Collision With Prophecy

Collision With Prophecy #14:
The Sealing

Introduction

Turn with me to the seventh chapter of the book of Revelation. Satan does something to those to whom he can in the end-time, (he marks them). And, heaven does something to God's people in the end of time; something having been overlooked with Christendom's acceptance of the idea that the church is "raptured out" between Revelation chapter three and chapter four--a very interesting proposition, since the book in the Bible that supposedly says the most about this ficticious rapture, there says nothing about such an event!

Let's look at Revelation 7:1-3:

And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. 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.

Heaven is doing something very special with these people. What kind of people are they?

Who Are These People?

The following verses say that 144,000 "of all the tribes of the children of Israel" were sealed. But this list (Revelation 7:5-8) of the tribes of Israel is different from the previous biblical lists (for example, Numbers 1:5-15; Deuteronomy 27:12, 13; Genesis 35:22-26; 49:3-28; 1 Chronicles 2:1-2). Moreover, in Revelation 14:1-5 144,000 stand on Mount Zion with the Lamb.

Consider how they are identified:

They have their Father's name in their foreheads.
They sing a new song.
They are undefiled by women (false churches).
They follow the Lamb wherever He goes.
They are without fault.

See. It all has to do with character. They have become like their Father. Satan's people have become like Satan in character (John 8:41, 44-45, 47), and God's people have become like God in character. They sing a new song--they have a unique experience, one unlike that of any other group of human beings ever to live. They are undefiled by women--they have been willing to stand up for truth and step out and leave apostate churches. They are so like their father that they are like His Son--they follow Him wherever He goes. They obey Him (John 14:15). Finally, these people, because the gospel has changed them, (the Bible says this, not just me!) are identified as being without fault before the throne of God!

So I want us to notice that God is changing His people--before Jesus comes, and the Bible calls this process the sealing. Let's take a look then tonight, at this teaching that God seals His people in the end of time. What is heaven up to?

What people, at the end of time, are letting God change them in this way?

We are going to find that (i) God has a "seal" of His own, and (ii) He has embarked upon a process of "sealing" His people--His willing people. Let's check it out.

An Integrated Reality

Let's remember what we've been exploring and learning through this series. Just a few nights ago we pointed out how Satan, working in Bible prophecy as both the "little horn" of Daniel 7:25 and the first beast of Revelation 13:1-10, wanted to attack God's law in regard to time. And how, if an attack is to be made upon God's law regarding time, there is only one point that he or anyone else can attack--the fourth commandment, the seventh day Sabbath (Exodus 20:8-11).

We've seen how it was especially prophesied that the deep efforts of our adversary would be to take away the daily, which was the all-important continual sacrifice making possible the connection between God and His people. We've understood how his plan has been to palm-off upon God's people, by sophistry and Satanic slight-of-hand, a false system of salvation. His false system of salvation would undermine obedience to God, and especially undermine obedience to His law, for to break God's law is to sin (1 John 3:4), and to break even one of God's commandments is to break them all (James 2:10). So we've been put on notice by the Word of God that the crucial issue of the end-times--as it has been from the earliest moments of the conflict between good and evil--is the issue of obedience. Obedience to the Law of God.

Recall a few nights ago when we looked into the New Testament's book of Hebrews and what it means by the Christian's entry into rest. There remains today for us, an entry into rest--the same one promised all the way down through the ages which humankind has so pointedly neglected to enter into. We saw that this rest includes obedience to God, and obedience to God includes the keeping of His seventh day Sabbath. In fact, we saw that it is impossible to enter into the rest of Christ without keeping God's Sabbath.

Let me call to mind one more point. We saw that there is a competition between the placing of the beast's mark in our foreheads, versus the placing of God's seal in our foreheads. We saw how our choices are the determining factor here. And in our most recent meeting, we saw how the gospel as truly taught in Ephesians, includes our reception of "all spiritual blessings" in Christ (Ephesians 1:3), and that "all" here includes victory over sin. Which makes sense, since Jesus is saving us from our sins, not in our sins, and, put as plainly as possible, He is returning for a people who have stopped sinning.

I'm here to tell to you tonight that there is a very, very strong correspondence between the process of receiving the seal of God in the forehead, and one of His commandments containing what we well can call "the seal." There is, we have said, one commandment in particular that deals with time. This is true. But it is also true that this same commandment is the only one that also calls the Lord, "the Creator of the heavens and the earth," identifying Him as the Author of creation and of humankind. This one commandment is the one in all the Ten Commandments demonstrating His original ownership and thus His original right to receive our worship. He is Creator, we are created. He is our Maker. He alone in all that is, deserves our fealty, our obedience, and our worship. Indeed, is there any real difference between fealty, obedience, and worship? God deserves it all.

