Participants: Jim Nix
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000141
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00:12 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth,
00:15 live from the 3ABN Worship Center. 00:20 Well it is right on time, and tonight we are beginning 00:24 a very special series on the heritage of 00:30 the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 00:32 It's a heritage worth remembering. 00:34 You happen to have two people, and probably a whole lot more, 00:38 who are very interested in the church history 00:43 of the Sabbath keeping people. 00:46 And one of that person is C.A. Murray, who will 00:49 probably be your host tomorrow night, 00:51 and yours truly. 00:52 Because we talk often about this, we share books 00:56 with each other, and we believe that as we look at how 01:01 God has led this movement in the past, 01:04 it inspires us to know that He will lead us in the future. 01:09 We'll sometimes have rough waters. 01:11 There's no question we are, as far as the world is concerned, 01:16 in pretty rough waters right now. 01:18 But we will see God's leading with His people 01:22 and leading with His church. 01:25 We've got a series with Pastor Jim Nix. 01:30 Jim Nix is the Executive Director 01:33 of the Ellen G. White Estate. 01:36 This is an organization that is unique 01:39 in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 01:41 Offices at the General Conference, 01:43 it works very closely with the General Conference. 01:46 And yet this is an organization that was set up by Ellen White 01:51 that is actually independent so that it protects the writings, 01:56 and it also, in a very real sense, shepherds the use 02:03 of the spirit of prophecy. 02:06 We're going to be looking beyond the work of Ellen White 02:09 at many of the pioneers. 02:12 We're going to be looking at the beginning 02:14 of the Adventist movement. 02:16 And we've got some subjects that Jim Nix will be covering. 02:20 "Right On Time" will be tonight. 02:22 "Anticipating the Advent," "The Little Flock," 02:26 "Ellen White the Person," on Sabbath morning, 02:29 and, "I Had the Privilege," on Sabbath afternoon. 02:33 You are going to enjoy every one of these presentations. 02:38 You're going to be blessed by these presentations. 02:41 You're going to be inspired by them. 02:44 I've known Jim Nix for many, many years. 02:47 And Jim and his wife, Mindy, live in the Washington DC area. 02:52 She is a middle school teacher at the 02:55 Spencerville Adventist Academy. 02:58 And this is a couple that loves the Lord, 03:01 and they're dedicated to the finishing of the work 03:05 and the spreading of the gospel to all the world. 03:09 Before Pastor Jim Nix comes, Elder Nix comes, 03:14 I want to have a word of prayer. 03:16 And then right after that we're going to really be 03:19 blessed as John Lomacang sings one of my favorite hymns, 03:24 He Hideth My Soul. 03:27 Shall we pray. 03:28 Father in heaven, thank You tonight that we can come to You 03:33 in the name of Jesus, knowing, Lord, that 03:36 You are the one who has led and guided throughout all eternity 03:46 the truths of Your Word. 03:49 You entrusted those truths, Father, to those in the 03:53 Garden of Eden, and then onto Abraham, 03:58 and then to the New Testament church. 04:02 And at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, 04:05 the gospel then went to all the world. 04:08 And it has continued. 04:10 When we come down here to the end of time, Father, 04:13 we find a special movement. 04:15 A movement that is proclaiming Your second coming, 04:19 that is turning people back to the truths of Your Word. 04:24 We thank You that You gave that movement to the world. 04:28 And we thank You, Father, that You've led us 04:32 to be a part of it. 04:34 And now we pray Your blessing upon this meeting tonight. 04:39 Bless those who are at home, bless those who are here. 04:43 And we pray that Your Holy Spirit will speak to our hearts. 04:47 Inspire us, we pray. 04:49 In Jesus' name, amen. 04:53 Brother John. 05:13 A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord, 05:22 a wonderful Savior to me; 05:30 He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock, 05:39 where rivers of treasures I see. 05:47 He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock 05:56 that shadows a dry, thirsty land; 06:04 He hideth my life in the depths of His love, 06:13 and covers me there with His hand, 06:21 and covers me there with His hand. 06:35 A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord, 06:44 He taketh my burdens away; 06:51 then He holdeth me up and I shall not be moved, 07:00 He giveth me strength as the day. 07:08 With numberless blessings each moment He crowns 07:17 and fills with His fullness divine; 07:24 now I sing in my rapture, oh, glory to God, 07:34 for such a Redeemer as mine. 07:41 He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock 07:51 that shadows the dry, thirsty land; 07:58 and He hideth my life in the depths of His love, 08:07 and covers me there with His hand. 08:15 Lord, You cover me there with His hand. 08:24 And He covers me there 08:33 with His hand. 08:56 Thank you for that beautiful number, John. 08:58 I appreciate it very much. 08:59 Certainly, as we look at the history of the Adventist Church, 09:01 He has covered it with His hand and blessed it many, many times. 09:06 This evening what we want to talk about, 09:08 and through this series, is a little bit about 09:10 Adventist history. 09:12 Some people think history is boring and dull. 09:16 And other people find it enjoyable. 09:18 I guess I'm in that second camp. 09:20 I find it fascinating when I look back at history. 09:24 Now the pioneers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 09:26 what we want to do tonight is to look at the setting 09:28 of the church. 09:29 Tomorrow night, we're going to start with the Millerites. 09:31 That's where most Adventists think about William Miller 09:34 and the beginning of the Millerite movement, 09:36 out of which our church began. 09:37 But tonight we want to look at the worldwide 09:40 impact as God's Spirit was moving on the world 09:44 to bring people to a study, especially of the books of 09:48 Daniel and Revelation. 09:49 Now there are other series here at 3ABN that will 09:51 talk about the theology. 09:52 I'm not doing that tonight. 09:53 We're talking about the history, alright? 09:56 But we do have to at least refer to a few text 09:59 and mention them, in Revelation and Daniel, 10:02 that talk about these time prophecies 10:04 ending in 1798 and 1844, etc. 10:07 And it's that setting, it's that time period 10:11 in the world that we want to look at this evening. 10:14 Now it wasn't just our Adventist pioneers 10:16 who were interested in prophetic history. 10:20 It was also the disciples of Christ. 10:23 You remember, they, in Matthew 24 verse 3, 10:27 they asked, "Tell us, when shall these things be? 10:31 And what shall be the signs of Thy coming?" 10:33 And Christ, interestingly later on in the chapter, 10:36 verses 29 to 30 of Matthew 24, He talks about, "Immediately 10:41 after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, 10:44 the moon shall not give her light, 10:45 the stars shall fall from heaven..." 