One of the truths that we have understood and dwelt upon throughout the years is that the Millerite time period is repeated at the end of the world. This isn't inconsistent with what Christ has revealed about himself. He identifies himself as the Alpha and the Omega. In Isaiah, he identifies that the proof that he is God is that he has the ability to portray the end from the beginning. And he challenges the idols of the world to demonstrate that they are gods by identifying the end of the world from the beginning of the world. So to suggest that the beginning of Adventism illustrates the end of Adventism is consistent with how Christ has identified that he portrays prophecy. And it's in agreement with the testimony of inspiration. There are several places in inspiration that teach that the Millerite time period is repeated in the time period when the 144,000 are developed. And when you understand this truth, when you test it, you make it your own, then you begin to look at the Millerite time period and you have different glasses on. You say, okay, if this is repeating, what does this mean today? How is it repeated today? And suddenly there are several components of the Millerite time period that seem obvious, at least to myself, that are repeated. And one of them that seems maybe a little bit obscure, but I think is valid, is that in the Millerite time period, the Lord used William Miller to assemble a group of rules of Bible interpretation. And because that history has become obscured to us here at the end of the world, sometimes as Adventists, we're not even aware that there is a paper of William Miller's rules of Bible interpretation. But if we are aware of that, we're not usually familiar with what they are, let alone familiar with the impact that they had upon the Millerites. Brothers and sisters, when it came to identifying the truth that was unfolding in the Millerite time period, all the Millerites were referring to the rules of William Miller. They knew them, they used them. As a matter of fact, and I'm pretty sure it's in Damstead's book, after 1844, when William Miller began to go astray, as we know that he did, those that were staying on the course, that were arguing with William Miller, at least with his position, explaining why he was wrong, they used the rules of Bible interpretation of William Miller against him to prove that he was going off into darkness. They were the standard human point of reference on discussing the truths that were being established at that time period. What was the premier rule of Bible prophecy that we all know from William Miller? What's the one that we're all familiar with? The year-day principle. And where do we first find the year-day principle in God's Word? In the book of Numbers. So who wrote the book of Numbers? And when did Moses write them? Hundreds and hundreds of years before William Miller, right? This is my point. The year-day principle had been in the Bible for hundreds and hundreds of years, but it changed from truth to present truth during the time period of the Millerites, because in the time period of the Millerites, suddenly this principle became the important ingredient to identify and establish the message of the hour. The message of the hour for the Millerites, it parallels the message of the hour for us, but it's different. There's difference. I mean, the Millerites were announcing the beginning of judgment. We're announcing the end of judgment. The Millerite message arrives in history when the judgment of the dead begins. Our message is going to impact the world, the Sunday law, during the time period of the judgment of the living. And brothers and sisters, I'm aware that Sister White says, no man know if the day or hour that the judgment of the living begins, but we know that when we're in the Sunday law crisis, the judgment of the living is underway. So the Millerite time period, there is a parallel, but there are some things that are a little bit different. One of the most important things to remember about them being different is that the Millerite time period took place in the history that we understand as Philadelphia. And those brethren were on fire for the Word of the Lord. They were studying. They were taking the message to the world. And when this history is repeated in our day and age, it is no longer the time period of Philadelphia. What is it? It's a time period of Laodicea. So even though this history is going to repeat, we're a different group of people. The Laodiceans do not have the same characteristics as the Philadelphians. This is why the Lord has to work a revival among us. So because of our condition, there are some places in this parallel where you have to factor in the experience of the Philadelphians as opposed to the experience of the Laodiceans. But one of the things that seems a little bit more obscure, possibly, that took place in that history is that the Lord used William Miller to compile a group of rules of prophetic interpretation that were to be used to develop the message of the hour. And therefore, I suggest to you that when you come to the end of the world, you should expect to see certain rules of Bible prophecy suddenly take on the aspect of changing from present truth to present truth. Because there are rules of Bible prophecy, though they've been in the Bible for hundreds of years, are now rules that need to be recognized in order to establish the message of the hour. And they will be different than the Millerites' message of the hour, because we're not dealing with time prophecy. After 1844, prophecy is no longer. So I would suggest to you that one of those rules of Bible prophecy, and I believe that this particular presentation is a little bit better handled with a little bit more lead-in than I'm doing here, but you're going to follow the logic as it is. So don't worry about it. But one of the rules of Bible prophecy that seems relevant to me at this time, that hasn't been generally recognized or understood in the past, is called the triple application