"And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and among all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee, thou shalt call them to mind And shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; That then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live." Deuteronomy 30:1-6.

We’re talking about the scattering and gathering here and we see here a promise that if we have been scattered either literally in the times of ancient Israel, or spiritually in the times of modern Israel that the Lord will gather us. He will gather us by circumcising our heart. Circumcision was an outward sign in literal Israel’s time of the covenant they had agreed to with the Lord and it identifies the chosen people, the ones that were selected by the Lord to stand as His representatives before the world. Only twice did the Lord choose a people that He would enter into covenant with and give His name. The first of course was ancient Israel and that covenant began at Mount Sinai, and then in 1844, once again for a second time, the Lord chose a people.

Sister White says the reasons why we are God’s denominated people should be repeated and repeated. There’s very few of us who have ever heard a sermon in their entire Adventist experience about why we are God’s denominated people. But that is a broad, deep and important study. It has implications for our personal experience, it has implications about our prophetic understanding, and it has implications about what the church is today at the end of the world when it’s hard to be sure what’s going on in this denomination. The truth is that only two groups of people does Ellen White ever identify as God’s denominated people; ancient Israel and Seventh-day Adventists.

The Christian Church that existed from AD 34 to 1844, when ancient Israel was divorced from God; Sister White never calls God’s denominated people. There is a specification connected with being God’s denominated people that excludes Christianity during that time period.

The Denominated People:

"‘And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him. And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. "This is the pledge that God’s people are to make in these last days. Their acceptance with God depends on a faithful fulfillment of the terms of their agreement with him. God includes in his covenant all who will obey him. To all who will do justice and judgment, keeping their hand from doing any evil, the promise is, ‘Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off, "‘The Lord God which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, besides those that are gathered unto him. "‘Seek ye out of the book of the law, and read.’ ‘In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar , and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.’" Review and Herald, June 23, 1904.

The Lord took ancient Israel and He gave them a name and He took modern Israel and He gave them a name. To be God’s denominated people, denominated means to be named. The promise in the Bible is that that the Lord at the end of the world would once again gather a people unto Himself that He would give a name to that He would denominate. They would hold the law and the great truths of end time prophecy up before the world to finish this final controversy on this earth. The promise was that He would gather this group of people but He would gather others to Him and the others that He would gather to Him are what we would understand today as God’s children that are in Babylon.

As we study the scattering and the gathering this understanding of the denominated people is very important to bring these gatherings and scatterings into focus.

The gathering taking place in the end of the world, in 1844, when the Lord for a second time brought a group of people together that He gave His name to, was a historical event, sustained on the prophecies of the book of Daniel. Commenting on that statement out of Isaiah that we just read from Sister White says this:

"The view that the Lord ‘had stretched out His hand the second time to recover the remnant of His people,’ on page 74, refers only to the union and strength once existing among those looking for Christ, and to the fact that He had begun to unite and to raise up His people again." Early Writings, Supplement, 86.

Sister White says this stretching out the hand a second time by the Lord not only is identifying a unity that took place during the pioneer movement but the fact that He had begun to raise up his people. His people that had existed before that time, was ancient Israel. He was raising up a people again, another denominated people, that we understand to be the Seventh-day Adventist church.

Sister White is very clear that we are a denominated people:

"We are to invite everyone—the high and the low, the rich and the poor, all sects and classes—to share the benefits of our medical institutions. We receive into our institutions people of all denominations. But as for ourselves we are strictly denominational; we are sacredly denominated by God and are under His theocracy. But we are not unwisely to press upon anyone the peculiar points of our faith.

"In order that men might not forget the true God, Jehovah gave them a memorial of His love and power-the Sabbath. He says: ‘Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between Me and you.’ Exodus 31:13. Concerning Israel, the Lord declared: ‘The people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.’ Numbers 23:9. To us as well as to ancient Israel these words apply. God’s people are to stand alone. The observance of the seventh-day Sabbath is to be a sign between them and God, showing that they are to be a peculiar people, separate from the world in habit and practice. Through them God will work to gather from all nationalities a people for Himself." Testimonies vol. 7, 109.

