Having shown that many of the ancients fell away from that Gospel; that the faithful remainder were warred against by the enemies of truth, and that the last of the saints who held the Priesthood were overcome, leaving no successors to continue the works of the ministry; it is therefore made clear that the plan of salvation was taken away from the earth, that the results of the ancient apostasy were universal and have extended down without interruption to the present century.
The gloom that these serious events would cast upon the minds of the honest in heart who saw this sad picture unfolded to the gaze of the world, and which would effect their posterity in future generations, was greatly relieved when they beheld, while rapt in heavenly vision, angels from the mansions of glory descending to the earth with the Gospel message in all its purity and holiness, to deliver to the sons of men, causing the "poor among men to rejoice in the Holy One of Israel." The apostle John, while in banishment upon the Isle of Patmos, said: "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven having the everlasting Gospel to preach to 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; and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of water." (Revelation, xiv:6, 7.) There are now thousands of honest-hearted people upon the earth who testify that the angel spoken of in the foregoing quotation visited Joseph Smith, the prophet, and delivered to him the everlasting Gospel. Scattered Israel is coming to a knowledge of the truth while the day spoken of by Jeremiah is dawning. "O Lord, my strength, and my fortress, my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto Thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit." (Jeremiah xvi:19.)
These predictions are being fulfilled and will be fulfilled to the very letter; and as the apostasy and its effects were universal, so will the restoration of the Gospel be universal, extending to every nation, kindred, tongue and people, until Satan shall be bound and the voice of "peace on earth and to men good will" shall be heard from the rivers to the ends of the earth; when "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea;" and when "they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord; for all shall know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest."
RESTORATION OF THE GOSPEL.
Having shown conclusively that the Church of Christ in its purity and entirety was taken from the earth, we find the world without divine authority, without ordinances of the Gospel, having a "form of godliness but denying the power thereof." "From such turn away."
This would be truly a sad picture to gaze upon and contemplate, were it not that the Lord also revealed to the apostles and prophets anciently that in the last days there would be a restoration of all that had been enjoyed in previous dispensations. The apostle Peter, speaking of the second advent of the Messiah, prophesied as follows: "And He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began." (Acts iii:20, 21). This prediction is so plain that a "wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err therein."
A restitution means bringing back that which was lost; even if God had not spoken by the mouth of many prophets since the beginning, giving in detail various conditions which would be restored to the earth, this prophecy would be sufficient in itself in assuring "a restitution of all things" to justify mankind in looking for a new dispensation containing all the gifts and powers of the apostolic age.
These gifts and powers do not exist in the Catholic church, nor in any Protestant denomination of modern Christendom. Nothing short of new revelation from God will fulfill the prediction of the apostle Peter.
The twenty-second and twenty-third verses of the same prophecy read: "For Moses truly said unto the fathers" (his prophecy here quoted by Peter is found in Deuteronomy, 18th chapter, commencing with the fifteenth verse), "A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear in all things, whatsoever He shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that every soul which will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people." This prophecy undoubtedly refers to the Savior, but the conditions specified were never verified at His first coming. Those who would not hear Him were not destroyed from among the people. It is plain therefore that the prediction must allude to His second advent. In this connection, we refer our readers to the third chapter of Malachi, 1 to 3, inclusive: "Behold, I will send my messenger, and He shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in, behold He shall come, said the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of His coming? And who shall stand when He appeareth? For He is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap, and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness."