ALL RIGHT OR ALL WRONG.
By R. F. Cottrell
THE Lord is now fulfilling the proclamation of the third angel of Rev. xiv, or he is not. If not, the whole Advent movement in the past is all a farce—a false fulfillment of prophecy—and so far as the unsealing of the book and the increase of knowledge in the time of the end (Dan. xii) are concerned, we are left in the dark upon the broad ocean of time, with neither chart nor compass, and no light-house in view to guide us into port. It is true there have been signs in heaven and upon the earth; signs in the sun and moon and stars, on earth distress of nations with perplexity. But, besides these, knowledge is to increase on the prophetic numbers. There is to be a movement in the church—the trumpet is to be blown and the alarm sounded just before the day of the Lord. A warning of the approaching wrath is to be given before that wrath is poured out. Joel ii, 1; Rev. xiv, 9–12. If these warnings are not being given, they are to be given in the future, before the coming of the Lord; and no one has any reason to look for the coming of the Lord till the hour of God’s judgment, the fall of Babylon, and the solemn warning of the third angel, have been proclaimed in their regular order. Are you an Advent believer? Do you believe the nations are angry, and that the wrath of God is at hand, and that the battle of the great day is just before us? Then know that the third angel is now warning us of the close of probation and that day of wrath. The third angel’s message is professedly being preached. This preaching is true or false. It has this evidence of truth, that it follows the proclamation of the first and second messages; for just such messages have been announced before. Now if this third message is false, the two that have preceded it are false. If this is the case, and the day of the Lord is at hand, every Advent believer should raise his voice in fulfillment of the solemn cry, “Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come.” But you will not undertake this. It is impossible to raise an interest in such a cry. And why? Because the true time-message was given in 1844; and there have been feeble, false and foolish attempts to repeat it since that time, enough to disgust a believer and to confirm an infidel. Now, my Advent brother, this time message must be preached in the world, before the coming of the Lord; and if it has not been announced, it is your duty and mine to announce it. The present position of the nations shows that there is but very little time in which to preach, in succession, all these three messages. But we shall not engage in preaching the time message, for the Spirit of the Lord does not lead us out in that way. It cannot be done; for the Lord does not move it, and the world will not hear it. Why? Because the Lord did move it, and the world did hear it in 1844. It began to assume a loud voice in 1840, and when we came down to 1844 the second message was announced, and as clearly, though not so extensively, heard. These announcements have been made, and we cannot make them again. Therefore there is no alternative for a believer in the Bible, but to receive the third angel’s message; for it has been as truly announced as the others, and that in its proper order. Do you say these messages will not be fulfilled, in order to prepare a people for the Lord? In that case, you deny the truth of the Bible. Do you say they have not been truly announced? You deny the providence of God in fulfilling his own word, which not only stands pledged to fulfill, but to guard from a false fulfillment. Do you say that the first and second messages have been fulfilled, but that the third is false? You make God a liar and deceiver, and yourself worse than a common infidel. Know then that our Father is at the helm. Receive the third message as it is in truth, the word of God—the only message that, while it warns of coming wrath upon the disobedient, can fit us to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord. Will all the other signs of the advent be fulfilled, and these messages remain unfulfilled? Nay, verily. All of God’s word is true. There is no evading this point. These messages locate themselves, to every candid, unsophisticated mind, just before the advent of110Christ; and it is clear from the language of the third message, that all that are prepared for translation at his coming, must be prepared by obedience to this last message. How clear and easy the way to the willing and obedient. The terms of the third message are being made plain and easy to the comprehension of a child. O, for the child-like spirit that is willing to receive and obey it. It is no hard and difficult thing to understand, when we are willing to obey. When we are willing to receive and obey all of God’s truth, there is sweet peace. We rest secure on the mighty arm of God. We rest in this; that the Lord Jesus will soon be revealed to settle the troubles of earth, and reward those that love and obey him. We rest in the thought that he who has begun the fulfillment of the messages to prepare his people, will finish them gloriously. Never tell the Lord that you believe the Bible, while you do not believe the fulfillment of the warning messages contained in it. Do not receive a part and reject a part. Don’t say that the first message made you an advent believer, and condemn yourself by rejecting the third. They are all right, or they are all wrong.
R. F. COTTRELL.