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This is It Is Written.
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I'm John Bradshaw,
thanks for joining me.
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Now, imagine it if you can.
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You'd been reading your Bible,
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and you're now convinced
that Jesus is coming back soon,
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really coming back, literally.
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You believe that
you're gonna see Jesus
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and the angels on a certain day.
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October days in
Eastern New York state
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near the Vermont
border can be cool.
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Life in the middle of the
19th century could be difficult,
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and having
peculiar religious views
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doesn't ordinarily
buy you popularity,
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and when you're a Millerite,
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a follower of the
Baptist preacher William Miller,
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you're out there on the fringes.
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Now you're not alone,
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Miller has tens of
thousands of followers,
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but still you, well, really,
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none of that matters
because you're gonna see Jesus.
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He's coming back
in just a few weeks,
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He's coming back
in just a few days.
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He's coming back tomorrow.
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You'll see Jesus
in just a few hours.
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Can you imagine?
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So as October 22nd got closer,
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the Millerites,
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the Adventists,
were more than excited.
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These were regular
hard working people,
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faithful Christians,
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and Jesus was returning?
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Tomorrow?
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William Miller had predicted
that Jesus would return in 1843.
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But that didn't happen.
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But then he
recalculated and said
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the Second Coming would
happen in the spring of 1844.
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That didn't happen either.
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The Millerites were
perplexed until a man named
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Samuel Snow calculated
that Jesus would return
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on October
22nd, 1844, of course.
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William Miller
was a rational man.
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He was not a fanatic, he
was a deep Bible student,
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but he was wrong.
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He was right about an awful lot,
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but you don't have
to be wrong about much
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to botch a prediction about the
Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
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As he was studying the Bible,
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he came to
Daniel 8:14, which says,
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"Unto two thousand
three hundred days,
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then shall the
sanctuary be cleansed."
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Miller was convinced he
was looking at a prophesy
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about the
Second Coming of Jesus.
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Based on the prevailing
idea that the sanctuary
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represented the earth.
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He figured the
earth would be cleansed
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when Jesus
returned the second time.
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What else could
that possibly mean?
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Looking at the scriptures, he
determined that a day represents
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a year in Bible prophesy.
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He was right about that.
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That's a symbol just like
a beast represents a nation
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and a woman
represents the church.
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Miller figured
that Jesus would return
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at the end of 2,300 years.
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If only he could know
when that period began,
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then he could
know when it ended.
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But then Miller
found his starting point.
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Daniel chapter nine spoke
of a decree of the going forth
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of the commandment to
restore and rebuild Jerusalem.
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Miller found that
decree in Ezra chapter seven.
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It was issued in 457 B.C. by the
Medo-Persian Emperor Artaxerxes,
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so that was that then.
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Start in 457 B.C., add
2,300 days or 2,300 years,
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and you get to 1843.
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You correct that
because you forgot
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that there's no year
zero, and you get to 1844.
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Miller's opponents
couldn't argue with his logic.
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Now, of course,
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the Bible does say that no
one knows the day or the hour
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of Jesus' appearing,
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but Miller never set a date.
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It was Samuel
Snow who set the date.
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He did that in August of 1844.
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Miller never
accepted that interpretation
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until October 6th.
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He spent October
22nd in this very room.
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Looking out this window,
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waiting for Jesus to
come in the eastern sky.
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So imagine how it
felt on October 23rd, 1844.
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You weren't even
expecting to be here,
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but now you have to face people.
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You have to go
back to your occupation.
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You have to admit that
the movement was wrong,
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that you've made a big mistake.
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Where was God in all of this?
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And what about the Bible?
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How do you
relate to the Bible now?
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Well, some people
simply chose not to,
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and they gave up on
their hope in God altogether.
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Most people simply
went back to the churches
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from which they'd come,
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but that wasn't an
option for everyone.
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William and Lucy
Miller and their children were
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kicked out of the
Baptist church that they'd been
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attending because
they continued to hang
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on to the belief that Jesus
was still coming back soon.
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And then there were
others who tried to figure out
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how God was leading now.
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But what became known as
the Great Disappointment of 1844
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became to the heirs of the
Millerite movement what the
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Great Disappointment of Calvary
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became to the
followers of Jesus.
