The Three Angels
6 Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. 7 He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
8 A second angel followed and said, “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.”
9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, 10 he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.” 12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”
“Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”
My Understanding: The angel flying in midair had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth. Then, he said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.” Since the angel was proclaiming the eternal gospel, I believe we can surmise that the words he spoke gave a synopsis of the gospel, or at least it told us what our response to the gospel should be. So, I’d like to examine what he said more closely.
Fear God
To fear God does not mean to be afraid of him, but rather to have a reverent awe and respect of him to where we take him seriously, and we honor and magnify him for who he truly is. So many people have been given a false image of God, either as a tyrant who stands in heaven with a sledgehammer to hit us over the head anytime we do something wrong, or else as a doting grandfather who spoils his children rotten, and who does everything for them and does not require of them that they have to lift a finger. Both of these opposite extreme views of God in heaven are false. God is a loving, compassionate, kind, generous, and forgiving God, yet he is also a God of justice and judgment, and he takes sin very seriously, enough so that he sent his Son to die on the cross for our sins so that we could go free. And, he does not offer this salvation to us as his covenant relationship with us, and not require anything of us. Salvation is a free gift, in that we do not work for it, we don’t earn it, and we can’t do anything to deserve it. Yet, it requires that we turn from our sin, that we are transformed by the working of the Holy Spirit, and that we obey Jesus Christ and his commands. So, to fear him means to do what he says.
Give him glory
Glory can be defined as “the fame, admiration, and honor that is given to somebody who does something important;” or “praise and thanksgiving offered as an act of worship to” God (Encarta); or magnificence; beauty; wonder; credit; praise; and admiration. So, if we are to give God the glory he deserves, we will see him for who he truly is, and we will praise him and honor him as our holy and righteous God, who is both a God of compassion and forgiveness, but who also is a just God, who will discipline those he loves. This honor and praise of God is not through lip service only, though. We cannot attend a “worship” service, and sing songs of praise and honor to God, and think we have truly given him glory if, by our lifestyles, we are not truly honoring him for who he is and for what he has done for us in setting us free from the power and control of sin over our lives. Giving God glory means we walk with him in obedience, one day and one step at a time, and we consider him in all that we do, say and are (have our being). As well, we truly make him the Lord and master of our lives, trusting in him and his divine providence over our lives for him to lead us wherever he wants us to go, and to show us who we are to be and what we are to do.
Worship him
We learn in Romans 12 that true worship of God is not in form, in ritual or in lip service only, but rather it is in presenting our very lives to God as living sacrifices on his altar, holy and pleasing (acceptable) to him, which is our reasonable service of worship. We are not to be conformed to the pattern of this world, but we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, so that by our lives we can test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God for us. Psalm 51:7 says: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” To be contrite means to be repentant. And, repentance involves turning from our lives of sin, and turning to walk in faithful obedience to Jesus Christ. So, true worship of God involves us having repentant hearts and lives that turn from our sin, and that obey Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.” This does not apply merely to the legalistic, but it rather applies to any of us who are following after men and men’s teachings and philosophies rather than following after God and his desires for our lives. So, true worship of God means we follow God, not men. Jesus said that true worshipers are not those who go to a particular place, but are those who worship him in spirit and in truth. In other words, true worship of God takes place within our hearts and minds, and is honest and trustworthy.
Babylon the Great
Following the angel flying in midair, who was proclaiming the eternal gospel, was a second angel who said, “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.” There are many viewpoints on who this “Babylon the Great” represents, and I am not here to give an absolute and definitive answer as to who this is in reality other than to examine some of this Babylon’s characteristic traits.
She is a harlot (a prostitute) who has intoxicated the world with her adulteries. The kings of the earth have committed adultery (infidelity; treachery; betrayal; deceitfulness) with her. She is drunk with the blood of the saints, i.e. with the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus Christ. She has become a home for demons. The merchants of the earth have grown rich from her excessive luxuries. And, she is proud and she feels as though she cannot be touched. She represents both a political and a religious system in a world empire, as did ancient Babylon, or in the world, in general. A voice from heaven warned the believers in Jesus Christ to come out of her, so that they would not share in her sins and judgments.
