16. Sabbath Sealing
As God’s people we know that it is the faithful observance of the Sabbath that is the mark the reveal’s God’s ownership of the person. We also know that it is through the sanctifying power of the Sabbath that God’s people will be sealed.
Eze 20:12 Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them.
In chapter 2 we explored the fountain structure of the law that reflects the divine pattern at the centre. It is through this divine pattern that the Spirit of God flows to us, sanctifies us and gives us overcoming power. There is nothing more wonderful than a community based on family values worshipping together on Sabbath. This fully opens the fountain in the law to us. Notice what Ellen White says:
True sanctification is harmony with God, oneness with Him in character. It is received through obedience to those principles that are the transcript of His character. And the Sabbath is the sign of obedience. He who from the heart obeys the fourth commandment will obey the whole law. He is sanctified through obedience… To us as to Israel the Sabbath is given "for a perpetual covenant." To those who reverence His holy day the Sabbath is a sign that God recognizes them 6T 350
The Sabbath brings to God’s people a sweet outpouring of the Spirit of God. The more we desire this Sabbath blessing and make preparation for it, the more of the living bread we will have to eat. I cover this is detail in my presentation The Law of the Wise if you want to explore this in greater depth.
If there is a wonderful blessing in the Sabbath then we know that Satan will be on the ground contesting every inch to stop us from receiving this blessing.
This is where the divine pattern becomes important. The principle of the Sabbath is rest from our labours. Only those who are able to rest in the channel of blessing can truly rest from their labours.
In the previous chapter we examined the true Cornerstone and it’s counterfeit. I wanted to present these thoughts as a basis for understanding the Sabbath sealing more clearly.
Someone who are patterning themselves after a cornerstone that finds value in sharing their gifts in their family, community and church will find it very hard to prepare for the Sabbath and indeed rest on the Sabbath. The counterfeit cornerstone is going to create pressure on Friday afternoon. The desire to work on things that reveal our talent and ability comes up against the need to cease from labour. This is not just a ceasing from physical labour, but from all mental activity that relates to our work. There are many who cease their physical labour on Friday afternoon and yet are planning, thinking and pondering what they will do after Sabbath.
If we are building on the true Cornerstone then the need to perform and achieve begins to reduce; Sabbath preparation becomes easier and the Sabbath becomes sweeter.
I can testify that before I began to pattern after the true Cornerstone that Sabbath afternoon was always a rush. We often would be doing final minute jobs as the sun was setting. For a time we decided not to get “legalistic” about things and we sadly violated the edges of the Sabbath.
As I turned to the true Cornerstone, I became more and more convicted about the Sabbath. I was under deep conviction that we should able to be in a completely meditative state of mind at least half an hour before the Sun went down and having all showering and preparations finished well before the sun went down. I was convicted this must be down in a spirit of peace and happiness rather than rushed frustration. Rarely in all my Adventist life had I been able to welcome the Sabbath with both heart and mind fully resting and eagerly waiting for the Sabbath to arrive.
I am able to report with joy that this has all changed. The habits of decades took time to change. At first we had to reserve all of Friday just for house cleaning and preparation. Even then we found we would sometimes only just make it. Our spirits were still troubled due to the stress we felt in getting ready. But the more we have beheld the divine pattern the easier Sabbath preparation has become.
What a delight the Sabbath has become. What a joy to be seated well before the setting of the sun and to be meditating on the Word of God and praising Him before the sun sets.
What is the condition of those who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus? If in families there are those who are refusing [plus ignoring/failing] obedience to the Lord in keeping His Sabbath, then the seal cannot be placed upon them. The sealing is a pledge from God of perfect security to His chosen ones (Exodus 31:13-17). Sealing indicates you are God's chosen. He has appropriated you to Himself. As the sealed of God we are Christ's purchased possession, and no one shall pluck us out of His hands. The seal given in the forehead is God, New Jerusalem. "I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God" (Revelation 3:12). {15MR 225.3}
For those who have studied this subject carefully we know that God’s seal is found in the Sabbath. His Name, Title and Dominion are only found in this commandment. It is also interesting to note that
Rev 14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.
The Spirit of Prophecy states:
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. While you must do your part, yet it is God that must give you aid, and sanctify you. Christ makes us penitent that he may forgive us. We have an idea that we must do some part of the work alone. We have thought that there are two or three steps that we must take without any help or support. But this is not so. The Spirit of God is continually wooing and drawing the soul to right purposes, and into harmony with the law of God. The invitation is given to the helpless, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk, without money and without price." As soon as we separate ourselves from evil, and choose to serve God, we shall respond to this invitation. {RH, March 19, 1889 par. 6}
The writing of the Father’s name in the forehead is a writing of exactly what that name means – Father. Our recognition of God as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ established the divine pattern of the “Of Whom” and “By Whom”. Seeing the Father as the great source of all causes us to see the Son as one who inherits all and rests in the Father’s Word. When we see Christ in this Cornerstone capacity we are enabled to be changed into His image and therefore learn to rest upon the Sabbath. By this process we are sealed and prepared for the final crisis.
I have found in both the Word of God and my personal experience that the counterfeit cornerstone caused me to lightly regard the Sabbath and to push my projects right to the edges of the Sabbath and indeed often into the Sabbath hours. Through the false Christ presented to me in the Trinity I was prevented from receiving the sealing experience of the Sabbath.
Those who do not accept Jesus as the Son of the Father do not in fact believe that God is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet it is this name – “The Father” that will be sealed into the foreheads of faithful children.
Modern translations alter this verse and indicate that it is the Father’s name and the lamb’s name
Rev 14:1 ASV And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on the mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty and four thousand, having his name, and the name of his Father, written on their foreheads.
Yet we know that the Lamb has His Father’ name.
Exo 23:20-21 Behold, I send an angel before thee, to keep thee by the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. (21) Take ye heed before him, and hearken unto his voice; provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgression: for my name is in him.
Since the Lamb has the Father’s name in Him, as we pattern ourselves on Him, we become like Him and also have the Father’s name as Christ does. As Jesus told us:
John 20:17 …I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.
Brethren, I appeal to you to set your houses in order in a calm, peaceful and joyful manner to be ready for the Sabbath if this is not happening already. Nothing must stand in the way of being ready before the sun sets and to have our hearts filled with praise and thanksgiving to God and the Lamb. As we behold the divine pattern, this preparation becomes easier and easier as we learn to rest in the Father’s love even as our Lord Jesus rests in His Father’s Word.
