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18 - An American Reformer - The Great Controversy · Philosophy and Faith

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Speaker 1: Chapter eighteen. An American reformer, an upright, honest hearted farmer
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Speaker 1: who had been led to doubt the divine authority of
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Speaker 1: the scriptures, yet who sincerely desired to know the truth,
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Speaker 1: was the man specially chosen of God to lead out
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Speaker 1: in the proclamation of Christ's second coming. Like many other reformers,
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Speaker 1: William Miller had an early life battled with poverty, and
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Speaker 1: had thus learned the great lessons of energy and self denial.
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Speaker 1: The members of the family from which he sprung were
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Speaker 1: characterized by an independent, liberty loving spirit, by capability of
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Speaker 1: endurance and ardent patriotism, traits which are also prominent in
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Speaker 1: his character. His father was a captain in the army
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Speaker 1: of the Revolution, and to the sacrifices which he made
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Speaker 1: in the struggles and sufferings of that stormy period may
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Speaker 1: be traced the straitened circumstances of Miller's early life. He
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Speaker 1: had a sound physical constitution, and even in child, who
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Speaker 1: gave evidence of more than ordinary intellectual strength. As he
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Speaker 1: grew older this became more marked. His mind was active
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Speaker 1: and well developed, and he had a keen thirst for knowledge,
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Speaker 1: though he did not enjoy the advantages of a collegiate education.
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Speaker 1: His love of study and a habit of careful thought
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Speaker 1: and close criticism rendered him a man of sound judgment
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Speaker 1: and comprehensive views. He possessed an irreproachable moral character and
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Speaker 1: an enviable reputation, being generally esteemed for integrity, thrift, and benevolence.
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Speaker 1: By dint of energy and application, he early acquired a competence,
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Speaker 1: though his habits of study were still maintained. He filled
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Speaker 1: various civil and military offices with credit, and the avenues
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Speaker 1: to wealth and honour seemed wide open to him. His
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Speaker 1: mother was a woman of sterling piety, and in childhood
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Speaker 1: he had been subject to religious impressions. In early manhood, however,
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Speaker 1: he was thrown into the society of deists, whose influence
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Speaker 1: was the stronger from the fact that they were mostly
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Speaker 1: good citizens and men of humane and benevolent disposition, living
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Speaker 1: as they did in the midst of Christian institutions. Their
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Speaker 1: characters had been to some extent molded by their surroundings.
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Speaker 1: For the excellencies which won them respect and confidence. They
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Speaker 1: were indebted to the Bible, and yet these good gifts
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Speaker 1: were so perverted as to an exerting influence against the
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Speaker 1: Word of God. By association with these men, Miller was
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Speaker 1: led to adopt their sentiments. The current interpretations of scripture
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Speaker 1: presented difficulties which seemed to him insurmountable. Yet his new belief,
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Speaker 1: while setting aside the Bible, offered nothing better to take
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Speaker 1: its place, and he remained far from satisfied. He continued
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Speaker 1: to hold these views, however, for about twelve years, but
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Speaker 1: at the age of thirty four, the Holy Spirit impressed
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Speaker 1: his heart with a sense of his condition as a sinner.
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Speaker 1: He found in his former belief no assurance of happiness
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Speaker 1: beyond the grave. The future was dark and gloomy. Referring
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Speaker 1: afterward to his feelings at this time, he said, annihilation
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Speaker 1: was a cold and chilling thought, and accountability was sure
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Speaker 1: destruction to all. The heavens were as brass over my head,
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Speaker 1: and the earth as iron under my feet. Eternity what
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Speaker 1: was it? And death? Why was it? The more I reasoned,
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Speaker 1: the further I was from demonstration, the more I thought,
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Speaker 1: the more scattered were my conclusions. I tried to stop thinking,
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Speaker 1: but my thoughts would not be controlled. I was truly wretched,
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Speaker 1: but did not understand the cause. I murmured and complained
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Speaker 1: but knew not of whom. I knew that there was
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Speaker 1: a wrong, but knew not how or where to find
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Speaker 1: the right. I mourned, but without hope. In this state
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Speaker 1: he continued for some months. Suddenly, he says, the character
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Speaker 1: of a savior was vividly impressed upon my mind. It
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Speaker 1: seemed that there might be a being so good and
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Speaker 1: compassionate as to himself self atone for our transgressions, and
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Speaker 1: thereby save us from suffering the penalty of sin. I
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Speaker 1: immediately felt how lovely such a being must be, and
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Speaker 1: imagined that I could cast myself into the arms of
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Speaker 1: and trust in the mercy of such a one. But
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Speaker 1: the question arose, how can it be proved that such
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Speaker 1: a being does exist? Aside from the Bible, I found
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Speaker 1: that I could get no evidence of the existence of
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Speaker 1: such a savior, or even of a future state. I
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Speaker 1: saw that the Bible did bring to view just such
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Speaker 1: a savior as I needed, and I was perplexed to
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Speaker 1: find how an uninspired book should develop principles so perfectly
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Speaker 1: adapted to the wants of a fallen world. I was
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Speaker 1: constrained to admit that the scriptures must be a revelation
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Speaker 1: from God. They became my delight, and in Jesus I
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Speaker 1: found a friend. The Savior became to me the chiefest
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Speaker 1: among ten thousand, and the scriptures, which before were dark
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Speaker 1: and contradictory, now became the lamp to my feet and
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Speaker 1: light to my path. My mind became settled and satisfied.
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Speaker 1: I found the Lord God to be a rock in
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Speaker 1: the midst of the ocean of life. The Bible now
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Speaker 1: became my chief study, and I can truly say I
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Speaker 1: searched it with great delight. I found the half was
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Speaker 1: never told me. I wondered why I had not seen
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Speaker 1: its beauty and glory before, and marveled that I could
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Speaker 1: have ever rejected it. I found everything revealed that my
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Speaker 1: heart could desire, and a remedy for every disease of
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Speaker 1: the soul. I lost all taste for other reading, and
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Speaker 1: applied my heart to get wisdom from God. Miller publicly
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Speaker 1: professed his faith in the religion which he had despised,
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Speaker 1: but his infidel associates were not slow to bring forward
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Speaker 1: all those arguments which he himself had often urged against
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Speaker 1: the divine authority of the scriptures. He was not then
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Speaker 1: prepared to answer them, but he reasoned that if the
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Speaker 1: Bible is a revelation from God, it must be consistent
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Speaker 1: with itself, and that as it was given for man's instruction,
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Speaker 1: it must be adapted to his understanding. He determined to
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Speaker 1: study the scriptures for himself and ascertain if every apparent
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Speaker 1: contradiction could not be harmonized. Endeavoring to lay aside all
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Speaker 1: preconceived opinions and dispensing with commentaries, he compared scripture with
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Speaker 1: scripture by the aid of marginal references and the concordance.
