We make these remarks as cautionary to all, and when we call to mind, as the result of our own experience, the individuals who were the most prone to indulge in such a course, we find them now ranked among the apostates from the truth; and as their spirit at that time was to destroy rather than to build up, so it is with them now, and they will seek to overthrow the Kingdom of God with as much zest as they once labored to overthrow the varied systems around them.
But it may be asked, have we not in the Christian warfare, power to pull down the strongholds of sin and Satan? Truly we have; but how is it most effectively accomplished? We answer by the establishment of the principles of truth, by exhibiting the glorious Gospel of salvation, and until the hearers themselves shall appreciate its truth and beauty and turn in disgust from the deformity of those systems with which they have been connected.
Let us draw a parallel case: We know that the Kingdom of God in these last days shall be established, that it shall be built up and never come to an end; but while conscious of this important fact, would it be our business to go to every court in Europe or the world and decant upon the evils of their various governments, and that in consequence of the false principles upon which they are based, they must come to destruction; certainly wisdom would not dictate such a course, but instead thereof, let us who have embraced truth seek to build up the Kingdom by a proclamation of those principles which shall fit men to become citizens of the same, and teaching the great principle of gathering, that they may be delivered from judgment, and in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem find salvation therefrom.
There is an honor, a dignity, and a responsibility connected with the Priesthood which we would wish should never be forgotten; it is nothing less than to be ambassadors of Jesus Christ and when successful in that embassy the reward shall be to shine as the stars in the firmament and as the sun forever and forever.
A PROPHET OF LATTER DAYS.
BY ELDER EDWIN F. PARRY, LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND.
A GLORIOUS THOUGHT.
Would it not be joyful news to the seeker after truth to be assured that a prophet had been raised up in latter days? How glorious would be the thought that the Lord had again spoken from heaven! The direct word of God to man in this age ought to be sufficient to settle all disputes concerning the way of salvation.