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Testimonies for the Church Volume 1
part of the field. I trembled for the cause of God. I knew that the
Lord had not forsaken His people, but that their sins and iniquities
had separated them from God. At Battle Creek is the great heart of
the work. Every pulsation is felt by the members of the body all over
the field. If this great heart is in health, a vital circulation will be felt
all through the body of Sabbathkeepers. If the heart is diseased, the
languishing condition of every branch of the work will attest the fact.
My interest is in this work; my life is interwoven with it. When
Zion prospers, I am happy; if she languishes, I am sad, desponding,
discouraged. I saw that God’s people were in an alarming condition,
and His favor was being removed from them. I pondered upon this
sad picture day and night, and pleaded in bitter anguish: “O Lord,
give not Thine heritage to reproach. Let not the heathen say, Where is
their God?” I felt that I was cut loose from everyone at the head of the
work and was virtually standing alone. I dared not trust anyone. In the
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night I have awakened my husband, saying: “I am afraid that I shall
become an infidel.” Then I would cry for the Lord to save me by His
own powerful arm. I could not see that my testimonies were regarded,
and I entertained the thought that perhaps my work in the cause was
done. We had appointments at Bushnell, but I told my husband that I
could not go. He soon returned from the post office with a letter from
Brother Matteson, containing the following dream:
“Dear Brother White: May the blessing of God be with you, and
these lines find you still prospering and improving in health and spir-
itual strength. I feel very thankful to the Lord for His goodness to
you, and trust that you may yet enjoy perfect health and freedom in
the proclamation of the last message
.
“I have had a remarkable dream about you and Sister White, and
feel it my duty to relate the same to you as far as I can remember.
I dreamed that I related it to Sister White, as well as the interpreta-
tion thereof, which also was given me in the dream. When I awoke,
something urged me to get up and write down all the particulars, lest
I should forget them; but I neglected to do so, partly because I was
tired, and partly because I thought it was nothing but a dream. But
seeing that I never dreamed of you before, and that this dream was so
intelligent, and so intimately connected with you, I have come to the
conclusion that I ought to tell you. The following is all I can remember
of it: