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The downfall of Napoleon III, of Nasir-i-Din Shah, of the prime minister and Sultan of Turkey, the break up of the Ottoman empire, the extinction of the Sultanate and the Caliphate, the loss of the temporal power of the Pope, the several devastations of the German empire, the worldwide fall of monarchies, and the vast decrease in authority of the ecclesiastical institutions of all Faiths - these are a few of the outstanding predictions testifying to the sovereignty of Baha'u'llah, and the loss of those whose opportunity was incalculable (160:1) Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Mark 5:10 (160:2) It was not destined that the Faith of God would be spread by the power of monarchs. As in the days of Jesus Christ, it was to be spread through the pure hearted, meek though they may be. For this reason, the cause of God appears at first to be insignificant to those who wield temporal power, and unattractive to those with a selfish desire that the Promised One, when He comes, should exalt them in the eyes of the world. In this way the religion is kept free of those who would enter it for their own purposes. Only those who love the Manifestation of God are willing to endure the consequences of faith; others fall away at the threat of suffering. Thus, persecution of the faithful is an eternal aspect of the inception of a new religion (160:3) Like Jesus Christ and His beloved followers, Baha'u'llah and the heroic believers in Him have suffered greatly at the hands of the oppressor. Throughout His ministry, and even to the present day, the followers of Baha'u'llah have been called upon to give their lives for their Faith. Yet the Lord does not allow that His Faith should perish from the earth. It continues to grow, in mysterious ways, until it fulfills its destiny. Whatever befalls the new Faith, its resistless march is inevitable. Yes, the meek are no match for the powerful, and they suffer at their hands; but the powerful are no match for God: (160:4) Dost thou believe thou hast the power to frustrate His Will, to hinder Him from executing His judgment, or to deter Him from exercising His sovereignty? Pretendest thou that aught in the heavens or in the earth can resist His Faith? No, by Him Who is the Eternal Truth! Nothing whatsoever in the whole of creation can thwart His Purpose. Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 220 (160:5) What did it profit thee, and such as are like thee, to slay, year after year, so many of the oppressed, and to inflict upon them manifold afflictions, when they have increased a hundredfold, and ye find yourselves in complete bewilderment, knowing not how to relieve your minds of this oppressive thought. .. His Cause transcends any and every plan ye devise. Know this much: Were all the governments on earth to unite and take My life and the lives of all who bear this Name, this Divine Fire would never be quenched. His Cause will rather encompass all the kings of the earth, nay all that hath been created from water and clay.. Whatever may yet befall Us, great shall be our gain, and manifest the loss wherewith they shall be afflicted. Baha'u'llah cited in: God Passes By, pp. 160-161
(160:6)
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