How They Became Convicted
By Editor
[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.] BECAUSE I could not accept the commonly-taught view of the eternal punishing of the wicked, I had drifted into what the good Methodist brethren termed infidelity. After several years of this way of thinking, a good Adventist sister, one day when the subject was under discussion, said the Bible did not teach the eternal torment of the wicked. As I expressed surprise, she said, "Will you read if I give you something on the subject?" I said, "Certainly." So she brought me a couple of copies of the Signs, with articles on the state of the dead and punishment of the wicked. I read them, and then turned to my wife (who was a Baptist) and said, "See here, this looks reasonable to me." Then I re-read the articles to her, reading the Scriptures referred to in the article. When I finished, I said, "We have been off so badly on what the Bible taught about the punishment of the wicked, maybe we are just as badly off on the Sunday question." Then I sent for tracts, and began a study of the Word, as I never had studied it before. That continued for three years. After about a year I was convinced, but I spent about two years trying to find a hole to crawl out. At last I reached the conclusion that I must either obey and keep the Sabbath, or else throw the Bible and all it meant overboard. I was not quite ready to do the latter, so we began the observance of the Sabbath in June, 1888. There are so many scriptures for the seventh day as the Sabbath—presenting it as prophecy, as the statements of the Master, and the practise of the Master and those immediately associated with Him in labor. Then Luke 23:56, after the death of Christ, seemed to me to be conclusive. I was very much disappointed when I began to search for authority for first-day observance, to find absolutely none in the Bible. But when I picked up the Catholic Catechism I found just where first-day sacredness had its authority. As I was hardly ready to accept Catholicism, I had to line up with the smaller and less popular company; and I still remain there. As the years go by, every event that has developed so far has only confirmed the truth that "the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." IRVING KECK. IN 1893 I attended some meetings held by Elder H. W. Decker, but my mind was so darkened that I could not comprehend the light. The explanations of prophecy were very beautiful, but the Sabbath was a new thing to me. I was not interested in it, and did not think much about it. But my mind was somewhat stirred on the subject of religion, and I was determined to know which religion was right. I talked with all kinds of people, and thought the cross was the mark of the beast. I wrote to the Signs of the Times about the "image of the beast," and the next number that I saw had an article on that subject. There it was stated that an image is a likeness, and then I understood it. I was satisfied then what religion was right, but I did not confess Jesus until 1897. The Sabbath truth did not seem to me then as of much importance. I have now been a real Sabbath keeper only about two years. When the Lord enlarged my heart, I ran in the way of His commandments. Ps. 119:32. W. W. PARKHURST.