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Jesus' disciples were sure that
their master would set up an
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earthly kingdom and
drive the heathen Romans
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from the covenant land.
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On the road to Emmaus,
two disciples poured out
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their despondency to
Jesus himself saying,
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"But we were hoping that it was
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He who was going
to redeem Israel."
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Luke 24:21.
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But the disciples' hopes
had been based on a false view
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of the Messiah's mission.
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They weren't
wrong in recognizing
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Jesus as the promised Savior,
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but they were wrong in
their understanding of his work.
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The same was true with
the disappointed followers
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of William Miller in 1844.
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They were
correct in their timing,
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but they were
wrong about the event.
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But God wouldn't
leave His faithful followers
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in the dark for long.
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After an all night
vigil weary and heartbroken,
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two men decided to visit
some of their fellow believers
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who'd been through
the same disappointment.
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One of them was Hiram Edson.
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Here's how he explained
the events that followed.
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"We started, and while
passing through a large field,
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I was stopped about
midway of the field.
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Heaven seemed open to my view,
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and I saw distinctly and clearly
that instead of our High Priest
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coming out of the Most
Holy of the heavenly sanctuary,
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to come to this earth on the
tenth day of the seventh month,
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at the end of the 2,300 days,
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He for the first time entered
on that day the second apartment
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of that sanctuary;
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and that He had a work
to perform in the Most Holy
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before coming to this earth."
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With this dramatic insight,
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the movement
birthed by William Miller
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gave rise to yet
another movement,
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the one predicted by
the angel spoken of by John
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in the 10th of the chapter
of the book of Revelation.
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"Thou must prophesy
again before many peoples
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and nations and
tongues and kings."
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Revelation 10:11.
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A movement was born,
and with this new movement,
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God set in place
a global initiative
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to complete the
Protestant Reformation.
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I'll have more in just a moment.
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¤[Music]¤
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I'm John Bradshaw
from It Is Written,
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inviting you to join me for 500.
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Nine programs
produced by It Is Written,
00:09:25.49\00:09:27.66
taking you deep
into the Reformation.
00:09:27.73\00:09:30.83
This is the 500th
anniversary of the beginning
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of the Reformation when Martin
Luther nailed his 95 Theses
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to the door of the Castle
Church in Wittenberg, Germany.
00:09:37.54\00:09:40.38
We'll take you to
Wittenberg and to Belgium,
00:09:40.41\00:09:42.58
to England,
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to Ireland,
00:09:43.45\00:09:44.98
to Rome,
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to the Vatican City,
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and introduce you to the people
who created the Reformation,
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who pushed the
Reformation forward.
00:09:50.12\00:09:52.09
We'll take you to
sites all throughout Europe
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where the Reformers
lived and in some cases died.
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We'll bring you
back to the United States
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and take you to a
little farm in Upstate New York
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and show you how God
spread the Reformation here.
00:10:01.56\00:10:04.43
Don't miss 500.
00:10:04.47\00:10:06.53
You can own the
500 series on DVD.
00:10:06.57\00:10:09.60
Call us on 888-664-5573
00:10:09.64\00:10:14.18
or visit us online
at itiswritten.shop.
00:10:14.21\00:10:19.25
This is It Is
Written, I'm John Bradshaw.
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Thanks for joining me.
00:10:24.22\00:10:25.85
William Miller became
the figurehead for a movement
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after studying his Bible
and then sharing what he found.
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He and others believed
that Jesus was coming back
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to the earth in the year 1844.
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And they believed this based
on a prophesy which said that
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the sanctuary would be cleansed.
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But Jesus didn't come back
in 1844. So where was the error?
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Miller believed like
virtually everybody else,
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that the sanctuary in
Daniel 8:14 was the earth.
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But look into the Bible
and you see that that sanctuary
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could really only be
the portable sanctuary
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that went with Israel
throughout the wilderness
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or the temple or the great
sanctuary of God in Heaven.
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In Old Testament times,
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the cleansing of the
sanctuary took place once a year
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on the Day of Atonement.
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It was a day of judgment.
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So some of these Millerite
believers went to the Bible
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and studied, and
their eyes were opened.
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Hebrews 8:1 and 2 says,
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"We have such a high
priest, who is seated at the
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right hand of the throne
of the majesty in the heavens.
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A minister of the sanctuary
and of the true tabernacle,
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which the Lord
erected and not man."
