"Verily thus saith the Lord concerning the wars that will shortly
come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina, which
will eventually terminate in the death and misery of many souls.
"The day will come that war will be poured out upon all nations,
beginning at that place.
"For behold the Southern States shall be divided against the
Northern States, and the Southern States will call on other
nations, even the nation of Great Britain, as it is called,
and they shall also call upon other nations in order to defend
themselves against other nations; and thus war shall be poured out
upon all nations.
"And it shall come to pass after many days slaves shall rise up
against their masters, who shall be marshalled and disciplined for
war.
"And it shall come to pass also, that the remnants who are left
of the land will marshal themselves, and shall become exceedingly
angry, and shall vex the Gentiles with a sore vexation;
"And thus, with the sword and by bloodshed, the inhabitants of the
earth shall mourn; and with famine, and plagues, and earthquakes,
and the thunder of heaven, and the fierce and vivid lightnings
also, shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the wrath
and indignation and chastening hand of an Almighty God, until the
consumption decreed hath made a full end of all nations;
"That the cry of the Saints, and the blood of the Saints, shall
cease to come up in the ears of the Lord of Sabbaoth, from the
earth, to be avenged of their enemies.
"Wherefore stand ye in holy places and be not moved, until the day
of the Lord come; for behold it cometh quickly, saith the Lord.
Amen."
Has this prophecy been fulfilled? Let the people of the North and South
answer the query.
Let the thoughtful reader stop and reflect for a moment on the
condition of affairs upon the face of the whole earth. The sword is
reaping its harvest of death; nation warring against nation, and
kingdom against kingdom. Famine is asserting its sway and untold
thousands are starving, perishing, dying for lack of food. Pestilence,
in all its horrid forms, stalks in the train of these dire calamities.
Earthquakes are making the earth to tremble. Storms, whirlwinds and
cyclones are sweeping away cities, towns and villages. The sea, heaving
itself beyond its bounds, is thundering its testimonies into the ears
of the children of men. Signs in the heavens above and in the earth
beneath, betoken the fact that great and mighty events are at our
doors. Fear has taken hold upon the hearts of the {299} strong men and
the mighty men. Man distrusts his fellowman. Nations and people have
become corrupted; fraud and speculation are sapping the vitals of the
man-made governments of the earth. The people are tossed to and fro by
every wind of doctrine that comes along, and when will the end be?
Startle not, reader, for it will not be until He comes whose right is
to rule and reign as King of kings. Not until Jesus of Nazareth sets
His feet upon the earth and brings order out of chaos, system out of
confusion, and bids the angry waves of the sin-tossed world, "Peace, be
still," will there be peace among men.
"Now," says one, "I understand His meaning when He said, 'I come not to
bring peace, but a sword;'" but thanks be to the Most High, the day is
near at hand when "the meek shall inherit the earth," when sorrow and
sighing shall flee away, when "the tabernacle of God," will be "with
men, and He will dwell with them. * * And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor
crying, neither shall there be any more pain" (_Rev. xxi._, 3, 4).
But oh! the woe, the want, the misery, the evils and the lamentation
that will go up from the face of the earth before that day does come!
All ye people of the earth, heed, oh, heed the warning voice that God
sends to you and go out from the midst of Babylon ere another angel
shall fly through the midst of heaven saying, "Babylon is fallen, is
fallen."
Ye Saints of the living God, cease not your efforts until your feet
stand in safe places, in the tops of the mountains, in the shadow of
"the house of the God of Jacob," where you may more fully learn of "His
ways and walk in His paths;" for the day is near at hand when "the law
shall go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem"
(_Micah iv._, 2).
The time is fast approaching when the "kingdoms of this world shall
become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ," and when John's
prophetic vision shall be fulfilled: "And I saw thrones, and they sat
upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of
them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of
God, * * * and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years"
(_Rev. xx._, 4).
The time has come for the righteous-the redeemed "out of every kindred,
and tongue, and people, and nation," to be gathered out, to become
kings and priests unto God, and to "reign on the earth" (_Rev. v._, 9,
10).
{300} AUTHORITY.
In brief manner this subject has been previously alluded to, but a more
extended examination is deemed necessary, owing to the importance that
attaches to it.
This principle enters largely into every department of man's existence
upon the earth. Governments are mainly founded upon it, and _authority_
is fundamentally necessary to establish republics, empires, monarchies
and principalities.
The President of the United States must first conform to certain
laws and requirements before his acts as President are legal and
binding upon the people; so also with all the affairs of the general
government. And this is likewise true of the state officials, including
the governors, judges, legislators, sheriffs, magistrates, and even
the unimportant office of bailiff can only be filled by a man who has
fulfilled all the requirements necessary and demanded by the law of the
land.
A man who would undertake to fill one of the offices alluded to,
without conforming to the law, would be counted an impostor and dealt
with as the law directs.
All civilized nations recognize this principle and act accordingly.
Even church organizations place great stress upon the necessity that
there exists for men to be ordained to their several offices; and a
man, before he can legally perform, the marriage ceremony, must first
conform to certain rules and laws laid down by the church authority to
render the marriage legal. A lay member could not act in the capacity
of an elder until authority had been granted him by those who held the
power to give authority. Neither could an elder fill the office of a
bishop without first conforming to certain rules.