10:47 And then He says, after that then we'll see the sign of 10:49 the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven. 10:52 Now those times that we're thinking about; 10:55 the earthquake, the sun being dark, and the stars falling, 11:00 these were not just Christ. 11:01 Joel talks about them. 11:02 John, the apostle John in Revelation, talks about them. 11:05 But they happened so long ago that sometimes we forget 11:09 the impact they had on the people who were 11:12 living at that time. 11:13 So before we start considering a few of the people, 11:16 let's look back on those three signs. 11:19 The Lisbon earthquake of November 1, 1755; 11:23 the dark day of May 19, 1780; 11:26 and the falling of the stars of November 13, 1833. 11:30 Now if we think about this platform being the history 11:34 of the world, so about 6000 years, 11:38 why let's just do a little mental calculation 11:41 to see about where those signs came into being. 11:45 So we start over there at this end of the platform 11:47 and we would come down the first 1000 years, 11:49 in round figures, the first 1000 years, 11:51 where do we come down to? 11:53 Well, we come down to roughly the death of Adam. 11:56 Alright, so now we come over here another third, 11:59 and we come to roughly what? 12:01 The birth of King David. 12:03 And then we come on down again... 12:07 Excuse me, I've forgotten one. 12:09 We've got Abraham, then we've got David here in the middle. 12:13 And then we come over here to Christ. 12:15 And then we come on down to the fall of 12:20 Constantinople, or whatever. 12:22 And we come on over here to the Protestant Reformation. 12:24 And now we get over to where these signs start appearing; 12:26 1755, 1780, 1833, and down to the present. 12:30 And we realize that we're not talking about very much time 12:33 from God's perspective. 12:35 We're just thinking about it from our perspective 12:37 as having been a long time ago. 12:39 But what about those signs and their impact at that time? 12:44 Well let's look briefly at the great Lisbon earthquake 12:48 on November 1, 1755, which happened on All Saints Day. 12:52 Lisbon, Portugal. 12:54 Three quakes; 9:40 am, 10 am, and 12 noon. 13:00 Now I grew up in California. 13:02 And any time the ground begins to shake a little bit, 13:05 you wonder is this going to be a big one. 13:08 And let me tell you, that was a big one when the 13:10 ground began to shake there in Lisbon at 9:40 in the morning. 13:16 It is, according to some sources, the largest, 13:18 or one of the largest recorded earthquakes in history. 13:21 It lasted, they say, about 6 to 7 minutes. 13:26 Now if you can imagine the ground shaking underneath 13:28 your feet for 6 to 7 minutes. 13:30 And it's estimated that some 30,000 people were killed 13:34 in the initial quake. 13:36 It was felt over an area of four million square miles. 13:41 It was felt a radius of 700 miles, the area was four times 13:46 the size of Europe; all the way from the Azores to Italy, 13:49 England to North Africa. 13:51 With oscillations, that means a little bit of shaking at least, 13:54 oscillations in lakes and ponds were felt as far away 13:58 as Finland and Sweden. 14:00 Now remember, in those days there was no Fox News or CNN. 14:07 You wonder why in the world all of a sudden 14:08 the water is shaking. 14:09 And it would be several weeks, or days in some instances 14:12 at least, before you heard about the earthquake 14:14 clear off down there in Lisbon. 14:16 In Morocco, according to one source I was looking, 14:19 a village of 8000 to 10,000 people was swallowed up. 14:22 In Cadiz, Spain there was a 60 foot tidal wave. 14:26 Tsunami's were as far away as England, 6 to 9 feet. 14:30 Antigua, 3400 miles from Lisbon, 12 foot tsunami. 14:36 An estimated 60,000 people perished in Lisbon. 14:40 But after the first quake, 14:41 everybody of course runs out of the buildings. 14:42 The ones that weren't killed in the first quake. 14:44 They're all running down and they run out on this marble quay 14:46 out into the bay there, or into the port, and it collapsed 14:55 when that 20 foot tidal wave hit Lisbon. 14:58 So another 60,000 people probably perished then. 15:01 All together, they say as many as 70,000 to 100,000 people 15:04 died in the Lisbon earthquake. 15:06 Now the total population of Lisbon in 1755 15:09 was only estimated to be about 230,000 people. 15:14 The headquarters of the Portuguese Inquisition 15:16 was located in Lisbon. 15:18 Its building fell. 15:20 Though some people did notice that the small Protestant church 15:23 in Lisbon remained standing after the quake. 15:26 There were an estimated 12,000 buildings that were destroyed 15:30 either by the quake or by the fire that followed afterwards. 15:34 Now it's the results of the quake is why this quake 15:37 was interesting and important to us in our study 15:40 looking back at the setting 15:41 for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 15:43 People started being good. 15:47 Frivolity was frowned upon. 15:50 The king of France was so shook up, pardon the pun, 15:53 but he was so shook up by it that he gave up his mistress. 15:57 She was not at all pleased, so she gave up her rouge, 16:01 or her make-up, as an offering to squelch 16:03 the demon of earthquakes. 16:07 The first anniversary of the earthquake 16:09 was looked upon with dread. 16:12 The king and queen of Portugal took part in a day of 16:15 national penitence. 16:17 The papal nuncio conducted ceremonial feet washing service. 16:22 And the people felt, quote, "that the Lord was in the 16:24 earthquake, and that it was His angel that touched the waters." 16:29 In other words, it had a spiritual impact. 16:32 Now let's go down a few years to the dark day of May 19, 1780. 16:36 Another one of these signs that Christ mentioned. 16:39 Well, it was centered in the north eastern United States. 16:41 It came on somewhere between 9 am and 3 pm 16:44 with the darkest between about 11 am and 1 pm that day. 16:50 It is said that at half past 11, in a room with three windows... 16:54 Now remember, they had little windows in those days. 16:56 Not these great big things like today. 16:57 But in a room with three windows, 24 panes each, 17:00 all open towards the south and east, that large print could not 17:05 be read, it was so dark, if you didn't light a candle. 17:08 At 12 o'clock it was dark enough so that the fluttering 17:11 of the candle, the shadow that was cast by it, 17:15 you could cut a profile because it was that dark. 17:19 We're told that the fowls went to roost, 17:21 the birds ceased to fly, the whippoorwill sang 17:24 their evening songs, the frogs piped their accustomed concert, 17:28 and the cattle collected about the barns as at night. 17:32 And what about humans? 17:33 Well, they went home. 17:35 The schools closed, they broke up. 17:37 The children were fearful of what was going on. 17:40 And there was Colonel Davenport in the Connecticut state 17:45 legislature that was in session. 