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The Coming Crisis - Mormon Doctrine Studies - Posted: 29th Aug, 2008 - 9:41am
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The Coming Crisis
The Coming Crisis
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| The Coming Crisis How to Meet It Reprinted from The Millennial Star Issue of April 30, 1853 Volume 15, pages 273-276, 289-292 [3] THE COMING CRISIS--HOW TO MEET IT Among the early documents published by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, few if any are more strikingly prophetic or more profoundly attuned to the present-day situation than is "THE COMING CRISIS--HOW TO MEET IT," appearing in the Millennial Star, April 30, 1853, volume 15, pages 273-276, 289-292. In terseness, richness, and trueness the document is outstanding and is a literary gem, possessing a definite historical background, lending itself to present-day conditions with a force and exactness that at once stamps it as divinely inspired. The article was republished in Truth 1:65-68, 84, 91, 92; 5:97-103; 16:85-94. Yielding to the earnest solicitation of our many readers, we now re-publish the article in pamphlet form for broader and more convenient circulation. The Publishers commend this offering to the earnest consideration of all Saints--both in and out of the Church; in fact it should prove profitable to all sober-minded and thinking people of whatsoever sect or belief, serving as a reflex of events now taking place in the earth, and which particularly affects man's eternal welfare. --PUBLISHERS. [4] A GREAT and awful crisis is at hand--such a crisis was never known before since the foundation of the world. All nations are looking through the misty future, in order to decry, if possible, what is about to happen. Many sermons have been preached, many speeches have been made, and some pamphlets have been published, with the hope of lifting up the veil of the future. Yet none but the servants of God who have the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy, can unfold the mysteries of the future. They can give the trump a certain sound, and their counsel will not be guess work. God will do nothing except He reveals His secrets to His servants the Prophets. [The true text is: "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, until he revealeth the secret unto his servants the prophets." Amos 3:7, Inspired Translation] God, the Lord God of Israel, will take the control of these great events which are shortly to come to pass. Not a sparrow will fall to the ground without His notice. But His servants will be fully advised of every important event that is to transpire. They will be the heralds of blessings and also of vengeance. For the Lord hath a controversy with all nations, and the hour of recompense is at hand. But, says the reader, I would like to know of what this crisis is to consist! Who are the contesting parties? Well, reader, if you will be patient and honest-hearted, praying withal, with unceasing diligence and thanksgiving to God, you shall have the keys of such knowledge as all the sectarian priests of Christendom are by no means able to reveal, because they are only revealed to God's servants, the Prophets. Perhaps you will be disappointed, if I tell you that the time is coming, and now is, when, not only God, the Highest of all, shall be revealed in spirit and in mighty power, but the Devil or Satan also, will be revealed in signs and wonders, and in mighty deeds! This, reader, is the great key to all the marvelous events that are to transpire shortly upon the earth. [5] Now just stop right here, and pause, and mark emphatically this Key. Then you and I will proceed to unlock the mysteries and to prepare ourselves to the battle. For there will be no neutrals in the approaching controversy. I say again, that God, the Highest of all, will make bare His arm in the eyes of all nations. And the heavens even will be rent, and the lighting down of His power will be felt by all nations. But this is not all. Satan also will be revealed. He has made some manifestations of his power in different periods of the world, but never before has there been such an array of numbers on his side, never before such a consolidation of armies and rulers, never before has there been such an imposing and overwhelming exhibition of miracles as Satan will shortly make manifest. Don't suppose for a moment, that I am uttering dark sayings or speaking unadvisedly upon speculation or the strength of mere human opinion. Don't tell me about Popes and Prelates, sitting in the Temple of God as God. One far greater than any Pope or Prelate is soon to be revealed, and He will claim to be worshipped as God. [Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the Temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. . . . . Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but had pleasure n unrighteousness. --2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4, 9-12.] Now remember, that it is no modern wicked man that is going to claim divine honors. No, it is that old Serpent, the Devil. He it is that will head the opposition against God and His Christ. And he, the son of perdition it is, that will be allowed a much longer chain than heretofore. And such will be the greatness of his power, that it will seem to many that he is entirely loose. He will be so far unshackled and unchained that his power will deceive all [6] nations, even the world. And the elect will barely escape the power of his sorceries, enchantments, and miracles! And even God himself, the true God, will contribute to put means and instruments in his way and at hand for his use, so that he can have a full trial of his strength and cunning, with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish. |
