We have talked about this issue through  the  vehicle of the  Sabbath.  I would like to review a few of the concepts that are pertinent here, so that you can see how they fit into the sealing process. 


The  first issue in the loyalty and trust of Adam and Eve was centered on the two trees.  God did not give these two trees as a Test of their loyalty but it became a test when Eve approached the tree by herself.  The two trees, side by side in the garden, were designed to accomplish two things.


First of all it was designed to be a protection for the first couple against the onslaughts of Satan.  This was the only place that he was allowed access to them, he was not allowed to follow them around and pester them and entrap them.  


If God had made one tree more luscious 
    than the other tree, then even a selfish  person  could  say:
    "I'm  going  to  eat of this tree and not the other."  But if
    they could not distinguish,  if  there  was  nothing  in  the
    natural world, nothing that could even be grasped by the con-
    science of Adam and Eve to say "I'm going to eat of this tree
    and  not of the other tree, and it rested entirely on a "thus
    saith the Lord."  Then you create a  very  interesting  moral
    dilemma.    I  am  not  suggesting, at this point that God was
    being arbitrary either.  But would they be willing to do this
    because  they  were  sold on the trustworthiness of God.  God
    had given them ample evidence of His love.   If  someone  who
    they knew nothing about were to spring this kind of a test on
    them,  I  would  imagine  that they would say: "Well, who are
    you?  What right do you  have  to  ask  this  of  us?"    But
    everything about them testified about the love of God, except
    this  point,  that they could not understand.  Why should they
    eat of one tree and not the other?  They would do  it  simply
    because God had asked them to trust Him.   "But God, I can’t
    quite see it, I can’t understand it; one fruit looks as good
    as the other."   And God had told them what would be the consequences, and had warned them about a deceiver. 

        The highest test of moral integrity is: To  relate  to  a
    person, not for what you can get out of them, but because you
    appreciate  them  as  a  person.  This then required the
    highest quality of inner integrity;  trust. 

        The second feature of this test is that it  would  become
    evident  to  the  on-looking  universe  as  to what they were
    doing.  It would become an outward mark, or symbol  of  their
    loyalty  to  God.    God has done similar things throughout
    history, although never with the same  full  significance  of
    the  Sabbath.    Remember,  at the time of the Passover, they
    were told that God was going to move over the  land,  and  to
    really  impress  the Egyptians, and this was done in love; it
    was the only language that the  Egyptians  could  understand,
    and  because  of  what God did to the Egyptians, many of them
    were saved.   God told them that he was going to move through
    and said that the first born would be lost, unless they  were
    to  kill  a lamb.  Now there was a lot of symbolism here too;
    what do you want me to do this for, and it indicated a  trust
    in  the  coming Messiah.  And then they were to do something
    that on the surface seemed very silly.   They  were  to  take
    some  of this blood and sprinkle it on the door posts.  "Come
    on now God why would we have to do a silly  thing  like  that
    for?"   Was there some magic in putting blood over the doors?
    Of-course not!  Then why would they do  a  thing  like  that?
    The  same two reasons involved with the trees.  It represents
    a kind of integrity, a kind of trust that God  is  trying  to
    demonstrate.   Further more it becomes quite evident, the rest of
    the universe can watch.  It is not some process that goes  on
    inside that you can hide.  It becomes evident. 

        I  assert  that  the Sabbath is of that same quality.  To
    understand the quality of the Sabbath, and  to  find  why  it
    becomes so significant to this sealing process, let me remind
    you of the conditions under which the Sabbath was created. 

        You'll  recall that the Sabbath was made for man, not for
    angels, not for the rest of the world.  In fact  they  didn't
    even  need  a Sabbath like we did.  When God created Adam and
Eve, there was a special controversy going on in  the rest  of
    the  universe, in which God had been charged with an ulterior
    motive in creating the creatures.  Satan  said  that  if  you
    give  me an independent race, which has not seen what has gone
    on and they  are  not  afraid  of  you,  who  have  no  prior
    knowledge  of your contentions and my contentions,  I'll show
    you that they will defect.  Give any person  the  opportunity
    and  if  they  are not scared and you are not bribing them, I
    will show that they  will  turn  against  you.    That's  the
    principle  of Satan’s' government; everyone is going to do his
    own thing; live by their own laws, by their  own  gratificat-
    ion, by their own whim.  And God said: "No, that isn't so." 

