Welcome to Anchors Of Truth,
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live from the
3ABN Worship Center.
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Hello, good evening, and welcome
to the 3ABN Worship Center.
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And we finally get
to say, happy Sabbath.
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And we praise the Lord for
this opportunity to assemble
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once again in the
house of the Lord.
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We are thankful
for the Sabbath day.
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We're thankful for
the call that brought us
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from darkness to light.
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And we are thankful
for our speaker, Jim Nix,
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who is the director of
the Ellen White Estate.
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And if you are a
lover of history, as I am,
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you have been loving
these past several evenings.
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And even those of us
who've have studied a bit of
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Adventist history, we've
learned more and new things.
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And we've been assured that this
movement that we are a part of
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was directed by God, birthed by
God, came from the hand of God,
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and will one day return
us all to the throne of God
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if we remain faithful to Him.
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So we welcome you, those
who are here in this house,
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and those of you who are
with us around the world.
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We welcome you to
another evening of,
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A Heritage Worth Remembering.
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And tonight the
subject is, The Little Flock.
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But I'm told, in parentheses
there ought to be added
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the word, "Sabbath."
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So we're going to be
talking about the Sabbath.
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The divided Millerites
moving toward Adventism were
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held together by three
S's, we were told in school.
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Sabbath, Sanctuary,
and State of the dead
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were the three doctrines
that we sort of coalesced
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around very, very early.
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So we get to mine the
truths of one of those.
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And that of course is
the Sabbath that we all
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know and love.
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We're going to have
prayer, and then we're going to
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sing a song, My Faith
Has Found A Resting Place.
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One of the great
hymns of the 19th century
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that the Lord has given
us on the Pillars project.
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But we are so very,
very happy for Jim Nix,
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that he has made his
way here to be with us
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from the
streets of Washington DC
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and Maryland to the corn
fields of southern Illinois,
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and then to the world.
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Shall we pray.
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Father God, we praise
You and thank You for another
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opportunity to hear Your word.
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To be reminded again of
the wonderful history that
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we have and how You have
led and guided this work,
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this movement, really
from the days of faithful Adam
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all the way down
to the 21st century.
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There has always been a people
who have been faithful to You.
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And we are but the last in a
long line of faithful pilgrims
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who are following You.
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And we know that as
we follow, You will lead.
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And as we faithfully
walk in Your footsteps,
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You will one day
lead us safely home.
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We ask You to bless
the speaker this night.
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Give him again holy unction,
holy boldness, and an anointing.
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And then open
our ears and hearts
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so that we may be receptive.
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And we thank You for
Your presence and Your power.
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In Jesus' name, amen.
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My faith has found a resting
place, not in a manmade creed;
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I trust the ever living
One, that He for me will plead.
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I need no other
evidence, I need no other plea;
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it is enough that Jesus
died, and rose again for me.
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Enough for me that Jesus saves,
this ends my fear and doubt;
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a sinful soul I come to
Him, He will not cast me out.
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I need no other
evidence, I need no other plea;
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it is enough that Jesus
died, and rose again for me.
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The great Physician heals the
sick, the lost He came to save;
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for me His precious blood He
shed, for me His life He gave.
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I need no other
evidence, I need no other plea;
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it is enough that Jesus
died, and rose again for me.
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My soul is resting on the Word,
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the living Word of God;
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salvation in my Savior's name,
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salvation through His blood.
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And I need no other
evidence, I need no other plea;
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it is enough that Jesus died,
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and rose again for me.
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Well, good evening.
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Happy Sabbath.
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As Pastor Murray told
you, we're going to talk about
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how the Sabbath
came into our history.
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I must confess that when
they asked a long time ago
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what my topics would
be, I wasn't thinking about
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what day of the week.
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When I realized this was
Sabbath I said, well come on,
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let's talk about how
the Sabbath came into
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the Adventist
church, historically.
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This series is
history, it's not theology.
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So
historically, how did it come?
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And that's what
we're going to talk about
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for a little while this evening.
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The whole series is built on
Joshua, the concept of Joshua.
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The story that you know
when Israel goes into the
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Promised Land, they
crossed the Jordan River.
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And they build a
monument with twelve stones
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that were taken up from
the bottom of the river.
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And Joshua said
to them, Joshua 4:21,
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"And he spake unto the
children of Israel, saying,
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'When your children shall ask
their fathers in time to come,
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saying, "What
mean these stones?"
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Then ye shall let
your children know, saying,
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"Israel came over
this Jordan on dry land."'"
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Well I like to think that
the Seventh-day Adventist Church
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is crossing Jordan on dry land,
and it's worth looking back
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and seeing some of
these monuments, some of the
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things that happened before.
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And so again this evening in
our series, we're going to talk
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about how the
Sabbath came to us.
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And in our imagination, we
need to travel to a little,
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little, little tiny community
in the central part of the
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state of New Hampshire called
Washington, New Hampshire.
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Not Washington DC, but
Washington, New Hampshire.
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Now Washington, New Hampshire
itself is quite proud of the
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fact that they are the
first community in the entire
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United States to incorporate,
legally, officially incorporate
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under the name of George
Washington, our first president.
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So they like to have...
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They have a sign out
there telling all that.
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Now that's not really
why we're thinking about
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Washington tonight,
but it is historical fact
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that the people in
that little community
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still to this day are proud
of the fact that they, in 1776,
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got permission to incorporate as
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the little
village of Washington.
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And there were a
number of early settlers
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that came to Washington.
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The Farnsworths and others.
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And in 1839...
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That's getting down
closer now to the era
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that we're going to talk about.
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Last night we talked
about the Millerite movement
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that ended in 1844.
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There's going to
be some overlapping.
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And some of those
people that were disappointed,
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Millerites, when
Jesus did not return in 1844
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went back to their Bibles to
find out why He hadn't returned.
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And among other
things, they also came across
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the sanctity, the
holiness, the importance
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of the seventh day Sabbath.
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But back to
Washington, New Hampshire.
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In 1839, the Congregational
church built a great big
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imposing edifice
on the town green.
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But there were a number
of farmers in that community.
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And they really apparently
did not feel too at home
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with the more
formal type of meeting
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that the Congregationalists had.
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So in 1842, thirty-two
of them decided to leave the
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Congregational church and
to move about two miles south,
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get some property, and
put up a little church,
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a simple little church
building that is still standing
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to this today.
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And there they
signed a covenant.
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And that was what they were
going to organize themselves as,
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this covenant group that
would build this little church.
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And they built it,
actually, in six weeks,
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according to memory
statements many years later.
00:10:47.23\00:10:50.04
Now there was a Methodist
preacher, a circuit riding
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preacher, who had
several churches in his area.
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His name was Frederick Wheeler.
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We don't have young pictures
really of Frederick Wheeler,
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but he was only
about 31 at the time.
00:11:03.45\00:11:05.38
So even though the
pictures are older than that,
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think about this man being
about 31 or 32 when all this
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was happening, because
he had been born in 1811.
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And he was invited by this
little congregation of farmers
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that had put up their
little church building,
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simple little building,
to include their church
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in his circuit.
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That means that
every, I don't know how many
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churches he had in his
circuit, but every other Sunday,
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every third or fourth
Sunday, whatever is was,
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he would come and hold
services in their church.
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And then the next Sunday he'd
be somewhere else, etcetera.
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And so Frederick
Wheeler, this circuit riding
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Methodist minister,
became the pastor of the
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Washington, New
Hampshire church.
00:11:44.13\00:11:45.93
Now also in 1842 and
1843, that time period,
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the Millerite message that we
were talking about last night,
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the concept that they believed
Jesus was about to return,
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a Millerite preacher by
the name of Joshua Goodwin
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came to
Washington, New Hampshire
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and preached in
that little church.
00:12:03.01\00:12:05.23
And before long the members of
that little church all became,
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or almost all of them,
became Millerite Adventists.
00:12:09.85\00:12:12.62
Frederick Wheeler
becomes a Millerite Adventist.
00:12:12.82\00:12:15.95
So now I guess he was a
circuit riding Methodist
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Millerite Adventist preacher.
00:12:19.85\00:12:21.73
Anyway, so they're
now having a focus on the
00:12:21.94\00:12:25.05
second coming of Christ.
00:12:25.08\00:12:26.23
It's interesting,
historically, that this Goodwin,
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this Joshua Goodwin
that came and shared the news
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about the soon coming of
Jesus, that he got interested
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in a young lady
there at the church.
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And they got married.
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And she was the
younger sister of the wife of
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William Farnsworth, who we
will be talking about more.
00:12:43.75\00:12:46.90
So Joshua Goodwin and William
Farnsworth were brothers-in-law.
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What nobody seems to know
now is whether Goodwin came to
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preach the second
coming and met Harriet,
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or whether he had somewhere
met Harriet and decided
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a good place to go
preach would be where she lives.
00:13:01.09\00:13:03.54
We don't know, but anyway,
however it all worked out,
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they got married.
00:13:06.77\00:13:07.86
Now in 1843...
00:13:07.89\00:13:09.57
Our story is now
going to start incorporating
00:13:09.67\00:13:12.70
the seventh day Sabbath.
00:13:12.73\00:13:14.43
Because in 1843, a young lady by
the name of Rachel Delight Oakes
00:13:14.58\00:13:20.82
moved to
Washington, New Hampshire.
00:13:20.85\00:13:22.90
Now we usually, in Adventist
history, just refer to her
00:13:23.10\00:13:25.35
as Delight, because her
mother was also Rachel Oakes.
00:13:25.38\00:13:28.87
So when you have Rachel
Oakes and Rachel Delight Oakes,
00:13:28.90\00:13:31.07
you have to differentiate them
00:13:31.30\00:13:32.55
or else you get
kind of confused.
00:13:32.58\00:13:34.18
So we call the mother, Rachel,
00:13:34.21\00:13:35.56
and we call the
daughter, Delight.
00:13:35.59\00:13:36.99
So Delight was about 18,
she was a school teacher.
00:13:37.17\00:13:40.45
And she had been hired to
teach in the school there,
00:13:40.55\00:13:43.97
a little one room school.
00:13:44.00\00:13:45.42
And she rented a
home, a room I should say,
00:13:45.52\00:13:48.08
in the home of Cyrus Farnsworth.
00:13:48.11\00:13:50.62
Now sometime around
Thanksgiving of 1843
00:13:50.99\00:13:54.33
Rachel the mother moved to town.
00:13:54.43\00:13:57.22
She was a widow at this time.
