"The reasons why we are denominated people of God are to be repeated and repeated. Deuteronomy 4:1–13; 5:1–33." Manuscript Releases, vol. 8, 427.
The City Which the Lord did Choose
And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess. 1 Kings 14:21.
DENOMINATED, pp. Named; Called. Noah Websters 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language.
Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem. . . And the Lord shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again. Zechariah 1:17. 2:12
"The prophets of God spoke less for their own time than for the ages to come, and especially for the generation that would live amid the last scenes of this earth's history. 'Not unto themselves but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the Gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, which things the angels desire to look into.' 'All these things happened unto them for ensamples, and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.' The prophets and apostles meet and unite their witness, testifying of the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. The wonderful events in the history of the children of Israel are not to be lost sight of or ignored because of the lapse of time. They are jewels of truth that have been placed in false settings. Christ came to redeem them from error, and to reset them in the framework of truth, that they might shine in their native purity and attractive loveliness. By Him they have been made to give forth a brighter and more powerful luster than ever before." The Signs of the Times, January 13, 1898.
I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand. Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof.
And, behold, the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him, And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein: For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.
Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the Lord: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the Lord. Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon. Zechariah 2:1–7.
The Day of Small Things
Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth. Zechariah 4:8–10.
And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. Revelation 11:1–2.
"We are to invite everyone—the high and the low, the rich and the poor, all sects and classes—to share the benefits of our medical institutions. We receive into our institutions people of all denominations. But as for ourselves we are strictly denominational; we are sacredly denominated by God and are under His theocracy. But we are not unwisely to press upon anyone the peculiar points of our faith.
"In order that men might not forget the true God, Jehovah gave them a memorial of His love and power—the Sabbath. He says: 'Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between Me and you.' Exodus 31:13. Concerning Israel, the Lord declared: 'The people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.' Numbers 23:9. To us as well as to ancient Israel these words apply. God's people are to stand alone. The observance of the seventh-day Sabbath is to be a sign between them and God, showing that they are to be a peculiar people, separate from the world in habit and practice. Through them God will work to gather from all nationalities a people for Himself." Testimonies vol. 7, 109.
"Seventh-day Adventists are now to stand forth separate and distinct, a people denominated by the Lord as His own. Until they do this, He cannot be glorified in them. Truth and error cannot stand in copartnership." Mind, Character, and Personality vol. 2, 559.
DENOMINATED—those whom the Lord has named
"On Sunday, I had freedom in showing our colors on which were inscribed the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. I told them that we were Seventh-day Adventists, and the reason of the name which distinguished us from other denominations." Manuscript Releases vol. 11, 14.
"We are Seventh-day Adventists. Are we ashamed of our name? We answer, 'No, no! We are not. It is the name the Lord has given us. It points out the truth that is to be the test of the churches.'" Selected Messages, book 2, 384.
DENOMINATED—By a most solemn covenant
"Thus the children of Israel were denominated as a special people. By a most solemn covenant they were pledged to be true to God. Then the people were bidden to prepare themselves to hear the law. On the morning of the third day the voice of God was heard. Speaking out of the thick darkness that enshrouded Him, as He stood upon the mount, surrounded by a retinue of angels, the Lord made known His law." Fundamentals of Christian Education, 506.
"'And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him. And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord' (Exodus 19:7–8). With upraised hand the people here made a solemn covenant with the Lord; and they became His denominated people, pledged to obey all the commandments of the Lord. And the Lord said to Moses, 'Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with Thee, and believe Thee forever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the Lord' (Exodus 19:9)." Manuscript Releases, vol. 1, 120.
DIVORCED
"Meanwhile worshipers from every nation sought the temple which had been dedicated to the worship of God. Glittering with gold and precious stones, it was a vision of beauty and grandeur. But Jehovah was no longer to be found in that palace of loveliness. Israel as a nation had divorced herself from God. When Christ, near the close of His earthly ministry, looked for the last time upon the interior of the temple, He said, 'Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.' Matthew 23:38. Hitherto He had called the temple His Father's house; but as the Son of God passed our from those walls, God's presence was withdrawn forever from the temple built to His glory." Acts of the Apostles, 145.
