THE BURDENED CONSCIENCE
Even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.--Matthew 3:10
Many false Messiahs will appear, claiming to work miracles, and declaring that the time of the deliverance of the Jewish nation has come. These will mislead many....The same deceptions practiced prior to the destruction of Jerusalem will be practiced again. The same events that took place at the overthrow of Jerusalem will take place again....
Authorities in the United States and in other countries will rise up in their pride and power, and make laws to restrict religious liberty....They will assume the right that is God's alone, and like Nebuchadnezzar, they will think they can force the conscience, which God only can control. Even now they are making a beginning which they will continue to carry forward till they reach a boundary over which they cannot step. God will interpose on behalf of His loyal, commandment-keeping people....
On every occasion that persecution takes place, the witness make decisions, either for Christ or against Him. Those who show sympathy for the men wrongly condemned, who are not bitter against them, show their attachment for Christ. Many will be offended because the principles of truth cut directly across their practice....Many will stumble and fall, apostatizing from the faith they once advocated. Many who have professed to love the truth will then show that they had no vital union with the true vine. They will be cut away as branches that bear no fruit, and will be bound up with unbelievers, scoffers, and mockers. (Manuscript 78, July 28, 1897)
REFLECTION: God does not send messengers to flatter the sinner. He delivers no message of peace to lull the unsanctified into fatal security. He lays heavy burdens upon the conscience of the wrongdoer, and pierces the soul with arrows of conviction. The ministering angels present to him the fearful judgments of God to deepen the sense of need, and prompt the cry, "What must I do to be saved?" (The Desire of Ages, 104)
Even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.--Matthew 3:10
Many false Messiahs will appear, claiming to work miracles, and declaring that the time of the deliverance of the Jewish nation has come. These will mislead many....The same deceptions practiced prior to the destruction of Jerusalem will be practiced again. The same events that took place at the overthrow of Jerusalem will take place again....
Authorities in the United States and in other countries will rise up in their pride and power, and make laws to restrict religious liberty....They will assume the right that is God's alone, and like Nebuchadnezzar, they will think they can force the conscience, which God only can control. Even now they are making a beginning which they will continue to carry forward till they reach a boundary over which they cannot step. God will interpose on behalf of His loyal, commandment-keeping people....
On every occasion that persecution takes place, the witness make decisions, either for Christ or against Him. Those who show sympathy for the men wrongly condemned, who are not bitter against them, show their attachment for Christ. Many will be offended because the principles of truth cut directly across their practice....Many will stumble and fall, apostatizing from the faith they once advocated. Many who have professed to love the truth will then show that they had no vital union with the true vine. They will be cut away as branches that bear no fruit, and will be bound up with unbelievers, scoffers, and mockers. (Manuscript 78, July 28, 1897)
REFLECTION: God does not send messengers to flatter the sinner. He delivers no message of peace to lull the unsanctified into fatal security. He lays heavy burdens upon the conscience of the wrongdoer, and pierces the soul with arrows of conviction. The ministering angels present to him the fearful judgments of God to deepen the sense of need, and prompt the cry, "What must I do to be saved?" (The Desire of Ages, 104)
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