William Miller would have a huge impact in early 19th century America. How did this Deist farmer from upstate New York come to be such an influential preacher? What impacted him and led to his conversion?

<p>William Miller would have a huge impact in early 19th century America. How did this Deist farmer from upstate New York come to be such an influential preacher? What impacted him and led to his conversion?</p>

Lineage: Season 2

Adam Ramdin

Lineage Journey

Episode 1: The Mayflower & The Birth of America

The First Pilgrim Season 2 Episode 3 The First Pilgrim As the Mayflower first caught sight of land off the coast of Massachusetts, that first group of pilgrims could not have imagined what would become of this land.

Whilst They were only seeking a place where they could experience freedom of worship.

As with many things in life, the reality became much bigger than the original idea.

Landing here in Plymouth Rock and settling nearby, the pilgrims struggled through the first winter, losing over 40 of their friends.

But due to the generosity of some of the local Native Americans, the rest made it through.

[♪ music ♪ ♪ music ♪ As the years passed and more people made the journey over, settlements were founded and the East coast became more and more populated until eventually there were 13 colonies.

During the rise of what would become the United States of America, these 13 colonies were under the rule of the British Crown.

But tension would build over the years until eventually war broke out between the colonies and the crown.

The British were defeated and the colonies would go on to sign the Declaration of Independence here in the Independence Hall in Philadelphia in 1776, July the 4th.

4 days later, on July the 8th, the bells would ring out in Philadelphia as the Declaration was read out.

1 of the bells that was rung is believed to have been Liberty Bell, which thereafter would go on to become a symbol of freedom.

🎵 Over the years, America will become a haven for those seeking refuge from religious persecution.

Although Western Europe had gone through a reformation, in many cases the movement of reform had stagnated, and whilst the new religion would have some different beliefs, often they administered control and discipline like the Mother Church and did not take kindly to dissenters and nonconformists.

Some coming over were seeking new opportunities, and this new land with an undiscovered interior would prove fertile terrain.

The New Pilgrims recognized the tyranny that had been imposed in Europe with state-run churches and were familiar with the corruption where church officials and priests were sometimes little more than civil servants.

Thus, as the Founding Fathers set out the Constitution and the Bill of Rights that would form the basis of the United States of America, they were very careful that the 2 institutions of church and state should remain separate.

It would read, Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

[♪ music ♪ The Church would not be beholden to the state, and the state could not act in the special interest of any particular church, but rather treat all people equally in the sight of the law.

It was Benjamin Franklin who said, when religion is good, I conceive it will support itself.

And so in America they sought to have a religion that did not rely on the support of the state.

And so this encouraged more than 1 church to form.

There was not and there is not a national Church of America, an official denomination or religion, but rather America was founded on the principle of the separation of church and state.

[♪ music ♪ This, more than anything else, is what helped make America great and has been the cause of its prosperous past and present.

Freedom of religion lies at the foundation of all other freedoms, and once this goes, the others will crumble in quick succession.

America will be a fertile ground for many churches to flourish, and over the upcoming weeks and months we will see some of the movements that took root here and grew in this land of liberty.

Stay with us over the upcoming episodes as we continue this journey and as we explore our lineage.

Episode 2: The Great Awakening

The Greatest War in the World Season 2 The Greatest War in the World Season 2 America as a nation was sought after initially by those fleeing religious persecution in Europe.

Yet upon arriving in the New World, many people slipped into religious lethargy as the pressures and opportunities of the new world envelop their lives.

In the 17 and 1800s 2 revivals would take place, known as the Great Awakening.

🎵 An integral individual in the first Great Awakening was George Whitefield.

George Whitefield attended Oxford University and was a member of the holy club along with John and Charles Wesley that sought to lead practical and spiritual revival in their lives and communities.

Upon graduating, he didn't settle in a church, but became a popular outdoor itinerant preacher and traveled to America 8 times during his life.

He died here in America and is buried here in this church in Newburyport, Massachusetts.