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| Anti-Christ It is not to be expected that Satan will carry on his great warfare against Christ and His Saints, by means of any one religion exclusively. It is not the Papal or Protestant religion alone that you have need to fear. But the great and abominable Church which you should expect to encounter is Anti-Christ. Whatever exalts and opposes itself to God, that is anti-Christ, whether it is a civil or religious power. But the most formidable power that will be arrayed against Christ and his Saints in the last days, will consist in the Revelations of Satan. These revelations of Satan will come through every medium and channel by which the cunning and power of Satan can be brought to bear against the Saints and their Lord. It is a great mistake to suppose that Satan is altogether a religious personage. No, far from this. He is a politician, a philosopher, an erudite scholar, a linguist, a metaphysician, a military commander, a prince, a god, a necromancer, an enchanter, a diviner, a magician, a sorcerer, a prophet, and (if it were not railing) a clergyman and liar from the beginning. With these universal endowments, he has never hitherto made a full and grand exhibition of himself, as it remains for him to do. But the Lord, who gave him an opportunity to try his battery upon good old Job, is fully designing to give him sufficient apparatus to deceive all the nations that love not the truth, and have pleasure in unrighteousness. His signs and tokens are as ancient as the Apostacy of Cain, and as varied as will suit the secret designs of all ages. Through him men learn how to become "observ-[7]ers of time and seasons", with great skill and astonishing accuracy. He presides over the arts of Astrology, Clairvoyance, Mesmerism, Electro-Biology and all Auguris and Divinations. Being Prince of the power of the air, he understands Aeronautic and Steam Navigation, and he can compose and combine the various elements, through the cooperation of them that believe in him, with far more than human skill. Now don't doubt what I say concerning this matter, but rather read the history of his skillful exploits and his mighty power, as they are recorded in the Old and New Testaments. Take a Bible and Concordance, (if you have any Faith in the Bible left, in an age when the Bible is perverted beyond all other books), and read attentively for yourselves, and you will there learn that I am telling you the truth. Judgments Now there is a greater destruction coming upon the wicked nations of the earth, than was even experienced by Pharaoh at the Red Sea. But before that destruction can be made manifest, men's hearts will be hardened, and wickedness will rise to a more overtowering height than many bygone generations have been allowed to witness. God, through His Prophet, will roar out of Zion. His voice will be heard in spite of all the confusion and indignant opposition from many nations. After the testimony of His servants has been proclaimed to all nations, as a witness, then shall the scene of the end come. And great shall be that scene. The Devil in the last stage of desperation, will take such a preeminent lead in literature, politics, philosophy, and religion; in wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, thunderings and lightnings, setting cities in conflagration, etc., that mighty kings and powerful nations will be constrained to fall down and worship him. And they will marvel at his great power, and wonder after him with great astonishment. For his signs and wonders will be among all nations. Men will be raised for the express purpose of furthering the [8] designs and marvelous works of the devil. Every description of curious and mysterious arts that penetrate beyond the common pale of human sagacity and wisdom, will be studied and practiced beyond what has been known by mere mortals. The great capabilities of the elements of fire, air, earth, and water, [By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. --Revelations 9:8. (This doubtless has reference to serial and other warfare where fire, gases and bombs are used.)] will be brought into requisition by cunning men under the superior cunning of the Prince and God of this world. And, inflated with the knowledge of these wonderful arts and powers, men will become boasters, heady, high-minded, proud, and despisers of that which is good. But the God who is above all, and over all, and who ruleth in the armies of heaven, and amongst the inhabitants of. the earth, will not be a silent observer of such spiritual wickedness in high places, and among the rulers of the darkness of this world. For the master spirits of