COWLEY'S TALKS
ON
DOCTRINE

By Elder

M. F. Cowley.

One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

PUBLISHED BY BEN. E. RICH, CHATTANOOGA, TENN. 1902.

TIMES PRINT, CHATTANOOGA, TENN

PREFACE.

Notwithstanding what has already been written upon the principles and doctrines of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as taught by the Latter-Day Saints, I feel an assurance that this little work will be received with no little pleasure and a great degree of satisfaction by members of the true Church, as well as those who are seeking light upon religious topics.

The style in which the articles comprised in this little volume are written, is pre-eminently plain, and peculiarly adapted to the reading public. Loaded as the articles are, with careful thought and numerous scriptural quotations and references, itself not only a thought gatherer but a thought generator, it will come as a valuable aid to our missionaries and theological organizations, and also to the many investigators throughout the civilized world. Truth in studied brevity has been aimed at, without seeking the least embellishment of diction.

With an intense desire to impart the truth to mankind as widely as possible, this little messenger is sent forth, trusting that it may prove a blessing to thousands who are as yet grovelling in darkness and superstition and lead them to the sunlight of truth.

THE PUBLISHER.

Chattanooga, Tenn., February, 1902.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

[Apostasy]
[Restoration of the Gospel]
[The Church]
[Church Organization]
[Divine Authority]
[Personality of God]
[Revelation]
[Faith]
[Repentance]
[Baptism]
[Reception of the Holy Spirit]
[Pre-Existence]
[Salvation for the Dead]
[The Gathering of Israel]
[Tithing]
[Eternal Rewards and Punishments]
[Obedience]
[Charity]
[The Resurrection]
[The Book of Mormon]
[Marriage]
[The Millennium]

APOSTASY.

The subject of Apostasy occupies the minds of people of modern times but very little. This, however, is not surprising when we consider their views regarding the Church of Christ; for they claim a continuation of divine authority and the plan of salvation from the apostolic age to the present time, the idea prevailing among them being, that the Bible alone is a sufficient guide without immediate and continued revelation. In this respect, the position of the Latter-day Saints differs widely from that of all other religious organizations. The Saints bear no relationship to any, but declare in words of soberness, that our Heavenly Father has restored the Gospel by modern revelations to the Prophet Joseph Smith. This being true, there must have been a departure from the proper order of the Gospel.

To prove that this has been the case, we will refer to statements of Holy Writ. In II Peter i:20, it is said, "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation, for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." The Savior said, when addressing His disciples: "And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another, and many false prophets shall rise and deceive many, and because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." (Matthew xxiv:10-12.)

To this testimony of Matthew, concerning the words of the Savior, in relation to the subject under consideration, there will be found the corresponding testimonies of Mark and Luke. It will be remembered also, that the testimony of the Lord was in answer to a very important question. When He had foretold the overthrow of the temple, His apostles asked Him: "When shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?" The appearance of false prophets; the deception of man; the martyrdom of the apostles; the betrayal of the Saints; the love of many waxing cold; the overwhelming prevalence of iniquity; the universal discord and contentions of the nations, all were prominent events to transpire before the advent of the Savior to reign in power and glory upon the earth. To this we will add the words of Paul: "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day will not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition." (II Thes. ii:1-4.)

It is evident from the foregoing that some were likely to be deceived with regard to the time of His second coming. Paul, to prevent their being misled by false teachers who were likely predicting the Savior's advent, testified that there should come a "falling away first." The language is so pointed that one can readily see that nothing but a departure from the unchangeable plan of salvation could fulfill this prediction. We read in the Scriptures that "God hath set some in the Church, first apostles; secondarily, prophets," and other officers; all of whom were divinely inspired "for the work of the ministry," with spiritual gifts following the baptized believers. Only a short time elapsed, however, before these officers, principles, gifts and blessings, mentioned in the New Testament, were not to be found on the earth: and when we examine the religious institutions of the present time, these things, which God set in the Church, are not found, save with the Latter-day Saints. The present generation then, as those of many centuries past have been, are witnesses to the verification of the words we have quoted.

When Paul was about to depart from Miletus, he called to him the Elders of the Church from the city of Ephesus, and in his farewell address warned them, as appears in the following words: "For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them?" (Acts xx:29, 30.) As an evidence that this prophecy was being verified as early as the time of the apostle John's banishment on the Isle of Patmos, this appears in the second chapter of Revelations, first and fifth verses: "Unto the angel of the Church of Ephesus write: These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; Remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of this place, except thou repent." By reading the second verse we discover that false teachers had arisen among the people, professing to be apostles, thus verifying the words of Paul. Following closely the context, we discover that similar reproofs were meted out to most of the branches of the Church in Asia, because they were departing from the truth.

Peter, the presiding apostle, also has spoken very plainly regarding the apostasy. Beginning with the first verse of the second chapter of his second epistle, we read: "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not." From this we learn not only that false teachers should arise among the people, but that they should succeed in deceiving the people, causing them to follow pernicious ways. In connection with this part of the subject, Paul says to Timothy: "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." (II Timothy iv:3, 4.) Thus it is clearly stated, not only that men should arise "speaking perverse things," and by their evil designs succeed in making innovations upon the teachings of the apostles, but that the people themselves would be so allured from the way of life, as to heap unto themselves these false teachers, and many would adhere to their spurious doctrines. The terms "heap" and "many" do not signify a few but a great number.

These quotations from the Holy Scriptures bear especially upon the internal eruptions that occurred in the Church, causing many to depart from the straight and narrow path which leadeth unto life eternal. Those causes which create internal division and discord in the midst of the Saints are the worst of all, for "a house divided against itself cannot stand."

Having shown that many of the ancient Saints departed from the plan of salvation, we will now proceed to examine another branch of the subject, namely: The External Events in Connection with the History of the Church which Conspired to Overthrow the People of God. From the quotations here given, stating that "the love of many waxed cold; many shall follow their pernicious ways," etc., it may be asked, "What shall become of the few who were faithful? Did not they confer the authority upon a people in some remote corner of the earth? And from thence has it not continued, as the true Church, down to the present time?" In answer to these queries we shall refer to declarations of Holy Writ.

When the Savior made His appearance in the flesh there were many religious denominations extant, some of which professed a firm belief in the Bible—the Old Testament—and notwithstanding the ancient prophets plainly foretold the birth and ministry of the Savior, the religious element bitterly opposed Him and denounced new revelation, as manifested through the Redeemer. This peculiar perversity of the human family has been displayed prominently whenever the Almighty has introduced a new dispensation of the Gospel. The Lord, fully understanding the result of such bitter persecution, said to His apostles: "Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you; and ye shall be hated of all nations for my namesake." (Matt. xxiv:9.)

The vile treatment to which the ancient apostles were subjected and the martyrdom of many of them, is known to all acquainted with the history of those inspired men; and scriptural evidence as to their having been informed thereof in advance is quite abundant. The Savior says in Mark, thirteenth chapter, ninth verse: "But take heed to yourselves; for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten; and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them." Another witness to this testimony of our Savior has also left us the following: "And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends, and some of you shall they cause to be put to death."

It is a remarkable fact that, in every age of the world when the Lord has committed a dispensation of the Gospel to men upon the earth, the heavenly message has been rejected by the great majority of the human family, and the envy and hatred of many have been such as to instigate measures of violence against the humble servants of the Lord. Especially is this true when applied to the professedly religious element, and more directly to those who aim to be public instructors of the people. Notice the action taken by the Pharisees, Sadducees and other religious classes regarding the ancient Saints; while the devotees of these sects were divided on points of doctrine and disagreed upon the writings of the prophets, they combined their efforts to overthrow the Lord's chosen people. The Savior, indicating the class who would imbrue their hands in the blood of the prophets, said: "These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues; yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God's service." (John xvi:1, 2.) This could not apply to the atheistic world, for it denies the existence of God. It could not mean the infidel class, for while they may not deny the existence of a Supreme Being, they disavow all forms of worship. The Savior's prediction was directed to the religious world, and from the facts of the case, it seems especially applicable to that portion of it which claimed to believe in the writings of the ancient prophets. Immediate revelation from heaven has always come in contact with the vain traditions and religious crafts of men, so that the strictest professors of religion anciently were, and are now, among the foremost in persecuting the Saints and seeking to deprive them of the rights and privileges which other men enjoy. In connection with the evidence found in the Holy Scriptures on this part of the subject, the thousands of Latter-day Saints who have suffered by the hand of oppression in this dispensation of the Gospel, are living witnesses.

While the revelator John, who was the last remaining member of the quorum of the Twelve Apostles on the Eastern Hemisphere, was in banishment upon the Isle of Patmos, he saw the image of a beast, representing a power that should arise in the earth, make war upon the Saints and overcome them. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him? And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the Saints, and to overcome them; and power was given Him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations." This declaration of the Scriptures is very broad, indicating clearly that the Saints should be overcome, and the power of the beast should be so extensive as to cover all "kindred, tongues and nation," thus leaving the people destitute of divine authority and bereft of the glorious plan of redemption.

By turning to the second chapter of Daniel, we learn something with regard to the period of time when this power which made war with the Saints and overcame them should flourish in the earth. The metallic image which Nebuchadnezzar saw in His dream consisted of gold, silver, brass, iron and clay, so we are told in the interpretation given by Daniel the prophet. It represented several kingdoms, beginning with Babylon, which we learn from history flourished in the fifth and sixth centuries before Christ; and second, the Medio-Persian government, from about 580 to 331 B. C.; third, the Macedonian kingdom, founded by Alexander the Great, from 331 B. C., to 161 B. C.; fourth, the Roman Empire, established in 161 B. C., and which flourished until 483 A.D. This last named government was represented in the metallic image by the two legs of iron, which resembled very much the two divisions of the Roman Empire, the one having its seat of government at Rome, the other at Constantinople. These subsequently subdivided into the petty governments of modern Europe, having in them the elements of strength and weakness, as indicated by the feet and toes of the image, which were part of iron and part of clay. It will be observed by the dates given above that it was during the time of the Roman Empire that our Lord and Savior was born into the world. As early as the banishment of the apostle John, about 96 A. D., we discover that nearly all apostles forming the chief quorum of officers in the Church of Christ had been martyred. We are informed in Mosheim's Ecclesiastical Institutes that the year 70 A. D. Vespasian and his son Titus besieged the city of Jerusalem with an army, destroyed the city and the temple and slew many of the inhabitants, this event having been predicted by the Savior, and recorded in Matthew, twenty-fourth chapter.

In speaking of this power that should destroy the Saints, Daniel the prophet, says, "And he shall speak great words against the Most High and shall wear out the Saints of the Most High." We might illustrate how literally these prophecies were verified by the following example: Previous to the late Civil War in the American Union, the South organized a republican form of government with the requisite officers to constitute such a government. In a short time, however, the Northern States engaged in war with the South and overcame them, so that the confederacy of that section ceased to exist. Suppose a stranger should visit the South at the present time and inquire of some person in that region of country if they have a republic entirely independent of the North, and on being answered "We have," the visitor queries, "Where is your president?" "Well, he is done away with, because no longer needed." He is asked, "Where is your vice-president?" "Oh, we have none." "Where is your congress?" "Well, that was dissolved long ago and has not existed since." "Pray, then," says the stranger, "What have you left?" "Well, we have a judge, and a policeman, besides the book which gives a history of the officers you inquire about." Such answers, however absurd and inconsistent, are very similar to those offered by the religious world of today who claim to have the Church of Christ; but when asked where are their apostles, they answer, "We have none, they are done away with." "Have you prophets?" "Oh, no! They are no longer needed." "Do the members of your church enjoy the gifts of the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised should follow believers?" "Certainly not, they have passed away centuries ago, and we have no occasion for them now." "Well, then, what have you left?" "Why, we have a pastor and a deacon, and then we have the good Book, the Holy Bible, that describes the officers you mention."

It is very clear, from the condition of affairs, that we have briefly described, that at some period in the past, the Church of Jesus Christ was taken from the earth and the human family left without the direct and authorized administration of the plan of salvation. The prophecies we have quoted show, first, that such an event was to transpire some time in the future; second, about the period of time in which many of these predictions were verified, and, third, the means of power by which the Saints were overcome.

There are other prophecies in the Bible which plainly show that the extent of the ancient apostasy would be universal and continue in the earth until a certain period in the history of the human family, which will, with other items, form the subject matter for our next consideration. As the predictions of the prophets relating to the past have been so literally verified, this fact should promote, in the hearts of the people, great faith in the words of the Lord, as these are given in the Bible.

We have shown that the Church established by the Savior in all its pristine beauty and purity was taken from the earth. As none of the religious denominations, existing between the time of the ancient apostles and the nineteenth century have received a new commission from heaven, that fact is proof that the effect of the primitive apostasy has extended without interruption to the present age of the world.

Dr. Mosheim is the author of four large volumes of religious history comprehending about eighteen centuries of the Christian era. This work has been translated by Dr. Murdock with copious notes, or extracts, from the writers who lived contemporary with the times of which he writes. From the translation of Mosheim's Ecclesiastical Institutes we make a few quotations.

In speaking of the second century of the Christian era, Mosheim says (Vol. 1, p. 142): "For the noble simplicity and the majestic dignity of the Christian religion were lost, or at least impaired, when these philosophers presumed to associate their dogmas with it and to bring faith and piety under the dominion of human reason." On pages 182 and 183 of the same volume we are informed that, to conform to the customs of Jews and Pagan priests, rites and ceremonies were added to the simplicity of correct worship, and a "large part therefore of the Christian observances and institutions even in this century had the aspect of Pagan mysteries." Passing on to the third century on page 257, we have the following: "All the monuments of this century which have come down to us, show that there was a great increase of ceremonies." Page 259: "Baptism was publicly administered twice a year to candidates who had gone through a long preparation and trial."

Of the fourth century we learn from p. 345 that the regard for Platonic philosophy was embraced and mingled with the doctrine of the Savior: "Hence it is that we see on every hand evident traces of excessive veneration for Saints in heaven; of belief in a fire to purify souls on leaving the body; of partiality for priestly celibacy; the worship of images and relics, and for many other opinions which, in the process of time, almost banished the true religion or at least very much obscured and corrupted it." Of the fifth century, an account is given of impostors perpetrating artifices to make people think they were miracles and thereby induce them to embrace Christianity. Religious teachings, we are informed, "were substantiated, not so much by the declarations of the Holy Scriptures, as by the authority and logical reasonings of the ancient doctors." Page 455: "The whole Christian Church was in this century overwhelmed with these disgraceful fictions."

We might proceed with similar quotations relative to subsequent centuries intervening between the fifth and the time of the Reformation, but the foregoing will suffice to show that religious matters grew worse from one age to another, presenting to the world a mass of religious confusion. Although there may have been honorable men who protested against these evils, it is evident that genuine authority and the principles of the Gospel in their purity could not be derived from such a corrupt source. We are informed in the Scriptures that an evil tree will not produce good fruit nor a bitter fountain send forth sweet waters. As neither Luther, Melancthon, Huss, Zwingli, Calvin nor any of the reformers of that age received revelation from heaven authorizing them to establish the Church, we find that the world was still without the plan of salvation, and that the products of the Reformation, as religious bodies, are the offspring of the mother church, described in the Scriptures as the "mother of harlots and abomination of the earth." This unnatural mother, like some of the fashionable women of modern times (whose husbands and illicit patrons are zealously opposing the Latter-day Saints), endeavored to procure abortion, but failing in this, she tried to destroy her children after birth. Both attempts being futile, the children grew to years of maturity and in turn gave birth to other children, and so on until now there are several generations of them living. These offspring, being without natural affection, have been and still are quarreling with each other and casting missiles at their mothers and grandmothers as the case may be.

In the midst of this religious spectacle, however, there are and have been many honorable people who have realized the fallen condition of the world and were honest enough to acknowledge the same. From Elder John Morgan's Tract No. 1, we make the following extracts: "Roger Williams refused to continue as pastor over the oldest Baptist church in America on the grounds that there was no regularly constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer church ordinances, nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the Great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seeking." (See Picturesque America, page 502.) Smith's Bible Dictionary also says: "We must not expect to see the Church of Holy Scriptures actually existing in its perfection on the earth. It is not to be found thus perfect either in the collected fragments of Christendom or still less in any one of these fragments." The names of sixty-five learned divines and biblical scholars are on the preface page as contributors to and endorsers of this book.

Mr. Wesley states that the reason the gifts are no longer in the church, is because the love of many waxed cold and the Christians had turned heathens again and had only a dead form left. (See volume 1, sermon 94.)

The situation of the religious world is beautifully depicted in poetic verse on page forty-one of the Latter-day Saints' Hymn Book, in a hymn from Wesley's collection. In speaking of the golden age of the apostles and prophets, when the Saints were endowed with spiritual gifts and graces, the writer says:

"Where shall we wander now to find
Successors they have left behind?
The faithful whom we seek in vain
Are 'minished from the sons of men.
Ye different sects who all declare:
'Lo! here is Christ' or 'Christ is there!'
Your stronger proofs divinely give,
And show me where true Christians live."

I will now quote from the Bible to illustrate how plainly the prophets foretold what the writers from whom I have quoted clearly show to have been verified: "Behold the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it." (Amos viii: 11, 12.) We learn from this that the time was coming when men should seek to the four points of the compass, and in all directions, and yet fail to find the word of God; but we find the Bible in every direction, and that is said to contain the word of the Lord. Very true, but that word was directed to past generations and is a record of the dealings of our Heavenly Father with His children in bygone days.

The sacred record states: "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secrets unto His servants the Prophets." (Amos iii:7.) From this we learn that if there are no prophets of the Lord, then our Heavenly Father is doing nothing in a religious sense among the people of this earth; but if He is doing a work among them for their redemption, then there must be prophets. By this it will be easy to ascertain whether the prediction of Amos has been verified or not. Who, previous to the year 1827, for many centuries has found in his researches an inspired prophet who could stand in the midst of the people and say, "Thus saith the Lord?" Have not the people denied the prophets and visions of heaven? We learn from the nineteenth chapter of Revelations that "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Therefore, if any have had this testimony they have been inspired with the spirit of prophecy. And again, we are informed by the Savior, as written in the sixteenth chapter of John, that the "Spirit of truth shall guide into all truth," and "show you things to come." Who has seen things to come? And where is the word of the Lord? Surely not with those who deny prophets and apostles.

We learn from the twenty-fourth chapter of Isaiah that the effects of this ancient apostasy would be so universal as to cover all classes of society, affecting not only the religious and social circles, but the business transactions of the human family. In the second verse he says: "And it shall be as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him." By reading the fifth verse of the same chapter we learn that even the earth upon which we dwell is seriously effected. Isaiah says: "The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances, broken the everlasting covenant."

