【传道者|中英文朗读】三天使信息 The Three Angels Messages

三天使信息:

是过时的信息还是与今时休憩相关的现代真理？

作者马克·芬利，神学博士，美国弗吉尼亚州海马基特永活盼望宣教学院创始人兼校长，基督复临安息日会全球总会主席助理，现居美国马里兰州银泉

19世纪40年代，社会、政治、科学及宗教领域的革命开始改变世界。查尔斯·达尔文在1842年完成了《物种起源》的初稿，却迟迟没有发表。直到1859年，他的理论思想相对成熟时，才愿意将其公之于世。一位知名作家在论及《物种起源》的影响时说道：“达尔文于1859年发表的《物种起源》仍是历史上最具热度和影响力的科学论文之一。它引入了‘物竞天择’理论，即种群是在自然选择过程中逐代进化而来的，这一理论已然成为了现代生物学的支柱。”¹

进化论思想对科学、哲学、心理学和宗教造成的影响无法估量。我们若只是偶然的产物，只是基因和染色体的堆砌，我们就成了行尸走肉。不择手段地取悦自己便会成为我们活着的终极目标。如果人类只是蛋白质分子的堆积，生命就将毫无意义。

在进化论思想发展的同时，马克思和恩格斯也用《共产党宣言》撼动了世界，该书在伦敦首次出版，后被翻译成世界各地的多种语言（55种）。那位有位格的上帝是宇宙创造者的观念也被人们渐渐摒弃了。

恒久的目标

然而上帝不会使这尚存的世界缺乏见证。同样是在19世纪40年代，祂发起了一场运动，向这个极望知晓其存在意义和目的的世界宣告祂末日的信息。一群相信《圣经》但却有着不同的信仰背景的基督徒开始着手研究《但以理书》和《启示录》中的古老预言。在《圣经》中，他们发现了一条为那时代量身定制、足能回答末世难题的信息。这信息的中心记在启示录14:6-12。在异象中，耶稣向拔摩海岛上最后一位幸存的使徒约翰显现，并将其向世人显明。

启示录第14章中的三天使信息使我们从自负的狭隘局限中得蒙解救，定睛仰望那永久存在的意义。这信息不断拓展着我们存的意义。当我们正确看待它时，这信息便能回答21世纪基本的道德与灵性问题了。

启示录第14章分为三部分。本章的前五节描述了被救赎的上帝子民，他们胜过地上的试炼，与耶稣一同永远在天。本章的最后八节描绘了基督的复临和地上最后收割的场景。第6-12节，被巧妙地置于上述二者之间，这一部分写到了上帝最后的命令，规劝地上的人为救主的复临做好预备。

永远的福音

以此为背景，我们开始审视启14:6-12。我们从第6节可以看出的第一个方面是，这信息来自天国。对于末世代而言，这急迫的信息具有永恒的意义。约翰说：“我又看见另有一位天使飞在空中，有永远的福音要传给住在地上的人，就是各国各族各方各民。”

福音是异乎寻常的“好消息”——耶稣将我们从罪的刑罚中解救出来。我们因信祂的流血和复活，就脱离了罪的辖制。虽然有时会因人性的软弱而跌倒，但我们已不再受罪的支配。罪对我们的辖制已被粉碎。那救我们脱离罪恶的救赎计划并非事后之计。使徒彼得如此说：“知道你们得赎、脱去你们祖宗所传流虚妄的行为，不是凭着能坏的金银等物。乃是凭着基督的宝血，如同无瑕疵无玷污的羔羊之血。基督在创世以前，是预先被上帝知道的，却在这末世才为你们显现。”

（彼前1:18-20）怀爱伦补充道：“救赎人类的计划并非过后之计。不是在亚当堕落之后才拟定的。而是‘永古隐藏不言的奥秘’的启示（罗16:25）”²

永远的福音，救赎的好消息，是建立在上帝丰盛的慈爱、无限的恩典、无穷的智慧和永恒的公义之上的。福音讲述了祂真实的品格，这是上帝达与末世之信息的中心。

上帝的末世使命

第6节的下半部分写道，天使有“永远的福音”要传给各国各族各方各民。这使命如此伟大而艰巨，需要我们全力以赴。三天使信息给了我们一个更伟大的生命目标，要为超过我们自身的那位而活。它带领我们突破小我的狭隘局限，得享在上帝永恒的国中服侍的喜乐。