17:46 And the darkness came on and everybody thinks, 17:48 "Well this must be the great day of the Lord, 17:50 the judgment, and all that." 17:52 People were accustomed to knowing 17:53 their Bibles in those days. 17:54 And this Colonel Davenport is quoted as saying, 17:57 "I am against an adjournment." 17:58 So in other words, "Let's keep in session here." 18:00 "The day of judgment is either approaching 18:03 or it is not. 18:04 If it is not, there's no cause for any adjournment. 18:08 If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. 18:11 I wish, therefore, that candles be brought." 18:14 And apparently they continued. 18:16 Typical, as you might expect, from a Yankee 18:19 to be that forthright. 18:20 Anyway, some people have said that there was some ash 18:22 that was seen in barrels and cisterns. 18:25 And that may be, it may have a natural cause. 18:27 Nobody really knows exactly. 18:28 At least, I've not been able to find a definite answer as to 18:31 what caused the dark day. 18:32 But God uses natural as well as miraculous events 18:36 to move people. 18:37 And again, the reaction is a spiritual and religious one. 18:41 People are going back and looking at their Bibles 18:44 to see what may be happening next. 18:47 Same with the falling of the stars on November 13, 1833. 18:52 There are all kinds of wild estimates as to how many 18:56 meteorites were seen per hour that particular night. 19:00 The low figure that I've read is 10,000 per hour. 19:04 The high figure, which is hard for me to even believe, 19:07 is 100,000, estimate of 100,000 meteorites 19:11 just flying through the sky within an hour. 19:14 Some say that it's 250,000 or more all together. 19:20 One estimate is that it was a billion meteorites 19:22 that fell over the United States. 19:23 Who knows how many there were between 19:25 especially 2 am and 5 am that morning, 19:28 with the densest concentration about 4 am. 19:31 Now again, from eye witness accounts at that time, 19:34 the size was anywhere from just like a pin prick of light 19:38 going across, to one report, I don't know whether or not 19:41 how accurate it is, but one report is that one of the 19:44 meteorites streaming across the sky appeared to be 19:47 as large as the moon. 19:50 Now think about it. 19:52 This was really bright light in the middle of the night, 19:55 back in a day when there were no city lights particularly. 19:58 So people were being awakened and going to the windows 20:01 to see why it is so bright out there. 20:03 And that's when they see this aerial display. 20:07 And they all seemed to be coming from one place in the heavens. 20:09 In fact, if you look back now in the study of meteorites 20:11 and all that, this particular incident is one of the, 20:17 one of the things that has caused scientists to begin 20:19 to really study meteorites. 20:20 Just like the Lisbon earthquake, if you back on the history 20:23 of earthquakes, that's the one that finally got scientists 20:25 looking at earthquakes and all of that. 20:28 But from our perspective, again people looked at this 20:32 very much in terms of the signs that Christ had foretold 20:36 and began to study their Bibles again to see what 20:40 was possibly happening. 20:41 I remember Daniel said in Daniel 12:4, 20:44 "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, 20:48 even to the time of the end. 20:49 Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." 20:52 And so for the next few minutes, what we want to do is to 20:55 look at some of the individuals that God worked through 21:00 to bring back a renewed or bring about a renewed interest 21:04 in the study of the books, especially the study of 21:06 the books of Daniel and Revelation. 21:09 These are not people that probably you and I would have 21:11 focused on if we had been looking around down here 21:14 on earth, if we had been God looking over the 21:16 walls of heaven to say, "Who can I get down there 21:19 to get excited about studying Daniel and Revelation?" 21:22 My guess is we would not have chosen these people. 21:24 I've chosen these particular names that we'll be looking at 21:27 for the next few minutes because Ellen White 21:29 mentions them in the book, Great Controversy. 21:31 So I thought maybe we could unpack a bit more of their story 21:34 as we look at them. 21:35 Now again, as I say, we're looking at it from 21:38 God's perspective, but He's going to have to have some 21:40 interesting twists and turns in the lives of these individuals 21:44 to get them to where they're willing to study 21:47 Daniel and Revelation. 21:49 Let's start with a man by the name of Manuel Lacunza. 21:54 Now when I went to the seminary, I kind of was taught that 21:58 all the great theologians, especially back 100 or 200 22:01 years ago, they all came out of Germany. 22:03 And a name like Lacunza doesn't sound German to me. 22:06 And it's not. 22:07 But God, as I said, has His surprises. 22:10 Manuel Lacunza, born in 1731 in Santiago, Chile. 22:14 Mentioned in, Great Controversy, page 363. 22:17 At the age of 16, in 1747, he was admitted on probation 22:24 to become a Jesuit. 22:26 Now I can hear you already saying, "Jesuit? 22:28 Daniel and Revelation? Now wait a minute." 22:30 Let's just say, God had some interesting twists and turns 22:33 in this man's life to get him to where He wanted him to be. 22:36 So Lacunza becomes a Jesuit. 22:40 He completes his two year vows. 22:42 He studies philosophy, theology. 22:44 He graduated with honors. 22:46 He was given the instruction of supervision of younger students. 22:50 That wasn't enough to keep him out of mischief, 22:52 so he also became a professor of Latin, 22:55 and he pursued studies in astronomy and geometry. 22:59 In 1766, he took the four vows and became an actual Jesuit. 23:04 Interestingly, the following year, 1767, King Charles III 23:09 of Spain expelled the Jesuits from all of his 23:12 new world possessions. 23:13 So all the way from Mexico clear down to the tip of 23:15 South America, all the Jesuits were rounded up, 23:19 they were herded onto vessels, and now those ships 23:22 made their way across the Atlantic, first to Spain 23:25 and then to Italy. 23:27 So one of those that went was Manuel Lacunza. 23:31 And he's first in Cadiz, Spain, 23:33 and then later Imola, near Bologna, Italy. 23:36 In 1772, Lacunza became a recluse in a monastery. 23:41 We're told that he had a life of piety and prayer. 23:46 He would spend five hours a day in study and praying. 23:49 In fact, for a total of 30 years Lacunza engaged 23:52 in the study of the Bible and the writings 23:55 of the Catholic fathers. 23:57 And eventually he encompassed, he read through all the 24:00 famous volumes of the fathers; about a thousand large volumes. 24:04 By 1779 though, Lacunza had abandoned his trips 24:08 to the libraries in Venice and Bologna and Rome 24:11 as a waste of time. 24:13 They weren't any benefit. 24:14 And now he decides to devote himself to the 24:17 study of the Bible. 24:20 But especially two books in the book, the Bible. 24:23 And those are the books of Daniel and Revelation. 24:27 Interesting. Right on time. 24:28 Just at the time that had been predicted by Daniel the prophet 24:33 that there would be a renewed interest in these things. 24:35 Here is a Jesuit priest in Italy, almost in the shadow 24:40 of the Vatican itself, looking at Daniel and Revelation. 