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The Mystery of God

“But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.” (Revelation 10:7)

What is the mystery of God mentioned in Revelation 10:7? We know that it will be completed at the seventh trumpet, but when does it start? The mystery of God is the sealing and it begins with the 144,000 because “judgment begins at the house of God.” (1 Peter 4:17) The mystery of God will be a mysterious transformation that cannot be seen, but the results will be seen. During the judgment of the living, the carnal nature will be removed from everyone who receives Jesus as their Savior and passes the test of faith. The 144,000 will be the first people to experience this amazing transformation. After they have been severely tested and transformed, God will place His seal on their foreheads indicating a secure and permanent transaction has occurred. Remember the four uses of seals in the Bible? The seal of God on the 144,000 indicates a finished transformation, a secured position. The 144,000 will be delivered from the attraction of sin. The sinless and bold behavior of the 144,000 will reflect this stunning transformation. They will speak the truth without regard to consequences. The Bible says, “No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless!” (Revelation 14:5) This is why the mystery of God (the transformation of man’s nature) cannot be seen, but the results will be seen and heard.

Consider the following scenario: Because the 144,000 are declared “firstfruits,” the judgments of the living will begin with the 144,000. After they are tested and judged, their carnal nature will be mysteriously and miraculously removed. Then, the 144,000 will be “sealed” with sinless natures – having no propensity or attraction toward rebellion against God. In fact, they will have a distinct repulsiveness toward sin. The 144,000 will be the first to receive what Adam and Eve lost when they sinned. The good news is that each person who receives the testimony of the 144,000 and passes the test of faith will also experience ‘the transforming mystery of God” and receive the seal of God!

 

After each person is sealed, the struggle with the carnal nature will be over! Sin will be repulsive and unnatural. Paul knew this transaction was coming, even though he did not know exactly when. He wrote, “… The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the [whole] house of Israel [the ten tribes that lived in the north] and with the house of Judah [the two tribes that lived in the south]. It will not be like the [bilateral] covenant I made with their forefathers [in Exodus 19] when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because [of their carnal hearts] they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from [rejected] them, declares the Lord. This is the [everlasting] covenant I will make with the house [twelve tribes] of Israel after that time [the years allotted for the duration of sin], declares the Lord. I will [transform their hearts and minds and] put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts [so there will be no rebellion toward me within their body]. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all [personally] know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. By calling this covenant ‘new,’ He [God] has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.” (Hebrews 8:8-13, insertions mine)

 

Demonstration and Proclamation

 

The gospel of Jesus is more than mere words. The gospel of Jesus is a way of life and love. Jesus will use 144,000 servants to “show and tell” the world what He wants. From the human perspective, we will look at the 144,000 as bold people at first. These ordinary people will prove to be anything but ordinary after they begin their ministry. Their testimony and actions will be awesome because they will be transformed by God’s power. Not all the money in the world will be able to buy the seal of God. Jesus will personally transform and seal one person at a time as they take hold of His promises and pass the test of faith. Jesus is a personal Savior, as well as our Judge, and every soul who embraces His teachings will experience His transforming touch.

 

The 144,000 will be “perfect” reflections of the love of Jesus. They will be perfect examples of what “Christ in you, the hope of glory” looks like. (Colossians 1:27) Every person who loves truth, regardless of religious background, will observe the humble and loving character of the 144,000. Of course, their truthful speech and blameless lives will offend and infuriate the wicked. Jesus warned His disciples, “Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me.” (John 15:20,21, italics mine)

 

We have discussed how the 144,000 will be the first among the living to be judged and mysteriously transformed. We know the 144,000 will be “sealed” a few days before the Great Tribulation begins. After they are sealed, the four winds will be released – the judgments of God will begin to fall. Then, 144,000 prophets of God will boldly and fearlessly proclaim the terms and conditions for salvation to a world saturated with ignorance and blinded by religious arrogance. Without regard for the wishes of family members or personal safety, they will speak the Words of Jesus given them by the Holy Spirit. No lie will be found in their mouths. The testimony of the 144,000 will alienate the religious and political leaders of Earth and all of the wicked. Civil authorities will severely persecute the 144,000 because their “testimony” will be regarded as “inflammatory speech.” The 144,000 will receive the brunt of persecution and religious hatred, and so will those people who receive their testimony. Nevertheless, the whole world will hear “the testimony of Jesus” through His faithful “servants the prophets” and the end result is that everyone on Earth will be tested. Everyone on Earth will be put through this four-step process:

 

  1. Every nation, kindred, tongue and people will hear the terms and conditions of salvation through the testimony of the 144,000. Everyone will be informed that Jesus is the Creator and He commands respect and worship on His holy day.

