p. 168 | A Note of Alarm

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 17, 1874

A Note of Alarm.

The following is an extract from a paper recently adopted by the Presbytery of St. Louis:—

“In view of the alarming desecration of the Lord’s day, now constantly witnessed throughout our bounds, the Presbytery of St. Louis feels constrained to bear its solemn and decided testimony against this fearful sin.

“It is not expected, of course, that our entreaties and admonitions will be heeded by an unbelieving world, but we appeal to that part of the church over which the Holy Ghost hath made us overseers, to unite with us in earnest efforts to stay the desolating evil that threatens the destruction of all we hold sacred.

“Restraint after restraint, imposed by the proper observance of this day upon the lawless desires of the human heart, has been removed; barrier after barrier, raised by God’s word, by the standards of our church, and by an enlightened public sentiment to guard its sanctity, has been broken down, and now little is left to distinguish it from other days, except the bolder license in a contemptuous disregard of divine authority, which it seems to provoke. We do not hesitate to express the conviction, founded upon the teachings of God’s word, upon the lessons of history, and upon our knowledge of the progressive power of iniquity, that if this shocking desecration continues to advance as it has done for the past few years, it is only a question of time when our houses of worship will be almost deserted, and the judgments of God will fall heavily upon the land.”