Chapter 54 — THE THIRD ANGEL'S MESSAGE

In 1844 Christ entered the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary to begin the final part of the work of redemption. At that time Christ gave His servants the last message of mercy for the world. That message is the warning of the third angel of Revelation 14. John saw Jesus coming in glory to gather His people after the third angel's message had been preached.SRme 1.1656

The Scriptures said that the ministry of Christ in the most holy place would begin at the end of the prophetic 2300-day period. The words of Revelation 11:19 apply to this time: "Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and within His temple was seen the ark of His covenant" (NIV). The ark of God's covenant is in the second room, or most holy room, of the sanctuary. Christ entered the most holy room to minister for sinners. The most holy room was opened, and the ark of God was seen. The people who understood the Saviour's ministry for us, by faith saw God's majesty and power. God's glory filled the temple. God's waiting people on earth received the light of truth from the most holy room.SRme 1.1657

By faith God's people had followed their High Priest from the holy room to the most holy room. These faithful people saw Jesus serving as their High Priest before the ark of God. The Father's law is in that sacred ark. The ten commandments is the same law that God spoke during the sound of thunders at Sinai. God wrote the ten commandments with His own finger on stone. Not one commandment has been taken out or changed. The dotting of an i or the crossing of a t have not been changed. God gave Moses a copy of His law. The original law is in the sanctuary in heaven.SRme 1.1658

The Advent believers studied God's law. As they studied, they found the fourth commandment in the center of the law.SRme 1.1659

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 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" (Ex. 20:8-11).SRme 1.1660

The Holy Spirit of God spoke to the hearts of the Adventist believers as they studied His commandments. The believers realized that they had been disobeying the fourth commandment by not keeping holy the Creator's rest day. The believers began to examine why they were keeping the first day of the week instead of the day that God had made holy. The believers could not find any evidence in the Bible that the fourth commandment had been done away with. They could not find anywhere that the Sabbath had been changed. The blessings God had placed on the seventh day had never been taken away.SRme 1.1661

These Adventists had been honestly seeking to know and do God's will. Suddenly these believers saw that they were not obeying God's law. Sorrow filled their hearts. Quickly the believers showed their loyalty to God by keeping the seventh-day Sabbath holy.SRme 1.1662

People who did not accept the Sabbath tried hard in many ways to destroy the faith of the Adventists. But the followers of God believed that the ten commandments were the law of God. God's law was written on stone and had been kept in the sanctuary during the time of Israel. The earthly sanctuary was a copy of the sanctuary in heaven. So, the ten commandments must be an exact copy of God's law in the heavenly sanctuary. The Adventists had accepted the sanctuary message. So the believers now knew they must obey all the ten commandments.SRme 1.1663

The faithful students of the Bible accepted the truth about the work of Christ in heaven. They believed that God's law is everlasting. These important truths were recognized and understood as the people studied the third angel's message. The angel said: "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus" (Rev. 14:12).SRme 1.1664

The third angel had already announced this fearful and solemn warning: "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" (Rev 14:9, 10).SRme 1.1665

To understand the third angel's message the people needed to understand the symbols* used in this prophecy. What is represented by the beast, the image, and the mark? People who were seeking for truth studied again the Bible prophecies.SRme 1.1666