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Speaker 1: He pursued his study in a regular and methodical manner,
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Speaker 1: Beginning with Genesis and reading verse by verse, He proceeded
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Speaker 1: no faster than the meaning of the several passages so
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Speaker 1: unfolded as to leave him free from all embarrassment. When
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Speaker 1: he found anything obscure, it was his custom to compare
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Speaker 1: it with every other text which seemed to have any
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Speaker 1: reference to the matter under consideration. Every word was permitted
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Speaker 1: to have its proper bearing upon the subject of the text,
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Speaker 1: and if his view of it harmonized with every collateral passage,
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Speaker 1: it ceased to be a difficulty. Thus, whenever he met
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Speaker 1: with a passage hard to be understood, he found an
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Speaker 1: explanation in some other portion of the scriptures. As he studied,
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Speaker 1: with earnest prayer for divine enlightenment, that which had before
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Speaker 1: appeared dark to his understanding was made clear. He experienced
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Speaker 1: the truth of the Psalmist's words. The entrance of thy
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Speaker 1: words giveth light, It giveth understanding unto the simple. With
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Speaker 1: intense interest, he studied the books of Daniel and the Revelation,
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Speaker 1: employing the same principles of interpretation as in the other scriptures,
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Speaker 1: and found to his great joy that the prophetic symbols
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Speaker 1: could be understood. He saw that the prophecies, so far
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Speaker 1: as they had been fulfilled, had been fulfilled literally, that
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Speaker 1: all the various figures, metaphors, parables, similitudes, et cetera, were
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Speaker 1: either explained in their immediate connection, or the terms in
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Speaker 1: which they were expressed were defined in other scriptures, and
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Speaker 1: when thus explained, were to be literally understood. I was
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Speaker 1: thus satisfied. He says that the Bible is a system
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Speaker 1: of revealed truths, so clearly and simply given that the
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Speaker 1: wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err therein link
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Speaker 1: after link of the chain of truth rewarded his efforts,
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Speaker 1: as step by step he traced down the great lines
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Speaker 1: of prophecy. Angels of heaven were guiding his mind and
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Speaker 1: opening the scriptures to his understanding. Taking the manner in
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Speaker 1: which the prophecies had been fulfilled in the past as
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Speaker 1: a criterion by which to judge the fulfillment of those
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Speaker 1: which were still future, he became satisfied that the popular
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Speaker 1: view of the spiritual reign of Christ a temporal millennium
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Speaker 1: before the end of the world was not sustained by
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Speaker 1: the word of God. This doctrine, pointing to a thousand
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Speaker 1: years of righteousness and peace before the personal coming of
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Speaker 1: the Lord, put far off the terrors of the day
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Speaker 1: of God. But pleasing though it may be, it is
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Speaker 1: contrary to the teachings of Christ and his apostles, who
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Speaker 1: declared that the wheat and the tears are to grow
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Speaker 1: together until the harvest the end of the world, that
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Speaker 1: evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, that
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Speaker 1: in the last days, perilous time shall come, and that
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Speaker 1: the kingdom of darkness shall continue until the advent of
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Speaker 1: the Lord, and shall be consumed with the spirit of
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Speaker 1: his mouth and be destroyed with the brightness of his coming.
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Speaker 1: The doctrine of the world's conversion in the spiritual reign
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Speaker 1: of Christ was not held by the Apostolic Church. It
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Speaker 1: was not generally accepted by Christians until about the beginning
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Speaker 1: of the eighteenth century. Like every other error, its results
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Speaker 1: were evil. It taught men to look far in the
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Speaker 1: future for the coming of the Lord and prevented them
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Speaker 1: from giving heed to the signs heralding his approach. It
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Speaker 1: induced a feeling of confidence and security that was not
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Speaker 1: well founded, and led many to neglect the preparation necessary
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Speaker 1: in order to meet their Lord. Miller found the literal
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Speaker 1: personal coming of Christ to be plainly taught in the scriptures.
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Speaker 1: Says Paul, the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with
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Speaker 1: a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with
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Speaker 1: the trump of God, and the Savior declares, they shall
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Speaker 1: see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of
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Speaker 1: heaven with power and great glory. For as the lightning
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Speaker 1: cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west,
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Speaker 1: so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.
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Speaker 1: He is to be accompanied by all the hosts of heaven.
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Speaker 1: The Son of Man shall come in his glory, and
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Speaker 1: all the Holy angels with him, and he shall send
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Speaker 1: his angels with the great sound of a trumpet, and
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Speaker 1: they shall gather together his elect At his coming, the
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Speaker 1: righteous dead will be raised, and the righteous living will
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Speaker 1: be changed. We shall not all sleep, says Paul, but
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Speaker 1: we shall all be changed in a moment, in the
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Speaker 1: twinkling of an eye at the last trump For the
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Speaker 1: trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,
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Speaker 1: and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put
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Speaker 1: on in corruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
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Speaker 1: And in his letter to the Thessalonians, after describing the
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Speaker 1: coming of the Lord, he said, says, the dead in
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Speaker 1: Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain,
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Speaker 1: shall be caught up together with them in the clouds
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Speaker 1: to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall
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Speaker 1: we ever be with the Lord. Not until the personal
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Speaker 1: Advent of Christ can his people receive the kingdom. The
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Speaker 1: Savior said, when the Son of Man shall come in
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Speaker 1: his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then
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Speaker 1: shall he sit upon the throne of his glory, and
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Speaker 1: before him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall
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Speaker 1: separate them one from another as a shepherd divideth his
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Speaker 1: sheep from the goats, and he shall set the sheep
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Speaker 1: on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
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Speaker 1: Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye,
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Speaker 1: blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
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Speaker 1: from the foundation of the world. We have seen by
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Speaker 1: the scriptures just given, that when the Son of Man comes,
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Speaker 1: the dead are raised incorruptible, and the living are changed
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Speaker 1: by this great change. They are prepared to receive the Kingdom.
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Speaker 1: For Paul says, flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom
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Speaker 1: of God. Neither doth corruption inherit in corruption. Man in
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Speaker 1: his present state is mortal, corruptible, But the Kingdom of
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Speaker 1: God will be incorruptible, enduring forever. Therefore, man in his
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Speaker 1: present state cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. But
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Speaker 1: when Jesus comes, he confers immortality upon his people, and
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Speaker 1: then he calls them to inherit the kingdom of which
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Speaker 1: they have hitherto been only heirs. These and other scriptures
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Speaker 1: clearly proved to Miller's mind that the events which were
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Speaker 1: generally expected to take place before the coming of Christ,
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Speaker 1: such as the universal reign of peace and the setting
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Speaker 1: up of the Kingdom of God upon the earth were
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Speaker 1: to be subsequent to the Second Advent. Furthermore, all the
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Speaker 1: signs of the times and the condition of the world
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Speaker 1: corresponded to the prophetic description of the last days. He
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Speaker 1: was forced to the conclusion from the study of scripture
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Speaker 1: alone that the period allotted for the continuance of the
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Speaker 1: earth in its present state was about to close. Another
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Speaker 1: kind of evidence that vitally affected my mind, he says,
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Speaker 1: was the chronology of the scriptures. I found that predicted
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Speaker 1: events which had been fulfilled in the past often occurred
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Speaker 1: within a given time. The one hundred and twenty years
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Speaker 1: to the flood Genesis sixty three, the seven days that
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Speaker 1: were to precede it with forty days of predicted reign
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Speaker 1: Genesis seventy four, the four hundred years of the sojourn
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Speaker 1: of Abraham's Seed Genesis fifteen thirteen, the three days of
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Speaker 1: the Butler's and Baker's Dreams Genesis forty twelve through twenty
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Speaker 1: the seven years of Pharaoh's Genesis forty one, twenty eight
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Speaker 1: through fifty four, the forty years in the Wilderness Numbers
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Speaker 1: fourteen thirty four, the three and a half years of famine,
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Speaker 1: First King seventeen one, the seventy years captivity Jeremiah twenty five, eleven,
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Speaker 1: Nebuchadnezzar's seven times Daniel four thirteen through sixteen, and the
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Speaker 1: seven weeks three scool or in two weeks, and the
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Speaker 1: one week making seventy weeks determined upon the Jews Daniel nine,
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Speaker 1: twenty four or twenty seven. The events limited by these
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Speaker 1: times were all once only a matter of prophecy, and
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Speaker 1: were fulfilled in accordance with the predictions. When therefore he found,
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Speaker 1: in his study of the Bible various chronological periods that,
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Speaker 1: according to his understanding of them, extended to the second
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Speaker 1: coming of Christ. He could not but regard them as
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Speaker 1: the times before appointed, which God had revealed unto his
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Speaker 1: servants the secret things, says Moses, belonging to the Lord,
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Speaker 1: our God. But those things which are revealed belong unto
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Speaker 1: us and to our children forever. And the Lord declares,
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Speaker 1: by the prophet Amos, that he will do nothing but
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Speaker 1: he revealeth his secret unto his servants. The prophets. The
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Speaker 1: students of God's word may then confidently expect to find
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Speaker 1: the most stupendous event to take place in human history,
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Speaker 1: clearly pointed out in the Scriptures of Truth. As I
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Speaker 1: I was fully convinced, says Miller, that all scripture given
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Speaker 1: by inspiration of God is profitable, that it came not
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Speaker 1: at any time by the will of man, but was
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Speaker 1: written as holy men, removed by the Holy Ghost, and
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Speaker 1: was written for our learning, that we, through patience and
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Speaker 1: comfort of the scriptures, might have hope. I could but
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Speaker 1: regard the chronological portions of the Bible as being as
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Speaker 1: much a portion of the Word of God, and as
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Speaker 1: much entitled to our serious consideration, as any other portion
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Speaker 1: of the Scriptures. I therefore felt that, in endeavoring to
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Speaker 1: comprehend what God had in his mercy seem fit to
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Speaker 1: reveal to us, I had no right to pass over
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Speaker 1: the prophetic periods. The prophecy which seemed most clearly to
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Speaker 1: reveal the time of the Second Advent was that of
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Speaker 1: Daniel eight fourteen unto two thousand and three hundred days.
