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Early Writings
mony left these fallen churches. A mighty work was accomplished
by the midnight cry. The message was heart-searching, leading the
believers to seek a living experience for themselves. They knew that
they could not lean upon one another.
The saints anxiously waited for their Lord with fasting, watching,
and almost constant prayer. Even some sinners looked forward to the
time with terror; but the great mass manifested the spirit of Satan in
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their opposition to the message. They mocked and scoffed, repeating
everywhere, “No man knoweth the day nor the hour.” Evil angels
urged them on to harden their hearts and to reject every ray of light
from heaven, that they might be fastened in the snare of Satan. Many
who professed to be looking for Christ had no part in the work of the
message. The glory of God which they had witnessed, the humility
and deep devotion of the waiting ones, and the overwhelming weight
of evidence, caused them to profess to receive the truth; but they
had not been converted; they were not ready for the coming of their
Lord.
A spirit of solemn and earnest prayer was everywhere felt by
the saints. A holy solemnity was resting upon them. Angels were
watching with the deepest interest the effect of the message, and
were elevating those who received it, and drawing them from earthly
things to obtain large supplies from salvation’s fountain. God’s
people were then accepted of Him. Jesus looked upon them with
pleasure, for His image was reflected in them. They had made a
full sacrifice, an entire consecration, and expected to be changed to
immortality. But they were destined again to be sadly disappointed.
The time to which they looked, expecting deliverance, passed; they
were still upon the earth, and the effects of the curse never seemed
more visible. They had placed their affections on heaven, and in
sweet anticipation had tasted immortal deliverance; but their hopes
were not realized.
The fear that had rested upon many of the people did not at once
disappear; they did not immediately triumph over the disappointed
ones. But as no visible tokens of God’s wrath appeared, they recov-
ered from the fear which they had felt and commenced their ridicule
and scoffing. The people of God were again proved and tested. The
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world laughed and mocked and reproached them; and those who
had believed without a doubt that Jesus would ere then have come to