The 144,000 knew God, His character, and His law. They gained the victory over the Beast who changed God's law. See Dan 7:25. To Jesus, name and lineage do not count; likeness of character does. In Exo 34:5,6, the Lord called out His name to Moses. His name and His glory were His character. He said I am the LORD. The Lord is a God who shows mercy, who is kind, who doesn't become angry quickly, who has great love and faithfulness, and is kind to thousands of people. The Lord forgives people for evil, for sin, and for turning against him, etc.

There's still more to giving glory to God. This is also included in the proclamation of the everlasting Gospel of Rev 14. In 1 Cor 10:31 we find that in everything we do, whether we eat or drink, we are to give glory to God. At least two references in the Bible tell us that we are the temple of the living God, and we are to glorify Him in our bodies (1 Cor 6:19,20 and 2 Cor 6:16), and in 1 Cor 3:16 we find that if one defiles the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

We are not our own for He purchased us with His own precious blood. The Bible says that we are to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto the Lord (Rom 12:1). Can we present our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice unto God and glorify Him while we are indulging in harmful habits such as tobacco, alcohol, and drugs? Gluttons are classified with the drunkards and are condemned in the Bible (Deut 21:20; Prov 23:20,21). We give glory to God by taking care of His temple, our bodies. Daniel purposed in his heart not to defile his body with the king's delicacies.

Many Christians today do not think they can defile their bodies by what they eat. The dietary laws were given to Israel (literal/spiritual) not to restrict them and cause them not to enjoy life, but to give them abundant health and freedom from diseases that the world around them was plagued with. There were over a million people in the Wilderness, yet not one feeble person was found in their midst (Ps 105:37).

It's interesting that the command: "Be ye holy for I am holy" is found in Lev 11, the chapter where God delineated His dietary laws, differentiating the clean and unclean foods/abominable foods. The book of Leviticus contains instructions for holy living. One can't miss the fact that holy living includes diet. God was leading his ancient people to His holy habitation, to heaven itself. See also 1 Pet 1:15,16.

There are some that would tell you the dietary laws don't apply anymore because Matt 15:11 says that it's not what goes into the mouth but what comes out of it that defiles a man. Yet Lev 11:44 reads: "For I am the Lord your God; ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping things that creepeth upon the earth."

Does Matt 15:11 contradict Lev 11:44? Did Paul contradict the dietary principles in Leviticus when he wrote in Romans 14:14 that there is "nothing unclean of itself" and also in 1 Timothy 4:4,5 "every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving"? Does the Bible contradict itself? Can we trust the Bible? Yes, we can trust the Bible, and, no, the Bible doesn't contradict itself. So how do we reconcile these apparent contradictions?

First off, we must settle forever in our minds that God's law is holy, just, and good (Rom 7:14), and it stands forever and ever (Ps 111:7,8; Ps 89:34). Second, God's dietary laws in Lev 11 and also in Deut 14 have already been established, and Matthew and Paul were not out trying to undo things. Both Matthew and Paul were not teaching about diet. They were in harmony with the Law and the Prophets. Paul specifically said it in Acts 24:14.

Matthew recorded that Jesus denounced the hypocrisy of the Pharisees who insisted that hands be ceremoniously washed before eating (Matt 15:11). Jesus brought out the fact that that was a man-made law. What comes out of the mind--evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual sins, stealing, lying, and speaking evil of others are what defiles a person, not what comes in. Physical food passes through the purging process of digestion and goes out of the body and is gone while evil thoughts and sins remain to defile the person. (Did you notice that every discourse Jesus gave encompassed principles from His moral law?)

Does this mean we could eat unclean foods? Absolutely not! Remember Bible translaters were not inspired and sometimes they inserted their own "beliefs and comments" as well as others authors' beliefs and comments into Bible texts and footnotes in hopes to "clarify" things but only resulted in hindering others from seeing the truths as originally written. Again, read 1 Tim 4:4,5 in context, also Lev 11:44, and Isa 66:17. God's dietary laws came forth from the hand of the Lawgiver and must be heeded. God is not fickle that He changes His Word (Mal 3:6). Those who believe that God's dietary laws are abolished are reaping unto themselves health problems and challenges, i.e., obesity, hypertension, cholesterol problems, heart diseases, diabetes, cancer, etc., and are not glorifying God in their bodies.

To understand Rom 14:14 where Paul said that nothing is unclean of itself, we need to read the whole chapter to put things in their proper setting and context. This way, we wouldn't read things into the text that are not there. At the time of Paul, there were many new converts both Jews and Gentiles into the Christian faith. They brought into the Church their old beliefs and practices. For example, the new converts from Judaism found it hard to discard totally the ceremonial practices and celebrations of feast days which were really abolished when Jesus died on the Cross. One specific example of these practices was circumcision. Some continued to do this practice after becoming Christians. There were some serious controversies in the early Church concerning these things. Read about the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15.

