And This Is The Whole Duty Of Man; Fear The LORD And Keep His Commandments

A Wide Field for Church Leaders

 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

(Acts 20:28).

God is not glorified by leaders in the church who seek to drive the sheep. No, no. “Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.” There is a wide field for the elders and the helpers in every church. They are to feed the flock of God with pure provender, thoroughly winnowed from the chaff, the poisonous mixture of error. You who have any part to act in the church of God, be sure that you act wisely in feeding the flock of God; for its prosperity much depends upon the quality of this food (Manuscript 59, 1900).

SDA Bible Commentary Vol.7, p.942.

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The Nations in Conflict

Four mighty angels hold back the powers of this earth till the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads. The nations of the world are eager for conflict, but they are held in check by the angels. When this restraining power is removed there will come a time of trouble and anguish. Deadly instruments of warfare will be invented. Vessels with their living cargo will be entombed in the great deep. All who have not the spirit of truth will unite under the leadership of Satanic agencies, but they are to be kept under control till the time shall come for the great battle of Armageddon.—The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 7:967 (1900).
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Last Day Events, p. 238,239.
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The Three Angels Messages - The IVP New Testament Commentary

(Biblegateway)

The Three Angels

John sees next another angel (v. 6; compare 7:2; 8:3; 10:1) proclaiming the eternal gospel (v. 6). Because he has seen no angels individually since the seven that blew the seven trumpets (8:2--11:19), it is natural to infer that this angel, commencing a new sequence, is another in addition to those seven. The angel is flying in midair, that is, directly overhead, like the eagle or vulture that announced the three woes terminating the trumpet series (8:13).

This eternal gospel to all the earth's inhabitants is a strange gospel in two respects. First, it is not "good news" (as the term gospel suggests), but quite the opposite--much like the "woe, woe, woe" of the eagle in the earlier vision (8:13). Second, and more surprising, there is nothing distinctly Christian about the message. The angel's eternal gospel does not mention Jesus Christ and contains no promise of salvation. Yet it is the only instance of the noun gospel in the entire book of Revelation. The eternal gospel is perhaps best understood on the analogy of Jesus' own proclamation of the kingdom of God ("The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news" or "gospel," Mk 1:15; compare Mt 4:17). That proclamation had two parts: an announcement ("the kingdom of God is near") and a command ("repent!"). John's eternal gospel has the same two parts, but in reverse order: first a command, Fear God and give him glory, and then an announcement, for the hour of his judgment has come. The announcement of God's judgment is equivalent to one aspect of the announcement of God's kingdom, for the coming of the kingdom involves judgment as well as salvation. In the case of the command, fear God and give him glory is a fairly exact equivalent to "repent" (see 16:9), except that John's vision spells out further implications of this repentance: Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water (v. 7).

The analogy with Jesus' "gospel of the kingdom" helps us to understand how the angel's proclamation here can also be described as "gospel." The very word "eternal," in fact, is probably linked to the absence of anything explicitly Christian about the angel's message. There is something almost contradictory about the terms "eternal" and "gospel." The Christian "gospel" by definition is new--"good news"--implying that God has done a new thing in the world by sending Jesus as Messiah or Savior. "Eternal," on the other hand, refers to that which has always been true.

Fear God and give him glory is the God of Israel's message to the Gentile world always and everywhere--whether the Messiah has come or not. It closely resembles the "good news" Paul and Barnabas brought to the citizens of Lystra, "telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them" (Acts 14:15). Such a "gospel" is pre-Christian, Christian and post-Christian, and in that sense "eternal," for it is a call to the earth's inhabitants to repent, leave their idols, and turn to the one true God (compare Acts 17:24-31; 1 Thess 1:9). It puts into words the implied message of the seven trumpets, a message that went unheeded when humans "did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols," and did not "repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts" (9:20-21).

The call to fear God and give him glory also makes explicit the message that was heeded when "a tenth of the city collapsed . . . and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven" (11:13). The worship demanded is worship of God the Creator, and the spheres of creation (the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water) correspond to the spheres of God's judgment according to the first four trumpets (compare 8:7-12).

A second angel follows with a message apparently directed to the same audience (v. 8). This time the message focuses specifically on Babylon the Great, an ancient city about which we have heard nothing so far in the book of Revelation. Like other cities, Babylon is personified as a woman, in this case an immoral woman. The angel's proclamation echoes Isaiah 21:9 ("Babylon has fallen, has fallen! All the images of its gods lie shattered on the ground!") and Jeremiah 51:7 ("Babylon was a gold cup in the LORD's hand; she made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore they have now gone mad"). The new element in the text of Revelation is the definition of Babylon's wine as the maddening wine of her adulteries. We will hear more of "Babylon" and her "wine" in 16:19 and throughout chapters 17 and 18. For now it remains simply an allusion to the prophets, and to Israel's memory of oppression at the hands of a foreign empire long ago. Yet we sense that Babylon the Great is also linked somehow to the two beasts and the more contemporary oppression described in the preceding chapter.

