The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 381
for the few who did receive it, it would have done the same for all if all
had received it.
But the churches generally did not accept the warning. Their
ministers, who, as watchmen “unto the house of Israel,” should have
been the first to discern the tokens of Jesus’ coming, had failed to learn
the truth either from the testimony of the prophets or from the signs of
the times. As worldly hopes and ambitions filled the heart, love for God
and faith in His word had grown cold; and when the advent doctrine
was presented, it only aroused their prejudice and unbelief. The fact that
the message was, to a great extent, preached by laymen, was urged as
an instrument against it. As of old, the plain testimony of God’s word
was met with the inquiry: “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees
believed?” And finding how difficult a task it was to refute the arguments
drawn from the prophetic periods, many discouraged the study of the
prophecies, teaching that the prophetic books were sealed and were not
to be understood. Multitudes, trusting implicitly to their pastors, refused
to listen to the warning; and others, though convinced of the truth,
dared not confess it, lest they should be “put out of the synagogue.”
The message which God had sent for the testing and purification of the
church revealed all too surely how great was the number who had set
their affections on this world rather than upon Christ. The ties which
bound them to earth were stronger than the attractions heavenward. They
chose to listen to the voice of worldly wisdom and turned away from the
heart-searching message of truth.
In refusing the warning of the first angel, they rejected the means
which Heaven had provided for their restoration. They spurned the
gracious messenger that would have corrected the evils which separated
them from God, and with greater eagerness they turned to seek the
friendship of the world. Here was the cause of that fearful condition
of worldliness, backsliding, and spiritual death which existed in the
churches in 1844.
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