Final Warning
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will be literally fulfilled: “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall
suffer persecution.”
2 Timothy 3:12
. As the defenders of truth refuse
to honor the Sunday-sabbath, some of them will be thrust into prison,
some will be exiled, some will be treated as slaves. To human wisdom
all this now seems impossible; but as the restraining Spirit of God shall
be withdrawn from men, and they shall be under the control of Satan,
who hates the divine precepts, there will be strange developments. The
heart can be very cruel when God’s fear and love are removed.
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.
In this time of persecution the faith of the Lord’s servants will
be tried. They have faithfully given the warning, looking to God
and to His word alone. God’s Spirit, moving upon their hearts, has
constrained them to speak. Stimulated with holy zeal, and with the
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divine impulse strong upon them, they entered upon the performance
of their duties without coldly calculating the consequences of speaking
to the people the word which the Lord had given them. They have
not consulted their temporal interests, nor sought to preserve their
reputation or their lives. Yet when the storm of opposition and reproach
bursts upon them, some, overwhelmed with consternation, will be
ready to exclaim: “Had we foreseen the consequences of our words,
we would have held our peace.” They are hedged in with difficulties.
Satan assails them with fierce temptations. The work which they have
undertaken seems far beyond their ability to accomplish. They are
threatened with destruction. The enthusiasm which animated them is
gone; yet they cannot turn back. Then, feeling their utter helplessness,
they flee to the Mighty One for strength. They remember that the
words which they have spoken were not theirs, but His who bade them