00:13:57.25\00:13:58.66
And she moved to
the little community
00:13:58.76\00:14:00.55
to be with her daughter.
00:14:00.65\00:14:01.75
Now both mother and daughter,
Rachel and Rachel Delight,
00:14:01.78\00:14:05.09
both of them were
Seventh-day Baptists.
00:14:05.29\00:14:08.70
So they kept the
seventh day Sabbath.
00:14:09.09\00:14:10.95
And at some point along
the line they also became
00:14:11.33\00:14:14.81
Adventist Millerites.
00:14:14.84\00:14:16.27
So they became Millerite, what,
Seventh-day Baptists, I guess.
00:14:16.30\00:14:20.39
Anyway, so they are keeping
the Sabbath in their own home
00:14:20.71\00:14:25.35
because there were no other
00:14:25.55\00:14:27.01
Seventh-day
Baptists in the area.
00:14:27.04\00:14:28.77
And they would go to
church in the little church,
00:14:29.13\00:14:32.24
the Washington
church, on Sunday, not because
00:14:32.27\00:14:35.25
they believed in
Sunday, but just merely
00:14:35.28\00:14:37.88
for Christian fellowship.
00:14:38.08\00:14:40.18
Now it's interesting, we've
talked the other nights about
00:14:40.37\00:14:42.62
how God's timing kind
of brings things together.
00:14:42.65\00:14:45.53
It's very interesting when
you look at the history of the
00:14:45.56\00:14:47.32
Seventh-day Baptists, they
basically did not evangelize.
00:14:47.35\00:14:51.56
However, about 1840,
apparently the Holy Spirit
00:14:51.94\00:14:55.66
knew it was time for
the seventh day Sabbath
00:14:55.69\00:14:57.76
to be one of these
truths that was re-discovered.
00:14:57.79\00:15:00.13
And the Seventh-day Baptists,
who had been around for
00:15:00.33\00:15:04.22
200 or 300 years, decided
they needed to evangelize,
00:15:04.25\00:15:08.06
they need to share
their faith with other people
00:15:08.09\00:15:10.39
about the seventh day Sabbath.
00:15:10.42\00:15:12.05
And so Rachel Oakes,
the mother, she being a good
00:15:12.08\00:15:16.60
Seventh-day
Baptist, she takes to heart
00:15:16.63\00:15:19.58
what the Seventh-day Baptist
general conference had voted.
00:15:19.61\00:15:22.36
And that is, "We
need to share our faith."
00:15:22.39\00:15:25.23
And so she is trying to
share her faith to these members
00:15:25.26\00:15:28.80
of this little church who
really are not interested in the
00:15:28.83\00:15:31.37
seventh day Sabbath at all.
00:15:31.40\00:15:32.63
They're Millerites.
00:15:32.73\00:15:34.03
They're interested in
the second coming of Christ.
00:15:34.06\00:15:36.41
And so there she is trying her
best to get them interested in
00:15:36.44\00:15:40.82
more than just the
second coming of Christ,
00:15:40.85\00:15:42.64
because the
Sabbath was important.
00:15:42.67\00:15:44.27
But they didn't
seem to think so.
00:15:44.68\00:15:46.16
Anyway, so there she is.
00:15:46.56\00:15:48.72
And she, as I mentioned,
she would go, and her daughter,
00:15:48.92\00:15:51.58
she would go to church in
the little Washington church
00:15:51.61\00:15:53.95
on Sunday for
Christian fellowship.
00:15:53.98\00:15:56.85
And that's how we have this
famous story that's come down
00:15:57.37\00:16:00.48
to us from that era.
00:16:00.51\00:16:02.39
On this particular Sunday,
Frederick Wheel the pastor
00:16:02.69\00:16:06.64
was leading out
in the Lord's supper.
00:16:06.74\00:16:08.92
And so here, out there somewhere
in the congregation, is Rachel.
00:16:09.72\00:16:13.82
And Frederick Wheeler
announces before they have
00:16:13.92\00:16:16.95
the Lord's supper
that to participate
00:16:16.98\00:16:19.92
in the Lord's supper
you should be a keeper
00:16:20.12\00:16:23.17
of all of God's commandments.
00:16:23.20\00:16:25.31
Now what do you think is
going through Rachel's mind?
00:16:26.41\00:16:28.85
Because she's knows they're
sitting there on the wrong day
00:16:29.23\00:16:31.63
and they're doing the
whole thing at the wrong time,
00:16:31.83\00:16:34.80
but here he made this statement.
00:16:35.06\00:16:36.61
Now typical of Yankees,
she might have just stood up
00:16:36.79\00:16:41.77
and told him he was
wrong, but she didn't.
00:16:42.10\00:16:43.70
She held her seat.
00:16:43.73\00:16:44.76
They went through the service.
00:16:44.79\00:16:45.92
But a few days later she met him
somewhere, town or somewhere,
00:16:45.95\00:16:49.53
and she said, "Last Sunday when
you stood there in the church
00:16:49.56\00:16:54.42
and you told us that
to participate in the
00:16:54.45\00:16:57.37
Lord's supper we
should be keepers of God's
00:16:57.40\00:17:00.66
ten commandments, I almost,"
she said, "I almost stood up
00:17:00.69\00:17:05.00
and told you that you should put
the cloth back on the emblems
00:17:05.39\00:17:09.20
and you should not participate
yourself until you kept
00:17:09.23\00:17:12.62
the right day for the Sabbath."
00:17:12.65\00:17:14.92
Now he was very
startled, as you can imagine,
00:17:14.95\00:17:16.67
but he was an honest man.
00:17:16.70\00:17:18.15
And she was
ready for the occasion.
00:17:18.26\00:17:20.24
She had some Seventh-day Baptist
literature to give to him.
00:17:20.45\00:17:24.16
And Frederick Wheeler, to
his credit, read the literature,
00:17:24.26\00:17:30.47
looked up the text, and decided
that his outspoken member
00:17:30.57\00:17:37.28
was correct; that the
seventh day is the Sabbath.
00:17:37.31\00:17:41.80
And on the back of an old
picture of Frederick Wheeler
00:17:42.41\00:17:46.24
is a note; that he preached
his first sermon advocating the
00:17:46.27\00:17:50.54
seventh day
Sabbath on March 16, 1844,
00:17:50.57\00:17:54.92
not in
Washington, New Hampshire.
00:17:54.95\00:17:56.71
He actually lived a
short distance to the east,
00:17:56.91\00:17:59.52
yeah, to the east
in upper Hillsboro.
00:17:59.55\00:18:02.28
And that's where, in a school
house near where he lived,
00:18:02.38\00:18:06.73
is where he preached.
00:18:06.76\00:18:09.13
And the school house
doesn't stand anymore.
00:18:09.31\00:18:11.52
Up till a few years ago
when somebody came in and
00:18:11.55\00:18:14.53
bought the property and
moved dirt around so they could
00:18:14.56\00:18:16.68
build another building, and all
that, you could actually see the
00:18:16.71\00:18:19.33
foundation stones
which is probably the site
00:18:19.36\00:18:22.51
where the first
sermon by an Adventist,
00:18:22.54\00:18:26.29
a Methodist Adventist,
circuit riding preacher
00:18:26.32\00:18:29.70
advocating the seventh
day Sabbath was preached
00:18:29.73\00:18:32.42
in that little school
house that use to stand there.
00:18:32.45\00:18:35.85
Well the members of the
Washington, New Hampshire
00:18:36.64\00:18:39.78
church, they now have
a pastor that believes
00:18:39.81\00:18:43.22
in the seventh day Sabbath.
00:18:43.25\00:18:44.28
He's also a Millerite Adventist.
00:18:44.31\00:18:46.60
They have a couple
of people that attend,
00:18:46.93\00:18:49.14
they're not
members of their church,
00:18:49.17\00:18:50.67
that are advocating
the seventh day Sabbath.
00:18:50.70\00:18:52.97
But they are not at all,
as I mentioned a minute ago,
00:18:53.30\00:18:56.75
they're not at all interested
in the seventh day Sabbath.
00:18:56.78\00:19:00.12
In fact, by and large,
the Millerite Adventists
00:19:00.24\00:19:03.23
were not interested in
the seventh day Sabbath.
00:19:03.26\00:19:05.83
Their view was, "Don't
let anything distract us
00:19:06.17\00:19:09.92
from our assignment.
00:19:09.95\00:19:10.99
Our assignment is to warn people
that Jesus is about to return.
00:19:11.02\00:19:14.91
And if we get on the other side
and He tells us that we should
00:19:15.24\00:19:18.41
be keeping the
seventh day Sabbath,
00:19:18.44\00:19:20.05
why, we'll do it over there.
00:19:20.35\00:19:21.98
But right now,
don't let anything...
00:19:22.01\00:19:24.10
We've got enough
problems with all the ridicule,
00:19:24.13\00:19:26.63
scorn, and everything
that's heaped upon us,
00:19:26.66\00:19:28.42
let's not bring in something
else that may divide us."
00:19:28.45\00:19:31.43
And so there is some discussion
in the weeks, the months
00:19:31.63\00:19:35.02
and the weeks
leading up October 22, 1844
00:19:35.05\00:19:38.74
when they thought the
Lord was going to return,
00:19:38.77\00:19:40.69
there was some discussion
in the Millerite papers
00:19:41.00\00:19:43.10
about the seventh day Sabbath.
00:19:43.13\00:19:44.20
But the leaders of the
movement, by and larger...
00:19:44.23\00:19:47.50
Well I shouldn't
say, by and large.
00:19:47.53\00:19:48.56
The leaders, all of them,
said nothing doing about this
00:19:48.59\00:19:52.09
seventh day Sabbath stuff.
00:19:52.12\00:19:53.43
And so Rachel is very
frustrated, as you can imagine.
00:19:53.64\00:19:57.39
Here, she knows
the Lord's coming.
00:19:57.73\00:19:59.39
She knows that
they're on the wrong day.
00:19:59.56\00:20:01.14
I don't know how much
Frederick Wheeler actually
00:20:01.17\00:20:04.20
advocated the seventh
day Sabbath, even though
00:20:04.23\00:20:06.21
apparently he had
preached it in March of 1844.
00:20:06.24\00:20:09.10
How much he incorporated
it into this sermons,
00:20:09.32\00:20:11.46
we don't have a record of.
00:20:11.49\00:20:12.81
But the fact is that there
were at least a small group
00:20:12.92\00:20:16.27
that's advocating
the seventh day Sabbath.
00:20:16.77\00:20:18.90
Now sometime after
the disappointment...
