Editorial – The Hundred and Forty Four-

Thousand
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For those of you who are mathematicians, 144 is a Fibonacci number. It is
both a round number and a square number. But the reason that students of
prophecy are fascinated with this number is because God says that in the last
generation He is going to seal 144,000 people from His true church (Israel),
and this will happen before the final destructive judgments come upon this
world (Revelation 7:1–4).

These people are described as virgins (Revelation 14:4), for they have not
drunk the wine of the fornication of Babylon (Revelation 14:8; 17:2; 18:3).

Inspired writings describe them as being very small in number compared with
the multitudes on the earth in the last days. One hundred and forty-four
thousand is indeed a small number compared with today’s population of over
seven billion, including many millions of Adventists. That figures out to a ratio
of approximately one in 50,000 people. Actually, that is a very high number of
faithful people when you consider that the ratio was far less at other periods of
time. Before the flood when the population was most probably over one billion,
only eight people were found to be loyal and ready to enter the ark—Noah and
his family. Out of the 300,000 children of Israel who journeyed through the
wilderness, only two were found. The experiences recorded in Matthew 24
and I Corinthians 10 are examples of the last days.

In addition to the 144,000, there will also be an innumerable multitude saved

(Revelation 7:9), many of them martyrs and the myriads who have died in
Christ, but the 144,000 is a select group from the final generation who will
receive special honors in the kingdom of God. (See Revelation 14:1.)

Specific character traits have been developed in the last days in all of those
comprising the 144,000: (1) purity, (2) truthfulness, (3) faultlessness or
blamelessness or, in other words, perfection of character. (See Revelation
14:1–5.) Referring to this group, Ellen White wrote, “Those who receive the
seal of the living God and are protected in the time of trouble must reflect the
image of Jesus fully.” Early Writings, 71.
“If we would have the image and superscription of God upon us, we must
separate ourselves from all iniquity. We must forsake every evil way, and then
we must trust our cases in the hands of Christ. While we are working out our
own salvation with fear and trembling, God will work in us to will and to do of
His own good pleasure.” The Review and Herald, March 19, 1889.
And finally an exhortation: “Let us strive with all the power that God has given
us to be among the hundred and forty-four thousand.” The Review and
Herald, March 9, 1905.
CategoriesEditorialTags144000, perfect, saved, SealedPost navigation
Bible Study Guides – Infancy: The First Seven Years
Do Not Sleep as Do Others

Bible Study Guides – Moses

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October 30, 2011 – November 5, 2011
Faith of Our Fathers
Key Text
“I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the
house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses.” Micah 6:4.

Study Help: Patriarchs and Prophets, 469–480; Testimonies, vol. 1, 290–302;

vol. 4, 20–27.
Introduction
“Moses was selected to be the shepherd of God’s own people, and it was
through his firm faith and abiding trust in the Lord that so many blessings
reached the children of Israel.” Special Testimonies on Education, 117.

1 THE CHILDHOOD OF MOSES

 Through God’s providence, Joseph was able to supply the Hebrews
with a goodly heritage in the land of Goshen. But what happened after
his death? Acts 7:15–19.
Note: “They [the descendants of Jacob] had kept themselves a distinct race,
having nothing in common with the Egyptians in customs or religion; and their
increasing numbers now excited the fears of the king and his people. …

“The king and his counselors had hoped to subdue the Israelites with hard
labor, and thus decrease their numbers and crush out their independent spirit.
Failing to accomplish their purpose, they proceeded to more cruel measures.
Orders were issued … to destroy the Hebrew male children. … The whole
nation was called upon to hunt out and slaughter his helpless victims.”
Patriarchs and Prophets, 242.
  By a miracle of God, Jochebed was able to keep her infant son, Moses,
throughout his early childhood before he would have to be given over,
to be reared by the daughter of Pharaoh. How did she utilize this
precious time? Hebrews 11:23; Proverbs 6:22.
Note: “She [Jochebed] endeavored to imbue his [Moses’] mind with the fear of
God and the love of truth and justice, and earnestly prayed that he might be
preserved from every corrupting influence.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 243,
244.

2 PREPARATION FOR A LIFEWORK

 How did Moses develop in Egypt? Acts 7:21, 22. With all the splendor of
the world’s greatest nation at his future command, what did he decide?
Hebrews 11:24–27.
 How and why was God to train Moses, and what were the results? Acts
7:23–35.
Note: “In the wilds of Midian, Moses spent forty years as a keeper of sheep.
Apparently cut off forever from his life’s mission, he was receiving the
discipline essential for its fulfillment. Wisdom to govern an ignorant and
undisciplined multitude must be gained through self-mastery. In the care of the
sheep and the tender lambs he must obtain the experience that would make
him a faithful, long-suffering shepherd to Israel. That he might become a
representative of God, he must learn of Him.

“The influences that had surrounded him in Egypt, the affection of his foster
mother, his own position as the grandson of the king, the luxury and vice that
allured in ten thousand forms, the refinement, the subtlety, and the mysticism
of a false religion, had made an impression on his mind and character. In the
stern simplicity of the wilderness all this disappeared.

“Amidst the solemn majesty of the mountain solitudes Moses was alone with
God. Everywhere the Creator’s name was written. Moses seemed to stand in
His presence and to be overshadowed by His power. Here his self-sufficiency
was swept away. In the presence of the Infinite One he realized how weak,
how inefficient, how short-sighted, is man. …

“To Moses faith was no guesswork; it was a reality. He believed that God
ruled his life in particular; and in all its details he acknowledged Him. For
strength to withstand every temptation, he trusted in Him.

“The great work assigned him he desired to make in the highest degree
successful, and he placed his whole dependence upon divine power. He felt
his need of help, asked for it, by faith grasped it, and in the assurance of
sustaining strength went forward.
“Such was the experience that Moses gained by his forty years of training in
the desert. To impart such an experience, Infinite Wisdom counted not the
period too long or the price too great.” Education, 62–64.

3 MIRACLES AT THE EXODUS

 How was Moses able to establish before the people the authority
entrusted to him by God, and how did Satan counterfeit it? Exodus 7:8–
12; 8:16–18. What must we understand about the parallel to this
phenomenon in the last days?
Note: “I [Ellen White] was pointed back to the time of Moses and saw the
signs and wonders which God wrought through him before Pharaoh, most of
which were imitated by the magicians of Egypt; and that just before the final
deliverance of the saints, God would work powerfully for His people, and these
modern magicians would be permitted to imitate the work of God.

“That time will soon come, and we shall have to keep hold of the strong arm of
Jehovah; for all these great signs and mighty wonders of the devil are
designed to deceive God’s people and overthrow them. Our minds must be
stayed upon God, and we must not fear the fear of the wicked, that is, fear
what they fear, and reverence what they reverence, but be bold and valiant for
the truth. Could our eyes be opened, we should see forms of evil angels
around us, trying to invent some new way to annoy and destroy us. And we
should also see angels of God guarding us from their power; for God’s
watchful eye is ever over Israel for good, and He will protect and save His
people, if they put their trust in Him. When the enemy shall come in like a
flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.” Early Writings,
59, 60.

 What miracles further accompanied the exodus, and how did the Lord
endorse the leadership of Moses at this amazing time? Acts 7:36, 37;
Psalms 103:6, 7; 105:26–42.
Note: “The Lord brought up His people from their long servitude in a signal
manner, giving the Egyptians an opportunity to exhibit the feeble wisdom of
their mighty men, and array the power of their gods in opposition to the God of
heaven. The Lord showed them by His servant Moses that the Maker of the
heavens and the earth is the living and all-powerful God, above all gods. That
His strength was mightier than the strongest—that Omnipotence could bring
forth his people with a high hand and with an outstretched arm. The signs and
miracles performed in the presence of Pharaoh were not given for his benefit
alone, but for the advantage of God’s people.” Spiritual Gifts, vol. 3, 204, 205.

4 LESSONS FOR TODAY

 Why should we deeply appreciate some of the important illustrations
cherished by the faithful ones participating in the exodus? I Corinthians
10:1–4; Hebrews 11:28.
Note: “Here [the Passover sprinkling of blood] was a work required of the
children of Israel, which they must perform on their part, to prove them and to
show their faith by their works in the great deliverance God had been bringing
about for them. In order to escape the great judgment of God which he was to
bring upon the Egyptians, the token of blood must be seen upon their houses.
And they were required to separate themselves and their children from the
Egyptians, and gather them into their own houses, for if any of the Israelites
were found in the houses of the Egyptians, they would fall by the hand of the
destroying angel. …

“The Passover pointed backward to the deliverance of the children of Israel,

and was also typical, pointing forward to Christ, the Lamb of God, slain for the
redemption of fallen man.” Spiritual Gifts, vol. 3, 223–225.

 How can the miracle at the Red Sea apply to us? Hebrews 11:29;
Exodus 14:10–16.
Note: “There are times when the Christian life seems beset by dangers, and
duty seems hard to perform. The imagination pictures impending ruin before,
and bondage or death behind. Yet the voice of God speaks clearly above all
discouragements: ‘Go forward.’ We should obey this command, let the result
be what it may, even though our eyes cannot penetrate the darkness and
though we feel the cold waves about our feet.

“The Hebrews were weary and terrified; yet if they had held back when Moses
bade them advance, if they had refused to move nearer to the Red Sea, God
would never have opened the path for them. In marching down to the very
water, they showed that they had faith in the word of God as spoken by
Moses. They did all that it was in their power to do, and then the Mighty One
of Israel performed His part, and divided the waters to make a path for their
feet.

“The clouds that gather about our way will never disappear before a halting,
doubting spirit. … It is only through faith that we can reach heaven.”
Testimonies, vol. 4, 26, 27.

5 DELIVERANCE TO THE FAITHFUL OBEDIENT

 What should we learn from the real purpose for which God so
graciously led and protected His heritage through that wilderness
journey? Psalm 105:43–45.
Note: “There is great similarity between our history and that of the children of
Israel. God led His people from Egypt into the wilderness, where they could
keep His law and obey His voice. The Egyptians, who had no regard for the
Lord, were encamped close by them; yet what was to the Israelites a great
flood of light, illuminating the whole camp, and shedding brightness upon the
path before them, was to the hosts of Pharaoh a wall of clouds, making
blacker the darkness of night.

“So, at this time, there is a people whom God has made the depositaries of
His law. To those who obey them, the commandments of God are as a pillar
of fire, lighting and leading the way to eternal salvation. But unto those who
disregard them, they are as the clouds of night.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 27.

 How is our experience to reflect the experience of Moses? Micah 6:3, 4;

Revelation 15:2, 3.
PERSONAL REVIEW QUESTIONS
1 In guiding the young, what can I learn from the focus of Jochebed, Moses’
mother?

2 How might God be leading me to learn what Moses did during his period of
solitude in the desert?

3 How can I cultivate the discernment to distinguish between true and false
miracles?

4 In what areas of my life may God be saying right now, “Go forward by faith”?

5 Why do the 144,000 sing the song of Moses and the Lamb?

©2005 Reformation Herald Publishing Association, Roanoke, Virginia.

Reprinted by permission.
CategoriesBible Study GuidesTags144000, Faith, Israel, lamb, Moses, Passover, Red SeaPost
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Recipe – Almond Brown Rice Stuffing

Bible Study Guides – The Conquest of Jericho

The Sealing of the Final Generation

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Signs all around us indicate that this generation is going to be the final
generation, the one that will go through a time of trouble.
Who are you to stand before the universe without a mediator and go through
the time of Jacob’s trouble? Jacob was certainly forgiven, yet when he was
going back to his hometown, he faced the enemy, his brother Esau with 400
soldiers who had come to meet and to slay him (Genesis 32). The same kind
of trouble is to come upon you and me. We also will pray and plead with God
as did Jacob. We must experience the Three Angels’ Messages, which are
summed up in the sanctuary, consisting of the courtyard experience, the Holy
Place experience, and the Most Holy Place experience.

To meet God at the mercy seat, we must first pass the altar of burnt offering
with a thorough repentance experience—justification—then move on to the
training of the Holy Place experience—sanctification. We then step into the
Most Holy Place and stand before the Shekinah glory. God takes us through
these three steps to enable us to face Him.

To be sealed is to be settled into the truth so that we will no longer be moved.

This is not only being convicted intellectually, but also experientially, so that
no matter what happens, we will not waver. No matter what persecution
happens in our lives, we will not turn away from God or dishonor Him by
breaking any of His commandments. Our characters will be sealed and
perfected by being in Christ and overcoming each temptation day by day.
Temptations come one at a time, and it is through the grace of God and by
surrendering that we overcome them one at a time. Care must be taken on
this journey though sometimes we will make mistakes and fall, because Satan
knows our every weakness and causes us to trip. Our past mistakes become
our teachers. We need not worry about the word perfection. God has
promised to help with this work. He is able to finish a work that He started in
us by His grace. Salvation is restoration, repentance, and keeping the
commandments of God.

God knows everything and needs no records. Then, why does heaven have
record books? They are for human beings and angels to see and to evaluate
God’s judgment for fairness. There will be no doubts, no lingering questions in
our minds about God’s judgment.

“But the plan of redemption had a yet broader and deeper

purpose than the salvation of man. It was not for this alone that
Christ came to the earth; it was not merely that the inhabitants of
this little world might regard the law of God as it should be
regarded; but it was to vindicate the character of God before the
universe.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 68.
The whole process of the plan of salvation has to do with the vindication of
God’s character and the redemption of the fallen race. The controversy
between God and Satan was the law of God. It was under attack because
Satan claimed that that it was not necessary, that it binds and restricts. Satan
asserted that God’s law makes us servants and slaves, so he wanted to do
away with it; we do not need it. The rebellion, started in heaven by Satan was
the cause of the great controversy.

When the war descended to this earth, the issue that Satan attacked was the
sanctuary in heaven. Satan said, “The people broke God’s law as did I and my
soldiers, and yet You forgive them. You are going to save them throughout
eternity. They are going to hold our former position. It is unfair. You cannot
give salvation; You cannot have mercy upon those who broke Your law like
we did.” The issue is the mercy of God. God will work the work of salvation in
your heart so your life will demonstrate and display the power of His salvation.
This is what the sanctuary message is all about.

“In the opening of the great controversy, Satan had declared that
the law of God could not be obeyed, that justice was inconsistent
with mercy, and that, should the law be broken, it would be
impossible for the sinner to be pardoned. Every sin must meet its
punishment, urged Satan; … God could not be just, he urged,
and yet show mercy to the sinner.

“But even as a sinner, man was in a different position from that of

Satan. Lucifer in heaven had sinned in the light of God’s glory. To
him as to no other created being was given a revelation of God’s
love. Understanding the character of God, knowing His
goodness, Satan chose to follow his own selfish, independent
will. This choice was final. There was no more that God could do
to save him. But man was deceived; his mind was darkened by
Satan’s sophistry. The height and depth of the love of God he did
not know. For him there was hope in a knowledge of God’s love.
By beholding His character he might be drawn back to God.” The
Desire of Ages, 761, 762.
“The earth was dark through misapprehension of God. That the gloomy
shadows might be lightened, that the world might be brought back to God,
Satan’s deceptive power was to be broken. This could not be done by force.
The exercise of force is contrary to the principles of God’s government; He
desires only the service of love; and love cannot be commanded; it cannot be
won by force or authority. Only by love is love awakened. To know God is to
love Him.” Ibid., 22. Knowing God, is loving Him. You see, we must
understand this concept. What does it mean to love Him? To know God is to
love Him. How can we love Him unless we receive the revelation through the
sanctuary He revealed to us, showing the method of salvation?
“But in heaven, service is not rendered in the spirit of legality. When Satan
rebelled against the law of Jehovah, the thought that there was a law came to
the angels almost as an awakening to something unthought of.” Thoughts
from the Mount of Blessing, 109.

Obeying and living the commandments of God was just normal. The angels
were very happy abiding in the law of God. It was their life. Living in the order
of God and the commandments of God gave them peace, order and
assurance. The law of God needs to be obeyed by willing love, willingness not
as a duty or responsibility but out of love. “There is perfect unity between them
and their Creator. Obedience is to them no drudgery. Love for God makes
their service a joy. So in every soul wherein Christ, the hope of glory, dwells,
His words are re-echoed, ‘I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is
within My heart.’ Psalm 40:8.” Ibid.

In Daniel 8:14, it says, “And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three
hundred days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” It will be cleansed from
the accumulated records of sin that have been defiling the heavenly
sanctuary. God is going to cleanse it before He blots out the record of sins
from the books in heaven. He has to prove individually that each person
deserves to have the blotting out of sin, because he does not live under the
condemnation of the law any longer. God has to prove it before the universe.
Then sin is going to be blotted out.

God has used persecution to purge His church. All chaff and dross are going
to go out from among us and the pure gold will remain. God has always used
times of trouble to purge and cleanse and purify His church. When those
crises come, our focus will be so clear; we are not going to waste our time, but
instead will spend it on the preparation of our character and heart.

At that time, those of God’s people who have been following the truth and the
everlasting gospel will have confessed all of their sins to Jesus who has
blotted them out with His blood; but those who have not made that preparation
will go out. Then there will be seen both a separation and unity between
believers taking place within the true church.

The accumulated records of sin, which have been defiling the heavenly
sanctuary, will be cleansed and it will be restored to its original condition.
God’s character will be vindicated as the individual investigative judgment
progresses.

“Those who are living upon the earth when the intercession of Christ shall
cease in the sanctuary above are to stand in the sight of a holy God without a
mediator. Their robes must be spotless, their characters must be purified from
sin by the blood of sprinkling.” The Great Controversy, 425. The blood of
Jesus Christ cleanses our conscience by beholding the suffering of Jesus
Christ on the cross. We are touched by His love, and the sins will be melted
away from us.

“Through the grace of God and their own diligent effort they must be
conquerors in the battle with evil. While the investigative judgment is going
forward in heaven, while the sins of penitent believers are being removed from
the sanctuary, there is to be a special work of purification, of putting away of
sin, among God’s people upon earth.” Ibid. Notice that this does not take
place in heaven, but on this earth.

“When this work shall have been accomplished, the followers of Christ will be
ready for His appearing.” Ibid.

“Excitement is not sanctification. Entire conformity to the will of our Father

which is in heaven is alone sanctification, and the will of God is expressed in
His holy law. The keeping of all the commandments of God is sanctification.”
Selected Messages, Book 3, 204. How many commandments? “All the
commandments of God.” Are you shocked? Are you sanctified? This says
that, “The keeping of all the commandments of God is sanctification.” What is
the seal of the living God? Seventh-day Sabbath keeping. Why? Because it is
the outward sign that within we are keeping all of the Ten Commandments.

God gave Abraham circumcision as a sign for holy experience. It is a symbol.

Romans 4:11 says this is the outward symbol, which shows the faith
experience in Abraham, which he had already before. We keep the seventh-
day Sabbath because we are liberated from the power of sin. That is why we
have fellowship with God on that particular blessed day. The keeping of all the
commandments of God is sanctification. Proving ourselves obedient children
to God’s Word is sanctification. The Word of God is to be our guide, not the
ideas of man. We know that there are teachings among us different than this
inspired Word of God, different teachings of justification by faith and
righteousness by faith. It simply says, “The keeping of all the commandments
of God is sanctification.” How much clearer can you get? “Follow peace with
all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” Hebrews
12:14. Before we step into the Most Holy Place, we must have that sealing
experience.

The light increases gradually in its conviction and understanding. Sometimes,

some people have heard about the seventh-day Sabbath, yet their souls are
not convicted unless they really study and hear. “But the path of the just is as
the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” Proverbs
4:18. This means that knowledge and understanding of the truth will be
increased until the perfect day.
The truth we hold cannot be the standard or the criteria to judge everyone,
because God judges everyone according to the light they have received. The
light has been gradually advancing to the perfect day. So, God has to judge
people according to the light they have received. What do we call the light that
everyone has received in their own time and in their own generations? The
present truth. Do we have present truth at this time? Absolutely. For instance,
in regard to the righteousness by faith doctrine, Martin Luther had very little
light. John Wesley understood more. He understood about overcoming; he
understood about free will; he understood about having a perfect character.
That is why he was defrocked; he was excommunicated from the former
Presbyterian churches in England at that time. You see, gradually the truth
has been restored to the original.

“In every age there is a new development of truth, a message of God to the
people of that [particular] generation.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 127. Truth
must be logical and reasonable; otherwise it is not truth. The truth must meet
common sense. God works through our common sense. At the time of Noah
was there a present truth? Yes, build the ark and enter into it. Now is that our
present truth? Absolutely not! We have our own present truth for today, so
when we preach present truth, it is going to expose the motivations of every
individual in the current time, and they will be judged by it. At the time of John
the Baptist there was present truth. But that present truth is not our present
truth. The truth has developed and matured to perfection.

One day I was in the lounge of an airport waiting to board my flight. There
were 40 or 50 people in that area. I noticed particularly a gentleman who was
sitting right in front of me, and I thought he must be a genuinely sincere
Christian. It was lunchtime, and he had brought along his sack lunch. He
opened the brown bag and, taking out a sandwich, he began to pray. I have
never seen anyone pray over a lunch that long, that earnestly, or that
sincerely. He then began to eat, and I saw that he was eating a ham and
cheese sandwich. Do you know what? Legalism came out from my heart and I
thought, “He’s eating ham and cheese. God certainly cannot bless him. He’s
eating that sandwich, but he prayed so earnestly.” I changed my mind in a
split second. No, I should not think this way. Certainly, God will bless him. He
is practicing his Christian experience as far as he knows and understands.
Certainly God will bless his meal and his prayer, even though ham will hurt his
body’s cells. God will bless him, because he practices his own Christian
religion according to what he knows. We have to take this into consideration.
Certainly God does.

The present truth is very, very important, and we must understand the
conviction and understanding of the gradually developing truth. Why does God
need to restore all the truth to its original meaning to the perfect light? Why
does God not just judge everyone according to the light of the cross? Why
can’t God just save us as long as we believe the truth that Jesus Christ died
on the cross for us? Why is that not enough? It is because the salvation issue
has to do with the vindication of God, but it has a broader meaning and not
just our own salvation. When we understand that, we will be willing to live, not
only for our own salvation, but also for the glory of God. Our perspective of our
Christian experience will become clearer. All of the light is needed for it to be
restored to the original so that the whole universe can witness and see
whether God’s plan of salvation is just or not.

God chooses to save. Can His mercy meet justice? Is Satan right in his
accusation, or is God right? The issue is going to be settled before the
universe in our individual lives as those present truths are applied to our own
hearts and lives.

Finally, the stage is set and the true test is possible. When Satan says, “Oh,
have you seen that?” Then God cannot say, “They just simply did not know.”
All this time until the final generation appears, Jesus has been and is doing
this.

Satan accuses, “Look at this; all of them kept Sunday.” Then Jesus will say,
“Satan, be quiet and listen to Me. Have you seen and tried these people?
144,000 people; have you tried them? Were you able to overcome them?”
Then Satan’s lips will be sealed. He tried his best, but he could not make them
betray their trust.

And then God will say, “Do you recognize these people are keeping My
commandments perfectly in their spiritual experiences? Now, I tell you that if I
had given to all those past generations, whom I am resurrecting from the
tombs, all of the fully restored truth, they would have come up accepting light
like the 144,000. But this 144,000 are the weakest generation.”

We are a weak generation; we are not special people. We are degenerated

people, the weakest people and yet used by God to prove the point,
demonstrating before the universe, that by God’s power we can be saved
utterly from the power of sin. God will be vindicated and Satan’s lips will be
sealed forever. That is why God needs the final generation—you and me—
those who go through the Most Holy Place experience, the blotting out of sin
experience. God needs you; God needs me.

This does not mean just a lot of rules—that you should not read that novel or
listen to that kind of music or eat that. You need to be careful for your own
salvation; you will be judged by God. No, we have a better perspective. We
have higher ground, higher experience, higher criteria and higher
expectations. We are living and working for the glory of God, to honor Him in
our lives.
Jude 3 says, “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the
common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that
ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the
saints.”

While the truth is shining to the perfect light, everyone is judged according to
the present truth of their own generations as they understand it. Throughout
all these generations, there have been genuine good, righteous Christians.
Truth has been restored little by little through the reformers and advanced far
through the understanding of the sanctuary service after 1844. It is going to be
restored perfectly to the perfect light. Then God is going to give a final
demonstration through His people who understand and are convicted of the
perfect truth, that perfect chain of truth.

Are you following the Shepherd wherever He leads? We are to follow Jesus
through the courtyard, into the Holy Place and then into the Most Holy Place,
guided by our Shepherd all the way.

I hope and pray that you make a choice right now to live to be saved, and to
live to glorify God.

Pastor David Kang is Director of Light for Life Ministry operating out of
Hartwell, Georgia. His sermons are broadcast weekly on New York and
Virginia Korean television stations. Pastor Kang also frequently travels to Asia
where he trains pastors. Pastor Kang may be contacted by telephone at: 706-
377-1004.
CategoriesProphecyTags144000, generation, Law, sanctuary, sealing, signsPost navigation

Editor’s Letter – Five Minutes

Is it Alright to Skip Church?

Bible Study Guides – The Reward of the Faithful

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June 20, 2010 – June 26, 2010
Key Text
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my
Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I
go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will
come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be
also.” John 14:1–3.

Study Help: God’s Amazing Grace, 354, 355.

