Rev_7:4-5 - Sealed For Service; Not Chosen To Salvation!
26. Revelation 7:4-5 - Sealed For Service; Not Chosen To Salvation!
"And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. (4) Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand." (5) May I quote Mr. Nettleton's concluding statement after he used a portion of this Scripture to support election to salvation:
"If a person is saved, he was elected and no reason for that election is revealed to us."
There is no question that the author is applying these verses to election concerning salvation--not service, as his quote clarifies. The reason it is not revealed to us is because it is not true!
If one will only take time to examine Revelation, chapters 7 and 14, which are the only two chapters in the Bible that mention the 144,000, one will find that they are sealed for protection while serving Christ. The word "sealed" is the Greek verb "SPHRAGIZO" and means ownership and security, together with destination. In other words, they are saved Jews, protected from harm until their testimony for Christ is finished here on the earth.
"These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the lamb." - Revelation 14:4
Calling the 144,000 the first fruits is in reference to their being some of the first ones saved at the beginning of the 7-year Tribulation. To say that God elected them to salvation is absolutely contrary to the Scriptures. My Bible says "sealed" for service; not “elected for salvation.” In fact, the words "elect, election, or elected" do not appear anywhere in the book of Revelation! This is no doubt the greatest evangelistic campaign ever launched on the face of the earth by 144,000 saved, Jewish men.
Mr. Nettleton goes on to say:
"Dare we omit such doctrines when God teaches them? Surely, all Scripture is profitable (2 Timothy 3:16)." In answer to this we say affirmatively, "No! We do not omit any Scripture, but we do not take a Scripture that is speaking about service and teach it as applying to salvation which only causes confusion to the reader. No--We do not insert our word "election" to replace God's word "sealed." This is like taking the book of James and saying, "If you are not living the life, then you are not really saved." Some preachers try to use this as a scare tactic to attempt to scare people into living the Christian life. And yet, they have not reconciled the book of James with Romans which tells us we are saved by grace through faith. The book of Romans is justification in God's eyes by faith alone without works. And yet James says, "If a man say he hath faith and has not works, his faith is dead."
Without recognizing that the book of James is justification in man's eyes, there is nothing but utter confusion in the believer's mind.
James is not saying that a person is lost without good works, only the fact that his faith is dead. It is lifeless unless he is living the kind of Christian life that will support his witness for Christ. In fact, there are a good many Christians who are not leading the Christian life, but it does not mean they are not saved.
One can arrive at any kind of doctrine they wish to endorse, by taking one verse and not correlating other Scriptures that shed light upon a particular subject. If one wills to know the truth of God's Word, then all Scripture on a certain subject must and will agree. Remember, the 144,000 spoken of in Revelation, chapters 7 and 14, is in reference to their service to Christ, not being elected by God to be saved. How simple God's Word is to understand if not infected by man's philosophy and self righteousness.
"Foreknowledge, in Scripture, never determines what is to be--foreknowledge is only the knowledge of things to be beforehand. It is the same with our scientists, they can tell when there is to be an eclipse of the sun or of the moon: on a certain day at a certain hour, minute and second; but the scientists do not bring about the eclipse. God has foreknowledge, and by this foreknowledge knows the future, but that is where it ends."
Dr. Mark G. Cambron "False Doctrine Shipwrecks Souls"