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.) An infidel, never having made a profession of religion, in the gold mines of Colorado, when in April, 1893, an infidel friend of mine, while packing his trunk, tossed me a tiny Bible, saying, “I'll make you a present of that, Connerly.” I first opened the book in July, but soon threw it aside, “the Kingdom of God” (Matt. 6:33) stamped upon my mind. In September I prayed my first prayer something like this: “God, (if there is a God), if you have a kingdom and its better than anything I know of here, if you'll show it to me I'll seek it and serve You.” From this time on I began to study the little Bible with ever increasing interest, while my love for gambling and other sports grew correspondingly less. The first thing that convinced me that God was working in my life was that I began to hate my evil habits, and obtain power to overcome them. Luke 2:24 greatly impressed me. I said, “This is reasonable; if God has a kingdom, He must have a law, and here is a reference to it, ‘The law of the Lord.’” I earnestly desired to find that law, but the Bible was not a reference Bible, I knew of no person among all my miner friends who could enlighten me, and the little Bible and the almanac completed my library. I stumbled on, hoping to find the law of the kingdom of God, and in December my search was rewarded by finding the Ten Commandments. I studied them all during the months of December and January, and saw wondrous light and beauty in them. I believed of course that the Sabbath referred to in the commandments meant Sunday, but while considering it I said, “Sunday is not the seventh, but the first day of the week,” and reference to my almanac convinced me that this was true. I finally decided that I would commence to serve the Lord, and serve Him according to His law. I gave up my work, a good paying business it was too, and went down into the valley in search of a Christian minister who would baptize me, and explain the seeming inconsistency regarding the Sabbath of the Lord. I first found an old Methodist minister who told me that Saturday was the Sabbath, but that the people could not be gotten together on that day, so he preached to them on Sunday and observed that in the place of the Sabbath. I would not allow him to baptize me for I said, “I am going to be a law-abiding citizen of God's kingdom,” and I kept the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath, and determined to do so whether anybody else would or not. This was in April, 1894, and in May I went to Denver where I met for the first time others who were observing the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath of the Lord, and here I was baptized. From that time until now I have found peace and joy and comfort in obeying God. A FRIEND asked me one day why I did not keep the Sabbath. I replied that I was keeping the Lord's day, and dismissed the subject. I was troubled at my answer for I had a suspicion that the Lord's day was the Sabbath. At my first opportunity I took my Bible to see if there was a difference, but found my suspicion confirmed; that our Lord created all things, (Heb. 1:2; Col. 1:13-17; John 1:3, 14) the Sabbath included, and declared Himself its Lord (Mark 2:27). I also found that the Spirit of Christ spoke through the prophets (1 Peter 1:10, 11), and therefore Christ by the Holy Spirit in Isaiah calls the Sabbath, “My holy day,” His “delight,” “the holy of the Lord,” and “honorable.” He also tells us that in keeping it we honor Him (Christ), as He there tells us to do. The Lord impressed me with the truth that “whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever; nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it.” Eccl. 3:14. I was impressed that this applied to the sacredness with which God invested the seventh day at its creation, irrespective of whether any man ever so regarded it. In the Gospel narrative I found a uniform consistency in the life of Jesus with the Scripture teaching respecting the Sabbath. The same was true of His disciples, and I concluded that if He and they were here on earth to-day, they would observe the day they did when here 1900 years ago; for do they not all say, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever”? “I am the Lord, I change not”? I asked the Lord to forgive my sin, and by His grace I do to this day “remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy.”