Over and over again when you study God’s denominated people you see ancient Israel as the Bible illustration that Sister White uses to describe Seventh-day Adventists as denominated people. Perhaps the most important truth about this is that last sentence: Through them God will work to gather from all nationalities a people for Himself. And this is in agreement with Isaiah when he says the Lord God which gathereth the outcasts of Israel says yet will I gather others to him. God purposed that there would be a group of people, His denominated people, Seventh-day Adventists at the end of the world that would uphold the law and uphold the complete truth of the Bible, amidst the controversy that was denying the Bible and that controversy would provide a place of reference for those in Babylon that would make their choice during this great crisis.

Early Writings pg. 48,49:

"Dear Brethren: The Lord gave me a view, January 26, 1850, which I will relate. I saw that some of the people of God are stupid and dormant and but half awake; they do not realize the time we are now living in, and that the man with the ‘dirt brush’ has entered, and that some are in danger of being swept away. I begged of Jesus to save them, to spare them a little longer, and let them see their awful danger, that they might get ready before it should be forever too late. The angel said, ‘Destruction is coming like a mighty whirlwind.’ I begged of the angel to pity and to save those who loved this world, who were attached to their possessions and were not willing to cut loose from them and sacrifice to speed the messengers on their way to feed the hungry sheep who were perishing for want of spiritual food.

"As I viewed poor souls dying for want of the present truth, and some who professed to believe the truth were letting them die by withholding the necessary means to carry forward the work of God, the sight was too painful, and I begged of the angel to remove it from me. I saw that when the cause of God called for some of their property, like the young man who came to Jesus, Matthew 19:16-22, they went away sorrowful, and that soon the overflowing scourge would pass over and sweep their possessions all away, and then it would be too late to sacrifice earthly goods, and lay up a treasure in heaven." Early Writings, 48-49.

There are two things to consider here, the man with the dirt brush has entered she says and we need to identify who this man was that is sweeping some away. And also she speaks of the overflowing scourge that’s going to come and sweep everything away. In Testimonies, vol. 5, 81-83 Sister White is clear that this overflowing scourge is the Sunday test, the Sunday Law.

"The time is not far distant when the test will come to every soul. The mark of the beast will be urged upon us. Those who have step by step yielded to worldly demands and conformed to worldly customs will not find it a hard matter to yield to the powers that be, rather than subject themselves to derision, insult, threatened imprisonment, and death. The contest is between the commandments of God and the commandments of men. In this time the gold will be separated from the dross in the church. True godliness will be clearly distinguished from the appearance and tinsel of it. Many a star that we have admired for its brilliancy will then go out in darkness. Chaff like a cloud will be borne away on the wind, even from places where we see only floors of rich wheat. All who assume the ornaments of the sanctuary, but are not clothed with Christ’s righteousness, will appear in the shame of their own nakedness.

"When trees without fruit are cut down as cumberers of the ground, when multitudes of false brethren are distinguished from the true, then the hidden ones will be revealed to view, and with hosannas range under the banner of Christ. Those who have been timid and self-distrustful will declare themselves openly for Christ and His truth. The most weak and hesitating in the church will be as David, willing to do and dare. The deeper the night for God’s people, the more brilliant the stars. Satan will sorely harass the faithful; but, in the name of Jesus, they will come off more than conquerors. Then will the church of Christ appear ‘fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners.

"The seeds of truth that are being sown by missionary efforts will then spring up and blossom and bear fruit. Souls will receive the truth who will endure tribulation and praise God that they may suffer for Jesus. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. ‘When the overflowing scourge shall pass through the earth, when the fan is purging Jehovah’s floor, God will be the help of His people. The trophies of Satan may be exalted on high, but the faith of the pure and holy will not be daunted.

"Elijah took Elisha from the plow and threw upon him his mantle of consecration. The call to this great and solemn work was presented to men of learning and position; had these been little in their own eyes and trusted fully in the Lord, He would have honored them with bearing His standard in triumph to the victory. But they separated from God, yielded to the influence of the world, and the Lord rejected them.

"God will work a work in our day that but few anticipate. He will raise up and exalt among us those who are taught rather by the unction of His Spirit than by the outward training of scientific institutions. These facilities are not to be despised or condemned; they are ordained of God, but they can furnish only the exterior qualifications. God will manifest that He is not dependent on learned, self-important mortals." Testimonies, vol. 5, 81-83.

