EXPERIENCE AND VIEWS

CHAPTER VI

My First Vision

02.06002 In the morning we bowed at the family altar.

02.06003 It was not an exciting occasion.

02.06004 There were but five of us present, all females.

02.06005 While praying, the power of God came upon me as I never had felt it before.

02.06006 I was surrounded with light, and was rising higher and higher from the earth.

02.06007 I turned to look for the Advent people in the world, but could not find them--when a voice said to me, "Look again, and look a little higher."

02.06008 At this I raised my eyes and saw a straight and narrow path, cast up high above the world.

02.06009 On this path the Advent people were traveling to the city, which was at the further end of the path.

02.060010 They had a bright light set up behind them at the first end of the path, which an angel told me was the Midnight Cry.

02.060011 This shone all along the path, and gave light for their feet that they might not stumble.

02.060012 And if they kept their eyes fixed on Jesus, who was just before them, leading them to the city, they were safe.

02.060013 But soon some grew weary, and they said the city was a great way off, and they expected to have entered it before.

02.060014 Then Jesus would encourage them by raising his glorious right arm, and from his arm came a bright light which waved over the Advent people, and they shouted, Hallelujah!

02.060015 Others rashly denied the light behind them, and said that it was not God that had led them out so far.

02.060016 The light behind them went out, leaving their feet in perfect darkness, and they stumbled and got their eyes off the mark, and lost sight of Jesus, and fell off the path down into the dark and wicked world below.

02.060017 Soon we heard the voice of God like many waters, which gave us the day and hour of Jesus' coming.

02.060018 The living saints knew and understood the voice, while the wicked thought it was thunder and an earthquake.

02.060019 When God spake the time, he poured on us the Holy Spirit, and our faces began to light up and shine with the glory of God as Moses' did when he came down from mount Sinai.

02.060020 The 144,000 were all sealed and perfectly united.

02.060021 On their foreheads was written, God, New Jerusalem, and a glorious star containing Jesus' new name.

02.060022 At our happy, holy state the wicked were enraged, and would rush violently up to lay hands on us to thrust us into prison, when we would stretch forth the hand in the name of the Lord, and the wicked would fall helpless to the ground.

02.060023 Then it was that the synagogue of Satan knew that God had loved us, and they worshiped at our feet.

02.060024 Soon our eyes were drawn to the east, for a small black cloud had appeared about half as large as a man's hand, which we all knew was the sign of the Son of man.

02.060025 We all in solemn silence gazed on the cloud as it drew nearer, and became lighter, glorious, and still more glorious, till it was a great white cloud.

02.060026 The bottom appeared like fire; a rainbow was over it, and around the cloud were ten thousand angels singing a most lovely song.

02.060027 And on it sat the Son of man, on his head were crowns, his hair was white and curly and lay on his shoulders.

02.060028 His feet had the appearance of fire, in his right hand was a sharp sickle, in his left a silver trumpet.

02.060029 His eyes were as a flame of fire, which searched his children through and through.

02.060030 Then all faces gathered paleness, and those that God had rejected gathered blackness.

02.060031 Then we all cried out, Who shall be able to stand? Is my robe spotless?

02.060032 Then the angels ceased to sing, and there was some time of awful silence, when Jesus spoke, Those who have clean hands and a pure heart shall be able to stand; my grace is sufficient for you.

02.060033 At this, our faces lighted up, and joy filled every heart.

02.060034 And the angels struck a note higher and sung again while the cloud drew still nearer the earth.

02.060035 Then Jesus' silver trumpet sounded, as he descended on the cloud, wrapped in flames of fire.

02.060036 He gazed on the graves of the sleeping saints, then raised his eyes and hands to heaven and cried, Awake! Awake! Awake! ye that sleep in the dust, and arise.

02.060037 Then there was a mighty earthquake.

02.060038 The graves opened, and the dead came up clothed with immortality.

02.060039 The 144,000 shouted, Hallelujah! as they recognized their friends who had been torn from them by death, and in the same moment we were changed and caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air.

02.060040 We all entered the cloud together, and were seven days ascending to the sea of glass, when Jesus brought along the crowns and with his own right hand placed them on our heads.

02.060041 He gave us harps of gold and palms of victory.

02.060042 Here on the sea of glass the 144,000 stood in a perfect square.

02.060043 Some of them had very bright crowns, others not so bright.

02.060044 Some crowns appeared heavy with stars, while others had but few.

02.060045 All were perfectly satisfied with their crowns.

02.060046 And they were all clothed with a glorious white mantle from their shoulders to their feet.

02.060047 Angels were all about us as we marched over the sea of glass to the gate of the city.

02.060048 Jesus raised his mighty, glorious arm, laid hold of the pearly gate and swung it back on its glittering hinges, and said to us, You have washed your robes in my blood, stood stiffly for my truth, enter in.

02.060049 We all marched in, and felt we had a perfect right in the city.

02.060050 Here we saw the tree of life and the throne of God.

02.060051 Out of the throne came a pure river of water, and on either side of the river was the tree of life.

02.060052 On one side of the river was a trunk of a tree, and a trunk on the other side of the river, both like pure, transparent gold.

02.060053 At first I thought I saw two trees.

02.060054 I looked again and saw they were united at the top in one tree.

02.060055 So it was the tree of life, on either side of the river of life.

02.060056 Its branches bowed to the place where we stood; and the fruit was glorious, which looked like gold mixed with silver.

02.060057 We all went under the tree, and sat down to look at the glory of the place, when Brn. Fitch and Stockman, who had preached the gospel of the kingdom, and whom God had laid in the grave to save them, came up to us and asked us what we had passed through while they were sleeping.

02.060058 We tried to call up our greatest trials, but they looked so small compared with the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory that surrounded us, that we could not speak them out, and we all cried out, Alleluia! heaven is cheap enough, and we touched our golden harps and made heaven's arches ring.

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