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The book of Hebrews
describes this sanctuary again
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in the following chapter.
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"But Christ came as High Priest
of the good things to come,
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with the greater and
more perfect tabernacle
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not made with hands, that
is, not of this creation."
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That's Hebrews 9:11.
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These believers found
that on the day of atonement,
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a new sacrifice was offered
by which the record of sin
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in the sanctuary was
taken away or cleansed.
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On that day, God's
people would afflict their souls
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and search their hearts to
be sure that no unconfessed
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or unforsaken sin
remained in their lives.
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Once the record of sin was
expunged from the sanctuary,
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the sins were transferred
again to a scapegoat.
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That goat would then be led
into the wilderness to carry
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the sins of the people
into oblivion and to die there.
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But the ultimate purpose
of the service was not only
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to remove the record of sin,
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but to remove sin itself
from the hearts and lives
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of the worshipers.
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Leviticus, 16:30 says,
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"For on that day the priest
shall make atonement for you,
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to cleanse you,
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that you may be clean from
all your sins before the Lord."
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And like the sanctuary on earth,
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the book of Hebrews is
clear that the sanctuary
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in heaven must also be cleansed.
00:13:04.75\00:13:08.22
"Therefore, it was necessary
that the copies of the things
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in the heavens should
be purified with these,
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but the heavenly
things themselves
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with better
sacrifices than these."
00:13:16.79\00:13:19.39
The judgment hour message
hadn't ever been proclaimed.
00:13:19.43\00:13:22.83
It was a message that
would lead people to the Bible.
00:13:22.86\00:13:26.33
Bibles people now had
thanks to the Reformers.
00:13:26.37\00:13:30.07
These were people who were
free to think for themselves
00:13:30.11\00:13:33.14
thanks to Roger Williams,
and it was a message that
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would prepare people for
the Second Coming of Jesus,
00:13:36.14\00:13:38.81
a teaching now known, thanks to
the ministry of William Miller.
00:13:38.85\00:13:43.42
It's interesting that
Martin Luther said this.
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"I persuade myself verily,
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that the day of judgment will
not be absent full 300 years.
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God will not, cannot, suffer
this wicked world much longer!"
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In the 1500s, Martin
Luther said that the judgment
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would take place 300
years into the future
00:14:02.84\00:14:05.81
in the middle of the 1800s.
00:14:05.84\00:14:07.28
So what would God do?
00:14:07.31\00:14:09.91
2,000 years before John
wrote in the book of Revelation
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that the judgment hour
message would go to the world,
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but there was much more which
by the time of William Miller
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still had not been proclaimed.
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This is Revelation 14:6 and 7.
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John wrote, "And I saw another
angel fly in the midst of heaven
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having the everlasting
gospel to preach unto them
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that dwell on the earth,
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and to every nation,
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and kindred,
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and tongue,
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and people,
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saying with a loud voice,
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Fear God, and give glory to him,
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for the hour of
his judgement is come.
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And worship him that
made heaven and earth
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and the sea and the
fountains of waters."
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John wrote that there would
come a time when God's people
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would be called to live
lives of complete surrender
00:14:54.36\00:14:57.26
to Jesus in the time of
earth's final judgement.
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And there's
something else in that passage.
00:15:00.63\00:15:04.70
"Worship him that
made heaven and earth
00:15:04.73\00:15:07.30
and the sea and the
fountains of waters."
00:15:07.34\00:15:09.50
That's a direct quote
from the fourth commandment,
00:15:09.54\00:15:13.81
the Sabbath commandment.
00:15:13.84\00:15:15.58
"Remember the
Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
00:15:15.61\00:15:18.21
Six days shalt thou
labor and do all thy work,
00:15:18.25\00:15:20.45
but the seventh day is the
Sabbath of the Lord thy God."
00:15:20.48\00:15:24.65
It goes onto say,
00:15:24.69\00:15:26.19
"For in six days the
Lord made heaven and earth,
00:15:26.22\00:15:29.72
the sea, and all that in them
is and rested the seventh day.
00:15:29.76\00:15:34.46
Wherefore the Lord blessed the
Sabbath day and hallowed it."
00:15:34.46\00:15:39.27
It's about as
clear as it could be.
