Speaker: As I was preparing for the subject, there's so much to talk about when you talk about the sanctuary because you really do find the sanctuary in principle all the way from Genesis to Revelation in the Bible, right? There, in the Garden of Eden with Abel, Jacob sleeps and has the dream of that ladder that reaches to heaven and he says, "This is the house of God.", all the way to Revelation where it tells us that Jesus and the Father are the sanctuary of it. There's so much material. I was telling Karen I said, "There's no way I can cover all this in an hour, and I had three hours of material to cover in one hour, but I want to thank Pastor Rafferty and Pastor Boer because they've eaten away considerably at my material, and there are three presentations, but there's still plenty left, and this is only the fourth out of 14.
This is like a camp meeting week. We're going to be talking about this very timely subject all through the weekend. My message this morning, where is the temple in prophecy today? I like to always start with an amazing fact, and one of the places I'd like to go, we've been all over the world, but I've never been to Cambodia. In Cambodia, they have the biggest religious complex in the world. It's called Angkor Wat, and there they have temples. Angkor Wat actually means city of temples. They've got temples that are spread over an area of 248 square miles dedicated to temples. There's more stone use, some of them 200 feet plus tall that are surrounded by moats that are 3 miles around, 16 feet deep, an enormous amount of work. More stone went into these temples than in the Great Pyramid of Giza.
The thing that really fascinated me is someone obviously went into a lot of work to build these temples to dedicate to the worship of their God. Originally built as a Hindu shrine, it was annexed by the Buddhists, and they put their Buddhist Idols in these temples that were originally built for a whole different religion. Now, Cambodia is largely Buddhist. It made me think of a verse in the Bible that says, "They chose new gods and then there was war in the gates." spoken by Deborah in Judges, chapter 5. In the Bible, you see a battle over worship all the way from Cain and Abel to Revelation, chapter 13. The final war is a war over worship true and false worship. Not only did the devil say to Jesus, "Fall down and worship me, and I'll give you everything." but he's been battling against the truth because it is the truth that sets us free.
The whole reason that God said, "Let them make me a sanctuary that I might dwell among them, and thy way of God is in the sanctuary." is because God wants to communicate that saving truth through this edifice. The purpose of cleansing the sanctuary is not about a building. Jesus is not in heaven right now with soft scrub Windex and 409, cleaning the sanctuary. The cleansing of the sanctuary is about cleansing his people. That's about cleansing the universe from sin. There's a verse in the Bible that's often missed been misunderstood, and I'd like to have you take a look with me in 2nd Thessalonians 2:3, talking about the Antichrist in the temple. Now, way back in the days of the Apostles, they said there are already many Antichrist. The truth was under siege.
2nd Thessalonians 2:3-4, and you'll see it there on the screen. He said, "Let no man deceive you by any means. For that day, speaking of the day of the Lord's second coming of Jesus, will not come except there come a falling away first, and the man of sin be revealed the son of perdition who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." It talks about how before the Lord comes, there will be a great falling away. That doesn't mean a falling away in the world, the world's already fallen. It's talking about a great falling away in the church, and that falling away in church started right after the time of the Apostles. Paul warned. "After my departure, God has shown me grievous wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock."
But there's a great apostasy, a great falling away from the truth that happened during the Dark Ages. Now, many of my evangelical friends, good Christian people, they read that verse, and they're sure that means that they're going to rebuild another temple in Jerusalem. Will there be a future temple in Jerusalem? They think, then the Antichrist, a particular person, maybe half devil, half man, I've heard all kinds of theories, is going to sit in this fourth Jewish temple. I say fourth because you've got the Tabernacle of Moses in the wilderness, and then you've got the temple that Solomon built, and that was destroyed and then it was rebuilt again during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. That was the same Temple that was refurbished by Herod. This would be then, after that was destroyed by the Romans, a fourth temple. Maybe you've heard some of these preachers on television talking about when they rebuilt the temple. Have you heard that?
I think that's one of the greatest misunderstandings in Christianity today about what that temple is. We're going to talk about it a little bit. Is it going to be a future temple? Now, this is a very unique time of the year because this time 1990 years ago Jesus died on the cross, slept in the tomb, and rose from the grave, a very significant time in the Christian year. It's amazing how much the temple played into those final events during that last week. If you're reading your Bible, I'm giving you a quick overview. In Matthew, chapter 21, Jesus rides into Jerusalem the week before he dies. He cleanses the temple for the second time, chases them all out, and says, "This is my father's house. My father's house, you've made it a den of thieves." Then, he commences teaching there. The children are singing in the temple and he's healing there.
