Shall we pray? Heavenly Father, we thank you for the beautiful Sabbath morning we have here, and for the easy times that we have to come together and study your Word. We ask that your Holy Spirit and your angels would abide with us at this time, that you would give us the blessing that you want us to receive on this Sabbath day. Open our hearts and minds to be able to recognize and hear your voice and understand it. We ask that the words spoken from up front would be edifying, truthful, honest, for your glory, your honor. We thank you for bringing us all here safely. We know there may still be some coming here traveling. We ask for continued travel mercy for them. And we ask that the weekend that we spend here looking at these things would be the time where you begin to prepare each of us to participate in this final warning message. And we thank you for these things. In Jesus' name, Amen. Some of you weren't here last night. We had two presentations last night. One was titled, The Seven Thunders, where we looked a little bit at the ceiling up of the seven thunders. Thank you. In Revelation 10, verse 4, and we identified that one of the things that the seven thunders represents is that the Millerite history is repeated at the end of the world. Sister White has a statement where she identifies that the seven thunders represent the delineation of events that transpired under the first and second angels' messages. And we're marking that particular history from 1840 to 1844. Her statement said, a delineation of events that transpired under the first and second angels' messages. She did not say the third. Third angels' message arrived October 22, 1844. So we're suggesting the seven thunders represent the events that take place from 1840 to 1844. But in that same passage, Sister White also says that the seven thunders represent future events that will be disclosed in their order. And she wrote that in 1901. So we are identifying that the seven thunders represents that the history, the events of the Millerite history from 1840 to 1844 will be repeated at the end of the world in the time period when the 144,000 are raised up. This isn't the only place where you can make that claim. Sister White says in the Great Controversy 393 that the parable of Matthew 25, of the ten virgins of Matthew 25, illustrates the Adventist experience. And then we read a quote from Review and Herald, August, from Review and Herald. It's in the record where she says, I'm often referred to the parable of the ten virgins, five of whom were wise and five foolish. This parable has been and will be fulfilled to the very letter. So when we're suggesting that the seven thunders is teaching that the Millerite history is repeated at the end of the world, as a second testimony to that, you have the parable of the ten virgins. You also have Daniel 12, which teaches the same principle. You have Revelation 14 that teaches the same principle. And we're going to look at some other arguments to demonstrate that the Millerite history is repeated at the end of the world today. So the Bible teaches that on the testimony of two or three, a thing is established. So there are many places, or there is a strong argument that applying the seven thunders in this fashion is correct. And we're further stating that the fact that the seven thunders was sealed up in verse four of Revelation 10, and that in Revelation 22 verses 10 and 11, that the prophecy that has been sealed up in the book of Revelation, there's a command just before probation closes to seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book, that the only prophecy in the book of Revelation that's been sealed up is the seven thunders. So we're suggesting that the truth about what the seven thunders represent is unsealed just before probation closes. And because the seven thunders conveyed the truth that the Millerite history is repeated at the end of the world, we know that there was a prophetic truth that was unsealed in the Millerite history that brought about the experience of the Millerites. The book of Daniel was unsealed at the time of the end. And we're suggesting that the unsealing of the seven thunders is the parallel to the unsealing of the book of Daniel for the Millerites. And that part of what the unsealing of the seven thunders does is it returns us to the foundations of Adventism. And the second presentation we did last night was on the foundations of Adventism, and we looked at six quotes where Sister White says, we have no new message, we're to continue to present the things that brought us out of the churches in 1843 and 1844. We looked at six quotes where she emphasized that, and then we looked at the quotes where she says that this chart, the 1843 chart, was directed by the hand of the Lord and it should not be altered. Then we looked at the quote where she says this chart, the 1850 chart, says God was in the publishment of this chart, and that she saw that there was a prophecy of this chart in the Bible, so you will find divine endorsement on both of these charts. This 1850 chart is the chart that James White was told to produce in order to correct the errors of this chart, and the primary error on this chart was the year zero. They were predicting the end of the world in 1843, as we all know as Adventists, and this chart is pretty much the same as this chart with the exception that on this chart they then understood the sanctuary correctly, so you'll see illustrated also on this chart the sanctuary message. So when Sister White says we have no new message, we're to continue to present the things that were presented in 1840, 1841, 1842, 1843, 1844, there were 300 Millerite preachers and this is the only thing they presented was this chart. They didn't present anything else. So if that message is our message, and we're to continue to present this message, then we need to understand the truths that are represented on this chart, and in one of the quotes we read that last night, she calls these truths the foundation, she calls them the platform. These truths on this chart are the foundations of Adventism. So when you're saying that the seven thunders represents the history of the Millerites from 1840 to 1844, and that this history will be repeated, that one of the things that logically you have