at all seasons resorted to the shrine of the virgin; but at the great yearly festival of its consecration multitudes came from all parts of Switzerland, and even from France and Germany. Zwingli, greatly afflicted at the sight, seized the opportunity to proclaim liberty through the gospel to these bond-slaves of superstition.
"Think not," he said, "that God is in this temple more than in any other part of creation. Wherever he has fixed your dwelling he encompasses you and hears you. ... What power can there be in unprofitable works, weary pilgrimages, offerings, {images}, prayers to the virgin and the saints, to secure (for) you the favor of God? ... What signify the multiplying of words in prayer? What efficacy in the cowl or shaven crown, or priestly garments falling, and adorned with gold? {What efficacy has a glossy cowl, a smooth-shorn head, a long and flowing robe, or gold-embroidered slippers?} God looks at the heart - and our heart is far off from God." "Christ," he said, "who offered himself on the cross once for all, is the sacrifice and victim that satisfies for all eternity, for the sins of all believers."
from: “The great controversy between Christ and Satan during the Christian dispensation,” by Mrs. E. G. White, Pacific Press Publishing Company, Oakland, Cal., 1888; see also 1911: {...}, pp. 174, 175
“In seeking to cast contempt upon the divine statutes, Satan has perverted the doctrines of the Bible, and errors have thus become incorporated into the faith of thousands who profess to believe the Scriptures. The last great conflict between truth and error is but the final struggle of the long-standing controversy concerning the law of God. Upon this battle we are now entering, - a battle between the laws of men and the precepts of Jehovah {YAHWEH}, between the religion of the Bible and the religion of fable and tradition.”
from: “The great controversy between Christ and Satan during the Christian dispensation,” by Mrs. E. G. White, Pacific Press Publishing Company, Oakland, Cal., 1888, (see also 1911), pp. 582; editor {...}
“It is one of the leading doctrines of Romanism that the pope is the visible head of the universal church of Christ, invested with supreme authority over bishops and pastors in all parts of the world. More than this, the pope has arrogated the very titles of Deity {God}. He styles himself “Lord God the Pope," assumes infallibility and demands that all men pay him homage. Thus the same claim urged by Satan in the wilderness of temptation is still urged by him through the Church of Rome, and vast numbers are ready to yield him homage.
But those who fear and reverence God meet this Heaven-daring assumption as Christ met the solicitations of the wily foe: "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God {YAHWEH your Elohim}, and Him only shalt thou serve." Luke 4:8. God has never given a hint in his Word that he has appointed any man to be the head of the church. The doctrine of papal supremacy is directly opposed to the teachings of the Scriptures. The pope can have no power over Christ's church except by usurpation.”
from: “The great controversy between Christ and Satan during the Christian dispensation,” by Mrs. E. G. White, Pacific Press Publishing Company, Oakland, Cal., 1888, (see also 1911), pp. 50, 51; editor {...}
"Great is Thy faithfulness," O El my Father,
There his no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.
Refrain:
"Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!"
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided,
"Great is Thy faithfulness!" YAHWEH to me!
Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.
Refrain:
Pardon for sin and (a) peace that endureth,
Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, With ten thousand beside!
Refrain:
taken from: Hymns of the Christian Life, 1936. Hope Pub., 1923:
Hymn by Thomas O. Chisholm - William M. Runyan, by per.
Editor has insert the name of our only true God, our El {Elohim} and Father, with his sacred name YAHWEH.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Bible.
Its Origin, History, and Place in the World.
The Bible contains proof in itself of its divine origin. No other book can answer the questionings of the mind or satisfy the longings of the heart as does the Bible. It is adapted to every age and condition of life, and is full of that knowledge which enlightens the mind and sanctifies the soul.
In the Bible we have a revelation of the living God. Received by faith, it has power to transform the life. During all its history a divine watch-care has been over it, and preserved it for the world.
How, When, and Why Written?
After the flood, as men became numerous, and darkness was again settling over the world, holy men wrote as they were moved by the Spirit of God. Thus God spoke to His people, and through them to the world, that a knowledge of God and of His will might not perish from the earth.
For centuries this work went on, until the Messiah, the promised Seed, came. With Him, and the blessed message of light and salvation proclaimed by Him and by His apostles, the Scripture record closed, and the Word of God was complete.
Printing and the Bible.
Printing, however, being yet unknown, copies of the Bible could be produced only by the slow, laborious, and expensive process of handwriting. Tnhis necessarily greatly limited its circulation. Worse still, its illuminating and saving truths were largely hidden for centuries by the errors, superstitions, and apostasy of the dark ages. During this time the common people knew little of its contents.
But with the invention of the art of printing about the middle of the fifteenth century, and with the dawn of the reat Reformation in the century following, the Bible entered upon a new era, preparatory to the final proclamation of the gospel [good tidings] throughout the world.
The Bible in Native Tongues.
Thus far, however, the Bible had been published only in ancient tongues, now little understood by the common people [in Aramaic, {in Greek} and in Latin]. Without the Word of God in their hands, the good seed sown among them was easily destroyed. "O", said the advocates of its pure teachings, "if the people only had the Word of God in their own language, this would not happen! Without this it will be impossible to establish the laity in the truth [But Satan hate the Bible and all reader of the common people: The Bible brings light in Satan's dark and deceitful working method.]."
And why should they not have it in their own tongue? they reasoned. Moses wrote in the language of the people of his time; the prophets spoke in the tongue familiar to the men whom they addressed; and the New Testament was written in the language then current throughout the Roman world.
The translation of the Bible into English by John Wyclif, in 1380, was the chief event in the beginning of the Reformation. It also prepared the way for the revival of Christianity in England, and the multiplying there of the Word by the millions, for all the world, that has followed.
To make such a translation at that time, says Neander, "required a bold spirit which no danger could appal." For making it Wyclif was attacked from various quarters, because, it was claimed, "he was introducing among the multitude a book reserved exclusively for the use of