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Speaker 1: Then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. Following his rule of
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Speaker 1: making scripture its own interpreter, Miller learned that a day
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Speaker 1: in symbolic prophecy represents a year he saw that the
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Speaker 1: peers of twenty three hundred prophetic days or literal years
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Speaker 1: would extend far beyond the close of the Jewish dispensation.
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Speaker 1: Hence it could not refer to the sanctuary of that dispensation.
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Speaker 1: Miller accepted the generally received view that in the Christian age,
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Speaker 1: the earth is the sanctuary, and he therefore understood that
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Speaker 1: the cleansing of the sanctuary foretold in Daniel eight fourteen
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Speaker 1: represented the purification of the earth by fire at the
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Speaker 1: second coming of Christ. If then the correct starting point
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Speaker 1: could be found for the twenty three hundred days, he
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Speaker 1: concluded that the time of the Second Advent could be
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Speaker 1: readily ascertained. Thus would be revealed the time of that
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Speaker 1: great consummation, the time when the present state, with all
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Speaker 1: its pride and power, pomp and vanity, wickedness and oppression,
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Speaker 1: would come to an end, when the curse would be
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Speaker 1: removed from off the earth, death be destroyed, reward be
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Speaker 1: given to the servants of God, the prophets and saints,
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Speaker 1: and them who fear His name, and those be destroyed
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Speaker 1: that destroy the earth. With a new and deeper earnestness.
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Speaker 1: Miller continued the examination of the prophecies, whole nights as
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Speaker 1: well as days, being devoted to the study of what
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Speaker 1: now appeared of such stupendous importance and all absorbing interest.
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Speaker 1: In the eighth chapter of Daniel, he could find no
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Speaker 1: clue to the starting point of the twenty three hundred days.
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Speaker 1: The Angel Gabriel, though commanded to make Daniel understand the vision,
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Speaker 1: gave him only a partial explanation, as the terrible persecution
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Speaker 1: to befall the church was unfolded to the prophet's vision.
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Speaker 1: Physical strength gave way. He could endure no more, and
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Speaker 1: the Angel loved him for a time. Daniel fainted and
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Speaker 1: with six certain days. And I was astonished at the vision,
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Speaker 1: he says, but none understood it. Yet God had bidden
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Speaker 1: his messenger make this man to understand the vision. That
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Speaker 1: commission must be fulfilled in obedience to it. The Angel
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Speaker 1: some time afterward returned to Daniel, saying, I am now
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Speaker 1: come forth to give these skill and understanding. Therefore, understand
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Speaker 1: the matter and consider the vision. There was one important
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Speaker 1: point in the vision of chapter eight which had been
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Speaker 1: left unexplained, namely that relating to time, the period of
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Speaker 1: the twenty three hundred days. Therefore, the Angel in resuming
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Speaker 1: his explanation, dwells chiefly upon the subject of time. Seventy
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Speaker 1: weeks are determined upon my people and upon my holy city.
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Speaker 1: Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of
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Speaker 1: the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, and too,
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Speaker 1: Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks and threescore and
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Speaker 1: two weeks the street shall be built again, and the
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Speaker 1: wall even in troublous times. And after threescore and two
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Speaker 1: weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself.
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Speaker 1: And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week,
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Speaker 1: and in the midst of the week he shall cause
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Speaker 1: the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. The Angel had
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Speaker 1: been sent to Daniel for the express purpose of explaining
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Speaker 1: to him him the point which he had failed to
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Speaker 1: understand in the vision of the eighth chapter, the statement
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Speaker 1: relative to time. Onto two thousand and three hundred days,
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Speaker 1: then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. After bidding Daniel understand
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Speaker 1: the matter and consider the vision. The very first words
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Speaker 1: of the Angel are seventy weeks are determined upon thy
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Speaker 1: people and upon thy holy city. The word here translated
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Speaker 1: determined literally signifies cut off. Seventy weeks representing four hundred
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Speaker 1: ninety years, are declared by the Angel to be cut off,
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Speaker 1: as specially pertaining to the Jews. But from what were
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Speaker 1: they cut off? As the twenty three hundred days was
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Speaker 1: the only period of time mentioned in chapter eight, it
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Speaker 1: must be the period from which the seventy weeks were
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Speaker 1: cut off. The seventy weeks must therefore be a part
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Speaker 1: of the twenty three hundred days, and the two periods
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Speaker 1: must begin together. The seventy weeks were declared by the
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Speaker 1: Angel to date from the going forth of the commandment
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Speaker 1: to restore and build Jerusalem. If the date of this
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Speaker 1: commandment could be found, then the starting point for the
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Speaker 1: great period of the twenty three hundred days would be ascertained.
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Speaker 1: In the seventh chapter of Ezra, the decree is found
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Speaker 1: in its completest form. It was issued by Artaxerxes, King
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Speaker 1: of Persia b c. Four fifty seven, But in Ezra
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Speaker 1: six fourteen the House of the Lord at Jerusalem is
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Speaker 1: said to have been built according to the commandment margin
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Speaker 1: decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes, King of Persia.
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Speaker 1: These three kings, in originating, reaffirming and completing the decree
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Speaker 1: brought it to the perfection required by the prophecy to
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Speaker 1: mark the beginning of the twenty three hundred years. Taking
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Speaker 1: b c. Four fifty seven the time when the decree
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Speaker 1: was completed as the date of the commandment, every specification
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Speaker 1: of the prophecy concerning the seventy weeks was seen to
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Speaker 1: have been fulfilled. From the going forth of the commandment
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Speaker 1: to restore and to build Jerusalem. Unto Messiah, the prince
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Speaker 1: shall be seven weeks and threescore and two weeks, namely
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Speaker 1: sixty nine weeks or four hundred eighty three years. The
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Speaker 1: decree of Artaxerxes went into effect in the autumn of
21:09
Speaker 1: b c. Four fifty seven. From this date, four hundred
21:14
Speaker 1: eighty three years extend to the autumn of eight twenty seven.
