The Midnight Cry
Lesson 40
1
On the Road
with
James White
Winter 1843
Gardner
Sidney
Augusta
Richmond
Borden
Bowdoinham
Brunswick
2
At an advent camp meeting in Exeter, Maine,
in 1842, James White heard clear and
powerful preaching on Daniel 8:14, and he
decided to leave his job of teaching school and
become an advent preacher.
3
Like John Wesley, he went by horseback,
and during one winter, he visited several
towns in Maine.
He was armed with an eye-catching chart,
which he used in his preaching. Over
1,000 people were converted during a sixweek period due to his circuit-riding
preaching.
4
But he was not always welcomed in the towns.
At one time a mob hurled snowballs and other
objects at him.
5
In the autumn of 1843 at Knox, Maine, the Eastern
Christian Conference was held. James White had
been preaching the advent message for a year,
and he attended the conference. The conference
was split on the Millerite doctrine, with the majority
favoring it, but with the older and more sedate
ministers doubting or rejecting it.
6
James’s supporters urged him to preach at the
conference, but the ruling ministers gave him no
opportunity. On the last day of the conference,
James felt impressed by the Holy Spirit that he
should proclaim the advent message, but an
elderly, conservative minister was scheduled to
preach.
7
What should he do? He went to a quiet place and
prayed and then returned filled with the God’s Spirit.
The church was crowded. As he entered the church
and made his way toward the front, two of the men
seated on the platform came down, took him by the
arms, and guided him up onto the platform to sit with
them, saying if he wanted to preach, he would have
the chance. No one knew how he would get the
chance because the service had already been
planned and was about to begin.
8
James whispered to one of the two men, “If you will
lead a hymn,” and to the other man, “if you will
have the prayer,” and then to them both, “and if I
can get a hold of the pulpit Bible, then I will preach.”
9
You see, the protocol was that whoever held the
pulpit Bible, he was the one to preach.
10
So, the first brother sang, the second brother
prayed, and during prayer, James White picked up
the pulpit Bible!
The prayer ended, the other men noticed the Bible
in Brother James’s lap, but courtesy required that
he be left with it, so they said nothing.
Another Advent hymn was sung, and then James
boldly stepped up to preach!
11
And he preached a powerful sermon. At the end,
James and his two sisters sang one of the new
Advent songs:
12
You will see the Lord a-coming
You will see the Lord a-coming
You will see the Lord a-coming
In a few more days.
When that heavenly, heavenly music,
When that heavenly, heavenly music,
When that heavenly, heavenly music,
Will go sounding through the air.
13
And good, old Brother Clark, the very one who had
led out in prayer, rose up each time the chorus was
sung, shouting “Glory” and clapping his hands.
14
Everyone was, and still is, expecting Jesus to come!
15
Members of a religious organization called Heaven’s
Gate believed that the coming of the comet Hale-Bopp
in 1997 was the sign for which they had been waiting. A
spaceship was coming in the trail of the comet to take
them from this world to their heavenly home. They had
been, as it were, in a classroom here on earth and now
they were to graduate to heaven. They needed to shed
their earthly bodies, or containers, as they called them, to
board this spacecraft, so the thirty-nine members of the
organization, from teenage to elderly, committed suicide
in order to rendezvous with the spaceship. They were
going to heaven and had been waiting twenty-two years
for this trip!
16
In 2011 a group led by Harold Camping preached
that Jesus was returning on May 21, 2011.
17
O’Dea at WikiCommons
18
Eli the Bearded
19
And, sadly, even among people today who
used to believe in Seventh-day Adventism are
those who set a recent date for the return of
Jesus and who now have recalculated a new
date. We do not need to be deceived, however,
for the Bible says:
20
Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day
nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh
(Matthew 25:13).
21
The Bible does not give us the date that
Jesus will return, but we can know that
the time is near, and while we wait, we
are told to watch and pray.
22
And under inspiration, Ellen White wrote:
This time which the angel declares with a
solemn oath, is not the end of this world’s
history, neither of probationary time, but of
prophetic time, which should precede the advent
of our Lord. That is, the people will not have
another message upon definite time. After this
period of time, reaching from 1842 to 1844,
there can be no definite tracing of the prophetic
time. The longest reckoning reaches to the
autumn of 1844. (Manuscript Releases, vol. 1,
p. 100)
23
But in the summer of 1844, God’s people were
confused. At first they had expected Jesus to
come in 1843, then in the spring of 1844, and now
it was summer, and Jesus had not come.
