Welcome back. We're going through Daniel 8 and attempting to really identify where the daily fits into prophecy. We've identified it as paganism, pagan Rome, and we're trying to debunk the idea that's so prominent in Adventism today that it represents the work of Christ in the sanctuary above. We're doing that because Sister White has pointed to this relationship between the daily and the abomination of desolation as a history that would be reenacted at the end. We must understand this past history correctly if we're going to understand the end time events correctly. We want to do this as students of prophecy. We were looking at verses 9-12 of Daniel 8 and we were noting that Daniel used genders to oscillate between verses and identify the pagan Roman Empire and then the papal Roman Empire and pagan and papal. Verse 9, the little horn there is describing the attributes of pagan Rome and how it conquered the world. Verse 10, it switches to papal Rome. It describes the persecuting aspect of the papacy and then it drops back in verse 11 to pagan Rome, identifying that it was pagan Rome that stood against Christ at the cross and that from him, from pagan Rome, paganism was exalted to the world. It was done this by not only building the Pantheon and bringing every idol and deity of paganism it could find into the Pantheon, but this verse also gives us one of the most important historical prophetic clues about pagan Rome that the place of its sanctuary, the city of Rome, would be cast down. This is part of the story of pagan Rome. How it came to its end of 360 year rule was when the city of Rome was no longer the capital of Rome. And then it drops back in verse 12 to the feminine gender. The little horn here that's under discussion is feminine and once again we're seeing the papacy illustrated by Daniel. And verse 12 tells us that the papacy is given a host, an army, and this is part of the testimony of the papacy. The papacy gets other armies to do its dirty work and right at the very beginning, this is what happened with the history of Clovis and then the other European nations beginning one by one to profess Catholicism and turn away from their pagan belief structure. Ultimately by 508 they have reached a point where they turn their political machine and their army and military strength to remove those three horns, the Ostrogoths, the Vandals, and the Urali. And this was fully done by 538 which we historically mark as the point where the 1260 day prophecy of papal rule begins. And this is what's being described in verse 12 and the way that this army, what's being discussed is the military strength that comes to the aid of the papacy is the focus of this verse in order to stand against paganism, the daily, to stand against those three horns which were also pagan. And the way that this took place was by reason of transgression and we want to look a little bit at this transgression. And once it did take place, the rest of the verse tells us about the history of Rome and how it corrupted the truth from that point on which it does to the very day that we are in today. This transgression that's being identified here is part of the testimony of prophecy. If you go to Revelation 13.11 with me, this is the verse where the United States speaks like a dragon. This is where the United States comes into Bible prophecy and it says, I beheld another beast come up out of the earth and he had two horns like a lamb and he spake as a dragon. And if you pull together the testimony of Sister White on what takes place when he speaks as a dragon, the first thing that I would have you look at is where Sister White defines in the Great Controversy that the speaking of a nation is the action of its legislative and judicial branches. Here in verse 11, we see the United States legislative and judicial branches passing a Sunday law. The speaking of a dragon, according to Sister White, is fulfilled when a Sunday law is passed. But the Sunday law is a distinct item in Bible prophecy. The Sunday law is the mark of the beast. So in verse 11, when the United States speaks as a dragon, one of the things that takes place at that very time is the mark of the beast begins to be applied to those that will not uphold the Sabbath. That's just one of the things that prophetically takes place in that verse at that time. Another thing that prophetically and Bible symbolism that takes place in order for that to happen is the combination of church and state. When the Sunday law, when the United States speaks, when the legislators of the United States pass the Sunday law, prophecy tells us that they will do it because the churches, the predominant churches of the United States will have applied pressure upon them to do so. And Sister White says when they do that, this country will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy and persecution is sure to follow. But the point I'm making here is that when the Sunday law is passed, the other thing that takes place prophetically is that the United States has brought to life an image of the beast. And the definition given of the image of the beast in the spirit of prophecy is when secular power is used to enforce religious dogma or sustain religious institutions. It's this combination of church and state. Now, what I'm trying to emphasize here is that this is part of the story of prophecy. This use of secular power to enforce religious dogma. This is the image of the beast. This is how the beast operated during the Dark Ages. And this is going to happen to the world again. And in verse 14 and 15, after the United States passes a Sunday law, and therefore after the United States sets up an image of the beast in the United States, the definition being secular power used to enforce religious dogma. After that takes place in verse 11, then we see the United States through its own power and strength, but also at this time with the power of Satan and his miracles accompanying them. In verse 14 and 15 of Revelation 13, they tell the entire world to set up an image of the beast, which means by definition of the image of the beast, that the whole world will have to have a secular power that has authority over the whole world to enforce religious dogma. And in verse 15, we see that the United States has the power to cause this world image of the beast, this world government to speak, which means that it's going to have a legislative and judicial branches. And we know that the United Nations already does so. The apparatus is already in place. Now, here's what I'm getting at, the distinction I hope you'll see. At the Sunday law in the United States, we see the image of the beast reach full maturity, even though Sister White tells us that the image of the beast will be formed before that time, because the legal precedents necessary to develop this image don't come instantly. They're already underway. There's a chipping away at the wall of separation of church and state going on in the United States today, and has been for several years. So, the principles that are the definition of the image of the beast are already being developed in the United States, but prophetically they come to fruition at the Sunday law. So, at the Sunday law, we see the mark of the beast and the image of the beast both illustrated. But the mark of the beast, is the identification of the beast. It's the symbol that identifies Rome's authority, identifies what it claims as its power, whereas the image of the beast identifies how the beast accomplishes its will in the world, what system it uses to bring its authority to bear. And in the book of Daniel, remember the books of Daniel and Revelation go together, we see both aspects of this idea clearly proclaimed. Because in verse 12, going back to verse 12 of Daniel 8 again, it says, and it's speaking in the context of a military power given to the papacy in order to remove those three horns, in order to get any pagan resistance out of the way, so that it could begin its time to rule the world. And it says that this military power was given to it by, or a more correct translation of the Hebrew would be through, through reason of transgression, through transgression. What is the transgression? A transgression is a breaking of the law and the law, the rule, the principle here that's being addressed is what allowed the papacy to come into unity with a military power, a political power outside of itself, is this combination of church and state. The transgression that's here being identified is when secular power, the former pagan countries of Europe, are used to enforce religious dogma. And that secular power in verse 12 is describing how the secular powers of Europe began to war against the three Aryan pagan powers that were resisting Rome. This was a religious issue that the papacy needed to resolve and it implemented its religious dogmas upon those three horns by removing them. And it did so by using the political, secular power of Europe that had began to come around in the days of Clovis to do so. So this transgression that's under discussion here is identifying the, the combination of church and state that took place, which is one of the main characteristics of the story of the papacy. And Daniel and Revelation go together. Now let's read on into verse 13 now. And we've seen the fourth power of Bible prophecy here illustrated in verses 9 through 12, Rome. And we've seen Daniel oscillate from pagan Rome to papal Rome and pagan Rome to papal Rome. And then we see verse 13, a heavenly being that's inspired to say, how long is the vision concerning these two desolating powers? The pagan desolating power and the papal desolating power. And this word vision, it means the total vision. And the question is, it's a question throughout the Bible, how long are these forces of Satan going to be allowed to trample down the sanctuary and the host connected with it? And the answer is, in verse 14, until 1844. And then the sanctuary is going to be justified or cleansed or set right. In 1844, something special is going to take place. And if you go to the seven places in Bible prophecy where the 1260 day period is associated with the papacy, you will find that one of the characteristics of what the papacy did during that 1260 year time period is it trampled down the saints of God. In verse 10 of Daniel 8, we see them stamping upon the saints of God. The question is, in verse 13, not asking the question alone about the papacy, but also about the trampling down that began in this vision with the Medes and Persians. But it actually began with Babylon because Babylon destroyed the sanctuary and trampled it down. And from that point on, there was a pagan destruction, desecration going on with God's people and God's sanctuary. And it continued from this pagan desolation right into the papal desolation. And that is the question that's being asked in verse 13. And that's the answer that arises in verse 14. Now, if we turn to chapter 11 of Daniel and continue looking at the daily, we will, as we bring our study of the daily to a close, we will be looking at the verses that Sister White specifically pointed to as a pattern to understand the end of Daniel 11. She says, after she quoted, read verses 30 to 36, she says, scenes similar to these will take place. We have to understand this history if we're going to understand the last six verses. And in order to understand this history, it doesn't require us to be tremendous Bible scholars. If we'll have confidence in the pioneer testimony, we can go back to the books of the pioneers that have already recorded a clear historical record of what is taking place in these