wickedness of all ages, and of worlds visible and invisible, will be arrayed in the rebellious ranks before the closing scene shall transpire. Now just at this time, God will come out of His hiding place and vex the nations in his hot displeasure. By the mouth of His Prophet He will rebuke strong nations afar off, notwithstanding their strong armies and great miracles, and cunning arts. His servant, the Prophet in Zion, will have a marvelous boldness to rebuke them, and to lay down before them in plainness and inflexible firmness the law of the Lord. As Moses laid down the law to Pharaoh, and continued to multiply evils and judgments until he made an utter end of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, even so will the living God prescribe the line of conduct to be pursued, and the penalties of violation, to great and mighty nations, until they rally around the ensign established upon the mountains, and go up to the house of the God of Jacob to learn His ways, or are utterly overwhelmed in keen anguish and ruin. [9] Strong Delusions The ways of the God of Jacob are easily recognized in these days of general wickedness. It is true that they are clearly revealed in the Scriptures of truth, and by a living Priesthood of inspired men, yet they have been so long and so grossly perverted by the precepts and opinions of a hireling ministry, that doubts and contentions have sprung up in every land, and the plainest and simplest truths are denied, abrogated, or accounted obsolete. God is not allowed to speak from the heavens by the mouths of Prophets as in former days. Notwithstanding there is much preaching and praying, still there is a virtual acknowledgment amongst all nations that God, as He was known unto the Patriarchs and Prophets of old, has forsaken the earth. And men are left to discover the way to heaven by the light of nature, or the misty nebulae of a hireling Priesthood. And it is a fact, undeniable, that infidels in the school of nature have more true piety towards the living God, than the hireling ministry of Christendom have. Hence priests are doing so much, often unwittingly, to blind the eyes of the people, so that they shall not see the approaching crisis in its true character until the catastrophe is completed, and Great Babylon and all her lofty cities, great wealth, princely merchants, chief captains, and mighty sovereigns, are laid low in one general ruin. Oh, ye great and strong nations! Ye philosophers and religionists! Ye spiritual mediums and ye revelators, sitting upon thrones over great nations! How can you fulfill the prophecies that are so clearly revealed, concerning the destructions of the last days! Ye perhaps marvel that the great men and governors over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces in ancient Babylon, with a brave monarch at their head, should have been such firm believers in the astrologers, magicians, and interpreters of dreams, in their days! But marvel not, for when the greater power of the like class of persons, under the direction of Satan, shall be brought to bear in your own [10] day, the delusion will be so much stronger that Princes, Presidents, Governors, and chief Captains, will be constrained to bow to it. Their credulity will be taxed beyond the power of resistance. The workers of these mysterious and supernatural arts will bring to their aid both natural and supernatural causes that will challenge and defy disputation. The senses and judgment of men cannot withstand such imperative facts as will arrest their observation. For it cannot be denied that facts and truths will constitute such a measure of the ingredients of these mysterious and wonderful arts as to give them an irresistible strength of conviction to those who are unenlightened by the spirit of God. And so far as facts and truths are mingled, it must also be acknowledged that God, the true and living Sovereign of heaven and earth will contribute to produce the delusion. He has said that "HE WILL SEND THEM STRONG DELUSIONS THAT THEY MIGHT BELIEVE A LIE." He gives His reason and apology for acting after this strange manner--because, knowing the truth, they do not love it unadulterated. And knowing God, they do not choose to glorify Him as God. Therefore their foolish hearts become darkened, and God suffers Satan to compound and mix up truth and error in such proportions as to be captivating and strongly delusive. As a snare, this composition will be ingeniously mixed and administered to all nations, by skillful and practiced hands. |
The Coming Crisis Studies Doctrine Mormon
