Introduction

Introduction

It is difficult for a fair-minded person to realize how hard it is to find space in leading newspapers and magazines for words of defense when expressed in favor of an unpopular people. Their columns are open to attacks, but seldom do we find one blessed with sufficient independence of mind to present the unpopular side to the public. The lady from Ohio who is the author of the following manuscript is not the first to discover this. This manuscript was rejected by "Modern Culture," "Current History," "The Arena," "The Forum," "The World's Work," "Munsey's," "Harper's Monthly," "McClure's," and "The Worlds Today." It was then sent to Ben E. Rich of Atlanta, Georgia, accompanied by a letter, from which we quote as follows:

"Your name has within the last year or two come to me as that of a representative of the Mormon people, and I therefore take the liberty of calling your attention to a matter that will doubtless interest you. Upon more than one occasion I have sojourned in the state of Utah for a considerable length of time, and have had abundant opportunities of judging your people from more than one standpoint. I have met them in both city and country, in their homes (polygamous and otherwise), and in their business. I have met them socially in many ways, and have mingled with them when they have met in exercise of their religious faith. When first thrown among them, I knew of nothing that would cause me to be predisposed in their favor, having read many things derogatory to their character as American citizens, and to their virtue and purity in social and family relations. I endeavored, however, to judge them on their own merits and not on opinions advanced by other people. As a result, I found much to admire and little to condemn. Above everything else, I found them sincere and honest, and learned to know that the mistakes and blunders of individuals were of the head and not of the heart. I have come to regard many of them as my friends, and will always feel an interest in the people as a whole. I have, however, been much annoyed by the scurrilous articles that have of late been written about them, and have often had in my mind to take up the cudgel in their defense. As to the truth of many of the adverse stories that have been told in the past, I am in no position to judge, {192} but of the untruth of the more recent ones, I am sure. Looking at the past in the light of the present, I am inclined to the belief that those earlier stories contain much fiction, and some have been absolutely disproved.

"A particularly objectionable article having not long ago come to my notice, I wrote in protest to the magazine publishing it. The editor in a personal reply requested me to write him what I knew personally about the subject under discussion. I thereupon decided to offer him for publication something in the nature of a response to the previous article, thus showing the Mormon people as I knew them to be. The magazine in question ("Modern Culture," now consolidated with "Current History"), after having kept them manuscript several weeks, at last returned it with a curt refusal. Upon my demanding an explanation and asking if the objection lay in either diction or lack of style in composition, I received from the Editor a personal assurance, that the objection lay only in the unsuitableness of the subject. I afterwards offered it to one magazine after another, always with the same result. I persevered, however, each failure making me more than ever aware of the difficulty of presenting the truth of a matter so long surrounded by prejudice, but receiving the manuscript back again with the same regularity with which I sent it. I will add that but one publication, "The World's Work," offered me a reasonable excuse, and some of them have since solicited articles on different subjects from my pen. "The World's Work" presented a very fair exposition of the Social System, upon which much of Utah's prosperity is founded, in the issue of the month previous to that in which I offered mine. Thinking the matter over, I am more than ever anxious that in some way, the true conditions prevailing in Utah shall come to the notice of the American people, deeming it a simple justice due them. I have therefore taken the liberty of thus arousing your interest in that which I would fain call the "Rejected Manuscript," and of submitting it to you, with the request that, if agreeable to you, it may in some way be brought before the people."

With the opening remarks in this introduction, and the quotation we make from the author's letter, we give to the public the "Rejected Manuscript" without further comment.

A REJECTED MANUSCRIPT.

Utah and Salt Lake City! How many are the tales which have been told us of this unique city and its queer inhabitants. They have been represented to us as a people, "deep, dark and mysterious;" a people to be avoided as one would the fallen angels. A people promulgating a religion aimed at the very foundation of civilization, and undermining its holiest and purest institutions. We have been solemnly informed that once within the clutches of its religious fanatics, escape would be well nigh impossible. Statements which might be applicable to a description of Thibet, are even now in print, {193} and quite recently, "horrible" stories of persecution in which the misguided and degraded "Mormons," having first torn down and trampled upon the American flag, resorted to the flinging of mud, as well as sticks and stones, at the devoted head of its sole defender. Until within a few years, Utah figured as the "Darkest Africa" of this our free and happy Union. But the tourist has at last, with admirable bravery, invaded its forbidden precincts, overrun its quiet villages, crowded the quaint streets of its cities, and laid bare the awful secret of its hidden mystery.

Alas, it is but as a "tale that is told," it is even as the "big dark" of our childish fears, which only needed investigation to prove its utter nothingness. We find after all, only a kindly people, busily engaged, for the most part, in overcoming an unproductive soil, and putting themselves in a way to use to advantage and profit, the splendid resources with which nature and their own thrift have bountifully provided them. Broad and fertile valleys now smile back at us, where unfruitful wastes once frowned, and prosperous cities and towns give evidence of true western enterprise; and the people--they are not so very much unlike other people. One might exclaim, with a fair tourist whose itinerary last summer, gave her a day or two in Salt Lake City--"Well, I don't see any one who looks like a Mormon!" What could she have been expecting? There is a tradition among the people in question, that horns have ceased to decorate their brows, and that even the rudest of them are quite harmless.

Apropos of Salt Lake City; as all roads once led to Rome, so also are there very few western-bound tourists, who do not find themselves, at some stage of their wanderings, guests within its gates. They come from everywhere, and their expectations are varied. They go in great crowds to the Tabernacle organ recitals, where a matchless instrument is touched by a master hand, while ten thousand can be comfortably seated beneath its pillarless dome, and lose not one vibration. Ah! How can one describe a scene so inspiring? The vast audience spell-bound, entranced, forgetful alike of time and place, deaf to all else save the voice of the wonderful organ, bearing to them great waves of melody, now glorious and triumphant in the Tannhauser and William Tell, now low and wailing in Il Trovatore. Now it is the Lost Chord and now the Angels' Chorus, lacking only articulation to make it human. And so we listen and marvel, and make good resolutions, and the music grows soft and faint, and far away, and ceases; and we find ourselves in a silence that is intense, vainly striving {194} to catch one more harmonious whisper. It is all over. We are glad, if we may, to take the hand of the organist, and then we go streaming out into the sunshine, and the great, bustling, workaday world claims us once more. We go our various ways feeling the better for this happy hour, snatched out of the glowing heart of the busy day, and resolve to go again if time permits. And all this is free. Free as the air we breathe, and the grass we tread upon, twice a week throughout the year, save only the winter months. Really, for semi-barbarians, this is doing very well. When we see this great Tabernacle filled on a Sabbath afternoon and hear the charm of five hundred voices added to that of the organ, and listen to the straightforward addresses of several unsalaried "Saints," our thoughts go back to the half empty churches of the East, and we feel that we have come upon at least one mystery. Whatever are the doctrines Mormonism teaches, its votaries seem to be earnest and do not look like a priest-ridden people. In their family life they are extremely hospitable, and he is fortunate indeed who is admitted as a guest within their homes. We are charmed by their hearty welcome, and the unostentatious kindness that is showered upon us.

Socially, nothing comes amiss with them that can be classed under the head of innocent amusements; and so the great dancing pavilion and the bathing beach at Saltair are thronged daily and nightly throughout the season. Saltair! There is nothing to equal it. One thousand couples can dance upon its polished floor, while the soft breezes from over the great Salt Lake cool the flushed cheek and stimulate the most lagging appetite; or, we join the bathers and go for a dip in its briny water. Refreshed and invigorated, we rest upon the broad balconies and watch the sun in a "sea of crimson and purple and gold" as it sinks behind the mountains, which are really islands, set like gems, in the bosom of the great lake. Later, we find ourselves-wondering if famed Italian and Venetian moons can give us any clearer light, and how their radiance can flood a night more delicious than this. The strains of "Home, Sweet Home," in the closing waltz, and the thinned-out ranks of the dancers, warn us that the last train for the city is due, and sixteen miles might prove wearisome, however bright the moonlight. Saltair is upon every one's lips. No visitor misses it, unless compelled by an adverse fate; and we find ourselves drawn back again and again, each time more charmed than the last. Like the mountains, it attracts and fascinates--the mountains, which rear their misty outlines in the blue distance, and beckon and mock us. Five miles away {195} they appear as tantalizingly close; indeed, we might run over to the base of one, by way of a constitutional before breakfast. We discover, alas! that "distance lends enchantment." We are left in no possible doubt that there is a distance. The main street of the city apparently runs directly into them, and City Creek Canon, from whose clear stream its thirsty thousands drink, is reached by only a short drive. Salt Lake is truly a mountain-girt city, and its founders must have resembled them in strength of purpose and steadfast effort. To have reclaimed the desert and, in part, peopled a state, is no small achievement.

The Mormons foster education and educational institutions. "The glory of God is intelligence," they tell us, and intelligence for women as well as for men. Women, in the Mormon estimate, occupies a very high position, both in Church and state. You are surprised? You thought her subjected to all sorts of humiliating treatment, and that polygamy held her hopelessly in subjection? Ah! why not let polygamy rest as the dead issue that it really is? Why be always dragging it out and dangling its supposed horrors in the face of every advancement! Its practice was limited to but three per cent of those who believed in it as a principle; but even though an "Angel in Heaven" should declare the truth in the matter prejudice would stop its ears and refuse to hear. Why fill our minds with the blood-curdling tales of yellow back literature, when all the riches of the master minds of bygone centuries are at our disposal? Why not show to those whom we considered deluded a manner of living that will win them to us? Let us hear no more of the divorce courts and the brothel, before we cast the first stone at our brothers. Divorce is practically unknown among the Mormons, and when we assail Salt Lake City for morals we must remember that half her population is "Gentile," and that for the last twelve years the head of her city government has been drawn from that source.

In forming an impartial estimate of a people, we choose for our consideration neither the class that is designated as the upper stratum, nor those whose worldly possessions place them it the bottom, but go rather to the great middle class, those who hold a position between the two extremes. The Mormons profess to have no upper and no lower classes. They aim to meet on common ground, whatever their worldly inheritance may be. Their young men are called upon to give two or three years, and oftentimes more, of their life to the spreading of the gospel as they believe and teach it; and rich {196} and poor, they go cheerfully, away from home and friends, amid unfriendly strangers, without other recompense than the consciousness of a duty performed. These are the much talked about and much dreaded missionaries, against whose "pernicious" influences we are warned. Considering the fact that these same Elders are in many cases beardless youths, is it not strange that contact with them is so feared, and discussions looked upon as so dangerous? Surely Christianity in all the nineteen hundred years that have elapsed since its establishment, has given us sufficient knowledge with which to defend ourselves. Why then all this flurry? Are we to be forced to believe ourselves on the weaker side? But, you say they are such "smooth fellows." True, but is the smoothness to be all on one side? Let us mass our forces and meet them on even ground, and who knows whose may be the victory?

We have all been told of the shield, over the appearance of which, in ancient times, two warriors quarreled, only to discover at the last that it presented an entirely different side to each. Is there not a possibility that, after all has been said and done, we may find there are also two sides to the Mormon question? History, we say, points with unerring finger to bloody deeds and insubordination. In one long procession they pass before us, "Mountain Meadow Massacre," "Danite Raids," "Bloody Atonement," political intrigues and gross depravity. They have been called a blot upon our Western civilization, and today the map of Utah is presented with a huge octopus disfiguring its fair proportions, and whose tentacles reach out into adjoining states. We have surely told you how unreliable are the stories told us of early pioneer days beyond the Mississippi, and how fabulous are legends which come to us of its early settlers. We have not considered how large a part the prejudice, which always follows a religious belief that deviates even in the least from what is known as orthodox, has played in the lurid tales with which our too eager ears have been regaled. We have fallen into the same error for which we censure the ancient knights; we have neglected to look upon the other side of the shield. What sad tales of persecution and long suffering we find here. Tragedies as sad as any in Reformation days. From Kirtland to Nauvoo, and across the trackless prairie they were driven, their weary way marked by the graves of those whose physical strength was not sufficient, until they reached at last what, to them, was a promised land, the valley of the great Salt Lake. Desolate and unpromising as it was, they have made it blossom {197} as the rose. To quote a recent descriptive work, "By industry as remarkable as it was well directed, the desert was converted into an oasis, and the bare earth, with its poverty of sands and sage brush, was made to cover its nakedness with the green vestures of an almost unexampled fecundity."

How much truth there is in all that is urged against them, and how mistaken we may be as to their motives and the underlying principles which dominate their rough and rugged exterior, those of us who are enough interested must determine for ourselves. Strange, is it not, that we hear so little mention of the horrors of Haun's Mill, and so few detailed accounts of the mid-winter expulsion from Nauvoo? General Thomas L. Kane, of Philadelphia, visited their deserted city soon after their enemies had driven them away, and in a lecture delivered on the subject before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, used these words:

"Dreadful, indeed, was the suffering of these forsaken beings; bowed and cramped by cold and sunburn, alternating as each weary day and night dragged on, they were almost all of them, the crippled victims of disease. They were there because they had no homes, nor hospitals, nor poorhouse, nor friends to offer them any. They could not satisfy the feeble cravings of their sick; they had not bread to quiet the fractious hunger-cries of their children. Mothers and babes, daughters and grandparents, all of them alike were bivouacked in tatters, wanting even covering to comfort those whom the sick shivers of fever were searching to the marrow. These were Mormons, famishing in Lee County, Iowa, in the fourth week of the month of September, in the year of our Lord, 1846. The city--it was Nauvoo, Illinois. The Mormons were the owners of that city and the smiling country around. And those who had stopped their plows, who had silenced their hammers, their axes, their shuttles, and their workshop wheels; those who had put out their fires and eaten their food, spoiled their orchards and trampled under foot their thousands of acres of unharvested bread--these were the keepers of their dwellings, the carousers in their Temples, whose drunken riot insulted the ears of their dying."

They had the added agony of camping on the snow covered ground without shelter, in plain sight of their confiscated possessions and desolated hearthstones. Another writer thus describes the awful scene:

"Out into the trackless American wilds, into an Indian country, the 'Mormons' wended their way, weary and destitute, for more than fifteen hundred miles, their pathway being marked by the graves of their dead. The history of their privations and suffering is harrowing in the extreme. The {198} lives of not less than a thousand of their number were sacrificed in the relentless persecutions connected with the exodus from Illinois."

Need we be surprised that a feeble protest was raised against the too zealous enforcement of laws framed to this very end, or that a sense of injustice should be the result of such vigorous treatment?

We hear nothing nowadays of the battalion furnished by the Mormon refugees, for the defense of the flag in California and Mexico, at a time, too, when every able-bodied man was needed for defense against hostile Indians, hunger and all the other dangers attendant upon pioneer travel. In answer to this demand, Brigham Young said:

"You shall have your battalion, Captain Allen; and if there are not young men enough, we will take the old men, and if they are not enough, we will take the women."

In three days the force was mustered and ready to march. And again to the assembled people:

"I say unto you, magnify the laws. There is no law in the United States, or in the Constitution, but I am ready to make honorable."

Here is the message which came over the wires when amid the turmoil of the first years of the Civil War, the Overland telegraph line was completed:

"Utah has not seceded, but is firm for the Constitution and laws of our once happy country, and is warmly interested in such useful enterprises as the one so far completed."

A similar demonstration of patriotism and love of progress took place when the first iron horse, over the Union Pacific, came puffing into the Territory:

"Utah bids you welcome. Hail to the great National highway."

And this from their Articles of Faith:

"We believe in being subjects to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates; in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law."

These do not sound like the utterances of a people, jealously guarding from the intrusion of civilization, a region in which they might entrench themselves, and defy the advancement of law, order and Christianity. As our luxurious Pullman bears us swiftly and comfortably over the rolling prairie, do we ever give a thought to the patient, downtrodden ones {199} who marked out the path for us? Those who, in the words of one of their own poets:

"As armed with mighty faith, no foe could vaunt, No powers appall, no pending danger daunt."

And what of the Mountain Meadow Massacre and the Danite band? The daring perpetrator of the former outrage was willingly given over to the just retribution which awaited him, arid the existence of the "Avenging Angels" as an organization under the direction and receiving the sanction of Mormon leaders, was long ago exploded as the fabrication of an over-excited and too active imagination. We can find no more substantial foundation remaining to it than that which underlies any other myth or tradition. "Let the dead past bury its dead." Let us take the Mormon people as we find them today and try to discover in them a little good rather than wholesale evil. Let us commend them for the benefit, however small, that they have bestowed upon their day and generation, and cover with the mantle of charity, if enough of that priceless commodity be left in the world, the unintentional evil they may have done, and the mistakes they may have made. The wrong doing of individuals should not be visited upon the heads of the entire community, and narrow, personal prejudices should not be allowed to warp our good judgment.

This is an age of wide research and broad acquirements, and we will not find our Mormon countrymen very far behind in the race for all that broadens and enlightens. They have their own poets, their own artists and their own musicians. You can find them represented in the universities and in the studios, and in the conservatories of music of more than one foreign city, as well as in those of our own fair land. Wherever education and culture congregate, you will find a colony of them; and they are not unknown in the scientific and the professional world; neither are they lacking in manufacturers and financiers. The great Tabernacle organ (second to none in the country) is presided over by one of their own young musicians, and the baton is wielded by one of their own faith, over the Tabernacle choir, which has more than once earned the wonder and applause of California audiences. It is a Mormon girl, granddaughter of one of Mormonism's great leaders, who has recently made her debut, and taken by storm one Eastern city after another, charming them alike by her personality and her ability; and whose marvelous voice a conservative Boston paper has likened to that of Patti. An exploring {200} party, sent out by a Mormon institution of learning, has only just returned after having penetrated with infinite hardship, privation and determination, deeply into the forbidden wilds of South Africa, endeavoring to give to the world of science and research information that is valuable and rare.

One of the remarkable things about the Mormons is, that they are a travelled people. As we meet them and converse with them, we wonder at the various phases of human life with which they seem to be familiar, and the ease with which many of them are able to settle, for themselves, many vexed social problems. But they are either extremely modest, or foreign sojourn has become so ordinary a thing with them, that they attach no unusual significance to it; for it is only upon questioning them, or after having known them some time, that the secret of it is made known.

Ah, yes, we say, travel is a good schoolmaster, and we broaden and deepen under its discipline. But there are many kinds of travelers; the mere globe trotter, hastening from one capital to another, seeing much, but perceiving little, and resembling the woman who was asked by a friend what most impressed her in one of Germany's tourist-infested cities. After due consideration she replied, "Well, I think of all the things I remember with most delight, the very best were the delicious Frankfort sausages." "Ye gods and little fishes!" Frankfort sausages, indeed! If she was an American we renounce all claim to her. He who would reap lasting benefit must be possessed of the "seeing eye," and know the meaning of insight as well as sight. But if travel alone can do so much for us, of how much greater value the sojourner under many skies, and amid various manners and customs, gleaning a little here and a little there, and adding daily to our lore of people and things. Not alone is this true of the Mormon man, but in a great measure true also of the woman. They have extended their itinerary to the islands of the sea, and countries oriental. They have practically belted the globe, and gathered from the rich treasures of its world-old storehouses, that which centuries have been amassing; and they bring it all and lay it at the feet of their well-beloved home land. For they are proud of their country, proud of the flag she flies and intensely proud of their lovely "Deseret." They are proud of their heroic men and women, brave daughters of the desert, tried and true, who laid the foundations upon which they are engaged in building a superstructure that will do lasting honor to those who suffered so much in establishing it.

{201} A great incentive for the acquisition of knowledge is given to the advocate of Mormonism by the belief that no advancement made in this life will go as naught when death overtakes him. He will go on progressing throughout the countless ages of eternity, without the power of sin to retard his efforts, and with all the vast recourses of celestial lore to accelerate his speed. He accounts for different degrees of intelligence observed in individuals in this life, by his theory of pre-existence, in which some had attained a greater advancement than had others. He does not deny salvation to any of the human race, and believes that no erring soul will be forever lost. He hopes for all his dead a chance for glorification equal to his own; and in the beautiful temples scattered over Utah, he unselfishly does for them, what is to him a work of redemption. The largest and most beautiful of them all is visible to the visitor to Salt Lake City, standing in the midst of the city. Its white and glistening towers, supporting the gilded statue of the Mormon angel "Moroni," come into sight long before the outlines of any other architecture. Built of native granite, at an outlay of nearly three million dollars, forty years were given to its construction and embellishment.

In all justice to these people, let us say, "We admire you for the progress you have made, the stern determination you have shown, and while we may not agree with you in your religious tenets, we recognize you as brother Americans and co-patriots, under a flag and constitution which is broad enough to shelter all creeds and all true men. We believe you when you say that plural marriage is a thing of the past, and we think the better of you for honoring ties already formed." So will we prove ourselves possessed of Christian toleration for those who dare dispute our pet theories, and place ourselves in a way to do a tardy justice. "We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things." (Articles of Faith.) Truly, if Utah and her people were one-half as bad as she has been painted, she would deserve a fate ten times more dreadful than any that her enemies have as yet devised for her. A just God could do no less than cause the thunderbolts of His wrath to fall upon her and consume her, that the earth might be purified of her polluting influence. But how different from the awful picture do we really find her!

{202}

RAYS OF LIVING LIGHT.

No. 1.

BY CHARLES W. PENROSE.

There are so many different religious systems in the world, each claiming not only to be right but to be divine, that a rational mind, unwarped by sect or creed, is likely to become bewildered and disgusted in efforts to reach and embrace religious truth. The claim frequently put forth that all the Christian sects are right is a palpable absurdity. Truth is always consistent with itself. It is error that causes confusion. Two opposing systems cannot both be correct. They may both be wrong, but it is impossible for both to be right. There may be some truth in every religion that has been foisted upon the world. Indeed, without that no system could have continued existence. It is that portion of each religion which is true that keeps it alive and makes its errors plausible.

To say that God is the author of the conflicting religions which distract mankind, is to charge him with inconsistency and folly. That which comes from God must of necessity be true. This needs no argument; it is so self-evident that many thinking people, beholding the contention and strife of ages over religious affairs, have formed the opinion that all religions are human, conceived in the minds of men and promulgated for selfish purposes. Yet, admitting that there is a Supreme Being, the Creator of all things, who is the embodiment of truth, justice, mercy, wisdom, and love, it seems unreasonable to think that He would leave His intelligent creatures without a guide on the road to the eternal future.

