By John Thiel, Fourth Angel’s Message, study 2, mp3

As we studied in our last study Another Movement, we went into the detail of scripture that identifies this angel as another movement. The angel is the ministry of the church.

Malachi 2:7 For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he [is] the messenger of the LORD of hosts. 8 But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the LORD of hosts.

The third angel was the angel of the church of Laodecia.  Then comes another movement.

Of Babylon, at the time brought to view in this prophecy, it is declared, “Her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.” [Revelation 18:5.] She has filled up the measure of her guilt, and destruction is about to fall upon her. But God still has a people in Babylon; and before the visitation of his judgments, these faithful ones must be called out, that they “partake not of her sins, and receive not of her plagues.” Hence the movement symbolized by the angel coming down from Heaven, lightening the earth with his glory, and crying mightily with a strong voice, announcing the sins of Babylon. In connection with his message the call is heard, “Come out of her, my people.” These announcements, uniting with the third angel’s message, constitute the final warning to be given to the inhabitants of the earth.  {GC88 604.1}

Here is a movement.

The question of most vital importance for this time is, “Who is on the Lord’s side? Who will unite with the angel in giving the message of truth to the world?  {RH, November 5, 1889 par. 12}

We need to unite with the movement, the angel that gives this message.  This movement came into being from;

A new life is coming from heaven and taking possession of all God’s people. But divisions will come in the church. Two parties will be developed. The wheat and tares grow up together for the harvest.  {2SM 113.3}

The work will grow deeper and become more earnest to the very close of time. And all who are laborers together with God will contend most earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. They will not be turned from the present message, which is already lightening the earth with its glory.  {2SM 114.1}

Two parties are developed and it has to do with the message of the revelation 18 message under Waggoner and Jones presentations. As it says in the prophetic picture, two parties develop as Waggoner and Jones preached.  The people who were intensely absorbed with the message as time went on became more earnest and more intense and it caused a division – another movement.

As trials thicken around us, both separation and unity will be seen in our ranks. {6T 400.3}

This is to be expected.  This is very vividly portrayed.

Isaiah 8:12 Say ye not, A confederacy, to all [them to] whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.

As people say lets come together, what should we be doing?

Isaiah 8:13 Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and [let] him [be] your fear, and [let] him [be] your dread. 14 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. 16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.

In this scripture both houses of Israel in those times Israel had been split into two just as we read there were divisions.  Jesus is a stumbling block to both houses of Israel but among his disciples the true law is identified.  Ellen White refers to this scripture;

In this representation of the prophet, we see that Satan is at work not only with worldlings, who have not the fear and love of God before them, but also with those who profess faith in Christ. Here are plainly represented two distinct parties, formed from a company that was once united. The members of one of these parties are in resistance to the will of God. They have taken themselves from the side of the loyal and true, and are now resisting the warnings of the Spirit of God. To the obedient the Lord will be “for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.”  {RH, July 18, 1907 par. 7}

Scripture and amplification from the Spirit of Prophecy that two parties are developed.  One company that once were united with the other has now split into two distinct parties.  One party is in resistance to God.  They have taken sides. It is to the obedient that the Lord will be for a sanctuary.  Here is introduced the character or the description that comes into existence.

The Loyal, True and the Obedient

This movement is the loyal and true – the obedient.  We examine the full detail of the character of this angel.

Revelation 18:1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.

This angel has great power.  What kind of power is here described?  Is it powerful preaching?  Is it big powerful public ostentatious gatherings?  This is the way it is often read and understood.  Recall that it is a company that has developed as it is written in Amos.  It is to do with the remnant people of God.

Amos 5:1 Hear ye this word which I take up against you, [even] a lamentation, O house of Israel.2 The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; [there is] none to raise her up. 3 For thus saith the Lord God; The city that went out [by] a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth [by] an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel.

The faithful, loyal and true, as we read. The others have taken themselves away from the loyal and true.  It will only be to the obedient he will be as a sanctuary.  They went forth as a great number but only a small amount are left.

Zephaniah 3:12 I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD. 13 The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make [them] afraid.

This movement cannot be identified as a big ostentatious movement that has these big public addresses and powerful preaching. This is not what is in this prophetic preaching.  As we look at this angel, what can this small insignificant people display by power?  Zechariah has a vision and he doesn’t understand what it means.

Zechariah 4:6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This [is] the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. 7 Who [art] thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel [thou shalt become] a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone [thereof with] shoutings, [crying], Grace, grace unto it.

Here is the power that God regards as impactful.  It is not by might nor by power.  Not by big public presentation and people saying wow, look at the people and power. Not by that power but by my spirit saith the Lord.  That is what the angel of Revelation 18 states. It is the Holy Spirit.  The teacher of righteousness according to righteousness that applies the gospel of Jesus Christ.  This is the power of the preaching of the gospel. The power is nothing else than the power of the gospel.  Prophecy doesn’t allow for a big impact by a lot of people.  It is a small people.

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

What is described in the description of this angel?  A poor and afflicted people. It is the power of God.  Where?  In the gospel they carry.  The gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation.  It is the power of God in a period of time where the majority of people are ignorant of the power of God.

2 Timothy 3:1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 5 Having a form of Godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

The Revelation 18 angel is a people who do not deny the power of God in their spirituality.  They are the opposite to what the others are doing. They are turning away from them.  They will not merely have a form of Godliness, but they have a power of Godliness, a power unto salvation.

1 Corinthians 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

People who expect this angel to display a power that they can understand when it comes in all its power is foolishness to them.  This angel comes with the living power of the gospel.

1 Corinthians 2:3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching [was] not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Was this a big upfront man?  No big public oratory.  Having read all those statements, we can see that this is a true representation of the gospel as it was once presented in the early Christian church. This is the manner of the preaching of this movement.

Revelation 18:1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.

All the earth was lightened with his glory, this movement has glory.  What is that glory?  The shallow reader will say power and glory, external display.  Is that what this is talking about?  Remember what the first angel’s message was?  Fear God and give him the glory.  The Revelation 18 angel is a people who have been separated as it gets more intense to the end.  We come across a people who are actually giving God the glory.  They have beheld the glory of God in the three angel’s messages and they have observed the beautiful truths and seen Gods character.  The glory he sheds abroad is the glory that God showed to Moses.

Exodus 34:6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear [the guilty]; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth [generation].

In our study of the third angel we saw what that meant. That Gods glory was even in the destruction of the wicked. The description of this people have been beholding all this.  As they behold 2 Corinthians what happens to them?

2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord.

The power of the Holy Spirit that changes the character is conveying the beautiful glory of God to them.  As they behold the glory of God, they are changed into the same glory.  This angel’s presentation to the world is the glory of God in that angel because they have beheld the glory of God.

2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to [give] the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Here are a people of who we have been reading to this very moment through the gospel and through the messages of the angel that the people of God have beheld the glory so much that the light shining in their hearts is totally within them.  That is the angel whose glory fills the whole earth.  These came out of Laodecia, out of the third angel movement.

Revelation 3:20 behold I stand at the door and knock.

Whoever opens the door I will come in unto him and will sup with him.  These are the people who open the hearts door in the third angel’s message and go forth in the power of the revelation 18 angel. They are supping with Christ and they are permitting his glory to reflect in them. Here Jesus makes it very plain that this is what he wanted his church to reflect.

Matthew 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

The people who are supping with Christ respond to him as he says let your light now shine as I have shone into your hearts.

Philippians 2:15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

God who shines the light out of darkness shines in our hearts and those who permit the glory of God to shine in their dark heart, now become lights.  It is because the glory of God becomes part of these people.  They are blameless, harmless, sons of God, without rebuke.  They dwell in the midst of a perverse nation among whom they will shine as lights in the world.  This angel is the movement of people who have pursued this until finally the call comes upon them;

Isaiah 60:1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. 2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

These realities are available to those who open their hearts to this.  By this means, a people who are set up on a hill amongst the darkness, the glory of the gospel is manifested upon them, the whole earth is going to be covered with this glory.

Habakkuk 2:14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

He shines into the heart, the glory, the knowledge of Jesus Christ.  The whole earth is going to be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.  As these people, these Revelation 18 people stand on a hilltop in contrast to the rest, the whole earth is going to be covered with the knowledge of this glory.

Numbers 14:21 But [as] truly [as] I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.

The whole earth is going to know of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the earth.  It is going to be spread abroad in the darkness that exists.  God cannot glorify His name through His people while they are leaning upon man and making flesh their arm.

Let humanity stand back, that all may behold Him in whom their hopes of eternal life are centered. Let every voice proclaim with John: ‘Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.  {5T 729.1}

To souls that are earnestly seeking for light and that accept with gladness every ray of divine illumination from His holy word, to such alone light will be given. It is through these souls that God will reveal that light and power which will lighten the whole earth with His glory. {5T 729.2}

Isn’t that a perfect summarisation of everything we have looked at?  It is through these people.  I like the way that God doesn’t leave any stone of understanding unturned.  This glory must be manifested among the community of this movement.

