Participants: Pr. Stephen Bohr
Series Code: CUTJ
Program Code: CUTJ000004
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00:35 Shall we bow our heads for prayer?
00:37 Our Father and our God, what a joy it is 00:40 to be in Your presence. 00:41 Father, what a privilege it is in a country where we have 00:46 freedom, to come and worship according to the dictates 00:50 of our own consciences. 00:51 Father, we know that these privileges are 00:55 going to disappear soon. 00:57 I ask, therefore, that you will help us to take advantage of 01:01 every opportunity in these times of prosperity. 01:03 I ask, Father, that as we open Your Holy Word this morning 01:07 that Your Spirit will be with us to guide us. 01:09 Help us to understand the importance of 01:12 what happened in 1844. 01:14 We thank You, Father, for hearing and answering our 01:17 prayer, for we ask it in the precious name of Your 01:20 beloved Son Jesus, Amen. 01:25 Well, it's been awhile since I've had the opportunity 01:28 of sharing with you. 01:29 It's been several weeks. 01:31 This is Part 4 in a series which is called, 01:35 Catching Up to Jesus. 01:38 And basically we've noticed that there's a pattern in each 01:42 one of these studies. 01:44 We've noticed that as Jesus moves through the sanctuary, 01:49 step by step, there are certain things that happen 01:53 invariably at every step. 01:56 We studied first of all how Jesus presented Himself in the 02:00 court as the perfect unblemished Lamb. 02:03 And how John the Baptist announced this Lamb of God, 02:09 who takes away the sin of the world. 02:11 Then we went on to talk about when Jesus presented Himself 02:16 at the altar to be sacrificed. 02:18 And we noticed that the triumphal entry announced 02:21 that Jesus was about to be crucified. 02:24 Then in our third study we followed Jesus from the court 02:28 into the holy place on the Day of Pentecost. 02:31 And we noticed that Peter, and others announced what Jesus 02:35 was undertaking on the Day of Pentecost. 02:38 We've noticed, as we've followed Jesus through each step through 02:43 the sanctuary, that there are certain common 02:45 denominators that take place. 02:47 First of all, there are specific prophecies that pointed to that 02:51 work which Jesus was going to perform; unmistakable prophecies 02:56 about the work that He was going to accomplish. 03:00 We noticed, also, that before the event takes place 03:04 there was great publicity to announce that something very 03:09 important was going to happen. 03:11 We noticed, however, that those who were proclaiming the message 03:14 really did not fully understand what they were proclaiming. 03:18 They were misunderstanding on many of the things 03:24 that they were preaching. 03:26 They did not comprehend them. 03:27 And, therefore, we've noticed that at each step they were 03:31 profoundly disappointed when what they had preached did not 03:36 transpire as they had expected, because of their 03:39 misunderstanding of prophecy. 03:41 We noticed, also, that at each stage the religious 03:45 establishment, the church of the day rejected the message 03:49 which was given by these individuals, 03:52 or by this individual, if it was one person. 03:55 We also noticed that after the disappointment, 03:58 once again the individuals involved in proclaiming 04:03 the message actually went back to Scripture, they studied the 04:07 prophecies that they had preached, and they understood 04:09 many things which they had not comprehended at first 04:13 when they proclaimed the message. 04:15 And we noticed that God, at the end, always had a small remnant 04:21 which followed Jesus into that stage of His work. 04:25 Another thing which we noticed is that God, at every stage, 04:30 used humble instruments to proclaim the message. 04:34 He never used the highly educated individuals. 04:38 With the case of when Jesus presents Himself as the Lamb, 04:42 as the unblemished Lamb, it was John the Baptist, who lived in 04:45 the desert, and he was homeschooled. 04:47 In the case when Jesus was going into Jerusalem in His triumphal 04:51 entry, it was the children that announced this was the king. 04:55 The least expected! 04:57 When Jesus entered the holy place at the Day of Pentecost 05:00 it was Peter, a fisherman; highly uneducated, 05:03 and yet very committed to the Lord. 05:05 Now, as I mentioned, we're going to study today about the 05:10 entrance of Jesus into the most holy place of the sanctuary. 05:15 You noticed that we're following a certain progression. 05:18 Jesus, first of all, presents Himself as the 05:21 perfect Lamb in the court. 05:22 Then He advances and He dies on the altar of sacrifice, 05:27 as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. 05:30 Then Jesus enters the holy place of the sanctuary 05:33 on the Day of Pentecost, which means that the next stage 05:37 in the ministry of Jesus we would expect to be His entrance 05:41 into the most holy place. 05:43 I want you to notice that at each stage 05:45 there's a door that opens. 05:46 When Jesus enters the court the door of the court opens. 05:51 When Jesus enters the holy place, the door of the holy 05:55 place opens, and the door to the court closes. 