LETTER VII.
THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF AN APOSTOLIC CHURCH.
_Liverpool, August_ 28, 1847.
Reverend and Dear Sir,--The next subject in the order of my promise,
contained in my first letter to you, is, THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF AN
APOSTOLIC CHURCH, after the similitude and power of the primitive
church. Such an occurrence as this, truly demands proof of a palpable
and satisfactory order, which, by the help of God, I will proceed to
give you.
The beloved apostle John, who survived many of his fellow-labourers
in the gospel, and saw many damnable heresies coming into the church,
and making havoc of all the faithful, and even the seven most faithful
churches in all the earth probably, right under his own faithful
supervision, yielding to APOSTACY, and going over to Satan. This
apostle, dear sir, in his solitary grief, was shewn, by revelation
from God, the RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF THE TRUE CHURCH, with such wrath
and vengeance following its wake, as should make an utter end of
wickedness, give the righteous a thousand years rest, cleanse the earth
by blood and burning, and bind the devil until the "little season."
Now mark, sir, the emphatic words of this apostle before he left the
earth, concerning what he saw would come in the last days. Hear now
with a fixed ear, and an unbiassed determined purpose to believe, and
abide the declaration of your own apostle John. Now to the momentous
words that cheered the few banished persecuted Saints, that survived
the bloody hand of Gentile apostacy. Says he:--"_I saw another angel
flying through the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to
preach to all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people; saying, Fear God
and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come_."
There is no obscurity about this language. It is quite as intelligible
and free from ambiguity as the language that predicted the marvellous
manner of the coming of Christ, which, however, men would not
understand, through prejudice. "Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear
a son," &c.
Now, sir, is it at all incredible that an angel should come to men?
Or is it incredible that he should come soaring, or "_flying_ in the
midst of heaven to earth?" You certainly believe, that Jesus Christ and
Elijah soared from the earth up through the air, or visible heavens.
Is it not also credible, that God should employ an angel to carry a
message to the nations? And as God ministered the law by angels to one
man, Moses, for a whole nation, even so the angel that John saw, would
minister his gospel message to some _particular_ man, and that man
should bear it to the nations of the earth.
Now, to what man might we expect an angel would bring such a message of
vast importance? A great and wise man, or obscure and ignorant, or an
old or young man? If we look at the past, we shall find that John was a
boisterous fellow, from the wilderness, that had no fellowship for any
existing religion whatever. He struck the axe deep at the root of every
religious organization, notwithstanding there were, probably, some good
men in every sect, but they were in error. This man, sir, was first and
chief pioneer to the Lord of life.
And who comes next to receive a message for all nations, and hold
the keys of revelation for all nations? Now, reverend sir, fix the
eye of your mind steadily upon him. And who is he? An honest, hardy,
illiterate, bold, rough fisherman, that perhaps never saw the inside
of a gentleman's drawing-room. Here, sir, is the wisdom of God and
confusion for man. But to return. Who is the man, to whom the angel
shall give the gospel message of all nations, in the last days,
according to the vision of John, the revelator? Let God, the Holy One
of all the earth, speak in this matter, and let all the ends of the
earth believe HIS holy word.
The Lord God of all flesh, sir, by the mouth of his servant Zechariah,
tells us precisely what kind of man this angel would speak to, and give
the gospel, in the last dispensation. Speaking of the two great events
(the building of Zion and Jerusalem, in the last days), Zechariah, with
his ear open to the revelation of the same great event as John's was,
says he heard the mandate of the Almighty to the angel, saying, "Go and
speak to that _young_ man."
Here we have it, sir, in the language and testimony of God himself, by
the mouths of his two servants, John, the revelator, and Zechariah.
John saw, after much inquiry before God about the restoration of the
gospel to the earth, in clear vision, the angel in his downward flight
through the heavens to earth, and also heard him proclaim his errand,
and the message of joy and wo to the nations of the last days. The
other servant of God, Zechariah, like John, equally intent to know
whether the true gospel ever would triumph in all the earth, and
wickedness come to an end, had the happiness to see the angel, at the
end of his downward flight, place his feet upon the earth, and witness
the finger of God raised, and pointing the angel to a _young_ man,
saying, "Go speak to that _young_ man."