21:18
Speaker 1: At that time this prophecy was fulfilled. The word Messiah
21:22
Speaker 1: signifies the anointed one. In the autumn of eight twenty seven,
21:26
Speaker 1: Christ was baptized by John and received the anointing of
21:29
Speaker 1: the Spirit. The apostle Peter testifies that God anointed Jesus
21:34
Speaker 1: of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, and
21:37
Speaker 1: the Savior himself declared the Spirit of the Lord is
21:40
Speaker 1: upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the
21:43
Speaker 1: Gospel to the poor. After his baptism, he went into Galilee,
21:47
Speaker 1: preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and saying,
21:50
Speaker 1: the time is fulfilled, and he shall confirm the covenant
21:55
Speaker 1: with many for one week. The week here brought to
21:59
Speaker 1: view as the last one of the seventy It is
22:01
Speaker 1: the last seven years of the period allotted especially to
22:04
Speaker 1: the Jews. During this time, extending from eighty twenty seven
22:09
Speaker 1: to eighty thirty four, Christ at first in person and
22:12
Speaker 1: afterward by his disciples, extended the Gospel invitation, especially to
22:17
Speaker 1: the Jews. As the apostles went forth with the good
22:20
Speaker 1: tidings of the Kingdom. The Saviour's direction was, go not
22:24
Speaker 1: into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city
22:26
Speaker 1: of the Samaritans, enter ye not, but go rather to
22:29
Speaker 1: the lost sheep of the House of Israel. In the
22:32
Speaker 1: midst of the week. He shall cause the sacrifice and
22:35
Speaker 1: the oblation to cease. In eighty thirty one, three and
22:39
Speaker 1: a half years after his baptism, our Lord was crucified
22:43
Speaker 1: with the great sacrifice offered upon cavalry. Ended that system
22:47
Speaker 1: of offerings which for four thousand years had pointed forward
22:50
Speaker 1: to the Lamb of God type had met Anti type,
22:54
Speaker 1: and all the sacrifices and oblations of the ceremonial system
22:58
Speaker 1: were there to cease. The seventy weeks or four hundred
23:02
Speaker 1: ninety years, especially allotted to the Jews ended, as we
23:05
Speaker 1: have seen in eighty thirty four. At that time, through
23:09
Speaker 1: the action of the Jewish Sanhedrin, the nation sealed its
23:12
Speaker 1: rejection of the Gospel by the martyrdom of Stephen and
23:15
Speaker 1: the persecution of the followers of Christ. Then the message
23:19
Speaker 1: of salvation, no longer restricted to the chosen people, was
23:22
Speaker 1: given to the world. The disciples, forced by persecution to
23:27
Speaker 1: flee from Jerusalem, went everywhere preaching the word. Philip went
23:31
Speaker 1: down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them. Peter,
23:36
Speaker 1: divinely guided, opened the Gospel to the centurion of Cesarea,
23:39
Speaker 1: the god fearing Cornelius, and the ardent Paul, one to
23:43
Speaker 1: the faith of Christ was commissioned to carry the glad
23:46
Speaker 1: tidings far hence unto the Gentiles. Thus far every specification
23:51
Speaker 1: of the prophecies is strikingly fulfilled, and the beginning of
23:55
Speaker 1: the seventy weeks is fixed beyond question at b C.
23:57
Speaker 1: Four fifty seven and their expiration in eighty thirty four.
24:02
Speaker 1: From this data, there is no difficulty in finding the
24:05
Speaker 1: termination of the twenty three hundred days the seventy weeks,
24:09
Speaker 1: four hundred ninety days having been cut off from the
24:12
Speaker 1: twenty three hundred, there were eighteen hundred ten days remaining.
24:17
Speaker 1: After the end of four hundred ninety days, the eighteen
24:20
Speaker 1: hundred ten days were still to be fulfilled. From eighty
24:24
Speaker 1: thirty four, eighteen hundred ten years extend to eighteen forty four. Consequently,
24:30
Speaker 1: the twenty three hundred days of Daniel eight fourteen terminate
24:33
Speaker 1: in eighteen forty four. At the expiration of this great
24:37
Speaker 1: prophetic period, upon the testimony of the Angel of God,
24:41
Speaker 1: the sanctuary shall be cleansed. Thus, the time of the
24:45
Speaker 1: cleansing of the sanctuary, which was almost universally believed to
24:48
Speaker 1: take place at the Second Advent, was definitely pointed out.
24:53
Speaker 1: Miller and his associates at first believed that the twenty
24:56
Speaker 1: three hundred days would terminate in the spring of eighteen
24:58
Speaker 1: forty four, whereas the prophecy points to the autumn of
25:01
Speaker 1: that year. The misapprehension of this point brought disappointment and
25:05
Speaker 1: perplexity to those who had fixed upon the earlier day
25:08
Speaker 1: as the time of the Lord's coming. But this did
25:11
Speaker 1: not in the least effect the strength of the argument
25:13
Speaker 1: showing that the twenty three hundred days terminated in the
25:16
Speaker 1: year eighteen forty four, and that the great event represented
25:19
Speaker 1: by the cleansing of the sanctuary must then take place.
25:24
Speaker 1: Entering upon the study of the scriptures, as he had
25:26
Speaker 1: done in order to prove that they were a revelation
25:29
Speaker 1: from God, Miller had not at the outset the slightest
25:32
Speaker 1: expectation of reaching the conclusion at which he had now arrived.
25:37
Speaker 1: He himself could hardly credit the results of his investigation,
25:41
Speaker 1: but the scripture evidence was too clear and forcible to
25:44
Speaker 1: be set aside. He had devoted two years to the
25:48
Speaker 1: study of the Bible, when in eighteen eighteen he reached
25:51
Speaker 1: the solemn conviction that in about twenty five years Christ
25:54
Speaker 1: would appear for the redemption of his people. I need
25:58
Speaker 1: not speak, says Miller, of the jib joy that filled
26:00
Speaker 1: my heart in view of the delightful prospect, nor of
26:03
Speaker 1: the ardent longings of my soul for a participation in
26:06
Speaker 1: the joys of the Redeemed. The Bible was now to
26:10
Speaker 1: me a new book. It was indeed a feast of reason.
26:13
Speaker 1: All that was dark, mystical, or obscure to me in
26:16
Speaker 1: its teachings had been dissipated from my mind before the
26:18
Speaker 1: clear light that now dawned from its sacred pages. And
26:22
Speaker 1: oh how bright and glorious the truth appeared. All the
26:26
Speaker 1: contradictions and inconsistencies I had before found in the Word
26:30
Speaker 1: were gone, And although there were many portions of which
26:33
Speaker 1: I was not satisfied, I had a full understanding. Yet
26:36
Speaker 1: so much light had emanated from it to the illumination
26:39
Speaker 1: of my before darkened mind that I felt a delight
26:42
Speaker 1: in studying the Scripture, which I had not before supposed
26:44
Speaker 1: could be derived from its teachings. With the solemn conviction
26:49
Speaker 1: that such momentous events were predicted in the scriptures to
26:52
Speaker 1: be fulfilled in so short a space of time, The
26:55
Speaker 1: question came home to me with mighty power regarding my
26:58
Speaker 1: duty to the world in view of the evidence that
27:00
Speaker 1: had affected my own mind. He could not but feel
27:03
Speaker 1: that it was his duty to impart to others the
27:05
Speaker 1: light which he had received. He expected to encounter opposition
27:10
Speaker 1: from the ungodly, but was confident that all Christians would
27:13
Speaker 1: rejoice in the hope of meeting the Savior whom they
27:15
Speaker 1: professed to love. His only fear was that, in their
27:19
Speaker 1: great joy at the prospect of glorious deliverance so soon
27:22
Speaker 1: to be consummated, many would receive the doctrine without sufficiently
27:26
Speaker 1: examining the scriptures in demonstration of its truth. He therefore
27:30
Speaker 1: hesitated to present it, lest he should be in error
27:34
Speaker 1: and be the means of misleading others. He was thus
27:38
Speaker 1: led to review the evidences in support of the conclusions
27:40
Speaker 1: at which he had arrived, and to consider carefully every
27:43
Speaker 1: difficulty which presented itself to his mind. He found that
27:48
Speaker 1: objections vanished before the light of God's word, as missed
27:51
Speaker 1: before the rays of the sun. Five years spent thus
27:55
Speaker 1: left him fully convinced of the correctness of his position.
