The Advent Christian story is a story of people who took seriously one of the great promises of Scripture: Jesus Christ is coming again.
That message is also part of my own family heritage. For generations, members of my family served as Christian ministers, many of them within the Advent Christian Church. My great-grandfather helped establish the Advent Christian work in the South.
But this story is not really about my family. It is about why generations of Christians devoted their lives to proclaiming one great message: Jesus is coming again.
A Renewed Interest in the Second Coming
The Second Coming of Jesus Christ has been part of the Christian faith since the days of the apostles. Yet by the early nineteenth century, many Christians in America were beginning to examine biblical prophecy with renewed interest.
People opened their Bibles and asked serious questions about the return of Christ and the future. One man who became deeply involved in that study was William Miller.
Miller had once embraced deism, but following his experiences during the War of 1812, his thinking began to change. He undertook a careful study of Scripture and eventually became convinced that biblical prophecy pointed toward the approaching return of Jesus Christ.
Beginning in 1831, Miller traveled throughout the northeastern United States preaching a simple message: Jesus Christ is coming again.
His preaching emphasized the authority of Scripture, salvation through Jesus Christ, personal repentance, and the need to be ready for Christ's return. Thousands responded, and people from many denominations became involved in what became known as the Advent movement.
Joshua V. Himes and the Spread of the Advent Message
One of the most important figures in spreading the movement was Joshua Vaughan Himes. Himes was not only a preacher; he was a gifted organizer and publisher. He published newspapers, books, and pamphlets; organized large meetings; distributed prophetic charts; helped arrange lecture tours; and helped establish an Adventist church in downtown Boston.
Through these efforts, the Advent message reached hundreds of thousands of people in America and overseas. The goal was evangelistic: people needed to know Christ and be ready for His coming.
The Great Disappointment
Many within the movement eventually came to expect Christ's return on October 22, 1844. Jesus did not return. The resulting crisis became known as the Great Disappointment. Those who had confidently expected Christ's return were devastated.
But the movement did not simply disappear. Thousands had been confronted with the Gospel, and believers returned to Scripture trying to understand where they had gone wrong. Different groups eventually emerged from the movement. Among them was the Advent Christian Church.
These groups did not agree on every doctrine, but several convictions remained important within the Advent tradition: Christ will literally return; His return will be visible; Scripture is God's inspired Word; and Christians should live in readiness for His coming.
The Advent Christian Church
The Advent Christian Church came to emphasize several important biblical truths: salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ; the Second Coming of Christ is the blessed hope of every believer; Scripture is the final authority for faith and practice; and evangelism and missions remain essential until Christ returns.
These convictions helped shape the developing denomination. During the nineteenth century, Advent Christians organized publishing ministries, conferences, churches, educational institutions, and missionary work.
The name itself expressed the movement's central hope. The earlier name Second Advent Christian Church declared that these were Christians who believed and proclaimed that Jesus Christ would come again.
More Than a Date
The great lesson of the Advent movement is not that Christians should try to determine a date for Christ's return. The lesson is that Christ has promised to return.
Our hope does not rest upon charts, calculations, or human predictions. Our hope rests upon Jesus Christ and His Word.
Christians may disagree about some of the details surrounding biblical prophecy. But the great truth remains: Jesus is coming again.
Christ will appear in glory. The trumpet will sound. The dead will be raised. God's people will be gathered to Christ. Judgment will take place. Satan will ultimately be defeated. God's purposes for His creation will be completed, and the eternal Kingdom of Jesus Christ will be established.
That is far greater than an argument over prophetic systems. It is the Christian's blessed hope.
A Heritage Worth Keeping
Nearly two hundred years after William Miller began preaching the Advent message, Christians still wait for the fulfillment of Christ's promise.
We do not know the day. We do not know the hour. But we know Who is coming.
The heart of our Advent Christian heritage is therefore not a failed prediction made in 1844. It is the continuing proclamation that history is moving toward the return and triumph of Jesus Christ.
Until that day, the Church has work to do. We preach the Gospel. We teach the Scriptures. We serve our neighbors. We carry the message of Christ to the world. And we wait with hope.
“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”
— Revelation 22:20
That was the hope of those who came before us.
It is our hope today.
And until Jesus comes, it is a message worth passing on to the next generation.