SEVENTY years ago, as some who are here can remember, the world was stirred with the proclamation of the soon coming of Christ. There was a power in the proclamation of this message at that time that took hold upon those who heard it. There was a strong conviction that laid very definite hold upon the minds and hearts of the people. In different countries men were raised up at the same time,—men whose attention was called to those portions of Scripture which dealt with this question of the second advent,—and they began to proclaim it in various places.
I want to review with you briefly the work of that time, and the experiences of that time as the foundation for the work that followed later; and, as, of course, I can not speak from memory, although having heard these things from those who passed through them, I will read briefly some extracts which deal with this question; but first I wish to call your attention to one fact in connection with this matter of the simultaneous proclamation of this message in various places:—
“D’Aubigne, in his History of the Reformation of the sixteenth century, presents as one indubitable proof of God’s hand in the work, the fact that men, in different countries, with no knowledge of one another, were moved upon to investigate, and came before their respective countrymen to herald the doctrine of pardon and salvation through Christ without the imposed penance and absolution of the Catholic Church.
“If this fact is an evidence of God’s hand in the Reformation in the sixteenth century, why is it not an evidence that he is in the advent movement in the nineteenth century? for at this time men in different parts of the world, without any knowledge of one another, have been moved to investigate the Scriptures, and, embracing the doctrine of the near coming of Christ, have zealously proclaimed it to their respective countrymen, until in the years 1831 to 1844 their combined efforts gave the message to the entire civilized world—literally to every nation on earth. If a heavenly stamp was given to the Reformation from the manner of its rise, we claim the same for this second advent proclamation.” Along with the evidence from the Scripture there is an evidence also in the manner of the rise of the proclamation of this truth; that is, there was something in the very way in which the movement arose, and in the very way in which it went to the world, in addition to the evidence of the truth in the Word itself, which indicated that the movement was of God.
I wish to emphasize especially the basis of that movement, and I will just read briefly again: “That which gave force to the message, and most mightily moved the people, was the proclamation of definite time. First they claimed that the end of the world would come sometime during the ‘Jewish year’ 1843, and that this year was embraced in the time between March 21, 1843, and March 21, 1844. After this time went by, in the midnight cry of the year 1844, the definite day was fixed upon for the termination of the prophetic times. This was the tenth day of the seventh ‘Jewish month,’ corresponding to Oct. 22, 1844.
“The proclamation by the Advent people was not simply the announcement made by Paul before Felix, ‘Righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come;’ nor was it the statement made by Martin Luther, after having completed the translation of the Bible, when, a short time before his death, he is reported to have said, ‘I am persuaded that the judgment is not far off; yea, that the Lord himself will not be absent above three hundred years longer;’ neither was it the statement made by Wesley, when he said he ‘thought the millennium might commence in about one hundred years.’ The Adventists claimed to bring the message symbolized in Rev. 14:6, 7, and the cry of Rev. 10:6. Such a prophecy could not be accomplished by an announcement of an event that was ‘to come’ coming ‘in three hundred years,’ or in ‘one hundred years,’ but in definite time—‘is come.’4Just such a message, with just such definiteness as that demanded by the prophecies already quoted, was heralded by the Advent people to the whole world.”