24:44 It's incredible if we didn't believe in the value 24:47 or the importance of prophecy. 24:50 Now Lacunza came to some interesting conclusions 24:54 as he did his reading and his writing and his... 24:57 Well it started with his research, but later a writing. 25:00 And here are a few of his 25:01 conclusions that we can agree with. 25:03 Now not everything that Lacunza came up with 25:05 we would certainly agree with. 25:06 But there are some things that I think we as 25:09 Seventh-day Adventists would resonate with. 25:11 Here's one. 25:12 In any disagreement between the teachings of Scripture 25:15 and the teachings of the church fathers, 25:18 the Bible always takes precedence. 25:21 Now of course, the view of the church was 25:23 that if there's some kind of a misunderstanding 25:25 or disagreement, why, you look to the church fathers 25:28 and the interpretation of the fathers. 25:30 And that tells you what it is, and not to the Scriptures. 25:32 He said, "No, no," Lacunza said, 25:34 "I can't find that anywhere in Scripture. 25:36 The Bible takes precedence over everything else." 25:40 So that was one thing I think we would be comfortable with 25:42 his discovery of. 25:44 Another discovery, that there would be two comings of Christ; 25:48 one resurrection before the millennium 25:50 when the righteous dead would be raised, 25:52 and then another resurrection at the end of the millennium. 25:55 Now this was not like the view that was popular at that time, 25:58 a view that had been espoused by a man named Daniel Whitby, 26:03 that most Catholics and Protestants 26:05 thought at that time; that the earth was going to get 26:06 better and better and better for a thousand years, 26:08 and then Christ would come and the saints would be resurrected. 26:12 That is, according to what Lacunza found, 26:14 what we believe also, but according to what Lacunza 26:16 found, that's not what Scripture teaches. 26:19 And so he came to that particular conclusion. 26:21 He discovered that there are two judgments 26:23 depicted in Scripture, and they are separated by much time. 26:27 Then he came to some other conclusions that did not set 26:32 quite so well with some of his superiors 26:34 there in the monastery. 26:36 He discovered that the antichrist 26:39 was not an individual. 26:42 Now the Catholics at that time, as near as I can tell, 26:45 they hadn't settled on exactly who this individual was. 26:48 Some thought it was Wycliffe, 26:49 some thought it was Martin Luther. 26:51 But they thought it was some individual that would be 26:53 coming to harass the church. 26:55 But Lacunza said, "No, that's not what Scripture teaches. 26:58 It's more like it's describing a great moral body of apostasy." 27:03 Now that was bad enough, 27:04 and he probably should have stopped there, but he didn't. 27:07 Because he was honest and he said, actually this great 27:10 moral body of apostasy displays characteristics of the 27:14 Roman Catholic Church, of which he was a part. 27:17 Well, obviously that didn't go over too well either 27:19 with his superiors. 27:21 He came to another conclusion. 27:23 And that is, as he studied the book of Revelation, 27:27 he came to the conclusion that the second beast of 27:29 Revelation 13 and the harlot of Revelation 17 27:33 displayed characteristics of the Roman Catholic priesthood, 27:37 of which he was a member. 27:40 Now needless to say, Lacunza's conclusions 27:43 did not set well with his superiors. 27:45 Even so, he wrote it out in longhand. 27:48 That's all they had. No computers in those days. 27:50 So he wrote out his conclusions in longhand 27:54 in a manuscript that he entitled, 27:56 The Coming of the Messiah in Glory and Majesty. 28:00 He used a pseudonym. 28:01 He thought he might have a better chance 28:03 of getting people to read it. 28:04 So he did not use the name, Manuel Lacunza, 28:07 but rather he wrote under the name, Juan Josafat Ben-Ezra. 28:11 Now he tells us the purpose for writing this manuscript. 28:15 And that was because he wanted Roman Catholic priests, 28:18 and others, to take their Bibles from off the shelves, 28:22 "blow the dust off of them," that was his expression, 28:25 the cobwebs, brush the cobwebs off of them, 28:27 open up their Bibles, and study to see whether or not 28:31 his conclusions were accurate. 28:34 Now Lacunza died in 1801. 28:36 You might think because of what he had come up with, 28:38 what he discovered, what he was teaching, 28:40 that he might have been murdered. 28:43 No, it was natural causes. 28:45 And his manuscript at that point had not yet been published. 28:49 It was just circulating in hand written copies. 28:52 Can you imagine all the hand writing that had to go on. 28:55 And copies of this had shown up in Mexico and in South America, 28:59 in Cuba, as well as in Spain and Italy in Europe. 29:02 This manuscript was circulating and having an impact 29:07 already before Lacunza's death, and certainly for the 29:09 next few years after his death. 29:11 And it was causing discussion among many, including 29:15 members of the Roman Catholic priesthood. 29:18 Now finally in 1811, the first edition of Lacunza was printed 29:23 in Cadiz, Spain. 29:24 This was immediately after the Inquisition had been lifted, 29:27 so there was freedom of the press. 29:28 And so Lacunza was now printed in Spanish. 29:32 The next year in Tolosa, Spain there was another edition 29:35 that had several volumes. 29:36 I brought along just one. 29:38 This is volume three of the 1812 edition of Lacunza's, 29:43 The Coming of the Messiah in Glory and Majesty. 29:45 But it was continued to be printed. 29:48 In 1816 there was a Spanish edition printed 29:51 in London, England. 29:52 Now to give you some idea of the impact of these 29:55 editions that were coming out, this particular one, 29:58 the 1816 edition, it was paid for by a man 30:02 by the name of Manuel Belgrano. 30:05 Now Manuel Belgrano doesn't mean much to us in the United States, 30:09 but he was one of the founders of the country of Argentina. 30:14 So these are high level people that are reading Lacunza 30:18 and discussing what Lacunza has to say. 30:21 It was causing quite a stir, his concepts, his views, 30:25 as they were now especially being published 30:27 and people could have easier access. 30:29 In fact, it became such a big problem 30:32 that Lacunza's book were prohibited and people were 30:37 discouraged from reading them or owning them. 30:40 In fact, on September 16, 1824, the Congregation of the Index 30:45 prohibited Lacunza's book from being printed or read. 30:49 And Pope Leo XII, nine days later, posted it as the official 30:54 formal decree of the Roman Catholic Church 30:57 that it was forbidden to be published 30:59 in any language whatsoever. 31:01 Well back in those days, of course Protestants 31:04 knew they were Protestants, Roman Catholics knew 31:06 they were Roman Catholics. 31:07 Up to this point Lacunza had not been translated into English. 31:11 But I guess once the pope said you can't, well that was 31:14 just enough to get some of the Protestants in England 31:16 to say, "Why not? We can." 31:18 So in 1826, there was an edition of Lacunza published in London. 