Anchor 2016 Class 18

The Seal of the Living God P1

Seal of God

Seal of God

The following transcript comprises  the first few minutes of this Anchor 2016 Class 18 presentation by Pastor Stephen Bohr. I welcome you to this page and pray that you might find the videos in this series as enlightening and informative as I have found them.

Please take the time to watch this series and also to secure a copy of the study notes as they will help complete the course structure.

The study notes can be obtained at Secrets unsealed by clicking the following link. ‘Secrets Unsealed’

Pastor Stephen Bohr

The title is ‘The Seal of the Living God’. We’ve discussed quite a bit about the Sabbath in this anchor theology class, but now we want to talk a little bit more about the reason why we keep the Sabbath.

Seal of God

The inward motivation of Sabbath observance, because just a mere external observance of the Sabbath is not sufficient, it has to come from the heart, so we’ll begin at the top of the page where the subtitle is Ellen White and the seal of God.

 

Since early in Seventh-Day Adventist history, our denomination has consistently taught that the seal of God is the Sabbath, as far as we know the first person to discover this in Scripture was Captain Joseph Bates who in 1846 wrote a book titled ‘The Seventh-Day Sabbath a Perpetual Sign’. With the passing of time Ellen White also embraced the idea that the Sabbath is the seal of God, and she repeatedly states in her writings that the Sabbath is the seal of God, in the end time.

Seal of God

 Seal of God

 Seal of God

I would like to read some of those statements as we set the stage for what we’re going to discuss in the next few minutes; in signs of the times May 13, 1886 Ellen White wrote.

 

“The Sabbath was placed in the Decalogue (that’s the Ten Commandments) as the seal of the Living God, pointing out the Law-giver; and making known his right to rule. It was a sign between God and His people, a test of their loyalty to Him.”

 

So notice she clearly says that the Sabbath is the seal of the Living God, it is a sign between God and His people, so seal and sign are interchangeable.

 

Seal of God

 

In this statement in ‘Patriarchs and Prophets’ page 307, Ellen White wrote.

 

“The fourth commandment is the only one of all the ten in which are found both the name and title of the Law-giver. It is the only one that shows by whose authority the law is given. Thus it contains the seal of God, affixed to His law as evidence of its authenticity and binding force.”

 

So once again the fourth commandment contains the seal of God, she says it is affixed to the fourth commandment as a sign of its authenticity and binding force.

 

In ‘Signs of the times’ November 1 1899 she repeats the same thought again.

 

“The Sabbath of the fourth commandment is the seal of the living God. It points to God as the Creator, and is the sign of his rightful authority over the beings He has made.”

 

So once again seal and sign are used interchangeably in this statement; a couple more ‘Special Testimony to Battle Creek’ which she wrote in 1898 page 6 we find this brief statement.

 

“The sign or seal of God is the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath, and the Lord’s memorial of His work of Creation.”

 

And then finally ‘Manuscript Releases’ volume 4 page 425 she states

 

“The truth in regard to the Sabbath of the Lord is to be proclaimed. The seventh-day is to be shown to be the seal of the living God.”

 

So is there any doubt that in the writings of Ellen White the Sabbath is the seal of the Living God, the sign of authenticity of his law and of his sovereignty? There’s no doubt whatsoever; but now we have a problem, and the problem is that in the Bible, it is the holy spirit who is spoken of as the seal, and so what some people have done, even Seventh Day Adventist’s say that  Ellen White contradicts the Bible because she says that the seal of God is the Sabbath. But the Bible tells us that the seal is the Holy Spirit so we need to take what the Bible says and we need to discard what Ellen White had to say.

 

Once again; this is one of our contradictions that are in our brains, there is no contradiction between Ellen White and the Bible, the contradiction is just in our understanding; so what needs to be straightened out is not Ellen White, it’s our understanding that needs to be straightened out.

 

By looking at all of the evidence that we find here in this lesson, we’re going to consider all of those texts that indicate that the Holy Spirit is the seal, all three are in the writings of the Apostle Paul.

 

The first of them it is in Ephesians 1 verses 13 and 14.