagues: for her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath
remembered her iniquities" [Revelation 18:2-5]. {16MR 270.1}
Take each verse of
this chapter, and read it carefully, especially the last two: "And
the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the
voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at
all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for
by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the
blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the
earth." {16MR 270.2}
The parable of the ten virgins was given by Christ
Himself, and every specification should be carefully studied. A time
will come when the door will be shut. We are represented either by
the wise or the foolish virgins. We cannot now distinguish, nor have
we authority to say, who are wise and who foolish. There are those
who hold the truth in unrighteousness, and these appear outwardly
like the wise. {16MR 270.3}
Said Christ, "Every plant, which My heavenly
Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. . . . Those things which
proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile
the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders,
adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: these
are the things which defile a man" [Matthew 15:13, 18-20].
{16MR 271.1}
It is impossible for men to read the human heart,
for the tares so closely resemble the wheat. It is not given to human
beings to try to separate them. But the angels of God know them, for
their fruits declare their character. Have they not been commissioned
to counterwork the work of those who fight against the truth of God's
word? These angels will never make a mistake in gathering the wheat
from among the tares. {16MR 271.2}
Matthew
7:15-23, This is the test. Those who are counted among the wise
virgins will let their light burn in good works. There are many who
will not remain at the feet of Jesus, and learn of Him. They have not
a knowledge of His ways. Let none rest in the idea that baptism has
saved them, while they give no evidence that they are conformed to
the image of Christ, while they cling to their old habits, while they
exert their influence on the side of the world, and weave their
fabric with the threads of worldly ideas and customs. These have not
kept the oil in the vessels with their lamps. They are not ready for
the Bridegroom. The oil is the holy grace that is sent from heaven,
and there must be an inward adorning with that grace, that they may
be enabled to stand when He appeareth. {16MR 271.3}
Health
reform as part of the carrier for the gospel.
December
10, 1871, I was again shown that the health reform is one branch of
the great work which is to fit a people for the coming of the Lord.
It is as closely connected with the third angel's message5
as the hand is with the body. The law of ten commandments has been
lightly regarded by man; but the Lord would not come to punish the
transgressors of that law without first sending them a message of
warning. The third angel proclaims that message6.
Had men ever been obedient to the law of ten commandments, carrying
out in their lives the principles of those precepts, the curse of
disease now flooding the world would not be7.
{CD 69.1}
Medical missionary work is in no case to be
divorced from the gospel ministry. The Lord has specified that the
two shall be as closely connected as the arm is with the body.
Without this union neither part of the work is complete. The medical
missionary work is the gospel in illustration. {CH 524.2}
But God did not
design that the medical missionary work should eclipse the work of
the third angel's message. The arm is not to become the body. The
third angel's message is the gospel message for these last days8,
and in no case is it to be overshadowed by other interests and made
to appear an unessential consideration. When in our institutions
anything is placed above the third angel's message, the gospel is not
there the great leading power. {CH 524.3}
1
(Rev 14:11)
2
Message Not Muffled.--Satan has devised a state of things whereby
the proclamation of the third angel's message shall be bound about.
We must beware of his plans and methods. There must be no toning
down of the truth, no muffling of the message for this time. The
third angel's message must be strengthened and confirmed. The
eighteenth chapter of Revelation reveals the importance of
presenting the truth in no measured terms but with boldness and
power.... There has been too much beating about the bush in the
proclamation of the third angel's message. The message has not been
given as clearly and distinctly as it should have been.--Manuscript
16, 1900. {Ev 230.2}
3This
message was to bring more prominently before the world the uplifted
Saviour, the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. It presented
justification through faith in the Surety; it invited the people to
receive the righteousness of Christ, which is made manifest in
obedience to all the commandments of God. {Ev 190.4}
4The
prophecies in Daniel and Revelation give a backgroung context to
understanding the Third angel's message. c/o Daniel 2, 7, 8, 9, 10,
11, 12, and Revelation 2, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 18. These
highlight the role of the beastly power and it's confederate lackey
powers that seek to empower the Roman Catholic power as stated in
Revelation 13 :1-18
5The
Third Angel's message is also called the “Gospel Work”. {CH
524.2}
6The
last testing message to be given to the world. {16MR 269.3}
7
(1873)
3T 161, 162.
8We
must let the great principles of the third angel's message stand out
clear and distinct. The great pillars of our faith will hold all the
weight that can be placed upon them. Letter 207, 1899, p. 2. (To
Elder S. N. Haskell and Elder G. A. Irwin, December 15, 1899.) {1MR
53.3}.