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20 - A Great Religious Awakening - The Great Controversy · Philosophy and Faith

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Speaker 1: Chapter twenty, a great religious awakening, A great religious awakening
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Speaker 1: under the proclamation of Christ's soon coming is foretold. In
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Speaker 1: the prophecy of the First Angel's Message of Revelation fourteen,
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Speaker 1: an angel is seen flying in the midst of heaven,
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Speaker 1: having the Everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell
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Speaker 1: on the earth, and to every nation enkindred and tongue
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Speaker 1: in people. With a loud voice, he proclaims the message,
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Speaker 1: Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour
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Speaker 1: of his judgment is come, and worship Him that made
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Speaker 1: heaven and earth, and the sea and the fountains of waters.
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Speaker 1: The fact that an angel is said to be the
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Speaker 1: herald of this warning is significant. By the purity, the glory,
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Speaker 1: and the power of the heavenly messenger. Divine wisdom has
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Speaker 1: been pleased to represent the exalted character of the work
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Speaker 1: to be accomplished by the message and the power and
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Speaker 1: glory that were to attend it. And the angel's flight
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Speaker 1: in the midst of heaven. The loud with which the
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Speaker 1: warning is uttered, and its promulgation to all that dwell
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Speaker 1: on the earth, to every nation and kindred and tongue
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Speaker 1: and people, give evidence of the rapidity and worldwide extent
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Speaker 1: of the movement. The message itself sheds light as to
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Speaker 1: the time when this movement is to take place. It
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Speaker 1: is declared to be a part of the Everlasting Gospel,
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Speaker 1: and it announces the opening of the Judgment. The message
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Speaker 1: of salvation has been preached in all ages, But this
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Speaker 1: message is a part of the Gospel which could be
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Speaker 1: proclaimed only in the last days, For only then would
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Speaker 1: it be true that the hour of Judgment had come.
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Speaker 1: The prophecies present a succession of events leading down to
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Speaker 1: the opening of the Judgment. This is especially true of
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Speaker 1: the Book of Daniel, But that part of his prophecy,
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Speaker 1: which related to the last days, Daniel was bidden to
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Speaker 1: close up and seal to the time of the end.
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Speaker 1: Not till we reach this time could a message concerning
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Speaker 1: the judgment be proclaimed based on a fulfillment of the
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Speaker 1: UK prophecies. But at the time of the Ensis, the
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Speaker 1: prophet many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall
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Speaker 1: be increased. The apostle Paul warned the church not to
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Speaker 1: look for the coming of Christ in his day. That
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Speaker 1: day shall not come, he says, except there come a
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Speaker 1: falling away first, and that man of Sin be revealed.
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Speaker 1: Not till after the great Apostasy and the long period
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Speaker 1: of the reign of the Man of Sin, can we
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Speaker 1: look for the advent of our Lord. The Man of Sin,
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Speaker 1: which is also styled the Mystery of Iniquity, the son
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Speaker 1: of Perdition, and that wicked represents the papacy, which, as
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Speaker 1: foretold in prophecy, was to maintain its supremacy for twelve
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Speaker 1: hundred sixty years. This period ended in seventeen ninety eight.
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Speaker 1: The coming of Christ could not take place before that time.
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Speaker 1: Paul covers with his caution the whole of the Christian
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Speaker 1: dispensation down to the year seventeen ninety eight. It is
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Speaker 1: this side of that time that the message of Christ's
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Speaker 1: second coming is to be proclaimed. No such message has
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Speaker 1: ever been given in past ages. Paul, as we have seen,
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Speaker 1: did not preach it. He pointed his brethren into the
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Speaker 1: then far distant future for the coming of the Lord.
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Speaker 1: The Reformers did not proclaim it. Martin Luther placed the
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Speaker 1: judgment about three hundred years in the future from his day.
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Speaker 1: But since seventeen ninety eight the Book of Daniel has
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Speaker 1: been unsealed. Knowledge of the prophecies has increased, and many
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Speaker 1: have proclaimed the solemn message of the Judgment near. Like
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Speaker 1: the Great Reformation of the sixteenth century, the Advent movement
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Speaker 1: appeared in different countries of Christendom at the same time.
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Speaker 1: In both Europe and America, men of faith and prayer
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Speaker 1: were led to the study of the prophecies and tracing
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Speaker 1: down the inspired record, they saw convincing evidence that the
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Speaker 1: end of all things was at hand. In different lands,
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Speaker 1: there were isolated bodies of Christians who, solely by the
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Speaker 1: study of the scriptures, arrived at the belief that the
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Speaker 1: Saviour's advent was near. In eighteen twenty one, three years
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Speaker 1: after Miller had arrived at his exposition of the prophecies
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Speaker 1: pointing to the time of the Judgment, doctor Joseph Vulf,
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Speaker 1: the missionary to the world, began to proclaim the Lord's
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Speaker 1: soon coming. Wulf was born in Germany of Hebrew parentage,
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Speaker 1: his father being a Jewish rabbi. While very young, he
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Speaker 1: was convinced of the truth of the Christian religion. Of
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Speaker 1: an active inquiring mind, he had been an eager listener
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Speaker 1: to the conversations that took place in his father's house
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Speaker 1: as devout Hebrews daily assembled to recount the hopes and
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Speaker 1: anticipations of their people, the glory of the coming Messiah
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Speaker 1: and the restoration of Israel. One day, hearing Jesus of
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Speaker 1: Nazareth mentioned, the boy inquired who he was? A Jew
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Speaker 1: of the greatest talent was the answer, But as he
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Speaker 1: pretended to be the Messiah, the Jewish tribunal sentenced him
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Speaker 1: to death. Why, rejoined the questioners, Jerusalem destroyed? And why
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Speaker 1: are we in captivity? Alas Alas, answered his father, because
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Speaker 1: the Jews murdered the prophets. The thought was at once
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Speaker 1: suggested to the child, perhaps Jesus was also a prophet,
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Speaker 1: and the Jews killed him when he was innocent. So
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Speaker 1: strong was this feeling that, though forbidden to enter a
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Speaker 1: Christian church, he would often linger outside to listen to
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Speaker 1: the preaching. When only seven years old, he was boasting
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Speaker 1: to an aged Christian neighbor of the future triumph of
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Speaker 1: Israel at the Advent of the Messiah. When the old
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Speaker 1: man said, kindly, dear boy, I will tell you who
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Speaker 1: the real Messiah was. He was Jesus of Nazareth, whom
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Speaker 1: your ancestors have crucified as they did the prophets of
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Speaker 1: old go home and read the fifty third chapter of Isaiah,
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Speaker 1: and you will be convinced that Jesus Christ is the
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Speaker 1: Son of God. Conviction at once fastened upon him. He
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Speaker 1: went home and read the scripture, wondering to see how
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Speaker 1: perfectly it had been fulfilled. In Jesus of Nazareth. Were
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Speaker 1: the words of the Christian true? The boy asked of
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Speaker 1: his father an explanation of the prophecy, but was met
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Speaker 1: with a silence so stern that he never again dared
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Speaker 1: to refer to the subject. This, however, only increased his
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Speaker 1: desire to know more of the Christian religion. The knowledge
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Speaker 1: he sought was studiously kept from him in his Jewish home.