[♪ music ♪ In the 1740s, it's likely that apart from the King of England, George Whitfield was the most well-known Englishman in America.

His captivating sermons thrilled large audiences all up and down the eastern seaboard and led to a revival amongst all denominations, in particular the Baptists.

He is the first preacher who preached to the enslaved in the South, and this Great Awakening was the first time that African Americans had embraced Christianity in large numbers.

This first great awakening led to a multiplication of churches and greater respect and cooperation between all denominations.

🎵 Some say that this period had an impact on the changes America was soon to undergo.

Some scholars argue that the evangelical movement of the 1740s played a key role in the development of democratic thought, as well as the belief in the free press and that information should be shared unbiased and uncontrolled.

The American War of Independence and the Declaration of Independence would happen a few decades later.

♪♪ The Second Great Awakening began around 1800 and continued until the 1830s.

1 name that is associated with this revival at this time in America is Charles Finney.

He brought the camp meeting to town and established a revival formula that became copied in many other churches at the time.

This included praying for people in public by name, allowing women to testify and pray in public to mixed audiences, appointing a pew at the front of the church as the anxious bench, having a room where you could meet and pray with people, and the meetings would be protracted over several weeks in town.

[♪ music ♪ In small chapels all across the East Coast and as well as in large cities, the Revival took place.

It was especially strong in the northeasterly states in America and it marked a significant shift where it moved beyond the educated elite to those less educated and less wealthy.

A by-product of this revival were the other reform movements that it encouraged, such as the temperance movement, the abolition of slavery, and women's rights.

Structures were being broken down and the gospel was spreading.

God was using the ordained clergy and laymen alike to share the message and bring revival.

This would pave the way for people to accept the messages that humble, often unlearned men and women would share in the years ahead.

God has never been restricted academically, structurally, or by social class.

He has used, and he will continue to use, humble servants to preach his message.

Another revival will come to this world before the return of Jesus, A revival such as this world has never seen before, and God is looking for people, men and women, young and old, who will be willing to be used by Him.

Episode 3: William Miller- Early Life & Conversion

The Life of William Miller William Miller was the oldest of 16 children and was born in Lohampton, New York.

His parents were Christians and in his home there were only 3 books, the Bible, the Psalter, and the prayer book.

He had an insatiable desire to learn and would read these over and over again, but his desire to learn would lead him to others in the area with more extensive libraries than in his home.

He would borrow books, and by the light of burning pine nuts he would read them late into the night.

This soon distinguished him as 1 of the most educated people in his area, both of his own age group and those older as well.

As William Miller reached the age of marriage, he met a young lady named Lucy Smith here in the town of Pulteney, Vermont, a few miles from where he lived.

After they got married, he moved here to this town and found out that they had a library here.

Here he would spend hours day after day and was introduced to the writings of Voltaire, David Hume, and Thomas Paine, all great Deists.

Deists believed that God created the world and set it in motion, but after that he took a step backwards, detaching himself from the everyday affairs of man.

William Miller would go on to become a deist.

[♪ music ♪ In 1812, America was at war with England and William Miller had a strong sense of patriotism, and like his father before him, he volunteered to fight for his country.

In the town of Pulteney where he lived, 47 men volunteered to fight on the condition that he would be their officer.

🎵 music 🎵 2 things stood out in William's mind from this war.

The first was when a shell, just like this 1 from the Battle of Plattsburgh, exploded within 2 feet of him and 3 other men.

Whilst the others sustained injuries, he walked away unscathed.

The second was the Battle of Plattsburgh itself.

The British were much better trained and experienced, having just defeated Napoleon, yet they were soundly beaten by an army they should have routinely defeated.

The protection and providence of God was vividly impressed upon his mind and was not something he could easily shake.

[♪ music ♪ After returning to his hometown after the death of his father, he would sometimes attend church with his mother, his wife, and his children.

Whilst he was a deist, he enjoyed listening to his uncle preach, and he also wanted his children to attend church.