to come to understand about this history are the truths that the Millerites came together over in that history, and that's why our second presentation last night was on the foundations of Adventism, and most Adventists do not understand or believe that these are the foundations of Adventism, and by and large we have rejected these foundations in Adventism today. You know, I have personally interacted with the Biblical Research Institute of the General Conference on the subject of the daily. We teach differently today on the daily than the pioneers did, and there are certain truths that William Miller, some of these truths that are on this chart, William Miller helped to discover, but the other Millerites contributed to as well. We know that William Miller is the one that nailed down the 2300 year prophecy, he's also the one that nailed down the 2520 time prophecy, but if there's a truth on that chart, a truth in the Millerite movement that is specifically identified as the truth that William Miller discovered more than any other, it's the daily, and the daily we teach totally different today than William Miller understood. If you reject the understanding of William Miller about the daily being paganism that was removed in the year 508, then you are destroying your point of reference for the 1290 and the 1335 time prophecy of Daniel 12, which is a foundational truth to Adventism. You can see it on this chart. This chart is directed by the hand of the Lord and should not be altered. The truth that empowered the Millerite message was a time prophecy located in the sixth trumpet, the second woe, of 391 years and 15 days, how long the Ottoman Empire would rule the world. That time prophecy came to a conclusion on August 11, 1840, and it proved before the watching world that the yearday principle that the Millerites were employing was valid. It empowered the Millerite movement, yet I have an email from the Biblical Research Institute of the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church that says that we no longer accept the pioneer position on the trumpets. So we have now rejected this, this, this, we've rejected this, and we don't know about this. And in reality, brothers and sisters, if you use William Miller's argument, if you use William Miller's basic argument, if you're wrong on this, on the daily, then you reject this, the 2300 year prophecy. When William Miller came to identify the daily as paganism, there were two teachings pre-existence to that of what the daily represented in the Protestant world. One was that it represented the daily worship service in the sanctuary in Jerusalem, and when Jerusalem was destroyed, the daily was taken away. That was the minority view. The majority view in the Protestant world was that the daily represented Christ's sanctuary ministry, and William Miller came up with the understanding that the daily represented paganism. And you can show, William Miller showed that he had to deal with this. There's not many arguments that William Miller dealt with that we still have his recorded logic on how he responded to these arguments, but he did respond to the argument that the daily represented Christ's sanctuary ministry, which is what we teach in Adventism today, and he shows in a very simple fashion that if you believe that Christ's sanctuary ministry is the daily, you destroy the 2300 year prophecy, and it's easy to show. And just to turn with me to Daniel 8.13, I'll show you why it's easy to show. I'm getting off track right off the start. That's a bad sign, but we'll start. This is the foundation of Adventism, alright? Daniel 8.13 and 14, there's a question and answer. We all understand the answer of verse 14. What's the answer of verse 14? 1844, correct? Daniel 8.14, the answer is 1844. But the question is asked in verse 13, and verse 13 of Daniel 8 says, Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the transgression of desolation to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden underfoot? Now I assume that we're all, although I know better, I know there's some new Christians in here, new Adventist Christians, but I assume that most of us understand that when we're reading the King James Bible and we see a word that's italicized, that we know that that means that that word wasn't in the original Hebrew or Greek language. It's a word that was added by the translators of the Bible. And if you go through your Bible and you look for the italicized words, you will see that there are hundreds of added words in the Bible. And in verse 13 of Daniel 8, it says, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice? You see that word there, sacrifice, is italicized. And therefore, you know that it's a word that was added by the translators of the King James Bible. You'll see other words in that verse that were also added, concerning, shall be. So in one verse, you see four words that were added. But my point is this, of all the hundreds of words that are added in the King James Bible, how many of the added words does inspiration comment on? And there's only one. And in early writings, page 74, Sister White says that she was shown that the word sacrifice, in connection with the daily, was added by human wisdom and does not belong to the text. So right there, if you understand the grammatical structure, you know that William Miller was right. Because William Miller says, when he came to the daily in the book of Daniel, he found that the word daily in the book of Daniel was found nowhere else in the Bible. And the word daily in the Hebrew is timid. And it's found, I think, 106 times in the Bible. And it's only in Daniel six times. But William Miller said, I only found this word in the book of Daniel. Yet it's really, it's in the rest of the Bible a hundred times. And here's William Miller saying, no, the only place you find this word is in the book of Daniel. And the reality of it is, is William Miller was right. Because everywhere else that this word is in the Bible, other than the book of Daniel, it's either an adjective or an adverb. But in the book of Daniel, the word timid is a noun. And when the translators of the King James Version came to the book of Daniel, they probably had a dilemma on their hands. Because they said, every time we see this word timid, it's an