210
The Great Controversy
except such as were sanctioned by the church. Those faithful souls
who could not refrain from gathering to worship God were compelled
to meet in dark alleys, in obscure garrets, and at some seasons in the
woods at midnight. In the sheltering depths of the forest, a temple
of God’s own building, those scattered and persecuted children of
the Lord assembled to pour out their souls in prayer and praise. But
despite all their precautions, many suffered for their faith. The jails
were crowded. Families were broken up. Many were banished to
foreign lands. Yet God was with His people, and persecution could
not prevail to silence their testimony. Many were driven across the
ocean to America and here laid the foundations of civil and religious
liberty which have been the bulwark and glory of this country.
Again, as in apostolic days, persecution turned out to the further-
ance of the gospel. In a loathsome dungeon crowded with profligates
and felons, John Bunyan breathed the very atmosphere of heaven; and
there he wrote his wonderful allegory of the pilgrim’s journey from
the land of destruction to the celestial city. For over two hundred years
that voice from Bedford jail has spoken with thrilling power to the
hearts of men. Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress and Grace Abounding to
the Chief of Sinners have guided many feet into the path of life.
Baxter, Flavel, Alleine, and other men of talent, education, and
deep Christian experience stood up in valiant defense of the faith which
[253]
was once delivered to the saints. The work accomplished by these
men, proscribed and outlawed by the rulers of this world, can never
perish. Flavel’s Fountain of Life and Method of Grace have taught
thousands how to commit the keeping of their souls to Christ. Baxter’s
Reformed Pastor has proved a blessing to many who desire a revival
of the work of God, and his Saints’ Everlasting Rest has done its work
in leading souls to the “rest” that remaineth for the people of God.
A hundred years later, in a day of great spiritual darkness, White-
field and the Wesleys appeared as light bearers for God. Under the rule
of the established church the people of England had lapsed into a state
of religious declension hardly to be distinguished from heathenism.
Natural religion was the favorite study of the clergy, and included
most of their theology. The higher classes sneered at piety, and prided
themselves on being above what they called its fanaticism. The lower
classes were grossly ignorant and abandoned to vice, while the church