{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_47336/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_47336","id":"gutenberg_47336","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/47336","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Religion/Spirituality","Latter Day Saint churches -- Doctrines","Latter Day Saints"],"text":"COWLEY'S TALKS\n\nON\n\nDOCTRINE\n\n\nBy Elder\n\nM. F. Cowley.\n\n_One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day\nSaints._\n\n\nPUBLISHED BY BEN. E. RICH, CHATTANOOGA, TENN. 1902.\n\n\nTIMES PRINT, CHATTANOOGA, TENN\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n_Notwithstanding what has already been written upon the principles and\ndoctrines of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as taught by the Latter-Day\nSaints, I feel an assurance that this little work will be received with\nno little pleasure and a great degree of satisfaction by members of\nthe true Church, as well as those who are seeking light upon religious\ntopics._\n\n_The style in which the articles comprised in this little volume are\nwritten, is pre-eminently plain, and peculiarly adapted to the reading\npublic. Loaded as the articles are, with careful thought and numerous\nscriptural quotations and references, itself not only a thought\ngatherer but a thought generator, it will come as a valuable aid to\nour missionaries and theological organizations, and also to the many\ninvestigators throughout the civilized world. Truth in studied brevity\nhas been aimed at, without seeking the least embellishment of diction._\n\n_With an intense desire to impart the truth to mankind as widely as\npossible, this little messenger is sent forth, trusting that it may\nprove a blessing to thousands who are as yet grovelling in darkness and\nsuperstition and lead them to the sunlight of truth._\n\nTHE PUBLISHER.\n\n_Chattanooga, Tenn., February, 1902._\n\n\n\nTABLE OF CONTENTS.\n\nApostasy\nRestoration of the Gospel\nThe Church\nChurch Organization\nDivine Authority\nPersonality of God\nRevelation\nFaith\nRepentance\nBaptism\nReception of the Holy Spirit\nPre-Existence\nSalvation for the Dead\nThe Gathering of Israel\nTithing\nEternal Rewards and Punishments\nObedience\nCharity\nThe Resurrection\nThe Book of Mormon\nMarriage\nThe Millennium\n\n\n\nAPOSTASY.\n\nThe subject of Apostasy occupies the minds of people of modern\ntimes but very little. This, however, is not surprising when we\nconsider their views regarding the Church of Christ; for they claim a\ncontinuation of divine authority and the plan of salvation from the\napostolic age to the present time, the idea prevailing among them\nbeing, that the Bible alone is a sufficient guide without immediate and\ncontinued revelation. In this respect, the position of the Latter-day\nSaints differs widely from that of all other religious organizations.\nThe Saints bear no relationship to any, but declare in words of\nsoberness, that our Heavenly Father has restored the Gospel by modern\nrevelations to the Prophet Joseph Smith. This being true, there must\nhave been a departure from the proper order of the Gospel.\n\nTo prove that this has been the case, we will refer to statements of\nHoly Writ. In II Peter i:20, it is said, \"Knowing this first, that no\nprophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation, for the\nprophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God\nspake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.\" The Savior said, when\naddressing His disciples: \"And then shall many be offended, and shall\nbetray one another, and shall hate one another, and many false prophets\nshall rise and deceive many, and because iniquity shall abound, the\nlove of many shall wax cold.\" (Matthew xxiv:10-12.)\n\nTo this testimony of Matthew, concerning the words of the Savior, in\nrelation to the subject under consideration, there will be found the\ncorresponding testimonies of Mark and Luke. It will be remembered\nalso, that the testimony of the Lord was in answer to a very important\nquestion. When He had foretold the overthrow of the temple, His\napostles asked Him: \"When shall these things be, and what shall be\nthe sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?\" The appearance\nof false prophets; the deception of man; the martyrdom of the\napostles; the betrayal of the Saints; the love of many waxing cold;\nthe overwhelming prevalence of iniquity; the universal discord and\ncontentions of the nations, all were prominent events to transpire\nbefore the advent of the Savior to reign in power and glory upon the\nearth. To this we will add the words of Paul: \"Now we beseech you,\nbrethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering\ntogether unto Him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled,\nneither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the\nday of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that\nday will not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man\nof sin be revealed, the son of perdition.\" (II Thes. ii:1-4.)\n\nIt is evident from the foregoing that some were likely to be deceived\nwith regard to the time of His second coming. Paul, to prevent their\nbeing misled by false teachers who were likely predicting the Savior's\nadvent, testified that there should come a \"falling away first.\" The\nlanguage is so pointed that one can readily see that nothing but a\ndeparture from the unchangeable plan of salvation could fulfill this\nprediction. We read in the Scriptures that \"God hath set some in the\nChurch, first apostles; secondarily, prophets,\" and other officers;\nall of whom were divinely inspired \"for the work of the ministry,\"\nwith spiritual gifts following the baptized believers. Only a short\ntime elapsed, however, before these officers, principles, gifts and\nblessings, mentioned in the New Testament, were not to be found on the\nearth: and when we examine the religious institutions of the present\ntime, these things, which God set in the Church, are not found, save\nwith the Latter-day Saints. The present generation then, as those of\nmany centuries past have been, are witnesses to the verification of the\nwords we have quoted.\n\nWhen Paul was about to depart from Miletus, he called to him the Elders\nof the Church from the city of Ephesus, and in his farewell address\nwarned them, as appears in the following words: \"For I know this,\nthat after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not\nsparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking\nperverse things, to draw away disciples after them?\" (Acts xx:29, 30.)\nAs an evidence that this prophecy was being verified as early as the\ntime of the apostle John's banishment on the Isle of Patmos, this\nappears in the second chapter of Revelations, first and fifth verses:\n\"Unto the angel of the Church of Ephesus write: These things saith he\nthat holdeth the seven stars in His right hand, who walketh in the\nmidst of the seven golden candlesticks; Remember, therefore, from\nwhence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else\nI will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out\nof this place, except thou repent.\" By reading the second verse we\ndiscover that false teachers had arisen among the people, professing to\nbe apostles, thus verifying the words of Paul. Following closely the\ncontext, we discover that similar reproofs were meted out to most of\nthe branches of the Church in Asia, because they were departing from\nthe truth.\n\nPeter, the presiding apostle, also has spoken very plainly regarding\nthe apostasy. Beginning with the first verse of the second chapter\nof his second epistle, we read: \"But there were false prophets also\namong the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you,\nwho privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord\nthat bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And\nmany shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of\ntruth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with\nfeigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long\ntime lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.\" From this\nwe learn not only that false teachers should arise among the people,\nbut that they should succeed in deceiving the people, causing them to\nfollow pernicious ways. In connection with this part of the subject,\nPaul says to Timothy: \"For the time will come when they will not endure\nsound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves\nteachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from\nthe truth, and shall be turned unto fables.\" (II Timothy iv:3, 4.) Thus\nit is clearly stated, not only that men should arise \"speaking perverse\nthings,\" and by their evil designs succeed in making innovations upon\nthe teachings of the apostles, but that the people themselves would be\nso allured from the way of life, as to heap unto themselves these false\nteachers, and many would adhere to their spurious doctrines. The terms\n\"heap\" and \"many\" do not signify a few but a great number.\n\nThese quotations from the Holy Scriptures bear especially upon the\ninternal eruptions that occurred in the Church, causing many to depart\nfrom the straight and narrow path which leadeth unto life eternal.\nThose causes which create internal division and discord in the midst of\nthe Saints are the worst of all, for \"a house divided against itself\ncannot stand.\"\n\nHaving shown that many of the ancient Saints departed from the plan\nof salvation, we will now proceed to examine another branch of the\nsubject, namely: The External Events in Connection with the History of\nthe Church which Conspired to Overthrow the People of God. From the\nquotations here given, stating that \"the love of many waxed cold; many\nshall follow their pernicious ways,\" etc., it may be asked, \"What shall\nbecome of the few who were faithful? Did not they confer the authority\nupon a people in some remote corner of the earth? And from thence has\nit not continued, as the true Church, down to the present time?\" In\nanswer to these queries we shall refer to declarations of Holy Writ.\n\nWhen the Savior made His appearance in the flesh there were many\nreligious denominations extant, some of which professed a firm belief\nin the Bible--the Old Testament--and notwithstanding the ancient\nprophets plainly foretold the birth and ministry of the Savior, the\nreligious element bitterly opposed Him and denounced new revelation,\nas manifested through the Redeemer. This peculiar perversity of the\nhuman family has been displayed prominently whenever the Almighty\nhas introduced a new dispensation of the Gospel. The Lord, fully\nunderstanding the result of such bitter persecution, said to His\napostles: \"Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall\nkill you; and ye shall be hated of all nations for my namesake.\" (Matt.\nxxiv:9.)\n\nThe vile treatment to which the ancient apostles were subjected and the\nmartyrdom of many of them, is known to all acquainted with the history\nof those inspired men; and scriptural evidence as to their having been\ninformed thereof in advance is quite abundant. The Savior says in Mark,\nthirteenth chapter, ninth verse: \"But take heed to yourselves; for they\nshall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be\nbeaten; and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake,\nfor a testimony against them.\" Another witness to this testimony of our\nSavior has also left us the following: \"And ye shall be betrayed both\nby parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends, and some of you\nshall they cause to be put to death.\"\n\nIt is a remarkable fact that, in every age of the world when the\nLord has committed a dispensation of the Gospel to men upon the\nearth, the heavenly message has been rejected by the great majority\nof the human family, and the envy and hatred of many have been such\nas to instigate measures of violence against the humble servants of\nthe Lord. Especially is this true when applied to the professedly\nreligious element, and more directly to those who aim to be public\ninstructors of the people. Notice the action taken by the Pharisees,\nSadducees and other religious classes regarding the ancient Saints;\nwhile the devotees of these sects were divided on points of doctrine\nand disagreed upon the writings of the prophets, they combined their\nefforts to overthrow the Lord's chosen people. The Savior, indicating\nthe class who would imbrue their hands in the blood of the prophets,\nsaid: \"These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be\noffended. They shall put you out of the synagogues; yea, the time\ncometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God's\nservice.\" (John xvi:1, 2.) This could not apply to the atheistic world,\nfor it denies the existence of God. It could not mean the infidel\nclass, for while they may not deny the existence of a Supreme Being,\nthey disavow all forms of worship. The Savior's prediction was directed\nto the religious world, and from the facts of the case, it seems\nespecially applicable to that portion of it which claimed to believe in\nthe writings of the ancient prophets. Immediate revelation from heaven\nhas always come in contact with the vain traditions and religious\ncrafts of men, so that the strictest professors of religion anciently\nwere, and are now, among the foremost in persecuting the Saints and\nseeking to deprive them of the rights and privileges which other men\nenjoy. In connection with the evidence found in the Holy Scriptures on\nthis part of the subject, the thousands of Latter-day Saints who have\nsuffered by the hand of oppression in this dispensation of the Gospel,\nare living witnesses.\n\nWhile the revelator John, who was the last remaining member of the\nquorum of the Twelve Apostles on the Eastern Hemisphere, was in\nbanishment upon the Isle of Patmos, he saw the image of a beast,\nrepresenting a power that should arise in the earth, make war upon the\nSaints and overcome them. And they worshipped the dragon which gave\npower unto the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, \"Who is\nlike unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him? And he opened\nhis mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His\ntabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to\nmake war with the Saints, and to overcome them; and power was given Him\nover all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.\" This declaration of the\nScriptures is very broad, indicating clearly that the Saints should be\novercome, and the power of the beast should be so extensive as to cover\nall \"kindred, tongues and nation,\" thus leaving the people destitute of\ndivine authority and bereft of the glorious plan of redemption.\n\nBy turning to the second chapter of Daniel, we learn something with\nregard to the period of time when this power which made war with the\nSaints and overcame them should flourish in the earth. The metallic\nimage which Nebuchadnezzar saw in His dream consisted of gold, silver,\nbrass, iron and clay, so we are told in the interpretation given by\nDaniel the prophet. It represented several kingdoms, beginning with\nBabylon, which we learn from history flourished in the fifth and sixth\ncenturies before Christ; and second, the Medio-Persian government,\nfrom about 580 to 331 B. C.; third, the Macedonian kingdom, founded by\nAlexander the Great, from 331 B. C., to 161 B. C.; fourth, the Roman\nEmpire, established in 161 B. C., and which flourished until 483 A.D.\nThis last named government was represented in the metallic image by\nthe two legs of iron, which resembled very much the two divisions of\nthe Roman Empire, the one having its seat of government at Rome, the\nother at Constantinople. These subsequently subdivided into the petty\ngovernments of modern Europe, having in them the elements of strength\nand weakness, as indicated by the feet and toes of the image, which\nwere part of iron and part of clay. It will be observed by the dates\ngiven above that it was during the time of the Roman Empire that our\nLord and Savior was born into the world. As early as the banishment of\nthe apostle John, about 96 A. D., we discover that nearly all apostles\nforming the chief quorum of officers in the Church of Christ had been\nmartyred. We are informed in Mosheim's Ecclesiastical Institutes that\nthe year 70 A. D. Vespasian and his son Titus besieged the city of\nJerusalem with an army, destroyed the city and the temple and slew many\nof the inhabitants, this event having been predicted by the Savior, and\nrecorded in Matthew, twenty-fourth chapter.\n\nIn speaking of this power that should destroy the Saints, Daniel the\nprophet, says, \"And he shall speak great words against the Most High\nand shall wear out the Saints of the Most High.\" We might illustrate\nhow literally these prophecies were verified by the following example:\nPrevious to the late Civil War in the American Union, the South\norganized a republican form of government with the requisite officers\nto constitute such a government. In a short time, however, the Northern\nStates engaged in war with the South and overcame them, so that the\nconfederacy of that section ceased to exist. Suppose a stranger should\nvisit the South at the present time and inquire of some person in that\nregion of country if they have a republic entirely independent of the\nNorth, and on being answered \"We have,\" the visitor queries, \"Where\nis your president?\" \"Well, he is done away with, because no longer\nneeded.\" He is asked, \"Where is your vice-president?\" \"Oh, we have\nnone.\" \"Where is your congress?\" \"Well, that was dissolved long ago and\nhas not existed since.\" \"Pray, then,\" says the stranger, \"What have\nyou left?\" \"Well, we have a judge, and a policeman, besides the book\nwhich gives a history of the officers you inquire about.\" Such answers,\nhowever absurd and inconsistent, are very similar to those offered by\nthe religious world of today who claim to have the Church of Christ;\nbut when asked where are their apostles, they answer, \"We have none,\nthey are done away with.\" \"Have you prophets?\" \"Oh, no! They are no\nlonger needed.\" \"Do the members of your church enjoy the gifts of the\nHoly Spirit that Jesus promised should follow believers?\" \"Certainly\nnot, they have passed away centuries ago, and we have no occasion for\nthem now.\" \"Well, then, what have you left?\" \"Why, we have a pastor\nand a deacon, and then we have the good Book, the Holy Bible, that\ndescribes the officers you mention.\"\n\nIt is very clear, from the condition of affairs, that we have briefly\ndescribed, that at some period in the past, the Church of Jesus Christ\nwas taken from the earth and the human family left without the direct\nand authorized administration of the plan of salvation. The prophecies\nwe have quoted show, first, that such an event was to transpire some\ntime in the future; second, about the period of time in which many of\nthese predictions were verified, and, third, the means of power by\nwhich the Saints were overcome.\n\nThere are other prophecies in the Bible which plainly show that the\nextent of the ancient apostasy would be universal and continue in\nthe earth until a certain period in the history of the human family,\nwhich will, with other items, form the subject matter for our next\nconsideration. As the predictions of the prophets relating to the past\nhave been so literally verified, this fact should promote, in the\nhearts of the people, great faith in the words of the Lord, as these\nare given in the Bible.\n\nWe have shown that the Church established by the Savior in all its\npristine beauty and purity was taken from the earth. As none of the\nreligious denominations, existing between the time of the ancient\napostles and the nineteenth century have received a new commission from\nheaven, that fact is proof that the effect of the primitive apostasy\nhas extended without interruption to the present age of the world.\n\nDr. Mosheim is the author of four large volumes of religious history\ncomprehending about eighteen centuries of the Christian era. This work\nhas been translated by Dr. Murdock with copious notes, or extracts,\nfrom the writers who lived contemporary with the times of which he\nwrites. From the translation of Mosheim's Ecclesiastical Institutes we\nmake a few quotations.\n\nIn speaking of the second century of the Christian era, Mosheim says\n(Vol. 1, p. 142): \"For the noble simplicity and the majestic dignity\nof the Christian religion were lost, or at least impaired, when these\nphilosophers presumed to associate their dogmas with it and to bring\nfaith and piety under the dominion of human reason.\" On pages 182\nand 183 of the same volume we are informed that, to conform to the\ncustoms of Jews and Pagan priests, rites and ceremonies were added\nto the simplicity of correct worship, and a \"large part therefore of\nthe Christian observances and institutions even in this century had\nthe aspect of Pagan mysteries.\" Passing on to the third century on\npage 257, we have the following: \"All the monuments of this century\nwhich have come down to us, show that there was a great increase of\nceremonies.\" Page 259: \"Baptism was publicly administered twice a year\nto candidates who had gone through a long preparation and trial.\"\n\nOf the fourth century we learn from p. 345 that the regard for Platonic\nphilosophy was embraced and mingled with the doctrine of the Savior:\n\"Hence it is that we see on every hand evident traces of excessive\nveneration for Saints in heaven; of belief in a fire to purify souls on\nleaving the body; of partiality for priestly celibacy; the worship of\nimages and relics, and for many other opinions which, in the process\nof time, almost banished the true religion or at least very much\nobscured and corrupted it.\" Of the fifth century, an account is given\nof impostors perpetrating artifices to make people think they were\nmiracles and thereby induce them to embrace Christianity. Religious\nteachings, we are informed, \"were substantiated, not so much by the\ndeclarations of the Holy Scriptures, as by the authority and logical\nreasonings of the ancient doctors.\" Page 455: \"The whole Christian\nChurch was in this century overwhelmed with these disgraceful fictions.\"\n\nWe might proceed with similar quotations relative to subsequent\ncenturies intervening between the fifth and the time of the\nReformation, but the foregoing will suffice to show that religious\nmatters grew worse from one age to another, presenting to the world a\nmass of religious confusion. Although there may have been honorable\nmen who protested against these evils, it is evident that genuine\nauthority and the principles of the Gospel in their purity could not be\nderived from such a corrupt source. We are informed in the Scriptures\nthat an evil tree will not produce good fruit nor a bitter fountain\nsend forth sweet waters. As neither Luther, Melancthon, Huss, Zwingli,\nCalvin nor any of the reformers of that age received revelation from\nheaven authorizing them to establish the Church, we find that the\nworld was still without the plan of salvation, and that the products\nof the Reformation, as religious bodies, are the offspring of the\nmother church, described in the Scriptures as the \"mother of harlots\nand abomination of the earth.\" This unnatural mother, like some of the\nfashionable women of modern times (whose husbands and illicit patrons\nare zealously opposing the Latter-day Saints), endeavored to procure\nabortion, but failing in this, she tried to destroy her children after\nbirth. Both attempts being futile, the children grew to years of\nmaturity and in turn gave birth to other children, and so on until now\nthere are several generations of them living. These offspring, being\nwithout natural affection, have been and still are quarreling with each\nother and casting missiles at their mothers and grandmothers as the\ncase may be.\n\nIn the midst of this religious spectacle, however, there are and have\nbeen many honorable people who have realized the fallen condition of\nthe world and were honest enough to acknowledge the same. From Elder\nJohn Morgan's Tract No. 1, we make the following extracts: \"Roger\nWilliams refused to continue as pastor over the oldest Baptist church\nin America on the grounds that there was no regularly constituted\nchurch on earth nor any person authorized to administer church\nordinances, nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the Great\nHead of the Church for whose coming I am seeking.\" (See Picturesque\nAmerica, page 502.) Smith's Bible Dictionary also says: \"We must not\nexpect to see the Church of Holy Scriptures actually existing in its\nperfection on the earth. It is not to be found thus perfect either in\nthe collected fragments of Christendom or still less in any one of\nthese fragments.\" The names of sixty-five learned divines and biblical\nscholars are on the preface page as contributors to and endorsers of\nthis book.\n\nMr. Wesley states that the reason the gifts are no longer in the\nchurch, is because the love of many waxed cold and the Christians had\nturned heathens again and had only a dead form left. (See volume 1,\nsermon 94.)\n\nThe situation of the religious world is beautifully depicted in poetic\nverse on page forty-one of the Latter-day Saints' Hymn Book, in a hymn\nfrom Wesley's collection. In speaking of the golden age of the apostles\nand prophets, when the Saints were endowed with spiritual gifts and\ngraces, the writer says:\n\n  \"Where shall we wander now to find\n  Successors they have left behind?\n  The faithful whom we seek in vain\n  Are 'minished from the sons of men.\n  Ye different sects who all declare:\n  'Lo! here is Christ' or 'Christ is there!'\n  Your stronger proofs divinely give,\n  And show me where true Christians live.\"\n\nI will now quote from the Bible to illustrate how plainly the prophets\nforetold what the writers from whom I have quoted clearly show to have\nbeen verified: \"Behold the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will\nsend a famine in the land, not a famine of bread nor a thirst for\nwater, but of hearing the words of the Lord: And they shall wander from\nsea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and\nfro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.\" (Amos viii:\n11, 12.) We learn from this that the time was coming when men should\nseek to the four points of the compass, and in all directions, and yet\nfail to find the word of God; but we find the Bible in every direction,\nand that is said to contain the word of the Lord. Very true, but that\nword was directed to past generations and is a record of the dealings\nof our Heavenly Father with His children in bygone days.\n\nThe sacred record states: \"Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He\nrevealeth His secrets unto His servants the Prophets.\" (Amos iii:7.)\nFrom this we learn that if there are no prophets of the Lord, then\nour Heavenly Father is doing nothing in a religious sense among the\npeople of this earth; but if He is doing a work among them for their\nredemption, then there must be prophets. By this it will be easy to\nascertain whether the prediction of Amos has been verified or not.\nWho, previous to the year 1827, for many centuries has found in his\nresearches an inspired prophet who could stand in the midst of the\npeople and say, \"Thus saith the Lord?\" Have not the people denied the\nprophets and visions of heaven? We learn from the nineteenth chapter of\nRevelations that \"the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.\"\nTherefore, if any have had this testimony they have been inspired with\nthe spirit of prophecy. And again, we are informed by the Savior, as\nwritten in the sixteenth chapter of John, that the \"Spirit of truth\nshall guide into all truth,\" and \"show you things to come.\" Who has\nseen things to come? And where is the word of the Lord? Surely not with\nthose who deny prophets and apostles.\n\nWe learn from the twenty-fourth chapter of Isaiah that the effects of\nthis ancient apostasy would be so universal as to cover all classes of\nsociety, affecting not only the religious and social circles, but the\nbusiness transactions of the human family. In the second verse he says:\n\"And it shall be as with the people, so with the priest; as with the\nservant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress;\nas with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender so with the\nborrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to\nhim.\" By reading the fifth verse of the same chapter we learn that even\nthe earth upon which we dwell is seriously effected. Isaiah says: \"The\nearth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof, because they have\ntransgressed the laws, changed the ordinances, broken the everlasting\ncovenant.\"\n\nAs a testimony to the fulfillment of this prophecy, thousands of people\nin the American Union are witnesses to the fact, that in many parts the\nland will not produce such prolific crops as it would several years\nago, but is gradually growing weaker and losing its virtue. Many places\nonce fruitful are now turned aside as being too poor to cultivate, and\nare occupied by hedge grass, sassafras bushes and growths of small\npine. Such is the rapid decline of the strength of the soil. I have\nbeen informed that in one state some of the people, desiring to learn\nwhy the soil was losing its virtue, took quantities of earth from\ndifferent points and had it analyzed. The analysis revealed the fact\nthat the soil had lost its salt and was therefore comparatively of\nbut little worth, only to be trodden under the foot of man. This test\nof the soil in one section is a fair sample of the same condition of\nthe land in many other places. These are the terrible effects, Isaiah\ninforms us, of the inhabitants of the earth transgressing \"the laws,\"\nchanging \"the ordinances,\" and breaking the \"everlasting covenant.\"\n\nAmong other important features wherein the everlasting covenant has\nbeen broken is that pertaining to the marriage contract, which,\nagreeable to the laws of heaven, is binding through time and eternity,\nnot recognizing death, which is said to be the \"wages of sin,\" as\nhaving power to sever that which is joined together by the power\nand authority of God. The world is now following the pattern of the\nSadducees (who denied the resurrection), and therefore pronounce the\nceremony of marriage \"until death do you part.\"\n\nAnother prophecy which vividly portrays the religious state of affairs\nin the last days is that contained in (II Timothy iii:1-6) as follows:\n\"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For\nmen shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud,\nblasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without\nnatural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce,\ndespisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers\nof pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but\ndenying the power thereof; from such turn away.\"\n\nThis is so plain that no one need to doubt its verification. It clearly\nsets forth the very evils that are now prevalent in all the civilized\nnations of the earth. While this statement of evils may apply to the\nworld at large, it is evident that it was directed specially to a\ncertain class of people--not to infidel nor atheist, nor yet to the\nheathen nations, which are unacquainted with the name of the Savior\nand with what is termed Christianity, but to those religious bodies\nwhich, as Paul declares, \"have a form of godliness, but deny the power\nthereof.\" It plainly describes the situation of the Christian world\nat the present time, who, while they have various forms of worship,\ndeny the gifts of vision, prophecy, healing, tongues and nearly all\nthe manifestations of the power of the Lord, as enjoyed by the ancient\nSaints. In fine, they deny the Gospel, for that, says Paul, \"is the\npower of God unto salvation.\" The apostle, it appears, would not\nattribute to them even true forms of worship, for he says they have a\n\"form of godliness.\" \"From such,\" says Paul, \"turn away.\"\n\nIf all would receive this admonition and \"turn away\" from these\npowerless forms, what would become of the churches that are now extant?\nWith the foregoing positive predictions upon this subject, and the\nfacts before us in verification of the same, we can testify that the\nwords of Isaiah have been fulfilled, wherein he says: \"Behold the\ndarkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people;\" and that\nnothing short of more revelation direct from heaven could place the\npresent generation in possession of the everlasting Gospel.\n\nHaving shown that many of the ancients fell away from that Gospel; that\nthe faithful remainder were warred against by the enemies of truth,\nand that the last of the saints who held the Priesthood were overcome,\nleaving no successors to continue the works of the ministry; it is\ntherefore made clear that the plan of salvation was taken away from the\nearth, that the results of the ancient apostasy were universal and have\nextended down without interruption to the present century.\n\nThe gloom that these serious events would cast upon the minds of the\nhonest in heart who saw this sad picture unfolded to the gaze of the\nworld, and which would effect their posterity in future generations,\nwas greatly relieved when they beheld, while rapt in heavenly vision,\nangels from the mansions of glory descending to the earth with the\nGospel message in all its purity and holiness, to deliver to the sons\nof men, causing the \"poor among men to rejoice in the Holy One of\nIsrael.\" The apostle John, while in banishment upon the Isle of Patmos,\nsaid: \"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven having the\neverlasting Gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth, and to\nevery nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud\nvoice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is\ncome; and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the\nfountains of water.\" (Revelation, xiv:6, 7.) There are now thousands of\nhonest-hearted people upon the earth who testify that the angel spoken\nof in the foregoing quotation visited Joseph Smith, the prophet, and\ndelivered to him the everlasting Gospel. Scattered Israel is coming\nto a knowledge of the truth while the day spoken of by Jeremiah is\ndawning. \"O Lord, my strength, and my fortress, my refuge in the day\nof affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto Thee from the ends of the\nearth, and shall say, surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity,\nand things wherein there is no profit.\" (Jeremiah xvi:19.)\n\nThese predictions are being fulfilled and will be fulfilled to the very\nletter; and as the apostasy and its effects were universal, so will\nthe restoration of the Gospel be universal, extending to every nation,\nkindred, tongue and people, until Satan shall be bound and the voice of\n\"peace on earth and to men good will\" shall be heard from the rivers to\nthe ends of the earth; when \"the earth shall be full of the knowledge\nof the Lord, as the waters cover the sea;\" and when \"they shall teach\nno more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying,\nknow the Lord; for all shall know Me, from the least of them unto the\ngreatest.\"\n\n\n\nRESTORATION OF THE GOSPEL.\n\nHaving shown conclusively that the Church of Christ in its purity\nand entirety was taken from the earth, we find the world without\ndivine authority, without ordinances of the Gospel, having a \"form of\ngodliness but denying the power thereof.\" \"From such turn away.\"\n\nThis would be truly a sad picture to gaze upon and contemplate, were it\nnot that the Lord also revealed to the apostles and prophets anciently\nthat in the last days there would be a restoration of all that had been\nenjoyed in previous dispensations. The apostle Peter, speaking of the\nsecond advent of the Messiah, prophesied as follows: \"And He shall send\nJesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must\nreceive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath\nspoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.\"\n(Acts iii:20, 21). This prediction is so plain that a \"wayfaring man,\nthough a fool, need not err therein.\"\n\nA restitution means bringing back that which was lost; even if God had\nnot spoken by the mouth of many prophets since the beginning, giving\nin detail various conditions which would be restored to the earth,\nthis prophecy would be sufficient in itself in assuring \"a restitution\nof all things\" to justify mankind in looking for a new dispensation\ncontaining all the gifts and powers of the apostolic age.\n\nThese gifts and powers do not exist in the Catholic church, nor in any\nProtestant denomination of modern Christendom. Nothing short of new\nrevelation from God will fulfill the prediction of the apostle Peter.\n\nThe twenty-second and twenty-third verses of the same prophecy read:\n\"For Moses truly said unto the fathers\" (his prophecy here quoted\nby Peter is found in Deuteronomy, 18th chapter, commencing with the\nfifteenth verse), \"A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto\nyou of your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear in all things,\nwhatsoever He shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that every\nsoul which will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among\nthe people.\" This prophecy undoubtedly refers to the Savior, but the\nconditions specified were never verified at His first coming. Those\nwho would not hear Him were not destroyed from among the people. It\nis plain therefore that the prediction must allude to His second\nadvent. In this connection, we refer our readers to the third chapter\nof Malachi, 1 to 3, inclusive: \"Behold, I will send my messenger, and\nHe shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord whom ye seek shall\nsuddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant whom ye\ndelight in, behold He shall come, said the Lord of hosts. But who may\nabide the day of His coming? And who shall stand when He appeareth? For\nHe is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap, and He shall sit\nas a refiner and purifier of silver, and He shall purify the sons of\nLevi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the\nLord an offering in righteousness.\"\n\nThese conditions did not exist when Jesus came as the Babe of\nBethlehem. The people then abode His coming. They despised Him, and\npersecuted Him to the death. The sons of Levi were not purged. Many\ncenturies have elapsed since they offered an acceptable offering unto\nthe Lord, so far as we are informed in sacred or other history. The\nMessiah did not come suddenly; He came as other infants came, only\nunder humbler circumstances, being born in a stable and cradled in a\nmanger. Truly does the Scripture say: \"He descended below all things\nthat He might rise above all things.\" He did not come to His temple,\nfor He said that \"the foxes had holes and birds of the air had nests,\nbut the Son of Man had not where to lay His head;\" and again that the\ntemple occupied by money changers, rather than being a house of prayer,\nhad become a \"den of thieves.\"\n\nWhen He comes in verification of Malachi's prophecy, He will come\nsuddenly and in power and great glory. He will find a temple to come\nto. To do this, there must be a people called of God, instructed by\nrevelation direct, in order to know where, when and how to erect, in\nkeeping with divine approval, such a sacred edifice. Such information\ncannot be found in the written word of bygone ages, much less in the\nwritings and commentaries of learned divines who deny the necessity\nof new and continuous revelation. Nothing short of a new Gospel\ndispensation, ushered in and perpetuated by direct revelation from the\nLord, can fulfill the provisions of Malachi's prediction.\n\nPassing on to chapter four of Malachi's prophecy, we find the inspired\nutterances respecting the judgments of God, the burning and overthrow\nof the wicked and the rising of the Son of Righteousness to those who\nfear His holy name. In the fifth verse it is said: \"Behold, I will send\nyou Elijah, the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful\nday of the Lord.\" This is so definite that comments are unnecessary.\nThe prophet Elijah who was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire without\ntasting death is doubtless referred to.\n\nIn the verse following the one quoted, the mission of Elijah is\nspecified to \"turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the\nhearts of the children to their fathers.\" How consistent and glorious\nsuch a mission! The children receiving the Gospel in a new dispensation\nnaturally inquire what has become of their fathers who died without the\nGospel. In other pages of this volume, referring to the redemption of\nthe dead, we notice more fully this prophecy and testify that Elijah\nhas come and also restored the keys of salvation for the dead.\n\nZechariah saw the time when Jerusalem should be rebuilt, and said:\n\"Behold, the angel that talked with me went forth and another angel\nwent out to meet him, and said unto him, run, speak with the young\nman, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for\nthe multitude of men and cattle therein.\" (Zech. ii:3, 4.) Continuing,\nthe prophet speaks of Israel coming from the North, and from Babylon,\nand being gathered to their inheritances, and that God Himself \"shall\ndwell in the midst of thee.\" The Scriptures are replete with similar\nprophecies pointing to the gathering of Israel to Zion and Jerusalem,\nthe coming of the Lord, and other important events. How any one could\nbelieve that these glorious prophecies could be verified without more\nrevelation and the establishment of a new dispensation of the Gospel,\nis more of a marvel to a true believer in the Bible than is believing\nin prophecy, revelations, visions, miracles, etc.\n\nIn Revelations, chapter xiv, verses 6 and 7, we have the following very\nclear prophecy on this important subject: \"And I saw another angel fly\nin the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto\nthem that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and\ntongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory\nto Him, for the hour of His judgment is come; and worship Him that made\nheaven, and earth, and sea, and the fountains of waters.\" The inspired\nutterance cannot have reference to an event in the age in which it was\nuttered for two reasons at least: first, the people had the Gospel at\nthe time, and John's mission was to declare the same; second, the voice\nfrom heaven as recorded in Rev. iv:1, 2, called to John saying, \"Come\nup hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.\"\n\n\"What is prophecy but history reversed?\" Thus the book of Revelation\nis one unbroken chain of prophetic history from first to last. The\ndeclaration that an angel should come with the Gospel is proof that\nthe Gospel would be taken away. Again, the angel was to come in the\n\"hour of God's judgment,\" a day not at all fulfilled during the earthly\nministry of our Savior. One of the most remarkable features of the\nprophecy is that the inhabitants of the earth, without exception\n(every nation, kindred, tongue and people, is included in the glorious\nmessage), are called upon to worship Him who made the heaven and earth\nand the sea and the fountains of water.\n\nWhen we come to the subject of personality of God, it will be our\npurpose to show that the \"God without body, parts, and passions\"\nis not the God who made the heaven and the earth, and hence the\nnecessity of just such an injunction as that quoted from the fourteenth\nchapter of Revelation being given to the world in the last days. The\nspecifications of the prophecy are plain. The question which logically\nfollows is, \"Has that angel come?\" If he has not, then he must do so,\nor the word of God is null and void, and this is impossible. \"Not one\njot or tittle shall fall unfulfilled.\" \"Though heaven and earth shall\npass away, my word shall never pass away.\"\n\nCertainly the angel has not come to any Catholic or Protestant\nministers, for they dispute the necessity of angels. The only claim\nto the reception of the heavenly message is made by Joseph Smith, the\nProphet, and his followers, who testify that the angel came to the\nyoung man Joseph. It will not do to dismiss this claim by saying that\n\"false prophets shall come,\" for false prophets, counterfeit coin,\nand every spurious imitation exists as a counterfeit to the true\narticle, so that the existence of false prophets is usually a very fair\nindication that true prophets are not far away.\n\nFollowing the coming of the angel having the Gospel to restore was to\nbe another, urging the Saints to come out of Babylon: \"And I heard\nanother voice from heaven, saying, come out of her, my people, that ye\nreceive not of her plagues.\" (Rev. xviii:4.) Thus it is a gathering\ndispensation, as stated by Paul in the first chapter of Ephesians. The\nSavior, in speaking of the signs associated with His second coming and\nthe consummation of His Father's work in the last days, says: \"And this\nGospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness\nunto all nations; and then shall the end come.\" (Matt. xxiv:14. ) This\nprophecy was uttered in connection with the stating of other signs\ngiven by the Savior respecting His second advent, and in answer to a\nquestion by the disciples: \"Tell us when shall these things be? and\nwhat shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the world?\"\n\n\"This Gospel of the kingdom;\" \"The Everlasting Gospel;\" The Gospel\nof apostles, prophets, revelations, visions, miracles and all the\ngifts of the Holy Ghost. This only true Gospel could not be preached\nfor a witness unto all nations unless restored to earth by modern\nrevelations, for the religious world, so far as enjoying the true\nGospel is concerned, comes under the prophecy of Isaiah, chapter ix:2:\n\"For behold darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the\npeople;\" and again, chapter xxiv:5: \"The earth also is defiled under\nthe inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws,\nchanged the ordinances, broken the everlasting covenant,\" all this\ngoing to prove the necessity of a Gospel restoration.\n\nWhen Jesus taught His disciples how to pray He instructed them to say,\namong other things, \"Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it\nis in heaven.\" (Matt. vi:10.) If the kingdom referred to by Him had\ncome, He would not have instructed them to pray for what they already\npossessed. They were looking for a future day.\n\nOn one occasion after His resurrection, the apostles asked the Savior\nthis question: \"'Wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to\nIsrael?' And He said unto them, it is not for you to know the times or\nthe seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power.\" (Acts i:7.)\nThis indicates plainly the establishment of God's kingdom at a future\nperiod of time. We may connect with these inspired sayings of the\nSavior the prophecy of Daniel, recorded in the second chapter of his\nprophetic utterances. By reading from the second chapter of his book we\nlearn that the king of Babylon had received a dream which, having gone\nfrom his mind, he demanded to know of the wise men; and not only the\ninterpretation, but the dream itself. They, of course, failed. Daniel,\nthe prophet, was called in, and in the spirit of a true prophet and\nSaint of God acknowledged that it was not in man to reveal such things,\n\"But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known\nto the King Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days.\" The image\nseen in the dream is next described by Daniel as being in form like a\nman, with a head of fine gold, his breast and arms of silver, his belly\nand thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part\nof clay. The interpretation made known that this image represented the\nkingdoms of the world, beginning with Babylon, the head of gold; next\ncame the Medio-Persian, under Alexander the Great: then arose the Roman\nempire, out of which grew the modern kingdoms of Europe, represented\nby the feet and toes. Here comes the important feature of the prophecy\nwhich was to take place in the \"latter days,\" of which the prophet\nDaniel says, \"And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven\nset up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed and the kingdom shall\nnot be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume\nall these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.\"\n\nThe language of this prophecy shows: first, that unlike the preceding\nkingdoms, this last named kingdom was to be set up by God Himself, in\nother words, the kingdom of God, not of man. Second, unlike the other\nkingdoms, it should never be destroyed. Third, it should not, like the\nkingdoms of men, pass from one people to another, but should not be\nleft to other people. Fourth, that it should have power to break in\npieces and consume all other kingdoms.\n\nThe terms of this prophecy, and the history of God's dealings with\nmen since it was uttered, are such that no thoughtful, well-informed\nman can suppose that this event took place at the first coming and\nministry of the Savior, for the following reasons: first, the kingdoms\nrepresented by the toes and feet, contemporary with which the kingdom\nof God was to be set up, did not exist; the Roman empire, symbolized by\nthe legs of iron, was that part of the image then extant. Second, the\nkingdom spoken of by Daniel was not to be left to other people, whereas\nthe Savior Himself said to the disciples, as recorded in Matthew\nxxi:43, \"Therefore say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken\nfrom you and given to the nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.\"\nTo this the testimony of Paul agrees in Acts xiii:46. \"Then Paul and\nBarnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God\nshould first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you,\nand judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the\nGentiles.\"\n\nThese statements taken together, as well as many other conditions\nreferred to, prove clearly that the kingdom spoken of by Daniel was\nnot established in the days of our Savior. We are thus forced to the\nadmission that if the kingdom of God has not come in this age, it is\nyet to come. There are, however, many other prophecies relating to the\nrestoration of the last days, which show not merely that a restoration\nhas been predicted, but that the Gospel veritably has been restored\nto man in this dispensation, with all the gifts and blessings which\ncharacterized the same in the days of the Messiah; and more, that a\npeople are being prepared for the coming and reign of our Lord and\nSavior Jesus Christ.