24
Samuel S.
Snow
In 1843 he left his family and
began proclaiming the
Advent message full time,
without wages.
25
William Miller studied Daniel and
Revelation and wrote a book in 1833
entitled Evidences from Scripture and
History of the Second Coming of Christ
about the year A.D. 1843, and of His
Personal Reign of 1000 Years
26
“I stand before you as a monument of the grace of
God, a living proof of his truths. . . . A few years ago
I was a callous and hardened Infidel, and was so for
years . . . Falling in with unbelievers in the Bible and
various skeptics, I became impregnated with their
false doctrines, and, up to my 35th year, I was a
settled unbeliever in the Bible. . . . From 1833 to
1839, I was a constant patron of the Boston
Investigator, the organ of the Infidels. . . . I took an
active part in this cause, and was for several years
an agent for the Investigator . . . and a contributor to
its columns.”
27
“I remained a skeptic till 1839, and then, through the power of
God, who ordered my steps to be turned into the right way, a
book written by Mr. Miller fell into my hands, which advocated
the coming of Christ. . . . I had often heard of Mr. Miller and his
views, and supposed them to be all moonshine. . . . I took the
book home and read it, and the more I read it the more was I
impressed with its truth. . . . I saw the perfect harmony between
Daniel and the Revelation, . . . that the Bible, which I had so
long rejected, was the word of God, . . . [and] that I had been
rebelling against [God]. . . . I prayed to God in secret, I prayed in
my family, and I went forward in the discharge of that duty that
belongs to Christians.” (Samuel Snow; quoted in Lest We
Forget, 2nd Quarter, 1993, p. 4.)
28
“I believe that as certain as the Bible is God’s
truth, that just so certain the next event will be the
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ibid.)
After closely studying the prophetic calculations,
Mr. Snow became convinced they were in error.
The true end of time was the autumn of 1844.
29
In the parable of Matthew 25 the time of
waiting and slumber is followed by the coming of
the bridegroom. . . . and the “midnight cry” was
heralded by thousands of believers.(The Great
Controversy, p. 400)
30
And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold,
the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
(Matthew 25:6)
31
Like a tidal wave the movement swept over the
land. From city to city, from village to village, and
into remote country places it went, until the
waiting people of God were fully aroused.
Fanaticism disappeared before this proclamation
like early frost before the rising sun. Believers
saw their doubt and perplexity removed, and
hope and courage animated their hearts. (The
Great Controversy, p. 400)
32
triplej
33
Ian Chan
34
There was little ecstatic joy, but rather deep
searching of heart, confession of sin, and forsaking
of the world. A preparation to meet the Lord was
the burden of agonizing spirits. There was
persevering prayer and unreserved consecration to
God. (Ibid., pp. 400, 401)
35
Of all the great religious movements since
the days of the apostles, none have been
more free from human imperfection and the
wiles of Satan than was that of the autumn of
1844. Even now, after the lapse of many
years, all who shared in that movement and
who have stood firm upon the platform of truth
still feel the holy influence of that blessed
work and bear witness that it was of God.
(Ibid., p. 401)
36
Joseph Bates attended the same Advent camp
meeting in New Hampshire that Samuel Snow
attended, and Bates wrote of it in his
autobiography. He also wrote of a “tarry” time
which we read about in Habakkuk 2:3:
37
For the vision is yet for an appointed time,
but at the end it shall speak, and not lie:
though it tarry, wait for it; because it will
surely come, it will not tarry.
38
“Soon after the tarry of the vision of 2300 days,
the second angel’s message began to be
proclaimed. While moving on in this message
into the summer of 1844, the definite time for
the close of the vision began to be taught. But
the leading ministers opposed. A camp-meeting
was appointed to convene in Exeter, N. H., on
the 12th of August. On my way there in the
cars, something like the following was several
times very forcibly presented to my mind: ‘You
are going to have new light here! something
that will give a new impetus to the work.
39
“On my arrival there, I passed around among the
many tents to learn if there was any new light. I
was asked if I was going to the Exeter tent, and
was told that they had new light there. I was soon
seated among them, listening to what they called
‘the midnight cry.’ This was new light, sure
enough.
40
“It worked like leaven throughout the whole camp.