Then, he gets into a debate, and you read there in Matthew that he debates with the Herodians, with the Scribes, with the Pharisees, with the Sadducees, and they continue to challenge, disagree, and refuse his teaching. The priests wanted to know how to kill him. When he completed that teaching time, he says in Matthew, 23:38, "He walked out of the temple. He said, "Behold your house is left to you desolate." Now, that's very significant. At the beginning of the week, he said, "My father's house." During that week, he cursed a fig tree because it was fruitless, and he said, "No man will ever eat fruit from you again." Then he walks out of the house and says, "Your house is left to you desolate."
The disciples must not get it because they say, "Lord, let us show you the buildings of the temple. Look at the stones of the temple." Jesus said, "Don't you see? All these things..." This is Matthew, 24:1-2, "See you not all these things verily. I say to you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down." A couple of years ago, we went to Israel, my third trip. We took some amazing fact friends with us, and you can still see where those stones were thrown down today. It's never been rebuilt. I don't believe it ever will be I think that is a diversionary tactic. People are looking for a physical temple to be rebuilt in Jerusalem. I can tell you from what I know about Jewish history, that would quickly bring on World War 3. If the Jews try to bulldoze the Dome of Omar, the Dome of the Rock, the Mosque of Omar, and rebuild another temple there, I can't even imagine a scenario that would allow that.
I can't imagine why Jews, my mother's family is Jewish, really want to launch a sacrificial system again. They haven't had that for 1,900 years. Many Evangelicals are talking about that and preaching about it. I don't know why Evangelicals would support that, because now that Jesus is the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world, why would you ever encourage your Jewish brethren to build another temple so you don't need the real lamb anymore? You think you'd be telling your Jewish friends, "You don't need that temple anymore. Jesus is the temple." There were a lot of misunderstandings then as Christ was being tried during that week, 1990 years ago. The only two witnesses they could get to agree were the ones who said, "We heard him say destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days, I will make one without hands."
That was a little different from what he said, but it was close, and he had said that more than once at the beginning of his ministry, "But he spoke of his body." Then, as Jesus hangs upon the cross, they cast that in his teeth and say, "You who destroy the temple and rebuild it again, if you are the Messiah, come down." Does that sound familiar? "If you are the Christ..." But now, they're not talking about bread. Now, they're talking about the temple. "If you're really the one, bring yourself down from the cross." Then, he finally says, "It is finished." and he closes his eyes, "Father, into your hands, receive my spirit." Then, the Earth shakes, and the sky is dark. They're just getting ready to sacrifice the Passover Lamb inside the temple, and just before that very auspicious moment, in the midst of the earthquake, an unseen hand of an angel, like the hand that wrote on the walls of Babylon, goes to the top of that massive veil and there is a terrible ripping noise that is heard.
The holy of holies is exposed as the veil is torn, signifying what God had said in Daniel, chapter 9, that Jesus in the middle of that last week would cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. Jesus was the fulfillment of the whole sacrificial system. We do not need another earthly tabernacle fashioned like the old one, but we still have a temple. There is still a temple in heaven and there is still a temple on Earth. Where is the temple today? All right. We're going to go now to that verse I touched on, John 2: 19-21. Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days, I will raise it up." The Jews said, "It's taken 46 years to build this temple." Again, this is the Temple of Ezra and Nehemiah that Herod the Great spent 46 years renovating, made it very beautiful, and expanded it in many ways.
"It's taken 46 years. How are you going to raise this up in three days?" But he was speaking of the temple of His body. What is the Church called? It's the body of Christ. Now, further proof of this is found in the Old Testament. If you look in the Old Testament. in 1st Chronicles 17:11, David, the whole time they went through the wilderness experience, they had this tabernacle, a portable tent. Sometimes, when we talk about the sanctuary this week, you're going to hear interchangeable words used like tabernacle, temple, sanctuary, and House of God. They have the portable Temple, and even after they settled in the Promised Land, God told the children of Israel through Moses, and he said, "When you get settled in the Promised Land, I will designate a place where I will put my name. Several times he says, "I will tell you the place."
That place was finally revealed when David made the mistake of numbering Israel. Because of pride, David was thinking, "Our kingdom has gotten so great. We've expanded. We're taking over several other kingdoms. I wonder how big our army is?" He said, "Joab, I'm going to number the nations. I'm going to number the people, the soldiers." Joab said, "Why would you do that? David, since when have you worried about numbers? You went against Goliath. You took your 400 men against armies. Now, you want to count?" He said, "Do it." Joab hated doing it, but he did. He began to take a sense of [inaudible]. God saw the pride in David's heart and a plague fell on the people. When David was actually given a choice, "Do you want to be pursued by your enemies? Do you want a famine? Or do you want to have a plague?" He says, "I want it to fall into the hands of the Lord." so the Lord said, "Okay, plague."
There was a plague for three days, thousands died, and David saw the angel of the Lord had then come to Jerusalem with a sword drawn, like the Sword of Damocles, and he was going to begin to execute the judgment of the plague. We can all relate to plagues, huh? We had a pandemic. He's getting ready to execute judgment for that and David sees the angel and he says, "Lord, what have these sheep done?" He intercedes, he puts himself down, he says, "Take me in my father's house, but one have these sheep done?" Like a good shepherd, he intercedes for the sheep. God hears his prayer, he says, "Okay, go make a sacrifice for me." and he designates the place where the angel is hovering which happens to be the threshing floor of Ornan. It was a big flat area that was on top of Mount Moriah, Mount Zion, where one of the Jebusites who had converted to Jehovah was threshing his wheat. David bought that threshing floor and God said, "This is the place where I will put my name. This is where I want you to put the temple."
God had designated that. Well, now David was busy fighting battles, now he's old and, and he's sitting in his house one day... King Hiram had helped David build a beautiful palace. Hiram from the Kingdom of Tyre said, "I'm dwelling in a house of cedar, but the ark is still in this tattered patched tabernacle that is all rusty and dusty. It had been through the wilderness for hundreds of years and been carried from hitherto yawn. At one point, the ark had been captured by the Philistines and he thought, "We need something more secure." He said, "I want to build a temple for God." Nathan, the prophet, came to him. At first, Nathan said, "Go for it. The Lord is with you." Later, Nathan came back and said, "No, I spoke too soon. I was just telling you my advice but the word of the Lord came to me."
This is what Nathan said to David, 1st Chronicles 17:11. I think you've got it on your screen there. "It will be when your days are fulfilled when you must go to be with your fathers that I will set up your seed after you, who will be of your sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He will build me a house and I will establish his throne forever." Now, who is this prophecy talking about? Who is the son of David that was going to build the temple? This is one of those places. I think you have a dual prophecy in the Bible. Then, Jesus just said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days, I will raise it up." Which one of the sons of David had a temple that was going to last forever?
Audience: Jesus.
Speaker: He says, "Well, he will build me a house. I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father and he will be my son, and I will not take my Mercy away from him as I took it away from him who was before you." meaning Saul, "And I will establish him in my house." Tabernacle, sanctuary, temple. "I will establish him, and in my kingdom forever, his throne will be established forever." This is Jesus, the son of David, whose throne and temple would be established forever. If you read in Revelation 21:22, "But I saw no temple in it for the Lord, God Almighty, and the Lamb are its temple." Now, if that's clear, say "Amen."
Audience: Amen.
Speaker: You and I are the temple of God. This is our next point. We are a temple. Not only is it true, when you study the sanctuary... I don't want to take someone else's thunder because they're going to probably talk about the health message connected with the sanctuary, but I'll simply say this. I think we all know that your body, individually, is a temple of the Holy Spirit. God wants to fill you with his glory and his spirit, but also his Church collectively is a temple. Let me give you a few witnesses on that. You read in 1st Corinthians 3:16, "Do you not know that you..." The word you there means ye. "...are the temple of God, and the spirit of God dwells in you." 2nd Corinthians 6:16, "And what agreement has the temple of God with idols for you are the temple of the living God as God has said, I will dwell in them and walk among them, and I will be their God and they will be my people."
One of the most horrific things that happened in the Bible times was when the holy vessels of God ended up in the enemy's hands. You can see that that happened when the ark was captured by the Philistines. Well, I'll tell you, that was a tragic day in Israel. It happened because of disobedience among God's people. God's presence had been there. It was signified by the ark, but you read about the sons of Eli, and even Eli and the people began to compromise with the pagans. There was extortion in the kingdom and there was corruption. There were still good people. You had Elkanah, Hannah, and Samuel. When they went into battle against the Philistines, they thought, "We're just going to carry the ark into battle. It's our secret weapon." But if you're not obeying the Lord, you can't use your Bible like it's some good luck charm.
They took their Bible into battle against the Philistines, and they even shouted and made the Earth shake and had a great rally. But the Philistines fought and they not only conquered them, but Hafna and Fina were killed and the ark was taken. A messenger comes from the battle, and he lies, now 98 years old, he's leaning against the wall, and he said, "Tell me news. What happened, my son?" He says, "The Philistines have defeated us." Your two sons, Hafna and Fina have died. Then, brace yourself, the ark has been captured by the enemy and they carried it off and they put it in the temple of Dagon." That was how they showed that they had conquered their God. See when you start worshipping other gods, there's war in the camp. The children of Israel began to compromise with other gods. There was war in the camp.
An interesting thing happened right about then. When Eli got that word, it broke his heart. He just fell backward in shock, he broke his neck and he died. That same moment, his daughter-in-law was great with a child, but never told us her name. She was the wife of Phineas. The anguish of this news... What news? Her father-in-law dying, no. Brother-in-law dying, no. Army being defeated, no. Was it the news that her husband had died? That wasn't really it, but the ark had been taken. She went into labor. She died in labor. In dying, she named her son Ichabod. Ichabod means the glory is departed. God's people think, "Well because we got the temple, we're invincible." Later, the seventh temple of Solomon was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar and they stole the holy articles. Why? Because the people had begun to worship other gods.
Jeremiah talks about that. They brought other gods into the temple. Manasseh brought other gods into the temple. Even Solomon began to worship other gods as he got old. You may have the truth, he may have the ark, you may have the word of God, but if we're not obeying the word of God, then what you've got is Ichabod. Now, during this whole time, there were still faithful people even when the ark was captured. Praise God, there was a young man in the temple named Samuel who would grow to be one of the greatest judges, high priests, and Prophets in Israel. Even during these times of darkness, even when they were in Babylon and the Holy vessels were being mocked at a party, praising the pagan gods, they used the vessels from God's Temple, and there was still a Daniel and Babylon. Amen. It's happened before. Even during the time of Christ, the glory of Ezra's Temple was greater than the first one because Jesus, God incarnate, preached in that temple. But he said, "There will not be left one stone upon another in that temple." That temple was destroyed. Does God still have a temple?
Audience: Yes.
Speaker: Is it possible for us to defile that temple and bring idols to that temple? What happens? How sad. When the Antichrist sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God, what are we talking about now? We're not talking about physical buildings. We're talking about when the Beast's power begins to rule and be worshipped in the temple of God among the people of God, and they don't even know it. Obeying the laws of the Beast instead of the laws of God, claiming to be Christians, sitting in the holy place. Now, just in case you are still wondering, the Bible is very clear that the temple that God abides in is not a building. Peter said... Don't take it up with me, take it up with him. Acts 17:24, "God who made the world and everything in it since he is Lord of Heaven and Earth does not dwell in temples made with hands."
Even Solomon, when he dedicated his temple one of the most beautiful prayers in the Bible, he says that this is purely symbolic. He says, "God does not dwell in temples that are made with hands. The heavens of Heavens cannot contain him how much less a house that we build?" The little tabernacle they carried through the wilderness was a symbol of the dwelling place of God, but it's just a model of the real dwelling place of God in heaven. It reminds us how he wants to have a dwelling place in us. Buildings do not need cleansing from sin. God is not interested in cleansing plaster and 2x4s. He wants to cleanse your heart.
Audience: Amen.
Speaker: That's the sanctuary that needs cleansing. 1st Peter 2:5, "You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." You and I are the temple of God. Now, one more verse I'll give you on that. That's Ephesians 2:19, "Now, therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the Apostles and the prophets. Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone in whom the whole building being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the spirit." We want to be a spirit-filled Temple. Amen.
Audience: Amen.
Speaker: With this background, and I'm looking at the clock, I want you to go to Daniel 8:12. There has been a war against the truth that's been raging through history. Daniel 8:12, "Because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices." That was talking about the ministry of Jesus to forgive our sins. That's what it symbolized. "And he cast the truth down to the ground." Now, what was the most offensive thing the Beast's power does? It is a truth that sets us free. If you receive not a love of the truth... Why do you have to love the truth? Because you have to love Jesus and Jesus is the truth.
Audience: Amen.
