Review and Herald, Vol. 41, No. 19. (4/29/1873)

Review and Herald

Apr 29, 1873

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 29, 1873

LIFE OF WILLIAM MILLER.

CHAPTER SIX.

NEW DOORS OPEN—HIS LABORS COUNTENANCED BY MINISTERS OF HIS DENOMINATION—HIS FIRST DONATION OF TWO HALF-DOLLARS—DEATH OF HIS MOTHER, &C.

After the commencement of the new year (1835) he lectured, during the first week of January, in Addison, Vt., and the second, in Cornwall, Vt. He then returned home, where he remained till the 12th of February, writing on the 11th to Elder Hendryx as follows:—

“The Lord opens doors faster than I can fill them. To-morrow I have an appointment in Whiting, which will occupy a week. The next week I shall be in Shoreham; the last week in this month, at Bridgeport; the first week in March, in Middletown; the second, in Hoosac. I have calls from Saratoga, Ticonderoga, Moriah, Essex, Champlain, Plattsburgh, Peru, Moore-town, Canton, Potsdam, Hopkinton, Stockholm, Parishville, and other places too numerous to mention. The Lord has blessed me thus far; in almost every place where I have lectured, the Spirit has given fruit. Where I went forth expecting trials and persecution, I have found God a present help. Pray for me, that my faith fail not, and that I may ever feel my weakness, and that my dependence may be on Israel’s God. Pray that I may do my duty in the fear of God, and in the love of the truth; and then, whatever may become of me, God will be glorified and souls saved.”

After filling the two former of those appointments, he returned home till the 8th of March, when he lectured in Bridgeport, Vt., three days, and gave six lectures. He lectured in Granville on the following Sabbath, March 15th, and again returned home.

It seems to have been his intention, when he left home on the 7th of March, to return to Whiting—he having received an invitation to that effect. A powerful work of grace had followed his lectures there, and several infidels had acknowledged the authority of the Scriptures as demonstrated by the fulfillment of prophecy, and were under deep conviction, and wished to see him. Whether he went there or not, does not appear. But, on the 21st of March, he writes, “I have been very sick with a cold, for a day or two past, and I am only able to sit up for a short time.”

On the 19th of April, he again visited Granville, where he also lectured on the 20th and 21st. On the 26th, he lectured at Middletown, N. Y. On the 28th, he again wrote from Low Hampton:—

“I have been laid up with a severe cold, and have been only to two or three places since I wrote last (March 21st). But I have now recovered my health again, so that I have been the last two weeks at Granville and Middletown. Next Sunday (May 3), I am to be at Fort Ann Village, N. Y., if the Lord will; and when I shall get through lecturing in this region, I cannot tell. Doors open faster than I can fill them. I have calls from Wells, Bishop’s Corner, and Timmouth.”

These lectures and sermons of Mr. Miller met the approval of a large number of the ministers of his denomination, with whose approbation, from this time, he went forth as a public laborer, indorsed and sanctioned by the following certificate:—

“March 19, 1835.

“This may certify, to whom it may concern, that we, whose names are hereunto affixed—being ministers in the denomination of regular Baptists—are personally acquainted with Bro. William Miller, the bearer of this certificate; that he is a member, and a licentiate in good regular standing, in the particular Baptist church, in Hampton, N. Y.; that we have heard his lectures on the subject of the Second Coming and Reign of our Lord Jesus Christ; and that we believe his views on that particular subject, as well as others pertaining to the gospel, are worthy to be known and read of all men. As such an one, we commend him to God, and the affectionate acceptance of our brethren in the precious Saviour.

J. Sawyer, Jr., South Reading. E. Halping, Hampton. Amos Stearns, Fort Ann. Emerson Andrews, Lansingburg.

After visiting Fort Ann, N. Y., on the 2d of May, he lectured in Whitehall, N. Y., on the 10th and 17th of the same month; in West Haven, on the 7th of June, and in Middlebury, Vt., on the 14th. From that place he went into the province of Lower Canada, and lectured, on the 21st and 23d, at Bolton; the 25th, at Hunting; the 28th, 29th, and July 1st, at Derby; July 2d, at Georgeville; the 5th and 6th, at Bolton, again; the 7th, at Outlet; and the 8th and 9th, at Stanstead Plain. On the 12th, he lectured at Derby, Vt.; the 13th, at Troy, Vt.; the 14th, at Lowell, Vt.; the 15th, at Eden, Vt.; the 16th, at Cambridge, Vt.; the 17th, at Jericho, Vt.; and the 19th, at Orwell, Vt.