When his uncle was away, however, 1 of the deacons would read a prepared sermon, and 1 Sunday he told his mother that he did not want to go to church because he found the deacon's reading to be boring.

He did say, however, that he will be open to reading in the future if an opportunity arose.

Like any good mother would, she arranged for him to be the reader the next time his uncle was away, and it turned out that the sermon was about parental duties and the importance of prayer.

Whilst he was reading, he broke down crying, struck by the inconsistency by the fact that he did not pray, yet he encouraged his children to pray.

Suddenly the character of the Savior was vividly impressed upon his mind how he would atone for our sins and suffer death in our place.

He later said, "'God, open my eyes and oh my soul, what a beautiful Savior I saw Jesus to be!' He fell in love with Jesus and the Bible, and this would take him on a journey that would go far in life.

♪♪♪ The love of Jesus can melt the most stony of hearts.

Whilst William believed in God, it was an impersonal God.

Yet when he saw the loving character of God, it melted his heart and pierced through his logical and rational mind.

Maybe you are someone, or you know someone, who has similar doubts that William had.

Pray, pray that they may see the love of God.

Pray that they may open their hearts and allow Him to come in.

Episode 4: William Miller- Study & Call to Ministry

The Bible and the Church William was in love with Jesus and set out to read his Bible again.

Sitting here in this room and starting in Genesis chapter 1 verse 1, he made his way methodically through the Bible using his Cruden's Concordance.

When he came across a word or a verse that he did not understand, he would cross-reference it until he came to a full understanding.

He came to Daniel 8.14, unto 2, 300 days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed, and did not understand it.

Rather than reading on, he stopped there, stayed there, studied it out, and his conclusions would have a far-reaching impact.

🎵 The motivating factor in William's life was not a pursuit of head knowledge, but it was his love of Jesus.

It was a deep love and a force that kept him going.

As he continued his study of Daniel 8, he came to the conclusion that Jesus would come in about 25 years.

As he studied and restudied, he concluded in 1818 that Jesus would come around the year 1843.

♪♪ Yet despite having this great news, he did nothing about it, keeping it mainly to himself.

He did tell a few friends, but did nothing publicly.

He was worried that he would be made fun of and did not want to leave his hometown to speak.

He did write some articles that were published, but as yet he had done no preaching.

[♪ music ♪ William struggled with the call to preach for 13 years.

He heard in his mind over and over the words, Go and tell the world.

Finally 1 day he made a prayer of commitment that if he was asked to preach, then he would go.

He felt this was a pretty safe fleece, for no 1 was going to ask a 50-year-old farmer to preach about the Second Coming.

Not long after, his doorbell rang and his nephew Irvin Guildford was there, and he asked him if he would come to Dresden to share the things that he had been studying.

Rather than their being thankful his prayer had been answered, he stormed out the door angrily.

[♪ music ♪ He walked out of his house and came to this maple grove here and paced up and down.

His daughter Lucy followed him, and after watching a while, she went back inside and said, Mommy, something's wrong with Daddy.

He was under conviction and could not reason his way out of it.

His nephew lived over half an hour away, which meant he left his house before Miller prayed the prayer of commitment and he could thus see the moving of God in this situation.

As the sign says, he went in a farmer and came out a preacher.

🎵 music 🎵 After accepting the call to preach, Miller traveled extensively over the next 10 years across the northeastern parts of the United States with his prophecy chart and Bible with him.

Many were converted, and the revival wasn't linked to a particular denomination.

Although Miller was a Baptist, 1 estimate has him winning over 40, 000 to the Baptist Church and over 40, 000 to the Methodist Church.

It was not long before he would meet up with Joshua B.

Hines, thus extending his influence from the spoken word to the written word.

[♪ music ♪ Maybe God is calling you to the ministry to preach.

Maybe you have been resisting His call like William did for 13 years.

I want to assure you that the best place to be is safe in the peace, that you are not resisting the Holy Spirit, and that you're following God's will for your life.

