Revelation, given October, 1831.[[10]]
1. Behold, thus saith the Lord unto my servant William E. M'Lellin, Blessed are you, inasmuch as you have turned away from your iniquities, and have received my truths, saith the Lord your Redeemer, the Savior of the world, even of as many as believe on my name.
2. Verily I say unto you, blessed are you for receiving mine everlasting covenant, even the fullness of my Gospel, sent forth unto the children of men, that they might have life and be made partakers of the glories which are to be revealed in the last days, as it was written by the prophets and apostles in days of old.
3. Verily I say unto you, my servant William, that you are clean, but not all; repent, therefore, of those things which are not pleasing in my sight, saith the Lord, for the Lord will show them unto you.
4. And now, verily, I, the Lord, will show unto you what I will concerning you, or what is my will concerning you;
5. Behold, verily I say unto you, that it is my will that you should proclaim my Gospel from land to land, and from city to city; yea, in those regions round about where it has not been proclaimed.
6. Tarry not many days in this place; go not up unto the land of Zion as yet; but inasmuch as you can send, send; otherwise think not of thy property.
7. Go unto the eastern lands, bear testimony in every place, unto every people and in their synagogues; reasoning with the people.
8. Let my servant Samuel H. Smith go with you, and forsake him not, and give him thine instructions; and he that is faithful shall be made strong in every place, and I, the Lord, will go with you.
9. Lay your hands upon the sick, and they shall recover. Return not till I the Lord shall send you. Be patient in affliction. Ask and ye shall receive; knock and it shall be opened unto you.
10. Seek not to be cumbered. Forsake all unrighteousness. Commit not adultery, a temptation with which thou hast been troubled.
11. Keep these sayings, for they are true and faithful, and thou shalt magnify thine office, and push many people to Zion with songs of everlasting joy upon their heads.
12. Continue in these things even unto the end, and you shall have a crown of eternal life at the right hand of my Father, who is full of grace and truth.
13. Verily, thus saith the Lord your God, your Redeemer, even Jesus Christ. Amen.
Special Conference November 1st.
I returned from the conference at Orange, to Hiram; and as Oliver Cowdery and John Whitmer were to start for Independence, Missouri, a special conference was appointed for the first of November,[[11]] at which I received the following:
Revelation.[[12]]
1. Hearken, O ye people of my Church, saith the voice of Him who dwells on high, and whose eyes are upon all men; yea, verily I say, hearken ye people from afar; and ye that are upon the islands of the sea, listen together.
2. For verily the voice of the Lord is unto all men, and there is none to escape, and there is no eye that shall not see, neither ear that shall not hear, neither heart that shall not be penetrated.
3. And the rebellious shall be pierced with much sorrow, for their iniquities shall be spoken upon the housetops, and their secret acts shall be revealed.
4. And the voice of warning shall be unto all people, by the mouths of my disciples, whom I have chosen in these last days.
5. And they shall go forth and none shall stay them, for I the Lord have commanded them.
6. Behold, this is mine authority, and the authority of my servants, and my preface unto the book of my commandments, which I have given them to publish unto you, O inhabitants of the earth.
7. Wherefore, fear and tremble, O ye people, for what I the Lord have decreed in them shall be fulfilled.
8. And verily, I say unto you, that they who go forth, bearing these tidings unto the inhabitants of the earth, to them is power given to seal both on earth and in heaven the unbelieving and rebellious;
9. Yea, verily, to seal them up unto the day when the wrath of God shall be poured out upon the wicked without measure;
10. Unto the day when the Lord shall come to recompense unto every man according to his work, and measure to every man according to the measure which he has measured to his fellow man.
11. Wherefore the voice of the Lord is unto the ends of the earth, that all that will hear may hear:
12. Prepare ye, prepare ye for that which is to come, for the Lord is nigh;
13. And the anger of the Lord is kindled, and His sword is bathed in heaven, and it shall fall upon the inhabitants of the earth.
14. And the arm of the Lord shall be revealed; and the day cometh that they who will not hear the voice of the Lord, neither the voice of His servants, neither give heed to the words of the prophets and apostles shall be cut off from among the people;
15. For they have strayed from mine ordinances, and have broken mine everlasting covenant;
16. They seek not the Lord to establish His righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own God, whose image is in the likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol, which waxeth old and shall perish in Babylon, even Babylon the great, which shall fall.
17. Wherefore I the Lord, knowing the calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth, called upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and spake unto him from heaven, and gave him commandments;
18. And also gave commandments to others, that they should proclaim these things unto the world; and all this that it might be fulfilled, which was written by the prophets;
19. The weak things of the world shall come forth and break down the mighty and strong ones, that man should not counsel his fellow man, neither trust in the arm of flesh,
20. But that every man might speak in the name of God the Lord, even the Savior of the world;
21. That faith also might increase in the earth;
22. That mine everlasting covenant might be established;
23. That the fullness of my Gospel might be proclaimed by the weak and the simple unto the ends of the world, and before kings and rulers.