This is the first thing to which I wish to direct special attention, and that is that it was a movement in which the second advent of our Lord was proclaimed to the world, and that a definite time was set for his coming. Now let us note the basis of this definite time:—
‘The basis of the time—1843—was the 2300 days of Daniel 8. It was claimed that as these days were connected with prophecies where beasts were chosen to represent kingdoms, ‘days’ must be used symbolically to represent years, according to the Lord’s interpretation of symbolic time, as given in Num. 14: 34 and Eze. 4: 5, 6; that the 70 weeks—490 days—of Daniel 9 were to be the first part of the 2300 days, and that the two periods began together. The event given in Daniel 9, which marked the beginning of the 70 weeks, was ‘the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem.’ That commandment went forth in the seventh year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, 457 B. C., as recorded in Ezra 7. That this was the true date for the beginning of the 70 weeks was demonstrated by the fact that in just 69 weeks—483 years—from 457 B. C., in 27 A. D. Christ was baptized by John, and entered upon his ministry, saying, ‘The time is fulfilled,’ etc. The opening of the ministry of Christ 27 A. D., his crucifixion three and one-half years from that date, ‘in the midst of the [70th] week,’ the close of the special work among the Jews, 34 A. D., and the speedy conversion of Saul, the apostle to the Gentiles, proved that the 70 weeks did terminate at that date, and therefore that they began 457 B. C. They figured the matter out thus: From 2,300 take 457, and there remains 1843. And as the 457 were before Christ, we are brought for the close to 1843 A. D.’
‘Mr. N. Colver, preaching in Marlboro Street chapel, Boston, in 1842, in opposition to the Adventists, said:—
“‘If these days are years, the world will end in 1843; any schoolboy can see it; for if 490 terminated at the death of Christ, the 2300 days would terminate in 1843; and the world must end, unless it can be shown that some other event is to take place, and I do not see how that can be done.’”
I am not speaking of anything new. I am just simply calling your attention to well-known facts, and yet I am reading to you from this history because I wish to lay a foundation in the exact words, the exact statements, of those who lived in that time, and who themselves have dealt with these facts.
First, there was a world-wide movement at that time, preaching the definite truth of the second personal, visible advent of Christ. It was fixed for a definite time by the interpretation of the prophecies—those prophetic periods that have become so familiar to us—the twenty-three hundred days or years, the four hundred ninety days or years, the twelve hundred and sixty days or years,—those periods were applied definitely, and as the result of that definite application of the periods they fixed a definite time for the coming of Christ.
Now further: I thought it worth while to read a statement made by one who was engaged in this movement who wrote for publication an article from which the following extract is taken. In the Cry, that is a paper published at that time, for Oct. 3, 1844—that would be nineteen days before the time set for the Lord’s coming,—George Storrs published an article; and it gives an actual picture of the very feeling of the men who faced in a very few days that great event, the coming of the Lord:—
I take up my pen with feelings such as I never before experienced. Beyond a doubt, in my mind, the tenth day of the seventh month will witness the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ in the clouds of heaven. We are within a few days of that event. Awful moment to those who are unprepared—but glorious to those who are ready!
Now let us remember that you and I expect to come exactly to that time ourselves. We expect ourselves to come to that time when within a few days beyond a doubt we shall see our Lord coming in the clouds of heaven. This is very stirring to my mind.
“‘Behold, the Bridegroom cometh’ this year; ‘go ye out to meet him.’ We have done with the nominal churches and all the wicked, except so far as this cry may affect them. Our work is now to wake up the ‘virgins who took their lamps and went forth to meet the Bridegroom.’ Where are we now? ‘If the vision tarry, wait for it.’ Is not that our answer since last March or April?—Yes. What happened while the Bridegroom tarried?—The virgins all slumbered and slept, did they not? Christ’s words have not failed; and ‘the Scriptures can not be broken,’ and it is of no use for us to pretend that we have been awake; we have been slumbering, not on the fact of Christ’s coming, but on the time. We came into the tarrying time; we did not know ‘how long’ it would tarry, and on that point we have slumbered. Some of us have said in our sleep, ‘Don’t fix another time;’ so we slept. Now the trouble is to wake us up. Lord, help, for vain is the help of man. Speak thyself, Lord. O that the ‘Father’ may now ‘make known’ the time! . . .
