Shall we pray? Heavenly Father, once again as we begin this presentation, we ask that the human words, the human thoughts would be set aside and overruled and that you'd speak to us truths that we need to understand and give us the clarity of mind to understand them as you would have us. We ask for your Holy Spirit to be with us, that your angels would be in attendance, we seek a blessing on this Sabbath day, we seek to be awakened and empowered to do this finishing work here at the end of the world and we give you permission to do what it takes in each of our lives to make that happen. We need to have a character that wins people to the foot of the cross and we ask that we be given the discernment to see what needs to take place in our individual experience, that that winning power might be broadcast far and wide in Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Some of you have missed the first three presentations and so I'm just going to point you to the taping that's going on. The first three presentations was to build a foundation for where we're going to begin now. Last night we looked at Isaiah 28 and 29. If you would turn to Isaiah 28 briefly here, I want to remind us of something. Isaiah 28 and 29 is a pronouncement against Adventism at the end of the world because Adventism at the end of the world is not going to understand the book that is sealed and the book that is sealed is Daniel and Revelation. It is very clear in Isaiah 29 verses 10 through 12 that Adventism by and large doesn't understand the sealed book at the end of the world but in the midst of this pronouncement of woe upon Adventism in Isaiah 28 and 29, there is a passage that identifies that there will be a message raised during this period and you find it in verse 9 of Isaiah 28. It says, whom shall he teach knowledge and I think you need to cross-reference this knowledge to Daniel 12 where it identifies that there will be an increase of knowledge at the end of the world and that the increase of knowledge will produce a purification process. Daniel 12.10 says, many will be purified, made white and tried but the wicked will not understand this increase of knowledge but the wise will understand. The testing process, the purification process that takes place in Adventism at the end of the world is based upon an increase of knowledge just as there was an increase of knowledge in the Millerite time period and the increase of knowledge that tested and purified the Millerites is what Sister White was identifying in the last passage that we read in the last presentation in Early Writings, page 259. Those people that would not receive the first angel's messages presented by William Miller, they weren't around when the second angel's message tested the Millerites and if you flunk the second angel's message then you weren't around at the test of the midnight cry and she says in that paragraph that the midnight cry was to prepare them to enter by faith into the most holy place. There was a progressive testing process in the Millerite history that produced two classes of worshipers, the wise and foolish virgins and in our day and age this testing process will be repeated. It will be repeated by an increase of prophetic knowledge, verse 9, whom shall he teach knowledge and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breast and we pointed out last night based upon Hebrews 5 and 6 that the milk of God's word are the basic doctrines that we understand of Adventism and those people that are going to be among the 144,000 are not going to be babes in Christ, they're going to be people that understand the depths of God's word. And in verse 10 it sets forth a principle that will be used, 10 and 13, when the final warning message is taught because this is what's being conveyed here is whom's going to teach knowledge, who's going to understand doctrine and the principle is precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, and then that is repeated in verse 13 and what I'm suggesting to you is that the line upon line is most specifically talking about prophetic lines. Now I'm not threatened and I believe that the way that we establish truth is by taking a word study through the Bible and letting the Bible establish truth and we establish our doctrines that way, but I'm suggesting that the way the latter rain message is taught is by bringing prophetic line upon prophetic line, you'll see what we mean in a moment. And last night I looked at verse 12 and I said there were some quotes that I'll get to today, in verse 12 in the passage where when it's dealing with Adventism at the end of the world that no longer understands the book that is sealed, that no longer understands the prophetic message, in this passage it identifies those that will teach the message of the hour and verse 12 of Isaiah 28 says, to whom he said, this is the rest wherewith you may cause the weary to rest and this is the refreshing yet they would not hear. The message that is taught during this time period, the message itself is the latter rain and you may not have thought of that before and now that you're thinking about it you may be thinking well is that true or is that not true, is the latter rain really a message and I want to tell you right here there are people that fight against this in Adventism but there are several passages in the Spirit of Prophecy where Sister White says the latter rain is a message. So we're not there to show you that right at this point but that's what's being conveyed here is that the message, she says this is the refreshing yet they would not hear. What you're going to hear, you're going to hear a message and it's saying here that it's the refreshing so what is the refreshing? Great Controversy 611 says the great work of the gospel is not to close with less manifestation of the power of God than marked its opening. The prophecies which were fulfilled in the outpouring of the former rain at the opening of the gospel are again to be fulfilled in the latter rain at its close. Here are the times of refreshing to which the Apostle Peter looked forward when he said repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord and he shall send Jesus. The refreshing is the latter rain. Verse 12 of Isaiah 28 says and this is the refreshing. It places this passage in Isaiah 28 and 29 in the latter rain time period and what it's saying is that there is a message that will be taught to God's people in the latter rain time period and verse 11 says it will be taught by different people than we're supposed to teach it. I'm not trying to be critical about the leadership but we're going to look at the fact that every reformatory movement in sacred history is ever the same and God would have used the Sanhedrin to teach the message during the time period of John the Baptist but they wouldn't participate so he had to gather the fishermen, the tax collectors to do his work. That's always the same. Every reform movement is the same. In the Millerite time period he had to select William Miller, a farmer. So here it's saying in verse 11, for with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people and what will he speak to this people? He will speak a message during the latter rain time period and the message will be conveyed by bringing line upon line and this is where we want to start at this time. There is a pattern in Bible prophecy that occurs over and over again. We call it the 3-1 combination. It comes in a simple illustration or a complex illustration and the 3-1 combination represents the three angels' messages that came into history in the Millerite time period, the first, second and third angels' message but then there's a break in time to where somewhere at the end of the world the fourth angels' message arrives. These three messages and then later followed by this four are illustrated throughout the Bible and we made a point last night that all the prophets are speaking about the end of the world. So you'll find illustration after illustration of the end of the world where you'll have a 3-1 combination and what that 3-1 combination is teaching is that this particular illustration has something to do with Adventism. An illustration of the end of the world was the flood and Noah and his three sons got on the ark. An illustration of the end of the world was the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and three heavenly visitors came and visited Abraham. An illustration of the end of the world was the Mount of Transfiguration when Christ went up on the mount with three disciples. Sister White, there's eleven different places where Sister White says the image on the plain of Dura in Daniel chapter 3 is the Sunday Law. If you've ever asked yourself why wasn't Daniel in Daniel chapter 3, which is an illustration of the Sunday Law at the end of the world, it's because he would have thrown off the combination because Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came to the Sunday Law test in Daniel chapter 3 and they were thrown in a fiery furnace and then a fourth appeared. In Numbers 22, just before the children of Israel went into the Promised Land, which is an illustration of God's people at the end of the world, King Balak wanted to prevent the entrance of Israel into the Promised Land and he hired Balaam. And Balaam pronounced three curses against Israel, but they weren't curses were they? They were blessings. And then King Balak was disappointed and he sent Balaam home. But before Balaam went home, he pronounced one more blessing. And you see this 3-1 combination over and over again in Bible prophecy and it's a prophetic identification that the particular passage where this symbol is employed is a passage that has some information to contribute to our understanding of Adventism at the end of the world. We're told in the spirit of prophecy there's going to come a time in the very near future when every earthly support is to be cut off. And the passage in the Bible that probably most clearly illustrates that is the story of Job. And Job was visited by how many friends? Four or five? By three. This 3-1 combination occurs over and over again. And what I've been giving you here is simple, simple illustrations of it. There are illustrations of the 3-1 combination that are complex. And by that I mean they have more information connected to them than simply Noah and his three sons. And we're going to look at some of those, but let me share something, put one thing into the mix. The introduction to the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter 1, it's purposeful. And anyone that has ever studied the book of Revelation carefully understands that Revelation chapter 1 is the introduction that provides the prophetic keys that allows you to correctly understand the book of Revelation, the following chapters. So everything that's in chapter 1 of Revelation was purposely put there by Christ as a key to unravel the rest of the book of Revelation. And we have a quote, you're probably familiar with it, where Sister White says, the Lord does not repeat things that are of no small consequence. When you see something repeated, that means the Lord is putting emphasis on it. And if you look at Revelation chapter 1, where Christ is identifying himself, providing us with the important symbols of himself that allows us to understand the book of Revelation, the one aspect of Christ that he identifies about himself more than any other in Revelation chapter 1 is that he's the first and the last, the Alpha, the Omega, the beginning and the ending. You read Revelation chapter 1, he repeats his truth more than any other thing in chapter 1. And they tell us that two out of three words in the book of Revelation come from the Old Testament. And if we're to understand what it means that Christ is the first and the last, or the Alpha and the Omega, we're going to have to find what it means in the rest of the Bible. And I would submit to you, if you want to understand what it means that Christ is the first and the last, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, that you go to Isaiah chapter 40, and you read to the end of Isaiah, because Isaiah is the prophet that deals with what it means that God is the God that is the first and the last. And as you pull that information together, you will find that one of the things that it means that Christ is the beginning and the ending is that he is the God that illustrates the end of a thing with the beginning of a thing. So I'll give you a couple examples of that so you understand what I mean. You may be familiar with this. But in prophecy, Christ illustrates the end from the beginning. For instance, what historical event marks the beginning of the 1260 years of papal rule? The overthrowing of the Ostrogoths. The third horn was removed. And in March, was it March? I'm just saying 538. I think it might have been March. But anyway, 538, the last ruler of the Ostrogoths fled the city of Rome. The third horn had been removed. That's the beginning of the prophecy. What marks the end of the prophecy? 