How They Became Convinced
[Believing it would be of interest to our readers, the editor of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES has asked Sabbath-keeping ministers and evangelical workers to tell in a few words the scripture or scriptures, the truths and principles, which constrained them to accept the unpopular truth of the seventh-day Sabbath. These testimonies must not exceed 500 words. Let us hear from all.] I reached the only conclusion that can be obtained from the teaching of the entire Scriptures, namely, that the law of God is still, and forever, obligatory. I had no help in study save “Bible Readings.” Through that I came to a knowledge of the Sabbath truth over a year before I obeyed. Never having seen a minister or even a Sabbath-keeper, the truth which decided me was “in it [the seventh day] thou shalt not do any work.” This came into my mind with every returning Sabbath. It was the Lord speaking to me as truly as when He first spoke it from Sinai. D. F. STURGEON. While connected with the government at Washington, D. C., in 1890, my attention was called to a series of Gospel sermons then being held in a tent, and conducted by Elders H. E. Robinson and J. S. Washburn. The special subject there discussed, which brought the Sabbath question forcibly before me as an essential feature connected with the worship of God, was “The Seal of God and the Mark of Apostasy.” For the first time I understood the importance attaching to the words, “Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations; that YE MAY KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD THAT DOTH SANCTIFY YOU.” For the first time I saw the terrible work of Satan, who, attempting to be like the “most High,” was expelled from heaven. Here he has insinuated himself between man and the Creator. Under a form of godliness, without the power, men adopted a heathen holiday, and are treading upon God’s holy day. In order that Satan himself might not be observed, he instituted a system focused in a visible head, and termed in the Scriptures the “man of sin.” This system in very truth says, “I will be like the Most High,” and, as a mark of power, the “man of sin” points to the change which he has made from the Seventh-day Sabbath to the Sunday institution, for which there is no divine authority. These quotations from historical data were presented, together with the prophecy concerning the great apostasy:— The Bible says, “Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.” The Catholic Church says, “No! By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day, and command you to keep holy the first day of the week. And, lo, the entire civilized world bows down in reverent obedience to the command of the holy Catholic Church!”—Father T. Enright, C.S.S.R., of Redemptorist College, Kansas City, Mo., in American Sentinel, June 1, 1893. Sunday, as a day of the week set apart for the obligatory public worship of Almighty God, . . . is purely a creation of the Catholic Church.—Am. Cath. Quar. Review, January, 1883. The observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] Church.—Plain Talks for Protestants, p. 213. And these scriptures also became the source of almost daily thought and concern: Isa. 56:1, 2; 58:1, 12–14. Thank the Lord for the Message which came to me, which has helped me to take my feet from off the Sabbath. It is joyous to my soul, and I hail it with delight every time it comes. New Orleans, La. S. B. HORTON.