Now, sir, that you may be convinced beyond controversy, I will beg your
attention to the marvellous coincidence between the matter of fact, as
related by a guileless _young_ man, and the declaration of John and
Zechariah; but first, you must readily admit, that according to the
testimony of two prophets of God, an angel must come down through the
midst of heaven to earth, in _some_ period of the last days, subsequent
to the lifetime of John, with such a gospel as was not on the earth;
and that angel must communicate his gospel message to some certain
_young_ man which the finger of God should point out to the angel.
Now, was the young man Joseph _the_ man, or look we for another? His
testimony concerning the angel that he saw, and the message that he
received, if you will read it, coincides perfectly with what the two
prophets had long since declared should take place. He was, indeed, an
illiterate and obscure youth of seventeen, of humble parentage, from
the mountains of Vermont; but was he any less fit to receive such a
message than any other youth, because he was illiterate or poor, or
obscure, or rough and vulgar? This simple country youth told a tale
of what he had seen and heard, in the face of all the broad blazing
science and christianity of the nineteenth century; but was he any
less likely to be _the_ youth that the prophets saw and spoke of on
that account? Was it a marvellous tale that he told? so likewise was
the tale that the Virgin Mary told about her _offspring as begotten
of God_ the Father. Did the message that Joseph received, lead him to
disfellowship all the religious systems of the day, as incompatible
with the primitive pattern? so did Jesus, with the religions of his
day. But lest some lingering doubt should remain upon your mind,
whether the young man Joseph was the identical youth spoken of by
the prophets just named, you shall have other proofs until reason is
satisfied.
The prophet Daniel being greatly beloved of God, and of great faith,
saw this scene of the visitation of the angel to the _young_ man,
and the laying of the corner-stone of a millennial kingdom, and the
time of its organization, and calculated the same, to a day, as will
be developed in due time. Job wished that his words, or revelations
and history, were written with a pen of iron (the engraver's tool)
and laid in a rock. Now many of the prophets that lived and suffered
on the American continent, and settled that continent about the time
of the destruction of Jerusalem under Zedekiah, also wished _their_
words written and laid in rock or stone. By great faith they obtained
permission to have their records and prophecies laid up in _stone_,
being neatly engraved with a pen of iron, on plates of the most
enduring metal. Daniel saw this _stone_ that contained the records, and
spoke of it. Now this stone, containing the words of these prophets of
that "_other fold_" spoken of by Christ, had been buried about fourteen
hundred years previous to its discovery, probably to a considerable
depth in the earth, in what was then called the mountain of Cumorah.
Daniel's language is very remarkable in regard to the manner in which
this _stone_, with its contents, and connexion with the angelic
message, should come forth "_out_ of the mountain _without hands_." The
stone probably, in consequence of the wear of the elements upon the
earth under the guidance of God, was gradually resurrected from the
depths of its burial, until it was literally _out_ of the mountain, and
visible without the aid of hands.
Oh! how marvellous, literal, and exact the fulfilment of Daniel's
prophecy! THE MOUNTAIN! THE VISIBILITY OF THE LONG BURIED STONE WITHOUT
HANDS! The contents of this stone, long harped upon by commentators,
joined with the whole of the angelic message foreseen by John and
Zechariah, were to lay the foundation of a kingdom that should extend
over the whole earth, and break in pieces all others, and never be
thrown down. Daniel not only saw the stone, and mountain, and _young_
man, and the whole beginning of this latter-day work, and calculated
the precise year and day of the month when the kingdom (not the coming
of Christ) should be set up; but he describes the small and weak
governments into which the four great universal governments should be
divided and subdivided. The governments that should exist on the earth
when this stone should be brought to light, would be, in comparison
with the four universal and potent governments of previous ages, as the
numerously divided toes of a man's feet in magnitude to his body.