1798 is when it was fulfilled, but what historical event marks it? It's when the Pope is taken out of the city of Rome. The beginning of the prophecy illustrates the end of the prophecy. There's a prophecy that we should know, but by and large we don't. It begins on July 27th, 1449. It ends on August 11th, 1840. You find that in Revelation 9, 14, and 15. It goes for 391 years and 15 days. The starting point for this prophecy is when the last emperor of Eastern Rome refused to take the throne, which was his by right, until he secured position from the four great sultans of the Ottoman Empire. They were so strong that he refused to take the throne, which was his right to take, unless he received permission from them. And the Bible teaches that if I submit to you, then you're my ruler. So what he did there is he surrendered his sovereignty to these four powers. And that marks the beginning of this time prophecy, when a king surrenders his sovereignty to four powers. What marks the end of this time prophecy? It's when the last sultan, the weak man of the East, the last sultan of the Ottoman Empire, surrenders his sovereignty to the four great European powers. The beginning of this prophecy illustrates the end of this prophecy. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega. He illustrates the end of a thing from the beginning of a thing. Another interesting one, and this is the foundation of Adventism, so you need to be very careful about what you're hearing here. The 2300 year prophecy, the third, second, first angel's message come into history, and on October 22nd, 1844, the third angel's message arrives in history, and the 2300 year prophecy comes to an end. And when was it that the 2300 year prophecy began? It was on the third decree. It wasn't on the second decree or the first decree. It began on the third decree. And how many decrees are there in this history? I heard five, I heard four. That's a trick question. Those people that have worked through this together, we know the trick questions. Usually, a lot of times in Adventism, we'll say there were three decrees, but there was a fourth decree that we know of, because in order to finish the work of rebuilding the streets and the walls, even in troublous times, Nehemiah secured a decree. And the work of Nehemiah is paralleling the work of the fourth angel. There is also another decree in this history that we will deal with as we proceed, but what I want you to see is that the 2300 year prophecy begins on the third decree, and it ends in the third message. And there's a compilation out by Sister White called Lessons from the Life of Nehemiah, something like that. That may be the title, but it's close to that. You got to get that, because it's a series of articles she wrote in the Signs of the Times. And just in those articles alone, she says over and over again that the work that took place in this history prefigures the work that takes place in our history. They're parallel. What they did back here in rebuilding literal Jerusalem, we was prefiguring the work of Adventism in rebuilding spiritual Jerusalem. And when I'm saying Adventism here, I mean at the beginning of Adventism, which includes the Millerites, till our day and age, when the Lord is going to raise up to 144,000. So Jesus illustrates the beginning, the end with the beginning. And the quote we looked at last time that I want to go to one more time is Great Controversy 343. It says, 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 man are ever the same. The important movements of the present have their parallel, and those of the past and the experience of the church in former ages has great value for our own time. This is a breakdown of the Millerite history. And what I'm saying is that the Millerite history was a reformatory movement. And Sister White says, Every reformatory movement parallels the reformatory movements of the past and that it has great light for us here at the end of the world. And the most important reformatory movement of all time is when the Lord raises up to 144,000. So all of these reformatory movements are paralleling, prefiguring, and identifying what takes place when the Lord raises up to 144,000. And the work of bringing line upon line to illustrate this truth, I would submit to you, is part of the message that takes place during the Lateran time period. And it's based upon identifying the way marks of Adventism when the first, second, and third angels' message came into history. That's why we need to preserve those way marks and guard against them being changed, because we were to use them at the end of the world in order to illustrate the events that take place at the end of the world. And so from this point on, probably for the rest of the day, we're going to look at the way marks of these reformatory movements and bring them together line upon line. And there are conclusions that will be drawn by this once we get started, that they're just awesome. It's just amazing that a very simple study can produce this much light. And you'll see what I mean. We've shared this enough that I've actually had people that were opposing, they were in the meetings opposing what I was teaching, actually saying, if you support Pippinger's ministry and Pippinger's, you know, the Lord is going to be totally against you. But I want to say that I