The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 4

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO: Miller’s Power in the Pulpit

I. Foremost Herald of the Approaching Advent

As a spiritual leader Miller was held in highest esteem by his ministerial associates all through the course of the Advent Movement. He was constantly referred to and always regarded as a minister, not a layman.’ ¹ His thorough understanding of Scripture and his power in public address commanded the highest respect, admiration, and love of his supporters, who often affectionately called him Father Miller. He was humble and teachable, ever holding himself subject to correction by his brethren. He never sought power or control, and was remarkably charitable toward those who differed from him. PFF4 681.1

Irrespective of the speaking and writing effectiveness of a score of able ministers who stood close to him in leadership—and of the two hundred or more other ministers and five hundred associated public lecturers midway through the movement ² many of whom were laymen-Miller remained the acknowledged leader of the American Advent Movement, which was everywhere popularly known as the Millerite movement. And among them, often with pronounced scholarship and source Collection.)platform and writing ability, there was none who had greater power in attracting and holding giant audiences than did Miller year after year. He was the chief speaker at their greatest gatherings. Miller received tremendous publicity, and was constantly in the spotlight of the public press. The President himself, investigators observed, did not occupy a more prominent place in the news of the day. Millerism even divided front-page space with the hot political campaign between Henry Clay and James K. Polk. PFF4 681.2

That Miller was in no sense the originator of the system that bore his name is obvious. Rather, every leading tenet of the Millerite faith had been advanced by others over and over again, many of whom were of highest repute in the various religious circles. But Miller was in the succession of unusual men who have held the advent banner conspicuously aloft through the centuries. He was a peerless expounder of Bible prophecy in his time, in what he believed to be its glorious consummation in America in the mid-nineteenth century. PFF4 682.1

Miller was clearly a genius in the pulpit. The secret of his great power in preaching unquestionably lay in his utter sincerity and conscientiousness, in his implicit faith in the glad tidings he preached, together with his unique capacity for vivid speech. Added to these was the heart burden he bore for his hearers. Of the latter he wrote to Himes: PFF4 682.2

“Those souls whom I have addressed in my six months’ tour are continually before me, sleeping or waking; I can see them perishing by the thousands; and when I reflect on the accountability of their teachers, who say ‘peace and safety,’ I am in pain for them.” ³ Miller was a tremendous worker. Although frail in health and afflicted with palsy, he was nevertheless away from home most of the time, traveling by stagecoach, railroad, or boat—with all the hardships attendant upon travel in those early days, and with snowstorms, floods, and poor roads increasing the hardship. In one eight-week trip through New York State he preached eighty-five times in this short period, besides discharging the other duties of leadership devolving upon him. Small wonder that the movement spread with amazing speed as scores of other men of ability and drive rallied to his banner. In a published address in January, 1844, he said, “I have preached about 4,500 lectures in twelve years, to at least 500,000 different people.” ⁴ And this was in more than 4,000 different communities. Such was his unique record. PFF4 682.3

Miller had unusual felicity in speech. He often rose to heights of real eloquence. For example, after the Great Disappointment had passed, he uttered this gem: PFF4 683.1

“I have never courted the smiles of the proud, nor quailed when the world frowned. I shall not now purchase their favor; nor shall I go beyond duty to tempt their hate. I shall never seek my life at their hands; nor shrink I hope, from losing it, if God in his good providence so orders.” ⁵ Examination of considerably more than a hundred of Miller’s sermon outlines, all in his own handwriting,” ⁶ reveals that he had a well-disciplined and orderly mind. The outlines are logical but diversified and able in arrangement. Some merely list four to a dozen progressive points under Roman numerals. Others are organized more fully, with subdivisions as well, under Arabic numerals, and often with opening paragraphs and crucial parts in detailed notation. Comparison with the published sermon, in those instances where possible, shows not only a comprehensive grasp of his subject and its logical development, but how much was brought into the finished discourse that was not indicated in the bare outline. This is seen, for example, in the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, available in both forms. PFF4 683.2

Many of his sermons were simple gospel themes, presenting various phases of saving grace, ever exalting Christ and salvation through Him alone-stressing regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification, yet always in the setting of Christ’s imminent second advent. These outlines show a really remarkable grasp of the fundamental principles and provisions of redemption, his power in the pulpit stemming not only from deep conviction but from his own experience in personal salvation. PFF4 683.3

Picture 1: WILLIAM MILLER-EFFECTIVE PREACHER OF THE PROPHECIES
Some six thousand times, in the decade from 1834-1844, Miller Spoke to gravely attentive audiences, Which at times numbered as high as ten thousand. He was recognized as a power in the Pulpit, Speaking in crowded churches, Halls, Courthouses, Theaters, and in open-air assemblages
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