        And He created a unique order of beings, who by  the  way
    had   the  capacity to be creators themselves, and this helps
    them to understand God.  What would happen if  God    created
    this  first  pair and never let them out of His sight?  Satan
    would say: "Look, you're really not  being  fair  to  me.  In
    essence you have restricted me to a certain locale; and  that
    too  was  the  only right thing for God to do, it wouldn't be
    fair that Satan could hound this first couple in their  inno-
    censey  everywhere  they went, but as long as God allowed him
    to have access to them every day because they had to  eat  of
    one  of  these two trees every day, Satan had access to them,
    but it was a limited access or they might  have  been  bugged
    out  of their gourd.  But what would have happened if God had
    trailed along in tandem everywhere they go?  Satan would say,
    well you don't  let  them  out  of  your   sight.      You're
    monopolizing  their  time."    And God said: "that's right, I
    mustn't do that."  That wasn't a problem with the rest of the
    universe, but with this first  couple  God  has  to  be  very
    temperate in His time relationship with them.  "Alright, most
    of  the  instruction  will be given them by the angels, and I
    will walk with them in the cool of the day, but I'm going  to
    make it patently clear to the universe that I am not monopol-
    izing  their  time."   That's fair if you are going to have a
    reasonable contention here, in which two forms of  government
    are  vying  for the attention of the human race; that's only
    fair.  But that raised a problem, how is  God  going  to  get
    acquainted  with  them?  How are they going to get acquainted
    with God?  You can’t  get  acquainted  with  a  person  just
    rubbing  shoulders  with them on occasion, you've got to sit
    down and visit with them.  You've got to sit down  and  visit
    with  them, not just see them running by.  There comes a time
    when you don't want to be instructed by them, you  just  want
    to  be  with  them, to enjoy them.  But how is that going to
    occur?  God says that for this situation, for  this  race,  I
    must  create  a  special  date,  in  time  so that we can get
    acquainted.  Without this man would never have been  able  to
    really  learn to know and appreciate God.  Man might say that
    there is a pretty interesting person running around here; but
    to really get to know a person you have to take time  to  get
    to  know  them  and  enjoy  them.    now  that is all for the
    necessity for the Sabbath. 

        If man is going to understand himself, there had to be  a
    Sabbath.   Why was he created?  Maybe God created him to take
    care of this glorious garden that he found himself in.  Maybe
    he had to keep shrubs; maybe he was some kind of cosmic  land-
    scape artist.  Now that might have happened had there been no
    Sabbath.   We recall that man did not come into existence the
    first part of creation week;  God  really  didn't  bring  man
    into  being  until  the  end of the sixth-day, and mans' life
    really started with a date.  In fact this is when sexual int-
    imacy began, and this is when everything that describes fell-
    owship, companionship, unity, started on the Sabbath.   With-
    out  the  Sabbath, really beginning mans' existence, he might
    have seen himself in some kind of sub-ethical way: "Well  God
    needs  me  to trim His shrubs."  Sometimes kids have the idea
    that the  only  reason  their  parents  brought   them   into
existence  was  for  free labor: to scrub out the bathtub and
    to mow the lawn.    So  God  removed  this  line  of  thought
    possibility  by  creating the Sabbath in the way that He did.
    The Sabbath really strikes at the very nature of life.    Man
    was  created for companionship, and the very beginning of his
    life, God squared him away with a very unique  experience  of
    companionship. 

        So  the  Sabbath has a tremendous spiritual meaning as to
    the nature of man and his discovery and appreciation  of  the
    nature of God. 

        The  nature  of time adds a third category to the tree of
    Life and the Tree of Knowledge and Evil; you see  I  can  see
    now,  and my reasoning can grasp the necessity for a Sabbath
    (for the reasons I've just discussed).  What I  cannot  grasp
    is why does it have to be the seventh-day?  Why couldn't  God
    have made it an eighth part of  time,  or  maybe  within  the
    seventh  part  of  time,  have it the tired day?  I know of no
    reason God couldn't have done that if He had wanted to; and I
    think it is beautiful the way He  worked  it  out.    I  find
    nothing  in  nature to would help me understand why it is the
    seventh day.  Do you find anything different in nature on the
    seventh-day, is  the  sunshine  more  helpful,  is  the  rain
    better, do the birds sing better, do you get any better sleep
    on  the  seventh-day?    No, nothing of significance except a
    thus saith the Lord.  But you see, that gets back to the very
    purpose of life; are  we  going  to  recognize  that  we  are
    christians  and  that  part  of  our loyality and part of our
    capacity for life is in trusting God and recognizing that  He
    is  a  person worthy of accepting that kind of trust.  If God
    could get us to make choices like that we would  be  nice  to
    have  around  for the rest of eternity.  If a person would go
    that far to trust God because of  His  character;  if  it  is
    based  on  a  principle  of pure love and loyalty, then this
    becomes a very basic moral issue of life.  Further  more,  if
    the Sabbath becomes a focal point of this religious-political
    crisis such that everyone has to decide one way or the other,
    them  this  means  that  they  are  going  to  have  to raise
    questions.  That means that God is going to have  to  have  a
    people who can explain what this is all about.  The fact that
    He hasn't had a people who can explain what this is all about
    is  one of the reasons that we are still here.  We have  been
    too preoccupied with nailing down key text as to which is THE
    day, to the neglect of the quality of  experience  that  that
    day  should  reflect.    The  Jews  kept the seventh-day, and
    Christ really did away with the Jewish Sabbath; it was really
    not a matter of time, but the manner in which  it  was  kept.
    He  instituted  a whole new experience.  The Sabbath was made
    for man not man for the Sabbath; you can’t impose all  kinds
    of  rules  and  regulations,  people  are  having a date with
    another person and you have to have freedom for their person-
    alities to  discover  the  way  that  they  can   enjoy   and
    appreciate  each  other.      That  is  why we should be very
    careful that we don't  try  to  superimpose  rigid  rules  of
    performance   on   the   Sabbath.    I  think the Seventh-day
    Adventists have tended to do that. 

        As this becomes a part of a  religious-political  crisis,
    then you see that God can use this as the occasion  to  help
    clarify  what this is great controversy between good and evil
    is all about.  God will have a chance to be introduced  in  a
    way  that  the  whole  universe can recognize; it will have a
    quality of a choice that reflects inner integrity, because at
    this time those who keep the Sabbath just because  they  have
    been  taught  to  do so and it is convenient and they get the
    approval of other seventh-day adventists, it isn't  going  to
    be  worthwhile.    It might cost you your hide, you might get
    sucked into some kind of an economic boycott,  where  if  you
    keep  this  Sabbath, it is going to cost you.  Unless you see
    this as a relationship with God and  unless  this  becomes  a
    mark  of  your  integrity,  you  will  give it up; because it
    wouldn't have any significance to you.  This  kind  of  issue
    can  become  a  focal  point in which everyone has to make up
    their minds.  And not only will this kind of choice  for  the
    Sabbath,  at  a  time  when the world is being unified around
    Sunday, which is of greater expediency to  the  rest  of  the
    world, at this particular point in history, the Sabbath would
    not only reflect an inner integrity, but it would also become
    evident  to  the  rest of the world.  And thus the Sabbath is
    spoken of as a seal; sealing within us the character of  God.
    Because  when  we  make our choice for the Sabbath under that
    kind of a crisis the only way we can do it because we live it
    and because the Holy Spirit is helping us to  understand  the
    significance  of  it  as  a  point  of  loyalty  to God.  In
    addition to the inner integrity that is seemingly  within  us
    by  making  this kind of choice, it would also become evident
    to the rest of the universe.  It will become a mark   and  it
    can become a sign of what Gods message is all about. 

        So  this  is  how the Sabbath becomes a seal.  One of the
    most remarkable statements that has ever been made,  and  can
    be found in chapter five of Olsen, this sealing experience is
    referred  to  as a settling into the truth both intellectually
    and spiritually so that this people cannot be moved.  Now, we
    are very moveable; I might sin next  Wednesday,  I  wouldn't
    have  to  if  I lived everyday in terms of total awareness of
    the relationship with God.  But  in  times  when  things  are
    comparatively  easy,  it  is easy for me to slide, and that's
    how we remain moveable.  But a settling into the  truth,  the
    reality  of  God  clinches the truth, to have His live become
    our life.  To settle into the truth intellectually,  that  is
    we  understand  it,  spiritually,  that  is  we  love it; the
    highest operation of the  soul  is  the  capacity  to  love.
    Settled  into the truth so that we cannot be moved; when this
    then, under provocation becomes habit, is a way of life, then
    there  can  come  a  point  when God can say, without any in-
    fringement on our freedom, without automatically or  arbitra-
    illy  flipping  a  switch,  God can say: "Him that is, let him
    be."  Through their own choices.  When individuals have  this
    kind  of  experience, where they are like God, where they are
    like God, where they would rather die than sin; then I  would
    like to suggest that God can give them an insurgence of power
    that  the  world  has never seen.  This infusion of power has
    been described as the Latter Rain. 