"When Caiaphas rent his garment, his act was significant of the place that the Jewish nation as a nation would thereafter occupy toward God. The once favored people of God were separating themselves from Him, and were fast becoming a people disowned by Jehovah. When Christ upon the cross cried out, 'It is finished' (John 19:30), and the veil of the temple was rent in twain, the Holy Watcher declared that the Jewish people had rejected Him who was the antitype of all their types, the substance of all their shadows. Israel was divorced from God. Well might Caiaphas then rend his official robes, which signified that he claimed to be a representative of the great High Priest; for no longer had they any meaning for him or for the people. Well might the high priest rend his robes in horror for himself and for the nation." The Desire of Ages, 709.
"God did not spare Adam, though his sin may seem to us a small one. Neither will he spare us, if we continue to disregard his requirements. He divorced Israel from him because her people walked not in his ways. Never was a people more beloved. Never had a nation greater evidence of the divine favor. Yet only two of the adults who left Egypt entered the promised land. The rest died in the wilderness, having proved unworthy to enter Canaan. Pride and self-indulgence were their ruin." The Youth's Instructor, March 5, 1903.
DENOMINATED—the depositaries of His law
"The Lord called out His people Israel and separated them from the world that He might commit to them a sacred trust. He made them the depositaries of His law, and He designed, through them, to preserve among men the knowledge of Himself. . . .
"But they did not keep their covenant with God. . . .
"God has called His church in this day, as He called ancient Israel, to stand as a light in the earth. By the mighty cleaver of truth, the messages of the first, second, and third angels, He has separated them from the churches and from the world to bring them into a sacred nearness to Himself. He has made them the depositaries of His law and has committed to them the great truths of prophecy for this time. Like the holy oracles committed to ancient Israel, these are a sacred trust to be communicated to the world. The three angels of Revelation 14 represent the people who accept the light of God's messages and go forth as His agents to sound the warning throughout the length and breadth of the earth." Testimonies vol. 5, 454–455.
DENOMINATED—the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus
"Who are these?—God's denominated people,—those who on this earth have witnessed to their loyalty. Who are they?—Those who have kept the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus; those who have owned the crucified One as their Saviour." Review and Herald, September 4, 1904.
"In a special sense Seventh-day Adventists have been set in the world as watchmen and light bearers. To them has been entrusted the last warning for a perishing world. On them is shining wonderful light from the word of God. They have been given a work of the most solemn import—the proclamation of the first, second, and third angels' messages. There is no other work of so great importance. They are to allow nothing else to absorb their attention." Testimonies, vol. 9, 17–18.
DENOMINATED—Israel shall keep the Sabbath
"Do not these words point us out as God's denominated people? and do they not declare to us that so long as time shall last, we are to cherish the sacred, denominational distinction placed upon us? The children of Israel were to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations 'for a perpetual covenant.' The Sabbath has lost none of its meaning. It is still the sign between God and His people, and it will be so forever.
"'We are distinctly denominated as a people that keep the day which the Lord gave man in Eden in commemoration of the creation. After God had made the world in six days, he rested on the seventh day, and was refreshed; and he blessed the day upon which he had rested, and sanctified it. By observing this day, we are to be reminded continually of the creative power of our God." Review and Herald, September 16, 1906.
DENOMINATED—hold fast the first principles of our denominated faith
"In these last days the one who was once an exalted angel in the heavenly courts is to take the philosophy of men under his training. The people of God are to guard carefully against the seductive influence of the deceiver. They are to hold firmly to the truths which called them out from the world, and led them to stand as God's denominated people." Counsels to Writers and Editors, 109.
"God has a denominated people, who are to wait on and trust in Him. They are to be true to the light He has given them, following closely the sacred landmarks." The Paulson Collection, 109.
