The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 611
have nothing to do with consequences. They must perform their duty
and leave results with God.
As the opposition rises to a fiercer 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; and although the trials continue, they are strengthened to bear
them. The contest grows closer and sharper, but their faith and courage
rise with the emergency. Their testimony is: “We dare not tamper with
God’s word, dividing His holy law; calling one portion essential and
another nonessential, to gain the favor of the world. The Lord whom we
serve is able to deliver us. Christ has conquered the powers of earth; and
shall we be afraid of a world already conquered?”
Persecution in its varied forms is the development of a principle
which will exist as long as Satan exists and Christianity has vital power.
No man can serve God without enlisting against himself the opposition
of the hosts of darkness. Evil angels will assail him, alarmed that his
influence is taking the prey from their hands. Evil men, rebuked by his
example, will unite with them in seeking to separate him from God by
alluring temptations. When these do not succeed, then a compelling
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. It still controls to some extent the laws of the land. Were it not
for these laws, the condition of the world would be much worse than it
now is. While many of our rulers are active agents of Satan, God also
has His agents among the leading men of the nation. The enemy moves
upon his servants to propose measures that would greatly impede the
work of God; but statesmen who fear the Lord are influenced by holy
angels to oppose such propositions with unanswerable arguments. Thus
a few men will
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