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| Revelation Necessary And who shall be able to withstand? Do you think that your great sagacity and the compass of your profound, philosophical turn of mind will enable you to detect the error and delusion of these arts? Oh, man, this is a vain hope. Your mind will not be competent to detect the delusion. God Himself will allow Satan to ply your scrutinizing eye with powers and sophistications [11] far beyond your capacity to detect. Do you say then, I will stand aloof from investigation, I will shun all acquaintance with these mysterious workings, in order that I may not be carried away with their delusive influence ? Vain hope. Oh man, you cannot be neutral. You must choose your side and put on your armor. Those that come not up to the help of the Lord in the day of battle, will be sorely cursed. The captive Hebrew Daniel stood up boldly against all the governors and whole realm of Babylon with their monarch at their head. Daniel readily acknowledged ,that it was not from any wisdom in him, above other men, that he could surpass the astrologers and magicians. But holding intercourse with the God of heaven, he became endowed with a supernatural comprehension that effectually shielded him against supernatural delusion. Thereby he escaped the snare that entwined around the great statesmen and governors of that immense empire of Babylon. Thereby those who take refuge in the name of the Lord and in immediate (personal) revelation from heaven, will be safe, and no others. He that is not for God and the principle of immediate revelation, will inevitably be ensnared, overcome, and destroyed! Because he that is not for Him must be against Him. No man in any age was ever for God or even a friend of God, that did not hold intercourse with Him personally, and receive for himself the revelations of His will. The rock of revelation, by which Peter knew Jesus Christ, is the only basis upon which any man can escape the strong delusion which God will send among the nations, through Satan and his mediums and coadjutors. Reader, if you live long, you will be compelled to take a side for God or for Satan. Satan was allowed to try a compulsory process upon as good a man as Job. The whirlwind and tempestuous elements, with disease and death, were put into Satan's hand that he might compel Job to abandon his integrity. Had not Job possessed the key of revelation from God, he would have been compelled to have made peace with Satan and forsake the Lord. His wife urged him to do so--says [12] she, "Curse God and die"; or, in other words, take the side of Satan against God. Now, reader, if you have ships of precious merchandise floating at sea, the time is fast coming when Satan will destroy those ships, unless you bow down to his power and become a co-operator with him. And if you do bow down to him, to work wickedness and say no eye seeth me--then God will destroy those ships and you, too, and peradventure He will destroy your family also, and make a clean end of you, and blot out your name under heaven. Your beautiful mansion and flourishing family still have to be consecrated to God or to Satan, whichever you may choose. The controversy is begun and the war will never end till the victory is complete and universal, and there shall not be found so much as a dog to move his tongue against the Lord and the immediate revelations of His will. Your being a minister of some church(nor even His church), will not serve as the least screen for you against the hot indignation of God, unless you have the law and the testimony of the true and living God made known to you personally. For the time has come that God will write His law upon every man's heart, that will receive it, not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. And against him that hath this law, the gates of hell never have prevailed and never will prevail. Heaven and earth shall pass away before a jot of this law shall be made to succumb to wicked men or devils. The heavens have been shaken once when angels rebelled, and they are destined to another shaking even with the earth. Do you say you don't need any more revelation from God? Then the Devil will be allowed to give you some which you don't need. And by the time that he has revealed himself to you, and buffeted you, and trained you under his rigorous discipline to fight in this awful crisis against the heavens, peradventure you will not then feel so rich and increased in goods, but that you can take a little counsel from the Lord, and feel a little of your extreme poverty and destitution. Necessary to Know God You cannot know God without present (personal) revelation. ["It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the character of God, and to know that we may converse with Him as one man converses with another, and, that He was once a man like us: yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth the same as Jesus Christ himself did." --Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp., 345, 346.] Did you ever think of this most solemn and essential truth before? You may have been accustomed to pray, all your lifetime, and as yet you, even you, do not know God. You may have heard many thousand sermons, with a sincere desire both to remember and practice them, and yet you do not know God. But it has been decided in the court of heaven, that no man can know the Father, but the Son, and he to whom the Son revealeth him. Now, has Jesus Christ ever revealed God the Father to you, dear reader? Be honest with yourself, and do not err in your answer to this most important question. However much the Son may have revealed the Father to Prophets, Patriarchs, and Apostles of old, the question still remains in full force--has he revealed Him to you? A revelation to another man is by no means a revelation to you. For instance, God revealed himself to Samuel, and called