THE SEAL OF GOD

What does the Bible say about God's seal?

Revelation 7:2 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,
7:3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

Revelation 9:4 ...the seal of God in their foreheads.

Ez. 9:4 Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.

Revelation 3:12 Him that overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

Revelation 14:1 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.
Revelation 22:4 22:4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God stands sure, having this seal, The Lord knows them that are his. And, Let every one that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

2 Cor. 1:22 Who has also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

Eph. 1:13 You believed, You were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph. 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.


Ancient seals:
Esther 8:8 ...for the writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring,
Daniel 6:17 the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed

Isaiah 29:11 Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:

Quote:

"What are you doing . . . 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. Now is the time to prepare. The seal of God will never be placed upon the forehead of an impure man or woman. It will never be placed upon the forehead of the ambitious, world-loving man or woman. It will never be placed upon the forehead of men or women of false tongues or deceitful hearts. All who receive the seal must be without spot before God--candidates for heaven. {FLB 288.3}

The question arises -- is the Sabbath the seal or is the work the Holy Spirit does in transforming us, the seal?

Answer -- it's BOTH the Sabbath and the Holy Spirit transforming our characters.

Now, there is a difference between the final apocalyptic seal, and the Gospel seal that all who sincerely committed their lives to Christ receive.

While the two are not the same, the apocalyptic seal is totally dependent on the work of the Gospel of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit within the individuals life. Without the gospel seal, none will receive the apocalyptic seal!

There are three things to look at:
1. There is the process of sealing
2. There is Someone doing the sealing
3. There is the visible sign or seal itself, a test that reveals the sealing process was done.

The Holy Spirit and the Sealing

Scripture shows that the Holy Spirit is involved, but what part does He play?

The Holy Spirit's job is to sanctify us.

1 Peter 1:2 We are sanctified by the Spirit unto obedience
1 Peter 1:22 We are purified in obeying the truth, through the
Spirit in sincere love and pure heart.
2 Thess. 2:13 God chose us for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit
1 Thess. 4:7,8 God called us for cleanness and holiness, if we reject this
we reject not man, but God who has sent His Spirit.

How does the Spirit sanctify us?
John 14:17 He dwells within us if we ask in Christ's name
John 14:26 He will teach us all things
John 16:8 He will convict us of sin, of righteousness and judgment
John 16:13 The Spirit of truth will guide you into all truth: he will show you things to come.
John 16.14 He shall glorify Christ and help people know Him:
Romans 8:2 He frees us from law of sin and death
? that other law lodged in our flesh,
which wars against the God's law of righteousness-Romans 7:23)
Romans 8:5 He sets our minds on the things of God
Romans 8:13 Through the Spirit we put to death the deeds of the body
Romans 8:26 He helps us in our weaknesses
Romans 8:29 He conforms us to the image of God
1 Cor. 2:13,14 He teaches us spiritual things, helping us to discern spiritual things
2 Cor. 3:3 He writes God's ways on our hearts
Hebs. 8:10 He writes God's laws on our hearts
Hebs. 10:15-16 He puts God's laws into our hearts and minds
2 Cor. 3:18 He transforms us into the image of the Lord
as we behold as in a mirror the glory of Christ
Eph. 3:16 He strengthens us in the inner man
Eph. 3:17 He roots and grounds us in the love of Christ
Eph. 3:18 He helps us comprehend the breadth, length,
depth and height of the love of Christ which passes knowledge
that we might be filled with the fulness of God.
Eph. 5:9 He develops in us the fruit of the Spirit which is all
goodness, righteousness and truth

We are sealed by the Holy Spirit
Eph. 1:13 Having believed in Christ we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise.
Eph. 4:25-30 So put away lying, anger, stealing, bad language
and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you
are sealed for the day of Redemption.

The sealing process is done by Christ through the Holy Spirit and this process is the process of sanctification. The sealing process is being led into a life of obedience to God's laws by the Holy Spirit, and kept there by the Holy Spirit's power.

THE APOCALYPTIC SEAL
The apostle John, in the Revelation of Christ, sees an angel with a commission from Jesus, swiftly flying to the four angels who had the work of holding back the winds of destructive forces which threaten to hurt earth, crying with a loud voice--"Hold,! Hold! Hold! Hold! Hurt not the earth! Not yet! Not yet! Not until the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads." (Revelation 7:1-3)

"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." 4BC 1161 (1902).

This seal means a person belongs to Christ and cannot be moved. They will have Divine protection during the plagues. They are like a document stamped by the King's seal that no one can open and change.

THE SABBATH

Eze. 20:12 I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them.

True Sabbath keepers look to Jesus for sanctification

A seal is a sign of ownership or authority over something. When a king places his seal on a document it shows that it is his communication. So it will be in the last days. All will have a seal or sign showing who they belong to. Revelation describes the saints as those who keep God's commandments and the faith of Jesus. All the commandments are important, but the forth contains the seal.