00:15:39.30\00:15:41.70
In earth's last days,
00:15:41.74\00:15:43.74
God would call His
people to surrender,
00:15:43.77\00:15:47.18
to obedience to His
word rather than obedience
00:15:47.21\00:15:50.28
to the teachings
of men or of churches.
00:15:50.31\00:15:52.08
Up until this
time, very few people
00:15:52.11\00:15:54.82
were keeping the
seventh-day Sabbath.
00:15:54.85\00:15:56.85
Sunday was the day
acknowledged to be the holy day.
00:15:56.89\00:16:00.82
It just stands
to reason that Jesus
00:16:00.86\00:16:02.79
would want the
people He's going to return
00:16:02.82\00:16:04.79
for to be surrendered,
00:16:04.83\00:16:07.30
to be living in obedience
because as He has said,
00:16:07.36\00:16:10.50
surrender demonstrates love.
00:16:10.53\00:16:13.84
John 14:15 says,
00:16:13.87\00:16:15.60
"If you love me,
keep my commandments."
00:16:15.64\00:16:20.28
So who are these
people who'd been keeping
00:16:20.31\00:16:22.21
the commandments of God?
00:16:22.24\00:16:24.48
I'll tell you in just a moment.
00:16:24.51\00:16:25.98
¤[Music]¤
00:16:26.01\00:16:31.42
>>Announcer: In Matthew
4:4, the Word of God says,
00:16:34.06\00:16:36.52
"It is written, 'Man
shall not live by bread alone,
00:16:36.56\00:16:39.46
but by every word that proceeds
from the mouth of God.'"
00:16:39.49\00:16:43.60
"Every Word"
00:16:43.63\00:16:44.60
is a one-minute Bible
based daily devotional
00:16:44.63\00:16:46.84
presented by
Pastor John Bradshaw
00:16:46.87\00:16:48.54
and designed especially
for busy people like you.
00:16:48.57\00:16:51.67
Look for Every Word
on selected networks
00:16:51.71\00:16:54.44
or watch it online
every day on our website,
00:16:54.48\00:16:56.91
itiswritten.com.
00:16:56.95\00:16:59.31
Receive a daily spiritual boost,
00:16:59.35\00:17:01.55
watch Every Word,
00:17:01.58\00:17:02.52
you'll be glad you did.
00:17:02.55\00:17:04.55
Here's a sample.
00:17:04.59\00:17:07.39
>>John: As you look
back at the Reformation
00:17:13.16\00:17:14.73
which began 500 years
ago on October 31st, 1517,
00:17:14.73\00:17:18.80
there are several major events
that are pretty well forgotten.
00:17:18.83\00:17:21.60
In August of 1572,
King Charles IX of France
00:17:21.64\00:17:24.77
ordered the killing of a
group of French Huguenots,
00:17:24.81\00:17:27.01
Protestants.
00:17:27.04\00:17:27.91
By the time the
St. Bartholomew's Day
00:17:27.94\00:17:29.94
massacre was over, as many as
30,000 people had been killed.
00:17:29.98\00:17:33.55
Protestants were
ruthlessly persecuted,
00:17:33.58\00:17:35.52
and it was not until
the French Revolution
00:17:35.55\00:17:37.15
that they gained
equal right in France.
00:17:37.19\00:17:40.12
What kind of person
or people perpetrate
00:17:40.16\00:17:41.86
that kind of utter wickedness?
00:17:41.89\00:17:44.09
Jeremiah 17:9 says,
00:17:44.13\00:17:45.59
"The heart is
deceitful above all things,
00:17:45.63\00:17:47.50
and desperately
wicked, who can know it?"
00:17:47.56\00:17:49.90
What kind of person?
00:17:49.93\00:17:51.57
Anyone at all.
00:17:51.60\00:17:52.80
The heart can
be extremely wicked
00:17:52.83\00:17:54.50
when God's fear and
love have been removed.
00:17:54.54\00:17:56.74
Human nature follows
just one selfish direction,
00:17:56.77\00:17:59.31
but Christ in your
heart creates a new you,
00:17:59.34\00:18:02.31
gives you a new heart.
00:18:02.34\00:18:03.41
I'm John Bradshaw
for It Is Written.
00:18:03.45\00:18:04.91
Let's live today by Every Word.