\n\nWe have proved from the Bible prophecies that a restoration of the\nGospel in its fullness, by modern revelation, would take place in the\nlast days. We now desire to show that this restoration has taken place,\nand that Joseph Smith, the Prophet, was the man through whom God has\nestablished anew His Church upon the earth, after the ancient pattern,\nwith apostles, prophets, gifts and blessings, visions and revelations.\n\nJoseph Smith announced to the world that he had received the visitation\nof heavenly messengers, also that they conferred upon him authority to\nspeak and officiate in the name of the Lord with the same power and\nauthority received and exercised by John the Baptist and the apostle\nPeter in ancient times.\n\nNow, the prophecies quoted here could not be verified unless some one\nshould come to the world bearing just such a testimony as that borne by\nJoseph Smith.\n\nFurthermore, when we ask Catholic and Protestant ministers if an angel\nhas come to any of them with the everlasting Gospel, they answer in the\nnegative, and deride the idea of new revelation. Ask them if Elijah\nthe Prophet has come to them, to plant in the hearts of the children\nthe promise made to the fathers. They say no. Has the messenger spoken\nof by Malachi come to you and taught you how to build a temple to the\nLord, that He may \"suddenly come to His temple?\" The very question\nitself is treated with utter astonishment, and the man who asks it is\nregarded as being erratic. We must therefore turn from sects having\nforms of godliness \"but denying the power thereof,\" to other sources to\nfind some one who has received, or shall receive, the revelations of\nthe Almighty in the last days.\n\nOne thing is certain, if the claims of the Latter-day Saints are not\ntrue, then some one must come in the future with just such claims. We\nask the question, will the world be any better prepared to receive a\nmessage of this character in the future than it is today? Certainly the\nhearts of the people are not being prepared for such testmonies by the\ninfluence and teachings of modern ministers. Come, dear readers, let\nus reason together; let us divest our minds of all prejudice. \"Prove\nall things, hold fast that which is good,\" and ask the question, what\nconstitutes complete evidence that a man is a prophet of God?\n\nTo be a reliable witness in a human court, an individual must be a\nperson of veracity, whose honor cannot be impeached. Such a man was\nJoseph Smith, the Prophet. His parents were hard-working farmers.\nThey had a standing in the community of virtue, honesty, industry and\nsincerity in religious devotion, unexcelled by any. His forefathers\nwere among the early founders of New England, who came from the\n\"mother country\" to enjoy the greater liberty of worshiping God\nwithout molestation and according to the dictates of conscience. His\nprogenitors were soldiers of the Revolution. They offered their lives\nfreely upon the altar of liberty, for the freedom of the American\ncolonies and their descendants for all generations to come. From such\na line of ancestors came the Prophet Joseph Smith. If they were not\npopular, nor great, nor affluent, in the eyes of the world, neither\nwere the immediate ancestry of Jesus and His apostles. If Joseph was\npoor and earned his bread by the sweat of his brow, so did most all of\nthe prophets since the world began. He enjoyed the reputation, among\nthose who knew him best, in every state in which he lived throughout\nlife, of being an honest, industrious, virtuous, patriotic man. On\ntrumped-up charges by the enemies of truth, he was arrested and tried\nthirty-nine times in courts not conducted by men of his own faith, and\nthirty-nine times he was honorably acquitted. The last time he was\narrested, his enemies said, \"If the law cannot reach him, powder and\nlead shall.\" How like the experience of Jesus before Pilate! Honorably\nacquitted by the judges, they cried out, \"Let His blood be upon us and\nour children!\" And so it has been; the same is true of those who shed\nthe blood of the Prophet and Patriarch in these last days.\n\nIn view of the unpopularity of believing in angels and revelations\nin this age, what purpose could a man have in view, to make such a\ndeclaration, unless it was true? Joseph Smith gained no popularity\nor honors of men by it; he made no wealth of a worldly character by\nsuch a course. On the other hand, he suffered ignominy, scorn, and\npersecution in almost every form, including hunger, fatigue, exile,\nimprisonment and death at the hands of assassins. If it could be urged\nwith the least propriety that when he announced his first vision he was\nso young--only about fifteen years of age (not much older than Samuel\nthe prophet when God called him)--that he did not realize the terrible\nconsequences of such a testimony, he certainly realized in a very short\ntime and had every opportunity to correct his assertions had they been\nfalse.\n\nHuman nature is not such as to maintain known errors with such\nunwavering integrity and consistency against the bitter opposition of\nthe world from boyhood to the grave. Yet with all his increasing trials\nand persecutions, which rolled upon him all his life like the angry\nwaves of the ocean, driven by the winds against the peaceful shore,\nhe never faltered. His testimony never wavered. He testified that he\nsaw God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, and received of the\nministrations of John the Baptist, Peter, James and John, Elijah and\nother prophets who lived in bygone ages. With an understanding of these\ncircumstances and a knowledge of his character, the charge of fraud and\ndishonesty cannot be laid against him. If so, every prophet since the\nworld began can be counted a dishonest man.\n\nThe question which naturally follows in this place is: Could Joseph\nSmith be mistaken? In answer we say: He was not a religious zealot. He\nwas a young man of a practical turn of mind. While not a skeptic, he\nwas reasonable, and thought that men professing to be the servants of\nthe Lord should give proof of their calling similar to that given by\nthe ancient prophets. If they had the true Gospel, with the gifts of\nthe Holy Ghost, they should not be full of contradictions on doctrine,\nat least. This feature shows that Joseph was of a disposition not\neasily deluded by the unfounded theories of men. He belonged to no\nchurch, and like the ancient apostles, was free from preconceived\ndogmas and theories. He had no system to bolster up nor pet theory to\nmaintain. His mind was free and of an order most likely to be selected\nfor the great work which the Lord assigned him.\n\nThe circumstances which led to Joseph Smith's prayer offered in the\ngrove near Palmyra, New York, in the spring of 1820, were these:\nA great religious revival had been in progress. He attended. It\nconsisted of people who were Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, etc.,\nrepresented in the pulpit by their respective ministers. When a convert\njoined the Baptists the other ministers would say: \"This is the way;\nwalk ye in it.\" And another: \"This is right; follow this way.\" Yet\ntheir doctrines were in conflict. He could get no light from them. In\nthis frame of mind he commenced to read the Scriptures. He came to the\nfirst chapter of James, fifth and sixth verses. This reads as follows:\n\"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men\nliberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him\nask in faith, nothing wavering, for he that wavereth is like a wave\nof the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. For, let not that man\nthink that he shall receive anything from the Lord.\" Joseph believed\nthe promise. He put it to the test. He knelt in a grove of timber, and\nasked God which denomination was right. While thus engaged an unseen\npower seized him, tied his tongue, as it were, and apparently would\nhave destroyed his life. Here are Joseph's words, quoted from the\n\"Pearl of Great Price,\" page 59: \"Just at this moment of great alarm\nI saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness\nof the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. It no\nsooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held\nme bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two personages, whose\nbrightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the\nair. One of them spoke unto me, calling me by name, and said (pointing\nto the other), 'This is my beloved Son, Hear Him.' In answer to my\nquestion, which of the sects were right, He answered that none of them\nwere, and I was forbidden of the Lord to join any of them.\"\n\nThis prayer was offered by an honest boy, seeking after truth, unable\nto get the whole truth from men. Would the Lord suffer such a prayer to\ngo unanswered, or suffer this boy to be deceived by Satan? All reason,\nall Scripture answers, no. \"Ask and ye shall receive; knock and it\nshall be opened unto you.\" If a son ask his father for bread \"will he\ngive him a stone?\" \"If he ask for fish will he give him a serpent?\" The\nSavior answers, no. If it is argued that Joseph was alone and no one\nelse present to corroborate his testimony, we have two answers: One is\nthat those determined to reject such revelations will deny the veracity\nof two or three men as readily as the assertion of one; the other is\nthat those who believe the Bible, to be consistent, if they doubt the\ntestimony of Joseph because he was alone, must also doubt the testimony\nof Moses, who was alone when God spoke to him from the burning bush,\nand again when he stood in His presence on the mount and received the\nTen Commandments. Will they doubt that Isaiah saw the Lord in the days\nof King Uzziah? (Isa. vi.). Because Stephen alone saw God and His Son\nin the last moments of His life, is his testimony false? Paul saw the\nSavior, but the men who were with him saw Him not. Yet the Christian\nworld believes that Paul saw the Lord, even though other men in the\npresence of Paul did not see him.\n\nWhile Joseph was alone on the occasion above related, he was not alone\nin all the manifestations which the Lord gave him. We have other\nhonest witnesses who corroborate the testimony of the Prophet Joseph\nSmith, and their testimony has not been impeached. They were men of\ngood repute. On the 5th day of May, 1829, John the Baptist appeared\nto Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, laid his hands upon their heads\nand conferred upon them the Aaronic Priesthood, which holds authority\nto preach the principles of the Gospel and baptize in water for the\nremission of sins, but not authority to administer in the laying on of\nhands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. This Aaronic Priesthood was held\nby John the Baptist, by Philip, who baptized the Samaritans, and by\nothers in the times of the apostles. Subsequent to this Peter, James\nand John presented themselves to the same men, Joseph and Oliver,\nconferring upon them the holy apostleship, which included authority to\norganize the Church in its fullness and to open the door of the Gospel\nto all nations.\n\nPassing over the many remarkable manifestations given to the Prophet\nand others, we will conclude this part of the subject by reference to\nthe statements of the three witnesses respecting the Book of Mormon.\nTheir testimony will be found in the title pages of every copy of\nthat sacred volume, signed with their names--Oliver Cowdery, David\nWhitmer and Martin Harris. They assert that an angel appeared before\nthem, held in his hands the metallic plates, giving an account of the\nancient inhabitants of America; their origin, history and destiny; the\ndealings of God with them; and the fullness of the Gospel as taught\nby the Savior and ancient prophets on this land, from which sacred\nplates the Book of Mormon is translated into English. The witnesses saw\nand handled the plates, and gave their solemn testimony to the world.\nUnder all circumstances the witnesses maintained their testimony to\nthe end in private and public; to all who came to ask of them, they\ntold the same unchanging story. Another feature of this evidence of\nthese three witnesses is this: In the course of time they transgressed\nthe rules and regulations of the Church, and of necessity had to be\nexcommunicated. Having thus fallen away from their adherence to the\nChurch, from their association and fellowship with the Prophet Joseph\nSmith, they were placed in a condition where every inducement was\npresented them to deny their testimony and in this way frustrate the\nscheme, if it had been false. If such a procedure had been possible\nthey could thereby gain the fellowship and applause of the world for\nexposing to ridicule and shame the man who came to the world with a\nNew Dispensation. But they did not do this. Being outside the pale\nof the Church, may they not be called truly disinterested witnesses,\nwitnesses stronger in that sense than can be produced to substantiate\nthe divinity of ancient Jewish Scriptures?\n\nThe writer once sat in the presence of David Whitmer and can testify\nfrom personal contact with him that he was firm and unshaken in the\ntestimony which he bore to the divine authenticity of the Book of\nMormon. In David Whitmer's dying hours, when enemies of this work\nmay have had some hopes of his recanting, he asked the leading men\nof Richmond, Mo., if they could honestly give an affidavit before an\nofficer that, from their acquaintance and dealings with him, he was a\nman of honesty and truth. This they did, and published it. They were\nmen not of Mr. Whitmer's religious views. With that affidavit signed by\nabout twelve leading business men of the town, and the testimony of his\nphysician that his mind was perfectly sound, he published again to the\nworld his testimony that he had seen the angel, had handled the plates,\nand that the Book of Mormon was the divinely translated record.\n\nIn connection with the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, a remarkable\nprophecy of Isaiah has been strikingly verified: \"And the vision of\nall is become unto you as the words of a book that is seated which men\ndeliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he\nsaith, I cannot; for it is sealed: and the book is delivered to him\nthat is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I\nam not learned.\" (Isaiah xxix:11, 12.) When Joseph obtained the plates\nhe discovered that a portion of them were sealed and learned from the\nangel that the time had not come to publish that part of the volume,\nbut from the unsealed plates he copied some characters and sent them\nby Martin Harris to a learned linguist in New York--Prof. Anthon. The\nlearned man examined them and gave Mr. Harris a certificate testifying\nthat they were true characters of Hebrew and reformed Egyptian. Before\nleaving, the learned man asked Mr. Harris to bring him the plates and\nhe would translate them. Mr. Harris answered that he was forbidden to\ndo that, and also that a portion of the plates were sealed. He replied,\n\"I cannot read a sealed book,\" and asked where Joseph Smith obtained\nthem. When answered that an angel revealed them, he asked to see the\ncertificate he had given of their genuineness. It was handed him and\nhe tore it up in a rage, saying, \"Angels do not appear nowadays.\" The\nwords of the book, not the book itself, were delivered to the learned\nman, as Isaiah said they would be. He said he could not read a sealed\nbook, as Isaiah said he would say. The book itself was delivered to\nJoseph, the unlettered youth, and in his humility he said, I am not\nlearned; but God gave the gift of translation, that it should be done;\nnot by the wisdom and learning of men, but by the power of God.\n\nOther Bible prophecies might be quoted referring to the Book of Mormon,\nbut our purpose at present is not to treat upon that sacred record, but\nincidentally to show that its coming forth furnishes strong evidence\nthat Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God. How it would be possible for\nan unsophisticated youth to devise a scheme that would answer in its\nworkings so minutely the details of ancient prophecy, unless God\ninspired him, should require far more credulity to believe than it\nwould that he was sent of God, and thus attribute to the Almighty the\nhonor for the great work.\n\nWith this array of corroborating witnesses, and the practical character\nof Joseph Smith, we do not see the possibility of his being mistaken\nany more than were Paul, Stephen, Moses, Peter, James and John and all\nthe ancient prophets. It should be remembered that God has His own\nway and does not show Himself openly to all the people, but to chosen\nwitnesses. \"Him God raised up the third day, and showed Him openly, not\nto all the people, but to witnesses chosen before God.\" (Acts x:40, 41.)\n\nWe come now to another phase of evidence that the Gospel has been\nrestored, namely, that the organization of the Church as established\nby the Prophet Joseph Smith, and also the doctrines taught by him, are\nin perfect accord with the teachings of the Bible. The proof of this\nis given in other chapters of this volume. The evidence there given of\nthe divine mission of Joseph Smith is all the stronger when we take\ninto consideration the fact that for seventeen centuries learned men\nhave been organizing churches and teaching what they esteemed to be\nthe essentials of salvation, without being able from the fragmentary\nteachings of the apostles to organize a church with apostles, prophets,\nseventies, etc. The force of this condition is also enhanced when we\nrecall that each generation of reformers has possessed the advantages\narising from the experience and conclusions of each generation\npreceding them. Neither has been able to unite upon the principles\nessential for mankind to obey in order to secure salvation.\n\nJoseph Smith presents to the world a system which is a monument of\ninspiration, both as to the scriptural evidence that the organization\nis divine and in the fact that the practical workings thereof are\nperfect. He does not stop at this. He says to his followers that on\ncondition of their acceptance of faith in God and in His Son, Jesus\nChrist, repentance from all sin, baptism by immersion for the remission\nof sins, and the laying on of hands by Elders of the Church of Jesus\nChrist of Latter-day Saints, they shall receive the Holy Ghost, and\nthat the fruits thereof are the same as in olden times; they shall\nprophesy, speak in tongues, have dreams, visions, revelations,\nhealings and miracles. There are in the Church today 310,000 souls.\nOf this number many are children, but the thousands who have arrived\nat the years of accountability have put the promise to the test, and\nthe universal testimony of these people is that they have received\nknowledge of God for themselves. The tens of thousands, also, who have\npassed from life, since the date of the organization of the Church\n(1830), received the same testimony.\n\nDuring the troubles of the Saints in Illinois, judge Stephen A. Douglas\nwas an acquaintance of Joseph Smith and his people. He knew the\ninjustice heaped upon them by his personal acquaintance with the facts.\nWhile in the presence of judge Douglas and others, the judge requested\nthe Prophet to give him a history of the persecutions in Missouri,\nwhich he did. While addressing the judge the Prophet said: \"Judge, you\nwill aspire to the presidency of the United States; and if you ever\nturn your hand against me or the Latter-day Saints, you will feel the\nweight of the hand of the Almighty upon you; and you will live to see\nand know that I have testified the truth to you; for the conversation\nof this day will stick to you through life.\" (_Deseret News_, Sept.\n24th, 1856.)\n\nJudge Douglas aspired, as stated, to the Presidency of the United\nStates, and was nominated for that position on June 23d, 1860, at\nthe Democratic convention held in Charleston. When he thus aspired\nhe was a popular man, eloquent and gifted, and no one seemed to have\nbrighter hopes of success. However, in his mistaken effort to win\npopular approval, in a speech delivered in Springfield, Illinois, June\n12th, 1857, he, in defiance of his own knowledge of the Latter-day\nSaints and their character, said: \"The knife must be applied to this\npestiferous, body politic. It must be cut out by the roots and seared\nover by the red-hot iron of stern and unflinching law.\" Much more\nhe uttered against the Latter-day Saints, in harmony with misguided\npublic sentiment. When the election came Douglas was badly defeated.\nOf the electoral votes he had but twelve. He carried but one state.\nFeeling \"the weight of the hand of the Almighty upon him,\" he died a\ndisappointed, heart-broken man, in less than a year, in the prime of\nlife, being but forty-eight years of age. Thus the word of the Lord was\nfulfilled with terrible accuracy.\n\nAgain Joseph said: \"I prophesied that the Saints would continue to\nsuffer much affliction and would be driven to the Rocky Mountains;\nmany would apostatize, others would be put to death by our persecutors\nor lose their lives in consequence of exposure and disease; and some\nof you will live to go and assist in making settlements and build\ncities and see the Saints become a mighty people in the midst of the\nRocky Mountains.\" (_Mill. Star_, Vol. xix., page 630.) The Saints\ndid continue to suffer much persecution, some did apostatize, others\ndid die of exposure, disease and privation. Others were put to death\nby persecutors; some lived to go to the Rocky Mountains. They have\nassisted there in building cities, towns and temples, in making a\ngreat commonwealth, and the Saints have become a mighty people in the\nmidst of these mountains. They attract the attention of the world. \"A\ncity set on a hill cannot be hid.\" These prophecies, uttered by Joseph\nSmith, have come to pass, as have many others, and that, too, contrary\nto all human prospects. All his prophecies not yet verified relate to\nfuture times, and will come to pass as literally and exactly as those\nof the past or those of any other prophet since the world began, for\nGod inspired and Joseph spoke.\n\nHaving finished his mission, accomplished all in the flesh the Lord\ngave him to do, the Prophet Joseph Smith suffered the shedding of his\nblood at the hands of a wicked mob, June 27th, 1844, in Carthage,\nIllinois. Why was he slain? His doctrine, his promises, his life, his\nprophecies, all proved him to be a prophet of God before he died a\nmartyr. Let the Scriptures answer the question: \"For where a testament\nis, there must also of a necessity be the death of the testator.\" (Heb.\nix:16.) God gave to the world through Joseph Smith a new testament of\nthe plan of salvation. He gave the Book of Mormon, a record of the\nGospel to the ancient inhabitants of America. He gave the Doctrine\nand Covenants, containing the revelations of God to the Saints of the\nlast days. These do not supplant the Bible. They prove it true, and\nall agree in one. \"In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every\nword be established.\" Through Joseph, to this generation, came the\nwitness of the Holy Ghost and the authority of the Holy Priesthood. By\nthe continuation of that authority the Church exists today, with the\nProphet Joseph F. Smith as its earthly living head. Every Elder of the\nChurch can trace his authority back directly to Joseph Smith, who was\nordained by the apostles Peter, James and John, who received it from\nthe hands of the Lord Jesus Christ.\n\nJoseph Smith's testimony is weighty. It effects the whole world. The\nevidence must also be weighty, and it can now be said that no class\nof evidence was withheld. He gave all that any Prophet ever gave,\nincluding life itself. He sealed his testimony with his blood and his\ntestimony is in force upon all the world. The sealing of his testimony\nwith his blood also accords with ancient prophecy. John the Revelator\nwas called into a high mountain to see the visions of the future. Read\n(Rev. iv:1). Also, among other things, the apostle says: \"And when he\nhad opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them\nthat were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they\nheld: And they cried with a loud voice, saying: How long, O Lord, holy\nand true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell\non the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and\nit was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season,\nuntil their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be\nkilled as they were, should be fulfilled.\" (Rev. vi:9-11.)\n\nJoseph Smith, the great Prophet of the last days, and his martyred\nbrother, the Patriarch Hyrum Smith, were among these fellow servants\nwho were to be slain. They have fulfilled this last requirement of\ntheir earthly existence. Their testimony is true, attested by every\nevidence that man could give or the world require. That testimony\nis binding upon all the world. The Gospel has been restored to man,\nthrough Joseph Smith, in all its fullness. Will men obey the divine\nmessage? A proper answer by every individual is of the greatest\nimportance.\n\n\n\nTHE CHURCH.\n\nThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the organization\nthrough which the Lord is accomplishing the declaration of the Gospel\nin the last days, gathering Israel, administering the ordinances of\nsalvation, and, in short, is accomplishing the work of redemption--that\naccomplishment which has been predicted by the mouths of all His holy\nprophets since the world began. The Church is called the Church of\nJesus Christ because it is His. He directed how and when to organize\nit, pointing out by direct revelation the manner of Church government;\nthe principles and ordinances of the Gospel; the blessings to be\nenjoyed by those who obey Him, and also the respective duties of each\nquorum or council of the Holy priesthood. The words \"Latter-day Saints\"\nare used to distinguish it from the former-day dispensation, or from\nthe Church of Jesus Christ of Former-day Saints.\n\nThe authority of God delegated to man is called the Holy priesthood.\nThis priesthood is arranged under two great heads. The lesser branch is\ncalled the Levitical or Aaronic, because it was conferred upon Aaron\nand his posterity. It holds the keys of the administration of angels,\nadministering the outward ordinances of the Gospel, such as \"baptism\nby immersion for the remission of sins,\" the sacrament of the Lord's\nsupper, the receiving and distribution of tithes and offerings, all\nsubject to the direction of the high priesthood. The officers in the\nAaronic priesthood consist of Bishops, Priests, Teachers and Deacons.\nThere is a presiding Bishop, who holds the keys of this priesthood,\nalso other Bishops, who preside over the interests of the lesser\npriesthood in Wards or Branches, looking after the temporal interests\nof the Saints. The Priests are standing ministers, organized into\nquorums of forty-eight in each.\n\nThe duty of the Priest is to visit the home of each member, expound\nthe Scripture, invite all to come unto Christ and exhort the Saints to\nperform every duty enjoined by the Gospel.\n\nTeachers are organized into quorums of twenty-four each. The duty of\nthose bearing this office is to see that the Saints do their duty and\nentertain no ill-feelings toward their fellow-beings, and that no\niniquity exists in the Church. These general duties, common to all\nSaints, consist in living a chaste, honest, upright, temperate and\nindustrious life, attending to secret and family prayers, attendance at\nmeetings of worship, partaking of the sacrament, the payment of tithes\nand offerings, observing the Sabbath day, and kindred obligations, all\nmade plain in the revelations of God to the Church.\n\nThe Deacons are organized into quorums of twelve each, and are to\nassist the Teacher in all the duties of his calling, as occasion\nmay require, but their especial duty is to look after the houses of\nworship, keep them clean, see to the arrangement of seats and the\nseating of the people in public assemblies of worship, and such other\nlabors under the direction of the Bishop as may conduce to the welfare\nof the Church.\n\nThe Melchisedek or higher priesthood holds the keys to the kingdom of\nheaven. It has the power to seal on earth, and what is done is sealed\nin heaven; to loose on earth and it is loosed in heaven; to receive\nthe revelations of God; to guide the Church in all things, and to\nunderstand the mysteries of godliness as far as they are revealed to\nmen in the flesh. In ancient times these keys and fullness of authority\nwere given to Peter when the Savior said to him: \"And I give unto thee\nthe keys of the kingdom of heaven.\" (Matt. xvi:19.)\n\nThe offices of this priesthood consist of the First Presidency, a\nquorum of three, bearing the holy apostleship, and as the organization\nof the Church on earth typifies the heavenly, these three symbolize the\nFather, Son and Holy Ghost, and hold the keys of authority over all\ndepartments of the Church, on all matters, spiritual and temporal, even\nas the Godhead is the great ruling power of the universe, the heavens\nand the earth and all that in them is.\n\nNext come the Twelve Apostles, who hold the keys of opening the door\nof salvation to all nations, kindreds, tongues and peoples. The reason\nthat this quorum numbers twelve is in honor of the twelve tribes of\nIsrael. Jesus said to the Twelve at Jerusalem: \"Thou shalt sit upon\ntwelve thrones, judging the whole house of Israel;\" and again, upon\nthe foundations of the heavenly Jerusalem were to be the names of the\n\"Twelve Apostles of the Lamb.\" The Church in government is \"built upon\nthe foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being\nthe chief corner stone.\" (Eph. ii:19, 20.) The duty of the Twelve\nis to carry the Gospel to all nations and to send the same by their\nassociates, the Seventies.\n\nThe Seventies are organized into quorums of seventy in each, presided\nover by seven of their number. Their especial calling is, like that of\nthe Twelve, to be witnesses of the truth in all the world, and they are\nthe ones especially appointed to associate with the Twelve in conveying\nthe Gospel message to all mankind.\n\nThe office of High Priest is one of presidency. The High Priests are\nnot limited to any especial number to constitute a quorum, but any\nnumber existing in a Stake of Zion is a quorum, presided over by three\nof their members. High Priests are chosen to preside over Stakes of\nZion, to act as High Counselors, preside over temples, officiate in the\nordinances of the house of the Lord, and, where the literal descendants\nof Aaron are not found, the High Priest is chosen to officiate in the\nBishopric. Where men are found among the Seventies or Elders in any\nWard or Stake, more suitable to fill a vacancy in the Ward Bishopric,\nStake Presidency, or High Council, than the resident High Priests, such\nmen are selected and ordained to the office of High Priest.\n\nAs standing ministers in Wards and Stakes the office of Elder exists,\nand a quorum of Elders numbers ninety-six. They have authority to\npreach the Gospel, baptize, confirm, administer the sacrament, anoint,\nand lay on hands for the healing of the sick, but differ from the\nSeventies in not being under the especial duty of traveling abroad to\npreach the Gospel. They have authority, however, as do High Priests, to\ntravel abroad and preach the Gospel when called by the Presidency of\nthe Church.\n\nThere is in the Church a presiding Patriarch, and other Patriarchs\nin all the Stakes of Zion. The duty of this high office is to impart\nblessings to the Saints of God. In presenting the general authorities\nof the Church the name of the Patriarch is presented next to the Twelve\nApostles.\n\nThe general authorities of the Church, presented for the acceptance of\nthe Church at every general conference, are the Presidency, the Twelve\nApostles, the Patriarch, the Seven Presidents of Seventies, and the\nPresiding Bishopric of the Church. The names of the officers in the\nPriesthood are Apostles, Patriarchs, High Priests, Seventies, Elders,\nBishops, Priests, Teachers and Deacons.\n\nWhen difficulties arise between members of the Church and they fail to\nsettle by themselves and the assistance of one or two witnesses, as the\nSavior directs, the Bishopric of the Ward form an ecclesiastical court,\nto which the disputants can refer their difficulties. If the decision\nis unsatisfactory to either party, there is a court of appeal in each\nStake, called the High Council, consisting of twelve High Priests\npresided over by the Presidency of the Stake. From their decision an\nappeal can be had to the Presidency of the Church, which is the end of\ncontroversy. Trials by these courts are conducted free of charge. They\nare to exercise the functions of their calling without partiality and\nwith the fear of God before their eyes, and to be guided by the Spirit\nof the Lord in their conclusions.\n\nIn the selection of any and all officers in the Church, the Saints have\na voice. \"No person is to be ordained to any office in this church,\nwhere there is a regularly organized branch of the same, without\nthe vote of that church.\" (Doctrine and Covenants, section xx, 65.)\n\"And all things shall be done by common consent in the Church, by\nmuch prayer and faith, for all things you shall receive by faith.\"\n(Doctrine and Covenants, section xxvi, 2.) The Gospel is a perfect\nlaw of liberty, and no people upon the earth have broader freedom and\na stronger voice in government, religious or otherwise, than do the\nLatter-day Saints in the governmental and all other affairs of the\nChurch.\n\nThe reader is referred to the revelations of God, given in the last\ndays to the Prophet Joseph Smith, for a more perfect understanding of\nthe offices and duties thereof, pertaining to the Church of Christ.\nThey are to be found in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. These\nrevelations throw great light upon the fragmentary statements of the\nNew Testament, because in the latter no one can learn the relationship\nof one quorum in the Church to another, nor the explicit duties of the\nrespective offices in the Holy Priesthood.\n\nThis Church was organized on the 6th of April, 1830, as far as could\nbe, with the limited membership of six men--Joseph Smith, Jr., Hyrum\nSmith, Oliver Cowdery, Samuel H. Smith, Peter Whitmer, Jr., and David\nWhitmer. It was truly \"a grain of mustard seed, the smallest of all\nseeds,\" in comparison with other organizations. A less number could\nnot have been organized under the laws of New York. The great founder,\nunder God, of this Church, had never belonged to any other. It was not\nan off-shoot of Catholic or Protestant, but as \"a little stone cut out\nof the mountains without hands,\" it bore no relationship to any human\nsystem; and as the stone should increase in velocity as it rolled on,\nso has the Church grown in magnitude from the \"mustard seed\" to a great\ntree. It is believed by the Saints that the Savior was born on the 6th\nof April, and that the organization of this Church commemorates that\ngreat event.\n\nOn the 11th of April, 1830, Oliver Cowdery preached the first Gospel\ndiscourse of this dispensation. Soon branches of the Church were raised\nup in New York and Pennsylvania. Men were brought into the fold who\nlater filled notable places in the Church. Brigham Young, John Taylor,\nWilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow and other leading men embraced the\nGospel between 1830 and 1837. The Book of Mormon had been translated\nand published to the world previously. News of the new dispensation was\nheralded abroad by friend and foe. At that time many were prepared to\nembrace the Gospel, for the Lord had shown unto them that the Gospel in\nits fullness and purity did not exist in the Catholic and Protestant\nsystems of so-called Christianity. The ministration of heavenly beings\nhad been renewed, and during the entire lifetime of Joseph Smith he was\nthe recipient of messages from the eternal worlds.\n\nPersecution arose, and bitter opposition was arrayed against the\nChurch. The Prophet was at times waylaid by wicked men, and sometimes\narrested upon unfounded, trumped-up charges. From all these he was\ndelivered until the time came for him to offer his life as a martyr.\n\nIn the fall of 1830 Oliver Cowdery, Parley P. Pratt, John Whitmer\nand Ziba Peterson were called to carry the Gospel to the Indians\n(Lamanites), located in what was then the western wilds of these United\nStates. Near Kirtland, Ohio, they met Sidney Rigdon and other followers\nof Alexander Campbell. The Elders presented to them the restored\nGospel, with the Book of Mormon. Many of them received the truth, and\nthe town of Kirtland became a gathering place for the Saints. Joseph\nSmith, the Prophet, removed to that point, and the Church as a body was\nchiefly located there as early as 1831.\n\nIn the meantime the future site of the chief city of Zion was\ndesignated by revelation to the Prophet, dedicated and set apart for\nthe gathering of the Saints. In 1832 the first periodical in the\nChurch was published, the _Evening and Morning Star_, at Independence,\nMissouri. The press and property of this publication were subsequently\ndestroyed by a mob. Persecution in Missouri became very bitter. Many of\nthe Saints were treated with bodily violence, their houses and property\ndestroyed by fire and themselves expelled from the county by armed mobs.\n\nDuring this time Kirtland was being built up. The Lord required the\nSaints to build a temple, in which to receive sacred ordinances for the\nsalvation of the living and the dead. To this labor they devoted their\nenergies, and notwithstanding their poverty the temple was completed\nand ready for dedication in March, 1836. Joseph Smith, the Prophet,\ntranslated by inspiration the New Testament, completing the work Feb.\n2, 1833. Five months later he finished the translation of the Old\nTestament, so far as the Lord indicated the necessity of so doing. The\n_Latter-day Saints' Messenger and Advocate_ was published in Kirtland.\nThe Church, though organized by the authority of the apostleship, did\nnot contain sufficient adherents at first to organize the councils of\nthe priesthood, so as time went on and numbers increased, the Lord\nwould indicate when and how to organize these quorums. The quorum of\nHigh Priests was organized in Kirtland, March 18, 1833. The Presidency\nand High Council of the Church were organized Feb. 17, 1834. That of\nthe Seventies commenced Feb. 28, 1835. Thus from time to time, as the\nChurch grew and developed, the Lord made plain by revelation how to\norganize every quorum, and finally Stakes of Zion and branches thereof\nand branches scattered abroad.\n\nOn Aug. 17, 1835, the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, containing the\nrevelations of the Lord to the Church up to that date, was accepted\nas a rule of faith and practice. Between that date and the martyrdom\nof the Prophet many revelations were given, but owing to the poverty\nand unsettled condition of the Church all of them were not published\nuntil subsequent to the decease of the Prophet. During the troubles in\nMissouri, a body of men called \"Zion's Camp\" left Kirtland May 5, 1834,\nto carry supplies and relieve the distress of their co-religionists,\nwho had been exiled from their homes in Independence, Missouri. They\nperformed the arduous journey on foot, through the wildernesses of\nIndiana, Illinois and Missouri, accomplished their mission and returned\nto Ohio.\n\nEarly in the year 1836 the ordinances of blessing and anointing were\nattended to in the Kirtland temple, and that sacred edifice was\ndedicated to the Lord March 27, 1836. In the temple the gifts of the\nHoly Ghost were poured out in abundance. Many saw visions. The Savior,\nMoses, Elias and Elijah appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery.\nPrevious to this, Joseph's first visit was a personal visit of the\nFather and the Son. Again on Feb. 16, 1832, the Savior appeared to\nJoseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, and revealed to them the glories of\nthe celestial, terrestrial and telestial worlds, and the suffering and\ncondemnation of these who are unworthy a kingdom of glory. In 1837,\nduring the financial panic, a great apostasy took place in Kirtland,\nwhich involved the standing of several of the Twelve Apostles.\nPersecution raged in Missouri.\n\nElders Kimball, Hyde and Richards introduced the Gospel into England\nand performed their first baptism July 30th, 1837, in the river Ribble.\nFrom that time until the present date a prosperous mission has been\nconducted in Great Britain. Thousands have joined the Church in that\nland and gathered to Zion. Subsequently John Taylor introduced the\nGospel into France, and with others, into Germany; Erastus Snow into\nScandinavia, and Lorenzo Snow into Italy; and from these countries,\nespecially Germany and Scandinavia, thousands have come to swell the\nranks of the Latter-day Saints. Into each of these tongues, and others,\nthe Book of Mormon has been translated in fulfillment of prophecy.\n\nThe Gospel continued to spread in Canada, where it had been introduced\nby Parley P. Pratt, also in the United States and Europe. Persecution\nraged in Ohio and Missouri. The Saints as a body left Kirtland July\n6th, 1838, for Missouri, chiefly locating at Far West, Caldwell county.\nIn the fall of that year, Apostle David W. Patten fell a martyr at the\nhands of a mob on Crooked river; Joseph, Hyrum and others had been\nsent to prison without trial or conviction; yet the work prospered and\nspread abroad. During these sore trials, when death to the Prophet and\nothers appeared inevitable, he prophesied their safe deliverance from\nthe mob in Missouri.\n\nWhile Joseph and Hyrum were yet in prison, Presidents Young and Kimball\nled the suffering Saints to Illinois, where they established the famed\ncity of Nauvoo. To that point Joseph and his brethren made their escape\nand enjoyed a brief respite from mobocracy. The Prophet predicted,\nhowever, that Nauvoo would not be a resting place of the Saints for a\ngreat length of time. In keeping with this inspiration, he prophesied\non Aug. 6th, 1842, of their coming location and greatness in the Rocky\nMountains. He also prepared an expedition to explore the West, but died\na martyr before its consummation.\n\nAlthough Nauvoo was a sickly place, the industry of the Saints was\nattended with the blessings of divine Providence, and the city grew\nwith magic speed. A temple was soon commenced. A charter was obtained\nfrom the State Legislature to establish a university, and prosperity\nalmost unparalleled characterized the labors of the people. However,\nthe combination of political intrigue and religious bigotry on the\npart of religious professors, coupled with transgressing apostates,\nsoon conspired to spread death and destruction among the Saints. In\nMissouri, at Haun's mill and elsewhere, many had been shot down in cold\nblood, property was burned, and the whole people exiled from the state.\n\nIn Illinois further trouble was inaugurated by Missourians. They sought\non one occasion to kidnap the Prophet, but failed. Fabricated charges\nwere made against the Prophet. He was tried as before, and every time\nacquitted. When his last trial was being conducted, the mob (like the\nrabble in the halls of Pilate) said that if the law could not touch\nhim, powder and lead should. Their nefarious purposes were permitted to\nbe carried out, and on June 27th, 1844, Joseph and Hyrum, while under\nthe pledged protection of Gov. Ford, were assassinated by a howling mob\nin Carthage jail, Hancock county, Illinois. Previous to his martyrdom,\nthe Prophet Joseph had received more than one hundred revelations,\nhad been instrumental in organizing the Church in its fullness, and\nbestowing the keys of the kingdom of God upon the Twelve Apostles.\nTo Nauvoo were gathered thousands of people from the several states,\nCanada and Great Britain. At the time of the Prophet's martyrdom the\nTwelve were abroad on missions, with the exception of Elders John\nTaylor and Willard Richards, who were with the Prophet and Patriarch at\nthe time of the martyrdom, Elder Taylor himself being wounded with four\nbullets.\n\nWhile the Saints were in Missouri the Lord commanded that they should\nimportune the officers of the law in the districts where the trouble\noccurred, and not being heeded, should appeal to the governor, thence\nto the president of the United States. All this was done, without\navail. The president answered their appeal by saying, \"Gentlemen, your\ncause is just, but I can do nothing for you.\" Governors of states were\nwritten to, to use their influence to avert the wrongs heaped upon the\nSaints, but from one or two only came a favorable response. On the\nfailure of the states and nation to protect their own citizens against\nmob violence and plunder, the Lord promised to vex the nation with a\nsore vexation. This was done in the hundreds of thousands of lives and\nthe millions in treasure lost in the Civil War. The outbreak of this\nwar was revealed by the Lord to Joseph twenty-eight years before it\ncame to pass, and published to the world as early as 1851.\n\nThe Church was not founded by men, nor did it depend upon any\nparticular man or set of men for strength, growth or progress. God has\nrounded and protected and is perpetuating His Church on the earth, so\nthat when the Prophet passed to the life beyond, the work continued and\ngrew with great rapidity. It is said, and truly, that \"the blood of the\nmartyr is the seed of the Church.\"\n\nPresident Brigham Young and his associates of the Twelve, according to\nthe voice of the Spirit and the order of the Holy Priesthood, succeeded\nto the Presidency of the Church. The work of the Lord continued to\nprosper, contrary to the prediction of its enemies that when the\nProphet Joseph was out of the way the work would come to naught. The\nfoundation of a temple had been laid which was pushed to completion,\ndedicated to the Lord, and ordinances performed therein. Mobocratic\nhostilities were renewed, however, with determined vigor. Nauvoo was\nbesieged. The temple was burned and Elder William Anderson and his son\nkilled. The Saints were expelled at the point of the bayonet. They\nhad a flourishing city in an incredibly short time. They were quiet,\npeaceable, law-abiding, industrious citizens. The killing of their\nleading men, the burning of their homes, the numerous indignities\nheaped upon them, were as dastardly and cold-blooded as any persecution\nchronicled in the annals of history, especially when we consider\nthat it occurred in a free country, where liberty for every race and\nreligion is the proud boast of its people. Many of the people left\nNauvoo in the dead of winter, 1845-6, crossing the Mississippi river\non the ice. The day after the general exodus, nine children were born\nin the camp of the exiled people. Under the leadership of President\nYoung and his associates, the Saints moved westward across the state of\nIowa and built up a settlement called Winter Quarters, where the people\nremained to recruit until 1847. While there the government called on\nthe Saints for five hundred men to engage in the war with Mexico. These\nwere promptly supplied, and the most able-bodied men were sent to\ndefend their country.\n\nIn the spring of 1847, President Young and a small company numbering\n143, including three women, started from the Missouri river to find\nbeyond the Rocky Mountains a place of rest, where they might build and\ninhabit homes and worship God \"free from the furious rage of mobs.\"\nAfter an interesting and trying journey of about three months this\nnoble band of pioneers entered Salt Lake valley July 24th, 1847, over\na thousand miles from the Mississippi river. As they emerged from\nthe mouth of what was afterwards named Emigration Canyon, they stood\nupon a plateau facing westward. To the north and south a great valley\nextended, bordered on the west by mountains and a great inland sea of\nsalt water, the Great Salt Lake. The islands in the lake are mountains\nalmost destitute of timber, but supplied with grass suitable for the\ngrazing of horses and cattle. The valley was poorly watered, and dry\nand sterile was the appearance of the country before them. But God was\ntheir leader. He had shown to President Young beforehand the Salt Lake\nValley. When the pioneer band entered the valley the Prophet said,\n\"This is the place. Here we will build a city.\" When they came upon the\nground where the temple now stands, President Young, thrusting his cane\ninto the ground, said in substance, \"Here we will stay, and upon this\nground we will build a temple.\"\n\nAll the events conducing to the growth and development of the valleys\nprove that President Brigham Young knew whereof he spoke, and God has\nconfirmed his words by the many blessings of divine Providence showered\nupon the people in building up a commonwealth in what was in those\ndays a great barren waste. The soil upon which the Saints then stood\nbelonged to Mexico. Those pioneers were as truly exiles from their\ncountry as were the Puritans who sailed the trackless ocean and planted\ntheir feet upon Plymouth Rock. And yet the Latter-day Saints then had\nfive hundred men in the American army, in the contest with Mexico.\nUpon a prominent mountain peak, called Ensign, the \"Mormon\" pioneers\nplanted the Stars and Stripes, the flag of their country, and possessed\nthe land as citizens of the United States. Upon the arrival of this\nfirst company the work of plowing and building immediately commenced.\nIt would take volumes to tell the history of the growth and progress\nof the Saints from that time till now; but this wondrous recital is\nwritten upon the mountains and in the valleys, which are open to the\ninspection of all people.\n\nIn the fall of 1847 a large company of Saints crossed the plains,\nled by President John Taylor and other prominent men. The companies\ncontinued to pour into Salt Lake valley and spread into the valleys\nnorth and south each year from 1847 to 1900, coming as Latter-day\nSaints, under the regulations of the Church. The leading brethren\nhad made covenant that they would not cease their energies until all\nthe Saints who would remain faithful should be gathered to the place\nappointed.\n\nBefore the death of Prophet Joseph many had apostatized. The Saints\nwere not so well established in doctrine as they are today, and\nsome were led astray by the pretensions of prominent men who were\ndisposed to leave the Church and follow their own course. The Twelve\nApostles stood next in authority to the Presidency of the Church\nby the order pointed out in the revelations of God and at the time\nwhen Sidney Rigdon was asserting his claims to the guardianship\nof the Church, President Young stood up to address the Saints. A\nremarkable manifestation of God's power took place. President Young\nwas transfigured before the people. He appeared to increase in height\nand in form of his face and body to the exact personal appearance of\nthe Prophet Joseph Smith. When he spoke his voice was as that of the\nmartyred Prophet. People who were present on that occasion say that\nif their eyes had been closed when he arose from his seat they would\nhave believed the speaker to be none other than the Martyr. Truly\nthe mantle of Joseph had fallen upon Brigham, and while Joseph had\nreceived all the keys of the priesthood, he had bestowed them upon\nthe Twelve, also the revelations upon which to build the Church of\nChrist. President Young truly built upon these revelations during his\nentire administration. In 1849, at Winter Quarters, he was sustained as\nPresident of the Church by the unanimous voice of the priesthood, Heber\nC. Kimball and Willard Richards then being chosen Counselors and so\nendorsed by the voice of the Church thereafter at general conferences\nduring the remainder of their lifetimes. President Young presided over\nthe Church as the senior Apostle for thirty-three years, five years in\nconnection with the Twelve and twenty-eight years in the Presidency.\n\nSoon after the settlement of the Saints in Salt Lake valley, other\nvalleys were explored north and south, and settlements established\nwherever water could be obtained, as rapidly as the strength and\nnumbers of the Saints would justify. As early as 1860 settlements\nwere rounded and the Saints organized in Wards and quorums of the\npriesthood, from Cache valley to St. George, a distance of over 400\nmiles from north to south. Wherever the Saints locate in settlements\nof a few families, or more, they are organized with a Bishop and\ncounselors to preside over them, with Priests, Teachers and Deacons,\nas before explained, for a local ministry. As helps in government\nthey had in those early days the Relief Society to relieve the poor\nand afflicted. The society is composed of women, and was first\norganized March 17, 1842, by the Prophet Joseph Smith, in Nauvoo. In\n1849 the first Sunday school was established in the Church by Richard\nBallantyne, in the Fourteenth Ward, Salt Lake City. Later, and during\nthe administration of President Young, the Young Men and Young Ladies'\nMutual Improvement Associations were inaugurated. Still later, by\nsuggestion of Sister Aurelia Spencer Rogers, under the administration\nof President John Taylor, the Primary Associations, presided over\nand conducted by capable sisters, were established for the especial\nbenefit of little children. All these are helpful regulations to meet\nthe growing requirements of the Saints in matters of religious, moral\nand intellectual training and development. One of these organizations\nexists in every Bishop's Ward, unless the number of any class who\nproperly belong to one of the associations named is too limited to make\nthe organization profitable. In such cases those who would take part\nin such associations are not unprovided for because the Sunday school,\nmore than any other association in the Church, takes in all ages of\nboth sexes. Our Sunday schools now have a membership of nearly 125,000.\n\nWhere there are a sufficient number of Wards, in any section of\nthe country, these Wards are presided over by a President and two\ncounselors, with a High Council, who have certain jurisdiction\nover matters pertaining to the Church in this group of Wards. The\nassociations, Sunday schools, societies, etc., have a general\nsuperintendency of three, with assistants. This organization, composed\nof the Wards, is called a Stake of Zion. For convenience sake, the\ngeographical boundaries of the Stake are usually the same as those of\nthe county, but not always, or necessarily so. Sometimes the population\nof two or three counties is not too great to be one Stake, where\nthe settlements are close together, or not separated by mountains,\nwhich would render the attendance of the people at Stake conferences,\nespecially in the winter season, very laborious, and in some instances\nalmost impossible. We have now fifty Stakes of Zion. They extend\nfrom Canada to Mexico. They exist in Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Wyoming,\nColorado, Canada and Mexico. Many of them were organized just prior to\nthe decease of President Young, the remainder under his successors,\nrespectively: Presidents Taylor, Woodruff, Snow and Smith.\n\nApril 6th, 1853, the Temple in Salt Lake City was commenced. It is\nconstructed of granite. The rock was hauled, the first fifteen years,\nwith ox teams, a distance of sixteen miles, two yoke of oxen frequently\nbeing required to draw one huge stone. But many years before the\ncompletion of the Temple, the locomotive, with many ear loads of stone\nat a time, rolled into the Temple block and left its cargo by the side\nof the growing edifice. The capstone of this magnificent house of the\nLord was laid by electricity. The current was applied by the finger of\nGod's Prophet, Wilford Woodruff, then eighty-four years of age, and one\nof that noble band of one hundred forty-three who entered Salt Lake\nvalley July 24th, 1847. President Young was instrumental in laying the\nfoundation of four temples in Utah, at Salt Lake, St. George, Logan\nand Manti. All have been, years ago, completed; the Salt Lake Temple\nbeing dedicated April 6th, 1893, by President Wilford Woodruff. The\nordinances of salvation for the living and the dead are performed in\nthe temples, and tens of thousands have been officiated for since their\ncompletion.\n\nSubsequent to the exodus of the Church from Nauvoo to Salt Lake valley,\nthe Gospel was introduced to the Pacific Isles by President George Q.\nCannon and other Elders in 1853. In the work of preaching the Gospel\nmany countries have not yet accorded perfect religious freedom, and to\npenetrate these the Church awaits only the provinces of the Almighty\nto break down the barriers and make it feasible to promulgate the\nGospel in those countries. In other lands, where freedom reigns, the\nElders have carried the glorious message. The Book of Mormon has been\ntranslated into German, Danish, Swedish, French, Spanish, Italian,\nHawaiian, Maori and other tongues, and will continue to be given to\nthe world until the truths of the Gospel upon its sacred pages shall\nbe read by every nation, kindred, tongue and people. The thousands who\nhave embraced the work with honest motives have received the witness\nof the Holy Spirit to their own satisfaction. Gifts and blessings\nwhich the ancient saints enjoyed have been renewed in this glorious\ndispensation.\n\nThe external history of the Church has been the same as in other times.\n\"If ye were of the world, the world would love its own; but because ye\nare not of the world, therefore the world hateth you.\" \"And they that\nlive godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.\" Prophecy has been\nand is being fulfilled. \"What is prophecy but history reversed?\"\n\nHistory repeats itself. When Joseph Smith promulgated a new revelation,\nreligious and irreligious fought against such an idea. Professional\nreligionists seek to prove by the Scriptures that revelations are not\nfor our day. In this they fail, because the Old and New Testaments\nabound in predictions of future revelations and events which cannot\nbe filled without revelation. The wicked have resorted to slander,\nridicule and falsehood, then to violence, resulting in the destruction\nof property and human life. All this being futile, they moved the\nnation by the falsehoods of Judge Drummond to send an army to Utah.\nBut when the army came they found that this United States officer\nhad basely deceived the president of the nation, by telling that the\nMormons were in a state of rebellion and had burned the court records,\nthese being found unharmed. The Mormons were at peace with God and all\nmankind, quietly minding their own business, pursuing their vocations\nof life and building up the country for the benefit and blessing of all\nwho should come within their gates. The army came to Utah in 1857, and\nsubsequently returned East, going chiefly to the South, their leading\nofficer, Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, taking part with the Confederate\narmy in the great rebellion. He fell upon the battlefield of Shiloh,\nApril 6th, 1862, thirty-two years to the day after the Church was born\nin this dispensation. The army sold to the Mormons mules, wagons,\nharness and other materials much needed, at a mere nominal figure, and\nthus being a blessing, proved the words of Isaiah true, \"I will make\nthe wrath of man to praise me.\"\n\nAs the Saints grew in prosperity and importance, avarice and prejudice\nseized political demagogues, adventurers and religious bigots, to stir\nthe nation to a systematic effort to crush out \"Mormonism.\" Special\nlegislation was enacted and enforced beyond the severity of its own\nprovisions. About eight hundred men went to prison; a few women were\nincarcerated because they would not testify against their husbands;\nheavy fines were paid and hundreds went into exile rather than prove\nuntrue to the solemn covenants and obligations they had entered into\nunder their religious convictions. Finally confiscation of Church\nproperty took place, but most of it was afterwards restored. In 1890\nPresident Woodruff issued his manifesto regarding plural marriage,\nfeeling that the courts of the country had abused justice in denying\nthe Saints the liberty of religious worship granted by the American\nConstitution.\n\nIn this form of opposition to the Church, a prophecy of Joseph Smith\nis fulfilled, in which he said, in substance, that persecution against\nthe Saints would extend from township to county, from county to state,\nand from state to nation. His words have been literally fulfilled. The\nSaints, in enduring persecution, did so with patience and forbearance.\nThey have no spirit of revenge. They understand that much of the\npopular sentiment against them is based upon misunderstanding, rounded\nin the falsehood of wicked and designing men. The spirit of the Gospel\nteaches them that it is better to suffer wrong than to do wrong, and\nthat patience and charity are as necessary as a testimony of the truth;\nfor without the approval of the Lord they could not endure the trials\nand temptations which beset them.\n\nFrom the commencement the Church had taught the utmost freedom of\nmankind to worship as they chose, such liberty being curtailed only\nwhen it runs into license and infringes upon, the rights of others. In\nthe early inception of the Church, God commanded His people to study\nand learn from the best of books, to acquire an understanding of the\nlaws of God and the governments of men, to become acquainted with the\nheavens and the earth. Thus the Saints are the friends of all true\neducation. Joseph Smith established a school in Kirtland for the study\nof Hebrew and other branches of knowledge. For Nauvoo he obtained a\ncharter for a university. Brigham Young and his associates founded the\nDeseret University, now called the University of Utah. They have also\nestablished church schools, the Brigham Young Academy in Provo, the\nBrigham Young College in Logan, Stake academies and other schools. The\nsons of Latter-day Saints have graduated with honor in the Military\nAcademy at West Point. In Ann Arbor, Michigan, they have a record\nunsurpassed in the law school and in other branches taught by that\nnoted institution. The same is true of their record at Harvard and\nelsewhere; also are there numerous graduates of medicine, dentistry,\ncivil engineering, etc., as taught in the great schools of Chicago,\nPhiladelphia and other places. Mission conferences are established in\nalmost every state of the American Union, also in England, Ireland,\nWales, Scotland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, Germany, Holland,\nPalestine, New Zealand, Australia, the Hawaiian and many other islands\nof the Pacific ocean, including Japan.\n\nThe present living membership of the Church, men, women and children,\nis not less than 310,000 souls. While there has been steady progress\nin numerical strength, it is not in numbers altogether that strength\nconsists. We fully realize that \"Straight is the gate and narrow is\nthe way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.\" The\ngreatest strength consists in the purity of the principle and the\nimpossibility of the wicked and corrupt to remain long in the Church.\nGod is its founder and builder. He established the Church of Jesus\nChrist of Latter-day Saints. It will stand always, for \"whatsoever the\nLord doeth, He doeth it forever.\"\n\n\n\nCHURCH ORGANIZATION.\n\nWe have treated briefly upon the subject of Divine Authority, merely\npointing out the absolute necessity of such authority in order to\nobtain complete salvation, and how it was bestowed and perpetuated\nwhenever a Gospel dispensation existed upon the earth. It will not be\namiss to deal briefly with the subject of Church Organization, as this\nspecifies the distribution of divine authority to the various offices\nin the Church of Christ, each having specific duties to perform.\n\nIn the beginning we wish it distinctly understood that we accept of\nthe New Testament as the record of this organization, and that nowhere\nwithin that sacred record is even an intimation that, by divine\nappointment, the offices established in the Church of Christ by the\nSavior of mankind would be done away. On the other hand, neither do we\nclaim that the New Testament contains a full and explicit statement of\nevery office in the Church, with the several duties of each officer\nand the relationship which each council or order of authority bears\nto every other council. The New Testament is fragmentary and has been\ntranslated and re-translated many times since it was first written by\ninspired apostles and prophets; those translations were by men not\nclaiming the inspiration which characterized the men of God who wrote\nit.\n\nIn this connection we must not forget the statement of Holy Writ:\n\"The things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. * * * But\nthe natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for\nthey are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they\nare spiritually discerned.\" (I. Cor. ii:11, 14. ) Therefore, where the\ninspired record is not sufficiently full in elucidating any principle,\nnothing short of new revelation from God will clear away the mist and\nbring us to a knowledge of the truth. The writings of Matthew, Mark,\nLuke, John, Peter, James and Jude, so far as they bear upon the sayings\nand acts of the Savior during His earthly ministry, are the testimonies\nof what they saw and heard personally, as well as the revelations of\nthe Holy Ghost to them, subsequent to the crucifixion and ascension\nof the Savior. Paul embraced the Gospel later, and was not personally\nassociated with Jesus in His ministry. His testimony is equally\nbinding, however, as he \"wrote and spoke as he was moved upon by the\nHoly Ghost.\" \"In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be\nestablished.\" (Matt. xviii:16.)\n\nIn Matthew, chapter 10, commencing with the first verse, we have this\nstatement: \"And when He had called unto Him His Twelve disciples, He\ngave them power against unclean spirits to cast them out and heal\nall manner of sickness and all manner of disease. Now the names of\nthe Twelve apostles are these;\" then follows the name of each of the\nTwelve. Mark gives more detail as to when and where they were called,\nas follows: \"And He goeth up into a mountain and called unto Him whom\nHe would; and they came unto Him. And He ordained twelve,\" etc. (Mark\niii:13, 14.) Luke records the calling of the Twelve in the sixth\nchapter of his book, beginning with the twelfth verse: \"And it came\nto pass in those days that He went out into a mountain to pray, and\ncontinued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day He called\nunto Him His disciples: and of them He chose twelve, whom also He named\napostles.\" Paul says in I. Cor. xii:28: \"And God hath set some in the\nchurch, first apostles;\" and again in Ephesians, chapter 4, verse 11:\n\"And He gave some apostles.\"\n\nFrom the statements of four New Testament writers, it is plain that\nthe first officers placed in the Church of Christ were apostles. Jesus\ndelegated unto Peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven, that whatsoever\nhe should bind on earth should be bound in heaven, as recorded in the\nsixteenth chapter of Matthew, thus delegating to the apostleship all\nauthority essential to the preaching of the Gospel, and administering\nin all the ordinances thereof, at home and abroad, for the salvation of\nall who would render obedience. It is apparent that other men such as\nPaul and Barnabas received the apostleship, but while this was the case\nit is evident that the Twelve apostles constituted a quorum. When Judas\nfell, one was chosen to take his place in that quorum, as written in\nthe Acts of the Apostles, first chapter, 23-26 verses. It would appear\nfrom the reading of the Scriptures that while these twelve still lived,\nPaul and probably others received the holy apostleship, but did not\nbecome members of that council.\n\nThe work of preaching the Gospel to all the world, to every creature,\nwas undoubtedly too extensive for the accomplishment personally of\ntwelve men, so Jesus chose others to assist them. \"After these things\nthe Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before\nHis face into every city and place, whither He Himself would come.\"\n(Luke x:1.) As He conferred upon them similar powers and gave them a\nsimilar calling to preach the Gospel, they were undoubtedly the next\nassociates of the Twelve in preaching the Gospel to the inhabitants of\nthe earth. Some think by the language used by Luke, \"other seventy,\"\nthat He had chosen one quorum of seventies before this one, but this is\nnot necessarily correct, as it will apply in meaning to \"other\" than\nthe Twelve apostles.\n\nIn Hebrews, fifth chapter and first verse, Paul says: \"For every high\npriest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to\nGod.\" While it is true that the words \"high priest\" are used in a more\ngeneral sense in some instances, such as in Hebrews, third chapter,\nfirst verse, where the Savior is called both the \"Apostle and High\nPriest of our profession,\" it appears evident from the above quotation\nand other passages that there was in the order of ecclesiastical\ngovernment in the Church of Christ a distinct officer with specific\nduties called a High Priest.\n\nAgain, in Acts, fourteenth chapter and twenty-third verse, we read:\n\"And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had\nprayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they\nbelieved.\" \"And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received\nof the church, and of the apostles and elders. * * * And the apostles\nand elders came together.\" (Acts xv:4-6.) \"And as they went through the\ncities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained\nof the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem.\" (Acts xvi:4.) \"And\nfrom Miletus He sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church.\"\n(Acts xx:17.) \"And ordained elders in every city as I had appointed\nthee,\" (Titus i:5.)\n\nThe term \"elders\" is used in many other passages of Scripture. In some\ninstances the apostle is called an elder, as Paul and John allude to\nthemselves personally as elders. In some places the term is used in\nreference to the aged, as in I. Timothy, chapter v., verses 1, 2:\n\"Rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father, and the younger\nmen as brethren, the elder women as mothers, the younger as sisters,\nwith all purity.\" Yet the quotations made will be ample to prove that\nthe office of Elder was an order anciently in the organization of the\nChurch of Christ.\n\nIn I. Timothy, third chapter, verses 1, 2, we learn of the office of\nBishop, with some essential qualifications. \"This is a true saying:\nIf a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. A\nbishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant,\nsober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach.\" Also,\nin Titus i:7: \"For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God,\nnot self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not\ngiven to filthy lucre; but a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men,\nsober, just, holy, temperate.\" These passages show clearly the office\nof Bishop to be a department in the government of the Church of Christ,\nand should be held by a married man.\n\n\"There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest\nnamed Zacharias, of the course of Abia.\" (Luke i:5.) The order of the\nPriest as established in ancient Israel seems to have continued in the\nNew Testament dispensation. Although the offering of sacrifice was\nconsummated at least for that period, in the atonement of our Savior,\nit is apparent that John the Baptist, Philip, and others, were priests\nafter the order of Levi, having authority to baptize for the remission\nof sins, and to preach faith and repentance, but not to officiate\nin the higher ordinances of the Gospel which secured the baptism of\nfire and the Holy Ghost, nor to preside over the Church of Christ and\nregulate the affairs thereof throughout the world.\n\nIn Acts xiii:1, I. Cor. xii.28, and Eph. iv:11, we learn of an officer\ncalled Teacher, though nothing as to the especial functions of that\noffice.\n\nPaul to Timothy, in the third chapter of his letter, refers to the\nDeacons, and enumerates some of the qualifications essential to the\npossession of men who bear that sacred calling in the Church of Christ.\n\nIn the First Epistle to the Corinthians, twelfth chapter, verse 28, the\napostle declares: \"And God hath set some in the church, first apostles,\nsecondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts\nof healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.\" \"And He gave\nsome apostles; and some prophets; and some evangelists (patriarchs);\nand some pastors and teachers,\" (Eph. iv:11.) \"Now there were in the\nchurch * * * certain prophets and teachers.\" (Acts xiii:1.)\n\nPeter and Paul, in their writings, make reference to the ancient\npatriarchs, and although no definite statement is made, as to such an\noffice existing in their time, it is more than probable that it existed\nin the Church of Christ whenever that Church had an existence on the\nearth.\n\nThe quotations give us the names of, at least, the following offices\nas departments of the Holy Priesthood and essentials to the work of\nthe Lord: Apostles, Patriarchs, High Priests, Seventies, Elders,\nBishops, Priests, Teachers and Deacons. The words pastors, shepherds,\nevangelists, etc., are also used in reference to officials in the\nChurch, but it is probable that some terms were used not so much to\nname the exact title of a man's position or calling in the order of the\npriesthood as to indicate the nature of the work his calling enjoined\nupon him. For instance, a pastor is one who has charge of a flock, a\nshepherd; applied religiously, one who has the oversight of a Branch of\nthe Church (president of conference, for example); and this term would\napply to Elders and Bishops, who, according to the New Testament, had\nwatched over branches of the Church in different parts of the earth.\n\nWe wish to again call attention to the fact that the exact and full\nduty in detail of each officer is not wholly explained in the Jewish\nScriptures. The precise order in which all of these officers were\nplaced is not clear. The difference between the general duties common\nto all and the particular labors enjoined upon one officer, which\ndistinguished him from every other officer in the church, is not told.\nThis is not surprising, either, as undoubtedly each man in his order\nunderstood his duties from the instructions of the living oracles of\nGod. Furthermore, they had writings, which are referred to in the\nTestament, but which are not preserved and handed down to us; and it is\nprobable they had still other writings that are neither compiled nor\nalluded to in the Scriptures.\n\nThe New Testament contains letters of instructions, exhortations,\nwarnings and testimonies of the apostles to the Church and to the\nworld, and does not claim to be a complete exposition of Church\nOrganization, etc. The Church was guided by direct revelation, and\nwas to be so guided in all time; and the fact that man, with all his\nlearning and the benefits of researches made by preceding generations,\ncannot organize a church after the ancient pattern, is indisputable\nproof that we need more revelation from God. The world by wisdom\nknew not God. Suffice it to say, that as long as we need divine\ninstructions, which will be the case forever, we need the God-given\nofficers which Christ placed in His Church, and which He designed to\ncontinue as long as the Church should exist.\n\nHere is the testimony of Paul to the Ephesians, chapter 4: \"And He\ngave some apostles; and some prophets; and some evangelists; and some\npastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work\nof the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all\ncome in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God,\nunto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness\nof Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro,\nand carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men,\nand cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.\" In this\nconnection it is perhaps sufficient to remark that the history of the\nworld is ample proof that apostles, prophets and inspiration are always\nneeded. The reader is asked to carefully study the chapter on the\n\"Church,\" given in this work, as it points out the duties of officers\nin the Church Organization, as given us by modern revelation.\n\n\n\nDIVINE AUTHORITY.\n\nA very remarkable feature in the religious sentiment of modern\n\"Christianity\" is the indifference which prevails as to the question of\nlegitimate authority to speak and officiate in the name of the Lord.\nShould an unauthorized man operate in matters of human government, or\nan impostor pretend to be the agent of a mercantile institution and\ndeceive the people by taking their orders for goods and receiving their\nmoney, no one with sound reason would expect the government or firm\nto make good the unauthorized contracts of such an impostor; but the\ndeceiver would be arrested and thrust into prison for his fraudulent\nacts. Why should the consideration of sacred ordinances involving the\nsalvation of mankind be treated with less concern?\n\nThere seems to have grown up in the hearts of the people a feeling that\nmere belief and intellectual assent to the theories of the Gospel is\nall-sufficient to secure salvation in the presence of the Lord. But\nthis is an unscriptural delusion. \"Even so faith, if it hath not works,\nis dead, being alone.\" \"Thou believest that there is one God; thou\ndoest well: the devils also believe and tremble.\" \"But wilt thou know,\nO vain man, that faith without works is dead? . . . For as the body\nwithout the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.\" (St\nJames ii:17, 19, 20 and 26.)\n\nWe have shown from the Scriptures that baptism and confirmation are\nessential ordinances to salvation; and to these might be added other\nsacred rites, instituted by the Savior of the world for the redemption\nof man. He has said that \"not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,\nshall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of\nmy Father which is in heaven.\" (Matt. vii:21.)\n\nCan anyone reasonably suppose that baptism, confirmation, the\nsacrament, or any other sacred ceremony administered by one not sent\nof God will be followed by the blessings which attended the primitive\nsaints? Will unauthorized acts secure the remission of sins, or the\ngifts of the Holy Spirit, which are manifest in visions, dreams,\nhealings, prophecies, tongues, etc.? Not by any means; and the reason\nthe signs do not follow professed believers of the present day is\nbecause their ministers are not called of God according to the pattern\ninstituted by Him. The condemnation of the Lord will rest upon all who\nspeak presumptuously and who willfully usurp authority to officiate in\nsacred things.\n\nThe Lord said in the days of Jeremiah, concerning certain men who spoke\nwithout authority: \"I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran; I\nhave not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.\" (Jer. xxiii:21.) The\nwhole history of the dealings of God with His people as it is recorded\nin the Bible, proves the constant necessity of living, divine authority.\n\nUpon this branch of the subject we cite the reader to the Scriptures.\nWhen Moses was about to depart from Israel he sought the Lord to\ndesignate his successor, knowing full well that without succession of\nauthority the work of God could not continue. He said, \"Let the Lord,\nthe God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation,\nwhich may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and\nwhich may lead them out, and which may bring them in; that the\ncongregation of the Lord be not as sheep which have no shepherd.\" (Num.\nxxvii:16-17.) In Romans x., 14 to 17, we have the following: \"How then\nshall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall\nthey believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they\nhear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be\nsent?\"\n\nThe Savior, who called Twelve apostles and other seventy to continue\nthe work which He, by the direction of His Father, had inaugurated, was\nso particular that they should not \"run before they were sent\" that\nHe said to them, \"And that repentance and remission of sins should be\npreached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And\nbehold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the\ncity of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.\" (Luke\nxxiv:47, 49.)\n\nThis emphatic injunction was given, notwithstanding that these apostles\nhad been already called and ordained as recorded in Mark iii:14, and\nnotwithstanding their great experience by personal association with\nthe Savior of mankind, who was pure, without guile, and perfect in all\nthings, \"who spake as never man spake.\" The apostles had witnessed the\nsick healed, the blind see, the deaf hear, the dumb speak, the dead\nraised. Three of them, Peter, James and John, had been with Christ when\nHe was transfigured on the holy mount. Moses and Elias had ministered\nunto them. These Twelve were the living oracles of Almighty God, but\nfor all that, they must not \"run before they were sent, nor speak\nbefore they were spoken to.\" They must enjoy especial power. Are men in\nmodern times as particular to avoid speaking in the name of the Lord\nbefore they are truly called?\n\nLet us ascertain how men are called of God and His authority\nperpetuated in the earth. In speaking of the honor and authority of\nthe Holy Priesthood, Paul says, \"And no man taketh this honor unto\nhimself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.\" By reading the\nfourth and twenty-eighth chapters of Exodus, the information as to how\nAaron was called can be obtained. He was called by a revelation through\na prophet of God. That prophet was called by revelation and ordained\nby one having authority to ordain him. This method of calling men to\nthe ministry was ever adhered to by true Saints, and when departed\nfrom, the departure has been of men and not of God. Aaron received the\nanointing literally at the hands of the prophet Moses, as recorded\nin Exodus xl:15, 16, and thus conferred the Levitical priesthood\nupon Aaron, which was to be transmitted by the holy anointing from\ngeneration to generation, as long as they should observe the statutes\nof the Holy One of Israel.\n\nWhen Joshua was called to succeed Moses in leading Israel into the\npromised land, it was done by revelation from God and the laying on of\nhands by one having authority. \"And the Lord said unto Moses, Take thee\nJoshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand\nupon him. * * * And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge,\nas the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses.\" (Num. xxvii:18 23.) \"And\nJoshua, the son of Nun, was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had\nlaid his hands upon him.\" (Deut. xxxiv:9.) During the entire history\nof ancient Israel, men were called by revelation, and when any person\npresumed to officiate without such a call, their acts were invalid and\nwere rejected of the Almighty.\n\nThe New Testament furnishes direct evidence of the plan of calling men\nto the ministry and perpetuating the authority of God among men. Jesus\nsaid to His apostles, \"Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,\nand ordained you.\" (St. John xv:16.) \"Now there were in the church that\nwas at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon\nthat was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been\nbrought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the\nLord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul\nfor the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted\nand prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.\" (Acts xiii:\n1, 2, 3.) \"And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and\nhad prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they\nbelieved.\" (Acts xiv: 23.) Men thus called have authority to speak in\nthe name of the Lord, to officiate in His name; and their acts are\nvalid, binding in time and eternity.\n\nWhen Paul found a number of disciples at Ephesus who had received\nbaptism, but in answer to his question, said that they had not \"so much\nas heard whether there be any Holy Ghost,\" he promptly baptized them;\nyet they had received this ordinance after the form of John's baptism,\nthat is, by immersion, which was correct. It was evident, however, that\ntheir first baptizing was done without authority, otherwise the person\nofficiating would have told them of the baptism of the Holy Ghost, as\ndid John the Baptist. Under these circumstances Paul had to rebaptize\nthem, or rather administer the true baptism, he having authority from\nGod to administer it, and then he conferred the Holy Ghost upon them\nby the laying on of hands. This example is a lesson as applicable\nto similar conditions of today as it was in the New Testament\ndispensation. All ceremonies, ordinances, rites, etc., administered\nwithout the administrator being \"called of God as was Aaron,\" are null\nand void.\n\nThe dispensation of the fullness of times has been ushered in. The\nFather and the Son and other heavenly messengers have visited the earth\nand restored authority to act in the name of Jesus as in days of old.\nThis authority has been transmitted from the Prophet Joseph Smith to\nothers, as designated by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost and by the\nlaying on of hands. In this manner the authority of the Holy Priesthood\nwill be perpetuated without interruption until the \"kingdoms of this\nworld shall have become the kingdom of our God and His Christ.\"\n\n\n\nPERSONALITY OF GOD.\n\nThe general idea of Deity accepted throughout the so-called Christian\nworld is stated briefly in this way: \"God is a being without body,\nparts or passions.\"\n\nThe Latter-day Saints regard our Heavenly Father as possessing an\nactual tabernacle of flesh and bones (not blood), and that in His\nimage man is created. Our views respecting this important subject are\nbased upon the revelations of God to man in ancient and modern times,\nand regarding which there is no contradiction in the testimony of the\nprophets. \"God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness;\nand let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl\nof the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every\ncreeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in His\nown image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created\nHe them.\" (Gen. i:26, 27.)\n\nIt is claimed by some that this likeness is only to be understood as a\nmoral image. There is, however, nothing to justify such a view, either\nin the statement quoted or any other passage of Holy Writ. On the\ncontrary, the Scriptures show that man is actually in the image of his\nMaker. Concerning His appearance to Abraham, we read: \"And the Lord\nappeared unto him in the plains of Mamre; and he sat in the tent door\nin the heat of the day; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, lo,\nthree men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from\nthe tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, and said, 'My Lord,\nif now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee,\nfrom thy servant: Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash\nyour feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.'\" (Gen. xviii:1-4.)\n\nMaterial as this may appear to many, the first verse of the chapter,\nas well as other verses following those quoted, proves conclusively\nthat this records a personal appearing of the Lord, and also that He\nhas a tangible being, composed of various parts of the body, as real\nas those which characterize His offspring. This instance is only one\nout of many in which the Lord appeared to Abraham. Read the seventeenth\nchapter of Genesis, 1-3, \"And when Abraham was ninety years old and\nnine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty\nGod; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant\nbetween me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell\non his face; and God talked with him.\" Then follows the conversation\nengaged in between God, our Eternal Father, and Abraham, the \"father\nof the faithful.\" How such an event should occur between a real human\nbeing and one who had no real organization, \"without body, parts or\npassions,\" requires more credulity to believe than to accept the idea\nwhich the Scriptures themselves convey in these chapters, viz: that God\nhas an actual personality.\n\nIf language more direct than the foregoing is required, it can be found\nin the eleventh chapter of Genesis, regarding the confusion of tongues\nat the tower of Babel. \"And the Lord came down to see the city and\nthe tower, which the children of men builded. * * * Go to, let us go\ndown, and there confound their language, that they may not understand\none another's speech.\" It is evident from this that the Lord was in\none place, the tower of Babel in another; that He was surrounded by\nassociates, and in counsel with them proposed to go to the place where\nthe tower was in course of construction and there defeat the purpose of\nits builders. No one could take this account, written in the simplicity\nof truth, believing that it is a truthful statement of the historical\nfacts, and still believe that God is without body, parts or passions\nand in His actual individuality fills at once the immensity of space.\n\nThe entire Bible history of Abraham is also one continuous account of\npersonal visits, conversations and covenants made by the Almighty to\nand with the patriarch. Isaac was also favored with the presence of\nthe Lord: \"And Isaac went unto Abimelech, king of the Philistines,\nunto Gerar. And the Lord appeared unto him and said, Go not down into\nEgypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of.\" (Gen. xxvi:1, 2.)\nAnd again in the twenty-fourth verse of the same chapter: \"And the Lord\nappeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy\nfather; fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply\nthy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.\"\n\nJacob, the grandson, of Abraham, was no less favored of the Lord in\nbeing a personal witness of His existence, with love and interest\nin His earthly children: \"And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty\nappeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canan and blessed me, and said\nunto me, Behold I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I\nwill make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy\nseed after thee for an everlasting possession.\" (Gen. xlviii:3, 4.)\n\nAbraham was designated \"the father of the faithful, the friend of\nGod.\" Of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob the Lord has said, \"I am the God\nof Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.\" To them He made glorious promises and\nentered into everlasting covenants extending into eternity. He promised\nthat their seed should be as numerous as the stars of heaven and as\ncountless as the sands upon the seashore. To the thoughtful person who\nreads the Scriptures in the spirit of truth, it must be apparent that\nour Heavenly Father foreknew the unchanging integrity of these men, and\nbecause of this gave them such great promises and made them, by His\nvisits to them, living witnesses of His existence and personality.\n\nMoses is another witness to the personality of God. \"And Moses hid his\nface; for he was afraid to look upon God.\" (Ex. iii:6.) On another\noccasion there were over seventy witnesses that God is a personal\nbeing. \"Then went up Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the\nelders of Israel; And they saw the God of Israel; and there was under\nHis feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and as it were\nthe body of heaven in His clearness.\" (Ex. xxiv:9, 10.) He said to the\nprophet Moses: \"Thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man\nsee me and live. And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me,\nand thou shalt stand upon a rock; and it shall come to pass, while my\nglory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will\ncover thee with my hand while I pass by; and I will take away my hand,\nand thou shalt see my back parts; but my face shall not be seen.\" (Ex.\nxxxiii:20-23.) Again it is written: \"My servant Moses is not so, who is\nfaithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even\napparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord\nshall he behold.\" (Num. xii:7, 8)\n\nThese quotations respecting the prophet Moses show that on some\noccasions he had personal visits from the Lord. In one instance he was\naccompanied by over seventy associates, and once he was permitted to\nsee the back parts only. These statements are so much in detail and\nin such direct language that they are not susceptible of any private\ninterpretation, but must be taken in a literal sense. How any one can\nprofess to believe in the Bible and read these statements, yet deny\nthe personality of God, is a matter of wonder and astonishment, and\ncan only be accounted for in the fact that people have been taught to\naccept the precepts of men without taking the natural and reasonable\nconclusions which a personal reading of the Scriptures would establish\nin their own minds.\n\nWhen Hezekiah, king of Judah, was beset by the Assyrians he offered\nthe following prayer to the Lord: \"Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear;\nopen, Lord, thine eyes, and see; and hear the word of Sennacherib,\nwhich hath sent him to reproach the living God.\" (II Kings xix:16.) And\nagain it is written: \"Now mine eyes shall be open, and my ears attend\nunto the prayer that is made in this place. For now have I chosen and\nsanctified this house, that my name may be there forever; and mine eyes\nand mine heart shall be there perpetually.\" (II Chron. vii:15, 16.) The\nPsalmist David expressed himself, saying: \"I have called upon Thee,\nfor Thou wilt hear me, O God; incline thine ear unto me, and hear my\nspeech. As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be\nsatisfied, when I awake with Thy likeness.\" (Psalms xvii:6, 15.) These\nexpressions in the prayers of righteous men point to the manifest\ntruth that God has eyes to see, ears to hear, a heart with which to\nlove, a mouth to speak; and taken with other statements of Holy Writ,\nshow beyond the possibility of a reasonable doubt, that our Heavenly\nFather is possessed of a body composed of the various parts which go\nto constitute the several members of a human body, and that He is\nsusceptible of anger, love and hatred. He hates iniquity and loves\nrighteousness. He is angry with the wicked every day. Such are the\nstatements of Holy Writ. He, therefore, cannot be without body, parts\nor passions.\n\nThe Lord was also seen by the prophet Isaiah. \"In the year that King\nUzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted\nup, and His train filled the temple.\" (Isa. vi:1.) To corroborate these\ntestimonies of the Old Testament we call the attention of the reader\nto several passages in the New. When Stephen was being martyred he saw\nGod: \"But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into\nheaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand\nof God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man\nstanding on the right hand of God.\" (Acts vii:55, 56.) Nothing could\nbe plainer and more convincing from the written Scriptures than that\nStephen actually saw God, and that He and His Son were in the heavens\nin the presence of each other.\n\nPaul wrote to the Philippians as follows: \"Let this mind be in you,\nwhich was also in Christ Jesus; who, being in the form of God, thought\nit not robbery to be equal with God.\" (Phillip. ii:5 6.) And again in\nCol. i:15, Paul said respecting the Savior: \"Who is the image of the\ninvisible God, the first born of every creature.\" To the Hebrews the\nsame apostle says, concerning Jesus: \"Who being the brightness of his\nglory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by\nthe word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down\non the right hand of the Majesty on high.\" (Heb. i:3.) These writings\nof Paul, though not relating to a personal appearance of God, fully\ncorroborate in doctrine all the quotations on the subject made from the\nOld and New Testaments. The Scriptures referred to show conclusively\nthe personality of the Father, and a portion of the quotations\npresented, point to the fact that He is a separate personage, and\nentirely distinct in person from His Son Jesus Christ.\n\nWe now call the attention of the reader to a few passages of Scripture,\nshowing the personality of the Savior, not only in reference to\nHis individuality before His crucifixion, but showing that in His\nresurrected and immortal state, He will continue a separate and\ndistinct personality from all other beings. Subsequent to His\nresurrection He appeared to the apostles; at first sight they were\nterrified, and supposed they had seen a spirit, \"And He said unto them,\nWhy are ye troubled? And why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold\nmy hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me and see; for a\nspirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when He had\nthus spoken He showed them His hands and His feet. And while they yet\nbelieved not for joy, and wondered, He said unto them, Have ye here any\nmeat? And they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.\nAnd He took it, and did eat before them.\" (Luke xxiv:38-45.) Thomas,\none of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came, and when told by\nhis brethren that they had seen the Lord, he would not believe them,\nand said: \"Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and\nput my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His\nside, I will not believe.\" Subsequent to this appearance, Thomas was\npresent when the Savior invited him to satisfy his mind to the fullest\nextent, thrusting his hand into His side and beholding the wounds in\nHis hands and feet, when he exclaimed, \"My Lord and my God.\" (John\nxx:2, 5, 28.)\n\nHere is a clear demonstration that Jesus in His immortal state\ncontinues as a personal being, with a tangible body of flesh and bones.\nTo show that there is no change in the personal status of the Savior,\neighteen hundred years have passed away since His resurrection, and yet\nwe learn from the Scriptures that still in the future He shall appear\nin the same body: \"And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount\nof Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of\nOlives shall cleave in the midst thereof. * * * And the Lord my God\nshall come, and all the saints with Thee.\" (Zech. xiv:4-6.) In the\nthirteenth chapter, which appears to be connected with His appearance\nupon the Mount of Olives, we find the following statement: \"And one\nshall say unto Him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then He shall\nanswer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.\"\n(Zech. xiii:6.)\n\nMany entertain the belief that of the three personages constituting\nthe Godhead only one is a personal being with a tangible body, viz.:\nthe Lord Jesus Christ. Enough evidence has been offered to prove the\ncontrary of this erroneous theory; but as the Scriptures are full of\nevidence on this important subject, I will present the reader with\nseveral quotations which will aid him in his researches after the truth\nrespecting this important doctrine. Matthew informs us concerning the\nbaptism of the Savior that \"The heavens were opened unto him, and he\nsaw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon Him:\nAnd lo a voice from heaven, saying, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom\nI am well pleased.'\" (Matt. iii:16, 17.) In this instance the Savior\nis represented as being at the waters of Jordan, while the voice of\nHis Father came from the courts of heaven, showing that the Father\nand Jesus are two distinct personages, existing in separate places at\nthe same time. This testimony of Matthew is corroborated by that of\nMark and Luke, the former in the eleventh verse of his first chapter:\n\"And there came a voice from heaven, saying, 'Thou art my beloved\nSon, in whom I am well pleased'\"; and in Luke, the third chapter and\ntwenty-second verse, as follows: \"And the Holy Ghost descended in a\nbodily shape like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven, which\nsaid, 'Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.'