The Revelation of Jesus Christ - The Herald

Protestantism were recognized by the Reformers themselves later on, as the resurrection of
the witnesses. Even their enemies gave expression to utterances that established the
correctness of this interpretation. Pope Adrian, Leo's successor, expressed himself in a
communication to the Diet of Nuremberg:
"The heretics, Huss and Jerome, seem now to be alive again in the person of Luther."
However, while it is true that the war of the "beast" on the witnesses continued on fiercely,
and did not cease entirely until about 1799, the beginning of the "time of the end," the
warring after 1517 was different, in that before this time the "beast" prevailed against "the
witnesses" and finally silenced, suppressed them--"wore them out." Since then, however,
he has never been able to silence them all--never been able to crush them out in all
countries.
Who were these that composed this great cloud of human resurrected witnesses to the
truths of the Holy Scriptures? We answer, a few of their names (like the "great cloud" of
Old Testament witnesses of Heb. 11) are graven on the pages of history. Among them
were Luther, Melancthon, Calvin, Zwingli, Reuchlen, Farrel, Latimer, Ridley, Knox, and
others; later on we have the Wesleys, and nearer our day William Miller, H. G. Guinness,
C. T. Russell, and others.
We quote some of the words of Luther, the first of these human witnesses to the Scriptures
of truth. When summoned to appear at the Diet of Worms in 1521 to answer and retract
the charge of heresy, he was ill, and his friends besought him not to heed the summons
which involved, for that time, a long journey. He said in a letter to the Elector:
"If I cannot perform the journey to Worms as a man in good health, I will be carried thither
in a litter. For since the Emperor has summoned me, I can regard it only as the call of God.
If they intend to use violence against me as they probably do . . . I commit the matter into
the hands of God. He still lives and reigns who preserved the three Israelites in the fiery
furnace. If it be not His will to save me, my life is of little worth. . . . Who shall say whether
my life or death would contribute most to the salvation of my brethren? . . . Expect
anything of me but flight or recantation. Fly I cannot, still less can I recant."
Other significant words of Luther show his confidence in God:
"It is a glorious thing to think of, that we sinners believing in Christ and feeding on His
flesh should have Him dwelling in us. . . . I have sometimes seen Christians halting in their
walk, and ready to fall, but when the hour came that they must wrestle with the enemy, or
plead their Master's cause before the world, Christ on a sudden stirred within them, and
so strong and valiant did they become that Satan was dismayed and fled from their
presence."
"Such an hour," says the historian, "as he spoke was soon to come upon himself; and
Christ, who 'abode' with him, was then to be his present help." Speaking of his anticipated
appearance before the assembly of the Pope's prelates, he said: