Testimonies for the Church, Volume 2 - Ellen G. White

unlearned and ignorant men; but grace and truth
reigned in their hearts, inspiring and purifying their
lives, and controlling their actions. They were
living representatives of the mind and spirit of
Christ. They were living epistles, known and read
of all men. They were hated and persecuted by all
who would not receive the truth they preached, and
who despised the cross of Christ.
Wicked men will not oppose a form of
godliness nor reject a popular ministry which
presents no cross for them to bear. The natural
heart will raise no serious objection to a religion in
which there is nothing to make the transgressor of
the law tremble or bring to bear upon the heart and
conscience the terrible realities of a judgment to
come. It is the demonstration of the Spirit and the
power of God which raises opposition and leads
the natural heart to rebel. The truth that saves the
soul must not only come from God; but His Spirit
must attend its communication to others, else it
falls powerless before opposing influences. Oh,
that the truth would fall from the lips of God's
servants with such power as to burn its way to the
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