As there is but one Supreme God, there can be but one true religion. That religion must be of divine origin. It must come from God to man. Religions invented by men would necessarily vary. Man cannot by his Own searching find out God, or the ways of God, but Deity can enlighten man and reveal Himself and His will to mortals. The infinite can condescend to the finite, while the finite of itself cannot grasp or comprehend the infinite. It is of the utmost importance that mankind should learn what God requires, in order that {203} men and women may be fitted for His presence and be in harmony with Him in time and in eternity. The true religion, therefore, that which God reveals, that which he has revealed, and that which he may yet reveal, should be considered of greater value than anything else. Nothing that is perishable can be compared with it. That which endures forever is immeasurably above that which only lasts for time. He that gains this "pearl of great price" is rich above all computation.

One of the great errors into which people have fallen in reference to religion is that God must accept any mode of worship, any sort of ordinances, and any kind of church that men may establish, so long as they are sincere in their intentions and devout in their desires. God must be worshiped not only in spirit, but in truth. His word is truth. His spirit is the spirit of truth. God's religion, then, will be the truth, and nothing but the truth, and he will accept of nothing short of this. The inventions of men, whatever may be their motives, are not of God, and therefore, are vain. The precepts and opinions and vagaries of man-appointed preachers and teachers, not being authorized or inspired of God, cannot be relied upon and are not acknowledged in Heaven. Christendom as well as heathendom is in a ferment with human conceptions and conflicting theories in relation to God, His will, His purposes, and His requirements. The result is spiritual Babylon, which is confusion. God is not with it, for He is the author of peace, and order and harmony.

"Strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it;" so said the great Teacher whom professing Christians regard as the Savior of the world (Matthew VII, 14). He also declared: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." (John X; 1.) Also, "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." (Matt. 15; 9.) And further, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." (Matt. IV; 4.)

The nations that are called heathen are, no doubt, as sincere in their idolatrous worship as are the Christian nations in their opposing creeds and devotional exercises. If mere sincerity and devout motives are sufficient for God's acceptance, then heathendom is on a par with Christendom in the sight of Heaven. But the objector will no doubt reply, "Heathen religions lack the one essential feature of acceptance with God, faith in Jesus Christ. Having that, doctrinal differences do {204} not matter; faith alone is sufficient for salvation. Christ is the way, the truth, and the light, and whosoever believeth in him shall have eternal life." That is another of the astonishing errors of modern religious people and teachers. Seizing upon a few isolated texts from the New Testament, relying upon the letter of the word alone, regardless of the spirit and meaning thereof, they altogether ignore numerous other texts in the same volume, which make plain the intent and signification of those which they select. Their eyes are blinded to the pure truth, they stumble in the way, and the blind leading the blind, they are in danger of falling into the ditch together.

Jesus of Nazareth truly said, "For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John III, 16.) But he also said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." (John X; 27.) "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do because I go to my Father." (John XIV; 12.) "If a man love me, he will keep my word." (v; 23.) "He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me; and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself unto him," (v. 21.) "If ye keep my commandments ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love." (John XV; 10.) "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.) "And why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" (Luke VI; 46.) "Whosoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of Heaven; for I say unto you that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of Heaven." (Matt. V; 19-20.) "And every one that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sands, and the rain descended and the floods came, and the wind blew and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it." (Matt. VII; 26, 27.) "Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruits is hewn down and cast into the fire. Therefore by their fruits ye shall know them." (Matt. VII; 19.) When the rich young man asked the Savior what {205} he should do that he might have eternal life, he was not told there was nothing for him to do but believe in Christ, but the answer was, "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." (Matt. XIX; 17.) After Christ's resurrection when he sent his Apostles into all the world to preach the Gospel to every creature, he added, "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." (Matt. XXVIII: 20.)

The Apostles thus authorized obeyed these instructions, and not only proclaimed belief in Jesus Christ as necessary to salvation, but obedience to his teachings as equally essential. The history of their travels, as narrated in the book called the Acts of the Apostles, demonstrates this to be true. Such of their epistles as have been preserved and compiled in the New Testament, also bear this witness. These records show beyond reasonable dispute that the faith in Christ which is sufficient for salvation, comprehends faith in his teachings and obedience to his commands.

The belief in Christ which is taught by modern Christian sects is thus condemned by the Apostle James: "But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only." "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." (James II; 20, 24, 26.)

The Apostle Paul is generally cited as the great preacher of the doctrine of justification by faith alone. But that he is misunderstood on that subject is evident from his Epistle to the Romans, in which, while he proclaims the doctrine of justification by faith, he also affirms emphatically the necessity of good works as the fruits of faith; as for instance: "Who will render to every man according to his deeds; to those who by patient continuance in well doing, seek for glory, and honor and immortality, eternal life. But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness; indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first and also of the Gentile. But glory, honor and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile. For there is no respect of persons with God." (Romans II; 6-11.)

It is to this very epistle that the advocates of salvation by faith alone chiefly refer when seeking support for their irrational theory, and they quote: "Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans V; 1.) Also, "Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay, but by the law {206} of faith." (Chap. III; 27.) But they neglect to add what follows, "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law," (v. 28). The tenor of the whole epistle is to the effect that the law of Moses is insufficient; that "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall be no flesh justified in his sight." (v. 20). That justification and redemption come through the atonement made by Christ, and that faith in him, which includes belief in his teachings and obedience to his commands, is the one way of salvation.

Another quotation common with the disciples of the faith alone doctrine is this: "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." (Romans X; 9.) But here again they omit the following verse: "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (v. 10.)

This is the key to the whole matter. The faith that saves is the faith that leads to obedience, which is "better than sacrifice." That obedience must be given to "every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Belief, prayer, devotional exercises, of themselves will not prepare man for the presence and society of his Maker. To dwell with Him, man must be assimilated to His likeness. This can be effected only by compliance with His commands. Man's future will be determined by his present course. In the glorious vision given to John the Beloved, we find this: "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works." (Rev. XX; 12.)

This tract is but preliminary to others, in which the one everlasting way of life and plan of salvation will be plainly pointed out, for the benefit of mankind and the glory of the Supreme and Eternal God, to whom be honor and praise forever. Amen.

{207}

RAYS OF LIVING LIGHT.

No. 2.

BY CHARLES W. PENROSE.

The first principle of revealed religion is Faith in God. True religion must begin with faith in the true God. Faith in false Gods, leads to false religions. Without faith there can be no religion in the soul of man. "Without faith it is impossible to please God. 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.) In a general sense faith is the assurance in the soul of the existence of unseen things, that is, unseen by the natural eye. The principle of faith, that is, the power to believe, is planted in man by the gift of God. It is developed by evidence. Faith in God is brought into action by the word of God. Whether spoken by Deity Himself, by angels sent from His presence, or by men divinely authorized and appointed to speak in His name under the influence of His Holy Spirit, the word of God is the same. When that word is written it is scripture.

Evidences of the existence of a Supreme Being are seen in vast profusion. They appeal to every rational mind. The order, beauty, and sublimity of the heavenly bodies, moving through space in silent majesty, each in its own orbit, balancing and counter-balancing each other without an error in time or revolution, all preserving their own identity and performing their own mission, proceeding thus through everlasting ages, are perennial witnesses of the existence, power, and glory of God. The earth itself, with its relations to other planets, its products, its seasons, its adaptation to the needs of the creatures that inhabit its surface or its atmosphere, joins in the grand chorus of the music of the spheres, "forever singing as they shine, the Hand that made us is Divine." Nature, however, while proclaiming the existence of Deity, does not disclose His personality or reveal His will. A knowledge of God can only come from God. Faith leads to that knowledge.

The greatest religious teacher among men was Jesus, the Nazarene. In his personality God was manifest in the flesh. {208} He revealed Deity to humanity. He showed that God was in reality the Father of the spirits of men. He proclaimed that he was in the beginning with God; that he came forth from God, and would return to God, and that all mankind were his brethren, made in the image of God and part of his eternal family. This presents God as actually and literally "Our Father which art in heaven." It takes away the mystery with which false faiths have enveloped the Supreme Being, beclouding the minds of men, and making God utterly incomprehensible. Jesus taught that his Father and our Father is a personal being, man being in his likeness, Jesus himself being in his express image. He taught also that he was sent into the world to save mankind, and bring them back to the Father's presence; that no man could come unto God but by him. The true Christian religion, therefore, combines faith in Jesus Christ the Son, with faith in God the eternal Father. Christ further taught the existence of a divine spirit, proceeding from God, to enlighten the souls of men; that is, the Holy Ghost, by which the mind and will of God may be made known to man, and by which holy men chosen of God have been inspired in different ages to declare his word.

These three, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, form the eternal Godhead. They are not one person, as erroneously declared by modern Christian churches, but are separate and distinct substances, though one in mind and power and dominion. Jesus of Nazareth, as the Son of God, was a personality as distinct from the personality of the Eternal Father as is that of any earthly son from his father. The Holy Spirit, though proceeding from both the Father and the Son, is not either of them, but has an identity of its own. It is true that Jesus said, "I and my Father are one." (John X; 30), but he also said, "My Father is greater than I," (John XIV; 28).

That the unity of the Godhead is not oneness in person, is made very clear in the account of the baptism of Jesus Christ: The Son on that occasion coming up out of the waters of Jordan, the Holy Spirit descending upon him in the form of a dove, and the voice of the Father from heaven proclaiming, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Matt. III; 16-17.) Jesus said, "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.) He also prayed to the Father, and in the prayer recorded by John, explained in unmistakable language what he meant when he declared "I and my Father are one." After praying for his Apostles, he said: {209} "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their words, 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." (John XVII; 17-18). Concerning the Holy Spirit he said: "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." (Chap. XVI; 17.) Many more of the sayings of the Savior might be adduced, but these are sufficient to show the distinct personality of each of the three that form the Godhead, while they are in perfect unity of mind and purpose and action. If they are one substance, as taught in modern Christendom, then all who believe on them, in all ages, are to be made also one substance, thus losing their identity and becoming one vast, incomprehensible and inconceivable individuality.

The omnipresence of God has bewildered many minds which are unable, because of modern false teachings, to understand how God the Eternal Father can be a person after whose form and image man is created, and yet be present throughout his vast creations. But the explanation is simple in the light of truth. It is by his Holy Spirit, which permeates all things, and is the life and the light of all things, that Deity is everywhere present. Our Father has his dwelling place in the eternal heavens. Christ is at his right hand, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from them throughout the immensity of space. By that agency God sees and knows and governs all things. By it mankind may be brought into union and communion with God. It guides into all truth. It recalls the past, manifests the present, and reveals the future. It is the testimony of Jesus and the spirit of prophecy. It is the light of Christ, and "lighteth every man that cometh into the world." It is the "inspiration of God which giveth the spirit of man understanding." To that degree it shines on every soul, but as the gift of the Holy Ghost it is a far greater and higher light. Then it is the abiding witness that bears record of the Father and the Son; that "searcheth all things, yea the deep things of God."

Faith in God the Father and in Jesus Christ, the Son, and in the Holy Ghost is but the beginning of true religion. It is exhibited in works of obedience which will be explained in other tracts of this series. Faith is also a principle of power. All human exertion springs from its exercise. This is exemplified in all the acts of life. In a higher sense it is a spiritual force. It was by faith, in this degree, that the wonderful {210} works of the Prophets and Apostles and other holy men of old, were accomplished, as recorded in the Old and New Testaments, and in the sacred books of the Seers and Sages who were not of the Hebrew race. For, faith is the same principle in all ages and among all nations. It was by this faith that the sick were healed, the blind received their sight, the lame were made to walk, the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak, the sting of the serpent and the virulence of poison were made harmless, divine dreams and heavenly visions were beheld, and the glories of eternity were unfolded to the Saints and servants of God in the early Christian Church. It was by faith that lepers were cleansed, water was turned into wine, multitudes were fed with a few loaves and fishes, the winds and the waves were stilled, and the dead were raised to life, when the Divine Master walketh on earth in the flesh. These marvels are called "miracles." They are deemed supernatural, but they were the natural results of the exercise of the spiritual force called faith. It was by the same power that the heavens were closed that there was no rain for three years and six months; that the barrel of meal and the cruse of oil failed not, and that the ravens brought food in the days of Elijah the Prophet. By the same faith the children of Israel were led out of Egypt by Moses, the Red Sea was divided, manna was brought from heaven and water from the rock, and people bitten by serpents were healed in the wilderness. It was also by that faith that the early patriarchs prevailed, and some of them walked and talked with God. And indeed, it was by faith that the worlds were brought into material existence, order coming out of chaos, light springing forth from darkness, and life, in its various forms, being developed through the word of the Eternal God, in whom this principle of faith is manifest in its full and complete perfection.

This is the faith spoken of in the 11th chapter of Hebrews. Also in the Epistle of Jude, in which he urged upon the Church when writing upon the "common salvation," that they should "earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the Saints." In modern Christendom it is taught that this faith, with all the gifts, signs and glorious manifestations which it produces, are "done away and no longer needed." But this is another of the many grievous errors of spiritual Babylon. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. A principle of truth never changes. Cause and effect do not vary by the lapse of time. The faith exercised in the first century of the Christian era or of human existence on earth, must inevitably {211} bring forth similar results in the latter days. The absence of the effect proves the absence of the cause.

The true religion contains the true faith. It is the one thing needful. It is the one way of salvation. To know the only living and true God and Jesus Christ, whom He hath sent, is to gain eternal life, (John XVII: 3.) Living faith is the starting point in the path to that knowledge. While it has existed in a small degree, and has been exercised occasionally and in a limited manner during the centuries that have passed since the Apostolic age, the faith "once delivered to the Saints" has faded almost out of active life, even among professing Christians whose minds have been blinded by the traditions of men and the dogmas and theories of human invention. While good men and women have served God and sought after Him to the best of their ability, through the long night of darkness which has intervened from the days of divine revelation down to the present century, they have not been able to find that "closer walk with God" and exercise that mighty faith enjoyed in ancient times and which is essential to the true religion. Thank God! that faith has been restored to earth, and through it divine communication is once more opened up, man may commune again with his Maker, and all the blessings obtained at any time thereby may now be received by the obedient sons and daughters of God. Concerning this all-important matter other tracts of this series will be presented to the public, that truth may prevail and that Divine light may shine up on the world!

"The reason why the Lord will pour out his judgments upon the nations is because of the blasphemous spirit of wickedness and corruption that reigns among men."

--Wilford Woodruff.

{212}

RAYS OF LIVING LIGHT.

No. 3

BY CHARLES W. PENROSE.

In previous tracts of this series it has been shown that there can be but one true religion, because there is but one Supreme God, that it must be revealed from Him instead of being made by man, and that the first principle of that religion is faith, which can be made manifest only by works. Let us now see what those works are which are essential to salvation. The first fruit of faith in God and in Jesus Christ is repentance of sin. Sin against God is the transgression of his law. Conviction of sin comes through faith in God and his law. Conviction leads to humility and repentance and obedience. Sorrow for sin is not of itself true repentance, which comprehends not only regret for the past, but reformation for the future. It includes determination to forsake and refrain from sin. As the Apostle Paul expressed it, "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of." (2 Cor. VII; 10). When the sinner is sorry because he has been found out, that is not true repentance. Grief is an element of repentance because when a believer perceives that he has broken a law of God, he feels remorse. But unless he resolves to turn away from that transgression, and not repeat it, he does not reach full repentance.

"Cease to do evil, learn to do well," has been the word of God and his inspired servants through all the ages. It is a step forward in practical religion. It is absolutely necessary to salvation. Without it belief in Christ is vain. He said himself, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." (Luke XIII; 3). "God commandeth all men everywhere to repent." (Acts XVII; 30). Jesus instructed that, "repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations." (Luke XXIV; 47). The idea that people may sin against God and against humanity, and by mere belief in the merits of the Savior be absolved from all the consequences of their guilt, is one of the greatest of the many {213} absurdities which have been grafted by the hand of man upon the tree of religion.

Christ gave Himself a sacrifice to save mankind from their sins, not in their sins. His work is to redeem humanity by lifting it up to Deity. His Gospel teaches purification from sin and exultation into the righteousness of God. The atonement wrought out on Calvary is as much misunderstood by modern divines who preach it, as were the teachings of Moses and the Prophets by the sectaries who rejected the Nazarene. That atonement was for a dual purpose. First, to redeem mankind from the consequences of the original sin committed in the Garden of Eden, and second, to open the way of salvation from the actual sins committed by the posterity of Adam.

As to the first, redemption will come to all the race without effort on their part. Death came into the world in the beginning because the divine law was broken. It passed upon all the descendants of the transgressor. Christ gave himself a sacrifice for that sin. As by one came death, so by one will come life. "As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive." (I Cor. XV; 22). As the sons and daughters of Adam were not personally engaged in or responsible for the transgression which brought death, so they are not required to do anything in the work which shall restore them to life. The resurrection will be as broad as the death. The raising up will be co-extensive with the effects of the fall. But when through Christ the resurrection is accomplished, the dead, small and great, who are thus brought up and redeemed from the grave will be judged according to their works. (Rev. XX).

As to the second--the actual sins of each individual salvation will come through faith in Christ and obedience to his Gospel. Each intelligent person is accountable for his own acts. He must do what is required in order that he may be saved from his sins. The power is inherent in man to do right or to do wrong. In this he is a free agent. He can resist evil and do good, or resist good and do evil, as he elects. No matter how great may be the force of circumstances and environments, and the pressure of hereditary influences, the volition of the creature remains. The doctrine of rewards and punishments is predicated upon individual freedom of the will and personal responsibility for its exercise. Christ has done for mankind that and that alone which they were not able to do for themselves. That which they can perform is required of every one. They can believe, they can repent, and they can receive and obey the commandments of Christ given as conditions to salvation. Unless they do {214} this, although they will be raised from the dead and appear before the Eternal Judge, they cannot be exalted to dwell in His presence.

Thus it will be seen that while Christ died, unconditionally, for the original sin by which death came into the world, he died as a propitiation for the actual sins of the world conditionally. And it was to proclaim these conditions and offer them to every creature, that he sent his Apostles forth as ministers of salvation. There is no other way to eternal life. The plan of salvation is not changed to suit the notions and opinions of man. It does not vary in different ages, nor among different nations. It is the "everlasting Gospel." The law of Moses was a temporary and imperfect law of carnal commandments, given because the Gospel had been rejected by the Israelites. It answered its purpose and passed away when the one eternal Gospel plan was restored by Jesus Christ, through whom alone mankind can be saved, and that salvation cannot be obtained except by faith in him, which comprehends obedience to his requirements.

It has been shown that faith is the first principle of the Gospel, and repentance--the forsaking of sin, is the second, and it is now necessary to present the third principle, which is remission of sins. The popular idea in modern Christendom is that repentance of itself brings remission of sins. That is another serious mistake. Payment of debts is not brought about by simply ceasing to get credit; determination to sin no more does not wipe out sins already committed. God is a being of order and of law. He has instituted the means whereby each sinner may receive a cleansing from the past. His laws are as uniform in the spiritual world as in the natural world; obedience to those laws is as necessary in one sphere as in the other. Remission of sins comes to the repentant believer, through baptism, when it is performed by divine direction and under divine authority.

Baptism for the remission of sins was preached and practiced by John, the forerunner of Jesus. "John did baptize in the wilderness and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." (Mark I; 4). Jesus Christ honored that baptism in person and by his teachings. He also sent his Apostles to preach it to every creature. (Matt. XXVII; 19-20, also Mark XVI; 15-13). Previous to preaching that baptism, he instructed his Apostles to "tarry at Jerusalem until they were endowed with power from on high." (Luke XXIV; 47, 49). That power was bestowed upon them on the day of Pentecost, when they were assembled in one place with {215} one accord, and the Holy Ghost was manifested to them in visible form. To the people who gathered to hear the Apostles, forming a great multitude, Peter preached the first Gospel sermon after the resurrection of Christ, as is recorded in the 2nd chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. After testifying of the mission and resurrection of Jesus, the Christ, in response to their inquiry, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" "Then Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even to as many as the Lord our God shall call." (Acts II; 37, 38). Three thousand people on that day received the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and were baptized for the remission of their sins.

This great blessing is given in baptism to those who believe and repent, but comes through the atonement wrought out by Jesus Christ. "Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins." (Heb. IX; 22). The blood of Christ answers for the blood of the sinner who complies with the conditions required in Christ's Gospel. The benefits of that atonement are offered to all to whom the Gospel is preached, but are obtained only by those who render obedience to it. The scripture is often quoted which says, "The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin." But this is only part of the text, and is therefore misleading. Here is the scripture as it stands: "This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth; but if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John I; 5-7).

Baptism was instituted for the remission of sins by divine command. It is therefore essential. It is a sign of cleansing, purification, death to sin, burial from the world and resurrection to a new life in Christ Jesus. For, baptism means immersion. The sprinkling or pouring of water on the body is not baptism. The ordinance of baptism preached by John, the forerunner, by Christ himself, and by the Apostles whom he sent as his messengers, was both a burial and a birth. When Jesus was baptized by John it was in the river Jordan: "Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbade him, saying, I have need {216} 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. And Jesus when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water; and lo, 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; 13-17). Jesus said to Nicodemus, "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." (John III; 5). Jesus himself set the example, and was born of the water and of the spirit, and though he knew no sin, had to be baptized in order to "fulfill all righteousness." When Philip baptized the great man of Ethiopia, "they went down both into the water and he baptized him and when they were come up out of the water, the spirit of God caught away Philip." (Acts VIII; 35-39). John baptized in Enon, near to Salim, because there was much water there. (John III; 23). Paul likened baptism to a burial and a resurrection. (See Rom. VI; 4, 5; Col. II; 12). Peter cited the flood as a figure of baptism. (I Peter III; 21).

The order of the Gospel as taught by Christ and his Apostles was first faith, second repentance, third baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, with the promise of the Holy Ghost to all who complied therewith. Infant baptism is a palpable heresy. Sin is the transgression of the law. Infants cannot commit sin. Baptism must follow faith and repentance. Infants cannot exercise faith, and they have nothing to repent of even if they were capable of repentance. God never authorized any one to baptize an infant. Jesus blessed little children and said, "Of such is the Kingdom of heaven." Baptism to be acceptable to God must be performed by one having actual divine authority. It must be administered in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. No man has the right to assume that authority. It must come from God or the baptism will be void and of no effect. When properly administered it brings remission of sins, and the baptized believer becomes a new creature, stands clean before God, and is prepared to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Further explanations on this all-important subject will be given in succeeding tracts. Let the reader ponder, investigate, and enter upon the path of eternal life and salvation!

{217}

RAYS OF LIVING LIGHT.

No. 4

BY CHARLES W. PENROSE.

The gift of the Holy Ghost is the greatest boon conferred by God upon man in the flesh. It is "the anointing from above which teacheth all things." It is the "abiding witness" of the Father and son. It is the spirit of revelation. It guides into all truth, brings things past to remembrance, makes manifest present light, and shows things to come. Without it no man can know God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent, nor can he say truly and without doubt that Jesus is the Lord. Its reception is the fourth step or principle in the Gospel of Christ. The preceding principles, namely, faith, repentance, and baptism for the remission of sins, have been explained briefly in the foregoing tracts of this series. After the baptism or birth of water comes the baptism or birth of the spirit.

