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04 - The Waldenses - The Great Controversy · Philosophy and Faith

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Speaker 1: The waldenseis. Amid the gloom that settled upon the earth
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Speaker 1: during the long period of papal supremacy, the light of
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Speaker 1: truth could not be wholly extinguished. In every age there
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Speaker 1: were witnesses for God, men who cherished faith in Christ
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Speaker 1: as the only mediator between God and man, who held
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Speaker 1: the Bible as the only rule of life, and who
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Speaker 1: hallowed the true Sabbath. How much the world owes to
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Speaker 1: these men, posterity will never know. They were branded as heretics,
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Speaker 1: their motives impugned, their characters maligned, their writings suppressed, misrepresented,
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Speaker 1: or mutilated. Yet they stood firm, and from age to age,
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Speaker 1: maintained their faith in its purity as a sacred heritage
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Speaker 1: for the generations to come. The history of God's people
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Speaker 1: during the ages of darkness that followed upon Rome's supremacy
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Speaker 1: is written in heaven, but they have little place in
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Speaker 1: human records. Few traces of their existence can be found
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Speaker 1: except in the accusations of their persecutors. It was the
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Speaker 1: policy of Rome to obliterate every trace of descent from
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Speaker 1: her doctrines or decrees. Everything heretical, whether persons or writings.
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Speaker 1: She sought to destroy expressions of doubt or questions as
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Speaker 1: to the authority of papal dogmas were enough to forfeit
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Speaker 1: the life of rich or poor, high or low. Rome
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Speaker 1: endeavored also to destroy every record of her cruelty toward dissenters.
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Speaker 1: Papal councils decreed that books and writings containing such records
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Speaker 1: should be committed to the flames. Before the invention of printing,
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Speaker 1: books were few in number and in a form not
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Speaker 1: favorable for preservation. Therefore, there was little to prevent the
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Speaker 1: Romanists from carrying out their purpose. No church within the
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Speaker 1: limits of Romish jurisdiction was long left undisturbed in the
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Speaker 1: enjoyment of freedom of conscience. No sooner had the papacy
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Speaker 1: obtained power than she stretched out her arms to crush
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Speaker 1: all that refused to acknowledge her sway, and one after
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Speaker 1: another the churches submitted to her dominion. In Great Britain,
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Speaker 1: primitive Christianity had very early taken root. The Gospel received
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Speaker 1: by the Britons in the first centuries was then uncorrupted
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Speaker 1: by Romish apostasy. Persecution from pagan emperors, which extended even
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Speaker 1: to these far off shores, was the only gift that
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Speaker 1: the first churches of Britain received from Rome. Many of
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Speaker 1: the Christians fleeing from persecution in England found refuge in Scotland.
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Speaker 1: Thence the truth was carried to Ireland, and in all
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Speaker 1: these countries it was received with gladness. When the Saxons
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Speaker 1: invaded Britain, Heathenism gained control. The conquerors disdained to be
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Speaker 1: instructed by their slaves, and the Christians were forced to
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Speaker 1: retreat to the mountains and the wild moors. Yet the light,
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Speaker 1: hidden for a time, continued to burn in Scotland. A
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Speaker 1: century later it shone out with a brightness that extended
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Speaker 1: to far distant lands. From Ireland came the pious Columba
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Speaker 1: and his co laborers, who, gathering about them the scattered
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Speaker 1: believers on the lonely island of Iona, made this the
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Speaker 1: center of their missionary labors. Among these evangelists was an
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Speaker 1: observer of the Bible Sabbath, and thus this truth was
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Speaker 1: introduced among the people. A school was established at Iona,
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Speaker 1: from which missionaries went out not only to Scotland and England,
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Speaker 1: but to Germany, Switzerland and even Italy. But Rome had
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Speaker 1: fixed her eyes on Britain and resolved to bring it
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Speaker 1: under her supremacy. In the sixth century, her missionaries undertook
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Speaker 1: the conversion of the Heathen Saxons. They were received with
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Speaker 1: favor by the proud barbarians, and they induced many thousands
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Speaker 1: to profess the Romish faith. As the work progressed, the
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Speaker 1: papal leaders and their converts encountered the primitive Christians. A
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Speaker 1: striking contrast was presented. The latter were simple, humble, and
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Speaker 1: scriptural in character, doctrine and manners, while the former manifested
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Speaker 1: the superstition, pomp, and arrogance of popery. The emissary of
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Speaker 1: Rome demanded that these Christian churches acknowledge the supremacy of
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Speaker 1: the sovereign pontiff. The Britons meekly replied that they desired
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Speaker 1: to love of men, but that the pope was not
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Speaker 1: entitled to supremacy in the church, and they could render
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Speaker 1: to him only that submission which was due every follower
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Speaker 1: of Christ. Repeated attempts were made to secure their allegiance
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Speaker 1: to Rome, but these humble Christians, amazed at the pride
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Speaker 1: displayed by her emissaries, steadfastly replied that they knew no
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Speaker 1: other master than Christ. Now the true spirit of the
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Speaker 1: papacy was revealed, said the Romish leader. If you will
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Speaker 1: not receive brethren who bring you peace, you shall receive
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Speaker 1: enemies who will bring you war. If you will not
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Speaker 1: unite with us in showing the Saxons the way of life,
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Speaker 1: you shall receive from them the stroke of death. These
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Speaker 1: were no idle threats. War, intrigue, and deception were employed
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Speaker 1: against these witnesses for a Bible faith, until the churches
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Speaker 1: of Britain were destroyed or forced to submit to the
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Speaker 1: authority of the pope. In lands beyond the jurisdiction of Rome,
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Speaker 1: there existed for many centuries bodies of Christians who remained
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Speaker 1: almost wholly free from papal corruption. They were surrounded by Heathenism, and,
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Speaker 1: in the lapse of ages, were affected by its errors,
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Speaker 1: but they continued to regard the Bible as the only
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Speaker 1: rule of faith and adhered to many of its truths.