Introduction
“In the Bible the inheritance of the saved is called a country. There the
heavenly Shepherd leads His flock to fountains of living waters. The tree of life
yields its fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree are for the service of the
nations. There are ever-flowing streams, clear as crystal, and beside them
waving trees cast their shadows upon the paths prepared for the ransomed of
the Lord. There the widespreading plains swell into hills of beauty, and the
mountains of God rear their lofty summits. On those peaceful plains, beside
those living streams, God’s people, so long pilgrims and wanderers, shall find
a home.” The Adventist Home, 542.

1 What qualification is necessary in order to be accepted of God? Isaiah

57:15; Matthew 18:4; James 4:6, 10.
Note: “Jesus, our precious Saviour, could not see us exposed to the fatal
snares of Satan and forbear making an infinite sacrifice on our behalf. He
interposes Himself between Satan and the tempted soul and says, ‘Get thee
behind me, Satan’ [Matthew 16:23]. Let me come close to this tempted soul.’
He pities and loves every humble, trembling suppliant.” That I May Know Him,
77.

2 What will those who enter the kingdom of heaven need to be like?
Matthew 18:3–5.
Note: “It was not enough for the disciples of Jesus to be instructed as to the
nature of His kingdom. What they needed was a change of heart that would
bring them into harmony with its principles. Calling a little child to Him, Jesus
set him in the midst of them; then tenderly folding the little one in His arms He
said, ‘Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter
into the kingdom of heaven’ [Matthew 18:3]. The simplicity, the self-
forgetfulness, and the confiding love of a little child are the attributes that
Heaven values. These are the characteristics of real greatness.” The Desire of
Ages, 437.

3 What promise was made to the disciples? Acts 1:10, 11.

Note: “The disciples were still looking earnestly toward heaven when, ‘behold,
two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee,
why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from
you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into
heaven.’ Acts 1:10, 11.

“The promise of Christ’s second coming was ever to be kept fresh in the
minds of His disciples. The same Jesus whom they had seen ascending into
heaven, would come again, to take to Himself those who here below give
themselves to His service. The same voice that had said to them, ‘Lo, I am
with you alway, even unto the end’ [Matthew 28:20], would bid them welcome
to His presence in the heavenly kingdom.” The Acts of the Apostles, 33.

4 What is said about the future home of the faithful? I Corinthians 2:9;
Isaiah 64:4; Isaiah 65:17, 18.
Note: “As your senses delight in the attractive loveliness of the earth, think of
the world that is to come, that shall never know the blight of sin and death;
where the face of nature will no more wear the shadow of the curse. Let your
imagination picture the home of the saved, and remember that it will be more
glorious than your brightest imagination can portray. In the varied gifts of God
in nature we see but the faintest gleaming of his glory. It is written, ‘Eye hath
not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things
which God hath prepared for them that love him.’ 1 Corinthians 2:9.” Christian
Education, 55.

5 What is the reward of the faithful ones who have Christ’s righteousness?
II Timothy 4:8; Revelation 3:21; Revelation 22:14.
Note: “In our life here, earthly, sin-restricted though it is, the greatest joy and
the highest education are in service. And in the future state, untrammeled by
the limitations of sinful humanity, it is in service that our greatest joy and our
highest education will be found.

“ ‘If any man’s work abide … he shall receive a reward.’ I Corinthians 3:14.
Glorious will be the reward bestowed when the faithful workers gather about
the throne of God and of the Lamb. … They have been partakers with Christ
in His sufferings, they have been workers together with Him in the plan of
redemption, and they are partakers with Him in the joy of seeing souls saved
in the kingdom of God, there to praise God through all eternity.” The Faith I
Live By, 370.

6 What will living in the new earth be like? Isaiah 65:17–25; Isaiah 35:5–
10.
Note: “A fear of making the future inheritance seem too material has led many
to spiritualize away the very truths which lead us to look upon it as our home.
Christ assured His disciples that He went to prepare mansions for them in the
Father’s house. Those who accept the teachings of God’s word will not be
wholly ignorant concerning the heavenly abode. … Human language is
inadequate to describe the reward of the righteous. It will be known only to
those who behold it. No finite mind can comprehend the glory of the Paradise
of God.” The Adventist Home, 541, 542.

7 How did the apostle John describe the future home of the saved?
Revelation 21:1–3, 4, 10–27.
Note: “We are homeward bound. He who loved us so much as to die for us
hath builded for us a city. The New Jerusalem is our place of rest. There will
be no sadness in the City of God. No wail of sorrow, no dirge of crushed
hopes and buried affections, will evermore be heard. Soon the garments of
heaviness will be changed for the wedding garment. Soon we shall witness
the coronation of our King. Those whose lives have been hidden with Christ,
those who on this earth have fought the good fight of faith, will shine forth with
the Redeemer’s glory in the kingdom of God.

“Heaven is a good place. I long to be there and behold my lovely Jesus, who
gave His life for me, and be changed into His glorious image. Oh, for language
to express the glory of the bright world to come! I thirst for the living streams
that make glad the city of our God.

“The Lord has given me a view of other worlds. Wings were given me, and an
angel attended me from the city to a place that was bright and glorious. The
grass of the place was living green, and the birds there warbled a sweet song.
The inhabitants of the place were of all sizes; they were noble, majestic, and
lovely.” The Adventist Home, 542, 543.

8 How does Isaiah describe the home of the saved? Isaiah 11:6–9.
Note: “ ‘The redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto
Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness
and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. I, even I, am He that
comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall
die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; and forgettest the
Lord thy Maker; … and hast feared continually every day because of the fury
of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the
oppressor? The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he
should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail. But I am the Lord thy
God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The Lord of hosts is His
name. And I have put My words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the
shadow of Mine hand.’ Isaiah 51:11–16.” The Great Controversy, 633.

9 How is Christ’s return to this earth described? Matthew 24:27; Acts

1:10, 11; Revelation 1:7; 19:11–21.
Note: “The voice of God is heard from heaven, declaring the day and hour of
Jesus’ coming, and delivering the everlasting covenant to His people. Like
peals of loudest thunder His words roll through the earth. The Israel of God
stand listening, with their eyes fixed upward. Their countenances are lighted
up with His glory, and shine as did the face of Moses when he came down
from Sinai. The wicked cannot look upon them. And when the blessing is
pronounced on those who have honored God by keeping His Sabbath holy,
there is a mighty shout of victory.

“Soon there appears in the east a small black cloud, about half the size of a
man’s hand. It is the cloud which surrounds the Saviour and which seems in
the distance to be shrouded in darkness. The people of God know this to be
the sign of the Son of man. In solemn silence they gaze upon it as it draws
nearer the earth, becoming lighter and more glorious, until it is a great white
cloud, its base a glory like consuming fire, and above it the rainbow of the
covenant. Jesus rides forth as a mighty conqueror. … His countenance
outshines the dazzling brightness of the noonday sun. ‘And He hath on His
vesture and on His thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords.’
Revelation 19:16.” The Great Controversy, 640, 641.

10 Who will occupy the eternal city? Revelation 21:22–27.

Note: “Before the ransomed throng is the Holy City. Jesus opens wide the
pearly gates, and the nations that have kept the truth enter in. There they
behold the Paradise of God, the home of Adam in his innocency. Then that
voice, richer than any music that ever fell on mortal ear, is heard, saying:
‘Your conflict is ended.’ ‘Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world’ [Matthew 25:34].” The Great
Controversy, 646.

11 How many are in the special group? Revelation 7:4, 9; Revelation 14:3.
Note: “Soon we heard the voice of God like many waters, which gave us the
day and hour of Jesus’ coming. The living saints, 144,000 in number, knew
and understood the voice, while the wicked thought it was thunder and an
earthquake. When God spoke the time, He poured upon us the Holy Ghost,
and our faces began to light up and shine with the glory of God, as Moses’ did
when he came down from Mount Sinai.” Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, 65.

Additional Reading
“There are homes for the pilgrims of earth. There are robes for the righteous,
with crowns of glory and palms of victory. All that has perplexed us in the
providences of God will in the world to come be made plain. The things hard
to be understood will then find explanation. The mysteries of grace will unfold
before us. Where our finite minds discovered only confusion and broken
promises, we shall see the most perfect and beautiful harmony. We shall
know that infinite love ordered the experiences that seemed most trying. As
we realize the tender care of Him who makes all things work together for our
good, we shall rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. …
“We are homeward bound. He who loved us so much as to die for us hath
builded for us a city. The New Jerusalem is our place of rest. There will be no
sadness in the city of God.” The Adventist Home, 542, 543.

“The 144,000 were all sealed, and perfectly united. On their foreheads was
written, ‘God, New Jerusalem,’ and a glorious star containing Jesus’ new
name. At our happy, holy state the wicked were enraged, and would rush
violently up to lay hands on us to thrust us into prison, when we would stretch
forth the hand in the name of the Lord, and they would fall helpless to the
ground. Then it was that the synagogue of Satan knew that God had loved us
who could wash one another’s feet, and salute the brethren with a holy kiss,
and they worshiped at our feet.” Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, 65.

This quarter’s lessons were prepared by Ruth Grosboll prior to her passing in
January, 2010.
CategoriesBible Study GuidesTags144000, eternal life, HeavenPost navigation

Bible Study Guides – The Chosen and the Elect of God

Editor’s Letter – Fall Feasts

Q & A – Is the 144,000 mentioned in Scripture a

Literal or Symbolic Number?
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There is much speculation on this question. It is never wise to express one’s
own opinion on any Bible subject but search to see what the Bible and then
the Spirit of Prophecy have to say about the subject. Human reasoning often
distorts the spiritual impact that the inspired word has for the reader. It is
always best, without trying to reason as to what it might mean, to simply
accept what is says.

I have found no place in the inspired writings that tells us if “144,000” is a

symbolic or actual accounting number, but I believe if we are faithful, someday
we will find out. The important thing to know about the 144,000 is not the
meaning of the number, but what makes this group of people different from all
of the other redeemed.
They are first mentioned in Revelation 7:3, 4. It says that they are going to be
sealed in their foreheads. To be sealed means to be sealed shut. There is
nothing more that can be done about it; the work has been finished. You could
say, “the dye is cast”; whatever decisions have been made are there to stay.
Their minds have been made up and no one can change them.

Revelation 14 gives a little more description of the 144,000. It says that they
have the “Father’s name written in their foreheads.” They are “redeemed from
the earth” and then it goes on further to say that they are “not defiled with
women” and also they are “redeemed from among men.” “They follow the
Lamb whithersoever he goeth” and in their “mouth was found no guile, for they
are without fault before the throne of God.” Verses 1, 3, 4, 5.

We know from these texts that these people are humans and are redeemed
from this earth so they come from among us. It would be well for us to
examine our characters because, even if we are not one of the 144,000, we
want to be among the saved in the kingdom of heaven, and we know that all
who enter there must have on the robe of Christ’s righteousness which is
without any spot of sin or stain.

Christ has completed His work in these people and what a character they
have developed! Some say that is impossible but Paul said, “I can do all
things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13.

“All things” means also perfecting a character like the one which is ascribed to
the 144.000. We must remember it is only through Christ. We cannot do it by
ourselves, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his
good pleasure.” Philippians 2:13. God said to Abraham, “Is any thing too hard
for the Lord?” Genesis 18:14. Since the Lord said there are going to be
“144,000 living saints” (Testimonies, vol. 1, 59), He is able to produce them,
and if we wish to be among them we need to be working on our characters
now.

We are told in the Spirit of Prophecy,

“Heaven is to begin on this earth. When the Lord’s people are

filled with meekness and tenderness, they will realize that His
banner over them is love, and His fruit will be sweet to their taste.
They will make a heaven below in which to prepare for heaven
above. …

“If you would be a saint in heaven, you must first be a saint on

earth.” Sons and Daughters of God, 112.
If you have a Bible question you wish to have answered, please e-mail it to:
ruthgrosboll@stepstolife.org.
CategoriesQuestionTags144000, Revelation, savedPost navigation

Pen of Inspiration – Snares of Satan

Health – Rescue Your Eyes

The Seven Churches, Part XI: The Church of

Laodicea
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“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These
things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the
Beginning of the creation of God: “I know your works, that you
are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So
then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will
vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, have
become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know
that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—I
counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may
be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, [that] the
shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your
eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I
rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and rep ent. Behold, I
stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens
the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as
I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He
who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches.” ’ ” Revelation 3:14–22.
The Last Church

In our study of the seven churches, we have come to the last church—
Laodicea. God has some straight things to say to the Laodicean church! How
wonderful it is to be living in the last days, right before Jesus comes! With the
added privilege of living during this time, however, comes added
responsibility. God holds us responsible for more than He does any other
generation.

The message to Laodicea begins with, “I am Jesus, the Faithful and True
witness.” The words, “I am Jesus,” are not actually given, but before the
messages to the previous churches, Jesus is identified as the One speaking.
The very first verse of Revelation says, “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify
to you.”

Jesus wants us to know that what He is declaring in this message is true and
accurate. It is not exaggerated; God neither overlooks nor does He
exaggerate. It is a true account of the condition of God’s people in the last
days. Of course, God’s account of each of the seven churches is faithful and
true, but He felt the need to especially remind the last church of that fact.
Because His counsel to it is so stern, He wanted to make sure that His people
would not take it lightly.

Those Before

To bring everything into perspective, we will briefly review the first six
churches. The first church, the church of Ephesus, was representative of the
Christian churches during the apostolic era. They were faithful, diligent, and
theologically correct, but they had lost their first love. They had that love once;
the disciples had it at the time Jesus left, but they lost it before the church was
through, and God had to remove their candlestick.

Ephesus, in some ways, was like Laodicea, although Laodicea is worse.

Ephesus had left their first love. They were the church which thought they
could never be moved, because they were the apostolic church. But God
cautions not to think that we can never be removed, because He can remove
our candlestick.

Ephesus was followed by the church of Smyrna, the persecuted church.

Persecution brought back the love that Ephesus had lost. It weeded out those
who had lost their first love. Smyrna is one of only two churches about which
God had nothing bad to say; He had only good things to say about it. God is
not all negative, by any means. He is a faithful and true witness. He does not
call out only the evil deeds. The message that came from God for the church
of Smyrna was only encouragement and nothing else. God said to that
church, “You are doing well. You think that you are poor, because you have
been stripped of earthly goods, but actually, you are rich. I am pleased with
you. I am happy with what you are doing.” Would you like God to say that
about you?
The church of Smyrna was just the opposite of the church of Laodicea. God
had not one good thing to say about Laodicea. The church of Laodicea
thought they were rich, but God said that they were poor. The church of
Smyrna thought they were poor, but God said that they were rich.

144,000 Represented

Now, the church of Smyrna was like God’s people who come out of the church
of Laodicea. It typified the 144,000. Persecution had refined and purified the
church of Smyrna. The 144,000 will be refined and persecuted. “Then one of
the elders answered, . . . ‘Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where
did they come from?’ . . . ‘These are the ones who come out of the great
tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb.’ ” Revelation 7:13, 14. Again, not one bad thing was said about them.

Remember the ten virgins, representing those, in the last days, who are
waiting for Jesus to come? They thought they were all waiting for Jesus, but
what were they really doing? They were sleeping. (Matthew 25.) However,
some of them awakened, trimmed their lamps, and made ready for the Lamb.
Those who had extra oil, who had been diligent Bible students, the Lord used.

In Revelation 14:5, it is written, “In their mouth was found no deceit, for they
are without fault before the throne of God.” This is how the Bible describes the
144,000 who come out of the church of Laodicea. These people will be of like
character to those of the church of Smyrna that came out of the church of
Ephesus. Oh, how wonderful it would be to have God say this about each one
of us! If we are faithful, this can be said about us.

What is it that helps us to gain this experience? The trials and troubles that
come our way help us to learn to look to the Lord and trust in Him. As we
experience trials and troubles, just remember that God is getting us ready to
be among the most privileged people who have ever lived. Only two people
have ever gone out of this world alive, without dying first—Elijah and Enoch.
But there will be saintly people alive, when Jesus returns, who will live forever.
These people are approved of God, “for they are without fault before the
throne of God.” This is God’s purpose and His will for each one of us.

Blessings to Perdition

The church of Pergamos followed the church of Smyrna. This church came
about when Constantine, the emperor of Rome, declared himself to be a
Christian. Then the church became very, very popular, but with popularity, the
church became worldly.
What a shame it is that, when God gives us peace and ease and blessings,
we, so many times, use these very blessings to our perdition. You would think
that, when God gives us blessings, we would use them for our salvation. But
too many times we use the very blessings God gives to us to forget Him and
be lost. Have you ever known people, with lots of trials and troubles, who
looked to God, prayed, became Christians, and found happiness? God took
away their troubles, blessed them financially, blessed them with good health,
but then, sometimes, they became so engrossed with their money, their
pleasures, or their families, that they forgot all about God. It is not long until
such people end up unhappy, like they were before, but too proud to repent to
God.

Such people think they have too much going for them to spend time with and
for the Lord. They do not need to follow Him; that is for the poor or the ugly or
the weak. They can make it in the world, you see. What a shame that the very
blessings God gives to us are sometimes used for our demise! That is what
the children of Israel did.

God, speaking to Jeremiah, said, “I remember you, The kindness of your

youth, The love of your betrothal, When you went after Me in the wilderness,
In a land not sown. Israel [was] holiness to the Lord.” Jeremiah 2:2, 3. This
was in the days when Israel was poor, living in tents.

Verse 6 continues, “Neither did they say, ‘Where [is] the Lord, Who brought us
up out of the land of Egypt, Who led us through the wilderness, Through a
land of deserts and pits, Through a land of drought and the shadow of death,
Through a land that no one crossed And where no one dwelt?’ ” When they
were in Egypt, God said that they were holy, but when God brought them into
a land flowing with milk and honey, a land of plenty and prosperity, what
happened? They completely forgot Him.

“I brought you into a bountiful country, To eat its fruit and its goodness. But
when you entered, you defiled My land And made My heritage an
abomination. The priests did not say, ‘Where [is] the Lord?’ And those who
handle the law did not know Me; The rulers also transgressed against Me.”
Verses 7, 8.

Well, that is what happened to Pergamos. They became rich and prosperous,
and God did not have much good to say about them.

The next church, Thyatira, was in existence during the Dark Ages. God did not
hold those people as responsible as He did the others, we are told, in
Revelation 2, because they did not have Bibles. The Bibles had been taken
away. God just told them to hold fast to what they had. In that church, the
papal leaders were likened to Jezebel.
Reformation

Then we come to the church of Sardis, the period of the reformation. Except
for Laodicea, God has the least good to say about this church! We look back
to this period as a great and wonderful time, but the Bible says, regarding that
church, “You have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.” Revelation
3:1. The church of Sardis had some wonderful leaders, but the church did not
follow them, so the reformation did not accomplish what God purposed. It fell
short, and the beast’s wound was healed.

Second Reformation

This was followed by the second reformation—the age of Wesley, Whitefield,

the Quakers, and others. During this time of the church of Philadelphia, many
people fled to America to escape persecution.

There was some persecution in America’s beginning. Roger Williams had to

flee to Rhode Island because of persecution. Nevertheless, for the most part,
they did not have as much persecution as did the sixteenth-century reformers.
Not one good church escaped persecution, but no church suffered as much
persecution as the church of Sardis. Yet, even in comparative prosperity,
which the church experienced, at times, the church of Sardis developed a
character that God approved. I do not know of any other time in the Bible
where that happened.

God had not one bad thing to say about them. This was a time of revival and
reformation. When Wesley preached, 10,000, 15,000, 20,000 people came to
hear him, especially in America, but in Eng-land too. The people would leave
their jobs to listen to him speak. The same thing happened with Whitefield.

This was a time when the missionary societies were started, sending
missionaries all over the world. The Bible societies were organized and began
translating the Bible in all languages. People gave offerings—this is when
serious mission offerings began. This is a time when prayer meetings and
evangelistic meetings began. This was a time of Baptist lay preachers and
Methodist circuit riders. So this takes us to the last church, the church of
Laodicea. This is the church upon which God pours out His special blessings,
because He is getting a church ready, a special people ready for the Second
Coming.

A Church Ready

What are God’s requirements of His church when Jesus comes again?
Ephesians 5:25, 26 says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also
loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse
her with the washing of water by the word.” He has been going through a
great washing process for 2,000 years with seven different churches. We are
in the last church, the church of Laodicea, culminating with the 144,000.

We could almost say that the 144,000 are an eighth church, which comes out
of Laodicea, but they certainly are not like Laodicea! God does not list the
144,000 as a church, however. The list of churches ends with Laodicea.
Nevertheless, the Bible says there will be a remnant—a remnant out of
Laodicea, a remnant out of the churches.

What is the church going to be like when God is done washing it, purifying it?
We are told, in verse 27, “That He might present her to Himself a glorious
church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be
holy and without blemish.” That is what God says about the 144,000.

The Greatest Work

This last church has the greatest work of history to do. This work is outlined in
Revelation 14:6, 7. In verse 6, we read, “I saw another angel flying in the
midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell
on the earth . . . .” To whom are they to preach? “Every nation, tribe, tongue,
and people”—Chinese, Africans, South Americans, Caucasians, Russians—to
everyone.

The devil would like to close every avenue he can to keep the gospel from
going throughout the world, but the Lord has allowed for many inventions to
take place in these last days—things like radio, television, and mass
publishing—that go right into areas that are “closed” to Christianity. Most
people in countries such as Russia and China have shortwave radios, and
many hear the gospel on them. God has people in those countries, people
who are willing to risk their lives for the gospel.

Before the communist revolution in China, God helped the Seventh-day

Adventist Church to become firmly established in China. All through that vast
country, from Mongolia to Shanghai to Hong Kong, churches were firmly
established for almost 50 years before the revolution. The church has
continued, but not because of Americans or missionaries, because
missionaries have not been allowed to enter China since 1947. Some of the
missionaries who were there at that time went to jail for the next 30 years.
Some of them died there.

The Chinese work continues, just as it does in Viet Nam and Cambodia, and
all other countries, because God has faithful, national people there who are
true to Him and who, at the risk of their lives, continue to hold worship
services where they can preach the gospel.
The devil does everything he can to close up the work, but he cannot close
out the gospel. And so, the Bible says, the gospel is to go “to every nation,
tribe, tongue, and people—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.’ ” Verses 6, 7.

God’s Requirements

God gives special blessings to the last church in order to fulfill this
commission, in order to become holy, in order to give the gospel to the world.
But with increased blessings come increased responsibilities. When God
gives greater privileges, He requires more.

Jesus said, “That servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare
[himself] or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many [stripes]. But he
who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten
with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be
required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the
more.” Luke 12:47, 48.

This is why the church of Pergamos was told, “I do not require so much of
you.” He required something; they had to overcome. Those who overcome will
be saved. He also counseled to hold on to what you know, and to do what you
know. This is why we should not question people, because we do not know
how much light they have received. There may be people who are not nearly
living up to the light we have, who are better Christians than we are! We
cannot judge people. Some people say that their mother, their father, their
grandmother, and their grandfather were good Christians, but these people
did not do everything God requires them to do. Why not? Because God may
not have required it of these forefathers.

We, however, are living closer to Jesus’ Second Coming than have our
parents. We are living much closer than have our grandparents. Jesus did not
come in their day. They were not among the 144,000. And so, today, God is
requiring more, and He is giving more. We cannot go by what our fathers or
our forefathers did.

More Required

God requires more of the last church. We look at the counsel to the last
church, and we see that not one good thing is said. Someone may say, “My,
this is a terrible church!” Well, if you compare it to some of the other churches,
it is probably better than some, from a human perspective. But the others did
not have as great privileges or as much knowledge.
Look at what the Lord has given to the last church. Revelation 3:14 says, “To
the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen,
the Faithful and True Witness.’ ”

Two things are implied in “the Faithful and True Witness”:

(1) What God is going to say about Laodicea is correct and faithful and true. It
is not exaggerated.
(2) Beyond this, God is renewing His witness, His testimony to the church in
the last days.

In Revelation 12:17, we read: “The dragon was enraged with the woman, and
he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the
commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” The Greek
word, loipoy, which is here translated as rest, also means remnant. This
means “the last part,” which actually is implied in the Greek.

Testimony of Jesus

“The testimony of Jesus Christ,” the witness of Jesus, is rather a technical

term in prophecy. We find, in Revelation 19:10, as well as in Revelation 22
and other places in the Bible, that the testimony of Jesus Christ is the Spirit or
the gift of prophecy.

God promised different gifts to the church. In 1 Corinthians 12, various gifts of
the Spirit are given. There is the spirit of discernment and the spirit of working
miracles. The spirit of helpfulness is an interesting gift, which God talks about
in Romans 12. There is the spirit of administration, which may not have been
a miraculous gift, but it is a gift of ability which God gives people. There is a
spirit of being able to speak in other languages. Then there is a spirit of
prophecy. This spiritual gift is going to be renewed in the last days, we are told
in Revelation. God says to this last church, I am “the Faithful and True
Witness.” He renews His witness in the last days. God continues, “the
Beginning of the creation of God.” Revelation 3:14.

