The Lord gave me the following view in 1847, while the
brethren were assembled on the Sabbath, at Topsham, Maine.
We felt an unusual spirit of prayer. And as we prayed the
Holy Ghost fell upon us. We were very happy. Soon I was lost to earthly things
and was wrapped in a vision of God's glory. I saw an angel flying swiftly to
me. He quickly carried me from the earth to the Holy City. In the city I saw a
temple, which I entered. I passed through a door before I came to the first
veil. This veil was raised, and I passed into the holy place. Here I saw the
altar of incense, the candlestick with seven lamps, and the table on which was
the shewbread. After viewing the glory of the holy, Jesus raised the second
veil and I passed into the holy of holies.
In the holiest I saw an ark; on the top and sides of it was
purest gold. On each end of the ark was a lovely cherub, with its wings spread
out over it. Their faces were turned toward each other, and they looked
downward. Between the angels was a golden censer. Above the ark, where the
angels stood, was an exceeding bright glory, that appeared like a throne where
God dwelt. Jesus stood by the ark, and as the saints' prayers came up to Him,
the incense in the censer would smoke, and He would offer up their prayers with
the smoke of the incense to His Father. In the ark was the golden pot of manna,
Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of stone which folded together like a
book. Jesus opened them, and I saw the ten commandments written on them with
the finger of God. On one table were four, and on the other six. The four on
the first table shone brighter than the other six. But the fourth, the
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Sabbath commandment, shone above them all; for the Sabbath
was set apart to be kept in honor of God's holy name. The holy Sabbath looked
glorious--a halo of glory was all around it. I saw that the Sabbath commandment
was not nailed to the cross. If it was, the other nine commandments were; and
we are at liberty to break them all, as well as to break the fourth. I saw that
God had not changed the Sabbath, for He never changes. But the pope had changed
it from the seventh to the first day of the week; for he was to change times
and laws.
And I saw that if God had changed the Sabbath from the
seventh to the first day, He would have changed the writing of the Sabbath
commandment, written on the tables of stone, which are now in the ark in the
most holy place of the temple in heaven; and it would read thus: The first day
is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. But I saw that it read the same as when
written on the tables of stone by the finger of God, and delivered to Moses on
Sinai. "But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." I
saw that the holy Sabbath is, and will be, the separating wall between the true
Israel of God and unbelievers; and that the Sabbath is the great question to
unite the hearts of God's dear, waiting saints.
I saw that God had children who do not see and keep the
Sabbath. They have not rejected the light upon it. And at the commencement of
the time of trouble, we were filled with the Holy Ghost as we went forth and
proclaimed the Sabbath more fully. [See page 85.] This enraged the churches and
nominal Adventists, [See also appendix.] as they could not refute the Sabbath
truth. And at this time God's chosen all saw clearly that we had the truth, and
they came out and endured the persecution with us. I saw
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the sword, famine, pestilence, and great confusion in the
land. The wicked thought that we had brought the judgments upon them, and they
rose up and took counsel to rid the earth of us, thinking that then the evil
would be stayed.
In the time of trouble we all fled from the cities and
villages, but were pursued by the wicked, who entered the houses of the saints
with a sword. They raised the sword to kill us, but it broke, and fell as
powerless as a straw. Then we all cried day and night for deliverance, and the
cry came up before God. The sun came up, and the moon stood still. The streams
ceased to flow. Dark, heavy clouds came up and clashed against each other. But
there was one clear place of settled glory, whence came the voice of God like
many waters, which shook the heavens and the earth. The sky opened and shut and
was in commotion. The mountains shook like a reed in the wind, and cast out
ragged rocks all around. The sea boiled like a pot and cast out stones upon the
land. And as God spoke the day and the hour of Jesus' coming and delivered the
everlasting covenant to His people, He spoke one sentence, and then paused,
while the words were rolling through the earth. The Israel of God stood with
their eyes fixed upward, listening to the words as they came from the mouth of
Jehovah, and rolled through the earth like peals of loudest thunder. It was awfully
solemn. And at the end of every sentence the saints shouted, "Glory!
Alleluia!" Their countenances were lighted up with the glory of God; and
they shone with the glory, as did the face of Moses when he came down from
Sinai. The wicked could not look on them for the glory. And when the
never-ending blessing was pronounced on those who had honored God in keeping
His Sabbath holy, there was a mighty shout of victory over the beast and over
his image.
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Then commenced the jubilee, when the land should rest. I saw
the pious slave rise in triumph and victory and shake off the chains that bound
him, while his wicked master was in confusion and knew not what to do; for the
wicked could not understand the words of the voice of God. Soon appeared the
great white cloud. It looked more lovely than ever before. On it sat the Son of
man. At first we did not see Jesus on the cloud, but as it drew near the earth
we could behold His lovely person. This cloud, when it first appeared, was the
sign of the Son of man in heaven. The voice of the Son of God called forth the
sleeping saints, clothed with glorious immortality. The living saints were
changed in a moment and were caught up with them into the cloudy chariot. It
looked all over glorious as it rolled upward. On either side of the chariot
were wings, and beneath it wheels. And as the chariot rolled upward, the wheels
cried, "Holy," and the wings, as they moved, cried, "Holy,"
and the retinue of holy angels around the cloud cried, "Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God Almighty!" And the saints in the cloud cried, "Glory!
Alleluia!" And the chariot rolled upward to the Holy City. Jesus threw
open the gates of the golden city and led us in. Here we were made welcome, for
we had kept the "commandments of God," and had a "right to the
tree of life."