The third angel’s message has to do with the investigative judgement, the cleansing of the sanctuary, the Sabbath truth, the seal of God and the disregard of God’s Commandments. What is synonymous with the mark of the beast, the seal of God and the Sabbath truth? All were proclaimed in 1848.

What is the Seal of God?

Revelation7:1 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. 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, 3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. 4 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.

Exodus 20:8 Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day

In the holiest I saw an ark; on the top and sides of it was purest gold. On each end of the ark was a lovely cherub, with its wings spread out over it. Their faces were turned toward each other, and they looked downward. Between the angels was a golden censer. Above the ark, where the angels stood, was an exceeding bright glory, that appeared like a throne where God dwelt. Jesus stood by the ark, and as the saints’ prayers came up to Him, the incense in the censer would smoke, and He would offer up their prayers with the smoke of the incense to His Father. In the ark was the golden pot of manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of stone which folded together like a book. Jesus opened them, and I saw the Ten Commandments written on them with the finger of God. On one table were four, and on the other six. The four on the first table shone brighter than the other six. But the fourth, the Sabbath commandment, shone above them all; for the Sabbath was set apart to be kept in honor of God’s holy name. The holy Sabbath looked glorious–a halo of glory was all around it. {EW 32.3} 1848

In the study of the sanctuary we see a halo around the Sabbath. That halo has to do with the beautiful light of truth that we need to discover about the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a beautiful gem of appreciation and understanding which is refreshing to the spiritual life of Gods people but that beautiful light and refreshment has been polluted in the Christian world today.

Exodus 31:13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it [is] a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that [ye] may know that I [am] the LORD that doth sanctify you.

The Sabbath is set apart for Gods people. This has been made for man. It is a very affectionate token of the one who sets us aside for himself. I am the Lord that sanctifies you. It is a sign between whom? Between you and me. As you ponder upon this, it makes your heart thrill. Have you ever had a close friend and you have had a sign between you and a friend that only you and your friend only know about? God says I have a sign. In the world around you people don’t me, you know me and I have a sign between you and me.

Revelation 7:13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 14 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. 15 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.

God wants to dwell among them. He has produced a people that he can dwell among. He has brought about a condition in their lives. He came to his temple and he sits as a refiner of silver and gold. These are they which come out of great tribulation and washed their robes in the blood of the lamb. All these different symbolisms are the same as going through the sanctification experience until the apprenticeship has produced the perfect master in the skill of righteousness. The process of developing in the forehead Gods character is summarized:

2 Corinthians 3:3 [Forasmuch as ye are] manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart.

In those tables of stone were written the Ten Commandments. Through the work of the purification exercise of sanctification in the apprenticeship, we are to come to the point where in our heart in the part where as a man thinketh in his heart so is he, is closely connected with the frontal lobe. There in the forehead is written the character of God, in the forehead. Hold the winds of strife until we have sealed the servants of God in their forehead, until Jesus is perfectly reflected in their character. The Ten Commandments are not only written on tables of stone but in the mind, the spiritual brain.

Genesis 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

The work of sanctification is when a person is set aside for holy use. The Sabbath has been set aside for holy use, it is sanctified. That is the fourth commandment. If you are looking for the seal of God in the Ten Commandments you will find it in the Sabbath, nowhere else. The rest of the laws have no identity of who is speaking but in the Sabbath commandment you have the king’s domain, His name, His jurisdiction, His authority and His position. The seal of God is in the commandments of God and it is directly related with sanctification. The very things we read in Genesis are now reiterated in the commandments:

Exodus 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day [is] the sabbath of the LORD thy God:

There is the name of the LORD in capitals which means Jehovah.

Exodus 20:10 [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: 11 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.

Can you see His seal? His name, the dominion that was his the heaven, earth and sea and who was he? He was creator. There you have the seal of the law giver, the Ten Commandments. That is what is written about Gods people who He sanctifies. The Bible declares the Sabbath to be the mark, sign and seal of those who He sanctifies. It is all a part of the sealing work of the sanctification process that ultimately the law, the character of God is written in the foreheads and it is sealed by the Sabbath.

Exodus 31:13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it [is] a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that [ye] may know that I [am] the LORD that doth sanctify you.

Vividly we can see that the people whom God is training to be perfect before Him by the sanctification exercise is signified by the Sabbath. That is the sign, the seal.

Exodus 31:16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, [for] a perpetual covenant. 17 It [is] a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for [in] six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.

The Children of Israel

How many were sealed and from where? In verse 4 the 144,000 are from the twelve tribes of Israel. They are not the actual literal ones as Joseph was never a tribe and Dan was left out. These are none others but James 1:1, the twelve tribes. Who James was writing to? He is an Israelite who is a true seed of Abraham through Jesus Christ.

James 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

The children of Israel are the people of God and they are sealed out of them 144,000 in the period of time just prior to the destruction. In the last days the law of God is indeed sealed among his disciples:

His Disciples

Isaiah 8:14 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. 16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.

Seal the law among my disciples just at a time when the churches of Israel, both the houses of Israel are stumbling and going into apostasy, just before there is a sealing of those who are faithful. That is what is spoken of in Revelation. Here they are just before the coming of Jesus;

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

They are going through the same exercise that Jesus went through. They have patiently worked as apprentices and they are the keepers of Gods commandments.

Revelation 14:13 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. 14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud [one] sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.