As a testimony to the fulfillment of this prophecy, thousands of people in the American Union are witnesses to the fact, that in many parts the land will not produce such prolific crops as it would several years ago, but is gradually growing weaker and losing its virtue. Many places once fruitful are now turned aside as being too poor to cultivate, and are occupied by hedge grass, sassafras bushes and growths of small pine. Such is the rapid decline of the strength of the soil. I have been informed that in one state some of the people, desiring to learn why the soil was losing its virtue, took quantities of earth from different points and had it analyzed. The analysis revealed the fact that the soil had lost its salt and was therefore comparatively of but little worth, only to be trodden under the foot of man. This test of the soil in one section is a fair sample of the same condition of the land in many other places. These are the terrible effects, Isaiah informs us, of the inhabitants of the earth transgressing "the laws," changing "the ordinances," and breaking the "everlasting covenant."

Among other important features wherein the everlasting covenant has been broken is that pertaining to the marriage contract, which, agreeable to the laws of heaven, is binding through time and eternity, not recognizing death, which is said to be the "wages of sin," as having power to sever that which is joined together by the power and authority of God. The world is now following the pattern of the Sadducees (who denied the resurrection), and therefore pronounce the ceremony of marriage "until death do you part."

Another prophecy which vividly portrays the religious state of affairs in the last days is that contained in (II Timothy iii:1-6) as follows: "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away."

This is so plain that no one need to doubt its verification. It clearly sets forth the very evils that are now prevalent in all the civilized nations of the earth. While this statement of evils may apply to the world at large, it is evident that it was directed specially to a certain class of people—not to infidel nor atheist, nor yet to the heathen nations, which are unacquainted with the name of the Savior and with what is termed Christianity, but to those religious bodies which, as Paul declares, "have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof." It plainly describes the situation of the Christian world at the present time, who, while they have various forms of worship, deny the gifts of vision, prophecy, healing, tongues and nearly all the manifestations of the power of the Lord, as enjoyed by the ancient Saints. In fine, they deny the Gospel, for that, says Paul, "is the power of God unto salvation." The apostle, it appears, would not attribute to them even true forms of worship, for he says they have a "form of godliness." "From such," says Paul, "turn away."

If all would receive this admonition and "turn away" from these powerless forms, what would become of the churches that are now extant? With the foregoing positive predictions upon this subject, and the facts before us in verification of the same, we can testify that the words of Isaiah have been fulfilled, wherein he says: "Behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people;" and that nothing short of more revelation direct from heaven could place the present generation in possession of the everlasting Gospel.

Having shown that many of the ancients fell away from that Gospel; that the faithful remainder were warred against by the enemies of truth, and that the last of the saints who held the Priesthood were overcome, leaving no successors to continue the works of the ministry; it is therefore made clear that the plan of salvation was taken away from the earth, that the results of the ancient apostasy were universal and have extended down without interruption to the present century.

The gloom that these serious events would cast upon the minds of the honest in heart who saw this sad picture unfolded to the gaze of the world, and which would effect their posterity in future generations, was greatly relieved when they beheld, while rapt in heavenly vision, angels from the mansions of glory descending to the earth with the Gospel message in all its purity and holiness, to deliver to the sons of men, causing the "poor among men to rejoice in the Holy One of Israel." The apostle John, while in banishment upon the Isle of Patmos, said: "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven having the everlasting Gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come; and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of water." (Revelation, xiv:6, 7.) There are now thousands of honest-hearted people upon the earth who testify that the angel spoken of in the foregoing quotation visited Joseph Smith, the prophet, and delivered to him the everlasting Gospel. Scattered Israel is coming to a knowledge of the truth while the day spoken of by Jeremiah is dawning. "O Lord, my strength, and my fortress, my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto Thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit." (Jeremiah xvi:19.)

These predictions are being fulfilled and will be fulfilled to the very letter; and as the apostasy and its effects were universal, so will the restoration of the Gospel be universal, extending to every nation, kindred, tongue and people, until Satan shall be bound and the voice of "peace on earth and to men good will" shall be heard from the rivers to the ends of the earth; when "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea;" and when "they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord; for all shall know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest."

RESTORATION OF THE GOSPEL.

Having shown conclusively that the Church of Christ in its purity and entirety was taken from the earth, we find the world without divine authority, without ordinances of the Gospel, having a "form of godliness but denying the power thereof." "From such turn away."

This would be truly a sad picture to gaze upon and contemplate, were it not that the Lord also revealed to the apostles and prophets anciently that in the last days there would be a restoration of all that had been enjoyed in previous dispensations. The apostle Peter, speaking of the second advent of the Messiah, prophesied as follows: "And He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began." (Acts iii:20, 21). This prediction is so plain that a "wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err therein."

A restitution means bringing back that which was lost; even if God had not spoken by the mouth of many prophets since the beginning, giving in detail various conditions which would be restored to the earth, this prophecy would be sufficient in itself in assuring "a restitution of all things" to justify mankind in looking for a new dispensation containing all the gifts and powers of the apostolic age.

These gifts and powers do not exist in the Catholic church, nor in any Protestant denomination of modern Christendom. Nothing short of new revelation from God will fulfill the prediction of the apostle Peter.

The twenty-second and twenty-third verses of the same prophecy read: "For Moses truly said unto the fathers" (his prophecy here quoted by Peter is found in Deuteronomy, 18th chapter, commencing with the fifteenth verse), "A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear in all things, whatsoever He shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that every soul which will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people." This prophecy undoubtedly refers to the Savior, but the conditions specified were never verified at His first coming. Those who would not hear Him were not destroyed from among the people. It is plain therefore that the prediction must allude to His second advent. In this connection, we refer our readers to the third chapter of Malachi, 1 to 3, inclusive: "Behold, I will send my messenger, and He shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in, behold He shall come, said the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of His coming? And who shall stand when He appeareth? For He is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap, and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness."

These conditions did not exist when Jesus came as the Babe of Bethlehem. The people then abode His coming. They despised Him, and persecuted Him to the death. The sons of Levi were not purged. Many centuries have elapsed since they offered an acceptable offering unto the Lord, so far as we are informed in sacred or other history. The Messiah did not come suddenly; He came as other infants came, only under humbler circumstances, being born in a stable and cradled in a manger. Truly does the Scripture say: "He descended below all things that He might rise above all things." He did not come to His temple, for He said that "the foxes had holes and birds of the air had nests, but the Son of Man had not where to lay His head;" and again that the temple occupied by money changers, rather than being a house of prayer, had become a "den of thieves."

When He comes in verification of Malachi's prophecy, He will come suddenly and in power and great glory. He will find a temple to come to. To do this, there must be a people called of God, instructed by revelation direct, in order to know where, when and how to erect, in keeping with divine approval, such a sacred edifice. Such information cannot be found in the written word of bygone ages, much less in the writings and commentaries of learned divines who deny the necessity of new and continuous revelation. Nothing short of a new Gospel dispensation, ushered in and perpetuated by direct revelation from the Lord, can fulfill the provisions of Malachi's prediction.

Passing on to chapter four of Malachi's prophecy, we find the inspired utterances respecting the judgments of God, the burning and overthrow of the wicked and the rising of the Son of Righteousness to those who fear His holy name. In the fifth verse it is said: "Behold, I will send you Elijah, the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord." This is so definite that comments are unnecessary. The prophet Elijah who was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire without tasting death is doubtless referred to.

In the verse following the one quoted, the mission of Elijah is specified to "turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers." How consistent and glorious such a mission! The children receiving the Gospel in a new dispensation naturally inquire what has become of their fathers who died without the Gospel. In other pages of this volume, referring to the redemption of the dead, we notice more fully this prophecy and testify that Elijah has come and also restored the keys of salvation for the dead.

Zechariah saw the time when Jerusalem should be rebuilt, and said: "Behold, the angel that talked with me went forth and another angel went out to meet him, and said unto him, run, speak with the young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein." (Zech. ii:3, 4.) Continuing, the prophet speaks of Israel coming from the North, and from Babylon, and being gathered to their inheritances, and that God Himself "shall dwell in the midst of thee." The Scriptures are replete with similar prophecies pointing to the gathering of Israel to Zion and Jerusalem, the coming of the Lord, and other important events. How any one could believe that these glorious prophecies could be verified without more revelation and the establishment of a new dispensation of the Gospel, is more of a marvel to a true believer in the Bible than is believing in prophecy, revelations, visions, miracles, etc.

In Revelations, chapter xiv, verses 6 and 7, we have the following very clear prophecy on this important subject: "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come; and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and sea, and the fountains of waters." The inspired utterance cannot have reference to an event in the age in which it was uttered for two reasons at least: first, the people had the Gospel at the time, and John's mission was to declare the same; second, the voice from heaven as recorded in Rev. iv:1, 2, called to John saying, "Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter."

"What is prophecy but history reversed?" Thus the book of Revelation is one unbroken chain of prophetic history from first to last. The declaration that an angel should come with the Gospel is proof that the Gospel would be taken away. Again, the angel was to come in the "hour of God's judgment," a day not at all fulfilled during the earthly ministry of our Savior. One of the most remarkable features of the prophecy is that the inhabitants of the earth, without exception (every nation, kindred, tongue and people, is included in the glorious message), are called upon to worship Him who made the heaven and earth and the sea and the fountains of water.

When we come to the subject of personality of God, it will be our purpose to show that the "God without body, parts, and passions" is not the God who made the heaven and the earth, and hence the necessity of just such an injunction as that quoted from the fourteenth chapter of Revelation being given to the world in the last days. The specifications of the prophecy are plain. The question which logically follows is, "Has that angel come?" If he has not, then he must do so, or the word of God is null and void, and this is impossible. "Not one jot or tittle shall fall unfulfilled." "Though heaven and earth shall pass away, my word shall never pass away."

Certainly the angel has not come to any Catholic or Protestant ministers, for they dispute the necessity of angels. The only claim to the reception of the heavenly message is made by Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and his followers, who testify that the angel came to the young man Joseph. It will not do to dismiss this claim by saying that "false prophets shall come," for false prophets, counterfeit coin, and every spurious imitation exists as a counterfeit to the true article, so that the existence of false prophets is usually a very fair indication that true prophets are not far away.

Following the coming of the angel having the Gospel to restore was to be another, urging the Saints to come out of Babylon: "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, come out of her, my people, that ye receive not of her plagues." (Rev. xviii:4.) Thus it is a gathering dispensation, as stated by Paul in the first chapter of Ephesians. The Savior, in speaking of the signs associated with His second coming and the consummation of His Father's work in the last days, says: "And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." (Matt. xxiv:14. ) This prophecy was uttered in connection with the stating of other signs given by the Savior respecting His second advent, and in answer to a question by the disciples: "Tell us when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the world?"

"This Gospel of the kingdom;" "The Everlasting Gospel;" The Gospel of apostles, prophets, revelations, visions, miracles and all the gifts of the Holy Ghost. This only true Gospel could not be preached for a witness unto all nations unless restored to earth by modern revelations, for the religious world, so far as enjoying the true Gospel is concerned, comes under the prophecy of Isaiah, chapter ix:2: "For behold darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people;" and again, chapter xxiv:5: "The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances, broken the everlasting covenant," all this going to prove the necessity of a Gospel restoration.

When Jesus taught His disciples how to pray He instructed them to say, among other things, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven." (Matt. vi:10.) If the kingdom referred to by Him had come, He would not have instructed them to pray for what they already possessed. They were looking for a future day.

On one occasion after His resurrection, the apostles asked the Savior this question: "'Wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?' And He said unto them, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power." (Acts i:7.) This indicates plainly the establishment of God's kingdom at a future period of time. We may connect with these inspired sayings of the Savior the prophecy of Daniel, recorded in the second chapter of his prophetic utterances. By reading from the second chapter of his book we learn that the king of Babylon had received a dream which, having gone from his mind, he demanded to know of the wise men; and not only the interpretation, but the dream itself. They, of course, failed. Daniel, the prophet, was called in, and in the spirit of a true prophet and Saint of God acknowledged that it was not in man to reveal such things, "But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the King Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days." The image seen in the dream is next described by Daniel as being in form like a man, with a head of fine gold, his breast and arms of silver, his belly and thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. The interpretation made known that this image represented the kingdoms of the world, beginning with Babylon, the head of gold; next came the Medio-Persian, under Alexander the Great: then arose the Roman empire, out of which grew the modern kingdoms of Europe, represented by the feet and toes. Here comes the important feature of the prophecy which was to take place in the "latter days," of which the prophet Daniel says, "And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever."

The language of this prophecy shows: first, that unlike the preceding kingdoms, this last named kingdom was to be set up by God Himself, in other words, the kingdom of God, not of man. Second, unlike the other kingdoms, it should never be destroyed. Third, it should not, like the kingdoms of men, pass from one people to another, but should not be left to other people. Fourth, that it should have power to break in pieces and consume all other kingdoms.

The terms of this prophecy, and the history of God's dealings with men since it was uttered, are such that no thoughtful, well-informed man can suppose that this event took place at the first coming and ministry of the Savior, for the following reasons: first, the kingdoms represented by the toes and feet, contemporary with which the kingdom of God was to be set up, did not exist; the Roman empire, symbolized by the legs of iron, was that part of the image then extant. Second, the kingdom spoken of by Daniel was not to be left to other people, whereas the Savior Himself said to the disciples, as recorded in Matthew xxi:43, "Therefore say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to the nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." To this the testimony of Paul agrees in Acts xiii:46. "Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles."

These statements taken together, as well as many other conditions referred to, prove clearly that the kingdom spoken of by Daniel was not established in the days of our Savior. We are thus forced to the admission that if the kingdom of God has not come in this age, it is yet to come. There are, however, many other prophecies relating to the restoration of the last days, which show not merely that a restoration has been predicted, but that the Gospel veritably has been restored to man in this dispensation, with all the gifts and blessings which characterized the same in the days of the Messiah; and more, that a people are being prepared for the coming and reign of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We have proved from the Bible prophecies that a restoration of the Gospel in its fullness, by modern revelation, would take place in the last days. We now desire to show that this restoration has taken place, and that Joseph Smith, the Prophet, was the man through whom God has established anew His Church upon the earth, after the ancient pattern, with apostles, prophets, gifts and blessings, visions and revelations.

Joseph Smith announced to the world that he had received the visitation of heavenly messengers, also that they conferred upon him authority to speak and officiate in the name of the Lord with the same power and authority received and exercised by John the Baptist and the apostle Peter in ancient times.

Now, the prophecies quoted here could not be verified unless some one should come to the world bearing just such a testimony as that borne by Joseph Smith.

Furthermore, when we ask Catholic and Protestant ministers if an angel has come to any of them with the everlasting Gospel, they answer in the negative, and deride the idea of new revelation. Ask them if Elijah the Prophet has come to them, to plant in the hearts of the children the promise made to the fathers. They say no. Has the messenger spoken of by Malachi come to you and taught you how to build a temple to the Lord, that He may "suddenly come to His temple?" The very question itself is treated with utter astonishment, and the man who asks it is regarded as being erratic. We must therefore turn from sects having forms of godliness "but denying the power thereof," to other sources to find some one who has received, or shall receive, the revelations of the Almighty in the last days.

One thing is certain, if the claims of the Latter-day Saints are not true, then some one must come in the future with just such claims. We ask the question, will the world be any better prepared to receive a message of this character in the future than it is today? Certainly the hearts of the people are not being prepared for such testmonies by the influence and teachings of modern ministers. Come, dear readers, let us reason together; let us divest our minds of all prejudice. "Prove all things, hold fast that which is good," and ask the question, what constitutes complete evidence that a man is a prophet of God?

To be a reliable witness in a human court, an individual must be a person of veracity, whose honor cannot be impeached. Such a man was Joseph Smith, the Prophet. His parents were hard-working farmers. They had a standing in the community of virtue, honesty, industry and sincerity in religious devotion, unexcelled by any. His forefathers were among the early founders of New England, who came from the "mother country" to enjoy the greater liberty of worshiping God without molestation and according to the dictates of conscience. His progenitors were soldiers of the Revolution. They offered their lives freely upon the altar of liberty, for the freedom of the American colonies and their descendants for all generations to come. From such a line of ancestors came the Prophet Joseph Smith. If they were not popular, nor great, nor affluent, in the eyes of the world, neither were the immediate ancestry of Jesus and His apostles. If Joseph was poor and earned his bread by the sweat of his brow, so did most all of the prophets since the world began. He enjoyed the reputation, among those who knew him best, in every state in which he lived throughout life, of being an honest, industrious, virtuous, patriotic man. On trumped-up charges by the enemies of truth, he was arrested and tried thirty-nine times in courts not conducted by men of his own faith, and thirty-nine times he was honorably acquitted. The last time he was arrested, his enemies said, "If the law cannot reach him, powder and lead shall." How like the experience of Jesus before Pilate! Honorably acquitted by the judges, they cried out, "Let His blood be upon us and our children!" And so it has been; the same is true of those who shed the blood of the Prophet and Patriarch in these last days.

In view of the unpopularity of believing in angels and revelations in this age, what purpose could a man have in view, to make such a declaration, unless it was true? Joseph Smith gained no popularity or honors of men by it; he made no wealth of a worldly character by such a course. On the other hand, he suffered ignominy, scorn, and persecution in almost every form, including hunger, fatigue, exile, imprisonment and death at the hands of assassins. If it could be urged with the least propriety that when he announced his first vision he was so young—only about fifteen years of age (not much older than Samuel the prophet when God called him)—that he did not realize the terrible consequences of such a testimony, he certainly realized in a very short time and had every opportunity to correct his assertions had they been false.

Human nature is not such as to maintain known errors with such unwavering integrity and consistency against the bitter opposition of the world from boyhood to the grave. Yet with all his increasing trials and persecutions, which rolled upon him all his life like the angry waves of the ocean, driven by the winds against the peaceful shore, he never faltered. His testimony never wavered. He testified that he saw God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, and received of the ministrations of John the Baptist, Peter, James and John, Elijah and other prophets who lived in bygone ages. With an understanding of these circumstances and a knowledge of his character, the charge of fraud and dishonesty cannot be laid against him. If so, every prophet since the world began can be counted a dishonest man.

The question which naturally follows in this place is: Could Joseph Smith be mistaken? In answer we say: He was not a religious zealot. He was a young man of a practical turn of mind. While not a skeptic, he was reasonable, and thought that men professing to be the servants of the Lord should give proof of their calling similar to that given by the ancient prophets. If they had the true Gospel, with the gifts of the Holy Ghost, they should not be full of contradictions on doctrine, at least. This feature shows that Joseph was of a disposition not easily deluded by the unfounded theories of men. He belonged to no church, and like the ancient apostles, was free from preconceived dogmas and theories. He had no system to bolster up nor pet theory to maintain. His mind was free and of an order most likely to be selected for the great work which the Lord assigned him.

