Hands-free narration of this study — good for the car.
Synopsis
Sequeira reads Revelation 14:6-12 as the gospel itself, not as an appendix of distinctive doctrines attached to it. The first angel proclaims the everlasting gospel in the context of judgment and calls for worship of the Creator; the second exposes the counterfeit religious system built on human merit; the third warns against the worship of the beast — which Sequeira interprets as any system of salvation by works — and ends by describing a people who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. The 'faith of Jesus' is the pivot: it is the gospel of righteousness by faith without which commandment-keeping is Babylon in Adventist dress. He echoes the 1888 language that the third angel's message is 'the third angel's message in verity' — justification by faith. The chapter presses Adventism to preach its distinctive truths as gospel truths, warning that a movement carrying the right doctrines with a wrong gospel becomes the very thing it protests.
Key points
- The three angels' messages are the everlasting gospel, not doctrine added to it.
- The mark of the beast concerns worship rooted in salvation by works.
- 'The faith of Jesus' is righteousness by faith and is the message's heart.
- Distinctive doctrines must be preached as gospel or they become legalism.
Key passages
- Revelation 14:6-12
- Revelation 13:11-17
- Romans 1:16-17
- Galatians 1:6-9
- Revelation 18:1-4
Study questions12 total
- 1.Comprehension
Summarise each of the three angels' messages and identify the gospel content in each.
- 2.Scripture
Study Revelation 14:12. What are the two marks of the end-time people, and how do they relate to each other?
- 3.Doctrinal Clarity
What does Sequeira mean by 'the faith of Jesus'? Examine both possible readings — faith in Jesus and the faith Jesus had.
- 4.Contrast
Contrast a presentation of the three angels' messages that leads with prophecy and one that leads with the gospel. What is the practical result of each?
- 5.Doctrinal Clarity
How does Sequeira define Babylon, and why is a merit-based religion its essence?
- 6.Scripture
Read Galatians 1:6-9. What does Paul say about any modification of the gospel? Apply it to Revelation 14.
- 7.Doctrinal Clarity
Why did the 1888 messengers call righteousness by faith 'the third angel's message in verity'? Do you agree?
- 8.Doctrinal Clarity
What is the relationship between the judgment-hour message and assurance of salvation?
- 9.Application
How can a church preach the Sabbath, the state of the dead, and the sanctuary as gospel rather than as tests?
- 10.Application
Evaluate your own last three evangelistic conversations. Which angel's emphasis dominated?
- 11.Application
What would need to change in your Sabbath School for the everlasting gospel to be its centre?
- 12.Application
Write a single paragraph presenting the third angel's message as good news to a non-Adventist neighbour.