Amen, Jim and Richard!
As we behold the exceedingly powerful loveliness of our God as revealed in Christ, the Holy Spirit is moving upon us to appreciate and assimilate in mind and character these thoughts so that we become His final revelation of grace to a world that is soon to perish. Christ's method of coming close to us is the method we too will employ when we are actuated by the Holy Spirit. We will draw near to sorrowful, tempted souls. We will share what the grace of God has done for us, and as a result, God will have a people who through the time of unparalleled apostasy in earth's closing scenes establish beyond controversy that God's grace is strong enough to cleanse the most profligate sinner into a redeemed saint, and keep them from falling during a time when there is no longer an intercessor in the sanctuary in heaven.
"Of His people God says, 'They shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon His land. For how great is His goodness, and how great is His beauty!' Zech. 9:16, 17. The exaltation of the redeemed will be an eternal testimony to God's mercy. 'In the ages to come,' He will 'show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.' 'To the intent that . . . unto the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places might be made known . . . the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.' Eph. 2:7; 3:10, 11, R. V." {The Desire of Ages, page 26, paragraph 1}
Last night at Prayer Meeting where we were studying Revelation 16, I read a statement from The Great Controversy that reveals the character experience of the 144,000--for they pass through an experience unlike any other group:
"Upon the crystal sea before the throne, that sea of glass as it were mingled with fire,--so resplendent is it with the glory of God,--are gathered the company that have 'gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name.' With the Lamb upon Mount Zion, 'having the harps of God,' they stand, the hundred and forty and four thousand that were redeemed from among men; and there is heard, as the sound of many waters, and as the sound of a great thunder, 'the voice of harpers harping with their harps.' And they sing 'a new song' before the throne, a song which no man can learn save the hundred and forty and four thousand. It is the song of Moses and the Lamb--a song of deliverance. None but the hundred and forty-four thousand can learn that song; for it is the song of their experience--an experience such as no other company have ever had. 'These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.' These, having been translated from the earth, from among the living, are counted as 'the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb.' Revelation 15:2, 3; 14:1-5. 'These are they which came out of great tribulation;' they have passed through the time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation; they have endured the anguish of the time of Jacob's trouble; they have stood without an intercessor through the final outpouring of God's judgments. But they have been delivered, for they have 'washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.' 'In their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault' before God. 'Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple: and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.' They have seen the earth wasted with famine and pestilence, the sun having power to scorch men with great heat, and they themselves have endured suffering, hunger, and thirst. But 'they shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.' Revelation 7:14-17." {The Great Controversy, page 648, paragraph 3}
The transformation of character wrought in the 144,000 teach an important lesson that has been true in the gospel from the very first promise given in Genesis 3:15 of a Savior who can implant enmity in the heart against sin when the soul surrenders fully to Christ. God has ever had perfect saints come into heaven (Enoch, Elijah, and Moses are all without sin in heaven, because while on earth they repented and were transformed in mind and character). But God needs more than that. God needs a final unmistakable mature manifestation of His grace in contrast to the maturation of the character of Satan in those who are in rebellion against God. What is the timing? The close of the world's probation, when the seven last plagues are poured out and the 144,000 are standing by faith through the time of Jacob's trouble. They have become settled into the truth intellectually and spiritually so that they cannot be moved. They have learned the lesson from Moses' sin that there is no good thing in them by nature and that in order to any good thing they must have a continual connection with Jesus. This has been their experience, and going through the most trying time of earth's history, this corporate group vindicate God's name as an outflow of the victory Christ wrought on Calvary, as they glorify God before the onlooking universe and refute every charge Satan and his followers have leveled against God's character. The 144,000 are not the only ones saved--but they are the ones who live through the time of trouble and are translated. They, like Noah, will see others come to repentance before the forecasted event of deluge, but those have passed to rest before the final outpouring of God's wrath against sin in the seven last plagues. Why talk about this here? Because it is in the light of the cross of Christ that we see what God already visited upon Jesus in order to save us. Christ was treated as we deserve (which is God's wrath against sin) so we could be treated as He deserves (as kings and priests to God). May we, whether we are translated as one of the 144,000, or martyred for our faith in these closing moments of earth, or pass to rest before Jesus comes--may we all realize the source and power for doing any good thing comes from Jesus Christ and Him abiding in the soul, which always produces in us the ineffaceable characteristics of the divine nature--all of the fruits of the Spirit in the life without one missing as we live up to all the light we know of God's holy law. Hallelujah!!!!