Messenger and Advocate/3/7

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Messenger and Advocate Volume 3, Number 7

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Source document in Mormon Publications: 19th and 20th Centuries online archive: Messenger and Advocate Vol. 3 Note: Some headings and bracketed texts are editorial and not part of the original text.

LATTER DAY SAINTS'
MESSENGER AND ADVOCATE
Volume III. No. 7.]	KIRTLAND, OHIO, APRIL, 1837.	[Whole No. 31.

For I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me. Job 19:25,26,27. Great distress of body and deep domestic affliction weighed down this servant of the Most High, at the time he gave vent to the words we have chosen to place at the head of this article. He, by a series of afflictive providences, not in his power to control, had been recently and suddenly reduced from affluence to extreme indigence. His children had just been cut off by an afflictive stroke, a sore disease preyed upon his own body, his companion, his bosom friend reproached him for what she considered obstinacy instead of integrity, and to crown the whole, his friends from whom he doubtless expected some commiseration, some sympathy at least, reproached him severely, assuring him that these heavy judgments had fallen upon him in consequence of his great wickedness. In the midst of all these sore calamities he expressed his confidence in the resurrection, and that in the latter day he should see his Redeemer stand upon the earth. Hence says he, though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself and mine eyes shall behold and not another. God has shown this eminent man that there was a glorious hereafter, a period in futurity when sighing and sorrow shall have fled away, when the Redeemer should stand upon the earth. All the inspired penmen who have spoken or left any thing on record upon this subject, appear to have associated in their minds an idea of joy unspeakable and full of glory; a period when the knowledge of the Lord should cover the earth, when there should be no more death, nor sorrow nor crying. We are aware that there is a diversity of opinion on the subject of the coming of Christ, and the nature of his reign. The Jews, as a body reject the idea that he ever did come, and consequently are still looking for him. They profess to believe what the prophets said concerning him, and his reign on the earth, but they contemplate the glories attendant on his second advent, and knowing as they do, that those joys that were to be realized, spoken of by the ancient prophets, have never yet been realized. That personage that did come whom their fathers crucified and slew, did not deliver them from under the Roman yoke, did not reign as a temporal prince, therefore they do not acknowledge him as the Messiah. They look for the literal fulfilment [fulfillment] of what is written and what we believe will all take place when he shall appear the second time without sin unto salvation. It is abundantly evident that that time spoken of by Isaiah in the 24th chapter and 23d verse, has never yet come; for he says, in that day the moon shall be confounded and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously. The prophet in the 32d chapter from the first to the 9th verse inclusive, speaks of the blessings of a kingdom that have never been realized by saint or sinner in any kingdom, therefore the predictions remain to be fulfiled [fulfilled] or there is no truth in revelation.-Luke's testimony 1:32 and 33, as delivered by the angel concerning the Savior, is as follows: he shall be great and shall be called the son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Israel forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end. As a further proof of our position, the Lord says by the mouth of the prophet Micah, 4:6 and 7. In that day saith the Lord will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; and I will make her that halted a remnant; and her that was cast far off a strong nation; and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even forever. From the reading of these predictions how abundantly evident it is that they were never fulfilled while the Savior tabernacled {{page break|481) ________________________________________