\"\n\nIt is recorded that on one occasion, while the Savior seriously\ncontemplated the coming ordeal of His crucifixion, this occurred:\n\"And Jesus answered them, saying, 'The hour is come, that the Son of\nMan should be glorified. He that loveth his life shall lose it. If\nany man serve me, let him follow me. If any man serve me, him will my\nFather honor. Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father\nsave me from this hour; but for this cause came I unto this hour.\nFather, glorify thy name.' Then came there a voice from heaven, saying,\n'I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.'\" (St. John\nxiii:23, 25, 26, 27, 28.)\n\nStill another instance where the voice of the Father was heard, and\nin the presence of other witnesses than the Savior, is recorded in\nMatthew, seventeenth chapter, fifth and sixth verses: \"While He yet\nspake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice\nout of the cloud, which said, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am\nwell pleased; hear ye him.' And when the disciples heard it, they fell\non their face, and were sore afraid.\" The disciples here referred to\nwere Peter, James and John. Peter relates this impressive event as\nfollows: \"For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we\nmade known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but\nwere eye-witnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father\nhonor and glory, and there came such a voice to Him from the excellent\nglory, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' And this\nvoice which came from heaven we heard when we were with Him in the holy\nmount.\"\n\nThe account of this vision is also recorded in Mark ix:7: \"And a voice\ncame out of the cloud, saying: 'This is my beloved Son; hear Him.'\" it\nis also said in Luke ix:35. \"And there came a voice out of the cloud,\nsaying, 'This is my beloved Son: Hear Him.'\" Surely the testimony of\nthree or four reliable witnesses is sufficient to affirm the truth\nof this matter. When the Savior addressed the Father, no one could\nreasonably say that He was addressing Himself. We have many instances\nrecorded by the writers of the New Testament that Jesus supplicated\nHis Father in humble prayer. \"I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven\nand earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent,\nand hast revealed them unto babes; even so, Father, for so it seemed\ngood in thy sight. All things are delivered to me of my Father.\" (Luke\nx:21, 22.) \"Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also\nmay glorify Thee. And now, O Father, glorify Thou me with Thine own\nself, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.\" (John\nxvii:1, 5.) \"I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world;\nagain, I leave the world, and go to the Father.\" (John xvi:28.)\n\nTo these references may be added those before referred to, giving an\naccount of the martyrdom of Stephen, in the seventh chapter of the Acts\nof the Apostles, and the statement by Paul, in the first chapter of his\nletter to the Hebrews. Many other scriptural testimonies might be cited\nto prove that the Father and the Son are personal beings, each separate\nand distinct from the other.\n\nThe following passage of Scripture is often cited to prove that the\nSavior is the only personal being in the Deity: \"Neither pray I for\nthese alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their\nword; that they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in me and I in\nThee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that\nThou hast sent me. And the glory which Thou gavest me I have given\nthem; that they may be one, even as we are one.\" (John xvii:20-22.)\n\nThe very wording of this Scripture shows that the Father and the Son\nare not one in person, because He prays that all the disciples may\nbe one in the same manner that the Father and the Son are one, and\none in that sense only, for the simple reason that the oneness of the\nFather and the Son is perfect and complete. Their unity consists in\nbeing one in wisdom, one in knowledge, one in power, one in council,\nhaving a unity of purpose in the accomplishment of man's salvation to\nthe tallest extent and in every conceivable respect. The disciples of\nJesus could not be one in person, for each of himself is a separate\nindividuality; they can be one, however, as the Father and Son are\none, in the accomplishment of one great purpose--the salvation of\nmankind--because they are baptized by one Spirit into one body, even\nthe church of Christ; they have one Lord, one faith and one baptism,\nand are all taught of God, having \"access by one Spirit unto the\nFather\" (Eph ii:18), who is not the author of confusion, and cannot\nconsistently, with His own attributes, contradict Himself.\n\nWhen Jesus sent His disciples into the world He commanded them to\nbaptize penitent believers \"in the name of the Father, and of the Son,\nand of the Holy Ghost.\" (Matt. xxviii:19.) These three personages are\nunderstood by believers in the Bible to constitute the Godhead. We have\nshown that the Father and Son are separate personages. It is just as\nevident, from the Scriptures, that the Holy Ghost is as much a separate\nand distinct personage as are the other two. Concerning the enormity of\nsinning against the Holy Ghost, Jesus said: \"Wherefore I say unto you,\nall manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the\nblasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And\nwhosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven\nhim; but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be\nforgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.\"\n(Matt. xii:31-32). Again, \"Verily I say unto you, all sins shall be\nforgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they\nshall blaspheme; but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost\nhath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.\" (Mark\niii:28-29.)\n\nAgreeable to the language of these quotations, there is a distinct\nseparation between the personality of the Savior and that of the Holy\nGhost. Jesus, in speaking of those who should believe and obey Him,\nused this language: \"He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath\nsaid, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this\nspake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive;\nfor the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet\nglorified.\" (John vii:38, 39.) It appears from this statement that while\nJesus was the representative of the Godhead to men in the flesh, at\nleast for a period of time, the Holy Ghost had not come to officiate\nat that time as a personal witness of the Father and the Son to the\nchildren of men. To corroborate this idea, we quote from the sixteenth\nchapter of John, seventh verse: \"Nevertheless I tell you the truth;\nit is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the\nComforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him\nunto you.\" That this Comforter is the Holy Ghost is evident from the\nfourteenth chapter of St. John, sixteenth and twenty-sixth verses:\n\"And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter,\nthat He may abide with you forever. But the Comforter, which is the\nHoly Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you\nall things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I\nhave said unto you.\" Further: \"But when the Comforter is come, whom I\nwill send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which\nproceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of me.\" (John, xv:26.)\n\nThese promises are so definite that no one could reasonably mingle\nthe personality of the Holy Ghost with that of either the Father or\nthe Son. After the crucifixion and resurrection of the Savior, and\nwhen He had spent forty days with His disciples before His ascension,\ninstructing them preparatory to their great mission, before He allowed\nthem to go out, He reminded them of the promise which He had made to\nthem, and commanded them to tarry at Jerusalem \"until ye be endued\nwith power from on high.\" (Luke xxiv:49.) This promise was fulfilled\non the day of Pentecost, when the powers of the Holy Ghost were\nmanifest through His glorious gifts which attended the apostles on\nthat occasion. On that great day the Holy Ghost as a gift for their\npermanent guidance, was promised to all without distinction of time\nor place, if they would have faith, repent and be baptized by divine\nauthority.\n\nThe personality of the Holy Ghost as a minister for God has been\nenjoyed in every dispensation of the Gospel. \"Men and brethren, this\nScripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by\nthe mouth of David spake.\" (Acts i:16.) Again: \"Ye stiff-necked and\nuncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; as\nyour fathers did, so do ye.\" (Acts vii:51.) This is proof that David\nand the prophets spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, as did\nthe disciples in the dispensation of Christ; also that the ancients\nrejected the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, as did the people in the\ndays of the apostles. The apostle Peter says: \"For the prophecy came\nnot in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they\nwere moved by the Holy Ghost.\" (II Peter i:21.) No one by reading the\nScriptures can reasonably deduce therefrom that divinely authorized men\nwere justified in their official ministrations in speaking by any other\npower than that of the Holy Ghost. Paul says: \"No man can say that\nJesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost.\" (I Cor. xii:3.)\n\nThe great gifts of the Spirit have been referred to in earlier pages of\nthis work, and need not be repeated here; but the character of those\ngifts and the constant necessity for their existence, together with\nthe passages quoted here, are positive proof that the Holy Ghost is\none of the Deity and a separate personage from the Father and Son. At\nthe Baptism of the Messiah He was present in the waters of the Jordan\nwith John the Baptist. The Father was in the heavens above, and His\nvoice was heard, while the Holy Ghost descended upon the Savior, as\nwitnessed by its appearance in the form of a dove. The Father, Son and\nHoly Ghost. The three constitute the great, supreme Godhead, yet are as\nseparate and distinct in their personalities as any earthly parents and\nthe children.\n\n\n\nREVELATION.\n\nFor eighteen centuries the people of this world have been groping in\nspiritual darkness. They have had the Bible, it is true, but what have\nthey learned from it? In letter, many things. In the true spirit of\ndivine inspiration, they have learned little. \"The letter killeth, but\nthe spirit giveth life.\" (II Cor. iii:6.) They are \"ever learning,\nand never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.\" (II Tim.\niii:7.) These statements of Holy Writ are fully corroborated by human\nexperience in religious matters. The world is divided and sub-divided\ninto many contending factions, professing Christianity, yet not having\na unity of faith. Many ideas of the Lord, many faiths in baptism. \"One\nLord, one faith, one baptism.\" (Eph. iv:5), was the doctrine of Paul.\n\"Straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life,\nand few there be that find it.\" (Matthew vii:14.)\n\nWhat is the cause of all this uncertainty respecting the glorious plan\nof eternal life? If one was or is right, all opposing methods must be\nwrong. We answer that the lack of unity, the ignorance in relation\nto the Gospel, and finally skepticism and infidelity, are due to\nsubstituting the wisdom of men for the revelation of God, using human\nlearning instead of the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.\n\nWe desire to show in this article that without direct and continuous\nrevelation from God, the Gospel cannot be understood and properly\napplied for the salvation of mankind, nor can the purposes of God\nbe accomplished on the earth. First, we take direct statements of\nScripture: \"Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that\nkeepeth the law, happy is he.\" (Prov. xxix:18.) The law of God has\nnever been kept without the Spirit of God to enlighten those who\nsought to keep it. The history of the human family, from Adam to Noah,\nfrom Noah to Moses, from Moses to the Lord Jesus Christ, and in all\nsubsequent ages, proves beyond cavil that where there was no vision\nfrom heaven, no inspired voice, no revelation, the people utterly\nperished in darkness and unbelief. The combined wisdom and learning of\nmen could not save them from spiritual darkness.\n\nThat there may be an authorized channel of communication between the\nheavens and the earth, the Lord has, whenever His Church has existed\non the earth, appointed men to receive His will and make it known to\nthe people. \"Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His\nsecrets unto His servants, the prophets.\" (Amos iii:7.) This literally\nmight be understood as equivalent to saying that where no prophet was,\nthere the Lord was doing nothing that would result in man's salvation.\nWithout being technical respecting the language of Amos, the history\nof the world from Adam down proves his statements true. When there\nhas been no prophet there has been no revelation from God. When there\nhas been no revelation or vision the people have wandered to and fro,\nhave tossed upon the billows of clashing opinion, perished in darkness\nand have been buried in the great ocean of doubt and uncertainty. On\nthe other hand, when authorized prophets have existed among men we\nmay exclaim with the ancient Scriptures: \"I have also spoken by the\nprophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the\nministry of the prophets. And by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out\nof Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved.\" (Hosea xii:10, 13.) And we\naffirm that without prophets Israel never was preserved and never will\nbe.\n\nIn looking over the field of mysterious sayings contained in the Bible,\nas well as the mystery which enshrouds many phases of human history,\nwe are consoled by the promise of the Savior: \"For there is nothing\ncovered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be\nknown.\" (Luke xii:2; Matthew x:26; Mark iv:22.) In this connection we\nmay cite the fact that men by learning do not see the truth alike, they\ndo not harmonize on the fundamental principles of the Gospel. As an\nexample, they cannot, unaided by revelation, tell the origin, history\nand destiny of the American Indians.\n\nIsaiah, over 200 years before the advent of the Messiah, foresaw the\nspiritual ignorance of the last days and how that condition would\nbe overcome by the light of revelation. He prophesied as follows:\n\"Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with\ntheir mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their\nheart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept\nof men: Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among\nthis people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of\ntheir wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men\nshall be hid.\" (Isa. xxix:13, 14.) By reading the context it is evident\nthat the prophecy refers to a time later than the first coming of the\nSavior, and that the prediction never could be verified without direct\nrevelation from heaven.\n\nPaul, writing to the Hebrews, calls attention to the great truth that\nthe method of the Lord in leading His people from the beginning has\nbeen by revelation. He says: \"God, who at sundry times and in divers\nmanners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in\nthese last days spoken unto us by His Son.\" (Heb. i:1, 2.) Jesus said in\nSt. John xvii:3: \"And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee,\nthe only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.\" Paul says in\nI Cor. xii:3. \"No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy\nGhost.\"\n\nWhen Peter received a knowledge of the divinity and mission of the\nLord Jesus Christ, the Savior said unto him: \"Blessed art thou, Simon\nBar-jona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but\nmy Father, which is in heaven.\" It required a revelation for Peter\nto receive that testimony. How could any one receive that knowledge\nwithout revelation from God? The Jews saw Jesus, witnessed His wondrous\nmiracles of healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, unstopping\nthe ears of the deaf and even raising the dead, but all that was not\nsufficient. They read the ancient prophecies, pointing to the birth and\nnativity, the birthplace, life, ministry and martyrdom of the Messiah.\nYet were they blind, with eyes to see; deaf, with ears to hear, and\nwithout understanding. No reason can be assigned for the ignorance of\nthe masses and the enlightenment of the humble fishermen other than\nthat the former depended upon the learning of men; the latter had\nreceived a revelation from God.\n\nTo place the necessity of revelation beyond question as to obtaining\na knowledge of God, we quote the statement of Jesus to His disciples:\n\"All things are delivered to me of my Father; and no man knoweth who\nthe Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and\nhe to whom the Son will reveal Him.\" (Luke x:22.) Compare this plain,\nunmistakable testimony of Jesus with the assertions of modern divines,\nwho claim that the canon of Scripture is full and that we do not need\ndivine revelation as it was given to men in ancient days. The position\nof the latter simply contradicts the plainest teachings of Holy Writ.\nIf it required revelation 2,000 years ago to know that Jesus was the\nChrist, nothing short of revelation from heaven will secure that\nknowledge now. Notice, too, the remarkable fact that notwithstanding\nall the personal experience of the apostles through their association\nwith the Savior, He commanded them to \"tarry ye at Jerusalem until ye\nbe endued with power from on high.\" (Luke, chapter 24.)\n\nAnother phase of the subject is this, that men claim that which is\nwritten in the Scriptures is sufficient. This view simply makes\nuninspired men the judge of what is and what is not essential as to all\nthe writings of the apostles and prophets of the Lord Jesus. This is an\nunwarrantable assumption, condemned by the Scripture; for John says,\nconcerning that which he had written in the Book of Revelation: \"For I\ntestify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this\nbook, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him\nthe plagues that are written in this book; and if any man shall take\naway from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away\nhis part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from\nthe things which are written in this book.\" (Rev. xxii:18, 19.)\n\nThis does not deny God the privilege of adding more revelation, as it\nis an undisputed fact that the Gospel according to St. John was written\nsubsequent to the Apocalypse; but it is a decree of divine displeasure\nupon any man who shall add to or take from the revelations of the\nAlmighty. In the face of this decree, history informs us that councils\nof the Roman Church sat in judgment upon the writings of the apostles,\nand received only that which, in the light of their human wisdom, was\nacceptable to them. Notwithstanding this fact, the various factions of\nChristendom are essaying to build upon the foundation of what has come\ndown to them through the channel of unauthorized councils of men. May\nwe not ask with perfect propriety, is not that which was rejected or\nlost just as valuable as much of that which has been handed down to us?\n\nAs proof that writings of the disciples of Jesus have been lost to\nthe world, I would call special attention to several passages of\nthe Scripture. The writings of the New Testament are from eight\nauthors--Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, Paul, James and Jude. Luke\nsays: \"Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a\ndeclaration of these things which are most surely believed among us.\"\n(Luke i:1.) While there is no definite proof in this statement as to\nhow many had written their testimonies concerning the Messiah, it is\nevident they were not few, but many. That there was opportunity and\nmaterial upon which to write respecting this glorious subject, the life\nand ministry of Jesus, is very apparent from the last verse of the\ntwenty-first chapter of St. John, as follows: \"And there are also many\nother things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written,\nevery one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the\nbooks that should be written.\" With such a statement, it is to be\nwondered at that the world who believed in the Redeemer should rest\ncontented with the narrow view that we have all that is important.\n\nWe have in the New Testament what is called I Cor. and II Cor., written\nto the Saints in Corinth by the apostle Paul. In I Cor. chapter v:9,\nwe have this: \"I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with\nfornicators.\" This must have been previous to the one in which this\noccurs, and yet such an epistle is not found in our New Testament.\nIn Col. iv:16, Paul says: \"And when this epistle is read among you,\ncause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that\nye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea.\" This refers to an epistle\nfrom Paul to the Colossians, written from Laodicea, but which is not\nfound in the canon of Scripture as we have it. In II Tim., chapter\niv:13, Paul requests Timothy to bring him certain parchments; what\nthey contained we know not. Jude says: \"And Enoch also, the seventh\nfrom Adam, prophesied of these things, saying: 'Behold the Lord cometh\nwith ten thousand of His saints.'\" How delightful it would be to read\nthe predictions and teachings of that great prophet Enoch, the man\nwho walked and talked with God 365 years, \"and was not, for God took\nhim.\" Only a few verses in the Old and New Testament are all we have in\nthe canon of Scripture respecting Enoch and his city. What a glorious\nflood of light will dawn upon the world when the writings of Enoch are\nrevealed! In the Old Testament may be found references to about thirty\nbooks written by the Jewish scribes and prophets, but which have been\nlost to the world, rejected and cast aside by uninspired, unauthorized\ncouncils of men.\n\nSuppose that all that is necessary so far as explanation of doctrine\nis concerned is contained in the New Testament, we are then confronted\nwith man's inability to understand what has been revealed without\nthe light of revelation to guide the human mind in understanding and\napplying the truth. As proof of this I will cite the testimony of Paul:\n\"For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which\nis in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of\nGod. * * * But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit\nof God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them,\nbecause they are spiritually discerned.\" (I Cor. ii:11, 14.) Jesus said\nto Nicodemus: \"Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of\nGod.\" (St. John iii:3.) \"No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by\nthe Holy Ghost.\" (I Cor. xii:3.) The truth of these sacred sayings is\nverified by the history of the world, which has languished in darkness\nwithout revelation, as shown by previous quotations.\n\nAnother very important feature of this subject consists in the fact,\nthat there always have been in every gospel dispensation labors to\nperform of a practical character, such as the building of temples,\nthe gathering of Israel out of Egypt, the building of the Ark of\nthe Covenant, etc., none of which could be accomplished except by\ndirect revelation from God. We may therefore conclude that while the\nordinances and doctrines of the gospel are eternal and unchangeable,\nthe circumstances associated with the people in every dispensation of\nthe gospel are constantly changing. The emergencies of this situation\nmust be met, not by the dead letter of ancient Scripture, but by\npresent inspiration and revelation given through living oracles of God.\n\n\"By a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet\nwas he preserved.\" (Hosea xii:13.) The prophecies of the Jewish\nprophets in the Old Testament, pointing to the advent of the Messiah,\nare clear and explicit. Read the seventh chapter of Isaiah, fourteenth\nverse; the ninth chapter and sixth verse; the fifty-third chapter of\nthe same book; the fifth chapter of Micah, second verse; and many other\npassages of the Old Testament. In these we find plain predictions which\nwere verified in the birth, ministry and crucifixion of the Savior,\nwhich were read by the Jews but not understood by them, because the\nlight of revelation from God was not the source of their information.\nThis was rather the wisdom of their own learning, which led them to\nreject the Messiah and discard the great message of life which He\nbrought unto them.\n\nAs there were many plain prophecies relating to the first coming of\nthe Savior and the great work associated with His advent, so there are\npointed predictions referring to His second coming and a work of great\nmagnitude to precede that great event. I will call attention to a few\nas proof that more revelation will be given, and that without it these\nprophecies could never be fulfilled: \"Behold, I will send my messenger,\nand he shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom ye seek,\nshall suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant,\nwhom ye delight in; behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.\nBut who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He\nappeareth? for He is like a refiners' fire, and like fuller's sore. *\n* * And He shall purify the sons of Levi,\" etc. (Mal. iii:1-3.) This\nprophecy must refer to His second coming. At His first advent He did\nnot come suddenly; He did not come to His temple. The house of the Lord\nhad become \"a den of thieves.\" He did not accept it. He did not purify\nthe sons of Levi. It was a day when they could in their wickedness\nabide His coming. \"Who shall stand when He appeareth\" is clearly a\ncondition when He shall come in power and glory to take vengeance on\nthe ungodly.\n\nHow could He suddenly come to His temple unless a temple should be\nbuilt for Him? One could not be built without a chosen people to build\nit; and how can men build the house of the Lord without revelation to\ntell them where, when and how to construct such a holy edifice? In\nMalachi, chapter iv, we have a very striking prophecy of the judgments\nof the Almighty in the last days, before the coming of the Lord. In\nthe fifth verse the prophet says, \"Behold, I will send you Elijah the\nProphet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.\"\nThe great prophet Elijah, who was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire\nwithout tasting death, was to visit the earth in the last days. The\napostle John, when upon the isle of Patmos, also saw the hour of God's\njudgement, and uttered the following prediction: \"And I saw another\nangel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to\npreach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and\nkindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God and\ngive glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship\nHim that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of\nwaters.\" (Rev. xiv:6-7.) From this prophecy we learn that an angel\nwas to visit the earth at a later period than when John uttered the\nabove words. His mission was to be to restore the everlasting gospel,\na gospel that does not change; a gospel of apostles, prophets, gifts,\nvisions, revelations, etc.\n\n\"The everlasting gospel.\" Why should an angel bring the gospel if it\nalready existed upon the earth? Why should the call be to worship the\nGod who made the heavens, the earth and the fountains of water, etc.,\nif these creations were brought into existence by a God \"without body,\nparts or passions\"? This prophecy of John agrees with Peter's words\nrecorded in the third chapter of Acts, wherein he says: \"And He shall\nsend Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you; whom the heaven\nmust receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God\nhath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world\nbegan.\" (Acts iii: 20-22.) By this we learn that before the advent of\nthe Messiah to reign on earth there should be a grand restitution,\nbringing back that which was lost; a restoration of revelation,\nministry of angels, prophecies, tongues, healings, miracles, etc.\nWho can believe the Scriptures and yet deny the necessity for more\nrevelation? The quotations here given are only a few compared with many\nthat can be made bearing upon the subject. They all show that direct\nand continuous revelation from God is an absolute necessity to the\nwelfare, progress and final salvation of the children of men.\n\n\n\nFAITH.\n\nIn considering the principles of the gospel, it will not be difficult\nto see that faith occupies the first place in the catalogue of\nrighteous principles which, as a whole, go to constitute the plan of\nsalvation. It is the principle existing in the human soul which goes\nbefore all action and leads to good works. It pleases God that man\nshould repent of all sin by ceasing therefrom, thus accomplishing\na reformation of life without which remission of sins would not be\ngranted; and as repentance and good works are pleasing to God, we\nmust accept of faith first, for Paul says: \"But without faith it is\nimpossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that\nHe is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.\"\n(Heb. xi:6.)\n\n\"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things\nnot seen.\" (Heb. xi:1.) The inspired translation by the prophet Joseph\nSmith renders the word \"assurance\" instead of \"substance,\" which\nappears more consistent with the latter clause in the passage, which\nsays, \"the evidence of things not seen,\" not the substance itself, for\nthat would amount to knowledge or the actual possession of the object\nhoped for. This assurance of things hoped for must come through some\nevidence, either of a character which can be demonstrated in a tangible\nmanner, or through some impression which gives an assurance to the mind\nof the individual possessing it, if to no other. This faith prompts to\naction all intelligent beings. Without the assurance of reaping, the\nfarmer would not sow; the laborer would not commence his daily task\nunless he believed he would accomplish it; and so it is in religious\nmatters.\n\nUpon the day of Pentecost the multitude never would have appealed to\nthe apostles to know what they should do to be saved unless they first\nbelieved in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ--so recently crucified in\ntheir midst--and also in the authority of the apostles to teach and\nadminister in the ordinances of eternal life. This faith was based upon\nthe evidence presented by Peter that Jesus was the Christ, sealed upon\ntheir hearts by the Spirit of God, and not by the wisdom or ability\nof man. The result was obedience, and a knowledge of the truth for\nthemselves; for the promise is: \"If any man will do His will, he shall\nknow of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of\nmyself.\" (St. John vii:17.) If Peter had been an impostor, deceiving\nthe people, he might, perchance, have persuaded some to accept his\ntheories; but what would have been the result? The evidence being\nfalse, the faith or assurance would have a false foundation to act\nupon, and disappointment would have been the result. When the evidence\nis true, the faith resulting and acted upon will bring knowledge.\n\nWhen Columbus discovered America, and the use of gunpowder was\ndisplayed to the astonishment and fear of the Indians, some of the\nEuropeans told the natives that all they had to do was to procure some\npowder and sow it like grain, and it would grow. The poor natives\nbelieved the lie, acted upon their belief, and disappointment was the\nresult, to the destruction of their confidence in the white man. This\nillustrates that belief may be built upon false evidence, and no matter\nhow sincere the believer, the laws of sincerity cannot be changed to\nvindicate the dishonesty of the deceiver nor to avoid disappointment\nbefalling the deceived. Why should it be otherwise regarding the law\nof God? Sincerity is not evidence that the believer will obtain the\ngood for which he seeks, for if his religious devotion is based upon\nhis confidence in the preaching or teaching of false guides, God will\nnot change His laws and ordinances, neither will He acknowledge the\nauthority of impostors, and thus become accessory to the deception, in\norder to satisfy those who allow themselves to be led astray.\n\nIt is a maxim of skeptics that \"We doubt all things in order to prove\nall things\"; and thus doubting, they reject the means which God\nhas designated as the way to become acquainted with and prove for\nthemselves the truth of the promise: \"If any man will do His will, he\nshall know of the doctrine.\"\n\nThe history of the world proves that in the advancement made in\nscience, in arts, in human government, the leaders and promoters of all\nthat is good, in the majority of instances, have been believers in God;\nand their faith in Him and the ultimate success of their enterprises\nhave prompted them to action. In the language of Paul on this subject\nof faith: \"By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as\nyet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by\nthe which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness,\nwhich is by faith\": \"By faith Abraham, when he was called to go\nout into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance,\nobeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.\" (Heb. xi:7, 8.)\nI might add numerous testimonies from the Scriptures that faith is\nthe assurance of things hoped for, and the principle which prompts to\naction all intelligent beings, and that when based upon the promises\nof the Lord, unmixed with the theories of men, and acted upon, it has\nnever failed to bring knowledge and rest to the weary mind in that\nsecurity which comes from a pure knowledge of God.\n\nHaving shown something of the nature of faith in a general way, as a\nprinciple existing in the human mind and as directing all human action,\nwhether religious or secular, let us now draw the line of distinction\nbetween faith in its general sense, and faith as a principle of power\nas enjoyed and exercised by those who are truly the people of God.\n\nLet us first remember that it is one thing to believe in the power\nof God as manifested by revelation, prophecy, healing, etc., when\npresented to us merely as the events of history, and altogether\nanother thing to be confronted with the testimony of living apostles,\npresenting to the world doctrines that are unpopular and with which the\ncherished creeds of men have never failed to conflict--apostles who ask\nus to believe them to be servants of God, called by new revelation,\nand testing our faith by the promise that \"if you will repent and\nbe baptized\" with honest hearts, you shall know for yourselves the\ntruth, and need not depend upon the assertions of any other man for\nyour knowledge concerning it. It is an undeniable fact of history that\nGod has never sent a prophet to warn the world but He found thousands\nprofessing belief in the dead prophets, yet ready to reject and slay\nthe living. It cannot be said that this generation is an exception,\nfor the religious education they receive from the so-called Christian\npulpit is that apostles and prophets, together with the ancient gifts\nand powers of the gospel, are no longer needed; and if any come\nprofessing the ancient apostleship, they may reject them without\ninvestigation as \"false prophets.\" They apparently forget that it would\nbe difficult, if not impossible, to produce a counterfeit coin unless\nthe genuine existed.\n\nIn speaking of faith as a principle of power, the apostle Paul said to\nthe Hebrews: \"Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed\nby the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of\nthings which do appear. * * * And what shall I more say? For the time\nwould fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of\nJephthae, of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through\nfaith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises,\nstopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped\nthe edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant\nin fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received\ntheir dead raised to life again,\" etc. (Heb. xi:3 32-35.) Besides\nthese, innumerable other events have been brought about through faith\nexercised by men having authority to speak and act in the name of God.\nJesus promised that \"these signs shall follow them that believe. In my\nname shall they cast out devils, they shall take up serpents, and if\nthey drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay\nhands on the sick and they shall recover.\"\n\nThese are only a few of the characteristics associated with true faith,\nthe \"faith that was once delivered to the saints,\" and so much in\nstriking contrast to the weak yet high-sounding pretensions of modern\nprofessors who have a form of godliness, yet deny the power thereof.\n\nAs a contrast to the wisdom and learning of men, we are promised as\nthe result of acting upon true faith, that to one is given the word\nof wisdom, to another knowledge. Tongues, prophecy, etc., all are\ncharacteristic of that faith which emanates from God. These gifts are\nnot merely to satisfy curiosity or to convince skeptics.\n\nAs a principle of eternal truth it is a necessity that not only must\nthe administrator have faith, but the one who is the recipient of the\nblessings also must exercise it so far as he is capable. Therefore, as\na rule, when Jesus healed the sick and opened the eyes of the blind,\nHe said to the individual: \"Go thy way, _thy_ faith hath made thee\nwhole.\" As a further testimony of this He told unbelievers when they\nsought a sign: \"An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign,\nand there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet\nJonas; for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's\nbelly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the\nheart of the earth.\" (Matt. xii:39, 40.) Yet be it remembered that this\nsign of Christ's three days' rest in the tomb was not given to convince\nskeptics, for it was an event ordained of God before the foundation of\nthe world, in the plan of human redemption, and would have occurred if\nall the world had received Him gladly. But they did not receive Him\neven when He was resurrected, for the same class who sought a sign\ncirculated the fabrication that the body of Christ was not risen from\nthe dead, but that His disciples had come in the night and stolen Him\naway.\n\nThere are sign-seekers today, even among those who profess Christ,\nand may we not say the same of them as Jesus said of the ancient\nsign-seekers, from the fact that what was true then is true now, and\nwhat is true of a generation is true of the individuals which compose\nit. Further, the Savior said to His apostles when they failed to cast\nout the devils and sought Him to know the reason: \"Because of your\nunbelief, for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of\nmustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, 'Remove hence to yonder\nplace,' and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.\"\n(Matt. xvii:20.)\n\nTo these quotations might be added many others, but this will suffice\nto show the effects of faith, that it is a principle of power. We ask,\nhas God changed? Is not faith, being a principle emanating from Deity,\nas unchangeable as God Himself? Who, professing to believe in Christ,\nwill say, if we believe and are baptized by rightful authority in this\nage, that Jesus will fail in His part of the contract to bestow the\npromised blessings?\n\nIn view of all that is written in the Bible concerning this true faith\nand the effects which flow therefrom, and the reverse of that pure\nfaith of the Bible which characterizes the \"Christianity\" of today, is\nit wonderful that the Savior exclaimed: \"When the Son of Man cometh,\nshall He find faith on earth?\" (Luke xviii:8.)\n\n\n\nREPENTANCE.\n\nRepentance follows faith as a natural sequence; for when the human\nmind has sufficient faith in God, based upon the perfection of His\nattributes, to desire His guidance and a final return to His presence,\nthe thought is foremost that no unclean thing can enter his presence.\nRepentance from all sin, not merely an expression of sorrow but a\ndiscontinuance of sinful practices, amounting to a reformation of life,\ntherefore suggests itself as a matter of course. This philosophical\nview of the subject is in perfect accord with Holy Writ. Hence it was,\nupon the day of Pentecost, when the sin-convicted multitude cried out:\n\"Men and brethren, What shall we do?\" that Peter commanded them to\nrepent as the first step following the manifestation of their faith in\nChrist and His atonement. (Acts ii:37.)\n\nThat repentance is an indispensable condition of salvation has been\ntaught in all ages of the world by men of God, the only exception\nbeing that which applies to all other requirements of the Gospel. That\nexception is in the case of persons incapable of knowing good from\nevil, such as children who cannot believe, or disbelieve, and are\nexempt from the law until they arrive at the years of accountability.\nHence the saying of the Savior: \"Suffer little children, and forbid\nthem not, to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.\"\n(Matt. xix:14.)\n\nEzekiel said to ancient Israel, in his 18th chapter and 30th verse,\n\"Repent and turn yourselves from all your transgressions, so iniquity\nshall not be your ruin.\" Israel did not repent as a nation, and their\nsad history proves that iniquity caused their ruin. The olive branch of\npeace was offered them without money and without price. They rejected\nthe means of escape, and in consequence they have verified the words of\nMoses, their great lawgiver: \"And I will scatter you among the heathen\nand will draw out a sword after you; and your land shall be desolate\nand your cities waste.\" (Lev. xxvi:33.)\n\nIt was supposed by those in Palestine that the Galileans, whose blood\nPilate had mingled with the sacrifices, were greater sinners than\nothers because such agonies had come upon them. \"And Jesus answering\nsaid unto them, 'Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above\nall the Galileans, because they suffererd such things? I tell you nay,\nbut except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.'\" The foregoing\ncontains the divine lesson that suffering is not a substitute for\nrepentance: that while He did not justify the agonies brought upon\nthem by persecution, He did not intimate that the suffering would be\nacceptable instead of repentance, or that these sufferings were any\nevidence of the sins of the sufferers as to the height or depth of\ntheir transgressions. The weight of responsibility is measured either\nby the light men possess or the light which opportunities afford them\nto possess. As Paul said to the Athenians (Acts xvii:30.), \"And the\ntimes of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men\neverywhere to repent\"; and again the Savior enunciated this doctrine:\n\"And this is the condemnation that light is come into the world, and\nmen loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.\"\n(St. John iii:19.)\n\nNo matter how strict the individual may be in living a life of moral\nrectitude, it is very plainly taught in the Scriptures that rejecting\nfurther light from God constitutes a sin. We cite the case of the\nyoung man told of in Matthew, chapter 19, who came to the Savior\nfor instructions, but who, when he was commanded by the Redeemer to\nsell all that he had, give to the poor, and follow Him, went away\nsorrowful, rejecting the injunction of the Savior, and yet he had kept\nthe commandments from his youth up, and probably was as righteous as\nany modern Christians, who, if commanded by the Savior to give their\npossessions to the poor, would go away sorrowful. There were \"devout\"\npeople assembled on the day of Pentecost, and yet Peter made no\nexception when he commanded the multitude to repent. If they had done\nthe best they could previously with the light they had, greater light\nhad come to them and they must receive it or be condemned.\n\nThis truth applies to every gospel dispensation, not excepting the\n\"dispensation of the fullness of times,\" the greatest of all. God\npromised to send a holy angel and make a restitution of all things as\npredicted by the ancient prophets, preceding the second advent of the\nMessiah. The light has come. A new dispensation has been ushered in.\nThe Everlasting Gospel has been restored with its ancient gifts and\nblessings, and \"God commandeth all men everywhere to repent,\" whether\nthey be so-called Christians or infidels. Repentance is a principle\nand not merely an expression of penitent grief. It involves, as\nbefore stated, a reformation of life. In II Cor, vii:9, 10, Paul says:\n\"Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to\nrepentance. * * * For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not\nto be repented of, but the sorrow of the world worketh death.\" The\nsorrow of the world may be illustrated by the conduct of the inebriate,\nwho, when intoxicated, commits acts of violence which mantle his brow\nwith shame and fill him with remorse in his sober moments. He expresses\nsorrow, perhaps weeps in his agony, but again gives away to the tempter\nand repeats his acts of dishonor instead of \"fleeing temptation.\"\nThis kind of sorrow does not work repentance to salvation. We find\nreligious people sorrowing and sometimes confessing their sins, only to\nrepeat sin. This is the sorrow of the world and needs to be repented\nof because it savors so much of hypocrisy, and consequently \"worketh\ndeath.\" On the contrary, true repentance consists, not in the outward\nexpression of grief, but in forsaking sin. \"Let the wicked forsake his\nway, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the\nLord, and He will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for He will\nabundantly pardon.\" (Isa. lv:7.) Repentance is required not only of the\nevil deed, but of the unrighteous thought. Every wicked deed is first\nconceived in the mind, hence the need of casting away the evil thought\nbefore it germinates into actual crime, which leads to prison, the\ngallows and to spiritual death. Of the ruin caused by the talented, but\ncorrupt Aaron Burr it was truly said: \"His brain conceived it, his hand\nbrought it into action.\"\n\nLet us now examine a passage of Scripture which is frequently quoted to\nsubstantiate the erroneous doctrine that God is pleased to save men in\ntheir sins, or that death-bed repentance is all-sufficient. The passage\nis found in Luke xxiii:42, 43, and reads thus: \"And he (the penitent\nmalefactor) said unto Jesus, 'Lord, remember me when Thou comest into\nThy kingdom.' And Jesus said unto him, 'Verily I say unto thee, today\nshalt thou be with me in Paradise.'\" From this statement thousands\nin the Christian world have taken it for granted that the thief on\nthe cross received full and complete salvation. With this unwarranted\nperversion of a sacred passage, the minister has taught the murderer\nin the felon's cell to confess Christ and all would be well with\nhim; and as the hangman drew the bolt and let the culprit swing into\neternity, the minister has stood close by and said, \"The Lord Jesus\nreceive thy soul.\" On the other hand, the poor victim of the assassin\nhas been cut off without time to confess Christ, and the same doctrine\nwhich wafts the murderer to the courts of glory consigns the victim\nto the flames of hell. Is it possible that Christ ever taught such a\nheinous doctrine? A doctrine so inconsistent, so revolting to reason,\nso repugnant to justice! We answer emphatically \"No,\" nor did He utter\na syllable from which such an inference can be drawn or establish the\nidea that the malefactor went to heaven. The question is, then, where\ndid he go? If not to heaven, then the paradise named and heaven are two\ndifferent places. Let the Scriptures answer for themselves. Three days\nafter the crucifixion the Savior came forth a resurrected being, and as\nMary met Him at the tomb, He said to her, \"Touch me not, for I am not\nyet ascended to my Father.\" Thus we have from His own lips, in which\nthere was never guile, that He had not ascended to the Father; and if\nHe had not, neither had the thief. If no further light than this could\nbe found in the sacred volume, this would be sufficient to show that\nthe malefactor did not go to heaven, for where Jesus went the thief\nwent, for that was the promise. Where, then, did the Lord go? Turn to\nI Peter iii 18-21, and the question is answered: \"For Christ also hath\nonce suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us\nto God, being put to death in the flesh but quickened by the Spirit:\nBy which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which\nsometimes were disobedient when once the long suffering of God waited\nin the days of Noah.\"\n\nThis makes it plain that the paradise referred to was the prison house,\nto which place Jesus went and opened up a dispensation of the Gospel\nto the dead. The next chapter, 6th verse, says: \"For for this cause\nwas the Gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might\nbe judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in\nthe spirit.\" The thief therefore went to a place of confinement to\nremain until the justice of God should be satisfied and mercy step in\nand claim her own. The difference between the penitent malefactor, who\nappears to have repented before death, and the antediluvians was that\nthe former immediately went to a place where Christ would present to\nhim the plan of life, that day, while the latter had waited hundreds\nof years for that privilege. This shows that repentance brings its\nblessings even upon the deathbed; but to say that, after a life of sin,\nthe malefactor went straight to the abode of the Father and remained\nthere in glory, is in conflict with the teachings of Christ and Peter.