AN INTERESTING INCIDENT.
By John Harvey Kellogg
RECENT and passing events in the United States have forcibly brought to my mind an incident which has strongly impressed me. It was in the spring of 1852, being not long after I commenced to keep the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, that Elder O. P. Hull called at my house and remained a couple of days. He was the youngest of the three brothers who were Seventh-day Baptist ministers. He was a man of an excellent spirit, and well worthy of the high esteem in which he was held. He expressed a decided interest in the work of the Seventh-day Adventists, who, at that early day, had raised up a few churches in Wisconsin. He said there was something in it not easy to be comprehended by him. He had made the subject of the Sabbath a study for many years, and he flattered himself that he could clearly prove its obligation to the comprehension of everyone, and could bring many to acknowledge that he was correct; but the difficulty was in getting anybody to obey it. He gave some instances in his experience to illustrate this. But he said a few men, Seventh-day Adventists, of very limited education, and comparatively little experience, went out and preached it, and almost everywhere they went they left Sabbath-keepers as the fruits of their labors. I explained to him our method of connecting the Sabbath with the fulfillment of prophecy, and with the doctrine of the coming of the Lord, and what we expected in regard to Sabbath observance and Sunday laws in the United States. In all this he manifested much interest, and the more in that he loved to hear on the subject of the Lord's second coming. He then volunteered the following statement, which so impressed me that, although nearly forty years have passed, I very distinctly remember it:— "I have been impressed with the conviction that something will arise that will shake our Seventh-day Baptist churches all to pieces. God committed to us a precious truth, and we have been mostly satisfied to possess it, without imparting the light to others. We have not been an aggressive missionary people. Our churches are mostly composed of what are called, 'birth-right members,'—those who were born in Sabbath-keeping families, and have been raised from childhood to keep the seventh day. Few of them embraced it from conviction; very few have ever borne any cross or endured any test for its sake. When a strong test comes, as is likely to come, they will fall away in great numbers. Already it appears as if God had committed the truth to another people, who will be more determined than we have been that the world shall hear it." His words were spoken in an impressive manner, and appeared very reasonable; so just as to seem quite prophetic. I have always felt a kindly interest in the Seventh-day Baptist people, as those to whom this precious truth was so long committed; but I could not help feeling that Elder O. P. Hull's convictions were well-founded, whenever I met with those of that body who manifested strong prejudices against the work of the Seventh-day Adventists, as was sometimes the case. On two occasions especially, was I led to reflect seriously on the words of Elder Hull. Some years ago, when I was in Westerly, R. I., the pastor of the Seventh-day Baptist Church unnecessarily went out of his way to speak strong words against the Seventh-day Adventists. Referring to this, an influential member of that church said to me:— "This church is raising up a generation of Sunday-keepers. We have held the Sabbath so lightly, so cordially fraternizing with those who habitually disregard it, that our children cannot see any great importance in it. Some of our ministers will preach month after month to First-day Baptist Churches, without saying anything about the Sabbath. As long as our young people remain at home within a Seventh-day Baptist Church, they rest on the Sabbath; but when they leave and go out into the world, they largely go the way of the world, or with those churches who do not keep it." Again: at the Seventh-day Baptist General Conference in Plainfield, N. J., in 1878, when the subject of ministerial labor was being discussed, one of the oldest and most prominent men among them made a speech on the subject of preaching the doctrine of the Sabbath wherever they went—but against it! He said he was decidedly opposed to their ministers copying the methods of the Seventh-day Adventists, or preaching everywhere the Sabbath. "It is a kind of pabulum the people do not want." These were his words. While some seemed to sympathize with his remarks, I was happy to hear some strong expressions in favor of holding up the Sabbath truth before the world. There are other bodies of Baptists besides the Seventh-day Baptists, and without the Sabbath the latter have no right to a denominational existence; for nobody has a right to maintain divisions among Christians unless impelled thereto by strong convictions of duty. They who build up a denomination upon a characteristic that they do not regard of sufficient importance to maintain before the world, ought to disband and connect themselves with other bodies who possess characteristics that they regard more highly. The time is indeed coming, and is right upon us, when everyone's faith in the commandments of God will be tested. It is to be feared that many, even among Seventh-day Adventists, have not well weighed the value of the truth they have embraced, or well considered the trial of faith that is coming upon observers of the Sabbath of the Lord. Now is the time to arouse, and look around, and prepare for the conflict that is surely coming. Nothing less than "the whole armor of God" (Eph. 6: 10-18) will enable us to stand until our Lord shall appear for our deliverance.