Speaking of the purification of the church here when the gold is separated from the dross and specifically speaking of the time period when the Mark of the Beast is being urged upon us, Sister White identifies this as when the overflowing scourge is passing through the earth and it’s also the time when Jehovah’s fan is in His hand purging His floor, and we see in this previous quote from Early Writings during this time when the overflowing scourge is going through the world, that this man with the dirt brush is sweeping the floor and he’s cleaning out the trash that has accumulated.

In part 5 of this series we looked at a dream Sister White shared on the train depot in Loma Linda in 1908 that has never been ratified with the seal of approval with the White Estate but if you review that and hear the content of that brief message, you’ll see that it’s almost identical to what we just read here in Testimonies volume 5. It’s the Sunday issue that’s going to purify the church but during this time when the overflowing scourge, which is just another way of saying the Sunday Law, is sweeping through the world, we see that the fan is in Christ’s hand purging His floor. Matthew 3:12 or Luke 3:17, "Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire".

Here we’re seeing wheat and chaff being used to describe the purification of the church and the last quote used the symbols of the gold separated from the dross or the trees that are cut down. In the Bible, trees symbolize men, either righteous man or an unrighteous man depending on how it is portrayed. When we see the Lord portrayed with His fan cleaning His floor, we see the wheat and the chaff mentioned in Matthew 13:30 it says, "Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest (and we’re told that the harvest is at the end of the world) I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn".

So here we see the separation of the wheat and tares and we know that the angels will do this separating and in Selected Messages, book 3, pg, 385 we’re given information on how the angels will do this separating, and remember we’re speaking about wheat and tares; "The great issue near at hand will weed out those whom God has not appointed and He I will have a pure, true, sanctified ministry prepared for the latter rain."

The way the angels do the separating is by this great issue, the Sunday test, the overflowing scourge, this is the time period where we see the dirt brush man cleaning Jehovah’s floor; sweeping the floor out during the time period when the overflowing scourge is portrayed going through the world.

Now I’m sure we’re all familiar with William Miller’s dream, we’re going to look at William Miller’s dream, because this is where the dirt brush man is portrayed.

"I dreamed that God, by an unseen hand, sent me a curiously wrought casket about ten inches long by six square, made of ebony and pearls curiously inlaid. To the casket there was a key attached. I immediately took the key and opened the casket, when, to my wonder and surprise, I found it filled with all sorts and sizes of jewels, diamonds, precious stones, and gold and silver coin of every dimension and value, beautifully arranged in their several places in the casket; and thus arranged they reflected a light and glory equaled only to the sun.

"I thought it was not my duty to enjoy this wonderful sight alone, although my heart was overjoyed at the brilliancy, beauty, and value of its contents. I therefore placed it on a center table in my room and gave out word that all who had a desire might come and see the most glorious and brilliant sight ever seen by man in this life.

"The people began to come in, at first few in number, but increasing to a crowd. When they first looked into the casket, they would wonder and shout for joy. But when the spectators increased, everyone would begin to trouble the jewels, taking them out of the casket and scattering them on the table. I began to think that the owner would require the casket and the jewels again at my hand; and if I suffered them to be scattered, I could never place them in their places in the casket again as before; and felt I should never be able to meet the accountability, for it would be immense. I then began to plead with the people not to handle them, nor to take them out of the casket; but the more I pleaded, the more they scattered; and now they seemed to scatter them allover the room, on the floor and on every piece of furniture in the room.

"I then saw that among the genuine jewels and coin they had scattered an innumerable quantity of spurious jewels and counterfeit coin. I was highly incensed at their base conduct and ingratitude, and reproved and reproached them for it; but the more I reproved, the more they scattered the spurious jewels and false coin among the genuine.

"I then became vexed in my physical soul and began to use physical force to push them out of the room; but while I was pushing out one, three more would enter and bring in dirt and shavings and sand and all manner of rubbish, until they covered every one of the true jewels, diamonds, and coins, which were all excluded from sight. They also tore in pieces my casket and scattered it among the rubbish. I thought no man regarded my sorrow or my anger. I became wholly discouraged and disheartened, and sat down and wept.