him by name to be a Prophet. But the call to Samuel is by no means a call to you to be a Prophet. God called Abraham to kill Isaac, but that is no revelation to you to kill your son. God revealed the baptism of repentance unto John the Baptist, before Christ's death, but that is not a revelation to you. He revealed authority to Paul to preach to the Gentiles, but what was told to Paul is not told to you, nor is it required of you. Again, you need the righteousness of God to go where God is, and be happy--and how will you get it except it is revealed to you personally? You cannot get it in any other way. Hence the Lord says, "The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith." [14] Don't say now, as some do, that revelation was anciently given in order to establish the truth, and being once established it is no longer necessary to be revealed to subsequent generations of people. Don't say this for your life, for revelation is just as necessary to establish truth now to you as it was then. You need the ministry of angels now, just as much as people did then. They in past ages could not know God, nor say for a certainty from personal knowledge that Jesus Christ was the Christ only by the Holy Ghost--and you are just as weak and dependent as they were. You most assuredly cannot call Jesus, Lord, only by the Holy Ghost. If the Holy Ghost is confirmed upon you, by the imposition of the hands of the true Priesthood, then you can know God for yourself. Why? Because the Holy Ghost teaches all things, even the deep things of God. This generation needs present revelations from heaven, as much as any other generation ever did, because they are quite as wicked as Sodom ever was. They practice as gross sensuality and beastliness, as glaring robbery and murder, as much treachery and lying, and are as ardent for war and blood-guiltiness, as ever the ancient Canaanites were. And among the many religions that have sprung up, calculated to confuse people's minds, there is, now, as much jargon and schism, contention and strife, and persecuting zeal, as there ever was before. Now, reader, you need present revelation from God to your own dear self, in order to help you out of this nasty, confused labyrinth, and to set your feet firmly upon the solid rock of revelation. Mere flesh and blood cannot help you now. It requires an Almighty arm to effect your deliverance. Therefore, put no more trust in man, for a curse rests upon him that will be guided by the precepts of man. I do not ask you to be guided by what I say to you, unless the Lord from heaven shall reveal to you that I speak the truth, even as it is in Christ. Although I know that I am declaring heaven's truth to you, in all sobriety, yet my knowing it does not suffice for you. You also must know it for yourself, and not for another. [15] This is your right and your privilege. For God has made this promise to you, and not to you reader only, but to all others whom He calls to repentance. Now, go and get revelation for yourself. If you are penitently desirous with all your heart to get revelation from God to your own self, go to some one whom God has called and ordained to confer the Gift of the Holy Ghost upon men, according to His promise in the Acts of the Apostles, and promise you in the name of Jesus Christ, whose I am both by covenant and by sacrifice, that you shall have the desire of your heart. Even so. Amen. God Calls All Reader, be resolute! This is a crucial and trying moment with you. And this is God's call unto you. Don't refuse when He calls you! And if you are honestly, without prejudice, meditating upon what you now read, then God's Spirit is sweetly persuading you to believe what I say. The faint dawn of the Spirit is even now upon your mind. Now, reader, cherish this little dawn of light until the daylight of more truth shines more clearly upon your mind. Pray mightily for the Spirit of Revelation to rest upon you, that you may know the things that are freely given to you of God. And follow the Spirit of revelation as fast as you receive its whisperings, down into the water where Jesus went, for the remission of your sins, and you will very soon become a witness to the truth, and put your own seal upon it even as I have done. And you will not barely believe, and hope, and fear, but you will know, from present and personal revelation, that the Lord is a God at hand, revealing Himself as freely as He ever did in patriarchal days. Will you not, then, be a happy man, O reader! And you a happy woman, O reader, to come into posses-[16]sion of the same gift of present revelation from heaven, that holy men and holy women enjoyed in ancient times? Yes, I know you will. You will then feel deep pity and sorrow for any one that says he doesn't need present revelation! You will then discover the pride of such an one's heart, and mourn over him as one that is blinded by the God of this world. But your peace will be great and your joy unspeakable. Although you can hardly believe me now, yet through your faithfulness, the Spirit of prophecy will in due time rest even upon you, O man! and also upon you, O woman! The spirit of prophecy has rested upon many sons and daughters in as humble walks of life as you are, and they, according