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Speaker 1: But when only eleven years old, he left his father's
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Speaker 1: house and went out into the world to gain for
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Speaker 1: himself an education, to choose his religion and his life work.
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Speaker 1: He found a home for a time with kinsmen, but
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Speaker 1: was soon driven from them. As an apostate and alone
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Speaker 1: and penniless, he had to make his own way among strangers.
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Speaker 1: He went from place to place, studying diligently and maintaining
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Speaker 1: himself by teaching Hebrew. Through the influence of a Catholic instructor,
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Speaker 1: he was led to accept the Romish faith and formed
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Speaker 1: the purpose of becoming a missionary to his own people.
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Speaker 1: With this object, he went a few years later to
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Speaker 1: pursue his studies in the College of the Propaganda at Rome. Here,
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Speaker 1: his habit of independent thought candid speech brought upon him
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Speaker 1: the imputation of heresy. He openly attacked the abuses of
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Speaker 1: the church and urged the necessity of reform. Though at
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Speaker 1: first treated with special favor by the papal dignitaries, he
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Speaker 1: was after a time removed from Rome. Under the surveillance
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Speaker 1: of the Church. He went from place to place until
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Speaker 1: it became evident that he could never be brought to
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Speaker 1: submit to the bondage of Romanism. He was declared to
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Speaker 1: be incorrigible and was left at liberty to go where
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Speaker 1: he pleased. He now made his way to England, and,
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Speaker 1: professing the Protestant faith, united with the English Church. After
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Speaker 1: two years study, he set out in eighteen twenty one
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Speaker 1: upon his mission. While Wulf accepted the great truth of
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Speaker 1: Christ's first Advent as a man of sorrows and acquainted
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Speaker 1: with grief, he saw that the prophecies bring to view
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Speaker 1: with equal clearness his second advent with power and glory.
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Speaker 1: And while he sought to lead his people to Jesus
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Speaker 1: of Nazareth as the promised One, and to point them
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Speaker 1: to his first coming in humiliation as a saxon sacrifice
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Speaker 1: for the sins of men, he taught them also of
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Speaker 1: his second coming as a king and deliverer. Jesus of Nazareth,
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Speaker 1: the true Messiah, he said, whose hands and feet were pierced,
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Speaker 1: who was brought like a lamb to the slaughter, who
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Speaker 1: was the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, who
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Speaker 1: after the scepter was taken from Judah and the legislative
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Speaker 1: power from between his feet came the first time, shall
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Speaker 1: come the second time in the clouds of heaven, and
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Speaker 1: with the trump of the archangel and shall stand upon
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Speaker 1: the mount of Olives. And that dominion once consigned to
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Speaker 1: Adam over the Creation and forfeited by him Genesis one,
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Speaker 1: twenty six three seventeen, shall be given to Jesus. He
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Speaker 1: shall be king over all the earth. The groanings and
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Speaker 1: lamentations of the creation shall cease, but songs of praises
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Speaker 1: and thanksgivings shall be heard. When Jesus comes in the
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Speaker 1: glory of his Father with the Holy angels. The dead
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Speaker 1: believers shall rise first first Thessalonians four sixteen, First Corinthians
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Speaker 1: fifteen twenty three. This is what we Christians call the
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Speaker 1: first Resurrection. Then the animal kingdom shall change its nature
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Speaker 1: Isaiah eleventh six through nine, and be subdued unto Jesus
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Speaker 1: Psalm eight. Universal peace shall prevail. The Lord again shall
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Speaker 1: look down upon the earth and say, behold, it is
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Speaker 1: very good. Wolf believed the coming of the Lord to
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Speaker 1: be at hand, his interpretation of the prophetic periods placing
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Speaker 1: the Great Consummation within a very few years of the
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Speaker 1: time pointed out by Miller. To those who urged from
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Speaker 1: the scripture of that day and hour, knoweth no man
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Speaker 1: that men are to know nothing concerning the nearness of
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Speaker 1: the advent, Wulf replied, did our Lord say that that
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Speaker 1: day and our should never be known? Did he not
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Speaker 1: give us signs of the times in order that we
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Speaker 1: may know at least the approach of his coming, as
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Speaker 1: one knows the approach of the summer by the fig
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Speaker 1: tree putting forth its leaves Matthew twenty four thirty two.
