Sketches of the Christian life and public labors of William Miller : $b Gathered from his memoir by the late Sylvester Bliss, and from other sourcesWhite, James
Philosophy
Sketches of the Christian life and public labors of William Miller : $b Gathered from his memoir by the late Sylvester Bliss, and from other sources
White, James
Miller, William, 1782-1849
“‘He was then silent for a few moments, apparently in a deep
study. Presently he introduced the subject of my connection
with the Advent cause, and spoke of my responsibility;
expressed much anxiety about the cause, and alluded to his own
departure. I assured him that he had faithfully discharged
his duty, was clear from the blood of all men, and could now
leave this matter in the hands of God; and, so far as I was
concerned, I hoped for grace to enable me to be faithful in the
ministry I had received. He seemed to assent, and fell into
a doze,—being weak, and unable to converse longer than a few
moments at a time.
“‘He then spoke on the subject of the “spirit of adoption,”
which we have now, and of the final adoption for which we look
_at_ the second coming of the blessed Saviour. Last evening he
said to Bro. Bosworth:—
“‘Tell them [the brethren] we are right. The coming of the Lord
draweth nigh; but they must be patient, and wait for him.’
“‘His mind is still clear and strong on the subject of the
conscious intermediate state. He believes that when he shall
be absent from the body he will be present with the Lord. He
expects that his flesh will slumber in the ground till Jesus
comes and bids it rise, when he will be perfected. He never
looked for the crown at death, but at the time when Jesus
should come in his glory. The intermediate state is not that
for which he longs most (though, with the apostle, he thinks it
is “better” than this state of toil and sorrow), but the final,
the glorified state, when the body shall be redeemed, and made
like unto the glorious body of Christ, is the subject of this
hope.
“‘For some weeks past, his mind dwelt much on the subjects of
the Judgment, the “adoption,” and the new heavens and earth.
“‘Such views of the future glory tended to mitigate the pains
of his body, which, at times, were violent.
“‘Happy the spirit released from its clay.’
was one of the hymns in which he was deeply interested during
the last four weeks of his life. It was sung by his children,
and those who visited him, repeatedly, at his request. It
enraptured his soul during his last hours, when he seemed to be
absent, conversing with God and Heaven. He often repeated:—
“‘Victory! victory! shouting in death!’
“‘The closing scene finally came. On the 20th of December, in
the morning, it was manifest to all that he must soon depart.
During the morning he made no particular conversation, but
would break forth in expressions like the following:—
“‘Mighty to save!’ ‘Oh, I long to be there!’ ‘Victory!
victory!’ ‘Shouting in death!’ &c.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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