to "promise", have prophesied and dreamed dreams. Now when this promise is fulfilled in your experience, you will feel very glad and very happy. And you will feel thankful that you ever read this article with a humble, prayerful heart. And when you see the promised signs following your faith, as thousands have done in this day, then you will exclaim, Surely this is not merely the form, but also the power of godliness - this kind of gospel is in very deed the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth! And then if you have money, which so many worship, you will not be afraid to give a tenth to rear up a Temple like Solomon's, in which God will place the ark of His covenant, and reveal His will, through His servants the Prophets, for the benefit of all the ends of the earth. When you yourself have the promised gift of discerning of spirits, then you will not have to ask your neighbor who is an imposter and who is not--you will know from the Fountain Head all about it just as well as the next person. He that is spiritual judgeth all things. Many things are hard to be understood and reconciled, which the unstable and unlearned stumble at, even as formerly--he that is spiritual can easily judge things, but he that is not spiritual can judge nothing correctly, for he is blind, and he cannot see afar off. |
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| [17] WICKEDNESS And further, when you see also the gross and beastly sexual abominations that are practiced and are increasing among all nations, without shame or fear, you will not marvel that God is determined to raise up a righteous seed and glorious branch, by re-establishing the Patriarchal Order, as in the days of Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon, and Elkanah. Neither will you marvel, while the Spirit of God is upon you, that man and even women should sneer at the sacred institution of marriage being an institution wholly under the control of God, as it was in the days of Abraham. Why should you not marvel at their sneers? Because, we have been distinctly and emphatically forewarned that in the last days there shall arise scoffers, walking after their own hearts' lusts, who shall speak evil of dignities and things that they know not, having men's persons in admiration because of gain. You would have more cause to marvel and disbelieve the scriptures of truth, if sensual men and women did not speak evil of the Patriarchal Order of marriage, and of men that conform to the pure sanction and penal restrictions of that most holy Order. Dreams and Visions Now there are several ways in which the pure and obedient get revelations. It will be your privilege in due time to become acquainted with these various ways. One way is through the inspiration of the Spirit. The Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. All men have such a measure of the Holy Spirit as to enable them to make a profitable use of the light and opportunities that they have and to obey the law under which they are placed. All the different methods of revelation are not probably given to all men now. God dispenseth His [18] gifts severally as He will. The inspiration of the Almighty giveth understanding. Every various method of immediate revelation, however, always accords with the Spirit. If an holy angel talks with a man, what the angel speaks accords with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. If the Urim and Thummim is consulted, it accords with the teachings of the Holy Spirit. An open vision or a dream, each accords with the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Now one mark of a dream from God is, that it is distinguished for the clearness and simplicity of the impress that it makes upon the mind of him that dreams. A dream from the Lord being always true in all its legitimate bearings, will be so disembarrassed from error and uncertainty to him that has the spirit of truth in lively exercise, that he will know it perfectly in distinction from all false hallucinations or deceptions of the mind. Reader, take your Bible and read the Bible account of dreams. There you will see that dreams from the Lord, for any important end, are plainly distinguishable from all deceptive influences. When Jacob went toward Haran and lay upon his stone pillow, and dreamed of seeing a ladder reaching up to heaven, etc., after he awoke he knew, beyond a doubt, that the dream was from God. Hence he says, "How terrible is this place", etc. When Laban wanted to cheat Jacob out of his just wages, the Lord appeared to Jacob in a night dream, and told him how to increase the number of his cattle, so that he could get the advantage of the cheating employer. Jacob understood the dream perfectly, and so managed as to have the best of the increase fall to his share. When Joseph told the simple dream of the sheaves, his brothers all understood it well. And when he told the dream of the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowing down to him, his father Jacob f elt the force of the meaning, although he rebuked Joseph. When God gives a dream to a wicked man, He makes him fully to understand it, unless He wishes to hide the meaning from him. Abimelech understood his two dreams from the Lord, concerning