| Show ORIGIN OF the opening of the fullness of the gospel in this dispensation lias been in fulfillment fill ment of prophecy which can ba found recorded in the holy writ this declaration cl we presume will accord the declarations of ail orthodox religionists zionists ts all other will de the idea of a renewal of a gospel dispensa ion by direct revelation from goil holding as they do that the canon of scripture is full but is there anything strange unorthodox or un scriptural in angels visiting men on the arth and I 1 saw said john another angel hying in the midst of heaven having alie everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth and tc every nation and kindred and tongue and people Wh atthe of the gospel by an angel when the whole earth abounds with religious dp nominations sects and parties this is startling to the world and yet the fact remains p tent nevertheless hear it all ye ends of the earth alie angel came saying with a loud voice fear god and give glory to him for the hour of ilia judgment is come and worship him thai made heaven and earth and the sea and the fountains of water mormonism as the world pleases to call it but more properly the gospel of jesus christ a revealed by an angel to joseph smith is the only truly orthodox religion extant this fact will eventually he acknowledged although it may be repudiated by the world at alio present time its transmission or heaven through a lesal and well defined line of Priesthood even that of the son of god admits of no question to the mind oi a man who is born again of water and alie spirit at the time joseph smith was first visited by a messenger from heaven the religious sects were undergoing a banat cal which created considerable excitement throughout the land and he was led to ask for wisdom of alie lord as directed by james in his fifth chapter having sought a suitable place for the purpose he called fervently upon lie lord when the persons of the father and the son appeared unto him the voice of one pointing to the other exclaimed this is my beloved son hear him this remarkable condescension breaks the silence of the tomb and penetrates the dreadful gloom and the gross darkness of the people gradually disappears eternal father being without end 1 jbv glorious fullness who can compre hend triine own infinitude is fraught with attributes to fill a human thought to grasp thy knowledge or thy nature scan As father of the endless race of man trembling with awe and fear the mind what master spirit now the bard in spices what bold philosophy shall dare assign A law to govern miracles divine tell liow effects transpire without cauce and how kind nature breaks kind na tures laws aliis is life eternal to know the only true and liv ng god and jesus christ whom he hath sent immediately following the injunction hear him alio son of god conversed joseph and told him to join none of the religious denominations for chev were all wrong that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight that their professions were all corrupt they draw near to me with their lips but hearts are far from me they teach for doctrine alie commandment s of men having a form of godliness but deny the power thereof feese are the words of the lord unto the youthful prophet joseph while he yet stood before him can the methodists or calvinists dis on a logical hypothesis the above revelation imbued with a divide spirit joseph at once related his vision to some of the ministers who immedi amply provoked a bitter persecution against him which we maintain caf on evidence of the divinity of the mission of the prophet on the of september 1823 the angel moroni visited joseph smith while he was in the act of calling upon the lord in devout prayer the mes sender an important work for him to do and that his aade should be had for good and eril all nations kindreds and tongues ton cues that was deposited in the earth giving an account of the boim er inhabitants of this continent and the source from whence they sprang with this record were also deposited the arim and Thum mim which god had preserved for translating that record in aliis interview moroni quoted parts of the third and fourth chapters the eleventh chapter of isaiah the third chapter of the acts of the apostles the second chanter of joel and many other passages of scripture this vision was so real that joseph was actually enabled to see the plan where the records had been deposited so that when he afterwards was permitted to visit the hill where they were hid up he recognized the place again a second and third time the angel visited the prophet the same night repeating word for word the instructions given on the first visit on the following day the same messenger appeared again to joseph and acain repeated the instructions given during the night apparently with the object of making a lasting impression upon his mind for four successive day of september regularly joseph visited the hill where the records were deposited and at each time he met tl e messenger who repeatedly instructed him concerning the work that was about to come forth and in what manner the kingdom was to be 1 in the last days on the memorable day of september 1827 moroni delivered the priceless record from which the book of mormon was afterwards translated into his hands we shall now introduce oliver cowdery into our narrative he commenced to write for the on the day of April of the following year in the month of may they had translated pas sages relating to baptism which led them to enquire of the lord that they know more fully the doctrine when suddenly a heavenly messenger des bended from heaven and laid his hands upon them and said upon you my fellow servants in the name of the messiah I 1 confer the priesthood of aaron which holds the keys of ahe ministering of angels and of the gospel of repentance and of baptism by immersion for the remission ot sins and this shall neve i again be taken from the earth until the sona of levi do an allering oll ering unto the lord in following this ordination which was performed by john tha baptist and the instruction given concerning the manner of baptism joseph and oliver went to a certain place and were baptized baptised sed joseph baptizing oliver first and oliver then baptizing baptising bap him these baptizes I 1 constituted the first and only mode of baptizing baptising bap preformed since the decline and loss of the Priesthood which followed the crucifixion of the savior in the conferring of the priesthood upon joseph and oliver by john the the direction of peter james and john joseph was told that indue in due time the holy priesthood should be conferred upon them the divinity of this baptism vas confirmed by the holy ghost falling upon them reveling unto them many glorious manifestations work now begun |
