DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS: ITS FAITH AND TEACHINGS.  
BY ELDER JOHN MORGAN.
 
"Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."—JOHN v. 39.
 
"To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."—ISAIAH VIII., 20.
 
We believe in God the Eternal Father, and in His Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
 
We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression.
 
We believe that, through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
 
We believe that to obtain salvation it is necessary to obey the following principles of truth.
 
FAITH.
 
The principle of faith is the moving cause of all action. A man must have faith to believe that God will answer his prayers before he will offer them. It requires faith to accomplish any given work to which we set our hands.
 
Noah had faith in the promise God made to him, while the world of mankind perished through their lack of faith. Faith caused Noah to act, while the unbelieving people of his day, who had not faith, derided and refused to accept his testimony, and the result was that Noah and his household were saved, while destruction overtook the unbelievers.
 
Lot believed the word of the Lord and fled out of Sodom while the people stood still and perished.
 
The same results follow the acceptance or rejection of the principle in all ages of the world.
 
{287} "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. x., 17). "But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him" (Heb. xi., 6). "For unto us was the Gospel preached, as well as unto then.: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it" (Heb. iv., 2).
 
REPENTANCE.
 
Repentance we believe to be sorrow for and turning from sin, not moaning and groaning over the past and continuing the same way of living; but to quit lying, drinking, swearing, stealing, and to be honest, virtuous, charitable, forgiving, and to serve God in spirit and truth—this is repentance.
 
"Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke xiii., 3). "Repent ye, and believe the Gospel" (Mark i., 15). "Repent * * * * every one of you" (Acts ii., 38). God "commandeth all men everywhere to repent" (Acts xvii., 30). "Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbors * * * neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more: * * * Let no corrupt communication proceed out Of your mouth, * * grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. * * * Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice" (Eph. iv., 25-31). "Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like: of the which * * they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God" (Gal. v., 21).
 
BAPTISM.
 
The necessity for baptism was plainly taught by our Saviour and the Apostles. Comparatively speaking, it stood in the same light to the kingdom or church of God that the oath of allegiance does to any temporal government. Jesus stated to Nicodemus that a man could not enter the kingdom of God without having first obeyed this ordinance.
 
To become a citizen of an earthly government where a person is not born so, a man is required to subscribed to a certain prescribed oath. To become a citizen of the government of God requires that a person must be baptized in water, in obedience to the command of the Great Head of the government, and the laws of the kingdom as they are found in the Bible, the book of commandments for the Church of Christ.
 
"Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved:" (Mark xvi., 15, 16). "Verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John, iii., 5). "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name {288} of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost" (Matt. xxviii., 19). "Repent, and be baptized, every one of you" (Acts ii., 38).
 
Its form should be by immersion. "Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through faith" (Col. ii., 12.) "Were all baptized of Him in the River of Jordan" (Matt. iii., 6; Mark i., 5-9). "Jesus when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water" (Matt. iii., 16; Mark i., 10). "John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there" (John iii., 23). "And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water" (Acts viii., 36-39).
 
ITS OBJECT.-"John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins" (Mark i., 4). "And he came into the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins" (Luke iii., 3 ). "Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins" (Acts ii., 38). "Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins" (Acts xxii., 16).
 
RECEPTION OF THE HOLY GHOST BY THE LAYING ON OF HANDS.
 
The vital importance of this ordinance seems to be entirely overlooked by the majority of the Christian world, yet the most emphatic stress was placed upon it by the early teachers of Christianity. It is referred to frequently by every writer in the New Testament.
 
The nature of its workings and the manner of obtaining it were carefully dwelt upon by the various writers, and it does seem that only willful blindness could so far lead the people away from the primitive custom and practice of laying on of hands to acquire this gift.
 
But some may answer, "We are already in possession of the Holy Ghost."
 
