Michigan Conference Campmeeting 2021: How Much More?

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Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

The Three Angels' Message

Jean Ross

01 Because Jesus is Coming

You are about to enjoy a presentation recorded at the 2021 Michigan Conference Camp Meeting held at Cedar Lake, Michigan.

We pray that the Lord will bless you as you listen.

I want to thank you for the opportunity to be able to be with you here at Camp Meeting.

As Elder Mitchell mentioned, it's been a while since we've been able to meet together like this.

It seems like last year has dragged on and on, but finally we get to fellowship together, we get to worship together, and we get to come to camp meeting.

It's good to be back in Michigan Camp Meeting.

Not too many years ago, Amazing Facts did a special youth event called Amazing Adventure, and we did it during camp meeting time, and we were actually using the church just across the street past.

Doug was here and did a great series, a wonderful group of young people, and we have a series that he's been blessed or blessing many as folks tune in and they watch it and they share it.

But it's good to be back at Michigan Camp Meeting.

Elder Mischief mentioned that Michigan is special for the Ross family.

As he mentioned, my oldest son found his wife here in Michigan at camp, and my wife and I thought about that, so we sent our daughter there this year.

She'll get mad with me if she hears that.

But she heard good things from her brother about camp here in Michigan, and she said, I want to come.

And so we'll get to see you a little later on this week, hopefully.

Our focus over the next few meetings together is what I believe to be 1 of the most important present truth messages that God has given to the Adventist Church to take to the world.

That is the 3 angels messages of Revelation chapter 14.

So we're going to take an in-depth look at the 3 angels' messages, because I think it's a message that not only goes to the world to prepare people for the second coming of Christ, but in a very real way it is a message that brings revival to the remnant church.

Now, Revelation chapter 14 is divided up into 3 parts.

The first 5 verses of Revelation 14 is a description of a group called the 144, 000.

And if you're wondering about the 144, 000, I want to encourage you to come tonight, because that's our study this evening, the 144, 000.

And then starting in verse 6 of Revelation 14, you have the first of the 3 angels' messages.

And then starting around verse 14, actually verse, yeah, 13 is the end of the 3 angels, verse 14 is the beginning of a description of the second coming of Jesus.

Jesus is pictured as coming in the clouds of heaven with a sharp sickle in his hand to reap the harvest of the earth.

There is a harvest of the grain, There is a harvest of the grain.

So 3 parts that we find in Revelation chapter 14.

We have the 144, 000, those who are proclaiming this 3 angels message, we have God's last warning message that goes to the world just before the second coming of Christ.

So this morning, I want to begin with the last half of Revelation 14.

We're going to talk about the second coming of Jesus.

The sermon is entitled, Because Jesus is Coming.

We find in Revelation 14, verse 14, after the proclamation of the 3 angels' messages, Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud.

And on the cloud sat 1 like unto the Son of Man, having upon his head a golden crown, and into his hand a sharp sickle, Jesus comes to reap the harvest of the earth." For 3 and a half years, the disciples had been with Jesus.

They believed Jesus to be the Messiah, and they were hoping that soon Jesus would establish a kingdom here on the earth.

So when Jesus told his disciples that he was to leave them and ascend to the Father in heaven, their hearts were filled with sadness.

When Jesus looked into the faces of the disciples and he saw the sad looks on their faces, Jesus said these beautiful words, let not your heart be troubled.

If you believe in God, believe also in me.

In my Father's house, Jesus said, there are many mansions.

If it were not so, I would have told you.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, Jesus said, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am there you may be also." Now, when Jesus gave this promise to the disciples, it was interesting in the way Jesus did it.

You see, back in Bible times, when a young man proposed to a young woman and she accepted his proposal for marriage, the typical thing was to then go back and add a room onto your father's house.

And when that room was completed, then with your friends and much pomp and fanfare, you would then travel to your bride's house.

You would escort her back to the father's house where the actual wedding ceremony would take place.

The newly married couple would then live in the room that was added onto the father's house while the young man would go out and build his own house.

So when Jesus said to the disciples, I'm going to go to the father's house, and I'm going to prepare a place for you, and then I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am there you may also be." The disciples understood this as a marriage proposal.

You see, Jesus is the groom, the church is the bride.

And Jesus is preparing a mansion for his bride in heaven in the Father's house.

And when Jesus comes, we get to go to the marriage supper of the Lamb in heaven.

We get to live in those mansions for a thousand years.