27:59
Speaker 1: And now the duty of making known to others what
28:02
Speaker 1: he believed to be so clearly taught in the scriptures
28:04
Speaker 1: urged itself a new force upon him. When I was
28:08
Speaker 1: about my business, he said, it was continually ringing in
28:11
Speaker 1: my ears. Go and tell the world of their danger.
28:14
Speaker 1: This text was constantly occurring to me when I say
28:18
Speaker 1: unto the wicked, O, wicked man, thou shalt surely die
28:21
Speaker 1: if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from
28:23
Speaker 1: his way. That wicked man shall die in his iniquity.
28:26
Speaker 1: But his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless,
28:30
Speaker 1: if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn
28:32
Speaker 1: from it, if he do not turn from his way,
28:35
Speaker 1: he shall die in his iniquity. But thou hast delivered
28:37
Speaker 1: thy soul. I felt that if the wicked could be
28:41
Speaker 1: effectually warned, multitudes of them would repent, and that if
28:44
Speaker 1: they were not warned, their blood might be required at
28:47
Speaker 1: my hand. He began to present his views in private
28:51
Speaker 1: as he had opportunity, praying that some minister might feel
28:54
Speaker 1: their force and devote himself to their promulgation. But he
28:58
Speaker 1: could not banish the conviction that he had a personal
29:00
Speaker 1: duty to perform in giving the warning. The words were
29:03
Speaker 1: ever recurring to his mind, Go and tell it to
29:06
Speaker 1: the world their blood, while I require at thy hand.
29:10
Speaker 1: For nine years he waited, the burden still pressing upon
29:13
Speaker 1: his soul, until in eighteen thirty one he for the
29:16
Speaker 1: first time publicly gave the reasons of his faith as
29:20
Speaker 1: Elisha was called from following his oxen in the field
29:23
Speaker 1: to receive the mantle of consecration to the prophetic office.
29:27
Speaker 1: So was William Miller called to leave his plow and
29:29
Speaker 1: open to the people the mysteries of the Kingdom of God.
29:33
Speaker 1: With trembling, he entered upon his work, leading his hearers
29:36
Speaker 1: down step by step through the prophetic periods to the
29:39
Speaker 1: second appearing of Christ. With every effort he gained strength
29:42
Speaker 1: and courage as he saw the widespread interest excited by
29:45
Speaker 1: his words. It was only at the solicitation of his brethren,
29:50
Speaker 1: in whose words he heard the call of God, that
29:53
Speaker 1: Miller consented to present his views in public. He was
29:56
Speaker 1: now fifty years of age, unaccustomed to public speaking, and
30:00
Speaker 1: burdened with a sense of unfitness for the work before him.
30:04
Speaker 1: But from the first his labors were blessed in a
30:06
Speaker 1: remarkable manner to the salvation of souls. His first lecture
30:11
Speaker 1: was followed by a religious awakening in which thirteen entire families,
30:15
Speaker 1: with the exception of two persons, were converted. He was
30:19
Speaker 1: immediately urged to speak in other places, and in nearly
30:22
Speaker 1: every place his labor resulted in a revival of the
30:25
Speaker 1: work of God, Sinners were converted, Christians were roused to
30:30
Speaker 1: greater consecration, and deists and infidels were led to acknowledge
30:33
Speaker 1: the truth of the Bible and the Christian religion. The
30:37
Speaker 1: testimony of those among whom he labored was a class
30:41
Speaker 1: of minds are reached by him, not within the influence
30:43
Speaker 1: of other men. His preaching was calculated to arouse the
30:47
Speaker 1: public mind to the great things of religion, and to
30:50
Speaker 1: check the growing worldliness and sensuality of the age. In
30:55
Speaker 1: nearly every town there were scores and some hundreds converted
30:58
Speaker 1: as the result of his preaching. In many places, Protestant
31:02
Speaker 1: churches of nearly all denominations were thrown open to him,
31:05
Speaker 1: and the invitations to labor usually came from the ministers
31:08
Speaker 1: of the several congregations. It was his invariable rule not
31:13
Speaker 1: to labor in any place to which he had not
31:15
Speaker 1: been invited. Yet he soon found himself unable to comply
31:18
Speaker 1: with half the requests that poured in upon him. Many
31:22
Speaker 1: who did not accept his views as to the exact
31:24
Speaker 1: time of the Second Advent were convinced of the certainty
31:27
Speaker 1: and nearness of Christ's coming, and their need of preparation.
31:31
Speaker 1: In some of the large cities, his work produced a
31:33
Speaker 1: marked impression. Liquor dealers abandoned the traffic and turned their
31:38
Speaker 1: shops into meeting rooms. Gambling dens were broken up. Infidels, deists, universalists,
31:44
Speaker 1: and even the most abandoned profligates were reformed, some of
31:47
Speaker 1: whom had not entered a house of worship for years.
31:50
Speaker 1: Prayer meetings were established by the various denominations in different
31:54
Speaker 1: quarters at almost every hour, business men assembling at midday
31:58
Speaker 1: for prayer and praise. There was no extravagant excitement, but
32:03
Speaker 1: an almost universal solemnity on the minds of the people.
32:07
Speaker 1: His work, like that of the early reformers, tended rather
32:10
Speaker 1: to convince the understanding and arouse the conscience, than merely
32:14
Speaker 1: to excite the emotions. In eighteen thirty three, Miller received
32:18
Speaker 1: a license to preach from the Baptist Church, of which
32:21
Speaker 1: he was a member. A large number of the ministers
32:25
Speaker 1: of his denomination also approved his work, and it was
32:28
Speaker 1: with their formal sanction that he continued his labors. He
32:31
Speaker 1: traveled and preached unceasingly, though his personal labors were confined
32:36
Speaker 1: principally to the New England and Middle States. For several
32:40
Speaker 1: years his expenses were met wholly from his own private purse,
32:44
Speaker 1: and he never afterward received enough to meet the expense
32:47
Speaker 1: of travel to the places where he was invited. Thus,
32:50
Speaker 1: his public labors, so far from being a pecuniary benefit,
32:54
Speaker 1: were a heavy tax upon his property, which gradually diminished.
32:57
Speaker 1: During this period of his life. He was the father
33:01
Speaker 1: of a large family, but as they were all frugal
33:03
Speaker 1: and industrious, his farm sufficed for their maintenance as well
33:06
Speaker 1: as his own. In eighteen thirty three, two years after
33:11
Speaker 1: Miller began to present in public the evidences of Christ's
33:14
Speaker 1: soon coming, the last of the signs appeared which were
33:17
Speaker 1: promised by the Saviorist tokens of his Second Advent, said Jesus,
33:21
Speaker 1: the stars shall fall from heaven and John and the
33:24
Speaker 1: revelation declared, as he beheld in vision the scenes that
33:27
Speaker 1: should herald the day of God. The stars of heaven
33:30
Speaker 1: fell into the earth, even as a fig tree casteth
33:33
Speaker 1: her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
33:37
Speaker 1: This prophecy received a striking and impressive fulfillment in the
33:40
Speaker 1: Great Meteoric Shower of November thirteenth, eighteen thirty three. That
33:45
Speaker 1: was the most extensive and wonderful display of falling stars
33:48
Speaker 1: which has ever been recorded, the whole firmament over all
33:52
Speaker 1: the United States being then for hours in fiery collotion.
