THE DEALINGS OF GOD WITH ALL NATIONS, IN REGARD TO REVELATION.
"And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on
all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before
appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should
seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him,
though He he not far from every one of us; for in Him we live,
and move, and have our being."--Acts, xvii, 26-28.
In this text we learn--First, that all nations are made of one blood.
Secondly, they are designed to dwell on all the face of the earth
(America not excepted). Thirdly, that the Lord has determined the
bounds of their habitation, that is, He has divided the earth among
His children, giving each nation that portion which seemed Him
good--for instance the land of Canaan, to Israel; Mount Seir, to Esau;
Arabia, to Ishmael; America, to the remnant of Joseph, etc., as a
father parcels off a large tract of land to his several children. And
fourthly, He has granted unto all the nations of the earth the
privilege of feeling after Him and finding Him; since He is not so
very far from every one of them, whether they be in Asia, Africa,
Europe, America, or even upon the islands of the sea. Now, if any
nation, in any age of the world, or in any part of the earth, should
happen to live up to their privilege, what would they obtain? I
answer, revelation, for the best of reasons, because no people ever
found God in any other way, nor ever will. Therefore, if they found
God, they found Him by revelation, direct from Himself, He revealing
His will to them; and if they did not find Him in this way, they never
knew Him. And if they did obtain revelation, it was their privilege to
write it, and make a record of the same, and teach it to their
children; and this record would be sacred, because it would contain
the word of God; and thus it would be a HOLY BIBLE, no matter whether
it was written by the Jews, the Ten Tribes, the Nephites, or the
Gentiles. I would just as soon have the Gospel written by Nephi,
Mormon, Moroni or Alma, as the Gospel written by Matthew, Mark, Luke,
or John. Again, I would just as soon believe a revelation given in
America, as believe a revelation given in Asia; for if ever a nation
failed to get a revelation, it was because they did not attain unto
that which was their privilege But why, then, was any nation over left
in darkness, from age to age, without the light of revelation to guide
them? I answer, because their forefathers, in some age of the world,
rejected revelation, cast out and killed the Prophets, and turned a
deaf ear to the things of God, until God took away that which they
enjoyed, and committed it to some other people, and left them from
generation to generation to grow up in ignorance, until He should see
fit again to send His light and truth to that nation; but those who
reject no light are under no condemnation, and the mercy of God hath
claim upon them, through the blood of Christ which atoneth for the
sins of the world. The heathen who never had the light of revelation
will be saved by the blood of Christ; while their forefathers who
rejected the light are condemned, for this is their condemnation, that
when light came they rejected it.
Now on this subject, let us examine the history of various ages. In
the morn of creation, men had light by direct revelation, for Adam,
Cain and Abel talked with the Lord. In the next age, men had light by
revelation, for Enoch walked with the Lord, and not only saw the first
coming of Christ, but His second coming also, and he exclaimed:
"Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of His saints, to take
vengeance on the ungodly," etc., as it is written in Jude. From which
it appears that Enoch knew and prophesied concerning the Messiah, with
all the plainness of an Apostle. Again, in Noah's day there was
positive revelation. And all these were Gentiles, or, rather, the word
Israel had not yet been named upon Jacob by the angel. Now, if it was
the privilege of so many Gentiles to get the word of the Lord, and to
have the knowledge of the true God by revelation, it was the privilege
of all the rest; and if any ran into darkness and worshiped idols,
until God gave them over to work all uncleanness with greediness, and
finally took the oracles of God from them, and confined them more
particularly to Abraham, it was because they had for a long time
rejected them, and rendered themselves unworthy of them; so that from
the days of Israel the oracles of God seemed to pertain more
particularly to the chosen seed, chosen for that very purpose, namely,
that to them might be committed the oracles of God, the Priesthood,
the service of God, and the promises which had been in existence from
the beginning, among the Gentiles, who had long rendered themselves
unworthy of such blessings.
But in process of time Israel rendered themselves unworthy of a
continuance of such blessings, by stoning and killing the Prophets,
and rejecting the Messiah, and all those that God sent unto them,
until at length the Lord took the kingdom from them as a nation, and
gave it again to the Gentiles; in the meantime winking at all the
ignorance through which the Gentiles had passed, from the time the
kingdom had been taken from them until restored again. But as soon as
the kingdom of God was restored again to the Gentiles, He commanded
them all everywhere to repent, and then if they did not do it they
were under condemnation, but not before. But no sooner was the kingdom
taken from the Jews, than the fruits of it disappeared from among
them, and they were dispersed into all the nations of the earth where
they have never again heard the voice of inspiration commanding them
to repent. And if any Gentile has commanded them to repent and be
baptized (in the name of the Lord), without being inspired and
commanded to do it, it was an imposition practised upon them. Not that
repentance was any harm, but the imposition consisted in professing to
be sent with a message when they were not, for when God commands men
to repent, He sends somebody with the command, in order that they may
teach it to those for whom He designs it; and when He does not command
them to do a thing, He does not require it at their hand. Any man who
says that the Jews, as a nation, have been commanded to repent and be
baptized, for the last seventeen hundred years, says that which he
cannot prove, unless he can prove that there has been a new revelation
within that time, commissioning some man to go to them with such an
errand; neither will any generation of Jews, which have existed since
inspiration ceased, be condemned for rejecting any message from God,
for He has sent no message to them, consequently they have rejected
none; but their forefathers, who did reject the things of God, are
under condemnation.