00:20:19.13\00:20:21.73
And again, here we
have problems because
00:20:21.76\00:20:25.60
we have memory statements.
00:20:25.63\00:20:26.66
And some people said
this happened in late 1844,
00:20:26.69\00:20:29.40
and other people remember,
"No, it was early 1845."
00:20:29.51\00:20:32.75
But at some point,
late 1844 or early 1845,
00:20:32.78\00:20:36.64
anyway, after the date when they
expected the Lord would return,
00:20:36.67\00:20:40.43
one Sunday a big man,
a member of that church,
00:20:40.66\00:20:44.86
stood up to preach.
00:20:45.06\00:20:46.81
He stood up, excuse, stood
up to make an announcement.
00:20:46.84\00:20:50.31
And his name was
William Farnsworth.
00:20:50.61\00:20:53.00
He weighed 260 pounds.
00:20:53.23\00:20:55.58
He was a big farmer.
00:20:55.82\00:20:57.17
At this point in 1844 he had
already fathered seven children,
00:20:57.20\00:21:01.61
of whom six were living.
00:21:01.89\00:21:03.51
And eventually he would
have twenty-two children.
00:21:03.54\00:21:06.36
Eleven by his first wife.
00:21:06.94\00:21:08.11
She died, he got re-married,
and he had eleven more.
00:21:08.14\00:21:10.52
Actually, he had two more
than that because there were
00:21:10.80\00:21:12.26
two that died young.
00:21:12.29\00:21:13.55
So there was really
twenty-four all together.
00:21:13.58\00:21:15.28
But some of you may have
seen the book that came out
00:21:15.66\00:21:17.67
a number of years ago,
William and His Twenty-Two.
00:21:17.70\00:21:20.07
It's not a rifle.
00:21:20.10\00:21:21.22
It's the number of children
that grew up that he had.
00:21:21.25\00:21:24.12
Anyway, William Farnsworth
stood up in this church
00:21:24.15\00:21:26.99
on a Sunday and he
announced that from henceforth
00:21:27.02\00:21:31.02
he and his family would
keep the seventh day Sabbath.
00:21:31.22\00:21:35.11
Now I can imagine
that Rachel was thrilled.
00:21:35.71\00:21:38.09
And as I told you, with
twenty-two children eventually,
00:21:38.33\00:21:41.83
they were a good
part of the congregation.
00:21:41.93\00:21:43.96
Because it's a
small little church.
00:21:44.28\00:21:46.14
Anyway, so he stands up.
00:21:46.62\00:21:48.29
Excuse me.
00:21:48.32\00:21:49.38
His younger brother,
Cyrus, according to one account,
00:21:50.16\00:21:52.98
the following week he stood
up and announced he was going to
00:21:53.01\00:21:56.56
keep the seventh day Sabbath.
00:21:56.59\00:21:57.77
And furthermore, their parents,
Daniel and Patty Farnsworth,
00:21:58.02\00:22:01.08
they stood up.
00:22:01.11\00:22:02.15
And so you have at least a
small group of Farnsworths,
00:22:02.18\00:22:05.22
and then a few
others, who started keeping
00:22:05.52\00:22:07.99
the seventh day Sabbath.
00:22:08.19\00:22:09.61
I might also mention
that Cyrus Farnsworth,
00:22:09.72\00:22:12.22
he had a little extra
curricular activity going on.
00:22:12.46\00:22:14.78
Because he married
the school teacher,
00:22:14.81\00:22:17.21
Rachel Delight Oakes.
00:22:17.24\00:22:18.80
So now you have Delight also
as part of this Farnsworth clan
00:22:18.83\00:22:22.99
that are keeping
the seventh day Sabbath.
00:22:23.19\00:22:24.97
Just to give you a
little insight, I was reading
00:22:25.17\00:22:27.27
one time in some recollections
of some of the old Farnsworths.
00:22:27.30\00:22:30.70
We have a bunch
of correspondence
00:22:30.73\00:22:32.12
from some of the Farnsworths,
00:22:32.32\00:22:33.66
some of those twenty-two
children, in our files
00:22:33.69\00:22:35.86
at the White Estate.
00:22:35.89\00:22:36.92
And I was reading, and one
of them recalled that Daniel,
00:22:36.95\00:22:40.65
that would be
this man's grandfather,
00:22:40.68\00:22:42.05
Daniel Farnsworth, he
use to say, "A little less
00:22:42.08\00:22:45.61
straight testimony and a
little more straight living
00:22:45.64\00:22:48.94
will be better for all of us."
00:22:49.04\00:22:50.62
So he was one of
these outspoken people.
00:22:51.06\00:22:52.81
Anyway, so you have
Rachel, Delight I should say,
00:22:52.84\00:22:57.03
she's married into the family,
and we have a small group
00:22:57.06\00:22:59.66
of Sabbath keepers.
00:22:59.69\00:23:00.79
Now the problem is that the
majority of that congregation
00:23:00.82\00:23:04.67
did not immediately
accept the seventh day Sabbath.
00:23:04.70\00:23:07.52
And as was typical in those
days in New England churches,
00:23:08.31\00:23:12.01
the congregation who had all
pooled their money to build it,
00:23:12.11\00:23:15.54
why, whoever was in the
majority, they owned the church.
00:23:15.64\00:23:19.79
So sometimes in Adventist
history you'll hear it said
00:23:19.82\00:23:22.74
that the
Washington, New Hampshire church
00:23:22.94\00:23:25.04
is the oldest
Seventh-day Adventist church,
00:23:25.14\00:23:27.17
because this congregation
became Seventh-day Adventist.
00:23:27.20\00:23:29.82
Well
technically that's not true.
00:23:29.85\00:23:31.49
Technically, it's
the oldest congregation
00:23:32.28\00:23:35.14
of Sabbath
keeping Adventists, yes.
00:23:35.34\00:23:37.53
But the church itself did not
become a Seventh-day Adventist
00:23:37.71\00:23:40.28
church until the early
1860's when now there were more
00:23:40.31\00:23:43.91
Sabbath keepers
than Sunday keepers.
00:23:43.94\00:23:45.77
And so it switched.
00:23:45.85\00:23:46.88
And it's been a Seventh-day
Adventist church ever since.
00:23:46.91\00:23:49.74
But how did the Sabbath get
from Washington, New Hampshire
00:23:49.89\00:23:54.87
out to the rest of...
00:23:55.07\00:23:56.58
Well the world, I guess
you'd say; there was no church.
00:23:57.13\00:23:59.10
I started to say,
the rest of the church.
00:23:59.13\00:24:00.40
There was no church
yet. We hadn't organized.
00:24:00.43\00:24:02.54
So how did it go from
Washington to a wider circle?
00:24:02.57\00:24:08.16
Well, what I'm going to
tell you now is conjecture.
00:24:08.46\00:24:12.78
We really do not know.
00:24:13.36\00:24:16.23
I am not aware of any
Adventist scholar, historian,
00:24:16.26\00:24:20.21
who has ever been able to prove
what we conjecture happened.
00:24:20.24\00:24:23.71
But we do not have that,
you know, that piece of paper
00:24:23.91\00:24:27.40
that actually records.
00:24:27.43\00:24:29.06
Maybe it's still in some
attic somewhere and somebody
00:24:29.16\00:24:31.22
will find a letter some
day that will make it clear.
00:24:31.25\00:24:33.76
But here's what
I think happened.
00:24:33.79\00:24:35.58
There was a Free Will
Baptist minister living over in
00:24:36.22\00:24:40.33
Nashua, New Hampshire by
the name of Thomas M. Preble,
00:24:40.36\00:24:44.48
T.M. Preble.
00:24:44.51\00:24:45.56
He also was a Millerite.
00:24:45.67\00:24:47.81
And in 1845, February of 1845,
Preble published an article
00:24:48.37\00:24:54.08
in a paper, the paper was
published in Portland, Maine,
00:24:54.11\00:24:57.42
called, The Hope of Israel.
00:24:57.45\00:24:58.59
And that paper, with Preble...
00:24:59.08\00:25:01.29
Now in a minute I'll
try to connect Preble with
00:25:01.32\00:25:03.81
Washington, New Hampshire.
00:25:03.92\00:25:04.95
But that paper with the article
advocating the holiness of the
00:25:04.98\00:25:08.94
seventh day Sabbath, one of
the subscribers to that paper
00:25:08.97\00:25:12.40
was a man who would eventually
be one of the co-founders
00:25:12.43\00:25:14.92
of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church;
00:25:14.95\00:25:16.40
Joseph Bates.
00:25:16.43\00:25:17.86
Now Joseph Bates was living
in Fairhaven, Massachusetts,
00:25:18.53\00:25:21.88
which is down on the
southern coast of Massachusetts.
00:25:21.91\00:25:24.61
He subscribes to the
paper and he reads the article,
00:25:24.64\00:25:29.56
looks up the text
that Preble has used,
00:25:29.59\00:25:32.30
and he concludes that the
seventh day is the Sabbath.
00:25:32.33\00:25:36.50
Now the story tells us that
Bates wants more information.
00:25:37.42\00:25:43.36
So he goes, not to
Preble, but he goes to visit
00:25:43.82\00:25:49.89
Frederick Wheeler in Hillsboro
where Frederick Wheeler
00:25:49.92\00:25:53.60
was living with
his brother-in-law.
00:25:53.63\00:25:55.28
Now here's where I think,
this is the conjecture now,
00:25:56.01\00:25:59.63
my guess is that what happened
was, at some meeting where
00:25:59.66\00:26:04.05
ministers, circuit riding
ministers happen together,
00:26:04.08\00:26:06.88
Frederick Wheeler is
there, he's talking about
00:26:06.98\00:26:09.51
the seventh day Sabbath.
00:26:09.54\00:26:10.71
Preble is there.
00:26:10.74\00:26:12.07
He gets interested in
what Wheeler is saying.
00:26:12.27\00:26:15.38
And so he looks up the text that
Wheeler is sharing with him.
00:26:16.00\00:26:20.05
Maybe Wheeler gives him some
Seventh-day Baptist literature.
00:26:20.08\00:26:22.49
I really don't know.
00:26:22.52\00:26:23.79
But anyway, Preble then decides
the seventh day is the Sabbath
00:26:23.82\00:26:27.73
and writes the
article that's published in,
00:26:28.55\00:26:30.32
The Hope of
Israel, in Portland, Maine.
00:26:30.35\00:26:32.71
And a subscriber down in
Fairhaven, Massachusetts,
00:26:32.99\00:26:35.85
Joseph Bates, reads the article.