of prophecy. These are new notes for me, so it's taken me a little bit of time to find my notes. Now, triple application of prophecy, this is simple. It's simple, and I'm certain after we walk through it a few times, you're going to see what I mean by a triple application of prophecy. And then once we understand what a triple application of prophecy is, then we're going to go back to the pioneer position of the trumpets and draw one conclusion and close for the evening. So first, I want to point to a rule of Bible prophecy. A triple application of prophecy is this. There are certain prophecies in God's Word that have three fulfillments. And in the first two fulfillments of this triple application, the characteristics that are established in the first two fulfillments establish the characteristics of the third and final fulfillment. This is partially based upon the rule, upon the testimony of two, a thing is established. Another internal rule in a triple application of prophecy, at least the triple application of prophecies that I'm familiar with in the Bible, they're always dealing with Rome. A triple application of prophecy is dealing with Rome and the first two fulfillments of the prophecy. The characteristics of the first two fulfillments will establish the characteristics of the third fulfillment. Now that may seem a little bit hard to follow, but it's easy. I'm going to show you a triple application of prophecy and walk you through everything I just said. And when we get done, I think you'll understand it, even if you don't accept it. If you're hearing these things for the first time, you have not the spiritual right to accept what you're hearing here. You have to go home and test these things through prayer and study. But if you follow the logic, that's good enough for this evening. One triple application of prophecy is the three Elijahs. The last promise in the Old Testament, we can read that from Malachi. Chapter 4 of Malachi sets forth a promise that before the great and dreadful day of the Lord, Elijah would come. Verse 5 of chapter 4 of Malachi says, Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to the fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. So there's a promise that before the great and dreadful day of the Lord, Elijah would come. And we know that in Christ's day, Christ identified that Elijah had come. Who was Elijah that came in Christ's time period? John the Baptist. But in Christ's time period, this was not the great and dreadful day of the Lord. In prophecy, the great and dreadful day of the Lord is the time period of the seven last plagues. The time of Christ on earth was the great day of the Lord. So we have two Elijahs. We have Elijah the first, and we have Elijah the second to John the Baptist. And when you look at the characteristics of Elijah the first, and then you combine them with the characteristics of Elijah the second, you will establish the characteristics of Elijah the third. And there is a great deal of information in this particular study, but we're not going to glean that information. And I'm sure that I don't know it all, but even the little I know, we're not going to deal with it. At this point, all we're trying to do is show you the rules that govern a triple application of prophecy. So you have Elijah the first. This is Elijah. And he had to deal with a threefold enemy. He had to deal with Jezebel, an impure woman who was married to King Ahab. And Jezebel was ruling over the prophets of Baal. Now, a woman in Bible prophecy is what? A church. And Jezebel in Revelation is clearly identified as the corrupt church that we know as the papacy. So Elijah is pointing forward to the war between the threefold enemy that is made up of an impure woman that is married to a king. And what's a king in Bible prophecy? It's a kingdom. It's a civil power, okay? A civil authority. Thou, O king, art the head of gold. Nebuchadnezzar represented the kingdom of Babylon. Was Jezebel and Ahab supposed to be married? No. Unlawful relationship. So in the story of the marriage between Jezebel and Ahab, their unlawful relationship is pointing forward to an unlawful relationship at the end of the world that consists of an impure church and a civil power represented by a king, a kingdom. And there is a third player that does the dance of deception. The prophets of Baal danced around the offering all day long. Now, there's much to say about the story of Elijah that's worth just spending the time on the three Elijahs. But we're simply showing the triple application of prophecy. Elijah II had to deal with a threefold enemy. Herodias, an impure woman. Was she supposed to be married to Herod? Why not? The brother's wife, right? Unlawful marriage one more time, but the same thing. Corrupt woman, civil power. And who did the dance of the deception in this story? Salome, who's the daughter of Herodias. I mean, when you start combining these two testimonies, you start seeing that the deceiving power is the daughter of Herodias, the daughter of Jezebel. Who's the deceiving power at the end of the world? The United States deceives the whole world. The United States is the false prophet. And the Protestants of the United States are the daughters of Rome, Jezebel, the impure church. All the prophets are telling the same story. So, Elijah III, what we're saying here is this. In a triple application of prophecy, when you take the characteristics of the first Elijah and you combine them with the characteristics of the second Elijah, then you establish the characteristics of the third Elijah. There's much to be said about this. Elijah represents God's people at the end of the world. I'll give you an example of much to be said. Did Elijah die? Did John the Baptist die? So, when you combine these two, you see God's people at the end of the world, which would be made up of God's people that get laid to rest and the 144,000 that live till Christ come. These two testimonies are illustrating this. Did Ahab want to arrest Elijah? Yes, he wanted to