It is this vast distinction between Him and creatures that marks the reason why we should worship Him. Is it any wonder that Satan, a created being wishing for our worship (which as a fellow created being he could never deserve of us), is especially antagonized by and warring against God's law, and that this enmity manifests itself directly at the point of the Sabbath commandment?

The Sabbath was founded at creation (Genesis 2:1-3). Pointing to God as the Maker of the heavens and the earth, it distinguishes the true God from all false gods. When we keep the seventh day, we are communicating to the universe that we are aligned with God, that we are worshippers of Him. It is the one point of God's law most readily and in most concrete form demonstrating our allegiance to Him. It is a sign of our circumcised heart, which always has been and always will be "a seal of the righteousness" (Romans 4:11) of our faith in Christ.

Sealing in the Bible

What does the Bible say about seals? A seal . . .

Is a sign indicative of authority, ownership, or certification. 1 Kings 21:8; 1 Corinthians 9:2; 2 Timothy 2:19; Revelation 5:1, 2, 5, 9; 6:1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12; 7:2; 8:1; 9:4; 20:3; Deuteronomy 32:34; Nehemiah 9:38; 10:1; Esther 3:12, 8:8, 10; Job 9:7; Jeremiah 32:10, 11, 14, 44; Ezekiel 28:12; Daniel 6:17; Matthew 27:66; John 3:33; 6:27.
Changes that upon which it is placed, makes an impression upon, or cuts into. Job 38:14; Romans 4:11; 2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13, 14; 4:30; Revelation 7:3-8.
Shields and encloses that which is sealed. Deuteronomy 32:34; 1 Kings 21:8; Job 14:17; 33:16; 37:7; 41:15; Song of Solomon 4:12; Isaiah 8:16; 29:11; Daniel 9:24; 12:4, 9; Revelation 5:1, 2, 5, 9; 6:1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12; 8:1; 9:4; 10:4; 20:3; 22:10; Matthew 27:66; Romans 15:28.
Indicates emotional closeness and attachment. Song of Solomon 8:6.

The Bible is filled with reference to seals. God put them there.

All of the above meanings have application to God's people in the sealing described the end-times. When God places His seal upon His people, He shows that He has exercised His authority to change them in response to their request. It means that His people have allowed Him to place the full impression of truth and God's own character upon their human character. They are a changed people. Consenting and cooperating with this inward change shields and encloses them. There is a special emotional closeness and attachment to our Savior and to His truth.

Sealing in the Forehead versus a Mark in the Forehead or Hand?

Have you ever wondered why God's mark is placed in the forehead without mention of the hand, while the beast's mark is placed in the forehead or in the right hand (Revelation 7:3; cf. Revelation 13:16). The right hand in Scripture is a position of favor (Genesis 48:3-20). The hand also is symbolic of our works (Deuteronomy 2:7; 3:24; 15:10, etc.).

The hand of man--with God and in its proper place--is good. But when we use our own hand for our own purposes apart from Him, it is bad. For the Bible says that whatever we seek to do, apart from God, inevitably is tainted by sin (Romans 14:23). Now the person who receives the mark of the beast gets a push from Satan through his beast power, but the decision is each individual's. No one can force you to disobey God. No one can force you to try to do things apart from God. Satan wants your worship. He wants you to place him at your right hand. He wants you to grant to him your position of favor. He wants your support for his satanic government. But those who do shall forever loose their capacity to choose. Those receiving the mark have irrevocably made their choice.

Listen. Now think this through. In the garden of Eden there were no malls. There was no buying and selling there. Satan was the first one to "make merchandise" of anything. He pitched to Eve a different product than what God had designed for humanity. He said that you can serve yourself. You can become like God (on your own!). The early church, Scripture says, "had all things in common" (Acts 4:32-33). Unselfishness ruled the early church. When Satan is described most clearly, in Ezekiel 28:11-19 (especially see verses 16 and 18), he is described as one who traded and made merchandise. In Revelation 18 when Babylon is judged for her adulterous blending with Satan's kingdom, she is condemned for her buying and selling, her merchandising, if you will. There doubtlessly is, in a fallen world, a spiritually sound manner in which one can operate as a Christian business person. But it appears that it could be difficult. What is a fair profit, and where is the line where one ventures too far across taking unjust advantage of their leverage over another's need?

If the hand can represent our own works done of our own ungodly motivations apart from God, then for a person who has not opened their heart for God's inward repair, the hand represents buying and selling, making merchandise, working for self. But mankind is by nature a worshipping being. We are designed to worship. We are not complete when we do not worship our Maker. We rest in His creation. We rest in His re-creation. This is salvation.

