APPEAL TO SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS.
By R. F. Cottrell
DEAR FRIENDS:—As I have from my youth been acquainted with you as a denomination, have been a member of your body, and still feel deeply interested for your salvation, I claim the privilege of speaking to you freely on the subject of present truth and present duty. It is no new doctrine to you, that the first day Sabbath is an institution of the papal beast, and that the mass of professed Christians are trampling under foot the holy Sabbath of the Lord, to keep that institution of the Man of Sin. Your prayers and mine have ascended in concert to the throne of grace, that God would set his hand to the work of restoring his own Sabbath to all his people—to all who, when they see the light, will leave the doctrines of men and of devils, to keep the Commandments of God. My present object is to exhort you to watch unto these prayers with all diligence, so that when they are answered you may know it; for they will surely be answered, since they were offered in faith by some. And should they be answered in a way differing somewhat from your expectation, you may, unless you watch, be left to reject the blessing when it is given, and place yourselves in a position similar to that of the Jews, who were praying for the coming of Messiah, and yet rejected him when he came. A Sabbath reform is now progressing which seems destined to be quite extensive; and who knows that the work is not of the Lord? If it is, our prayers and the promises of God are being fulfilled. And to suppose that it is not of God, is to suppose that the Enemy of all righteousness, who has ever delighted in persuading men to trample God's Commandments in the dust, especially the one which memorializes the great Creator, is now engaged in teaching them all. He was always willing that men should obey God in part, if he could persuade them to receive, with a portion of the truth, some damnable heresy. They may profess to keep all the Commandments, like the Jews, if they will only deny the Lord Jesus Christ that bought them, and thus bring upon themselves swift destruction. But this is not the case with the present Sabbath reform. No such heresy accompanies it. The great truth, that Jesus is soon coming according to his promise, is taught in connection with all the Commandments of God. Thus the prophetic message, Here are they that keep the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus, is being fulfilled. How can you doubt when you see the messages of the three angels fulfilled in perfect harmony with the prophecy? What can God do to produce faith in you, if this fails? Only one message was given to the Jews to prepare the way for the manifestation of Christ in his first advent; yet those who rejected the preaching of John the Baptist, rejected the counsel of God against themselves. Can we reject the testimony of three successive messages given in the order of prophecy, and be blameless? Beware therefore, lest that come upon you which is spoken of in the prophets: Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you. Acts xiii, 40. But perhaps you object to this work because the fall of the Protestant churches was announced as the fall of Babylon. To this I reply, that the term Babylon, which signifies confusion, cannot apply to one united church like that of Rome; and since the Catholic church is called the mother of harlots, she must have daughters somewhere which hold an unlawful connection and intercourse with the kings or powers of earth. Are not the various churches in this very condition? Are they not more engaged in politics than they are in religion? And are not the merchants of the earth made rich by selling to churches and church members their merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and the whole catalogue down to slaves and souls of men? Is there not also a mixing of worldly literature with religion, and is not the former more flourishing than the latter? When associations of churches meet, to be sure it looks best to report first on the state of religion, though the report on education which follows, may take the precedence in point of interest. Churches reporting on the state of education! why not on the state of agriculture? And why not pay some attention to mechanical arts, which are so much in requisition in building and decorating houses of worship? I have no objection to education as long as it holds its proper place, and is held, not as a primary, but a secondary object. But I do object to this joining hand in hand with the world, in any of these earthly schemes. And now let me ask you, is your denomination what it once was? Is piety and true holiness increasing or decreasing among you? Do you, as a people, hold the standard of truth high, as you once did? or is it, to gain a worldly influence, lowered down to the very dust of the earth? Let me refer you to a single instance, as an illustration. You are aware of the fact, that at Alfred, N. Y. is an academy under the control of your denomination. Its professors profess to keep the Sabbath: not the Sabbath of the Man of Sin, but the Sabbath of the Lord our God. They are also accredited ministers of the gospel among you. As there is no church in the place but the S. D. Baptist, and as there is a large number of First-day students at the academy, a meeting is held and a discourse preached on First-day for their accommodation. A few weeks since I was present on one of these occasions. The lecture was given by one of the professors, and the subject was the Sabbath. The text was, If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and shalt call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, &c. Of course he did not feel at liberty to tell his hearers