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Speaker 1: Are we never to know that period? Whilst he himself
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Speaker 1: exhorteth us not only to read Daniel the Prophet, but
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Speaker 1: to understand it. And in that very Daniel, where it
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Speaker 1: is said that the words were shut up to the
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Speaker 1: time of the end, which was the case in his time,
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Speaker 1: and that many shall run to and fro a Hebrew
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Speaker 1: expression for observing and thinking upon the time, and knowledge
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Speaker 1: regarding that time shall be increased Daniel twelve four. Besides this,
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Speaker 1: our Lord does not intend to say by this that
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Speaker 1: the approach of the time shall not be known, but
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Speaker 1: that the exact day and hour knoweth no man. Enough,
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Speaker 1: he does say, shall be known by the signs of
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Speaker 1: the times, to induce us to prepare for his coming,
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Speaker 1: as Noah prepared the ark. Concerning the popular system of
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Speaker 1: interpreting or misinterpreting the scriptures, Volfe wrote, the greater part
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Speaker 1: of the Christian Church have swerved from the plain sense
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Speaker 1: of scripture and have turned to the phantomizing system of
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Speaker 1: the Buddhists, who believe that the future happiness of mankind
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Speaker 1: will consist in moving about in the air, and suppose
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Speaker 1: that when they are reading Jews, they must understand Gentiles,
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Speaker 1: and when they read Jerusalem they must understand the Church
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Speaker 1: and if it is said earth, it means sky. And
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Speaker 1: for the coming of the Lord, they must understand the
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Speaker 1: progress of the missionary societies, and going up to the
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Speaker 1: mountain of the Lord's House signifies a grand class meeting
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Speaker 1: of Methodists. During the twenty four years from eighteen twenty
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Speaker 1: one to eighteen forty five, Wolf traveled extensively in Africa,
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Speaker 1: visiting Egypt and Abyssinia. In Asia, traversing Palestine, Syria, Persia, Bakara,
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Speaker 1: and India. He also visited the United States on the journey, thither,
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Speaker 1: preaching on the island of Saint Helena. He arrived at
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Speaker 1: New York in August eighteen thirty seven, and after speaking
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Speaker 1: in that city, he preached in Philadelphia and Baltimore, and
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Speaker 1: finally proceeded to Washington. Here, he says, on a motion
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Speaker 1: brought forward by the ex President John Quincy Adams in
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Speaker 1: one of the Houses of Congress, the House unanimous that
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Speaker 1: granted to me the use use of the Congress Hall
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Speaker 1: for a lecture, which I delivered on a Saturday, honored
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Speaker 1: with the presence of all the members of Congress, and
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Speaker 1: also the Bishop of Virginia, and of the clergy and
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Speaker 1: citizens of Washington. The same honor was granted to me
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Speaker 1: by the members of the Government of New Jersey and Pennsylvania,
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Speaker 1: in whose presence I delivered lectures on my researches in
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Speaker 1: Asia and also on the personal reign of Jesus Christ.
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Speaker 1: Doctor Wulf traveled in the most barbarous countries without the
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Speaker 1: protection of any European authority, enduring many hardships and surrounded
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Speaker 1: with countless perils. He was best and otted and starved,
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Speaker 1: sold as a slave, and three times condemned to death.
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Speaker 1: He was beset by robbers, and sometimes nearly perished from thirst.
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Speaker 1: Once he was stripped of all that he possessed and
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Speaker 1: left to travel hundreds of miles on foot through the mountains,
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Speaker 1: the snow beating in his face and his naked feet
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Speaker 1: benumbed by contact with the frozen ground. When warned against
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Speaker 1: going unarmed among savage and hostile traps vibes, he declared
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Speaker 1: himself provided with arms, prayer, zeal for Christ, and confidence
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Speaker 1: in his help. I am also, he said, provided with
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Speaker 1: the love of God and my neighbor in my heart,
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Speaker 1: and the Bible is in my hand. The Bible in
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Speaker 1: Hebrew and English he carried with him wherever he went,
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Speaker 1: of one of his later journeys, he says, I kept
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Speaker 1: the Bible open in my hand. I felt my power
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Speaker 1: was in the book and that its might would sustain me.
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Speaker 1: Thus he persevered in his labors until the message of
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Speaker 1: the Judgment had been carried to a large part of
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Speaker 1: the habitable globe, among Jews, Turks, Parsis, Hindus, and many
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Speaker 1: other nationalities and races. He distributed the word of God
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Speaker 1: in these various tongues, and everywhere heralded the approaching reign
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Speaker 1: of the Messiah. In his travels in Bakara, he found
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Speaker 1: the doctrine of the Lord's soon coming held by a
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Speaker 1: remote and isolated people. The Arabs of Yemen, he says,
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Speaker 1: are in possession of a book called Sirah, which gives
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Speaker 1: notice of the second coming of Christ and his reign
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Speaker 1: and glory, and they expect great death events to take
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Speaker 1: place in the year eighteen forty. In Yemen, I spent
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Speaker 1: six days with the children of Recab. They drink no wine,
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Speaker 1: plant no vineyard, sow no seed, and live in tents
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Speaker 1: and remember good old Jonadab, the son of Recap. And
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Speaker 1: I found in their company children of Israel, of the
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Speaker 1: tribe of Dan who expect with the children of Recab
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Speaker 1: the speedy arrival of the Messiah in the clouds of heaven.
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Speaker 1: A similar belief was found by another missionary to exist
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Speaker 1: in Tartary. A Tartar priest put the question to the
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Speaker 1: missionary as to when Christ would come the second time.
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Speaker 1: When the missionary answered that he knew nothing about it,
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Speaker 1: the priest seemed greatly surprised at such ignorance in one
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Speaker 1: who professed to be a Bible teacher, and stated his
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Speaker 1: own belief founded on prophecy, that Christ would come about
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Speaker 1: eighteen forty four. As early as eighteen twenty six, the
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Speaker 1: Advent message began to be preached in England. The movement
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Speaker 1: here did not take so definite a form as in America.
