.

Conscientious obedience to the word of God will be treated as rebellion.
Blinded by Satan, the parent will exercise harshness and severity toward
the believing child; the master or mistress will oppress the
commandment-keeping servant. Affection will be alienated; children will be
disinherited, and driven from home. The words of Paul will be literally
fulfilled, "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer
persecution."(1047) As the defenders of truth refuse to honor the
Sunday-sabbath, some of them will be thrust into prison, some will be
exiled, some will be treated as slaves. To human wisdom, all this now
seems impossible; but as the restraining Spirit of God shall be withdrawn
from men, and they shall be under the control of Satan, who hates the
divine precepts, there will be strange developments. The heart can be very
cruel when God's fear and love are removed.

As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the
third angel's message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to
the truth, abandon their position, and join the ranks of the opposition.
By uniting with the world and partaking of its spirit, they have come to
view matters in nearly the same light; and when the test is brought, they
are prepared to choose the easy, popular side. Men of talent and pleasing
address, who once rejoiced in the truth, employ their powers to deceive
and mislead souls. They become the most bitter enemies of their former
brethren. When Sabbath-keepers are brought before the courts to answer for
their faith, these apostates are the most efficient agents of Satan to
misrepresent and accuse them, and by false reports and insinuations to
stir up the rulers against them.

In this time of persecution the faith of the Lord's servants will be
tried. They have faithfully given the warning, looking to God and to His
word alone. God's Spirit, moving upon their hearts, has constrained them
to speak. Stimulated with holy zeal, and with the divine impulse strong
upon them, they entered upon the performance of their duties without
coldly calculating the consequences of speaking to the people the word
which the Lord had given them. They have not consulted their temporal
interests, nor sought to preserve their reputation or their lives. Yet
when the storm of opposition and reproach bursts upon them, some,
overwhelmed with consternation, will be ready to exclaim, "Had we foreseen
the consequences of our wor