These people who have come just out of that period when the angels have to hold the winds some more while the angel is coming with the seal of God, are finally produced with the works they have been working toward. As they complete their apprenticeship then Jesus can come.

Their Works Do Follow Them

Along the way there are people in that period of time since the judgment hour commences in the sifting who die and others keep on going and haven’t died. They are blessed, they will see Jesus coming in the clouds. The work of these angels is to identify these people. The first, second and third angel and another angel. Under this other angel there are a people that are called to constitute these 144,000.

Revelation 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Remember the four winds that destroy the planet? Don’t be partakers of them. Come out under the three angel’s messages and under the Revelation 18 angel. They are being called out so they will not be partakers of that destruction.

Isaiah 26:20 Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. 21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.

The fury of God’s wrath is going to be poured out. The angels are holding the four winds until these people are protected from the four winds. Under the messages of these three angels, there is a sealing going on so Gods people will be sealed and protected from this destruction.

What are the chambers in which they are to hide? They are the protection of Christ and holy angels. The people of God are not at this time all in one place. They are in different companies, and in all parts of the earth; and they will be tried singly, not in groups. Every one must stand the test for himself. 4BC 1143

The 144,000 are hiding under the protection of Christ and the holy angels.

Oh, that all could get a view of it as God revealed it to me, that they might know more of the wiles of Satan and be on their guard! I saw that Satan was at work in these ways to distract, deceive, and draw away God’s people, just now in this sealing time. I saw some who were not standing stiffly for present truth. Their knees were trembling, and their feet sliding, because they were not firmly planted on the truth, and the covering of Almighty God could not be drawn over them while they were thus trembling. Satan was trying his every art to hold them where they were, until the sealing was past, until the covering was drawn over God’s people, and they left without a shelter from the burning wrath of God, in the seven last plagues. EW 44

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. 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 f false tongues or deceitful hearts. All who receive the seal must be without spot before God-candidates for heaven. TV5 page 216.

When Is the Third Angel’s Message And When Was It First Proclaimed?

Revelation 14:9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive [his] mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 10 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 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

What is this mark? Where is it located?

Deuteronomy 11:18 Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.

God writes His law in the heart. We are being sealed now. We need to receive the seal of God.

“The importance of the Sabbath as the memorial of creation is that it keeps ever present the true reason why worship is due to God”–because He is the Creator, and we are His creatures. “The Sabbath therefore lies at the very foundation of divine worship, for it teaches this great truth in the most impressive manner, and no other institution does this. The true ground of divine worship, not of that on the seventh day merely, but of all worship, is found in the distinction between the Creator and His creatures. This great fact can never become obsolete, and must never be forgotten.”–J. N. Andrews, History of the Sabbath, chapter 27. It was to keep this truth ever before the minds of men, that God instituted the Sabbath in Eden; and so long as the fact that He is our Creator continues to be a reason why we should worship Him, so long the Sabbath will continue as its sign and memorial. Had the Sabbath been universally kept, man’s thoughts and affections would have been led to the Creator as the object of reverence and worship, and there would never have been an idolater, an atheist, or an infidel. The keeping of the Sabbath is a sign of loyalty to the true God, “Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” It follows that the message which commands men to worship God and keep His commandments will especially call upon them to keep the fourth commandment. {GC 437.2}

In contrast to those who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus, the third angel points to another class, against whose errors a solemn and fearful warning is uttered: “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God.” Revelation 14:9, 10. A correct interpretation of the symbols employed is necessary to an understanding of this message. What is represented by the beast, the image, the mark? {GC 438.1}

And a movement to enforce Sunday observance is fast gaining ground. {GC 579.1}

Notice how the sealing, covering and protection are synonymous? God has begun as per the writings of EG White to draw this covering over his people and it will be soon drawn over all who are to have a shelter in the day of slaughter. The angels are holding back the winds of slaughter until the servants of God are sealed. How long has this sealing process been going on for? Since the proclamation of the first angels message. It commenced back there in the period of 1844 onwards.

The third angel closes his message thus: Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. As he repeated these words, he pointed to the heavenly sanctuary. The minds of all who embrace this message are directed to the most holy place, where Jesus stands before the ark, making His final intercession for all those for whom mercy still lingers. As the ministration of Jesus closed in the holy place, and He passed into the holiest, and stood before the ark containing the law of God, He sent another mighty angel with a third message to the world. A parchment was placed in the angel’s hand, and as he descended to the earth in power and majesty, he proclaimed a fearful warning, with the most terrible threatening ever borne to man. {EW 254.1}

The third angel is doing this work and here the third angel is revealing to the world the warning so the people can be saved from these destructions.

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. EW 89

I then saw the third angel. Said my accompanying angel, Fearful is his work. Awful is his mission. He is the angel that is to select the wheat from the tares, and seal, or bind, the wheat for the heavenly garner. These things should engross the whole mind, the whole attention. EW 118

This is the same angel that delivered the message to the four angels that are holding the winds of strife.

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. 4 BC 1161

That was written back then, how do we stand now? What is the seal? It is the Sabbath, the commandments of God in the forehead. It is a settling into the truth both spiritually and intellectually so they cannot be moved. They are a people that have gone through an apprenticeship that consolidates them so they are now secure in the apprenticeship of Jesus Christ. They can’t be moved anymore. This is why a period was required. Sanctification is a period of time. It is a changing and that period of time has been going on since 1844 when the first, second and third angels message were taking their work.

Revelation 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here [are] they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. 13 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.