with men on the earth, and if he were not to make his appearance again on the earth, the veracity of the prophet would be impeached, the saints in ancient as well as in modern times, have believed in vain, they have hoped in vain, they have suffered in vain, and the scripture is no revelation to us. Paul, in his epistle to Timothy, 2:11, 12, says, It is a faithful saying that if we be dead with him we shall also live with him, if we suffer with him we shall also reign with him, if we deny him he will also deny us. On looking at these remarks, who does not know from the best sources of information now extant, that not only the apostle who caused this epistle to be written, but most of the saints who were coeval with him suffered? and who does not also know that they have never yet reigned with him? Lest a query might arise in the minds of some relative to the place where the saints are to reign with him, we unhesitatingly say it is on the earth, and as proof of this we will add the testimony of John the Revelator, 5:10; and thou hast made us unto our God, kings and priests and we shall reign on the earth. Here we notice as we pass who these characters were that John saw. They were such as were permitted to participate in the joys of the redeemed, had been made, or were to be made kings and priests unto God and were to reign on the earth, thus we find a plain simple, yet important declaration, without any obscurity, leaving the saints and all unprejudiced persons without a shadow of doubt resting upon their minds, as to the place where they were to reign. We have seen where certain characters are to reign, and with whom they are to reign, and we will see if we have any evidence to prove how long they shall reign, and when their reign shall commence. John says, Rev. 20:4, and I saw thrones, and they sat upon them and judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped [worshipped] the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. During this period the saints anticipate joys uninterrupted and bliss without alloy. They infer this from the fact that satan is to be bound during this period and not suffered to go out and deceive the nations until it shall have expired. Then will be the time when the promise of the Savior to his desciples [disciples] shall be literally fulfilled, that the meek shall inherit the earth. Then shall he whose right it is to reign, reign on the earth; he shall verily sit upon the throne of his father David agreeably to the prediction of the angel before he made his first advent into the world. On reflection we think there is so much scripture testimony on this important point, we are astonished that there should be a solitary doubt, resting on the minds of any, capable of reading and understanding the language in which these corroborating facts are recorded. The characters who, the time when, how long, and place where, are so plainly to be understood, that it would seem to us so intelligible "that the way-fairing man, though a fool, need not err." This sentiment, we see is exactly in accordance with that we have chosen as the foundation of the remarks we have already made. For I know, says Job, that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth, that I shall see him, that mine eyes shall behold him, and that I shall see him in the flesh. Thus it would seem, if it had been the sole object of inspiration to make this (by some so much controverted subject) plain, more simple and definite terms could not well be found; and divested of prejudice or prepossession, no person can mistake the language of inspiration on this pleasing theme. The sure promise of such ravishing bliss, enabled the saints anciently to endure such great tribulations as they were doomed to pass through, with more than manly fortitude. "They truly endured great contradictions of sinners against themselves. They endured as seeing him who is invisible." And why, we ask? They had respect unto the recompence [recompense] of reward. They were assured there were crowns laid up for them, and not for them only but for all those that loved or should love his appearing. This was their sheet anchor, the foundation of their hope, and buoyed them above every tribulation through which they were called to pass, here in this vale of tears. Hence,

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says one of the ancients, "neither count I my life dear to myself so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God." To live, said the same eminent personage on another occasion, is Christ, but to die is gain. So we find all the inspired penmen to be equally fearless of death, yet they did not like cowards steal out of time because they had not courage to meet the afflictions unavoidably connected with a course of obedience to the divine mandates, but looking forward to that eventful period, that happy era beyond the grave, "they endured, as seeing him who is invisible." Hence says the author of our text, although laboring under the most deep and painful afflictions, "I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that in the latter day he shall stand upon the earth. Though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself and mine eyes shall behold him." Hence it would appear, from all the testimony that we have adduced on this subject, together with what may be drawn from holy writ, that one must be wilfully [willfully] blind or obstinately wicked, to deny facts so plainly proven by so many witnesses. Truly they have not all used the same words, to express what we believe to be the same ideas; but there is an identity of idea, a peculiar animation of soul, even in rehearsing their words, although they were spoken or written long since, by different prophets, by the Savior, or his apostles, they produce the same flow of thought, the same glow of feeling, that ever springing hope, that animates and cheers the saints in their darkest hours of domestic affliction, and enables them to meet the pale monster, death, with a smile of resignation. How oft have the servants of God, in the midst of tortures most cruel, exclaimed, almost with an air of triumph over their tormentors, O death where is thy sting? And why? From the evidences which they had of a glorious resurrection, a happy immortality beyond the grave. Hence says the apostle, if we suffer with him, we shall reign with him. That joy extatic [ecstatic], that thrills through the soul and animates with a holy hope, the real children of promise, the servants of the most high God, when they have about finished their course and the time of their departure is at hand, makes them exclaim, in view of what lies before them, come welcome death, thou end of fears, we are prepared to die. We are here reminded of the language of the poet in reference to death. This path the best of men have trod; And who'd decline the road to God! O! 'tis a glorious boon to die, This favor cant be prized too high. Job, exclaimed, in view of the prospect that lay before him, I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that in the latter day he shall stand upon the earth. What gave buoyancy to this prospect, the hope which then animated them, under such appalling calamities was, the surety that their afflictions and their sufferings, however painful and severe, were soon to end, soon the glorious morn of an eternal day, would dawn upon their ravished vision. Ed. Continued from February Number. PAGE 455 Let us contemplate for a moment the sublime scenery that transpired on that august morn previous to the floodgates of heaven being opened and the fountains of the mighty deep broken up. We behold among the vast creations of God one man, and one only, that was esteemed worthy by the searcher of all hearts, of receiving a revelation of his will. Let us imagine for a moment the contempt and ridicule to which Noah, the man of God, was exposed on this occasion; long had that bigoted and self-righteous generation looked upon this prophet of the Most High as a fanatic, a fool, or a mad-man: when they beheld him engaged in building the ponderous ark, hundreds of miles from any considerable waters through fear of being drowned, and at the same time declaring that God had commanded him to do so, they no doubt, laughed him to scorn. But yet we see the good man steady to his purpose, until he had accomplished the mighty fabric. Then said the Lord unto him, "Yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights, come thou and all thy house into the ark: for thee have I seen righteous before me."-And while the giddy multitude gathered themselves together to mock and