33:57
Speaker 1: No celestial phenomenon has ever occurred in this countree since
34:00
Speaker 1: its first settlement, which was viewed with such intense admiration
34:04
Speaker 1: by one class in the community, or with so much
34:06
Speaker 1: dread and alarm by another. Its sublimity and awful beauty
34:11
Speaker 1: still linger in many minds. Never did rain fall much
34:14
Speaker 1: thicker than the meteors fell toward the earth east, west,
34:17
Speaker 1: north and south. It was the same. In a word,
34:21
Speaker 1: the whole heaven seemed in motion. The display, as described
34:26
Speaker 1: in Professor Silliman's journal, was seen all over North America
34:30
Speaker 1: from two o'clock until broad daylight, the sky being perfectly
34:34
Speaker 1: serene and cloudless. An incessant play of dazzlingly brilliant luminosities
34:39
Speaker 1: was kept up in the whole heavens. No language, indeed,
34:43
Speaker 1: can come up to the splendor of that magnificent display.
34:46
Speaker 1: No one who did not witness it can form an
34:49
Speaker 1: adequate conception of its glory. It seemed as if the
34:53
Speaker 1: whole starry heavens had congregated at one point near the zenith,
34:56
Speaker 1: and were simultaneously shooting forth with the velocity of lightning,
35:00
Speaker 1: to every part of the horizon, And yet they were
35:02
Speaker 1: not exhausted. Thousands swiftly followed in the tracks of thousands,
35:06
Speaker 1: as if created for the occasion. A more correct picture
35:10
Speaker 1: of a fig tree casting its figs when blown by
35:12
Speaker 1: a mighty wind, it was not possible to behold. In
35:16
Speaker 1: the New York Journal of Commerce of November fourteenth, eighteen
35:19
Speaker 1: thirty three, appeared a long article regarding this wonderful phenomenon,
35:23
Speaker 1: containing this statement, no philosopher or scholar has told or
35:27
Speaker 1: recorded an event, I suppose, like that of yesterday morning.
35:31
Speaker 1: A prophet eighteen hundred years ago foretold it exactly if
35:35
Speaker 1: we will be at the trouble of understanding stars falling
35:37
Speaker 1: to mean falling stars in the only sense in which
35:40
Speaker 1: it is possible to be literally true. Thus was displayed
35:44
Speaker 1: the last of those signs of his coming concerning which
35:47
Speaker 1: Jesus bade his disciples. When ye shall see all these things,
35:51
Speaker 1: know that it is near even at the doors. After
35:55
Speaker 1: these signs, John beheld as the great event next impending
35:58
Speaker 1: the heavens departing as a scroll, while the earthquaked, mountains
36:03
Speaker 1: and islands removed out of their places, and the wicked
36:05
Speaker 1: and terror sought to flee from the presence of the
36:08
Speaker 1: Son of Man. Many who witnessed the falling of the
36:11
Speaker 1: stars looked upon it as a herald of the coming judgment,
36:15
Speaker 1: an awful type, a sure forerunner, a merciful sign of
36:18
Speaker 1: that great and dreadful day. Thus the attention of the
36:21
Speaker 1: people was directed to the fulfillment of prophecy, and many
36:24
Speaker 1: were led to give heed to the warning of the
36:26
Speaker 1: Second Advent. In the year eighteen forty, another remarkable fulfillment
36:31
Speaker 1: of prophecy excited widespread interest. Two years before, Josiah Lytch,
36:37
Speaker 1: one of the leading ministers preaching the Second Advent, published
36:41
Speaker 1: an exposition of Revelation nine, predicting the fall of the
36:44
Speaker 1: Ottoman Empire. According to his calculations, this power was to
36:48
Speaker 1: be overthrown in eighty eighteen forty, some time in the
36:51
Speaker 1: month of August, and only a few days previous to
36:54
Speaker 1: its accomplishment. He wrote, allowing the first period one hundred
36:58
Speaker 1: fifty years to have been exact xactly fulfilled before diacosis
37:02
Speaker 1: ascended the throne by permission of the Turks, and that
37:05
Speaker 1: the three hundred ninety one years fifteen days commenced at
37:09
Speaker 1: the close of the first period, it will end on
37:11
Speaker 1: the eleventh of August eighteen forty, when the Ottoman power
37:15
Speaker 1: in Constantinople may be expected to be broken. And this
37:19
Speaker 1: I believe will be found to be the case. At
37:23
Speaker 1: the very time specified, Turkey, through her ambassadors, accepted the
37:26
Speaker 1: protection of the Allied powers of Europe, and thus placed
37:29
Speaker 1: herself under the control of Christian nations. The event exactly
37:34
Speaker 1: fulfilled the prediction. When it became known, multitudes were convinced
37:39
Speaker 1: of the correctness of the principles of prophetic interpretation adopted
37:43
Speaker 1: by Miller and his associates, and a wonderful impetus was
37:46
Speaker 1: given to the Advent movement. Men of learning and position
37:51
Speaker 1: united with Miller both in preaching and publishing his views,
37:54
Speaker 1: and from eighteen forty to eighteen forty four the work
37:57
Speaker 1: rapidly extended. William Miller possessed strong mental powers, disciplined by
38:03
Speaker 1: thought and study, and he added to these the wisdom
38:06
Speaker 1: of Heaven by connecting himself with the source of wisdom.
38:10
Speaker 1: He was a man of sterling Worth who could not
38:13
Speaker 1: but command respect and esteem wherever integrity of character and
38:16
Speaker 1: moral excellence were valued. Uniting true kindness of heart with
38:21
Speaker 1: Christian humility and the power of self control. He was
38:24
Speaker 1: attentive and affable to all ready to listen to the
38:27
Speaker 1: opinions of others, and to weigh their arguments without passion
38:32
Speaker 1: or excitement. He tested all theories and doctrines by the
38:35
Speaker 1: Word of God, and his sound reasoning and thorough knowledge
38:38
Speaker 1: of the scriptures enabled him to refute error and expose falsehood.
38:43
Speaker 1: Yet he did not prosecute his work without bitter opposition.
38:48
Speaker 1: As with earlier reformers. The truths which he presented were
38:51
Speaker 1: not received with favor by popular religious teachers, as these
38:55
Speaker 1: could not maintain their position by the scriptures. They were
38:58
Speaker 1: driven to resort to the sea payings and doctrines of men,
39:01
Speaker 1: to the traditions of the fathers. But the word of
39:05
Speaker 1: God was the only testimony accepted by the preachers of
39:08
Speaker 1: the Advent. Truth the Bible, and the Bible only was
39:11
Speaker 1: their watchword. The lack of scripture argument on the part
39:15
Speaker 1: of their opponents was supplied by ridicule and scoffing. Time
39:19
Speaker 1: means and talents were employed in maligning those whose only
39:22
Speaker 1: offense was that they looked with joy for the return
39:25
Speaker 1: of their Lord and were striving to live holy lives
39:28
Speaker 1: and to exhort others to prepare for his appearing. Earnest
39:31
Speaker 1: were the efforts put forth to draw away the minds
39:34
Speaker 1: of the people from the subject of the Second Advent.
39:37
Speaker 1: It was made to appear a sin, something of which
39:40
Speaker 1: men should be ashamed to study the prophecies which relate
39:43
Speaker 1: to the coming of Christ and the end of the world.
