"And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."
Revelation 12:17
Lesson #30
THE REMNANT OF HER SEED
1 - WHAT IS THE FIRST ANGEL'S MESSAGE?
Revelation 14:6-7-"I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters."
This message has five characteristics:
1. It brings the gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.
It is not an offshoot from some denomination, but a mighty, invincible, worldwide movement, growing from a small beginning to envelop the earth.
2. It calls men to "fear God."
Surely such a message is needed today, for the world has lost God from its thinking. Thus God is calling men away from sin to righteousness, from transgression of His law to obedience. "Fear God, and keep His commandments" (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
3. It calls men to "give glory" to God.
We give glory to God when we "make confession unto Him" (Joshua 7:19). We give glory for His truth's sake. Christ is "glorified in His saints" (2 Thessalonians 1:10). His saints "keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus" (Revelation 14: 12).
4. It announces the hour of God's judgment.
This could not be done unless the time of the judgment were known. The investigative judgment, symbolized by the cleansing of the Sanctuary, began in 1844, at the end of the 2,300-year period. "The hour of His judgment is come."
We are to "fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come." The judgment is a serious and solemn matter. The law of God is the standard, and Jesus Christ is our advocate.
5. It calls men to worship the Creator.
God is worthy of worship because He is the Creator. 'Thou art worthy, o Lord to receive glory and honour and power: for Thou hast created all things" (Revelation 4:11). The seventh-day Sabbath, as taught in the fourth commandment, is the sign of the Creator. "It is a sign. . for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed" (Exodus 31: 17). Since the Bible record of creation is today denied by many and God's Sabbath (the sign of creatorship) has been set aside in the practice of mankind in general, It is vital that all men everywhere be called to worship the true God and. in doing so, to accept the sign of His creative power, which is the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. A call to true worship and commandment keeping would demand a teaching of all God's commandments.
2 - WHAT MESSAGE IS GIVEN BY THE SECOND ANGEL?
Revelation 14:8- "And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication."
1. This is mystic Babylon, who persecuted the saints (Revelation 17:5-6).
Babylon is called both a "great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth" and also a woman, "mother of harlots" (Revelation 14:8; 17:5, 18). Mystic Babylon is the papacy, "drunken with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." In the creed of Pope Pius IV we read: "I acknowledge the Holy Catholic Apostolic Church for the mother and mistress of all churches" (article 10).
2. Rome's false doctrines largely came from ancient Babylon.
The Church of Rome is called Babylon because its religion is a revival of the religion of ancient Babylon. A careful examination of the ritual of ancient Babylon will reveal that the papacy is largely an adaptation of this ancient pagan system. It is not difficult to trace the connection between the two in the political and religious history of Rome.
3. Babylon is the same power as the little horn of Daniel 7:25. Like the little horn, she persecutes the saints and rules over the kings of the earth.
4. She is the same as the leopard beast of Revelation 13.
This beast is the same as the little horn of Daniel 7:25.
5. All nations are made drunk with her wine.
Mystic Babylon holds a golden cup (Revelation 17:4) in her hand. Ancient Babylon was likened to a golden cup (Jeremiah 51:7). "In 1825, on the occasion of the jubilee. Pope Leo XII struck a medal, bearing on the one side his own image and, on the other, that of the Church of Rome, symbolized as a 'woman,' holding in her left hand a cross and, in her right hand, a cup with the legend around her. 'Sedet super universum,' The whole world is her seat' " (Alexander Hislop p. 6).
Multitudes have been drinking the wine of her false doctrines. When professed Protestant churches repudiate the fundamental principle of Protestantism by setting aside the authority of God's Word and accepting tradition and man-made laws, they adopt the principles of modern Babylon and may be regarded as the daughters of Babylon, deliberately choosing to drink of her cup.
6. Practically all the world will worship her.
The world stands in awe and wonderment at the amazing revival of her power. This has been especially true since the creation of Vatican City in 1929. Said the pope, "This moment, so historic, so important, that stands between the past and the future; which closes the past and opens the future" (Address. June 27, 1929; America, January 4, 1930).
7. She is scheduled for a final fall.
Though she says. "I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow", yet God says, "Therefore shall her plagues come in one day. . for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her" (Revelation 18: 7-8). Even the powers of the earth finally shall forsake her, for she is "fallen" (Revelation 17:16).
3 - WHAT WARNING IS SOUNDED BY THE THIRD ANGEL?
Revelation 14:9-10- "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."
1. It warns against the worship of the beast.
The first angers message is a call to "worship Him that made heaven and earth," that is. the Creator. The third angers message warns against the worship of the beast. There must be, and is, an essential difference. If we accept the teachings and commandments of the great apostasy above God's Word and law, we worship the beast.
2. It warns against worship of the image of the beast.
If we yield to the pressure of apostate Protestantism as it joins hands with civil power to enforce the mark of the beast, we cannot be judged as true worshipers of the Creator.
3. It warns against receiving the mark of the beast.
In the last hours of the crisis, the papal mark of Sundaykeeping will be enforced by civil law. God's warning is raised against this Mark; and, as He calls men to worship the Creator, the Sabbath-Sunday issue will be clearly drawn.