During this tour, while in Canada, a woman placed two half-dollars in his hand, which was all the assistance he received previous to 1836. His expenses for travel, &c., were paid from his own funds.

On his way home from Canada, he was much depressed in his spirits. To use his own words, he was overwhelmed with a dark cloud, for which he could not account. He felt impelled to hasten home, with a presentiment that there was trouble there. Leaving Jericho, Vt., instead of filling several appointments, he took the nearest route, and hastened home with all speed. Calling at Orwell, by the urgent request of his Uncle Phelps, he stopped to speak to the church on the Sabbath, leaving immediately after service for home, where he arrived late at night. His family were astonished to see him return so soon, and he was delighted to find them all well.

At an early hour on Monday he went to visit his mother, to take to her a present from her daughter in Canada. His mother lived about half a mile from Mr. Miller’s, with her son, Solomon. He found her in the enjoyment of good health, and he spent the day with her, returning home unusually interested with his visit. His mother did not receive his views, but always told him to preach the whole truth, as he believed it, and do his duty. Soon after Mr. Miller had left his mother, she was seized with the palsy. Mr. M. was sent for. She was unable to converse any; but, by the pressure of the hand, signified that she knew him, and before the close of the week, expired. Had not Mr. Miller been impressed with a sense of “trouble at home,” he would have taken a more circuitous route, and filled several appointments, according to previous arrangements. By thus changing his original purpose, he enjoyed the opportunity of a day’s conversation with his mother, which he would otherwise have been deprived of. He often recurred to this as a signal instance of God’s favor.

On the 21st of August, he lectured at South Bay, N. Y.; on the 9th, at Dresden, N. Y., and, on the 23d, at South Bay, again. On the 28th, he again writes from Low Hampton, to Elder Hendryx, as follows:—

“I am yet engaged in warning the inhabitants to be prepared for the great day of God Almighty, and am endeavoring to prove by the Scriptures that it is near, even at the doors. . . . I always present this as an inducement for men to repent. I call on them in the name of my dear Master to turn, repent, believe, and obey him. I beseech them, for the value of their souls, to believe in Christ. I implore them to lay up treasures in Heaven. I importune with them, again and again, to read, reflect, examine, and see if the word of God is not true. I show them its complete fulfillment thus far, and then I pray God to direct the arrow to the heart. I ask God, through Jesus Christ, to nerve the arm that pulls the bow, and to sharpen the arrow that twangs from it. I then put all my confidence in God, and in his promise, ‘Lo, I am with you even to the end of the world.’”

“I have this moment received a letter from Bro. Wescott [the Baptist clergyman], to be in Stillwater next Sabbath [August 30th]; and I shall be under the necessity of leaving in a few minutes. I shall be absent until about the 1st of October.

“My good old mother Miller is dead. She died about four weeks since. The rest of us are all in good health.

“Yours in gospel bonds, “Wm. Miller.”

He visited Stillwater, N. Y., according to invitation, and continued there one week, lecturing each day. On the 13th, he was at Bristol. On the 1st of November, he visited Middletown, N. Y., and gave a course of eight lectures. He then lectured again, five days, at Bristol, commencing on the 15th of November; and, beginning on the 20th, he labored five days longer at Middletown—usually giving two lectures each day. On the 6th of December, he was at Whitehall, N. Y.; on the 20th, at Poultney, Vt.; and on the 27th, at Westhaven. This terminated his labors for the year 1835.

On the 3d of January, 1836, he lectured at a “Brother Aborn’s;” on the 24th, at Dresden, N. Y.; on the 7th of February, at Fort Ann Village, N. Y.; on the 13th of March, at Orwell, Vt.; and on the 14th, at Shoreham, Vt. His public lectures during these winter months were interrupted by the preparation of his course of sixteen lectures for the press, which were published in Troy, N. Y., in the spring of this year, by Eld. Wescott. All the copies of that edition supplied to Mr. Miller, he purchased at the regular prices.

On the 24th of April, he again visited Stillwater, N. Y.; and, on the 15th of May, New Haven, Vt. On the 16th, he commenced a course of lectures at Weybridge, Vt., which closed on the 20th. On the day following, he began his labors at Monkton, N. Y., which continued eight days.