05:58 And we're going to notice that in 1844, when Jesus opens the 06:02 door to the most holy place, the door to the holy place closes. 06:07 Now the first thing that I want us to notice is the fact that 06:11 there were abundant prophecies, which pointed to the event 06:15 which was going to take place in 1844. 06:18 Allow me to share some of those prophecies with you. 06:21 The first of them is found in Daniel 7:9-14, Daniel 7:9-14. 06:30 By the way, the context of this is you've had in Daniel 7 06:34 a lion, which is Babylon; you've had a bear, Medo Persia; 06:38 you've had a leopard, Greece; you've had a terrible dragon 06:40 leopard, Greece; you've had a terrible dragon beast, 06:43 which is Rome; and then the dragon beast has sprouted ten 06:47 horns, those are the ten divisions of Rome; and then you 06:50 have the little horn coming up among the ten, 06:52 and it rules 1,260 years. 06:57 So this event is taking place after the 1,260 years. 07:04 Now notice what the passage says, Daniel 7:9-14. 07:41 And now I want to jump down to verse 13. Daniel says: 08:11 Now this event is clearly taking place after 1798, 08:15 because it's after the lion, the bear, the leopard, 08:19 the dragon beast, the ten horns, and the 1,260 year 08:22 dominion of the little horn. 08:24 In other words, this is taking place a short time 08:27 after the year 1798. 08:30 Now this passage speaks about the judgment, but it does not 08:33 tell us when that judgment begins. 08:36 There was a prophecy, which in the Bible clearly pointed to 08:40 the date of the beginning of the judgment, 08:42 and that's Daniel 8:14, a very well known verse 08:49 for Seventh-day Adventists. 08:50 In fact this verse is what makes Seventh-day Adventist's 08:53 what we are; it's the central verse of the 08:56 Seventh-day Adventist church. 08:57 And I believe probably most of us can recite 09:00 this verse from memory. 09:02 It says there: And he said to me... 09:04 This is the angel speaking to Daniel. 09:14 Now, we're not going to study the prophecy of the 2300 days. 09:18 I'm assuming that probably most of us have an 09:20 understanding of it. 09:22 This prophecy begins in the year 457 BC, with the going forth 09:26 of the word to restore and build Jerusalem. 09:29 And if you go 2300 years forward after that, 09:33 you come to the year 1844. 09:37 In other words, Daniel 8:14 gives the date for the beginning 09:41 of the judgment, whereas Daniel 7:9-14 describes 09:47 the judgment as it took place at that specific date. 09:53 Now there were other prophecies which pointed to this judgment; 09:56 for example, Daniel 12:4. 10:00 It speaks about a little book. 10:01 And this little book was supposed to be sealed 10:05 until the time of the end. 10:06 Let's read there, Daniel 12:4. It says: 10:15 By the way, this book is particularly the portion of 10:20 Daniel that has to do with the 2300 days. 10:23 This is at the conclusion of the book of Daniel, so it must 10:26 have to do with the book of Daniel. It says: 10:32 In other words, this book, the book of Daniel. 10:37 It wasn't going to be sealed forever. 10:39 At the time of the end something was going to happen. It says: 10:46 Be what? increased. 10:47 Knowledge of what? 10:49 It must be knowledge of the little book, because this verse 10:52 tells us that this little book of Daniel would be sealed 10:56 till the time of the end. 10:57 In other words, no one would be fully able to understand it 11:00 until the time of the end. 11:01 But at the time of the end the little book would be unsealed, 11:05 and knowledge of that little book would greatly what? 11:09 increase. We find another prophecy, which points to this 11:13 time when the book of Daniel would be opened, 11:15 especially Daniel 8:14. 11:18 Notice Revelation 10:1, 2. 11:21 It speaks about the moment when this little book is opened. 11:24 And, by the way, I need to give you some context. 11:27 Revelation 10:1, 2 is taking place after the blowing 11:33 of the 6th trumpet. 11:34 Now why is that important? 11:37 Simply because the trumpets describe church history, 11:40 from the days of the apostles, till the very end of time, 11:44 which means that if this is taking place at the moment of 11:47 the sixth trumpet, it must be very close to what? 11:51 It must be very close to the end of church history, 11:54 not at the beginning of church history. 11:57 Now notice Revelation 10:1, 2, where it speaks about the 12:01 opening up of the little book of Daniel 12, which was sealed. 12:05 It says there: 12:26 And so the prophecy of Revelation 10 is speaking about 12:30 a little book, which is what? opened in the time of the end, 12:34 because this is the period of the sixth trumpet, which is at 12:38 the end of church history. 12:40 Now there was another prophecy which pointed to 12:43 this moment in time. 12:45 It has to do with the sixth church of Revelation. 12:47 Do you know what the sixth church of Revelation is? 12:50 It's the church of Philadelphia. 12:52 Now most scholars agree that the churches also describe church 12:57 history from the days of the apostles till the end of time, 13:00 which means that if Philadelphia is the sixth church, it must be 13:04 referring to an event that takes place when? 13:07 at the very end of church history. 