adjective or an adverb. And here it is, Daniel's using it as a noun. We need to straighten this out. So they stuck the word sacrifice with it. And if you change the daily to the daily sacrifice, you change it into an adjective instead of a noun. But what's Sister White say about it? She said, William Miller was right. That word sacrifice does not belong there. And therefore, the daily is a noun. And it's the only place in the Bible where the timid is a noun. It's different than the rest of the Bible. So when the modern theologians tell you, we need to understand the daily based upon how it's used in the other parts of the Bible, that's like saying that I'm going to rock the baby cradle, or I'm going to throw a rock at the baby. The word rock may be the same in both instances. But when I'm throwing a rock at the baby, it's a noun. If I'm rocking the baby cradle, it's different. It has a totally different meaning. And the only place this word is found is in the book of Daniel. And William Miller's logic was this. In Daniel 8, we haven't got time for it, but there are two Hebrew words in Daniel 8 that are both translated as vision, chalzon and mare. If you count very carefully, you'll find in Daniel 8 1, you see the word vision. Verse 2, you see the word vision twice. In verse 13, you see the word vision. In verse 15, you see the word vision. Verse 16 and 17, you see the word vision. In verse 26, you see the word vision twice. And in verse 27, you see the word vision once. In those 10 times, it is two different Hebrew words that are translated as vision. One is mare, meaning a singular occurrence, a snapshot, just one time illustration. Chalzon, that is translated vision, means the complete vision. If you are very careful to the differences of these words in Daniel 8, it'll shed light on Daniel 8 that you can't see by just treating the word vision as vision from beginning to end. We haven't got time to look at that, but we do want to make that point as we look at verse 13. In verse 13, when a heavenly being asks the question, it says, how long shall be the vision? And this word vision is chalzon, it means the complete vision. It doesn't mean the singular occurrence, it's not mare, it's chalzon. The question is, how long is the complete vision concerning two things, the daily, not the daily sacrifice, because the word sacrifice doesn't belong there, the daily and the transgression of desolation. And then the rest of the question tells us what the daily and the transgression of desolation are going to do. It says, how long shall be the complete vision? That word chalzon means complete vision. How long shall be the complete vision concerning the daily and the transgression of desolation to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden underfoot? So whatever the daily and the transgression of desolation are, the work that they're going to do is they're going to trample down the sanctuary and the host. So whether you accept the pioneer position of the daily, or you accept the modern theologian's view of the daily and Adventism, between Miller's view and the modern view, no one argues about what the transgression of desolation represents in this verse. What the transgression of desolation represents in verse 13 is the papacy. The question is, how long is the complete vision concerning the daily and the papacy to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden underfoot? Now if you forgot where I'm going, because I'm going kind of fast, I'm going to show you how William Miller shows that if you believe that the daily is Christ's sanctuary ministry, you destroy the 2300 years. That's what we're trying to do here in a very quick fashion. This isn't where I was going to start today. I'm losing ground here. So here's what we're saying. This complete vision is the vision of the papacy and the daily. If you believe, as William Miller and the pioneers did, that the daily represents paganism, pagan Rome in a specific sense, paganism in a general sense, then the question is, how long is the complete vision, and where does this question arise? It arises in Daniel chapter 8. So how long is the complete vision in Daniel chapter 8 concerning paganism and the papacy to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden underfoot? That would be the question as a Millerite would express it. The way we would express that question today would be, how long is the complete vision concerning Christ's sanctuary ministry and the papacy to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden underfoot? And that's what we teach today, is the daily represents Christ's sanctuary ministry. So here's William Miller's logic, and it's very simple. The question is about duration, and I know the modern theologians say that you can translate the Hebrew word. In verse 13, there's a Hebrew word that's translated, how long? And the modern theologians will tell you, you can translate that word as when. And when you're confronted with that argument, brothers and sisters say, yes, that word can be translated as when, but some of the very finest Hebrew scholars that ever walked this earth were those scholars that translated the King James Bible, and when they looked at that Hebrew word, they know that you can translate it as when or how long, and they decided that it was best translated as how long. So don't buy into that, it can go either way, and it's a question about duration. How long shall be the complete vision concerning the daily and the transgression of desolations? It's about duration. And then verse 14, every Seventh-day Adventist knows the answer, under 2,300 days, and the sanctuary is cleansed. It's a question-answer. The question is about duration. The answer, I hope everyone in this room understands that the answer is 1844, okay? That's verse 14. If you understand that, say amen. Okay, so here's William Miller's logic. William Miller says if you believe the daily is Christ's sanctuary ministry, then you destroy the 2,300-year prophecy, and here's how you do it. The question is about duration. How long shall be the complete vision concerning Christ's sanctuary ministry and the papacy? Let me ask you a question. When was it that Christ began his work in the sanctuary? After the cross. When was that? Thirty-one? Okay, the year 31. So, and when did the papacy arrive in history? Paul says the mystery of iniquity hath already work, so in Paul's day and age, the papacy was beginning its work, but typically we'd say 538, but in any case, Paul made his statements after 31. So in verse 13, the question is about duration. It says how long is the complete vision concerning Christ's sanctuary ministry and the papacy? And brothers and sisters, if that's the question, the earliest date that you can start that vision is when Christ began his sanctuary ministry. When did he begin it? Thirty-one. No, he began in the holy place in 31. He ascended to heaven to the holy place in the year 31. So if you're going to start that vision in the year 31, then you have to add 2,300 years to it to get your answer. This is why William Miller says if you believe that the daily represents Christ's sanctuary ministry, you destroy the 2,300 years, because if you believe that, the earliest you can start that vision is 31, and then verse 14 would come to pass in 2,331. Christ hasn't even began the judgment for another few hundred years. But if you believe, as the Millerites did, that the question of verse 13 is how long is the complete vision of Daniel chapter 8 concerning paganism, that in Daniel chapter 8 begins with the Medes and the Persians, you have the history of 457 nailed down perfectly, and starting there and adding 2,300 years brings you to 1844. So what we're saying, trying to summarize last night down for us now, is that the truths represented on these charts are the foundational truths of Adventism, and that the foundational truths have been buried by traditions and customs that have been handed down from generation to generation, and if you're careful to what these truths represent, you can show that when we reject this date, the taking away of paganism in 508, at the Battle of the Visigoths, when Clovis broke the resistance to the rise of Catholicism and paganism ceased from that point on to resist that rise, that by changing this event, you destroy this, this, and this, and we no longer understand this, you can show that the truths represented on this chart, and of course this, are no longer understood. So when we say that the seven thunders represent this history of the Millerites, but the seven thunders are sealed up in verse 4 of Revelation 10, then sure enough, those truths of that history have been sealed up because we no longer believe them, we no longer understand them, and that's one of the points that we want to put in place as we begin to suggest that Christ is now unsealing the seven thunders, and at the same time returning his people to an understanding of the foundations of Adventism. Now to try to get started on today's presentation, just a few biblical references to emphasize a point we've already talked about a few times. You can turn with me, or you can just mark these down for your notes, or I can go quickly through them, this is very simple. John 8.17 says, It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. The point I'm going to try to establish here is that when you find something in the Bible two or three times, it is established by the Word of God. So John 8 says that the testimony of two is true. In 2 Corinthians 13.1 it says, In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. Deuteronomy 17.6 says, At the mouth of two witnesses or three witnesses shall he that is worthy of death be put to death, but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. Deuteronomy 19.15 says, One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity or for any sin, if any sin that he sinneth. At the mouth of two witnesses or at the mouth of three witnesses shall the matter be established. William Miller was used by the Lord to develop a group of rules of prophetic interpretation, which Sister White endorses very plainly. She quotes the first four or five rules and says, these are worthy for all of us to understand. One of the rules of William Miller was that upon the testimony of two, a thing is established. And when Miller cites this rule, he cites Genesis 41.32. And Genesis 41.32 says, And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice. It is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. It takes two references in the Bible to establish a truth. Everything in the Bible is truthful and important and relevant, but when the Lord is going to establish a truth, he will identify that truth a minimum of two times. So we need to have that in place as we begin our study today, because I'm going to try to establish some things today, and we'll need to exercise that rule as we go through. Now in The Great Controversy, page 343, this is going to be a point of reference for the rest of the day. Mr. White says this, The work of God in the earth presents from age to age a striking similarity in every great Reformation or religious movement. The principles of God's dealing with men are ever the same. The important movements of the present have their parallel in those of the past, and the experience of the Church in former ages has lessons of great value for our own time. What I want you to see in this passage, if you will, is that every Reformatory movement of sacred history is a parallel to every other Reformatory movement in sacred history. God's dealing with men are ever the same, and as we get started here today, we're going to break down the Reformatory movements of sacred history and demonstrate that they are identical. And by doing so, once we've brought them together more than two or three times, we will have established the sequence of events that takes place in every Reformatory movement, and we will use that information to come down to the end of the world and establish the events that take place when the Lord raises up the 144,000. Do you follow the logic that we're going to try to establish here? The work of God in the earth presents from age to age a striking similarity in every great Reformation or religious movement. The principles of God's dealing with men are ever the same, the important movements of the present have their parallel in those of the past, and the experience of the Church in former ages has lessons of great value for our time. In Testimonies, Volume 5, page 708, it says, Whatever may be man's intellectual advancement, let