Again, when men were sent with the Gospel to the Gentiles, they were
commanded to repent; and this command was in force, whenever men came
preaching, who were sent by proper authority, and inspired by the Holy
Ghost; but when they had killed the Apostles and inspired men, and
abused their privileges, until God took them away, and left them
without inspiration, then the sin was answered upon that generation;
and those who have since come upon the stage of action have never been
commanded to repent and be baptized (except by some new revelation),
and any man who says that God has commanded a Gentile to repent and
obey the Gospel since the days that inspiration ceased, or since the
days that Apostles and Prophets ceased from among men, says that which
he will not be able to prove, unless he proves that some revelation
has been given since that time, again commissioning men to go to the
Gentiles with such an errand.
The fact is, God requires nothing more of a generation than to do
those things which He commands them, and a generation to whom He
reveals nothing, or to whom He does not send men with a message from
Him, have no message to obey, and none to reject, and consequently
nothing is binding on them, except the moral principles of right and
wrong, which are equally binding on all ages of the world, according
to the knowledge people have of moral rectitude.
But in these last days God has again spoken from the heavens, and
commissioned men to go, first to the Gentiles, commanding them
everywhere to repent and obey the Gospel; and then He has commanded
them to go to the Jews also, and command them to repent, and obey the
Gospel; thus restoring again that which has been so long lost from the
earth. And wherever their voices shall be heard issuing this
proclamation, in the name of Jesus, according as He has commanded
them, then and there the people are under obligation to repent and be
baptized. And he that repents and is baptized shall be saved; and he
that does not believe their testimony, and repent and be baptized,
shall be damned, for this plain reason, because God has sent them, by
revelation, with this very errand, to this very generation, and they
who reject the least of God's ambassadors reject Him that sent him,
and therefore they are under condemnation from that time forth. But
the message which God has sent these men with, is binding only on the
generation to whom it is sent, and is not binding at all upon those
who are dead and gone before it came; neither will it be binding on
any generation which shall come after, unless God should raise up men
and send unto them with the same Gospel, and then that generation to
whom He sends them, will be saved or damned, according as they receive
or reject their testimony.
People frequently ask this question--"If God has sent men with certain
truths which are binding on the people, and without which they cannot
be saved, what will become of the good people who have died before the
message came?" I answer, if they obey the message which God sent to
their own generation, they will be saved; but if not, they will be
damned: but if God sent no message to that generation, then they
rejected none, and, consequently, are under no condemnation; and they
will rise up in judgment against this generation, and condemn it; for
if they had received the same blessings which are now offered to us,
they would no doubt have received them gladly. The principle of
condemnation, in all ages of the world, is no other than rejecting the
very message which God sends to them while they pretend to cleave
closely to that which He has sent in former ages.
Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! ye garnish the
sepulchres of the Prophets, and say: "If we had lived in the days of
our fathers, we would not have stoned and killed the Prophets as they
did." But ye yourselves are witnesses, that you allow the deeds of
your fathers; for they killed the Prophets, and you build their
sepulchres. This was the testimony of the Savior to the Jews, who were
pretending to stand stiffly for their former Prophets, and at the same
time rejecting Jesus and His Apostles. And so it is now in the
nineteenth century. You Christians (so called) garnish the tombs of
the Messiah and His former Apostles, and even build fine chapels to
their memory, entitling them Saint Peter's Church, Saint Paul's
Church, Saint John's Church, etc.; and you say: "If we had lived in
the days of the Apostles, we would not have stoned and killed them."
But ye yourselves are witnesses, that ye allow the deeds of your
fathers: for they killed the Apostles, and you build chapels in honor
of them; while at the same time, if a Prophet or an Apostle comes
among you, you will forthwith shut your houses against him, as soon as
he testifies of what God has sent him to testify, for you say there
are to be no more Prophets or Apostles on the earth, and you forthwith
pronounce him a false Prophet; and if a mob rise and kill him, or burn
his house, or destroy his goods, you will either rejoice, or sit in
silence and give countenance to the deed, and perhaps cry, "False
Prophet!" while your press and pulpits teem with all manner of lies
concerning him. Woe unto you, priests, Pharisees, hypocrites! but fill
ye up the measure of your fathers, for as they did, so do ye.
Vengeance belongs to God. He will speedily avenge His elect, who cry
unto Him day and night.
But to return to the subject of Revelation. "There is nothing secret
that shall not be revealed: neither hid that shall not be known;" this
was a maxim of the Savior. And again: "The knowledge of the Lord is to
cover the earth, as the waters do the sea." Now, I ask how this great
overturn is to be brought about? And I know no better way to answer
this question, than to quote the prophecy of Nephi, Book of Mormon
(n.e.), 2 Nephi, xxix, 11-14: "For I command all men, both in the
east, and in the west, and in the north, and in the south, and in the
islands of the sea, that they shall write the words which I speak unto
them: for out of the books which shall be written, I will judge the
world, every man according to their works, according to that which is
written.
"For behold, I shall speak unto the Jews, and they shall write it; and
I shall also speak unto the Nephites, and they shall write it; and I
shall also speak unto the other tribes of the house of Israel which I
have led away, and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto
all the nations of the earth, and they shall write it.
"And it shall come to pass that the Jews shall have the words of the
Nephites, and the Nephites shall have the words of the Jews; and the
Nephites and the Jews shall have the words of the lost tribes of
Israel; and the lost tribes of Israel shall have the words of the
Nephites and the Jews.
"And it shall come to pass, that my people which are of the house of
Israel, shall be gathered home unto the lands of their possessions;
and my word also shall be gathered in one. And I will show unto them
that fight against my word, and against my people who are of the house
of Israel, that I am God, and that I covenanted with Abraham, that I
would remember his seed for ever."
[Transcriber's note: the material in the following chapter was
originally printed in two side by side columns. Side by side
pairs of paragraphs are separated from following pairs by three
asterisks.]