WEBVTT

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You know, there's a kind of hope that don't wear

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a watch the kind that sells the house packs a

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lunch and climbs the hill because maybe just

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maybe The sky will split wide open and everything

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wrong will finally make sense This ain't that

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left -behind kind of fear -mongering no, this

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is an old story older than charts and timelines

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a Farmer cracked open his Bible and found a God

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who might come back real soon. And you know what

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folks believed him But October 22nd, 1844 came

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and went. What do you do when heaven doesn't

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show up on schedule? I'm Pastor Jim. This is

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the Semiseminarian, a revival for your ears.

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Today's story is about the end of the world that

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didn't come and the sacred ache it left behind.

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We call it the Great Disappointment, but maybe

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it was the beginning of something better. So

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pull up a chair, pour yourself a glass of iced

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tea or a strong cup of coffee and join us for

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a Bible study where time bends, hope lingers

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and disappointment just might be the doorway

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to deeper grace. I'll see you on the other side.

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Okay, well, I'm excited about this one. I hope

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you are too. This might be too much history class

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for you, but I like it. and tonight I want to

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talk about a group you may or may not have ever

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heard of before called the Millerites. Has anyone

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ever heard of the Millerites? Okay. The Millerites

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come out of what was called in Christian history

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the Second Great Awakening. Happened in the middle

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of the 1800s and this denomination, the disciples

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of Christ, also came out of the Second Great

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Awakening. And what it essentially was, was a

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frontier movement, an expansion that corresponded

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with America as it grew from east to west. Christianity

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grew with it. And given the pioneer frontier

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nature of the people's lives, one of the things

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that they noticed was the rigid structure of

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the church with bishops and archbishops and la

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da da da da da da da. doesn't work in Kentucky

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because we have a circuit preacher. You guys

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know what a circuit preacher is? Circuit preacher

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during that time would have been a guy who would

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have, say, four churches that he would, on his

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horse, ride in a circuit from Sunday to Sunday.

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And you might get the pastor of your church on

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Sunday once a month because he's at the other

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three, the other three weeks of the month. So

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a lot of Protestant Christian groups, like the

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disciples of Christ, said, we don't think that

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we need that rigid church structure anymore,

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and we believe in something called the priesthood

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of all believers, which means because I'm the

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pastor, the Holy Spirit in me is not different

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somehow than the Holy Spirit that's in you. And

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if you would be willing to learn then, If I could

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get up every Sunday and say things like, for

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I receive from the Lord what I also deliver to

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you, da da da da da, you can too. Because I don't

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get some special blessing to say those words

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over communion. It just comes from my spirit,

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just like it would from yours. And so it was

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a tip to return to a primitive form of Christianity

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before the church, in air quotes, right? So all

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kinds of groups of Christian groups were birthed

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and traditions were birthed out of the Second

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Great Awakening in America in the 1800s. The

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Disciples of Christ, the Church of Christ movement,

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groups like that, they come out of something

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called the Stone Campbell movement. We're not

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going to get into that tonight, although it would

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be a fascinating discussion because I don't think

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that a lot of us truly know, like, this church

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we go to, where did it actually come from? I

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mean, we'll spend some time in the future talking

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about that, but then I want to talk about overall.

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So groups like that, traditions like that were

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formed, but also Mormonism comes out of that

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period. And the Millerites, the Millerites also.

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Now this is called the second great awakening

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because about a hundred years earlier in Europe,

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there was something called the first great awakening.

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And that's where Protestantism the rejection

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of the Catholic Church in Europe became cemented,

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and it became what we call the word is trans

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-denominational. In other words, there were all

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different kinds of faith traditions now Protestant,

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but they identified themselves as Protestant

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compared to the Catholicism. That's Protestant

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growth, denominational growth. In America, the

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expansion of The United States led to a second

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great awakening. Tonight, we're going to talk

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about one of those specific groups, a group called

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the Millerites. So as I love to do. Let me tell

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you a story. It's 1844. You're standing in a

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New England field with a group of believers.

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Some are wearing white robes. Others are holding

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lanterns. All. holding on to hope like it's their

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last piece of the thread. The cows have been

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sold. The dishes have been washed and stacked

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like you're not going to need them anymore. You

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kiss your children good night and then you stare

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into the sky waiting because Jesus is supposed

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to come back tonight. But he doesn't. And as

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the night stretches on and dawn breaks over the

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disappointed, we're left with what I want us

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to explore tonight, something called the ache.

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Not foolishness, not gullibility, not heresy,

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just the ache of wanting Jesus to come back and

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fix everything. This is the story of the Millerites.

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But it's your story and it's my story, too. And

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look, I think you maybe you don't realize right

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now, but I think in a minute you'll see that

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it's pretty easy to scoff at them and say things

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like, how could anyone fall for that? But if

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you give it a second, because when you sit with

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their story long enough, Something strange begins

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to happen. We stop rolling our eyes and we start

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wiping them. We begin to understand the ache

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that drove them, the grief, the hunger for Christ

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to come and fix a broken world. And suddenly,

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instead of condemnation, we might feel compassion.

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Friends, that's grace. That's empathy. That's

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the spirit nudging us to look a little deeper

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here. Now, make no mistake, the Millerites did

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get some stuff wrong, and we'll explain. Also,

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we'll let you know that the Millerites eventually

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will grow into a denomination called the Seventh

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-day Adventists. Maybe you've heard of them.

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Maybe you have heard of the Branch Davidians

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in Waco, but didn't know they were seven day

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Adventists. But now you do. OK, so we're going

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to talk about some of the stuff they got wrong.

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But I think there's some stuff they got right,

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too. Because somewhere in the middle of all their

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misguided certainty, they were holding on to

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the same hope that we are. They didn't understand

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the method, but they did understand the ache.

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So, Millerites, where do we get this name? A

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guy by the name of William Miller. He was no

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televangelist. He didn't sell healing water or

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golden fleece prayer mats. He was a farmer, a

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war veteran. The revolution. Miller had come

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home from battle and he needed to know that there

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was more. There was something behind all the

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death that he saw. There has to be meaning in

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all of this. So he opened his Bible page by page,

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verse by verse, and eventually landed on this,

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the prophecy of Daniel chapter 8 and 14. For

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2 ,300 evenings and mornings, then the sanctuary

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shall be restored to its rightful state. Now,

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Here's where we need to under slow down and understand

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How did Miller come to believe he had somehow

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unlocked this magic timeline? Miller believed

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it requires some mental gymnastics, but stick

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with me Miller believed the 2300 evenings and

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mornings and Daniel weren't literal 24 -hour

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days, but rather they were symbolic of 2300 years

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and This is a method in prophetic interpretation

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that's known as the day year principle, a view

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that goes back to the very earliest of church

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thinkers and very common amongst Protestants

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of his era. So Miller started looking for some

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sort of starting point, some sort of divine decree

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that went out, something that he could use to

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peg as an actual starting date. And he found

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it in Ezra chapter 7, where the Persian king

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Artaxerxes issues this decree allowing the Jews

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to return to Jerusalem and restore the temple.

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Ezra 7 and 21, I, Artaxerxes, the king, make

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a decree to all the treasurers that whatever

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Ezra the priest requires, let it be done with

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all diligence. That decree was dated 457 BC,

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and that is where Miller began his countdown.

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So 457 BC plus 2300 years equals 1844 AD. He

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believed the cleansing of the sanctuary referred

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to the second coming of Christ. and the purification

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of the world by his return. So he preached it.

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And he started pointing some time between 1843

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and 1844, but then later he got to a specific

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date, October 22, 1844, a date calculated based

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on the Jewish calendar reckoning the day of atonement.

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And guess what, gang? That math moved thousands

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of people. Tens of thousands of people believed

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him, sold their property, quit their jobs, printed

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religious tracts, stood in fields. And when nothing

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happened on October 22nd, 1844, it became known

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as the Great Disappointment. But let's not just

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call it that. Let's call it what it really is.

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The great eight. Because they didn't just want

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information, they wanted Jesus. They were wrong

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about the hour, but they weren't wrong to hope.

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And maybe that's the tension we live in too.

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Because maybe you've had your own October 22nd.

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type event. Maybe you had a diagnosis that didn't

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reverse. Maybe you buried someone that you thought

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would get better. Maybe you stared at your own

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sky, begged it to pour open, and nothing happened.

