233. Maranatha Our Lord Is Coming: Who Receive the Seal? August 21, by Ellen G White

And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God. Revelation 14:5.

Only those who receive the seal of the living God will have the passport through the gates of the Holy City.

The seal of the living God will be placed upon those only who bear a likeness to Christ in character.

As wax takes the impression of the seal, so the soul is to take the impression of the Spirit of God and retain the image of Christ.

Many will not receive the seal of God because they do not keep His commandments or bear the fruits of righteousness.

The great mass of professing Christians will meet with bitter disappointment in the day of God. They have not upon their foreheads the seal of the living God. Lukewarm and halfhearted, they dishonor God far more than the avowed unbeliever. They grope in darkness, when they might be walking in the noonday light of the Word, under the guidance of One who never errs.

Those whom the Lamb shall lead by the fountains of living waters, and from whose eyes He shall wipe away all tears, will be those now receiving the knowledge and understanding revealed in the Bible, the Word of God.

We are to copy no human being. There is no human being wise enough to be our criterion. We are to look to the man Christ Jesus, who is complete in the perfection of righteousness and holiness. He is the author and finisher of our faith. He is the pattern man. His experience is the measure of the experience that we are to gain. His character is our model. Let us, then, take our minds off the perplexities and the difficulties of this life, and fix them on Him, that by beholding we may be changed into His likeness. We may behold Christ to good purpose. We may safely look to Him; for He is all-wise. As we look to Him and think of Him, He will be formed within, the hope of glory.

Let us strive with all the power that God has given us to be among the hundred and forty-four thousand.