e in the work of Sunday exaltation. While they are bent upon the
accomplishment of their purpose, Rome is aiming to re-establish her power,
to recover her lost supremacy. Let the principle once be established in
the United States, that the church may employ or control the power of the
state; that religious observances may be enforced by secular laws; in
short, that the authority of church and state is to dominate the
conscience, and the triumph of Rome in this country is assured.

God's word has given warning of the impending danger; let this be
unheeded, and the Protestant world will learn what the purposes of Rome
really are, only when it is too late to escape the snare. She is silently
growing into power. Her doctrines are exerting their influence in
legislative halls, in the churches, and in the hearts of men. She is
piling up her lofty and massive structures, in the secret recesses of
which her former persecutions will be repeated. Stealthily and
unsuspectedly she is strengthening her forces to further her own ends when
the time shall come for her to strike. All that she desires is
vantage-ground, and this is already being given her. We shall soon see and
shall feel what the purpose of the Roman element is. Whoever shall believe
and obey the word of God, will thereby incur reproach and persecution.

36. THE IMPENDING CONFLICT.

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From the very beginning of the great controversy in heaven, it has been
Satan's purpose to overthrow the law of God. It was to accomplish this
that he entered upon his rebellion against the Creator; and though he was
cast out of heaven, he has continued the same warfare upon the earth. To
deceive men, and thus lead them to transgress God's law, is the object
which he has steadfastly pursued. Whether this be accomplished by casting
aside the law altogether, or by rejecting one of its precepts, the result
will be ultimately the same. He that offends "in one point," manifests
contempt for the whole law; his influence and example are on the side of
transgression; he becomes "guilty of all."(1023)

In seeking to cast contempt upon the divine statutes, Satan has perverted
the doctrines of the Bible, and errors have thus become incorporated into
the faith of thousands who profess to believe the Scriptures. The last
great conflict between truth and error is but the final struggle of the
long-standing controversy concerning the law of