The mature Christians who had more time to phase out these old beliefs from their lives tended to be careless and unsympathetic toward these new believers thus becoming stumbling blocks to them. One example is eating meat sacrificed to idols. You can read about this in 1 Corinthians 8. To the mature Christian, meat sacrificed to idols did not get changed or tainted one iota and would eat it. After all Paul himself taught that idols are nothing; they do not contaminate anything. This, he said years after the Jerusalem Council. However, if a mature Christian ate meat sacrificed to idols in front of a new believer who thought that was the most awful thing in the world to do, he had caused himself to be a stumbling block to a weaker brother.

Paul was basically teaching that we should be sensitive to the people around us. We shouldn't go around judging one another and be stumbling blocks but that we should love one another and live peaceably with the brethren giving room for new believers to grow in grace, knowledge, and experience.

As far as God's dietary laws are concerned, only clean foods are authorized and sanctified by the Word of God and prayer (1 Tim 4:4,5). The Apostle Peter's vision in Acts 10 is not about God changing His dietary laws but about changing attitude about relationship with Gentiles. Peter confirms in Acts 10:14 that he never ate unclean foods. Yet he learned not to call the Gentiles unclean or common. See also 2 Cor 6:17-18, 7:1. The key to understanding any biblical teaching is to get all related scriptures on that particular subject, then with the aid of the Holy Spirit, draw your conclusion. You cannot establish a doctrine based on one or two texts.

The downfall of ancient Israel was that they got to the point where they failed to distinguish between the holy and the common (Lev 10:10). Eze 22:26 reads: "Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them." Similarly, the downfall of modern Israel is that they fail to distinguish between the holy and the common. The holy Sabbath is desecrated. Unclean foods are regularly served and eaten; the body temple defiled.

The dietary laws are part of the overall plan of God for the restoration of the whole man (body, mind and spirit), sanctifying him, making him holy, preparing him for heaven. Transgression of His physical laws is a sin just as much as transgression of His spiritual moral law is a sin. Physical health and/or restoration of it are an essential ingredient in sanctification and holiness in preparation for heaven. What is the sign that God is the Sanctifier of His people? The Sabbath! "Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." Eze 20:12.

The seventh-day Sabbath is a wonderful blessing and gift from God to man. The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27). There is healing and restoration of body, mind, and spirit when we keep His Sabbath holy. There is healing in relationships (if breached) to God and to one another when we keep the Sabbath holy. Oh, that the whole world would see the relationship between the Creator's dietary laws and the seventh-day Sabbath which He gave--that all are part of the sanctification process and the everlasting Gospel of the first angel of Rev 14!

Recently, National Geographic came up with an interesting story of health and longevity in certain groups of people in the world. One of these groups is the Seventh-Day Adventists. There are many centenarians in Adventism because of the lifestyle they teach and practice. Many are following the diet God gave in the beginning (Gen 1:29). They practice good, healthful living not to earn their way to heaven but because they want to give glory to God because it's part of the everlasting Gospel that is to be preached to the whole world.

Not many denominations teach that giving glory to God by taking care of the body temple through proper diet, exercise and a godly lifestyle is part of the everlasting Gospel. I say this with sadness in my heart that that's the reason why many Christians are sick in body, mind, and spirit.

Many do not see the relationship between diet and spirituality, yet there is a close sympathy existing between the physical and the moral nature. Had Daniel and his three friends partaken of the King's delicacies, would they be able to stand firm for God in their time of trials? No, they wouldn't! They would be just like the rest of their fellow brethren! The standard of virtue is elevated or degraded by the physical habits. Habits make up the character, and this is the only thing we take to heaven with us.

"The controlling power of appetite will prove the ruin of thousands, when, if they had conquered on this point, they would have had moral power to gain the victory over every other temptation of Satan. But those who are slaves to appetite will fail in perfecting Christian character. The continual transgression of man for six thousand years has brought sickness, pain, and death as its fruits. And as we near the close of time, Satan's temptation to indulge appetite will be more powerful and more difficult to overcome." --Counsels on Diet and Foods, page 59.   NOTE: There is great concern among health professionals that obesity in young and old is becoming an epidemic in this country.

Paul warned in 2 Cor 11:4 that there would be those who would preach another Jesus, another spirit, and another gospel. Which gospel are you following? Gal 1:9 reads: "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed (Gal 1:8)."

The true Gospel of Jesus Christ--the one preached by Paul and proclaimed by the first angel of Rev 14 includes this: "Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters."

Again, there's more to the first angel's message of "Fear God, give glory to Him for the hour of His judgment is come."

Many Bible scholars throughout the world independent of each other had come up with the same conclusion as William Miller did. Obviously, Jesus didn't return in 1844. Many people lost faith in the Bible and God Himself because of this great disappointment. But a few disappointed, but faithful souls (the nucleus of Adventism), continued to study to determine what went wrong with their interpretation.

Well, they studied their Bibles with much prayer and fasting and tears. They compared Daniel with Revelation. They read the experience of John and the little book that he ate that was sweet like honey in his mouth and bitter in his stomach in Rev 10. It seemed that the text jumped up at them. They marveled at the similarity of John's experience to their recent experience of disappointment. In verse 11, they saw the sanctuary and the people being measured, and in the same chapter they read about the trampling of the holy city for 42 months by the Papacy who blasphemously claimed to be God on earth, able to forgive sins and change times and laws.