00:26:35.88\00:26:38.19
Now the reason I say
that I think that Preble
00:26:38.67\00:26:41.69
probably got, must
have gotten the Sabbath
00:26:41.72\00:26:43.97
from Frederick Wheeler
is, normally if you read
00:26:44.00\00:26:47.09
something and you
want to contact the author,
00:26:47.12\00:26:50.26
you want more
information, who do you contact?
00:26:50.53\00:26:53.12
You contact the author.
00:26:53.15\00:26:54.57
But Bates does not contact
Preble, as far as we know.
00:26:54.72\00:26:59.81
There's nothing now
stamped that says so.
00:27:00.37\00:27:03.06
He contacts Frederick Wheeler.
00:27:03.09\00:27:04.57
So what I think
probably happened...
00:27:04.60\00:27:06.17
This is where I'm hoping
some letter will show up someday
00:27:06.38\00:27:08.40
in some attic.
00:27:08.43\00:27:09.51
What I think happened was
that probably Joseph Bates
00:27:09.61\00:27:13.38
read the article by
Preble, wrote to Preble.
00:27:13.41\00:27:16.25
Found out he was in
Nashua, writes to him.
00:27:16.28\00:27:20.02
Preble says, "The person
you really need to talk to
00:27:20.05\00:27:22.06
that I got it from is Frederick
Wheeler over in Hillsboro.
00:27:22.09\00:27:25.75
So go contact him."
00:27:25.78\00:27:26.88
Now again, we can't
make that connection,
00:27:26.91\00:27:28.95
but it makes sense
that this is what happened.
00:27:28.98\00:27:31.03
Because Bates shows up
about ten o'clock at night
00:27:31.35\00:27:35.19
at Frederick Wheeler's, or the
Barnes' home there in Hillsboro.
00:27:35.43\00:27:39.14
Knocks on the door.
00:27:39.17\00:27:40.55
You can imagine a
sleepy eyed Frederick Wheeler.
00:27:40.58\00:27:43.44
I mean, you went to bed with
the chickens back in those days.
00:27:43.47\00:27:46.22
So I can imagine
they had long been to bed.
00:27:46.32\00:27:48.57
But here's Joseph Bates.
00:27:48.60\00:27:50.34
He's traveled all the way
from Fairhaven clear up there
00:27:50.53\00:27:52.96
to the center
part of New Hampshire.
00:27:53.16\00:27:54.67
And he's wide awake, you know,
and he's knocking on the door.
00:27:54.70\00:27:58.34
So you picture, here goes
poor ole Frederick Wheeler
00:27:58.44\00:28:01.18
to the door to see who in
the world, what's going on.
00:28:01.21\00:28:03.52
And there he is, this guy
is all bright and ready to go
00:28:04.53\00:28:08.17
and wants to study.
00:28:08.20\00:28:09.46
So what do they want to study?
00:28:09.49\00:28:10.52
He wants to study
the seventh day Sabbath.
00:28:10.55\00:28:12.60
So they get the candles
out, or the whale oil lamps,
00:28:12.80\00:28:16.55
or whatever they
were using there in 1845,
00:28:16.58\00:28:19.48
and they study all night.
00:28:19.58\00:28:21.74
The next day they go over
to Cyrus Farnsworth's home
00:28:22.38\00:28:27.37
in Washington, Hew Hampshire.
00:28:27.40\00:28:28.47
The house is still standing.
00:28:28.50\00:28:29.82
There use to be some
big maple trees that were
00:28:30.14\00:28:33.44
standing until about 20 years
or so ago, or a little more.
00:28:33.47\00:28:36.37
Those maple trees,
under those trees you have
00:28:37.50\00:28:41.34
Joseph Bates, and you
have Frederick Wheeler,
00:28:41.37\00:28:44.98
and Cyrus Farnsworth.
00:28:45.30\00:28:47.39
We don't know if
William Farnsworth was there.
00:28:47.77\00:28:50.00
But a small group
studied the seventh day Sabbath
00:28:50.03\00:28:53.09
even more diligently.
00:28:53.12\00:28:54.57
Now if you know anything at
all about Bates' experience,
00:28:54.75\00:28:58.02
you know that he is
all fired up at this point.
00:28:58.05\00:29:01.00
And so he heads back down
to Fairhaven, Massachusetts
00:29:01.11\00:29:04.26
where he lives.
00:29:04.29\00:29:05.32
He's coming into Fairhaven.
00:29:05.35\00:29:06.71
He may have
walked the whole way.
00:29:06.74\00:29:08.31
I mean, it's amazing how
much that guy would walk.
00:29:08.40\00:29:10.93
He might hitchhike a little bit.
00:29:10.96\00:29:12.31
But anyway, I don't
know how he traveled.
00:29:12.54\00:29:14.55
But he gets all the
way back down there.
00:29:14.58\00:29:16.38
He's into New Bedford,
which is on the western side of
00:29:16.58\00:29:19.35
the Acushnet River.
00:29:19.38\00:29:20.41
He's walking across the old
bridge across the Acushnet River
00:29:20.50\00:29:23.97
and he runs into a friend.
00:29:24.00\00:29:26.52
Someone that he
knows there from Fairhaven,
00:29:26.98\00:29:28.76
which is on the
east side of the river.
00:29:28.79\00:29:30.38
And this guy has a very
patriotic name, by the way.
00:29:30.48\00:29:32.90
James Madison Monroe Hall.
00:29:33.14\00:29:36.91
Can you imagine a
mother naming her son for
00:29:36.94\00:29:40.24
two presidents of
the United States?
00:29:40.27\00:29:41.62
James Madison and James Monroe.
00:29:41.65\00:29:43.73
But anyway, that was his
name; James Madison Monroe Hall.
00:29:43.76\00:29:46.49
And Hall sees Bates.
00:29:46.72\00:29:48.34
Now back in those
days, everybody knew
00:29:48.37\00:29:50.48
everybody's business.
00:29:50.51\00:29:51.82
So he knew that Bates hadn't
been in town for a little while.
00:29:52.07\00:29:54.69
And since news was very
slow traveling in those days,
00:29:54.94\00:29:59.14
why, naturally if
somebody is gone somewhere,
00:29:59.39\00:30:01.67
what you want to know
is, "Where have you been?
00:30:01.70\00:30:03.50
What's been going on?
What have you learned?
00:30:03.53\00:30:05.05
What's the news?"
00:30:05.08\00:30:06.49
So Hall sees Bates and says,
00:30:06.52\00:30:08.75
"Captain Bates,
what's the news?"
00:30:08.95\00:30:11.68
And I think
probably Hall was a little
00:30:11.92\00:30:13.67
surprised at the
response when Bates said,
00:30:13.70\00:30:16.28
"The news is that the
seventh day is the Sabbath."
00:30:16.31\00:30:19.31
I don't think that's
what Hall was expecting.
00:30:19.82\00:30:21.67
But anyway, that was the news.
00:30:21.77\00:30:24.41
And would you know,
that Joseph Bates set up
00:30:24.61\00:30:27.67
a series of Bible
studies with Hall and his wife.
00:30:27.70\00:30:31.56
And the two of them
became Bates' first converts
00:30:31.83\00:30:35.77
to the seventh day Sabbath.
00:30:35.80\00:30:37.23
And they stuck.
00:30:37.87\00:30:39.50
By that I mean, you go
down several years later
00:30:39.80\00:30:42.80
and you will find
the obituaries for both
00:30:42.83\00:30:45.22
James Madison Monroe
Hall and Abigail Hall
00:30:45.25\00:30:48.70
in the pages of, The Review.
00:30:48.73\00:30:50.30
So the two first converts stuck.
00:30:50.40\00:30:52.72
Now it's interesting
that Joseph Bates had a wife
00:30:52.75\00:30:55.65
by the name of Prudence Bates.
00:30:55.68\00:30:59.02
He called her, Prudy.
00:30:59.45\00:31:01.17
She didn't initially go
with this Sabbath business.
00:31:01.99\00:31:05.61
She had been with
him on the Millerites,
00:31:05.81\00:31:07.76
the second coming of Christ,
but she did not immediately
00:31:07.79\00:31:12.62
accept the seventh day Sabbath.
00:31:12.72\00:31:14.63
And so Bates was not going to go
to the church on Sunday anymore,
00:31:15.21\00:31:18.46
his mind was made up.
00:31:18.49\00:31:19.94
He's not about
to go to the church.
00:31:19.97\00:31:21.37
But his wife wants to
go to church on Sunday.
00:31:21.47\00:31:23.96
So guess what he does.
00:31:24.21\00:31:26.13
He's a good husband.
00:31:26.16\00:31:27.38
So he gets the buggy out
and he drives her to church.
00:31:27.56\00:31:31.58
And all of his former
church mates, I mean members,
00:31:31.97\00:31:35.12
who had known him there,
they're all walking into church.
00:31:35.15\00:31:38.04
And his wife, he
helps her go into church.
00:31:38.24\00:31:40.90
And he's giving this silent
little witness, testimony,
00:31:40.93\00:31:44.25
because they all know
he's not about to come
00:31:44.28\00:31:46.44
into their church on Sunday
because he worships on Sabbath.
00:31:46.47\00:31:50.17
And then he would go back home.
00:31:50.20\00:31:52.08
And when it was time
for services to be over,
00:31:52.11\00:31:54.27
Bible study number two,
silent Bible study number two.
00:31:54.53\00:31:57.26
Or witness,
whatever you want to call it.
00:31:57.29\00:31:58.48
I guess it
wouldn't be Bible study.
00:31:58.51\00:31:59.67
He's back there
waiting for his wife.
00:31:59.87\00:32:01.53
They all come out of church,
he helps her into the buggy.
00:32:01.56\00:32:04.24
And everybody is coming out
of church, and they all know
00:32:04.55\00:32:06.76
why Captain Bates is
not there in services.
00:32:06.79\00:32:09.46
They know he's a
seventh day Sabbath keeper.
00:32:09.66\00:32:12.20
So eventually by
1850, Prudy accepted
00:32:12.50\00:32:15.89
the seventh day Sabbath.
00:32:16.00\00:32:17.67
Well, there's some other
interesting things that were
00:32:18.68\00:32:20.60
going on about this same time.
00:32:20.63\00:32:23.02
Joseph Bates...
00:32:23.77\00:32:24.91
Talk about how
like dropping a pebble
00:32:25.96\00:32:29.18
into a pond and the ripples
go out in ever widening circles,
00:32:29.21\00:32:33.39
like we talked
about Miller's preaching,
00:32:33.42\00:32:35.33
well this would be
true also of the Sabbath.