When Jesus Christ came to organize the kingdom, the Romish government
was universal, and all the world were required to be taxed for its
support; consequently Daniel did not speak of _his_ organization, which
all the apostles saw and declared would be overcome. But he saw that
the kingdom which Christ would never take from the earth would be set
up, when the image of great kingdoms would be reduced to the simile of
mere toes, or petty kingdoms, just such as exist all over the earth
now--weak and small, and huddled together as thick as some of the
supernumerary toes of the feet of some ancient prodigies.
The kingdoms of this world, just precisely like the religions of this
world, are small, very numerous and contentious--all the present
governments of the earth being based on mixed, heterogenous, and
discordant principles, will readily crumble, like dry clay, before
the march of truth, until the dust thereof is carried away, and these
kingdoms and diversified religions are known only in the past. You,
sir, know very well whether the signs of the times fully indicate the
tottering state, and general disruption of all the governments of
the earth. But before I close this part of my subject, I will still
multiply the testimony of the prophets even further upon it.
Omitting Ezekiel, I will next introduce the testimony of Isaiah. This
prophet has probably said more on the re-establishment of the church
in the last days, and the surpassing glory of it than any other, and
deserves rather to be read as a whole than suffer mutilation from a
single extract or two. How any man can read Isaiah's testimony and
not see that an extraordinary scene, just like the one I have been
describing, was in full vision before him, it is difficult to explain,
except their hearts are waxed gross and dull to perceive, and the veil
remains untaken away in reading the Old Testament prophecies.
Instead of citing passages of scripture verbatim, I will here name
topics, which Isaiah distinctly exhibited, bearing directly upon the
subject at issue. First, he speaks unequivocally of an extraordinary
BOOK, and says it would be a "_sealed_ book," that neither the learned
or unlearned could read. Second, in the context, he gives a cutting
rebuke, because there is no prophet or seer to read it; and administers
a most withering reproof to the religious world, that draw near to Him
with their lips, and honour Him with their mouths only; and for lack of
the spirit of _revelation and prophecy_, resort to their own ingenuity
of teaching the fear of the Lord by human precepts. Third, he says, the
"_vision_" of all is become as a BOOK that is sealed which cannot be
read. How is this, sir, that the prophecies and revelations of _all_
are locked up in a book, that neither learned nor unlearned can read,
and the men that uttered them, prophets and seers, are covered--shut
out from the knowledge of mankind?
The visions of the Old and New Testament are so plainly legible in many
books, that he who runs may read. Those who had these latter visions,
instead of being covered or unknown, are well known, and preached every
Sabbath day. Don't shrink from this issue, sir, but meet it like one
who feels his destiny to be suspended on a correct faith in revealed
truth. What mysterious collection of visions, arranged into the form
of a BOOK, that no uninspired man can read, IS THIS? It must be the
visions of _some_ prophets and seers, that have lived and prophesied
to _some_ people, that have now faded from the knowledge of men.
Mankind is ignorant of them. And when the BOOK, that contains their
_records_ is found (taken out of the earth, as I shall show by Isaiah's
testimony), no man can read it or is the wiser for it (unless God
reveals it).
Now, sir, as you are a teacher, professing to be sent from God, I again
ask, whose visions are all these, so curiously wrapped up in a BOOK,
and sealed too, and kept hid from the knowledge of mankind? You will
not deny that the prophet saw a _book_, containing important records
of some certain unknown prophets and seers. But if you believe the
prophet, as I know you do, and humbly acknowledge, that you cannot tell
what this mysterious BOOK of RECORDS means; then, by the spirit and
blessing of God, I will further endeavour to show that it is the same
that the angel announced to the young man Joseph.
This mysterious BOOK of records was found in that identical _stone_,
spoken of by Daniel the prophet. The prophets and seers, whose records
constitute that book, lived among a mighty nation on the American
continent, whose history is as important as that of other continents in
its place.