13:10 Now lets read Revelation 3:7-9, and I want you to notice that 13:15 there is an open door that is placed before this church. 13:19 It says there, in Revelation 3:7: 13:45 That is before the church of Philadelphia, the sixth church, 13:48 the church towards the end of time. 13:50 What has God placed before it? 13:54 A what? an open door. 13:56 It can't be the open door to the holy place, because that 13:58 was open at Pentecost. 13:59 It must be a door which comes after this. So it says: 14:14 Now one further prophecy that I want us to look at regarding 14:18 the opening of a door, and the opening of a little book 14:22 having to do with the judgment is Revelation 11:19. 14:27 And, interestingly enough, this is at the very end of the series 14:34 on the seven trumpets. 14:36 This is part of the interlude that started in Revelation 10. 14:40 Remember I mentioned that Revelation 10:1, 2, 14:43 is at the moment of the sixth trumpet. 14:46 Well, Revelation 11:19 is also part of the sixth and seventh 14:52 trumpet, which mean that we're dealing with events at the very 14:56 end of church history. 14:57 Notice Revelation 11:19 to see which was the door that was 15:02 opened at this moment. It says there: 15:09 Which means that it must have been what? closed. 15:14 And what was seen when the door was opened? 15:27 Question: Where was the ark of the covenant? 15:30 The ark of the covenant was in heaven, but in which apartment, 15:33 according to the sanctuary service? 15:35 It was in the most holy place. 15:37 And so at the very end of church history you have a door which 15:41 opens, which leads to the place where the 15:43 ark of the covenant is. 15:45 And you also have a little book, which is opened to explain 15:48 Daniel 8:14, The hour of His judgment is come, 15:52 or the sanctuary shall be what? the sanctuary shall be cleansed. 15:57 All of these prophecies pointed to the fact that Jesus, 16:01 towards the end of the church age, was going to enter the 16:05 most holy place, and the prophecies of Daniel, 16:08 Daniel 8:14, were going to be opened before the view of those 16:14 who were listening to the message. 16:16 Now the question is, after 1798 was there a great religious 16:23 movement that proclaimed these very prophecies? Absolutely! 16:28 Beginning around the year 1830, there appeared 16:33 in the United States, and many people don't realize that it 16:38 was also in other parts of the world, a movement which has 16:42 come to be known as the great second advent awakening. 16:46 Most people are acquainted with the Millerites, 16:49 with William Miller. 16:51 But this was actually not only, so called, Miller's preaching, 16:56 but it was an interdenominational, 16:58 international movement. 17:01 And the main message they got from Daniel 7, the passage that 17:06 we read, Daniel 8:14 was central: Unto 2300 days 17:12 and the sanctuary shall be cleansed. 17:13 And another central verse was Revelation 14:7 which says, 17:19 Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour 17:22 of His judgment has come. 17:25 So this movement grew like grass fire all across New England, 17:31 where primarily most of the people in the United States 17:34 lived at that time. 17:36 And they preached, The hour of His judgment is come. 17:38 Unto 2300 days the sanctuary is going to be cleansed. 17:43 But they were mistaken about what they were preaching. 17:47 You say, Well, then they couldn't have been of God. 17:52 Well, then John the Baptist couldn't have been of God 17:54 either, because he didn't understand 17:56 what he was preaching. 17:57 The people who proclaimed the triumphal entry; 18:01 they were wrong, too. 18:02 Peter and the disciples thought that Jesus was going to 18:07 re-establish the kingdom. 18:09 It says in Acts 1, Are you going to restore the 18:11 kingdom to Israel now? 18:12 They misunderstood, and yet they were used of God to proclaim 18:17 the message, even though they did not fully 18:19 understand the message. 18:20 You see, William Miller and his followers believed that what was 18:24 going to happen in 1844, the cleansing of the sanctuary, 18:27 was the cleansing of the earth, because they understood that the 18:29 sanctuary was the earth, and the cleansing was the fire that was 18:33 going to descend from God to purify the world. 18:36 That's what they believed. 18:38 And they believed that that was going to happen, first of all, 18:41 in the spring of 1843. 18:45 And then they revised it and they said, No, it's going to 18:48 happen in the fall of 1844. 18:51 October 22, 1844 they said, Jesus is going to come, 18:55 He is going to cleanse this world full of sin, 18:58 and He's going to establish His everlasting 19:02 kingdom on planet Earth. 19:03 They preached the message. 19:06 They did it with power. 19:07 But they were mistaken about the event which was 19:11 going to take place. 19:12 They did not fully understand what they were preaching. 19:14 Allow me to read you a statement from Ellen White. 19:17 This is found in Early Writings, page 42, where she speaks about 19:21 the open and the shut door. I quote: 19:44 Unfortunately, the Millerites did not understand this. 19:48 They understood that Jesus was going to cleanse the earth, 19:52 because the earth was the sanctuary, and that Jesus was 19:56 going to set up His everlasting kingdom on planet Earth. 