They are a people who have settled into the truth and their works follow them. When Jesus comes, they will see him coming. They will be there who have died under the three angels messages who have been sealed before and died in their process, they will be there when Jesus comes because they want to see him coming. Jesus is in the sanctuary and purifying his people. When he is finished, what will he do?

Daniel 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation [even] to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. 2 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. 3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

Do you notice here that Jesus has finished his work and what happens? The plagues. A time of trouble such as never was. As these plagues take place, what happens?

Daniel 12:2 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.

Here is a resurrection so that those who have been working and settling into the truth so they can be ready for Jesus to come and see him as he is as they will be like him, they will be raised to meet him. Others will also be raised who have to see him.

What Did Jesus Say To Caiaphas?

Mark 14:62 And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

How is Caiaphas going to see Jesus coming in the clouds of heaven and others like him? They are going to have to be resurrected like the people who have died under the message of the sealing to see him coming, some to everlasting life and some to everlasting contempt.

Revelation 16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

That voice shakes the heavens and the earth. There is a mighty earthquake, “such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.” Verses 17, 18. The firmament appears to open and shut. The glory from the throne of God seems flashing through. {GC 636.3}

Graves are opened, and “many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth. . . awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Daniel 12:2. All who have died in the faith of the third angel’s message come forth from the tomb glorified, to hear God’s covenant of peace with those who have kept His law. “They also which pierced Him” (Revelation 1:7), those that mocked and derided Christ’s dying agonies, and the most violent opposers of His truth and His people, are raised to behold Him in His glory and to see the honor placed upon the loyal and obedient. {GC 637.1}

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. {GC 640.2}

They shall shine as the brightness of the firmament. Then comes the small black cloud in the east and the coming of Jesus. Here is a resurrection that includes the people who have died under the sealing message. Who are they? They hear the voice of God giving the day and hour of Jesus coming. They are the Israel of God. They were raised to hear the voice of God making the covenant of Israel.

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. {EW 14.1}

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. {EW 15.1}

How were the 144,000 to hear the voice of God? They included the people who were resurrected , the living saints, who then see Jesus coming in the clouds after they received the covenant and the day and hour of his coming. They heard it. There we have an in-depth research of the 144,000 as a company of people who have concluded their apprenticeship and there is the day of graduation of the apprenticeship. The 144,000 meeting Jesus, hearing the voice of God. Blessed are they who died that they may resurrect and meet that graduation.

The Time of Test

What sort of a test does it immediately raise in your mind? Isn’t the language of Adventism the test is the Sabbath test? How real is this in reference to the Sabbath test at that time when she made that statement in 1892? What else happened in 1888? Senator H. W. Blair brought a Sunday law bill into congress in that year. It was called the Blair bill. The Seventh Day Adventist church sent A. T. Jones into congress and there were others there as well that argued as the bill was being debated that this was contrary to the American institution.

Sunday laws were being agitated in congress from about 1887 to 1893 ‘The Urgency of Time’. We saw the subtle arrangements of the law courts in relation to trying to bring forward something to do with religious legislation. When they moved upon congress to pass laws of a religious nature it culminated in the closing of the doors on the Sunday in the world trade fair in Chicago in held in 1893. It was a very deliberate subtle process. The subtlety of raising particular points that had nothing to do with religion that suddenly slipped in. By 1893 it was legislated that the trade fair was to be closed on a Sunday because it was the Sabbath day according to the churches of the time. They managed to finally enforce something to do with Sunday and to close the doors of the world fair. What did this amount to according to Gods judgement of the matter?

Revelation 13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. 12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

Did you see the word causeth? If you follow through the history of the development of the Sunday law, it was a causing. He causeth the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast.

Revelation 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

We are Bible students and we know what the mark is because we are told according to scripture it is the mark of the power of the papacy which is the change from Sabbath to Sunday according to Daniel 7:21. He thinks to change times and laws. We know that from scripture but listen to the Catholic Church itself.

Of course the Catholic Church claims Sunday was her act and the act is a mark of her Ecclesiastical power. October 28 1895 C F Thomas Chancellor of Cardinal Gibbons.

They are repeating what the Bible says. They are acknowledging that the Sunday of change is the mark of her Ecclesiastical power.

Sunday is our mark of authority. The church is above the bible and this transference of Sabbath observance is the proof of the fact. Catholic Record Sept 1 1923

I don’t see any other writings as clear at that from them. They speak it out rightly that Sunday is our authority the mark of the beast. They acknowledge it they are above the bible. The fact they have changed it proves the fact.

A great crisis awaits the people of God. A crisis awaits the world. The most momentous struggle of all the ages is just before us. Events which for more than forty years we have upon the authority of the prophetic word declared to be impending are now taking place before our eyes. Already the question of an amendment to the Constitution restricting liberty of conscience has been urged upon the legislators of the nation. The question of enforcing Sunday observance has become one of national interest and importance. We well know what the result of this movement will be. But are we ready for the issue? Have we faithfully discharged the duty which God has committed to us of giving the people warning of the danger before them? {5T 711.3}

Any movement in favor of religious legislation is really an act of concession to the papacy, which for so many ages has steadily warred against liberty of conscience. Sunday observance owes its existence as a so-called Christian institution to the mystery of iniquity; and its enforcement will be a virtual recognition of the principles which are the very cornerstone of Romanism. When our nation shall so abjure the principles of its government as to enact a Sunday law, Protestantism will in this act join hands with popery; it will be nothing else than giving life to the tyranny which has long been eagerly watching its opportunity to spring again into active despotism. {5T 711.4}

I then saw the third angel. Said my accompanying angel, Fearful is his work. Awful is his mission. He is the angel that is to select the wheat from the tares, and seal, or bind, the wheat for the heavenly garner. These things should engross the whole mind, the whole attention. {EW 118.1} 1848

When did the Sabbath become light to the Advent people?

