Communication From Bro. Seaman.
By E. R. Seaman
ALMOST thirteen years have elapsed since first attention was arrested in Rochester to the glad news of a soon coming Saviour. And while the mind is exercised in reflection on the past movement of God among his people, many and vivid are the associations that entwine around the memory of those glorious scenes. Happy and joyous were the feelings of those who honestly expected the speedy consummation of their hope; but disappointment and sadness was their cup. In referring briefly to the past, I wish to inquire if anything has failed, and if God has not fulfilled his word. First, the great movement on time, that the Saviour might be expected to return to this earth sometime during the year 1843, was but the fulfillment of the symbolic message of Rev. xiv, 6, and the great witness that the end was at hand, Matt. xxiv, 14. That a class of messengers did run through the length and breadth of this land, and also that a message based on time, was heard in every island and kingdom under heaven, is a historical fact in the past. The signs that God has hung out in the heavens, which no man living has been able to account for on any natural principles, all spoke in trumpet tones, The hour of his judgment is come. But the vision seemed to tarry. The year '43 passed. The eyes of the Advent host that arose and trimmed their lamps and went forth to meet the Bridegroom, were held. They could not perceive all the mind of the Spirit. The parable of the virgins is to be fulfilled in Advent history. Then came the proper application of the prophet Habakkuk: "For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it shall speak and not lie: though it tarry wait for it; because it will surely come it will not tarry." A little mistake in the commencement of the 2300 days (or years) showed that they must terminate on the tenth day of the seventh Jewish month, 1844. Then soon was heard as the rushing of a mighty wind, the solemn cry, Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him! Many nominal professors had supposed that by the passing of 1843, Millerism, as they chose to call it, was dead; and they were as much astonished as if they had heard a clap of thunder in a clear sky, so sudden and powerful was the movement from the time when the first notes of the midnight cry were heard, until the memorable tenth of the seventh month was fulfilled in Advent history. Therefore God's word had been fulfilled. The days have ended. The Bridegroom came to the Ancient of days as recorded in Dan. vii, 13. But, says one, he did not come to this earth? Certainly not: the prophecy does not affirm that he would, but that then the Sanctuary should be cleansed. Before Christ comes to the earth, there is the wedding. Says Luke, [xii, 35, 36.] Let your loins be girded about and your lights burning and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord when he will return from the wedding. The first and second angels have flown in close connexion with the midnight cry. The announcement has been made, Babylon is fallen, fallen, &c., and that the Spirit of God, moved out a people to perform his will, is as clear as noon-day. If they had not done it in the proper time, the very stones would have cried out; and they were as justifiable in the sight of heaven, as ever the multitude were that shouted, Hosanna to the Son of David, when he rode into Jerusalem; and I would not say but their disappointment was quite as great as ours. Here I might ask before I pass to consider the cause of our disappointment, What gave such power and solemnity to the work just referred to? What made the churches stand as if the solemnity of eternity was resting upon them? What held the wicked in check, and caused the stoutest hearts to quake? What whispered in your ear, Dear Reader, when the evidences were presented, It is truth? I believe it was the Spirit of God; yea, I know it. Bind up the testimony. Many of the Advent leaders have tried to tear it in pieces, but it must be bound up, and the law sealed among the disciples, that they may be able to stand in the great battle just before us. I thank God for light on his Word. It is just as true because fulfilled in my day, as if it had been fulfilled in a former period. Lastly, the cause of our disappointment is explained in brief, by our not perceiving what was the Sanctuary to be cleansed—the Sanctuary in heaven. Now the solemn time of cleansing, or, in other words, the hour of judgment, is passing before us. The third angel's message is sounding through the land, waxing louder and louder. This is the last echo of warning that this world will ever hear. How solemn the thought! How interesting the time to those who desire to hear the approving voice of their soon coming Saviour! Soon the third angel will cease his mission. Then there will be no more mercy for sinners; but the wine of the wrath of Almighty God without mixture shall be poured upon their defenseless heads. Though they flourish as a green bay-tree, it is that they may be destroyed for ever. Let us strive to overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Rochester Aug. 1st, 1854.