At the end of the millennium, the New Jerusalem comes down from God out of heaven — Revelation 21.

The earth is finally cleansed and recreated, And the Bible tells us that the redeemed will go out from the New Jerusalem, and they'll build their own houses.

From 1 Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come and worship before God.

So Jesus says, I will come again and receive you unto myself.

We believe in the soon, literal, visible second coming of Jesus.

We have this hope that burns within our hearts, hope in the coming of the Lord.

Now, because Jesus is coming, there are 4 things that I wish to emphasize today.

Jesus said in John 17, verse 3, and this is eternal life, that they might know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.

If you are to boil down what it is we need to do in order to have eternal life, Jesus makes it clear.

Not just know about God, not just know the truths in the Word of God, but if you want eternal life, you need to know God.

You need to have a personal connection with Jesus.

You need to enter into the presence of God.

The Bible goes on, Jeremiah chapter 9 verse 23, Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches, but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me." In other words, God says, if you're going to glory, don't glory in your riches or in your power, in your strength, but if you're going to glory, glory in the fact that you know my heart, You know me.

The greatest work that we as Christians can do, as Adventists can do, is to get to know Jesus, to get to know God.

Christ Object Lessons, page 354, We read, the value of man is estimated in heaven according to the capacity of the heart to know God.

This knowledge is the spring from which flows all power.

How many of us want more power in our lives to live a victorious Christian life?

We all want to live a victorious Christian life.

And sometimes we think that we need to work a little harder in our own effort to overcome, but here we are told the secret to overcoming is knowing God.

Our work is to draw as close to Jesus as we possibly can.

Our work is to draw close to Jesus, to get to know Jesus, and just as surely as we do that, Christ will fulfill His promise within us, and He will give us the victory, and we will be overcomers.

Number of years ago, a pastor friend of mine, we were at a seminar, and on our way home, he mentioned to me, he said, do you mind if we stop for a few moments?

There's a young man that I've been doing Bible studies with, and he lives not too far away.

Let's stop, and we'll actually meet at a restaurant, and I want to finish up a Bible study I was giving him.

And so, we stopped and we sat down and we were doing the Bible study with the young man.

And the subject that he was studying, that particular Bible study, was the Word of God and the importance of Bible study and prayer.

And he was talking about how we ought to study the Bible.

02 The 144,000 & the Lamb

We're nearing the end of these blessed hours, and what a blessed day this has been, being able to be at camp meeting.

I've missed it, I know you have, and The Lord's still got many blessings in store for us as we continue to gather together to study his word, to seek his face.

We're going to continue our study this evening talking about the 3 angels' messages of Revelation chapter 14.

Now we'll be getting into the 3 angels' messages in depth over the next few days, but we're sort of laying the foundation, we're preparing the way for our study of the 3 angels' messages.

As mentioned this morning, the book of Revelation is divided up roughly into 3 parts.

The first 5 verses talks about a group of people that the Bible refers to as the 144, 000.

That's our subject that we're going to study this evening.

Then you have the 3 angels' message itself that goes all the way through to about verse 13, and then starting in verse 14, you have a picture of the second coming of Christ.

Now an interesting feature that you see from time to time in the book of Revelation is that the reward or the goal is portrayed first, and then the prophet backs up and tells you how you get to that goal or the reward.

So in Revelation chapter 14, before we even get to the 3 angels' messages And before we even get to a description of the second coming of Christ, John begins to describe those who are proclaiming the 3 angels' messages, but he describes them, he sees them in vision, not on the earth, proclaiming the message, although they are to proclaim the message on the earth.

But John begins by describing them victorious, and they're in heaven, and they're standing on Mount Zion with the Lamb.

And descriptions are given concerning this group of people.

And then after the description of the 144, 000, then John goes into more detail and explains to us how they ended up getting there.

It was through the proclamation of the 3 angels' messages and of course the second coming of Jesus.

So he kind of does things a little backwards.

Revelation is not always written in chronological order.

So with that as a bit of a background, let's get to our study for this evening.

We're talking about the 144, 000, and this is going to be an old-fashioned Bible study.

So we're going to be looking at this verse by verse.

We're going to be digging in some cross-references.

But beginning verse 1, John writes, Then I looked, and behold a lamb standing on Mount Zion.

Now, the first reference of lambs that we find in the Bible is actually in Genesis chapter 21 and there's an interesting story.

Now of course sheep are spoken of earlier than this but specifically a lamb is referred to in Genesis 21 or lambs.