31:22 And on Christmas of 1825, another man who would 31:25 become interested in prophecy and the proclaiming of the 31:29 soon return of Jesus, we're not going to 31:31 have much time to talk about tonight, 31:33 a man by the name of Edward Irving, 31:35 a Scottish Presbyterian minister. 31:37 He preached on the second coming of Christ in his church. 31:41 Now just to say a little bit about Edward Irving, 31:44 his churches, when he was announced to preach, 31:48 they were so packed that you had to have a ticket 31:52 to get into the cathedral where he was speaking. 31:54 And he was so moved by reading Lacunza 31:58 that he taught himself to read enough Spanish 32:01 so he could translate Lacunza into English. 32:03 And Irving's two volume edition appeared in 1827. 32:08 Now what I'm trying to point out is that God is working through 32:12 an unusual situation. 32:14 We would not probably have picked a Roman Catholic priest 32:16 if we were trying to impact the world with the news 32:20 of studying Daniel and Revelation. 32:23 But God does things in unusual ways. 32:26 And here it was at the precise time in history, 32:29 predicted by God more than 2000 years in advance, 32:33 that this unlikely person was encouraging people 32:36 to study Daniel and Revelation. 32:40 We're going to move on to another interesting fellow. 32:44 This person is not one that probably any of us 32:47 would have chosen either for studying Daniel and Revelation. 32:51 But he's mentioned in, Great Controversy, by Ellen White. 32:53 Great Controversy, pages 357 to 362. 32:57 His name is Joseph Wolff. 33:02 Now with a name like Joseph, you can imagine 33:06 he's probably not a German theologian either. 33:09 And you're right. 33:10 He was born in 1795 in Bavaria, he was raised in Prussia. 33:16 His father, David Wolff, was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi. 33:21 I can hear you once again thinking, "What? 33:24 How does God move the son of an Orthodox Jewish rabbi 33:28 over here to where he's going to be studying 33:30 Daniel and Revelation?" 33:32 Well, just hang with me for a minute or two 33:34 and we'll get there. 33:35 At the age of four, the rabbi David Wolff began to teach 33:40 his young son all the structures, all the regulations, 33:44 all that there was to know about being an Orthodox Jew. 33:49 Now the Wolff family did not have their own cow. 33:53 So when they needed milk they would go to the neighbor, 33:57 a man by the name of Dr. Spiess, who had a cow. 34:01 And that's where they would go. 34:03 And young Joseph was sent by his mother to go while the 34:07 cow was being milked so the family could get some milk. 34:10 Now Dr. Spiess was a barber/surgeon. 34:13 You know, those two professions went together for years. 34:16 I think if you cut him too close then you could stitch him up. 34:19 I don't know. Anyway, the barber/surgeon. 34:21 And he was a Lutheran Protestant. 34:24 So he was a Lutheran. 34:26 He was not Jewish. 34:27 But he had a cow. 34:29 So here comes this bright young boy. 34:31 His mother has sent him down there to get milk. 34:34 And while the servant, or whoever, was milking the cow, 34:36 Dr. Spiess is having fun with this young boy, 34:40 the son of the local Orthodox Jewish rabbi. 34:43 One time he asked him, according to one of the stories 34:46 I was reading, he asked him, "How come your people, 34:50 the Jews, do not have a home land?" 34:52 Now remember, this is about 1800. 34:53 So there's no state of Israel then. 34:56 "How come the Jews, your people, do not have 34:59 their own home land?" 35:01 "Hmmm," Joseph thought to himself, "I don't know." 35:03 But you know, when you're 4 or 5 years of age, 35:05 there's one person that knows everything. 35:07 And that is your father. 35:08 So he goes home to his father, the rabbi, 35:11 and he asked, "How come our people are dispersed? 35:14 Why don't we have a home land anymore like we use to?" 35:16 "Well," the rabbi responded, "our people destroyed 35:22 the prophets that God sent. 35:24 And in His displeasure, He has dispersed our people 35:28 all throughout the world." 35:30 "Hmmm," the young boy thought to himself, 35:32 "okay, that makes sense." 35:34 Well another day, more milk and more questions. 35:39 "Why did the Jews kill Jesus," Dr. Spiess wanted to know. 35:44 "Hmmm," Joseph thinks to himself, 35:47 "Who is those Jesus?" 35:48 Well, he's heard of Him, but who is He? 35:50 So he goes home and he asked his father, the rabbi, 35:53 "What is this about the Christians saying that 35:56 the Jews killed Jesus? 35:57 What's this all about?" 35:59 "Well," his father responded, "nearly 2000 years ago, 36:04 there was a Rabbi. 36:06 This Rabbi claimed to be the Messiah. 36:10 His name was Jesus. 36:12 Now He taught a lot of good things. 36:14 But once He claimed to be the Messiah, the Son of God, 36:19 that's blasphemy, to be the Son of God, 36:21 to make that kind of claim. 36:23 And so He deserved to die for blaspheming God." 36:29 "Oh," he thought to himself. 36:31 "That's interesting," the young boy said to himself. 36:34 Well another day there's more milk and more questions. 36:37 And Dr. Spiess asked the young boy, "When the prophet Isaiah 36:44 is speaking in Isaiah 53, who is he talking about in there? 36:49 Is he talking about himself? 36:51 Is he talking about someone else? 36:54 Who is he talking about?" 36:56 And so young Joseph thinks, "You know, my father 37:00 has taught me all about the Bible." 37:02 Which had been the Old Testament for him. 37:04 "Taught me all about the Bible, but I don't remember 37:06 any in-depth study of Isaiah 53." 37:09 So he goes home. 37:10 According to one account I was reading, 37:11 he goes home and he asked his father, 37:14 "Who is prophet Isaiah talking about 37:16 in the 53rd chapter? 37:18 Is he talking about himself? 37:20 Is he talking about someone else? 37:22 Who is he talking about?" 37:23 And this one source said that the father got a scowl 37:26 on his face and said, "Doesn't your mother 37:28 need you in the kitchen about now?" 37:30 And it was obvious that father didn't want to talk about 37:33 who the prophet Isaiah is referring to 37:35 in the 53rd chapter. 37:37 But as a young boy, seven years of age, Joseph Wolff is 37:42 beginning to put the pieces together. 37:45 "We don't, as a people, have a homeland 37:48 because when God sent prophets, we despised and killed 37:52 the prophets that He sent. 37:54 And father says that this Jesus that the Christians talk about 37:58 that claimed to be the Messiah, claimed to be the Son of God, 38:02 that He was a good man. 38:03 But because of His claims, He had to be killed. 38:09 And could it be maybe," he thinks to himself, 38:12 "could it be that who is being described here in Isaiah 53 38:17 is that Jesus?" 38:18 And as he puts the pieces together, he comes to the 38:21 conclusion that Jesus was the promised Messiah. 38:25 And so not being one to put things off, at the age of seven, 38:29 he goes to the local Lutheran pastor and announces 38:33 that he wishes to be baptized. 38:36 Now I don't know what any ordained ministers in this crowd 38:39 would do, but you can maybe relate to the minister who said, 38:44 "Now son, you know, your father, he's the local rabbi, 38:50 Orthodox rabbi. 