Day 5 - A Tale of Three Organs
Let me tell you the story of three pump organs. They were old, but beautiful and well kept. The first two were in Whitehall, NY, and the last was in Washington, NH.
The first was tucked away in a little farmhouse parlor.
In this farm, William Miller an 1812 veteran and deist farmer was converted and began studying his Bible to raise his family in the fear of the Lord.
As time went on, he found the prophecy, "Unto two thousand, three hundred days, then the sanctuary shall be cleansed." (Daniel 8:14) Through diligent study, found that the prophecy ended in 1844, only a few short years away. He believed that this pointed to Jesus' return, and began preaching the Second Coming of Christ in 1844. The Second Great Awakening caused Christians everywhere to search their hearts and prepare for His coming. They believed that they were merely pilgrims passing through this earth until God called them home.
Here I am playing "I'm a Pilgrim" on William Miller's organ (I'm still trying to find the video, a photo must suffice):
1844 came and went, with no return of Christ. So many Christians were heartbroken that the event has been called the Great Disappointment. These believers were no longer welcome in their home churches, so William Miller built a chapel on his property for these sincere Christians to worship. Disappointed but not crushed, they tenaciously held to their faith and waited for God to show them where they went wrong. In this chapel, they sang such hopeful hymns as "How Sweet are the Tidings" and watched, and waited.
Here is a link to the same song I played there:
Months past, and slowly light dawned. The earthly sanctuary that God instructed the Israelites to build was a model, a demonstration, of Christ's heavenly sanctuary. This prophecy did not point to the end of the world (cleansing of the earthly sanctuary by fire), but to an equally great event. Just as once a year the earthly sanctuary was cleansed and the peoples accumulated sins were absolved, so Christ, in 1844, began vindicating His people, by showing that they trusted Him, believed in Him, and clung to Him as their only hope of salvation. Jesus was coming soon! But no one knew when. In the meantime, they would serve Him with all their hearts and share His grace and love with others. These believers slowly grew, and later became the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. The first congregation of these believers was in Washington, NH. We as Seventh-Day Adventists, still believe in salvation by faith in Jesus Christ alone, and His soon coming. We have this hope, dear to hearts, that all will one day shout and sing, "Hallelujah, Christ is King!" Yes, we have this hope, hope in the coming of the Lord.
"We Have This Hope":
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