The circumstances which led to Joseph Smith's prayer offered in the grove near Palmyra, New York, in the spring of 1820, were these: A great religious revival had been in progress. He attended. It consisted of people who were Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, etc., represented in the pulpit by their respective ministers. When a convert joined the Baptists the other ministers would say: "This is the way; walk ye in it." And another: "This is right; follow this way." Yet their doctrines were in conflict. He could get no light from them. In this frame of mind he commenced to read the Scriptures. He came to the first chapter of James, fifth and sixth verses. This reads as follows: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering, for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. For, let not that man think that he shall receive anything from the Lord." Joseph believed the promise. He put it to the test. He knelt in a grove of timber, and asked God which denomination was right. While thus engaged an unseen power seized him, tied his tongue, as it were, and apparently would have destroyed his life. Here are Joseph's words, quoted from the "Pearl of Great Price," page 59: "Just at this moment of great alarm I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spoke unto me, calling me by name, and said (pointing to the other), 'This is my beloved Son, Hear Him.' In answer to my question, which of the sects were right, He answered that none of them were, and I was forbidden of the Lord to join any of them."

This prayer was offered by an honest boy, seeking after truth, unable to get the whole truth from men. Would the Lord suffer such a prayer to go unanswered, or suffer this boy to be deceived by Satan? All reason, all Scripture answers, no. "Ask and ye shall receive; knock and it shall be opened unto you." If a son ask his father for bread "will he give him a stone?" "If he ask for fish will he give him a serpent?" The Savior answers, no. If it is argued that Joseph was alone and no one else present to corroborate his testimony, we have two answers: One is that those determined to reject such revelations will deny the veracity of two or three men as readily as the assertion of one; the other is that those who believe the Bible, to be consistent, if they doubt the testimony of Joseph because he was alone, must also doubt the testimony of Moses, who was alone when God spoke to him from the burning bush, and again when he stood in His presence on the mount and received the Ten Commandments. Will they doubt that Isaiah saw the Lord in the days of King Uzziah? (Isa. vi.). Because Stephen alone saw God and His Son in the last moments of His life, is his testimony false? Paul saw the Savior, but the men who were with him saw Him not. Yet the Christian world believes that Paul saw the Lord, even though other men in the presence of Paul did not see him.

While Joseph was alone on the occasion above related, he was not alone in all the manifestations which the Lord gave him. We have other honest witnesses who corroborate the testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and their testimony has not been impeached. They were men of good repute. On the 5th day of May, 1829, John the Baptist appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, laid his hands upon their heads and conferred upon them the Aaronic Priesthood, which holds authority to preach the principles of the Gospel and baptize in water for the remission of sins, but not authority to administer in the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. This Aaronic Priesthood was held by John the Baptist, by Philip, who baptized the Samaritans, and by others in the times of the apostles. Subsequent to this Peter, James and John presented themselves to the same men, Joseph and Oliver, conferring upon them the holy apostleship, which included authority to organize the Church in its fullness and to open the door of the Gospel to all nations.

Passing over the many remarkable manifestations given to the Prophet and others, we will conclude this part of the subject by reference to the statements of the three witnesses respecting the Book of Mormon. Their testimony will be found in the title pages of every copy of that sacred volume, signed with their names—Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris. They assert that an angel appeared before them, held in his hands the metallic plates, giving an account of the ancient inhabitants of America; their origin, history and destiny; the dealings of God with them; and the fullness of the Gospel as taught by the Savior and ancient prophets on this land, from which sacred plates the Book of Mormon is translated into English. The witnesses saw and handled the plates, and gave their solemn testimony to the world. Under all circumstances the witnesses maintained their testimony to the end in private and public; to all who came to ask of them, they told the same unchanging story. Another feature of this evidence of these three witnesses is this: In the course of time they transgressed the rules and regulations of the Church, and of necessity had to be excommunicated. Having thus fallen away from their adherence to the Church, from their association and fellowship with the Prophet Joseph Smith, they were placed in a condition where every inducement was presented them to deny their testimony and in this way frustrate the scheme, if it had been false. If such a procedure had been possible they could thereby gain the fellowship and applause of the world for exposing to ridicule and shame the man who came to the world with a New Dispensation. But they did not do this. Being outside the pale of the Church, may they not be called truly disinterested witnesses, witnesses stronger in that sense than can be produced to substantiate the divinity of ancient Jewish Scriptures?

The writer once sat in the presence of David Whitmer and can testify from personal contact with him that he was firm and unshaken in the testimony which he bore to the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon. In David Whitmer's dying hours, when enemies of this work may have had some hopes of his recanting, he asked the leading men of Richmond, Mo., if they could honestly give an affidavit before an officer that, from their acquaintance and dealings with him, he was a man of honesty and truth. This they did, and published it. They were men not of Mr. Whitmer's religious views. With that affidavit signed by about twelve leading business men of the town, and the testimony of his physician that his mind was perfectly sound, he published again to the world his testimony that he had seen the angel, had handled the plates, and that the Book of Mormon was the divinely translated record.

In connection with the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, a remarkable prophecy of Isaiah has been strikingly verified: "And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is seated which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: and the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned." (Isaiah xxix:11, 12.) When Joseph obtained the plates he discovered that a portion of them were sealed and learned from the angel that the time had not come to publish that part of the volume, but from the unsealed plates he copied some characters and sent them by Martin Harris to a learned linguist in New York—Prof. Anthon. The learned man examined them and gave Mr. Harris a certificate testifying that they were true characters of Hebrew and reformed Egyptian. Before leaving, the learned man asked Mr. Harris to bring him the plates and he would translate them. Mr. Harris answered that he was forbidden to do that, and also that a portion of the plates were sealed. He replied, "I cannot read a sealed book," and asked where Joseph Smith obtained them. When answered that an angel revealed them, he asked to see the certificate he had given of their genuineness. It was handed him and he tore it up in a rage, saying, "Angels do not appear nowadays." The words of the book, not the book itself, were delivered to the learned man, as Isaiah said they would be. He said he could not read a sealed book, as Isaiah said he would say. The book itself was delivered to Joseph, the unlettered youth, and in his humility he said, I am not learned; but God gave the gift of translation, that it should be done; not by the wisdom and learning of men, but by the power of God.

Other Bible prophecies might be quoted referring to the Book of Mormon, but our purpose at present is not to treat upon that sacred record, but incidentally to show that its coming forth furnishes strong evidence that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God. How it would be possible for an unsophisticated youth to devise a scheme that would answer in its workings so minutely the details of ancient prophecy, unless God inspired him, should require far more credulity to believe than it would that he was sent of God, and thus attribute to the Almighty the honor for the great work.

With this array of corroborating witnesses, and the practical character of Joseph Smith, we do not see the possibility of his being mistaken any more than were Paul, Stephen, Moses, Peter, James and John and all the ancient prophets. It should be remembered that God has His own way and does not show Himself openly to all the people, but to chosen witnesses. "Him God raised up the third day, and showed Him openly, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before God." (Acts x:40, 41.)

We come now to another phase of evidence that the Gospel has been restored, namely, that the organization of the Church as established by the Prophet Joseph Smith, and also the doctrines taught by him, are in perfect accord with the teachings of the Bible. The proof of this is given in other chapters of this volume. The evidence there given of the divine mission of Joseph Smith is all the stronger when we take into consideration the fact that for seventeen centuries learned men have been organizing churches and teaching what they esteemed to be the essentials of salvation, without being able from the fragmentary teachings of the apostles to organize a church with apostles, prophets, seventies, etc. The force of this condition is also enhanced when we recall that each generation of reformers has possessed the advantages arising from the experience and conclusions of each generation preceding them. Neither has been able to unite upon the principles essential for mankind to obey in order to secure salvation.

Joseph Smith presents to the world a system which is a monument of inspiration, both as to the scriptural evidence that the organization is divine and in the fact that the practical workings thereof are perfect. He does not stop at this. He says to his followers that on condition of their acceptance of faith in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ, repentance from all sin, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, and the laying on of hands by Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they shall receive the Holy Ghost, and that the fruits thereof are the same as in olden times; they shall prophesy, speak in tongues, have dreams, visions, revelations, healings and miracles. There are in the Church today 310,000 souls. Of this number many are children, but the thousands who have arrived at the years of accountability have put the promise to the test, and the universal testimony of these people is that they have received knowledge of God for themselves. The tens of thousands, also, who have passed from life, since the date of the organization of the Church (1830), received the same testimony.

During the troubles of the Saints in Illinois, judge Stephen A. Douglas was an acquaintance of Joseph Smith and his people. He knew the injustice heaped upon them by his personal acquaintance with the facts. While in the presence of judge Douglas and others, the judge requested the Prophet to give him a history of the persecutions in Missouri, which he did. While addressing the judge the Prophet said: "Judge, you will aspire to the presidency of the United States; and if you ever turn your hand against me or the Latter-day Saints, you will feel the weight of the hand of the Almighty upon you; and you will live to see and know that I have testified the truth to you; for the conversation of this day will stick to you through life." (Deseret News, Sept. 24th, 1856.)

Judge Douglas aspired, as stated, to the Presidency of the United States, and was nominated for that position on June 23d, 1860, at the Democratic convention held in Charleston. When he thus aspired he was a popular man, eloquent and gifted, and no one seemed to have brighter hopes of success. However, in his mistaken effort to win popular approval, in a speech delivered in Springfield, Illinois, June 12th, 1857, he, in defiance of his own knowledge of the Latter-day Saints and their character, said: "The knife must be applied to this pestiferous, body politic. It must be cut out by the roots and seared over by the red-hot iron of stern and unflinching law." Much more he uttered against the Latter-day Saints, in harmony with misguided public sentiment. When the election came Douglas was badly defeated. Of the electoral votes he had but twelve. He carried but one state. Feeling "the weight of the hand of the Almighty upon him," he died a disappointed, heart-broken man, in less than a year, in the prime of life, being but forty-eight years of age. Thus the word of the Lord was fulfilled with terrible accuracy.

Again Joseph said: "I prophesied that the Saints would continue to suffer much affliction and would be driven to the Rocky Mountains; many would apostatize, others would be put to death by our persecutors or lose their lives in consequence of exposure and disease; and some of you will live to go and assist in making settlements and build cities and see the Saints become a mighty people in the midst of the Rocky Mountains." (Mill. Star, Vol. xix., page 630.) The Saints did continue to suffer much persecution, some did apostatize, others did die of exposure, disease and privation. Others were put to death by persecutors; some lived to go to the Rocky Mountains. They have assisted there in building cities, towns and temples, in making a great commonwealth, and the Saints have become a mighty people in the midst of these mountains. They attract the attention of the world. "A city set on a hill cannot be hid." These prophecies, uttered by Joseph Smith, have come to pass, as have many others, and that, too, contrary to all human prospects. All his prophecies not yet verified relate to future times, and will come to pass as literally and exactly as those of the past or those of any other prophet since the world began, for God inspired and Joseph spoke.

Having finished his mission, accomplished all in the flesh the Lord gave him to do, the Prophet Joseph Smith suffered the shedding of his blood at the hands of a wicked mob, June 27th, 1844, in Carthage, Illinois. Why was he slain? His doctrine, his promises, his life, his prophecies, all proved him to be a prophet of God before he died a martyr. Let the Scriptures answer the question: "For where a testament is, there must also of a necessity be the death of the testator." (Heb. ix:16.) God gave to the world through Joseph Smith a new testament of the plan of salvation. He gave the Book of Mormon, a record of the Gospel to the ancient inhabitants of America. He gave the Doctrine and Covenants, containing the revelations of God to the Saints of the last days. These do not supplant the Bible. They prove it true, and all agree in one. "In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established." Through Joseph, to this generation, came the witness of the Holy Ghost and the authority of the Holy Priesthood. By the continuation of that authority the Church exists today, with the Prophet Joseph F. Smith as its earthly living head. Every Elder of the Church can trace his authority back directly to Joseph Smith, who was ordained by the apostles Peter, James and John, who received it from the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Joseph Smith's testimony is weighty. It effects the whole world. The evidence must also be weighty, and it can now be said that no class of evidence was withheld. He gave all that any Prophet ever gave, including life itself. He sealed his testimony with his blood and his testimony is in force upon all the world. The sealing of his testimony with his blood also accords with ancient prophecy. John the Revelator was called into a high mountain to see the visions of the future. Read (Rev. iv:1). Also, among other things, the apostle says: "And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying: How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled." (Rev. vi:9-11.)

Joseph Smith, the great Prophet of the last days, and his martyred brother, the Patriarch Hyrum Smith, were among these fellow servants who were to be slain. They have fulfilled this last requirement of their earthly existence. Their testimony is true, attested by every evidence that man could give or the world require. That testimony is binding upon all the world. The Gospel has been restored to man, through Joseph Smith, in all its fullness. Will men obey the divine message? A proper answer by every individual is of the greatest importance.

THE CHURCH.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the organization through which the Lord is accomplishing the declaration of the Gospel in the last days, gathering Israel, administering the ordinances of salvation, and, in short, is accomplishing the work of redemption—that accomplishment which has been predicted by the mouths of all His holy prophets since the world began. The Church is called the Church of Jesus Christ because it is His. He directed how and when to organize it, pointing out by direct revelation the manner of Church government; the principles and ordinances of the Gospel; the blessings to be enjoyed by those who obey Him, and also the respective duties of each quorum or council of the Holy priesthood. The words "Latter-day Saints" are used to distinguish it from the former-day dispensation, or from the Church of Jesus Christ of Former-day Saints.

The authority of God delegated to man is called the Holy priesthood. This priesthood is arranged under two great heads. The lesser branch is called the Levitical or Aaronic, because it was conferred upon Aaron and his posterity. It holds the keys of the administration of angels, administering the outward ordinances of the Gospel, such as "baptism by immersion for the remission of sins," the sacrament of the Lord's supper, the receiving and distribution of tithes and offerings, all subject to the direction of the high priesthood. The officers in the Aaronic priesthood consist of Bishops, Priests, Teachers and Deacons. There is a presiding Bishop, who holds the keys of this priesthood, also other Bishops, who preside over the interests of the lesser priesthood in Wards or Branches, looking after the temporal interests of the Saints. The Priests are standing ministers, organized into quorums of forty-eight in each.

The duty of the Priest is to visit the home of each member, expound the Scripture, invite all to come unto Christ and exhort the Saints to perform every duty enjoined by the Gospel.

Teachers are organized into quorums of twenty-four each. The duty of those bearing this office is to see that the Saints do their duty and entertain no ill-feelings toward their fellow-beings, and that no iniquity exists in the Church. These general duties, common to all Saints, consist in living a chaste, honest, upright, temperate and industrious life, attending to secret and family prayers, attendance at meetings of worship, partaking of the sacrament, the payment of tithes and offerings, observing the Sabbath day, and kindred obligations, all made plain in the revelations of God to the Church.

The Deacons are organized into quorums of twelve each, and are to assist the Teacher in all the duties of his calling, as occasion may require, but their especial duty is to look after the houses of worship, keep them clean, see to the arrangement of seats and the seating of the people in public assemblies of worship, and such other labors under the direction of the Bishop as may conduce to the welfare of the Church.

The Melchisedek or higher priesthood holds the keys to the kingdom of heaven. It has the power to seal on earth, and what is done is sealed in heaven; to loose on earth and it is loosed in heaven; to receive the revelations of God; to guide the Church in all things, and to understand the mysteries of godliness as far as they are revealed to men in the flesh. In ancient times these keys and fullness of authority were given to Peter when the Savior said to him: "And I give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. xvi:19.)

The offices of this priesthood consist of the First Presidency, a quorum of three, bearing the holy apostleship, and as the organization of the Church on earth typifies the heavenly, these three symbolize the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and hold the keys of authority over all departments of the Church, on all matters, spiritual and temporal, even as the Godhead is the great ruling power of the universe, the heavens and the earth and all that in them is.

Next come the Twelve Apostles, who hold the keys of opening the door of salvation to all nations, kindreds, tongues and peoples. The reason that this quorum numbers twelve is in honor of the twelve tribes of Israel. Jesus said to the Twelve at Jerusalem: "Thou shalt sit upon twelve thrones, judging the whole house of Israel;" and again, upon the foundations of the heavenly Jerusalem were to be the names of the "Twelve Apostles of the Lamb." The Church in government is "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone." (Eph. ii:19, 20.) The duty of the Twelve is to carry the Gospel to all nations and to send the same by their associates, the Seventies.

The Seventies are organized into quorums of seventy in each, presided over by seven of their number. Their especial calling is, like that of the Twelve, to be witnesses of the truth in all the world, and they are the ones especially appointed to associate with the Twelve in conveying the Gospel message to all mankind.

The office of High Priest is one of presidency. The High Priests are not limited to any especial number to constitute a quorum, but any number existing in a Stake of Zion is a quorum, presided over by three of their members. High Priests are chosen to preside over Stakes of Zion, to act as High Counselors, preside over temples, officiate in the ordinances of the house of the Lord, and, where the literal descendants of Aaron are not found, the High Priest is chosen to officiate in the Bishopric. Where men are found among the Seventies or Elders in any Ward or Stake, more suitable to fill a vacancy in the Ward Bishopric, Stake Presidency, or High Council, than the resident High Priests, such men are selected and ordained to the office of High Priest.

As standing ministers in Wards and Stakes the office of Elder exists, and a quorum of Elders numbers ninety-six. They have authority to preach the Gospel, baptize, confirm, administer the sacrament, anoint, and lay on hands for the healing of the sick, but differ from the Seventies in not being under the especial duty of traveling abroad to preach the Gospel. They have authority, however, as do High Priests, to travel abroad and preach the Gospel when called by the Presidency of the Church.

There is in the Church a presiding Patriarch, and other Patriarchs in all the Stakes of Zion. The duty of this high office is to impart blessings to the Saints of God. In presenting the general authorities of the Church the name of the Patriarch is presented next to the Twelve Apostles.

The general authorities of the Church, presented for the acceptance of the Church at every general conference, are the Presidency, the Twelve Apostles, the Patriarch, the Seven Presidents of Seventies, and the Presiding Bishopric of the Church. The names of the officers in the Priesthood are Apostles, Patriarchs, High Priests, Seventies, Elders, Bishops, Priests, Teachers and Deacons.