If God is calling you, then step out in faith and let Him lead.

Episode 5: The Great Disappointment

Intro music As the word was preached that Jesus was coming soon, very soon, the movement gained traction and momentum.

Whilst there were doubters and scoffers, the numbers of those waiting for Jesus' return swelled.

The movement was at its strongest in the northeast of the United States of America, though it was by no means limited to just being an American phenomenon.

♪♪ Before the days of email and internet communications, God's spirit was moving on different people around the world as they studied His Word and came to similar conclusions.

In England, a preacher named Edward Irving proclaimed the soon return of Jesus.

This was a worldwide revival, fulfilling the text in Daniel 12, verse 4, that says, at the time of the end men would run to and fro and knowledge would be increased, knowledge of the Bible but in particular, knowledge of the books of Daniel and Revelation.

[♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪ The believers initially expected Jesus to return in the spring of 1844, and when He did not, this produced some disappointment, but they were greatly encouraged when Samuel Snow's studies revealed the prophecy pointed towards October the 22nd.

This brought great revival amongst the believers as they wanted to put their wrongs right and be ready to meet Jesus when he comes.

They wanted their lives to show evidence of their faith.

Some sold their houses, others closed their businesses, some farmers left their crops in their fields, and many others got baptized.

[♪ music ♪ Charles Fitch was a minister who baptized many people in the autumn of 1844, and unfortunately on 1 occasion, because there were so many people to baptize and he spent so long in the chilly New England waters, he caught pneumonia.

He died on October the 14th, but due to the faith that he and his family shared in the soon return of Jesus, they believed they would see him in just a few weeks.

[♪ music ♪ The believers in the locality of William Miller's farm gathered on his property to wait for Jesus' return and stood here on this rock, today known as Ascension Rock.

They believed they would ascend to heaven.

When Jesus did not come, they suffered a bitter disappointment and their hopes were dashed.

They had hung their lives on the belief that Jesus was coming soon, and now He hadn't.

Could they recover from the embarrassment, ridicule, and shame they would face?

Henry Emmons later said, I waited all Tuesday and dear Jesus did not come.

I waited all the forenoon of Wednesday, but after 12 o'clock I began to feel faint.

My natural strength was leaving me very fast and I lay prostrate for 2 days without any pain, sick with disappointment.' Hiram Edson later commented, Our fondest hopes and expectations were blasted, and such a spirit of weeping came over us as I have never experienced before.

It seemed that the loss of all earthly friends could have been no comparison.

The believers would now be challenged to live by faith, to hang on to God, and to trust His promises when they didn't know how, to have faith in the moment of darkness, and to trust when it doesn't seem to make sense.

This would be their test, and it's a test that comes our way as well.

Let us remember, when it does, that His eye is on the sparrow and He watches over us in the good times as well as in the tough times.

Episode 6: The Potato Preachers

The Last Judgment Chapter 2 The Last Judgment October 22, 1844 was for many people the worst day of their lives.

They had preached a message of hope about Jesus' soon return, and then all their hopes were dashed.

Friends who had ridiculed them waited with fresh ammunition in the coming days.

It was not an easy time to be a believer, but great disappointment was exactly that.

A huge disappointment to those who had eagerly waited for Jesus' return.

And while it caused a lot of embarrassment to those who had fervently preached it, all was not doomed and gloomed.

[♪ music ♪ Fervently believing in the return of Jesus, many of the believers acted practically so that their works corresponded with their faith.

Some of them sold homes earlier in the year as they believed that they would not need them soon.

Also, some of the farmers left their crops in the field, and 1 of these was named Leonard Hastings.

He had a potato patch right here, and he believed in Jesus' soon return and thought that by digging his potatoes it would be a denial of his faith.

Some of his friends did not believe in Jesus' soon return and offered to dig the potatoes for him and store them in the barn.

He was sure that he wouldn't need them, and by not digging them he would proclaim his faith.

