"And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." (Rev. 14:8)
"Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind." (Luke 14:21)
The Lord through his ministers had stirred the world with the message, "The hour of his judgment is come,"-a message on which all his professed people might have united if they would. This was the first call to the marriage "supper." It had been declared "to them that were bidden." (Luke 14:17) As this call was set aside with various excuses, a second call was given, corresponding to the second angel's message. (Luke 14:21; Rev. 14:8) By this call the Lord separated a people to go forth to the end of time with the advancing light of his truth.
The Second Call to the Marriage Supper
The second message-the one following the judgment hour cry-says, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." And the second call to the supper reads, "Go ye quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind." In each of these scriptures the Lord's professed people are called a "city." With their conflicting, confused creeds they are called "Babylon." By another scripture referring to the last times, we see that just before the Lord's coming his people are called out of "Babylon:" "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. . . . Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." (Rev. 18:2-4)
"Remember How Thou Hast Heard"
In the address to the Sardis church we read, "Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." (Rev. 3:3) [1] The Sardis church seems to have been brought out by the Reformation, after the dark period of the work of "Jezebel"-the apostate church. The church of Sardis was told that she had been a live church; but when she heard and rejected the doctrine of the Lord's coming, she placed herself where she was liable to be overtaken by that event as by a "thief in the night." So, it is stated by the apostle Paul in 1 Thess. 5:1-5, will be the condition of those who cry, "Peace and safety," when the Lord's coming is near. Those who follow the light of truth are called the "children of the day," and the Lord will not come on them as a thief.
In this prophetic description of the seven churches, we see the fall of the Sardis church is immediately followed by the Philadelphia, or (as the word signifies) brotherly love, church. Such, indeed, were the 50,000 believers who, by the second angel's message, were brought out from all the varied churches, and united in one bond of brotherly love on the great cardinal truth of the immediate advent of Christ.
How the Second Message was Proclaimed
The Midnight Cry of Sept. 12, 1844, contains a statement made by Elder J. V. Himes respecting the second angel's message, and the circumstances which led to the proclamation of the same. His letter is dated, McConnellsville, Ohio, Aug. 29, 1844, and reads:-
"When we commenced the work with Brother Miller in 1840, he had been lecturing nine years. During that time he stood almost alone. But his labors had been incessant and effectual in awakening professors of religion to the true hope of God's people, and the necessary preparation for the advent of the Lord; as also the awakening of all classes of the unconverted to a sense of their lost condition, and the duty of immediate repentance and conversion to God, as a preparation to meet the Bridegroom in peace at his coming. Those were the great objects of his labors. He made no attempt to convert men to a sect or party in religion.
"When we were persuaded of the truth of the advent at hand, and embraced the doctrine publicly, we entertained the same views, and pursued the same course among the different sects, where we were called, in the providence of God, to labor. We told the ministers and churches that it was no part of our business to break them up, or to divide and distract them. We had one distinct object, and that was to give the 'cry,' the warning of the judgment 'at the door,' and persuade our fellow-men to get ready for the event. . . . The ministry and membership who availed themselves of our labors, but had not sincerely embraced the doctrine, saw that they must either go with the doctrine, and preach and maintain it, or in the crisis which was right upon them, they would have difficulty with the decided and determined believers. They therefore decided against the doctrine, and determined, some by one policy and some by another, to suppress the subject. This placed our brethren and sisters among them in a most trying position. Most of them loved their churches, and could not think of leaving. But when they were ridiculed, oppressed, and in various ways cut off from their former privileges and enjoyments, and when the 'meat in due season' was sounded in their ears from Sabbath to Sabbath, they were soon weaned from their party predilections, and arose in the majesty of their strength, shook off the yoke, and raised the cry, 'Come out of her, my people.'
In a Trying Position
"This state of things placed us in a trying position, (1) Because we were right at the end of our prophetic time, in which we expected the Lord would gather all his people in one; and (2) we had always preached a different doctrine; and now that the circumstances had changed, it would be regarded as dishonesty in us if we should unite in the cry of separation and breaking up of churches that had received us and our message. We therefore hesitated, and continued to act on our first position, until the church and ministry carried the matter so far that we were obliged, in the fear of God, to take a position of defense for the truth and the down-trodden children of God.
Apostolic Example for Our Course
" 'And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus.' (Acts 19:8-9) It was not until 'divers were hardened' and 'spake evil of that way [the Lord's coming] before the multitude,' that our brethren were moved to come out and separate from the churches. They could not endure this 'evil speaking' of the 'evil servants,' and the churches that could pursue the course of oppression and 'evil speaking' toward those who were looking for the 'blessed hope,' were to them none other than the daughters of the mystic Babylon. They so proclaimed them, and came into the liberty of the gospel. And though we may not all be agreed as to what constitutes Babylon, we are agreed in the instant and final separation from all who oppose the doctrine of the coming and kingdom of God at hand. We believe it to be a case of life and death. It is death to remain connected with those bodies that speak lightly of or oppose the coming of the Lord. It is life to come out from all human tradition, and stand upon the word of God, and look daily for the appearing of the Lord. We therefore now say to all who are in any way entangled in the yoke of bondage, 'Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.' " (2 Cor. 6:17-18)
Unaccountable Opposition
Wm. Miller thus speaks of the conflict which existed at that time between the churches and the Adventists:-
"It is most unnatural and unaccountable that the Christian churches should exclude this doctrine and their members for this blessed hope. I know some of the Baptist churches say they do not exclude them for their faith, but for their communion with the advent believers. Then if it is not for their faith in a coming Saviour, why am I excluded from their pulpits, who have never communed with any but a Baptist church? It is a false plea. But this cannot be the plea of the Methodists and Presbyterians; for they believe in mixed communion. What do they exclude for? I heard of some being excluded for 'hymning' second advent melodies; others for insanity, when all the insanity proved against them was, they were watching for Christ. O God, 'forgive them, for they know not what they do.' "
Storrs on the Attitude of the Churches
George Storrs spoke of the attitude of the churches toward the Adventists, on this wise:-
"Which of them, at this moment, are not saying, 'I sit as a queen'? And which of them are not pleasing themselves with the idea that some day they are to effect the conquest of the world, and that it is to be subjected to their faith? Which of them will suffer a soul to remain among them in peace, that openly and fearlessly avows his faith in the advent at the door? Are not the terms of remaining among them undisturbed, that you 'wholly refrain' from a public expression of faith in the coming of the Lord this year, whatever your convictions may be on the subject, and however important you may feel it to cry, 'Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come'?"
Mansfield's Testimony
L. D. Mansfield, writing from Oneida, N.Y., March 21, 1844, thus testifies:- "God is moving upon the minds of his dear children who are waiting for the Lord from heaven, and leading them not only to heed the angel 'having the everlasting gospel to preach, saying, The hour of his judgment is come,' but to obey the subsequent command, 'Come out of her, my people!' I am more fully persuaded than ever before, that the religious organizations of the present day constitute no small portion of that Babylon which is to be thrown down with violence, and found no more at all. . . . It seems to me, however, that in some of the organizations the resemblance to the little horn is most striking. Some instances will illustrate the matter.
The Mob Spirit Manifest
"A brother who had labored very successfully in this region, in proclaiming the coming of the Lord, made an appointment to lecture at a certain place at a given time. The Lord so ordered it that he was sixteen miles from the appointment, but a-min-ister was present, at the head of a mob, with tar and feathers, for the purpose of applying them to that servant of the Most High God. This same minister commenced a protracted meeting soon after, but all was as cold and icy as the glacier of the North-no souls awakened or converted. At length the minister said he believed he should 'have to take the anxious seat.'
"A class-leader in this village said to his class since we have been holding meetings here, that if any man should come into his house and say he believed Christ would come this year, he would turn him out of doors."
Duty to the Churches
We will at this point introduce a testimony from an address to the advent conference of believers assembled in Boston, Mass., dated May 31, 1844, and signed by Wm. Miller, Elon Galusha, N. N. Whiting, Apollos Hale, and J. V. Himes. They say:-
"Upon our duty to the churches we may also say a word. The danger here, as in most other cases, appears to us to be in the extremes. The first form of the danger is that of allowing the authority of the church with which we may be associated to impose silence upon us in such a question of duty. We have no doubt thousands have brought themselves into condemnation
before God by yielding to the unscriptural claims of their churches in this matter, who, if they had been decided and faithful, would now be in a much more safe condition, and more useful, though they might also be called to suffer.
"The second form of danger is that of yielding to a spirit of revenge against the churches on account of their injustice toward us, and of waging an indiscriminate warfare against all such organizations. As to the duty of the Adventists, in reference to the churches with which they may be associated, if we were called upon to do it, we could give no directions which could be of general application. They must act in the fear of God, as the circumstances of the case require.
