Testimonies for the Church Volume 1 - A New You Ministry

with contempt, upon our nation, which they have regarded as the most powerful uponthe globe. Had our nation remained united it would have had strength, but divided itmust fall.*****Chap. 54 - Great Distress ComingI saw greater distress in the land than we have yet witnessed. I heard groans andcries of distress, and saw large companies in active battle. I heard the booming ofthe cannon, the clash of arms, the hand-to-hand fight, and the groans and prayers ofthe dying. The ground was covered with the wounded and the dead. I saw desolate,despairing families, and pinching want in many dwellings. Even now many familiesare suffering want, but this will increase. The faces of many looked haggard, pale, andpinched with hunger.I was shown that the people of God should be closely united in the bonds ofChristian fellowship and love. God alone can be our shield and strength in this timeof our national calamities. The people of God should awake. Their opportunities tospread the truth should be improved, for they will not last long. I was shown distressand perplexity and famine in the land. Satan is now seeking to hold God’s people in astate of inactivity, to keep them from acting their part in spreading the truth, that theymay at last be weighed in the balance and found wanting.God’s people must take warning and discern the signs of the times. The signs ofChrist’s coming are too plain to be doubted, and in view of these things everyone whoprofesses the truth should be a living preacher. God calls upon all, both preachers andpeople, to awake. All heaven is astir. The scenes of earth’s history are fast closing. Weare amid the perils of the last days. Greater perils are before us, and yet we are notawake. This lack of activity and earnestness260