Show OF JOSEPH SMITH saturday morning thus came the word of the lord unto me saying verily thus saith the lord unto my servant joseph concerning in my y servant warren behold his sins are for forgiven iven him because of his desires to do the works of righteousness therefore inasmuch as he will continue to hearken unto my voice he shall be blessed with wisdom and with a sound mind even above his fellows behold it shall come to pass in his day day that he shall see great f r reat things shew forth themselves unto my people he shall see much of my ancient records and shall know of hidden things and shall be efi endowed dowed with a a knowledge of hidden languages lanes and if he desires and shall seek it at my ehg much of my word as a scribe unto me me for the benefit of my people eo le therefore this shall be his calling anif I 1 shall order it ot otherwise herise in my wisdom and it shall be said of him in ia time to come behold bedol d warren the lords scribe for the lords seer whom he hath bath appointed in israel if he will keep my command commandments 65 U 1050 W ted up at the last day even a so 0 adf amen a 1 1 WE 4 ta thia 1 olmes of newbury ohio I 1 cabica afta in me I 1 to air e about the es I 1 t of dt the 0 6 i d to be instructed in fieri ve him a brief rela relation A of tny tay e ydes waltin in my juvenile years 9 my aay from six yew years old to the time I 1 received the first visitation 0 orn which 1 I 1 was when I 1 was vats about aboto I 1 I 1 alao the revelations that I 1 rehei received elved concerning the book of mormon tid afla I 1 ac count of the rise and pro progress gress of afi e u to this date he listened very an seemed highly gratified and intends I 1 ite with the church it i on sabbath morning he we me to meeting which was held in the 13 ochoa house as the chapel iras 0 not finished president bigdon preached on of mens meni boing being called to preach ahe gospel their qualifications ac c we had a fine discourse it was very interesting indeed mr holaves was we satisfied and returned and dined with me said holmes has been a member of the methodist church and was excommunicated for receiving C the elders alder 9 of the letter Latter day saints into his house went to meeting in the afternoon before partaking of the sae sacrament isaac HUPs hills case cage was agitated again and settled after much controversy and he retained in the church by I 1 makini a humble acknowledgment ament before the church and consenting te have his confession published in the messenger and advocate advocat V I 1 after which the ordinance of the lords supper was administered and the meeting closed laiq late returned home and spent spen t tn evening monday the at home dictated the following letter for publication in the messen ger gear and nd advocate TO 10 THE ELDERS OF THE CHURCH ron OV OF LATT LAIT DAY SAINTS I 1 haver unto you yoa ta in my iny last that them aero are two Jero Jeru spoken of in holy writ in a manner I 1 think satisfactorily to your minds at any rate I 1 have given my views upon the subject I 1 shall now proceed to make some remarks from the sayings of the savior recorded in the chapter of his gospel according to st matthew which in my mind afford u us 8 as clear an understanding upon the important subject of the gath gathering ering as an anything athing recorded in the bible at the time the savior spoke these beautiful sayings and parables a contained in the chapter above quoted we find him seated in a ship on account of the tae multitude that pressed upon him to heir hear his words and he commenced e d teaching them saying 14 behold a beni went borth forth to sow and when he be sowed bowed some seeds fell by the wayside war side and the fowls came and devoured them up some fell upon stony places where they had not much earth and forthwith ith they s sprang rang up because they had no deepness of marttil earth y and when tha sun was up they were scorched and because they had not root they withered away and some fell among thorns and the thorns sprang up and choked them but other fell in good ground and brought forth fruit some an bundred hundred fold some sixty fold some thirty fold who hath bath ears to hear let him hear I 1 and ccann the disciples came and said wao unto him why speak est thou unto them in parables 1 I would here remark that the them made use of in this interrogation is a personal pronoun and refers to the multitude he answered answer vI d and said unto them that is the disciples it is given unto you to know the mysteries iya teries of the kin kingdom 9 of heaven but unto them that is lievers it is not given for whosoever hath bath to him shall be given and he shall have more abundance but whosoever ho hath bath not shall be taken away a w a even that he hath bath we understand u nye from this saying ying that those who had been previously looking for a messiah to come according to the testimony of the I 1 prophets and were then at that time looking for a messiah but had not sufficient light on account of their unbelief to discern him to be their savior and he being the true messiah messi ah consequently conseco leontly they must be disappointed and lose even all the knowledge or have taken away from them all the light understanding and faith which they had upon this subject therefore he that will