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Speaker 1: The exact time of the Advent was not so generally taught,
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Speaker 1: but the great truth of Christ's soon coming in power
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Speaker 1: and glory was extensively proclaimed, and this not among the
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Speaker 1: dissenters and nonconformists. Only. Morunt Brock, an English writer, states
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Speaker 1: that about seven hundred ministers of the Church of England
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Speaker 1: were engaged in preaching this Gospel of the Kingdom. The message,
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Speaker 1: pointing to eighteen forty four as the time of the
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Speaker 1: Lord's coming was also given in Great Britain. Advent publications
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Speaker 1: from the United States were widely circulated. Books and journals
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Speaker 1: were republished in England, and in eighteen forty two, Robert Winter,
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Speaker 1: an Englishman by birth who had received the Advent faith
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Speaker 1: in America, returned to his native country to herald the
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Speaker 1: coming of the Lord. Many united with him in the work,
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Speaker 1: and the message of the judgment was proclaimed in various
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Speaker 1: parts of England. In South America, in the midst of
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Speaker 1: barbarism and priestcraft, La Cunsa, a Spaniard and a Jesuit,
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Speaker 1: found his way to the scriptures and thus received the
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Speaker 1: truth of Christ's speedy return. Impelled to give the warning,
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Speaker 1: yet desiring to escape the censures of Rome, he published
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Speaker 1: his views under the assumed name of Rabbi Ben Israel,
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Speaker 1: representing himself as a converted Jew. Lacunza lived in the
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Speaker 1: eighteenth century, but it was about eighteen twenty five that
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Speaker 1: his book, having found its way to London, was translated
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Speaker 1: into the English language. Its publication served to deepen the
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Speaker 1: interest already awakening in England in the subject of the
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Speaker 1: Second Advent. In Germany, the doctrine had been taught in
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Speaker 1: the eighteenth century by Bengal, a minister in the Lutheran
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Speaker 1: Church and a celebrated biblical scholar and critic. Upon completing
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Speaker 1: his education, Bengal had devoted himself to the study of theology,
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Speaker 1: to which the grave and religious tone of his mind,
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Speaker 1: deepened and strengthened by his early training and discipline, naturally
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Speaker 1: inclined him like other young men of thoughtful character. Before
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Speaker 1: and since, he had to struggle with doubts and difficulties
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Speaker 1: of a religious nature, and he alludes with much feeling
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Speaker 1: to the many arrows which pierced his poor heart and
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Speaker 1: made his youth hard to bear. Becoming a member of
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Speaker 1: the Consistory of Rittenburg, he advocated the cause of religious liberty.
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Speaker 1: While maintaining the rights and privileges of the church. He
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Speaker 1: was an advocate for all reasonable freedom being accorded to
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Speaker 1: those who felt themselves bound on grounds of conscience to
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Speaker 1: withdraw from her communion. The good effects of this policy
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Speaker 1: are still felt in his native province. It was while
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Speaker 1: preparing a sermon from Revelation twenty one for Advent Sunday,
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Speaker 1: that the light of Christ's second coming broke in upon
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Speaker 1: Bengal's mind, the prophecies of the Revelation unfolded to his
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Speaker 1: understanding as never before. Overwhelmed with a sense of the
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Speaker 1: stupendous importance and surpassing glory of the scenes presented by
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Speaker 1: the prophet, he was forced to turn for a time
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Speaker 1: from the contemplation of the subject in the pulpit. It
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Speaker 1: again presented itself to him with all its vividness and power.
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Speaker 1: From that time he devoted himself to the study of
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Speaker 1: the prophecies, especially those of the Apocalypse, and soon arrived
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Speaker 1: at the belief that they pointed to the coming of
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Speaker 1: Christ as near the date, which he fixed upon as
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Speaker 1: the time of the Second Advent was within a very
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Speaker 1: few years of that afterward held by Miller, Bengal's writings
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Speaker 1: have been spread throughout Christendom. His views of prophecy were
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Speaker 1: quite generally received in his own state of Wurtemburg, and
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Speaker 1: to some extent in other parts of Germany. The movement
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Speaker 1: continued after his death, and the Advent message was heard
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Speaker 1: in Germany at the same time that it was attracting
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Speaker 1: attention in other lands. At an early date, some of
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Speaker 1: the believers went to Russia and there formed colonies, and
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Speaker 1: the faith of Christ's soon coming is still held by
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Speaker 1: the German churches of that country. The light shone also
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Speaker 1: in France and Switzerland. At Geneva, where Ferrell and Calvin
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Speaker 1: had spread the truths of the Reformation, Gaussan preached the
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Speaker 1: message of the Second Advent. Student at school, Gaussin had
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Speaker 1: encountered that spirit of rationalism which pervaded all Europe during
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Speaker 1: the latter part of the eighteenth and the opening of
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Speaker 1: the nineteenth century, and when he entered the ministry he
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Speaker 1: was not only ignorant of true faith, but inclined to skepticism.
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Speaker 1: In his youth, he had become interested in the study
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Speaker 1: of prophecy. After reading Rollin's Ancient History. His attention was
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Speaker 1: called to the second chapter of Daniel, and he was
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Speaker 1: struck with the wonderful exactness with which the prophecy had
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Speaker 1: been fulfilled as seen in the historian's record. Here was
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Speaker 1: a testimony to the inspiration of the scriptures, which served
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Speaker 1: as an anchor to him. Amid the perils of later years.
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Speaker 1: He could not rest satisfied with the teachings of rationalism,
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Speaker 1: and in studying the Bible and searching for clearer light,
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Speaker 1: he was, after a time led to a positive faith.
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Speaker 1: As he pursued his investigation of the prophecies, he arrived
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Speaker 1: at the belief that the coming of the Lord was
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Speaker 1: at hand. Impressed with the solemnity and importance of this
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Speaker 1: great truth, he desired to bring it before the people.