verses. And you'll find in verse 30, where Sister White takes up her citation in that one passage, that she's describing that this verse 30 is describing the transition from pagan Rome to papal Rome. We see in the very last phrase of verse 30, this have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant. And the pioneers understood that this was pagan Rome developing paganism, developing this relationship with those that have forsaken the covenant. In other words, the Bishop of Rome, a church that had forsaken the truth of God's word, is here portrayed with developing an intelligence or a relationship, a dialogue, a compromise between the forces of paganism and itself. And verse 30 points this out. And so we're seeing now in verse 31, the rise of the papacy. And in the beginning of verse 31, it says, and arms shall stand on its part. And these arms, if you go into, say, Daniel and the Revelation by Uriah Smith, he will point out that the arms that are being described here is a military strength that was ultimately destined to come to the aid of the papacy in removing the three horns and placing the papacy upon the throne of the earth. And it says that they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength. And this can be understood in a couple of ways, that the sanctuary of strength with the phrase of strength, this is once again that Hebrew word that can mean either a pagan or God's sanctuary. But in the context here, what is being discussed is the pagan sanctuary of strength, which many commentators will tell you is the city of Rome. And part of this story is the removal of the capital of Rome to Constantinople. But these arms also, this military aid can also be understood to be describing that they're going to pollute or destroy the last vestige of pagan resistance in these three horns. They're going to pollute this sanctuary of strength. And in so doing, they will take away. And this phrase, take away, means to remove. They will remove paganism. They're going to not only remove these seven powers of Europe, are not going to only remove paganism in the sense that they're going to begin to profess Catholicism, but they're going to remove paganism in the sense that they're going to get rid of those three horns of Aryan paganism and take it out of the way. And in order to place the abomination that makes desolate. Now, this abomination that makes desolate, the pioneers correctly understood as the beginning of the papacy. They're going to place the papacy on the throne of the earth in these following verses do nothing more than to begin to describe the persecution and the purification process that takes place in God's people as the papacy comes to rule the earth. But if you drop back into Daniel 8, just one thing to contrast with this. Here, they're going to place the abomination of desolation. And the word abomination in the Bible is associated with idols or idolatry. They're going to place the papacy, which is the most exalted form of idolatry in history in the sense that it's this pagan idolatry clothed with the profession of Christianity. So, they're going to place in verse 31 the abomination, the idolatry of desolation. The abomination, a desolating power that's associated primarily with idolatry. But back here in verse 13 of Daniel 8, the question is, how long shall be the vision concerning the daily, concerning paganism? How long is paganism, the paganism desolating power, going to stomp upon God's people? And the transgression of desolation going to stomp upon God's people? Here, Daniel is drawing a contrast for us in the sense that he's asking a question, he's recording a question that says, here's two powers. Pagan powers that are going to stomp on God's people in the sanctuary, and the papal power that's going to stomp on God's people in the sanctuary. But the first time he mentions this papal power as a second power past paganism, he wants to call it the transgression of desolation. He wants to convey to us the message that this power, this second persecuting power that's destined to trample down the sanctuary and God's people, will do it through a combination of church and state. That's the transgression. It's in the terminology of John the Revelator, it's identifying the image of the beast, the combination of church and state. But if we drop back here to verse 31 of Daniel 11, what Daniel is telling us here when he's speaking of this second persecuting power, he's no longer calling it the transgression of desolation. He's calling it the abomination that makes desolate. He's accentuating another aspect of this second desolating power, and that being the abomination or idolatry of Rome. And this also is illustrated in Revelation as the mark of the beast. Sister White calls Sunday the idle Sabbath. So the papacy in Revelation operates and controls, brings the world under subjection through a combination of church and state. That's the apparatus that it uses, and in Revelation that's symbolized by the term image of the beast. But the papacy's mark of power is Sunday keeping, which Sister White calls the idle Sabbath. So we see the papacy desolating power in Revelation is idolatry also as symbolized in Sunday. And when we go back into Daniel, we see both these aspects also symbolized. The transgression of desolation, identifying what transgression took place to allow papal Rome to do this. And that's when the political forces of Europe were brought under its control, combination of church and state. And then we see Daniel saying the abomination of desolation, in other words, identifying the idolatry associated with the papacy. So in verse 31, we see once again the military strength going to remove these last vestiges of paganism in order for the papacy to begin its rule on earth. Now if we go to Daniel 12, verse 11, it says, and from the time that the daily, and sacrifice isn't supposed to be there, so let's substitute daily with paganism. From the time that paganism shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up. Now Hebrew authorities will tell you that this phrase set up would be better inserted into this verse right before the end and right after take away. And it should read like this, and from the time that paganism shall be taken away to set up the abomination that maketh desolate, there shall be 1290 days. And what this verse says, when understood correctly, is that from the time that paganism had reached the point where it was no longer giving resistance to Catholicism, in fact, it had come into agreement with Catholicism and was working to place it upon the throne of the world, that time is marked in history as 508. From that time, 508, and this 508 is the time period mark that was put in history in order to set up the papacy, that it would be 1290 days. And this mark of 508 plus 1290 brings us to 1798, which of course is the end of papal rule. They were set up 30 years later after 508. The last of the three horns were removed. And then the next verse, verse 12 says, but blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand, three hundred, and five and thirty days. Now if you take the same starting point, and verses 11 and 12 go together, and you mark this 508 as we know the pioneers did, and if you remember at the very beginning, Sister White endorsed the 1843 chart, and we looked at it, and sure enough, they have marked clearly, they're taking away the daily at 508, and you extend this 1335, you come to 1843. And there's a blessing pronounced on those that would come to 1843. Now the focus of this study that we're finishing right now has been to identify the daily, and identifying an agreement with the pioneers in the spirit of prophecy, in order to understand the history that it is illustrating, so that we can use that history to see a pattern for how the final scenes of prophecy take place. And in the history of how the papacy came to control the world the first time, is the pattern of how the papacy is going to come to control the world the second time. And if you haven't yet looked at the foundation study of this, the final rise and fall of the King of the North, Daniel 11, 40 to 45, I would encourage you to do so, because we will look at the history in those verses, and sure enough, it's easy to see that verse 40 is already paralleling this history that is illustrated between the daily and the abomination of desolation, and what's just ahead is clearly identifying a parallel to this history, and I would encourage you to do so. But in connection to this study is the truth that Sister White has told us that when we better understand the books of Daniel and Revelation as we should, they'll be seen among us a great revival. And whether we understand this or not, Satan does. So, it's my belief, my conviction, that Satan has strove for a very long time to prevent this final revival, and one of the avenues that he's taken to try to prevent it is through the introduction of false prophetic understandings. And one of the false prophetic understandings that we find in Adventism today is in connection with the daily. Not simply by destroying the history that we need to understand, but when you no longer acknowledge that 508 is the point in history when the powers of paganism were totally vanquished and had come to the side of the papacy, if you don't acknowledge that historical date, then these passages in Daniel 12 that speak about the 1290 and the 1335, they suddenly become of interest to where do they fit into Bible prophecy. The pioneers didn't understand them correctly, so we must place them at the end of the world. And we want to close by just looking at a few passages in the Spirit of Prophecy that hopefully will illustrate that the way the pioneers understood it, that these prophecies of Daniel 12 had their fulfillment in 1843 and 1798, and the way that the message that those understandings conveyed is sound for us today and important. And there's much information on this in the Spirit of Prophecy. Now, we have a study, another series that identifies the significance of the 1335 in a broader setting. It's not part of this series, and we'd encourage you to look at that. It's titled God's Denominated People. But we want to close this study off with just some of the passages in the Spirit of Prophecy where Sister White endorses upholding the way marks that make us what we are as God's people. And the way marks are marks along the way. And the way that we're talking about is the prophetic way. The historical events that have been confirmed as prophetic fulfillments on the timeline that we understand to be history and prophecy, those are way marks. And Sister White over and over again from a variety of ways said that we must not allow those to be removed. And the pioneers fully understood that the 1335 days of Daniel 12 was fulfilled in 1843. And for you or I to say, no, we need to take that 1335 and place it somewhere at the end of the world, we're on very shaky ground. We are actually undermining the very foundation of Adventism. Now, I know that there are passages in the Spirit of Prophecy that people use to attempt to allow them to do this. And we're going to look at a few of them here. And in the other study, God's Denominated People, we'll look at many more. But we want to just look at some in closing. And this is from Selected Messages, Book 2, pages 101 to 104. I have not been able to sleep since half past one o'clock. I was bearing to Brother T a message which the Lord had given me for him. The peculiar views he holds are a mixture of truth and error. If he'd passed through the experience of God's people as he has led them for the past 40 years, he would be better prepared to make correct application of Scripture. The great way marks of truth showing us our bearings in prophetic history are to be carefully guarded by the people of God. The great way marks our bearings in prophetic history are to be carefully guarded lest they be torn down and replaced with theories that would bring confusion rather than genuine light. I have been cited to the very erroneous theories that have been presented over and over again. Those who advocated these theories supposed to be correct were incorrect, and yet many thought them the very theories to be brought before the people. The prophecies of Daniel and John are to be brought before the people, and another who, in studying their Bibles, thought they discovered great light and new theories, but these have not been correct. The Scripture is all true, but by misapplying the Scripture, men arrive at wrong conclusions. We are engaged in a mighty conflict, and it will become more close and determined as we near the final struggle. We have a sleepless adversary, and he is constantly at work upon human minds that have not a personal past fifty years. Some will take the truth applicable to their time and place it in the future. Events in the train of prophecy that have had their fulfillment away in the past are made future, and thus by these theories the faith of some is undermined. From the light the Lord has been pleased to give me, you are in danger of doing the same work, presenting before others which have had their place and done their specific work of the time in the history of the faith of the people of God. You recognize these facts in the Bible history as true, but apply them to the future. They still have their force in their proper place in the chain of events that have made us a people what we are today, and as such they are to be presented to those who are in the darkness of error. The burden of the warning now to come to the people of God, nigh and afar off, is the third angel's message, and those who are seeking to understand this message will not be led by the Lord to make an application of the word that will undermine the foundation and remove the pillars of the faith that has made seventh-day Adventists what they are today. The truths that have been unfolding in their order as we have advanced along the line of prophecy revealed in the word of God are truth, sacred, eternal truth. The leadings of the Lord were marked, and most wonderful were his revelations of what is truth. Point after point was established by the Lord God of heaven. That which was truth then is truth today, but the voices do not cease to be heard. This is truth. I have new light, but these new lights and prophetic lines are manifest in misapplying the word and setting the people of God adrift without an anchor to hold them." Now, brothers and sisters, there's much that you can address in this passage, but she says, the burden of the work that's to come to God's people now, the burden of the message, is the third angel's message. And the third angel's message is a warning against receiving the mark of the beast. And everything that's connected with that warning, connected with that morning warning for seventh-day Adventists, is are you prepared to be among those that give the warning? Is your character in your life and your experience one that can receive the latter rain and go through the time of trouble without an intercessor? When we realize that the message that we're about to give is the third angel's message, warning against the mark of the beast, then we realize that the message is that there's a Sunday law imminent. That's the focus of prophecy. And the focus of prophecy in connection with that is, is your Christian experience at a point where it can be used by the Lord in this final hour? Now, Sister White says the way marks that led God's people in the pioneer movement to the conclusions that they arrived at are to be guarded. They're not to be torn down. And part of that foundation of prophetic understanding was the book of Daniel. I hope we're all aware of that. And it's the prophecies of Daniel that are part of that foundation, including the time prophecies. And the pioneers clearly understood the time prophecies in Daniel 12 as being fulfilled. Now, let's look at some other angles to this understanding. Let's find this one quote here. This is perhaps on this subject of Daniel 12. This passage here is perhaps the most important in my mind. So we're going to go through it slowly after we read it. This is from Councils to Writers and Editors, pages 26 and 27. The proclamation of the first, second, and third angels' message have been located in the word of inspiration. Not a peg or pin is to be removed. No human authority has any more right to change the location of these messages than to substitute the New Testament for the Old. The Old Testament is the gospel and figures and symbols. The New Testament is the substance. One is as essential as the other. The Old Testament presents lessons from the lips of Christ, and these lessons have not lost their force in any particular. The first and second messages were given in 1843 and 1844, and we are now under the proclamation of the third, but all three of the messages are still to be proclaimed. It is just as essential now as ever before that they shall be repeated to those who are seeking for truth. By pen and voice we are to sound the proclamation showing their order and the application of the prophecies that bring us to the third angel's message. There cannot be a third without the first and second. These messages we are to give to the world in publications, in discourses, showing in the line of prophetic history the things that have been and the things that will be. Now, brothers and sisters, she's saying that the first, second, and third angels' message have been located in history. They've been fulfilled, and that their location, their historical point of fulfillment is sacred, and no man can move them and be right with the Lord. They have to be kept in that historical position, and she doesn't simply say that. She says that the people that we're going to bring into Adventism need to be taught these very things, and she says that we need to continue to proclaim these very messages by pen and by voice. In other words, the prophecies that establish the first and second and third angels' message, historical, where they arrived in history, are to be repeated. And she says that the first and second angels' messages were given in 1843 and 1844, and that we are to continue to show their order. And when she's speaking of order, she's being very specific. She says there can't be a third without a first and a second. We've got to keep them in order. Their location has to be retained, but by pen and voice we're to show their order, and now follow this one, we're to show the applications of the prophecies, plural, the prophecies that bring us to the third angels' message. Now, brothers and sisters, she's given us a couple dates associated with the three angels' messages here. She says we've got to protect those dates, protect those prophecies, teach people these prophecies, show the correct order, but show the applications of the prophecies, plural, that bring us to these historical fulfillments. Brothers and sisters, what prophecy, when applied, brings us to 1843? There's only one in the Bible. There's only one prophecy in the Bible that, when you apply it, brings you to 1843. And Sister White says we have to continue to present that as part of the message. Not a peg or pin is to be removed. What prophecy is that? Daniel 12.12, the 1335 days. So, let me ask you a question. If I'm going to tell you that the 1335 days begins at some event here in our day, and it's a day for a day, and it's going to extend for a certain amount of time, have I guarded the integrity of that prophecy? Have I moved a peg or pin? Am I teaching the applications of the prophecy that bring us to 1843 and 1844? Brothers and sisters, this is holy ground as far as prophecy. The only prophecy that brings you to 1843 is the 1335 of Daniel. And there's a blessing involved with it. And you'll notice that in 1844, at the Great Disappointment, there's a blessing associated with that. Because in 1844, October 22nd, at the Great Disappointment, that is the historical beginning point of the third angel's message. And after Revelation 14 gives us the third angel's message, it says, blessed are they that die in the Lord henceforth. In 1843, Daniel gives us a blessing. And in 1844, John gives us a blessing. This year from 1843 to 1844 is a very special year. It's a blessed year, so to speak. And I would encourage you to get our other study, God's Denominated People, and see why it is so special. But brothers and sisters, if you take the very prophecies that bring us to this blessed year, this holy year of 1843-1844, you undermine the very foundation of the prophecies that make Adventists what they are. And you undermine the very heart of the warning message of the third angel. Now, this is from Manuscript Releases 723 from 1907. I know from the light that God has given me that there should be a revival of the messages that have been given in the past, because men will seek to bring in new theories and will try to prove that these theories are scriptural, whereas they are error, which, if allowed, a place will undermine faith and truth. We are not to accept these suppositions and pass them along as truth. No, no, we must not move from the platform of truth on which we have been established. There has always been those who are seeking for something new and who stretch and strain the Word of God to make it support their ideas and theories. Let us, brethren, take these things that God has given us and which His Spirit has taught us in truth and believe them, leaving alone those theories which His Spirit has not endorsed. Now, brothers and sisters, the testimony of the daily is the testimony of the history that transpired when pagan Rome was beginning to work to put papal Rome on the throne of the earth. Sister White speaks in various places about that history. For instance, she tells us that if you want to know how the Sunday laws are going to come in, just go back and look at how the early Sunday laws come in. Well, that history of how the first Sunday laws came into the Roman Empire is in the history of the transition time between pagan and papal Rome. That history is sacred history in the sense that it gives us the guide for knowing what is going to be at the end of the world. There are other parts of that history that we must understand. By taking the very prophecies that establish that history and placing them off in the future, we're putting ourselves adrift without an anchor. Now, the focus of prophetic study isn't to have a new strange idea on how to take prophecies, time prophecies that already have come to fulfillment and in a very nice tidy package show how they work out at the end of the world. That's not the focus of prophecy at the end of the world. The focus of prophecy at the end of the world is that we're Laodiceans and that we desperately need a revival. We need to wake up or we're going to be lost. That's the focus of prophecy. And the third angel's message is a warning against receiving the mark of the beast. It's a warning that a Sunday law is coming. The focus of prophecy is to realize that if we don't wake up as God's people, we're lost. And when we wake up, we're going to begin to give this warning message to the world under the power of the latter rain. So prophecy isn't to bring us some new and strange ideas about things that are going to happen at the end of the world. It's to bring a solemn realization based upon history that has been identified as a history paralleling our day. It brings us this history and with it a warning that these final movements are rapid ones, that they come as an overwhelming surprise, and that our probation is about to close. Now, this is from letter 161, July 30th, 1903. The people of God need to study what characters they must form in order to pass through the test and proving of the last days. Men are living in spiritual weakness and backsliding. They know not what they believe. Now, the reason we're reading this, and I'm going to go back and read it again, those of us in Adventism that want to place these time prophecies of Daniel 12 in the future, don't recognize that the emphasis of prophecy is a warning message to wake up. Wake up! When Sister White says our greatest need is for a revival, she defines revival as spiritual death. We're spiritually dead, brothers and sisters. If our greatest need is a revival, it means that if we don't come to life, we die. We're already dead. That's our greatest need. And Sister White says when the books of Daniel and Revelation are understood, they'll be seen among us as revival. So, the message that prophecies of Daniel and Revelation are going to bring us is a message that will awaken us. Now, the most often quoted passage from the Spirit of Prophecy to try to justify placing the time prophecies of Daniel 12 in the future, we're going to look at. And here's part of it. It says, let us read and study the twelfth chapter of Daniel. It is a warning that we shall all need to understand before that time. And they read that part and they say, look at there, Sister White saying there's information in those time prophecies that are a warning that we need to understand. But let's go back and look at the whole thing. The people of God need to study what characters they must form in order to pass through the test and proving of the last days. Men are living in spiritual weakness and backsliding. They know not what they believe. Let us read and study the twelfth chapter of Daniel. It is a warning that we shall all need to understand before the time of the end. There are ministers claiming to believe the truth who are not sanctified through the truth. Unless change comes in their life, they will say, my Lord delayeth His coming. Now, brothers and sisters, if you think that passage there is giving you license to take the time prophecies in Daniel 12 and say there's a warning that we need to understand before the end of the world, you're missing the context of the passage. She's talking about ministers that are unsanctified. They don't know what time they're living in. That they don't know, we don't know what characters we must possess to pass through the time of trouble. And if you see that what she's saying has to do with our character preparation for the time of trouble, and you go read Daniel, you know what you find in Daniel 12 where there's a warning that we must all understand? It says in verse 3, and they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. And verse 10 says this, many shall be purified and made white and tried, but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. Brothers and sisters, the warning of Daniel 12 has nothing to do with reapplying time prophecies. It has to do with understanding what character we have to have to pass through this great time of trouble. It has to do with understanding what character we have to have if we're going to be among those that are illustrated in verse 3 and verse 10 of Daniel 12. If we're truly going to shine as the stars, if we're truly going to have the privilege to be among those that give this final warning message. Brothers and sisters, that's the warning that we must understand. Don't let anyone use that passage to tell you that that's the key that Sister White leaves us to put these time prophecies in the future. She's not speaking about those time prophecies. She's speaking about character preparation for the time of trouble. This is from Review and Herald, November 27, 1900. The Lord wishes all to understand His providential dealings now, just now, in the time in which we live. There must be no long discussions, no presenting of new theories in regard to prophecies that God has already made plain. The great work from which the mind should not be diverted is the consideration of our personal standing in the sight of God. Are our feet on the rock of ages? Are we hiding ourselves in the only refuge? The storm is coming relentless in its fury. Are we prepared to meet it? Are we one with Christ as He is one with the Father? Are we heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ? Are we working in co-partnership with the Savior? Brothers and sisters, that's the warning of Daniel 12 that we need to understand. That's the question it brings to us. It's a warning of whether we're ready, whether we're prepared for these events. And prophecy tells us that as a people we're not. We're Laodiceans. And that there will be a message in prophecy that's designed by God to awaken us. And this message we have suggested is found in Daniel 11, 40 to 45, in conjunction with the other passages of prophecy and revelation. Here's one from Review and Herald, volume 5, page 107-108. We have, as had John, a message to bear of the things which we have seen and heard. God is not giving us a new message. We are to proclaim the message that in 1843 and 1844 brought us out of the other churches. We need the Holy Spirit to kindle in our hearts the zeal and earnestness that we're then seeing among God's people. I thank the Lord that there are still living a few who can are still living a few who can remember those days and who