A Voice of Warning by Parley P. Pratt (read aloud books .txt) 📕

thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanities, and things wherein there is no profit." But as the Jews overlooked Christ's first coming, by not understanding the Prophets, and fastening their whole expectations on His glorious coming in the last days, to restore the kingdom to Israel, and avenge them of their enemies, and, by this mistake, were broken and scattered; so the Gentiles will overlook the prophecies concerning His second coming, by confounding them with the last judgment, which is to take place more than a thousand years afterward. But this fatal mistake, instead of causing the Gentiles to be broken and scattered, will cause them to be ground to powder.

O my brethren, according to the flesh, my soul mourns over you, and had I a voice like a trumpet, I would cry, Awake, awake and arouse from your slumber, for the time is fulfilled, your destruction is at the door, "for I have heard from the Lord God of Hosts, a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth!" Prepare to meet your God I And again, Awake, O house of Israel, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh: yea, depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from hence, gather home from your long dispersion, rebuild your cities; yea, go ye out from the nations, from one end of heaven to the other; but let not your flight be in haste, for the Lord shall go before you, and the God of Israel shall be your rearward! And finally, I would say to all, both Jew and Gentile, Repent ye, repent ye, for the great day of the Lord is at hand; for if I, who am a man, do lift up my voice, and call upon you to repent, and ye hate me, what will ye say when the day cometh, when the thunders shall utter their voices to the ends of the earth, speaking to the ears of all that live, saying: "Repent, and prepare for the great day of the Lord?" Yea, again, when the lightnings shall streak from the east unto the west, and shall utter forth their voices unto all that live, and make the ears of all that hear to tingle, saying these words: "Repent ye, for the great day of the Lord is come?" And again, the Lord shall utter His voice out of heaven, saying: "Hearken, O ye nations of the earth, and hear the words of that God who made you: O ye nations of the earth, how oft would I have gathered you together as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not! How often have I called upon you by the mouth of my servants, and by the ministering of angels, and by mine own voice, and by the voice of thunderings, and by the voice of lightnings, and by the voice of tempests, and by the voice of earthquakes and great hailstorms, and by the voice of famine and pestilences of every kind, and by the great sound of a trumpet, and by the voice of judgments, and by the voice of mercy, all the day long, and by the voice of glory and honor, and the riches of eternal life, and would have saved you with an everlasting salvation, but you would not! Behold, the day has come, when the cup of the wrath of mine indignation is full."

CHAPTER III. THE KINGDOM OF GOD.

"Seek first the Kingdom of God."

This was the command of the Savior, while on the earth, teaching the children of men.

Having taken a general view of the prophecies, past and future, we shall now proceed to fulfil this command, and search out the kingdom of God. But, before we advance, I would again caution the reader not to accompany me in this research, unless he is prepared to sacrifice everything, even to his good name, and life itself, if necessary, for the truth; for if he should once get a view of the kingdom of God, he will be so delighted that he never will rest satisfied short of becoming a subject of the same. And yet it will be so unlike every other system of religion now on earth, that he will be astonished that any person, with the Bible in his hand, should ever have mistaken any of the systems of men for the kingdom of God. There are certain powers, privileges, and blessings, pertaining to the kingdom of God, which are found in no other kingdom, nor enjoyed by any other people. By these it was over distinguished from all other kingdoms and systems, insomuch that the inquiring mind, seeking the kingdom of God, and being once acquainted with these peculiarities concerning it, need never mistake it, or be at a loss to know when he has found it. But, before we proceed any further in our research, let us agree upon the meaning of the term, the Kingdom of God, or the sense in which we will use it; for some apply this term to the kingdom of glory above, and some to the individual enjoyment of their own souls, while others apply it to His organized government on the earth. Now, when We speak of the kingdom of God, we wish it to be understood that we mean His organized government on the earth.

Now, reader, we launch forth into the wide field before us in search of a kingdom. But stop, let us consider—what is a kingdom? I reply, that four things are required in order to constitute any kingdom in heaven or on earth; namely, first, a king; secondly, commissioned officers duly qualified to execute his ordinances and laws; thirdly, a code of laws by which the subjects are governed; and fourthly, subjects who are governed. Where these exist in their proper order and regular authority, there is a kingdom, but where either of these ceases to exist, there is a disorganization of the kingdom; consequently an end of it, until reorganized after the same manner as before. It this respect the kingdom of God is like all other kingdoms; wherever we find officers duly commissioned and qualified by the Lord Jesus, together with His ordinances and laws existing in purity, unmixed with any precepts or commandments of men, there the kingdom of God exists, and there His power is manifest, and His blessings are enjoyed as in days of old.

We shall now take a view of the setting up of the kingdom of God in the days of the Apostles. The first intimation of its near approach was by an angel to Zachariah, promising him a son, who should go before the King to prepare his way. The next manifestation was to Mary, and finally to Joseph, by a holy angel, promising the birth of the Messiah: while at the same time, the Holy Ghost manifested unto Simeon, in the temple, that he should not die until he had seen the Savior. Thus, all these, together with the shepherds and the wise men from the east, began to rejoice with a joy unspeakable and full of glory, while the world around them knew not the occasion of their joy. After these things, all seemed to rest in silent expectation, until John had grown to manhood, when he came bounding from the wilderness of Judea, with a proclamation strange and new, crying: "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," baptizing unto repentance, telling them plainly that their King was already standing among them, on the point of setting up His kingdom. And while he yet ministered, the Messiah came, and was baptized, and sealed with the Spirit of God, which rested on Him in the form of a dove; and soon after began the same proclamation as John, saying—"Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Then, after choosing twelve disciples, He sent them forth into all the cities of Judea, with the same proclamation— "The kingdom of heaven is at hand;" and after them He sent seventy, and then another seventy, with the same news, so that all might be well warned and prepared for a kingdom which was soon to be organized amongst them.

But when these things had produced the desired effect, in causing a general expectation, more especially in the hearts of His disciples, who daily expected to triumph over their persecutors, by the coronation of this glorious personage, while they themselves were hoping for a reward for all their toil and sacrifices for His sake, by being exalted to dignity near His person, what must have been their disappointment, when they saw their King taken and crucified, having been mocked, derided, ridiculed, and finally overcome, and triumphed over, both by Jew and Gentile? They would gladly have died in battle to have placed Him upon the throne; but tamely to submit without a struggle, to give up all their expectations, and sink in despair from the highest pitch of enthusiasm to the lowest degradation, was more than they could well endure. They shrank back in sorrow, and returned every man to his own net, or to their several occupations, supposing all was over; probably with reflections like these: "Is this the result of all our labors? was it for this we forsook all worldly objects, our friends, our houses and lands, suffering persecution, hunger, fatigue and disgrace? And we trust it should have been He who would have delivered Israel; but alas, they have killed Him, and all is over. For three years we have awakened a general expectation through all Judea, by telling them that the kingdom of heaven was at hand, but now our King is dead, how shall we dare to look the people in the face?"

With these reflections, each pursuing his own course, all was again turned to silence, and the voice had ceased to be heard in Judea, crying: "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Jesus slept in the arms of death; a great stone with the seal of of state, secured the tomb where he lay, while the Roman guard stood in watchful silence, to see that all was kept secure; when suddenly, from the regions of glory, a mighty angel descended, at whoso presence the soldiers fell back as dead men, while he rolled the stone from the door of the sepulchre, and the Son of God awoke from His slumbers, burst the bonds of death, and soon after appearing to Mary, He sent her to the disciples with the joyful news of His resurrection, and appointed a place to meet them. When, after seeing Him, all their sorrow was turned into joy, and all their former hopes were suddenly revived, they had no longer to cry—"The kingdom of heaven is at hand," but were to tarry at Jerusalem until the kingdom was established; and they prepared to unlock the door of the kingdom, and to adopt strangers and foreigners into it as legal citizens, by administering certain laws and ordinances, which were invariably the laws of adoption, and without which no man could ever become a citizen.

Having ascended up on high, and having been crowned with all power in heaven and on earth, He again comes to His disciples, and gives them their authority, saying unto them: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." Mark, xvi, 15-18. Now I wish the reader not to pass over this commission until he understands it, because when once understood, he never need mistake the kingdom of God, but will at once discover those peculiarities which were forever to distinguish it from all other kingdoms or religious systems on earth. Lest he should misunderstand, we will analyze it, and look at each part carefully in its own proper light; first, they were to preach the Gospel, or in other words, the glad tidings of a crucified and risen Redeemer, to all the world; secondly, he that believed, and was baptized, should be saved; thirdly, he that did not believe what they preached should be damned; and fourthly, these signs should follow them that believed: first, they were to cast out devils; second, to speak with new tongues; third, to take up serpents; fourth, if they drank any deadly thing, it should not hurt them; fifth, they were to lay hands on the sick, and they should recover.

Now, it is wilful blindness, or ignorance of the English language, that has