believe that everything that he was teaching here is correct. Okay, so there's, and that's, we got that on tape. The point is this, is there's going to be some things there, believe it or not, that are going to be more profound than you thought you could see. So please pay close attention. And, but it's also going to be a challenge. There's a test involved with this message. You should be amazed at what it is. But in any case, at Seventh-day Adventist, we understand that the time of the end is 1798. You can show this from the book of Daniel alone. But if you turn with me to Daniel 12, in Daniel 12, verse 4, it says, But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, even to the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. And then in verse 9, it says, And he said, Go thy way, Daniel, for thy words are closed and sealed to the time of the end. Now you can carefully go through Daniel 8, 11, and 12, and show that Daniel marks the time of the end as 1798. But that's not what we're worried about here today. You can go to Great Controversy, page 356, and Ellen White simply says that 1798 is the time of the end. So that's, that's not argued in Adventism anyway. But I want to, I want to add a point here to 1798. 1798 is the time of the end. But there's something that we haven't really focused on. The time, what takes place at the time of the end is a fulfillment of prophecy. And with that fulfillment of prophecy, there is light that is shed upon the upcoming history. All right, the prophecy that was fulfilled in 1798 was the prophecy predicting the deadly wound of the papacy. And you can find that in Daniel 11, 36. There's something determined for the papacy at the end of the indignation. This, if you're not familiar with the 2520 time prophecy, it may be hard for you to see this in Daniel 11, 36, but it's there. The end of the indignation was 1798. And what was determined in 1798 is that the papacy was going to receive a deadly wound. That's not our point either. But what I want you to see is that there was a prophecy fulfilled in 1798. Okay, and you can just go to the, the seven places where the 1260 years are identified in the Bible to get 1798. But that prophecy, and this is an important point, you got to get this one in your head to follow the other reformatory movement. That prophecy opens the door, it sheds light, it contributes information to the next sacred history, right? Now in Daniel 7, we have always understood correctly in Adventism that if you look at verse 21 and 22, verse 21 and 22 of Daniel 7 says, and I beheld in the same horn, the papacy made war with the saints for 1260 years and prevailed against them until the Ancient of Days did come and the judgment was set. In Adventism, we've always correctly understood that the judgment does not come into history until after the papacy receives its deadly wound. Okay, this is standard understanding in Adventism, and this is the point I want you to see. In 1798, at the time of the end, you have a prophecy that is fulfilled, and with the fulfillment of that prophecy, it tells you that, hey, according to Daniel 7, now that this prophecy is fulfilled, the next thing that's to happen in sacred history is the judgment. So with the fulfillment of this prophecy, there is light shed upon this upcoming history, and this upcoming history, that's what it's about. It's about the Millerites announcing to the world that the hour of his judgment has come. Okay, so now why am I making this emphasis? Because according to Great Controversy 343, every reformatory movement is the same, and now I want to tell you something that isn't commonly understood in Adventism. In every reformatory movement, there is a time of the end. Every one of them, there is a time of the end, but we've not noticed that before, and you need to notice that, because when you notice that, there's all kinds of lights that come on. So that's why I'm making the point. You'll see illustrations of it as we proceed today, and you can test it, but I want to walk through some more way marks here of Millerite history to put the point of reference for our studies up. Depending on when you want to identify the work of William Miller, he began to preach in 1831, but he received his credentials to preach in 1833, which was the same year that the stars fell, so I usually mark 1833. But what William Miller, in this time period, is identifying in terms of the way marks of every reformatory movement, is that after the time of the end, the Lord will use someone to formalize the message. I don't know if that's the best way to express it, but in 1798, there was a prophecy fulfilled that marked the time of the end, and it also opened the door to the coming judgment, and there was going to be a message associated with this history, which is the judgment message. And at 1798, the time of the end, according to Daniel 12, go to Daniel 12 with me, if you would. In verse 4, it says, But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book. Even to the time of the end, many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. This phrase, to and fro, primarily means running to and fro in God's Word. It means at the time of the end, the book of Daniel would be unsealed, and there would be many students of prophecy that began to study the prophetic word, and there would be an increase of knowledge on the message of that time. So in 1798, at the time of the end, the book of was unsealed, and there began to be an increase of knowledge about the upcoming sacred history, and the upcoming sacred history was the judgment. The judgment was going to begin on October 22nd, 1844. So in all these sacred histories, you'll see an increase of knowledge begin at the time of the end, then you'll see the students of prophecy running to and fro in God's Word, and then there comes a point in time where the Lord will formalize the message. He'll put the message of the hour into a package, and he did this in the Millerite history with William Miller. William Miller comes to... you got a better way to say formalize the message? Let me know, I don't mind. When I just clarify, it has to be... you