This gift from God is conferred by the laying on of the hands of men called of God and endowed with authority to perform this sacred ordinance. No man of himself in his own name, however learned, experienced, or wise, can bestow this great gift upon others. He might lay his hands upon them, but they would not receive that spirit. It proceeds from God alone. He will honor that which is performed according to His directions by His authorized servants. The reception of the Holy Ghost as an endowment or gift from God is essential to salvation. The natural light or inspiration given at birth to all humanity is not equal to it. That is the common heritage of humanity, but the gift of the Holy Ghost is a far higher and greater bequest from Deity, and is given only to those who obey the Gospel, and in the way that God Himself has appointed.

That the gift of the Holy Ghost is conferred by the laying on of hands, and that this is the Gospel method, is clearly established by the New Testament. In the 8th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles an account is given of the ministry of {218} Philip, in which the following occurs: "But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women." "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. And when Simon saw that through laying on of the Apostle's hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto him, thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money." (Verse 12-20). In the 19th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles it is related that Paul found some disciples in Ephesus who had not been properly baptized. He gave them necessary instructions, and we read: "When they heard this they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them the Holy Ghost came upon them, and they spake with tongues and prophesied. And all the men were about twelve." The ordinance of the laying on of hands is enumerated among the "first principles of the oracles of God," and one of the foundation "doctrines of Christ," in Hebrews V; 12, and VI; 2. Paul exhorted Timothy, "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." (2 Tim. I; 6).

These quotations are sufficient to show the order of the Gospel as taught by the Apostles of Jesus Christ, who received their instructions and authority from Him, and who all preached the same doctrines and administered the same ordinances wherever they went. The departures therefrom that are witnessed in modern times are the work of uninspired ministers, unauthorized of God, and should be rejected by the honest seeker after religious truth.

The Holy Ghost is the same in all ages and among all peoples. Its effects are also the same. In the days of the early Christian Church the fruits of that spirit were enjoyed by the members. They are thus described by the Apostle Paul: "But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; against such there is no law." (Gal. V; 22, 23). "But the manifestation of the spirit is given to every man to profit {219} withal. 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; to another the interpretation of tongues; But all these worketh that one and the selfsame spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will." (lst Cor. XII; 7-11). Paul exhorted the Saints to "Follow after charity and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy," and after explaining his reasons for this instruction he concluded, "Wherefore brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues." (lst Cor. XIV; 39).

The absence of these gifts and manifestations of the spirit in the various religious sects at the present day is attempted to be accounted for by the airy excuse: "They are all done away and are no longer needed." Yet they were part and parcel of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and incorporated in the Church--the body of Christ--as some of its members. "Every tree is known by its fruits." If the spirit that animated the Church of Christ in the Apostolic age inspired the churches of the 19th century, would not the same fruits be brought forth by it, and be enjoyed today? Has the spirit of God changed? Or have not men changed the ordinances and institutions of heaven, and built up churches and promulgated doctrines of their own? But the advocates and apologists of sectarian theology will quote: "Charity never faileth, but whether there be prophecies they shall fail; whether there be tongues they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away." (lst Cor. XIII; 8). Why do they not continue the quotation, and give the succeeding verses which form an integral part of the scriptural argument? Is it because that would sweep away the crutches of their lame and halting pretence and cast their false theory prone in the dust? This is what follows: "For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." Will it be claimed that this promised perfection has come? Do latter-day sectaries know more, understand better, and see clearer in divine things than did the Apostle Paul? Has anything "perfect" come upon modern Christendom except "perfect" confusion? That Paul had reference to a condition yet in the future in making his prediction is evident from his further remark: "For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face; now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known." (Verse 12).

{220} The gifts of the spirit enumerated above are the evidences of its possession by the disciples of Jesus Christ. They are the signs of true faith. They accompany the reception of the Gospel and obedience to its requirements. When the resurrected Christ gave the eleven Apostles their great commission, he said unto them: "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. And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 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." (Mark XVI; 15-18). These gifts were not merely for those Apostles, but were to "follow them that believe." Christ gave them as the sign of true belief in Him and in His sayings. They belong to his Church. They are to be done away until that which is perfect is come, and the sons and daughters of God behold their Redeemer face to face, and see as they are seen and know as they are known. Whatever necessity existed for their possession and exercise in the first century of the Christian era, exists in the 19th century, not only for the blessing and comfort of the disciples of the Savior, but for the promulgation of His Gospel among nations that yet sit in darkness and are numbered among heathens and idolaters.

One of the potent proofs of the possession of the Holy Ghost in the early Christian Church was the unity it established. No matter what were the conflicting faiths and opposing creeds entertained by the people of that day previous to receiving the spirit of the everlasting Gospel, after baptism and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, they all became one in Christ Jesus. As Paul wrote to the Ephesians: "There is one body and one spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all." (Eph. IV; 4-6). "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." (Gal. III; 27-28). "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body, and be ye thankful." (Col. III; 15). "For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body so also is Christ. For by one spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether we be {221} Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one spirit." (1 Cor. XII; 12, 13). In His prayer to the Father that all who believed in Him might be one, Jesus spoke of this unity as proof to the world that God had sent Him. (John XVII; 21). The great purpose of the gift of the Holy Ghost was to guide into all truth, and bring its possessors to "the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God." Strife, contention, division, are not the fruits of the Holy Spirit, but come from beneath. "For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work." (James III: 16).

The presence and inspiration of the Holy Ghost, with its gifts, manifestations and divine light are the signs of spiritual life and divine acceptance. Without the Holy Ghost there is no true, living Church of Christ on earth. It can be obtained in no other way than that which God has appointed. Following the birth of water, the birth of the Holy Spirit makes man a new creature, and initiates him into the Church or Kingdom of God. Its various gifts are within his reach according to his faith and diligence in seeking after them. They are as obtainable in this age as at any former period. By the Holy Ghost mankind may come to the knowledge of God. In its light the sayings and writings of inspired men may be clearly understood. The Bible is no longer a sealed book. The heavens are not closed against mortals. Darkness flees before it and mysteries vanish. It brings peace and comfort to the soul. It awakens and thrills the spiritual sense. It unfolds the things of eternity and the glories of immortality. It links earth and heaven. It fills the soul with joy unspeakable, and he who gains and keeps it has boundless wealth and everlasting life!

{222}

RAYS OF LIVING LIGHT.

No. 5.

BY CHARLES W. PENROSE.

The ordinances of the Gospel referred to in previous tracts of this series, cannot be effectually administered without divine authority. That authority does not and cannot originate in man. It may be assumed, it is true, and presumptuous men may claim to be called of God without communication from Him. But their performances will be without avail and will not be recognized in heaven, either in time or in eternity. When there is no revelation from God there can be no divine authority on earth. Baptism, even if solemnized according to the form and pattern followed by the Savior and his appointed servants, will be of no avail and will not bring remission of sins, unless the officiating minister has received authority from Deity to act in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Men may lay their hands on the baptized believer in the form of confirmation, but if they have not been divinely appointed to do so, the Holy Ghost will not flow to the convert, and the performance will be void in the sight of heaven. Those who have the temerity to act in that manner will be counted guilty of taking the name of the Lord in vain. No council, convocation, conference, synod, or presbytery, composed of any number of learned, devout, and venerable persons, without divine communication can confer the smallest amount of divine authority. Their power is only human, their decisions, their commissions and their creeds are equally valueless in the plan of salvation.

Whenever the Almighty desired to communicate with man on earth, he selected His own representatives and endowed them with authority to speak and act in His name. What they uttered by the power of the Holy Ghost, and what they administered as He directed, was recognized by Him as if performed and spoken by Deity in person. When He gave them authority to call and ordain others to the same duties, their administrations were also accepted by the Lord, and were fully efficacious. This divine authority was called the Holy {223} Priesthood. It was bestowed in the earliest ages. It existed among the Patriarchs, was exercised in the Mosaic dispensation, was held by many of the Prophets, and was established in the Christian Church by the Savior himself. There were two orders or branches, of that Priesthood.

The higher, which includes the lower, came to be known as the Melchisedek Priesthood. This was because Melchisedek, the King of Salem, who lived in the time of Abraham and from whom, "the father of the faithful" received his blessing, obtained a great power in that Priesthood. It is referred to in the Epistle to the Hebrews, 7th chapter. Much controversy has arisen over the meaning of the third verse, which says: "Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a Priest continually." The difficulty has arisen through the application of these remarks to the individual instead of to the Priesthood which he held. The higher, or Melchisedek Priesthood was not limited, as the Levitical Order subsequently was, to a special lineage. It did not depend upon parentage or descent, and it was an eternal Priesthood, those who possessed it worthily retaining it through life, and being Kings and priests unto God forever.

The Lesser Priesthood was held notably by Aaron and his sons, in the line of the first born, and has therefore been called by his name. It had authority to administer in the lesser ordinances and in temporal affairs, but not in the higher and more spiritual concerns of the Kingdom of God. But no man could take this honor unto himself. He must be called of God as Aaron was, or he could not hold that Priesthood. (Heb. V; 4.) Aaron was called by revelation through Moses the Prophet, and ordained under his hands.

This being so, as a matter of course, no man can take unto himself the higher, or Melchisedek Priesthood. Unless called of God by revelation and properly ordained, he could not obtain that authority. Even Jesus of Nazareth, though he was the Son of God, did not assume that Priesthood. He was "called of God, a High Priest after the order of Melchisedek." It is written further: "So also Christ glorified not himself to be made a High Priest but He that said unto him thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee." (Heb. V; 3, 10.)

It has been erroneously taught among the Christian sects of the present age that this Priesthood, in both of its branches or orders, was done away in Christ. That it has not been on earth for several centuries may be true, and therefore the {224} authority to administer in the name of the Lord has not been enjoyed among men. But the authority held by Jesus Christ as "a Priest forever after the order of Melchisedek" was conferred by him upon his Apostles, to whom he gave the keys of that power and authority, so that what they sealed on earth should be sealed in heaven, and what they loosed on earth should be loosed in heaven. (Matt. XVIII; 18.) He said to them: "As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you." (John XX; 21.) Again he said: "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you; that ye should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain." (John XV; 16.) The Apostles thus authorized had power to call others to this Priesthood and ministry, when directed by the Holy Ghost, as Moses called and ordained his brother Aaron.

The law of carnal commandments in which the lesser or Levitical Priesthood administered was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, but the Priesthood or authority to administer in the name of the Lord was not then abolished, the higher, or Melchisedek Priesthood was restored. That was the change in the Priesthood referred to in Heb. VII; 12: "For the Priesthood being changed there is made of necessity a change also of the law." From this it is evident that the Priesthood was not abolished, but the law of the Gospel being introduced by Christ in place of the Mosaic Code, the higher Priesthood was also introduced, for the Gospel is a higher law than that of Moses. The sacrifice of animals in which the lesser Priesthood administered was no longer required, after the great sacrifice of the Son of God of which they were typical, so that function of the lesser, or Aaronic Priesthood was discontinued. But the administration of the ordinances of the Gospel was necessary, and could not be rightfully performed without divine authority. Therefore, the Priesthood of God held by Jesus Christ, and by his Apostles and by others called of God through them, was a part of and essential to the Christian dispensation.

The term "called of God" appears to be as much misunderstood as is the subject of the Priesthood of God. Men assume to act in the name of Jesus Christ, either because they feel or imagine they have a call in their hearts to this ministry, or because they have been called by some person or conclave having no more divine communication and authority than they had themselves. In contrast to their assumption let us view the case of Saul of Tarsus, afterwards called Paul the Apostle. In the narration of his case as given in Acts XXII {225} he says that on his way to Damascus the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to him in glory, and he was stricken blind thereby. He received his sight by miracle and was informed: "The God of our Fathers hath chosen thee that thou shouldst know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldst hear the voice of His mouth. For thou shalt be His witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. And now why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." Paul subsequently received another divine communication, informing him that the Lord would send him unto the Gentiles. (Verses 12-21.) After all this he was not authorized to act as a minister of the Gospel, because he had not yet been properly called and ordained.

It was ten years after this, according to the chronology of the New Testament, that Paul was ordained to the Priesthood or authority to act in the name of the Lord. It is stated that certain Prophets and Teachers were in the Church at Antioch, and "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 upon them they sent them away." (Acts XIII; 2, 3; see also Acts IX; 15-18.) Paul in his epistles invariably declared that he was not called by the will of man; and he taught that no man of himself could rightfully assume the authority to administer in the name of the Lord. To the Galatians he wrote: "Paul an Apostle (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead)." (Gal. I; 1.) Writing to Titus, Paul said: "For this cause left I thee in Crete. That thou shouldst set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain Elders in every city as I had appointed thee." (Titus I; 5.) Writing to Timothy, Paul says: "Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery." (I Tim. IV; 14.) It was thus that the seven Deacons were ordained, as recorded in Acts VI; 6.

That there was a divinely appointed ministry in the Church established by our Savior, must be evident to every mind open to the truth, on reading the New Testament; also that these were essential to the Church, and that without them there can be no true Church of Christ on earth. Explaining this subject and stating the order of the Christian ministry given by Christ, Paul says: "And he gave some Apostles, and some Prophets, and some Evangelists, and some Pastors and Teachers." (Eph. IV; 11.) These inspired men were, {226} as we have seen, called of God, not of men, and were appointed and ordained to their respective callings by divine authority. It is claimed that these were necessary only in the first days of the Church of Christ on earth, and that they are no longer needed. But the succeeding verses of the scripture we have quoted show most positively to the contrary. They were given Paul says, "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 fulness 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." (Verses 12-14.) Without these divinely ordained and inspired men, holding this Holy Priesthood, the work of the ministry cannot be performed acceptable to God, neither can the Church be perfected. They are absolutely necessary until all shall come to the unity of the faith and a knowledge of the Son of God. The absence of that divine authority, and of the gift of the Holy Ghost, has caused the division and dissension that now exist among professing Christians, who are, "tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine," led hither and thither by unauthorized and uninspired men, and by the "cunning craftiness" whereby hirelings who preach for money, "lie in wait to deceive" and "make merchandise of the souls of men."

All the ministrations, ordinances, baptisms, confirmations, performances and ceremonies that have been instituted by men and conducted under merely human authority, whether devoutly, sincerely, and piously, or with wilful intent to impose upon the ignorance and credulity of mankind, are void in the sight of heaven, are not recognized of God, and have no virtue or effect as aids to salvation. God's house is a house of order, and He will accept only that which He has authorized and ordained. However startling this may appear, it is the eternal truth, which will stand the test of both reason and revelation. Truth is mighty and will prevail. The remedy for these tremendous evils will be pointed out in succeeding pamphlets.

{227}

RAYS OF LIVING LIGHT.

No. 6.

BY CHARLES W. PENROSE.

That there has been a great departure from the doctrines, ordinances and discipline of the Church as it existed in the days of Christ and His Apostles, must be evident to every unbiased enquirer into religious truth. This has been demonstrated to some extent in tracts already presented to the reader. But the full measure of the apostasy that has taken place would take volumes to represent in detail. The proofs are ample that it has been universal

When Jesus Christ commenced His ministry on earth He found the people who claimed to be the special subjects of divine blessing and approbation, with all their Priests and ministers and learned divines, entirely out of the way of life and salvation. None were acceptable unto God. He denounced the most pious, respectable, devout and educated among them as hypocrites and "whited sepulchres." Their foreign missionary enterprises he declared obnoxious to the Almighty, and informed them that when they compassed sea and land to make one proselyte they made him "two fold more the child of hell." (Matt. XXIII; 15). He pronounced them blind guides who made clean the outside, but within were full of extortion and excess. The spirit of the Lord had departed from those who honored His name with their lips, but who had departed from His ways, and who, in place of the word of God, "taught for doctrine the commandments of men." They were without authority from God, although they claimed to have it by descent and ordination through a long line of predecessors and prophets. It should not be deemed impossible that a similar universal apostasy could take place after the establishment of the Church of Christ by Him and His Apostles. But whether so considered or not, the facts are too patent to be denied when they confront the honest and enlightened mind.

It has been shown that the Gospel as taught and administered by Christ and His Apostles required first, faith in {228} God and Jesus Christ; second, repentance, which included reform of conduct; third, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, the reception of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands of divinely authorized men; and that obedience to these brought the gifts of the spirit, including love, joy, peace, patience, brotherly kindness, charity, healings, tongues, interpretations, discerning of spirits, miracles, prophecy, revelation, and the unity in one body of all who were baptized into the Church, no matter what had been their previous beliefs. Also that the ordinances of the Gospel were administered by men inspired of God, who were in communion with Him, and who were ordained to act for and in behalf of Deity, so that what they performed by that authority on earth was acknowledged and sealed in heaven. And that in the Church of Christ there were Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, Teachers, Elders, and other officers, who were constituent parts of the body of Christ. This may be further seen by a careful reading of 1st Cor. XII, from which it clearly appears that God placed these in the Church, that they were all essential to its existence, and that one of them could not say to any of the others, "I have no need of thee."

Look at the condition of so-called Christendom today! There are no inspired Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers, administering by divine authority and in the power and demonstration of the Holy Ghost. In their place there are contending Priests and Teachers guided by the wisdom of men, the learning of the schools and the traditions of the Fathers, not even claiming that there is any direct communication between them and God, but persuading mankind that revelation has ceased, and the voice of prophecy is hushed forever. Not one of the clashing, jarring and discordant sects of the day proclaim the Gospel as it was preached by Peter on the day of Pentecost, and as taught by all the duly authorized servants of God in the primitive Christian Church. The gifts and signs which Christ promised to true believers, and which were enjoyed by the members of His Church according to their needs and their faith, are not only absent from the churches of these degenerate times, but are pronounced needless and "done away." There is no "unity of the faith," no actual "knowledge of the Son of God," no manifestations of His divine acceptance nor of the power and glory of the Holy Ghost.

What is the reason of this transformation? Has God changed? Is Christ divided? Is the Holy Spirit dead? Or, have not men changed the order, ordinances, discipline, doctrines, {229} and spirit of the Church of Christ? Is not the prediction of Isaiah the Prophet concerning these times literally fulfilled? "The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant." He said it should 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." (Isaiah XXIV; 2-5).

The deplorable condition of affairs in modern Christendom was foreseen and predicted by the Apostles of Jesus Christ, whose forebodings have come down to us in the New Testament. Paul, writing to Timothy, spoke in this wise: "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, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away." (2nd Tim. III; 1-5). Also: "Now the spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot rod." (lst Tim. IV; 1, 2). Paul further said: "I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom; preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. 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." (lst Tim. IV; 1-4). Paul also said they should be "ever learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth." Writing to the Thessalonians he said: "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 shall not come except there come a falling away first." (2nd Thess. II; 1-3).

The Apostle Peter also foresaw this great apostasy, and {230} spoke of it in this wise: "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 brought 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 they shall with feigned words make merchandise of you, whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not and their damnation slumbereth not." (II Peter; 1-3.)

The "falling away" commenced in the time of the Apostles, and hence their numerous warnings and exhortations to the Saints, rebuking schisms and divisions, and counseling unity, showing that the Spirit of the Lord promoted union and led people to the knowledge of the truth, while dissension and strife came from that Evil One, and led to darkness and death. That the great apostasy commenced at a very early period is shown by the words of Paul, "for the mystery of iniquity doth already work. Only He that now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way." (II Thess. II; 7.) By the time the Apostles were taken out of the way, most of them slain by the hands of wicked men, the apostacy had assumed such proportions that only seven of the Churches were deemed worthy of a divine communication through the Apostle John, who had been banished to the island of Patmos. And in that revelation most of them were denounced by the Lord because they had "left their first love," and were commanded to repent or he would remove them out of their place. Some of them were "neither cold or hot," others had given away to seducing spirits, and had committed abominations and imbibed false doctrines. (See Rev., chapters I, II, and III.) In that same vision John the beloved saw the Church in the form of a woman, clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head taken away into the wilderness, to remain for a lengthened period, and in her place he saw "a woman sitting upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy," and though decked with gold and precious stones, she held in her hand a golden cup full of abominations, and the name upon her head was Mystery. He saw further that all nations were made to drink out of that golden cup, by which they were made drunken. (See Rev. XII; 1-6; XVII; 1-5; XVIII; 2, 3.)

It is clear from these predictions in the New Testament, and others that might be cited, that the departure from the purity, simplicity and unity of the Gospel of Christ was to be {231} universal; and that these prophecies were fulfilled we have the testimony of the Church of England. In her Homily on the Perils of Idolatry she declares: "Clergy and laity, learned and unlearned, men, women and children, of all ages, sects and degrees, of whole Christendom, a most horrible and dreadful thing to think, have been at once buried in the most abominable idolatry, and that for eight hundred years or more." That being true, how is it possible to believe that the Church of Christ had any existence on earth after that long continued darkness and apostacy? How could there be any remnant left of the divine authority held by the Apostles and Priesthood of the original Christian Church? If the Romish Church, from which the Church of England seceded, had no divine authority, then the Church of England could have none, for all she had she obtained from that Church. If the Romish Church possessed that authority, still the Church of England could have none, for Rome excommunicated her with all her priests and ministers. The Church of England being without divine authority, all the various contending sects that have sprung from her are of necessity in a similar condition, for none of them even claim to have received any revelation from God restoring that authority and re-establishing the Church of Christ.

From the Pope of Rome down to the latest minister presuming to act in the name of the Lord, there is not and cannot be one who holds the Holy Apostleship or any portion of that sacred Priesthood which God placed in the Church, and which Paul declared essential to its existence. Good men, learned men, devout men, there have been by millions; noble, pious, and blessed women also, with them, have done the best they could according to their light and opportunities; but darkness "has covered the earth and gross darkness the people," and the apostacy from primitive Christianity, as foretold by its founders, has been awful and universal!

But thank God, the restoration was also predicted, and it will be a pleasing task in further tracts to set this forth, as revealed and brought about by revelation from God the Eternal Father, through Jesus Christ His Son and the Holy Angels sent from their presence, to usher in the last and greatest of all dispensations.

{232}

RAYS OF LIVING LIGHT.

No 7.

BY CHARLES W. PENROSE.