The voice of the third angel makes it explicit: If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath (v. 9; compare 13:15-16). The warning confirms our suspected link between the beast of the preceding chapter and Babylon, with the wine of God's fury as Babylon's appropriate punishment for the maddening wine of her adulteries (v. 8). Yet for the time being Babylon the Great remains unidentified. John's original readers may have known her identity, but we do not--at least not without looking ahead to chapter 17.

The third angel adds that those who worship the beast and receive its image will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb (v. 10). The smoke of their torment will ascend forever, and they will have no rest day or night (v. 11). Although the language of these verses has contributed mightily to traditional Christian images of hell, it is difficult to say whether or not "hell," as commonly understood, is in view here. Why, for example, is the torment going on in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb, thus (apparently) in heaven itself? The announcement seems related to a celebration of Babylon's doom five chapters later: "Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever" (19:3). That celebration too goes on in heaven (19:1). Probably both scenes are momentary previews of "hell" and hell's finality in "the lake of fire" (19:20; 20:10, 14; 21:8), not the reality itself.

There is no way to be certain whether the word to Christian believers that immediately follows (v. 12) is a continuation of the third angel's speech or simply John's prophetic appeal to his readers, in the manner of 13:10 ("this calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints"). The words here are virtually the same: This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus (compare 12:17). The effect of placing the appeal here is to make the alternatives (either worshiping the beast and receiving its mark or remaining faithful to Jesus Christ) as clear and as stark as possible.

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Source:  http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/Rev/Three-Angels

Notes:

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Preach the Word, Omit the Chaff

The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.
-Jeremiah 23:28.

28 (1 Corinthians 3:13).

—In regard to entering into the subject of the divine mystery of the essence of God, Christ ever maintained a wise reserve. He did this that He might close the door where human conjectures should not be encouraged. The most sacred, holy, and eternal mysteries which God has not revealed are but speculations when considered from a human standpoint, mere theories that confuse the mind. There are those who know the truth but do not practice it. These greatly long for some new, strange thing to present. In their great zeal to become original some will bring in fanciful ideas which are but chaff. Even now there is a descending from the sublime and living issues for this time to the ridiculous and fanciful, and sensational minds stand ready to catch up suppositions and guesses and human theories and false science as truth to be accepted and taught.
These put the test of salvation on speculation without one plain, “Thus saith the Lord.” They thus bring in a mass of rubbish, wood, hay, and stubble, as precious material to be laid upon the foundation stone. This will not stand the test of fire, but will be consumed, and if the ones who have made themselves believe these theories are so self-deceived and know not the truth yet are converted, their life is saved as by fire through repentance and humiliation before God. They have been dealing in common things in place of the sacred. Many catch up ideas which are of no consequence and place them before the flock of God as food, when they are only chaff which will never benefit or strengthen the flock of God, but will keep them in the lowlands, because they are feeding upon that which contains not the least virtue or nourishment. What is the chaff to the wheat (Manuscript 45, 1900)?

S.D.A. Bible Commentary Vol. 4, p.1157.

A Desperate Companionship for Evil

16And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.

17And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.

18But there shall not an hair of your head perish.

19In your patience possess ye your souls.

Luke 21:16-19

A Desperate Companionship for Evil.--Christ shows that without the controlling power of the Spirit of God humanity is a terrible power for evil. Unbelief, hatred of reproof, will stir up satanic influences. Principalities and powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places will unite in a desperate companionship. They will be leagued against God in the person of His saints. By misrepresentation and falsehood they will demoralize both men and women who to all appearances believe the truth. False witnesses will not be wanting in this terrible work [Luke 21:16-19 quoted] (MS 40, 1897). {5BC 1122.12}

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The Elijah Message

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

Malachi 4:5,6.

The Elijah Message

--In this age, just prior to the second coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven, God calls for men who will prepare a people to stand in the great day of the Lord. Just such a work as that which John did, is to be carried on in these last days. The Lord is giving messages to His people, through the instruments He has chosen, and He would have all heed the admonitions and warnings He sends. The message preceding the public ministry of Christ was, Repent, publicans and sinners; repent, Pharisees and Sadducees; "for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Our message is not to be one of peace and safety. As a people who believe in Christ's soon appearing, we have a definite message to bear,--"Prepare to meet thy God."

Our message must be as direct as was that of John. He rebuked kings for their iniquity. Notwithstanding the peril his life was in, he never allowed truth to languish on his lips. Our work in this age must be as faithfully done. . . .

In this time of well-nigh universal apostasy, God calls upon His messengers to proclaim His law in the spirit and power of Elias. As John the Baptist, in preparing a people for Christ's first advent, called their attention to the Ten Commandments, so we are to give, with no uncertain sound, the message: "Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come." With the earnestness that characterized Elijah the prophet and John the Baptist, we are to strive to prepare the way for Christ's second advent (SW March 21, 1905). {4BC 1184.8}
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