On the 19th of June, he visited Lansingburg, N. Y., and continued till the 26th. To pay his stage-fare, he received, on this occasion, four dollars, which, with the two half-dollars received in Canada, was all the remuneration he had thus far received for his expenses. Subsequent to that time, as he says in his “Apology and Defense,” he never received enough to meet his expenses of travel to the places where he was invited; so that his public labors were never of any pecuniary advantage to him, as has been currently reported and believed; but, on the contrary, they were a heavy tax on his property, which gradually decreased during that period of his life.

On the 21st of July, he writes, from Low Hampton, to Elder Hendryx: I have been confined at home, for three weeks past, by a bilious complaint. I was taken unwell while lecturing at Lansingburg, N. Y.; but I finished my course of lectures, and returned home, and have not been well since. My lectures were well received in that place, and excited attention. The house was filled to overflowing for eight days in succession. I feel that God was there, and believe that in his glorified kingdom I shall see the fruits. . . . . . . . . Infidels, Deists, Universalists, and Sectarians, were all chained to their seats, in perfect silence, for hours—yes, days—to hear the old stammering man talk about the second coming of Christ, and show the manner, object, time, and signs, of his coming. O my brother! it makes me feel like a worm—a poor, feeble creature; for it is God only who could produce such an effect on such audiences. Yet it gives me confidence; for I solemnly believe it is truth; and God will support his word, and will be present where it is preached, however feeble the instrument; for ‘Lo, I am with you even to the end of the world.’ Therefore, if I were preaching before all the kings of the earth, why should I fear? for the King of kings is with me. If all the lords were there, yet He is Lord of lords, and of the great men of the earth.”

THE STATESMAN ARTICLES.

ARTICLE FIVE.

THE FIRST-DAY SABBATH AT TROAS.

The day on which the Saviour rose from the dead; the day which the risen Saviour singled out and blessed repeatedly with his presence; the day on which the Holy Ghost was given to the church—this honored day certainly could not pass without stated observance by the disciples of the risen and ascended Lord. It is but reasonable to expect that the day which Christ and the Holy Spirit honored, would be honored by the early church.

Passing on in the sacred narrative, we come to the account of first-day Sabbath observance some twenty-six or twenty-eight years after the Pentecostal gift of the Spirit. In just such a matter-of-course way as that in which a well-known and established custom would be noted, is the observance of the first-day at Troas, mentioned in Acts 20: 6, 7: “We sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came . . . to Troas in five days, where we abode seven days. And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow, and continued his speech until midnight.”

Several important points should here be noted:—

1. Paul and his companions remained at Troas seven days—from the third day of one week until the second day of the next week.

2. At this time there was at Troas a company or church of Christian disciples, who would of course hold regular religious services.

3. Besides the Trojan Christians, there were at Troas, during these “seven days,” at least nine others, including Paul and Luke (see verse 4), who would not let a week pass without observing a stated day of worship. And yet,

4. Neither the disciples, resident at Troas, nor Paul and his companions, pay any regard to the seventh day. The whole narrative plainly intimates that Paul held himself in readiness to depart, waiting only for the stated weekly day of public service. And the seventh day has no more sacredness assigned to it than the fifth or sixth. Had it been the customary day of meeting, the disciples would have assembled on it,

and Paul would have been ready to depart on the morrow, the first day of the week. On the other hand,

5. The first day of the week was observed as the stated, customary weekly day of divine service by the Christians at Troas. The word rendered “came together” indicates this. It is most intimately related to the word in Hebrews 10: 25, rendered “assembling together.” The latter is the noun, with an added preposition, from the former word, the verb. These two terms, and another kindred word, are the common terms for regular church meetings in the New Testament. (See Hebrews 10: 25; 1 Cor. 11: 17, 18; 14: 23, 26.) Again, it will be noticed that the meeting of the disciples on this first day was for regular public services of the Christian church. They came together to “break bread,” or observe the Lord’s supper, and to hear the preaching of the Gospel. Besides, let it be noticed, it is not said that Paul summoned the disciples together; but it is said that they “came together.” Or, if we follow the reading of the oldest manuscripts, the customary character of the Christian first-day assemblage will be made even more manifest. This reading is as follows: “And upon the first day of the week, when we came together.” Whether this is the correct reading or not, it expresses undoubtedly the fact. Paul, Luke, and their companions, as well as the Trojan Christians, met for divine service, according to the usual practice of Christians generally, on the first day of the week.

It remains for us to consider the mode of reckoning time which would fix Paul’s departure from Troas on the morning of the first day of the week. Frankness and justice require us to state that even so authoritative a writer as Mr. Howson, in that able and scholarly work, “The Life and Epistles of St. Paul,” adopts this mode of reckoning, and in accordance with it, pictures out Paul’s solitary journey from Troas to Assos on the hallowed hours of the Christian Sabbath.