In the Beginning

The beginning of the creation of God, as given in Genesis 1 and 2, is when

the Sabbath was made. “So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And
on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done; and He rested
on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed
the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work
which God created and made.” Genesis 1:31–2:3. In fact, the Sabbath, as we
are told in the fourth commandment, is the memorial of the creation:
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do
all your work, but the seventh day [is] the Sabbath of the Lord your God: . . .
For [in] six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all
that [is] in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the
Sabbath day and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8–11.

It is interesting that it does not just say to remember the Sabbath day, but to
remember also that “the seventh day [is] the Sabbath,” and “to keep it holy.”
God does not say, “Make a sabbath,” or “Keep one day a week.” He is as
specific as He can be. It is the Sabbath, and “you shall do no work,” because
in six days He created everything, and on the seventh day He rested from His
works.

The Sabbath is the commemoration of the creation. It is what God has given
to us to help us remember that He is the creator. Evolution is wrong, and all
false religions are wrong. We cannot make up our own philosophy or religion
or any- thing else. God is the creator. Everything here is created, and we are
creatures.

If only people had kept the Sabbath and kept the meaning of the Sabbath,
there would not be all the false religions we have today. The Sabbath teaches
people about creation.

When more than in the last church do we need the teaching of the Sabbath?
We have the teaching of the creation and the Creator and the memorial of
creation, restored on earth. That is done by the seventh church, the church of
Laodicea.

To be concluded . . .
Pastor Marshall Grosboll, with his wife Lillian, founded Steps to Life. In July
1991, Pastor Marshall and his family met with tragedy as they were returning
home from a camp meeting in Washington state, when the airplane he was
piloting went down, killing all on board.
CategoriesChurchTags144000, Laodicea, last church, Sabbath, seven churchesPost navigation

Editorial – Types and Shadows, Part III

Rendering to God His Own, Part I

The Sixth Seal

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You should keep in mind, as you read this article, that the time placement of
the sixth seal is between the first set of martyrs and the second set of martyrs.
Perhaps this thought has never occurred to you, as you have studied the
seven seals prophecy, so this revelation may be a blessing to you as you
study this subject. I have always understood the six seals to represent
prophetic events taking place so the remnant church will recognize the last
days.

In the fifth seal are those who were martyred in a time of tribulation—namely,
during the 1,260 years under the papal rule. Symbolically, they are saying,
“Lord, why are You not judging us?” which means, “Why do You not give us
vindication? We are killed by the papacy. Lord, have mercy on us.” Then God
gives to each a white robe representing His righteousness and tells them to
wait until their brethren, like them, are killed for His sake and fill the number.
(Revelation 6:9–11.)

Do you recall that another set of martyrs is going to come very soon after the
Sunday law? So God placed the sixth seal in the interval separating the serial
events that will take place from the fifth seal until the period when the second
set of martyrs will occur. Keep this in your mind as we study the sixth seal.

Another “Prophecy” Source

In Catholic prophecy, the Bishop of Ireland, Malachy, predicted the reign of

111 popes. Actually, he made 112 predictions. The last pope he named,
“Peter of Rome,” must be Satan. At that time, the city of Rome and the whole
world will be on fire and destroyed. The last pope is not really human.

Malachy, 850 years ago, predicted that there would be 111 human popes
following Pope Celestine II who died in 1146 a.d. Of these, John Paul II,
interestingly enough, was pope number 110 after Celestine II, and Malachy’s
prophecy claims that the next pope will be the final human pope. That is
Benedict XVI, the current pope.

We do not believe in Catholic prophecy, but we can at least use it as a

reference. Even according to Catholic prophecy, you and I do not have much
time left.

Fornication with the Whore

When the funeral service for John Paul II was being held, I was in Germany,
and I watched the proceedings live on television. It was just incredible! The
CNN announcer and commentators were giving an explanation of every
juncture, every order of the mass service. For 24 hours, the Vatican
broadcasted to the entire world the greatest televised evangelistic crusade of
all times.

Revelation 17:18 says, “And the woman which thou sawest is that great city,
which reigneth over the kings of the earth.” Almost all of the world’s kings,
presidents, prime ministers, political figures, and financial figures were present
at the pope’s funeral. A congregation of approximately 200,000 people was
scattered about in the Vatican square. About four million pilgrims came from
different nations to the city of Rome to pay homage.

Representatives of various major religions, not just Christianity, attended this

funeral service. Even a Buddhist monk and Islamic and Hindu representatives
were there. This was not only ecumenism among Christian religions, but an
ecumenical movement from whole new regions of the world. Surely the end is
near.

Revelation is being fulfilled before our very eyes! The whore is having
fornication with all the kings and the people of the world, which we saw
depicted at the pope’s funeral service. It is nearly time for the seven last
plagues to be poured out upon this world. This is how we understand chapters
17 and 18 of Revelation.

Revelation 17:2, 4, 18 says, “With whom the kings of the earth have
committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk
with the wine of her fornication.” “And the woman was arrayed in purple and
scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a
golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication.”
“And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the
kings of the earth.”

Kings and presidents of the world came to give their tribute as the newly
elected pope, the former Cardinal Ratzinger of Germany, conducted mass.
That great city, Rome, the Bible says, is the whore that wears purple and
scarlet. Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI, the newly elected pope, was arrayed
with scarlet and purple and decked with gold and pearls and precious stones.
How interesting!

That cup is full of abominations. All the kings and people of the world are
drunken. When people are drunk, they do not know what to do or where to go;
they are confused. This is the time when we must raise the third angel’s
message in a clear and certain sound.
The Sixth Seal

“And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great
earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon
became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig
tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the
heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and
island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the
great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and
every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the
rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and
hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of
the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to
stand?” Revelation 6:12–17. The sixth seal is discussing the succession of
natural disasters.

Historic Perspective

We are in the end of the sixth seal period. You will understand why as we
progress. Let us look at Revelation 6:12, 14 historically.

A great earthquake occurred on November 1, 1755. Known as “The Great

Lisbon Earthquake,” it impacted other countries besides Portugal and was
even felt along the Atlantic Coast of the United States. About 160,000 people
were killed at that time. We consider this earthquake as the beginning point of
the sixth seal. Why? It is because it was the largest of all the earthquakes that
had ever occurred up to that time.

The second natural occurrence was the dark day of May 19, 1780. This day
dawned clear and bright, in the northeastern part of the United States, but by
10:30 in the morning, the sky began to darken. Soon it was as dark as the
night; all the cattle returned to their barns and all the birds flew back to their
nests. That night the moon, which was at its full, had the appearance of blood.

Then, on August 12, 1833, the stars of heaven fell to the earth. This scene
has been described as all the stars coming to the center of the sky and then
falling to earth. It was estimated that about 200,000 stars fell in one hour.
What an awesome sight that must have been!

The Bible prophecy has been fulfilled in succession exactly as it was

described.Permanence Moved

Verse 14 refers to the heaven departing as a scroll and the islands and
mountains being moved. We are told that just before Jesus Christ comes,
there will be a great earthquake, which will shake down all the mountains and
sink the islands of the oceans. (Revelation 16:18, 20.)

Ellen White wrote: “Now in regard to the coming of the Son of man. This will
not take place until after the mighty earthquake shakes the earth. After the
people have heard the voice of God they are in despair and trouble such as
never was since there was a nation, and in this the people of God will suffer
affliction. The clouds of heaven will clash, and there will be darkness. Then
that voice comes from heaven and the clouds begin to roll back like a scroll,
and there is the bright, clear sign of the Son of man.” Manuscript Releases,
vol. 9, 251.
We have not witnessed the moving of mountains, but islands certainly have
moved. As a result of the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami on December
26, 2004, it has been reported that some of the smaller islands may have
moved as much as 60 feet. New maps are now being drawn of this part of the
world because islands moved.

This disaster gives us a small hint of what will physically happen on the earth
just before Christ’s return and the great fear that will be in men’s hearts. “The
kings of the earth and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains,
and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid
themselves, saying, Oh, we cannot stand before the wrath of Jesus Christ, the
Lamb of God. Please, mountains and rocks, fall upon us.” They would rather
be killed in natural disasters than face the Saviour.

The Fifth Seal

Revelation 6:9–11 talks about the fifth seal. “And when he had opened the fifth
seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of
God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice,
saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our
blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every
one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little
season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed
as they [were], should be fulfilled.” In other words, that the number will be
filled.

The number is not yet filled, so another set of martyrs is coming soon. It is
time to prepare to become martyrs.

144,000 or Martyr

Most Seventh-day Adventists are interested in the make-up of the 144,000—

those people who are going to be translated without tasting death. Oh, I hope
so to be part of that number! But we do not know God’s plan or His providence
for our lives. Perhaps you and I will be martyred, but either translation or death
will be for the glory of our God.

Revelation 14:13 says, “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me,
Write, Blessed [are] the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith
the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow
them.” Those people going through the Sunday law crisis, who die during the
time of the loud cry of the third angel, will be blessed. This, in a way, is an
exact description of the blessings God gave to the martyrs at the time of the
fifth seal. I believe that, through the sixth seal, God is making known to us the
succession of serial events taking place, so the remnant church will know the
time in which we are living and what is about to take place.

“The two armies will stand distinct and separate, and this distinction will be so
marked that many who shall be convinced of truth will come on the side of
God’s commandment-keeping people. When this grand work is to take place
in the battle, prior to the last closing conflict, many will be imprisoned, many
will flee for their lives from cities and towns, and many will be martyrs for
Christ’s sake in standing in defense of the truth.” Maranatha, 199. Mrs. White
clearly states that there will be many martyrs at the end.
“I was pointed to the remnant on the earth. The angel said to them, ‘Will ye
shun the seven last plagues? . . . If so, ye must die that ye may live. Get
ready, get ready, get ready. Ye must have a greater preparation than ye now
have [not only to become part of the 144,000 who will be translated without
tasting death, but also to become martyred for the defense of the truth]. . . .
Sacrifice all to God. Lay all upon His altar—self, property, and all, a living
sacrifice. It will take all to enter glory.’ ” Ibid., 98.

This is the time to prepare our characters. Mrs. White wrote, “Those who are
living upon the earth when the intercession of Christ shall cease in the
sanctuary above are to stand in the sight of a holy God without a mediator.
Their robes must be spotless, their characters must be purified from sin by the
blood of sprinkling. Through the grace of God and their own diligent effort they
must be conquerors in the battle with evil.” The Great Controversy, 425. Can
you stand before God without the Mediator?
“He who seeks to get to heaven by his own righteousness is forever doing, but
never making progress. But he who follows where Christ leads the way, goes
from strength to strength, from light to greater light. Walking in the path of faith
and obedience, he wins others to the new and living way, which is
consecrated by the blood of Christ. The light of truth illuminates his footsteps,
and the thought of Christ’s life inspires his efforts, enabling him to go on from
strength to strength, gaining continually in grace and the knowledge of Christ,
until at last he is complete in Him, not having his own righteousness, but the
righteousness of Christ.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 18, 341.
“How much we lose by doubting the love of God! Why do we not come boldly
to [the] throne of grace, and by living faith lay hold of the merits of the blood of
a crucified and risen Saviour? This must be an individual work. I cannot be
saved by another’s faith, nor can another be saved by my faith. Every soul
must be saved by his own righteousness. Can we manufacture this
righteousness? No. But Jesus has furnished it for us.” The Signs of the Times,
September 2, 1889.
When we are dwelling in Jesus Christ, and He is dwelling within us perfectly, it
is then that He seals us. Our characters are fixed, and we will not be moved
anymore. The righteousness of Jesus Christ is living within us and controlling
us; hence, His righteousness has become our righteousness. The indwelling
Spirit of Jesus Christ changes our characters completely and He seals us.
Then we will not be changed anymore. We must be sealed with the seal of the
living God and become part of the 144,000 or be martyrs.

Power of Prayer

When I was a baby, my mother, as she was nursing me at her bosom,

dedicated me to the Lord many times. I have no way of knowing this except
that my mother told me.

One day, when I was a teenager, attending a Seventh-day Adventist high

school but associating with worldly friends, I went with these friends and did
some things I should not have done. I returned home a little after midnight. I
knew I would have some fire on my backside for returning home so late. As I
was the only son, with four sisters, my Korean father did not want to spoil me.
He was very strict with me in discipline.

I was scared, so I sneaked into my room and just lay myself very quietly on
my bed, which actually was a mattress on the floor, and I pretended that I was
asleep. About half an hour later, someone opened the door and came into my
room. It was my mother. She knelt beside me and prayed. She was
whispering, but I could hear what she was saying. She was praying, “My God,
I want my son back. You remember that I gave my son to You when he was a
baby nursing at my bosom. I dedicated this baby to You, to become Your
servant, but now he is in the world. I want my son back.” It was the most
powerful prayer that I ever heard.

After my mother went out, it was my turn to kneel on the floor and pray to God:
“God, I am sorry.” I did not know God very well at the time, but because of my
mother’s love and prayer, that moment became the turning point of my life.

Jesus Christ, our Mediator, is praying powerful prayers in the heavenly

sanctuary every day. If only you could open your ears and listen. Jesus Christ
is praying over our souls for our preparation for the last days. The end is near.
I would like to ask you and challenge you, if you have not already surrendered
your life to Christ, to do so right now—not tomorrow, not next week, but now.
Give your heart to Him today.

If you have hidden idols, hidden sins, about which only you know, give them to
Christ, who is praying continuously, in such love, for your soul. Do it now,
because time is almost gone.

Pastor David Kang is Director of Light for Life Ministry operating out of
Georgia, U.S.A. His sermons are broadcast weekly on New York and Virginia
Korean television stations. Pastor Kang also frequently travels to Asia where
he trains pastors who often work “underground.” Pastor Kang may be
contacted by telephone at: 706-377-1004.
CategoriesProphecyTags144000, prayer, sealsPost navigation

Why Is Persecution Sleeping? Part 111

The Ten Commandments, Part VI: Judged by the Rock

How to Be Among the 144,000, Part I

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In this article, I want to look at how we can be among the 144,000. This is a
very important topic for us to study because inspiration has told us that we
should “strive with all the power that God has given us to be among the
hundred and forty-four thousand.” Review and Herald, March 9, 1905.
Learning how we can be among this special group requires more than simply
learning facts, we must ask for the Holy Spirit’s blessing on us if we are to
truly grasp these vital truths.
I first want to consider these questions: Is there anything that we can do to be
among the 144,000? What makes the 144,000 ready so that they can be
translated when Jesus comes? (Only two people in all of earth’s six-thousand-
year history have ever been translated. Our God in His wonderful mercy offers
us a gift that even Jesus did not have, because He loved us so much that He
died in our place. What a privilege to be living in this day and age.)

We will next search for answers to these questions: Are the characters of the
144,000 a gift from God or must their characters be developed? Does it come
at a certain time, called the Sealing? Could this type of character development
have happened before 1844, or is it reserved for a special group right at the
end?

I would like to propose the idea (and we will study what the Bible and the Spirit
of Prophecy have to say about it) that the 144,000 go through a unique
experience that no one else has gone through except Jesus. The character
that they develop, however, is the character that God has wanted every
Christian to develop throughout all of earth’s history. It is a character that all
should have developed and that many did develop. The character of the
144,000 is not supposed to be unique.
In Hebrews 7, Paul wrote about Christ our High Priest. He said: “Therefore,
He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him
since He ever lives to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25. It has
always been Christ’s ministry to save to the uttermost (there is nothing
beyond the uttermost) all who come to God through Him. God has ever
wanted His people to develop a pure character. John wrote: “And every
one who has this hope in him purifies himself just as He [Jesus] is pure.” 1
John 3:3.
It is impossible to be more pure than Jesus, and God wants everyone to have
a purity that is like the purity of Jesus. That is good news! We can develop
pure characters through Jesus Christ.
Why is it so important for us to understand this? Sister White gives us the
answer: “Those who would be saints in heaven must first be saints upon the
earth; for when we leave this earth, we shall take our character with us, and
this will be simply taking with us some of the elements of heaven imparted to
us through the righteousness of Christ.” The Review and Herald, August 19,
1890.
Is it only the 144,000 who take their characters with them to heaven? No, all
“who would be saints in heaven must first be saints on earth.” The process of
developing a pure character is not something that we are to wait to do for
some time in the future. It is something that we are to engage in today, by the
power that God has given us.

Power to Develop Christ-like Characters

What is this power? Can it help us to develop perfect characters like Christ’s?
Or did Jesus have some special powers above and beyond what is available
to us? The Desire of Ages, 664 says: “Jesus revealed no qualities and
exercised no powers that man may not have through faith in Him. His perfect
humanity is that which all His followers may possess.”
All the power that was available to Christ is available to each and every one of
us, in order that we might develop pure characters like His. Every one since
Adam, who has grown to maturity, could have developed that character. God
has given us the privilege and ability today to develop that character, just as
He did the people in all ages.
I believe there is a special work that is to be done after 1844. I believe with all
my heart in the sealing. But there is a danger in any theology that teaches that
there are some special powers for the development of character to be given in
the future. This type of theology is a temptation to many to wait until “that time”
for the character to be developed.

We have the only power today that will ever be given to us for character
development. And this short life is the only day we will ever have for this work.
Character cannot be given to someone—it must be developed. Character
comes because of the free gift of God’s power that is given to us day by day,
but it is something that must be developed. It is the work of a lifetime.

The 144,000 will go through a unique experience similar to what Christ

endured in the Garden of Gethsemane. But Jesus’ character was developed
before He came to the Garden of Gethesemane or He would never have been
able to go through that experience.

Anyone who is waiting for some time in the future for their character to be
developed, so that they can go through the time of trouble, will be sadly
disappointed. It will never happen. They will be unprepared and they will not
receive the latter rain, for it only falls on those who have purified their souls
“from every defilement.” (Evangelism, 702.)
Three Theological Views
There are three views of theology that affect how we prepare for Jesus’
Second Coming. All three of these views are found in Christendom as well as
in the Adventist Church.

The first major theological belief is that Jesus came in Adam’s unfallen nature.
Those who believe this generally tend to say that Jesus was born with a
different nature than we have, so therefore, we cannot overcome. And, since
we cannot overcome, we do not have to overcome. We can just go on
enjoying our life of sin, and as long as we believe in Jesus, we will be saved.
But the Bible refutes these falsehoods. It says that only those who overcome
as Jesus overcame will sit with Him on His throne. (See Revelation 3:21.)

There are many sincere people who believe each of these theologies. But
sincerity does not change the effects of one’s belief. For many years people
sincerely smoked cigarettes thinking that it was going to clear up their
bronchitis. (It was prescribed for them by the doctors back at the turn of the
century.) But their belief did not change the fact that many of them developed
lung cancer. They may not have been held accountable, but it affected their
life on earth. What we believe affects our salvation, and that is the reason why
God would have us study and learn what is truth.
There is another group of people who also believe that Jesus came down in a
human nature far different than we have. But they believe that although Jesus’
nature was different than ours, we must still live a life like He lived. They do
not wish to throw out the verses in the Bible or the statements in the Spirit of
Prophecy that say we must overcome, so they teach that we must live a life
like Jesus, but that we have to be given the same unfallen nature that Jesus
had in order to do this. This is called the Holy Flesh doctrine. It comes in many
forms and species, but the essence of this doctrine is that God must come
down and do the overcoming for us, because we cannot overcome anything in
our fallen nature. It goes like this: as long as we “get out of the driver’s seat”
and allow God to be the driver, and we do not get back in, God will drive us all
the way through the pearly gates. As long as we spend some time with God
every day, He will take care of the rest and He will overcome the sins in us,
just the same as He did for Jesus who never really had any temptations!

I have talked to many Adventist preachers and others who believe this and
they say, “Jesus was tempted in all points like we are, but He was never
tempted to sin.” Now that sounds strange to some of us, but they say: “You
see, we will never be tempted to sin once we have the true conversion
experience. Jesus’ only temptation was to try to get back into the driver’s seat
and drive the vehicle Himself instead of letting His Father drive it for Him. He
was never tempted to be proud or selfish.”

This theology, like the first, makes salvation a very easy path. In fact, some
would say that it is easy to be saved and difficult to be lost. This is nothing but
a lie of the devil. There is nothing in the Bible or the Spirit of Prophecy to
support such a false teaching. Every one can be saved, just like Jesus was
saved, but it is not an easy path. Inspiration tells us: “The gaining of eternal
life is no easy thing. By living faith we are to keep on reaching forward,
ascending the ladder round by round, seeing and taking the necessary steps;
and yet we must understand that not one holy thought, not one unselfish act,
can be originated in self . . . All warfare is useless unless Christ’s power is
combined with human effort.” The Review and Herald, November 11, 1890.
God’s inspired word is clear that it is a combination of Christ’s power and
human effort that is the secret of successful Christian living. Either without the
other is useless. Any theology that teaches human works without the power of
God is an incomplete theology. It cannot save. And any theology that teaches
the power of God to save souls without the cooperative effort of the individual,
is also an incomplete theology. Jesus came down to unite humanity with
divinity. With this combination of divine power and human effort, all victory is
possible. (See Counsels on Diets and Foods, 153.)
We have looked at two theologies; both are “easy” theologies. One teaches
that we do not have to overcome because we can continue to sin. The other
asserts that we do not have to overcome because Jesus will do it all for us.
There is a third theology and it is not as popular because it is not so easy.
This theology teaches that Jesus came down in our sinful, fallen nature. In
that nature, He had to crucify the lusts of the flesh day by day. With that
nature, He developed a character without a taint of sin. While Christ was not
“a man with the propensities of sin” He did feel “all the strength of unholy
passions and perverted appetites within His nature.” SDA Bible Commentary,
vol. 5, 112; Confrontation, 36. Yet, as He combined His human effort with the
power of the Father, He gained the victory so that not even by a thought did
He yield to the power of sin. He developed a perfect character within a fallen
nature. That is the gospel. And it is the example that can be followed by
everyone who is willing to be in subjection to God, as He was, and to follow
the bloodstained path that He trod. We had no choice but to be born with a
fallen nature, but by following His example we can overcome just as He
overcame.
We can develop the same perfect character that Jesus had, but we will never
look at ourselves as perfect because as we look at ourselves, we will see only
that sinful fallen nature that has to be crucified day by day. The closer we
come to the Lord, the worse we will appear in our own sight. And if anybody
asks us about our righteousness, we will say, “I do not have any. I have to
crucify my will every day. The only righteousness I have is Christ living within
me.”

continued…
CategoriesSalvationTags144000, Character, eternal life, savedPost navigation

Christ Our Helper

The Appearance of Defeat

How to Be Among the 144,000, Part II

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Editor’s Note: Last month we looked at what kind of character the 144,000
must have and how they must obtain it. This month we will continue on with
our study of what you and I must do to be among the 144,000 and what
sanctification really means.
The closer we come to Christ, the more we will realize that within us there is
no good thing. Self must be crucified every moment of every day.
Our will must be surrendered to God’s will. And we must allow God to live out
His life within us. There is no one so weak that he cannot be saved, because
all the power to win the victory comes from Christ. However, there also is no
one so strong that he can be saved in his own strength. From the weakest to
the strongest we must crucify self and turn to God for strength.
This crucifixion of self is a painful process. I wish I could give you some
pleasing doctrine that would just open up the gates of heaven for you without
any suffering or pain, but God in His wisdom did not make such a way. There
is no way except the bloodstained path of the cross. Since this was true for
Christ, should it be any different for us? Paul wrote of Christ’s experience, “For
it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in
bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect
through suffering.” Hebrews 2:10. “Though He was a Son, yet He learned
obedience by the things which He suffered.” Hebrews 5:8. Christ suffered with
temptations. He had to daily crucify self, and having been perfected, “He
became the author of eternal salvation to all those who obey Him.” Hebrews
5:9.

I propose that this is good news! Now it may not be good news to think that
you have to go through some suffering, but it is good news that you can be
perfected by it. And we have the promise that we will not have any
temptations but those which are common to man, and God who is faithful “will
not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the
temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” 1
Corinthians 10:13.

What type of temptations did Christ suffer? Peter wrote, “Therefore, since
Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same
mind.” 1 Peter 4:1. Christ suffered in the flesh, what the Bible calls our fallen
nature, and He overcame! That is wonderful to know, because all of us have
sins of the flesh, which seem to bind us.
Some people say, “I know I lose my temper, but you have to realize that is the
way I was born. You must take the good with the bad.” This is the fleshly
nature, and the Bible says that if you live according to the flesh, (according to
your inheritance) you will die! (See Romans 8:13).

So what do we do since we all have inherited sinful tendencies? We do not all

have the same problems. Some have inherited a temper, others
discouragement and others selfishness. However, in every life there is some
special sin that will require a life and death struggle to overcome. These are
what Paul called besetting sins (Romans 12:1), and the devil has been
cultivating them in our lives since we were born.

When a baby is born the Lord says, “I died for this baby. He is mine.” But the
adversary of souls says, “No, he is mine.” And the battle begins. The Lord
works to keep that baby, but the devil begins to work from the day that baby is
born to hold him in the bonds of sin. He seeks to develop within that little
child’s heart some special desire for sin. Even if the baby is born into a worldly
home, the devil does not know when he might someday have the opportunity
to hear the gospel and be inclined to accept it. So he works every day to
cultivate in that child a love for some besetting sin.

A Struggle to Overcome a Besetting Sin

I remember holding an evangelistic series in one of my first churches. About
twelve had accepted the Lord and were preparing for baptism. In the
baptismal class, I was reading some Bible verses on Christian adornment and
jewelry. Suddenly, one young lady, who had been married for only six months,
caught the drift of what the verses were saying. It was too much for her and
she said right out loud, “If I have to take off my jewelry to get to heaven, I
cannot go!” And she left!