19:59 Interestingly enough, if you look at whom God chose to preach 20:04 this message, was not the super intelligent or those who have 20:09 been highly trained in the schools. 20:10 God chose a simple farmer by the name of William Miller. 20:14 You say, How in the world could God use a simple farmer? 20:17 I mean, Why did He bypass all of the people who were educated? 20:23 Perhaps it was for the very reason that He bypasses many 20:26 of those people today. 20:27 It's because they know so much that they're not teachable. 20:30 They will not allow God to instruct them. 20:32 Now allow me to read you some thing about William Miller. 20:35 You know, some people say, Oh, William Miller, you know, 20:38 He didn't know what he was saying. 20:39 He was superficial. 20:40 Allow me to read you, from William Miller himself, 20:43 the fear that he had in preaching this message. He says: 20:58 That is that Jesus was going to come in 1844... 21:18 Once they started preaching this message that the sanctuary was 21:22 going to be cleansed in 1844, it grew like grass fire. 21:26 Allow me to read you this statement from Ellen White, 21:28 who participated in this movement. 21:30 And I'm going to read several statements from her, 21:32 and from the pioneers, because they were there: 21:34 been there, done that. 21:36 In other words, they know what they're talking about, 21:38 because they experienced it. 21:40 Ellen White had this to say about the publicity of this 21:44 great event, which they understood was 21:46 going to take place. 22:09 And then Ellen White says: 22:15 By the way, this was all orchestrated by God. 22:19 It was all planned by God. 22:22 Prophecy contemplated that this movement needed to arise to 22:26 proclaim this message. 22:27 And somebody says, How in the world could God tell them to 22:31 proclaim a message when He knew that they 22:34 were going to be wrong? 22:35 Well, why did Jesus stage the triumphal entry? 22:39 He's the One who told the disciples to go get the donkey 22:43 that He was going to ride on. 22:44 He was the One who allowed the people to proclaim Him king; 22:48 Hosanna the King, the Son of David. 22:51 Did Jesus know that they were going to be 22:53 severely disappointed? Of course He did. 22:55 So how could this movement be of God? 22:57 How could Jesus orchestrate this event if He knew that it 23:00 was going to lead to a disappointment? 23:02 He did the same thing in 1844. 23:05 He says, These people, they don't understand fully, 23:07 but I'm going to go ahead. 23:09 I'm going to publicize it, because afterwards they'll 23:12 study, and they'll come to comprehend 23:14 what truly took place. 23:16 So actually we might say that God Himself orchestrated this 23:21 disappointment by telling them to proclaim a message, 23:24 which God knew was not going to be fulfilled as they expected. 23:28 In another statement that we find in Early Writings, 23:32 page 229, we find the tremendous publicity 23:36 in the growth of this movement. It says: 23:50 Now notice this: 23:54 See, she's going to compare this with what happened with John. 24:19 Even though we noticed that he misunderstood how the Messiah 24:22 was going to come. 24:30 I'd like to read a couple of other statements 24:33 from the Spirit of Prophecy. 24:34 Ellen White went through this experience. 24:36 She was only seventeen years old when she went 24:40 through this experience. 24:41 This is a statement that we find in The Great Controversy, 24:45 pages 400 and 401. She says: 24:50 By the way, that's a Tsunami. 25:50 Notice that. 26:12 In fact many of them sold all of their possessions to help other 26:15 people pay their debts. 26:17 Many of them took all of the money they had and they invested 26:20 it in printing presses to publish, Unto 2300 days, 26:25 and the sanctuary shall be cleansed. 26:28 Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of 26:30 His judgment is come. 26:32 In other words, they put their money, and their efforts, 26:35 and their talents, and their strength where their mouth was. 26:38 They really believed this. 26:39 This led Ellen White, in The Great Controversy, 26:42 page 401, to state: 27:04 Of course, she's writing this in the 1880's. She says: 27:27 There's no doubt whatsoever, as you take a look at what 27:30 happened in this movement, that it was guided by God. 27:33 It was choreographed by God. 27:35 It was inspired by the Spirit of God. 27:38 And yet, October 22, 1844 came, and of course, 27:45 Jesus didn't come, because we're still here today. 27:49 We're still at Fresno Central Church today, so obviously their 27:54 expectations were not met. 27:56 Allow me to read you a couple of statements: 27:59 one from William Miller, and the other one from Josiah Litch, 28:04 after the first disappointment, because they were disappointed 28:06 when Jesus did not come about the year 1843. 28:10 Notice what William Miller had to say. 28:20 But I just can't see where I'm wrong! 28:23 I know I've studied Scripture. 