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A Sealed Judgment

Consider the following three statements:

1. At the present time, we know the 144,000 have not been sealed because the Great Tribulation has not begun. We also know the 144,000 will be sealed before the saints are sealed because the 144,000 will be firstfruits of the “end time harvest.”

2. We know that death seals the records of the dead because the dead cannot make any more choices, but the living have the power of choice and opportunities to make choices.

3. A testing time is not only coming, but it is also necessary. Jesus will test the living and seal people who love Him and choose to put their faith in Him. The sealing of the saints will occur during the Great Tribulation after they have successfully completed the four steps described earlier.

Given these three prophetic matters and Paul’s ignorance of them, we have to put Paul’s comments on the sealing within the context of what he believed. The same holds true with Peter on the day of Pentecost; we have to overlook some of Peter’s statements about timing. Please examine the following texts (I have inserted some of the phrases in brackets and emphasized key words with boldface type):

1. “Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal [as in a validating seal – similar to the seal of a Notary Public] of my apostleship in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 9:2, insertion mine)

2. “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed [marked as the property of Christ] for the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:29,30)

3. “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. I call God as my witness that it was in order to spare you [from rebuke] that I did not return to Corinth.” (2 Corinthians 1:21,23, insertions mine)

4. “And you [Gentiles] also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal [indicating ownership], the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:13,14)

5. “To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which [no other religion offers] is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27)

6.  “In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel [of Jesus Christ] the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 3:4-6)

These six texts were written by the same man who 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) These texts are presented to demonstrate that Paul could not have used the concept of sealing in his day, as it should be understood in Revelation 7. Paul died thirty years before John wrote the book of Revelation. However, Paul knew something about the seal of God and the mysterious transformation that was “near” for the saints. Notice what he wrote about A.D. 63, “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. 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 know me, from the least of them to the greatest…. By calling this covenant ‘new,’ he has made the first obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.” (Hebrews 8:10-13, italics mine) If we take into account Paul’s mind set and if we synthesize all that Paul wrote on the seal of God, his comments make sense even though they are not to be confused with the sealing of the 144,000 in Revelation 7.

If we selectively use Paul’s comments to support a view that conflicts with Revelation 7, the Bible appears to be internally contradictory. The apostle Peter noticed that some people were using Paul’s writings in a harmful way, so he wrote, “Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.” (2 Peter 3:15, 16, italics mine) Because we know that Paul’s writings are easy to distort, I have presented several texts to reflect the sum of Paul’s comments on the sealing. With these texts in mind, let us look more closely at Paul’s message.

“The Deposit” of the Holy Spirit

Jesus knew, from His own experience, that His disciples could not make headway against the ignorance and arrogance of Judaism without a manifestation of divine power, because it is not possible for one man to prove the superiority of his religion over that of another. Religion usually narrows thinking to a point where reasoning is not possible. Jesus also knew that if His disciples were left on their own to “grow His church,” they would succumb to discouragement because laboring for the conversion of others is hard work. Furthermore, there was a great deal of antagonism against Christianity with Judaism and this conflict made it almost impossible to have insightful discussions. Jesus knew that His ministry, teachings and church would evaporate if left to human prowess. So,  “On one occasion [near the time of His ascension], while He was eating with them, He gave them this command: ‘Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about….’ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth.” (Acts 1:4, 8, insertion mine)

The promised power arrived a few days later. On Sunday morning, April 21, A.D. 30, at the Feast of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit arrived at just the right moment for several reasons. The Feast of Pentecost was required assembly for the Jews. (Exodus 23:17) Because the Jews had been scattered into every part of the world by King Shalmaneser V and Nebuchadnezzar in the eighth and sixth centuries B.C. respectively, Jews attended the Feast of Pentecost from all nations and they spoke many diverse languages. Jesus had been absent from Earth for ten days when the feast occurred and the disciples were certain that His return would be imminent. In fact, we have already observed in this segment that all of the apostles anticipated the end of the world and the establishment of the Kingdom of God “at any time.” (Matthew 3:1,2; Acts 1:6)

Jesus sent a display of divine power through the Holy Spirit at the Feast of Pentecost that morning to (a) awe the worshipers with Holy Spirit power, (b) to open the minds of the Jews to hear the testimony of His disciples, and (c) to validate the claims of the disciples that Jesus had risen from the dead. (This was necessary because of the lies which Jewish leaders had paid soldiers to spread throughout Jerusalem. Matthew 28: 13-15). To make the testimony of the apostles really remarkable, Jesus gave His disciples the ability to fluently speak in the foreign languages of those present. (Acts 2:8) Jews from all parts of the known world would be able to hear the gospel of Jesus in their own language while they were witnessing tongues of fire and a great noise that sounded like roaring wind. (Acts 2:2,3)

The Holy Spirit was present and authoritative among members of the Christian Way until Jerusalem was destroyed in A.D. 70. Miracles were performed and the Church grew rapidly. The deposit of Holy Spirit power validated the teachings of the disciples. Consider these twelve notable events in the first ten chapters of Acts!

1. Through the Spirit, Peter and John healed a beggar who had been crippled from birth. (Acts 3)

2. Peter, made bold by the power of the Holy Spirit, spoke forcibly. (Acts 4)

3. Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, were slain by the Spirit for lying to Peter. (Acts 5)

4. The apostles were released from jail during the night by an angel. (Acts 5)

5. Seven deacons were chosen under the direction of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 6)

6. The deacon Stephen performed great signs and wonders. (Acts 6)

7. Stephen was martyred as his face shone with glory! (Acts 7)

8. Philip performed signs and wonders. (Acts 8)

9. Peter and John went to Samaria. The Holy Spirit was poured out on believers. (Acts 8)

10. Philip was mysteriously transported to baptize the Ethiopian eunuch. (Acts 8)

11. Saul was converted. God used a believer named Ananias to miraculously restore Saul’s eyesight. (Acts 9)

12.  Cornelius was given a vision. Peter was given a vision. Peter was sent to the home of the Gentile, Cornelius. The Holy Spirit was poured out on Gentile believers. (Acts 10)

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