These rules are necessary to the good government of society and the
people generally, and without them confusion confounded would reign
supreme.
If every man who desired to act as governor was to set up his claims
and be allowed to act in that capacity, there would be an end to
order. So with all other offices. A few men would sustain one man, as
governor, other men would sustain another man, and still other men
would sustain their man, until eventually brute force would be the
means whereby men would hold their offices.
This principle applies also to admitting men to be citizens of a
government. A man who comes from some foreign nation and seeks to
become a citizen of the United States must obtain his papers of
citizenship and take the oath of allegiance. Not only must he attend
to these duties, but he must see that the {301} officer who signs his
papers and administers the oath is a duly accredited officer of the
government; otherwise his papers are worthless and he is not yet a
citizen.
If these things be true as regards man's temporal affairs, how much
more true are they when applied to eternal salvation.
Daniel, the young Hebrew prophet, had the visions of futurity opened
up to him and saw the time when God would establish a kingdom upon the
earth, never more to be thrown down. (_Dan. ii._, 44; _vii._, 27).
Many hundreds of years after Daniel's day, Jesus of Nazareth came
upon the earth and reiterated the assertion of Daniel, and told His
disciples to continue "unceasingly to pray for that kingdom to be set
up," and through one of His apostles He revealed how the kingdom was to
be established.
John the beloved disciple says: "I saw another angel fly in the midst
of heaven, having the everlasting gospel" [or the laws of the kingdom]
"to preach" [or proclaim] "unto them that dwell on the earth" (_Rev.
xiv._, 6).
It would naturally be supposed that the heavenly messenger would be
endowed with authority to empower men to admit citizens into the
kingdom he came to establish, and that no one could take this authority
unto himself, "but he that is called of God as was Aaron;" and that he
who might dare to do so, without first being authorized, would render
himself liable to the penalty God's law inflicts upon all impostors,
usurpers and wolves in sheep's clothing generally.
"Seek ye _first_ the kingdom of God," was the command of the Great
King, who in the future is to rule over this kingdom. But before the
reader can do so he must first find out what it is like; and in this
matter we are not left in doubt, for Jesus and His apostles have
placed upon record the names of the officers necessary in the kingdom,
the necessary laws to govern and control it, the manner of admitting
citizens and, in short, all the details, so that the "wayfaring man,
though a fool, need not err" in seeking to obey the command, "seek ye
first the kingdom of God."
By turning to the writings of Paul (_I. Cor. xii._, 28), we find that
"God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets,
thirdly teachers."
Now if this is the pattern of the officers of the kingdom (church),
all we have to do is to start upon our search and examine the various
claims that are set up; for there are a multitude of organizations that
lay claim to the title of the church or kingdom of God.
It is not necessary to hunt in the midst of the heathen and {302} pagan
nations of the earth, for they lay no claim to the title, but will
answer you frankly, "We know nothing of your kingdom or its officers."
Then let us turn to the Catholic world and examine their claims. We
find that they have a pope, cardinals and priests, but no apostles
nor prophets, _no officers to correspond with the description given
by Paul_. Next let us view the Protestant denominations. Go back to
the earliest reformers, Huss, Luther, Melanchthon, Calvin, Knox, Henry
VIII, and Wesley. Examine all their organizations and we find none of
them lay claim to having these officers in their churches, but, on the
contrary, ignore and repudiate them by saying, "They are no longer
needed."
Examine all denominations, all orders, all faiths, and we find that in
this respect they are deficient and lacking, while poor, weak, fallible
man sets up his judgment, and by man's wisdom seeks to enter the
kingdom of God.
The Christian world acknowledges that it takes legal authority to make
a man a citizen of any temporal government set up by man, but when
it comes to the government of God, any man who sees proper to do so
can set out with a new set of ideas, called a creed, and establish
a church, baptize, bless the communion, and go forward in this way,
ordaining men to various offices, and yet denying all the time that God
has revealed anything, or bestowed any gift of authority.
Are these legal officers of the kingdom of God? Is the reader so far
lost in the mazes of tradition as to suppose for one moment that God
will recognize officers appointed in any such way, much less their acts?
But lest we do injustice to these different denominations, let us
give them one more chance to prove their position correct; for we
would gladly avoid seeing the whole Christian world in error and
transgression.
Paul, the great apostle, says that God placed in the Church, in
addition to its officers, "miracles, then gifts of healings, helps,
governments, diversities of tongues," and urged upon the people to seek
earnestly for these gifts.
Search the world over and find, if you can, an organization, other
than that represented by the Latter-Day Saints, that lays claim to and
possesses these great blessings.
The Christian world, having changed the order of the Church of God,
have lost these gifts, and in endeavoring to justify themselves, say
they are no longer needed. Some of them, more honorable than the rest,
acknowledge the true state of affairs and confess the lamentable
condition they are in.
{303} Mr. Wesley states that the reason the gifts are no longer in the
church "is because the love of many waxed cold, and the Christians had
turned heathen again, and had only a dead form left" (see Vol. I, Sermon
94).
Smith's Bible Dictionary (page 163) also says: "We must not expect to
see the church of holy scriptures actually existing in its perfection
on the earth. It is not to be found thus perfect, either in the
collected fragments of Christendom, or still less in any of those
fragments." The names of sixty-five learned divines and Biblical
scholars are on the preface page, as contributors to and endorsers of
this book.
Dr. Adam Clark, in his commentaries (page 452) on the 4th chapter of
Ephesians, says: "All these officers and the gifts and graces conferred
upon them were judged necessary by the Great Head of the church, for
its full instruction in the important doctrines of Christianity. The
same _officers_ and _gifts_ are still necessary, and God gives them,
but they _do not know their places_."
Roger Williams refused to continue as pastor over the oldest Baptist
church in America, on the grounds that there was "no regularly
constituted church on earth, nor any person authorized to administer
any church ordinance; nor can there be until new apostles are sent
by the Great Head of the church, for whose coming I am seeking" (see
_Picturesque America_, page 502).
"Till that great and notable day of the Lord come, we can not, from the
prophetic word, anticipate a universal RETURN _to the original Gospel_,
or a general restoration of the kingdom of God, in its primitive form"
(_Christianity Restored, Alex. Campbell_, page 181).
Having brought forward for the consideration of the reader the
foregoing points, we now proceed to examine the results that will
naturally flow from this terrible situation of affairs; and while we
do so, we plead with you, reader, to lay aside prejudice, and, as you
value your soul's salvation, seek earnestly to know the truth; "for
what doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own
soul?"
Having thrown aside the officers of the church, Christianity lost its
authority and could no longer administer in the ordinances of the
Gospel for the salvation of the souls of the children of men. Instead
of the officers and endowments of the kingdom or church of God,
man-made doctrines and changeable creeds have been substituted, until
to-day the Christian world is "driven and tossed to and fro by every
wind of doctrine." Weakness, imbecility and lack of authority are {304}
written on its every movement; vice, sin and wrong-doing prosper and
flourish under the very droppings of the sanctuary.
To-day one theory is taught, tomorrow another. Men have "builded
cisterns that will not contain water;" in short, have turned from
the apostle at the head of the church, and the prophet in the church
of the living God, and heaped to themselves teachers, having itching
ears, who have turned the hearts of the people from the truth, and led
them astray after fables, until "darkness covers the earth, and gross
darkness the minds of the people."
Conflicting creeds and faiths fill the world with a war of words,
until the hearts of honest men become sick, sick!--sick of the petty
jealousies and miserable trickery of professing Christianity--sending
the blood-guilty murderer, with his hands reeking with the blood of his
victims, from the gallows to eternal glory and the presence of Deity;
while an honest man, because he differs from them in belief, must be
consigned to a never ending hell!
Oh consistency! thy name is not modern Christianity!
Without apostles, without prophets, without the gifts, without
authority, shorn of all thy pristine beauty and loveliness, all thy
grandeur and glorious attributes; torn and divided into a multitude of
fragments, continually dividing and sub-dividing, thy talk sounds like
that of the scribes of old, "without authority."
And what of thy teachers? "Blind leaders of the blind." Prophecy
foretells their doom: Struggling to uphold the columns of the house
of Babylon, the dwelling place of "the mother of harlots," and her
numerous offspring, they will be crushed in her downfall, unless they
speedily repent and turn to the true and living God, be baptized for
the forgiveness of their sins, and receive the laying on of hands for
the gift of the Holy Ghost, that will "lead them into all truth, and
bring to their remembrance things of the past, and show them things to
come," for the promise is unto all that "the Lord our God shall call."
To members of churches as well as non-members--to the whole world does
this proclamation come.
_God has set up His Kingdom, or church, upon the earth, never more to
be thrown down_. His duly appointed and authorized officers are ready
to admit men and women as citizens of this kingdom, or church. He or
she who hears the sound of this gospel and heeds it not will be under
condemnation. He or she who heeds and renders obedience to it will reap
life everlasting.
God will not recognize the man-made devices whereby men {305} seek
to save themselves by climbing up some other way. He will repudiate
the acts of unauthorized men who administer in the ordinances of the
gospel; and after once this gospel comes to their ears, if they persist
in their course, it will bring condemnation upon their heads. Before
they heard it, "they had no sin," in not obeying; now "they have no
cloak for their sin," the truth having been taught.
"If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine,
whether it be of God, or whether I speak of my myself" (_John vii._, 17).
May the peaceful influence of the Holy Spirit be with those who desire
to know the truth, and come unto God, and serve Him with all their
"might, mind and strength."
_"As we see the infant taken away by death, so may the youth
and middle-aged, as well as the infant, be suddenly called into
eternity. Let this, then, prove as a warning to all, not to
procrastinate repentance, or wait until upon the death-bed, for it
is the will of God that man should repent and serve Him in health,
and in the strength and power of his mind, in order to secure His
blessing, and not wait until he is called to die."_
--_Joseph Smith_.
{306}
(Tract No. 2.)