 

  1. Revelation 13 indicates the human race will respond to God’s wrath by creating a crisis government that will attempt to appease God by mandating worship. Because the laws and penalties enacted by the crisis government will directly conflict with the laws and penalties of God, everyone will be forced into a difficult choice. The people of Earth will be forced to make a decision – submit to Jesus’ authority and suffer Babylon’s persecution or submit to the authority of Babylon and the devil, and receive God’s seven last plagues and the loss of eternal life.

 

  1. Everyone will suffer wrath. Those people who obey the laws of God will suffer first. Those who obey the laws of man will suffer greatest, but both groups will suffer. Everyone will be tested with persecution because persecution exposes our highest allegiance. If we love our lives more than we love God, persecution will expose this. If we love God more than life, persecution will expose this, too. Jesus said, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” (Matthew 16:25)

 

  1. Everyone who submits to the authority of God and passes the test of faith will be mysteriously transformed and sealed with the seal of the living God.  All the people who refuse to obey Jesus will have no choice but to receive the mark of the beast.

 

During the Great Tribulation, the gospel will be proclaimed with clarity and power. Everyone will make an informed and intelligent decision with regard to the gospel. The gospel of Christ demands submission to the King of kings. Many will submit twice as many will rebel. In short, the whole world will be put through a time of severe testing. (Revelation 3:10)

 

Paul’s Comments about the Seal of God

 

The sealing of the firstfruits (144,000) and the numberless multitude that follows occurs during the appointed time of the end because the sealing “of the living” is the last phase in the judgment bar of Christ. In other words, after a person passes the test of faith, that person will be mysteriously transformed and sealed with the seal of God. When the last saint is sealed, “the mystery of God” will be completed – just before the seventh trumpet. (Revelation 10:7)

 

A certain amount of knowledge existed during New Testament times about the sealing, but it was not experienced or put in its proper context. Paul writes about God’s seal and “sealing” in various places and we need to examine Paul’s views and comments so that his statements can be prophetically corrected and applied to our day. Before we examine Paul’s comments on the seal of God, please review the following texts from the New Testament so that you can appreciate the first century A.D. mind set which Paul and the apostles had with respect to time and timing. (I understand certain words to emphasize key points.)

 

1.   The apostle Peter thought he was living at the end of the world. Notice these verses. On the day of Pentecost in A.D.30, Peter stood and said, “These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.’” (Acts 2:15-17) “The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.” (1 Peter 4:7)

 

2.   The apostle James thought he was living at the end of the world. He wrote, “Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, Because the Lord’s coming is near.” (James 5:7,8)

 

3.   The apostle John thought he was living at the end of the world. He wrote, “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.” (1 John 2:18)

  

4.   The apostle Paul thought he was living at the end of the world. He wrote, “What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none.” (1 Corinthians 7:29)

5.   Paul also wrote, “in the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.” (Hebrews 1:1,2) “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest enterth into the holy place every year with the blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” (Hebrews 9:24-26, KJV) “The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.” (Romans 13:12)

 

After reviewing these texts, we find unanimous agreement among the apostles. They believed they were living at the end of the world. History also records that most, if not all of the apostles, had died or been put to death by the time John wrote the book of Revelation. My point is the apostles died without realizing their inaccurate knowledge of God’s timing. None of them knew the Second Coming would be 2,000 years into the future. Paul acknowledged this handicap saying, “For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.” (1 Corinthians 13:9,10)

 

The subject of the seal of God specifically applies to Paul’s statement, “For we know in part and we prophesy in part…” Paul was martyred about thirty years before John wrote the book of Revelation. Paul knew certain things about the mysterious transformation and the sealing, but he did not know the timing. Therefore, Paul applied what he knew about the sealing in his day! In a similar way, after reading the book of Hebrews a person could say that Paul certainly knew about the ministry of Jesus in Heaven’s temple as our High Priest in the Most Holy Place. The problem though, is that Paul did not understand the 2,300 days of Daniel 8:14, and he did not know about the time, times, and half a time of the little horn power in Daniel 7:25. Simple stated, Paul had no idea that the twenty-first century A.D. would take place. Paul and the apostles understood many parts of God’s plan, but they could not know the timing or arrangement of these parts because the book of Daniel was sealed until the appointed time of the end. (Daniel 12:4-9)


      

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