GO YE OUT TO MEET HIM

In the Voice of Truth, published in Rochester, N. Y., in the issue of Nov. 7, 1844, the following words are found: “We think the parable of the ten virgins tells us where we are. The proclamation of the tenth day of the seventh month we believe was the ‘midnight cry,’ when all, not a part, of the virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. This work continued until the tenth day passed. Since then, the lamps of the foolish have been ‘going out,’-their faith is dying; the wise have no oil to spare.”LDT 171.2

To show the effect of the “tenth-day” proclamation upon the people, we quote from George Storrs’s letter in the Midnight Cry of Oct. 3, 1844, nineteen days before the close of the period. He says: “It is attended with a demonstration of the Spirit, such as I never witnessed when the cry was ‘1843.’ It is now literally, ‘Go ye out to meet Him.’ There is a leaving of all that I never dreamed could be seen. When this cry gets hold of the heart, farmers leave their farms, with their crops. There is a strong crying with tears, and a consecration of all to God, such as I never witnessed. There is a confidence in this truth, such as was never felt in the previous cry, in the same degree, and a weeping or melting glory in it that passeth all understanding, except to those who have felt it.”LDT 172.1

In the same paper, in the issue of Oct. 31, 1844, is further testimony respecting the movement: “It seemed to us to have been so independent of human agency, that we could not but regard it as a fulfilment of the ‘midnight cry,’ after the tarrying of the bridegroom, and the slumbering and sleeping of the virgins, when they were all to arise and trim their lamps. And this last work seems to have been done; for there has never been a time before when the respective Advent bands were in so good a state of preparation for the Lord’s coming.”LDT 172.2