Such indeed has been the progress of the third angel’s message since 1848, when its component truths were brought into distinct form, and from which point we have shown a marked and steady growth that is wonderful. This we can explain upon no other ground than that the Lord is verifying his word to those who in this time, when his salvation is about to come, keep the Sabbath from polluting it, 5 and turn away their foot from doing their own pleasure on God’s holy day, thus, through the faith of Jesus, as declared in the third angel’s message of Revelation 14, keeping all the commandments of God. Of such the Lord said by the prophet Isaiah, Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness [the Lord our righteousness Jer. 23:6] shall go before thee; and the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward. 6 With such assurances how could we expect aught else but that the work would be a success? If God be for us, who can be against us? {1905 JNL, GSAM 464.2}

What were the winds of strife were held back in 1848?

In 1848, the great revolution which shook so many thrones in Europe, drove the pope also from his dominions. {1897 UrS, DAR 160.1}

No form of power ever arose in any past age combining the remarkable features which appear in our own government. It is of itself a wonder, a system of government which has not its like elsewhere. What is needed throughout the world to relieve its inhabitants of their oppression, but that Republicanism should remodel all their civil governments? The leaven of its principles has deeply diffused itself throughout the nations of the earth. In proof of this, witness the revolutions of 1848, which shook nearly all the thrones of Europe. {1892 JNA, TMR 101.1}

December 16, 1848, the Lord gave me a view of the shaking of the powers of the heavens. I saw that when the Lord said heaven, in giving the signs recorded by Matthew, Mark, and Luke, He meant heaven, and when He said earth, He meant earth. The powers of heaven are the sun, moon, and stars. They rule in the heavens. The powers of earth are those that rule on the earth. The powers of heaven will be shaken at the voice of God. Then the sun, moon, and stars will be moved out of their places. They will not pass away, but be shaken by the voice of God. {CET 111.1}

Dark heavy clouds came up, and clashed against each other. The atmosphere parted and rolled back; then we could look up through the open space in Orion, whence came the voice of God. The holy city will come down through that open space. I saw that the powers of earth are now being shaken, and that events come in order. War, and rumors of war, sword, famine, and pestilence are first to shake the powers of earth, then the voice of God will shake the sun, moon, and stars, and this earth also. I saw that the shaking of the powers in Europe is not, as some teach, the shaking of the powers of heaven, but it is the shaking of the angry nations. {CET 111.2}

Four years after the great disappointment in 1848 the great revolution which shook so many thrones in Europe, also drove the pope from his dominions.

Was there ever a time in earth’s history when all the nations of the earth became angry? Until just at the time of 1848 there was a world war and it was stopped and then the First World War started in 1914 when the nations were angry and then the Second World War. This is the time in which we are living. Ever since the time that the nations were angry with each other, the temple of God was opened in heaven. What was seen? It was the temple of the Ark of the Covenant as we saw in the earthly sanctuary.

John says after these things in 1780 and 1833 I saw. In the 1830’s there were rumblings in Europe of war but in the year 1848 was a revolution around Europe and over 30 nations were in revolution. Kings were being dethroned and governments were being overrun by the common people and it stopped by the end of that year. By the end of 1848 there was a holding back. The angel of Revelation 7 ascended from the east. What else ascends from the east? The sun ascends from the east.

The angel that ascended from the east having the seal of the living God was in the year 1848 which was the same year the first Sabbath conferences were held in America but it was only very small. How much light comes when the sun starts rising? Just a little bit and it will grow and grow until the full blaze of noon day. So it was from the events that took place in 1848 we have a grand movement today that wouldn’t have existed if that strife wasn’t held back. This is the timing of the seal of the living God. This seal was to be placed where? In their foreheads. The seven churches are seven periods of Ecclesiastical time.

Revelation 11:19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

Where does the Bible talk about a great earthquake and hail? The seven last plagues. This angel starts in 1844 and travels through time including every other war to take place until the end. Including the war that Satan will have on the new Jerusalem. The temple of God was opened in heaven and what was seen? The ten commandments. What is the fulfilling of the law? Love. In vision the advent pioneers saw one commandment with a halo around it. What was that? The Sabbath day and it was in 1848 that the first sabbath conferences were held by the Advent people.

The Ten Commandments were brought out in 1848. The nations were angry because in 1840 and 1844 in Europe they had their binoculars over the Atlantic looking at America thinking this is a free country and the common people started realising that the Americans had a good idea with their democratic society – power for the common people. As they were looking at America there was a stir happening especially in France but not only in France but by the time 1848 came, 30 European nations were in revolution. Kings were being dethroned. In Tuscany and in Austria, and in Prussia and in many other European countries the control of the government was switched to a democratic society. It was then that many countries God presidents instead of having kings.

At the same time the USA was in war with Mexico. Does it say that when the seventh trumpet sounded the nations were angry? This happened in 1848 and twenty years later the American civil war took place and then the first and second world war took place. has not this world been in war since then? We are living in the seventh trumpet. Therefore the scripture says when the seventh trumpet begins to sound the mystery of God should be finished.

The mystery of God was to bring all flavours of different character into unity and the 144,000 were to be perfectly united. Is it time then for people to get along and ignore the flavours of each other’s character and even the way they communicate to us and even if they seem to snap at us or be cold or shy or whatever it is, it is time we got over this problem today. If anyone doesn’t they are going to miss out as the seven the trumpet must be at the beginning, we must pray that we would get along. That we would be a family but not like Jacob in the flesh but the family of Israel, the name change that we can wrestle with God in prayer and have power with God like a prince and you will get the name of Israel and be part of the Israel of God. All this needs to happen now. This is time that any Dan’s need to be killed and be born again and all the other character traits need to be refined into the image of Jesus Christ. Give no offense, take no offense.

If, in 1848-1850, persons were being sealed, we would naturally expect they would be of those wakened to everlasting life, and so be with the 144,000. Of this resurrection we read in Early Writings, Spiritual Gifts, old edition, page 145: There was one clear place of settled glory, whence came the voice of God like many waters, shaking the heavens and the earth. There was a mighty earthquake. The graves were opened, and those who had died in faith under the third angel’s message, keeping the Sabbath, came forth from their dusty beds, glorified, to hear the covenant of peace that God was to make with those who had kept His law. {1916 JNL, QSM 22.2}

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. From this we would surely conclude that in the new earth, Sister White would be one of the 144,000. 1 {1916 JNL, QSM 25.1}

It was because of these plain statements, that our people and ministers, down to 1894, believed and taught that the sealing work had been going on since 1848, and that the 144,000 were being sealed. I do not see how we could draw any other idea, from the testimonies we have quoted, than that the sealing work had begun in 1848-1850. {1916 JNL, QSM 21.1}

When was the temple opened in heaven so you could see in the most holy place? 1844. Why were the angels called to hold the winds of strife in 1848? Because a war was going to break out and Gods people were not all sealed. War was about to break and all of a sudden it didn’t happen and then came the First World War and that was held back and then came the Second World War. This is the seventh trumpet with the interactivity of Christ. In the seventh trumpet the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdom of Christ when He comes to the ancient of days.

1848

Do you believe in the sealing of the 144,000 beginning in 1848? How do you know it was that year? God showed the pioneers in vision. Do you believe the third angel was the sealing angel?

Is the Sabbath important? This commandment did a work that the other nine didn’t do. Ellen White was shown against her own opinion so who was right? What the LORD showed her or human opinion? Of course what the LORD shows is correct. In 1846 Ellen White kept her first Sabbath.

Where in the Bible is the sealing message written? In Revelation 7:1-4 it talks about an angel ascending from the east. Some differences of opinion existed about the correctness of the view of the word ascending. They were looking at this and studying the sealing message in 1848 and at that time a vision was given. In 1848 after some time spent in earnest prayer for light for instruction God gave Sister White the following in vision.

What is she talking about? She is talking about the sealing message and they were wondering why this word ascending was put in there. Ascending is what the sun does every morning as it grows higher and higher. What she saw was that this sealing angel was to get higher and more important and its height would be in the kingdom of God when we get to heaven. It never sets. The quote said: ‘The greatest weight and light is on that truth, for it lasts forever, when the Bible is not needed.’ What truth? The angel came with the seal of the living God.
It is very important and it lasts forever. Is a time coming where the proclamation of the sealing message should die out and set like the sun? Never. So the more time goes on the more important it is. Have you heard of the sealing message lately? Do you know what the sealing message is? Do you know when it started? This is what God was showing as light was increasing upon the Advent band. He had wrenched them from the Sunday churches and he was bestowing upon them light after light on truth.

Just at this time the Seventh-day Adventists were learning from the Scriptures that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment was the sign, or seal, of the living God, and that the time had arrived for the proclamation of the sealing message of Rev. 7:1-4, and they were devising ways and means of getting this message before the people.

They got this message in 1848. The sealing message began in 1848. Has it set in our day and age or is it getting more and more prominent? It is to get more and more prominent. If we are to be the church which is the ground and pillar of the truth we are to uphold it as more important as before. In 1849 in the Present Truth Magazine it says:

Satan is now using every device in this sealing time, [1848] to keep the minds of God’s people from the present, sealing truth; and to cause them to waver…I saw that Satan was at work in these ways to distract, deceive, and draw away God’s people, just now in this sealing time. I saw some who were not standing stiffly for present truth. Their knees were trembling, and their feet were sliding; because they were not firmly planted on the truth, and the covering of Almighty God could not be drawn over them while they were thus trembling. {RH, August 1, 1849 par. 9}

Do you tremble on the point of the sealing message? Are you not sure what it is or are unsure if it has started or not? Are your knees weak on that point? We need to get solid of this point, as the covering of God can’t be drawn over us until we know in whom we believe.

Remember the Bible text that says I will make a highway out of Egypt. These steps out from the world and high above the world are the building of it. The beginning of the first second and third angel’s message has to do with the sealing, the Sabbath, the sanctuary and the prophetic dates and then this light was the all-absorbing theme.

In 1851 it was identified that the United States would enforce Sunday laws. James White set up the Review and Herald in 1848. When they first started writing articles it was called the Present Truth and by 1854 it received the name Advent Review and Sabbath Herald. The follow is a list of the leading doctrines quoted straight out of the article he published in December 1845. He clearly states the leading doctrines they were teaching at that time.

The 144,000 Sealed Since 1848

144,000 are from among living saints not those who died

There will be only 144,000 saints alive at the coming of Christ.