have to include in the definition that the message that is put in place here is going to be a testing message. It's got to become established, whatever. Anyway, we've discussed it a little bit here just now, so you know what I mean. It's not just that it's becoming clarified, it's once William Miller begins to teach his message, opponents begin to stand up and argue with him. There starts to be a test over this. So you find his message goes through history until it is empowered. Now, it's empowered on August 11, 1840 with the fulfillment of a time prophecy of 391 years and 15 days, and what the fulfillment of that time prophecy did, in one sense, is it proved to the world that the year-day principle that William Miller was using was correct, and suddenly what he was saying about the soon-coming end of the world, there was a seriousness connected to it that didn't exist before 1840. Now, but what I want you to see, and this is where we started here last night, is that when the message is empowered, there is a divine symbol that comes down. We looked at it last night. In Revelation 10, there's a mighty angel that comes down out of heaven with the little book of Daniel open in his hand, and Sister White says that mighty angel was no less a personage than Jesus Christ, and he put his foot, one foot upon the sea and his one foot upon the land. So what I'm saying is, in these reformatory movements, they're always the same. That's what Sister White says. They parallel each other. So in these reformatory movements, you're always going to have a time at the end, a fulfillment of a prophecy that contributes light on the upcoming sacred history, and at the fulfillment of that prophecy, with the increase of knowledge, there will be students of prophecy that begin to understand the increase of knowledge. Then the message will be formalized and go through history, and there comes a point in time when the message will be empowered, and when it is empowered, you will see a divine symbol come down and join it. This is an easy one for Seventh-day Adventists, if you think about it, because we know that William Miller's message was the first angel's message, right? What's our message? The third angel's message. And when is the third angel's message empowered? It's when the mighty angel of Revelation 18 comes down and joins it, right? That's when it's empowered. We've always understood that. So this is an easy one for us to see. Our message is the third angel's message, and we know that when it's empowered, there's an angel that comes down and joins it. There comes a point in time which marks the second waymark, the second message in the Millerites' history, where you will see the activities of the enemies. Now, the activities of the enemies in the Millerite history is when the Protestant churches closed their doors against the Millerite message. That began according to Testimonies, Volume 1, page 21. Now I remember it today. I think I said verse 31 last night. Testimonies, Volume 1, page 21 said, in June of 1842, the denominational churches began to close their door on the Millerite message. Now, in the second message, you will also see a manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Now, I'm just telling you these things, but we will establish them line upon line, upon the testimony of two or three, as we bring these other Reformatory movements together. So just have a little patience with me. Here, in the summer of 1844, we see, but let me do it this way, we see the Holy Spirit poured out in the Midnight Cry, and the second angel's message is empowered. This MC represents the Midnight Cry. Everyone realized that the Midnight Cry came into Adventism at the Exeter camp meeting from August 12th through 18th, 1844, and when they left that camp meeting in August of 1844, within two months, they had carried the message across the United States in a time period when there were no cars, no telephones, no jets, no email. It was a mighty manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Then, when the third way mark arrives, you will see Judgment illustrated. There are several characteristics associated with these way marks. We're going to deal with all of them carefully, but we're just setting them up, hopefully, where they sink in well enough where you can follow as we proceed. After the Judgment, after the third way mark, one of the characteristics, each of these way marks, let me say it this way, each of these way marks have their own characteristics. I haven't dealt with all the characteristics of the first way mark, or the second way mark, or the third. I'm just laying on line upon line here. We're going to build it out very full. One of the characteristics of the first way mark, I'll go back here and add one on so you see what I mean, is the first way mark will have some kind of worldwide aspect to it. A Great Controversy, page 611, says that in 1840, the first angel's message was carried to every mission station in the world. The first angel's message was carried to the world, whereas the second angel's message, I hope we're all familiar with this, but Sister White's very clear, and so are the pioneers of Adventism, that the second angel's message was not fulfilled in the world. Where was the second message fulfilled? In the United States of America. So with this way mark, the first way mark, worldwide. The second way mark, local. Judgment is one of the characteristics of the third way mark, and the third way mark is followed by disappointment. I think I knew that, but I was thinking another thought. If you start telling me that, I'll get bad. We'll show you the disappointment several times, and then the next one is really more critical than I even used to understand, is that God's people are then given a work to do, and I found that this is a real stumbling block for Seventh-day Adventists at the end of the world, because there's a lot of us in Adventism that are familiar that we quit doing the work because that's the next way mark, is even though we're given a work to do, apostasy always comes in, and the work stops. So here at the end of the world, there's several