Speaker: If you say, "I don't love the truth." but you say, "I do love Jesus.", you don't love the truth if you don't love Jesus because Jesus is the truth.
Audience: Amen.
Speaker: Sometimes I'll do an evangelistic meeting and I'll present the Sabbath truth and they'll say, "I don't care about that." I say, "Any rejection of the truth is, to some degree, a rejection of Christ because Jesus is the truth."
Audience: Amen.
Speaker: What happened is the church entered a very dark period during the Dark Ages. It was the most intense one from 538 to 1798, but it began before that time, and it lingered after that time when the truth was cast to the ground. God wants to cleanse us from those misconceptions to save us from those lies. If you don't receive a love of the truth, God will send you a strong delusion and you'll perish while you believe a lie. Jesus said, "The hour is coming in which those who kill you will think they're worshiping God." 1st Timothy 4, "Now, the spirit speaks expressly..." This is verse 1."...saying in the latter times, some will depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron." Who's Paul talking about? "They'll depart from the faith." He's not talking about the world. He's talking about the church. There would be a great departure from truth.
You read in Daniel 7:25. "This beast power would cast the truth to the ground. He would think to change times and laws." Then you read on in Daniel, chapter 8 concerning the daily sacrifice, "An army was given to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices. He cast truth to the ground. He did all this and he practiced and he prospered." Then, I heard one holy one speaking to the other holy one who said to that certain holy one who spoke, "How long will be the vision concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation?" There's a time period given. "I'll give you both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot." How was it trampled underfoot? In the Bible, it says if you'll turn away your foot from the Sabbath, trampling on truths, how long would that happen? For 2,300 days, then the sanctuary will be cleansed. After 2,300 days, a cleansing would begin. It's almost like when God told Adam and Eve, "In the day you eat thereof, you will die."
He actually said, "In dying, you will die. You will begin dying." There would be a new phase of cleansing. It would take place after 2,300 days. Now, most of you, I think, understand the principle in Bible prophecy that a day equals a year. This is the longest Bible prophecy. In order for you to know where it lands, you need to know where it starts. In Daniel, chapter 8, Daniel, when he hears about the terrible persecution and the corruption of truth, he faints. He physically can't handle it. It's not until you get to Daniel 9 that the angel returns and says, "We need to pick up where we left off. Not only am I going to pick up where I left off. I'm now going to fulfill the rest of the prophecy and tell you about the coming Messiah." Now, in the midst of the last week of that 490 years, he would cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, the earthly temple functions.
Then, he gives us a starting point for both prophecies. Daniel 9:25, "From the going forth of the Commandment to restore and build Jerusalem." Now, that commandment can actually be found in your Bible, in Ezra, chapter 7. I'm just streaming along here because I have a lot to cover. That commandment is understood in history. It is 457 BC. If you go 2,300, not days, but 2,300 years from 457, it reaches to 1844. Now, you might be wondering what in the world happened in 1844. Why would that be? Why didn't Jesus pick a date like 1900 or 1800 or something with a nice round figure? Well, Jesus died and 3180. He didn't pick round figures. God does not use the Roman AD or BC dating method, but something definitely did happen here.
Let me give you a few footnotes from the history of what was going on during this time, a very unique time in 1844. First of all, things were changing politically in the world like no other time in history. Karl Marx wrote his economic and philosophical manuscripts in 1844. Did communism affect much of the world in the following centuries? Charles Darwin, in 1844, finally wrote down his complete essay. He didn't print it for several more years, but he thought, "Something might happen to me and I want them to see my notes on the Origin of Species." That was in 1844 following his voyages on the Beagle. Evolution, the idea that God didn't create the world in six literal days, of course, negates the whole idea of the seventh day being holy. We've just slowly evolved. Part of the three angels' messages, "Worship him that made the heavens and the earth and the fountains." That's an excerpt from the Fourth Commandment.
Charles Darwin, "You just evolved. There's no purpose to life. This is just a big biological accident." Evolutionism. Things are happening on an industrial level, an incredible transformation. I shouldn't even put Samuel Morse up there next to Marx and Darwin because he was a Christian. Not only was he a great American artist that he invented, of course, Morse Code, and all of a sudden, the world changed because it used to take months or years to get a message around the planet. Now, it could happen just about the speed of light, with tapping electronically through a telegraph wire, and that all came around the same time there was an industrial explosion of railroads going around the country and the world. They used the railroad lines for the telegraph lines because it was already cut.
If you're not too far from here, you can still see telegraph lines and the railroad lines. Here in California, Nevada, they're all over. They're still up.
The first email message ever sent was when Moore sent a message from Washington DC to Baltimore and it said, "What hath God wrought? What hath God wrought?" You had that seismic change. Goodyear received his patent for the vulcanization of rubber which changed the Industrial development in the world. As I said, the railway systems began to explode. Some of these are minor things but they're interesting. I just want you to know about the shift that was happening during this time in history. The edict of toleration is passed, and it becomes a catalyst by which Jews are now allowed to resettle in the Holy Land, and who would have thought that they would have their own nation after being dispossessed for 1,900 years? That's when that began.
The Codex Sinaiticus, the Sinai Bible was discovered in 1844 in St. Katherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai. It is the most complete testament and the oldest of the complete copy of the New Testament, and the oldest version. That, of course, ratifies that the scriptures had been accurate. The YMCA is formed and says something, I think, interesting. In the US Presidential Election in 1844, James Polk defeated Henry Clay, confirming that slavery would have to be determined in a war. Texas is annexed as a state which leads to the Mexican-American War. The first treaty was signed between China and the United States. We need another one, don't we? One of the most exciting things in 1844, a Swedish chemist, Professor Gustav Eric Posh, invents matches. Up until then, you had to rub a flint and steel together if you wanted to get fire.
Things were happening on the religious front. The second reformation had reached its culmination during this time and several religious groups were spawned. You've probably heard of the Latter-Day Saints. Well, in 1844 Joseph Smith was killed by a mob. Then, Brigham Young is chosen, and he actually has a big influence on the Western expansion. Before the Gold Rush even happened, Brigham Young led his people to Utah and they're largely still there today. John Nelson Darby, he's a Plymouth Brethren, really established the teaching of dispensationalism around 1840. This is where you get Futurism and the Pre-tribulation Rapture Theory, they all Began about then. I just put it in as a footnote. It was also the year the Baha'i faith traces its origin to 1844. There are only about 6 million Baha'i in the world. Then again, there are only about 16 million Jews. Did you know that?
Judaism is not the biggest religion in the world. The interesting thing about Baha'i is they use the prophecies in Daniel, chapter 8, and you know what they come up with? They say the only date that it can end is 1844. They arrived at the very same conclusion. Everybody tried to change the date. But no, that was the date. Now, some of you know the history. I'm hoping that you're acquainted with the Great Advent Movement. Something happened. In the early 1800s, there was a Baptist minister, a retired captain by the name of William Miller, and through the prophecy studies of Daniel and Revelation, he became convinced that the Lord was going to return and that it was going to happen in 1844, based on Daniel 8:14.
He wasn't the only one, but he was one of the most famous in North America. Millions were swept up in this belief that something monumental was about to happen. There was a Jewish convert to Christianity. Joseph Wolf went around Asia teaching it. In South America, Manuel De La Cruz, and even the Catholic Jesuit became convinced from the prophecies that we were getting ready to see the second coming of the Lord. There was a great global movement. It took the name Millerites because William Miller was the most famous and they said the only place the prophecies point is to 1844. But I don't think I need to tell you that in 1844, Jesus didn't come. It became known in history as the Great Disappointment. This movement involved Baptists, Presbyterians, Christian scientists, Anglicans, Episcopalians, and you name it.
All these denominations had come together with great enthusiasm, "Jesus is coming." There was great harmony and God's spirit was moving. But then a great disappointment, how could God be in something like that when they were just plain old wrong about the prophecy? Let me take you back to a thousand years. When Jesus came for the first time, God's spirit was moving among the people in Israel. John the Baptist was preaching. There's a great revival. Disciples, thousands were following Jesus. Multitudes were following Jesus. They said, "The Messiah has come. The prophecies are being fulfilled. He is going to set up his throne there in Jerusalem. He's going to wipe out the Romans. We are going to be the world empire once again." They were right to be excited about Jesus, but they were wrong about the prophecy.
On that Friday afternoon, the church experienced a great disappointment. Does that mean God was not among them? No, God was very much among them. Jesus said, "There are many things I have to say to you, but you can't bear it now." He couldn't tell them the whole truth. They just couldn't handle it, but they misunderstood the prophecies even after Jesus rose from the dead. He said, "Lord, will you, at this time, establish your kingdom?" They still didn't get it. They thought, "We were thinking he was the one who would redeem Israel." When they said 'redeem Israel', they thought that meant to overthrow the Romans, sit on the throne of David, and use the strength of Solomon or Samson, the wisdom of Solomon, and the courage of Elijah. You're going to be all wrapped up in one package and we're going to rule the world again.
