Signs of the Times, Vol. 4, No. 3. (1/17/1878)

Signs of the Times

Jan 17, 1878

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Jan 17, 1878

CHRIST'S PROMISES TO THE DISCIPLES.

By Ellen G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

THE hearts of the disciples were troubled at the words of their Master who had said that all his faithful followers would be offended because of him that same night. In their affection and care for their Saviour it seemed to them a hard saying. Peter especially was grieved that Jesus should not accept his assurance of fidelity under all circumstances. But the Saviour knew the test that awaited his little flock, so soon to be left without a shepherd. He knew the agony that awaited him in the garden, that on the morrow he was to pass through the mockeries of a trial in the judgment hall, to be followed by his crucifixion. He knew that no sleep would refresh his weary frame until he closed his eyes in death.

But his loving heart was drawn out in sympathy for his disciples who were to endure a fearful trial in his betrayal and death upon the cross. The grief of the Son of God was not for himself but that his disciples were to be left without his presence to comfort and strengthen them. It had been impossible for them to comprehend the terrible scenes they were now entering upon, and their very ignorance of what was before them, notwithstanding his statements in regard to the future, moved the Saviour's compassionate heart. He read the peculiar character of each disciple, knowing who were in greatest danger of being overcome by temptation. But this knowledge did not bring one word of harshness or rebuke from his lips; their very weakness bound his companions to his heart in bonds of sympathy and love. His great anxiety was to shield his followers from suffering and from the abandonment of unbelief. He addressed them in these words:—

"Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know." Doubting, questioning Thomas feels called upon to express his discouragement and unbelief: "Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?" Jesus mildly and patiently instructed his doubting disciples in the way of life:—

"I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also; and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him." Jesus would have him understand that the Father had been revealed in the Son—in his teachings that reflected the wisdom of Heaven, and in his works that showed the power of Omnipotence.

Philip perceiving but dimly the meaning of his Lord said to him, "Lord, show us the Father and it sufficeth us." Philip, and also the other disciples were filled with apprehension and doubt, and they desired that Jesus should give them a last convincing proof of his divinity by showing them the Father. Christ appeared in the disguise of humanity as a servant. But those who were partakers of his divine nature had eyes to perceive his divinity, the glory of which had upon special occasions, flashed through his human disguise, revealing indeed the Father. Sad indeed was it that one of his disciples who had been his companion, and witnessed his mighty works, had so failed to discern the character of his Saviour as to ask him for another sign. Jesus looked upon him with mild reproach:—

"Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me or else believe me for the very works' sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it."

All that men were able to witness of God had been revealed to them in Christ, and had their spiritual perception been what it should have been they would have discerned in him the Father. Jesus, now about to remove his powerful presence from his disciples, promised that they should do greater works even than he had done. He was soon to stand by his Father's side as the Advocate of men, to plead in their behalf, and he promised to do whatsoever they should ask in his name, that the Father might be glorified in the Son. "If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it." Precious promise to the needy and sorrowful. When the Spirit was afterward poured out upon the disciples wonderful results followed through the gifts which Christ had just promised them. He continued: "If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me. Because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you."

Jesus had been the teacher and counselor of his disciples, their pitying friend. Now, when about to leave them, he assured them that he would in no case forsake them, but would be clothed with power, and would become their Friend and Advocate in the presence of the Father, to present any petition they might offer in the name of his Son. He promised them a comforter when his personal presence was taken from them. The disciples did not comprehend at the time, the full meaning of his Master's words; but afterward, in their religious experience, they cherished the precious promise and presented their petitions to the Father in the name of Jesus.

That promise given by Jesus to his disciples was for the benefit of all who should comply with the conditions of Christ to the end of time. God is omnipotent, and man may be strong to accomplish his purpose while he has the guidance of divine help in every emergency. God's power is hidden from the unbelieving; his ways and purposes are not understood by them. "The world knoweth him not." But mighty victories are gained through the prayers of the obedient children of God, presented in the name of Jesus. The secret of the success of the people of God is connection with him in prayer, and humble obedience of his requirements. Jesus urged upon his disciples the necessity of obeying the commandments he had given them if they would abide in his love. The comfort promised to his followers was on this condition.

God's blessing was never withheld from his obedient people. The wrath of God was brought upon the Jews by their disobedience of his law. Many persons contrast the freedom in Christ with what they regard as the severe requirements of the law of God. Their words and example say to the world, Christ is so lenient and forgiving that we need not be particular to keep the strict letter of the law. They slide away from their allegiance in a loose reckless manner, doing the works of Satan, while professing to love the Lord. Yet Jesus positively declared in his last conversation with his disciples, that those who love him will keep his commandments. In the Old Testament entire obedience is required in order to secure blessings, and entire obedience is also required in the New Testament as the conditions of receiving the approval of God. Obedience of the divine requirements is the demonstration of our faith, and the test of our love and discipleship. Professing theories, and observing forms will not answer the requirements of God. The vital principle of love is kept active through obedience. "Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven."

All through his ministry Jesus impressed upon his followers the necessity of obeying the law, and his own life was a demonstration of its principles, and now, as his time of agony and trial approaches, his mind, instead of dwelling upon himself, turns to his disciples, and he seeks to impress upon them the lesson of obedience. The Saviour when about to leave his disciples promises to manifest himself to those who love him and keep his commandments: "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me; and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him."

"Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?"

The Saviour patiently explains his former words: "If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will come unto him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." Here is the mystery of godliness: Christ revealed by his Spirit to those who love him. When he should pass from the world he would be unknown by those who love the world and obey not the requirements of God. But the highest form of truth was presented to the disciples in the fact that the Saviour would be discovered by those who love and walk in the light, while he is hidden from those who do not accept the light. Every step in the life of faith and consecration is additional knowledge of the world's Redeemer. Though no longer personally with his disciples, Jesus takes the hand of the faithful and becomes their Guide through all the dangers and trials of life's journey. Jesus continued:—

"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father; for my Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe." The Saviour encouraged his disciples with the assurance that when he was no longer with them his Spirit would refresh their memories, so that the words which he had spoken to them would be imprinted on their hearts, to be afterward given to all nations, tongues and kindred on earth. The Saviour settled his peace upon his disciples as a legacy, and exhorted them not to be overwhelmed with anguish, for they should enjoy that peace which is a mystery to the world.

He led their minds from the great loss they would soon sustain, to the advantages they would gain by his leaving them. He told them that the Father was greater than himself, that he would stand by his side as the friend of his followers, to speak in their behalf. He is acquainted with human nature and the tendencies of the human heart, and promises to unite his petition with theirs, that the comforter, the spirit of truth might abide with them and shine forth in their lives and works, winning many to Christ. This promise has been the comfort and stay of millions who have since followed Jesus in humble obedience.

Through the strength of Jesus men may be made strong; through his love they may become lovely in character. He would have his followers understand that they cannot go to the people of the world for sympathy and comfort in their religious difficulties and trials; because the spirit of the truth is not discerned by them.

Our Saviour had one more work to do in evidence of his own complete obedience to the Father. It was to die for the world. Said he: "Hereafter I will not talk much with you; for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence." His hour was fast approaching; and he with his disciples passed on his way to Gethsemane. Many times had he traveled these paths on messages of love and mercy; and he had lately passed that way in triumph hailed by the glad acclamations of thousands as Him that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Sympathy.

By Adams

HE who has had experience of great and sore trials, and has borne them well, is the most cheerful companion to a sorrowing heart. Having sounded the depths of affliction, he can best guide his friend in them. Desponding Christian, in the river of Death, said to Hopeful, "I sink in deep waters; the billows go over my head. All his waves go over me." Hopeful said, "Be of good cheer, my brother; I can feel the bottom, and it is good." Having partaken of the affliction and of the consolation, such a one can bring a smile of peace and even joy upon a careworn soul when prosperous friends would only deepen the gloom. Let the angel of the Lord encamp around me to deliver me, but give me the "Man of Sorrows" for my friend.—Adams.

I Hear the Words of Love.

I HEAR the words of love, I gaze upon his blood, I see the mighty sacrifice, And I have peace with God.

'Tis everlasting peace, Sure as Jehovah's name; 'Tis stable as his steadfast throne, Forevermore the same.

The clouds may come and go. And storms may sweep my sky— This blood-sealed friendship changes not; The cross is ever nigh.

My love is ofttimes low, My joy still ebbs and flows; But peace with him remains the same, No change Jehovah knows.

That which can shake the cross May shake the peace it gave; Which tells me Christ has never died, Or never left the grave.

Till then my peace is sure; It will not, cannot yield. Jesus, I know, has died and lives— On this firm rock I build.

I change—he changes not; The Christ can never die. His love, not mine, the resting place, His truth, not mine, the tie.

The cross still stands unchanged, Though Heaven is now his home; The mighty stone is rolled away, But yonder is his tomb.

And yonder is my peace, The grave of all my woes. I know the Son of God has come, I know he died and rose.

I know he liveth now At God's right hand above; I know the throne on which he sits; I know his truth and love. —Sel.

LIFE SKETCHES.

By James White

CHAPTER II.

THE SECOND ADVENT.

IN September, 1842, Elders Himes, Miller, and others, held a meeting in the mammoth tent in Eastern Maine. In company with Elder Moses Polly, a Christian minister of my acquaintance, I attended that meeting. I there for the first time saw that great and good man, William Miller. His form and features showed great physical and mental strength. The benevolent, affable, and kind spirit manifested by him in conversation with numerous strangers who called on him to ask questions, proved him a humble, Christian gentleman. Infidels, Universalists, and some others came to him with opposing questions. He was quick to perceive their designs, and with becoming firmness and dignity promptly met their objections and sent them away in silence. So long had he, even then, been in the field, meeting opposition from every quarter, that he was prepared for any emergency.

In his public labors his arguments were clear, and his appeals and exhortations most powerful. The tent in which he spoke was a circle whose diameter was one hundred and twenty feet. On one occasion, when this tent was full, and thousands stood around, he was unfortunate in the use of language, which the baser sort in the crowd turned against him by a general burst of laughter. He left his subject with ease, and in a moment his spirit rose above the mob-like spirit that prevailed, and in language the most scorching he spoke of the corruption of the hearts of those who chose to understand him to be as vile as they were. In a moment all was quiet, and the speaker continued to describe the terrible end of the ungodly in a solemn and impressive manner. He then affectionately exhorted them to repent of their sins, come to Christ, and be ready for his appearing. Many in that vast crowd wept. He then resumed his subject, and spoke with clearness and spirit, as though nothing had happened. In fact, it seemed that nothing could have occurred to fully give him the ears of the thousands before him, and to make his subject so impressive as this circumstance.

God raised up Paul to do a great work in his time. In order that the Gentiles might be clearly taught the great plan of redemption through Jesus, and that the infidelity of the Jews might be met, a great man was selected.

Martin Luther was the man for his time. He was daring and sometimes rash, yet was a great and good man. The little horn had prevailed; and millions of the saints of the Most High had been put to death. To fearlessly expose the vileness of the papal monks, and to meet their learning and their rage, and also to win the hearts of the common people with all the tenderness and affection of the gospel, called for just such a man as Martin Luther. He could battle with the lion, or feed and tenderly nurse the lambs of Christ's fold.

So William Miller, in the hands of God, was the man for his time. True, he had been a farmer, and had been in the service of his country, and had not the benefits of an early classical education. And it was not until he had passed the noon of life that God called him to search his word and open the prophecies to the people. He was, however, a historian from his love of history, and had a good practical knowledge of men and things. He had been an infidel. But on receiving the Bible as a revelation from God, he did not also receive the popular, contradictory ideas that many of its prophecies were clad in impenetrable mystery. Said William Miller: "The Bible, if it is what it purports to be, will explain itself."

He sought for the harmony of Scripture and found it. And in the benevolence of his great and good heart and head, he spent the balance of his life in teaching it to the people in his written and oral lectures, and in warning and exhorting them to prepare for the second coming of Christ.