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deride the good man, and witness as they vainly supposed the consumation [consummation] of his folly, we see the clean beasts coming to him by sevens, and those that were not clean by two, the male and his female; not only domestic animals, but the roaring lion, ferocious tiger and prowling wolf of the forest, and other beasts of prey tamely submitting to his control, each betaking himself to his separate apartment; also the great variety of poisonous serpents and other reptiles that creep upon the face of the earth, with the numerous feathered tribes of all denominations, kinds and sizes, from the huge stork of the wilderness and rapacious vulture of the heavens, down through all the different grades and variety of plumage, to the small humming bird that sips the morning dew from the opening flowers;-see the beasts of the field, the reptiles, creeping things and fowls of the air, swarming round him as harmless and inoffensive, as when God called them together, and caused them to pass in general review before Adam to be named by him, as if conscious of the impending ruin that awaited all the creation of God. In the mean time, the tranquil elements begin to show signs of an approaching storm; clouds thicken around the horizon; the lightnings flash and thunders roar as if all the artillery of heaven were at once put into requesition [requisition]; the solid mass of nature groans and trembles beneath their feet; the winds howl in the distant wood, the stately forest trees are uprooted, quick the astonished beasts forsake their coverts, and the fowls of heaven their shady bowers, all rushing with fearful haste before the fierce tornado of the wrath of God.-The windows of heaven are opened, and all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and while torrents of rain descend, Noah enters the steadfast ark, which remains unmoved amidst the conflicting elements; and the invisible hand of his Creator closes the door behind him. All faces now gather blackness, while they behold inevitable destruction approaching them as a whirlwind, and surrounding them on all sides and no way to escape. Ah, too late had they learned that God's servant had been in their midst to whom he had revealed his secrets. In vain do they fly for safety; in vain do they leave the plains already covered with water and contend with the beasts of the mountains for the highest eminence, to protract their sure and certain doom, while they behold the broken fragments of their desolate habitations floating upon the rippling surface of the wide inundation. "And the waters increased and bear up the ark, and it was lifted up above the earth. And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth: and all the high hills and mountains that were under the whole heaven were covered. Fifteen cubits upwards did the waters prevail, and all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: all in whose nostrils was the breath of life. And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and creeping thing, and the fowls of heaven were destroyed, and Noah only remained alive and they that were with him in the ark." Who can contemplate this scenery with feelings of an ordinary nature? In the picture we have presented before us; we behold the earth swept with the besom of destruction, every thing under the whole heaven blotted out of existence because of the wickedness of man. The high and low, rich and poor, bond and free, both male and female, noble and ignoble, embracing every cast, shade and variety of religion that existed among the antedeluvians [antediluvians], with their priests, temples, synagogues, and places of worship, were fit subjects only to be destroyed and cast down with the beast that perisheth; and together with them to be overwhelmed in the dark abyss. Let us imagine ourselves seated in the ark by the side of Noah where we can survey the dreary waste, and securely glide over the bosom of this universal world of waters. Let us call to mind the words of the Apostle, as follows: "Whereby the world that then was being overflowed with water perished. But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store reserved unto fire against the day of judgement [judgment] and perdition of ungodly men." Peter. "And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire, and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name,