28:25 By the way, he studied for thirteen years, verse by verse, 28:30 with Cruden's Concordance, and he would not go beyond a verse 28:35 until he fully understood it. 28:36 Then he would go to the next verse. 28:38 Day and night, it was his passion to study the Bible. 28:42 This wasn't some lightweight Bible student. 28:45 This was a heavyweight Bible student. 28:47 So he says, I'm willing to confess that Christ did not 28:50 come in 1843, but I can't see where I'm wrong. 28:54 Josiah Litch, one of the leaders in this movement said, 28:58 Before concluding the book... 29:00 That is William Miller's book. 29:21 And so here they're proclaiming this message. 29:25 They're persuaded that it is of God. 29:27 They're absolutely certain. 29:29 And after the first disappointment they say, 29:31 We can't understand the reason why this was not fulfilled 29:35 according to our expectations. 29:37 We've studied it carefully. 29:39 Of course, we all know that the year 1844, October 22, 1844 29:46 passed, and these people were bitterly disappointed. 29:51 Do you know that in Revelation 10, after the opening of that 29:55 little book, towards the end of the sixth trumpet, 29:59 at the very end of the church age, we're told about that 30:03 disappointment which was going to happen? 30:05 Notice Revelation 10, Revelation 10:8-11, Revelation 10:8-11. 30:13 Remember this is happening towards the 30:15 end of the church age. 30:16 It is in the period of the sixth trumpet. 30:18 And the sixth trumpet is towards the end of church history. 30:23 Notice Revelation 10, verses 8-11. 30:41 What is this little book again, before we continue reading? 30:44 It's, well, it's Daniel, yes, but it's especially Daniel 8-12. 30:49 I don't have the time to get into that right now. 30:52 It's the portion of Daniel that has to do with the 30:55 2300 day prophecy, which could not be understood back then, 30:59 because it could only be understood at the moment 31:02 of its fulfillment. 31:03 So what you have here is that portion of the book of Daniel 31:06 having to do with the judgment, having to do 31:09 with the 2300 day prophecy. 31:11 And now notice verse 9. 31:20 What does that mean, eat it? 31:23 Do you go around eating books? 31:27 How do you eat books? 31:28 By assimilating the message, right? 31:31 So it says, once again. 31:54 This was the bittersweet experience of 1844. 31:59 What could be sweeter than believing that Jesus was 32:03 going to come in power and glory? 32:04 He was going to cleanse the earth, 32:06 and establish His kingdom on earth forever and ever. 32:09 What could be sweeter than the idea of the coming of Jesus? 32:12 And yet this experience, when they ate the book it was sweet 32:15 in the mouth, but it became a bitter 32:18 experience in the aftermath. 32:21 Perhaps the words of Hiram Edson, one of the lesser known 32:25 pioneers, will explain the deep disappointment that these 32:29 people went through. 32:31 And I read his very words. 33:11 Can you hear the excitement in his writing? 33:14 He continues saying: 33:25 You can imagine, dong, dong, dong. 33:30 Finally it hits midnight, and Jesus has not come! 33:37 Once again: Our expectations were raised high... 34:02 See, we can point the finger at them and say, 34:04 Oh, look at those people! 34:06 They were all deceived! 34:07 You know, but unless we had gone through that experience, 34:10 we can never understand what they went through. 34:13 They loved Jesus. They wanted to see the coming of Jesus. 34:16 And perhaps that colored their interpretation 34:19 of Bible prophecy. He continues saying: 35:19 Can you almost imagine what it must have been like for these 35:25 people to stand and expect the glorious coming of Jesus, 35:30 and to have their hopes blasted in this way? 35:35 Another lesser known pioneer was Washington Morse. 35:40 And I'd like to read his words. 35:41 The reason I'm reading so much is because these people can 35:44 describe it much better than I can, because they were there. 35:47 They experienced it. 35:49 This is what Washington Morse said. 35:57 Notice the word bitter; was a bitter disappointment. 36:04 Notice: True believers had given up all for Christ,... 37:06 Do we love the second coming of Jesus that much? 37:10 Do we weep like children because Jesus has not come? 37:16 Notice the words of William Miller after the disappointment. 37:20 He says: 37:52 Do you know what happened with the majority of those who had 37:56 belonged to this movement? 37:57 They forsook the movement, and they said that the movement was 38:02 not of God, because they had preached falsehood. 38:06 Jesus had not come, and their disappointment showed that this 38:10 was all a delusion. 38:12 Let me ask you, After the triumphal entry, 38:14 is that the same case? 38:16 Did most of the people forsake the movement of Jesus 38:19 after the triumphal entry? 38:21 They most certainly did. 38:22 And many of those who were crying out, Hosanna to the Son 38:28 of David, to the king of Israel, just a few days later were 38:32 crying out, Crucify him, crucify him. 38:35 So there's nothing new under the sun. 38:38 When people tell you as Adventists, Oh, your church 38:40 can't be the right church, because your church 38:43 started with a disappointment. 