him not for a moment think that there is no need of thorough and continuous searching of the Scriptures for greater light. As a people, we are called individually to be students of prophecy. It doesn't matter where each of us are in our intellectual advancement in this room today. If you were a Seventh-day Adventist, you have been called to be a student of prophecy. And the reason for this, one of the reasons is that in Selected Messages, book 1, page 121, Sister White tells us that our greatest need is for a revival, and to seek for this revival is our first work. In the same passage, on page 128, she identifies that a revival is a renewal of spiritual life. If our greatest need is for a revival, then it means, brothers and sisters, that we're spiritually dead. God's people at the end of the world are spiritually dead, and the number one thing that prevents us from coming back to a life is we don't believe that. We don't believe we're spiritually dead, particularly some of us that are involved in the Lord's work, and we have our ministries, and we're doing the Lord's work. We have less reason to believe that we're spiritually dead than the layperson that's just showing up on Sabbath and not doing anything for the Lord. He may actually think he's a little bit spiritually asleep, but those of us that are involved in the Lord's work, we know we don't need to be revived. But our greatest need, the thing that we're to seek for, is for a revival, and then in Testimonies to Ministers, page 113, she says, when the books of Daniel and Revelation are understood as they should be, there will be seen among us a great revival. When inspiration teaches about our need for a revival, it clearly identifies in several places that the way the Lord accomplishes the revival among His people is through His prophetic word. And if Seventh-day Adventists are not students of prophecy, they will not be studying the things they need to study in order to be revived, and they will come to the time of the Sunday law and receive the mark of the beast and die. That's why everyone in this room has been called to be a student of prophecy. But if you're revived, you may not believe that. In Selected Messages, book 2, page 101, it says, speaking of how the Millerites taught prophecy, it says, historical events showing the direct fulfillment of prophecy were set before the people, and prophecy was seen to be a figurative delineation of events leading down to the close of this earth's history. Historical events were set before the people, and prophecy was seen to be a figurative delineation of events leading down to the close of this earth's history. The reason that I employ this passage is it has a fairly good definition of what prophecy is. She says that prophecy is a delineation of events, and if you get the dictionary of Ellen White's day and age, delineate means to set forth upon a line. She says it's a delineation of events leading down to the close of this earth's history. So prophecy is portrayed upon a line leading down to the close of this earth's history. And the Millerites would identify the fulfillment of prophecy by setting forth historical events. Historical events are illustrated on a timeline leading down to the end of the world. These historical events are the fulfillment of prophecy. For instance, AD 70, Daniel 9.26 says that pagan Rome was going to come and destroy Jerusalem. And sure enough, there was a historical event in AD 70 that was a fulfillment of prophecy. Hysterical events were set before the people, and prophecy was seen to be a figurative delineation of events leading down to the close of this earth's history. Another historical event was when the Pope was taken captive in 1798 in fulfillment of Daniel 11.36 and other prophecies. The Pope would receive its deadly wound in 1798. A historical event confirmed a fulfillment of prophecy. Now the reason that I chose these two events is to emphasize one other point in her passage. Sister White says prophecy was seen to be a figurative delineation of events, a symbolic. However you want to express it, figurative means symbolic event. AD 70, with the destruction of Jerusalem, that was a historical event. But we know from the Great Controversy that the destruction of Jerusalem also prefigured the end of the world. It was a historical event that fulfilled prophecy, but it was figurative because it was pointing forward to the end of the world. When the papacy received its deadly wound in 1798, it was a historical event on a timeline leading down to the end of the world, but it also prefigured the final fall of Babylon. The first fall of spiritual Babylon is prefiguring the fall of Babylon at the end of the world. It's a historical event that's a fulfillment of prophecy, but it's figurative. So prophecy is illustrated on a timeline going down to the end of the world. I hear someone talking. Are we translating stuff? Okay, that's all I needed to know. Muy bueno. So we're going to look at prophecy now, at some of the structure of prophecy, some of the terms, in order to go into these reformatory movements and understand the way marks that are in these reformatory movements. From Review and Herald, February 6, 1900, and by the way, for those that do speak Spanish, we have this material here with us on DVD in Spanish. We have it at Bly. Yes, it's not here, but we have it at the next stop, but we can get it to you. This information is in Spanish. It's getting put into English right now, but it's already in Spanish. Okay, we'll take your name and we'll get it to you. We have this information in Spanish, in more detail than we're going to deal with here today. From Review and Herald, February 6, 1900, God speaks in his word and fulfills this word in the world. We need now to seek to understand the movements of God's providence. Said Paul, you brethren are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you as a thief. You are all children of the light and the children of the day. We are not of night nor of darkness. God's people are not left to depend upon man's wisdom. With prophetic guideposts, God has marked out the way which he wishes them to take. These great way marks show us the path of obedience is the only path we can follow with certainty. What I'm hoping you'll see out of that