The Sabbath

Sabbath is a sign of rest in Christ's work of salvation in us, hence no mention of hand. We are saved solely by through His sacrifice for us. We add nothing to His work of salvation--nothing in terms of merit. Nonetheless, we do have something to do. We receive no credit towards our salvation for doing it, and yet there is a cooperative aspect to our salvation. God gave us a will, a freedom to choose for ourselves.

Consider that Cain chose to rebel against God and against His moral code. He murdered his brother. In the same act, he broke all of God's law. He coveted, he stole from God, He murdered, he broke the Sabbath, etc., all at once. For James 2:10 says that "whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, the same is guilty of all." Cain broke all of God's law. God then put a mark on his forehead (Genesis 4:15). He had signed-on to Satan's selfish plan for government apart from God, for acting apart from faith in Him, for doing his own works, making his own merchandise, buying and selling. Think about it. A lost person has nothing other than buying and selling. He is a denizen of this world. Earth "as is" is his home. Indeed, he better get what he can of the pleasures of sin, since assuredly they are only for a season (Hebrews 11:25). For the lost person, as for the devil, "his time is short" (Revelation 12:12). Cain received a mark on the forehead showing that he had chosen a different government than God's. His mind was set on earthly things. He had chosen self and opposition. He would be lost.

Noah, when the world was judged at the flood, was sealed into the ark for seven days before the waters arrived (Ganesis 7:4, 10). When the flood came, those who weren't in the ark were utterly destroyed. All who were inside it were saved. But don't miss this--Noah spent 120 years preparing by building the ark (Hebrews 11:7). He was sealed, he was saved--but first there was an ark to build; first there was cooperation with God. Never forget, God could have "raptured" Noah out, or spoken an ark into existence in a nanosecond. Instead, He asked Noah to get the hammer and get the nails. And its interesting, isn't it, that Noah sent out the dove and raven at intervals of exactly seven days apart? Could that have been something he did on Sabbath morning? An explicit seven day interval is mentioned the Sabbath is involved. It is God's rest, and the dove was looking for a place to rest her foot, for an olive twig as a sign of peace.

When God came to the last of the plagues and delivered His people out of Egypt, He could have asked them to just be passive. But at the first Passover, He did not pass their participation over. Instead, He sought to build their faith through the confrontation with pharaoh, and then had them sacrifice lambs and every family put the blood on the doorposts and on the lintel. When the firstborn were all slain, those under the blood were saved. Those not, were not. Well might we call this, again, a seal of sorts. Nor should we forget that the root issue between God and pharaoh was true worship--something impossible without observing the Lord's Sabbath day.

In Ezekiel nine, we saw that those who were marked by God in their foreheads were those who were sighing and crying for the abominations done in the land. They were in deep anxiety about the inroads of sin among God's people. They were those who chose to put their moral compass to Godward. Their sighing and crying was a reality because their personal identification with God's government was strong. They hated what He hated, and loved what He loved. Therefore they were sighing and crying about the moral failure of the Hebrew people. They loved to spend time with Him on His Sabbath made for that very purpose, and hated the desecration of the Sabbath; of that we can be sure.

And of course, as we saw in Revelation seven, there comes a point at the end when God's servants are sealed. Will those receiving the seal in Revelation seven be the only exception, the only group of non-Sabbath-keeping saints in all the Bible? But they aren't ready as early as apparently they could have been. Remember, this was all written down about A. D. 100 by John. Today, at least 1900 years has passed since the ink first dried. Still, the second coming of Christ has been delayed.

How very clear it is that John really saw what he saw and heard what he heard; for when no one would have predicted such a long period of waiting, still God had him write it down. And here we are.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Once Jesus was asked what the work of believers was. "What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent" (John 6:28-29). In another place He asked the loaded rhetorical question, "When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8). It sounds as if those who truly have the faith He is speaking of will be but few down at the end. But Revelation 14:12 does give the joyous answer. At the end, there will indeed be those who do. "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."

Our love, human and separated from God, at best is a gnarled thing, grisly and thin. Apart from the great Source Himself, we generate not love, but a feeble, self-interested static. But the true gospel changes all that. When we receive what Jesus makes effective for us, "the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us" (Romans 5:5). But the real effect of real love, is a "faith which worketh by love" (Galatians 5:6). Remember, anything that we do apart from faith is sin (Romans 14:23). But what we do through a faith that works by love is not. Motivations driven by this divine engine can be untainted. People simply connecting with God, cooperating with Him, do do the works of God.