I suppose that from the time she was born, Satan had tried to develop that
desire within her. What is jewelry? A worthless piece of stone cut into a
beautiful shape. I could cut a piece of glass and most people could not tell it
from a diamond, but, for some reason, people have placed a special value on
certain little stones. They are willing to pay thousands of dollars to wear them
around on the fingers.

So it was for this young women. If you could review her life, I think you would
find that the devil had arranged affairs throughout her childhood so that she
had heard people comment about various ladies’ jewelry. In her mind, jewelry
had come to signify success and being a woman, happily married, and all
those ideals.

A few days later, I went to her home to visit her. I was surprised, when I
stepped inside, to find two non-Adventist ministers standing in her living room.
She had called these other preachers to tell her that she could keep all her
jewelry on and still go to heaven. When I came in, it was like waving a red flag
before a bull. They turned on me—this crazy, fanatical, legalistic fellow who
thinks people must take off their jewelry to get to heaven.

I was not very interested in trying to discuss jewelry with these two preachers
who were not really interested in the truth anyway, so I changed the subject. I
said, “I can understand why you do not see any importance in jewelry. You do
not even see any importance in keeping the Sabbath.” That turned the
subject, and since they were little match for the Sabbath truth, they soon left.

Two days later, we had a baptism with all the other candidates and this lady
came with her husband and all her jewelry on, but with a towel. She came up
to me and said, “Could you go over those things again?” The church was full
and everyone was there, ready for the baptism to begin, but we went into
another room and we started going over the Bible texts. We were there for two
hours as she struggled with a spiritual battle. Finally, the tears came to her
eyes and she said, “I surrender.” She took off her jewelry and she and her
husband were baptized along with the ten others.

For this dear lady, giving up jewelry was a trial. She had to suffer and sacrifice
to give up this besetting sin. Your besetting sin may not be jewelry, we all
have different weaknesses. But for each of us, the way to heaven is the way
of the cross. We cannot just sit back and say, “Lord, make me clean.” That is
not the way it is.

When Jesus cleansed the Jewish temple, He went in, uninvited, and drove all
the wickedness out, but inspiration tells us that He does not cleanse the soul
temple that way. (See The Desire of Ages, 161.) He is very willing to cleanse
our soul temples, but He cannot do it without our invitation and cooperation.
The Right Use of the Will
“The expulsion of sin is the act of the soul itself. True, we have no power to
free ourselves from Satan’s control; but when we desire to be set free from
sin, and in our great need cry out for a power out of and above ourselves, the
powers of the soul are imbued with the divine energy of the Holy Spirit, and
they obey the dictates of the will in fulfilling the will of God. God gives the
power, but we must exercise the effort.” The Desire of Ages, 466.
We cannot do what God must do for us, but neither will God do what He has
asked us to do. Ellen White wrote about a man that she was asked to anoint.
She did not feel that she could do that until she had taken the matter before
the Lord. During the night she was given a vision, and the Lord showed her
that this man had a besetting sin which he had developed in adolescence. He
knew it was a sin and he had tried to overcome it by fasting and prayer, but he
was still bound by it. God showed Sister White that this man’s prayers had
been answered and God had given him the power to overcome, but he had to
put forth the effort. God would not do for him what He had given him the
power to do for himself.

“Everything depends on the right use of the will.” Steps to Christ, 47. We must

learn that we have to choose to do what is right and refuse to do what is
wrong. Then God can help us. It takes our effort and God’s strength.
The Secret of Samson’s Strength
The story of Samson, in the Bible, fitly illustrates this important spiritual lesson
in physical terms. Samson had incredible physical strength. He could conquer
every physical difficulty. One time he carried the iron gates of a city to the top
of a hill and left them there. But was it really Samson who lifted those gates?
Was the power really his own? No, he had no more natural strength before his
hair was cut than after his hair was cut. It was the angels who were lifting
those gates. But, the angels did not help without Samson putting forth all the
effort he had.

Think of this promise. “All His [God’s] biddings are enablings.” Christ’s Object
Lessons, 333. If God asks you to do something, He will provide the strength
for you to do it. Nothing is impossible for Him. But He will not do anything, until
you put for the effort.
“God saw it was impossible for man to overcome in his own strength, with his
own feeble moral power; yet man is required to exercise all the capabilities
and powers that God has given him in order to overcome, and then he needs
a higher power, and help has been laid upon One who is human effort, that
through Jesus man may stand free, a conqueror.” The Review and
Herald, June 10, 1890.
“The pleasing fable that all there is to do is to believe, has destroyed
thousands and tens of thousands, because many have called that faith which
is not faith, but simply a dogma. Man is an intelligent, accountable being; he is
not to be carried as a passive burden by the Lord, but is to work in harmony
with Christ. Man is to take up his appointed work in striving for glory, honor,
and immortality. God calls upon men for the use of every talent He has lent
them, the exercise of every power He has given; for man can never be saved
in disobedience and indolence.” The Review and Herald, April 1, 1890.
“There must be an earnest effort to conquer through the grace
freely given of God.” The Review and Herald, January 24, 1893.
“The help of God is held in reserve for all who demand it. Divine help is to be
combined with human effort, aspiration, and energy. But we cannot reach the
battlements of heaven without climbing for ourselves . . . Not even divine
power can lift one soul to heaven that is unwilling to put forth efforts in his own
behalf.” Signs of the Times, August 14, 1884.
Judas’ Doctrine
Any doctrine that is teaching people that they do not need to put forth effort to
overcome sin is preparing people to be eternally lost. This was the type of
doctrine Judas held. Look for a moment at how his story is told in The Desire
of Ages, and let us trace the steps that he took before his great fall.
“He [Judas] witnessed the Savior’s mighty works in healing the sick . . . He felt
in his own person the evidence of Christ’s power. He recognized the teaching
of Christ as superior to all that he had ever heard. He loved the Great
Teacher, and desired to be with him. He felt a desire to be changed in
character and life, and he hoped to experience this through connecting himself
with Jesus.” The Desire of Ages, 717.
This sounds pretty good. Judas loved Jesus and he wanted to be with Him.
He wanted to be changed and he believed that if he associated with Jesus he
would be changed. Doesn’t that sound like pretty good theology? Today a lot
of preachers are telling people that if they will just spend time reading the
Bible and studying every day they will be changed. But there is something
more required than just reading and praying. There must be a crucifixion of
self. When we are tempted to sin, we must refuse to sin with the power God
has given us.

Continuing on with Judas’ story, it says, “He gave him a place among the
twelve . . . He endowed him with power to heal the sick, cast out devils. But
Judas did not come to the point of surrendering himself fully to Christ.” Ibid.
That was the problem. Judas was no worse than any of the disciples in the
beginning, but he never surrendered himself to Christ. He never went through
the struggle, agony and the suffering of crucifying self. He never took up his
cross. It makes me sad when I hear the doctrine of Judas being taught today,
because I know that there are many people that will be as disappointed as
Judas was.

Sanctification—More than Overcoming

A crucifixion of self is only half the Christian experience. It is not enough to get
you to heaven. No one can ever get to heaven by simply overcoming sin.
Sanctification is our goal. But what really is sanctification? Many people have
been perplexed because they have equated sanctification with the process of
overcoming sin, and they also know that sanctification is the work of a lifetime.
Are we then supposed to spend our whole lives focusing on sin? No!

Sanctification is not the work of overcoming sin. That is only the beginning.
When you overcome sin, your Christian life has just begun. We are all to go
on to develop characters of righteousness. Adam, in the very beginning,
although he had never sinned, had to develop a character. Jesus never
sinned but His character had to be developed.

This development of character is something that is to go on as long as life

lasts and will continue on throughout eternity. (See The Great Controversy,
678). There is so much more to living a Christian life than not sinning. It is not
enough to quit stealing. We must go far beyond not stealing to giving
unselfishly. We will not be saved because we do not curse. We must go far
beyond not cursing until we are praising the Lord. We must go far beyond not
hating our brother, we have to learn to love our enemy. We have to go far
beyond not sinning. We have to go on in the path of righteousness.
We know that this is not an easy path. It requires us to struggle with agonizing
efforts. (See Faith and Works, 48, 49). But, although it is a blood-strewn path,
although it is the way through Gethsemane and Calvary, it is the only way to
go that is worth living. For there is only one reason to live and that is to live
forever.
There is nothing in this life. Soon we will see the final signs of Jesus’ Second
Coming. And then we will see that cloud coming closer and closer. We will see
the dead arising and we “shall be caught up together with them in the clouds,
to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1
Thessalonians 4:17.
When we get to heaven we will renew acquaintances. We will find people and
make friends that have lived hundreds and thousands of years ago. I will look
for my wife and children, my brother and sister, my parents. I will look for my
friends and my church members whom I have learned to love. I will look for
those with whom I have given Bible studies. Heaven will be very happy when I
find someone there that I hoped would be there. It will be very sad every time I
find someone not there.

I will go to the sanctuary because there is the greatest history class of the
ages. A history that is in living color. I can see the battles that have been
fought and I can go into the Councils with the Popes. I can see back before
the flood or go to the angels and find out what happened in the great
controversy in heaven. That will be so interesting! This life is passing away. It
is not an easy way to heaven, but it is the only way out of this earth. It is the
way of the cross. By God’s will and grace, I am willing to walk the
bloodstained path. We must crucify self, every moment of every day. We must
suffer in the flesh and yet we will have joy. That is one of the mysteries of the
gospel. It is the only way of joy and yet it is the way of suffering.

There is no special time when God will send some mighty working miracle and
all of a sudden you will be a different person. The only time there is to change
character is today! There will never be any more power available than what
has been given to us today.

If you cannot overcome today, you cannot overcome tomorrow. Right now in
your present situation you must overcome the flesh. But you can do it! Jesus
had all your weaknesses, and no more strength than He offers you and He
was victorious. And you can be too. The very weakest Christians can be
“more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” Romans 8:37.

Let us commit ourselves to the Lord. My prayer is that you will not be missing
on that great day.
CategoriesSalvationTags144000, overcoming, sanctification, sin, victoryPost navigation

We Are Living on Borrowed Time

The Rise of Sabbatarian Adventism

Strive to be Among Them, Part I

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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
cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the
throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne,
and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their
faces, and worshiped God, saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom,
and thanksgiving, and honor, and might, be unto our God forever and ever.
Amen. 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 unto 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. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve
him day and night in his temple; and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell
among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall
the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the
throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters:
and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.’ [Revelation 7:9–17.]

“Those whom the Lamb shall lead by the fountains of living waters, and from
whose eyes he shall wipe away all tears, will be those now receiving the
knowledge and understanding revealed in the Bible, the Word of God. . . .

“We are to copy no human being. There is no human being wise enough to be
our criterion. We are to look to the man Christ Jesus, who is complete in the
perfection of righteousness and holiness. He is the author and finisher of our
faith. He is the pattern Man. His experience is the measure of the experience
that we are to gain. His character is our model. Let us, then, take our minds off
the perplexities and the difficulties of this life, and fix them on him, that by
beholding we may be changed into his likeness. We may behold Christ to
good purpose. We may safely look to him; for he is all-wise. As we look to him
and think of him, he will be formed within, the hope of glory.

“Let us strive with all the power that God has given us to be
among the hundred and forty-four thousand.” Review and Herald,
March 9, 1905.
Scenes of the Second Advent
“For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and
shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of
the mountains. Deuteronomy 32:22.
“Every satanic agency is now at work with power from beneath. The day of
death is not set before us in the Word as the great constraining motive
impelling us to be wide awake and determined in improving our opportunities.
What motive does God present in His Word to all His workers? . . . ‘The great
day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly’ (Zephaniah 1:14). And
before the coming of this last great day, we are to proclaim the last message
of mercy to a fallen world, to prepare men and women for the Lord’s second
coming.

“Everything that can be devised by the enemy to occupy the mind, and to
divert attention from this message, will be devised. But we are to go forward in
the proclamation of the Word of the Lord. The end of all things is at hand. The
coming of the Lord in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory, is very
near. . . .

“In the day of His coming, the last great trumpet is heard, and there is a
terrible shaking of earth and heaven. The whole earth, from the loftiest
mountains to the deepest mines, will hear. Everything will be penetrated by
fire. The tainted atmosphere will be cleansed by fire. The fire having fulfilled its
mission, the dead that have been laid away in the grave will come forth—
some to the resurrection of life, to be caught up to meet their Lord in the air,
and some to behold the coming of Him whom they have despised and whom
they now recognize as the Judge of all the earth.

“All the righteous are untouched by the flames. They can walk through the fire,
as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walked in the midst of the furnace
heated seven times hotter than it was wont to be heated. The Hebrew
worthies could not be consumed, because the form of the fourth, the Son of
God, was with them. So in the day of the coming of the Lord, smoke and flame
will be powerless to harm the righteous. Those who are united with the Lord
will escape unscathed. Earthquakes, hurricanes, flame, and flood cannot
injure those who are prepared to meet their Saviour in peace. But those who
rejected our Saviour, and scourged and crucified Him, will be among those
who will be raised from the dead to behold His coming in the clouds of
heaven, attended by the heavenly host—ten thousand times ten thousand,
and thousands of thousands. . . .

“This scene has been presented before me as fully as I could

bear to behold it. Then the scene has changed, and scenes of
things existing at the present time have passed before me.—
Manuscript 159, September 4, 1903, ‘A Message to Leading
Physicians.’ ” The Upward Look, 261.
Salvation Requirements
The requirements of salvation are perfect commandment keeping, including
perfect Sabbath keeping.

“The Lord has shown me that the message of the third angel must go, and be
proclaimed to the scattered children of the Lord, but it must not be hung on
time. I saw that some were getting a false excitement, arising from preaching
time; but the third angel’s message is stronger than time can be. I saw that
this message can stand on its own foundation and needs not time to
strengthen it; and that it will go in mighty power, and do its work, and will be
cut short in righteousness.

“Then I was pointed to some who are in the great error of believing that it is
their duty to go to Old Jerusalem, and think they have a work to do there
before the Lord comes. Such a view is calculated to take the mind and interest
from the present work of the Lord, under the message of the third angel; for
those who think that they are yet to go to Jerusalem will have their minds
there, and their means will be withheld from the cause of present truth to get
themselves and others there. I saw that such a mission would accomplish no
real good, that it would take a long while to make a very few of the Jews
believe even in the first advent of Christ, much more to believe in His second
advent. I saw that Satan had greatly deceived some in this thing and that
souls all around them in this land could be helped by them and led to keep the
commandments of God, but they were leaving them to perish. I also saw that
Old Jerusalem never would be built up; and that Satan was doing his utmost
to lead the minds of the children of the Lord into these things now, in the
gathering time, to keep them from throwing their whole interest into the
present work of the Lord, and to cause them to neglect the necessary
preparation for the day of the Lord.” Early Writings, 75, 76.

A Divine Requirement
“If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, [from] doing thy pleasure on my
holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and
shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure,
nor speaking [thine own] words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord;
and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee
with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken
[it].” Isaiah 58:13, 14.

“We need to understand clearly the divine requirements that God makes of
His people. The law, which is the transcript of His character, no one need fail
to understand. The words written by the finger of God on tables of stone so
perfectly reveal His will concerning His people that none need make any
mistake. The laws of His kingdom were definitely made known, to be
afterward revealed to the people of all nations and tongues as the principles of
His government. We would do well to study those laws recorded in Exodus 20
and in the thirty-first chapter, verses 12–18.

“When the judgment shall sit, and the books shall be opened, and
every man shall be judged according to the things written in the
books, then the tables of stone, hidden by God until that day, will
be presented before the world as the standard of righteousness.
Then men and women will see that the prerequisite of their
salvation is obedience to the perfect law of God. None will find
excuse for sin. By the righteous principles of that law, men will
receive their sentence of life or of death.” Selected Messages,
Book 1, 225.
A World Agitated
“We are standing upon the threshold of great and solemn events. Prophecies
are fulfilling. Strange, eventful history is being recorded in the books of
heaven. Everything in our world is in agitation. There are wars and rumors of
wars. The nations are angry, and the time of the dead has come, that they
should be judged. Events are changing to bring about the day of God, which
hasteth greatly. Only a moment of time, as it were, yet remains. But while
already nation is rising against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, there is
not now a general engagement. As yet the four winds are held until the
servants of God shall be sealed in their foreheads. Then the powers of earth
will marshal their forces for the last great battle.

“Satan is busily laying his plans for the last mighty conflict, when all will take
sides. After the gospel has been proclaimed in the world for nearly two
thousand years, Satan still presents to men and women the same scene that
he presented to Christ. In a wonderful manner he causes the kingdoms of the
world in their glory to pass before them. These he promises to all who will fall
down and worship him. Thus he seeks to bring men under his dominion.

“Satan is working to the utmost to make himself as God and to destroy all who
oppose his power. And today the world is bowing before him. His power is
received as the power of God. The prophecy of the Revelation is being
fulfilled, that ‘all the world wondered after the beast.’ Revelation 13:3.”
Testimonies, vol. 6, 14.

Present Opportunities
“The world is a theater; the actors, its inhabitants, are preparing to act their
part in the last great drama. With the great masses of mankind there is no
unity, except as men confederate to accomplish their selfish purposes. God is
looking on. His purposes in regard to His rebellious subjects will be fulfilled.
The world has not been given into the hands of men, though God is permitting
the elements of confusion and disorder to bear sway for a season. A power
from beneath is working to bring about the last great scenes in the drama—
Satan coming as Christ, and working with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness in those who are binding themselves together in secret
societies. Those who are yielding to the passion for confederation are working
out the plans of the enemy. The cause will be followed by the effect.

“Transgression has almost reached its limit. Confusion fills the world, and a
great terror is soon to come upon human beings. The end is very near. We
who know the truth should be preparing for what is soon to break upon the
world as an overwhelming surprise.

“John writes: ‘And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from
whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place
for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the
books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life:
and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books,
according to their works.’ Revelation 20:11, 12.

“Are we as a people asleep? Oh, if the young men and young women in our
institutions who are now unready for the Lord’s appearing, unfitted to become
members of the Lord’s family, could only discern the signs of the times, what a
change would be seen in them! The Lord Jesus is calling for self-denying
workers to follow in His footsteps, to walk and work for Him, to lift the cross,
and to follow where He leads the way.

“Many are readily satisfied with offering the Lord trifling acts of service. Their
Christianity is feeble. Christ gave Himself for sinners. With what anxiety for the
salvation of souls we should be filled as we see human beings perishing in
sin! These souls have been bought at an infinite price. The death of the Son of
God on Calvary’s cross is the measure of their value.” Ibid., vol. 8, 27–29.

“My heart is filled with anguish when I think of the tame messages borne by
some of our ministers, when they have a message of life and death to bear.
The ministers are asleep; the lay members are asleep; and a world is
perishing in sin. May God help His people to arouse and walk and work as
men and women on the borders of the eternal world. Soon an awful surprise is
coming upon the inhabitants of the world. Suddenly, with power and great
glory, Christ will come. Then there will be no time to prepare to meet Him.
Now is the time for us to give the warning message.

“We are stewards, entrusted by our absent Lord with the care of
His household and His interests, which He came to this world to
serve. He has returned to heaven, leaving us in charge, and He
expects us to watch and wait for His appearing. Let us be faithful
to our trust, lest coming suddenly He find us sleeping.” Ibid., 37.
Perfect Character
The hundred and forty-four thousand are a special group that have overcome
as Jesus overcame by the power of the Holy Spirit. They have the perfect
character of Christ in holy living; their diet has been the diet of Eden; by
beholding Jesus, they have come to reflect His image perfectly.

“But by beholding Jesus, talking of His love and perfection of character, we

become changed into His image. By contemplating the lofty ideal He has
placed before us, we shall be uplifted into a pure and holy atmosphere, even
the presence of God. When we abide here, there goes forth from us a light
that irradiates all who are connected with us.” The Ministry of Healing, 492.

They have walked with Jesus in this world as Enoch walked, and they have
prepared their characters to go through Jacob’s trouble. They have been
sealed by the seal of the Living God.

“And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil
speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to
another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake
hath forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:30–32.

The seal is a settling into the truth intellectually and spiritually so that you
cannot be changed.

“Just as soon as the people of God are sealed in their foreheads—it is not any
seal or mark that can be seen, but a settling into the truth, both intellectually
and spiritually, so they cannot be moved—just as soon as God’s people are
sealed and prepared for the shaking, it will come. Indeed, it has begun
already; the judgments of God are now upon the land, to give us warning, that
we may know what is coming (Manuscript 173, 1902).” “Ellen G. White
Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 4, 1161.

Personal Responsibility
“The thirty-third chapter of Ezekiel shows that God’s government is a
government of personal responsibility. Each one must stand for himself. No
one can obey for his neighbor. No one is excused for neglecting his duty
because of a similar neglect on the part of his neighbor (Letter 162, 1900).

“The thirty-third chapter of Ezekiel is an outline of the work that God approves.
Those in positions of sacred trust, those honored of God by being appointed
to stand as watchmen on the walls of Zion, are in every respect to be all that is
embraced in the meaning of the word ‘watchmen.’ They are to be ever on
guard against the dangers threatening the spiritual life and health and
prosperity of God’s heritage.

“Upon us as ministers God has placed a burden of solemn responsibility. . . .

“God has declared to us, ‘Ye are the salt of the earth.’ The preserving
influence that we may exert in the world, is bestowed upon us by the Lord.
The bounties that we constantly receive from Him are to flow through hand
and heart to those around us who have not yet become connected with the
Fountainhead.

“When we see God dishonored, we ought not to remain quiet, but should do
and say all that we can to lead others to see that the God of heaven is not to
be thought of as a common man, but as the Infinite One, the One worthy of
man’s highest reverence. Let us present God’s Word in its purity, and lift up
the voice in warning against everything that would dishonor our heavenly
Father (Manuscript 165, 1902).

Charge to Ministers
“Upon the ministers of God rests a solemn, serious charge. They will be called
to a strict account for the manner in which they have discharged their
responsibility. If they do not tell the people of the binding claims of God’s law,
if they do not preach the Word with clearness, but confuse the minds of the
people by their own interpretations, they are shepherds who feed themselves,
but neglect to feed the flock. They make of none effect the law of Jehovah,
and souls perish because of their unfaithfulness. The blood of these souls will
be upon their heads. God will call them to account for their unfaithfulness. But
this will in no wise excuse those who listened to the sophistry of men,
discarding the Word of God. God’s law is a transcript of His character. And His
word is not Yea and Nay, but Yea and Amen (Letter 162, 1900).” “Ellen G.
White Comments,” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 4, 1164.

To be continued . . .
Elder Ron Spear served as field secretary for the Review and Herald, working
at the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. In the early 1980s, Ron
Spear felt impressed that God was calling him to begin publishing a magazine
that would feature the fundamental truths of the Seventh-day Adventist
Church. The first issue of Our Firm Foundation came out in the fall of 1985.
Many readers have said that the magazine reflects the spiritual values and
content of the “old” Review and Herald. Hope International publishes many
books, tracts, and study helps on doctrine, health, and current issues facing
the church. Elder Spear may be contacted through Hope International by
telephone at: 309-343-1844, or by e-mail at: office@hopeint.org.
CategoriesChristian LifeTags144000, perfectPost navigation

Fear Not, Part I

The Sabbath, Part II

Strive to be Among Them, Part II

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A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will
take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of
flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26.

“The youth especially stumble over this phrase, ‘a new heart.’ They do not
know what it means. They look for a special change to take place in their
feelings. This they term conversion. Over this error thousands have stumbled
to ruin, not understanding the expression, ‘Ye must be born again.’ [John 3:7.]

“Satan leads people to think that because they have felt a rapture of feeling,
they are converted. But their experience does not change. Their actions are
the same as before. Their lives show no good fruit. They pray often and long,
and are constantly referring to the feelings they had at such and such a time.
But they do not live the new life. They are deceived. Their experience goes no
deeper than feeling. They build upon the sand, and when adverse winds
come, their house is swept away. . . .

“When Jesus speaks of the new heart, He means the mind, the life, the whole
being. To have a change of heart is to withdraw the affections from the world,
and fasten them upon Christ. To have a new heart is to have a new mind, new
purposes, new motives. What is the sign of a new heart?—a changed life.
There is a daily, hourly dying to selfishness and pride (The Youth’s Instructor,
September 26, 1901).” “Ellen G. White Comments,” Seventh-day Adventist
Bible Commentary, vol. 4, 1164.

The 144,000
The hundred and forty-four thousand have overcome as Jesus overcame.
They have learned to handle life’s problems just like Jesus handled life’s
problems. They have walked as carefully as Jesus walked through this world.
“Walk continually in the light of God. Meditate day and night upon His
character. Then you will see His beauty and rejoice in His goodness. Your
heart will glow with a sense of His love. You will be uplifted as if borne by
everlasting arms. With the power and light that God imparts, you can
comprehend more and accomplish more than you ever before deemed
possible.” The Ministry of Healing, 514.

The hundred and forty-four thousand have submitted their wills so completely
that they have overcome every sin and every evil temper, and they now are
preparing their characters to go through Jacob’s trouble.