38:51 And besides, there's a law that says that we can't baptize 38:55 Jews unless we have the parents permission 38:58 if they're under the age of 18. 39:00 Why don't you come back in a few years 39:01 and let's talk about all this." 39:03 Well needless to say, Joseph was not interested 39:07 in talking about it with anybody else. 39:08 He had made up his mind. 39:09 He's going to become a Christian. 39:11 It's just a matter of figuring out how he's 39:13 going to make it happen. 39:14 Well his father is getting kind of nervous, thinking, 39:16 "What in the world is happening to my son? 39:18 I think he's going to become a Christian." 39:20 He doesn't know he's already asked to be baptized. 39:22 He just thinks, "I think he's going to become a Christian. 39:24 What am I going to do? 39:25 I had better get him out of here. 39:26 I've got to get him away from this influence." 39:28 And so he sent him to his brother's house. 39:31 So Joseph goes off to Uncle Asshur's house. 39:34 And there, because the best school in town was the 39:38 Christian school, and they needed this young boy, 39:40 this bright young boy, why, he needs to get a good education. 39:44 So since he was a Jew, he wasn't required to go to the religion 39:48 classes, but guess which classes he wanted to go to. 39:51 That's the ones he was most interested in. 39:53 He wanted to go to the Bible or the religion classes. 39:56 And he's asking more questions than all the rest 39:58 of the students all together. 40:00 And he's always talking about Jesus. 40:02 And what about the Messiah? 40:03 And on, and on, and on. 40:04 And guess who gets nervous? Uncle Asshur. 40:08 "What will happen? 40:09 What will my brother David, the rabbi, think if his son 40:13 converts to Christianity while living here? 40:16 I think we better get rid of this kid." 40:18 And so Joseph is sent off to another relative. 40:22 This is cousin Moses Cohen. 40:25 And there again, he's put in the Christian school. 40:27 And again he's got more questions about Jesus 40:30 than all the other students combined. 40:32 And the teacher is wondering, "Why in the world are you 40:35 so interested in this Jesus? 40:38 You know, He was just a man like the rest of us." 40:41 But even with the put down by the professor, 40:44 Joseph was undeterred in his asking of questions. 40:48 And according to one account again that I was looking at, 40:50 it said he decided one day to buy a Bible. 40:53 He didn't have enough money to buy an entire Bible, 40:55 but he didn't need an Old Testament. 40:56 He already had that. 40:57 All he needed was a New Testament. 41:00 And when he brought it home, he's very pleased, you know. 41:03 He has this New Testament. 41:04 But cousin Moses Cohen's wife was not quite so pleased. 41:08 She told him to get out of there, and she threw the 41:10 stove poker at him and kicked him out of the house. 41:13 And so he's out on his own at the age 41:15 of 12 or 13 years of age. 41:17 His father having died by this time. 41:20 He was turned off to Protestantism by the 41:22 rationalist deist Protestant professors that he had met. 41:25 And so he now starts attending Catholic schools. 41:28 Again, we're looking at how does God bring this guy 41:31 to where He wants him to be studying about the 41:34 soon return of Jesus, the biblical prophecies of 41:37 Daniel and Revelation. 41:38 Well there's many, many different accounts 41:40 of where he went, this guy was just incredible. 41:42 But he shows up at a monastery one day, 41:45 and he wants to attend school there. 41:47 And the rector, the guy in charge of the monastery, 41:49 he was all pleased. 41:50 I suppose like a school principle 41:52 today, there's more money. 41:53 "Sure, come on in. 41:54 Who's paying your bill, by the way?" 41:55 And Joseph, again according to the account I was reading, said, 41:59 "I don't have anybody." 42:01 Well I guess the smile probably left the rector's face 42:04 when he heard that nobody was going to be paying 42:05 for him to attend school. 42:07 And he said, "Well then how do you plan on paying your bill?" 42:09 And Joseph responded, "Well I can teach Hebrew." 42:12 "What do you mean? You're just a kid. 42:13 How can you teach Hebrew?" 42:15 "Well bring me a Bible and I'll show you." 42:16 Well I guess we can say, as the rector picked his jaw up 42:20 from off the ground when he realized this guy was 42:22 fluent in languages, he said, "Not only will I give you free 42:25 tuition and boarding, but I'll even give you a little money. 42:27 Just come right on in, thank you very much." 42:29 And so Joseph was in. 42:31 And again, he's moving around all over various countries 42:34 there in Europe where he lived. 42:36 And by 1812 at the age of 17, he was baptized 42:41 as a Roman Catholic. 42:43 Now Joseph Wolff had one big desire. 42:46 He wanted to become a missionary. 42:48 He wanted to go to his people, the Jews. 42:51 He wanted to tell them that he had found the Messiah, 42:55 and the Messiah was Jesus. 42:57 The Jesus of the Christians. 42:59 Now I've already hinted at the fact that Joseph had a 43:02 facility for languages. 43:04 I should tell you that eventually he became 43:06 expert in six languages, and he conversed freely 43:10 in an additional eight. 43:11 So that was fourteen languages that he could make 43:14 his way around pretty well. 43:15 Which is kind of handy, you know, for being a missionary. 43:19 And he's moving from place to place still, 43:21 staying a little while here, a little while there. 43:22 But he's on his own trying to learn, 43:25 to make a little money, to be... 43:27 Well, he wasn't too worried about money. 43:28 But have enough to live on at least. 43:30 And people kept saying, "If you want to be a missionary, 43:33 where you need to go is to Rome. 43:36 That's where the church trains its missionaries." 43:39 So finally in 1816, Joseph Wolff makes his way to Rome. 43:44 Now the word is out that this flamboyant 43:47 brilliant young Jewish convert to Christianity, 43:50 the Roman Catholic church, has arrived in town. 43:53 And Pope Pius VII wanted to meet Joseph, of course. 43:57 And so there was a little interview arranged 44:00 with Joseph to meet the pope. 44:02 And while he is in there with the pope, the pope asks him 44:05 to read something from his Hebrew Bible. 44:08 Unfortunately, the old story does not tell us 44:11 what the pope asked him to read. 44:12 I like to think it was Isaiah 53, but I have 44:15 no idea what he really read. 44:16 Anyway, he read something to the pope. 44:19 And the pope said, "Thank you very much. 44:21 What are you wanting to do?" 44:22 "Well, I want to go to the College of Propaganda." 44:25 That's what they called their school 44:27 for training missionaries. 44:29 Now I just need to remind you that the word, "propaganda," 44:33 until Goebbels and the Nazi's in the 1930's, 44:35 it was a perfectly good word. 44:37 It kind of changed, so now we kind of question 44:39 calling something, the College of Propaganda. 44:41 But it didn't have the same meaning back then. 44:43 Well the pope said, "Unfortunately the College 44:46 of Propaganda is closed right now for renovations. 