|
[table of contents]
Chapter Five
GOOD NEWS
THE SEALING OF GOD’S PEOPLE IN SCRIPTURE
“This sealing of the servants of God is the same that was shown to Ezekiel.”
TM 445
“Mark this point with care: Those who receive the pure mark of truth, wrought in
them by the power of the Holy Ghost, represented by a mark by the man in linen,
are those ‘that sign and cry for all the abominations that be done’ in the
church... Read the ninth chapter of Ezekiel.” 3T 267; Mar. 232
The above quotes indicate that the sealing of the 144,000 will be similar to the
scenes displayed in Ezekiel’s vision.
Ezekiel Chapter 9:
Verses 1,2
“He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have
charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in
his hand. And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate which lieth
toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man
among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they
went in and stood beside the brazen alter.”
The six men
are six angels.
Note: The six men are no doubt angels.
“To His angels He gives the commission to execute His judgments.” TM 430
“The work of separation is given to the angels of God, and not committed into
the hands of any man.” TM 47
“The Lord forbids us to proceed in any violent way against those whom we think
erring, and we are not to deal out excommunications and denunciations to those
who are faulty. Finite man is likely to misjudge character....” TM 47
In a LAST DAY SETTING we can only be looking into scenes to be accomplished in
the heavenly sanctuary, which indeed “lieth toward the North” (see Isaiah
14:12,13).
Verses 3,4
“And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he
was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen,
which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side; and the Lord said unto him, Go
through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark
upon the foreheads of the men that sign and that cry for all the abominations
that be done in the midst thereof.”
The text tells the destroying angels to “Go ye after him.” It does not say how
soon after. The Bible makes it clear the sword comes when the Saviour comes. See
Revelation Chapter 19:1-21; Matthew 24:48-51. At the end of our chapter in
Ezekiel, the picture is given of the angel who does the marking with the inkhorn
completing his work but, at that time, nothing is said of the angels with the
slaughter weapons doing their work. The next chapter shows the power of the Holy
Spirit falling on the church, but the sword and slaying is still not mentioned.
Most likely, the slaughter comes later — well after God’s 144,000 are sealed,
the Latter Rain of God’s Holy Spirit falls upon His people, and the loud cry is
given.
- “And the Lord said.” The Lord Himself is taking charge.
- “Midst of Jerusalem.” Not Babylon, not Egypt, but His people. This message is
one of judgment on the church.
- “Set a mark.” Only the faithful among God’s people are marked at this time.
The church
is judged
first.
In the book of Revelation, we see the same sequence in greater detail. In
chapter seven, the 144,000 final witnesses are marked. The wicked receive their
mark much later in chapter fourteen. The sword falls at the end of chapter
nineteen.
Verses 5-7
“And to the others He said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city,
and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and
young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man
upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient
men which were before the house. And he said unto them, Defile the house, and
fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth and slew in the
city.”
“Begin at My sanctuary.” The apostle Peter agrees that the church
is judged before the world is judged.
“For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of
God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the
gospel of God?” 1 Peter 4:17 The ancient men in Ezekiel nine refer to as the spiritual guardians of the
church. 5T 211 (Elders, deacons, Sabbath school teachers, etc.)
Apparently, those who are not sealed are scheduled for death at the second
coming. Commenting on those who sympathize with sinners in the church, Ellen
White says:
“They will fall in the general destruction of the wicked, represented
by the work of the five men bearing slaughter weapons. 3T 267 “Study the ninth chapter of Ezekiel. These words will be literally
fulfilled.” 18MR 236
Verse 8
“And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell
upon my face, and cried, and said, ‘Ah Lord God, wilt thou destroy all the
residue of Israel in Thy pouring out of Thy fury upon Jerusalem?’”
Note: Here Ezekiel represents those who are marked with the writer’s inkhorn.
Isaiah 4:3,4 may be referring to the same experience:
“And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth
in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the
living in Jerusalem: When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the
daughters of Zion...by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.”
Righteousness
can be
accomplished
in your heart!
The judgment of the living church is ominous. Indeed, the signs show it may well
be under way in our church now. The ones who remain faithful in God’s invisible
true church will be holy. How can we be one of them? By consistently overcoming.
Never stop striving. Never sink back to fall into Satan’s arms. Never give ear
to his fatal sophistry. “He is constantly seeking to deceive the followers of
Christ with his fatal sophistry that it is impossible for them to overcome.”