Another topic dwelt upon by Isaiah is, that "truth" (plainly alluding
to this book of inspired records) should "_speak out of the ground_,
and thy speech shall be low _out of the dust_, and thy voice shall be
as of one that hath a familiar spirit _out of the ground_, and thy
speech shall whisper _out of the dust_."
Is it a marvellous thing that this wonderful book of the visions of all
the American seers should be so skilfully entombed in _stone_, and then
buried in the earth? Where should they have deposited it, so that it
could have answered the purpose intended, so well as in the ground? How
could the STONE, containing it, ever have been CUT OUT OF THE MOUNTAIN
WITHOUT HANDS, if it had never been put _into the mountain_? Isaiah
says, the people should be besieged and brought _low_ (nearly all were
slain), but by the records of their seers should, after a long time,
speak _out_ of the ground, and their records should be as the voice
of a familiar spirit. Who, sir, that has read them does not clearly
perceive that they speak familiarly of things past, present, and to
come? So truly do these records speak of what shall transpire, after
the BOOK has been shewn to them, that many have slanderously said, that
it was written by an eye witness of the things spoken of. It speaks
also of the ruins of cities--of antiquities since discovered on the
American continent, by travellers and antiquarians, that have excited
the curiosity and wonder of the world.
This Book of Mormon, is one of the most unexceptionable and
God-honouring books that was ever published to the world. An uninspired
man might as well attempt to originally compose the Old and New
Testament, as it. Its language (the best butt of cavaliers) is said
not to harmonize with the philological rules of the nineteenth
century. One word in reply. Peter and John were illiterate men, who
spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, and their language was
accredited to unlearned men by their hearers. Now, if redundant and
ungrammatical language may be the medium through which the Holy Ghost
communicates by men in speaking, may it not with equal propriety be
employed in _writing_, by a similar class of men? It is not denied,
that there is something wonderful about all this matter. The prophet
Isaiah considered it wonderful, when he calls it a "marvellous work:
a marvellous work and a wonder." "The wisdom of their wise men shall
perish, and the understanding of their prudent shall be hid." All the
learned commentaries of divines, as this gospel advances, shall be
buried in oblivion, as so much rubbish.
God declares, by the same prophet, that he has seen the wickedness of
the wicked, and the oppression of the poor and upright, until he rises
up to "_do his work, his strange work_, and bring to pass his act,
his strange act." He warns men against making a mock of this strange
and marvellous work, lest their "bands be made strong," for he has
"_decreed a consumption upon the whole earth_." This is what John also
says;--"The hour of His judgment" is measurably simultaneous with the
proclamation of the gospel. Habakkuk, the prophet, told men to wait
for this same vision of American prophets, written on tables (tabular
plates), which would be a long time before it made its appearance; but
it would "surely come," because God had promised these seers that a
remnant of their seed, on that continent, should be saved. No pen can
describe the joy and exultation that they must have felt in obtaining
such a promise, or the bliss now experienced by them in the fulfilment
of it. But for the fulfilment of this promise, none of them or their
righteous contemporaries would ever have been made perfect.
Oh! how great the goodness and mercy of God to every nation, without
respect of persons! How great, too, the indebtedness of this generation
to Almighty God for that most precious "_stone_" of prophetic records,
that reveals at once the history of the American continent--a continent
of otherwise unfathomable antiquities and wonders--a land that
embowels the bones of a numerous and mighty race of people, with all
their implements of husbandry and of art! Where, also, are the ruins of
splendid cities, the former glory of which might surpass even gigantic
London! Within that stone, too, was written with a pen of iron, as
infallibly as the marks on Belshazzar's palace, the future destiny of
the American people.
In conclusion, do you ask if the Apostolic Church is again
re-established, where is it? I reply, it is in the mountains where
the Lord's House is to be built in the last days. Driven by the cruel
hand of persecution to the very place where the Lord has declared He
will "_hide_ them till the indignation be overpast." Do you also ask
what kind of organization this Church has? The answer is, the same
as that of the Apostolic Church in the days of Peter, consisting of
Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, &c.; with the gifts of healing,
tongues, interpretation, casting out devils, prophesyings, &c. Do
you ask who has seen any of these miraculous fruits of this Church?
