Development of the Third Angel's Message
By J. O. CORLISS
The Experiences of Former Days—No. 4
Development of the Third Angel's Message
IN the unfolding of the sanctuary question it was revealed that the heavenly sanctuary, and not the earthly one located in Jerusalem, which was a type of the heavenly, was the one to be cleansed at the end of the prophetic period of 2300 days of Dan. 8:14. As in the type, it was seen that the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary was to usher in the examination of men's characters, preparatory to the coming of Christ, when those who, by the examination, were found to be worthy would be “caught up together” to meet him in the air. The conclusion was readily drawn that when such a period was reached, the law of God would demand special recognition, because by it the cases of men were to be settled. Rom. 2:12-16; 3:19, 20. Upon examination of the claims of the law it was revealed that the fourth commandment called for the seventh day to be sanctified as a weekly rest, whereas that day was being used as a common working day, and the first day of the week was being used as a rest day instead. But as the law of God, in its entirety, was to become the standard of a judgment work to open at the ending of the 2300 prophetic days, which came in the autumn of 1844, it was necessary, in the true order of events, for the Sabbath to be introduced and preached at the ending of the time indicated by the prophet. The history of that time justified the conclusion, and established the message of the Lord's near coming in the hearts of the disappointed ones. In the early autumn of 1844, a lady in New York State, Mrs. Rachel D. Preston, by reading her Bible became deeply impressed with the fact that the world in general had deserted the true Sabbath of the Lord, and should be called to reform its ways in this respect. She presented the matter to her pastor, and then to some of the leading people of her church, but was scornfully repulsed each time. Upon inquiry, however, she learned of the Seventh-day Baptists, and for a time, allied herself with that people. During the latter part of the year Mrs. Preston had occasion to visit in Washington, N. H., where she met and conversed with some who had been connected with the disappointment of a few weeks before. Being full of the subject they had sacrificed so much for, they poured into her willing ears the story of their faith. She accepted their views of the near coming of Christ, and in turn convinced them of the importance of the Sabbath in conjunction with their other tenets of faith. Of the sixty or more in that neighborhood who had been through the disappointment, about forty received the Sabbath, which constituted the first Seventh-day Adventist church of modern days. The influence from this movement extended, and interested two men, who had preached the time message. These men, J. B. Cook, and T. M. Preble, began to agitate the subject, both by voice and pen, when shortly Joseph Bates received it. The men, Cook and Preble, finding the belief an unpopular one, soon after gave up its advocacy, and became its enemies. Not so, however, with “Father” Bates. He was so thoroughly convinced of its correctness, that he made it the entire business of his life. The first thing he did to further the message, was to write a pamphlet in its behalf. This he began without money, but his faith in God was so fixed that he promised the printer, a Mr. Markham, that he should be paid in full before the sheets were taken away from the printing-office. Some money came into Brother Bates' hand from unexpected quarters, which was paid toward the job, but when he wanted to begin the circulation of his book, he had not the full amount to pay the indebtedness. In his anxiety he went to the printer to apologize for his apparent laxness, but was met with the statement that the bill was fully met, and that he could take away the printed sheets at his pleasure. The printer did not know who had paid the debt, as the man who did so was a stranger to him, and, so far as is known, Brother Bates never knew who was the generous donor. Since the old gentleman's death, however, it has been learned that Brother H. S. Gurney, having just then received money unexpectedly which was due him, was impressed to go and settle the bill, which he did. The book, as the writer now remembers it, was a very clear presentation of the Sabbath, bringing to view first the immutability of the law of which it was a part, and then showing from the prophecy of Daniel, that Rome, especially the papacy, was responsible for the transfer of rest from the seventh to the first day of the week. One clearly drawn conclusion of the book which then seemed very forcible to the writer's youthful mind was that, “the seventh day of the week has always been God's Sabbath, but the first day has been made the pope's Sunday.”