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Speaker 1: These Christians believed in the perpetuity of the Law of
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Speaker 1: God and observed the Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment. Churches
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Speaker 1: that held to this faith and practice existed in Central
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Speaker 1: Africa and among the Armenians of Asia. But of those
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Speaker 1: who resisted the encroachments of the papal power. The Waldenzes
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Speaker 1: stood foremost in the very land where popery had fixed
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Speaker 1: its seat. There, its falsehood and corruption were most steadfastly resisted.
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Speaker 1: For centuries, the churches of Piedmont maintained their independence, but
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Speaker 1: the time came at last when Rome insisted upon their submission.
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Speaker 1: After ineffectual struggles against her tyranny. The leaders of these
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Speaker 1: churches reluctantly acknowledged the supremacy of the power to which
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Speaker 1: the whole world seemed to pay homage. There were some, however,
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Speaker 1: who refused to yield to the authority of pope or prelate.
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Speaker 1: They were deterred to maintain their allegiance to God and
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Speaker 1: to preserve the purity and simplicity of their faith. A
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Speaker 1: separation took place. Those who adhered to the ancient faith
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Speaker 1: now withdrew. Some, forsaking their native alps, raised the banner
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Speaker 1: of truth and foreign lands. Others retreated to the secluded
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Speaker 1: glens and rocky fastnesses of the mountains, and there preserved
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Speaker 1: their freedom to worship God. The faith, which for many
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Speaker 1: centuries was held and taught by the Waldensian Christians, was
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Speaker 1: in marked contrast to the false doctrines put forth from Rome.
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Speaker 1: Their religious belief was founded upon the written word of God,
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Speaker 1: the true system of Christianity. But those humble peasants, in
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Speaker 1: their obscure retreats, shut away from the world and bound
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Speaker 1: to daily toil among their flocks and their vineyards, had
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Speaker 1: not by themselves arrived at the truth. In opposition to
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Speaker 1: the dogmas and heresies of the apostate Church. Theirs was
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Speaker 1: not a faith newly received. Their religious belief was their
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Speaker 1: inheritance from their fathers. They contended for the faith of
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Speaker 1: the Aberpostolic Church, the faith which was once delivered unto
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Speaker 1: the saints. The church in the wilderness, and not the
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Speaker 1: proud hierarchy enthroned in the world's great capital, was the
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Speaker 1: True Church of Christ, the guardian of the treasures of
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Speaker 1: truth which God has committed to his people to be
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Speaker 1: given to the world. Among the leading causes that had
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Speaker 1: led to the separation of the True Church from Rome
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Speaker 1: was the hatred of the latter toward the Bible Sabbath.
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Speaker 1: As foretold by prophecy, the papal power cast down the
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Speaker 1: truth to the ground. The law of God was trampled
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Speaker 1: in the dust, while the traditions and customs of men
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Speaker 1: were exalted. The churches that were under the rule of
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Speaker 1: the papacy were early compelled to honor the Sunday as
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Speaker 1: a holy day. Amid the prevailing error and superstition. Many
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Speaker 1: even of the true people of God became so bewildered
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Speaker 1: that while they observed the Sabbath, they refrained from labor
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Speaker 1: also on the Sunday. But this did not satisfy the
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Speaker 1: papal leaders. They demanded not only that Sunday be hallowed,
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Speaker 1: but that the Sabbath be profaned, and they denounced in
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Speaker 1: the strongest language those who dared to show it honor.
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Speaker 1: It was only by fleeing from the power of Rome
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Speaker 1: that any could obey God's law and peace. The Waldenzis
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Speaker 1: were among the first of the peoples of Europe to
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Speaker 1: obtain a translation of the Holy Scriptures. Hundreds of years
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Speaker 1: before the Reformation. They possessed the Bible in manuscript in
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Speaker 1: their native tongue. They had the truth unadulterated, and this
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Speaker 1: rendered them the special objects of hatred and persecution. They
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Speaker 1: declared the Church of Rome to be the apostate Babylon
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Speaker 1: of the Apocalypse, and at the peril of their lives,
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Speaker 1: they stood up to resist her corruptions. While under the
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Speaker 1: pressure of long continued persecution, some compromised their faith little
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Speaker 1: by little, yielding its distinctive principles. Others held fast the
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Speaker 1: truth through ages of darkness and apostasy. There were Waldenzis
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Speaker 1: who denied the supremacy of Rome, who rejected image worship
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Speaker 1: as idolatry, and who kept the true Sabbath. Under the
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Speaker 1: fiercest tempests of all opposition, they maintained their faith, though
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Speaker 1: gashed by the savoyard's spear and scorched by the Romish faggot.