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Speaker 1: But the popular belief that the prophecies of Daniel are
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Speaker 1: mysteries and cannot be understood was a serious obstacle in
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Speaker 1: his way. He finally determined, as Farrell had done before
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Speaker 1: him in evangelizing Geneva, to begin with the children, through
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Speaker 1: whom he hoped to interest the parents. I desire this
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Speaker 1: to be understood, he afterwards said, speaking of his object
20:24
Speaker 1: in this undertaking. It is not because of its small importance,
20:28
Speaker 1: but on the contrary, because of its great value, that
20:31
Speaker 1: I wished to present it in this familiar form, and
20:34
Speaker 1: that I addressed it to the children. I desired to
20:37
Speaker 1: be heard, and I feared that I would not be
20:39
Speaker 1: if I addressed myself to the grown people first. I
20:43
Speaker 1: determined therefore to go to the youngest. I gather an
20:46
Speaker 1: audience of children. If the group enlarges, if it is
20:49
Speaker 1: seen that they listen, are pleased, interested that they understand
20:53
Speaker 1: and explain the subject. I am sure to have a
20:56
Speaker 1: second circle soon, and in their turn grown people will
20:59
Speaker 1: see that it is well worth their while to sit
21:01
Speaker 1: down and study. When this is done, the cause is gained.
21:06
Speaker 1: The effort was successful. As he addressed the children, older
21:10
Speaker 1: persons came to listen. The galleries of his church were
21:14
Speaker 1: filled with attentive hearers. Among them were men of rank
21:18
Speaker 1: and learning, and strangers and foreigners visiting Geneva, and thus
21:22
Speaker 1: the message was carried to other parts. Encouraged by this success,
21:26
Speaker 1: Gossamp published his lessons with the hope of promoting the
21:29
Speaker 1: study of the prophetic books in the churches of the
21:32
Speaker 1: French speaking people. To publish instruction given to the children,
21:36
Speaker 1: says Gossan, is to say to adults who too often
21:39
Speaker 1: neglect such books under the false pretense that they are obscure.
21:42
Speaker 1: How can they be obscure? Since your children understand them.
21:46
Speaker 1: I had a great desire, he adds, to render a
21:49
Speaker 1: knowledge of the prophecies popular in our flocks, if possible.
21:53
Speaker 1: There is no study indeed, which it seems to me
21:55
Speaker 1: answers the needs of the time better. It is by
21:59
Speaker 1: this that we are to prepare for the tribulation near
22:01
Speaker 1: at hand, and watch and wait for Jesus Christ. Though
22:05
Speaker 1: one of the most distinguished and beloved of preachers in
22:08
Speaker 1: the French language, Gaussan was after a time suspended from
22:11
Speaker 1: the ministry, his principal offense being that, instead of the
22:15
Speaker 1: Church's Catechism, a tame and rationalistic manual almost destitute of
22:19
Speaker 1: positive faith, he had used the Bible in giving instruction
22:22
Speaker 1: to the youth. He afterward became teacher in a theological school.
22:27
Speaker 1: While on Sunday he continued his work as catechist, addressing
22:31
Speaker 1: the children and instructing them in the scriptures. His works
22:35
Speaker 1: on prophecy also excited much interest from the professor's chair,
22:40
Speaker 1: through the press, and in his favored occupation as teacher
22:43
Speaker 1: of children. He continued for many years to exert an
22:46
Speaker 1: extensive influence and was instrumental in calling the attention of
22:50
Speaker 1: many to the study of the prophecies, which showed that
22:52
Speaker 1: the coming of the Lord was near. In Scandinavia, also,
22:57
Speaker 1: the advent messages proclaimed and a widespread interest was kindled.
23:01
Speaker 1: Many were roused from their careless security to confess and
23:05
Speaker 1: forsake their sins and seek pardon in the name of Christ.
23:09
Speaker 1: But the clergy of the state church opposed the movement,
23:12
Speaker 1: and through their influence, some who preached the message were
23:14
Speaker 1: thrown into prison in many places where the preachers of
23:18
Speaker 1: the Lord's soon coming were thus silenced, God was pleased
23:21
Speaker 1: to send the message in a miraculous manner through little children.
23:26
Speaker 1: As they were under age, the law of the state
23:28
Speaker 1: could not restrain them, and they were permitted to speak unmolested.
23:32
Speaker 1: The movement was chiefly among the lower class, and it
23:35
Speaker 1: was in the humble dwellings of the laborers that the
23:37
Speaker 1: people assembled to hear the warning. The child preachers themselves
23:41
Speaker 1: were mostly poor cottagers. Some of them were not more
23:45
Speaker 1: than six or eight years of age, and while their
23:48
Speaker 1: lives testified that they loved the Savior and were trying
23:50
Speaker 1: to live in obedience to God's holy requirements, they ordinarily
23:54
Speaker 1: manifested only the intelligence and ability usually seen in children
23:58
Speaker 1: of that age. When standing before the people, however, it
24:02
Speaker 1: was evident that they were moved by an influence beyond
24:04
Speaker 1: their own natural gifts. Tone and manner changed, and with
24:09
Speaker 1: solemn power they gave the warning of the judgment, employing
24:12
Speaker 1: the very words of scripture, fear God and give glory
24:15
Speaker 1: to him, for the hour of his judgment is come.
24:19
Speaker 1: They reproved the sins of the people, not only condemning
24:22
Speaker 1: immorality and vice, but rebuking worldliness and backsliding, and warning
24:27
Speaker 1: their hearers to make haste to flee from the wrath
24:29
Speaker 1: to come. The people heard, with trembling, the convicting spirit
24:34
Speaker 1: of God spoke to their hearts. Many were led to
24:38
Speaker 1: search the scriptures with new and deeper interest. The intemperate
24:41
Speaker 1: and immoral were reformed, others abandoned their dishonest practices, and
24:46
Speaker 1: a work was done so marked that even ministers of
24:49
Speaker 1: the State Church were forced to acknowledge that the hand
24:51
Speaker 1: of God was in the movement. It was God's will
24:55
Speaker 1: that the tidings of the Saviour's coming should be given
24:57
Speaker 1: in the Scandinavian countries, and when the war vices of
25:00
Speaker 1: his servants were silenced, he put his spirit upon the
25:03
Speaker 1: children that the work might be accomplished. When Jesus drew
25:07
Speaker 1: near to Jerusalem, attended by the rejoicing multitudes that, with
25:11
Speaker 1: shouts of triumph and the waving of palm branches, heralded
25:14
Speaker 1: him as the son of David, the jealous pharisees called
25:17
Speaker 1: upon him to silence them. But Jesus answered that all
25:20
Speaker 1: this was in fulfillment of prophecy, and if these should
25:23
Speaker 1: hold their peace, the very stones would cry out. The people,
25:27
Speaker 1: intimidated by the threats of the priests and rulers, ceased
25:30
Speaker 1: their joyful proclamation as they entered the gates of Jerusalem.
