An appeal is made to the honest in heart to heed this call—to pause, to mediate, to ask God, "who giveth to all men liberally," for wisdom to know what to do.
Here are evidences worthy of their attention:
The testimony of the three witnesses; the signs following the believers; the eyes of the blind opened; the ears of the deaf unstopped; the tongue of the dumb made to sing; the lame man to leap as an hart; devils cast out; unknown tongues spoken, and the interpretation thereof given by the spirit of inspiration; prophecy fulfilled, and the Spirit of God making manifest to the honest in heart the great fact that God has again spoken from the heavens.
Many questions are asked relative to our belief on the subject of gathering, and we again turn to the Scriptures to answer the questions:
These things are not done or spoken in a dark corner, but as good men as are in existence to-day testify of them.
"And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it" (Isa. ii., 2-4).
"And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly" (Isa. v., 26).
"And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel (not the Jews alone, but all Israel) and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth" (Isa. xi., 12).
"I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers" (Jer. xxx., 3).
"Behold I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the coasts of the earth" (Jer. xxxi., 814).
"I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered" (Ezek. xx., 34).
"I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land" (Ezek. xxxvi., 24).
"Blow the trumpet, * * gather the people, * * assemble the Elders (Joel ii., 15, 16).
"And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds" (Matt. xxiv., 31).
"That in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth" (Eph. i., 10).
"Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues" (Rev. xviii., 4).
The reader asks, "What are we to come out of?"
Out of "Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth" (Rev. xvii., 5).
"Who and what is that?"
"The waters which thou sawest where the whore (mystery, Babylon) sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues" (Rev. xvii., 15).
So out of every nation, kindred, tongue and people shall the honest in heart be gathered to a great central gathering place, to be protected while the scourges of God pass over the earth. Read the following prophecy and study the signs of the times:
PROPHECY OF JOSEPH SMITH, THE SEER, GIVEN IN 1832.
"Verily thus saith the Lord concerning the wars that will shortly come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina, which will eventually terminate in the death and misery of many souls.
"The day will come that war will be poured out upon all nations, beginning at that place.
"For behold the Southern States shall be divided against the Northern States, and the Southern States will call on other nations, even the nation of Great Britain, as it is called, and they shall also call upon other nations in order to defend themselves against other nations; and thus war shall be poured out upon all nations.
"And it shall come to pass after many days slaves shall rise up against their masters, who shall be marshalled and disciplined for war.
"And it shall come to pass also, that the remnants who are left of the land will marshal themselves, and shall become exceedingly angry, and shall vex the Gentiles with a sore vexation;
"And thus, with the sword and by bloodshed, the inhabitants of the earth shall mourn; and with famine, and plagues, and earthquakes, and the thunder of heaven, and the fierce and vivid lightnings also, shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the wrath and indignation and chastening hand of an Almighty God, until the consumption decreed hath made a full end of all nations;
"That the cry of the Saints, and the blood of the Saints, shall cease to come up in the ears of the Lord of Sabbaoth, from the earth, to be avenged of their enemies.
"Wherefore stand ye in holy places and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come; for behold it cometh quickly, saith the Lord. Amen."
Has this prophecy been fulfilled? Let the people of the North and South answer the query.
Let the thoughtful reader stop and reflect for a moment on the condition of affairs upon the face of the whole earth. The sword is reaping its harvest of death; nation warring against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. Famine is asserting its sway and untold thousands are starving, perishing, dying for lack of food. Pestilence, in all its horrid forms, stalks in the train of these dire calamities. Earthquakes are making the earth to tremble. Storms, whirlwinds and cyclones are sweeping away cities, towns and villages. The sea, heaving itself beyond its bounds, is thundering its testimonies into the ears of the children of men. Signs in the heavens above and in the earth beneath, betoken the fact that great and mighty events are at our doors. Fear has taken hold upon the hearts of the strong men and the mighty men. Man distrusts his fellowman. Nations and people have become corrupted; fraud and speculation are sapping the vitals of the man-made governments of the earth. The people are tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine that comes along, and when will the end be?