"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. And there followed another angel, saying Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." (Rev. XVI; 6-8.) In these inspired words John the beloved Apostle predicted the restoration of the Gospel to the earth, and the subsequent destruction of that power which had filled the earth with the darkness of spiritual inebriety and wickedness. That these events were not revelations of the past, but prophecies of the future manifested to the Apostle John, is made certain by what he says in Chapter IV, verse 1: "After this I looked and behold, a door was opened in heaven; and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me, which said, come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter." The angels spoken of in the XIV chapter, quoted above, were among the things which John was told "must be hereafter." It should be observed that when the angel should fly to the earth bearing the everlasting Gospel, it was to be at a time when every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people would be without that Gospel in its fullness. That this has been the condition of the world for a long time has already been demonstrated to the reader.

In predicting events that would occur previous to his coming and "the end of the world," Christ declared, "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.) From this we learn that the Gospel as preached by Christ and delivered by Him to the Apostles, is {233} to be preached in all the world as a witness of His second advent and a sign of the approaching end. (See verse 3.)

The foregoing predictions correspond with the prophecy of Isaiah: "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 precepts of men; Therefore 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." (Isaiah XXIX; 13, 14.) All the Prophets whose writings have been collected in the sacred volume called the Bible, have proclaimed the glory of the latter days and the final triumph of truth over error, and of the power of God over the deceptions of that Evil One.

Thus not only the restoration of the Gospel was foretold by holy men of God, after the great apostacy that was to take place, but the manner of its revelation was also explained. It was to be by the coming of an angel from heaven. To whom might it be expected that this angel should appear? To the learned divines and contending sectaries of modern Christendom? Do they not all declare that revelation ceased when John received his vision, recorded in the Book of Revelation? Do they not teach that though angels once ministered to men, the day of their coming has long since passed? Have they any faith to call on God for a divine communication? And will the Almighty reveal anything except to those who call upon Him in faith? God's ways are not as man's ways. Therefore, as Paul expressed it, "Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. And God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, that no flesh should glory in His presence." (I Cor. I; 26-29.) And as quoted above, the Lord determined that in bringing forth His latter-day work, "a marvelous work and a wonder," "the wisdom of the wise should perish and the understanding of the prudent should be hid."

It was in the year 1823 that the angel spoken of by John the Revelator came with the everlasting Gospel to a young man scarcely eighteen years of age, of obscure, though respectable parentage, and without the learning of the schools. His name, too, was common, and his occupation that of a farmer's boy. Joseph Smith, whom the Lord raised up to receive His word, establish His Church, and prepare the way {234} for the Redeemer's second coming, was led to enquire of the Lord through reading the scriptures for the purpose of finding out which of all the disputing religions was right. Coming to the Epistle of James, 1st chapter and 5th verse, he read: "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." Relying on this word, he went into the woods to pray, and in the simplicity of his heart called on God for the wisdom which he felt he greatly needed. He was then but fourteen years of age, but his faith was strong and wavered not. His prayers were heard, and in a heavenly vision in open daylight, the Father and the Son revealed themselves to his astonished gaze. The Father, pointing to the Son, proclaimed, "This is my beloved Son, hear Him." Our Savior spoke to the boy, and in answer to His question as to which of all the religious sects was right, he was told that they had all gone out of the way, and was commanded to go after none of them, but was promised that in due time the true Gospel of Christ should be revealed to him.

When the Angel appeared to him, three years later, it was in his chamber, just as he had retired for the night. Coming in glory, the Angel showed to Joseph the place where an ancient record was hidden in the side of a hill, containing the history of the former inhabitants of the American continent, including an account of a visit made to them by Jesus Christ after His resurrection from the dead, when He declared to them the same Gospel that he had preached in Palestine, and also established His Church among them after the same pattern as that organized on the eastern hemisphere. He was informed that this record should be subsequently placed in his hands to translate by the gift and power of God to be given to him through means which the Lord had prepared for that purpose. This manifestation was thrice repeated, that Joseph might be fully assured of its reality. Under the inspiration of Almighty God, the young man was able to obtain possession of this precious record, inscribed in small and curious characters upon metallic plates. The Gospel is there set forth in plain and simple language, and no one who reads the book, which is called the Book of Mormon, with a prayerful and unprejudiced heart, will fail to be impressed with its divine origin.

After being thus favored of the Lord, Joseph Smith received a visitation from John the Baptist, who held authority in ancient times to preach and administer baptism by immersion {235} for the remission of sins. He came as a ministering angel, and ordained Joseph Smith and his companion Oliver Cowdery, to that Priesthood and authority. Thus endowed, these young men baptized each other, and at a later date were ministered to by the Apostles Peter, James and John, who ordained them to the Apostleship, with authority to lay hands on baptized believers and confer the gift of the Holy Ghost, also to build up and organize the Church of Christ according to the original pattern.

On the sixth day of April, 1830, the Church of Jesus Christ was organized in the state of New York, with six members, Latter-day Saints who had been baptized for the remission of sins and had been confirmed by the laying on of hands. The Holy Ghost was manifested unto them, and as the Church grew in numbers the gifts of the spirit were imparted, and the organization was eventually made complete with Apostles, Prophets, Seventies, Elders, Priests, Teachers and Deacons, also Bishops and other officers that were in the primitive Christian Church; indeed all the grades of the Melchisedek and Aaronic Priesthood, with their keys, powers and endowments, and all the ordinances, ministrations and divine manifestations necessary to the true Church of Christ. Men thus divinely authorized, were sent out into the world to preach the Gospel like the Apostles of old, without purse or scrip, without salary and without pay of any kind, depending upon the Lord and friends whom He might rise up to minister to their temporal wants. Wherever they went and people received their testimony and were baptized for the remission of sins, the Holy Ghost was poured out upon them through the laying on of hands, and they invariably obtained a testimony from God that they were accepted of Him, and that He had in very deed reestablished His Church on earth. There are now many thousands of living witnesses to the truth of these things. They are natives of various countries, speaking different languages, reared in divers religions; they are now brought to the unity of the faith; they have come to a knowledge of the truth. Doubt has fled and darkness has been dispersed; the light of heaven shines in their souls. They are in the strait and narrow way. They are members of the body of Christ, and His spirit, which searcheth all things, yea the deep things of God, is the abiding witness from on high and shows them things past, present, and to come.

This is the latter-day work spoken of by the Holy Prophets. It is the dispensation of the fulness of times, in the which "God will gather together in one all things in Christ, both {236} which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in Him." (Eph. I; 9, 10.) It is the last and greatest of dispensations. In it will be accomplished the "restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His Holy Prophets since the world began." (Acts III; 21.) It is to prepare the way for the second advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will come "in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory," and "in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, when He shall come to be glorified in his Saints." (II Thess. I; 7-10.) In this dispensation, after all people have been warned and the Gospel has been preached for a witness to all nations, and the elect are gathered together from the four winds, namely East, West, North and South, the great tribulations and judgments will be poured out, the end of the world, that is, the end of the rule of Satan and of the wicked will come, the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our God and His Christ, and He will reign over them forever.

"The times of ignorance God hath winked at, but He now commands all men everywhere to repent." Therefore, oh! ye inhabitants of the earth, hearken to the voice of the Lord, which is unto all people, Christian and Pagan, preachers and hearers, Papists, Protestants, infidels, secularists and agnostics, rich and poor, kings, presidents, rulers, peasants and men and women of all race, religions and degrees, saying, repent of your sins, of your false creeds, of your dead forms, and of all your unbelief and iniquities, and come unto me, and be baptized by my servants, on whom I have placed my authority, and receive the laying on of their hands, and you shall have the remission of your sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost, and shall know that I am God, and that I have set my hand to accomplish my great work in the earth, and if you abide in me you shall inherit the earth when it is cleansed and glorified, and shall be crowned with eternal life!

{237}

RAYS OF LIVING LIGHT.

No. 8.

BY CHARLES W. PENROSE.

"Truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven." So prophesied the Psalmist, (Ps. LXXXV; 11). This may be viewed as a figurative expression, but it has been literally fulfilled in the 19th century. In the midst of the disputations over the meaning of many parts of the Bible, which have caused so many heart-burnings and bitter feelings among preachers and professors of religion, out of the earth has come forth a sacred record containing divine truth in such plainness and simplicity as to settle in the minds of believers those controversies which have agitated the world of theology. When the American continent was discovered by Columbus and others, who were led to cross the great waters in search of unknown lands, a dark-skinned race, composed of many different tribes but evidently of a common origin, were found in possession of the Western Continent. Varying in their characteristics from the white, the black, the yellow, and all the European, Asiatic and Ethiopian branches of the human family, their origin became a cause of wonder and scientific investigation. The general conclusion arrived at was, that at some remote period their ancestors had migrated from some portion of the Eastern Hemisphere, but when, or how, or why this emigration had taken place was a profound mystery.

But in the year 1829 a book was published in the state of New York, claiming to have been translated from metallic plates found in a hill-side in that State, by a young man who was directed to their place of deposit by an Angel of God, and who was inspired in the work of translation to decipher the hieroglyphics inscribed on those plates, being aided in the work by an instrument, discovered with them, called the Urim and Thummin. The plates had the appearance of gold, were not quite so thick as common tin, were about six inches by seven in size, were engraved on both sides, and were fastened together in the shape of a book by three rings at the back. Acting under instructions of the heavenly messenger the {238} young man, Joseph Smith, proceeded as quietly as possible to perform the arduous task required of him. As he was but a poor scholar, he obtained the assistance of a scribe to write, as he dictated word by word. The news of the discovery, however, became noised around, and ridicule from both preachers and people was followed by attempts at violence, so that the plates had to be concealed, and, with their translator, removed from place to place.

A farmer, named Martin Harris, who had become interested in the work, received from Joseph Smith a copy of some of the hieroglyphics with their translation. These he carried to New York and submitted them to some learned linguists, among them Prof. Anthon, who after examining them, pronounced them true characters and the translation, so far as he could determine, to be correct. He wrote a certificate to this effect, and gave it to Martin Harris. But questioning him as to how the young man had obtained the record containing these characters, he was informed that it was revealed to him by an Angel of God. He then requested Mr. Harris to let him look at the certificate he had given him. On receiving it he tore it up, declaring that there was no such thing as angels from heaven now-a-days, but said if the book was brought to him he would endeavor to translate it. A portion of the record being sealed, Martin Harris informed him of that fact, when he exclaimed, "I cannot read a sealed book." As will be seen subsequently, he was, though unwittingly, fulfilling a scriptural prophecy.

That portion of the record which was not sealed was finally translated into the English language by Joseph Smith, and formed a volume of about 600 pages, which was published as the Book of Mormon. This title was given to it because a Prophet named Mormon, by command of God, about four hundred years after Christ, compiled and abridged the records of Prophets who ministered on the American continent, back to about 600 years before Christ, when a colony of Israelites was led from Palestine across the waters and became a numerous people, the ancestors of the present race of American Indians. The account of their travels, their establishment on the Western Hemisphere, the revelations of God to them, their division through wickedness into separate tribes, the manner in which the hue of their complexion was changed, their wars, their works, their buildings, their customs, their language, the words of their prophets, are all given in great plainness in the Book of Mormon. An account is also given of the visit of our Lord Jesus Christ to this people {239} after His resurrection, fulfilling His own prediction recorded in John X; 16: "And other sheep I have which are not of this fold. Them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd." That these "other sheep" were not the Gentiles, as popularly supposed, is clear from Christ's statement, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the House of Israel." (Matt. XV; 24.) He established His Church among them, ordaining Twelve Apostles, and giving them the same Gospel, authority, gifts, powers, ordinances and blessings as He gave to His "sheep" on the Eastern Hemisphere. Thus the fulness of the Gospel is contained in the Book of Mormon, which stands as a witness of the truth of the Bible. The two records supporting each other, and both united bearing testimony to an unbelieving world that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Son of the Eternal God and the Savior of the world.

This record also contains an account of a colony directed of the Lord to the Western Continent at the time of the scattering of the people from the land of Shinar and the confusion of tongues, at the stoppage of the building of the Tower of Babel. The ruins of their cities and temples and fortifications, discovered by travelers and archaeologists since the publication of the Book of Mormon, are silent but potent witnesses of the truth of the record. Each succeeding year brings forth further evidences of this character, that form a cloud of witnesses to the divine mission of the Prophet, Seer, and Translator, Joseph Smith. The Book of Mormon has since been published in many languages and submitted to the scrutiny of the religious and scientific world, and no one as yet has been able to point out wherein it disagrees with the Jewish Scriptures or with the facts developed by antiquarian research and scientific investigation. Yet it was brought forth in this age by an unlearned youth, not acquainted with the world, reared in rural simplicity without access to the literature of the time, and without even the ordinary acquirements of the schoolboy of the present.

According to the Book of Mormon, the people who journeyed from Jerusalem to the American Continent, taking with them the genealogy of their fathers and writings of the Law and the Prophets, were of the tribe of Joseph through Ephraim and Manasseh, and were led out of Palestine when Zedekiah was King of Judah. In keeping the record which was subsequently abridged by the Prophet Mormon, they used the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians. Their hieroglyphs and symbols, however, were changed and modified, {240} so that the characters upon the plates revealed to Joseph Smith, where they had lain hidden for about 1,400 years, was a reformed Egyptian. How this uneducated youth was able to bring forth a work of such magnitude and importance, unless by inspiration of Almighty God, and by the means explained, remains a mystery to unbelievers. For a long time it was pretended by enemies of the work that one Solomon Spaulding wrote a Manuscript story, which in some unexplained manner fell into the hands of Joseph Smith, who worked it over into the Book of Mormon. But that foolish tale has signally failed of its purpose, for in recent years the Spaulding manuscript has come to light, and is now deposited in the Library of Oberlin College, Ohio, and proves to be as unlike the Book of Mormon as Jack the Giant Killer is dissimilar to the Bible.

The colonization of America by the seed of Joseph, who was sold into Egypt, fulfills the blessing pronounced on the head of Joseph and his sons by the Patriarch Jacob. (See Gen. XLVII; also XLIX; 22-26;) also the blessing pronounced by the Prophet Moses, (Deut. XXXIII; 13-17). The historical portion of the Book of Mormon shows that the American Continent, possessed by a "multitude of nations," the seed of Ephraim and Manasseh, is the "blessed land" bestowed on Joseph in addition to his portion in Canaan. There are to be found the "everlasting hills" and the "ancient mountains," "the precious things of heaven, and the precious things of the earth," and all of the characteristics of the country unto which the branches of the "fruitful bough," were to "run over the wall," as Jacob predicted. That the word of the Lord was to be given to the seed of Ephraim may be seen from Hosea VIII; 11, 12: "Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be made unto him to sin. I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing." The coming forth of the Book of Mormon is foreshadowed by Isaiah the Prophet, Chapter XXIX; 4-9. It is the voice of a fallen people whispering "out of the dust." It has come at a time when the world is "drunken, but not with wine," staggering under the influence of false doctrine, and without Prophets and Seers. It is the "marvelous work and the wonder," which the Lord was to bring to pass for the confounding of those who had turned things upside down, and who worshipped Him with their mouths while their hearts were far from Him.

The words of the book, Isaiah said, were to be presented to the learned, saying, "Read this I pray thee," and he was to {241} say, "I cannot for it is sealed." The book itself was to be "delivered to him that is not learned;" and that it was to be read is clear from verse 18: "And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness, the meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel." The coming forth of the Book of Mormon as the "stick of Joseph," is also predicted in Ezekial XXXVII; 15-22. The interview of Martin Harris with Prof. Anthon, related above, fulfilled one portion of Isaiah's prophecy, the other portions have come to pass in the translation of the book by the unlearned youth and its reception by the meek and poor among men, and by the restoration of sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf, who have seen and heard the words of the book and bear testimony to its divine origin. The "Stick of Judah"--the Bible, is now joined with the "Stick of Joseph"--the Book of Mormon--and, as Ezekial foretold, they have become one in the hand of the Lord, as a witness for Him and His Son Jesus Christ in the latter days.

As a preface to the Book of Mormon the testimony of three witnesses, namely, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris, is published, declaring "with words of soberness" that an angel of God came down from heaven and brought and laid before their eyes the plates from which the book was translated; that the voice of God from heaven declared that it had been translated by the gift and power of God, and commanded them to bear record of it. Also the testimony of eight witnesses is given, who saw the plates naturally, handled them, inspected the engraving thereon, and turned over the leaves that had been translated. In addition to these witnesses, chosen of the Lord to bear record of these facts, thousands of people, of various nationalities, have received divine testimony that the book is true, and that Joseph Smith, who translated it by the gift of God, was a true Prophet, called of God to usher in the dispensation of the fulness of times proclaim anew the everlasting Gospel, the one plan of salvation, re-establish the Church of Christ on earth, and prepare the way for the coming of Him whose right it is to reign, and for the final redemption of the earth from sin and satan, from darkness and death. And every person who will read the Book of Mormon with an unprejudiced mind and will ask God in faith, in the name of Jesus Christ, concerning it, shall surely receive a witness of its truth, and be guided in the way of eternal salvation.

{242}

RAYS OF LIVING LIGHT.

No. 9.

BY CHARLES W. PENROSE.

In proclaiming the great truths that the silence of centuries has been broken; that the voice of God has again been heard from heaven; that Jesus Christ His Son has manifested Himself in these latter days; that Angels from the courts of glory have ministered to man on earth in the present age; that a sacred record has been brought forth from the ground disclosing the history of a hemisphere; and bearing the same truths as those recorded in the Bible; that a Prophet, Seer and Revelator has been raised up to bring in the last dispensation; that Apostles and other inspired servants of God now minister among them; that the Church of Christ with all its former organization, ordinances, gifts, signs and spiritual power has been reorganized on earth; and that communications may be had with Deity by men and women of faith now, as at any period in the world's history, the servants of God are met with the assertion that the day of revelation has long since passed, and that they must of necessity be either impostors or deluded, because there is to be no more scripture, prophecy, miracles, angelic ministrations, visions or actual communication from heaven to earth. This popular error is fostered and propagated by the ministers of various so-called Christian denominations, and is accepted by the masses of the people as a settled and foregone conclusion.

On what ground is such an irrational position assumed? Is not the Almighty declared in scripture to be unchangeable? Has not His work on earth always been conducted by men divinely chosen, appointed and inspired? Is there not as much need of divine revelation to settle religious feuds and doctrinal differences in the 19th century, as at any previous period? Would not the word of the Lord be of much more value to mankind than the varied opinions of uninspired men, no matter how great be their human learning? Ought {243} not the inhabitants of the earth to be not only willing, but eager to receive a message from the eternal worlds?

"Ah!" exclaims the objector, "but there were to be no more Prophets after Christ. He finished the divine plan and completed the revelation of God to the earth. He warned His disciples against false prophets and false Christs, and said if it were possible they would deceive the very elect." Does not the very fact Christ said there would be false prophets, convey the idea that there would be true Prophets also? If there were to be no more true Prophets, it would have been easy for the Savior to plainly say so, and thus there would be no place left for deceivers. But He declared emphatically: "Wherefore, behold I send unto you Prophets and wise men and scribes, and some of them ye shall kill and crucify, and some of them ye shall scourge in your synagogues and persecute them from city to city." (Matt. XXIII; 34.) Were not Prophets established in the Church of Christ as members of His body? Read I Cor. XII; 28: "And God hath set some in the Church; first Apostles, secondarily Prophets, thirdly, Teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, governments, diversities of tongues." Did not Christ promise His disciples that after He went away the Comforter should come? And was not one of the offices of that spirit to show them "things to come?" (John XVI; 13.) Was not the gift of prophecy bestowed upon members of the Church of Christ as one of the manifestations of the Holy Spirit? (I Cor. XII; 10.) And can anybody possess the true testimony of Jesus without that spirit? The angel that appeared to John the Apostle said: "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." (Rev. XIX; 10.) Paul prayed for the Ephesians: "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him." (Eph. I; 17.) If revelation and prophecy ceased with Christ, what about the New Testament, all written after His death and resurrection, by men now believed to be inspired? Did not the Apostle John behold a glorious vision and receive a grand revelation, when banished to the Island of Patmos?

Here again the objection will be raised: "But that revelation was the last communication from heaven, and its closing chapter forbids any further revelation." That is also a popular error promulgated by men professing to be ministers of Christ, and finding themselves destitute of divine power and inspiration. Here is the passage they quote: "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of {244} this book, if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book." (Rev. XXII; 18.) It is astonishing how plain and simple language can be wrested from its evident meaning to suit the purpose of sophistry. There is not a word in that text which conveys the remotest intimation that revelation and prophecy were to cease, or that God would no more speak to man. It is a prohibition against the addition by man of anything to that which God reveals. The next verse forbids the taking away of anything from the "book of this prophecy." That is, the Book of Revelation. These commands have reference to that one book, and that only. The compilers of the New Testament have placed it last in the collection of scriptural books, and the strained, unnatural and absurd application which has been made of the words we have quoted have been attached to the whole volume of the Bible. It is all wrong and ridiculous. The idea that the Almighty placed a seal upon His own mouth when He simply forbade men to add to what He said, is certainly most remarkable for sane people to entertain. If that singular notion were correct, then both the angel who gave the revelation, and John, who received it, violated the heavenly injunction, for we read that the angel gave to John a mission in figurative manner, which he thus explained: "Thou must prophecy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings." (Rev. X; 11.) It is well known that the Epistles of St. John were written after he received the revelation on Patmos.

While the true Church of Christ remained on earth the spirit of revelation and prophecy also remained. When that spirit departed there was but a dead form left. Only by the restoration of divine communication with man could the Church of Christ be re-established on earth. Only by raising up a Prophet to commence the latter-day dispensation could our Heavenly Father maintain His invariable method from the beginning of the world. And instead of men, professing to be His servants, opposing and fighting against divine revelation, they ought to hail with gladness the re-opening of the heavens and shout for joy that the rays of the Millennial morning have burst upon the world.

It is passing strange that persons familiar with the prophetic writings in the Bible, could hold the opinion that there would be no revelation in the latter days. The Bible teems with prophecies of the latter-day glory, when the mightiest miracles ever wrought by divine power should be displayed; {245} when God should set up an "ensign for the nations," "assemble the outcasts of Israel," gather together "the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth," and not only repeat the wonders of the Mosiac journey from Egypt to Canaan, but display His power to such an extent that it will no more be said, "The Lord liveth that brought the Children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but the Lord liveth which brought up and which led the seed of the House of Israel from the north country and from all countries whither I have driven them." (See Isaiah XI; 6-16; Jer. XXIII; 3-8; Zech. X; 6-11.) Not only is the Lord to gather Israel and Judah, "with a mighty hand and a stretched out arm," but He is to bring "His elect together from the four quarters of the earth." They are to go up in the tops of the mountains, where the House of the Lord is to be reared, from which His law is to go forth, and where His people shall learn of His ways and walk in His paths. When He has rebuked the nations, cleansed the earth from its iniquity, so that the meek shall inherit it, He is to pour out His spirit upon all flesh, with the result not only that His sons and His daughters shall prophesy and see visions, but "they shall all be taught of God," until "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of God as the waters cover the great deep." (Joel II; 28-32; Isaiah XI; 9; Micah IV; 1-7; Isaiah XXXV; Isaiah LIV; 13.)

