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Gathering Time
91
have made my views thus public, as they will probably call forth the
hatred and derision of some. But I fear God more than man.
When the Lord first gave me messages to deliver to His people,
it was hard for me to declare them, and I often softened them down
and made them as mild as possible for fear of grieving some. It was
a great trial to declare the messages as the Lord gave them to me. I
did not realize that I was so unfaithful and did not see the sin and
danger of such a course until in vision I was taken into the presence
of Jesus. He looked upon me with a frown and turned His face from
me. It is not possible to describe the terror and agony I then felt. I
fell upon my face before Him, but had no power to utter a word. Oh,
how I longed to be covered and hid from that dreadful frown! Then
could I realize, in some degree, what the feeling of the lost will be
when they cry, “Mountains and rocks, fall on us, and hide us from
the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the
Lamb.”
Presently an angel bade me rise, and the sight that met my eyes
can hardly be described. A company was presented before me
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whose hair and garments were torn and whose countenances were
the very picture of despair and horror. They came close to me and
took their garments and rubbed them on mine. I looked upon my
garments and saw that they were stained with blood, and that blood
was eating holes in them. Again I fell like one dead at the feet of
my accompanying angel. I could not plead one excuse. My tongue
refused all utterance, and I longed to be away from such a holy place.
Again the angel stood me upon my feet and said, “This is not your
case now, but this scene has passed before you to let you know what
your situation must be if you neglect to declare to others what the
Lord has revealed to you. But if you are faithful to the end, you shall
eat of the tree of life and shall drink of the river of the water of life.
You will have to suffer much, but the grace of God is sufficient.” I
then felt willing to do all that the Lord might require me to do that I
might have His approbation and not feel His dreadful frown.
I have frequently been falsely charged with teaching views pe-
culiar to Spiritualism. But before the editor of the
Day-Star
[
see
appendix.
] ran into that delusion, the Lord gave me a view of the
sad and desolating effects that would be produced upon the flock by
him and others in teaching the spiritual views. I have often seen the