00:18:04.95\00:18:07.45
¤[Music]¤
00:18:08.88\00:18:12.22
Thanks for joining
me on It Is Written.
00:18:12.25\00:18:14.86
Rachel Oakes lived
here in Washington,
00:18:14.89\00:18:17.13
New Hampshire in 1844.
00:18:17.16\00:18:20.03
Her daughter, Delight,
was a local school teacher.
00:18:20.06\00:18:22.36
This was almost 70 years
after this town became the first
00:18:22.40\00:18:27.14
to be named after
George Washington.
00:18:27.17\00:18:29.94
Then as now,
Washington, New Hampshire
00:18:29.97\00:18:32.47
was just a tiny little slice
of the New England landscape.
00:18:32.51\00:18:36.18
But what happened
here in Washington in 1844
00:18:36.21\00:18:39.95
went on to make a major
impact in the entire world.
00:18:39.98\00:18:43.72
She attended this
church pastored by a man
00:18:46.96\00:18:50.03
named Frederick Wheeler.
00:18:50.06\00:18:52.19
Wheeler had accepted the
teachings of William Miller
00:18:52.23\00:18:54.83
and was active in preaching the
doctrine of the second advent.
00:18:54.86\00:18:58.07
While preaching
during a communion service
00:18:58.10\00:19:02.07
in this church building,
00:19:02.10\00:19:03.87
Wheeler made the
comment that only those who keep
00:19:03.91\00:19:06.61
all of the Ten
Commandments should participate.
00:19:06.64\00:19:09.81
Well, Sister Oaks,
00:19:09.84\00:19:10.95
a Seventh-Day
Baptist, challenged him.
00:19:10.98\00:19:13.01
And she told him after the
service that he wasn't keeping
00:19:13.05\00:19:16.85
all of the Ten Commandments
00:19:16.89\00:19:18.02
because he did not keep
the seventh-day Sabbath.
00:19:18.05\00:19:21.66
Wheeler went to his Bible and he
studied the matter for himself,
00:19:21.69\00:19:24.29
and he came to the conclusion
that Rachel Oaks was right.
00:19:24.33\00:19:27.50
And he became the first Sabbath
keeping Adventist minister.
00:19:27.50\00:19:31.43
And this church building
became the first Sabbath keeping
00:19:31.47\00:19:35.57
Adventist church in the world.
00:19:35.60\00:19:39.21
In March of 1844, he
preached his first sermon
00:19:39.24\00:19:42.84
on the subject of the Sabbath.
00:19:42.88\00:19:45.45
A number of
families here in Washington
00:19:45.48\00:19:47.32
became Sabbath keepers.
00:19:47.35\00:19:49.45
A man named Thomas Motherwell
Preble learned of the Sabbath
00:19:49.48\00:19:53.29
from Wheeler, and he wrote
a tract on the subject called
00:19:53.32\00:19:56.79
Tract showing that the
seventh day should be observed
00:19:56.83\00:20:00.20
as the Sabbath.
00:20:00.23\00:20:01.56
Somehow a retired sea
captain named Joseph Bates
00:20:01.60\00:20:05.00
who lived in
Fairhaven, Massachusetts
00:20:05.03\00:20:07.27
got hold of that tract.
00:20:07.30\00:20:08.47
And he was so moved by it
that he traveled from his home
00:20:08.50\00:20:11.81
60 miles south of Boston
to meet with Frederick Wheeler
00:20:11.84\00:20:15.48
here in
Washington, New Hampshire.
00:20:15.51\00:20:17.45
A distance of
at least 160 miles.
00:20:17.48\00:20:21.02
The men studied all night long,
00:20:21.05\00:20:23.72
and by the time
they were finished,
00:20:23.75\00:20:25.62
Joseph Bates was a
Sabbath keeping Adventist.
00:20:25.65\00:20:28.36
And he was committed.
00:20:30.43\00:20:32.03
While heading back from
Washington, New Hampshire,
00:20:32.06\00:20:34.03
to his home in
Fairhaven, Massachusettes,
00:20:34.10\00:20:36.36
Bates was crossing a bridge
near his home when a man named
00:20:36.40\00:20:40.00
James Madison Monroe
Hall called out to him.
00:20:40.04\00:20:42.90
He said, "What's the
news, Captain Bates?"