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stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works Lord God Almighty, just and true are thy ways thou King of Saints." John.-There we see floating upon the liquid element (which is a beautiful representation of a sea of glass,) all the righteous that inhabited the old world.-These, by reason of their faith obtained the victory over the beast his image &c. and were able to stand, while all the rest of mankind for want of faith were involved in one general ruin. Here was a cleansing of the world by water; but the Lord said unto Noah, I will not cut off all flesh any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. My bow in the cloud shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth for perpetual generations. But the heavens and the earth (says Peter,) which are now, by the same word kept in store reserved unto fire, where it will again be cleansed, and become like a sea of glass; a fit dwelling place for all the pure in heart, who believe in that God, who has done, and who will do nothing, save he reveals his secrets and marvelous works to his servants the prophets. When the waters were abated and dried up, this common progenitor of the new world, was commanded to go forth out of the ark; and as a testimony of his gratitude to God for his deliverance, he built an altar unto him: in consequence of which he obtained a promise, that while the earth remained, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night should not cease. Has not the Lord ever been true and faithful to perform on his part the oath and covenant made with Noah, and every living creature in all generations, from that until the present time? Did you ever think, kind reader, that when the gentle heavens distil [distill] their refreshing showers, to revive the drooping vegetation, and water the thirsty ground; and the azure bow displays its beauteous arch on the retiring cloud, that God had said unto Noah more than four thousand years since-"I will look upon it and remember the everlasting covenant between me and every living creature?" How unlike their creator is man in this respect? Their covenants with the Lord and with each-other are treated lightly, broken and forgotten in consequence of the wickedness and instability of the human heart-but as the Psalmist has said, good and upright is the Lord, thou rememberest thy covenants to all generations. Did you ever realize that previous to the deluge, no such covenant existed between man and his Creator, that the Antideluvians [Antediluvians] never saw a rainbow in the heavens, that God had never at any time given them a promise that the earth should not be destroyed by the waters of a flood! As we have spoken largely upon the dealings of God with Noah & his contemporaries, we shall pass on to the history of his more immediate descendants, and proceed to take into consideration the character and standing of his servant Abraham in relation to the subject before us. viz. That God reveals all his secret acts to his servants the prophets so far as they are connected with his happiness or well being in this world, or that which is to come. We behold Abraham acting a conspicuous part in the great theatre [theater] of supernatural events. The first particular account we have of him is that he journied [journeyed] from the plains of Shinah in the land of Chaldea, to the land of Canaan in company with Sarah his wife and Lot his brothers son with all their substance: because of the wickedness of that idolatrous people among whom he dwelt, God commanded him to go out from their midst unto a land that he would show unto them. When he had built an altar and offered sacrifice unto the Lord, he appeared unto him and revealed great and glorious secrets, not only instructing him how to escape the famine which was in the land; but gave him promises that involved the interest of all succeeding generations. At another time we find him in company with two of his servants, with his wood clave for the altar and his ass saddled journeying to mount Moriah early in the morning to sacrifice his only begotten son, in whom the Lord had said, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed-but he did not stagger at this commandment, because he considered him faithful who had promised, and went forward with unlimited confidence, with

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the lad to worship as God had commanded him. And when he had placed the wood upon the altar and bound Isaac and laid him thereon, he drew the deadly knife to shed the precious blood of the son of his own bosom, knowing as the Savior said that God was able of these stones to raise up seed unto Abraham. When the Lord saw his faith was perfect, he called to him out of the heavens, saying now I know that thou lovest me: why did the Lord know this? Because he had not withheld his only son, but cheerfully offered him up in sacrifice at the shrine of the Almighty. Often have I contemplated upon the great contrast that exists between the faith of Abraham and the faith of those of this generation that expect to inherit the same blessing with him, and be seated by his side in the kingdom of God: so far from being willing to make a sacrifice that would be tantamount to this, they are not willing to sacrifice their good name among the fashionable circles of society, nor yet are they willing to divest themselves of the vain trappings, gorgeous apparel & sumtuous [sumptuous] fare of the licentious multitude, which are so prejudicial to the health & happiness of mankind, for the sake of obtaining that pearl of great price, which clothes a man with humility and meekness, and enriches his mind, with that intelligence and wisdom which comes from God alone, and stamps upon his heart with indellible [indelible] traces, those sterling qualities that characterize the humble follower of the meek and lowly Jesus. Vain hope! Impossible for such to enjoy the society of Abraham; the like faith they do not possess, a revelation from God they never obtained, the spirit of prophesy has long since departed from them, the Lords servants are not found in their ranks to whom he can reveal his secrets; superstition, priestcraft, bigotry & self righteousness, with all their deformities reign triumphant in their midst; intolerance & persecution are the banner under which they enlist their influence and the saints of God are trampled in the dust beneath their feet.-But the day is fast approaching when fearfulness will surprise the hypocrite and the wickedness of the wicked, will be exposed for the Lord in his anger will arise and come forth like a lion from the thicket; and the fearful & unbelieving will be sifted out, and driven away, before the rough wind of his indignation as the chaff of the summer threshing floor, while all the faithful will not only be permitted to enjoy the society of Abraham, but with all the sanctified will inherit the fair realms of everlasting felicity & happiness in the celestial kingdom of God. W. PARISH [Parrish] [To be Continued]