The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 4

IV. Brown-Struggle of Soul Gives Way to Peace

FREEMAN G. BROWN, likewise a Baptist minister, of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, similarly professed publicly and proclaimed effectively the soon coming of Christ in person to establish His eternal kingdom. ¹³ On April 19, 1843, he addressed the New Hampshire Baptist Convention on this paramount theme. ¹⁴’ Later, when the ecclesiastical pressure in his denomination had become intense, he wrote candidly on the issue of separation from the churches, stating: PFF4 669.1

“Many [churches].,. will not have it touched upon in their pulpits, however remotely. Others are determined on excluding those who imbibe the sentiments of Adventists, when the least pretext offers itself.” ¹⁵ But when speaking before the Baptist convention, he had at that time been earnestly searching for the secret of sanctification and praying for a real revival. He had read Fletcher and Bramwell, and had heard the discourse of Charles Fitch, whose series of lectures blending the second advent and sanctification had greatly impressed him. Then he took the “1843 Chart” and studied its “hideous” beasts. Concerning this he confides, “The repugnance with which I regarded that chart cannot be well conceived.” But those symbols manifestly pictured the inescapable language of the Bible. Brown was astonished and humbled to see that they actually stood for the kingdoms of Babylonia, Persia, Grecia, and Rome—outlined through the prophetic image of Daniel 2. And mankind was unquestionably now down in the feet of iron and clay. Therefore the book of Daniel must have been penned by inspiration, and the 490 years assuredly reached to the Messiah and the crucifixion. PFF4 669.2

Light began to break, he confided, conflict with prejudice ended, and indescribable peace filled his soul. He next came to feel that popular Protestantism was “tinctured with a little atheism, and Deism, and Unitarianism, and Universalism, and philosophy, and mysticism.” He reached a definite conclusion: “In the midst of such a clashing of opinions,” we must take the Bible. Thus Brown testified before the Baptist Association meeting. ¹⁶ That, of course, meant a break with lifelong associates. PFF4 669.3

And Brown’s experience was but typical of that of many ministers in the various churches, six of whose crisis hours he knew personally. Thus J. B. Cook of Middletown, Connecticut, wrote to Brown on April 14, 1843, declaring the similarity of his own experience.” ¹⁷ Light flooded in from the Bible. The seals of the prophecies were broken open and its mysteries unveiled. Error had given way to truth. The millennium had been clarified, and the great prophetic time periods were clearly about to end. PFF4 670.1