“And 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. (Revelation 14:6-7)
This is just an AI image not the real angel or the real scene as John saw it
By Kelly Rwamapera
Both the everlasting gospel and the gospel of the kingdom promised in Matthew 24:14 are proclaimed to all peoples at the close of world history. It is a blessing that all of us have an opportunity to hear this message at such a time. We could be among the last individuals Jesus brings into His kingdom before His ministry to save mankind concludes.
Fear God and give glory to Him:
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. God wants us to have a sense of fear to disobey Him. A sense of reverence for God and His law is the first step towards discovering God's ways and His kingdom. Without this reverence for the law, one cannot truly comprehend Jesus' work.
We must reach a point of beholding God's laws in their holiness, recognising our own sinful nature and the condemnation His holy law places upon sinners like us. This realisation is the genuine path to understanding Jesus' redemption and surrendering to His righteousness. To fear God, therefore, is to reverence His laws, acknowledging His holiness.
No government or workplace should have more influence over our life than the sense of reverence to God. We must regard His laws as holy and perfect, and pray to the Lord Jesus to grant us victory over sin, knowing that sin is the transgression of the law (1 John 3:4). This is how we truly fear God.
Paul explained that holy living encompasses eating and drinking, as well as all other spheres of life. "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31).The everlasting gospel for the end times calls us to a standard where we do not defile our body through what we eat or drink, nor through unclean conversations and "setting wicked things before [our] eyes" (Psalms 101:3). It urges us to avoid anything that does not glorify God in our daily life. We should abstain from stimulants, alcohol, drugs, pork, and all products processed from them. A higher calling encourages a plant-based diet. Moreover, six days of our weekly labour should be guided by the principle of glorifying God.
This is how Scripture describes those who accept this message: "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." (Revelation 14:12)
God’s commandments are the standard by which God judges our character. Have faith to observe God's law, for "without faith it is impossible to please Him" (Hebrews 11:6). True faith will lead us to live righteously, It will also cause us to believe in God’s prophecies and adhere to every point of God’s word even when the evidence appears contrary. That is true faith. It is different from the self-confidence in being saved even when you doubt God’s ways and warnings shown in His word. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for [prophesies and promises], the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrew 11:1).
Through the first angel's message, men are called upon to "fear God, and give glory to Him" and to worship Him as the Creator of the heavens and the earth. In order to do this, they must obey His law. Says the wise man: "Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man" (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Without obedience to His commandments, no worship can be pleasing to God.
Indeed, "This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments" (1 John 5:3). The Commandments of God reveal love and God is love. As we actively seek to keep the commandments, it demonstrates that we value and desire the character of God.
We cannot be at one with God while we do not first acknowledge our sinfulness in comparison to God’s law. There is no deliverance from sin while we remain indifferent to the holiness of God’s character revealed in His law. We can not receive Jesus without a desperate longing to be transformed into the likeness of His perfect character. Finally, we cannot be transformed if we do not have faith in Jesus’s ability to make us in His likeness and walk by faith in obedience.
The time for God's judgement
The announcement, "The hour of His judgment is come," points to the closing work of Christ for the salvation of men. It is an urgent call declared with a loud voice (Revelation 14:7). This urgency stems from the fact that the 2,300 years (prophetic days, where 1 day is a year) mentioned in Daniel 8:14 ended in 1844. The cleansing of the sanctuary spoken of in Daniel 8:14 refers to a time of judgment, a type of the Day of Atonement first observed by the Israelites (Leviticus 23:27-32). It points to the work of Christ in removing sin from the heart of man and bringing us back to complete oneness in spirit and purpose with God. Thus, the time since 1844 is critical for fully embracing the righteousness of God offered to humankind.
Many already know that Jesus' return is near, but how many times have we considered the judgments that must conclude before His return? Jesus will complete His judgment, and by the time He returns, our eternal destiny will have been decided. It will be time for the reward to be given (Matthew 20:1-6; Revelation 22:12).
The everlasting gospel must be understood in its fullness because these are the end times. The books of record are opened in the judgment, the lives of all are coming in review before God. Beginning with those who first lived upon the earth, our Advocate Jesus Christ presents the cases of each successive generation, and closes with the living. Every name is mentioned; every case closely investigated. Only those who choose to be clothed with Christ’s garment of righteousness will not have their names blotted out of the book of life (Revelation 3:5).
This is to be a time of solemn heart-searching. The duty devolves upon everyone to consider, to watch, and to pray. We are not bidden by the Lord to examine our neighbour's heart. Let our investigative powers be put to work to discover what evil is lurking in our own heart, what defects are in our character, and what work needs to be done in our own home. We then need to receive the grace of God, which is His power to reveal the character of Christ in us (Ephesians 3:7-9).
Worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters
The first angel emphasises that reverence stemming from our acknowledgement of God as our Creator is the only one that prepares us for the time of His judgement.
The emphasis on the creation of heaven, earth, sea, and fountains of water reflects the very words of the fourth commandment, the one that speaks on the seventh-day Sabbath. This first angel reminds us of the fourth commandment whereby "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. " (Exodus 20:11)
The reference to creation and the invoking of the seventh-day Sabbath commandment in the first angel’s message at the hour of God’s judgment is critical. It is only as we believe in God’s ability to create that we can trust in His ability to recreate us into the likeness of His sinless character. Moreover, only as we recognise that God alone can make anything holy will we trust Him with the responsibility of making us holy as we seek to obey Him. As God said, “Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you” (Exodus 31:13).
The understanding of worship has drifted to mean mere initiation of praise to attain emotional relief. God wants us to focus on true Biblical worship, which is remembering the Sabbath and thus the Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:8), who should also be our Lord. That is the worship that should be elevated at the hour of His judgement.
The seventh-day Sabbath is a point of controversy, but we ought to choose God's law over man's law (Acts 5:29). Governments, institutions, and individuals have disregarded God and His commandments. In many countries it is considered normal to force students to attend school on the Sabbath, or for governments to hold events requiring citizen attendance on the Sabbath. Even religions encourage the transgression of God's law, presenting themselves as not guilty but the Lord will not hold them guiltless.
Beloved, we pray, by God's grace, that a biblical perspective on Christian living emerges in you as we await our Lord Jesus. There was a time when you were indifferent because light had not yet come, and the Lord was still forming us as individuals and the Church itself. But now we are in the end times. Just as God created everything and saw that it was good after the week of creation, perfection should be manifest in us through Christ. Victory over sin cannot be attained when we disregard God's commandments, while we remain in rebellion.
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