We ask then, "Will it do the same things it did anciently?" If not, why not? What has caused it to lose its power, and become the uncertain teacher it is to-day? For if the Christian world of the present age is in possession of this blessing, why does it teach the people of one church that a certain principle is true, and the people of another church that the same principle is untrue? What of the multiplied thousands of beliefs, creeds, faiths, dogmas and doctrines that flood the land? Are they all inspired by the Spirit of God, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and sustained by the doctrines of the Bible? If not, which are right and which wrong?
 
{289} These are questions of great importance, and should be well considered. Let the word of God speak for itself in the following quotations:
 
"And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues and prophesied" (Acts xix., 6). "Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. And when Simon saw that through laying on of the Apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money" (Acts viii., 17-19). "Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of hands of the presbytery" (I. Tim. iv., 14). "Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands" (II. Tim. i. 6). "Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands" (Heb. vi., 2). "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. * * * For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another, divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues" (see context, I. Cor. xii). "Our Gospel came, in power * * and in the Holy Ghost" (I. Thess. i., 5). "And ye SHALL receive the gift of the Holy Ghost" (Acts ii., 38).
 
We here introduce the testimony of some of the Christian writers who wrote immediately after the death or banishment of the Apostles:
 
Tertullian, in the second century, says: "After baptism, succeeds the laying on of hands, with prayer, calling for the Holy Ghost."
 
Cyprian, writing in the third century, says: "Our practice is, that those who have been baptized in to the church should be presented that by prayer and imposition of hands they may receive the Holy Ghost."
 
Augustine, in the fourth century, says: "We still do what the Apostles did when they laid their hands on the Samaritans and called down the Holy Ghost upon them" (Gahan's Church History, page 73; Mosheim's Church History, volume I, page 91).
 
AUTHORITY.
 
We believe that a man must be endowed with authority before God will recognize his acts as a minister of the Gospel.
 
"Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you" (John xv., 16).
 
"For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (II. Peter i., 21).
 
{290} "He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me" (John xiii., 20).
 
"As thou has sent me into the world" (John xvii., 18).
 
"Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matt. xviii., 18).
 
"And when they had ordained them elders in every church" (Acts xiv., 23).
 
"How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach except they be sent? (Rom. x., 14, 15).
 
"And no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron" (Heb. v., 4).[A]
 
[Footnote A: "Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee he will be glad in his heart. And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words into his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth: and will teach you what he shall do." (Exodus iv., 14, 15.)]
 
"But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you, than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed" (Gal. i., 8).
 
These were the principles taught by the Savior and His Apostles, and we see no reason for their alteration and change to the present accepted ideas of the Christian world; and but for
 
APOSTACY.
 
of the primitive Christian church, they would have remained emphatically the same, with apostles, prophets, healings, gifts, tongues, etc., to the present day.
 
Paul, by the Spirit of the Holy Ghost, wrote to the Saints, prophesying of the future. "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils" (I. Tim., iv,1).
 
"And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, with the giver of usury to him. * * * The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant (Isaiah, xxiv., 2-5).
 
"And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the Saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hands until a time and times and the dividing of them" (Dan. vii., 25).
 
"And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the {291} beast. * * * And it was given unto him to make war with the Saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations" (Rev. xiii., 4-7).
 
"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. * * * Let no man deceive you by any means: FOR THAT DAY SHALL NOT COME, except there come a FALLING AWAY FIRST" (II. Thess. ii., 1-3).
 
"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away" (II. Tim. iii., 1-5).
 
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables" (II. Tim. iv., 3, 4).
 
"The priests thereof teach for hire." (Micah iii., 11).
 
From the foregoing the reader can readily see that the prophets and apostles of God were looking forward to the time when the Saints would be overcome, their church broken up, their officers killed, and no one left upon the earth with authority to administer in the ordinances of the Gospel. No prophets, no apostles, no gift of the Holy Ghost, no one to act as a mouthpiece to the children of men. Only darkness and unbelief, war and bloodshed, strife and contention, division and discord, lo here and lo there.
 