True observance of the Sabbath is the sign of loyalty to God.--7BC 981 (1899).

The work of the Holy Spirit is to cause us to love God's laws and God's ways. To love God.
His work is to transform our lives to walk in all His ways.

Ezekiel 36:27 God promised to put His spirit within us, and cause us to walk in His statutes, and we shall keep His judgments and do them. And Revelation 12:27 and 14:12 tell us the "saints" or God's "remnant people" keep God's commandments.

THE MARK OF THE BEAST

Revelation 13 tells us this mark is about WORSHIP!
The mark of the beast is a serious offense against God ? it is a direct challenge to His authority. People do not lose their salvation because they buy and sell. God would not send His most solemn warning against the use of a credit card or shopping number, or even an implanted micro chip. No these prophecies have to do with worship and with God's commandments. The fourth commandment is the only one that deals specifically with worship, and it is alluded to in Rev. 14:7. WORSHIP Him who created heaven and earth. Ex. 20:8-10 Remember the Sabbath day. . .The Seventh day. . .For in six days God created the heavens and the earth. . .

Jesus said, in Matthew 15.9
"But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."

Quotes on the "Sealing"

The sealing is a pledge from God of perfect security to His chosen ones.
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 59, 1895 (Manuscript Releases, vol. 15, p.225). }

Satan is trying his every art to hold them where they were, until the sealing is past, until the covering is drawn over God's people, and they left without a shelter from the burning wrath of the seven last plagues. God has begun to draw this covering over His people, and it will soon be drawn over all who are to have a shelter in the day of slaughter. God will work in power for His people; and Satan will be permitted to work also. EW45

Let the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ be in your minds continually and let them crowd out worldly thoughts and cares. When you lie down and when you rise up, let them be your meditation. Live and act wholly in reference to the coming of the Son of man. The sealing time is very short, and will soon be over. Now is the time, while the four angels are holding the four winds, to make our calling and election sure. FLB 340

Yes, the seal is a settling into truth
-- intellectually (with the mind -- so yes, understanding the issues is important)
-- spiritually ( with the heart -- our love for Christ the way and the truth, in Him we seek for righteousness and truth)

Cannot be moved --
most will call it stubborn, bigotry,


The sign -- THE SABBATH

But how can a mere day, be the sign of the seal?

It's a matter of whose authority rules in the life!

"Who has authority to change an express commandment of Almighty God? When God has spoken and said, 'Thou shalt keep holy the seventh day' who shall dare to say, nay, thou mayest work and do all manner of worldly business on the seventh day, but thou shalt keep holy the first day in its stead?

Of course all sin is "the transgression of God's law" --
That's why the seal is far broader than the fourth commandment.
God's end time people will, by God's grace, keep His commandments and have the faith of Jesus (Rev. 14:12)
However, when a religious body rises to FORCE the world to trample on God's law and claim divine authority to have changed God's law, and claim a divine propagative to enforce their own tradition. That is a direct challenge on the authority of God.

The Catholic church claims this authority to change God's law as her MARK!

:the Catholic church claims that the change was her act. And the act is a MARK of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters." Cardinal Gibbons

"?I have repeatedly offered $1,000 to anyone who can prove to me from the Bible alone that I am bound to keep Sunday holy. There is no such law in the Bible. It is a law of the holy Catholic Church alone. The Bible says, ?Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.? The Catholic Church says: ?No. By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day and command you to keep holy the first day of the week.? And lo! The entire civilized world bows down in a reverent obedience to the command of the holy Catholic Church.? father T. Enright, C.S.S.R. of the Redemptoral College, Kansas City, in a lecture at Hartford, Kansas, February 18, 1884, printed in History of the Sabbath, p. 802


So -- this is a question of Whose authority do we follow?


The world fell into sin because of a very small "disobedience". A seemingly small request -- don't eat of that one tree. There are lots of other trees.
Why that one tree

The world will have a test at the end (just a day, many will say, what difference which day?)
While the world will be moving to enforce a counterfeit worship day that God never blessed nor sanctified, they will be challenging God -- "we will set our throne above your throne, God, and replace your law with our law. ? Such a universal challenge against God, will not be good for the world.

The Seal of God

This essential seal in the end time involves much more than just the Sabbath Day.

The pioneers of the Adventist Church discovered that Jesus had begun the final work of preparation for His second coming. They discovered that He was "cleansing the heavenly sanctuary" and finalizing the record of saved in the book of Life. Yet, simultaneously with His heavenly sanctuary work, Christ was doing another "cleansing" -- the cleansing of His people!

They took as their moto "Here is the patience of the saints, here are they that keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus". Rev. 14:12. They saw God's commandments as the unchanging standard of conduct by which people will be judged. And to their consternation they discovered almost the whole Christian world had forgotten the commandment God asked them to remember.
As they studied the three angel's messages and the verse "Worship Him Who made the heaven and the earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters"; they recognized the similarity to the fourth commandment. The fourth was the only commandment alluded to specifically in the three angel's messages which identified the saints as they that keep the commandments of God. Not that the other commandments were not important, they all are, but the Sabbath had to be restored to its rightful place before Christ would come again and find a people waiting for Him, who kept God's commandments and had the faith of Jesus.