God's servants believe, and let Him work through them and in them. Satan's servants work and the devil works through the sons of disobedience. The decision is between Egyptian servitude (no rest for the wicked. Revelation 14:11) versus the service of faith (rest for the believer who goes in and out finding pasture. John 10:9). The peace of God's way by choice becoming a part of the character of a person is the peace of wholeness. It means an entire acceptance of all the gospel package--real inward change. It is manifested throughout the life. Choosing our own way means reliance on our own right hand. Choosing God's way means reliance upon God's right hand. One is no rest and self-reliance, the other is rest in God's salvific work.

As we've already pointed out, Sunday is man's day of rest attempting to satisfy God on man's terms. The seventh day Sabbath is God's rest day symbolizing His salvation, and showing our rest in His salvation on His terms. Sunday stands for man's own rigidly forensic (external) means of self-salvation, while the Sabbath is part of God's (inward) work to save man. The differences are so very great. If the Sabbath of God's gospel is rigid, it is rigidly salvific, combining divine power with human cooperation, God getting all the credit.

God not only signs His people, but He seals them, and delivers them. He changes them, He protects them, and He will bring them through. This brings us to the question of our title for salvation, and our fitness for salvation.

Title and Fitness

Sealing involves both a title to salvation and a fitness for salvation. Christ's sacrifice on the Cross provides the title--it grants us authority for sonship. The benefits of His sacrifice applied to us now through His mediation for us in heaven makes it more than a title. The grace of God causes us to deny ungodliness and live righteously (Titus 2:12). Somehow this "fitness" aspect has been set aside by most believers. But what does the Bible say? It says that we must follow "peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14).

What John Wesley said two centuries ago is absolutely true today, and helps us understand this issue of sealing: "No man sins because he doesn't have grace, but because he doesn't use the grace that he has." We need to put into play the grace that God has given us. He wants us to have victory. Look at Colossians 1:12 with me: "Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light." Our Father makes us meet to be saved; He changes us so that we can be holy. And the book of Revelation fully sustains this.

Turn with me to the following texts. Consider how God speaks of His church. Turn to Revelation 19:8: "And to her [God's church] was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints." The NASB puts it, "It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints." Again, Revelation 7:14 speaks as follows: "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."

Some look at those texts we've just mentioned and say that the righteousness spoken of here is strictly Christ's righteousness utterly apart from anything else. But think it through. This would mean that in Revelation seven, where it says that "they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb," that it must mean that "The righteousness of Christ was washed and made white in the blood of Christ." This is nonsense. Christ's righteousness needs no washing, no making white. But the same cannot be said of ours. Ours is deeply tainted, deeply needing washing. Turn to Galatians 6:15, and hear the word of God: "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature." What matters is that God makes us new creatures. What matters is that we receive the seal. We need to let God make us right instead of letting the devil finish the process of making us wrong. It is a seal from God or a mark from Satan. Everyone gets one. But which one? Now is the time to decide.

The trend of a lifetime is not changed in a flash, at the last moment. It takes time, and there are no shortcuts on the journey of personal holiness. The peace and safety gospel results in no rest, and is so very unsafe. It won't result in our seal, but in reception of the mark we don't want. Friends, we need, tonight, to receive the seal. Let God take you along on in this process. And accept also His Sabbath seal, His mark of authority, His sign of ownership.

The book of Revelation points to a time when mercy's pleadings are ended. Look at Revelation 22:11. "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still." A time is coming when every decision will have been made, every case decided. Then Jesus will come again. It will be forever to late to come over onto God's side. Now is the time to surrender all.

Conclusion and Preview

Everyone needs the seal of God. Everyone will, finally have the seal of God, or the mark of the beast. The choice is ours. One is cheap, follows the downward flow of the sewer-tendencies of our broken nature, and lands us in the worst of dooms. The other lifts us up, makes us like Jesus, and takes us forward into the journey of eternal life in a perfect environment. Will we accept the Sabbath and the "seal" in it, or will we go with Sunday, the day signifying man's work for God and for his own salvation on his own terms? A day that, as we study more and more deeply into these crucial end-time issues, is weighing in in an ever more villainous light? The choice is mine and it is yours. It is the most personal choice you can make. Will you have Christ to seal you? Or will you have the devil to mark you? Will you count on a dubious plan of salvation imposed upon Scripture, or one from Scripture that means more cooperation between you and Jesus? Important things to think about!

Well, we are running right up to our key point of interest. In just two meetings we'll identify the mark of the beast. But our next meeting has to come first. You see, there are two beasts in Revelation thirteen. We've identified the first beast. But in our next meeting, we will plainly identify the second beast--the one that in the end enforces the worship of the first. Do be here for our next meeting, America in Prophecy. Let's pray . . .

Larry Kirkpatrick, Last modified 11 November 2000