\nThe statements of Peter relative to the mission of Christ to the\nspirits in prison throws light upon the saying of the Savior in St.\nJohn v:25, \"Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming and now\nis, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that\nhear shall live.\"\n\nThus we see the privileges of the penitent malefactor. He went to the\nprison house and heard the Gospel, but how long he remained there\nbefore receiving all the saving benefits of the Gospel, we are not\ntold. One thing is certain-he did not come back with the Messiah, nor\nhave we ever heard of him sitting down with Christ on the right hand of\nthe Father. The Scripture being true which says, \"The murderer hath not\neternal life abiding in him,\" it is safe to say that the prayers of all\nthe ministers on earth cannot carry the souls of the assassin to the\npresence and glory of God. As there are different degrees of glory, so\nare there various grades of crimes to which are attached the different\ndegrees of punishment, all of which clearly maintain the justice and\nmercy of God.\n\nIn Galatians v:19-21, we read as follows: \"Now the works of the flesh\nare manifest, which are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness,\nlasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations,\nwrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness,\nrevellings, and such like; of the which I tell you before, as I have\nalso told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not\ninherit the kingdom of God.\"\n\nIn conclusion, as a true definition of repentance, let us quote the\nwords of Paul to the Ephesians, iv: 25, 30: \"Wherefore putting away\nlying speak every man truth with his neighbor. * * * Be ye angry and\nsin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath. Neither give place\nto the devil. Let him that stole, steal no more. * * * Let no corrupt\ncommunication proceed out of your mouth. * * *\" This is the only\nrepentance taught in Holy Writ, and simply means to forsake all sin and\naccomplish a reformation of life.\n\n\n\nBAPTISM.\n\nWe come now to considering the necessity of the ordinance of baptism.\nWhen men have repented of their sins it is natural for them to\ndesire a forgiveness of those sins. How shall this boon be obtained?\nThat repentance alone does not blot out the sins of the past may be\nillustrated in part by a comparison between the temporal and the\nspiritual. A man acquires a debt by purchasing goods on credit, and\nfinding it a ruinous policy, resolves, for the future, to pay as he\ngoes. This changes his course and constitutes in his business life a\nreformation, but it does not pay the debt already incurred. He must\nliquidate the obligation, or be forgiven the debt by the creditor. Some\nmay say that this is the difference between the earthly transaction\nof men and the dealings of God with His children. God forgives, it\nis true, but every blessing is predicated upon a condition, and the\ncondition is laid down by the Lord; hence it is written in Mark\ni:4: \"John did baptize in the wilderness and preach the baptism of\nrepentance for the remission of sins.\" From this scripture it is\nevident that baptism is to follow repentance, and that at least one\nobject of baptism is the remission of sins.\n\nLet us now examine some statements of Holy Writ which point out clearly\nthe necessity of this ordinance. \"Then cometh Jesus from Gallilee to\nJordan unto John to be baptized of him. But John forbade Him, saying,\n'I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me? And Jesus,\nanswering: said unto him, 'Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh\nus to fulfill all righteousness.' Then he suffered Him.\" (Matt.\niii:13-15.) Every thoughtful, God-fearing person must be impressed with\nthe feeling that if it was essential for the \"Only Begotten of the\nFather,\" \"who is full of grace and truth,\" to be baptized, none can be\nexempt who have arrived at the years of accountability. It appears also\nfrom the language used in the quotation that without being baptized he\ncould not fulfill \"all righteousness.\" After teaching His disciples\nfor three years, being crucified and risen from the dead, He gave to\nthem this commission: \"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel\nto every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;\nbut he that believeth not shall be damned.\" (Mark xvi:15, 16. ) Also in\nMatthew xxviii:19: \"Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing\nthem in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost\";\nand in Luke xxiv:45-47: \"Then opened He their understanding that\nthey might understand the Scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is\nwritten, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the\ndead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should\nbe preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.\" In\nthe latter quotation the word baptism is not used, but the same writer\nsays in Luke iii:3, regarding the mission of John: \"And he came into\nall the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for\nthe remission of sins,\" thus enunciating the doctrine that remission of\nsins is obtained through baptism.\n\nThe same writer gives us the following (Luke vii:29, 30): \"And all the\npeople that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized\nwith the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the\ncounsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of Him.\" From\nthis it is manifested that by receiving baptism they honored and obeyed\nGod, and that the rejection of this simple yet divine institution\namounted to rejecting the counsel of God, with all the terrible\nconsequences attendant upon such disobedience.\n\nWe read in the eighth chapter of Acts that Philip baptized the\nSamaritans and the Ethiopian. In the same book is related the baptism\nof Saul, of Lydia, of the Philippian jailor, and of Cornelius. It\nis not necessary to multiply quotations to show that baptism was\ntaught and practiced all through the apostolic dispensation, as being\nessential to salvation. As a direct statement of Jesus Himself, to\nclose this part of the subject, we quote His words to Nicodemus, St.\nJohn iii:5: \"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man, be born\nof water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.\"\nThe birth of the water can only be accomplished by baptism, and if an\naccountable being cannot enter into the kingdom of God without baptism,\nthen that ordinance must be essential to salvation.\n\nLet us next consider the object of this sacred rite. It is evident that\ninasmuch as a man cannot enter into the kingdom of God without the\nbaptism of water, then his sins must necessarily be remitted through\nfaith, repentance and baptism from the fact that \"no unclean person * *\n* hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.\"\n\nIn Mark i:4 and Luke iii:3 we read that \"John did baptize in the\nwilderness and preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of\nsins.\" On the day of Pentecost, when the mighty power of God rested\nupon the apostles and the Spirit bore witness to the multitude that\nthey were in sin, notwithstanding their devoutness, they cried out,\n\"Men and brethren, what shall we do?\" To this Peter answered, \"Repent\nand be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the\nremission of sins.\" (Acts ii:38.)\n\nPaul narrates before King Agrippa his conversion, in Acts xxii:16,\nand says that Ananias, to whom he had been commanded to apply, said:\n\"And now, why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptized and wash away thy\nsins, calling on the name of the Lord.\" The foregoing quotations will\nsuffice to show that God instituted baptism for the remission of sins,\nbut from other passages already quoted. Mark i:4, also xvi:15-16,\nand the account of Simon, the sorcerer, in the eighth chapter of\nActs, it is very evident that the result--forgiveness--is not secured\nunless baptism is accompanied on the part of the candidate by faith\nand a genuine repentance in turning aside from sin. Otherwise there\nwould be the solemn mockery of administering a sacred ordinance to a\nhypocrite. Hence the apostles said to Simon, \"Thy money perish with\nthee because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased\nwith money.\" (Acts viii:20.) Notwithstanding he had been baptized he\nwas still in his sins, because his heart was not pure, and he had not\nrepented. For this reason the apostles said to him, \"Repent therefore\nof this wickedness. * * * For I perceive that thou art in the gall\nof bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.\" (Acts viii:22-23.) This\nshould be a warning to those modern professors whose religion is in\nmany instances a cloak, hidden beneath which is the depraved heart that\ngarnishes the sepulchres of the dead prophets but is ready to slay the\nliving ones.\n\nWe now come to that part of the subject which formerly caused so\nmuch dissension among the Christian sects, but which latterly is\nsmoothed over with the assertion that it makes no difference which\nmode--sprinkling, pouring, or immersion--is used; \"either will do,\"\n\"let the candidate take his choice; it is immaterial.\" To these\nunwarranted assertions we reply: First, that if either mode will\ndo, none will do, for still other forms may be added by the whims\nof men. Christ established but one true mode, \"One Lord, one faith,\n_one baptism,\"_ and if one is right, the others are wrong. This is a\nplain proposition. Again, the dissension and conflict on this point\nis proof against the inspiration of the sectarian world, if they have\nany, for the reason that the Spirit of God will not lie nor contradict\nitself. If, therefore, the Spirit of the Lord teaches me that immersion\nis right, it will not teach another sprinkling, and yet another\npouring. This division, then, is because men are guided by opinion and\npreference and not by the spirit of revelation from God, which guides\ninto all truth and brings those who possess it to a unity of faith.\n\nNow as concerning the baptism of Jesus, who is the pattern, we have\nMatt. iii:16, which says, \"And Jesus when He was baptized went up\nstraightway out of the water.\" It is not likely that John would be\nbaptizing in Jordan and that Jesus would have gone down into the water\nif anything less than immersion would have fulfilled the law. This also\nagrees with the account of the Ethiopian's baptism by Philip (Acts\nviii:38): \"And they went down both into the water, _both Philip and the\neunuch,_ and he baptized him.\" As making still plainer this using a\nriver of water and going _\"down into the water\"_ to receive the sacred\nrite, we quote from St. John iii:23: \"And John also was baptizing in\nEnon, near to Salim, because there was _much water there.\"_ A statement\nso plain as the foregoing needs no comment. It speaks for itself. He\nwas baptizing not only in Enon, but at a certain point in the stream\n\"because there was much water there.\" Such a reason could not have been\ngiven if sprinkling or pouring had been a proper mode.\n\nWe refer further to the New Testament statements where not only the\nmode of baptism is indicated by the language, but the fact that baptism\nsymbolizes the birth into the world, the death, and the resurrection of\nthe body. To Nicodemus, Jesus said: \"Verily, verily, I say unto thee,\nexcept a man be born of water, and of the spirit, he cannot enter into\nthe kingdom of God.\" (St. John iii:5.) When man comes forth into the\nworld, he is born or brought out from the watery element, being first\nburied in it, and this constitutes his birth. To be \"born of water\" as\na sacred ordinance would be impossible if the rite of sprinkling or\npouring be the mode employed. Only complete immersion will answer the\nordinance indicated in the language of Jesus to Nicodemus.\n\nPaul also said to the Romans, \"Know ye not that so many of us as were\nbaptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we\nare buried with him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was\nraised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also\nshould walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together\nin the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His\nresurrection.\" (Rom. vi:3-5.) The foregoing shows that baptism is a\nlikeness of burial. When the body is laid lifeless in the tomb it is\ncovered completely; it is not left partly buried and partly uncovered;\nand as the body comes forth in the resurrection, immortal, and free\nfrom the conditions of mortality, thus walking in \"newness of life,\"\nso by the remission of sins through faith, repentance and baptism, the\nobedient candidate comes forth free from sin, and walks in a new life,\nprepared for the birth of the spirit, thus symbolizing in beautiful\nsimilarity the death and resurrection of the body. This is still\nfarther emphasized by the language, \"For if we have been planted,\"\netc., thus using a word which implies a complete burial as in planting\nseeds in the earth.\n\nAgain, we quote the words of Paul to the Colossians, ii:12: \"Buried\nwith Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through the\nfaith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead.\" This\ncorresponds with the statement before quoted from Romans, and also the\nteachings of Christ to Nicodemus.\n\nFrom the Scriptures already quoted on the necessity, object and mode of\nbaptism, we may deduce the conclusion that the ordinance established\nto follow and go with faith and repentance, and which constitutes\nthe third principle of the gospel, is baptism by immersion for the\nremission of sins.\n\n\n\nRECEPTION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.\n\nHaving shown that faith, repentance and baptism are essential to the\nremission of sins, let us now consider the reception of the Holy\nSpirit. That this should follow, and not precede, the birth of the\nwater must be evident to every thoughtful person. It is clear that a\nman is not prepared for the indwelling of the Holy Ghost unless he\nrepents of his sins and becomes freed from them by obedience to the\nlaws of God. Some people may contend that, because Jesus stated that\nman must be born again, in order to see the kingdom of heaven, such\na birth precedes baptism, and is synonymous with the birth of the\nSpirit mentioned by the Savior in the third chapter of St. John; but\nbeing born again, in order to see the kingdom, evidently shows that a\nman must have some light above the natural senses, sufficient to the\nlight of Christ to make him see the kingdom of God. In other words, to\nsecure, and we may say, consistently constitute his conversion.\n\nThis light which guides him to the truth does not, however, forego\nthe absolute necessity of obeying the laws and ordinances of the\nGospel. As proof of this we cite the conversion of Paul. He received\na personal manifestation of the Savior's power, even hearing his\nvoice and witnessing a light from heaven. Notwithstanding this, Jesus\ncommanded him to go to Ananias, an authorized servant of Christ, who\nshould instruct him regarding his salvation. He was therefore required\nto be born of water and of the Spirit. Cornelius, also, as related in\nthe tenth chapter of Acts, saw an angel and received a manifestation\nof the Holy Ghost previous to baptism. Yet both men were required to\nobey the ordinances enjoined by the Gospel of Christ. If they rejected\nthese requirements, undoubtedly the light they had received would have\ndeparted from them and this would have added to their condemnation.\n\nThe historical fact of the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy\nGhost is not, in every instance, recorded in the Scriptures, and it is\nnot necessary that it should be, in order to prove that the ordinance\nwas established by the Messiah. In the matter of baptism He said to\nJohn, \"Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all\nrighteousness.\" He made no exception of Himself, but gave the example\nby his own obedience. How can others be excused? To show that the\nlaying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, by those having\ndivine authority was practiced by the ancient apostles, we refer to\nActs viii:14, 17: \"Now, when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard\nthat Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter\nand John, who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they\nmight receive the Holy Ghost: (for as yet He was fallen upon none of\nthem: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid\nthey their hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost.\"\n\nPhilip did not have the authority to lay on hands for this gift, hence\nPeter and John were sent from Jerusalem for the express purpose of\nperforming this higher ordinance of the Gospel. In the nineteenth\nchapter of Acts is an account of Paul's visit to the city of Ephesus,\nwhere he found about twelve men who claimed to have received the same\nform of baptism as administered by John the Baptist. But in answer to\nPaul's question, \"Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?\"\nthey told him they had not so much as heard of it, and his action\nin re-baptizing them would strongly indicate that some imposter had\ncounterfeited in form the true baptism. This being performed without\nlegitimate authority, their sins were not remitted, and they were not\nin a condition to receive the Holy Ghost. Hence Paul baptized them; and\nthe sixth verse says: \"And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the\nHoly Ghost came upon them and they spake with tongues and prophesied.\"\n\nAn imposter can baptize in water by physical force, imitate the true\nform at the submission of the candidate, but the gift of the Holy Ghost\ncannot be given without authority from God; and while the water baptism\nis equally destitute of its legitimate results when not performed by\nauthority, the imposture is not so readily detected because not usually\naccompanied by the same manifestation of divine power; therefore\ndesigning or ignorant men have taken pains either to deny the gift of\nthe Holy Ghost as being essential with its ancient spiritual powers, or\nto tell the people that no outward ordinance was essential to confer\nit, thus endeavoring to dispense with this sacred ordinance.\n\nThe following references also indicate the laying on of hands as a\nsacred rite which would not have been adopted by the apostles unless\n'commanded of God to do so: I Tim. iv:14-\"Neglect not the gift that\nis in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of\nthe hands of the presbytery.\" II Tim. i:6-\"Wherefore I put thee in\nremembrance that thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the\nputting on of my hands.\" Also showing that this ordinance was laid\ndown as a positive doctrine, we call attention to the sixth chapter\nof Hebrews, first and second verses: \"Therefore leaving (another\ntranslation, that of the prophet Joseph Smith, reads 'not leaving') the\nprinciples of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection, not\nlaying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith\ntoward God of the doctrine of baptisms and of laying on of hands.\"\n\nThat man might duplicate in form this divine ceremony without authority\nand without effect, we do not deny; but we confidently assert that\nwithout this ordinance being administered by an acknowledged authority\nfrom God, the operation would be of non-effect. The undeniable facts\nof religious history for seventeen centuries prove that men did not\nreceive the Holy Ghost. Where the tree is, there will the fruit be\nproduced, unless the tree is dead; and no one will contend that the\nHoly Spirit is dead.\n\nThe following quotations will point out the fruits of the Holy Spirit:\n\"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send\nin my name, He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your\nremembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.\" (St. John xiv:26.)\n\"Howbeit, when He, the Spirit of Truth, is Come, He will guide you\ninto all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever\nHe shall hear, that shall He speak, and He shall show you things to\ncome.\" (St. John xvi:13.) \"As they ministered to the Lord and fasted,\nthe Holy Ghost said, 'Separate me Barnabas and Saul, for the work\nwhereunto I have called them.'\" (Acts xiii:2.) \"Wherefore I give you\nto understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus\naccursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the\nHoly Ghost. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. *\n* * For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another,\nthe word of Knowledge by the same Spirit; To another, faith by the\nsame Spirit; to another, the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to\nanother, the working of miracles; to another, prophecy; to another\ndiscerning of Spirits; to another, divers kinds of tongues.\" ( I Cor.\nxii:3, 4, 8, 9, 10.) \"But the fruits of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,\nlong-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.\"\n(Gal. v:22-23.)\n\nThe same cause will ever produce the same effect; a tree is known by\nits fruits, and to be convinced that we need such gifts today it is\nonly necessary to look at the spectacle of jarring \"Christianity\" with\nits many creeds. Where is the Spirit that guides into all truth, which\ndoes not contradict itself, but teaches the \"common salvation\" of \"one\nLord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all?\" That brings\nus \"to a unity of faith,\" and makes us one in Christ, as He prayed\nthat His disciples and all whom the Father should give Him out of the\nworld might be one even as I am one in the Father and the Father in me,\nthat they may be one in us, \"that the world may believe that thou hast\nsent me?\" Where is the Spirit of prophecy? \"The testimony of Jesus is\nthe Spirit of prophecy,\" the gifts of revelation, healings and all the\nglorious powers enumerated in the Scripture quotations made. Well did\nIsaiah say, \"The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof,\nbecause they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances and\nbroken the everlasting covenant.\" (Isa. xxiv:5.)\n\nWithout further comment on the gifts of the Spirit, we will introduce\nquotations to show that the laying on of hands was practiced also for\nordination to office in the Church of Christ, and for the healing of\nthe sick, as well as to confer the gift of the Holy Ghost: \"Whom they\nset before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid their\nhands on them.\" (Acts vi:6.) This refers to the ordination of Stephen\nand six others. \"As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy\nGhost said, separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have\ncalled them. And when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands\non them they sent them away.\" (Acts xiii:2, 3.)\n\nThe same ordinance was also had in ancient times before the coming of\nthe Savior. Paul informs us in Gal. iii, that the Gospel was preached\nbefore unto Abraham. \"And the Lord said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua,\nthe son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay thine hands upon\nhim. And he laid his hands upon him and gave him a charge, as the Lord\ncommanded by the hand of Moses.\" (Num. xxvii:18, 23.) \"And Joshua, the\nson of Nun, was full of the Spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his\nhands upon him.\" (Deut. xxxiv:9.)\n\nIt is most reasonable to conclude from the evidence presented that this\npractice came down from the beginning, and was before and after Christ\na divine ordinance. That it was practiced for the healing of the sick\nis evident from the following historical and doctrinal statements made\nin the New Testament by the Messiah and His apostles: \"They shall lay\nhands on the sick and they shall recover.\" (Mark xvi:18.) \"And He could\nthere do no mighty work save that He laid His hands upon a few sick\nfolk and healed them.\" (Mark vi:5.) \"Now when the sun was setting, all\nthey that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto Him; and\nHe laid His hands on every one of them, and healed them.\" (Luke iv:40.)\n\"And putting His hands on him, said Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus,\nthat appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me that\nthou mightest receive thy sight,\" etc. (Acts ix:17.) \"And it came to\npass that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever, and of a bloody\nflux; to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him,\nand healed him.\" (Acts xxviii:8.) \"Is any sick among you? Let him call\nfor the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him\nwith oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save\nthe sick, and the Lord shall raise him up,\" etc. (James v:14, 15.).\n\nAlthough the laying on of hands is not expressly mentioned in the last\nquotation, it is readily seen that the sick could not be anointed\nwithout the imposition of hands.\n\nThe foregoing should be sufficient to convince all Bible believers that\nthe laying on of hands is a sacred ordinance for the purposes specified\nin Holy writ, that it follows the baptism of water, and occupies\nits relationship in the plan of salvation as the fourth essential\nprinciple to fully establish men in the Church of Christ; the order\nis, faith, repentance, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins,\nand the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. This is the\ndoor into the sheepfold; \"he that entereth not by the door into the\nsheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a\nrobber.\" (St. John x:1.)\n\n\n\nPRE-EXISTENCE.\n\nAs Latter-day Saints we believe that all creation existed spiritually\nbefore the physical organism was brought into existence; \"And every\nplant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the\nfield before it grew.\" (Gen. ii:5.)\n\n\"And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after\nhis kind, cattle, and creeping thing. And beast of the earth after\nhis kind; and it was so.\" (Gen. i:24.) Therefore each kind, whether\nbeast, bird or fish, as well as man, existed before it came to occupy\na physical being, otherwise how could each have been created after its\nown kind? The spirit and the body must be the soul, as enunciated by\nthe Lord in a revelation to the prophet Joseph Smith. (Doctrine and\nCovenants, sec. 88, verse 15.) \"And the spirit and the body is the\nsoul of man.\" Otherwise there might be an eternal fullness when the\nspirit and the body are separated. When Jesus was crucified He went, as\nstated by Peter, to preach to the spirits in prison, and did not enter\ninto the fullness of His Father's glory until He ascended after His\nresurrection. This was the pattern to all men.\n\nWithout the union of the spirit and the body there is not a fullness\nof glory. As the spirit exists between death and the resurrection, so\nthe spirit existed before the birth of the mortal body. God is the God\nand Father of the spirits of all flesh, as stated by Moses: \"O God, the\nGod of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt Thou be\nwroth with all the congregation?\" (Num. xvi:22.) \"Let the Lord, the God\nof the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation.\" (Num.\nxxvii:16.) This declaration is corroborated by the apostle Paul in\nwriting to the Hebrews: \"Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh,\nwhich corrected us, and we gave them reverence; shall we not much\nrather be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?\"\n\nWe associate in this life with our natural fathers; we see them as they\nare. They teach, guide and direct us by virtue of their fatherhood and\ntheir advanced experience, which qualify them to teach us and direct\nour footsteps in the way we should walk. So in our pre-existence did\nwe mingle with our heavenly Father and His children, our brother and\nsister spirits. We knew God and partook of His influence and power. We\nwere agents to ourselves, and when propositions affecting man's eternal\nwelfare were placed before us, we were left to choose for ourselves\nand be responsible for our own course. Thus Lucifer rebelled, and\ndrew one-third part of the heavenly host away. They were cast out,\nand denied a body. So keenly have they felt this curse that they seek\nto possess the bodies of the human family. When Jesus cast the evil\nspirits from the men coming out of the tombs, so eager were they to\npossess some physical tabernacle, that they besought Him that they\nmight enter the herd of swine. The request was granted, and the swine,\npossessed of evil spirits, ran down violently into the sea.\n\nNot only the fact of man's pre-existence, but also his power to do good\nand ill, seemed to be understood by the ancient apostles when they\nsaid, \"Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born\nblind? Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents.\" (John ix:2, 3.)\nJesus did not deny the possibility of sinning before birth. Why should\nnot the spirit be just as capable of intelligent action before the\nbirth into this world, as it is during its existence between death and\nthe resurrection? As to that time, Jesus taught that all that were in\ntheir graves should hear His voice. (St. John v:25, 29.) When Job was\nin the depth of his affliction the Lord said unto him, \"Gird up now thy\nloins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. Where\nwast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? * * * When the\nmorning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?\"\n(Job xxxviii:3, 4, 7.) Doubtless Job was somewhere in existence or the\nAlmighty would never have propounded such a question. The sons of God\nshouted for joy, and without doubt Job was among that honored number.\nSolomon also gives us to understand that the spirit once dwelt in the\npresence of the Lord. He says: \"And the spirit shall return unto God\nwho gave it.\"\n\nThe subject of pre-existence is made very plain in the first chapter,\n5th verse of Jeremiah: \"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee:\nand before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee and I\nordained thee a prophet unto the nations.\" Thus in his pre-existent\nstate did Jeremiah receive his ordination to be a prophet of the Lord\nto the nations of the earth. If such were the case with Jeremiah,\nwhy not with thousands of the sons of God? Indeed it is evident from\nPaul's writings that the time of man's coming to this world is not\nmere chance, neither is it regulated by the arrangements of human\nphilosophy in this world: \"God that made the world * * * hath made\nof one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the\nearth: and hath determined the times before appointed and the bounds\nof their habitations.\" (Acts xvii:24, 26.) In other words, the Father\nof our spirits determined when we should come and those portions of\nthe earth where should be set the bounds of our habitation. It was\nno chance-work, then, that Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel,\nthe Savior, Joseph Smith, and the founders of liberty in this and\nother lands came to the earth in their respective times and to those\ncountries where they played their great parts in the purposes of God\nand the drama of life. \"I came forth from the Father, and am come\ninto the world; again I leave the world and go to the Father.\" (St.\nJohn xvi:28.) \"And now, O Father, glorify Thou me with thine own self\nwith the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.\" (St. John\nxvii:5.) Jesus dwelt with the Father before He came here, so did we.\nEntering our temples of mortality we forget all that has passed before\nin our spiritual existence. This mortal state is a veil which hides\nthe eternal past, from our recollection, and shuts off the visions of\nthe eternal future, only as from time to time the revelations of the\nHoly Ghost bring \"things past to our remembrance and shows us things to\ncome.\"\n\nIt is probable, from some references in the Scriptures, that if our\nspirits were sent here unembodied, the remembrance of the past would\ncome with us. At least, this was doubtless the case with Lucifer\nand his rebel host. When he tried to tempt the Savior, as recorded\nin Matthew, fourth chapter, he knew Him undoubtedly from their\nacquaintance in a pre-existent state. When the man with evil spirits\nmet the Savior in the synagogue, the spirits cried out, \"saying, let us\nalone. What have we to do with Thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou\ncome to destroy us? I know Thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.\"\n(Luke iv:34.) A similar testimony was borne by evil spirits possessing\nthe men coming out of the tombs, as recorded in Matthew, viii:29. \"And\nbehold they cried out, saying, What have we to do with Thee? Jesus,\nthou Son of God? art Thou come hither to torment us before the time?\"\n\"And unclean spirits, when they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried\nsaying, Thou art the Son of God.\" (Mark iii:11) In Luke, viii:28,\nwe have the testimony of the historian that the devils possessing a\ncertain man cried out, \"and with a loud voice\" said, \"Jesus, Thou Son\nof God.\" It is not probable that these evil spirits knew Jesus because\nof a testimony from above, while all Judea failed to recognize in Him\nthe Messiah, the Savior of the world. Many likely knew Him because they\nhad been associated and acquainted with Him before the world was.\n\nJohn the Revelator in Revelations, twelfth chapter, describes the war\nin heaven, which took place between Satan and his followers on the\none hand and Michael and his angels on the other. This description\nrefers to their spiritual existence, as do the foregoing quotations\nfrom Holy Writ. These show us clearly that man did not begin with this\nworld, nor does he end with this earthly life. Man is eternal, and\nwill have no end. He lived and reigned with God in the heavens. His\ncourse there largely affects his condition here, as our conduct in this\nlife will have all to do with the glory we attain to in the world to\ncome. Man will live on forever. He dies as to the body, lives in the\nspirit world, and will again take up his body, a resurrected, glorified\nbeing, prepared on certain conditions to dwell with God throughout the\ncountless ages of eternity, to become like unto Him. Possessing all\nthings, even as Jesus, being in the image of His Father, \"thought it\nnot robbery to be made equal with him.\" \"What is man, that Thou art\nmindful of him? and the Son of Man, that Thou visitest him? For Thou\nhast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with\nglory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy\nhands; thou hast put all things under his feet.\" (Psalms viii:4-6.)\n\n\n\nSALVATION FOR THE DEAD.\n\n\"I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God\nunto Salvation to every one that believeth.\"\n\nWe must not infer from this quotation that mere conviction of the mind\nto religious truths will secure salvation; for pure belief would lead\nmen to actual works, thus constituting a living, active faith.\n\nThe Apostle James declares that \"faith without works is dead.\" The\nSavior taught in His sermon on the mount that \"Not every one that saith\nunto me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he\nthat doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.\" From these and\nother passages of Scripture we learn that the Gospel is the power of\nGod unto salvation to all who believe, obey and remain faithful to the\nend. This gives us a general definition of what is meant by the term\nGospel.\n\nTo understand the principles which constitute the Gospel, we may remind\nour readers that mankind find themselves under the necessity of a\nredemption which is two-fold in its character. First, by the act of\nour first parents, all creation is subject to the death of the mortal\nbody. Second, by individual sins man becomes unworthy to dwell in the\npresence of the Eternal Father.\n\nThe Gospel, then, consists of the atonement of Christ, by which all are\nentitled to a resurrection of the body; in the language of Paul, \"For\nas in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.\" It also\nconsists of laws and ordinances for man's obedience, by which he is\nredeemed from his own sins, placed in communication with God, and led\nback into His presence.\n\nIn the justice of the Almighty the plan of salvation must be so\ncomprehensive and general that the human family, without distinction,\nshall have the opportunity of receiving it.\n\nWe learn from the Pearl of Great Price that before Adam departed\nto the life beyond, God revealed to him the plan of salvation. He\nobeyed it and communicated this knowledge to his posterity during the\nseven generations that lived contemporary with him. With the Gospel,\nnecessarily came the authority of God to administer in the ordinances\nthereof. This authority is called the Holy Priesthood. In a revelation\ngiven the prophet Joseph Smith, September 22d and 23d, 1832, and\ncontained in Sec. 84 of the Doctrine and Covenants, we learn that the\npriesthood was conferred through Father Adam by the laying on of hands\nupon Abel, and from Abel or Seth was conferred through the lineage of\ntheir descendants to Enoch, and from Enoch to Noah down to Melchisedek,\nwho conferred it upon Abraham. In the days of Abraham lived the great\nprophet Esaias, who, the revelation informs us, received the priesthood\nunder the hand of God. From Esaias it was handed down through an\nunbroken chain to the prophet Moses, but because of the unbelief and\nhardness of the people, \"He took Moses out of their midst and the Holy\nPriesthood also, and the lesser priesthood continued.\" (Doctrine and\nCovenants, Sec. 84.)\n\nThis record shows an unbroken succession of the Holy Priesthood and the\nGospel of Christ from Adam to Moses, a period of about 2,500 years.\nThen began those periods of the world's history when the fullness of\nthe Gospel was not to be had among the children of men, periods when\nthe spirit of darkness engrossed the human family and left mankind,\nin a great degree, as a blind man groping for the wall. The first of\nthese periods continued from Moses until the Savior came and restored\nthe higher priesthood, established His church upon the earth, and sent\nhis apostles to preach the Gospel in all the world. Another similar\nperiod was from the time the Gospel became corrupted, in the first\ntwo or three centuries of the Christian era, to its restoration in\nthis dispensation through the prophet Joseph Smith. The Christian\ndispensation of the Gospel continued to a greater length upon the\nAmerican continent, extending to nearly 400 years after Christ. What\nsuccess attended the Gospel among the ten lost tribes whom the Messiah\nvisited and how long it was maintained among them is not yet revealed,\nbut will be in the due time of the Lord.\n\nThe Elders in preaching the Gospel abroad are often confronted with an\nobjection to this claim of apostasy from the truth, that such periods\nof spiritual darkness do not harmonize with the mercy and justice of\nGod. The objectors, therefore, incline to the belief that the Christian\nworld has enjoyed the Gospel ever since the coming of the Messiah.\nThe query then arises, what is the cause of such apparent difference\nin the opportunities of human beings? Some are born in the church,\nheirs to the Holy Priesthood; others, in a Gospel dispensation, not\nin the church, but under conditions favorable to their accepting it;\nstill another class in the same dispensation is under such adverse\ncircumstances that believing and obeying are rendered very difficult;\nand yet a larger number, counted by millions, live and die where no\nvoice from God comes to their relief.\n\nIn the absence of revelation giving any detailed information on this\nquestion, we may rest contented with the reflection that God is just,\nand that a just cause exists for that which appears inconsistent in the\neyes of mortal man, but that reflection is not satisfying; we are in\nabsolute need of revelation to enable us to comprehend the cause and to\njustify in our minds the conditions which exist.\n\nOur works in this life are known to God, and our rewards and\npunishments are meted out according to the deeds done in the body. Our\npre-existent merits and demerits are equally well known to our Heavenly\nFather. As proof that God knew before this life with all the exactness\nthat we are known here, I here introduce the following from page 41,\nPearl of Great Price: \"Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the\nintelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all\nthese there were many of the noble and great ones: and God saw these\nsouls that they were good, and He stood in the midst of them; and He\nsaid, 'These I will make my rulers,' for He stood among those that were\nspirits; and He saw they were good; and there stood one among them like\nunto God, and He said unto those that were with Him, 'We will go down,\nfor there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we\nwill make an earth, whereon these may dwell; and we will prove them\nherewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their\nGod shall command them; and they who keep their first estate shall be\nadded upon; and they who keep not their first estate, shall not have\nglory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and\nthey who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their\nheads forever and ever.\"\n\nIn the first chapter fourth and fifth verses of Jeremiah, we have the\nfollowing: \"Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Before I\nformed thee I knew thee, and before thou camest forth, I sanctified\nthee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.\" From these\nplain teachings of the prophet, it is readily seen that the measure of\nintegrity attached to our pre-existence was fully understood by our\nFather; and as our future condition is based upon our works in this\nlife, is it not a reasonable conclusion that our situation in this\nworld is largely due to our conduct in a pre-existent state?\n\nThat God has a distinct hand in the appointment of the time for His\nchildren to come upon the earth is very clearly stated by the Apostle\nPaul. In the seventeenth chapter of Acts he says: \"God that made the\nworld and all things therein, giveth to all life, and breath, and all\nthings; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell\non all the face of the earth and hath determined the times before\nappointed and the bounds of their habitations.\" Thus we learn that this\ngreat emigration of souls from the presence of the Lord to this earth\nis controlled and directed by the Almighty. That He designed them all\nat some time to learn of Him is stated in the verse following the above\nquotation, which reads, \"That they should seek the Lord and find Him.\"\n\nWe are compelled from these facts to believe that, as God Himself\nsent millions into the world when the Gospel was not had among the\ninhabitants of the earth, then His saving plan, to be compatible with\nHis attributes of mercy and justice, must be of such a character as to\nreach these people after they leave this world. We may add here that\nthis vast host of humanity who lived when the Gospel was not extant is\ngreatly augmented by the unnumbered millions of people who live during\nthe dispensation of the Gospel, but who never see or hear an authorized\nservant of the Lord.\n\nIn connection with this branch of the subject it may be well to refer\nto the belief of many that, at death the wicked are consigned to their\nfinal doom and the righteous to full and complete exaltation in the\npresence of God. We can explode this fallacy by quotations from Holy\nWrit. In line with this mistaken belief we find ministers attending\nthe culprit at the gallows, urging him to confess Christ, and telling\nhim that by such confession he will be saved in the kingdom of heaven.\nIn the face of such doctrine the Scriptures plainly declare that, \"The\nmurderer hath not eternal life abiding in him.\" We who live in this\ndispensation are forbidden by the living oracles of God to receive\ntemple ordinances for even the suicide. To exhibit the error of many in\nthe religious world on this point read the forty-second and forty-third\nverses of the twenty-third chapter of Luke. The thief on the cross is\nrecorded as saying to the Savior, \"Lord, remember me when Thou comest\ninto Thy kingdom.\" Jesus then said to him, \"Today shalt thou be with\nme in Paradise.\" The claim is made that such a promise amounted to\nsalvation, taking the malefactor to a condition of eternal glory. In\nthe face of this mistaken interpretation of the Scripture, we have the\nassertion of Christ Himself, made three days later to Mary: \"touch me\nnot, for I am not yet ascended unto my father.\" (John xx:17.) This is\nconclusive evidence that the paradise spoken of was not the enjoyment\nof the presence and glory of God. But we are not left in ignorance of\nwhere He did go. He had previously said to His apostles, as recorded\nin John v:25, \"The hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear\nthe voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.\" The object\nof this preaching is stated in the fourth chapter, sixth verse, of I\nPeter, to be, \"For, for this cause was the Gospel preached also to them\nthat are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh,\nbut live according to God in the spirit.\"\n\nThis Scripture establishes the truth beyond doubt that death does\nnot perfect people, and dying without obedience to the Gospel does\nnot relieve them of the impartial obligation placed upon all men to\nbelieve and obey. It also maintains the doctrine of man's free agency\nby showing that salvation is only realized when man exercises his own\nvolition to receive the Gospel, and by education in the knowledge of\nGod, step by step, becomes prepared to dwell in the glorious presence\nof the Father and the Son. With this testimony of the Savior and the\nJewish apostles, the teachings of the Book of Mormon and of the Prophet\nJoseph Smith are in perfect harmony.\n\nThe sacred record of the Nephites informs us that the spirit which\npossesses a man who dies in his sins will have power to possess him in\na future state. The Prophet Joseph, speaking upon this subject, also\nsaid, on April 10, 1842: \"If you wish to go where God is, you must\nbe like God, or possess the principles which God possesses, for, if\nwe are not drawing towards God in principles, we are going from Him\nand drawing towards the devil. A man is saved no faster than he gets\nknowledge, for, if he does not get knowledge, he will be brought into\ncaptivity by some evil power in the other world, as evil spirits will\nhave more knowledge and consequently more power than many men who\nare on the earth. Hence, it needs revelation to assist and give us\nknowledge of the things of God.\"\n\nTo show still more definitely Christ's mission in the spirit world,\nwe read from Peter, third chapter, eighteenth verse, as follows: \"For\nChrist also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust,\nthat He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but\nquickened by the spirit; by which also He went and preached unto the\nspirits in prison; which sometimes were disobedient, when once the\nlong-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah.\"\n\nWe may infer safely that the penitent thief had the privilege of\ngoing to the prison house with the Savior and hearing the Gospel; the\ndistinction between his situation and that of the antediluvians being\nthat they had remained in purgatory for hundreds of years, while the\npenitent man, who had shown some repentance in the last hour of his\nlife, may have heard, with but little delay, the Gospel. Whether he had\nheard it in life and rejected it we are not informed, and how long he\nwould remain in the spirit world without realizing its full benefits\nwe do not know, but the above quotations are ample to disprove the\nfallacy of the position taken by those in the religious world who deny\nsalvation after death.\n\nOne objection made by the world to this doctrine is, that offering\nsalvation after this life destroys the incentive to embrace the Gospel\nhere and holds out the inducement to indulge in the pleasures of sin,\nthrough people believing that they might be redeemed in a future state\nwhere the pleasures of sin would be less delusive. If we admit, for\nthe sake of argument, this theory, the evil results following are\nincomparably less than would be those which offer salvation to some\nand deny it to others, for this amounts virtually to a destruction of\nthe attributes of justice and mercy which dwell in the bosom of a wise\nCreator; but there is another side to this part of the question. We\nmay illustrate by comparison. If a man obey the law of the land simply\nbecause he fears the penalty of violating the law, you have at once an\nindividual devoid of love for right and of no strength of character,\na man who is a mere slave to the influences which surround him; or\nif you find a being who is willing to pay the penalty of stealing\nor committing other crimes, for the pleasure he finds in them, with\nthe knowledge that when he has served his term in prison he may be\nliberated only to steal again, you have a man devoid of character, and\nto say that this would be the course of mankind relative to the boon of\neternal life is only to belittle the character of the human family and\nstrip them of those attributes which come from God their Father. This\nmission of the Savior was contemplated by the ancient Jewish prophets.\nThey, knowing that the atonement of Christ and the principles of the\nGospel must apply to those who lived before His coming as well as to\nall who came after, understood that the millions who died without the\nGospel in this life must hear and obey in the life to come. Isaiah\nprophesied concerning the mission of the Son of God: \"I, the Lord, have\ncalled thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep\nthee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the\nGentiles; to open the blind eyes; to bring out the prisoners from the\nprison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.\" (Isaiah\nxlii:6, 7.)