“ ‘To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I
also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne.’ [Revelation
3:21.] We can overcome. Yes; fully, entirely. Jesus died to make a way of
escape for us, that we might overcome every evil temper, every sin, every
temptation, and sit down at last with Him.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 144.

The Character of Christ

“ ‘When the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because
the harvest is come.’ [Mark 4:29.] Christ is waiting with longing desire for the
manifestation of Himself in His church. When the character of Christ shall be
perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His
own.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 69.

“A character formed according to the divine likeness is the only treasure that
we can take from this world to the next. . . . To everyone engaged in this work
Christ says, I am at your right hand to help you.

“As the will of man co-operates with the will of God, it becomes omnipotent.”
Ibid., 332, 333.

“By His perfect obedience He has made it possible for every human being to
obey God’s commandments. When we submit ourselves to Christ, the heart is
united with His heart, the will is merged in His will, the mind becomes one with
His mind, the thoughts are brought into captivity to Him; we live His life. This is
what it means to be clothed with the garment of His righteousness.” Ibid., 312.

Martyrs in the Last Days

“It is not always safe to ask for unconditional healing. . . . He knows whether
or not those for whom petitions are offered would be able to endure the trial
and test that would come upon them if they lived. He knows the end from the
beginning. Many will be laid away to sleep before the fiery ordeal of the time of
trouble shall come upon our world.—Counsels on Health, 375 (1897).” Last
Day Events, 255.
“ ‘They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that
whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.’ John 16:2.

“Every individual in our world will be arrayed under one of two banners.

“The two armies will stand distinct and separate, and this distinction will be so
marked that many who shall be convinced of truth will come on the side of
God’s commandment-keeping people. When this grand work is to take place
in the battle, prior to the last closing conflict, many will be imprisoned, many
will flee for their lives from cities and towns, and many will be martyrs for
Christ’s sake in standing in defense of the truth.

“By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of
God, our nation [the United States] will disconnect herself fully from
righteousness. . . .

“As the approach of the Roman armies was a sign to the disciples of the
impending destruction of Jerusalem, so may this apostasy be a sign to us that
the limit of God’s forbearance is reached, that the measure of our nation’s
iniquity is full, and that the angel of mercy is about to take her flight, never to
return. The people of God will then be plunged into those scenes of affliction
and distress which prophets have described as the time of Jacob’s trouble.
The cries of the faithful, persecuted ones ascend to heaven. And as the blood
of Abel cried from the ground, there are voices also crying to God from
martyrs’ graves, from the sepulchers of the sea, from mountain caverns, from
convent vaults: ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and
avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?’ [Revelation 6:10.]

“When the fifth seal was opened, John the Revelator in vision saw beneath
the altar the company that were slain for the Word of God and the testimony of
Jesus Christ. After this came the scenes described in the eighteenth of
Revelation, when those who are faithful and true are called out from Babylon.

“Christ will restore the life taken; for He is the Life-giver: He will beautify the
righteous with immortal life.” Maranatha, 199.

Beasts of Revelation 13
At Satan’s personation, referred to in The Great Controversy, 624, the whole
world wonders after the beast of Revelation 13. As we study carefully the
Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 7, 976, 977, we see that the
image to the first beast will be made when the Sunday laws are passed, and
every Seventh-day Adventist will be tested by either rejecting or accepting the
message.
With the acceptance by the second beast of Revelation 13, the United States
of America, comes enforcement of that image which brings national ruin. At
this point, the books have been opened and the judgment has been set.

“I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit,
whose garment [was] white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure
wool: his throne [was like] the fiery flame, [and] his wheels [as] burning fire. A
fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands
ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him:
the judgment was set, and the books were opened.” Daniel 7:9, 10.

The warning of the third angel’s message of Revelation 14:9–12 has been
rejected by the world. The weak, the old, and the young who have been
faithful, loyal, and obedient to the Commandments of God, without a single
compromise with sin, have been laid to rest, waiting for the resurrection. They
have kept the Sabbath fully according to Isaiah 58:13, 14: “If thou turn away
thy foot from the sabbath, [from] doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call
the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him,
not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking [thine
own] words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to
ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of
Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken [it].”

Representatives in All Churches

Possibly thousands of martyrs will have paid the supreme sacrifice for
defending present truth. Many people from other churches will be part of this
group.

“The Lord has His representatives in all the churches. These persons have not
had the special testing truths for these last days presented to them under
circumstances that brought conviction to heart and mind; therefore they have
not, by rejecting light, severed their connection with God. Many there are who
have faithfully walked in the light that has shone upon their pathway. They
hunger to know more of the ways and works of God. All over the world men
and women are looking wistfully to heaven. Prayers and tears and inquiries go
up from souls longing for light, for grace, for the Holy Spirit. Many are on the
very verge of the kingdom, waiting only to be gathered in.” Testimonies, vol. 6,
70, 71.

Final Generation
The hundred and forty-four thousand are the Enochs of the final generation.
They have prepared their characters, their minds, and their bodies for this
hour so they can pass through Jacob’s trouble without failing. They can walk
through the fire that is described in 11 Peter 3:10: “But the day of the Lord will
come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a
great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and
the works that are therein shall be burned up.”

This verse has a dual application for the end of time and the end of the
millennium. They walk through the fire as did the three worthies in Daniel’s
time. And let us remember that Jesus was in that fire with them.

They are now ready to be God’s witnesses of what God does in fallen human
beings.

All rebellion has been removed and Jesus can now take them through the
universe throughout the ages. Man can overcome as Jesus overcame.

“God’s ideal for His children is higher than the highest human thought can
reach. . . . There is no excuse for sinning. A holy temper, a Christlike life, is
accessible to every repenting, believing child of God.

“The ideal of Christian character is Christlikeness. As the Son of

man was perfect in His life, so His followers are to be perfect in
their life.” The Desire of Ages, 311.
Nahum 1:9 tells us that sin will never rise again. The hundred and forty-four
thousand are traveling through the universe as perfect examples of what God
can do when man merges his will with God’s will.

“When our will is swallowed up in the will of God, and we use His gifts to bless
others, we shall find life’s burden light. He who walks in the way of God’s
commandments is walking in company with Christ, and in His love the heart is
at rest.” The Desire of Ages, 331.

Willing to be Made Willing

For 6,000 years, according to the population of each generation, there have
been only a few in every generation that have been willing to be made willing
to obey all of God’s requirements in the commandments. There may have
been billions of people living in the time of the flood, but only eight made it into
the ark. Also, in Sodom, we find that only three were willing to be rescued
from the fire with which God consumed that city. Jesus said, “For many are
called, but few [are] chosen.” Matthew 22:14.

Also, from Isaiah 1:9, we know that there will be only a very small remnant
that God can trust. There will be two classes that are savable at the end. First
are those who have been redeemed from all rebellion. Many will be like the
thief on the cross. Rebellion has been extinguished so completely that Jesus
has justified them; the Holy Spirit has sanctified them, and they are safe to
save. The second group is the hundred and forty-four thousand. A third group
is the rebellious of all the divisions of people in the world that will be destroyed
by the brightness of His coming.

“And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with
the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.” 11
Thessalonians 2:8.

The identification of the hundred and forty-four thousand is that they have no
guile and they are considered by God as virgins. This means that they have
no deceptions, and their understanding of present truth is absolutely pure.
God considers them absolutely perfect—not what they have done, but what
God has done in them. Their wills have been swallowed up in the will of God.
Their characters have been so perfectly formed after the great pattern of
Jesus that they handle every situation as Jesus would.

“But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man
appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the
Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our
Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according
to the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:4–7.

50 Statements—Living Saints
Christian Experience and Teachings, 58, 96, 178; The Desire of Ages, 632;
Early Writings, 15, 35, 240, 273, 287; The Faith I Live By, 351; Last Day
Events, 272; Life Sketches, 65, 103; Lift Him Up, 379; Maranatha, 287, 288,
305, 308; My Life Today, 352; Patriarchs and Prophets, 477; A Sketch Of The
Christian Experience And Views Of Ellen G. White (1851), 11, 18; Spiritual
Gifts, vol. 1, 143, 188, 208; Spiritual Gifts, vol. 2, 31; Spiritual Gifts, vol. 3, 83;
The Story of Jesus, 177; The Story of Redemption, 411; Testimonies, vol. 1,
59, 184; The Upward Look, 311; A Word To The Little Flock (1847), 14, 20;
The Day-Star, January 24, 1846, Letter from Sister Harmon, Portland, Maine,
December 20, 1845; Review and Herald, July 21, 1851, December 31, 1857;
The Signs of the Times, April 8, 1889; The Watchman, October 3, 1905; The
Little Remnant Scattered Abroad, vol. 1, April 6, 1846; The Little Remnant
Scattered Abroad, vol. 3, April 7, 1847; The Youth’s Instructor, August 1,
1852, April 1, 1854, August 1, 1856; Manuscript Releases, vol. 3, 106; Ellen
G. White: The Early Years, vol. 1, 1827–1862, by Arthur L. White (1985), 57,
207, 261, 270.

Elder Ron Spear served as field secretary for the Review and Herald, working
at the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. In the early 1980s, Ron
Spear felt impressed that God was calling him to begin publishing a magazine
that would feature the fundamental truths of the Seventh-day Adventist
Church. The first issue of Our Firm Foundation came out in the fall of 1985.
Many readers have said that the magazine reflects the spiritual values and
content of the “old” Review and Herald. Hope International publishes many
books, tracts, and study helps on doctrine, health, and current issues facing
the church. Elder Spear may be contacted through Hope International by
telephone at: 309-343-1844, or by e-mail at: office@hopeint.org.
CategoriesChristian LifeTags144000, Character, new heart, overcome, overcomer, victoryPost
navigation

Sinful Independence, Part I

Take Heed Lest You Fall, Part I

Prophecies on God’s Church in the End Time,

Part I
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As we read the Three Angels’ Messages, we see that they are for all people,
for every nation in the world. What is important for Germany is important for
America also, and for all the other countries of the world. Therefore, I want to
present the issues we are facing in Germany today, and you need to decide if
you have the same problems in your part of the world too.

The end time is marked with a terrible situation, as has never before been.
God has given specific guidance for His people during this time through the
Spirit of Prophecy. We need to look very closely at it, and study the
statements God gave for the time of Ellen White, herself, and the statements
that apply specifically for us in our time. In this study, we must be very careful
to use all of her statements in the place and time she made them. She made
statements that had not such a significant meaning as for our time. In our
time, these statements have a much deeper meaning and importance. She
wrote, “Every jot and tittle is essential and must appear at an opportune time.”
Selected Messages, Book 1, 57.

Jesus had much to tell His disciples, and He said, “I have yet many things to
say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.” John 16:12. So it is with the
Advent people. Ellen White had many things to tell us, and we need to find out
what she had for us personally, in a special sense, as a people of the end
time. We need to understand the visions she had, such as the one when she
saw the Adventist people traveling on a small path to the heavenly Jerusalem,
as recorded in Early Writings, 14–16:

“While I was praying at the family altar, the Holy Ghost fell upon me, and I
seemed to be rising higher and higher, far above the dark world. I turned to
look for the Advent people in the world, but could not find them, when a voice
said to me, ‘Look again, and look a little higher.’ At this I raised my eyes, and
saw a straight and narrow path, cast up high above the world. On this path the
Advent people were traveling to the city, which was at the farther end of the
path. They had a bright light set up behind them at the beginning of the path,
which an angel told me was the midnight cry. This light shone all along the
path and gave light for their feet so that they might not stumble. If they kept
their eyes fixed on Jesus, who was just before them, leading them to the city,
they were safe. But soon some grew weary, and said the city was a great way
off, and they expected to have entered it before. Then Jesus would encourage
them by raising His glorious right arm, and from His arm came a light which
waved over the Advent band, and they shouted, ‘Alleluia!’ Others rashly
denied the light behind them and said that it was not God that had led them
out so far. The light behind them went out, leaving their feet in perfect
darkness, and they stumbled and lost sight of the mark and of Jesus, and fell
off the path down into the dark and wicked world below. Soon we heard the
voice of God like many waters, which gave us the day and hour of Jesus’
coming. The living saints, 144,000 in number, knew and understood the voice,
while the wicked thought it was thunder and an earthquake. When God spoke
the time, He poured upon us the Holy Ghost, and our faces began to light up
and shine with the glory of God, as Moses’ did when he came down from
Mount Sinai.

“The 144,000 were all sealed and perfectly united. On their foreheads was
written, God, New Jerusalem, and a glorious star containing Jesus’ new
name. At our happy, holy state the wicked were enraged, and would rush
violently up to lay hands on us to thrust us into prison, when we would stretch
forth the hand in the name of the Lord, and they would fall helpless to the
ground. Then it was that the synagogue of Satan knew that God had loved us
who could wash one another’s feet and salute the brethren with a holy kiss,
and they worshiped at our feet.

“Soon our eyes were drawn to the east, for a small black cloud had appeared,
about half as large as a man’s hand, which we all knew was the sign of the
Son of man. We all in solemn silence gazed on the cloud as it drew nearer
and became lighter, glorious, and still more glorious, till it was a great white
cloud. The bottom appeared like fire; a rainbow was over the cloud, while
around it were ten thousand angels, singing a most lovely song; and upon it
sat the Son of man. His hair was white and curly and lay on His shoulders;
and upon His head were many crowns. His feet had the appearance of fire; in
His right hand was a sharp sickle; in His left, a silver trumpet. His eyes were
as a flame of fire, which searched His children through and through.”

While Mrs. White did not look upon the Adventists of her time in this vision,
she identifies that the Adventists were living right before the coming of Christ.
It is true that Ellen White believed she would be among the 144,000, but God
had a different plan.

Midnight Cry
A hundred years have passed since this vision when God put words in her
mouth to show us what we, in the future, should expect before Christ can
come back to receive us. This quotation shows plainly that the people in the
end time, just before the coming of Christ, will walk with Him in the light of the
Midnight Cry. Do you know what the Midnight Cry is? Do you know that the
parallel is the ten virgins? The five foolish virgins expected the Lord to come,
just as did the five wise virgins. The difference between the groups is that one
group had not enough oil in their lamps. Their lamps went out, and they knew
that they could not go to the bridegroom without light.

What is this light? This is the message that God’s people need to give to the
world, and this lamp needs to burn until Christ comes. There were people in
those days that did not just fall asleep physically, but this group was asleep
spiritually. This is a very deadly sleep.

The Midnight Cry is a call to move toward the Lord. Did the Adventists of the
first generation need to come out? From where did they come out? From what
did they need to come out?

We are also called to come out, but we really do not know what it means to
come out. We think it means that we just have to separate from some
apostate church. That is an important and necessary step, but that is not all of
it. In the future, we will see and experience what it means to come out.

Maybe some of us will say, as Mrs. White wrote, “It could not have been God
who led us this far.” What will happen to them? They will fall from the path to
the evil and dark world below them.

144,000
The 144,000 are spoken of in this vision. A large group will go away from the
144,000. Do we see this happening today?
The 144,000 will meet the Lord. They will all have been sealed and perfectly
united. That does not only mean united in some organization. I am doubtful
that it at all refers to an organizational structure. This union refers to a spiritual
union.

This little company of 144,000 is described in Early Writings, 88, 89: “I asked
the angel if there were none left. He bade me look in an opposite direction,
and I saw a little company traveling a narrow pathway. All seemed to be firmly
united, bound together by the truth, in bundles, or companies. Said the angel,
‘The third angel is binding, or sealing, them in bundles for the heavenly
garner.’ This little company looked careworn, as if they had passed through
severe trials and conflicts. And it appeared as if the sun had just risen from
behind a cloud and shone upon their countenances, causing them to look
triumphant, as if their victories were nearly won.”

Loud Cry
Ellen White wrote that the Loud Cry from the first Adventist generation will be
repeated, just as the fall of Babylon will be repeated, in a special sense. “The
message of the fall of Babylon, as given by the second angel, is repeated,
with the additional mention of the corruptions which have been entering the
churches since 1844.” Ibid., 277. Ellen White speaks of the total fall of
Babylon. In her time, the Catholic Church had been a fallen church already,
and the majority of the Protestant churches had been falling. The call came to
the faithful children of God, “Come out of her.” This call to the faithful church of
God will be repeated in a special sense, even though this call has been given
since 1844.

“The glory of God rested upon the patient, waiting saints, and
they fearlessly gave the last solemn warning, proclaiming the fall
of Babylon and calling upon God’s people to come out of her that
they might escape her fearful doom.

“The light that was shed upon the waiting ones penetrated
everywhere, and those in the churches who had any light, who
had not heard and rejected the three messages, obeyed the call
and left the fallen churches. Many had come to years of
accountability since these messages had been given, and the
light shone upon them, and they were privileged to choose life or
death. Some chose life and took their stand with those who were
looking for their Lord and keeping all His commandments. The
third message was to do its work; all were to be tested upon it,
and the precious ones were to be called out from the religious
bodies. A compelling power moved the honest, while the
manifestation of the power of God brought a fear and restraint
upon their unbelieving relatives and friends so that they dared
not, neither had they the power to, hinder those who felt the work
of the Spirit of God upon them.” Ibid., 277, 278.
Come Out
It had been shown to Mrs. White that when the churches in her day were
founded, they were pure, but later on they collected many defilements. To
those churches the call of God goes, “Come out of them, my people.”

“Babylon is said to be ‘the mother of harlots.’ By her daughters must be

symbolized churches that cling to her doctrines and traditions, and follow her
example of sacrificing the truth and the approval of God, in order to form an
unlawful alliance with the world. The message of Revelation 14, announcing
the fall of Babylon must apply to religious bodies that were once pure and
have become corrupt. Since this message follows the warning of the
judgment, it must be given in the last days; therefore it cannot refer to the
Roman Church alone, for that church has been in a fallen condition for many
centuries. Furthermore, in the eighteenth chapter of the Revelation the people
of God are called upon to come out of Babylon. According to this scripture,
many of God’s people must still be in Babylon. And in what religious bodies
are the greater part of the followers of Christ now to be found? Without doubt,
in the various churches professing the Protestant faith. At the time of their rise
these churches took a noble stand for God and the truth, and His blessing was
with them. Even the unbelieving world was constrained to acknowledge the
beneficent results that followed an acceptance of the principles of the gospel.”
The Great Controversy, 382, 383. [Emphasis in original.]

This call, “Come out of her, My people,” is the same call which the angel from
Revelation 18 brings to the world in calling the faithful from the apostate
churches to unite them with Himself. This angel is not some heavenly being.
Ellen White said that this angel should be you—you and me. We shall give the
call, “Come out of her, My people.” (See The Great Controversy, 611;
Testimonies, vol. 5, 383.)

Complete Fall
What makes this fall of Babylon complete? “Revelation 18 points to the time
when, as the result of rejecting the threefold warning of Revelation 14:6–12,
the church will have fully reached the condition foretold by the second angel,
and the people of God still in Babylon will be called upon to separate from her
communion.” The Great Controversy, 390.
What church has accepted the Three Angels’ Messages? Yes, the Seventh-
day Adventist Church. No other church has accepted these messages. Then,
if just this one church has accepted all of these messages, what church can
be spoken of as rejecting these messages?

Mrs. White further states that the result of rejecting the Three Angels’
Messages means that a spirit of lies will control those churches. This spirit of
lies is described in 11 Thessalonians 2:12. “When those that ‘believed not the
truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness’ (11 Thessalonians 2:12), shall be
left to receive strong delusion and to believe a lie, then the light of truth will
shine upon all whose hearts are open to receive it, and all the children of the
Lord that remain in Babylon will heed the call: ‘Come out of her, My people’
(Revelation 18:4).” Ibid.

Are there lies among the Seventh-day Adventists which may be a mark of this
satanic spirit of lies? God warned His people through Ellen White very
severely. God warned His people before the lies of Satan came, and here we
have some quotations that contain those warnings. God warns His people of
their unification with the world. God warns beforehand of the lie that we have a
great influence on the people of the world if we link up with them. When God
says that we are in danger of becoming a synagogue of Satan, He is warning
us of devilish controversy—a controversy with the world, a controversy with
the other churches.

In his lies, Satan suggests that, “If you link yourselves with the world, you will
have more advantages. Maybe you could hinder the persecution somehow.”
Whoever is following those lies is directly following Satan. We cannot say we
have not been warned.

Church with Great Light

In Testimonies, vol. 8, 249, Ellen White speaks of the Seventh-day Adventists.
She describes this church that has received great light, but she also tells
about the defiled condition in which they are. She describes it as a church that
did not heed the call of God.

“ ‘Because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear:
but they did evil before Mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.’
‘God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie,’ ‘because
they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved,’ ‘but had
pleasure in unrighteousness.’ Isaiah 66:3, 4; 11 Thessalonians 2:11, 10, 12.”

God called, “Come out of her, My people,” but they connected themselves
with the churches from which they were supposed to come out. They did what
was evil before His eyes. Therefore, God shall send them strong delusions
that they shall believe a lie. Again it is talking about Seventh-day Adventists.

“The second angel’s message of Revelation 14 was first preached in the

summer of 1844, and it then had a more direct application to the churches of
the United States, where the warning of the judgment had been most widely
proclaimed and most generally rejected, and where the declension in the
churches had been most rapid. But the message of the second angel did not
reach its complete fulfillment in 1844. The churches then experienced a moral
fall, in consequence of their refusal of the light of the advent message; but that
fall was not complete. As they have continued to reject the special truths for
this time they have fallen lower and lower. Not yet, however, can it be said
that ‘Babylon is fallen, . . . because she made all nations drink of the wine of
the wrath of her fornication.’ [Revelation 14:8.] She has not yet made all
nations do this. The spirit of world conforming and indifference to the testing
truths for our time exists and has been gaining ground in churches of the
Protestant faith in all the countries of Christendom; and these churches are
included in the solemn and terrible denunciation of the second angel. But the
work of apostasy has not yet reached its culmination.

“The Bible declares that before the coming of the Lord, Satan will
work ‘with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all
deceivableness of unrighteousness;’ and they that ‘received not
the love of the truth, that they might be saved,’ will be left to
receive ‘strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.’ 11
Thessalonians 2:9–11. Not until this condition shall be reached,
and the union of the church with the world shall be fully
accomplished throughout Christendom, will the fall of Babylon be
complete. The change is a progressive one, and the perfect
fulfillment of Revelation 14:8 is yet future.” The Great
Controversy, 389, 390. [Emphasis in original.]
Before the coming of Christ, a condition will be reached as described with the
union of the church with the world, all over the world, throughout Christendom.
Not until this union of the church with the world, throughout all of Christendom,
will the fall of Babylon be complete. And only when the fall of Babylon is
complete will the second Loud Cry come—this special loud cry which is given
in all churches, including the last church which God has on earth.

No Unity with World

“The world must not be introduced into the church, and married to
the church, forming a bond of unity. Through this means the
church will become indeed corrupt.” Testimonies to Ministers and
Gospel Workers, 265.
The ecumenical bonds have different names in the different parts of the world.
In Germany, it is called the Workshop of Christian Churches. Regardless what
the name may be, they all are the same bond with Satan. Through these
bonds, the church will indeed be defiled, corrupted, as stated in Revelation 18.

Small Company
This little group which has been described, this small end-time church, is
found and sealed through the third angel. They are going on a narrow path
and are bound in groups through the truth—the truth which is believed and
lived, as shown in the third angel’s message.

In Matthew 7:13, 14, Jesus said, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide [is] the
gate, and broad [is] the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be
which go in thereat: Because strait [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the way, which
leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

How many will find the strait gate? The last generation which will meet Jesus
—144,000. Is it a large number? Can you calculate how many would be from
your area? In Berlin, we once calculated that there might be 10 or 12 people
who would possibly be part of this number. We know what that means. We
have to make such an effort to be among that number. It will cost all our
energy; even though we will not be among the 144,000 because of our
strength, it will cost all of our effort to get eternal life.

Parallel Development
How does God view the Advent movement? “The Lord has bestowed great
blessings upon His church. Justice demands that she return these talents with
usury. As the treasures of truth committed to her keeping have increased, her
obligations have increased. But instead of improving upon these gifts and
going forward unto perfection, she has fallen away from that which she had
attained in her earlier experience. The change in her spiritual state has come
gradually and almost imperceptibly. As she began to seek the praise and
friendship of the world, her faith diminished, her zeal grew languid, her fervent
devotion gave place to dead formality. Every advance step toward the world
was a step away from God. As pride and worldly ambition have been
cherished, the spirit of Christ has departed, and emulation, dissension, and
strife have come in to distract and weaken the church.” Testimonies, vol. 5,
240, 241.

There is a parallel development of the modern angel and ancient Israel just
before the coming of Christ. Ellen White wrote: “We want to understand the
time in which we live. We do not half understand it. We do not half take it in.
My heart trembles in me when I think of what a foe we have to meet, and how
poorly we are prepared to meet him. The trials of the children of Israel, and
their attitude just before the first coming of Christ, have been presented before
me again and again to illustrate the position of the people of God in their
experience before the second coming of Christ—how the enemy sought every
occasion to take control of the minds of the Jews, and today he is seeking to
blind the minds of God’s servants, that they may not be able to discern the
precious truth.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 406.

