p. 20 | The Third Angel's Message and the Loud Cry

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 12, 1911

The Third Angel's Message and the Loud Cry

By R. D. Quinn

In a testimony dated at Hobart, Tasmania, May 1, 1895, are the following words: “Several have written to me, inquiring if the message of justification by faith is the third angel’s message, and I have answered, ‘It is the third angel’s message in verity.’ . . . This is the message that God commanded to be given to the world. It is the third angel’s message which is to be proclaimed with a loud voice and attended with the outpouring of the Spirit in a large measure. This message of the gospel of his grace was to be given to the church in clear and distinct lines.”

Again, in “Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VI, page 19: “The work will be cut short in righteousness. The message of Christ’s righteousness is to sound from one end of the earth to the other to prepare the way of the Lord. This is the glory of God which closes the work of the third angel.” The same thought is expressed in “Early Writings,” page 277, under the heading “The Loud Cry:” “I saw angels hurrying to and fro in heaven, . . . preparing for the fulfilment of some important event. Then I saw another mighty angel commissioned to descend to the earth, to unite his voice with the third angel, and give power and force to his message.”

Thus it is plain, and has been repeatedly stated, that the third angel’s message in spirit and in truth is righteousness by faith; the everlasting gospel as revealed in the keeping of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Now let us see if we do not find this in the message itself; in the very words of the message expressed in the briefest possible terms. “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel.” The people symbolized by these three angels have something which is said to be the everlasting gospel, that they may preach it unto them that dwell upon the earth. The gospel is declared to be “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” Rom. 1: 16.

The gospel is the power of God to save us from sin and sinning, and the third angel’s message is the everlasting gospel. Then what less than the everlasting power of God to save from sin can this message be? And how can any one preach such a gospel in the power and demonstration of the Spirit unless he has the evidence in his own life of the power of God to accomplish that thing in him? In other words, how can any one give to others what he does not possess? We answer, It can only be done in theory, but this kind of preaching will be robbed of all true authority, and can never have any part in the loud cry of the third angel’s message.

The preaching of the advent message must be plain, practical, and powerful; it must be accompanied by absolute surrender to God, deliverance from the bondage of Satan, complete and constant cleansing from sin, and the reception of the Holy Spirit by faith as the only source of power to go forward and complete the work of bearing the gospel message to the world in this generation. The judgment-hour message which was preached in 1844, and which has been proclaimed to the world ever since, is not merely a matter of figures, facts, dates, and answerings of history to prophecy. All these are absolutely essential to seal up the vision and make the prophecy sure; but that which is of paramount importance is, “Once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself,” “to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, . . . and to bring in everlasting righteousness.” Heb. 9: 26; Dan. 9: 24.

The fact that the hour of God’s judgment is come, calls for everlasting righteousness. The gospel is sent forth to prepare a people to meet God, but the hour of God’s judgment is come to fix our destiny forever just as the judgment hour finds us at the particular moment when our names are called up in review. Therefore, whoever preaches the judgment-hour message, and whoever receives it, ought so to live that if at any time their cases should be called up in final review in the investigative judgment, they would be able to pass all of its searching tests. Of those who pass successfully the judgment, it will be said, “He that is righteous, let him be righteous still.” The judgment hour did not make the individual righteous, but found him so, and Heaven simply recognizes the fact, and the final word goes forth, “Let him be righteous still.” The reason he does not sin any more after this is that he had come to the place in his experience where he would not consent to sin before that time, and the power that keeps the saints after probation closes is the same power that is at our demand now. May God help us to appropriate it.

The call out of Babylon is a call for complete separation from confusion and sin, and one who raises this cry must himself be wholly separated from all that pertains to Babylon. The third angel’s message is a warning against the beast and his image, and finally develops a people who have the Father’s name written in their foreheads. They have the image and superscription of God instead of that of the beast and his image. “They reflect the image of Jesus fully.” Of these it is said, “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Where in all the Word can there be found a higher standard, a more definite message of God’s keeping power, than in Revelation 14? “Here are they that keep the commandments.” God “is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.” Thus we see that in the very words of the message there is the promise of righteousness by faith unto all them that believe.

“We are in danger of giving the third angel’s message in so indefinite a manner that it does not impress the people. . . . Our message is a life-and-death message, and we must let it appear as it is, the great power of God. We are to present it in all its telling force. Then the Lord will make it effectual. It is our privilege to expect large things, even the demonstration of the Spirit of God.” —“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VI, pages 60, 61. R. D. QUINN.