¤[Theme music]¤
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>>John Bradshaw:
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've 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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well, 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
the 22nd got closer,
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the Millerites, the Adventists,
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were more than excited.
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These were regular hard-working
people, faithful Christians.
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And Jesus was
returning? 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,
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until a man named
Samuel Snow calculated
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that Jesus would return
on October the 22nd, 1844.
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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
and verse 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 prophecy
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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
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represents a year
in Bible prophecy.
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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 9 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 7.
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It was issued in 457 BC by the
Medo-Persian emperor Artaxerxes.
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So that was that, then.
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Start in 457 BC, 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
0, 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, the Bible
does say that no one knows
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the day or the hour
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 the 6th.
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He spent October the
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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¤[Music]¤
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So imagine how it felt
on October the 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 kicked out
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of the Baptist church
that they'd been attending
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because they continued
to hang on to the belief
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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
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what the great
disappointment of Calvary became
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to the followers of Jesus.
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Jesus' disciples were sure
that their master would set up
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an 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 He
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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 Jesus
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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 tenth 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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>>John: 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,
00:07:55.17\00:07:57.47
taking you deep
into the Reformation.
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This is the 500th anniversary of
the beginning of the Reformation
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when Martin Luther
nailed his Ninety-Five Theses
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to the door of the Castle
Church in Wittenberg, Germany.
00:08:07.35\00:08:10.15
We'll take you to Wittenberg,
00:08:10.19\00:08:11.69
and to Belgium, to
England, to Ireland,
00:08:11.72\00:08:14.76
to Rome, to the Vatican City,
00:08:14.79\00:08:16.89
and introduce you to the people
who created the Reformation,
00:08:16.93\00:08:19.93
who pushed the
Reformation forward.
00:08:19.96\00:08:21.83
We'll take you to
sites all throughout Europe
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where the reformers
lived and, in some cases, died.
00:08:23.83\00:08:26.60
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.
00:08:31.34\00:08:34.21
Don't miss "500."
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You can own the
"500" series on DVD.
00:08:36.34\00:08:39.38
Call us on 888-664-5573
00:08:39.41\00:08:43.95
or visit us online
at itiswritten.shop.
00:08:43.99\00:08:49.66
¤[Music]¤
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>>John Bradshaw:
This is It Is Written.
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I'm John Bradshaw.
Thanks for joining me.
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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 prophecy,
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which said that 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, verses 1 and 2 says,
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"We have such a High Priest,
who is seated at the right hand
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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, verse 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.
00:11:34.26\00:11:37.73
"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."
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The judgment hour message
hadn't ever been proclaimed.
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It was a message that
would lead people to the Bible--
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Bibles people now had,
thanks to the reformers.
00:11:55.88\00:11:59.41
These were people who were
free to think for themselves,
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thanks to Roger
Williams, and it was a message
00:12:02.75\00:12:05.55
that would prepare people
for the Second Coming of Jesus,
00:12:05.59\00:12:08.39
a teaching now known, thanks to
the ministry of William Miller.
00:12:08.42\00:12:12.99
It's interesting that
Martin Luther said this:
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"I persuade myself
verily, that the day of judgment
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will not be absent
full three hundred 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
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in the middle of the 1800s.
00:12:35.28\00:12:37.55
So what would God do?
00:12:37.59\00:12:39.35
Two thousand 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. John wrote,
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"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, and kindred,
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and tongue, 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 judgment 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.'"
00:13:17.23\00:13:19.83
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
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to Jesus in the time
of earth's final judgment.
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And there's
something else in that passage:
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"Worship Him that
made heaven, and earth,
00:13:34.11\00:13:36.68
and the sea, and the
fountains of waters."
00:13:36.71\00:13:39.55
That's a direct quote
from the fourth commandment,
00:13:39.58\00:13:43.18
the Sabbath commandment.
00:13:43.22\00:13:44.95
"Remember the
Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
00:13:44.99\00:13:47.59
Six days shalt thou
labor, and do all thy work,
00:13:47.62\00:13:50.13
but the seventh day is the
Sabbath of the Lord thy God."
00:13:50.16\00:13:54.00
It goes on to say,
00:13:54.03\00:13:55.53
"For in six days the
Lord made heaven and earth,
00:13:55.56\00:13:59.07
the sea, and all that in them
is, and rested the seventh day:
00:13:59.10\00:14:03.87
wherefore the Lord blessed the
Sabbath day, and hallowed it."
00:14:03.91\00:14:08.01
It's about as
clear as it could be.