00:32:35.40\00:32:39.12
Now the article that T.M. Preble
had written that Joseph Bates
00:32:39.39\00:32:43.10
read in, The Hope of Israel,
was put into a little pamphlet.
00:32:43.13\00:32:46.23
This is a
photocopy of the pamphlet.
00:32:46.26\00:32:48.34
It's just twelve pages long.
00:32:48.58\00:32:50.17
And a copy of this pamphlet
found its way up to another
00:32:50.54\00:32:56.78
little city, or village,
not a city but a village
00:32:56.81\00:32:59.87
in Maine this time.
00:32:59.90\00:33:01.55
And it was
called, Paris Hill, Maine.
00:33:01.65\00:33:04.14
And a copy arrived in the
home of the Stowell family.
00:33:04.42\00:33:08.42
They had been Millerites,
disappointed Millerites.
00:33:08.60\00:33:11.63
Jesus had not returned.
00:33:11.66\00:33:13.24
And now they had, this is
the same content as what was in,
00:33:13.27\00:33:16.47
The Hope of Israel, the
paper that Bates had read.
00:33:16.50\00:33:19.12
And so father and mother
Stowell looked it all over,
00:33:19.35\00:33:23.50
and they could see no
sense in this seventh day
00:33:23.81\00:33:26.18
Sabbath business at all.
00:33:26.21\00:33:28.51
Made no sense to them.
00:33:28.79\00:33:30.01
And so they kind of
just put the pamphlet aside.
00:33:30.11\00:33:33.52
Well they had a daughter, whom
I have not been able to find a
00:33:34.57\00:33:37.65
picture of, so you're not
going to see one this evening.
00:33:37.68\00:33:39.74
But she was 15 years of age.
00:33:39.77\00:33:41.70
Her name was Marian.
00:33:41.73\00:33:43.29
She saw the pamphlet over
there and she picked it up.
00:33:43.59\00:33:47.19
And she got her Bible and
she began to look at the text
00:33:47.59\00:33:51.07
that Preble had
used in the pamphlet.
00:33:51.10\00:33:53.52
And she became convinced
that they were worshiping
00:33:53.55\00:33:56.47
on the wrong day.
00:33:56.50\00:33:57.86
The seventh day
Sabbath was the day they
00:33:58.06\00:34:00.32
should be worshiping on.
00:34:00.35\00:34:01.95
So, but she's just
a 15 year old girl.
00:34:02.23\00:34:04.77
What does she know?
00:34:04.80\00:34:05.83
So she decided to ask her
older brother, Oswald Stowell.
00:34:06.28\00:34:09.76
Oswald was two years older.
00:34:09.79\00:34:11.98
And what does he think about it?
00:34:12.26\00:34:14.33
And so Oswald reads
the pamphlet and he checks
00:34:14.43\00:34:18.33
all the text out with his Bible.
00:34:18.36\00:34:20.87
And guess what he concludes.
00:34:21.66\00:34:23.23
The seventh day is the Sabbath.
00:34:23.73\00:34:25.40
So now these two teenagers,
whose parents have said
00:34:25.87\00:34:28.47
there's nothing to it, and
they have virtually discarded
00:34:28.50\00:34:31.07
the pamphlet, now
these two teenagers decide,
00:34:31.10\00:34:34.45
"Next Sabbath, we're
going to keep the Sabbath."
00:34:34.55\00:34:37.67
Well they weren't exactly
sure how you keep the Sabbath.
00:34:38.00\00:34:40.03
But they were of course good
Sunday keepers, so they assumed
00:34:40.06\00:34:43.17
you keep the Sabbath
much like you kept Sunday.
00:34:43.20\00:34:46.01
And so they tried their
best to keep the Sabbath
00:34:46.22\00:34:49.88
the next Sabbath.
00:34:49.91\00:34:51.01
Sometime the following week
Marian's thinking to herself,
00:34:51.25\00:34:54.92
"Well, you know,
what if we're wrong?
00:34:54.95\00:34:58.23
As far as we know,
nobody's keeping the Sabbath.
00:34:58.39\00:35:01.03
What if we're wrong?"
00:35:01.19\00:35:02.39
And so she decides there is
someone here in this community
00:35:03.72\00:35:08.03
who knows his Bible
better than anyone else.
00:35:08.06\00:35:11.39
And let's ask him.
00:35:11.80\00:35:13.59
And so she took the pamphlet
and she gave it to John Andrews,
00:35:13.79\00:35:18.44
J.N. Andrews.
00:35:18.47\00:35:19.86
Now John Andrews was
a brilliant young man.
00:35:20.45\00:35:24.08
He was about 16
years of age at this time.
00:35:24.11\00:35:26.65
We're told that he use to
get up at 4:30 in the morning,
00:35:27.19\00:35:29.45
an hour before his
chores, to study his Bible.
00:35:29.48\00:35:32.52
And he was known, he
had the reputation already
00:35:33.05\00:35:36.02
at the age of 16 of
being a real Bible scholar.
00:35:36.05\00:35:40.80
And so John Andrews now, Marian
says, "I've got this tract.
00:35:40.91\00:35:45.48
And I want you to look at it.
00:35:45.51\00:35:46.97
And I want you to tell me
whether it makes any sense.
00:35:47.42\00:35:49.75
Are we
worshiping on the wrong day?
00:35:50.07\00:35:51.77
Or is the seventh day
Sabbath, is that really
00:35:51.80\00:35:54.35
the Sabbath of the Lord?"
00:35:54.38\00:35:55.75
And so John Andrews takes the
tract and he looks up the text.
00:35:55.78\00:36:00.68
And he comes back to Marian
a short time later and he said,
00:36:01.00\00:36:03.73
"We're wrong.
00:36:04.48\00:36:05.58
We are wrong.
00:36:06.02\00:36:07.08
The seventh day is the Sabbath.
00:36:07.18\00:36:09.43
That's the day we
should be keeping.
00:36:09.77\00:36:12.30
What are you going to do
about it," John asks Marian.
00:36:13.68\00:36:16.71
And Marian said, "No, no,
John. That's not the question.
00:36:17.50\00:36:21.17
The question is, what
are you going to do about it?
00:36:21.49\00:36:25.10
Because Oswald and
I kept last Sabbath.
00:36:25.44\00:36:27.99
And will you keep the
next Sabbath with us?"
00:36:28.24\00:36:30.54
And so now you have
three teenagers there
00:36:30.97\00:36:33.97
in Paris Hill, Maine.
00:36:34.07\00:36:35.94
And they then start
working on their parents.
00:36:36.55\00:36:39.21
And before long, the Andrews and
the Stowells, and some others,
00:36:39.47\00:36:42.54
became Sabbath keepers.
00:36:42.92\00:36:44.73
And of course, John
Andrews himself would go on
00:36:45.10\00:36:48.15
to be an advocate of
the seventh day Sabbath.
00:36:48.18\00:36:52.90
Now we're going to
talk a little bit...
00:36:54.00\00:36:55.72
So that's sort of the
story of how the Sabbath began.
00:36:55.75\00:36:58.91
It began with the
Seventh-day Baptist
00:36:59.16\00:37:01.17
there in
Washington, New Hampshire.
00:37:01.20\00:37:02.62
It spreads out as Preble
probably gets the Sabbath
00:37:02.73\00:37:06.30
from Frederick Wheeler.
00:37:06.50\00:37:07.86
He writes an
article. Bates gets it.
00:37:08.05\00:37:10.99
Bates, by the way, in 1846...
00:37:11.02\00:37:13.92
This is a facsimile
of Bates' Sabbath tract.
00:37:13.95\00:37:16.25
It's forty-eight pages.
00:37:16.28\00:37:17.89
Preble's was only twelve.
00:37:17.92\00:37:19.48
But Bates writes his own
tract in 1846 on the Sabbath.
00:37:19.51\00:37:24.17
Guess who he gives a
copy of the tract to.
00:37:24.27\00:37:27.08
He gives it to some newlyweds;
James and Ellen White,
00:37:27.11\00:37:30.29
who had gotten married
just a few weeks before
00:37:30.58\00:37:33.29
or about the time
this tract came out.
00:37:33.50\00:37:35.24
They read it, they
accept the Sabbath.
00:37:35.55\00:37:38.19
And now you have the
three co-founders of what would
00:37:38.22\00:37:40.24
become the
Seventh-day Adventist Church;
00:37:40.27\00:37:41.60
Joseph Bates,
James White, Ellen White.
00:37:41.63\00:37:43.67
They're coalescing
around the Sabbath.
00:37:43.93\00:37:46.62
And so, as they
say, the rest is history.
00:37:46.65\00:37:49.34
The Sabbath continues to go out,
00:37:49.37\00:37:51.29
with J.N. Andrews
becoming the lead scholar.
00:37:51.49\00:37:54.52
Bates initially.
00:37:54.55\00:37:55.71
His little
pamphlets on the Sabbath.
00:37:55.74\00:37:57.55
Then Bates gets older and
Andrews moves into the center.
00:37:57.67\00:38:01.16
He's writing books on
the seventh day Sabbath.
00:38:01.19\00:38:03.86
And the Sabbath continues
to go until now, of course.
00:38:04.06\00:38:06.72
It is known and
kept around the world.
00:38:06.93\00:38:10.81
I want to spend a few
minutes this evening, though,
00:38:11.28\00:38:13.73
looking at some interesting
human interest stories
00:38:13.76\00:38:16.61
about some of
the members at that
00:38:16.64\00:38:18.52
Washington, New
Hampshire church.
00:38:18.55\00:38:19.83
You know, we look at these
old pictures of the pioneers
00:38:19.93\00:38:22.65
and they usually...
00:38:22.75\00:38:24.12
Of course, they're black
and white because they didn't
00:38:24.15\00:38:25.50
have color photography.
00:38:25.53\00:38:26.93
And they look so
solemn staring at us.
00:38:26.96\00:38:29.48
And you forget that
they were real people.
00:38:29.67\00:38:33.22
So I would like to just
take a few minutes to unpack
00:38:33.25\00:38:36.30
some of the human interest side
of some of those people that
00:38:36.33\00:38:39.68
were there in the Washington,
New Hampshire church.
00:38:39.71\00:38:41.97
J.N. Andrews visited
Washington, New Hampshire
00:38:43.84\00:38:48.47
sometime about 1865 or 1866.
00:38:48.50\00:38:51.19
I should probably tell
you that Frederick Wheeler,
00:38:51.32\00:38:53.62
their pastor...