“The alliances made by the Israelites with their heathen neighbors resulted in
the loss of their identity as God’s peculiar people. They became leavened by
the evil practises [sic] of those with whom they formed forbidden alliances.
Affiliation with worldlings caused them to lose their first love, and their zeal for
God’s service. The advantages they sold themselves to gain, brought only
disappointment, and caused the loss of many souls.

“The experience of Israel will be the experience of all who go to the world for
strength, turning away from the living God. Those who forsake the mighty
One, the source of all strength, and affiliate with worldlings, placing on them
their dependence, become weak in moral power, as are those in whom they
trust.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary,
vol. 4, 1155, 1156. Those who are trying to come together with the other
churches for a worldly advantage are exactly the fulfillment of this prophecy, of
this danger.

“Satan’s snares are laid for us as verily as they were laid for the children of
Israel just prior to their entrance into the land of Canaan. We are repeating the
history of that people.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 160.

To be continued . . .
Dr. Korinth is a physician living in Berlin, Germany. He is very active in
speading the Three Angels’ Messages throughout Europe. He and his family
have a printing press in their home and have had tracts translated in most of
the different European languages. He is a promoter of home churches and is
very interested in working with other historic Seventh-day Adventist groups
worldwide. He may be contacted by e-mail at: hkorinth@mefag.de.
CategoriesChurchTags144000, church, general conference, Seventh Day AdventistPost navigation

Behold, the Bridegroom Cometh, Part II

Watchmen Unto the House of Israel, Part II

The 144,000, Part I
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There are many questions concerning the 144,000. Some can be answered;
others cannot. For instance, is the 144,000 a literal or a symbolic number? Are
the 144,000 sealed before or after the latter rain? Will the 144,000 convert a
great multitude to God’s truth? Why will the 144,000 be translated without
dying? What are the character developments that are necessary to become a
part of the 144,000?

In this article, we will not dabble into speculation nor will we claim any new
light, but we will search for what has been revealed in the Bible and in the
Spirit of Prophecy.

From Scripture, we may read of the 144,000 in Revelation 7:2–4, 13, 14 and
Revelation 14:1–5: “And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having
the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to
whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth,
neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in
their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: [and
there were] sealed an hundred [and] forty [and] four thousand of all the tribes
of the children of Israel.” “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.”

“And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with
him an hundred forty [and] four thousand, having his Father’s
name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven,
as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder:
and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: And
they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before
the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song
but the hundred [and] forty [and] four thousand, which were
redeemed from the earth. These are they which were not defiled
with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the
Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from
among men, [being] the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And
in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before
the throne of God.”
Different Standard
There are various members of our faith who are heard declaring that the
144,000 are no different from any other generation of God’s people. They say
that God does not have two different standards, one for the 144,000 and one
for all other generations. They insist that this is absurd. The 144,000 will be
different only in that they will be alive when Jesus comes. Is this really true, or
will the 144,000 be in some respect different? If so, what will make them
different?

We first need to establish a very important truth. It is true that God does not
have a different standard of salvation for the translated living and another for
the resurrected, dead saints. Those who die must, at death, be right with God.
They must be both justified and sanctified. As individuals, they must stop
committing known sin, and invite Christ to dwell in their hearts by faith, and to
give them the needed power to willingly obey their Lord. They will have been
washing their robes of character and making them white in the blood of the
Lamb.

Although the standard of salvation for both the living last generation and the
dead saints is the same, there is a difference. Why? Because the severe end-
time trials and great tribulations that the last generation will pass through,
such as experienced by no other generation, will develop, in the 144,000 living
saints, characters that will become more like Christ’s character than that of
any prior generation of saints. They will reach a character maturity that will
reveal that they have won the battle over evil.

“The true people of God, who have the spirit of the work of the
Lord and the salvation of souls at heart, will ever view sin in its
real, sinful character. They will always be on the side of faithful
and plain dealing with sins which easily beset the people of God.
Especially in the closing work for the church, 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.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 266.
So intense will become their hatred of sin that they would rather die than sin.
The difference will not be in the standard of salvation but in the degree of
character development to which they will attain.

God has given us some Bible examples for this very purpose, so that we can
clarify and better understand this difference. Let us begin with the example of
Moses.
Moses
Ellen White wrote: “Moses, wearied with forty years of wandering and unbelief,
lost for a moment his hold on Infinite Power. He failed just on the borders of
the Promised Land.” Prophets and Kings, 174.

Consider the personal lesson we should learn from the experience of Moses,
when he sinned by taking the glory from Christ in producing water from the
rock. Christ uses the life of Moses as an object lesson to help us understand
that there will be a difference in the experience between those who die and
are resurrected, and those who are translated. Just one sin, which was
immediately repented of, kept Moses from being translated, but it did not keep
him from being resurrected.

“Satan had been trying to find something wherewith to accuse Moses before
the angels. He exulted at his success in leading him to displease God, and he
told the angels that he could overcome the Saviour of the world when He
should come to redeem man. For his transgression, Moses came under the
power of Satan—the dominion of death. Had he remained steadfast, the Lord
would have brought him to the Promised Land, and would then have
translated him to heaven without his seeing death.” Early Writings, 164.

“Had not the life of Moses been marred with that one sin, in failing to give God
the glory of bringing water from the rock at Kadesh, he would have entered
the Promised Land, and would have been translated to heaven without seeing
death.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 478.

We know that, in the lifetime of Moses, he committed more than one sin. In
fact, he even murdered a man; he killed an Egyptian. Though he had
confessed and forsaken his sins, God used this one sin, which Moses
knowingly committed on the banks of the Jordan River just before crossing
into the Promised Land, to impress us with the fact that the living saints must
make an end of sin in their lives before they enter the heavenly Canaan.
Nothing could be more plainly stated!

Though God had planned on translating Moses to heaven without seeing

death, he was not then ready to be a type of those who would be ready to be
translated. He must die. Soon after this, Moses did die, but within a few days,
God resurrected him. He was taken to heaven to become a type of the
resurrected saints of God; a type of those repentant ones who will not be
required to go through the special end-time circumstances and great
tribulations.

Enoch
On the other hand, Enoch was a type of the living saints. Consider his record.
The Bible says that he walked with God for 300 years before he was
translated: “And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: And
Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and
begat sons and daughters.” Genesis 5:21, 22.

In the book, Reflecting Christ, 307, we read, “Enoch was a marked character,
and many look upon his life as something far above what the generality of
mortals can ever reach. But Enoch’s life and character, which were so holy
that he was translated to heaven without seeing death, represent the lives and
characters of all who will be translated when Christ comes.”

Then, in Gospel Workers, 54, we read, “ ‘By faith Enoch was translated that
he should not see death; . . . for before his translation he had this testimony,
that he pleased God.’ [Hebrews 11:5.]

“To such communion God is calling us. As was Enoch’s, so must be their
holiness of character who shall be redeemed from among men at the Lord’s
second coming.”

This is such an important, provoking statement that the last sentence must be
repeated: “As was Enoch’s, so must be their holiness of character who shall
be redeemed from among men at the Lord’s second coming.”

Elijah was a type of the 144,000. He was a man of strong faith. He

demonstrated this in the happenings of Mount Carmel, which are recorded in
1 Kings 18. However, after his lofty experience, “Depression seized him. . . .
While under the inspiration of the Almighty, he had stood the severest trial of
faith; but in this trial of discouragement, with Jezebel’s threat sounding in his
ears, . . . he lost his hold on God.” Prophets and Kings, 161.

“Despondency is sinful and unreasonable.” Ibid., 164. So Elijah sinned, for “in
a moment of weariness [he] allowed the fear of death to overcome his faith in
God.” Ibid., 174.

Different Sins
Let us think this through for a moment. What was the difference between the
sin of Moses and that of Elijah? While Moses committed sin just before he
was to pass over into the Promised Land, not so in the experience of Elijah.
As did Moses, he repented immediately, but he did not die soon thereafter. He
lived on and demonstrated his strong faith in the Lord, which he quickly
regained and maintained. God sent him back to Israel to finish bringing about
a religious revival and a transformation in the land. When God finally asked
him to call Elisha, a farm laborer, to replace himself, he spent some time
teaching Elisha. He went from place to place with him, and from school to
school, teaching him how to give the help that each needed.

Therefore, Elijah spent a number of years before he was translated

demonstrating that he was a loyal, holy servant of the Lord. This is why God
could declare, “Elijah was a type of the saints who will be living on the earth at
the time of the second advent of Christ and who will be ‘changed, in a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump,’ without tasting of death.
1 Corinthians 15:51, 52.” Prophets and Kings, 227.

Absolute Necessity
Why is it necessary for the living saints who will be translated to be different in
respect to the development of their characters? to have characters so mature
that they will never again sin? What will make this maturity an absolute
necessity?

First, they will be forced to meet the supreme test—that of a papal image of
the beast. Second, after probation closes, they must be prepared to live
sinlessly without a mediator in the sanctuary in heaven.

Let us consider the first test, the image of the beast. Some church members
may have wondered, why is the Sunday sabbath, brought about by the image
of the beast, to be the great test for the people of God by which their eternal
destiny will be decided? Would we not naturally assume that this crisis would
be a test for the world, for the unbelievers and the undecided?

The truth is that when God’s people are faced with this great test, they will be
forced to make an immediate choice between life and death, as it were,
between obedience and disobedience. If their characters were not already
developed to the point to where they would rather die than sin, they would
undoubtedly choose to sin, and thus come under Satan’s black banner. When
brought to the test, God’s people will either receive the seal of God or the
mark of the papal beast. Thus their eternal destiny will be forever decided.

In 1890, Ellen White wrote: “The Lord has shown me clearly that the image of
the beast will be formed before probation closes; for it is to be the great test
for the people of God, by which their eternal destiny will be decided. . . .
[Revelation 13:11–17 quoted.] . . .

“This is the test that the people of God must have before they are
sealed. All who proved their loyalty to God by observing His law,
and refusing to accept a spurious sabbath, will rank under the
banner of the Lord God Jehovah, and will receive the seal of the
living God. Those who yield the truth of heavenly origin and
accept the Sunday sabbath, will receive the mark of the beast.”
“Ellen G. White Comments,” Seventh-day Adventist Bible
Commentary, vol. 7, 976.
What about the second reason, the close of probation? The saints who are to
be translated must live through the final time of trouble, referred to as the time
of Jacob’s trouble, without a mediator in the heavenly sanctuary. Probation will
have closed for this wicked, old world.

Without an Intercessor
Are we aware of just what this means? It means that if a saint were to sin after
probation closes, there would be no forgiveness available. I do not believe any
of us now living fully realize what it will mean to live on this earth in such a
chaotic condition and under such pressure of a death sentence without an
intercessor.

“Those who are living upon the earth when the intercession of
Christ shall cease in the sanctuary above are to stand in the sight
of a holy God without a mediator. Their robes must be spotless,
their characters must be purified from sin by the blood of
sprinkling. Through the grace of God and their own diligent effort
they must be conquerors in the battle with evil.” The Great
Controversy, 425.
Christ is our only example of a man who lived on earth without an intercessor.
What was the experience of Christ while He was on this earth? “Christ
declared of Himself: ‘The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me.’
John 14:30. Satan could find nothing in the Son of God that would enable him
to gain the victory. He had kept His Father’s commandments, and there was
no sin in Him that Satan could use to his advantage. This is the condition in
which those must be found who shall stand in the time of trouble.” Ibid., 623.

I trust that this is causing you and me to do some very serious thinking. In
order for anyone to live on this earth without a mediator, such a one must
attain to the same sinless condition lived by Christ while He was on this earth.

Gethsemane
Let us consider for a moment Christ in Gethsemane. In The Desire of Ages,
686, 687, Ellen White wrote: “Christ was now standing in a different attitude
from that in which he had ever stood before. . . . Hitherto He had been an
intercessor for others; now He longed to have an intercessor for Himself.
“As Christ felt His unity with the Father broken up, He feared that in His
human nature He would be unable to endure the coming conflict with the
power of darkness. . . . With the issues of the conflict before Him, Christ’s soul
was filled with dread of separation from God. Satan told Him that if He
became the surety for a sinful world, the separation would be eternal. He
would be identified with Satan’s kingdom, and would nevermore be one with
God.”

So, likewise, when probation closes, the saints will find themselves in a
different position than they have ever been before.

Saints Enabled
How will the saints be enabled? Actually, it will be by following Christ’s earthly
example. “Christ left his heavenly home, and came to this world, to show that
only by being connected with divinity can man keep the law of God. In itself
humanity is tainted and corrupted; but Christ brought moral power to man, and
those who live in communion with him overcome as he overcame. We are not
left in this world as orphans.” The Signs of the Times, December 10, 1896.

Unless the saints follow the example of Christ in joining their humanity with
divinity, they will be among the lost who will be consumed at Christ’s coming.
It is absolutely imperative that they have this special preparation, for God’s
glory destroys all sin and sinners. Sin cannot exist in the visible presence of
God, for God’s glory is a consuming fire.

The Bible is very clear in stating that the very presence of God will consume
all who are found clinging to sin. 11 Thessalonians 2:8 tells us, “And then shall
that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his
mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.” As Christ nears
this earth, his very presence will consume the sinner while consuming their
sins.

Therefore, it is evident that all sin must be removed from the 144,000 in the
days of preparation before they are sealed. That is the time in which we are
living, for we are living in the preparation time. Times are tense. There is still
opportunity for us to prepare.

Avoid Attractive Errors

Would to God that the ministers in God’s pulpits today would preach soul-
stirring messages filled with divine conviction that would move the listener to
sense the enormity of the sin problem, causing them to fall on their knees
pleading with God for victory. Believe me, friend, this is no time for
Celebration, with tame messages to satisfy the sinful nature, such as teaching
congregations that they can continue sinning until Jesus comes.
Rather than representing so-called “attractive errors,” ministers should heed
the counsel of Joel: “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my
holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the
Lord cometh, for [it is] nigh at hand.” “Gather the people, sanctify the
congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck
the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of
her closet. Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch
and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine
heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore
should they say among the people, Where [is] their God?” Joel 2:1, 16, 17.

This is the weeping time; a time for ministers to weep between the porch and
the altar for all the sins that are being committed in the church. Certainly this is
not a time for Celebration, for entertainment, or for preaching frivolous or
smooth sermons to tickle the ear of the flocks. Rather, we ministers should
sound such an alarming message that it will awaken the members of our
churches from their Laodicean slumber to their need to sigh and cry for their
own sins, as well as those of their fellow church members.

Ellen White informs us, “The abominations for which the faithful
ones were sighing and crying were all that could be discerned by
finite eyes, but by far the worst sins, those which provoked the
jealousy of the pure and holy God, were unrevealed. The great
Searcher of the hearts knoweth every sin committed in secret by
the workers of iniquities.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 211.
So, God admonishes us to, “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a
trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob
their sins.” Isaiah 58:1. Ellen White asks, “What are you doing, brethren, in the
great work of preparation? Those who are uniting with the world are receiving
the worldly mold and preparing for the mark of the beast. Those who are
distrustful of self, who are humbling themselves before God and purifying their
souls by obeying the truth—these are receiving the heavenly mold and
preparing for the seal of God in their foreheads. When the decree goes forth
and the stamp is impressed, their character will remain pure and spotless for
eternity.” Ibid., 216. This is God’s last-day, preparation message. It is urgent,
for time is short.

A True Story
A Seventh-day Adventist lady, whom I will call Rachel, lived in Oregon. She
was studying God’s Word with a very godly woman. Now, Rachel had a
certain problem insofar as the health reform message was concerned. Her
teacher pointed out to her that the Spirit of Prophecy clearly reveals that no
one will be among the living translated saints who was indulging in this certain
vice. This shook Rachel up, and for two weeks she abstained. But then,
forgetting her reform, she went back to the old practice with this comment, “I
decided that I would go ahead and indulge myself and prepare to be among
the resurrected dead rather than striving to be among the living who will be
translated.”

What a dangerous reasoning! We are living in the end time, and God calls us
to make preparation appropriate for the time in which we live. Surely we do
not have the option of making such a choice as did Rachel. Rachel failed to
realize that the standard of salvation is exactly the same for the dead as for
the living. All known sins must be repented of and put away before death or
before translation. If a certain practice is a sin for a living saint, one that would
keep him or her from being translated, after one recognizes its sinfulness, if he
or she should continue in this practice would he or she be eligible to be among
the resurrected saints? This would be very questionable.

In this end time, we are admonished,

“Let us strive with all the power that God has given us to be
among the hundred and forty-four thousand.” Review and Herald,
March 9, 1905.
In closing, I will reaffirm the words of Ezekiel the prophet, as he appeals to
ministers and laymen alike. To everyone, both the saints who will be among
the living and those who will die in the Lord, Ezekiel’s message from the Lord
has the same urgency as do the messages of Joel and Isaiah. Ezekiel 18:30–
32 says, “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to
his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn [yourselves] from all your
transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your
transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart
and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure
in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn [yourselves],
and live ye.”

To be continued . . .
For over 60 years Pastor Lawrence Nelson served as an evangelist and
minister for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Of that time, he served 13
years as the director of evangelism for youth at the General Conference of
Seventh-day Adventists. Upon retirement from the General Conference, he
continued to pastor, but when, as a result of his stand for truth, he was denied
the opportunity to continue his pastorate, he started Keep the Faith Audio
Tape Ministry, recording his sermons and making them available to
individuals. Before his retirement from this ministry in 2004, over 18,000 audio
tapes were being sent around the world each month.
CategoriesBibleTags144000, literal, redeemed, saved, Sealed, symbolPost navigation

Recipe – Creamy Cucumber Chickpea Salad

If the Foundations be Destroyed, Part II

The 144,000, Part II

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For over 6,000 years, man has succumbed to Satan’s temptations to break
God’s eternal law, thus becoming subject to death, as we read in Romans
6:23: “For the wages of sin [is] death.” Satan hates God’s Law. He has made
the claim that only a very few are obeying God’s Law in keeping the Sabbath,
but even they will give up the Sabbath when faced by the coming crisis. This
is why he will enforce Sunday worship, which God’s Word teaches us is the
mark of the beast.

A worldwide law will enforce Sunday worship with a death penalty to those
who do not obey. Thus, Satan claims that no man will keep God’s Law. But
God has a plan for this last generation that will be living on this earth. Those
whose names are left in the Lamb’s book of life after the investigative
judgment are to be taken to heaven without experiencing death. The 144,000
will prove to the universe that God’s Law can be kept no matter what terrible
persecutions Satan, through his agents, can inflict upon these saints during
what God calls a “time of trouble, such as never was.” Daniel 12:1.

God proclaims of these 144,000, “Here is the patience of the saints, here [are]
they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation
14:12.

To refresh our memories, in the first part of this article, we noted that out of
the tense end-time trials and tribulations there will be developed 144,000 living
saints whose characters will have become more Christlike than that of any
other generation of saints throughout the history of the world. Their characters
will reveal that they have “gained the victory over evil so that they would rather
die than sin.” The Great Controversy, 425.

The Latter Rain

What will make this possible? God has a great blessing reserved to pour out
upon His last-generation church¾a blessing that has not been previously
manifested because it has not been needed. In the end time, however, it
becomes a necessity. It is called the latter rain. God knew that the last
generation would need an extra supply of the grace of the Holy Spirit to
prepare them to pass through the time of Jacob’s trouble and to meet Christ at
His coming.

We read about this blessing in Joel 2:23, 24: “Be glad then, ye
children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he hath
given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come
down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the
first [month]. And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats
shall overflow with wine and oil.”
Besides empowering this last generation to proclaim the loud cry to every
nation, kindred, tongue, and people, which will be a last-day accomplishment,
the latter rain performs something for the saints themselves. This work of
grace for the saints may be likened to the ripening of the grain for the harvest,
and this certainly will be harvest time for God’s church. In the Scripture just
quoted from Joel 2:24, it explains that, when the latter rain falls, the threshing
floor shall be full of wheat.

But let us keep in mind that it is absolutely necessary that these living saints
receive both the early and the latter rain. “If we do not progress, if we do not
place ourselves in an attitude to receive both the former and the latter rain, we
shall lose our souls, and the responsibility will lie at our own door.”
Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 508.

Ellen White further explained: “The ripening of the grain represents the
completion of the work of God’s grace in the soul. By the power of the Holy
Spirit the moral image of God is to be perfected in the character. We are to be
wholly transformed into the likeness of Christ.

Former Rain Necessary

“The latter rain, ripening earth’s harvest, represents the spiritual grace that
prepares the church for the coming of the Son of man. But unless the former
rain has fallen, there will be no life; the green blade will not spring up. Unless
the early showers have done their work, the latter rain can bring no seed to
perfection.” Ibid., 506.

The latter rain will accomplish in the saints an even further work of character
refinement or perfection. Not only will this prepare the church for the coming of
Christ, as stated in the previous quotation, but, also, in Testimonies, vol. 1,
353, we read, “It is the latter rain which revives and strengthens them to pass
through the time of trouble.” So, it is no wonder that God, through His prophet
Zechariah, stated, “Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; [so] the
Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one
grass in the field.” Zechariah 10:1. What a beautiful promise! But many of our
people seem to be waiting for the latter rain to accomplish their victory over
sin. We are forewarned that they are making a terrible mistake. This is not the
purpose of the latter rain.

Prior preparation must be made before the latter rain can fall upon any one of
us. “Many have in a great measure failed to receive the former rain. They
have not obtained all the benefits that God has thus provided for them. They
expect that the lack will be supplied by the latter rain. When the richest
abundance of grace shall be bestowed, they intend to open their hearts to
receive it. They are making a terrible mistake. The work that God has begun in
the human heart in giving His light and knowledge must be continually going
forward. Every individual must realize his own necessity. The heart must be
emptied of every defilement and cleansed for the indwelling of the Spirit. It
was by the confession and forsaking of sin, by earnest prayer and
consecration of themselves to God, that the early disciples prepared for the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. The same work, only in
greater degree, must be done now.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel
Workers, 507.

Purified
Ellen White makes this very important statement: “Today you are to have your
vessel purified that it may be ready for the heavenly dew, ready for the
showers of the latter rain; for the latter rain will come, and the blessing of God
will fill every soul that is purified from every defilement. It is our work today to
yield our souls to Christ, that we may be fitted for the time of refreshing from
the presence of the Lord¾fitted for the baptism of the Holy Spirit.” Selected
Messages, Book 1,191.

Perhaps the first work of the latter rain will be to seal the saints of God in their
foreheads. However, notice this quote, “Not one of us will ever receive the
seal of God while our characters have one spot or stain upon them. It is left
with us to remedy the defects in our characters, to cleanse the soul temple of
every defilement. Then the latter rain will fall upon us as the early rain fell
upon the disciples on the Day of Pentecost.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 214.

Please note again the counsel that every defilement must be washed away in
the blood of the Lamb. It is then, and not until then, that the latter rain will fall
upon God’s people. It is then, and not until then, that God’s people will receive
the seal of the living God. “Will this seal be put upon the impure in mind, the
fornicator, the adulterer, the man who covets his neighbor’s wife? Let your
souls answer the question, Does my character correspond to the qualifications
essential that I may receive a passport to the mansions Christ has prepared
for those who are fitted for them? Holiness must be inwrought in our
character.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 446.
Again, this cutting truth comes loud and clear. Ellen White tells us, “Those
who receive the seal of the living God must reflect the image of Jesus fully.”
Early Writings, 71. I trust this alarming truth is awakening your heart as it has
mine; for before the seal is placed upon the living saints, all must appear
before the judgment seat of God to receive their award according to their
works.

Time of Judgment
When does the final separation of the wheat and the tares begin? “The time of
the judgment is a most solemn period, when the Lord gathers His own from
among the tares.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 238. We are
also told, “The time is not far distant when the test will come to every soul. The
mark of the beast will be urged upon us. . . . In this time the gold [that is, His
own] will be separated from the dross [that is, the tares] in the church.”
Testimonies, vol. 5, 81.

When God’s people are faced with the papal Sunday test, the Sunday sabbath
test, the final separation of the wheat and the tares will take place. Those who
pass this test will be sealed with the seal of the living God, and all who fail will
receive the mark of the beast. It is by their own choice that their eternal
destiny will be decided.

This is why it is said of those who decide to be faithful commandment

keepers, “Their names are retained in the Lamb’s book of life, enrolled among
the faithful of all ages. They have resisted the wiles of the deceiver; they have
not been turned from their loyalty by the dragon’s roar. Now they are eternally
secure from the tempter’s devices.” Can you just picture this precious
experience, as “holy angels, unseen, were passing to and fro placing upon
them the seal of the living God”? Testimonies, vol. 5, 475.

Sealing
Now, let us inquire as to what the seal of God is and how the saints are
blessed by receiving it. After the saints are sealed, their characters will
“remain” as sinless as they were at the time of their sealing. Ellen White tells
us, “When the decree goes forth [that is, the Sunday law] and the stamp is
impressed [that is, the seal] their character will remain pure and spotless for
eternity.” Ibid., 216. How amazing that is! God does have a plan.

The seal of God is an indelible mark that the angels can read, but man cannot.
“And even after the saints are sealed with the seal of the living God, His elect
will have trials individually. Personal afflictions will come; but the furnace is
closely watched by an eye that will not suffer the gold to be consumed. The
indelible mark of God is upon them. God can plead that His own name is
written there. The Lord has shut them in. Their destination is inscribed—‘God,
New Jerusalem.’ They are God’s property, His possession.” Testimonies to
Ministers and Gospel Workers, 446.

