The First Angel's Message

The first angel's message of Revelation 14 was designed to separate those who claimed to be people of God from corrupting influences. In this message, God sent the church a warning which, if the people had accepted it, would have corrected the evils that were shutting them away from Him. If they had received the message, humbling their hearts and preparing to stand in His presence, the Spirit of God would have been poured out. The church would again have reached that unity, faith, and love that it had in the apostles’ days, when the believers “were of one heart and one soul,” and when “the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 4:32; 2:47).LF 158.4

If God's people would receive the light from His Word, they would reach the unity that the apostle describes, “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is,” he says, “one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:3-5).LF 158.5

Those who accepted the advent message came from different denominations, and their denominational barriers fell to the ground. Conflicting creeds shattered into atoms. The message corrected false views of the Second Advent. People made wrongs right, and hearts united in sweet fellowship. Love reigned supreme. This doctrine would have done the same for all, if all had accepted it.LF 158.6

As watchmen, ministers should have been the first to recognize the indications of Jesus’ coming, but they had failed to learn the truth from the prophets or from the signs of the times. Love for God and faith in His Word had grown cold, and the advent doctrine only awakened their unbelief. As in Christ's time, people rejected the testimony of God's Word with the question, “Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed?” (John 7:48). Many discouraged the study of the prophecies, claiming that the prophetic books were sealed and could not be understood. Many put their trust in their pastors and refused to listen. Others were convinced of the truth, but they did not dare to announce it for fear that they would be “put out of the synagogue” (John 9:22). The message God sent to test the church revealed how many there were who had set their affections on this world rather than on Christ.LF 159.1

Refusing the warning of the first angel was the cause of that terrible condition of worldliness, backsliding, and spiritual death that existed in the churches in 1844.LF 159.2