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The Great Controversy 1888
to God. It is more palatable to human nature to do penance than to
renounce sin; it is easier to mortify the flesh by sackcloth and nettles
and galling chains than to crucify fleshly lusts. Heavy is the yoke
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which the carnal heart is willing to bear rather than bow to the yoke of
Christ.
There is a striking similarity between the Church of Rome and
the Jewish Church at the time of Christ’s first advent. While the Jews
secretly trampled upon every principle of the law of God, they were
outwardly rigorous in the observance of its precepts, loading it down
with exactions and traditions that made obedience painful and burden-
some. As the Jews professed to revere the law, so do Romanists claim
to reverence the cross. They exalt the symbol of Christ’s sufferings,
while in their lives they deny him whom it represents.
Papists place crosses upon their churches, upon their altars, and
upon their garments. Everywhere is seen the insignia of the cross.
Everywhere it is outwardly honored and exalted. But the teachings of
Christ are buried beneath a mass of senseless traditions, false inter-
pretations, and rigorous exactions. The Saviour’s words concerning
the bigoted Jews, apply with still greater force to the Romish leaders:
“They bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on
men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of
their fingers.” [
Matthew 23:4
.] Conscientious souls are kept in constant
terror, fearing the wrath of an offended God, while the dignitaries of
the church are living in luxury and sensual pleasure.
The worship of images and relics, the invocation of saints, and
the exaltation of the pope, are devices of Satan to attract the minds
of the people from God and from his Son. To accomplish their ruin,
he endeavors to turn their attention from Him through whom alone
they can find salvation. He will direct them to any object that can be
substituted for the One who has said, “Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” [
Matthew 11:28
.]
It is Satan’s constant effort to misrepresent the character of God, the
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nature of sin, and the real issues at stake in the great controversy. His
sophistry lessens the obligation of the divine law, and gives men license
to sin. At the same time he causes them to cherish false conceptions
of God, so that they regard him with fear and hate, rather than with
love. The cruelty inherent in his own character is attributed to the
Creator; it is embodied in systems of religion, and expressed in modes