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God’s Final Message
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By uniting with the world they have come to view matters in nearly
the same light, and they choose the popular side. Men who once
rejoiced in the truth employ their talent and pleasing address to
mislead souls. They become bitter enemies of their former brethren.
These apostates are efficient agents of Satan to misrepresent and
accuse Sabbathkeepers and stir up the rulers against them.
The Lord’s servants have given the warning. God’s Spirit has
constrained them. They have not consulted their temporal interests,
nor sought to preserve their reputation or their lives. The work seems
far beyond their ability to accomplish. Yet they cannot turn back.
Feeling their helplessness, they flee to the Mighty One for strength.
Different periods in history have been marked by the develop-
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ment of some special truth, adapted to the necessities of God’s people
at that time. Every new truth has made its way against opposition.
Christ’s ambassadors must perform their duty and leave results with
God.
Opposition Rises to New Heights
The opposition rises to a fierce 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. Their faith and courage rise with the emergency.
Their testimony is “Christ has conquered the powers of earth, and
shall we be afraid of a world already conquered?”
No man can serve God without enlisting against himself the op-
position of the hosts of darkness. Evil angels will assail him, alarmed
that his influence is taking the prey from their hands. Evil men will
seek to separate him from God by alluring temptations. When these
do not succeed, 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. While many of our rulers are active agents of Satan,
God also has His agents among the leading men of the nation. A few
men will hold in check a powerful current of evil. The opposition of
the enemies of truth will be restrained that the third angel’s message
may do its work. The final warning will arrest the attention of these