No one will dispute for a moment that, according to the Jewish mode of reckoning, the day would begin at sundown, and in this way the evening of the meeting at Troas would be the evening succeeding the seventh day, and Paul’s journey of nearly twenty miles would be on the first day of the week. But it is perfectly clear from the Scriptures that the Roman method of reckoning the commencement of the day had already, to some extent, supplanted the Jewish mode. Nor is it any wonder that the method of the Romans, who were at the time in authority in Palestine, should have obtained some recognition even among the Jews.

John, in a passage quoted in a former article, uses the following language: “The same day at evening, being the first day of the week.” (John 20: 19.) The meeting at Troas, in the evening of the first day, may not have been without reference to the meeting of the Lord with his disciples late in the evening of the same day he arose from the dead. But whether there is any reference in the meeting at Troas to the meeting recorded by John or not, the passage above quoted clearly proves that the late evening succeeding the first day of the week was reckoned a part of the first day, and not a part of the day following—“The same day at evening (opsia, late evening, after dark, it would appear), being the first day of the week.”

Matthew, writing particularly for Jewish Christians, adopts the Roman method in chap. 28: 1, in the expression: “In the end of the Sabbath (literally, late of the Sabbath, opse, late, away on after dark), as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week.” Here, manifestly, the seventh day is reckoned as continuing during a number of hours, which, according to the Jewish mode, belonged to the following day. If Matthew, writing for Jewish Christians, employs the Roman mode of reckoning, is it not altogether probable that Luke, writing specially for Gentiles, would adopt the same mode?

But we need only look carefully at Luke’s own language to settle this point. His statement is that Paul preached, “ready to depart on the morrow.” It is agreed on all hands that the Christian disciples at Troas came together on the first day of the week, and that Paul preached to them on that day. Now, if the time of meeting was the evening succeeding the seventh day, according to the Jewish mode of reckoning, could it be said that Paul, taking his leave at a later hour that same day, departed on the morrow? The original term, epaurion, is an adverb literally signifying “upon the morrow.” But connected with it is the feminine article, agreeing with the word, “day,” understood. This makes the expression, if possible, still more explicit—“the day which is the morrow,” the next day. Can there remain the slightest doubt as to Luke’s meaning? The Christian congregation at Troas met on one day of the week. Paul preached to them on that day. It was the first day. On the morrow, not the same day, but another, the following, the second day of the week, Paul departed, as he had held himself for some days in readiness to do, on his way to Assos. Thus, as we have a right to expect, there is no violation by the apostle and his fellow-Christians of the law of the Sabbath.

We have not dwelt upon this question of different modes of reckoning because of any importance which may be claimed for it in connection with the main inquiry before us. It is entirely immaterial to the point at issue in this discussion whether Luke employs the Jewish or the Roman mode. Even if it could be made to appear that he makes use of the former, there could be found nothing in his narrative in favor of the seventh-day Sabbath. The argument for the first-day Sabbath would still remain in its integrity, leaving for consideration simply the question as to the consistency of certain acts, in a certain case, with the law of a holy day of rest and worship. For the sake of giving a pretty full exposition of a passage important in itself, and because a wrong interpretation has been given by high authority in countenance of a mischievous theory of the Sabbath, we have occupied much of our space for this issue in showing that the evening or night of the first day of the week was the end of the Christian Sabbath, and that Paul and his companions, like good Sabbath-keeping Christians, waited, though ready to depart, until Monday morning, before starting on their journey to Assos.

We propose to conclude the argument from Scripture in our next number. After this, we shall give the testimony of the standard authorities of the first three centuries of the Christian era. And then, with the facts concerning sacred time before us, we shall inquire what theory of the Sabbath harmonizes all the authenticated facts into one consistent whole.—Christian Statesman, Jan. 4, 1873.

“OUTWARD BOUND.”

Our Father in Heaven! whose creatures we are, One boon from thy goodness we crave now of thee. Lovingly, tenderly watch o’er the bark That we in our weakness have launched on Life’s sea.

Temper the blast to the strength of the weak; Frail are all mortals and helpless are we. Tenderly, lovingly watch o’er the bark That we in our weakness have launched on Life’s sea.

On to the shore that no mortal hath seen,— Through the dread breakers that border Life’s sea: Into thy harbor, guide safe the frail bark That we in our weakness have trusted to thee.

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