\n\nThus salvation for the dead is a scriptural doctrine. The Gospel is\npreached to the spirits in prison. At the same time, it is evident\nfrom all that we learn upon this subject that the ordinances of\nbaptism, confirmations, sealings, etc., are received by those living\nin the flesh, in behalf of those who die without the Gospel in this\nworld, but receive it in the next. Paul, in the fifteenth chapter of\nI. Corinthians, speaking of the resurrection, says: \"Else what shall\nthey do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all?\nWhy are they then baptized for the dead?\" While Paul's argument is not\nupon the subject of baptism for the dead, why does he thus forcibly\nallude to this subject if no such an ordinance belongs to the Gospel?\nThe theologians of sectarianism have exhausted their ingenuity in a\nfruitless effort to mystify or explain away the true meaning of this\npassage, for the evident reason that it strikes a deadly blow at their\nunjust dogmas respecting the eternal damnation of those who die without\nthe truth. The plain meaning of the above statement of Paul is that a\nliving person receives baptism in behalf of those who are dead. This\nsimple interpretation was adopted by the early writers on Christianity.\nScaliger, Meyer, Erasmus, Calixtus, De Witt, Grotius and others,\ncounted as good authority, adopted the same view.\n\nEpiphanius, in the fourth century, writing of the Marcionites, makes\nuse of this language: \"A traditional fact concerning them has reached\nus, that when any of them had died without baptism, they used to\nbaptize others in their name, lest in the resurrection they should\nsuffer punishment as unbaptized.\"\n\nAnother very emphatic evidence that this ordinance was practiced by the\nancient followers of Christ is that the council of Carthage, A. D.,\n397, in Canon No. 6, forbids the ordinance of baptism for the dead.\nWhy would such a decree be issued against this ordinance if it had no\nexistence in the Church?\n\nHaving shown that salvation for the dead is scriptural doctrine,\nadopted in theory and practice by the Former-day Saints, let us turn\nnow to the dispensation of the fullness of times.\n\nWe have seen that the mission of Christ to the dead was spoken of by\nIsaiah in the forty-second chapter. The same great prophet utters a\nprediction in the twenty-fourth chapter as follows: \"The earth is also\ndefiled under the inhabitants thereof, because they have transgressed\nthe laws, changed the ordinances, broken the everlasting covenant.\"\nThe context shows clearly that this prophecy refers to the last days,\nbecause it predicts that \"the inhabitants of the earth are burned and\nbut few men left.\" The term \"everlasting covenant\" cannot refer to\nthe Mosaic law, which existed under the lesser priesthood. This law\nconsisted in the rites and ceremonies of the offering of sacrifice,\npointing to the great sacrifice of the Messiah, and of the law of\ncarnal commandments, which served, Paul says, as a schoolmaster to\nbring them to Christ. The Mosaic law was done away in Him, because he\nfulfilled the law. It was not everlasting. Breaking the everlasting\ncovenant must, therefore, refer to an apostasy from the fullness of the\nGospel as instituted by the Savior.\n\nIn connection with this apostasy Isaiah tells us in the same chapter:\n\"And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall punish the\nhost of the high ones that are on high and the kings of the earth\nupon the earth. And they shall be gathered together as prisoners are\ngathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many\ndays shall they be visited.\" In other words, we might say that they\nhave rejected the Gospel during the Christian era, as the antediluvians\nrejected it in the days of Noah; the judgments of God destroyed them\nin the flesh, and their spirits were consigned to the prison house\nand could not be visited until after many days. Whether the Gospel\ndispensations in the spirit would correspond in their divisions of\ntime to those delivered to men in the flesh, we do not know so far\nas preaching to the spirits in prison is concerned; but this much is\nevident, that when no Gospel dispensation exists upon the earth, those\nin the spirit world, whatever their opportunities to hear, cannot enjoy\nthe blessings of the Gospel, because no one in the flesh has authority\nto receive the ordinances in their behalf. It, therefore, follows that\nthe haughty ones spoken of by Isaiah could not receive the Gospel\nuntil it should be revealed again from heaven in the latter days; and\nto fulfill this prophecy such a revelation must come, comprehending\nthe keys of a dispensation of the Gospel to the dead as well as to the\nliving.\n\nMalachi, whose prophecies are the last of those of Jewish prophets\nrecorded in the Old Testament, in speaking of the great day of the\nLord's second coming and the judgements of God which would precede,\nutters the following prediction (Malachi iv:5, 6): \"Behold, I will send\nyou Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful\nday of the Lord; and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the\nchildren, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come\nand smite the earth with a curse.\" This prophecy is in beautiful\naccord with that of the apostle Peter recorded in the twentieth and\ntwenty-first verses of the third chapter of Acts: \"And He shall send\nJesus Christ which before was preached unto you; whom the heavens must\nreceive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath\nspoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.\"\nHow different these joyful words to those of an apostate Christianity\nwhich denies the necessity of revelation and tells us that the canon of\nScripture is full!\n\nJohn the Baptist, who was the forerunner of the Messiah at His first\ncoming, was also the forerunner of the higher priesthood in these last\ndays. On the 15th of May, 1829, he appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver\nCowdery and ordained them to the Aaronic priesthood, the authority to\npreach unto and baptize those living in the flesh. Afterwards came\nPeter, James and John, with the keys of the Melchisedek priesthood,\nembodying authority to administer all the ordinances of the Gospel to\nmen in the flesh. But the prophecy of Malachi, chapter iv., was yet to\nbe fulfilled. On the 3d of April, 1836, in the Kirtland Temple, the\nProphet Joseph testified that \"Elijah the prophet, who was taken to\nheaven without tasting death, stood before us and said: 'Behold the\ntime has fully come which was spoken of by Malachi, testifying that\nhe (Elijah) should be sent before the Lord come to turn the hearts of\nthe fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest\nthe whole earth be smitten with a curse. Therefore, the keys of this\ndispensation are committed into your hands, and by this ye may know\nthat the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the\ndoors.'\"\n\nIn connection with the restoration of the keys of temple ordinances\nby Elijah, let us contemplate for a few moments a prediction by the\nProphet Joseph Smith. He stated that the Gospel as preached by the\nelders would yet revolutionize the religious world. Without going\ninto detail regarding the application of this prophecy to several\nprinciples of the Gospel, the subject in hand, salvation for the dead,\nwill clearly prove the prophecy correct. When Joseph first taught the\nredemption of the dead, it was not believed, but was ridiculed by every\ndenomination of Christendom, so far as we know, and by nearly all the\nreligious world individually; yet during the past fifteen years this\ndoctrine has been growing in favor in the minds of prominent men. Dr.\nThomas, of the Methodist church in Illinois, was brought in question\na few years ago by his church for teaching unorthodox doctrine, which\nconsisted in claiming that those who did not hear the Gospel in this\nworld would hear it in the spirit world. There is now a vast number in\nthe various denominations that believe there is hope for the dead such\nas was never thought of before the words of the Prophet Joseph were\nspoken. Since the glorious visitation of Elijah, the Lord has revealed\ndefinitely how to conduct the ordinance for the dead. He has fulfilled\nthe words of Jeremiah that He would take \"one of a city and two of a\nfamily and bring them to Zion.\" It required \"two of a family,\" or at\nleast a male and a female representative of the dead, to receive the\nordinances of salvation for the dead of their respective sexes.\n\nIt has been related of Henry Ward Beecher that he said, if a literal\nrendering of the Scriptures was to be accepted, then \"Mormonism\" was\ncorrect. In line with his sentiments on this subject, it has been\nreported that he delivered a lecture in Nashville, Tennessee, his\nsubject being, \"What Christianity Has Done to Civilize the World,\"\nin which he said: \"What has Africa done for the world? She has never\nproduced a sage, a philosopher, a poet nor a prophet, and why not?\nBecause the name of Christ and the influence of Christianity are\nscarcely known in her dark regions. Millions of her children have\nlived and passed away without hearing the truth. What will become of\nthem? Will they be forever damned? No, not if my God reigns, for they\nwill hear the gospel in the spirit world.\" He then proceeded to show\nby irrefutable evidence that salvation for the dead is a scriptural\ndoctrine.\n\nThe writer was not present at the lecture, but another Latter-day Saint\nelder was present, and, at the conclusion of the lecture, stepped up\nto the platform and said: \"Mr. Beecher, I have been much interested\nin your lecture and would like to ask you a question. Jesus said to\nNicodemus, 'Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot\nenter into the kingdom of God.' Now, how is it possible for a man to\nbe baptized in water when his body has already crumbled in the earth?\"\nThe great preacher looked at the interrogator for a moment and then\nsaid: \"Young man, where do you hail from?\" \"From the West.\" \"From what\npart of the West?\" \"From Salt Lake City,\" answered the Elder. \"Oh,\"\nsaid Mr. Beecher, \"you may answer your own question. Good evening,\"\nand walked away. Mr. Beecher probably had read enough on the subject\nof baptism for the dead to know that such a doctrine must be coupled\nwith preaching to departed spirits, but he did not wish to be accused\nof teaching \"Mormonism,\" so he stopped short of that. He said enough,\nhowever, to verify the words of Joseph Smith, and also those of the\nSavior, when He said that if men put new wine into old bottles it would\nbreak them to pieces; in other words, new doctrine into old systems.\n\nOther instances might be cited, but this will suffice to illustrate how\nthe influence of the Gospel is working among the children of men.\n\nWe now come to one of the most important, interesting and extensive\nbranches of this great subject, namely, that of securing the names,\nbirths, marriages and deaths of our ancestors, a class of information\nessential for record in order to prosecute this great work of salvation\nfor the dead. The genealogical research must be an arduous one and\nofttimes attended with great difficulty.\n\nNathaniel H. Morgan, author of a genealogical history entitled \"James\nMorgan and His Descendants,\" makes this observation in the introduction\nof his work: \"The task of the genealogist, in groping his way amid the\ndusty records of the past, is much like that of the African Indians\nin pursuing an obscure trail through a tangled wilderness. An acute\nfaculty of perception and a keen and practiced eye must note and\nscrutinize every obscure footprint, every rustled leaf, every bent\ntwig; now, progressing rapidly, under a clear light, and guided by sure\ntokens; and anon, suddenly arrested by a total absence of all further\nsigns, and forced hopelessly to abandon the trail long and patiently\npursued until, perchance, again some new and unexpected waymark greets\nhis eye, inspiring fresh pursuit.\"\n\nWhile there have been isolated instances of genealogical works in\nAmerica since the year 1771, it is a noteworthy fact (and one showing\nthe hand of God plainly manifest in moving upon the Gentiles to do\nthis work) that since the coming of Elijah to the Kirtland Temple,\nthis spirit of writing genealogies has rapidly increased in the United\nStates.\n\nI cannot do better at this juncture than to include as a part of our\narticle a letter written to the writer by Elder Franklin D. Richards\non this important subject. Elder Richards, through his researches, has\nbeen instrumental in furnishing printed genealogies to many families of\nLatter-day Saints. He says, under date of Nov. 29th, 1895:\n\n\"In answer to your question when the first genealogical history was\npublished, either in this country or in foreign nations, I must say it\nis impossible for me to answer, as I have not searched the libraries\nof Europe or of any foreign countries to learn when their first\ngenealogies were published; but, narrowing your question down to this\ncountry, I may say that the first that we have any account of was\npublished in 1771, consisting of twenty-four pages and was 'A genealogy\nof the family of Mr. Samuel Stebbins and Hannah Stebbins, his wife,\nfrom the year 1707 to the year 1771, with their names, time of their\nbirths, marriages and deaths of those that are deceased,' published\nat Hartford in 1771. The author, Mr. William H. Whitmore, says: 'This\nI believe to be the earliest genealogy in a distinct form published\nin the United States.' It is safe to conclude that an interest in\ngenealogical work did not take very deep root among the people until\nafter the Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith the great work of\nextending salvation to the dead. This is made evident from the dates\nnoted in the following excerpts taken from works on genealogical lore,\npublished in Boston and Albany. In the introduction of a work entitled\n'The American Genealogist,' by William H. Whitmore, and published by\nJoel Munsell, Albany, 1868, the following very interesting pages occur,\nin which you will observe the years 1844 (the year of the Prophet's\nmartyrdom) and 1847 are named as the respective dates when the New\nEngland Historical Genealogical Society was formed, and the 'Register'\nwas established under its patronage.\n\n\"It seems evident that the English element has predominated throughout\nour country, and the greater portion of English colonists settled in\nNew England. Hence the great activity of genealogists there has had\nmore than a local importance, and will be the means of preserving the\nrecords of the greater portion of our nation. There is difficulty in\ntracing the American pedigree of any family. Mr. Savage's admirable\ndictionary will furnish the inquirer with the first three generations\nof the name, and the indices of the register will enable him to examine\nnumerous town and county records. There are very few names which will\nnot be found in one or the other of these easily accessible works. The\ncounty registers of wills and deeds are open to every inquirer, free\nof expense, and it is rarely that any town clerk demands a fee for the\ninspection of his books. It is safe to say that nowhere else is the\ngenealogist so favored as in New England, and consequently no community\nexists where so great a proportion of its families have had their\nrecords preserved.\n\n\"We have been fortunate in our historical records from the first.\nBradford and Winthrop have noted down even the minute particulars of\nthe settlement of their respective colonies; Mather and Prince have\ngiven us numerous items concerning the lives and pedigrees of the\nclergy and magistrates. In establishing the registry of deeds, our\nforefathers not only were in advance of England in political science,\nbut they gave the genealogist a source of information elsewhere wanting.\n\n\"Very soon after the Revolutionary war an effort was made to revive\nthe former taste for historical research. The Massachusetts Historical\nSociety was formed, and has continued slowly to acquire wealth and\ninfluence, having greatly extended its usefulness within the past ten\nyears. John Farmer, secretary of the New Hampshire Historical Society,\nearly devoted himself to the study of genealogy and biography, and by\nhis genealogical register attracted public attention to the subject.\nOur list will show that but little progress was made for thirty years\nfrom the time he issued his Farmer genealogy, but enough was done to\nkeep the fire alive. In 1844, the Register was established under his\npatronage; since then the study of history and genealogy has been\ngreatly encouraged, and with good results. When the new society was\nformed the science of genealogy was little understood. The wealth of\nour records was hardly imagined, the necessity of severe examination of\ntraditions scarcely thought of, and the simplest and most economical\nform of arrangement was not yet invented. Soon, however, all these\npoints were examined, old manuscript published, and the State\nauthorities were persuaded to enact laws for the preservation of its\ndocuments. Since 1845 numerous local societies have been established\nor revived; over two hundred distinct works on genealogy have been\npublished up to 1868, and innumerable town histories and historical\npamphlets have been issued. In many instances these results have been\nknown to be due to the establishment of the new societies, and it is\nunquestionable that the spirit it fostered has been the mainspring\nin all Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island have issued large\nvolumes of their early annals, under the patronage of the respective\ngovernments. Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont possess active historical\nsocieties. New York has not only published her own records but assisted\nher neighbors, and established the largest and richest historical\nsociety in existence. Similar associations exist in more than half\nthe States in the Union, and a new magazine, the _\"American Notes\nand Queries,\"_ established as their organ, has continued to the\npresent time. Circular No. 3 of the New England Historic Genealogical\nSociety, issued June, 1847, signed by the following gentlemen, viz:\nCharles Ewer, Lemuel Shattuck, Samuel G. Drake, Samuel H. Riddle and\nW. H. Montague, treats of the great importance which they attach to\ngenealogical and historical work and works; and in this connection\nI may be permitted to suggest that what appealed so directly to\ntheir needs in those early times applies with much greater force to\nthe Saints of the Latter Days, who are clearly and pleasurably made\naware of the glorious relationship which exists between parents and\nchildren and the vital obligations the living are under to the dead.\nThese intimations, no doubt you will appreciate, and when time and\nopportunity permit let us hope that you will actively take pleasure\nin promoting the aims of the Genealogical Society of Utah, which\nwas especially organized to advance temple work, which includes the\nsalvation and redemption of both dead and living.      F.D. RICHARDS.\"\n\nWith all these prophecies before us, with the keys of salvation\nrestored to the earth, with the spirit of Elijah moving not only the\nSaints but men of the world to action, who can fail to see the truth of\nthis doctrine and the power of God made manifest to promote the great\nwork of salvation for the dead?\n\nIn conclusion, let us heed the voice of God to the Prophet Joseph,\nsaying, \"Therefore renounce war and proclaim peace and seek diligently\nto turn the hearts of the children to the fathers and the hearts of the\nfathers to the children;\" and the exhortation to us of the prophet who\nreceived this commandment, \"Brethren, shall we not go on in so great\na cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren and on, on to\nvictory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the\nearth break forth into singing. Let the dead speak forth anthems of\neternal praise to the King Immanuel, who hath ordained before the world\nwas, that which would enable us to redeem them out of their prison; for\nthe prisoners shall go free.\"\n\n\n\nTHE GATHERING OF ISRAEL.\n\nThis subject is of great moment. It should interest all people, Jew\nand Gentile, especially those who profess Judaism and Christianity.\nIt involves several features which affect the claims made by the\nLatter-day Saints that more revelation has been given and that the\ngospel has been restored in these, the last days. The solution of this\nquestion involves the fulfillment of many prophecies in the Old and New\nTestaments.\n\nThe trend of the teachings of modern Christianity is such as to keep,\nfrom the human mind, the idea that the Lord is a practical being and\nhas anything whatever to do with the temporal affairs of the children\nof men. Yet by a careful reading of the Scriptures it is readily seen\nthat God designated various portions of the earth to be occupied by\ndifferent bodies of His children. He gave Palestine to the seed of\nAbraham, and designated where the children of Esau and other races\nshould dwell. This truth is beautifully expressed by the apostle Paul\nin Acts xvii:26, as follows: \"And hath made of one blood all nations of\nmen for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the\ntimes before appointed and the bounds of their habitation.\"\n\nTo make this subject clear to the reader, we will first show that\nthe seed of Abraham were promised certain countries, that they once\noccupied those promised lands, and were driven and scattered from them.\nHence, in order to receive the fulfillment of the promise regarding\ntheir inheritance, they must of necessity be gathered home from their\nlong dispersion.\n\nIn Genesis xiii:14, 15, we have the following: \"And the Lord said unto\nAbraham after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes,\nand look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and\neastward, and westward; for all the land which thou seest, to thee\nwill I give it, and to thy seed forever.\" This promise was renewed to\nhis son Isaac, as recorded in Genesis xxvi:2, 3: \"And the Lord appeared\nunto him and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I\nshall tell thee of; sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and\nwill bless thee; for unto thee and unto thy seed I will give all these\ncountries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham,\nthy father.\" And again, the promise was made to Jacob, the father of\nthe twelve tribes of Israel. In Gen. xlviii:3, 4, it is said: \"And\nJacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz, in the\nland of Canaan, and blessed me. And said unto me, Behold I will make\nthee fruitful and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude\nof people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an\neverlasting possession.\"\n\nIt is not necessary to make special quotations to prove to Bible\nreaders that the tribes of Israel were led into the land of Palestine\nin the days of the prophet Joshua, and under his administration\nreceived their respective inheritances in the promised land.\n\nOn reading the forty-ninth chapter of Genesis we find a brief statement\nof the blessings pronounced by the great patriarch upon his twelve\nsons. In blessing Joseph it is plainly indicated that his seed was \"a\nfruitful bough by a well, whose branches run over the wall;\" in other\nwords, his posterity should receive a land beyond the limits which\nbound the country occupied by the other tribes of Israel. This view\nis corroborated by the thirty-third chapter of Deuteronomy, in the\nblessing and prophecy of Moses upon the head of the tribe of Joseph.\n\nThe descriptions of the land of Joseph, given in these two chapters,\ntogether with the other passages of Holy Writ, show that the land\nof Joseph was no less than the Western Hemisphere, known to us as\nNorth and South America. It is well known that the tribes of Israel\noccupied the promised land from generation to generation, until through\napostasy and transgression nearly all the tribes were carried into\ncaptivity long before the advent of the Messiah. When He came the land\nwas occupied chiefly by the tribe of Judah, which was subsequently\nscattered among the various nations of the earth.\n\nThe Lord plainly warned the house of Israel that, to enjoy His\nblessings and to remain unmolested in the land of their fathers, they\nmust keep His commandments. If they did not, this was to follow: \"And\nI will bring the land into desolation; and your enemies which dwell\ntherein shall be astonished at it. And I will scatter you among the\nheathen, and will draw out a sword after you, and your land shall be\ndesolate and your cities waste.\" (Lev. xxvi:32, 33.) Very much like\nthis prophecy are the sacred words of the Messiah, spoken 1500 years\nlater: \"For there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon\nthis people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be\nled away captive into all nations: And Jerusalem shall be trodden down\nof the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.\" (Luke\nxxi:23, 24.)\n\nIt is also stated in Deut. xxviii:63-65: \"And ye shall be plucked from\noff the land whither thou goest to possess it. And the Lord shall\nscatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto\nthe other; and there thou shalt serve other gods which neither thou nor\nthy fathers have known, even wood and stone. And among these nations\nshalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy feet have rest;\nbut the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of\neyes, and sorrow of mind.\"\n\nHistory records beyond the possibility of a doubt how literally and\nterribly the various clauses in these predictions have been fulfilled.\nIsrael has been scattered, and Judah has been persecuted and oppressed\nand become a hiss and a byword in the mouths of all the Gentile nations.\n\nWith the sacred promises before us, that Israel should receive those\ncountries and the history which proves that they were scattered and\nare still unreturned to their promised land, we must be convinced, if\nnothing were said in the Scriptures of the restoration, that Israel\nmust be gathered and re-established in the land of their fathers or\nthe promises of the Almighty would come to naught. We are not left,\nhowever, without predictions which specify, in considerable detail,\nthat the chosen people shall be gathered and the circumstances and\nsigns of the times associated with the gathering of Israel in the last\ndays.\n\nFour hundred and forty-six years before Christ, the prophet Nehemiah,\nbowing down in sorrow because of this scattering and destruction of his\npeople, besought the Lord in humble supplication, thus: \"Remember, I\nbeseech thee, the word that thou commandest thy servant Moses, saying,\nIf ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations; but if\nye turn unto me, and keep my commandments and do them; though there\nwere of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I\ngather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have\nchosen to set my name there.\" (Neh. i:8, 9.)\n\nThe psalmist David said (Psalms l:5): \"Gather my saints together unto\nme; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.\" The context\nof this psalm shows plainly that the fulfillment of the words quoted\nshould take place in the last days, near the time of the coming of the\nSon of God. Those who should be called saints would be required to\nsacrifice the associations of their native lands as Abraham was when\ncalled upon to turn aside from the false religion of his fathers and go\nto a land into which the Lord should lead him. The Latter-day Saints\nhave made a covenant with God, and through self-denial are gathering\ntogether in fulfillment of the words of David the psalmist.\n\nAnother prophecy from the same book is as follows: \"O give thanks unto\nthe Lord, for He is good; for His mercy endureth forever. Let the\nredeemed of the Lord say so, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of\nthe enemy; and gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from\nthe west, and from the north, and from the south. They wandered in the\nwilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry\nand thirsty, their souls fainted in them. They cried unto the Lord in\ntheir trouble and He delivered them out of their distresses.\"\n\nThe provisions of this prophecy have been and are being verified in\nthe gathering of the Saints to the Rocky Mountains. In Isaiah ii:2, 3,\nwe have the following prediction: \"And it shall come to pass in the\nlast days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established\nin the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and\nall nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come\nye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the\nGod of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in\nHis paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the\nLord from Jerusalem.\" This prediction is too plain to be mistaken when\nit is fulfilled. This prophecy was not fulfilled at the coming of the\nMessiah, neither before nor since His time, but it is being fulfilled\nin the gathering of the Latter-day Saints. They have established the\nhouse of the Lord in a mountainous country; many people are gathering\nto it, their object being to learn the ways of the Lord that they may\nmore perfectly walk in His paths. This prediction should be verified\nat a time near which people should beat their swords into plowshares\nand their spears into pruning hooks; \"neither shall they learn war any\nmore,\" as shown by the verse following those we have quoted.\n\nMicah, fifty years after this, uttered a similar prophecy, in almost\nthe same language, as will be found in the first and second verses of\nhis fourth chapter.\n\nAnother prophecy of Isaiah on this subject will be found in chapter\nfive, twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh verses. It reads as follows: \"And\nHe will lift up an ensign to the nations from afar, and will hiss unto\nthem from the end of the earth; and behold, they shall come with speed\nswiftly; none shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber\nnor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed nor the\nlatchet of their shoes be broken.\" The wording of this, in connection\nwith verses which follow, seems plainly to have its fulfillment in the\nmanner of travel by which the Saints are being and shall be gathered to\nthe place appointed. They come by railroad, \"with speed swiftly,\" which\nprevents them, in a great measure, from stumbling or becoming weary by\nthe way. Notice that the words of this prediction, that the ensign was\nto be set up from afar, undoubtedly indicate a far distant land from\nthe place where Isaiah stood when he uttered the prophecy. He stood\nupon the Eastern Hemisphere; America was far distant, and upon this\nland the ensign has been lifted up. Is it not an ensign to the nations?\nThe authority of God, the house of the Lord, where the nations of the\nearth are invited to repent of their sins and freely partake of the\nblessings to be obtained where the ensign is established, surely are\nsuch.\n\nA prediction very similar to the foregoing in its provisions was\nuttered by the same prophet and is contained in the eleventh chapter of\nhis book, the eleventh and twelfth verses: \"And it shall come to pass\nin that day, that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to\nrecover the remnant of His people, which shall be left, from Assyria,\nand from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and\nfrom Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And He\nshall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts\nof Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four\ncorners of the earth.\"\n\nThese prophecies could not be fulfilled short of bestowing more\nrevelation upon the children of men to show them how, where and when\nthese great events should be accomplished.\n\nWe have quoted from the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, in the twelfth\nverse of which this language is used: \"And shall assemble the outcasts\nof Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah.\" It will be\nnoticed that the word outcasts applies to Israel, which means that\nIsrael was _cast out from_ the knowledge of the Gentile nations, while\nthe seed of Judah was _scattered among_ the nations of the earth. The\nreason distinction is made between Israel and Judah, when Judah was one\nof the tribes of Israel, is that in the days of David and Solomon the\nLord divided the kingdom of Israel, making Judah the distinct nation\nand the remaining tribes another distinct nation, having two separate\nkings. The tribes of Israel were led away into the north country, and\nbecame lost to the knowledge of the world, while Judah and a portion of\nEphraim remained in Palestine, and were scattered among the nations.\nThis is why the prophet applies the word \"outcast\" to Israel and the\nword \"dispersed\" to the tribes of Judah.\n\nZechariah the prophet says: \"Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land\nof the north.\" (Zech. ii:6.) This return of the tribes of Israel from\nthe land of the north will be attended with much miraculous power. The\nmiracles wrought in the days of Moses will not be the reference made by\nIsrael to show the power of God in their behalf, but this prophecy will\nbe fulfilled: \"Therefore, behold the days come, saith the Lord, that\nit shall no more be said, the Lord liveth that brought up the children\nof Israel out of the land of Egypt; But the Lord liveth that brought\nup the Children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the\nlands whither He had driven them: and I will bring them again into\ntheir land that I gave unto their fathers.\" (Jer. xvi:14, 15.)\n\nOne very interesting feature associated with the gathering of Israel in\nthe last days is expressed in the sixteenth verse of the same chapter,\nas follows: \"Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and\nthey shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they\nshall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of\nthe holes of the rocks.\" When men engage in fishing they cast their\nlines into the water, and know not until drawn to shore whether the\nfish caught be of one kind or another; but when they go hunting they\nknow exactly the game they shoot at, whether it is a lion or a tiger,\na buffalo or a deer. This Scripture is fulfilled in the preaching of\nthe Gospel among the Gentile nations by the elders of Israel; it is not\nknown by them whether the person who embraces the Gospel and gathers\nto Zion is of the blood of Israel, a Gentile or otherwise, until it\nis made known by the light of revelation. This, then, is as casting\nthe Gospel net into the sea, which gathers of all kinds, who remain\ntogether until the bad are separated from the good and cast back into\nthe sea.\n\nIsaiah says, in chapter xxvii:12, \"Ye shall be gathered one by one, O\nye children of Israel.\" This is corroborated in the third chapter of\nJeremiah, fourteenth and fifteen verses, which read: \"I will take you\none of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion; and\nI will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you\nwith knowledge and understanding.\"\n\nHow strikingly true it is that in this dispensation only one or two, in\nmany instances, of a numerous family, receive the truth. And frequently\nbut one, or very few, in a whole city. But these, when they receive the\nHoly Spirit through embracing the Gospel, at the hands of inspired and\ndivinely authorized men, are filled with a desire to gather to Zion,\nand there are taught by pastors \"called of God as was Aaron.\"\n\nA prophecy very like the foregoing is found in the eighteenth chapter\nof Revelations, fourth and fifth verses: \"And I heard another voice\nfrom heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not\npartakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her\nsins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.\"\nThat they are out of Babylon is made clear by the verses preceding the\nones quoted. Babylon signifies confusion, and is shown in the preceding\nchapter of Revelation to apply to \"people and multitudes, and nations\nand tongues.\" Should there be among the nations of the earth any class\nof people professing to be the Saints of God, yet who have no desire\nto gather from Babylon in order to avoid her sins and thus escape her\nplagues, it would be proof that they had not received, in spirit and\ntruth, the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.\n\nAnother prophecy bearing upon the return of the tribes from the\nnorth, as well as those scattered among the nations, is found in Jer.\nxxxi:8, 9, 10: \"Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and\ngather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and\nthe lame, the woman with child, and her that travaileth with child\ntogether: A great company shall return thither. They shall come with\nweeping, and with supplications will I lead them; I will cause them to\nwalk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not\nstumble; for I am a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first born.\nHear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles\nafar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep\nhim, as a shepherd does his flock.\" In the twelfth verse it says,\n\"Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion.\" This latter\nclause in the prophecy shows that the place of their gathering shall\nbe an elevated region of country. In some instances the term Zion is\nused with reference to a place or land, as shown in the sixty-second\nchapter of Isaiah, which the reader can refer to at leisure. And in\nother instances the word applies to a people. Modern revelation through\nthe prophet Joseph Smith says: \"This is Zion, the pure in heart.\" Using\nthe word in this sense, light is thrown upon the foregoing prophecy\nof Jeremiah by one found in Isaiah xl:9: \"O Zion, that bringest good\ntidings, get thee up into the high mountain.\" This would not have been\nverified if the Saints of latter days had remained in a scattered\ncondition among the nations, or even in the lower regions first\noccupied by them in the United States, for America is the land of Zion.\nThe great events which go to make up the history of the Latter-day\nSaints furnish indisputable evidence that they were led there by the\nhand of God, and that, too, in fulfillment of ancient and modern\nprophecy.\n\nIn reference to the saints being led by the rivers of water in\na straight way, Isaiah has a similar prophecy, contained in the\nthirty-second chapter, eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth verses:\n\"And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure\ndwellings, and in quiet resting places; when it shall hail, coming down\non the forests; and the city shall be low in a low place. Blessed are\nye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the\nox, and the ass.\" The prophets foresaw that the gathering place of the\nsaints should be in a section of the country where the rains should not\nbe abundant, and for that reason they would plant beside all waters,\nthat the system of irrigation might be employed to water the crops of\nthe earth, and through this also that grasses and other vegetation\nmight be provided for their domestic animals. It is also an interesting\nfact that the cities built by the Saints in the valleys, in comparison\nwith the summit of the snow-capped mountains around them, are situated\nin low places, so that many times when the hail comes down in fury upon\nthe mountain forests above, the city is free from storm.\n\nOne feature of the pleasantness which characterizes the Saints of\nGod is their custom, in their mountain homes, of coming together in\na social capacity and joining in the dance. In this capacity, as in\ngatherings of more weighty importance, the old and the young, male\nand female, mingle together, that parents may rejoice in the innocent\nrecreation of their children and that the children may be under the\nguiding influence of their parents. Strange as it may seem to the\nworld, even to those professing Christianity and a consequent belief in\nthe Bible, such a condition is in fulfillment of sacred prophecy found\nin the thirteenth verse of the thirty-first chapter of Jeremiah, which\nreads as follows: \"Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both\nyoung men and old together; for I will turn their mourning into joy,\nand will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.\" This\nwas to be at the time of their getting up into the high mountains, and\nexpressing their praises to the Almighty in the heights of Zion.\n\nClosely connected with the foregoing prophecies is one found in Isaiah,\nthirty-fifth chapter, first and tenth verses: \"The wilderness and the\nsolitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice\nand blossom as the rose. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,\nand come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads; they\nshall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.\"\nAlmost the entire chapter has a bearing upon this subject.\n\nThe Lord has so abundantly blessed the labors of His people in that\nonce barren region that truly the desert does rejoice and blossom as\nthe rose. That Salt Lake valley was a most forbidding place cannot be\ndenied. James Bridges, an old trapper who had seen Salt Lake valley\nbefore the Pioneers, was so confident of the perpetual sterility of\nthe soil, rendered so by having little or no water, scarcely any rain,\nand frost nearly every month in the year, that he said to President\nBrigham Young: \"I will give you a thousand dollars for the first ear\nof corn that can be produced in Salt Lake valley.\" Our geographies\ndesignated that country as the Great American Desert. Daniel Webster,\nthe great statesman and orator, earnestly opposed the annexation of\nthat section of the country to the United States on the ground of its\nalmost utter worthlessness, claiming it would be a financial burden to\nthe government.\n\nNotwithstanding these forbidding aspects, the Prophet Joseph Smith\npredicted on the 6th of August, 1842, that the Latter-day Saints would\nbecome a mighty people in the midst of the Rocky Mountains. This\nprophecy will be found readily in a work entitled \"A New Witness for\nGod,\" by Elder B. H. Roberts, which work also contains really other\npredictions of the prophet Joseph Smith, and shows their fulfillment.\nThe following in the prophecy of Isaiah, chapter thirty-five, \"For in\nthe wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert, and\nthe parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty lands springs\nof water,\" has been fulfilled in the settlement of the Rocky Mountain\nregion by the Latter-day Saints.\n\nAs the judgments of God come upon the earth the gathering of Israel\nwill be accelerated, and the words of the prophet Isaiah will be\nfulfilled wherein he asks the question, \"Who are these that fly as a\ncloud, and as the doves to their windows?\" (Isa. lx:8.) As they come\ntogether from their long dispersion, and from the north country, in\ntimes of famine, pestilence and bloodshed, the Lord will strengthen\nthem by saying, \"Fear not; for I am with thee; I will bring thy seed\nfrom the east and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north,\ngive up; and to the south, keep not back; bring my sons from afar, and\nmy daughters from the ends of the earth; even every one that is called\nby my name.\" (Isa. xliii:5 6.) How universal will be this gathering\nfrom all points of the compass, and which will apply to all who are\ntruly called by the name of the Lord!\n\nThis gathering will be attended by greater power than heretofore, and\nno power will be able to impede the progress of the great work. Hear\nwhat Ezekiel says: \"And I will bring you out from the people, and\nwill gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a\nmighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.\nAnd I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will\nI plead with you face to face.\" (Ezekiel xx:34, 35.) The same prophet\nalso predicts the gathering of Israel in unmistakable terms, in chapter\nxxxvi:24: \"For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you\ninto your own land.\"\n\nThe foregoing predictions are chiefly from the Old Testament, but the\nNew Testament also contains many very definite forecasts upon this\nglorious subject; indeed, in the last days, when the Gospel should\nbe restored to earth by divine revelation, the dispensation thus\nestablished was to be designated as a gathering dispensation, as stated\nby Paul in Ephesians, chapter i:9, 10: \"Having made known unto us the\nmystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath\npurposed in Himself; that in the dispensation of the fullness of times,\nHe might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in\nheaven, and which are on the earth; even in Him.\" This is in perfect\naccord with the prophecy of Isaiah before quoted, that all who are\ncalled by the name of the Lord should be gathered together.\n\nJesus offered the gathering to the house of Judah in His day, but they\nrejected it. He said unto them, \"O, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest\nthe prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would\nI have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood\nunder her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you\ndesolate; and verily I say unto you, ye shall not see me, until the\ntime come when ye shall say, blessed is he that cometh in the name\nof the Lord.\" (Luke xiii:34, 35.) How terribly have these words been\nfulfilled upon the Jews through their having rejected the Messiah and\nthe principle of gathering which He offered to them.\n\nBy reading the book of Zechariah we learn that when the Jews have\ngathered to their promised land, in the last days, and the armies of\nthe Gentiles surround them, the Messiah will appear unto them on the\nMount of Olives. Looking to the fulfillment of the great predictions\nthe feeling now pervades the hearts of the Jews, to a very great\nextent, to furnish means for the purchase of the land of Palestine,\nthat they may return and rebuild the city of Jerusalem.\n\nWhen the Twelve Apostles at Jerusalem requested of the Savior to know\nthe signs of His second coming, He gave various evidences, among\nwhich was the preaching of the Gospel of the kingdom and consequently\nits restoration to the earth, and the raising up of prophets to warn\nthe people, without which the comparison of the days of Noah and the\ndays of the second coming of the Messiah would not be complete. To\ncounterfeit the work of God through prophets that should be raised\nup, false prophets and teachers should also arise; kingdom should\narise against kingdom; war, pestilence and bloodshed should desolate\nthe nations of the earth; the gathering of Israel should be going on,\nas proved by the prophecies heretofore quoted, and when the signs of\nHis appearing should appear in the heavens, \"He shall send His angels\nwith a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His\nelect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.\" (Matt.\nxxiv:31; see also Mark xiii:27.)\n\nThis is the dispensation of the fullness of times in which all the\nkeys, power and authority enjoyed by all previous dispensations\nhave been restored to the earth, and this includes the keys of the\ngathering. Under date of April 3d, 1836, Joseph Smith and Oliver\nCowdery were the recipients of many splendid visions and revelations\nat Kirtland Ohio, in the Temple of the Lord. They solemnly testify as\nfollows: \"After this vision closed, the heavens were again opened unto\nus, and Moses appeared before us, and committed unto us the keys of the\ngathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the leading\nof the ten tribes from the land of the north.\" (Doctrine and Covenants,\nSec. 110:11.)\n\nFrom that time the spirit of gathering has rested richly upon the\nsaints of the Most High, and tens of thousands have gathered from many\nnations of the earth. The Saints will continue until they are assembled\nin the places designated for them to occupy. Since the date mentioned,\nthe spirit of the gathering also has been working among the Jews, and\nwhen all things are revealed it will undoubtedly be found that the\nspirit of gathering is working among the ten lost tribes of Israel,\nlooking to the restoration promised to them in the predictions of their\nfathers. Thus in the purpose of God will be accomplished the gathering\ntogether in one, all who will serve Him and keep His commandments, that\nthey may \"learn of His ways and walk in His paths,\" that the earth\nmay be \"filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the\nmighty deep, when no man shall say to his neighbor, 'know ye the Lord,'\nfor all shall know Him, from the least to the greatest.\"\n\n\n\nTITHING.\n\nUnlike other religious sects professing Christianity, the Latter-day\nSaints do not observe the law of tithing, the ordinances of baptism,\nconfirmation or any other sacred rite merely because the Bible records\nthat such observances were had among the ancient saints, but for the\nreason that in this age of the world, God has commanded us to receive\nthese laws and ordinances.\n\nThe law of tithing was given in the early history of God's dealings\nwith the children of men. Abraham paid tithes to Melchisedek, according\nto the statement of Paul to the Hebrews. The apostle also refers\nto the fact that the tribe of Levi had been selected from all the\nsons of Israel to officiate in that order of the priesthood which\nhas to do with the outward ordinances of tithes and sacrifice, and\nnotwithstanding there was a higher order, of which Melchisedek was the\ngreat High Priest, those bearing the higher priesthood were not exempt\nfrom the law of tithing. (Heb. vii:4-5.)\n\nJacob also paid one-tenth to the Lord. (Gen. xxviii:20-22.) During the\nadministration of Moses as the leader and lawgiver under the Almighty\nto Israel, tithing was enjoined as a universal law to the people of\nGod. \"And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or\nof the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's; it is holy unto the Lord. And\nconcerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever\npasseth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord. He shall\nnot search whether it be good or bad.