Much of the fruits of his labors are now seen. Much more will be seen hereafter. Heaven will be hung with the fruits of the labors of this truly great and good man. He sleeps. But if it can be said of any who have toiled and worn and suffered amid vile persecutions, "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them," it can be said of William Miller. He nobly and faithfully did his duty, and the popular church, united with the world, paid him in persecutions and reproaches. The very name of William Miller was despised everywhere, and Millerism was the jeer of the people, from the pulpit to the brothel.

But, dear reader, if your deed of real estate be registered at the office of the county clerk, rough hands may tear the paper you hold in your hand which you call a deed, and your title is no less secure. And however roughly and wickedly men may have handled the name of William Miller here, when the final triumphant deliverance of all who are written in the Book of Life comes, his will be found among

the worthies, safe from the wrath of men and the rage of demons, securing to him the reward of immortality according to his works.

As I have introduced to the reader the man whom God raised up to lead off in the great advent movement, it may be expected that something of his life, experience and labors should here be given. I have room for only a very few sketches from his memoir. He was born in Pittsfield, Mass., February, 1782. His biographer says:—

"In his early childhood, marks of more than ordinary intellectual strength and activity were manifested. A few years made these marks more and more noticeable to all who fell into his society. His mother had taught him to read, so that he soon mastered the few books belonging to the family; and this prepared him to enter the senior class when the district school opened. But if the terms were short, the winter nights were long. Pine knots could be made to supply the want of candles, lamps, or gas. And the spacious fire-place in the log house was ample enough as a substitute for the schoolhouse and lecture-room.

"He possessed a strong physical constitution, an active and naturally well-developed intellect, and an irreproachable moral character. He had appropriated to his use and amusement the small stock of literature afforded by the family while a child. He had enjoyed the limited advantages of the district school but a few years before it was generally admitted that his attainments exceeded those of the teachers usually employed. He had drank in the inspiration of the natural world around him, and of the most exciting events of his country's history. His imagination had been quickened, and his heart warmed, by the adventures and gallantries of fiction, and his intellect enriched by history. And some of his earliest efforts with the pen, as well as the testimony of his associates, shows that his mind and heart were ennobled by the lessons, if not by the spirit and power of religion. What, now, would have been the effect of what is called a regular course of education? Would it have perverted him, as it has thousands? or would it have made him instrumental of greater good in the cause of God?

"Whatever might have been the result of any established course of education in the case of William Miller, such a course was beyond his reach : he was deprived of the benefit, he has escaped the perversion. Let us be satisfied."

William Miller was married in 1802, and settled in Poultney, Vt. His biographer continues:—

"But the men with whom he associated from the time of his removal to Poultney, and to whom he was considerably indebted for his worldly favors, were deeply affected with skeptical principles and deistic theories. They were not immoral men; but, as a class, were good citizens, and generally of serious deportment, humane, and benevolent. However, they rejected the Bible as the standard of religious truth, and endeavored to make its rejection plausible with such aid as could be obtained from the writings of Voltaire, Hume, Volney, Paine, Ethan Allen, and others. Mr. Miller studied these works closely, and at length avowed himself a deist. As he has stated the period of his deistical life to have been twelve years, that period must have begun in 1804; for he embraced or returned to the Christian faith in 1816. It may fairly be doubted, however, withstanding his known thoroughness and consistency, whether Mr. Miller ever was fully settled in that form of deism which reduces man to a level with the brutes, as to the supposed duration of their existence. And the question is worthy of a little inquiry, to what extent was a he deist?"

He received a captain's commission, and entered the army in 1810. He returned from the army, and moved his family to Low Hampton, N. Y., to begin the occupation of farming in 1812.

