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Former Brethren Worst Persecutors, July 7
Then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall
hate one another.
Matthew 24:10
.
As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the
third angel’s message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to the
truth, abandon their position and join the ranks of the opposition. By uniting
with the world and partaking of its spirit, they have come to view matters
in nearly the same light; and when the test is brought, they are prepared
to choose the easy, popular side. Men of talent and pleasing address, who
once rejoiced in the truth, employ their powers to deceive and mislead
souls. They become the most bitter enemies of their former brethren. When
Sabbathkeepers are brought before the courts to answer for their faith, these
apostates are the most efficient agents of Satan to misrepresent and accuse
them, and by false reports and insinuations to stir up the rulers against them.
The season of distress before God’s people will call for a faith that will
not falter. His children must make it manifest that He is the only object
of their worship, and that no consideration, not even that of life itself, can
induce them to make the least concession to false worship.
At that time the gold will be separated from the dross.... Many a star
that we have admired for its brilliance will then go out in darkness. Those
who have assumed the ornaments of the sanctuary, but are not clothed
with Christ’s righteousness, will then appear in the shame of their own
nakedness.
Among earth’s inhabitants, scattered in every land, there are those who
have not bowed the knee to Baal. Like the stars of heaven, which appear
only at night, these faithful ones will shine forth when darkness covers
the earth and gross darkness the people.... In the hour of deepest apostasy,
when Satan’s supreme effort is made to cause “all, both small and great,
rich and poor, free and bond,” to receive, under penalty of death, the sign of
allegiance to a false rest day, these faithful ones ... will “shine as lights in
the world.” ...
Philippians 2:15
. The darker the night, the more brilliantly
will they shine.
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