38:44 Well if that's the case, then none of these 38:48 movements were of God. 38:49 John the Baptist did not understand 38:51 what he was preaching. 38:53 He was disappointed. 38:54 The people who announced the triumphal entry did not fully 38:57 understand what they were preaching. 38:58 They were disappointed. 39:00 Before the Day of Pentecost the disciples were expecting Jesus 39:04 to establish His kingdom, and when He didn't and He left, 39:07 they were disappointed. 39:09 So what makes 1844 so unique? 39:12 The fact is that God was in all of these movements. 39:16 He knew that God's people had not caught up to Him yet. 39:19 So He says, I'll have them preach anyway, 39:21 because I'm going to do something important. 39:24 It's important for the world to know! 39:26 And so I'm going to let them go ahead, preach. 39:29 And then afterwards they'll come back and they'll catch up to Me. 39:33 Are you understanding what I'm saying? 39:35 You see, there's nothing new under the sun. 39:37 And by the way, listen to what I'm going to say. 39:40 Like at every other stage, the religious establishment, 39:44 the churches in 1844 rejected the message outright. 39:49 Just like the Jewish nation rejected the message of 39:52 John the Baptist, just like they rejected Jesus when He was going 39:57 to die on the cross after the triumphal entry, just like they 40:02 rejected the message of Peter on the Day of Pentecost. 40:05 The religious establishment actually threw Peter and John 40:08 in jail, and they beat them, and they forbade them to preach 40:12 this message in the name of Jesus. 40:14 Nothing new under the sun. 40:16 All of the Protestant churches in 1844 said this was a great 40:21 delusion; this was a falsehood. 40:23 And Seventh-day Adventists later became the laughing stock 40:27 of the religious world, because of this belief of what 40:31 took place in 1844. 40:34 In fact, Ellen White and her whole family were 40:37 disfellowshiped from the Methodist Church in 1842 40:41 for only attending a tent meeting where William Miller 40:46 was preaching his message. 40:48 Allow me to read you some statements from Ellen White 40:51 on her feelings of the aftermath of the 1844 disappointment, 40:56 and the reaction of the religious movements of the day. 40:59 She says in Early Writings, page 249: 41:06 That is the message that Jesus was going to come. 41:21 She also says: 41:43 Have you ever noticed that after the first angel's message says: 41:46 Fear God and give gory to Him, for the hour of His 41:49 judgment has come. 41:50 The rejection of that message leads to a second message, 41:53 Babylon is what? Babylon is fallen. 41:56 And listen folks, in the message to the church of Philadelphia 42:00 when the door is opened, and a small remnant enter through the 42:04 open door with Jesus, it says there that the religious 42:07 establishment becomes the synagogue of Satan, 42:11 which is another way of expressing that the religious 42:15 establishment became Babylon at that time. 42:18 Because they rejected the idea of entering with Jesus 42:23 through the open door into the most holy place, 42:25 and the correct understanding of what took 42:28 place October 22, 1844. 42:30 Ellen White says this about the reaction of the 42:34 churches of his day: 42:42 That is the three angels' messages. 42:55 And then she goes back. She says: 43:02 After the Day of Pentecost. 43:26 You see, the mind of the Christian world today is not 43:29 in the most holy place, and the work that Jesus 43:31 is performing there. 43:32 They believe that Jesus is still in the holy place; 43:35 that all He's doing is His intercessory ministry. 43:39 And according to this statement that I just read, 43:43 they offer their prayers, fully believing that Jesus 43:46 is hearing their prayers. 43:48 But they're sending the prayers to the apartment 43:49 where Jesus isn't. 43:50 Early Writings, page 234, Ellen White speaks about 43:55 the opposition, and the aftermath. She says: 44:38 Now let me ask you, What happened after 1844? 44:42 There was a small remnant that went back to the drawing board. 44:50 It was a very small remnant. 44:52 Let me ask you, Was it a small remnant that went back to the 44:55 drawing board on the Day of Pentecost? 44:59 There were a hundred and twenty gathered in the upper room. 45:02 Just a few! And as they re-studied prophecy during the 45:08 ten days before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, 45:10 those who had been sincere, and truly loved the Lord, 45:14 but had been disappointed, they decided that they would 45:16 study Scripture again. 45:18 And suddenly the text that they had used to describe the second 45:23 coming of Jesus in power and glory, they said those texts 45:26 were not saying that at all. 45:27 They began to understand the sanctuary service. 45:31 They began to understand the Hebrew feast. 45:34 They said, Before Jesus can come, the Day of Atonement needs 45:38 to take place, and that happens in the most holy place 45:41 of the heavenly sanctuary. 45:43 We were wrong about the event! 45:45 We were right about the timing, October 22, 1844, but we were 45:50 mistaken about the event which was going to take place. 