"We should, however, be decided in doing our duty, in testifying for the truth on all proper and suitable occasions. And if by taking this course we give offense to the churches, and they threaten us with expulsion unless we remain silent (though if we see fit to dissolve our relation to the church amicably, it may be the better way), let us do our duty, and when we are expelled, be patient in suffering the wrong, and be willing with our Master to 'go forth without the gate, bearing his reproach.' "
From these quotations respecting the action of the churches toward those giving the second angel's message, it can be readily seen how, as the first result of giving this second call to the "supper," those who were gathered into one spiritual fold are spoken of as the "maimed," "the halt," and "the blind," which strongly suggests the ill treatment they had received from the "smiting" of their "fellow-servants," from whom they had been separated.
A Separate People Chosen to Receive New Truths
The purpose of the Lord can be clearly discerned in bringing out a distinct people under the proclamation of the second angel's message-the second call to the "supper"-and the "midnight cry." Precious truths for the last days were to be searched out and proclaimed-a work which could not be done in "creed-bound" churches any more than the heralding of the gospel to the world could be accomplished by the apostolic church while retaining a connection with the Jewish sects. God called for separation there, (Acts 13:46) and he also called for separation of the advent believers from those who would seek to hold them in the circle of their creeds.
Storrs's Six Sermons
Soon after this coming out we note that the light came to the advent bands on the subject of future punishment, as set forth in the pamphlet, Six Sermons, by George Storrs, taking the position that man by nature is mortal; that the dead are unconscious between death and the resurrection; that the final punishment of the ungodly will be total extinction; and that immortality is a gift of God, to be received only by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Thousands of the Adventists accepted this doctrine of man's nature, but not all of them. The rejection of it brought no confusion among them, as it was regarded as a matter of belief simply, and no test of moral standing; hence the united effort to warn the world of the near approach of Christ was unbroken. It did, however, have the effect to stir up the ire of the churches against them.
Unable to Refute the Six Sermons
The Methodist minister in the town where I lived, and who had previously joined in preaching the advent doctrine in 1843, received the Six Sermons, read it, and admitted to his church members that he was unable to refute the doctrine; but on finding that many of his church members were accepting it, he advised others not to read the book, as they "would believe the doctrine if they read it." In the month of September, 1844, after this minister returned from the annual conference, he arose in his pulpit and publicly renounced the advent doctrine, and humbly asked the pardon of the church for ever inviting the lecturers to speak in the house.
Tried for Heresy
This action on the part of the minister was soon followed by an effort to deal with the advent believers for heresy; but as they were allowed to plead their cases from the Bible, no victory was gained by the church. Several were excluded from this church because their course was not in harmony with the discipline, and many others withdrew because of this exclusion of members whose faith could not be shown to be contrary to the Scriptures. Thus the advent doctrine was forever shut out of the church where hundreds had found the Saviour and been made happy in God.
What was done in my native town was also enacted in hundreds of other churches throughout the country. Those who were thus treated by their former brethren found much consolation in the words of the prophet Isaiah: "Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word: Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified; but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed." (Isa. 66:5)
Wrath of the Wicked Displayed
As the day drew near on which the Lord was expected, the believers became more earnest in their labors, and the wicked raged and scoffed the more fiercely, as will be seen by the following statement made by the editor of the Midnight Cry of Oct. 31, 1844:-
"The effect that this movement produced upon the wicked, also greatly served to confirm us in our belief that God was in it. When God's children were met together to prostrate and humble themselves before him, and to prepare for his appearing, as it became a company of sinners to do, who would only be saved by grace, the wicked manifested the greatest malice. When we had given no notice of our meetings save in our own paper, nor had invited the public there, the sons of Belial crowded into them, and caused much disturbance. On the evening of Saturday, the 12th instant [Oct. 12, 1844], we held no meeting at the tabernacle, that the sexton [janitor], might have an opportunity to cleanse the house for the Sabbath [Sunday]. But the mob broke into the house, and refused even that privilege. The mayor, however, unsolicited, promptly interfered, and expelled them.
"At our meetings on the Sabbath following, after the tabernacle was filled, a dense crowd occupied the street in front of the building, many of them being enraged that any should believe in the advent of the Lord. In the evening, on account of the excitement of the populace, no meeting was held; yet the street was filled with the mob at an early hour; but the prompt interference of the mayor and his efficient police cleared the street, after sending a few to the watch-house. We could only liken the conduct of the mob to that which surrounded the door of Lot, on the evening pending the destruction of Sodom. . . . This movement on their part was so sudden, simultaneous, and extensive, that its manifestation on the first day of the Jewish seventh month strengthened us in our opinion that this must be the month."
Scoffers Put on Ascension Robes
On the 22nd of October, 1844, the day the twenty-three hundred days terminated, at Paris, Maine, while the believers were assembled in the house of worship, engaged in solemn prayer to God, in expectation that the Lord would come that day, the scoffing mockers gathered around the house, singing songs in burlesque. Two of these rowdies put on long white robes and climbed upon the house top, sang songs, and mocked those in the house who were praying and waiting for the Lord to come.
It is probable that from this circumstance originated the falsehoods circulated about Adventist's putting on ascension robes; for notwithstanding advent papers have offered rewards as high a $500 for one authentic instance where an Adventist put on an ascension robe in 1844, and thus waited for the Lord to come, not one case has ever been produced.
Hazen Foss's Vision, 1844
About this time there lived in Poland, Maine, a young man by the name of Hazen Foss, who firmly believed the Lord would come on the tenth day of the seventh month. He was a man of fine appearance, pleasing address, and quite well educated. A few weeks before the "midnight cry" ended, the Lord came near and gave him a vision, in which he was shown the journey of the advent people to the city of God, with their dangers. Some messages of warning were given to him, which he was to deliver, and he had also a view of the trials and persecution that would consequently follow if he was faithful in relating what had been shown him. He, like Mr. Foy, was shown three steps by which the people of God were to come fully upon the pathway to the holy city. Being a firm believer in the Lord's coming "in a few more days" (as they then sang), the part of the vision relating to the three steps onto the pathway was to him unexplainable; and being naturally of a proud spirit, he shrunk from the cross, and refused to relate it. The vision was repeated the second time, and in addition he was told that if he still refused to relate what had been shown him, the burden would be taken from him, and be given to one of the weakest of the Lord's children, one who would faithfully relate what God would reveal. He again refused. Then a third vision was given, and he was told that he was released, and the burden was laid upon one of the weakest of the weak, who would do the Lord's bidding.
Foss Fails to Relate His Vision
This startled the young man, and he decided to relate what had been shown him, and accordingly gave out his appointment. The people crowded together to see and hear. He carefully related his experience, how he had refused to relate what the Lord had shown him, and what would result from his refusal. "Now," said he, "I will relate the vision." But alas! it was too late: he stood before the people as dumb as a statue, and finally said in the deepest agony, "I cannot remember a word of the vision." He wrung his hands in anguish, saying, "God has fulfilled his word. He has taken the vision from me," and in great distress of mind said, "I am a lost man." From that time he lost his hope in Christ, and went into a state of despair. He never attended an Adventist meeting again, and had no personal interest in religion. His demeanor in many respects, to say the least, has been that of one deprived of the gentle influence of the Spirit of the Master, of one "left to his own ways, to be filled with his own doings." In this condition of mind he died in 1893.
Foss's Vision Related by Another
About three months from the time he failed to recall his vision, he heard from an adjoining room a vision related by another. The meeting was held in a dwelling-house where he was. He was urged to come into the meeting, but refused to do so. He said the vision was as near like that shown him as two persons would relate the same thing. And thus was known what he saw but could not remember when trying to relate it. On getting a view of the person afterward, he said, "That is the instrument on whom the Lord has laid the burden."
Sadly Disappointed
The tenth day of the seventh month, Jewish time (Oct. 22, 1844), at last came. It found thousands upon thousands who were looking to that point for the consummation of their hopes. They had made provisions for nothing earthly beyond that date. They had not even cherished the thought, "if it doesn't come," but had planned their worldly affairs as they would if they had expected that day to end the period of their natural lives. They had warned and exhorted the wicked to flee from the wrath to come, and many of these feared that the message might prove true. They had counseled and prayed with their relatives, and had bidden good-bye to such of them as had not given their hearts to God. In short, they had bidden adieu to all earthly things with all the solemnity of one who regards himself as about to appear face to face with the Judge of all the earth. Thus, in almost breathless anxiety, they assembled at their places of worship, expecting, momentarily, to hear "the voice of the archangel and the trump of God," and to see the heavens ablaze with the glory of their coming King.
The hours passed slowly by, and when at last the sun sank below the western horizon, the Jewish tenth day of the seventh month was ended. The shades of night once more spread their gloomy pall over the world; but with that darkness came a pang of sadness to the hearts of the advent believers, such in kind as can only find a parallel in the sorrow of the disciples of our Lord, as they solemnly wended their way to their homes on the night following the crucifixion and burial of him whom but a little while before they had triumphantly escorted into Jerusalem as their King.
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