        The phraseology, the term Latter Rain is  based  on  the
    natural symbolism of the Palestinian agricultural system, the
    growing  season.    At planting time they had the sequence of
    showers that was referred to as the Early Rain, and it  helped
    the seed to germinate, and at the right time for the grain to
    really  ripen,  to  be ready for the harvest, to be ready for
    the  sickle,  there was another torrent of rain which brought
    it to fruition.  This analogy refers not only to the individ-
    ual but to the group as a whole.  To the individual, the out-
    pouring of the Early Rain refers to  the  outpouring  of  the
    Holy  Spirit  when they are reborn.  And the Spirit continues
    all  along,  and when the individual follows the Spirit day by
    day, he gets to the place where he cannot be moved.  Then God
    will come in a greater manifestation of Himself, through  the
    Spirit,  to give wisdom and power and a dynamic that they can
    do wonderful things for him.  And there have been such people
    throughout history; but as I say it  has  never  happened  in
    mass.    With  the  church,  the Early Rain came at a time we
    refer to as Pentecost; that is that was the beginning of the
    New Testament Church, it was only a handful of people.    But
    when  they  gave  them  selves to God day by day, and growing
    into a unity with each other,  where  love  reigned  supreme.
    And God could not give them His Spirit until their lives were
    such  that they would not utilize this power in selfish ways.
    There is nothing more dangerous than to give a selfish person
    power.  Look at Idi Amin, or Muammar  Kadaffi.   And so there
    must be some kind of settling into the truth so that they can
    be trusted, so that they can be relied  upon,  so  that  they
    would  be  safe.  God is itching to give this power, if I can
    put it into human terms, God really would  like  to  give  of
    Himself.  There is a handful of individuals who had this exp-
    erience at Pentecost, and they took the world; thousands were
    converted in a day.  But God said that was only a handful; if
    I  could  get  a  people I'll show you the wonderful things I
    would do.  And there would be even a greater  power,  because
    there  would  be  more individuals who will do it, this is why
    you find this statement that this Latter Rain can never  come
    until a sufficient number in the church are willing to become
    settled  into  the  truth;  intellectually and spiritually so
    that they cannot be moved.  When individuals are  willing  to
    receive  this experience, and it will come in a point of time
    when people are going to have to face up to  these  realities
    in a time of religious-political crisis. will require, by the
    very  nature  of  things in the world around us, very serious
    attention every single day.  And even going to the market  we
    will  never  know  if  this  will  be the time we are refused
    permission to buy or sell,  we might be considered  aberrant.
    If  the  world  is in a state of panic, thinking somehow that
    God is  sending  judgements  because  people  have  forsaken
    Sunday,   you  can  see  where  it  would  become politically
    dangerous to allow individuals to go on in their  recalcitrant
    ways,  keeping another day when they are in the minority.  If
    God could have a people who  would  even  give  up  existence
    itself,  then He is ready to act in a powerful way.  And when
    there   is   a  sufficient  number,  then  God  will  send an
    insurgence of the  Holy  Spirit  which  will  accomplish  two
    things which will prepare the church for its final witness. 

        First of all it will  complete  the  sealing  process  in
    those which have already settled into the truth; that is they
    will   become   more  mature.    Then  motivation will become
    stronger, their perception of truth will become clearer  such
    that  they  can go forth to spread the message of the Sabbath
    more clearly.  The next topic deals with  this  as  The  Loud
    Cry.    Furthermore  they can be entrusted with the power that
    the world has never seen before. 