GC88 489
“Those who have been overcoming by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their
testimony will be found with the loyal and true, without spot or stain of sin,
without guile in their mouths.” 2SM 380; Mar. 32
“I asked the meaning of the shaking..., to exalt the standard and pour forth the
straight truth...All who truly receive it will obey it and be purified.” EW 270
Of the 144,000 it is written: “And in their mouth was found no guile; for they
are without fault before the throne of God.” Revelation 14:5. These are members
of the church triumphant.
Verse 9
“Then said he unto me, the iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is
exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of
perverseness: for they say, ‘The Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the Lord
seeth not.’”
In Ellen White’s day she indicated that not one in twenty church members were
faithfully walking with their Lord. Let’s do all we can, with God’s help, to
better the numbers. A close walk with God is available to all who sincerely want
it. Not one in twenty does not mean one in twenty, it means less than that. Not
one in twenty! But praise our heavenly Father and His dear Son because you can
stand among the chosen of God.
Verse 10
“And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I
will recompense their way upon their head.”
The Lord’s eyes personally see the ones marked holy and the ones left for
slaughter. He sees the same things the angels see.
Verse 11
“And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side,
reported the matter, saying, ‘I have done as thou hast commanded me.’”
The 144,000 are
sealed as
probation closes
on the church.
This is the greatest verse of all. God’s people within the church are sealed and
become the 144,000. Please note that the 144,000 are sealed during the close of
probation on the church:
“Especially in the closing work for the church (not the closing work for the
world), in the sealing time of the one hundred and forty-four thousand who are
to stand without fault before the throne of God, will they feel most deeply the
wrongs of God’s professed people.” 3T 266
“He (God) will have a pure, true, sanctified ministry prepared for the latter
rain.” LDE 179; 3SM 385
You and I can successfully prepare for that experience.
“In the last solemn work few great men will be engaged. They are
self-sufficient, independent of God, and He can not use them. The Lord has
faithful servants, who in the shaking, testing time will be disclosed to
view.... The most weak and hesitating in the church will be as David – willing
to do and to dare.” 5T 80,81
In the next few statements three separate experiences are discussed. First,
notice what happens just before the time of trouble does begin; next, notice
what happens when the time of trouble does being, and third, notice what happens
for the people who accept the message being presented during the time of
trouble.
There will be
three great
consecutive
experiences.
1. BEFORE the time of trouble the 144,000 are sealed:
“Just before we entered it (the time of trouble), we all received the seal of
the living God. Then I saw the four angels cease to hold the four winds.”
7BC 968; LDE 228
This sealing is described in Revelation chapter seven. The first four unique
trumpets (four winds) follow in chapter eight.
Will the false brethren be given time for repentance once the visible church has
been judged? Will the door of salvation open again for them?
“The time of God’s destructive judgments (the four winds) is the time of mercy
for those who had no opportunity to learn what is truth. Tenderly will the Lord
look upon them. His heart of mercy is touched; His hand is still stretched out
to save, while the door is closed to those who would not enter. Large numbers
will be admitted who in these last days hear the truth for the first time.” 7BC
979; 9T 97; LDE 182
(Parenthesis and underlining mine.)
This last statements makes a strong case for the idea that judgment not only
“begins at the house of the Lord,” but that it also ends first at the house of
the Lord, after which it moves forward pronouncing sentence and sealing those
who are hearing and responding to the truth about God and His commandments for
the first time. Mercy is open for those who had never heard the truth, but
closed to those who had previously received it but did not love it.
2nd Thessalonians chapter two, verses 10 12, also speaks of such a group.
The high cost
of pleasurable
unrighteous
thoughts.
“And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because
they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this
cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That
they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness.” 2 Thessalonians 2:10 12
Unrighteous pleasurable thoughts must not be entertained in one’s mind. Now is
the time to get rid of all such thoughts. You have the power in Christ to cast
them out every time they surface in your thinking. To those who remain
unrighteous in character God shall send strong delusion that they should believe
a lie. Why strong delusion? Because they have known the truth! It will take a
strong delusion to move them firmly into the camp of the transgressors. But they
will be moved!
2. WHEN the time of trouble begins, so also does the final loud cry for
conversions from the world.