25:34
Speaker 1: But the children in the temple courts afterward took up
25:37
Speaker 1: the refrain, and waving their branches of palm, they cried
25:40
Speaker 1: Hosanna to the son of David. When the pharisees, sorely displeased,
25:45
Speaker 1: said unto him, hearest thou what these say? Jesus answered, yea,
25:50
Speaker 1: have ye never read out of the mouth of babes
25:53
Speaker 1: and sucklings? Thou hast perfected praise. As God wrought their
25:57
Speaker 1: children at the time of Christ's first Advent, so he
26:00
Speaker 1: brought through them in giving the message of his second Advent.
26:04
Speaker 1: God's word must be fulfilled, that the proclamation of the
26:07
Speaker 1: Saviour's coming should be given to all people's tongues and nations.
26:11
Speaker 1: To William Miller and his co laborers, it was given
26:14
Speaker 1: to preach the warning in America. This country became the
26:18
Speaker 1: center of the Great Advent movement. It was here that
26:21
Speaker 1: the prophecy of the First Angel's message had its most
26:23
Speaker 1: direct fulfillment. The writings of Miller and his associates were
26:28
Speaker 1: carried to distant lands wherever missionaries had penetrated in all
26:32
Speaker 1: the world were sent the glad tidings of Christ's speedy
26:36
Speaker 1: return far and wide spread the message of the everlasting Gospel.
26:41
Speaker 1: Fear God and give glory to Him for the hour
26:43
Speaker 1: of his judgment his come. The testimony of the prophecies,
26:47
Speaker 1: which seemed to point to the coming of Christ in
26:50
Speaker 1: the spring of eighteen forty four, took deep hold of
26:52
Speaker 1: the minds of the people. As the message went from
26:56
Speaker 1: state to state, there was everywhere awakened widespread interest. Many
27:01
Speaker 1: were convinced that the arguments from the prophetic periods were correct, and,
27:05
Speaker 1: sacrificing their pride of opinion, they joyfully received the truth.
27:10
Speaker 1: Some ministers laid aside their sectarian views and feelings, left
27:13
Speaker 1: their salaries in their churches, and united in proclaiming the
27:16
Speaker 1: coming of Jesus. There were comparatively few ministers, however, who
27:21
Speaker 1: would accept this message. Therefore, it was largely committed to
27:24
Speaker 1: humble laymen. Farmers left their fields mechanics, their tools, traitors
27:30
Speaker 1: their merchandise, professional men their positions, And yet the number
27:34
Speaker 1: of workers was small in comparison with the work to
27:36
Speaker 1: be accomplished. The condition of an ungodly church and a
27:40
Speaker 1: world lying in wickedness burdened the souls of the true watchmen,
27:44
Speaker 1: and they willingly endured toil, privation, and suffering that they
27:47
Speaker 1: might call men to repentance unto salvation. Though opposed by Satan,
27:52
Speaker 1: the work went steadily forward, and the advent truth was
27:55
Speaker 1: accepted by many thousands. Everywhere, the searching testimony was heard,
28:00
Speaker 1: warning sinners, both worldlings and church members to flee from
28:03
Speaker 1: the wrath to come like John the Baptist, the forerunner
28:07
Speaker 1: of Christ. The preachers laid the axe at the root
28:10
Speaker 1: of the tree and urged all to bring forth fruit
28:12
Speaker 1: meet for repentance. Their stirring appeals were in marked contrast
28:16
Speaker 1: to the assurances of peace and safety that were heard
28:19
Speaker 1: from popular pulpits, and wherever the message was given, it
28:22
Speaker 1: moved the people. The simple, direct testimony of the scriptures
28:27
Speaker 1: set home by the power of the Holy Spirit, brought
28:30
Speaker 1: a weight of conviction which few were able wholly to resist.
28:34
Speaker 1: Professors of religion were roused from their false security. They
28:38
Speaker 1: saw their backslidings, their worldliness and unbelief, their pride and selfishness.
28:44
Speaker 1: Many sought the Lord with repentance and humiliation. The affections
28:48
Speaker 1: that had so long clung to earthly things they now
28:51
Speaker 1: fixed upon heaven. The spirit of God rested upon them,
28:55
Speaker 1: and with hearts softened and subdued, they joined to sound
28:58
Speaker 1: the cry God and give glory to Him, for the
29:01
Speaker 1: hour of his judgment is come. Sinners inquired with weeping,
29:06
Speaker 1: what must I do to be saved? Those whose lives
29:10
Speaker 1: had been marked with dishonesty were anxious to make restitution.
29:15
Speaker 1: All who found peace in Christ longed to see others
29:17
Speaker 1: share the blessing. The hearts of parents were turned to
29:21
Speaker 1: their children, and the hearts of children to their parents.
29:24
Speaker 1: The barriers of pride and reserve were swept away. Heartfelt
29:28
Speaker 1: confessions were made, and the members of the household labored
29:31
Speaker 1: for the salvation of those who were nearest and dearest.
29:35
Speaker 1: Often was heard the sound of earnest intercession. Everywhere were
29:39
Speaker 1: souls in deep anguish pleading with God. Many wrestled all
29:43
Speaker 1: night in prayer for the assurance of their own sins
29:45
Speaker 1: were pardoned, or for the conversion of their relatives or neighbors.