39:47
Speaker 1: Thus the popular ministry undermined faith in the word of God.
39:51
Speaker 1: Their teaching made men infidels, and many took license to
39:54
Speaker 1: walk after their own ungodly lusts. Then the authors of
39:58
Speaker 1: the evil charged at all upon acadists, while drawing crowded
40:03
Speaker 1: houses of intelligent and attentive hearers. Miller's name was seldom
40:07
Speaker 1: mentioned by the religious press, except by way of ridicule
40:10
Speaker 1: or denunciation. The careless and ungodly, emboldened by the position
40:15
Speaker 1: of religious teachers, resorted to opprobrious epithets, to base and
40:19
Speaker 1: blasphemous witticisms in their efforts to heap contumly upon him
40:23
Speaker 1: and his work. The gray headed man who had left
40:26
Speaker 1: a comfortable home, to travel at his own expense, from
40:29
Speaker 1: city to city, from town to town, toiling unceasingly, to
40:33
Speaker 1: bear to the world the solemn warning of the judgment
40:35
Speaker 1: near was sneeringly denounced as a fanatic, a liar, a
40:39
Speaker 1: speculating knave. The ridicule, falsehood and abuse heaped upon him
40:44
Speaker 1: called forth indignant remonstrance, even from the secular press. To
40:49
Speaker 1: treat a subject of such overwhelming majesty and fearful consequences
40:53
Speaker 1: with lightness and ribaltry was declared by worldly men to
40:56
Speaker 1: be not merely to sport with the feelings of its
40:59
Speaker 1: propagators in adonayates, but to make a jest of the
41:02
Speaker 1: day of judgment, to scoff at the deity himself and
41:05
Speaker 1: contemn the terrors of his judgment. Bar the instigator of
41:10
Speaker 1: all evil, sought not only to counteract the effect of
41:12
Speaker 1: the advent message, but to destroy the messenger himself. Miller
41:16
Speaker 1: made a practical application of scripture truth to the hearts
41:19
Speaker 1: of his hearers, reproving their sins and disturbing their self satisfaction,
41:24
Speaker 1: and his plain and cutting words aroused their enmity. The
41:28
Speaker 1: opposition manifested by church members towards his message emboldened the
41:32
Speaker 1: baser classes to go to greater lengths, and enemies plotted
41:36
Speaker 1: to take his life as he should leave the place
41:38
Speaker 1: of meeting. But Holy Angels were in the throng, and
41:42
Speaker 1: one of these, in the form of a man, took
41:44
Speaker 1: the arm of the servant of the Lord and led
41:46
Speaker 1: him in safety from the angry mob. His work was
41:50
Speaker 1: not yet done, and Satan and his emissaries were disappointed
41:54
Speaker 1: in their purpose. Despite all opposition, the interest in the
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Speaker 1: Advent movement had continued to encour Greece. From scores and hundreds,
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Speaker 1: the congregations had grown to as many thousands. Large accessions
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Speaker 1: had been made to the various churches. But after a
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Speaker 1: time the spirit of opposition was manifested even against these converts,
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Speaker 1: and the churches began to take disciplinary steps with those
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Speaker 1: who had embraced Miller's views. This action called forth a
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Speaker 1: response from his pen in an address to Christians of
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Speaker 1: all denominations, urging that if his doctrines were false, he
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Speaker 1: should be shown his error from the scriptures. What have
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Speaker 1: we believed? He said, that we have not been commanded
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Speaker 1: to believe by the word of God, which you yourselves
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Speaker 1: allow us the rule and only rule of our faith
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Speaker 1: and practice. What have we done that we should call
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Speaker 1: down such virulent denunciations against us from pulpit and press,
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Speaker 1: and give you just cause to exclude us adventists from
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Speaker 1: your churches and fellowship. If we are wrong. Pray show
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Speaker 1: us wherein consists we are wrong. Show us from the
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Speaker 1: word of God that we are in error. We have
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Speaker 1: had rich to cule enough that can never convince us
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Speaker 1: that we are in the wrong. The word of God
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Speaker 1: alone can change our views. Our conclusions have been formed
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Speaker 1: deliberately and prayerfully, as we have seen the evidence in
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Speaker 1: the scriptures from age to age, the warnings which God
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Speaker 1: has sent to the world by his servants have been
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Speaker 1: received with like incredulity and unbelief. When the iniquity of
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Speaker 1: the Antediluvians moved him to bring a flood of waters
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Speaker 1: upon the earth, he first made known to them his purpose,
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Speaker 1: that they might have opportunity to turn from their evil
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Speaker 1: ways for a hundred and twenty years was sounded in
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Speaker 1: their ears, the warning to repent lest the wrath of
43:39
Speaker 1: God be manifested in their destruction. But the message seemed
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Speaker 1: to them an idle tale, and they believed it not.
43:47
Speaker 1: Emboldened in their wickedness, they mocked the messenger of God,
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Speaker 1: made light of his entreaties, and even accused him of presumption.
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Speaker 1: How dare one man stand up against all the great
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Speaker 1: men of the earth. If Noah's message are true? Why
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Speaker 1: did not all the world see it and believe it?
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Speaker 1: One man's assertion against the wisdom of thousands. They would
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Speaker 1: not credit the warning, nor would they seek shelter in
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Speaker 1: the ark Scoffers pointed to the things of nature, to
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Speaker 1: the unvarying succession of the seasons, to the blue skies
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Speaker 1: that had never poured out rain, to the green fields
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Speaker 1: refreshed by the soft dews of night, and they cried out,
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Speaker 1: doth not he speak parables? In contempt? They declared the
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Speaker 1: preacher of righteousness to be a wild enthusiast, And they
44:31
Speaker 1: went on more eager in their pursuit of pleasure, more
44:34
Speaker 1: intent upon their evil ways than ever before. But their
44:38
Speaker 1: unbelief did not hinder the predicted event. God bore long
44:42
Speaker 1: with their wickedness, giving them ample opportunity for repentance. But
44:46
Speaker 1: at the appointed time his judgments were visited upon the
44:49
Speaker 1: rejectors of his mercy. Christ declares that there will exist
44:53
Speaker 1: similar unbelief concerning his second coming. As the people of
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Speaker 1: Noah's day knew not until the blood came and took
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Speaker 1: them all away, So in the words of our Savior,
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Speaker 1: shall also the coming of the Son of Man be
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Speaker 1: When the professed people of God are uniting with the world,
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Speaker 1: living as they live, and joining with them in forbidden pleasure,
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Speaker 1: when the luxury of the world becomes the luxury of
45:16
Speaker 1: the church, when the marriage bells are chiming, and all
45:19
Speaker 1: are looking forward to many years of worldly prosperity. Then suddenly,
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Speaker 1: as the lightning flashes from the heavens, will come the
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Speaker 1: end of their bright visions and delusive hopes. As God
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Speaker 1: sent his servant to warn the world of the coming flood,
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Speaker 1: so he sent chosen messengers to make known the nearness
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Speaker 1: of the final judgment. And as Noah's contemporaries laughed to
45:41
Speaker 1: scorn the predictions of the preacher of righteousness, So and
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Speaker 1: Miller's day, many even of the professed people of God
45:47
Speaker 1: scoffed at the words of warning. And why were the
45:51
Speaker 1: doctrine and preaching of Christ's second coming so unwelcome to
45:54
Speaker 1: the churches? While to the wicked. The advent of the
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Speaker 1: Lord brings woe and desolation to the right wold, as
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Speaker 1: it is fraught with joy and hope. This great truth
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Speaker 1: had been the consolation of God's faithful ones through all
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Speaker 1: the ages. Why had it become, like its author, a
46:10
Speaker 1: stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to his
46:12
Speaker 1: professed people. It was our Lord himself who promised his disciples,
46:17
Speaker 1: if I go and prepare a place for you, I
46:19
Speaker 1: will come again and receive you. Unto myself. It was
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Speaker 1: the compassionate Savior, who, anticipating the loneliness and sorrow of
46:27
Speaker 1: his followers, commissioned angels to comfort them with the assurance
46:31
Speaker 1: that he would come again in person, even as he
46:33
Speaker 1: went into heaven. As the disciples stood gazing intently upward
46:38
Speaker 1: to catch the last glimpse of him whom they loved,
46:40
Speaker 1: their attention was arrested by the words, ye, men of Galilee,
46:44
Speaker 1: why stand ye gazing up into heaven. This same Jesus
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Speaker 1: which has taken up from you into heaven, shall so
46:50
Speaker 1: come in like manner as ye have seen him go
46:52
Speaker 1: into heaven. Hope was kindled afresh by the angel's message.