That there was to be a new and final dispensation after the great apostacy from primitive Christianity foretold by the Apostles, is evident from the statement of Paul in his Epistle to the Ephesians. He says: "Having made known unto us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in Him." (Eph. I; 9, 10.) How could this, the greatest of all dispensations, be ushered in without a Prophet and without revelation from God? Did the Almighty ever commence a dispensation since the world began without a Prophet to declare His word, and without revealing His will? The Apostle Peter calls this great dispensation "the times of restitution of all things spoken of by all the Holy Prophets since the world began," in which Jesus Christ is to come in glory. (Acts III; 20, 2l.) If all things are to be restored in that great gathering dispensation, then Prophets must be restored, revelation, angelic visitations, gifts, signs, miracles and all the manifestations of former times must also be restored. {246} For, the consummation of all things is to be accomplished, and the earth be prepared for the presence of its rightful ruler, its Redeemer and King.

Be it known to all people that the Lord, in His infinite mercy, has once more opened the heavens and revealed Himself to man. The last dispensation has been commenced. The voice of Christ has again been heard. Angels have come down from heaven to earth. Prophets, Apostles and other inspired men declare the word and will of the Lord. A sacred record of the ancient people of a vast continent has been brought out of the ground and, united with the Jewish Bible, bears witness that God is the same yesterday, today and forever, and that by faith mankind in all ages may learn of Him and have communion with Him. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is being preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, baptism is administered by divine authority for the remission of sins, the Holy Ghost is conferred as of old, by the laying on of hands of men clothed with the Holy Melchisedek Priesthood, the unity of the faith is enjoyed, the sick are healed, prophecies are uttered, the gift of tongues and interpretation is attainable, and by visions and dreams and the witness of the Comforter, God is testifying to those who receive His word, that He has commenced a great latter-day work spoken of by His Holy Prophets.

The man chosen of God to commence the work of the last dispensation was Joseph Smith, who was slain at Carthage, Illinois, for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. No Prophet who ever lived on earth, except the Son of God Himself, accomplished a greater work, brought forth more truth or received greater revelations from on high than he. Having finished the grand mission required of him by the Lord, he sealed his testimony with his blood, and stands with the martyrs who will be crowned in the presence of God and the Lamb as Kings and Priests unto them forever. The truth of this testimony has been sealed upon the hearts of many thousands of people, who rejoice in the certain knowledge that they are accepted of God. And this knowledge may be obtained by every soul who shall believe in Christ, repent of sin, be baptized for the remission of sin, and receive the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. Therefore, oh reader! Come unto the light, obey the Gospel and be saved! This is the only way of eternal life and everlasting happiness in the Father's presence.

{247}

RAYS OF LIVING LIGHT.

No. 10.

BY CHARLES W. PENROSE.

"Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God." (John III; 5.) This sweeping declaration was made by Jesus Christ to Nicodemus, when that prominent Israelite visited the Savior at night. The Apostle Peter said concerning Jesus Christ: "Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts IV; 12.) The words of Peter were spoken when he was "filled with the Holy Ghost." The words of Jesus came from him as the Son of God. They vitally affect the whole human family. They being true, not a soul can enter into the kingdom of God unless he or she is a true believer in Jesus Christ, and has been born of the water and of the spirit. Even Christ himself had to comply with this law, in order to "fulfill all righteousness." He was born of the water in His burial by baptism in Jordan, and His coming forth from the womb of waters; he was then born of the spirit by the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Here is the example for all mankind, who are required to "follow in His steps." This is the "strait and narrow way."

The question which naturally arises in the thoughtful mind on hearing these declarations is, "How could people believe in Jesus Christ when His name was not preached to them?" And coupled with that comes the query: "What has become of the many millions of earth's inhabitants who died without the opportunity of being born of water and of the spirit?" The heathen nations, worshiping false gods, knew nothing of Jesus as the Savior of mankind. Even the chosen people Israel who were under the Mosaic law, did not walk in that way of salvation. Since the days when the Apostles and other authorized servants of Christ administered the ordinances of the Gospel, and during the times when "darkness covered the earth and gross darkness the people," down to the present age when it is claimed by the Latter-day Saints that the Church of Christ, the Holy Apostleship, and the fulness of the Gospel have been restored, myriads of {248} good people have passed away without receiving that new birth in the manner that Christ declared to be essential. Have they all perished? Is it possible that they are doomed to destruction? Will the Eternal Father reject all these His children because they did not obey a law which was not made known to them?

Justice, mercy, reason, and common sense revolt at such an idea. As Paul has it: "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?" (Rom. X; 14.) Yet the word of God must stand. It endureth forever, and He is no respecter of persons. "And He is to judge the secrets of all men by Jesus Christ according to His Gospel." It is for that reason that the Gospel was to be preached to "every creature." According to the notion prevalent in modern Christendom, there will be many millions of people shut out of the kingdom of heaven, because they did not believe in a Savior about whom they knew nothing. And it is taught that there is no possible chance of salvation for those who die without faith in Christ. Sectarians sing: "There's no repentance in the grave, nor pardon offered to the dead." The preachers of the sects limit the mercy of God to this probation. They teach that at death the soul goes either to heaven or to hell, and its state and condition is fixed forever. If this awful doctrine were true, Satan would gain the victory over Christ, claiming as his a vast and overwhelming proportion of the human family, leaving to our great Redeemer but a small and trifling troop out of the immense and countless hosts of the armies of humanity.

The solution of this, to many, puzzling problem is simple in the light of the true Gospel of Christ restored in the latter days. "The mercy of God endureth forever." It is not confined to the narrow boundaries of this little earth, nor tied up within the limits of time. The spirits of men and women are His sons and daughters, whether if the body or out of the body. "His tender mercies are over ALL HIS WORKS." No one can be justly or mercifully judged by the Gospel without hearing that Gospel, and having the opportunity to receive or reject it. Why, then, should not the Gospel of Jesus Christ be made known to those who never heard it in the flesh, after they have left the body and dwell in another sphere? Do not all the sects of Christendom, almost without exception, believe that the spirit of man is immortal, and {249} is therefore living and sentient when the body is dead? And if that is true, are not the spirits of men and women able to receive instruction and information when out of the body? Is it not the spirit of man that receives and stores up intelligence conveyed through the bodily senses? Why should the change called death, which is the separation of the body and the spirit, cut off all means of divine communication to the living, immortal intelligent being that has simply "shuffled off the mortal coil?" There is no good reason why the spirit thus advanced one stage in its experience should not be capable of still further progress and of receiving light, knowledge, wisdom and religious teaching, especially if information essential to its eternal welfare was withheld while it dwelt in the body. Revelation as well as reason bears testimony that the word of God can be preached to the departed as well in the sphere to which they have gone, as on any part of this earthly globe.

"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 sometime were disobedient when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah; while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is eight souls, were saved by water." (I Peter III; 18-20). Here is a declaration which like a ray from the sun of righteousness, puts to flight the fogs and mists of modern eschatology and opens up to view a vast field of understanding, wherein the justice, wisdom and mercy of God are displayed in glorious review. The spirits of those rebellious people who were destroyed by the flood, after suffering about 2,000 years in their prison house, were visited by the Son of God while His body was lying in the sepulchre. This was in fulfillment of the prophecies of Isaiah concerning Him; for instance: "The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound." (Isaiah LXI; 1). And further: "To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house." (Isaiah XLII; 7). And again: "That thou mayest say to the prisoners, go forth. To them that are in darkness, show yourselves." (Isaiah XLIX; 9).

The common notion is that when Christ on the cross bowed his head and gave up the ghost, he went direct to {250} heaven, as it is supposed all good people do, but on the third day after this, when Christ appeared to Mary, he said unto her: "Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father." (John XX; 17). The time spent by the Savior between His death and His resurrection, instead of being in heaven was among the "spirits in prison," the captives whom He went to deliver. Thus Jesus could preach without His body, and the spirits whom He visited could hear also without their bodies. But what was the nature of His preaching to those who were held in captivity? Let Peter answer this question. "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." (I Peter IV; 6.) Thus it appears that the same Gospel which was preached to men in the body was also preached to men out of the body, so that all might be judged by the same Gospel, which is to be preached to "every creature." That the message of deliverance to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that were bound was successful is evident from the scriptural statement concerning Christ: "He led captivity captive." (Eph. IV; 8).

Jesus promised His disciples that the works which he did, they should do also. The mission and Priesthood which His Father gave to Him He gave to them also. It is therefore clear that the work of redemption commenced on earth will be carried on in the sphere beyond the veil. And that it will be performed in the latter times, may be learned without doubt from the prophecy of Isaiah concerning the end of the world, in which he foretells as one of the events of that period: "And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high and the kings of the earth upon the earth, and they shall be gathered together as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited." (Isaiah XXIV; 20-22).

The spirit of man when out of the body, being an intelligent entity, a thinking, progressive and responsible being, capable of hearing and believing or rejecting truth, must be also capable of repenting of evil and learning to do well. Thus the mercy of God can reach such a being independent of the mortal structure in which it was permitted to dwell on earth. The idea that the eternal future of man is fixed at death comes from a mistaken notion concerning "the judgment day." Both Christ and His Apostles taught that the time of judgment was set by the Father to take place "when the Son of Man shall {251} come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him." (Matt. XXV; 31-46). Paul declared that Christ would come to judge the quick and the dead "at His appearing and His kingdom." (2 Tim. IV; 1). It was at that day that Paul expected to obtain "a crown of righteousness." (Verse 8.) And the time of the judgment is fixed in the book of Revelation to be after the resurrection from the dead, when "the small and the great shall stand before God, and the books shall be opened, and the dead shall be judged out of the things written in the books according to their works." (Rev. XX).

The popular notion that final judgment takes place at the death of each individual, and that he is then and there exalted to heaven or thrust down to hell, is utterly wrong and unscriptural. Yet it has prevailed in Christendom for many centuries, and it remained for the Prophet of the 19th century, Joseph Smith, by divine inspiration to bring forth the glorious light in the midst of dense spiritual darkness, and show forth the mercy and goodness of Almighty God in providing means by which every soul of Adam's race, either in the body or out of the body, may learn the way of the Lord, the everlasting Gospel, the only plan of salvation. It is to be preached to all them that are dead who could not hear it while living in the flesh, and they can repent and turn unto God and be taught the things of His kingdom. The doctrine of purgatory, which is part of the Roman Catholic creed, is a perversion of this doctrine of Christ, but the idea of the former came from a misunderstanding of the latter. There is an intermediate state in which the spirits of the departed remain between death and the resurrection of the body, and, as will be pointed out in a succeeding tract, there are works which may be performed by the living in behalf of the dead, but only such as are impossible of performance in the spirit world.

The Apostle Paul declared that Jesus Christ "gave Himself a ransom for ALL, to be testified in due time." (1 Tim. II; 6). The time has now come. The testimony of this great truth is proclaimed by Prophets and Apostles raised up in these latter days, and by the voice of Angles from Heaven, and by the witness of the Holy Ghost, which bears record of the Father and the Son. Let all people rejoice and praise the Lord for this new revelation of his loving kindness and tender mercies extended over all His works, and let His light shine to the uttermost parts of the earth and penetrate to the darkest abode of the regions behind the veil, that truth may triumph everywhere and God be glorified in the obedience and salvation of His children.

{252}

RAYS OF LIVING LIGHT.

No. 11.

BY CHARLES W. PENROSE.

"Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead? If the dead rise not at all, why are they then baptized for the dead?" (1 Cor. xv: 29.) This was an argument used by the Apostle Paul with the Corinthians, who doubted the doctrine of the resurrection of the body. It is evident that they were familiar with baptism for the dead. For, the Apostle was reasoning with them from what they knew. The influence of Greek philosophy affected the minds of the Saints at Corinth, and the Apostle found it necessary to write to them his splendid treatise, to convince them that as Christ was actually raised from the dead, so all mankind should be brought forth from their graves, as the Savior himself declared. And appealing to their good sense he asked the question why they were baptized for the dead, if, as some among them maintained, there was to be no resurrection of the dead.

This doctrine, that the living could be baptized in behalf of the dead, has not been understood in the so-called Christian world for many hundreds of years. It was known to the early fathers, but became obsolete when the authority held by the Apostles and their associates was taken from the earth and spiritual darkness settled upon the world. Yet, if that was part of the doctrine of Christ in the Apostolic age, it is part of it now. But who among all the sects of the age teaches it? Who has authority to administer it? Who knows anything of the manner in which the ordinance should be solemnized? It is because of the profound ignorance of modern teachers of religion on this important subject that they endeavor, whenever the text given above is quoted, either to cover it with a cloud of meaningless explanation, or to treat it as unworthy of attention, or to set it aside as something "done away."

In the revelation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ anew in the present age baptism for the dead was made known to the Prophet Joseph Smith as a necessary part of the doctrine of {253} Christ. Its purpose, the form of the ordinance, who should administer it, who should receive it, how it would affect both the living and the dead, and everything to render it acceptable to God and efficacious to the departed, was made known to the Prophet of the nineteenth century.

It has already been demonstrated that the Gospel preached by our Savior and His Apostles to the living was also preached to the dead, that is, to the spirits of those who had once dwelt in the body on earth. Also that such persons are capable of receiving the truth, of faith, of repentance, of obedience and reform. It has been further shown that baptism for the remission of sins and the reception of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, both ordinances to be administered by actual divine authority, are essential to salvation. But it will be evident to the thoughtful reader that while the internal or spiritual requirements of the Gospel can be complied with by disembodied persons, the outward and material ceremonies are of the body, and can only be performed on the earth. Water is an earthly element or composition of material elements, and pertains to this mundane sphere. It is for this reason that the living must be baptized for the dead. If those who die unbaptized are to obtain salvation the necessary ordinances will have to be attended to by proxy.

If any professing Christian objects to the idea of salvation by proxy, the all-important fact that the entire plan of salvation hinges on that principle should be sufficient to sweep away the objection entirely and forever. "The wages of sin is death." "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Jesus of Nazareth died instead of sinners. The just was offered for the unjust. The innocent Christ was a substitute for the guilty men. The whole doctrine of the atonement rests upon the principle of salvation by proxy. Jesus is called the Captain of our salvation. He is the head of the host of the army of saviors. It was predicted by Obadiah the Prophet that, "Saviors shall come upon Mount Zion" in the latter days, and "the kingdom shall be the Lord's" (verse 21). And the inspired writer of the epistle to the Hebrews, speaking of those worthies who through faith performed great wonders and prevailed and obtained a witness from God in olden times, declared: "These all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise, God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." (Heb. XI; 39, 40.) Thus the work of human redemption is to be carried on until all the people {254} of the earth shall be judged according to the Gospel, every soul having had an opportunity of receiving or rejecting it, either in the body or in the spirit state, and of obeying the ordinances thereof, either in person or vicariously, the living acting for the dead.

At the first glance this doctrine may strike the modern Christian mind as new and dangerous, but the more it is investigated in all its bearings, the clearer its truth is made apparent, and the more glorious it becomes. The thought that those who receive and obey the Gospel of Christ in its fulness while in the flesh, can aid in the work of redemption for their ancestors who are in the spirit world, is most delightful to the reverent soul. It shows the value of those genealogies which Israel, the covenant people of God, were moved upon in olden times to preserve. It simulates the faithful in Christ to good works that they may become "Saviors on Mount Zion." It explains how the nations composed of millions upon millions of souls that never heard the Gospel or the name of Christ Jesus, may ultimately be redeemed and made heirs of salvation. It points out the way by which Christ shall eventually obtain the victory over Satan and prove himself "a ransom for all," presenting His perfect work to the Father, not one soul having been lost but the sons of perdition, who sinned unto death and could not be forgiven in this world or in the world to come.

The ordinances for the dead, as revealed from heaven to the Prophet Joseph Smith, must be attended to in the way provided by the Lord or they will not be accepted of Him. They must be administered in sacred places built according to a heavenly pattern, and administered by those who have authority to loose on earth and it shall be loosed in heaven, to seal on earth and it shall be sealed in heaven. Persons who have themselves complied with the requirements of the Gospel, may be baptized and administered to in other necessary ordinances for and in behalf of their departed kindred and ancestors, as far back as their line of progenitors can be ascertained. This work must be attended to in Zion. This necessitates the gathering of the Saints, "the elect of God" from all parts of the earth. They are commanded of the Lord to come out of Babylon, that they "be not partakers of her sins and that they receive not of her plagues." (Rev. XVIII; 4). In compliance with this requirement they are gathered from all nations, "to the mountain of the Lord's house in the tops of the mountains, where they can learn of His ways and walk in His paths," and build up Zion, where {255} they can officiate as saviors and prepare for the coming of the great King. (See Micah IV; 1-4; Isaiah II; 2-5; Psalms CII; 16).

The gathering of Judah is also to be accomplished in this dispensation of the fulness of times. Their gathering place is Jerusalem. They will return to the land of their forefathers chiefly in unbelief. A few of that race will begin to believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, but the masses of that people will not receive Him in that light until He comes and "His feet shall stand again on the Mount of Olives." He will then appear as their Deliverer from the hosts that will assemble against them for a spoil and a prey. They will then look upon Him whom their forefathers have pierced, and beholding the scars of the wounds He received when "He came to His own and His own received Him not," but hung Him upon the cross, will come to the understanding that Jesus is indeed the Son of God as well as the son of David, and is their Messiah, their Redeemer, and their King. They will then receive His Gospel, the only plan of salvation; "a nation will be born in a day unto the Lord;" and in the Temple that will be reared to His name they will officiate for their dead until all the links in the chain of their ancestry, back to the time when the Gospel was on the earth previous to the enunciation of the Mosiac code, the law of carnal commandments, are made complete. All the promises made to Israel and Judah through their Prophets will be fulfilled, and Christ will "reign in Mount Zion and Jerusalem" and fill the earth with His glory! (See Zech. XIV; 8-23; Jer. XXIII; 3-8; XXXII; 37-44; Ezek. XXXIV; 13-16; XXXVIII; 8-23; Ezek. XXXIX; Isaiah XXIV; 23).

While the House of Judah is to rebuild Jerusalem, in expectation of a Messiah, but in unbelief of the Savior and His atonement, the descendants of the House of Israel which was scattered and dispersed among the nations, will gather as the elect of God to the latter-day Zion upon the land of Joseph in the tops of the mountains, where the House of God is "exalted above the hills," and where the revelations of His will are made known and the ordinances of His House for the living and the dead can be administered. The blood of Israel, though mixed with that of the Gentiles, is counted as the seed of Abraham to whom the promises of old were made, and not one of them will fail. Their gathering place is on "the land shadowing with wings" which Isaiah saw in vision "beyond the rivers of Ethiopia," where the Lord has "lifted up an ensign on the mountains," and from which His "swift messengers" {256} are now going forth as "ambassadors" of the great King and are bringing Israel from afar to "the place of the name of the Lord of Hosts, the Mount Zion." (Isaiah XVII.) There, in the Temple built to His name according to the pattern He has revealed, baptisms and all the ordinances necessary on earth in the work of salvation for the living and the dead, are performed by divine authority, and there the Spirit of God is poured out in rich effusion, bearing witness to the humble of heart and contrite of spirit that they and their labors of love are accepted of Him and sealed and recorded in heaven.

There "the wilderness and the solitary place have been made glad" because of them. The parched ground and the thirsty land have brought forth springs of water, the desert is made to "blossom as the rose." There the ransomed of the Lord have come to Zion with songs of everlasting joy. "The place of their defense is the munition of rocks," and they are looking for the time which is near at hand, when they shall behold "the King in His beauty." (See Isaiah XXXV; also XXXII; 13-20; XXXIII; 15-17; XLIX; 22-23; LII; 7-12; Psalm CVII; 1-7; 33-43; Isaiah XLI; 18-20.)

From the foregoing it will be seen that our Heavenly Father is not bound by the small notions and narrow creeds of modern religious sects and teachers. "His ways are not as man's ways nor His thoughts as their thoughts." "As high as the heavens are above the earth," so is His plan of salvation above the inventions of the worldly wise. The Gospel is to be preached to every responsible and accountable creature. They who do not hear it while in the body will hear it in the spirit world, and even those who through folly and darkness received it not will, after having been beaten with "many stripes" and having paid the "uttermost farthing" of the debt thus incurred, have mercy extended to them when justice has been satisfied, and at length through the ministration of the Holy Priesthood of God on earth and behind the veil, and the ordinances performed in person or vicariously, all the sons and daughters of God in the race of Adam will come forth from the grave; and finally "every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ to the glory of God the Father." Then Jesus, having finished His work of redemption, will present it to the Eternal Father, that He may be all in all.

This glorious work for the salvation of the human family is now in progress under the revelation and authority of the Most High, and no matter how much it may be opposed by ignorance or malice, by Satan or foolish men, it will go on {257} to complete and glorious victory. Evil will be overcome, darkness dispersed, Satan and his hosts be bound, the earth and its inhabitants be redeemed, Paradise will be restored, Eden will bloom again, Christ will reign as King, the Tabernacle of God will be with men, and all things above, beneath, around, will sing praises to the Most High, to whom be glory and dominion forever. Amen.

"I have had sufficient experience in this work to know that the hand of God is in it; that it is controlled and guided by His spirit and by revelation from Heaven. It is the design of God to establish his Kingdom upon earth to be thrown down no more."

--Wilford Woodruff.

There is no other way beneath the heaven that God hath ordained for man to come to Him, except through faith in Jesus Christ, repentance and baptism for the remission of sins; then follows the promise of the gift of the Holy Ghost. Any other course is in vain.

--Joseph Smith, The Prophet.

{258}

RAYS OF LIVING LIGHT.

No. 12.

BY CHARLES W. PENROSE.

"Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles?" so said the Savior of mankind, (Matt. VII; 16). The Latter-day Saints, or "Mormons" as they are commonly called, have been derided and persecuted and all manner of evil has been spoken against them, even by people who call themselves Christians. That in this false witness has been borne against them, may be definitely proved if the criterion given by Christ is accepted. Having obeyed the Gospel as restored to earth by angelic visitations and administered by divine authority, large numbers of the Saints have congregated in the valleys of the Rocky Mountains in obedience to the command, "Gather my Saints together unto me, those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice." (Psalm L; 5). And also: "Come out of her (Babylon) my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues." (Rev. XVIII; 4).