我们的生活方式

让我们思想这句话，“敬畏上帝，把荣耀归给祂。”希腊文《圣经》中第7节的“敬畏”一词是 phobeo（音标约为：ˈ fɔː bel）。

它在此处并非指“害怕”上帝，而是一种崇敬、敬畏和尊重的态度。更重要的是，“敬畏”一词表达了对上帝及其旨意绝对的忠诚与降服。

这种“敬畏”以上帝为中心，而非自我，这与以赛亚书14:12-14中所描述路锡弗的傲慢态度截然相反。这场大争战围绕着是否降服于上帝展开。以自我为中心的路锡弗拒绝向除自己以外的任何权威臣服。

第一位天使的信息召唤我们将上帝作为生命的中心。在这个唯物主义和消费主义盛行的时代，世俗价值观将自我作为中心，天国则呼吁我们挣脱自私与自我膨胀的枷锁，将上帝作为我们生命的中心。

成圣

敬畏上帝揭示了我们的态度，而将荣耀归给祂显明了我们的行为。因此，敬畏上帝关乎我们的思想，而将荣耀归于上帝关乎我们的行为。此外，敬畏上帝是指我们内心决志让祂成为我们生命的中心，归荣耀于上帝显明我们心中的信如何转化为实际的生活方式，即在我们一切所行的事上荣耀上帝。使徒保罗这样解释荣耀上帝的意思：“所以你们或吃或喝，无论作什么，都要为荣耀上帝而行。”（林前10:31）当我们将上帝视为生命的中心时，不拘是吃穿还是娱乐，在生活的方方面面荣耀祂便会成为我们唯一的渴望。当我们竭力度遵行祂旨意的生活，向世人显出祂爱的品格时，就是将荣耀归于上帝了。

上帝的公义

启示录14:7接着写道：“应当敬畏上帝，将荣耀归给祂。因祂施行审判的时候已经到了。”善恶之争终将尘埃落定。全宇宙都将见证上帝的慈爱、公义、怜悯和正直。审判向我们显明上帝为拯救每个灵魂已然竭尽所能。审判拉开了帷幕，展开了善恶之争中的宇宙大戏，上帝牺牲之爱的品格与撒但自私的狼子野心形成了鲜明的对比。

启示录14:7是上帝对但以理书第7章第13、14、26、27节的注解。世界在等待，宇宙在观看，上帝在天上永恒的审判中表明，为拯救全地的生灵，祂已竭尽所能。审判是为上帝的子民伸冤（但7:22）。祂的恩典够我们用，谁都无需沦丧。那些迷失之人的命运非因上帝的专断而注定，乃因各人叛逆的选择。他们厌弃了上帝的慈爱，拒绝了上帝的恩典。这审判将向全宇宙揭示祂诚然为拯救地上的生灵所付出持续不懈的努力。

这审判将实现全面的拨乱反正。正义终将战胜邪恶，击败阴间的权势。上帝将拥有最终的决定权，而非不义。

创造

没有什么事能使上帝惊奇。几百年来，撒但一直图谋攻击圣经中有关创世的教岛。启示录14:7最后呼召“敬拜那创造天地海和众水泉源的”。在科学界、宗教界都普遍接受达尔文进化论的时代，这响亮的呼召却呼吁人们敬拜创造主。

创造显明了我们在上帝眼中的价值。我们在宇宙中并不孤单，我们既不是宇宙尘埃中的微尘，也不是遗传学的意外。相反，是上帝创造了我们。创造是所有真敬拜的核心。安息日向我们讲述着创造主和救赎主的关爱。上帝的圣安息日将我们引向那位创造人类并赋予其重要人生意义的创造主，祂如此爱我们，及至我们偏行己路时，也不肯丢弃。每一个安息日都在提醒我们，上帝为我们预备的一切尽都美好。安息日并非专断的律法要求，而是向我们显明靠作工而称义的真安息唯有在上帝里面才能得享，因祂的大工已完成，我们可以在祂的成就中得享安息。

真安息日安息的是古时伊甸园中的美善和未来新天新地的荣耀之间永恒的纽带。

宗教混乱

第二和第三位天使的信息又如何呢？“巴比伦大城倾倒了，倾倒了”和“兽的印记”分别是什么意思呢？虽然学者们已就二者写下许多著作，但它们含义的本质是：两种表达都显露了以自我为中心的自大和骄傲，而非自我牺牲之爱。

巴比伦代表人类引以为豪的成就。它象征着人类的功劳，而非上帝的恩典，它代表着人的遗传，而非上帝的命令。在启示录中，属灵的巴比伦代表所有宗教团体混乱的教义。属灵的巴比伦弱化并排斥《圣经》的权威，突显人的权威。

究其本质，兽的印记将人抬举高过上帝，使人的话语高过上帝的圣言，以人的命令代替上帝的律法。尤其在圣日的问题上，地上的教会将《圣经》中的安息日变成他们选择的日子。兽的印记成为了忠于政教联合之政权的象征，而安息日则是忠于宇宙创造主的标志。

上帝的末日信息在启示录14:12达到高潮，使徒约翰在所见的异象中描述了一班被恩典充满的末世信徒，他们是“守上帝诫命、和耶稣真道的”。

他们因上帝的恩典被救赎，心中充满了耶稣的信心。祂的信心激励并改变了他们。他们从过去的罪孽中得解放，从当前罪恶的捆绑中得释放，他们的心中充满着对将来的盼望。他们唯有倚靠祂的力量效忠上帝，永远侍奉、顺服于祂，除此之外，别无他法。

上帝的末日运动

被耶稣的信心充满的末世信徒将经历人类历史上最严峻的艰难时期。但藉着祂的恩典和力量，他们终将得胜。三天使的信息将在每个城市、乡镇、村庄和社区中传扬，成千上万的人将接受上帝的末日信息。上帝也必将成就祂在地上的大工。每个人都要做出最终的、无法变更的抉择——接受耶稣或是拒绝基督，耶稣将在能力和荣耀中降临，接祂的子民回天家。

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1.“达尔文物种起源初稿面世”，CBC新闻，2008年4月17日，https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/first-draft-of-darwin-s-origin-of-species-goes-online-1.766695.

2.怀爱伦，《历代愿望》(加利福尼亚州山景城：太平洋出版社，1898)，22。

The Three Angels’ Messages:

Antiquated Message or Relevant Present Truth?

By Mark A. Finley, DDiv, the founder and president of the Living Hope School of Evangelism in Haymarket, Virginia, United States. He also serves as an assistant to the president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States.

In the 1840s, social, political, scientific, and religious revolutions began changing the world. Charles Darwin wrote his first draft of On the Origin of Species in 1842 but hesitated to publish his ideas. But by 1859, his thoughts had developed enough that he was willing to reveal them. Discussing the influence of On the Origin of Species, one prominent writer said, “Darwin’s On the Origin of Species,published in 1859, remains one of history’s most influential and talked about scientific papers. It introduced the theory that populations evolve over the course of generations through a process of natural selection, a theory that became the backbone of modern biology.”¹

The impact of evolutionary thought on science, philosophy, psychology, and religion is incalculable. If we are only products of fortuitous chance and nothing more than a collection of genes and chromosomes, life has little meaning. The reckless pursuit of personal happiness becomes our ultimate purpose. Life has little or no meaning if human beings are merely enlarged protein molecules.

Simultaneously with the development of evolutionary thought, Karl Marx and Frederick Engels rocked the world with Communist Manifesto, first published in London, then translated into various languages throughout the world. dismiss the concept of a personal God as Creator of the universe.