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Except maybe you learned how to wait with your

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lamp lit. Now, oh if at this point you're not

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thinking this let me at least tease this into

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your mind because i hope that you might be sitting

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there wondering didn't they read their bible

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didn't jesus say not to do this exact thing he

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did matthew 24 and 36 but about the day or hour

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no one knows not even the angels in heaven, nor

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the Son, but only the Father. Acts chapter 1

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and 7, it is not for you to know the times or

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periods that the Father has set by His own authority.

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Even the Son didn't know. But still, William

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Miller and his followers tried to predict it.

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Now here's the thing, guys. Jesus never asked

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us to predict the date. He told us to be fateful

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in the meantime. Matthew 24, 44, therefore you

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must also be ready for the Son of Man is coming,

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William, at an unexpected hour. Luke 12 and 43

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says, blessed is the servant whom his master

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will find at work when he arrives. This is not

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about prediction. This is about presence. It's

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about being the kind of person that won't flinch

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when the door creaks open. It's about having

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oil in your lamp, not because you think that

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the groom is going to return specifically at

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midnight, but because you know he will come and

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you want to be ready. Matthew 25 and 13. Keep

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awake, therefore, for you know neither the day

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nor the hour. That verse is from the parable

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of the ten bridesmaids. Five bridesmaids. Five

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were foolish, five were wise. The difference?

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Not theology, not eschatology, but readiness.

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And readiness does not equal wearing a white

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robe on a hill. It looks like a dish towel in

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your hand. It looks like a casserole for your

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neighbor. It looks like midnight prayers and

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unpaid kindness. So let's bring this home, because

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this isn't just a quirky little footnote in Christian

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church history. This is a mirror, because it's

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our story too. We've all stood on some kind of

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hill, maybe not in a white robe, but in that

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same emotional stance of desperation. Eyes to

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the sky, heart full of ache. Wondering, God,

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will you ever show up? Maybe it was after a divorce,

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or when your kids stopped believing, or when

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your prayers just seemed to bounce off the ceiling.

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And like the Millerites, we want something to

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come and end that waiting. We want the trumpet

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to sound. We want the sky to break open. We want

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justice, healing. Now. Peace. Now. But Jesus

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doesn't promise a calendar. He promises presence.

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He promises that in the eight we're not alone.

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And that's how why and how we wait should matter.

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So what do we do while we wait? Matthew 25, 35

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and 36. For I was hungry and you gave me food.

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I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink.

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I was a stranger and you welcomed me in. I was

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naked and you gave me clothing. I was sick and

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you took care of me. I was in prison and you

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visited me. That's it. Not charts, not countdowns

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to an end. Love. Faithfulness isn't flashy, it's

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neighborly. The kingdom will not be ushered in

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on a spreadsheet. It'll arrive like a whisper

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in the middle of a meal, like a neighbor forgiving

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someone, like a church staying open late for

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the cold and the hungry. Luke 12, 35 through

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40, paraphrasing. Be dressed for action and have

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your lamps lit. You also must be ready for the

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Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour. We,

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friends, are not waiting on a date, but we should

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be waiting with readiness. So, here's the final

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question. When he knocks, will you be caught

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guessing or caught serving? Will He find you

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watching the clouds or feeding the sheep? Because,

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beloved, the ache is holy, the calendar is not.

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Amen? Amen. Thanks, guys. You know, there's something

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beautiful about people who wait with their bags

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packed. keep their lamps lit even after midnight

00:19:15.940 --> 00:19:20.420
comes and goes. Millerites didn't get the day

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right but maybe they got the posture right. Eyes

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up, heart open, feet ready. Jesus said no one

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knows the hour and still every generation somebody

00:19:32.240 --> 00:19:34.660
listens for the trumpet in the rustling trees.

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I reckon that's what faith sounds like not perfect

00:19:39.599 --> 00:19:43.000
predictions just folks loving each other like

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the kingdoms already broke in and Maybe it has

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I'm pastor Jim. You've been tuned into the semi

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seminary and where we preach for the weary Remember

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the forgotten and light a lamp for the ones who

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thought God might have forgotten their address.

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I'll see you next time Keep the coffee hot and

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the radio on because friend grace Still in the

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static