“At the commencement of the time of trouble, we were filled with the Holy Ghost
as we went forth and proclaimed the Sabbath more fully. This enraged the
churches and nominal Adventists, as they could not refute the Sabbath truth. And
at this time God’s chosen all saw clearly that we had the truth, and they came
out, and endured the persecution with us.” EW 33
Often the phrase “more fully” in the previous paragraph is interpreted to mean
more extensively, but Ellen White uses the term to mean what it correctly
implies. Notice how she uses it in Patriarchs and Prophets pages 310.
“The minds of the people…were not prepared to appreciate fully the far-reaching
principles of God’s ten precepts. That the obligations of the Decalogue might be
more fully understood and enforced, additional precepts were given, illustrating
and applying the principles of the Ten Commandments. PP 310
In the above paragraph the “more fully” concept demands additional precepts. For
more on this subject of the phrase “more fully” in connection with the Sabbath,
see “An Innovative Approach to Holy History” page 19, by this author. The book
is made available in the appendix.
144,000 voices
sounding all over
the earth.
“By thousands of voices, all over the earth, the warning will be given. Miracles
will be wrought, the sick will be healed, and signs and wonders will follow the
believers.” GC88 612
3. DURING the time of trouble a great multitude of new converts are sealed, no
doubt as they are gathered into God’s true church through the ministry of the
144,000. The message will prove that the hour of His judgment of the living has
come.
“Of the number of them that shall be sealed will be those who have come from
every nation and kindred and tongue and people. From every country will be
gathered men and women who will stand before the throne of God and before the
Lamb, crying, ‘Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the
Lamb.’” Maranatha p. 261
If we want to help in the “loud cry” what should we be expecting God to do for
us now? How will God help prepare a member of the present church militant to
become one of the 144,000 leaders in the Church Triumphant?
“That God who reads the hearts of everyone, will bring to light hidden things of
darkness…that stumbling blocks…may be removed, and God have a clean and holy
people to declare His statutes and judgments…fitting them for translation, and
leaving in the rear those…who are not willing to be led. 1T 333
Pentecostal
power from
the coals of
the heavenly
fire will be
available!
What proof does Ezekiel give that those who are sealed will be given true
Pentecostal power with which to present their message to the world?
“And he spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, ‘Go in between the
wheels, even under the cherub, and fill thine hand with coals of fire from
between the cherubims, and scatter them over the city.” Ezekiel 10:2
We can look forward to another Pentecost experience. Cloven tongues of fire will
fall on the “true” church. In Ezekiel’s prophecy, all those left in it
(Jerusalem) receive the fire. It fell on those who were sealed, that had chosen
to “remain” in Jerusalem. Praise God! Let us covenant to remain in the “true”
church appointed by God and well-known in the courts of heaven. Jerusalem
represents the church.
The book of Revelation does predict this same sequence of events. First the
144,000 are sealed in the seventh chapter. Later in the same chapter converts
are seen that came out of “great tribulation.” The 144,000 are given
encouragement as they are shown a great multitude of their converts in heaven at
last. What a tremendous promise of success! The very next chapters in Revelation
show horrendous events on earth during their ministry. Then in chapters thirteen
and fourteen the wicked of the world are sealed with the Mark of the Beast. They
become the recipients of the seven last plagues in chapters fifteen and sixteen,
and finally experience the sword of judgment in chapter nineteen. Tremendous
events in their order.
Notice the picture of a large group of people fitted for heaven during the time
of trouble. This is a very encouraging picture from Revelation 7:9,13,14
“And after this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number,
of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne
and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.”
“And one of the elders answered saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed
in white robes? and whence came they?”
“And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which
came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white
in the blood of the Lamb.” Revelation 7:9,13,14
It will be an exciting time when the 3rd angel’s message begins to close. The
power of God will have been resting upon His people and they will have
accomplished their work. They will have received the latter rain and given the
final invitation. Those who receive their message are also sealed to forever
live with the saved of all ages. Probation will close on the world and those
remaining in wickedness will have rejected for the last time the message of
repentance from all sin.
The saints
will fully
experience
the gift of
salvation.
“I saw angels hurrying to and fro in heaven. An angel with a writer’s inkhorn by
his side returned from the earth and reported to Jesus that his work was done,
and the saints were numbered and sealed. Then I saw Jesus, who had been
ministering before the ark containing the ten commandments, throw down the
censer. He raised His hands, and with a loud voice said, ‘It is done.’ And all
the angelic host laid off their crowns as Jesus made the solemn declaration, ‘He
that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be
filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that
is holy, let him be holy still.’” EW 279, 280
[table of contents] [next chapter]
| 