In the year 1847 a company of Pioneers, led by the Prophet Brigham Young, successor of the Martyr Joseph Smith, who was slain for the Gospel's sake, marched from the Missouri River across prairies and mountains, sand wastes and rivers, through the wilderness known as the Great American Desert, to the place in the mountains where they had been directed by Joseph Smith when living with them in Nauvoo. On July 24th of that year they halted in the valley of the Great Salt Lake, beheld by Brigham Young in vision before they commenced their weary journey. Not a human habitation was to be seen. The sun-baked land brought forth sagebrush and weeds. Rain was almost unknown and the melting snows from the mountain tops came down but in narrow and scanty streams. But they plowed the parched ground and turned upon it the trickling waters; they sowed in faith and trusted in God for the harvest which alone could save them from starvation. The little band was composed of but 147 persons who had left civilization more than a thousand miles behind. Today nearly three hundred thousand people, gathered from all parts of the world, dwell in peace and harmony in flourishing cities {259} and towns or upon fruitful farms and luxuriant ranches, reaping the results of thrift and industry and the blessings of God upon the land and upon their labors. In the cities are fine residences, comfortable cottages, business establishments, manufacturing enterprises, broad streets lined with magnificent trees and with clear streamlets on either side, lighted by electricity and supplied with pure water from works owned by the people. Grand school houses have been erected, spacious places of worship, noble public buildings and splendid temples costing from one million to four million dollars each. All kinds of grains and fruits and flowers are produced in abundance; the rainfalls have wonderfully increased, springs have burst forth in dry spots, grass grows on the hillsides and in the meadows, cattle and sheep graze on a thousand hills, and the face of nature smiles and shines with beauty.

This marvelous transformation has been brought about by the blessings of Almighty God upon the faith and works of His Saints gathered from afar. Zion that brought good tidings--the everlasting Gospel restored to earth--has gone up "into the high mountain." The spirit has been poured out from on high, and the wilderness has become a fruitful field. "The people of the Lord dwell in peaceable habitations, in sure dwellings, in quiet resting places." They are sowing "beside all waters." "The wilderness and the solitary place is glad for them, the desert rejoices and blossoms abundantly." They are the "ransomed of the Lord, and have come to Zion with songs of everlasting joy." (See Isaiah XL; 9; XXXII; 15-20; XXXV; 1-10).

Every Sabbath day the children assemble in Sunday schools under a system which is not excelled in any part of the world. In the afternoon and evening the Saints assemble in their Tabernacles and meeting houses, and receive instruction by the voice of inspiration and the reading of holy writ. Societies are organized for the instruction of juveniles, of young men and women, of ladies of mature age and for all classes of the community. To serve God and keep His commandments is held up as the first duty of His people. To labor for the salvation of the living and the redemption of the dead is placed above all earthly consideration. The Church has now in the mission field fifteen hundred or more missionaries, traveling "without purse and scrip," without pay of any kind, depending upon God and friends whom He may raise up to them for their daily sustenance. The Church organization revealed from heaven is recognized by all who investigate, as the grandest and most complete ever known on earth. The {260} industry, order, devotion, unity and brotherly love displayed by the Latter-day Saints are the admiration and commendation of both friend and foe. The work they have performed under divine direction is a marvel to all who have visited the cities of the Saints or know of their achievements. What is the tree that has brought forth these excellent fruits? It is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Let the tree be judged by its fruits.

It is true that the "Mormons" are a people who have been "everywhere spoken against," but this was a characteristic of the Saints in the original Christian Church. Paul said: "They that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." Jesus exclaimed: "Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you." He prophesied of his disciples: "Ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake." But there are a number of brave men who, after visiting Utah, have not been afraid to speak their honest sentiments concerning that despised people. Among them are the following, whose published remarks are but samples of others that might be adduced:

Bishop D. S. Tuttle of the Episcopal church, who resided in Salt Lake City, had the following in the New York Sun: "We of the East are accustomed to look upon the Mormons as either a licentious, arrogant, or rebellious mob, bent only on defying the United States government and deriding the faith of the Christians. This is not so. I know them to be honest, faithful, prayerful workers, and earnest in their faith that heaven will bless the Church of Latter-day Saints. Another strong and admirable feature in the Mormon religion is the tenacious and efficient organization. They follow with the greatest care all the forms of the old Church."

Henry Edger says, in the New York Evolution: "Driven by mob violence from one state to another, despoiled of their legitimate possessions--fruits of honest toil--this despaired and grossly wronged people found their way at last across the trackless desert and by an almost unexampled perseverance and industry created an oasis in the desert itself."

Elder Miles Grant, editor of the World's Crisis, says: "After a careful observation for some days we came to the settled conclusion that there is less licentiousness in Salt Lake City than in any other one of the same size in the United States; and were we to bring up a family of children in these last days of wickedness, we should have less fears of their moral corruption were they in that city than in any other."

Gov. Safford of Arizona wrote as follows: "They have no {261} drones, and the work they have accomplished in so short a time is truly wonderful. All concede that we need an energetic, industrious, economical and self-relying people to subdue and bring into use the vast, unproductive lands of Arizona. These Mormons fill every one of the above requirements."

Gen. Thomas L. Kane of Pennsylvania, after four years experience with the Mormons, declared: "I have not heard a single charge made against them as a community, against their habitual purity of life, their willing integrity, their toleration of religious difference of opinion, their regard for the laws, their devotion to the Constitutional government under which we live, that I do not from my own observation or upon the testimony of others know to be unfounded."

Chief Justice White, sent to Utah by the U. S. government, testified: "Industry, frugality, temperance, honesty are with them the common practices of life. This land they have redeemed from sterility and occupied its once barren solitudes with cities, villages, cultivated fields and farm-houses, and made it the habitation of a numerous people, where a beggar is never seen and alms-houses are neither needed nor known."

The late Hon. Bayard Taylor, U. S. minister to Germany, remarked, "We must admit that Salt Lake City is one of the most quiet, orderly and moral places in the world. * * * The Mormons as a people are the most temperate of Americans. They are chaste, laborious and generally cheerful, and what they have accomplished in so short a time under every circumstance of discouragement, will always form one of the most remarkable chapters in our history."

Notwithstanding the facts set forth in the foregoing, the Congress of the United States was moved upon for several years by anti-Mormon preachers of different sects, and by petitions from good, pious, but deceived "Christian" people, also by adventurers who desired to profit by inroads upon the Mormons, to enact stringent and oppressive measures looking to the suppression of what they called "Mormonism." It was thought by the enemies of the Saints that they could be driven again from their possessions, as they had been driven by mob violence from the states of Missouri and Illinois, where their property became a prey to their so-called Christian persecutors, and where many of their number were brutally murdered in cold blood, their Prophet and Patriarch, Joseph and Hyrum Smith, being among the number. For some time these efforts gave great promise of success. Much suffering was endured by the Saints, but they possessed their souls in patience, having faith in the promises of God made to {262} them through their Prophets and Apostles, and the testimony of the Holy Spirit. The day of their deliverance from this injustice, sorrow, and tribulation has come. Their true character has been measurably recognized, and Utah has been admitted into the Union as a free and sovereign State, on an equal footing with the other states in the Federal compact.

There yet remains in the world great ignorance concerning the Latter-day Saints, their purposes and works, their doctrines and teachings, and the spirit and power of their faith. To these they invite the investigation of every rational mind. They urge comparison of their principles, their Church and the ordinances, gifts, and spirit thereof with those set forth in the New Testament, in contrast with the contending and discordant religions of modern Christendom. They know that they have received the truth, and that God has revealed it in the present age. They have received a divine witness, every one for himself. They are building up Zion in the West. They are sending forth the Gospel into all the world as a witness to the nations before the end shall come.

This is a day of warning. It will be followed by a time of judgments. The Lord is about to shake terribly the kingdoms of this world. War, pestilence, famine, earthquake, whirlwind, and the devouring fire, with signs in the heavens and on the earth, will immediately precede the great consummation which is close at hand. These are the last days. All that has been foretold by the Holy Prophets concerning them is about to be literally fulfilled. The everlasting Gospel has been restored to the earth as one of the signs of the latter days. Israel is being gathered. The elect of God are assembling from the four quarters of the earth. The way is opening for the redemption of Judah. Soon all things will be in commotion: "men's hearts failing them for fear and looking for the things that are coming on the earth." The places of refuge appointed are in Zion and in Jerusalem. The Lord, even Jesus the Messiah, will come to His Holy Temple. He will be glorified in his Saints, but will "take vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the Gospel." He will break in pieces the nations as a potter's vessel. He will sweep the earth as with a besom of destruction. He will establish righteousness upon it and give dominion to His people. "The meek shall inherit the earth and the wicked be cut off forever." Therefore, repent and turn unto Him all ye nations, and obey Him all ye people, for these words are true and faithful and are given by His spirit! Salvation has come unto you; reject it not lest ye fall and perish. The time is at hand!

{263}

A FRIENDLY DISCUSSION UPON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS.

(Compiled from a Work Entitled "Mr. Durant of Salt Lake City.")

BY BEN E. RICH.

This pamphlet is written in the form of a conversational discussion, because in this style information to the reader can be conveyed by a method that is at once simple and agreeable.

The scene of this narrative is a small town in the southwestern part of Tennessee, which we shall call Westminster. In this pretty village is a home of entertainment for strangers. It can scarcely be termed a hotel as it partakes largely of the character of a private residence with accommodations for a limited number of guests, and visitors are attracted to it by its home-like characteristics. A planter named Marshall was the proprietor of the premises, which are known as Harmony Place.

At the particular time of which we write (Sept., 189-), the house had three guests--a lawyer named Brown, who had selected Westminster as a place favorable for the establishment of the practice of his profession; a physician named Slocum, who had a similar intention, and a clergyman named Fitzallen, a tourist who was traveling in the pursuit of health and pleasure.

At this time another visitor made his appearance. He was an attractive looking man aged about thirty, with genial manners and a striking clear method of presenting his thoughts in the course of conversation. This was Charles Durant, who hailed from the West.

The evening of the first day that marked the stranger's advent into Westminster saw the entire personnel of Harmony Place on the veranda.

One subject after another was taken up, discussed and disposed of, or at least laid aside to give way to some other. The conversation proceeded from point to point until the topics of {264} the quiet gathering assumed more the aspect of an intellectual melange than anything else. Two subjects which agitate us nationally and sometimes locally more than any other--politics and religion--had, so far escaped; they had not, however, been unthought of, and presently the latter was begun by the minister saying:

"Representing to some extent, as I do, the church, I am pleased to be able to state that in the matters of organization, discipline and places of worship, America is thoroughly Christianized."

"I partially concur with you," said the lawyer, "and yet I belong to no church at all--do not, in fact, endorse Christianity as a department of civilized life."

"Why, how is this?" said Fitzallen, "I thought nearly everybody in this country must be orthodox to some extent, at least."

"Not so with me, I assure you," the other replied, "and the strange part of it is, that my views are the result of investigation and the peculiar explanations of those who make religious teaching their calling. Those who accept the creeds which are supposed to base their tenets upon the Bible, do not, it appears to me, live up to their professions, and the clergy--no offense intended--are more addicted to money-getting than soul-saving."

The stranger from the West was listening to all this with the air of one deeply interested. It was as if a desired opportunity had come, and he was not reluctant about replying when questioned as to his own views. It came when the churchman, after announcing his determination to "labor" with the infidel, turned to the newcomer and said:

"I do not know whether you will be for or against me in this discussion, but as you come from what we of the East are prone to regard as the land where restraints are not severe, I presume you are disposed to assist him rather than me."

"Well, gentlemen," said Durant, "this topic interests me, and while I and my opinions are unknown to you all, I will, if agreeable to you, endeavor to throw some light upon the subject. I am a believer in religion and lay claim to a testimony of the truth of the gospel of Christ from a divine source, and yet I often find myself opposed by ministers."

"I cannot imagine why this should be the case," said Fitzallen, "if you are, as you state, a true believer in Christ and have a witness of Him."

"If you will permit me to ask a few questions during your conversation with Mr. Brown, I may be able to take a general {265} part in the discussion, provided, however, that should we differ upon any point it will be in a friendly manner."

"Certainly," said the clergyman, "I am sure it will be a pleasure to me to have you join in our conversation, and I do not doubt that Mr. Brown and the other gentlemen feel the same way."

The entire party expressed approval of the proposed interchange of opinions.

"Then, Mr. Brown," said Fitzallen, "what particular part of the Christian faith appears to you as being the most difficult to understand?"

"I confess there are many. However, let us commence with one of the principles of your belief. I will refer to some of the literature of the Church of England. The first article of religion contained in the Church of England Prayer-Book is: 'There is but one living and true God, everlasting; without body, parts or passions; of infinite power, wisdom and goodness; the maker and preserver of all things, both visible and invisible: and in the unity of this Godhead there are three persons of one substance, power and eternity--the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost.' According to this, then, your belief is that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are one person, without body, parts or passion."

"You have certainly quoted correctly from the prayer-book; I fail to see anything wrong with that. What fault have you to find with it?"

"I cannot form a conception of a God who has neither body, parts nor passions. So far as the Bible is concerned, I fail to see from what part of that book you derive such a conclusion."

"Well, Mr. Brown, using your own language, 'so far as the Bible is concerned,' let us do as Isaiah commands, 'go to the law and to the testimony' (Isaiah viii: 20) and I will soon convince you that the Bible plainly sets forth the fact that the Father and the Son are one. In fact, Jesus himself declares that He and His Father are one (John x: 30). Is this not true?"

"Excuse me," said Durant, "but is it not more reasonable for us to believe that He meant that He and His Father are united in all things as one person?--not that they are actually one and the same identity?"

"Certainly not," said the reverend, "our Savior meant just what He said when He declared that He and His Father were one."

"I differ from you," said the stranger, "for He also asked {266} His Father to make His disciples one, even as He and the Father were one, as you will see by reference to John xvii:20 and 21, and by your argument it must have been His wish for those disciples to lose their separate and distinct identities."

"Stranger," said Mr. Brown, "your view of the case, I must confess, appears reasonable."

"Let me ask," said the preacher, "did not Jesus say, 'He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father.'" (John xiv: 9.)

"Yes," said the westerner, "for as Paul says, 'He was in the express image of His (Father's) person' (Heb. i: 3), and this being the case, Jesus might well give them to understand that when they had seen one they had seen the other. When Jesus went out to pray, He said, 'O, my Father, if it be possible let thus cup pass from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt.' (Matt. xxvi: 39.) Now then, to whom was our Savior praying? Was he asking a favor of himself?"

"Oh, no; He was then praying to the Holy Spirit."

"By such admission you have separated one of the three from Jesus, for in the beginning you declared that the three were one; and now that we have one of the three separated from the others, let us see if we can separate the other two. In order to do this, I refer you to the account of the martyrdom of Stephen. While being stoned to death he looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and that Jesus was standing on the right hand of God. (Acts vii: 55.) Would it not be impossible for a person to stand on the right hand of himself? In further proof that Jesus is a separate person from the Father we will examine the account of His baptism. On coming up out of the water, what was it that lighted on Him in the form of a dove?" (Matt. iii: 16.)

"We are told it was the Spirit of God."

"Exactly! And whose voice was it that spoke from the heavens, 'This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased!' (Matt. iii: 17.) Now, mind you, there was Jesus, who had just been raised from the water, being one person, the Holy Ghost which descended from above and rested upon Him in the form of a dove, making two personages; and does not the idea strike you very forcibly that the voice from heaven belonged to a third person? And then again I will draw your attention to--"

The churchman was getting heated. Said he: "These are things which we are not expected to understand; and, my young friends, I would advise you to drop such foolish ideas, for--"

"Excuse me. Did you say 'foolish ideas?' Why, my dear {267} sir, we are told in the Bible that 'This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent.' (John xvii: 3.) Therefore it should be our first duty to find out the character and being of God. You say we are not expected to understand these things, while the Bible says these are what we must understand if we desire eternal life. It also says we can understand the things of man by the spirit of man, but to comprehend the things of God we must have the spirit of God; and as you profess to be one of His servants, you are presumed to be in possession of the necessary light to understand the true and living God, also Jesus Christ whom He sent. You say God has no body; did our Savior have one? If so, then His Father had one, for I have just proved by the words of Paul that Christ was in the express image of his person. (Heb. i: 3) Jesus appeared in the midst of His disciples after His resurrection with a body of flesh and bones, and called upon His disciples to satisfy themselves on this point by touching Him; 'for,' says He, 'a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see Me have.' (Luke xxiv:39.) Then He called for something to eat and He did eat (verses 42, 43), and with this tangible body He ascended into heaven and stood, as Stephen says, on the right hand of God. (Acts vii:55.) Now if He has no body, what became of the one He took away with Him?"

"This is nonsense! You know that God is a spirit, and I think we would better not delve too deeply into matters which we are not permitted to comprehend."

"Pray listen a while longer, for I have yet more to say in regard to what you call nonsense, although if it be such, I must insist that it is Bible nonsense. You say God is a spirit; does that prove He has no body? We are also told we must worship Him in spirit. Am I to understand from this that we must worship him without a body? Have you a spirit? Yes. Have you also a body? Yes. Were you made in the image of God, body and spirit? So says the Bible. Man was created in the image of God. (Gen. i: 26, 27.) Then God has a body and, consequently, must have parts. Moses talked with Him face to face, as one man talks with another (Ex. xxxiii: 11), and he also saw His back parts. He promised (Num. xii: 8) to speak with Moses mouth to mouth. We are told in the fifth chapter of Deuteronomy that He has a hand and arm. The Psalm (cxxxix: 16) tells us He has eyes, and Isaiah (xxx: 27) says He has lips and tongue. John describes His head, hair and eyes. (Rev. i: 14.) And as for passions, we are told in the Bible that He exercises love and is a jealous God. Are {268} these not parts and passions? It would appear that all who believe in the Scriptures must conclude that they are parts and passions, and that the Creator is a God after whose likeness we are made."

"Well, I had no idea when I commenced this conversation with Mr. Brown that I was to find such an antagonist in yourself. One would naturally come to the conclusion that you had made the Bible a study."

"I have as a Christian studied the record; in fact, at a very early age my parents required me to commit and remember a very important verse in that good old book. It is found in the fifth chapter of the gospel according to St. John, being the 39th verse, and reads as follows: 'Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me.'"

"That is proper, but I must again warn you against plunging into mysteries which we cannot understand."

"But Peter tells us that 'no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation' (II. Peter i:20), and these are the things which we should seek for information upon; for lack of information by the ministers upon these points is to a great extent, the cause of many persons being in Mr. Brown's frame of mind today."

"If your assertion be correct, perhaps it would be better for me to withdraw and leave Mr. Brown in your hands."

"I beg your pardon," said Durant, "I did not mean to offend you; I will endeavor to be more careful during the rest of the conversation."

"We will resume the discussion at another time. Tonight I only intended remaining a short time, having an important engagement; so, if you will excuse me, I will wish you all good evening."

"Well," said Mr. Brown, "things have taken a very peculiar turn. I seem to be out of the contest. I have heard more that appears reasonable from you, Mr. Durant, regarding religion than ever before in my life, and I must also admit that if my early teaching on religious matters had been of this character, I believe I would have been a Christian. I am somewhat familiar with the doctrines of different Christian societies, and from the way you express yourself regarding the personality of God, I would like very much to hear your views regarding other differences. Do you disagree with these ministers very much on other principles?"

"I am afraid the difference on many important principles is just as great as that concerning the personality of God. But {269} if you really desire to go with me in this search after the kingdom of God, and the others are willing, I assure you it will give me great pleasure."

Unanimous approval was expressed at once, and Mr. Brown continued, saying:

"I never before had as great a desire in this direction, and must confess that my curiosity has become quite aroused."

"Then," said Durant, "we will take King James' translation of the Scriptures as the law-book, and 'Seek ye first the kingdom of God' for our text; and if we should discover before we have finished that the teachings of men differ greatly from the teachings of Christ, I will be somewhat justified in saying that religionists have 'transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.'" (Isaiah xxiv: 5. Jere. ii: 13.)

"Very well," said Mr. Brown, "I will proceed," and obtaining the family Bible he continued: "And should your assertions prove correct, it would account for the increase of infidelity, and it might also cause others as well as myself to stop and consider. Now, then, to the 'law and testimony.' Give me the chapter and verse, that I may know you make no mistake."

The doctor then for the first time took part, saying: "I am also becoming very much interested, and think I shall join you with my Bible. Let us all come into the circle."

"All right, we will examine the Gospel of Jesus Christ from the Bible, principle by principle. In order to have a clear understanding concerning this, it will be necessary for us to go back to the days of our Father Adam. Through the transgression of our first parents, death came upon all the human family, and mankind could not, of themselves, overcome the same and obtain immortality. To substantiate this, see first, second and third chapters of Genesis, Romans 5th chapter and 12th verse, and I. Corinthians 15th chapter and 21st and 22nd verses. But in order that they should not perish, God sent His Son Jesus Christ into the world to satisfy this broken law and to deliver mankind from the power of death. (John iii: 16; Romans v: 8; I. John iv: 9.) And as all become subject to death by Adam, so will all men be resurrected from death through the atonement of Christ (I. Cor. xv: 20-23; Rom. v: 12-19), and will stand before the judgment seat of God to answer for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression. (Acts xvii:31; Rev. xx:12-15; Matt. xvi:27.) Am I right as far as I have gone?"

"Yes," said the doctor, "I have been following you with your quotations, and find them correct. Proceed."

{270} "Then I have proved one of the principles of some of the so-called Christians incorrect, for they do not believe that the wicked will have the same chance of resurrection as the righteous. Jesus Christ did not die for our individual sins, except on condition that we conform to the plan He marked out, which will bring us a remission of our sins. The only way we can prove that we love Him is by keeping His commandments (John xiv: 15); therefore, if we say we love God and keep not His commandments, we are liars and the truth is not in us. (I. John ii: 4.) I think I have proved to your satisfaction that there is something defective in their understanding of the attributes of God, and I think I can prove also that they do not keep His commandments. Christ has given us to understand two things which you must remember while on this search after the 'kingdom of God.' First, that we must follow Him; secondly, that when He left His disciples He was to send them the Comforter that would lead them into all truth; therefore we must follow Christ and accept all the principles which were taught by His disciples while in possession of the Holy Spirit, though it should prove the whole world to be in error."

"Thus far your arguments are reasonable, also in accordance with Holy Writ; and as there is no other name given us except Jesus Christ whereby we can be saved (Acts iv: 12), you may now lay before us the conditions; but give us chapter and verse as I said before, that we may know you speak correctly."

"We will now examine into the conditions; but first remember that God does not send men into the world for the purpose of preaching contrary doctrines, for this always creates confusion, and God is not the author of confusion, but of peace. (I. Cor. xiv: 33.) Paul has said if any man teach another gospel let him be accursed. (Gal. i: 8, 9.) The first condition is this: To believe there is a God (not the kind mentioned in the English prayer-book), but the God that created man in His own image, and to have faith in that God and in Jesus Christ whom he has sent."