AN ENDURING PURPOSE

But God would not allow the world to remain without a witness to Him. It was also in the 1840s that God raised up a divine movement to proclaim His last-day message to a world longing to discover meaning and purpose. A group of Bible-believing Christians from multiple faith backgrounds began studying the ancient prophecies of Daniel and Revelation. There they discovered a message tailor-made for the times—one able to answer the great questions of an end-time generation. The heart of that message appears in Revelation 14:6–12. In a vision, Jesus visited the last of the living apostles, John, on the island of Patmos to reveal it to the world.

The three angels’ messages that appear in Revelation 14 lift us from the narrowness of the claustrophobic confines of our own self-inflated importance to focus us on an enduring purpose for existence. They give us an ever-widening reason for our being. Rightly understood, they speak to the fundamental moral and spiritual issues of the twenty-first century.

Revelation 14 divides into three parts. The first five verses of the chapter describe the redeemed people of God, now seen far above the trials of earth and with Jesus forever in heaven. The last eight verses of the chapter depict the second coming of Christ and earth’s final harvest. Revelation 14:6–12, strategically placed between the two events, contains God’s final directive to prepare earth’s inhabitants for the return of our Lord.

THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL

With this background in mind, we are ready to consider Revelation 14:6–12. The first aspect that we notice in verse 6 is that it is of heavenly origin. It is an urgent communication of eternal significance for an end-time generation. John declares, “Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell upon the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people” (NKJV).

The gospel is the incredibly “good news” that Jesus delivers us from sin’s penalty. By faith in His shed blood and resurrection, we are delivered from the guilt and grip of sin. Although we may fail at times in our humanness, we are yet no longer under sin’s domain. Its hold on us has been broken. Christ’s plan to deliver us from the power of sin was not an afterthought. The apostle Peter describes it this way: “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake”

(1 Peter 1:18–20, NIV). Ellen White adds, “The plan for our redemption was not an afterthought, a plan formulated after the fall of Adam. It was a revelation of ‘the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal.’ Romans 16:25, R. V.”²

The everlasting gospel, the good news of redemption, is based on God’s loving-kindness, boundless grace, infinite wisdom, and eternal justice. The gospel speaks of His true nature. It is at the very heart of His last-day message to the world.

GOD’S END-TIME MISSION

The next phrase in verse 6 reports that the angel has the “everlasting gospel” to proclaim to every kindred, tongue, and nation. Here is a mission so great, so challenging, that it demands our all. The three angels’ messages give us a purpose to live for something bigger than ourselves. They lead us from the narrow confines of our selfish hearts to the joy of service in God’s eternal kingdom.

OUR LIFESTYLE

Let’s consider the expression, “Fear God and give glory to Him.” The Greek New Testament word for “fear” in verse 7 is phobeo.

It is used here not in the sense of being afraid of God but of an attitude of reverence, awe, and respect. Above all, it seeks to convey the thought of absolute loyalty to God and full surrender to His will.

Such fear is God-centered rather than self-centered, the opposite of Lucifer’s attitude of pride and arrogance as outlined in Isaiah 14:12–14. The essence of the great controversy revolves around submission to God. Self-centered Lucifer refused to yield to any authority except his own.

The first angel’s message calls us to make God the focus of our lives. In an age of materialism and consumerism, when secular values have made self the center, heaven’s appeal is to turn from the tyranny of self-centeredness and the bondage of self-inflated importance to place God at the core of our lives.

SANCTIFICATION

Fearing God reveals our attitudes and giving glory to Him speaks of our actions. Thus, fearing God has to do with what we think, while giving glory to Him involves what we do. Furthermore, fearing God deals with the inner commitment to make Him the center of our lives, and giving glory to Him reveals how our inner convictions translate into a lifestyle that honors the Lord in everything we do. The apostle Paul explains what it means to give God glory: “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31, NKJV). When God is the center of our lives, our one desire is to glorify Him in every aspect of our existence, whether that has to do with our diet, the things we wear, or our entertainment. We give glory to God as we reveal His character of love to the world through lives committed to doing His will.