of us in Adventism that we understand what the work is. We understand the health message. We understand dress reform. We understand that we're supposed to be living in the country. We understand these reform works, and when someone stands before them and says, you know that Sister White teaches over and over again that in every generation there is a special message that comes to that generation and tests them, those of us that know the work, we think, well, that message isn't for us because I'm already doing the work, but the work is not the message. The message and the work are two different things, and I've found that some of us that are involved with the work, anyway, the work don't make a distinction between the work and the message, and as this proceeds, you finally get to the time period where the fourth message comes in. Here's another one that's very important, very important, and if you get this one in your head, this will really put you on a nice platform here at the end of the world. It's in the history of the first Waymark that the foundations are established. You have to recognize that because the foundations are going to come under attack. We've already read those quotes, and according to Isaiah 5812, one of the works of the 144,000 is they're going to go raise up the foundations of many generations, and as we lay forth line upon line here today, going through these different reformatory movements, we're going to show you that the foundations of each of these histories is always laid in the first Waymark, and after we go through reformatory movement after reformatory movement, bringing line upon line, you will see, among other things, is that we are raising up the foundations of many generations, and the reason that we're doing that is to identify that one of the first works that is accomplished at the end of the world among the 144,000 is they return to the old paths and come to grips with the foundations. This is a point that really needs to be locked in, and these are reformatory movements. Let me put one more theme in here, and this is perhaps the most important. I almost forgot it. William Miller's message, and Sister White says it, and I have the quotes here, but this is reviewed for Seventh-day Adventists. William Miller's message was to convict of sin. William Miller was standing before the world and saying, hey, brothers and sisters, the Lord is about to return to planet Earth, and if you're not ready, you're going to die. You need to get ready. This first message was a conviction of sin, but it's during the second message when righteousness is manifested. The work that was accomplished under the Midnight Cry, the people that carried the Midnight Cry across the United States, were demonstrating the righteousness of Christ, and it's in the second step where you see righteousness manifested. It's in the third way, Mark, where you see judgment illustrated. Now, the reason I say that is the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy teach what the work of the Holy Spirit is, and the work of the Holy Spirit, whether it's for an individual like myself or for a corporate body like the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the work of the Holy Spirit is threefold. It's to convince the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment to come. So you find that the structure of these reformatory movements and the structure of the three angels' messages that came into history in the Millerite time period, it's built upon the three-step work of the Holy Spirit to convince of sin, of righteousness, and judgment to come. So you need to see that because when you bring this down to the hand of the world, one of the arguments that's raised is that the message that you're suggesting is not part of the gospel, that what we're teaching here is just prophecy and it's not part of the gospel, and what I'm suggesting to you here, brothers and sisters, when you get to the conclusion of the material we're dealing with here, it's going to tell you that probation is about to close, and if you or I still have sin in our life, we're going to die in the very near future, and this message is the first step of the gospel, because the first step of the gospel is to convict the sinner of his need of Christ, of his lost condition. So you need to mark the fact that these great way marks that we are to protect are built upon the work of the Holy Spirit to convict of sin, of righteousness, and judgment to come. Okay. Three tests. Now, I won't deal with the three tests, but you did prod my mind. Go with me, if you would, to Revelation 10. There was someone after last night's meeting that asked me, he says, you know, everything you said here tonight, you've said before. Is there anything new here? And I says, yeah, I think there'll be some new information here this weekend, but we had to place the planks in place before we start. So some of this material I know that several of you have heard more than once, and if you've heard some of these presentations before, you'll remember that when I'm dealing with this, I always point out that at the collapse of the Ottoman Empire on August 11, 1840, the Millerite message was empowered, and it was, and when you go to Revelation 10, verse 1 and onward, the mighty angel comes down, and in verse 2, he puts his foot upon the land and the sea, and in Sister White's comments on this, she says the fact that he put his foot upon the land and the sea represents a worldwide message, and then she comments in several places that it was in 1840 when the first angel's message was carried to every mission station in the world. So with that information, you can go back into Revelation 10, and you can say, well, Christ came down and put his foot upon the land and the sea on August 11, 1840, because that's when he empowered the Millerite message to go to the entire world, because Sister White says that's what it represents. That's usually where I have stopped that, because that's an important emphasis, but let me add one other thing to that, based on what you said. If you go to verse 8 of Revelation 10, it says, "...and