00:14:08.64\00:14:11.65
In earth's last days,
00:14:11.68\00:14:13.18
God would call His
people to surrender,
00:14:13.21\00:14:16.62
to obedience to His
Word rather than obedience
00:14:16.65\00:14:19.72
to the teachings
of men or of churches.
00:14:19.75\00:14:22.06
Up until this time,
00:14:22.09\00:14:23.36
very few people were
keeping the seventh-day Sabbath.
00:14:23.39\00:14:26.29
Sunday was the day
acknowledged to be the holy day.
00:14:26.33\00:14:30.17
It just stands to reason
that Jesus would want the people
00:14:30.20\00:14:33.13
He's going to return
for to be surrendered,
00:14:33.17\00:14:36.60
to be living in obedience,
because as He has said,
00:14:36.64\00:14:39.81
surrender demonstrates love.
00:14:39.84\00:14:43.14
John 14:15 says,
00:14:43.18\00:14:45.25
"If you love me,
keep my commandments."
00:14:45.28\00:14:49.28
So who are these
people who'd been keeping
00:14:49.32\00:14:51.52
the commandments of God?
00:14:51.55\00:14:53.59
I'll tell you in just a moment.
00:14:53.62\00:14:55.29
¤[Music]¤
00:14:55.32\00:15:00.36
¤[Music]¤
00:15:01.33\00:15:03.37
>>Announcer: In Matthew
4:4, the Word of God says,
00:15:03.40\00:15:06.07
"It is written, 'Man
shall not live by bread alone,
00:15:06.10\00:15:09.24
but by every word that proceeds
from the mouth of God.'"
00:15:09.27\00:15:12.97
"Every Word" is a one-minute
Bible-based daily devotional
00:15:13.01\00:15:16.21
presented by
Pastor John Bradshaw
00:15:16.24\00:15:18.38
and designed especially
for busy people like you.
00:15:18.41\00:15:21.05
Look for "Every
Word" on selected networks
00:15:21.08\00:15:24.22
or watch it online
every day on our website:
00:15:24.25\00:15:26.29
itiswritten.com.
00:15:26.32\00:15:28.69
Receive a daily spiritual boost.
00:15:28.72\00:15:30.59
Watch "Every Word."
You'll be glad you did.
00:15:30.63\00:15:33.80
Here's a sample.
00:15:33.83\00:15:36.60
¤["Every Word" theme music]¤
00:15:37.27\00:15:42.34
>>John Bradshaw: As you
look back at the Reformation,
00:15:42.37\00:15:44.11
which began 500 years ago
on October the 31st, 1517,
00:15:44.14\00:15:48.04
there are several major events
that are pretty well forgotten.
00:15:48.08\00:15:50.85
In August of 1572,
King Charles IX of France
00:15:50.88\00:15:54.02
ordered the killing of a
group of French Huguenots--
00:15:54.05\00:15:56.52
Protestants.
00:15:56.55\00:15:57.75
By the time the St.
Bartholomew's Day massacre
00:15:57.79\00:15:59.72
was over, as many as
30,000 people had been killed.
00:15:59.75\00:16:02.86
Protestants were
ruthlessly persecuted,
00:16:02.89\00:16:04.83
and it was not until
the French Revolution
00:16:04.86\00:16:06.46
that they gained
equal right in France.
00:16:06.49\00:16:09.40
What kind of person
or people perpetrate
00:16:09.43\00:16:11.13
that kind of utter wickedness?
00:16:11.17\00:16:13.37
Jeremiah 17:9 says,
00:16:13.40\00:16:15.00
"The heart is
deceitful above all things,
00:16:15.04\00:16:16.97
and desperately
wicked; who can know it?"
00:16:17.01\00:16:19.64
What kind of
person? Anyone at all.
00:16:19.67\00:16:22.48
The heart can
be extremely wicked
00:16:22.51\00:16:23.81
when God's fear and
love have been removed.
00:16:23.85\00:16:26.05
Human nature follows
just one selfish direction,
00:16:26.08\00:16:28.62
but Christ in your
heart creates a new you,
00:16:28.65\00:16:31.25
gives you a new heart.
00:16:31.29\00:16:32.59
I'm John Bradshaw
for It Is Written.
00:16:32.62\00:16:34.09
Let's live today by every word.
00:16:34.12\00:16:36.62
¤[Music]¤
00:16:38.06\00:16:41.36
>>John Bradshaw: Thanks for
joining me on It Is Written.