arrest him. Did he? Nope. Did Herod want to arrest John the Baptist? Yes. Did he? Yes. So, in these parallels, there are some things that are the same, but they're different. That's the way these lines of prophecy work. The differences build the story. Both stories are giving testimony that God's people are going to come under persecution and they're going to try to put us in jail. Not all of us are going to go to jail. Not all of us are going to live till the Lord returns. Some of us are going to die. And there's a power that does the dance of deception. And in Revelation 13, the United States is the power that does the dance of deception. The false prophet, the papacy, is the impure woman. And there is a civil power that comes into a church-state relationship with the papacy. This is the power that's identified in Revelation 17, because Revelation 17 is talking about the whore that commits fornication with the kings of the earth. In Revelation 17, you have the 10 kings. And in Testimonies to Ministers, Sister White says, kings, governors, and rulers have taken the brand of Antichrist and are represented as the dragon that goes to make war with the saints. The civil power, the 10 kings of Revelation 17, are the dragon. The impure woman of Jezebel and Herodias are the beast, the papacy. And the United States is the false prophet. It's Salome. It's the prophets of Baal. This is a triple application of prophecy. It's dealing with Rome. It's telling us the characteristics of the threefold power of Revelation 17, the beast, the dragon, and the false prophet. One of those powers is the power that deceives the world. The other is the civil power that brings the whole world under the umbrella of a one-world government. And the other is an impure church that forces its doctrine upon the world. So, in a triple application of prophecy, it deals about Rome. And the first fulfillment, the characteristics of the first fulfillment, combined with the characteristics of the second fulfillment, established the third fulfillment. Another easy one is, another easy triple application of prophecy, to just show you the principle of how it works, is the three Romes. The characteristics of pagan Rome, combined with the characteristics of papal Rome, establish the characteristics of modern Rome. Pagan Rome was a persecuting power. Papal Rome was a persecuting power. Is modern Rome going to be a persecuting power? Papal Rome was a desolating power. Pagan Rome was a desolating power. Modern Rome is going to bring desolation upon planet Earth. The title of pagan Rome's leader was Pontifus Maximus. The title of papal Rome's leader is Pontifate Maximus, and the title of modern Rome's leader is Pontifus Maximus. The characteristics of pagan Rome and papal Rome, combined, identify the characteristics of modern Rome. When you come to Daniel 11 40 to 45, we don't have time to go there, but it's very important to note that pagan Rome ruled the world supremely from 31 BC to the year 330, according to Daniel 11 verse 24. But in order for pagan Rome to take control of the world, according to Daniel 8 verse 9 and Daniel 11 verses 15 and 16, before pagan Rome took control of the world, it had to conquer three geographical areas. The south, the east, the pleasant land, Syria, Israel, and Egypt. When pagan Rome conquered the third of these geographical areas, Egypt, at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, it ruled the world supremely for 360 years. In order for papal Rome to take control of the world, it had to conquer three geographical areas, the Ostrogoths, the Vandals, and the Hiroli. When the third of those geographical powers was conquered in March of 538, when the Goths fled the city of Rome, then papal Rome ruled the world supremely for 360 years. If pagan Rome had to first conquer three geographical areas before it ruled the world supremely, and papal Rome had to conquer three geographical areas before it ruled the world supremely, then when you come to Daniel 11 40 to 45, and you see the king of the north, which is the papacy, but you have to test that for yourself, but you see the king of the north in Daniel 11 40 to 45 conquering first the king of the south, then the glorious land, and then Egypt. One thing that you certainly know about modern Rome is that whoever the king of the south is, and whoever the glorious land is, and whoever Egypt is, they are three geographical areas, because that's been established in the two Rome's prior. It's a triple application of prophecy, deals with Rome, and the first two applications identify the characteristics that establish the third. Now, we'll deal with this, what I'm going to deal with here in this few minutes right here, we're going to deal with a little bit more tomorrow. But when it comes to the seven trumpets in Revelation, and I'm going to give you the pioneer understanding, and you can check the pioneer understanding this evening if you need to in the book Thoughts on Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith, and you will find that I'm giving you simply the pioneer position. The pioneers understood that trumpets represented approximately five things in God's word, but one of the things that they represented was the bringing down of a kingdom, and the primary passage in scriptures that they used to make that point was of course Jericho, but there are others. There's other things that this trumpet represents, represents a call to a holy convocation, warfare, a couple things such as that, but the ones that the pioneers settled on that the trumpets of Revelation were representing was the bringing down of a kingdom. And they understood that the first four trumpets brought down Western Rome, and I hesitate here because sometimes in Adventism we're not too familiar with this portion of sacred history as we should be, but in the year 330, which is the subject of scripture, when Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Constantinople, what he did was he divided the empire of Rome into East and West, into