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Speaker 1: They stood unflinchingly for God's word and his honor. Behind
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Speaker 1: the lofty bulwarks of the mountains. In all ages the
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Speaker 1: refuge of the persecuted and oppressed, the Waldenseys found a
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Speaker 1: hiding place. Here. The light of truth was kept burning
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Speaker 1: amid the darkness of the Middle Ages. Here, for a
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Speaker 1: thousand years, witnesses for the truth maintained the ancient faith
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Speaker 1: God had provided for his people, a sanctuary of awful grandeur,
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Speaker 1: befitting the mighty truths committed to their trust. To those
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Speaker 1: faithful exiles, the mountains were an emblem of the immutable
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Speaker 1: righteousness of Jehovah. They pointed their children to the heights
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Speaker 1: towering above them an unchanging majesty, and spoke to them
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Speaker 1: of Him with whom there is no variableness nor shadow
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Speaker 1: of turning, whose word is as enduring as the everlasting hills.
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Speaker 1: God had set fast the mountains and girded them with strength.
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Speaker 1: No arm but that of infinite power could be them
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Speaker 1: out of their place. In like manner, he had established
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Speaker 1: his law, the foundation of his government in heaven and
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Speaker 1: upon earth. The arm of man might reach his fellow
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Speaker 1: men and destroy their lives. But that arm could as
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Speaker 1: readily uproot the mountains from their foundations and hurl them
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Speaker 1: into the sea, as it could change one precept of
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Speaker 1: the law of Jehovah or blot out one of his promises.
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Speaker 1: To those who do his will, in their fidelity to
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Speaker 1: his law, God's servants should be as firm as the
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Speaker 1: unchanging hills. The mountains that girded their lowly valleys were
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Speaker 1: a constant witness to God's creative power and a never
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Speaker 1: failing assurance of his protecting care. Those pilgrims learned to
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Speaker 1: love the silent symbols of Jehovah's presence They indulged no
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Speaker 1: repining because of the hardships of their lot. They were
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Speaker 1: never lonely amid the mountain solitudes. They thanked God that
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Speaker 1: he had provided for them an asylum from the wrath
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Speaker 1: and cruelty of men. They rejoiced in their freedom to
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Speaker 1: worship before Him. Often, when pursued by their enemies, the
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Speaker 1: strength of the hills proved a sure defense. From many
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Speaker 1: a lofty cliff. They chanted the praise of God, and
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Speaker 1: the armies of Rome could not silence their songs of thanksgiving. Pure, simple,
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Speaker 1: and fervent was the piety of these followers of Christ.
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Speaker 1: The principles of truth they valued above houses and lands, friends, kindred,
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Speaker 1: even life itself. These principles they earnestly sought to impress
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Speaker 1: upon the hearts of the young. From earliest childhood, the
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Speaker 1: youth were instructed in the scriptures and taught to regard
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Speaker 1: sacredly the claims of the Law of God. Copies of
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Speaker 1: the Bible were rare, Therefore its precious words were committed
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Speaker 1: to memory. Many were able to repeat large portions of
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Speaker 1: both the Old and the New Testament. Thoughts of God
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Speaker 1: were associated alike with the sublime scenery of nature and
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Speaker 1: with the humble blessings of daily life. Little children learned
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Speaker 1: to look with gratitude to God as the giver of
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Speaker 1: every favor and every comfort. Parents, tender and affectionate as
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Speaker 1: they were, loved their children, too wisely to accustom them
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Speaker 1: to self indulgence. Before them was a life of trial
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Speaker 1: and hardship, perhaps a martyr's death. They were educated from
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Speaker 1: childhood to endure hardness, to submit to control, and yet
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Speaker 1: to think and act for themselves. Very early they were
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Speaker 1: taught to bear responsibilities, to be guarded in speech, and
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Speaker 1: to understand the wisdom of silence. One indiscreet word let
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Speaker 1: fall in the hearing of their enemies, might imperil not
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Speaker 1: only the life of the speaker, but the lives of
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Speaker 1: hundreds of his brethren. For as wolves hunting their prey,
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Speaker 1: did the enemies of truth pursue those who dared to
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Speaker 1: claim freedom of religious faith. The Waldenseis had sacrificed their
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Speaker 1: worldly prosperity for the Truth's sake, and with persevering patience
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Speaker 1: they toiled for their bread. Every spot of tillable land
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Speaker 1: among the mountains was carefully improved. The valleys and the
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Speaker 1: less fertile hillsides were made to yield their increase. Economy
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Speaker 1: and severe self denial formed a part of the education
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Speaker 1: which the children received as their only legacy. They were
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Speaker 1: taught that God designs life to be a discipline, and
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Speaker 1: that their wants could be supplied only by personal labor,
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Speaker 1: by forethought, care, and faith. The process was laborious and wearisome,
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Speaker 1: but it was wholesome, just what man needs in his
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Speaker 1: fallen state, the school which God has provided for his
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Speaker 1: training and development. While the youth were inured to toil
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Speaker 1: and hardship, the culture of the intellect was not neglected.
