Communications.
KANESVILLE, August 6th, 1851.
TO THE
EDITOR OF THE GUARDIAN:
DEAR
BROTHER:—Thinking perhaps that many of the Saints, as well as those who do not
profess to be Saints, have forgotten the sayings of the MOST HIGH GOD, to his
Church, to with; that there is no kingdom without a law and no law without
conditions of glories, or penalties—this is the case and has been in all ages
past.
The first
law was given to man, by him who is immutable, on the morn of his creation, or
at the time he was placed in the beautiful Garden of Eden, where all was vernal
bloom, or autumnal fruit, to please the eye, to gladden the heart, to satiate
the taste, or to invigorate the soul of man. God gave to man a law, saying,
"And of every tree of the Garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil, of it thou shall not eat for in the day thou
eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Mark it: The law—thou shalt not eat
of that certain tree. The penalty—thou shalt die. Now without a penalty there
would be no glory, and without a law there would be no power; nothing to lead
the mind, nothing to govern or control the actions:—But that there might be a
balance, a controlling power. God gave the law. Simple, easy,
still a power therein! A control[l]ing destiny envolved [involved] within that
sphere. Man disobeyed, the law was put in force: He died. That being—formed in
the express image of his Creator' and that might have bloomed in Prineal
Beauty to all Eternity, was now cast out of that immortal
abode, amid the fruit and flowers of Eden; a Garden planted and dressed by
God's own hand, and nourished by the genial rays of his benign countenance,
upon a cold and barren waste, a land void of fruit, and where none of those
beautiful flowers of Paradise were want to grow, and doomed to labor, to
procure his bread, through toil and sweat, amid the thorns and thistles of this
earth; where toil is wont to overcome the vigor and strength, and sickness and
disease engender[ed] death—where all is anxiety and trouble, and where the most
fond hopes, and lively anticipations to future greatness in this life ends in
death. Here let me ask, my beloved reader, have you once thought of these
things, have you Selected that all sins and misery, our perplexing anxieties,
all originate in disobedience and end in death? If not, then follow me a little
farther.
We find
Noah a preacher of righteousness, a self-possessing man having the courage and
power to believe and obey God. This same God that spoke to Adam at the first,
had now spoken to Noah: A second law had been given; and men having multiplied
become numerous upon the face of the earth. And had corrupted their ways, even
worse than did their Father Adam, and the penalty of that law was again death.
By one general swope of destruction mankind were doomed to death.
Again we
find that same Omniscient God speaking with Moses, declaring to the house of
Israel his law—(judgement [judgment] and statutes, Saith the Prophet,
"which if a man do he shall live in them,") But inasmuch as the House
of Israel, did not adhere to that law, nor do the things that were contained
therein; the law was executed, and the penalty; that they should "be
broken from being a nation, and their seed scattered among all and that they
should become a hiss and a by-word among all people," has been fulfilled.
Is the penalty manifest? It is. "But in the last days," saith an
ancient writer, "another mighty angel shall fly through the midst of
heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell upon the earth."
(Now the Gospel is this, the law that God gives, that requires implicit
obedience from all men—God's spell, or God's power to men, whereby, if you
yield obedience thereto, we shall be regenerated, or generated by, or of the
spirit and law of God, which produces immortality in the presence of God.) This
Gospel to be proclaimed by the mighty angel, shall be, "fear God and give
glory to him, for the hour of his judgement [judgment] is come; and worship him
that made the heavens and the earth, and the seas and the fountains of
water." Now this law, or this spell of God's testimony shall be, "to
every nation, kindred, tongue and people, fear God and give glory to him, for
the hour of his judgement [judgment] is come, and worship him, for he made the
heavens, and the earth, the seas, and the fountains of water."
And now hear
ye! hear ye! All men that dwell upon the face of the earth—behold the angel has
proclaimed this Gospel, and committed the power thereof unto the servants of
the Most High. And now the cry is, unto all; Repent ye! Repent ye! and fear
God—acknowledge his supremacy—give glory to him—know that light and truth is of
him—(glory is light, truth, knowledge, and power,) for the hour of his
judgement [judgment] is come. The great period has arrived when he will be
known among the nations. The elders are sent forth, not to be taught by the
powers of priestcraft or sectarianism, but to teach the power of God, and the
principle of union,—not to listen to the dogmatism of man, but to testify of
the power, and the light, and the glory of God; and to declare his judgements
[judgments] that shall come.
Saith the
Prophet, "the secrets of the Lord are with the righteous, and his
judgements [judgments] with those that fear him."
And saith
the Almighty, he who is eternal, "after your testimony cometh the
testimony of thunderings, and of lightnings, of earthquakes, and of tempests.
The sea and the waves roaring, and heating themselves beyond their bounds—Of
scourges, of sickness and disease among the inhabitants of the earth—Men's
hearts failing them for fear, and for looking for those things that shall come
on the ungodly. Is it so? Since the establishment of the Church of Christ in
A.D., 1830, and the testimony of the elders, of the Church of Christ, sent
among the nations; have not those signs, and judgments, been making manifest,
that this is the day of God's power, and of his testimony; Verily they have.
The hour of
his judgment has come—every nation trembles—every princely crown totters—all
nations fear, and what do they fear—they know not—their moral and social
atmosphere is beclouded, and the glory of their horizon, having risen to its
zenith, is shrouded in blackness; and having denied inspiration the magnet, it
has ceased to work, and their chart though correct is of no avail and e'er long
this mighty ship that throws so many voyagers over these tempestuous seas of
human greatness, will flounder amid the reef of political and ecclesiastical
dishonesty. Therefore repent ye! repent ye! all ye ends of the earth, and fear
God and give glory to him who creates the heavens and the earth; and be ye
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, for a remission of your sins. that ye may
receive the Holy Ghost, which shall lead you into all
truth. More Anon.
EVERMONT. (Letter to Orson Hyde, August 6, 1851, repr. The Frontier Guardian 3, no. 14
[August 8, 1851]: 1, emphasis in bold added)
To Support this Blog:
Email for Amazon Gift card: ScripturalMormonism@gmail.com
Email for Logos.com Gift Card: IrishLDS87@gmail.com