two parts, and from that point on you have Eastern Rome and Western Rome that become a subject of prophecy, and from the year 330 onward you have the disintegration of the Roman Empire that is identified in Daniel 7 when the Roman Empire disintegrates into ten kingdoms. It began in the year 330 when the kingdom was divided into East and West, and the pioneers correctly identified that the first four trumpets were identifying the historical forces that brought to a conclusion Western Rome, and the first trumpet they identify as a lyric. You can find this in Revelation 8 verse 6. The second trumpet is Genseric out of northern Africa that brought warfare against the Mediterranean. The third trumpet was Attila the Hun. You find that in verse 9, and the fourth trumpet of verse 12 was Odiacer, and in the time period of the fourth trumpet, which included the year 476, after the year 476 there was never an Italian that ruled the city of Rome. Western Rome had been fully removed as an entity that was controlled by Roman influences. The pioneers understood that the fifth and sixth trumpet were the historical forces that were to bring down Eastern Rome, and that during that same history Papal Rome would receive its deadly wound. The fifth trumpet they start in the time period of Muhammad, and you'll notice that in the fifth and the sixth trumpet there is a time prophecy. One of the important things that we want to emphasize here for this study is that the fifth and sixth trumpet that are represented up here on this chart which Sister White says was directed by the hand of the Lord and should not be altered, the fifth and sixth trumpet were none other than the religion of Islam. Now brothers and sisters, it isn't I that makes a distinction in the trumpets. If you read the trumpets of Revelation 8, actually all the way through chapter 11, but primarily Revelation 8 and 9, but the trumpets are still addressed in chapter 10 and 11 of Revelation. If you read the trumpets this evening in Revelation 8 and 9, you will find that the last three trumpets, let's look at this in verse 13 of Revelation 8, the last three trumpets after the first four trumpets have brought to a conclusion Western Rome. Then verse 13 says, and I beheld and heard another angel flying in the midst of heaven saying with a loud voice, woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels that are yet to sound. So it's not I that I'm making the distinction. Revelation says that all the seven trumpets are seven trumpets, but that the last three trumpets, the fifth, the sixth, and the seventh trumpet are three woes. And the three woes are identifying a triple application of prophecy. So when you look at the fifth, sixth, and seventh trumpet from the pioneer position as they understood it, and you take the characteristics that are identified by the pioneers of the fifth trumpet, and you combine them with the characteristics that are identified by the pioneers of the sixth trumpet, you will establish the characteristics of the seventh trumpet. You follow the logic even if you haven't tested it. So what I'm saying is that one of the truths of Bible prophecy that is obscure to Adventism here at the end of the world is the role of Islam. And brothers and sisters, we have much more to say about this tomorrow. The role of Islam is identified in Genesis right there at the beginning. They have a purpose in Bible prophecy. But when it comes to the fifth and the sixth trumpet, the pioneers had a specific understanding of what they represented. That understanding is reflected on this chart, which Sister White endorses. And if you go home tonight and you have the book by Uriah Smith, you'll see that everything that I'm going to tell you about the characteristics of the fifth and the sixth trumpet is in agreement with the pioneers. This is not off the top of my head. I have summarized some things. I've left some things out just to keep it simple and easy to see. But the fifth trumpet, if you'll notice the first four trumpets that brought down Western Rome, the fifth and sixth trumpet are going to bring down Eastern Rome, the Rome that was the Caesars that had moved to Constantinople. The fifth and sixth trumpet are going to bring them down. The first thing that the pioneers say about the fifth trumpet, which is the first woe, is that it was Islam. Each of the trumpets have a historical figure associated with them, whether it's a Lyric, Genseric, Atilladithan, or Odiaser. The historical figure that's associated with the fifth trumpet is Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. And in the fifth trumpet, Islam was going to bring warfare against Rome. That's what the fifth trumpet is talking about, the warfare that's carried out against Rome by Islam in the fifth trumpet. They were to hurt, but not kill, Rome in the time period of the fifth trumpet. Specifically, they were going to hurt Rome for 150 years. That's the time prophecy twice mentioned in the fifth trumpet. The type of warfare that Islam was going to bring against Rome during this time period, first off, it was going to bring warfare against the armies of Rome. It wasn't attacking China. China was attacking the armies of Rome. And the type of warfare that was going to be used by Islam to attack the armies of Rome, according to the passage in Revelation, and according to the history books, and according to how the pioneers expressed the fulfillment of this prophecy, is that the armies of Islam would strike the armies of Rome suddenly and unexpectedly. That's how they worked. They give an illustration of the Islamic warriors on the Arabian horses coming up over the sand dune and cutting the heads off the Roman army. And before the blood's done flowing, the armies of Islam on their horses are over the other sand dune and they're gone and the blood's still flowing. They struck suddenly and unexpectedly. They didn't line up like the British did in the Revolutionary War time period in a line and just march into battle. They were directed by their