The Third Angel’s Message part 1
The Seal of God
1. In this study, we will start addressing the third angels’ message and identify from scripture what is God’s seal and the experience connected to it
Let us read Revelation 14:9-11. The third angel’s message brings to view the Mark of the Beast. Before we can address the Mark of the Beast, we need to understand what is God’s mark or seal.
2. Let us read Revelation 7:1-3. Why has God not yet let go of the winds of strife upon the earth?
Note: What is the seal of God? It is the seventh-day Sabbath. Let us confirm that fact by studying how the word “Seal” is often used in the Bible. In the natural sense, a seal is similar to a stamp that validates or authenticates a document.
3. Read Esther 3:12,13. What happens after a document is sealed?
Note: In a spiritual sense, when God seals His people it validates them as His, and they will only obey His words. The literal seal that a person, like a notary uses to authenticate a document, has three primary parts, namely, the notary’s name, title, and territory.
4. The seal that is mentioned in Esther chapter three has the same three parts. Identify the three primary parts of that seal. Esther 3:12,13 (See also Esther 8:8-10)
5. Since God will seal His people before He returns, and they must have His seal, in order to be saved, where can we find God’s seal? Isaiah 8:16
6. Which of God’s Ten Commandments has the three parts of a seal? Name the three parts. Exodus 20:8-11
The Great Controversy, 452: The Lord commands by the same prophet: “Bind up the testimony, seal the law among My disciples.” Isaiah 8:16. The seal of God’s law is found in the fourth commandment. This only, of all the ten, brings to view both 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 is given. When the Sabbath was changed by the papal power, the seal was taken from the law. The disciples of Jesus are called upon to restore it by exalting the Sabbath of the fourth commandment to its rightful position as the Creator’s memorial and the sign of His authority. {GC 452.1}
7. God’s seventh-day Sabbath is the seal of God. What is one of the primary reasons God gave to humanity His seventh-day Sabbath? Isaiah 66:22, 23; Luke 4:16; Acts 13:42-44
Note: In order to be saved, God’s people must receive the seal of God and it is more than just acknowledging and attending church on the Sabbath day.
8. What is the observing of God’s Sabbath a sign of? Ezekiel 20:12
9. By what should we be sanctified? What is truth? John 17:17; Psalm 119:142
10. What should we understand about the observance of God’s Sabbath in connection with sanctification? 1 Thessalonians 5:23, 24
Let us analyze how the three parts of God’s seal is made practical in our everyday lives.
a) God’s name is Jesus Christ: His people must not just profess to be Christians, but live like Christians. See Philippians 2:3-8; Galatians 5:19-23.
b) God’s title is Creator: His people must not only believe that Jesus created humanity, but that He wants to create in them a clean heart. See Psalm 51:1-19.
c) God’s territory is the world and its inhabitants: His people must believe that they are not their own, but have been bought with a price and must therefore glorify God in their bodies and spirits. See 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20.
11. What is the experience of the people who are being sealed by Jesus? 2 Timothy 2:19
12. What are some of the listed sins that we must confess and forsake, in order to be sealed by the Holy Spirit? Ephesians 4:22-32
13. Let us now go back to Esther 8 and draw out another application of a biblical seal. What could no man do once a document was sealed? Esther 8:8; Daniel 6:17
14. What words will Jesus say concerning every person’s record, just before He closes probation and returns? Revelation 22:11, 12
Note: When the Lord Jesus finally seals His people, they will choose not to reverse and return into a life of sin.
15. What is the seal of God also called? Romans 4:11
16. What must a person do, in order to be declared clean and righteous by Jesus? 1 John 1:9; Psalm 32:1-5
Note: The sinner must believe that Jesus declares him righteous once he sincerely confesses and forsakes sin. The justified person must now believe that Jesus can keep him from returning into sin. Additionally, the justified person must choose to follow God’s words and commune with Jesus daily. See James 4:7, 8; Jude 24; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
Christian Experience and Teaching, 189: 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 on the day of Pentecost. {CET 189.2}
Christian Experience and Teaching, 191: 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. Search the Scriptures for yourselves, that you may understand the fearful solemnity of the present hour. {CET 191.2}