A GOOD DAY IN BOSTON by M. Wood

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 27, 1876

A GOOD DAY IN BOSTON.

By M. Wood

Sabbath, Jan. 1, 1876, was a day never to be forgotten by the Boston church, not simply because it was God’s holy Sabbath and a day of fasting and prayer, but because God met us by his Holy Spirit; and the solemnity which characterized our meeting through the entire day was so deep that fleeting time can never erase from our minds that precious season in which we were the recipients of bountiful blessings from the great God.

According to previous arrangement, many of us met at our place of worship before the rising of the sun. Sister Temple, one of the old pioneers, living at a distance of eight or ten miles, was one of the first at our hall. As we entered the house of prayer, it seemed like entering upon holy ground. We simultaneously sought our Bibles, and for a few moments feasted our souls upon the word of God. Punctually, at the time appointed, our meeting was opened by reading the 58th chapter of Isaiah. After a few remarks appropriate to the occasion, we bowed before the Lord in prayer, and the Lord hearkened and heard us. As agonizing cries ascended to our Heavenly Father for forgiveness of our sins, and the continuation of his rich mercy and blessing upon his people, we felt the assurance that he accepted us as members of his family. It was quite evident from the freely flowing tears that the tender Spirit of God was operating upon hearts. All present appeared to hold sweet communion with Jesus, and to join with the angelic host in ascribing “blessing, and honor, and glory, and power,” unto “Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.”

It was feared by some that our meeting would become tedious or monotonous, and that the interest and zeal manifested in the morning could not be maintained throughout the entire day; but God’s dear people had met for a purpose, and the form of the Fourth was in their midst. Their hearts were warmed with love for God and his cause. With the exception of the time occupied in reading the Appeal, which, by the way, received the utmost attention, and whose teachings many expressed a determination to profit by, the entire day, from sun to sun, was spent in pleading with God in prayer, that success might attend his servants, and the work move forward with greater alacrity.

It was a blessed season, and there was a general turning unto the Lord with brokenness of heart and contrition of spirit. Some who had wandered from the fold confessed their backslidings, and expressed a desire to walk in wisdom’s ways; still others bore their testimony and took part in the meeting for the first time. Some present who had participated in the ’44 movement felt a rekindling of the fire in their hearts, and almost imagined themselves back in the days of father Miller. Said sister Temple, “This is a ’44 meeting, such as we experienced just prior to the tenth day of the seventh month.” Sister Brown, who was one of the first to embrace the Sabbath, speaking of the meeting, said, “I felt when I crossed the threshold as though I was stepping upon holy ground, and it reminded me of the meetings we used to hold in 1844 when we expected the coming of the Lord.”

May the Lord deeply impress upon our minds the necessity of drawing fresh supplies from the throne of grace, and of not resting satisfied with our present attainments. Let us “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus,” realizing that the blessings we obtain are only to fit us for greater conflicts and severe trials as we journey along the rugged path. M. Wood.