quote is that these historical events on a timeline going down to the end of the world, Sister White calls two things. She calls them guideposts and way marks. If you look up the word way marks in the dictionary of Ellen White's day and age, the definition is marks along the way. These are marks along the way. So these events on a prophetic timeline are way marks. That's the most common terminology that Sister White uses. Gospel Workers, page 104, says, Today Satan is seeking opportunity to tear down the way marks of truth. Satan is seeking opportunity to tear down the way marks of truth, the monuments that have been raised up along the way. We need the experience of the aged workers who have built their house upon solid rock, who through evil report as well as good report, have been steadfast to the truth. This is something that she emphasizes a great deal in her writings, even if it's unfamiliar to you. Sister White says one of the responsibilities we have as Seventh-day Adventists is to guard the way marks because the way marks, whatever they are, are going to come under attack. She also says that our safety in defending these way marks is to employ the understanding of the pioneers of Adventism because they knew what the way marks are. Here at the end of the world, by and large, we don't. She's mentioned a couple of those points in this passage. In 223, she's going to identify what the great way marks are. She says, Our faith and references to the first, second, and third angels' messages was correct. The great way marks we have passed are immovable. The first, second, and third angels' message are the great way marks. And put that in your mind because she's saying we're going to have to defend these way marks. We started last night without identifying them as way marks, but today we're going to. We're saying that the first angels' message was empowered on August 11, 1840, that the second angels' message, which is a guidepost, a way mark, it arrived in June of 1842, and that the third angels' message arrived on October 22, 1844. These are way marks. These are the great way marks, and they're immovable. Now notice what she says. I'll read this quote again. Our faith and reference to the message of the first, second, and third angels was correct. The great way marks we have passed are immovable, although the host of hell may try to tear them from their foundation and triumph in the thought that they have succeeded, yet they do not exceed. Please take note that the way marks are going to come under attack. She continues on. These pillars of truth stand firm as the eternal hills, unmoved by all the efforts of men combined with those of Satan and his host. We can learn much and should constantly be searching the scriptures to see if these things are so. We should be constantly searching the scriptures to understand the great way marks of Adventism, which are the arrival of the first, second, and third angels' message into the Millerite history, and they're going to be attacked. Selected messages, book two, page 101 says, the great way marks of truth showing us our bearing in prophetic history are to be carefully guarded, lest they be torn down and replaced with theories that would bring confusion rather than light. And brothers and sisters, they've been torn down and replaced. And most of Adventism doesn't even know what they are, that they've been torn down and replaced because we're in the Laodicean condition and we're not studying prophecy, we don't know anything about it. And so those that have been actively involved with removing the way marks, they'll have their price to pay in the judgment. But the majority of us in Adventism, we don't even know it's an issue. And you know what? We'll have our price to pay in the judgment as well. Manuscript Releases, volume one, page 55 says, at this time, many efforts will be made to unsettle our faith in the sanctuary question, but we must not waver. Not a pin is to be moved from the foundations of our faith. Truth is still truth. Those who become uncertain will drift into erroneous theories and will finally find themselves infidel in regard to the past evidence we have of what is truth. The old way marks must be preserved that we lose not our bearings. She's already said the great way marks are the rival of the first, second, and third angels' message. They must be preserved. Last Day Events, page 14 says, we should study the great way marks, and this is an important principle for what we're going to look at today. We should study the great way marks that point out the times in which we're living. She's already said the great way marks are the first, second, and third angels' message, but now she's using this history to say these way marks point out the times in which we're living. There's somehow, some way that these way marks are identifying the events that take place here at the end of the world. This is Sermons and Talks, page 48-49. Brethren and sisters, my faith is as strong as ever that the things of this world are about to close. It is stronger than when I saw you last. We can see the way marks that are all along the way. When we're traveling along a road alone and see a guide board, if we can read, we know that we are at such a place. So it is if our minds are active and so consecrated to God that we can understand His working. We can know just where we are in this world's history. Brethren and sisters, Bible prophecy is demonstrating you can defend, you can establish that the latter rain is falling now. And I don't mean based upon 777 of last year. I mean from Bible prophecy. Now you shouldn't take that, that should cause you alarm that someone's actually saying the latter rain is falling. That's a serious claim. But what I'm saying is, is inspiration says very clearly we can know just where we are in this world's history. Even if the latter rain is not falling now, if we can know where we are in this world's history, when we reach the period of time when the latter rain is falling, God's people will know it because we can know where we are in this world's history. So for me to be saying that it's falling now may seem and should seem a little bit shocking, but it's in agreement with the testimony of inspiration. We can know where we're at in this world's history. By the