The Message Spreads

America became the center of the great Advent movement. The writings of Miller and his associates went from there to distant lands, wherever missionaries had gone in all the world. The message of the everlasting gospel spread far and wide: “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come.”LF 154.1

The prophecies that seemed to point to the coming of Christ in the spring of 1844 took deep hold of the minds of the people. Many were convinced that the arguments from the prophetic periods were correct. Sacrificing pride of opinion, they received the truth with joy. Some ministers left their salaries and churches and joined in proclaiming the coming of Jesus. Comparatively few ministers, however, would accept this message, and so God entrusted it mostly to humble laymen. Farmers left their fields; mechanics, their tools; traders, their merchandise; professional men, their positions. They willingly endured hard work, poverty, and suffering, in order to call people to repentance and salvation. Thousands accepted the advent truth.LF 154.2