45:53 In fact, the very next morning after the disappointment, 45:56 Hiram Edson, after he had cried all of the tears that he 46:03 had inside out, he and another individual walked across a field 46:09 to try and comfort some of the believers in another place. 46:13 Notice that they didn't just sit down and sob and say, 46:15 Oh, poor us! Jesus didn't come! 46:18 They said, Let's go comfort some other people, and then maybe 46:20 we'll be comforted, too. 46:23 And as he was crossing that field... 46:25 Some people say it was a corn field. 46:27 He simply says a field. 46:28 I want to read his words to you about what he saw. He says: 47:16 In other words, he said, I saw distinctly and clearly 47:19 that Jesus, instead of coming to the earth, 47:21 He went from the holy to the most holy place of the heavenly 47:26 sanctuary to perform a final work before His second coming. 47:31 By the way, many people say, Oh, this idea of the 47:34 investigative judgment in 1844, you know, 47:36 that was a creation of Ellen G. White. 47:38 If you don't have Ellen White you can't prove from the Bible 47:43 that the investigative judgment, or the judgment, 47:46 began October 22, 1844. I beg to differ. 47:52 A careful study of Scripture will reveal Scripture after 47:56 Scripture, after Scripture which shows that in 1844 Jesus entered 48:01 to perform a work of judgment in the heavenly sanctuary 48:04 before He comes in power and glory. 48:07 In actual fact, allow me to share with you that on 48:11 February 7, 1846 a very special article that every Seventh-day 48:17 Adventist should read was published in the Day Star Extra, 48:20 one of the publications that was made after the disappointment. 48:25 That's February 7, 1846. 48:27 Three individuals authored this article. 48:30 The names of them were Hiram Edson, whom I've already 48:35 mentioned, Franklin Hawn, and O. R. L. Crosier. 48:41 For those of you who are getting this presentation on DVD, 48:47 you'll see a nice little copy of that pamphlet 48:50 where that study is. 48:52 Do you know that before Ellen White ever got any vision 48:55 explaining any of this, these individuals wrote this article, 48:59 in-depth article, with all of the Biblical arguments. 49:04 They did not have the benefit of the Spirit of Prophecy. 49:06 With all of the Biblical arguments proving that Jesus 49:10 in 1844, began the process of investigative judgment in 49:15 the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary. 49:18 Every Adventist should read that article. 49:20 You'll be amazed at the Biblical foundation of it. 49:23 It has no visions from Ellen White. 49:26 It has no quotations from her writings. 49:28 In fact, you know, she did not actually share any of the 49:33 visions that she had about this before this article was written. 49:38 And then, of course, the pioneers who had belonged to 49:42 this movement decided that they would sit down and they would 49:46 study these passages from Scripture. 49:49 And I'd like to share with you a few of these texts 49:53 that they had misunderstood. 49:55 For example, I don't know if you've noticed the passage in 49:58 Daniel 7, after the lion, the bear, the leopard, the dragon 50:03 beast, the ten horns, the 1260 years of the little horn. 50:07 It says there that Daniel saw the Son of man coming upon 50:13 the clouds of heaven, but it doesn't say that He's 50:15 coming to the earth. 50:16 It says there clearly that He went to the Ancient of Days 50:21 to receive the kingdom. 50:22 Question: Where does the Ancient of Days live? 50:26 He lives in Heaven. 50:27 So wherever Jesus went, it wasn't to the Earth. 50:31 It was where? To a certain place in Heaven 50:34 where His Father was. 50:35 They said, How did we miss this? 50:37 Probably it was because they desired 50:40 the coming of Jesus so much. 50:41 They kind of tainted Scripture to fit their points of view. 50:45 But they saw that Jesus wasn't going to come to this earth, 50:48 but that Jesus was going to go to His Father, and then He was 50:52 going to receive the kingdom. 50:54 They began studying the prophecy of Leviticus 16; 50:58 the scapegoat ceremony. 51:01 They said, Now wait a minute, there had to be a 51:04 preliminary judgment. 51:05 The people had to be judged on the Day of Atonement, 51:07 on Yom Kippur, before the priest came out to 51:10 bless the congregation, so it must mean that there has to be 51:13 a judgment before the second coming. 51:14 Then they started studying Revelation 14:7. 51:18 They said, Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of 51:22 His judgment has come. 51:24 Now how could they have the judgment has come when we're 51:27 preaching it if it refers to the second coming of Jesus? 51:31 So the judgment begins as the Gospel is being proclaimed. 51:34 Because the Everlasting Gospel is preached and it says, 51:37 the hour of His judgment has come. 51:39 The judgment takes place before the second coming of Jesus. 51:41 How could we miss this? 51:44 And then they read Luke 12, if you want to go with me there. 51:49 Luke 12:35-37, Luke 12:35-37. 51:59 Here Jesus is speaking to His disciples, 52:01 and notice what He says. 52:04 It says there, Jesus speaking: Let your waist be girded, 52:09 and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait 52:16 for their master... 52:17 Now notice this:... who wait for their master, when he will what? 52:23 That's important!... when he will return from the wedding; 52:29 and when he comes and knocks, they may open 52:32 to him immediately. 52:34 You see, they had thought that the parables of Jesus about 52:37 the wedding represented the second coming of Jesus. 52:41 Jesus is going to come and He's going to marry His people. 52:44 Now that sounds pretty reasonable, except for the fact 52:48 that here it says, Jesus says to His disciples, You be like those 52:52 who are waiting for the master to what? 52:56 to return from the wedding. 52:58 In other words, where does Jesus marry His people? 53:01 He marries His people in Heaven by performing a work of 53:07 investigative judgment, and showing, revealing to the 53:10 universe who are His, and then when His are clearly revealed to 53:16 the Universe, then Jesus says, Now I'm married to them. 53:20 Now I'm going to come, and I'm going to pick up my bride. 53:24 Very clearly they saw here in Luke 12 that Jesus was not 53:28 coming to marry His people, Jesus was going to get married 53:32 to His people in the heavenly sanctuary, 53:34 and then He was going to come. 53:36 And then, interestingly enough, the Seventh-day Adventist church 53:42 started discovering all sorts of doctrines which are distinctive 53:45 to the Seventh-day Adventist church. 53:50 Do you know that shortly after 1844 suddenly they say, 53:54 Now wait a minute, the Christian world says that the law 53:55 was nailed to the cross. 53:57 But if Jesus went into the most holy place the ark is there, 54:00 and inside the ark were the ten commandments, 54:03 so the ten commandments must still be binding. 54:07 Now wait a minute! If the ten commandments are in the ark 54:10 of the covenant, and at the center of the ten commandments 54:13 was the Sabbath, that must mean that in the heavenly sanctuary 54:16 the ten commandments are there, the Sabbath is there, 54:18 so it must mean that if Jesus is in there before the ark of the 54:21 covenant, the Sabbath must still be binding. 54:26 And they began to say, Now wait a minute, if the judgment began 54:29 in 1844, and Christ is revealed to the Universe, 54:36 who accepted it and who didn't? 54:38 Well then people didn't go to heaven 54:41 or to hell when they died. 54:42 Why would He call a judgment to separate the righteous from 54:45 the unrighteous at a certain point in church history, 54:50 if they already went to heaven or to hell when they died? 54:54 So suddenly they discover the dead know not anything. 54:57 And then they studied the pot of manna. 55:00 God gave manna for several purposes. 55:02 One of the purposes was to teach His people health reform, 55:05 to teach them a simple diet, a healthy diet. 55:10 Israel, of course, they wanted the rich foods from Egypt. 55:13 And we know the story. 55:14 Somebody said, Now wait a minute, in the sanctuary there 55:17 was a pot of manna. 55:18 What does that teach us? 55:19 And they discovered health reform. 55:21 They said, Now wait a minute, if the hour of His judgment is 55:24 come, the judgment took place on the Day of Atonement 55:27 in the most holy place of the sanctuary. 55:29 Then where is Jesus performing the work of judgment? 55:32 Oh, He's performing it in the most holy 55:34 place of the sanctuary. 55:35 Suddenly all of the distinctive truths of the 55:37 Seventh-day Adventist church came to view. 55:40 How does the religious world look upon these distinctive 55:44 truths of the Seventh-day Adventist church? 55:46 Oh no, nobody can keep the law of God. 55:49 Some say, Ah, the law was nailed to the cross. 55:52 They say, No, the Lord's Day. 55:55 That's the day we're supposed to keep; the first day of the week. 55:57 They say, Oh, when you die, if you were good your soul is 56:04 And if you were wicked your soul is zipped off right to hell. 56:08 And if you were semi-righteous, or semi-wicked 56:11 then you go to purgatory. 56:14 And if you hadn't reached the age of accountability 56:17 you're going to limbo. 56:20 It's amazing how human beings can invent all of 56:22 these different stages. 56:25 But going into the most holy place makes it clear, 56:27 and that is that Jesus will set aside His own in the judgment, 56:32 not because He needs to know, but because He wants to reveal 56:36 before the Universe that He was right in saving these people. 56:40 He's not going to leave any loose ends. 56:42 And only after He has said, These are mine! 56:45 Do you agree? Jesus says, Now I'm going to go pick them up. 56:50 I've married them. Now I'm going to go, 56:53 and I'm going to claim my bride. 56:55 So 1844 was a very special date for the Seventh-day Adventist 57:00 church; very highly criticized, not on the outside, 57:03 but within the Seventh-day Adventist church. 57:05 Far be it for us to do so without first sitting down 57:10 and studying it from the perspective of holy Scripture. 57:14 Now what does Jesus do there in the heavenly sanctuary? 57:19 In our next subject we're going to study what Jesus is doing, 57:23 The Judgment Of the Living, so don't miss 57:26 the next exciting episode. |
Revised 2016-09-29