Boy, were they disappointed. You should read there in Luke 24 about those disciples when Jesus says, "Why are you so sad as you talk with one another and you walk on the road?" But then, God did something. Through that great disappointment, there was the birth of a movement, and that movement is now swept around the world. In that group of disappointed people, there was an unusual arrangement. For one thing, they discovered these truths that had been cast to the ground. God began cleansing his Sanctuary on Earth. There are others here who will talk about the high priestly ministry of Jesus. Jesus is our intercessor in Heaven. There is a heavenly temple. You read in Hebrews 8 and Hebrews 9, it is all exceedingly clear. My focus right now in conclusion is to tell you that God also began something on Earth today. As Jesus said, "Friends, as you sit here, as you listen, this prophecy is being fulfilled in on your hearing this day."
Christ began a movement of cleansing his church on Earth from all the false teachings of the Dark Ages, the truths that had been covered and corrupted. They learned the truth about salvation by faith that came from Luther. They learned the truth about baptism by immersion. Ella Wyatt, the method was she studied and said when she was 13, "I want to be baptized by immersion." It's biblical. In their group, they had a guru, a lady named Rachel Oaks Press, and she was a Seventh-Day Baptist. She studied with others the truth about the Seventh-Day Sabbath. Frederick Wheeler in 1844 was the Millerite who began to preach the Seventh-Day Sabbath. That was accepted by the Farnsworth family. They also persuaded Joseph Bates. Joseph Bates was one who believed in the health message. On his ships, he became convinced and he brought to this group the truth that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and they should abstain from alcohol and tobacco. He even became a vegetarian.
There was George Stores, a Methodist preacher, who was the most influential in explaining that there is conditional immortality. You don't live forever in Hell. Immortality is given to those who believe in Jesus. Hiram Edson said, "I understand what that sanctuary is. It's being cleansed now." All these people and all these truths that had been obscured in that year, 1844, God brought them together. They said, "Let us put aside our denominational differences." [inaudible] God that would happen again today. Let us put aside denominational differences. Let's go back to the word of God and find out what the bible really teaches. You see, in the last days, God is calling for a church that is going to return to the faith that was once delivered to the Saints. They are called the Remnant. The Remnant is going to have the same kind of faith as the disciples in the days of the Apostles.
In spite of the terrible disappointment the apostles endured, Jesus met with him for 40 days before he ascended to Heaven. He straightened them out biblically in a very quick order and he said, "Now, I want you to abide in Jerusalem and you will receive power from on high." They were baptized in the Holy Spirit. That's what the church needs today. We need to come together back to the word of God and we need the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I love the story in the Bible about Abel. Even Jesus refers to the blood of Abel. Abel said, "I'm going to worship according to the truth.", and he was persecuted for that.
God's fire came down from heaven and accepted the sacrifice of Abel when he prayed. Moses prayed and fire came down and filled the tabernacle and his sacrifice was accepted. David prayed and fire came down on the threshing floor of Ornan. Later, Solomon prayed and fire came down and inaugurated the temple that he had built there. Then again, you can see the fire came down when Jesus was preaching even in the temple of Ezra and Nehemiah, on Christ. Then the fire came down in Acts, chapter 2 on the apostles. It is our prayer that God's fire would come down on this place, but more specifically in our hearts.
Audience: Amen.
Speaker: The greatest need of the church today is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. God wants to abide in our hearts. I want to read you a quote from the book, Last Day Events, page 39. "The Christian Life is constantly an onward march. Jesus sits as a refiner and a purifier of his people. When his image is perfectly reflected in them, they are holy and prepared for translation." That's actually Maranatha, page 89. The rest of it is Last Day Events, page 39. "Christ is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of himself in his church. When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in his people, then he will come and claim them as is his own." I don't know about you, friends, but I want Jesus to come.
Audience: Amen.
Speaker: You might think, "Well, he can't come until I'm ready." Well, ready or not, he's coming one day whether you like it or not. You want to be among the group that is ready. Amen.
Audience: Amen.
Speaker: We want to pray and have God's fire fall upon his people during this time.
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