"While I was thus weeping and mourning for my great loss and accountability, I remembered God, and earnestly prayed that He would send me help. Immediately the door opened, and a man entered the room, when the people all left it; and he, having a dirt brush in his hand, opened the windows, and began to brush the dirt and rubbish from the room.

"I cried to him to forbear, for there were some precious jewels scattered among the rubbish.

"He told me to ‘fear not,’ for he would ‘take care of them.’ "Then, while he brushed the dirt and rubbish, false jewels and counterfeit coin, all rose and went out of the window like a cloud, and the wind carried them away. In the bustle I closed my eyes for a moment; when I opened them, the rubbish was all gone. The precious jewels, the diamonds, the gold and silver coins, lay scattered in profusion all over the room.

"He then placed on the table a casket, much larger and more beautiful than the former, and gathered up the jewels, the diamonds, the coins, by the handful, and cast them into the casket, till not one was left, although some of the diamonds were not bigger than the point of a pm.

"He then called upon me to ‘come and see.’ "I looked into the casket, but my eyes were dazzled with the sight. They shone with ten times their former glory. I thought they had been scoured in the sand by the feet of those wicked persons who had scattered and trod them in the dust. They were arranged in beautiful order in the casket, every one in its place, without any visible pains of the man who cast them in. I shouted with very joy, and that shout awoke me." Early Writings, 81-83.

In the Present Truth article where this dream was published, by James White the publisher, there’s a commentary on what the symbols of this dream represent, it’s very interesting and if you look at, I assume James White is the one that gives the dialogue on what is symbolized by this dream. He says the casket was the truths which William Miller came to understand in his studies and the key that was attached to the casket was his use of prophetic principles, that was the key that unlocked these truths and of course the jewels and the precious coins were the people that were brought into the Advent message. And he continues in his description of this to very specifically describe this dream about the history associated with the Advent movement during the Midnight Cry.

He speaks about the movements that William Miller was involved in 1840 to 1844, and then he speaks about the confusion that comes in after the great disappointment and he specifies that it was the former brethren that had once been united with Miller that had begun to bring in false teachings, reapplying the time prophecies calling the movement of the midnight cry hypnotism and other errors and then he gets to the end of the dream and begins to identify that there was going to be present truth that’s brought to bear that’s going to sweep out this rubbish and once again the truth that is encompassed in the casket of William Miller would be seen in it’s purity and the jewels and the diamonds and the coins would be the people, the 144,000 that were brought to unity from this experience.

The study of the denominated people teaches that the second time God gathers a people that He gives His name to was the Adventist body that was brought together by God in 1844, that’s the denominated people, modern Israel, the people with God’s name here at the end of the world. But the confusion that came in, in 1844 is addressed by James White in commenting on William Miller’s dream, as a scattering time. Now we’ll look at some of these statements that Sister White makes about this and this first one is in Early Writings, 74. We looked at this last time just to show that there is an importance to the term scattering and gathering in Bible prophecy.

"September 23, the Lord showed me that He had stretched out His hand the second time to recover the remnant of His people, and that efforts must be redoubled in this gathering time. In the scattering, Israel was smitten and torn, but now in the gathering time God will heal and bind up His people. In the scattering, efforts made to spread the truth had but little effect, accomplished but little or nothing; but in the gathering, when God has set His hand to gather His people, efforts to spread the truth will have their designed effect. All should be united and zealous in the work. I saw that it was wrong for any to refer to the scattering for examples to govern us now in the gathering; for if God should do no more for us now than He did then, Israel would never be gathered." Early Writings, 74,

Now one way we can understand this passage correctly is that Sister White’s talking about when God brought together a denominated people for the second time in 1844 and she’s saying that God’s people from the stoning of Stephen until 1844 had been scattered and they certainly had. This is one of the testimonies of what goes on in the 1260 years of Papal rule we’re told from prophecy that during this time the power of God’s people would be scattered and also during this time that God’s Holy city and His people would be trodden down and compare this with William Millers dream and we see the wicked trodding them down. But Sister White says that now God was bringing a people here together in 1844 and the ways that God had worked for His people during this time period of being trodden down and being scattered is not where to look for as an example.