I answer a _hundred thousand_ living witnesses are ready to testify
that the "signs" which Christ said "shall follow them that believe,"
_do_, in very deed, follow believers in _this_ Church. Do you say,
are they credible witnesses? They were generally accounted credible
persons, until they believed and obeyed this gospel. Do their lives
show that they do sincerely believe and love the apostolic gospel which
they profess? Nothing as yet, has been able to separate them from it;
neither home nor country, nor the inheritances of their fathers, nor
penury or reproach, or evil report, or cold, or nakedness, and no
certain dwelling-place for years!
I now close this simple and unembellished statement of truth, being
written in a state of convalescence from severe sickness, hoping a
portion of your inquiries will have been satisfactorily answered,
Your friend and servant,
ORSON SPENCER.
LETTER VIII.
THE TRUE AND LIVING GOD.
_Liverpool, September_ 13, 1847.
Reverend and Dear Sir,--In this epistle I shall endeavour to set before
you a description of the person, abode, and character of THE TRUE AND
LIVING GOD. In so doing I trust it will not be imputed to arrogance if
I borrow my apology from the language of St. Paul:--"As I passed by I
beheld an altar with this inscription, 'To the Unknown God.' Whom ye
ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you."
The people of Paul's day had for several generations been unaccustomed
to receive revelations from the true God, believing, generally, that
revelations from God had ceased with Malachi. They supposed that
the canon of scripture was complete long before their time, and
they considered that the great law-giver, Moses, had established an
immutable code of laws and government, suited to the condition of
people of all ages and circumstances whatever, to the end of time; and
the Jews, to this very day, entertain the same opinion.
Labouring under this most blighting and soul-darkening opinion for
several centuries, without the light of any new revelation, and
without the aid of that immediate inspiration which attended Moses
and the prophets, their foolish hearts became darkened as a necessary
consequence. Inflated with pride, and a false but sincere reverence for
the scriptures of a previous age, they became a conspicuous and warning
example to this generation of ignorance, not only of the scriptures,
which they carefully memorized, but also of all the essential
attributes of the person, character, and doctrine of God.
Now, sir, during the long period of sixteen or eighteen hundred years,
in which the light of immediate revelation has not shone, the religious
world have fallen into similar and even far greater darkness. The true
and living God is not known as I shall proceed to show.
The religious world have an abundance of zeal for God, and diligence in
spreading the scriptures and their missionaries over the face of the
earth; but, alas! the God they profess to worship is an unknown God,
and this ignorance of God is the legitimate consequence of not having
immediate revelation from him, during a _long_ period of near eighteen
hundred years; and unaided by the spirit of inspiration, the ancient
scriptures have become a dark and obscure book--their import has been
warmly debated by a thousand learned disputants, without any prospect
of approximation to unity.
A very general conviction concerning the character of God now is, that
He is a Being without body, or parts, or passions. A greater absurdity
cannot be furnished in all the annals of heathenism. Even images of
wood, and brass, and stone, are scarcely more remote from the picture
of the true God, than the theory of a passionless, matterless God--an
inconceivable sort of chaotic being, that is without form, or void,
or dwelling place! a being whose circumference is everywhere, and his
centre nowhere!
Another theory concerning God, that is entertained by Jewish Rabbies,
though of an opposite character, is not much more extravagant than the
common orthodox theory, viz, the Rabbies suppose that God is a Being of
some "_millions of miles in length_."
Again, the popular notion of modern Jews, as expressed in a recent
number of the _Jewish Chronicle_, is, that the Almighty God is a
Being of such infinite _dimension_, that He cannot _condense_ himself
sufficiently to speak to men, or be tangible or visible by mortals.
Accordingly, when he gives revelation to men, He creates a fictitious
or imaginary messenger, through whom he communicates his will, and this
messenger has no real existence in the eye of God, and _only_ in the
momentary perception of the person addressed.--(See _Millennial Star_
No. 15, also _Jewish Chronicle_.)