March 8, 2024 | Silver Spring, Maryland, United States | Ted N.C. Wilson, President, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
Greetings, friends. As we continue our journey through the book, The Great Controversy, we are looking at highlights from Chapter 25, titled “God’s Law Immutable.” This is key as it lays the foundation for what we will be reading in later chapters. If you do not yet have this book, I urge you to visit greatcontroversyproject.org and download your free copy today.
Today we will be looking at the first part of a “threefold warning,” also known as the three angels’ messages, found in Revelation 14.
As the early Adventists continued their Bible study, they saw the truth regarding Christ’s mediation in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary and the everlasting nature of God’s law confirmed in Revelation 14:6-12. Today we will focus on the first of the three messages found in this passage of Scripture, where we read in verses 6 and 7:
“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.’”
Ellen White writes, “The announcement, ‘The hour of His judgment is coming,’ points to the closing work of Christ’s ministration for the salvation of men. It heralds a truth which must be proclaimed until the Savior’s intercession shall cease and He shall return to the earth to take His people to Himself” (The Great Controversy, p. 435).
As outlined in Bible prophecy, this is the judgment that began in 1844 and will continue until the cases of all are decided between those who choose to follow Jesus fully, allowing Him, by faith, to write His law within their hearts, and those who ultimately reject Him.
The first angel’s message is also about worshipping God as the Creator; and because He is our Creator, we owe our existence to Him.
It is interesting that in the Bible when people are called to worship the true God instead of false gods, God’s creative power is mentioned as the evidence that He is the only true God.
“All the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens,” we read in Psalm 96:5. “To whom then will ye liken Me, or shall I be equal? Saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things.” “Thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it: . . . I am the Lord; and there is none else” (Isaiah 40:25, 26; 45:18).
And in the Psalms we read: “Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves.” “O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our Maker” (Psalms 100:3; 95:6).
n Revelation 14, we are called to worship the Creator. As we read in vs. 12, there will be a people, who, relying fully upon Christ, will “keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”
And one of the commandments points directly to God as the Creator—the fourth commandment declares: “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: . . . for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:10, 11).
In his book, History of the Sabbath, J.N. Andrews, an Adventist pioneer and one of our brightest Bible scholars wrote:
“The importance of the Sabbath as the memorial of creation is that it keeps ever present the true reason why worship is due to God,” that is, because He is the Creator, and we are His creatures.
Continuing, Andrews wrote, “The Sabbath therefore lies at the very foundation of divine worship, for it teaches this great truth in the most impressive manner . . . The true ground of divine worship, not of that on the seventh day merely, but of all worship, is found in the distinction between the Creator and His creatures.”
He then concludes with this powerful statement: “This great fact can never become obsolete, and must never be forgotten” (History of the Sabbath, ch. 27, cited in The Great Controversy, pp. 437, 438).
Friends, as we near the end of time, and I believe we are indeed very near, the question of who we worship will become of the utmost importance. We do not keep the Sabbath to “earn” salvation, for this we can never do. Jesus Christ paid the price on Calvary’s cross, and we will be eternally indebted to Him.
We keep the seventh-day Sabbath holy out of reverence and awe for our Creator God, and because He has designated this day as sacred. He has commanded that we “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8) and has declared it to be a sign of our allegiance to Him. The Lord says it is “a sign . . . that you may know that I am the Lord your God” (Ezekiel 20:20).
Do you love Jesus? Do you want to walk closer with Him? I encourage you to fully rest in the blessedness of His presence in a special way every Sabbath day. If you would like to learn more about what the Bible teaches regarding the Sabbath, I invite you to visit the website found at the URL at the bottom of the screen [Insert: adventist.org/the-sabbath/].
I am so very grateful for the Sabbath. It is truly a special blessing from the Lord Himself. Let’s pray together as we thank Him just now.
Father in Heaven, thank you for the beauty of the Sabbath. Thank you for the sacredness of the Sabbath. Thank you. That you hallowed and blessed it. It is a day like no other. The seventh day Sabbath. Help us each to keep your seventh day Sabbath through your power, giving you glory and honor and recognizing it is the true day of worship. Thank you for hearing us in this prayer. In Jesus name, we ask it. Amen.