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Speaker 1: They were taught that all their powers belonged to God,
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Speaker 1: and that all were to be improved and developed for
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Speaker 1: His service. The Voudois churches, in their purity and simplicity,
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Speaker 1: resembled the Church of Apostolic times. Rejecting the supremacy of
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Speaker 1: pope and prelate, they held the Bible as the only supreme,
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Speaker 1: infallible authority. Their pastors, unlike the lordly priests of Rome,
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Speaker 1: followed the example of their Master, who came not to
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Speaker 1: be ministered unto, but to minister. They fed the flock
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Speaker 1: of God, leading them to the green pastures and living
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Speaker 1: fountains of His Holy Word, far from the monuments of
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Speaker 1: human pomp and pride. The people assembled not in magnificent
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Speaker 1: churches or grand cathedrals, but beneath the shadow of the mountains,
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Speaker 1: in the alpine valleys, or in time of danger, in
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Speaker 1: some rocky stronghold, to listen to the words of truth
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Speaker 1: from the servants of Christ. The pastors not only preached
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Speaker 1: the Gospel, but they visited the sick, catechised the children,
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Speaker 1: admonished the airing, and labored to settle disputes and promote
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Speaker 1: harmony and brotherly love in times of peace. They were
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Speaker 1: sustained by the free will offerings of the people, but
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Speaker 1: like Paul the tent maker, each learned some trade or
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Speaker 1: profession by which, if necessary, to provide for his own support.
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Speaker 1: From their pastors, the youth received instruction, while attention was
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Speaker 1: given to branches of general learning. The Bible was made
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Speaker 1: the chief study. The gospels of Matthew and John were
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Speaker 1: committed to memory, with many of the epistles. They were
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Speaker 1: employed also in copying the scriptures. Some manuscripts contained the
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Speaker 1: whole others only brief selections, to which some simple explanations
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Speaker 1: of the text were added by those who were able
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Speaker 1: to expound the scriptures. Thus were brought forth the treasures
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Speaker 1: of truth, so long concealed by those who sought to
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Speaker 1: exalt themselves above God. By patient, untiring labor, sometimes in
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Speaker 1: the deep dark caverns of the earth, by the light
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Speaker 1: of torches, the sacred scriptures were written out, verse by verse,
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Speaker 1: chapter by chapter. Thus the work went on, the revealed
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Speaker 1: will of God shining out like pure gold, how much brighter, clearer,
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Speaker 1: and more powerful because of the trials undergone for its sake.
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Speaker 1: Only those could realize who were engaged in the work.
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Speaker 1: Angels from heaven surrounded these faithful workers. Satan had urged
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Speaker 1: on the papal priests and prelates to bury the word
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Speaker 1: of truth beneath the rubbish of error, heresy, and superstition.
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Speaker 1: But in a most wonderful manner it was preserved, uncorrupted,
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Speaker 1: through all the ages of darkness. It bore not the
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Speaker 1: stamp of man, but the impress of God. Men have
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Speaker 1: been unwearied in their efforts to obscure the plain, simple
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Speaker 1: meaning of the scriptures and to make them contradict their
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Speaker 1: own testimony. But like the ark upon the billowy deep,
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Speaker 1: the Word of God outrides the storms that threaten it
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Speaker 1: with destruction. As the mind has rich veins of gold
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Speaker 1: and silver hidden beneath the surface, so that all must
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Speaker 1: dig who would discover its precious stores. So the holy
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Speaker 1: Scriptures have treasures of truth that are revealed only to
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Speaker 1: the earnest, humble, prayerful seeker. God designed the Bible to
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Speaker 1: be a lesson book to all mankind in childhood, youth,
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Speaker 1: and manhood, and to be studied through all time. He
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Speaker 1: gave his word to men as a revelation of himself.
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Speaker 1: Every new truth discerned is a fresh disclosure of the
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Speaker 1: character of its author. The study of the Scriptures is
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Speaker 1: the means divinely ordained to bring men into closer connection
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Speaker 1: with their Creator and to give them a clearer knowledge
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Speaker 1: of his will. It is the medium of communication between
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Speaker 1: God and man. While the waltenseis regarded the fear of
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Speaker 1: the Lord as the beginning of wisdom, they were not
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Speaker 1: blind to the importance of a contact with the world,
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Speaker 1: a knowledge of men and of active life. In expanding
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Speaker 1: the mind and quickening the perceptions. From their schools in
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Speaker 1: the mountains, some of the youth were sent to institutions
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Speaker 1: of learning in the cities of France or Italy, where
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Speaker 1: was a more extended field for study, thought, and observation
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Speaker 1: than in their native Alps. The youth thus sent forth
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Speaker 1: were exposed to temptation. They witnessed vice. They encountered Satan's
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Speaker 1: wily agents, who urged upon them the most subtle heresies
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Speaker 1: and the most dangerous deceptions. But their education from childhood
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Speaker 1: had been of a character to prepare them for all this.
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Speaker 1: In the schools whither they went, they were not to
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Speaker 1: make confidants of any Their garments were so prepared as
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Speaker 1: to conceal their greatest treasure, the precious manuscripts of the scriptures.