When difficulties arise between members of the Church and they fail to settle by themselves and the assistance of one or two witnesses, as the Savior directs, the Bishopric of the Ward form an ecclesiastical court, to which the disputants can refer their difficulties. If the decision is unsatisfactory to either party, there is a court of appeal in each Stake, called the High Council, consisting of twelve High Priests presided over by the Presidency of the Stake. From their decision an appeal can be had to the Presidency of the Church, which is the end of controversy. Trials by these courts are conducted free of charge. They are to exercise the functions of their calling without partiality and with the fear of God before their eyes, and to be guided by the Spirit of the Lord in their conclusions.

In the selection of any and all officers in the Church, the Saints have a voice. "No person is to be ordained to any office in this church, where there is a regularly organized branch of the same, without the vote of that church." (Doctrine and Covenants, section xx, 65.) "And all things shall be done by common consent in the Church, by much prayer and faith, for all things you shall receive by faith." (Doctrine and Covenants, section xxvi, 2.) The Gospel is a perfect law of liberty, and no people upon the earth have broader freedom and a stronger voice in government, religious or otherwise, than do the Latter-day Saints in the governmental and all other affairs of the Church.

The reader is referred to the revelations of God, given in the last days to the Prophet Joseph Smith, for a more perfect understanding of the offices and duties thereof, pertaining to the Church of Christ. They are to be found in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. These revelations throw great light upon the fragmentary statements of the New Testament, because in the latter no one can learn the relationship of one quorum in the Church to another, nor the explicit duties of the respective offices in the Holy Priesthood.

This Church was organized on the 6th of April, 1830, as far as could be, with the limited membership of six men—Joseph Smith, Jr., Hyrum Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Samuel H. Smith, Peter Whitmer, Jr., and David Whitmer. It was truly "a grain of mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds," in comparison with other organizations. A less number could not have been organized under the laws of New York. The great founder, under God, of this Church, had never belonged to any other. It was not an off-shoot of Catholic or Protestant, but as "a little stone cut out of the mountains without hands," it bore no relationship to any human system; and as the stone should increase in velocity as it rolled on, so has the Church grown in magnitude from the "mustard seed" to a great tree. It is believed by the Saints that the Savior was born on the 6th of April, and that the organization of this Church commemorates that great event.

On the 11th of April, 1830, Oliver Cowdery preached the first Gospel discourse of this dispensation. Soon branches of the Church were raised up in New York and Pennsylvania. Men were brought into the fold who later filled notable places in the Church. Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow and other leading men embraced the Gospel between 1830 and 1837. The Book of Mormon had been translated and published to the world previously. News of the new dispensation was heralded abroad by friend and foe. At that time many were prepared to embrace the Gospel, for the Lord had shown unto them that the Gospel in its fullness and purity did not exist in the Catholic and Protestant systems of so-called Christianity. The ministration of heavenly beings had been renewed, and during the entire lifetime of Joseph Smith he was the recipient of messages from the eternal worlds.

Persecution arose, and bitter opposition was arrayed against the Church. The Prophet was at times waylaid by wicked men, and sometimes arrested upon unfounded, trumped-up charges. From all these he was delivered until the time came for him to offer his life as a martyr.

In the fall of 1830 Oliver Cowdery, Parley P. Pratt, John Whitmer and Ziba Peterson were called to carry the Gospel to the Indians (Lamanites), located in what was then the western wilds of these United States. Near Kirtland, Ohio, they met Sidney Rigdon and other followers of Alexander Campbell. The Elders presented to them the restored Gospel, with the Book of Mormon. Many of them received the truth, and the town of Kirtland became a gathering place for the Saints. Joseph Smith, the Prophet, removed to that point, and the Church as a body was chiefly located there as early as 1831.

In the meantime the future site of the chief city of Zion was designated by revelation to the Prophet, dedicated and set apart for the gathering of the Saints. In 1832 the first periodical in the Church was published, the Evening and Morning Star, at Independence, Missouri. The press and property of this publication were subsequently destroyed by a mob. Persecution in Missouri became very bitter. Many of the Saints were treated with bodily violence, their houses and property destroyed by fire and themselves expelled from the county by armed mobs.

During this time Kirtland was being built up. The Lord required the Saints to build a temple, in which to receive sacred ordinances for the salvation of the living and the dead. To this labor they devoted their energies, and notwithstanding their poverty the temple was completed and ready for dedication in March, 1836. Joseph Smith, the Prophet, translated by inspiration the New Testament, completing the work Feb. 2, 1833. Five months later he finished the translation of the Old Testament, so far as the Lord indicated the necessity of so doing. The Latter-day Saints' Messenger and Advocate was published in Kirtland. The Church, though organized by the authority of the apostleship, did not contain sufficient adherents at first to organize the councils of the priesthood, so as time went on and numbers increased, the Lord would indicate when and how to organize these quorums. The quorum of High Priests was organized in Kirtland, March 18, 1833. The Presidency and High Council of the Church were organized Feb. 17, 1834. That of the Seventies commenced Feb. 28, 1835. Thus from time to time, as the Church grew and developed, the Lord made plain by revelation how to organize every quorum, and finally Stakes of Zion and branches thereof and branches scattered abroad.

On Aug. 17, 1835, the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, containing the revelations of the Lord to the Church up to that date, was accepted as a rule of faith and practice. Between that date and the martyrdom of the Prophet many revelations were given, but owing to the poverty and unsettled condition of the Church all of them were not published until subsequent to the decease of the Prophet. During the troubles in Missouri, a body of men called "Zion's Camp" left Kirtland May 5, 1834, to carry supplies and relieve the distress of their co-religionists, who had been exiled from their homes in Independence, Missouri. They performed the arduous journey on foot, through the wildernesses of Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, accomplished their mission and returned to Ohio.

Early in the year 1836 the ordinances of blessing and anointing were attended to in the Kirtland temple, and that sacred edifice was dedicated to the Lord March 27, 1836. In the temple the gifts of the Holy Ghost were poured out in abundance. Many saw visions. The Savior, Moses, Elias and Elijah appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. Previous to this, Joseph's first visit was a personal visit of the Father and the Son. Again on Feb. 16, 1832, the Savior appeared to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, and revealed to them the glories of the celestial, terrestrial and telestial worlds, and the suffering and condemnation of these who are unworthy a kingdom of glory. In 1837, during the financial panic, a great apostasy took place in Kirtland, which involved the standing of several of the Twelve Apostles. Persecution raged in Missouri.

Elders Kimball, Hyde and Richards introduced the Gospel into England and performed their first baptism July 30th, 1837, in the river Ribble. From that time until the present date a prosperous mission has been conducted in Great Britain. Thousands have joined the Church in that land and gathered to Zion. Subsequently John Taylor introduced the Gospel into France, and with others, into Germany; Erastus Snow into Scandinavia, and Lorenzo Snow into Italy; and from these countries, especially Germany and Scandinavia, thousands have come to swell the ranks of the Latter-day Saints. Into each of these tongues, and others, the Book of Mormon has been translated in fulfillment of prophecy.

The Gospel continued to spread in Canada, where it had been introduced by Parley P. Pratt, also in the United States and Europe. Persecution raged in Ohio and Missouri. The Saints as a body left Kirtland July 6th, 1838, for Missouri, chiefly locating at Far West, Caldwell county. In the fall of that year, Apostle David W. Patten fell a martyr at the hands of a mob on Crooked river; Joseph, Hyrum and others had been sent to prison without trial or conviction; yet the work prospered and spread abroad. During these sore trials, when death to the Prophet and others appeared inevitable, he prophesied their safe deliverance from the mob in Missouri.

While Joseph and Hyrum were yet in prison, Presidents Young and Kimball led the suffering Saints to Illinois, where they established the famed city of Nauvoo. To that point Joseph and his brethren made their escape and enjoyed a brief respite from mobocracy. The Prophet predicted, however, that Nauvoo would not be a resting place of the Saints for a great length of time. In keeping with this inspiration, he prophesied on Aug. 6th, 1842, of their coming location and greatness in the Rocky Mountains. He also prepared an expedition to explore the West, but died a martyr before its consummation.

Although Nauvoo was a sickly place, the industry of the Saints was attended with the blessings of divine Providence, and the city grew with magic speed. A temple was soon commenced. A charter was obtained from the State Legislature to establish a university, and prosperity almost unparalleled characterized the labors of the people. However, the combination of political intrigue and religious bigotry on the part of religious professors, coupled with transgressing apostates, soon conspired to spread death and destruction among the Saints. In Missouri, at Haun's mill and elsewhere, many had been shot down in cold blood, property was burned, and the whole people exiled from the state.

In Illinois further trouble was inaugurated by Missourians. They sought on one occasion to kidnap the Prophet, but failed. Fabricated charges were made against the Prophet. He was tried as before, and every time acquitted. When his last trial was being conducted, the mob (like the rabble in the halls of Pilate) said that if the law could not touch him, powder and lead should. Their nefarious purposes were permitted to be carried out, and on June 27th, 1844, Joseph and Hyrum, while under the pledged protection of Gov. Ford, were assassinated by a howling mob in Carthage jail, Hancock county, Illinois. Previous to his martyrdom, the Prophet Joseph had received more than one hundred revelations, had been instrumental in organizing the Church in its fullness, and bestowing the keys of the kingdom of God upon the Twelve Apostles. To Nauvoo were gathered thousands of people from the several states, Canada and Great Britain. At the time of the Prophet's martyrdom the Twelve were abroad on missions, with the exception of Elders John Taylor and Willard Richards, who were with the Prophet and Patriarch at the time of the martyrdom, Elder Taylor himself being wounded with four bullets.

While the Saints were in Missouri the Lord commanded that they should importune the officers of the law in the districts where the trouble occurred, and not being heeded, should appeal to the governor, thence to the president of the United States. All this was done, without avail. The president answered their appeal by saying, "Gentlemen, your cause is just, but I can do nothing for you." Governors of states were written to, to use their influence to avert the wrongs heaped upon the Saints, but from one or two only came a favorable response. On the failure of the states and nation to protect their own citizens against mob violence and plunder, the Lord promised to vex the nation with a sore vexation. This was done in the hundreds of thousands of lives and the millions in treasure lost in the Civil War. The outbreak of this war was revealed by the Lord to Joseph twenty-eight years before it came to pass, and published to the world as early as 1851.

The Church was not founded by men, nor did it depend upon any particular man or set of men for strength, growth or progress. God has rounded and protected and is perpetuating His Church on the earth, so that when the Prophet passed to the life beyond, the work continued and grew with great rapidity. It is said, and truly, that "the blood of the martyr is the seed of the Church."

President Brigham Young and his associates of the Twelve, according to the voice of the Spirit and the order of the Holy Priesthood, succeeded to the Presidency of the Church. The work of the Lord continued to prosper, contrary to the prediction of its enemies that when the Prophet Joseph was out of the way the work would come to naught. The foundation of a temple had been laid which was pushed to completion, dedicated to the Lord, and ordinances performed therein. Mobocratic hostilities were renewed, however, with determined vigor. Nauvoo was besieged. The temple was burned and Elder William Anderson and his son killed. The Saints were expelled at the point of the bayonet. They had a flourishing city in an incredibly short time. They were quiet, peaceable, law-abiding, industrious citizens. The killing of their leading men, the burning of their homes, the numerous indignities heaped upon them, were as dastardly and cold-blooded as any persecution chronicled in the annals of history, especially when we consider that it occurred in a free country, where liberty for every race and religion is the proud boast of its people. Many of the people left Nauvoo in the dead of winter, 1845-6, crossing the Mississippi river on the ice. The day after the general exodus, nine children were born in the camp of the exiled people. Under the leadership of President Young and his associates, the Saints moved westward across the state of Iowa and built up a settlement called Winter Quarters, where the people remained to recruit until 1847. While there the government called on the Saints for five hundred men to engage in the war with Mexico. These were promptly supplied, and the most able-bodied men were sent to defend their country.

In the spring of 1847, President Young and a small company numbering 143, including three women, started from the Missouri river to find beyond the Rocky Mountains a place of rest, where they might build and inhabit homes and worship God "free from the furious rage of mobs." After an interesting and trying journey of about three months this noble band of pioneers entered Salt Lake valley July 24th, 1847, over a thousand miles from the Mississippi river. As they emerged from the mouth of what was afterwards named Emigration Canyon, they stood upon a plateau facing westward. To the north and south a great valley extended, bordered on the west by mountains and a great inland sea of salt water, the Great Salt Lake. The islands in the lake are mountains almost destitute of timber, but supplied with grass suitable for the grazing of horses and cattle. The valley was poorly watered, and dry and sterile was the appearance of the country before them. But God was their leader. He had shown to President Young beforehand the Salt Lake Valley. When the pioneer band entered the valley the Prophet said, "This is the place. Here we will build a city." When they came upon the ground where the temple now stands, President Young, thrusting his cane into the ground, said in substance, "Here we will stay, and upon this ground we will build a temple."

All the events conducing to the growth and development of the valleys prove that President Brigham Young knew whereof he spoke, and God has confirmed his words by the many blessings of divine Providence showered upon the people in building up a commonwealth in what was in those days a great barren waste. The soil upon which the Saints then stood belonged to Mexico. Those pioneers were as truly exiles from their country as were the Puritans who sailed the trackless ocean and planted their feet upon Plymouth Rock. And yet the Latter-day Saints then had five hundred men in the American army, in the contest with Mexico. Upon a prominent mountain peak, called Ensign, the "Mormon" pioneers planted the Stars and Stripes, the flag of their country, and possessed the land as citizens of the United States. Upon the arrival of this first company the work of plowing and building immediately commenced. It would take volumes to tell the history of the growth and progress of the Saints from that time till now; but this wondrous recital is written upon the mountains and in the valleys, which are open to the inspection of all people.

In the fall of 1847 a large company of Saints crossed the plains, led by President John Taylor and other prominent men. The companies continued to pour into Salt Lake valley and spread into the valleys north and south each year from 1847 to 1900, coming as Latter-day Saints, under the regulations of the Church. The leading brethren had made covenant that they would not cease their energies until all the Saints who would remain faithful should be gathered to the place appointed.

Before the death of Prophet Joseph many had apostatized. The Saints were not so well established in doctrine as they are today, and some were led astray by the pretensions of prominent men who were disposed to leave the Church and follow their own course. The Twelve Apostles stood next in authority to the Presidency of the Church by the order pointed out in the revelations of God and at the time when Sidney Rigdon was asserting his claims to the guardianship of the Church, President Young stood up to address the Saints. A remarkable manifestation of God's power took place. President Young was transfigured before the people. He appeared to increase in height and in form of his face and body to the exact personal appearance of the Prophet Joseph Smith. When he spoke his voice was as that of the martyred Prophet. People who were present on that occasion say that if their eyes had been closed when he arose from his seat they would have believed the speaker to be none other than the Martyr. Truly the mantle of Joseph had fallen upon Brigham, and while Joseph had received all the keys of the priesthood, he had bestowed them upon the Twelve, also the revelations upon which to build the Church of Christ. President Young truly built upon these revelations during his entire administration. In 1849, at Winter Quarters, he was sustained as President of the Church by the unanimous voice of the priesthood, Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards then being chosen Counselors and so endorsed by the voice of the Church thereafter at general conferences during the remainder of their lifetimes. President Young presided over the Church as the senior Apostle for thirty-three years, five years in connection with the Twelve and twenty-eight years in the Presidency.

Soon after the settlement of the Saints in Salt Lake valley, other valleys were explored north and south, and settlements established wherever water could be obtained, as rapidly as the strength and numbers of the Saints would justify. As early as 1860 settlements were rounded and the Saints organized in Wards and quorums of the priesthood, from Cache valley to St. George, a distance of over 400 miles from north to south. Wherever the Saints locate in settlements of a few families, or more, they are organized with a Bishop and counselors to preside over them, with Priests, Teachers and Deacons, as before explained, for a local ministry. As helps in government they had in those early days the Relief Society to relieve the poor and afflicted. The society is composed of women, and was first organized March 17, 1842, by the Prophet Joseph Smith, in Nauvoo. In 1849 the first Sunday school was established in the Church by Richard Ballantyne, in the Fourteenth Ward, Salt Lake City. Later, and during the administration of President Young, the Young Men and Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Associations were inaugurated. Still later, by suggestion of Sister Aurelia Spencer Rogers, under the administration of President John Taylor, the Primary Associations, presided over and conducted by capable sisters, were established for the especial benefit of little children. All these are helpful regulations to meet the growing requirements of the Saints in matters of religious, moral and intellectual training and development. One of these organizations exists in every Bishop's Ward, unless the number of any class who properly belong to one of the associations named is too limited to make the organization profitable. In such cases those who would take part in such associations are not unprovided for because the Sunday school, more than any other association in the Church, takes in all ages of both sexes. Our Sunday schools now have a membership of nearly 125,000.

Where there are a sufficient number of Wards, in any section of the country, these Wards are presided over by a President and two counselors, with a High Council, who have certain jurisdiction over matters pertaining to the Church in this group of Wards. The associations, Sunday schools, societies, etc., have a general superintendency of three, with assistants. This organization, composed of the Wards, is called a Stake of Zion. For convenience sake, the geographical boundaries of the Stake are usually the same as those of the county, but not always, or necessarily so. Sometimes the population of two or three counties is not too great to be one Stake, where the settlements are close together, or not separated by mountains, which would render the attendance of the people at Stake conferences, especially in the winter season, very laborious, and in some instances almost impossible. We have now fifty Stakes of Zion. They extend from Canada to Mexico. They exist in Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, Canada and Mexico. Many of them were organized just prior to the decease of President Young, the remainder under his successors, respectively: Presidents Taylor, Woodruff, Snow and Smith.

April 6th, 1853, the Temple in Salt Lake City was commenced. It is constructed of granite. The rock was hauled, the first fifteen years, with ox teams, a distance of sixteen miles, two yoke of oxen frequently being required to draw one huge stone. But many years before the completion of the Temple, the locomotive, with many ear loads of stone at a time, rolled into the Temple block and left its cargo by the side of the growing edifice. The capstone of this magnificent house of the Lord was laid by electricity. The current was applied by the finger of God's Prophet, Wilford Woodruff, then eighty-four years of age, and one of that noble band of one hundred forty-three who entered Salt Lake valley July 24th, 1847. President Young was instrumental in laying the foundation of four temples in Utah, at Salt Lake, St. George, Logan and Manti. All have been, years ago, completed; the Salt Lake Temple being dedicated April 6th, 1893, by President Wilford Woodruff. The ordinances of salvation for the living and the dead are performed in the temples, and tens of thousands have been officiated for since their completion.

