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H. R. JOHNSON

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Jul 27, 1905

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 82, No. 30.

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H. R. JOHNSON

By H. R. JOHNSON

The 144,000

H. R. JOHNSON

1. WHERE are the 144,000 first spoken of? Rev. 7:1-4.
2. How are they designated?—As “the servants of our God.” Verse 3.
3. What is said of them?—They were sealed. Verses 3, 4.
4. With what were they sealed?—With “the seal of the living God.” Verse 2.
5. What is the seal, or sign (see Rom. 4:11), of God?—“The Sabbath of the fourth commandment is the seal of the living God.”—“Great Controversy,” page 640. Ex. 31:13, 17.
6. What is inseparably connected with God’s seal?—The Father’s name. See Rev. 14:1.
7. When did this sealing work begin?—When the angel came with the seal of God. Chapter 7:2.
8. When did the angel come with the Sabbath seal?—At the time “the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament” (chapter 11:19), and the Sabbath reform began. After Oct. 22, 1844.
9. What other angels did John see at this same sealing time? Chapter 7:1.
10. What did the angel with the seal command the four angels to do? Verses 2, 3.
11. When did this special command go forth?—As the nations became more angry, which is true since 1844. Chapter 11:18, 19. See “Early Writings,” pages 29-31.
12. Is the sealing work going on at the present time?—Yes. Chapter 7:2, 3. “Satan is now using every device in this sealing time to keep the minds of God’s people from present truth, and to cause them to waver.” “The sealing time is very short, and soon will be over.”—“Early Writings,” pages 35, 49.
13. What does the prophet Isaiah say about this work? Isa. 8:16.
14. Where is the sealed law to be put? Heb. 8:10.
15. As long as impurity is cherished in the heart can the spiritual law of God be written there?—No! “If the mind . . . is filled with other things, present truth is shut out, and there is no place in our foreheads for the seal of the living God.” “Now is the time for the law of God to be in our minds, foreheads, and written in our hearts.”—“Early Writings,” pages 48, 49. Isa. 51:7.
16. What is a reliable testimony of true sanctification?—Holy Sabbath keeping. Ex. 31:13.
17. Are not they who are walking by the power of the Holy Spirit in all of God’s commands, being sealed with the seal of the living God?—Yes. “They had upon their foreheads the seal of the living God, and he said: ‘Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.’”—“Testimonies,” Vol. VI, page 15. “Now is the time for the law of God to be in our minds, foreheads, and written in our hearts.” “Satan is now using every device in this sealing time to keep the minds of God’s people from the present truth.”—“Early Writings,” pages 48, 35.
18. How many will be sealed? Rev. 7:4. “The 144,000 were all sealed and perfectly united.”—Ibid., page 11.
19. To what are we called?—To be sealed with the seal of the living God, and be numbered with the 144,000.
20. In view of this fact what ought we to do? 2 Peter 1:10. “Let us strive with all the power that God has given us to be among the hundred and forty-four thousand.”—Mrs. E. G. White, in Review and Herald, March 9, 1905. “We may learn the song of victory that is to be sung on Mount Zion.” “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.”—Ibid., March 9, 1889. “In a little while every one who is a child of God will have his seal placed upon him. O that it may be placed upon our foreheads! Who can endure the thought of being passed by when the angel goes forth to seal the servants of God in their foreheads?”—Ibid., May 28, 1889.
21. Will all who have the sealed law, containing the Father’s name, “in our minds, foreheads, and written in our hearts,” live till Jesus comes? Rev. 14:12, 13.
22. When and by whom will they be raised? Dan. 12:1, 2. “But 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. . . . And as God spoke the day and the hour of Jesus’ coming, and delivered the everlasting covenant to his people, he spoke one sentence, and then paused, while the words were rolling through the earth.”—“Early Writings,” pages 145, 146.
23. Who understood the words of the voice of God? “The wicked could not understand the words of the voice of God.”—Ibid., page 146. “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.”—Ibid., page 11.
(Bear in mind that the time of these words of the voice of God is after the special resurrection. All this special company of Sabbath-keepers are now “living.”)
24. When the never-ending blessing was pronounced on “the Israel of God,” (Ibid., page 146), what did they shout?—“And when the never-ending blessing was pronounced on those who had honored God, in keeping his Sabbath holy, there was a mighty shout of victory over the beast and over his image.”—Ibid., page 146.
25. Where did John see this company? Rev. 15:2, 3.
26. What does the testimony of Jesus say on this point?—“The 144,000 were all sealed and perfectly united.” “Here on the sea of glass the 144,000 stood in a perfect square.”—“Early Writings,” pages 11, 12.
(Among those who shouted victory over the beast and over his image were those who had come forth from their graves in the special resurrection, and were seen on the sea of glass. They were “the living saints, 144,000 in number.”—Ibid., page 11.)
27. “When God spoke the time,” what did he pour upon them? and how did it affect them?—“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.”—Ibid.
28. What did the synagogue of Satan now know?—“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.”—Ibid.
29. What takes place soon after this?—“Soon our eyes were drawn to the east, for a small black cloud had appeared, about half as large as a man’s hand, which we all knew was the sign of the Son of man. We all in solemn silence gazed on the cloud as it drew nearer, and became lighter, glorious, and still more glorious, till it was a great white cloud. The bottom appeared like fire; a rainbow was over the cloud, while around it were ten thousand angels, singing a most lovely song; and upon it sat the Son of man.”—Ibid.
Ladysmith, Wis.
(To be concluded)