Provocative
The third and fourth directives speak to the distinctive nature of the Galilee Protocol's missionary work to the cities. The power of the gospel message is in its ability to show God's character to fallen humanity in such a way as to draw them away from sin and into a redeeming relationship with God. The difficulty lies in the sinner's tendency to fragment the divine attributes into two apparently incompatible parts—justice and mercy. Either the sinner sees God as an exacting judge or as an indulging enabler. Both views short circuit the gospel. It was this that Christ came to remedy. He came to repair the sinner's misconception of God. He came to show us the Father.1 He came to bear witness to the truth.2 Of Christ the palmist declares, “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”3 The apostle John confirms this, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”4
In Scripture truth, righteousness and justice are synonymous terms.5 Says the psalmist about God: “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne.”6 In fact, according to the KJV dictionary, that is what righteousness means: “just, accordant to the divine law.”7 Truth means exactness; conformity to rule; real fact of just principle.8 So we see that Christ came to present the glory of the Father—His character—as the perfect blending of justice and mercy.
The third directive brings out the justice side of God's character. The three angels' messages are earth's final warnings and they certainly and boldly assert this side of God. It is the hour of His judgment;9 and the warning is provocative. The third angel sternly warns those who fail to comprehend His uncompromising commitment to law and justice: that they “shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God... poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and [they] shall be tormented with fire and brim-stone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.”10 But those who “keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus”11 will be rewarded glorious life eternal.
The three angels' messages are provocative. They would be worded very differently if the intent was otherwise. While we usually consider provocative to be a negative thing, the KJV dictionary does give some more constructive connotations: to call into action; to arouse; to excite; to challenge; to move; to stir up; to induce by motives; to appeal.12 Given the urgency of the hour and the high stakes involved—especially as Christ's Spirit is being withdrawn from the world—mercy's tenderest appeal comes in the form of a provocative alarm to wake up those who are running headlong toward eternal annihilation. It is our work to draw the world's attention to this urgent alarm.
“In a special sense Seventh-day Adventists have been set in the world as watchmen and light-bearers. To them has been entrusted the last warning for a perishing world. On them is shining wonderful light from the Word of God. They have been given a work of the most solemn import,—the proclamation of the first, second, and third angels’ messages. There is no other work of so great importance. They are to allow nothing else to absorb their attention.
“The most solemn truths ever entrusted to mortals have been given us to proclaim to the world. The proclamation of these truths is to be our work. The world is to be warned, and God’s people are to be true to the trust committed to them…
“Shall we wait until God’s judgments fall upon the transgressor before we tell him how to avoid them? Where is our faith in the Word of God? Must we see things foretold come to pass before we will believe what He has said? In clear, distinct rays light has come to us, showing us that the great day of the Lord is near at hand,'even at the door.'”13
“We are living in the close of this earth's history… Prophecy is fulfilling. Soon Christ will come with power and great glory. We have no time to lose. Let the message sound forth in earnest words of warning… We must persuade men everywhere to repent and flee from the wrath to come. They have souls to save or to lose. Let there be no indifference in this matter. The Lord calls for workers who are filled with an earnest, decided purpose.”14
“Most startling messages will be borne by men of God's appointment, messages of a character to warn the people, to arouse them. And while some will be provoked by the warning, and led to resist the light and evidence, we are to see from this that we are giving the testing message for this time… We must also have, in our cities, consecrated evangelists through whom a message is to be borne so decidedly as to startle the hearers.”15
“Agitate, agitate, agitate the public mind. There must be no spiritual stupor now. Bring out important points of truth bearing directly upon genuine conversion.”16
“Let those who present the truth enter into no controversy. They are to preach the gospel with such faith and earnestness that an interest will be awakened. By the words they speak, the prayers they offer, the influence they exert, they are to sow seeds that will bear fruit to the glory of God. There is to be no wavering. The trumpet is to give a certain sound. The attention of the people is to be called to the third angel's message. Let not God's servants act like men walking in their sleep, but like men preparing for the coming of Christ.”17
“We are under obligation to declare faithfully the whole counsel of God. We are not to make less prominent the special truths that have separated us from the world, and made us what we are; for they are fraught with eternal interests. God has given us light in regard to the things that are now taking place in the last remnant of time, and with pen and voice we are to proclaim the truth to the world, not in a tame, spiritless way, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power of God.”18
In the year 1900, Sister White called for a more direct approach to presenting the final message. She said, “I am more and more decided we must make one more final effort to get the truth in clearness before the people. They must have another opportunity to hear the reasons of our faith, straight and clear from the living oracles. But I know we have made a mistake in not presenting the strongest points of our faith—the Sabbath question as the first subject and then bring in the subjects that are not a life and death question.19
“The power which stirred the people so mightily in the 1844 movement will again be revealed. The third angel’s message will go forth, not in whispered tones, but with a loud voice.”20
1John 14:9. 2John 18:37. 3Psalms 85:1. 4John 1:14. 5Isaiah 59:14. 6Psalms 89:14. 7http://av1611.com/kjbp/kjv-dictionary/righteous.html 8http://av1611.com/kjbp/kjv-dictionary/truth.html. 9Revelation 14:7. 10Revelation 14:10. 11Revelation 14:12. 12http://av1611.com/kjbp/kjv-dictionary/provoke.html 13Ellen G. White, Evangelism, pp. 119, 120. 14Ibid, p. 217. 15Ibid, p. 168. 16White, Letter 34, October 12, 1875. 17White, Evangelism, p. 119. 18Ibid, p. 121. 19White, Letter 179, 1900. 20White, Evangelism, p. 693.