24. Behold, I am God and have spoken it; these commandments are of me and were given unto my servants in their weakness, after the manner of their language, that they might come to understanding.
25. And inasmuch as they erred it might be made known:
26. And inasmuch as they sought wisdom they might be instructed:
27. And inasmuch as they sinned they might be chastened, that they might repent:
28. And inasmuch as they were humble they might be made strong, and blessed from on high, and receive knowledge from time to time:
29. And after having received the record of the Nephites, yea, even my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., might have power to translate through the mercy of God, by the power of God, the Book of Mormon;
30. And also those to whom these commandments were given, might have power to lay the foundation of this Church, and to bring it forth out of obscurity and out of darkness, the only true and living Church upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord, am well pleased, speaking unto the Church collectively and not individually.
31. For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance.
32. Nevertheless, he that repents and does the commandments of the Lord shall be forgiven;
33. And he that repents not, from him, shall be taken even the light which he has received, for my Spirit shall not always strive with man, saith the Lord of Hosts.
34. And again, verily I say unto you, O inhabitants of the earth, I the Lord am willing to make these things known unto all flesh,
35. For I am no respecter of persons, and will that all men shall know that the day speedily cometh; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand, when peace shall be taken from the earth, and the devil shall have power over his own dominion;
36. And also the Lord shall have power over His Saints, and shall reign in their midst, and shall come down in judgment upon Iduma, or the world.
37. Search these commandments for they are true and faithful, and the prophecies and promises which are in them shall all be fulfilled.
38. What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself: and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants it is the same;
39. For behold, and lo, the Lord is God, and the Spirit beareth record, and the record is true, and the truth abideth forever and ever. Amen.
Language of Revelations Criticised.
After this revelation was received, some conversation was had concerning revelations and language. I received the following:
Revelation, given November, 1831.[[13]]
1. Behold and hearken, O ye Elders of my Church, who have assembled yourselves together, whose prayers I have heard, and whose hearts I know, and whose desires have come up before me.
2. Behold and lo, mine eyes are upon you, and the heavens and the earth are in mine hands, and the riches of eternity are mine to give.
3. Ye endeavored to believe that ye should secure the blessing which was offered unto you; but behold, verily I say unto you, there were fears in your hearts, and verily this is the reason that ye did not receive.
4. And now I, the Lord, give unto you a testimony of the truth of these commandments which are lying before you;
5. Your eyes have been upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and his language you have known, and his imperfections you have known; and you have sought in your hearts knowledge that you might express beyond his language, this you also know;
6. Now, seek ye out of the Book of Commandments, even the least that is among them, and appoint him that is the most wise among you;
7. Or, if there be any among you that shall make one like unto it, then ye are justified in saying that ye do not know that they are true;
8. But if ye cannot make one like unto it, ye are under condemnation if ye do not bear record that they are true;
9. For ye know that there is no unrighteousness in them, and that which is righteous cometh down from above, from the Father of lights;
10. And again, verily, I say unto you, that it is your privilege, and a promise I give unto you that have been ordained unto this ministry, that inasmuch as you strip yourselves from jealousies and fears, and humble yourselves before me, for ye are not sufficiently humble, the veil shall be rent, and you shall see me and know that I am; not with the carnal, neither natural mind, but with the spiritual;
11. For no man has seen God at any time in the flesh, except quickened by the Spirit of God.
12. Neither can any natural man abide the presence of God; neither after the carnal mind;
13. Ye are not able to abide the presence of God now, neither the ministering of angels; wherefore continue in patience until ye are perfected.
14. Let not your minds turn back, and when ye are worthy, in mine own due time, ye shall see and know that which was conferred upon you by the hands of my servant Joseph Smith, Jun. Amen.
The Folly of William E. M'Lellin.
After the foregoing was received, William E. M'Lellin, as the wisest man, in his own estimation, having more learning than sense, endeavored to write a commandment like unto one of the least of the Lord's, but failed; it was an awful responsibility to write in the name of the Lord. The Elders and all present that witnessed this vain attempt of a man to imitate the language of Jesus Christ, renewed their faith in the fullness of the Gospel, and in the truth of the commandments and revelations which the Lord had given to the Church through my instrumentality; and the Elders signified a willingness to bear testimony of their truth to all the world. Accordingly I received the following:
The testimony of the witnesses to the book of the Lord's commandments, which He gave to His Church through Joseph Smith, Jun., who was appointed by the voice of the Church for this purpose; we therefore feel willing to bear testimony to all the world of mankind, to every creature upon the face of all the earth and upon the islands of the sea, that the Lord has borne record to our souls, through the Holy Ghost, shed forth upon us, that these commandments were given by inspiration of God, and are profitable for all men, and are verily true. We give this testimony unto the world, the Lord being our helper; and it is through the grace of God, the Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ, that we are permitted to have this privilege of bearing this testimony unto the world, that the children of men may be profited thereby.[[14]]