A.--No. They might pray as long and as loud as the four hundred
prophets of Baal did, but with as little effect.
Q.--But did not the Apostle say to the jailer and his household, that
they should be saved if they would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
without obeying the Gospel?
A.--No. He spake unto them the word of the Lord.
Q.--What word of the Lord did he speak unto them?
A.--The word of repentance and baptism for remission of sins; as is
evident from the fact of their attending to baptism the same hour.
Q.--What would have been the situation of the jailer and his household
if they had believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and had not obeyed the
Gospel?
A.--They would have been under much more condemnation than they were
before.
Q.--But was not Saul of Tarsus, while on his way to Damascus, converted
and made a Christian by a special work of God?
A.--No. He was only convinced or convicted that Jesus was the Christ;
but his being a saint (or Christian) depended on his going to Damascus,
and obeying the Gospel baptism.
Q.--What would have been his situation if he had continued to believe
in Christ, and had not gone to Damascus and obeyed the Gospel?
A.--He would never have "got religion" to this day, but would have been
worse than he was before.
-Q.-Did not the Apostle say to the people of old, that, if they would
confess with their mouth the Lord Jesus Christ, and would believe in
their hearts that God had raised him from the dead, they should be
saved?
A.--Yes. But he was writing to the Church of God, whose members had
already obeyed the Gospel, and had been planted together {531} in the
likeness of his death; being buried with him by baptism, and having
risen again to newness of life, he was encouraging them to continue in
the belief and confession of his name.
Q.--But did not the Apostle thank God that he had not baptized many of
the Corinthians?
A.--Yes. But the reason was, lest they should say he had baptized in
his own name.
Q.--But did he not say, that he was not sent to baptize, but to preach
the Gospel?
A.--Yes. But others were sent to water those whom he planted. He, as
a wise master-builder, laid the foundation by preaching the word, and
others attended to the other part of the work, and thus builded thereon.
Q.--Did not Cornelius and his friends receive the Holy Ghost before
they were baptized?
A.--Yes. But it was to convince the Jews that they (the Gentiles) had
part in the Gospel as well as the Israelites.
Q.--Would Cornelius and his friends have been saved, after all they had
received, if they had refused baptism?
A.--No. For Peter was sent to tell them words whereby they should be
saved, and part of these words were, that they should be baptized; and,
if they had refused to comply with this message, they would have been
worse than those who had never known the way of truth.
Q.--Was not the thief on the cross saved without baptism?
A.--If he was, it was because he had no opportunity to obey; and,
therefore, was not saved through a Gospel ministration, but was
included in the same mercy as the heathens, who have never had the
offer of the Gospel, and therefore, are under no condemnation for not
obeying it.
Q.--Would the thief on the cross have been saved if he had lived to
hear the Gospel, and had opportunity to obey it, and refused?
A.--No. The Gospel condemns all who do not obey it. It is a savior of
life unto life, or of death unto death, to all who are privileged to
hear it.
Q.--Is there, then, no other Gospel but faith in Jesus Christ,
repentance towards God, and immersion in water FOR THE REMISSION OF
SINS, with the laying on of hands in the name of Jesus for the baptism
of the Holy Ghost?
A.--No. The people who are without this order of things are strangers
to the GOSPEL, notwithstanding all the morality, sincerity, and piety
they may possess.
Q.--What! Are all the professed ministers of the Gospel, who have not
obeyed and taught that particular form of doctrine without the Gospel,
the same as the heathen--and all their hearers, too?
A.--Yes. Unless we make this difference, that, having the Bible and
some idea of Jesus Christ, they have been benefited in a moral point of
view, although they have not understood the Gospel.
Q.--Are all the ministers and professors of religion, in this age of
the world, under obligation to obey that Gospel, in order to be saved
in the Kingdom of God?
A.--Yes. "Except a man be born of WATER and of the SPIRIT, he cannot
enter into the Kingdom of God." How then can he be saved in it?
Q.--What has Christ said of those who would come into the sheep-fold by
climbing up some other way besides the door?
A.--He has pronounced them thieves and robbers.
Q.--At Christ's second coming, what will become of all those ministers
and professors, and others who do not obey the Gospel?
A.--"He will come in flaming {532} fire, taking vengeance on all those
who know not God, AND OBEY NOT THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST."
Q.--How comes it that the Christian world (so called) have been so long
without the Gospel in its fulness?
A.--In fulfilment of the word of prophecy, spoken by the prophet Daniel
and by the revelator John, "THEY HAVE MADE WAR WITH THE SAINTS, AND
OVERCOME THEM;" and in fulfilment of Paul to Timothy, "They have HEAPED
TO THEMSELVES TEACHERS, having ITCHING ears; and these have turned
their ears from the TRUTH, and they are turned unto fables, and they
will not endure SOUND DOCTRINE."
Q.-How came the Latter-day Saints to understand this Gospel, and to be
instruments in restoring it among mankind?
A.--Not for any worth or wisdom that was in them more than others; but
because the time had come for this Gospel of the Kingdom to be again
restored to the inhabitants of the earth, and to be preached to all
nations preparatory to the second coming of Messiah. Therefore the
Lord sent forth an Holy Angel to commit the authority of this ministry
again unto man, and this in fulfilment of the promises recorded by the
ancient prophets and apostles.
Q.--Is it not uncharitable to consider the Christian world all wrong,
except such as obey the fulness of the Gospel? and still more so to
tell them of it?
A.--No. The man who tells his generation the truth, according to the
"law and the testimony," is more charitable to them than ten thousand
men who cry, Peace and safety, and prophesy smooth things, when sudden
destruction is near at hand.
Q.--But, what will become of all the people who have lived and died
since the Gospel was perverted and before it was restored again?
A.--They will be judged according to their works, and according to the
light which they enjoyed in their day; and, no doubt many of them will
rise up in judgment against this generation, and condemn it; for, had
they enjoyed the privileges which we enjoy, they would, no doubt, have
gladly embraced the truth in all its fulness. They desired to see the
latter-day glory, but died without the sight.--_P. P. Pratt_.
_"Attempts to promote universal peace have failed. The world has
had a fair trial for six thousands years; the Lord will try the
seventh thousand Himself."_
--_Joseph Smith, The Prophet_.
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