Sermon Tone Analysis

What is the Seal of God?

Revelation 7:1-

The Seal of God in EGW writings:

What is the seal of the living God, which is placed in the foreheads of his people?

It is a mark which angels, not human eyes, can read; for the destroying angel must see this mark of redemption.

The intelligent mind has seen the sign of the cross of Calvary in the Lord’s adopted sons and daughters.

The sin of the transgression of the law of God is taken away.

They have on the wedding garment, and are obedient and faithful to all God’s commands.

In the issue of the great contest between the forces of good and of evil, two parties are to be developed,—those who “worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark,” and those who receive “the seal of the living God,” and have “the Father’s name written in their foreheads.”

In the fourth commandment is found the seal of God’s law.

This only, of all the ten, brings to view the name and the title of the Lawgiver.

It declares Him to be the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and thus shows His claim to reverence and worship above all others.

Aside from this precept, there is nothing in the Decalogue to show by whose authority the law was given.

The Sabbath enjoined by the fourth commandment was instituted to commemorate the work of creation.

Had the seventh day always been kept, there would never have been an idolater, and atheist, or an infidel.

The sacred observance of God’s holy day would have directed the minds of men to their Creator, the true and living God.

Everything in nature also would have brought Him to their remembrance; and would have borne witness to His power and love.

March 22, 1910

The Sign of Loyalty

EGW

In the issue of the great contest between the forces of good and of evil, two parties are to be developed,—those who “worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark,” and those who receive “the seal of the living God,” and have “the Father’s name written in their foreheads.”

In the fourth commandment is found the seal of God’s law.

This only, of all the ten, brings to view the name and the title of the Lawgiver.

It declares Him to be the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and thus shows His claim to reverence and worship above all others.

Aside from this precept, there is nothing in the Decalogue to show by whose authority the law was given.

The Sabbath enjoined by the fourth commandment was instituted to commemorate the work of creation.

Had the seventh day always been kept, there would never have been an idolater, and atheist, or an infidel.

The sacred observance of God’s holy day would have directed the minds of men to their Creator, the true and living God.

Everything in nature also would have brought Him to their remembrance; and would have borne witness to His power and love.

The Seal of God

The Sabbath of the fourth commandment is the seal of the living God.

It points to God as the Creator, and is the sign of His rightful authority over the beings He has made.

Those who obey this law will bear the seal of God, for He has set apart this day as a sign of loyalty between Himself and His people.

To Moses on Mount Sinai He said, “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 mark of the beast is the opposite of this,—the observance of the first day of the week as the sabbath enforced by human law.

This mark distinguishes those who acknowledge the supremacy of the papal authority from those who acknowledge the authority of God.

The Sabbath of the fourth commandment is the seal of the living God.

It points to God as the Creator, and is the sign of His rightful authority over the beings He has made.

Those who obey this law will bear the seal of God, for He has set apart this day as a sign of loyalty between Himself and His people.

To Moses on Mount Sinai He said, “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 mark of the beast is the opposite of this,—the observance of the first day of the week as the sabbath enforced by human law.

This mark distinguishes those who acknowledge the supremacy of the papal authority from those who acknowledge the authority of God.

The Pure Mark of Truth, August 20

The Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.

Ezekiel 9:4.

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.

The class who do not feel grieved over their own spiritual declension, nor mourn over the sins of others, will be left without the seal of God.…

Not all who profess to keep the Sabbath will be sealed.

There are many even among those who teach the truth to others who will not receive the seal of God in their foreheads.

They had the light of truth, they knew their Master’s will, they understood every point of our faith, but they had not corresponding works.…

Not one of us will ever receive the seal of God while our characters have one spot or stain upon them.

It is left with us to remedy the defects in our characters, to cleanse the soul temple of every defilement.

Then the latter rain will fall upon us as the early rain fell upon the disciples.…

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 of false tongues or deceitful hearts.

All who receive the seal must be without spot before God—candidates for heaven.

Only those who receive the seal of the living God will have the passport through the gates of the Holy City.…

The seal of the living God will be placed upon those only who bear a likeness to Christ in character.

The change of the Sabbath is a sign or mark of the authority of the Romish Church.

Those who, understanding the claims of the fourth commandment, choose to observe the false sabbath in the place of the true, are thereby paying homage to that power by which alone it is commanded.

The mark of the beast is the papal sabbath, which has been accepted by the world in the place of the day of God’s appointment.

The seal of God, the token or sign of His authority, is found in the fourth commandment.

This is the only precept of the Decalogue that points to God as the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and clearly distinguishes the true God from all false gods.

Throughout the Scriptures the fact of God’s creative power is cited as proof that He is above all heathen deities.

The Sabbath enjoined by the fourth commandment was instituted to commemorate the work of creation, thus to keep the minds of men ever directed to the true and living God.

Had the Sabbath always been kept, there would never have been an idolater, an atheist, or an infidel.

The sacred observance of God’s holy day would have led the minds of men to their Creator.

The things of nature would have brought Him to their remembrance, and they would have borne witness to His power and His love.

The Sabbath of the fourth commandment is the seal of the living God.

It points to God as the Creator, and is the sign of His rightful authority over the beings He has made.

What, then, is the mark of the beast, if it is not the spurious sabbath which the world has accepted in the place of the true?

The prophetic declaration that the Papacy was to exalt itself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, has been strikingly fulfilled in the changing of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week.

Wherever the papal Sabbath is honored in preference to the Sabbath of God, there the man of sin is exalted above the Creator of heaven and earth.

There can be only two classes.

Each party is distinctly stamped, either with the seal of the living God, or with the mark of the beast or his image.

Love is expressed in obedience, and perfect love casteth out all fear.

Those who love God, have the seal of God in their foreheads, and work the works of God.—Sons and Daughters of God, 51 (1894).

Those that overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil, will be the favored ones who shall receive the seal of the living God.—Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 445 (c.

1886).

God has given men the Sabbath as a sign between Him and them as a test of their loyalty.

Those who, after the light regarding God’s law comes to them, continue to disobey and exalt human laws above the law of God in the great crisis before us, will receive the mark of the beast.—Evangelism,

235 (1900).

While the observance of the false sabbath in compliance with the law of the state, contrary to the fourth commandment, will be an avowal of allegiance to a power that is in opposition to God, the keeping of the true Sabbath, in obedience to God’s law, is an evidence of loyalty to the Creator.

While one class, by accepting the sign of submission to earthly powers, receive the mark of the beast, the other, choosing the token of allegiance to divine authority, receive the seal of God.—The Great Controversy, 605 (1911).

If the light of truth has been presented to you, revealing the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, and showing that there is no foundation in the Word of God for Sunday observance, and yet you still cling to the false sabbath, refusing to keep holy the Sabbath which God calls “my holy day,” you receive the mark of the beast.

When does this take place?

When you obey the decree that commands you to cease from labor on Sunday and worship God, while you know that there is not a word in the Bible showing Sunday to be other than a common working day, you consent to receive the mark of the beast, and refuse the seal of God.