The European Union in Prophecy The EU in Prophecy I | Page 131

The European Union in Prophecy
Zwingli, greatly afflicted at the sight, seized the opportunity to proclaim liberty
through the gospel to these bondslaves of superstition.
"Do not imagine," he said, "that God is in this temple more than in any other
part of creation. Whatever be the country in which you dwell, God is around you, and
hears you. . . . Can unprofitable works, long pilgrimages, offerings, images, the
invocation of the Virgin or of the saints, secure for you the grace of God? . . . What
avails the multitude of words with which we embody our prayers? What efficacy has
a glossy cowl, a smooth-shorn head, a long and flowing robe, or gold-embroidered
slippers? . . . God looks at the heart, and our hearts are far from Him." "Christ," he
said, "who was once offered upon the cross, is the sacrifice and victim, that had made
satisfaction for the sins of believers to all eternity."-- Ibid., b. 8, ch. 5. To many
listeners these teachings were unwelcome. It was a bitter disappointment to them to
be told that their toilsome journey had been made in vain. The pardon freely offered
to them through Christ they could not comprehend. They were satisfied with the old
way to heaven which Rome had marked out for them. They shrank from the perplexity
of searching for anything better. It was easier to trust their salvation to the priests
and the pope than to seek for purity of heart.
But another class received with gladness the tidings of redemption through
Christ. The observances enjoined by Rome had failed to bring peace of soul, and in
faith they accepted the Saviour's blood as their propitiation. These returned to their
homes to reveal to others the precious light which they had received. The truth was
thus carried from hamlet to hamlet, from town to town, and the number of pilgrims
to the Virgin's shrine greatly lessened. There was a falling off in the offerings, and
consequently in the salary of Zwingli, which was drawn from them. But this caused
him only joy as he saw that the power of fanaticism and superstition was being broken.
The authorities of the church were not blind to the work which Zwingli was
accomplishing; but for the present they forbore to interfere. Hoping yet to secure him
to their cause, they endeavoured to win him by flatteries; and meanwhile the truth
was gaining a hold upon the hearts of the people.
Zwingli's labors at Einsiedeln had prepared him for a wider field, and this he
was soon to enter. After three years here he was called to the office of preacher in the
cathedral at Zurich. This was then the most important town of the Swiss confederacy,
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