Unity of the Third Message.
By R. F. C.
The message of the third angel is one message. And as it is the last step in the restoration of primitive christianity, and the last merciful warning to prepare a people for translation, it will unite God's people in one. It will not divide and scatter the flock of God, but will move on harmoniously, and accomplish its destined work. There is no danger that the ship will split upon some rock; for our Father is at the helm. The first message did not finish the work, neither did the second, therefore they must be succeeded by the third. But there is no fourth message marked out by the Holy Spirit to correct the errors of those who should give the third—the third message finishes the work. It will not be corrected by another message. What! do you believe that those who first preached the third message had no errors? By no means. They have already discovered some of their errors and repudiated them. Men are not infallible, but the message is. What I mean to say is, that the work will move on harmoniously till all the errors of God's children will be corrected, and they stand without fault before the throne of God. This is the last message, and the Lord has set his hand to fulfill it; and those who will labor in harmony with it, may correct their own faults and those of others; but whoever attempts to reverse the engine will only switch himself off on some fallacious track. May God help me, and all my dear brethren, to work in harmony with the work of God. The last message before the time of trouble is the sealing message. The sealing angel ascended from the east. Now we are not told that in his westward course he met another angel who informed him that he was sealing the people for destruction, and consequently the work must be reversed. Therefore, since there is no such work marked out in the prophecy, nothing of the kind will need to occur in its fulfillment. There is no uncertainty in the fulfillment of all that is specified; and there is no safety in trusting in that which is not specified. All doubts then must turn upon the question, Is the third angel's message being fulfilled? If it is, we are safe in moving on in harmony with it; for God will surely carry it straight through to its destined result. But, if it is not, we certainly shall do wisely to give it up, and "look about us for a position which we may occupy with safety and profit," as some have already done. Their downward course, in denying almost every important, life-giving truth connected with the message, is a sufficient guaranty that the Lord will confound the language of all who shall attempt to create a fiction, or disturb the harmony and unity of the message. The work is the Lord's; therefore let us subdue every evil passion and keep in harmony with the work of God.
R. F. C.
Olcott, N. Y., Sept. 5th, 1855.