\" (Lev. xxvii:30, 32, 33.) This did\nnot require a selection of the very choicest product of the flock, the\nherd or the soil, neither did it justify a man in offering for his\ntithes the poorest or least valuable of his income. Of the flocks, each\none \"that passeth under the rod\" was to be tithed. The custom was to\npen the flocks in a corral, with a gateway too small for the passage of\nmore than one animal at a time; and as they passed out, a man stood at\nthe gateway with a rod in his hand, and as the tenth one of the flock\nwent out, the man at the gate marked the animal with his rod. Thus\nevery tenth one, whether it was good, poor or medium, was sanctified to\nthe Lord as tithing; any disposition to offer as a tithe an inferior\narticle was disapproved of by the Lord. In matters of sacrifice upon\nthe altar, pointing to the sacrifice of the Great Redeemer who should\nbe offered in the meridian of time to redeem a fallen world, Israel was\npositively forbidden to offer the blind, the lame or the bruised. \"Ye\nshall offer at your own will a male without blemish, of the beeves, of\nthe sheep, or of the goats. But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall\nye not offer; for it shall not be acceptable for you. * * * Blind, or\nbroken, or maimed, or having a wen, or scurvy, or scabbed, ye shall not\noffer these unto the Lord, nor make an offering by fire of them upon\nthe altar unto the Lord.\" (Lev. xxii:19, 22.)\n\nThe atonement symbolized by the sacrifices was one (the Lamb of God)\nfree from blemish in every particular--\"a pure and perfect being\nwithout spot or blemish.\" Not only was the offering upon the altar a\nreminder of the atonement as a fact, by the shedding of blood, but the\ncharacter and quality of the offering must symbolize the perfect purity\nof the Son of God.\n\nWhile tithing was not so directly pointing to the atonement, nor was it\ndesigned for that purpose, it is yet an offering to the Lord required\nby Him, to be used for righteous purposes and to prepare the heart\nof the tithe-payer to give his all to God, to consecrate all in the\ninterest of human redemption. The Lord, in tithing, does not demand the\nbest nor justify His people in offering that of the least value in any\nsubstance tithed. How penurious, mean and small-souled on the part of\nany saint it would be to offer for tithing that of the poorest value\nto himself, especially in the light of the fact that God is the Giver\nof all we enjoy, whether of a spiritual or physical nature, and in the\nface of His great liberality in not demanding a selection of the very\nbest of any product which is tithed. If any man is tempted to pay the\npoorest calf, the poorest ton of hay, or a scabby sheep to rid himself\nof it, let him remember the word of the Lord to ancient Israel and the\ncondemnation that followed when they robbed God in tithes and offerings.\n\nThese injunctions continued throughout all the history of Israel,\nfrom Moses to the Savior. Malachi says \"And if ye offer the blind for\nsacrifice, is it not evil? And if ye offer the lame and sick, is it\nnot evil?\" (Mal. i:8.) It should be considered evil to offer such for\ntithing in our day. When Israel turned from their observance of this\nlaw, as from all others enjoined by the Almighty, the people were\nreprimanded severely, and were followed by the withering hand of God's\ndispleasure. \"Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say,\nwherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed\nwith a curse, for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye\nall the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine\nhouse, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will\nnot open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that\nthere shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the\ndevourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your\nground, neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the\nfield, saith the Lord of hosts, and all nations shall call you blessed,\nfor ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts.\" (Mal.\niii:8-12.) Thus was the law of tithing given to Israel; thus were\nthey to be blessed in its observance and cursed if they transgressed\nit. As the law was given anciently for the same purposes as in this\ndispensation, it would naturally agree in the blessings following\nits observances and the curses for its disobedience. When the Savior\nchastised the Pharisees for their hypocrisy, He evidently approved the\nlaw of tithing, for He said, \"But woe unto you Pharisees! For ye tithe\nmint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the\nlove of God; these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other\nundone.\" (Luke: xi:42.)\n\nIt is erroneously supposed by many that the laws observed by Israel\nprevious to Christ's atonement were almost entirely obliterated,\nbeing, as many think, all fulfilled in His mission on earth. A little\nreflection upon this subject will correct this error in the minds of\nall who are diligently and honestly seeking for the truth. The Ten\nCommandments themselves are pre-eminently a part of the Gospel of\nChrist. When the young man came to the Messiah to learn the way of\nsalvation, he was enjoined to observe the commandments, \"Thou shalt\nnot kill, Thou shalt not commit adultery,\" etc. (Matt. xix;16-21.)\nWhatever was discontinued after the atonement was that which had been\nestablished to symbolize and teach the great atonement to come. The\nofferings of lambs and bullocks in sacrifice was dispensed with, as\nit had pointed to the coming atonement now fulfilled in the Messiah.\nIt was replaced by the sacrament, the broken bread and the wine, both\nblessed and administered to the disciples and enjoined as a continuous\nordinance to keep bright in memory the sufferings, atonement and\nresurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.\n\nThe only time when the law of tithing was not enjoined upon the\npeople of God, so far as the Scriptures indicate, is when they not\nonly consecrated one-tenth to the Lord, but all they had. This law\nof consecration, we learned, was observed in the city of Enoch. It\nwas carried out in a measure by the ancient Saints in Palestine after\nthe day of Pentecost: \"And the multitude of them that believed were\nof one heart and of one soul; neither said any of them that ought of\nthe things which he possessed was his own; but they all had things\nin common. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the\nresurrection of the Lord Jesus; and great grace was upon them all.\nNeither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were\npossessors of lands or houses, sold them, and brought the prices of the\nthings which were sold, and laid them down at the apostles' feet; and\ndistribution was made unto every man as he had need.\" (Acts iv:32-35.)\n\nThis law of consecration, which comprehended the law of tithing\nand much more, was also observed for some 200 years upon the\nAmerican continent subsequent to the visit of the Savior to and the\nestablishment of His Church among the Nephites upon this land. The\nlaw of consecration was revealed to the Latter-day Saints through the\nProphet Joseph Smith, and will be established and carried out fully in\nthe redemption of Zion; without it Zion cannot be redeemed.\n\nThis is the dispensation of the fullness of times, the one containing\nin its revelations all the keys, powers, prerogatives, authorities and\nblessings, enjoyed by any and all previous dispensations combined-a\nday of the restoration of all things spoken by the mouth of all His\nholy Prophets since the world began. (Acts iii:20-21; Eph. i:9-10.)\nConsequently the law of tithing, with other grand doctrines, has been\nrestored to the earth. The revelation on this subject is found in the\nDoctrine and Covenants, Sec. 119, and was given to the Prophet Joseph\nSmith July 8, 1838. It shows what constitutes tithing, the purpose\nthereof and the blessings to be received as a reward of obedience\nthereto.\n\nThe law specifies one-tenth of all our interests annually. This means\nwhat it says, \"one-tenth of our interests;\" in other words, whatever\ncomes to us as the result of our labors in any and every vocation of\nlife. If we lend money, whatever the interest on the loan amounts to,\none-tenth of this interest is tithing. If the money is invested in any\nenterprise and brings a dividend, one-tenth of the dividend is the\ntithing. If a man is a carpenter, a blacksmith or a school teacher,\nand earns a salary, one-tenth of that salary should be consecrated to\nthe Lord as tithing; and the tithe-payer has the other nine-tenths to\nmeet his expenses and to use as a means of livelihood. Whatever the\noccupation, whether farmer, mechanic, professor, miner or whatever,\none-tenth of his interest annually is the tithing. If questions arise,\nas they sometimes do, especially with the farmer regarding legitimate\nexpenses used in producing what is left to us as a profit on our\nlabors, the Latter-day Saint, if in doubt as to the amount to pay, is\nusually certain of this--that between two propositions one of which he\nknows is right, and the other may be but he is not sure, he is always\nsafe to act upon that side of the question which extends to the law of\nthe Lord the greater liberality. \"It is more blessed to give than to\nreceive.\" \"The Lord loveth a cheerful giver,\" and \"He that deviseth\nliberal means, shall stand by his liberality,\" while the man who\ncomplies grudgingly or studies how little he can do, and at the same\ntime have the name and record of doing, is not the man who loves the\nLord with all his heart, mind and strength, and should not anticipate a\nfull measure of blessing attached to His law.\n\nBy an honest compliance, the individual is blessed in spirit and in\ntemporal substance. The testimonies of thousands, and even of the\nwidow who has paid her full tithing, is that God has increased their\nsubstance in some instances in a most remarkable manner, even as He\nincreased in the barrel the meal of the poor widow who fed the prophet\nElijah. He also has given testimony of His goodness and power and the\nincrease of His Holy Spirit to the honest tithe-payer, who receives\nblessings greatly exceeding in value the increase of gold, silver or\nany physical substance.\n\nIn tithing is strongly exemplified the eternal law that what is given\nas God directs increases the substance of the giver. When men exert the\nintellectual talents with which they are endowed in imparting knowledge\nto others, their own knowledge does not decrease but is enhanced, while\nthe active intellect grows strongly and the talents are more quickly\ndeveloped and increased. When our young Elders go forth and preach the\nGospel as they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost, the Spirit they employ\ndoes not grow less nor the gifts thereof diminish because they are\nconstantly imparting to others, but these increase abundantly. It is\njust as easy for the Lord to increase physical substance as to add to\nspiritual blessings and powers. When we sow the grain upon the earth,\nit would seem thrown away, but by the law of the Great Creator, the\nseed germinates in it and produces again, sometimes thirty and forty\nfold. So it is with tithing. We may not understand fully the process,\nbut the result is plain. God increases the faith and substance of him\nwho freely pays his tithing.\n\nAmong the conditions associated with this law is, \"those who are not\ntithed shall not be worthy the blessings of the house of the Lord;\"\nand again, \"He that is tithed shall not be burned\" (at His coming).\n(Doctrine and Covenants, Sec. 64:23.) It is predicted by Malachi and\nother prophets, as well as by the words of the Lord in the last days to\nthe prophet Joseph Smith, that the days of God's judgment are coming\nupon the earth, and that the wicked, proud and rebellious shall become\nas stubble, \"and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord\nof hosts.\" (Malachi iii. Doctrine and Covenants, Sec. 64.)\n\nIn the revelations on tithing the Lord also says, \"Verily I say unto\nyou, it shall come to pass that all those who gather into the land of\nZion shall be tithed of their surplus properties, and shall observe\nthis law or they shall not be found worthy to abide among you. And I\nsay unto you, if my people observe not this law, to keep it holy, and\nby this law sanctify the land of Zion unto me, that my statutes and my\njudgments may be kept thereon, that it may be most holy, behold, verily\nI say unto you, it shall not be a land of Zion unto you. And this shall\nbe an example unto all the Stakes of Zion. Even so, Amen.\" (Doc. and\nCov., Sec. 119.)\n\nThe perfection and benefits of the law of tithing could not be\ncomprehended by men of this age of the world prior to the revelations\ngiven from the Lord. This divine instruction was necessary, and its\ndemonstration in the lives of the people is a further witness of the\nprophetic calling of Joseph Smith; the facts connected therewith are\nwithin easy reach of those who will investigate among the people\nwho have actual experience and knowledge of the divine blessings\nthat attend obedience to the law of tithing and are unimpeachable\ntestimonies of the truth of God's word.\n\n\n\nETERNAL REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS.\n\nThere is nothing more strikingly plain and explicit in all the Holy\nScriptures than that God is just and His paths are \"mercy and truth.\"\n\nJustice is an essential attribute of Deity; it is as necessary in\ngovernment as love and mercy; it demands that man shall acquiesce in\ndivine law, without which all were confusion, utterly devoid of order\nand method, and the learned essayist has informed us that \"Heaven's\nfirst law is order.\" Justice should govern law, and when the law is\nviolated or its statutes are broken, justice calls for a penalty\ntherefor. It is by law that penalties are affixed, and we find in\nDeuteronomy, the 28th chapter, beginning with the 15th verse, \"If\nthou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe\nto do all His commandments and His statutes which I command thee this\nday, that all these curses shall come upon thee.\" In Mark xvi:16, we\nread, \"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that\nbelieveth not shall be damned.\" Here we find a penalty affixed for the\nviolation of the laws of God.\n\nWe find it verily true that in all God does and in all that He orders,\nHe manifests goodness and love, maintains justice and equity and\nexercises mercy and long-suffering. Notwithstanding His compassion and\nmercy, He is nevertheless just and true, therefore a full assurance\nthat He will bestow rewards and inflict punishments, as He has\naforetime decreed, must take root in the mind of every considering,\ninquiring, honest soul. As the apostle said: \"In hope of eternal\nlife, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.\"\n(Titus i:2. ) Mercy shall ever season justice, but never be permitted\nto rob her of her inexorable demands Love will never cease to be a\nruling attribute in all God's dealings, but not to mitigate or lessen\npunishment, unless repentance be manifest and forgiveness granted;\ngoodness, kindness, forbearance and gentleness, while they are forever\nand always exercised in Deity, will not stand to thwart or forestall\nthe judgments of God, or remove deserving penalties, only as provision\nis made in the plan of redemption.\n\nThere are numerous instances recorded upon the pages of Holy Writ\nwhich go to prove that God is just, and that His decrees will be\nfulfilled to the letter. Perhaps none are so convincingly clear as that\nportrayed in the atonement of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He\nbecame pre-eminently the \"man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.\"\nNot for His own sins, for He was the one person free from sin, but He\nbore affliction and suffering beyond our finite comprehension before a\nremission of that penalty, which justice demanded for Adam's sin, could\nbe procured. When we consider the agonies of the garden, the scoffings\nof the council and the torture of the crucifixion, we begin to realize\nthe exaction of punishment ere the sons of Adam could be freed from the\noriginal transgression enacted in Eden. Christ, in His vicarious work\nof interposition for fallen man, humbled Himself before His Father,\nbeing subject to pain, scorn, ignominy and death, that justice might\nbe satisfied. Herein, then, is plainly discerned the justice of the\nAlmighty--a justice as strict in its works as it is stern in its words,\nyet seasoned with mercy and dealt kindly with love; requiring of that\nJust One a full and complete atonement, unsparingly and unflinchingly,\nfor thus did justice demand. We are assured, then, of the justice of\nGod; the debt must be paid before the burden is lifted, but when the\nrequirements of the law are righteously met and kept, the load is\nremoved, for our Father is not only just, but merciful and true.\n\nIn the minds of many there exists a vague and erroneous idea as to\nwhat is really meant by the term \"eternal rewards\" and \"eternal\npunishments.\" A misunderstanding of these expressions has doubtless\ncaused many to be skeptical and infidelic. The word \"eternal\" does not\nrefer to the length or duration of the blessings endowed or penalties\ninflicted, but to the everlasting nature of the Great God, under whose\nrighteousness and justice the faithful are exalted and the wicked\npunished.\n\nThrough Moses, that ancient seer, the Lord spoke thus: \"The eternal\nGod is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.\" (Deut.\nxxxiii:27.) God, then, being eternal, His rewards are \"eternal\nrewards,\" His punishments \"eternal punishments.\" If the United States\nwere an eternal government, its justice would be eternal; if it were\nunchangeable, it always would punish violators of the law, and if\njustice were meted out to all, they would be punished in proportion to\nthe crime committed, and when the demands of justice were satisfied\nthey would be released, but the punishment would still continue to\nexist, and being eternal, all who fell under its ban would taste\nof eternal punishment. The punishment will always endure, although\ncriminals may serve their penalties and come out from the prison\nhouse; it is even so in the kingdom of God. God is the highest type\nof justice. He is eternal, everlasting, unchangeable, and always will\npunish sin. His punishment is eternal, because He is eternal. Eternal\nis one of His names, and eternal punishment is used in the sense\nof God's punishment, and not to designate it as everlasting in its\nduration upon the offender of the law. He will beat with many stripes\nall who commit sins worthy of the same, and with few stripes those\nguilty of less venal crimes. This will be determined according to the\nlight and knowledge one may possess. For example, three men commit\nmurder, an African in the jungles of Africa, a negro who was formerly a\nslave, and a white man. Other things being equal, the white man, with\nhis advanced intelligence, will suffer most, for he has had the most\nlight and by far the best opportunity to advance.\n\nThere are degrees of punishment, as well as degrees of reward. Here is\na tender, moral girl, who dies without accepting Christ as her Savior,\nand here is an old man, eighty years old, who dies in his sins; dare\nany one assert that a just and holy God is going to punish those two\nalike? And yet many, very many, look upon hell as a place where all\nsuffer alike, and heaven an ethereal, uncertain abode, where all enjoy\nlike blessings. Our salvation from death depends entirely upon Christ,\nbut our exaltation is upon our acts of obedience, and our condemnation\nupon our sins and transgressions. How plain and simple are the words of\nthe apostle Paul, \"Every man shall receive his own reward according to\nhis own labor.\" (I Cor. iii:8.)\n\nGod rewards according to our faithfulness to all opportunities. He does\nnot require a quart from a pint vessel. \"Where much is given much is\nrequired.\" \"As ye sow, so shall ye reap.\" As with rewards, so likewise\nwith punishments. When justice is satisfied, the sinner has paid the\ndebt.\n\nHow beautiful and holy is this plan of eternal justice! How consistent\nwith the words of the Messiah, \"Be ye perfect, as your Father in heaven\nis perfect.\" Paul informs us that after the resurrection and eternal\njudgment, we are to go on unto perfection, and not until then, will\nthe measure of our creation be filled.\n\nLet all ponder the simple truth that God is just, holy and righteous,\nwondrously tender, loving, gentle and kind. Eternal rewards are the\nblessings we receive from God for our faithfulness and fealty to His\nlaws. Eternal punishments are the inflictions which He imposes for\nour violation of His righteous commands. Our rewards we merit; our\npunishments we justly deserve. The Lord has said, \"I will never leave\nthee; I will never forsake thee,\" therefore, we are assured that \"His\nmercy endureth forever.\"\n\n\n\nOBEDIENCE.\n\n\"To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of\nrams.\" (I. Samuel xv:22.) In an age of the world when independence is\nthe proud boast of the nations, obedience is, by mistaken ideas of\nfreedom, considered a mark of humiliation. To the reader I will say,\nin reality, true obedience to the Lord's commands is an indication\nof moral courage, union and power. It is not blind obedience that is\nreferred to and maintained, but that type which characterized the\nancient seers and saints, who, like the Messiah, were ready to say by\nword and deed, \"I came not to do mine own will, but the will of my\nFather who sent me.\"\n\nThe Latter-day Saints are credited with being obedient and submissive\nto authority, this fact being often used by their opponents as the\noccasion of reproach. Those who so use it surely must forget that God\nrequires obedience; that the best embodiment of this principle, the\nmost humble and yielding to the divine will, was the best and purest\nBeing who ever dwelt in mortality, viz., the Lord Jesus Christ; He\nin whose mouth there was found no guile; who was perfect and without\nblemish in all the walks of life. While He was obedient to His Father's\nwill and humble to the extreme, He was independent of the influence and\npersuasions of wicked men.\n\nThe status of Latter-day Saints is conformable to this example.\nThey are obedient to conscience, to convictions of right, to divine\nauthority and to God, in whom they trust. While thus submissive, their\npersecutors have found them equally oblivious to the behests of wicked\nmen, whether high or low. Men in the factories of the old world,\nworking side by side at the weaver's loom, in the coal pit or elsewhere\nin following the various vocations of life-in this condition the Gospel\npreached by the elders of Israel has reached them. Alike, many of them\nhave received convictions of the truth. They have said: \"This is the\ntruth; I must obey it or stand condemned.\" Other people have said: \"It\nis true, but if I obey I will be ostracized, perhaps lose my employment\nand be an outcast from my father's house. Better that I reject the\ntruth and live in peace, than take upon me this cross of obedience to\nunpopular truth.\"\n\nThe courageous obey the Gospel, suffer persecution, prove themselves\nmen, and will attain to eternal life. The other people referred to are\nslaves to their own fear of popular clamor and to the unseen powers of\ndarkness which lead men to reject the plan of salvation. Of the first\nnamed class are the Latter-day Saints, a host of men and women who have\nleft home, kindred and country for the Gospel's sake. They have endured\npersecution even unto death, privation and suffering in every form;\nhave redeemed a desert and built up a commonwealth so fruitful with\neducation, thrift and enterprise that any nation beneath the sun might\nwell be proud of them. Their obedience and moral courage they bequeath\nto their posterity is a legacy better than diamonds or the honors and\npraise of a fallen world. They look back to their associates in early\nmanhood who, for fear, rejected the truth, and find these, whether\nliving or dead, in most cases unhonored and unknown.\n\nThe obedience rendered by Latter-day Saints to the authority of the\npriesthood is not secured by virtue of any solemn obligation entered\ninto by the adherent to obey the dictum of his superiors in office;\nbut upon the nature of the Gospel, which guarantees to every adherent\nthe companionship of the Holy Spirit, and this Spirit secures to every\nfaithful individual a living testimony concerning the truth or falsity\nof every proposition presented for his consideration.\n\n\"By one spirit have we access unto the Father.\" (Eph ii.) So that as\nall men and women who embrace the Gospel are entitled to an individual\ntestimony of the truth, the same spirit guides into all truth reveals\nthe things of the Father and imparts the inspiration essential to\npreserve mankind from a blind obedience to erroneous principles and\nfalse guides.\n\nThe statement of the Savior, recorded in St. John vii:17, covers\nthe ground in the broadest light: \"If any man will do His will, he\nshall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak\nof myself.\" This secures to every true Saint, if he is faithful,\nprotection against imposture, the abuse of power and the false\ndecisions of man-made councils. In this particular the Church of\nChrist is distinguished from all other system and institutions. He\nhas promised to guide and direct, and that He \"doeth nothing, but He\nrevealeth His secrets unto His servants, the prophets.\" (Amos iii:7.)\nThis does not imply the infallibility of man, but it does imply the\npromise that no man or council of men who stand at the head of the\nchurch shall have power to lead the Saints astray. With this assurance,\nthen, the people of God in every dispensation have been justified in\nrendering absolute yet intelligent obedience in the direction of the\nholy prophets. It is an undeniable fact in the history of the Saints\nthat obedience to whatever has come, either by written document or\nverbally, from the presidency of the church, has been attended with\ngood results; on the other hand, whosoever has opposed such council,\nwithout repentance, has been followed with evidence of condemnation.\n\nApplying this principle of obedience to organizations of a civil and\nbusiness character, confusion and weakness result from men refusing\ntheir support to the decision of the presiding authority or of the\nmajority, where the action is left to popular vote. Carlyle, the great\nEnglish writer, said: \"All great minds are respectfully obedient to all\nthat is over them; only small souls are otherwise.\"\n\nThe obedience rendered to God is based upon a conviction that He is\nperfect in all His ways possessing the attributes of justice, judgment,\nknowledge, power, mercy and truth in all their fullness. Obedience to\nHis appointed authority upon the earth is obedience to Him, and is\nso taught by the Savior. \"He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he\nthat receiveth me receiveth Him that sent me.\" (Matthew x:40.) He that\nheareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he\nthat despiseth me, despiseth Him that sent me. (Luke x:16.) \"Verily,\nverily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send, receiveth\nme; and he that receiveth me, receiveth Him that sent me.\" (St. John\nxiii:20.)\n\nIt is not the attractive qualities of the individual, however great,\nthat renders submission to his administration valid, but the authority\nof God which he fears. The acts of Philip, Stephen, Paul or James\nwere just as valid and binding as those of the Messiah Himself, when\nperformed by His authority and in His name. To reject the personal\nteachings and offices of the Savior could bring no greater condemnation\nthan to reject the teachings of any man sent of God bearing authority\nand the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to speak and act in the name\nof the Lord. This great truth was taught by the Savior on more than\none occasion, but perhaps no more forcibly or in more beautiful terms\nthan in the following: \"When the Son of Man shall come in His glory,\nand all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of\nHis glory; and before Him shall be gathered all nations; and He shall\nseparate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from\nthe goats. And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats\non the left. Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come,\nye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the\nfoundation of the world. For I was an hungered and ye gave me meat;\nI was thirsty and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger and ye took me\nin; naked and ye clothed me: I was sick and ye visited me; I was in\nprison and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer Him saying:\nLord, when saw we Thee an hungered and fed Thee? or thirsty and gave\nThee drink? When saw we Thee a stranger and took Thee in? or naked\nand clothed Thee? or when saw we Thee sick or in prison and came unto\nThee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto\nyou, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my\nbrethren, ye have done it unto me.\" When He told the wicked that they\nhad failed to thus administer unto Him, they began to plead that they\nhad not seen Him sick, in prison, hungry, naked or athirst. He answered\nthem, \"Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of the least of these, ye did\nit not unto me.\" (Matt. xxvi:31-46.)\n\nIt is not the individuality of the person which calls for respect\nand consideration, it is the principle involved. God had placed His\nauthority upon humble men. Through their administrations can be secured\nthe benefits and blessings which follow obedience to the ordinances\nof the Gospel. Implicit obedience must be rendered. The mandates\nof Jehovah are imperative. No substitute will do. The condition is\ncomplete to the plan of salvation as established by Almighty God.\n\nSaul was commanded to destroy Agag and all his hosts, man and beast.\nHe kept the best of the flock for, he said, a sacrifice, but God had\nordered otherwise, and Saul's disobedience caused him to lose the\nkingdom, shut him out from the revelations which came by dream, vision\nand the Urim and Thummim. \"Thou shalt not steady the ark\"; and they who\ndisobeyed were smitten of the Lord. Israel by disobedience lost the\nguidance of the Almighty, went into spiritual darkness, and have been\nscattered to the four quarters of the earth, \"a hiss and a by-word in\nthe mouths of all nations.\"\n\nObedience is essential to salvation, essential to success in every\navenue of human enterprise. Whether rendered to the laws of God direct,\nin their moral and spiritual phases, or to His authority vested in man,\nobedience must be implicit. The haughty man boasts of independence.\nHe scorns the humble followers of the Lord, but while he prates of\nfreedom, he is himself slavishly obedient to his own whims and mistaken\nideas or to the spirit of evil, to popular sentiment or to some other\ninfluence always dangerous to the welfare of mankind.\n\nThe Saints have been accused of being priest-ridden and fearful to\nuse their own judgment. What do the facts show? They are only asked\nto do right, live pure lives, do good to all men, evil to none, and\nto respect the order of God's kingdom that salvation may come to them\nand be extended to all the world. Their obedience has made them the\nbest and purest body of people on the earth. What of the character of\nthose who have derided them? They are slaves to a shallow and excited\nsentiment or to wickedness and vice, obedient to their own lusts and\nwicked ways. Compared with those they misrepresent they are below them\nin almost every trait which characterizes noble manhood. By obedience\nto God and His priesthood the Saints in this age have come off\ntriumphant over obstacles within and foes without. By obedience to God\nand His commands they will continue the blessed and favored of the Lord\nforever. They have proved the words of Samuel to Saul, verily true: \"To\nobey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.\"\n\n\n\nCHARITY.\n\nWhat is charity? Does it consist solely in the giving of bread to the\nhungry, clothes to the naked or succor to the distressed? \"Though I\nbestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to\nbe burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity\nsuffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not\nitself, is not puffed up; doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not\nher own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in\niniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all\nthings, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth.\"\n(I. Cor. xiii:3-8.) If to say that one has charity to any considerable\nextent requires the possession of all the foregoing characteristics,\nthen we may truthfully admit that there is a great charity famine now\nprevailing throughout the world.\n\nIt is not difficult to find people who will impart of their substance\nto feed the poor; but too frequently many who do so will look with\nscorn upon those who differ from them in matters of religion, politics\nor other subjects. Modern history records many instances where people\nnoted for their hospitality have shown intense hatred and bitterness\ntoward some who have come into their midst preaching doctrines which\nwere in conflict with the theories they and their fathers had espoused.\n\nIn many cases mobs have been headed by ministers of religion, who have\ninstigated and participated in shedding the innocent blood of their\nfellow beings for no other reason than their hatred of a religion\ndifferent from their own. Indeed, few if any in modern Christendom\ncan be said to exemplify in their lives all the traits attributed to\ncharity in the quotation from the sayings of the apostle Paul. Who\n\"suffers long\" without a murmur, especially if the suffering comes by\noppression from an outward foe, and in return for evil? Who are kind to\nthose who wrong them? Where is he who \"envieth not\" the possessions of\nhis neighbor, or the honors and emoluments of office enjoyed by others?\nWho, under the wave of prosperity, in the lap of luxury, or dwelling\nin popular favor, \"vaunteth not\" himself, \"is not puffed up\" or \"doth\nnot behave himself unseemly?\" Who \"seeketh not\" his own, \"but rather\"\nprefers his brother before himself? Who is not \"easily provoked,\"\nand therefore does not retaliate against those who may give offense?\nWho \"thinks not evil\" of those who go contrary to his views, but the\nmotives of whose hearts he knows nothing about?\n\nHow many persons there are who have not become acquainted with our\npeople, yet who, through the circulation of scurrilous reports, have\nimbibed deep-seated prejudice against the Latter-day Saints, and having\nbecome acquainted with them, have rejoiced to find them a better people\nthan such preconceived ideas had led them to the belief that they\nwere? In missionary experience, the Elders frequently have found many\nprofessing Christians exasperated when confronted with proof that the\nSaints were a God-fearing, virtuous, temperate, honest and industrious\npeople. Such professors \"rejoice in iniquity,\" and \"love darkness\nrather than light, because their deeds are evil.\" They do not rejoice\nin truth, but rather \"have pleasure in unrighteousness.\" Few there are,\neven among the Saints, who fully and becomingly \"bear all things\" and\nprove themselves the true type of the Savior of mankind, who preferred\never to suffer wrong than to do wrong.\n\nDo we \"believe all things\" and \"hope for all things\" which have been\npredicted by the prophets since the world began?\n\nWho in the world is looking for angels to visit the earth in the last\ndays, for the restoration of the ancient Gospel in its primitive beauty\nand power? Who is looking for the restoration of the Jews to Palestine?\nWho looks for a people to build a temple where the Savior shall\nsuddenly come, and who looks for Elijah to appear before that great\nand terrible day of the Lord's coming, when the wicked shall become as\nstubble, and be consumed by the judgments of God? If these events have\nnot occurred or are not transpiring, they must do so, or the words of\nthe prophets will fail, the Scriptures be proved fallacious, and our\nhope is vain. And he who believes not these things has not charity. If\nhe had, he would be patient to hear, anxious to learn, and the Lord\nwould lead all such to the light. Charity should be sought after and\ncultivated by the Saints above all other people. Our professions are\ngreater. If our deportment contradicts our teachings, our ignorance is\nmore apparent, or our hypocrisy is more pronounced.\n\nIt is stated in the Book of Mormon that \"Charity is the pure love of\nGod.\" By this plain yet comprehensive definition, we learn that unless\nthe love of God dwells in our hearts we have not charity. This love\nfor the salvation of mankind induces the true servants of the Lord to\ntravel to the ends of the earth, without the shadow or hope of earthly\nreward, to preach the Gospel to the world. Not only that; with all the\nself-denial of home and its comforts which such a mission implies, we\nalso esteem all the good which others have, not asking them to forsake\none truth they now possess, but inviting them to receive more truth,\npointing them to a greater light, and leaving them perfectly free from\nundue persuasion to receive the message or reject it as they may choose.\n\nThe Prophet Joseph instructed the Twelve and the Elders, in preaching\nthe Gospel, not to tear down the tenets of other men's faith, but\nin the spirit of meekness explain the Gospel and bear testimony to\nits divinity, leaving all mankind absolutely the keeper of their own\nconsciences, to do as they please and meet the responsibility of\ntheir own acts at the bar of eternal justice. Neither should it be\nforgotten that much of the labor of mankind, without a knowledge of\nthe Gospel, in many respects has been directed by a divine Providence\nto ameliorate the condition of mankind. \"There is a spirit in man,\nand the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.\" The\nachievements of the reformation by Luther and others, the inventions\nof the printing press, of electrical machinery, the locomotive and the\nsteamboat, the discovery of America, the revolution, the rounding,\nestablishment and perpetuity of our civil government in the United\nStates, all were events preparing the way for the restoration of the\nGospel and the final establishment of the kingdom of God in these last\ndays.\n\nA striking instance of divine purpose in the labors of men outside the\ntrue church is pointed out in a revelation given in December, 1830, to\nJoseph Smith, Jr., and Sidney Rigdon. The Lord said: \"Behold, verily,\nverily, I say unto my servant Sidney, I have looked upon thee and thy\nworks. I have heard thy prayers and prepared thee for a greater work.\nBehold, thou wast sent forth, even as John, to prepare the way before\nme, and before Elijah, which should come, and thou knewest it not. Thou\ndidst baptize by water unto repentance, but they received not the Holy\nGhost. But now I give unto thee a commandment, that thou shalt baptize\nby water, and they shall receive the Holy Ghost by the laying on of\nthe hands, even as the apostles of old.\" (Doctrine and Covenants, sec.\nxxxv, 3-6.)\n\nThe revelation given December, 1830, from which the above is quoted,\nwas upon the occasion of the first visit of Sidney Rigdon and Edward\nPartridge to the prophet Joseph Smith. The labors of Sidney Rigdon,\nreferred to in the quotation, must have alluded to his ministry in the\nCampbellite church, for he had been in the Church of Christ only about\nsix weeks when this revelation was given, having embraced the Gospel\nat the hands of Parley P. Pratt and fellow missionaries near Kirtland,\nOhio, late in October or early in November, 1830.\n\nAs is well understood, the followers of Alexander Campbell preach\nfaith, repentance and baptism by immersion for the remission of sins.\nThese views Sidney Rigdon espoused as being better than what he already\nhad, and when the true Gospel, in its fullness, with authority from God\nto administer the ordinances thereof, found him, he gladly obeyed the\nsame. In about three weeks from the time Brother Pratt and co-laborers\nentered Kirtland, 127 persons were baptized. Subsequently the numbers\nwere augmented to about 1,000 souls. In the providences of the Lord,\nKirtland soon became the gathering place of the Saints, the facilities\nthere being greatly enhanced by so many people embracing the Gospel and\nthus making a foothold for the prophet Joseph Smith and the Saints who\nshould follow him from the East. There the Kirtland Temple was built.\nThere the Savior, Moses, Elijah, Elias and other ancient worthies\nappeared to the prophet. There the endowments were given, and the\nSpirit from on high was poured out in the last days, as upon the day of\nPentecost.\n\nAll these subsequent events, of such a glorious character, show how\ndistinctly the Lord's hand was manifest in the mission and labors of\nSidney Rigdon before he embraced the Gospel. Such instances serve as\npointed lessons to the youth of Israel, teaching us to be broad and\ngenerous in viewing the labors of those not of us, so that if the hand\nof Providence is manifest we shall not be oblivious thereto, nor be\nfound in the ranks of those who have not charity.\n\n\n\nTHE RESURRECTION.\n\nThe skeptical doubt the resurrection of the dead. Some scientific\nmen have denied the possibility of the actual redemption of the body\nfrom the grave. One would think, as time goes on, with the wonderful\ndevelopments of science which reveal things that were classed among the\nimpossibilities of a century ago, that it is not reasonable to doubt\nthe possibility of anything, however remarkable, which is within the\nscope of blessings to mankind. The date, in the past, is not remote\nwhen it would have been deemed almost an indication of insanity for a\nman to say that such an instrument as the X-ray would be invented, by\nwhich a photograph of the interior of the human body could be taken.\nAstounding as it may appear, such is now an accomplished fact, and this\nis but one of the many remarkable and grand achievements of modern\ntimes. If such things are possible by the intelligence given to mortal\nman, is it not equally probable that the elements which enter into the\ncomposition of the human body can be brought together and resuscitated\nby an Omniscient Being? Is the resurrection any more unaccountable\nfrom a natural and scientific view than the organization of the human\nbody before its birth into the world? Many things are admitted in\nnature to be a fact, but why they are such, the most learned and\nscientific have been unable to explain. The elements in any substance\ndo not become annihilated; they change from one form of organization\nto another. Wheat, by a grinding and separating process, is made into\nflour, bran and shorts; from flour, by another process, into bread.\nEach change produces an article very different in appearance from the\none preceding it, but the same elements are there. They are eternal and\nindestructible. This being true of all forms of life in the vegetable\nkingdom, it must also be true of human life.\n\nEven Christians dispute with respect to the character of the\nresurrection of the body, some believing in an actual resurrection\nthereof, and others denying the immortality of the body of flesh and\nbones. It is our aim simply to present the statement of the Scriptures,\nwhich, the Latter-day Saints claim, are clear in declaring the actual\nresurrection of the body.\n\nChrist is the first fruits of the resurrection and the pattern of what\nis an eternal principle, applicable to all mankind. As He took up the\nsame body which was laid in the tomb, so will all the human family\nreceive a renewal, each of his own body. The change is, that the blood,\nwhich is the life of the mortal body, will not occupy the immortal one.\n\"Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.\" (I. Cor. xv:50.)\nIt is evident, however, that flesh and bones can inherit, occupied by\nimmortal spirit; for Jesus was the type.\n\nAfter His resurrection He appeared unto many. He said to His disciples,\nwhen they were affrighted and supposed they had seen a spirit: \"Behold,\nmy hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me and see; for a\nspirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.\" (Luke xxiv:39.) He\nthen showed them His hands and feet, which had been pierced with spikes\nin the terrible hour of His crucifixion. While He was with them He\ncalled for food, and they gave Him broiled fish and honeycomb, which He\nate in their presence.\n\nWhat could be more real, more tangible than this? When He was\nresurrected, many others received the same glorious blessing and came\nbodily out of their graves. \"And the graves were opened; and many\nbodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves\nafter His resurrection, and went into the holy city and appeared unto\nmany.\" (Matt. xxvii:52, 53.) These undoubtedly were the bodies of the\nrighteous who had embraced the Gospel in the various dispensations\nprior to the coming and atonement of our Lord and Savior. The\nantediluvians who rejected Noah were not among this number, for Peter\ninforms us that the Messiah, when put to death in the flesh, was\n\"quickened by the spirit; by which also He went and preached unto the\nspirits in prison; which sometime were disobedient, when once the long\nsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah.\" (I. Peter iii:18-20.)\n\nIs this not a beautiful yet terrible lesson to all, that those who hear\nthe Gospel in the flesh and reject it shall not come forth in the first\nresurrection, but remain, their bodies mingling with the dust, while\ntheir spirits are gathered as prisoners in the pit, awaiting with awful\nanxiety the judgment of the great day.\n\nThe Savior Himself said to His disciples: \"Verily, verily, I say\nunto you: The hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear\nthe voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live.\" (St.\nJohn v: 25.) Continuing His remarks, it would appear that He spoke\nof the two resurrections, for in the first, which took place when He\ncame forth from the tomb, the saints were resurrected, while in the\nfollowing verses, twenty-eight and twenty-nine, He says: \"Marvel not\nat this; for the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves\nshall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good,\nunto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the\nresurrection of damnation.\"\n\nThe reader will notice that the twenty-fifth verse reads \"the\ndead,\" and may only apply to the righteous as coming forth at His\nresurrection, while the twenty-eighth verse says, \"All that are in\nthe graves,\" which would make it universal and apply to the just and\nthe unjust, the evil and the good. This resurrection of the wicked\ndoubtless applies to the same event that is recorded in the book of\nRevelations John first saw the resurrection of the righteous, and then\nsays: \"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was\ngiven unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the\nwitness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped\nthe beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their\nforeheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a\nthousand years.\" (Rev. xx:4.) Glorious thought! The righteous rewarded\nfor all their trials and tribulations! \"Who are these arrayed in white,\nbrighter than the noon-day sun?\" \"These are they which have come up\nthrough great tribulation, washed their robes, and made them white in\nthe blood of the Lamb.\" This reward is well worth all the hardships\nincidental to preaching the Gospel and living the life of a Saint. \"But\nthe rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were\nfinished. This is the first resurrection.\"\n\n\"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books\nwere opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life;\nand the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the\nbooks; * * * and they were judged every man according to their works.\"\n(Rev. xx:12, 13.)\n\nNothing could be more literal, more tangible, more real than this;\nnothing more just. The righteous were to come forth and enjoy a\nthousand years of absolute peace and freedom from the tribulations\nheaped upon them by the wicked, untrammeled with trials brought upon\nthem by Lucifer; free from sickness, sin and sorrow; living in the\npersonal presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, in full enjoyment of the\nearth in all its paradisic glory; justice meted out to the wicked, who\nwill be denied the opportunity to revel in the lusts of the flesh or to\npersecute those who \"live godly in Christ Jesus.\"\n\nNo wonder that Job rejoiced in all his affliction, because his soul was\nenlightened with the visions of the future. Notwithstanding his bodily\npains and the annoyance of friends who attributed his afflictons to his\nown failings, he exclaimed from the depths of his soul: \"Oh, that my\nwords were now written! Oh, that they were printed in a book! That they\nwere graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock forever! For I know\nthat my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon\nthe earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my\nflesh shall I see God.\" (Job xix:23-26.) Undoubtedly this great and\ngood man was resurrected when the Messiah was, and received a partial\nfulfillment of this glorious vision, but whatever was lacking in the\nfull realities of this prophecy will be complete when the Son of Man\nshall come, in His glory, to reign on the earth.\n\nPaul said to the Thessalonians: \"For if we believe that Jesus died and\nrose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with\nHim. * * * For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout,\nwith the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the\ndead in Christ shall rise first.\" (I. Thess iv:14-16.) This agrees with\nthe testimonies already quoted from the Savior and the apostle John in\nreference to the resurrection at two different periods; one for the\njust and one for the unjust.\n\nThis great subject is also portrayed by the prophet Daniel. In the\nseventh chapter of his prophecy, ninth and twenty-second verses, he\nspeaks of the coming of the \"Ancient of Days.