00:38:53.65\00:38:54.78
James White was urging,
the church was trying to
00:38:54.98\00:38:57.74
get started, and James White
was urging the few ordained
00:38:57.77\00:39:00.72
ministers that
we had to move away.
00:39:00.75\00:39:02.85
"Don't congregate in one place.
00:39:02.88\00:39:04.27
Get out and do evangelism."
00:39:04.37\00:39:06.55
And he worked on, James White
worked on Frederick Wheeler
00:39:06.58\00:39:09.43
for some time.
00:39:09.46\00:39:10.54
Finally in 1857, he
convinced Wheeler to move out
00:39:10.57\00:39:14.03
to New York state.
00:39:14.06\00:39:15.23
And that's where Wheeler
then lived the rest of his life,
00:39:15.26\00:39:18.07
was out in West
Monroe, New York.
00:39:18.10\00:39:19.88
And so this little congregation
that was use to have a pastor,
00:39:20.04\00:39:23.47
now it had no
pastor, no regular pastor.
00:39:23.67\00:39:26.53
And so the spirituality
of the congregation kind of
00:39:26.78\00:39:29.92
went up and down depending
on how things were going.
00:39:29.95\00:39:33.07
Well, there was a young man by
the name of Eugene Farnsworth.
00:39:33.36\00:39:36.75
He was son number
nine of William Farnsworth.
00:39:36.78\00:39:40.26
And Eugene was growing
up there in the church.
00:39:40.68\00:39:42.84
And later he would tell a
story about how he interacted
00:39:42.87\00:39:46.98
and how his life was
changed by J.N. Andrews.
00:39:47.01\00:39:49.85
Our scholar friend that
we mentioned who was a great
00:39:49.88\00:39:52.59
preacher of the
seventh day Sabbath.
00:39:52.62\00:39:54.46
Elder, later he became elder,
he was an ordained minister,
00:39:55.47\00:39:58.77
but Eugene Farnsworth
would tell many years later
00:39:58.80\00:40:01.71
about how one time
J.N. Andrews came to
00:40:01.74\00:40:04.55
Washington, New Hampshire
sometime around 1865 or 1866.
00:40:04.58\00:40:08.86
Eugene said, "I was out
in the field hoeing corn
00:40:09.62\00:40:13.26
when Elder Andrews came."
00:40:13.29\00:40:14.62
He said, "I didn't like
being around preachers at all.
00:40:14.65\00:40:16.83
I tried to stay away
from them as much as I could.
00:40:16.86\00:40:19.64
But," he said, "he caught
me out there hoeing corn."
00:40:19.98\00:40:23.48
And he said, "Here he came."
00:40:23.99\00:40:25.31
And he said, "I saw him
coming and I thought, oh no.
00:40:25.34\00:40:28.33
Well, I knew there was going
to be some kind of discussion."
00:40:28.36\00:40:30.89
And he said, Elder
Andrews, there was a hoe there
00:40:31.07\00:40:34.52
on the fence,
and he picked it up,
00:40:34.55\00:40:36.83
and he started trying to hoe.
00:40:36.86\00:40:38.57
Now Eugene, years later, who
respected Elder Andrews greatly,
00:40:38.67\00:40:42.27
but he said, "It was
obvious the man didn't know
00:40:42.30\00:40:44.28
anything about hoeing corn."
00:40:44.31\00:40:45.80
He said, "I don't think
he probably ever hoed corn
00:40:45.83\00:40:47.72
before in his life."
00:40:47.75\00:40:48.94
I mean, he's a
scholar. He's not a farmer.
00:40:48.97\00:40:51.17
Anyway, he said
he was out there.
00:40:51.27\00:40:53.22
And finally he comes
down the row and he gets to
00:40:53.25\00:40:56.19
where Eugene is.
00:40:56.22\00:40:57.46
And he says, "Eugene, what's
the purpose in your life?"
00:40:57.49\00:41:01.78
Well Eugene would recall,
"I like that frank way of
00:41:02.32\00:41:04.67
just asking right straight out."
00:41:04.70\00:41:06.26
He said, "Well, Elder Andrews,
I'm going to be a lawyer."
00:41:06.29\00:41:09.85
"Well," Andrews responded, "you
could do a great deal worse."
00:41:10.49\00:41:13.51
Now he said, "You
know, he didn't condemn me
00:41:14.86\00:41:16.59
for being a lawyer,
but he just commented that,
00:41:16.62\00:41:19.85
"You could do..."
00:41:19.88\00:41:20.99
And he said, "Well,
then what are you going to do
00:41:21.02\00:41:23.93
before you become a lawyer?"
00:41:24.03\00:41:25.74
And Eugene said, "Well,
I'm going to go to school
00:41:26.89\00:41:29.94
and get an education."
00:41:30.59\00:41:32.35
And Elder Andrews said,
"And what will you do then?"
00:41:32.90\00:41:35.75
"Well, I'm going
to study the law."
00:41:35.78\00:41:37.53
"Well yes, yes,
yes, and what next,"
00:41:37.89\00:41:39.60
Elder Andrews wanted to know.
00:41:39.63\00:41:41.08
"Well, I'll practice."
00:41:41.11\00:41:43.23
"And then what next?"
00:41:43.79\00:41:45.23
"Well," Eugene responded,
"I hope to earn some money
00:41:45.56\00:41:48.54
and get a competency, and
get a home, and have a family."
00:41:48.57\00:41:52.12
"Yes, and what next,"
Elder Andrews wanted to know.
00:41:52.49\00:41:55.77
Eugene, as he told the
story many years later, said,
00:41:56.03\00:41:58.05
"I began to grow nervous.
00:41:58.08\00:41:59.52
I didn't like the
direction this thing was going."
00:41:59.75\00:42:01.52
Because he hadn't completely
given his heart to the Lord,
00:42:01.55\00:42:03.35
and he didn't really like
where Elder Andrews was headed
00:42:03.38\00:42:05.49
with this conversation.
00:42:05.52\00:42:06.78
He said, "Well, I suppose I'll
grow old like everybody else."
00:42:07.30\00:42:11.81
Well you know the next
question of Elder Andrews.
00:42:12.77\00:42:14.38
"Well then, what next?"
00:42:14.41\00:42:15.86
And Eugene said,
"Well, I suppose I'll die."
00:42:16.26\00:42:19.66
And of course the
final question is,
00:42:20.70\00:42:22.55
"And what next?"
00:42:22.89\00:42:24.24
And Elder Eugene said, "I
tell you, that great good man
00:42:25.62\00:42:29.00
had driven me to
the end of my chain.
00:42:29.03\00:42:31.31
Those words stuck in my memory.
00:42:31.72\00:42:34.27
Then with his great blue eyes
looking straight through me,
00:42:34.74\00:42:37.75
he said, 'My boy, you take
hold of something that will
00:42:37.78\00:42:41.27
help you to span the chasm,
something that will land your
00:42:41.30\00:42:44.56
feet safely on the other
side where you will be safe
00:42:44.59\00:42:47.94
for eternity.'"
00:42:48.23\00:42:49.61
That's the kind of interaction
that these, frank interaction,
00:42:51.05\00:42:54.63
but they move
these young people.
00:42:54.66\00:42:55.95
Eugene Farnsworth would
later become a minister,
00:42:55.98\00:42:58.95
conference
administrator, and evangelist.
00:42:58.98\00:43:01.34
He lived, I think,
until about 1935 or so.
00:43:01.63\00:43:04.49
But much of it could
be attributed to Eugene's
00:43:06.19\00:43:11.33
conversation with J.N. Andrews.
00:43:11.36\00:43:14.44
But now a couple of humorous
things just to let you know
00:43:14.74\00:43:16.79
these people were real
people back in those days.
00:43:16.82\00:43:19.04
William Farnsworth, the
guy that we've talked about
00:43:19.88\00:43:22.18
who had the twenty-two children,
who stood up and announced,
00:43:22.21\00:43:24.23
"From henceforth, my
family and I, we're all
00:43:24.43\00:43:26.46
going to be Sabbath keepers."
00:43:26.49\00:43:27.83
Well, one night he
went to this same Eugene.
00:43:28.01\00:43:30.52
He woke him up in
the middle of the night.
00:43:30.77\00:43:32.62
And Eugene was sleepy eyed.
00:43:32.65\00:43:34.00
He didn't even
want to get awake,
00:43:34.03\00:43:35.07
he didn't want
to get out of bed.
00:43:35.10\00:43:36.62
And William Farnsworth
is all excited, and said,
00:43:36.88\00:43:39.72
"Get up, get up, get
dressed. Hitch up the horse.
00:43:39.75\00:43:42.00
You've got to go to Marlow.
00:43:42.10\00:43:43.52
Mother's about to have a baby."
00:43:43.68\00:43:45.63
Well, that's the last
thing Eugene wanted to do,
00:43:46.49\00:43:48.73
was to get up, number one.
00:43:48.83\00:43:50.19
And number two, to go to
Marlow to get the doctor.
00:43:50.29\00:43:54.13
And William Farnsworth wondered,
00:43:54.78\00:43:55.92
"Why is it that you
don't want to get up?
00:43:55.95\00:43:57.46
You know,
mother, she's in labor.
00:43:57.49\00:43:59.49
She needs the doctor."
00:43:59.52\00:44:00.80
And so he asked his son,
"Why don't you want to get up?
00:44:01.21\00:44:04.41
You know this is the situation."
00:44:04.44\00:44:05.69
Well Eugene
responded, "There are already
00:44:05.87\00:44:08.58
too many children in our family.
00:44:08.61\00:44:09.69
We don't need another one.
00:44:09.72\00:44:10.75
So I don't want to get
up and go get the doctor."
00:44:10.78\00:44:12.58
Well, William quoted Scripture
to his son telling him that,
00:44:13.25\00:44:16.98
you know, the Good Book tells
us to increase and multiply
00:44:17.29\00:44:20.30
and replenish the earth.
00:44:20.33\00:44:21.61
By this time Eugene
was fully awake, because he
00:44:21.83\00:44:24.50
responded to his dad,
"Yes, but He didn't tell you
00:44:24.53\00:44:27.95
to do it all."
00:44:27.98\00:44:29.05
And when you look at
those old pictures that seem
00:44:31.40\00:44:33.58
so glum, you know, and
the old albums and all,
00:44:33.61\00:44:37.17
remember they had a
good sense of humor.
00:44:37.20\00:44:39.89
Another story from
that period of time.
