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; 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.