OF the three special features that were to distinguish the advent movement, as foretold-the Sabbath, the sanctuary truth, and the Spirit of prophecy-it was the Sabbath light that first shone in among the 1844 Adventists. And what a blessing it has been. The Sabbath is the sign of creative power; and as it is laid hold of by faith, it brings into the life the very power that created all things. And it brought creative power into this movement from the first.HEVI 103.1

Some of us-children of the pioneers-are old enough to remember the times when the First-day Adventists used often to say, “Your second advent and prophetic emphasis are all right, but you will never get along with the Sabbath attached to it.” Then, too, some of our old Seventh Day Baptist friends of sixty years ago used to say, “Your Sabbath teaching is good, but you will never make any progress with these prophetic ideas attached to it.”HEVI 103.2

But the sure word of prophecy had represented the blending together of the Sabbath and the advent truths. And the results show how truly they belong together. As foretold, in every land it reaches, this advent movement is bringing out the people who keep the commandments; and everywhere the truths of Christ’s coming move people to obedience to God in the matter of Sabbath observance. The movement bears the fruitage foretold, and by its fruits we are to know it.HEVI 103.3

Of the first coming of the Sabbath truth among the 1844 Adventists, one who was in New England in those days, J. N. Andrews, wrote in his “History of the Sabbath:”HEVI 103.4

“The Sabbath was first introduced to the attention of the advent people at Washington, New Hampshire. A faithful Seventh Day Baptist sister, Mrs. Rachel D. Preston, from the State of New York, having removed to this place, brought with her the Sabbath of the Lord. Here she became interested in the doctrine of the glorious advent of the Saviour at hand. Being instructed in this subject by the advent people, she in turn instructed them in the commandments of God; and as early as 1844, nearly the entire church in that place, consisting of about forty persons, became observers of the Sabbath of the Lord. The oldest body of Sabbathkeepers among the Seventh-day Adventists is therefore at Washington, New Hampshire.”-“History of the Sabbath,” 1873, p. 500.HEVI 103.5

Delight Oaks, Mrs. Preston’s daughter by a former marriage, married Cyrus K. Farnsworth, who seems, from the early record and from the memory of those who were there later, to have been the leader of their services in the absence of a minister. But in all our early upbringing-as we heard old believers talk of the first things among us-we grew up understanding well that William Farnsworth was the member of the Adventist group who stood up first and declared that as for him, he would keep the Sabbath of God’s commandments. From early times he was known among us as the first Seventh-day Adventist.HEVI 103.6

And what a remarkable token of power with which this movement has sped onward do we have in the fact that five of William Farnsworth’s children are still with us in 1939, all earnest in the message. In the lifetime of one family the movement has spread from the mountain village in New Hampshire to the uttermost parts of the earth. There is power in this advent message that God launched in 1844.HEVI 103.7

Frederick Wheeler, the first Seventh-day Adventist minister, we may say, though the denominational name was not so early in use, left on record the facts concerning his acceptance of the Sabbath. It was written down for me at the time of the Phelps camp meeting in New York, in 1906. Elder Wheeler, who lived not far away, sent a message of greeting to the conference, dictated to F. W. Bartle, of Oxford, New York, who stopped at Elder Wheeler’s home to invite him to come along to the camp meeting. Our aged brother felt that he was not able to do this, but offhand, without a moment’s time for preparation, he dictated to the believers a message of faith and courage which I doubt could have been excelled by any of us who were younger by nearly half a century. It was printed in the REVIEW of October 4, 1906. He sent me also a photograph of himself. I asked Brother Bartle to take the photograph back and have Elder Wheeler dictate an exact historical sketch to be written on the back of it. He returned it to me with the following inscription set down by the pen of our mutual friend:HEVI 103.8

NOTES ON EARLY TIMES IN THIS ADVENT MOVEMENT NO. 4. HOW THE MESSAGE CAME THAT MADE THE MOVEMENT

“FREDERICK WHEELER