"I am instructed to say to those who endeavor to tear down the foundation that has made us Seventh-day Adventists: We are God's commandment keeping people. For the past fifty years every phase of heresy has been brought to bear upon us, to becloud our minds regarding the teaching of the Word—especially concerning the ministration of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, and the message of heaven for these last days, as given by the angels of the fourteenth chapter of Revelation. Messages of every order and kind have been urged upon Seventh-day Adventists, to take the place of the truth which, point by point, has been sought out by prayerful study and testified to by the miracle-working power of the Lord. But the waymarks which have made us what we are, are to be preserved, and they will be preserved, as God has signified through His word and the testimonies of His Spirit. He calls upon us to hold firmly with the grip of faith, to the fundamental principles that are based upon unquestionable authority. God has placed in our hands a banner on which is inscribed the words 'The commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.' 'Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ,' he declares. At all times and in all places we are to hold the banner firmly aloft. God's denominated people are to take a firm stand under the banner of truth. The truths that we have been proclaiming for more than half a century have been contested again and again. Again and again the facts of faith have been disputed; but every time the Lord has established the truth by the working of His Holy Spirit. Those who have arisen to question and overthrow the principles of present truth, have been sternly rebuked." Manuscript Releases, vol. 4, 246–247."
"Fearful tests and trials await the people of God. The spirit of war is stirring the nations from one end of the earth to the other. But in the midst of the time of trouble that is coming,—a time of trouble such as has not been since there was a nation,—God's chosen people will stand unmoved. Satan and his host cannot destroy them, for angels that excel in strength will protect them. God's word to His people is: 'Come out from among them, and be ye separate, . . . and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters.' 'Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.' 2 Corinthians 6:17–18; 1 Peter 2:9. God's people are to be distinguished as a people who serve Him fully, wholeheartedly, taking no honor to themselves, and remembering that by a most solemn covenant they have bound themselves to serve the Lord and Him only. 'The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: everyone that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth any work in the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed.' Exodus 31:12–17.
"Possibly I could not fully describe the impression that was made upon my mind by the statement that our medical institutions are undenominational. As I was considering this matter in the night season, it seemed as if One stood up in the midst of us and pointed us back to the Israelites as an illustration of a distinct people, denominated of God. That which made them denominational was the observance of God's commandments. In the twelfth to the eighteenth verses of the thirty-first chapter of Exodus their distinguishing sign is mentioned. 'Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep,' the Lord declared, 'for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. . . . It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever.'
"The Israelites were a chosen people, separate and distinct from the world. Speaking through Moses, the Lord declared to them, 'Thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people: for ye were the fewest of all people: but because the Lord loved you, and because He would keep the oath which He had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the house of Pharaoh king of Egypt' [Deuteronomy 7:6–8].
"The Lord wrought mightily for their deliverance, nearly destroying Egypt, as it were, to bring them forth, for the express purpose of worshipping Him. He promised that if they would keep His commandments He would bless them above all other people, freeing them from sickness, and establishing them forever in the land of promise.
"We are Seventh-day Adventists. This is a fitting name, for we keep the seventh-day Sabbath, and look for the second advent of our Lord in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. Even with respect to the name indicating some of the peculiar points of faith distinguishing us from other Christians, we are denominational. In keeping the Sabbath that God declares should be kept holy as a sign between Himself and His people, we show to the world that we are His peculiar, chosen people—a people whom He has denominated. . . .
"Notwithstanding the plain message that we gave to the people years ago in regard to the seventh-day Sabbath and other phases of present truth that make us a peculiar people, some have declared that in our institutional work we are undenominational. Those who have pursued this course, linking up with unbelievers, are not following the way of the Lord. He desires us to remain forever a peculiar people, holding 'the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end.' He desires us to stand as representatives of His and of His special message of truth in the last days of this earth's history. How are the people to be warned, unless the very institutions established as agencies for the proclamation of the message, remain true to its principles?" Manuscript Releases, vol. 19, 38–42.