Another “Lo Here.” by R. F. Cottrell

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 9, 1864

Another “Lo Here.”

By R. F. Cottrell

THE EVERLASTING KINGDOM IN PENNSYLVANIA!

DEAR REVIEW: Our friend of whom you remarked, some time since, that you knew not what particular stripe of fanaticism he wore, has developed himself, as you probably know. It would seem from his testimony, that he has, with his own hands, cut from the mountain that stone which was, according to prophecy, to be cut out without hands, and though our Saviour said, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation; neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there!” our friend can say, Look here! observe and take notice! here is a valley among the hill tops in Sullivan county which I have selected, where the saints, the heirs of the kingdom may gather and have all things common, and set at defiance all human governments and even death itself, till the Lord shall come, some time this side of 1883.

He has chosen a tract of four square miles of land in which to build his “Zion of the West,” “having redeemed from the inhabitants of earth by lawful purchase” a portion of it, and intending to redeem the rest, and has consecrated it, dedicated it, and, in due form of law, deeded it to “Almighty God, who inhabiteth eternity, and to his heirs in Jesus Messiah,” and has acknowledged the same before a justice of the peace in and for the said county. This is the process of cutting out the stone, of which he sings as follows:

“The stone cleft from the mountain Shall grow amidst its foes; Then rolling onward shall confound They who the truth oppose. Until a kingdom it become of universal sway, Its king the glorious Son of God, through an eternal day.”

Thus he has raised his standard, his ensign on the mountains, and who will rally around it? Doubtless some will; for this has always been the case—every fanatical adventurer gains some adherents. But intelligent, Bible-reading people, it would seem, need none to caution them against such an enterprise. Our Saviour said, “And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there; go not after them, nor follow them. For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.” Luke xviii, 20-24. We shall need no one to call our attention to the location of the kingdom of God, but its King shall be revealed from heaven like the lightning. “Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is among you.”

But though the Scriptures are plain against such a movement, yet many scriptures will be pressed into its service; and the bait of all things common will lure the lazy and covetous; the easy bond of union—“loving the appearing of Jesus,” and rejecting contentions about the “old dead school-master”—an expression by which is meant the holy law of God, the ten commandments—will draw the lawless and disobedient; while the novelty of the thing will give new vent to the wild fire of fanaticism, giving it a new subject for its ranting and roaring propensities.

But this is under the Advent name, and is intended of the Devil to bring fresh odium upon the holy cause of truth. Those, however, who love truth, and honestly desire a preparation for those things that are coming, that they may finally stand before the Son of God at his appearing, will see that the preparation they need is not a pretended faith, but a holy character—a character conformed to the law of God—and that the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus will prove a better security in the day of wrath than the mountain vale in the State of Pennsylvania. The message of the “third angel” will not fail of the purpose for which it is laid down in prophecy. It will unite in faith and practice those who fear God and love the truth, and prepare them for the coming of the Lord, while those who would work out their own deliverance, by following some “lo here,” will find themselves entangled in their own devices and inventions.

R. F. COTTRELL.