The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 603

long-suffering love yet pleads. “Wherefore He saith, Awake thou that
sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See
then that ye walk circumspectly, ... redeeming the time, because the days
are evil.” Ephesians 5:14-16.
When the testing time shall come, those who have made God’s word
their rule of life will be revealed. In summer there is no noticeable
difference between evergreens and other trees; but when the blasts of
winter come, the evergreens remain unchanged, while other trees are
stripped of their foliage. So the falsehearted professor may not now
be distinguished from the real Christian, but the time is just upon us
when the difference will be apparent. Let opposition arise, let bigotry
and intolerance again bear sway, let persecution be kindled, and the
halfhearted and hypocritical will waver and yield the faith; but the true
Christian will stand firm as a rock, his faith stronger, his hope brighter,
than in days of prosperity.
Says the psalmist: “Thy testimonies are my meditation.” “Through
Thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.”
Psalm 119:99, 104.
“Happy is the man that findeth wisdom.” “He shall be as a tree
planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and
shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not
be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.”
Proverbs 3:13; Jeremiah 17:8.

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