Sarah, Abraham's [19] wife. The Lord gave Solomon wisdom, and riches, and dominion, in a dream, and yet Solomon knew the import of the dream, and that the Lord had appeared to him in that dream. The Lord does not suffer wicked spirits to foul and blot and mar a dream, when he wants to communicate His mind and will in a dream. Foul spirits are rebuked and commanded to depart when God wants to indite the truth upon any one's mind. The Angel of God guards the dreamer till a clear and a distinct impression is made. And that impression is of an unmistakable character, it cannot be misunderstood, any more than the light of the sun can be mistaken for the darkness of midnight. An open vision is another method of revelation. David saw an Angel of the Lord with a drawn sword, even the pestilence, standing between the heavens and earth. The Prophet having prayed that the eyes of his servant might be opened, showed him that the armies of heaven were more numerous than the host of his enemies. Another method of revelation is through the ministry of angels. An angel forewarned Lot to leave Sodom. Angels gave the Law to Moses, upon Mount Sinai. An angel opened a great iron gate that liberated the Apostle Peter. Again, God reveals things by Urim and Thummim, and by burnt offerings, and by divers tongues, etc. Now, reader, I entreat you to seek the aid of present revelations from God. You need them just as much as any poor creature ever did, that has been born into the world. Without them you never can know God, worlds without end. Don't flatter yourself that because others know God or have formerly known Him, you are any better off on that account, unless you know Him for yourself. Are you poor and oppressed? Then you have the greatest need to receive revelations from God. There are [20] very many poor people in these days, and in these lands. Even in England, [It should be remembered that the article we are treating was evidently first published to the European Saints. Reference to England, with its then capitalistic and unequal labor conditions would so indicate. The article was doubtless endorsed by the leaders of the Mormon Church; and while it seemed to have particular reference to conditions in England, it must not be forgotten that the abuses spoken of have been the fruits of the capitalistic system in all parts of the world.] rich men oppress you, and many cheat you and defraud you, and keep back your merited wages--and you, who do the greatest part of the work that is done in the land, can hardly get an honest living, while your masters roll in pomp, and fare sumptuously every day. I have seen you and your little sons and tender daughters, hurrying off early in the morning to work for them, and returning late at night, poorly fed and poorly clothed often. And all the time that you are making others rich, they are keeping you in poverty and ignorance. And your daughters are often insulted and sometimes seduced by masters, and you are threatened with workhouse if you don't grind for the oppressor, and you have but little time to see your own families, and bless them with comforts, and educate and train them up for usefulness and salvation. Now, if you knew how to take counsel from the God of heaven, as Jacob did, you would not have to submit always to such fraud and oppression. But God would help you out of your many difficulties, and your enemies could not help themselves. God has seen your afflictions, and has sent forth His servants to all nations, to preach deliverance, for the acceptable year of the Lord has now come. And ye rich men, the Voice is to You. Gather up the poor and bless them, and your riches shall not waste, but increase fourfold and great shall be your reward in heaven. But blessed are the poor who shall obtain the gifts of revelation for themselves, for they shall rejoice greatly in the Holy One of Israel. For not many rich, not many noble, will be humble enough to seek revelations from God. But beware of the counsel of any [21] priests or ministers who are hired and paid for preaching. God never hired any man to preach, nor did He ever authorize any man to hire himself out to preach for wages. Therefore beware of all such, lest they deceive you. Go not after them, neither listen to them for a moment, for they are confederate with rich men and oppressors, and they are despisers of present revelation, and consequently they neither know God themselves, nor are they willing that others should know Him. And vengeance will shortly overtake all that know not God, and obey not the Gospel. * * * * * FATE OF THE WICKED (God's Message Through His Prophets) I am no respecter of persons, and will that all men shall know that the day speedily cometh; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand, when peace shall be taken from the earth, and the devil shall have power over his own dominion.--D&C 1:35. * * * * * I have sworn in my wrath, and decreed wars upon the face of the earth, and the wicked shall slay the wicked, and fear shall come upon every man.--D&C 63:33. * * * * * And thus, with the sword and by bloodshed the inhabitants of the earth shall mourn; and with famine, and plague, and earthquake, and the thunder of heaven, and the fierce and vivid lightning 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.