And the story behind that is there was a well that Abraham's servants had dug, and then the servants of Abimelech had confiscated the well, and there was a dispute that occurred, And then Abraham again went to Bermulec and he gave 7 lambs to buy back the well that was originally his.

Now it's interesting that this is the first reference that we have of lambs spoken of in the Bible.

Numbers are significant when you get to the book of Revelation.

But here we find the first reference to the Lamb is involved in buying back something that originally belonged to somebody else.

And so when you think of that in the context of creation, the earth belongs to Christ, but the devil confiscated the earth, but Jesus, the Lamb of God, has brought it back.

So you find a beginning, the very first reference to lambs in the Bible, appointing us to Jesus, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.

And of course we find in John chapter 1 verse 29, John the Baptist baptizing in the River Jordan and he says, the next day John saw Jesus coming towards him and said, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

Now of course John the Baptist said this under inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

He didn't quite fully understand what it was that he had just said, Because even John the Baptist did learn somewhat concerning the nature of the kingdom that Christ had come to establish and yet the Holy Spirit spoke through him and John the Baptist pointing to Jesus said behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world and the writer the author of Revelation John the Apostle was standing by and he saw John the Baptist point to Jesus.

And here John in Revelation many years later, He's talking about the Lamb of God, Jesus, standing on Mount Zion.

Originally, Zion was the hill upon which the old Jebusite fortress, which David had conquered and renamed the city of David, eventually, of course, it became known as Jerusalem.

And When the Ark was transferred to Jerusalem, Zion became known as the dwelling place of God.

In Revelation, Mount Zion symbolizes the New Jerusalem.

The New Jerusalem also symbolizes God's church or God's people.

The 1 is the fountain of truth, Jerusalem.

The other 1 is the fountain of error, Babylon.

And these 2 cities kind of go back and forth throughout the Old Testament.

And when you get to the prophetic books of the Bible, especially Revelation, suddenly you discover Jerusalem and Babylon again symbolically representing 2 groups in this great cosmic conflict near the end of time.

Now Revelation chapter 3 verse 12 talks about this new Jerusalem, And the promise is made to those who overcome, Revelation 3 verse 12, he overcomes, Jesus speaking, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out.

And I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and I will write upon him my new name." So the ultimate reward of the redeemed, they inherit a city whose builder and maker is God.

That is the home that Jesus went to prepare for us.

So then it says, I looked and behold the Lamb standing on Mount Zion and with him 144, 000.

Now of course the number 144, 000, if you look at it, it is 12 times 12 times 1, 000.

And as I mentioned, numbers are significant in Bible prophecy.

Of course, the number 12 represents what?

Represents the church, represents God's people.

You have the 12 tribes of the Old Testament, you have the 12 apostles of the New Testament, there are 12 gates into the New Jerusalem, there are 12 foundations.

So the number 12 in the Bible often is associated with God's people, associated with the church.

But there are other numbers that we find in Scripture as well, and some of them are rather important and significant when you study Bible prophecy.

For example, let me just give you a few of the highlighted numbers.

The number 1 in Bible prophecy represents what?

God is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, but they are united in their mission to save mankind.

Jesus said, for this reason shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall be joined to his wife and the 2 shall become 1.

Of course, the number 2 in the Bible represents the law and the prophets.

The 2 witnesses, symbolized by Moses representing the law and Elijah representing the prophets.

In the mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses, every word or truth is to be established coincidentally.

So if Moses represents the law and Elijah represents the prophets.

Jesus took 3 of his disciples, Peter, James, and John, and he took them up into a high mountain, and he was transfigured or glorified.

And there appeared with Jesus 2 individuals, Moses and Elijah.

And you'll remember the story there in the Gospels, the 3 disciples saw this sight and they were overcome with fear and Peter not quite sure what to say, he said, Lord, it's good for us to be here because now we'll build 3 tabernacles.

The Bible says there was a shadow or a cloud that overshadowed them, and God Himself spoke and said, this is my beloved son here, here.

Now on that mount, you've got Moses representing the law, or the first 5 books of the Old Testament.

Elijah represents the rest of the Old Testament.

Remember, when you think of the 2 witnesses, I know sometimes you think of the Old and the New Testaments, but strictly speaking, even in the time of Jesus, the Old Testament was divided up into the Law, the first 5 books written by Moses, and the Prophets, which was everything else.

And strictly speaking, the New Testament would be an extension of the prophets.

