Revelation 14:6 - 13

6 Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people— 7 saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”

8 And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”

9 Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”

12 Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’

“Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.”

For hundreds of years the Gospel, the Everlasting Gospel, had been restricted to all the people, even kings and other rulers of the nations and countries were kept from the Bible and were not allowed to make their own decisions based on the word of God.

The Roman-Catholic leadership mis-used 2 Peter 1:20 and told them the scriptures were “not of any private interpretation,” and that must leave that to the church. Not only were they banned from interpreting what they might read, but the Bible was kept in a language that few people knew, the Latin language, even in the country of Italy the language was largely Greek.

Martin Luther and his co-horts reversed that perverted use of the scriptures by giving it to the people in their own native languages, so they could read for themselves what the Bible said, and then apply it to their own daily lives. No longer were the nations at the mercy of the Roman-Catholic empire when it came to understanding the word of God and what his will and instructions were.

This angel is announcing the work of giving the word of God back to the people and encouraging them to be happy about this huge blessing that was given to them.

The “hour of His judgment” the time is come when the Roman-Catholic institution is to have her power broken by the reformers. They no longer could hold God's word hostage to the rulers and people of the nations in exchange for their homage and tribute they could collect to fulfill their own covetous lusts and desires.

This angel is telling the people to worship the true God, the creator of all, not the one who made himself above all men and ruled the apostate church, not the 'saints and icons' which were so prevalent in their great chapels.

The reformation caused the great institution, The Roman-Catholic church-state empire to crumble, it is what is referred to as Babylon. It is called the great city because Rome is where the emperor and the pope lived and made it their headquarters. It fell because it could no longer hold God's word hostage, the freedom of God's word, and their ability to understand for themselves let them make decisions. They were no longer slaving for an empire based in Rome. This announcement by the angel indicated the union of church and state was dissolved.

The third angel brought a warning to any who might persist in following the evil patterns and doctrines of the institution based in Rome.

If anyone has enough esteem for the Roman-Catholic empire, that he places it above the one true God, if anyone follows the examples such that his beliefs and actions give him identity with that organization.

Then, they will suffer the wrath of God. Wine has been used figuratively throughout the scriptures to symbolize wrath and anger and other intense conditions of the intellect. (Psalms 60:3, Proverbs 4:17, Jeremiah 25:15, Jeremiah 51:7) God's wrath will be full strength without dilution. They will suffer the fire and brimstone in the “Lake of Fire.” The sentencing to the “Lake of Fire” will be given in the presence of Christ and His angels. (Matthew 25:31 – 46, 2 Thessalonians 1:7 – 9)

They will be sentenced in the presence of Christ and His angels, but they will suffer eternally. All of the unsaved will suffer eternally in this fire, (Matthew 25:41 eventhough this passage is particularly for the followers of the church-state base at Rome.

The Christians who had the endurance to overcome the persecutions and temptations put upon them by the Roman-Catholic Empire were blessed and rewarded for remaining faithful unto the end of their time on earth.

For every Christian who remains faithful unto Christ until they die, they are blessed with eternal paradise which they will be in following the judgment, but this verse is referring to those thousands which had been slain by both Roman empires, the one ruled by idolaters and the one ruled by the church-state, the Roman-Catholic empire. It is also appropriate to remember the ones who died after the Reformation began and those of the Great Babylon punished for the struggle to bring the Bible back to the people.

Yes, after death a Christian labors no more, and their works continue with them to the judgment testifying unto the life they have lived and the faith they have had to their Savior. Paul tells us it will be far better for us to be with Christ after death. (Philippians 1:22 – 23) and our works follow us in a sense as a record of what we did. Paul in Hebrews 11:4 states about Abel “he being dead still speaks.” Our works or actions testify to God what kind of person we were while here on earth.