Life Incidents, in Connection with the Great Advent Movement, as Illustrated by the Three Angels of Revelation XIV (Volu — Part 52

“I see you have the _Signs of the Times_, which teaches the peculiar sentiments of one William Miller. Are you a subscriber for it?”

“I am, and I think it an excellent periodical. Would you like to read it?”

I took the paper from her hand, and enjoyed reading several stirring articles from able pens, then passed it to her, and, with an air of indifference, asked, “What do you do with the long cherished opinion of nearly all great and good men, of all denominations, that the temporal millennium, in which the conversion of the whole world and the complete triumph of the church is to take place prior to the second advent?”

“I reject the doctrine. And you are mistaken, sir, as to the millennium being a long-cherished sentiment. It is an unscriptural fable of recent date. It has not been the faith of the church until the last century. The parable of the wheat and tares, as explained by our Lord, and his declaration that as it was in the days of Noah so should it be at the coming of the Son of man, forbids the idea. In fact, the prophets of the Old Testament, and the apostles of the New, describe the last days as dark, gloomy and perilous, with the church fallen, and far from God, and the world filled with crime and violence.”

“Admitting that you are right on this point, is it not very wrong to set the time, as Mr. Miller has done?”

“Bro. Miller, in searching the Scriptures, has found by the prophetic periods, as he thinks, the time of the end, and, as an honest man, has taken the cross to teach it to the world. He also sees by the signs of the times that Christ’s coming is near, even at the doors, and takes the safe side of the question to be ready, and to warn others to get ready. And all those texts usually quoted to show that men are to know nothing of the period of the second advent, do not prove what they are said to prove.”

It was evident that this woman was mistress of the subject, and as she proceeded to give the proofs in support of definite time, I interrupted her, stating that I would no longer conceal from her my faith and mission. “I am,” said I, “a full believer in the second advent of Christ as taught by Wm. Miller, and have left all to proclaim it.”