I believe she represents, in the USA where I live, the Laodicean-type church that is neither hot nor cold, but is lukewarm, and is following men and the gospel of men, instead of following after God and the true gospel of salvation. As well, she represents our political system and government, which is in a covenant relationship with the institutional church via the 501c3 status for non-profit organizations, i.e. incorporated under the government of the USA. In other words, she represents the world system both in government and in the church, and we are commanded here to come out of her in the sense that we are not to partake in her sins of adultery (politically and spiritually), but we are to be separate for God and for his service. This calls for much wisdom and spiritual insight so that we know what is of God and what is not of God, so we know what we are to come out from. Some is obvious, i.e. we know we are not to participate in anything God calls sin, and we should not take pleasure in those who do such things. Some things may not be so obvious, i.e. Satan is very subtle in his deceptions and we might have fallen into his traps and not known it. In other words, we may believe in his lies, disguised as truth, so we need to pray and ask the Lord to reveal to us what lies we believe, and to reveal to us the truth behind the lies.
Worship of the Beast
A third angel followed the first two and proclaimed that if anyone worshiped the beast, or had his mark on his forehead or on the hand, he too would drink the wine of God’s fury. Although I am in no way discounting that this could be speaking of a literal and physical mark on a literal and physical forehead or hand of a human being, I believe very much, just as true worship of God is of the heart, this mark of the beast first of all takes place in human hearts. A mark, other than being something physical that we can see with our eyes, is also “evidence of the influence or involvement of somebody or something; an identifying feature or characteristic” (Encarta). If we have the mark of Christ in our lives, it should be evidenced in how we live our lives. The same applies to the mark of the beast, for if we bear the mark (influence; characteristic traits) of this world’s system, it will be evidenced by our lifestyles, i.e. by what we believe, think, feel, express, and do.
The forehead represents our thoughts, which influence our actions, and our hands represent our deeds. I believe the mark of the beast thus is having the influence and characteristic traits of this world’s system evidenced in our lives in our thinking (reasoning; decision-making; goals) and in our behavior. This is where the real deception takes place, i.e. in our minds and our hearts. So, we need to ask ourselves if our lives bear the mark of Christ in all that we do, are and think in our minds, or if we truly bear the mark of this world’s system in our thinking and behavior. If the result of our examination is that we have more of the mark of the world’s system influencing and bearing evidence in our lifestyles than we do the mark of Christ, then we need to heed these words to “Come out from her,” so that we don’t share in her sins and in the judgments of God upon her.
This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus Christ. Make sure today that you are among the saints of God who have turned from their sins, who have been transformed in their minds, and who are walking in faithful obedience to Jesus Christ, no longer conformed to the pattern of this world, so that you bear the mark of Christ and not the mark of this world’s system by how you live your life day in and day out. The word of God calls us to come out and to be separate. May we heed the word of God today and no longer bear the mark of this world on our lives, but instead may we bear the mark of Christ and his cross.
Remain in Him / An Original Work / September 23, 2011
Based off of John 15:1-17
VOICE ONE: / VOICE TWO:
Walk with Jesus / Walk in fellowship with
He’s our Savior. / Jesus, Savior and friend.
He invites you; / He’s invited you to
Be His servant. / Be His servant again.
Obey His word. / Obey all His commands,
Do what He says. / And do all that He says.
Sit at His Feet / Sit at His feet each day.
Worship your Lord. / Worship Him for always.
Call Him master. / Call Him master and King.
Obey Him now. / Obey Him in all things.
Turn from your sins. / Turn from all of your sins.
On your knees bow. / Live in vict’ry again.
He’ll restore you, / He’ll restore you today,
If you ask Him; / If you call Him and pray;
Forsake your ways; / Forsake all of your ways;
Your cross bearing; / Take up your cross today;
Follow Jesus. / Follow Him for always.
Follow Jesus / Follow Jesus your friend
Where He leads you. / Where He leads you today.
Abide with Him; / Abide always in Him.
His words in you. / Let His words dwell within.
Remain in Him, / If you remain in Him,
Bearing His fruit. / Bearing fruit from within,
God will hear you / God will answer your prayers,
Because He cares. / Because for you He cares.
Be His foll’wers. / Be His followers now.
Stay in His love. / Remain in Jesus’ love.
Peace He’ll give you / You will know peace within;
From up above. / Comes from heaven above.
Love your neighbors, / Love your neighbors and friends,
Enemies, too. / And your enemies, too.
You’ll be God’s friend. / God will call you His friend.
He won’t leave you. / He will ne’er forsake you.
He appoints you. / He has appointed you.
Song lyrics @ Public Domain
Audio, song lyrics and sheet music:
https://sites.google.com/site/psalmshymnssongs2/home/songs/remain-in-him
Song on video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMnxopsr1Nw
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