The Sabbath gave the ten commandments their unique significance. It placed the seal of God, (His authority, His vast domain, His name) in the heart of the decalogue, pointing out He is the Law-giver, making know his right to rule and to receive worship.

But there is more to the sealing message.
The seal is to be placed in the forehead. It's not a man made mark of any kind, but a transformation of the mind! A mark which angels can read but not human eyes.
There is a distinction between mere outward observance of the Sabbath and true Sabbath observance.
They noticed that the mark of the beast could be in forehead and the hand. That is some accept it with the mind, but many just conform and do it without believing or valuing it.
But the seal of God is a transformation of the mind, mere performance does not qualify.

What is the necessary preparation?
Ellen White writes we need to "reflect the image of Jesus fully (EW 71)
What does it mean to "reflect"?
We read in scripture that Jesus is the light of the world.
In order to reflect the light of HIS character, we need to let His light shine upon us!
In order to bear a likeness to Christ in character, we are urged to study "More earnestly the character of our Savior." We need to meditate upon the matchless charms of Jesus until nothing else satisfies in this dark world. Like the song says: "turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim. In the light of His glory and love."

Scripture tells us "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory". 2 Cor. 3:18
"The more we study the life of Christ with a heart to learn, the more Christlike we become"SD p.342

Those who receive God's seal have confessed their sins and turned from them. Their sins are removed by the grace and blood of Christ, the Lamb of God. "they have on the wedding garment and are obedient and faithful to all God's commands": 7BC 968

The Seal of God is given to those who are "New Creatures in Christ"



The sign of the seal is in the 7th Day Sabbath

True Sabbath keeping means rest in the Lord -- To put aside our own works which we laboured with for six days, we depend fully upon our Creator, not only to take care of our temporal needs, but to create in us a new creature in Christ Jesus.

It is necessary for us to know the power of God, because the Gospel is the power of God to salvation to everyone that believes. (Romans 1:16.) It is by the power of God, through faith that we are kept (1 Peter 1:5)
We are prone to forget, as we go about our jobs and try to make ends meet, that all our strength, health and abilities come from God. Thus the Sabbath each week draws us out of the rat race, and says "Come apart and rest awhile". Take a whole day off to re-adjust the focus and be sure it is Christ.

The Sabbath is a memorial that God gave us of His wonderful works and power. He blessed the seventh day and sanctified it Genesis 2:3. The seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God. (Ex. 20:9-12) He wants us to remember His wonderful works, in order that we may know His power, because His power is known by His works (Romans 1:20)

Since the Sabbath is the memorial of the wonderful works of God and God is known by His works, it follows that the Sabbath gives the knowledge of God. And so He says: "Hallow My Sabbaths and they shall be sign between Me and you that you may know that I am the LORD Who sanctifies you....and that you may know that I am the LORD your God." (Eze. 20:12,20)

Christ is the power of God (1 Cor. 1:24) By beholding Christ we realize something about the power of God. And remember, it was by Christ everything was created that was created. (John 1:3)

Remember as well that the One (Jesus) by whom all things were created, is also your Savior! "He was manifested to take away our sins:" (1 John 3:5)

Therefore the Sabbath is for the purpose of letting us know it is the power of Christ to save us from sin. When God finished the six days of creation, He "saw everything that He had made and behold it was very good." (Gen. 1:31) This statement included the human race.

Since the Sabbath is the memorial of a prefect creation it shows the power of God to create a perfect earth and perfect people.

Isaiah writes; "For thus says the LORD that created the heavens, God Himself that formed the earth and i it. H has established it, He created it not in vain. He formed it to be inhabited; I am the LORD; and there is none other...I speak righteousness, I declare things that are right (Is 45:17-19)

God designed this earth to be inhabited. He made it to be inhabited by perfect beings. The One Who has the power to create, also has the power to recreate! It is going to be inhabited by just the kind of people that He made in the beginning. He is going to save people out of this earth, making them perfect, to inhabit the earth forever. He will make the earth new for their habitation.

Therefore the Sabbath is both a memorial and a pledge. It is sign that God made everything perfect in the beginning, and it is a pledge that He will restore all things to perfection as they were in the beginning.

Thus the Sabbath is the sign that God, in Christ, created us, it is a sign of His sanctifying power to sanctify us and make us new creatures, and it is a sign of His recreation of the a new heaven and earth as the eternal home of the redeemed.

It's so very fitting to understand the Sabbath is the final test and seal the Holy Spirit places upon a people who have made God first in their lives, and by His Spirit and grace have turned away from sin and followed the Lamb in righteousness.