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Speaker 1: These the fruit of months and years of toil. They
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Speaker 1: came buried with them, and whenever they could do so
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Speaker 1: without exciting suspicion, they cautiously placed some portion in the
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Speaker 1: way of those whose heart seemed open to receive the
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Speaker 1: truth from their mother's knee. The Waldensian youth had been
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Speaker 1: trained with this purpose in view. They understood their work
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Speaker 1: and faithfully performed it. Converts to the true faith were
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Speaker 1: one in these institutions of learning, and frequently its principles
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Speaker 1: were found to be permeating the entire school. Yet the
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Speaker 1: papal leaders could not, by the closest inquiry, trace the
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Speaker 1: so called corrupting heresy to its source. The spirit of
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Speaker 1: Christ is a missionary spirit. The very first impulse of
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Speaker 1: the renewed heart is to bring others also to the Savior.
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Speaker 1: Such was the spirit of the Voudooll Christians. They felt
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Speaker 1: that God required more of them than merely to preserve
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Speaker 1: the truth and its purity in their own churches, that
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Speaker 1: a solemn responsibility rested upon them to let their light
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Speaker 1: shine forth to those who were in darkness. By the
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Speaker 1: mighty power of God's word, they saw to break the
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Speaker 1: bondage which Rome had imposed. The Voudewall ministers were trained
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Speaker 1: as missionaries, every one who expected to enter the ministry
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Speaker 1: being required first to gain an experience as an evangelist.
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Speaker 1: Each was to serve three years in some mission field
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Speaker 1: before taking charge of a church at home. This service,
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Speaker 1: requiring at the outset self denial and sacrifice, was a
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Speaker 1: fitting introduction to the pastor's life. In those times that
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Speaker 1: tried men's souls. The youth who received ordination to the
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Speaker 1: sacred office saw before them not the prospect of earthly
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Speaker 1: wealth and glory, but a life of toil and danger,
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Speaker 1: and possibly a martyrs fate. The missionaries went out two
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Speaker 1: and two as Jesus sent forth his disciples. With each
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Speaker 1: young man was usually associated a man of age and experience,
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Speaker 1: the youth being under the guidance of his companion, who
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Speaker 1: was held responsible for his training and whose instruction he
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Speaker 1: was required to heed. These co laborers were not always together,
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Speaker 1: but often met for prayer and counsel, thus strengthening each
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Speaker 1: other in the faith. To have made known the object
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Speaker 1: of their mission would have insured its defeat. Therefore they
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Speaker 1: carefully concealed their real character. Every minister possessed a knowledge
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Speaker 1: of some trade or profession, and the missionaries prosecuted their
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Speaker 1: work under cover of a secular calling. Usually they chose
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Speaker 1: that of a merchant or peddler. They carried silks, jewelry,
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Speaker 1: and other articles at that time not easily purchasable save
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Speaker 1: at distant marts, and they were welcomed as merchants where
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Speaker 1: they would have been spurned as missionaries. All the while
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Speaker 1: their hearts were uplifted to God for wisdom to present
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Speaker 1: a treasure more precious than gold or gems. They secretly
20:40
Speaker 1: carried about with them copies of the Bible, in whole
20:43
Speaker 1: or in part, and whenever an opportunity was presented, they
20:46
Speaker 1: called the attention of their customers to these manuscripts. Often
20:50
Speaker 1: an interest to read God's word was thus awakened, and
20:53
Speaker 1: some portion was gladly left with those who desired to
20:56
Speaker 1: receive it. The work of these missionaries began in the
20:59
Speaker 1: plains and valleys at the foot of their own mountains,
21:02
Speaker 1: but it extended far beyond these limits. With naked feet
21:06
Speaker 1: and in garments coarse and travel stained as were those
21:08
Speaker 1: of their master, they passed through great cities and penetrated
21:12
Speaker 1: to distant lands. Everywhere they scattered the precious seed, Churches
21:17
Speaker 1: sprung up in their path, and the blood of martyrs
21:19
Speaker 1: witnessed for the truth. The day of God will reveal
21:22
Speaker 1: a rich harvest of souls garnered by the labors of
21:25
Speaker 1: these faithful men. Veiled and silent, the Word of God
21:29
Speaker 1: was making its way through Christendom and meeting a glad
21:32
Speaker 1: reception in the homes and hearts of men. To the Waldenseys,
21:36
Speaker 1: the scriptures were not merely a record of God's dealings
21:39
Speaker 1: with men in the past and a revelation of the
21:41
Speaker 1: responsibilities and duties of the present, but an unfolding of
21:45
Speaker 1: the perils and glories of the future. They believed that
21:49
Speaker 1: the end of all things was not far distant, And
21:52
Speaker 1: as they studied the Bible with prayer and tears, they
21:55
Speaker 1: were the more deeply impressed with its precious utterances and
21:59
Speaker 1: with their duty to make known to others as saving truths.
22:02
Speaker 1: They saw the plan of salvation clearly revealed in the
22:05
Speaker 1: sacred pages, and they found comfort, hope, and peace in
22:08
Speaker 1: believing in Jesus. As the light illuminated their understanding and
22:12
Speaker 1: made glad their hearts, they longed to shed its beams
22:16
Speaker 1: upon those who were in the darkness of papal error.
