Joseph Smith, Jr.

“ We listened, we gazed, we admired! 'Twas the voice of an angel from glory, 'twas a message from the Most High! and as we heard we rejoiced, while his love enkindled upon our souls, and we were wrapt in the vision of the Almighty! Where was room for doubt? Nowhere; uncertainty had fled, doubt had sunk no more to rise, while fiction and deception had fled for ever! ”

“ And Enoch continued his speech, saying, The Lord which spake with me, the same is the God of heaven, and He is my God, and your God, and ye are my brethren, and why counsel ye yourselves, and deny the God of heaven?
The heavens hath he made: the earth is his footstool, and the foundation thereof is his: Behold he hath laid it, an host of men hath he brought in upon the face thereof. And death hath come upon our fathers: nevertheless we know them, and cannot deny, and even the first of all we know, even Adam. ”

“ The earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, the end of all flesh is come before me, for the earth is filled with violence through them, and behold I will destroy them from off the earth. ”

“ Behold, this is wisdom in me: wherefore marvel not, for the hour cometh that I will drink of the fruit of the vine with you on the earth, and with Moroni, whom I have sent unto you to reveal the Book of Mormon, containing the fulness of my everlasting gospel; to whom I have committed the keys of the record of the stick of Ephraim ”

“ For by the Water ye know the com­mandment; by the Spirit ye are justified, and by the Blood ye are sanctified, that in you is given the record of heaven;—the Comfortor;—the peaceable things of immortal glory;—the truth of all things;—that which quickeneth all things, which maketh alive all things;—that which knoweth all things, and hath all power, according to wisdom, mercy, truth, justice, and judgment. ”

“ And the Gods said, behold, we will give them every herb bearing seed that shall come upon the face of all the earth, and every tree which shall have fruit upon it, yea, the fruit of the tree yielding seed to them we will give it, it shall be for their meat; and to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, behold, we will give them life, and also we will give to them every green herb for meat, and all these things shall be thus organized. ”

“ But the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel, your brother? And he said, I know not. Am I my brother's keeper? And the Lord said, What have you done? the voice of your brother's blood cries unto me from the ground. And now you shall be cursed from the earth which has opened her mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you till the ground she shall not henceforth yield unto you her strength. A fugitive, and a vagabond also, you shall be in the earth.
And Cain said unto the Lord, Satan tempted me because of my brother's flocks. ”

“ And we know that all men must repent and believe on the name of Jesus Christ and worship the Father in his name, and endure in faith on his name to the end, or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God. And we know that justification through the grace of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, is just and true; and we know, also, that sanctification through the grace of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, is just and true, to all those who love and serve God with all their mights, minds, and strength ”

“ Man may deceive his fellow-man, deception may follow deception, and the children of the wicked one may have power to seduce the foolish and untaught, till naught but fiction feeds the many and the fruit of falsehood carries in its current the giddy to the grave; but one touch with the finger of his love, yes, one ray of glory from the upper world or one word from the mouth of the Saviour, from the bosom of eternity, strikes it all into insignificance, and blots it for ever from the mind! The assurance that we were in the presence of an angel ”

“ The power and authority of the higher or Melchisedek Priesthood, is to hold the keys of all the spiritual blessings of the Church—to have the privilege of receiving the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven—to have the heavens opened unto them—to commune with the General Assembly and Church of the First-born, and to enjoy the communion and presence of God the Father, and Jesus Christ the Mediator of the new covenant. ”

“ Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth; having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, which I have sent mine angels to commit unto you; taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked ”

“ By these things we know that there is a God in heaven who is infinite and eternal, from everlasting to everlasting the same unchangeable God, the framer of heaven and earth, and all things which are in them, and that he created man male and female; after his own image and in his own likeness created he them, and gave unto them commandments that they should love and serve him the only living and true God, and that he should be the only being whom they should worship. But by the transgression of these holy laws, man became sensual and devilish, and became fallen man. ”

“ As impervious as the minds of men may be at present to these convictions, the day is not far distant when sinners, as well as Saints, will know that Joseph Smith was one of the greatest men that ever lived upon the earth, and that under God he was the Prophet and founder of the dispensation of the fulness of times, in which will be gathered together into one all things which are in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth. ”

“ Blessed is the name of my God, for His Spirit hath not altogether withdrawn from me, or else where is thy glory? for it is darkness unto me, and I am judge be­tween thee and God; for God said unto me, worship God, for Him only shalt thou serve. Get thou hence, Satan; deceive me not, for God said unto me, 'thou art after the similitude of mine Only Begotten.' And he likewise gave unto me commandments, when he called unto me out of the "burning bush," saying, call upon God in the name of mine Only Begotten, and worship me. And again Moses said, I will not cease to call upon God ”