00:44:39.99\00:44:42.24
Cyrus Farnsworth, the
younger brother of William,
00:44:42.51\00:44:45.17
he was for many
years the head elder of the
00:44:45.27\00:44:47.42
Washington, New
Hampshire church.
00:44:47.45\00:44:48.83
And there was a fellow
by the name of Wooster Ball.
00:44:48.93\00:44:52.03
Now Wooster Ball apparently
was quite a character.
00:44:52.10\00:44:55.05
He was in the
church, out of the church,
00:44:55.56\00:44:57.13
following this, doing
that, doing the other thing.
00:44:57.16\00:44:59.35
Anyway, on one
occasion Wooster was testifying.
00:44:59.38\00:45:03.63
They use to, because
they didn't have a pastor,
00:45:03.66\00:45:05.28
why, they use to have
long testimony meetings.
00:45:05.31\00:45:07.42
People would get up and
testify about whatever was
00:45:07.45\00:45:10.03
going on in their life.
00:45:10.06\00:45:11.29
And Wooster
apparently enjoyed testifying.
00:45:11.32\00:45:13.25
And so he's testifying
and testifying and testifying.
00:45:13.28\00:45:16.10
And finally Cyrus had enough.
00:45:16.20\00:45:18.49
And he said, "Wooster,
you've testified long enough.
00:45:18.84\00:45:23.31
Let someone else
give their testimony."
00:45:23.50\00:45:25.44
But Wooster went
right on testifying.
00:45:25.75\00:45:28.07
Cyrus let him continue a
bit longer, when he said,
00:45:28.33\00:45:30.79
"Now Wooster, I said sit down."
00:45:30.82\00:45:33.49
Well, Wooster hesitated
a little bit, but he went
00:45:33.96\00:45:36.24
right on testifying.
00:45:36.27\00:45:37.87
So Cyrus went around, put his
hands on Wooster's shoulders,
00:45:37.97\00:45:42.82
and said, "I
told you, sit down."
00:45:42.85\00:45:45.38
And with that,
the testimony ended.
00:45:45.74\00:45:48.09
I mean, as I say,
these are real people.
00:45:49.49\00:45:51.67
Another time, talking
about Wooster Ball, another time
00:45:51.70\00:45:54.34
Wooster was
belaboring the feminine members
00:45:54.37\00:45:59.87
of that congregation for, quote,
"their immodesty in dress."
00:45:59.90\00:46:04.69
He thought the sisters
were not dressed properly.
00:46:05.37\00:46:08.81
And so after he had finished
going on with his testimony
00:46:09.00\00:46:13.79
to the ladies who were not
dressed according to his view
00:46:13.82\00:46:17.71
as being properly dressed,
another fellow by the name of
00:46:17.74\00:46:21.47
Hosea Dodge, Hosea
Dodge looked over at Wooster
00:46:21.50\00:46:25.12
and he said, "Wooster, have
you never read where it says,
00:46:25.15\00:46:29.13
'Thou shall not rebuke
the daughter of my people?'"
00:46:29.16\00:46:31.79
Well the next Sabbath
Wooster came back to the church,
00:46:33.47\00:46:36.71
and he said to brother
Dodge, "During this last week
00:46:36.74\00:46:40.02
I have gone through my
Bible from cover to cover
00:46:40.05\00:46:43.83
trying to find that
text about not rebuking
00:46:43.86\00:46:46.68
'the daughter of my people.'
00:46:46.71\00:46:48.19
I can't find it."
00:46:48.40\00:46:49.77
And Hosea got a
twinkle in his eye and he said,
00:46:50.55\00:46:53.08
"Wooster, I never
said it was in the Bible.
00:46:53.51\00:46:55.73
I just asked if
you had read it?"
00:46:55.76\00:46:57.33
As I say, these people, when
you look at those old pictures
00:46:58.13\00:47:00.68
and they look so glum,
well you have to realize
00:47:00.91\00:47:03.50
some of them had a good sense
of humor, like Hosea Dodge.
00:47:03.53\00:47:07.27
Wooster also
had another problem.
00:47:07.40\00:47:09.19
We opened a school,
South Lancaster Academy.
00:47:09.94\00:47:12.96
Later it was
Atlantic Union College.
00:47:12.99\00:47:14.65
But they opened
this school down in
00:47:15.01\00:47:18.10
South Lancaster, Massachusetts.
00:47:18.13\00:47:19.82
And some of the
members of the congregation
00:47:19.92\00:47:22.11
sent their young people
to attend the new school.
00:47:22.31\00:47:26.69
And would you know, there
was liberalism in that school
00:47:27.53\00:47:31.46
that Wooster
just could not stand.
00:47:31.49\00:47:33.84
He had to talk about it,
how liberal this school was,
00:47:34.10\00:47:38.12
"And we're sending our
young people down there
00:47:38.15\00:47:40.91
and they're being
infected with this liberalism."
00:47:41.19\00:47:44.57
Well, what was it that
had Wooster all worked up?
00:47:45.18\00:47:48.20
What was the liberal
thing that these young people
00:47:48.23\00:47:51.07
were learning at
South Lancaster Academy?
00:47:51.10\00:47:53.65
You may laugh when you hear.
00:47:54.29\00:47:55.85
They were teaching
them to eat with a fork.
00:47:56.14\00:47:59.97
Now everybody knows you do
not eat your meals with a fork.
00:48:00.88\00:48:04.66
Wooster knew that.
00:48:04.84\00:48:05.87
And that was this
liberalism coming in.
00:48:05.90\00:48:08.13
Everybody knows
you eat with a knife.
00:48:08.16\00:48:10.52
You do not eat with a fork.
00:48:10.55\00:48:12.14
And he could not stand
this liberalism that was
00:48:12.41\00:48:15.53
creeping into the church.
00:48:15.56\00:48:17.92
Well, they were
interesting characters.
00:48:18.96\00:48:21.09
And there were a couple more.
00:48:21.12\00:48:22.37
I think I have enough
time still to share at least
00:48:22.40\00:48:25.65
one, maybe two more stories.
00:48:25.75\00:48:27.49
One has to do
with the revival...
00:48:28.51\00:48:31.80
Well no, I'm going to start with
this other one; Stephen Smith.
00:48:32.00\00:48:34.54
There was a fellow by
the name of Stephen Smith.
00:48:34.57\00:48:37.67
It was interesting, because he
was one who joined the church,
00:48:39.96\00:48:45.80
got critical of the church,
complained about the church,
00:48:46.00\00:48:49.79
got disfellowshipped
from the church, came back.
00:48:49.99\00:48:53.30
I think he has the distinction
of being the first person
00:48:53.33\00:48:56.00
disfellowshipped from a Sabbath
keeping Adventist church.
00:48:56.03\00:48:58.20
I don't know if
that's a distinction you
00:48:58.59\00:48:59.83
necessarily want
to have by your name,
00:48:59.87\00:49:01.32
but I think
Stephen Smith has that one.
00:49:01.35\00:49:03.17
Anyway, so he's
then back in the church.
00:49:03.84\00:49:06.79
And all the time he's becoming
more and more disgruntled
00:49:06.82\00:49:10.38
as time passes by.
00:49:10.41\00:49:12.29
Well finally, it became
so bad that the church had to
00:49:13.18\00:49:18.12
part company with Stephen Smith.
00:49:18.15\00:49:20.98
And you know, just
because sometimes things become
00:49:21.91\00:49:24.83
so untenable that
the church has to say,
00:49:24.86\00:49:29.15
"Sorry, it's not working,"
God doesn't give up on us
00:49:29.35\00:49:32.37
just because the church
may have to finally say,
00:49:32.40\00:49:34.85
"Look, it's just not
working. We need to separate.
00:49:34.88\00:49:37.72
And you go your way, and
we'll stay here by ourselves."
00:49:37.75\00:49:41.38
So God gave a
vision to Ellen White.
00:49:41.65\00:49:44.51
And in this vision she was given
a message for Stephen Smith.
00:49:45.16\00:49:48.96
And she wrote it
out and sent it to him.
00:49:50.18\00:49:55.17
And when he went to the post
office to call for his mail,
00:49:55.83\00:49:58.96
and he realized that he
had this letter, this envelope,
00:49:59.51\00:50:02.79
from Ellen White,
it made him furious.
00:50:02.89\00:50:07.12
"What in the world does
this old woman know for me,"
00:50:08.01\00:50:10.68
he thought to himself.
00:50:10.71\00:50:12.10
Now he couldn't
quite bring himself
00:50:12.53\00:50:15.02
to throw the letter away.
00:50:15.05\00:50:16.75
He did not open it.
00:50:16.78\00:50:18.02
So he did not read it.
00:50:18.52\00:50:19.96
But the old story tells
us that what he did was,
00:50:20.79\00:50:23.92
he took the
letter, took it home,
00:50:23.95\00:50:26.91
looked around at some place
where he could stick that letter
00:50:27.01\00:50:30.25
out of sight and out of
mind, saw a trunk where his wife
00:50:30.28\00:50:34.48
kept their winter blankets
and coats, and things like that.
00:50:34.51\00:50:38.27
Today we'd call
it an antique trunk.
00:50:38.53\00:50:40.73
Back then it was just a trunk.
00:50:41.07\00:50:42.43
Anyway, so he sees this
trunk and he reaches down
00:50:42.46\00:50:46.88
into the trunk, pulls up
the stuff, moves things around
00:50:46.91\00:50:50.47
a little bit, slams
the letter in there in the
00:50:50.50\00:50:52.93
bottom of the trunk, and then
puts the lid down, locks it,
00:50:52.96\00:50:55.96
and that's the
end of that letter.
00:50:56.06\00:50:58.02
And for year after
year that letter remained
00:50:58.45\00:51:02.36
in the bottom of
the trunk, unread.
00:51:02.39\00:51:05.72
Stephen Smith is more
and more cantankerous.
00:51:06.92\00:51:09.76
People that knew him
that wrote about him later
00:51:10.25\00:51:12.41
said he had the most
biting, cantankerous tongue
00:51:12.44\00:51:15.92
of any person you
can possibly imagine.
00:51:16.17\00:51:18.63
From the accounts that
I've read about the man,
00:51:18.93\00:51:20.80
I think he's the type
person that if you were in town
00:51:20.83\00:51:23.59
and you saw him coming down
the sidewalk your direction,
00:51:23.62\00:51:27.06
you'd walk across the street
and go down the other side
00:51:27.16\00:51:30.35
so you didn't
have to listen to him
00:51:30.38\00:51:32.21
when he would yell
at you, or whatever.