So Moses represents the law, Elijah represents the prophets, the law testified that Jesus is the Christ, the prophets testify that Jesus is the Christ, so you have your 2 witnesses, But the Bible says in the mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses, who was the third witness that Jesus was the Christ?

So the Number 2 in the Bible represents the law and the prophets.

It's the 2 witnesses that you read about in Revelation chapter 11.

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit represents the Godhead.

03 The Everlasting Gospel

We're going to continue our study this evening talking about the 3 angels' messages.

Today we look at a very important subject, 1 that in essence lays the foundation for everything else that is to come.

We're not going to actually get into the essence of the first angel's message, that's actually going to happen tomorrow evening, but we are going to look tonight at the everlasting gospel because that is the foundation of the 3 angels' messages.

So, we're going to begin in Revelation chapter 14, verse 6, and these are familiar words to us.

I know we've probably read it and heard it, and many of us could probably quote it from memory, but they are important words.

Revelation 14.6, And I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven." Now, of course, this angel represents the people of God proclaiming the everlasting gospel at a time when the hour of His judgment has come.

Of course, that's the next verse that talks about the hour of His judgment.

In Bible Commentary, Volume 7, we have a statement from the pen of inspiration.

It says, Christ is coming the second time with power unto salvation.

To prepare human beings for this event, he has sent the first, second, and third angels' messages.

These angels represent those who receive the truth and with power open the gospel to the world.

So doubtless, angelic beings, angels as we think of them, are involved in assisting in the proclamation of the 3 angels' messages, but in a very, very real sense, You and I are the angels.

The word angel in the Greek, angelos, literally means messenger.

We are the messengers given a message to take to the world.

It is a message that prepares the way for the second coming of Jesus.

Matthew chapter 24 verse 14, Jesus said these words in 31 AD speaking to his disciples, and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world as a witness unto all nations and then the end shall come." Notice here Jesus speaking to his disciples just a handful of believers said, before I come back the gospel will be preached in all the world.

The fulfillment of the prophecy that Jesus made in 31 AD is being fulfilled in 2021 in Revelation Chapter 14 in the proclamation of the 3 angels' messages.

The prophecy given by Christ is fulfilled when the everlasting gospel is taken to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.

The next part of the verse, verse 6 says, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell upon the earth, to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.

The reason the everlasting gospel is to go to all the world is because the 3 angels' messages prepare the world for the second coming of Christ.

And of course, the second coming of Christ is going to affect the entire world, so the warning message, the message of preparation, must be given to all the world.

Thus The gospel goes to every nation and kindred, tongue, and people.

It was first proclaimed in Eden, and it was repeated from generation to generation.

The first reference that we have of the gospel, or the everlasting gospel, Genesis chapter 3 verse 15.

He says, I will put enmity, that is mutual hatred.

The everlasting gospel has something to do with putting mutual hatred or enmity between you the serpent and the woman, the church, and between your seed and her seed, capital S, referring to Jesus, he, Jesus, shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel, a reference to the cross.

So the everlasting gospel first mentioned after the fall of Adam and Eve had something to do with God changing the heart to put mutual hatred or a hatred towards sin.

It is the fulfillment of the prophecy that Jesus said, you're going to end up hating sin.

The apostle Paul goes on and says in Romans chapter 1 verse 16, I love this verse, I am not ashamed, he says.

Why is Paul not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.

Why is Paul not ashamed of the gospel of Christ?

Because he has seen what the gospel of Jesus can do in the hearts and the lives of people.

Paul had seen what the gospel had done for him.

He had seen what the gospel had done in the lives of pagans to whom he preached.

He said, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Now, of course, the word used there for power isn't just power, it is the Greek doumanis.

We get the English word dynamite from the word doumanis.

There's something powerful about the gospel.

Now if I were to ask you, I said, could you open your Bible to the gospels?

You'd probably open it to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

We read about His birth, His life, His ministry, His death, His resurrection.

It talks about His ascension, His teachings.

So the gospel of Jesus is the story or the good news about Jesus and what Christ's life, his ministry, his death, his resurrection, his ascension means to you and I.

So when we're talking about the gospel, we're talking about a person.

And the good news is that when we're talking about the gospel, when we're talking about Jesus, we're not just simply talking about a historical individual as many other religions have their historical leaders.

But we're talking about a person who is alive even now, ministering for us in the heavenly sanctuary.

We're talking about a real Savior, a personal present Savior.

Series

The Three Angels' Message

05 The Second Angel’s Message

Transcript

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