--D&C 87:6. * * * * * I have sworn, and the decree hath gone forth by a former commandment which I have given unto you, that I would let fall the sword of mine indignation in behalf of my people; and even as I have said, it shall come to pass. Mine indignation is soon to be poured out WITHOUT MEASURE upon all nations.--D&C 101:10-11. [22] "Do you think there is calamity abroad now among the people? Not much. All we have yet heard and all we have experienced is scarcely a preface to the sermon that is going to be preached. When the testimony of the Elders ceases to be given, and the Lord says to them, "Come home; I will now preach my own sermons to the nations of the earth," all you now know can scarcely be called a preface to the sermon that will be preached with fire and sword, tempests, earthquakes, hail, rain, thunders and lightnings, and fearful destruction. What matters the destruction of a few railway cars? You will hear of magnificent cities, now idolized by the people, sinking in the earth, entombing the inhabitants. The sea will heave itself beyond its bounds, engulphing mighty cities. Famine will spread over the nations, and nation will rise up against nation, kingdom against kingdom, and states against states, in our own country and in foreign lands; and they will destroy each other, caring not for the blood and lives of their neighbours, of their families, or their own lives. They will be like the Jaredites who preceded the Nephites upon this continent, and will destroy each other to the last man, through the anger that the Devil will place in their hearts, because they have rejected the words of life and are given over to Satan to do whatever he listeth to do with them. You may think that the little you now hear is grievous; yet the faithful of God's people will see days that will cause them to close their eyes because of the sorrow that will come upon the wicked nations. The hearts of the faithful will be filled with pain and anguish for them." --Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 8:123; July 15, 1860. HlGHLIGHTS IN IDOL WORSHIP And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. [23] Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in the heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. --Ex. 20:1-6. * * * * * "And Cain loved Satan more than God." Gen. 5:6 (Insp. Trans.) "From the days of Cain, there was a secret combination, and their works were in the dark." --Gen. 5:37 (Insp. Trans.) Terah, father of Abraham, was a worshipper of idols. (Book of Abraham, 2:5). Nebuchadnezzar set up an image of gold and commanded his subjects to worship it. --Daniel 3. King Darius established a decree that no one should pray to any other God than himself for thirty days. --Daniel 6. The Athenians worshipped the "Unknown God". --Acts 17:23. "Yea, woe unto those that worship idols, for the devil of all devils delighteth in them". --2 Nep. 9:37. Human sacrifices made to idols. --Mormon 4:21. "And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, who is like unto the beast! who is able to make war [24] with him?" --Rev. 13:4. "They seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of its own God, whose image is in the likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol, which waxeth old and shall perish in Babylon, even Babylon the great, which shall fall." --D. & C. 1:16. * * * * * We are seeing the beginning of some things foretold in the book of Revelation. John saw men worship the dragon, and already scores are giving themselves to dragon worship. Pierre Van Paasen, writing in the New York Evening World, states that there are twenty-two chapels in Paris given over to the worship of Satan: He states that a black mass is offered every Friday in these chapels. He describes a three-hour service in one of these chapels given over to Satan worship, in which a High Priestess was seated at the left of the altar. A procession of priests and acolytes slowly advanced down the aisle of the chapel and made a profound bow to the Priestess. A censer was swung before the altar so that the whole place was filled with the smell of incense. A chant was sung in which God and Christ were cursed and the devil was praised as the source of happiness, life, and goodness. According to this writer they have a litany which is sung to an organ accompaniment, "O Lucifer, immensity without limits, beauty, perfection, utterance, love; we offer thee our bodies, our hearts, our souls. Take possession of us. Give us strength to make thy cause triumph against Christ and against all superstitions and errors of Christianity. To thee, glory in this age, and in the age to come! Amen." He states, "Usually, the black mass ends in an orgy of hysterics" and the low, obscene demonstrations that followed this black mass were of too vile a nature for us even to repeat in these columns. --"Last Days", p. 86. |
The Coming Crisis
This is an incredible article, in my opinion. Thanks for reproducing it here.
I believe that personal revelation is vital to our progression now and eternally. I wonder how many saints realize just how important it is and how necessary it is to our salvation.
TOPIC: The Coming Crisis