\" The most ancient man of\ndays associated with this earth is our father Adam, and it is plain\nthat he has a great part to perform in placing judgment in the hands of\nthe Saints and subduing the wicked. It would appear by the mission to\nbe performed by Michael, as described in the first verse of the twelfth\nchapter of Daniel, and in the twelfth chapter of Revelations, that\nMichael and the Ancient of Days are the same person, and that he will\nbe upon the earth at the opening of the millennium and will dwell in\nthe midst of the people of God.\n\nIn modern revelation the Lord has said to the Prophet Joseph Smith,\n\"And the Lord appeared unto them, and they rose up and blessed Adam,\nand called him Michael, the prince, the archangel.\" (Doctrine and\nCovenants, Sec. 107, verse 54.) In connection with the coming of\nMichael in the last days, Daniel says: \"And many of them that sleep in\nthe dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some\nto shame and everlasting contempt.\" (Daniel xii:2.)\n\nIn Paul's address before Felix he refers to the resurrection in the\nfollowing language: \"And have hope toward God, which they themselves\nalso allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the\njust and unjust.\" (Acts xxiv:15.) Again \"Him God raised up the third\nday and showed Him openly; not to all the people, but unto witnesses\nchosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with Him after\nHe rose from the dead. And He commanded us to preach unto the people,\nand to testify that it is He which was ordained of God to be the Judge\nof quick and dead.\" This was the testimony of the chief apostle, Peter,\nwhen the Gospel was first delivered to the Gentiles.\n\nIt is evident that the burden of the teachings and testimonies of the\napostles was to establish the divinity of the mission of the Lord Jesus\nChrist. This necessarily included His atonement and resurrection.\nThe fall of our first parents brought not only a banishment from the\npresence of the Lord, which may be termed a spiritual death, but it\ncaused the death of the physical body. When an atonement was wrought\nout as a redemption from that fall, it would be incomplete unless it\nbrought to pass immortality and eternal life to the body.\n\n\"The spirit and the body is the soul of man.\" The body is resurrected\nfrom the grave, independent of whether the individual in this life was\ngood or bad, as shown by the declarations of Scripture. \"For as in Adam\nall die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.\" (I. Cor. xv:22.)\nPaul describes in a very definite way the different degrees of glory\nin the resurrection, which vindicates the justice of God in rewarding\nevery man according to his works, and establishing the free agency of\nman by holding him personally accountable for every act of his life.\n\"There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial; but the glory\nof the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.\nThere is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and\nanother glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in\nglory. So also is the resurrection of the dead.\" (I. Cor. xv:40-42.)\nJesus said to the apostles: \"In my Father's house are many mansions:\nIf it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for\nyou * * * that where I am there ye may be also.\" (St. John xiv:2, 3.)\nThese assertions all agree that there has been a resurrection (so far\nas they refer to the resurrection of Jesus and those who came forth\nfrom their graves at the same time) and that there will yet be two more\nresurrections, one of the just, one of the unjust. The only reasonable\nconclusion to be reached by reading these testimonies is, that the\nresurrection will be an actual reunion of the spirit and the body.\n\nIf in the mind of the reader anything seems to be deficient in the\nconclusions from the statements quoted, certainly the account of the\nresurrection from the inspired writings of Ezekiel should dispel every\ndoubt. The entire thirty-seventh chapter of Ezekiel should be read.\nIn this vision of the prophet he saw the resurrection of the house\nof Israel, so real in its nature that bone came to bone, sinew to\nsinew; flesh and skin covered the frame, and the spirit entered the\nbody of each. Thus a complete resurrection of the bodies was wrought\nout. Ezekiel says, after the Lord commanded, \"So I prophesied as I\nwas commanded; and as I prophesied there was a noise, and behold,\na shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when\nI beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the\nskin covered them above; but there was no breath in them. * * * Come\nfrom the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that\nthey may live. * * * And they lived and stood up upon their feet, an\nexceeding great army.\" (Ezek. xxxvii:7-10.) That this is to be an\nactual resurrection of the bodies of the dead is made plain by the\ntwelfth and thirteenth verses: \"Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, O my\npeople, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your\ngraves and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I\nam the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought\nyou up out of your graves.\" * * * \"Moreover, I will make a covenant of\npeace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I\nwill place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the\nmidst of them forevermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them; yea,\nI will be their God, and they shall be my people.\" (Verses 26, 27. )\nThus there shall be a real, actual resurrection of the body, a complete\nreunion of the spirit with the body.\n\nAfter the resurrection, those whose bodies and spirits are thereby\nreunited will join their living brethren, receive revelation from God,\nincluding the everlasting covenant, be gathered to their own lands, and\ncontinue to multiply and increase, with the sanctuary of God in their\nmidst, and with His divine approval forevermore.\n\nHow beautiful, how joyous to contemplate, and how real and tangible\nis this, as contrasted with the poor, rambling, uncertain theories of\nuninspired men, who are controlled by the systems of men rather than\nguided by that \"more sure word of prophecy,\" the revelations of God.\n\nTo the Latter-day Saints the doctrine of the resurrection is a\nliving, tangible reality because, added to the testimonies of the\nJewish Scriptures, the Old and the New Testaments, and the Book of\nMormon, which corroborates the Bible, they have the testimony of\nmen in this century, who have seen the living bodies of resurrected\nbeings. Joseph Smith was a man of unblemished character. His veracity\nwas never impeached. His honor in religion, in morality and business\ntransactions, attested by friend and foe, were unsullied to the end\nof his mortal career, when he sealed his testimony with his innocent\nblood. His testimony is that he saw God the Father and His Son Jesus\nChrist, the latter on several occasions. Joseph also had a visitation\nfrom John the Baptist, Peter, James, John, Moses, Elijah, Moroni and\nother ancient prophets of God who lived on the Eastern or Western\nhemispheres. He was not alone in being a witness to the existence of\nresurrected beings. Others in modern times also have seen these, and\nhave published their testimonies to the world. Those who have received\nthe witness of the Holy Ghost, and who also know that there is a\nresurrection and that the words of the Savior and the prophets are true\nand faithful, are numbered by the thousands.\n\nThis is my testimony on the subject: I testify in the name of the\nresurrected Redeemer that God has spoken from the heavens in this age\nof the world; that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Redeemer of the\nworld; that Joseph Smith was a prophet of the Most High, and received\nthe revelations of God for the benefit of mankind; that angels and\nancient prophets visited him and delivered to him the keys of the\n\"dispensation of the fullness of times;\" that Brigham Young, John\nTaylor, Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow, each in his time, has been the\nsuccessor of the prophet Joseph Smith, and that Joseph F. Smith is\nnow such successor. I also testify that all who receive this Gospel\nwith honest hearts shall know that the doctrine is true, and if they\nare faithful unto death shall come forth in the resurrection of the\nrighteous, to live and reign with Christ a thousand years. Those who\nreject this message, and who fight against the truth and persecute the\nadvocates thereof will, unless they repent, die in their sins, and will\nremain unredeemed, their bodies in the earth, their spirits in bondage,\nuntil the thousand years are finished, when death, hell and the grave\nshall deliver up their dead to stand before God, living, resurrected\nbeings, to receive the reward of their deeds, whether they be evil or\nwhether they be good.\n\n\n\nTHE BOOK OF MORMON.\n\nIt is not the purpose in this brief chapter to enter into a detailed\nargument on the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon, but to state\nsufficiently what the sacred record purports to be. The Bible records\nsome of the leading events in the dealings of the Almighty with His\nchildren upon the Eastern hemisphere, prefaced by the Mosaic history\nof the creation. The Book of Mormon is to the American continent what\nthe Bible is to the Eastern. The Bible is more especially the stick of\nJudah, being written by Jewish prophets and apostles. Of the ten tribes\ncarried into the North countries and lost from the world, the Bible\ngives no account, beyond brief statements which go to prove that they\nwere lost to the rest of mankind.\n\nOf the various colonies \"scattered from the tower of Babel\" upon all\nthe face of the earth, according to Genesis, chapter xi., the Bible\noffers no information. Of the branches of Joseph which ran over the\nboundary walls of the other tribes of Jacob, extending to the utmost\nbounds of the everlasting hills, the Jewish record is silent.\n\nWhat became of them? Whither did they flee, and are they lost to God?\nAre they less His offspring because they went to people other lands?\nFrom the time the ten tribes were carried away, no communication has\nbeen established between them and the Gentile nations, and not until\nthe discovery of America by Columbus was there any correspondence\nbetween the aborigines of America and the countries of Europe and the\nEast. Because these were lost to Jew and Gentile, is it reasonable to\nsuppose they were lost also to Him who is the Father of the spirits\nof all flesh, and who made of one blood all nations to dwell upon all\nthe face of the earth? Reason, mercy, justice and the Bible all deny\nthat these should not have revelations from God and write them as well\nas did the Jews. Jesus Himself most emphatically declared, \"There is\nnothing covered, that shall not be revealed, neither hid, that shall\nnot be known.\" (Luke xii:2.) The Book of Mormon reveals the fact\nthat from the Tower of Babel came a colony of people to the Western\ncontinent. They were led by a prophet to whom God spake and His words\nwere written. They became a mighty nation on this land, having prophets\nand inspired men to lead them. Finally, like the Jews, they fell into\napostasy and through war and bloodshed became extinct as a nation. The\nBook of Mormon gives a brief review of their rise, progress and fall.\nIt also records the fact that in the days of Jeremiah, two colonies\ncame from Jerusalem to America, years before Christ. It gives a history\nof God's dealings with them until four hundred years after Christ,\ncovering a period of one thousand years.\n\nFrom the Book of Mormon we also have light thrown upon sayings of the\nSavior, recorded in the New Testament. He said to the Twelve, \"Other\nsheep I have which are not of this fold. Them also I must bring,\nand they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold and one\nshepherd.\" (St. John x:16.) Who can tell us where those other sheep\nwere and when the Savior visited them? He said they should hear His\nvoice. The Book of Mormon gives the history of this visit to the\ndescendants of Jacob upon this land. He organized His church among\nthem, with apostles, prophets, etc., \"one fold and one shepherd.\" This\noccurred subsequent to His resurrection. While teaching His disciples\non this land, He told them of this statement to the Jewish apostles,\nthat He had other sheep to visit; and to the apostles chosen upon this\nland He said, \"I have other sheep which are not of this land; neither\nof the land of Jerusalem; neither in any parts of that land round\nabout, whither I have been to minister. For they of whom I speak are\nthey who have not as yet heard my voice; neither have I at any time\nmanifested myself unto them. But I have received a commandment of the\nFather that I shall go unto them, and that they shall hear my voice\nand shall be numbered among my sheep, that there may be one fold and\none shepherd; Therefore I go to show myself unto them.\" (III. Nephi,\nchapter xvi:1-3.)\n\nThese sayings of our Savior afford the only present scriptural and\nreasonable interpretation of the parable in Matthew, thirteenth\nchapter: \"The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took\nand hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.\" The\nleaven must be a symbol of the Gospel, as its effects upon the meal\nto lighten and prepare it for use are like the effects of the Gospel\nof Christ upon the hearts of those who obey the same, viz., to refine\nand purify that men may be prepared for the kingdom of the Father. The\nthree measures of meal doubtless are representative of three divisions\nof the house of Israel. These were, according to the Book of Mormon,\nthe Jews in Palestine, the seed of Joseph on the Western hemisphere,\nand the ten tribes in the North country. These all were visited by the\nSavior. They heard His voice and were taught of Him \"one Lord, one\nfaith, one baptism,\" that there might be \"one fold and one shepherd.\"\nThe Gospel going to the Gentiles could have no part in the fulfillment\nof the parable of the three measures of meal, because the Messiah never\ndid visit the Gentiles, and He says of the other sheep, \"they shall\nhear my voice.\" The only account of such an event given to mankind\nthus far is that recorded in the Book of Mormon. If that is not the\ntrue one, then we must look for one no less remarkable and no less in\nconflict with the spiritual bigotry and ignorance of the nineteenth\ncentury. That there should be a record kept by another branch of\nIsrael than the Jewish tribe, is plainly set forth by Ezekiel in his\nthirty-seventh chapter, where the Lord commands the prophet to take\n\"one stick\" and write upon it for Judah and his brethren, and another\nstick and write upon it for Ephraim and his brethren, and then predicts\nthat they shall become one in the hand of the Lord. The Book of Mormon\nclaims to be the stick of Joseph, and it and the Bible have become\none in the hand of the Lord in these last days. Each corroborates the\nother. They are one in doctrine, one in prophecy, one in history so far\nas they treat upon the same events. Each throws light upon the other,\nand yet bear the marks of having been written far apart by a different\npeople, of different surroundings and education.\n\nIsaiah speaks of a book (see Isa. xxix.) that should come forth. And\n\"the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is\nsealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, read this, I\npray thee: and he sayeth, I can not; for it is sealed: And the book is\ndelivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee:\nand he sayeth, I am not learned.\" This prophecy was verified as set out\nin a previous chapter. The book itself was delivered by an angel to\nthe young man Joseph Smith, with the injunction that they should never\nbe used to get gain, but for the salvation of mankind. Joseph, feeling\nhis own weakness and knowing that he could not of himself translate\nthem, acknowledged that he was not learned. He was told that he should\ntranslate them by the gift and power of God, which he did by the use of\nthe Urim and Thummim, the instrument used by seers of old. Thus were\nthe words of the prophet Isaiah verified.\n\nNo amount of credulity could make a reasonable mind believe that Joseph\nSmith, an unlettered, unsophisticated boy of twenty-two years, could\nprepare such a scheme, conniving with men of maturer years to aid him\nin the fraud, that the words of an ancient prophet, spoken 2,500 years\nbefore, should be literally fulfilled. The probability is that neither\nJoseph Smith, Martin Harris nor Prof. Anthon knew anything of the words\nof Isaiah relating to such a record. Prof. Anthon was not in sympathy\nwith Joseph Smith and became an avowed opponent of the Book of Mormon.\nWhat he said in fulfillment of prophecy in this instance regarding the\nBook of Mormon may be said of all others, for many have been verified\nsince it came forth--prophecies regarding it and predictions in the\nbook itself.\n\nThe Psalmist David said that \"Truth shall spring out of the earth and\nrighteousness shall look down from heaven.\" The Book of Mormon was\nwritten upon metallic plates, and hidden in the earth 400 years after\nChrist. They literally came out of the earth, and righteousness in the\npersonage of a holy angel came down from heaven and placed them in the\nhands of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Isaiah speaks of the ancient seers\nbeing covered, and that in the latter days their speech should be \"low\nout of the dust.\" The Book of Mormon was written by seers upon the\nAmerican continent. Through martyrdom they had been covered and their\nwords lost to the apostate Lamanites for many generations. In the last\ndays, however, their words came forth. They speak \"out of the dust\" and\nlight shines upon the hidden mysteries of a whole continent, revealing\na period of ten centuries.\n\nAmong the many prophecies in the Book of Mormon verified since its\npublication in 1829, is one found in II. Nephi, chapter 29, verse 3:\n\"And because my words shall hiss forth, many of the Gentiles shall say,\nA Bible! A Bible! we have got a Bible and there cannot be any more\nBible.\n\n\"But thus saith the Lord God: O fools, they shall have a Bible; and it\nshall proceed forth from the Jews, mine ancient covenant people. And\nwhat thank they the Jews for the Bible which they receive from them?\nYea, what do the Gentiles mean? Do they remember the travels, and the\nlabors, and the pains of the Jews, and their diligence unto me, in\nbringing forth salvation unto the Gentiles? O ye Gentiles, have ye\nremembered the Jews, mine ancient covenant people? Nay; but ye have\ncursed them, and have hated them, and have not sought to recover them.\nBut behold, I will return all these things upon your own heads; for I\nthe Lord have not forgotten my people. Thou fool, that shall say, A\nBible, we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible. Have ye obtained\na Bible, save it were by the Jews?\n\n\"Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I,\nthe Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who\nare upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above,\nand in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children\nof men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth? Wherefore murmur\nye, because that ye shall receive more of my word? Know ye not that\nthe testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that\nI remember one nation like unto another? Wherefore, I speak the same\nwords unto one nation like unto another. And when the two nations shall\nrun together, the testimony of the two nations shall run together also.\nAnd I do this that I may prove unto many, that I am the same yesterday,\ntoday, and forever; and that I speak forth my words according to mine\nown pleasure. And because that I have spoken one word, ye need not\nsuppose that I cannot speak another; for my work is not yet finished;\nneither shall it be, until the end of man; neither from that time\nhenceforth and forever.\n\n\"Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible, ye need not suppose that it\ncontains all my words; neither need ye suppose that I have not caused\nmore to be written: For I command all men, both in the East and in the\nWest, and in the North, and in the South, and in the islands of the\nsea, that they shall write the words which I speak unto them; for out\nof the books which shall be written, I will judge the world, every man\naccording to their works, according to that which is written.\n\n\"For behold, I shall speak unto the Jews, and they shall write it; and\nI shall also speak unto the Nephites, and they shall write it; and I\nshall also speak unto the other tribes of the house of Israel, which\nI have led away, and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto\nall nations of the earth, and they shall write it. And it shall come\nto pass that the Jews shall have the words of the Nephites, and the\nNephites shall have the words of the Jews; and the Nephites and the\nJews shall have the words of the lost tribes of Israel; and the lost\ntribes of Israel shall have the words of the Nephites and the Jews.\nAnd it shall come to pass that my people which are of the house of\nIsrael, shall be gathered home unto the lands of their possessions; and\nmy word also shall be gathered in one. And I will shew unto them that\nfight against my word and against my people, who are of the house of\nIsrael, that I am God, and that I covenanted with Abraham, that I would\nremember his seed forever.\"\n\nIt has been decreed by the Almighty, and spoken of by Book of Mormon\nprophets that slavery should not obtain and be perpetuated upon this\nland: \"Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall\npossess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from\nall other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the\nland, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things\nwhich we have written.\" (Ether ii:12.) This decree of the Almighty\nhas determined the history of this country from the beginning, so\nfar as internal slavery and freedom from bondage of other nations is\nconcerned. If the skeptic shall say that the prophecy was published\nto the world long after the freedom of the American colonies and the\nindependence of this government were attained, we call attention to the\nfact that slavery has been abolished in this land since then, and that\nno nation which has made war with the United States has ever succeeded,\nand never will, unless the inhabitants of this land shall become\noverwhelmed in iniquity and abominations.\n\nAnother striking prediction contained in the Book of Mormon is the\nfollowing: \"And this land shall be a land of liberty unto the Gentiles,\nand there shall be no kings upon the land, who shall raise up unto the\nGentiles; and I will fortify this land against all other nations; and\nhe that fighteth against Zion shall perish, saith God; For he that\nraiseth up a king against me shall perish, for I, the Lord, the king of\nheaven, will be their king, and I will be a light unto them forever,\nthat hear my words.\" (II. Nephi x:11-14.) Gradually, yet with certain\nprogress, has the government of kings been abolished from the American\ncontinent until nearly all governments in North and South America are\nrepublics. Canada is still under the rule of Great Britain, but is\nmanaged in such a manner that the liberties of the people are almost,\nif not quite equal to those of a republican territory. Those who know\nthe history of the effort to make Maximilian a king in Mexico also know\nhow terribly the words of the Book of Mormon have been verified: \"For\nhe that raiseth up a king unto me shall perish.\"\n\nThis continent is the land of Zion, \"and he that fighteth against\nZion shall perish, saith God.\" Before the late Spanish-American war,\nGeorge Q. Cannon read these predictions from the Book of Mormon before\na congregation in the Tabernacle, and with a knowledge that these\nprophecies were given of the Lord foretold the result of the war and\nthe certain banishment of Spanish kingly power from the American isles.\nOther prophecies of the sacred volume have been verified since its\npublication to the world. Those verified should establish faith in\nreasonable minds that the unfulfilled parts will surely come to pass.\n\nThe external evidences afforded by archaeologists to the divine\nauthenticity of the Book of Mormon are very numerous; they may be\nascertained by a careful study of the sacred volume and a comparison\nwith the discoveries of later times, in the ruins of ancient cities,\ntowns, temples, roadways, etc., which have been brought to light and\nare treated upon in the writings of Stevens and Catherwood, Dr. Le\nPlongeon, and many other eminent antiquarians. While the Book of Mormon\nwithout investigation is discarded, its opponent is led to prove its\ndivinity by his researches into archaeology. In connection with the\ncoming forth of this word Isaiah said, \"The wisdom of their wise men\nshall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.\"\n\nAll the old subterfuges published against the book have been exploded\nlong since, and yet people are still repeating them. It was stated that\nJoseph Smith's ingenuity and Sidney Rigdon's learning devised the Book\nof Mormon from the Solomon Spaulding romance. The Book of Mormon was\npublished to the world before Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon ever saw\neach other. Prof. Fairchild of the Oberlin College in Ohio, examined\nthe Spaulding manuscript and compared it with the Book of Mormon; he\nthen testified over his signature that there was no similarity between\nthem.\n\nSome people have ridiculed the record because in point of literary\nmerit it did not equal the Jewish record, the Holy Bible. If this were\nany just cause of rejection, why not discard several books in the Bible\nbecause their literature does not equal in merit the writings of the\npatriarch Job? But laying this aside, the Book of Mormon offers its\nown explanation of literary defect. \"Condemn me not because of mine\nimperfection; neither my father, because of his imperfections; neither\nthem who have written before him, but rather give thanks unto God that\nHe hath made manifest unto you our imperfections, that ye may learn\nto be more wise than we have been. And now behold, we have written\nthis record according to our knowledge in the characters, which are\ncalled among us the Reformed Egyptian, being handed down and altered\nby us, according to our manner of speech. And if our plates had been\nsufficiently large, we should have written in Hebrew; but the Hebrew\nhath been altered by us also: and if we could have written in Hebrew,\nbehold, ye would have had no imperfection in our record. But the Lord\nknoweth the things which we have written, and also that none other\npeople knoweth our language, therefore He hath prepared means for the\ninterpretation thereof.\" (Mormon ix:31-34.) In the preface of the\nrecord is written: \"And now if there be faults, they are the mistakes\nof men, wherefore condemn not the things of God, that ye may be found\nspotless at the judgment seat of Christ.\" \"But he that believeth these\nthings which I have spoken, him will I visit with the manifestations\nof my Spirit, and he shall know and bear record. For because of my\nSpirit, he shall know that these things are true; for it persuadeth men\nto do good.\" (Ether iv:11.) Again, \"And whoso receiveth this record,\nand shall not condemn it because of the imperfections which are in it,\nthe same shall know of greater things than these. Behold, I am Moroni;\nand were it possible, I would make all things known unto you.\" (Mormon\nviii:12.) Those persons who would esteem literary imperfections an\nevidence against the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon must\nbelong to one of two classes--they are either not honest at heart and\nare seeking opportunity to evade the responsibility of knowing the\ntruth, or they are shallow-minded, and to the world of sound reason,\ngood judgment, and practical ability prefer the shadow compared with\nthe substance. He \"that will do the will of the Father shall know\nof the doctrine,\" is the promise of our Savior; and the promises in\nthe Book of Mormon that those who will not condemn the things of God\nbecause of human imperfections, but shall receive greater knowledge,\nare plain enough to condemn the world if they reject them, as much as\nthe teachings of the Jewish record shall condemn mankind if they will\nnot hearken.\n\nThe truth of the Book of Mormon is affirmed by the direct testimony of\nfour witnesses-Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin\nHarris, who saw the angel Moroni, and the ancient plates from which\nthe sacred volume was translated. None of them ever wavered from that\ntestimony. They maintained it under great trials and persecutions to\nthe end, and Joseph Smith sealed his testimony with his life, a martyr\nto the truth. Eight other men, whose names are recorded in the fore\npart of the book, saw and handled the plates. Many thousands of people\nfrom various lands and climes have read the book with prayerful hearts,\nhave received the ordinances of the Gospel and by the power of the Holy\nGhost solemnly testify that the Book of Mormon is a divine record.\nAdded to this I testify, as an humble disciple of the Lord, in the name\nof Jesus Christ who is our Redeemer, that Joseph Smith was a prophet\nof the living God and the Book of Mormon is a divine record, revealed\nby the God of heaven and translated by the gift and power of God as a\nwitness unto this and all future generations that Jesus is the Christ,\nthat the Bible is true, that there is but one plan of salvation, and\nthat Jesus taught the same plan to the Jews, to the seed of Joseph and\nto the lost tribes by his own personal ministrations. He also sent the\nGospel to the Gentiles by the hands of His apostles, and thereby shows\nto all men in every land and in all ages that God changes not, and is\nthe same today, yesterday and forever.\n\n\n\nMARRIAGE.\n\nNo people hold more sacred the principle of marriage, nor esteem more\nhighly the possession of chastity, than do the Latter-day Saints. Among\nno people, either Catholic or Protestant, is a lapse of virtue so rare\nas among this people. We consider sexual crime the most blighting curse\nthat infests the earth today. Adultery is considered as next in the\ncatalogue of crime to murder. Individuals guilty of fornication or\nadultery are promptly excommunicated from the church, unless the sin is\nfollowed by the most profound repentance and the best reparation which\ncan possibly be made. The children around the family altar, in Sunday\nschool, Mutual Improvement Associations, Primary Associations, and all\nthe institutions of the church, are taught to hold their virtue more\nsacred to them than life itself. When they attain to years of maturity\nand enter the holy state of matrimony, they vow before God, angels and\nliving witnesses that they will never violate the marriage covenants.\n\nWe believe that God ordained the union of the sexes in marriage, not\nonly for time but for all eternity. It is greatly due to this fact\nand the deeply religious element which enters into marriage among our\npeople, that divorces are so rare. Young men and women are taught\nthat, while pure love and perfect congeniality should exist between\nthe parties to the marriage covenants, passion and infatuation should\nnot be the ruling motive, but principle should control; and that in\nthe weakness of humanity the dangers of mistakes in the mating of\nthe sexes are so great, the only safe way is to seek in prayer and\nsupplication the guidance of divine Providence; they are, also taught\nto so live in daily walk and conversation that their heavenly Father\nwill answer their prayers. To feel sublimely impressed that marriage is\nfor all eternity, and that God is directly interested in us, tends to\nmake people more careful and considerate, more prayerful in choosing\na husband or wife, than otherwise they would be. The result of such\nteaching is a far greater percentage of happy unions and a much smaller\npercentage of divorces among the Latter-day Saints than among other\nChristian communities.\n\nThe primary design of marriage, to \"multiply and replenish the earth\"\nand not to gratify lust, is upheld by the Latter-day Saints as in no\nother community. The consequence is twofold. Infanticide, foeticide\nand illegitimacy are very rare. The two former practices, so common in\nthe world and adopted to lessen the responsibility of child-bearing\nwhile increasing the facilities for lustful gratification, are esteemed\nby this people as abominations in the sight of God, little short of\noutright murder in heinousness. Parties known to be guilty of such\nacts would not be fellowshiped in any sense, but would be cast out of\nthe church without hesitation. The result of such high regard for the\npurposes of the Lord in marriage is, that the percentage of children\nin every family is much larger on the average than it is among any\nother Christian community of equal population. Because the children are\nnumerous they are not weaker but usually stronger in body and intellect\nthan in communities where the blighting curse of a reprehensible modern\ncustom prevails. The wives of men thus taught and convinced of the\nsacredness of their procreative functions are healthier and happier in\nthe home than are the wives and mothers in other communities. Prof.\nPhineas Priest, a non-\"Mormon\" phrenologist who traveled among the\n\"Mormon\" people in Idaho and Utah, said that in all his travels he had\nnot found so large a percentage of healthy and intelligent children,\nwith a corresponding condition of health and happiness on the part of\nthe mothers, as he had among the \"Mormon\" people.\n\nAs to the eternity of the marriage covenant, a helpmeet was provided\nfor man before death entered the world and therefore death could not\nprevail against the covenants of the Lord. \"And the Lord God said, It\nis not good that the man should be alone. I will make him an helpmeet\nfor him.\" (Gen. ii:18.) The Savior came and offered up a sacrifice to\nredeem man from the fall, to destroy death and all the effects thereof.\nIf His atonement simply redeemed the body from the grave, without\nrestoring the condition of the Paradise lost, it would be altogether\nincomplete, and the words of Paul would be without effect wherein he\nsaid to the Corinthians, \"O, grave, where is thy victory? O, death,\nwhere is thy sting?\" If death destroyed and the grave buried the\ncovenants of the Lord, we would indeed be, as Paul says, \"of all men\nmost miserable.\" God is eternal, and \"I know that whatsoever God doeth,\nit shall be forever.\" (Eccl. iii:14.)\n\nWhen the ceremony of marriage is performed by a true servant of God,\nand the parties to the agreement are under the same covenant, he\npronounces them one for time and all eternity. If this were not true\nof what avail was the authority delegated to Peter, when the Lord said\nunto him, \"And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven;\nand whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven;\nand whatsoever thou shall loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven.\"\n(Matt. xvi:19.) The apostle Peter, performing the marriage ceremony\nfor members of the Church of Christ, would not pronounce them husband\nand wife \"until death do you part;\" for death was to be banished and\n\"immortality brought to light\" through the atonement of Christ.\n\nAll Christians pray and sing and preach about going to heaven. Will\nthey be in the Lord there? If so, and they have embraced the true\nGospel here, they will be united as husband and wife for all eternity,\nand that covenant will prevail there; hence, the apostle Paul says,\n\"Nevertheless, neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman\nwithout the man in the Lord.\" (I. Cor. xi:11. ) If they are in the\nLord, then they are united; if not in the lord, they are damned.\n\nAgain the same apostle tells us, \"For the husband is the head of the\nwife, even as Christ is the head of the church.\" (Eph. v:23.) Will any\nman say that Christ was the head of the church for time only, during\nHis few years of brief mortality, and that then the church is left\nwithout a head? No; Christ is the head of the church for all eternity\nand God so designed the husband to be the head of the wife.\n\nThe doctrine of marriage until death, appears to be a Sadducee\ndoctrine, for they denied the resurrection. It was the Sadducee who\nasked the Savior whose wife should the woman be who had seven husbands\nin this world. The answer was undoubtedly designed to apply to those\nwho rejected the Gospel of Christ, while pretending to cling to the\nlaws of Moses. They virtually made a covenant with death. Isaiah says,\n\"And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement\nwith hell shall not stand. When the overflowing scourge shall pass\nthrough, then ye shall be trodden down by it.\" (Isa. xxviii:18.) In\nmaking a covenant with death they broke the \"everlasting covenant\"\nand dishonored God, for He is everlasting and His ordinances endure\nforever, unimpaired by death, hell or the grave.\n\nThe earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof, because\nthey have \"transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances, broken the\neverlasting covenant.\" (Isa. xxiv:5.) As a result of this condition\nthe prophet says: \"Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and\nthey that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the\nearth are burned and few men left.\" (Isa. xxiv:6.) Among the causes of\nthis great desolation yet to come upon the earth is the breaking of the\neverlasting covenant. The earth is to be burned and few men left. Jesus\nsays that except \"those days shall be shortened there should be no\nflesh saved.\" To shorten those days and provide the way for honorable\nwomen to fill the measure of their creation in holy wedlock, God has\nrestored this everlasting covenant and will yet cleanse the earth of\nwicked men by His judgments, until few men shall be left. Whoredoms,\nadultery and all sexual abominations will be swept away, and the words\nof Isaiah in the fourth chapter will be verified. They that are the\n\"seed of Abraham will do the works of Abraham.\" As the apostle Paul\nsays, \"And if ye be Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs\naccording to the promise.\" (Gal. iii:29.) That all honorable women,\nwho desire wifehood and motherhood under the laws of God may have this\nprivilege and not be left to live and die as spinsters, nor become a\nprey to wicked, lustful men, God will fulfill the prophecy found in\nIsaiah, chapter iv., verses 1, 2: \"In that day seven women shall take\nhold of one man, saying, we will eat our own bread and wear our own\napparel; only let us be called by thy name to take away our reproach.\nIn that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and\nthe fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are\nescaped of Israel.\"\n\n\n\nTHE MILLENNIUM.\n\nThe Latter-day Saints are looking for the coming of the Savior to reign\nupon the earth, at which coming will commence the reign of peace for\none thousand years. This is the Millennium, during which period Satan\nwill be bound and all iniquity shall be done away. When Jesus had\nfinished his ministry at Jerusalem and had ascended into heaven from\nthe presence of His apostles, two heavenly beings \"stood by them in\nwhite apparel; which also said, 'Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing\nup into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven\nshall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.'\"\n(Acts i:10, 11.) He ascended in glory and power. In glory and power will\nHe come to reign. The preparation shown forth in the restoration of the\nGospel by a holy angel; the gathering of Israel; the restoration of\nthe ten tribes; the return of the Jews; the establishment of Zion and\nJerusalem--all are signs to precede His second coming, as referred to\nin preceding chapters of this little work, in its discussion of several\nsubjects.\n\nThat Jesus will come in power and glory is evident from many\nprophecies. And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these,\nsaying, \"Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints to\nexecute judgment upon all.\" (Jude i:14, 15.) Malachi says: \"Behold, I\nwill send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me, and the\nLord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His temple. But who will abide\nthe day of His coming, and who shall stand when He appeareth? For\nHe is like a refiner's fire and like fuller's soap.\" (Mal. iii:1, 2.)\nUnlike this first advent as the meek and lowly babe of Bethlehem, He\nnext comes in glory, to avenge the blood of His Saints, to purify the\nsons of Levi, to cleanse and purify the earth that it may enjoy a reign\nof peace and rest.\n\nWhen Jerusalem is partly rebuilt by her ancient covenant people, the\nGentile nations will be gathered against them to battle. Then will the\ncrucified Redeemer appear to the Jews. He will set his feet upon the\nMount of Olives, and the mount will cleave in twain. The house of Judah\nwill look upon Him, and seeing the wounds in His hands and feet, will\nask where He obtained them. When He shall answer, \"in the house of my\nfriends,\" they will weep and mourn, their separate houses and families\napart, to realize that He whom their fathers rejected is in truth their\nDeliverer and Redeemer. Then will the fountain for uncleanness be\nopened, and the house of Judah will be baptized for the remission of\ntheir sins.\n\n\"Behold the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in\nthe midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to\nbattle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the\nwomen ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity,\nand the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then\nshall the Lord go forth, and fight against the nations, as when He\nfought in the day of battle. And His feet shall stand in that day upon\nthe Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the\nMount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and\ntoward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of\nthe mountain shall move toward the north, and half of it toward the\nsouth.\" (Zech. xiv:1-4.)\n\n\"And one shall say unto Him, What are these wounds in Thine hands?\"\nThen He shall answer, \"Those with which I was wounded in the house\nof my friends.\" (Zech. xiii:6.) \"And it shall come to pass in that\nday that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against\nJerusalem. And I will pour out upon the house of David, and upon the\ninhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication: and\nthey shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn\nfor him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness\nfor Him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day\nshall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of\nHadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. And the land shall mourn, every\nfamily apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives\napart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;\nthe family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the\nfamily of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; All the families that\nremain: every family apart, and their wives apart.\" (Zech. xii:9-14.)\n\"In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David,\nand to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.\" (Zech\nxiii:1.)\n\nMany other plain and precious prophecies of the Old and New Testaments\nmight be cited to show forth the second coming of our Savior. These\npredictions are corroborated by the prophecies in the Book of Mormon,\nand by the predictions of the prophet Joseph Smith, made in the\nrevelations of God to him in these latter days.\n\nIn close connection with the Savior's second coming will be presented\nthe glorious conditions of the Millennium. \"For the earth shall be\nfilled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover\nthe sea.\" (Hab. ii:14.) \"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and\nthe leopard shall lie down with the kid: and the calf and the young\nlion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.\nAnd the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down\ntogether: And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking\nchild shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put\nhis hand on the cockatrice's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in\nall my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of\nthe Lord, as the waters cover the sea.\" (Isa. xi:6-10.)\n\nMan is the great head of God's creation, the image of his Maker. He has\nmade him \"a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with\nglory and honor.\" (Ps. viii:5.) Man led the way to the fall by which\ncame the enmity between himself and the lower animal creation. Should\nman not lead the way, as the Lord directs, back to his \"Paradise Lost\"?\n\nAs an incident pointing the way to and expressing the true spirit\nof the Millennium, when Zion's Camp, a body of more than 200 men,\njourneyed through the wilderness of Indiana, Illinois and Missouri\nfrom Kirtland to Western Missouri, the Camp at night would be visited\nby serpents, which the brethren were inclined to destroy. The Prophet\nJoseph told them not to kill the snakes, but to carry them peaceably\nfrom their tents with sticks. Joseph promised them that if they kept\nthis counsel none should be bitten, adding that it was man's duty to\nset the example of peace and lead the way back to the perfect harmony\nexisting in Eden before the fall. The Camp observed his advice and\nrealized his promise.\n\nThe time spoken of by Isaiah, as already referred to here, was also\npredicted by Joel when he said: \"And ye shall know that I am in the\nmidst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God and none else: And my\npeople shall never be ashamed. And it shall come to pass afterward,\nthat I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and\nyour daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your\nyoung men shall see visions; and also upon the servants and upon the\nhandmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.\" (Joel ii: 27-29.)\nThe apostle Peter, upon the day of Pentecost, gave the multitude to\nunderstand that the Spirit which gave utterance to the apostles on that\noccasion was the same Spirit concerning which Joel the prophet said in\nthe last days should be poured out, not upon the few only, but upon all\nflesh. The Spirit of God alone can bring perfect unity, destroy enmity,\nand fill the earth with the knowledge and glory of God.\n\nOf this glorious epoch the prophet Jeremiah says: \"And they shall teach\nno more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know\nthe Lord; for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the\ngreatest of them, saith the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity,\nand I will remember their sin no more.\" (Jer. xxxi:34.) Such a\ncondition would be in harmony with the promise of the Savior that there\nshould be \"one fold and one shepherd.\" The Spirit of Truth is the guide\ninto all truth, rather than to man-made theories taught by men devoid\nof the authority and inspiration of Almighty God.\n\nPaul says, \"When that which is perfect is come, then that which is in\npart shall be done away.\" (I Cor. xiii.) Prophecy and tongues and the\ngifts of the Gospel imperfectly enjoyed by man in his weakness were\nnever designed to be done away until we come to enjoy a more perfect\nfullness, \"when we see as we are seen and know as we are known.\"\nZephania says: \"For then will I turn to the people a pure language\nthat they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him with\none consent.\" (Zeph. iii:9.) The pure language was confounded at the\ntower of Babel, because men sought to thwart the purposes of Jehovah.\nWhen the time comes that the wicked who will not obey are swept from\nthe earth, the Lord will restore to His children the language which\nthey learned from their mother tongue and which was spoken from Adam to\nthe time of the tower of Babel. He will also unite the great bodies of\nwater into a mighty ocean and roll it back to its place in the North,\nwhile the lands of the earth will be reunited and become one vast\ncontinent.\n\nIsaiah says, speaking of the land of Zion, which is the Western\nhemisphere, and the land of Jerusalem, on the Eastern continent:\n\"Thou shalt no more be termed forsaken, neither shall thy land any\nmore be termed Desolate; but thou shalt be called Hephzi-bah, and thy\nland Beulah: for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be\nmarried.\" (Isa. lxii:4.) In other words, the lands shall be united.\nWhat a glorious period and condition! The earth geographically\nrestored, spiritually redeemed and politically exalted to the\ngovernment of God. John, the revelator, prophesied: \"The kingdoms of\nthis world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and\nHe shall reign forever and ever.\" (Rev. xi:15.) And again, in the\ntwentieth chapter, fourth verse, \"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon\nthem, and judgment was given unto them: And I saw the souls of them\nthat were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God,\nand which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had\nreceived his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands: And they\nlived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.\"\n\nThe further writings of the apostle John in the Apocalypse describe\nthe conditions of peace during the Millennium, and subsequently the\nlast resurrection, the change of the earth, the banishment of Lucifer\ntherefrom, and the earth celestialized as man's eternal abode, our\nheaven. The apostle Peter says \"the elements shall melt with fervent\nheat,\" and John the apostle informs us that the earth shall become as\na sea of glass, a great Urim and Thummim. What a joyous consummation\nto the labors of the faithful, in the great and marvelous blessings\nthat will bring such glory to those that serve the Lord and to their\nheavenly abode!\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Note\n\nVarious apparent printer's errors (e.g. \"whem\" for \"when\") and\nmismatched quotation marks have been resolved as seemed reasonable.","title":"Cowley's Talks on Doctrine","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":70983}