22:19
Speaker 1: They saw that, under the guidance of popes and priests,
22:22
Speaker 1: multitudes were vainly endeavoring to obtain pardon by afflicting their
22:26
Speaker 1: bodies for the sin of their souls. Taught to trust
22:29
Speaker 1: to their good works to save them, they were ever
22:31
Speaker 1: looking to themselves, their minds dwelling upon their sinful condition,
22:36
Speaker 1: seeing themselves exposed to the wrath of God, afflicting soul
22:40
Speaker 1: and body, yet finding no relief. Thus, conscientious souls were
22:44
Speaker 1: bound by the doctrines of Rome, thousands abandoned friends and
22:48
Speaker 1: kindred and spent their lives in convent cells. By oft,
22:52
Speaker 1: repeated fasts and cruel scourgings, by midnight vigils, by prostration
22:56
Speaker 1: for weary hours upon the cold, damp stones of their
22:59
Speaker 1: dreary earth, by long pilgrimages, by humiliating penance and fearful torture.
23:05
Speaker 1: Thousands vainly sought to obtain peace of conscience. Oppressed with
23:10
Speaker 1: the sense of sin, and haunted with the fear of
23:12
Speaker 1: God's avenging wrath, many suffered on until exhausted nature gave way,
23:17
Speaker 1: and without one ray of light or hope, they sank
23:20
Speaker 1: into the tomb. The Waldenseys longed to break to these
23:24
Speaker 1: starving souls the bread of life, to open to them
23:27
Speaker 1: the messages of peace and the promises of God, and
23:30
Speaker 1: to point them to Christ as their only hope of salvation.
23:33
Speaker 1: The doctrine that good works can atone for the transgression
23:36
Speaker 1: of God's law, they held to be based upon falsehood.
23:40
Speaker 1: Reliance upon human merit, intercepts the view of Christ's infinite love.
23:45
Speaker 1: Jesus died as a sacrifice for man because the fallen
23:48
Speaker 1: race can do nothing to recommend themselves to God. The
23:51
Speaker 1: merits of a crucified and risen Savior are the foundation
23:55
Speaker 1: of the Christian's faith. The dependence of the soul upon
23:58
Speaker 1: Christ is as real, and its connection with Him must
24:02
Speaker 1: be as close as that of a limb to the body,
24:04
Speaker 1: or of a branch to the vine. The teachings of
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Speaker 1: popes and priests had led men to look upon the
24:10
Speaker 1: character of God and even of Christ as stern, gloomy,
24:14
Speaker 1: and forbidding. The Savior was represented as so far devoid
24:18
Speaker 1: of sympathy with man and his fallen state, that the
24:21
Speaker 1: mediation of priests and saints must be invoked. Those whose
24:24
Speaker 1: minds had been enlightened by the word of God longed
24:27
Speaker 1: to point these souls to Jesus as their compassionate, loving Savior,
24:31
Speaker 1: standing with outstretched arms, inviting all to come to Him
24:35
Speaker 1: with their burden of sin, their care and weariness. They
24:38
Speaker 1: longed to clear away the obstructions which Satan had piled up,
24:41
Speaker 1: that men might not see the promises and come directly
24:44
Speaker 1: to God, confessing their sins and obtaining pardon and peace.
24:49
Speaker 1: Eagerly did the Voudois missionary unfold to the inquiring mind
24:53
Speaker 1: the precious truths of the Gospel. Cautiously, he produced the
24:56
Speaker 1: carefully written portions of the Holy scriptures. It was his
25:00
Speaker 1: greatest joy to give hope to the conscientious, sin stricken soul,
25:04
Speaker 1: who could see only a God of vengeance waiting to
25:06
Speaker 1: execute justice. With quivering lip and tearful eye. Did he
25:11
Speaker 1: often on bended knees, open to his brethren the precious
25:14
Speaker 1: promises that revealed the sinner's only hope. Thus the light
25:18
Speaker 1: of truth penetrated many a darkened mind, rolling back the
25:22
Speaker 1: cloud of gloom, until the sun of righteousness shone into
25:25
Speaker 1: the heart with healing in his beams. It was often
25:28
Speaker 1: the case that some portion of the scripture was read
25:31
Speaker 1: again and again, the hearer desiring it to be repeated,
25:34
Speaker 1: as if he would assure himself that he had heard aright.
25:38
Speaker 1: Especially was the repetition of these words. Eagerly desired. The
25:42
Speaker 1: blood of Jesus Christ, his son cleanseth us from all sin.
25:46
Speaker 1: As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even
25:50
Speaker 1: so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that
25:52
Speaker 1: whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
25:57
Speaker 1: Many were undeceived in regard to the claim of Rome.
26:01
Speaker 1: They saw how vain is the mediation of men or
26:03
Speaker 1: angels in behalf of the sinner. As the true light
26:07
Speaker 1: dawned upon their minds, they exclaimed with rejoicing. Christ is
26:11
Speaker 1: my priest, His blood is my sacrifice, His altar is
26:15
Speaker 1: my confessional. They cast themselves wholly upon the merits of Jesus,
26:21
Speaker 1: repeating the words without faith, it is impossible to please him.