You know, when you read and hear things like this, do you not feel like saying,
Amen? “The sealing is a pledge from God of perfect security to His chosen
ones (Exodus 31:13-17). Sealing indicates you are God’s chosen. He has
appropriated you to Himself. As the sealed of God we are Christ’s purchased
possession, and no one shall pluck us out of His hands.” Manuscript
Releases, vol. 15, 225. Oh, how marvelous!

It is self-evident that when God’s people are faced with the seal or the mark of
the beast that the reception of either the seal of God or the mark of the beast
indicates that their names have come up in the investigative judgment, their
destiny has been decided. Their individual probations have been closed. Note,
also, that they must make the same preparation for the close of their
probations as do those who die in the Lord; that is, in regard to sinning and
defilement in their lives.

The latter rain does not fall upon them until after they have made this
preparation. So, other than the tense end-time persecutions that favor
character maturity, in which they live, the last generation of God’s people will
have no more advantage before their probation closes than do those who die
in the Lord. All mankind must make their preparation under the former rain.
That is such an important point that I must repeat it. All mankind must make
their preparation under the former rain, and that time is now.

Symbolic or Literal
As we ponder these observations that I have made of the experiences, the
achievements, and the blessings of the 144,000, let us answer a question that
is so often asked:

Is the term, the 144,000, a symbolic or a literal number? The answer: No one
knows. We cannot speculate.

Here is some counsel from the Lord’s messenger on this subject: “Another
question upon which we had some conversation was in regard to the elect of
God that the Lord would have a certain number, and when that number was
made up then probation would cease. These are questions you or I have no
right to talk about. The Lord Jesus will receive all who come unto Him. He died
for the ungodly and every man who will come, may come.” Selected
Messages, Book 3, 315.

“Certain conditions are to be complied with on the part of man,

and if he refuses to comply with the conditions, he cannot
become the elect of God. If he will comply he is a child of God,
and Christ says if he will continue in faithfulness, steadfast and
immovable in his obedience, He will not blot out his name out of
the book of life but will confess his name before His Father and
before His angels. God would have us think and talk and present
to others those truths which are plainly revealed, and all have
naught to do with these subjects of speculation, for they have no
special reference to the salvation of our souls.” Manuscript
Releases, vol. 2, 149.
We must ever keep in mind that that which has been revealed is all about
which we need to be concerned. “It is not His will that they [His people] should
get into controversy over questions which will not help them spiritually, such
as, Who is to compose the hundred and forty-four thousand. This those who
are the elect of God will in a short time know without question.” Selected
Messages, Book 1, 174. That is amazing! And, so, with this, let us rest
satisfied.

To be continued . . .
For over 60 years Pastor Lawrence Nelson served as an evangelist and
minister for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Of that time, he served 13
years as the director of evangelism for youth at the General Conference of
Seventh-day Adventists. Upon retirement from the General Conference, he
continued to pastor, but when, as a result of his stand for truth, he was denied
the opportunity to continue his pastorate, he started Keep the Faith Audio
Tape Ministry, recording his sermons and making them available to
individuals. Before his retirement from this ministry in 2004, over 18,000 audio
tapes were being sent around the world each month.
CategoriesBibleTags144000, literal, redeemed, saved, symbolPost navigation

Organization and Discipline

If the Foundations be Destroyed, Part III

Bible Study Guides – Preparation for Translation

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June 24, 2007 – June 30, 2007
Key Text
“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we
shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we
shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:2.

Study Help: Spiritual Gifts, vol. 4b, 34-37.

Introduction
“God leads His people on, step by step. He brings them up to different points
calculated to manifest what is in the heart. Some endure at one point, but fall
off at the next. At every advanced point the heart is tested and tried a little
closer. If the professed people of God find their hearts opposed to this straight
work, it should convince them that they have a work to do to overcome. . . .
Some are willing to receive one point; but when God brings them to another
testing point, they shrink from it and stand back, because they find that it
strikes directly at some cherished idol. Here they have opportunity to see what
is in their hearts that shuts out Jesus. They prize something higher than the
truth, and their hearts are not prepared to receive Jesus. Individuals are tested
and proved a length of time to see if they will sacrifice their idols. . . . Those
who come up to every point, and stand every test, and overcome, be the price
what it may, have heeded the counsel of the True Witness, and they will
receive the latter rain, and thus be fitted for translation.” Maranatha, 43.

1 What yearning of heart did the Saviour express in prayer the night of His
betrayal? John 17:24.
note: “Before the foundations of the earth were laid, the Father and the Son
had united in a covenant to redeem man if he should be overcome by Satan.
They had clasped Their hands in a solemn pledge that Christ should become
the surety for the human race. This pledge Christ has fulfilled. When upon the
cross He cried out, ‘It is finished,’ He addressed the Father. [John 19:30.] The
compact had been fully carried out.” The Desire of Ages, 834.

2 Before His ascension, what cheering promise did the Saviour give His
people? John 14:1–3.
note: “Long have we waited for our Saviour’s return. But nonetheless sure is
the promise. Soon we shall be in our promised home. There Jesus will lead us
beside the living stream flowing from the throne of God and will explain to us
the dark providences through which on this earth He brought us in order to
perfect our characters. There we shall behold with undimmed vision the
beauties of Eden restored. Casting at the feet of the Redeemer the crowns
that He has placed on our heads, and touching our golden harps, we shall fill
all heaven with praise to Him that sitteth on the throne.” Testimonies, vol. 8,
254.
3 What assurance did the apostle Paul give of the translation of the
righteous when Jesus appears? 1 Thessalonians 4:16–18.
note: “The living righteous are changed ‘in a moment, in the twinkling of an
eye.’ [1 Corinthians 15:52.] At the voice of God they were glorified; now they
are made immortal and with the risen saints are caught up to meet their Lord
in the air. Angels ‘gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end
of heaven to the other.’ [Matthew 24:31.] Little children are borne by holy
angels to their mothers’ arms. Friends long separated by death are united,
nevermore to part, and with songs of gladness ascend together to the City of
God.” The Great Controversy, 645.

4 What physical change will those who are translated experience? 1

Corinthians 15:51–54. What will be their spiritual condition? 1 John 3:2;
Matthew 5:8.
note: “Soon I [Ellen White] heard the voice of God which shook the heavens
and the earth. [See Joel 3:16; Hebrews 12:26; Revelation 16:17.] There was a
mighty earthquake. Buildings were shaken down, and fell on every side. I then
heard a triumphant shout of victory, loud, musical, and clear. I looked upon
this company, who, a short time before, were in such distress and bondage.
Their captivity was turned. A glorious light shone upon them. How beautiful
they then looked! All weariness and marks of care were gone; health and
beauty were seen in every countenance.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 184.

5 While the righteous will be “caught up” at the coming of the Lord, what
will be the experience of the wicked? 11 Thessalonians 1:7–10; Jeremiah
25:30–33.
note: “In the mad strife of their own fierce passions, and by the awful
outpouring of God’s unmingled wrath, fall the wicked inhabitants of the earth
priests, rulers, and people, rich and poor, high and low. [Jeremiah 25:33
quoted.]

“At the coming of Christ the wicked are blotted from the face of the whole
earth consumed with the spirit of His mouth and destroyed by the brightness
of His glory. Christ takes His people to the City of God, and the earth is
emptied of its inhabitants. [Isaiah 24:1, 3, 5, 6 quoted.]” The Great
Controversy, 657.

6 As a preparation for translation, what solemn call to a deeper

consecration comes to us from the Lord? Amos 4:12; Joel 2:11–17. How is
the same solemn call voiced by another prophet? Zephaniah 2:1–3.
note: “I [Ellen White] saw that many were neglecting the preparation so
needful and were looking to the time of ‘refreshing’ and the ‘latter rain’ to fit
them to stand in the day of the Lord and to live in His sight. Oh, how many I
saw in the time of trouble without a shelter! They had neglected the needful
preparation; therefore they could not receive the refreshing that all must have
to fit them to live in the sight of a holy God. Those who refuse to be hewed by
the prophets and fail to purify their souls in obeying the whole truth, and who
are willing to believe that their condition is far better than it really is, will come
up to the time of the falling of the plagues, and then see that they needed to
be hewed and squared for the building. But there will be no time then to do it
and no Mediator to plead their cause before the Father. . . . I saw that none
could share the ‘refreshing’ unless they obtain the victory over every
besetment, over pride, selfishness, love of the world, and over every wrong
word and action. We should, therefore, be drawing nearer and nearer to the
Lord and be earnestly seeking that preparation necessary to enable us to
stand in the battle in the day of the Lord. Let all remember that God is holy
and that none but holy beings can ever dwell in His presence.” Early Writings,
71.

7 What was Enoch’s experience before his translation? Hebrews 11:5;

Genesis 5:22–24.
note: “Pray in your closet, and as you go about your daily labor let your heart
be often uplifted to God. It was thus that Enoch walked with God.” Steps to
Christ, 98, 99.

8 What is said concerning the translation of Elijah? 11 Kings 2:9–11.

note: “Elijah was a type of the saints who will be living on the earth at the time
of the second advent of Christ and who will be ‘changed, in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trump,’ without tasting of death. 1 Corinthians
15:51, 52. It was as a representative of those who shall be thus translated that
Elijah, near the close of Christ’s earthly ministry, was permitted to stand with
Moses by the side of the Saviour on the mount of transfiguration. In these
glorified ones, the disciples saw in miniature a representation of the kingdom
of the redeemed. They beheld Jesus clothed with the light of heaven; they
heard the ‘voice out of the cloud’ (Luke 9:35), acknowledging Him as the Son
of God; they saw Moses, representing those who will be raised from the dead
at the time of the second advent; and there also stood Elijah, representing
those who at the close of earth’s history will be changed from mortal to
immortal and be translated to heaven without seeing death.” Prophets and
Kings, 227.

9 Who only will ascend into the hill of the Lord? Psalm 24:3, 4. (Compare
Psalm 15.) What description is given of those who will be redeemed from
the earth when the Lord comes? Revelation 14:1–5.
note: “I [Ellen White] was shown that quite a number who were thinking it their
duty to teach the word of God publicly had mistaken their work. They had no
call to devote themselves to this solemn, responsible work. They were not
qualified for the work of the ministry, for they could not instruct others properly.
“The experience of some had been obtained among a class of religious
fanatics who had no true sense of the exalted character of the work. The
religious experience of this class of professed Seventh-day Adventists was not
reliable. They had not firm principles underlying all their actions. They were
self-confident, and boastful. Their religion did not consist in righteous acts,
true humility of soul, and sincere devotion to God, but in impulse, in noise and
confusion, spiced with eccentricities and oddities. They had not felt, neither
could they feel, the necessity of being clothed with Christ’s righteousness.
They had a righteousness of their own, which was as filthy rags, and which
God can in no case accept. These persons had no love for union and
harmony of action. They delighted in disorder. Confusion, distraction, and
diversity of opinion were their choice. They were ungovernable, unsubdued,
unregenerated, and unconsecrated, and this element of confusion suited their
undisciplined minds. They were a curse to the cause of God and brought the
name of Seventh-day Adventists into disrepute.

“These persons had not experienced the work of reformation, or sanctification

through the truth. They were coarse and uncultivated. They had never tasted
of the sweet, pure refinement of the world to come. They had never
experienced, neither had their hearts been awed by, the mystery of godliness.
They placed divine and eternal things upon a level with common things, and
would talk of heaven and the coming of Jesus as they would of a horse. They
had a superficial knowledge or theory of the truth, but further than this they
were ignorant. Its principles had not taken hold of their lives and led them to
an abhorrence of self. . . . They had never been slain by the law of God, and
had not separated themselves from their impurities and defilement. It is the
favorite occupation of some of this class to engage in trifling conversation and
levity. This habit they contracted, and indulged upon occasions which should
have been characterized by solemn meditation and devotion. In doing this,
they manifested a lack of true dignity and refinement, and forfeited the esteem
of sensible persons who had no knowledge of the truth. This class threw
themselves into a current of temptation and kept where the enemy led them
successfully, and he has so easily controlled their minds and corrupted their
entire experience that in all probability they will be unable to recover
themselves out of his snare and obtain a healthful experience.” Testimonies,
vol. 2, 553, 554.

10 What song of victory was sung by those who were raised from the dead
and ascended with our divine Lord? Revelation 5:9, 10. (Compare
Matthew 27:50–53; Ephesians 4:8.)
note: “All heaven was waiting to welcome the Saviour to the celestial courts.
As He ascended, He led the way, and the multitude of captives set free at His
resurrection followed. The heavenly host, with shouts and acclamations of
praise and celestial song, attended the joyous train. . . .
“Then the portals of the city of God are opened wide, and the angelic throng
sweep through the gates amid a burst of rapturous music.

“There is the throne, and around it the rainbow of promise. There are
cherubim and seraphim. The commanders of the angel hosts, the sons of
God, the representatives of the unfallen worlds, are assembled. The heavenly
council before which Lucifer had accused God and His Son, the
representatives of those sinless realms over which Satan had thought to
establish his dominion, all are there to welcome the Redeemer. They are
eager to celebrate His triumph and to glorify their King.” The Desire of Ages,
833, 834.

11 What spiritual change will have been experienced by those who are
saved when the Lord comes? Colossians 1:13, 14.
note: “Satan cannot hold the dead in his grasp when the Son of God bids
them live. He cannot hold in spiritual death one soul who in faith receives
Christ’s word of power.” The Desire of Ages, 320.

12 What reward awaits the overcomer? 1 Corinthians 2:9; Psalm 17:15;

Revelation 21:3–7.
note: “Those who accept the teachings of God’s Word will not be wholly
ignorant concerning the heavenly abode. . . . Human language is inadequate
to describe the reward of the righteous. It will be known only to those who
behold it. No finite mind can comprehend the glory of the Paradise of God.”
The Story of Redemption, 430, 431.

“Eternity alone can reveal the glorious destiny to which man, restored to God’s
image, may attain.” Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, 61.

Adapted from “The Victorious Life,” Sabbath School Lesson Quarterly, Pacific
Press Publishing Association, Mountain View, California, 1924.
CategoriesBible Study GuidesTags144000, second coming, translationPost navigation

Bible Study Guides – Repentance and Confession

Editorial – The Mercy of God

The 144,000, Part III

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Who will comprise the great multitude of Revelation 7:9? In endeavoring to
answer this question, there is much speculation, and all too often people come
up with the same false answer. This does not need to be, for the correct
answer to this question is clearly revealed to us, so that there can be no need
to doubt. Ellen White applies this verse to that time after the earth has been
made new, and the ransomed are seen after they are restored to their original
homeland, the earth. Read carefully: “The seer of Patmos, looking down
through the ages to the time of this restoration of Israel in the earth made new,
testified:

“ ‘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 cried
with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne,
and unto the Lamb.’ [Revelation 7:9, 10.]” Prophets and Kings, 720, 721. It is
plain to see that the Spirit of Prophecy applies the great multitude of
Revelation 7:9 to the redeemed of all ages.

“Nearest the throne are those who were once zealous in the
cause of Satan. . . . Next are those who perfected Christian
characters in the midst of falsehood and infidelity, those who
honor the law of God when the Christian world declared it void,
and the millions of all ages, who were martyred for their faith. And
beyond is the ‘great multitude, which no man could number of all
nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, . . . before the
throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms
in their hands.’ Revelation 7:9.” The Great Controversy, 665.
We are counseled that in this end time, “many will be martyrs for Christ’s sake
in standing in defense of the truth.” Selected Messages, Book 3, 397. Note
that nearest to the throne will stand those who were once zealous in the cause
of Satan, and next to them will stand the 144,000 and the martyrs, and beyond
these are the great multitude of Revelation 7:9.

“Suffering has been the portion of the people of God from the days of the
martyr Abel. . . . None will be there who have not, like Moses, chosen to suffer
affliction with the people of God. The prophet John saw the multitude of the
redeemed, and inquired who they were. The prompt answer came, ‘These are
they who came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and
made them white in the blood of the Lamb.’ [Revelation 7:14.]” Testimonies,
vol. 1, 78.
Please note that the great multitude, as well as the 144,000, had washed their
robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. The 144,000 are a
numbered group. The large multitude, which no man can number, are the
resurrected dead from all the ages, which will include the martyrs.

Loud Cry
We now return to the theme of the sealed saints, the 144,000. Ellen White
tells us: “The message will be carried not so much by argument as by the
deep conviction of the Spirit of God. . . . Notwithstanding the agencies
combined against the truth, a large number take their stand upon the Lord’s
side.” The Great Controversy, 612.

“Men of faith and prayer will be constrained to go forth with holy zeal,
declaring the words which God gives them. . . . By these solemn warnings the
people will be stirred. Thousands upon thousands will listen who have never
heard words like these. . . .

“Thus light will be brought before thousands who otherwise would know
nothing of these truths.” Ibid., 606, 607.

“The Spirit is poured out upon all who will yield to its promptings. . . .
Multitudes will receive the faith and join the armies of the Lord.” Evangelism,
700. Oh, what a day that will be!

But what about these new converts? Will they have time to perfect the
character developments necessary to meet Jesus and live? The Spirit of
Prophecy answers this question. “But now time is almost finished, and what
we have been years learning, they will have to learn in a few months.” Early
Writings, 67. Remember the divine counsel: “With God all things are possible.”
Matthew 19:26. Under the persecutions and tribulations of the last days, the
eleventh-hour converts will accomplish in their character building in a few
months that which it has taken us years to develop. Surely some of these
converts will be numbered among the 144,000 and live to see Jesus come in
the clouds of heaven.

What is this message the saints will give to the world during the loud cry? It
will be a message that will so startle the inhabitants that they will listen. God’s
servants will present the Three Angels’ Messages, as recorded in Revelation
14, which Inspiration calls, “The most fearful threatenings ever addressed to
mortals.” The Great Controversy, 449.

This will be done, however, in the light of the saving righteousness and love of
Christ. “The message of Christ’s righteousness is to sound from one end of
the earth to the other to prepare the way of the Lord. This is the glory of God
which closes the work of the third angel.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 19.

“As the third angel’s message swells into a loud cry, great power and glory will
attend its proclamation. The faces of God’s people will shine with the light of
heaven.” Ibid., vol. 7, 17. “Servants of God, with their faces lighted up and
shining with holy consecration, will hasten from place to place to proclaim the
message from heaven. 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. Satan also works with lying wonders, even
bringing down fire from heaven in the sight of men. Revelation 13:13.”
Maranatha, 20. Thus, the inhabitants of the earth will be brought to take their
stand.

Christ Our Righteousness

The 144,000 living saints are described as “first fruits” of the redeemed. The
Scripture says, “And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine
linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.”
Revelation 19:8.

However, the saints will ever be aware that they have no intrinsic
righteousness of their own, that their own righteousness is as filthy rags. They
know the King of kings furnished the beautiful wedding garments they are
wearing. They will declare of themselves, “I have no righteousness of my own,
but Christ is my righteousness.” Review and Herald, August 5, 1890.

“One interest will prevail, one subject will swallow up every other,—Christ our
righteousness.” Review and Herald, December 23, 1890. “In that day shall the
branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth [shall
be] excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. 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.”
Isaiah 4:2, 3.

A Perfect Picture
After the last saint is sealed, but not until then, probation will close for the
inhabitants of the wicked world. The seven last plagues will fall, after which
Jesus will come. Then the great multitude is resurrected. Can you imagine the
excitement? For when Jesus comes, the 144,000 will watch the graves of the
righteous open, and they will recognize loved ones who are resurrected.

A word picture of this event is given to us by Ellen White: “Then Jesus’ silver
trumpet sounded, as He descended on the cloud, wrapped in flames of fire.
He gazes on the graves of the sleeping saints, then raising His eyes and
hands to heaven, and cries, ‘Awake! Awake! Awake! ye that sleep in the dust,
and arise.’ Then there was a mighty earthquake. The graves opened and the
dead came up clothed in immortality. The 144,000 shouted ‘Alleluia!’ as they
recognized their friends who had been torn from them by death, and in the
same moment we are changed and caught up together with them to meet the
Lord in the air.” Early Writings, 16.

Then it is that the 144,000 and the great multitude of the resurrected dead
ascend to heaven together. “As Enoch was translated to heaven before the
destruction of the world by water, so the living righteous will be translated from
the earth before its destruction by fire. Says the apostle: ‘We shall not all
sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at
the last trump. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God; the trumpet shall
sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed.’
‘The dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be
caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so
shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these
words.’ 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52. 1 Thessalonians 4:16−18.” Patriarchs and
Prophets, 89. Finally all will be over, and the saints can enjoy and explore
their new world.

This brings us to a most beautiful setting, as described by Ellen White in her

visit to the New Earth in vision, where she saw the 144,000 and the martyrs
for their faith. “Mount Zion was just before us, and on the mount was a
glorious temple, and about it were seven other mountains, on which grew
roses and lilies. And I saw the little ones climb, or, if they chose, use their little
wings and fly, to the top of the mountains and pluck the never-fading flowers.
There were all kinds of trees around the temple to beautify the place: the box,
the pine, the fir, the oil, the myrtle, the pomegranate, and the fig tree bowed
down with the weight of its timely figs—these made the place all over glorious.
And as we were about to enter the holy temple, Jesus raised His lovely voice
and said, ‘Only the 144,000 enter this place.’ And we shouted, ‘Alleluia.’

“This temple was supported by seven pillars, all of transparent

gold, set with pearls most glorious. The wonderful things I saw
there I cannot describe. Oh, that I could talk in the language of
Canaan, then could I tell a little of the glory of the better world. I
saw there tables of stone in which the names of the 144,000
were engraved in letters of gold. After we beheld the glory of the
temple, we went out, and Jesus left us and went to the city. Soon
we heard His lovely voice saying, ‘Come, My people, you have
come out of great tribulation, and have done My will; suffered for
Me; come in to the supper, for I will gird Myself, and serve you.’
We shouted, ‘Alleluia! glory!’ and entered the city.” Early Writings,
19.
From this, we learn that the 144,000 are to receive special honor throughout
eternity. They are to follow the Lamb wherever He goes. What honor could be
greater? She continues, “As we were traveling along we met a company who
also were gazing at the glories of the place. I noticed red as a border on their
garments. Their crowns were brilliant. Their robes were pure white. As we
greeted them I asked Jesus who they were. He said they were martyrs that
had been slain for Him. With them was also an innumerable company of little
ones. They also had a hem of red on their garments.” Ibid., 18. We learn from
this that the martyrs will also receive special honor throughout eternity.

God Vindicated
God’s character and government will finally be vindicated. “Satan has
declared to his synagogue that man cannot keep the commandments of God.
One soul saved would prove that statement false.” Manuscript Releases, vol.
18, 94.

Although we will be perfectly satisfied, everyone with his position and sanction
in heaven, still Ellen White admonishes, “Strive to be among the 144,000.”
And how do we strive? Of first importance, we must strive to put an end to sin
in our lives; to cleanse our souls of every defilement so that we can be
prepared to receive the latter rain and the seal of the living God.

Ellen White sums it all up in these words,

“Let us strive with all the power that God has given us to be
among the hundred and forty-four thousand.” Review and Herald,
March 9, 1905.
For over 60 years Pastor Lawrence Nelson served as an evangelist and
minister for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Of that time, he served 13
years as the director of evangelism for youth at the General Conference of
Seventh-day Adventists. Upon retirement from the General Conference, he
continued to pastor, but when, as a result of his stand for truth, he was denied
the opportunity to continue his pastorate, he started Keep the Faith Audio
Tape Ministry, recording his sermons and making them available to
individuals. Before his retirement from this ministry in 2004, over 18,000 audio
tapes were being sent around the world each month.
CategoriesBibleTags144000, redeemed, savedPost navigation

Escaping Shipwreck of the Home

Children’s Story – What One Boy Did

Facing The Crisis – When God Speaks Seven
Times
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Ready or not we have finally arrived in the end time when every person who is
alive on earth will behold the most thrilling event ever witnessed by mortals.
The Bible portrays this in these cataclysmic words found in 2 Peter 3:10–12.
“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the
heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons
ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness. Looking for and hasting
unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be
dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.”

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God
and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” Titus 2:13. As we envision the Second Coming
of Jesus, as pictured by inspiration, we need God’s mighty Spirit to impress us
with the conviction that now is the time to prepare for the final revival and
reformation that will enable us to go home with Jesus when He comes.

Preparing for the Second Coming

Let us contemplate how God has invited you and me to prepare for the
Second Coming by giving us three separate messages as found in Revelation
14 which, if followed and obeyed, will prepare us to be ready for this
cataclysmic event.

The First Angel begins with the good news of the everlasting gospel, revealing
a loving Saviour who made possible on Calvary the redemption for every
nation, kindred, tongue and people. This angel declares that a judgment is
now taking place in heaven’s sanctuary in which Christ, our High Priest, is
able to forgive and take away our sins. It is a call to those who would be saved
to worship God as Creator by keeping holy the seventh day Sabbath.

The Second Angel sounds an alarming message, warning us of a worldwide

structure of religious systems which have become drunk with the traditions of
paganism by drinking of the cup extended through the ecumenical movement
which has been brewed by Roman Catholicism. God declares that this world
power is Babylon, which has fallen from Biblical truths.

God’s Last Call

Finally a Third Angel gives God’s last call, to all who would be saved, to totally
separate from Babylon’s pagan doctrines, because God’s wrath is soon to be
poured out upon all who worship the beast of Babylon or who make an image
to her customs and traditions. This is absolutely God’s last call for every
individual to never accept the mark of the beast when Babylon will make it a
law to keep Sunday as a holy sabbath day.
Such pleadings of God, who desires all to be saved, concludes with a call for
each individual to become a part of His remnant church. This church is
described by the angel as a people who keep the commandments of God and
have the faith of Jesus. They believe that, through His mighty power, He can
give you victory over every known sin and make ready a people who stand
unafraid when they hear God speak seven times at the Second Coming of
Christ.

These people will be ready, together with God’s sleeping saints, to be

gathered together with Jesus to go to the eternal home that He has prepared
for them. The following details I have gleaned from the Bible and the Spirit of
Prophecy and especially from the chapter in The Great Controversy entitled,
“God’s People Delivered.” Everyone loves a thrilling story of what has taken
place in the past, but this amazing true story is yet to take place.
Some day very, very soon, in a day just like our days, when people are buying
and selling, building homes and mighty skyscrapers, conducting weddings and
getting divorced; in a day of unstoppable crime of every description, men’s
thoughts continually dwelling on evil. In such a time when the majority defy
God and His law by preaching that God is such a God of love that all anyone
needs to do is just believe, in such a time as this, suddenly a darkness,
deeper than any night ever experienced, will come to this old world, and to the
amazement of all, a great rainbow will be seen in the heavens that will encircle
the entire earth.

God Speaks
And that is not all. A small rainbow will hover over each small group of
commandment keepers. Then it happens. God speaks for the first time. As He
speaks, He will shake the earth with just two words, “Look up!”

Immediately the black clouds of total darkness will part, and the living saints
obey God’s command. They will look up into the heavens and see God the
Father and Christ the Son seated on their thrones. The saints will listen to the
conversation between the Father and the Son as Jesus speaks: “Father, I will
that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am.” John
17:24.

When we hear these words, we shall give a shout of victory not heard since
the deliverance at the Red Sea in the days of Moses. The time is at midnight.
Signs and wonders will appear as the sun shines forth in all its glory. The
wicked will be filled with terror. Streams will cease to flow. Angry clouds will fill
the heavens, but there remains one clear spot filled with indescribable glory.

God Responds to Christ’s Plea

This is the moment when God speaks the second time with these
unforgettable words: “It is done!” Just three short words in answer to the
request of Jesus. Suddenly there is a mighty worldwide earthquake as foretold
in Revelation 16:18. “And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and
there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the
earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.” Mountains are shaken like
blades of grass in the wind. The whole earth convulses in destruction. Ragged
rocks are hurled in every direction. The sea boils like a pot.

Mountains sink beneath the earth’s surface and islands disappear. The whole
earth heaves and swells like the ocean. Seaports, which have become like
Sodom in wickedness, are swallowed up. Great hailstones, over 50 pounds in
weight, drop from the sky and the earth’s proudest cities are destroyed.

Prison walls crumble, setting free God’s faithful who have been imprisoned for
their faith. Then another wonderful surprise. A special resurrection takes place
as some of the graves open all over the earth as the Bible foretold. “And many
of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting
life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Daniel 12:2.

At this time all who have died in the faith of the Third Angel’s Message arise,
glorified. What a moment! There will also be a special resurrection of those
who condemned and crucified Jesus. This resurrection will include a third
class who were the most violent oppressors of God’s truth. They are to see
the redeemed rescued and honored.

Thundering Doom Pronounced

Revelation 1:7 tells us “Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall
see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall
wail because of Him.” As sheets of flame envelope the earth, God now speaks
for the third time, declaring the doom of the wicked. His words are not
comprehended by all, but they are distinctly understood by the false teachers
who are overwhelmed in fear. Even the demons are terrified.
This is the moment spoken of by the prophets of old, “Enter into the rock, and
hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty. The
lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be
bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of
the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon
every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:…In that day a man
shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one
for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; To go into the clefts of the
rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the
glory of His majesty, when He ariseth to shake terribly the earth.” Isaiah 2:10-
12, 20, 21.

Amid the wails of these false watchmen and the fear of demons who now
openly acknowledge the deity of Christ, God does not forget His faithful few.
Amid a rift in the clouds a star shines forth four times brighter than the
darkness. This is to encourage the saints with hope and joy amid such
cataclysmic events. The faithful become aglow with wonder and faith and love.

They repeat the promise; “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help
in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and
though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters
thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling
thereof.” Psalm 46:1-3.

Pen of Fire
As God listens to His saints, He commands the clouds to part so that the glory
of the New Jerusalem shines upon His faithful. Oh, what a God! How
wonderful! Next God spreads His TV screen across the heavens. Two hands
will be seen, each holding a table of stone. As every living soul watches, a pen
of fire traces each word of the Ten Commandments. Can you see them as
they are traced one by one in the heavens?

“Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” Instantly millions will realize that
there god has been the riches of gold and silver. Others will see that they
have worshipped sports, sex, even the theater as their god.

And now the second commandment: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any
graven image.…Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them.” Too late the
pagans and the misled Catholics will see that God means exactly what He
says in His law.

Next the finger of fire traces, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy
God in vain. …” Those who have made a habit of swearing discover how
wrong they were.
And then the wicked will tremble as the finger of fire traces the words,
“Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and
do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it
thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy
manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within
thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all
that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the
Sabbath day, and hallowed it.”

Billions of the earth’s inhabitants will discover that God has not altered these
words from His lips. Too late they see that Sunday keeping has been inspired
by Satan.

And then the youth will tremble for they shall see the words “Honor thy father
and thy mother.”

Then appear the words traced in fire, “Thou shalt not kill,” followed by the
words, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” These commanding words disprove
beyond question the present consensus that abortion makes things right with
God. Now they see that it is a terrible lie. Those who live together, without
benefit of marriage, will be speechless.

Then the pen of fire concludes, “Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false
witness. Thou shalt not covet ….” Too late all will recognize that God’s law is
eternal, a transcript of His character, that this law is the basis upon which God
judges between life and death. It is impossible to describe the hour of despair
of those who have trampled upon God’s requirements.

Too Late, Too Late!

Too late the enemies of God’s law, especially the false ministers and priests,
see that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is the very seal of the living
God. Too late they now see the true nature of Sunday keeping, that it is the
mark of the beast which God warned against. Now the voice of God is heard
for the fourth time, declaring the day and the hour of the coming of Christ.

Hope fills the heart of every saint. Their faces shine like that of Moses as he
descended the mount. God also pronounces a blessing upon Sabbath
keepers. The saints respond with a shout of victory. Soon there appears in the
east a small cloud. It is a cloud of angels surrounding the Saviour. Because of
the distance, it appears shrouded in darkness, but it soon becomes brighter
and more glorious as they behold the King of kings, coming as a mighty
Conqueror surrounded by countless angels.

Who Shall be Able to Stand?

Every eye beholds Him. As the saints see the beauty of His character, they
cry out, “Who shall be able to stand before Him?” Suddenly the angels stop
their singing. The whole universe awaits God’s answer. It is here that God
speaks for the fifth time in answer to the saints’ question. He speaks those
loving words; “My grace is sufficient for you.” At these words the angels
rejoice in songs of victory.

The righteous are filled with unutterable joy as the Saviour descends in clouds
wrapped in flaming fire. “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire
shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him.”
Psalm 50:3. This is the time when “…the kings of the earth, and the great
men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every
bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of
the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us
from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the
Lamb.” Revelation 6:15, 16.

And now God speaks for the sixth time, not to the righteous but to the wicked,
to awaken their memory that He has done everything possible that they might
be saved. He declares, “…I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out
My hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all My counsel, and
would none of My reproof.” Proverbs 1:24, 25.

These words bring to memory warnings despised, invitations refused,

privileges slighted. As Pilate listens, he remembers his own words when he
said, “I find no fault in Him.” Haughty Herod recalls how he mocked the
Saviour. Those very hands which placed the crown of thorns on Jesus now
tremble. The soldiers, who drove the nails and pierced His side, try to hide.

The very same priests who cried “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” are now
speechless. These, together with today’s ministers who declare that you do
not have to obey God’s law and that you can sin until Jesus comes, all such,
together with the earth’s wicked, are consumed with the brightness of Christ’s
coming.

A Mighty Army Awakes

And now for the seventh and last time the voice of God loudly cries out,
“Awake! Awake! Ye that sleep in the dust of the earth. Arise.” Instantly the
whole earth rings with the tread of an exceeding great army from every nation,
kindred and tongue. Together these risen, immortal righteous and the
remaining living righteous unite in a great shout of victory. Oh, what wonderful
victory over sin and death for these living righteous are now made immortal in
a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.
“Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in
the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
1 Thessalonians 4:17. For the next seven days we shall travel to heaven. All
will celebrate the Sabbath before entering the Holy City. As our journey ends
on the Sea of Glass just outside the City, Jesus gathers the redeemed around
Him.

Home at Last!
Try to catch this picture with me. Jesus is crowned with seven crowns and
with His own hand he places a crown upon each saint, upon which is
imprinted a new name. Then the angels give a golden harp to each of the
redeemed who will skillfully play and sing in unison.

“And I saw as it were a Sea of Glass mingled with fire: and them that had
gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and
over the number of his name, stand on the Sea of Glass, having the harps of
God. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of
the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just
and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.” Revelation 15:2, 3.

And now the city becomes the center of attraction. Standing on the Sea of
Glass we shall behold its walls made of jasper with twelve foundations. It is a
city with no night, just never-ending day. Jesus opens those great pearly gates
and bids us enter in to walk on streets of gold, which lead us to that great
white throne. Picture with me the rainbow above the throne and the river of life
flowing out beneath the throne.

It is here that Jesus presents us to God the Father that we may take the place
of the fallen angels. Adam, who is some 14 to 16 feet tall, represents the
redeemed. He stands but a little lower than Jesus. The Saviour points him to
the Garden of Eden, and “Transported with joy, he beholds the trees that were
once his delight—the very trees whose fruit he himself had gathered in the
days of his innocence and joy. He sees the vines that his own hands have
trained, the very flowers that he once loved to care for. His mind grasps the
reality of the scene; he comprehends that this is indeed Eden restored, more
lovely now than when he was banished from it. The Saviour leads him to the
tree of life and plucks the glorious fruit and bids him eat. He looks about him
and beholds a multitude of his family redeemed, standing in the Paradise of
God. Then he casts his glittering crown at the feet of Jesus and, falling upon
His breast, embraces the Redeemer. He touches the golden harp, and the
vaults of heaven echo the triumphant song: ‘Worthy, worthy, worthy is the
Lamb that was slain, and lives again!’ The family of Adam take up the strain
and cast their crowns at the Saviour’s feet as they bow before Him in
adoration.” The Great Controversy, 648.
Oh, beloved, never forget. What Jesus did for Adam He can do for you and for
me. “Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you
faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” Jude 24.

Come Sit with Me in My Father’s Throne

And now a most precious promise is to take place. Are you ready for this? It is
unbelievable but true. Christ now assumes His place with the Father on the
great white throne. As He looks over the redeemed, that number as the stars
of heaven, as He looks over the vast multitude, He sees you, and He lovingly
asks you to come up to the throne, to ascend the stairs and to sit on the
throne with God.

Are you astonished? Do you not remember? “To him that overcometh will I
grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down
with My Father in His throne.” Revelation 3:21. Oh, what a marvelous
salvation! Praise the Lord!

Dear Child of God, I cannot, I must not conclude this godly message without
making a special appeal to you in the name of Jesus. Will you just now give
your heart anew to such a loving Saviour who died for you that you might live
with Him? I urge you to determine right now, this moment, that when the mark
of the beast, so soon to be enforced by law, is passed, that you will stand firm
and be faithful to God’s commandments no matter what the cost may be.
CategoriesSalvationTagssecond coming, speak, thunderPost navigation

None But These Will Stand

Changes

Habits are Forever

Have you ever wondered what makes a person who he is? When Jesus
comes, our bodies will be changed when the mortal body, that we now have,
puts on immortality. (See 1 Corinthians 13 and 15.) But we will still be the
same people, even though our appearances will have changed. Do you know
why? It is because what makes us who we are is our character, and this
character is formed by our habits.
When Jesus comes, I am sure that we will not recognize some people.
Imagine someone who was very old, and who was deformed because of an
accident. When you meet them, all the scars will be gone and they will appear
young and healthier than they ever were during their life on this earth. You
probably would not recognize them by their appearance, but you will know
them because they will have the same habits and personality as they had
when you knew them in this world.

Job knew that he would be the same person when He met His God. While he
lay suffering from boils all over his body, he looked forward to the great day
when he would meet his Maker. He said about this, “Whom I shall see for
myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns
within me.” Job 19:27. Job’s body was so sick and wounded that he may not
have been recognizable to his friends, but when Jesus comes, he will not
have any boils, he will have a completely new, healthy body. Yet, he will still
be the same person. He will have the same thoughts, the same emotions and
the same habits that he had in this life.

“We shall be individually, for time and eternity, what our habits make
us.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 452. Now that can be a very wonderful thought if our
habits are good, or it can be a rather discouraging thought if our habits are not
good. Thank the Lord that our habits can change, because every one of us
has some habits that we would like to change. However, changing our habits
is not an easy thing to do. Jeremiah wrote, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin
or the leopard his spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to
do evil.” Jeremiah 13:23. Day by day, as we form habits, they become more
and more firmly established and some day,when we are sealed, they will
never be able to be changed. Either we will be sealed with good habits or we
will be sealed with bad habits.
However, there is no need to become disheartened. The Lord can help us do
what looks impossible to us, and would be impossible for us if we had only our
own strength. Later, in this article, we will study how the Lord can help us do
the seemingly impossible, but first I would like to look at one other aspect of
habits that we need to study carefully.

What We Might Have Become

Did you know that there are not only bad habits, which will keep us out of
Heaven if they are not overcome, but also good habits which we need to
cultivate. But there are some habits that may not be such that they would keep
us out of heaven, but they could greatly affect us throughout eternity. For
years, I struggled with what it means when it describes these habits in Christ’s
Object Lessons, 363. Consider it with me carefully, and we will see if we can
better understand it. “For all that we might become through the right use of our
talents God holds us responsible. We shall be judged according to what we
ought to have done, but did not accomplish because we did not use our
powers to glorify God. Even if we do not lose our souls, we shall realize in
eternity the result of our unused talents. For all the knowledge and ability that
we might have gained and did not, there will be an eternal loss.” Christ’s
Object Lessons, 363.
I read and re-read that passage, and wondered, How could that be? How
could it be through the billions and billions of years of eternity that there would
be an eternal loss because I did not develop some talent here on earth? If I do
not learn to play the piano well here, I will have a million years to practice up
there. What difference does it make? If I do not learn to speak correctly here, I
will have a million years to learn there. All that really matters is that I make it
there. Right?” And yet, this statement startled me. I thought, “What in the
world does this mean? Could I get to heaven and yet not have all that I could
have and have to endure some eternal loss?”

I also pondered over what Paul says about this in 1 Corinthians 3:11–15: “For
no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Christ
Jesus. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious
stones, hay, wood or straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the day will
declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s
work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work, which he has built on it endures, he
will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he
himself will be saved, yet as through fire.”

Paul is here talking about people who will be saved in heaven, but they will be
saved with a loss. Jesus taught in the parable of the talents that the one who
had the most talents was given another one. Could it be that those who
develop their talents in this life will receive more talents in heaven? That
seems to be indicated in Mathew 10 and Matthew 25. But it goes even beyond
that. We take our characters with us to heaven. Those characters that are
firmly established on earth will be the characters that will last throughout
eternity.

Why is it that those who do poorly in grade school continue to do poorly in

high school and college? Is it simply because they do not have the knowledge
to make it? No, it is because the habits they developed in grade school go on
with them to high school and the habits they had in high school go on with
them to college.

Young people go to college and think, “I have not done well in the past, but
now I will turn over a new leaf.” I tried to do this, and it was one of the hardest
things I have ever done. I had to seek the Lord’s help, and I thank Him that He
brought me through.

Some young people come to college with such poor habits that they flunk.
(That is like those who will not make it to heaven at all.) Others have not
developed the best habits, but at least they make it through college by
plodding along. And although they never really develop their abilities to the
utmost, they at least still graduate. And yet, throughout their lives, they carry a
loss because they did not learn all that they could have.

There is one more group of college students. These are the ones who have
learned to utilize their time, learned to concentrate, developed their memory
and learned how to listen during their early school years, and they carry these
skills into their college-years. They are blessed throughout life. This is the way
it will be in heaven. Some will not make it at all because they have developed
such bad habits. But others, who have not developed specific bad habits, but
have not developed all the talents God has given them, when they get to
heaven they will carry the loss throughout eternity.

Habits Seldom Changed

When is the easiest time for habits to be developed? Sister White counseled
parents in Child Guidance: “What the child sees and hears is drawing deep
lines upon the tender mind, which no after circumstance in life can entirely
efface. The intellect is now taking shape, and the affections receiving direction
and strength. Repeated acts in a given course become habits. These may be
modified by severe training, in after life, but they are seldom changed.” Child
Guidance, 199–200.
You know by your own experience that this is true. Very few people ever
change the habits they develop in their youth. These habits are retained
throughout life, usually with little modification. However, God’s prophet did not
leave us without hope. Although these bad habits are “seldom changed,” it is
not impossible to change them if we allow God’s spirit to work in our hearts.

Yet it is true that the older one gets, the harder it is to change. But we cannot
let this be an excuse. Hard or not, now is the time to make the needed
changes. If a person is fifty years old they may say, “I am too old to change
now. If I were fifteen years old, I could have done it. But I guess I will just have
to wait until I get to heaven to change my habits.” That will not happen!

If it is hard to change after fifty years, how hard do you think it will be to
change after five hundred or five thousand years? Now is the time to change
our characters. Someone says, “Oh, heaven is not like that. Whatever we
have been like here, if we simply make it, somehow we will immediately be
little saints when we get to heaven.”

Lucifer found a way to become discontented, rebellious and jealous. It all

happened in heaven, which shows that it can go on there. That is why God
has to make sure that our characters are developed here so that we will be
safe to be saved in heaven. Our characters will not be changed after we arrive
in heaven. The personality that we have here is the personality that we will
have there. Job said, “When God comes, I will see Him for myself. It will be
me, not someone else.” It will be our characters that we take to heaven—if we
get there, by God’s grace.

Character Fit for Heaven

The following are several quotations from the pen of inspiration on this
subject. Here we can see exactly what God’s expectations are for us. “We are
here to form perfect characters for heaven.” Review and Herald, July 13.
1886.
“An important work is before us. We are to obtain a moral fitness for
heaven.” Review and Herald, July 6, 1886. That is what this life is all about.
Just like college is to prepare us intellectually to carry on a business or a
profession, so this life is the fitting up place for heaven.
“Those who would be saints in heaven, must first be saints upon the earth; for
when we leave this earth, we shall take our characters with us.” Review and
Herald, August 19, 1890. Whatever you want to be like in heaven, that is what
you must be like here.
Heaven will be a happy place for everyone that gets there, because no one
will get there that has not learned to be happy. In Signs of the
Times, November 14, 1892, we read: “Let no unkind words fall from the lips of
those who compose the home circle. Make the atmosphere fragrant with
tender thoughtfulness of others. Only those will enter heaven who in
probationary time have formed a character that breathed a heavenly influence.
The saint in heaven must first be a saint upon the earth. The habits of speech,
the character of our actions, put a mold upon us; and that which we cultivate
in our association with others in this life, goes down into the grave with us, and
will be unchanged when we shall come up from the grave. Many are deceiving
themselves by thinking that the character will be transformed at the coming of
Christ; but there will be no conversion of heart at His appearing. Our defects
of character must here be repented of, and through the grace of Christ we
must overcome them while probation shall last. This is the place for fitting up
for the family above.”
“How long a time are you designing to take to prepare to be
introduced into the society of heavenly angels in glory. In the
state which you and your family are in at present, all heaven
would be marred should you be introduced therein. The work for
you must be done here. This earth is the fitting up place. You
have not one moment to lose. All is harmony, peace, and love in
heaven. No discord, no strife, no censoring, no unloving words,
no clouded brows, no jars there; and no one will be introduced
there who possesses any of these elements so destructive to
peace and happiness. Study to be rich in good works, ready to
distribute, willing to communicate, laying up for yourselves a
good foundation against the time to come that you may lay hold
on everlasting life.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 705–706.
“What can be done for you? Do you design to wait until Jesus comes in the
clouds of heaven Will He make you all over new when He comes? Oh, no, this
will not be done then. The fitting up must be done here. All the hewing and
squaring must take place here upon earth in the hours of probation. You must
be fitted up here; the last blow must be given here.” Ellen White, The
Progressive Years, 95.
The longer one waits to begin the overcoming process, the more difficult it
becomes. But thank the Lord that no one is so old and so entrenched in habits
that God cannot change him or her if they really want to change. God has
promised extra grace—grace sufficient for every need.

This extra measure of grace is given to us through the ministry of the Holy
Spirit and the angels, and their help is available in this life only. We have not
been promised these extra gifts in heaven, for it is here in this life that the
grace is needed. Without this added grace, we are in the situation that Paul
described in Romans 7: “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing
good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I
do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do.” Romans 7:18, 19.

Paul realized that without help, he could do nothing at all about his evil
tendencies. So what did he do? Did he just sit back and say, “Well, God, you
will just have to accept me as I am because I cannot change. I know that you
will take care of perfecting my character when I get to heaven.” No, he cried,
“Oh wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I
thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Romans 7: 24, 25. He realized
that alone he could do nothing, and that he could not take his sinful character
to heaven. So, he looked to Christ as his hope.

Overcoming With the Spirit

Paul explained more about this hope in Romans 8: “For what the law could not
do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in
the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,
that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not
walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:3, 4.

Paul had some habits of the flesh that he wanted to overcome, but could not
in his own strength. Have you ever been convicted about something that
needed to be changed in your life, but you have tried and found you cannot
change? That is where Paul was. Some have been convicted about smoking.
They have tried and tried and they just cannot break it. They are slaves to this
wicked habit. Other people are impatient. They do not want to be nor do they
mean to be patient. But they try hard and they are still impatient. It is
seemingly impossible to overcome the habit. Some are afflicted with habits of
laziness. They do not have enough get-up-and-go to even read their Bibles or
the Spirit of Prophecy. There are still others who have developed habits of lust
over years and years. They are constantly thinking thoughts of lust and they
cannot break free from them. And the list of evil habits that we have goes on
and on: gluttony, fretfulness, worrying, daydreaming, envying, etc.

We want to overcome but we cannot, just as it was with Paul. What is our only
hope? Paul tells us: “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by
the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Romans 8:13.
There has to be a new birth in each of our lives. There must be a crucifying of
the old life and a resurrection to a new life. Jesus came down to make this
possible. Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say unto you, unless one is born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3.

It takes the crucifixion, death and burial of the old life, and a resurrection to a
new life of holiness. Is that possible? Paul said, “I can do all things through
Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13. This is not just an empty
phrase. It is a promise, and it is guaranteed by the infinite power of the God of
the universe.

Replacing the Old with the New

We must put off our acquired habits that do not reflect the sunshine of
obedience and the trust of heaven. Yet we must not just give up our bad
habits; we must also develop good habits. The Christian life is not just a
matter of “Don’t do this or don’t do that.” It also involves developing what is
good.

It is not good enough to simply overcome fretfulness. We must then go on to

cultivate cheerfulness. It is not good enough to just overcome lust. We must
then learn to develop the true, holy and sanctified love that God wants each
one of us to have. It is not good enough to just overcome worrying; we must
develop a faith that will carry us through every trial and every perplexity. It is
not good enough to just overcome grumbling. We must develop an attitude of
praise and thanksgiving that, as Paul said, is thankful in every situation.

The parable in Luke 11:24–26 is about a man who had an unclean spirit. (That
means he had bad habits that he could not overcome. And these were such
bad habits that the devil actually took over his life in some of these areas.)
The Lord came and cast out the demon and set this man free. The demon
then went out from this man, it says in verse 24, and went “through dry places,
seeking rest; and finding none.” So then this demon said, “I will return to my
house from which I came. And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in
order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than
himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man was
worse than the first. “You cannot have an empty life forever. Sooner or later
that vacuum will be filled with something. If it is not filled with what is good, it
will be filled with what is evil. Today is the only day that God has given us to
develop habits that will make us the kind of people that will be happy in
heaven throughout eternity.

When Jesus comes there will be two classes of people: those who have
changed and those who have remained the same. “Therefore if anyone is in
Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things
have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Again recall the statement that we looked at in the beginning,

from Testimonies, vol. 4, 452. “We shall be individually for time and for
eternity what our habits make us.” Stop and think about the habits that you
have formed throughout your life. What habits do you have that must be
overcome, that will keep you from entering heaven? What talents have you
neglected developing? Do you want to suffer an eternal loss because you did
not gain all the knowledge or ability you might have?
Let us fix our minds on the goal to be won, and press toward the mark. Now is
the probationary time that we have been allotted. Do not despair, my dear
friend, our Savior and all the host of heaven are near to help you in this work.
No one is too weak or too sinful to be saved if they will fully surrender
themselves to God. This is my prayer for each of you.
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