Then, as in the world before the Flood, iniquity will prevail. Following the promptings of their corrupt hearts and the teachings of a deceptive philosophy, men will rebel against the authority of Heaven. But like Enoch, God’s people will seek for purity of heart and conformity to His will, until they shall reflect the likeness of Christ. Like Enoch, they will warn the world of the Lord’s second coming and of the judgments to be visited upon transgression, and by their holy conversation and example they will condemn the sins of the ungodly.  {PP 88.3}

How will they condemn the sins?  By lashing out?  No – by their holy conversation.

As Enoch was translated to heaven before the destruction of the world by water, so the living righteous will be translated from the earth before its destruction by fire.  {PP 88.3}

These people are the movement of the Revelation 18 angel.  These people will shine condemning the wicked and shining the glory of God across the planet.  This people have a beautiful unity of love manifested there.

The love of Christ, the love of our brethren, will testify to the world that we have been with Jesus and learned of Him. Then will the message of the third angel swell to a loud cry, and the whole earth will be lightened with the glory of the Lord. {6T 401.1}

When that happened with Enoch, when Jesus himself was on this planet and all the glory of God was shining as it is to shine in these people, this small number of people that the whole earth will know about, how will it be accepted?

John 1:5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

All the earth is covered with the brightness but as the darkness sees it, it comprehends it not.

John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

Is this going to be any different?  We see the problem.

In this our day, as in Christ’s day, there will be a misreading and misinterpreting of the Scriptures. If the Jews had studied the Scriptures with earnest, prayerful, humble hearts, their searching would have been rewarded with a true knowledge of the time, and not only the time, but also the manner of Christ’s first appearing. They would not have ascribed the glories of the second appearing of Christ to His first advent. They had the testimony of Daniel; they had the testimony of Isaiah and other prophets; they had the teaching of Moses; and here was Christ Himself in their midst, and still they were searching the Scriptures for evidence in regard to His coming. They were doing to Christ, at the same time, the very things that it had been prophesied they would do. They were so blinded that they knew not the time of His visitation, or what they were doing. Thus they were fulfilling the Scripture.  {UL 368.3}

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. There are those who are searching the Scriptures for proof that these messages are still in the future. They gather together the truthfulness of the messages, but they fail to give them their proper place in prophetic history. Therefore such are in danger of misleading the people in regard to locating the messages. They do not see and understand the time of the end, or when to locate the messages. . . .The watchman is to know the time of the night. Everything is now clothed with a solemnity that all who believe the truth should feel and sense. . . . All the little things of life are but a mote now. Those that pertain to eternity are of great consequence.–Manuscript 41a, Dec. 20, 1896, untitled manuscript.  {UL 368.4}

This is where we are living now. This is the problem as the powerful realities are shining through Gods people but he darkness comprehended it not.  Here is the most powerful outline of this.  The comparisons made in each successive generation is so vivid in each point you can’t miss it.

God tested the world when he sent, through Noah, a message to the antediluvians. He sent warning after warning that the world would be destroyed by the waters of the flood; but the wise men of the age despised the message, and showed contempt for God’s messenger. They had so far separated themselves from God that they trusted to the imaginations of their own hearts, and cared not to know the will of God. But the unbelief of great and intelligent men did not prevent the fulfillment of God’s pronounced judgments. The judgments came as God had declared by the word of his prophets that they would come. Only faithful Noah and his family entered into the ark, and were saved when the deluge engulfed the world. The days of Noah are pointed to as an illustration of the unbelief that will prevail at the end of the world. {RH, November 5, 1889 par. 2}

At a time when this powerful angel and the glory of this angel covers the world, how will it be received?

As in the Days of Noah

If a similar condition of things is to exist in our day, we should be intelligent concerning it, and have sanctified judgment, that we may not take a course like the course of those who perished in the flood. We should be so instructed that we will not follow a multitude to do evil. God has sent reproofs and warnings that men might repent of their transgressions, and forsake the evil of their ways, and so escape his threatened judgments. {RH, November 5, 1889 par. 3}

It goes through to Jerusalem.