Sister White is very specific that the example of God’s denominated people is encapsulated in the story of ancient Israel. Ancient Israel became God’s denominated people at Sinai. They are giving an illustration of the role of God’s denominated people in that story that’s described from Sinai to entering the Promised Land. The forty years of wandering in the wilderness before they entered the Promised Land is part of the testimony of God’s denominated people. They set forth an example for those of us who live at the end of the world. Once God stretched out His hand again, to bring a denominated people together for a second time in 1844 that there would be a wilderness time, a wandering time.

When Sister White was giving information on these important truths during the early parts of this movement, she was speaking in the present tense but her messages pertaining to these things have a secondary application as we look at how we have been wandering in the wilderness since 1844. Some would say we’ve been wandering in the wilderness since 1888, since we rejected the Holy Spirit. But the testimony is that had God’s people followed on in the faith and unity that they had during the 1843 time period, they would have been in heaven before 1888. So something that went wrong and Sister White and James White speak about that when they’re talking about William Miller’s dream. There were false coins that brought rubbish in and began to scatter the jewels which were God’s people and ultimately it says, took the casket which was symbolic of the truths of William Miller and destroyed it. The great truths, the very foundation of this message would be torn up. But it was going to be brought back in to its proper perspective.

Now this passage that we read out of Early Writings, 74, there’s a very similar almost word for word passage in Spalding and Magan, 1, but there’s a sentence that gives just a little different angle on it:

"I saw that God had stretched out His hand the second time to recover the remnant of His people. They are these who have been covered up in the ‘rubbish’ since 1844. I saw that efforts to spread the truth should now be put forth, such as in 1843 and 1844. In the scattering, efforts to spread the truth had but little effect-accomplished but little or nothing-but now in the gathering time, when God has set His hand to gather His People, efforts to spread the truth will have their designed effect; and all should be zealous and united in the work. I saw that a paper was needed, and all should feel interested in it." Spalding and Magan, 1.

We looked at a passage where Sister White says that the gathering, when the Lord stretched out His hand the second time to recover the remnant of His people, [Early Writings, supplement pg. 86] refers to the fact that He had began to unite and raise up His people again. This stretching out His hand the second time in one sense is speaking about when God brings about a denominated people in 1844. Those that had been scattered prior to 1844, from the time of Stephen until the denominated people were raised up.

That’s not what she said about those that are being gathered in this last passage in Spalding "I saw that God had stretched out His hand the second time to recover the remnant of His people. They are these who have been covered up in the ‘rubbish’ since 1844."

The truths that William Miller brought to the world, brought about the disappointment of 1844, also brought about the establishment of God’s denominated people, were covered up in rubbish and the people that had believed these truths were covered up. Sister White here when she was writing to Spalding, was saying it’s time to work to remove this rubbish. We know that that work never took place. She says that our greatest need is for revival and reformation. This work of removing the rubbish still exists in our day. We have paralleled the wandering in the wilderness of ancient Israel. We have reached the time where Ezekiel chapters 8-12 say it’s about time for the overflowing scourge, the Sunday Law to sweep through the earth. Therefore it’s also about time for the man with the dirt brush to come in and clean up this garbage to allow the true jewels to once again be recognized.

"Could the curtain be rolled back, could you discern the purposes of God and the judgments that are about to fall upon a doomed world, could you see your own attitude, you would fear and tremble for your own souls and for the souls of your fellow men. Earnest prayers of heart-rending anguish would go up to heaven. You would weep between the porch and the altar, confessing your spiritual blindness and backsliding.

"‘Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children: ...let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar , and let them say, Spare Thy people, O Lord, and give not Thine heritage to reproach.’ Joel 2:15-17.

"‘Turn ye even to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth Him of the evil. Who knoweth if He will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind Him?’ Verses 12-14.

"After Israel’s apostasy and bitter retribution, God’s message of grace for the repentant people was: ‘Behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor [troubled] for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. ‘ Hosea 2: 14-15.

"‘And it shall be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call Me my husband; and shalt call Me no more my lord. ...And I will betroth thee unto Me forever; yea, I will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord.’ Verses 16-20, margin.

"‘And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else: and My people shall never be ashamed.’ Joel 2:27.

"Warning, admonition, promise, all are for us, upon whom the ends of the world are come. ‘Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.’ I Thessalonians 5:6. ‘Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.’ Luke 21 :34.

"‘Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.’ Mark 14:38. "Watch against the stealthy approach of the enemy, watch against old habits and natural inclinations, lest they assert themselves; force them back, and watch. Watch the thoughts, watch the plans, lest they become self-centered. Watch over the souls whom Christ has purchased with His own blood. Watch for opportunities to do them good. Watch, ‘lest coming suddenly He find you sleeping.’ Mark 13:36." Testimonies, volume 6, 408-410.

Could the curtain be rolled back, we would see that we’re in the time period when the Lord intends to gather Seventh-day Adventists a second time. He gathered them together in 1844 and for only the second time in history He began a denominated people. He raised up a people that He would use to bring all other peoples of the world to Himself. But after that time, people came in and brought false doctrines and confusion and destroyed the truths that William Miller brought. Jehovah’s floor, which He promises to purge with His fan—the Man with the dirt brush—is going to clean this floor. This rubbish has built up, but at the end of the world He calls to us and He says could the curtain be rolled back and we could see what’s about to happen, that we would gather together. That’s what we talked about last time that the call from Zephaniah is that we gather together before the decree, before the overflowing scourge pass through the earth.

The promise is at the end of the world, in order to get us to gather together, that the Lord, in the valley of Achor, in a troublous time is going to woo us to come back to Him. What He is promising to do is to marry us. Sister White says the parable of the ten virgins is the illustration of the Advent experience. The parable of the ten virgins was fulfilled in the 1843-1844 time period to the very letter. Yet Sister White says it will be fulfilled again to the very letter.

We are called to the marriage, the Lord is wooing us to come to Him, gather together before the decree, before the overflowing scourge. If we could remove the curtain, shake off this Laodecian condition, and see what is about to happen in the world, we would have a completely different experience. We would enter into the type of agreement with the Lord that ancient Israel at least illustrated entering into, at mount Sinai. Only this time the Lords promise is that He will give them a new heart and a new mind. This is the covenant promise here at the end and this is in agreement with all the prophecies of the Bible.

Testimonies, vol. 5, 99-100,

"‘And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will He do evil.

"‘Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger come upon you. Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought His judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.’

"We are near the close of time. I have been shown that the retributive judgments of God are already in the land. The Lord has given us warning of the events about to take place. Light is shining from His word; yet darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the people. ‘When they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them; ...and they shall not escape.

"It is our duty to inquire the cause of this terrible darkness, that we may shun the course by which men have brought upon themselves so great delusion. God has given the world an opportunity to learn and to obey His will. He has given them, in His word, the light of truth; He has sent them warning, counsel, and admonition; but few will obey His voice. Like the Jewish nation, the majority, even of professed Christians, pride themselves on their superior advantages, but make no returns to God for these great blessings. In infinite mercy a last warning message has been sent to the world, announcing that Christ is at the door and calling attention to God’s broken law. But as the antediluvians rejected with scorn the warning of Noah, so will the pleasure lovers of today reject the message of God’s faithful servants. The world pursues its unvarying round, absorbed as ever in its business and its pleasures, while the wrath of God is about to be visited on the transgressors of His law." Testimonies, vol. 5, 99-100.

The second, second gathering is when God once again establishes this covenant with the remnant of the denominated people that were raised up in 1844. God raised a people up in 1844 and gave them His name, an everlasting name. He entered into a covenant with them; He entered into a marriage with them. They went into wilderness wandering just as ancient Israel did, and at the end of this wilderness time they are about to go into the promise land.

If you look at that testimony of ancient Israel in Bible time, you’ll find that just before they went into the promise land they rehearsed once again the law. They gave an example that at the end of the wilderness wandering time, God’s people would once again enter into this marriage relationship, the parable of the ten virgins will again be fulfilled to the very letter. They’ll enter into the covenant. They will once again be a people who have the name of the Lord in their experience. Through them God will bring the gentiles to Himself, who are going to come and stand at the end.