"As a farmer, he had more leisure for reading; and he was at an age when the future of man's existence will demand a portion of his thoughts. He found that his former views gave him no assurance of happiness beyond the present life. Beyond the grave all was dark and gloomy. To use his own words: 'Annihilation was a cold and chilling thought, and accountability was sure destruction to all. The heavens were as brass over my head, and the earth as iron under my head. Eternity!—what was it? And death!—why was it? The more I reasoned, the further I was from demonstration. The more I thought, the more scattered were my conclusions. I tried to stop thinking, but my thoughts would not be controlled. I was truly wretched, but did not understand the cause. I murmured and complained; but knew not of whom. I knew that there was a wrong, but knew not how or where to find the right. I mourned, but without hope.' He continued in this state of mind for some months, feeling that eternal consequences might hang on the nature and object of his belief.

"It devolved on Captain Miller, as usual in the minister's absence, to read a discourse of the deacons' selection. They had chosen one on the Importance of Parental Duties. Soon after commencing, he was overpowered by the inward struggle of emotion, with

which the entire congregation sympathized, and took his seat. His deistical principles seemed an almost insurmountable difficulty with him. 'Soon after, suddenly,' he says, 'the character of the Saviour was vividly impressed upon my mind. It seemed that there might be a being so good and compassionate as to himself atone for our transgressions, and thereby save us from suffering the penalty of sin. I immediately felt how lovely such a being must be; and imagined that I could cast myself into the arms of, and trust in the mercy, of such an one. But the question arose, How can it be proved that such a being does exist? Aside from the Bible, I found that I could get no evidence of the existence of such a Saviour, or even of a future state. I felt that to believe in such a Saviour, without evidence, would be visionary in the extreme.

"I saw that the Bible did bring to view just such a Saviour as I needed; and I was perplexed to find how an uninspired book should develop principles so perfectly adapted to the wants of a fallen world. I was constrained to admit that the Scriptures must be a revelation from God. They became my delight; and in Jesus I found a friend. The Saviour became to me the chiefest among ten thousand; and the Scriptures, which before were dark and contradictory, now became the lamp to my feet and light to my path. My mind became settled and satisfied. I found the Lord God to be a rock in the midst of the ocean of life. The Bible now became my chief study, and I can truly say, I searched it with great delight. I found the half was never told me. I wondered why I had not seen its beauty and glory before, and marveled that I could have ever rejected it. I found everything revealed that my heart could desire, and a remedy for every disease of the soul. I lost all taste for other reading, and applied my heart to wisdom from God.'"

"Mr. Miller immediately erected the family altar; publicly professed his faith in that religion which had been food for his mirth, by connecting himself with the little church that he had despised; opened his house for meetings of prayer; and became an ornament and a pillar in the church, and an aid to both pastor and people. The die was cast, and he had taken his stand for life as a soldier of the cross, as all who knew him felt assured; and henceforth the badge of discipleship, in the church or world, in his family or closet, indicated whose he was, and whom he served.

"His pious relations had witnessed with pain his former irreligious opinions; how great were their rejoicings now! The church, favored with his liberality, and edified by his reading, but pained by his attacks on their faith, could now rejoice with the rejoicing. His infidel friends regarded his departure from them as the loss of a standard-bearer. And the new convert felt that henceforth, wherever he was, he must deport himself as a Christian, and perform his whole duty. His subsequent history must show how well this was done.

"Soon after his renunciation of deism, in conversing with a friend respecting the hope of a glorious eternity through the merits and intercessions of Christ, he was asked how he knew there was such a Saviour. He replied, "It is revealed in the Bible." "How do you know the Bible is true?" was the response, with a reiteration of his former arguments on the contradictions and mysticisms in which he had claimed it was shrouded.

"Mr. Miller felt such taunts in their full force. He was at first perplexed; but, on reflection, he considered that if the Bible is a revelation of God, it must be consistent with itself; all its parts must harmonize, must have been given for man's instruction, and, consequently, must be adapted to his understanding. He therefore said, 'Give me time, and I will harmonize all those apparent contradictions to my own satisfaction, or I will be a deist still.'"