00:20:42.94\00:20:45.94
Bates replied by saying,
00:20:45.97\00:20:47.11
"The news is the seventh day
00:20:47.14\00:20:48.91
is the Sabbath of
the Lord thy God."
00:20:48.94\00:20:51.08
Hall began keeping the Sabbath,
and so a movement began.
00:20:51.11\00:20:54.45
The truth began to spread,
00:20:54.48\00:20:56.22
and this was truth God
wanted the world to know.
00:20:56.25\00:20:58.75
The messages of the
Three Angels in Revelation 14
00:20:58.79\00:21:03.53
are called by God
the everlasting gospel
00:21:03.56\00:21:06.43
or the final gospel message.
00:21:06.46\00:21:08.90
The final good news
message to go to the world.
00:21:08.93\00:21:12.50
And that final message contains
a call to worship the Creator
00:21:12.53\00:21:16.57
by keeping the
seventh-day Sabbath,
00:21:16.60\00:21:19.27
a day set aside at creation
so all of God's children
00:21:19.31\00:21:22.88
could rest,
00:21:22.91\00:21:24.21
worship,
00:21:24.25\00:21:25.11
and commune with
Him in a special way.
00:21:25.15\00:21:28.72
The most basic principle
of the Protestant Reformation
00:21:28.75\00:21:31.32
was the supreme
authority of the Bible,
00:21:31.35\00:21:34.56
supreme over church
councils and church tradition.
00:21:34.59\00:21:38.96
This new movement God
raised up from the ashes of the
00:21:38.99\00:21:41.46
Great Disappointment of 1844
00:21:41.50\00:21:43.47
would focus in a special way
on testing all Christian beliefs
00:21:43.50\00:21:48.50
and practices by
the Holy Scriptures.
00:21:48.54\00:21:52.34
Even though, many Reformers
taught things that didn't quite
00:21:52.37\00:21:55.11
measure up with the Bible,
00:21:55.14\00:21:56.71
they all appealed to the Bible
as their ultimate authority.
00:21:56.75\00:22:00.78
Martin Luther had
theological challenges,
00:22:00.82\00:22:03.02
John Calvin taught
predestination in spite
00:22:03.05\00:22:05.79
of the fact that the best known
verse in the Bible says that,
00:22:05.82\00:22:09.79
"God so loved the world that
he gave His only begotten Son,
00:22:09.82\00:22:13.09
that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish
00:22:13.13\00:22:17.70
but have everlasting life."
00:22:17.73\00:22:19.83
And down through the years,
00:22:19.87\00:22:20.97
the Reformers had a blind
spot about the law of God.
00:22:21.00\00:22:25.41
Something so
fundamental and yet,
00:22:25.44\00:22:27.84
they were missing
something essential.
00:22:27.88\00:22:29.74
But rather than castigate them,
00:22:29.78\00:22:31.61
we remember that the
likes of Calvin and Zwingli
00:22:31.65\00:22:34.98
and Luther came to the Bible
from out of complete darkness.
00:22:35.02\00:22:39.22
Martin Luther was a
Roman Catholic priest.
00:22:39.25\00:22:42.09
They came
pre-programmed by tradition.
00:22:42.12\00:22:45.33
The fact that they were
able to shake off so much
00:22:45.36\00:22:47.50
of that tradition is remarkable.
00:22:47.56\00:22:49.20
And it's important to remember
that truth is progressive.
00:22:49.23\00:22:53.03
It grows down through time.
00:22:53.07\00:22:54.84
Knowledge of agriculture,
00:22:54.87\00:22:56.74
of science,
00:22:56.77\00:22:57.61
of mathematics,
00:22:57.64\00:22:58.54
of physical
wellness, well, that grows.
00:22:58.57\00:23:01.24
The same is true of
knowledge of the Bible.
00:23:01.28\00:23:04.88
But the sad truth is that
many people simply don't grow.
00:23:04.91\00:23:09.52
They accept what they
were taught as children,
00:23:09.55\00:23:11.72
and then spend the
rest of their lives
00:23:11.75\00:23:13.19
defending that
instead of asking God
00:23:13.22\00:23:16.12
if there is more
that they could learn.