"Go on," said the party in concert.

"Well," continued Durant, "the kind of faith required is that which will enable a man, under all circumstances, to say, 'I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God Unto salvation.' (Rom. i: 16.) This is the kind of faith by which the worlds were framed; by which Noah prepared an ark; by which the Red Sea was crossed as on dry land; by which the walls of Jericho fell; it was by faith that kingdoms were subdued; righteousness was wrought; {271} promises were obtained, and the mouths of lions were closed. (Heb. xi: 32, 38.) This faith comes by hearing the word of God (Rom. x: 17), and the lack of this faith and the absence of prayer and fasting caused even the Apostles to fail on one occasion in casting out devils. (Matt. xvii: 14, 20.) No wonder, then, that without faith it is impossible to please God. (Heb. xi: 6.) Faith, then, is the first grand stepping-stone to that celestial pathway leading towards salvation. The more we search into eternal truth, the more we discover that God works upon natural principles. All the requirements which He makes of us are very plain and simple. How natural that the principle of faith should be the primary one of our salvation! With what principle are we more familiar? Faith is the first great principle governing all things; but great as it is, it is dead without works. (James ii:14-17.) We must not expect salvation by simply having faith that Jesus is the Christ, for the devils in purgatory are that far advanced. (James ii: 19.) In fact, if you will read the entire second chapter of James you will see that faith without works is as dead and helpless as the body after the spirit has departed from it. It is folly to think of gaining exaltation in His presence unless we obey the principles he advocated (Matt. vii: 21), for no one speaks truthfully by saying he is a disciple of Christ while not observing His commandments. (John viii:31.) In fact, the only way by which man can truthfully say he loves Jesus Christ is by keeping His commandments." (John xiv: 12-21.)

"Is it not recorded in Holy Writ," said the doctor, "that if we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved?"

"You have referred to the words used by Paul and Silas to the keeper of the prison. These disciples were asked by this jailer what should he do to be saved, and was assured, as you have quoted, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.' Then the disciples immediately laid before them those principles which constitute true belief, and not until this man and his house had embraced the principles taught by these disciples were they filled with true belief and really rejoiced. (Acts xvi: 31, 33.) You see by this example that we must not deceive ourselves by thinking that we can be hearers of the word only and not doers. (James i: 22, 23.)

"But," said the lawyer, "here is a passage found in the tenth chapter of Romans, which, in my opinion, will be difficult for you to explain. The passage referred to reads as follows: 'If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the {272} dead, thou shalt be saved.' Now, then, it looks to me as if salvation is here promised through faith alone. How do you explain it?"

"Very easily. Let us thoroughly examine this passage in all its different phases. In the first place, this letter was written by Paul to individuals who were already members of the church. They had rendered obedience to the laws of salvation, and having complied with those requirements were entitled to salvation, providing their testimony remained within them like a living spring; and in order that they should not become lukewarm, Paul exhorted them to continue bearing testimony of the divinity of Christ, and not let their hearts lose sight of the fact that God had raised His Son from the dead, and inasmuch as they kept themselves in this condition, salvation would be theirs. This is the only sensible view one can take of this passage. Unquestionably Paul was speaking to sincere members of the church, who had been correctly initiated into the fold of Christ, not aliens living 1800 years after."

"That appears to be correct, but further on in the same chapter we find this expression: 'For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.' It appears to me here that reference is not made to those who had embraced the gospel and those who had the faith, but salvation is made general to whomsoever shall call upon the name of the Lord." (Rom. x: 13.)

"Exactly, but the next verse gives an explanation so simple that none can fail to understand it: '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? So, then, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.' In other words, if there is faith, there have been works, and having true faith, no person will remain in that condition without complying with further works of salvation to which that faith urges him."

"I see," said Brown, the others remaining silent, but interested; "you are right."

"Now, then, gentlemen," said Durant, "I maintain as before stated, that faith is the first principle of the gospel leading to salvation, but it will not bring us to the summit of the ladder--water--without the other principles."

"Well, suppose we accept this as the first round in the ladder, where will we find the second?"

"The second follows, just as naturally as the second step follows the first when a child learns to walk. When faith in God is once created, the knowledge that we have at some {273} time, perhaps many times during our lives done things displeasing to Him, naturally follows immediately, therefore repentance makes its appearance as the second principle of the gospel. When John came preaching in the wilderness, as the forerunner of Christ, his message to the people was, 'Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.' (Matt. iii: 2.) When Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, it was with a message calling them to repentance. (Mark i: 15.) When He chose His disciples and began sending them forth it was to call mankind to repentance. (Mark vi: 7-12.) When He upbraided the cities wherein the most of His mighty works were done, it was because they repented not. (Matt. xi: 20.) True repentance is that which will cause him who stole to steal no more; that which will keep corrupt communications from our mouths; that which will cause us to so conduct our walks through life as not to grieve the Spirit of God; that which will cause all bitterness, wrath, anger and evil speaking to be put away from us, and will make us kind one to another, tender-hearted and forgiving, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven us. (Ephesians iv: 28-32.) When he who has committed a sin shall commit it no more, then he has repented with that Godly sorrow which worketh repentance to salvation, and not with the sorrow of the world, bringing with it death. (II. Cor. vii: 10.) When a sinner thus repents more joy is found in heaven than over ninety and nine just persons who need no repentance. (Luke xv: 7.) This, then, is the second round in the gospel ladder according to the plan given us by the master, and without it, faith is of no substantial benefit."

"Your reasoning is both logical and just," said Brown, "and no one can find any fault with those doctrines. This world of ours would certainly be more pleasant if these things were followed, and when a person is filled with that kind of faith, and has truly repented, it must be clear that he is entitled to salvation."

"But he must not stop at that," the speaker went on; "there are other principles just as necessary for him to obey. If I am in possession of enough faith to convince me that I have sinned against you, and the knowledge of this causes me sincerely to repent, I must not and cannot rest until I am satisfied I have your forgiveness for the wrong. So it is with sinning against God and His laws; He has marked out the path of repentance and it is our duty to follow that divine way until we arrive at the sacred altar of forgiveness. Sin must be forgiven before it can be wiped out, and God in His wisdom {274} selected and placed in His church water baptism for this purpose. It is a means whereby a man can receive remission of sin."

"And do you really believe that Baptism brings remission of sin?" queried the lawyer.

"Certainly; provided, however, honest faith and sincere repentance go before it, and the ordinance is administered in the proper way by one endowed with divine authority; otherwise I believe it is of no avail whatever."

"It seems to me you surround the principle of baptism with more safeguards than anyone else of whom I have ever heard."

"Perhaps I do, and yet it should not be the case. Every principle of the gospel should be well and carefully protected, and the failure on the part of man to do this is the main cause of so many different so-called plans of salvation existing among us today, when there should be only one true and perfect plan, as found in the days of Christ."

"It does seem strange that there should be so many roads leading, as is claimed, in one direction. I declare, I never thought of that before."

"Well, we will try to cover all those points before we finish. Let us examine this principle. Let us see if the idea of water baptism appears reasonable. The Lord has wisely and kindly selected this form of ordinance for the remission of sins. It was with this object in view that John advocated the principle. (Mark i: 4.) Peter promised it on the day of Pentecost. (Acts ii: 38.) Saul also received aid to arise and have his sins washed away. (Acts xxii: 16.) And so it was taught by different disciples as a means whereby God would remit sins."

"And as you have already stated, there are various modes of baptism among various sects. What is your method?"

"The only correct form is that explained in the Bible. Baptism was performed anciently by immersion, in fact no other mode was thought of until centuries after the day of Christ. The word baptize is from the Greek baptizo or bapto, meaning to plunge or immerse, and such noted writers as Polybius, Strabo, Dion Cassius, Mosheim, Luther, Calvin, Bossuet, Schaaf, Baxter, Jeremy Taylor, Robinson, and others, all agree that with the ancients immersion, and no other form, was baptism. The holy record itself explains the mode so plainly that even a wayfaring man may understand. John selected a certain place on account of there being much water. (John iii: 23.) Christ Himself was baptized in a river, after which He {275} came up out of the water. (Mark i: 5-10.) Both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water (Acts viii: 38, 39), and Paul likens baptism to the burial and resurrection of Christ, dying from sin, buried in water, and resurrection to a new life. (Rom. vi: 3-5.) Jesus declares that a man must be born of the water as well as of the spirit. (John iii: 5.) By being immersed we are born of the water, and we cannot liken baptism to a birth when performed in any other way. How mankind can accept any other form, in the face of all these facts, is more than I can account for. I think enough has been said to show that I am correct in my views regarding the object and mode of baptism, so now let us inquire who are proper subject."

"Why, all who have souls to save, I suppose," said the doctor.

"Yes, providing they have obeyed the two principles, already mentioned; that is, faith and repentance; for Christ commanded His apostles to teach before baptizing. (Matthew xxviii: 19 and 20.) The candidate must believe before he can be baptized (Mark xvi: 16). Before Philip baptized the people of Samaria they believed the gospel as he taught it. (Acts viii: 12.) When the eunuch asked for baptism at the hands of this same disciple, Philip answered: 'If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.' (Acts viii: 37.) All persons, then, who are capable of understanding, are fit subjects for baptism, as soon as they believe and have repented. None are exempt, not even was Cornelius, who was so generous that a report of his good deeds reached the throne of God. His prayers were so mingled with faith that they brought down an angel from heaven; yet through baptism alone was it possible that he could gain membership in the fold of Christ. (Acts x.) We see, then, that all, except little children are proper subject for this ordinance, provided, as stated, they have faith, and have truly repented of their sins."

"And do you claim that little children are exempt?" said the doctor.

"I do; baptism is for the remission of sins, and little children being free from sin, are of necessity exempt."

"I do not see how you make that doctrine accord with the teachings of the Bible. Did not Jesus say, 'Suffer little children to come unto me?'"

"He did, but instead of administering the ordinance of baptism to them, He took them in His arms and blessed them, declaring at the same time that they were pure and free from sin like unto those who are in the kingdom of heaven. A little {276} child is free from sin, is pure in heart, in fact, is the great example of goodness which Christ points out for us to follow. (Mark x: 13-16.) Baptism, then, is for people who are old enough to embrace it intelligently, not for children who cannot understand its significance, and who already belong to the kingdom of heaven."

"We have now examined three of the fundamental principles of the gospel of salvation. There is one more that I wish to touch upon, after which we will discuss a subject that is of more interest to you, perhaps, than any of these. The principle which I now wish to speak of is the gift of the Holy Ghost, which in olden times always followed obedience to the principles we have discussed, and when once received brought with it some of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. When the first sermon was delivered after the crucifixion of Christ, at the time when the apostles were endowed with power from on high, a multitude of people were pricked in their hearts, and asked Peter and the rest of the apostles what they should do. Peter answered this all-important question; and so far as authority to do so was concerned, we must admit that he, of all men at that peculiar time, was fully capable, for he was in possession of the keys of the kingdom of God, bestowed upon him by Christ himself. He was the senior apostle, and, with his brethren, had been endowed with power from above. Therefore, he, more than any minister of our day, occupied a place that enabled him to answer correctly, and with authority."

"You are stating the case properly, but what did he tell them?" queried the man of law.

"His answer is found in the second chapter of Acts, beginning with the 38th verse. You will observe that as soon as he discovered that they had faith, he taught them repentance, then baptism for the remission of sins, and followed these doctrines with a promise of the gift of the Holy Ghost."

"Yes, commencing at the verse mentioned it says: 'Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.'"

"But how were they to receive the Holy Ghost?"

"By the laying on of hands. When Peter went down into Samaria for the purpose of bestowing this gift on those whom Philip had baptized, he did it by the laying on of hands. (Acts viii: 17.) Ananias conferred it upon Paul in the same manner (Acts ix: 17), and Paul did the same in the case of those who {277} were baptized at Ephesus (Acts xix: 2-6); and when people received this birth of the Spirit (John iii: 5), they also received the promised blessings; they were entitled to the signs which He promised would follow; for, said He, 'These signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 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' (Mark xvi: 17, 18). We have now discovered the conditions: faith, repentance, baptism for the remission of sins, and the laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost, with the promise of Christ that the signs shall follow."

"You must remember, my friend, that the signs were only given in order to establish the church in the days of the apostles; but now they are dispensed with and no longer needed."

"To the law and to the testimony," replied Durant, "and give me chapter and verse to substantiate the assertion you have just made."

"If you will read the 13th chapter of the 1st Corinthians, you will learn that 'whether there be prophecies they shall fail, and whether there be tongues they shall cease.'"

"If you will take pains to read the two verses following, you will see that 'we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.' My friend, instead of this quotation proving that these things are done away, it establishes the assertion that they shall remain until perfection shall come. Surely no reasonable man will say that we have come to perfection."

"I have understood that these gifts were no longer needed. This certainly is the conclusion that the ministers of the day have come to."

"But this is not surprising to me, for this good old Bible declares that the time will come when the people will turn from sound doctrine to fables." (II. Tim. iv: 4.)

"I must admit that you have convinced me that baptism is a necessity, and when I am baptized, the ordinance will be performed in the proper manner," said the doctor.

"I am pleased to learn that, but I may have another surprise for you yet. May I ask, who do you intend shall baptize you?"

"My minister, I suppose; why?"

"If the words of the Bible be true, there may be a doubt as to whether your minister is authorized to baptize you."

"Do you mean that these men, ministers of the gospel, have {278} no authority to officiate in that ordinance? I wonder what you will undertake next, but proceed, for I am now prepared for surprises."

"I assure you, my dear sir, I only wish to refer to a few doctrines from the Bible which are necessary to be understood by you in order that you may obtain eternal life. Thus far we have only examined the first principles of the gospel, but now we will speak of the officers whom Christ placed in His Church, and learn by what means men receive authority to act in the name of God. Paul tells us that God has placed 'first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after which gifts of healing,' etc. (I. Cor. xii: 28), and says the work is built upon the foundation of apostles. (Eph. ii: 20.) He furthermore declares that these officers have been placed in the Church for the work of the ministry, and will remain until we all come to a knowledge of the truth. (Eph. iv: 11-13.) Have all mankind come to a knowledge of the truth? If not, why has the Church dispensed with the officers that God placed in it for the purpose of bringing all to a unity of the faith? Paul tells us that these officers were placed in the Church to keep us from being tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine which is taught by man. (Eph. iv: 12-14.) At the present time, when men declare that they have no need of apostles or prophets, they are divided, and subdivided, and in fact carried about by every doctrine that is promulgated--as Paul saw that they would be, if inspired apostles and prophets were not found to lead them. In losing these officers, the Church lost her authority, together with all her gifts and graces, and the so-called Christian Churches today are disrobed of all her beautiful garments; and even those who pretend to defend her are crying out that her gifts, graces and ordinances are useless in this age of the world. Did Christ establish the true order or did He not? We say He did and would ask, has any man a right to change it? And if any man or even an angel from heaven should alter it in the least, will he not come under the condemnation that Paul uttered when he said: 'Though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed?' (Gal. i: 8.) Christ placed these officers and the ordinances in the Church for the perfecting of the Saints; and any one teaching contrary to this is a perverter of the gospel, and an anti-Christ in the full meaning of the word. The difference between the Church of Christ on the one hand, and the Catholic Church, with all her posterity composing the whole protestant world on the other hand, amounts to this: One had apostles, {279} prophets, etc., who led the Church by inspiration or by divine revelation; while the others have learned men to preach learned men's opinions; have colleges to teach divinity instead of the Holy Ghost; instead of preaching the gospel without hire, their ministers must have large salaries each year, and they are not certain of the doctrines which they teach, when they should be in possession of the gift of knowledge, prophecy and revelation. Now then, in what church do we find apostles and prophets?"

The doctor replied, "There are none; but you must remember there must be a preacher, for 'how shall they hear without a preacher?'" (Rom. x: 14.)

"And in the next verse he asks, 'how shall they preach except they be sent?' This same apostle says that no man is to take the honor unto himself, but he that is called of God as was Aaron. (Heb. v: 4.) Aaron was called by revelation (Ex. iv: 14-17); hence we see that no man is to preach the gospel except he be called by revelation from God. As I said instead of men being called by revelation--as the Bible declares they should be--in our day they argue that God has not revealed Himself for almost eighteen hundred years. Go and ask your minister if he has been called by revelation, and he will tell you that such manifestations are not needed now, which assertion I think will prove to you that he has no authority to baptize for the remission of sins."

"But did not Jesus say, 'Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel?'"

"He did, but was He then talking to modern ministers? When He gave His apostles authority to preach, did that give all men who feel disposed to take the honor unto themselves, the same authority? He gave His apostles to understand that they had not chosen Him, but He had chosen them (John xv: 16); but in this day men reverse the condition. Then again, He sent His servants into the world to preach His gospel without purse or scrip. (Luke x: 4.) Paul says his reward is this, 'That when I preach the gospel I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel.' (I. Cor. ix: 18.) Now, go and ask your minister if he does the same, and I think that you will find that he must have a salary."

"Then what has become of the gospel?" said the lawyer.

"Paul says that the coming of Jesus Christ will not be, save there be 'a falling away' (II. Thess. ii: 3) and that 'in the last days perilous times shall come.' (II. Tim. iii: 1.) People 'will not endure sound doctrine,' but will 'heap to themselves {280} teachers having itching ears, and shall turn from the truth to fables (Tim. iv: 3, 4), and will have a form of godliness, but will deny the power thereof.' (II. Tim. iii: 5.) Peter also says these false teachers will make merchandise of the souls of men. (II. Peter ii: 1-3.) They are doing so by demanding a salary for preparing sermons to tickle the people's itching ears. Micah, iii:11, says, 'The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, 'Is it not the Lord among us?' Now, my friends, do not the different sects of the day present us with a literal fulfillment of all these sayings? Have they not transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance and broken the everlasting covenant? (Isaiah xxiv: 5.) John Wesley in his 94th sermon, referring to the condition of the Church after it had departed from the right way and lose the gifts, says: 'The real cause why the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian Church was because the Christians were turned heathen again and had only a dead form left.'"

"It would appear, then, that God has forsaken mankind and left us without any hope," said Mr Marshall.

"No, He has not; but this falling away is the result of mankind forsaking God, by changing His gospel and departing from its teachings, as I have already shown. But He has promised through His servants, that there would be a dispensation when He would gather together all things in Christ (Eph. i: 10), and would restore all things which He has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. (Acts iii: 20, 21.) This dispensation was called the dispensation of the fullness of times. (Eph. i: 10.) Daniel, who received by revelation, the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, saw what would take place in later times, when the God of heaven would set up a kingdom. (Dan. ii: 44.) John, the revelator, while on the desolate island, Patmos (some ninety years after Christ), saw how this gospel would be restored: Namely, that an angel would bring it from heaven. (Rev. xiv: 6), and Christ says it 'shall be preached in all the world as a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.' (Matt. xxiv: 14.) As God is always the same, and has but one plan for the redemption of the human family, we may expect to see the same gospel with like promises preached in a similar way. Where do we find it as it existed anciently? But as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. (Matt. xxiv: 37; Luke xvii: 26, 27.) Noah was sent by the Lord to foretell the coming of the flood, {281} but the people rejected his testimony; in fact, whenever God has revealed His mind and will to men in days gone by, the world, instead of receiving the same, have rejected the message and said all manner of evil concerning the prophets, and in many instances have killed them, as was the case with Christ Himself. Now then, my friends, we are living in the dispensation of the fullness of times when God is gathering together all things in Christ. An angel has come from the heavens and brought the everlasting gospel, and on the 6th day of April, 1830, God--through revelation to man--organized the Church of Jesus Christ, in the exact pattern of the true Church, as it existed in the days of Christ, with apostles, and prophets, and since that day the servants of God have been traveling through the world preaching the same, as a witness that the end will soon come. They call upon mankind to exercise faith in God our eternal Father, and in His Son Jesus Christ; also to repent of and turn from their sins, and be baptized by one who has been called of God by revelation, and receive the laying on of hands for the bestowal of the Holy Ghost. As servants of God they then promise that the convert shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or man (John vii: 17); and, furthermore, that the signs which followed the believers in the days of the ancient apostles will follow the believer at the present time, for the same cause will always produce the same effect. My friends, as a servant of God, I call upon you to obey these principles and you shall have the promised blessings. I am an Elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. My home is in Salt Lake City, Utah."

The listeners were very much surprised, but those who read the quotations from the Bible, were not slow to inform Mr. Durant that the Good Book substantiated his argument. Thanking him for the patient explanation of his belief, each obtained his card containing the articles of faith of his Church, and bidding each other good-night, all retired.

CONCLUSION.

Kind reader, a word before we separate; if you are not a member of what is commonly called the Mormon Church, having read the foregoing pages, you must certainly acknowledge that you know more concerning its doctrines, from a "Mormon" standpoint, than you ever knew before.

We have tried to present to you, in a plain and very simple {282} manner, some of the first principles of our faith, the true gospel of Jesus Christ. What do you think of them? Will they, or will they not, stand scrutiny? It is left with you to answer, and as God has blessed you with free agency, it is your privilege to judge and decide.

Do not treat these doctrines indifferently, nor carelessly throw them aside.

Should they be true, the message is of the utmost importance to you. Surrounded with so many proofs, the faith of the Latter-Day Saints demands your further investigation.

Books, tracts, and sermons, in great numbers, and within easy reach, are at your command. Read, listen, investigate! Thousands have done so before, and bear testimony to having received a knowledge of the divine truth, as herein presented.

I part from you with the words of the poet--

"Know this, that every soul is free To choose his life and what he'll be, For this eternal truth is given, That God will force no man to heaven.

"He'll call, persuade, direct aright-- Bless him with wisdom, love, and light-- In nameless ways be good and kind But never force the human mind.

"Freedom and reason make us men; Take these away, what are we then? Mere animals, and just as well, The beasts may think of heaven or hell."

{283}

NIGHT OF THE MARTYRDOM.

BY APOSTLE ORSON HYDE, IN HIS PUBLICATION, "THE FRONTIER GUARDIAN," UNDER DATE OF JUNE 27, 1849, ISSUED AT COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA.