the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it and eat it up, and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey." What I want you to see is it's here where the little book, the book of Daniel, becomes bitter for John, October 22, 1844. We all understand this of Adventist, but the history of Revelation 10 is the history of 1840 to 1844. So when John goes and takes the little book of Daniel, what he's representing is 1840. When he eats it, the prophetic message becomes sweet on August 11, 1840, because those people that had been proclaiming the message, they just watched the year-day principle get confirmed before the whole world, and they knew what they were preaching was right, and it was sweet in their mouth from this point on. But when John went and took the little book and ate it, it's upon the testimony of two or three that a thing is established. And if you go to Ezekiel, chapter 3, and Jeremiah, chapter 15, we don't have time to go there. I'll give you some homework. You will find in Ezekiel, chapter 3 and onward, and in Jeremiah 15, that both of them eat the little book. And when Jeremiah and Ezekiel eat the little book, you look what's going on with Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and you know what they're doing? They're both giving a message to God's people that God's people don't want to receive. It's a testing message. And the point is, is not only is the message empowered when the divine symbol comes down, but the fact that John ate the little book there is marking the beginning of a testing process. And this is the testing process that we read of in our last presentation in Early Writings, page 259, that those would not receive the message of Miller, would not be around in the second test, they weren't around in the midnight cry. It began here when the little book was eaten. So what I'm saying is when the mighty angel of Revelation 18 comes down and empowers the third angel's message, one of the things you can know for sure is that the third angel's message will be empowered. But also at that point in time, there will be a testing process that begins within Adventism, and it will be life or death, and it will produce two classes of worshipers within Adventism. One class will receive the mark of the beast, and one the seal of God. So when the divine symbol comes down, the testing process begins. Now if you will go with me to Ezra, we don't have time to get through this, but some of these things I'm saying will start fitting into your mind probably at this time. The history of the beginning of the 2300 days, the three decrees followed by the fourth decree of Nehemiah, is an illustration of the three angels' message followed by the fourth angel's message. And if you look very carefully at the three decrees, you will find that the characteristics of that history are identical to the history of the Millerites, because every reformatory movement is ever the same. Let's start. I don't think in 10 minutes that I can build all of this, so we'll start here. In Ezra chapter 1, verse 1, it says, Now in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, and he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia, the Lord God of heaven, hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and has charged me to build a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Now brothers and sisters, I want you to take note of something if you would. Cyrus is the king that pronounces the first decree. Darius, the second decree, Artaxerxes, the third decree. If you read the second decree and the third decree, you will not find Darius or Artaxerxes making any claims that he's the king of all the kingdoms of the earth. Neither one of them do. But Cyrus says he's the king of all the kingdoms of the earth, because the first way mark in these reformatory movements has a worldwide aspect, and Cyrus is saying, I'm the king of all the kingdoms of the world, and this decree is for all the kingdoms of the world. The first step in this sacred history, one of the characteristics is that it is worldwide. Now, every reformatory movement's the same. Therefore, there's going to have to be a time of the end for this history. And the time of the end, by definition, how we've defined it here today, is the fulfillment of a prophecy that sheds light upon the upcoming sacred history. The upcoming sacred history of the three decrees isn't the judgment. It's rebuilding Jerusalem, right? And Jerusalem's going to be rebuilt by three decrees, three decrees followed by Nehemiah's fourth decree. I'm running out of time, so don't think I'm not going to deal with these characteristics up here. I will, Lord willing, this afternoon. But there should be a time of the end, and what I mean by a time of the end, there should be a prophecy that is fulfilled that identifies that the work of rebuilding Jerusalem has arrived in history, that the next epic of sacred history has arrived. And at the time of the end, there should be an increase of knowledge on this truth, and you should see students of prophecy running to and fro in God's Word. So, who was the student of prophecy that's running to and fro in God's Word in this reformatory movement? No, not Jeremiah, but that was close. Go to Daniel 9. The prophecy that was fulfilled was the 70 years of Jeremiah 25 verse 12. Now, in Adventism today, sometimes they're not too clear, but the 70 years of Jeremiah 25 verse 12, it begins with the destruction of Jerusalem, and 70 years later, Babylon was destroyed. That was the 70 years. When Babylon was destroyed, Jeremiah's 70 years was fulfilled, which meant that the power that had taken the children of Israel captive into Babylon was gone, and now it was time for what? For the Jews to come out of Babylon and rebuild Jerusalem. So, at the fulfillment of this prophecy, there is light shed upon the upcoming epic of sacred history. There's an increase of knowledge that it's now time to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild it. Do you see what I'm saying here? And in Daniel 9 verse 1 and 2, it says, in the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans, in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of years whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem. Daniel represents the students of prophecy that have recognized the time of the end in his history by running to and fro in the prophetic word, and the increase of knowledge that it's time to go back and rebuild Jerusalem has begun. The message has to be formalized. This is a... How many don't receive our newsletters? Raise your hands high. Okay, we have a newsletter that we sent out this month in April. I don't know how many of them we have left. My wife, Kathy, is in the corner in the back. If you want that newsletter, we have not only the quotes about the foundations in that newsletter, but we have some passages about what I'm going to tell you right here. The person that formalized the message in this history that it was time to rebuild Jerusalem wasn't William Miller. Who understood that it was time to rebuild Jerusalem? Well, Daniel but who understood? Keep guessing because he found himself in the Bible. Cyrus understood from God's word that he was the one that was to allow the Jews to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild it, right? And you'll find in that newsletter some passages on this subject, on this topic. We deal with that in the newsletter. And Cyrus, was Cyrus a Jew? Was he a converted Christian? In fact, Cyrus, he kind of backslid on his understanding to rebuild Jerusalem, didn't he? And in order to get Cyrus back on track, in Daniel chapter 10, when Daniel begins to pray for three weeks, during that time period, the angel Gabriel was sent to struggle with the king of Persia. Who's the king of Persia? Cyrus. Cyrus isn't wanting to follow through with the work of sending the Jews back to Jerusalem to build it. So Gabriel, the angel Gabriel comes to try to straighten him out, correct? Did Gabriel succeed? No, he didn't. And as he tells Daniel what had to take place, what had to take place? Michael had to come and Michael is a Christ. And when Michael came down, he empowered that message and the work began. And a testing process began for the Jews because most of the Jews stayed in Babylon and they were lost to God's people forever. So when the message is empowered, you will see a divine symbol come down in the three decrees. It was Michael, Daniel chapter 10, that comes down and empowers Cyrus' work. It's the same history. And you will read, if you read, go back to Ezra, if you've jumped over to Daniel. In Ezra chapter 3, which is still in the history of the first decree, in verse 10 of chapter 3 of Ezra, it says, and when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, brothers and sisters, the foundations to the temple were laid during the first decree. The foundations are always laid in the first way mark. Now we said that one of the way marks of the second, one of the characteristics of the second way mark is the activities of the enemies of God's people. And you will find that there is a fifth decree in this history. And if you turn to Ezra chapter 4, you'll find that the enemies, in verse 9, the enemies of the Jews, they appealed to the king that is then ruling and tell him, if you let the Jews rebuild Jerusalem, they're going to be a thorn in your side. They're going to cause you problems. So there is a false decree that's issued. And you'll find that in verse 21 of chapter 4, it says, give ye now commandment to cause these men to cease and that this city be not builded until another commandment shall be given from me. And then if you drop down to verse 24, it says, then cease the work of the house of God, which is in Jerusalem. So it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius, king of Persia. You see right here, there is a false decree that stops the work. It's the activities of the enemies of God's people that's always associated with this second way mark. In this history, it was a decree that stopped the work. In this history, it's when the Protestant churches closed their doors against the Millerites. Now, in the third decree, if you turn, second decree was with Darius. We're moving very quickly, of course. If you turn to the third decree in chapter 7, I just want to point one thing out to it. If you've ever wondered what is the prophetic justification for starting the 2300 years on the third decree, the prophetic justification for it is that it was in the third decree that national sovereignty was returned to the Jews. And in verse 25 of chapter 7, national sovereignty to the Jews, that's the prophetic logic for starting the 2300 days. And verse 25 says, And now, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God that is in thine hands, set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God, and teaching them that know them not, and whosoever will not do the law of thy God and the law of thy King, let judgment be executed speedily upon him. They were given permission to judge both civil and religious criminals even unto death. The verse says it's in the third way, Mark, the third decree, that judgment is returned to the Jews, which is one of the characteristics. And when we come back this afternoon, we'll finish off this reformatory movement and then go on to a couple others with the intent of establishing these way marks and bringing them down to our day and age to identify that these reformatory movements are prefiguring what's taking place right now in Adventism. Shall we pray? Heavenly Father, we thank you for recording this information in such a simple and clear fashion. We wish that you would help us to understand the implications of this information. And as we take a break here and eat some physical food, we ask that you would bless that food, but also bless our conversation, our thoughts during this time, and work it so that we can come back this afternoon and continue on in this study. We want to understand these things, not only for ourselves, but that we can be prepared to give an answer to those about us, the things that are taking place in planet Earth today. We thank you for blessing us so far this Sabbath and ask you to continue to do so in Jesus' name. Amen.