tails, Revelation 9 says, and in Isaiah 9.15 it says, the ancient and the honorable, he is the head, and the prophet that teaches lies, he is the tail. So the one that was directing the armies of Islam is not a general. It's what we call today a mullah. It's a religious leader. They're being directed by religious leaders. That's different. Most armies are directed by some political figure, whether it be a king or a president. But in this history, it was going to be directed by religious leaders. I'm leaving some things out here, unfortunately. So if you want to challenge me later that I didn't leave it in, I have an out there. I know I'm leaving some things out. I'll leave that out too. So that's the basic summation of the first woe, the fifth trumpet. The sixth trumpet, the second woe, the historical figure associated with that is a man named Ottman. And what Ottman did is he brought organization into the warfare and the society, the social structure of Islam at that time. And it's worth noting, it's an obscure truth, but it is very important when you really get down into the deeper levels of this prophetic testimony that what Ottman did is he brought the religion of Islam into the state of Islam. There was a combination of church and state that he used to bring about a more organized fighting army. And in the sixth trumpet, Rome was to die. They were to kill the armies of Rome. They were still to attack the armies of Rome in the sixth time period. And they were also to strike suddenly and unexpectedly. And I've abbreviated this. That's suddenly and this is unexpectedly. But with one other thing. In the history of the sixth trumpet, the second woe, we have for the first time introduced into warfare what? Gunpowder. So they, in the second woe, the sixth trumpet time period, Islams would attack the armies of Rome and their method of warfare is that they would strike suddenly and unexpectedly with explosives. This is what's in the scripture. This is what history attests to. This is what the pioneers understood and it's reflected in the book that Sister White says is God's helping hand. And it's symbolically represented on that chart, which Sister White says was directed by the hand of the Lord right here. These war horses, Mohammedans, Mohammedans was talking about the warfare that's being illustrated in the fifth and sixth trumpet, the first and second woe that brings the armies of Rome to conclusion. They're also directed by their tales, which is the prophets. So what am I, what am I saying? Saying the three woes. This is the first woe. This is the second woe. And this is a triple application of prophecy. The characteristics that are established in the first two fulfillments of the woes identifies the characteristics of the third woe. Therefore, when the third woe arrives in history, you should expect to see Islam attack the armies of Rome. At the end of the world, who is the army of Rome? Who forces the whole world to worship Rome? How do they do it? According to Revelation 13, Revelation 13, they use their military and economic strength. Because if you don't have the mark of the beast, you can't buy or sell economic strength of the United States. If you don't have the mark of the beast, you're put to death, military strength. The two characteristics of the United States at the end of the world, as it forces the world to worship the papacy, is economic and military strength. And I would submit to you that when the third woe arrives in history, that you should expect to see Islam strike the United States suddenly and unexpectedly with explosives. Now, brothers and sisters, the characteristics, the prophetic characteristics that are identified about the United States in Revelation 13 are two. If you can't buy or sell, you receive the mark of the beast. If you won't receive the mark of the beast, you're put to death. That's military and economic strength. The symbolic representation of the military strength of the United States is in a building in Washington, D.C. called the Pentagon. The symbolic representation of the economic power of the United States was in a couple buildings in New York City called the Twin Towers. It's a fact the whole world knows, even if Adventism hasn't put it together. But on September 11th, 2001, Islam struck suddenly and unexpectedly with explosives against the armies of Rome at the very points that represent the prophetic characteristics of the United States at the end of the world. And if you understand the trumpets as the pioneers of Adventism understood the trumpets, then you will recognize that at that time period, the third woe began. And brothers and sisters, I am fully aware of all the information that implicates that it really wasn't Islam that struck the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, that it was orchestrated either by Jesuits or by the CIA or George Bush. That doesn't matter. Tomorrow we're going to show you that it doesn't matter. That's not the point. Even those people that are suggesting that are not making a case that the people that were involved with those airplanes primarily came from Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia. And it's not the point. Let me tell you a story, and I don't know if this is a valid story. It's certainly not anything I'm going to give you a thus saith the Lord for. There's a pastor in Adventism from Georgia. He's a speaker around the world, trained theologian. I, as you can tell, I'm not a trained theologian. He was actually a television theologian for the Adventist church for a while. He's no longer functioning in that fashion. He's doing self-supporting work, but he's one of these brethren that really knows his Bible well, and he's a genuine Christian man. We don't spend any time together, and when we're home I don't email him, I don't call him. He doesn't email and he doesn't call me, but from time to time through the years we will meet each other at different camp meetings around the world. And that's where we meet each other. That's the only place we meet