“Look at the first angel’s message, found in Revelation 14:7, in the light of ‘righteousness by faith’ theme. It says, ‘Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come’ (KJV).
“To fear God doesn’t mean to be afraid of Him but to hold Him in awe. To give glory to God means to accept salvation by faith (from Christ) instead of salvation by works (from ourselves).
“We can’t save ourselves! We can’t save ourselves from our past sins, we can’t save ourselves from our present sinning, and we can’t save ourselves from the world of sin. We’re stuck! Born on the wrong planet, we’re all in trouble, and our only hope is in the Savior.
“All false systems of religion have one thing in common – the idea that humanity can do something to save itself. And our greatest danger today is thinking there’s some way we can save ourselves!
“’…and worship him’ means we worship God instead of ourselves. If we think there’s some way we can save ourselves and we take part of the glory of our actions, then we end up worshiping ourselves instead of worshiping God. It’s a danger warned about in the time of the three angels, and it swells to a loud cry with the message of the fourth angel.
“If we really believe in righteousness by faith, then we’ll spend time coming to Jesus, worshiping and glorifying Him, and learning to trust Him. Only then are we safe from trying to save ourselves.” – Morris Venden, Nothing to Fear: Devotions for the End Time, 1999, p. 43.
“I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” –Psalm 119:10, 11