know whereof they speak. The message that we're to proclaim is the message they were proclaiming in 1843 and 1844, brothers and sisters. Remember the chart we started with? The chart we started with identified the daily as paganism, and it identified its historical fulfillment as in 508. That's what we need to continue to present. That's the message for the hour, because it's nothing more than identifying that same warning that they were understanding, that there is a mark of the beast about to be implemented on all of mankind, and we are the people that God has given the privilege to be raised up and identify those issues. This is from letter 28, 1850, and it's amazing how some will try to twist this statement around, but it doesn't need to be, and we're not going to. Sister White and the pioneers understood that the 1335 of Daniel came to fulfillment in 1843, as illustrated by that pioneer chart which Sister White said the Lord endorsed in early writings, page 74 and 75. But there was a man in Sister White's day that was teaching that the 1335 of Daniel was still in the future, and this is what she said to him. Brother Hewitt from Dead River was there. He came with a message to the effect that the destruction of the wicked and the sleep of the dead was an abomination within a shut door, and that a woman Jezebel, a prophetess, had brought in, and he believed that I was that woman Jezebel. We told him of his errors in the past, that the 1335 days were ended, and numerous errors of his. It had but little effect. His darkness was felt upon the meeting, and it dragged. Brothers and sisters, Sister White says the 1335 days was ended, and she says that just in agreement totally with the endorsement that she gives to the pioneer position. Ended in 1843. Letter 28, 1897, or Selected Messages, Volume 2, page 84. There will always be false and fanatical movements made by persons in the church who claim to be led of God, those who run before they are sent, who will give day and date for the occurrence of unfulfilled prophecy. The enemy is pleased to have them do this, for their successive failures in leading into false lines cause confusion and unbelief. Now, there's something I want to emphasize in this passage. Many of the people in Adventism today that reapply the time prophecies and put them in the future, they'll take statements in the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy where it says, no man knoweth the day or hour of Jesus' coming. They say, well, we're not applying these time prophecies and identifying when Jesus is coming. We're not doing that. We're just using them to understand events at the end, but we never get to the conclusion of the actual date of the return of Christ. But that isn't what she said here. It says, those who run before they are sent will give day and date for the occurrence of unfulfilled prophecy. Just unfulfilled prophecy. She doesn't say that the ones that are in error are necessarily going to identify the date of Christ's return. They're just going to be saying, this is going to fulfill this prophecy. This is going to fulfill that prophecy. And she says, this is fanaticism and it's a false movement. This isn't the foundation that made this church so strong in its understanding. Brothers and sisters, the last prophecy in Daniel begins in Daniel 10 and it goes all the way to Daniel 12. And Daniel 10 through 12 is one presentation. And Daniel 12, after bringing the history, the prophetic history recorded in Daniel 11 from the times of the Medes and the Persians, right down to when the king of the north, the papacy, comes to its end and none to help in verse 45 of Daniel 11. It continues with that history in the very next verse, Daniel 12. It shows Michael standing up, which Sister White says is the close of human probation. It discusses then the special resurrection and then it drops back in before probation closes. Daniel 12 opens at the close of human probation, but Daniel drops back before probation closes and discusses those that are wise that are going to shine as the firmament in bringing people to the truth. Daniel 12 is nothing more than the conclusion of the total testimony of the prophecies of Daniel. And when Daniel is speaking of these time prophecies in Daniel 12, he's not placing them off at the end of the world out of connection with the vision of Daniel 11 or the vision of Daniel 8 or the vision of Daniel 7. He's simply bringing his entire testimony to conclusion. He's putting the capstone on the whole book of Daniel. And the warning message that we need to understand in Daniel 12 is that we need to be among those that shine as the stars and warn those around us of the events that are just ahead. And brothers and sisters, there's a safety in upholding the prophecies that were identified at the very beginning of this movement as sound, that were endorsed by the prophet that was raised up at that time. And we're too close to the end to begin to remove those pillars, particularly when most of us in Adventism today no longer have the overall understanding of what is involved with the daily. We've strangely lost the understanding of what the daily represented to the pioneers during our wandering through the wilderness of Laodicea. We cease to be students. And I'm here to give testimony that if we go back in and see why the pioneers believed what they believed, we'll find that their conclusions were sound and that those conclusions have even greater strength and meaning for us today at the end of the world because the history that the daily identifies is the history that sets forth these end time events more clearly. And it's by understanding these events before they come to pass that God provides safety for His people that they might walk through these events and not be lost. Thank you for your time.