26:25
Speaker 1: There is none other name under Heaven given among men,
26:29
Speaker 1: whereby we must be saved. The assurance of a saviour's
26:32
Speaker 1: love seemed too much for some of these poor tempest
26:35
Speaker 1: tossed souls to realize. So great was the relief which
26:39
Speaker 1: it brought. Such a flood of light was shed upon them,
26:42
Speaker 1: that they seemed transported to Heaven. Their hands were laid
26:46
Speaker 1: confidingly in the hand of Christ, their feet were planted
26:49
Speaker 1: upon the rock of Ages. All fear of death was banished.
26:53
Speaker 1: They could now covet the prison and the fagot, if
26:56
Speaker 1: they might thereby honor the name of their redeemer secret places.
27:00
Speaker 1: The word of God was thus brought forth and read,
27:03
Speaker 1: sometimes to a single soul, sometimes to a little company
27:07
Speaker 1: who are longing for light and truth. Often the entire
27:10
Speaker 1: night was spent in this manner. So great would be
27:14
Speaker 1: the wonder and admiration of the listeners that the messenger
27:17
Speaker 1: of mercy was not infrequently compelled to cease his reading
27:21
Speaker 1: until the understanding could grasp the tidings of salvation. Often
27:25
Speaker 1: would words like these be uttered, Will God indeed accept
27:29
Speaker 1: my offering? Will he smile upon me? Will he pardon me?
27:34
Speaker 1: The answer was read, Come unto me, all ye that
27:37
Speaker 1: labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
27:41
Speaker 1: Faith grasped the promise, and the glad response was heard.
27:45
Speaker 1: No more long pilgrimages, to make, no more painful journeys
27:48
Speaker 1: to holy shrines. I may come to Jesus just as
27:52
Speaker 1: I am, sinful and unholy, and He will not spurn
27:55
Speaker 1: the penitential prayer. Thy sins be forgiven, thee mine and
28:00
Speaker 1: mine may be forgiven. A tide of sacred joy would
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Speaker 1: fill the heart, and the name of Jesus would be
28:06
Speaker 1: magnified by praise and thanksgiving. Those happy souls returned to
28:10
Speaker 1: their homes to diffuse light, to repeat to others as
28:13
Speaker 1: well as they could their new experience that they had
28:16
Speaker 1: found the true and living way. There was a strange
28:19
Speaker 1: and solemn power in the words of scripture that spoke
28:22
Speaker 1: directly to the hearts of those who were longing for
28:24
Speaker 1: the truth. It was the voice of God, and it
28:27
Speaker 1: carried conviction to those who heard. The Messenger of Truth
28:32
Speaker 1: went on his way, but his appearance of humility, his sincerity,
28:36
Speaker 1: his earnestness, and deep fervor were subjects of frequent remark.
28:40
Speaker 1: In many instances, his hearers had not asked him whence
28:43
Speaker 1: he came or whither he went. They had been so
28:46
Speaker 1: overwhelmed at first with surprise and afterward with gratitude and joy,
28:51
Speaker 1: that they had not thought to question him. When they
28:54
Speaker 1: had urged him to accompany them to their homes, he
28:57
Speaker 1: had replied that he must visit the lost sheep of
28:59
Speaker 1: the LifeLock. Could he have been an angel from heaven,
29:03
Speaker 1: they queried. In many cases, the Messenger of Truth was
29:07
Speaker 1: seen no more. He had made his way to other lands,
29:11
Speaker 1: or he was wearing out his life in some unknown dungeon,
29:14
Speaker 1: or perhaps his bones were whitening on the spot where
29:17
Speaker 1: he had witnessed for the truth. But the words he
29:20
Speaker 1: had left behind could not be destroyed. They were doing
29:23
Speaker 1: their work in the hearts of men. The blessed results
29:26
Speaker 1: would be fully known only in the judgment. The Waldensian
29:29
Speaker 1: missionaries were invading the Kingdom of Satan, and the powers
29:33
Speaker 1: of darkness aroused to greater vigilance. Every effort to advance
29:37
Speaker 1: the truth was watched by the Prince of Evil, and
29:40
Speaker 1: he excited the fears of his agents. The papal leaders
29:44
Speaker 1: saw importent of danger to their cause from the labors
29:47
Speaker 1: of these humble itinerants. If the light of truth were
29:50
Speaker 1: allowed to shine unobstructed, it would sweep away the heavy
29:53
Speaker 1: clouds of error that enveloped the people. It would direct
29:57
Speaker 1: the minds of men to God alone, and would have
29:59
Speaker 1: been virtually destroy the supremacy of Rome. The very existence
30:04
Speaker 1: of this people holding the faith of the ancient Church
30:07
Speaker 1: was a constant testimony to Rome's apostasy, and therefore excited
30:11
Speaker 1: the most bitter hatred and persecution. Their refusal to surrender
30:16
Speaker 1: the scriptures was also an offense that Rome could not tolerate.
30:20
Speaker 1: She determined to blot them from the earth. Now began
30:23
Speaker 1: the most terrible crusades against God's people in their mountain homes.