each other. And he's always worried about me because he's in the loop of people that they know me, and I know who he knows. We know the same people. So he always hears all the horror stories about me, and there's a lot of horror stories about me out there. So by the time he sees me one or two years later, all his nervousness is once again built up about me. And invariably he's a much more cautious person than I. I've made several mistakes, unfortunately, because I'm not cautious enough. He's much more cautious than I, and when he meets up with me, invariably I'll be sharing something from prophecy that seems a little bit provocative to him, and he's worried about me. And he takes a couple few days before he starts understanding what I'm sharing, and ultimately he'll settle into it. And then shortly thereafter, he'll invite me out to give that material, to present it to his church in Georgia, and then maybe travel with him over to Asia, because he prefers Asia, and share with the brethren in Asia with him. And in Europe this year, we were at a camp meeting together. We hadn't seen each other for a couple years, and I was traveling with a brother. And I said, this pastor is going to be at this camp meeting. Let me tell you about him. And I told him the same story. I said, when this pastor, the only time we interact with each other is occasionally at camp meetings. And he loves me. I know he loves me. And I frustrate him, because he's held a position for years where he teaches how to preach, teaches homiletics. And as you can tell, if I would go through a class on homiletics, I would get an F+. And so whenever we're together, he's saying, you know, you need to do this, you need to do that. He wants me to be effective. He loves me. But when we first meet after a couple years, and here's what I'm teaching at that particular time, he's always nervous. So I told this brother from England that was traveling through these series of meetings this summer with me. I said, when we meet up with him, you watch. Not a prophet, but I'll tell you what happened. When he first hears what I'm saying, that the latter rain is falling, he's going to find opportunity to come look me in the eye and let me know that he thinks I'm once again, you know, on shaky ground. I said, but don't worry. He'll listen to what I say. And I said, then after that, he'll come back and he'll start asking intelligent questions. Because this brother is one of those brothers that when you start talking about the Bible, he can go anywhere in the Bible and know it. And I'm not like that. I know the Bible well and the passages I deal with, but some of the other passages in the Bible, you know, I'm just like everyone else. I have to go reread them if I'm going to deal with them. He's not like that. He has the Bible on the forefront of his mind from front to back. He really does. So he can catch things very quickly. That's what I'm saying. So I told this brother, after the first confrontation, he'll come and he'll start asking some questions that are really challenging what I'm saying. And I said, you'll probably do one more meeting after that. And then he's going to take me aside and he's going to say, okay, I see what you're saying now. Now tell it to me. And it was amazing. It worked just like that. We were eating a meal and he comes up and he starts telling me, you know, you're getting off the deep end again, so to speak. And the next meal, he makes a point, comes up behind me and says, okay, now if you're saying this, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. And I wasn't staying for that entire camp meeting. I left halfway through to go to another camp meeting and he knew I was leaving. So as I was leaving to drive from Germany to Switzerland, he comes out and he says, okay, you're saying that the ladder reign has begun to fall. Tell me why you believe that. Now he's ready to listen. He says, well, we only have about 30 minutes here. And in 30 minutes, I went through and I ran off nine points that demonstrate from Bible prophecy that the ladder reign began to fall on 9-11 and that we must understand the role of Islam. And he followed every one of them. Brothers and sisters, they're there. So what I told that story for is this. I have just given you one of several arguments that begins to build the case that on 9-11, the marker that parallels August 11th, 1840, had arrived in the history of Adventism and that we are required to understand that this experience that took place from 1840 to 1844 has begun to be repeated. But there was a brother up here in between this last presentation and now and he was given an honest question that comes up. He says, how easy is it to go find the historical documentation that the Ottoman Empire collapsed on August 11th, 1840? Because that's always a bone of contention. And I told him that history is very difficult to locate, but it is there, but it's not there in abundance. The point being that when you really start to defend the pioneer position of what happened on August 11th, 1840, there's not as much historical references to defend that as there are other subjects of prophecy. And along with that, there's several satanic sidetracks that try to undermine that truth. But that history is paralleling the history of September 11th, 2001, and therefore you should expect to see a multitude of roadblocks put out to prevent us from understanding this correctly, because it's the same history as August 11th, 1840. Now let me run one thing by you to try to diffuse those that are of you that are stumbling over the fact in your mind that I said that on August 11th, or that on September 11th, 2001, Islam attacked the armies of Rome. It's not that Islam attacked the armies of Rome. It's that on August 11th, 1840, the four great European powers came together to decide the fate of Islam. That's what happened on August 11th, 1840. We need to understand this history. Brothers and sisters, this is the history when the first angel's message was in power. This is the history when the angel of Revelation 10 came down and put his hand, his foot upon the land and his foot upon the sea, and he had the book of Daniel open in his hand. We need to understand this history. This is when the Millerite message was in power and it was carried to the world. And in that history, at the beginning of that history, the last emperor of Rome refused to take the throne, even though it was his, because it had been left vacated. He refused to ascend and take the throne of Rome without permission of the four great sultans of Turkey. When he received permission, he ascended the throne. But what he had done, and this is what started the 391-year, 15-day time prophecy of Revelation 9-15, what he had done is he'd given his kingdom away without a shot being fired, and shortly thereafter his kingdom was swept away. This happened in 1449. 