29:50
Speaker 1: All classes flocked to the Adventist meetings, rich and poor,
29:54
Speaker 1: high and low, were for various causes, anxious to hear
29:57
Speaker 1: for themselves the doctrine of the Second Advent. The Lord
30:01
Speaker 1: held the spirit of opposition in check, while his servants
30:04
Speaker 1: explained the reasons of their faith. Sometimes the instrument was feeble,
30:09
Speaker 1: but the spirit of God gave power to his truth.
30:12
Speaker 1: The presence of holy angels was felt in these assemblies,
30:15
Speaker 1: and many were daily added to the believers. As the
30:18
Speaker 1: evidences of Christ's soon coming were repeated, vast crowds listened
30:22
Speaker 1: in breathless silence to the solemn words. Heaven and Earth
30:27
Speaker 1: seemed to approach each other. The power of God was
30:30
Speaker 1: felt upon old and young and middle aged men sought
30:34
Speaker 1: their homes with praises upon their lips, and the glad
30:36
Speaker 1: sound rang out upon the still night air. None who
30:40
Speaker 1: attended those meetings can ever forget those scenes of deepest interest.
30:45
Speaker 1: The proclamation of a definite time for Christ's coming called
30:48
Speaker 1: forth great opposition from many of all classes, from the
30:51
Speaker 1: minister in the pulpit down to the most reckless heaven
30:54
Speaker 1: daring sinner. The words of prophecy were fulfilled. There shall
30:59
Speaker 1: come in the last day, scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
31:02
Speaker 1: and saying, where is the promise of his coming? For
31:06
Speaker 1: since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they
31:08
Speaker 1: were from the beginning of the creation. Many who professed
31:12
Speaker 1: to love the Savior declared that they had no opposition
31:15
Speaker 1: to the doctrine of the Second Advent. They merely objected
31:18
Speaker 1: to the definite time. But God's all seeing eye read
31:22
Speaker 1: their hearts. They did not wish to hear of Christ's
31:25
Speaker 1: coming to judge the world in righteousness. They had been
31:29
Speaker 1: unfaithful servants. Their works would not bear the inspection of
31:32
Speaker 1: the heart searching God, and they feared to meet their Lord.
31:36
Speaker 1: Like the Jews at the time of Christ's first Advent,
31:39
Speaker 1: they were not prepared to welcome Jesus. They not only
31:42
Speaker 1: refused to listen to the plain arguments from the Bible,
31:45
Speaker 1: but ridiculed those who were looking for the Lord. Satan
31:49
Speaker 1: and his angels exalted and flung the taunt in the
31:52
Speaker 1: face of Christ and holy Angels that his professed people
31:55
Speaker 1: had so little love for him that they did not
31:57
Speaker 1: desire his appearing no man knoweth the day nor the hour,
32:02
Speaker 1: was the argument most often brought forward by rejectors of
32:04
Speaker 1: the advent faith. The scripture is of that day and
32:08
Speaker 1: hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven,
32:11
Speaker 1: but my Father only. A clear and harmonious explanation of
32:16
Speaker 1: this text was given by those who were looking for
32:18
Speaker 1: the Lord, and the wrong use made of it by
32:21
Speaker 1: their opponents is clearly shown. The words were spoken by
32:25
Speaker 1: Christ in that memorable conversation with his disciples upon all
32:28
Speaker 1: of it, after he had for the last time departed
32:31
Speaker 1: from the temple. The disciples had asked the question, what
32:35
Speaker 1: shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the
32:37
Speaker 1: end of the world. Jesus gave them signs and said,
32:41
Speaker 1: when ye shall see all these things, know that it
32:44
Speaker 1: is near, even at the doors. One saying of the
32:48
Speaker 1: Savior must not be made to destroy another. Though no
32:51
Speaker 1: man knoweth the day nor the hour of his coming,
32:54
Speaker 1: we are instructed and required to know when it is near.
32:58
Speaker 1: We are further taught that to dis regard his warning
33:01
Speaker 1: and refuse or neglect to know when his advent is near,
33:04
Speaker 1: will be as fatal for us as it was for
33:06
Speaker 1: those who lived in the days of Noah not to
33:08
Speaker 1: know when the flood was coming, and the parable in
33:12
Speaker 1: the same chapter, contrasting the faithful and the unfaithful servant,
33:15
Speaker 1: and giving the doom of him who said, in his heart,
33:18
Speaker 1: my Lord delayeth his coming. Shows in what light Christ
33:21
Speaker 1: will regard and reward those whom he finds watching and
33:24
Speaker 1: teaching his coming, and those denying it. Watch. Therefore, he says,
33:29
Speaker 1: blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he cometh,
33:32
Speaker 1: shall find so doing. If therefore thou shalt not watch,
33:36
Speaker 1: I will come on thee as a thief, and thou
33:38
Speaker 1: shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
33:42
Speaker 1: Paul speaks of a class to whom the Lord's appearing
33:45
Speaker 1: will come unawares. The day of the Lord, so cometh
33:48
Speaker 1: as a thief in the night. For when they shall
33:51
Speaker 1: say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them,
33:55
Speaker 1: and they shall not escape. But he adds to those
33:59
Speaker 1: who have given heat to the Saviour's warning, ye brethren,
34:02
Speaker 1: are not in darkness that that day should overtake you
34:04
Speaker 1: as a thief. Ye are all the children of light
34:07
Speaker 1: and the children of the day. We are not of
34:10
Speaker 1: the night nor of darkness. Thus it was shown that
34:13
Speaker 1: Scripture gives no warrant for men to remain in ignorance
34:17
Speaker 1: concerning the nearness of Christ's coming. But those who desired
34:21
Speaker 1: only an excuse to reject the truth closed their ears
34:24
Speaker 1: to this explanation, and the words no man knoweth the
34:27
Speaker 1: day nor the hour continued to be echoed by the
34:30
Speaker 1: bold scoffer and even by the professed Minister of Christ.