Subsequent to the exodus of the Church from Nauvoo to Salt Lake valley, the Gospel was introduced to the Pacific Isles by President George Q. Cannon and other Elders in 1853. In the work of preaching the Gospel many countries have not yet accorded perfect religious freedom, and to penetrate these the Church awaits only the provinces of the Almighty to break down the barriers and make it feasible to promulgate the Gospel in those countries. In other lands, where freedom reigns, the Elders have carried the glorious message. The Book of Mormon has been translated into German, Danish, Swedish, French, Spanish, Italian, Hawaiian, Maori and other tongues, and will continue to be given to the world until the truths of the Gospel upon its sacred pages shall be read by every nation, kindred, tongue and people. The thousands who have embraced the work with honest motives have received the witness of the Holy Spirit to their own satisfaction. Gifts and blessings which the ancient saints enjoyed have been renewed in this glorious dispensation.

The external history of the Church has been the same as in other times. "If ye were of the world, the world would love its own; but because ye are not of the world, therefore the world hateth you." "And they that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." Prophecy has been and is being fulfilled. "What is prophecy but history reversed?"

History repeats itself. When Joseph Smith promulgated a new revelation, religious and irreligious fought against such an idea. Professional religionists seek to prove by the Scriptures that revelations are not for our day. In this they fail, because the Old and New Testaments abound in predictions of future revelations and events which cannot be filled without revelation. The wicked have resorted to slander, ridicule and falsehood, then to violence, resulting in the destruction of property and human life. All this being futile, they moved the nation by the falsehoods of Judge Drummond to send an army to Utah. But when the army came they found that this United States officer had basely deceived the president of the nation, by telling that the Mormons were in a state of rebellion and had burned the court records, these being found unharmed. The Mormons were at peace with God and all mankind, quietly minding their own business, pursuing their vocations of life and building up the country for the benefit and blessing of all who should come within their gates. The army came to Utah in 1857, and subsequently returned East, going chiefly to the South, their leading officer, Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, taking part with the Confederate army in the great rebellion. He fell upon the battlefield of Shiloh, April 6th, 1862, thirty-two years to the day after the Church was born in this dispensation. The army sold to the Mormons mules, wagons, harness and other materials much needed, at a mere nominal figure, and thus being a blessing, proved the words of Isaiah true, "I will make the wrath of man to praise me."

As the Saints grew in prosperity and importance, avarice and prejudice seized political demagogues, adventurers and religious bigots, to stir the nation to a systematic effort to crush out "Mormonism." Special legislation was enacted and enforced beyond the severity of its own provisions. About eight hundred men went to prison; a few women were incarcerated because they would not testify against their husbands; heavy fines were paid and hundreds went into exile rather than prove untrue to the solemn covenants and obligations they had entered into under their religious convictions. Finally confiscation of Church property took place, but most of it was afterwards restored. In 1890 President Woodruff issued his manifesto regarding plural marriage, feeling that the courts of the country had abused justice in denying the Saints the liberty of religious worship granted by the American Constitution.

In this form of opposition to the Church, a prophecy of Joseph Smith is fulfilled, in which he said, in substance, that persecution against the Saints would extend from township to county, from county to state, and from state to nation. His words have been literally fulfilled. The Saints, in enduring persecution, did so with patience and forbearance. They have no spirit of revenge. They understand that much of the popular sentiment against them is based upon misunderstanding, rounded in the falsehood of wicked and designing men. The spirit of the Gospel teaches them that it is better to suffer wrong than to do wrong, and that patience and charity are as necessary as a testimony of the truth; for without the approval of the Lord they could not endure the trials and temptations which beset them.

From the commencement the Church had taught the utmost freedom of mankind to worship as they chose, such liberty being curtailed only when it runs into license and infringes upon, the rights of others. In the early inception of the Church, God commanded His people to study and learn from the best of books, to acquire an understanding of the laws of God and the governments of men, to become acquainted with the heavens and the earth. Thus the Saints are the friends of all true education. Joseph Smith established a school in Kirtland for the study of Hebrew and other branches of knowledge. For Nauvoo he obtained a charter for a university. Brigham Young and his associates founded the Deseret University, now called the University of Utah. They have also established church schools, the Brigham Young Academy in Provo, the Brigham Young College in Logan, Stake academies and other schools. The sons of Latter-day Saints have graduated with honor in the Military Academy at West Point. In Ann Arbor, Michigan, they have a record unsurpassed in the law school and in other branches taught by that noted institution. The same is true of their record at Harvard and elsewhere; also are there numerous graduates of medicine, dentistry, civil engineering, etc., as taught in the great schools of Chicago, Philadelphia and other places. Mission conferences are established in almost every state of the American Union, also in England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, Germany, Holland, Palestine, New Zealand, Australia, the Hawaiian and many other islands of the Pacific ocean, including Japan.

The present living membership of the Church, men, women and children, is not less than 310,000 souls. While there has been steady progress in numerical strength, it is not in numbers altogether that strength consists. We fully realize that "Straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." The greatest strength consists in the purity of the principle and the impossibility of the wicked and corrupt to remain long in the Church. God is its founder and builder. He established the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It will stand always, for "whatsoever the Lord doeth, He doeth it forever."

CHURCH ORGANIZATION.

We have treated briefly upon the subject of Divine Authority, merely pointing out the absolute necessity of such authority in order to obtain complete salvation, and how it was bestowed and perpetuated whenever a Gospel dispensation existed upon the earth. It will not be amiss to deal briefly with the subject of Church Organization, as this specifies the distribution of divine authority to the various offices in the Church of Christ, each having specific duties to perform.

In the beginning we wish it distinctly understood that we accept of the New Testament as the record of this organization, and that nowhere within that sacred record is even an intimation that, by divine appointment, the offices established in the Church of Christ by the Savior of mankind would be done away. On the other hand, neither do we claim that the New Testament contains a full and explicit statement of every office in the Church, with the several duties of each officer and the relationship which each council or order of authority bears to every other council. The New Testament is fragmentary and has been translated and re-translated many times since it was first written by inspired apostles and prophets; those translations were by men not claiming the inspiration which characterized the men of God who wrote it.

In this connection we must not forget the statement of Holy Writ: "The things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. * * * But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (I. Cor. ii:11, 14. ) Therefore, where the inspired record is not sufficiently full in elucidating any principle, nothing short of new revelation from God will clear away the mist and bring us to a knowledge of the truth. The writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, James and Jude, so far as they bear upon the sayings and acts of the Savior during His earthly ministry, are the testimonies of what they saw and heard personally, as well as the revelations of the Holy Ghost to them, subsequent to the crucifixion and ascension of the Savior. Paul embraced the Gospel later, and was not personally associated with Jesus in His ministry. His testimony is equally binding, however, as he "wrote and spoke as he was moved upon by the Holy Ghost." "In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established." (Matt. xviii:16.)

In Matthew, chapter 10, commencing with the first verse, we have this statement: "And when He had called unto Him His Twelve disciples, He gave them power against unclean spirits to cast them out and heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. Now the names of the Twelve apostles are these;" then follows the name of each of the Twelve. Mark gives more detail as to when and where they were called, as follows: "And He goeth up into a mountain and called unto Him whom He would; and they came unto Him. And He ordained twelve," etc. (Mark iii:13, 14.) Luke records the calling of the Twelve in the sixth chapter of his book, beginning with the twelfth verse: "And it came to pass in those days that He went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day He called unto Him His disciples: and of them He chose twelve, whom also He named apostles." Paul says in I. Cor. xii:28: "And God hath set some in the church, first apostles;" and again in Ephesians, chapter 4, verse 11: "And He gave some apostles."

From the statements of four New Testament writers, it is plain that the first officers placed in the Church of Christ were apostles. Jesus delegated unto Peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven, that whatsoever he should bind on earth should be bound in heaven, as recorded in the sixteenth chapter of Matthew, thus delegating to the apostleship all authority essential to the preaching of the Gospel, and administering in all the ordinances thereof, at home and abroad, for the salvation of all who would render obedience. It is apparent that other men such as Paul and Barnabas received the apostleship, but while this was the case it is evident that the Twelve apostles constituted a quorum. When Judas fell, one was chosen to take his place in that quorum, as written in the Acts of the Apostles, first chapter, 23-26 verses. It would appear from the reading of the Scriptures that while these twelve still lived, Paul and probably others received the holy apostleship, but did not become members of that council.

The work of preaching the Gospel to all the world, to every creature, was undoubtedly too extensive for the accomplishment personally of twelve men, so Jesus chose others to assist them. "After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before His face into every city and place, whither He Himself would come." (Luke x:1.) As He conferred upon them similar powers and gave them a similar calling to preach the Gospel, they were undoubtedly the next associates of the Twelve in preaching the Gospel to the inhabitants of the earth. Some think by the language used by Luke, "other seventy," that He had chosen one quorum of seventies before this one, but this is not necessarily correct, as it will apply in meaning to "other" than the Twelve apostles.

In Hebrews, fifth chapter and first verse, Paul says: "For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God." While it is true that the words "high priest" are used in a more general sense in some instances, such as in Hebrews, third chapter, first verse, where the Savior is called both the "Apostle and High Priest of our profession," it appears evident from the above quotation and other passages that there was in the order of ecclesiastical government in the Church of Christ a distinct officer with specific duties called a High Priest.

Again, in Acts, fourteenth chapter and twenty-third verse, we read: "And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed." "And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders. * * * And the apostles and elders came together." (Acts xv:4-6.) "And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem." (Acts xvi:4.) "And from Miletus He sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church." (Acts xx:17.) "And ordained elders in every city as I had appointed thee," (Titus i:5.)

The term "elders" is used in many other passages of Scripture. In some instances the apostle is called an elder, as Paul and John allude to themselves personally as elders. In some places the term is used in reference to the aged, as in I. Timothy, chapter v., verses 1, 2: "Rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father, and the younger men as brethren, the elder women as mothers, the younger as sisters, with all purity." Yet the quotations made will be ample to prove that the office of Elder was an order anciently in the organization of the Church of Christ.

In I. Timothy, third chapter, verses 1, 2, we learn of the office of Bishop, with some essential qualifications. "This is a true saying: If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach." Also, in Titus i:7: "For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God, not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; but a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate." These passages show clearly the office of Bishop to be a department in the government of the Church of Christ, and should be held by a married man.

"There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia." (Luke i:5.) The order of the Priest as established in ancient Israel seems to have continued in the New Testament dispensation. Although the offering of sacrifice was consummated at least for that period, in the atonement of our Savior, it is apparent that John the Baptist, Philip, and others, were priests after the order of Levi, having authority to baptize for the remission of sins, and to preach faith and repentance, but not to officiate in the higher ordinances of the Gospel which secured the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost, nor to preside over the Church of Christ and regulate the affairs thereof throughout the world.

In Acts xiii:1, I. Cor. xii.28, and Eph. iv:11, we learn of an officer called Teacher, though nothing as to the especial functions of that office.

Paul to Timothy, in the third chapter of his letter, refers to the Deacons, and enumerates some of the qualifications essential to the possession of men who bear that sacred calling in the Church of Christ.

In the First Epistle to the Corinthians, twelfth chapter, verse 28, the apostle declares: "And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues." "And He gave some apostles; and some prophets; and some evangelists (patriarchs); and some pastors and teachers," (Eph. iv:11.) "Now there were in the church * * * certain prophets and teachers." (Acts xiii:1.)

Peter and Paul, in their writings, make reference to the ancient patriarchs, and although no definite statement is made, as to such an office existing in their time, it is more than probable that it existed in the Church of Christ whenever that Church had an existence on the earth.

The quotations give us the names of, at least, the following offices as departments of the Holy Priesthood and essentials to the work of the Lord: Apostles, Patriarchs, High Priests, Seventies, Elders, Bishops, Priests, Teachers and Deacons. The words pastors, shepherds, evangelists, etc., are also used in reference to officials in the Church, but it is probable that some terms were used not so much to name the exact title of a man's position or calling in the order of the priesthood as to indicate the nature of the work his calling enjoined upon him. For instance, a pastor is one who has charge of a flock, a shepherd; applied religiously, one who has the oversight of a Branch of the Church (president of conference, for example); and this term would apply to Elders and Bishops, who, according to the New Testament, had watched over branches of the Church in different parts of the earth.

We wish to again call attention to the fact that the exact and full duty in detail of each officer is not wholly explained in the Jewish Scriptures. The precise order in which all of these officers were placed is not clear. The difference between the general duties common to all and the particular labors enjoined upon one officer, which distinguished him from every other officer in the church, is not told. This is not surprising, either, as undoubtedly each man in his order understood his duties from the instructions of the living oracles of God. Furthermore, they had writings, which are referred to in the Testament, but which are not preserved and handed down to us; and it is probable they had still other writings that are neither compiled nor alluded to in the Scriptures.

The New Testament contains letters of instructions, exhortations, warnings and testimonies of the apostles to the Church and to the world, and does not claim to be a complete exposition of Church Organization, etc. The Church was guided by direct revelation, and was to be so guided in all time; and the fact that man, with all his learning and the benefits of researches made by preceding generations, cannot organize a church after the ancient pattern, is indisputable proof that we need more revelation from God. The world by wisdom knew not God. Suffice it to say, that as long as we need divine instructions, which will be the case forever, we need the God-given officers which Christ placed in His Church, and which He designed to continue as long as the Church should exist.

Here is the testimony of Paul to the Ephesians, chapter 4: "And He gave some apostles; and some prophets; and some evangelists; and some pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive." In this connection it is perhaps sufficient to remark that the history of the world is ample proof that apostles, prophets and inspiration are always needed. The reader is asked to carefully study the chapter on the "Church," given in this work, as it points out the duties of officers in the Church Organization, as given us by modern revelation.

DIVINE AUTHORITY.

A very remarkable feature in the religious sentiment of modern "Christianity" is the indifference which prevails as to the question of legitimate authority to speak and officiate in the name of the Lord. Should an unauthorized man operate in matters of human government, or an impostor pretend to be the agent of a mercantile institution and deceive the people by taking their orders for goods and receiving their money, no one with sound reason would expect the government or firm to make good the unauthorized contracts of such an impostor; but the deceiver would be arrested and thrust into prison for his fraudulent acts. Why should the consideration of sacred ordinances involving the salvation of mankind be treated with less concern?

There seems to have grown up in the hearts of the people a feeling that mere belief and intellectual assent to the theories of the Gospel is all-sufficient to secure salvation in the presence of the Lord. But this is an unscriptural delusion. "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe and tremble." "But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? . . . For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." (St James ii:17, 19, 20 and 26.)

We have shown from the Scriptures that baptism and confirmation are essential ordinances to salvation; and to these might be added other sacred rites, instituted by the Savior of the world for the redemption of man. He has said that "not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." (Matt. vii:21.)

Can anyone reasonably suppose that baptism, confirmation, the sacrament, or any other sacred ceremony administered by one not sent of God will be followed by the blessings which attended the primitive saints? Will unauthorized acts secure the remission of sins, or the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are manifest in visions, dreams, healings, prophecies, tongues, etc.? Not by any means; and the reason the signs do not follow professed believers of the present day is because their ministers are not called of God according to the pattern instituted by Him. The condemnation of the Lord will rest upon all who speak presumptuously and who willfully usurp authority to officiate in sacred things.

The Lord said in the days of Jeremiah, concerning certain men who spoke without authority: "I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran; I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied." (Jer. xxiii:21.) The whole history of the dealings of God with His people as it is recorded in the Bible, proves the constant necessity of living, divine authority.

Upon this branch of the subject we cite the reader to the Scriptures. When Moses was about to depart from Israel he sought the Lord to designate his successor, knowing full well that without succession of authority the work of God could not continue. He said, "Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them out, and which may bring them in; that the congregation of the Lord be not as sheep which have no shepherd." (Num. xxvii:16-17.) In Romans x., 14 to 17, we have the following: "How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent?"

The Savior, who called Twelve apostles and other seventy to continue the work which He, by the direction of His Father, had inaugurated, was so particular that they should not "run before they were sent" that He said to them, "And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high." (Luke xxiv:47, 49.)

This emphatic injunction was given, notwithstanding that these apostles had been already called and ordained as recorded in Mark iii:14, and notwithstanding their great experience by personal association with the Savior of mankind, who was pure, without guile, and perfect in all things, "who spake as never man spake." The apostles had witnessed the sick healed, the blind see, the deaf hear, the dumb speak, the dead raised. Three of them, Peter, James and John, had been with Christ when He was transfigured on the holy mount. Moses and Elias had ministered unto them. These Twelve were the living oracles of Almighty God, but for all that, they must not "run before they were sent, nor speak before they were spoken to." They must enjoy especial power. Are men in modern times as particular to avoid speaking in the name of the Lord before they are truly called?

Let us ascertain how men are called of God and His authority perpetuated in the earth. In speaking of the honor and authority of the Holy Priesthood, Paul says, "And no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron." By reading the fourth and twenty-eighth chapters of Exodus, the information as to how Aaron was called can be obtained. He was called by a revelation through a prophet of God. That prophet was called by revelation and ordained by one having authority to ordain him. This method of calling men to the ministry was ever adhered to by true Saints, and when departed from, the departure has been of men and not of God. Aaron received the anointing literally at the hands of the prophet Moses, as recorded in Exodus xl:15, 16, and thus conferred the Levitical priesthood upon Aaron, which was to be transmitted by the holy anointing from generation to generation, as long as they should observe the statutes of the Holy One of Israel.

When Joshua was called to succeed Moses in leading Israel into the promised land, it was done by revelation from God and the laying on of hands by one having authority. "And the Lord said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him. * * * And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses." (Num. xxvii:18 23.) "And Joshua, the son of Nun, was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him." (Deut. xxxiv:9.) During the entire history of ancient Israel, men were called by revelation, and when any person presumed to officiate without such a call, their acts were invalid and were rejected of the Almighty.

The New Testament furnishes direct evidence of the plan of calling men to the ministry and perpetuating the authority of God among men. Jesus said to His apostles, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you." (St. John xv:16.) "Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away." (Acts xiii: 1, 2, 3.) "And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed." (Acts xiv: 23.) Men thus called have authority to speak in the name of the Lord, to officiate in His name; and their acts are valid, binding in time and eternity.

When Paul found a number of disciples at Ephesus who had received baptism, but in answer to his question, said that they had not "so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost," he promptly baptized them; yet they had received this ordinance after the form of John's baptism, that is, by immersion, which was correct. It was evident, however, that their first baptizing was done without authority, otherwise the person officiating would have told them of the baptism of the Holy Ghost, as did John the Baptist. Under these circumstances Paul had to rebaptize them, or rather administer the true baptism, he having authority from God to administer it, and then he conferred the Holy Ghost upon them by the laying on of hands. This example is a lesson as applicable to similar conditions of today as it was in the New Testament dispensation. All ceremonies, ordinances, rites, etc., administered without the administrator being "called of God as was Aaron," are null and void.