"He then devoted himself to a prayerful reading of the word. He laid aside all commentaries, and used the marginal references and his Concordance as his only helps. He saw that he must distinguish between the Bible and all the peculiar partisan interpretations of it. The Bible was older than them all, must be above them all; and he placed it there. He saw that it must correct all interpretations; and in correcting them, its own pure light would shine without the mists which traditionary belief had involved it in. He resolved to lay aside all pre-conceived opinions, and to receive with child-like simplicity, the natural and obvious meaning of the Scripture. He pursued the study of the Bible with the most intense interest—whole nights as well as days being devoted to that object. At times delighted with truth, which shone forth from the sacred volume, making clear to his understanding the great plan of God for the redemption of fallen man; and at times puzzled and almost distracted by seemingly inexplicable or contradictory passages, he persevered until the application of his great principle of interpretation was triumphant. He became puzzled only to be delighted, and delighted only to persevere the more in penetrating its beauties and mysteries.

"His manner of studying the Bible is thus described by himself: 'I determined to lay aside all my prepossessions, to thoroughly compare Scripture with Scripture, and to pursue its study in a regular, methodical manner. I commenced with Genesis, and read verse by verse, proceeding no faster than the meaning of the several passages should be so unfolded as to leave me free from embarrassment respecting any mysticisms or contradictions. Whenever I found anything obscure, my practice was to compare it with all collateral passages; and, by the help of Cruden, I examined all the texts of Scripture in which were found any of the prominent words contained in any obscure portion. Then, by letting every word have its proper bearing on the subject of the text, if my view of it harmonized with every collateral passage in the Bible, it ceased to be a difficulty. In this way I pursued the study of the Bible, in my first perusal of it, for about two years, and was fully satisfied that it is its own interpreter. I found that by a comparison of Scripture with history, all the prophecies, as far as they have been fulfilled, had been fulfilled literally; that all the various figures, metaphors, parables, similitudes, etc., of the Bible, were either explained in their immediate connection, or the terms in which they were expressed were defined in other portions of the word; and when thus explained, are to be literally understood in accordance with such explanation. I was thus satisfied that the Bible is a system of revealed truths, so clearly and simply given, that the wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err therein.'

"While thus studying the Scriptures," continuing the words of his own narrative, "I became satisfied if the prophecies which have been fulfilled in the past are any criterion by which to judge of the manner of the fulfillment of those which are future, that the popular views of the spiritual reign of Christ—a temporal millennium before the end of the world, and the Jews' return—are not sustained by the word of God; for I found that all the Scriptures on which those favorite theories are based, are as clearly expressed as are those that were literally fulfilled at the first advent, or at any other period in the past. I found it plainly taught in the Scriptures that Jesus Christ will again descend to this earth, coming in the clouds of heaven, in all the glory of his Father.

"I need not speak of the joy that filled my heart in view of the delightful prospect, nor of the ardent longings of my soul for a participation in the joys of the redeemed. The Bible was now to me a new book. It was indeed a feast of reason; all that was dark, mystical or obscure, to me, in its teachings, had been dissipated from my mind before the clear light that now dawned from its sacred pages; and oh, how bright and glorious the truth appeared! All the contradictions and inconsistencies I had before found in the word were gone; and, although there were many portions of which I was not satisfied I had a full understanding, yet so much light had emanated from it to the illumination of my before darkened mind, that I felt a delight in studying the Scriptures which I had not before supposed could be derived from its teachings. I commenced with no expectation of finding the time of the Saviour's coming, and I could at first hardly believe the result to which I had arrived; but the evidence struck me with such force that I could not resist my convictions. I became nearly settled in my conclusions, and began to wait, and watch, and pray for my Saviour's coming."

"From the time that Mr. Miller became established in his religious faith, till he commenced his public labors—a period of twelve or fourteen years—there were few prominent incidents in his life to distinguish him from other men. He was a good citizen, a kind neighbor, an affectionate husband and parent, and a devoted Christian; good to the poor, and benevolent, as objects of charity were presented; in the Sunday-school was teacher and superintendent; in the church he performed important services as reader and exhorter, and, in the support of religious worship, no other member, perhaps, did as much as he. He was very exemplary in his life and conversation, endeavored at all times to perform the duties, whether public or private, which devolved on him, and whatever he did was done cheerfully, as for the glory of God."

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