The European Union in Prophecy The EU in Prophecy I | Page 486

The European Union in Prophecy
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 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 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;
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