46:57
Speaker 1: The disciples returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were
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Speaker 1: continually in the temple praising and blessing God. They were
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Speaker 1: not rejoicing because Jesus had been separated from them and
47:08
Speaker 1: they were left to struggle with the trials and temptations
47:11
Speaker 1: of the world, but because of the Angel's assurance that
47:14
Speaker 1: he would come again. The proclamation of Christ's coming should
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Speaker 1: now be as one made by the angels to the
47:21
Speaker 1: shepherds of Bethlehem, good tidings of great joy. Those who
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Speaker 1: really love the Savior cannot but hail with gladness the
47:28
Speaker 1: announcement founded upon the word of God, that he in
47:31
Speaker 1: whom their hopes of eternal life are centered, is coming again,
47:35
Speaker 1: not to be insulted, despised, and rejected as at his
47:38
Speaker 1: first advent, but in power and glory to redeem his people.
47:43
Speaker 1: It is those who do not love the Savior that
47:45
Speaker 1: desire him to remain away. And there can be no
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Speaker 1: more conclusive evidence that the churches have departed from God
47:51
Speaker 1: than the irritation and animosity excited by this heaven sent message.
47:57
Speaker 1: Those who accepted the Advent doctrine were roused the necessity
48:00
Speaker 1: of repentance and humiliation before God. Many had long been
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Speaker 1: halting between Christ and the world. Now they felt that
48:08
Speaker 1: it was time to take a stand. The things of
48:11
Speaker 1: eternity assumed to them an unwonted reality. Heaven was brought near,
48:15
Speaker 1: and they felt themselves guilty before God. Christians were quickened
48:19
Speaker 1: to new spiritual life. They were made to feel that
48:22
Speaker 1: time was short, that what they had to do for
48:25
Speaker 1: their fellow men must be done quickly. Earth receded, Eternity
48:29
Speaker 1: seemed to open before them, and the soul, with all
48:32
Speaker 1: that pertains to its immortal weal or woe, was felt
48:35
Speaker 1: to eclipse every temporal object. The spirit of God rested
48:40
Speaker 1: upon them and gave power to their earnest appeals to
48:43
Speaker 1: their brethren, as well as to sinners to prepare for
48:45
Speaker 1: the day of God. The silent testimony of their daily
48:49
Speaker 1: life was a constant rebuke to formal and unconsecrated church members.
48:53
Speaker 1: These did not wish to be disturbed in their pursuit
48:56
Speaker 1: of pleasure, their devotion to money making, and their ambition
48:59
Speaker 1: for war worldly honor. Hence the enmity and opposition excited
49:04
Speaker 1: against the advent faith and those who proclaimed it as
49:08
Speaker 1: the arguments from the prophetic periods were found to be
49:11
Speaker 1: impregnable opposers endeavored to discourage investigation of the subject by
49:16
Speaker 1: teaching that the prophecies were sealed. Thus, Protestants followed in
49:20
Speaker 1: the steps of Romanists, while the papal church withholds the
49:24
Speaker 1: Bible from the people. Protestant churches claimed that an important
49:28
Speaker 1: part of the sacred Word, and that the part which
49:30
Speaker 1: brings to view truths specially applicable to our time, could
49:33
Speaker 1: not be understood. Ministers and people declared that the prophecies
49:39
Speaker 1: of Daniel and the Revelation were incomprehensible mysteries. But Christ
49:44
Speaker 1: directed his disciples to the words of the prophet Daniel
49:46
Speaker 1: concerning events to take place in their time, and said,
49:50
Speaker 1: whoso readeth, let him understand. And the assertion that the
49:54
Speaker 1: Revelation is a mystery not to be understood is contradicted
49:57
Speaker 1: by the very title of the Book of Jesus Christ,
50:02
Speaker 1: which God gave unto him to show unto his servants
50:05
Speaker 1: things which must shortly come to pass. Blessed is he
50:08
Speaker 1: that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy,
50:12
Speaker 1: and keep those things which are written therein, for the
50:14
Speaker 1: time is at hand, says the prophet. Blessed is he
50:19
Speaker 1: that readeth. There are those who will not read. The
50:22
Speaker 1: blessing is not for them, and they that hear. There
50:25
Speaker 1: are some also who refuse to hear anything concerning the prophecies.
50:29
Speaker 1: The blessing is not for this class, and keep those
50:32
Speaker 1: things which are written therein. Many refuse to heed the
50:35
Speaker 1: warnings and instructions contained in the Revelation. None of these
50:39
Speaker 1: can claim the blessing promised. All who ridicule the subjects
50:43
Speaker 1: of the prophecy and mock at the symbols here solemnly given.
50:47
Speaker 1: All who refuse to reform their lives and prepare for
50:49
Speaker 1: the coming of the Son of Man will be unblessed.
50:53
Speaker 1: In view of the testimony of inspiration, how dare men
50:57
Speaker 1: teach that the Revelation is a mystery beyond the reach
50:59
Speaker 1: of hearth and understanding? It is a mystery revealed a
51:03
Speaker 1: book opened. The study of the Revelation directs the mind
51:07
Speaker 1: to the prophecies of Daniel, and both present most important
51:10
Speaker 1: instruction given of God to men concerning events to take
51:14
Speaker 1: place at the close of this world's history. Two john
51:18
Speaker 1: were open scenes of deep and thrilling interest in the
51:20
Speaker 1: experience of the church. He saw the position dangers, conflicts,
51:25
Speaker 1: and final deliverance of the people of God. He records
51:29
Speaker 1: the closing messages, which are to ripen the harvest of
51:32
Speaker 1: the earth, either as sheaves for the heavenly garner or
51:35
Speaker 1: as faggots for the fires of destruction. Subjects of vast
51:39
Speaker 1: importance were revealed to him, especially for the Last Church,
51:43
Speaker 1: that those who should turn from error to truth might
51:46
Speaker 1: be instructed concerning the perils and conflicts before them. None
51:51
Speaker 1: need be in darkness in regard to what is coming
51:53
Speaker 1: upon the earth. Why then, this widespread ignorance concerning an
51:58
Speaker 1: important part of Holy writ, Why this general reluctance to
52:01
Speaker 1: investigate its teachings. It is the result of a studied
52:05
Speaker 1: effort of the Prince of Darkness to conceal from men
52:08
Speaker 1: that which reveals his deceptions. For this reason, Christ the Revelator,
52:14
Speaker 1: foreseeing the warfare that would be waged against the study
52:17
Speaker 1: of the Revelation, pronounced a blessing upon all who should read, hear,
52:21
Speaker 1: and observe the words of the Prophecy. End of Chapter
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Speaker 1: eighteen