Testimonies for the Church Volume 1 - A New You Ministry

of God experienced were only the effect of mesmerism or the deception of Satan.Some had taken extreme views of certain texts of scripture, refraining wholly fromlabor, and rejecting all those who would not receive their ideas on this and otherpoints pertaining to religious duty. God revealed these errors to me in vision, and sentme to instruct His erring children; but many of them wholly rejected the message,and charged me with conforming to the world. On the other hand, the nominalAdventists charged me with fanaticism, and I was falsely represented as the leaderof the fanaticism which I was laboring constantly to arrest.Different times were set for the Lord to come, and were urged upon the brethren.But the Lord showed me that they would pass by, for the time of trouble must takeplace before the coming of Christ, and that every time that was set, and passed, wouldweaken the faith of God’s people. For this I was charged with being the evil servantthat said: “My Lord delayeth His coming.”These statements relative to time setting were printed about thirty years ago, and thebooks containing them have been circulated everywhere; yet some ministers claimingto be well acquainted with me, state that I have set time after time for the Lord tocome, and those times have passed, therefore my visions are false. No doubt thesefalse statements are received by many as truth; but none who are acquainted with meor with my labors can in candor make such report. This is the testimony I have everborne since the passing of the time in 1844: “Time after time will be set by differentones, and will pass by; and the influence of this time setting will tend to destroy thefaith of God’s people.” If I had in vision seen definite time, and had borne my testimonyto it, I could not have written and published, in the face of this testimony, that all timesthat should be set would pass, for the time of trouble must come before the coming72