And when that meeting closed, the granite hills of
New Hampshire were ringing with the mighty cry,
‘Behold the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet
him.’ As the loaded wagons, stages, and railroad
cars, rolled away through the different States, cities
and villages of New England, the cry was still
resounding, ‘Behold the bridegroom cometh!’ Christ,
our blessed Lord, is coming on the tenth day of the
seventh month! Get ready! get ready!!” (The
Autobiography of Elder Joseph Bates, p. 297)
41
Samuel S. Snow
• Rejected the message Hiram Edson had
received that the date was correct but the event
was that Jesus had entered the most holy place.
•
He continued to search for a date of the second
coming--October 22, 1845, 1846, 1847
• Adopted the “shut door” theory that the date was
correct but the event was that Jesus had come
spiritually, had shut the door to his house, and
only those who entered on the 22nd of October
1844 were saved.
42
FYI: The shut door that Ellen White accepted
was the door to the holy place:
“I saw that Jesus had shut the door of the holy
place, and no man can open it; and that He had
opened the door into the most holy, and no
man can shut it . . .
The enemies of the present truth have been
trying to open the door of the holy place, that
Jesus has shut, and to close the door of the
most holy place, which He opened in 1844 . . .”
43
Samuel S. Snow
(continued)
• Established a new group in 1845 called the
Mount Zion Church
• Thought himself to be as Elijah, the prophet,
preparing the way for the return of Christ
• Refused to accept the emerging Seventh-day
Adventist Church, the seventh day Sabbath,
the sleeping state of the dead, or the
prophetic gift of Ellen White
44
It was not long after the passing of the time, in 1844,
that my first vision was given me. I was visiting Mrs.
Haines at Portland, a dear sister in Christ, whose
heart was knit with mine; five of us, all women, were
kneeling quietly at the family altar. While we were
praying, the power of God came upon me as I had
never felt it before. (Christian Experience and
Teachings of Ellen G. White, p. 57)
45
I seemed to be surrounded with light, and to be
rising higher and higher from the earth. I turned to
look for the advent people in the world, but could
not find them, when a voice said to me, “Look
again, and look a little higher.” At this, I raised my
eyes, and saw a straight and narrow path, cast up
high above the world. On this path the advent
people were traveling to the city which was at the
farther end of the path. They had a bright light set
up behind them at the beginning of the path, which
an angel told me was the “midnight cry.” (Ibid.)
46
This light shone all along the path, and gave light
for their feet, so that they might not stumble. (Ibid.)
47
If they kept their eyes fixed on Jesus, who was
just before them, leading them to the city, they
were safe. But soon some grew weary, and said
the city was a great way off, and they expected to
have entered it before. Then Jesus would
encourage them by raising His glorious right arm,
and from His arm came a light which waved over
the advent band, and they shouted “Alleluia!”
(Ibid.)
48
Others rashly denied the light behind them, and
said that it was not God that had led them out so
far. The light behind them went out, leaving their
feet in perfect darkness, and theystumbled and lost
sight of the mark and of Jesus, and fell off the path
down into the dark and wicked world below. (Ibid.)
49
Remember Joshua Himes? He published the
Millennial Harp, 300 pages of newly-written
Advent hymns, some of which we continue to sing
today, hymns such as
50
You will see the Lord a-coming
You will see the Lord a-coming
You will see the Lord a-coming
In a few more days.
When that heavenly, heavenly music,
When that heavenly, heavenly music,
When that heavenly, heavenly music,
Will go sounding through the air.
51
Another early Advent hymn sung is the Isaac
Watts hymn, “Lo, What a Glorious Sight Appears,”
#446 in the new SDA hymnal:
52
Lo, what a glorious sight appears
To our believing eyes;
The earth and seas are passed away,
And the old rolling skies.
And the old rolling skies!
And the old rolling skies!
The earth and seas are passed away
And the old rolling skies!
53
Chorus:
O that will be joyful, joyful, joyful,
O that will be joyful
When we meet to part no more,
When we meet to part no more
On Canaan’s happy shore.
Tis there we’ll meet, at Jesus’ feet,
When we meet to part no more.
54
Three Angels’ Messages
• First message was given by William Miller,
starting in 1831 (Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, p.
207)
• Second message was first preached in the
summer of 1844 (The Great Controversy, p.
389)
• Third message was preached starting
October 23, 1844 (Early Writings, p. 254)
55
I saw that this message will close with power and
strength far exceeding the midnight cry. Servants
of God, endowed with power from on high with their
faces lighted up, and shining with holy
consecration, went forth to proclaim the message
from heaven. (Early Writings, pp. 278, 279)
56