Through all the long ages, from the day when the power of a corrupt and licentious church overcame the Saints of the Most High, drove them into dens and caves of the mountains; caused them to wander, clothed in sheep skins and the skins of wild animals; killed the prophets of God, and drove the priesthood from the face of the earth, men, left to their own devices, went into such excesses that angels must have wept over their condition.
 
The laws of God were ignored, the ordinances were changed, and the everlasting covenant was broken. The "woman" (church) arrayed in purple and scarlet, drunken with the blood of the Saints, mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots, rose up and bore universal sway; and, as time passed by, gave birth to a legion of Children—churches (Rev. xvii., 4-6).
 
"The mystery of iniquity doth already work; only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the away. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming" (II. Thess. ii., 7 8).
 
{292} These were the words of the great Apostle; and, reader, by examining the balance of the chapter, you can form some idea of the great power that was to grow up and deceive the nations of the earth, perverting the Gospel, teaching men and women that prophets and apostles were not necessary, that the gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer required; until to-day warring, jarring Christianity has become a spectacle to the whole world.
 
Confusion confounded reigns supreme—wars and rumors of wars on every hand—until the heart sickens and the soul faints in contemplation of the terrible condition to which poor, suffering, deceived and misguided humanity has been brought.
 
The power of the evil one would seem to have obtained universal sway over the hearts of men, leading them on the broad road to destruction, with no power sufficient to stem the nightly current of sin.
 
RESTORATION.
 
But a just God has decreed that the day should come when "Righteousness shall cover the earth, as the waters cover the great deep," or in other words, "at the end of a time and times and dividing of time," He would again assert His power and authority on the earth, and bring to pass His purposes.
 
"And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever" (Dan. ii., 44).
 
This prophecy of Daniel affords us some conception of the power of the kingdom. By reading the entire chapter we learn that Daniel's interpretation of the king's dream ended with the setting up of the kingdom of God upon the earth never more to be thrown down.
 
The Babylonish kingdom, which flourished in the days of Daniel, in the fifth and sixth centuries before Christ, was succeeded by the Medo-Persian government from 538 to 331, B. C. The Macedonian kingdom, founded by Alexander the Great, continued from 331 to 161, B.C.; while the Roman empire succeeded the last named kingdom, from 161, B. C., to 483, A. D.
 
These governments successively represented the head of gold, the breast and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, and the legs of iron.
 
Now, lastly, should come the kingdoms represented by the feet and toes, or the KINGDOMS OF TO-DAY, partly strong and partly broken. In the days of THESE kings should the God of heaven set up a kingdom never more to be thrown down.
 
{293} "But," says one, "that was accomplished in the days of Christ!"
 
No, certainly not; for if so, why then did He, when He instructed His disciples to pray, tell them to pray for an already accomplished fact: "Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven?" Have Christians throughout the world, for nearly two thousand years past, been taught to pray for the coming of an event which had already transpired?
 
The dividing of times has not yet come: but by turning to the Book of Revelation, we read how the power and authority of God, and the principles of the true and everlasting Gospel were to be restored to the earth; how the kingdom spoken of by Daniel, and prayed for by the disciples, was to be set up never more to be thrown down, how the kingdoms of this world were to become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ; how the promise of Jesus was about to be made good, that upon this ROCK (of revelation) would He found His church, and the gates of hell should not prevail against it, and how the Saints should possess the kingdom of the Most High.
 
John the Revelator, bound and captive upon the Isle of Patmos, had the vision of heaven opened up to him, and he saw an angel leave the throne of God and wend his flight to this planet. A new song was being sung in heaven; the day and hour had come when the dispensation of the fullness of times was to be ushered in (Eph. i., 10; Matt. xxiv., 31), when God would send His angels to bring order out of chaos, system out of confusion, and gather His people (the honest-in-heart) together in one place, that they might prepare themselves to welcome the Great King of the world when He should come in clouds of glory, surrounded by His angels.
 
"I saw," says John, "another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him: for the HOUR OF HIS JUDGMENT is come" (Rev. xiv., 6, 7).
 
