Fort Mill times. [volume] (Fort Mill, S.C.) 1892-current, 1902-03-19
ARP ON MILLENNIUM
Bill Does Not Think Happy Time Near
AT Hand
VERY SLOW WORK IN CONVERTING
If All the World is to Come to Christ
Better Progress VIII Have to Be
rladc By Us.
l believe the millennium craze has

believe the millennium craze has
subsidized for awhile Within my recol-
lection it bobbed up three or four
times and excited good people all over
the country. for good people wish II to
come AMI live in hope and expectation.
| remember when William Miller, OF
Massachusetts. had all New England
excited, for he was very learned man
and a sincerer Christian and believed
all that lie profeSSed For ten years he
eXhorted The people to be ready for the
coming of Christ in 1S43 and even fixed
the day when they would see Him de-
scending from heaven in magnificent
glory and escorted by Moses and Elijah
and a reti1ue of angels. He had over
$4,000 devoted converts and the night
before the promised day they arrayed
themselves in white raiment and sang
and shouted and prayed until morning
and then climbed the high hills and the
tree tops ami the spires OF the churches
TO meet Hirl as He nearcd the earth.
But He dideIt come and it nearly broke
their hearts and they liked to have per
ished to death for they had given away
al their earthly possessions.
Next came DR.. John Cummings,
very learned minister Of London. who
wrote book on it and fixed the mil
lennial year n. 1863 We were fighting
over here about that time and the mil
lennium had to be postponed The mill
ienium means he reign OF Christ upon
the earth for i thousand years. when
everybody will be good and there shall
be no more death nor pain nor sorrow
and there has not been a century since
His cTucifiXion that the religious people
have not been looking for His coming.
The Christians got their belief from
the prophets of Daniel and from St
John and st. Peter and later on from
lrenaeus and Justin Martyr and they
delighted themselves with dreams OF
glory that was near at hand Some OF
tnem declared tn ere would be no more
winters. no more nights and everlast-
Ing wells would run with honey and
milk and wine. Jerusalem would be re-
built and the fruits of the earth would
De colossal and never dying One nota-
Die writer said that every grape vine
would have 10000 branches and every
Dranch 10000 shoots and every shoot
lo,ooo punches and every bunch 10 900
grapes and every grape would make 25
sallons or wine. Good gracious, how
thirsty that fellow must have been. But
the millennium dident come and bv and
by Origen. very wise and good man.
came along in the third century and
declared that there would be no such
grapes. but that ChriSts coming would
De altogether spiritual. Still His coming
Kept on being predicted and when the
reformation of Luther and Calvin came
ABOUT they said that the pope was the
anti-Christ and the millennium was
near at hand. Next came Oliver Crom-
well. who excited his followers with \
prediction of the millenium-and so il
goes on and on and now 1t is about
tome Tor another just as soon as we
have done killing off the Phillipines
ana england has killed out all the
Beers
Well, now all these ruminations
aDout the millennium were provoked
by what have been reading about the
recent discoveries OF oil all over the
country. One thought brings on another
and II the coming of Christ Is near at
hand and His reign is to be a spirltual
one Tor thousand years and there IS
TO De no winter or night or sickness or
pain or sorrow we won't need all this
OH. neither for fuel or light And so 7
uon believe the millennium Is verv
near. lf all the people are to be CON
verted and become good IL will he n
long time off, for it is a slow process
and all the coal and oil that is in tho
bowels or the earth will be needed Tt
wasent put there for nothing. Mission
airy work is going on more rapidly than
ever before. but 1T Is like q drop in a
nucket or water. We have got %. 900
missionaries IN heather lands and they
are alued by $4,000 native preachers
and teachers. but these 100 O00 will
nave to convert an average for each ~
ten n year to make million. and there
ira nNyn -
ems now and more coming on. But they
do not convert half a million a year
for the last report gives only 1000 900
all told. Last year we spent $50 900 900
on them and have now over 1000. 900
children going to Christian schools and
have $4,000 churches and over | 900 sec
ondary schools besides medical colleges
and training schools and hospitals and
asylums for orphans and the blind and
the insane and the lepers. They have
got almost everything that we have
got and now have protection in Con-
stantinople and Pekin and Beirut and
other great heathen centers. The work
they have done in the last ten years is
amazing and the abduction of Miss
Stone has increased their zeal. '"hirty
million dollars has been promised for
this year and they say that If we can
not convert them we can at least civil
lie them and teach them the doctrine
OF clean shirt and a comfortable
home, and these are the first lessons in
religion. The last official report tells
us that more than half the pupils are
girls. For centuries women and girls
have been under the ban and were OF
no more consequence in the household
than dogs or beasts OF burden. but now
they are being lifted up and treated
with humanity and resDect If tho VIZ RI,