        This motivation function of the Holy Spirit, this insight
    function of the Holy Spirit, this power function of the  Holy
    Spirit  will  be  seen  in  a manner that has never been seen
    before.  And then this people can go forth and revel in their
    lives, and with their explanation of the  historical  process
    and  what  all  of this means, so that others in a very brief
    period of time will become enamored with the truth that is in
    Jesus, reflected in the lives of these  people.    Many  will
    come  in  to this body at this time, to increase their ranks.
    And there will be a shaking, this will cause a shaking; those
    who are fair-weather friends will, who really don't serve God
    for His own sake, but perhaps for selfish reasons, they  will
    not  stand  the  sifting.  But others will come in, thousands
    will be converted in a  day,  under  the  influence  of  this
    dynamic power of the Holy Spirit, and then God can say: "Here
    they  are, they have the commandments of God and the faith of
    Jesus." 

        This group has been symbolized  by  the  expression  "the
    144,000".    I would reason with you (elsewhere if necessary)
    that this tells us three  things  about  this  people.    The
    concept of the 144,000 tells us that God will have an actual
    people.  The fact that they will come from twelve tribes, and
    at  the  time  that  this  was  written the twelve tribes had
    ceased to  exist,  and  if  you   look   in   the   religious
    publications  there  are  those  who are now looking for "The
    Lost Tribe of Dan."  But these symbols were taken  over  from
    the  Old  Testament  and applied to the New Testament Church,
    and the idea of the twelve tribes  meant  that  these  people
    would  come  from all walks of life because the twelve tribes
    was a conceptual term to refer to  people  in  all  walks  of
    life.    All of God's people in the Old Testament belonged to
    one  of  these  twelve tribes.  so in a spiritual sense then,
    the make up of these twelve tribes refers to  the  fact  that
    they  will  come  from  all walks of life.  And the fact that
    there will be twelve thousand  from  each  tribe;  a  perfect
    number,  tells  us  that  God wont miss a soul.  The cry that
    comes in Revelation 6, in view of all these things  that  are
    taking  place in the world, who shall be able to stand?  This
    was John's concern, this was the  concern  of  the  on looking
    angels.    Who  can  make it?  Revelation 7 gives the answer.
    There will be a people, they will  come  from  all  walks  of
    life, and God wont miss a soul. 

        We have thought, or spoken of this judgement process as a
    weeding  process  in  which  God  is  getting  rid of people.
    That's blasphemous; God is seeking them out where  ever  they
    are, through His Spirit, which is everywhere present. 

        This will be a special group; this is the group that will
    ultimately  vindicate  God.  This is an essential part of the
    Sanctuary Message.  Daniel tells us in the 8:14,  that  there
    will  come  a  time  when  the Sanctuary, that is what God is
    doing in heaven.  God, What are you  doing  with  our  world?
    I'll tell you what I am doing with my world.  He is going  to
    tell  it  through His people; He is going to make a grand and
    glorious revelation through His people.   At  this  time  the
    Sanctuary  shall be cleansed, the Aramaic word means to vindi-
    cate, to justify.  The term really means that  what  God  has
    been  doing  will  be vindicated.  God, where is your people,
    you have  lost  contact  with  your  creation,   maybe   your
    government  doesn't  work.    And HE says: "No, I'll take the
    weakest of the weak, and I will fill them with Myself, and  I
    will  draw  them  from all walks of life, I wont miss a soul,
    and I'll present them to the world: `Here  they  are'.    And
    through  them  I  will  be justified, I will be vindicated, I
    will be seen for the person that I am.  God will be glorified
    and His people will be glorified through Him.    This  people
    will  have  an  ambassadorial level in the world to come, they
    will walk with the Lamb wherever He goes.  They will  have  a
    dignity  even greater than that of the angels.  This is a re-
    markable opportunity, and those of us living in the  world
    at  this  time  will have an opportunity to be a part of that
    movement.  To  those  individuals  who  are  concerned  about
    running  away to where they can hide, I would remind you that
    this is Gods' finest hour, and it could be our  finest  hour;
    and  the  question  should not be: "Where can we hide?'  But:
    "God where can we be seen?"  God need  witnesses,  but  there
    has been a delay.  There has been a delay because we have been
    preoccupied,  and  you  can find the diagnosis in the reading
    that has been suggested.  We could  actually  spearhead  this
    historical movement; it began with a handful anyway, and this
    is  more  than  a handful; if we really wanted to do it.  God
    would be delighted if we could be a part of this Sealing, and
    the Latter Rain. 

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