44:50 The reason for that is because while Napoleons troops 44:53 were stationed here in Rome, that's where they lived." 44:57 It was in the building where the College of 44:59 Propaganda use to be. 45:01 And so he said, "Right now they are gone, the troops are gone. 45:04 And we're restoring, remodeling, renovating the building. 45:07 But we, right now, don't have it open. 45:10 So you can't go there. 45:11 However, I am the patron," the pope said, 45:14 "of the Collegio Romano. 45:16 And as the patron of the Collegio Romano, 45:19 if you will go there, I'll tell you what I'll do. 45:22 I will pay all your expenses. 45:27 I will pay your room and board. 45:29 I will give you clothing to wear. 45:32 You go there until we get the other building open again, 45:36 and then you can transfer over to the College of Propaganda." 45:39 Wow, now nobody has done this for Joseph. 45:41 He is so excited. 45:42 He pats the pope on the shoulder and says, 45:45 "Thank you, thank you, thank you 45:47 for your kindness, sir." 45:48 And the little interview was over. 45:51 And Joseph begins to attend the Collegio Romano. 45:54 Now students have not changed at all. 45:56 Guess what. 45:57 Rumors, whispers, start going through the student body. 46:00 "Guess what happened." 46:01 "What? Really? Did he do that? 46:03 No, he couldn't have done that." 46:05 "Yes, guess what happened." "No." 46:07 And finally somebody said, "Is it true that when you 46:10 were in there with the holy father, that you actually 46:14 patted him on the shoulder?" 46:17 "Well yes, "Joseph said, "he's a nice man." 46:20 "Oh no, no, no. 46:21 Don't you understand, don't you understand? 46:25 He is like God here on earth." 46:28 Now actually, the infallibility of the pope had not yet 46:31 become dogma, but that's where they were moving. 46:33 And that didn't happen until 1870. 46:36 But here is this whole discussion going on. 46:39 In fact, one day in class they were talking about 46:41 the infallibility of the pope. 46:43 As I say, that hadn't actually become dogma yet. 46:45 But they're talking about this, and so Joseph is saying, 46:49 "Pardon me, but what exactly does that mean?" 46:53 "Well you know, when the theologians have all studied 46:56 everything, and they finally can't decide, 47:00 and it's brought to the holy father, the pope, 47:03 and he then tells them what the text means. 47:06 And then it's settled." 47:08 "You don't say," Joseph said. 47:10 "The pope can do that? 47:12 How can he do that? 47:13 He can't even read Hebrew, how would he know 47:15 what the text says?" 47:16 Well needless to say, that didn't help him too much 47:20 in that school. 47:21 But before too long the College of Propaganda reopened. 47:24 And that's where he was transferred to, 47:26 because that's what he wanted. 47:27 He wanted to be a missionary to go tell his people. 47:30 He wanted to tell them that he found the Messiah. 47:34 Well he is always mouthing off, as we would say. 47:37 He's always shooting his mouth off 47:39 when it would have been more to his advantage 47:41 to have kept his mouth shut. 47:42 There was an elderly cardinal, Cardinal Lorenzo Litta, 47:47 who kind of befriended this young Jew, and said, 47:52 "You know, Wolff..." 47:53 In fact, he said, "Wolff, Wolff." 47:55 "...you must learn to hold your tongue 47:57 or you will get into trouble. 47:58 Remember, even a fish can keep out of danger 48:01 if it keeps its mouth shut." 48:03 But Wolff could not keep his mouth shut. 48:06 Well one day in 1818, he was attending the 48:08 College of Propaganda, and there was a cardinal, 48:11 venerable cardinal, who was leading out in discussion. 48:14 And he was telling these future missionaries 48:16 that it was alright for them to burn heretics. 48:21 Joseph said, "What did you say?" 48:23 Now he was apparently a short fellow with red hair. 48:25 And he's on his feet, and said, "What was that you just said? 48:28 It's alright for us to burn heretics when we're 48:31 out there as missionaries? 48:32 What about the violation of the commandment not to kill?" 48:36 Well the cardinal was ready for the argument. 48:39 He said, "When you have a shepherd who is protecting 48:45 a flock of sheep, and a wolf," no pun intended, 48:50 "a wolf gets into the flock of sheep, 48:53 what does the shepherd do? 48:56 Well he kills the wolf to protect the sheep. 48:59 That's the principle here." 49:01 Well Joseph was not impressed at all. 49:02 He said, "Well, but men are not brute animals. 49:07 We're not talking about just animals, 49:09 we are talking about people." 49:11 And the cardinal could see that the students were beginning to 49:15 side with young Joseph. 49:17 So he decided that he would use the best argument 49:19 that he could think of with this young man 49:21 and it would silence him for sure. 49:23 He said, "Well, then let me put it to you this way. 49:26 Seventeen popes have declared that it's alright 49:30 to burn heretics." 49:32 Joseph was not impressed one whit. 49:35 He said, "Then obviously, sir, seventeen popes 49:39 have declared wrong." 49:41 Well shortly thereafter, about three in the morning, 49:43 he was escorted out of town by 25 of the pope's finest. 49:48 And away he goes again. 49:49 Well that's the story of his life. 49:51 He first goes to Vienna, then he went to Switzerland. 49:54 And there he was in a monastery, and there was some infraction. 49:57 Actually, there's two different accounts, and I'm not sure... 49:59 I like the one I'm going to tell you, 50:01 but maybe it happened a little differently 50:02 depending on which source you're looking at. 50:04 But in any case, he was suppose to show penance 50:09 one time and was suppose to kiss the feet... 50:12 One story has him kissing the feet or the toe of the rector, 50:15 others say they were kissing the toes of their fellow students 50:18 to try to keep humble, show their humility. 50:21 And well, Joseph decided to carry it a little extra. 50:26 He not only kissed, but he bit down hard on the toe. 50:30 And the one account is he bolted for the door, 50:32 and that's when he left Catholicism. 50:34 The other account is that shortly thereafter, 50:36 he left Catholicism and he became Protestant. 50:40 He became an Anglican, went to England, 50:42 went to school at Cambridge University, 50:44 still wants to become a missionary. 50:45 Wants to tell his people about Jesus being the Messiah. 50:49 However, he had some phobias. 50:50 He had a phobia of water. 50:52 He had a phobia about riding horses. 50:54 He couldn't sit cross legged. 50:55 He couldn't fix his own victuals or food. 50:58 He never learned to shave himself. 50:59 But even so, away he went. How did he go? 51:02 Well England, of course, was out on an island, so how did he go? 51:05 Well he told us, he left an account. 51:07 He just got a book, buried his head in the book, and read. 51:10 And forgot there was water all around his little boat. 51:12 And away he would go, because he was determined 51:14 that he was going to tell people about Jesus. 51:17 Well he had some interesting methods of doing evangelism. 