00:23:16.16\00:23:18.86
All the way to about
the time of William Miller,
00:23:18.89\00:23:21.16
Christians,
with some exceptions,
00:23:21.20\00:23:22.70
believed in not
the Ten Commandments
00:23:22.73\00:23:25.83
but in the nine commandments.
00:23:25.87\00:23:27.20
And when those Adventists
saw the truth of God's word
00:23:27.24\00:23:30.94
and understood that
all of the Ten Commandments
00:23:30.97\00:23:32.94
should be kept,
00:23:32.97\00:23:34.18
it was the dawning of a new day.
00:23:34.21\00:23:36.28
Sunday had come into
Christianity as a tradition
00:23:36.31\00:23:39.31
of the Roman Catholic church.
00:23:39.35\00:23:41.42
Rome had absorbed
Sunday worship from paganism.
00:23:41.45\00:23:44.95
It didn't come from the Bible.
00:23:44.99\00:23:47.29
So you would think then
that Christians who were
00:23:47.32\00:23:49.39
conscientious about
separating from tradition
00:23:49.42\00:23:52.49
would be open to embracing
the seventh-day Sabbath.
00:23:52.53\00:23:55.70
That's certainly
what God was hoping.
00:23:55.73\00:23:57.87
And that's why the
message of the Sabbath
00:23:57.90\00:23:59.77
was included into
the final gospel message
00:23:59.80\00:24:02.70
to go to the world.
00:24:02.74\00:24:04.87
As the movement grew,
00:24:04.91\00:24:06.04
it eventually became the
Seventh-day Adventist Church,
00:24:06.07\00:24:10.35
identified in the Bible as a
00:24:10.38\00:24:12.08
"Remnant which keep
the commandments of God
00:24:12.11\00:24:14.88
and the testimony of Jesus."
00:24:14.92\00:24:16.85
That's Revelation 12:17.
00:24:16.89\00:24:18.45
This group would
proclaim the everlasting gospel,
00:24:18.49\00:24:22.26
the judgment hour message.
00:24:22.29\00:24:24.13
A message of cleansing
and preparation pointing
00:24:24.16\00:24:27.40
to Jesus as high priest
and the believers' only hope.
00:24:27.40\00:24:31.53
The seventh-day Sabbath,
00:24:31.57\00:24:33.30
total surrender to
the indwelling of Jesus,
00:24:33.34\00:24:36.17
resulting in willing obedience
to God's law and not man's law.
00:24:36.20\00:24:41.44
The call out of Babylon,
00:24:41.48\00:24:43.18
out of false worship
and into true worship.
00:24:43.21\00:24:47.12
A call to the world to worship
not the beast but the lamb,
00:24:47.15\00:24:51.72
Jesus and to
receive the seal of God
00:24:51.75\00:24:55.19
rather than the
mark of the beast.
00:24:55.22\00:24:57.69
And the relationship
with Jesus so strong,
00:24:57.73\00:24:59.96
a dependence on
Jesus so complete
00:25:00.06\00:25:03.90
that they're characterized
by Revelation 14:12, which says,
00:25:03.93\00:25:07.27
"Here is the
patience of the saints.
00:25:07.30\00:25:10.44
Here are they that
keep the commandments of God
00:25:10.47\00:25:14.58
and the faith of Jesus."
00:25:14.61\00:25:17.08
This final company of the
faithful and the sacred story
00:25:17.11\00:25:20.68
will share one last
message of mercy with the world.
00:25:20.72\00:25:24.22
Jesus was clear, he
told Peter in Matthew 16:18
00:25:24.25\00:25:28.72
that he would build his church.
00:25:28.76\00:25:31.16
The early Christian church
was led by people such as Peter
00:25:31.19\00:25:34.10
and James and John and
Paul and others like them
00:25:34.13\00:25:37.93
who presented Jesus to the
world as the sinner's only hope.
00:25:37.97\00:25:42.57
But that early
church lost its way,
00:25:42.60\00:25:44.67
it became
corrupted by traditions,
00:25:44.71\00:25:47.11
many of which came into
the church from paganism.
00:25:47.14\00:25:50.88
And then the church
was hijacked by a system
00:25:50.91\00:25:54.08
that neglected the Bible,
00:25:54.12\00:25:55.48
that departed from the Bible.
00:25:55.52\00:25:58.32
That obscured the Bible
00:25:58.35\00:26:00.32
and then kept the
Bible from the people.
