p. 206 | R. F. COTTRELL by Roswell F. Cottrell

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Jul 11, 1878

R. F. COTTRELL

By Roswell F. Cottrell

From Heaven or of Men.

TWENTY-SEVEN years ago, when I investigated the claims of this movement concerning the second coming of Christ at hand, as a fulfillment of prophecy, the question resolved itself into the form of that which Jesus asked the Jews, namely, "The baptism of John, was it from Heaven or of men?" It was claimed that the advent movement was a fulfillment of the promised warnings of the three symbolic angels of Rev. 14:6-12, and that the third of the three messages was already being announced to the world. If this claim was true, then the advent movement was certainly from Heaven—it was Heaven sent, like the mission of John the Baptist, who came in fulfillment of the "Voice of one crying in the wilderness," as foretold by the prophet Isaiah. (Chap. 40.) But if it was not true, it was of men, and would certainly come to nothing.

Small as was the number of those who claimed to be proclaiming the message of the third angel, God enabled me to believe that he had sent this his last warning to mankind to prepare a people for the second coming of Christ, when he shall come to reap the harvest of the earth, a people who shall be found keeping "the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus."

In God's providence I have lived to see this message spread abroad in almost all the enlightened portions of the earth. The people that keep the commandments, the Sabbath of the fourth as well as the other nine, and are looking for the coming of Jesus according to his promise, are to be found throughout these United States, the countries of Europe, in different points in Africa, and in the Islands of the sea. As I see this, do you think my faith is waning? At this stage of the work, why cannot all Christians believe it?

It is not claimed that the spread of this message alone proves it to be of divine origin. Spiritualism has spread over the world during the same time, and has been received by thousands while this message has only found its hundreds, or even its tens, of believers. But when we consider that Bible truth in its purity has never been popular in the world, and that the reception of this message involves the greatest crosses, even to the Christian world, the fact that it has stood against the popular current, and has made its way to the nations of the earth, or has sprung up spontaneously in different countries, ought to be taken as evidence that the hand of God is in the work. It is truly marvelous that it has lived and prospered to the present time, under all its difficulties.

And though it is unpopular with the Christian world, and requires cross-bearing to receive it, yet it certainly is founded in Bible truth. It is a real reform. It only teaches a return to truths clearly revealed in the Bible. The "commandments of God," which are carried in front, are precisely those found in the Bible, as they were written by the finger of God. And the faith taught is the faith of Jesus Christ. Our doctrines are read from the Bible itself, and not inferred merely from its teachings. These are some of the evidences which show this message to be from Heaven. Its light is spreading, and we thank God for it and take courage. Its results will be glorious. My prayer is, Let me share in the work, and then in the triumph.