51:20 He would try to push people to see how far they would go 51:22 before they decided to kill him. 51:26 Now it was an interesting technique to get discussions 51:28 going to see how far you can go. 51:30 In Tabriz, Persia he spoke one time in English at the 51:32 British Embassy at ten in the morning. 51:34 At noon he gave a sermon in Italian. 51:36 At 1 pm he preached a sermon in German and then in French. 51:39 And from 3 pm to 4 pm he preached another 51:40 sermon in Arabic. 51:42 In 1826, he attended the great Albury Park 51:44 prophetic conference in England where a number of theologians 51:47 came together to study... 51:49 Guess what. Daniel and Revelation. 51:51 Now he comes to the conclusion that the Messiah, Jesus, 51:54 is about to return. 51:56 And he moves again back into the Middle East. 51:58 He's all over the Middle East. 52:00 He's distributing Bibles. 52:01 He is preaching, not just in the Middle East, but he goes 52:05 to various other countries; 52:06 India, and Afghanistan, and other places. 52:08 In 1837, he comes to the United States. 52:11 Former President John Quincy Adams asked for permission 52:15 for Wolff to preach to the United States congress, 52:17 which he was allowed to do in December of 1837. 52:21 Interesting. 52:23 I have an interesting letter here. 52:25 And I don't know, I'm watching the clock, and I don't know if 52:27 I really have time to tell you about this. 52:28 But here's an original letter from Joseph Wolff 52:30 that he wrote from Washington DC while he was here in 1837. 52:33 And he's writing to a friend of his in New York. 52:37 And he tells the friend up there in New York City 52:40 that he hasn't heard from his wife for three or four months. 52:42 Remember, mail is a little different than today. 52:44 And she's in Switzerland somewhere, and he's 52:46 been trying to send letters. 52:47 And he says, "I'm going from here down to the south, 52:51 and then I'm going out to Cincinnati 52:52 and hold lectures there. 52:53 And then I'll go back home. 52:54 And then I'll probably... 52:57 I'll go back to New York, I mean, then I'll 52:58 probably return home." 52:59 Well then there's a... 53:00 I didn't bring the whole newspaper, but there's a 53:02 Xerox of a letter that he wrote just nine days after that one. 53:06 And he says, "I've heard from my wife. 53:08 And I'm leaving to go back to New York City. 53:10 And I'm returning home." 53:11 No more about going to lecture in the south. 53:13 No more in Cincinnati. 53:14 I think the letter, which isn't extent, from his wife was, 53:19 "Joe, you've been gone too long. 53:20 Get yourself home." 53:21 And so he's all of a sudden forgotten about 53:23 all this other stuff, and he's headed back to England. 53:25 Anyway, he goes back there and he's preaching 53:27 farther and wider than any other individual. 53:30 This Jewish convert preaches the first angel's message. 53:35 It's incredible. 53:36 A person that we would not have picked. 53:38 Because he started the 2300 days a little differently, 53:41 he ended it in 1847. 53:43 And he thought Jesus was coming in 1847. 53:45 Somebody asked him, "Well, what if Jesus doesn't come in 1847? 53:49 Then what?" 53:50 He said, "Well, He didn't come then." 53:53 He's coming, He just didn't come in 1847. 53:55 I mean, you could not get this guy down. 53:57 There were others preaching at the same time. 53:59 Daniel Wilson, the bishop of Calcutta out in India, 54:02 writing and preaching at precisely this time 54:04 on the soon return of Christ. 54:06 Thomas Playford out in Adelaide, Australia; 54:09 same thing, preaching. 54:11 In fact, his church followers down there, his church was 54:13 too small and they had to build a larger church 54:16 just to hold the crowds. 54:17 In Argentina there was a man by the name of 54:19 Francisco Ramos Mejia who also was interested 54:23 and been impacted by Lacunza's writings. 54:25 And some sources say he even eventually kept 54:27 the seventh day Sabbath. 54:28 He was a large land owner down there. 54:30 What my point is, that when it was time for the first angel's 54:33 message to be preached, it's being preached 54:35 all around the world. 54:36 It's not just here in North America. 54:39 And we come to an interesting phenomena called, 54:41 the child preachers of Sweden. 54:42 Sometimes called, Repentance Criers. 54:45 Ellen White mentions them in, Great Controversy, 54:47 pages 366 and 367. 54:50 Predominantly in southern Sweden where there was a 54:52 strong state church. 54:54 They knew, the leaders of the church there in Sweden, 54:56 knew what was going on, these discussions about 54:58 Daniel and Revelation. 54:59 They didn't want anything to do with it. 55:03 But God's Spirit was not to be thwarted. 55:05 When the time for the preaching needed to occur, it happened. 55:09 Children as young as 6, 8, 10, 12, 16 years of age 55:12 began to preach. 55:13 Some too young even to read. 55:15 They came under the influence of the Holy Spirit. 55:18 They spoke in a vocabulary, according to the descriptions, 55:20 far beyond what you would expect of children their age. 55:23 Their voices and manners changed. 55:25 Some preached with their eyes open, 55:26 others with their eyes closed. 55:28 Twice a day, 200 to 300 people came to hear 55:30 one teenage girl preach. 55:33 And what was the message that they were giving? 55:34 "Fear God, and give glory to Him; 55:36 for the hour of His judgment is come." 55:39 The first angel's message of Revelation 14. 55:42 When asked, "What is your authority to preach," 55:44 they cited Joel 2:28. 55:47 They said the advent was imminent. 55:49 Though they stated that no one, not even the angels, 55:51 know the exact time or the day of the judgment. 55:53 But they condemned sin and apostasy. 55:55 They uplifted the standard of righteousness. 55:57 They reproved drinking, theft, adultery, 55:59 swearing, and backbiting. 56:00 They told women to take off some of the ornaments 56:02 they were wearing, abstain from dancing and other 56:05 worldly pleasures, avoid intoxicating beverages. 56:08 In fact, we're told that 70 distillers in one province 56:11 in southern Sweden said they would stop distilling 56:14 as a result of the child preachers of Sweden. 56:16 The point is, that when it was time for the message 56:19 to be proclaimed, it was proclaimed around the world, 56:22 not just here in America. 56:24 Though sometimes we, as Americans, think 56:27 that's where it all happened. 56:28 And it all happened right on time, 56:32 exactly as predicted by God over 2000 years in advance. 56:37 And it's out of this worldwide preaching... 56:38 Tomorrow night we will be looking at William Miller. 56:41 Out of that worldwide preaching eventually grew 56:43 the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 56:46 And so in conclusion this evening, if I had a wish 56:48 for my church, it would be that we would have again 56:53 a love for the Bible like Lacunza, 56:57 again finding our way into Scripture. 57:00 That we would have a passion for Christ and saving of souls 57:06 like Joseph Wolff had. 57:09 Everywhere someone to save. 57:10 And finally, that a revival and reformation in our church 57:14 would break out again, as called for by the 57:17 child preachers of Sweden. |
Revised 2015-03-17