“ But exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction, not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such a marvellous power as I had never before felt in any being. ”

“ After writing the account given of the Saviour's ministry to the remnant of the seed of Jacob, upon this continent, it was easily to be seen, as the prophet said would be, that darkness covered the earth and gross darkness the minds of the people. On reflecting further it was as easily to be seen, that amid the great strife and noise concerning religion, none had authority from God to administer the ordinances of the gospel. For the question might be asked, have men authority to administer in the name of Christ, who deny revelations? ”

“ I had found the testimony of James to be true, that a man who lacked wisdom might ask of God, and obtain and not be upbraided. I continued to pursue my common avocations in life until the twenty-first of September, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three, all the time suffering severe persecution at the hands of all classes of men, both religious and irreligious, because I continued to affirm that I had seen a vision. ”

“ And it came to pass that it was from evening until morning that it was night; and it came to pass that it was from morning until evening that it was day, and it was the fourth time.
And the Gods said, let us prepare the waters to bring forth abundantly the moving creatures that have life; and the fowl, that they may fly above the earth in the open expanse of heaven. And the Gods prepared the waters that they might bring forth great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters were to bring forth abundantly after their kind; and every winged fowl after their kind. ”

“ In the land of the Chaldeans, at the residence of my father, I, Abraham, saw that it was needful for me to obtain another place of residence, and finding there was greater happiness and peace and rest for me, I sought for the blessings of the fathers, and the right whereunto I should be ordained to administer the same; having been myself a follower of righteousness, desiring also to be one who possessed great knowledge, and to be a greater follower of righteousness, and to possess a greater knowledge, and to be a father of many nations, a prince of peace ”

“ An Apostle is an Elder, and it is his calling to baptize, and to ordain other Elders, Priests, Teachers, and Deacons, and to administer bread and wine—the emblems of the flesh and blood of Christ—and to confirm those who are baptized into the Church, by the laying on of hands for the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost, according to the scriptures ”

“ Pharaoh being a righteous man, established his kingdom and judged his people wisely and justly all his days, seeking earnestly to imitate that order established by the fathers in the first generations, in the days of the first Patriarchal reign, even in the reign of Adam, and also of Noah, his father, who blessed him with the blessings of the earth, and with the blessings of wisdom, but cursed him as pertaining to the Priesthood. ”

“ And by the word of my power have I created them, which is mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth. And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose ”

“ While I was labouring under the extreme difficulties, caused by the contests of these parties of religionists, I was one day reading the Epistle of James, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads, 'If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth unto ail men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.' Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. ”

“ Q.—What are we to understand by the four Angels, spoken of in the 7th chap, and 1st verse of Revelations?
A.—We are to understand that they are four Angels sent forth from God, to whom is given power over the four parts of the earth, to save life and to destroy; these are they who have the everlasting Gospel to commit to every Nation, Kindred, Tongue, and People; having power to shut up the Heavens, to seal up unto life, or to cast down to the regions of darkness. ”

“ Owing to the many reports which have been put in circulation by evil designing persons in relation to the rise and progress of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, all of which have been designed by the authors thereof to militate against its character as a Church, and its progress in the world, I have been induced to write this history, so as to disabuse the public mind, and put all inquirers after truth in possession of the facts as they have transpired in relation both to myself and the Church, so far as I have such facts in possession. ”

“ And immediately after the tribulations of those days, the Sun shall be darkened, and the Moon shall not give her light, and the Stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be shaken; verily, I say unto you, this generation, in the which these things shall be shewn forth, shall not pass away till all I have told shall be fulfilled:—Although, the days will come, that heaven and earth shall pass away ”

“ And the Gods organized the earth to bring forth grass from its own seed, and the herb to bring forth herb from its own seed, yielding seed after his kind; and the earth to bring forth the tree from its own seed, yielding fruit, whose seed could only bring forth the same in itself, after his kind ”

“ I soon found, however, that my telling the story had excited a great deal of prejudice against me among professors of religion, and was the cause of great persecution which continued to increase; and though I was an obscure boy, only between fourteen and fifteen years of age, and my circumstances in life such as to make a boy of no consequence in the world, yet men of high standing would take notice sufficient to excite the public mind against me, and create a hot persecution, and this was common among all the sects, all united to persecute me. ”

“ Behold, I speak unto you for mine Elect's sake; for nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there shall be famine, and pestilence, and earthquakes, in divers places; and again, because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold ”

“ And behold all things have their likeness, and all things are created and made to bear of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are Spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth; and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me. ”