not receive the greater light must have taken aw away ty from him all the light which he hath bath and if the light which is Is i in in i you become darkness behold how great is that darkness therefore says sa s the savior speak I 1 unto them in parables because because they scein seeing see not and hearing they hear bear not neither CIO do they understand and in them is fulfilled the prophecy of esaias which saith by hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand and seeing ye shall see and not perceive now we discover that the very reason assigned by this prophet why they would not receive 6 the e messiah was because they did or would not understand and seeing they did not perceive for this peoples peopled heart is is waxed gross and their ears are dull of hearing their eyes eves they have closed lest at any time they ahey should aho uld see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and should be converted and I 1 should heal them but what saith he to his disciples blessed are your eyes for they hey see and your year ears for they hear for verily I 1 say unto you that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those I 1 things which ye see and have not seen them I 1 and to hear those things which ye hear ana and have not heard them we again make a remark here for we find that the very very principles upon which the disciples were accounted blessed ww was because they were permitted to see with their eyes and hear with their ears and the condemnation which rested upon the multitude which received not his saying was because they were not willing to see with their eyes and hear with their ears not because they could not and were not eriv to see and hear but because their hearts were ere full of iniquity and abominations as your fathers did so do ye the prophet foreseeing that they would thus harden their hearts plainly declared it and herein is the condemns tio giop p of the world that light hath bath come into the world and men choose darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil this is so plainly taught bathe by the savior that a wayfaring ruan man need not mistake it and again hear yo ye the parable of the men are in the habit when the truth is exhibited by the servants servant a of god of ayin sar ying all is mystery they are spoken in parables and therefore ari are not to be understood it is true they have eyes to see and see not but none are so blind as those who will not see gee and although though C the savior spoke this parable to such characters yet unto cinto his disciples he expounded it plainly and we have haie reason to be truly humble before the god of our fathers that he hoth hath left these things on record for us so plain that notwithstanding the exertions exert ioas and combined influence of th the priests of baal they have not power er t to 0 blind our eyes and darken our understanding ft a w dint if we will but open our eyes and read ith candor for a moment but listen to the explanation of the parable when any one heareth the word of the kinga kingdom om and under it not then cometh the wicked one and cat eneth cheth away that emch was sown in his hia heart now mark the expression was sown 19 he aich receive th seed by the way side mn men who have hav e no principle of righteousness in themselves sely es and whose hearts ate are full fall of iniquity i and have no desire for the principles of truth do not understand the word of truth when they hear it the devil away the word of truth out of their hearts because there is no desire for righteousness in them but he e that receive th seed in stony places the same is he I 1 that heareth the word and anon with j 0 oy re I 1 I 1 it il yet hath he fie no root in himself be but 1 I 1 en dureth for a while for when tribulation or perse persecution cation arideth because of the word by and by he is offended he also that roc receive el i veth th seed among thorns is he that receive th the word mud and the cares of this world and the de of riches choke the word and he be 1 cometh unfruitful but he that seed i I 1 into tho th good ground is he that heareth the word and under it which also be bearett a r eth 1 fruit and bri ngeth forth some an hundred fold I 1 some sixty some thirty thus the savior himself I 1 if explains unto his disciples the parable he put forth and left no mystery or darkness aran upon U the h minds of those who firmly believe bellevo ad on ai his s words we draw the conclusion then that the very reason why the multitude or the world as they were designated by the savior did not receive fafa a explanation upon his parables was because of niA elief to you he says speaking t to his disciples it is ia given en to know the mysteries 0 of the kingdom of md god pad and why because of the faitt and confidence they had in him this lin rable was spoken to demon demonstrate thia effects that a re produced by the preaching ol of the word and we believe that it has an allusion directly to the commencement or the setting u up p of the kingdom in that age therefore we shall continue to trace his sayings concerning this kingdom from that time forth even unto the end of the world another parable put he forth unto them saying which parable has an allusion to the setting up of the kingdom iu in thit that age of the world also the kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man that sowed bowed good seed in in i his hia fields but while men slept an enemy ca came e and sowed bowed tares among the wheat and went his way but when the blade was sprung up upa and id brought forth fruit then appeared the tares also so zhe the servants of the householder household dr came and said unto hun him sir not thou sow good seed i in n thy field from whence then hath it tares he said unto them an enemy hath done this the servants said unto him wilt thou then that we go and nd gather them up but he said nay test while ye gather up the tares ye root up also the wheat with them let both grow together until the harvest and in the time of the harvest I 1 will say to the rea re apers era gather ye together first the tares and biner bind them in bundles to burn them but relearn gather ather the wheat into my barn now kow we learn by this parable not only the setting up of the kingdom in the days of the savior which is represented by the good seed which produced fruit but also the corruptions corrupt ions of the ch church a reh which is r represented e p resented by the tares which were sown b by t the h e enemy which his disciples would lain fain by have a e plucked up or cleansed the church of P if their views h had been favored by the sa savior bior but he knowing 15 all things says not so as much as to say your views are not correct the church is in its infancy and if you take this r rash 11 ste step you ou will destroy the wheat or the chal church roh withe with the tares therefore it is better to let them grow together until the harvest or the end of the world which means the destruction of 0 the wicked which is not yet fulfilled as we shall shew hereafter in the saviors explanation of the parable which ch is so plain that there is no room left for dubiety upon the mind notwithstanding the cry of the priests parables parables figures figures mystery mystery all Ls is mystery but we find no room for doubt here as the parable were all plainly elucidated and again another parable put he forth unto them having an allusion to the kingdom that should be set up just previous ions or atthe time of the harvest which reads as follows the kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and cowed sowed in his field which indeed is the least of all seeds but when it is grown it is ia the greatest among herbs and be cometh it a tree so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof now we can discover plainly that this figure is is given to represent the church asit shall come forth in the last days behold the kingdom of heaven is likened unto it now what is like unto it let us take the book of mormon which a man took and hid in his field securing it by his faith to td spring cpr ino up in the last days or in due time let us te behold hol it coming forth out of the ground L around which is indeed accounted tb I 1 least of all 11 seeds but behold it branching forth yea ea even towering with lofty branches and J godlike od mj majesty jesty util antu it becomes the greatest of all herbs and it is truth and it has sprouted and come forth out of the earth and ri righteousness ev 9 leous begins to look down from heaven and god is sending down his powers gifts and tin angels gels to lodge in the branches thereof the kingdom of heaven is like unto a mustard seed behold then is not this the ki kingdom in of heaven heave U th that a t i is g raising its head i in n tf the last days in the majesty of its god even the church of the latter day saints like an impenetrable immovable rook in the midst of the mighty deep exposed to the storms and tempests of of satan but has thus far remained steadfast and is still braying braving tle mountain waves of opposition which are driven by the tempestuous winds of sinking crafts which have and are still dushin dashing with tremendous foam across its triumphant trow brow arted urged onward with redoubled fury by the enemy 0 righteousness wi with th his pitchfork of lies as you will see fairly re represented resented in a cut contained in mr howes ios c 11 tr Monnon or monism ism unveiled and we hope that this thia adversary of truth will continue to stir u up the sink of iniquity that the people may the more ready discern between the righteous and the wicked we also would notice one of the modern sons of sceva who would fain have made people believe li eve that he be c could auld cast out devils by a certain pamphlet viz the millennium harbinger that went the rounds through our country who felt so fully authorized to brand joll jo smith with the appellation of bf el elymas ma as the sorcerer and to say with paul 0 fudro full of all subtlety and all mischief thou child 0 of the devil thou enemy mi of all righteousness wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the lord we would reply to this gentleman paul we know and ahn christ i st we know but who are ye and with the best of f feelings edun li s would say to him in the lan of gauf pam to those who said they were juare disciples but had not so much as heard there was a holy ghost to repent and ana be baptized for the remission of sins by those who have legal authority and under their hands bands yott shall receive the holy ghost according a to the scriptures then laid they their |