4. It warns of God's wrath upon those who do not heed His warning (Revelation 14:9-10; 15:1; 16).
Between the wrath of man and the wrath of God all must choose. Between obedience to man and obedience to God the decision must be made. Seven fearful plagues are reserved against the awful day of reckoning.
4 - HOW MAY WE IDENTIFY GOD'S REMNANT CHURCH?
1. It will preach a worldwide Judgment-hour message (Revelation 14:6-7).
Heaven's great investigative judgment began in 1844; and, at that time, God had a people ready to preach that message. Their burden was to reach the whole world, and that work is going forward with lightning speed. This message is being proclaimed in more than seven hundred languages and dialects, and is being printed in more than two hundred languages.
2. It will deliver the message of mystic Babylon's fall (Revelation 14:8).
3. It will give the warning against the beast's image and mark - (Revelation 14:9-10).
This unwavering warning has been given from the rise of this movement. Religionists offer first one, then another, explanation of the mark of the beast. But God's remnant people bear the same consistent message through the years.
It is too late now for a people to rise up to begin the preaching of these three angels' messages. When the time came, in 1844, the people of prophecy arose, bearing the messages of warning.
4. It urges the worship of the Creator above the beast or image (Revelation 14:7).
God foreknew the peculiar times to which His people would come. Not only has the Sabbath sign of the Creator been set aside centuries before, but in these closing days the theory of evolution is to become widespread, denying creation as a series of specific acts of God in six days' time. The observance of the seventh-day Sabbath is therefore, in a special sense, the sign of those who believe in, serve, and worship the Creator.
5. It keeps the commandments of God (Revelation 14:12).
The only way the keeping of God's commandments could help to identify God's people would be for the world and religion, in general, to be living contrary to His commandments. Any particular commandment on which there would be a decided difference would tend to mark them as commandment-keeping people. So, in answer to prophecy, such a people arose in 1844 and 1845 keeping all God's Ten Commandments, including the Sabbath commandment (designating the seventh day).
6.It keeps and exalts the faith of Jesus (Revelation 14:12).
God knew that modernism would sweep through Christendom. When men deny creation, they naturally deny the fall of man; and so the law of God is also set aside. If man was not created and had no fall, he would need no atoning blood of Jesus. God's message today is calling men to recognize creation, the law of God, the Sabbath, and the cross of Christ. God's remnant people proclaim these great doctrines and cling by faith to Christ, the Creator; Christ, the Lawgiver; and Christ, the Redeemer of Calvary.
7. It believes and holds to the Spirit of Prophecy.
Revelation 12:17- "The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus."
Revelation 19:10- "The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy. "
This is a church of fulfilling prophecy and believing in God's special direction of His people through a latter-day manifestation of the gift of prophecy and the writings of the Spirit of Prophecy. This is a special feature of this movement. (more information about the Spirit of Prophecy.)
8. It will endure reproach, scorn, and persecution (Revelation 12:11).
He who keeps God's commandments will meet ridicule at times, and Satan will make war with him; but a new book of Acts is being written as angels record the faithfulness of God's people, as they endure whatever comes to them anywhere in the world. A great test awaits them, but also a great reward.
9. It heeds God's voice to come out of Babylon.
Revelation 18:1, 2, 4- "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, and is become the habitation of devils. . And I heard another voice from heaven, saying. Come out of her. My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues."
Out of the modern Babylon of apostasy - both in Rome and the apostate churches of Protestantism - out of confusion, false doctrines, and worldliness, God is calling His people. Thousands of them are coming from every part of the world. They come because God is calling them, and His "sheep hear His voice." They separate from the ways of the world (1 John 2:15-17), lay aside its pride and vanity (1 Timothy 2:9-10; 1 Peter 3:3-4), give up its evil ways (2 Corinthians 7:1), and turn to Jesus for salvation. Then by His grace they "keep the commandments of God. and the faith of Jesus" (Revelation 14:12), The true church, therefore, as you can see, must come out and be separate.
10. It will work and wait for Christ's return.
While preaching God's message the world over, this church will continue to look for the coming of Jesus (Revelation 14:12-15),
There is only one worldwide group of people that even professes to meet the above ten specifications of the prophecy of Revelation. It is the Seventh-day Adventist people. This group did not arise from a split in some denomination, It arose from a widespread movement over the world that centered in the second advent of Christ, An Adventist is one who believes in the personal, literal coming of Jesus. A Seventh-day Adventist is one who keeps the seventh-day Sabbath and believes that, in fulfillment of prophecy, this worldwide movement has come to gather a people who keep (1) "the commandments of God" and (2) "the faith of Jesus," and who (3) "have the testimony of Jesus Christ."
This is God's true church, according to the prophecies of the Bible; but the majority of His true followers, still in the churches of Babylon, are living according to all the truth they have. Will you yourself not answer the call, "Come out of her, My people?" Make your own decision; and, by your example, help to gather others into the fold of Christ?