The dispensation of the fullness of times has been ushered in. The Father and the Son and other heavenly messengers have visited the earth and restored authority to act in the name of Jesus as in days of old. This authority has been transmitted from the Prophet Joseph Smith to others, as designated by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost and by the laying on of hands. In this manner the authority of the Holy Priesthood will be perpetuated without interruption until the "kingdoms of this world shall have become the kingdom of our God and His Christ."

PERSONALITY OF GOD.

The general idea of Deity accepted throughout the so-called Christian world is stated briefly in this way: "God is a being without body, parts or passions."

The Latter-day Saints regard our Heavenly Father as possessing an actual tabernacle of flesh and bones (not blood), and that in His image man is created. Our views respecting this important subject are based upon the revelations of God to man in ancient and modern times, and regarding which there is no contradiction in the testimony of the prophets. "God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them." (Gen. i:26, 27.)

It is claimed by some that this likeness is only to be understood as a moral image. There is, however, nothing to justify such a view, either in the statement quoted or any other passage of Holy Writ. On the contrary, the Scriptures show that man is actually in the image of his Maker. Concerning His appearance to Abraham, we read: "And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre; and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, and said, 'My Lord, if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.'" (Gen. xviii:1-4.)

Material as this may appear to many, the first verse of the chapter, as well as other verses following those quoted, proves conclusively that this records a personal appearing of the Lord, and also that He has a tangible being, composed of various parts of the body, as real as those which characterize His offspring. This instance is only one out of many in which the Lord appeared to Abraham. Read the seventeenth chapter of Genesis, 1-3, "And when Abraham was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face; and God talked with him." Then follows the conversation engaged in between God, our Eternal Father, and Abraham, the "father of the faithful." How such an event should occur between a real human being and one who had no real organization, "without body, parts or passions," requires more credulity to believe than to accept the idea which the Scriptures themselves convey in these chapters, viz: that God has an actual personality.

If language more direct than the foregoing is required, it can be found in the eleventh chapter of Genesis, regarding the confusion of tongues at the tower of Babel. "And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. * * * Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." It is evident from this that the Lord was in one place, the tower of Babel in another; that He was surrounded by associates, and in counsel with them proposed to go to the place where the tower was in course of construction and there defeat the purpose of its builders. No one could take this account, written in the simplicity of truth, believing that it is a truthful statement of the historical facts, and still believe that God is without body, parts or passions and in His actual individuality fills at once the immensity of space.

The entire Bible history of Abraham is also one continuous account of personal visits, conversations and covenants made by the Almighty to and with the patriarch. Isaac was also favored with the presence of the Lord: "And Isaac went unto Abimelech, king of the Philistines, unto Gerar. And the Lord appeared unto him and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of." (Gen. xxvi:1, 2.) And again in the twenty-fourth verse of the same chapter: "And the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father; fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake."

Jacob, the grandson, of Abraham, was no less favored of the Lord in being a personal witness of His existence, with love and interest in His earthly children: "And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canan and blessed me, and said unto me, Behold I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession." (Gen. xlviii:3, 4.)

Abraham was designated "the father of the faithful, the friend of God." Of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob the Lord has said, "I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." To them He made glorious promises and entered into everlasting covenants extending into eternity. He promised that their seed should be as numerous as the stars of heaven and as countless as the sands upon the seashore. To the thoughtful person who reads the Scriptures in the spirit of truth, it must be apparent that our Heavenly Father foreknew the unchanging integrity of these men, and because of this gave them such great promises and made them, by His visits to them, living witnesses of His existence and personality.

Moses is another witness to the personality of God. "And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God." (Ex. iii:6.) On another occasion there were over seventy witnesses that God is a personal being. "Then went up Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; And they saw the God of Israel; and there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in His clearness." (Ex. xxiv:9, 10.) He said to the prophet Moses: "Thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man see me and live. And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock; and it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by; and I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back parts; but my face shall not be seen." (Ex. xxxiii:20-23.) Again it is written: "My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold." (Num. xii:7, 8)

These quotations respecting the prophet Moses show that on some occasions he had personal visits from the Lord. In one instance he was accompanied by over seventy associates, and once he was permitted to see the back parts only. These statements are so much in detail and in such direct language that they are not susceptible of any private interpretation, but must be taken in a literal sense. How any one can profess to believe in the Bible and read these statements, yet deny the personality of God, is a matter of wonder and astonishment, and can only be accounted for in the fact that people have been taught to accept the precepts of men without taking the natural and reasonable conclusions which a personal reading of the Scriptures would establish in their own minds.

When Hezekiah, king of Judah, was beset by the Assyrians he offered the following prayer to the Lord: "Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear; open, Lord, thine eyes, and see; and hear the word of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God." (II Kings xix:16.) And again it is written: "Now mine eyes shall be open, and my ears attend unto the prayer that is made in this place. For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there forever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually." (II Chron. vii:15, 16.) The Psalmist David expressed himself, saying: "I have called upon Thee, for Thou wilt hear me, O God; incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech. As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake with Thy likeness." (Psalms xvii:6, 15.) These expressions in the prayers of righteous men point to the manifest truth that God has eyes to see, ears to hear, a heart with which to love, a mouth to speak; and taken with other statements of Holy Writ, show beyond the possibility of a reasonable doubt, that our Heavenly Father is possessed of a body composed of the various parts which go to constitute the several members of a human body, and that He is susceptible of anger, love and hatred. He hates iniquity and loves righteousness. He is angry with the wicked every day. Such are the statements of Holy Writ. He, therefore, cannot be without body, parts or passions.

The Lord was also seen by the prophet Isaiah. "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple." (Isa. vi:1.) To corroborate these testimonies of the Old Testament we call the attention of the reader to several passages in the New. When Stephen was being martyred he saw God: "But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God." (Acts vii:55, 56.) Nothing could be plainer and more convincing from the written Scriptures than that Stephen actually saw God, and that He and His Son were in the heavens in the presence of each other.

Paul wrote to the Philippians as follows: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God." (Phillip. ii:5 6.) And again in Col. i:15, Paul said respecting the Savior: "Who is the image of the invisible God, the first born of every creature." To the Hebrews the same apostle says, concerning Jesus: "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." (Heb. i:3.) These writings of Paul, though not relating to a personal appearance of God, fully corroborate in doctrine all the quotations on the subject made from the Old and New Testaments. The Scriptures referred to show conclusively the personality of the Father, and a portion of the quotations presented, point to the fact that He is a separate personage, and entirely distinct in person from His Son Jesus Christ.

We now call the attention of the reader to a few passages of Scripture, showing the personality of the Savior, not only in reference to His individuality before His crucifixion, but showing that in His resurrected and immortal state, He will continue a separate and distinct personality from all other beings. Subsequent to His resurrection He appeared to the apostles; at first sight they were terrified, and supposed they had seen a spirit, "And He said unto them, Why are ye troubled? And why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when He had thus spoken He showed them His hands and His feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, He said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And He took it, and did eat before them." (Luke xxiv:38-45.) Thomas, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came, and when told by his brethren that they had seen the Lord, he would not believe them, and said: "Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe." Subsequent to this appearance, Thomas was present when the Savior invited him to satisfy his mind to the fullest extent, thrusting his hand into His side and beholding the wounds in His hands and feet, when he exclaimed, "My Lord and my God." (John xx:2, 5, 28.)

Here is a clear demonstration that Jesus in His immortal state continues as a personal being, with a tangible body of flesh and bones. To show that there is no change in the personal status of the Savior, eighteen hundred years have passed away since His resurrection, and yet we learn from the Scriptures that still in the future He shall appear in the same body: "And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof. * * * And the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with Thee." (Zech. xiv:4-6.) In the thirteenth chapter, which appears to be connected with His appearance upon the Mount of Olives, we find the following statement: "And one shall say unto Him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then He shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends." (Zech. xiii:6.)

Many entertain the belief that of the three personages constituting the Godhead only one is a personal being with a tangible body, viz.: the Lord Jesus Christ. Enough evidence has been offered to prove the contrary of this erroneous theory; but as the Scriptures are full of evidence on this important subject, I will present the reader with several quotations which will aid him in his researches after the truth respecting this important doctrine. Matthew informs us concerning the baptism of the Savior that "The heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon Him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'" (Matt. iii:16, 17.) In this instance the Savior is represented as being at the waters of Jordan, while the voice of His Father came from the courts of heaven, showing that the Father and Jesus are two distinct personages, existing in separate places at the same time. This testimony of Matthew is corroborated by that of Mark and Luke, the former in the eleventh verse of his first chapter: "And there came a voice from heaven, saying, 'Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased'"; and in Luke, the third chapter and twenty-second verse, as follows: "And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, 'Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.'"

It is recorded that on one occasion, while the Savior seriously contemplated the coming ordeal of His crucifixion, this occurred: "And Jesus answered them, saying, 'The hour is come, that the Son of Man should be glorified. He that loveth his life shall lose it. If any man serve me, let him follow me. If any man serve me, him will my Father honor. Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father save me from this hour; but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name.' Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, 'I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.'" (St. John xiii:23, 25, 26, 27, 28.)

Still another instance where the voice of the Father was heard, and in the presence of other witnesses than the Savior, is recorded in Matthew, seventeenth chapter, fifth and sixth verses: "While He yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.' And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid." The disciples here referred to were Peter, James and John. Peter relates this impressive event as follows: "For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory, and there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' And this voice which came from heaven we heard when we were with Him in the holy mount."

The account of this vision is also recorded in Mark ix:7: "And a voice came out of the cloud, saying: 'This is my beloved Son; hear Him.'" it is also said in Luke ix:35. "And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, 'This is my beloved Son: Hear Him.'" Surely the testimony of three or four reliable witnesses is sufficient to affirm the truth of this matter. When the Savior addressed the Father, no one could reasonably say that He was addressing Himself. We have many instances recorded by the writers of the New Testament that Jesus supplicated His Father in humble prayer. "I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes; even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered to me of my Father." (Luke x:21, 22.) "Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee. And now, O Father, glorify Thou me with Thine own self, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was." (John xvii:1, 5.) "I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world; again, I leave the world, and go to the Father." (John xvi:28.)

To these references may be added those before referred to, giving an account of the martyrdom of Stephen, in the seventh chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, and the statement by Paul, in the first chapter of his letter to the Hebrews. Many other scriptural testimonies might be cited to prove that the Father and the Son are personal beings, each separate and distinct from the other.

The following passage of Scripture is often cited to prove that the Savior is the only personal being in the Deity: "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in me and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that Thou hast sent me. And the glory which Thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one." (John xvii:20-22.)

The very wording of this Scripture shows that the Father and the Son are not one in person, because He prays that all the disciples may be one in the same manner that the Father and the Son are one, and one in that sense only, for the simple reason that the oneness of the Father and the Son is perfect and complete. Their unity consists in being one in wisdom, one in knowledge, one in power, one in council, having a unity of purpose in the accomplishment of man's salvation to the tallest extent and in every conceivable respect. The disciples of Jesus could not be one in person, for each of himself is a separate individuality; they can be one, however, as the Father and Son are one, in the accomplishment of one great purpose—the salvation of mankind—because they are baptized by one Spirit into one body, even the church of Christ; they have one Lord, one faith and one baptism, and are all taught of God, having "access by one Spirit unto the Father" (Eph ii:18), who is not the author of confusion, and cannot consistently, with His own attributes, contradict Himself.

When Jesus sent His disciples into the world He commanded them to baptize penitent believers "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." (Matt. xxviii:19.) These three personages are understood by believers in the Bible to constitute the Godhead. We have shown that the Father and Son are separate personages. It is just as evident, from the Scriptures, that the Holy Ghost is as much a separate and distinct personage as are the other two. Concerning the enormity of sinning against the Holy Ghost, Jesus said: "Wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come." (Matt. xii:31-32). Again, "Verily I say unto you, all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme; but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation." (Mark iii:28-29.)

Agreeable to the language of these quotations, there is a distinct separation between the personality of the Savior and that of the Holy Ghost. Jesus, in speaking of those who should believe and obey Him, used this language: "He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive; for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified." (John vii:38, 39.) It appears from this statement that while Jesus was the representative of the Godhead to men in the flesh, at least for a period of time, the Holy Ghost had not come to officiate at that time as a personal witness of the Father and the Son to the children of men. To corroborate this idea, we quote from the sixteenth chapter of John, seventh verse: "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you." That this Comforter is the Holy Ghost is evident from the fourteenth chapter of St. John, sixteenth and twenty-sixth verses: "And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." Further: "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of me." (John, xv:26.)

These promises are so definite that no one could reasonably mingle the personality of the Holy Ghost with that of either the Father or the Son. After the crucifixion and resurrection of the Savior, and when He had spent forty days with His disciples before His ascension, instructing them preparatory to their great mission, before He allowed them to go out, He reminded them of the promise which He had made to them, and commanded them to tarry at Jerusalem "until ye be endued with power from on high." (Luke xxiv:49.) This promise was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, when the powers of the Holy Ghost were manifest through His glorious gifts which attended the apostles on that occasion. On that great day the Holy Ghost as a gift for their permanent guidance, was promised to all without distinction of time or place, if they would have faith, repent and be baptized by divine authority.

The personality of the Holy Ghost as a minister for God has been enjoyed in every dispensation of the Gospel. "Men and brethren, this Scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake." (Acts i:16.) Again: "Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; as your fathers did, so do ye." (Acts vii:51.) This is proof that David and the prophets spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, as did the disciples in the dispensation of Christ; also that the ancients rejected the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, as did the people in the days of the apostles. The apostle Peter says: "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." (II Peter i:21.) No one by reading the Scriptures can reasonably deduce therefrom that divinely authorized men were justified in their official ministrations in speaking by any other power than that of the Holy Ghost. Paul says: "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost." (I Cor. xii:3.)

The great gifts of the Spirit have been referred to in earlier pages of this work, and need not be repeated here; but the character of those gifts and the constant necessity for their existence, together with the passages quoted here, are positive proof that the Holy Ghost is one of the Deity and a separate personage from the Father and Son. At the Baptism of the Messiah He was present in the waters of the Jordan with John the Baptist. The Father was in the heavens above, and His voice was heard, while the Holy Ghost descended upon the Savior, as witnessed by its appearance in the form of a dove. The Father, Son and Holy Ghost. The three constitute the great, supreme Godhead, yet are as separate and distinct in their personalities as any earthly parents and the children.

REVELATION.

For eighteen centuries the people of this world have been groping in spiritual darkness. They have had the Bible, it is true, but what have they learned from it? In letter, many things. In the true spirit of divine inspiration, they have learned little. "The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." (II Cor. iii:6.) They are "ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." (II Tim. iii:7.) These statements of Holy Writ are fully corroborated by human experience in religious matters. The world is divided and sub-divided into many contending factions, professing Christianity, yet not having a unity of faith. Many ideas of the Lord, many faiths in baptism. "One Lord, one faith, one baptism." (Eph. iv:5), was the doctrine of Paul. "Straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." (Matthew vii:14.)

What is the cause of all this uncertainty respecting the glorious plan of eternal life? If one was or is right, all opposing methods must be wrong. We answer that the lack of unity, the ignorance in relation to the Gospel, and finally skepticism and infidelity, are due to substituting the wisdom of men for the revelation of God, using human learning instead of the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.

We desire to show in this article that without direct and continuous revelation from God, the Gospel cannot be understood and properly applied for the salvation of mankind, nor can the purposes of God be accomplished on the earth. First, we take direct statements of Scripture: "Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he." (Prov. xxix:18.) The law of God has never been kept without the Spirit of God to enlighten those who sought to keep it. The history of the human family, from Adam to Noah, from Noah to Moses, from Moses to the Lord Jesus Christ, and in all subsequent ages, proves beyond cavil that where there was no vision from heaven, no inspired voice, no revelation, the people utterly perished in darkness and unbelief. The combined wisdom and learning of men could not save them from spiritual darkness.

That there may be an authorized channel of communication between the heavens and the earth, the Lord has, whenever His Church has existed on the earth, appointed men to receive His will and make it known to the people. "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secrets unto His servants, the prophets." (Amos iii:7.) This literally might be understood as equivalent to saying that where no prophet was, there the Lord was doing nothing that would result in man's salvation. Without being technical respecting the language of Amos, the history of the world from Adam down proves his statements true. When there has been no prophet there has been no revelation from God. When there has been no revelation or vision the people have wandered to and fro, have tossed upon the billows of clashing opinion, perished in darkness and have been buried in the great ocean of doubt and uncertainty. On the other hand, when authorized prophets have existed among men we may exclaim with the ancient Scriptures: "I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets. And by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved." (Hosea xii:10, 13.) And we affirm that without prophets Israel never was preserved and never will be.

In looking over the field of mysterious sayings contained in the Bible, as well as the mystery which enshrouds many phases of human history, we are consoled by the promise of the Savior: "For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known." (Luke xii:2; Matthew x:26; Mark iv:22.) In this connection we may cite the fact that men by learning do not see the truth alike, they do not harmonize on the fundamental principles of the Gospel. As an example, they cannot, unaided by revelation, tell the origin, history and destiny of the American Indians.

Isaiah, over 200 years before the advent of the Messiah, foresaw the spiritual ignorance of the last days and how that condition would be overcome by the light of revelation. He prophesied as follows: "Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid." (Isa. xxix:13, 14.) By reading the context it is evident that the prophecy refers to a time later than the first coming of the Savior, and that the prediction never could be verified without direct revelation from heaven.

Paul, writing to the Hebrews, calls attention to the great truth that the method of the Lord in leading His people from the beginning has been by revelation. He says: "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son." (Heb. i:1, 2.) Jesus said in St. John xvii:3: "And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent." Paul says in I Cor. xii:3. "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost."

When Peter received a knowledge of the divinity and mission of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior said unto him: "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father, which is in heaven." It required a revelation for Peter to receive that testimony. How could any one receive that knowledge without revelation from God? The Jews saw Jesus, witnessed His wondrous miracles of healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, unstopping the ears of the deaf and even raising the dead, but all that was not sufficient. They read the ancient prophecies, pointing to the birth and nativity, the birthplace, life, ministry and martyrdom of the Messiah. Yet were they blind, with eyes to see; deaf, with ears to hear, and without understanding. No reason can be assigned for the ignorance of the masses and the enlightenment of the humble fishermen other than that the former depended upon the learning of men; the latter had received a revelation from God.