00:26:00.36\00:26:03.26
But Wycliffe and
Tyndale and Luther
00:26:03.29\00:26:05.63
and others like them put
the Bible back in the hands
00:26:05.66\00:26:09.00
of God's children.
00:26:09.03\00:26:10.57
Hearts were touched by
the power of God's Word,
00:26:10.60\00:26:13.47
and the broken
system was reformed.
00:26:13.50\00:26:16.77
But that reformation
didn't go all the way,
00:26:16.81\00:26:19.34
so God raised up others
across the ocean from Europe,
00:26:19.37\00:26:22.81
beyond the reach of a
pope to go back to the Bible,
00:26:22.84\00:26:26.31
to discover neglected teachings,
00:26:26.35\00:26:28.65
and to deliver the final
gospel message to the world.
00:26:28.68\00:26:32.92
Organized in
1863, and now numbering
00:26:32.95\00:26:36.49
in the tens of
millions of members,
00:26:36.52\00:26:38.93
the Seventh-day Adventist
Church exists to complete
00:26:38.96\00:26:41.90
the work of the Reformers,
00:26:41.93\00:26:43.80
to take the message of
justification by faith,
00:26:43.83\00:26:46.37
the message of salvation,
00:26:46.40\00:26:48.17
to reveal the
character of God to the world.
00:26:48.20\00:26:51.84
And will that work be finished?
00:26:51.87\00:26:53.58
Yes, it will.
00:26:53.61\00:26:54.58
God has promised.
00:26:54.61\00:26:56.58
The everlasting gospel
will go to every nation,
00:26:56.61\00:27:00.22
kindred,
00:27:00.25\00:27:01.22
tongue,
00:27:01.25\00:27:02.12
and people.
00:27:02.15\00:27:04.15
Jesus said, "Upon this
Rock, I will build My church."
00:27:10.13\00:27:13.63
He said he would have a church,
00:27:13.66\00:27:16.10
but what would
this church look like?
00:27:16.13\00:27:17.83
How would it carry itself?
00:27:17.87\00:27:19.17
What would it teach?
00:27:19.20\00:27:21.77
Where can it be found?
00:27:21.80\00:27:23.10
I'd like you to receive
In Search of the Church.
00:27:23.14\00:27:26.84
Call us on 800-253-3000
00:27:26.88\00:27:29.78
or visit us online
at itiswritten.com,
00:27:29.81\00:27:33.52
or you can write to
the address on your screen.
00:27:33.55\00:27:36.05
In Search of the Church,
00:27:36.08\00:27:37.72
it's yours completely free.
00:27:37.75\00:27:40.02
And thank you for
remembering that It Is Written
00:27:40.06\00:27:42.49
exists due to the gracious
support of people like you.
00:27:42.52\00:27:47.23
It's your support that makes
it possible for It Is Written
00:27:47.30\00:27:49.36
to share Christ and the hope
of the Bible around the world.
00:27:49.40\00:27:53.30
You can send your
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00:27:53.34\00:27:55.10
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00:27:55.14\00:27:58.14
through our website,
00:27:58.17\00:27:59.11
itiswritten.com.
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Thanks for your
generous support.
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Our number is 800-253-3000,
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and our web
address is itiswritten.com.
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Let's pray together now.
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Our Father in Heaven we
thank You today for Jesus.
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For the Bible, delivered
to us at such great expense.
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It cost noboday
more than it cost You.
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We thank You for
the plan of salvation,
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for giving Jesus to die for us.
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To lead us.
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And I pray to
give us grace to follow
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those who've gone before us,
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brave men and
women of the reformation,
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who laid their
lives on the line,
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often giving their lives,
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that they might stand for You.
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Oh great Creator,
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Savior, Redeemer,
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Friend, Guide,
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Lord give us grace.
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To live our lives in
the light of Your love,
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and according to Your Word.
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Fill us with Your presence,
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give us Your Holy Spirit.
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Make us Yours.
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And ready us for that great
day when Jesus comes again,
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to take us home.
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In Jesus' name,
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Amen.
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Thanks for joining me.
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I look forward to
seeing you again next time.
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Until then, remember,
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"It is written, 'Man
shall not live by bread alone,
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but by every word that proceeds
from the mouth of God.'"
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¤[Music]¤
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