00:16:41.40\00:16:44.00
Rachel Oakes lived here
in Washington, New Hampshire,
00:16:44.03\00:16:47.04
in 1844.
00:16:47.07\00:16:49.17
Her daughter, Delight,
was a local school teacher.
00:16:49.20\00:16:51.74
This was almost 70 years
after this town became the first
00:16:51.77\00:16:56.31
to be named after
George Washington.
00:16:56.34\00:16:59.11
Then, as now,
Washington, New Hampshire,
00:16:59.15\00:17:01.72
was just a tiny little slice
of the New England landscape.
00:17:01.75\00:17:05.42
But what happened
here in Washington in 1844
00:17:05.45\00:17:09.19
went on to make a major
impact in the entire world.
00:17:09.22\00:17:13.36
She attended this church,
00:17:16.16\00:17:18.07
pastored by a man
named Frederick Wheeler.
00:17:18.10\00:17:21.40
Wheeler had accepted the
teachings of William Miller
00:17:21.44\00:17:24.07
and was active in preaching the
doctrine of the Second Advent.
00:17:24.11\00:17:28.41
While preaching
during a communion service
00:17:28.44\00:17:31.18
in this church building,
00:17:31.21\00:17:32.98
Wheeler made the
comment that only those who keep
00:17:33.01\00:17:35.72
all of the Ten
Commandments should participate.
00:17:35.75\00:17:38.92
Well, Sister Oakes,
00:17:38.95\00:17:40.06
a Seventh Day
Baptist, challenged him,
00:17:40.09\00:17:42.79
and she told him after the
service that he wasn't keeping
00:17:42.82\00:17:45.96
all of the Ten Commandments
00:17:45.99\00:17:47.13
because he did not keep
the seventh-day Sabbath.
00:17:47.13\00:17:50.73
Wheeler went to his Bible,
00:17:50.77\00:17:51.87
and he studied the
matter for himself,
00:17:51.90\00:17:53.54
and he came to the conclusion
that Rachel Oakes was right.
00:17:53.57\00:17:57.24
And he became the first Sabbath-
keeping Adventist minister.
00:17:57.27\00:18:01.41
And this church building
became the first Sabbath-keeping
00:18:01.44\00:18:04.75
Adventist church in the world.
00:18:04.78\00:18:08.38
In March of 1844, he
preached his first sermon
00:18:08.42\00:18:12.02
on the subject of the Sabbath.
00:18:12.05\00:18:14.62
A number of
families here in Washington
00:18:14.66\00:18:16.49
became Sabbath-keepers.
00:18:16.52\00:18:18.63
A man named Thomas Motherwell
Preble learned of the Sabbath
00:18:18.66\00:18:22.43
from Wheeler, and he
wrote a tract on the subject
00:18:22.46\00:18:25.40
called "Tract: Showing That the
Seventh Day Should Be Observed
00:18:25.43\00:18:29.34
As the Sabbath."
00:18:29.37\00:18:30.74
Somehow a retired sea
captain named Joseph Bates,
00:18:30.77\00:18:34.18
who lived in
Fairhaven, Massachusetts,
00:18:34.21\00:18:36.44
got hold of that tract.
00:18:36.48\00:18:37.98
And he was so moved by it
that he traveled from his home
00:18:38.01\00:18:40.98
60 miles south of Boston
to meet with Frederick Wheeler
00:18:41.02\00:18:44.65
here in
Washington, New Hampshire--
00:18:44.69\00:18:46.62
a distance of
at least 160 miles.
00:18:46.65\00:18:50.19
The men studied all night long,
00:18:50.23\00:18:52.89
and by the time
they were finished,
00:18:52.93\00:18:54.76
Joseph Bates was a
Sabbath-keeping Adventist.
00:18:54.83\00:18:58.00
And he was committed.
00:18:59.57\00:19:01.24
While heading back from
Washington, New Hampshire,
00:19:01.27\00:19:03.27
to his home in
Fairhaven, Massachusetts,
00:19:03.30\00:19:06.11
Bates was crossing a
bridge near his home when a man
00:19:06.14\00:19:08.94
named James Madison
Monroe Hall called out to him.
00:19:08.98\00:19:12.15
He said, "What's the
news, Captain Bates?"
00:19:12.18\00:19:15.18
Bates replied by saying,
00:19:15.22\00:19:16.35
"The news is the seventh day
00:19:16.38\00:19:18.15
is the Sabbath of
the Lord thy God."