Also portrayed in this marvelous chapter is the judgment scene--the dead were judged. Could it be that a work of judgment, of measuring the character of God's people was taking place in the heavenly sanctuary? Could it be that the moral law that John saw inside the ark of the covenant is the standard used in the judgment? They were enlightened as never before. They read Hebrews with new light and studied deeply the mediatorial and cleansing work of Christ as our High Priest. They began putting the pieces of the puzzle together. Finally, they were convinced beyond doubt that 1844 was the year the 2300-day (year) prophecy ended and the heavenly sanctuary was to be cleansed. The prophetic time of the end had come, and judgment had commenced.

Unbeknown to these few believers at the time, they had unsealed the book of Daniel with the end-time prophetic interpretation that was hidden to Daniel but would be unsealed at the end of time. You can read this in Dan 12:7-9. In this passage, Daniel saw the man clothed in linen. This was the same man (an angel) that Ezekiel saw who was to seal God's people, and he's the same sealing angel as that in Rev 7:2. "Bind up the testimony, seal the law and the teaching among my disciples" (Isa 8:16).

But why would the sanctuary in heaven need cleansing? Isn't heaven all sweetness and purity and light? Remember, the mystery of iniquity (sin) began in heaven with Lucifer. In the wilderness God instructed Moses to build a sanctuary that He might dwell with them. Even though God's presence was in the sanctuary, the High Priest went once a year to the Most Holy Place to cleanse the accumulated sins of Israel.

Heb 9:23 confirms the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary: "It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these."

As two silver trumpets were blown ten days prior to the typical Day of Atonement by ancient Israel, using the day-year principle of Eze 4:6, the "antitypical trumpets" sounded ten years prior to the antitypical Day of Atonement in 1844 in the preaching of William Miller in 1834. Since 1844 God's people have been living in the antitypical Day of Atonement. We are to afflict our souls, confess our sins, and make things right between us and our fellowmen and with God. And just as the High Priest in the typical services cleansed the Most Holy Place on the Day of Atonement, so Jesus Christ, our High Priest in the antitypical Day of Atonement, will blot out the accumulated sins of God's people in the record books thus cleansing the heavenly sanctuary (Acts 3:19-21).

Indeed the hour of God's judgment of the first angel was loudly proclaimed. You read about this judgment in Dan 7:9-11 which is in harmony with Rev 14:6,7 and 1 Pet 4:17. This judgment message is part of the everlasting Gospel that's to be preached to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.

As mentioned previously, the standard that's used in the judgment is God's moral law. See James 2:11,12 and Eccl 12:14. We know that ALL (not just the wicked) are to stand before the judgment bar of God (2 Cor 5:10; Rom 14:12; Matt 12:36,37; Matt 16:27; Acts 17:31). We will be judged by the law of liberty--God's moral law of Ten Commandments. James enumerated four precepts of the moral law in verse 11 to make sure we understand that the law of liberty is the law of ten commandments. It's funny how James called the ten commandments the law of liberty and many in Christendom call it a yoke of bondage. In the heart of God's law is His Seal--the Sabbath! John the Revelator saw the original ark of the covenant that contained the original tables of the moral law of ten (not nine) commandments in the sanctuary in heaven. What an exalted place the law of ten commandments occupy!

"Sacrilegious minds and hearts have thought they were mighty enough to change the times and laws of Jehovah; but, safe in the archives of heaven, in the ark of God, are the original commandments, written upon the two tables of stone. No potentate of earth has power to draw fourth those tables from their sacred hiding place beneath the mercy seat. The fact that the ten commandments are in heaven in the ark of God is convincing testimony to the truth and binding claims of God's moral law of ten commandments." --Bible Commentary.

Eccl 12:12-13 read: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."

In heaven, there are books where men's deeds are being recorded with unerring accuracy. It's amazing how many people believe that it's not about works. Yet, in the judgment, it's the works that we do that are judged (Rom 2:5,6). I'm not saying that Jesus is out of the equation. Without Jesus our works are valueless in the judgment. We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus, but we are judged by our works--the fruit of our salvation.

Righteousness by faith is a righteousness that is made manifest by obedience to God's law. Be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only (James 1:22). Faith without works is dead (James 2:20). By works a man is justified, and not by faith only (James 2:24). For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works (Eph 2:10). The parables of Jesus teach that performers of good works receive eternal life, and non-performers receive everlasting punishment (Matt 25:41, 46). God's people are performers of good works not to be saved but because they are God's workmanship created to do good works for Jesus (Eph 2:8-10).

Modern-day application of the principles of the Good Samaritan Parable:

God's people are not only hearers of the Word, they are doers of the Word. They are obedient to their Creator. They would rather die than pay homage to Satan, through the Beast and his day of worship (Sunday). Yes, they would be persecuted big time. Many would be imprisoned and/or put to death.  CLICK on the NEXT Button to continue.

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