GOD’S JUSTICE

Revelation 14:7 continues, “ ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come’ ” (NKJV). The issues in the great controversy between good and evil will be finally settled. The universe will, at last, see that God is loving and righteous, compassionate and fair. The judgment reveals that God has done everything He possibly can to save every human being. The judgment sweeps aside the curtain and reveals the cosmic drama in the great conflict between good and evil. It contrasts God’s character of self-sacrificing love with Satan’s totally selfish ambition.

Revelation 14:7 is a divine commentary on Daniel 7:13, 14, 26, and 27. Before a waiting world and a watching universe, God demonstrates in heaven’s eternal judgment that He has done absolutely everything possible to save all humanity. Judgment passes in favor of the people of God (v. 22). His grace is sufficient so that no one needs to be lost. Those who are lost are not doomed because of an arbitrary act on God’s part. Their fate results from their own rebellious choices. They have spurned God’s love and rejected His grace. The judgment reveals to the entire universe His untiring, continuous, heartfelt attempts to save every person on our planet.

The judgment will make all wrongs right. Righteousness will triumph over evil, defeating the powers of hell. Injustice will not have the last word—God will.

CREATION

Nothing ever catches God by surprise. For centuries, Satan had been planning his attack on the biblical teaching of Creation. Revelation 14:7 ends with an appeal to “ ‘worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water’ ” (NKJV). Here is a clarion call to worship the Creator at a time when most of the scientific world and much of the religious world have accepted the theory of Darwinian evolution.

Creation speaks of our value in God’s sight. We are not alone in the universe, some speck of cosmic dust. Nor are we a genetic accident. Instead, He created us. Creation is at the heart of all true worship. The Sabbath speaks of a Creator’s care and Redeemer’s love. God’s holy rest day points us to a Creator who made us for a magnificent purpose and loved us too much to abandon us when we drifted from that goal. Every week, the Sabbath reminds us of the One who has provided all good things for us. Rather than an arbitrary legalistic requirement, it reveals that true rest from righteousness by works is found only in Him, a God who has achieved so that we can rest in His achievements.

True Sabbath rest is the eternal link between the perfection of Eden in the past and the glory of the new heavens and the new earth in the future.

RELIGIOUS CONFUSION

What about the second and third angels’ messages? What is the meaning of the phrase “Babylon is fallen, is fallen” and the expression “the mark of the beast”? Although scholars have written volumes on both topics, here is the essence of their meaning. Both expressions speak of self-centered arrogance and human pride rather than self-sacrificial love.

Babylon represented humanity’s proud achievements. It was a symbol of human works, not God’s grace, of human traditions instead of God’s commands. In the book of Revelation, spiritual Babylon represents the confused teachings of all religious bodies. Spiritual Babylon downplays and marginalizes the authority of Scripture, substituting human authority for it.

At its very heart, the mark of the beast exalts the human above the divine. Elevating humanity’s word above God’s, it replaces His commandments with human decrees. We see this especially in the change of the Bible Sabbath to a day of a church’s choosing. The mark of the beast becomes a symbol of loyalty to a church-state unit in contrast to the Sabbath that is a sign of loyalty to the Creator of the universe.

God’s last-day message comes to a climax in Revelation 14:12 when the apostle John in prophetic vision describes a group of grace-filled end-time believers who “keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus.”

Saved by grace, their hearts are filled with the faith of Jesus. His faith motivates and transforms them. It frees them from the guilt of the past, delivers them from the bondage of sin in the present, and fills their hearts with hope for the future. They can do nothing else but through His power give Him their allegiance and serve and obey Him forever.

GOD’S END-TIME MOVEMENT

End-time believers filled with the faith of Jesus will go through the greatest time of trouble in the history of our world. But through His grace and by His power, they will emerge victorious. The three angels’ messages will be proclaimed in every city, town, village, and neighborhood. Tens of thousands of people will accept God’s last-day message. God will finish His work on earth. Every person will make their final, irrevocable decision for or against Christ, and Jesus will come in power and glory to take His people home.