William Miller’s dream is describing this as well because during this time period when William Miller saw this time period and the truths were beautiful and he had to share them; he went out a shared them, and the people came and they heard and this movement was established but then the rubbish comes in and Sisters and Brothers the rubbish is in Adventism today. It’s time for the man with the dirt brush to begin sweeping the floor. Just as certainly as it’s time for the overflowing scourge to go through the earth.

The Sunday Law is imminent, as imminent as this final purification of God’s church and you and I are going to be involved either way, but if you and I are going to be on the right side of this issue of the purification of God’s church then the Biblical call is that we must gather together before the overflowing scourge arrives.

Jeremiah 4:1-6 says this:

"If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove. And thou shalt swear, The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory. For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities. Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction." Jeremiah 4:1-6.

This series of the purification of God’s church, is blowing a trumpet and saying it is time to gather together. It’s time to put away sin. It’s time to set aside these things that have built confusion in Adventism and obscured the great truths and created an environment that stands opposed to holy living, that stands opposed to the call for holy living. The evidence that it’s time for that gathering is illustrated by the approach of the Sunday Law, is illustrated by the events which are taking place in the world that come right out of the last chapters of the Great Controversy.

Are the Protestants and Catholics of the United States coming together? Certainly! Is crime that Sister White has warned us about prevalent in this world today? Certainly! Are the courts of this land giving righteous judgment or compromised and confused judgment? They’re no longer giving the straight judgment. They have lost their bearings; this is recorded in the Great Controversy. Are the disasters in the world today showing us that the judgment of God is in the land as illustrated in Matt. 24, the Great Controversy? Certainly! These signs, these indications tell us that the Sunday Law is imminent and it’s time to gather together, come together in unity. Now we go back to one of the first quotes in this presentation, Early Writings, Supplement, 86, it says:

"The view that the Lord ‘had stretched out His hand the second time to recover the remnant of His people,’ on page 74, refers only to the union and strength once existing among those looking for Christ, and to the fact that He had begun to unite and to raise up His people again." Early Writings, Supplement, 86.

This is speaking specifically about God raising up His people again in 1844 but this second gathering of these people—when the Lord brings them together at the end of the wilderness wandering time—will have the same characteristics. There’s going to be a union and strength among the people that enter into this experience. They will be united, the information about the scattering is that they’ve been scattered throughout the nations.

The people that are going to come together in this group at the end of the world are not going to physically come together. This isn’t literal Israel, they’re not going to all move to the literal city of Jerusalem. They’re going to come together spiritually. It’s going to be a spiritual unity and this kind of unity comes from an intense study of the Word of God accompanied with a willingness to do everything that the Word of God reveals to us.

It’s always been time, but now more than ever, it’s time that God’s people open the Word of God anew, the Spirit of Prophecy, and make a covenant between themselves and the Lord, that whatever He speaks to them through the Word, though the Spirit of Prophecy, they will do in His power, in His strength. This will bring about a unity with you and me, even if we’re ten thousand miles apart. This is the unity that’s being spoken of when God sets His hand again to gather a people, and others He intends to gather after these people are gathered together.

I want to look at just a few points out of the ‘Present Truth’ which was printed in 1850 with James White as a publisher and some of his comments on what William Miller’s dream was symbolizing. In one point he says this:

"*The casket, represents the advent truth that Bro. Miller published to the world, as is marked out by the parable of the ten virgins. Matt. xxv, 1-11. First the time, 1843, second, the tarrying time, third the midnight cry, at the seventh month, 1844, and fourth, the shut door."

You’ll notice here James White is saying that this ‘casket’, this truth that William Miller was bringing to the world, was also experienced by those brethren back then, and James White is very clear about a four step process. The time that was set: 1843; and then the tarrying time when they realized they had miscalculated; and then the Midnight Cry, when the Holy Spirit came into the movement and in the very Words of Scripture, Sister White says they went out and proclaimed ‘Behold the Bridegroom Cometh’; and then the shut door.

Sister White says that this parable will be fulfilled again to the very letter. This ‘casket’ that James White’s talking about, appears at the beginning of William Miller’s dream, but at the end it appears once again bigger and more prominent, part of the very specific identification of this casket is this four step process which ends with the shut door. Part of the understanding that we are to have about this casket that encompasses the truths of William Miller that will be repeated at the end of the world is that probation is about to close. Probation in a general sense for the whole world is about to close.

With the light that Seventh-day Adventists have they know that the close of probation corresponds with the judgment as the Lord goes through the names, it’s progressive; it begins with the dead and then it starts with the living. The first judged in the judgment of the living is God’s house. Probation closes for God’s house before it closes to those others that he is going to gather to Him besides the ‘Israel’ that’s gathered. The door of our probation is about to close and this is part of the truth that will become more prominent at the end of the world.

Commenting more about this dream, James White says this, I assume this is James White, he’s the publisher, there is not a signature to who gives these comments on William Miler’s dream:

"+ The man with the "dirt-brush" represents the clear light of present truth, as brought to view by the third angel’s message, [Rev.xiv,9-12,] which is now purging the errors away from the remnant. The cause of present truth began to revive in the spring of 1848, and has been rising and gaining strength from that time to the present. The "dirt-brush" has been moving, and the errors have been passing away before the clear light of truth, and some of the precious jewels, who but a short time since were covered up and excluded from sight by darkness and error, now stand in the clear light of present truth."

The man with the dirt brush, the pioneer’s understood as present truth that was going to clean the house and in 1848 they thought, they believed, they hoped in faith, they wished that it was beginning to serve its purpose, but we’re in 1998 (that’s when this sermon was preached) 150 years after they thought this light of present truth had begun it’s work. And if there’s anything that Adventism needs here today it’s Present Truth! And the Present Truth that was specified that was going to clean away this rubbish, Was the three angel’s messages of Revelation 14.

That is Present Truth! The three angel’s messages are a presentation of the gospel, but it’s not simply a presentation of the gospel; it’s a presentation of the gospel in the context of the judgment hour. And it’s not simply in the context of the judgment hour; for the third angel’s message says ‘if any man receive the Mark of the Beast’. The three angel’s messages—the Present Truth designed to clear the rubbish out—is a message of salvation. If you will enter into a covenant with the Lord, He will honor it and He will give you power to live obediently for Him in the time of the judgment when probation closes. He will give you the character and experience that you can stand at the end of the world without an intercessor in the time of trouble. That is the Present Truth that will sweep away the rubbish.

Whether for the world at large, or whether that message is first presented to Adventism—the warning message is that our probation closes first—and it’s about to close at the Sunday Law. We must finish the work of character preparation for that testing time before the test comes. That’s the Present Truth that the pioneers believed would clean away the rubbish of error that had clouded the diamonds and the jewels and the coins.

Can we receive that present truth today? Are we ready to understand that there’s no more time for sin? That all our darling sins have to be put on the altar and removed forever? Are we ready to believe that this ‘sin and confession’, ‘sin and confession’ habit that Laodecians have developed is unacceptable in this hour? That’s the Present Truth that Adventism needs to hear and it needs to hear it soon; because these final events come suddenly, unexpectedly and as an overwhelming surprise.

Sister White is clear and the Bible is clear that if we will enter into this covenant, the power is available. It’s the time when the man with the dirt brush, the Present Truth is going to begin sweeping away the rubbish. We’ll close with this from Testimonies, vol. 4, 89.

"I was pointed to the providence of God among His people and was shown that every trial made by the refining, purifying process upon professed Christians proves some to be dross. The fine gold does not always appear. In every religious crisis some fall under temptation. The shaking of God blows away multitudes like dry leaves. Prosperity multiplies a mass of professors. Adversity purges them out of the church. As a class, their spirits are not steadfast with God. They go out from us because they are not of us; for when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, many are offended." Testimonies, vol. 4, 89.

The man with the dirt brush, brushes the rubbish out and they leave on the wind. Here we’re told that this shaking is what sends away the dry leaves. It’s time for the shaking to accomplish its purpose. It’s time in our individual experience that the rubbish and error is removed so we might come to the Lord and gather with Him and His other faithful people, no matter where they are, in unity of truth. It’s the time period now when God intends to bring those others, those other sheep in Babylon unto Himself, that this controversy can be finished and we can go home. The call to us today is to arise and shine, for the light has come that will allow us, empower us to have this experience.