Twenty-seventh of June, 1844. Eventful period in the calendar of the nineteenth century! That awful night! I remember it well: I shall never forget it! Thousands and tens of thousands will never forget it! A solemn thrill--a melancholy awe comes o'er my spirit! The memorable scene is fresh before me! It requires no art of the pencil, no retrospection of history, to portray it. The impression of the Almighty Spirit on that occasion will run parallel with eternity! The scene was not portrayed by earthquake, or thunderings, and lightnings, and tempests; but the majesty and sovereignty of Jehovah was felt far more impressively in the still, small voice of that significant hour, than the roaring of many waters, or the artillery of many thunders, when the spirit of Joseph was driven back to the bosom of God, by an ungrateful and bloodthirsty world! There was an unspeakable something, a portentious significancy on the firmament and among the inhabitants of the earth. Multitudes felt the whisperings of woe and grief, and the forebodings of tribulation and sorrow that they will never forget, though the tongue of man can never utter it. The Saints of God, whether near the scene of blood, or even a thousand miles distant, felt at the very moment the Prophet lay in royal gore, that an awful deed was perpetrated. O, the repulsive chill! the melancholy vibrations of the very air, as the prince of darkness receded in hopeful triumph from the scene of slaughter! That night could not the Saints sleep, though uninformed by man of what had passed with the Seer and Patriarch, and far, far remote from the scene; yet to them sleep refused a visitation--the eyelids refused to close--the hearts of many sighed deeply in secret, and inquired, "Why am I thus?"

One of the Twelve Apostles, while traveling a hundred {284} miles from the scene of assassination, and totally ignorant of what was done, was so unaccountably sad, and filled with such unspeakable anguish of heart without knowing the cause, that he was constrained to turn aside from the road and give utterance to his feelings in tears and supplications to God. Another Apostle, twelve hundred miles distant, while standing in Faneuil Hall, Boston, Massachusetts, with many others, was similarly affected, and was obliged to turn aside to hide the big tears that gushed thick and long from his eyes. Another, President of the High Priests, while in the distant state of Kentucky, in the solitude of midnight, being marvelously disquieted, God condescended to show him, in a vision, the mangled bodies of the two murdered worthies, all dripping in purple gore, who said to him, "We are murdered by a faithless state and cruel mob."

Shall I attempt to describe the scene at Nauvoo on that memorable evening? If I could, surely you would weep, whatever may be your faith or skepticism, if the feelings of humanity are lodged in your bosom; all prejudice and mirth would slumber, till the eye of pity had bedewed the bier, and the heart had found relief in lamentation. Before another day dawned, the messenger bore the tidings into the afflicted city; the picket guards of the city heard the whisper of murder in silent amazement, as the messenger passed into the city. There the pale muslin signal for gathering the troops hung its drooping folds from the Temple spire (as if partaking of nature's sadness), and made tremulous utterance to the humble soldiery to muster immediately. As the dawn made the signal visible, and the bass tone of the great drum confirmed the call, fathers, husbands, and minor sons, all seized the broken fragment of a dodger, or a scanty bone, for the service that might be long and arduous before their return, or swallowed some thickened milk (as might be the case), and fled to the muster ground; the suspicious mother and children followed to the door and window, anxious to see the gathering hosts emerge from their watch-posts and firesides, where rest and food were scanted to the utmost endurance. The troops continued to arrive, and stood in martial order, with a compressed lip and a quick ear. They waited with deathly but composed silence, to hear the intelligence that mournful spirits had saddened their hearts with during the night. The speaker stood up in the midst, not of a uniform soldiery of hirelings, for they had no wages; their clothing was the workmanship of the diligent domestic--the product of wife and daughters' arduous toil; their rations {285} were drawn from the precarious supplies earned in the intervals between preaching to the states and nations of the earth, and watching against the intrusions and violence of mobs. The speaker announced the martyrdom of the Prophet and Patriarch, and paused under the heavy burden of the intelligence.

But here I must pause; my pen shall touch lightly, as it must feebly, that hallowed--that solemn and ever-memorable hour! The towering indignation; the holy and immutable principle of retribution for crime that dwells eternally in the bosom of God, insensibly impelled the right hand almost to draw the glittering sword, and feel the sharpness of the bayonet's point and its fixedness to the musket's mouth. But the well-planted principle of self-command, and also of observing the order of Heaven and the counsel of the Priesthood, soon returned the deadly steel to the scabbard; and the victorious triumph of loyalty to God, in committing evil-doers to Him that judgeth righteously, and who hath said, "Vengeance is mine, and I will repay," prevailed over the billows of passion; and in the transit of a fleeting moment the holy serenity of the soldiery, depicted by an occasional tear, showed to the angels and men that the tempest of passion was hushed, and wholly under the control of the spirit of wisdom and of God!

It is just as mean and contemptible in the eyes of angels and the Almighty, to go to law, and thereby wrong a fellow-being, as it is to steal his property.

--Brigham Young.

{286}

DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS: ITS FAITH AND TEACHINGS.

BY ELDER JOHN MORGAN.

"Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."--JOHN v. 39.

"To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."--ISAIAH VIII., 20.

We believe in God the Eternal Father, and in His Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.

We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression.

We believe that, through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

We believe that to obtain salvation it is necessary to obey the following principles of truth.

FAITH.

The principle of faith is the moving cause of all action. A man must have faith to believe that God will answer his prayers before he will offer them. It requires faith to accomplish any given work to which we set our hands.

Noah had faith in the promise God made to him, while the world of mankind perished through their lack of faith. Faith caused Noah to act, while the unbelieving people of his day, who had not faith, derided and refused to accept his testimony, and the result was that Noah and his household were saved, while destruction overtook the unbelievers.

Lot believed the word of the Lord and fled out of Sodom while the people stood still and perished.

The same results follow the acceptance or rejection of the principle in all ages of the world.

{287} "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. x., 17). "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). "For unto us was the Gospel preached, as well as unto then.: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it" (Heb. iv., 2).

REPENTANCE.

Repentance we believe to be sorrow for and turning from sin, not moaning and groaning over the past and continuing the same way of living; but to quit lying, drinking, swearing, stealing, and to be honest, virtuous, charitable, forgiving, and to serve God in spirit and truth--this is repentance.

"Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke xiii., 3). "Repent ye, and believe the Gospel" (Mark i., 15). "Repent * * * * every one of you" (Acts ii., 38). God "commandeth all men everywhere to repent" (Acts xvii., 30). "Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbors * * * neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more: * * * Let no corrupt communication proceed out Of your mouth, * * grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. * * * Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice" (Eph. iv., 25-31). "Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like: of the which * * they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God" (Gal. v., 21).

BAPTISM.

The necessity for baptism was plainly taught by our Saviour and the Apostles. Comparatively speaking, it stood in the same light to the kingdom or church of God that the oath of allegiance does to any temporal government. Jesus stated to Nicodemus that a man could not enter the kingdom of God without having first obeyed this ordinance.

To become a citizen of an earthly government where a person is not born so, a man is required to subscribed to a certain prescribed oath. To become a citizen of the government of God requires that a person must be baptized in water, in obedience to the command of the Great Head of the government, and the laws of the kingdom as they are found in the Bible, the book of commandments for the Church of Christ.

"Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved:" (Mark xvi., 15, 16). "Verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John, iii., 5). "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name {288} of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost" (Matt. xxviii., 19). "Repent, and be baptized, every one of you" (Acts ii., 38).

Its form should be by immersion. "Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through faith" (Col. ii., 12.) "Were all baptized of Him in the River of Jordan" (Matt. iii., 6; Mark i., 5-9). "Jesus when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water" (Matt. iii., 16; Mark i., 10). "John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there" (John iii., 23). "And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water" (Acts viii., 36-39).

ITS OBJECT.-"John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins" (Mark i., 4). "And he came into the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins" (Luke iii., 3 ). "Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins" (Acts ii., 38). "Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins" (Acts xxii., 16).

RECEPTION OF THE HOLY GHOST BY THE LAYING ON OF HANDS.

The vital importance of this ordinance seems to be entirely overlooked by the majority of the Christian world, yet the most emphatic stress was placed upon it by the early teachers of Christianity. It is referred to frequently by every writer in the New Testament.

The nature of its workings and the manner of obtaining it were carefully dwelt upon by the various writers, and it does seem that only willful blindness could so far lead the people away from the primitive custom and practice of laying on of hands to acquire this gift.

But some may answer, "We are already in possession of the Holy Ghost."

We ask then, "Will it do the same things it did anciently?" If not, why not? What has caused it to lose its power, and become the uncertain teacher it is to-day? For if the Christian world of the present age is in possession of this blessing, why does it teach the people of one church that a certain principle is true, and the people of another church that the same principle is untrue? What of the multiplied thousands of beliefs, creeds, faiths, dogmas and doctrines that flood the land? Are they all inspired by the Spirit of God, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and sustained by the doctrines of the Bible? If not, which are right and which wrong?

{289} These are questions of great importance, and should be well considered. Let the word of God speak for itself in the following quotations:

"And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues and prophesied" (Acts xix., 6). "Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. And when Simon saw that through laying on of the Apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money" (Acts viii., 17-19). "Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of hands of the presbytery" (I. Tim. iv., 14). "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" (II. Tim. i. 6). "Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands" (Heb. vi., 2). "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. * * * 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; to another the interpretation of tongues" (see context, I. Cor. xii). "Our Gospel came, in power * * and in the Holy Ghost" (I. Thess. i., 5). "And ye SHALL receive the gift of the Holy Ghost" (Acts ii., 38).

We here introduce the testimony of some of the Christian writers who wrote immediately after the death or banishment of the Apostles:

Tertullian, in the second century, says: "After baptism, succeeds the laying on of hands, with prayer, calling for the Holy Ghost."

Cyprian, writing in the third century, says: "Our practice is, that those who have been baptized in to the church should be presented that by prayer and imposition of hands they may receive the Holy Ghost."

Augustine, in the fourth century, says: "We still do what the Apostles did when they laid their hands on the Samaritans and called down the Holy Ghost upon them" (Gahan's Church History, page 73; Mosheim's Church History, volume I, page 91).

AUTHORITY.

We believe that a man must be endowed with authority before God will recognize his acts as a minister of the Gospel.

"Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you" (John xv., 16).

"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).

{290} "He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me" (John xiii., 20).

"As thou has sent me into the world" (John xvii., 18).

"Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matt. xviii., 18).

"And when they had ordained them elders in every church" (Acts xiv., 23).

"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? (Rom. x., 14, 15).

"And no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron" (Heb. v., 4).[A]

[Footnote A: "Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee he will be glad in his heart. And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words into his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth: and will teach you what he shall do." (Exodus iv., 14, 15.)]

"But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you, than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed" (Gal. i., 8).

These were the principles taught by the Savior and His Apostles, and we see no reason for their alteration and change to the present accepted ideas of the Christian world; and but for

APOSTACY.

of the primitive Christian church, they would have remained emphatically the same, with apostles, prophets, healings, gifts, tongues, etc., to the present day.

Paul, by the Spirit of the Holy Ghost, wrote to the Saints, prophesying of the future. "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils" (I. Tim., iv,1).

"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, with the giver of usury to him. * * * The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant (Isaiah, xxiv., 2-5).

"And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the Saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hands until a time and times and the dividing of them" (Dan. vii., 25).

"And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the {291} beast. * * * 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" (Rev. xiii., 4-7).

"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. * * * Let no man deceive you by any means: FOR THAT DAY SHALL NOT COME, except there come a FALLING AWAY FIRST" (_II. Thess. ii._, 1-3).

"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 pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away" (II. Tim. iii., 1-5).

"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. Tim. iv., 3, 4).

"The priests thereof teach for hire." (Micah iii., 11).

From the foregoing the reader can readily see that the prophets and apostles of God were looking forward to the time when the Saints would be overcome, their church broken up, their officers killed, and no one left upon the earth with authority to administer in the ordinances of the Gospel. No prophets, no apostles, no gift of the Holy Ghost, no one to act as a mouthpiece to the children of men. Only darkness and unbelief, war and bloodshed, strife and contention, division and discord, lo here and lo there.

Through all the long ages, from the day when the power of a corrupt and licentious church overcame the Saints of the Most High, drove them into dens and caves of the mountains; caused them to wander, clothed in sheep skins and the skins of wild animals; killed the prophets of God, and drove the priesthood from the face of the earth, men, left to their own devices, went into such excesses that angels must have wept over their condition.

The laws of God were ignored, the ordinances were changed, and the everlasting covenant was broken. The "woman" (church) arrayed in purple and scarlet, drunken with the blood of the Saints, mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots, rose up and bore universal sway; and, as time passed by, gave birth to a legion of Children--churches (Rev. xvii., 4-6).

"The mystery of iniquity doth already work; only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the away. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming" (II. Thess. ii., 7 8).

{292} These were the words of the great Apostle; and, reader, by examining the balance of the chapter, you can form some idea of the great power that was to grow up and deceive the nations of the earth, perverting the Gospel, teaching men and women that prophets and apostles were not necessary, that the gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer required; until to-day warring, jarring Christianity has become a spectacle to the whole world.

Confusion confounded reigns supreme--wars and rumors of wars on every hand--until the heart sickens and the soul faints in contemplation of the terrible condition to which poor, suffering, deceived and misguided humanity has been brought.

The power of the evil one would seem to have obtained universal sway over the hearts of men, leading them on the broad road to destruction, with no power sufficient to stem the nightly current of sin.

RESTORATION.

But a just God has decreed that the day should come when "Righteousness shall cover the earth, as the waters cover the great deep," or in other words, "at the end of a time and times and dividing of time," He would again assert His power and authority on the earth, and bring to pass His purposes.

"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" (Dan. ii., 44).

This prophecy of Daniel affords us some conception of the power of the kingdom. By reading the entire chapter we learn that Daniel's interpretation of the king's dream ended with the setting up of the kingdom of God upon the earth never more to be thrown down.

The Babylonish kingdom, which flourished in the days of Daniel, in the fifth and sixth centuries before Christ, was succeeded by the Medo-Persian government from 538 to 331, B. C. The Macedonian kingdom, founded by Alexander the Great, continued from 331 to 161, B.C.; while the Roman empire succeeded the last named kingdom, from 161, B. C., to 483, A. D.

These governments successively represented the head of gold, the breast and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, and the legs of iron.

Now, lastly, should come the kingdoms represented by the feet and toes, or the KINGDOMS OF TO-DAY, partly strong and partly broken. In the days of THESE kings should the God of heaven set up a kingdom never more to be thrown down.

{293} "But," says one, "that was accomplished in the days of Christ!"

No, certainly not; for if so, why then did He, when He instructed His disciples to pray, tell them to pray for an already accomplished fact: "Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven?" Have Christians throughout the world, for nearly two thousand years past, been taught to pray for the coming of an event which had already transpired?

The dividing of times has not yet come: but by turning to the Book of Revelation, we read how the power and authority of God, and the principles of the true and everlasting Gospel were to be restored to the earth; how the kingdom spoken of by Daniel, and prayed for by the disciples, was to be set up never more to be thrown down, how the kingdoms of this world were to become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ; how the promise of Jesus was about to be made good, that upon this ROCK (of revelation) would He found His church, and the gates of hell should not prevail against it, and how the Saints should possess the kingdom of the Most High.

John the Revelator, bound and captive upon the Isle of Patmos, had the vision of heaven opened up to him, and he saw an angel leave the throne of God and wend his flight to this planet. A new song was being sung in heaven; the day and hour had come when the dispensation of the fullness of times was to be ushered in (Eph. i., 10; Matt. xxiv., 31), when God would send His angels to bring order out of chaos, system out of confusion, and gather His people (the honest-in-heart) together in one place, that they might prepare themselves to welcome the Great King of the world when He should come in clouds of glory, surrounded by His angels.

"I saw," says John, "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" (Rev. xiv., 6, 7).

This, then, was how the gospel was to be restored to the earth.

"But," says the reader, "I thought the Gospel was already upon the earth."

If so, what necessity was there for an angel to come from heaven with the everlasting gospel, if it was already being taught to men? And, dear reader, you can readily see that none are excepted. It was to every nation, kindred, tongue, {294} and people--proving conclusively that the Gospel was not on the earth, but that the day had come when darkness covered the earth and gross darkness the people.

How must the angels around the throne have shouted for joy when the decree went forth, and the commandment was given for the initiatory steps to be taken to reclaim this planet from the grasp of "Lucifer the son of the morning," and to fit and prepare it for the habitation of angels, celestialized beings and God!

How must our mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters, in the spirit world, with all the saints of by-gone ages, have rejoiced to know that the redemption of the world was nigh, and the promise of Paul to the Thessalonians (I., iv., 16) that "the dead in Christ shall rise first," was to be made good!

Reader, we now beg of you to lay aside prejudice, and to examine what follows, with an honest intention and a desire to do right; to know the will of God and to do it; for great and mighty events are daily transpiring, that were prophesied of by all the holy prophets, from the days of Adam down until today.

The Gospel that the angel was to bring back to the earth was for every nation.

Angels have not, in times gone by, preached to or taught the masses of the people, but have delegated this power to men. So, in this instance, men became the recipients of the precious charge, the Everlasting Gospel.

TESTIMONY OF THE THREE WITNESSES.

"Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, unto whom this work [A] shall come. * * We declare with words of soberness, that an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates, and engraving thereon; and we know that it is by the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, that we beheld and bear record that these things are true, and it is marvelous in our eyes, nevertheless the voice of the Lord commanded us that we should bear record of it, wherefore to be obedient unto the commandments of God, we bear testimony of these things. And we know that if we are faithful in Christ, we shall rid our garments of the blood of all men, and be found spotless before the judgment-seat of Christ, and shall dwell with Him eternally in the heavens.

"OLIVER COWDERY,

"DAVID WHITMER,

"MARTIN HARRIS."

[Footnote A: The Book of Mormon.]

We have now hurriedly traced the outlines of the doctrines of Jesus Christ as they were in the primitive Christian church; {295} the apostacy of the people from the truth, the fulfillment of the prophecies of great and mighty prophets; the building up of an apostate church, the whore of all the earth, the mother of harlots; noticing the fact that she gave birth to a numerous offspring, who, true to their born instincts, as like begets like, are to-day vigorously engaged in throwing stones at their mother church, or grandmother, as the case may be.

We have shown how the Gospel was to be restored to the earth, and have given the testimony of the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon. We will now examine further proof relative to this remarkable proclamation.

We have seen that, so far, it has been incontestably shown that if the Bible be true, in no other way than this could God's work have been brought about. We now quote from the history of Joseph Smith, the great Latter-day Prophet, Seer and Revelator:

"We [Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery] still continued the work of translation; when in the ensuing month [May, 1829,] we on a certain day went into the woods to pray, and inquire of the Lord respecting baptism for the remission of sins.

"While we were thus employed, praying and calling upon the Lord, a messenger from heaven descending in a cloud of light, and having laid his hands upon us, he ordained us; saying unto us--'Upon you, my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah, I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the Gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins: and this shall never be taken from the earth, until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness.'

"The messenger who visited us on this occasion, and conferred this Priesthood upon us, said that his name was John, the same that is called John the Baptist in the New Testament; and that he acted under the direction of Peter, James and John, who held the keys of the Melchisedec Priesthood, and who in due season visit us and confer that, the higher Priesthood, upon us, which holds the keys of the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost and right to all the offices in the church."

Thus was the way opened up for the ushering in of the great latter-day dispensation and the fullness of the everlasting Gospel.

"And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man" (Luke xvii., 26); and as Noah knew when the flood was to come, and prepared himself therefor, so the comparison would not be complete unless some knew of the second coming of the Savior.

"But," says one, "of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only" (Matt. xxiv., 36); and the same might have been said appropriately of the {296} birth of our Lord two thousand years prior thereto. But as the first coming was heralded by angels who came to the shepherds upon the plains of Bethlehem, and lighted the earth with their glory, singing the glad songs of "Peace on earth, good will toward men," so His second coming was ushered in by visits to the earth of great and mighty angels.

John the Baptist came to confer the Priesthood of Aaron.

Peter, James and John the Revelator came to confer the Melchisedec Priesthood.

Elijah came (Mal. iv., 5) to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers. (I. Peter iii., 18, 19, 20; iv., 6; I. Cor. xv., 19-29).

Moses came to confer the keys of the gathering of the house of Israel to their promised land--the carrying of the Jews back to Jerusalem, of the ten tribes from the north country (Jer. xxxi., 8, 9; Ezek. xx., 34, 35), and of the descendants of Joseph (The American Indians) to their possessions.

Michael, or Adam, came to give the authority that links the generation of men together, from the days of Father Adam down to to-day.

In short, all the authority necessary has been received to enable men to become co-workers with Jehovah, angels and the spirits of just men made perfect, in building up an everlasting kingdom, instead of the man-made governments of today. A kingdom is to be established to which the Great King shall speedily come, "in the clouds of glory," surrounded by His angels; and the Saints of other days, who are singing the songs of heaven, will speedily have fulfilled the words of John, "He has made us kings and priests unto the Lord our God, and we shall reign on earth."

The promise of Jesus that the "meek shall inherit the earth" is coming to pass, as also the words of Job: "I know that my redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another" (Job xix., 25-27).

All these and many more grand and glorious promises are about to be fulfilled. The decree has gone forth, God hath declared by His own mouth, and the mouths of all the holy prophets, that His power and authority over the earth will be asserted; and who is man, to contend with God?

An appeal is made to the honest in heart to heed this call--to pause, to mediate, to ask God, "who giveth to all men liberally," for wisdom to know what to do.

{297} Here are evidences worthy of their attention:

The testimony of the three witnesses; the signs following the believers; the eyes of the blind opened; the ears of the deaf unstopped; the tongue of the dumb made to sing; the lame man to leap as an hart; devils cast out; unknown tongues spoken, and the interpretation thereof given by the spirit of inspiration; prophecy fulfilled, and the Spirit of God making manifest to the honest in heart the great fact that God has again spoken from the heavens.

Many questions are asked relative to our belief on the subject of gathering, and we again turn to the Scriptures to answer the questions:

These things are not done or spoken in a dark corner, but as good men as are in existence to-day testify of them.

"And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it" (Isa. ii., 2-4).

"And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly" (Isa. v., 26).

"And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel (not the Jews alone, but all Israel) and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth" (Isa. xi., 12).

"I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers" (Jer. xxx., 3).

"Behold I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the coasts of the earth" (Jer. xxxi., 814).

"I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered" (Ezek. xx., 34).

"I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land" (Ezek. xxxvi., 24).

"Blow the trumpet, * * gather the people, * * assemble the Elders (Joel ii., 15, 16).

"And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds" (Matt. xxiv., 31).

"That in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth" (Eph. i., 10).

"Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues" (Rev. xviii., 4).

The reader asks, "What are we to come out of?"

Out of "Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth" (Rev. xvii., 5).

"Who and what is that?"

"The waters which thou sawest where the whore (mystery, Babylon) sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues" (Rev. xvii., 15).

{298} So out of every nation, kindred, tongue and people shall the honest in heart be gathered to a great central gathering place, to be protected while the scourges of God pass over the earth. Read the following prophecy and study the signs of the times:

Spotted a typo or a problem in this chapter? Tell us