Standing Without a Mediator
The 144,000 will need to stand without a mediator during the seven plagues.
Those who are living upon the earth when the intercession of Christ shall cease in the sanctuary above are to stand in the sight of a holy God without a mediator.
- Ellen White, The Great Controversy, p. 425
No man can enter the temple.
And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.
- Revelation 15:8 (KJV)
So how will the 144,000 stand without a mediator?
I think the key to understanding this lies in this quote from Ellen White which takes place at the start of the seven plagues.
Soon we heard the voice of God like many waters, which gave us the day and hour of Jesus' coming. The living saints, 144,000 in number, knew and understood the voice, while the wicked thought it was thunder and an earthquake. When God spoke the time, He poured upon us the Holy Ghost, and our faces began to light up and shine with the glory of God, as Moses' did when he came down from Mount Sinai.
- Ellen White, Early Writings, p. 15
Why is the Holy Spirit poured out at the start of the seven plagues? The Latter Rain has already fallen, and there is no more work to be done. And God never does anything without reason.
It is my opinion that the Holy Spirit here is poured out without measure, and that our spirit and the Holy Spirit are then completely united.
But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
- 1 Corinthians 6:17 (KJV)
In this state it will be very hard for the 144,000 to sin, as the Holy Spirit is helping to filter out the knowledge of evil.
The 144,000 were all sealed, and perfectly united. On their foreheads was written, "God, New Jerusalem," and a glorious star containing Jesus' new name. At our happy, holy state the wicked were enraged, and would rush violently up to lay hands on us to thrust us into prison, when we would stretch forth the hand in the name of the Lord, and they would fall helpless to the ground. Then it was that the synagogue of Satan knew that God had loved us who could wash one another's feet, and salute the brethren with a holy kiss, and they worshiped at our feet.
- Ellen White, Christian Experience and Teaching, p. 58.2
It's basically a more intimate way of what the Holy Spirit is already doing, e.g.:
And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.
- John 16:8 (KJV)
As we receive more and more of the Holy Spirit the conviction of sin will become stronger and stronger.
The 144,000 will be almost identical to how Adam and Eve were before the Fall, e.g. no sinful thoughts, and no sinful actions.
True sons and daughters of God.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
- Romans 8:14 (KJV)
With the Holy Spirit within you like that, it becomes almost impossible to sin. And that's exactly what the 144,000 need during the seven plagues. The ability to stand without a mediator. The Holy Spirit is helping them to keep God's Law (the Ten Commandments).
And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.
- Revelation 14:5 (KJV)
With the 144,000, God is showing that it's perfectly possible for men to keep His Law (the Ten Commandments), and that sin is very much a personal choice. The 144,000 represent the weakest generation in the most difficult time. If they can keep God's Law under those circumstances, then there is no basis for the claim that God's Law is too hard and can't be kept.
I also suspect that when the dead are raised, they will have the Holy Spirit without measure also.
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
- 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 (KJV)
The Father gave his Spirit without measure to his Son, and we also may partake of its fulness.
- Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, November 5, 1908
Spiritual bodies.
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
- 1 Corinthians 15:44 (KJV)
While on this topic, check out this verse.
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
- Romans 8:11 (KJV)
Another good reason not to grieve the Holy Spirit.
And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
- Ephesians 4:30 (KJV)
The Holy Spirit is initially given as a deposit (say 10%).
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
- Ephesians 1:13-14 (KJV)
God is essentially saying: See how you get on with the deposit, and I'll give you the rest later.
The new covenant in the book of Hebrews shows this also.
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
- Hebrews 8:10-11 (KJV)
What about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit during the Latter Rain?
And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
- Acts 2:17:21 (KJV)
Well, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit during the Latter Rain is still limited by some measure (say 33%).
In the end, we will all have the Holy Spirit without measure, just as it was before the Fall.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
- Genesis 1:27 (KJV)
No more sin. 