00:51:32.24\00:51:34.60
People use to think about
his poor wife, Matilda Smith.
00:51:34.78\00:51:38.39
"This poor dear woman.
00:51:38.42\00:51:39.79
She is such a sincere person.
00:51:39.89\00:51:42.69
And look, she's married
to this hateful, cantankerous
00:51:42.72\00:51:46.64
difficult man.
00:51:46.84\00:51:48.21
And the children,
the Smith children.
00:51:48.24\00:51:50.28
Can you imagine,"
people said, "them growing up
00:51:50.31\00:51:53.93
in that kind of
environment with this man."
00:51:54.14\00:51:56.74
But there he was,
he had been a member
00:51:56.77\00:51:59.20
of the Washington church.
00:51:59.23\00:52:00.94
Well, the Smiths moved to about
12 miles away to a little place
00:52:01.18\00:52:04.41
called Unity.
00:52:04.44\00:52:06.19
And over the next several years
his wife Matilda, Matilda Smith,
00:52:06.22\00:52:11.38
she kept subscribing to
the church paper, The Review.
00:52:11.41\00:52:14.31
Now how she got the
money or why he let her do it
00:52:14.85\00:52:17.89
when he was
supporting everything that was
00:52:17.92\00:52:19.62
against the
church, I have no idea.
00:52:19.65\00:52:21.56
But the old story
is that she continued
00:52:21.59\00:52:25.00
subscribing to, The Review.
00:52:25.03\00:52:26.54
Along about 1884, so 27
or so years after this letter
00:52:27.45\00:52:33.17
was sent by Ellen
White to Stephen Smith,
00:52:33.20\00:52:35.61
about 1884,
sometime in and around there,
00:52:36.56\00:52:39.35
Stephen Smith picks
up a copy of, The Review,
00:52:40.68\00:52:43.94
that his wife subscribed to.
00:52:43.97\00:52:45.13
Back in those days the
lead article, the open article,
00:52:45.16\00:52:48.22
in almost every issue was
an article by Ellen White.
00:52:48.25\00:52:51.92
And he read it.
00:52:52.21\00:52:53.24
And he thought to himself,
"Well that's not so bad."
00:52:54.01\00:52:55.82
Of course he didn't want his
wife to know, so he put it back.
00:52:56.34\00:52:58.80
And the next
week another article.
00:52:58.83\00:53:00.48
Another issue I
should say, another article.
00:53:00.51\00:53:02.25
And, "Well that's not so bad."
00:53:02.28\00:53:03.62
And he puts it back.
00:53:03.65\00:53:04.68
Doesn't want his wife to know.
00:53:05.24\00:53:06.32
But people noticed
that as the time passed
00:53:06.35\00:53:09.72
he didn't lose his
temper quite so often.
00:53:10.27\00:53:12.22
He wasn't flying off
the handle all the time.
00:53:12.85\00:53:15.09
And nobody could quite
figure out what was going on.
00:53:15.23\00:53:18.77
Nobody knew that as
he read, the Holy Spirit
00:53:19.32\00:53:22.44
was working on his life.
00:53:22.47\00:53:23.98
Well in the summer of
1885 Eugene Farnsworth,
00:53:24.48\00:53:27.99
now an ordained minister,
came home to spend some time
00:53:28.02\00:53:32.61
to visit his
father and his stepmother.
00:53:32.64\00:53:36.72
And it was announced
that Eugene was going to
00:53:37.17\00:53:39.18
be there for two weeks.
00:53:39.21\00:53:40.38
So there'd be three Sabbaths,
but the two weeks in between.
00:53:40.48\00:53:43.31
And it was announced that
Eugene was going to preach.
00:53:43.59\00:53:46.09
And some way over
in Unity 12 miles away,
00:53:46.30\00:53:49.29
Stephen Smith heard about it.
00:53:49.39\00:53:50.97
And he announced
to his wife, Matilda,
00:53:51.10\00:53:53.25
"I think I want to go
listen to Eugene next Sabbath."
00:53:53.52\00:53:58.32
Well of course his
wife was absolutely,
00:53:58.68\00:54:01.80
I mean, she was
just flabbergasted.
00:54:02.34\00:54:04.09
He hadn't been
to church for years.
00:54:04.12\00:54:05.80
But one thing she knew
about Stephen Smith was,
00:54:06.00\00:54:08.17
don't argue with the man.
00:54:08.20\00:54:09.55
If he's made up his mind,
that's what we're going to do.
00:54:09.58\00:54:11.93
And of course she
wanted to go to church.
00:54:11.96\00:54:13.10
That was fine with her.
00:54:13.13\00:54:14.20
So the next Sabbath,
there they are in church.
00:54:14.23\00:54:18.13
Now Eugene, who wrote
a letter to Ellen White
00:54:18.56\00:54:21.74
just a short time afterwards,
and he told this whole story.
00:54:21.77\00:54:24.45
So we have very contemporary
evidence for what happened.
00:54:24.48\00:54:27.58
Eugene did not know that Stephen
Smith was going to be there
00:54:27.92\00:54:32.07
when he planned his
topic for that Sabbath.
00:54:32.10\00:54:34.46
And what he had
chosen to talk about was,
00:54:35.22\00:54:37.67
"The Seventh-day
Adventist Church;
00:54:37.88\00:54:40.05
A Movement of Prophecy."
00:54:40.08\00:54:42.51
Now if anything is going
to set off Stephen Smith,
00:54:43.02\00:54:45.22
it would be a topic like that.
00:54:45.25\00:54:46.88
And at the end of the sermon,
old brother Smith stood up.
00:54:47.96\00:54:51.81
Eugene told Mrs. White in
the letter that he wrote to her,
00:54:52.14\00:54:54.45
as I say, just a few days
later, he said, "I didn't know
00:54:54.48\00:54:57.00
whether to let him speak.
00:54:57.03\00:54:58.25
I thought for sure
he was going to blast
00:54:58.51\00:55:00.39
me for what I had said."
00:55:00.42\00:55:01.99
But old brother
Smith said something like,
00:55:02.29\00:55:04.50
"Don't be
afraid of me, brethren.
00:55:04.53\00:55:06.09
I didn't come here to criticize.
00:55:06.51\00:55:08.36
I've quit that
kind of business."
00:55:08.39\00:55:10.31
And then he told how through
the years he'd followed this
00:55:10.34\00:55:13.03
movement and that movement,
00:55:13.06\00:55:14.48
and sent money here
and sent money there.
00:55:14.51\00:55:17.09
None of them still exist.
00:55:17.28\00:55:18.53
And finally he said, over
the last year or two he had been
00:55:18.56\00:55:21.56
kind of comparing things.
00:55:21.59\00:55:23.02
And he realized that none of
these other movements existed.
00:55:23.46\00:55:27.51
All that was
left was the church.
00:55:27.87\00:55:30.28
"Facts," he said,
"are stubborn things.
00:55:31.02\00:55:33.05
But that's the fact.
00:55:33.42\00:55:34.75
All that's left is the church.
00:55:34.78\00:55:36.42
I want to be
reunited with this church."
00:55:36.45\00:55:38.43
Well to make a long story
short, the next Thursday...
00:55:38.46\00:55:41.75
I mean, everybody of course was
thrilled at his announcement.
00:55:41.85\00:55:44.81
But the next Thursday, Stephen
Smith remembers that letter
00:55:44.84\00:55:48.60
that he had
received 27 years before.
00:55:48.86\00:55:51.26
And so you can picture
him going and wondering
00:55:51.36\00:55:53.17
what he did with it, and
finally he remembers that trunk.
00:55:53.20\00:55:55.05
And probably thought to himself,
"Has my wife cleaned it out?"
00:55:55.08\00:55:57.35
And you can picture him
patting around down there
00:55:57.45\00:55:59.53
trying to find it, and
finally he gets the letter,
00:55:59.56\00:56:01.08
now yellow with age.
00:56:01.11\00:56:02.25
He opens it up, and here was the
message that God had sent him
00:56:02.28\00:56:06.27
27 or 28 years before.
00:56:06.52\00:56:09.04
The next Sabbath he's in church.
00:56:09.14\00:56:10.74
Eugene knows nothing about
this until after the sermon.
00:56:11.25\00:56:14.56
The sermon that Sabbath
was on the spirit of prophecy
00:56:14.59\00:56:17.37
and the remnant church.
00:56:17.40\00:56:18.60
Again, something that would
have set Stephen Smith off.
00:56:18.63\00:56:21.00
But now as soon as
the sermon is over,
00:56:21.11\00:56:22.47
the old man is on his feet.
00:56:22.50\00:56:23.98
And he's wanting
to say something.
00:56:24.15\00:56:25.66
And he's telling them, "I
got a message from Ellen White
00:56:25.69\00:56:28.73
myself about 28 years ago, but I
didn't read it until Thursday."
00:56:28.76\00:56:34.07
Then he went on to
tell how she had shown him,
00:56:34.41\00:56:36.80
had been shown that he
should settle into the truth,
00:56:37.04\00:56:40.26
know what he believed.
00:56:40.42\00:56:41.45
Don't chase after
every wind of doctrine.
00:56:41.48\00:56:43.81
He said, "I've come to
the place where I realize
00:56:44.64\00:56:46.72
that everything in
that letter was true.
00:56:46.92\00:56:49.37
Everything she was
shown about me was true.
00:56:49.40\00:56:51.94
And how different it
would have been if I had just
00:56:51.97\00:56:55.17
read and heeded."
00:56:55.20\00:56:57.05
He said, "Facts
are stubborn things.
00:56:57.87\00:57:01.42
But those messages from Ellen
White always lead you to God,
00:57:01.45\00:57:05.33
never away from God."
00:57:05.54\00:57:07.06
He said, "I'm too old to
get out to tell people my story
00:57:07.95\00:57:11.66
and what God did for me."
00:57:11.69\00:57:13.35
But he said, "I want
you to tell my story."
00:57:13.68\00:57:14.95
That's why I'm using his
name this evening as we close.
00:57:14.98\00:57:17.55
He said, "And
when you tell my story,
00:57:17.93\00:57:20.05
make certain that
you also add this..."
00:57:20.15\00:57:22.92
And so we'll
close with what he said.
00:57:22.95\00:57:24.94
"Make certain you tell them,
00:57:25.02\00:57:26.30
'Another rebel
has surrendered.'"
00:57:26.33\00:57:29.86
Praise the Lord,
00:57:30.42\00:57:31.65
praise the Lord,
00:57:32.07\00:57:33.28
for that man
there at Washington.
00:57:33.48\00:57:35.28