way, you remember the quote in Testimonies to the Minister that says, the latter rain will be falling on hearts all around them, but they will not receive or recognize or discern it? You remember that quote? There is a time period when the latter rain is falling upon Adventism, and most of Adventism doesn't recognize it. So keep that in the back of your mind when you're analyzing this claim I'm making about the latter rain falling. So we have to be careful because 9-1-1 is good and this is bad, but we have to be serious. Okay, we have to hold your preguntas for the fin, because we're on a time schedule here. But you're right. The majority of Seventh-day Adventists are not going to recognize the third angel's message. That's the majority of Seventh-day Adventists, but that leaves the minority of Seventh-day Adventists are dealing with the third angel's message, and I would like to remind you that Sister White says more than once that many of those that are teaching the third angel's message do not even know what the third angel's message is. So you take the minority that is involved with the third angel's message, and there is a big bunch of them that don't even know what the third angel's message is. So it's even worse than what you're saying, but we have to move on. We can know, this is the same passage, we can know just where we are in this world history. Things we spoke of 25 years ago are just working up. The powers of darkness are working with an intensity from within, but God has been working for us and he will work for us as Christ shall have not died in vain, that we may have a life that runs parallel with the life of Jehovah. In this little atom of a world that is absorbing all our force, it is this little atom of a world that is absorbing all our force. Is there not something that will have a reviving influence on our lives? Should we not study the word of God, and when duty is made known, meet every objection to it with a thus saith the Lord? Should we not search out the truths that are clustered about the truths of God? We have no time to fold our hands, brethren, the Lord is soon coming, and we have heard the note of warning till we have consoled ourselves, and as sleep has taken hold of the life and the character, there is nothing about us to show the world that we have the most sacred truth that's ever been given to man. We want to know where we are in this earth's history. She's saying we're supposed to have the desire to know where we're at in this earth's history, and in the same passage, she's saying we can know where we're at in this earth's history. Ephesians volume six, page 364, the dealings with God's people should be often repeated. How frequently were the way marks set up by the Lord in his dealings with ancient Israel? Lest they should forget the past, he commanded Moses to frame these events into song that the parents might teach them to their children. For his people in this generation, the Lord has wrought as a wonder-working God. The past history of the cause of God needs to be often brought before his people, old and young. Selected Messages, book two, page 390. Those who pass through these experience are to be firm as a rock to the principles that have made us seventh-day Adventists. They are to be workers together with God, binding up the testimony and sealing the law among his disciples. Those who took part in the establishment of our work upon a foundation of Bible truth, and we're suggesting that that is the representation of the Bible truth that they established. Those who took part in the establishment of our work upon a foundation of Bible truth, Those who know the way marks that have pointed out the right path are to be regarded as workers of the highest value. They can speak from personal experience regarding the truths entrusted to them. These men are not to permit their faith to be changed to infidelity. They are not to permit the banner of the third angel to be taken out of their hands. They are to hold the beginning of their confidence firm unto the end. The Lord has declared that the history of the past shall be rehearsed as we enter upon the closing work. When we reach the point in time when the work is closing up, one of the things that will take place in Adventism is that the history of the past is going to be dwelt upon by God's people. They're going to go back to the foundations, repair and re-establish the ancient past. Every truth that He has given for these last days is to be proclaimed to the world. Every pillar that He has established is to be strengthened. We cannot now step off the foundation that God has established. Some of you weren't here last night. One of the quotes that we read last night concerning the foundations is Review and Herald, April 14, 1903. It says, The warning has come. Nothing is to be allowed to come in that will disturb the foundation of the faith upon which we've been building ever since the message came in 1842, 1843, and 1844. I was in this message, and ever since I've been standing before the world, true to the light God has given us, we do not propose to take our feet off the platform on which they were placed. Sister White is saying that the foundation and platform of Adventism are the truths they received in 1842, 1843, and 1844, and those truths are the truths that are illustrated on these charts, which Sister White says was directed by the hand of the Lord and should not be altered. In this quote, she says, We cannot now step off the foundation that God has established. Now in Early Writings, page 259, do we have the book Early Writings here? Oh, no, I have it here. Early Writings, page 259, says this, I saw company who stood well-guarded and firm, giving no countenance to those who would unsettle the established faith of the body. So there's one group here that's established and firm, but there's another group that's trying to unsettle the established faith, all right? You see those two groups in this first sentence? I saw a company who stood well-guarded and firm, giving no countenance to those who would unsettle the established faith of the body. God looked upon them with approbation. I was shown three steps, the first, second, and third angels' messages. I said to my accompanying angel, Woe to him who shall move a block or stir