which day of the week is the holy of the Lord, in distinction from the rival institution of the Man of Sin. Therefore he could only inculcate the importance of strictly observing the day which they professed to keep in a manner as if it made no difference whether it was the holy of the Lord, or the rival Sabbath of the Pope. Only think of a S. D. Baptist minister enforcing the observance of Sunday as "the holy of the Lord!" But his hearers were his patrons. And having descended from the high and holy position of a watchman on the walls of Zion, and laid down the torch of sacred truth to bear the dim lamp of science, worldly interest triumphs and hides the light of revealed truth under a bushel. Let us imagine Elijah the prophet in a similar position. With a noble zeal to instruct the young, and thus qualify them to fill the holy offices of prophets and priests, he has established an institution for that purpose. To avoid sectarian exclusiveness, and with the hope of converting them to the true God, (not to obtain patronage), he has received into his school the sons of the prophets of Baal. And feeling it a duty to look after the morals of his pupils, he has stated times to lecture them on all their various duties. On one of these occasions, he takes for his text, Deut. vi. 5, And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. Of course it will not do for him to tell them who the true God is, in distinction from every false god, and that there is no agreement between the temple of God and idols. It will not do to make the earnest appeal: "How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him;" as if it made some difference who received their love and obedience. Such a course would highly offend the priests and worshipers of Baal, who have entrusted their sons and their daughters to his care. And they must not be offended from whom he receives his chartered privileges. Therefore the best he can do under the circumstances, is to exhort them to serve Baal faithfully, and love him with all the heart. You can see at a glance that the two cases are parallel; the one involving the principle of the first and second commandments, the other that of the fourth. Or, rather, the same principle, love to God, is the foundation of the first four precepts of the decalogue. But Elijah made no such compromise with sin. He received no charters or patronage from the worshipers of Baal, to seal his lips from the utterance of truth, and from the vindication of the Commandments of God. The duty of Sabbath-keepers is just as clear as was his. There is no more doubt in regard to the fourth commandment, which requires the observance of the seventh day, than there is in regard to the first, which prohibits the worship of Baal or any other god but the Lord. And those who knowingly neglect the Sabbath of the Lord to keep that of the Man of Sin, are no better than the worshipers of Baal. But, say you, many honest First-day keepers do not know that they are worshiping the papal beast. Then it is our business, who do know it, to cry aloud and spare not, till we show them their transgression, and cause them to know it. We have no more lack of evidence on this point, than on the truthfulness of the Bible. Honest people can be made to see it. These things show that your denomination, as well as others, are in a fallen condition. And it is no wonder that the kingdom of heaven should be taken from them, and given to a people bringing forth the fruits of it. God guards and fulfills all his prophetic word. He has given a series of prophetic messages, in Rev. xiv, to precede the second advent. The first, proclaiming the hour of judgment, and the second, announcing the fall of Babylon, have been clearly fulfilled in the past Advent movement. And now the third is calling upon all to forsake the worship of the beast, and to keep all the Commandments of God. Will you believe the message, and engage anew in the work of the Lord? or will you reject the counsel of God against yourselves through your unbelief? Beware, lest that come upon you which is spoken of in the prophets: Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you. If you close your eyes to the fulfillment of prophecy, and give heed to the siren song of the world's conversion, the day of the Lord will come upon you as a thief in the night, and the Scripture affords no hope to such, but assigns them their portion with unbelievers. And unbelievers they are, whatever their profession, who refuse to believe all the prophecies which are now being fulfilled, showing that the Lord is near, even at the door. And now let me ask you, Can you fellowship that worldly, time-serving, applause-seeking policy which causes those who know the truth to degrade the Commandments of the great God to a level with the rival commandments of the antitypical Baal, the Pope of Rome? Can you willingly be partaker of their sins? Would it not be far better to heed the voice from heaven, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues? Those earnest, fervent prayers, that God would vindicate his down-trodden commandment, have been heard in heaven, and God has set his hand to the work. He is now restoring his holy Sabbath, which is a sign between him and his people forever, to the remnant of his people. Not to every one that says, Lord, Lord, but to those who are willing to do the will of our Father who is in heaven. And the work will be accomplished. Will you accept the answer of your prayers? Will you believe the Third Angel's Message, and zealously engage in warning men against the worship of the beast and his image? There can be no doubt of your duty in so plain a case. May God help you to do it. R. F. COTTRELL.
Mill Grove, N. Y.
P. S. EDITORS SABBATH RECORDER: Please copy.