34:34
Speaker 1: As the people were roused and began to inquire the
34:37
Speaker 1: way of salvation, religious teachers stepped in between them and
34:41
Speaker 1: the truth, seeking to quiet their fears by falsely interpreting
34:44
Speaker 1: the word of God. Unfaithful watchmen united in the work
34:48
Speaker 1: of the great deceiver, crying peace, peace when God had
34:52
Speaker 1: not spoken peace. Like the Pharisees in Christ's day, many
34:57
Speaker 1: refused to enter the Kingdom of Heaven themselves, and those
35:00
Speaker 1: who were entering in they hindered. The blood of these
35:04
Speaker 1: souls will be required at their hand. The most humble
35:08
Speaker 1: and devoted in the churches were usually the first to
35:11
Speaker 1: receive the message. Those who studied the Bible for themselves
35:15
Speaker 1: could not but see the unscriptural character of the popular
35:18
Speaker 1: views of prophecy, and wherever the people were not controlled
35:21
Speaker 1: by the influence of the clergy wherever they would search
35:24
Speaker 1: the word of God for themselves. The Advent doctrine needed
35:27
Speaker 1: only to be compared with the scriptures to establish its
35:30
Speaker 1: divine authority. Many were persecuted by their unbelieving brethren. In
35:36
Speaker 1: order to retain their position in the church. Some consented
35:39
Speaker 1: to be silent in regard to their hope, but others
35:41
Speaker 1: felt that loyalty to God forbade them thus to hide
35:44
Speaker 1: the truths which He had committed to their trust. Not
35:48
Speaker 1: a few were cut off from the fellowship of the
35:50
Speaker 1: church for no other reason than expressing their belief in
35:53
Speaker 1: the coming of Christ. Very precious to those who bore
35:56
Speaker 1: this trial of their faith were the words of the prophet.
36:00
Speaker 1: Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for
36:02
Speaker 1: my name's sake, said, let the Lord be glorified, but
36:06
Speaker 1: he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.
36:10
Speaker 1: Angels of God were watching with the deepest interest the
36:12
Speaker 1: result of the warning. When there was a general rejection
36:16
Speaker 1: of the message by the churches, angels turned away in sadness.
36:21
Speaker 1: But there were many who had not yet been tested
36:23
Speaker 1: in regard to the Advent truth. Many were misled by husbands, wives, parents,
36:28
Speaker 1: or children, and were made to believe it a sin
36:31
Speaker 1: even to listen to such heresies as were taught by
36:33
Speaker 1: the Adventists. Angels forbidden to keep faithful watch over these souls,
36:38
Speaker 1: for another light was yet to shine upon them from
36:40
Speaker 1: the throne of God. With unspeakable desire, those who had
36:44
Speaker 1: received the message watched for the coming of their Savior.
36:48
Speaker 1: The time when they expected to meet him was at hand.
36:52
Speaker 1: They approached this hour with a calm solemnity. They rested
36:55
Speaker 1: in sweet communion with God, an earnest of the peace
36:58
Speaker 1: that was to be theirs in the bright hereafter. None
37:02
Speaker 1: who experienced this hope and trust can forget those precious
37:05
Speaker 1: hours of waiting. For some weeks preceding the time, worldly
37:10
Speaker 1: business was for the most part laid aside. The sincere
37:14
Speaker 1: believers carefully examined every thought and emotion of their hearts,
37:17
Speaker 1: as if upon their death beds, and in a few
37:19
Speaker 1: hours to close their eyes upon earthly scenes. There was
37:23
Speaker 1: no making of ascension robes, but all felt the need
37:26
Speaker 1: of internal evidence that they were prepared to meet the Savior.
37:29
Speaker 1: Their white robes or purity of soul characters cleansed from
37:33
Speaker 1: sin by the atoning blood of Christ. Would that there
37:36
Speaker 1: was still with the professed people of God, the same
37:39
Speaker 1: spirit of heart, searching the same earnest, determined faith. Had
37:43
Speaker 1: they continued thus to humble themselves before the Lord and
37:46
Speaker 1: press their petitions at the mercy seat, they would be
37:48
Speaker 1: in possession of a far richer experience than they now have.
37:52
Speaker 1: There is too little prayer, too little real conviction of sin,
37:56
Speaker 1: and the lack of living faith leaves many destitute of
37:59
Speaker 1: the grace so richly provided by our redeemer God designed
38:03
Speaker 1: to prove his people. His hand covered a mistake in
38:07
Speaker 1: the reckoning of the prophetic periods. Adventists did not discover
38:12
Speaker 1: the error, nor was it discovered by the most learned
38:14
Speaker 1: of their opponents. The latter said, your reckoning of the
38:19
Speaker 1: prophetic periods is correct. Some great event is about to
38:23
Speaker 1: take place, but it is not what mister Miller predicts.
38:26
Speaker 1: It is the conversion of the world and not the
38:28
Speaker 1: Second Advent of Christ. The time of expectation passed, and
38:33
Speaker 1: Christ did not appear for the deliverance of his people.
38:36
Speaker 1: Those who, with sincere faith and love had looked for
38:39
Speaker 1: their savior experienced a bitter disappointment. Yet the purposes of
38:44
Speaker 1: God were being accomplished. He was testing the hearts of
38:47
Speaker 1: those who professed to be waiting for his appearing. There
38:50
Speaker 1: were among them many who had been actuated by no
38:53
Speaker 1: higher motive than fear. Their profession of faith had not
38:56
Speaker 1: affected their hearts or their lives. When the expected event
39:00
Speaker 1: failed to take place, these persons declared that they were
39:03
Speaker 1: not disappointed. They had never believed that Christ would come.
39:07
Speaker 1: They were among the first to ridicule the sorrow of
39:10
Speaker 1: the true believers. But Jesus and all the heavenly host
39:14
Speaker 1: looked with love and sympathy upon the tried and faithful,
39:17
Speaker 1: yet disappointed ones. Could the veils separating the visible from
39:21
Speaker 1: the invisible world have been swept back, angels would have
39:25
Speaker 1: been seen drawing near to these steadfast souls and shielding
39:28
Speaker 1: them from the shafts of Satan. End of Chapter twenty