1453, for the first time in history, gunpowder was used in warfare and the Turks blew down the walls of Constantinople and the last emperor of Rome was gone. For 391 years and 15 days, Islam then brought warfare against Europe that was the biggest, you know, thorn in the Europeans' flesh there was. But by the end of the 391 years and 15 days, Turkey was what they called the poor man of the east. It had no power. But there was another Islamic power, Egypt, that was just desirous to re-establish an Islamic dynasty and it attacked Turkey to take control of Turkey. It even took control of the navy of Turkey. And the Europeans looked at this and they said, we've had hundreds of years of this warfare of Islam. We're not going to allow this to continue. We're going to intercede into this crisis and prevent Egypt from re-establishing an Islamic dynasty. And in that political mixture, the last sultan of Turkey handed over the sovereignty of his country into the hands of the four great European powers and they told Egypt, you either cease and desist or you're going to deal with us. You have the same history at the beginning of that time prophecy as you do at the end. But the point is, on August 11, 1840, one of the premier things that happened prophetically is that the four great European powers came together to decide the fate of Islam. But that history is prefiguring a history at the end of the world where the entire world, what's the number four represent in Bible prophecy? Worldwide. When the four great European powers came together to decide the fate of Islam on August 11, 1840, they were pointing forward to a time period at the end of the world where the entire world, four worldwide, would come together to decide the fate of Islam. And brothers and sisters, it don't matter. It don't matter if it was the CIA or George Bush or the Jesuits or Islam on 9-11. You can't deny the fact that after 9-11, George Bush went to the entire world and says, we're now in a war with terrorism. We have to decide the fate of Islam. The same thing happened on September 11, 2001 that happened on August 11, 1840. So when you come to a triple application to prophecy, it allows you to take the foundational position of the Millerites, brothers and sisters, when it comes to the trumpets. And brothers and sisters, the message, the prophetic message of the Millerites was Daniel 8-14. The first angel's message, fear God and give him glory for the hour of his judgment has come, comes on October 22, 1844. The Millerites took the first angel's message to the world, but our message is the third angel's message. But what empowered the Millerite message was a truth from Bible prophecy that came from the book of Revelation. In fact, it came from the trumpets of Revelation. In fact, it was the 391 year, 15 day time prophecy. So brothers and sisters, what I want you to see, if you will, the third angel's message is our message, a warning against receiving the mark of the beast. But what empowered the Millerite message of Daniel 8-14 was a prophetic message from the trumpets of Revelation. And what we're suggesting here is that what took place on 9-11, 2001 was designed by God to once again empower his people with the understanding that the third woe had begun and the process of hurting the armies of Rome that bring about the Sunday law in the United States had begun. The difference is, is that the Millerites were Philadelphians and they were carrying the message to the world full speed ahead with every ounce of energy that had. But on September 11th, 2001, God's people were not Philadelphians. They're Laodiceans. So there has been a different response. But the prophetic testimony is identical. It's identical. So there's more to bring into this argument. But I can't let you leave this evening without trying to spiritually twist your arm to come back and hear the rest of it. That's what I'm doing here, brothers and sisters. Let me show you something. There's so many prophetic arguments, if you have time to look at them. Go to Daniel chapter 10. We have seven minutes. We'll see if we can do this in seven minutes. I said 10, I mean 11. Daniel 11 verse 1 says, Also I, in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I stood to confirm, to strengthen him, and now I will show thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia, and the fourth shall be far richer than they all. Now what Daniel is talking about is that there's going to be how many kings that stand up in Persia? Three, followed by a fourth that's far richer than they are, right? So he's talking about four kings. If you read the book by Uriah Smith, there was really, I forget whether it was 16 kings in that history. It was way more than four. But inspiration selects four to make its point. Leaves the other 10 or 12 or whatever it is on the wayside, and that's okay for inspiration to do. But historically there was more than four. But what inspiration is doing, it's telling us how the Mede in the Persian kingdom came to a conclusion. Because this fourth king that was far richer than they are, he raises a mighty army and he attacks Greece for no reason. And Greece had never been a warlike country. They