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 cited]- Prophets and Kings, p. 277.

Moses, represent[s] those who will be raised from the dead at the time of the second advent; and… 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. – ibid, p. 228.

Thus, we learn from the inspired pen that there will be a type of saint who will be translated from the earth without seeing death. Who are they?

A decree went forth to slay the saints, which caused them to cry day and night for deliverance. This was the time of Jacob’s trouble. Then all the saints cried out with anguish of spirit, and were delivered by the voice of God. The 144,000 triumphed.
Early Writings, pp. 36, 37.

How did the 144,000 triumph? By escaping the death decree. That is, they are translated without seeing death.

If as Ellen White states, a decree went forth to slay the saints, which caused them to cry day and night for deliverance during the time of Jacob’s trouble and those saints were delivered by the voice of God being The 144,000 [who] triumphed, then his number must comprise only those who go through the time of Jacob’s trouble and who will face the death decree. As such, the 144,000 cannot logically be the same as the great multitude of all those who have lived and died in Christ.

The 144,000 will be alive to see the resurrection of the great multitude

In Early Writings, pages 15-16 (1851 edition), speaking of the 144,000, E.G. White says as follows:

Then there was a mighty earthquake. The graves opened, and the dead came up clothed with immortality.The 144,000 shouted, Alleluia. AS THEY RECOGNIZED THEIR FRIENDS WHO HAD BEEN TORN FROM THEM BY DEATH [i.e. the great multitude], and in the same moment we were changed and caught up together with them [i.e. them being either the great multitude or the 144,000] to meet the Lord in the air. [see also, Testimonies for the Church, p. 61].

If the 144,000 are alive to see the coming of Christ in the clouds, and will see the the sleeping saints,raised from their graves, then the 144,000 must be a distinct and separate group from the those saints who will be resurrected as part of the great multitude. For Ellen White states, The 144,000 shouted, Alleluia. as they recognized their friends who had been torn from them by death…

The 144,000 have no hem of red on their garments.

On pages 18, and 19 of Early Writings, Ellen White states:

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 an innumerable company of little ones; they also had a hem of red on their garments.

The martyrs are described as having red on their garments and having been slain, as such the martyrs cannot be among the 144,000 as the 144,00 as called living saints and are said to be alive when the saints wake from the grave. [see Early Writings, p. 16.]

In contrast to the martyrs, the 144,000 are all clothed with a glorious white mantle from their shoulders to their feet, with no border, or hem of red. [Early Writings, page 17].

Note, their white garments have no red marks or stripes, because they are not martyrs and do not die, but live to see Christ’s return.

Which class of Seventh day Adventists will be sealed and what class will not?

Speaking of the sealing of the 144,000 Sister White says:

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 p. 266.

Mark this point with care: Those who receive the pure mark of truth, wrought in them by the power of the Holy Ghost, represented by a mark by the man in linen, are those ‘that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done’ in the church. — Testimonies, Vol. 3, p. 267.

Again she says, The seal of God will be placed upon the foreheads of those only who sigh and cry for the abominations done in the land [the church]. — Testimonies Vol. 5, p. 212.

What will be the fate of SDAs who do not form part of the 144,000 and live to the close of probation?

How could there only be 144,000 saints alive when Christ comes? Because most SDAs, the majority, will die in the plagues and the general slaughter of the wicked.

This [slaughter] is forcibly set forth by the prophet’s illustration of the last work under the figure of the men, each having a slaughter weapon in his hand. One man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side. And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem [the SDA churches around the world], and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. {RH, September 23, 1873 par. 4} {RH, June 8, 1886 par. 1}

This sealing of the servants of God [the last work], says Ellen White is the same that was shown to Ezekiel in vision. — Testimonies To Ministers, p. 445. (Read Ezekiel 9 my friends. READ EZEK. 9).

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.—Early Writings, p. 44.

Only a small number, 144,000, will receive the seal of God

Ellen White often used the ratio 1 in 20 (at least five times) in her writings about those who are prepared to meet their God:

There are lessons of the highest importance that not one in twenty of those who claim to be children of God have yet learned. {RH, June 28, 1887 par. 2}

Was E.G. White saying that not even one in twenty would be ready for Jesus’ coming? I am not sure.

But, she says again:

It is a solemn statement that I make to the church, that not one in twenty whose names are registered upon the church books are prepared to close their earthly history, and would be as verily without God and without hope in the world as the common sinner…. So many have brought into the church their own unsubdued spirit, unrefined; their spiritual taste is perverted by their own immoral, debasing corruptions, symbolizing the world in spirit, in heart, in purpose, confirming themselves in lustful practices, and are full of deception
through and through
in their professed Christian life. LIVING AS SINNERS [YET] CLAIMING TO BE CHRISTIANS. – Christian Service, p. 41 (1893).

Reader, one in twenty is 5 percent of SDAs. There are just over 16 million SDAs today. That would make just around 800,000. But remember she said NOT one in twenty. Remember also that many of those on the churches books are NOMINAL SDAs. Remember, too, that many of the 16 million will died before probation closes. So we will have an even smaller number of SDAs at the time when the Time of Trouble commences:

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. – Early Writings, pp. 88, 89 (1854).

Apart from the plagues and the slaughter of SDAs, what else will cause over 16 Million SDAs to dwindle to a little company?:

November 20, 1857, I was shown the people of God, and saw them mightily shaken…. —Test., Vol. 1, p. 179.

