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The Great Controversy
give the warning. God put the truth into their hearts, and they could
not forbear to proclaim it.
The same trials have been experienced by men of God in ages
past. Wycliffe, Huss, Luther, Tyndale, Baxter, Wesley, urged that all
doctrines be brought to the test of the Bible and declared that they
would renounce everything which it condemned. Against these men
persecution raged with relentless fury; yet they ceased not to declare
the truth. Different periods in the history of the church have each
been marked by the development of some special truth, adapted to
the necessities of God’s people at that time. Every new truth has
made its way against hatred and opposition; those who were blessed
with its light were tempted and tried. The Lord gives a special truth
for the people in an emergency. Who dare refuse to publish it? He
commands His servants to present the last invitation of mercy to the
world. They cannot remain silent, except at the peril of their souls.
Christ’s ambassadors have nothing to do with consequences. They
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must perform their duty and leave results with God.
As the opposition rises to a fiercer height, the servants of God are
again perplexed; for it seems to them that they have brought the crisis.
But conscience and the word of God assure them that their course is
right; and although the trials continue, they are strengthened to bear
them. The contest grows closer and sharper, but their faith and courage
rise with the emergency. Their testimony is: “We dare not tamper with
God’s word, dividing His holy law; calling one portion essential and
another nonessential, to gain the favor of the world. The Lord whom
we serve is able to deliver us. Christ has conquered the powers of
earth; and shall we be afraid of a world already conquered?”
Persecution in its varied forms is the development of a principle
which will exist as long as Satan exists and Christianity has vital power.
No man can serve God without enlisting against himself the opposition
of the hosts of darkness. Evil angels will assail him, alarmed that his
influence is taking the prey from their hands. Evil men, rebuked by his
example, will unite with them in seeking to separate him from God by
alluring temptations. When these do not succeed, then a compelling
power is employed to force the conscience.
But so long as Jesus remains man’s intercessor in the sanctuary
above, the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit is felt by rulers and
people. It still controls to some extent the laws of the land. Were it not