Thus the distinction is drawn between the loyal and the disloyal. Those who desire to have the seal of God in their foreheads must keep the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. Thus they are distinguished from the disloyal, who have accepted a manmade institution in place of the true Sabbath. The observance of God′s rest day is a mark of distinction between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not (The Review and Herald, April 23, 1901).
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12. God’s Denominated People—Who are these? God’s denominated people—those who on this earth have witnessed to their loyalty. Who are they? Those who have kept the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ; those who have owned the Crucified One as their Saviour (Manuscript 132, 1903).
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(Exodus 31:13-17.) What Is God′s Sign?—The sign of obedience is the observance of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. If men keep the fourth commandment, they will keep all the rest (Letter 31, 1898).
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(Revelation 7:2, 3; Ezekiel 9:4.) The Mark of the Holy Sabbath—There is to be a mark placed upon God′s people, and that mark is the keeping of His holy Sabbath (Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists, 217).
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Loyal to Whom?—God has declared that it means much to discard the Word of the living God, and accept the assertions of those who seek to change times and laws. [Exodus 31:12-17 quoted.]
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Those who in the face of these specifications refuse to repent of their transgressions will realize the result of disobedience. Individually we need to inquire, In observing a day of rest, have I drawn my faith from the Scriptures, or from a spurious representation of truth? Every soul who fastens himself to the divine, everlasting covenant, made and presented to us as a sign and mark of God′s government, fastens himself to the golden chain of obedience, every link of which is a promise. He shows that he regards God′s Word as above the word of man, God′s love as preferable to the love of man. And those who repent of transgression, and return to their loyalty by accepting God′s mark, show themselves to be true subjects, ready to do His will, to obey His commandments. True observance of the Sabbath is the sign of loyalty to God (Manuscript 63, 1899).
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Fidelity Grows With the Emergency—In Revelation 14 John beholds another scene. He sees a people whose fidelity and loyalty to the laws of God′s kingdom, grow with the emergency. The contempt placed upon the law of God only makes them reveal more decidedly their love for that law. It increases with the contempt that is placed upon it (Manuscript 163, 1897).
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(Psalm 119:126, 127; Malachi 3:18.) It Is Time to Fight!—Let no one yield to temptation and become less fervent in his attachment to God′s law because of the contempt placed upon it; for that is the very thing that should make us pray with all our heart and soul and voice, “It is time for thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void thy law.”Psalm 119:126. Therefore, because of the universal contempt, I will not turn traitor when God will be most glorified and most honored by my loyalty.
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What! shall Seventh-day Adventists relax their devotedness when all their capabilities and powers should be placed on the Lord′s side; when an unflinching testimony, noble and uplifting, should come from their lips? “Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.”Psalm 119:127.
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When the law of God is most derided and brought into the most contempt, then it is time for every true follower of Christ, for those whose hearts have been given to God, and who are fixed to obey God, to stand unflinchingly for the faith once delivered to the saints. “Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.”Malachi 3:18. It is time to fight when champions are most needed (The Review and Herald, June 8, 1897).
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