How long is the tarrying time?—Half a year. How do you know?—Because our Lord says, ‘At midnight,’ while the Bridegroom tarried. The vision was for “2300 evening-mornings,” or days. An “evening,” or night, is half of one of those prophetic days, and is therefore six months. That is the whole length of the tarrying time. The present strong cry of time commenced about the middle of July, and has spread with great rapidity and power, and is attended with a demonstration of the Spirit, such as I never witnessed when the cry was “1843.” It is now literally, “Go ye out to meet him.” There is a leaving all that I never dreamed could be seen. When this cry gets hold of the heart, farmers leave their farms, with their crops. There is a strong crying with tears, and a consecration of all to God, such as I never witnessed. There is a confidence in this truth such as was never felt in the previous cry, in the same degree, and a weeping or melting glory in it that passed all understanding, except to those who have felt it.
On this present truth, I, through grace, dare venture all, and feel that to indulge in doubt about it would be to offend God and bring upon myself “swift destruction.” I am satisfied that now “whosoever shall seek to save his life,” where this cry has been fairly made, by indulging in an “if it don’t come,” or by a fear to venture out on this truth, “shall lose” his life. It requires the same faith that led Abraham to offer up Isaac, or Noah to build the ark, or Lot to leave Sodom, or the children of Israel to stand all night waiting for their departure out of Egypt, or for Daniel to go into the lions’ den, or the three Hebrews into the fiery furnace. We have fancied that we were going into the kingdom without such a test of faith, but I am satisfied we are not. This last truth brings such a test, and none will venture upon it but such as dare to be accounted fools, madmen, or anything else that antediluvians, Sodomites, a lukewarm church, or sleeping virgins are disposed to heap upon them. Once more would I cry, “Escape for thy life;” “Look not behind you;” “Remember Lot’s wife.”
Now that brings before us just a brief outline, a brief suggestion, of the truth for that time, of the attitude of those who proclaimed it, and of the unwavering faith in the truth which they proclaimed. The proclamation of definite time as a result of the application of prophetic periods, you will observe, is a fundamental thing in that message; because they fixed a definite date for the coming of the Lord, and therefore, those prophetic periods must have been fundamental in that movement.
Now that time passed, and they were disappointed in not seeing the Lord come as they had proclaimed. Now note a word further:—
The period of time from the disappointment in 1844 until the clear light respecting the sanctuary and the third angel’s message was brought out, was one of peculiar trial. Adventists who still persisted that they were right in the past movement, were indeed a “gazing-stock” to those who supposed the message to be an entire failure; and for this cause they were subjects of great reproach. This they could cheerfully endure while they held on to the Lord by faith, and shared the presence of his Holy Spirit.
I read that closing paragraph to call5attention to this definite thing—that after that disappointment there were those who did not throw up their faith in the Word of God, who did not cast aside their confidence in that movement, although they were thrown, as you would of course expect, into the greatest perplexity as to where the mistake was, as evidently there must have been some mistake. Yet they were not willing to cast aside that movement. And what was the chiefest reason? It was not from a new demonstration concerning the prophetic periods. It was not from any new light concerning their position. This was the chief thing, and this I am able to tell you from the testimony of those who passed through that experience: There had come to them in the proclamation of that message of definite time, and in their faith in the preaching of that decade, such a personal experience of their own in their relation to the Lord and his salvation, that although they were confused for a time concerning the argumentative part of the message, they were not confused concerning their experience in the message. I think that is a very important thing to note.
I think it is a very important thing to know that at the time when they were confused, perplexed, when some were losing their confidence in the Word of God, and their confidence in the application of these prophetic periods, and they were all thrown for a time into a state of mental perplexity concerning the argument, such was their personal experience in the message, and it came to them with such an assurance of the forgiveness of sin and of their acceptance with the Lord, that it was sufficient to prevent them from recklessly rejecting their past experience.
There is something in that which is worthy of our consideration, that with a definite statement of truth, and definite argument concerning the application of any scripture, the interpretation of any prophetic period, there should be such a personal experience in our relation to the Lord, in the question of salvation from sin, as will have in itself a conviction, and will lay hold upon us concerning the truth. I hope you will remember that, because we are not to come up to the last hour and pass into the kingdom without a very definite and severe test of our faith.