American Gothic: A Prophetic Vision

American Gothic -- A Poetic Vision



Now a thing was secretly brought to me, in thoughts;
From a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth on a man;
A shudder of dread came upon me, and in stunned silence,
Did I behold the eagle's wings lifted on the four winds of heaven,
And a Word was accorded it: "Thy way is in the sea, and thy path
Is in the great waters; and thy footsteps are not known to thee."
The waters saw and were afraid, yea, even the deep trembled,
For it was made to stand as a man, and given a truth to feast upon;
Lifting its standard high, it drew everyman, as a beacon in the storm.
Thou hast heartily increased the nation, and not increased the joy;
They joy before Thee soley according to the joy of the harvest,
And as men rejoice when they plunder, and divide up the spoil.
They have not known or understood; for Thou hast shut their eyes,
That they cannot see, and their hearts, that they may not apprehend.
They have left off to be wise, and will not frame their doings to turn unto God;
For the spirit of whoredoms doth dance furiously in the midst of them:
They have not known the Lord, neither have they sought His way of peace.
Fornication, great of flesh, have they committed with all who would,
Increasing their harlotry and lewdness to provoke Him in His anger:
"Thou hast played the whore because thou wast insatiable;
Yea, thou played the harlot with them, and could not be satisfied.
Have ye not known? Have ye not heard? Hath it not been told you
From the beginning? Have ye not understood from the foundations
Of the earth? The axe shall boast itself against him that heweth threrewith!"
Therefore will He stretch out His hand over them to corrupt the land,
That thy yield will not nourish; commotion and anguish will grip thy cities,
As thine abundance flees from thee, as the mist in a mighty wind;
And their power will He dash with a shake of the rock, and a dagger left
In their midst; then will they be delivered up unto them that hate them,
And those who were ashamed of their ways will demand satisfaction.
"Calling a ravenous bird from a distant land, the man that will
Execute My counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it,
I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it."


Hear now this word you people of the principalities and powers



Your studies of art, your pleasures of taste, your pursuit of gain, your toil of ambition- your splendid impertinence, and cruel mockeries, those bastard gangstalking soul-murderers of the present time; they stifle in your heart all feeling, and annihilate in your mind all thought that you are an accountable steward, a moral agent, a deathless being; and that soon, yes, in one moment, your soul may be in eternity- standing agitated, trembling and speechless, before Almighty God! Desperately fearing an inexorable doom!  Let me, in His name and power, at the last, plead with you for your life.

Reflect for a moment what your present careless, unbelieving and impenitent state really is. It is nothing less than to challenge the vengeance of the Most High God, to defy his power, to disdain his clemency, to refuse his compassion, to reject his pardon, to insult his majesty, and to expose yourself to the fierceness of his eternal wrath.  Upon whom do you think the righteous judgment of God must pronounce and execute its withering sentence of an unchanging destiny, and an unending oblivion !!!

Where, then, can you flee to hide from the dark storm that gathers over you, from the thick clouds, and treasured-up lightning, and readied bolt, and desolating winds that wait only for the signal of God’s uplifted hand to rush forth upon you in all their unchecked, unmitigated fury? Where can you flee? You have “made a covenant with death, and are at an agreement with hell.” You are fascinated with the world, and are enamored with yourself, and are satisfied to have no other portion. You rejected the Consolation, refused the sheltering pavilion of His righteousness, and despised the offers of His grace, where, then, when the tempest leaps forth in all its maddening fury, will you flee?

Yet how calmly you tread upon the very brink of ruin, how sportively, and handsomely, you sail along the very edge of the vortex, how content and happy to curse your way to the bar of a holy and a just God, through a world of disease and casualty and death, without one anxious thought to obtain deliverance, or one earnest struggle to escape your doom!

Behold how the nation stumbles and begins to devour itself from within --- her pleas for favor bring neither relief or redemption.
And in her reach for rescue; will the hammer fall !!

Amen: "Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus."

Amen:  Goodnight my friends.