“‘Dear Brn. Himes and Bliss.—I cannot sit down to write without the reflection that this letter may never reach its destination. Yet I believe in occupying until Christ shall come. Therefore, I still feel it to be my duty to occasionally drop you a line, to let you know how my soul prospers, and how my faith holds out. As it respects the soul, I have never enjoyed more calmness of mind, nor more resignation to the holy will of God, and patience of spirit, than I have within a few weeks past. My soul, I think, is stayed on God and I enjoy peace like a river. For years past I have often had a spirit of impatience for Christ to come, and I have felt grieved in soul because I found in my heart so much of what I called a spirit of fretfulness and a mind full of impatience. But I bless God I have had but little of that recently. I have had great reason to thank God for his abundant goodness in this respect. My faith is stronger than ever; and this is somewhat remarkable, when I reflect on the disappointment I have met in my former expectations. But here, too, I see the good hand of God in my strength of faith.
“‘I have read with much interest and great satisfaction your “Address to the Adventists.” And I am perfectly satisfied it is the right ground for you to take. I believe the ground we have formerly stood upon, as it regards the chronology of prophecy, is the only ground we can take; and if the defect is in human chronology, then no human knowledge is sufficient in this age to rectify it, with any degree of certainty; and I see no good that can be accomplished by taking a stand for any future period, with less evidence than we had for 1843-4. For those who would not believe, with the evidence we then produced, we cannot expect will now believe with much less testimony.
“‘Again it is to me almost a demonstration that God’s hand is seen in this thing. Many thousands, to all human appearance, have been made to study the Scriptures by the preaching of the time; and by that means, through faith and the sprinkling of the blood of Christ, have been reconciled to God. And those of us who have been familiar with the fruits and effects of the preaching of this doctrine, must acknowledge that he has been with us in so doing, and his wisdom has in a great measure marked out our path, which he has devised for such good as he will accomplish in his own time and manner; as in the case of Ninevah by the preaching of Jonah. If this should be the real state of the case, and we should go on to set other times in the future, we might possibly be found frustrating, or trying to, at least, the purposes of God, and receive no blessing. I think my brethren will all admit that God has been in the work, and he has tried our faith in the best possible manner. The vision has been made plain on tables. We have had a tarrying time. And now we are having our time of patience unto the coming of the Lord. Then I say, Let patience have its perfect work. I have great hope, and a good confidence. I think I may safely say that the Lord will make his appearance yet before this Jewish year shall terminate. And if so, and we should be looking for years to come, we should not do well. Therefore, the only safe measure for me to pursue, under the best light I can now get, is to keep what light I have burning, and look and expect him every day until he comes. This is my present position, and the greatest danger which those are in who take this position, will be the loss of patience and a neglect of watching and prayer. To remedy this, I would advise that we keep ourselves as much as possible from worldly associations, vain and trifling conversation, wrangling or disputing on any subject; and when we do hold conversation, let it be with those whose conversation is in Heaven, from whence we look for the Saviour. And when we pray, remember God hears every word, and knows every motive which dictates our prayers; and be sure that we be honest before God.
“‘If the experience which we have passed through, from the beginning of the present year,—the tarrying time from April until October and the sanctifying influence of the seventh month, with the humiliation and patience of those who are evidently looking for the redemption of the true Israel,—is not the beginning and preparation of the final cleansing of the sanctuary, then I will acknowledge I am deceived. The great fault with us who have been expounding the time of the fulfillment of prophecy, is, we have crowded all these things into a very unwarrantable short space of time, we have given no time for preparation, we were too impatient. Therefore, we are exhorted to be patient, and James says, “The Judge standeth at the door.” I am fully convinced the work has already begun. Let us then have patience, brethren, from this time until he comes; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
“‘We have erred in many things, and even the second advent brethren were not prepared for the coming of Christ; they had, many of them, left the work of the Lord, and had been doing their own work. The work of the Lord, which he had commanded us to do, was to make the vision plain, to write it on tables, to give the alarm, the midnight cry, and wake up the virgins; and while these things, and these things only were attended to, our work prospered, and God was with us. And now, my dear brethren, permit me to be plain: I hope all who are worth saving are humble enough to bear my reproof, and I mean to give it with the sincerest of motives, and with the kindest affection of my heart.
“‘The causes which required God’s chastising hand upon us, were, in my humble opinion, Pride, Fanaticism, and Sectarianism. Pride worked in many ways. We ascribed our conquest in argument over our opponents to ourselves. We were seeking the honors or applause of men more than of God. We were some of us seeking to be leaders, instead of being servants—boasting too much of our doings. And Fanaticism: I know our enemies accused of this before we were guilty; but this did not excuse us for running into it. A thousand expressions were used, without thought or reflection, and I thought sometimes very irreverently, such as, “Bless God,” &c. I was afraid it was done in very many cases to the appearance of outward piety, rather than as the hidden manna of the heart. Sometimes our meetings were distinguished by noise and confusion, and, forgive me, brethren, if I express myself too strongly, it appeared to me more like Babel than a solemn assembly of penitents bowing in humble reverence before a holy God. I have often obtained more evidence of inward piety from a kindling eye, a wet cheek, and a choked utterance, than from all the noise in Christendom. Sectarianism: this is always produced by some private opinion of man, rather than by the plain declaration of God’s word. For years after I began to proclaim this blessed truth of Christ at the door, I never, if possible to avoid it, even alluded to sectarian principles; and the first objection my Baptist brethren brought against me, was, I mixed with, and preached unto, all denominations, even to Unitarians, &c. But we have recently, my brethren, been guilty of raising up a sect of our own; for, the very things which our fathers did, when they became sects, we have been doing. We have, like them, cried Babylon! Babylon!! Babylon!!! against all but Adventists. We have proclaimed and discussed, “pro et con,” many sectarian dogmas which have nothing to do with our message. May God forgive us. And now, brethren, we have need of patience, that after we have done the will of God, we may receive the promise. Yours as ever,
“‘Wm. Miller.’
On the 28th and 29th of December, 1844, a Conference was held at Low Hampton, where the following address, prepared by Bro. Miller at the request of the brethren, was presented by a committee, and unanimously adopted by the Conference:—
“‘ADDRESS TO ADVENT BELIEVERS.
“To the dear Second Advent brethren, scattered abroad: despised, but not forsaken; poor, yet making many rich; discarded by the proud Pharisees of our day, yet not discouraged; cruelly treated for the doctrine you love, and yet holding firmly to your hope of salvation at the door.