00:19:18.19\00:19:20.32
Hall began keeping the Sabbath.
00:19:20.36\00:19:22.32
And so a movement began.
00:19:22.36\00:19:23.69
The truth began to spread,
00:19:23.73\00:19:25.46
and this was truth God
wanted the world to know.
00:19:25.49\00:19:28.00
The messages of the
three angels in Revelation 14
00:19:29.40\00:19:32.60
are called by God
the everlasting gospel,
00:19:32.63\00:19:35.50
or the final gospel message--
00:19:35.54\00:19:38.01
the final good news
message to go to the world.
00:19:38.04\00:19:41.61
And that final message contains
a call to worship the Creator
00:19:41.64\00:19:45.68
by keeping the
seventh-day Sabbath--
00:19:45.71\00:19:48.38
a day set aside at creation
so all of God's children
00:19:48.42\00:19:51.99
could rest, worship,
00:19:52.02\00:19:54.12
and commune with
Him in a special way.
00:19:54.16\00:19:57.66
The most basic principle
of the Protestant Reformation
00:19:57.69\00:20:00.43
was the supreme
authority of the Bible--
00:20:00.46\00:20:03.63
supreme over church
councils and church tradition.
00:20:03.67\00:20:07.80
This new movement God
raised up from the ashes
00:20:07.84\00:20:10.44
of the Great
Disappointment of 1844
00:20:10.47\00:20:13.24
would focus in a special way
on testing all Christian beliefs
00:20:13.27\00:20:17.61
and practices by
the Holy Scriptures.
00:20:17.65\00:20:21.35
Even though many
reformers taught things
00:20:21.38\00:20:23.55
that didn't quite
measure up with the Bible,
00:20:23.59\00:20:25.82
they all appealed to the Bible
as their ultimate authority.
00:20:25.85\00:20:29.82
Martin Luther had
theological challenges,
00:20:29.86\00:20:31.99
John Calvin
taught predestination,
00:20:32.03\00:20:34.23
in spite of the fact
that the best-known verse
00:20:34.30\00:20:37.13
in the Bible says that
00:20:37.17\00:20:38.73
"God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son,
00:20:38.77\00:20:42.64
that whosoever believeth
in Him should not perish
00:20:42.67\00:20:46.68
but have everlasting life."
00:20:46.71\00:20:48.54
And down through the years,
00:20:48.58\00:20:49.98
the reformers had a blind
spot about the law of God.
00:20:50.01\00:20:54.38
Something so fundamental,
00:20:54.42\00:20:56.65
and yet they were
missing something essential.
00:20:56.69\00:20:59.29
But rather than castigate them,
00:20:59.32\00:21:01.32
we remember that the
likes of Calvin and Zwingli
00:21:01.36\00:21:04.03
and Luther came to the Bible
from out of complete darkness.
00:21:04.06\00:21:08.23
Martin Luther was a
Roman Catholic priest.
00:21:08.26\00:21:11.10
They came
pre-programmed by tradition.
00:21:11.13\00:21:14.34
The fact that they were
able to shake off so much
00:21:14.37\00:21:16.54
of that tradition is remarkable.
00:21:16.57\00:21:18.91
And it's important to remember
that truth is progressive.
00:21:18.94\00:21:22.64
It grows down through time.
00:21:22.68\00:21:24.31
Knowledge of agriculture,
of science, of mathematics,
00:21:24.35\00:21:27.65
of physical
wellness-- well, that grows.
00:21:27.68\00:21:30.22
The same is true of
knowledge of the Bible.
00:21:30.25\00:21:33.15
But the sad truth is that
many people simply don't grow.
00:21:33.82\00:21:38.43
They accept what they
were taught as children,
00:21:38.46\00:21:40.63
and then spend the rest of
their lives defending that,
00:21:40.66\00:21:43.57
instead of asking God if there
is more that they could learn.
00:21:43.60\00:21:47.74
All the way to about
the time of William Miller,
00:21:47.77\00:21:50.07
Christians,
with some exceptions,
00:21:50.11\00:21:51.61
believed in--not
the Ten Commandments--
00:21:51.64\00:21:54.74
but in the nine commandments.
00:21:54.78\00:21:56.28
And when those Adventists
saw the truth of God's Word
00:21:57.28\00:21:59.85
and understood that
all of the Ten Commandments
00:21:59.88\00:22:01.92
should be kept,
00:22:01.95\00:22:03.15
it was the dawning of a new day.