I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen, and was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the counsel of the True Witness to the Laodiceans…. this will cause a shaking among God’s people.—Test., Vol. 1, p. 181.

The question is, was Ellen White using literary hyperbole when she wrote about not one in twenty?

Even if we believe that she was merely making a point of the terrible spiritual condition of the SDA church membership, we must still realise what she was saying to us: not many (perhaps no more than 5 percent of the SDAs left alive when probation closes) will be ready for the coming of Christ.

Here is a statement from Ellen White, which I previously quoted, this time in full: The true people of God… 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 p. 266.

How many does Sister White say are to be sealed? Just 144,000.

Notice carefully, reader, who Sister White says will be numbered among the 144,000 that will receive the seal of God to stand through the time of trouble. She says that only those who are now on the side of faithful [in]… plain dealing with sins [that is sins in the SDA Church] will be sealed and fitted up to be among the 144,000.

Are you engaged in plain dealing with sins in your church? If you are alive today, and live to see Christ come, then to have any hope of being among the 144,000 (literal in number), you must take up the work of crying and sighing for the sins that be done in the SDA church, else you will have NO HOPE of being among the 144,000. Likewise, if you do not engage in this work, and you die before the close of probation (say tomorrow – i.e. you die tomorrow) then you will not even make it into the great multitude. Brethren, this is serious. Are you serious about sin? Are you serious about your salvation? Then, do the right thing. Call sin by its name, rebuke, exhort, with all authority; let no man despise [or deter] you. – Titus 2:15.

Wrongs must be reproved, sin must be called sin, and iniquity must be met promptly and decidedly, and put away from us as a people. —Test., Vol. 3, p. 260.

The time has come for earnest and powerful efforts to rid the church of theslime and filth which is tarnishing her purity. — Testimonies To Ministers, p. 450.

Are you sighing and crying for the abominations done in the church?

Oh that every lukewarm professor [believer] could realize the clean work [surgical removal] that God is about to make among his professed people. — Testimonies, Vol. 1, p. 190.

The time of the sealing of the 144,000:

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…. 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. Rev. 7:1, 2, 3.

We see here that the sealing of the 144,000 takes place just prior to the unleasing of the winds of Revelation 7. Thus, those who will be part of the 144,000 MUST be among those who will live through the time of the unleashing of these winds (the plagues).

Why is the Lord holding back these winds? The Lord holds back the tempestuous winds. He will not suffer them to go forth on their death-mission of vengeance until His servants are sealed in their foreheads. 19 Manuscript Release, p. 279.

The four angels from heaven are to Hold. hold. hold. hold. until the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads. Life Sketches, pp. 118, 119; Early Writings, p. 38.

This sealing work began in the days of the pioneers when the Sabbath (the mark of God) began to be preached and accepted by Seventh-day Adventists; and continues today—for a little longer, for Sister White states:

Four mighty angels are still holding the four winds of the earth…. the angels hold the four winds, forbidding the terrible power of Satan to be exercised in its fury until the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads. Maranatha, p. 167.

144,000 will be NUMBERED AND sealed

Who will make up this literal 144,000? Only God knows. But E.G. White says it will be those who are sealed after the Sunday Law is passed and probation has closed:

I saw angels hurrying to and fro in heaven. An angel with a writer’s inkhorn by his side returned from the earth, and reported to Jesus that his work was done, and the saints were numbered and sealed. Then I saw Jesus, who had been ministering before the ark containing the ten commandments, throw down the censer. He raised His hands, and with a loud voice said, ‘IT IS DONE’. – Early Writings, p. 279.

Revelation 7:9 tells us that the great multitude COULD NOT BE NUMBER and so logically, the saints who are said by Ellen White to be NUMBERED AND SEALED cannot be the great multitude.

This numbering and sealing work is represented in the book of Ezekiel as the man with the writer’s inkhorn (Ezekiel 9:4), who performs the sealing of the living saints before the close of probation. [Testimonies to Ministers, p. 445].

When does the sealing of the 144,000 take place?

This sealing takes place after the sounding of the final warning message:

Urged on by Satan, the rulers of this world are seeking to destroy them. 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. While Satan was urging his accusations, and seeking to destroy this company, holy angels unseen, were passing to and fro, placing upon them the seal of the living God (Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 475; Prophets and Kings, p. 587).

Who will finally make up the 144,000?

Who is to compose the 144,000? This those who are the elect of God will in a short time know without question. E. G. White, Manuscript 26, 1901; Selected Messages, vol. 1, p. 174.

Only those who, in their attitude before God, are filling the position of those who are repenting and confessing their sins in the great antitypical day of atonement, will be recognized and marked as worthy of God’s protection. TM 444, 445.

All those who are who are repenting and confessing their sins in [our] great antitypical day of atonement, will also be sighing and crying out AGAINST the sins that are found within the church.

Moreover, in addition to reproving sin in others, ONLY 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.—Test., Vol. 1, pp. 187, 188.

Strive to Be Among the 144,000

Let us strive with all the power that God has given us to be among the hundred and forty-four thousand. And let us do all that we can to help others to gain heaven.— Review and Herald, March 9, 1905.