a pin of these messages. The true understanding of these messages is of vital importance. The destiny of souls hangs upon the manner in which they are received. I was again brought down through these messages and saw how dearly the people of God had purchased their experience. It had been obtained through much suffering and severe conflict. God led them along step by step until he had placed them upon a solid, immovable platform. What's the platform? It's the truths that are represented on that chart. That's what they're standing on is that platform. I saw individuals approach the platform and examine the foundation. This is the foundation. This is the platform. I saw individuals approach the platform and examine the foundation. Some with rejoicing immediately stepped upon it. Others commenced to find fault with the foundation. They wished improvements made and then the platform would be more perfect and the people much happier. Some stepped off the platform to examine it and declared that it was laid wrong. I saw that nearly all stood firm upon the platform and exhorted those who had stepped off to cease their complaints for God was the master builder and they were fighting against him. They recounted the wonderful work of God which had led them to the firm platform and in union raised their eyes to heaven and with a loud voice glorified God. Brothers and sisters, if you're a student of prophecy, you know that by that phrase there Sister White was just placing this experience in our day and age when the loud cry message is being proclaimed, the loud voice that they're glorifying God. This is at the end of the world. It says this affected some of those who had complained and left the platform and they with humble look again stepped upon it. Now brothers and sisters, this particular paragraph is identifying the battle over the foundations of Adventism that takes place. But what's more serious about this, and I only have two minutes, is the next two paragraphs. How much extra time do you have on this? The next paragraph says this, I was pointed back to the proclamation of the first advent of Christ. John was sent in the spirit and power of Elijah to prepare the way of Jesus. Those who rejected the testimony of John the Baptist were not benefited by the teachings of Jesus. And she goes on to describe the history of Christ, a progressive purification process based upon the message of the hour which left the Jews, she says, in total darkness. And then the next paragraph, you know what she says? She says many look with horror at the course of the Jews in rejecting and crucifying Christ and as they read the history of his shameful abuse, they think they love him and would not have denied him as did Peter or crucified him as did the Jews. But God who reads the hearts of all has brought to the test that love for Jesus which they profess to fill. All heaven watched with deepest interest the reception of the first angel's message. But many who profess to love Jesus and who shed tears as they read the story of the cross derided the good news of his coming. Instead of receiving the message with gladness, they declared it to be a delusion. They hated those who loved his appearing and shut them out of the churches. Those who rejected the first message could not be benefited by the second message. She's describing a parallel history. In the history of Christ, she says, those that rejected the testimony of John could not be benefited by the teachings of Jesus. And ultimately, as she finishes out the paragraph, she says the Jews were left in total darkness. Then she goes into the history of the Millerites, compares the first angel's message of William Miller, says it's a test, and those people that rejected the message of William Miller, they weren't involved with the second angel's message. They reject the midnight cry and they do not enter into the most holy place with the faithful Millerites. And in this paragraph, she says those people that flunked the test, they end up praying to the holy place and Satan's answering their prayers. So what I'm saying is this, in this chapter where Sister White talks about a platform and a foundation that God's people are on, but that is under attack by another group within Adventism, as soon as she speaks of this attack, then she goes back to the history of Christ and said there was a testing process in the history of Christ that produced two classes of worshipers, one that began the Christian church and one that were left in total darkness. Then she goes to the Millerite history and talks about another purification process in that time period, progressive. You don't accept the message of William Miller, you're not around for the second angel's message. A progressive testing process where 49,950 foolish virgins of the Millerites end up praying to Satan and only 50 move into the most holy place with Christ. But all the prophets are speaking about the end of the world and what this passage is teaching us is at the end of the world there will be a progressive testing process among Seventh-day Adventists and part of our testing process that we'll have to deal with is are we willing to get on the foundational message that's illustrated on this chart, on that platform, and stand firm, though the majority of Adventism is opposing it, if we won't get on the foundation. Then we're going to be paralleling the Jews being left in perfect darkness and the Millerites praying to Satan and that's in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, we're ready to receive strong delusion because we did not have a love for the truth and the truth is the foundational message of Adventism. Shall we pray? Heavenly Father, we wish to be among those that climb upon that platform, understand the significance, and encourage others to do likewise, but we know that these truths that you set forth at the beginning have become obscure through time and we need your discernment, we need the presence of your Holy Spirit in our lives that we can recognize these things and incorporate them into our understanding, into our experience. We ask that you give us the wisdom and discernment and the willingness to do that, and we thank you for the time that we've had together to begin to touch these truths this morning, in Jesus' name, Amen.