The Blindness of Unbelief.
By Roswell F. Cottrell
The blindness of unbelief is truly marvelous. It is only equaled by the “deceitfulness of sin.” It so paralyzes and perverts the reasoning powers that the clearest and most inevitable conclusion from established premises cannot be seen. It closes the eyes to the signs of the times. Men can discern the face of the sky, while they are blind to the clearest signs of the times. It was so eighteen hundred years ago; it is so now; unbelief is as blind now as then. The person who rejects the revelation of the Bible cannot see the evidences of its truthfulness in the fulfillment of its prophecies. Unbelief has closed his eyes. Neither can the professed believer, who scoffs at the doctrine of the second coming of Christ at hand, perceive that God has made even himself a sign of the last days; since he has plainly told us that in the last days scoffers shall arise, saying, Where is the promise of his coming? They can see no signs. Therefore, all unconscious of the part they are acting in the fulfillment of prophecy, they claim that “all things continue as they were.” The history of the world and of the church has been given in advance. The great empires have been numbered and delineated in their order. The persecutors of the church have been described, and the experience and conflicts of the church pointed out. The great apostasy and the wilderness state of the church have been portrayed, the reformation and the final characteristics of the church, her last conflict and final deliverance, have all been described. But unbelief closes the eyes to all this. Or, if a portion of the great chain of truth is seen and confessed, the most important part—that which pertains to the salvation of the believer—is shut out by unbelief. Some trace the fulfillment of prophecy in the four great empires, the rise and reign of the papacy, its cruel persecutions during the twelve hundred and sixty years of its reign, and can declare with confidence that the second advent and reign of Christ are at hand; and yet close their eyes to that which is the grand sequel to all this great line of prophecy—the third angel’s message—the only truth that can prepare them for the closing scenes of earth and for translation into the everlasting kingdom at the coming of Christ. Perhaps they have taken a part in the announcement of the first and second messages, but cannot see the third, because the commandments of God are in it. And while they wage war with these commandments, claiming that they have been abolished, they still hope to share in the deliverance and salvation of the church living at the close of probation and the coming of Christ, who are described as keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Or, perhaps they turn around and deny the fulfillment of the angel messages in our times, and thus disown the very means by which they were led to believe the advent doctrine. They are Adventists, but deny their pedigree, being ashamed of the very means which made them such. The third message was too much for them, and so they rejected the whole. Others go farther still. They accept the commandments of the third message, but that part of the faith of Jesus pertaining to spiritual gifts they will not have. And yet, while rejecting the testimony of Jesus, one of the characteristics of the remnant of the church, they fancy that they are the people described as keeping the commandments and having the testimony. And yet there are those who have ever held the commandments of the moral law. They look upon the work of God in restoring the commandments with interest. They witness the agitation upon the Sabbath question, which God in his providence has brought about to prepare the way of the third message and the final test, and they see it as a favorable opportunity for them to awake and share in the work and add to their number; but Adventism they do not like, and their eyes are closed to the obvious fact that God, in fulfillment of prophecy, has caused the final message to be proclaimed, and that but for the stir that the third message has produced, they would now be as fast asleep as ever upon Sabbath reform, doing no aggressive work in pushing out the truth into new fields. The advent message has opened fields for them, but as yet they oppose Adventism, and cannot unite in sounding abroad the message, simply because of prejudice against the Advent movement which blinds them to the clearest fulfillment of prophecy. While they rejoice in the fruit of this work, unbelief will not let them acknowledge that the work is of God. The work that exhibits the surest tokens of the hand of God, unbelief is most sure to reject. The most precious promises of the word of God are ignored, and the most logical conclusion from the premises of prophecy and its fulfillment are rejected. The very fact that God has indeed set his hand to the work and is guiding in its accomplishment, to unbelief furnishes the strongest objection against it. One class more, and I am done—the brake-men on board the train. They profess full faith in the message—the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ are both acknowledged. God’s hand is in the work, but at every step they are in constant fear that it will go wrong. These are murmurers, fault-finders; and they fail to see that that is the road to perdition. They believe in the work, but at every advance they hold back. Perhaps they acknowledge the reforms that God has introduced among us, but fear that they will advance too fast toward the goal of perfection proposed. And they use their influence to hold back others from following fully the light. With them to follow the Lord fully and freely is fanaticism. It is all right, but—but—but—. Under their circumstances it is better to conform to the world and follow its vain and pernicious habits, than to walk in the light that God has given. They indulge the hope that they will come out right in the end. They cannot draw a logical conclusion from the premises which they lay down. They cannot see that the course they are in will surely end in ruin. I do not recommend rushing to an extreme, but that every step shall be in the right direction. The man who sets out on a journey for a distant place, and comes back and stays at home every night, will never reach the end of the journey. Let there be continual advancement, and we may hope to reach the goal. It is the blindness of unbelief which hinders advancement in the work of God. The great difficulty is, unbelief is devoid of reason. It makes men blind to the most palpable truth. It cannot draw a logical conclusion from the clearest premises. Light to it is only darkness. Let those who would be saved, cultivate faith, talk faith, act faith; and faith shall give the final victory. R. F. COTTRELL.