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| W. W. Phelps on the Application of Scripture |
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TO THE ELDERS OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST,
WHO PREACH GOOD TIDINGS TO THE WORLD. |
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EMS 2, no. 2 (July 1832): {6} |
Englighten the world
Exemplars of meekness
Credit for every good thing
Warn in compassion
Without threats of judgment |
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BRETHREN, As stars of the ensign, which is now set up for
the benefit of all nations, you are to enlighten the world; you are to prepare
the way for the people to come up to Zion; you are to instruct men how to
receive the fulness of the gospel, and the everlasting covenants, even them
that were from the beginning; you are to carry the ARK of SAFETY before
the wondering multitudes, without fear, entreating, and beseeching all men
to be saved; you are to set an example of meekness and humility before saints
and sinners, as did the Savior; and when reviled you are not to revile again;
you are to reason with men as in days of old, to bear patiently and answer
as the spirit of truth shall direct, allowing all credit for every item
of good. You are to walk in the valley of humility and pray for the salvation
of all; yes, you are to pray for your enemies; and warn in compassion, without
threatening the wicked with judgments which are to be poured upon the world
hereafter. |
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Don't scare people
Preach glad tidings |
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You have no right to take the judgments, which fell upon the
ungodly before the flood, and pour them upon the head of this generation;
you have no authority to use the judgments which God sent upon Pharaoh in
Egypt, to terrify the inhabitants of America, neither have you any direction,
by commandment, to collect the calamities of six thousand years, and paint
them upon the curtain of these last days, to scare mankind to repentance;
no; you are to preach the gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation,
even glad tidings of great joy unto all people. |
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Don't burden people with past
judgments
God rewards people according to their own works |
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Again, you are not to take the blessings of an individual,
or of a church, from the days of Enoch to the days of the apostles, and
place them upon an individual or a church, in these last days; but you are
to teach all men that they shall be judged according to their works: For,
if God is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever, his reward is always
with him, and his revelations and blessings, and judgments, before the flood,
were fitted for that people and that time; in the days of Abraham, for that
man and that time; in the days of Moses, for that man and that time; in
the days of David, for that man and that time; in the days of Paul, for
that man and that time; and now for this generation, and this time: |
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| Don't pervert scripture |
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You therefore, must reason from the Bible and the Book of
Mormon, with great care and not pervert the meaning of God's sacred word. |
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| Past destructions not relevant |
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If our Heavenly Father saw fit to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah
for their wickedness, Nineveh for its abomination, and Jerusalem for a transgression
of his commandments, what have their destructions to do with the salvation
of the world now? |
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The Lord says vengeance is mine, and I will repay. |
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| Teach all to trust God and repent
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Teach all men to trust in God and not in man, and do works
meet for repentance.— |
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| Teach God of the living |
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Again, teach all men that God is a God of the living and not
of the dead. |
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With an eye single to the glory
of God
Be the light of the world
God watches |
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Finally, whatever, you do, do it with an eye single to the
glory of God. You are the light of the world in matters of pure religion,
and many souls may be required at your hands. Let the idea not leave you
that, not only the eyes of the world, but the eyes of the angels and of
God are upon you. |
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On the Other Hand |
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… Why did Moses command the nations to rejoice with the Lord's people? Because the children of Israel, … were to be gathered …that they might come home to Zion, in the last days, with songs of everlasting joy, and live with Christ on earth, a thousand years, in perfect peace and holiness. And as we read that some out of every nation, kindred, tongue and people will be gathered, well might Moses command the nations to rejoice with the Lord's people! |
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¶ |
Though thousands may wonder, and even doubt how Moses came to know what should take place in the last days, let us, being enlightened by the revelations of God from the beginning till now, rejoice!—firstly for that glorious messenger of truth which sprung up out of the earth, the book of Mormon, … We need not wonder that Moses knew what would come to pass in the last days:—he held the keys of the mysteries of the kingdom of God, and could unlock the door that led to heavenly places in Christ Jesus, and gaze upon what was, and is, and is to come, as well as see the Lord face to face and talk with him, as man with man. Again, the Urim and Thummim was in the church of Moses, and he could read great things as they were rolled down from heaven upon the holy parchment, and written for the benefit of coming generations. |
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Time must be filled and the earth purified. The Lord is light. |
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When Peter, and James, and John went up into the mount with the Savior, Moses and Elias were there; and the keys of the mysteries of the kingdom were conferred upon them, Peter being at the head.— |
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It is written in the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, that after he (Jesus) ascended into heaven, he gave commandments, thro' the Holy Ghost, unto the apostles whom he had chosen, that is, to Peter, James and John, they forming the first presidency of the church of Christ, after the meridian of time: hence we have a sample of the way and manner which God uses to give the scriptures to man:—The Urim and Thummim and the Holy Ghost.—The word of the Lord could come to our forefathers of the church, through the Urim and Thummim, as well as by vision, but then the word of the Lord was read upon the parchment let down from heaven. When the word came by open vision, it was through the Holy Ghost, which is the mind of God, and never dwells in unholy temples. |
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Scripture
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