Today was a special Sabbath in church. I took time to review the Millerite experience of the great disappointment of October 22, 1844. I painted how bittersweet the experience really was as predicted in Revelation 10. I showed the congregation the silver lining in that dark cloud of disappointment, namely, to cure the last remnant church from the dangers of accepting popular theology without searching the scriptures for a thus saith the Lord. Let me explain:
If God did not allow the disappointment, there would never have been a movement like ours that will accept nothing except it can be proven and substantiated by the Word.
I explained that October 22, 1844 was actually disappointment two(called D2 henceforth) . Disappointment two (D1) happened at the cross when the disciples were devastated because they were not anticipating him dying on the cross. They had bought into the popular theology of the times that the Messiah will come and defeat the Romans and establish an earthly kingdom as the Millerite would later do by believing the earth was the sanctuary. Are you beginning to see the parallels?
So when the disciples went forth preaching the kingdom of God, the event in their minds did not tally with Christ’s way of establishing His kingdom. But does this mean that God was not with them in their preaching? Why shouldn’t we reach the same conclusion for the Millerite, especially as Revelation 10 predicted their experience as Christ predicted the one of the disciples?
Then with Leviticus 16, Daniel 7,8 & 9, I showed how the Day of Atonement in the ancient earthly sanctuary prefigured the antitypical day of judgment that has been on since 1844.
No one left fearing about their salvation as the Fordites will have us believe. They were told the we are living in serious times when we need to cooperate with divinity to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, no doubt. This is no time to trifle with sin. I told them only known unconfessed and unforsaken sins will stand against them in this pre-Advent, investigative judgment. The reason the Fordites are not comfortable with this foundational Adventist doctrine is because they believe in a sin and live theology that doesn’t agree that we can overcome all sins and live in the presence of God after the close of probationary time without an intercessor in the heavenly sanctuary(Revelation 22:11,12). They view character perfection as schimera or a mirage. This is as a result of their wrong definition of sin and salvation.
But if you are serious enough to confess all your known sins and depend on the power of the Holy Ghost to give you love for Christ enough to make you wanna choose death before sin as did Joseph, Job, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshack, Abednego, Naboth, etc., you will be kept from fall by that power.
Fordism is anti-Scripture, anti-SOP and anti-Adventism. That Jesus is in the judgment for you to blot out your confessed and forsaken sins should give you all the assurance there is unless you cherish a theology that doesn’t believe in the total deliverance from the thralldom of sin. Let me let you know where this theology that denies the power thereof is leading to with a quote from the book you must read or reread :
“The great controversy between Christ and Satan, that has been carried forward for nearly six thousand years, is soon to close; and the wicked one redoubles his efforts to defeat the work of Christ in man’s behalf and to fasten souls in his snares. TO HOLD THE PEOPLE IN DARKNESS AND IMPENITENCE TILL THE SAVIOUR’S MEDIATION IS ENDED, AND THERE IS NO LONGER A SACRIFICE FOR SIN, IS THE OBJECT WHICH HE SEEKS TO ACCOMPLISH” (Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 518).
Did you catch that? I pray and hope you do. In case you didn’t: Don’t let false philosophies and theology trap you in the cheep grace, sin and live theology that is calculated to make you comfortable in your sins until Christ’s intercession in the heavenly holy of holies is past and Satan secures your soul for perdition.
Happy October 22, 1844 in 2016. God bless you.
