(Revelation 14:9-12; see EGW comment on Revelation 16:13-16.) The Signet of Heaven—John saw “a Lamb on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000 having His Father′s name written in their foreheads.” They bore the signet of heaven. They reflected the image of God. They were full of the light and the glory of the Holy One. 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).
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Christ Formed Within—[Revelation 14:1-3 quoted.] Why were they so specially singled out? Because they had to stand with a wonderful truth right before the whole world, and receive their opposition, and while receiving this opposition they were to remember that they were sons and daughters of God, that they must have Christ formed within them the hope of glory (Manuscript 13, 1888).
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Eternal Interests Supreme—Those who have in their foreheads the seal of the infinite God will regard the world and its attractions as subordinate to eternal interests (The Review and Herald, July 13, 1897).
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(2 Timothy 2:14-16; see EGW comment on Revelation 7:4-17.) Identity of 144,000 Not Revealed—Christ says that there will be those in the church who will present fables and suppositions, when God has given grand, elevating, ennobling truths, which should ever be kept in the treasure house of the mind. When men pick up this theory and that theory, when they are curious to know something it is not necessary for them to know, God is not leading them. It is not His plan that His people shall present something which they have to suppose, which is not taught in the Word. It is not His will that they shall 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.
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My brethren and sisters, appreciate and study the truths God has given for you and your children. Spend not your time in seeking to know that which will be no spiritual help. “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?”Luke 10:25. This is the all-important question, and it has been clearly answered. “What is written in the law? how readest thou?”(Luke 10:26)(Manuscript 26, 1901).
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4 (1 Peter 2:21; 1 John 2:6). God′s People Follow the Lamb Now—The Lord has a people on the earth, who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. He has His thousands who have not bowed the knee to Baal. Such will stand with Him on Mount Zion. But they must stand on this earth, girded with the whole armor, ready to engage in the work of saving those who are ready to perish. Heavenly angels conduct this search, and spiritual activity is demanded of all who believe present truth, that they may join the angels in their work.
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We need not wait till we are translated to follow Christ. God′s people may do this here below. We shall follow the Lamb of God in the courts above only if we follow Him here. Following Him in heaven depends on our keeping His commandments now. We are not to follow Christ fitfully or capriciously, only when it is for our advantage.
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We must choose to follow Him. In daily life we must follow His example, as a flock trustfully follows its shepherd. We are to follow Him by suffering for His sake, saying, at every step, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.”Job 13:15. His life practice must be our life practice. And as we thus seek to be like Him, and to bring our wills into conformity to His will, we shall reveal Him (The Review and Herald, April 12, 1898.
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6-12 (see EGW comment on Revelation 10:1-11; 2:18). Soon to Be Understood—The fourteenth chapter of Revelation is a chapter of the deepest interest. This scripture will soon be understood in all its bearings, and the messages given to John the revelator will be repeated with distinct utterance (The Review and Herald, October 13, 1904).
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Identifying the Three Angels—Christ is coming the second time, with power unto salvation. To prepare human beings for this event, He has sent the first, second, and third angels′ messages. These angels represent those who receive the truth, and with power open the gospel to the world (Letter 79, 1900).
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Apparently the whole world is guilty of receiving the mark of the beast. But the prophet sees a company who are not worshiping the beast, and who have not received his mark in their foreheads or in their hands. “Here is the patience of the saints,” he declares; “here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus”(Revelation 14:12) (Manuscript 92, 1904).
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Large Numbers Accept the Truth—The time of God′s destructive judgments is the time of mercy for those who have no opportunity to learn what is truth. Tenderly will the Lord look upon them. His heart of mercy is touched; His hand is still stretched out to save, while the door is closed to those who would not enter. Large numbers will be admitted who in these last days hear the truth for the first time (The Review and Herald, July 5, 1906).
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7. Giving Glory to God—To give glory to God is to reveal His character in our own, and thus make Him known. And in whatever way we make known the Father or the Son, we glorify God (Manuscript 16, 1890).
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8 (Daniel 7:25; 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4; see EGW comment on Revelation 18:1-5). World Drunk With Wine of Babylon—God denounces Babylon “because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”Revelation 14:8. This means that she has disregarded the only commandment which points out the true God, and has torn down the Sabbath, God′s memorial of creation.
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God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh, sanctifying this day, and setting it apart from all others as holy to Himself, to be observed by His people throughout their generations.
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But the man of sin, exalting himself above God, sitting in the temple of God, and showing himself to be God, thought to change times and laws. This power, thinking to prove that it was not only equal to God, but above God, changed the rest day, placing the first day of the week where the seventh should be. And the Protestant world has taken this child of the papacy to be regarded as sacred. In the Word of God this is called her fornication.
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God has a controversy with the churches of today. They are fulfilling the prophecy of John. “All nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”Revelation 18:3. They have divorced themselves from God by refusing to receive His sign. They have not the spirit of God′s true commandment-keeping people. And the people of the world, in giving their sanction to a false sabbath, and in trampling under their feet the Sabbath of the Lord, have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication (Letter 98, 1900).
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9-12 (Revelation 13:11-17; see EGW comment on Revelation 12:17; Revelation 18:1; Isaiah 58:12-14). The Real Issue in the Final Conflict—[Revelation 14:9, 10 quoted.] It is for the interest of all to understand what the mark of the beast is, and how they may escape the dread threatenings of God. Why are men not interested to know what constitutes the mark of the beast and his image? It is in direct contrast with the mark of God. [Exodus 31:12-17 quoted.]
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What Is the Mark of the Beast?—John was called to behold a people distinct from those who worship the beast and his image by keeping the first day of the week. The observance of this day is the mark of the beast (Letter 31, 1898).
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(Revelation 13:16, 17.) Warning Against Mark of the Beast—The third angel′s message has been sent forth to the world, warning men against receiving the mark of the beast or of his image in their foreheads or in their hands. To receive this mark means to come to the same decision as the beast has done, and to advocate the same ideas, in direct opposition to the Word of God. Of all who receive this mark, God says, “The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.”(Revelation 14:10) ...
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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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