This, then, was how the gospel was to be restored to the earth.
 
"But," says the reader, "I thought the Gospel was already upon the earth."
 
If so, what necessity was there for an angel to come from heaven with the everlasting gospel, if it was already being taught to men? And, dear reader, you can readily see that none are excepted. It was to every nation, kindred, tongue, {294} and people—proving conclusively that the Gospel was not on the earth, but that the day had come when darkness covered the earth and gross darkness the people.
 
How must the angels around the throne have shouted for joy when the decree went forth, and the commandment was given for the initiatory steps to be taken to reclaim this planet from the grasp of "Lucifer the son of the morning," and to fit and prepare it for the habitation of angels, celestialized beings and God!
 
How must our mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters, in the spirit world, with all the saints of by-gone ages, have rejoiced to know that the redemption of the world was nigh, and the promise of Paul to the Thessalonians (I., iv., 16) that "the dead in Christ shall rise first," was to be made good!
 
Reader, we now beg of you to lay aside prejudice, and to examine what follows, with an honest intention and a desire to do right; to know the will of God and to do it; for great and mighty events are daily transpiring, that were prophesied of by all the holy prophets, from the days of Adam down until today.
 
The Gospel that the angel was to bring back to the earth was for every nation.
 
Angels have not, in times gone by, preached to or taught the masses of the people, but have delegated this power to men. So, in this instance, men became the recipients of the precious charge, the Everlasting Gospel.
 
TESTIMONY OF THE THREE WITNESSES.
 
"Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, unto whom this work [A] shall come. * * We declare with words of soberness, that an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates, and engraving thereon; and we know that it is by the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, that we beheld and bear record that these things are true, and it is marvelous in our eyes, nevertheless the voice of the Lord commanded us that we should bear record of it, wherefore to be obedient unto the commandments of God, we bear testimony of these things. And we know that if we are faithful in Christ, we shall rid our garments of the blood of all men, and be found spotless before the judgment-seat of Christ, and shall dwell with Him eternally in the heavens.
 
"OLIVER COWDERY,
 
"DAVID WHITMER,
 
"MARTIN HARRIS."
 
[Footnote A: The Book of Mormon.]
 
We have now hurriedly traced the outlines of the doctrines of Jesus Christ as they were in the primitive Christian church; {295} the apostacy of the people from the truth, the fulfillment of the prophecies of great and mighty prophets; the building up of an apostate church, the whore of all the earth, the mother of harlots; noticing the fact that she gave birth to a numerous offspring, who, true to their born instincts, as like begets like, are to-day vigorously engaged in throwing stones at their mother church, or grandmother, as the case may be.
 
We have shown how the Gospel was to be restored to the earth, and have given the testimony of the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon. We will now examine further proof relative to this remarkable proclamation.
 
We have seen that, so far, it has been incontestably shown that if the Bible be true, in no other way than this could God's work have been brought about. We now quote from the history of Joseph Smith, the great Latter-day Prophet, Seer and Revelator:
 
"We [Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery] still continued the work of translation; when in the ensuing month [May, 1829,] we on a certain day went into the woods to pray, and inquire of the Lord respecting baptism for the remission of sins.
 
"While we were thus employed, praying and calling upon the Lord, a messenger from heaven descending in a cloud of light, and having laid his hands upon us, he ordained us; saying unto us—'Upon you, my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah, I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the Gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins: and this shall never be taken from the earth, until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness.'
 
"The messenger who visited us on this occasion, and conferred this Priesthood upon us, said that his name was John, the same that is called John the Baptist in the New Testament; and that he acted under the direction of Peter, James and John, who held the keys of the Melchisedec Priesthood, and who in due season visit us and confer that, the higher Priesthood, upon us, which holds the keys of the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost and right to all the offices in the church."
 
Thus was the way opened up for the ushering in of the great latter-day dispensation and the fullness of the everlasting Gospel.
 
"And as it was in the days of ............