The Sunday movement is now making its way in darkness. The leaders are concealing the true issue, and many who unite in the movement do not themselves see whither the undercurrent is tending…They are working in blindness. They do not see that if a Protestant government sacrifices the principles that have made them a free, independent nation, and through legislation brings into the Constitution principles that will propagate papal falsehood and papal delusion, they are plunging into the Roman horrors of the Dark Ages. Review and Herald Extra, December 11, 1888
If popery or its principles shall again be legislated into power, the fires of persecution will be rekindled against those who will not sacrifice conscience and the truth in deference to popular errors. Testimonies for the Church, vol. 7, p. 712
We are to be ready and waiting for the orders of God. Nations will be stirred to their very center. Support will be withdrawn from those who proclaim God’s only standard of righteousness, the only sure test of character. And all who will not bow to the decree of the national councils and obey the national laws to exalt the sabbath instituted by the man of sin to the disregard of God’s holy day, will feel, not the oppressive power of popery alone, but of the Protestant world, the image of the beast. Selected Messages, Book 3, p. 385
There is the prospect before us of waging a continuous war, at the 1) risk of imprisonment, of 2) losing property, and 3) even life itself, to defend the law of God, which is being made void by the laws of men. SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 7, p. 975, or Review and Herald January 1, 1889
Religious powers, allied to heaven by profession, and claiming to have the characteristics of a lamb, will show by their acts that they have the heart of a dragon and that they are instigated and controlled by Satan. The time is coming when God’s people will feel the hand of persecution because they keep holy the seventh day. Satan has caused the change of the Sabbath in the hope of carrying out his purpose for the defeat of God’s plans. He seeks to make the commands of God of less force in the world than human laws. The man of sin, who thought to change times and laws, and who has always oppressed the people of God, will cause laws to be made enforcing the observance of the first day of the week. But God’s people are to stand firm for Him. And the Lord will work in their behalf, showing plainly that He is the God of gods. Testimonies for the Church, vol. 9, pp. 229, 230
Conscientious obedience to the word of God will be treated as rebellion . Blinded by Satan, the parent will 1) exercise harshness and severity toward the believing child; the 2) master or mistress will oppress the commandment-keeping servant. 3) Affection will be alienated; 4) 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.” 2 Timothy 3:12. As the defenders of truth refuse to honor the Sunday-sabbath, some of them will be 5) thrust into prison, 6) some will be exiled, 7) 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. The Great Controversy, 608
Soon the Sunday laws will be enforced, and men in positions of trust will be embittered against the little handful of God’s commandment-keeping people.—Letter 168, 1909, p. 5. (To the officers of the General Conference, December 1, 1909.) Manuscript Releases, vol. 4, 279
A spurious sabbath is presented to be legislated into power, compelling the observance of a sabbath which God has not enjoined upon man. The persecutions of Protestants by Romanism, by which the religion of Jesus Christ was almost annihilated, will be more than rivaled, when Protestantism and popery are combined. Selected Messages, Book 3, p. 387
The two armies will stand distinct and separate, and this distinction will be so marked that many who shall be convinced of truth will come on the side of God’s commandment-keeping people. When this grand work is to take place in the battle, prior to the last closing conflict, 1) many will be imprisoned, 2) many will flee for their lives from cities and towns, and 3) many will be martyrs for Christ’s sake in standing in defense of the truth. 4) They will be brought before kings and rulers, and before councils to meet the false, absurd, and lying accusations brought against them, but they must stand firm as a rock to principle, and the promise is, “as thy days so shall thy strength be.” Deut. 33:25. You will not be tempted above what you are able to bear. Jesus bore all this and far more. The express command of God must be obeyed, for God has been working. (See, Luke 21:1-19). The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, p. 484 or Maranatha, p. 199
Sunday laws may start as a human rights issue emphasizing workers’ and families’ right to rest. They may merely seek to encourage people to attend church on Sunday. These laws and enactments may appear as innocent as lambs, but they will after enactment lead to religious persecution that will eventually encompass every nation on the globe.
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