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 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. This enraged
the churches and nominal Adventists, 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 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.
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."