"I assure you, my dear sir, I only wish to refer to a few doctrines from the Bible which are necessary to be understood by you in order that you may obtain eternal life. Thus far we have only examined the first principles of the gospel, but now we will speak of the officers whom Christ placed in His Church, and learn by what means men receive authority to act in the name of God. Paul tells us that God has placed 'first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after which gifts of healing,' etc. (I. Cor. xii: 28), and says the work is built upon the foundation of apostles. (Eph. ii: 20.) He furthermore declares that these officers have been placed in the Church for the work of the ministry, and will remain until we all come to a knowledge of the truth. (Eph. iv: 11-13.) Have all mankind come to a knowledge of the truth? If not, why has the Church dispensed with the officers that God placed in it for the purpose of bringing all to a unity of the faith? Paul tells us that these officers were placed in the Church to keep us from being tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine which is taught by man. (Eph. iv: 12-14.) At the present time, when men declare that they have no need of apostles or prophets, they are divided, and subdivided, and in fact carried about by every doctrine that is promulgated—as Paul saw that they would be, if inspired apostles and prophets were not found to lead them. In losing these officers, the Church lost her authority, together with all her gifts and graces, and the so-called Christian Churches today are disrobed of all her beautiful garments; and even those who pretend to defend her are crying out that her gifts, graces and ordinances are useless in this age of the world. Did Christ establish the true order or did He not? We say He did and would ask, has any man a right to change it? And if any man or even an angel from heaven should alter it in the least, will he not come under the condemnation that Paul uttered when he said: '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.) Christ placed these officers and the ordinances in the Church for the perfecting of the Saints; and any one teaching contrary to this is a perverter of the gospel, and an anti-Christ in the full meaning of the word. The difference between the Church of Christ on the one hand, and the Catholic Church, with all her posterity composing the whole protestant world on the other hand, amounts to this: One had apostles, prophets, etc., who led the Church by inspiration or by divine revelation; while the others have learned men to preach learned men's opinions; have colleges to teach divinity instead of the Holy Ghost; instead of preaching the gospel without hire, their ministers must have large salaries each year, and they are not certain of the doctrines which they teach, when they should be in possession of the gift of knowledge, prophecy and revelation. Now then, in what church do we find apostles and prophets?"
The doctor replied, "There are none; but you must remember there must be a preacher, for 'how shall they hear without a preacher?'" (Rom. x: 14.)
"And in the next verse he asks, 'how shall they preach except they be sent?' This same apostle says that no man is to take the honor unto himself, but he that is called of God as was Aaron. (Heb. v: 4.) Aaron was called by revelation (Ex. iv: 14-17); hence we see that no man is to preach the gospel except he be called by revelation from God. As I said instead of men being called by revelation—as the Bible declares they should be—in our day they argue that God has not revealed Himself for almost eighteen hundred years. Go and ask your minister if he has been called by revelation, and he will tell you that such manifestations are not needed now, which assertion I think will prove to you that he has no authority to baptize for the remission of sins."
"But did not Jesus say, 'Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel?'"
"He did, but was He then talking to modern ministers? When He gave His apostles authority to preach, did that give all men who feel disposed to take the honor unto themselves, the same authority? He gave His apostles to understand that they had not chosen Him, but He had chosen them (John xv: 16); but in this day men reverse the condition. Then again, He sent His servants into the world to preach His gospel without purse or scrip. (Luke x: 4.) Paul says his reward is this, 'That when I preach the gospel I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel.' (I. Cor. ix: 18.) Now, go and ask your minister if he does the same, and I think that you will find that he must have a salary."
"Then what has become of the gospel?" said the lawyer.
"Paul says that the coming of Jesus Christ will not be, save there be 'a falling away' (II. Thess. ii: 3) and that 'in the last days perilous times shall come.' (II. Tim. iii: 1.) People 'will not endure sound doctrine,' but will 'heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, and shall turn from the truth to fables (Tim. iv: 3, 4), and will have a form of godliness, but will deny the power thereof.' (II. Tim. iii: 5.) Peter also says these false teachers will make merchandise of the souls of men. (II. Peter ii: 1-3.) They are doing so by demanding a salary for preparing sermons to tickle the people's itching ears. Micah, iii:11, says, 'The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, 'Is it not the Lord among us?' Now, my friends, do not the different sects of the day present us with a literal fulfillment of all these sayings? Have they not transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance and broken the everlasting covenant? (Isaiah xxiv: 5.) John Wesley in his 94th sermon, referring to the condition of the Church after it had departed from the right way and lose the gifts, says: 'The real cause why the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian Church was because the Christians were turned heathen again and had only a dead form left.'"
"It would appear, then, that God has forsaken mankind and left us without any hope," said Mr Marshall.
"No, He has not; but this falling away is the result of mankind forsaking God, by changing His gospel and departing from its teachings, as I have already shown. But He has promised through His servants, that there would be a dispensation when He would gather together all things in Christ (Eph. i: 10), and would restore all things which He has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. (Acts iii: 20, 21.) This dispensation was called the dispensation of the fullness of times. (Eph. i: 10.) Daniel, who received by revelation, the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, saw what would take place in later times, when the God of heaven would set up a kingdom. (Dan. ii: 44.) John, the revelator, while on the desolate island, Patmos (some ninety years after Christ), saw how this gospel would be restored: Namely, that an angel would bring it from heaven. (Rev. xiv: 6), and Christ says it 'shall be preached in all the world as a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.' (Matt. xxiv: 14.) As God is always the same, and has but one plan for the redemption of the human family, we may expect to see the same gospel with like promises preached in a similar way. Where do we find it as it existed anciently? But as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. (Matt. xxiv: 37; Luke xvii: 26, 27.) Noah was sent by the Lord to foretell the coming of the flood, but the people rejected his testimony; in fact, whenever God has revealed His mind and will to men in days gone by, the world, instead of receiving the same, have rejected the message and said all manner of evil concerning the prophets, and in many instances have killed them, as was the case with Christ Himself. Now then, my friends, we are living in the dispensation of the fullness of times when God is gathering together all things in Christ. An angel has come from the heavens and brought the everlasting gospel, and on the 6th day of April, 1830, God—through revelation to man—organized the Church of Jesus Christ, in the exact pattern of the true Church, as it existed in the days of Christ, with apostles, and prophets, and since that day the servants of God have been traveling through the world preaching the same, as a witness that the end will soon come. They call upon mankind to exercise faith in God our eternal Father, and in His Son Jesus Christ; also to repent of and turn from their sins, and be baptized by one who has been called of God by revelation, and receive the laying on of hands for the bestowal of the Holy Ghost. As servants of God they then promise that the convert shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or man (John vii: 17); and, furthermore, that the signs which followed the believers in the days of the ancient apostles will follow the believer at the present time, for the same cause will always produce the same effect. My friends, as a servant of God, I call upon you to obey these principles and you shall have the promised blessings. I am an Elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. My home is in Salt Lake City, Utah."
The listeners were very much surprised, but those who read the quotations from the Bible, were not slow to inform Mr. Durant that the Good Book substantiated his argument. Thanking him for the patient explanation of his belief, each obtained his card containing the articles of faith of his Church, and bidding each other good-night, all retired.