30:28
Speaker 1: Inquisitors were put upon their track, and the scene of
30:31
Speaker 1: innocent abel falling before the murderous cane was often repeated.
30:35
Speaker 1: Again and again were their fertile lands laid waste, their
30:38
Speaker 1: dwellings and chapels swept away, so that where once were
30:42
Speaker 1: flourishing fields and the homes of an innocent, industrious people,
30:46
Speaker 1: there remained only a desert. As the ravenous beast is
30:50
Speaker 1: rendered more furious by the taste of blood, so the
30:54
Speaker 1: rage of the papists was kindled to greater intensity by
30:57
Speaker 1: the sufferings of their victims. Many of these witnesses for
31:01
Speaker 1: a pure faith were pursued across the mountains and hunted
31:04
Speaker 1: down in the valleys, where they were hidden, shut in
31:07
Speaker 1: by mighty forests and pinnacles of rock. No charge could
31:11
Speaker 1: be brought against the moral character of this prescribed class.
31:15
Speaker 1: Even their enemies declared them to be a peaceable, quiet,
31:18
Speaker 1: pious people. Their grand offense was that they would not
31:21
Speaker 1: worship God according to the will of the Pope. For
31:25
Speaker 1: this crime, every humiliation, insult, and torture that men or
31:28
Speaker 1: devils could invent was heaped upon them. When Rome at
31:32
Speaker 1: one time determined to exterminate the hated sect, a bull
31:36
Speaker 1: was issued by the Pope, condemning them as heretics and
31:38
Speaker 1: delivering them to slaughter. They were not accused as idlers,
31:42
Speaker 1: or dishonest or disorderly, but it was declared that they
31:46
Speaker 1: had an appearance of piety and sanctity that seduced the
31:49
Speaker 1: sheep of the truefold. Therefore, the Pope ordered that malicious
31:54
Speaker 1: and abominable sect of malignance, if they refused to abjure,
31:58
Speaker 1: to be crushed like a venomous snake. Did this haughty
32:02
Speaker 1: potentate expect to meet those words again? Did he know
32:05
Speaker 1: that they were registered in the books of heaven to
32:07
Speaker 1: confront him at the judgment? Inasmuch as ye have done
32:11
Speaker 1: it unto one of the least of these my brethrens,
32:13
Speaker 1: said Jesus, ye have done it unto me. This bull
32:17
Speaker 1: called upon all members of the church to join the
32:19
Speaker 1: crusade against the heretics. As an incentive to engage in
32:23
Speaker 1: this cruel work, it absolved from all ecclesiastical pains and
32:27
Speaker 1: penalties general and particular. It released all who joined the
32:30
Speaker 1: crusade from any oaths they might have taken. It, legitimized
32:34
Speaker 1: their title to any property they might have illegally acquired,
32:37
Speaker 1: and promised remission of all their sins to such as
32:40
Speaker 1: should kill any heretic. It annulled all contracts made in
32:44
Speaker 1: favor of aaudoir, ordered their domestics to abandon them forbade
32:48
Speaker 1: all persons to give them any aid whatever, and empowered
32:51
Speaker 1: all persons to take possession of their property. This document
32:55
Speaker 1: clearly reveals the Master's spirit behind the scenes. It is
32:59
Speaker 1: the roar of the dragon and not the voice of
33:01
Speaker 1: Christ that is heard therein. The papal leaders would not
33:05
Speaker 1: conform their characters to the great standard of God's law,
33:08
Speaker 1: but erected a standard to suit themselves, and determined to
33:11
Speaker 1: compel all to conform to this. Because Rome willed it,
33:15
Speaker 1: the most horrible tragedies were enacted. Corrupt and blasphemous priests
33:19
Speaker 1: and popes were doing the work which Satan appointed them.
33:23
Speaker 1: Mercy had no place in their natures. The same spirit
33:26
Speaker 1: that crucified Christ and slew the apostles, the same that
33:30
Speaker 1: moved the bloodthirsty Nero against the faithful in his day,
33:33
Speaker 1: was at work to rid the earth of those who
33:35
Speaker 1: were beloved of God. The persecutions visited for many centuries
33:40
Speaker 1: upon this God fearing people were endured by them with
33:42
Speaker 1: a patience and constancy that honored their Redeemer. Notwithstanding the
33:47
Speaker 1: crusades against them and the inhuman butchery to which they
33:50
Speaker 1: were subjected, they continued to send out their missionaries to
33:53
Speaker 1: scatter the precious truth. They were hunted to the death,
33:57
Speaker 1: Yet their blood watered the seed sown, and it failed
34:00
Speaker 1: not of yielding fruit. Thus the Waltenseys witnessed for God
34:04
Speaker 1: centuries before the birth of Luther, scattered over many lands.
34:08
Speaker 1: They planted the seeds of the Reformation that began in
34:10
Speaker 1: the time of Wickliffe, grew broad and deep in the
34:13
Speaker 1: days of Luther, and is to be carried forward to
34:16
Speaker 1: the close of time by those who also are willing
34:19
Speaker 1: to suffer all things for the word of God and
34:22
Speaker 1: for the testimony of Jesus Christ. End of Chapter four