00:22:03.18\00:22:05.25
Sunday had come into
Christianity as a tradition
00:22:05.29\00:22:08.29
of the Roman Catholic Church.
00:22:08.32\00:22:10.39
Rome had absorbed
Sunday worship from paganism.
00:22:10.43\00:22:13.93
It didn't come from the Bible.
00:22:13.96\00:22:16.23
So you would think,
then, that Christians who were
00:22:16.26\00:22:18.33
conscientious about
separating from tradition
00:22:18.37\00:22:21.44
would be open to embracing
the seventh-day Sabbath.
00:22:21.47\00:22:24.67
That's certainly
what God was hoping.
00:22:24.71\00:22:26.84
And that's why the
message of the Sabbath
00:22:26.88\00:22:28.74
was included into
the final gospel message
00:22:28.78\00:22:31.55
to go to the world.
00:22:31.58\00:22:33.72
As the movement grew,
00:22:33.75\00:22:34.88
it eventually became the
Seventh-day Adventist Church,
00:22:34.92\00:22:38.95
identified in the Bible as
00:22:38.99\00:22:40.72
a "remnant...which
keep the commandments of God
00:22:40.76\00:22:43.73
and the testimony of Jesus."
00:22:43.76\00:22:45.69
That's Revelation 12:17.
00:22:45.73\00:22:47.76
This group would
proclaim the everlasting gospel,
00:22:47.76\00:22:51.07
the judgment hour message,
00:22:51.10\00:22:52.93
a message of
cleansing and preparation,
00:22:52.97\00:22:55.57
pointing to Jesus as High Priest
and the believers' only hope.
00:22:55.60\00:23:00.44
The seventh-day Sabbath--
00:23:00.48\00:23:02.21
total surrender to
the indwelling of Jesus,
00:23:02.24\00:23:05.08
resulting in willing obedience
to God's law and not man's law.
00:23:05.11\00:23:10.35
The call out of Babylon--
00:23:10.39\00:23:12.09
out of false worship
and into true worship.
00:23:12.12\00:23:15.66
A call to the world to
worship-- not the beast--
00:23:15.69\00:23:19.83
but the Lamb, Jesus, and
to receive the seal of God
00:23:19.86\00:23:24.07
rather than the
mark of the beast.
00:23:24.10\00:23:26.57
And a relationship
with Jesus so strong,
00:23:26.60\00:23:28.84
a dependence on
Jesus so complete,
00:23:28.87\00:23:32.67
that they're characterized
by Revelation 14:12, which says,
00:23:32.71\00:23:36.04
"Here is the
patience of the saints.
00:23:36.08\00:23:39.21
Here are they that
keep the commandments of God
00:23:39.25\00:23:43.35
and the faith of Jesus."
00:23:43.39\00:23:45.85
This final company of the
faithful and the sacred story
00:23:45.89\00:23:49.46
will share one last
message of mercy with the world.
00:23:49.49\00:23:52.99
Jesus was clear; He told
Peter in Matthew 16, verse 18
00:23:53.03\00:23:57.47
that He would build His church.
00:23:57.50\00:23:59.90
The early Christian church
was led by people such as Peter
00:23:59.93\00:24:02.94
and James and John and
Paul and others like them,
00:24:02.97\00:24:06.78
who presented Jesus to the
world as the sinner's only hope.
00:24:06.81\00:24:11.41
But that early
church lost its way,
00:24:11.45\00:24:13.52
it became
corrupted by traditions--
00:24:13.55\00:24:15.95
many of which came into
the church from paganism--
00:24:15.98\00:24:19.72
and then the church
was hijacked by a system
00:24:19.75\00:24:22.92
that neglected the Bible,
that departed from the Bible,
00:24:22.96\00:24:27.13
that obscured the Bible,
00:24:27.20\00:24:29.06
and then kept the
Bible from the people.
00:24:29.10\00:24:31.93
But Wycliffe and
Tyndale and Luther
00:24:31.97\00:24:34.30
and others like them put
the Bible back in the hands
00:24:34.34\00:24:37.71
of God's children.
00:24:37.74\00:24:39.27
Hearts were touched by
the power of God's Word,
00:24:39.31\00:24:42.18
and the broken
system was reformed.
00:24:42.21\00:24:45.48
But that Reformation
didn't go all the way,
00:24:45.51\00:24:48.05
so God raised up others
across the ocean from Europe,
00:24:48.08\00:24:51.52
beyond the reach of a pope,
00:24:51.55\00:24:53.39
to go back to the Bible, to
discover neglected teachings,
00:24:53.42\00:24:57.36
and to deliver the final
gospel message to the world.