We are living in the last days, and the generation that is to witness the final destruction has not been left without warning of the hastening judgments of God. Says the apostle, “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, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, {RH, November 5, 1889 par. 7}

But this gracious message will be as generally rejected by the professed Christian world, as was the message of the Messiah by the Jewish nation. Only a few will receive the testimony of truth, for every influence that Satan can bring to bear against the reception of the truth of God will be employed. In these last days the agency of the evil one will be hidden under a cloak of Godliness, so that if it were possible even the very elect would be deceived. The word of God declares that Satan will work “with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish.”  {RH, November 5, 1889 par. 9}

What will the world do?  The few people that will be standing so that everyone will know about it will be rejected as Jesus was. Why?  Satan has managed to cloak religion with his befogged presentations and the people will see the glory of God as no glory at al.  That is the angel and the way the angel will be received.

Revelation 18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, 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.

What did we read in Patriarchs and Prophets?  About the strong impact of these people like in the days of Enoch?

Like Enoch, they will warn the world of the Lord’s second coming and of the judgments to be visited upon transgression, and by their holy conversation and example they will condemn the sins of the ungodly. {PP 88.3}

That is the method and the characteristic of this people.  They will not be doing like so many of the ministers that were preaching in the good old days, the fire and brimstone where they were really attacking people, no they will be giving warnings.  The power of this people is their love and unity and their stringent obedience to all of Gods ways.  A mighty cry and the cry is the power of their example.  In other words, your actions speak louder than your words.   They will clearly display righteousness in contrast to sin.

Isaiah 58:1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

How can you show them?  Can you show them by telling them this is what you are doing?  How can you show them?  By a display of Gods purity and righteousness in contrast to sin. It is like a bombshell when people want you to do something in contrast to Gods ways, they get wild.

Ezekiel 9:4 And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.

In the midst of Jerusalem, the church.  Here is a loud cry.  They sigh and cry and separate themselves from the corruptions that are going on.  By their practise they are sounding the loud cry.

The people of God are sighing and crying for the abominations done in the land. With tears they warn the wicked of their danger in trampling upon the divine law, and with unutterable sorrow they humble themselves before the Lord on account of their own transgressions. The wicked mock their sorrow, ridicule their solemn appeals, and sneer at what they term their weakness. But the anguish and humiliation of God’s people is unmistakable evidence that they are regaining the strength and nobility of character lost in consequence of sin. It is because they are drawing nearer to Christ, and their eyes are fixed upon His perfect purity, that they so clearly discern the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Their contrition and self-abasement are infinitely more acceptable in the sight of God than is the self-sufficient, haughty spirit of those who see no cause to lament, who scorn the humility of Christ, and who claim perfection while transgressing God’s holy law. Meekness and lowliness of heart are the conditions for strength and victory. The crown of glory awaits those who bow at the foot of the cross. Blessed are these mourners, for they shall be comforted.  {5T 474.4}

They are sighing and crying and with tears warning the wicked of their danger. This is cry aloud, spare not.  Here is a description of these people in their powerful message.

The little company who are standing in the light will be sighing and crying for the abominations that are done in the land. But more especially will their prayers arise in behalf of the church because its members are doing after the manner of the world.  {5T 209.3}

The earnest prayers of this faithful few will not be in vain. When the Lord comes forth as an avenger, He will also come as a protector of all those who have preserved the faith  {5T 210.1}

These sighing, crying ones had been holding forth the words of life; they had reproved, counseled, and entreated. Some who had been dishonoring God repented and humbled their hearts before Him. But the glory of the Lord had departed from Israel; although many still continued the forms of religion, His power and presence were lacking.  {5T 210.2}

They mourn before God to see religion despised in the very homes of those who have had great light. They lament and afflict their souls because pride, avarice, selfishness, and deception of almost every kind are in the church. The Spirit of God, which prompts to reproof, is trampled underfoot, while the servants of Satan triumph. God is dishonored, the truth made of none effect.  {5T 210.3}

This is all part of this people who are the angel, this movement.  These are the people who will shed abroad the glory of God, who will cry aloud and spare not.  There is their description, and their characteristic.  These people are finally itemised in Revelation 14:12.  They have been affected by the three angel’s messages and they go forth and are the acceptable people as in the days of Noah.

Revelation 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here [are] they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Here we have a fairly concise representation of these people.  As we have examined the characteristic of this people, in our next study we will research the actual history of this angel.  Where he started and where he will conclude.  The fourth study will be the final scenes of this angel and then the last urgent call of this angel.

Amen.