hadn't been pushing anybody around. But the fact that this Persian king attacked Greece, it brought an antagonism within the Greek kingdom that brought none other than Alexander the Great into history to retaliate against this action. So if you will see it, when Daniel 11 is dealing with the conclusion of the Medo-Persian empire, it identifies four kings. And then it goes into the empire of Greece that is established by Alexander the Great. And when Alexander the Great comes to his conclusion, his kingdoms divided up into what? Four generals. How many generals were there really standing around Alexander the Great when he died? Way more than four. Inspiration simply took the four that were the ones it wanted to take. And those four generals are marking the dissolution of the Greek empire. In fact, by the time you get just a few more verses into Daniel 11, it's down to two kings, the northern and southern king. My point is this. When it comes to the conclusion of the empire of the Medes and the Persians, you see four kings. When it comes to the conclusion of Greece, you see four generals. When it comes to the conclusion of Western Rome, you see the first four trumpets. When it comes to the conclusion of Eastern Rome, you see four angels at the Euphrates rivers that have been prepared for an hour a day in a month in a year. When a kingdom comes to a conclusion in Bible prophecy, you will see the number four illustrated. When it came to a conclusion for the Ottoman empire, you see the four great powers of Europe being illustrated. When it comes to the conclusion of modern Babylon, you see the four winds of strife let loose. The number four marks the end of a kingdom in Bible prophecy. It also marks worldwide, but symbols have to be determined by context. What does a lion represent in Bible prophecy? Somebody said, Jesus. Doesn't a lion represent Satan or Judah or Babylon? Symbols have to be determined by context. So when I'm saying that the number four marks the end of a kingdom in Bible prophecy, it's not denying that the number four also represents worldwide in certain contexts. Brothers and sisters, Daniel 11 40, which we have not time to discuss, is the history that leads up to the Sunday law in verse 41 of Daniel 11. And in Daniel 11 verse 40, you see the conclusion of the King of the South. The King of the South was atheism. Verse 40, when the King of the South began, it was atheistic France. But when it was brought to a demise by the King of the North in the 1989 time period, the King of Atheism had become the Soviet Union. And when you take the kingdoms of Bible prophecy and mark how they come down, you'll always see the number four associated with them coming down. And in Daniel 11 verse 40, at the collapse of the King of the South, it demands that you see a number four there. And you read verse 40 of Daniel 11 and the surrounding verses, and you won't find a number four illustrated. But when you bring the prophetic evidence together, verse 40, the collapse that's identifying the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, is identifying the history that precedes the Sunday law of verse 41 of Daniel 11. And brothers and sisters, in that history, the fourth angel comes down. And the fourth angel of Revelation 18 is the latter rain. The arguments to demonstrate that we are in the time period of the sprinkling of the latter rain are throughout Bible prophecy. And I challenge you to rearrange your schedule to allow us to try to defend this contention tomorrow. And I leave you with with the simple presentation of a triple application of prophecy. The characteristics of the first woe, as identified by the pioneers, combined with the characteristics of the second woe, as identified by the pioneers, tell you that when the third woe arrives in history, you should see Islam begin to fulfill its role in Bible prophecy. And what is, who's the father of Islam? Ishmael. Genesis. Turn to Genesis, and we have one minute and 30 seconds. Genesis 12. Why am I saying 12? Genesis 16, verse 12, is the prophecy of the descendants of Ishmael at the end of the world. And it says, and he will be a wild man, and his hand will be against every man and every man's hand against him. And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren. Brothers and sisters, the role of Islam is laid out in that verse. They are the issue that brings every man, every man's hand in the world together against them. We'll deal with that a little bit tomorrow, because once the world comes together against Islam, the world will find out that the government that's been set up to deal with Islam is not going to deal with Islam. It's going to deal with Seventh-day Adventists. But what brings the world together into a one-world government, as Bible prophecy predicts, is the fact that the descendants of Ishmael are wild and crazy people that have the ability to walk into a room suddenly and unexpectedly with explosives and blow themselves up. Shall we pray? Heavenly Father, I thank you for the little time we've had here this Sabbath day and this evening to open up these truths. And I ask that you would help us to return tomorrow to see the stronger arguments to support what we're suggesting here tonight, that we might have the information available to go home and test if what we're presenting here is correct. It is clear that we're standing in the time period where you are raising up the people that are going to give the final warning message, and we want to be among these people. We want to have time to prepare. So we need to be about our business quickly. Please give us quick understanding in your word and put a burden upon the hearts of those that are hearing these things to not simply walk away from these things, but to test them, to let your word and your Holy Spirit demonstrate to them whether they are established upon sand or upon the rock. We wish to know these things. We thank you for a blessed Sabbath day, a blessed time together with each other and with you today. In Jesus' name, amen.