A passive piety will not answer for this time. Let the passiveness be manifested where it is needed, in patience, kindness, and forbearance. But we must bear a decided message of warning to the world. The Prince of Peace thus proclaimed His work, ‘I came not to send peace on earth, but a sword.’
Evil must be assailed. Falsehood and error must be made to appear in their true character. Sin must be denounced. And the testimony of every believer in the truth must be as one.All your little differences which arouse the combative spirit among brethren, are devices of Satan to divert minds from the great and fearful issue before us. – General Conference Bulletin, February 6, 1893, Pioneer A. T Jones, quoting E.G. White.

The Pioneers of Adventism, can we trust them?

We are to repeat the words of the pioneers in our work, who knew what it cost to search for the truth as for hidden treasure, and who labored to lay the foundation of our work. They moved forward step by step under the influence of the Spirit of God. One by one these pioneers are passing away. The word given me is, Let that which these men have written in the past be reproduced. And in the Signs of the Times let not the articles be long or the print fine. Do not try to crowd everything into one number of the paper. Let the print be good, and let earnest, living experiences be put into the paper. {CW 28.1}

The truths that Elder Loughborough brought out in regard to the Testimonies of the Spirit of Prophecy, reveal the fact that they meet the universal needs of all mankind, and stand foursquare against all the words of error that can ever blow against them. The following messages tell us why we should repeat the words of the pioneer in our work who knew what it cost to lay the foundation of that work: We are to repeat the words of the pioneers in our work who knew what it cost to search for the truth as for hidden treasure, and who labored to lay the foundation of our work. They moved forward step by step under the influence of the Spirit of God. One by one these pioneers are passing away. The word given me is, Let that which these men have written in the past be reproduced. RH May 25, 1905.

And again we read further these words: The record of the experience through which the people of God passed in the early history of our work must be republished. Many of those who have since come into the truth are ignorant of the way in which the Lord wrought. The experiences of William Miller and his associates, of Captain Joseph Bates, and of other pioneers in the advent message, should be kept before our people. ELDER LOUGHBOROUGH’S BOOK should receive attention. Our leading men should see what can be done for the circulation of this book. Letter 105,1903.

http://sabbathsermons.com/2010/08/03/questions-on-the-sealing-message/

I have been instructed that we should make prominent the testimony of some of the old workers who are now dead. Let them continue to speak through their articles as found in the early numbers of our papers. These articles should be reprinted, that there may be a living voice from the Lord’s witnesses. The history of the early experience in the message will be a power to withstand the masterly ingenuity of Satan’s deceptions. This instruction has been repeated recently, I must present before the people the testimonies of Bible truth, and repeat the decided messages given years ago. I desire that my sermons given at camp meeting and in churches may live and do their appointed work. CW 26.

God has led out men who have toiled for years, who have been willing to make any sacrifice, who have suffered privation and endured trials to bring the truth before the world, and by their consistent course remove the reproach that fanatics have brought upon the cause of God. They have met opposition in every form. They have toiled night and day in searching the evidences of our faith that they might bring out the truth in its clearness, in connected form, that it might withstand all opposition. Incessant labor and mental trials in connection with this great work have worn down more than one constitution and prematurely sprinkled heads with gray hairs. They have not worn out in vain. God has marked their earnest, tearful, agonizing prayers that they might have light and truth, and that the truth might shine in its clearness to others. He has marked their self-sacrificing efforts, and He will reward them as their works have been. On the other hand, those who have not toiled to bring out these precious truths have come up and received some points like the Sabbath truth, which are all prepared to their hand, and then all the gratitude they manifest for that which cost them nothing, but others so much, is to rise up like Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and reproach those upon whom God has laid the burden of His work. They would say, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. They are strangers to gratitude. They possess a strong spirit which will not yield to reason and which will lead them on to their own destruction. IT 419-20.

James White:

Those who die under the third angel’s message are a part of the 144,000; there are not 144,000 in addition to these, but these help make up that number. They are raised to mortal life shortly before Christ comes, and are changed to immortality when Christ appears. RH Sept 23, 1880.

W. C. White:

Now to the question: Did Sister White teach that those who died in the message since 1844 and of whom it is said, ‘Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth,’ that they shall be members of the 144,000?

I can assure you, my brother, that this was the belief and the teaching of Ellen G White. Many times I have heard her make statements to this effect, and I am in possession of a letter to Brother Hastings who is mentioned on page 237 of Life Sketches in which she says plainly that his wife who had recently died would be a member of the 144,000.

In a letter recently received from a brother in Reno, Nevada, reference is made to a statement in Elder Loughborough’s book found on page 29 in which it is reported that Sister White said: ‘Those who died in the faith will be among the 144,000, I am clear on that matter’

And I testify, my brother, that that is in perfect harmony with her writings, her sayings and her teachings throughout the years of her ministry. Letter of W C White, dated April 18, 1929.

Lewis Harrison Christian:

We find this, too, in the life and teachings of Mrs. White. She foresaw and predicted many things. There is in her writings, however, no time prophecies of things to come. Some have tried to discover these by explaining her words that some people present at a conference would be alive when Jesus comes. They forget her other words about a special resurrection. {1947 LHC, FSG 407.2}

Stephen Haskell:

So those who have fallen asleep, having the seal of God, will have a special resurrection, and will be called forth to hear the covenant of peace, and to behold their Lord as He comes in the clouds of heaven. {1905 SNH, SSP 252.1}

Christ Himself came to earth, and claimed the body of Moses. He did not wait until all came from their graves. So those who have fallen asleep, having the seal of God, will have a special resurrection, and will be called forth to hear the covenant of peace, and to behold their Lord as He comes in the clouds of heaven. . {1905 SNH, SSP 252.1}