1917_The_Finished_Mystery_Text

And charity, [and service,] and faith, and[thy] patience, and thy works.— The Lordremembers that Peter Waldo literally "sold allthat he had and gave to the [Lord's] poor."[And] thy last works to be more than thefirst.— (Diaglott.) "So general and widespreadbecame the so-called heresy that Innocent IIIdetermined to crush it out— 'exterminate thewhole pestilential race' was the language ofwhich he made use. The commission he gave tothe authorities was to burn the chief of theVaudois (Waldenses), to scatter the hereticsthemselves, confiscating their property, andconsigning to perdition every soul who dared tooppose the pope. Joined with ‘His Holiness' inhis relentless persecution of the Waldenses wasDominic, the father of the Inquisition. Such hasbeen the history of the Waldenses all through theages—subject to untold suffering frompersecution; then enjoying, in the quiet valleys ofPiedmont, comparative tranquility for a time;then assailed by their ever-relentless foe, the.Roman Catholic Church, which has spared nopains, by fire and slaughter, and the horrors ofthe Inquisition, to put an end to the unfortunatevictims of their violence," (McC.) How evident itis that the followers of Peter Waldo have given alarger witness by their sufferings (their "lastworks") than they did by the first works (thetranslation of the Gospel into French)!Revelation 2:20Notwithstanding I have [a few things] MUCHagainst thee.— The fourth epoch of the churchnominal.FM40[Because] THAT thou sufferest that womanJezebel.— The Roman Catholic Church, asshown in parallel below:"Elijah was persecuted for fidelity to truth andrighteousness."The Church was persecuted for fidelity to truthand righteousness.——————————