To place the necessity of revelation beyond question as to obtaining a knowledge of God, we quote the statement of Jesus to His disciples: "All things are delivered to me of my Father; and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal Him." (Luke x:22.) Compare this plain, unmistakable testimony of Jesus with the assertions of modern divines, who claim that the canon of Scripture is full and that we do not need divine revelation as it was given to men in ancient days. The position of the latter simply contradicts the plainest teachings of Holy Writ. If it required revelation 2,000 years ago to know that Jesus was the Christ, nothing short of revelation from heaven will secure that knowledge now. Notice, too, the remarkable fact that notwithstanding all the personal experience of the apostles through their association with the Savior, He commanded them to "tarry ye at Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high." (Luke, chapter 24.)

Another phase of the subject is this, that men claim that which is written in the Scriptures is sufficient. This view simply makes uninspired men the judge of what is and what is not essential as to all the writings of the apostles and prophets of the Lord Jesus. This is an unwarrantable assumption, condemned by the Scripture; for John says, concerning that which he had written in the Book of Revelation: "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book; and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." (Rev. xxii:18, 19.)

This does not deny God the privilege of adding more revelation, as it is an undisputed fact that the Gospel according to St. John was written subsequent to the Apocalypse; but it is a decree of divine displeasure upon any man who shall add to or take from the revelations of the Almighty. In the face of this decree, history informs us that councils of the Roman Church sat in judgment upon the writings of the apostles, and received only that which, in the light of their human wisdom, was acceptable to them. Notwithstanding this fact, the various factions of Christendom are essaying to build upon the foundation of what has come down to them through the channel of unauthorized councils of men. May we not ask with perfect propriety, is not that which was rejected or lost just as valuable as much of that which has been handed down to us?

As proof that writings of the disciples of Jesus have been lost to the world, I would call special attention to several passages of the Scripture. The writings of the New Testament are from eight authors—Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, Paul, James and Jude. Luke says: "Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of these things which are most surely believed among us." (Luke i:1.) While there is no definite proof in this statement as to how many had written their testimonies concerning the Messiah, it is evident they were not few, but many. That there was opportunity and material upon which to write respecting this glorious subject, the life and ministry of Jesus, is very apparent from the last verse of the twenty-first chapter of St. John, as follows: "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written, every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written." With such a statement, it is to be wondered at that the world who believed in the Redeemer should rest contented with the narrow view that we have all that is important.

We have in the New Testament what is called I Cor. and II Cor., written to the Saints in Corinth by the apostle Paul. In I Cor. chapter v:9, we have this: "I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators." This must have been previous to the one in which this occurs, and yet such an epistle is not found in our New Testament. In Col. iv:16, Paul says: "And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea." This refers to an epistle from Paul to the Colossians, written from Laodicea, but which is not found in the canon of Scripture as we have it. In II Tim., chapter iv:13, Paul requests Timothy to bring him certain parchments; what they contained we know not. Jude says: "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these things, saying: 'Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of His saints.'" How delightful it would be to read the predictions and teachings of that great prophet Enoch, the man who walked and talked with God 365 years, "and was not, for God took him." Only a few verses in the Old and New Testament are all we have in the canon of Scripture respecting Enoch and his city. What a glorious flood of light will dawn upon the world when the writings of Enoch are revealed! In the Old Testament may be found references to about thirty books written by the Jewish scribes and prophets, but which have been lost to the world, rejected and cast aside by uninspired, unauthorized councils of men.

Suppose that all that is necessary so far as explanation of doctrine is concerned is contained in the New Testament, we are then confronted with man's inability to understand what has been revealed without the light of revelation to guide the human mind in understanding and applying the truth. As proof of this I will cite the testimony of Paul: "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. * * * But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (I Cor. ii:11, 14.) Jesus said to Nicodemus: "Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." (St. John iii:3.) "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost." (I Cor. xii:3.) The truth of these sacred sayings is verified by the history of the world, which has languished in darkness without revelation, as shown by previous quotations.

Another very important feature of this subject consists in the fact, that there always have been in every gospel dispensation labors to perform of a practical character, such as the building of temples, the gathering of Israel out of Egypt, the building of the Ark of the Covenant, etc., none of which could be accomplished except by direct revelation from God. We may therefore conclude that while the ordinances and doctrines of the gospel are eternal and unchangeable, the circumstances associated with the people in every dispensation of the gospel are constantly changing. The emergencies of this situation must be met, not by the dead letter of ancient Scripture, but by present inspiration and revelation given through living oracles of God.

"By a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved." (Hosea xii:13.) The prophecies of the Jewish prophets in the Old Testament, pointing to the advent of the Messiah, are clear and explicit. Read the seventh chapter of Isaiah, fourteenth verse; the ninth chapter and sixth verse; the fifty-third chapter of the same book; the fifth chapter of Micah, second verse; and many other passages of the Old Testament. In these we find plain predictions which were verified in the birth, ministry and crucifixion of the Savior, which were read by the Jews but not understood by them, because the light of revelation from God was not the source of their information. This was rather the wisdom of their own learning, which led them to reject the Messiah and discard the great message of life which He brought unto them.

As there were many plain prophecies relating to the first coming of the Savior and the great work associated with His advent, so there are pointed predictions referring to His second coming and a work of great magnitude to precede that great event. I will call attention to a few as proof that more revelation will be given, and that without it these prophecies could never be fulfilled: "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in; behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiners' fire, and like fuller's sore. * * * And He shall purify the sons of Levi," etc. (Mal. iii:1-3.) This prophecy must refer to His second coming. At His first advent He did not come suddenly; He did not come to His temple. The house of the Lord had become "a den of thieves." He did not accept it. He did not purify the sons of Levi. It was a day when they could in their wickedness abide His coming. "Who shall stand when He appeareth" is clearly a condition when He shall come in power and glory to take vengeance on the ungodly.

How could He suddenly come to His temple unless a temple should be built for Him? One could not be built without a chosen people to build it; and how can men build the house of the Lord without revelation to tell them where, when and how to construct such a holy edifice? In Malachi, chapter iv, we have a very striking prophecy of the judgments of the Almighty in the last days, before the coming of the Lord. In the fifth verse the prophet says, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the Prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord." The great prophet Elijah, who was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire without tasting death, was to visit the earth in the last days. The apostle John, when upon the isle of Patmos, also saw the hour of God's judgement, and uttered the following prediction: "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." (Rev. xiv:6-7.) From this prophecy we learn that an angel was to visit the earth at a later period than when John uttered the above words. His mission was to be to restore the everlasting gospel, a gospel that does not change; a gospel of apostles, prophets, gifts, visions, revelations, etc.

"The everlasting gospel." Why should an angel bring the gospel if it already existed upon the earth? Why should the call be to worship the God who made the heavens, the earth and the fountains of water, etc., if these creations were brought into existence by a God "without body, parts or passions"? This prophecy of John agrees with Peter's words recorded in the third chapter of Acts, wherein he says: "And He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you; whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began." (Acts iii: 20-22.) By this we learn that before the advent of the Messiah to reign on earth there should be a grand restitution, bringing back that which was lost; a restoration of revelation, ministry of angels, prophecies, tongues, healings, miracles, etc. Who can believe the Scriptures and yet deny the necessity for more revelation? The quotations here given are only a few compared with many that can be made bearing upon the subject. They all show that direct and continuous revelation from God is an absolute necessity to the welfare, progress and final salvation of the children of men.

FAITH.

In considering the principles of the gospel, it will not be difficult to see that faith occupies the first place in the catalogue of righteous principles which, as a whole, go to constitute the plan of salvation. It is the principle existing in the human soul which goes before all action and leads to good works. It pleases God that man should repent of all sin by ceasing therefrom, thus accomplishing a reformation of life without which remission of sins would not be granted; and as repentance and good works are pleasing to God, we must accept of faith first, for Paul says: "But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." (Heb. xi:6.)

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Heb. xi:1.) The inspired translation by the prophet Joseph Smith renders the word "assurance" instead of "substance," which appears more consistent with the latter clause in the passage, which says, "the evidence of things not seen," not the substance itself, for that would amount to knowledge or the actual possession of the object hoped for. This assurance of things hoped for must come through some evidence, either of a character which can be demonstrated in a tangible manner, or through some impression which gives an assurance to the mind of the individual possessing it, if to no other. This faith prompts to action all intelligent beings. Without the assurance of reaping, the farmer would not sow; the laborer would not commence his daily task unless he believed he would accomplish it; and so it is in religious matters.

Upon the day of Pentecost the multitude never would have appealed to the apostles to know what they should do to be saved unless they first believed in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ—so recently crucified in their midst—and also in the authority of the apostles to teach and administer in the ordinances of eternal life. This faith was based upon the evidence presented by Peter that Jesus was the Christ, sealed upon their hearts by the Spirit of God, and not by the wisdom or ability of man. The result was obedience, and a knowledge of the truth for themselves; for the promise is: "If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." (St. John vii:17.) If Peter had been an impostor, deceiving the people, he might, perchance, have persuaded some to accept his theories; but what would have been the result? The evidence being false, the faith or assurance would have a false foundation to act upon, and disappointment would have been the result. When the evidence is true, the faith resulting and acted upon will bring knowledge.

When Columbus discovered America, and the use of gunpowder was displayed to the astonishment and fear of the Indians, some of the Europeans told the natives that all they had to do was to procure some powder and sow it like grain, and it would grow. The poor natives believed the lie, acted upon their belief, and disappointment was the result, to the destruction of their confidence in the white man. This illustrates that belief may be built upon false evidence, and no matter how sincere the believer, the laws of sincerity cannot be changed to vindicate the dishonesty of the deceiver nor to avoid disappointment befalling the deceived. Why should it be otherwise regarding the law of God? Sincerity is not evidence that the believer will obtain the good for which he seeks, for if his religious devotion is based upon his confidence in the preaching or teaching of false guides, God will not change His laws and ordinances, neither will He acknowledge the authority of impostors, and thus become accessory to the deception, in order to satisfy those who allow themselves to be led astray.

It is a maxim of skeptics that "We doubt all things in order to prove all things"; and thus doubting, they reject the means which God has designated as the way to become acquainted with and prove for themselves the truth of the promise: "If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine."

The history of the world proves that in the advancement made in science, in arts, in human government, the leaders and promoters of all that is good, in the majority of instances, have been believers in God; and their faith in Him and the ultimate success of their enterprises have prompted them to action. In the language of Paul on this subject of faith: "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness, which is by faith": "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went." (Heb. xi:7, 8.) I might add numerous testimonies from the Scriptures that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, and the principle which prompts to action all intelligent beings, and that when based upon the promises of the Lord, unmixed with the theories of men, and acted upon, it has never failed to bring knowledge and rest to the weary mind in that security which comes from a pure knowledge of God.

Having shown something of the nature of faith in a general way, as a principle existing in the human mind and as directing all human action, whether religious or secular, let us now draw the line of distinction between faith in its general sense, and faith as a principle of power as enjoyed and exercised by those who are truly the people of God.

Let us first remember that it is one thing to believe in the power of God as manifested by revelation, prophecy, healing, etc., when presented to us merely as the events of history, and altogether another thing to be confronted with the testimony of living apostles, presenting to the world doctrines that are unpopular and with which the cherished creeds of men have never failed to conflict—apostles who ask us to believe them to be servants of God, called by new revelation, and testing our faith by the promise that "if you will repent and be baptized" with honest hearts, you shall know for yourselves the truth, and need not depend upon the assertions of any other man for your knowledge concerning it. It is an undeniable fact of history that God has never sent a prophet to warn the world but He found thousands professing belief in the dead prophets, yet ready to reject and slay the living. It cannot be said that this generation is an exception, for the religious education they receive from the so-called Christian pulpit is that apostles and prophets, together with the ancient gifts and powers of the gospel, are no longer needed; and if any come professing the ancient apostleship, they may reject them without investigation as "false prophets." They apparently forget that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to produce a counterfeit coin unless the genuine existed.

In speaking of faith as a principle of power, the apostle Paul said to the Hebrews: "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. * * * And what shall I more say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae, of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again," etc. (Heb. xi:3 32-35.) Besides these, innumerable other events have been brought about through faith exercised by men having authority to speak and act in the name of God. Jesus promised that "these signs shall follow them that believe. In my name shall they cast out devils, they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover."

These are only a few of the characteristics associated with true faith, the "faith that was once delivered to the saints," and so much in striking contrast to the weak yet high-sounding pretensions of modern professors who have a form of godliness, yet deny the power thereof.

As a contrast to the wisdom and learning of men, we are promised as the result of acting upon true faith, that to one is given the word of wisdom, to another knowledge. Tongues, prophecy, etc., all are characteristic of that faith which emanates from God. These gifts are not merely to satisfy curiosity or to convince skeptics.

As a principle of eternal truth it is a necessity that not only must the administrator have faith, but the one who is the recipient of the blessings also must exercise it so far as he is capable. Therefore, as a rule, when Jesus healed the sick and opened the eyes of the blind, He said to the individual: "Go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole." As a further testimony of this He told unbelievers when they sought a sign: "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas; for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." (Matt. xii:39, 40.) Yet be it remembered that this sign of Christ's three days' rest in the tomb was not given to convince skeptics, for it was an event ordained of God before the foundation of the world, in the plan of human redemption, and would have occurred if all the world had received Him gladly. But they did not receive Him even when He was resurrected, for the same class who sought a sign circulated the fabrication that the body of Christ was not risen from the dead, but that His disciples had come in the night and stolen Him away.

There are sign-seekers today, even among those who profess Christ, and may we not say the same of them as Jesus said of the ancient sign-seekers, from the fact that what was true then is true now, and what is true of a generation is true of the individuals which compose it. Further, the Savior said to His apostles when they failed to cast out the devils and sought Him to know the reason: "Because of your unbelief, for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, 'Remove hence to yonder place,' and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." (Matt. xvii:20.)

To these quotations might be added many others, but this will suffice to show the effects of faith, that it is a principle of power. We ask, has God changed? Is not faith, being a principle emanating from Deity, as unchangeable as God Himself? Who, professing to believe in Christ, will say, if we believe and are baptized by rightful authority in this age, that Jesus will fail in His part of the contract to bestow the promised blessings?

In view of all that is written in the Bible concerning this true faith and the effects which flow therefrom, and the reverse of that pure faith of the Bible which characterizes the "Christianity" of today, is it wonderful that the Savior exclaimed: "When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on earth?" (Luke xviii:8.)

REPENTANCE.

Repentance follows faith as a natural sequence; for when the human mind has sufficient faith in God, based upon the perfection of His attributes, to desire His guidance and a final return to His presence, the thought is foremost that no unclean thing can enter his presence. Repentance from all sin, not merely an expression of sorrow but a discontinuance of sinful practices, amounting to a reformation of life, therefore suggests itself as a matter of course. This philosophical view of the subject is in perfect accord with Holy Writ. Hence it was, upon the day of Pentecost, when the sin-convicted multitude cried out: "Men and brethren, What shall we do?" that Peter commanded them to repent as the first step following the manifestation of their faith in Christ and His atonement. (Acts ii:37.)

That repentance is an indispensable condition of salvation has been taught in all ages of the world by men of God, the only exception being that which applies to all other requirements of the Gospel. That exception is in the case of persons incapable of knowing good from evil, such as children who cannot believe, or disbelieve, and are exempt from the law until they arrive at the years of accountability. Hence the saying of the Savior: "Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. xix:14.)

Ezekiel said to ancient Israel, in his 18th chapter and 30th verse, "Repent and turn yourselves from all your transgressions, so iniquity shall not be your ruin." Israel did not repent as a nation, and their sad history proves that iniquity caused their ruin. The olive branch of peace was offered them without money and without price. They rejected the means of escape, and in consequence they have verified the words of Moses, their great lawgiver: "And I will scatter you among the heathen and will draw out a sword after you; and your land shall be desolate and your cities waste." (Lev. xxvi:33.)

It was supposed by those in Palestine that the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with the sacrifices, were greater sinners than others because such agonies had come upon them. "And Jesus answering said unto them, 'Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffererd such things? I tell you nay, but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.'" The foregoing contains the divine lesson that suffering is not a substitute for repentance: that while He did not justify the agonies brought upon them by persecution, He did not intimate that the suffering would be acceptable instead of repentance, or that these sufferings were any evidence of the sins of the sufferers as to the height or depth of their transgressions. The weight of responsibility is measured either by the light men possess or the light which opportunities afford them to possess. As Paul said to the Athenians (Acts xvii:30.), "And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent"; and again the Savior enunciated this doctrine: "And this is the condemnation that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." (St. John iii:19.)

No matter how strict the individual may be in living a life of moral rectitude, it is very plainly taught in the Scriptures that rejecting further light from God constitutes a sin. We cite the case of the young man told of in Matthew, chapter 19, who came to the Savior for instructions, but who, when he was commanded by the Redeemer to sell all that he had, give to the poor, and follow Him, went away sorrowful, rejecting the injunction of the Savior, and yet he had kept the commandments from his youth up, and probably was as righteous as any modern Christians, who, if commanded by the Savior to give their possessions to the poor, would go away sorrowful. There were "devout" people assembled on the day of Pentecost, and yet Peter made no exception when he commanded the multitude to repent. If they had done the best they could previously with the light they had, greater light had come to them and they must receive it or be condemned.

This truth applies to every gospel dispensation, not excepting the "dispensation of the fullness of times," the greatest of all. God promised to send a holy angel and make a restitution of all things as predicted by the ancient prophets, preceding the second advent of the Messiah. The light has come. A new dispensation has been ushered in. The Everlasting Gospel has been restored with its ancient gifts and blessings, and "God commandeth all men everywhere to repent," whether they be so-called Christians or infidels. Repentance is a principle and not merely an expression of penitent grief. It involves, as before stated, a reformation of life. In II Cor, vii:9, 10, Paul says: "Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance. * * * For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of, but the sorrow of the world worketh death." The sorrow of the world may be illustrated by the conduct of the inebriate, who, when intoxicated, commits acts of violence which mantle his brow with shame and fill him with remorse in his sober moments. He expresses sorrow, perhaps weeps in his agony, but again gives away to the tempter and repeats his acts of dishonor instead of "fleeing temptation." This kind of sorrow does not work repentance to salvation. We find religious people sorrowing and sometimes confessing their sins, only to repeat sin. This is the sorrow of the world and needs to be repented of because it savors so much of hypocrisy, and consequently "worketh death." On the contrary, true repentance consists, not in the outward expression of grief, but in forsaking sin. "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." (Isa. lv:7.) Repentance is required not only of the evil deed, but of the unrighteous thought. Every wicked deed is first conceived in the mind, hence the need of casting away the evil thought before it germinates into actual crime, which leads to prison, the gallows and to spiritual death. Of the ruin caused by the talented, but corrupt Aaron Burr it was truly said: "His brain conceived it, his hand brought it into action."

Let us now examine a passage of Scripture which is frequently quoted to substantiate the erroneous doctrine that God is pleased to save men in their sins, or that death-bed repentance is all-sufficient. The passage is found in Luke xxiii:42, 43, and reads thus: "And he (the penitent malefactor) said unto Jesus, 'Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.' And Jesus said unto him, 'Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in Paradise.'" From this statement thousands in the Christian world have taken it for granted that the thief on the cross received full and complete salvation. With this unwarranted perversion of a sacred passage, the minister has taught the murderer in the felon's cell to confess Christ and all would be well with him; and as the hangman drew the bolt and let the culprit swing into eternity, the minister has stood close by and said, "The Lord Jesus receive thy soul." On the other hand, the poor victim of the assassin has been cut off without time to confess Christ, and the same doctrine which wafts the murderer to the courts of glory consigns the victim to the flames of hell. Is it possible that Christ ever taught such a heinous doctrine? A doctrine so inconsistent, so revolting to reason, so repugnant to justice! We answer emphatically "No," nor did He utter a syllable from which such an inference can be drawn or establish the idea that the malefactor went to heaven. The question is, then, where did he go? If not to heaven, then the paradise named and heaven are two different places. Let the Scriptures answer for themselves. Three days after the crucifixion the Savior came forth a resurrected being, and as Mary met Him at the tomb, He said to her, "Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father." Thus we have from His own lips, in which there was never guile, that He had not ascended to the Father; and if He had not, neither had the thief. If no further light than this could be found in the sacred volume, this would be sufficient to show that the malefactor did not go to heaven, for where Jesus went the thief went, for that was the promise. Where, then, did the Lord go? Turn to I Peter iii 18-21, and the question is answered: "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but quickened by the Spirit: By which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometimes were disobedient when once the long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah."

This makes it plain that the paradise referred to was the prison house, to which place Jesus went and opened up a dispensation of the Gospel to the dead. The next chapter, 6th verse, says: "For for this cause was the Gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit." The thief therefore went to a place of confinement to remain until the justice of God should be satisfied and mercy step in and claim her own. The difference between the penitent malefactor, who appears to have repented before death, and the antediluvians was that the former immediately went to a place where Christ would present to him the plan of life, that day, while the latter had waited hundreds of years for that privilege. This shows that repentance brings its blessings even upon the deathbed; but to say that, after a life of sin, the malefactor went straight to the abode of the Father and remained there in glory, is in conflict with the teachings of Christ and Peter. The statements of Peter relative to the mission of Christ to the spirits in prison throws light upon the saying of the Savior in St. John v:25, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live."

Thus we see the privileges of the penitent malefactor. He went to the prison house and heard the Gospel, but how long he remained there before receiving all the saving benefits of the Gospel, we are not told. One thing is certain-he did not come back with the Messiah, nor have we ever heard of him sitting down with Christ on the right hand of the Father. The Scripture being true which says, "The murderer hath not eternal life abiding in him," it is safe to say that the prayers of all the ministers on earth cannot carry the souls of the assassin to the presence and glory of God. As there are different degrees of glory, so are there various grades of crimes to which are attached the different degrees of punishment, all of which clearly maintain the justice and mercy of God.

In Galatians v:19-21, we read as follows: "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."

In conclusion, as a true definition of repentance, let us quote the words of Paul to the Ephesians, iv: 25, 30: "Wherefore putting away lying speak every man truth with his neighbor. * * * Be ye angry and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath. Neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole, steal no more. * * * Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. * * *" This is the only repentance taught in Holy Writ, and simply means to forsake all sin and accomplish a reformation of life.

BAPTISM.

We come now to considering the necessity of the ordinance of baptism. When men have repented of their sins it is natural for them to desire a forgiveness of those sins. How shall this boon be obtained? That repentance alone does not blot out the sins of the past may be illustrated in part by a comparison between the temporal and the spiritual. A man acquires a debt by purchasing goods on credit, and finding it a ruinous policy, resolves, for the future, to pay as he goes. This changes his course and constitutes in his business life a reformation, but it does not pay the debt already incurred. He must liquidate the obligation, or be forgiven the debt by the creditor. Some may say that this is the difference between the earthly transaction of men and the dealings of God with His children. God forgives, it is true, but every blessing is predicated upon a condition, and the condition is laid down by the Lord; hence it is written in Mark i:4: "John did baptize in the wilderness and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." From this scripture it is evident that baptism is to follow repentance, and that at least one object of baptism is the remission of sins.

Let us now examine some statements of Holy Writ which point out clearly the necessity of this ordinance. "Then cometh Jesus from Gallilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him. But John forbade Him, saying, 'I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me? And Jesus, answering: said unto him, 'Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.' Then he suffered Him." (Matt. iii:13-15.) Every thoughtful, God-fearing person must be impressed with the feeling that if it was essential for the "Only Begotten of the Father," "who is full of grace and truth," to be baptized, none can be exempt who have arrived at the years of accountability. It appears also from the language used in the quotation that without being baptized he could not fulfill "all righteousness." After teaching His disciples for three years, being crucified and risen from the dead, He gave to them this commission: "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." (Mark xvi:15, 16. ) Also in Matthew xxviii:19: "Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost"; and in Luke xxiv:45-47: "Then opened He their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." In the latter quotation the word baptism is not used, but the same writer says in Luke iii:3, regarding the mission of John: "And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins," thus enunciating the doctrine that remission of sins is obtained through baptism.

The same writer gives us the following (Luke vii:29, 30): "And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of Him." From this it is manifested that by receiving baptism they honored and obeyed God, and that the rejection of this simple yet divine institution amounted to rejecting the counsel of God, with all the terrible consequences attendant upon such disobedience.

We read in the eighth chapter of Acts that Philip baptized the Samaritans and the Ethiopian. In the same book is related the baptism of Saul, of Lydia, of the Philippian jailor, and of Cornelius. It is not necessary to multiply quotations to show that baptism was taught and practiced all through the apostolic dispensation, as being essential to salvation. As a direct statement of Jesus Himself, to close this part of the subject, we quote His words to Nicodemus, St. John iii:5: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man, be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." The birth of the water can only be accomplished by baptism, and if an accountable being cannot enter into the kingdom of God without baptism, then that ordinance must be essential to salvation.

Let us next consider the object of this sacred rite. It is evident that inasmuch as a man cannot enter into the kingdom of God without the baptism of water, then his sins must necessarily be remitted through faith, repentance and baptism from the fact that "no unclean person * * * hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God."

In Mark i:4 and Luke iii:3 we read that "John did baptize in the wilderness and preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." On the day of Pentecost, when the mighty power of God rested upon the apostles and the Spirit bore witness to the multitude that they were in sin, notwithstanding their devoutness, they cried out, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" To this Peter answered, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins." (Acts ii:38.)

Paul narrates before King Agrippa his conversion, in Acts xxii:16, and says that Ananias, to whom he had been commanded to apply, said: "And now, why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." The foregoing quotations will suffice to show that God instituted baptism for the remission of sins, but from other passages already quoted. Mark i:4, also xvi:15-16, and the account of Simon, the sorcerer, in the eighth chapter of Acts, it is very evident that the result—forgiveness—is not secured unless baptism is accompanied on the part of the candidate by faith and a genuine repentance in turning aside from sin. Otherwise there would be the solemn mockery of administering a sacred ordinance to a hypocrite. Hence the apostles said to Simon, "Thy money perish with thee because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money." (Acts viii:20.) Notwithstanding he had been baptized he was still in his sins, because his heart was not pure, and he had not repented. For this reason the apostles said to him, "Repent therefore of this wickedness. * * * For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity." (Acts viii:22-23.) This should be a warning to those modern professors whose religion is in many instances a cloak, hidden beneath which is the depraved heart that garnishes the sepulchres of the dead prophets but is ready to slay the living ones.

We now come to that part of the subject which formerly caused so much dissension among the Christian sects, but which latterly is smoothed over with the assertion that it makes no difference which mode—sprinkling, pouring, or immersion—is used; "either will do," "let the candidate take his choice; it is immaterial." To these unwarranted assertions we reply: First, that if either mode will do, none will do, for still other forms may be added by the whims of men. Christ established but one true mode, "One Lord, one faith, one baptism," and if one is right, the others are wrong. This is a plain proposition. Again, the dissension and conflict on this point is proof against the inspiration of the sectarian world, if they have any, for the reason that the Spirit of God will not lie nor contradict itself. If, therefore, the Spirit of the Lord teaches me that immersion is right, it will not teach another sprinkling, and yet another pouring. This division, then, is because men are guided by opinion and preference and not by the spirit of revelation from God, which guides into all truth and brings those who possess it to a unity of faith.

Now as concerning the baptism of Jesus, who is the pattern, we have Matt. iii:16, which says, "And Jesus when He was baptized went up straightway out of the water." It is not likely that John would be baptizing in Jordan and that Jesus would have gone down into the water if anything less than immersion would have fulfilled the law. This also agrees with the account of the Ethiopian's baptism by Philip (Acts viii:38): "And they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him." As making still plainer this using a river of water and going "down into the water" to receive the sacred rite, we quote from St. John iii:23: "And John also was baptizing in Enon, near to Salim, because there was much water there." A statement so plain as the foregoing needs no comment. It speaks for itself. He was baptizing not only in Enon, but at a certain point in the stream "because there was much water there." Such a reason could not have been given if sprinkling or pouring had been a proper mode.

We refer further to the New Testament statements where not only the mode of baptism is indicated by the language, but the fact that baptism symbolizes the birth into the world, the death, and the resurrection of the body. To Nicodemus, Jesus said: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water, and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." (St. John iii:5.) When man comes forth into the world, he is born or brought out from the watery element, being first buried in it, and this constitutes his birth. To be "born of water" as a sacred ordinance would be impossible if the rite of sprinkling or pouring be the mode employed. Only complete immersion will answer the ordinance indicated in the language of Jesus to Nicodemus.

Paul also said to the Romans, "Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection." (Rom. vi:3-5.) The foregoing shows that baptism is a likeness of burial. When the body is laid lifeless in the tomb it is covered completely; it is not left partly buried and partly uncovered; and as the body comes forth in the resurrection, immortal, and free from the conditions of mortality, thus walking in "newness of life," so by the remission of sins through faith, repentance and baptism, the obedient candidate comes forth free from sin, and walks in a new life, prepared for the birth of the spirit, thus symbolizing in beautiful similarity the death and resurrection of the body. This is still farther emphasized by the language, "For if we have been planted," etc., thus using a word which implies a complete burial as in planting seeds in the earth.

Again, we quote the words of Paul to the Colossians, ii:12: "Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead." This corresponds with the statement before quoted from Romans, and also the teachings of Christ to Nicodemus.

From the Scriptures already quoted on the necessity, object and mode of baptism, we may deduce the conclusion that the ordinance established to follow and go with faith and repentance, and which constitutes the third principle of the gospel, is baptism by immersion for the remission of sins.

RECEPTION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

Having shown that faith, repentance and baptism are essential to the remission of sins, let us now consider the reception of the Holy Spirit. That this should follow, and not precede, the birth of the water must be evident to every thoughtful person. It is clear that a man is not prepared for the indwelling of the Holy Ghost unless he repents of his sins and becomes freed from them by obedience to the laws of God. Some people may contend that, because Jesus stated that man must be born again, in order to see the kingdom of heaven, such a birth precedes baptism, and is synonymous with the birth of the Spirit mentioned by the Savior in the third chapter of St. John; but being born again, in order to see the kingdom, evidently shows that a man must have some light above the natural senses, sufficient to the light of Christ to make him see the kingdom of God. In other words, to secure, and we may say, consistently constitute his conversion.

This light which guides him to the truth does not, however, forego the absolute necessity of obeying the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. As proof of this we cite the conversion of Paul. He received a personal manifestation of the Savior's power, even hearing his voice and witnessing a light from heaven. Notwithstanding this, Jesus commanded him to go to Ananias, an authorized servant of Christ, who should instruct him regarding his salvation. He was therefore required to be born of water and of the Spirit. Cornelius, also, as related in the tenth chapter of Acts, saw an angel and received a manifestation of the Holy Ghost previous to baptism. Yet both men were required to obey the ordinances enjoined by the Gospel of Christ. If they rejected these requirements, undoubtedly the light they had received would have departed from them and this would have added to their condemnation.

The historical fact of the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost is not, in every instance, recorded in the Scriptures, and it is not necessary that it should be, in order to prove that the ordinance was established by the Messiah. In the matter of baptism He said to John, "Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness." He made no exception of Himself, but gave the example by his own obedience. How can others be excused? To show that the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, by those having divine authority was practiced by the ancient apostles, we refer to Acts viii:14, 17: "Now, when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John, who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (for as yet He was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid they their hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost."

Philip did not have the authority to lay on hands for this gift, hence Peter and John were sent from Jerusalem for the express purpose of performing this higher ordinance of the Gospel. In the nineteenth chapter of Acts is an account of Paul's visit to the city of Ephesus, where he found about twelve men who claimed to have received the same form of baptism as administered by John the Baptist. But in answer to Paul's question, "Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?" they told him they had not so much as heard of it, and his action in re-baptizing them would strongly indicate that some imposter had counterfeited in form the true baptism. This being performed without legitimate authority, their sins were not remitted, and they were not in a condition to receive the Holy Ghost. Hence Paul baptized them; and the sixth verse says: "And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came upon them and they spake with tongues and prophesied."

An imposter can baptize in water by physical force, imitate the true form at the submission of the candidate, but the gift of the Holy Ghost cannot be given without authority from God; and while the water baptism is equally destitute of its legitimate results when not performed by authority, the imposture is not so readily detected because not usually accompanied by the same manifestation of divine power; therefore designing or ignorant men have taken pains either to deny the gift of the Holy Ghost as being essential with its ancient spiritual powers, or to tell the people that no outward ordinance was essential to confer it, thus endeavoring to dispense with this sacred ordinance.

The following references also indicate the laying on of hands as a sacred rite which would not have been adopted by the apostles unless 'commanded of God to do so: I Tim. iv:14-"Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery." II Tim. i:6-"Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the putting on of my hands." Also showing that this ordinance was laid down as a positive doctrine, we call attention to the sixth chapter of Hebrews, first and second verses: "Therefore leaving (another translation, that of the prophet Joseph Smith, reads 'not leaving') the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God of the doctrine of baptisms and of laying on of hands."

That man might duplicate in form this divine ceremony without authority and without effect, we do not deny; but we confidently assert that without this ordinance being administered by an acknowledged authority from God, the operation would be of non-effect. The undeniable facts of religious history for seventeen centuries prove that men did not receive the Holy Ghost. Where the tree is, there will the fruit be produced, unless the tree is dead; and no one will contend that the Holy Spirit is dead.

The following quotations will point out the fruits of the Holy Spirit: "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." (St. John xiv:26.) "Howbeit, when He, the Spirit of Truth, is Come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak, and He shall show you things to come." (St. John xvi:13.) "As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, 'Separate me Barnabas and Saul, for the work whereunto I have called them.'" (Acts xiii:2.) "Wherefore I give you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. * * * For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another, the word of Knowledge by the same Spirit; To another, faith by the same Spirit; to another, the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another, the working of miracles; to another, prophecy; to another discerning of Spirits; to another, divers kinds of tongues." ( I Cor. xii:3, 4, 8, 9, 10.) "But the fruits of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." (Gal. v:22-23.)

The same cause will ever produce the same effect; a tree is known by its fruits, and to be convinced that we need such gifts today it is only necessary to look at the spectacle of jarring "Christianity" with its many creeds. Where is the Spirit that guides into all truth, which does not contradict itself, but teaches the "common salvation" of "one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all?" That brings us "to a unity of faith," and makes us one in Christ, as He prayed that His disciples and all whom the Father should give Him out of the world might be one even as I am one in the Father and the Father in me, that they may be one in us, "that the world may believe that thou hast sent me?" Where is the Spirit of prophecy? "The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy," the gifts of revelation, healings and all the glorious powers enumerated in the Scripture quotations made. Well did Isaiah say, "The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances and broken the everlasting covenant." (Isa. xxiv:5.)

Without further comment on the gifts of the Spirit, we will introduce quotations to show that the laying on of hands was practiced also for ordination to office in the Church of Christ, and for the healing of the sick, as well as to confer the gift of the Holy Ghost: "Whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them." (Acts vi:6.) This refers to the ordination of Stephen and six others. "As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them they sent them away." (Acts xiii:2, 3.)

The same ordinance was also had in ancient times before the coming of the Savior. Paul informs us in Gal. iii, that the Gospel was preached before unto Abraham. "And the Lord said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay thine hands upon him. And he laid his hands upon him and gave him a charge, as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses." (Num. xxvii:18, 23.) "And Joshua, the son of Nun, was full of the Spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him." (Deut. xxxiv:9.)

It is most reasonable to conclude from the evidence presented that this practice came down from the beginning, and was before and after Christ a divine ordinance. That it was practiced for the healing of the sick is evident from the following historical and doctrinal statements made in the New Testament by the Messiah and His apostles: "They shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover." (Mark xvi:18.) "And He could there do no mighty work save that He laid His hands upon a few sick folk and healed them." (Mark vi:5.) "Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them, and healed them." (Luke iv:40.) "And putting His hands on him, said Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me that thou mightest receive thy sight," etc. (Acts ix:17.) "And it came to pass that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever, and of a bloody flux; to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him." (Acts xxviii:8.) "Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up," etc. (James v:14, 15.).

Although the laying on of hands is not expressly mentioned in the last quotation, it is readily seen that the sick could not be anointed without the imposition of hands.

The foregoing should be sufficient to convince all Bible believers that the laying on of hands is a sacred ordinance for the purposes specified in Holy writ, that it follows the baptism of water, and occupies its relationship in the plan of salvation as the fourth essential principle to fully establish men in the Church of Christ; the order is, faith, repentance, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. This is the door into the sheepfold; "he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." (St. John x:1.)

PRE-EXISTENCE.

As Latter-day Saints we believe that all creation existed spiritually before the physical organism was brought into existence; "And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew." (Gen. ii:5.)

"And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing. And beast of the earth after his kind; and it was so." (Gen. i:24.) Therefore each kind, whether beast, bird or fish, as well as man, existed before it came to occupy a physical being, otherwise how could each have been created after its own kind? The spirit and the body must be the soul, as enunciated by the Lord in a revelation to the prophet Joseph Smith. (Doctrine and Covenants, sec. 88, verse 15.) "And the spirit and the body is the soul of man." Otherwise there might be an eternal fullness when the spirit and the body are separated. When Jesus was crucified He went, as stated by Peter, to preach to the spirits in prison, and did not enter into the fullness of His Father's glory until He ascended after His resurrection. This was the pattern to all men.