21 . A Warning Rejected
In preaching the doctrine of the second advent , William Miller and his associates had labored with the sole purpose of arousing men to a preparation for the judgment . They had sought to awaken professors of religion to the true hope of the church and to their need of a deeper Christian experience , and they labored also to awaken the unconverted to the duty of immediate repentance and conversion to God . " They made no attempt to convert men to a sect or party in religion . Hence they labored among all parties and sects , without interfering with their organization or discipline ."
" In all my labors ," said Miller , " I never had the desire or thought to establish any separate interest from that of existing denominations , or to benefit one at the expense of another . I thought to benefit all . Supposing that all Christians would rejoice in the prospect of Christ ' s coming , and that those who could not see as I did would not love any the less those who should embrace this doctrine , I did not conceive there would ever be any necessity for separate meetings . My whole object was a desire to convert souls to God , to notify the world of a coming judgment , and to induce my fellow men to make that preparation of heart which will enable them to meet their God in peace . The great majority of those who were converted under my labors united with the various existing churches ." -Bliss, page 328 .
As his work tended to build up the churches , it was for a time regarded with favor . But as ministers and religious leaders decided against the advent doctrine and desired to suppress all agitation of the subject , they not only opposed it from the pulpit , but denied their members the privilege of attending preaching upon the second advent , or even of speaking of their hope in the social meetings of the church . Thus the believers found themselves in a position of great trial and perplexity . They loved their churches and were loath to separate from them ; but as they saw the testimony of God ' s word suppressed and their right to investigate the prophecies denied they felt that loyalty to God forbade them to submit . Those who sought to shut out the testimony of God ' s word they could not regard as constituting the church of Christ , " the pillar and ground of the truth ." Hence they felt themselves justified in separating from their former connection . In the summer of 1844 about fifty thousand withdrew from the churches .
About this time a marked change was apparent in most of the churches throughout the United States . There had been for many years a gradual but steadily increasing conformity to worldly practices and customs , and a corresponding decline in real spiritual life ; but in that year there were evidences of a sudden and marked declension in nearly all the churches of the land . While none seemed able to suggest the cause , the fact itself was widely noted and
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