Don’t Misinterpret: “Church May Appear as About to Fall.” God’s Way of Dealing with Apostates & Sin

"I will preach, discuss, and write; but I will constrain none, for faith is a voluntary act. See what I have done. I stood up against the pope, indulgences, and papists, but without violence or tumult. I put forward God's word; I preached and wrote--this was all I did. And yet while I was asleep...the word that I had preached overthrew popery, so that neither prince nor emperor has done it so much harm. And yet I did nothing; the word alone did all..." - The Great Controversy, page 190