00:24:57.39\00:25:01.66
Organized in
1863, and now numbering
00:25:01.70\00:25:05.23
in the tens of
millions of members,
00:25:05.27\00:25:07.67
the Seventh-day
Adventist Church exists
00:25:07.70\00:25:09.97
to complete the
work of the reformers,
00:25:10.01\00:25:12.57
to take the message of
justification by faith,
00:25:12.61\00:25:15.14
the message of salvation,
00:25:15.18\00:25:16.95
to reveal the
character of God to the world.
00:25:16.98\00:25:20.62
And will that work be finished?
00:25:20.65\00:25:22.35
Yes, it will.
00:25:22.38\00:25:23.35
God has promised.
00:25:23.39\00:25:25.35
The everlasting gospel
will go to every nation,
00:25:25.39\00:25:28.92
kindred, tongue, and people.
00:25:28.96\00:25:31.76
¤[Music]¤
00:25:31.79\00:25:37.60
>>John: Jesus said, "Upon this
Rock I will build my church."
00:25:38.73\00:25:42.24
He said he would have a church,
00:25:42.27\00:25:44.74
but what would
His church look like?
00:25:44.77\00:25:46.47
How would it carry itself?
00:25:46.51\00:25:48.61
What would it teach?
00:25:48.64\00:25:49.84
Where can it be found?
00:25:49.88\00:25:51.75
I'd like you to receive
"In Search of the Church."
00:25:51.78\00:25:55.48
Call us on 800-253-3000
00:25:55.52\00:25:58.42
or visit us online
at itiswritten.com,
00:25:58.45\00:26:02.22
or you can write to
the address on your screen.
00:26:02.26\00:26:04.76
"In Search of the Church"--
00:26:04.79\00:26:06.43
it's yours, completely free.
00:26:06.46\00:26:08.60
And thank you for remembering
that It Is Written exists
00:26:08.63\00:26:12.40
due to the gracious
support of people like you.
00:26:12.43\00:26:15.94
It's your support that makes
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00:26:15.97\00:26:18.07
to share Christ and the hope
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00:26:18.11\00:26:22.01
You can send your
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00:26:22.04\00:26:23.81
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00:26:23.85\00:26:25.51
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00:26:25.55\00:26:27.82
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00:26:27.85\00:26:30.72
Thanks for your
generous support.
00:26:30.75\00:26:32.19
Our number is 800-253-3000,
00:26:32.22\00:26:35.52
and our web
address is itiswritten.com.
00:26:35.56\00:26:38.39
>>John Bradshaw:
Let's pray together now.
00:26:39.29\00:26:41.16
Our Father in heaven, we
thank You today for Jesus,
00:26:41.20\00:26:44.10
for the Bible, delivered
to us at such great expense.
00:26:44.13\00:26:48.40
It cost nobody
more than it cost You.
00:26:48.44\00:26:52.24
We thank You for
the plan of salvation,
00:26:52.27\00:26:54.08
for giving Jesus to die for us,
00:26:54.11\00:26:56.61
to lead us.
00:26:56.64\00:26:58.25
And I pray: Give
us grace to follow
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those who've gone before us,
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the brave men and
women of the Reformation,
00:27:02.35\00:27:05.42
who laid their
lives on the line,
00:27:05.45\00:27:06.82
often giving their lives,
00:27:06.86\00:27:09.09
that they might stand for You.
00:27:09.12\00:27:10.79
Oh, great Creator,
00:27:11.73\00:27:13.26
Savior, Redeemer,
00:27:13.29\00:27:15.10
Friend, Guide,
00:27:15.13\00:27:17.27
Lord, give us grace,
00:27:17.30\00:27:19.20
to live our lives in
the light of Your love
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and according to Your Word.
00:27:22.07\00:27:23.91
Fill us with Your presence.
Give us Your Holy Spirit.
00:27:23.94\00:27:27.44
Make us Yours.
00:27:27.48\00:27:29.18
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.
00:27:34.65\00:27:36.02
Amen.
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Thanks for joining me.
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I look forward to
seeing you again next time.
00:27:38.85\00:27:41.62
Until then, remember:
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"It is written, 'Man
shall not live by bread alone,
00:27:43.53\00:27:47.86
but by every word that proceeds
from the mouth of God.'"
00:27:47.86\00:27:51.80
¤[Theme music]¤
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¤[Theme music]¤
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