Some said that the potatoes would rot in the ground, while others called him foolish.

The autumn of 1844 was particularly mild, and when he finally dug his potatoes in November, he found he had some of the best potatoes he had ever grown.

Some of his farmers in the area did not fare so well.

You see, in that particular part of New England there was a potato blight that rotted nearly all the potatoes that had been dug on time.

He had a huge supply of potatoes, enough for himself and some of his neighbours who had called him foolish.

In spring the next year, he was 1 of the few farmers who had seed potatoes due to the blight that happened the year before.

He was then able to sell these at $4.50 a bushel, a huge price in that day.

[♪ music ♪ Leonard Hastings wasn't the only potato patch preacher.

Silas Guildford, William Miller's brother-in-law, was another 1.

He planted a 22-acre field of potatoes here in upstate New York near Oswego in the spring of 1844.

In the autumn he didn't dig his potatoes and the snows came early.

In the spring of the next year he said to his wife that he was going to go up to the field and dig the potatoes.

She pleaded with him not to, saying they had already been the joke of the town and they didn't need to give people another reason to make fun of them.

Besides that, the potatoes would have frozen and they would have rotted in the ground.

He went up to the field with his son Irvin, and as he put his fork in the ground he dug up some lovely potatoes.

The whole field as well yielded a huge supply of some of the best potatoes he had ever seen.

He was able to sell them for $4.50 a bushel, a huge price, pay off his mortgage, and have a good amount of money left over afterwards.

God honored the faith of these believers to provide a testament of his power and watchcare over his children.

Sometimes God allows hard times to come upon us, but we are never alone.

As a mother watches over her children, so God watches over us, his children.

If you are faithful to God, then you can be assured that there are times when God will do the impossible for you to demonstrate his power.

The Bible says that the eyes of the Lord run to and fro across the face of the earth, looking for those whose hearts are perfect towards him and on whose behalf He can show His power.

Episode 7: Ellen White - Early Years

Eleanor Gould Harmon's story Eleanor Gould Harmon and her twin sister Elizabeth were born on November 26, 1827 in the town of Gora, Maine, about 12 miles west of Portland.

The state of Maine has named her birthplace a historic site, even though there is some question today over the exact place of the house.

♪♪ Her father, Robert, was a hat maker, and this was the family business.

Acting upon the information that hats sold for a much higher price in the South than the North, he headed down South to the state of Georgia.

Whilst he was gone, though, something tragic would happen.

[♪ music ♪ Ellen and Elizabeth attended the Brackett Street School.

The building stands behind me today, although it's no longer used as a school, and 1 day whilst walking home they were shouted at angrily by a bigger girl.

Sensing trouble and wanting to avoid it, they started to run, and whilst running Ellen turned to look, and in that split moment a rock smashed her in the face.

Despite bleeding heavily and fainting several times, she made it home and a doctor was called for immediately.

[♪ music ♪ The first doctor said that she wouldn't live more than a few days.

Another 1 suggested that they put some silver wire in her nose to maintain its shape, but in the end nothing was done.

She lay unconscious for 3 weeks, and when she finally regained her consciousness, she had no Recollection.

Her face was forever changed, and when her father returned from his trip down south, painfully for Ellen, he did not recognize her at first glance.

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Series

Lineage: Season 2

Episode 3: William Miller- Early Life & Conversion

Transcript

Description

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

Discovering the Prophecies

44m

The Great Second Advent Movement: A Relic of the Past or a Key to the End-time Revival

Why Should William Miller Still Be Relevant to Us

1h 24m

The Great Controversy

18 An American Reformer

6m

Fulfilling Kim’s Dream

49m

The Matchless Charms of Christ

39m

The Midnight Cry — 175 Years and Counting

45m

Lineage: Season 2

Episode 4: William Miller- Study & Call to Ministry

5m

The Way of Love

The Way of Love- Part 8

40m

Alistair Huong: Examining Our Motives

Adventist Prodigals

53m

Sound Doctrine